Optimization of Printed Polyaniline Composites for Gas Sensing Applications.

Polyaniline (PANI) films are promising candidates for electronic nose-based IoT applications, but device performances are influenced by fabrication parameters and ambient conditions. Affinities of different PANI composites to analytes for gas sensing applications remain elusive. In this study, we investigate the material properties in detail for two different dopant systems: F4TCNQ and carbon black. Using a reproducibility-driven approach, we investigate different dopant concentrations in regard to their sensitivity and specificity towards five relevant markers for breath cancer diagnosis. We benchmark the system using ammonia measurements and evaluate limits of detection. Furthermore, we provide statistical analysis on reproducibility and pave the way towards machine learning discrimination via principal component analysis. The influence of relative humidity on sensor hysteresis is also investigated. We find that F4TCNQ-doped PANI films show improved reproducibility compared to carbon black-doped films. We establish and quantify a tradeoff between sensitivity, reproducibility, and environmental stability by the choice of dopant and concentrations ratios.

On a nonlinear hybrid method for multiscale analysis of a bearing-capacity test of a real-scale segmental tunnel ring.

A nonlinear hybrid method is developed for multiscale analysis of a bearing-capacity test of a real-scale segmental tunnel ring subjected to point loads. The structural analysis consists of two parts. Part I refers to modeling of bending-induced tensile cracking of the segments, resulting from the external loading. The segments are subdivided into elements, according to the crack spacing. Each element is either intact or contains one central crack band, flanked by lateral undamaged domains. A multiscale model for tensile softening of concrete is used to describe the progressive deterioration of the crack bands. After iterative determination of their state of damage, the effective bending and extensional stiffnesses of the corresponding elements are quantified by means of Voigt-Reuss-Hill estimates. The effective stiffnesses are used for linear-elastic simulations of the segmental tunnel ring. Part II refers to the relative rotation angles at the joints, which are estimated from monitoring data, using the Bernoulli-Euler hypothesis. Since the validity of this hypothesis is questionable for neck-like joints, the relative rotation angles are post-processed such that they refer to rigid body displacements of the segments. The following conclusions are drawn: The presented approach yields good estimates of crack widths. Relative rotation angles at the joints mainly result in rigid body displacements of the segments, governing the convergences. Because realistic interface models are lacking, hybrid analysis based on displacement-monitoring data allows for performing ultimate-load analysis of segmental tunnel rings.

Creep and cracking of concrete hinges: insight from centric and eccentric compression experiments.

Existing design guidelines for concrete hinges consider bending-induced tensile cracking, but the structural behavior is oversimplified to be time-independent. This is the motivation to study creep and bending-induced tensile cracking of initially monolithic concrete hinges systematically. Material tests on plain concrete specimens and structural tests on marginally reinforced concrete hinges are performed. The experiments characterize material and structural creep under centric compression as well as bending-induced tensile cracking and the interaction between creep and cracking of concrete hinges. As for the latter two aims, three nominally identical concrete hinges are subjected to short-term and to longer-term eccentric compression tests. Obtained material and structural creep functions referring to centric compression are found to be very similar. The structural creep activity under eccentric compression is significantly larger because of the interaction between creep and cracking, i.e. bending-induced cracks progressively open and propagate under sustained eccentric loading. As for concrete hinges in frame-like integral bridge construction, it is concluded (i) that realistic simulation of variable loads requires consideration of the here-studied time-dependent behavior and (ii) that permanent compressive normal forces shall be limited by 45% of the ultimate load carrying capacity, in order to avoid damage of concrete hinges under sustained loading.

Strength of a cement-based dental material: Early age testing and first micromechanical modeling at mature age.

The compressive strength evolution of 37 centigrade-cured Biodentine, a cement-based dental material, is quantified experimentally by crushing cylindrical specimens with length-to-diameter ratios amounting to 1.84 and 1.34, respectively, at nine different material ages ranging from 1 h to 28 days. After excluding strength values significantly affected by imperfections, formulae developed for concrete are i) adapted for inter- and extrapolation of measured strength values, and ii) used for quantification of the influence of the slenderness of the specimens on the compressive strength. The microscopic origin of the macroscopic uniaxial compressive strength of mature Biodentine is investigated by means of a micromechanics model accounting for lognormal stiffness and strength distributions of two types of calcite-reinforced hydrates. The following results are obtained: The material behavior of Biodentine is non-linear in the first few hours after production. After that, Biodentine behaves virtually linear elastic all the way up to sudden brittle failure. The strength evolution of Biodentine can be well described as the exponential of a function involving the square root of the inverse of the material age. The genuine uniaxial compressive strength evolution can be quantified using a correction formula taken from a standard for testing of concrete, which accounts for length-to-diameter ratios of cylindrical samples deviating from 2. Multiscale modeling suggests that 63% of the overall material volume, occupied by dense calcite-reinforced hydration products, fail virtually simultaneously. This underlines the highly optimized nature of the studied material.

Micromechanics of dental cement paste.

Biodentine is a calcium silicate/calcium carbonate/zirconium dioxide/water-based dental replacement biomaterial, significantly outperforming the stiffness and hardness properties of chemically similar construction cement pastes. We here report the first systematic micromechanical investigation of Biodentine, combining grid nanoindentation with ultrasonic testing and micromechanical modeling. Histograms of nanoindentation-probed hardness and elastic modulus, comprising more than 5700 values each, are very well represented by the superposition of three log-normal distributions (LNDs). Most of the data (74%) belong to the intermediate LND, representing highly dense calcite-reinforced hydration products with on-average more than 60GPa elastic modulus and 3GPa hardness. The remaining data refer, on the one hand, to lower density hydration products, and on the other hand, to single-micron-sized unhydrated clinker and zirconium-dioxide inclusions. Micromechanical homogenization of these three material phases delivers elastic properties of the overall cement paste material, which significantly exceed those probed by more than 300 ultrasonic tests performed in the kHz and MHz regime. This indicates the presence of micro-defects, which slightly weaken the otherwise highly optimized biomaterial system.

Application-oriented fundamental research on concrete and reinforced concrete structures: selected findings from an Austro-Chinese research project.

In this paper, the significance of application-oriented fundamental research on concrete and reinforced concrete structures for progress regarding practical applications to structural design is addressed based on four examples. They were treated in a joint research project of Vienna University of Technology and Tongji University. The first topic refers to sudden heating or cooling of concrete structures, the second one to high-dynamic strength of specimens made of cementitious materials, the third one to structural analysis of segmental tunnel rings used in mechanized tunneling, and the fourth one to serviceability and ultimate limit states of concrete hinges used in integral bridge construction. The first two topics deal with exceptional load cases. Results from the fundamental research call for improvements of state-of-the-art simulation approaches used in civil engineering design. The last two topics refer to reinforced concrete hinges used in mechanized tunneling and integral bridge construction, respectively. Integrative research has led to progress regarding the verification of serviceability and ultimate limit states. In all four examples, results from fundamental research are used to scrutinize state-of-the-art approaches used in practical structural design of civil engineering structures. This allows for identifying interesting directions for the future development of design guidelines and standards.

Multiscale Thermoelastic Analysis of the Thermal Expansion Coefficient and of Microscopic Thermal Stresses of Mature Concrete.

The thermal expansion coefficient and the microscopic thermal stresses of mature concrete depend on its microstructural composition and the internal relative humidity. This dependence is determined by means of thermoelastic multiscale analysis of concrete. The underlying multiscale model enables two types of scale transition. Firstly, bottom-up homogenization allows for the quantification of the thermal expansion coefficient and the elastic stiffness of concrete based on the Mori-Tanaka scheme. Secondly, top-down scale concentration gives access to the volume averaged stresses experienced by the cement paste, the fine and the coarse aggregates and, furthermore, to the stress states of the interfacial transition zones covering the aggregates. The proposed model is validated by comparing the predicted thermal expansion coefficient of concrete with independent sets of experimental measurements. Finally, sensitivity analyses are carried out to evaluate the influence of the volumetric composition and the internal relative humidity of concrete on the thermal expansion coefficient and the microscopic thermal stresses.

Early-Age Evolution of Strength, Stiffness, and Non-Aging Creep of Concretes: Experimental Characterization and Correlation Analysis.

Six different concretes are characterized during material ages between 1 and 28 days. Standard tests regarding strength and stiffness are performed 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28 days after production. Innovative three-minute-long creep tests are repeated hourly during material ages between one and seven days. The results from the standard tests are used to assess and to improve formulas of the fib Model Code 2010: the correlation formula between the 28-day values of the strength and the stiffness, and the evolution formulas describing the early-age evolution of the strength and the stiffness during the first four weeks after production. The results from the innovative tests are used to develop a correlation formula between the 28-day values of Young's modulus and the creep modulus, and an evolution formula describing the early-age evolution of the creep modulus during the first four weeks after production. Particularly, the analyzed CEM I concretes develop stiffness and strength significantly faster than described by the formulas of the Model Code. The creep modulus of the investigated concretes evolves significantly slower than their strength and stiffness. Thus, concrete loaded at early ages is surprisingly creep active, even if the material appears to be quite mature in terms of its strength and stiffness.

Micromechanics of bone tissue-engineering scaffolds, based on resolution error-cleared computer tomography.

Synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography (SRmuCT) revealed the microstructure of a CEL2 glass-ceramic scaffold with macropores of several hundred microns characteristic length, in terms of the voxel-by-voxel 3D distribution of the attenuation coefficients throughout the scanned space. The probability density function of all attenuation coefficients related to the macroporous space inside the scaffold gives access to the tomograph-specific machine error included in the SRmuCT measurements (also referred to as instrumental resolution function). After Lorentz function-based clearing of the measured CT data from the systematic resolution error, the voxel-specific attenuation information of the voxels representing the solid skeleton is translated into the composition of the material inside one voxel, in terms of the nanoporosity embedded in a dense CEL2 glass-ceramic matrix. Based on voxel-invariant elastic properties of dense CEL2 glass-ceramic, continuum micromechanics allows for translation of the voxel-specific nanoporosity into voxel-specific elastic properties. They serve as input for Finite Element analyses of the scaffold structure. Young's modulus of a specific CT-scanned macroporous scaffold sample, predicted from a Finite Element simulation of a uniaxial compression test, agrees well with the experimental value obtained from an ultrasonic test on the same sample. This highlights the satisfactory predictive capabilities of the presented approach.