In the production of glass, the addition of more cullet to the batch of glass and the reduction of the thickness of glass are means to reduce energy consumption and raw material usage. This contributes towards improved energy efficiency targets of the European Union. This thesis investigated the energy consumed for the process of strengthening thinner glass as well the environmental implications of thinner and stronger compared to conventional glass across the life cycle of glass. The life cycle phases also included a recycling phase where 70% of the used glass was recycled with the remaining 30% being landfilled. The functional unit selected for this study was 1m2 of SLS glass, 4mm thick, with an average light transmittance of 91%. This corresponds to 10kg of clear float glass as per general rule. The findings of this thesis showed that one of the major contributing factors to high energy consumption in the melting phase of SLS glass is low efficiency of the furnace; this led to significant energy losses in the production of SLS glass. Recycling of flat glass, at a 70% rate, led to a 12% reduction in total global warming potential, a 10% reduction in the Acidification Potential, a 13% reduction in the Eutrophication Potential in marine environs, and a 7% reduction in the Eutrophication Potential in terrestrial habitats. The chemical and thermal strengthening process consumed 2.24 and 2.37 kWh/m2 respectively. The consequential impact of this is dependent on the source of the electricity for the strengthening processes. It was concluded that the energy used for the strengthening of the thinner glass is considerably less than the energy used in the production of a conventional glass that satisfies the same strength parameters.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / Douglas S. McGregor / Strengthening the crystal lattice of lanthanide halides, which are brittle, anisotropic, ionic crystals may increase the availability and ruggedness of these scintillators for room-temperature γ-ray spectroscopy applications. Eight dopants for CeBr[subscript]3, including CaBr[subscript]2, SrBr[subscript]2, BaBr[subscript]2, ZrBr[subscript]4, HfBr[subscript]4, ZnBr[subscript]2, CdBr[subscript]2, and PbBr[subscript]2, were explored at two different doping levels, 500ppm and 1000ppm, in an effort to identify potential aliovalent strengthening agents which do not adversely affect scintillation performance. All dopants and doping levels exhibited improved ingot yields over the undoped case, indicating an improvement in the ease of crystal growth. Scintillation performance was gauged using four key metrics. Scintillation emission spectra or, rather, radioluminescence spectra were recorded using x-ray irradiation. Total light yield was estimated through pulse height comparison with bismuth germanate (BGO) scintillators. Scintillation kinetics were checked by measuring single interaction pulses directly output by a fast response PMT. Finally, light yield proportionality was measured using a Compton coincidence system. Samples from each ingot were harvested to benchmark their performance with the four metrics. Of the eight dopants explored, only BaBr[subscript]2 and PbBr[subscript]2 clearly altered scintillation spectral emission characteristics significantly. The remaining dopants, CaBr[subscript]2, SrBr[subscript]2, ZrBr[subscript]4, HfBr[subscript]4, CdBr[subscript]2 and ZnBr[subscript]2, altered scintillation performance to a lesser degree. No dopant appeared to affect light yield proportionality, nor did any drastically alter the light decay characteristics of CeBr[subscript]3. HfBr[subscript]4 and ZnBr[subscript]2-doped CeBr[subscript]3 exhibited the highest light yields, significantly higher than the undoped CeBr[subscript]3 samples tested. Finally, aliovalent doping appeared to greatly improve CeBr[subscript]3 ingot yields, regardless of the dopant, thus it is a promising method for improving crystal strength while not deleteriously affecting scintillation performance. HfBr[subscript]4 and ZnBr[subscript]2 both demonstrated high performance without any noticeable negative side-effects and are prime candidates for future study.

Strengthening of existing structures with Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) is a method that has been more common in the building sector during the last decades. The materials strength in relation to its weight is a huge advantage but the lack of knowledge in the building sector results that professionals uses more proven materials such as steel to strength structures. In this report five minor projects in which steel was the strengthening material has been analysed to see if CFRP could be a competitive strengthening material considering mainly practical and economical aspects. The main purpose of this report was to evaluate when CFRP is the most suitable option for strengthening of concrete structures. The results showed that CFRP was applicable in every project but the total cost were higher comparing to the steel solution in four out of five projects. The results indicate that it is difficult to motivate CFRP regarding the economical aspect in relation to minor project that were evaluated in this report. Nevertheless, the tendency is that the advantages with CFRP is more useful when there are more comprehensive projects such as advanced steel works and when it is necessary to save room volumes.

Atramines sienas (toliau – AS) veikia įvairios apkrovos dėl kurių susidaro neleistinos deformacijos, atsiranda plyšiai, atraminės sienos pasvyra, siekiant jas apsaugoti nuo tolimesnio svyrimo ir griūties AS būtina stiprinti. Remiantis literatūros apžvalga pastebėta, kad nėra detaliai aptarti žemutinio bjefo (toliau – ŽB) atraminių gelžbetoninių (toliau – g/b) sienų stiprinimo būdai, todėl detalesniems tyrimams pasirinkti 4 hidromazgai (toliau – HTS), kurių atraminėms sienoms reikalingas stiprinimas. Darbo tikslas – įvertinti tinkamiausią gelžbetoninių atraminių sienų stiprinimo išramstant būdą. Siekiant parinkti tinkamiausią išramstymo būdą atlikti palyginamieji ekonominiai bei konstrukciniai skaičiavimai. Pagal ekonominių ir konstrukcinių skaičiavimų rezultatus nustatyta, kad ekonomiškiausias išramstymo būdas – įrengiant monolitines sijas ir „šukas“. / Retaining walls are under the influence of a number of loads, which results in unacceptable deformation, cracks appear and load-bearing walls lean on one side. Retaining walls should be strengthened in order to protect them from further collapse and loping. According to literary review, it is noticed that there is no detailed analysis of the lower pool retaining angled reinforced concrete wall-building techniques. This was the reason why 4 hydroschemes were chosen for more detailed researches in order to determine which retaining walls need strengthening. The aim of this work is to assess the most appropriate angled retaining wall building method. In order to select the most appropriate way of strengthening, comparative economic and structural calculations are done. In accordance with economic and structural results of calculations, it is found that the most economical way of building is a monolithic installation of beams and “combs”.

Baigiamajame magistro darbe nagrinėjami sijų, paveiktų gaisro temperatūros, stiprinimo būdai. Darbą sudaro septyni skyriai ir priedai. Pirmame skyriuje nagrinėjama gaisro temperatūrų įtaka gelžbetonio komponentams (armatūrai ir betonui). Antrame skyriuje apžvelgiama sijų elgsena ir suirimo priežastys gaisro metu. Trečiajame skyriuje aptariami galimi gelžbetoninių sijų stiprinimo būdai. Ketvirtajame atliekamas temperatūrinių laukų kompiuterinis modeliavimas sijos skerspjūvyje. Penktame ir šeštame skyriuose skaičiuojami gaisro temperatūrų paveikti ir sustiprinti elementai. Septintame skyriuje apibendrinami darbo rezultatai ir suformuluojamos darbo išvados bei pasiūlymai. Darbo apimtis - 106 psl. teksto be priedų, 79 iliustr., 5 lent., 21 bibliografiniai šaltiniai. Atskirai pridedami darbo priedai. / The final paper deals with beams, exposed fire-temperature strengthening mechanisms. The work consists of seven chapters and annexes. The first section examines fire temperature on reinforced concrete components (concrete and reinforcement). The second chapter discusses behavior of reinforced concrete beams and possible collapse reasons. The third section discusses possible ways of strengthening reinforced concrete beams. The fourth chapter consist of computer based temperature analysis of reinforced concrete beam cross-section. In the fifth and sixth chapters fire temperatures are calculated to affect and enhance elements. The seventh chapter summarizes the findings and formulating working conclusions. Working volume – 106 pages. text without appendixes, 79 pictures., 5 tables., 21 bibliographic sources. Appendixes.

Fibre reinforced polymers (FRPs) have gained considerable popularity as a building and repair material. In particular, FRPs have been an economical means of extending the life of structures. As time passes, an increased number and variety of new and old structures are incorporating FRPs as reinforcement and for rehabilitation. Perhaps most common are their applications for bridge structures. Much of the reluctance towards the inclusion of FRP as primary reinforcement or as a rehabilitation measure in building structures is due to its poor performance in fires. In order to move forward with an understanding of how FRP may overcome its temperature-related short comings, it is important to explore the behaviour of FRP, and structures which utilize FRP for reinforcement, at elevated temperatures. The results of a testing program including eleven high temperature, two room temperature intermediate-scale, FRP-strengthened, and one unstrengthened reinforced concrete beam tests are presented. The elevated temperature tests were conducted on both un-post-cured and post-cured FRP strengthening at temperatures up to 211°C. The tests also utilized a novel method for heating and post-curing FRP-strengthening in place. The strengthened beams exhibited strength gains above the unstrengthened reference beam, and it has been demonstrated that post-curing of an FRP system can be effective at increasing an FRP’s performance at elevated temperatures. Exposed to constant temperatures, un-post-cured specimens still exhibited substantial FRP strength at exposure temperatures up to Tg+79°C. Post-cured specimens exhibited similar performance at temperatures of Tg+43°C. The transient temperature tests resulted in ii beam failure at an average temperature of 186°C and 210°C for un-post-cured and post-cured FRP strengthening respectively at a constant applied load level 93% of that of the room temperature strengthened control beam. The results of this testing program demonstrate that FRP strengthening can remain effective when exposed to temperatures well above the measured value of Tg. / Thesis (Master, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-02-28 15:14:31.336

<p>Just as heat, light and electricity do, mechanical forces can also stimulate reactions. Conventionally, these processes - known as mechanochemistry - were viewed as comprising only destructive events, such as bond scission and material failure. Recently, Moore and coworkers demonstrated that the incorporation of mechanophores, i.e., mechanochemically active moieties, can bring new types of chemistry. This demonstration has inspired a series of fruitful works, at both the molecular and material levels, in both theoretical and experimental aspects, for both fundamental research and applications. This dissertation evaluates mechanochemical behavior in all of these contexts. </p><p>At the level of fundamental reactivity, forbidden reactions, such as those that violate orbital symmetry effects as captured in the Woodward-Hoffman rules, remain an ongoing challenge for experimental characterization, because when the competing allowed pathway is available, the reactions are intrinsically difficult to trigger. Recent developments in covalent mechanochemistry have opened the door to activating otherwise inaccessible reactions. This dissertation describes the first real-time observation and quantified measurement of four mechanically activated forbidden reactions. The results provide the experimental benchmarks for mechanically induced forbidden reactions, including those that violate the Woodward-Hoffmann and Woodward-Hoffmann-DePuy rules, and in some cases suggest revisions to prior computational predictions. The single-molecule measurement also captured competing reactions between isomerization and bimolecular reaction, which to the best of our knowledge, is the first time that competing reactions are probed by force spectroscopy. </p><p> Most characterization for mechanochemistry has been focused on the reactivity of mechanophores, and investigations of the force coupling efficiency are much less reported. We discovered that the stereochemistry of a non-reactive alkene pendant to a reacting mechanophore has a dramatic effect on the magnitude of the force required to trigger reactivity on a given timescale (here, a 400 pN difference for reactivity on the timescale of 100 ms). The stereochemical perturbation has essentially no measurable effect on the force-free reactivity, providing an almost perfectly orthogonal handle for tuning mechanochemical reactivity independently of intrinsic reactivity. </p><p>Mechanochemical coupling is also applied here to the study of reaction dynamics. The dynamics of reactions at or in the immediate vicinity of transition states are critical to reaction rates and product distributions, but direct experimental probes of those dynamics are rare. The s-trans, s-trans 1,3-diradicaloid transition states are trapped by tension along the backbone of purely cis-substituted gem-difluorocyclopropanated polybutadiene using the extensional forces generated by pulsed sonication of dilute polymer solutions. Once released, the branching ratio between symmetry-allowed disrotatory ring closing (of which the trapped diradicaloid structure is the transition state) and symmetry-forbidden conrotatory ring closing (whose transition state is nearby) can be inferred. Net conrotatory ring closing occurred in 5.0 ± 0.5% of the released transition states, as compared to 19 out of 400 such events in molecular dynamics simulations.</p><p>On the materials level, the inevitable stress in materials during usage causes bond breakage, materials aging and failure. A strategy for solving this problem is to learn from biological materials, which are capable to remodel and become stronger in response to the otherwise destructive forces. Benzocyclobutene has been demonstrated to mechanically active to ortho-quinodimethide, an intermediate capable for [4+4] dimerization and [4+2] cycloaddition. These features make it an excellent candidate for and synthesis of mechanochemical remodeling. A polymer containing hundreds of benzocyclobutene on the backbone was synthesized. When the polymer was exposed to otherwise destructive shear forces generated by pulsed ultrasound, its molecular weight increased as oppose to other mechanophore-containing polymers. When a solution of the polymer with bismaleimide was subjected to pulsed ultrasonication, crosslink occurred and the modulus increased by two orders of magnitude.</p> / Dissertation

Title: Methods of prevention in hyperextension trauma to the elbow of the handball goalkeeper. Objectives: The main objective of this thesis is to determine whether the muscle strengthening exercises stabilizers of the elbow affect the stability of the elbow joint and also draw attention to the issue of hyperextension trauma to the elbow joint of the handball goalkeeper. Another objective is to evaluate the possibility of prevention of hyperextension trauma to the elbow joint of the handball goalkeeper. Methods: Rating angular deviations observed in the elbow before and after completing the intervention. Deviations were recorded using a 3D analysis system Qualysis and were processed in software Qualisys Track Manager. Results: Strengthening the dynamic stabilizers of the elbow helps to improve stability of the elbow joint load into hyperextension. Active exercise can be used as a possible prevention of hyperextension trauma to the elbow joint of handball goalkeepers. Keywords: elbow joint, hyperextension trauma, goalkeeper, handball, strengthening

Title: The Effect of Flowin Intervention Programme on Core Objectives: The aim of this work was to verify the validity of field testing HSS focusing on M. transversus abdominis and evaluate short-term intervention program Flowin to strengthen the CORE group floorball players. Methods: The research group (n = 13) consisting of junior elite floorball players were randomly divided into experimental (N = 7) and control (N = 6) group. The experimental group underwent a 10-week program Flowin aimed at strengthening CORE. The control group continued normal training. The level of engagement CORE was assessed by modified Bunkie test. This is a test in three positions with the aim to maintain the line shoulder-hip-ankle for 30 s. Objectivization was based on video and evaluation path node. To verify the validity testing CORE was selected from a physiotherapist. The four parameters determining the state of the deep stabilizing muscles evaluated on a scale of 1 to 5. It was chosen testing before and after the intervention program. Results: Demonstrated no relationship trajectory node with the evaluation of physiotherapists (R = 0.105). Was no evidence of effectiveness of the intervention program Flowin (average total trajectory in the second measurement was performed in the experimental group: 0.16 ± 0.14 m,...

Title: The influence of the strengthening of the lower extremities performance in 100 m breaststroke. Goals: The thesis aims to determine the effect of specific and non-specific exercises on the performance of the lower extremities in the 100 m breaststroke. Methods: To assess and verify the beginning, during and end of our investigation we have used these methods. Anthropometric indicators - age, height, weight, BMI (body mass index), foot length and length of lower extremities. Determining the maximal performance and number of strokes in the 100 m breaststroke. The level of explosive force of lower limbs by performing a vertical jump. And power endurance level of the lower extremities with the flexibility of the hip and knee joints by making deep squats to maximum. Results: The results of the work provide information on the impact of the strengthening of the lower extremities performance in the 100 m breaststroke. Based on the results was observed significance of these measurements using the Wilcoxon matched pairs test. For probands in the final measurements marked improvement. Key Words: breaststroke technique, strength, lower extremity, specific and non- specific exercises