Experimental data are reported on the elastoplastic response of and moisture diffusion through a vinyl ester resin–montmorillonite clay nanocomposite with various amounts of filler. Two simple models are developed for the elastoplastic behavior of a nanocomposite and for the anomalous diffusion of penetrant molecules. Adjustable parameters in the constitutive equations are found by fitting the ...

The phase change of water from liquid to vapor is one of the most energy-intensive physical processes in nature, giving it immense potential for cooling. Diverse evaporative cooling strategies have resulted worldwide, including roof ponds and sprinklers, courtyard fountains, wind catchers with qanats, irrigated green roofs, and fan-assisted evaporative coolers. These methods all require water i...

Most drying simulation models describe the moisture migration in wood as a diffusion process, including free water flow at contents greater than the fibre saturation point. This means that wood is seen as a homogeneous material lacking internal structure. However, especially in softwood narrow sections, bordered pits, divide the free water phase into rather distinct units. It is thus quite clea...

From hardening of marshmallow to graining of hard candies, moisture plays a critical role in determining the quality and shelf life of sugar-based confections. Water is important during the manufacturing of confections, is an important factor in governing texture, and is often the limiting parameter during storage that controls shelf life. Thus, an understanding of water relations in confection...

This paper investigates the hygrothermal effects on the failure mechanisms in bending of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. Accelerated diffusion testing was carried out by immersion at 50°C constant temperature and 70 bar hydrostatic pressure to study the effects of fresh or sea water diffusion into pre-preg CFRP laminates. Consequently the composite laminates were tested in be...

There is considerable disagreement as to whether or not water is equally available to plants in drying soil over the entire range from field capacity to wilting percentage. Some workers have repeatedly stated that water is equally available over this range (5, 18, 23, 24) while considerable data have accumulated which indicate that physiological processes in plants are altered as a result of de...

Wildland firefighters work in unfavourable environments involving both heat and moisture. Moisture in clothing systems worn by wildland firefighters may increase or decrease heat transfer, depending on its source and location in the clothing system, location on the body, timing of application and degree of sorption. In this experiment, 4 outerwear/underwear combinations were exposed to 1 of 5 d...

This research was carried out at the laboratories of Food Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Damascus University, to investigate the effect of high temperatures on accelerating the ripening of kachcaval cheese, through determining the chemical and sensory indicators of ripened cheese using three temperatures (16°C, 20°C for a week) then completing the ripening process up to 60 days at ...

This paper presents the results obtained with the simulations of a sandwich rectangular plate made of carbon/epoxy composite when subjected to temperature and humidity cycles. Fickian diffusion process, moisture transport along the interfaces and damage caused by slipping and debonding between the components of the microscopic structure are considered. The application of the design methodology ...

3 Introduction and Background 5 Methods 6 Results and Discussion 10 Tortuosity 18 Pore-Bond Network Represenations 22 Comparison between Commercial and Laboratory Sheets 28 Permeability 31 Effect of papermaking processes on 3D structure 33 Comparison of high and low resolution tomography 37 Surface Structure Characterization 42 Method to predict transport properties using actual 3D structures 4...