The excellent thermal insulation performance of vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) make them widely applied in energy conservation fields, especially in buildings engineering. This research work proposes a simple, yet extremely effective, alternative model for prediction of the effective thermal conductivity (ETC.) of VIPs. The ETC. of VIPs is function of the thermal conductivity of the core mater...

Often fatigue tests of materials are performed with constant amplitude loads. When dealing with variable amplitude loads, like random loads, one forms equivalent load cycles. The now commonly used cycle counting method is rainflow counting which was introduced by Endo in 1968. The equivalent definition of rainflow cycles as illustrated in Figure 1 is due to Rychlik [5]. The fatigue life of a co...

Polyurethane sheet is a pure white, soft, and flexible synthetic sponge with a mechanical strength and abrasion resistance equivalent or even superior to other sponge materials. Our study indicates that the blood absorption power of the polyurethane sheet is equivalent to that of the cotton gauze even after repeated use, and it has the potential to decrease the total amount of sponge usage. Fur...