Plastic obtained from the discarded computers, televisions, refrigerators, and other electronic devices is termed as e-plastic waste. E-plastic waste is non-biodegradable waste. This paper focuses to investigate the replacement of fine aggregate with plastic aggregate obtained from e-plastic. The paper presents a detailed comparison of concrete properties (i.e.: compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, density and workability) for normal concrete and concrete containing e-plastic fine aggregates. The testing was conducted according to the ASTM standards. 28-day Compressive, Flexural and Split tensile strengths were determined. In addition to the effect of e-plastic fine aggregate, silica fume is added as an admixture to find the effect on strengths. Authors have performed a compressive, flexural and tensile test of concrete mix with various percentages of e-plastic aggregates (i.e., 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20%) and silica fume (i.e.: 0, 5 and 10%) and concrete densities are also considered. It has been concluded that an increase in the e-plastic fine aggregate results in reduction in densities, compressive, flexural and tensile strength values. However, when we add silica fume to the concrete mixture it leads to strength values similar to the control mixture. The optimum obtained concrete blend contained 5% e-plastic fine aggregates and 10% silica fume. The addition of silica fume in concrete mixtures increases the 28-day compressive, flexural and tensile strengths. Moreover, the density of concrete decreases with the increase in the e-plastic aggregates.
The article presents the socio-environmental policy of the selected entities operating in the rock raw materials industry. Integrated reports prepared by mining entrepreneurs may be a source of verification of the “raw materials policy”, identified as a manifestation of the care of these entities for the environment and society. Rational deposit management is closely related to the raw material policy. The preparation of integrated reports is compulsory from as of January 2017 (in accordance with Directive 2014/95/EU) for large companies in the EU. These are companies that fulfil the criterion of the number of employees (500 persons for public interest entities required under the Directive to extend non-financial information) and the balance sheet total (>EUR 20 million EUR) or net income (>EUR 40 million EUR). This obligation mainly applies to mining enterprises involved in mining and processing hard coal, lignite or copper ore. The mining of non-energy raw materials is no less important. The rock raw materials are used, among others, in road construction, railways or construction, in the form of aggregates, and stone elements, and also in the paper, cosmetic and ceramic industries. The article aims to analyseanalyze the socio-environmental policy of mining entrepreneurs dealing with the exploitation of rock raw materials in accordance with latest GRI guidelines (Global Reporting Initiative – G4). The scope of activities was compared in accordance with the principles of sustainable development of three large companies operating in the Polish mining industry: Cemex, Górażdże Heidelberg Cement Group and Lafarge. They compared the extent to which and the form in which non-financial data are is presented. It was presented and included which of the mentioned companies take into account the full value chain in the reporting process, from mining operations to processing and sale products, into account.
Aflexible fractal-like aggregate modelwas used to study deformation and fragmentation of the structure of fractal-like aggregates via their impaction with rigid rough surface.Aggregateswere conveyed one at the time towards a surface under vacuum conditions. The number of primary particles remaining in each fragment, ratio of average fragment radius of gyration after impaction to the average fragment initial radius of gyration and ratio of average coordination number to the initial coordination number were monitored for each individual aggregate. Results demonstrate that depending on the impact velocity, the fractal dimension of the aggregate, the strength of bonds between primary particles, the stiffness of the aggregate structure and the diameter of primary particle composing an aggregate, restructuring or breakage of the aggregate occur. Moreover, in the analysis of the ratio of coordination number of aggregates after impaction to the initial coordination number, three regimes were distinguished: first no deformation at low impact velocities, second restructurisation regime and finally fragmentation regime where partial or total fragmentation of aggregates was observed.
We introduce numerical methods and algorithms to estimate the main parameters of fractal-like particle aggregates from their optical structure factor (i.e. light scattering diagrams). The first algorithm is based on a direct and simple method, but its applicability is limited to aggregates with large size parameter and intermediate fractal dimension. The second algorithm requires to build calibration curves based on accurate particle agglomeration and particle light scattering models. It allows analyzing the optical structure factor of much smaller aggregates, regardless of their fractal dimension and the size of the single particles. Therefore, this algorithm as well as the introduction of a criterial curve to detect the different scattering regimes, are thought to be powerful tools to perform reliable and reproducible analysis.
This paper is focused on the manufacturing and properties of light weight aggregates made from local waste materials. The waste materials were car windshield glass contaminated by PVB foil, fly ash, mine slates as well as wastes after toothpaste production. The main aim of the research was to combine car windshield glass and the aluminosilicate coal mine slates as a basis for light weight aggregates manufacturing. Fly ash were added in order to modify rheological properties of the plastic mass. Toothpaste wastes were introduced as a source of carbonates and CO2 evolution during thermal treatment. After milling and mixing all materials they were pressed and sintered at temperature range of 950°C-1100°C in air. The results show that it is possible to receive light weight aggregates only from the Silesian local waste materials. The significant influence of sintering temperature on properties of aggregates was observed.
This study explores the influence of alkali activators on the initiation of polymerization reaction of alumino-silicate minerals present in class-F fly ash material. Different types of fly ash aggregates were produced with silicate rich binders (bentonite and metakaolin) and the effect of alkali activators on the strength gain properties were analyzed. A comprehensive examination on its physical and mechanical properties of the various artificial fly ash aggregates has been carried out systematically. A pelletizer machine was fabricated in this study to produce aggregate pellets from fly ash. The efficiency and strength of pellets was improved by mixing fly ash with different binder materials such as ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), metakaolin and bentonite. Further, the activation of fly ash binders was done using sodium hydroxide for improving its binding properties. Concrete mixes were designed and prepared with the different fly ash based aggregates containing different ingredients. Hardened concrete specimens after sufficient curing was tested for assessing the mechanical properties of different types concrete mixes. Test results indicated that fly ash -GGBS aggregates (30S2‒100) with alkali activator at 10M exhibited highest crushing strength containing of 22.81 MPa. Similarly, the concrete mix with 20% fly ash-GGBS based aggregate reported a highest compressive strength of 31.98 MPa. The fly ash based aggregates containing different binders was found to possess adequate engineering properties which can be suggested for moderate construction works.
Geographical Information Systems have become essential tools for land analysis and the subsequent decision making in many fields of human activity. In the field of mining, GIS applications have appeared in ore deposit modelling, environmental pollution, or planning of mining spaces. In this research, the powerful multicriteria tools of GIS platforms have been applied for the determination of an index that has been called “Exploitability Index”. This index allows analyzing a series of outcrops of industrial aggregates, to help in the selection of the most adequate one to be enhanced from a mining approach. The multicriteria analysis has been applied for its determination, and as a result of this research, a model is proposed. The main criteria that condition the decision have been established in this model, along with their subsequent hierarchization and their weighting. The proposed model is applied to a specific case: the analysis of a series of outcrops of industrial aggregates (ophites) in Cantabria, Spain. After defining the Exploitability Index for those ophitic outcrops, it has been observed that the only deposit that has been classified as very suitable for its exploitation is the only one that has been really exploited, supporting the proposed methodology.
Proper values of physical and mechanical properties and their homogeneity are one of major requirements deciding about technological suitability of the rocks quarried to manufacturing aggregates. These properties depend on the natural features of a rock, its mineral composition, texture and structure. The characteristic of aggregates and the technical requirements they must meet are normalized in adequate standards that describe the procedures of conducting particular determinations and the methods of interpreting their results. In the basaltoids (usually called basalts) of selected deposits of Lower Silesia that represent different intrusive forms, five textural varieties have been distinguished: aphanitic, aphanitic-porphyritic, porphyritic-aphanitic, porphyritic-nodular and nodular-porphyritic. The petrography and essential physical and mechanical properties of these varieties have been described in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. The highest technical parameters have the aphanitic and aphanitic-porphyritic rock varieties. They result mainly from the textures of these rocks and their insignificant weathering, and to a lesser degree from their mineral composition. The resistance to wear (micro-Deval) and the resistance to fragmentation (Los Angeles) of the aggregates that represent the grain fraction 10-14 mm of the five varieties of basaltoids and the rock composites were determined according to the standards PN-EN 12620: 2008 and PN-EN 13043: 2004. Of the aggregates produced from the five major varieties, only those made of the nodular-porphyritic basaltoids have the properties of lower categories, whereas the remaining four are the materials of very high quality. Additionally, it has been shown that by combining various basaltoid types it is possible to produce composite aggregates with the variable qualities belonging to the categories LA and MDE (Tab. 3). The effect of rock petrography on the differentiation of the parameters of aggregates depending on the grain fraction of the products (Fig. 1, Tab. 4) is the lowest in the case of the aggregates produced from the homogenous and not weathered rock. In contrast, the range of variability of the parameters is higher if the starting material to produce aggregates is composed of several textural varieties and shows signs of weathering as well. The possibility of delineation of the areas occupied in the deposit by basaltoids with specific textural varieties creates the conditions of determining the rock zones, from which the aggregates of the predicted quality may be produced. This quality may be controlled and partly changed to the user needs by producing aggregates from the specially prepared rock mixtures (i.e. the charge to crushers) with specified proportions of the basaltoid varieties.
In this paper, a new set of intuitionistic fuzzy aggregation operators have been introduced under the environment of intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs). For this, firstly focused on some existing aggregation operators and then new operational rules known as Dombi operation have been pro- posed which make the advancement of flexibility behavior with the parameter. Based on Dombi operation laws, some new averaging and geometric aggregation operators namely, intuitionistic fuzzy Dombi weighted averaging, ordered weighted averaging and hybrid weighted averaging operator, classified as IFDWA, IFDOWA and IFDHWA operators respectively and intuitionistic fuzzy Dombi geometric, ordered weighted geometric and hybrid weighted geometric operators, labeled as IFDWG, IFDOWG and IFDHWG operators respectively have been proposed. Further, some properties such as idempotency, boundedness, monotonicity and commutative are investigated. Finally, a multi-attribute decision-making model has been developed for the proposed operators to select the best mutual fund for investment. The execution of the comparative study has been examined with the existing operators in this environment.
Arid areas are particularly susceptible to soil erosion due to long dry periods and sudden heavy downpours. This study investigates the aggregate size distribution and aggregate stability of twelve tilled fallow areas of Hyderabad district, Sindh, Pakistan. This study determined aggregate size distribution by dry sieving to evaluate the seedbed condition and aggregate stability using wet sieving to assess the susceptibility of tilled fallow areas to soil erosion. The aggregate size distribution of the soils of the selected areas was highly variable. Gulistan-e-Sarmast had the largest number of clods (51.0%) followed by Kohsar (49.0%), Latifabad # 10 (41.10%) and Daman-e-Kohsar (39.0%). Fazal Sun City, the left side of the Indus River, the Village Nooral Detha and the left side of the Abdullah Sports city had a greater number of large (>8.0 mm) and small aggregates (<0.5 mm). The optimum aggregate size distribution was found in the left side of the channel, which had the largest number of aggregates (50.50%) in the 0.5–8.0 mm sieve size range. Maximum aggregate stability (AS) was found in Gulistan-e-Sarmast (46%), Kohsar (42%) and Latifabad # 10 (34%), while all other soils had minimum aggregate stability (<14%). The minimum aggregate stabilities demonstrate that the tilled fallow areas of Hyderabad district are highly susceptible to erosion. Therefore, the present study suggests investigating potential ways to enhance the aggregate stabilities of soils.
Providing Privacy and security for aggregated data in wireless sensor networks has drawn the attention of practicing engineers and researchers globally. Several cryptographic methods have been already proposed to solve security and data integrity problems for aggregated data. Matrix cryptography is a better option for creating secure encryption/decryption algorithms to counter quantum attack. However, these algorithms have higher computational cost and increased communication overhead. Hence, a new technique of loss-less secure data aggregation in Clustered Wireless Sensor Networks is presented. The proposed method uses integer matrices as keys for data security and data integrity. Matrix operations are carried out in finite field Zp. Loss-less secure data aggregation is extended for homomorphic summation while the cipher text expansion ratio is kept substantially low. The proposed algorithm has inbuilt fast and efficient signature verification facility. The execution time of our signature verification mechanism is found to be approximately 50 percent less compared to a couple of standard existing signature verification schemes.
The basic tests that allow the mechanical properties of grained material to be evaluated are tests of an aggregate’s resistance to crushing - the Los Angeles coefficient, and resistance to abrasion - the micro-Deval coefficient. These parameters primarily depend on the physical and mechanical properties of the raw material from which they are produced. The available literature widely describes the relationship between these parameters and bulk density, porosity, ultrasonic wave velocity, compression strength, tensile strength and point strength. This paper presents the relationship between the mechanical properties of aggregates and their geometrical properties. The analysis was carried out for the relationship between the Los Angeles and micro- Deval coefficients and the flatness and shape indices. As a result of the conducted considerations, the influence of the aggregate assortment on the analysed coefficients was also noted. All of the tests were carried out for aggregates (arch stones and mixtures) produced from sandstones from the Magura, Cergo and Krosno layers.
Automation of data processing of contactless diagnostics (detection) of the technical condition of the majority of nodes and aggregates of railway transport (RWT) minimizes the damage from failures of these systems in operating modes. This becomes possible due to the rapid detection of serious defects at the stage of their origin. Basically, in practice, the control of the technical condition of the nodes and aggregates of the RWT is carried out during scheduled repairs. It is not always possible to identify incipient defects. Consequently, it is not always possible to warn personnel (machinists, repairmen, etc.) of significant damage to the RWT systems until their complete failure. The difficulties of obtaining diagnostic information is that there is interdependence between the main nodes of the RWT. This means that if physical damage occurs at any of the RWT nodes, in other nodes there can also occur malfunctions.
As the main way to improve the efficiency of state detection of the nodes and aggregates of RWT, we see the direction of giving the adaptability property for an automated data processing system from various contactless diagnostic information removal systems. The global purpose can be achieved, in particular, through the use of machine learning methods and failure recognition (recognition objects). In order to improve the operational reliability and service life of the main nodes and aggregates of RWT, there are proposed an appropriate model and algorithm of machine learning of the operator control system of nodes and aggregates. It is proposed to use the Shannon normalized entropy measure and the Kullback-Leibler distance information criterion as a criterion of the learning effectiveness of the automated detection system and operator node state control of RWT. The article describes the application of the proposed method on the example of an automatic detection system (ADS) of the state of a traction motor of an electric locomotive. There are given the test data of the model and algorithm in the MATLAB environment.
The growth of the global population, urbanization as well as economic and industrial development, affect the continuously increasing demand for mineral aggregates. The current assessed global production of mineral aggregates amounts to 50 billion Mg/year, which statistically approximates 6.5 Mg per an inhabitant of the globe. In terms of consumption volume, water is the only raw material ahead of aggregates. Despite such a great scale, in many countries and regions the extraction and production of aggregates belong to the least regulated sector of human activity. This refers particularly to the countries of A sia, A frica, and North A merica, where both the resources and the extraction of aggregates, particularly of sand and gravels, are either not monitored and registered. It significantly increases the negative impact on the natural environment, due to the destruction of riverbeds and oxbows, coastal erosion, drying up cultivation areas, etc. In the reports, local terminology of aggregates often functions, which makes it difficult to compare them and prepare appropriate balances. In order to regulate the unfavorable situation, one of the main conclusions of the Report (UNEP 2019) is the need of implementing a common requirement to plan and monitor the process of extraction of natural resources. The paper presents the possibility of forecasting the extraction and producing aggregates based on the consumption of cement, i.e. the basic building material. A lthough the analyzed coefficient of mineral aggregate production per unit of cement consumption (production) varies, its advantage is the fact that the production of cement is identified and taken into account in balances of industrial production of the majority of countries, whereas such identification for mineral aggregate production are still lacking.
In the construction industry carbonate aggregates are commonly used in processes such as concrete production. Aggregates which contain (in their mineral composition) dolomite and an admixture of clay minerals and amorphous silica , can react with alkalis. These reactions can lead to a destructive expansion in concrete. This article explains the mechanisms and the essence of this phenomenon. What is more, some effective and fast methods of the estimation and evaluation of Polish aggregates consisting of carbonate rocks suggests effective methods to determine the usefulness of Polish carbonate aggregates in concrete production are discussed in the paper. Underneath the quality criteria to determine the reactivity of the aggregates will be given. It has been agreed that alkaline reaction and expansion are two separate phenomena related to each other genetically. The aggregates in which reactions caused by clay-siliceous admixtures occur are subjected to expansion. Mineral composition of expansive aggregates as well as their texture indicate that epigenetic dolomites with a distinctive texture are the most reactive. The phase transformations do not end with a complete disintegration of dolomite. They have a cyclical character. They consist of interchangeable reactions of dedolomitization and dolomitization of secondary calcite formed as a result of dolomite's disintegration. The secondary calcite can be effected by Mg+2 ions from pores' solutions and it can form a secondary dolomite. The Mg2+ ions originate from brucite [Mg(OH)2], created in dolomitization process. As a consequence of its reaction with silica, brucite can dissolve and enrich secondary calcite with magnesium. Therefore the reactions which take place in reactive carbonate aggregates and concrete that ismade of it are in fact ongoing processes which consist of dolomite's changes into calcite and vice versa. They are reactions between dedolomitization products (brucite, silica) and products from outside (water, alkalis). The described dedolomitization reactions are a phase of the process that enables expansion due to formation of pressure in inter-granular cracks, with pressure being a result of dry clay-minerals' expansion under the influence of water solutions. Loosening of the aggregate's structure as an effect of dedolomitization reaction makes it easier for water solutions to migrate far into the aggregate's grains followed by their contact with clay minerals.