This paper presents application of optical microscope for evaluation of microtexture changes of coarse aggregate during simulated polishing in laboratory. Observations of the apparent changes on surfaces of seven different aggregates are presented. Simulation polishing of aggregate was performed in accordance with PN-EN 1097-8:2009. lmages of the aggregate surface were taken with the optical microscope in the reflection mode in particular stages of polishing. Digital images were analyzed. Standard deviation was determined on the basis of the histogram of intensities from digital images of the surfaces of aggregate grains which was assurned as the measure of changes in microtexture during simulated polishing (namely the σh parameter). Statistical analysis has shown that the changes of the σh parameter between the particular stages of polishing confirm certain trends related to the petrographic characteristic of the rocks. Aggregates which included minerals of similar hardness (granodiorite, dolomile, basalt) were more prone to polishing than gabbro and postglacial. Regeneration of the microtexture, the recovery to its original asperity, occurred in the case of quartz sandstone and steelmaking slag.

The paper deals with the variability of mechanical properties of EPSTAL steel rods produced in Polish steelworks, i.e. yield stress Re, tensile strength Rm, and elongation Agt. Our study is based on fundamental engineering static room-temperature tensile tests for large series specimens which have been made by manufacturers as the part of a factory quality control. Statistical analysis of these results shows that the stressstrain relationship of steel tensile tests should be described by a one-dimensional stochastic process, and three the most important mechanical parameters, i.e. the yield stress, tensile strength, and elongation by random variables. Based on the statistical elaboration of experimental data, it was found that the yield stress and tensile strength of steel rods produced in the years 2016-2017 had the coefficients of variation of less than 3%, and there is a reasonable basis for the manufacturer to increase the characteristic value of EPSTAL steel rods yield stress by a few percentages.

The Histogram Test method is a popular technique in analog-to-digital converter (ADC) testing. The presence of additive noise in the test setup or in the ADC itself can potentially affect the accuracy of the test results. In this study, we demonstrate that additive noise causes a bias in the terminal based estimation of the gain but not in the estimation of the offset. The estimation error is determined analytically as a function of the sinusoidal stimulus signal amplitude and the noise standard deviation. We derive an exact but computationally difficult expression as well as a simpler closed form approximation that provides an upper bound of the bias of the terminal based gain. The estimators are validated numerically using a Monte Carlo procedure with simulated and experimental data.

Froin January 2006 on, a continuous experiment consisting in determinations of granulometrie composition of the airborne dust has been performed in the Institute of Environmental Engineering of PAS, Zabrze. The investigations include measurements of concentrations of PM1 - the suspended in ambient air particles of the aerodynamic diameter not grater than I μm - by using the PM10 Dekali impactor. The results of twelve month measurements (January - December 2006) arc presented in the paper: the granulometrie composition of total suspended dust (PM10, PM2.5, PM1) in winter and summer at an urban background site in the Silcsian Agglomeration. Monthly and seasonal average concentrations of PM I O, PM2.5 and PM1 were computed.