Chapters authored
The Improvement of the Quality of Construction Foam and Non-Autoclave Foam Concrete on Its Basis through the Introduction of Nanosize Additives
In order to improve the quality of a construction foam on a protein basis for non-autoclaved foam concrete, a proposal has been made to increase its stability by introducing nanosize additives—SiO2 and Fe(OH)3 sols. It is shown that the effect obtained is connected with various stabilization mechanisms. It is stated that these mechanisms are connected with different energies of chemical bonds formed between the molecules of the foaming agent and the injected sols. By means of electron microscopy, it is stated that the growth of foam stability is connected with an increase in the foam film thickness by one order. An increase in the coefficient of the foam resistance in the cement paste is shown. The stabilization of the construction foam leads to the possibility of using foam concrete hardening accelerators without destroying its structure. The resulting foam concrete is proved to get the increased compressive and bending tensile strength and reduced thermal conductivity and shrinkage in drying. The porosity of the foam concrete obtained is tested by means of mercury porometry. Its phase composition is investigated by X-ray phase and derivatographic analysis.
Part of the book: Foams
Fractal Characterization of Microstructure of Materials and Correlation with Their Properties on the Basis of Digital Materials Science Concept
The concept of Digital Materials Science supposes that materials are designed, fabricated, tested, studied, characterized, and optimized on the basis of digital technologies, including the analysis of fractal parameters (fractal dimension, lacunarity, scale invariance, Voronoi entropy, etc.) of materials’ microstructure. Many classes of materials may be considered as composites: polymer composites with inorganic fillers, alloys containing nonmetallic inclusions (oxides, carbides, nitrides, intermetallic ones, etc.), ceramic materials with pores and sintering additives, etc. The analysis of composition-technology-structure-properties relationships for such non-ordered composite materials requires the development of numerical tools for the characterization of their structure, including the interposition of phases. This chapter presents several examples of the implementation of this concept, including the study of filler distributions in dielectric composites, interposition of phases in special ceramic materials, distribution of nonmetallic inclusions in additively manufactured stainless steel, and structural features of tungsten oxide-based electrochromic materials. Based on the analysis of such characteristics as lacunarity and surface functionality, interrelations are established between technical properties of the studied materials and their structure providing approaches to the prediction and optimization of their target performances.
Part of the book: Fractal Analysis - Applications and Updates