The effects of periodic hot-press drying on drying behavior and mechanical damage to Chinese fir lumber were investigated by taking the heating platens’ temperature (TP) and compression ratio (Rc) as experimental factors. The temperature and pressure inside lumber were analyzed during drying process. The results were as follows. The drying rate of lumber was significantly increased with increasing TP and Rc. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs showed that bordered pit membranes, cross-field pits, middle lamella between adjacent cells, and tracheid walls were damaged after drying, and the damage became more severe with higher TP and Rc. Detachments between ray parenchyma cells and tracheids were observed at 170 °C. Nitrogen-adsorption measurement results demonstrated that more cell wall pores in the 2.5~6.2 nm pore diameter range were generated at higher TP, resulting in an enlarged specific surface area and pore volume of cell walls. These structural changes contributed to accelerating moisture migration and decreasing the drying time. Furthermore, fluctuating pressure inside lumber was the main driving force leading to moisture migration and cell tissue damage in lumber during drying. The influence of TP on internal temperature (TM) and pressure (PM) was greater than Rc. With the increase in TP from 130 to 170 °C at the Rc of 10%, the maximum TM and PM were increased by 30.90% and 39.84%, respectively. However, TP should not be too high to prevent the formation of macro-cracks caused by high pressure, which may significantly affect wood’s mechanical properties. These results provide theoretical support for periodic hot-press drying processes’ improvement and high-value utilization of Chinese fir.
Abstract The effect of post weld heat treatment (PWHT) on microstructure and mechanical properties of deposited metal using ENiCrFe-7 covered electrode was investigated. The PWHT was conducted at 615 °C for 24 h. The results showed that three types of precipitates existed in both as-welded and PWHT deposited metals, i.e., NbC carbides, Al-Ti oxides in grains, and M 23 C 6 carbides on grain boundaries. The M 23 C 6 carbides coarsened after PWHT. The room temperature and elevated temperature (350 °C) tensile strength decreased by about 30 MPa, and elongation increased by about 3%–4% after PWHT. The tensile specimens presented ductile fracture feature and the dimples in PWHT condition were larger than that in as-welded condition. The hardness of deposited metal in as-welded condition was higher than that of PWHT condition. The impact toughness showed no significant change after PWHT. Both as-welded and PWHT impact specimens showed a mixed fracture mode with dominant ductile fracture and cleavage fracture.
Microwave (MW) treatment is an effective method to increase refractory wood permeability, thereby reducing drying time and defects. The extent of modification depends on the damage extent of the wood microstructure. In this study, MW intensities of 43 kWh/m3 (low intensity) and 57 kWh/m3(high intensity) were adopted to treat Chinese fir lumber. Microstructural changes in wood samples were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and pore structure was characterized using mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP). Results were as follows: After low-intensity MW treatment, parts of the bordered pit membranes in tracheids were damaged, and micro-fibrils on the margo were ruptured, while the torus basically remained intact. Micro-cracks were observed at both ends of the cross-field pit apertures, propagating to the cell walls of tracheids. The middle lamellar between ray parenchyma cells and longitudinal tracheids cracked, and the width of cracks was in the range of 1–25 μm. After high-intensity MW treatment, damage to the wood microstructure was more severe than that in the low-intensity MW treatment, with macro-cracks having a width range of 100–130 μm being generated. In addition, on the fracture surface of macro-cracks, the bordered pit membranes in tracheids fell off, cross-field pit membranes disappeared and the ray parenchyma cells were seriously damaged, exhibiting fracture of the tracheid walls. Both low-intensity and high-intensity MW treatment can increase the pore diameter corresponding to the margo capillaries (peak value increased from 674.7 nm to 831.8 nm and 1047.6 nm, respectively). The number of pores in the tracheid lumen diameter range also significantly increased. These results provide a theoretical support forMW treatment processes’ improvement and high-value utilization of Chinese fir.
This study examined spatial and temporal thermal performance and energy consumption. The temperature distribution in the running period was monitored in test rooms with integrated electric- and hot water-heated floors. The short- and long-term energy consumption of the two heating systems were recorded and compared. The results indicated that the integrated electric heating system generated higher temperatures for indoor air and on the exterior surface of the wooden floor than the hot water heating system; meanwhile, the difference in the mean temperatures of the exterior and rear surfaces of the electric-heated floor was 2.44 °C, while that of the hot water-heated test room was 13.25 °C. The efficient structure of the integrated electric heating system saved 22.97% energy compared to the hot water system after short-term (7 h) charging and reaching a dynamic balance, and it efficiently increased the energy utilization rate to 11.81%. After long-term charging, the daily energy consumption of the integrated electric heating system consumed much less energy than the hot water system every month. The integrated electric heating system saved 62.55% and 34.30% of energy in May and January, respectively, and consumed less than half of the energy the hot water system consumed in the less cold months. Therefore, a high-efficiency and energy-saving integrated electric-heated floor could be a potential indoor heating solution.
Abstract Anisotropic shrinkage is a typically feature in wood, which is of critical importance in wood drying. In this study, the shrinkage strains over each growth ring were determined by a full-field strain measurement system during moisture content (MC) loss. Color maps were used to visualize the full-field distribution of displacement and shrinkage strain under different MC conditions. The variation of tangential and radial shrinkage strain from pith to bark, as well as the anisotropic shrinkage in heartwood and sapwood were studied. Both of the displacement and strain values increased as the MC decreased. From pith to bark, the tangential strains were higher at two poles as compared to the center, showing a parabolic distribution below fiber saturation point. While for radial shrinkage strain, a minor difference was observed except for the MC of 10%. An intersection between tangential and radial shrinkage ratio curve was observed at the MC of 28%. Both expansion and shrinkage in tangential direction were larger than radial counterparts, and the transformation from expansion to shrinkage occurred at the MC region of 32–28%. In addition, the shrinkage in heartwood was larger than sapwood, whereas anisotropic shrinkage in sapwood was more pronounced as compared to heartwood.
<p>Supplemental Materials & Methods and Figures 1-6. Sup. Figure 1. The effect of antiestrogens against ER+ BrCa spheroid cultures is attenuated by BMSCs. Sup. Figure 2. BMSCs attenuate the antiestrogen response of BrCa xenografts in vivo. Sup. Figure 3. BMSCs attenuate hormone-induced gene expression in cancer spheroids with varying effect on HR expression. Sup. Figure 4. BMSCs paracrine effect induces HT resistance in PrCa/BrCa 3D spheroids via IL-6 secretion or in IL-6-independent manner. Sup. Figure 5. Transcriptional signatures of genes downregulated (log2FC< -1) or upregulated (log2FC > 1) in MCF7 spheroids cocultured (8 days) with HS5 (vs. monoculture) do not correlate with relapse-free survival of 342 ER-negative BrCa patients (stratified using the upper tertile of the respective signature as cutoff). Sup. Figure 6. BrCa spheroids in coculture with BMSC acquire increased dependence on growth factor receptor and downstream signaling.</p>
This article expounds the goals and meanings of drawing up The Fujian provincial local criteria of formula feed for giant freshwater shrimp(Macrobrachium rosenbergii), and explains the basis and thoughts of drawing up the criteria's main indexes.