[en] Based on the requirements of latest codes and rules and the research achievements of US NRC, the analysis methodology for reactor pressure vessel (RPV) structure integrity under pressurized thermal shock (PTS) was presented. For a series of PTS transients, the thermal-hydraulic responses of a typical conventional PWR were calculated with the thermal-hydraulic system analysis program RELAP5, and fracture mechanics analyses of the RPV model were calculated with the finite element analysis software ANSYS. Furthermore, the risk assessment was performed under these PTS transients, and the effect of RPV material embrittlement was studied. The analyses indicate that the surface flaws and the flaws close to the interior surface of the RPV are more vulnerable to produce crack initiation than those deeper in the RPV wall. Besides, axial flaws are more vulnerable to produce crack initiation than circumferential flaws under the same conditions, and axial flaws are much more likely than circumferential flaws to propagate through the RPV wall in medium and large diameter breaks. (authors)

[en] A realistic finite element model considering the ploughing effect of cutting edge fillet was developed in high speed machining. Taking the hardened tool steel AISI D2 as the object of research, the cutting force and chip morphology were reasonably analyzed and compared with the actual results of cutting experiments, which verified the correctness of the model. Then, based on the model, the formation process of single serrated tooth was analyzed, while the effects of cutting heat and temperature field, material hardness and cutting speed on chip formation were explored. The research results indicate that: (1) The ploughing-effect has a great impact on the feed force, and for hardened tool steel AISI D2, the stagnation angle of 30o is more appropriate. (2) Also, stress concentration appears and shear slipping occurs along the shear plane in the process of serrated chip formation. The strain rate on the shear slipping surface is much greater than other places and the temperature gradient perpendicular to the shear plane is relatively higher. (3) The cutting force becomes larger with increasing the hardness value of workpieces, which causes the chip to more likely to produce serrated chips. (4) The fluctuation of cutting force is more significant as the cutting speed increases, which puts forward higher requirements for the tool and machine tool

[en] There are two Seismic Risk Assessment Methodologies in the world, Seismic Margin Assessment (SMA) and Seismic Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). SMA can provide the risk insights qualitatively and it is helpful in risk informed decision making for nuclear power plant, while Seismic PSA can provide more comprehensive and detailed risk insights quantitatively. The study of the Seismic PSA methodology is carried out, based on the AP1000 SMA, which is mastered. (authors)

[en] Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Large range tuned localized surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles films. • The noble metal Ag has the strongest localized surface plasmon resonance and low optical loss. Besides, it is the cheaper than other noble metal. • The nanoparticles films fabricated using physical methods have the stronger interaction with substrates than chemical methods, which are not easy exfoliation. - Abstract: Noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) have received enormous attention since it displays uniquely optical and electronic properties. In this work, we study localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) at different thicknesses and substrate temperatures of Ag NPs films grown by Laser Molecule Beam Epitaxy (LMBE). The LSPR wavelength can be largely tuned in the visible light range of 470 nm to 770 nm. The surface morphology is characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The average size of Ag NPs increased with the thickness increased which leading to the LSPR band broaden and wavelength red-shift. As the substrate temperature is increased from RT to 200 °C, the Ag NPs size distribution becomes homogeneous and particle shape changes from oblate spheroid to sphere, the LSPR band displays sharp, blue-shift and significantly symmetric. Obviously, the morphology of Ag NPs films is important for tuning absorption position. We obtain the cubic crystal structure of Ag NPs with a (1 1 1) main diffraction peak from the X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra. The high resolution TEM (HR-TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) prove that Ag NPs is polycrystal structure. The Ag NPs films with large range absorption in visible light region can composite with semiconductor to apply in various optical or photoelectric devices.

[en] The seismic margin assessment (SMA) is one of the nuclear power plant seismic safety evaluation methods. The calculation of high confidence for low probability of failure (HCLPF) value for the structure, system and components (SSC) is one of the important contents of SMA. The definition for HCLPF value and the conservative deterministic failure margin (CDFM) method which was used to calculate HCLPF value were introduced in this paper. The emergency diesel generator set and the main control building of Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant were taken as examples. Their HCLPF values were analyzed with CDFM method. Most of the HCLPF values of SSCs were obtained by this method to provide the foundation on which the SMA of Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant can be developed. (authors)

[en] Highlights: • Spray under sub/trans/supercritical conditions of marine engine was studied. • The spray structure under different critical conditions was visualized. • The jet and liquid lengths were analyzed under different critical conditions. • The jet and liquid cone angles were analyzed under different critical conditions. -- Abstract: In this research, detailed characteristics of diesel spray and atomization based on marine engine scale have been studied under subcritical, transcritical and supercritical conditions. A large constant volume chamber with an inner diameter of 300 mm and a 300 μm single-nozzle injector are used to mimic the in-cylinder thermodynamic condition of marine diesel engine. Sub/trans/supercritical conditions are composed of nine cases by means of different diesel phase transition regions. Optical diagnostic measurements are conducted through backlight illumination technology and schlieren imaging technology in an inert atmosphere. The images are processed with multi-threshold technique to obtain quantitative spray parameters, such as jet and liquid penetrations, averaged lengths, liquid steady time, spray cone angles and R-parameter. Moreover, some new finding about the structure of spray under supercritical condition is also discussed. The results show that the spray liquid periphery is quite smooth and stable with shorter penetration under supercritical condition, meanwhile, the jet of spray behaves as thinner periphery near the injector nozzle region and shows lower density at downstream region. Higher ambient pressure produces a negative effect on the increase of the tip velocity and development of spray. With the transition from transcritical condition to supercritical condition, the liquid length decreases by 32 mm and there exists an obvious decrease of 35 mm from jet length to liquid length. A trade-off relationship between the jet cone angle and jet penetration is also found. Generally, this work is helpful to understand the detailed process of diesel atomization under transcritical and supercritical conditions.

[en] Periodic mesoporous composite catalysts, [(n-C₄H₉)₄N]₄[γ-SiW₁₀O₃₄(H₂O)₂]/SBA-15 (TBA-1*/SBA-15, where TBA-1* = [(n-C₄H₉)₄N]₄[γ-SiW₁₀O₃₄(H₂O)₂]), with TBA-1* loadings of 4.3-14.8% were prepared by simultaneous hydrolysis and co-condensation of the tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) in the presence of divacant Keggin-type polyoxometalate and triblock copolymer surfactant (P123) followed by hydrothermal treatment process. Structure integrity of the Keggin unit in as-prepared composites was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman scattering spectra, and ²⁹Si magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR. Periodic mesoporous structure of the composites was evaluated by low-angle X-ray powder diffraction (LXRD) patterns, nitrogen porosimetry, and transmission electron microscope (TEM) measurements. As-prepared TBA-1*/SBA-15 was used as an heterogeneous oxidation catalyst for the styrene epoxidation reaction to synthesize styrene oxide in the presence of dilute H₂O₂ (30%), and influences of solvent, molar ratio of styrene to H₂O_2, TBA-1* loading on the styrene conversion, styrene oxide yield and selectivity were considered

[en] Highlights: • Based on experiments, the energy distributions with different fuels are analyzed. • The addition of EHN to DMC20 can increase the CN and shorten the ignition delay. • The use of EHN to DMC20 improves energy efficiency, reducing irreversible losses. • EHN/DMC/diesel blended fuel combining with 25%EGR widened the NO_X-soot relations. -- Abstract: Dimethyl carbonate (DMC)/diesel blended fuels are receiving increasing attention due to the advantages of DMC (oxygen content 53.3%) that improved the fuel-rich zone of diesel engines. However, the low cetane number (CN) of DMC/diesel dual-fuel at low loads resulted in a delayed combustion progress. Since the combustion phase had a significant effect on thermal efficiency, exergetic efficiency, energetic and exergetic losses; 2-ethylhexyl nitrate (EHN) was added to the mixed fuel as a CN improver, so that the combustion phase closed to that of diesel to ensure proper combustion characteristics of the DMC/diesel dual-fuel. In this study, a four-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine was used to study performance and emissions. Based on experiments, combustion characteristics including energy balance and exergy balance were focused, in which the EHN was added to the DMC/diesel mixture at different concentrations. The five test fuels included diesel (D100), and a mixture of 20% DMC with 80% diesel (DMC20). In addition, EHN was added to DMC20 at a ratio of 0.5%, 1%, and 2%. The results showed that EHN could shorten the ignition delay time of DMC and reduced maximum pressure rise rate (MPRR). The use of EHN improved brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), under the same load, using 0.5% and 2% EHN, BTE increased by 0.2% and 1%, relative to DMC20, respectively. The study found that the energy efficiency and exergy efficiency were higher after adding EHN, which made up for the burning problem of DMC. Moreover, the irreversible loss reduced, and the available work and available energy increased. Thermodynamic analysis showed that DMC had better combustion performance than diesel after adding 2% EHN. In this study, the method of EHN/DMC/diesel blended fuel combining with 25% EGR was proposed and confirmed that the trade-off relationships of NO_X and soot have been improved noteworthy.

[en] Carbon-composited ferroferric oxide (Fe₃O₄@C-1) was synthesized through a thermal decomposition of the chelate (Fe)₂(C₄H₄O₆)₃, which can be served as the sources for both Fe₃O₄ and carbon. After etching in hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution for 20 min, the pyrolytic Fe₃O₄@C-1 turned into Fe₃O₄@C-2 gaining a higher specific surface area and a better electrochemical performance. As anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, the Fe₃O₄@C-2 sample delivers a reversible capacity of 1047 mAh g⁻¹ at a current density of 200 mA g⁻¹ and remains the capacity at 837 mAh g⁻¹ after 200 cycles, while the capacity of the Fe₃O₄@C-1 electrode fades to only 94 mAh g⁻¹ after 200 cycles.

[en] The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of a new delivery matrix using demineralized bone matrix (DBM) incorporated with collagen-binding bone morphogenetic protein-2 (CBD-BMP-2) in the rat inter-transverse spinal fusion model. Sixty rats undergoing posterolateral (inter-transverse) spinal fusion were divided into 3 groups according to the fusion materials containing different components (n = 20 per group). Group A were implanted with DBM, Group B with combination of DBM and BMP-2 and Group C with combination of DBM and CBD-BMP-2. After surgery, the spinal fusion of all the rats was assessed by plain radiography, CT + 3D reconstruction, manual palpation and histological evaluation. Significant difference was found in terms of solid fusion rate among the three groups, with 95% in Group C, 65% in Group B and 0% in Group A (P < 0.001). Compared with Groups B and A, new bone formation was observed earlier and was obvious larger, trabecular bone microarchitecture assessment was better and bone mineral density was statistically larger in Group C. In addition, more newly woven bone and osteocytes were shown by histological evaluation in Group C at 4 weeks post-operation. The present study showed CBD domain could help BMP-2 to improve the efficiency of posterolateral spinal fusion. DBM scaffold activated by collagen-binding BMP-2 was a feasible and promising bone repair vehicle.

Graphical abstract

The present study showed better results in terms of plain radiography, CT + 3D reconstruction, manual palpation and histological evaluation in the rat inter-transverse spinal fusion model using DBM+CBD-BMP-2, compared with DBM+BMP-2 and DBM alone, indicating DBM scaffold activated by collagen-binding BMP-2 was a feasible and promising bone repair vehicle.