Crimson Publishers-Material Science

Relevance of New Materials for Energy Storage by N K Kishore in  Research & Development in Material Science Today, perhaps electricity is the third most important commodity, next to only air and water. There is a continuous increase in demand for electricity. In fact the UN index for quality of life is per capita energy consumption. For a very long time electric power system is centrally controlled networks with generators located at the site of energy source and loads being large urban centers distant from power plants. Predominantly coal, oil, natural gas, and water have been energy sources from the beginning of electricity use. Among them, except water other three are fossil based fuels and are responsible for environmental pollution, necessitating locating power plants centrally and remotely. In view of dependence on the source and head of water, hydro generation is also centrally located. All this calls for transmission over long distances contributing to losses....

Probabilistic Mechanics of Quasibrittle Structures:Strength, Lifetime and Size Effect by Zdeněk P BažantandJia-LiangLe in Research& Development in Material Science Quasibrittle materials are becoming increasingly important for modern engineering . They include tough (coarse-grained) or toughened ceramics, concretes, rocks (including shale), fiber composites, sea ice, wood, carton, stiff soils, rigid foams, glass, bone, dental and biomaterials, as well as all brittle materials on the micro or nano scale. Their salient feature is that the fracture process zone size is non-negligible compared to the structural dimensions. This causes intricate energetic and statistical size effects and leads to size-dependent probability distribution of strength that is transitional between Gaussian and Weibullian. At the failure probability of 1 in a million, which is the maximum tolerable as it is orders of magnitude smaller than other risks to which people are willingly exposed, the strengt...

In vitro Bioactivity Assessment of NovelComposites Based on Calcium Aluminate Cement by Cortés-Hernández DA in Research & Development in Material Science The effect of pseudowollastonite (Pw) additions on the in vitro bioactivity and compressive strength of composites based on calcium aluminate cement (CAC) was studied. Composites were prepared by mixing calcium aluminate clinker with pseudowollastonite (5 and 10 wt%) at a w/c ratio of 0.4 (0.015M LiCl aqueous solution). In order to assess the in vitro bioactivity and compressive strength, composites (CAC 5Pw and CAC 10Pw) were immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF) at 37 °C for 1, 7, 14 or 21 days. Analyses of the surface cements after immersion in SBF revealed the formation of a bonelike apatite layer in both composites, increasing the amount of this Ca, P rich compound as the Pw content was increased. The compressive strength of the composites decreased as the pseudowollastonite content was increased. However, the stren...