Biography:

Eng. Gabriel Kiss is PhD student at Politehnica University of TimiÈ™oara in Romania. He also works in the polyurethane field since more than 15 years. He has published several papers in  the field of polyurethane technology, including one in a reputed journal addressing one of the main challenges in this industry, recycling of foam waste materials.

Abstract:

Ester polyurethane foam waste was reacted in autoclave, with diethylene glycol  at different ratios in the presence of catalyst, to find the glycolysis conditions allowing improved recovery of the polyurethane foam waste and enable recycling of the whole glycolysis product in foam formulation suitable to produce low air permeability foam. The recycled polyol was characterized by dynamic viscosity, hydroxyl number, water content and density, while thermal stability was assessed using thermogravimetric analysis. 5% of the glycolyzed material was successfully reused in polyurethane foam formulation. It has been observed that this amount of recycled polyol enables the generation of low air permeability foam without shrinkage, whereas standard polyols used in that application cannot afford feature. Low air permeability foams can be used in applications as sealed foams. The results open the way of further optimization studies of industrial polyurethane foam formulations using a glycolysis process to recover the foam waste.

Biography:

Dr PADAYODI Essolé is Associate Professor at University of Technology of Belfort-Montbéliard (UTBM, France) and has his expertise in biosourced materials and passion in sustainable design. He is a header of the “Eco-materials” platform in the pole ERCOS of ELLIADD (EA. 4661, France) laboratory where he led technology research projects for developing sustainable and lightweighting materials for automotive companies.

Abstract:

Plastics wastes treatments including landfilling and incineration do not allow transforming wastes into value-added materials. This does not support plastics recycling and their wates accumulates in the sea. This study aims to reinforce recycled plastics with unusable agricultural wastes so to meet requirements of added value use of recycled plastics. In this study, recycled polystyrene (R-PS) is reinforced with cottonseed hulls (CS-H). Grinded CS-H fillers were melting mixed with grinded polystyrene at filling contents of 10 %wt, 20 %wt and 30 %wt. The effect of CS-H fillers adding and their content on physical and mechanical properties of R-PS is determined using tensile test (ISO 527-2), low velocity impact tests (ISO 6603), FTIR, DSC and SEM analysis. Up to 20 %wt, CS-H fillers adding improves the yield stress of R-PS by 40% (from 15 MPa to 22

MPa). Beyond 30 %wt content, the non-adhesion of fillers to the plastic acts likely as a high porosity and decreases the tensile resistance of R-PS. Regardless of the content of CS-H fillers, the addition of these increases the Young modulus of R-PS (from 1600 MPa up to 3600 MPa at 20% wt of CS-H content) and decreases it impact resistance by -20% (the peak impact force decreases from 1 KN to 0,8 KN and the absorbed energy from 2,72 J to 2,25 J).

Results showed that CS-H fillers adding not only increases the tensile resistance of R-PS but lowers the weight and the cost of recycled plastics to meet footprint requirements, thanks to the availability (in cotton producing countries), renewability, light weight and low cost of cottonseed hulls.

Biography:

This is Sujit Sharma. He has completed his B-tech in Chemical Engineering from NIT Durgapur, India. Then he did his M-tech in Rubber Technology from IIT Kharagpur, India. Now, perusing his PhD in Rubber Technology at IIT Kharagpur under the joint supervision of Prof. Santantu Chattopadhyay and Prof. Arghya Deb. He has received the best paper award at 23rd Rubber Conference, IRMRA. Mumbai, India, December 2018 and best poster award in National Rubber Conference, Kolkata 2019 organized by AIRIA.

Abstract:

Extrusion is one of the most versatile and economical process for making long rubber profile of different shapes. The die swell is a critical characteristic in processing operations such as extrusion and injection molding for elastomeric products. While flowing through a complex-shaped die, the molten rubber compounds compress and shears intensely, causing die-swelling phenomena on die exit.  There are different kinds of swelling during the extrusion process. One is a recoil mechanism due to the elastic nature, and the other is a reorientation of the velocity profile from die inlet to free surface outlet ^[1]. Thus, extrusion industries usually design the die using conventional methods. These methods typically involve: 1) making the physical prototype of the die, 2) tuning it for flow balancing, and 3) repetitively testing it until attaining the desired product shape. Due to the recursive nature of this three-step designing process, it is relatively expensive and time-consuming. For geometries that are non-symmetrical or complexly shaped, the extrudate changes in terms of the dimension as well as shape, leading towards complexity in the study of die swell behavior of the rubber compound ^[2]. The Non-Newtonian fluid flow phenomena are of paramount importance to the die designers and engineers to address the issues mentioned above and achieve the product's desired shapes. Nowadays, computational fluid dynamics is becoming the most popular way to visualize fluid flow behavior, even for complex design using the proper materials parameters ^[3]. This work attempted to develop a possible computational method for simulating the flow and predicted the required die design to obtain the desired extrudate shape using ANSYS Polyflow®. Here, finite element analysis (FEA) of extrusion is performed to assess the product's swelling behavior using proper rheological and thermal boundary conditions. Hence, it can be concluded that this method can be used to increase the extrudate profile's production efficiency by reducing the traditional prototype trial and error method to get the product's desired shape.

Biography:

Dr PADAYODI Essolé is Associate Professor at University of Technology of Belfort-Montbéliard (UTBM, France) and has his expertise in biosourced materials and passion in sustainable design. He is a header of the “Eco-materials” platform in the pole ERCOS of ELLIADD (EA. 4661, France) laboratory where he led technology research projects for developing sustainable and lightweighting materials for automotive companies.

Abstract:

The fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion is one of the major weaknesses limiting the properties of biosourced composite materials. The incompatibility between the hydrophilic natural fibers and the hydrophobic polymer matrix weakens the fiber-matrix adhesion. The objective of this study is to improve the compatibility between flax fibers and polyester matrix by a preliminary treatment of cellulosic fibers by Corona discharge. Two types of composites were produced by infusion with a stacking of [0/90] layers oriented in both warp and weft directions: the composite made of a flax fibers reinforced polyester resin (Vf ~ 61± 2 vol. %) and the composite made of a glass fibers fabric reinforced polyester resin (Vf ~ 63 ± 2 vol. %). The flax fibers and the glass fibers were previously dried at 60°C during 24 hours and treated by the Corona discharge by means of a low frequency high voltage generator.

The mechanical properties of composites reinforced with treated and untreated flax fibers and glass fibers are compared: the longitudinal elastic modulus EL and the yield stress XT of the flax/polyester composite increase significantly (+20% to +38%) whereas those of glass/polyester composite increase less importantly. FT-IR spectra analysis, topography analysis and SEM analysis revealed a compatibilization effect on treated flax fibers. New C=O and C-H linkages are created and fibers are more impregnated by the resin. Results showed that the Corona discharge treatment of flax fibers in particular leads to C=O and C-H linkage creation that lowers the fabric surface tension and its better impregnation. This improves the adhesion of fiber-matrix interface and thus the mechanical resistance of the composite.

Biography:

Abstract:

Construction of flexible roads, ridged roads, gravel roads and native-surface roads require considerable amount of soil when the strength or other properties of the in-place materials do not meet the desired or required criteria for the anticipated traffic. Soils can be either replaced, modified, or stabilized. Soil stabilizers can be used to treat the upper layer of soil formations by numerous methods. One of the most well-known methods of soil modifying and enhancement is using polymers. In the last decades, using of non-traditional chemical materials like polymer in soil stabilization and reinforcement field has been widely increased to treat the weak materials in available local soils. As compared to the traditional stabilizers, polymers have various advantages such as stable chemical properties, less swelling and heaving, less pollution development, easy to achieve target additive amount by controlling dilution ratio. To evaluate the likelihood of a viable subgrade reinforcement as alternate to the traditional approaches, the process of polymers within the road construction and its reinforcement role is examined in this paper. Polymer amended soils refers to the addition of additives to improve the physical properties of soils, most often for geotechnical engineering or construction projects. Even at very small concentrations within soils, various polymers have been shown to increase water retention and reduce erosion, increase soil shear strength, and support soil structure. Polymers can be mixed with targeted layer of the soil or sprayed on soil surface to achieve pre-calculated depth of stabilized layer. Few road schemes that have been constructed through the utilization of polymers on the subgrade in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are herein further studied for recognizing the opportunity of shifting from the old-style road design into this more viable and cost-effective approach.

Biography:

Alzoubi has completed his PhD at the age of 40 years Tehran University and postdoctoral studies from Tehran University School of Surveying Geospatial Engineering-Department of Surveying and Geomatics Engineering. He is the director at the Directorate of Engineering and Transportation, a premier service organization. He has published more than 15 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute. He Opening and studying the financial offers and the organization of the fundamental record, supervising the efficiency of electrical generators at Nseeb border center, and Supervising the efficiency of agricultural machinery at the ministry of agriculture.

Abstract:

The aim of this work was to determine best linear model Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and Sensitivity Analysis in order to predict the energy consumption for land leveling. In this research effects of various soil properties such as Embankment Volume, Soil Compressibility Factor, Specific Gravity, Moisture Content, Slope, Sand Percent, and Soil Swelling Index in energy consumption were investigated. The study was consisted of 90 samples were collected from 3 different regions. The grid size was set 20 m in 20 m (20*20) from a farmland in Karaj province of Iran. The values of RMSE and R2 derived by ICA-ANN model were, to Labor Energy (0.0146 and 0.9987), Fuel energy (0.0322 and 0.9975), Total Machinery Cost (0.0248 and 0.9963), Total Machinery Energy (0.0161 and 0.9987) respectively, while these parameters for multivariate regression model were, to Labor Energy (0.1394 and 0.9008), Fuel energy (0.1514 and 0.8913), Total Machinery Cost (TMC) (0.1492 and 0.9128), Total Machinery Energy (0.1378 and 0.9103).Respectively, while these parameters for ANN model were, to Labor Energy (0.0159 and 0.9990), Fuel energy (0.0206 and 0.9983), Total Machinery Cost (0.0287 and 0.9966), Total Machinery Energy (0.0157 and 0.9990) respectively, while these parameters for Sensitivity analysis model were, to Labor Energy (0.1899 and 0.8631), Fuel energy (0.8562 and 0.0206), Total Machinery Cost (0.1946 and 0.8581),  Total Machinery Energy (0.1892 and 0.8437) respectively, respectively, while these parameters for ANFIS model were, to Labor Energy (0.0159 and 0.9990), Fuel energy (0.0206 and 0.9983), Total Machinery Cost (0.0287 and 0.9966),  Total Machinery Energy (0.0157  and 0.9990) respectively, Results showed that ICA_ANN with seven neurons in hidden layer had better. According to the results of Sensitivity Analysis, only three parameters; Density, Soil Compressibility Factor and, Embankment Volume Index had significant effect on fuel consumption. According to the results of regression, only three parameters; Slope, Cut-Fill Volume (V) and, Soil Swelling Index (SSI) had significant effect on energy consumption. Using adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system for prediction of labor energy, fuel energy, total machinery cost, and total machinery energy can be successfully demonstrated.

Biography:

Abstract:

Surface erosion can exert a tremendous impact on natural resources and can cause serious economic losses because of blocked streams, degraded water quality, destroyed bridges and roads rights-of-way, ruined spawning sites, lowered soil productivity, and property damage. Soil properties important in the evaluation of a site for its resistance to erosion include particle size, permeability, water retention characteristics, compressibility, shear strength, void ratio or porosity, shrink-swell potential, liquid limit and plasticity index. Soil erosion control techniques have the potential to reduce runoff and soil loss. Traditional stabilizers such as lime cement, fly ash and bituminous materials, etc., usually require long curing time. Hence now a day, polymer stabilizer is used more extensively because of its stable chemical property and shorter curing time. To evaluate the possibility of a sustainable erosion stabilization as alternate to the traditional concepts (e.g. marl), the technology of polymers and their role within the stabilization process is presented in this paper. Findings of numerous studies revealed that the addition of polymer to the natural soils produced an improvement in its mechanical capacities, namely, enhancements in unconfined compressive strength, California bearing ratio, and shear strength, whereas, the strength of the stabilized soil is significantly increased both under wet and dry conditions. In order to further evaluate and confirm the sustainability and advantages of the polymers for erosion stabilization, few projects that have been undertaken in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia having the objective of increasing the resistance of soils to wind and water erosion are further evaluated herein for identifying the possibility of altering from the traditional erosion design into this more sustainable and economic solutions.

Biography:

Pieter Samyn studied from 1996-2001 Materials Science and Engineering at Ghent University (Belgium) and completed his Ph.D. in 2007 on polymer tribology. After post-doc positions at Department of Textiles (Ghent) and Department of Microsystems Engineering (Freiburg), he was appointed as a Juniorprofessor in Bio-based Materials Engineering at University of Freiburg (2010-2016). He moved to University of Hasselt in 2016, focusing on valorization of biomass for functional biocomposites and devices. In particular, he works on the processing of bio-based composites and papers providing new surface properties and technological functionalities, in combination with analytical service tools. He is currently involved in the implementation of biobased materials in functional coating applications for industrial applications at Sirris, Belgium.

Abstract:

The fibrillated nanocellulose provides a favourable source of bio-based fibers with high mechanical strength and stiffness, but their processing and dispersibility in nanocomposite materials may be costly and problematic. The single batch processing of micro- or nanofibrillated cellulose under mechanical homogenization requires extremely high energy input and results in aqueous dispersions with low fiber consistency and are not feasible for further processing with a polymer matrix as they cannot be re-dispersed. Therefore, nanocellulose composites should be directly produced in a continuous one-step process without intermediate steps. This can be done by twin-screw extrusion of pre-swollen cellulose fibers, subsequent fibrillation and incorporation in a polymer matrix. In this study, it is illustrated how softwood cellulose pulp fibers are pretreated by swelling in a selection of alternative solvents, including a selection of  ionic liquids (IL), deep-eutectic solvents (DES) and natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES). The influences of swelling media and conditions were studied in relation to the variations in fiber morphology and microstructure through electron microscopy, rheology, FTIR/Raman spectroscopy, XRD and thermal analysis. In a second step, the tendency for microfibrillation of the swollen cellulose fibers during extrusion was successfully demonstrated by morphological fractionation and rheological testing. The different fractions of the fibrillated particles were subsequently compounded with a polypropylene matrix. The efficiency of the continuous processing is illustrated by rheological methods and mechanical testing of the final nanocomposites, indicating improvement in mechanical properties of the nanocellulose-reinforced polypropylene after fibrillation in the continuous processing line. 

Biography:

Pieter Samyn studied from 1996-2001 Materials Science and Engineering at Ghent University (Belgium) and completed his Ph.D. in 2007 on polymer tribology. After post-doc positions at Department of Textiles (Ghent) and Department of Microsystems Engineering (Freiburg), he was appointed as a Juniorprofessor in Bio-based Materials Engineering at University of Freiburg (2010-2016). He moved to University of Hasselt in 2016, focusing on valorization of biomass for functional biocomposites and devices. In particular, he works on the processing of bio-based composites and papers providing new surface properties and technological functionalities, in combination with analytical service tools. He is currently involved in the implementation of biobased materials in functional coating applications for industrial applications at Sirris, Belgium.

Abstract:

The performance of fiber-reinforced polymer composites is determined by the interface compatibility. In particular, the hydrophilic nature of cellulose fibers dispersed in a hydrophobic matrix requires additional surface modification as traditionally done with chemical surface grafting and hazardous solvents. Taking into account the environmental friendliness of cellulose composites, however, more sustainable routes are required to operate under aqueous environment and utilization of biopolymer substitution. Therefore, the use of polydopamine as adhesive mediator has been explored in providing a general platform to functionalize cellulose fibers. In this presentation, different conformations for surface modifications of cellulose fibers with dopamine are illustrated for enhancing compatibility. This is done either by self-polymerization of polydopamine into a compatible surface layer and/or the self-assembly of dopamine functional groups into vesicular structures that are physically adsorbed at the cellulose surface. After a study on the surface adhesion of modified cellulose fibers, they were incorporated in PMMA matrix through solution casting. The local adhesive properties of the modified cellulose fibers were probed by atomic force microscopy and seem to contribute to higher interfacial shear strength. This was confirmed by the single-fiber pull out tests at macroscale indicating an optimum concentration of nanoparticles at the cellulose surface. The tensile strength and elongation at break of the composites were function of the degree of surface modification and superior to untreated fibers. In addition, the nanoparticles show colorimetric and fluorescent response to mechanical shear stresses providing an evaluation tool to explore the interface phenomena upon failure of the PMMA composite.