Evaluación de la madera estructural para la rehabilitación de las Naves Cros (Valencia, España) por medio de diferentes técnicas no destructivas

El proyecto de rehabilitación de una de las naves del complejo fabril de la industria química ?CROS? en Valencia se llevó a cabo con el criterio de mantener, en la medida de lo posible, los elementos estructurales presentes en la nave. Con este objetivo se realizaron una serie de ensayos no destructivos (END) in situ. Estos ensayos permitieron evaluar la calidad de la madera, determinar qué elementos estructurales debían ser sustituidos y comprobar la aptitud de los que iban a ser reutilizados. Los END empleados en este estudio fueron los siguientes: (1) Identificación de la especie por técnicas anatómicas, (2) Clasificación resistente por método visual, (3) Estimación de humedad por la técnica de resistencia eléctrica; (4) Obtención de velocidades de propagación ultrasónicas (5) Resistógrafía y (6) Alteración de la propagación de ondas electromagnéticas por medio de Georradar. Para la calibración de estos END se tomó una muestra de piezas y se hicieron ensayos destructivos bajo condiciones controladas en laboratorio. En el trabajo que aquí se presenta se muestra la metodología empleada durante el proceso de toma de datos, de análisis de resultados y de cruce de la información obtenida a partir de cada uno de los ensayos hasta llegar a un diagnóstico para los elementos analizados. The assessment of structural timber was requested in the rehabilitation project of the Naves of the chemical industry "CROS". The criterion was to maintain as much as possible timber of the structure and to make only partial replacements. In order not to damage the existing structure and to assess the quality of the existing timber, a series of non-destructive testing (NDT) in the entire structure were performed: (1) Identification of the species by anatomical techniques, (2) Strength grading by visual method, (3) Estimation of moisture content by the technique of electrical resistance, (4) Acquisition of ultrasonic propagation velocities (5) Resistography and (6) Record of the propagation of electromagnetic waves by means of Ground-penetrating radar. Following, a sample group was chose to carry out destructive testing in the lab and compare the NDT results with those obtained with the standard UNE-EN408 (modules of strength, stiffness and density). In the present work, the results provided by each of the NDT techniques are detailed and above all, what is more important, the validity of these after they have been contrasted with the destructive standard tests.

Combination of optical and on-destructivemechanicaltechniques for the measurement of maturity in peach

Increasing consumer dissatisfaction related with lack of ripeness in peach has been repeatedly reported since 1990 to the present day. There is thus, a great interest in improving the assessment of peach maturity, currently based on Magness Taylor firmness (destructive, highly variable, and time consuming) and colour (not reliable for highly coloured varieties). The present research studies as an alternative several non-destructive (ND) measurements, based on multispectral imaging, visible spectra, and low mass impact response. Their relationship with maturity, as well as the potential of their combination was studied. As a result, two rather independent (R2 = 0.3) groups of non-destructive measurements, chlorophyll related optical indexes and low mass impact (LMI) measurements, were identified. Optical measurements showed the best behaviour for assessing maturity at harvest, while LMI measurements reflected handling incidences, showing a promising potential to be used to control transport and postharvest handling.

Si and SixGe1-x NWs studied by Raman spectroscopy

Group IV nanostructures have attracted a great deal of attention because of their potential applications in optoelectronics and nanodevices. Raman spectroscopy has been extensively used to characterize nanostructures since it provides non destructive information about their size, by the adequate modeling of the phonon confinement effect. The Raman spectrum is also sensitive to other factors, as stress and temperature, which can mix with the size effects borrowing the interpretation of the Raman spectrum. We present herein an analysis of the Raman spectra obtained for Si and SiGe nanowires; the influence of the excitation conditions and the heat dissipation media are discussed in order to optimize the experimental conditions for reliable spectra acquisition and interpretation.

Thermal diffusion profile by NRA of Deuterium implanted in solid breeder blanket materials

This paper studies the relationship between aging, physical changes and the results of non-destructive testing of plywood. 176 pieces of plywood were tested to analyze their actual and estimated density using non-destructive methods (screw withdrawal force and ultrasound wave velocity) during a laboratory aging test. From the results of statistical analysis it can be concluded that there is a strong relationship between the non-destructive measurements carried out, and the decline in the physical properties of the panels due to aging. The authors propose several models to estimate board density. The best results are obtained with ultrasound. A reliable prediction of the degree of deterioration (aging) of board is presented. Breeder blanket materials have to produce tritium from lithium while fulfilling several strict conditions. In particular, when dealing with materials to be applied in fusion reactors, one of the key questions is the study of light ions retention, which can be produced by transmutation reactions and/or introduced by interaction with the plasma. In ceramic breeders the understanding of the hydrogen isotopes behaviour and specially the diffusion of tritium to the surface is crucial. Moreover the evolution of the microstructure during irradiation with energetic ions, neutrons and electrons is complex because of the interaction of a high number of processes.