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This study delineates the effect of cover thickness on reinforced concrete (RC) columns and beams under an elevated fire scenario. Columns and beams are important load-carrying structural members of buildings. Under all circumstances, the columns and beams were set to be free from damage to avoid structural failure. Under the high-temperature scenario, the RC element may fail because of the material deterioration that occurs owing to the thermal effect. This study attempts to determine the optimum cover thickness for beams and columns under extreme loads and fire conditions.

Cover thicknesses of 30, 40, 45, 50, 60 and 70 mm for the columns and 10, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60 and 70 mm for the beams were adopted in this study. Both steady-state and transient-state conditions under thermomechanical analysis were performed using the finite element method to determine the heat transfer through the RC section and to determine the effect of thermal stresses.

The results show that the RC elements have a greater influence on the additional cover thickness at extreme temperatures and higher load ratios than at the service stages. The safe limits of the structural members were obtained under the combined effects of elevated temperatures and structural loads. The results also indicate that the compression members have a better thermal performance than the flexural members.

Numerical investigations concerning the high-temperature behavior of structural elements are useful. The lack of an experimental setup encourages researchers to perform numerical investigations. In this study, the finite element models were validated with existing finite element models and experimental results.

The obtained safe limit for the structural members could help to understand their resistance to fire in a real-time scenario. From the safe limit, a suitable design can be preferred while designing the structural members. This could probably save the structure from collapse.

There is a lack of both numerical and experimental research works. In numerical modeling, the research works found in the literature had difficulties in developing a numerical model that satisfactorily represents the structural members under fire, not being able to adequately understand their behavior at high temperatures. None of them considered the influence of the cover thickness under extreme fire and loading conditions. In this paper, this influence was evaluated and discussed.

From 2002 to 2011, coffee-machine manufacturer Keurig Incorporated had grown from a privately held company with just over $20 million in revenues and a plan to enter the single serve coffee arena for home consumers, to a wholly owned subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., a publicly traded company with net revenues of $1.36 billion and a market capitalization of between $8 and $9 billion. In 2003 Keurig had introduced its first At Home brewer. Now, approximately 25 percent of all coffee makers sold in the United States were Keurig-branded machines, and Keurig was recognized as among the leaders in the marketplace. The company had just concluded agreements with both Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks that would make these retailers' coffee available for use with Keurig's specialized brewing system. The company faced far different challenges than when it was a small, unknown marketplace entrant. John Whoriskey, vice president and general manager of Keurig's At Home division, had to consider the impact that impending expiration of key technology patents and the perceived environmental impact of the K-Cup® portion packs would have on the company's growth. Whoriskey also wondered what Keurig's growth potential was, and how the new arrangements with Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts could be leveraged to achieve it.

Some capital‐intensive manufacturing businesses pose particular problems to market planners because the profit margins are often highly cyclical as seller capacity utilisation changes through the four‐year business cycle and may also be heavily affected by new entrants on the seller side or the emergence of strong buyers. This article examines how margins are related to market structure for Strategic Business Units in the PIMS database. Having identified that margins are related to some descriptions of market structure, it explores how the margin behaviour of capital‐intensive businesses can be modelled as changes in the relative power of buyers and sellers as the capacity utilisation of the sellers changes.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the influence of blends of Jatropha methyl ester (JME) and its nano Al₂O₃ emulsion on variable compression ratio diesel engine. The oxygen in alumina contributed for the smooth burning and resulted in improved performance and emissions.

The biodiesel (methyl ester) is prepared from the raw Jatropha oil. The B10, B20 and B30 blends of and their nanoemulsions are prepared with the 25, 50, 75 and 100 ppm of nano Al₂O₃. The prepared JME blends and its nanoemulsions are tested in a variable compression ratio (VCR) diesel engine to evaluate the engine performance and emission characteristics.

The nanoemulsion B20 + 50 ppm has given maximum brake thermal efficiency (BTE), and with the increased proportion of nanoparticle, the BTE was reduced. Also, the specific fuel consumption is lowest (0.2826 kg/kWh) for B20 + 50 ppm at the compression ratio 16.5 and full load which is 4.10% lower than the diesel and 5.8% lower than the B20 blend. As the load increases, NOx emission increases owing to higher peak temperatures in the combustion chamber. The JME-nano Al₂O₃ emulsion reduces the HC and CO emission compared with all other fuels.

Novel nano emulsions are prepared, characterized and tested on VCR engine.

This study seeks the effect on static thrust, thrust specific energy consumption (TSEC) and exhaust emissions of euro diesel-hydrogen dual-fuel combustion in a small turbojet engine.

Experimental studies are performed in a JetCat P80-SE type small turbojet engine. Euro diesel and hydrogen is fed through two different inlets in a common rail distributing fuel to the nozzles. Euro diesel fuel is fed by a liquid fuel pump to the engine, while hydrogen is fed by a fuel-line with a pressure of 5 bars from a gas cylinder with a pressure of approximately 200 bars.

At different engine speeds, it is found that there is a decrease at the TSEC between a range of 1% and 4.8% by different hydrogen energy fractions (HEF).

The amount of hydrogen is adjusted corresponding to a range of 0–20% of the total heat energy of the euro diesel and hydrogen fuels. The small turbojet engine is operated between a range of 35,000 and 95,000 rpm engine speeds.

On the other hand, remarkable improvements in exhaust emissions (i.e. CO, CO₂, HC and NO_x) are observed with HEFs.

This is through providing improvements in performance and exhaust emissions using hydrogen as an alternative to conventional jet fuel in gas turbine engines.

The physical and chemical properties of a new class of synthetic lubricants, the perfluoroalkylpolyether oils and the polytetrufluoroethylene‐thickened greases made from these oils, are described in some detail. The properties which make these products of interest as lubricants for use under severe conditions are shown to be I) excellent thermal and oxidative stability, 2) extreme inertness to many reactive chemicals, 3) broad liquid range and good viscosity‐temperature characteristics, 4) complete nonflammability, 5) good lubricating qualities, 6) compatibility with most elastomers and metals at suitable operating temperatures and 7) insolubility in most common solvents. The commercial process used in the production of these lubricants is described. The oils are disclosed to be fluorine end capped polymers of hexafluoropropylene epoxide having number average molecular weights of from 2000 to 7500, and the preferred thickener for the greases is disclosed to be a telomer of tetrafluoroethylene having a molecular weight of 20,000 to 30,000. A number of the commercial uses of these oils and greases, sold by Du Pont under the trade‐name Krytox®, are described including specific examples of instances where their performance far exceeded that of other available lubricants. Some uses in the space and aircraft industries are also discussed.

Higher education (HE) should be at the forefront of attempts to navigate a route through the confluence of disruptive forces affecting the world in the early twenty-fist century. The early part of the century has seen inequality, in particular, return to the fore. In its survey of over 200 global experts worldwide, the World Economic Forum (2017) stated that:

Growing income and wealth disparity is seen by respondents as the trend most likely to determine global developments over the next 10 years. (p. 11)

Growing income and wealth disparity is seen by respondents as the trend most likely to determine global developments over the next 10 years. (p. 11)

Yet, HE remains a bastion of inequality increasingly obsessed with rankings, which openly celebrate elitism in an era where elites are increasingly derided. Fostering inequality and celebrating elitism are becoming high-risk strategies in the midst of the post-crash populism of the 2010s. There are other routes open to what HE can be; safer and better ones for HE itself. However, it will take global advocacy and action if they are to be followed. This chapter presents the key evidence for, and a model, for such advocacy.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the factor of emotional intelligence (EI) into the calculus of neoclassical analysis under precautionary saving aiming at stabilizing consumption in the case of an exogenous output shock.

The introduction of EI differentiates individual firms in handling production uncertainty and individual consumers in coping with consumption uncertainty, but the source of uncertainty is exogenous and affects all the same; there are no idiosyncratic risks and uncertainties. This in conjunction with the median-voter-theory like approach to agent heterogeneity prompted by EI, replicates the result that aggregates quantitative predictions are almost indistinguishable from their representative agent counterpart in life cycle models of precautionary saving.

EI corroborates stabilization greatly but only the introduction of a monetary authority would fully stabilize the system by injecting or withdrawing money depending on the state of the economy. Money becomes centrally issued and it would be destabilizing if it was accompanied by central and/or commercial bank seigniorage. Median EI is found to coincide with homo economicus' rationality. These results point to the importance of preserving the institutional character of capitalism as a free enterprise but also a competitive system under a government in the service of the private sector.

Methodologically, this paper acknowledges the mutual interdependence between human action and social structure in the liberal setting in which free enterprise is a socioeconomic process that identifies value through exchange under the sociopolitical process of democracy.