From Circular to Linear? Assessing the Life Cycle Environmental and Economic Sustainability of Steel and Plastic Beer Kegs

In the craft brewing industry, kegging solutions have changed dramatically in recent years. While steel kegs once dominated the draught beer market, single-use plastic kegs have increased in popularity due to their convenience, especially in the craft brewing sector. With the increasing importance of the circular economy and the introduction of policies in Europe to move away from single-use plastic systems, this study aims to assess and compare the sustainability of conventional steel and single-use plastic kegs. The environmental and economic performance are assessed through life cycle assessment and life cycle costing approaches. The results suggest that steel kegs have better environmental performance and life cycle costs. However, these are limited to the local markets, and with larger distances, plastic kegs may become the better option due to their lower weight, suggesting that both kegs are useful in certain situations. This is especially important in countries that have long distances between breweries and their markets. The importance of extending the lifetime of the keg fleet is also highlighted to improve the environmental performance as the results are influenced by the assumption on the lifetime of the steel kegs. To improve the environmental performance of plastic kegs, efficient closed-loop recycling systems should be developed. Careful decision-making is needed to ensure that more sustainable packaging options are chosen for draught beer and that sustainability aspects be taken into account beyond convenience.

Shear Response of Recycled Aggregates Concrete Deep Beams Containing Steel Fibers and Web Openings

Replacement of natural aggregates (NAs) with recycled concrete aggregates (RCAs) in complex reinforced concrete (RC) structural elements, such as deep beams with openings, supports environmental sustainability in the construction industry. This research investigates the shear response of RC deep beams with openings made with 100% RCAs. It also examines the effectiveness of using steel fibers as a replacement to the minimum conventional steel stirrups in RCA-based deep beams with web openings. A total of seven RC deep beams with a shear span-to-depth ratio (a/h) of 0.8 were constructed and tested. A circular opening with an opening height-to-depth ratio (h0/h) of 0.3 was placed in the middle of each shear span. Test parameters included the type of the coarse aggregate (NAs and RCAs), steel fiber volume fraction (vf = 1, 2, and 3%), and presence of the minimum conventional steel stirrups. The deep beam specimens with web openings made with 100% RCAs exhibited 13 to 18% reductions in the shear capacity relative to those of their counterparts made with NAs. The inclusion of conventional steel stirrups in RC deep beams with openings was less effective in improving the shear response when 100% RCAs was used. The addition of steel fibers remarkably improved the shear response of the tested RCA-based beams. The gain in the shear capacity of the RCA-based beams caused by the inclusion of steel fibers was in the range of 39 to 84%, whereas the use of conventional steel stirrups resulted in 18% strength gain. The use of 1% steel fiber volume fraction in the RCA-based beam with openings without steel stirrups was sufficient to restore 96% of the original shear capacity of the NA-based beam with conventional steel stirrups. The shear capacities obtained from the tests were compared with predictions of published analytical models. The predicted-to-measured shear capacity was in the range of 0.71 to 1.49.

Additive Manufacturing: A Layered Taxonomy and Classification for Material Engineering Process

Material engineers continuously make every effort for the evolution of novel and prevailing production performances to supply our biosphere with resource-proficient, economical, and hygienic substances with superior package operation. The mitigation of energy depletion and gas releases as an utmost significance worldwide is a renowned datum; which also needs the improvement of delicate substances employing budget-proficient and ecologically pleasant methods. Consequently, copious exploration has been aimed in the study of methods retaining a potential to wrestle these widespread essentials. Material engineering processes have advanced as a feasible substitute for conventional steel fragment construction methods. CE has experienced an extraordinary advancement throughout the previous three decades. It was originally utilised uniquely as a state-of-the-art reserve of the paradigm. Referable to the expertise development which permits merging countless engineering procedures for the output of a modified portion that employed intricate configurations, CE expertise has got cumulative responsiveness. As such, this article intends to furnish a comprehensive appraisal of chemical fabrication progressions for steel substance evolution utilised in different applications. The inspection encompasses the current advancement of CE know-hows, a detailed taxonomy and classification of manufacturing operations. The focal point of the upcoming perspective of CE in substance investigation and application is further deliberated

Seismic Performance of Hybrid SMA/Steel Reinforced Hollow Section Concrete Bridge Piers

Concrete bridge piers reinforced with conventional steel bars experience large permanent (residual) deformation that may lead to uneconomical repair or demotion of bridges due to their non-functionality post strong seismic event. Thus, sufficiently ductile materials are required to reinforce concrete bridge piers in the plastic hinge zone in order to limit their permanent damage and deformation post-earthquake event. Previous studies showed that partial replacement of conventional steel reinforcement bars with superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) bars in the plastic hinge zone of concrete bridge piers has the capacity to limit the residual deformation owing to the superior self-centering properties of SMA bars. In this study, the efficacy of hybrid SMA/steel reinforcement for hollow section concrete bridge piers under combined reverse cyclic and constant axial loading is numerically investigated for the first time. The responses of the piers were evaluated in terms of different performance indices including hysteretic characteristics, residual deformation, energy dissipation capacity, and self-centering capacity. A sensitivity analysis was used to explore the main effects of key design parameters and their interactions on each performance index at four damage states, namely, complete, extensive, moderate, and slight damage states. The results of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of hybrid SMA/steel reinforcement for enhancing the seismic behavior of hollow section concrete bridge piers.

Structural Analysis of Chassis Frame Using CFRP and ANSYS Software

Automotive chassis is an important part of an automobile. The chassis serves as a frame work for supporting the body and different parts of the automobile. The chassis frame has to withstand the stresses developed within a limit. Along with strength, an important consideration in chassis design is to have adequate bending stiffness for better handling characteristics. So, strength and stiffness are two important criteria for the design of the chassis. This work is aimed at work performed towards the static structural analysis of the automobile chassis in which study of the stresses developed and deformation of chassis frame of a truck has been done . The chassis is modelled in SolidWorks and finite element analysis has been done in ANSYS. a comparison of current conventional steel chassis structural Steel and Aluminum and CFRP chassis in terms of deflection and stresses must be made in order to select the best one. A discussion and analysis is also done which gives insight on various effects of unidirectional fiber orientations in the chassis on strength and stiffness. Keyword: ANSYS, SolidWorks, chassis, strength, stiffness, structural analysis.

Comparative Study of Conventional Steel Braces and Buckling Restrained Braces in a High-Rise RC Building

A study was carried out on a reinforced concrete building with conventional steel braces and buckling restrained braces (BRB) for seismic analysis with dissimilar type of bracing system ( V type, inverted V type, X type, Zig-Zag bracing) is considered. The bracing is providing for outer exterior columns. A twenty-five storey (G+25) building is located at earthquake zone 2 & 4. The structure models are examined by response spectrum method using ETABS2016 program. The parameters which are consider in this research to equate the seismic investigation of buildings are storey displacement, storey drift, storey shear(forces). These parameters are compared in both type of bracing systems and effective bracing is selected with respect to different zones.

Implementation of Laminate Structure in Car Hood and Study of its NVH Parameters

This paper examines the implementation of Laminate structure and aluminium panels in Hood in place of conventional steel hood. In laminate structure, 3 layers is considered with aluminum as a face material and PVC Solid as a core material which helps in efficient energy absorption and provide necessary stiffness for the panel. It has been observed that the natural frequency is improved over conventional steel bonnets with benefit of weight reduction in hood assembly. To validate its NVH performance static stiffness, natural frequency and torsional stiffness has been calculated and it has been found that Laminate structure Hood has better performance than steel hood with overall weight reduction of 41.36%.

Parametric Study on Conventional and Pre-Engineered Multistorey Steel Building with Varying Height and Span

Technological advancement over the year has contributed immensely to the enhancement of quality of life through various new products and services. One such revolution in the field of construction industry is the pre-engineered buildings (PEB). Pre-engineered building concept involves the steel building system which are predesigned and prefabricated. Pre-engineered building structure brings optimization technique and faster construction technology. PEB are designed according to the analytical results so the section of this particular elements is tapered according to the results and this concept makes the structure light weight and also provide the best possible sections according to the optimum requirements and cost effectiveness. In current scenario pre-engineered building (PEB) construction is used for multi storey building having large span. In the present work, the study of pre-engineered building (PEB) with conventional steel building (CSB) has been carried out, in this study pre-engineered building (PEB) and conventional steel building (CSB) were designed as per IS 800:2007. Comparative assessment will be conducted between PEB system and CSB system by using STAAD Pro V8i software. I have taken different plan and different material specifications also different height (G+10, G+20) and different span (3880 mm, 4850 mm) for plans for study of material consumption. After the study result of PEB and CSB structures observed that the PEB structures reduce the material consumption.

Valorization of SiMn Sludge for Production of Low-Phosphorus Ferroalloys

The sludge generated by wet scrubbing the off-gas from a silicomanganese plant in Norway represents a significant loss in silicon and manganese values. This work seeks to extract these values in the production of ferroalloys and slags that can be utilized by alternative industries. Carbothermic smelting the sludge together with iron or iron scraps at 1600 °C produced FeSiMn alloys consisting of 57–64 wt.% Mn, 16–22 wt.% Si and 18–25 wt.% Fe. The low level of phosphorus in the sludge allowed for beneficial phosphorus concentrations as low as 500 ppmw in the metal alloys. The addition of lime to the material mix resulted in increased evaporation of alkalis, capture of sulfur in the slags as calcium sulfides and slag compositions similar to conventional steel-making slags that can be recycled accordingly. Graphical Abstract

Flexural Capacity Prediction Model For Steel Fibre-Reinforced Concrete Beams

Steel fibre (SF) reinforcement has been shown to improve the ductility of high strength concrete (HSC), which is known to be brittle. Research conducted to date on steel fibre reinforced concrete and its effects have emphasised post-failure performance and cracking mechanism. The difficulty in predicting the behaviour of fibres is due to the randomly distributed nature of the material within the matrix leading to a probability distribution of results. Published literature has shown a benefit of adding steel fibres in terms of the ductility performance of structures. Clearly, there is a potential for such material as replacement of conventional steel reinforcement. This study proposes a theoretical model of evaluating the potential of using steel fibres as a replacement material to conventional steel reinforcement bars based on the case study, laboratory and theoretical methodologies. The compressive strength of the concrete at key dates, the effective fibre cross-sectional were measured, and a prediction model was created based on the measurement parameters. The use of four-point flexural testing, standard compressive testing and software image modelling provided the study with relevant data used to analyse and compare to the prediction. Greater ductility performance and toughness were observed with increased fibre volumes, confirming proposed predictions and conclusion drawn from published literature. No consistent or conclusive correlations between fibre volumes and the compressive strength of concrete were found. A relationship between fibre volumes and predicted moment capacities of steel fibre reinforced concrete beams was found based on the proposed theoretical flexural analysis method.