Deniz Sema Sarul¹, Dogan Arslan², Emre Vatansever¹, Yusuf Kahraman², Ali Durmus³, Reza Salehiyan⁴, Mohammadreza Nofar^1,2,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 149-164, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.017003

Abstract Polylactide (PLA)/poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) blend nanocomposites including 3 wt% of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were prepared by melt compounding method in a twin-screw extruder and an internal mixer. Blend nanocomposites were formulated by diluting three different masterbatches prepared by solution casting method that contained 7 wt% of CNC. These masterbatches were: (m1) PLA/PBAT/CNC masterbatch; (m2) PLA/CNC masterbatch; and (m3) PBAT/CNC masterbatch. These were to explore how different preparation methods affect the dispersion and localization of CNC and hence the properties of PLA/PBAT/CNC blend nanocomposites. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the structural changes of the blends. Rheological properties… More >

Shaoxiang Cai¹, Yuliang Guo¹, Yanjun Li^2,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 119-133, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.016260

Abstract In this study, Pinus massoniana Lamb at different heights, across the annual rings, and between earlywood and latewood was measured by X-ray diffraction and the chemical composition was analyzed by chemical treatment. Results indicated that the microfibril angle (MFA) decreased and the chemical composition changed little with the increase in height from 1 m to 9 m. In the radial direction, the MFA decreased and the chemical composition changed little with an increase in annual rings. The cellulose content of latewood was higher than that of earlywood. The viscoelastic changes of wood cell walls at different heights, across the annual rings by… More >

Ke Zhou^1,2, Haitao Li^1,2,*, Assima Dauletbek^1,2, Dong Yang^1,2, Zhenhua Xiong³, Rodolfo Lorenzo⁴, Kun Zhou⁵, Ileana Corbi⁶, Ottavia Corbi⁶

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 165-182, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.017223

Abstract Eccentric compression tests on 15 chamfered laminated bamboo lumber (LBL) columns with a height ranging from 600 to 3000 mm were conducted in order to study the eccentric mechanical performance. The failure of all specimens was caused by the crack of bamboo fiber in the tensile region. When the ultimate strength was reached, except specimens with a height of 600 mm, all other specimens could bear large deformation, showing good ductility. The lateral displacements of the specimens under eccentric compression were approximately parabolic in the direction of column height. The ultimate bending moment of LBL columns with different slenderness ratios… More >

Yuhao Jiang, Jialan Yao, Chengfei Zhu^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 135-148, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.016304

Abstract Poly(urea-formaldehyde) (PUF) microcapsules were prepared by in-situ polymerization with four different processes in this paper. The chemical composition, surface morphology, particle size distribution, and thermal stability were characterized by FTIR, SEM, particle size analyzer, and TGA, respectively. The results demonstrated that the agglomeration of the PUF microcapsules was related to the agglomeration of the emulsion particles caused by the changes of emulsion interface during the shell polymerization. Due to the slow deposition of the shell material, the PUF microcapsules with the core-shell structure prepared by the process with ammonium chloride as the last additive showed good dispersibility with an average… More > Graphic Abstract

Yousef Y. Sewar¹, Zhancheng Zhang¹, Xinmiao Meng^1,*, Mohammed Y. Wahan¹, Hanxiao Qi^1,2, Qahtan M. Al-Shami^1,3, Shijiao Luo¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 219-235, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.016013

Abstract Engineered bamboo has recently received lots of attention of civil engineers and professional researchers due to its better mechanical performance than that of softwood timber. Parallel strand bamboo is one important part of engineered bamboo for its excellent durable performance compared to the laminated veneer bamboo. The required curing temperature in hot-pressing process is usually higher than 120°C to reduce the content of nutritional ingredients and hemy cellulose, and to avoid the decay from the environment and insects. Nonetheless, the appearance of engineered bamboo gets darker with the increase of temperature during the hot-pressing process. In order to minimize the… More > Graphic Abstract

Zhentao Chen¹, Weidong Lu^1,2,*, Yingwei Bao¹, Jun Zhang¹, Lu Wang¹, Kong Yue¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 89-104, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.015925

Abstract The timber-concrete composite (TCC) slabs have become a preferred choice of floor systems in modern multi story timber buildings. This TCC slab consisted of timber and a concrete slab which were commonly connected together with inclined self-tapping screws (STSs). To more accurately predict the fire performance of TCC slabs, the mechanical behavior of TCC connections under high temperature was investigated by numerical simulation in this study. The interface slip of TCC connections was simulated by a proposed Finite Element (FE) model at room temperature, and different diameter and penetration length screws were considered. The effectiveness of this FE model was… More > Graphic Abstract

Xiushao Zhao¹, Qijing Yang^1,2,*, Jianglong Rao¹, Daxin Geng¹, Zhouyong Tan¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 203-218, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.015854

Abstract Completely weathered phyllite (CWP) soil is a kind of special soil with high swell potential, while red clay is a special soil with high shrinkage. This means that these two kinds of special soils are usually not suitable for direct use as subgrade fill. To reduce the swell index of the CWP soil and the shrinkage of red clay at the same time, it was proposed to blend the CWP soil with red clay to improve their basic characteristics. A series of swell index tests and dry-wet cycle tests of the blended soils have been carried out at varying blending… More > Graphic Abstract

Nan Guo¹, Jing Ren¹, Ling Li^1,*, Yan Zhao², Mingtao Wu¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 183-201, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.015756

Abstract Due to creep characteristics of wood, long-term loading can cause a significant stress loss of steel bars in reinforced glulam beams and high long-term deflection of the beam midspan. In this study, 15 glulam beams were subjected to a 90-day long-term loading test, and the effects of long-term loading value, reinforcement ratio and prestress level on the stress of steel bars, midspan long-term deflection, and other parameters were compared and analyzed. The main conclusions drawn from this study were that the long-term deflection of the reinforced glulam beams accounted for 22.5%, 20.6%, and 18.2% of the total deflection respectively when… More >

Huifeng Yang^1,*, Junfeng Ji¹, Haotian Tao², Benkai Shi¹, Junbin Hu¹, Bo Wen³

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 105-117, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.016118

Abstract Experimental investigation on the pull-out behaviour, including the withdrawal capacity, slip stiffness and interfacial shear stress, of axially loaded screwed-in threaded rod embedded in cross laminated timber (CLT) was conducted. Specimens with varying embedment length and different number of threaded rods were tested in this study. To prevent premature splitting failure of timber, some specimens were reinforced in the direction perpendicular to the timber grain with self-tapping screws. Test results showed that the screwed-in threaded rod connections exhibited good pull-out behaviour with high withdrawal capacity and slip stiffness. Within a certain range, the withdrawal capacity increases considerably with the increase… More > Graphic Abstract

Jian Gong¹, Lingzhi Xie^1,2,*, Yongxue Li¹, Zhichun Ni³, Qingzhu Wei³, Yupeng Wu⁴, Haonan Cheng⁵

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 33-51, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.016262

Abstract Based on the recent development of renewable energy utilization technology, in addition to centralized photovoltaic power plants, distributed photovoltaic power generation systems represented by building-integrated photovoltaic systems are frequently employed for power supply. Therefore, in the architectural design, the double-glass photovoltaic module used in the integrated photovoltaic building system puts forward a higher load-bearing capacity requirement and the corresponding simplified method of carrying capacity check. This article focuses on the simplified method of checking the bearing capacity of the four-sided simply supported double-glass photovoltaic module. First, the principle of equivalent stiffness is used to calculate the effective thickness. Then, the… More > Graphic Abstract