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Nowadays, investigating and researching on energetic polymers in order to increase mechanical, thermodynamic, and detonational properties of them have been highly regarded. One of these energetic polymers is GAP. In this paper, molecular dynamics simulation has been used to compare the properties of GAP and GTP energetic polymers. GTP, in principle is the modified form of GAP, in which functional group of triazolium methyl nitrate has been added instead of azide. The mechanical properties of GAP is a challenging topic in the field of energetic materials. Due to the attributes of the 3 azoliom methyl nitrate ring, the mechanical and thermodynamic properties of GTP are expected to be higher than GAP. The results obtained by molecular dynamics simulation showed that GTP is a stable material and its mechanical properties such as Young, and shear modulus compared to GTP have been decreased 27% and 32% respectively, and bulk modulus, Poisson coefficient, and K/G ratio compared to GTPhave been increased 17%, 42%, and 71% respectively. It was also found that the detonation speed, detonation pressure, and oxygen balance of energetic polymer compared to GAP, have been increased 5%, 14%, and 21% respectively. As a result, usage of GTP will increase as a modified GAP material in applications such as clean and chlorine-free propellants for the solid propellant rockets and also safety systems of automobiles.

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In this study, three different size (100-300-500 µm) of the rubber powder (waste tire) were used in the formulation of epoxy- phenolic adhesive. Rubber powder was modified with grafting method by acrylamide monomer. In order to prevent any loss in properties such as modulus and strength of the adhesive, which is due to the addition of rubber powder to the adhesive, the micro particles of silica were used in formulation of epoxy- phenolic adhesive.  The experiment was designed by Taguchi method, and in the experiment, the effect of the composition of rubber powder, size of rubber powder, composition of silica filler and phenolic resin on mechanical and thermal properties of epoxy adhesives were investigated. To study the mechanical properties of adhesives and adhesion properties, dumbbell-shaped specimens and single edge lap bonds that have been made of metal (stainless steel) to composite (epoxy resin / carbon fiber) were prepared and subjected to tensile test. Thermal stability and interfacial interaction between epoxy and filler in adhesive formulation were explored by thermogravimetric analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses, respectively.  Tensile test results showed that for lap- joint bonding with the addition of each factor in its optimal level into epoxy adhesive, strength, modulus and toughness increase by 7.5%, 27.56% and 114% respectively in comparison with  the samples bonded with the neat  epoxy adhesive. A significant increase was obtained in thermal stability for formulated adhesive samples compared with neat epoxy adhesive.
 
 

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The aim of this project is the design and optimization of the formulation of epoxy adhesives for bonding metal to composite parts . This joints are most widely used in the aerospace industry to reduce stress concentration at a point. Joints for single edge joining include stainless steel metal with commercial code 316L and composite epoxy resin / carbon fiber. In this study, the effect of three types of additives: filler (alumina micro-particles), nylon 6.6 and phenolic resin (type of resin) on the mechanical and thermal properties of epoxy adhesive have been investigated. Tensile test results showed that increasing alumina fillers increases the tensile strength and overlap shear adhesive samples, respectively, in single lap joint dumbbells and elderly. The test showed that increasing the amount of nylon 6.6 When is slightly higher due to a sharp drop in tensile strength and overlap shear, respectively, in both cases is dog bone and single lap joint adhesives. This limit depends on the capacity epoxy ring to absorb amide hydrogens. The test for thermal properties (TGA) showed that increasing the amount of phenolic thermal stability is improved. High-temperature tensile test of appropriateness is also increasing impact of phenolic resin. Finally, the adhesive properties built with the similar adhesive (UHU) were compared. Results showed superiority in single lap joint metal to composite adhesive is made in the study.

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Quasi-static compressive tests to determine the mechanical properties of individual brown rice kernels were conducted on whole kernel rice of Hashemi and core specimens of Khazar varieties. The magnitudes of the failure force, failure deformation, breakage energy and apparent elasticity modulus for Hashemi kernels were determined at two moisture content levels, namly, %11 and %17 (w.b.) at four levels of loading rates ranging from 1 mm/min to 5.5 mm/min. For the Khazar variety, the magnitudes of failure stress and strain, as well as toughness and elasticity modulus were determined at moisture content of %14 (w.b.) for five levels of loading rates ranging from 0.5 mm/min to 1.5 mm/min. Statistical analysis of the test results showed that deformation rates had no significant effect on the mechanical properties. Moisture content had a significant effect on all grain mechanical properties. Decreasing moisture content caused significant increases in all these properties. The failure force and the breaking energy for Hashemi kernels increased more than double, when the moisture content decreased from 17% to 11%. The magnitudes of failure force and breaking energy varied from 56 N to 115.7 N, and from 2.01 mJ to 5.23 mJ, respectively. The means of apparent elasticity modulus for compressive test on the core specimens was calculated to be 1.762 GPa at 17% moisture content and 2.835 GPa at 11% moisture content. Compressive strength and apparent elasticity modulus for Khazar variety were determined to be 36 MPa and 973.4 MPa, respectively. Some of the mechanical properties compared well with the published data.

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Abstract
Research subject: Due to the drought and lack of water resources, many efforts have been made to store water properly recently. Using of multilayer polyethylene tanks is an efficient measure in order to solve this problem and it has received considerable attention. Proper manufacturing conditions will greatly improve the strength of these tanks and their applications.
Research approach: In this study, the effect of cooling process on the final properties of polyethylene tanks prepared by rotational molding method is investigated. Three different cooling methods comprised of cooling with water, cooling by air, and quiescent cooling is selected and their mechanical and thermal properties were investigated.
Main results: The results of the tensile test show that as the tank is cooled faster, the elongation at break will be higher. It is also demonstrated that the air cooling method results in the lower elongation at break. The results of the thermal properties show that higher cooling rate creates thicker crystals in the fragment which requires higher energy to overcome these thick crystals. According to the results of the thermal properties and using the softening temperature test it is found that by increasing the cooling rate, the softening temperature will be increased as well which will improve the application of the tank in high temperature conditions. Melt flow rate and density tests are also performed to confirm the results of mechanical and thermal properties, respectively. Charpy impact test is performed at ambient temperature to confirm mechanical behavior induced by crystal structure. All in all, cooling by water performs better than other methods in terms of mechanical and thermal properties.

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Leguminous crops, chickpea specifically, are usually hand-harvested for several reasons: lack of dedicated combines, small field sizes and short plant canopies. Chickpea losses and kernel damages are in the form of emberyo damage, kernel breakage or scratching and splitting.  In this research, three varieties of chick pea (Bivanij, ILC482 and Philip 93-93) at three level of moisture content (15-16, 20-21 and 25-26 percent on wet bases) and two loading directions were tested under compression loading. Independent variables were force and energy of rupture, stiffness, and deformation at the rupture point as well as some physical properties. Effect of moisture content on chickpea mechanical properties was found to be very significant (0.01). Increasing moisture content, results in significant decrease of rupture force, energy and stiffness on one hand and increase of deformation on the other. Minimum and maximum values of rupture energy were obtained to be 24.7 mJ at 25% mc wb, and 156.3 mJ at 15% mc wb, respectively, both in the longitudinal loading direction. Results of test indicated that splitting of peas is most probable at 25 moisture content under length compression. Among the three varieties of chickpea, ILC 482 variety was most sensitive to splitting. Logarithmic regression equations were obtained having R² values over 0.90 for estimation of chickpea mechanical properties based on moisture content and physical properties.

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There are two reasons for measuring mechanical properties of cereal, at first determination of grain texture for classification, and second, in modification of harvesting and processing machinery. Therefore, this research was accomplished on sardary wheat variety. For this purpose, exactly 160 simple compression tests were conducted including four levels of moisture content and two types of wheat (good and sunn pest- damaged) at twenty replications. According to the research, it is possible to distinguish sunn pest and good grains from each other. Results of this study were defined which able to us on basis of mechanical. The best moisture contents for separation are 12 and %14 (w.b.) based on toughness and maximum force respectively. The results of analysis of variance indicated that two types of wheat at three attributes (toughness, maximum force and initial tangent of the curve) were different, significantly. The maximum force to rupture for good grain is higher than sunn pest-damaged grain, but, sunn pest-damaged grains were more tougher than good grains. This phenomenon is due to porosity of sunn pest-damaged grain tissue. Also its maximum strain is twice as many as of good grains. Among the mechanical parameters which extracted from the tests, it was shown that the toughness is from most suitable factor to recognize sunn pest-damaged grain from other grain. Also the results of this study indicate which maximum and minimum force to rupture of sunn pest-damaged grain are 90.6 and 7.35 N respectively. Whereas, the similar values for good grain are 121.8 and 28.34 N respectively. Also, there are no significant differences between sunn pest-damaged and good wheat kernels based on physical parameters.

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Various factors such as biological and environmental factors, harvest method as well as type and length of storage influence characteristics of agricultural products. This is particularly true for fruits and entails considerable economic consequences. The present study was undertaken to investigate the influence of fruit size, variety and length of storage time on soluble solids content, pH, moisture content and two mechanical properties i.e firmness and penetration energy of kiwifruit. Using factorial experiment with Completely Randomized design, effect of independent factors including storage time (0, 6 and 12 weeks), fruit size (small and large), and variety (Monty and Hayward) on measured properties of kiwifruit were investigated. Results showed that storage time and crop variety had significant effects on the measured properties. Soluble solid content and pH values increased while firmness and penetration energy decreased in both varieties with increasing storage time. Storage time (12 weeks) had no significant effect on fruit Moisture content. It was also shown that the Hayward variety could be stored longer than the Monty variety. Therefore, in order to increase storage time of fruits, sorting on the basis of variety and size before storage is recommended.

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The antimicrobial and physico-mechanical properties of fish gelatin-alginate film incorporated with oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) essential oil (OEO) were assessed. The blended films were prepared with 75% fish gelatin and 25% sodium alginate and OEO (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5%) was added to the film solutions. Results showed that adding 0.5% OEO into films improved tensile strength about 2.54 MPa compared to the control films. The incorporation of 1.5% essential oil decreased tensile strength and the elongation percentage by 3.16 MPa and 15.59%, respectively; water vapor permeability, viscosity and opacity also significantly declined (P < 0.05). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the surface of the film confirmed these results. Although 1.5% OEO-films showed higher antimicrobial activity, fish gelatin-alginate films incorporated with lower level of OEO can be can be more appropriate for food preservationl.

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There are two reasons for measuring the mechanical properties of cereal grains. First, the possibility of grain classification based on texture and, second, to obtain information for modification in the design of post-harvest machinery. In both cases, the objectives will be the reduction of qualitative and/or quantitative losses of grain. In this research, eight different parameters obtainable from the force-deformation curves of wheat kernels un-der compression were determined. The most important of these included: the apparent modulus of elasticity, maximum compressive contact stress and maximum load at rup-ture. Other grain characteristics such as the dimensions of single wheat kernels and the particle size index of bulk samples for five varieties of wheat were measured. By per-forming 200 uniaxial compression tests on intact wheat kernels (from soft to very hard varieties), the values of modulus of elasticity ranging from 486 to 1631 MPa were deter-mined based on measurements according to the Hertz theory. Results indicated a simple linear relationship between grain hardness and mechanical properties, such as modulus of elasticity and deformation at the linear limit on the force-deformation curve, and physical attributes, such as grain mass and major diameter. Grain orientation had no significant effect on the dependent variables. Moisture content had a very significant effect on me-chanical properties. From the statistical analysis of the data (ANOVA and DMRT), it was found that it is possible to distinguish between soft and hard wheat kernels based on dif-ferent parameters obtainable from the force-deformation curve. Hence, any one of these parameters may be used as a suitable indicator for grain hardness determination.

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    Carboxymethyl cellulose is the most abundant carbohydrate biopolymer that has excellent film-forming properties. But its main problem is its poor resistance to water vapour transport. In this study the effect of glycerol as plasticiser and oleic acid as an edible hydrophobic agent were investigated. Results showed that by increasing of oleic acid up to a certain content, moisture uptake decreased significantly (about 53/5%). By Increasing the concentration of glycerol significantly increased moisture uptake (about 64%). Studying of mechanical properties, showed that both glycerol and oleic acid have plasticizing effect on the films but glycerol showed more effective role on decreasing tensile strength and increasing flexibility then oleic acid. Both glycerol and oleic acid are able to decrease glass transition temperature of films. But the effect of the glycerol on the thermal properties of films was higher than oleic acid. 

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The objectives of this study were to investigate the potential of faba bean protein isolate (FPI) in preparation of an edible film and to determine the effects of film forming solution pH and plasticizer concentration on film properties. So film samples were prepared in three different pH levels (7, 9 and 12) and plasticizer concentrations (40, 50 & 60% w/w protein isolate). Results showed that increasing of pH improved mechanical properties (tensile strength and elongation) and solubility of films but caused water vapor permeability (WVP) and lightness of films to decrease. Plasticizer concentration did not affect WVP over the studied range. Elongation and solubility of films increased and tensile strength decreased by increasing of plasticizer content of film forming solutions. The lowest WVP and the highest tensile strength was observed at pH 12 and 40% (w/w of FPI ) glycerol concentration.

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  Starch is the most abundant carbohydrate biopolymer that has excellent film-forming properties. But poor resistance to water vapour transport and poor mechanical properties are of its main problems. In this study a series of corn starch films with varying concentrations (0–20 %W/W) of citric acid and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) were prepared by casting method at 60˚C. The effects of citric acid on water vapor permeability (WVP), moisture absorption, solubility and mechanical properties were investigated. The WVP decreased from 4.63 to  2.61×10^-7 g/m.h.Pa as the citric acid percentage increased from 0 to 10%W/W. When the citric acid content of the films reached to 20%W/W, WVP increased about 15%. Moisture absorption and mechanical properties exhibited similar trends. In the presence of 10% citric acid, the introduction of CMC improved the moisture resistance of the composites. Using of 20%W/W CMC in the formulation increased ultimate tensile strength (UTS) by more than 59% compared to neat starch film. However, by increasing of the CMC concentration, the strain to break (SB) did not reduce significantly. 

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In this study, several physical and mechanical properties of Quercus were evaluated as a function of variety.  The physical properties of nuts such as dimensional characteristics (length, width and thickness), unit mass and geometrical properties (the geometric mean diameter, volume, surface area and projected area), solid density, bulk density, 1000 seeds mass and porosity differed significantly.    To assess mechanical properties samples were loaded between two parallel plates to determine the specific deformation, rupture force and rupture energy and toughness in the rate of loading (31, 54, 75, 200 and 300 mm/min), in the vertical loading side (in the side of diameter)  and result showed that amount of rupture force increased with boosting loading rate.  In addition concerning statistical analysis on the date integration of variety and loading rate had significant effect (P<0.01) on all mechanical properties.  The highest static coefficients of friction were a achieved on rubber surface and the least for aluminum surface.   

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    Knowledge of physical and mechanical properties of agricultural products, such as vegetables, is needed for their processing. The objective of this study was to find the physical and mechanical properties of squash, related to head cutting process.  The physical properties such as length, mass, headfirst diameters, head diameters, volume, density, sphericity and geometric mean diameter were determined. Material testing machine was used to measure mechanical properties by applying shear test on the sample.  The experiments were carried out at three mass levels (m<95g, 95g<m<120g, m>120g), loading speed of 50mm/min and loading direction (vertical to headfirst diameter direction) of preprocessing squash.   Mechanical properties such as maximum force and energy of shear and bio-yield point were determined. Result of physical properties of squash showed that the averages of length, mass, volume, density, sphericity, headfirst diameters, head diameters and geometric mean diameter were 121.34 mm, 110.09 g, 110.77 cm³, 994.85 kg/m³, 48.72, 25.51mm, 37.48 mm, 59.05 mm, respectively. Result of mechanical properties showed that mass had significant effect on maximum shear force and energy. Moreover, the biggest squashes had the highest shear force and energy.

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  The aim of this work was to study the effect of adding gellan gum and glycerol to film-forming solution on physical and mechanical properties of whey protein/gellan gum emulsion films and to produce edible coatings from whey and gellan gum and determine its effect on storage life of apricot. Whey protein coatings were prepared by dispersing 10% protein in distilled water; and plasticized with glycerol(Gly). Also gellan gum was added at different levels(0, 0/2, 0/4 and 0/6gr). Therefore apricots were dipped in this coatings solution for 1 minute at 20˚C and air dried. Coated fruits together with the uncoated fruits(control) were placed in open dishes and stored at 4˚C and 85% RH for 1 months. Weight loss, total soluble solid(TSS), titrable acidity, pH, skin color, flesh firmness and overall acceptability of coated apricots and control were measured weekly.  The result revealed that the weight loss and changes in the quality parameters were much lower in coated apricots as compared with those. Color changes were also studied using a Hunter lab colorimeter. Finally results showed that the applications of whey coating increased overall acceptability, quality and storage life of apricot, while decreased its weight loss during storage. The emulsion films were evaluated for physical and mechanical properties. Increasing the level of gellan gum in the films led to increase in Modulus(EM) and Tensile Strength(TS) but increasing gum to 0/6gr made less increase in Modulus(EM) and Tensile Strength(TS). About Elongation(EL), was observed increase too but in films that produced with 0/4gr gum, there was a slight decrease.

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  Determination of physical and mechanical properties of agricultural products is the basis for designing or modification of processing equipments. Accordingly, in this research, some of physical and mechanical properties of two varieties of almond were investigated. The mean values of geometrical properties including; length, width, thickness, the geometric mean diameter, mass, volume, surface area and sphericity for Azar variety were 32.42, 21.74, 14.76, 21.80 mm, 4.157 gr, 2793 mm³, 1509 mm² and 67.49% and for Nonpareil were 29.71, 19.12, 12.99, 19.22 mm, 1.305 gr, 2442 mm³, 1168mm² and 63.80%, respectively. Also, properties such as ; true density and bulk density, frictional properties of Almond on the plain steel, galvanized steel and aluminum for the two varieties of Almond, that is, Azar and Nonpareil were measured. At the present research, also the mechanical properties such as maximum force, energy and power requirement to rupture of Almond nut, measured and assessed under compression loading between two parallel plates. The tests were carried out in three levels of size (small, medium and large), three loading speeds (10, 100 and 200 mm/min) and three loading axes (X, Y and Z) with 10 replications. The effect of three factors; size, speed, direction of loading and their interactions were measured for both varieties. Finally, the mean values of physical and mechanical properties both varieties were compared. The mean values of force, energy and power requirement to rupture of nut for Azar variety were 884.6 N, 447.3mJ, 0.681W and for Nonpareil were 56.2 N, 31.4 mJ, 0.045 W, respectively. The results showed that the mean values of mechanical properties of Azar variety were considerably more than that of Nonpareil variety. Also, it was revealed that the effect of size, speed and loading direction on mechanical properties was significant in both varieties.

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  The post-harvest physical and mechanical properties data of fruits and vegetables are important in adoption and design of various handling, packaging, storage and transportation systems. In this research some of physical and mechanical properties of two varieties of almond kernel were investigated. The mean values of geometrical properties including; length, width, thickness, the geometric mean diameter, weight, volume and sphericity for Azar variety were 21.01, 11.53, 5.31, 10.91 mm, 0.695 gr, 673.1 mm³  and 52.02% and for Nonpareil were 19.54, 10.96, 5.24, 10.38 mm, 0.570 gr, 547.9 mm³ and 53.27%, respectively. Also, properties such as ; particle density and bulk density, frictional properties of Almond kernel on the plain steel, galvanized steel and aluminum for the two varieties of Almond, that is, Azar and Nonpareil were measured. At present research, also by cutting loading tests, some of mechanical properties of almond kernel such as force, energy and power requirement for cutting of kernel were investigated. The tests were carried in three size levels (small, medium and large) and three loading speed (5, 50 and 100 mm/min) and three moisture levels (5, 15 and 25%) with 10 replication. The effect of three factors; size, speed, moisture and their multiple effects were measured for both varieties. Finally, the mean values of mechanical properties both varieties were compared. The mean force, energy and power requirement to cutting of kernel for Azar variety were 15.43N, 6.12mJ, 0.0058W and for Nonpareil were 17.03N, 8.19 mJ, 0.0071W, respectively.  

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Edible emulsified films were made from pistachio globulin protein (PGP) (6 g/100ml), stearic fatty acid (SA) (2, 4 and 6% w/w protein), glycerol (1g/1g of protein), and emulsifier by emulsification method in order to improve water vapor permeability (WVP) and reduce water solubility of protein film. WVP of films reduced 38.5 to 42% by fatty acid addition and water solubility decreased slightly, too. Effect of SA on the oxygen permeability (OP) of emulsified films was determined indirectly by oil peroxide value measurements. OP values of the emulsified films were lower than that of PGP film, but the differences were not significant (P>0.05). Tensile strength (TS) and elongation at break (E) of PGP film were 9 Mega Pascal and 104%, respectively. TS and E of emulsified films were diminished 11 to 41% and 35 to 70%, respectively as a result of SA addition. Opacity of emulsified films (unfavorable sensory attribute) increased as function of SA concentration. Glass transition temperature (Tg) of films was measured by differential scanning calorimetry. Tg of PGP film was at 127.19 °C and was not affected considerably by the SA addition.