Structural connections with glued-in rods present an interesting alternative for connecting load-bearing timber elements, since they have many advantages: high bearing capacity, good fire resistance, adaptability from the architectural point of view. In the present paper, the possibility of using glued-in rods for cross laminated timber (CLT) is presented. The performance of such connections has not yet been a subject of detailed research and therefore a number of numerical analyses were performed to determine their response under different boundary conditions, based on previously performed experiments. Detailed numerical analyses and parametric study represent the necessary basis for the determination of analytical equations for the response of glued-in rods in CLT, which are necessary for engineering practice and consequently for more widespread use of such joints. The presented results are relatively new in this scientific field, and they were therefore published in the high rank scientific journal.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2446183
We presented a novel colorimetric indication of relative humidity based on mesoporous SiO2 particles. The colour change of the indicator warns the user the selected limit value of relative humidity in the room was exceeded. The indicator is based on selectively functionalized mesoporous SiO2 and the mechanism of action is the dye dissolution in condensed water of capillaries. Due to selective modified (methylated) outer surface of mesoporous silica the dye dissolution occur only in condensed water in pores and therefore provide colorimetric indication only in this exactly defined range. The colorimetric approach of determining relative humidity based on selectively modified SiO2 and the concept of dye dissolution in capillary condensed water has not been described worldwide. The research work represents a great contribution to the development of science, since the principle of action could be extended also to other analytes. The impact of the achievement was also recognized by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) – the achievement was selected as one of 21 most prominent research achievements.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2570599
A novel environmentally friendly method for in situ formation of CaCO3 deep inside the wood structure is presented. The method is based on vacuum-pressure impregnating using a one-component treatment medium (water solution of calcium acetoacetate) with just one single stage process to significantly improve the fire retardancy. This is a completely new approach of the preparation of mineral-wood composites and has never been published, yet. The proposed new method of wood mineralization represents a substantial technological and ecological improvement, since no toxic fire retardants are applied. This achievement significantly contributes to field of new advanced materials, and was therefore published in the prestigious scientific journal.
COBISS.SI-ID: 48775683
The interest in nanocellulose made from woody biomass has been growing rapidly; however, detailed studies on the environmental performance of nanocellulose have only been reported on a few occasions. To fulfill this gap, the environmental performance of nanofibrillated cellulose fabricated from thermo-groundwood (removal of extractives, lignin and hemicelluloses, TEMPO oxidation and homogenization processes were included) was evaluated by means of a Life Cycle Assessment. The results show that the purification process contributes more than 95% of the impact. It is associated with a relatively high consumption of electrical energy and ancillary chemicals, i.e., cyclohexane and acetone. Even in the case that in addition to the extractives and the hemiceluloses also lignin is considered as a potentially valuable co-product, and the latter takes over some of the burden, the impact of nanofibrillated cellulose remains relatively high. The study also had a methodological goal, i.e., the impact indicators were calculated using the three most relevant evaluation methods: ILCD/PEF, CML 2001 and ReCiPe 2016. Nanocellulose represent very perspective group of biological based materials, and therefore the reliable assessment of environmental impacts is extremely important. With the comparison of calculation procedures using different data bases, the methodology was also verified.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2494311
Monitoring of the corrosion on stainless steel type AISI 304 in highly porous mortar specimens was performed during a period of 2 years. Five different monitoring techniques were applied: the galvanostatic pulse, the coupling current, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), the use of coupled multi-electrode arrays (CMEA), and electrical resistance probes (ER). At the end of the exposure period, comparisons were made between the results obtained by using these different techniques, as well as by taking into account actually observed damage by spectroscopic techniques. The advantages and limitations of each of the applied corrosion monitoring techniques were assessed. Obtained results confirmed high corrosion resistance of the stainless steel in concrete contaminated by chlorides. Specific transient depassivation / repassivation events were, however, found by means of coupled multi-electrode arrays (CMEA). Such unstable events on the stainless steel in mortar have never been reported in scientific literature, since the conventional electrochemical techniques are not capable to detect them. Due to the relevant contribution to comprehensive understanding of the dynamic passive state of the steel in concrete, the results were published in the high rank scientific journal.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2464359