In this study, melt-state rheological behavior and solid-state mechanical properties of polypropylene-wood fiber composites were investigated in detail depending on compositional variations such as (i) alkaline treatment on wood fibers, (ii) fiber size, (iii) wood fiber content, and (iv) compatibilizer/wood fiber ratio. Composite samples were prepared in a lab-scale co-rotating twin screw extruder by using a maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene as compatibilizer. Morphological features of composites were examined in a scanning electron microscopy. Viscoelastic behavior and mechanical properties of samples were analyzed by performing oscillatory tests in a rotational rheometer and a universal tensile test machine. It was found that the increasing amounts of wood fiber and compatibilizer/wood fiber ratio led to improve melt elasticity and tensile strength. It was concluded that the amount of compatibilizer into composite formulation was the most important compositional parameter compared to size and chemical treatment of wood fibers for improving the physical properties of composites. The Nicolais-Nicodemo micromechanical model showed that the increasing amount of compatibilizer yielded lower parameters which implied better interfacial adhesion between polypropylene and wood fibers.

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In this paper, a substrate material (AA5754) was coated using a consumable rod/coating shaft (AA7075) as both a single layer and gradient layers by friction stir process. The order of the gradient coating process can be listed as; mixing the Al + TiC powders, pressing inside the consumable rod, sintering at certain temperatures and coating the substrate material surface with three overlapping layers at different reinforcement ratios. Microhardness and wear tests were performed to investigate the mechanical properties of the coatings. The microstructures of the coated materials have been examined by using optical microscope and SEM. The EDX and XRD analyses were also applied to the new-coated materials. The shaft rotational speed had a significant effect on the microstructure in the friction coating which was performed at single layer and in a powder-free fashion. The gradient ratio in gradient coatings had a considerable effect on the hardness and wear resistance.

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Hot water systems are being extensively used in residential as well as industrial contexts. Choice of insulation material's thickness has a significant effect on total cost. The purpose of this study was to develop a simplified but accurate empirical method that allows to determine the optimum thicknesses of the insulation materials that are applied on the hot water pipes. In the first step, a comprehensive mathematical model was constructed for the calibration and validation purposes. Then, the heat transfer between the flow inside the pipe and the external environment was thermally modeled; followed by a calculation of fuel and insulation costs. After that, the total cost analysis method was applied in order to define the optimum insulation thickness. Later an empirical method was developed based on the mathematical model. Finally, the accuracy of the empirical method was tested, using a wide range of physical conditions as well as different insulation materials, pipe and fuel types. The standard optimum insulation thickness values were founded same for the all pipe types with the identical diameters. The heat losses can be reduced around 89, 88 and 83% by application of optimum insulation thickness to steel, copper and plastic pipes respectively. Larger pipes have higher net savings and lower payback periods. Fuel-oil is the least economic heating solution; therefore the application of insulation brings higher profits than the other fuels. Prediction accuracy of the empirical method is higher for the steel and copper pipes than the plastic pipes. An average matching rate of 91.4% indicated that the new method is a valid and time-saving alternative, which can be used in pipe insulation applications.