Studies to find alternative low environmental-impact materials for acoustic absorbers are still progressing, particularly those originated from natural materials. However, most of the established works are mainly focused on the fibrous-type absorbers. Discussion on the non-fibrous-type absorbers is still lacking and this therefore becomes the objective of this paper. Use of bamboo by utilizing its hollow structure to absorb sound energy is discussed here. The normal incidence absorption coefficient was measured based on the length and diameter of the bamboo, as well as different arrangement of the bamboo structure subjected to the incidence sound, namely, axial, transverse, and crossed-transverse arrangements. The trend of absorption coefficient appears in peaks and dips at equally spacing frequencies. For all arrangements the peak of absorption can reach above 0.8. Introducing an air gap behind the bamboo shifts the peak absorption to lower frequency. Covering the front surface of the absorber improves the sound absorption coefficient for axial arrangement by widening the frequency range of absorption also towards lower frequency range. The transverse arrangement is found to have average absorption coefficient peaks of 0.7 above 1.5 kHz. By arranging the bamboo structure with crossed-transverse arrangement, the suppressed absorption peaks in normal transverse arrangement can be recovered.

In this paper the electric arc fault in the high voltage winding turn of the power autotransformer has been investigated. 3D magnetic field distributions in the leakage domain and electrodynamic forces acting on high voltage winding have been calculated. Finite Element Method was used for the magnetic flux density simulation. The elctrodynamic force value under the fault exceed significantly the nominal mechanical stresses of the winding.

The analysis of the development of the microstructure of deep drawn automotive B pillar, as well as the analysis of deformation based on numerical simulation and experiment, was performed. The microstructure of steel sheet as well as Al-Si coating after various stages of B pillar production was investigated. It was found that the obtained microstructure of the B pillar was significantly different from that described in many studies as a proper one. The microstructure of the investigated material consisted of martensite, bainite, and a small amount of ferrite. Al-Si coating, despite its morphological changes, remained on the surface of B pillar and, in spite of this, did not fully eliminate oxidation and decarburization of B pillar material. The analysis of the state of strain allowed to evaluate the deformation safety of the process, as well as to verify the simulation results through measurements of sheet thickness variations.

Improving application efficiency is crucial for both the economic and environmental aspects of plant protection. Mathematical models can help in understanding the relationships between spray application parameters and efficiency, and reducing the negative impact on the environment. The effect of nozzle type, spray pressure, driving speed and spray angle on spray coverage on an artificial plant was studied. Artificial intelligence techniques were used for modeling and the optimization of application process efficiency. The experiments showed a significant effect of droplet size on the percent area coverage of the sprayed surfaces. A high value of the vertical transverse approach surface coverage results from coarse droplets, high driving speed, and nozzles angled forward. Increasing the vertical transverse leaving surface coverage, as well as the coverage of the sum of all sprayed surfaces, requires fine droplets, low driving speed, and nozzles angled backwards. The maximum coverage of the upper level surface is obtained with coarse droplets, low driving speed, and a spray angle perpendicular to the direction of movement. The choice of appropriate nozzle type and spray pressure is an important aspect of chemical crop protection. Higher upper level surface coverage is obtained when single flat fan nozzles are used, while twin nozzles produce better coverage of vertical surfaces. Adequate neural models and evolutionary algorithms can be used for pesticide application process efficiency optimization.

Industrial steelmaking (EAF) flue dust was characterized in terms of chemical and phase compositions, leaching behaviour in 20% sulphuric acid solution as well as leaching thermal effect. Waste product contained about 43% Zn, 27% Fe, 19% O, about 3% Pb and Mn and lesser amounts of other elements (Ca, Si, Mo, etc.). It consisted mainly of oxide-type compounds of iron and zinc. Dissolution of metals (Zn, Fe, Mn) from the dust was determined in a dependence of solid to liquid ratio (50-200 g/L), temperature (20-80oC) and leaching time (up to 120 min). The best result of 60% zinc recovery was obtained for 50 g dust/L and a temperature of 80oC. Leaching of the material was an exothermic process with a reaction heat of about –318 kJ/kg. Precipitation purification of the solution was realized using various ratios of H2O2 to NH3aq. A product of this stage was hydrated iron(III) oxide. Final solution was used for zinc electrowinning. Despite that pure zinc was obtained the highest cathodic current efficiency was only 40%.