Clay fractions of eight vertisols and vertisolic soils from Israel were found to consist principally of a Fe-rich beidellite. Sediment volumes of Na-clay suspensions, obtained in measuring cylinders and read every 24 hr for as long as 720 hr, ranged from 3.8 to 8.4 cm/l00 mg clay and were as much as 19 times larger than corresponding suspensions of Ca-clays. Optical density data for all clay suspensions showed absorption curves typical of smectite. The relative number of platelets per tactoid, calculated from optical density measurements, ranged between 1.4 and 5.4 for the Na-clays and between 7.4 and 14.1 for the Ca-clays. In the Ca-clays, the sediment volume decreased with an increase in the relative number of platelets per tactoid. With increase in the major dimension of particles (calculated also from optical density curves), sediment volume tended to increase for the Na-clays and decrease for the Ca-clays. These relationships can be explained on the basis of particle arrangement patterns: face-to-face arrangements dominated the Ca-clays and edge-to-edge and edge-to-face arrangements dominated the Na-clays. The amount of iron extractable in dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate (DCB) correlated positively with the relative number of plates per tactoid and with the major dimensions of the particles in the Ca-clay suspensions. This correlation suggests that DCB-extractable iron affects the tactoid dimensions of Ca-clays from vertisols and, therefore, may also affect structural properties of vertisols.

The radiocarbon (14C) dating method was applied to a survey of treasured items related to the ruins of the Imperial Residence in Anou, Nara Prefecture, which was one of the capitals of Japan during the 14th century. In this work, we dated two storage bags for Japanese musical instruments that are believed to be from the period of Emperor Go-Daigo who established the Southern Court. The 14C dating of these treasures proved that the musical instrument sacks are contemporaneous with the dating of the Imperial Residence ruins designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. In addition, there are limited surviving examples of silk fabrics from the Middle Ages compared to the Ancient and Early Modern periods, making this a valuable resource in the history of silk fabrics in Japan.

Particle concentration, charge, solution chemistry (i.e. ionic strength), and the nature of organic matter (OM) are the major factors controlling particle flocculation in aqueous environments. In the present study, the nature of clay fabric associated with clay—OM interaction at a range of ionic strengths was the focus. In the flocculation experiments, the aqueous suspension of montmorillonite and chitin was mixed with NaCl/MgSO4 electrolyte solution. Advanced sample-preparation techniques and visualization methods using transmission electron microscopy were used to observe directly the micro- and nano-scale clay—OM fabric of the resulting flocs. Such direct observation elucidated the role of OM in clay flocculation; few attempts have been made in the past due to the technical difficulties in preserving the original structure. A comparison of clay fabric at two different ionic strengths of 0 and 0.14 M revealed that the individual hexagonal clay particles settled slowly with little intra-aggregate void space (void ratio: 0.07) at 0 M while rapid flocculation and settling of clay particles at 0.14 M, with or without OM, resulted in a more open fabric with greater void space (void ratio: 0.33). The silver-staining technique demonstrated effectively the location of electron-transparent chitin in montmorillonite aggregates. Chitin appeared to link the face-to-face (FF) contacts of clay domains by bridging between negatively charged face surfaces. However, the resultant void ratio and the average hydrodynamic diameter (dH) values were lower than in the OM-free system after flocculation. The results indicated that the interplay between ionic strength and OM content affected the floc architecture and void ratio.

We used high-resolution X-ray texture goniometry to quantify changes in the mm-scale orientation of phyllosilicate minerals in a suite of Paleogene mudstones from the Podhale Basin in southern Poland. The sample set covers an estimated range of burial depths between 2.4 and 7.0 km, corresponding to a temperature range of 60–160°C. Although mechanical compaction has reduced porosities to ∼10% in the shallowest samples, the phyllosilicate fabric is only modestly aligned. Coarser-grained (>10 µm) detrital chlorite and mica appear to be more strongly aligned with (001) parallel to bedding, suggesting their deposition as single grains rather than as isotropic flocs or aggregates. From 2.4 to 4.6 km, R0 illite-smectite with 40–50% illite layers changes to R1 illite-smectite with 70–80%) illite layers. At the same time kaolinite is lost and diagenetic chlorite is formed. The mineralogical changes are accompanied by a strong increase in the alignment of illite-smectite, chlorite, and detrital illite, parallel to bedding and normal to the presumed principal effective stress. We propose that the development of a more aligned I-S fabric results from the dissolution of smectite and the growth of illite with (001) normal to the maximum effective stress. Water released by illitization may act as a lubricant for the rotation of all platy minerals into nanoporosity transiently formed by the illitization reaction. At greater depths and temperatures, further illitization is inhibited through the exhaustion of K-feldspar. After the cessation of illitization, a further 2.4 km of burial only results in a small increase in phyllosilicate alignment. At such small values for porosity and pore size, increasing stress does not substantially reorient phyllosilicates in the absence of mineralogical change.

The behavior of mineral mixtures can be significantly different from the behavior of the individual components of the mixture due to differences between the mechanical and chemical properties of the individual minerals, and their ensuing effects on interparticle interactions and fabric formation. This study examines mixtures of kaolinite and calcium carbonate at different mass fractions using sedimentation, viscosity, and liquid-limit tests. These macroscale tests represent a wide range of solid-volume fractions and strain levels, with emphasis on high water-content conditions to magnify the effects of electrical forces. The results demonstrate that interparticle interactions depend on mineral surface-fluid effects, particle geometry, relative particle size, and solids content. With small solids contents, the kaolinite/calcium carbonate mixture behavior is a function of electrostatic interactions between oppositely charged mineral particles that promote flocculation; however, with large solids contents, the specific surface area of the minerals is the controlling factor. These results are relevant to many natural soil environments and to the possible development of engineered mineral mixtures for industrial applications.

The retention of 2.6 metric tonnes of building material from three rural masonry buildings from Bottisham, south-east Cambridgeshire, provided a rare opportunity for a thorough investigation into their fabric, form, construction style and function. A double-apsidal building may have been a bath-house and another building had evidence for an extensive box-flue tile heating system. Both buildings showed signs of either being unfinished or the heating element having never been used. A third building was a later construction that used rare red-slipped tegulae and imbrices. This article goes beyond suggesting the existence of a villa or villa-type complex at Bottisham to offer a detailed case study of the use of ceramic building materials

Flexible and stretchable capacitive pressure sensors have been developed in recent years due to their potential applications in health monitoring, robot skins, body activity measurements and so on. In order to enhance sensor sensitivity, researchers have changed structure of the dielectric of parallel plate capacitive sensor . Here we enhance the sensor sensitivities by changing electrode composition and explore the use of a woven electrode structure sensor with silver coated nylon yarn and EcoflexTM. The woven structure enhanced sensitivity 2.3 times relative to a simple cross-grid geometry (sensitivity was 0.003 kPa-1). Furthermore, it is also observed that the sensor with the woven electrode also had better repeatability and showed less creep than a device using carbon black electrodes. The woven structure of the electrodes enabled the device to be compliant, despite the presence of the stiff nylon fibres – thereby enabling good sensitivity without the creep seen in softer electrodes.

Stretchable electronics fabrication generally relies on fine-tuning adhesion forces, putting some restrictions on what the carrier layer can be. In contrast to adhesion, mechanical tangling makes more kinds of carrier materials available. Antibacterial, conductive, heat-responsive and other functions can be brought in by fiber networks as long as they are compatible with the highly selective silicon etch process. Mechanical grippers can also bring electronic contacts from one side of a mesh to the other, which is difficult to do on continuous thin films of other soft materials like silicone or polyimide. Our solution uses mechanical strain to produce large arrays of redundant grippers from planar thin-film designs.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) possess impressive properties along with low density. Integration of CNTs in the form of fabrics or other preformed assemblies simplifies their handling and allows for the higher CNT content needed to better leverage their properties in multifunctional structures. Here we describe production of non-woven CNT-polyurethane fabrics made from industrial-grade CNTs via a one-step filtration method. Individual sheets were scaled to 30 cm x 30 cm size and subsequently used to fabricate thicker composites, including via lamination with itself to produce simple panels and with other materials to further tailor the nanocomposite properties and address several example applications including electrical heating, fire resistance, electromagnetic shielding, and a skin for stretchable morphing structures.

Phosphonated graphene oxide (pGO) has been incorporated to sulfonated poly(styrene-isobutylene-styrene) (SO3H SIBS) to prepare polymer nanocomposite membranes (PNMs) for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) and chemical and biological protective clothing (CBPC) applications. The performance of the membranes was evaluated per SIBS sulfonation level (i.e. 38, 61, and 90 mole %), filler type (i.e. GO and pGO) and filler loading (i.e. 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 wt.%). The transport properties (i.e. proton conductivity and methanol and vapor permeability) were determined to assess the performance of the PNMs per each application. The ionic interactions between the phosphonic and sulfonic groups (i.e. PO3H2 and SO3H, respectively) altered the pathways of SO3H SIBS, influencing the transport of permeants through the membranes. SIBS 61 pGO 0.1 presented the highest separation efficiency and a DMFC performance comparable to the state-of-the-art Nafion®, indicating that this membrane could potentially be implemented as protective fabric as well as functioning for fuel cell applications.

Microstructural (fabric, forces and composition) changes due to hydrocarbon contamination in a clayey soil (glacial till) were studied using scanning electron microscopy (microfabric analysis), atomic force microscopy (force measurement) and a sedimentation bench test (particle size measurements). Non-polluted and polluted glacial till from NE Poland (in the area of a fuel terminal) were used for the study. Electrostatic repulsive forces in the polluted samples were much lower than in non-polluted samples. In comparison with non-polluted samples, the polluted samples exhibited lower electric charge, attractive forces on approach and strong adhesion on withdrawal. The results of the sedimentation tests indicate that clay particles form larger aggregates and settle out of the suspension rapidly in diesel oil. In non-polluted soil, the fabric is strongly aggregated – dense packing, dominating face-to-face and edge-to-edge types of contacts, clay film tightly adhering to the surface of larger grains and interparticle pores are more common. In polluted soil the clay matrix is less aggregated – loose packing, dominating edge-to-face types of contacts and inter-micro-aggregate pores are more frequent. Substantial differences were observed in the morphometric and geometrical parameters of the pore space. The polluted soil micro-fabric proved to be more isotropic and less oriented than in non-polluted soil. The polluted soil, in which electrostatic forces were suppressed by hydrocarbon interaction, displays more open porosity and larger voids than non-polluted soil, which is characterized by the occurrence of strong electrostatic interaction between the clay particles.

Many subjective descriptive terms such as ‘smooth’, ‘coarse’ and ‘anisotropic’ are routinely used to convey properties of textures and fabrics, but these aspects of geological objects are not easily quantifiable. The use of directional semivariograms of image greylevels is assessed for this purpose. These quantify anisotropy of ‘coarseness/fineness’ by using semivariogram ranges, and ‘roughness/smoothness’ by using semivariogram sill values. These can be summarized by ellipses derived from semivariogram ranges and directions. The method will find applications in analysis of rock thin sections as well as analysis of surface texture of grains and microfossils.

We describe methods for measuring crystal orientation fabric with sonic waves in an ice core borehole, with special attention paid to vertical-girdle fabrics that are prevalent at the WAIS Divide. The speed of vertically propagating compressional waves in ice is influenced by vertical clustering of the ice crystal c-axes. Shear-wave speeds – particularly the speed separation between fast and slow shear polarizations – are sensitive to azimuthal anisotropy. Sonic data from the WAIS Divide complement thin-section measurements of fabric. Thin sections show a steady transition to strong girdle fabrics in the upper 2000 m of ice, followed by a transition to vertical-pole fabrics below 2500 m depth. Compressional-wave sonic data are inconclusive in the upper ice, due to noise, as well as the method's inherent insensitivity to girdle fabrics. Compared with available thin sections, sonic data provide better resolution of the transition to pole fabrics below 2500 m, notably including an abrupt increase in vertical clustering near 3000 m. Our compressional-wave measurements resolve fabric changes occurring over depth ranges of a few meters that cannot be inferred from available thin sections, but are sensitive only to zenithal anisotropy. Future logging tools should be designed to measure shear waves in addition to compressional waves, especially for logging in regions where ice flow patterns favor the development of girdle fabrics.

Perfect colouring of isonemal fabrics by thick striping of warp and weft and the closely related topic of isonemal prefabrics that fall apart are reconsidered and their relation further explored. The catalogue of isonemal prefabrics of genus V that fall apart is extended to order 20 with designs that can be used to weave cubes with colour symmetry as well as weaving symmetry.

Perfect colouring of isonemal fabrics by thin striping of warp and weft and the closely related topic of isonemal prefabrics that fall apart are reconsidered and their relation further explored. The catalogue of isonemal prefabrics that fall apart is extended to order 20 for those of even genus.

This paper elaborates on the concept of multiple magmatic fabrics in plutons. After a general overview of various types of multiple fabrics that may develop in magmatic rocks, two case examples of porphyritic granite and melasyenite plutons in the Bohemian Massif are examined. In the Jizera granite, complex variations in K-feldspar phenocryst shape-fabric revealed by image analysis of a 200 m long section of an underground tunnel are in contrast with homogeneously oriented magnetic (AMS) fabric carried by coaxial contributions of biotite, magnetite and maghemite. In the Knížecí Stolec melasyenite pluton, emplacement-related margin-parallel feldspar foliation was overprinted by flat-lying foliation; the latter is interpreted to record regional tectonic strain. At the two stations examined in detail, the crystallographic-preferred orientation of biotite and amphibole in the inter-phenocryst matrix (measured using electron back-scatter diffraction – EBSD) differed from both feldspar fabric and also from the AMS principal directions. Multiple magmatic fabrics in these two plutons are interpreted in terms of fabric superposition, where late weak strain is superposed onto a high-strength phenocryst framework, but is accommodated preferentially by small mineral grains (biotite, magnetite) in the melt-bearing matrix. This mechanism may explain the discrepancy between mesoscopic feldspar fabric and AMS. We conclude that multiple magmatic fabrics in plutons may thus result from accumulated strain caused by different processes during final crystallization and, as such, may serve as a sensitive indicator of the evolving interactions between magmatic and tectonic processes in the Earth's crust.

In order to handle a material with either a delicate surface or an air permeable structure, a novel nozzle was designed and developed. This nozzle utilises the phenomena of the radial air outflow. It is envisaged that this new nozzle will handle materials by eliminating surface marking and air permeable structure problems.

Conglomerates from the Lettergesh Formation in the Silurian sequence of N Galway, Ireland, demonstrate palaeocurrents from the NE. Fabric studies demonstrate that the conglomerates were emplaced largely by traction currents and not by down-slope sliding or dispersive currents. Stratigraphic relationships demonstrate that the conglomerates were deposited in an environment which was adjacent to fluviatile, shallow-marine and deeper shelf facies at different times. A fan-delta environment of deposition is suggested, which requires a modification of previous Silurian sea-level curves at, or near, the base of the Wenlock.