Structural Engineering Research Centre

About: Structural Engineering Research Centre is a facility organization based out in Chennai, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Finite element method & Fracture mechanics. The organization has 520 authors who have published 703 publications receiving 7298 citations.

Enhanced Photoactivity and Hydrogen Generation of LaFeO3 Photocathode by Plasmonic Silver Nanoparticle Incorporation

Abstract: A plasmonic LaFeO3–Ag (LFO-Ag) photocathode was synthesized by incorporating Ag nanoparticles to excite surface plasmon resonances (SPRs) for enhanced light harvesting to drive photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen evolution. The Ag nanoparticles were modeled using finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations, and the results show an optimal dimension of 50–80 nm for SPR enhancement. Nanostructured LFO films were prepared by a novel and inexpensive spray pyrolysis method, and the Ag nanoparticles were dispersed uniformly on to the films by simple spin coating method. The LFO-Ag photocathode exhibited strong light absorption capability and high current density, twice that of its untreated counterpart. This subsequently led to enhanced PEC hydrogen evolution, doubling the volume of hydrogen generated compared to untreated LFO. The enhancement is ascribed to the strong SPR effect and the synergy between the Ag nanoparticles and nanostructured LFO photocathode.

Evaluating the effect of corrosion on service life prediction of RC structures – A parametric study

Abstract: The structural degradation of concrete structures due to reinforcement corrosion is major durability issue all over the world, primarily when the rebar in the concrete is exposed to the marine or aggressive environment. In the present work, an attempt has been made in predicting the service life of RC structures taking into account well known corrosion models. Parametric studies are completed on Bazant’s model, Morinaga’s model, Wang and Zhao’s model and IRC model to study the impact of cover thickness, corrosion rate, increase in diameter of the bar, perimeter of the bar, etc. This paper shows the consequences of the parametric investigation of the input parameters for four chosen consumption corrosion damage models. The adequacy of the models in predicting the service life is shown through four functional contextual analysis illustrations.