Among other things, learning to write entails learning how to use complex sentences effectively in discourse. Some research has therefore focused on relating measures of syntactic complexity to text quality. Apart from the fact that the existing research on this topic appears inconclusive, most of it has been conducted in English L1 contexts. This is potentially problematic, since relevant syntactic indices may not be the same across languages. The current study is the first to explore which syntactic features predict text quality in Dutch secondary school students’ argumentative writing. In order to do so, the quality of 125 argumentative essays written by students was rated and the syntactic features of the texts were analyzed. A multilevel regression analysis was then used to investigate which features contribute to text quality. The resulting model (explaining 14.5% of the variance in text quality) shows that the relative number of finite clauses and the ratio between the number of relative clauses and the number of finite clauses positively predict text quality. Discrepancies between our findings and those of previous studies indicate that the relations between syntactic features and text quality may vary based on factors such as language and genre. Additional (cross-linguistic) research is needed to gain a more complete understanding of the relationships between syntactic constructions and text quality and the potential moderating role of language and genre.
The improvement of passive fire protection of storage vessels is a key factor to enhance safety among the LPG distribution chain. A thermal and mechanical model based on finite elements simulations was developed to assess the behaviour of full size tanks used for LPG storage and transportation in fire engulfment scenarios. The model was validated by experimental results. A specific analysis of the performance of four different reference coating materials was then carried out, also defining specific key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess design safety margins in near-miss simulations. The results confirmed the wide influence of coating application on the expected vessel time to failure due to fire engulfment. Aquite different performance of the alternative coating materialswas evidenced. General correlationswere developed among the vessel time to failure and the effective coating thickness in full engulfment scenarios, providing a preliminary assessment of the coating thickness required to prevent tank rupture for a given time lapse. The KPIs defined allowed the assessment of the available safety margins in the reference scenarios analyzed and of the robustness of thermal protection design.
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Deze publicatie is binnen het project 'nieuwe materialen' ontwikkeld en geeft informatie over het ontwerpen van dunne metaalplaat producten met diktes van 0,3 t/m ca. 3 mm, uitgaande van de Eindige Elementen Methode. In het kader van dit project zijn tevens uitgegeven: TI.04.18 'Hoge Sterkte Staal in dunne plaat en buis', TI.04.19 'Roestvast staal in dunne plaat en buis', TI.04.20 'Scheidingstechnieken voor dunne plaat en buis' en TI.04.21 'Aluminium in dunne plaat en buis'.
De Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) metaal printtechniek brengt met zich mee dat tijdens het printproces vervormingen kunnen optreden in het product als gevolg van mechanische spanningen tussen de geprinte lagen veroorzaakt door het snelle (lokale) smelt- en stolproces. In dit project wordt onderzocht in hoeverre deze thermo mechanische reactie zich accuraat laat voorspellen met behulp van finite element method (FEM) simulaties en hoe de opgetreden vervorming zich laat beïnvloeden door printproces parameters daarop aan te passen. Een case studie voorbeeld product wordt gebruikt om de metaal geprinte geometrische afwijkingen te vergelijken en te evalueren met de gesimuleerde resultaten.
