Behavior of Flexible Biogas Digester Made of PVC-Coated PET Polyester Fabric with Increased Durability by Nanocoating Under Northridge (1994) Earthquake Effect
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors- The novelty of this research needs to be clear; the author uses (retrofitting), which needs a definition
- Base research is safety (The structural safety of flexible biogas digesters has become an important research subject in recent years, particularly in earthquake-prone regions). This statement needs to be referenced or an example related to an Earthquake. The author should specify the regions related to these biogas digesters.
- (The digester wall thickness was designed as 0.003 m). Is this thickness correct? And why?
- How possible to manage this thickness in a real application (ZrO2 retrofitting (0.00025 m)
- The author should suggest at the end of the paper the type of coating process in a real application to cover the (Digester) at the designed thickness
Author Response
Reviewer 1:
The innovation section has been revised and rewritten.
(The structural safety of flexible biogas digesters has become an important research subject in recent years, particularly in earthquake-prone regions). The necessary references have been made.
(The digester wall thickness was designed as 0.003 m). Is this thickness correct? And why? Membranes of this thickness are commonly sold on the market and were referenced.
How possible to manage this thickness in a real application (ZrO2 retrofitting (0.00025 m): The answer to this is stated in the first article, in the sentence referenced as number 35 in the fourth paragraph on page 5.
Digester, coating olarak deÄŸiÅŸtirildi.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThis paper creates a three-dimensional finite element model of the biogas digester and conducts modal analysis in the SAP2000 software. The dynamic response of the flexible biogas digester with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) coating on polyester fiber (PET) fabric, which was fabricated using the ground motion data from the Beilin earthquake, is utilized to investigate the impact of the nano-coating modification. The results show that the reduction in frequency values indicates that the ZrOâ‚‚ nano-coating enhances the rigidity of the biogas digester. This research has certain significance, but there are some deficiencies that need to be improved.
1. The title of this paper differs from the main research content of the paper. In particular, the use of the ground motion data from the Beilin earthquake in 1994 for simulation needs to be emphasized. Therefore, the title should be rewritten.
2. The abstract should introduce the research background of this paper and why such work was done, so as to highlight the research significance of this paper.
3. The content introduced in the introduction section (pages 120-126 of the third page) about the three key contributions should be moved to the conclusion section.
4. The author should explain what gaps this paper fills and what innovative work it has done.
5. The titles of the first four chapters are all marked as "1". Please modify them.
6. Why did the maximum Vickers stress generated by the dynamic response of the biogas digester before and after ZrOâ‚‚ modification decrease from 60.47 kilopascals to 15.18 kilopascals, while the minimum Vickers stress at the bottom of the digester decreased from 11.41 kilopascals to 4.47 kilopascals?
7. The conclusion of this paper is too cumbersome. Please simplify the content and rewrite the conclusion in bullet points.
8. The text copy ratio of this paper is as high as 30%. Please revise it.
9. Do you consider the topic original or relevant to the field? Does it address a specific gap in the field? Please also explain why this is the case.
10.What specific improvements should the authors consider regarding the methodology?
11.Are the conclusions consistent with the evidence and arguments presented and do they address the main question posed? Please also explain why this is the case.
Author Response
1. The title of this paper differs from the main research content of the paper. In particular, the use of the ground motion data from the Beilin earthquake in 1994 for simulation needs to be emphasized. Therefore, the title should be rewritten.
response 1: The title has been changed.
2. The abstract should introduce the research background of this paper and why such work was done, so as to highlight the research significance of this paper.
response 2: The necessary additions were made, and the background and purpose of the article were clearly stated.
3. The content introduced in the introduction section (pages 120-126 of the third page) about the three key contributions should be moved to the conclusion section.
response 3: I deleted the “research results” section from the previous article and changed it to “contributions are expected.” The results were not written in this section; the contribution and innovative aspects of the study were written.
4. The author should explain what gaps this paper fills and what innovative work it has done.
response 4: The necessary corrections have been made in the introduction section.
5. The titles of the first four chapters are all marked as "1". Please modify them.
response 5: corrected
6. Why did the maximum Vickers stress generated by the dynamic response of the biogas digester before and after ZrOâ‚‚ modification decrease from 60.47 kilopascals to 15.18 kilopascals, while the minimum Vickers stress at the bottom of the digester decreased from 11.41 kilopascals to 4.47 kilopascals?
response 6: The lower part of the tank is fixed with supports and transmits the weight of the structure vertically, so the tensile stress in the lower part must be balanced. Furthermore, “von Mises stress” is not always exactly the same as “membrane tensile stress”; it also contains shear components. When there is little shear at the edge, the total also decreases.
7. The conclusion of this paper is too cumbersome. Please simplify the content and rewrite the conclusion in bullet points.
response 7: rewrite again.
8. The text copy ratio of this paper is as high as 30%. Please revise it.
response 8: result of turnitin: %24
9. Do you consider the topic original or relevant to the field? Does it address a specific gap in the field? Please also explain why this is the case.
response 9: Yes, we have considered. Since it is a study that has not been done before and is not found in the literature, it is a highly original article.
10.What specific improvements should the authors consider regarding the methodology?
response 10: The methodology section has been resolved with FEM and based on a real earthquake/seismic movement, it has been studied on a commonly used material.
11.Are the conclusions consistent with the evidence and arguments presented and do they address the main question posed? Please also explain why this is the case.
response 11: The answers to the questions are provided in the article.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsDear authors,
please cosnider the following comments for improving your manuscripts:
-rephrase and reconstruct the title: "PVC-coated", PET and polyester? flexible and biogas? coated and nanocoating?
-retrofitting means what?
-"Frequency values": in what technique?
-FEM stands for what?
-the proper writing "poly(ethylene terephthalate)", similarly Poly(vinyl chloride). Do you mean (PET/PVC)?
-"portability and adaptability": never use a comma before the words "and" or "or" when for simple parathesis of similar things. The conjuction words already exist, please check throughout the text and correct where needed
-the term is valid for all polymers, not just fibres! (Polyester fiber is a class of polymers....)
-the chemical formulae are enough, the names may be omitted (2 as subscript)
-"SAP2000 software package": give some more characteristics on the software
-"Northridge earthquake": give some extra clues on the fact
-"von Mises stress distributions": give some extra comments and definitions
-Fig. 2: please define the Face dimensions and stresses
-"PVC-coated PET polyester fabric": thickness of the fabric perhaps in mm? Direction of weaving?
-numbering of subsections?
Author Response
-rephrase and reconstruct the title: "PVC-coated", PET and polyester? flexible and biogas? coated and nanocoating?
response 1: corrected the title
-retrofitting means what?
response 2: we changed as coating instead of retrofitting
-"Frequency values": in what technique?
response 3: Tankın alt kısmının mesnetler ile sabitlenmesi ve yapının düÅŸey olarak ağırlığını iletmesinden dolayı
alt kısımda çekme gerilmesinin dengelenmesi söz konusudur. Ayrıca “von Mises stress” her zaman “membran çekme gerilmesi” ile tam aynı deÄŸildir; içinde kesme bileÅŸenleri de vardır. Kenarda kesme az olduÄŸunda toplam da düÅŸer.
-FEM stands for what? and -the proper writing "poly(ethylene terephthalate)", similarly Poly(vinyl chloride). Do you mean (PET/PVC)?
response 4,5: ıt had been written in Abbreviations, yes
-"portability and adaptability": never use a comma before the words "and" or "or" when for simple parathesis of similar things. The conjuction words already exist, please check throughout the text and correct where needed, -the term is valid for all polymers, not just fibres! (Polyester fiber is a class of polymers....)
response 6, 7: corrected
-"SAP2000 software package": give some more characteristics on the software
response 8: we added extra information about SAP2000
-"Northridge earthquake": give some extra clues on the fact
response 9: The seismic loading was simulated using the ground motion record of the 1994 Northridge earthquake,
which severely affected industrial facilities in the USA [33]." The information is provided in the sentence.
-"von Mises stress distributions": give some extra comments and definitions
response 10: given extra information and definitions
-Fig. 2: please define the Face dimensions and stresses
response 11: Figure 2 contains information about the plate below.
-"PVC-coated PET polyester fabric": thickness of the fabric perhaps in mm? Direction of weaving?
response 12: When conducting a literature review, it has been observed that units are generally given in meters.
-numbering of subsections?
response 13: corrected
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsPlease consider the following comments for imrpoving them
-2 as subscript in the oxides
-the proper writing "poly(ethylene terephthalate)" and "Poly(vinyl chloride)"
-"chemical effects and especially dynamic loads", "steel and FRP composites": no commas before the words "and" or "or" when for simple parathesis of similar thing. Please check and correct throughout the text
-some extra comments for paragraph 4? The coloure-scaled figures are of great help to draw conclusions...
Author Response
-2 as subscript in the oxides
respond1: necessary corrections were made.
-the proper writing "poly(ethylene terephthalate)" and "Poly(vinyl chloride)"
respond 2: rewritten using parentheses
"chemical effects and especially dynamic loads", "steel and FRP composites": no commas before the words "and" or "or" when for simple parathesis of similar thing. Please check and correct throughout the text
respond 3: Corrected incorrect comma usage before "and" and "or".
-some extra comments for paragraph 4? The coloure-scaled figures are of great help to draw conclusions...
respond 4: Under heading 4, I added the following explanation before the sentence "when examining the figure": "The values ​​were evaluated according to the colors of the scale in Figures 6 and 7, and the results were interpreted according to the values ​​on the scale. "
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
