A method of fabricating a concrete slab system places bed of a first concrete on a base. The bed has a top surface, a bottom surface, and edge surfaces. The bed is exposed to a drying environment such that the top surface develops shrinkage cracks and portions of the bed separate from the base. A force applied to the top surface induces non-shrinkage cracks in the bed that extend to the bed's bottom surface. Non-concrete material is placed on the bed's top surface and on each of its edge surfaces. The non-concrete material and bed are covered with a second concrete having stretchable fibers mixed therein.

A concrete slab system includes a bed of a first concrete having a top surface and edge surfaces. The bed's top surface has shrinkage cracks and induced cracks. The widths of the induced cracks are greater than widths of the shrinkage cracks. Non-concrete material is disposed on the bed's top surface and on each of the bed's edge surfaces. A second concrete covers the non-concrete material and the bed. The second concrete has stretchable fibers mixed therein.

A process for operating an axial skinning apparatus for continuous manufacture of skinned ceramic honeycomb parts, including: determining the physical process parameters of the apparatus including: the rheology of the flowable skin cement; the geometry of the part to be skinned; and the geometry of the annulus gap of the skinning chamber; and calculating a plurality of dimensionless pressure gradient values (Lambda ()) according to the formula (1): $\begin{array}{cc}=\frac{\left(P\right)R}{2mL}{\left(\frac{R}{V}\right)}^n& \left(1\right)\end{array}$ where P, P, R, V, L, and m and n are as defined herein; plotting a plurality of manifold pressures versus a plurality of part velocities; and selecting at least one operating window based on the skin quality of a plurality of preliminarily skinned parts.

A method of fabricating a concrete slab system places bed of a first concrete on a base. The bed has a top surface, a bottom surface, and edge surfaces. The bed is exposed to a drying environment such that the top surface develops shrinkage cracks and portions of the bed separate from the base. A force applied to the top surface induces non-shrinkage cracks in the bed that extend to the bed's bottom surface. Non-concrete material is placed on the bed's top surface and on each of its edge surfaces. The non-concrete material and bed are covered with a second concrete having stretchable fibers mixed therein.

A skinning apparatus and a method of skinning a porous ceramic. The apparatus includes an axial skinning manifold. The axial skinning manifold includes a curved adaptive pipe to flow cement in a circumferential direction from an inlet at a first position and through an adaptive opening along an inner bend of the curve through a land channel disposed along the inner bend. The land channel emits the cement at a constant velocity from a land opening extending proximate the first position to a second position spaced apart from the first position. The land outlet emits cement at a constant velocity around the outer periphery of the porous ceramic to dispose a uniform skin thereon as the porous ceramic moves axially relative to the land outlet.

There is provided a cutting tool having high wear resistance and fracture resistance by reducing the occurrence of thermal cracking on a cutting edge even during a cutting process of a heat-resistant alloy in which the cutting edge reaches high temperatures. The cutting tool is made from a cemented carbide that is composed mainly of a WC phase and contains 11.5-12.5% by mass of Co and 0.2-0.6% by mass of Cr in terms of Cr.sub.3C.sub.2. The WC phase has a mean particle size of 0.85-1.05 m, an antimagnetic force (Hc) of 13.0-16.0 kA/m, and a Rockwell hardness (HRA) of 89.5-90.5.

A skinning apparatus and a method of skinning a porous ceramic. The apparatus includes an axial skinning manifold. The axial skinning manifold includes a curved adaptive pipe to flow cement in a circumferential direction from an inlet at a first position and through an adaptive opening along an inner bend of the curve through a land channel disposed along the inner bend. The land channel emits the cement at a constant velocity from a land opening extending proximate the first position to a second position spaced apart from the first position. The land outlet emits cement at a constant velocity around the outer periphery of the porous ceramic to dispose a uniform skin thereon as the porous ceramic moves axially relative to the land outlet.