Optimal Design of the Modular Joint Drive Train for Enhancing Cobot Load Capacity and Dynamic Performance

Automation advancements prompts the extensive integration of collaborative robot(cobot)across a range of industries.Compared to the commonly used design approach of increasing the payload-to-weight ratio of cobot to enhance load capacity,equal attention should be paid to the dynamic response characteristics of cobot during the design process to make the cobot more flexible.In this paper,a new method for designing the drive train parameters of cobot is proposed.Firstly,based on the analysis of factors influencing the load capacity and dynamic response characteristics,design criteria for both aspects are established for cobot with all optimization design criteria normalized within the design domain.Secondly,with the cobot in the horizontal pose,the motor design scheme is discretized and it takes the joint motor diameter and gearbox speed ratio as optimization design variables.Finally,all the discrete values of the optimization objectives are obtained through the enumeration method and the Pareto front is used to select the optimal solution through multi-objective optimization.Base on the cobot design method proposed in this paper,a six-axis cobot is designed and compared with the commercial cobot.The result shows that the load capacity of the designed cobot in this paper reaches 8.4 kg,surpassing the 5 kg load capacity commercial cobot which is used as a benchmark.The minimum resonance frequency of the joints is 42.70 Hz.

Determination of the load bearing capacity of pre-stressed expandable props for ground support in underground mines

This paper aims to determine the load bearing capacity of pre-stressed expandable props with different geometries and load eccentricities for flexible support in underground mining or excavation.It is deduced that the expandable device could have much higher strength(>89 MPa)by laboratory tests,and the load bearing capacity of the expandable prop may depend on the stability of the supporting steel pipe structure.A good agreement was found between the laboratory test and numerical results in terms of the load bearing capacity and the final macro-bending failure pattern for expandable props with heights of 1.5 and 2.7 m,and the theoretical calculation for the strength of traditional steel structures is not directly suitable for the expandable props.Moreover,additional numerical simulations were performed for the expandable props with different normalized slenderness ratiosλ_(n)and loading eccentric distances e.The variation of stability coefficient of the expandable prop is in line with the Perry-Robertson equation and its correlation coefficients are fitted as a of 0.979 and b of 0.314.For estimating the load bearing capacity of the expandable props,the strength equation for traditional steel structures is improved by introducing a bending magnification factor and by modifying the normalized slenderness ratio to a converted slenderness ratio.Based on the underground field monitoring for the strength of expandable props with different heights,the empirical eccentric distances were back calculated,and a safety factor is introduced to obtain the designed strength of the expandable prop.In addition,a four-step design procedure is proposed for the expandable prop.

Analysis of Pollutant Load Carrying Capacity of the River Tapi Using QUAL2Kw for Surat City

River Tapi is the prime water body for Surat city, Gujarat, India. On a long stretch of 22.39 km in Surat city (Kamrej to Causeway) of the Tapi river, there are many identified and non-identified discharge points available. Excessive discharge from these points restricts the efficiency of the self-purification process which ultimately degrades the river water quality. In this paper, an attempt has been made to estimate the pollutant load-carrying capacity at different segments of the river Tapi using the QUAL2Kw tool. The study has been undertaken with different scenarios: First, the QUAL2Kw model was trained with available river water quality and hydraulic data of the Tapi river in which the complete river segment was divided into 21 reaches. The model was calibrated and validated with the actual concentrations of the pollutants entering. In the second phase, all the point source, non-point source, and headwater characteristics were considered and the pollutant load-carrying capacity of the river in terms of BOD, ISS, and N-nitrate was found. In the third phase, all the sources of pollutants entering the river have been removed and only headwater characteristics were considered for the study. The results indicate that reach no. 21 (21.23ºN, 72.82ºE) has the maximum load-carrying capacity of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) up to 2057.7 kg/day, Inorganic Suspended Solids (ISS) up to 85633.8 kg/day, and Nitrate (NO3) up to 31688.8 kg/day. However, reach no. 4 has the minimum load carrying capacity of BOD up to 1088.1 kg/day, reach 8 carries a minimum of ISS 205341.6 kg/day and NO3 10215.57 kg/day.

Load Bearing Capacity and Safety Analysis for Strain-hardening Austenitic Stainless Steel Pressure Vessels

By increasing the yield strengths of austenitic stainless steels for pressure vessels with strain hardening techniques,the elastic load bearing capacity of austenitic stainless steel pressure vessels can be significantly improved.Two kinds of strain hardening methods are often used for austenitic stainless steel pressure vessels：Avesta model for ambient temperature applications and Ardeform model for cryogenic temperature applications.Both methods are obtained from conventional design rules based on the linear elastic theory,and only consider the hardening effect from materials.Consequently this limits the applications of strain hardening techniques for austenitic stainless steel pressure vessels because of safety concerns.This paper investigates the effect of strain hardening on the load bearing capacity of austenitic stainless steel pressure vessels under large deformation,based on the elastic-plastic theory.Firstly,to understand the effect of strain hardening on material behavior,the plastic instability loads of a round tensile bar specimen are derived under two different loading paths and validated by experiments.Secondly,to investigate the effect of strain hardening on pressure vessels strength, the plastic instability pressure under strain hardening is derived and further validated by finite element simulations.Further,the safety margin of pressure vessels after strain hardening is analyzed by comparing the safety factor values calculated from bursting tests,finite element analyses,and standards.The researching results show that the load bearing capacity of pressure vessels at ambient temperature is independent of the loading history when the effects of both material strain hardening and structural deformation are considered.Finite element simulations and bursting tests results show that the minimum safety factor of austenitic stainless steel pressure vessels with 5% strain hardening is close to the recommended value for common pressure vessels specified in the European pressure vessel standard.The proposed study also shows that in the strain hardening design of austenitic stainless steel pressure vessels,the calculation for plastic instability pressure could use theoretical formula or finite element analyses based on geometrical dimensions and material property parameters before strain hardening,but a 5%strain should be employed as a design limit.The proposed research can be used for the strain hardening design of austenitic stainless steel pressure vessels safely.

Influence of Particles on the Loading Capacity and the Temperature Rise of Water Film in Ultra-high Speed Hybrid Bearing

Ultra-high speed machining technology enables high efficiency, high precision and high integrity of machined surface. Previous researches of hybrid bearing rarely consider influences of solid particles in lubricant and ultra-high speed of hybrid bearing, which cannot be ignored under the high speed and micro-space conditions of ultra-high speed water-lubricated hybrid bearing. Considering the impact of solid particles in lubricant, turbulence and temperature viscosity effects of lubricant, the influences of particles on pressure distribution, loading capacity and the temperature rise of the lubricant film with four-step-cavity ultra-high speed water-lubricated hybrid bearing are presented in the paper. The results show that loading capacity of the hybrid bearing can be affected by changing the viscosity of the lubricant, and large particles can improve the bearing loading capacity higher. The impact of water film temperature rise produced by solid particles in lubricant is related with particle diameter and minimum film thickness. Compared with the soft particles, hard particles cause the more increasing of water film temperature rise and loading capacity. When the speed of hybrid bearing increases, the impact of solid particles on hybrid bearing becomes increasingly apparent, especially for ultra-high speed water-lubricated hybrid bearing. This research presents influences of solid particles on the loading capacity and the temperature rise of water film in ultra-high speed hybrid bearings, the research conclusions provide a new method to evaluate the influence of solid particles in lubricant of ultra-high speed water-lubricated hybrid bearing, which is important to performance calculation of ultra-high speed hybrid bearings, design of filtration system, and safe operation of ultra-high speed hybrid bearings.

Prediction of Load Carrying Capacity of Corroded Reinforced Concrete Beam

A novel method for prediction of the load carrying capacity of a corroded reinforced concrete beam (CRCB) is presented in the paper. Nine reinforced concrete beams, which had been working in an aggressive environment for more than 10 years, were tested in the laboratory. Comprehensive tests, including flexural test, strength test for corroded concrete and rusty rebar, and pullout test for bond strength between concrete and rebar, were conducted. ne flexural test results of CRCBs reveal that the distribution of surface cracks on the beams shows a fractal behavior. The relationship between the fractal dimensions and mechanical properties of CRCBs is then studied. A prediction model based on artificial neural network (ANN) is established by the use of the fractal dimension as the corrosion index, together with the basic information of the beam. The validity of the prediction model is demonstrated through the experimental data, and satisfactory results are achieved.

Ultimate Load Capacity of Offshore Pipeline with Arbitrary Shape Corrosion Defects

A set of generalized solutions are proposed for estimating ultimate load capacity of pipeline with arbitrary corrosion shapes subjected to combined internal pressure, axial force and bending moment. Isotropic and anisotropic material characteristics in longitudinal and circumferential direction of pipeline are also considered in the proposed equations. Simplified numerical method is used to solve the generalized expressions. The comparisons of numerical results based generalized solutions and full-scale experimental results are carried out. The predicted results agree reasonably well with the experiment results. Meanwhile, the effects of corrosion shapes and locations on the ultimate load capacity are studied.

Investigating the Efficiency Coefficient of Pile Group in Clay Under Two-Way Lateral Load

This research investigates the behavior of a 2×2 pile group under two-directional lateral loads in addition to the vertical load.Through three-dimensional numerical modeling based on Flac 3D software,the study examines the total bearing capacity and efficiency coefficient of the pile group,considering factors such as the angle of lateral load,relative pile spacing,and relative stiffness of the pile-soil system.The findings highlight the significance of these factors in understanding and predicting the response of pile groups to changing lateral load directions.The results reveal that increasing the angle of the lateral load from 0°to 45°enhances both the maximum total lateral load and the efficiency coefficient of the pile group.When the relative stiffness of the pile-soil system significantly increases,soil stiffening occurs and reducing the relative spacing of the piles from 7 to 3 times the diameter of the piles diminishes the influence of the pile group.Consequently,the response of the pile group to lateral loads becomes more linear,with only a slight alteration in the maximum total lateral load and the efficiency coefficient when the lateral load is angled from 0°to 45°.Conversely,increasing the relative distance between the piles,specifically from 3 to 7 times the diameter of the piles,amplifies the influence of the pile group.Both the maximum total lateral load and the efficiency coefficient of the pile group exhibit an observed increase.These provide insights for designing pile groups and optimizing their performance under lateral loading conditions.

NEW APPROACHES FOR COMPUTING DYNAMIC LOAD-CARRYING CAPACITY OF MULTIPLE COOPERATING ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS

A novel unified method for computing the dynamic load carrying capacity(DLCC) of multiple cooperating robotic manipulators is developed.In this method,the kinematic constraints and the governing dynamic equations of the multiple robot system are formulated in the joint space by using the method of transference of dependence from one set of generalized coordinates to another,and the virtual work principle,which includes the readily available dynamics and joint torques of individual manipulators,and the dynamic of payload.Based on this dynamic model,the upper limit of the DLCC at any points on a given trajectory is obtained by solving a small size linear programming problem.This method is conceptually straightforward,and it is applicable also to the cases of multi fingered robot hands and multi legged walking machines.

Loading capacity and emulsification phenomena of HREE extraction by dialkylphosphinic acids with different β,γ,δ-substituents

The relationship between dialkylphosphinic acid structure and their loading capacity for HREEs and emulsification phenomena has rarely been studied.In this paper,we took Lu extraction as an example to study the effect of β,γ,δ-substituents of dialkylphosphinic acids on their loading capacity and anti-emulsification performance for HREEs.To discuss conveniently,the dialkylphosphinic acids were classified into two groups:β-substituent group(P208,INET-1,P218,USTB-1 and P227)and γ,δ-substituent group(P218,P2132 and Cyanex 272).For β-substituent group extractants,their loading capacities are in the order P208(299.7 mg/L)≈INET-1(299.5 mg/L)>P218(270.8 mg/L)>>USTB-1(163.1 mg/L)>P227(151.4 mg/L),while their anti-emulsification/gelation performances are just in the opposite order P227>USTB-1>P218>P208≈INET-1 under the studied conditions.For γ,δ-substituent group extractants,their loading capacities are in the order P218(270.8 mg/L)>P2132(192.3 mg/L)>Cyanex272(131.7 mg/L),while the anti-emulsification performance of P218 is better than those of P2132 and Cyanex 272.The loading capacity data given in the parentheses are obtained through repeatedly extracting Lu from ~4×10^(-4)mol/L of Lu aqueous feed solution with initial pH of 2.40 by 0.01 mol/L extractant at phase ratio A/O of 1:1.

The role of disaggregated renewable energy consumption on income and load capacity factor:A novel inclusive sustainable growth approach

Stimulating renewable energy consumption is a major focus of the Sustainable Development Goals in combating climate change and global warming.The International Energy Agency estimates that renewable energy consumption should be doubled to achieve the COP21 targets.In this context,the question is whether renewable energy types promote the improvement of ecological quality and economic growth.Most studies have investigated the influence of renewable energy on ecological pollution using carbon dioxide emissions or ecological footprint indicators,which only represent the pollution caused by human consumption patterns,and these indicators neglect the supply side.Motivated by this point,this study uses the LCF(Load Capacity Factor)as an environmental indicator and examines the causality relationship among different types of renewable energy,income,and environmental quality in the USA,while also incorporating employment and capital stock into the analysis.Through using the Fourier causality test with the wavelet-decomposed series,the study explores for the validity of the renewable energy-based growth hypothesis and answers to the question of whether there is a causal effect of renewable energy types on environmental quality.The results demonstrate that there is a bidirectional causality between total renewable energy,wood,biomass,and economic growth as well as between these renewable energy types and the LCF.

Structure,bioavailability and physicochemical properties of icariin-soymilk nanoparticle

Soymilk is a natural nanocarrier.However,the performance of flavonoid-soymilk nano-complex remains unclear.In this work,icariin-soymilk nano-complexes(ISNCs)were successfully fabricated and characterized.The effects of high-pressure homogenization(HPH)treatment on structure and physicochemical properties of soymilk and nano-complexes were investigated.HPH treatment could significantly improve the surface hydrophobicity and interfacial activity of soymilk.The soymilk with HPH treatment could significantly improve the water solubility(20 folds),thermal stability and bioavailability of icariin.The highest encapsulation efficiency(93.28%),loading capacity(39.09μg/mg),ζ-potentia(absolute value,31.20 mV)and bioavailability(72.14%)were observed in HSI-200(200 bar of homogenization pressure).While HSI-500(500 bar of homogenization pressure)showed the smallest particle size(183.73 nm).ISNCs showed a rougher surface and an irregular lamellar structure with large amount of fine particles by using Cryo-SEM,suggesting that icariin was encapsulated in soymilk.These data supplied a novel strategy to improve the performance of icariin in functional foods.

Bio-inspired Design and Inverse Kinematics Solution of an Omnidirectional Humanoid Robotic Arm with Geometric and Load Capacity Constraints

Inspired by the driving muscles of the human arm,a 4-Degree of Freedom(DOF)concentrated driving humanoid robotic arm is proposed based on a spatial double parallel four-bar mechanism.The four-bar mechanism design reduces the inertia of the elbow-driving unit and the torque by 76.65%and 57.81%,respectively.Mimicking the human pose regulation strategy that the human arm picks up a heavy object by adjusting its posture naturally without complicated control,the robotic arm features an integrated position-level closed-form inverse solution method considering both geometric and load capacity limitations.This method consists of a geometric constraint model incorporating the arm angle(φ)and the Global Configuration(GC)to avoid joint limits and singularities,and a load capacity model to constrain the feasible domain of the arm angle.Further,trajectory tracking simulations and experiments are conducted to validate the feasibility of the proposed inverse solution method.The simulated maximum output torque,maximum output power and total energy consumption of the robotic arm are reduced by up to 2.0%,13.3%,and 33.3%,respectively.The experimental results demonstrate that the robotic arm can bear heavy loads in a human-like posture,effectively reducing the maximum output torque and energy consumption of the robotic arm by 1.83%and 5.03%,respectively,while avoiding joints beyond geometric and load capacity limitations.The proposed design provides a high payload–weight ratio and an efficient pose control solution for robotic arms,which can potentially broaden the application spectrum of humanoid robots.

Robust Optimization Method of Cylindrical Roller Bearing by Maximizing Dynamic Capacity Using Evolutionary Algorithms

Optimization of cylindrical roller bearings(CRBs)has been performed using a robust design.It ensures that the changes in the objective function,even in the case of variations in design variables during manufacturing,have a minimum possible value and do not exceed the upper limit of a desired range of percentage variation.Also,it checks the feasibility of design outcome in presence of manufacturing tolerances in design variables.For any rolling element bearing,a long life indicates a satisfactory performance.In the present study,the dynamic load carrying capacity C,which relates to fatigue life,has been optimized using the robust design.In roller bearings,boundary dimensions(i.e.,bearing outer diameter,bore diameter and width)are standard.Hence,the performance is mainly affected by the internal dimensions and not the bearing boundary dimensions mentioned formerly.In spite of this,besides internal dimensions and their tolerances,the tolerances in boundary dimensions have also been taken into consideration for the robust optimization.The problem has been solved with the elitist non-dominating sorting genetic algorithm(NSGA-II).Finally,for the visualization and to ensure manufacturability of CRB using obtained values,radial dimensions drawing of one of the optimized CRB has been made.To check the robustness of obtained design after optimization,a sensitivity analysis has also been carried out to find out how much the variation in the objective function will be in case of variation in optimized value of design variables.Optimized bearings have been found to have improved life as compared with standard ones.

Enhancing environmental quality in the United States by linking biomass energy consumption and load capacity factor

This study analyzes the impact of biomass energy,financial development,and economic growth on environmental quality using the novel Fourier autoregressive distributed lag(ARDL)approach on annual data for the period 1965–2018 in the United States(USA).The study analyzes the impact of related variables on the load capacity factor(LCF)as well as on indicators of environmental degradation such as carbon dioxide emissions and ecological footprint.The LCF is one of the most comprehensive environmental indicators to date,encompassing both biocapacity and ecological footprint.In this regard,this study contributes to the environmental economics literature by examining,for the first time,the impact of biomass energy on the LCF.The results of the cointegration test show that there is only a long-run relationship between the LCF and the independent variables.According to the Fourier ARDL results,biomass energy improves the environmental quality,while financial development has no effect on the LCF.Moreover,the increase in per capita income reduces the LCF.Furthermore,since the income elasticity is larger in the long run than in the short-run,the environmental Kuznets curve is validated.Therefore,the United States government should encourage the use of biomass and investment in this form of energy.

Vibration isolation performance analysis of a bilateral supported bio-inspired anti-vibration control system

To achieve better anti-vibration performance in a low frequency region and expand the range of vibration isolation,a bilateral supported bio-inspired anti-vibration(BBAV)structure composed of purely linear elements is proposed,inspired by the motion form of bird legs and the nonlinear extension and compression of muscles and tendons.The kinematic relations and nonlinear dynamic model considering vertical and rotational vibrations are established.The loading capacity and equivalent stiffness are investigated with key parameters.The amplitude-frequency characteristics and force transmissibility are used to evaluate the stability and anti-vibration performance with the effects of the excitation amplitude,rod length,installation angle,and spring stiffness.The results show that the loading requirements and resonant characteristics of the BBAV structure are adjustable,and superior vibration isolation performance can be achieved readily by tuning the parameters.The X-shaped vibration structure is sensitive to the spring stiffness,which exhibits a wider vibration isolation bandwidth with smaller spring stiffness.Besides,depending on the parameters,the nonlinear behavior of the BBAV system can be interconverted between the softening type and the hardening type.The theoretical analysis in this study demonstrates the advantages and effectiveness of the vibration isolation structure.

海上风电螺旋桩侧向承载能力分析

The rapid development of offshore wind power and the need to move to deeper sea areas while reducing costs per kilowatt necessitate the employment of a new jacket and helical pile combination.This new combination combines the advantages of both jacket structures and helical piles and provides a superior bearing capacity and installation efficiency compared to conventional pile foundations.Foundations account for 25%-34%of the overall cost of construction,but the use of this new foundation would be highly significant for the further development of offshore wind power.This study presents numerical results for the horizontal bearing capacity when horizontal displacement is applied,focusing on the bearing capacity and characteristics of the helical pile jacket foundation as well as the differences between the bearing mechanisms and failure modes of normal pile and helical pile types.ABAQUS model parameters are obtained through trial calculations based on actual engineering data,and the finite element model(FEM)is validated using data from a model experiment.Subsequently,different FEMs are established,and numerical results are compared and presented.Through a comparison between a normal pile jacket foundation and a helical pile jacket foundation with different helical blade numbers,the differences in the bearing mechanisms and failure modes are revealed.The failure of the normal pile jacket foundation is instantaneous and sudden,whereas that of the helical pile foundation is incremental and accumulative.These data highlight the most significant contributions and vulnerabilities of the one-pile side of the foundation and suggest that the addition of blades on the one-pile side is the most effective way of improving the foundation’s bearing performance.In addition,the interaction between the compression side and tension side is analyzed in relation to differing the relative magnitudes of their bearing capacities.

Deformation and failure characteristics of anchorage structure of surrounding rock in deep roadway

This paper investigated the stress evolution,displacement field,local deformation and its overall distribution,and failure characteristics of the anchorage structure of surrounding rock with different rockbolt spacing through the model experiments.The influences of the pre-tightening force and spacing of rockbolt on the support strength of the anchorage structure of surrounding rock were analyzed by the simulation using FLAC3D numerical software.The support scheme of the excavated roadway was then designed,and the effectiveness of this support scheme was further verified by the displacement measurement of the roadway.The results showed that the maximum displacement between the roof and floor of the west wing track roadway in Kouzidong coal mine,China is about 42 mm,and the maximum displacement between its both sides is about 72 mm,indicating that the support scheme proposed in this study can ensure the stability and safety of the excavated roadway.

Effects of Length and Location of Steel Corrosion on the Behavior and Load Capacity of Reinforced Concrete Columns

The effects of length and location of the steel corrosion on the structural behavior and load capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) columns have been investigated. Results of the accelerated corrosion process and eccentric load test are presented in detail. Effects of the location of the partial length, the corrosion level within partial length and the asymmetrical deterioration of the concrete section on the mechanical behavior and load capacity of corroded RC columns are discussed. It is found that the mechanical behavior and load carrying capacity of corroded RC columns are simultaneously affected by the above mentioned factors. For the corroded RC columns with large eccentricity, a higher corrosion level in the tensile corroded length and a greater asymmetrical deterioration of the concrete section can result in less ductile behavior and larger load reduction of the column; while for the corroded RC columns with small eccentricity, the less ductile behavior and the larger load reduction of the column may result from the higher corrosion level in the compressive corroded length and the greater asymmetrical deterioration of the concrete

On Maximal Weight Moment and Overturn Tendency of Multi-Sucker Wall-Climbing Mechanism

For a multi legged robot climbing on a vertical wall, how to increase its anti overturn capacity (AOC) and to detect overturn tendency are most important. They form the basis of off/on line gait programming and safety monitoring system. In the paper, after investigating the indeterminate statics of an insect like six legged wall climbing mechanism in various support patterns, the authors obtained the analytical expressions of maximal weight moment with respect to different support patterns, and the overturn tendency while payload was increased. As a side product, the authors find an unusual phenomenon governing the relationship between the robot's AOC and the number of functioning suckers, which is explained theoretically by distributed mass spring statics model.