Experimental Tests of the Operating Conditions of a Micro Gas Turbine Device

The aim of this work is to analyze the performance of a commercial micro gas turbine, focusing on the analysis of the fuel consumption and the outlet compressor and turbine temperature at various rpm, and to evaluate and compare the efficiency of the device. A test bench has been assembled with the available equipment in the laboratory of the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering in Roma. By using the software supplied by the manufacturer, the evaluation of the operating performance of the device at different speeds has been performed, obtaining all the values of interest.

Experimental Tests on a Pre-Heated Combustion Chamber for Ultra Micro Gas Turbine Device: Air/Fuel Ratio Evaluation

Current portable power generators are mainly based on internal combustion engine since they present higher values of efficiency comparing to other engines;the main reason why internal combustion engine is not convenient for micro power generation (5 - 30 kW) is because of their heaviness. Micro and ultra micro gas turbine devices, based on a micro compressor and a micro turbine installed on the same shaft, are more suitable for this scope for several reasons. Micro turbine systems have many advantages over reciprocating engine generators, such as higher power density (with respect to size and weight), extremely low emissions and few, or just one, moving part. Those designed with foil bearings and air-cooling operate without oil, coolants or other hazardous materials. Micro turbines also have the advantage of having the majority of their waste heat contained in their relatively high temperature exhaust. Micro turbines offer several potential advantages compared to other technologies for small-scale power generation, including: a small number of moving parts, compact size, lightweight, greater efficiency, lower emissions, lower electricity costs, and opportunities to utilize waste fuels. The object of this study is the experimental tests on a stand-alone gas turbine device with a pre-heated combustion chamber (CC), to validate the fuel consumption reduction, compared to an actual and commercial device, used on air models.

Analytical and Experimental Research on Wave Scattering by an Open-Type Rectangular Breakwater with Horizontal Perforated Plates

This study proposes a novel open-type rectangular breakwater combined with horizontal perforated plates on both sides to enhance the sheltering effect of the rectangular box-type breakwaters against longer waves.The hydrodynamic characteristics of this breakwater are analyzed through analytical potential solutions and experimental tests.The quadratic pressure drop conditions are exerted on the horizontal perforated plates to facilitate assessing the effect of wave height on the dissipated wave energy of breakwater through the analytical solution.The hydrodynamic quantities of the breakwater,including the reflection,transmission,and energyloss coefficients,together with vertical and horizontal wave forces,are calculated using the velocity potential decomposition method as well as an iterative algorithm.Furthermore,the reflection and transmission coefficients of the breakwater are measured by conducting experimental tests at various wave periods,wave heights,and both porosities and widths of the horizontal perforated plates.The analytical predicted results demonstrate good agreement with the iterative boundary element method solution and measured data.The influences of variable incident waves and structure parameters on the hydrodynamic characteristics of the breakwater are investigated through further calculations based on analytical solutions.Results indicate that horizontal perforated plates placed on the water surface for both sides of the rectangular breakwater can enhance the wave dissipation ability of the breakwater while effectively decreasing the transmission and reflection coefficients.

Performance and Safety Improvement of Induction Motors based on Testing and Evaluation Standards

The induction motor,which converts electrical energy into mechanical energy,has been recognized as the cornerstone of industrialization.The rotor of an induction motor can be either a squirrel cage rotor or a wound-type rotor,both existing as magnetless topologies.Three-phase squirrel cage induction motors are frequently utilized in industrial drives because they are dependable,have high starting torque,are selfstarting and affordable.Single-phase induction motors,on the other hand,are commonly used for small loads such as domestic appliances in form of modest fans,pumps and electric power tools.In South Africa,there have been reports of fires and explosions resulting in live and property loss because of induction motors that have not been thoroughly tested or are incorrectly labelled in terms of ratings,electrical safety and performance.The goal of this study is targeted at preventing end-user injuries and failures caused by non-compliant induction motors,by evaluating locally manufactured/imported induction motors based on tests and evaluation from standards(IEC and SANS).The study is conducted using experimental procedures at the Explosion Prevention Technology and Rotating Machines(EPT and RM)laboratory,South African Bureau of Standards(SABS),South Africa.The main finding from the study shows differences in the nameplate characteristics of various induction motors which could have detrimental effects such as production and operational downtime in their end-use industries,at later stages.

Design and experimental testing of a control system for a morphing wing model actuated with miniature BLDC motors

The paper deals with the design and experimental validation of the actuation mechanism control system for a morphing wing model.The experimental morphable wing model manufactured in this project is a full-size scale wing tip for a real aircraft equipped with an aileron.The morphing actuation of the model is based on a mechanism with four similar in house designed and manufactured actuators,positioned inside the wing on two parallel lines.Each of the four actuators used a BrushLess Direct Current(BLDC)electric motor integrated with a mechanical part performing the conversion of the angular displacements into linear displacements.The following have been chosen as successive steps in the design of the actuator control system:(A)Mathematical and software modelling of the actuator;(B)Design of the control system architecture and tuning using Internal Model Control(IMC)methodology;(C)Numerical simulation of the controlled actuator and its testing on bench and wind tunnel.The morphing wing experimental model is tested both at the laboratory level,with no airflow,to evaluate the components integration and the whole system functioning,but also in the wind tunnel,in the presence of airflow,to evaluate its behavior and the aerodynamic gain.

Modeling and experimental tests of hydraulic electric inerter

As a newly proposed two-terminal mechanical element, there are many realizations of inerter such as ball-screw, rack and pinion,hydraulic, fluid and mechatronic inerter. This paper concerns about a novel mechatronic inerter, which is consisted of a hydraulic piston inerter and linear motor, called hydraulic electric inerter(HEI). Firstly, the structural components and the working principles of two types HEI device are introduced, and the dynamic model of the HEI is established. Then, three classifications of mechatronic inerter, namely, the single motor type, the linear inerter-motor type and the rotary inerter-motor type are presented,and in the meanwhile, some comparisons among the three types mechatronic inerter are analyzed. Subsequently, a methodology of designing and experimental tests of the HEI device is proposed by considering the rated working conditions of the linear motor and the electric elements. At last, the HEI device is conducted, and the force tests of the non-loaded HEI and loaded HEI are tested in order to validate their properties. The experimental results are analyzed, and the discrepancies are also further discussed.

EXPERIMENTAL TESTS OF GRAVITATIONAL THEORY

Revised September 2013 by T. Damour （IHES, Bures-sur-Yvette, France）. Einstein＇s General Relativity, the current ＂standard＂ theory of gravitation, describes gravity as a universal deformation of the Minkowski metric：

Research advances in enhanced coal seam gas extraction by controllable shock wave fracturing

With the continuous increase of mining in depth,the gas extraction faces the challenges of low permeability,great ground stress,high temperature and large gas pressure in coal seam.The controllable shock wave(CSW),as a new method for enhancing permeability of coal seam to improve gas extraction,features in the advantages of high efficiency,eco-friendly,and low cost.In order to better utilize the CSW into gas extraction in coal mine,the mechanism and feasibility of CSW enhanced extraction need to be studied.In this paper,the basic principles,the experimental tests,the mathematical models,and the on-site tests of CSW fracturing coal seams are reviewed,thereby its future research directions are provided.Based on the different media between electrodes,the CSW can be divided into three categories:hydraulic effect,wire explosion and excitation of energetic materials by detonating wire.During the process of propagation and attenuation of the high-energy shock wave in coal,the shock wave and bubble pulsation work together to produce an enhanced permeability effect on the coal seam.The stronger the strength of the CSW is,the more cracks created in the coal is,and the greater the length,width and area of the cracks being.The repeated shock on the coal seam is conducive to the formation of complex network fracture system as well as the reduction of coal seam strength,but excessive shock frequency will also damage the coal structure,resulting in the limited effect of the enhanced gas extraction.Under the influence of ground stress,the crack propagation in coal seam will be restrained.The difference of horizontal principal stress has a significant impact on the shape,propagation direction and connectivity of the CSW induced cracks.The permeability enhancement effect of CSW is affected by the breakage degree of coal seam.The shock wave is absorbed by the broken coal,which may hinder the propagation of CSW,resulting in a poor effect of permeability enhancement.When arranging two adjacent boreholes for CSW permeability enhancement test,the spacing of boreholes should not be too close,which may lead to negative pressure mutual pulling in the early stage of drainage.At present,the accurate method for effectively predicting the CSW permeability enhanced range should be further investigated.

Analytical and Experimental Studies on Hydrodynamic Performance of Semi-Immersed Jarlan-Type Perforated Breakwaters

The present study proposes a new semi-immersed Jarlan-type perforated breakwater including a perforated front wall, a solid rear wall, and a horizontal perforated plate connecting the lower tips of the two walls. An analytical solution is developed to estimate the hydrodynamic performance of the new breakwater. The analytical solution is confirmed by solutions for special cases, an independently developed multi-domain boundary element method solution and experimental data. Numerical examples based on the analytical solution indicate that compared with previous semi-immersed breakwaters, the new breakwater may have better wave-absorbing performance and smaller wave forces. Some useful results are presented for practical designs of semi-immersed Jarlan-type perforated breakwaters.

Experimental Study on Hydrodynamics of L-type Podded Propulsor in Straight-ahead Motion and Off-Design Conditions

Experimental tests were conducted to evaluate the hydrodynamic performance of an L-type podded propulsor in straight-ahead motion and off-design conditions using an open-water measuring instrument developed by the authors for podded propulsors, a ship model towing tank, and under water particle image velocimetry （PIV） measurement systems. Under the three types of conditions, the main parameters of an L-type podded propulsor were measured, including the propeller thrust and torque, as well as the thrust, side force, and moment of the whole pod unit.In addition, the flow field on the section between the propeller and the strut was analyzed. Experimental results demonstrate that the dynamic azimuthing rate and direction and the turning direction affect the forces on the propeller and the whole pod unit. Forces are asymmetrically distributed between the left and right azimuthing directions because of the effect of propeller rotation. The findings of this study provide a foundation for further research on L-type podded propulsors.

Experimental Verification and Research for the Distortion in the Integrated Frequency Responses of the High-Pressure Sealed Cabin and Magnetic Field Sensor

Although magnetotelluric sounding method applied to the land is advanced, there are many difficulties when it is applied to marine environment, one of which is how to lay magnetic field sensors down to the seafloor to complete measurements. To protect the magnetic field sensors from intense erosion and high pressure, suitable high-pressure sealed cabins must be designed to load them. For the consideration of magnetic measurement and marine operation, the sealed pressure cabin should be nonmagnetic and transportable. Among all optional materials, LC4 super.hard aluminum alloy has the highest performance of price/quality ratio to make the sealed pressure cabin. However, it does not mean that the high-pressure sealed cabin made using LC4 will be perfect in performance. In fact, because of its weak magnetism, the pressure cabin made using LC4 has distorting effect on frequency responses of the magnetic field sensors sealed in it. This distorting effect does not affect the use of the magnetic field sensor, but if we want to eliminate its effect, we should study it by experimental measurements. In our experiment tests, frequency sweep magnetic field as excitation signal was used, and then responses of the magnetic field sensor before and after being loaded into the high-pressure sealed cabin were measured. Finally, normalized abnormal curves for the frequency responses were obtained, through which we could show how the high-pressure sealed cabin produces effects on the responses of the magnetic field sensor. Experimental results suggest that the response distortion induced by the sealed pressure cabin appears on mid- and high-frequency areas. Using experimental results as standardization data, the frequency responses collected from seafloor magnetotelluric measurements can be corrected to restore real information about the seafloor field source.

An experimental investigation on the effect of grain size on oil-well sand production

Sand production in oil wells is closely related to the mechanical behavior and petrographical properties of sandstones reservoir. Grain size is one of the main parameters controlling the phenomenon, which is studied in this paper. Large-scale hollow cylindrical synthetic samples with the same rock strength but different grain sizes were tested by an experimental setup in the laboratory. Different external stresses and fluid flow rates were applied to the samples and produced sand was measured continuously. Results show two different trends between sanding stress level and grain size. For the samples with finer grain size （D50〈0.3 mm）, the required confining stress for different sanding levels decreased with an increase in the grain size and for the samples with the coarser grains （D50〉0.3 mm） the required confining stress for different sanding levels dramatically increased with an increase in the grain size. Those two different trends were discussed and explained. The first one was production of individual grains and the second was bigger chunks in the slab form. In samples with large grains, plastic zones around hole were changed to a completely loose zone including interlocked individual grains or cluster of grains. In these samples after breakage of these interlocked zones sand was produced in the form of individual grains and clusters. Contrary to this, for samples with smaller grain size, shear bands were formed around the plastified hole and sand was produced in the form of big chunks or slabs.

Development and experimental validation of a one-dimensional dynamic hygrothermal modeling based on air humidity ratio

A modified one-dimensional transient hygrothermal model for multilayer wall was proposed using air humidity ratio and temperature as the driving potentials.The solution for the governing equations was obtained numerically by implementing the finite-difference scheme.To evaluate the accuracy of the model,a test system was built up to measure relative humidity and temperature within a porous wall and compare with the prediction of the model.The prediction results have good agreement with the experimental results.For the interface close to indoor side,the maximum deviation of temperature between calculated and test data is 1.87 K,and the average deviation is 0.95 K;the maximum deviation of relative humidity is 11.4%,and the average deviation is 5.7%.For the interface close to outdoor side,the maximum deviation of temperature between prediction and measurement is 1.78 K,and the average deviation is 1.1 K;the maximum deviation of relative humidity is 9.9%,and the average deviation is 4.2%.

Spin-Spin Interactions in Gauge Theory of Gravity, Violation of Weak Equivalence Principle and New Classical Test of General Relativity

For a long time, it has been generally believed that spin-spin interactions can only exist in a theory where Lorentz symmetry is gauged, and a theory with spin-spin interactions is not perturbatively renormalizable. But this is not true. By studying the motion of a spinning particle in gravitational field, it is found that there exist spin-spin interactions in gauge theory of gravity. Its mechanism is that a spinning particle will generate gravitomagnetic field in space-time, and this gravitomagnetic field will interact with the spin of another particle, which will cause spin-spin interactions. So, spin-spin interactions are transmitted by gravitational field. The form of spin-spin interactions in post Newtonian approximations is deduced. This result can also be deduced from the Papapetrou equation. This kind of interaction will not affect the renormalizability of the theory. The spin-spin interactions will violate the weak equivalence principle, and the violation effects are detectable. An experiment is proposed to detect the effects of the violation of the weak equivalence principle.

Experimental Study of Mooring Type Effect on the Hydrodynamic Characteristics of VLFS

Mooring system is a significant part of very large offshore floating structures(VLFS).In this paper,a single module pontoon type VLFS model considering four mooring types is studied through physical model tests to determine the effects of mooring conditions on the hydroelastic response,mooring force,incident coefficient,reflection coefficient and energy dissipation coefficient.Eight mooring cables are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the model.The floating body model satisfies the similarity of stiffness and gravity,while the cable satisfies the similarity of elasticity and gravity.The results show that the effect of mooring type on mooring force is greater than that on hydroelastic response.Increasing the initial tension of the mooring cable will reduce the amplitude of the leeward of the VLFS model.The mooring angle of the mooring cable will affect the maximum mooring force and the initial tension of the mooring line will affect the wave period in which the maximum mooring force occurs.The transmission coefficient and wave energy dissipation coefficient will change regularly with different mooring types.These results may provide a reference to facilitate the mooring design of VLFS.

Numerical and Experimental Evaluation of New Coldform Inverted “U” Section in Single or Multiple FamilyDwellings’ Flooring Systems

This article will introduce a new version of the metal deck for building residential flooring with a newly designed cold form U section. This flooring will allow residential structures to be built more quickly while also reducing the necessary thickness of the floor. The level of strength and deflection of this floor will be determined via analysis of a floor bed comprised of cold-formed inverted U sections (IUS) covered by sheathing that is subjected to different loading scenarios. The necessary computational quantities associated with the experiment have been compared to established laboratory values by performing all related and applicable tests. Then, these quantities are compared to different existing flooring techniques to determine the efficacy of this technique. The results show that this flooring technique can be effective and cost-efficient in residential applications.

Planck-Scale Gravity Test at PETRA

Quantum or torsion gravity models predict unusual properties of space-time at very short distances. In particular, near the Planck length, around 10-35 m, empty space may behave as a crystal, singly or doubly refractive. This hypothesis, however, remains uncheckable for any direct measurement since the smallest distance accessible in experiment is about 10-19 m at the LHC. Here we propose a laboratory test to measure space birefringence or refractivity induced by gravity. A sensitivity 10-31 m for doubly and 10-28 m for singly refractive vacuum could be reached with PETRA 6 GeV beam exploring UV laser Compton scattering.

Experimental Study on Wave Attenuation Performance of A New Type of Floating Breakwater with Twin Pontoons and Multi Porous Vertical Plates

A floating breakwater(FB)has extensive potential applications in the fields of coastal,offshore,and ocean engineering owing to its advantages such as eco-friendliness,low cost,easy and rapid construction,and quick dismantling and reinstallation.An FB composed of twin pontoons and multi-porous vertical plates is proposed to improve the wave attenuation performance.The wave attenuation performance is investigated for different FB structures and vertical plate types under different incident wave heights and periods using 2D wave physical model tests in a wave flume.The results demonstrate that the proposed FB has a better performance than that of the conventional single pontoon-type FB.It reduces the wave transmission due to its enhanced wave reflection and energy loss.The wave transmission coefficient of the proposed FB decreases with an increase in the number of layers and relative draft depth of the vertical plates.However,a further decrease in the wave transmission coefficient is not observed when the number of porous vertical plates is increased from 4 to 5 layers.An equation has been derived to predict the wave transmission of the proposed FB based on the experimental results.

Study of Neutron Cross Talk Rejection Based on Testing Experiment and Simulation

Experimental data analysis and simulation calculations were performed in order to evaluate the cross-talk rejection performance of a typical neutron detection array. For very closely packed scintillation bars, the CT rejection may rely on the position relation between the two signals. The criteria ｜△x｜≤ 15 cm and ｜△y｜≤12 cm are currently proposed for a rejection rate higher than 90%. For signals coming from distanced bars, the energy conservation relationship can be applied to reject the CT events with a similar performance. In both cases the results of simulation agree very well with the experimental data, assuring their applicability to other detection systems and physics problems.

Wave Force on the Crown Wall of Rubble Mound Breakwaters at Intermediate Depths

Rubble mound breakwaters with a crown wall are a common coastal engineering structure.The wave force on crown walls is an important parameter for the practice engineering design.Particularly,the wave force on crown walls under intermediate depths has been studied through physical model tests and numerical simulations.In this study,a three-dimensional numerical wave flume was developed to investigate monochromatic wave interactions in a rubble mound breakwater with a crown wall.Armor blocks were modeled in detail.The Navier-Stokes equations for two-phase incompressible flows,combined with shear stress transport k-ωturbulence model and volume of fluid method for tracking the free surface,were solved.A set of laboratory experiments were performed to validate the adopted model.Subsequently,a series of numerical simulations were implemented to examine the impacts of different hydrodynamic parameters(including wave height,incident wave period,and water depth)and the berm width on the wave force of the crown wall.Finally,a comparison of the experimental results and Martin method shows that the latter method is not suitable for this experimental scope.New empirical formulas are proposed to predict the wave force on crown walls under intermediate depth.The results can provide a basis for the design of crown wall of rubble mound breakwaters at intermediate depths.