Integration of structural simulations into a real-time capable Overall System Simulation for complex mechatronic systems

To meet the rising demand of performing complex tasks in a highly technologized world,the development of mechatronic systems faces two major challenges:First,the system is integrated in a fast changing environment and has to cope with dynamically modified tasks and circumstances.At the same time,the development of new methods has to be fast,cost-effective and efficient.By taking care of both aspects simultaneously,simulations have become an acknowledged tool to cost-effectively and rapidly test and optimize new solutions for complex mechatronic systems,as they are common in,e.g.,robotics.Mostly,simulation methods are specialized for one purpose and thus used as a stand-alone tool to analyze the behavior of single components or certain aspects of the whole system.But with size and complexity of the system,the susceptibility to errors rises when the interaction between components fails.If a component shows minimal deviations to its nominal behavior,huge interdependencies between components of complex systems might cause system failure.The structural behavior of a single component is therefore as crucial to the functionality of the whole system as the interplay of all components.Both aspects have to be analyzed in parallel,which is nowadays barely considered.Consequently,this work presents the integration of structural simulations into the overall picture.The developed approach consists of a concept,an implementation and the validation for an automated bidirectional interaction to integrate results from Finite Element Analysis(FEA)into an existing,real-time capable Overall System Simulation for mechatronic systems in general and robotics in particular.

Simulation algorithm for spiral case structure in hydropower station

In this study, the damage-plasticity model for concrete that was verified by the model experiment was used to calculate the damage to a spiral case structure based on the damage mechanics theory. The concrete structure surrounding the spiral case was simulated with a three-dimensional finite element model. Then, the distribution and evolution of the structural damage were studied. Based on investigation of the change of gap openings between the steel liner and concrete structure, the impact of the non-uniform variation of gaps on the load-beating ratio between the steel liner and concrete structure was analyzed. The comparison of calculated results of the simplified and simulation algorithms shows that the simulation algorithm is a feasible option for the calculation of spiral case structures. In addition, the shell-spring model was introduced for optimization analysis, and the results were reasonable.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION STUDY OF THE INNER-CORE STRUCTURES AND THE MECHANISM FOR INSHORE STRENGTHENING OF SOUTH CHINA SEA TYPHOON VONGFONG (0214) DURING LANDFALL

An explicit simulation with a fine mesh at intervals of 6 km is used to explore the inner-core structures of Vongfong (0214). The dynamic mechanism for the inshore strengthening of Vongfong is examined. It is found as follows. (1) The radius of maximum wind of the axisymmetric structures of the typhoon decreased with height during its mature stage. When Vongfong was inshore, the strongest low-layer inflow located in front of it and the outflow was to the rear of it, which was just reversed from the Atlantic hurricanes and other Pacific typhoons. (2) The dynamic and thermodynamic fields were highly asymmetric in structure. Convection was stronger in the northwest quadrant of the typhoon than in the southeast; the strongest convective cloud bands were consistent with the maximum wind region. During its strengthening stage, it was cold west of and warm east of the eye in the lower layer but warm in the west and cold in the east of the mid-upper layer. During its mature stage, a warm-core structure was evident in the lower and middle-upper layer. (3) The interactions between a mid-latitude cold low in the middle-upper troposphere and the typhoon were responsible for the latter to strengthen inshore. Firstly, the outer circulation of the cold low entered the typhoon from the middle troposphere when an outer cold airflow from the cold low flowed into the northwest quadrant of the typhoon so that geopotentially instable energy increased and convection developed. Secondly, the downdraft in the cold low was just the corresponding branch of the secondary circulation of the typhoon system; when the cold low weakened while moving south, the typhoon strengthened inshore. Due to the CISK mechanism, these two phenomena might be realized.

Thermodynamic Effects on Particle Movement:Wind Tunnel Simulation Results

Sand/dust storms are some of the main hazards in arid and semi-arid zones. These storms also influence global environmental changes. By field observations, empirical statistics, and numerical simulations, pioneer researchers on these natural events have concluded the existence of a positive relationship between thermodynamic effects and sand/dust storms. Thermodynamic effects induce an unsteady stratified atmosphere to influence the process of these storms. However, studies on the relationship of thermodynamic effects with particles (i.e., sand and dust) are limited. In this article, wind tunnel with heating was used to simulate the quantitative relationship between thermodynamic effects and particle movement on different surfaces. Compared with the cold state, the threshold wind velocity of particles is found to be significantly decrease under the hot state. The largest decrease percentage exceedes 9% on fine and coarse sand surfaces. The wind velocity also has a three-power function in the sand transport rate under the hot state with increased sand transport. Thermodynamic effects are stronger on loose surfaces and fine particles, but weaker on compacted surfaces and coarse particles.

COMPUTER SIMULATION OF STRUCTURE OF La-LaCl_3-KCl MELT

The structure of the La-LaCl_3-KCl molten system at 1223K has been investigated by computer simulation using Monte Carlo method.The partial radial distribution functions of some ion pair as well as the potential and internal energy of the system at 1223K have been calculated.The results implies that about 50% of La(Ⅲ)is six coordinated and LaCl_4^(2-) tetrahedron is the predominant configuration for La(Ⅱ). It is also concluded that the distribution of free space in the molten system is not uniform.There exist many fissures and empty holes in the molten salt.

Computer Simulation of the Structure and Propertiesof Nanocrystals

This paper provides a computer modeling method for the study of nanocrystals. Structural features,such as the boundary component proportion, the reduced density proportion, the excess lattice parameter, and the radial distribution function, have been atomistically simulated. The energy and elastic properties also have been investigated. Simulation results indicate that the structure of grain boundaries in nanocrystals is different from those of the amorphous and the gas, or rather, it is a special structure with some degree of short-range order. Moreover, the structure of crystallites is not entirely the same as that in the perfect crystal lattice. The present simulation method may become one of the foundations of the theoretical study of nanocrystals.

A New Simulation of Track Structure of Low-Energy Electrons in Liquid Water:Considering the Condensed-Phase Effect on Electron Elastic Scattering

A new Monte Carlo simulation of the track structure of low-energy electrons （〈10keV） in liquid water is presented. The feature of the simulation is taken into consideration of the condensed-phase effect of liquid water on electron elastic scattering with the use of the Champion model, while the dielectric response formalism incorporating the optical-data model developed by Emfietzoglou et al. is applied for calculating the electron inelastic scattering. The spatial distributions of energy deposition and inelastic scattering events of low-energy electrons with different primary energies in liquid water are calculated and compared with other theoretical evaluations. The present work shows that the condensed-phase effect of liquid water on electron elastic scattering may be of the influence on the fraction of absorbed energy and distribution of inelastic scattering events at lower primary energies, which also indicate potential effects on the DNA damage induced by low-energy electrons.

Effects of Internal Relaxation under Inplane Strain on the Structural,Electronic and Optical Properties of Perovskite BaZrO3

We present the specific ab-initio calculations that detail the variations of perovskite BaZrO3 caused by in-plane strain. Specifically, the internal relaxation, which was not captured in the widely used biaxial strain model, was included in a complementary manner to lattice relaxation. Density functional theory as well as a hybrid functional method based on a plane wave basis set was employed to calculate the lattice structure, elastic constants, electronic properties and optical properties of perovskite BaZrO3. The lattice parameter c exhibited a clear linear dependence on the imposed in-plane strain, but the Poisson＇s ratio caused by internal relaxation was smaller than the elastic deformation, indicating an ＂inelastic＂ or ＂plastic＂ relaxation manner caused by the introduction of internal relaxation. As a result, the related electronic and optical properties of perovskite BaZrO3 were also strongly affected by the in-plane strain, which revealed an effective way to adjust the properties of perovskite BaZrO3 via internal relaxation.

Numerical simulation of vortex-induced drag of elastic swimmer models

We present numerical simulations of simplified models for swimming organisms or robots, using chordwise flexible elastic plates. We focus on the tip vortices originating from three-dimensional effects due to the finite span of the plate. These effects play an important role when predicting the swimmer＇s cruising velocity, since they contribute significantly to the drag force. First we simulate swimmers with rectangular plates of different aspect ratios and compare the results with a recent experimental study. Then we consider plates with expanding and contracting shapes. We find the cruising velocity of the contracting swimmer to be higher than the rectangular one, which in turn is higher than the expanding one. We provide some evidence that this result is due to the tip vortices interacting differently with the swimmer.

Wind tunnel simulation of wind loading on a solid structure of revolution

The wind tunnel simulations of wind loading on a solid structure of revolution with one smooth and five rough surfaces were conducted using wind tunnel tests. Timemean and fluctuating pressure distributions on the surface were obtained, and the relationships between the roughness Reynolds number and pressure distributions were analyzed and discussed. The results show that increasing the surface roughness can significantly affect the pressure distribution, and the roughness Reynolds numbers play an important role in the change of flow patterns. The three flow patterns of subcritical, critical and supercritical flows can be classified based on the changing patterns of both the mean and the fluctuating pressure distributions. The present study suggests that the wind tunnel results obtained in the supercritical pattern reflect more closely those of full-scale solid structure of revolution at the designed wind speed.

Synthesis of Novel Electron Donors and Their Application to Propylene Polymerization

A series of electron donors,including 1,1-cyclopentanecarboxylic acid diethyl ester (CPCADEE),1,1cyclopentanedimethanol acetic diester (CPDMAD),1,1-biethoxymethyl pentane (BEMP),2,2-diethyl diethylmalonate (DEDEM)and 2,2-diethyl-1,3-propanediol acetic diester (DEPDADE),were synthesized by diethyl malonate (DEM).The purities and structures of the above products were characterized by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS),respectively.Furthermore,the possible optimal three-dimensional structures of these donors were simulated by means of Gaussian 03 and Chem 3D.Then these electron donors were coordinated with tetrachloro titanium (TiCl 4) and chloride magnesium (MgCl 2)to obtain the catalysts for the polymerization of propylene.The catalytic activities and properties of polypropylene are greatly improved by adding external donor(ED) when CPCADEE or DEPDADE is used as internal donor(ID).However,when BEMP was used as ID,the highest catalytic activity is obtained without adding ED,which can reduce production costs and simplify catalytic synthesis.The experiments indicate that BEMP has the shortest distance of oxygen atoms and the highest electronegativity.

Catastrophe mechanism and disaster countermeasure for soft rock roadway surrounding rock in Meihe mine

The soft rock's heterogeneity and nonlinear mechanical behavior cause extremely difficult maintenance on the soft rock roadway. Aiming at the asymmetric deformation and destruction phenomenon appearing after excavating and supporting the 7101 air return way in Meihe mine, this paper comprehensively adopted a variety of methods to analyze the roadway surrounding rock deformation rule, obtaining the roadway surrounding rock stress and plastic zone distribution rule under no supporting condition and the roadway surrounding rock deformation features under original symmetric supporting condition.Furthermore, this paper revealed the catastrophe mechanism, and proposed the concept of ‘‘weak structure'' and the disaster countermeasure of ‘‘overall stabilizing the roadway and strengthening the support of weak structure''. The industrial test shows that the disaster control technology can realize the coordination deformation of the supporting structure and roadway surrounding rock, thus significantly controlling the deformation of roadway surrounding rock.

Revising Space Groups from Simulated SHELXfcf Structure Factors. More Examples of Incorrect Space Groups, an Example of a Chemically-Incorrect Structure and the Special Case of Pgl to PRevisions

The structure factors of any crystal structure can be simulated from its atomic coordinates (and temperature factors) in a SHELXL-97 run on a dummy hkl in which only the scale factor is refined. The squares of the structure factors are retrieved from the fcf, and such simulated data are used in the revision of the space groups of several incorrectly-refined crystal structures. Two cases, a P1 to P1 revision and a chemically-incorrect structure that is refined in a correct space group, are discussed.

Comparison of structure and physical fields in 400 kA aluminum reduction cells

To investigate the differences and the development trends of the 400 kA aluminum reduction cell, four representative cells were deeply analyzed. By using numerical simulation methods in ANSYS software, the structure parameters were firstly compared, and then three-dimensional models of electric-magnetic-flow field were built and solved with finite element method(FEM). The comparison of the structures reveals that the cell bodies are similar while the current flow path and distribution ratio of bus bars are different. It appears that most of the current(70%-80%) in side A are used as the magnetic field compensation current and flow through two ends. The numerical simulation results indicate that the distributions of magnetic fields are different but all satisfy with the magnetohydrodynamics(MHD) stabilization, and the flow patterns are all two or multi vortexes with appropriate velocities. The comparison shows that all studied cells can satisfy with the physical field requirement, and the commercial applications also verify that the 400 kA cells have become the product of the mature and world's leading technology.

Design of MEMS C-Band Microstrip Antenna Array Based on High-Resistance Silicon for Intelligent Ammunition

In recent years, microstrip antennas have been more widely applied in satellite communications, mobile phones, unmanned aerial vehicle （UAV）, and weapons. A micro-electro-mechanical systems-based （MEMS-based） high-resistance silicon C-band microstrip antenna array has been designed for the intelligent ammunition. The center frequency is 4.5 GHz. A cavity has been designed in substrate to reduce the dielectric constant of silicon and high-resistance silicon has been used as the material of substrate to improve the gain of antenna. It is very easy to be manufactured by using MEMS technology because of the improved structure of the antenna. The results show that the gain of the antenna is 8 dB and voltage standing wave ratio （VSWR） is less than 2 by the analysis and simulation in high freauencv structure simulator （HFSS）.

Reduced technique for modeling electromagnetic immunity on braid shielding cable bundles

In this paper, an efficient multi-conductor simplification technique is proposed to model the electromagnetic immunity on cable bundles within a braid shielding structure over a large frequency range. By grouping together the conductors based on the knowledge of Z-Smith chart, the required computation time is markedly reduced and the complexity of modeling the completely shielding cable bundles is significantly simplified with a good accuracy. After a brief description of the immunity problems in shielding structure, a six-phase procedure is detailed to generate the geometrical characteristics of the reduced cable bundles. Numerical simulation is carried out by using a commercial software CST to validate the efficiency and advantages of the proposed approach. The research addressed in this paper is considered as a simplified modeling technique for the electromagnetic immunity within a shielding structure.

Thermal analysis and optimization of the EAST ICRH antenna

The ion cyclotron resonance of frequency heating（ICRH） plays an important role in plasma heating.Two ICRH antennas were designed and applied on the EAST tokamak.In order to meet the requirement imposed by high-power and long-pulse operation of EAST in the future,an active cooling system is mandatory to be designed to remove the heat load deposited on the components.Thermal analyses for high heat-load components have been carried out,which presented clear temperature distribution on each component and provided the reference data to do the optimization.Meanwhile,heat pipes were designed to satisfy the high requirement imposed by a Faraday shield and lateral limiter.

A DWT Power Spectrum Analysis of PSCz Galaxies

The power spectrum estimator based on the Discrete Wavelet Transfor- mation (DWT) is applied to detect the clustering power in the IRAS Point Source Catalog Redshift Survey (PSCz). Comparison with mock samples extracted from N-body simulation shows that the DWT power spectrum estimator could provide a robust measurement of banded fluctuation power over a range of wavenumbers 0.1 ~ 2.0hMpc-1. We have fitted three typical CDM models (SCDM, τCDM and CDM) using the Peacock-Dodds formula including non-linear evolution and redshift distortion. We find that, our results are in good agreement with other statistical measurements of the PSCz.

Vertical Profile Comparison of Aerosol and Cloud Optical Properties in Dominated Dust and Smoke Regions over Africa Based on Space-Based Lidar

This study evaluates the vertical profiles of aerosol and cloud optical properties in 40 dominated dust and smoke regions in Western-Northern Africa (WNA) and Central-Southern Africa (CSA), respectively, from the surface to 10km and from 2008 to 2011 based on LIVAS (LIdar climatology of Vertical Aerosol Structure for space-based lidar simulation studies). Aerosol extinction (AE), aerosol backscatter (AB), and aerosol depolarization (AD) generally increase from the surface to 1.2 km and decrease from 1.2 km to the upper layers in both WNA and CSA. AE and AB in CSA (maximum of 0.13 km-1, 0.14 km-1, 0.0021 km-1‧sr-1, 0.0033 km-1‧sr-1) are higher than in WNA (maximum of 0.07 km-1, 0.08 km-1, 0.0017 km-1‧sr-1, 0.0015 km-1‧sr-1) at 532 and 1064 nm respectively. AD in WNA (maximum of 0.25) is significantly higher than in CSA (maximum of 0.05). There is a smooth change with the height of cloud extinction and backscatter in WNA and CSA, while there is a remarkable increase of cloud depolarization with height, whereby it is high in CSA and low in WNA due to high and low fraction of cirrus respectively. Altocumulus has the highest extinction in NA (0.0139 km-1), CA (0.058 km-1), WA (0.013 km-1), while low overcast transparent (0.76 km-1) below 1 km in SA. The major findings of this study may contribute to the improvement of our understanding of aerosol-cloud interaction studies in dominated dust and smoke aerosol regions.