A flexible ultra-broadband multi-layered absorber working at 2 GHz-40 GHz printed by resistive ink

A flexible extra broadband metamaterial absorber(MMA)stacked with five layers working at 2 GHz–40 GHz is investigated.Each layer is composed of polyvinyl chloride(PVC),polyimide(PI),and a frequency selective surface(FSS),which is printed on PI using conductive ink.To investigate this absorber,both one-dimensional analogous circuit analysis and three-dimensional full-wave simulation based on a physical model are provided.Various crucial electromagnetic properties,such as absorption,effective impedance,complex permittivity and permeability,electric current distribution and magnetic field distribution at resonant peak points,are studied in detail.Analysis shows that the working frequency of this absorber covers entire S,C,X,Ku,K and Ka bands with a minimum thickness of 0.098λ_(max)(λ_(max) is the maximum wavelength in the absorption band),and the fractional bandwidth(FBW)reaches 181.1%.Moreover,the reflection coefficient is less than-10 dB at 1.998 GHz–40.056 GHz at normal incidence,and the absorptivity of the plane wave is greater than 80%when the incident angle is smaller than 50°.Furthermore,the proposed absorber is experimentally validated,and the experimental results show good agreement with the simulation results,which demonstrates the potential applicability of this absorber at 2 GHz–40 GHz.

A Well Productivity Model for Multi-Layered Marine and Continental Transitional Reservoirs with Complex Fracture Networks

Using the typical characteristics of multi-layered marine and continental transitional gas reservoirs as a basis,a model is developed to predict the related well production rate.This model relies on the fractal theory of tortuous capillary bundles and can take into account multiple gas flow mechanisms at the micrometer and nanometer scales,as well as the flow characteristics in different types of thin layers(tight sandstone gas,shale gas,and coalbed gas).Moreover,a source-sink function concept and a pressure drop superposition principle are utilized to introduce a coupled flow model in the reservoir.A semi-analytical solution for the production rate is obtained using a matrix iteration method.A specific well is selected for fitting dynamic production data,and the calculation results show that the tight sandstone has the highest gas production per unit thickness compared with the other types of reservoirs.Moreover,desorption and diffusion of coalbed gas and shale gas can significantly contribute to gas production,and the daily production of these two gases decreases rapidly with decreasing reservoir pressure.Interestingly,the gas production from fractures exhibits an approximately U-shaped distribution,indicating the need to optimize the spacing between clusters during hydraulic fracturing to reduce the area of overlapping fracture control.The coal matrix water saturation significantly affects the coalbed gas production,with higher water saturation leading to lower production.

An Innovative Soft Design Science Methodology for Improving Development of a Secure Information System in Tanzania Using Multi-Layered Approach

This paper presents an innovative Soft Design Science Methodology for improving information systems security using multi-layered security approach. The study applied Soft Design Science Methodology to address the problematic situation on how information systems security can be improved. In addition, Soft Design Science Methodology was compounded with mixed research methodology. This holistic approach helped for research methodology triangulation. The study assessed security requirements and developed a framework for improving information systems security. The study carried out maturity level assessment to determine security status quo in the education sector in Tanzania. The study identified security requirements gap (IT security controls, IT security measures) using ISO/IEC 21827: Systems Security Engineering-Capability Maturity Model (SSE-CMM) with a rating scale of 0 - 5. The results of this study show that maturity level across security domain is 0.44 out of 5. The finding shows that the implementation of IT security controls and security measures for ensuring security goals are lacking or conducted in ad-hoc. Thus, for improving the security of information systems, organisations should implement security controls and security measures in each security domain (multi-layer security). This research provides a framework for enhancing information systems security during capturing, processing, storage and transmission of information. This research has several practical contributions. Firstly, it contributes to the body of knowledge of information systems security by providing a set of security requirements for ensuring information systems security. Secondly, it contributes empirical evidence on how information systems security can be improved. Thirdly, it contributes on the applicability of Soft Design Science Methodology on addressing the problematic situation in information systems security. The research findings can be used by decision makers and lawmakers to improve existing cyber security laws, and enact laws for data privacy and sharing of open data.

Seismogram Synthesis in Multi-layered Half-space Part Ⅰ. Theoretical Formulations

In the past two decades numerous studies were made to develop and improve the theory and practical computation techniques of synthesizing theoretical seismograms for the model of multi-layered half-space. Today, synthesizing theoretical seismograms in multi-layered half-space is an important tool for understanding the structure of the Earth’s interior as well as the seismic source process from well-recorded seismograms data. As part of a review of the state-of-the-art, in this article I shall present a systematic and self-contained theory of elastic waves in multi-layered half-space media based on the developments in the past two decades.

In-plane dynamic Green's functions for inclined and uniformly distributed loads in a multi-layered transversely isotropic half-space

The dynamic stiffness method combined with the Fourier transform is utilized to derive the in-plane Green’s functions for inclined and uniformly distributed loads in a multi-layered transversely isotropic（TI）half-space.The loaded layer is fixed to obtain solutions restricted in it and the corresponding reactions forces,which are then applied to the total system with the opposite sign.By adding solutions restricted in the loaded layer to solutions from the reaction forces,the global solutions in the wavenumber domain are obtained,and the dynamic Green’s functions in the space domain are recovered by the inverse Fourier transform.The presented formulations can be reduced to the isotropic case developed by Wolf（1985）,and are further verified by comparisons with existing solutions in a uniform isotropic as well as a layered TI halfspace subjected to horizontally distributed loads which are special cases of the more general problem addressed.The deduced Green’s functions,in conjunction with boundary element methods,will lead to significant advances in the investigation of a variety of wave scattering,wave radiation and soil-structure interaction problems in a layered TI site.Selected numerical results are given to investigate the influence of material anisotropy,frequency of excitation,inclination angle and layered on the responses of displacement and stress,and some conclusions are drawn.

Strength prediction of multi-layered copper-based composites fabricated by accumulative roll bonding

This work aims to evaluate the feasibility of the fabrication of nanostructured Cu/Al/Ag multi-layered composites by accumulative roll bonding(ARB),and to analyze the tensile properties and electrical conductivity of the produced composites.A theoretical model using strengthening mechanisms and some structural parameters extracted from X-ray diffraction is also developed to predict the tensile strength of the composites.It was found that by progression of ARB,the experimental and calculated tensile strengths are enhanced,reach a maximum of about 450 and 510 MPa at the fifth cycle of ARB,respectively and then are reduced.The electrical conductivity decreased slightly by increasing the number of ARB cycles at initial ARB cycles,but the decrease was intensified at the final ARB cycles.In conclusion,the merit of ARB to fabricate this type of multi-layered nanocomposites and the accuracy of the developed model to predict tensile strength were realized.

Numerical simulation analysis on multi-layer low-temperature heating method of asphalt pavement in hot in-place recycling

Asphalt mixture pavement reheating is one of the important steps in hot in-place recycling(HIR).To improve the heating speed of asphalt pavement in HIR,based on the numerical analysis model of asphalt mixture heating process,a new multi-layer low-temperature heating method(MLHM)was proposed.Considering input heat flux,the thermal capacity and thermal resistance of asphalt mixture,the heat transfer model was established based on energy conservation law.By heating the asphalt mixture in layers,it changes the situation that the heat energy can only be input from the upper surface of the asphalt mixture pavement.Through the simulation of the heating method of asphalt mixture in the existing technology,the result shows that the existing heating methods lead to serious aging or charring of the asphalt mixture.By MLHM,the upper and the bottom of the asphalt mixture are heated at the same time,and the heating temperature is lower than other heat methods,which not only reduces the heating thickness and increases the heating area of the asphalt mixture pavement,but also improves the heating speed,saves the energy resource and ensures the heating quality.Especially,by MLHM,the heating uniformity is better and speed is faster.

Design of multi-layered porous fibrous metals for optimal sound absorption in the low frequency range

We present a design method for calculating and optimizing sound absorption coefficient of multi-layered porous fibrous metals （PFM） in the low frequency range. PFM is simplified as an equivalent idealized sheet with all metallic fibers aligned in one direction and distributed in periodic hexagonal patterns. We use a phenomenological model in the literature to investigate the effects of pore geometrical parameters （fiber diameter and gap） on sound absorption performance. The sound absorption coefficient of multi- layered PFMs is calculated using impedance translation theorem, To demonstrate the validity of the present model, we compare the predicted results with the experimental data. With the average sound absorption （low frequency range） as the objective function and the fiber gaps as the design variables, an optimization method for multi-layered fibrous metals is proposed. A new fibrous layout with given porosity of multi-layered fibrous metals is suggested to achieve optimal low frequency sound absorption. The sound absorption coefficient of the optimal multi-layered fibrous metal is higher than the single- layered fibrous metal, and a significant effect of the fibrous material on sound absorption is found due to the surface Dorosity of the multi-layered fibrous.

A multi-layered Ti3C2/Li2S composite as cathode material for advanced lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur(Li-S)batteries with lithium sulfide(Li2S)as cathode have attracted great attention recently,because of high specific capacity(1166 mA h g^-1)of Li2S and potential safety of using Li metal-free anode.Li2S cathode has lower volume expansion and higher thermal stability than the traditional sulfur cathode.However,the problems of"shuttle effect"and poor electrical conductivity of the cathode material still need to be overcome.In this work,multi-layered Ti3C2/Li2S(ML-Ti3C2/Li2S)composite has been prepared and applied as a cathode in advanced Li-S batteries.The unique multi-layer sheet structure of Ti3 C2 provides space for the storage of Li2S,and its good conductivity greatly enhances the usage ratio of Li2 S and improves the conductivity of the whole Li2S cathode.Compared with commonly used graphene,ML-Ti3C2 can trap polysulfides effectively by chemical adsorption and also activate the reaction of Li2S to polysulfides by forming Ti-S bond.As a result,during the cycling of the batteries with ML-Ti3C2/Li2S cathodes,the activation voltage barrier of the first cycle has decreased to 2.8 V,and the"shuttle effect"has been suppressed effectively.The cycling and rate performances of the ML-Ti3C2/Li2S cathodes have been significantly improved compared to that of graphene/Li2 S cathodes.They maintain a capacity of 450 mAh g^-1 at 0.2 C after 100 cycles,and deliver attractive rate performances of 750,630,540,470 and 360 mAh g^-1 at 0.1 C,0.2 C,0.5 C,1 C,and 2 C,respectively.

Prediction of Logistics Demand via Least Square Method and Multi-Layer Perceptron

To implement the prediction of the logistics demand capacity of a certain region,a comprehensive index system is constructed,which is composed of freight volume and other eight relevant economic indices,such as gross domestic product(GDP),consumer price index(CPI),total import and export volume,port's cargo throughput,total retail sales of consumer goods,total fixed asset investment,highway mileage,and resident population,to form the foundation for the model calculation.Based on the least square method(LSM)to fit the parameters,the study obtains an accurate mathematical model and predicts the changes of each index in the next five years.Using artificial intelligence software,the research establishes the logistics demand model of multi-layer perceptron(MLP)neural network,makes an empirical analysis on the logistics demand of Quanzhou City,and predicts its logistics demand in the next five years,which provides some references for formulating logistics planning and development strategy.

Effects of Thickness Deviation of Elastic Plates in Multi-Layered Resonance Systems on Frequency Spectra

A model of high-overtone bulk acoustic resonators is used to study the effects of thickness deviation of elastic plates on resonance frequency spectra in planar multi-layered systems. The resonance frequency shifts induced by the thickness deviations of the elastic plates periodically vary with the resonance order, which depends on the acoustic impedance ratios of the elastic plates to piezoelectric patches. Additionally, the center lines of the frequency shift oscillations linearly change with the orders of the resonance modes, and their slopes are sensitive to the thickness deviations of the plates, which can be used to quantitatively evaluate the thickness deviations.

Micrometer-sized ferrosilicon composites wrapped with multi-layered carbon nanosheets as industrialized anodes for high energy lithium-ion batteries

Various nanostructured architectures have been demonstrated to be effective to address the issues of high capacity Si anodes. However, the scale-up of these nano-Si materials is still a critical obstacle for commercialization. Herein, we use industrial ferrosilicon as low-cost Si source and introduce a facile and scalable method to fabricate a micrometer-sized ferrosilicon/C composite anode, in which ferrosilicon microparticles are wrapped with multi-layered carbon nanosheets. The multi-layered carbon nanosheets could effectively buffer the volume variation of Si as well as create an abundant and reliable conductivity framework, ensuring fast transport of electrons. As a result, the micrometer-sized ferrosilicon/C anode achieves a stable cycling with 805.9 m Ah g-1 over 200 cycles at 500 mA g-1 and a good rate capability of455.6 mAh g-1 at 10 A g-1. Therefore, our approach based on ferrosilicon provides a new opportunity in fabricating cost-effective, pollution-free, and large-scale Si electrode materials for high energy lithium-ion batteries.

Polar interface and surface optical vibration spectra in multi-layer wurtzite quantum wires： transfer matrix method

The polar interface optical （IO） and surface optical （SO） phonon modes and the corresponding Froehlich electron phonon-interaction Hamiltonian in a freestanding multi-layer wurtzite cylindrical quantum wire （QWR） are derived and studied by employing the transfer matrix method in the dielectric continuum approximation and Loudon＇s uniaxial crystal model. A numerical calculation of a freestanding wurtzite GaN/AlN QWR is performed. The results reveal that for a relatively large azimuthal quantum number m or wave-number kz in the free z-direction, there exist two branches of IO phonon modes localized at the interface, and only one branch of SO mode localized at the surface in the system. The degenerating behaviours of the IO and SO phonon modes in the wurtzite QWR have also been clearly observed for a small kz or m. The limiting frequency properties of the IO and SO modes for large kz and m have been explained reasonably from the mathematical and physical viewpoints. The calculations of electron-phonon coupling functions show that the high-frequency IO phonon branch and SO mode play a more important role in the electron phonon interaction.

Limit analysis of ultimate uplift capacity and failure mechanism ofshallow plate anchors in multi-layered soils

Considering the fact that in some complex cases,plate anchors are buried in multi-layered geotechnical materials,the ultimate dynamic analysis was performed to investigate the uplift capacity and failure mechanism of shallow strips and circular plate anchors in multi-layered soils.The nonlinear strength criterion and non-associated flow rule of geotechnical materials were introduced to investigate the influence of nonuniformity on the pullout performance and failure mechanism of shallow plate anchors.The expressions of the detaching curves or surfaces were obtained to reflect the failure mechanism,which can be used to figure out the ultimate uplift capacity and failure range.The results are generally in agreement with the numerical simulations and previous research.The effects of various parameters on the ultimate uplift capacity and failure mechanism of plate anchors in multi-layered soils were investigated,and it is found that the ultimate uplift capacity and failure range of shallow anchors increase with the increase of initial cohesion and dilatancy coefficient,but decrease with the unit weight,axial tensile stress and nonlinear coefficient.

RECONSTRUCTION OF ONE DIMENSIONAL MULTI-LAYERED MEDIA BY USING A TIME DOMAIN SIGNAL FLOW GRAPH TECHNIQUE

A novel inverse scattering method to reconstruct the permittivity profile of one-dimensional multi-layered media is proposed in this paper.Based on the equivalent network ofthe medium,a concept of time domain signal flow graph and its basic principles are introduced,from which the reflection coefficient of the medium in time domain can be shown to be a series ofDirac δ-functions(pulse responses).In terms of the pulse responses,we will reconstruct both thepermittivity and the thickness of each layer will accurately be reconstructed.Numerical examplesverify the applicability of this

Modeling Locking Angle of the Multi-layered Biaxial Weft Knitted Fabric in Shear Deformation

This paper introduces the construction of the multi-layered biaxial weft knitted fabric （MBWK fabric） and studies the locking angle of this kind of fabric. Moreover, a locking angle model of the MBWK fabric is established for the first time according to its unique construction. Two kinds of locking angles are considered under different restraint conditions: the locking angle θ1 controlled by the inserting yarns and the locking angle θ2 controlled by the stitch yarns. It is concluded that the ultimate value of the locking angle θ is the larger one of the two angles.

Effect of Phase Change Materials on the Thermal Protective Performance of the Multi-layered Fabrics Examined by TPP Tester under Flash Fire

Cotton fabrics treated with phase change materials( PCMs)were used in multi-layered fabrics of the fire fighter protective clothing to study its effect on thermal protection. The thermal protective performance( TPP) of the multi-layered fabrics was measured by a TPP tester under flash fire. Results showed that the utilization of the PCM fabrics improved the thermal protective performance of the multi-layered fabrics. The fabric with a PCM add on of 41. 9% increased the thermal protection by 50. 6% and reduced the time to reach a second degree burn by 8. 4 s compared with the reference fabrics( without PCMs). The employment of the PCM fabrics also reduced the blackened areas on the inner layers. The PCM fabrics with higher PCM melting temperature could bring higher thermal protective performance.

Hierarchically skeletal multi-layered Pt-Ni nanocrystals for highly efficient oxygen reduction and methanol oxidation reactions

Pt based materials are the most efficient electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)and methanol oxidation reaction(MOR)in fuel cells.Maximizing the utilization of Pt based materials by modulating their morphologies to expose more active sites is a fundamental objective for the practical application of fuel cells.Herein,we report a new class of hierarchically skeletal Pt-Ni nanocrystals(HSNs)with a multi-layered structure,prepared by an inorganic acid-induced solvothermal method.The addition of H_(2)SO_(4)to the synthetic protocol provides a critical trigger for the successful growth of Pt-Ni nanocrystals with the desired structure.The Pt-Ni HSNs synthesized by this method exhibit enhanced mass activity of 1.25 A mgpt−1 at 0.9 V(versus the reversible hydrogen electrode)towards ORR in 0.1-M HClO_(4),which is superior to that of Pt-Ni multi-branched nanocrystals obtained by the same method in the absence of inorganic acid;it is additionally 8.9-fold higher than that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst.Meanwhile,it displays enhanced stability,with only 21.6%mass activity loss after 10,000 cycles(0.6–1.0 V)for ORR.Furthermore,the Pt-Ni HSNs show enhanced activity and anti-toxic ability in CO for MOR.The superb activity of the Pt-Ni HSNs for ORR and MOR is fully attributed to an extensively exposed electrochemical surface area and high intrinsic activity,induced by strain effects,provided by the unique hierarchically skeletal alloy structure.The novel open and hierarchical structure of Pt-Ni alloy provides a promising approach for significant improvements of the activity of Pt based alloy electrocatalysts.

Multi-layer perceptron-based data-driven multiscale modelling of granular materials with a novel Frobenius norm-based internal variable

One objective of developing machine learning(ML)-based material models is to integrate them with well-established numerical methods to solve boundary value problems(BVPs).In the family of ML models,recurrent neural networks(RNNs)have been extensively applied to capture history-dependent constitutive responses of granular materials,but these multiple-step-based neural networks are neither sufficiently efficient nor aligned with the standard finite element method(FEM).Single-step-based neural networks like the multi-layer perceptron(MLP)are an alternative to bypass the above issues but have to introduce some internal variables to encode complex loading histories.In this work,one novel Frobenius norm-based internal variable,together with the Fourier layer and residual architectureenhanced MLP model,is crafted to replicate the history-dependent constitutive features of representative volume element(RVE)for granular materials.The obtained ML models are then seamlessly embedded into the FEM to solve the BVP of a biaxial compression case and a rigid strip footing case.The obtained solutions are comparable to results from the FEM-DEM multiscale modelling but achieve significantly improved efficiency.The results demonstrate the applicability of the proposed internal variable in enabling MLP to capture highly nonlinear constitutive responses of granular materials.

Application of response surface method for optimal transfer conditions of multi-layer ceramic capacitor alignment system

The multi-layer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) alignment system aims at the inter-process automation between the first and the second plastic processes.As a result of testing performance verification of MLCC alignment system,the average alignment rates are 95% for 3216 chip,88.5% for 2012 chip and 90.8% for 3818 chip.The MLCC alignment system can be accepted for practical use because the average manual alignment is just 80%.In other words,the developed MLCC alignment system has been upgraded to a great extent,compared with manual alignment.Based on the successfully developed MLCC alignment system,the optimal transfer conditions have been explored by using RSM.The simulations using ADAMS has been performed according to the cube model of CCD.By using MiniTAB,the model of response surface has been established based on the simulation results.The optimal conditions resulted from the response optimization tool of MiniTAB has been verified by being assigned to the prototype of MLCC alignment system.