Mechanical behaviour of wood compressed in radial direction-part I.New method of determining the yield stress of wood on the stress-strain curve

A test equipment was developed,which allows for real time observation of the deformation behav-ior of wood cellular structure under a compression load applied in radial direction.Compression tests were performed on jack pine(Pinus banksiana)and balsam poplar(Populus balsamifera)spec-imens to explore the relationship between the yield stress and the first failure occurring in wood cell layers during radial compression.The microstructural changes for P.banksiana and P.bal-samifera wood below and above the yield point were analyzed.The study results showed that for P.banksiana the first failure of wood cells occurred at the first earlywood layer,while for P.balsamifera it occurred at the layer with the largest vessels.The first failure of wood cell layer for each species tested was found to correspond to the yield point on the stress-strain curve.A new method of determining the yield stress for wood specimens under radial compression was developed.

Mechanical behaviour of wood compressed in radial direction:Part II.Influence of temperature and moisture content

This study investigated the influence of pressing temperature and moisture content on the me-chanical properties of wood compressed in radial direction.Jack pine(Pinus banksiana)and bal-sam poplar(Populus balsamifera)specimens were tested under a combination of pressing temper-ature(20℃,55℃,90℃,and 125℃)and wood moisture content(2%,7%,12%,and 17%).The yield stress(_(δ)y)and modulus of elasticity(MOE)of the specimens were determined from the stress-strain response.It was found that an increase in either pressing temperature or moisture content of wood generally caused a decrease in the mechanical properties for both species.The t-test results revealed that jack pine specimens are more sensitive to changes in pressing tem-perature and wood moisture content than balsam poplar.For jack pine specimens,at any of the pressing temperatures,the moisture content of 12%was found to be a crucial level to start a significant decrease in𝜎y and MOE,while at any of the moisture content,a change in temper-ature from 55℃to 90℃exhibited a significant change in𝜎y and MOE.The regression models developed can be used to predict𝜎y and MOE as a function of temperature and moisture content.

Reliability of gas holdup measurements using the differential pressure method in a cyclone-static micro-bubble flotation column

Gas holdup is one of the key parameters in flotation process. Gas holdup as measured by a differential pressure method was investigated and the relative errors compared to the average gas holdup from the volume expansion method. The errors were used to establish optimum measurement positions. The results show that the measurement position should be in the middle of the column and in the region half way from the center to the wall (the half-radius). The gas holdup along the axial direction is lower at the bottom and higher at the top of the floatation column. The gas holdup along the radial direction is lower near the wall and higher near the center of the flotation column. The average gas holdup measure- ment can be replaced by regional gas holdup values.

High-density stacked microcoils integrated microminiaturized electromagnetic vibration energy harvester for self-powered acceleration sensing

With the rapid development of microelectronics and flexible electronics technology,self-powered sensors have significant application prospects in human-machine interface systems and Internet of Things.However,piezoelectric-and triboelectricbased sensors have low current output and are easily affected,while electromagnetic-based sensors are difficult to miniaturize.This work proposes a high-density stacked microcoil integrated microminiaturized electromagnetic vibration energy harvester(EVEH).The double-layer high-density microcoil is fabricated on both sides of the flexible polyimide substrate interconnected via the central through-hole.Owing to reduced single coil line width,line spacing,and stacked structure,the number of turns can be substantially enhanced.Moreover,the relative position of the coils and magnet has a considerable influence on the performances;due to the huge change rate in magnetic flux when the coil is placed in the radial direction of the magnet than in the axial direction,the open-circuit voltage in the radial direction is 10 times greater.The microcoil can maintain good performance at high,low temperatures and under bending conditions.When the distance between the ends of the coil changes from 2 to 20 mm in 2 mm steps,the bending angle of the coil changes from 45°to 270°in 45°steps;furthermore,when the coil is exposed to-40and 60℃conditions,the coil resistance is maintained at approximately 447Ω.The peak open-circuit voltage of three-piece microcoils reaches 0.41 V at 4 Hz under 2g,and the output voltage and current increase with an increasing number of stacked layers.These excellent properties indicate that EVEH can be used for self-powered acceleration sensing.The sensitivity is measured to be 0.016 V/(m/s^(2))with a correlation coefficient of 0.979 over the acceleration range of 1–18 m/s^(2).Thus,the developed microminiaturized EVEH has enormous potential for self-powered sensing applications in confined spaces and harsh environments.