Assessing cutter-rock interaction during TBM tunnelling in granite:Large-scale standing rotary cutting tests and 3D DEM simulations

The widespread utilisation of tunnel boring machines(TBMs)in underground construction engineering requires a detailed investigation of the cutter-rock interaction.In this paper,we conduct a series of largescale standing rotary cutting tests on granite in conjunction with high-fidelity numerical simulations based on a particle-type discrete element method(DEM)to explore the effects of key cutting parameters on the TBM cutter performance and the distribution of cutter-rock contact stresses.The assessment results of cutter performance obtained from the cutting tests and numerical simulations reveal similar dependencies on the key cutting parameters.More specifically,the normal and rolling forces exhibit a positive correlation with penetration but are slightly influenced by the cutting radius.In contrast,the side force decreases as the cutting radius increases.Additionally,the side force shows a positive relationship with the penetration for smaller cutting radii but tends to become negative as the cutting radius increases.The cutter's relative effectiveness in rock breaking is significantly impacted by the penetration but shows little dependency on the cutting radius.Consequently,an optimal penetration is identified,leading to a low boreability index and specific energy.A combined Hertz-Weibull function is developed to fit the cutter-rock contact stress distribution obtained in DEM simulations,whereby an improved CSM(Colorado School of Mines)model is proposed by replacing the original monotonic cutting force distribution with this combined Hertz-Weibull model.The proposed model outperforms the original CSM model as demonstrated by a comparison of the estimated cutting forces with those from the tests/simulations.The findings from this work that advance our understanding of TBM cutter performance have important implications for improving the efficiency and reliability of TBM tunnelling in granite.

Design and Numerical Simulation of Dust Removal System for Sutomotive Iongitudinal Beam Plasma Cutting

To improve the poor efficiency of the dust removal system in the plasma cutting station of automotive longitudinal beams,and reduce the cutting surface quality degradation due to dust,a bottom-side suction dust removal system is designed,and the dust removal effect is optimized through the setting of the following dampers and diversion plates.The result of numerical simulation indicates that the particle collection rate can reach 99.44%,and the field test also proves the effectiveness of the dust removal system,which is of guiding significance for the transformation of other similar dust removal systems.

Numerical simulation of materials-oriented ultra-precision diamond cutting:review and outlook

Ultra-precision diamond cutting is a promising machining technique for realizing ultra-smooth surface of different kinds of materials.While fundamental understanding of the impact of workpiece material properties on cutting mechanisms is crucial for promoting the capability of the machining technique,numerical simulation methods at different length and time scales act as important supplements to experimental investigations.In this work,we present a compact review on recent advancements in the numerical simulations of material-oriented diamond cutting,in which representative machining phenomena are systematically summarized and discussed by multiscale simulations such as molecular dynamics simulation and finite element simulation:the anisotropy cutting behavior of polycrystalline material,the thermo-mechanical coupling tool-chip friction states,the synergetic cutting responses of individual phase in composite materials,and the impact of various external energetic fields on cutting processes.In particular,the novel physics-based numerical models,which involve the high precision constitutive law associated with heterogeneous deformation behavior,the thermo-mechanical coupling algorithm associated with tool-chip friction,the configurations of individual phases in line with real microstructural characteristics of composite materials,and the integration of external energetic fields into cutting models,are highlighted.Finally,insights into the future development of advanced numerical simulation techniques for diamond cutting of advanced structured materials are also provided.The aspects reported in this review present guidelines for the numerical simulations of ultra-precision mechanical machining responses for a variety of materials.

Simulation Research on Coal-Water Slurry Gasification of Oil-Based Drill Cuttings Based on Fluent

In this paper,based on Fluent software,a five-nozzle gasifier reactor was established to simulate the gasification process of oil-based drill cuttings coal-water slurry.The influence of concentration and oxygen/carbon atomic ratio on the gasification process of oil-based drill cuttings coal-water slurry was investigated.The results show that when the oxygen flow is constant,the outlet temperature of gasifier decreases,the content of effective gas increases,and the carbon conversion rate decreases with the increase of concentration;When the ratio of oxygen to carbon atoms is constant,the effective gas content rises and the temperature rises with the increase of the concentration,and the carbon conversion rate reaches the maximum value when the concentration of oil-based drill cuttings coal-water slurry is 65%;When the concentration is constant,the effective gas content decreases and the outlet temperature rises with the increase of the oxygen/carbon atom ratio,and the carbon conversion rate reaches 99.80%when the oxygen/carbon atom ratio is 1.03.It shows that this method can effectively decompose the organic matter in oilbased drill cuttings and realize the efficient and cooperative treatment of oil-based drill cuttings.

Multiscale simulation of nanometric cutting of single crystal copper——effect of different cutting speeds

A multiscale simulation has been performed to determine the effect of the cutting speed on the deformation mechanism and cutting forces in nanometric cutting of single crystal copper. The multiscale simulation model, which links the finite element method and the molecular dynamics method, captures the atomistic mechanisms during nanometric cutting from the free surface without the computational cost of full atomistic simulations. Simulation results show the material deformation mechanism of single crystal copper greatly changes when the cutting speed exceeds the material static propagation speed of plastic wave. At such a high cutting speed, the average magnitudes of tangential and normal forces increase rapidly. In addition, the variation of strain energy of work material atoms in different cutting speeds is investigated.

Simulation of two-dimensional interior ballistics model of solid propellant electrothermal-chem ical launch with discharge rod plasma generator

Instead of the capillary plasma generator(CPG),a discharge rod plasma generator(DRPG)is used in the30 mm electrothermal-chemical(ETC)gun to improve the ignition uniformity of the solid propellant.An axisymmetric two-dimensional interior ballistics model of the solid propellant ETC gun(2D-IB-SPETCG)is presented to describe the process of the ETC launch.Both calculated pressure and projectile muzzle velocity accord well with the experimental results.The feasibility of the 2D-IB-SPETCG model is proved.Depending on the experimental data and initial parameters,detailed distribution of the ballistics parameters can be simulated.With the distribution of pressure and temperature of the gas phase and the propellant,the influence of plasma during the ignition process can be analyzed.Because of the radial flowing plasma,the propellant in the area of the DRPG is ignited within 0.01 ms,while all propellant in the chamber is ignited within 0.09 ms.The radial ignition delay time is much less than the axial delay time.During the ignition process,the radial pressure difference is less than 5 MPa at the place 0.025 m away from the breech.The radial ignition uniformity is proved.The temperature of the gas increases from several thousand K(conventional ignition)to several ten thousand K(plasma ignition).Compare the distribution of the density and temperature of the gas,we know that low density and high temperature gas appears near the exits of the DRPG,while high density and low temperature gas appears at the wall near the breech.The simulation of the 2D-IB-SPETCG model is an effective way to investigate the interior ballistics process of the ETC launch.The 2D-IB-SPETC model can be used for prediction and improvement of experiments.

Study on Simulation of Machining Errors Caused by Cutting Force

Machining errors caused by cutting force are studied in this paper,and an algorithm to simulate errors is putted forward. In the method,continuous machining process is separated into many machining moments. The deformation of work-piece and cutter at every moment is calculated by finite element method. The machined work-piece is gained by Boolean operation between deformed work-piece and cutter. By analyzing data of final work-piece,machining errors are predicted. The method is proved true by experiment.

Numerical simulations on cutting of frozen soil using HJC Model

Numerical simulation is known as an effective method for mechanical properties during frozen soil excavation.In order to reveal the development of cutting force,effective stress and cutting fragments in frozen silt during the cutting process,we introduce an explicit finite element program LS-DYNA to establish a two-dimensional numerical model of the frozen soil cut.We also use the Holmquist-Johnson-Cook(HJC)damage constitutive model for simulating the variation of soil mechanical properties according to the strong dependence between the cutting tool and frozen silt during the process with different cutting depths,angles and velocities.Meanwhile,a series of experimental results are acquired of frozen silt cutting to prove the application of the HJC model during simulation of cutting force variations.The result shows that the cutting force and fragment size are strongly influenced by cutting depths and cutting velocities increased,and the maximum effective stress at points where the tool contacts frozen soil during the cutting process.In addition,when the cutting angle is 52°,the cutting force is the smallest,and the cutting angle is optimum.Thus,the prediction of frozen soil mechanical properties on the cutting process by this model is conducive to selecting machinery equipment in the field.

Simulation of the continuous casting process in a mold of free-cutting steel 38MnVS based on a MiLE method

A new method called mixed Lagrangian and Eulerian （MiLE） method was used to simulate the continuous casting process in a mold of free-cutting steel 38MnVS.The simulation results are basically in agreement with experimental data in the literature,achieving the three-dimensional visualization of temperature distribution,melt flow,shell thickness,and stress distribution of blooms in a mold.It is shown that the flow velocity of steel melt becomes smaller gradually as the casting proceeds.When the flow reaches a certain depth,two types of flow patterns can be observed in the upper zone of the mold.The first flow pattern is to flow downwards,and the second one is to flow upwards to the meniscus.The corner temperature is higher,and the thickness is thinner than those in the mid-face.The effective stress in the corner area is much bigger than that in the mid-face,indicating that the corner area is the dangerous zone of cracking.

The Extraction Method of Cutting Engagement in Ball-end Milling Simulation

Ball-end mill is widely used in workpiece processi ng with free-form surfaces. Such models that can predict processing character istics precisely are very necessary to the aim of cost reducing, quality improvi ng and productivity progressing, the cutting force prediction is the most import ant among these models. To explore the physical essence of metal cutting, model researchers commonly simplify the geometric conditions in cutting process, and a ssume that the geometric parameters that are needed to solve the physical models have already been predefined, so it results in the separation between model res earch and practical application. In this paper, for the representative cutting f orce models of ball end milling, a new extraction method of geometric parameters is suggested, which makes it possible for physical model to actually serve for the practical manufacturing, and take in the inspection of real production.

Mathematical Model and Simulation of Cutting Force in Plunge Milling Process

Plunge milling is a high-speed machining way and the cutter is fed in the direction of the Z axis, which is used to remove excess material rapidly in roughing operations. In this paper, the orthogonal cutting theory was used to study the plunge milling of LY12 alloy. A mathematic model for cutting force in plunge milling was established, and the milling process was simulated by using Matlab. It is found that the single tooth cutting experimental result is unstable because of unsymmetrical single tooth in the milling process, which leads to the difference between the simulation and experimental results. The trend of multiple teeth cutting experimental result is similar to that of the simulation result; however, the peak values in the experimental result are different, which is caused by the error of cutter’s position, and the error of peak value is less than 10%.

Device simulation of quasi-two-dimensional perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells towards 30%-efficiency

Perovskite/silicon(Si) tandem solar cells have been recognized as the next-generation photovoltaic technology with efficiency over 30% and low cost. However, the intrinsic instability of traditional three-dimensional(3D) hybrid perovskite seriously hinders the lifetimes of tandem devices. In this work, the quasi-two-dimensional(2D)(BA)_(2)(MA)_(n-1)Pbn I_(3n+1)(n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)(where MA denotes methylammonium and BA represents butylammonium), with senior stability and wider bandgap, are first used as an absorber of semitransparent top perovskite solar cells(PSCs) to construct a fourterminal(4T) tandem devices with a bottom Si-heterojunction cell. The device model is established by Silvaco Atlas based on experimental parameters. Simulation results show that in the optimized tandem device, the top cell(n = 4) obtains a power conversion efficiency(PCE) of 17.39% and the Si bottom cell shows a PCE of 11.44%, thus an overall PCE of 28.83%. Furthermore, by introducing a 90-nm lithium fluoride(LiF) anti-reflection layer to reduce the surface reflection loss, the current density(J_(sc)) of the top cell is enhanced from 15.56 m A/cm^(2) to 17.09 m A/cm^(2), the corresponding PCE reaches 19.05%, and the tandem PCE increases to 30.58%. Simultaneously, in the cases of n = 3, 4, and 5, all the tandem PCEs exceed the limiting theoretical efficiency of Si cells. Therefore, the 4T quasi-2D perovskite/Si devices provide a more cost-effective tandem strategy and long-term stability solutions.

Two-Dimensional Fluid Simulation of Collisional Plasma Sheath over rf Powered Electrode with Cylindrical Hole

The characteristics of collisional radio-frequency (rf) sheath dynamics over an elec-trode with a cylindrical hole is simulated by means of a self-consistent model which consists of two-dimensional time-dependent fluid equations coupled with Poisson equation. In addition, an equivalent-circuit model is coupled to the fluid equations in order to self-consistently determine re-lationship between the instantaneous potential at the rf-biased electrode and the sheath thickness. Two-dimensional profiles of the potential, the ion fluid velocity, and the distributions of the ion and electron densities within the sheath are computed under various discharge conditions, such as the discharge powers and the gas pressures. The results show that the existence of the cylindrical hole on the electrode significantly affects the sheath structure and generates a potential trap in the horizontal direction, which is particularly strong when the sheath thickness is comparable to the depth of the hole. Moreover, it is found that the collisional effects have a significant influence on the sheath characteristics.

Two-Dimensional Simulation of a Dual Frequency Sheath Near an Electrode with a Cylindrical Hole

The characteristics of a collisional dual frequency （DF） sheath near an electrode with a cylindrical hole are studied by utilizing a two-dimensional model which includes time-dependent fluid equations coupled with the Poisson equation and an equivalent-circuit model, The effects of the gas pressure on the two-dimensional profiles of the potential, electric field, ion fluid velocity in a DF sheath are investigated. The simulation results show that the cylindrical hole on the electrode has a significant influence on the DF sheath structure, i.e., the sheath profile tends to wrap around the contour of the hole feature. Moreover, it is shown that the structure of the DF sheath is different from that of a single frequency （SF） sheath because the profile of the DF sheath is modulated by the combination of the high and low frequency sources. In addition the characteristics of the DF sheath are obviously affected by the collisional effects in the DF sheath.

Numerical simulation of coal wall cutting and lump coal formation in a fully mechanized mining face

It is difficult to accurately calculate the lump coal rate in a fully mechanized mining face.Therefore,a numerical simulation of the coal wall cutting process,which revealed the crack expansion,development,evolution in the coal body and the corresponding lump coal formation mechanism,was performed in PFC2D.Moreover,a correlation was established between the cutting force and lump coal formation,and a statistical analysis method was proposed to determine the lump coal rate.The following conclusions are drawn from the results:(1)Based on a soft ball model,a coal wall cutting model is established.By setting the roller parameters based on linear bonding and simulating the roller cutting process of the coal body,the coal wall cutting process is effectively simulated,and accurate lump coal rate statistics are provided.(2)Under the cutting stress,the coal body in the working face underwent three stages—microfracture generation,fracture expansion,and fracture penetration—to form lump coal,in which the fracture direction is orthogonal to the cutting pressure chain.Within a certain range from the roller,as the cutting depth of the roller increased,the number of new fractures in the coal body first increases and then stabilizes.(3)Under the cutting stress,the fractured coal body is locally compressed,thereby forming a compact core.The formation and destruction of the compact core causes fluctuations in the cutting force.The fluctuation amplitude is positively related to the coal mass.(4)Because the simulation does not consider secondary damage in the coal,the simulated lump coal rate is larger than the actual lump coal rate in the working face;this deviation is mainly concentrated in large lump coal with a diameter greater than 300 mm.

Numerical simulation for the two-dimensional nonlinear shallow water waves

This study deals with the general numerical model to simulate the two-dimensional tidal flow, flooding wave (long wave) and shallow water waves (short wave). The foundational model is based on nonlinear Boussinesq equations. Numerical method for modelling the short waves is investigated in detail. The forces, such as Coriolis forces, wind stress, atmosphere and bottom friction, are considered. A two-dimensional implicit difference scheme of Boussinesq equations is proposed. The low-reflection outflow open boundary is suggested. By means of this model,both velocity fields of circulation current in a channel with step expansion and the wave diffraction behind a semi-infinite breakwater are computed, and the results are satisfactory.

Effect of Parallel-Plate Geometry on Mode Transition Behavior in Argon Microplasmas: Two-Dimensional Simulation

A two-dimensional self-consistent fluid model is employed to investigate radio-frequency process parameters on the plasma properties in Ar microdischarges. The neutral gas density and temperature balance equations are taken into account. We mainly investigate the effect of the electrode gap on the spatial distribution of the electron density and electron temperature profiles, due to a mode transition from the regime（secondary electrons emission is responsible for the significant ionization） to the regime（sheath oscillations and bulk electrons are responsible for sustaining discharge） induced by a sudden decrease of electron density and electron temperature.The pressure, radio-frequency sources frequency and voltage effects on the electron density are also elaborately investigated.

Numerical simulation of cutting process of the slice components cutting machine

By the use of ANSYS/LS-DYNA FEA software,numerical simulation on the cutting process of cutting plates with a reamer was carried out in the paper. The logical improvement was brought forward and the phenomenon of stress concentration was deceased by weighted analysis. The effects of different cut velocities and cutting thickness on life-spans of reamers were investigated, and the cutting parameters were optimized to satisfy the cutting precision and cutting efficiency. The study will provide a guide for the practical production.

Numerical Simulation and Measurement of Air Temperature and Relative Humidity in an Olive Cuttings Tunnel Greenhouse

Understanding the environment of olive tree cuttings is a key factor in improving these plants’ rooting rate and survival. This study aims to develop a three-dimensional (3-D) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model for numerically assessing air temperature and relative humidity in an olive cuttings greenhouse under Mediterranean climatic conditions. The results are deduced from a steady-state simulation performed with recorded boundary conditions at 10:00 am, 12:00 pm, 02:00 pm, 04:00 pm, and 06:00 pm at different observation points. The calculations were validated using experimental data. The simulation errors of the air temperature were -0.8°C to 4.55°C, and errors of the leaf temperature were 0.07°C to 2.42°C, for the air relative humidity was -33.84% to -1.64%, and -10.1% to -13.54% for the relative humidity of the leaf air. Contour maps were obtained from the 3-D CFD simulations to evaluate the distribution of humidity and air temperature inside the greenhouse and the vicinity of the plant canopy. This study suggests that the developed 3-D CFD model can be a helpful tool to understand and optimize greenhouse operation for better crop quality.

Haptic Modeling and Rendering Based on Neurofuzzy Rules for Surgical Cutting Simulation

This paper combines image processing with 3D magnetic tracking method to develop a scalpel for haptic simulation in surgical cutting. First, a cutting parameter acquisition setup is presented and the performance is validated from soft tissue cutting. Then, based on the acquired input-output data pairs, a method for fuzzy system modeling is presented, that is, after partitioning each input space equally and giving the premises and the total number of fuzzy rules, the consequent parameters and the fuzzy membership functions (MF) of the input variables are learned and optimized via a neurofuzzy modeling technique. Finally, a haptic scalpel implemented with the established cutting model is described. Preliminary results show the feasibility of the haptic display system for real-time interaction.