Mechanism of hydro-viscous soft start of belt conveyor

The mechanism of a hydro-viscous soft start is of great importance in the design of a hydro-viscous clutch and its control system. To explain the mechanism of a hydro-viscous soft start, the startup process of a belt conveyor was numerically analyzed with the modified Reynolds equation, an energy equation and a temperature-viscosity equation. The effect of temperature and grooves of the friction disk surface on torque transfer and load capacity of the oil film have also been analyzed. The results show that 1) the grooves are the basis of forming dynamic pressure but they may reduce the capacity of torque transfer to a certain extent, 2) during the startup process, temperature has little effect on torque transfer and load capacity and the variation in load capacity of the oil film is very small, indicating that it is preferable to use the flow rate as a control object than the pressure of the feed cylinder. The results have been verified by an experiment.

Establishing Gene Delivery Systems Based on Small-Sized Chitosan Nanoparticles

Chitosan is a natural cationic polysaccharide, which is often used for preparing biomedical materials because of its high biocompatibility. In this study, chitosan with a molecular weight of 160 kDa was chosen to prepare chitosan nanoparticles （CSNPs） as gene vectors by ionic cross-linking with tripolyphosphate （TPP）. CSNPs were characterized in terms of particle size, zeta potential, and polydispersity index （PDI） using a Zetasizer, and morphology was evaluated by transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity and biocompatibility of CSNPs were correspondingly examined by a 3-（4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl）-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide （MTT） assay and histological examination. Agarose gel electrophoresis and UV spectrophotometric methods were performed to measure the loading capacity. The cell transfection efficiency of CSNPs loaded with plasmids or siRNA was analyzed by fluorescence microscopy or laser scanning confocal microscopy. The results showed that CSNPs were prepared successfully by the ionic gelation method, which had a smaller partcticle size （100 nm-200 nm）, stable dispersibility, low cytotoxicity, good tissue-biocompatibility, and high gene-loading efficiency. These CSNPs could transfer the plasmids or siRNA to cells. However, CSNPs might have a much higher transfection efficiency for siRNAs than for plasmids, which implies that CSNPs might be a safer and more efficient vector for delivering siRNAs rather than plasmids.

Pendulation reduction on ship-mounted container crane via T-S fuzzy model

Ship-mounted container cranes are challenging industrial applications of nonlinear pendulum-like systems with oscillating disturbance which can cause them unstable.Since wave-induced ship motion causes the hoisted container to swing during the transfer operation,the swing motion may be dangerously large and the operation must be stopped.In order to reduce payload pendulation of ship-mounted crane,nonlinear dynamics of ship-mounted crane is derived and a control method using T-S fuzzy model is proposed.Simulation results are given to illustrate the validity of the proposed design method and pendulation of ship-mounted crane is reduced significantly.

Wind Loading on a Hyperbolic Paraboloid Free Roof

Wind loading on an H.P. （hyperbolic paraboloid） free roof has been investigated on the basis of a wind tunnel experiment. The roof models of 1 mm thickness were made of nylon resin using laser lithography. The parameters under consideration are the rise to span ratio and slope of the roof. The overall aerodynamic forces and moments were measured by a six-component force balance in a turbulent boundary layer. Based on a combination of the lift and moment coefficients, the design wind force coefficients, CNW^＊ and CNL^＊, on the windward and leeward halves of the roof are proposed. Focus is on the column axial forces induced by wind loading as the load effect for discussing the design wind loads, assuming that the roof is rigid and supported by four comer columns. Indeed, two pairs of CNW^＊ and CNL^＊, generating the maximum tension and compression in the columns, are provided for each of the two or three wind directions parallel to the roof＇s diagonal lines. The proposed values of the wind force coefficients are compared with the specified values in the Australia/New-Zealand Standard for a limited range of rise to span ratio.

Development and installation of bedload monitoring systems with submerged load cells

Bedload governs riverbed channel variations and morphology, it is necessary to determine bedload discharge through an arbitrary cross section in a mountain fiver. A new system with submerged load cells has been developed to directly measure bedload discharge. The system consists of： （1） an iron box which is 1 m long, 0.5 m wide and 0.1 m in depth, （2） two submerged load cells 0.7 m apart, （3） a pressure sensor and, （4） an electromagnetic velocity meter. This system has been designed to exclude the effect of the hydraulic pressure of water on direct measurements of bedload particle weight. Initial tests in a laboratory were conducted to examine the accuracy of measurements with the system under aerial conditions. The system has been installed in the supercritical flume in Ashi-arai-dani River of the Hodaka Sedimentation Observatory of the Disaster Prevention Research Institute （DPRI） of Kyoto University to obtain bedload discharge under natural conditions. Flume tests were conducted in this channel by artificial supply of uniform sediment particles of several grain sizes. The average velocity of the sediment particles near the bed was estimated using cross-correlation functions for weight waves obtained by the two load cells, Bedload discharge calculations were based on time integration of the product of sediment velocity and sediment weight obtained by the two load cells. This study clarifies the reasons why bedload measurements are difficult, and provides some solutions using the monitoring systems with submerged load cells through the field measurements. Additionally, the applicability of bedload measurement with the submerged load cells is explained based on experimental artificial sediment supply data.

Experimental study on slender reinforced concrete columns wrapped with CFRP

By axial compression tests on 6 reinforced concrete slender columns wrapped with carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP),with slenderness ratio(SR) from 4.5 to 17.5,the results show that when SR increases the retrofitting effect declines. In the case of same SR,the stability coefficient (SC) for the reinforced concrete(RC) columns with CFRP is much less than that without CFRP. There is 20% increase of stable bearing capacity to the former as compared with the latter when the SR in less than 17.5. The study summarized the simplified formula for SC,which provides a reference for engineering designers.

Dynamics of Light-induced Reflectivity Change in Bulk GaAs by Femtosecond Laser Pulse

The pump-probe technique is an effective method to investigate ultrafast dynamics. And it is widely used in fundamental and application fields of Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The dynamics of bulk GaAs was investigated by femtosecond laser. By changing the area of pump spot, different laser fluences were obtained to excite electron from valence states to conduction states. And it was found that the amplitude of reflectivity change is different. When the carrier density N is 1.44×10^18/cm^3, the change of refraction index is about Dnc=-3.33×10^-5. And when N is0. 36×10^10/cm^3, the change is -2.0×10^-5.

Investigation of the Effect of Bulbuos Bow of Containership in Head Waves Using CFD

Reynold＇s averaged Navier-Stokes based CFD （computational fluid dynamics） technique WISDAM developed at The University of Tokyo is used to investigate and compare the hydrodynamic loads on container ship models SR108 and KCS in 120 degree regular oblique wave conditions. WISDAM has the capability of handling 6DOF （six degrees of freedom） in ship motions. Finite volume method with structured and overlapping grid system is employed. The flow variables are described in staggered manner, i.e., velocity components arc defined at the face center while pressure is at the cell center. Computational results agree favorably well with existing towing tank results especially for ship motions. Computational results also show that ship with bulbous bow experience higher hydrodynamic loads on bow section.

Moored Ship Motions due to Tropical Cyclone Linda

Severe wind-wave due to tropical cyclone Linda can cause port downtime which affects port operations such as berthing, mooting and （un）loading of the ship. The ship motions are criteria for limiting the port operations, human safety and preventing the damage of port equipment and furniture. Therefore, this study discusses moored ship motions due to severe wind-wave during the tropical cyclone Linda which entered the Gulf of Thailand in November 1997. The ship motions are represented in the moored ship analysis at SRH （Sriracha Harbour Port） and BLCP （BLCP Coal-Fired Power Plant Port）, and are subject to the static environmental load on the ship in accordance with Spanish Standard （ROM 0.2-1990） [1]. The environment in numerical model is derived from the wave model and hydrodynamics model using the application of Delft3D-WAVE and Delft3D-FLOW. The model location includes Ao Udom Bay and Rayong Sea. The model results represent the environment at Rayong Sea which is more severe than Ao Udom Bay. The ship motions at BLCP are mostly larger than SRH.

A Guide to the Influence of Ground Reaction on Ship Stability

Grounded ship faces up exceptionally different stability forces unlike in her normal operating condition. This critical situation must be corrected as soon as can minimize hull stress, the risk of pollution and stability failure. Re-floating the ship need full understanding of the impact of ground reaction （R） on the ship buoyancy and stability. Re-floating the ship has different phases and there are several immediate actions that should be taken by ship＇s crew; one of these phases is re-calculation of ship stability conditions. In this paper, a guide to understanding the effect of the ground reaction （R）, determines the amount of ground pressure and its location. With consideration of the seabed form whether symmetric of asymmetric. Calculating the magnitude of the ground reaction （R） using different applicable methods, explaining the effect of using weight to re-float the ship by her own means, focusing on GM calculation after grounding.

A Hybrid Device for Anchoring FRP Sheets Aimed to Enhance the Flexural Capacity of RC Elements

The potential of externally applied FRP （fiber-reinforced plastic） sheets, being employed in retrofitting schemes aimed to repair and strengthen RC （reinforced concrete） structural elements damaged by prototype strong earthquakes, is presented and discussed in this study. The limitation of the debonding mode of failure of these FRP sheets is highlighted and the necessity to develop efficient anchoring devices for these FRP sheets is underlined. The behavior of such a novel HAD （hybrid anchoring device） capable of anchoring CFRP （carbon fiber reinforcing plastic） sheets to RC structural elements, is presented and discussed. The behavior of the device itself was studied through a 3D non-linear numerical simulation at the preliminary design stage in order to establish certain desired features such as the ductile behavior of the device itself as well as the satisfactory performance of the FRP sheets wrapped around this device. This HAD was next applied as part of a strengthening scheme aimed to upgrade the flexural capacity of an RC bridge-type pier specimen subjected to a cyclic seismic-type loading sequence. The obtained results demonstrated an increase in the specimen＇s flexural capacity by 100% as well as a similar increase in its capability of dissipating energy in a ductile manner during the cyclic load sequence. Moreover, the employed 3D non-linear numerical simulation yielded reasonably good agreement between the measured and the predicted cyclic response of this specimen strengthened by CFRP layers, which were anchored by the novel HAD. The successful behavior of this novel HAD, which has been patented with No. WO2011073696, is currently being tried with a number of other retrofitting schemes employing FRP sheets externally attached on RC structural elements.

Fabrication of superstable gold nanorod-carbon nanocapsule as a molecule loading material

In this work, we fabricated a monodisperse nanocomposite by coating gold nanorods （AuNRs） with a layer of biocompatible, stable carbon, obtaining AuNR@Carbon core-shell nanocapsules, which without any functionalization could be used as a molecule loading material due to its high surface areas. In this system, the AuNR core had a high-absorption cross section for con- version of near-infrared light to heat, which could be ex- plored for local hyperthermia. The carbon shell, which was biocompatible and stable even under concentrated acidic and alkaline conditions, was able to adsorb molecules with n-n interactions or electrostatic interactions. In comparison with AuNR@SiO2, AuNR@Carbon nanocapsules demon- strate the following merits： （1） simple and green synthesis method, （2） far more stable with respect to high-tem- perature stability and （3） larger molecule loading capacity, which indicate great potential in the biomedical applications.

Construction of homogeneous loading functions for elastoplastic damage models for concrete

Over the past 2 decades,tight restriction has been imposed on strength criteria of concrete by the combination of plasticity and damage in one theory.The present study aims at constructing plastic/damage loading functions for elastoplastic damage models for concrete that can perform more satisfactorily in 3D stress states.Numerous strength criteria of concrete are reorganized according to their simplest representations as Cartesian,cylindrical,mixed cylindrical-Cartesian,and other forms,and the homogeneity of loading functions discussed.It is found that under certain supplementary conditions from physical meanings,an unambiguous definition of the cohesion in a strength criterion,which is demanded in an elastoplastic damage model,is usually available in an explicit or implicit form,and in each case the loading function is still homogeneous.To apply and validate the presented theory,we construct the respective homogeneous damage and plastic loading functions and implant them into some widely used elastoplastic damage models for concrete,and their performances in triaxial compression prove to have improved significantly.

A new closed-form method for inertia force and moment calculation in reciprocating piston engine design

The piston crank mechanism is an important component of a reciprocating piston engine. It is an inherent vibration system, and as such, the calculation of unbalance quantity is a critical procedure in balancing mechanism design, which is adopted to balance inertia loading. The traditional method usually applies a Taylor series expansion with the crank-conrod ratio, then a Fourier transform with the crank angle. The Taylor expansion generally ignores the influence on calculations resulting from the high order terms. However, the high order terms of the Taylor expansion will also contribute to the low order terms in the Fourier series. This will induce poor precision in the inertia loading calculation, especially in a high crank-conrod ratio engine. Thus, this paper proposes a new closed-form method, which only adopts a Fourier transformation for the calculation. The coefficients of the Fourier transformation terms contain the contributions of all order terms of the crank-conrod ratio. Therefore, we named it as a closed-form method. Compared with the traditional method, the closed-form method improves the numerical accuracy of the secondary reciprocating inertia force by 1.5%–4%, when the crank-conrod ratio varies from 0.25 to 0.4. Using this new closedform method to design a balancing mechanism, the primary and secondary reciprocating inertia forces can be completely balanced. For an engine, where the primary and secondary inertia forces are balanced, the ratio of the residual inertia force to the total inertia force using the traditional method is 1.5%, while the ratio decreases to 0.5% using the closed-form method. The closed-form method is independent of engine configurations, including centric and eccentric engines, and single and multicylinder engines. Examples of applications using the proposed method are provided.

Aeroelastic trim and flight loads analysis of flexible aircraft with large deformations

A method for static aeroelastic trim analysis and flight loads computation of a flexible aircraft with large deformations has been presented in this paper,which considers the geometric nonlinearity of the structure and the nonplanar effects of aerodynamics.A nonplanar vortex lattice method is used to compute the nonplanar aerodynamics.The nonlinear finite element method is introduced to consider the structural geometric nonlinearity.Moreover,the surface spline method is used for structure/aerodynamics coupling.Finally,by combining the equilibrium equations of rigid motions of the deformed aircraft,the nonlinear trim problem of the flexible aircraft is solved by iterative method.For instance,the longitudinal trim analysis of a flexible aircraft with large-aspect-ratio wings is carried out by both the nonlinear method presented and the linear method of MSC Flightloads.Results obtained by these two methods are compared,and it is indicated that the results agree with each other when the deformation is small.However,because the linear method of static aeroelastic analysis does not consider the nonplanar aerodynamic effects or structural geometric nonlinearity,it is not applicable as the deformations increase.Whereas the nonlinear method presented could solve the trim problem accurately,even the deformations are large,which makes the nonlinear method suitable for rapid and efficient analysis in engineering practice.It could be used not only in the preliminary stage but also in the detail stage of aircraft design.

Aerodynamic Characteristic Research on Final Stage Stator of a Highly Loaded Fan

Due to corner separation and other complex three-dimensional flows existing in the highly loaded stator, which influences the fan performance significantly, highly loaded stator blades of a transonic fan with a maximum camber angle of 57° were studied in this paper and sector cascade experiment was adopted. In order to get the stator aerodynamic parameters as realistic as possible and conduct the experiment without the existence of rotor, an adjustable guide vane was designed to simulate the velocity magnitude and direction of the stator inlet flow. Results show that the adjustable guide vane can simulate the rotor outlet velocity direction and magnitude in most span range. The deviation angle is positive and the maximum value is nearly 21° because the severe separation is at 27% span. Corner separation exists on both pressure side and suction side and the location of separation initiation is determined. Finally, the stator blades were redesigned with some suction slots on the suction side. Experiment results show that the suction slots change the flow field structure, increase the capability of flow turning, and decrease the flow loss.

Stress intensity factors under combined bending and torsion moments

This paper discusses stress intensity factor （SIF） calculations for surface cracks in round bars subjected to combined torsion and bending loadings. Different crack aspect ratios, a/b, ranging from 0.0 to 1.2 and relative crack depths, a/D, ranging from 0.1 to 0.6 were considered. Since the loading was non-symmetrical for torsion loadings, a whole finite element model was constructed. Then, the individual and combined bending and torsion loadings were remotely applied to the model. The equivalent SIF method, F＊EQ, was then used explicitly to combine the individual SIFs from the bending and torsion loadings. A comparison was then carried out with the combined SIF, F＊FE, obtained using the finite element analysis （FEA） under similar loadings. It was found that the equivalent SIF method successfully predicted the combined SIF for Mode I. However, discrepancies between the results determined from the different approaches occurred when Fm was involved. It was also noted that the predicted F＊ EE using FEA was higher than the F＊EQ predicted through the equivalent SIF method due to the difference in crack face interactions.