Investigation of Heterogeneous Ice Nucleation on the Micro-Cubic Structure Superhydrophobic Surface for Enhancing Icing-Delay Performance

The aim of this study is to explore the heterogeneous ice nucleation behavior based on controllable micro-cubic array structure surfaces from the statistic perspective.To this end,we firstly constructed a group of micro-cubic array structures on silicon substrates by a selective plasma etching technique.After grafting low-free-energy substance,the as-constructed micro-cubic array structure surfaces exhibited higher non-wettability with the water contact angle being up to 150°.On this basis,500 cycles of freezing and melting processes were accurately recorded to analyze the instantaneous ice nucleation behavior according to the statistical results of freezing temperature.As a consequence,the statistical freezing temperature of the sample with micro-spacing distance of 40μm is as low as−17.13°C.This microstructure configuration(conforming to Cassie-Baxter wetting regime)not only could entrap more air pockets,but also achieved lower solid-liquid contact area,resulting in lower ice nucleation rate(~2–3 orders of magnitude less than that on the flat substrate).Furthermore,the gradually increasing micro-spacing distance to 60μm would induce the transition from CassieBaxter to Wenzel wetting state,leading to higher freezing probability and ice nucleation rate.The complete understanding on microstructure configuration improving the ice nucleation will lay the foundation stone for the microstructure design of ice-repellent materials.

Anti-penetration performance of high entropy alloy–ceramic gradient composites

A high-entropy alloy–ceramic gradient composite of TiC–TiB_2/75vol% Al_(0.3) CoCrFe Ni was successfully prepared by combustion synthesis under an ultra-high gravity field, which is a low-cost method with high efficiency. The ceramic particles were gradient distributed in the Al_(0.3) CoCrFe Ni matrix, and the hardness of the composite material gradually decreased along the thickness direction. The anti-penetration performance of the gradient composites was simulated using the ANSYS/LS-DYNA explicit simulation program. The results demonstrate that the distribution of the ceramic particles strongly affected the mechanical properties and the anti-penetration performance of the composites. With the same total ceramic volume fraction, the gradient composites exhibit better anti-penetration performance than the corresponding ceramic–metal interlayer composites. The more uneven the ceramic distribution, the greater the elastic modulus and yield stress of the surface layer and, thus, the better the anti-penetration performance.

Preparation technology and anti-corrosion performances of black ceramic coatings formed by micro-arc oxidation on aluminum alloys

In order to prepare ornamental and anti-corrosive coating on aluminum alloys, preparation technology of black micro-arc ceramic coatings on Al alloys in silicate based electrolyte was studied. The influence of content of Na2WO4 and combination additive in solution on the performance of black ceramic coatings was studied; the anticorrosion performances of black ceramic coatings were evaluated through whole-immersion test and electrochemical method in 3.5% NaCl solution at different pH value; SEM and XRD were used to analyze the surface morphology and phase constitutes of the black ceramic coatings. Experimental results indicated that, without combination additives, with the increasing of Na2WO4 content in the electrolyte, ceramic coating became darker and thicker, but the color was not black; after adding combination additive, the coating turned to be black; the black ceramic coating was multi-hole form in surface. There was a small quantity of tungsten existing in the black ceramic coating beside α-Al2O3 phase and β-Al2O3 phase. And aluminum alloy with black ceramic coating exhibited excellent anti-corrosion property in acid, basic and neutral 3.5% NaCl solution.

PREDICTION OF RIME ICE ACCRETION AND RESULTING EFFECT ON AIRFOIL PERFORMANCE

The roughness effect based on the wall function method is introduced into the numerical simulation of the rime ice accretion and the resulting effect on the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil. Incorporating the two-phase model of air/super-cooled droplets in the Eulerian coordinate system, this paper presents the simulation of the rime ice accretion on the NACA 0012 airfoil. The predicted rime ice shape is compared with those results of measurements and simulations by other icing codes. Also the resulting effects of rime ice on airfoil aerodynamic performance are discussed. Results indicate that the rime ice accretion leads to the loss of the maximum lift coefficient by 26%, the decrease of the stall angle by about 3° and the considerable increase of the drag coefficient.

State of the art and practice of pavement anti-icing and de-icing techniques

Pavement snow and icing are worldwide problems, but effective countermeasures are just beginning to be developed in China. The two most common snow and ice removal methods are mechanical clearance and chemical melting, and the advantages and disadvantages of each approach are discussed here, including environmental and structural damage caused by corrosive snow melting agents. New developments in chemical melting agents and mechanical equipment are discussed, and an overview of alternative thermal melting systems is presented, including the use of geothermy and non-geothermal heating systems utilizing solar energy, electricity, conductive pavement materials, and infrared/microwave applications. Strategic recommendations are made for continued enhancement of public safety in snow and ice conditions.

The Relationship Between Intellectual Capital （IC） and Stock Market Performance： Empirical Evidence From Italy

Intellectual capital （IC） is an important source of value for companies. The competitive firm invests in new productive ideas through scientific and technological researches of the human factor and services. The traditional factors of＂old economy＂ based on physical assets have been replaced or at least reinforced, with the belief that the ＂new economy＂ takes its steps mainly through IC. The knowledge workers, at every organizational level, have the knowledge that allows the organization to be competitive and deal with the complexity of the environment by creating intellectual added value. In particular, the proposed analysis consists with an empirical way to show other financial indicators and market-to-book （MTB） value from the perspective of creating value for shareholders based on the dynamics of companies＇ performance, as value-added intellectual capital （VAICTM） is capable of expressing a direct relationship with the return on equity （ROE）. The traditional financial information cannot ensure the high efficiency of a stock market and the need for IC reporting to explain intangible asset contribution in company performance.

Anti-Icing Method Based on Reducing Voltage of Transmission Lines

The icing of transmission lines threatens the security of power system. This paper proposes a novel anti-icing method based on reducing voltage of the transmission lines. The line voltage can be reduced by regulating the ratio of the transformers which install the both ends of the transmission lines. The line current can be increased and the power loss of the transmission lines can also be increased, which means the heat generated by power loss increases and the icing process of the transmission lines can be restrained. When the icing may occur in the atrocious weather, the anti-icing transformers installed the both ends of transmission line are put into operation. The ratios of transformers are regulated to the appropriate value. The current of transmission line can be increased to the value that is a little greater than the critical current, which can realize the purpose of anti-icing. At the same time, the conditions of normal running in the load side are kept invariably, which can ensure the security of power system. This method can be applicable to a wide range. It's an effective measure to prevent the icing of the transmission lines.

Fast Algorithm for Prediction of Airfoil Anti-icing Heat Load

Many flight and icing conditions should be considered in order to design an efficient ice protection system to prevent ice accretion on the aircraft surface. The anti-icing heat load is the basic knowledge for the design of a thermal anti-icing system. In order to help the design of the thermal anti-icing system and save the design time, a fast and efficiency method for prediction the anti-icing heat load is investigated. The computation fluid dynamics (CFD) solver and the Messinger model are applied to obtain the snapshots. Examples for the calculation of the anti-icing heat load using the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method are presented and compared with the CFD simulation results. It is shown that the heat loads predicted by POD method are in agreement with the CFD computation results. Moreover, it is obviously to see that the POD method is time-saving and can meet the requirement of real-time prediction.

Icephobic performance on the aluminum foil-based micro-/nanostructured surface

The research of superhydrophobic materials has attracted many researchers＇ attention due to its application value and prospects.In order to expand the serviceable range,people have investigated various superhydrophobic materials.The simple and easy preparation method has become the focus for superhydrophobic materials.In this paper,we present a program for preparing a rough surface on an aluminum foil,which possesses excellent hydrophobic properties after the treatment with low surface energy materials at high vacuum.The resulting contact angle is larger than 160° and the droplet cannot freeze on the surface above-10 ℃.Meanwhile,the modified aluminum foil with the thickness of less than 100 μm can be used as an ideal flexible applied material for superhydrophobicity/anti-icing.

Super-hydrophobic film deposition by an atmospheric-pressure plasma process and its anti-icing characteristics

In this work,the super-hydrophobic(SH)surface was prepared through chemical vapor deposition process by an argon atmospheric pressure plasma jet source with HMDSN(hexamethyldisilazane)as the polymerization precursor.Plasma synthesized organosilicon(SiOxCyHz)thin films with water contact angle over 160°and sliding angle below 5°,were able to be achieved.FTIR and XPS analysis indicates a large number of hydrocarbon compositions were polymerized in the thin films enduing the latter very-low surface free energy.SEM shows the SH films display micro-nanostructure and with high degree of averaged surface roughness 190 nm evaluated by AFM analysis.From experiments under controlled low-temperature and moisture conditions,the prepared SH surface exhibits good anti-icing effects.Significantly prolonging freezing time was achievable on the SH thin films for both static and sliding water droplets.This investigation demonstrates the anti-icing potentials of SH surface prepared through low-cost simple atmospheric-pressure plasma polymerization process.

Anti-Noise Performance of the FT Continuous Zoom Analysis Method for Discrete Spectrum

As a discrete spectrum correction method, the Fourier transform （FT） continuous zoom analysis method is widely used in vibration signal analysis, but little effort had been made on this method＇s anti-noise performance. It is widely believed that the analysis accuracy of the method can be substantially improved by increasing the zoom multiple, however, with the zoom multiple increases, the frequency estimation accuracy may decline sometimes in practices. Aiming at the problems above, this paper analyzes the sources of frequency estimation error when a harmonic signal mixed with and without noise is processed using the FT continuous zoom analysis. According to the characteristics that the local maximum of the zoom spectrum may be wrongly selected when the signal is corrupted with noise, the number of wrongly selected spectrum lines is deduced under different signal-to-noise ratio and local zoom multiple, and then the maximum frequency estimation error is given accordingly. The validity of the presented analysis is confirmed by simulations results. The frequency estimation accuracy of this method will not improve any more under the influence of noise, and there is a best zoom multiple, when the zoom multiple is larger than the best zoom multiple; the maximum frequency estimation error will fluctuate back and forth. The best zoom multiple curves under different signal-to-noise ratios given provide a theoretical basis for the choice of the appropriate zoom multiples of the FT continuous zoom analysis method in engineering applications.

Performance Analysis of RFID Framed Slotted Aloha Anti-Collision Protocol

In this paper, we develop a novel mathematical model to estimate the probability distribution function of the number of tags discovered after a certain number of interrogation rounds. In addition, the pdfs of the number of rounds needed to discover all the tags are also calculated. The estimation of such pdfs will be helpful in estimating the number of interrogation rounds and the optimal parameter configuration of the RFID system which in turn will be helpful in estimating the time needed to discover all tags. Our results show that the proposed model accurately predicts the tags detection probability. We then use the proposed model to optimally configure the reader parameters (i.e. the frame size and the number of interrogation rounds).

Design and Development of Anti-Icing Aluminum Surface

An anti-icing surface has been designed and prepared with an aluminum panel by creating an artificial lotus leaf which is highly hydrophobic. The hydrophobicity of a solid surface can be generated by decreasing its surface tension and increasing the roughness of the surface. On a highly hydrophobic surface, water has a high contact angle and it can easily rolls off, carrying surface dirt and debris with it. Super-cooled water or freezing rain can also run off this highly hydrophobic surface instead of forming ice on the surface, due to the reduction of the liquid-solid adhesion. This property can also help a surface to get rid of the ice after the water becomes frozen. In this study, a Cassie-Baxter rough surface was modeled, and an aluminum panel was physically and chemically modified based on the modeled structure. Good agreement was found between predicted values and experimental results for the contact and roll-off angles of water. Most importantly, by creating this highly hydrophobic aluminum rough surface, the anti-icing and de-icing properties of the modified surface were drastically improved compared to the control aluminum surface, and the cost will be reduced.

基于归一化模板匹配算法的动作电位检测IC

针对多通道神经元动作电位(AP)信号采集硬件系统中,前端采集IC因电极阻抗、应用环境、系统功耗以及系统面积等因素而导致原始信号信噪比较低的问题,设计一种基于归一化模板匹配算法的AP信号检测IC。该检测IC基于模板匹配算法,并引入信号归一化以去除冗余信息。为确保芯片的实时性并降低功耗,芯片整体采用三级流水线结构,各个模块间插入门控时钟,同时可通过SPI总线配置更新其工作状态。在SMIC 180 nm数字工艺下,裸片面积为0.98 mm^(2),配置模板信息时功耗为701μW,完全工作时功耗为8.07 mW,且采用QFN48封装形式。测试结果表明,所设计的AP信号检测IC具有较好的抗噪性能,可用于信噪比较低的环境来降低信号传输带宽,即使在-10 dB信噪比环境下,评价模型综合性能的F1-Score仍可达到94.65%。

Influence of graphene on the anti-corrosion performance of epoxy-based coatings

In this work, graphene-modified epoxy-based anti-corrosion coatings were prepared and the influence of graphene on the anti-corrosion performance of the epoxy-based coatings was investigated with water contact angle test ,chemical solution immersion test, and electrochemical test. The water contact angle and chemical solution resistance of the epoxy-based coatings were improved with an increase in graphene content from 0 to 0.4%. These results prove that addition of graphene can significantly improve the hydrophobicity and impermeability of epoxy- based coatings. However, when the graphene content was increased to 0.5%, the performance of the epoxy-based coatings decreased because of graphene aggregation. Tafel polarization results show that graphene addition can significantly reduce the corrosion current density and corrosion potential of epoxy-based coatings, which enhance their anti-corrosion performance.

Design of Small Stone Asphalt Mixture based on Anti-skidding Performance

Small stone asphalt mixture（SSAM） was designed by Bailey method and coarse aggregate voids-filling method.The optimum asphalt content was determined by Marshal test.Surface texture depth for SSAM with different voidage,and the BPN of SSAM and SMA before after wet track abrasion were measured.The experimental results indicate that the surface texture depth increases with the decreasing of asphalt aggregate ratio.The SSAM with the optimal asphalt content has a good skid resistance.BPN of asphalt mixture decreases with the increasing of wearing time,but the extent of reduction is different.The reduction rate of BPN for SSAM is smaller than that of SMA,indicating that SSAM has a good skid resistance attenuation capacity.Finally,the other properties of SSAM are also evaluated,showing that the splitting strength and modulus and SSAM are higher than those of SMA,and the other properties of SSAM,such as high-temperature performance and water stability can also satisfy the technical requirements.

Lubricating Performance of Rapeseed Oil Under Electromagnetic Field

Considering electromagnetic effect when investigating tribological properties of rapeseed oil is benefical not only to the improvement of green lubrication, but also to the development of tribology theories and practices. In the present paper, the tribological properties of rapeseed oil under different intensity of electromagnetic field and normal loads were evaluated on a modified tribo-tester. The results indicated that the electromagnetic field could improve the anti-wear and friction-reducing property of the rapeseed oil. Furthermore, the influencing mechanisms were discussed from the perspective of electromagnetism according to the analytical results of SEM, EDS and XPS techniques.

Reproductive and Growth Performance of Rabbit Fed Different Inclusion Levels of African Yam Bean (<i>Sphenostylis stenocarpa</i>)

A feeding trial was conducted to determine the effect of dietary inclusion of Processed African Yam Bean (AYB) at 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% levels respectively, on the growth and reproductive performance of Rabbits. The AYB inclusion was to ascertain the best (%) level that would give better performance in rabbits. Complete randomized design was used to allot twenty (20) grower rabbits of both sexes into four treatments in three replicate with each group having three does and two bucks. Each of the treatment diets formulated at different growth stages was fed to the rabbits. The rabbits were kept in hutches inside the rabbit house and given feed and water ad libitum. Growth and reproductive parameters were measured. The proximate analysis and anti-nutritional factor of processed AYB showed that it contained values of 26.88%, 92.97%, 5.26%, 61.89%, 7.04%, 3.79% and 2.17% for Crude protein, Dry matter, Crude fibre, Nitrogen-free extract, Moisture content, Ash content and Ether extract respectively while the anti-nutritional factor contained 0.11%, 14.02 mg/g, 0.19 mg/g, 0.21 mg/g, 0.14 mg/g, 0.21 mg/g, 0.13 mg/g and 0.01 mg/g of Tannin, Alkaloid, Oxalate, Phytate, Saponin, Flavonoids, Trypsin inhibitor and Lectin. From this study, the rabbit group on 10% AYB inclusion significantly (p 0.05) affected by the diets. The results of this experiment concluded that AYB can be included in the diet of rabbits with 10% inclusion giving a better reproductive performance and growth rate without any negative effect.

STUDY ON CONTACTING MELTING AND ANTI-SKID TECHNOLOGY FOR A TIRE TRACTION ON ICE

Theoretical analyses and experimental studies of the mechanisms of melting film formation are performed. The results show that frictional heating is the dominant mechanism because temperature behaves in the manner predicted by the theory of frictional heating. A study of the active technology for anti-skid is also made. Conclusions indicate that adjusting tire pneumatic pressure can improve the control stability and the travelling safety of an ice-automobile.