Transformation optics for efficient calculation of transmembrane voltage induced on cells

We present a novel efficient approach in calculating induced transmembrane voltage（ITV） on cells based on transformation optics. As cell membrane is much thinner than the dimension of a typical cell, discretizing the membrane needs numerous meshes. Using an anisotropic medium based on transformation optics, the thickness of the membrane can be exaggerated by at least one order, which eliminates rigorous mesh refinement and reduces unknowns greatly. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are verified by a cylindrical cell model. Moreover, the influence on ITV with bound water（BW） layers is also studied. The results show that when cells are exposed to nanosecond electric field, BW layers should be rigorously considered in calculating ITV.

Re-entry trajectory optimization using a multiple- interval Radau pseudospectral method

Aiming at increasing the calculation efficiency of the pseudospectral methods, a multiple- interval Radau pseudospectral method （RPM） is presented to generate a reusable launch vehicle （RLV） ＇s optimal re-entry trajectory. After dividing the optimal control problem into many intervals, the state and control variables are approximated using many fixed- and low-degree Lagrange polyno- mials in each interval. Convergence of the numerical discretization is then achieved by increasing the number of intervals. With the application of the proposed method, the normal nonlinear program- ming （NLP） problem transcribed from the optimal control problem can avoid being dense because of the low-degree approximation polynomials in each interval. Thus, the NLP solver can easily compute a solution. Finally, simulation results show that the optimized re-entry trajectories satisfy the path constraints and the boundary constraints successfully. Compared with the single interval RPM, the multiple-interval RPM is significantly faster and has higher calculation efficiency. The results indicate that the multiple-interval RPM can be applied for real-time trajectory generation due to its high effi- ciency and high precision.

A comparison of the energy consumption and carbon emissions for different modes of transportation in open-cut coal mines

Transportation accounts for 80% of open-cut coal mine carbon emissions. With regard to the energy con- sumption and carbon emissions of transportation within an open-cut mine, this paper systematically compared the work and energy consumption of a truck and belt conveyor on a theoretical basis, and con- structed a model to calculate the energy consumption of open-cut mine transportation. Life cycle carbon emission factors and power consumption calculation model were established through a Process Analysis- Life Cycle Analysis （PA-LCA）. The following results were obtained： （1） the energy consumption of truck transportation was four to twelve times higher than that of the belt conveyor; （2） the C02 emissions from truck transportation were three to ten times higher than those of the belt conveyor; （3） with the increase in the slope angle for transportation, the ratio of truck to belt conveyor for both energy consumption and carbon emissions gradually decreased; （4） based on 2013 prices in China, the energy cost of transportation using a belt conveyor in open-cut coal mines could save 0.6-2.4 Yuan/（t kin） compared to truck transportation.

Improvement of contact calculation in spherical discontinuous deformation analysis

Discontinuous deformation analysis （DDA） method is a newly developed discrete element method which employs the implicit time-integration scheme to solve the governing equations and the open-close iteration （OCI） method to deal with contact prob- lem, its computational efficiency is relatively low. However, spherical element based discontinuous deformation analysis （SDDA）, which uses very simple contact type like point-to-point contact, has higher calculation speed. In the framework of SDDA, this paper presents a very simple contact calculation approach by removing the OCI scheme and by adopting the maximal displacement increment （MDI）. Through some verification examples, it is proved that the proposed method is correct and effective, and a higher computational efficiency is obtained.

Valid hydrodynamic interaction regions of multiple ships advancing in waves

Based on the 3-D surface panel method combined with the translating-pulsating source Green function, an approximate approach is developed to solve the hydrodynamic interacting problem of multiple ships advancing parallel in waves. Focus is on improving the calculating efficiency. In this approach, each ship is assumed to be in each other＇s far-field, and the near-field term in this Green function is neglected if the source point falls on one ship and the field point on others. Further, a matching relationship between the far-field waves and the interfered regions, which are defined as the overlapping areas between the mean wetted body surface of one ship and the propagating regions of the waves generated by another ship, is introduced to avoid the unnecessary computation of the relative terms of the Green function, if the field point is not in the overlapping areas. The approach is validated through studying the hydrodynamic terms and the free motions of two or three ships in side-by-side arrangement by comparing the obtained results with the model tests and the predictions of the exact method. The average calculating speed for the present approximate method is about 1.65-1.8 times of that for the exact method for solving the hydrodynamic interaction problem of two ships, and 2.56-2.73 times for that of three ships.

Evaluation and comparison of various fast fluid dynamics modeling methods for predicting airflow around buildings

Computational fluid dynamics(CFD)methods are being increasingly used for predicting airflow fields around buildings,but personal computers can still take tens of hours to create a single design using traditional computing models.Considering both accuracy and efficiency,this study compared the performances of the conventional algorithm PIMPLE,fast fluid dynamics(FFD),semi-Lagrangian PISO(SLPISO),and implicit fast fluid dynamics(IFFD)in OpenFOAM for simulating wind flow around buildings.The effects of calculation parameters,including grid resolution,discrete-time step,and calculation time for these methods are analyzed.The results of the simulations are compared with wind tunnel tests.It is found that IFFD and FFD have the fastest calculation speeds,but also have the largest discrepancies with test data.The PIMPLE algorithm has the highest accuracy,but with the slowest calculation speed.The calculation speeds of the FFD,SLPISO,and IFFD models are 6.3,3 and 13.3 times faster than the PIMPLE model,respectively.The calculation accuracy and speed of the SLPISO model are in between those of the IFFD,FFD and PIMPLE models.An appropriate algorithm for a project may be chosen based on the requirements of the project.