Multilevel Tests and Measurement Evaluation Methods for the Application of Composite Materials in Spacecraft Structures

With the implementation of new-generation launch vehicles,space stations,lunar and deep space exploration,etc.,the development of spacecraft structures will face new challenges. In order to reduce the spacecraft weight and increase the payload,composite material structures will be widely used. It is difficult to evaluate the strength and life of composite materials due to their complex mechanism and various phenomena in damage and failure.Meanwhile,the structures of composite materials used in spacecrafts will bear complex loads,including the coupling loads of tension,pressure,bending,shear,and torsion. Static loads,thermal loads,and vibration loads may occur at the same time,which asks for verification requirements to ensure the structure safety. Therefore,it is necessary to carry out a systematic multi-level experimental study. In this paper,the building block approach (BBA) is used to investigate the multilevel composite material structures for spacecrafts. The advanced measurement technology is adopted based on digital image correlation (DIC) and piezoelectric and optical fiber sensors to measure the composite material structure deformation. The virtual experiment technology is applied to provide sufficient and reliable data for the evaluation of the composite material structures of spacecrafts.

Synthesis and Application of a Zeolite-containing Composite Material Made from Spent FCC Catalyst

Novel composite material with a wide pore distribution was synthesized by an in situ technique using spent FCC catalyst as raw material. The characterization results indicated that the composite material contained 56.7% of zeolite Y and exhibited a much larger specific surface area and pore volume as well as strong hydrothermal stability. Fluid catalytic cracking(FCC) catalyst was prepared based on the composite material. The results indicated that the as-prepared catalyst possessed a unique pore structure that was advantageous to the diffusion-controlled reactions. In addition, the attrition resistance, activity and hydrothermal stability of the studied catalyst were superior to those of the reference catalyst. The catalyst also exhibited excellent nickel and vanadium passivation performance, strong bottoms upgrading selectivity, and better gasoline and coke selectivity. In comparison to the reference catalyst, the yields of the gasoline and light oil increased by 1.61 and 1.31 percentage points, respectively, and the coke yield decreased by 0.22 percentage points, and the olefin content in the produced gasoline reduced by 2.51 percentage points, with the research octane number increased by 0.7 unit.

OPTIMIZATION METHOD FOR VIRTUAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT BASED ON SIMULATION METAMODEL AND ITS APPLICATION

Virtual product development (VPD) is essentially based on simulation. Due tocomputational inefficiency, traditional engineering simulation software and optimization methods areinadequate to analyze optimization problems in VPD. Optimization method based on simulationmetamodel for virtual product development is proposed to satisfy the needs of complex optimaldesigns driven by VPD. This method extends the current design of experiments (DOE) by variousmetamodeling technologies. Simulation metamodels are built to approximate detailed simulation codes,so as to provide link between optimization and simulation, or serve as a bridge for simulationsoftware integration among different domains. An example of optimal design for composite materialstructure is used to demonstrate the newly introduced method.

Corrosion Resistance of Ni-P Composite Coating on Mg Alloy:Critical Role of the Intermediate Phosphate Conversion Coating Layer for Suppressing Galvanic Couple Formation

Electroless nickel(EN)plating can give rise to the severe galvanic corrosion of the magnesium(Mg)alloy matrix,owing to its nobler electrochemical potential than Mg alloy.To hinder the formation of galvanic couple,an intermediate phosphate conversion coating(PCC)layer is introduced between the EN layer and the Mg alloy matrix.Since the ceramic-like PCC layer cannot be catalyzed,a low-cost Ag-activation technique is used to process the PCC layer before electroless plating.The cross-section morphology and element distribution of the PCC-EN composite coating indicate that the PCC intermediate layer can effectively separate the Mg alloy from the EN layer.Moreover,the results of electrochemical tests suggest that the PCC-EN composite coating has a better corrosion resistance in comparison with the EN coating and AZ91D Mg alloy.

A bionic controllable strain membrane for cell stretching at air–liquid interface inspired by papercutting

Lung diseases associated with alveoli,such as acute respiratory distress syndrome,have posed a long-term threat to human health.However,an in vitro model capable of simulating different deformations of the alveoli and a suitable material for mimicking basement membrane are currently lacking.Here,we present an innovative biomimetic controllable strain membrane(BCSM)at an air–liquid interface(ALI)to reconstruct alveolar respiration.The BCSM consists of a high-precision three-dimensional printing melt-electrowritten polycaprolactone(PCL)mesh,coated with a hydrogel substrate—to simulate the important functions(such as stiffness,porosity,wettability,and ALI)of alveolar microenvironments,and seeded pulmonary epithelial cells and vascular endothelial cells on either side,respectively.Inspired by papercutting,the BCSM was fabricated in the plane while it operated in three dimensions.A series of the topological structure of the BCSM was designed to control various local-area strain,mimicking alveolar varied deformation.Lopinavir/ritonavir could reduce Lamin A expression under over-stretch condition,which might be effective in preventing ventilator-induced lung injury.The biomimetic lung-unit model with BCSM has broader application prospects in alveoli-related research in the future,such as in drug toxicology and metabolism.

Research on Design Optimization Strategy in Virtual Product Development

Simulation and optimization are the key points of virtual product development (VPD). Traditional engineering simulation software and optimization methods are inadequate to analyze the optimization problems because of its computational inefficiency. A systematic design optimization strategy by using statistical methods and mathematical optimization technologies is proposed. This method extends the design of experiments (DOE) and the simulation metamodel technologies. Metamodels are built to in place of detailed simulation codes based on effectively DOE, and then be linked to optimization routines for fast analysis, or serve as a bridge for integrating simulation software across different domains. A design optimization of composite material structure is used to demonstrate the newly introduced methodology.

Preparation and electrochemical performance of carbon-coated LiFePO4/LiMnPO4-positive material for a Li-ion battery

Lithium iron phosphate （LiFePO4）/lithium manganese phosphate （LiMnPO4）-positive material was suc- cessfully prepared through ball milling and high-temperature sintering using manganese acetate, lithium hydroxide, ammonium dihydrogen phosphate, and ferrous oxalate as raw materials. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning elec- tron microscopy, a constant current charge-discharge test, cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The effects of lithium iron phosphate coating were also discussed. Because of its special core-shell structure, the as-prepared LiMn0.TFe0.3PO4-LiFeP04-C exhibits excellent electro- chemical performance. The discharge capacity reached 136.6 mAh/g and the specific discharge energy reached 506.9 Wh/kg at a rate of 0.1 C.

Damping of Ni–Mn–Ga epoxy resin composites

By combining the advantages of effcient damping and high mechanical properties,Ni-Mn-Ga particle composites have a very good prospect for applications in damping structure design.In this paper,a ferromagnetic shape memory alloy Ni-Mn-Ga composite is prepared.Ni-Mn-Ga particle/bisphenol-A epoxy composite cantilever beam vibration tests under a magnetic feld and without the magnetic feld are conducted to analyze the structural damping ratios n.Meanwhile,the damping characteristics of the Ni-Mn-Ga composite are studied through the axial loading-unloading method and the acoustic emission signals method.The damping coeffcient of the composite for different Ni-Mn-Ga volume fractions is obtained.The interface properties of the composite are discussed by micro examination and axial loading.The relationships between the damping of the composite and that of the component materials are discussed.The specifc damping capacity（SDC）and acoustic emission counts diagram of different specimens with different Ni-Mn-Ga volume fractions are analyzed.