Multi-body dynamic simulation research on the influence of piston engine crankshaft thrust bearings abrasion

Fault diagnosis studying on piston engine,crankshaft and gearbox is focused in this paper. The thrust bearing abrasion caused by axial movement of the crankshaft will affect the force of timing gears and oil pump gears,which will result in the fracture of gears,abnormal ignition,connecting rod cracking and collision of cylinder. Simulation based on CREO software is done to build three-dimensional models of crankshaft and gears of a WP10 diesel engine. The models are imported into ADAMS to complete multi-body dynamics simulations. The force analysis of gears in different kinds of axial movements is finished and variations rules of gear dynamic load is obtained. The presented results show that the crankshaft axial movement can cause overload and vibration on gears. Combined with the realistic case data,the fault feature through simulation research is validated and early warming parameters of gear fault are proposed.

Advantages of Multi-body Simulation within the Design Process of Heavy Drivetrains

For the further design of the particular gearbox components, the alternating cycles of the respective application mean an often insufficient knowledge of the actual loads occuring in use. Especially for the application within lifting units, such dynamic load cycles are very difficult to pre-estimate. The so-called slack rope test represents the most critical point in the load cycle and provides a special challenge for the gearbox design. Because of this missing expert knowledge, a test bench of such an application is installed and applied to practical movement cycles. Besides the test bench, a multi-body simulation model of the whole system is mapped within the MBS （multi-body simulation） environment SIMPACK. To verify this simulation model, the results are compared with the respective measurements of the test bench. These comparisons show very good agreements. Thus, one of the major advantages of using such simulation tools is the possibility to re-evaluate the internal and external loads during the whole design process. Finally, these simulations serve as a clarification of the load spectrum of the different drivetrain components. Gearbox series or different modifications of the design can now be analyzed prospectively without extensive testing.

Multi-body Motion Modeling and Simulation for Tilt Rotor Aircraft

The previous study on modeling of the tilt rotor aircraft used to put a premium on the complicated aerodynamic computation, and the research on the motion equations is often constrained to frequently use the oversimplified 6-degree of freedom （DOF） rigid body equations. However, the transfiguration of aircraft during transition stage, is complicated due to the aerodynamic interference and the change of center of gravity （CG）. Moreover, the gyroscopic moment caused by tilting the high-speed revolving rotors seriously interferes with the aircraft attitude. The above-cited 6-DOF single rigid body equations do not take the inertia coupling effects into account during transition. For this sake, the article, reckoning the body, the nacelles and the rotors to be independent entities, establishes a realistic model in the form of multi-body motion equations. First, by applying Newton＇s laws and angular momentum theorem to a mass of elements of the aircraft, the multi-body motion equations in inertial flame as well as in body frame are obtained by integrating over all elements. As the equations are of implicit nonlinear differential type, the consistent initial value problem should be solved. Then, a numerical simulation of the differential equations is conducted by means of the Runge-Kutta-Felhberg integral algorithm. The modeling and the simulation algorithm are verified against the data of XV-15 as an example. The model can be used in the area of flight dynamics, flight control and flight safety of tilt rotor air- craft.

Multi-body dynamic system simulation of carrier-based aircraft ski-jump takeoff

The flight safety is threatened by the special flight conditions and the low speed of carrier-based aircraft ski-jump takeoff. The aircraft carrier motion, aircraft dynamics, landing gears and wind field of sea state are comprehensively considered to dispose this multidiscipline intersection problem. According to the particular naval operating environment of the carrier-based aircraft ski-jump takeoff, the integrated dynamic simulation models of multi-body system are developed, which involves the movement entities of the carrier, the aircraft and the landing gears, and involves takeoff instruction, control system and the deck wind disturbance. Based on Matlab/Simulink environment, the multi-body system simulation is realized. The validity of the model and the rationality of the result are verified by an example simulation of carrier-based aircraft ski-jump takeoff. The simulation model and the software are suitable for the study of the multidiscipline intersection problems which are involved in the performance, flight quality and safety of carrier-based aircraft takeoff, the effects of landing gear loads, parameters of carrier deck, etc.

Development of an efficient contact-friction model for high-fidelity cargo airdrop simulation

High-fidelity cargo airdrop simulation requires the contact dynamics between an aircraft and a cargo to be modeled accurately. This paper presents a general and efficient contact-friction model for simulation of aircraft-cargo coupling dynamics during airdrops. The proposed approach has the same essence as that of the finite element node-to-segment contact formulation, which leads to a flexible, straight forward, and efficient code implementation. The formulation is developed under an arbitrary moving frame with both the aircraft and the cargo being treated as general six-degree-of-freedom rigid bodies, and thus it eliminates the restrictions of lateral symmetric assumptions in most existing methods. Moreover, the aircraft-cargo coupling algorithm is discussed in detail, and some practical implementation details are presented. The accuracy and capability of the present method are demonstrated through three numerical examples with increasing complexity and fidelity.

Experimental validation of sound quality simulation and optimization of a four-cylinder diesel engine

A novel sound quality simulation approach was proposed to optimize the acoustic performance of a four-cylinder diesel engine.Finite element analysis,single-input and multiple-output technology,flexible multi-body dynamics,and boundary element codes were used to acquire the hexahedron-element model,experimental modal frequencies,vibration velocities,and structurally radiated noise of the block,respectively.The simulated modal frequencies and vibration velocities agreed well with the experimental data,which validated the finite-element block.The acoustic response showed that considerable acoustic power levels existed in 1500-1900 Hz and 2300-2800 Hz as the main frequency ranges to optimize the block acoustics.Then,the optimal block is determined in accordance with the novel approach,which reduces the overall value,high-frequency amplitudes,and peak values of acoustic power;thus,the loudness,sharpness,and roughness decline to make the sound quieter,lower-pitched,and smoother,respectively.Finally,the optimal block was cast and bench-tested.The results reveal that the sound quality of the optimal-block engine is substantially improved as numerically expected,which verifies the effectiveness of the research approach.

Metamorphic Manipulating Mechanism Design for MCCB Using Index Reduced Iteration

The present research on moulded case circuit breaker（MCCB） focuses on the enhancement of current-limiting interrupting performance during short circuit, overload, under voltage and phase failure, involving electrics, magnetic, mechanics, thermal, material, friction, arc extinguishing, impact vibration, skin effect, etc. The rigid-flexible coupling of the parts and components of the metamorphic manipulating mechanism in multi-fields leads to the non-rigid, high frequency, high damping, singularity of the Euler-Lagrange equations which represents the multi-body dynamics. The small step iteration which is used for obtaining the instantaneous and short time critical interrupting performance of metamorphic mechanism appears inaccuracy. It is difficult to realize top-down design by existing CAD systems. Therefore, a metamorphic manipulating mechanism design method for MCCB using index reduced iteration（IRI） is put forward. The metamorphic manipulating mechanism of MCCB is decomposed into three mechanisms： main switch connector mechanism, electromagnet-drawbar-jump buckle mechanism, and bimetallic strip-drawbar mechanism, which is respectively described by electro-dynamic force, electromagnet force, and bimetallic strip force. The dummy part（virtual rigid） without moment of inertia and mass is employed as intermediate to join the flexible body and rigid body. The model of rigid-flexible coupling metamorphic mechanism multi-body dynamics is built. The differential algebraic equations（DAEs） of the multibody dynamics model are converted to pure ordinary differential equations（ODEs） by coordinate partition. Order reduced integration with multi-step and variable step-size is preceded based on IRI. The non-linear algebraic equations are solved in each integration step by Newton-Rapson iteration. There is no ill-condition and singularity of Jacobian matrix when step size reduces to zero. The independent prototype design system using ACIS R13, HOOPS V11.0 and Visual C＋＋.NET 2003 has been developed, which verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method. The proposed method enhances the current-limiting interrupting performance of MCCB, and has reference significance for multi-body dynamics design for similar flexible metamorphic mechanisms in multi-fields.

Safety modeling and simulation of multi-factor coupling heavy-equipment airdrop

Heavy-equipment airdrop is a highly risky procedure that has a complicated system due to the secluded and complex nature of factors＇ coupling. As a result, it is difficult to study the modeling and safety simulation of this system. The dynamic model of the heavy-equipment airdrop is based on the Lagrange analytical mechanics, which has all the degrees of freedom and can accurately pinpoint the real-time coordinates and attitude of the carrier with its cargo. Unfavorable conditions accounted in the factors＇ models, including aircraft malfunctions and adverse environments, are established from a man-machine-environment perspective. Subsequently, a virtual simulation system for the safety research of the multi-factor coupling heavy-equipment airdrop is developed through MATLAB/Simulink, C language and Flightgear software. To verify the veracity of the theory, the verification model is built based on dynamic software ADAMS. Finally, the emulation is put to the test with the input of realistic accident variables to ascertain its feasibility and validity of this method.

Railway wheel profile fine-tuning system for profile recommendation

This paper develops a wheel profile fine-tuning system(WPFTS)that comprehensively considers the influence of wheel profile on wheel damage,vehicle stability,vehicle safety,and passenger comfort.WPFTS can recommend one or more optimized wheel profiles according to train operators’needs,e.g.,reducing wheel wear,mitigating the development of wheel out-of-roundness(OOR),improving the shape stability of the wheel profile.Specifically,WPFTS includes four modules:(I)a wheel profile generation module based on the rotary-scaling finetuning(RSFT)method;(II)a multi-objective generation module consisting of a rigid multi-body dynamics simulation(MBS)model,an analytical model,and a rigid–flexible MBS model,for generating 11 objectives related to wheel damage,vehicle stability,vehicle safety,and passenger comfort;(III)a weight assignment module consisting of an adaptive weight assignment strategy and a manual weight assignment strategy;and(IV)an optimization module based on radial basis function(RBF)and particle swarm optimization(PSO).Finally,three cases are introduced to show how WPTFS recommends a wheel profile according to train operators’needs.Among them,a wheel profile with high shape stability,a wheel profile for mitigating the development of wheel OOR,and a wheel profile considering hunting stability and derailment safety are developed,respectively.

A Custom Manipulator for Dental Implantation Through Model-Based Design

This paper presents a Model-Based Design(MBD)approach for the design and control of a customized manipulator intended for drilling and position-ing of dental implants accurately with minimal human intervention.While performing an intra-oral surgery for a prolonged duration within a limited oral cavity,the tremor of dentist's hand is inevitable.As a result,wielding the drilling tool and inserting the dental implants safely in accurate position and orientation is highly challenging even for experienced dentists.Therefore,we introduce a customized manipulator that is designed ergonomically by taking in to account the dental chair specifications and anthropomorphic data such that it can be readily mounted onto the existing dental chair.The manipulator can be used to drill holes for dental inserts and position them with improved accuracy and safety.Further-more,a thorough multi-body motion analysis of the manipulator was carried out by creating a virtual prototype of the manipulator and simulating its controlled movements in various scenarios.The overall design was prepared and validated in simulation using Solid works,MATLAB and Simulink through Model Based Design(MBD)approach.The motion simulation results indicate that the manipulator could be built as a prototype readily.

Design and simulation of a cable-pulley-based transmission for artificial ankle joints

In this paper, a mechanical transmission based on cable pulley is proposed for human-like actuation in the artificial ankle joints of human-scale. The anatomy articular characteristics of the human ankle is discussed for proper biomimetic inspiration in designing an accurate, efficient, and robust motion control of artificial ankle joint devices. The design procedure is presented through the inclusion of conceptual considerations and design details for an interactive solution of the transmission system. A mechanical design is elaborated for the ankle joint angular with pitch motion. A multi-body dynamic simulation model is elaborated accordingly and evaluated numerically in the ADAMS environment. Results of the numerical simulations are discussed to evaluate the dynamic performance of the proposed design solution and to investigate the feasibility of the proposed design in future applications for humanoid robots.

Parametric Study on Design Parameters of Water-running Robot Based on Dynamic Simulation

There are many design parameters to determine a performance of a robot. Especially, in the case of the mobile robots, they requirc complicated motion at various environments to get high performances. In this sense, the analysis of the design parameters is the most important work to design an efficient mobile robot. In this study, we analyze the design parameters for the water-running robot. From the parametric study, we find some solutions to improve the performances of the robot. We derive dynamic equations for the water-running motion, and do a sensitivity analysis to understand the relationships between the parameters （frequency of the leg, stiffness of torsional springs that connects multi frames and mass of frames） and the performance of the water-running motion such as running speed and pitching stability. We use an orthogonal array to make various combinations of the parameters, and to reduce the number of a simulation process. As results, we summarize some solutions to improve the water-running motion. We are expecting that this study is going to be used to design robots that are operated on the water.

Time-Domain Analysis of the Relative Motions Between Side-by-Side FLNG and LNGC Under Oblique Waves

Strong hydrodynamic interactions during the side-by-side offloading operation between floating liquefied natural gas(FLNG) and liquefied natural gas carrier(LNGC) can induce high risks of collision. The weather vane effect of a single-point mooring system normally results in the satisfactory hydrodynamic performance of the side-by-side configuration in head seas. Nevertheless, the changes in wave directions in real sea conditions can significantly influence the relative motions. This article studies the relative motions of the side-by-side system by using the theoretical analysis method and the numerical calculation method. Based on the three-dimensional potential theory modified by artificial damping-lid method, the frequency-domain hydrodynamic coefficients can be improved to calculate the retardation functions for the multi-body problem. An in-house code is then developed to perform the time-domain simulation of two vessels, through which the relative motions are subsequently obtained. A range of oblique waves are chosen for the extensive calculation of relative motions between the two vessels, which are further analyzed in terms of the phase shift of motion responses induced by specific resonant wave patterns. Investigation results show that wave directions have a significant influence on the relative sway, roll, and yaw motions. Under the circumstance that the absolute phase shift between the roll motions of two vessels approaches 180°, stronger relative motions are induced when LNGC is on the weather side.Moreover, the gap water resonances at high frequencies tend to cause the dangerous opposed oscillation of two vessels in the sway and yaw modes, whereas FLNG reduces the gap water resonances and relative motions when located on the weather side.

Homology Modeling,Molecular Docking,and Molecular Dynamic Simulation of the Binding Mode of PA-1 and Botrytis cinerea PDHc-E1

To reveal the potential fungicidal mechanism of 5-((4-((4-chlorophenoxy)methyl)-5-iodo-1H-1,2,3-triazole-1-yl)methyl)-2-methylpyrimidin-4-amine(PA-1)against Botrytis cinerea(B.cinerea),the three-dimensional structure of B.cinerea pyruvate dehydrogenase complex E1 component(PDHc-E1)is homology modeled,as the PA-1 shows potent E.coli PDHc-E1 and B.cinerea inhibition.Subsequent molecular docking indicates the PA-1 can tightly bind to B.cinerea PDHc-E1.Molecular dynamic simulation and MM-PBSA calculation both demonstrate that two in-termolecular interactions,π-πstacking and hydrophobic forces,provide the most contributions to the binding of PA-1 and B.cinerea PDHc-E1.Furthermore,the halogen bonding interaction between the iodine atom in PA-1 and OH in Ser181 is also crucial.The present study provides a valuable attempt to homology model the structure of B.cinerea PDHc-E1 and some key factors for the rational structure optimization of PA-1.

Development and Proof-of-Concept Study of a Novel Intraoperative Surgical Planning Tool for Robotic Arm-Assisted Total Knee Arthroplasty

Background: Intraoperative surgical planning tools (ISPTs) used in current-generation robotic arm-assisted total knee arthroplasty (RTKA) systems (such as Navio® and MAKO®) involve employment of postoperative passive joint balancing. This results in improper ligament tension, which may negatively impact joint stability, which, in turn, may adversely affect patient function after TKA. Methods: A simulation-enhanced ISPT (SEISPT) that provides insights relating to postoperative active joint mechanics was developed. This involved four steps: 1) validation of a multi-body musculoskeletal model;2) optimization of the validated model;3) use of the validated and optimized model to derive knee performance equations (KPEs), which are equations that relate implant component characteristics to implant component biomechanical responses;and 4) optimization of the KPEs with respect to these responses. In a proof-of-concept study, KPEs that involved two com- ponent biomechanical responses that have been shown to strongly correlate with poor proprioception (a common patient complaint post-TKA) were used to calculate optimal positions and orientations of the femoral and tibial components in the TKA design implanted in one subject (as reported in a publicly-available dataset). Results: The differences between the calculated implant positions and orientations and the corresponding achieved values for the implant components in the subject were not similar to component position and orientation errors reported in biomechanical literature studies involving Navio® and MAKO®. Also, we indicate how SEISPT could be incorporated into the surgical workflow of Navio® with minimal disruption and increase in cost. Conclusion: SEISPT is a plausible alternative to current-gen- eration ISPTs.

Simulation of secondary nucleation of polymer crystallization via a model of microscopic kinetics

We present simulations of the mechanism of secondary nucleation of polymer crystallization,based on a new model accounting for the microscopic kinetics of attaching and detaching.As the key feature of the model,we introduced multibody-interaction parameters that establish correlations between the attaching and detaching rate constants and the resulting thickness and width of the crystalline lamella.Using MATLAB and Monte Carlo method,we followed the evolution of the secondary nuclei as a function of various multibody-interaction parameters.We identified three different growth progressions of the crystal：（i） Widening,（ii） thickening and（iii） simultaneously thickening and widening of lamellar crystals,controlled by the corresponding kinetic parameters.

Study on dynamic response of multi-body structure under explosive driving

In this study, a complex multi-body structure was proposed, and the mechanism for the dynamic response of the structure under explosive driving was investigated by using the Lagrange equations of the second kind. An initial value subject to explosion loading was analyzed to develop the theoretical model of the dynamic response, and the centroid trajectory of three different structural shapes was solved. To verify the accuracy of the theoretical model, numerical simulation via finite element analysis within LS-DYNA and a dynamic experiment were conducted, and the consistent dynamic response process of the multi-body structure was obtained. In addition, the dynamic response time of the multi-body structure under different explosion loading conditions was calculated by the theoretical model, numerical simulation, and experimental investigation. It was found that the increased opening charge mass reduces the dynamic response time.

Numerical wear study of metal-on-ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene-based cervical total disc arthroplasty by coupling finite element analysis and multi-body dynamics

In this study,the effects of in vivo(head flexion-extension,lateral bending,and axial rotation)and in vitro(ISO 18192-1)working conditions on the wear of ultrahigh mo-lecular weight polyethylene(UHWMPE)-based cervical disc prosthesis were studied via numerical simulation.A finite-element-based wear prediction framework was built by using a sliding distance and contact area dependent Archard wear law.Moreover,a pre-developed cervical spine multi-body dynamics model was incorporated to obtain the in vivo conditions.Contact mechanic analysis stated that in vitro conditions normally led to a higher contact stress and a longer sliding distance,with oval or crossing-path-typed sliding track.In contrast,in vivo conditions led to a curvilinear-typed sliding track.In general,the predicted in vivo wear rate was one order of magnitude smaller than that of in vitro.According to the yearly occurrence of head movement,the estimated total in vivo wear rate was 0.595 mg/annual.While,the wear rate given by the ISO standard test condition was 3.32 mg/annual.There is a significant impact of loading and kinematic condition on the wear of UHMWPE prosthesis.The work conducted in the present study provided a feasible way for quantitatively assessing the wear of joint prosthesis.

Effect of assessment methods on the determination of the critical wind speeds of high-speed trains

Critical wind speed can play an important guiding role in developing an initial train operation schedule and knowledge of it mayprevent safety risks for a train. Hence, the efficient and accurate calculation of the critical wind speeds of trains is critical. Thisstudy addresses this topic and focuses on the influence of different methods on the calculation of the critical wind speed. The resultreveals that the five-mass and three-mass methods can both be used to determine the critical wind speed of a train more quicklywith acceptable accuracy, but these two methods overestimate the crosswind safety risk of the train.With the increase of the train’soperating speed, the nonlinearity of the vehicle system is further enhanced. In particular, the influence of the rollingmotion betweenthe car body and the bogie is more prominent, and the results of the five-mass method and the multi-body simulation method tendto be the closest. Last but not least, the damping parameters and inertial forces ignored by the quasi-static method will effectivelyreduce the wind forces transmitted to the track, resulting in a smaller overturning coefficient and higher critical wind speed.