Theoretical and experimental investigation on optimization of a non-contact air conveyor

Air film conveyors equipped with porous pads have been developed to bring the liquid crystal display(LCD) into a non-contact state during transportation process. In this work, a theoretical model including flow property of porous media and Reynolds equation is established within a representative region in order to optimize the design parameters of a partial porous air conveyor. With the theoretical model, an optimization method using nondominated sorting genetic algorithm – II(NSGA-II) is applied for a two-objective optimization to achieve a minimum air consumption and maximum load capacity. Three Pareto-optimal solutions are selected to analyze the influence of each parameter on the characteristics of the air conveyor, and the results indicate that the position of the porous pads has the most significant impact on the performance and of course must be determined with care. Furthermore, experimental results in terms of the supporting force versus gap clearance show that the optimized air conveyor can greatly improve the load capacity over the normal one, indicating that the optimization method is applicable for practical use.

An Active Stereo Vision System Based on Neural Pathways of Human Binocular Motor System

An active stereo vision system based on a model of neural pathways of human binocular motor system is proposed. With this model, it is guaranteed that the two cameras of the active stereo vision system can keep their lines of sight fixed on the same target object during smooth pursuit. This feature is very important for active stereo vision systems, since not only 3D reconstruction needs the two cameras have an overlapping field of vision, but also it can facilitate the 3D reconstruction algorithm. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method, some software simulations are done to demonstrate the same target tracking characteristic in a virtual environment apt to mistracking easily. Here, mistracking means two eyes track two different objects separately. Then the proposed method is implemented in our active stereo vision system to perform real tracking task in a laboratory scene where several persons walk self-determining. Before the proposed model is implemented in the system, mistracking occurred frequently. After it is enabled, mistracking never occurred. The result shows that the vision system based on neural pathways of human binocular motor system can reliably avoid mistracking.

Load Sharing Behavior of Star Gearing Reducer for Geared Turbofan Engine

Load sharing behavior is very important for power-split gearing system, star gearing reducer as a new type and special transmission system can be used in many industry fields. However, there is few literature regarding the key multiple-split load sharing issue in main gearbox used in new type geared turbofan engine. Further mechanism anal- ysis are made on load sharing behavior among star gears of star gearing reducer for geared turbofan engine. Compre- hensive meshing error analysis are conducted on eccentricity error, gear thickness error, base pitch error, assembly error, and bearing error of star gearing reducer respectively. Floating meshing error resulting from meshing clearance variation caused by the simultaneous floating of sun gear and annular gear are taken into account. A refined mathematical model for load sharing coefficient calculation is established in consideration of different meshing stiffness and support- ing stiffness for components. The regular curves of load sharing coefficient under the influence of interactions, single action and single variation of various component errors are obtained. The accurate sensitivity of load sharing coefficienttoward different errors is mastered. The load sharing coef- ficient of star gearing reducer is 1.033 and the maximum meshing force in gear tooth is about 3010 N. This paper provides scientific theory evidences for optimal parameter design and proper tolerance distribution in advanced devel- opment and manufacturing process, so as to achieve optimal effects in economy and technology.

Sewerage Force Adjustment Technology for Energy Conservation in Vacuum Sanitation Systems

The vacuum sanitation is the safe and sound disposal approach of human excreta under the specific environments like flights, high speed trains and submarines. However, the propulsive force of current systems is not adjustable and the energy consumption does not adapt to the real time sewerage requirement. Therefore, it is important to study the sewerage force adjustment to improve the energy efficiency. This paper proposes an energy conservation design in vacuum sanitation systems with pneumatic ejector circuits. The sewerage force is controlled by changing the systematic vacuum degree according to the amount of the excreta. In particular, the amount of the excreta is tested by liquid level sensor and mass sensor. According to the amount of the excreta, the relationship between the excreta amount and the sewerage force is studied to provide proper propulsive force. In the other aspect, to provide variable vacuum degrees for different sanitation requirements, the suction and discharge system is designed with pneumatic vacuum ejector. On the basis of the static flow-rate characteristics and the vacuum generation model, the pressure response in the ejector circuit is studied by using the static flow rate characteristics of the ejector and air status equation. The relationship is obtained between supplied compressed air and systematic vacuum degree. When the compressed air is supplied to the ejector continuously, the systematic vacuum degree increases until the vacuum degree reaches the extreme value. Therefore, the variable systematic vacuum degree is obtained by controlling the compressed air supply of the ejector. To verify the effect of energy conservation, experiments are carried out in the artificial excreta collection, and the variable vacuum-degree design saves more than 30% of the energy supply. The energy conservation is realized effectively in the new vacuum sanitation systems with good application prospect. The proposed technology provides technological support for the energy conservation of vacuum sanitation systems.

Generation of Arbitrary Pressure Pulsation of Wide Frequency Range for Flow Meter Testing in a Laminar Gas Pipeline

The present paper presents a device to test flow meters under an arbitrary pressure pulsation in a gas pipeline with a laminar flow containing frequency components up to 50 Hz, with the amplitude reaching hundreds of pascals. In order to reduce flow noise, the device has a strainer-like element connected to a pipeline under test and uses an open-loop control law based on the frequency response test. The control signal is calculated by adding the inputs to obtain each of the sinusoidal waves included in the original wave, which was decomposed by Fourier analysis. The validity of the developed method is demonstrated through the generation tests of superimposed pressure waves containing frequency components up to 50 Hz. Analysis of the relative uncertainty demonstrated the relative uncertainty to be less than 10% when the generated pressure is larger than 360 Pa.

An Experimental Investigation on the Quasi-Static Flotation Transport of a Glass Substrate Using Vortex Bearing Elements

In this paper, we build an air conveyor with newly developed vortex bearing elements, and study the flotation precision of the front-end of the substrate in quasi-static flotation transport. We experimentally discuss the three influential factors: air supply pressure, thickness of the substrates and installing direction of the vortex bearing element. We find that during the process of transport the movement of the substrate leads to the variation of flotation height. The amplitude of variation (e.g. flotation precision) is dependent upon the bearing stiffness and the suction force of the vortex bearing elements. Increasing air supply pressure properly can improve the flotation precision, but an excess pressure can cause over-suction due to high negative pressure and result in a poor flotation precision. We also know that the flotation precision of thin and light substrates are easily affected by the suction force of vortex flow because they float with a high flotation height and are more susceptible to deformation. Finally, we investigate four installing directions of the vortex bearing element. Different installing direction can lead to different variation of flotation height.

Effect of Thermal Convection on Viscosity Measurement in Vibrational Viscometer

This paper describes the experimental study of viscosity measurement error in the vibrational type viscometer, which measures viscous damping of the oscillating circular plate in a fluid in continuously increasing temperatures. The experiments are carried out to measure non-uniformity of the temperature field in the test cup of the vibrational viscometer in continuously increasing temperatures, while changing the viscosity of the target fluids. Experimental outcomes show that non-uniformity of the temperature grows in the cup and results in viscosity measurement error, when the viscosity of the fluid increases. In order to understand this phenomenon, velocity measurement by particle image velocimetry is conducted in the test cup for fluids of varying viscosity. The results indicate that mixing is enhanced in the low-viscosity fluid by the occurrence of unsteady thermal convection, while weaker convection appears in the high-viscosity fluid.

Temperature-compensated fiber optic Fabry-Perot accelerometer based on the feedback control of the Fabry-Perot cavity length

A temperature-compensated fiber optic Fabry-Perot accelerometer （FOFPA） formed by symmetrically bonding an all-silica in-line fiber Fabry-Perot etalon （ILFFPE） and a piezoelectric ceramic unimorph actuator （PCUA） to two surfaces of a silica cantilever is reported. The all-silica ILFFPE with feedback- controlled cavity length by the PCUA simultaneously senses acceleration and temperature. The results indicate that the fabricated FOFPA system simultaneously senses acceleration and temperature with active temperature compensation. The nonlinearity of the output voltage to acceleration is less than 0.65%. The nonlinearity of the control voltage to temperature is 1.75%. Furthermore, the maximum deviation of the sensitivity with temperature compensation at a temperature range from 25 to 50℃ is 0.025 V/g.

New functions of VCSEL-based optical devices Invited Paper

We have seen a lot of unique features off vertical cavity surface emitting lasers （VCSELs）, such as low power consumption, wafer-level testing, small packaging capability, and so on. The market of VCSELs has been growing up rapidly in recent years and they are now the key devices in local area networks using multi-mode optical fibers. In addition, new functions on VCSELs have been demonstrated. In this paper, the recent advances of VCSEL photonics will be reviewed which include the wavelength engineering and the athermal operation based on microelectro mechanical system （MEMS） technologies. Also, this paper explores the potential and challenges for new functions of VCSELs, including high-speed control of optical phase, slow light devices, plasmonic VCSELs, and so on.