Further Analysis of Machine Tool Dimensional Accuracy and Thermal Stability under Varying Floor Temperature

Machining is as old as humanity, and changes in temperature in both the machine’s internal and external environments can be of great concern as they affect the machine’s thermal stability and, thus, the machine’s dimensional accuracy. This paper is a continuation of our earlier work, which aimed to analyze the effect of the internal temperature of a machine tool as the machine is put into operation and vary the external temperature, the machine floor temperature. Some experiments are carried out under controlled conditions to study how machine tool components get heated up and how this heating up affects the machine’s accuracy due to thermally induced deviations. Additionally, another angle is added by varying the machine floor temperature. The parameters mentioned above are explored in line with the overall thermal stability of the machine tool and its dimensional accuracy. A Robodrill CNC machine tool is used. The CNC was first soaked with thermal energy by gradually raising the machine floor temperature to a certain level before putting the machine in operation. The machine was monitored, and analytical methods were deplored to evaluate thermal stability. Secondly, the machine was run idle for some time under raised floor temperature before it was put into operation. Data was also collected and analyzed. It is observed that machine thermal stability can be achieved in several ways depending on how the above parameters are joggled. This paper, in conclusion, reinforces the idea of machine tool warm-up process in conjunction with a carefully analyzed and established machine floor temperature variation for the approximation of the machine tool’s thermally stability to map the long-time behavior of the machine tool.

The Application of Information Systems to Improve Ambulance Response Times in the UK

Emergency ambulance services in the UK are tasked with providing pre-hospital patient care and clinical services with a target response time between call connect to on-scene attendance.In 2017,NHS England introduced four new response time categories based on patient needs.The most challenging is to be on-scene for a life-threatening situation within seven minutes of the call being connected when such calls are random in terms of time and place throughout a large territory.Recent evidence indicates emergency ambulance services regularly fall short of achieving the target ambulance response times set by the National Health Service(NHS).To achieve these targets,they need to undertake transformational change and apply statistical,operations research and artificial intelligence techniques in the form of five separate modules covering demand forecasting,plus locate,allocate,dispatch,monitoring and re-deployment of resources.These modules should be linked in real-time employing a data warehouse to minimise computational data and generate accurate,meaningful and timely decisions ensuring patients receive an appropriate and timely response.A simulation covering a limited geographical area,time and operational data concluded that this form of integration of the five modules provides accurate and timely data upon which to make decisions that effectively improve ambulance response times.

Experimental Study on Entropy Features in Machining Vibrations of A Thin-Walled Tubular Workpiece

In machining processes,chatter vibrations are always regarded as one of the major limitations for production quality and efficiency.Accurate and timely monitoring of chatter is helpful to maintain stable machining operations.At present,most chatter monitoring methods are based on the energy level at specified chatter frequencies or frequency bands.However,the spectral features of chatter could change during machining operations due to complexity and time-varying dynamics of the physical machining process.The purpose of this paper is to investigate the time-varying chatter features in turning of thin-walled tubular workpieces from the perspective of entropy.The airborne acoustics was selected as the source of information for machining condition monitoring.First,corresponding to the distinguishing surface topographies relevant to machining conditions,the features of the sound signal emitted during turning of the thin-walled cylindrical workpieces were extracted using the spectral analysis and wavelet packet transform,respectively.It was shown that the dominant vibration frequency as well as the energy distribution could shift with the transition of the machining status.After that,two relative entropy indicators based on the spectrum and the wavelet packet energy were constructed to identify chattering events in turning of the thin-walled tubes.The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed indicators could accurately reflect the transition of machining conditions with high sensitivity and robustness in comparison with the traditional FFT-based methods.The achievement of this study lays the foundations of the online chatter monitoring and control technique for turning of the thin-walled tubular workpieces.

Modelling dynamic pantograph loads with combined numerical analysis

Appropriate interaction between pantograph and catenary is imperative for smooth operation of electric trains.Changing heights of overhead lines to accommodate level crossings,overbridges,and tunnels pose significant challenges in maintaining consistent current collection performance as the pantograph aerodynamic profile,and thus aerodynamic load changes significantly with operational height.This research aims to analyse the global flow characteristics and aerodynamic forces acting on individual components of an HSX pantograph operating in different configurations and orientations,such that the results can be combined with multibody simulations to obtain accurate dynamic insight into contact forces.Specifically,computational fluid dynamics simulations are used to investigate the pantograph component loads in a representative setting,such as that of the recessed cavity on a Class 800 train.From an aerodynamic perspective,this study indicates that the total drag force acting on non-fixed components of the pantograph is larger for the knuckle-leading orientation rather than the knuckle-trailing,although the difference between the two is found to reduce with increasing pantograph extension.Combining the aerodynamic loads acting on individual components with multibody tools allows for realistic dynamic insight into the pantograph behaviour.The results obtained show how considering aerodynamic forces enhance the realism of the models,leading to behaviour of the pantograph-catenary contact forces closely matching that seen in experimental tests.

Performance Analysis and Evaluation of Geometric Parameters in Stereo Deflectometry

This paper presents a novel geometric parameters analysis to improve the measurement accuracy of stereo deflectometry.Stereo deflectometry can be used to obtain form information for freeform specular surfaces.A measurement system based on stereo deflectometry typically consists of a fringe-displaying screen,a main camera,and a reference camera.The arrangement of the components of a stereo deflectometry system is important for achieving high-accuracy measurements.In this paper,four geometric parameters of a stereo deflectometry system are analyzed and evaluated:the distance between the main camera and the measured object surface,the angle between the main camera ray and the surface normal,the distance between the fringe-displaying screen and the object,and the angle between the main camera and the reference camera.The influence of the geometric parameters on the measurement accuracy is evaluated.Experiments are performed using simulated and experimental data.The experimental results confirm the impact of these parameters on the measurement accuracy.A measurement system based on the proposed analysis has been set up to measure a stock concave mirror.Through a comparison of the given surface parameters of the concave mirror,a global measurement accuracy of 154.2 nm was achieved.

Advances in the design and manufacturing of novel freeform optics

Freeform optics has become the most prominent element of the optics industry. Advanced freeform optical designs supplementary to ultra-precision manufacturing and metrology techniques have upgraded the lifestyle, thinking, and observing power of existing humans.Imaginations related to space explorations, portability, accessibility have also witnessed sensible in today’s time with freeform optics. Present-day design methods and fabrications techniques applicable in the development of freeform optics and the market requirements are focussed and explained with the help of traditional and non-traditional optical applications. Over the years,significant research is performed in the emerging field of freeform optics, but no standards are established yet in terms of tolerances and definitions. We critically review the optical design methods for freeform optics considering the image forming and non-image forming applications. Numerous subtractive manufacturing technologies including figure correction methods and metrology have been developed to fabricate extreme modern freeform optics to satisfy the demands of various applications such as space, astronomy, earth science, defence,biomedical, material processing, surveillance, and many more. We described a variety of advanced technologies in manufacturing and metrology for novel freeform optics. Next, we also covered the manufacturing-oriented design scheme for advanced optics. We conclude this review with an outlook on the future of freeform optics design, manufacturing and metrology.

The Effect of Interatomic Potentials on the Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Nanometric Machining

One of the major tasks in a molecular dynamics （MD） simulation is the selection of adequate potential functions, from which forces are derived. If the potentials do not model the behaviour of the atoms correctly, the results produced from the simulation would be useless. Three popular potentials, namely, Lennard-Jones （L J）, Morse, and embedded-atom method （EAM） potentials, were employed to model copper workpiece and diamond tool in nanometric machining. From the simulation results and further analysis, the EAM potential was found to be the most suitable of the three potentials. This is because it best describes the metallic bonding of the copper atoms; it demonstrated the lowest cutting force variation, and the potential energy is most stable for the EAM.

Emblica officinalis improves glycemic status and oxidative stress in STZ induced type 2 diabetic model rats

Objective:To evaluate the antidiabetic and antioxidant potential of Emblica officinalis(E.officinalis)fruit on normal and type 2 diabetic rats.Methods:Type 2 diabetes was induced into the male Long-Evans rats.The rats were divided into nine groups including control groups receiving water,type 2 diabetic controls,type 2 diabetic rats treated with glibenclamide(T2GT)and type 2diabetic rats treated with aqueous extract of fruit pulp of E.officinalis.They were fed orally for8 weeks with a single feeding.Blood was collected by cutting the tail tip on 0 and 28 days and by decapitation on 56 day.Packed red blood cells and serum were used for evaluating different biochemical parameters.Results:Four weeks administration of aqueous extract of E.officinalis improved oral glucose tolerance in type 2 rats and after 8 weeks it caused significant(P<0.007)reduction in fasting serum glucose level compared to 0 day.Triglycerides decreased by 14%but there was no significant change in serum ALT,creatinine,cholesterol and insulin level in any group.Furthermore,reduced erythrocyte malondialdehyde level showed no significant change(P<0.07)but reduced glutathione content was found to be increased significantly(P<0.05).Conclusions:The aqueous extract of E.officinalis has a promising antidiabetic and antioxidant properties and may be considered for further clinical studies in drug development.

Surface texture evaluation of additively manufactured metallic cellular scaffolds for acetabular implants using X.ray computed tomography

The surface topography of acetabular implants plays a key role in providing cell attachment and proliferation.The measurement and characterisation of the surface texture of the cellular scaffold layer on the acetabular cup are very difficult due to the 3D nature of scaffold geometry.It is proposed to use X-ray computed tomography(XCT)to measure the surface texture of an electron beam melting-produced titanium acetabular cup.The surface texture of its cellular scaffold is evaluated using the newly developed 3D surface texture parameters,which allows surface characterisation on 3D triangular mesh surfaces.Four commonly used height parameters,i.e.the arithmetical mean height Sa,the root mean square height Sq,the skewness Ssk and the kurtosis Sku,are calculated from surface patches extracted from the XCT scanned triangular mesh surface.In addition,the surface peak density and pit density,which are more related to cell communication and proliferation,are estimated based on the 3D watershed segmentation.The Wolf pruning with an empirical threshold 12μm is used to control the over-segmentation.

Effect of plasma surface treatment of poly(dimethylsiloxane) on the permeation of pharmaceutical compounds

This paper addresses the modification of poly(dimethylsiloxane), i.e. PDMS, using plasma surface treatment and a novel application of the membrane created. A set of model compounds were analysed to determine their permeation through PDMS, both with and without plasma treatment. It was found that plasma treatment reduced permeation for the majority of compounds but had little effect on some compounds, such as caffeine,with results indicating that polarity plays an important role in permeation, as is seen in human skin. Most importantly, a direct correlation was observed between plasma-modified permeation data and literature data through calculation of membrane permeability(K_p) values suggesting plasma-modified silicone membrane(PMSM) could be considered as a suitable in vivo replacement to predict clinical skin permeation.

Enhancing the dissolution of phenylbutazone using Syloid based mesoporous silicas for oral equine applications

Three mesoporous silica excipients （Syloid~ silicas AL-1 FR XDP 3050 and XDP 3150） were formulated with a model drug known for its poor aqueous solubility, namely phenylbutazone, in an attempt to enhance the extent and rate of drug dissolution. Although other forms of mesoporous silica have been investigated in previous studies, the effect of inclusion with these specific Syloid silica based excipients and more interestingly, with phenylbutazone, is unknown. This work reports a significant enhancement for both the extent and rate of drug release for all three forms of Syloid silica at a 1：1 drug：silica ratio over a period of 30 min. An explanation for this increase was determined to be conversion to the amorphous form and an enhanced drug loading ability within the pores. Differences between the release profiles of the three silicas were concluded to be a consequence of the physicochemical differences between the three forms. Overall, this study confirms that Syloid silica based excipients can be used to enhance dissolution, and potentially therefore bioavailability, for compounds with poor aqueous solubility such as phenylbutazone. In addition, it has been confirmed that drug release can be carefully tailored based on the choice of Syloid~ silica and desired release profile.

A Study of Motor Bearing Fault Diagnosis using Modulation Signal Bispectrum Analysis of Motor Current Signals

Failure of induction motors are a large concern due to its influence over industrial production. Motor current signature analysis (MCSA) is common practice in industry to find motor faults. This paper presents a new approach to detection and diagnosis of motor bearing faults based on induction motor stator current analysis. Tests were performed with three bearing conditions: baseline, outer race fault and inner race fault. Because the signals associated with faults produce small modulations to supply component and high nose levels, a modulation signal bispectrum (MSB) is used in this paper to detect and diagnose different motor bearing defects. The results show that bearing faults can induced a detestable amplitude increases at its characteristic frequencies. MSB peaks show a clear difference at these frequencies whereas conventional power spectrum provides change evidences only at some of the frequencies. This shows that MSB has a better and reliable performance in extract small changes from the faulty bearing for fault detection and diagnosis. In addition, the study also show that current signals from motors with variable frequency drive controller have too much noise and it is unlikely to discriminate the small bearing fault component.

Acoustics Based Monitoring and Diagnostics for the Progressive Deterioration of Helical Gearboxes

Gearbox condition monitoring(CM)plays a significant role in ensuring the operational reliability and efficiency of a wide range of critical industrial systems such as wind turbines and helicopters.Accurate and timely diagnosis of gear faults will improve the maintenance of gearboxes operating under sub-optimal conditions,avoid excessive energy consumption and prevent avoidable damages to systems.This study focuses on developing CM for a multi-stage helical gearbox using airborne sound.Based on signal phase alignments,Modulation Signal Bispectrum(MSB)analysis allows random noise and interrupting events in sound signals to be suppressed greatly and obtains nonlinear modulation features in association with gear dynamics.MSB coherence is evaluated for selecting the reliable bi-spectral peaks for indication of gear deterioration.A run-to-failure test of two industrial gearboxes was tested under various loading conditions.Two omnidirectional microphones were fixed near the gearboxes to sense acoustic information during operation.It has been shown that compared against vibration based CM,acoustics can perceive the responses of vibration in a larger areas and contains more comprehensive and stable information related to gear dynamics variation due to wear.Also,the MSB magnitude peaks at the first three harmonic components of gear mesh and rotation components are demonstrated to be sufficient in characterizing the gradual deterioration of gear transmission.Consequently,the combining of MSB peaks with baseline normalization yields more accurate monitoring trends and diagnostics,allowing the gradual deterioration process and gear wear location to be represented more consistently.

Theoretical and experimental investigation of chemical mechanical polishing of W–Ni–Fe alloy

Fine finishing of tungsten alloy is required to improve the surface quality of molds and precision instruments. Nevertheless, it is difficult to obtain high-quality surfaces as a result of grain boundary steps attributed to differences in properties of two-phase microstructures. This paper presents a theoretical and experimental investigation on chemical mechanical polishing of W–Ni–Fe alloy. The mechanism of the boundary step generation is illustrated and a model of grain boundary step formation is proposed. The mechanism reveals the effects of mechanical and chemical actions in both surface roughness and material removal. The model was verified by the experiments and the results show that appropriately balancing the mechanical and chemical effects restrains the generation of boundary steps and leads to a fine surface quality with a high removal rate by citric acid-based slurry.

Monitoring real time polymorphic transformation of sulfanilamide by diffuse reflectance visible spectroscopy

This study investigated the development of a novel approach to surface characterization of drug poly- morphism and the extension of the capabilities of this method to perform ＇real time＇ in situ measure- ments. This was achieved using diffuse reflectance visible （DRV） spectroscopy and dye deposition, using the pH sensitive dye, thymol blue （TB）. Two polymorphs, SFN-β and SFN-γ, of the drug substance sulfanilamide （SFN） were examined. The interaction of adsorbed dye with polymorphs showed different behavior, and thus reported different DRV spectra. Consideration of the acid/base properties of the morphological forms of the drug molecule provided a rationalization of the mechanism of differential coloration by indicator dyes. The kinetics of the polymorphic transformation of SFN polymorphs was monitored using treatment with TB dye and DRV spectroscopy. The thermally-induced transformation fitted a first-order solid-state kinetic model （R2=0.992）, giving a rate constant of 2.43 × 10^- 2 s 1.

Thermodynamics of clayedrug complex dispersions: Isothermal titration calorimetry and high-performance liquid chromatography

An understanding of the thermodynamics of the complexation process utilized in sustaining drug release in clay matrices is of great importance.Several characterisation techniques as well as isothermal calorimetry were utilized in investigating the adsorption process of a model cationic drug(diltiazem hydrochloride,DIL)onto a pharmaceutical clay system(magnesium aluminium silicate,MAS).X-ray powder diffraction(XRPD),attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(ATRFTIR)and optical microscopy confirmed the successful formation of the DIL-MAS complexes.Drug quantification from the complexes demonstrated variable behaviour in the differing media used with DIL degrading to desacetyl diltiazem hydrochloride(DC-DIL)in the 2 M HCl media.Here also,the authors report for the first time two binding processes that occurred for DIL and MAS.A competitor binding model was thus proposed and the thermodynamics obtained suggested their binding processes to be enthalpy driven and entropically unfavourable.This information is of great importance for a formulator as care and consideration should be given with appropriate media selection as well as the nature of binding in complexes.

The demands of the extra-time period of soccer:A systematic review

Background:Soccer match-play is typically contested over 90 min;however,in some cup and tournament scenarios,when matches are tied,they proceed to an additional 30 min,which is termed "extra-time^(ET).This systematic review sought to appraise the literature available on 120-min of soccer-specific exercise,with a view to identifying practical recommendations and future research opportunities.Methods:The review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines.Independent researchers performed a systematic search of PubMed,CINAHL,and PsycINFO in May 2019,with the following keywords entered in various combinations:"soccer","football","extra-time","extra time","extratime","120 minutes","120 min","additional 30 minutes",and "additional 30 min".Results:The search yielded an initial 73 articles.Following the screening process,11 articles were accepted for analyses.Articles were subsequently organized into the following 5 categories:movement demands of ET,performance responses to ET,physiological and neuromuscular response during ET,nutritional interventions,and recovery and ET.The results highlighted that during competitive match-play,players cover5%-12% less distance relative to match duration(i.e.,meters per minute) during ET compared to the preceding 90 min.Reductions in technical performance(i.e.,shot speed,number of passes and dribbles) were also observed during ET.Additionally,carbohydrate provision may attenuate and improve dribbling performance during ET.Moreover,objective and subjective measures of recovery may be further compromised following ET when compared to 90 min.Conclusion:Additional investigations are warranted to further substantiate these findings and identify interventions to improve performance during ET.

Dynamic analysis of geared transmission system for wind turbines with mixed aleatory and epistemic uncertainties

This paper deals with the co-existence of mixed aleatory and epistemic uncertainties in a wind turbine geared system for more reliable and robust vibration analyses.To this end,the regression-based polynomial chaos expansion(PCE)is used to track aleatory uncertainties,and the polynomial surrogate approach(PSA)is developed to treat the epistemic uncertainties.This non-intrusive dual-layer framework shares the same collocation pool,which is extracted from the Legendre series.Moreover,the regression technique has been implemented in both layers to enhance calculation efficiency.Numerical validation is carried out to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.New vibration behaviors of the geared transmission system are observed,and the mechanism behind is discussed in detail.The findings of this paper will contribute to the insightful understanding of such wind turbine geared systems under hybrid uncertainties and are beneficial for the condition monitoring.

Influence of Shear Effects on the Characteristics of Axisymmetric Wave Propagation in a Buried Fluid‑Filled Pipe

The acoustic propagation characteristics of axisymmetric waves have been widely used in leak detection of fluid-filled pipes.The related acoustic methods and equipment are gradually coming to the market,but their theoretical research obviously lags behind the field practice,which seriously restricts the breakthrough and innovation of this technology.Based on the fully three-dimensional effect of the surrounding medium,a coupled motion equation of axisymmetric wave of buried liquid-filled pipes is derived in detail,a contact coefficient is used to express the coupling strength between surrounding medium and pipe,then,a general equation of motion was derived which contain the pipe soil lubrication contact,pipe soil compact contact and pipe in water and air.Finally,the corresponding numerical calculation model is established and solved used numerical method.The shear effects of the surrounding medium and the shear effects at the interface between surrounding medium and pipe are discussed in detail.The output indicates that the surrounding medium is to add mass to the pipe wall,but the shear effect is to add stiffness.With the consideration of the contact strength between the pipe and the medium,the additional mass and the pipe wall will resonate at a specific frequency,resulting in a significant increase in the radiation wave to the surrounding medium.The research contents have great guiding effect on the theory of acoustic wave propagation and the engineering application of leak detection technology in the buried pipe.