A stick-slip piezoelectric actuator with an integrated sensing unit for the measurement and active control of the contact force

Output characteristics of the stick-slip piezoelectric actuators are intrinsically affected by the contact force between the driving foot and the mover. Therefore, it would be quite meaningful to measure and control the contact force. In this study, by integrating a group of strain gauges into the driving compliant mechanism, a stick-slip piezoelectric actuator with measured contact force was proposed. The main structural parameters of the driving compliant mechanism were designed and analyzed. Through experiments, the sensing unit was calibrated, and the results showed that it had good linearity, and the noise level was 3.5 mN. The contact force was measured by the sensing unit, and accordingly, the relationship between the contact force and the stepping characteristic was explored. It was shown that the change in contact force would lead to the evolution in stepping characteristic, which finally resulted in the motion nonlinearity of the actuator in large stroke output. Accordingly, by actively controlling the contact force, a method was proposed to tune the stepping characteristic. The comparative results demonstrated that this method could significantly improve the motion linearity of the actuator in large stroke output under various preloads and even very rough surface.     

Parameter identification and position control for helical hydraulic rotary actuators based on particle swarm optimization

It is difficult to obtain an accurate mathematical model in electro-hydraulic servo control system, due to the nonlinear factors such as dead zone, saturation, flow coefficient, and friction. Hence, a parameter identification algorithm, combining recursive least squares (RLS) with modified nonlinear particle swarm optimization (NPSO) algorithm, is proposed. On this basis, another improved NPSO algorithm is also put forward, aiming at searching for the optimal proportional–integral (PI) controller gain of the nonlinear hydraulic system while giving comprehensive consideration to the system performance indexes. The system identification experiments and position tracking control are conducted, respectively. As indicated by the comparison with the least squares (LS), RLS, PSO, and RLS–LPSO results, the proposed method shows higher identification and control accuracy.     

Rational design of perylenediimide-based polymer acceptor for efficient all-polymer solar cells

Perylenediimide (PDI)-based small molecules have significantly contributed to the development of non-fullerene acceptors, whereas the development of PDI-based polymer acceptors is relatively lagging behind. In this study, we designed and synthesized two PDI-based n-type polymers named as PF-PDI and PBDT-PDI, in which PDI was used as electron-deficient unit and fluorene (F) or benzodithiophene (BDT) were used as electronrich components. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations and grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) results indicate that the PF-PDI shows larger steric hindrance and relatively weaker lamellar packing than that of PBDT-PDI. Comparing with PBDT-PDI, PF-PDI shows red-shift absorption and lower-lying HOMO level, which agrees well with the DFT results. A well-known wide bandgap polymer donor, PDBT-T1 was employed to fabricate polymer solar cells (PSCs) with the two acceptors. The all polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) based on PDBT-T1:PF-PDI showed a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 4.47%, which is approximately 2-fold larger than that of devices with PDBT-T1:PBDT-PDI (PCE = 2.70%).     

High resolution transmission electron microscopy study on polyacrylonitrile/carbon nanotube based carbon fibers and the effect of structure development on the thermal and electrical conductivities

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and PAN/carbon nanotube (CNT) based carbon fibers at various CNT content have been processed and their structural development was investigated using high resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM). In CNT containing carbon fibers, the CNTs act as templating agents for the graphitic carbon structure development in their vicinity at the carbonization temperature of 1450 °C, which is far below the graphitization temperature of PAN based carbon fiber (>2200 °C). The addition of 1 wt% CNT in the gel spun precursor fiber results in carbon fibers with a 68% higher thermal conductivity when compared to the control gel spun PAN based carbon fiber, and a 103% and 146% increase over commercially available IM7 and T300 carbon fibers, respectively. The electrical conductivity of the gel spun PAN/CNT based carbon fibers also showed improvement over the investigated commercially available carbon fibers. Increases in thermal and electrical conductivities are attributed to the formation of the highly ordered graphitic structure observed in the HR-TEM images. Direct observation of the graphitic structure, along with improved transport properties in the PAN/CNT based carbon fiber suggest new applications for these materials.     

Comparative study of the structure and microstructure of PAN-based nano- and micro-carbon fibers

The work presents results on the manufacture and comparative assessment of the structure and microstructure parameters of polyacrylonitrile polymer (PAN)-based carbon nano- and micro-fibers. Using the same polymer solution, PAN nano- and microfibers were obtained. The PAN nanofibers were obtained by electrospinning, and microfibers were spun using the conventional solution-spinning method. The PAN-based fiber precursors were annealed to 1000 °C, 2000 °C and to 2800 °C. Using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, the structural and microstructural parameters of both types of carbon fibers were examined. The morphology of PAN nanofibers and carbon nanofibers (CNF) were studied by SEM. Both types of ex-PAN carbon fibers (nano and micro) have similar the c-axis spacing (d₀₀₂) values and crystallite sizes after heat treatment to 2000 °C presenting turbostratic structure. HR-TEM images of low temperature CNF show uniform microstructure with the misoriented small carbon crystallites along the fiber axis. The ratio of the integrated intensities of the D and G peaks for carbon nanofibers after heat treatment at 2000 °C was distinctly higher in comparison to carbon microfibers (CF). After additional annealing the fibers to 2800 °C a better structural ordering show CNF. The crystallite sizes (L_c, L_a) in CNF were distinctly higher in comparison to the crystallites in CF. CF consist of two carbon components, whereas CNF contain three carbon components varying in structural and microstructural parameters. One of carbon phases in CNF was found to have the interlayer spacing close to graphite, i.e. d₀₀₂=0.335 nm.     

粉末冶金靶材多弧离子镀HY3涂层抗氧化性能

目的 研究靶材制备工艺对多弧离子镀(Arc ion plating,AIP)MCrAlY涂层抗氧化性能的影响。方法 采用粉末冶金方法制备NiCrAlYSi(HY3)靶材,然后采用AIP在DZ125合金基体上制备HY3涂层。在1 100 ℃下对粉末冶金靶材制备涂层进行200 h的静态氧化实验,采用SEM、XRD等对靶材和氧化前后的涂层进行微观组织分析,并与传统铸造靶材进行对比。结果 采用粉末冶金方法制备的靶材成分更加均匀,相尺寸约为5 μm,相较于铸造靶材降低了1个数量级。采用粉末冶金靶材制备的涂层(P涂层)元素分布更均匀、β相含量更高。经过1 100 ℃、200 h的高温氧化,P涂层的氧化增量为1.01 mg/cm²,低于铸造靶材制备的涂层(C涂层,1.10 mg/cm²)。在200 h后,P涂层表面的热生长氧化物(TGO)完整,而C涂层表面的TGO出现了剥落现象,P涂层的活性元素均匀分布,促进TGO内生成了少量弥散分布的钉扎氧化物Y2Hf2O7,提高了TGO的抗剥落能力。更高的β相含量促进了氧化初期θ−Al2O3的快速生成,有利于P涂层生成保护性能更好的TGO。结论 粉末冶金靶材成分的均匀性优于传统铸造靶材,采用粉末冶金靶材制备的HY3涂层的抗高温氧化性能优于铸造靶材制备的HY3涂层。     

Failure mechanism of a (Ni,Pt)Al/EB-PVD 8YSZ deposited on substrate with different curvature signs in thermal shock test

A thermal shock test was conducted on an 8 wt% Y₂O₃ stabilized ZrO₂ electron beam-physical vapor deposited (EB-PVD 8YSZ) thermal barrier coating with a (Ni, Pt)Al bond coating on the substrate with different curvature signs. The microstructural evolution and durability have been characterized. The microstructure of the top ceramic layer is strongly dependent on the substrate geometry. The results of the thermal shock test indicated that the sample with a positive curvature exhibits mixed mode spalling by the linking of cracks at TBC/TGO interface and TGO/BC interface. Spallation occurs primarily at the TGO/BC interface and inside the bond coats near to the surface of bond coats in planar samples. The spalling occurs principally at the TGO/BC interface in specimens with a negative curvature. The failure mechanism is elucidated integrate with stress analysis.     

Fluid-dynamic and NOx computation in swirl burners

Computational fluid dynamics simulations in a swirl combustor were coupled with chemical equilibrium calculations to evaluate the effects of swirl velocity and burner wall temperature on NO_x formation. The fluid-dynamic variables such as velocity, temperature, pressure and species concentrations were obtained by using the finite-element commercial software FIDAP. The chemical equilibrium system under consideration comprised 16 reactions and 20 species. The reaction set included reactions responsible for formation of NO_x and reactions believed to be responsible for soot formation in rich fuel–air mixtures. The Newton–Raphson method was used to solve the nonlinear system of equations describing the formation of equilibrium products in fuel–air mixtures. The main goal of this work was to develop a fast and robust computational approach to understand the impact of various design parameters on NO_x formation in gas-fired swirl burners. The results showed that increasing swirl monotonically reduced CO and unburned hydrocarbons. The reduction was as high as 5 orders of magnitude. The exit plane NO_x did not monotonically decrease with increasing swirl. NO_x values initially increased with increasing swirl and then decreased. The procedure outlined in this paper has potential for evaluating new burner designs and operating conditions quickly and robustly.     

3D magnetic characterization of nanocrystalline cobalt thin films by combined magnetic force and Lorentz microscopy

Thin films of cobalt and cobalt-based compounds are recently popular for magnetic recording media because of their high recording density and great magnetic properties. Many techniques exist to image magnetic structures in thin films, nevertheless, none of them can furnish complete information about the magnetic details. In the present work the combined use of the information obtainable with Lorentz microscopy, performed in a transmission electron microscope (TEM), and of an atomic force microscope (AFM) working in the magnetic mode (MFM, magnetic force microscopy), both performed on the same specimen area, enabled, in a easy way, the study of the 3D magnetic structure of domains, of single cross-ties, the location of Bloch lines within a domain wall and the magnetic structure of magnetisation ripples. The 3D magnetic structure and contrast of nanocrystalline thin films of cobalt (100 nm thick), prepared by evaporation in high vacuum, were investigated at a spatial resolution of tens of nanometers.