A synthetical development approach for rehabilitation assistive smart product–service systems: A case study

Digital transformation (DT), the combination of information, computing, communication and connectivity technologies, which has triggered an effective upgrade of different aspects of market strategy, customer experience etc. Nowadays, rehabilitation assistive devices (RADs) are evolving to be more digital, intelligent and personalized. Digitalization and servitization have fostered to an emerging business model—the smart product–service system (Smart PSS). Therefore, DT of the RADs’ industry advocates not only the design of products and functions, the more important is the management of service processes and resource integration. With the increase in the elderly and disabled population, the requirement for RADs is becoming more urgent. However, research on Smart PSS for RAD is still limited. The rehabilitation assistive smart product–service systems (RASPSS) was introduced into the development of RADs based on the “Design and Management of DT” strategy through the service design of assistive devices and user requirements analysis. Further, an integrated design of RAD and Smart PSS has been created, a development method of RASPSS proposed, the theoretical model of the Smart PSS based on RADs built. To specify the service framework, this case study discusses the development of a home rehabilitation assistive system for femoral stem fracture patients. This paper evaluates the usability of the system, the results of which prove usability and effectiveness of the RASPSS development method. The RASPSS development model is designed to meet needs of stakeholders, improve the user rehabilitation experience, promote the service innovation of Smart PSS, bring certain market benefits of rehabilitation aids and create social value.     

Water abundance of mine floor limestone by simulation experiment

The water abundance of mine floor limestone needs to be solved urgently as the average depth of coal mining in China has increased gradually. A method is presented to discuss water abundance with the numerical and physical layered geoelectrical model being established in the half-space, full-space and full-space with tunnel, respectively. The parameters of water abundance are changed in this study, which includes water quantity, water content and volume of abnormity of water-containing abnormity. Results indicate that the different work fields have different macroscopic influences on the apparent resistivity,and the water abundance parameters of water-containing abnormity have quantitative relationship with the apparent resistivity mean in abnormal regions(three-dimensional space region). The quantitative relationships are shown as following: firstly, the amount of water injection has negative linear correlation with the apparent resistivity mean; secondly, when abnormity is unsaturated, there is a negative power function relationship between water content and apparent resistivity mean; thirdly, the volume of abnormity and apparent resistivity mean behave as a decreasing power function law.     

A node-based smoothed finite element method (NS-FEM) for upper bound solution to visco-elastoplastic analyses of solids using triangular and tetrahedral meshes

A node-based smoothed finite element method (NS-FEM) was recently proposed for the solid mechanics problems. In the NS-FEM, the system stiffness matrix is computed using the smoothed strains over the smoothing domains associated with nodes of element mesh. In this paper, the NS-FEM is further extended to more complicated visco-elastoplastic analyses of 2D and 3D solids using triangular and tetrahedral meshes, respectively. The material behavior includes perfect visco-elastoplasticity and visco-elastoplasticity with isotropic hardening and linear kinematic hardening. A dual formulation for the NS-FEM with displacements and stresses as the main variables is performed. The von-Mises yield function and the Prandtl–Reuss flow rule are used. In the numerical procedure, however, the stress variables are eliminated and the problem becomes only displacement-dependent. The numerical results show that the NS-FEM has higher computational cost than the FEM. However the NS-FEM is much more accurate than the FEM, and hence the NS-FEM is more efficient than the FEM. It is also observed from the numerical results that the NS-FEM possesses the upper bound property which is very meaningful for the visco-elastoplastic analyses which almost have not got the analytical solutions. This suggests that we can use two models, NS-FEM and FEM, to bound the solution, and can even estimate the global relative error of numerical solutions.     

Preparation of LaNiO3/SrTiO3/LaNiO3 capacitor structure through sol–gel process

In this paper, SrTiO₃/LaNiO₃ (STO/LNO) bilayer films were prepared on lanthanum aluminate (LAO) substrates by use of the sol–gel technique. An array of LNO electrodes with diameters of 200 μm was prepared on the surface of STO/LNO bilayer films. Therefore, LaNiO₃/SrTiO₃/LaNiO₃ (LNO/STO/LNO), a capacitor structure with symmetrical top and bottom electrodes, was obtained. The XRD analysis showed that the obtained capacitor structure has a biaxial texture. The dielectric test suggested that the relative dielectric constant of the LNO/STO/LNO structure is symmetric, has a high tunability, and has a low dielectric dissipation factor (tan δ) in response to varying electric field bias. As the temperature decreased, the relative dielectric constant of the STO film increased, the tunability increased, and the tan δ decreased. At test conditions of 80 K and 100 kH, the tunability and the figure of merit (FOM) reached 56% and 107, respectively.     

Dimensional synthesis of planar triads: Motion generation with prescribed timing for six precision positions

In this paper, the complex number method is applied to the dimensional synthesis of planar triads, for six precision positions, and motion generation with prescribed timing. A triad is a series of three binary links which can be part of many linkages. The solution for the displacement equation of the triad is developed through the use of compatibility equations. An interactive computer program which allows the user to find an appropriate triad from the Triad-Burmester curves for a specified motion is outlined. A numerical example to show the application of the triad program to the dimensional synthesis of an eight-bar linkage is included.     

Ultrasensitive strain sensors made from metal-coated carbon nanofiller/epoxy composites

A set of resistance-type strain sensors has been fabricated from metal-coated carbon nanofiller (CNF)/epoxy composites. Two nanofillers, i.e., multi-walled carbon nanotubes and vapor growth carbon fibers (VGCFs) with nickel, copper and silver coatings were used. The ultrahigh strain sensitivity was observed in these novel sensors as compared to the sensors made from the CNFs without metal-coating, and conventional strain gauges. In terms of gauge factor, the sensor made of VGCFs with silver coating is estimated to be 155, which is around 80 times higher than that in a metal-foil strain gauge. The possible mechanism responsible for the high sensitivity and its dependence with the networks of the CNFs with and without metal-coating and the geometries of the CNFs were thoroughly investigated.     

Nature of intrinsic and impure luminescence of MAlP2O7 crystals

The results of the photoluminescence (PL) investigation of pure and chromium-doped MAlP₂O₇ (M = Na, K, Cs) compounds are presented. The spectra of the intrinsic luminescence of MAlP₂O₇ crystals consist of a separated UV band at a peak position near 330 nm and a complex wide band which covers the region of visible light up to 750 nm at excitation by VUV synchrotron radiation. The “red” band in 600–1000 nm diapason appears in the PL spectra of crystals doped with chromium ions. The effect of the temperature on the structure, the peak positions and intensities of the luminescence bands was studied. An assumption about the nature of the intrinsic PL was made. The “red” luminescence was considered as a result of the ⁴Т₂ → ⁴А₂ radiation transitions in the impurity Cr³⁺ ions located in the intermediate crystal field.     

The novel preparation method of thermochromic VO2 films with a low phase transition temperature by thermal oxidation of V–Mo cosputtered alloy films

Vanadium dioxide (VO₂) has been studied extensively for its unique insulator-metal transition characteristics and potential applications in thermochromic smart windows, switching devices, and infrared detectors. However, how to balance the metal-insulator transition temperature, luminous transmittance (T_lum) and solar modulation ability (ΔT_sol) of VO₂ thin films remains a challenge. In this work, high-quality thermochromic VO₂ thin films were prepared by a two-step method of magnetron sputtering and thermal oxidation annealing. Metallic and alloyed V–Mo layers were first deposited by direct-current reactive magnetron sputtering, and then a thermal oxidation annealing process was used to obtain pure and Mo-doped VO₂ thin films. The Mo content in the films was regulated by changing the sputtering power of the vanadium target, and the effect of Mo doping on the crystallinity, microstructure, phase transition temperature and optical properties of VO₂ thin films was studied. The shift of the VO₂(011) peak to a lower 2θ angle in the XRD patterns showed that Mo was successfully diffused into vanadium dioxide films. The phase transition temperatures were decreased continuously from 57.4 to 32.7 °C by decreasing the sputtering power of vanadium. The thinner Mo-doped VO₂ thin films showed higher luminous transmittance and lower transition temperature. Our results were shown to be an innovative preparation method to fabricate thermochromic VO₂ films with a low phase transition temperature, balanced luminous transmittance and solar modulation ability by thermal oxidation of V–Mo cosputtered alloy films.     

Enhanced magnetodielectric properties of Co2Z ferrite ceramics for ultrahigh frequency applications achieved via Cr3+ ion doping

Phase formation, microstructure, magnetic properties, and dielectric properties of Ba_1.5Sr_1.5Co₂Fe₍₂₃−_x)Cr_xO₄₁ (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) ceramics, in which Fe³⁺ ions were substituted by Cr³⁺ ions, were systematically investigated. X-ray diffraction results reveal that Z-type hexagonal ferrite was formed by sintering at 1250 °C, and Cr³⁺ ions successfully enter lattice without destroying crystal structure. Analysis of the microstructure reveals that Cr³⁺ ion doping has significant effect on crystal micromorphology. Samples with x = 0.4 have the most homogeneous micromorphology and the highest sintering density of 5.12 g/cm³. In addition, under the influence of external magnetic field, all samples exhibit typical soft magnetic character and hysteresis characteristics, with saturation magnetization up to 63.86 emu/g (x = 0.6). Particularly, compared with undoped sample, Cr-doped samples have outstanding magnetic–dielectric properties. Firstly, with increasing Cr³⁺ amount, real part of the permeability (μ′) reaches the maximum value of 10.70 at x = 0.4, while cutoff frequency exceeds 2 GHz, and Snoek constant reaches ∼19.50 GHz. Furthermore, due to more homogeneous microstructure, samples with x = 0.4 have low magnetic loss and can maintain high quality factor (Q) over a broad frequency range. Moreover, real part of the permittivity (ε′) reaches the maximum value of 16.90 at x = 0.6, and dielectric loss remains lower than 0.013 for frequencies below 0.7 GHz. Consequently, magnetic–dielectric materials prepared in this work are expected to have extensive application prospects for ultrahigh-frequency devices.     

Improved dielectric energy storage performance of Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-based lead-free relaxation ferroelectric ceramics achieved by domain structural regulation and enhanced densification

There is still a problem of low energy storage density in dielectric capacitors which is a core component of power systems. For the improvement of the energy storage density, the linear dielectric material CaTiO₃ (CT) was introduced in Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃ (NBT) ceramics in this paper. By modifying the A site, a new relaxor ferroelectric ceramic was successfully synthesized and attained a recoverable density (W_rec) of 2.34 J/cm³ at x = 0.18. Moreover, the preparation process was optimized in this paper. Through the viscous polymer process (VPP) route, the energy density (W_A) of 82NBT-18CT_VPP ceramic further reaches 6.45 J/cm³ at 340 kV/cm, with efficiency (η) up to 75% and a W_rec of 4.82 J/cm³. At the same time, the change of W_rec is small at temperature (30–150 °C) and frequency (1 Hz–300 Hz), which demonstrates its excellent stability. The discharge power density reaches about 180 MW/cm³ and the discharge time is 0.117 μs, which indicates its excellent pulse discharge performance. The results show that 82NBT-18CT lead-free relaxation ferroelectric material is expected to become ideal for high-energy storage applications.