Effective Characterization of DNA Ligation Kinetics by High-Resolution Melting Analysis

High-resolution melting (HRM) analysis has been improved and applied for the first time to quantitative analysis of enzymatic reactions. By using the relative ratios of peak intensities of substrates and products, the quantitativity of conventional HRM analysis has been improved to allow detailed kinetic analysis. As an example, the ligation of sticky ends through the action of T4 DNA ligase has been kinetically analyzed, with comprehensive data on substrate specificity and other properties having been obtained. For the first time, the kinetic parameters (k_obs and apparent K_m) of sticky-end ligation were obtained for both fully matched and mismatched sticky ends. The effect of ATP concentration on sticky-end ligation was also investigated. The improved HRM method should also be applicable to versatile DNA-transforming enzymes, because the only requirement is that the products have T_m values different enough from the substrates.     

Effects of isothermal treatment parameters on the microstructure of semisolid alloys

Cold-rolled 6061 aluminium alloys are used to prepare semisolid billets by recrystallisation and partial melting. The effects of isothermal treatment parameters on the microstructures were investigated. The results indicated that the high isothermal holding temperature increases the experimental liquid fraction, average grain size and shape factor. A long isothermal holding time also increases the experimental liquid fraction and improves the spheroidisation degree of solid grains, but the average grain size also increases. Moreover, when the isothermal holding time at high temperature is increased, the size of intragranular liquid droplets increases, but their quantity decreases. The optimal isothermal holding temperature and time during semisolid isothermal treatment were 635°C and 5?–?10?min, respectively.     

Deformation and fracture mechanisms of in situ synthesized TiC reinforced TC4 matrix composites produced by selective laser melting

In this study, TiC/TC4 composites were fabricated using selective laser melting (SLM), and the deformation mechanism and fracture characteristics of the composites with nano-sized TiC particles formed in situ were studied. The experimental results showed that the rapid melting and solidification characteristics of SLM and the Marangoni effect of the liquid pool promoted a considerably homogeneous dispersion of the in situ-formed nanoscale-TiC reinforcement in the TiC/TC4 composites. In particular, an enhanced compressive strength of 1490.2 MPa and a considerable fracture elongation of 21.5% were simultaneously achieved for the TiC/TC4 composites, which could be attributed to the load transfer effect and the formation of denser and more uniformly distributed dimples. Combined with the finite element (FE) analysis, the uneven stress distribution in the shear band of the TiC/TC4 composites led to the fracture. Further, the fracture surface analysis showed that the in situ nanoscale TiC reinforcement promoted the fracture of microbubbles from the α/β interface with the concentrated distribution of the V element to the interface between TiC and the Ti matrix because of the load transfer, which promoted the uniform distribution of the V element in the dimple.     

Process parameter dependencies of continuous and pulsed laser modes on surface polishing of additive manufactured aluminium AlSi10Mg parts

Laser powder bed fusion is a well-established 3D printing technique for metal alloys, but exhibits a poor surface quality. Laser polishing provides the possibility of a fast contact-free and fully-automatable surface treatment. This paper deals with the experimental investigation of laser polishing of laser powder bed fusion parts made of aluminium AlSi10Mg. Laser polishing is done with a 4 kW solid state disc laser in combination with a multi-axis system and a one dimensional scanner optic. The laser is operated at continuous and pulsed operation mode. The parameter study reveals a high dependency of the achievable roughness on the laser beam intensity, the track and pulse overlap, the energy density and the number of polishing passes and polishing directions. Pulsed laser polishing mode with up to four passes from different directions revealed the lowest surface roughness of 0.14 μm Ra. With respect to the initial average surface roughness of Ra = 8.03 μm a reduction of the surface roughness of greater than 98 % could be achieved. Polishing with continuous laser radiation at one polishing pass resulted in Ra = 0.23 μm at an area rate of 20 cm²/min. Laser polishing using four passes achieved a further improvement up to Ra = 0.14 μm.     

石蜡与石蜡/膨胀石墨熔化性能的实验研究

为改善相变储能过程中石蜡(PA)的熔化性能，向PA中添加少量膨胀石墨(EG)制备了4种配比的石蜡/膨胀石墨复合相变材料(PA-EG)。通过热物性分析筛选出合适配比的PA-EG，并对其和PA在水平管壳式相变储能单元中的熔化过程进行了实验研究。根据相变材料的温度场变化以及加权法计算得到的熔化分数变化，对比分析了添加EG前后PA的熔化性能，并探究了加热温度对相变材料熔化性能的影响。结果表明，PA-EG3的热导率比PA高了7倍，且两者的相变温度和潜热相差不大。PA-EG3熔化过程中的自然对流效应弱于PA，但是较高的热导率能够显著改善相变储能单元中下部的熔化，使得其整体熔化速度快于PA。当加热温度为80℃时，PA-EG3的熔化过程比PA缩短了78.16%。此外，降低加热温度会使PA和PA-EG3的完全熔化时间都显著增加，但相同条件下PA-EG3的增加幅度更小。     

Al2O3 loss prediction model of selective laser melting Al2O3–Al composite

The element/phase loss is undesirable but existing during selective laser melting (SLM) of materials with volatile element/phase, which not only changes the material composition but also affects the molten pool flow. In the previous researches, the effect of remelting on the element/phase loss was neglected during the SLM process, instead, laser energy density was thought to be uppermost. In fact, the SLM process fabricates the parts in a manner of line by line and layer by layer, i.e., additive character, and the remelting in the overlap zone occurs during the SLM process. In this paper, three different Al₂O₃ loss prediction models of SLM Al₂O₃–Al composite by considering the additive character of SLM and the distribution of the Al₂O₃ associated with the different molten pool driving forces were developed. By comparing with the experimental results and predicted results, it is found that the Al₂O₃ is distributed on both sides of the molten pool under the combined action of the Marangoni flow and the evaporation recoil pressure. This kind of Al₂O₃ distribution enhances the effect of the remelting on the Al₂O₃ loss, i.e., the remelting brings a logarithmic increase in the Al₂O₃ loss rate. This determines the final Al₂O₃ loss rate of the SLMed 3D samples. During this study, although the Al₂O₃ loss rate of the single-track is only 33%, the loss rate of SLMed 3D samples increases significantly to 97% when the hatching space of 60 μm and scanning speed of 200 mm/s are utilized, i.e., almost no Al₂O₃ in the 3D sample. Thus, it is more important to reduce the remelting, i.e., overlap rate for reducing the element/phase loss. This study is a benefit for understanding and reducing the element/phase loss in SLM.     

Overlapping tracks processed by TIG melting TiC preplaced powder on low alloy steel surfaces

An overlapping composite track coating was produced on a steel surface by preplacing a 0·5 mm thick layer of TiC powder and then melting using a tungsten inert gas torch of constant energy input. The influence of the overlapping operation on preheating of the substrate, the dissolution of TiC particulates and the subsequent depth and hardness of the composite layer was analysed. The melt microstructure consisted of both undissolved and partially dissolved TiC particulates, together with a variety of morphologies and sizes of TiC particles precipitated during solidification. Preheating, resulting from the overlapping operation, occurred, producing additional melting of the TiC particulates and deeper melt depths but with a reduced volume fraction of TiC precipitates in the subsequent tracks. A maximum hardness of over 800 HV was developed in the composite layer. The high hardness was unevenly distributed in tracks melted at the initial and final stages, while it varied across the melt depths in other tracks.     

Dual-loop self-optimizing robust control of wind power generation with Doubly-Fed Induction Generator

This paper presents a self-optimizing robust control scheme that can maximize the power generation for a variable speed wind turbine with Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) operated in Region 2. A dual-loop control structure is proposed to synergize the conversion from aerodynamic power to rotor power and the conversion from rotor power to the electrical power. The outer loop is an Extremum Seeking Control (ESC) based generator torque regulation via the electric power feedback. The ESC can search for the optimal generator torque constant to maximize the rotor power without wind measurement or accurate knowledge of power map. The inner loop is a vector-control based scheme that can both regulate the generator torque requested by the ESC and also maximize the conversion from the rotor power to grid power. An ℋ_∞ controller is synthesized for maximizing, with performance specifications defined based upon the spectrum of the rotor power obtained by the ESC. Also, the controller is designed to be robust against the variations of some generator parameters. The proposed control strategy is validated via simulation study based on the synergy of several software packages including the TurbSim and FAST developed by NREL, Simulink and SimPowerSystems.     

Inducing sustained oscillations in feedback-linearizable single-input nonlinear systems

The present paper concerns the induction of stable sustained oscillation in feedback-linearizable single-input affine nonlinear dynamical systems via continuous-time state feedback control. The proposed application-oriented control approach is based on the conception of a state feedback controller that ensures the tracking of a limit cycle characterized in terms of the feedback-linearized system. Boundedness and convergence of the closed-loop trajectories are established following the Lyapunov theoretical framework and applying LaSalle׳s stability principle. The proposed approach is demonstrated with computer-simulated control experiments, showing that it ensures the convergence of the state trajectories of the controlled system to a designed limit cycle and that the methodology can, in principle, be applied to any single input feedback linearizable system.     

Hydrogen production with an auto-thermal MSW steam gasification and direct melting system: A process modeling

Municipal solid waste steam gasification and direct melting system is proposed in this study for H₂ production and ash melting simultaneously. Part of the H₂ generated in gasification is extracted for combustion with pure oxygen in the melting zone to provide the energy necessary for auto-thermal operation. A simulation model is developed with Aspen Plus to investigate the performance and optimum conditions of the system. For the feedstock with a lower heating value of 18.91 MJ/kg used in this study, 39.8% of the generated H₂ needs to be extracted to maintain the heat balance of the system at the gasification temperature of 900 °C, melting temperature of 1400 °C, and S/M of 1. The net H₂ yield is ～77.3 kg/t-MSW with a net cold gas efficiency of 49.1% under the same operating condition. An optimum operation condition for T (850–1000 °C) and S/M (0.6–1.0) is determined considering the balance between H₂ production ability and the auto-thermal energy balance.