Analysis of pressure and heat distribution in a dilating or contracting filter chamber with two outlets using multivariate spectral quasilinearization method

The development of efficient filters is an essential part of industrial machinery design, specifically to increase the lifespan of a machine. In the filter chamber design considered in this study, the magnetic material is placed along the horizontal surface of the filter chamber. The inside of the filter chamber is layered with a porous material to restrict the outflow of unwanted particles. This study aims to investigate the flow, pressure, and heat distribution in a dilating or contracting filter chamber with two outlets driven by injection through a permeable surface. The proposed model of the fluid dynamics within the filter chamber follows the conservation equations in the form of partial differential equations. The model equations are further reduced to a steady case through Lie's symmetry group of transformation. They are then solved using a multivariate spectral-based quasilinearization method on the Chebyshev–Gauss–Lobatto nodes. Insights and analyses of the thermophysical parameters that drive optimal outflow during the filtration process are provided through the graphs of the numerical solutions of the differential equations. We find, among other results, that expansion of the filter chamber leads to an overall decrease in internal pressure and an increase in heat distribution inside the filter chamber. The results also show that shrinking the filter chamber increases the internal momentum inside the filter, which leads to more outflow of filtrates.     

Frequency response data-based peak filter design applied to MIMO large-scale high-precision scan stage

A large-scale high-precision scan stage is important equipment in the industrial productions of micro-fabrication such as flat panel display (FPD) lithography systems. Designing controllers for multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems is time-consuming and needs experience because of the interaction between each axis and many controller tuning parameters. The aim of this study is to develop a peak filter design method based on frequency response data to reduce repetitive disturbance. This data-based approach does not use the model and only uses the frequency response data of the controlled system and the disturbance spectrum calculated from the scanning error data (Contribution 1). The peak filter is designed by convex optimization and satisfies robust stability conditions for six-degree-of-freedom systems (Contribution 2). The control performance of the designed peak filter is experimentally demonstrated with an industrial MIMO large-scale high-precision scan stage in reducing the scanning error of the main stroke of the translation along the $x$-axis (Contribution 3).     

Structural,electrical, and linear/nonlinear optical characteristics of thermally evaporated molybdenum oxide thin films

Homogeneous thin films of Molybdenum oxide (MoO₃) were grown on quartz and glass substrates using the thermal evaporation method. XRD results showed that the MoO₃ powder has a polycrystalline structure with an orthorhombic crystal system whereas the MoO₃ thin films have amorphous nature. SEM images showed that the MoO₃ thin films have a nearly uniform surfaces with worm-like shape grains. The film thickness influences on the linear and nonlinear optical characteristics of MoO₃ thin films that were examined using spectrophotometric measurements and from which, the linear optical constants of the MoO₃ thin films were estimated. The electronic transition type was determined as a direct allowed one. The values of the optical band gap were obtained to be in the range of 3.88–3.72 eV. The dispersion parameters, third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility, and the nonlinear refractive index of the MoO₃ thin films were determined and interpreted in the light of the single oscillator model. The temperature dependence of the DC electrical conductivity and the corresponding conduction mechanism for the MoO₃ films were investigated at temperatures ranging from 303 to 463 K.     

Effect of the particle size ratio on macro- and mesoscopic shear characteristics of the geogrid-reinforced rubber and sand mixture interface

As a new type of material for civil engineering projects, the rubber and sand mixture is widely used in roadbed fillers, offering environmental benefits over traditional tyre disposal methods. This study uses a large-scale direct shear apparatus to examine the interface shear properties of the geogrid-reinforced rubber and sand mixture, considering different particle size ratios (r), rubber contents, and normal stresses. Based on indoor tests, direct shear models of the mixture with different values of r are established in PFC^3D, revealing the meso-mechanical mechanism of the mixture in the direct shear process. The results show that when r is greater than 1, incorporating a certain amount of rubber particles can increase the shear strength of the mixture. The r values of 15.78, 7.63, and 3.98 correspond to an optimal rubber content of 30%, 10%, and 20%, respectively. When r is less than 1, mixing rubber particles can only reduce the shear strength of the mixture. When the rubber content is low, the smaller the value of r, the greater is the thickness of the shear band. Furthermore, the normal and tangential contact forces are greater. The fabric anisotropy evolution law of the mixture is consistent with the change in the contact force distribution.     

Characterization of Bi2O3 thin films for doping photoluminescent Er3+ ions

Undoped and Er³⁺-doped Bi₂O₃ thin films were sputter-deposited on Si(100) substrates. Sufficiently oxidized Bi₂O₃ films with refractive indices between 2.17?2.23 were obtained at a wavelength of 633 nm; these values are comparable to those of bulk Bi₂O₃ crystals. While the film composition was stable for deposition temperatures between room temperature (RT) and 450 °C, the refractive index steeply decreased above 450 °C and reached 1.4 at 600 °C. The lowering of the optical transmittance spectra indicated aggregation of metallic Bi and darkening of the film. All films exhibited X-ray diffraction patterns of α-Bi₂O₃. The direct and indirect bandgap energies derived from the Tauc plots were 3.4–3.7 eV and 1.9–2.5 eV, respectively, depending on the O₂ flow rate and deposition temperature. Upon excitation of Er³⁺-doped Bi₂O₃ films at 532 nm, Er³⁺ emissions peaking at 1537 and 1541 nm appeared, and the photoluminescence spectra included fine structures reflecting crystal-field splitting. Resonant excitation of Er³⁺ 4f levels and indirect excitation via the defect levels of Bi₂O₃ followed by energy transfer to Er³⁺ contributed to the emission. The films deposited at RT with Er concentrations of 2 at.% had the emission intensity of Er³⁺, but concentration quenching strongly suppressed the Er³⁺ emission because the doped Er³⁺ ions stayed inside the Bi₂O₃ crystals. At deposition temperatures above 400 °C, the concentration quenching was mitigated possibly because out-diffusion of Er³⁺ ions reduced the effective number of Er³⁺ ions in the Bi₂O₃ crystalline domains.     

Growth mechanism and gas-sensing characteristics of organic-additive-free zinc oxide of various shapes

Zinc oxide is widely used in gas sensors, solar cells, and photocatalysts because of its wide bandgap and exciton binding energy of 60 meV in various metal oxides. To use ZnO as a gas sensor, it is necessary to synthesize it with surface defects and a large specific surface area. In this study, hydrothermal synthesis without surfactants was employed to obtain organic-additive-free ZnO. For morphology control, we varied the ratio of the hydroxide ion concentration to the zinc ion concentration. To confirm the growth mechanism of ZnO, we performed X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy analyses. Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence measurements were performed to analyze the surface properties. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method and probe stations were used to measure the specific surface area and sensitivity of the gas sensor, respectively. The results confirmed that flower-shaped ZnO is the most suitable gas-sensing material.     

Systematic convergence of nonlinear stochastic estimators on the Special Orthogonal Group SO(3)

This paper introduces two novel nonlinear stochastic attitude estimators developed on the Special Orthogonal Group with the tracking error of the normalized Euclidean distance meeting predefined transient and steady‐state characteristics. The tracking error is confined to initially start within a predetermined large set such that the transient performance is guaranteed to obey dynamically reducing boundaries and decrease smoothly and asymptotically to the origin in probability from almost any initial condition. The proposed estimators produce accurate attitude estimates with remarkable convergence properties using measurements obtained from low‐cost inertial measurement units. The estimators proposed in continuous form are complemented by their discrete versions for the implementation purposes. The simulation results illustrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed estimators against uncertain measurements and large initialization error, whether in continuous or discrete form.     

A broadband filter with two transmission zeros adopting a new design method

A new design method was proposed in this article to insert transmission zeros in the broadband filters. In this method, the coupling line was connected to a certain position on the resonator. And then the coupling strength was adjusted by the connecting position. The open end of the resonator was hung and then the cross‐coupling was introduced to realize transmission zeros. This coupling method could add an adjustable parameter to improve the freedom of design and convenient to insert the transmission zeros. To verify this method, a highly selective coupled‐line microstrip filter with two transmission zeros was designed, fabricated, and measured. The measured results were in good agreement with the simulated ones. The return and insertion losses of the broadband filter were better than 18 and 2 dB, respectively. The relative bandwidth of the filter (FBW) was more than 68%. The rectangular coefficient (30 dB:1 dB) was less than 1.21.     

Passive target detection and tracking from electromagnetic field measurements

This paper presents a novel approach to the localization of moving targets in a complex environment based on the measurement of the perturbations induced by the target presence on an independently‐generated time‐varying electromagnetic field. Field perturbations are measured via a set of sensors deployed over the domain of interest and used to detect and track a possible target by resorting to a particle Bernoulli filter (PBF). To comply with real‐time operation, the PBF works along with an artificial neural network (ANN) model of the environment trained offline via finite elements (FEs). The performance of the proposed algorithm is assessed via simulation experiments.     

Microwave bandpass filter by feedback interference topology

This paper proposes a signal feedback interference topology to control the characteristics of a coupled line bandpass filter. Control is carried out by varying the ratio of the transmission line parameters of the forward and the feedback couplers. The topology produces a compact filter that does not require a complicated design or fabrication. The results of the insertion and return losses show that the feedback‐controlled design has desirable features in terms of the design frequency, fractional bandwidth, stopband rejection level, roll‐off rate and insertion loss. The test results of the fabricated prototype achieved good agreement with the simulation results of the ideal transmission line design model. Several microwave, modern wireless and mobile/satellite communication systems may benefit from such a filter design due to its compactness and flexibility.