Designing Fast Fourier Transform Accelerators for Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing Systems

Designing accelerators for the real-time computation of Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithms for state-of-the-art Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) demodulators has always been challenging. We have scaled-up a template-based Coarse-Grain Reconfigurable Array device for faster FFT processing that generates special purpose accelerators based on the user input. Using a basic and a scaled-up version, we have generated a radix-4 and mixed-radix (2, 4) FFT accelerator to process different length and types of algorithms. Our implementation results show that these accelerators satisfy not only the execution time requirements of FFT processing for Single Input Single Output (SISO) wireless standards that are IEEE-802.11 a/g and 3GPP-LTE but also for Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) IEEE-802.11n standard.     

Chemical characterisation of marine aerosol at Amsterdam Island during the austral summer of 2006–2007

Atmospheric aerosols were collected in separate fine (<2.5 μm) and coarse (>2.5 μm) size fractions in the period December 2006–March 2007 at Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean. A major objective of the study was to assess biogenic impact on the marine aerosol. The samples were analysed for organic carbon, water-soluble organic carbon, major inorganic ionic species, and organic species, including methanesulphonate (MSA), dicarboxylic acids, and organosulphates. The concentrations of sea salt, non-sea-salt sulphate, and water-soluble and water-insoluble organic matter (WSOM and WIOM) were estimated. Sea salt dominated the composition of the aerosol and accounted for 83% and 91% of the sum of the mass of the four aerosol types in the fine and coarse size fractions, respectively. WSOM, which can serve as a proxy for biogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA), accounted for only 2.8% of the sum of the mass of the four aerosol types in the fine size fraction. MSA was the dominating organic compound with a median concentration of 47 ng m^?3. The organosulphates were characterised as sulphate esters of hydroxyl acids and a dihydroxylaldehyde, which may originate from the oxidation of algal/bacterial unsaturated fatty acid residues. No evidence was found for isoprene SOA.     

Entropy generation in an asymmetrically cooled slab with temperature‐dependent internal heat generation

The paper presents an entropy generation analysis for steady conduction in a slab with temperature‐dependent volumetric internal heat generation. The slab experiences asymmetric convective cooling on its two faces. The exact analytical solution for the temperature distribution is used to compute dimensionless local and total entropy generation rates in the slab. The total entropy generation rate depends on five dimensionless parameters: reference heat generation temperature Q, the heat generation–temperature variation parameter a, the temperature asymmetry parameter λ, and Biot numbers Bi₁ and Bi₂. Graphs illustrating the effect of these five parameters on the local and total entropy generation rates are presented and discussed. It is found that the total entropy generation in the slab can be minimized with a suitable choice of the cooling parameters. The paper corrects the flawed entropy results published recently. The present results for the special case of uniform internal heat generation confirm the results presented in a 2003 paper. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20404     

Effects of diameter ratio of adiabatic circular cylinder and tilt angle on natural convection from a square open tilted cavity

A numerical analysis is carried out to study the performance of natural convection inside a square open tilted cavity filled with air. An adiabatic circular solid cylinder is placed at the center of the cavity and the sidewall in front of the breathing space is heated by a constant heat flux. The top and bottom walls are kept at the ambient constant temperature. Two‐dimensional forms of Navier–Stokes equations along with the energy equations are solved using the Galerkin finite element method. Results are obtained for a range of Grashof numbers from 10³ to 10⁶ at Pr = 0.71 while the tilt angle varies from 0 to 45° and the diameter ratio of the cylinder is considered to be 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 with constant physical properties. The parametric studies for a wide range of cylinder diameter ratios and cavity tilt angles show significant features of the present problem in terms of stream functions and temperature profiles. The computational results indicate that the heat transfer coefficient is strongly influenced by the above governing parameters. It is also found that the average Nusselt number decreases when the diameter ratio increases. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.21001     

Contribution of crystallographic texturing to the sliding friction behaviour of fcc and hcp metals

Dry sliding wear tests were performed on two polycrystalline materials representing fcc and hcp crystal structures, i.e. aluminum and titanium, respectively. A block-on-ring type wear machine with a rotating ring made of AISI 52100 type bearing steel was used and variation of coefficients of friction with sliding distance was measured at a sliding speed of 0.13 m s⁻¹ and normal load of 10 N. The texture was evaluated during wear using an X-ray diffraction inverse pole figure technique for a range of sliding distances. Pole density distributions for the [0 0 0 1] and [1 1 1] poles for of Ti and Al, respectively, were then determined from the inverse pole figures. The texture evolution during sliding wear was subsequently related to the friction and wear behaviour. For the aluminum sample, a (1 1 1) texture developed parallel to the worn surface with increasing sliding distance (a six-fold increase in the (1 1 1) pole density as the sliding distance increases from 0 to 2714 m). The titanium sample (normal section) which had a preferred orientation with the basal poles, [0 0 0 1], parallel to the contact surface prior to testing, an increase in wear, i.e. sliding distance, did not change the texture. However, for the transverse section of titanium, the basal pole, [0 0 0 1], density parallel to the worn surface increased with increasing sliding distance. The shape of the coefficient of friction versus sliding distance curve was strongly influenced by crystallographic texturing. A drop in the coefficient of friction with the progressive development of the [1 1 1] and [0 0 0 1] texture was observed for both Al and Ti (transverse section), respectively, as a result of easy glide planes becoming parallel to the sliding plane.     

Lactone monomers obtained by enzyme catalysis and their use in reversible thermoresponsive networks

Enzyme-catalyzed transformations have a great potential in both the pharmaceutical and chemical industry to achieve complex and (stereo)selective synthesis under mild reaction conditions. Still, the implementation of biocatalysis in the prerequisite upgrading of inert synthons into activated monomers for polymer applications has not yet been fully realized. In this contribution, we show that scaled-up synthesis of bicyclic norcamphor lactone using an engineered Baeyer–Villiger monooxygenase (BVMO) is feasible to reach complete conversion of the corresponding ketone in 24 h in shake-flask. The lactone monomer obtained by enzyme catalysis was copolymerized with ε-caprolactone via ring-opening polymerization to study the impact of the additional ring on material properties. Moreover, four-arm star-like, homo and block copolymers were designed from ε-caprolactone, ε-decalactone, and norcamphor lactone and characterized for their structural and thermal properties. These newly explored macromolecules were functionalized with furan rings using the enzyme Candida antarctica lipase B which allowed the formation of thermolabile networks via the pericyclic reaction with bismaleimide by means of Diels–Alder chemistry. The bonding/debonding state of these star-like based materials can be tuned by a suitable selection of thermal treatment. The temperature-dependent reversibility was assessed by thermal analysis and solubility test. Our results presented here shed light on the high potential of the use of chemoenzymatic approaches in the synthesis of new functional materials with tuned physiochemical properties. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Applied Polymer Science published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48949.     

Influences of processing parameters and heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical behavior of Ti-6Al-4V fabricated using selective laser melting

Selective laser melting (SLM) has provided an alternative to the conventional fabrication techniques for Ti-6Al-4V alloy parts because of its flexibility and ease in creating complex features. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of the process parameters and heat treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V fabricated using SLM. The influences of various process parameters on the relative density, tensile properties, impact toughness, and hardness of Ti-6Al-4V alloy parts were studied. By employing parameter optimization, a high-density high-strength Ti-6Al-4V alloy was fabricated by SLM. A relative density of 99.45%, a tensile strength of 1 188 MPa, and an elongation to failure of 9.5% were achieved for the SLM-fabricated Ti-6Al-4V alloy with optimized parameters. The effects of annealing and solution aging heat treatment on the mechanical properties, phase composition, and microstructure of the SLM-fabricated Ti-6Al-4V alloy were also studied. The ductility of the heat-treated Ti-6Al-4V alloy was improved. By applying a heat treatment at 850 ℃ for 2 h, followed by furnace cooling, the elongation to failure and impact toughness were found to be increased from 9.5% to 12.5%, and from 24.13 J/cm² to 47.51 J/cm², respectively.The full text can be downloaded at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40436-022-00389-y     

Mixing strategies for zinc oxide nanoparticle synthesis via a polyol process

We report on the effect of mixing on the morphology of ultrafine zinc oxide nanoparticles synthesized via a polyol process using zinc acetate and water in a diethylene glycol medium. Three mixing strategies were considered: stirred batch, T‐mixer, and impinging free jets. The particle granulometry was accessed using the transmission electron microscopy and x‐ray diffraction methods. The nanoparticle size and polydispersity decreased with an increase in the local dissipated energy. In particular, the polyol process conducted in the same chemical environment at 353 K did not lead to the observation of nanoparticles in the stirred batch reactor but resulted in unconventionally small 6‐nm particles in the T‐mixer and impinging jet configurations. This result is apparently related to the micromixing eddy geometry described by the Kolmogorov length. The hydrodynamic flow patterns and energy dissipation were obtained from computational ?uid dynamics simulations, which are essential in the design, optimization, and scale‐up of the polyol process. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 1708–1721, 2015