Winglet geometry effects on tip leakage loss over the plane tip in a turbine cascade

The effects of winglet offset distance, winglet coverage, and winglet cross section on the over-tip leakage loss for the plane tip have been investigated experimentally in a turbine blade cascade for a tip gap height-to-span ratio of h/s = 1.36 %. The results show that the over-tip leakage loss for the full coverage winglet increases steeply with increasing the winglet offset distance. This loss generation is attributed to flow disturbances over the forward-facing and backward-facing steps within the tip gap. The winglet flush mounted to the tip surface provides the best result. With the leading edge winglet portion or without it, the both-side winglet always provides better aerodynamic performance than the corresponding pressure-side winglet or suction-side winglet. Longer coverage of the both-side winglet leads to lower loss. Therefore, the full coverage winglet performs best in the loss reduction for the plane tip. In general, thinner winglet leads to better aerodynamic result, and the winglet cross section having a slant bottom surface with the smallest thickness at its outer end is recommended.     

Noncovalent Functionalized Graphene-Filled Polyimides with Improved Thermal,Mechanical, and Wear Resistance Properties

A facile method is proposed to prepare poly-o-phenylenediamine (PoPD) noncovalent functionalized graphene (G)-reinforced polyimide (PI) nanocomposites. PoPD-G exhibited excellent dispersibility in various organic solvents. The structures of PoPD-G were characterized by Raman and UV spectrum, which verified the π–π interactions between PoPD and G. The effective exfoliation of graphene nanosheets was investigated by observation of the morphology of PoPD-G with SEM, SPM, and TEM. Compared to PI/G composites, the interfacial adhesion between graphene nanosheets and PI matrices promoted efficient stress transfer from PI chains to PoPD-G nanofillers. Polyimide nanocomposites with different incorporations of PoPD-G exhibited outstanding thermal properties. It is interesting to note that only 0.5 wt% PoPD-G-reinforced PI composites increased by 20.8% in hardness, enhanced by 84.0% in storage modulus, and reduced by 72.8% in wear rate compared with neat PI. The eminent enhancement was attributed to the facile dispersion of graphene nanosheets and strong interface adhesion between PI and PoPD-G.     

Kinetic theory for aquatic animal distribution simulation

Identifying the underlying mechanisms that influence the spatial patterns in populations improves the forecasts of the alternative management strategies on the spatial dynamics of the populations, which are critical for assessing and managing the fisheries and improving the water resource management. This paper described a new approach of the numerical model for the prediction of the aquatic animal distribution in the flows. The model was developed based on the kinetic theory of gases, the mechanism of the aquatic animal movement and the flow hydrodynamic patterns. The model was validated using the available experimental data and an acceptable agreement was obtained. A comprehensive parameter study was then conducted to help understand the impact and the sensitivity of each parameter to the aquatic animal distribution. The promising results of the model reveal the prospect of applying this model to the reliable prediction of the aquatic animal distribution within a relatively large water area.     

An efficient equivariant adaptive separation via independence algorithm for acoustical source separation and identification

To balance the convergence rate and steady-state error of blind source separation (BSS) algorithms, an efficient equivariant adaptive separation via independence (Efficient EASI) algorithm is proposed based on separating indicator, which was derived from the convergence condition of EASI, and can be used to evaluate the separation degree of separated signals. Furthermore, a nonlinear monotone increasing function between suitable step sizes and separating indicator is constructed to adaptively adjust step sizes, and forgetting factor is employed to weaken effects of data at the initial stage. Numerical case studies and experimental studies on a test bed with shell structures are provided to validate the efficiency improvement of the proposed method. This study can benefit for vibration & acoustic monitoring and control, and machinery condition monitoring and fault diagnosis.     

Dynamic observation of bainite transformation in a Fe-C-Mn-Si superbainite steel

The dynamic observations of bainitic transformation in a Fe-C-Mn-Si superbainite steel were conducted on a high temperature laser scanning confocal microscope. It is indicated that the mutual intersection of bainite sheaves often occurs during growth of bainite ferrite, resulting in an interlocked bainite microstructure. Moreover, bainite transformation is promoted by higher austenization temperature and the longer and finer bainite platelets are obtained. Further, The average growth rate of bainite after austenization at 1 100 ° is calculated as 5.8 µm·s^?1. In situ observation investigation makes it possible to identify bainite transformation in real time during isothermal holding.     

Improved visible transparency of SIO<Subscript>2</Subscript>/ZNO:AL /CEO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-TIO<Subscript>2</Subscript>/SIO<Subscript>2</Subscript> multilayer films with high UV absorption and infrared reflection rate

New visible transparent, UV absorption, and high infrared reflection properties have been realized by depositing multilayer SiO₂/ZnO: Al/CeO₂-TiO₂/SiO₂ films onto glass substrates at low temperature by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. Optimum thickness of SiO₂, ZnO: Al (ZAO) and CeO₂-TiO₂ (CTO) films were designed with the aid of thin film design software. The degree of antireflection can be controlled by adjusting the thickness and refractive index. The outer SiO₂ film can diminish the interference coloring and increase the transparency; the inner SiO₂ film improves the adhesion of the coating on the glass substrate and prevents Ca²⁺, Na⁺ in the glass substrate from entering the ZAO film. The average transmittance in the visible light range increases by nearly 18%-20%, as compared to double layer ZAO/CTO films. And the films display high infrared reflection rate of above 75% in the wavelength range of 10-25 μm and good UV absorption (> 98%) properties. These systems are easy to produce on a large scale at low cost and exhibit high mechanical and chemical durability. The triple functional films with high UV absorption, antireflective and high infrared reflection rate will adapt to application in flat panel display and architectural coating glass, automotive glass, with diminishing light pollution as well as decreasing eye fatigue and increasing comfort.     

Microstructure and properties of cement foams prepared by magnesium oxychloride cement

Microstructural features including pore size distribution, cell walls and phase compositions of magnesium oxychloride cement foams (MOCF) with various MgO powders and water mixture ratios were studied. Their influences on compressive strength, water absorption and resistance of MOCF were also discussed in detail. The experimental results indicated that moderate and slight excess MgO powders (MgO/MgCl₂ molar ratios from 5.1 to 7) were beneficial to the formation of excellent microstructure of MOCF, but increasing water contents (H₂O/MgO mass ratios from 0.9 to 1.29) might result in opposite conclusions. The microstructure of MOCF produced with moderate and slight excess MgO powders could enhance the compressive strength, while serious excess MgO powders addition (MgO/MgCl₂ molar ratios = 9) would destroy the cell wall structures, and therefore decrease the strength of the system. Although MOCF produced with excess MgO powders could decrease the water absorption, its softening coefficient was lower than that of the material produced with moderate MgO powders. This might be due to the instability of phase 5, the volume expansion and cracking of cell walls as immersed the sample into water.     

Influencing factors of the dynamic hysteresis in varying compliance vibrations of a ball bearing

We focus on the hysteretic characteristics of the varying compliance (VC) principal resonance in a ball bearing. The branches of the periodic VC response are traced by the harmonic balance method and the alternating frequency/time domain technique (HB-AFT) embedding Arc-length continuation, and the stability of these solutions is investigated by using Floquet theory. We find that the resonant response displays a swallow-tail structure due to the coupling nonlinearities between the Hertzian contact and the bearing clearance, which differs from the soft hysteresis of the non-loss Hertzian contact resonances. Furthermore, we find that period-1 VC branch cannot completely characterize the response of the system for a large bearing clearance, because multiple instability regions may occur from the cyclic fold, the secondary Hopf bifurcations, supercritical and subcritical period doubling bifurcations, in which case co-existences of period-1, period-2, and even quasi-periodic VC motions emerge in the hysteretic resonant range.     

A computational approach to characterize formation of a passivation layer in lithium metal anodes

Li metal anode is the “Holy Grail” material of advanced Lithium-ion-batteries (LIBs). However, it is plagued by uncontrollable dendrite growth resulting in poor cycling efficiency and short-circuiting of batteries. This has spurred a plethora of research to understand the underlying mechanism of dendrite formation. While experimental studies suggest that there are complex physical and chemical interactions between heterogeneous solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) and dendrite growth, most of the studies do not reveal the mechanisms triggering these interactions. To deal with this knowledge gap, we propose a multiscale modeling framework which couples kinetic Monte Carlo and Molecular Dynamics simulations. Specifically, the model has been developed to account for (a) heterogeneous SEI, (b) dendrite-SEI interactions, and (c) effect of electrolyte on Li electrodeposition and potential dendrite formation. This allows the proposed computational model to be extended to various electrolytes and SEI species and generate results consistent with previous experimental studies.     

Effects of Al:Si and (Al + Na):Si ratios on the properties of the international simple glass,part II: Structure

High-alumina containing high-level waste (HLW) will be vitrified at the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site. The resulting glasses, high in alumina, will have distinct composition-structure-property (C-S-P) relationships compared to previously studied HLW glasses. These C-S-P relationships determine the processability and product durability of glasses and therefore must be understood. The main purpose of this study is to understand the detailed structural changes caused by Al:Si and (Al + Na):Si substitutions in a simplified nuclear waste model glass (ISG, international simple glass) by combining experimental structural characterizations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The structures of these two series of glasses were characterized by neutron total scattering and ²⁷Al, ²³Na, ²⁹Si, and ¹¹B solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Additionally, MD simulations were used to generate atomistic structural models of the borosilicate glasses and simulation results were validated by the experimental structural data. Short-range (eg, bond distance, coordination number, etc) and medium-range (eg, oxygen speciation, network connectivity, polyhedral linkages) structural features of the borosilicate glasses were systematically investigated as a function of the degree of substitution. The results show that bond distance and coordination number of the cation-oxygen pairs are relatively insensitive to Al:Si and (Al + Na):Si substitutions with the exception of the B-O pair. Additionally, the Al:Si substitution results in an increase in tri-bridging oxygen species, whereas (Al + Na):Si substitution creates nonbridging oxygen species. Charge compensator preferences were found for Si-[NBO] (Na⁺), ^[3]B-[NBO] (Na⁺), ^[4]B (mostly Ca²⁺), ^[4]Al (nearly equally split Na⁺ and Ca²⁺), and ^[6]Zr (mostly Ca²⁺). The network former-BO-network former linkages preferences were also tabulated; Si-O-Al and Al-O-Al were preferred at the expense of lower Si-O-^[3]B and ^[3]B-O-^[3]B linkages. These results provide insights on the structural origins of property changes such as glass-transition temperature caused by the substitutions, providing a basis for future improvements of theoretical and computer simulation models.