Electrodeposition of lead dioxide on carbon substrates from a high internal phase emulsion (HIPE)

PbO₂ coatings on carbon electrode substrates were produced by anodic electrodeposition from a stationary high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) with the bath components added in the water phase. The deposits have a distinct structure consisting of 10–50 m high pyramidal aggregates, pitted with smaller pores. This is attributed to the growth of the deposits through the aqueous network of the HIPE emulsion that is, through the tortuous paths formed by its interconnected water cavities. The coatings thus produced are characterised by enhanced electrochemical activity towards the PbO₂/PbSO₄ transformation.     

A qualitative and quantitative study of steady-state response of towed floating bodies

The problem of multiple equilibria in steady towing of a floating body is considered. The two coordinates of the towing point are the main bifurcation parameters. An approach to bifurcation of steady-state equilibria using singularity theory reveals all qualitatively different bifurcation diagrams that occur locally. It is shown that these bifurcation problems may be viewed as paths in the universal unfolding space of the cusp catastrophe. The organizing centre for the towing problem is the pitchfork singularity. Numerical calculations suggest that results obtained by singularity-theory techniques are valid globally.     

An augmented reality interface for visualizing and interacting with virtual content

In this paper, a novel AR interface is proposed that provides generic solutions to the tasks involved in augmenting simultaneously different types of virtual information and processing of tracking data for natural interaction. Participants within the system can experience a real-time mixture of 3D objects, static video, images, textual information and 3D sound with the real environment. The user-friendly AR interface can achieve maximum interaction using simple but effective forms of collaboration based on the combinations of human–computer interaction techniques. To prove the feasibility of the interface, the use of indoor AR techniques are employed to construct innovative applications and demonstrate examples from heritage to learning systems. Finally, an initial evaluation of the AR interface including some initial results is presented.     

Large‐eddy simulation of turbulent flow past wind turbines/farms: the Virtual Wind Simulator (VWiS)

A large‐eddy simulation framework, dubbed as the Virtual Wind Simulator (VWiS), for simulating turbulent flow over wind turbines and wind farms in complex terrain is developed and validated. The wind turbines are parameterized using the actuator line model. The complex terrain is represented by the curvilinear immersed boundary method. The predictive capability of the present method is evaluated by simulating two available wind tunnel experimental cases: the flow over a stand‐alone turbine and an aligned wind turbine array. Systematic grid refinement studies are carried out, for both single turbine and multi‐turbine array cases, and the accuracy of the computed results is assessed through detailed comparisons with wind tunnel experiments. The model is further applied to simulate the flow over an operational utility‐scale wind farm. The inflow velocities for this case are interpolated from a mesoscale simulation using a Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with and without adding synthetic turbulence to the WRF‐computed velocity fields. Improvements on power predictions are obtained when synthetic turbulence is added at the inlet. Finally the VWiS is applied to simulate a yet undeveloped wind farm at a complex terrain site where wind resource measurements have already been obtained. Good agreement with field measurements is obtained in terms of the time‐averaged streamwise velocity profiles. To demonstrate the ability of the model to simulate the interactions of terrain‐induced turbulence with wind turbines, eight hypothetical turbines are placed in this area. The computed extracted power underscores the significant effect of site‐specific topography on turbine performance. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.