Investigation of viscosity effect on droplet formation in T-shaped microchannels by numerical and analytical methods

Both numerical and analytical models have been developed to explore the viscosity effect of the continuous phase on drop formation at a T-shaped junction in immiscible liquids. The effects of the generalized power law coefficient, the power law exponent and the yield stress on the mechanism of drop breakup, final drop size and frequency of drop formation are studied by using the numerical three-dimensional volume of fluid model. Droplets coalescence in Bingham fluids is observed in the beginning transient period. The effect of yield stress on drop extension is also discussed. Predictions of drop size by using an analytical force balance show satisfactory agreement with simulation results for Newtonian and power law fluids with different viscosity ratios. The approximation error associated with the analytical model for Bingham fluids is also acceptable. This analytical model can greatly shorten the prediction time as compared with the numerical model, which is helpful for on-line control.     

Auto-generation of IEC standard PLC code using t-MPSG

The objective of this paper is to reduce the development time of a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) by automating the task of code generation. For this purpose, we applied t-MPSG (Timed-Message Based Part State Graph). The t-MPSG is an extended finite state automata used to model and generate an execution module for a real-time shop floor controller system. In our proposed method, t-MPSG is used to model the formal specification of the controller system that can be translated into textual structure. After the verification of the t-MPSG model, it can be used as an input to the plc-builder tool. The plc-builder tool is an extended version of a conventional MPSG simulator. It can be used to translate the textual structure of the t-MPSG into an IEC standard PLC code. Finally, the generated code can be downloaded to a PLC emulator or a PLC device for the purpose of simulation and execution. The similarity in the hierarchical structure of the t-MPSG and the IEC standard PLC program has made it convenient to transform from one form to another. Furthermore, an illustration of the methodology to auto-generate IEC standard PLC code using t-MPSG is explained with a suitable example. Recommended by Editorial Board member Young Soo Suh under the direction of Editor Jae Weon Choi. This work was partially supported by Defense Acquisition Program Administration and Agency for Defense Development under the contract (UD080042AD). Devinder Thapa is a Postdoc Research Fellow in the Department of Industrial & information systems at Ajou University, Korea. He completed his Ph.D. from Ajou University in Industrial and Information Systems Engineering. His area of research is related to manufacturing automation and intelligent decision support systems. Chang Mok Park is a Professor in the Department of Technology & Systems Management at Induk Institute of Technology. He completed his Ph.D. in 2002 from Ajou University in Industrial Engineering. His research interest is related to manufacturing optimization, discrete event system simulation and signal analysis. Sang C. Park is an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial & Information Systems Engineering at Ajou University. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from KAIST in 1994, 1996, and 2000, respectively, all in Industrial Engineering. His research interests include geometric algorithms in CAD/CAM, process planning, engineering knowledge management, and discrete event system simulation. Gi-Nam Wang is the Head and a Professor in the Department of Industrial & Information Systems Engineering at Ajou University, Korea. He completed his Ph.D. in 1992 from Texas A&M University, in Industrial Engineering. He has worked as Visiting Professor at University of Texas at Austin during 2000–2001. His area of research is related to Intelligent Information & manufacturing systems, system integration & automation, e-Business solutions and image processing.     

3-D manipulation of millimeter- and micro-sized objects using an acoustically excited oscillating bubble

This communication describes novel 3-D manipulations of objects using an acoustically excited oscillating bubble deposited on a hydrophobic rod tip. The oscillating bubble captures various millimeter- and micron-sized neighboring objects including glass and polystyrene beads (~100 μm), fish egg, and live water flea (~1 mm). The captured objects are carried in a 3-D space by traversing the bubble tip, and released at desired positions by simply turning off the oscillation. Carrying performance is characterized along with high-speed imaging of oscillating bubbles by varying the frequency and amplitude of the acoustic excitation and the carrying speed. The higher the oscillation amplitude, the higher the carrying efficiency. The maximum carrying speed is measured at over 3 mm/s. This method is effective with a low-level acoustic excitation (bubble oscillation amplitude relative to the diameter ≤5%), possibly providing a cost-effective, soft-contact manipulating tool for handling biological objects.     

地磁场在缺陷微磁检测中的作用分析

地磁场在缺陷微磁检测中的作用是实现微磁检测定量化的理论基础;通过微磁学理论分析地磁场反复磁化铁磁性物质的物理过程,由于磁畴壁的移动,在缺陷区产生固定磁畴结点,固定磁畴结点内的磁场在缺陷处发生泄漏,形成可识别的缺陷信号,固定磁畴结点一旦产生其磁场强度远大于地磁场,地磁场对缺陷微磁检测的影响只会改变检测信号的幅值,不会改变缺陷信号的特征,揭示了缺陷磁场失而复得的原因,同时实验验证了地磁场在应力致磁效应中起到偏置磁场的作用,为在役设备微磁检测奠定了理论基础。     

基于偏振不敏感超材料的全光可调谐太赫兹慢光效应研究

太赫兹(terahertz,THz) 慢光效应可以有效地提升THz脉冲数据传输的安全性和存储性,而一般THz慢光器件对入射THz波偏振态变化敏感。本文设计了一种超材料结构,其微结构单元由一个十字型谐振器和4个U型谐振器构成。研究表明:基于超材料的THz慢光效应对线偏振光和圆偏振光均不敏感。通过对超材料结构的参数优化,获得到了最大群折射率为1 618的慢光效应。另外,本文在超材料微结构层和SiO₂衬底之间嵌入了一层二硫化钼(MoS₂)薄膜,当MoS₂的载流子浓度从1.7×10¹⁷ cm-3增大到5.1×10¹⁹ cm-3时,群折射率从1 566减小到26。实现了偏振不敏感全光可调谐的THz慢光效应。该研究有望为偏振不敏感和全光可调谐的THz慢光器件设计提供崭新的研究思路。     

Kinetically Accelerating Elementary Steps via Bridged Ru-H State for the Hydrogen-Evolution in Anion-Exchange Membrane Electrolyzer

Designing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts for facilitating its sluggish adsorption kinetics is crucial in generating green hydrogen via sustainable water electrolysis. Herein, a high-performance ultra-low Ruthenium (Ru) catalyst is developed consisting of atomically-layered Ru nanoclusters with adjacent single Ru sites, which executs a bridging-Ru-H activation strategy to kinetically accelerate the HER elementary steps. Owing to its optimal electronic structure and unique adsorption configuration, the hybrid Ru catalyst simultaneously displayed a drastically reduced overpotential of 16 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² as well as a low Tafel slope of 35.2 mV dec⁻¹ in alkaline electrolyte. When further coupled with a commercial IrO₂ anode catalyst, the ensembled anion-exchange membrane water electrolyzer achievs a current density of 1.0 A cm⁻² at a voltage of only 1.70 V_cell. In situ spectroscopic analysis verified that Ru single atom and atomically-layered Ru nanoclusters in the hybrid materials play a critical role in facilitating water dissociation and weakening *H adsorption, respectively. Theoretical calculations further elucidate the underlaying mechanism, suggesting that the dissociated proton at the single atom Ru site orients itself adjacently with Ru nanoclusters in a bridged structure through targeted charge transfer, thus promoting Volmer-Heyrovsky dynamics and boosting the HER activity.     

Plasmon-Assisted Self-Encrypted All-Optical Memory

All-optical responsive nanomaterials, which can rapidly switch between two stable states, have been regarded as the next-generation memories due to their potential to realize binary information storage and implement on-chip, integrated photonic neuromorphic systems. Rare earth oxides are preeminent candidates owing to their extraordinary luminescent stability and narrow optical transitions. However, due to the lack of simple and effective optical switches, it is difficult to realize all-optical data storage, encoding, and retrieval by pure rare earth-doped luminescent nanoparticles. Here, a rapid and high-contrast of 10⁴ luminescent switching of Y₂O₃:Eu³⁺ nanoparticle between the enhancement and quenching states is achieved by employing the strong light confinement and ultrafast thermal response of localized surface plasmon resonance. A self-encrypted all-optical memory is presented with optical information writing, encryption, reading, and re-writing, and a high-sensitivity synaptic response of emitters to frequency and light intensity flux, which can be harnessed to encrypt information flows and promote convenient and high-security information encryption. Such a convenient and secure plasmonic thermally assisted self-encrypting luminescent switch paves the way for constructing high-performance stimuli-responsive rare earth oxide crystals on demand and expanding their applications in various data encryption, anti-counterfeiting, and rewritable colouration devices.     

基于高密度子网格光线追迹的三维发射层析重建算法

三维(three- dimensional,3D) 发射层析技术(emission computerized tomography,ECT) 是一种简单、高效且准确的燃 烧场3D成像与检测技术,其中权重矩阵的计算 精度决定了层析重建的精度和质量。本文研究了一种基于高密度子网格光线追迹的权重矩阵 计算方法, 将被测区域划分为密度更高的子网格,并根据相机成像模型实现光线追迹,以确定离散网格 对投影像素 的权重因子。数值模拟和燃烧火焰重建实验表明该算法具有较高的精度和计算效率。该研究 对于3D发射层析技术的实用化具有重要的理论意义。