Magnetoelastic modeling of circular cylindrical shells immersed in a magnetic field: Part II: Implications of finite dimensional effects on the free vibrations

In the context of free vibration analysis of axi-symmetric perfectly electro-conductive circular cylindrical shells, four simplified magnetoelastic load models are investigated. Concerning the model of circular cylindrical shells, a linear theory based on Love-Kirchhoff hypothesis is adopted. Due to the high complexities involving singularity of integral equations, infinite integral domains and excessive time needed to evaluate some kernels, special treatments are designed toward achieving highly efficient and highly accurate numerical computation. The influence of applied magnetic field, thickness ratio and dimensionless radius on free vibrations of circular cylindrical shells are further investigated and pertinent conclusions are outlined.     

Vibration and stability control of robotic manipulator systems consisting of a thin‐walled beam and a spinning tip rotor

Vibration and stability feedback control of a robotic manipulator modeled as a cantilevered thin‐walled beam carrying a spinning rotor at its tip is investigated. The control is achieved via incorporation of adaptive capabilities that are provided by a system of piezoactuators, bonded or embedded into the host structure. Based on converse piezoelectric effect, the piezoactuators produce a localized strain field in response to an applied voltage, and as a result, an adaptive change of vibrational and stability response characteristics is obtained. A feedback control law relating the piezoelectrically induced bending moments at the beam tip with the appropriately selected kinematical response quantities is used, and the beneficial effects of this control methodology upon the closed‐loop eigenvibration characteristics and stability boundaries are highlighted. The cantilevered structure modeled as a thin‐walled beam, and built from a composite material, encompasses non‐classical features, such as anisotropy, transverse shear, and secondary warping, and in this context, a special ply‐angle configuration inducing a structural coupling between flapping‐lagging and transverse shear is implemented. It is also shown that the directionality property of the material of the host structure used in conjunction with piezoelectric strain actuation capability, yields a dramatic enhancement of both the vibrational and stability behavior of the considered structural system. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Vibration Control of Composite Spacecraft Booms Subjected to Solar Heating

In this paper, piezoelectric feedback control of vibration and instability of spacecraft booms modeled as circular thin-walled cross-section beams and subjected to solar radiant heating is investigated. Having in view that composite material systems are likely to play a great role in the design of these devices, the beam constituent materials encompass non-classical effects such as anisotropy and transverse shear. In addition, in order to induce beneficial elastic couplings, a special ply-angle distribution achieved via the usual helically wounding fiber-reinforced technology, the so called filament winding, is implemented. The dynamic governing equations including the temperature effects and the related boundary conditions are obtained via the application of Hamilton's principle. Toward the end of controlling the oscillations and prevent the occurrence of the thermal dynamic instability, a feedback control capability based on the use of the piezoelectric induced strain actuation is implemented. The performance of its implementation considered in conjunction with that of the structural tailoring are highlighted and pertinent conclusions are derived.     

The MFS–MPS for two-dimensional steady-state thermoelasticity problems

We consider the numerical approximation of the boundary and internal thermoelastic fields in the case of two-dimensional isotropic linear thermoelastic solids by combining the method of fundamental solutions (MFS) with the method of particular solutions (MPS). A particular solution of the non-homogeneous equations of equilibrium associated with a planar isotropic linear thermoelastic material is derived from the MFS approximation of the boundary value problem for the heat conduction equation. Moreover, such a particular solution enables one to easily develop analytical solutions corresponding to any two-dimensional domain occupied by an isotropic linear thermoelastic solid. The accuracy and convergence of the proposed MFS–MPS procedure are validated by considering three numerical examples.     

Ultrathin conformal coating for complex magneto-photonic structures

We report on an extremely fast and versatile synthetic approach, based on microwave assisted sol-gel chemistry, that allows a conformal nanometric coating of intricate three-dimensional structures. Using this methodology, we have achieved a conformal coverage of large areas of three-dimensional opals with a superparamagnetic manganese ferrite layer, yielding magneto-photonic crystals with excellent quality. The use of a ternary oxide for the ultrathin coating demonstrates the potential of this methodology to realize three-dimensional structures with complex materials that may find applications beyond photonics, such as energy, sensing or catalysis.     

Exergetic Comparative Analysis of Ammonia and Carbon Dioxide Two-Stage Cycles for Simultaneous Cooling and Heating

The paper deals with the comparative analysis of the performance of cooling and heating systems operating with NH3 （ammonia） or CO2 （carbon dioxide）, both natural refrigerants. The study is based on the exergetic analysis that points out the location and the magnitude of a system malfunction. Both systems, with NH3 or CO2 operate in two stages. The exergetic analysis gives the direction of the structural optimization. The exergetic analysis has shown that the best structural schematic is not the same for the two agents. The exergetic analysis points out that the largest exergy destruction in the CO2 cycle is due to the throttling process and offers solutions to diminish it.     

Enhanced Bio-Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide by Using Neutral Red as a Redox Mediator

Microbial electrosynthetic cells containing Methylobacterium extorquens were studied for the reduction of CO₂ to formate by direct electron injection and redox mediator-assisted approaches, with CO₂ as the sole carbon source. The formation of a biofilm on a carbon felt (CF) electrode was achieved while applying a constant potential of −0.75 V versus Ag/AgCl under CO₂-saturated conditions. During the biofilm growth period, continuous H₂ evolution was observed. The long-term performance for CO₂ reduction of the biofilm with and without neutral red as a redox mediator was studied by an applied potential of −0.75 V versus Ag/AgCl. The neutral red was introduced into the systems in two different ways: homogeneous (dissolved in solution) and heterogeneous (electropolymerized onto the working electrode). The heterogeneous approach was investigated in the microbial system, for the first time, where the CF working electrode was coated with poly(neutral red) by the oxidative electropolymerization thereof. The formation of poly(neutral red) was characterized by spectroscopic techniques. During long-term electrolysis up to 17 weeks, the formation of formate was observed continuously with an average Faradaic efficiency of 4 %. With the contribution of neutral red, higher formate accumulation was observed. Moreover, the microbial electrosynthetic cell was characterized by means of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to obtain more information on the CO₂ reduction mechanism.     

Effect of fungi contamination in the chemical composition of Hungarian wines

The present study shows the effect of different types of mold, especially microorganisms isolated from the corks, on Tokaj white wines. The transformation in wine chemical composition induced by contamination with molds such as Penicillium chrysogenum, Penicillium expansum and Phanerochaete spp. was different in each type of mold. Molds can contaminate wine either by transferring from grapes contaminated or by non-hygienic conditions during wine technology. As a result of contamination, molds modify wine chemical composition in terms of total and volatile acidity, residual sugars, alcohol volume, total solids and ash.     

A comparison of bloat control methods for genetic programming

Genetic programming has highlighted the problem of bloat, the uncontrolled growth of the average size of an individual in the population. The most common approach to dealing with bloat in tree-based genetic programming individuals is to limit their maximal allowed depth. An alternative to depth limiting is to punish individuals in some way based on excess size, and our experiments have shown that the combination of depth limiting with such a punitive method is generally more effective than either alone. Which such combinations are most effective at reducing bloat? In this article we augment depth limiting with nine bloat control methods and compare them with one another. These methods are chosen from past literature and from techniques of our own devising. esting with four genetic programming problems, we identify where each bloat control method performs well on a per-problem basis, and under what settings various methods are effective independent of problem. We report on the results of these tests, and discover an unexpected winner in the cross-platform category.