Efficient analysis tool for coupled-SAW-resonator filters

The advantages of the coupled-mode (COM) formalism and the transmission-matrix approach are combined in order to create exact and computationally efficient analysis and synthesis tools for the design of coupled surface acoustic wave resonator filters. The models for the filter components, in particular gratings, interdigital transducers (IDTs) and multistrip couplers (MSCs), are based on the COM approach that delivers closed-form expressions. To determine the pertinent COM parameters, the COM differential equations are solved and the solution is compared with analytically derived expressions from the transmission-matrix approach and the Green's function method. The most important second-order effects, such as energy storage, propagation loss, and mechanical and electrical loading, are fully taken into account. As an example, a two-pole, acoustically coupled resonator filter at 914.5 MHz on AT quartz is investigated. Excellent agreement between theory and measurement is found.     

Modelling hybrid production systems through the ACD specification: a case study in the fibre-glass industry

This paper is aimed at formalising a model for hybrid production systems where the interactions between the continuous process parts and the manufacturing sub-systems are given by minor stoppages. The proposal is to represent the effects of the continuous process dynamics on discrete manufacturing sub-systems using autoregressive conditional duration (ACD) models originally conceived to treat high-frequency and irregularly spaced financial transaction data. The proposed methodology has been tested on a real-life fibre-glass production plant exploiting simulation techniques. The physical model of the furnace and spooling-bushing department has been run in two different conditions: (i) the fibre-glass breakings, i.e. minor stoppages, on the spooling-bushing machines are generated according to the proposed approach; (ii) historical fibre-glass breakings data are used. The comparison between the simulation results shows that for three spooling-bushing machines only out of 24, the daily throughput of completed spools and the empirical distributions for the uncompleted spools weight are dissimilar under the two different conditions. Therefore, the ACD-based model proved useful for representing the occurrence of fibre-glass breakings on the spooling-bushing machines and, in more general terms, for the logical modelling of the hybrid production systems, where the relationships between continuous and discrete parts are given by minor stoppages.     

Coupling of finite element and boundary integral methods for a capsule in a Stokes flow

We introduce a new numerical method to model the fluid–structure interaction between a microcapsule and an external flow. An explicit finite element method is used to model the large deformation of the capsule wall, which is treated as a bidimensional hyperelastic membrane. It is coupled with a boundary integral method to solve for the internal and external Stokes flows. Our results are compared with previous studies in two classical test cases: a capsule in a simple shear flow and in a planar hyperbolic flow. The method is found to be numerically stable, even when the membrane undergoes in‐plane compression, which had been shown to be a destabilizing factor for other methods. The results are in very good agreement with the literature. When the viscous forces are increased with respect to the membrane elastic forces, three regimes are found for both flow cases. Our method allows a precise characterization of the critical parameters governing the transitions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Silver content effect on rheological and electrical properties of silver pastes

The novelty of this work is laboratory formulation of environmentally friendly, water-based silver inks adapted for screen printing. The challenge was also to elaborate inks that can withstand temperatures as high as 900 °C. Indeed, when printed on ceramic substrate, they were sintered at these high temperatures. These inks can replace conductive silver pastes present in the market, today, and containing irritant solvents such as terpineol and other aromatic solvents. Besides, screen printing is considered as an additive technique, thus allowing reducing wastes. Furthermore, only with 72.5% silver, considered as low content compared to commercial inks (≥75%), prepared inks presented good electrical resistivity, 23 nΩ m, close to that of bulk silver resistivity, 16 nΩ m. Formulation of silver inks with spherical particles, 2–3 μm mean diameter, was performed. The aim of the study was to determine silver content effect on pastes rheological behaviour, lines properties (width, thickness and roughness) and electrical properties. Therefore, rheological behaviour of inks was studied; in particular, Casson and Bingham models were applied in order to determine the yield stress. Viscosity evolution as a function of shear rate was also determined. Besides, the thixotropic behaviour of inks was highlighted. Inks were then screen printed on alumina sintered substrates and cured at different temperatures during 15 min. Topography measurements were performed. Line resistivity as small as 35 nΩ m was measured on cured lines. These inks, printed on ceramic tapes, can be used to print microwave transmission lines, for which resistivities lower than 1 mΩ m are requested.     

Damage Evaluation in Woven Glass Reinforced Polyamide 6.6/6 Composites Using Ultrasound Phase-Shift Analysis and X-ray Tomography

The paper proposes a new experimental methodology, based on ultrasonic measurements, that aims at evaluating the anisotropic damage in woven semi-crystalline polymer composites through new damage indicators. Due to their microstructure, woven composite materials are characterized by an anisotropic evolution of damage induced by different damage mechanisms occurring at the micro or mesoscopic scales. In this work, these damage modes in polyamide 6.6/6-woven glass fiber reinforced composites have been investigated qualitatively and quantitatively by X-ray micro-computed tomography (mCT) analysis on composite samples cut according to two orientations with respect to the mold flow direction. Composite samples are initially damaged at different levels during preliminary interrupted tensile tests. Ultrasonic investigations using C-scan imaging have been carried out without yielding significant results. Consequently, an ultrasonic method for stiffness constants estimation based on the bulk and guided wave velocity measurements is applied. Two damage indicators are then proposed. The first consists in calculating the Frobenius norm of the obtained stiffness matrix. The second is computed using the phase shift between two ultrasonic signals respectively measured on the tested samples and an undamaged reference sample. Both X-ray mCT and ultrasonic investigations show a higher damage evolution with respect to the applied stress for the samples oriented at \(45^{\circ }\) from the warp direction compared to the samples in the \(0^{\circ }\) configuration. The evolution of the second ultrasonic damage indicator exhibits a good correlation with the void volume fraction evolution estimated by mCT as well as with the damage calculated using the measured elastic modulus reduction. The merit of this research is of importance for the automotive industry.     

A 2D topology optimisation algorithm in NURBS framework with geometric constraints

In this paper, the solid isotropic material with penalisation (SIMP) method for topology optimisation of 2D problems is reformulated in the non-uniform rational BSpline (NURBS) framework. This choice implies several advantages, such as the definition of an implicit filter zone and the possibility for the designer to get a geometric entity at the end of the optimisation process. Therefore, important facilities are provided in CAD postprocessing phases in order to retrieve a consistent and well connected final topology. The effect of the main NURBS parameters (degrees, control points, weights and knot-vector components) on the final optimum topology is investigated. Classic geometric constraints, as the minimum and maximum member size, have been integrated and reformulated according to the NURBS formalism. Furthermore, a new constraint on the local curvature radius has been developed thanks to the NURBS formalism and properties. The effectiveness and the robustness of the proposed method are tested and proven through some benchmarks taken from literature and the results are compared with those provided by the classical SIMP approach.     

Two-colour Dynamic Light Scattering

Abstract

The design, alignment and operation of improved two-colour dynamic light scattering equipment which effectively suppresses multiple scattering and allows the study of the Brownian dynamics of optically turbid samples is described. The technique operates by cross-correlating scattered light of two different colours. With the appropriate scattering geometry, only singly scattered light contributes to the time-dependent part of the measured intensity cross-correlation function thus allowing straightforward interpretation of the data. To demonstrate the performance of the instrument we have studied various colloidal suspensions. Although dilute enough that free diffusion of the particles can be assumed, the samples ranged from quite transparent to distinctly turbid. We have confirmed that the measured cross-correlation functions accurately reflect only single scattering even in the presence of strong multiple scattering.