Improving fiber-optic laser beam delivery by incorporating GRADIUM optics

The performance of a fiber-optic laser beam delivery system strongly depends on the fiber and the optics used to image the fiber face on the workpiece. We have compared off-the-shelf homogenous (BK7) and GRADIUM (axial-gradient) singlets to determine what improvement the GRADIUM offers in practice to the typical laser user. The realized benefit for this application, although significant, is much smaller than would be realized by a conventional imaging application. The figure of merit for laser-based materials processing is the 86% energy-enclosure radius, which is not directly supported by commercial ray-tracing software. Therefore empirical rules of thumb are presented to understand when GRADIUM (or any other well-corrected optics) will yield meaningful improvements to the beam delivery system.     

Improved biocomposite development of poly(vinyl alcohol) and hydroxyapatite for tissue engineering scaffold fabrication using selective laser sintering

In scaffold guided tissue engineering (TE), temporary three-dimensional scaffolds are essential to guide and support cell proliferation. Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is studied for the development of such scaffolds by eliminating pore spatial control problems faced in conventional scaffolds fabrication methods. SLS offers good user control over the scaffold’s microstructures by adjusting its main processing parameters, namely the laser power, scan speed and part bed temperature. This research focuses on the improvements in the fabrication of TE scaffolds using SLS with powder biomaterials, namely hydroxyapatite (HA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). Grinding of as-received PVA powder to varying particle sizes and two methods of mixing are investigated as the preparation process to determine a better mixing method that would enhance the mixture homogeneity. Suitable sintering conditions for the improved biocomposite are then achieved by varying the important process parameters such as laser power, scan speed and part bed temperature. SLS fabricated samples are characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). FTIR results show that the grinding and sintering processes neither compromise the chemical composition of the PVA nor cause undue degradation. Visual analysis of the grinding, powder mixing and sintering effect are carried out with SEM. The SEM observations show improvements in the sintering effects. The favorable outcome ascertains PVA/HA biocomposite as a suitable material to be processed by SLS for TE scaffolds.     

Melt flow behaviour of poly-ε-caprolactone in fused deposition modelling

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is an extrusion based Rapid prototyping (RP) technique which can be used to fabricate tissue engineering scaffolds. The present work focuses on the study of the melt flow behaviour (MFB) of Poly-epsilon-caprolactone (PCL) as a representative biomaterial, on the FDM. The MFB significantly affects the quality of the scaffold which depends not only on the pressure gradient, its velocity, and the temperature gradients but also physical properties like the melt temperature and rheology. The MFB is studied using two methods: mathematical modelling and finite element analysis (FEA) using Ansys(R). The MFB is studied using accurate channel geometry by varying filament velocity at the entry and by varying nozzle diameters and angles at the exit. The comparative results of both mathematical modelling and FEA suggest that the pressure drop and the velocities of the melt flow depend on the flow channel parameters. One inference of particular interest is the temperature gradient of the PCL melt, which shows that it liquefies within 35% of the channel length. These results are invaluable to better understand the MFB of biomaterials that affects the quality of the scaffold built via FDM and can also be used to predict the MFB of other biomaterials.     

Translation initiation sites prediction with mixture Gaussian models in human cDNA sequences

Translation initiation sites (TISs) are important signals in cDNA sequences. Many research efforts have tried to predict TISs in cDNA sequences. In this paper, we propose to use mixture Gaussian models for TIS prediction. Using both local features and some features generated from global measures, the proposed method predicts TISs with a sensitivity of 98 percent and a specificity of 93.6 percent. Our method outperforms many other existing methods in sensitivity while keeping specificity high. We attribute the improvement in sensitivity to the nature of the global features and the mixture Gaussian models.     

Effect of crystallization and interface formation mechanism on mechanical properties of film‐insert injection‐molded poly(propylene) (PP) film/PP substrate

A previous study has shown that the adhesion between the film and substrate of film‐insert injection‐molded poly(propylene) (PP) film/PP substrate was evident with the increases in barrel temperature and injection holding pressure. In this second part of the research work, the crystallinity at the interfacial region (i.e., region between the film and the injected substrate) was extensively studied using FTIR imaging, polarized light microscopy, and DSC in an attempt to determine the level of influence that crystallinity has on the interface and bulk mechanical properties. Consequently, a more thorough and clearer picture of the influence of the inserted film on the interfacial crystallinity and subsequently the substrate mechanical properties, such as peel strength and impact strength, has been revealed. The initial proposition that crystallinity could enhance film–substrate interfacial bonding has been confirmed, judging from the higher peel strength with increasing crystallinity at the interfacial region. Nevertheless, the change in crystallinity was not only confined to the interfacial region. With the film acting as heat‐transfer inhibitor between the injected resin and the mold wall, the total crystal structure of the substrate was substantially altered, which subsequently affected the bulk mechanical properties. The lower impact strength of film‐insert injection‐molded samples compared to that of samples without film inserts provided evidence of how the film could impart inferior properties to the substrate. The difference in cooling rate between the substrate and film might also cause other defects such as warpage and/or residual stress build‐up within the product. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 294–301, 2005     

基于矢量影响力聚类系数的高效有向网络社团划分算法

社团结构划分对于分析复杂网络的统计特性非常重要,以往研究往往侧重对无向网络的社团结构挖掘,对新兴的微信朋友圈网络、微博关注网络等涉及较少,并且缺乏高效的划分工具。为解决传统社团划分算法在大规模有向社交网络上无精确划分模拟模型,算法运行效率低,精度偏差大的问题。该文从构成社团结构最基础的三角形极大团展开数学推导,对网络节点的局部信息传递过程进行建模,并引入概率图有向矢量计算理论,对有向社交网络中具有较大信息传递增益的节点从数学基础创造性地构建了有向传递增益系数(Information Transfer Gain, ITG)。该文以此构建了新的有向社团结构划分效果的目标函数,提出了新型有向网络社团划分算法ITG,通过在模拟网络数据集和真实网络数据集上进行实验,验证了所提算法的精确性和新颖性,并优于FastGN, OSLOM和Infomap等经典算法。     

椒江二桥组合梁施工过程中剪力钉局部受力分析与设计优化

椒江二桥主桥组合梁采用双分离式闭口断面,为了悬臂吊装施工期间避开台风季节,采用两节段一循环吊装施工方法以节省工期。施工期间两节段组合梁之间湿接缝附近主梁刚度突变及吊装重量的成倍增加引起区域内剪力钉受力复杂,合理的剪力钉布置设计成为该施工方法的控制要素。采用ANSYS有限元程序详细模拟了组合梁在两节段吊装施工中的结构细节,计算分析了湿接缝附近剪力钉的受力情况。为了改善和优化湿接缝附近剪力钉的受力状态,提出了不同处理措施并对其进行计算分析和比较。计算结果表明,采用优化方案后湿接缝附近剪力钉受力状态得到改善,施工阶段组合梁结构安全。     

STUDY ON THE CONTROL SYSTEM OF HYDRAULIC MOMENT-ADJUSTED BRAKE FOR DOWNWARD BELT CONVEYOR

Having analyzed the drawbacks on the design of control system of hydraulic momentadjusted brake system, the author presents a closed loop control system in the process of start and braking of the conveyer. On the basis of the concept of the critical time and the critical acceleration and its deductions, the working mode of the conveyer can be identified and controlled in feedback, furthermore, thus realize the process of soft start. In the deceleration process, the author points out the problems that exist in the present control system and sets forward the control process that acted by the combined function of brake moment of motor and the drag torque of hydraulic brake at the beginning of deceleration, it will further improved reliability of conveyor system.     

A collaborative wheelchair system.

This paper describes a novel robotic wheelchair, and reports experiments to evaluate its efficiency and understand how human operators use it. The concept at the heart of the collaborative wheelchair assistant (CWA) is to rely on the user's motion planning skills while assisting the maneuvering with flexible path guidance. The user decides where to go and controls the speed (including start and stop), while the system guides the wheelchair along software-defined guide paths. An intuitive path editor allows the user to avoid dangers or obstacles online and to modify the guide paths at will. By using the human sensory and planning systems, no complex sensor processing or artificial decision system is needed, making the system safe, simple, and low-cost. We investigated the performance of the CWA on its interaction with able-bodied subjects and motion efficiency. The results show that path guidance drastically simplifies the control. Using the CWA, the wheelchair user needs little effort from the first trial, while moving efficiently with a conventional wheelchair requires adaptation.