Systemic reliability of bridge networks with mobile sensing-based model updating for postevent transportation decisions

This paper proposes the upscaling of conventional individual bridge health monitoring problems into urban regions and transportation networks via mobile and smart sensing techniques together with an innovative reconnaissance procedure. The paper associates structural failure probabilities with systemic features and proposes decision criteria to optimize postdisaster actions. Twenty bridges constituting transportation network infrastructure compose the testbed region and utilize smartphone accelerometers for dynamics characterization in a vibration-based framework. In this framework, reconnaissance output serves for model development, and mobile sensor data enable finite element model updating. Structural reliability analyses merged in a chain setting generate the systemic behavior of cascaded bridge performance. Combining systemic reliability with transportation and health services demand, one can optimize the response strategies of the bridge population and strategize disaster-related decisions in a postevent assessment setting. Based on a testbed region with remote access to nearby vicinities, 18 earthquake scenarios are conducted to visualize the optimal evacuation strategies on the network, taking systemic bridge performance into consideration. Cost-free mobile sensing support adds one more fundamental information source for reducing the uncertainty of the models and, therefore, improves associated mitigation actions.     

Static and dynamic analysis of functionally graded fluid-infiltrated porous skew and elliptical nanoplates using an isogeometric approach

The analysis of static bending and free and forced vibration responses of functionally graded fluid-infiltrated porous (FGFP) skew and elliptical nanoplates placed on Pasternak’s two-parameter elastic foundation is performed for the first time using isogeometric analysis (IGA) based on the non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBSs) basis function. Three types of porosity distributions affect the mechanical characteristics of materials: symmetric distribution, upper asymmetric distribution, and lower asymmetric distribution. The stress–strain relationship for Biot porous materials was determined using the elastic theory. The general equations of motion of the nanoplates were established using the four-unknown shear deformation plate theory in conjunction with the nonlocal elastic theory and Hamilton’s principle. A computer program that uses IGA to determine the static bending and free and forced vibration of a nanoplate was developed on MATLAB software platform. The accuracy of the computational program was validated via numerical comparison with confidence assertions. This set of programs presents the influence of the following parameters on the static bending and free and forced vibrations of nanoplates: porosity distribution law, porosity coefficient and geometrical parameters, elastic foundation, deviation angle, nonlocal coefficient, different boundary conditions, and Skempton coefficients. The numerical findings demonstrated the uniqueness of the FGFP plate’s behavior when the porosities are saturated with liquid compared with the case without liquid. The findings of this study have significant implications for engineers involved in the design and fabrication of the aforementioned type of structures. Furthermore, this can form the basis for future research on the mechanical responses of the structures.     

A DNA Segregation Module for Synthetic Cells

The bottom-up construction of an artificial cell requires the realization of synthetic cell division. Significant progress has been made toward reliable compartment division, yet mechanisms to segregate the DNA-encoded informational content are still in their infancy. Herein, droplets of DNA Y-motifs are formed by liquid–liquid phase separation. DNA droplet segregation is obtained by cleaving the linking component between two populations of DNA Y-motifs. In addition to enzymatic cleavage, photolabile sites are introduced for spatio-temporally controlled DNA segregation in bulk as well as in cell-sized water-in-oil droplets and giant unilamellar lipid vesicles (GUVs). Notably, the segregation process is slower in confinement than in bulk. The ionic strength of the solution and the nucleobase sequences are employed to regulate the segregation dynamics. The experimental results are corroborated in a lattice-based theoretical model which mimics the interactions between the DNA Y-motif populations. Altogether, engineered DNA droplets, reconstituted in GUVs, can represent a strategy toward a DNA segregation module within bottom-up assembled synthetic cells.     

Performance Analysis of Incremental Amplify-and-Forward Relaying Protocols with Nth Best Partial Relay Selection Under Interference Constraint

In this paper, we investigate two incremental amplify-and-forward relaying protocols in cognitive underlay networks. In the proposed protocols, whenever the secondary destination cannot receive the secondary source’s signal successfully, it requests a retransmission from one of M secondary relays. In the first protocol, we assume that a secondary relay with the Nth best channel gain to the secondary source is used to forward the received signal to the secondary destination. In the second protocol, relying on the quality of channels between the secondary relay and secondary destination and between the secondary relay and primary user, the Nth best relay is chosen for the retransmission. We derive exact closed-form expressions of the outage probability and average number of time slots for both protocols over Rayleigh fading channel. Finally, these mathematical expressions are then verified by Monte Carlo simulations.     

Determination of binding constants of cyclodextrins in room-temperature ionic liquids by near-infrared spectrometry

Near-infrared spectrometry has been successfully used to determine association binding constants between phenol and alpha-, beta- and gamma-cyclodextrin (CD) in [butylmethylimidazolium][chloride] room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL). It was found that adding CD into the RTIL solution of phenol resulted in an enhancement in the absorption coefficient of the stretching overtone of the aromatic C-H groups. However, the enhancement induced by CDs in RTIL is much lower (order of magnitude) than those corresponding in D20. The binding constants in RTIL are also much lower than those in D2O ((11 +/- 2), (16 +/- 2), and (40 +/- 6) M(-1) for phenol and alpha-, beta- and gamma-CD, respectively, as compared to 87 and 214 M(-1) for a- and beta-CD in D2O). The results obtained seem to suggest that in ionic liquid, the main interaction between phenol and CDs may not be inclusion complex formation but rather external adsorption. A variety of reasons may be responsible for relatively weaker interactions and lower binding constants in the ionic liquid, including differences in the polarity and viscosity of RTIL and D20. However, the main reason may be due to the possibility that the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium cation of the ionic liquid may form inclusion complexes with CDs either through its imidazolium moiety or its butyl group. Such complex formation would prevent phenol from being included in the cavity of the CDs.     

Visualizing chemical compositions and kinetics of sol-gel by near-infrared multispectral imaging technique

Kinetics of sol-gel formation were studied using the recently developed near-infrared (NIR) multispectral imaging instrument. This imaging spectrometer possesses all the advantages of conventional spectrometers. It also has additional features that NIR spectrometers cannot offer, namely, its ability to provide kinetic information at different positions within a sample. The high spatial resolution and sensitivity of the InSb camera make it possible for the imaging spectrometer to determine the kinetic from data recorded by a single pixel. Kinetics of sol-gel reactions, determined by this multispectral imaging instrument, show that the initial hydrolysis of the TEOS, MTES, or a mixture of these two alkoxysilanes is relatively inhomogeneous. The inhomogeneity is dependent on the number of pixels used to calculate the spectrum for each spot. Data calculated from a single pixel provide the largest inhomogeneity. No inhomogeneity was observed when an average of a large number of pixels (e.g., 10 x 10) is used for calculation. The inhomogeneities observed for TEOS sol-gels are different from those for the MTES sol-gels, and those for sol-gels prepared from a mixture of TEOS and MTES are relatively larger and more similar to those of the MTES sol-gels. A variety of reasons might account for the observed inhomogeneities including differences in the structure of the TEOS sol-gels and MTES sol-gels and the inability of the TEOS to mix well with MTES with the latter being more hydrophobic.     

Understanding the Self-Assembly of Cellulose Nanocrystals—Toward Chiral Photonic Materials

Over millions of years, animals and plants have evolved complex molecules and structures that endow them with vibrant colors. Among the sources of natural coloration, structural color is prominent in insects, bird feathers, snake skin, plants, and other organisms, where the color arises from the interaction of light with nanoscale features rather than absorption from a pigment. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are a biorenewable resource that spontaneously organize into chiral nematic liquid crystals having a hierarchical structure that resembles the Bouligand structure of arthropod shells. The periodic, chiral nematic organization of CNC films leads them to diffract light, making them appear iridescent. Over the past two decades, there have been many advances to develop the photonic properties of CNCs for applications ranging from cosmetics to sensors. Here, the origin of color in CNCs, the control of photonic properties of CNC films, the development of new composite materials of CNCs that can yield flexible photonic structures, and the future challenges in this field are discussed. In particular, recent efforts to make flexible photonic materials using CNCs are highlighted.     

Two‐Terminal Multibit Optical Memory via van der Waals Heterostructure

2D van der Waals (vdWs) heterostructures exhibit intriguing optoelectronic properties in photodetectors, solar cells, and light‐emitting diodes. In addition, these materials have the potential to be further extended to optical memories with promising broadband applications for image sensing, logic gates, and synaptic devices for neuromorphic computing. In particular, high programming voltage, high off‐power consumption, and circuital complexity in integration are primary concerns in the development of three‐terminal optical memory devices. This study describes a multilevel nonvolatile optical memory device with a two‐terminal floating‐gate field‐effect transistor with a MoS₂/hexagonal boron nitride/graphene heterostructure. The device exhibits an extremely low off‐current of ≈10^?14 A and high optical switching on/off current ratio of over ≈10⁶, allowing 18 distinct current levels corresponding to more than four‐bit information storage. Furthermore, it demonstrates an extended endurance of over ≈10⁴ program–erase cycles and a long retention time exceeding 3.6 × 10⁴ s with a low programming voltage of ?10 V. This device paves the way for miniaturization and high‐density integration of future optical memories with vdWs heterostructures.     

Near-threshold fatigue propagation of physically through-thickness short and long cracks in a low alloy steel

In this paper, the near-threshold fatigue behavior of physically through-thickness short cracks and of long cracks in a low alloy steel is investigated by experiments in ambient air. Physically through-thickness short fatigue cracks are created by gradually removing the plastic wake of long cracks in compact tension specimens. The crack closure is systematically measured using the compliance variation technique with numerical data acquisition and filtering for accurate detection of the stress intensity factor (SIF) at the crack opening. Based on the experimental results, the nominal threshold SIF range is shown to be dependent on the crack length and the characteristic of the crack wake which is strongly dependent on the loading history. The effective threshold SIF range and the relation between the crack propagation rate and the effective SIF range after the crack closure correction are shown to be independent on crack length and loading history. The shielding effect of the crack closure is shown to be related to the wake length and load history. The effective threshold SIF range and the relationship between the crack growth rate and the effective SIF range appear to be unique for this material in ambient air. These properties can be considered as specific fatigue properties of the couple material/ambient air environment.