Analysis of interlaminar stresses in general cross-ply laminates with distributed piezoelectric actuators

This paper represents an analytical solution to determine the interlaminar stresses of general cross-ply laminates with piezoelectric layers as actuators under transverse mechanical loads. The three-dimensional constitutive equations of piezoelectricity are considered and the governing equations are derived within the framework of second-order shear-deformation plate theory as a set of partial differential equations. These equations are solved for two kinds of boundary conditions and the unknown assumed functions of displacement field are found. Numerical results show that this approach can generally predict the behavior of interlaminar stresses. Also, they clearly indicate the singular behavior of interlaminar normal and shear stresses in the boundary region near the edges of the laminate.     

Surface Treatment of Inorganic CsPbI3 Nanocrystals with Guanidinium Iodide for Efficient Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes with High Brightness

The remarkable evolution of metal halide perovskites in the past dec-ade makes them promise for next-generation optoelectronic material.In particular,nanocrysta...     

An in vitro model of human red blood cell production from hematopoietic progenitor cells

Hemoglobinopathies, such as beta-thalassemias and sickle cell anemia (SCA), are among the most common inherited gene defects. Novel models of human erythropoiesis that result in terminally differentiated red blood cells (RBCs) would be able to address the pathophysiological abnormalities in erythrocytes in congenital RBC disorders and to test the potential of reversing these problems by gene therapy. We have developed an in vitro model of production of human RBCs from normal CD34(+) hematopoietic progenitor cells, using recombinant growth factors to promote terminal RBC differentiation. Enucleated RBCs were then isolated to a pure population by flow cytometry in sufficient numbers for physiological studies. Morphologically, the RBCs derived in vitro ranged from early polylobulated forms, resembling normal reticulocytes to smooth biconcave discocytes. The hemoglobin pattern in the in vitro-derived RBCs mimicked the in vivo adult or postnatal pattern of beta-globin production, with negligible gamma-globin synthesis. To test the gene therapy potential using this model, CD34(+) cells were genetically marked with a retroviral vector carrying a cell-surface reporter. Gene transfer into CD34(+) cells followed by erythroid differentiation resulted in expression of the marker gene on the surface of the enucleated RBC progeny. This model of human erythropoiesis will allow studies on pathophysiology of congenital RBC disorders and test effective therapeutic strategies.     

Pattern matching of alarm flood sequences by a modified Smith–Waterman algorithm

Alarm flooding is one of the main problems in alarm management. Alarm flood pattern analysis is helpful for root cause analysis of historical floods and for incoming flood prediction. This paper deals with a data driven method for alarm flood pattern matching. An alarm flood is represented by a time-stamped alarm sequence. A modified Smith–Waterman algorithm considering the time stamp information is proposed to calculate a similarity index of alarm floods. The effectiveness of the algorithm is validated by a case study on actual chemical process alarm data.     

Effects of discrete source-sink arrangements on mixed convection in a square cavity filled by nanofluid

Laminar mixed convection of Al₂O₃/water nanofluid flow in a cavity in which the upper wall is moving from right to left has been studied numerically. Fifteen different arrangements of two discrete sources and four discrete sinks have been considered. This work shows when one source is located at the right side of the bottom wall and other one at the down half of the left wall, total heat transfer achieves its maximum value. The lowest heat transfer rate is achieved when more than two vortexes are created in the cavity (case 13 for Ri=1 and case 5 for Ri=100). In general, for cases with one overall vortex, the cavities which have separate sources induce better cooling and have higher Nu number.     

Application of the Electrodiffusion Method to Measure Wall Shear Stress: Integrating Theory and Practice

The electrodiffusion method has been used in fluid dynamic research for the past 50 years. It allows the measurement of wall shear stress, a crucial parameter, e.g., for the cleaning of membrane modules used in water filtration. Various authors have published articles dealing with the theory behind this technique. But no paper collects all the knowledge assembled over five decades of application. Here, comprehensive summary of the theory of steady flow, unsteady flow, and transient voltage step experiments is given. Factors influencing the accuracy of the measurements are discussed. Furthermore, a new approach to calibrate the system from voltage step experiments is introduced, and practical issues related to its application in flow measurements are discussed for an exemplary signal response to a near‐wall flow.     

3D Printing-Assisted Self-Assembly to Bio-Inspired Bouligand Nanostructures

Architected materials with nano/microscale orders can provide superior mechanical properties; however, reproducing such levels of ordering in complex structures has remained challenging. Inspired by Bouligand structures in nature, here, 3D printing of complex geometries with guided long-order radially twisted chiral hierarchy, using cellulose nanocrystals (CNC)-based inks is presented. Detailed rheological measurements, in situ flow analysis, polarized optical microscopy (POM), and director field analysis are employed to evaluate the chiral assembly over the printing process. It is demonstrated that shear flow forces inside the 3D printer's nozzle orient individual CNC particles forming a pseudo-nematic phase that relaxes to uniformly aligned concentric chiral nematic structures after the flow cessation. Acrylamide, a photo-curable monomer, is incorporated to arrest the concentric chiral arrangements within the printed filaments. The time series POM snapshots show that adding the photo-curable monomer at the optimized concentrations does not interfere with chiral self-assemblies and instead increases the chiral relaxation rate. Due to the liquid-like nature of the as-printed inks, optimized Carbopol microgels are used to support printed filaments before photo-polymerization. By paving the path towards developing bio-inspired materials with nanoscale hierarchies in larger-scale printed constructs, this biomimetic approach expands 3D printing materials beyond what has been realized so far.     

Effect of storage options on price-based scheduling for a hybrid trigeneration system

Trigeneration is efficient to supply cooling, heat, and power demands. Also, hydro (pumped) storage with zero fuel costs can increase profit when price-based scheduling problem is solved. The goal of this study is to investigate the effects of electric boiler, hydro storage, and heat storage tank on price-based scheduling problem for hybrid trigeneration (trigeneration-conventional-gas boiler) system. A heuristic algorithm is applied to a power system where in validation case, total cost reduction of 0.63% to 0.91% is reached as compared with reported in literature. The results show that the utilization of electric boiler, hydro storage, and heat storage tank leads to profit improvement by 4.58%. Also, a critical sensitivity analysis is conducted and the results show the significant effects of several factors on scheduling results.