The Hydrothermal Stability of Paper-Like Ceramic Fiber and Conventional Honeycomb-Type Cordierite Substrates Washcoated with Cu-MFI and V2O5/TiO2 Catalysts for the Selective Reduction of NOx by NH3

A paper-like ceramic fiber was employed as a monolith substrate for removing NO by NH₃. The stronger hydrothermal stability of the ceramic fiber washcoated with V₂O₅/TiO₂ was observed by the pre-calcination of the substrate, mainly due to the well dispersed AlPO₄ formed on the substrate surface improving the washcoating of the catalysts and moderating the phase transformation of TiO₂ from anatase to rutile.     

Excavation-induced hydraulic conductivity reduction around a tunnel – Part 1: Guideline for estimate of ground water inflow rate

Field observations indicate that current engineering practice does not consistently estimate ground water flows into unlined rock excavated tunnels due to various factors that analytical solutions do not take into account. These factors include significant geological features, groundwater drawdown, inadequate estimates of hydraulic conductivity from packer tests, and stress-induced rock-mass permeability reduction in the vicinity of tunnel (lining-like zone). A key variable that is not properly accommodated in current practice, is the hydro-mechanical interaction within the joints in the surrounding rock mass. The significance of this variable is discussed in the 1st part of the paper which presents an analytical solution assessing ground water inflow rate into a tunnel using a mathematical derivation that takes into account the excavation-induced rock permeability reduction in the vicinity of a tunnel based on hydro-mechanical coupling effect. In the 2nd part of the paper, results from numerical analysis are presented to verify the proposed analytical solution for estimating ground water inflow rate into a tunnel. Further studies are currently underway to identify other key variables and their impact on the behavior of unlined tunnels and hydrological flow regime in the surrounding fractured rock mass using a distinct element method program which can fully consider hydro-mechanical coupled behavior of joints.     

Molybdenum carbide embedded in carbon nanofiber as a 3D flexible anode with superior stability and high-rate performance for Li-ion batteries

The fabrication process and material design of flexible lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are essential in flexible portable devices. In particular, the carbon nanofiber (CNF)-based active anodes with flexibility synthesized using an electrospinning technique showed fairly stable cycling performance in the LIBs. In this study, we synthesized the molybdenum carbide (MoC) embedded in CNFs as an anode for LIBs (MoC/CNF) using an electrospinning technique with amorphous Mo precursor and polyacrylonitrile as the molybdenum and carbon sources, respectively, and using a heating process under an N₂ atmosphere. The as-prepared flexible MoC/CNF showed a 3D porous structure consisting of crystalline MoC and amorphous CNF. MoC/CNF, directly utilized as an active electrode without binder, conductor, or current collector, exhibited superior LIB performance, i.e. high capacity, cyclability, and high-rate properties. In particular, at a considerably high charge/discharge rate of 10?A?g^?1, the specific capacity of MoC/CNF (109?mAh?g^?1) was significantly higher than that of pure CNF electrode (3?mAh?g^?1).     

Three-dimensional locomotion control of single-legged robot: Resonance hopping and running direction

This study proposes a locomotion controller for a single-legged robot. The locomotion controller comprises five parts: virtual spring, height control, forward velocity control, body attitude control, and angular momentum control. First, we propose an effective method called a virtual spring to generate a springy force using a linear actuator. Two virtual springs are adopted to compute the energy exchange and to compensate the energy loss during hopping. A simple and intuitive method is proposed to implement resonance oscillation in terms of energy loss. A height controller is proposed based on the resonance oscillation using a virtual spring. In addition, a running direction controller, which has never been resolved in previous studies, is proposed. This novel controller can remove the unexpected angular momentum about the yaw direction during running. All of the proposed algorithms and methods are validated through dynamic simulations.     

Standstill Parameter Identification of Vector-Controlled Induction Motors Using the Frequency Characteristics of Rotor Bars

We propose a current injection-based estimator to identify accurately standstill induction motor (IM) parameters necessary for vector control. A mathematical model that faithfully represents the general deep bar effect is introduced. Then, two exciting signals with a different frequency are sequentially injected to track the parameters based on the frequency function of the rotor bar. The proposed methodology employs closed-loop control of an injected current due to little knowledge of the unknown motor, rather than the open-loop voltage injection approaches commonly used in sensorless control schemes. Subsequently, this control scheme proactively prevents electrical accidents resulting from inadequate open-loop voltage injection. Our developed specialized offline commissioning test compensates for the phase delay resulting from the drive, which significantly affects estimation precision. The effectiveness of the identification technique is validated by means of experiments performed on three different IMs.     

Quasi-isotropic bending responses of metallic sandwich plates with bi-directionally corrugated cores

In order to reduce anisotropic behaviors of sandwich plates with open channel cores under the bending load, bi-directionally corrugated cores were introduced. Bi-directionally corrugated core has two additional design parameters related with a corrugation pass than uni-directionally corrugated core, so that its properties with respect to core orientations can be controlled. Sandwich plate with bi-directionally corrugated core is designed optimally so that beam buckling of face sheets is reduced drastically and anisotropic buckling behavior in the face sheets is minimized. The cores fabricated by a sectional forming process were bonded with face sheets by adhesive bonding. Three-point bending experiments were carried out with respect to core orientations. It has been shown from the experiments that sandwich plates with bi-directionally corrugated cores exhibit quasi-isotopic bending behaviors and structural performances in sandwich plates.     

Spray jet penetration and distribution of modulated liquid jets in subsonic cross-flows

Modulated liquid jets injected into subsonic cross-flows are empirically studied by using a mechanical liquid jet modulation apparatus. Experimental investigations were conducted using water over a range of cross-flow velocities from 5 m/s to 143 m/s and with modulated liquid jet frequencies from 35.7 Hz to 166.2 Hz and so on. PDPA(phase Doppler particle anemometry) was employed to measure droplet diameter and velocity with various spray cross-sections from Z/d=20 to Z/d=60. The spray structure, penetration depth, SMD(Sauter mean diameter), volume flux and velocity characteristics of modulated liquid jets injected into cross-flows were examined. As oscillation of the periodic pressure that could make liquid jet moved up and down in cross-flow field, the mixing process was facilitated. This phenomenon has the advantage of mixing the spray concentration from the center area to the outer area. Also, a bulk liquid jet puff was detected in the upper field of the liquid jet surface. The modulation effect appears significant in the extent of the spray oscillation. The correlation equations for the liquid jet boundary of the upper and lower regions which related to the Strouhal number have been presented to predict the spray structure under modulation conditions. Because of the modulation frequency, an inclination of averaged SMD for the structured layer was evanescent which contributed to the promotion of the macroscopic spray mixing process. Cross-sectional characteristics of SMD had the same tendency over a range of various modulation frequencies. As the modulation frequency increased, the region of volume flux distribution also increased.     

Fabrication of Al matrix composite reinforced with submicrometer-sized Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> particles formed by combustion reaction between HEMM Al and V<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>5</Subscript> composite particles during sintering

To fabricate an Al-V matrix composite reinforced with submicron-sized Al₂O₃ and Al_xV_y (Al₃V, Al₁₀V) phases, high energy mechanical milling (HEMM) and sintering were employed. By increasing the milling time, the size of mechanically milled powder was significantly reduced. In this study, the average powder size of 59 μm for Al, and 178 μm for V₂O₅ decreased with the formation of a new product, Al-Al₂O₃-Al_xV_y, with a size range from 1.3 μm to 2.6 μm formed by the in-situ combustion reaction during sintering of HEM milled Al and V₂O₅ composite powders. The in-situ reaction between Al and V₂O₅ during the HEMM and sintering transformed the Al₂O₃ and Al_xV_y (Al₃V, Al₁₀V) phases. Most of the reduced V reacted with excess the Al to form Al_xV_y (Al₃V, Al₁₀V) with very little V dissolved into Al matrix. By increasing the milling time and weight percentage of V₂O₅, the hardness of the Al-Al₂O₃-Al_xV_y composite sintered at 1173 K increased. The composite fabricated with the HEMM Al-20wt.%V₂O₅ composite powder and sintering at 1173 K for 2 h had the highest hardness.