Analyzing soft tissue stiffness of human upper arms during physical dynamic and quasi-static impacts in human–machine interaction

Knowledge of the changes in the behavior of human soft tissue stiffness during physical impact in human–machine interaction (HMI) plays a vital role in the development of biofidelity testing devices such as a human dummy. These testing devices are widely applied as an effective means to validate the safety of machinery during dynamic or static contact with humans in HMI. In this study, we assess changes in soft tissue stiffness in the upper arm of individuals under both dynamic (0.7 and 0.25 m/s) and quasi-static (QS) impacts under a constrained contact condition. Three impactor shapes (cylindrical, cubic, and spherical) are used in this study. Impact experiments are conducted using impactors attached to a pendulum. The soft-tissue displacement is determined using an ultrasound device. The impact force-displacement curves illustrate the nonlinear behavior of the soft tissue stiffness under both dynamic and QS impacts. By utilizing the “Linear Mixed Model” statistical analysis, we found that changes in the impact velocity significantly influenced the changes in the nonlinear behavior of soft tissue stiffness while there was no significant effect of the changes in the impactor shape on the nonlinear behavior of the soft tissue stiffness. Additionally, we revealed that the changes in the soft tissue stiffness are influenced by the size of the contact area. Moreover, we demonstrated a range of changes in soft tissue stiffness for different impact velocities, which provide valuable information for developing future validation test devices in HMI, such as the design and evaluation of dummy skin.     

YIELD STRENGTH OF METALS AND ALLOYS

本文讨论了有关金属及合金屈服强度的若干问题,包括: 1.滑移和位错; 2.位错的增殖; 3.范性流变速率方程; 4.派尔斯(Peierls)应力; 5.温度对屈服强度的影响; 6.溶质原子的影响。     

The corrosion behaviour of chromium in hydrogen chloride gas and gas mixtures of hydrogen chloride and oxygen at high temperatures

A kinetic investigation of the CrHClO₂ system at 1 atm was carried out varying the oxygen content from 0 to 75 vol% at 400–800°C by the thermogravimetric method in stagnant gases and by measurements of weight loss and weight of sublimates after corrosion tests in flowing gases. In hydrogen chloride gas the corrosion rate is determined by the rates of formation and evaporation of a CrCl₂ scale: the scale was protective, to some extent, up to 600°C, but rapidly evaporated at still higher temperatures. The addition of oxygen led to suppression of corrosion loss up to about 500°C but to catastrophic corrosion at higher temperatures. The scale formed in the gas mixtures consisted mainly of Cr₂O₃ but vigorous vaporization of CrCl₂ and water occurred at the higher temperatures due to oxy-chlorination.     

基于μpd78F9222的无刷电机控制系统的实现

采用NEC微处理器μpd78F9222作为主控芯片,设计了具有价格和功能优势的无刷电机控制系统,可以应用于电动自行车的电机控制系统.该系统可替代目前大多采用的专用集成电路的设计方案,具有控制的实时性强、稳定性好,电路简单、性价比高等特点,目前已进入试生产阶段,具有良好市场前景.     

Effect of Small Amounts of Ni on Liquid-Cu Embrittlement in Hot-Rolled Mild Steel After High-Temperature Oxidation

The effects of additions of as little as 0.02%Nito mild steel on the morphology of the scale-steelinterface and surface cracking were studied duringhigh-temperature oxidation and subsequent hot-ductility tests of 0.5%Cu-bearing steel. Liquid-Cuembrittlement occurs in a steel containing0.5%Cu-0.001%Ni because of concentrated liquid-Cu layerat the scale-steel interface over the temperature rangeof 1100-1300°C. The addition of as little as0.023%Ni to 0.50%Cu-containing steel recovers theductility in the oxidation temperature range of1250-1300°C. This is because liquid-Cu particles areoccluded into the scale. Thus, the amount of enriched Cuper unit surface area decreases at the scale-steelinterface. It is suggested that liquid-Cu particleocclusion, which has not yet been elucidated, results from heterogeneous enrichment of Ni andheterogeneous oxidation at the scale-steelinterface.     

Surface area and pore size characteristics of nanoporous gold subjected to thermal, mechanical, or surface modification studied using gas adsorption isotherms, cyclic voltammetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy

Nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms are used to investigate the Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) surface area and Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) pore size distribution of physically modified, thermally annealed, and octadecanethiol functionalized np-Au monoliths. We present the full adsorption-desorption isotherms for N(2) gas on np-Au, and observe type IV isotherms and type H1 hysteresis loops. The evolution of the np-Au under various thermal annealing treatments was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The images of both the exterior and interior of the thermally annealed np-Au show that the porosity of all free standing np-Au structures decreases as the heat treatment temperature increases. The modification of the np-Au surface with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of C(18)-SH (coverage of 2.94 × 10(14) molecules cm(-2) based from the decomposition of the C(18)-SH using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)), was found to reduce the strength of the interaction of nitrogen gas with the np-Au surface, as reflected by a decrease in the 'C' parameter of the BET equation. From cyclic voltammetry studies, we found that the surface area of the np-Au monoliths annealed at elevated temperatures followed the same trend with annealing temperature as found in the BET surface area study and SEM morphology characterization. The study highlights the ability to control free-standing nanoporous gold monoliths with high surface area, and well-defined, tunable pore morphology.     

Development of a predictive program for microbial growth under various temperature conditions

A predictive program for microbial growth under various temperature conditions was developed with a mathematical model. The model was a new logistic model recently developed by us. The program predicts Escherichia coli growth in broth, Staphylococcus aureus growth and its enterotoxin production in milk, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus growth in broth at various temperature patterns. The program, which was built with Microsoft Excel (Visual Basic Application), is user-friendly; users can easily input the temperature history of a test food and obtain the prediction instantly on the computer screen. The predicted growth and toxin production can be important indices to determine whether a food is microbiologically safe or not. This program should be a useful tool to confirm the microbial safety of commercial foods.     

Enzymatic enrichment of arachidonic acid from Mortierella single-cell oil

An attempt was made to enrich arachidonic acid (AA) from Mortierella single-cell oil, which had an AA content of 25%. The first step involved the hydrolysis of the oil with Pseudomonas sp. lipase. A mixture of 2.5 g oil, 2.5 g water, and 4000 units (U) Pseudomonas lipase was incubated at 40°C for 40 h with stirring at 500 rpm. The hydrolysis was 90% complete after 40 h, and the resulting free fatty acids (FFA) were extracted with n-hexane (AA content, 25%; recovery of AA, 91%). The second step involved the selective esterification of the fatty acids with lauryl alcohol and Candida rugosa lipase. A mixture of 3.5 g fatty acids/lauryl alcohol (1:1, mol/mol), 1.5 g water, and 1000 U Candida lipase was incubated at 30°C for 16 h with stirring at 500 rpm. Under these conditions, 55% of the fatty acids were esterified, and the AA content in the FFA fraction was raised to 51% with a 92% yield. The long-chain saturated fatty acids in the FFA fraction were eliminated as urea adducts. This procedure raised the AA content to 63%. To further elevate the AA content, the fatty acids were esterified again in the same manner with Candida lipase. The repeated esterification raised the AA content to 75% with a recovery of 71% of its initial content.     

On-Site Nonlinear Hysteresis Curves and Dynamic Soil Properties

Strong motion records at five vertical array sites in Japan are used to examine soil shear modulus and material damping as a function of shear strain during large earthquakes. Acceleration data from the sites are processed directly for evaluation of site shear stress-strain hysteresis curves for different time windows of the record. Results of the analysis demonstrate a significant nonlinear ground response at the sites with surface peak ground accelerations exceeding 90 gal. The results of shear stress-strain hysteresis curves are also used to estimate variation of soil shear modulus and material damping characteristics with shear strain amplitude at each site. The identified shear modulus-shear strain and damping ratio-shear strain relationships are in general agreement with published laboratory results. These response interpretations are also compared with the results of a frequency-domain analysis by using the spectral ratio (uphole∕downhole) technique. There is general agreement between the time- and frequency-domain results. The results illustrate the significance of the site nonlinearity during strong ground motions as well as the accuracy of the dynamic soil properties obtained from laboratory tests.