Stick–slip friction of gecko-mimetic flaps on smooth and rough surfaces

The discovery and understanding of gecko ‘frictional-adhesion’ adhering and climbing mechanism has allowed researchers to mimic and create gecko-inspired adhesives. A few experimental and theoretical approaches have been taken to understand the effect of surface roughness on synthetic adhesive performance, and the implications of stick–slip friction during shearing. This work extends previous studies by using a modified surface forces apparatus to quantitatively measure and model frictional forces between arrays of polydimethylsiloxane gecko footpad-mimetic tilted microflaps against smooth and rough glass surfaces. Constant attachments and detachments occur between the surfaces during shearing, as described by an avalanche model. These detachments ultimately result in failure of the adhesion interface and have been characterized in this study. Stick–slip friction disappears with increasing velocity when the flaps are sheared against a smooth silica surface; however, stick–slip was always present at all velocities and loads tested when shearing the flaps against rough glass surfaces. These results demonstrate the significance of pre-load, shearing velocity, shearing distances, commensurability and shearing direction of gecko-mimetic adhesives and provide us a simple model for analysing and/or designing such systems.     

Revamping of the 1A/1M Cat Cracker. Increasing Output by 40%

Revamping of the 1A/1M cat cracker with introduction of new technologies and equipment units is described: feedstock and sludge nozzles, single–stage reactor cyclones, two–stage catalyst stripping, air– and steam–distributing devices, and two–stage regenerator cyclones. The output of the unit increased by 40%, and the yield and octane characteristics of the naphtha cut increased as a result, and grounds were created for converting the unit to a two–year operating cycle between repairs.     

Statistical processing of test data in temperature distributions in reinfoeced panels

A method is given for statistical processing via the t test in estimation of the population mean and confidence limits for small samples.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 113–115, July, 1975.     

Dynamics of shells of revolution under axisymmetric load involving shear deformation

A general solution procedure, based on the linear theory, is presented for arbitrary shells of revolution subjected to arbitrary axisymmetric dynamic loads. The equations of motion admit shear deformation and rotational inertia. The numerical solution is obtained by Houbolt's method and by finite differences.     

A Critical Review on Functionalization of Air‐Cathodes for Nonaqueous Li–O2 Batteries

This review reports on the most updated technological aspects of Li–air battery cathode materials. It provides the reader with recent developments, alongside critical views. The requirements for air‐cathodes, as well as the classification and characterization of carbon‐based and carbon‐free air cathodes, are listed. The effects of two major substituent groups of materials, namely carbon and advanced materials (metals, metal‐oxides, metal‐carbides, and metal‐nitrides) aimed at replacing carbon, are discussed in terms of their chemical and electrochemical stability. The report covers aspects of surface chemistry and structure influence on the electrolyte and discharge products stability. The review also reports on the efforts to suppress side reactions and deterioration of the polymeric binders (if a composite electrode is being considered). This is recognized as a means to enhance Li–air battery performance. The report concludes with an outlook and perspective, providing the readers with some insight on other factors and their impact on the long road toward a viable air‐cathode suitable for Li–air battery operations.     

Detection of unanticipated faults for autonomous underwater vehicles using online topic models

For robots to succeed in complex missions, they must be reliable in the face of subsystem failures and environmental challenges. In this paper, we focus on autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) autonomy as it pertains to self‐perception and health monitoring, and we argue that automatic classification of state‐sensor data represents an important enabling capability. We apply an online Bayesian nonparametric topic modeling technique to AUV sensor data in order to automatically characterize its performance patterns, then demonstrate how in combination with operator‐supplied semantic labels these patterns can be used for fault detection and diagnosis by means of a nearest‐neighbor classifier. The method is evaluated using data collected by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute's Tethys long‐range AUV in three separate field deployments. Our results show that the proposed method is able to accurately identify and characterize patterns that correspond to various states of the AUV, and classify faults at a high rate of correct detection with a very low false detection rate.     

Graft polymerization of propylene sulfide on crosslinked polystyrene

Sulfur containing graft polymers that may be of interest as polymeric transfer agents were synthesized. Graft polymerization of propylene sulfide on crosslinked polystyrene beads was investigated; both crosslinked polystyrene and its chloromethylated derivative were grafted. Crosslinked polystyrene was metallated by BuLi–TMEDA and was used to initiate anionic graft polymerization of propylene sulfide. Graft polymers of high polypropylene sulfide content corresponding to 10 mmol s/g were obtained. The grafted polypropylene sulfide was evenly distributed across the bead cross section. No change in bead surface characteristics was observed. Grafting on chloromethylated polystyrene beads was achieved by reaction between the chloromethylene groups with sulfide groups of performed polypropylene sulfide, and with terminal sodium thiolate groups of living polypropylene sulfide.     

Emotional priming of pop-out in visual search.

When searching for a discrepant target along a simple dimension such as color or shape, repetition of the target feature substantially speeds search, an effect known as feature priming of pop-out (V. Maljkovic and K. Nakayama, 1994). The authors present the first report of emotional priming of pop-out. Participants had to detect the face displaying a discrepant expression of emotion in an array of four face photographs. On each trial, the target when present was either a neutral face among emotional faces (angry in Experiment 1 or happy in Experiment 2), or an emotional face among neutral faces. Target detection was faster when the target displayed the same emotion on successive trials. This effect occurred for angry and for happy faces, not for neutral faces. It was completely abolished when faces were inverted instead of upright, suggesting that emotional categories rather than physical feature properties drive emotional priming of pop-out. The implications of the present findings for theoretical accounts of intertrial priming and for the face-in-the-crowd phenomenon are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Design through making: crafts knowledge as facilitator to collaborative new product development

Collaboration between manufacturers and craft makers is believed by many crafts theorists to offer new originality, insight and specialist expertise to design for production. In practice, however, there exists a discrepancy between this ideal and a reality of unreconcilable cultural and methodological differences. This paper documents and discusses such a collaboration as an example of best practice with implications for managers, educators, designers and craft makers. It identifies a new role for craft makers with the appropriate knowledge and experience to act as bridges within companies, facilitating the adoption of design methodologies appropriate to changing priorities in the manufacturing industries.