Attitude dynamics of coupled spacecraft undergoing fuel transfer

Multibody System Dynamics - This paper represents an explicit analytical solution for attitude dynamics of spacecraft combination during on-orbit refueling. Due to the fuel transfer from the...     

Study on the blackening phenomenon of leaded glass during microgroove molding using nickel phosphorous mold

Precision glass molding (PGM) is a recently developed method to fabricate glass microgroove components. Lead glass is commonly used as an optical material due to its high refractive index and low transition temperature. A nickel-phosphorous (Ni–P) plated mold is traditionally employed in the PGM process for microstructures optics. However, leaded glass is subject to color change and can blacken during the PGM process, reducing the light transmittance of microgrooves. In this paper, an equation for the redox reaction between Ni and Pb is proposed, which is based on the diffusion of inner Ni atoms to the surface of the mold and the standard electrode potential of the Pb ions in leaded glass. A viscoelastic constitutive model of the glass is established to simulate the compression stress distribution during molding. Finally, the effects of molding pressure, molding temperature, and mold material on glass blackening are studied. The results show that the blackening of leaded glass is caused by Pb enriching the surface. The rise in molding stress and temperature increases the deformation of Ni–P plating, which promotes the diffusion of Ni atoms. By adding a titanium incorporated diamond-like carbon (Ti-DLC) coating, the deformation of the Ni–P plating during molding is suppressed, and the diffusion of Ni atoms can be prevented. In this way, the blackening of leaded glass can be prevented.     

Analysis of nitrogen oxide emissions from modern vehicles using hydrogen or other natural and synthetic fuels in combustion chamber

The paper presents a calculated analysis of the equilibrium emission of nitrogen oxides on the exhaust of carburetor and diesel internal combustion engines. The temperature of fuel oxidation is assumed to be 1,400 °C while the pressure for carburetor and diesel engines is assumed to be 60 atm and 80 atm respectively. The studies have been carried out for natural and synthetic fuels such as hydrogen, ethanol, methanol, petroleum, diesel fuel and methane at the excess air coefficient corresponding to the fuel oxidation temperature of 1,400 °C. In the paper, the method for calculating the equilibrium composition based on the equilibrium constant and mass conservation equations has been applied. It is shown that with an increase in pressure from 1 atm to 60 atm for carburetor engines and up to 80 atm for diesel engines, the reaction of nitrogen dioxide formation may shift towards an increase in NO₂. The formation of NO may be not affected by the increase in pressure by virtue of the fact that the reaction proceeds without changes in the amount. It has been determined that NO is the major atmospheric pollutant. However, it would be advisable to use more extensively the fuels characterized by the lowest output of nitrogen dioxide (methane and methanol), since nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) related to the 2nd hazard class is appeared to be the most dangerous to humans. It has been revealed that the reduction in oxidation temperature using hydrogen as a fuel for electrochemical current generators may allow reducing nitrogen oxide emissions by more than an order of magnitude as compared to the best results for ICE.     

A nonparametric analysis of energy environmental Kuznets Curve in Chinese Provinces

Energy resources are an important material foundation for the survival and development of human society, and the relationship between energy and economy is interactive and complementary. This paper analyzes the energy consumption–economic growth nexus in Chinese provinces using novel and recent nonparametric time-series as well as panel data empirical approaches. The dataset covers 30 provinces over the period of 1980–2018. The empirical analysis indicates the presence of a nonlinear functional form and smooth structural changes in most of the provinces. The nonparametric empirical analysis validates the presence of a nonlinear unit root problem in energy consumption and economic growth, and nonlinear cointegration between the variables. Additionally, the nonparametric panel cointegration test reports evidence of convergence in energy consumption and economic growth patterns across the provinces. The nonparametric regression analysis finds economic growth to have a positive effect, on average, on energy consumption in all provinces, except for Beijing. Further, the energy environmental Kuznets curve exists between economic growth and energy consumption in 20 out of 30 Chinese provinces. The Granger causality analysis reveals the presence of a mixed causal relationship between economic growth and energy consumption. The empirical findings have important implications for Chinese authorities in planning for improving energy efficiency, decoupling between economic growth and energy consumption, and reducing the environmental footprint of provinces.     

Tungsten-based heterogeneous multilayer structures via diffusion bonding

Recent work has shown that tungsten (W) and other refractory metals with body-centered cubic (bcc) structures exhibit certain novel behavior when their grain size, d, is refined into the ultrafine (UFG, 100 nm < d < 1000 nm) or nanocrystalline (NC, d < 100 nm) regime. For example, it has been shown that bcc refractory metals with such microstructures show decreased strain rate sensitivity besides their elevated strength and vanishing strain hardening response. Consequently, under both quasi-static and high-strain-rate loading, plastic instability in the form of shear banding becomes the dominant mode of plastic deformation. Such behavior is long sought-after in certain applications. However, due to the technology used to refine the grain size (primarily severe plastic deformation), the inability to scale the dimensions of the material may limit wider use and application of UFG/NC bcc refractory metals. In this work, the feasibility was demonstrated of production of large-scale W parts using a diffusion bonding method. The microstructure, preliminary mechanical properties, and issues and challenges associated with the fabrication procedures were examined and discussed. It is envisioned that diffusion bonding may serve as a promising technology for scaled-up fabrication of UFG bcc refractory metals for the targeted application.     

Selective oxidation of glycerol over nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes supported platinum catalyst in base-free solution

In this communication, N-doped multiwall carbon nanotube (N-MWCNT) supported Pt NPs (1.8 nm) were prepared via a facile routine under microwave irradiation and tested in the selective oxidation of glycerol in an aqueous base-free solution. Characterizations confirmed that N-MWCNTs could improve the dispersion of Pt through strengthened metal-support interactions and donate its electron to metallic Pt. This electron-enriched Pt NPs on the surface of N-MWCNTs is active and stable for the selective oxidation of glycerol.     

A design of a robust discrete-time controller

In this paper, we proposed a robust discrete-time controller. This control system, which is derived from the idea of the normalized plant, does not include plant parameters. Thus, we obtain a control system independent of plant parameters and that has the same structure as a conventional optimal servo control system. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method is fairly robust to plant parameter variations and external disturbances.