A new efficient numerical method and the dynamic analysis of composite laminates with piezoelectric layers

Firstly, a numerical method for the inversion of Laplace transform is developed and its accuracy is shown through examples. Then, a state-vector equation for the dynamic problems of piezoelectric plates is deduced directly from a modified mixed variational principle for piezoelectric bodies and its exact solution for the dynamic problems of simply supported rectangle piezoelectric plate is simply given. For multilayered hybrid plates, we derive the solution in terms of the propagator matrices. The techniques accounts for the compatibility of generalized displacements and generalized stresses on the interface both the elastic layers and piezoelectric layers, and the transverse shear deformation and the rotary inertia of laminate are also considered in the global algebraic equation of structure. Meanwhile, there is no restriction on the thickness and the number of layers. As an application of the numerical inversion of Laplace transform presented in this paper, typical numerical examples of the harmonic vibration and transient response are proposed and discussed. Since the highly accurate numerical results, they can serve as benchmarks to test various thick plate theories and various numerical methods, such as the finite and boundary element methods for transient response problems.     

Lactic acid production from dining‐hall food waste by Lactobacillus plantarum using response surface methodology

BACKGROUND: Food waste generally has a high starch content and is rich in nutritional compounds, including lipids and proteins. It therefore represents a potential renewable resource. In this study, dining‐hall food waste was used as a substrate for lactic acid production, and response surface methodology was employed to optimise the fermentation conditions. RESULTS: Lactic acid biosynthesis was significantly affected by the interaction of protease and temperature. Protease, temperature and CaCO₃ had significant linear effects on lactic acid production, while α‐amylase and yeast extract had insignificant effects. The optimal conditions were found to be an α‐amylase activity of 13.86 U g^?1 dried food waste, a protease activity of 2.12 U g^?1 dried food waste, a temperature of 29.31 °C and a CaCO₃ concentration of 62.67 g L^?1, which resulted in a maximum lactic acid concentration of 98.51 g L^?1 (88.75% yield). An increase in inoculum size would be appropriate for accelerating the depletion of initial soluble carbohydrate to enhance the efficiency of α‐amylase in dining‐hall food waste fermentation. CONCLUSION: A suitable regression model for lactic acid production was developed based on the experimental results. Dining‐hall food waste was found to be a good substrate for lactic acid fermentation with high product yield and without nutrient supplementation. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

FEM model of the ohmic resistance of IP-SOFCs

In the present work, the ohmic resistance of an integrated planar-SOFC (IP-SOFC) has been evaluated by developing a model whose equations have been solved numerically through an FEM method. The model allows to estimate the distribution of voltage and current density in the cell. A comparison between simulated and experimental data of area specific resistance is reported, which shows satisfactory agreement. The mathematical model has also been used to carry out some parametric studies for optimisation purposes. Indeed, a reduction in cell pitch length and an increase in electrode thickness are predicted to lead to a reduction in ohmic losses in IP-SOFCs.     

Time-dependent modelling and asymptotic analysis of electrochemical cells

A (time-dependent) model for an electrochemical cell, comprising a dilute binary electrolytic solution between two flat electrodes, is formulated. The method of matched asymptotic expansions (taking the ratio of the Debye length to the cell width as the small asymptotic parameter) is used to derive simplified models of the cell in two distinguished limits and to systematically derive the Butler–Volmer boundary conditions. The first limit corresponds to a diffusion-limited reaction and the second to a capacitance-limited reaction. Additionally, for sufficiently small current flow/large diffusion, a simplified (lumped-parameter) model is derived which describes the long-time behaviour of the cell as the electrolyte is depleted. The limitations of the dilute model are identified, namely that for sufficiently large half-electrode potentials it predicts unfeasibly large concentrations of the ion species in the immediate vicinity of the electrodes. This motivates the formulation of a second model, for a concentrated electrolyte. Matched asymptotic analyses of this new model are conducted, in distinguished limits corresponding to a diffusion-limited reaction and a capacitance-limited reaction. These lead to simplified models in both of which a system of PDEs, in the outer region (the bulk of the electrolyte), matches to systems of ODEs, in inner regions about the electrodes. Example (steady-state) numerical solutions of the inner equations are presented.     

Nodally exact Ritz discretizations of 1D diffusion–absorption and Helmholtz equations by variational FIC and modified equation methods

This article presents the first application of the Finite Calculus (FIC) in a Ritz-FEM variational framework. FIC provides a steplength parametrization of mesh dimensions, which is used to modify the shape functions. This approach is applied to the FEM discretization of the steady-state, one-dimensional, diffusion–absorption and Helmholtz equations. Parametrized linear shape functions are directly inserted into a FIC functional. The resulting Ritz-FIC equations are symmetric and carry a element-level free parameter coming from the function modification process. Both constant- and variable-coefficient cases are studied. It is shown that the parameter can be used to produce nodally exact solutions for the constant coefficient case. The optimal value is found by matching the finite-order modified differential equation (FOMoDE) of the Ritz-FIC equations with the original field equation. The inclusion of the Ritz-FIC models in the context of templates is examined. This inclusion shows that there is an infinite number of nodally exact models for the constant coefficient case. The ingredients of these methods (FIC, Ritz, MoDE and templates) can be extended to multiple dimensions     

Ergodicity of filtering process by vanishing discount approach

A new approach to study ergodicity of filtering processes is presented. It is based on the vanishing discount approach to discounted functional of filtering process. We show that limit superior of the Cesaro averages of the functionals is the same for all initial conditions from which the uniqueness of invariant measures of filtering processes follows. The approach is based on certain assumption for which we provide a sufficient condition using concavity arguments. In addition we show the existence of solutions to the Poisson equation corresponding to filtering process with concave functional. The assumptions are then extended to the controlled case and using similar concave arguments we obtain the existence of solutions to the Bellman equation corresponding to partially observed average cost per unit time problem.     

Effect of 3D lip deformations on elastohydrodynamic lip seals behaviour

The numerical simulation of comparative elastohydrodynamic lubrication between axisymmetrical and 3D elastic approaches on the radial lip seals is presented in order to determine the 3D effect of the elastic aspect of the seal lip. Indeed, the consideration of 3D model in other words the circumferential variation of the lip elastic deformation indicated a difference in the deformation distribution of the lip compared to the axisymmetrical approach. Consequently, the results show that the presence of the circumferential variation of the seal lip deformation has a significant effect on the pumping rate values.     

Density of 1,1-dichloro-1-fluoroethane (HCFC 141b) as a function of temperature and pressure

The density of HCFC 141b has been measured at several temperatures between 260 and 320 K, Mid pressures up to 20 MPa, with a mechanical oscillator densimeter. The densimeter was calibrated with 2,2,4-trimethylpentane, whose density was obtained from a correlating cyuation with 0.3% uncertainty. The density data obtained for HCFC 14H) hits a reproducibility of 0.05% and an uncertainty of 0.3%. The data obtained were fitted to a Tait-type equation. which reproduced the experimental densities within 0.11 % and were compared with the data obtained in other works.Paper presented at the Twelfth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 19–24, 1994, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.     

激光与DNA作用系统的随机共振研究

建立了激光与ＤＮＡ分子系统相互作用的Ｆｏｋｋｅｒ－Ｐｌａｎｃｋ方程，通过对该方程的数值研究，发现在绝热近似下，系统发生随机共振，噪声强度，激光振幅和频率协同作用共同制约着生物系统的演化过程，噪声强度在生物系统遗传变异过程中可能起重要作用。     

耦合模模型的峰峰值与有效值

介绍了峰峰值和有效值的偶合模方程,给出了峰峰值P矩阵和有效值P矩阵的表达式。利用峰峰值P矩阵和有效值P矩阵模拟了纵向耦合谐振结构以及阻抗元结构的声表面波滤波器的频响。对比两种P矩阵的模拟结果,说明了峰峰值耦合模方程和有效值耦合模方程分析频响的等效性。