柔性机器人的动力学建模及其控制*

本文首先综述了近年来在柔性机器人动力学建模方面所取得的进展，着重介绍了目前较常见的几种建模方法和模型，同时对柔性机器人的控制问题进行了评述，指出了今后研究的方向。     

硅单晶Czochralski法生长全局数值模拟I．传热与流动特性

利用有限元方法对炉内的动量和热量传递过程进行了全局数值模拟，研究了硅单晶Czochral—ski(Cz)法生长时的总体传热和流动特性假定熔体和气相中的流动都为准稳态轴对称层流，熔体为不可压缩流体，Cz炉外壁温度维持恒定，模拟结果表明：熔体流型及炉内传热特性与Marangoni效应密切相关，设置在晶体和坩埚间的气体导板能降低加热器的功率并改变熔体流型．     

Block constrained versus generalized Jacobi preconditioners for iterative solution of large-scale Biot’s FEM equations

Generalized Jacobi (GJ) diagonal preconditioner coupled with symmetric quasi-minimal residual (SQMR) method has been demonstrated to be efficient for solving the 2 × 2 block linear system of equations arising from discretized Biot’s consolidation equations. However, one may further improve the performance by employing a more sophisticated non-diagonal preconditioner. This paper proposes to employ a block constrained preconditioner P_c that uses the same 2 × 2 block matrix but its (1, 1) block is replaced by a diagonal approximation. Numerical results on a series of 3-D footing problems show that the SQMR method preconditioned by P_c is about 55% more efficient time-wise than the counterpart preconditioned by GJ when the problem size increases to about 180,000 degrees of freedom. Over the range of problem sizes studied, the P_c-preconditioned SQMR method incurs about 20% more memory than the GJ-preconditioned counterpart. The paper also addresses crucial computational and storage issues in constructing and storing P_c efficiently to achieve superior performance over GJ on the commonly available PC platforms.     

A parallel adaptive finite-element package based on ALBERTA

ALBERTA, a sequential adaptive finite-element toolbox, is being used widely in the fields of scientific and engineering computation, especially in the numerical simulation of electromagnetics. But the nature of sequentiality has become the bottle-neck while solving large scale problems. So we develop a parallel adaptive finite-element package based on ALBERTA, using ParMETIS and PETSc. The package is able to deal with any problem that ALBERT solved. Furthermore, it is suitable for distributed memory parallel computers including PC clusters. In this paper, we present the implementation of the package in detail, and address several key algorithms and strategies of parallelization. Finally, some numerical experiments are given to show the performance and scalability of our package.     

Cell morphology and focal adhesion location alters internal cell stress

Extracellular mechanical cues have been shown to have a profound effect on osteogenic cell behaviour. However, it is not known precisely how these cues alter intracellular mechanics to initiate changes in cell behaviour. In this study, a combination of in vitro culture of MC3T3-E1 cells and finite-element modelling was used to investigate the effects of passive differences in substrate stiffness on intracellular mechanics. Cells on collagen-based substrates were classified based on the presence of cell processes and the dimensions of various cellular features were quantified. Focal adhesion (FA) density was quantified from immunohistochemical staining, while cell and substrate stiffnesses were measured using a live-cell atomic force microscope. Computational models of cell morphologies were developed using an applied contraction of the cell body to simulate active cell contraction. The results showed that FA density is directly related to cell morphology, while the effect of substrate stiffness on internal cell tension was modulated by both cell morphology and FA density, as investigated by varying the number of adhesion sites present in each morphological model. We propose that the cells desire to achieve a homeostatic stress state may play a role in osteogenic cell differentiation in response to extracellular mechanical cues.     

A discontinuous least-squares finite-element method for second-order elliptic equations

In this paper, a discontinuous least-squares (DLS) finite-element method is introduced. The novelty of this work is twofold, to develop a DLS formulation that works for general polytopal meshes and to provide rigorous error analysis for it. This new method provides accurate approximations for both the primal and the flux variables. We obtain optimal-order error estimates for both the primal and the flux variables. Numerical examples are tested for polynomials up to degree 4 on non-triangular meshes, i.e. on rectangular and hexagonal meshes.     

How to identify water from thickener aqueous solutions by touch

Water detection is one of the most crucial psychological processes for many animals. However, nobody knows the perception mechanism of water through our tactile sense. In the present study, we found that a characteristic frictional stimulus with large acceleration is one of the cues to differentiate water from water contaminated with thickener. When subjects applied small amounts of water to a glass plate, strong stick-slip phenomena with a friction force of 0.46 ± 0.30 N and a vertical force of 0.57 ± 0.36 N were observed at the skin surface, as shown in previous studies. Surprisingly, periodic shears with acceleration seven times greater than gravitational acceleration occurred during the application process. Finite-element analyses predicted that these strong stimuli could activate tactile receptors: Meissner''s corpuscle and Pacinians. When such stimuli were applied to the fingertips by an ultrasonic vibrator, a water-like tactile texture was perceived by some subjects, even though no liquid was present between the fingertip and the vibrator surface. These findings could potentially be applied in the following areas: materials science, information technology, medical treatment and entertainment.     

Strand Current Distribution Modeling in Turbo-generators Using Finite-element Method Based on Proposed Dual Method

Abstract—The necessity of using a 3D model is one of the main problems for modeling Roebel bar transposition in turbo-generators by the finite-element method. This article proposes a 2D dual model for computing strand current distribution in the Roebel bar of turbo-generators. Considering the leakage and mutual inductances for each strand and the coupling inductances between them, the end winding region is modeled in this 2D dual model. In this article, the Roebel bar structure including 16 strands was considered, and these distributions are calculated for different transpositions using the finite-element method. In the finite-element method model, the circulating currents are calculated by subtracting a load current at each strand from the total of strand current. Also, for different transpositions, such as 90°, 180°, 360°, and 540°, the circulating currents are calculated using an analytical method. The obtained strand current distributions from the 2D dual model have good agreement with the obtained results from the analytical method for the 180° and 360° transposed coil models.     

塑料模板的支承研究与工程应用

塑料模板以质量轻、耐腐蚀性好、重复使用次数多等优点,深受工程界的欢迎.这种新型模板推广应用的关键是选择何种支承方法和如何确定支承位置.对现浇钢筋混凝土板的塑料模板支承进行研究,选择线性支承体系,并用薄板有限元方法进行数值分析,编制设计软件,可大大提高塑料模板支承的设计精度和速度,便于工程应用.