Analytical modelling of residual stress in additive manufacturing

A physics‐based analytical model to assess residual stresses in additive manufacturing made of metallic materials is presented and validated experimentally. The model takes into consideration the typical multi‐pass aspect of additive manufacturing. First, the thermal signature of the process is assessed by predicting the temperature for the problem of a moving heat source, then, the thermally induced stresses in a homogenous semi‐infinite medium are determined. Taking the thermal stresses as input, the residual stresses are calculated analytically to obtain the distribution across the depth. Good agreement is obtained between the analytical prediction and X‐ray measurements made on Selective Laser Melted 316L Stainless Steel. In addition, the analytical approach enables in‐depth interpretations of results with basis in the true mechanisms of the process. Thus, the present model appears as a promising tool for optimization of process parameters in additive manufacturing, which in turn will improve the understanding of process parameters and their effect on properties of the final product.     

Compact,ultra-low vibration,closed-cycle helium recycler for uninterrupted operation of MEG with SQUID magnetometers

A closed-cycle helium recycler was developed for continuous uninterrupted operation for magnetometer-based whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) systems. The recycler consists of a two stage 4 K pulse-tube cryocooler and is mounted on the roof of a magnetically shielded room (MSR). A flexible liquid helium (LHe) return line on the recycler is inserted into the fill port of the MEG system in the MSR through a slotted opening in the ceiling. The helium vapor is captured through a line that returns the gas to the top of the recycler assembly. A high-purity helium gas cylinder connected to the recycler assembly supplies the gas, which, after it is liquefied, increases the level of LHe in the MEG system during the start-up phase. No storage tank for evaporated helium gas nor a helium gas purifier is used. The recycler is capable of liquefying helium with a rate of ∼17 L/d after precooling the MEG system. It has provided a fully maintenance-free operation under computer control for 7 months without refill of helium. Although the recycler is used for single-orientation operation at this initial testing site, it is designed to operate at ±20° orientations, allowing the MEG system to be tilted for supine and reclining positions. Vibration of the recycler is dampened to an ultra-low level by using several vibration isolation methods, which enables uninterrupted operation during MEG measurements. Recyclers similar to this system may be quite useful even for MEG systems with 100% magnetometers.     

A modified teaching–learning-based optimisation algorithm for bi-objective re-entrant hybrid flowshop scheduling

In this paper, a modified teaching–learning-based optimisation (mTLBO) algorithm is proposed to solve the re-entrant hybrid flowshop scheduling problem (RHFSP) with the makespan and the total tardiness criteria. Based on the simple job-based representation, a novel decoding method named equivalent due date-based permutation schedule is proposed to transfer an individual to a feasible schedule. At each generation, a number of superior individuals are selected as the teachers by the Pareto-based ranking phase. To enhance the exploitation ability in the promising area, the insertion-based local search is embedded in the search framework as the training phase for the TLBO. Due to the characteristics of the permutation-based discrete optimisation, the linear order crossover operator and the swap operator are adopted to imitate the interactions among the individuals in both the teaching phase and the learning phase. To store the non-dominated solutions explored during the search process, an external archive is used and updated when necessary. The influence of the parameter setting on the mTLBO in solving the RHFSP is investigated, and numerical tests with some benchmarking instances are carried out. The comparative results show that the proposed mTLBO outperforms the existing algorithms significantly.     

Continuum structural topological optimizations with stress constraints based on an active constraint technique

Stress‐related problems have not been given the same attention as the minimum compliance topological optimization problem in the literature. Continuum structural topological optimization with stress constraints is of wide engineering application prospect, in which there still are many problems to solve, such as the stress concentration, an equivalent approximate optimization model and etc. A new and effective topological optimization method of continuum structures with the stress constraints and the objective function being the structural volume has been presented in this paper. To solve the stress concentration issue, an approximate stress gradient evaluation for any element is introduced, and a total aggregation normalized stress gradient constraint is constructed for the optimized structure under the r?th load case. To obtain stable convergent series solutions and enhance the control on the stress level, two p‐norm global stress constraint functions with different indexes are adopted, and some weighting p‐norm global stress constraint functions are introduced for any load case. And an equivalent topological optimization model with reduced stress constraints is constructed,being incorporated with the rational approximation for material properties, an active constraint technique, a trust region scheme, and an effective local stress approach like the qp approach to resolve the stress singularity phenomenon. Hence, a set of stress quadratic explicit approximations are constructed, based on stress sensitivities and the method of moving asymptotes. A set of algorithm for the one level optimization problem with artificial variables and many possible non‐active design variables is proposed by adopting an inequality constrained nonlinear programming method with simple trust regions, based on the primal‐dual theory, in which the non‐smooth expressions of the design variable solutions are reformulated as smoothing functions of the Lagrange multipliers by using a novel smoothing function. Finally, a two‐level optimization design scheme with active constraint technique, i.e. varied constraint limits, is proposed to deal with the aggregation constraints that always are of loose constraint (non active constraint) features in the conventional structural optimization method. A novel structural topological optimization method with stress constraints and its algorithm are formed, and examples are provided to demonstrate that the proposed method is feasible and very effective. © 2016 The Authors. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Drug self-assembly: A phenomenon at the nanometer scale with major impact in the structure–biological properties relationship and the treatment of disease

Under water-rich conditions, small amphiphilic and hydrophobic drug molecules self-assemble into supramolecular nanostructures. Thus, substantial modifications in their interaction with cellular structures and the ability to reach intracellular targets could happen. Additionally, drug aggregates could be more toxic than the non-aggregated counterparts, or vice versa. Moreover, since self-aggregation reduces the number of effective “monomeric” molecules that interact with the target, the drug potency could be underestimated. In other cases, the activity could be ascribed to the non-aggregated molecule while it stems from its aggregates. Thus, drug self-assembly could mislead from drug throughput screening assays to advanced preclinical and clinical trials. Finally, aggregates could serve as crystallization nuclei. The impact that this phenomenon has on the biological performance of active compounds, the inconsistent and often controversial nature of the published data and the need for recommendations/guidelines as preamble of more harmonized research protocols to characterize drug self-aggregation were main motivations for this review. First, the key molecular and environmental parameters governing drug self-aggregation, the main drug families for which this phenomenon and the methods used for its characterization are described. Then, promising nanotechnology platforms investigated to prevent/control it towards a more efficient drug development process are briefly discussed.     

Improved robust exponential stability for Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy uncertain systems with time-varying delays

This paper concerns managing the robust exponential stability problem of uncertain Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy systems with time-varying delay by employing a further improved integral inequality matrix approach. Based on the linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach, delay-dependent robust exponential stability criteria have been developed. By taking the relationship among the time-varying delay, its upper bound and their difference into account, some less conservative LMI-based delay-dependent robust exponential stability criteria are obtained without ignoring any useful terms in the derivative of Lyapunov–Krasovskii functionals. Maximum allowable upper bound for time-varying delays is determined. Numerical examples are provided to show that the obtained results significantly improve the allowed upper bounds of delay size over some methods existing in the literature.     

Mechanical properties of concrete containing phase-change material

This study aimed to investigate the mechanical properties of concrete containing solid–liquid phase-change material (PCM) and focused on two key factors. First, a systematic study on the mechanical performance of PCM-modified concretes was conducted, including compressive, elastic modulus, and shrinkage tests. Second, because PCM provides high latent heat during the solid–liquid phase change, the effects of the solid phase and liquid phase on the mechanical properties of concrete were also explored. Results of this study showed that the solid–liquid phase of PCM affected the mechanical properties of concrete. For example, the compressive strength of 10% PCM concrete in solid phase (23 °C) and liquid phase (40 °C) at 28 days was 29.30 and 19.57 MPa, respectively. In addition, with increasing PCM content, the mechanical properties were degraded. For example, 10, 20, and 30% of PCM content lowered the compressive strength by 35.4, 58.4, and 74.3%, respectively. Therefore, concrete with PCM may not be suitable for structural elements. However, PCM is an important solution for optimizing energy consumption in modern buildings. It can absorb or emit large amounts of heat to store or release thermal energy. These properties can be used to control building temperatures resulting in energy saving and carbon reduction.     

The lateral load-deformation response of RC walls with a consideration of the height–length ratio

Reinforced concrete (RC) walls play an important role in resisting earthquakes, so understanding the lateral load-deformation response of an RC wall subjected to an axial load, shear, and moment is essential to nonlinear structural analysis. In this study, the moment-bending deformation response of an RC wall under an axial load and moment is obtained from moment–curvature analysis using the wall’s proper plastic hinge length. Furthermore, modified compression-field theory, adjusted according to the height–length ratio of the wall, is used to calculate the shear–shear deformation response of the wall under an axial load and shear. By integrating the moment-bending deformation and the shear–shear deformation responses, the lateral load-deformation response of the RC wall under axial load–moment–shear interaction can be reasonably determined. To confirm the reliability of the proposed method, experimental results for 67 RC walls are compared with analysis results from the proposed method. The statistical results show that the proposed method accurately predicts the lateral ultimate load but somewhat underestimates the lateral ultimate deformation. Finally, this paper gives an example using an equivalent column to simulate an RC wall using SAP2000 pushover analysis.     

Thermal,mechanical and drug release characteristics of an acrylic film using active pharmaceutical ingredient as non-traditional plasticizer

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate thermal and mechanical properties as well as in vitro drug release of Eudragit® RL (ERL) film using chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM) as either active pharmaceutical ingredient or non-traditional plasticizer. Differential scanning calorimeter was used to measure the glass transition temperature (T_g) of 0–100% w/w CPM in ERL physical mixture. Instron testing machine was used to investigate Young’s modulus, tensile stress and tensile strain (%) of ERL film containing 20–60% w/w CPM. Finally, a Franz diffusion cell was used to study drug release from ERL films obtained from four formulations, i.e. CRHP0/0, CRHP0/5, CRHP2/0 and CRHP2/5. The T_g of ERL was decreased when the weight percentage of CPM increased. The reduction of the T_g could be described by Kwei equation, indicating the interaction between CPM and ERL. Modulus and tensile stress decreased whereas tensile strain (%) increased when weight percentage of CPM increased. The change of mechanical properties was associated with the reduction of the T_g when weight percentage of CPM increased. ERL films obtained from four formulations could release the drug in no less than 10?h. Cumulative amount of drug release per unit area of ERL film containing only CPM (CRHP0/0) was lower than those obtained from the formulations containing traditional plasticizer (CRHP0/5), surfactant (CRHP2/0) or both of them (CRHP2/5). The increase of drug release was a result of the increase of drug permeability through ERL film and drug solubility based on traditional plasticizer and surfactant, respectively.