Electrothermoelastic modeling of MEMS gripper

The design of many thermal Microelectromechanical (MEMS) actuators is often based on finite element analysis, but lacks analytical insight. In this paper we report a novel electro-thermal microgripper and a comprehensive thermal modeling of a general 5 lineshape microbeam’s actuator using 1-D steady state heat equations. Because of the variety of microgripper fabrication technologies and their applications, different thermal boundary conditions are considered for lifted off and attached grippers. Parametric and nonparametric electrothermomechanical identification models for silicon on insulator microgripper, fabricated on 100 μm device layer, are obtained.     

Reduced-complexity transform-domain adaptive algorithm with selective coefficient update

This paper proposes a new low-complexity transform-domain (TD) adaptive algorithm for acoustic echo cancellation. The algorithm is based on decomposing the long adaptive filter into smaller subfilters and employing the selective coefficient update (SCU) approach in each subfilter to reduce computational complexity. The resulting algorithm combines the fast converging characteristic of the TD decomposition technique and the benefits of the SCU of low complexity with minimal performance losses. The improvement in convergence speed comes at the expense of a corresponding increase in misadjustment. To overcome this problem, a hybrid of the proposed algorithm and the standard TD LMS algorithm (TDLMS) is presented. The hybrid algorithm retains the fast convergence speed capabilities of the original algorithm while allowing for low final MSE. Simulations show that the hybrid algorithm offers a superior performance when compared to the standard TDLMS algorithm with less computational overhead.     

Self-Deposition of 2D Molybdenum Sulfides on Liquid Metals

2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) play increasingly significant roles in research and future optoelectronics. However, the large-scale deposition of 2D TMDs remains challenging due to sparse nucleation and substrate dependency. Liquid metals can offer effective solutions to meet these challenges due to their reactive, non-polarized, and templating properties. Here, self-deposition of 2D molybdenum sulfide is shown by introducing a molybdenum precursor onto the surface of a eutectic alloy of gallium and indium (EGaIn). EGaIn serves as an ultra-smooth template and reducing agent for the precursor to form large-scale planar molybdenum sulfides, which is transferrable to any substrate. The molybdenum sulfides form spontaneously on the surface of EGaIn, which has a sufficient potential to drive the cathodic reactions of the deposition process. A highly crystalline 2H-MoS₂ is obtained after a final annealing step. This work demonstrates a fundamentally new capability for the formation of large-scale 2D TMDs.     

Self‐Limiting Galvanic Growth of MnO2 Monolayers on a Liquid Metal—Applied to Photocatalysis

Liquid metals offer unprecedented chemistry. Here it is shown that they can facilitate self‐limiting oxidation processes on their surfaces, which enables the growth of metal oxides that are atomically thin. This claim is exemplified by creating atomically thin hydrated MnO₂ using a Galvanic replacement reaction between permanganate ions and a liquid gallium–indium alloy (EGaIn). The “liquid solution”–“liquid metal” process leads to the reduction of the permanganate ions, resulting in the formation of the oxide monolayer at the interface. It is presented that under mechanical agitation liquid metal droplets are established, and simultaneously, hydrated gallium oxides and manganese oxide sheets delaminate themselves from the interfacial boundaries. The produced nanosheets encapsulate a metallic core, which is found to consist of solid indium only, with the full migration of gallium out of the droplets. This process produces core/shell structures, where the shells are made of stacked atomically thin nanosheets. The obtained core/shell structures are found to be an efficient photocatalyst for the degradation of an organic dye under simulated solar irradiation. This study presents a new research direction toward the modification and functionalization of liquid metals through spontaneous interfacial redox reactions, which has implications for many applications beyond photocatalysis.     

A variable step-size selective partial update LMS algorithm

Selective partial update of the adaptive filter coefficients has been a popular method for reducing the computational complexity of least mean-square (LMS)-type adaptive algorithms. These algorithms use a fixed step-size that forces a performance compromise between fast convergence speed and small steady state misadjustment. This paper proposes a variable step-size (VSS) selective partial update LMS algorithm, where the VSS is an approximation of an optimal derived one. The VSS equations are controlled by only one parameter, and do not require any a priori information about the statistics of the system environment. Mean-square performance analysis will be provided for independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) input signals, and an expression for the algorithm steady state excess mean-square error (MSE) will be presented. Simulation experiments are conducted to compare the proposed algorithm with existing full-update VSS LMS algorithms, which indicate that the proposed algorithm performs as well as these algorithms while requiring less computational complexity.     

Thermo-mechanical behaviors of the expanded graphite-phase change material matrix used for thermal management of Li-ion battery packs

In this paper, blocks for the thermal management of Li-ion battery are prepared. The blocks are made of paraffin wax, which is used as a phase change material (PCM), and graphite flakes. The process starts by compacting expanded graphite into the desired modular shapes and then impregnating it into molten paraffin wax. The modular pieces were assembled together, followed by finishing operations to achieve a desired packaging geometry.Thermo-mechanical properties of the produced phase change material–expanded graphite (PCM/EG) composites have been studied. The tests include thermal conductivity, tensile compression and bursting test. The results showed that as mass fraction of paraffin wax increases in the composite material, the thermal conductivity, tensile strength, compression strength, and burst strength were improved while tested at low operating temperatures. In contrast, the results showed reverse behaviors when tested at relatively high operating temperature.     

IR Thermographic Analysis of 3D Printed CFRP Reference Samples with Back-Drilled and Embedded Defects

Carbon-fiber composite structures may demonstrate a defective behavior due to manufacturing induced anomalies (delamination, dis-bonds) or service related defectives (impact damage, water ingress). Thus, there is a need for a relatively fast and low cost non-intrusive testing schemes such as infrared thermography (IRT). Still, thermography testing requires calibrated samples and coupons to yield best results. The presented research demonstrates the novel use of 3D printing technology to generate IRT calibration samples. In this text, two carbon fiber reinforced polymer samples are 3D printed; the first mimics a “back-drilled holes” type coupons, while the other is designed to embed air pockets similar to Teflon inserts. The generated samples are then tested using two IRT modalities; namely pulse thermography and lock-in thermography. Furthermore, the resulted thermograms are processed using a principle component analysis, to help highlight the variance of defectives in a consistent manner among the samples. This research findings offer insights on the variation of detectability between embedded and back-printed samples, which might be due to the inserts thickness.     

Performance of 26650 Li-ion cells at elevated temperature under simulated PHEV drive cycles

Cylindrical (type: 26650) Li-ion cells (LiFePO₄ cathodes) currently used in the electric vehicles (EVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles etc. were subjected to simulated federal urban driving schedule at 25 and 50 °C for performance evaluation. Drive profiles (current versus time) for charge sustaining and charge depleting modes were derived from the federal urban driving schedule velocity profiles considering acceleration, regenerative braking, rolling resistance, drag force etc. for typical plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. In particular, the batteries were cycled extensively at 50 °C under charge sustaining as well as charge depleting modes to monitor capacity values, followed by analyzing the LiFePO₄ cathode material by X-ray diffraction analysis. The capacity degradation was found to be very significant in both the modes with 13 and 19% under charge sustaining and charge depleting modes after 337 and 1007 cycles, respectively at elevated temperature. High frequency resistance values measured by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were found to increase significantly under high temperature cycling, leading to power fading. As evident from Rietveld analysis, phase change in LiFePO₄ is observed beyond 1000 cycles at elevated temperature under charge depleting mode, with the observation of FePO₄ from the powder diffraction data of the cathodes from the cycled cells. In addition, there was also significant change in crystallite size of the cathode active materials after charge/discharge cycling under charge depleting mode.     

Characterization of the impact of magnesium stearate lubrication on the tableting properties of chitin-Mg silicate as a superdisintegrating binder when compared to Avicel® 200

The influence of the lubricant magnesium stearate (MgSt) on the powder and tablet properties of chitin-Mg silicate coprecipitate was examined and compared with lubricated Avicel® 200 and Avicel-Mg silicate coprecipitate. Crushing strength and disintegration time studies were conducted in order to evaluate tablet properties at different compression pressures. Lubrication of chitin-Mg silicate powder with MgSt was evaluated using a high speed rotary tablet press. The compactability and disintegration time of chitin-Mg silicate are unaffected by the possible deleterious action of up to 2% (w/w) MgSt. The deleterious effect of MgSt on Avicel® 200 compaction was found to be minimized when magnesium silicate was coprecipitated onto Avicel® 200. Lubrication of chitin-Mg silicate with MgSt does not enhance particle agglomeration, whereas the opposite is the case for Avicel® 200; the foregoing was ascertained by measurements of the fixed bulk density, constant powder porosity using Kawakita analysis and by the absence of variation in particle size distribution in the presence of up to 5% (w/w) MgSt. In the case of chitin-Mg silicate tablets the ejection force was greatly reduced at a compression speed of 150,000 tablet/h at a MgSt concentration of 0.5% (w/w). The physical properties and drug dissolution profile of ibuprofen tablets were found to be unaffected when chitin-Mg silicate was lubricated up to 5% (w/w) with MgSt. Optimal drug dissolution was attained for gemfibrozil tablets using 3% (w/w) MgSt when compared to a reference (Lopid tablets).