Reconfigurable Flood Wall Inspired by Architected Origami

Recent interest in the art of origami has opened a wide range of engineering applications and possibilities. Shape changing structures based on origami have had a large influence on the drive for efficient, sustainable engineering solutions. However, development in novel macro-scale utilization is lacking compared to the effort towards micro-scale devices. There exists an opening for environmentally actuated structures that improve quality for life of humans and the natural environment. Specifically, resilient infrastructure systems could potentially benefit from the tailorable properties and programmable reconfiguration of origami-inspired designs. The realm of flood protection and overall water resources management creates a unique opportunity for adaptable structures. A flood protection system, or flood wall, is one application of the origami technique. In many situations, flood protection is visually displeasing and hinders an otherwise scenic natural environment within a cityscape. By applying a permanent, adaptable protection system in flood-prone areas, not only will general aesthetics be conserved, but quick deployment in disaster situations will be ensured. With a rapidly changing climate and an increase in storm disaster events, an efficient flood-protection system is vital. In this study, simple rigid flood barriers are compared to adaptable wall systems that utilize multi-stable configurations. The flood event is characterized by a surcharge of water that is suddenly introduced–like that of a flash flood–and sustained at steady-state. Small-scale prototypes are tested in a hydraulic flume and compared to a numerical simulation for validation.Ohio State University College of Engineering Undergraduate Research ScholarshipNo embargoAcademic Major: Civil Engineerin

Regularized lattice Boltzmann Multicomponent models for low Capillary and Reynolds microfluidics flows

We present a regularized version of the color gradient lattice Boltzmann (LB) scheme for the simulation of droplet formation in microfluidic devices of experimental relevance. The regularized version is shown to provide computationally efficient access to Capillary number regimes relevant to droplet generation via microfluidic devices, such as flow-focusers and the more recent microfluidic step emulsifier devices.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Comparison of three combustion models for simulating anode baking furnaces

Carbon anode blocks used in the Hall-Héroult process for primary aluminum production have to be baked up to 1100 °C in dedicated furnaces. These furnaces are equipped with burner ramps to heat the air circulating in the flues at 1200 °C, so that the anodes reach the required temperature. It is therefore mandatory to include the heat provided by the burners in a numerical model of an anode baking furnace. In this work, we modeled the heat input at the burners in three ways: the Eddy-Dissipation model, the Mixture Fraction/PDF approach and a simplified approach consisting in injecting an equivalent calorific value at the burners' inlets. Results obtained with the first two models are very similar in terms of anode baking prediction but slightly different in terms of flame temperature prediction. Results obtained with the simplified approach show that the model can replace combustion model to predict anode baking, but calibration of boundary conditions is necessary in order to match more elaborate combustion models. The importance of other elements of the model in the flue channel of the furnace has been verified: radiation (cannot be ignored, large influence on the spatial temperature distribution), heat transfer due to species diffusion (negligible influence on the baking, but slight effect on flame shape and temperature), and buoyancy (no significant effect on the results in the furnace firing sections)

Finite element computation of multi-physical micropolar transport phenomena from an inclined moving plate in porous media

Non-Newtonian flows arise in numerous industrial transport processes including materials fabrication systems. Micropolar theory offers an excellent mechanism for exploring the fluid dynamics of new non-Newtonian materials which possess internal microstructure. Magnetic fields may also be used for controlling electrically-conducting polymeric flows. To explore numerical simulation of transport in rheological materials processing, in the current paper, a finite element computational solution is presented for magnetohydrodynamic (MHD), incompressible, dissipative, radiative and chemically-reacting micropolar fluid flow, heat and mass transfer adjacent to an inclined porous plate embedded in a saturated homogenous porous medium. Heat generation/absorption effects are included. Rosseland’s diffusion approximation is used to describe the radiative heat flux in the energy equation. A Darcy model is employed to simulate drag effects in the porous medium. The governing transport equations are rendered into non-dimensional form under the assumption of low Reynolds number and also low magnetic Reynolds number. Using a Galerkin formulation with a weighted residual scheme, finite element solutions are presented to the boundary value problem. The influence of plate inclination, Eringen coupling number, radiation-conduction number, heat absorption/generation parameter, chemical reaction parameter, plate moving velocity parameter, magnetic parameter, thermal Grashof number, species (solutal) Grashof number, permeability parameter, Eckert number on linear velocity, micro-rotation, temperature and concentration profiles. Furthermore, the influence of selected thermo-physical parameters on friction factor, surface heat transfer and mass transfer rate is also tabulated. The finite element solutions are verified with solutions from several limiting cases in the literature. Interesting features in the flow are identified and interpreted

Design, Testing, and Realisation of a Medium Size Aerostat Envelope

The design, testing and realisation aspects during the development of a medium size aerostat envelope in the present work. The payload capacity of this aerostat is 300 kg at 1 km above mean sea level. The aerostat envelope is the aerodynamically shaped fabric enclosure part of the aerostat which generally uses helium for lifting useful payloads to a specified height. The envelope volume estimation technique is discussed which provides the basis for sizing. The design, material selection, testing and realisation aspects of this aerostat envelope are also discussed. The empirical formulas and finite element analysis are used to estimate the aerodynamic, structural and other design related parameters of the aerostat. Equilibrium studies are then explained for balancing forces and moments in static conditions. The tether profile estimation technique is discussed to estimate blow by distance and tether length. A comparison of estimated and measured performance parameters during trials has also been discussed

DESIGN, OPTIMIZATION, AND EVALUATION OF RAFT FORMING GASTRO RETENTIVE DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM OF LAFUTIDINE USINGBOX–BEHNKEN DESIGN

Objective: The current research was aimed to formulate and evaluate raft forming gastro retentive floating drug delivery systems of Lafutidine for improving gastric residence time and sustained drug release for an extended time. Methods: Using Box–Behnken experimental design 17 formulations of lafutidine GRDDS were designed and evaluated for various parameters like physical appearance, pH, In vitro gelling study, in vitro buoyancy study, measurement of viscosity, density measurement, gel strength, drug content, acid neutralization capacity, the profile of neutralization, in vitro dissolution, release kinetic and stability studies. Results: All the evaluations were performed and observed that the values were within range, and the buoyancy lag time ranged within 14.76 to 25.84 sec and the formulations remained buoyant for more than 8h with the gelling time of 12h, the drug content was ranging from 98.96 to 99.55 %, and in vitro release was 86.86 to 99.34% by the end of 12h. The release kinetics followed zero-order with Higuchi’s model that indicating that drug release was found to be followed by the matrix diffusion process. Conclusion: Out of all formulations F3 was the optimized formulation and it was further characterized for FTIR, DSC, and stability studies, which exposed that there were no interactions amongst drug and excipients and no major change in the formulation and found to be stable