508 research outputs found

    Investigating the Links between the Process Parameters and Their Influence on the Aesthetic Evaluation of Selective Laser Melted Parts

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    This study is a precursor to gaining a deeper understanding of how each parameter of the Additive Manufacturing (AM) process influences the aesthetic properties of 3D printed products. Little research has been conducted on this specific aspect of AM. Using insights from the work presented in this paper, we intend to develop design support tools to give the designer more control over the printed products in terms of aesthetics. In this initial work, we fabricated samples using Selective Laser Melting (SLM) technology, and investigated the parameters geometry, building strategy, and post-processing. We asked participants to evaluate the visual and physical interaction with the manufactured samples. Results show that, in addition to geometry and post-processing, the aesthetic evaluation can also be strongly influenced by the SLM processā€™ building strategy. This understanding will enable us to develop tools to give designers more control over the partā€™s aesthetic appearance. In addition, we present a systematic procedure and setup to evaluate the aesthetic appearance of products manufactured using AM

    Sequencing and Scheduling in the Sheet Metal Shop

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    Corrosion and Grain Boundry Character Distribution(GBCD)in 316L Austenitic Stainless Steel

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    IGC (Inter-granular corrosion), in a single phase materials, is expected to depend on (a) Chemistry, (b) Grain size and (c) GBCD( Grain boundary character distr-ibution). In the present study, 316L austenitic stainless steel was deformed to different extent by unidirectional and by cross rolling. Subsequent solution: ing , i.e. a combination of primary recrystallization and grain growth, did not bring any noticeable difference in bulk texture. The GBCD, especially the 23 twin boundaries, were, however, significantly different. A difference of more than five times in low CSL (coincident site lattice) boun-daries were obtained. An effort was made to relate the effect of GBCD on corrosion - by DL- EPR (Double loop electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation)

    The Time Scales of Variability of Marine Low Clouds

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    Permission to use figures, tables, and brief excerpts from this work in scientific and educational works is hereby granted provided that the source is acknowledged. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be ā€œfair useā€ under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 USC Ā§108) does not require the AMSā€™s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, requires written permission or a license from the AMS. All AMS journals and monograph publications are registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (http://www.copyright.com). Questions about permission to use materials for which AMS holds the copyright can also be directed to the AMS Permissions Officer at [email protected]. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement, available on the AMS website (http://www.ametsoc.org/CopyrightInformation).Multidecade global regressions of inversion strength, vertical velocity, and sea surface temperature (SST) on low cloud amount, from subdaily to multiyear time scales, refute the dominance of seasonal inversion strength on marine low cloud variability. Multiday low cloud variance averaged over the eastern Pacific and Atlantic stratocumulus regions [5 Ɨ 10āˆ’2 (cloud amount)2] is twice the subdaily variance and 5 times larger than the multimonth variance. The broad multiday band contains most (60%) of the variance, despite strong seasonal (annual) and diurnal spectral peaks. Multiday low cloud amount over the eastern tropical and midlatitude oceans is positively correlated to inversion strength, with a slope of 2%ā€“5% Kāˆ’1. Anecdotes show multiday low cloud and inversion strength anomalies propagate equatorward from midlatitudes. Previously shown correlations of low clouds to strong inversions and cool SST on monthly and longer time scales in the stratocumulus regions imply positive cloud-radiative feedbacks, with e-folding time scales of 300 days for SST and 14 days for atmospheric boundary layer temperature. On multimonth time scales, removing the effect of SST on low clouds reduces the low cloud amount explained by inversion strength by a factor of 3, but SST has a small effect at other time scales. Contrary to their positive correlation in the stratocumulus cloud decks, low clouds are anticorrelated to inversion strength over most of the tropics on daily and subdaily time scales

    Field validation of radar systems for monitoring bird migration

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    This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.Advances in information technology are increasing the use of radar as a tool to investigate and monitor bird migration movements. We set up a field campaign to compare and validate outputs from different radar systems. Here we compare the pattern of nocturnal bird migration movements recorded by four different radar systems at a site in southern Sweden. Within the range of the weather radar (WR) Ƅngelholm, we operated a "BirdScan" (BS) dedicated bird radar, a standard marine radar (MR), and a tracking radar (TR). The measures of nightly migration intensities, provided by three of the radars (WR, BS, MR), corresponded well with respect to the relative seasonal course of migration, while absolute migration intensity agreed reasonably only between WR and BS. Flight directions derived from WR, BS and TR corresponded very well, despite very different sample sizes. Estimated mean ground speeds differed among all four systems. The correspondence among systems was highest under clear sky conditions and at high altitudes. Synthesis and applications. While different radar systems can provide useful information on nocturnal bird migration, they have distinct strengths and weaknesses, and all require supporting data to allow for species level inference. Weather radars continuously detect avian biomass flows across a wide altitude band, making them a useful tool for monitoring and predictive applications at regional to continental scales that do not rely on resolving individuals. BirdScan and marine radar's strengths are in local and low altitude applications, such as collision risks with man-made structures and airport safety, although marine radars should not be trusted for absolute intensities of movement. In quantifying flight behaviour of individuals, TR is the most informative.We acknowledge the support provided by COST ā€“ European Cooperation in Science and Technology through the Action ES1305 ā€˜European Network for the Radar Surveillance of Animal Movementā€™ (ENRAM) in facilitating this collaboration. The study received financial support from Gyllenstierna Krapperup Ģs Foundation and the Centre for Animal Movement Research (CAnMove) financed by a Linnaeus grant (349-2007-8690) from the Swedish Research Council and Lund University

    Multi-objective optimization of storage temperature of apple to minimise energy use

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    Low temperature storage is widely employed to increase the storage life of apples. However, the use of refrigeration accounts for up to 15% of the global use of electricity. Increasing the storage temperature by 1Ā°C can significantly reduce the total cost of electricity during apple storage. In this study, a multi-objective optimization approach is used to suggest new storage temperature of apple, taking into consideration the cost of electricity and the quality of the apple at the end of storage. Energy use was calculated using vapor pressure compression cycle models. Apple firmness was selected as the most important quality indicator for apple grading. The quality of the apple at the end of storage was converted to money value in ā‚¬, based on the current grading system of apples in Belgium. Firmness was calculated using the firmness model developed by Gwanpua et al. (2012).The objective was to optimize storage temperature by minimizing the electricity usage, while minimizing quality losses (i.e. by maximizing the money value of the apple at the end of storage). This was done for different storage duration, and also for cool rooms with different storage capacity. New storage temperatures of apple, that will reduce the use of energy, were suggested

    Socio-Demographic and Attitudinal Correlates of Problematic Social Media Use: Analysis of Ithra's 30-Nation Digital Wellbeing Survey

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    Time spent on social media continues to rise globally. For some individuals, social media use can become maladaptive and associated with clinically significant social and occupational impairments. This problematic social media use (PSMU) is also linked with poorer health and wellbeing. Much of our existing PSMU knowledge comes from single nation studies, heavily focused on adolescent and college-age samples. This study uses data from Ithra's 2021 global digital wellbeing survey to explore rates of PSMU and identify socio-demographic and attitudinal correlates. Participants (N = 15,000) were representative adult samples (N = 500) drawn from 30 nations. All participants provided socio-demographic data and completed a measure of PSMU, along with questions assessing attitudes toward social media and general usage patterns. PSMU prevalence was 6.82%, varying from 1.7 to 18.4% between nations. Multivariate logistical regression identified several correlates, including national culture, age, parenthood and frequency of use. These findings can help inform public policy and public health initiatives to reduce PSMU prevalence

    Neuropilin 2 in osteoblasts regulates trabecular bone mass in male mice

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    IntroductionNeuropilin 2 (NRP2) mediates the effects of class 3 semaphorins and vascular endothelial growth factor and is implicated in axonal guidance and angiogenesis. Moreover, NRP2 expression is suggested to be involved in the regulation of bone homeostasis. Indeed, osteoblasts and osteoclasts express NRP2 and male and female global Nrp2 knockout mice have a reduced bone mass accompanied by reduced osteoblast and increased osteoclast counts.MethodsWe first examined the in vitro effect of the calciotropic hormone 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3] on Nrp2 transcription in osteoblasts. We next generated mice with a conditional deletion of Nrp2 in the osteoblast cell lineage under control of the paired related homeobox 1 promoter and mice with a conditional Nrp2 knockdown in osteoclasts under control of the Lysozyme promoter. Mice were examined under basal conditions or after treatment with either the bone anabolic vitamin D3 analog WY 1048 or with 1,25(OH)2D3.Results and discussionWe show that Nrp2 expression is induced by 1,25(OH)2D3 in osteoblasts and is associated with enrichment of the vitamin D receptor in an intronic region of the Nrp2 gene. In male mice, conditional deletion of Nrp2 in osteoblast precursors and mature osteoblasts recapitulated the bone phenotype of global Nrp2 knockout mice, with a reduced cortical cross-sectional tissue area and lower trabecular bone content. However, female mice with reduced osteoblastic Nrp2 expression display a reduced cross-sectional tissue area but have a normal trabecular bone mass. Treatment with the vitamin D3 analog WY 1048 (0.4 Ī¼g/kg/d, 14 days, ip) resulted in a similar increase in bone mass in both genotypes and genders. Deleting Nrp2 from the osteoclast lineage did not result in a bone phenotype, even though in vitro osteoclastogenesis of hematopoietic cells derived from mutant mice was significantly increased. Moreover, treatment with a high dose of 1,25(OH)2D3 (0.5 Ī¼g/kg/d, 6 days, ip), to induce osteoclast-mediated bone resorption, resulted in a similar reduction in trabecular and cortical bone mass. In conclusion, osteoblastic Nrp2 expression is suggested to regulate bone homeostasis in a sex-specific manner

    Comparison of cohesive powder flowability measured by Schulze Shear Cell, Raining Bed Method, Sevilla Powder Tester and new Ball Indentation Method

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    Poor powder flow leads to many problems during manufacturing and can lead to inaccurate dosing and off-specification products. Powder flowability is commonly assessed under relatively high applied loads using shear cells by characterising the unconfined yield strength at a range of applied loads. For applied stresses below 1 kPa, it becomes increasingly difficult to obtain reliable values of the unconfined yield strength. The bulk cohesion and tensile strength of the powder are then obtained by extrapolating the yield locus to zero and negative loads, respectively. However, the reliability of this approximation for a given material is not known. To overcome this limitation, techniques such as the Raining Bed Method, Sevilla Powder Tester and the newly-developed Ball Indentation Method may be used. In this paper, we report our measurement results of the tensile strength of glass beads, Ī±-lactose monohydrate and various sizes of fluid catalytic cracking powders determined by the Sevilla Powder Tester and Raining Bed Method and compare them with those inferred from the Schulze Shear Cell. The results of the latter are also compared with those of the Ball Indentation Method. The outcome suggests that in the case of shear cell tests, the extrapolation of the yield locus to lower or negative loads is unsafe. The ball indentation method enables the characterisation of highly cohesive powders at very low compressive loads; however extrapolation to negative loads is still not reliable. In contrast, the Sevilla Powder Tester and Raining Bed Methods are able to characterise the tensile strength directly, but high bulk cohesion poses difficulties as the internal bed failure needs to be analysed in order to reliably estimate the tensile strength. These methods provide a better understanding of powder flow behaviour at low stresses, thus enabling a greater control of manufacturing processes
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