Vibration analysis of marine propulsion shafting by the coupled finite element method

Marine propulsion shafting connects the main engine and propeller, and plays an important role in promoting the movement of ships. Along with the operation of shafting system, various vibration forms couple with each other and cause different kinds of coupled vibrations, which seriously threaten the safety and reliability of ships. In this paper, a finite element model of marine propulsion shafting is established with coupled constraint on the elements of propeller, and the coupled torsional and transverse vibration under idling and loading conditions are studied at different rotational speeds. According to comparison of numerical simulation results and experimental tests, the coupled finite element method can reveal the basic principles of coupled dynamics of marine propulsion shafting and provide good technical support for predicting the coupled vibration, thus improving the safety and reliability of sailing performance of the ships

Faulted Feeder Identification Based on Active Adjustment of Arc Suppression Coil and Similarity Measure of Zero-Sequence Currents

Existing faulted feeder identification methods in the resonant grounded distribution network are primarily based on feature extraction of the fault-generated transient currents. The reliability of these approaches is significantly compromised by the fluctuating transient signals and interfering on-off operation of the neighboring switches. To sidestep the problems, a novel method is proposed to identify the faulted feeder by consecutively tuning the arc suppression coil around the full compensation state. Once a series of steady states are reached after tuning, the trajectories of the corresponding zero-sequence currents for both the sound and the faulted feeders are obtained to formulate an adjustment trajectory matrix (ATM). With the ATM, the similarity measure of the adjustment trajectories of all feeders is then employed to identify the faulted feeder based on the selected Deng\u27s grey relational analysis. Results show that the adjustment trajectories of the two sound lines share a high similarity degree, while the similarity between the sound and the faulted lines is much lower. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated via simulation and some case studies are provided. The results show that the faulted feeder can be correctly identified with high reliability and robustness compared to the existing fault-generated signal-based techniques

An ex vivo culture model of kidney podocyte injury reveals mechanosensitive, synaptopodin-templating, sarcomere-like structures

Chronic kidney diseases are widespread and incurable. The biophysical mechanisms underlying them are unclear, in part because material systems for reconstituting the microenvironment of relevant kidney cells are limited. A critical question is how kidney podocytes (glomerular epithelial cells) regenerate foot processes of the filtration apparatus following injury. Recently identified sarcomere-like structures (SLSs) with periodically spaced myosin IIA and synaptopodin appear in injured podocytes in vivo. We hypothesized that SLSs template synaptopodin in the initial stages of recovery in response to microenvironmental stimuli and tested this hypothesis by developing an ex vivo culture system that allows control of the podocyte microenvironment. Results supported our hypothesis. SLSs in podocytes that migrated from isolated kidney glomeruli presented periodic synaptopodin-positive clusters that nucleated peripheral, foot process-like extensions. SLSs were mechanoresponsive to actomyosin inhibitors and substrate stiffness. Results suggest SLSs as mechanobiological mediators of podocyte recovery and as potential targets for therapeutic intervention

The application of hybrid photovoltaic system on the ocean-going ship : engineering practice and experimental research

The constant development of electronic inverter technology has played a key role in promoting the exploration and development of solar ships. For the large-scale ocean-going ship platform, the critical issue of applying solar photovoltaic (PV) system is integrating PV equipment into the ship power system (SPS) without changing its original structure. This paper compares the existent technical differences for applying the off-grid and grid-connected PV system in the SPS and proposes the basic design principles for marine integration applications. The 5000 PCTC ro-ro ship is set as the application object, on which a hybrid PV system with large-capacity lithium battery storage device is designed and installed as an independent subsystem. The typical feature of this hybrid PV system is that it can implement operation mode switching between off-grid and grid-connected, according to the evaluation on solar radiation resource, power load requirement and state of charge in the lithium battery. The test results show that this PV system has a stable operation characteristic under different operation modes. In addition, this ship-based PV power system has automatic and reliable operation management capability, which could effectively reduce manual control frequency and maintenance workload of a marine engineer.The National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51422507) and Hubei Provincial Leading High Talent Training Program Funded Project (No. HBSTD [2012] 86).http://tandfonline.com/toc/tmar202019-07-05hj2018Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineerin

A multi-tissue transcriptomic landscape of female mice in estrus and diestrus provides clues for precision medicine

Female reproductive cycle, also known as menstrual cycle or estrous cycle in primate or non-primate mammals, respectively, dominates the reproductive processes in non-pregnant state. However, in addition to reproductive tissues, reproductive cycle could also perform global regulation because the receptors of two major female hormones fluctuating throughout the cycle, estrogen and progesterone, are widely distributed. Therefore, a multi-tissue gene expression landscape is in continuous demand for better understanding the systemic changes during the reproductive cycle but remains largely undefined. Here we delineated a transcriptomic landscape covering 15 tissues of C57BL/6J female mice in two phases of estrous cycle, estrus and diestrus, by RNA-sequencing. Then, a number of genes, pathways, and transcription factors involved in the estrous cycle were revealed. We found the estrous cycle could widely regulate the neuro-functions, immuno-functions, blood coagulation and so on. And behind the transcriptomic alteration between estrus and diestrus, 13 transcription factors may play important roles. Next, bioinformatics modeling with 1,263 manually curated gene signatures of various physiological and pathophysiological states systematically characterized the beneficial/deleterious effects brought by estrus/diestrus on individual tissues. We revealed that the estrous cycle has a significant effect on cardiovascular system (aorta, heart, vein), in which the anti-hypertensive pattern in aorta induced by estrus is one of the most striking findings. Inspired by this point, we validated that two hypotensive drugs, felodipine and acebutolol, could exhibit significantly enhanced efficacy in estrus than diestrus by mouse and rat experiments. Together, this study provides a valuable data resource for investigating reproductive cycle from a transcriptomic perspective, and presents models and clues for investigating precision medicine associated with reproductive cycle

Variasi Temperatur Pencampuran Terhadap Parameter Marshall Pada Campuran Lapis Aspal Beton

This study was conducted to determine the effect of temperature variations on the mixing processof the asphalt concrete AC-WC (Asphalt Concrete-Wearing Course) subtle gradations in themiddle limit and lower limit of the Marshall parameters with reference to specifications of BinaMarga, 2010.From the results of experiments conducted that the optimum asphalt content is used to middle limitusing a asphalt content of 5,7% and 6,8% for the lower limit after that mixing was done usingtemperature variation of 120 o C, 130 o C, 140 o C, 150 o C, and 160 o C.To a mixture of Laston AC-WC subtle gradations middle limit grading 5,7% asphalt contentmixing temperature using a temperature of 120 o C, 130 o C, 140 o C, 150 o C, 160 o C and still meet allstandards of marshall parameters. Ideal mixing temperature variations in the middle limit ofmixing temperature 150 o C-160 o C. While the lower limit to the level of 6,8% asphalt contentmixing temperatures between 120 o C-160 o C did not meet the specifications, because the MQ valuebelow the minimum value of 250 kg / mm

Biomimetic lubricant-infused titania nanoparticle surfaces via layer-by-layer deposition to control biofouling

Lubricant-infused surfaces have attracted a lot of attention in antifouling applications. Previously, lubricant-infused surfaces fabricated by a layer-by-layer process involved two or more polyelectrolytes and needed post-treatments to generate pores. Here, the paper proposes a layer-by-layer sol-gel process to prepare a lubricant-infused surface. This process only involves a single material and without any post-treatment. The nanostructured titania layers were layer-by-layer assembled onto 316L stainless steel substrates by immersing the substrates into a titanium (IV) butoxide ethanol solution. The titania layers were subsequently surface-functionalized by fluorinated silanes and infiltrated with fluorinated lubricant to form lubricant-infused nanoparticle surfaces. The physicochemical properties of the lubricant-infused nanoparticle surfaces dominated the antifouling performance. These results give some insight into the construction of lubricant-infused nanoparticle surfaces with desirable liquid repellency and antifouling properties via a layer-by-layer sol-gel process

The Effect of Intrinsic Mechanical Properties on Reducing the Friction-Induced Ripples of Hard-Filler-Modified HDPE

Ripple deformations induced by friction on polymeric materials have negative effects on the entire stability of operating machineries. These deformations are formed as a response to contacting mechanics, caused by the intrinsic mechanical properties. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) with varying silicon nitride (Si3N4) contents is used to investigate different ripple deformation responses by conducting single-asperity scratch tests. The relationship between the intrinsic mechanical properties and the ripple deformations caused by filler modifications is analyzed in this paper. The results show the coupling of the inherent mechanical properties, and the stick-slip motion of HDPE creates ripple deformations during scratching. The addition of the Si3N4 filler changes the frictional response; the filler weakens the ripples and almost smoothens the scratch, particularly at 4 wt.%, but the continued increase in the Si3N4 content produces noticeable ripples and fluctuations. These notable differences can be attributed to the yield and post-yield responses; the high yield stress and strain-hardening at 4 wt.% provide good friction resistance and stress distribution, thus a smooth scratch is observed. In contrast, increasing the filler content weakens both the yield and post-yield responses, leading to deformation. The results herein reveal the mechanism behind the initial ripple deformation, thus providing fundamental insights into universally derived friction-induced ripples

Surface characterization using wavelet theory and confocal laser scanning microscopy

Surface characterization, particularly roughness analysis, is very important for a wide range of applications including wear assessment. This paper proposes a set of methods and techniques to acquire appropriate images using confocal laser scanning microscopy, to separate roughness, waviness, and form using wavelet theory, and to characterize surface roughness for engineering surfaces and surfaces of small particles. Two application examples on engineering surfaces and wear particles have been presented in the paper to demonstrate that the method developed in this study can be used to measure surface roughness reliably and precisely. A guide on how to determine the iris size, step size, and objective lens has been scientifically provided according to theoretical analysis and experimental results