Effect of pressure on the physical properties of magnetorheological fluids

To date, several applications of magnetorheological (MR) fluids are present in the industrial world, nonetheless system requirements often needs better material properties. In technical literature a previous work shows that MR fluids exhibit a pressure dependency called squeeze strengthen effect. Since a lot of MR fluid based devices are rotary devices, this paper investigates the behaviour of MR fluids under pressure when a rotation is applied to shear the fluid. The system is designed in order to apply both the magnetic field and the pressure and follows a Design of Experiment approach. The experimental apparatus comprises a cylinder in which a piston is used both to apply the pressure and to shear the fluid. The magnetic circuit is designed to provide a nearly constant induction field in the MR fluid. The experimental apparatus measures the torque as a function of the variables considered and the yield shear stress is computed. The analysis of the results shows that there is a positive interaction between magnetic field and pressure, which enhances the MR fluid performances more than twice

Effect of pressure on the physical properties of magnetorheological fluids

To date, several applications of magnetorheological (MR) fluids are present in the industrial world,nonetheless system requirements often needs better material properties. In technical literature a previous workshows that MR fluids exhibit a pressure dependency called squeeze strengthen effect. Since a lot of MR fluidbased devices are rotary devices, this paper investigates the behaviour of MR fluids under pressure when arotation is applied to shear the fluid. The system is designed in order to apply both the magnetic field and thepressure and follows a Design of Experiment approach. The experimental apparatus comprises a cylinder inwhich a piston is used both to apply the pressure and to shear the fluid. The magnetic circuit is designed toprovide a nearly constant induction field in the MR fluid. The experimental apparatus measures the torque as afunction of the variables considered and the yield shear stress is computed. The analysis of the results showsthat there is a positive interaction between magnetic field and pressure, which enhances the MR fluidperformances more than twice

Stress states and moment rates of a two-asperity fault in the presence of viscoelastic relaxation

Abstract. A fault containing two asperities with different strengths is considered. The fault is embedded in a shear zone subject to a constant strain rate by the motions of adjacent tectonic plates. The fault is modelled as a discrete dynamical system where the average values of stress, friction and slip on each asperity are considered. The state of the fault is described by three variables: the slip deficits of the asperities and the viscoelastic deformation. The system has four dynamic modes, for which analytical solutions are calculated. The relationship between the state of the fault before a seismic event and the sequence of slipping modes in the event is enlightened. Since the moment rate depends on the number and sequence of slipping modes, the knowledge of the source function of an earthquake constrains the orbit of the system in the phase space. If the source functions of a larger number of consecutive earthquakes were known, the orbit could be constrained more and more and its evolution could be predicted with a smaller uncertainty. The model is applied to the 1964 Alaska earthquake, which was the effect of the failure of two asperities and for which a remarkable post-seismic relaxation has been observed in the subsequent decades. The evolution of the system after the 1964 event depends on the state from which the event was originated, that is constrained by the observed moment rate. The possible durations of the interseismic interval and the possible moment rates of the next earthquake are calculated as functions of the initial state

Functional fatigue of NiTi Shape Memory wires for a range of end loadings and constraints

The availability of engineering strength data on shape memory alloys (SMAs) under cyclic thermalactivation (functional fatigue) is central to the rational design of smart actuators based on these materials. Testresults on SMAs under functional fatigue are scarce in the technical literature and the few data available aremainly limited to constant-stress loading. Since the SMA elements used within actuators are normally biased byelastic springs or by another SMA element, their stress state is far from constant in operation. The mismatchbetween actual working conditions and laboratory arrangements leads to suboptimal designs and underminesthe prediction of the actuator lifetime. This paper aims at bridging the gap between experiment and reality. Fourtest procedures are planned, covering most of the typical situations occurring in practice: constant-stress,constant-strain, constant-stress with limited maximum strain and linear stress-strain variation with limitedmaximum strain. The paper describes the experimental apparatus specifically designed to implement the fourloading conditions and presents fatigue results obtained from commercial NiTi wires tested under all thoseprotocols

Optimum Mechanical Design of Binary Actuators Based on Shape Memory Alloys

This chapter describes the optimum mechanical design of shape memory based actuators. The authors show how to exploit the Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) to design silent, compact and light binary actuators. Two simple mechanical models are considered to describe the SMA behaviour and design equations are provided for two classes of actuators. First SMA actuators are analyzed and designed on the basis of the backup element needed to recover the stroke. Second SMA actuators are improved by adding a compensator system to enhance the output mechanical response, especially in terms of available stroke. Useful design procedures are provided to help the engineer in the synthesis of SMA actuators. Starting from the design specifications, a step by step procedure is built to define the mechanical dimension of the SMA active elements, of the backup system and of the compensator

An MRI volumetric study for leg muscles in congenital clubfoot

PURPOSE: To investigate both volume and length of the three muscle compartments of the normal and the affected leg in unilateral congenital clubfoot. METHODS: Volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (VMRI) of the anterior, lateral and postero-medial muscular compartments of both the normal and the clubfoot leg was obtained in three groups of seven patients each, whose mean age was, respectively, 4.8 months, 11.1 months and 4.7 years. At diagnosis, all the unilateral congenital clubfeet had a Pirani score ranging from 4.5 to 5.5 points, and all of them had been treated according to a strict Ponseti protocol. All the feet had percutaneous lengthening of the Achilles tendon. RESULTS: A mean difference in both volume and length was found between the three muscular compartments of the leg, with the muscles of the clubfoot side being thinner and shorter than those of the normal side. The distal tendon of the tibialis anterior, peroneus longus and triceps surae (Achilles tendon) were longer than normal on the clubfoot side. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that the three muscle compartments of the clubfoot leg are thinner and shorter than normal in the patients of the three groups. The difference in the musculature volume of the postero-medial compartment between the normal and the affected side increased nine-fold from age group 2 to 3, while the difference in length increased by 20 %, thus, showing that the muscles of the postero-medial compartment tend to grow in both thickness and length much less than the muscles of the other leg compartments

AMP-activated protein kinase is a key regulator of acute neurovascular permeability

Many neuronal and retinal disorders are associated with pathological hyperpermeability of the microvasculature. We have used explants of rodent retinae to study acute neurovascular permeability and signal transduction and the role of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Following stimulation with either vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A) or bradykinin (BK), AMPK was rapidly and strongly phosphorylated and acted as a key mediator of permeability downstream of Ca2+ Accordingly, AMPK agonists potently induced acute retinal vascular leakage. AMPK activation led to phosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), which in turn increased VE-cadherin phosphorylation on Y685. In parallel, AMPK also mediated phosphorylation of p38 MAP kinase and HSP27, indicating that it regulated paracellular junctions and cellular contractility, both previously associated with endothelial permeability. Endothelial AMPK provided a missing link in neurovascular permeability, connecting Ca2+ transients to the activation of eNOS and p38, irrespective of the permeability-inducing factor used. Collectively, we find that, due to its compatibility with small molecule antagonists/agonists and siRNA, the ex-vivo retina model constitutes a reliable tool to identify and study regulators and mechanism of acute neurovascular permeability

HiTrust: building cross-organizational trust relationship based on a hybrid negotiation tree

Small-world phenomena have been observed in existing peer-to-peer (P2P) networks which has proved useful in the design of P2P file-sharing systems. Most studies of constructing small world behaviours on P2P are based on the concept of clustering peer nodes into groups, communities, or clusters. However, managing additional multilayer topology increases maintenance overhead, especially in highly dynamic environments. In this paper, we present Social-like P2P systems (Social-P2Ps) for object discovery by self-managing P2P topology with human tactics in social networks. In Social-P2Ps, queries are routed intelligently even with limited cached knowledge and node connections. Unlike community-based P2P file-sharing systems, we do not intend to create and maintain peer groups or communities consciously. In contrast, each node connects to other peer nodes with the same interests spontaneously by the result of daily searches