Experimental characterization of deployable trusses and joints

The structural dynamic properties of trusses are strongly affected by the characteristics of joints connecting the individual beam elements. Joints are particularly significant in that they are often the source of nonlinearities and energy dissipation. While the joints themselves may be physically simple, direct measurement is often necessary to obtain a mathematical description suitable for inclusion in a system model. Force state mapping is a flexible, practical test method for obtaining such a description, particularly when significant nonlinear effects are present. It involves measurement of the relationship, nonlinear or linear, between force transmitted through a joint and the relative displacement and velocity across it. An apparatus and procedure for force state mapping are described. Results are presented from tests of joints used in a lightweight, composite, deployable truss built by the Boeing Aerospace Company. The results from the joint tests are used to develop a model of a full 4-bay truss segment. The truss segment was statically and dynamically tested. The results of the truss tests are presented and compared with the analytical predictions from the model

Biomechanical Analysis of Body Movement During Skiing Over Bumps

Maintenance of balance of the skier's body is one of the most important and basic techniques in skiing on slopes of various conditions. However, skiers, especially beginners are likely to lose their balance on an uneven terrain with dips and swells. In order to keep his balance during skiing on an uneven terrain, it seems to be important for a skier to avoid receiving impulse from the snow surface. Some investigations have been conducted about maintenance of balance of body during skiing over artificially constructed bumps by means of electromyography (Miyashita and Sakurai, 1979), electrogoniometry (Iizuka and Miyashita, 1979) and cinematography (Miyashita and Sakurai, 1979, Iizuka and Miyashita, 1979, Sodeyama et al., 1979 and Ikegami et al. 1985). However, there is no research to try to measure force or acceleration acting on the skier's body during running over bumps. Therefore the purpose of this study is to measure force acting on skier's body by analyzing the movement of skier's body mechanically as well as kinematically, and to find out essential motions to maintain the balance of skier's body against rapid change of force acting from snow surface while skiing over bumps on a straight downhill run

A THREE-DIMENSIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF THE BASEBALL PITCH

Pitching is one of the most important aspects of the game of baseball. However, only a small number of quantitative biomechanical studies have been reported (Feltner & Dapena, 1986). Specifically, there have been few studies of the motion of the forearm and wrist joints during a pitching action. The purpose of this study is to record the changes in angles and angular velocities of the shoulder, elbow, radioulnar and wrist joints during a baseball pitch. In this study, three dimensional (3-D) high-speed cinematography was used to record the fastball pitches of varsity baseball pitchers

A Three-Dimensional Cinematographic Analysis of Badminton Strokes

Badminton and tennis are two of the most popular striking activities, Broer & Zernicke (1979) stated that one evident difference between the two sports skills was the degree to which the wrist snap was used. They stated that the wrist snap just before impact was the most essential action of badminton strokes and it was enabled by the lightness of the badminton racket. Gowitzke & Waddell (1979) analyzed forehand and backhand smash strokes, representative of the most powerful overhead striking motions in badminton. They concluded that medial rotation of the humerus at the shoulder joint and pronation of the forearm at the radio-ulnar joints were the principal contributing movements for the forehand smash, In badminton strokes, many joint actions in three planes are involved in the striking motion, so that two-dimensional procedures are insufficient for analyzing the stroke motion of badminton. Relatively small numbers of biomechanical studies have been completed on kinematic parameters of badminton strokes. Quantitative studies with threedimensional procedures have been even more limited. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the changes of joint angles of the upper body during the execution of the drop shot and the cut shot in badminton using three dimensional cinematography

Open problems in artificial life

This article lists fourteen open problems in artificial life, each of which is a grand challenge requiring a major advance on a fundamental issue for its solution. Each problem is briefly explained, and, where deemed helpful, some promising paths to its solution are indicated

Space-charge mechanism of aging in ferroelectrics: an exactly solvable two-dimensional model

A mechanism of point defect migration triggered by local depolarization fields is shown to explain some still inexplicable features of aging in acceptor doped ferroelectrics. A drift-diffusion model of the coupled charged defect transport and electrostatic field relaxation within a two-dimensional domain configuration is treated numerically and analytically. Numerical results are given for the emerging internal bias field of about 1 kV/mm which levels off at dopant concentrations well below 1 mol%; the fact, long ago known experimentally but still not explained. For higher defect concentrations a closed solution of the model equations in the drift approximation as well as an explicit formula for the internal bias field is derived revealing the plausible time, temperature and concentration dependencies of aging. The results are compared to those due to the mechanism of orientational reordering of defect dipoles.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. accepted to Physical Review

The Changes in Mechanical Energy During the Giant Swing Backward on the Horizontal Bar

In the giant swing backward, mechanical energy of the whole body is decreased due to friction between gymnast hands and the bar, and to air resistance. To complete the rotation, the gymnast has to do muscular work to offset these energy losses. Total mechanical energy changes with the relationship between energy loss and muscular work. Therefore, for biomechanical investigation of the giant swing backward, it is important to have an accurate measure of the mechanical energy changes of the whole body. Although there are many studies of energetics of the human fundamental movement such as walking and running, the mechanical energy changes of the whole body have not been reported during the giant swing backward on the horizontal bar. The purpose of this study is to report the mechanical energy changes of the whole body, and to identify the muscular work donc by the gymnast during the giant swing backward on the horizontal bar

JUMP HEIGHT IN LADIES SINGLE FIGURE SKATING IN THE 18TH WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES IN NAGANO 1998

As a part of the IOC Olympic Biomechanics Research Projects conducted at the 1998 Nagano Olympic Winter Games, jump height was examined for the free program session of ladies single figure skating. Jump height varied according to the number of rotations and the type of jump. Jumps using toe-picks, such as Lutz, Flip and Toe-Loop tended to be higher than jumps involving a swinging free leg style such as the Axel, Loop and Salchow. There was no remarkable difference for the maximum jumping height among groups with different competition ranking. Though jump height tended to decrease in the latter half of the performance, the decrease was smaller in skaters with a higher standing in the competition

MOMENT OF FORCE AND MECHANICAL POWER IN GIANT SWING ON THE HORIZONTAL BAR

Introduction In the giant swing backwards, frictional force acts upon the grip and air resistance acts upon the whole body (Hay, 1978; and Kreighbaum and Barthels, 1981). These resistive forces affect the rotation of the body and cause a loss of mechanical energy. Therefore in order to complete the rotation, the gymnast has to offset these energy losses using muscular work (Hay, 1978). It has been reported that changes in mechanical energy occur during the backward giant swing. The total energy of the body is decreased during the second half of the downswing and almost recovered in the first half of the upswing. These results suggest that muscular work is done in the first half of the upswing to offset the loss of mechanical energy in the last half of the downswing (Okamoto, Sakurai, Ikegami and Yabe)