A nonlinear distributed-parameter model for harvesting energy from vortex-induced vibrations of a piezoelectric cantilever beam with a circular cylinder attached to its end is developed and validated ...with experimental results. A reduced-order model is derived by using the Euler–Lagrange principle and implementing the Galerkin discretization. A van der Pol wake oscillator is used to model the vortex-induced lift force. A nonlinear analysis is performed to determine the required number of modes in the Galerkin discretization. It is demonstrated that a one- or two-mode approximation in the Galerkin approach is not sufficient to evaluate the performance of the harvester. Based on a five-mode approximation in the Galerkin approach, an identification for the van der Pol wake oscillator coefficients is performed. To design efficient piezoaeroelastic energy harvesters that can generate energy at low freestream velocities, further analysis is performed to investigate the effects of the cylinder’s tip mass, length of the piezoelectric sheet, and electrical load resistance on the synchronization region and performance of the harvester. The results show that depending on the operating freestream velocity, the cylinder’s tip mass, length of the piezoelectric sheet, and electrical load resistance can be optimized to design enhanced piezoaeroelastic energy harvesters from vortex-induced vibrations.
Though widely used in modelling nano- and micro- structures, Eringen’s differential model shows some inconsistencies and recent study has demonstrated its differences between the integral model, ...which then implies the necessity of using the latter model. In this paper, an analytical study is taken to analyze static bending of nonlocal Euler-Bernoulli beams using Eringen’s two-phase local/nonlocal model. Firstly, a reduction method is proved rigorously, with which the integral equation in consideration can be reduced to a differential equation with mixed boundary value conditions. Then, the static bending problem is formulated and four types of boundary conditions with various loadings are considered. By solving the corresponding differential equations, exact solutions are obtained explicitly in all of the cases, especially for the paradoxical cantilever beam problem. Finally, asymptotic analysis of the exact solutions reveals clearly that, unlike the differential model, the integral model adopted herein has a consistent softening effect. Comparisons are also made with existing analytical and numerical results, which further shows the advantages of the analytical results obtained. Additionally, it seems that the once controversial nonlocal bar problem in the literature is well resolved by the reduction method.
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•Compressive behaviour of double-skin concrete filled steel tubular columns.•Parametric study on the behaviour of these columns via ABAQUS FE model.•Develop design equations for ...calculating the compressive capacity to Eurocode 4.
This paper presents the behaviour of circular concrete-filled double-skin steel tubular (CFDST) stub columns compressed under concentric axial loads. To predict the performance of such columns, a finite element analysis is conducted. Herein, for the accurate modelling of the double-skin specimens, the identification of suitable material properties for both the concrete infill and steel tubes is crucial. The applied methodology is validated through comparisons of the results obtained from the finite element analysis with those from past experiments. Aiming to examine the effect of various diameter-to-thickness (D/t) ratios, concrete cube strengths and steel yield strengths on the overall behaviour and ultimate resistance of the double-skin columns, a total of twenty-five models are created to conduct the parametric study. In addition, four circular concrete-filled steel tubes (CFST) are included to check the dissimilarities, in terms of their behaviour and weight, when compared with identical double-skin tubes. A new formula based on Eurocode 4 is proposed to evaluate the strength of the double-skin specimens. Based on the comparison between the results derived from the analysis, the proposed formulae for the concrete filled double-skin would appear to be satisfactory.
We investigate the potential of using a piezoelectric energy harvester to concurrently harness energy from base excitations and vortex-induced vibrations. The harvester consists of a multilayered ...piezoelectric cantilever beam with a circular cylinder tip mass attached to its free end which is placed in a uniform air flow and subjected to direct harmonic excitations. We model the fluctuating lift coefficient by a van der Pol wake oscillator. The Euler–Lagrange principle and the Galerkin procedure are used to derive a nonlinear distributed-parameter model for a harvester under a combination of vibratory base excitations and vortex-induced vibrations. Linear and nonlinear analyses are performed to investigate the effects of the electrical load resistance, wind speed, and base acceleration on the coupled frequency, electromechanical damping, and performance of the harvester. It is demonstrated that, when the wind speed is in the pre- or post-synchronization regions, its associated electromechanical damping is increased and hence a reduction in the harvested power is obtained. When the wind speed is in the lock-in or synchronization region, the results show that there is a significant improvement in the level of the harvested power which can attain 150 % compared to using two separate harvesters. The results also show that an increase of the base acceleration results in a reduction in the vortex-induced vibrations effects, an increase of the difference between the resonant excitation frequency and the pull-out frequency, and a significant effects associated with the quenching phenomenon.
•The SS biochar produced at 450°C is the most suitable one for garlic cultivation.•The favourable C:S ratio drifted when the biochar production temperature changed.•General heavy metal accumulation ...in the garlic root & bulb occurred for the most enriched Zn and Cu in the biochar.•Heavy metal bioaccumulation increased with heavy metal leaching from biochars but did not increase with increased C:S ratio.
Applying biochar products from sewage sludge (SS) pyrolysis as soil amendment for plant cultivation was investigated in this study with special attention paid to heavy metal accumulation in the plants when pyrolysis temperature and biochar-to-soil mass ratio (C:S) were changed. Biochar obtained at four different temperatures were adopted as soil amendment for Allium sativum L. garlic plant cultivation. Experimental results revealed that biochars were rich in nutrient contents and they improved garlic yields. Although contents of heavy metals including As, Zn, Pb, Ni, Cd, Cr and Cu, etc. were elevated in the biochars compared to local soil, they fell within the acceptable limits for land application and SS is a suitable biochar resource, especially biochar produced at 450°C had rich micropores, relatively stable functional groups in structure and rugged surface to contact well with soil, conducive to its usage as a biochar. The garlic grew faster when planted in the biochar-amended soil and had higher final dry matter yields than those planted in the reference soil, especially biochar produced at 450°C corresponding to the highest final yields. The C:S ratio related to the highest garlic yields changed when the pyrolysis temperature was changed and this ratio was 1:4 for the biochar produced at 450°C. General heavy metal accumulation in the garlic occurred only for the most enriched Zn and Cu, and mainly in the roots & bulbs; in addition this bioaccumulation was increasing as leaching from biochar increased but not increasing with C:S ratio. The garlic planted in soil amended with biochar of 450°C contained the lowest level of heavy metals compared to other biochars. Those results indicated that heavy metal accumulation in plants can be inhibited through proper pyrolysis temperature choice and prevention of heavy metal leaching from the SS biochar.
This study reports the clinical cure rates of topical oxytetracycline and 10% zinc sulphate foot bathing for treatment of interdigital dermatitis (ID), footrot (FR) and contagious ovine digital ...dermatitis (CODD) in lambs.
The study was a randomised controlled trial of 75 lambs. Group A (n = 38) was foot bathed daily for 5 days in 10% zinc sulphate for 15 minutes and group B was treated with daily topical oxytetracycline for 5 days. On days 0, 7, 14, 28 and 42, lambs were scored for locomotion and foot lesions were recorded.
The initial cure rates for ID were 96.20% and 97.00%; for FR, 100% and 95%; and for CODD, 90.09% and 83.33% for zinc sulphate and oxytetracycline, respectively. By day 42, these had changed to 53.16% and 61% for ID; 47.82% and 70% for FR; and 100% and 83.33% for CODD. There were no significant differences in cure rates between the treatments for most time points.
The sample size was small, and further studies in larger cohorts and different classes of sheep are required before the findings can be translated into recommendations for clinical practice.
Both treatments achieved cure rates that are comparable to reported cure rates using systemic antibiotics and could be an effective alternative.
The aim of this paper is to develop a new nonlinear theoretical model for cantilevered microbeams and to explore the nonlinear dynamics based on the modified couple stress theory, taking into account ...of one single material length scale parameter. The full nonlinear equation of motion, which is valid when the motion is large, is derived using the Hamilton’s principle. The governing partial differential equation is further discretized with the aid of Galerkin’s method. The numerical results, in which the existence of primary resonances of the first mode of the microbeam due to base excitations is demonstrated, are presented in the form of frequency–response curves, phase portraits and time histories. For a cantilevered microbeam subjected to harmonic base excitations, it is found that the frequency–response curve exhibits a clear softening-type behavior. For the same system but with an intermediate linear spring support, it is shown that the linear spring is capable of increasing the resonance frequency and decreasing the resonance amplitudes of the microbeam. Interestingly, it is found that the softening behavior could be changed to a hardening one if an intermediate nonlinear spring is added somewhere along the microbeam’s length.
The power battery thermal management problem in EV (electric vehicle) and HEV (hybrid electric vehicle) has been widely discussed, and EIS (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) is an effective ...experimental method to test and estimate the status of the battery. Firstly, an electrochemical-based impedance matrix analysis for lithium-ion battery is developed to describe the impedance response of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Then a method, based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurement, has been proposed to estimate the internal temperature of power lithium-ion battery by analyzing the phase shift and magnitude of impedance at different ambient temperatures. Respectively, the SoC (state of charge) and temperature have different effects on the impedance characteristics of battery at various frequency ranges in the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy experimental study. Also the impedance spectrum affected by SoH (state of health) is discussed in the paper preliminary. Therefore, the excitation frequency selected to estimate the inner temperature is in the frequency range which is significantly influenced by temperature without the SoC and SoH. The intrinsic relationship between the phase shift and temperature is established under the chosen excitation frequency. And the magnitude of impedance related to temperature is studied in the paper. In practical applications, through obtaining the phase shift and magnitude of impedance, the inner temperature estimation could be achieved. Then the verification experiments are conduced to validate the estimate method. Finally, an estimate strategy and an on-line estimation system implementation scheme utilizing battery management system are presented to describe the engineering value.
Background
Laparoscopic spleen‐preserving distal pancreatectomy (LSPDP) is designed principally for the removal of benign and low‐grade malignant lesions in the left pancreas. The aims of this study ...were to compare LSPDP with laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy (LDPS), compare two splenic preservation techniques (splenic vessel preservation and Warshaw technique) and investigate factors that influence splenic preservation.
Methods
Information from patients who underwent laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy between December 2004 and January 2016 at a single institution was reviewed. Data were extracted from a prospectively developed database. Intention‐to‐treat and propensity score matching analyses were employed. Univariable and multivariable analyses were used to investigate factors affecting splenic preservation.
Results
There were 206 patients in total (126 planned LSPDP and 80 planned LDPS procedures), of whom 108 underwent LSPDP and 98 LDPS. In intention‐to‐treat analysis, the duration of surgery was significantly shorter in the LSPDP group than in the LDPS group (mean 191·0 versus 220·5 min respectively; P < 0·001). Tumour size was an independent risk factor for splenic vessel resection in planned splenic vessel preservation operations, and a cut‐off value of 3 cm provided optimal diagnostic accuracy. After a median follow‐up of 35·9 months, there were no clinically significant splenic infarctions and no patient developed gastrointestinal bleeding after LSPDP.
Conclusion
Planned LSPDP had a high splenic preservation rate and was associated with significantly shorter operating time than LDPS. Splenic vessel preservation could be predicted using a tumour cut‐off size of 3 cm.
Usually achieved for small tumours