scholarly journals Novel Processing Algorithm to Improve Detectability of Disbonds in Adhesive Dissimilar Material Joints

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 3048
Author(s):  
Damira Smagulova ◽  
Liudas Mazeika ◽  
Elena Jasiuniene

Adhesively bonded dissimilar materials have attracted high interest in the aerospace and automotive industries due to their ability to provide superior structural characteristics and reduce the weight for energy savings. This work focuses on the improvement of disbond-type defect detectability using the immersion pulse-echo ultrasonic technique and an advanced post-processing algorithm. Despite the extensive work done for investigation, it is still challenging to locate such defects in dissimilar material joints due to the large differences in the properties of metals and composites as well as the multi-layered structure of the component. The objective of this work is to improve the detectability of defects in adhesively bonded aluminum and carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) by the development of an advanced post-processing algorithm. It was determined that an analysis of multiple reflections has a high potential to improve detectability according to results received by inspection simulations and the evaluation of boundary characteristics. The impact of a highly influential parameter such as the sample curvature can be eliminated by the alignment of arrival time of signals reflected from the sample. The processing algorithm for the improvement of disbond detectability was developed based on time alignment followed by selection of the time intervals with a significant amplitude change of the signals reflected from defective and defect-free areas and shows significant improvement of disbond detectability.

2018 ◽  
Vol 101 ◽  
pp. 111-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moritz H. Albrecht ◽  
Matthew W. Bickford ◽  
U. Joseph Schoepf ◽  
Christian Tesche ◽  
Domenico De Santis ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
pp. 108-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir P. Budak ◽  
Anton V. Grimaylo

The article describes the role of polarisation in calculation of multiple reflections. A mathematical model of multiple reflections based on the Stokes vector for beam description and Mueller matrices for description of surface properties is presented. On the basis of this model, the global illumination equation is generalised for the polarisation case and is resolved into volume integration. This allows us to obtain an expression for the Monte Carlo method local estimates and to use them for evaluation of light distribution in the scene with consideration of polarisation. The obtained mathematical model was implemented in the software environment using the example of a scene with its surfaces having both diffuse and regular components of reflection. The results presented in the article show that the calculation difference may reach 30 % when polarisation is taken into consideration as compared to standard modelling.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1023
Author(s):  
Ji Young Yu ◽  
Piyanan Chuesiang ◽  
Gye Hwa Shin ◽  
Hyun Jin Park

Liposomes have been utilized as a drug delivery system to increase the bioavailability of drugs and to control the rate of drug release at the target site of action. However, the occurrence of self-aggregation, coalescence, flocculation and the precipitation of aqueous liposomes during formulation or storage can cause degradation of the vesicle structure, leading to the decomposition of liposomes. To increase the stability of liposomes, post-processing techniques have been applied as an additional process to liposomes after formulation to remove water and generate dry liposome particles with a higher stability and greater accessibility for drug administration in comparison with aqueous liposomes. This review covers the effect of these techniques including freeze drying, spray drying and spray freeze drying on the stability, physicochemical properties and drug encapsulation efficiency of dry liposomes. The parameters affecting the properties of liposomes during the drying process are also highlighted in this review. In addition, the impact of using a protective agent to overcome such limitations of each process is thoroughly discussed through various studies.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1226
Author(s):  
Beatriz Fraga-De Cal ◽  
Antonio Garrido-Marijuan ◽  
Olaia Eguiarte ◽  
Beñat Arregi ◽  
Ander Romero-Amorrortu ◽  
...  

Prefabricated solutions incorporating thermal insulation are increasingly adopted as an energy conservation measure for building renovation. The InnoWEE European project developed three technologies from Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) materials through a manufacturing process that supports the circular economy strategy of the European Union. Two of them consisted of geopolymer panels incorporated into an External Thermal Insulation Composite System (ETICS) and a ventilated façade. This study evaluates their thermal performance by means of monitoring data from three pilot case studies in Greece, Italy, and Romania, and calibrated building simulation models enabling the reliable prediction of energy savings in different climates and use scenarios. Results showed a reduction in energy demand for all demo buildings, with annual energy savings up to 25% after placing the novel insulation solutions. However, savings are highly dependent on weather conditions since the panels affect cooling and heating loads differently. Finally, a parametric assessment is performed to assess the impact of insulation thickness through an energy performance prediction and a cash flow analysis.


Author(s):  
Zhihui Dou ◽  
Dapeng Zhao ◽  
Xiaohua Chen ◽  
Caipeng Xu ◽  
Xiaodong Jin ◽  
...  

AbstractBcl-x pre-mRNA splicing serves as a typical example to study the impact of alternative splicing in the modulation of cell death. Dysregulation of Bcl-x apoptotic isoforms caused by precarious equilibrium splicing is implicated in genesis and development of multiple human diseases, especially cancers. Exploring the mechanism of Bcl-x splicing and regulation has provided insight into the development of drugs that could contribute to sensitivity of cancer cells to death. On this basis, we review the multiple splicing patterns and structural characteristics of Bcl-x. Additionally, we outline the cis-regulatory elements, trans-acting factors as well as epigenetic modifications involved in the splicing regulation of Bcl-x. Furthermore, this review highlights aberrant splicing of Bcl-x involved in apoptosis evade, autophagy, metastasis, and therapy resistance of various cancer cells. Last, emphasis is given to the clinical role of targeting Bcl-x splicing correction in human cancer based on the splice-switching oligonucleotides, small molecular modulators and BH3 mimetics. Thus, it is highlighting significance of aberrant splicing isoforms of Bcl-x as targets for cancer therapy.


Author(s):  
Maria Anna Donati ◽  
Silvia Cabrini ◽  
Daniela Capitanucci ◽  
Caterina Primi ◽  
Roberta Smaniotto ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic, with the consequent lockdown of about 3 months, can be viewed as an experimental model to observe the impact of the depletion of environmental factors that stimulate gambling, particularly electronic gambling machines (EGMs) that were set to zero. The effects of some structural characteristics of gambling activities that increase gambling behavior were studied among disordered gamblers in treatment in this unique scenario. In fact, studies investigating the effects of the lockdown on problem gamblers (PGs) under treatment are missing. The aims of this study were to analyze patients’ gambling behavior and craving during the lockdown and to conduct a comparison between gambling disorder (GD) symptoms at the beginning of the treatment and during lockdown. The study was conducted in Italy, the European country with the largest gambling market and the first to be affected by the virus. Data were collected through a semi-structured telephone interview conducted by healthcare professionals. Participants were 135 PGs under treatment (109 males, mean age = 50.07). Results showed that most PGs achieved a significant improvement in their quality of life, with less gambling behavior, GD symptoms, and lower craving. No shift toward online gambling and very limited shift towards other potential addictive and excessive behaviors occurred. The longer the treatment, the more monitoring is present and the better the results in terms of symptoms reduction. Individual and environmental characteristics during the lockdown favored the reduction in symptoms. Consideration for prevention and treatment are discussed.


Author(s):  
Benjamin Yen ◽  
Yusuke Hioka

Abstract A method to locate sound sources using an audio recording system mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is proposed. The method introduces extension algorithms to apply on top of a baseline approach, which performs localisation by estimating the peak signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) response in the time-frequency and angular spectra with the time difference of arrival information. The proposed extensions include a noise reduction and a post-processing algorithm to address the challenges in a UAV setting. The noise reduction algorithm reduces influences of UAV rotor noise on localisation performance, by scaling the SNR response using power spectral density of the UAV rotor noise, estimated using a denoising autoencoder. For the source tracking problem, an angular spectral range restricted peak search and link post-processing algorithm is also proposed to filter out incorrect location estimates along the localisation path. Experimental results show the proposed extensions yielded improvements in locating the target sound source correctly, with a 0.0064–0.175 decrease in mean haversine distance error across various UAV operating scenarios. The proposed method also shows a reduction in unexpected location estimations, with a 0.0037–0.185 decrease in the 0.75 quartile haversine distance error.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 524
Author(s):  
Jihui Yuan ◽  
Kazuo Emura ◽  
Craig Farnham

The Typical meteorological year (TMY) database is often used to calculate air-conditioning loads, and it directly affects the building energy savings design. Among four kinds of TMY databases in China—including Chinese Typical Year Weather (CTYW), International Weather for Energy Calculations (IWEC), Solar Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) and Chinese Standard Weather Data (CSWD)—only CSWD is measures solar radiation, and it is most used in China. However, the solar radiation of CSWD is a measured daily value, and its hourly value is separated by models. It is found that the cloud ratio (diffuse solar radiation divided by global solar radiation) of CSWD is not realistic in months of May, June and July while compared to the other sets of TMY databases. In order to obtain a more accurate cloud ratio of CSWD for air-conditioning load calculation, this study aims to propose a method of refining the cloud ratio of CSWD in Shanghai, China, using observed solar radiation and the Perez model which is a separation model of high accuracy. In addition, the impact of cloud ratio on air-conditioning load has also been discussed in this paper. It is shown that the cloud ratio can yield a significant impact on the air conditioning load.


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Umer Zahid

AbstractMost of the industrial acid gas removal (AGR) units employ chemical absorption process for the removal of acid gases from the natural gas. In this study, two gas processing plants operational in Saudi Arabia have been selected where two different amines n1amely, diglycolamine (DGA) and monoethanol amine (MDEA) are used to achieve the sweet gas purity with less than 4 ppm of H2S. This study performed a feasibility simulation of AGR unit by utilizing the amine blend (DGA+MDEA) for both plants instead of a single amine. The study used a commercial process simulator to analyze the impact of process variables such as amine circulation rate, amine strength, lean amine temperature, regenerator inlet temperature, and absorber and regenerator pressure on the process performance. The results reveal that when the MDEA (0–15 wt. %) is added to DGA, marginal energy savings can be achieved. However, significant operational energy savings can be made when the DGA (0–15 wt. %) is blended with MDEA being the main amine.


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