鼻腔手术对OSAHS患者治疗效果的数值分析

对3名伴有鼻阻塞的OSAHS患者术前术后的上气道结构包含软腭组织进行三维重构,采用数值模拟的方法研究这3名患者手术前后,上气道气流分布以及软腭的运动情况,分析鼻腔手术对OSAHS患者的治疗效果.3名患者手术后鼻腔通气程度均得已改善.两名轻度OSAHS患者手术后上气道阻力减小,软腭位移均比术前减小,这些变化均有助于缓减呼吸时气流受限情况.而第3名重度患者手术后上气道阻力和软腭位移反而增加,这将会进一步加重气道的阻塞程度.鼻部手术对OSAHS患者的治疗效果取决于上游鼻腔通气程度的改善能否对下游咽腔产生有益的影响.数值模拟结果与PSG监测结果及其主诉情况相符,与现阶段临床有关的研究结论相一致,能够间接反映术后气道通气程度以及打鼾症状是否改善,为进一步解决临床的疑难问题提供了理论依据.     

Numerical simulation of soft palate movement and airflow in human upper airway by fluid-structure interaction method

In this paper, the authors present airflow field characteristics of human upper airway and soft palate movement attitude during breathing. On the basis of the data taken from the spiral computerized tomography images of a healthy person and a patient with Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome (OSAHS), three-dimensional models of upper airway cavity and soft palate are reconstructed by the method of surface rendering. Numerical simulation is performed for airflow in the upper airway and displacement of soft palate by fluid-structure interaction analysis. The reconstructed three-dimensional models precisely preserve the original configuration of upper airways and soft palate. The results of the pressure and velocity distributions in the airflow field are quantitatively determined, and the displacement of soft palate is presented. Pressure gradients of airway are lower for the healthy person and the airflow distribution is quite uniform in the case of free breathing. However, the OSAHS patient remarkably escalates both the pressure and velocity in the upper airway, and causes higher displacement of the soft palate. The present study is useful in revealing pathogenesis and quantitative mutual relationship between configuration and function of the upper airway as well as in diagnosing diseases related to anatomical structure and function of the upper airway. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10672036, 10472025 and 10421002), the Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province (20032109). English text was polished by Yunming Chen.     

Mechanical properties of double-stranded DNA biofilm with Gaussian distribution简

In microcantilever-based label-free biodetection technologies, deflection changes induced by adsorptions of double-stranded DNA （dsDNA） molecules on Au-layer surface are greatly affected by the mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of DNA biofilm. In this paper, the elastic properties of dsDNA biofilm are studied. First, the Parsegian＇s empirical potential based on a mesoscopic liq- uid crystal theory is employed to describe the interaction energy among coarse-grained DNA cylinders. Then, con- sidering a Gaussian distribution of DNA interaxial distance, the thought experiment method is used to derive an analyti- cal expression for Young＇s modulus of DNA biofilm with a stochastic packing pattern for the first time. Results show that Young＇s modulus of DNA biofilm is on the order of 10 MPa. These findings could provide a simple and effective method to evaluate the mechanical properties of soft biofilm on snbstrate.     

A meshfree-based local Galerkin method with condensation of degree of freedom for elastic dynamic analysis简

Condensation technique of degree of freedom is first proposed to improve the computational efficiency of meshfree method with Galerkin weak form for elastic dy- namic analysis. In the present method, scattered nodes with- out connectivity are divided into several subsets by cells with arbitrary shape. Local discrete equation is established over each cell by using moving Kriging interpolation, in which the nodes that located in the cell are used for approxima- tion. Then local discrete equations can be simplified by con- densation of degree of freedom, which transfers equations of inner nodes to equations of boundary nodes based on cells. The global dynamic system equations are obtained by as- sembling all local discrete equations and are solved by using the standard implicit Newmark＇s time integration scheme. In the scheme of present method, the calculation of each cell is carried out by meshfree method, and local search is imple- mented in interpolation. Numerical examples show that the present method has high computational efficiency and good accuracy in solving elastic dynamic problems.     

A cellular scale numerical study of the effect of mechanical properties of erythrocytes on the near-wall motion of platelets

The effect of mechanical properties of erythrocytes on the near-wall motion of platelets was numerically studied with the immersed boundary method. Cells were modeled as viscous-fluid-filled capsules surrounded by hyper-elastic membranes with negligible thickness. The numerical results show that with the increase of hematocrit, the near-wall approaching of platelets is enhanced, with which platelets exhibit larger deformation and orientation angle of its near-wall tank-treading motion, and the lateral force pushing platelets to the wall is increased with larger fluctuation amplitude. Meanwhile the near-wall approaching is reduced by increasing the stiffness of erythrocytes.     

Interval finite difference method for steady-state temperature field prediction with interval parameters

A new numerical technique named interval finite difference method is proposed for the steady-state temperature field prediction with uncertainties in both physical parameters and boundary conditions. Interval variables are used to quantitatively describe the uncertain parameters with limited information. Based on different Taylor and Neumann series, two kinds of parameter perturbation methods are presented to approximately yield the ranges of the uncertain temperature field. By comparing the results with traditional Monte Carlo simulation, a numerical example is given to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method for solving steady-state heat conduction problem with uncertain-but-bounded parameters.     

The application of three-dimensional hydroelastic analysis of ship structures in Pekeris hydro-acoustic waveguide environment简

The hydroelastic analysis and sonoelastic analysis methods are incorporated with the Green＇s function of the Pekeris ocean hydro-acoustic waveguide model to produce a three-dimensional sonoelastic analysis method for ships in the ocean hydro-acoustic environment. The seabed condition is represented by a penetrable boundary of prescribed density and sound speed. This method is employed in this paper to predict the vibration and acoustic radiation of a 1 500 t Small Water Area Twin Hull （SWATH） ship in shallow sea acoustic environment. The wet resonant frequencies and radiation sound source levels are predicted and compared with the measured results of the ship in trial.     

Vibration analysis of axisymmetric functionally graded viscothermoelastic spheres简

The present study focuses on the analysis of free vibrations of axisymmetric functionally graded hollow spheres. The material is assumed to be graded in radial di- rection with a simple power law. Matrix Frrbenious method of extended power series is employed to derive the analytical solutions for displacement, temperature, and stresses. The dispersion relations for the existence of various types of pos- sible modes of vibrations in the considered hollow sphere are derived in a compact form. In order to explore the character- istics of vibrations, the secular equations are further solved by using fixed point iteration numerical technique with the help of MATLAB software. The numerical results have been presented graphically for polymethyl methecrylate materials in respect of natural frequencies, frequency shift, inverse quality factor, displacement, temperature change, and radial stress.     

Viscoelastic analysis of single-component and composite PEG and alginate hydrogels简

Hydrogels, three-dimensional hydrophilic polymer networks, are appealing candidate materials for study- ing the cellular microenvironment as their substantial water content helps to better mimic soft tissue. However, hydrogels can lack mechanical stiffness, strength, and tough- ness. Composite hydrogel systems have been shown to improve upon mechanical properties compared to their single- component counterparts. Poly （ethylene glycol） dimethacrylate （PEGDMA） and alginate are polymers that have been used to form hydrogels for biological applications. Single- component and composite PEGDMA and alginate systems were fabricated with a range of total polymer concentrations. Bulk gels were mechanically characterized using spherical indentation testing and a viscoelastic analysis framework. An increase in shear modulus with increasing polymer con- centration was demonstrated for all systems. Alginate hydro- gels were shown to have a smaller viscoelastic ratio than the PEGDMA gels, indicating more extensive relaxation over time. Composite alginate and PEGDMA hydrogels exhib- ited a combination of the mechanical properties of the con- stituents, as well as a qualitative increase in toughness. Additionally, multiple hydrogel systems were produced that had similar shear moduli, but different viscoelastic behaviors. Accurate measurement of the mechanical properties of hydrogels is necessary in order to determine what parameters are key in modeling the cellular microenvironment.     

Three dimensional simulations of penetrative convection in a porous medium with internal heat sources

The problem of penetrative convection in a fluid saturated porous medium heated internally is analysed. The linear instability theory and nonlinear energy theory are derived and then tested using three dimensions simulation.Critical Rayleigh numbers are obtained numerically for the case of a uniform heat source in a layer with two fixed surfaces. The validity of both the linear instability and global nonlinear energy stability thresholds are tested using a three dimensional simulation. Our results show that the linear threshold accurately predicts the onset of instability in the basic steady state. However, the required time to arrive at the basic steady state increases significantly as the Rayleigh number tends to the linear threshold.     

Coupled extension and thickness-twist vibrations of lateral field excited AT-cut quartz plates简

In this paper, the coupled extension and thickness- twist vibrations are studied for AT-cut quartz plates under Lateral Field Excitation （LFE） with variations along the x1- direction. Mindlin＇s two-dimensional equations are used for anisotropic crystal plates. Both free and electrically forced vibrations are considered. Important vibration characteristics are obtained, including dispersion relations, frequency spectra, and motional capacitances. It is shown that, to avoid the effects of the couplings between extension and thickness-twist vibrations, a series of discrete values of the length/thickness ratio of the crystal plate need to be excluded. The results are of fundamental significance for the design of LFE resonators and sensors.     

Nanoscale mass sensing based on vibration of single-layered graphene sheet in thermal environments简

Based on vibration analysis, single-layered graphene sheet （SLGS） with multiple attached nanoparticles is developed as nanoscale mass sensor in thermal environments. Graphene sensors are assumed to be in simplysupported configuration. Based on the nonlocal plate the- ory which incorporates size effects into the classical theory, closed-form expressions lot the frequencies and relative fre- quency shills of SLGS-based mass sensor are derived using the Galerkin method. The suggested model is justified by a good agreement between the results given by the present model and available data in literature. The effects of tem- perature difference, nonlocal parameter, the location of the nanoparticle and the number of nanoparticles on the relative frequency shift of the mass sensor are also elucidated. The obtained results show that the sensitivity of the SLGS- based mass sensor increases with increasing temperature difference.     

Stability analysis of a thin-walled cylinder in turning operation using the semi-discretization method

In this work, the stability of a flexible thin cylindrical workpiece in turning is analyzed. A process model is derived based on a finite element representation of the workpiece flexibility and a nonlinear cutting force law. Repeated cutting of the same surface due to overlapping cuts is modeled with the help of a time delay. The stability of the so obtained system of periodic delay differential equations is then determined using an approximation as a time-discrete system and Floquet theory. The time-discrete system is obtained using the semi-discretization method. The method is implemented to analyze the stability of two different workpiece models of different thicknesses for different tool positions with respect to the jaw end. It is shown that the stability chart depends on the tool position as well as on the thickness.     

Frequency domain fundamental solutions for a poroelastic half-space

In frequency domain, the fundamental solutions for a poroelastic half-space are re-derived in the context of Biot＇s theory. Based on Biot＇s theory, the governing field equations for the dynamic poroelasicity are established in terms of solid displacement and pore pressure. A method of potentials in cylindrical coordinate system is proposed to decouple the homogeneous Biot＇s wave equations into four scalar Helmholtz equations, and the general solutions to these scalar wave equations are obtained. After that, spectral Green＇s functions for a poroelastic full-space are found through a decomposition of solid displacement, pore pressure, and body force fields. Mirror-image technique is then applied to construct the half-space fundamental solutions.Finally, transient responses of the half-space to buried point forces are examined.     

Exact mesh shape design of large cable-network antenna reflectors with flexible ring truss supports

An exact-designed mesh shape with favorable surface accuracy is of practical significance to the performance of large cable-network antenna reflectors. In this study, a novel design approach that could guide the generation of exact spatial parabolic mesh configurations of such reflector was proposed. By incorporating the traditional force density method with the standard finite element method, this proposed approach had taken the deformation effects of flexible ring truss supports into consideration, and searched for the desired mesh shapes that can satisfy the requirement that all the free nodes are exactly located on the objective paraboloid. Compared with the conventional design method,a remarkable improvement of surface accuracy in the obtained mesh shapes had been demonstrated by numerical examples. The present work would provide a helpful technical reference for the mesh shape design of such cable-network antenna reflector in engineering practice.     

On the validity of the Boltzmann–BGK model through relaxation evaluation

The Boltzmann-Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook（BGK）model is investigated for its validity regarding the collision term approximation through relaxation evaluation. The evaluation is based on theoretical analysis and numerical comparison between the BGK and direct simulation Monte Carlo（DSMC） results for three specifically designed relaxation problems. In these problems, one or half component of the velocity distribution is characterized by another Maxwellian distribution with a different temperature. It is analyzed that the relaxation time in the BGK model is unequal to the molecular mean collision time. Relaxation of component distribution fails to involve enough contribution from other component distributions, which makes the BGK model unable to capture details of velocity distribution, especially when discontinuity exists in distribution. The BGK model,however, predicts satisfactory results including fluxes during relaxation when the temperature difference is small. Particularly, the model-induced error in the BGK model increases with the temperature difference, thus the model is more reliable for low-speed rarefied flows than for hypersonic flows.     

Size effect of lattice material and minimum weight design

The size effects of microstructure of lattice materials on structural analysis and minimum weight design are studied with extented multiscale finite element method（EMsFEM） in the paper. With the same volume of base material and configuration, the structural displacement and maximum axial stress of micro-rod of lattice structures with different sizes of microstructure are analyzed and compared.It is pointed out that different from the traditional mathematical homogenization method, EMsFEM is suitable for analyzing the structures which is constituted with lattice materials and composed of quantities of finite-sized micro-rods.The minimum weight design of structures composed of lattice material is studied with downscaling calculation of EMsFEM under stress constraints of micro-rods. The optimal design results show that the weight of the structure increases with the decrease of the size of basic sub-unit cells. The paper presents a new approach for analysis and optimization of lattice materials in complex engineering constructions.     

Separating viscoelasticity and poroelasticity of gels with diferent length and time scales简

Viscoelasticity and poroelasticity commonly coexist as time-dependent behaviors in polymer gels. Engineering applications often require knowledge of both behaviors separated; however, few methods exist to decouple viscoelastic and poroelastic properties of gels. We propose a method capable of separating viscoelasticity and poroelasticity of gels in various mechanical tests. The viscoelastic char- acteristic time and the poroelastic diffusivity of a gel define an intrinsic material length scale of the gel. The experimen- tal setup gives a sample length scale, over which the solvent migrates in the gel. By setting the sample length to be much larger or smaller than the material length, the viscoelasticity and poroelasticity of the gel will dominate at different time scales in a test. Therefore, the viscoelastic and poroelastic properties of the gel can be probed separately at different time scales of the test. We further validate the method by finite-element models and stress-relaxation experiments.     

Nanoscale viscoelastic properties and adhesion of polydimethylsiloxane for tissue engineering简

It has shown that altering crosslink density of biopolymers will regulate the morphology of Mesenchymal Stem Cells （MSCs） and the subsequent MSCs differentia- tion. These observations have been found in a wide range of biopolymers. However, a recent work published in Nature Materials has revealed that MSCs morphology and differen- tiation was unaffected by crosslink density of polydimethyl- siloxane （PDMS）, which remains elusive. To understand such unusual behaviour, we use nanoindentation tests and modelling to characterize viscoelastic properties and sur- face adhesion of PDMS with different base：crosslink ratio varied from 50：1 （50D） to 10：1 （10D）. It has shown that lower crosslink density leads to lower elastic moduli. De- spite lower nanoindentation elastic moduli, PDMS with lowest crosslink density has higher local surface adhesion which would affect cell-biomaterials interactions. This work suggests that surface adhesion is likely another important physical cue to regulate cell-biomaterials interactions.     

Dynamics and adaptive control of a dual-arm space robot with closed-loop constraints and uncertain inertial parameters简

A dynamics-based adaptive control approach is proposed for a planar dual-arm space robot in the presence of closed-loop constraints and uncertain inertial parameters of the payload. The controller is capable of controlling the po- sition and attitude of both the satellite base and the payload grasped by the manipulator end effectors. The equations of motion in reduced-order form for the constrained system are derived by incorporating the constraint equations in terms of accelerations into Kane＇s equations of the unconstrained system. Model analysis shows that the resulting equations perfectly meet the requirement of adaptive controller design. Consequently, by using an indirect approach, an adaptive control scheme is proposed to accomplish position/attitude trajectory tracking control with the uncertain parameters be- ing estimated on-line. The actuator redundancy due to the closed-loop constraints is utilized to minimize a weighted norm of the joint torques. Global asymptotic stability is proven by using Lyapunov＇s method, and simulation results are also presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.