Processing optimization: A way to improve the ionic conductivity and dielectric loss of electroactive polymers

Electro‐active polymers (EAPs) such as P(VDF‐TrFE‐CTFE) are greatly promising in the field of flexible sensors and actuators, but their low dielectric strength driven by ionic conductivity is a main concern for achieving high electrostrictive performance. It is well known that there is a quadratic dependence of the strain response and mechanical energy density on the applied electric field. This dependence highlights the importance of improving the electrical breakdown EAPs while reducing the dielectric losses. This article demonstrates that it is possible to dramatically increase the electrical breakdown and decrease the dielectric losses by controlling processing parameters of the polymer synthesis and fabrication procedure. As a result, an enhancement of around 70% is achieved in both the strain and blocking force. The effects on the dielectric losses of the polymer crystallinity, molecular weight, solvent purity, and crystallization temperature are also investigated. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2018 , 56, 1164–1173     

一种新的两道工序柔性流水车间排序问题

本文针对F_2(p),h11.1|m_1=1,m_2=μ≥2|C_(max)这一问题给出了几种近似算法,并对每种近似算法进行了最坏情形分析,给出了最坏情形界.     

Stability analysis of a substructured model of the rotating beam

One of the most well-known situations in which nonlinear effects must be taken into account to obtain realistic results is the rotating beam problem. This problem has been extensively studied in the literature and has even become a benchmark problem for the validation of nonlinear formulations. Among other approaches, the substructuring technique was proven to be a valid strategy to account for this problem. Later, the similarities between the absolute nodal coordinate formulation and the substructuring technique were demonstrated. At the same time, it was found the existence of a critical angular velocity, beyond which the system becomes unstable that was dependent on the number of substructures. Since the dependence of the critical velocity was not so far clear, this paper tries to shed some light on it. Moreover, previous studies were focused on a constant angular velocity analysis where the effects of Coriolis forces were neglected. In this paper, the influence of the Coriolis force term is not neglected. The influence of the reference conditions of the element frame are also investigated in this paper.     

Influences of flexible defect on the interplay of supercoiling and knotting of circular DNA

Knots are discovered in biophysical systems, such as DNA and proteins. Knotted portions in knotted DNA are significantly bent and their corresponding bending angles are comparable with or larger than the sharp bending angle resulting in flexible defects. The role of flexible defects in the interplay of supercoiling and knotting of circular DNA were predicted by a Monte Carlo simulation. In knotted DNA with a particular knot type, a flexible defect noticeably enhances the supercoiling of the knotted DNA and the decreasing excitation energy makes the knotted portion more compact. A reduction in twist rigidity and unwinding of flexible defects are incorporated into the numerical simulations, so that interplay of supercoiling and knotting of circular DNA is studied under torsional conditions. Increasing unwinding not only results in a wider linking number distribution, but also leads to a drift of the distribution to lower values. A flexible defect has obvious effects on knotting probability. The summation of equilibrium distribution probability for nontrivial knotted DNA with different contour length does not change with excitation energy monotonically and has a maximum at an intermediate value of excitation energy around 5 kBT. In the phase space of knot length and gyration radius of knotted DNA, knot length does not anticorrelate with its gyration radius, which is attributed to the flexible defect in the knotted portion, which leads to the release of bending energy and inhibited the competition between entropy and bending energy.     

Au-Nanoparticle-Array/Aligned-Ag-Nanowire-Based Flexible Dual Plasmonic Substrate for Sensitive Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Detection

The fabrication of flexible surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates for sensitive detection on uneven or irregular surfaces is challenging. In this study, a flexible dual plasmonic SERS (FDPS) substrate rationally constructed using Au nanoparticle (AuNP) arrays/aligned Ag nanowires (AgNWs) and elastic polyurethane (PU) is demonstrated. It exhibits high sensitivity (detection limit of 10⁻⁸ m for melamine and 10⁻¹⁰ m for malachite green) and excellent reproducibility. The well-designed structure of AuNP arrays/aligned AgNWs fabricated using block copolymer self-assembly and oil–water–air interfacial self-assembly successfully enhances the electromagnetic field through plasmonic coupling. In addition, the FDPS substrate retains a high SERS sensitivity after exposure to air at room temperature for 30 days because of the high stability of AuNP arrays and antioxidation characteristic of the PU covered on the aligned AgNWs. Even after undergoing stretching, bending, and twisting for 100 cycles, the FDPS substrate maintains a stable SERS activity owing to the introduction of the elastic PU. This study demonstrates a potential application of SERS detection under practical conditions for irregular surfaces and may be helpful in the development of flexible sensors.     

Efficient photocatalytic degradation of methyl violet with two metall–organic frameworks

Two metal–organic frameworks, [Co₂(L)(H₂O)₂(4,4′-bipy)]·3CH₃CN (1) and [Mn₂(L)(1,10-phen)(H₂O)]·H₂O (2) (H₄L = 5-[bis(4-carboxybenzyl)-amino]isophthalic acid; 4,4′-bipy = 4,4′-bipyridine, 1,10-phen = 1,10-phenanthroline), with two different N-donor ligands have been synthesized. The structures of both MOFs were determined using single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique. MOF 1 shows 3D uncommon (4,6,6)-c net with (4.5³.6²)₂(5⁷.6⁶.8²)(4².5⁴.6⁶.7².8) topology while in the case of 2, only L^4? ligands link Mn(II) ions into a 2D layer structure with chelating 1,10-phen ligand. The results demonstrate that variation in the N-donor ligands plays a pivotal role in deciding the framework of the two MOFs. Both MOFs have been exploited as photocatalyst materials for the degradation of MV. The photocatalysis results indicate that the two MOFs are stable and are prospective candidates for degradation of methyl violet under UV light irradiation. Additionally, 2 displayed superior photocatalytic activity in comparison to 1. The probable photocatalytic activity mechanism for both 1 and 2 against MV has been proposed using density of states (DOS) calculations.     

DYNAMICS MODELING,SIMULATION, AND CONTROL OF ROBOTS WITH FLEXIBLE JOINTS AND FLEXIBLE LINKS$^{\bf 1)}$

本文探究了铰柔性对机器人动力学响应和动力学控制的影响. 首先, 建立由$n$个柔性铰和$n$个柔性杆组成的空间机器人模型, 运用递推拉格朗日动力学方法, 得到柔性机器人系统的刚柔耦合动力学方程. 在动力学建模过程中, 除了考虑杆件的拉伸变形、弯曲变形、扭转变形以及非线性耦合变形对机器人系统动力学行为的影响, 还考虑了铰的柔性对机器人动力学响应和控制的影响. 其中, 柔性铰模型是基于Spong的柔性关节简化模型, 将柔性铰看成线性扭转弹簧, 不仅考虑了铰阻尼的存在, 还考虑了柔性铰的质量效应. 其次, 编写了空间柔性铰柔性杆机器人仿真程序, 研究铰的刚度系数和阻尼系数对系统动力学响应的影响. 研究表明: 随着柔性铰刚度系数的增大, 柔性机器人的动态响应幅值减小, 振动频率变大. 随着柔性铰阻尼系数的增大, 柔性机器人的动态响应幅值减小, 振动幅值的衰减速度变快. 可通过调节柔性铰的刚度和阻尼来减小柔性铰柔性杆机器人的振动, 因此铰阻尼的研究具有重要工程意义. 最后, 研究了铰柔性在机器人系统动力学控制中的影响. 在刚性铰机械臂和柔性铰机械臂完成相同圆周运动时, 通过逆动力学方法求解得到两种情况下的关节驱动力矩. 研究表明: 引入柔性铰会使控制所需的驱动力矩变小, 对机器人控制的影响显著.     

Redundant actuators to achieve minimal vibration trajectory tracking of flexible multibodies: Theory and application

We address the problem of inverse dynamics for flexible multibodies, which arises, in trajectory tracking control of flexible multibodies such as space manipulators and articulated flexible structures. Previous research has resolved this trajectory tracking problem by computing the system inputs for feedforward control of actuators at the joints. Recently, the use of distributed actuators like electro-strictive actuators in flexible structures has introduced a new dimension to this trajectory tracking problem. In this paper we optimally utilize such actuators to aid joint actuators for tracking control, and introduce a new inverse dynamics scheme for simultaneously (1) tracking a prescribed trajectory and (2) minimizing ensuing elastic deflections. We apply this scheme for trajectory tracking of a two-link two-joint planar manipulator with joint motors and distributed electro-strictive actuators. Experimental results are presented to contrast our new scheme with other existing methods.     

Singularity-free augmented Lagrangian algorithms for constrained multibody dynamics

After a general review of the methods currently available for the dynamics of constrained multibody systems in the context of numerical efficiency and ability to solve the differential equations of motion in singular positions, we examine the acceleration based augmented Lagrangian formulations, and propose a new one for holonomic and non-holonomic systems that is based on the canonical equations of Hamilton. This new one proves to be more stable and accurate that the acceleration based counterpart under repetitive singular positions. The proposed algorithms are numerically efficient, can use standard conditionally stable numerical integrators and do not fail in singular positions, as the classical formulations do. The reason for the numerical efficiency and better behavior under singularities relies on the fact that the leading matrix of the resultant system of ODEs is sparse, symmetric, positive definite, and its rank is independent of that of the Jacobian of the constraint equations. The latter fact makes the proposed method particularly suitable for singular configurations.