A novel hybrid solid-like fluid-like (SLFL) method for the simulation of dry granular flows

This paper proposes a novel hybrid method to simulate the dry granular flow of materials over a wide range of inertial numbers that simultaneously covers the quasi-static and dense granular flow regimes. To overcome the lack of incremental objectivity whenever large deformations occur in solid-like regimes and to remove computational singularities in fluid-like regimes close to rest, the elastic–perfectly plastic theory based on the Drucker–Prager yield criterion is combined with the theory of dense granular flows. By implementing some new modifications at the boundaries and removing all ghost particles, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is used as the framework for the method. A number of benchmark problems have been solved to show the capabilities of the new modified SPH method. Precise prediction of both location and pressure makes the modifications comparable with the previous works on SPH. Finally, the method is used to solve the classic 2D dry granular cliff collapse problem and to model dry granular material flow inside a rotary drum. The outcomes of the numerical simulation show good agreement with tabletop experiments and published results.     

On the spray drying of uniform functional microparticles

Spray drying is a typical method to produce particles in dry powder forms at industrial scale. Most spray-dried products often show a wide range of particle properties even within the same batch. At Monash University, we utilise a microfluidic spray drying approach to generate uniform microparticles with tightly controlled characteristics and sizes in a scalable, almost waste-free process. The technique is useful to correlate the effects of formulation and spray drying conditions on the properties of spray-dried particles, and can be used to test new formulations for targeted applications such as encapsulation and release of active ingredients. The synthesis route can be applied to other self-assembling systems, including mesoporous, crystalline, and hierarchically structured microparticles. As spray drying is commonly used in commercial scales, the understanding of how functional particles are formed in relation to formulations and process conditions could assist in developing a cost effective, energy and material-efficient route to produce powders with better properties and ease of handling for more advanced applications such as selective adsorption and bio-separation.     

Experimental benchmark of a free plunging wing with imposed flap oscillations

The validation of fluid–structure interaction solvers is difficult since there is a lack of experimental data. Therefore, in this work an aeroelastic experiment is presented. The focus is on the temporal coupling between fluid and structure dynamics. Issues in the spatial coupling are eliminated by using a rigid wing. The wing, with a harmonically actuated 0.2c trailing edge flap, has a degree of freedom in the plunge (vertical) direction. The wing has a chord of 0.5 m and is suspended with springs. The wing motion is constrained by a vertical rail system.For simplicity attached flow is desired and therefore the set angle of attack is α=0°. The Reynolds number is approximately Re=700 000 and the flap deflects over a range of about ±2°. The damped natural frequency of the structure expressed as a reduced frequency is about k=0.194 and measurements are performed for reduced flap frequencies ranging from k=0.1 to k=0.3. Displacements and time dependent aerodynamic forces are measured and for k=0.198 2-D PIV measurements are performed. The planar PIV measurements are used to intrinsically determine the unsteady loads using Noca׳s method.As expected the aeroelastic problem shows similarities with a viscously damped mass–damper–spring, meaning the maximum excursion of the wing is found near the system eigenfrequency. The lift is dominated by the flap motion and the effective angle of attack due to the motion introduces phase shifts of the lift signal with respect to the flap phase angle.The experiment has been set up and executed with the necessary precision, but small ambiguities are found in the lift and drag disqualifying the data for validation. Nevertheless the data set provides a clear insight into typical loads and motions and can be used for comparative studies. It can also be used to (re)design future experiments to improve the quality of the data to the desired level of accuracy for validation.     

Demonstration of a coupled floating offshore wind turbine analysis with high-fidelity methods

This paper presents results of numerical computations for floating off-shore wind turbines using, as an example, a machine of 10-MW rated power. The aerodynamic loads on the rotor are computed using the Helicopter Multi-Block flow solver developed at the University of Liverpool. The method solves the Navier–Stokes equations in integral form using the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian formulation for time-dependent domains with moving boundaries. Hydrodynamic loads on the support platform are computed using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method, which is mesh-free and represents the water and floating structures by a set of discrete elements, referred to as particles. The motion of the floating offshore wind turbine is computed using a Multi-Body Dynamic Model of rigid bodies and frictionless joints. Mooring cables are modelled as a set of springs and dampers. All solvers were validated separately before coupling, and the results are presented in this paper. The importance of coupling is assessed and the loosely coupled algorithm used is described in detail alongside the obtained results.     

Relating geologic units and mobility system kinematics contributing to Curiosity wheel damage at Gale Crater,Mars

Curiosity landed on plains to the north of Mount Sharp in August 2012. By June 2016 the rover had traversed 12.9 km to the southwest, encountering extensive strata that were deposited in a fluvial-deltaic-lacustrine system. Initial drives across sharp sandstone outcrops initiated an unacceptably high rate of punctures and cracks in the thin aluminum wheel skin structures. Initial damage was found to be related to the drive control mode of the six wheel drive actuators and the kinematics of the rocker-bogie suspension. Wheels leading a suspension pivot were forced onto sharp, immobile surfaces by the other wheels as they maintained their commanded angular velocities. Wheel damage mechanisms such as geometry-induced stress concentration cracking and low-cycle fatigue were then exacerbated. A geomorphic map was generated to assist in planning traverses that would minimize further wheel damage. A steady increase in punctures and cracks between landing and June 2016 was due in part because of drives across the sharp sandstone outcrops that could not be avoided. Wheel lifetime estimates show that with careful path planning the wheels will be operational for an additional ten kilometers or more, allowing the rover to reach key strata exposed on the slopes of Mount Sharp.     

Estimating the tensile strength of super hard brittle materials using truncated spheroidal specimens

New approaches need to be introduced to measure the tensile capacity of super hard materials since the standard methods are not effective. To pursue this objective, a series of laboratory tests were constructed to replicate the fracture mechanism of diamond-based materials. Experiments indicate that under a certain compressive test condition, stresses normal to the axisymmetric line in truncated spheroidal specimens (bullet-shaped specimens) are in tension contributing to the tensile fracture of the material. From experimental and numerical studies, it is concluded that semi-prolate spheroidal specimens can be used to determine precisely the tensile strength of brittle stiff diamond-like composites.     

Stress induced phase transitions in silicon

Silicon has a tremendous importance as an electronic, structural and optical material. Modeling the interaction of a silicon surface with a pointed asperity at room temperature is a major step towards the understanding of various phenomena related to brittle as well as ductile regime machining of this semiconductor. If subjected to pressure or contact loading, silicon undergoes a series of stress-driven phase transitions accompanied by large volume changes. In order to understand the material's response for complex non-hydrostatic loading situations, dedicated constitutive models are required. While a significant body of literature exists for the dislocation dominated high-temperature deformation regime, the constitutive laws used for the technologically relevant rapid low-temperature loading have severe limitations, as they do not account for the relevant phase transitions. We developed a novel finite deformation constitutive model set within the framework of thermodynamics with internal variables that captures the stress induced semiconductor-to-metal ($\mathrm{cd-Si}\to \mathrm{\beta }\mathrm{-Si}$), metal-to-amorphous ($\mathrm{\beta }\mathrm{-Si}\to \mathrm{a-Si}$) as well as amorphous-to-amorphous ($\mathrm{a-Si}\to \mathrm{hda-Si}$, $\mathrm{hda-Si}\to \mathrm{a-Si}$) transitions. The model parameters were identified in part directly from diamond anvil cell data and in part from instrumented indentation by the solution of an inverse problem. The constitutive model was verified by successfully predicting the transformation stress under uniaxial compression and load–displacement curves for different indenters for single loading–unloading cycles as well as repeated indentation. To the authors' knowledge this is the first constitutive model that is able to adequately describe cyclic indentation in silicon.     

Effect of adhesive thickness,adhesive type and scarf angle on the mechanical properties of scarf adhesive joints

The effects of adhesive thickness, adhesive type and scarf angle, which are determined as the main control parameters by the dimensional analysis, on the mechanical properties of a scarf adhesive joint (SJ) subjected to uniaxial tensile loading are examined using a mixed-mode cohesive zone model (CZM) with a bilinear shape to govern the interface separation. Particularly, the adhesive-dependence of the vital cohesive parameters of CZM, which mainly include initial stiffness, total fracture energy and separation strength, is introduced emphatically. The numerical results demonstrate that the ultimate tensile loading increases as the adhesive thickness decreases. Cross the ultimate tension, the joint loses the load-bearing capacity when adopting the brittle adhesive but sustains partial load-bearing capacity while selecting the ductile adhesive. In addition, for the joint with the ductile adhesive, the maximum applied displacement until the complete failure of it is directly proportional to the adhesive thickness, which is different from the case using the brittle adhesive. Taking the combination of the ultimate loading and applied displacement into account, failure energy is employed to evaluate the joint performances. The results show that the failure energy of the joint with the brittle adhesive increases as the adhesive thickness decreases. Conversely, the situation of the joint using the ductile adhesive is vice versa. Moreover, the effect of the adhesive thickness becomes more noticeable with decreasing the scarf angle owing to the variation of the proportion of each component of the mixed-mode. Furthermore, all the characteristic parameters (the ultimate tensile loading, the maximum applied displacement and the failure energy) that adopted to describe the performances of SJ increase as the scarf angle decreases. Finally, the numerical method employed in this study is validated by comparing with existing experimental results.     

Modeling dynamic brittle behavior of materials with circular flaws or pores

Compressive failure of brittle materials is driven primarily by crack growth from pre-existing flaws in the material. These flaws, such as grain boundaries, pores, preexisting cracks, inclusions and missing grains, are randomly spaced and have a range of possible shapes and sizes. The current work proposes a micromechanics-based model for compressive dynamic failure of brittle materials with circular pore flaws, which incorporates both the number density and the size distribution of flaws. Results show that the distribution of flaw sizes is very important, particularly at moderate strain rate, since analyses based solely on the mean flaw size overpredict strength. Therefore, in order to increase dynamic strength at low to moderate strain rates, it is most effective to control the presence of large flaws. At very high strain rates, however, crack growth is activated even in small flaws and therefore controlling the total number density rather than the size of the flaws is effective for increasing dynamic strength. Finally, the model shows that neglecting very small flaws in the pore population may not have significant effects on the results in many cases, suggesting that the model is a useful tool for identifying a minimum resolution required for experimental characterization of microstructure.     

APPLICATION OF SURROGATE BASED PARTICLE SWARM OPTIMIZATION TO THE RELIABILITY-BASED ROBUST DESIGN OF COMPOSITE PRESSURE VESSELS

A surrogate based particle swarm optimization （SBPSO） algorithm which combines the surrogate modeling technique and particle swarm optimization is applied to the reliability- based robust design （RBRD） of composite pressure vessels. The algorithm and efficiency of SBPSO are displayed through numerical examples. A model for filament-wound composite pressure vessels with metallic liner is then studied by netting analysis and its responses are analyzed by using Finite element method （performed by software ANSYS）. An optimization problem for maximizing the performance factor is formulated by choosing the winding orientation of the helical plies in the cylindrical portion, the thickness of metal liner and the drop off region size as the design variables. Strength constraints for composite layers and the metal liner are constructed by using Tsai-Wu failure criterion and Mises failure criterion respectively. Numerical examples show that the method proposed can effectively solve the RBRD problem, and the optimal results of the proposed model can satisfy certain reliability requirement and have the robustness to the fluctuation of design variables.     

Automated critical point identification for PIV data using multimodal particle swarm optimization

A hybrid sequential niche algorithm is used for the automated identification of critical points of velocity fields. This method combines an adaptive sequential niche technique with deterministic local optimization to detect critical points: focus, node and saddle points. A particle swarm algorithm performs a global search whereas vortex core identification functions compute the precise location as the extremum of the corresponding function. Once a critical point is found, a rectangular niche is constructed around the point. The particle swarm then proceeds to explore different regions of the velocity field. The process advances sequentially, avoiding areas near previously found critical points by blocking niches obtained from previous steps. The niche size is automatically adjusted each time a search enters inside an existing niche. Vortex core functions are used for critical point identification and calculating its precise location inside each niche. The procedure is validated on particle image velocimetry data obtained with two types of flows, an impinging jet flow and a flow downstream of a model building. The hybrid algorithm proved to be very efficient and robust for automated detection and identification of critical points. It can be used as a first step for studying the time‐dependent dynamic behavior of instantaneous velocity fields by tracking topological critical points. This is the first study that uses a multi‐modal particle swarm algorithm for critical point identification. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于多轮升维策略与改进量子行为粒子群优化算法的热导率函数估计方法

将改进的量子行为粒子群优化算法应用于材料热导率函数估计问题中,并提出了一种多轮升维策略对算法的搜索过程进行优化,形成了一种鲁棒性强且高效的反演方法。通过数值实验测试了该方法在测量误差以及系统误差下的表现,并对不同粒子群优化算法的性能进行了比较研究。结果表明,采用的反演方法能够在较大的搜索范围与反演维度下稳定收敛,对测量误差的敏感度较低;提出的多轮升维策略能够使各类粒子群优化算法在热导率函数估计问题中的搜索效率得到提升。     

粒子群优化算法在传递对准中的应用

给出了一种基于粒子群优化算法的捷联惯导传递对准算法。简单分析了传递对准任务要求和主子惯导惯性器件输出之间的关系,将传递对准问题作为参数优化问题进行求解,给出了基于粒子群优化算法进行传递对准的数学模型。定义了传递对准的优化目标函数,介绍了粒子群优化算法及其应用于传递对准的具体算法设置。用粒子群优化算法求解目标函数的最小值,可获得主子惯导之间的失准角,进行一次校正即可完成传递对准过程。通过计算机仿真对算法进行了验证分析,在仿真条件下（陀螺精度为0.1°/h）,能达到方位0.1°的精度。与其他对准算法一样,算法受载体机动条件的影响较大,一般需要姿态机动来提高陀螺的信噪比。     

改进PSO算法在结构作动器位置优化中的应用

针对空间结构振动主动控制中的作动器位置优化问题, 提出了一种改进的粒子群(PSO) 优化方法, 以系统总能量为性能指标进行优化; 应用改进PSO方法对算例结构进行了计算, 并与其他算法的优化结果进行了对比; 结果表明: 几种优化方法计算结果相符; 且 PSO优化算法能更有效快速地解决复杂优化问题, 从而有效地进行结构的振动控制.     

基于修正PSO-UKF的SINS/GPS组合导航滤波算法

针对噪声时变特性引起滤波精度下降的问题,提出了一种基于修正粒子群技术( PSO)的自适应UKF算法.为了克服传统粒子群算法过早收敛,容易陷入局部最优的问题,基于粒子的适应值方差提出了一种惯性权值实时修正算法,有效改善了传统PSO算法.在使用新息序列对观测噪声进行实时跟踪的同时,通过构造合理的适应度函数将修正PSO算法和...     

Field study of a soft X-ray aerosol neutralizer combined with electrostatic classifiers for nanoparticle size distribution measurements

Most conventional aerosol neutralizers are based on radioactive sources, which are controlled by strict regulations restricting their handling, transport, and storage. The TSI 3087 soft X-ray (SXR) neutralizer circumvents these legal restrictions. The aim of the present work is to compare the performance of a standalone SXR aerosol neutralizer with that of conventional radioactive aerosol neutralizers based on ⁸⁵Kr (TSI 3077) and ²⁴¹Am (Grimm 5522) by performing field tests in a real environmental scenario. The results obtained when the SXR neutralizer was connected to a mobility particle sizer spectrometer (MPS), different from the device suggested by the manufacturer, were comparable with those obtained with the use of radioactive aerosol neutralizers. In changing the neutralizer, the particle number concentrations, measured with the MPS connected to the SXR neutralizer, almost remained within the 10% uncertainty bounds for the particle size interval 10–300 nm, when diffusion losses inside the SXR tube were considered. Based on our comparisons, the SXR neutralizer can be regarded as a standalone instrument that could solve the problems associated with legal restrictions on radioactive neutralizers and fulfil the need for a portable instrument for different field test purposes.     

求解非线性方程组的混沌粒子群算法及应用

针对非线性方程组的求解在工程上具有广泛的实际意义,经典的数值算法如牛顿法存在其收敛性依赖于初值而实际计算中初值难确定的问题,提出以混沌粒子群算法求解非线性方程。它通过将混沌搜索机制有机地引入粒子群算法,使每个粒子从混沌搜索机制与粒子群算法搜索机制中获得适当的搜索方向,以混沌变量的遍历性增强粒子的搜索性能与更全面地应用目标函数的信息,并反映到逐代更新的个体极值和群体极值中,可更有效地调整粒子的移向并最终获得最优解。测试结果表明这一尝试的有效性。最后将所提的方法用于建立复合材料结构的疲劳寿命与应力、温度、湿度的关系模型。     

Robust airfoil optimization based on improved particle swarm optimization method

A robust airfoil optimization platform is constructed based on the modified particle swarm optimization method (i.e., the second-order oscillating particle swarm method), which consists of an efficient optimization algorithm, a precise aerodynamic analysis program, a high accuracy surrogate model, and a classical airfoil parametric method. There are two improvements for the modified particle swarm method compared with the standard particle swarm method. First, the particle velocity is represented by the combination of the particle position and the variation of position, which makes the particle swarm algorithm a second-order precision method with respect to the particle position. Second, for the sake of adding diversity to the swarm and enlarging the parameter searching domain to improve the global convergence performance of the algorithm, an oscillating term is introduced to the update formula of the particle velocity. At last, taking two airfoils as examples, the aerodynamic shapes are optimized on this optimization platform. It is shown from the optimization results that the aerodynamic characteristic of the airfoils is greatly improved in a broad design range.     

粒子群算法优化的捷联罗经初始对准方法

初始对准是惯导系统的关键技术,罗经法对准是实现捷联惯导系统初始对准的重要手段。罗经对准回路的参数选择直接影响对准结果的好坏。对于不同的捷联惯导系统,罗经回路的最优参数也是不同的。传统的方法是根据经验以及大量的反复试验确定罗经对准参数,不能保证对准参数为最优。针对此问题,提出以水平罗经对准回路阻尼振荡周期T_(d1)和航向罗经对准回路阻尼振荡周期T_(d2)为寻优目标,用粒子群算法对参数(T_(d1),T_(d2))进行寻优的方法,以确定出满足条件的最优对准参数,从而提高捷联罗经初始对准的性能。实验结果表明:粒子群算法能够快速、准确地搜索出罗经对准回路的最优参数,提高捷联罗经对准的性能。将粒子群算法应用到捷联罗经初始对准中是有效的。     

基于Kriging代理模型的迭代更新高效反演方法

为提高混凝土坝等大体积结构参数反演效率和精度,减少由于应用有限元进行大量正分析而产生的计算机时,建立了一种结合Kriging代理模型和粒子群优化(PSO)算法的迭代更新反演方法。通过拉丁超立方抽样(LHS)方法确定初始样本点的空间分布,并使用有限元正分析获取对应的响应值,构建粗糙的初始代理模型,结合具有全局寻优能力的PSO算法,反演大体积结构的分区弹性模量,随之再代入有限元模型中,计算获取新的位移响应,并将其作为新样本加入到样本集中,通过迭代更新获得局部更高精度的代理模型。工程实际算例表明,该方法对混凝土坝等大体积结构参数反演精度较高和适用性好,且能大幅减少传统有限元模型反演方法所需消耗的正分析机时,提高反演效率。