Effect of geometric nonlinearity on dynamic pull-in behavior of coupled-domain microstructures based on classical and shear deformation plate theories

This paper investigates the dynamic pull-in behavior of microplates actuated by a suddenly applied electrostatic force. Electrostatic, elastic and fluid domains are involved in modeling. First-order shear deformation plate theory and classical plate theory are used to model the geometrically nonlinear microplates. The equations of motion are descritized by the finite element method. The effects of nonlinearity, fluid pressure, initial stress and different geometric parameters on dynamic behavior are examined. In addition, the influences of initial stress and actuation voltage on oscillatory behavior of microplates are evaluated.     

Static pull-in analysis of electrostatically actuated microbeams using homotopy perturbation method

In this study, static pull-in instability of electrostatically-actuated microbridges and microcantilevers is investigated considering different nonlinear effects. Galerkin’s decomposition method is utilized to convert the nonlinear differential equations of motion to nonlinear integro-algebraic equations. Afterward, analytic solutions to static deflections of the microbeams are obtained using the homotopy perturbation method. Results are in excellent agreement with those presented in the literature.     

BIANCA: a genetic algorithm to solve hard combinatorial optimisation problems in engineering

The genetic algorithm BIANCA, developed for design and optimisation of composite laminates, is a multi-population genetic algorithm, capable to deal with unconstrained and constrained hard combinatorial optimisation problems in engineering. The effectiveness and robustness of BIANCA rely on the great generality and richness in the representation of the information, i.e. the structure of populations and individuals in BIANCA, and on the way the information is extensively exploited during genetic operations. Moreover, we developed proper and original strategies to treat constrained optimisation problems through the generalisation of penalisation methods. BIANCA can also treat constrained multi-objective problems based on the construction of the Pareto frontier. Therefore, BIANCA allows us to approach very general design problems for composite laminates, but also to make a step forward to the treatment of more general problems of optimisation of materials and structures. In this paper, we describe specifically the case of optimal design of composite laminates, concerning both the theoretical formulation and the numeric resolution.     

Thiourea-treated graphene aerogel as a highly selective gas sensor for sensing of trace level of ammonia

As a result of this study, a new and simple method was proposed for the fabrication of an ultra sensitive, robust and reversible ammonia gas sensor. The sensing mechanism was based upon the change in electrical resistance of a graphene aerogel as a result of sensor exposing to ammonia. Three-dimensional graphene hydrogel was first synthesized via hydrothermal method in the absence or presence of various amounts of thiourea. The obtained material was heated to obtain aerogel and then it was used as ammonia gas sensor. The materials obtained were characterized using different techniques such as Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thiourea-treated graphene aerogel was more porous (389 m² g⁻¹) and thermally unstable and exhibited higher sensitivity, shorter response time and better selectivity toward ammonia gas, compared to the aerogel produced in the absence of thiourea. Thiourea amount, involved in the hydrogel synthesis step, was found to be highly effective factor in the sensing properties of finally obtained aerogel. The sensor response time to ammonia was short (100 s) and completely reversible (recovery time of about 500 s) in ambient temperature. The sensor response to ammonia was linear between 0.02 and 85 ppm and its detection limit was found to be 10 ppb (3S/N).     

Hopf Bifurcation and Hunting Behavior in a Rail Wheelset with Flange Contact

An analytical investigation of Hopf bifurcation and hunting behavior of a rail wheelset with nonlinear primary yaw dampers and wheel-rail contact forces is presented. This study is intended to complement earlier studies by True et al., where they investigated the nonlinearities stemming from creep-creep force saturation and nonlinear contacts between a realistic wheel and rail profile. The results indicate that the nonlinearities in the primary suspension and flange contact contribute significantly to the hunting behavior. Both the critical speed and the nature of bifurcation are affected by the nonlinear elements. Further, the results show that in some cases, the critical hunting speed from the nonlinear analysis is less than the critical speed from a linear analysis. This indicates that a linear analysis could predict operational speeds that in actuality include hunting.     

Ultra-compact two-dimensional plasmonic nano-ring antenna array for sensing applications

In this paper, a novel optical nanoantenna based on two-dimensional plasmonic nano-ring antenna array is proposed, investigated numerically and compared with a nano-disk antenna array. The results show that the nano-ring structure has resonances similar to the resonances of nano-disk structure but in higher wavelengths. These resonances are tunable by varying the structural parameters of the ring. The optical properties of the proposed structure are investigated in the context of designing a plasmonic refractive index sensor. The nano-ring antenna array sensor has large sensitivity in comparison to the conventional nano-disk antenna arrays. The special feature of the presented structure and the device concepts introduced in this work are applicable in realization of various integrated components and could play an important role in development of plasmonic sensors.     

Half-metallic ferromagnetism in the zincblende TiTe

The first-principle calculations based on spin-polarized density functional theory were performed to investigate the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of TiTe compound. The results showed that the ground state phase of TiTe is a non-magnetic NiAs structure and the zincblende (ZB) TiTe structure becomes stable at −5.2 GPa. It was predicted that the ZB structure is a half-metal ferromagnet with a magnetic moment of per formula unit for the equilibrium lattice parameter. The minority- spin and spin-flip gaps were calculated equal to 2.84 eV and 0.2 eV, respectively. In addition, the reasons for appearance of half-metallicity and magnetism in the ZB TiTe were discussed. It was noted that the half-metallicity characteristic exists within a wide range of lattice constant which makes the ZB TiTe an interesting material in the field of spintronics.     

Fibril formation of lysozyme upon interaction with sodium dodecyl sulfate at pH 9.2

Fibril formation seems to be a general property of all proteins. Its occurrence in hen or human lysozyme depends on certain conditions, namely acidic pHs or the presence of some additives. This paper studies the interaction of lysozyme with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) at pH 9.2, using UV-visible spectrophotometry, circular dichroism (CD) spectropolarimetry, electron microscopy (EM) and chemometry. Based on observations such as the strange increase in absorbance at 650nm (pH 9.2) and the presence of intermediates, it is assumed that lysozyme fibrils have been formed at pH 9.2 in the presence of SDS as an anionic surfactant. Thioflavin T emission fluorescence and an EM image confirmed this assumption. beta-cyclodextrin was then used as a turbidity inhibitor to establish its effect on the distribution of intermediates that participate in fibril formation.