Acoustic behavior of circular dual-chamber mufflers

The acoustic behavior of a circular dual-chamber muffler is investigated in detail by: (1) a two-dimensional (2-D) axisymmetric analytical approach based on the mode-matching technique for the concentric configurations; (2) the finite element method; and (3) experimental work. A number of effects is studied, including (1) the presence of a rigid baffle in the chamber; (2) the inner radius of the baffle; (3) the position of the baffle along the axial direction; and (4) the extended inlet/outlet and baffle ducts. Some of these effects are shown to modify the acoustic behavior drastically, suggesting potential means to improve the acoustic performance.     

Promoter Activation in Δhfq Mutants as an Efficient Tool for Specialized Metabolite Production Enabling Direct Bioactivity Testing

Natural products (NPs) from microorganisms have been important sources for discovering new therapeutic and chemical entities. While their corresponding biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) can be easily identified by gene‐sequence‐similarity‐based bioinformatics strategies, the actual access to these NPs for structure elucidation and bioactivity testing remains difficult. Deletion of the gene encoding the RNA chaperone, Hfq, results in strains losing the production of most NPs. By exchanging the native promoter of a desired BGC against an inducible promoter in Δhfq mutants, almost exclusive production of the corresponding NP from the targeted BGC in Photorhabdus, Xenorhabdus and Pseudomonas was observed including the production of several new NPs derived from previously uncharacterized non‐ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS). This easyPACId approach (easy Promoter Activated Compound Identification) facilitates NP identification due to low interference from other NPs. Moreover, it allows direct bioactivity testing of supernatants containing secreted NPs, without laborious purification.     

Extended finite element method for fretting fatigue crack propagation

In this paper, the extended finite element method (X-FEM) is considered for the analysis of fretting fatigue problems. A two-dimensional implementation of the X-FEM is carried out within the finite element software ABAQUS? by means of user subroutines, and crack propagation in fretting fatigue problems is investigated. On utilizing the non-linear contact capabilities of this code, the numerical technique is applied to a specimen-indenter model. The use of the X-FEM facilitates very accurate stress intensity factor computations on relatively coarse meshes, and furthermore, no remeshing is required for crack growth simulations. The implementation is applied to complete and incomplete contact fretting problems. A study of crack growth is conducted for several bulk loads applied to the specimen, and the influence of the initial crack angle is ascertained. The numerical simulations reveal the merits of applying the X-FEM to fretting fatigue problems.     

Acoustic modelling of exhaust devices with nonconforming finite element meshes and transfer matrices

Transfer matrices are commonly considered in the numerical modelling of the acoustic behaviour associated with exhaust devices in the breathing system of internal combustion engines, such as catalytic converters, particulate filters, perforated mufflers and charge air coolers. In a multidimensional finite element approach, a transfer matrix provides a relationship between the acoustic fields of the nodes located at both sides of a particular region. This approach can be useful, for example, when one-dimensional propagation takes place within the region substituted by the transfer matrix. As shown in recent investigations, the sound attenuation of catalytic converters can be properly predicted if the monolith is replaced by a plane wave four-pole matrix. The finite element discretization is retained for the inlet/outlet and tapered ducts, where multidimensional acoustic fields can exist. In this case, only plane waves are present within the capillary ducts, and three-dimensional propagation is possible in the rest of the catalyst subcomponents. Also, in the acoustic modelling of perforated mufflers using the finite element method, the central passage can be replaced by a transfer matrix relating the pressure difference between both sides of the perforated surface with the acoustic velocity through the perforations. The approaches in the literature that accommodate transfer matrices and finite element models consider conforming meshes at connecting interfaces, therefore leading to a straightforward evaluation of the coupling integrals. With a view to gaining flexibility during the mesh generation process, it is worth developing a more general procedure. This has to be valid for the connection of acoustic subdomains by transfer matrices when the discretizations are nonconforming at the connecting interfaces. In this work, an integration algorithm similar to those considered in the mortar finite element method, is implemented for nonmatching grids in combination with acoustic transfer matrices. A number of numerical test problems related to some relevant exhaust devices are then presented to assess the accuracy and convergence performance of the proposed procedure.