Strain rate effects on compressive behavior of covalently bonded CNT networks

In this study, strain rate effects on the compressive mechanical properties of randomly structured carbon nanotube (CNT) networks were examined. For this purpose, three-dimensional atomistic models of CNT networks with covalently-bonded junctions were generated. After that, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of compressive loading were performed at five different strain rates to investigate the basic deformation characteristic mechanisms of CNT networks and determine the effect of strain rate on stress–strain curves. The simulation results showed that the strain rate of compressive loading increases, so that a higher resistance of specimens to deformation is observed. Furthermore, the local deformation characteristics of CNT segments, which are mainly driven by bending and buckling modes, and their prevalence are strongly affected by the deformation rate. It was also observed that CNT networks have superior features to metal foams such as metal matrix syntactic foams (MMSFs) and porous sintered fiber metals (PSFMs) in terms of energy absorbing capabilities.     

Compressive image broadcasting in MIMO systems with receiver antenna heterogeneity

In this work we consider image delivery in MIMO broadcast networks with diverse channel quality and varying numbers of antennas across receivers. In such systems, performance is normally constrained by the weakest users with either a low channel SNR or only a single receive antenna. To address both dimensions of heterogeneity, we propose a new analog image delivery system that adapts seamlessly along both dimensions simultaneously. Our sender scales the DWT coefficients according to a power allocation strategy, and generates linear combinations of the coefficients using compressive sensing (CS), before transmitting them with amplitude modulation. On the receiving side, the received physical layer symbols are passed directly to the source decoder without conventional MIMO decoding, and the DWT coefficients are recovered using a CS decoder.There are two main contributions of our system. First, integrating CS into MIMO transmission ensures that the reconstructed image quality at the receivers is commensurate with both the channel SNR and the MIMO channel dimension. Second, we introduce a power allocation strategy to achieve a performance tradeoff between receivers with different antenna numbers. Experimental results show that the proposed system outperforms both the analog reference SoftCast and the conventional digital system known as HM-STBC. The average gain is 2.92 dB over SoftCast for single-antenna users and 1.53 dB over HM-STBC for two-antenna users.     

Bayesian compressive sensing for cluster structured sparse signals

In traditional framework of compressive sensing (CS), only sparse prior on the property of signals in time or frequency domain is adopted to guarantee the exact inverse recovery. Other than sparse prior, structures on the sparse pattern of the signal have also been used as an additional prior, called model-based compressive sensing, such as clustered structure and tree structure on wavelet coefficients. In this paper, the cluster structured sparse signals are investigated. Under the framework of Bayesian compressive sensing, a hierarchical Bayesian model is employed to model both the sparse prior and cluster prior, then Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling is implemented for the inference. Unlike the state-of-the-art algorithms which are also taking into account the cluster prior, the proposed algorithm solves the inverse problem automatically—prior information on the number of clusters and the size of each cluster is unknown. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms many state-of-the-art algorithms.     

Regularized signal reconstruction for level-crossing sampling using Slepian functions

In this paper, we propose a method for efficient signal reconstruction from non-uniformly spaced samples collected using level-crossing sampling. Level-crossing (LC) sampling captures samples whenever the signal crosses predetermined quantization levels. Thus the LC sampling is a signal-dependent, non-uniform sampling method. Without restriction on the distribution of the sampling times, the signal reconstruction from non-uniform samples becomes ill-posed. Finite-support and nearly band-limited signals are well approximated in a low-dimensional subspace with prolate spheroidal wave functions (PSWF) also known as Slepian functions. These functions have finite support in time and maximum energy concentration within a given bandwidth and as such are very appropriate to obtain a projection of those signals. However, depending on the LC quantization levels, whenever the LC samples are highly non-uniformly spaced obtaining the projection coefficients requires a Tikhonov regularized Slepian reconstruction. The performance of the proposed method is illustrated using smooth, bursty and chirp signals. Our reconstruction results compare favorably with reconstruction from LC-sampled signals using compressive sampling techniques.     

Experimental investigation of the quality of lensless super-resolution ghost imaging via sparsity constraints

Ghost imaging via sparsity constraints (GISC) can nonlocally realize super-resolution imaging. Factors influencing the quality of lensless super-resolution GISC are investigated and the experimental results show that, the quality of GISC is enhanced as the object?s sparse ratio in the representation basis or the spatial transverse coherence lengths on the object plane are decreased. The differences between ghost imaging (GI) and GISC are also discussed.     

单臂压缩感知鬼成像的光强扩散函数分析法

为了提高单臂压缩感知鬼成像的成像质量,减少成像系统本身和外部环境的干扰,提出了一种光强扩散函数分析方法.在单臂压缩感知鬼成像原理的基础上分析了成像过程,指出降低成像质量的主要因素是菲涅尔衍射和大气湍流.针对这两个因素,推导并分析了光强度扩散函数的公式,研究透镜的焦距与口径之比和照明光源的波长对鬼成像的影响.仿真结果表明:在单臂压缩感知鬼成像中,使用焦距与尺寸半径之比在2~5范围内的成像投影透镜可以消除衍射效应的影响;短波长光源适用于大气湍流较弱时的成像,长波长光源在大气湍流较强时对干扰有更好的耐受能力.该方法可以有效地提高成像质量并优化成像系统.     

The effect of magnetic field heat treatment on magnetostriction of Terfenol-D 2-2 composites

Based on the analysis of the magnetostriction for Terfenol-D composites, Terfenol-D 2-2 magnetostrictive composites have been prepared with laminations perpendicular to [1 1 2] axes. Then one of the samples was annealed in the vacuum at 423 K for 15 min at the magnetic field of 240 kA/m, which is along the direction of laminations and vertical to the [1 1 2] axes of the specimen. The static magnetostriction λ and dynamic magnetostrictive coefficient d₃₃ of samples were measured under the compressive stress of 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 MPa. Effects of the compressive stress and the magnetic field heat treatment on the magnetostriction λ have been investigated. It is found that the magnetostriction of 2-2 composites can be improved under the compressive stress when the magnetic field is larger than 20 kA/m. The magnetostriction of 2-2 composites with the magnetic field heat treatment increases under compressive stress, and it can reach 1390×10⁻⁶ at the magnetic field of 200 kA/m and under the compressive stress of 4 MPa, much larger than the value of 860×10⁻⁶ without the magnetic field heat treatment. The highest magnetostriction of the 2-2 composite with the magnetic field heat treatment can reach 1530×10⁻⁶. The dynamic magnetostrictive coefficient d₃₃ of 2-2 composites with the magnetic field heat treatment have been improved, compared with that without magnetic field heat treatment. The maximum value of d₃₃ of the sample with magnetic field heat treatment is 71% larger than that without magnetic field heat treatment.     

Temperature-dependent ratcheting of PTFE gaskets under cyclic compressive loads with small stress amplitude

Uniaxial stress-controlled ratcheting experiments on PTFE gaskets under cyclic compressive loads with small stress amplitude were performed. The effect of temperature on the deformation behavior was considered. Results showed that the compressive modulus decreases rapidly when the temperature increases from 100 °C to 200 °C. Compressive ratcheting deformation with cycles increase significantly with the increases of temperature. The ratcheting deformations at 100 °C, 150 °C and 200 °C are nearly two, three and five times that at room temperature, respectively. Most of ratcheting deformation mainly occurs during the first 20 cycles because the subsequent ratcheting rate and strain range are small and much less than those in the previous cycles. The accumulated deformation under cyclic loads with small stress amplitude is relatively approach to the static compressive creep with the same peak stress. Therefore, the accumulated deformation with time of PTFE gaskets obtained by cyclic compression with small stress amplitude can be estimated by the corresponding static creep deformation with good accuracy under the approximate stress rate and the same temperature, especially at room temperature.     

Opening and contact zones of an interface crack in a piezoelectric bimaterial under combined compressive-shear loading

A plane problem for a tunnel electrically permeable interface crack between two semi-infinite piezoelectric spaces is studied. A remote mechanical and electrical loading is applied. Elastic displacements and potential jumps as well as stresses and electrical displacement along the interface are presented using a sectionally holomorphic vector function. It is assumed that the interface crack includes zones of crack opening and frictionless contact. The problem is reduced to a combined Dirichlet–Riemann boundary value problem which is solved analytically. From the obtained solution, simple analytical expressions are derived for all mechanical and electrical characteristics at the interface. A quite simple transcendental equation, which determines the point of separation of open and close sections of the crack, is found. For the analysis of the obtained results, the main attention is devoted to the case of compressive-shear loading. The analytical analysis and numerical results show that, even if the applied normal stress is compressive, a certain crack opening zone exists for all considered loading values provided the shear field is present. It is found that the shear stress intensity factor at the closed crack tip and the energy release rates at the both crack tips depend very slightly on the magnitude of compressive loading.