Fiber torsion sensor demodulated by a high-birefringence fiber Bragg grating

A new high-birefringence (Hi-Bi) fiber torsion sensor demodulated by a Hi-Bi fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is proposed in this study. The twisted Hi-Bi fiber sensor characteristics are analyzed using the Jones matrix. The intensity ratio from two reflected Bragg wavelengths is associated with the twist angle of the measured Hi-Bi fiber. It is found that the twist angle resolution is estimated at around 0.3° under ±0.1 dB readout from an optical spectrum analyzer if the polarization state of the light source is stable. The advantages of this new torsion sensor are: (1) insensitivity to intensity variations from the light source, (2) insensitivity to the torsion gauge length, and (3) absolute measurement in the twist angle. However, the polarization state of light in the proposed method needs to be controlled, and any birefringence change in the twisted Hi-Bi fiber needs to be prevented.     

Stability and integrity of mechanical joints in flight vehicles: Local and global energy density

A methodology is presented for analyzing the inlfuence of mechanical joint failure on the global instability of flight vehicles. Considered are the ways with which loading, geometry and material of the vehicle can affect the structure instability and/or integrity. The peaks and valleys of the volume energy density function are assumed to coincide with failure by fracture and/or yielding while the distance between their local and global stationary values govern the structure instability. A single length parameter l can thus be applied to provide a measure of stability. The simultaneous occurrence of high energy density and large l at the same location should be avoided as it may have undesirable consequences.A flight vehicle consisting of four cylindrical shell-like structures connected by three tongue-and-groove joints is analyzed. The time-dependent load can be axisymmetric or non-axisymmetric. A semi-analytical finite element program is developed and used to solve for the transient stress and strain distribution from which contours of the volume energy density in the structure are obtained as a function of time. The magnitudes and locations of their local and global stationary values are then calculated and discussed in connection with potential failure by fracture. Stability behavior does not alter appreciably for axisymmetric flight. Considerable fluctuations in the energy density and the dynamic stability length parameter are found when non-axisymmetric loads are considered.     

Failure initiation sites and instability of structural components with localized energy density

When the surface or interior of a solid undergoes curvature and/or material change, there results localized fluctuation of the energy density field depending on the type of loading. These fluctuations are related to changes in the distortion and dilatation of material elements that could lead to failure by yielding and/or fracture should their magnitude become sufficiently large. According to the strain energy density criterion, failure is assumed to initiate at site of local maximum of minimum strain energy density denoted by [(dW/dV)_min^max]_L and tends toward the global maximum of [(dW/dV)_min^max]_G. The distance l between these two stationary values of dW/dV at L and G provides an indication of failure instability. That is, large l corresponds to more wide spread failure while the opposite holds for small l.Specimens with three different geometries are analyzed; they consist of round shoulder, hole and edge notch. The loads are either bending or tension. As the severity of notch or hole curvature is varied, predicted failure path also altered from boundary to boundary or an interior point of the specimen. The narrowest section turns out to be most vulnerable. If the hole is filled with a material of higher modulus, it acts as a reinforcer such that failure site would be shifted away from the interface. In general, there prevails a trade off between l and [(dW/dV)_min^max]_L. The undesirable combination would be for l and [(dW/dV)_min^max]_L to increase simultaneously. Failure initiation and global instability would then likely occur in tandem. This corresponds to the bending of a specimen with round shoulders. A variety of other conditions are analyzed with results displayed graphically so that the ways with which load, geometry and material inhomogeneity affect the failure behavior of structural components with notches and holes could be better understood.     

Stress singularities near the apex of a cylindrically polarized piezoelectric wedge

Summary In this paper, the stress singularities for a cylindrically polarized piezoelectric wedge are investigated. The characteristic equations are derived analytically by using the extended Lekhnitskii formulation. The piezoelectric material (PZT-4) is polarized in the radial, circular or axial direction, respectively. Similar to the rectilinearly polarized piezoelectric problem, the inplane and antiplane stress fields are uncoupled. The results show the variations of the singularity orders with the changes of the wedge angle, material constants, polarized direction, and the boundary conditions.     

Discussion of Antiplane Singularities of Piezoelectric–Dielectric and Piezoelectric–Conductor Wedges

This technical note deals with two special topics from our previous paper (Chue and Chen in Arch Appl Mech 72 673–685, 2003) in Archive of Applied Mechanics: the effects of electrical conditions imposed on the edges and bonded interfaces of piezoelectric–dielectric and piezoelectric–conductor wedges on antiplane problems. After employing relatively realistic electrical conditions, we found that stress and electric displacement singularities are altered when boundary conditions and/or continuity conditions are changed, and we compared the results with those of previous studies.     

Reversible water-swellable chitin gel

A novel, reversible, water-swellable chitin gel has been produced by the carboxymethylation of a dry chitin film. The property of this material is that unlike carboxymethyl-chitin, it takes up water but is not soluble and retains a degree of rigidity even when wet. The degree of swelling depends on the reaction conditions and alkali (sodium or potassium hydroxide) used as a co-reactant during the carboxymethylation. Upon drying, the gel returns to its dry film form. This water uptake and loss is cyclic, which is a desirable property in certain applications and is a tremendous advantage in the handling of this material. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35 : 2049–2053, 1997     

Mode III fracture problem of a cracked FGPM surface layer bonded to a cracked FGPM substrate

This work deals with the mode III fracture problem of a cracked functionally graded piezoelectric surface layer bonded to a cracked functionally graded piezoelectric substrate. The cracks are normal to the interface and the electro-elastic material properties are assumed to be varied along the crack direction. Potential and flux types of boundary condition are assigned on the edge of the surface layer. The problem under the assumptions of impermeable and permeable cracks can be formulated to the standard singular integral equations, which are solved by using the Gauss–Chebyshev technique. The effects of the boundary conditions, the material properties and crack interaction on the stress and electric displacement intensity factors are discussed.     

Mode III fracture problem of an arbitrarily oriented crack in a FGPM strip bonded to a FGPM half plane

This paper studies the mode III electro-elastic field of a cracked functionally graded piezoelectric strip bonded to a functionally graded piezoelectric half plane. The crack is oriented in arbitrary direction. The material properties along x-axis vary in exponential form. By using the Fourier transform, the problem can be formulated into a system of singular integral equations and solved by applying the Gauss–Chebyshev integration formula. The effects come from the edge, crack orientation and the nonhomogeneous material parameters on intensity factors are discussed graphically.     

Altered mitochondrial structure and motion dynamics in living cells with energy metabolism defects revealed by real time microscope imaging.

Using the real time microscope (RTM), a system applying new developments in light microscopy, we documented the spatial and temporal dynamics of mitochondrial behavior in human cultured skin fibroblasts. Without the use of stains or probes, we resolved fibroblast mitochondria as dark slender filaments of approximately 0.2 m wide and up to 10 m long, as well as a few smaller ovoid forms. In the living cell, the three most common mitochondrial movements were: (1) small oscillatory movements; (2) larger movements including filament extension, retraction, and branching as well as combinations of these actions; and (3) whole transit movements of single mitochondrial filaments. Skin fibroblasts from patients with mitochondrial complex I deficiency and normal fibroblasts during incubation with rotenone, or antimycin A, contained higher proportions of mitochondria in the swollen filamentous forms, nodal filaments, and ovoid forms rather than the slender filamentous forms in normal cells. Interestingly, decreased motility was observed with the more ovoid mitochondrial forms compared to the filamentous forms. We conclude that mitochondrial morphology and dynamic motion are strongly associated with changes in mitochondrial energy metabolism. Images documenting our observations are presented both at single time points and as QuickTime videos.     

Boattail juncture shaping for spin-stabilized rounds in supersonic flight

Shock Waves - In this paper, the effects of boattail junction shaping on aerodynamic drag and stability of supersonic spin-stabilized rounds are investigated using computational fluid dynamics. For...