Adsorption is one of the most widely applied techniques for environmental remediation. Its kinetics are of great significance to evaluate the performance of a given adsorbent and gain insight into the underlying mechanisms. There are lots of references available concerning adsorption kinetics, and several mathematic models have been developed to describe adsorption reaction and diffusion processes. However, these models were frequently employed to fit the kinetic data in an unsuitable or improper manner. This is mainly because the boundary conditions of the associated models were, to a considerable extent, ignored for data modeling. Here we reviewed several widely-used adsorption kinetic models and paid more attention to their boundary conditions. We believe that the review is of certain significance and improvement for adsorption kinetic modeling.

In this paper a numerical analysis is carried out to obtain the temperature distribution within a single fin. It is assumed that the heat transfer coefficient depends on the temperature. The complete highly non-linear problem is solved numerically and the variations of both, dimensionless surface temperature and dimensionless surface temperature gradient as well as heat transfer characteristics with the governing non-dimensional parameters of the problem are graphed and tabulated.

The static drill rooted nodular pile is a new type of pile foundation consisting of precast nodular pile and the surrounding cemented soil. This composite pile has a relatively high bearing capacity and the mud pollution will be largely reduced during the construction process by using this type of pile. In order to investigate the bearing capacity and load transfer mechanism of this pile, a group of experiments were conducted to provide a comparison between this new pile and the bored pile. The axial force of a precast nodular pile was also measured by the strain gauges installed on the pile to analyze the distribution of the axial force of the nodular pile and the skin friction supported by the surrounding soil, then 3D models were built by using the ABAQUS finite element program to investigate the load transfer mechanism of this composite pile in detail. By combining the results of field tests and the finite element method, the outcome showed that the bearing capacity of a static drill rooted nodular pile is higher than the bored pile, and that this composite pile will form a double stress dispersion system which will not only confirm the strength of the pile, but also make the skin friction to be fully mobilized. The settlement of this composite pile is mainly controlled by the precast nodular pile; meanwhile, the nodular pile and the surrounding cemented soil can be considered as deformation compatibility during the loading process. The nodes on the nodular pile play an important role during the load transfer process, the shear strength of the interface between the cemented soil and the soil of the static drill rooted pile is larger than that of the bored pile.

An innovative occupant friendly retrofitting technique has been developed for reinforced concrete (RC) building structures with hollow brick infill walls used as partition walls which constitute the major portion of the existing building stock in Turkey. The idea is to convert the existing hollow brick infill wall into a load carrying system acting as a cast-in-place RC wall by reinforcing it with relatively thin concrete plates bonded to the mortar coated infill wall by use of tile adhesive and fixed by (6 (6 mm diameter) bolts. Test parameters were the shape and thickness of the plates, presence of reinforcement in plates, number and arrangement of (6 bolts. It was observed that lateral strength, stiffness, energy dissipation capacity, and ductility of the strengthened infill walls were improved and behaviour was enhanced by the proposed technique. Plates with two different basic shapes were used to strengthen the test specimens.

Journal misalignment is common in journal bearings. When severe journal misalignment takes place, it affects nearly all aspects of bearing performance. This paper provided a comprehensive analysis of misaligned journal bearings based on two different mass-conservative models which appropriately took into account film rupture and reformation. The lubrication characteristics and performance parameters including the cavitation zones, pressure distribution, density distribution, oil leakage, load capacity, moment, and attitude angle were compared with the traditional lubrication model. The results showed that cavitation has great effect on bearing performances, especially when the surface roughness is large. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the effects of journal misalignment alongside inter-asperity cavitation theory in the design and analyses of journal bearings.

A high noise level is one of the prominent shortcomings of an axial piston pump which is widely used in industrial and mobile applications. In this paper, a simulation model of an axial piston pump is developed based on a single piston chamber model, for capturing the dynamic characteristics of the discharge flow rate. The compressibility of fluid and main leakages across different friction pairs are considered. The simulation model is validated by a comparison of discharge flow ripple with the measured results using the secondary source method. The main cause of flow ripple is identified by a comparison of the frequency spectrums of actual and kinematic flow ripples. Flow rates with different index angles are analyzed in time and frequency domains. The findings show that an index angle of 20掳 is the most effective in reducing the flow ripple of a tandem axial piston pump, because the frequency contents at odd harmonics can be cancelled out. A sensitivity analysis is conducted at different pressure levels, speeds, and displacement angles, which reveals that with an index angle of 20掳, the sensitivity of flow ripple can be reduced by almost 50% over a wide variety of working conditions.

The nesting problem involves arranging pieces on a plate to maximize use of material. A new scheme for 2D irregular-shaped nesting problem is proposed. The new scheme is based on the NFP (No Fit Polygon) algorithm and a new placement principle for pieces. The novel placement principle is to place a piece to the position with lowest gravity center based on NFP. In addition, genetic algorithm (GA) is adopted to find an efficient nesting sequence. The proposed scheme can deal with pieces with arbitrary rotation and containing region with holes, and achieves competitive results in experiment on benchmark datasets.

An exact analytical solution is obtained for convective heat transfer in straight ducts with rectangular cross-sections for the first time. This solution is valid for both H1 and H2 boundary conditions, which are related to fully developed convective heat transfer under constant heat flux at the duct walls. The separation of variables method and various other mathematical techniques are used to find the closed form of the temperature distribution. The local and mean Nusselt numbers are also obtained as functions of the aspect ratio. A new physical constraint is presented to solve the Neumann problem in non-dimensional analysis for the H2 boundary conditions. This is one of the major innovations of the current study. The analytical results indicate a singularity occurs at a critical aspect ratio of 2.4912 when calculating the local and mean Nusselt numbers.

In this study, a porous inserted regenerative thermal oxidizer (PRTO) system was developed for a 125 kW industrial copper-melting furnace, due to its advantages of low NO_x emissions and high radiant efficiency. Zirconium dioxide (ZrO₂) ceramic foams were placed into the combustion zone of a regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO). Different performance characteristics of the RTO and PRTO systems, including pressure drop, temperature distribution, emissions, and energy efficiency, were evaluated to study the effects of the porous inserts on non-premixed CH₄ combustion. It was found that the PRTO system achieved a significant reduction in the NO_x emission level and a fuel saving of approximately 30% compared to the RTO system. It is most suitable for a lean combustion process at an equivalence ratio <0.4 with NO_x and CO emission levels within 0.002%–0.003% and 0.001%–0.002%, respectively.

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) process, at present is still an experience process, wherein selected parameters are often far from the optimum, and at the same time selecting optimization parameters is costly and time consuming. In this paper, artificial neural network (ANN) and genetic algorithm (GA) are used together to establish the parameter optimization model. An ANN model which adapts Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm has been set up to represent the relationship between material removal rate (MRR) and input parameters, and GA is used to optimize parameters, so that optimization results are obtained. The model is shown to be effective, and MRR is improved using optimized machining parameters.

The evaluation of the seismic stability of an expanded municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill is very important in seismic prone zones. In this paper, the pseudo-dynamic method was used to calculate the average safety factor for the expanded landfill with a trapezoidal berm based on under-berm failure conditions. Furthermore, the effects of the variation of parameters such as the amplification factor, seismic coefficient, height of berm, angle of back slope of berm, and depth of waste mass at the back slope on the seismic stability of the landfill were studied. The results indicated that the influences of the vertical seismic coefficient, height of berm, and angle of the back slope of the berm on the seismic stability of the landfill are weakened as the amplification factor increases, but the influence of the horizontal seismic coefficient on the seismic stability of the landfill is strengthened. On the other hand, a certain ratio of the height of the waste mass above the back slope to the depth of waste mass at the back slope, or the reasonable consideration of the magnitude of the amplification factor will be conducive to the seismic design of the landfill. In addition, the results obtained by the pseudo-static and pseudo-dynamic methods were compared.

A cooling system consisting of several heat exchange modules is a necessary part of an automobile, and its performance has a direct effect on a vehicle’s energy consumption. Heat exchangers, such as a charged air cooler (CAC), radiator, oil cooler, or condenser have different structures and can be arranged in various orders, and each combination may produce different effects because of interactions among them. In this study, we aimed to explore the principles governing interactions among adjacent heat exchangers in a cooling system, using numerical simulation and experimental technology. 3D models with different combinations were developed, compared, and analyzed comprehensively. A wind tunnel test platform was constructed to validate the computational results. We found that the heat dissipation of the modules was affected slightly by their relative position (the rules basically comply with the field synergy principle), but was independent of the modules’ spacing within a certain distance range. The heat dissipation of one module could be effectively improved by restructuring, but with a penalty of higher resistance. However, the negative effect on the downstream module was much less than expected. The results indicated that the intensity of heat transfer depends not only on the average temperature difference between cold and hot mediums, but also on the temperature distribution.

With the rapid development of wireless technologies, it is possible for Chinese greenhouses to be equipped with wireless sensor networks due to their low-cost, simplicity and mobility. In the current study, we compared the advantages of ZigBee with other two similar wireless networking protocols, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and proposed a wireless solution for greenhouse monitoring and control system based on ZigBee technology. As an explorative application of ZigBee technology in Chinese greenhouse, it may promote Chinese protected agriculture.

In this paper a critical review is presented of the history and current state of the art of J-integral resistance curve testing and experimental evaluation methods in conjunction with a discussion of the development of the plane strain fracture toughness test standard ASTM E1820 developed by American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Early research efforts on this topic are reviewed first. These include the J-integral concept, experimental estimates of the J-integral for stationary cracks, load line displacement (LLD) and crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) based η factor equations, different formulations of J-integral incremental equations for growing cracks, crack growth corrected J-R curve determination, and experimental test methods. Recent developments in J-R curve testing and evaluation are then described, with emphasis on accurate J-integral incremental equations, a normalization method, a modified basic method, a CMOD direct method with use of incremental equations, relationships of plastic geometry factors, constraint-dependent J-R curve testing and correction approaches. An overview of the present fracture toughness test standard ASTM E1820-08a is then presented. The review shows that after more than 40 years of investigation and development, the J-integral resistance curve test methods in ASTM E1820 have become simpler, more cost-effective and more accurate.

This paper proposes a theoretical method using finite element analysis (FEA) to calculate the plastic collapse loads of pressure vessels under internal pressure, and compares the analytical methods according to three criteria stated in the ASME Boiler Pressure Vessel Code. First, a finite element technique using the arc-length algorithm and the restart analysis is developed to conduct the plastic collapse analysis of vessels, which includes the material and geometry non-linear properties of vessels. Second, as the mechanical properties of vessels are assumed to be elastic-perfectly plastic, the limit load analysis is performed by employing the Newton-Raphson algorithm, while the limit pressure of vessels is obtained by the twice-elastic-slope method and the tangent intersection method respectively to avoid excessive deformation. Finally, the elastic stress analysis under working pressure is conducted and the stress strength of vessels is checked by sorting the stress results. The results are compared with those obtained by experiments and other existing models. This work provides a reference for the selection of the failure criteria and the calculation of the plastic collapse load.

Alternate path (AP) method is the most widely used method for the progressive collapse analysis, and its application in frame structures has been well proved. However, the application of AP method for other structures, especially for cable-stayed structures, should be further developed. The four analytical procedures, i.e., linear static, nonlinear static, linear dynamic, and nonlinear dynamic were firstly improved by taking into account the initial state. Then a cable-stayed structure was studied using the four improved methods. Furthermore, the losses of both one cable and two cables were discussed. The results show that for static and dynamic analyses of the cable-stayed bridges, there is large difference between the results obtained from simulations starting with either a deformed or a nondeformed configuration at the time of cable loss. The static results are conservative in the vicinity of the ruptured cable, but the dynamic effect of the cable loss in the area farther away from the loss-cable cannot be considered. Moreover, the dynamic amplification factor of 2.0 is found to be a good estimate for static analysis procedures, since linear static and linear dynamic procedures yield approximately the same maximum vertical deflection. The results of the comprehensive evaluation of the cable failure show that the tread of the progressive failure of the cable-stayed bridges decreases when the location of the failed cables is closer to the pylon.

The rapidly increasing demand for energy in China leads to the construction of new power plants all over the country. Coal, as the main fuel resource of those power plants, results in increasing problems with the disposal of solid residues from combustion and off gas cleaning. This investigation describes chances for the utilization of fly ash from coal-fired power plants in China. After briefly comparing the situation in China and Germany, the status of aluminum recycling from fly ash and the advantages for using fly ash in concrete products are introduced. Chemical and physical analyses of Chinese fly ash samples, e.g., X-ray diffraction (XRD), ICP (Inductive Coupled Plasma) and particle size analysis, water requirement, etc. are presented. Reasonable amounts of aluminum were detected in the samples under investigation, but for recovery only sophisticated procedures are available up to now. Therefore, simpler techniques are suggested for the first steps in the utilization of Chinese fly ash.

To extract the maximum power from a photovoltaic (PV) energy system, the real-time maximum power point (MPP) of the PV array must be tracked closely. The non-linear and time-variant characteristics of the PV array and the non-linear and non-minimum phase characteristics of a boost converter make it difficult to track the MPP for traditional control strategies. We propose a fuzzy neural network controller (FNNC), which combines the reasoning capability of fuzzy logical systems and the learning capability of neural networks, to track the MPP. With a derived learning algorithm, the parameters of the FNNC are updated adaptively. A gradient estimator based on a radial basis function neural network is developed to provide the reference information to the FNNC. Simulation results show that the proposed control algorithm provides much better tracking performance compared with the fuzzy logic control algorithm.

This study reports research on pesticide suspension rheology and a new rheological parameter, the relative value of approach, which has great advantage for judging the physical stability of a pesticide suspension concentrate. Experiments showed that the system can form stable dispersions when the value of the relative value of approach (Sr) is less than 0.1.

The effects of journal misalignment on the transient flow of a finite grooved journal bearing are presented in this study. A new 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis method is applied. Also, the quasi-coupling calculation of transient fluid dynamics of oil film in journal bearing and rotor dynamics is considered in the analysis. Based on the structured mesh, a new approach for mesh movement is proposed to update the mesh volume when the journal moves during the fluid dynamics simulation of an oil film. Existing dynamic mesh models provided by FLUENT are not suitable for the transient oil flow in journal bearings. The movement of the journal is obtained by solving the moving equations of the rotor-bearing system with the calculated film pressure as the boundary condition of the load. The data exchange between fluid dynamics and rotor dynamics is realized by data files. Results obtained from the CFD model were consistent with previous experimental results on misaligned journal bearings. Film pressure, oil film force, friction torque, misalignment moment and attitude angle were calculated and compared for misaligned and aligned journal bearings. The results indicate that bearing performances are greatly affected by misalignment which is caused by unbalanced excitation, and the CFD method based on the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) technique can effectively predict the transient flow field of a misaligned journal bearing in a rotor-bearing system.

Geotechnical centrifuge modelling is an advanced physical modelling technique for simulating and studying geotechnical problems. It provides physical data for investigating mechanisms of deformation and failure and for validating analytical and numerical methods. Due to its reliability, time and cost effectiveness, centrifuge modelling has often been the preferred experimental method for addressing complex geotechnical problems. In this ZENG Guo-xi Lecture, the kinematics, fundamental principles and principal applications of geotechnical centrifuge modelling are introduced. The use of the state-of-the-art geotechnical centrifuge at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), China to investigate four types of complex geotechnical problems is reported. The four geotechnical problems include correction of building tilt, effect of tunnel collapse on an existing tunnel, excavation effect on pile capacity and liquefied flow and non-liquefied slide of loose fill slopes. By reporting major findings and new insights from these four types of centrifuge tests, it is hoped to illustrate the role of state-of-the-art geotechnical centrifuge modelling in advancing the scientific knowledge of geotechnical problems.

A friction damper device (FDD) is used for vibration control of an existing steel jacket platform under seismic excitation. First, the damping is presented for vibration mitigation of structures located in seismically active zones. A new method for quick design of friction or yielding damping devices is presented. The effectiveness of the damping system employing such FDDs in a jacket platform is evaluated numerically. The influence of key parameters of the damping system on the vibration suppression of the offshore structure is studied in detail. To examine the vibration control effectiveness of the FDD for the jacket platform, performance of the controlled structure under the seismic forces is studied using numerical simulations. A parametric study is undertaken to discover the optimized slip load and brace area of the FDD. It is shown that the FDD is effective in mitigating the dynamic responses of the offshore platform structure.

In k-means clustering, we are given a set of n data points in d-dimensional space ^d and an integer k and the problem is to determine a set of k points in ^d, called centers, so as to minimize the mean squared distance from each data point to its nearest center. In this paper, we present a simple and efficient clustering algorithm based on the k-means algorithm, which we call enhanced k-means algorithm. This algorithm is easy to implement, requiring a simple data structure to keep some information in each iteration to be used in the next iteration. Our experimental results demonstrated that our scheme can improve the computational speed of the k-means algorithm by the magnitude in the total number of distance calculations and the overall time of computation.

Inverse heat conduction method (IHCM) is one of the most effective approaches to obtaining the boiling heat transfer coefficient from measured results. This paper focuses on its application in cryogenic boiling heat transfer. Experiments were conducted on the heat transfer of a stainless steel block in a liquid nitrogen bath, with the assumption of a 1D conduction condition to realize fast acquisition of the temperature of the test points inside the block. With the inverse-heat conduction theory and the explicit finite difference model, a solving program was developed to calculate the heat flux and the boiling heat transfer coefficient of a stainless steel block in liquid nitrogen bath based on the temperature acquisition data. Considering the oscillating data and some unsmooth transition points in the inverse-heat-conduction calculation result of the heat-transfer coefficient, a two-step data-fitting procedure was proposed to obtain the expression for the boiling heat transfer coefficients. The coefficient was then verified for accuracy by a comparison between the simulation results using this expression and the verifying experimental results of a stainless steel block. The maximum error with a revised segment fitting is around 6%, which verifies the feasibility of using IHCM to measure the boiling heat transfer coefficient in liquid nitrogen bath.

A type of hollow cylinder joints connected with H-shaped beams is proposed for spatial structures. Based on von Mises yield criterion and perfect elasto-plasticity model, a series of finite element models of the joints is established, in which the effect of geometric nonlinearity is taken into account. Then mechanical behavior and load-carrying capacity of the joints were investigated, which were subjected to axial load, in- and out-plane bending moments, and their combinations. The results show that the ultimate loads of the joints are determined by the maximum displacement. Furthermore, the case of one joint connected with multiple beams was discussed. Experiments on a set of typical full-scale joints were conducted to understand the structural behavior and the failure mechanism of joint, and also to validate the finite element models. Finally, the practical calculation method was established through finite elements analysis (FEA) results and numerical fitting. The results show that the joints are more ductile and materially economical than welded hollow spherical joints, and the practical calculation method can provide a reference for direct design and the revision of relevant design codes.

Smart cars are promising application domain for ubiquitous computing. Context-awareness is the key feature of a smart car for safer and easier driving. Despite many industrial innovations and academic progresses have been made, we find a lack of fully context-aware smart cars. This study presents a general architecture of smart cars from the viewpoint of context-awareness. A hierarchical context model is proposed for description of the complex driving environment. A smart car prototype including software platform and hardware infrastructures is built to provide the running environment for the context model and applications. Two performance metrics were evaluated: accuracy of the context situation recognition and efficiency of the smart car. The whole response time of context situation recognition is nearly 1.4 s for one person, which is acceptable for non-time critical applications in a smart car.

This paper presents a control strategy of a hybrid fuel cell/battery distributed generation (HDG) system in distribution systems. The overall structure of the HDG system is given, dynamic models for the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) power plant, battery bank and its power electronic interfacing are briefly described, and controller design methodologies for the power conditioning units and fuel cell to control the power flow from the hybrid power plant to the utility grid are presented. To distribute the power between the fuel cell power plant and the battery energy storage, a neuro-fuzzy controller has been developed. Also, for controlling the active and reactive power independently in distribution systems, the current control strategy based on two fuzzy logic controllers has been presented. A Matlab/Simulink simulation model is developed for the HDG system by combining the individual component models and their controllers. Simulation results show the overall system performance including load-following and power management of the HDG system.

A numerical model using the coupled smoothed particle hydrodynamics-finite element method (SPH-FEM) approach is presented for analysis of structures under blast loads. The analyses on two numerical cases, one for free field explosive and the other for structural response under blast loads, are performed to model the whole processes from the propagation of the pressure wave to the response of structures. Based on the simulation, it is concluded that this model can be used for reasonably accurate explosive analysis of structures. The resulting information would be valuable for protecting structures under blast loads.

In this study, an electro-mechanical valve (EMV) system for the intake valve of a four stroke, single cylinder, overhead valve and spark ignition (SI) engine was designed and constructed. An engine with the EMV system and a standard engine were tested to observe the effects of the EMV on engine performance and emissions at different speeds under full load. The EMV engine showed improved engine power, engine torque and break specific fuel consumption (BSFC). A 66% decrease in CO emissions was also obtained with the EMV system, but hydrocarbons (HC) and NO_x emissions increased by 12% and 13% respectively.

This paper describes a vision-based system for blind spot detection (BSD) in intelligent vehicle applications. A camera is mounted in the lateral mirror of a car with the intention of visually detecting cars that are located in the so-called blind spot and cannot be perceived by the vehicle driver. The detection of cars in the blind spot is carried out using computer vision techniques, based on optical flow and a double-stage data clustering technique for robust vehicle detection.