This paper investigated the static and fatigue behaviors of steel and composite multi-leaf spring using the ANSYS V12 software. The dimensions of an existing conventional leaf spring of a light commercial vehicle were used. The same dimensions were used to design composite multi-leaf spring for the two materials, E-glass fiber/epoxy and E-glass fiber/vinyl ester, which are of great interest to the transportation industry. Main consideration was given to the effects of material composition and its fiber orientation on the static and fatigue behaviors of leaf spring. The design constraints were bending stresses, deflection and fatigue life. Compared to the steel leaf spring, the designed composite spring has much lower bending stresses and deflections and higher fatigue life cycles.

Hollow core slabs are becoming of increasing interest as the construction industry attempts to minimise the impact of its activities on the environment. By forming voids in the interior of a concrete slab, the amount of concrete used can be reduced without significantly altering the capacity of the structure. In this study, we examined the inner force transfer mechanism of a column-supported cast-in-situ hollow core slab using finite element analysis. Both a hollow core slab and the corresponding solid slab were analysed using ANSYS and the results were compared. The orientation of the tube fillers causes the stiffness of the hollow slab to be orthotropic, potentially changing the distribution of load carried in the two orthogonal directions. Both the cross-section’s moments in the column strip and near the columns in the hollow core slab become larger than that in the solid floor. As well, the cross-section’s stiffness along the tube arrangement direction is larger than that of the radial cross-section, which causes the direction along the hole of the hollow core slab to carry more moment than the radial direction. The conversion factors of the two directions are proposed from the comparison for four typical areas of the hollow core slab, as are the moment distribution coefficients.

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.

Based on the high flux synchrotron X-ray of the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), high precision 3D digital models of diesel nozzle tips have been established by X-ray micro-tomography technology, which reveal the internal surfaces and structures of orifices. To analyze the machining precision and characteristics of orifice processing methods, an approach is presented based on the parameters of the internal structures of nozzle orifices, including the nozzle diameter, the orifice inner surface waviness, the eccentricity distance and the angle between orifices. Using this approach, two kinds of nozzle orifice processing methods, computerized numerical control drilling and electric discharge machining, have been studied and compared. The results show that this approach enables a simple, direct, and comprehensive contrastive analysis of nozzle orifice processing methods. When processing a single orifice, the electric discharge machining method has obvious advantages. However, when there are multiple orifices, the error levels of the two methods are similar in relation to the symmetry of distribution of the orifices.

This study presents and verifies a new idea for constructing a rotary traveling wave ultrasonic motor (USM) that uses the radial bending mode of a ring. In the new design, 20 trapezoid cross section slots are cut symmetrically in the outer surface of a thick duralumin alloy ring, where 20 PZT stacks are nested. In each slot, two wedging blocks are set between the PZT stack and the two sides of the slot respectively to apply preloading on the PZT ceramics. Two radial bending modes of the stator that have a phase difference of a quarter wavelength on space are generated by using the d₃₃ operating mode of the PZT elements, and then a flexural traveling wave is formed by the superimposing of two standing waves whose amplitudes are equal and phases are different by 90° temporally. Two conical rotors are pressed to each end of the ring type stator by a coiled spring. The finite element method (FEM) simulation is developed to validate the feasibility of the proposed motor. The maximal speed and torque of the prototype are tested to be 126 r/min and 0.8 N·m, respectively.

In order to investigate the wind characteristics of coastal areas of China, a long-term field measurement of natural wind was carried out. Based on the field measurement results, this paper presents the natural wind characteristics of typhoons and strong monsoons at the site of Xi-hou-men Bridge, including mean wind speed, mean wind direction, mean wind elevation angle, turbulent intensity, gust factor, turbulence integral length scales, power spectrum of wind speed and spatial correlation of gusty wind, the profiles of mean wind speed and turbulent intensity, etc. The correlation among wind characteristics is analyzed in detail, and the similarities and differences of wind characteristics between typhoons and monsoons are analyzed. These results can provide detailed wind characteristics of coastal areas of China.

Moisture adsorption-desorption tests (MATs) were conducted on simulated mural plaster specimens under different air temperatures (ATs) and relative humidity (RH) to investigate the possible effect of seasonal alteration and visitors’ breath on the deterioration of Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China. Saturated salt solutions were used to maintain a constant RH, and plant growth cabinets were used to maintain a constant or varying temperature in the simulation test. The weight of specimen was periodically measured to determine the adsorbed or desorbed moisture. Test data illustrate that the desorption process is far quicker than the adsorption one, indicating that it is possible to inhibit the disadvantage effect from visitors, such as shortening the staying time in caves. In case of high humidity, an accumulated moisture adsorption was found to correspond to the varying temperature. On the other hand, in case of low humidity, accumulated moisture desorption corresponded. Test data imply that opening caves more often to visitors in humid seasons should be avoided so as to prevent continuous wetting of wall paintings.

A sequencing batch reactor (SBR) seeded with activated sludge was established for landfill leachate treatment. Small bio-aggregates began to appear after 40-d operation, and gradually changed to mature aerobic granules, with a mean size of 0.36–0.60 mm. Their sludge volume index at 5 min (SVI_{5 min}), mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS), and wet density were around 35 ml/g, 3.4 g/L, and 1.062 g/cm³, respectively. The settling velocities of the granules in distilled water ranged from 0.3 to 1.3 cm/s, which were faster than those in landfill leachate with a salt content of 1.4% (w/v), and also slightly faster than those predicted by Stokes’ law for porous but impermeable particles. Microbial community evolution during the granulation process and stages under different nitrogen loading rates (NLRs) were monitored and analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE), cloning, and sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) fragments. Results revealed that some primary and dominant communities in inoculating activated sludge died out gradually; while a few common bacteria, inhabiting soils, municipal wastewater, or activated sludge systems, dominated in the SBR system throughout. In addition, some other dominant species, associated with the aerobic granulation process, were thought to play a significant role in the formation and growth of aerobic granular sludge. During the stable operation time under low NLR, a few species were present in abundance, and may have been responsible for the high organic removal efficiency at this time.

To determine the ash characteristics during fluidized bed combustion and gasification purposes, the investigation of the impacts of chemical composition of Jincheng coal ash on the sintering temperature was conducted. A series of experiments on the sintering behavior at 0.5 MPa was performed using the pressurized pressure-drop technique in the combustion and gasification atmospheres. Meanwhile, the mineral transformations of sintered ash pellets were observed using X-ray diffractometer (XRD) analyzer to better understand the experimental results. In addition, quantitative XRD and field emission scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (FE-SEM/EDS) analyses of ash samples were used for clarifying the detailed ash melting mechanism. These results show that the addition of Fe₂O₃ can obviously reduce the sintering temperatures under gasification atmospheres, and only affect a little the sintering temperature under combustion atmosphere. This may be due to the presence of iron-bearing minerals, which will react with other ash compositions to produce low-melting-point eutectics. The FE-SEM/EDS analyses of ash samples with Fe₂O₃ additive show consistent results with the XRD measurements. The CaO and Na₂O can reduce the sintering temperatures under both the combustion and gasification atmospheres. This can be also contributed to the formation of low-melting-point eutectics, decreasing the sintering temperature. Moreover, the fluxing minerals, such as magnetite, anhydrite, muscovite, albite and nepheline, contribute mostly to the reduction of the sintering temperature while the feldspar minerals, such as anorthite, gehlenite and sanidine, can react with other minerals to produce low-melting-point eutectics, and thereby reduce the sintering temperatures.