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Thermodynamic properties of cellulose insulation paper are vital factors affecting the life of a transformer; in order to obtain cellulose insulation paper with better thermodynamic properties, three types of silane coupling agents—3-aminopropyltriethoxy silane (KH550), 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxy silane (KH560), and 3-methacryloyloxypropyltrimethoxy silane (KH570)—were grafted on the surface of nano-SiO2, and thermodynamic properties of cellulose modified with nano-SiO2 were explored. The molecular dynamics method was used to establish a composite model of nano-SiO2/cellulose. Also, different silane coupling agent grafted nano-SiO2/cellulose models were established to explore the effect of mechanical properties, interaction energy, free volume, and hydrogen bonds on thermodynamic properties. The results showed that KH550 was the best modification of the nano-SiO2/cellulose system among the three grafted silane coupling agents because KH550 grafted on the surface of nano-SiO2 formed more hydrogen bonds in the cellulose system. The interfacial bonding strength between the nano-SiO2 and the cellulose chains can effectively improve the thermal stability of the cellulose insulating paper.

Accurate monitoring of insulation aging of oil-paper insulation power equipment such as oil-immersed transformers is a key and difficult point in the field of high voltage research. In this paper, a method based on Raman spectroscopy to diagnose the aging degree of oil-paper insulation is discussed. Raman detections of the samples were carried out on a self-built Raman detection platform. The partial least squares method was used to extract and analyze the spectral features. The aging time of the sample was used to supervise the feature extraction of oil-paper insulation Raman data, and the intrinsic mathematical relationship between the Raman features of oil-paper insulation and the aging was excavated. Finally, a quantitative aging diagnostic model based on Raman spectral features of oil-paper insulation to predict its aging state was built with the assistance of the support vector regression method. The results of aging time prediction for 30 test samples show that the mean square error is 0.0123 and the square of correlation coefficient is 0.987. The proposed method provides a new idea for Raman aging diagnosis of oil-paper insulation.

In this study, we composite coated silica nanoparticles with functional groups on paper to form a double-size surface roughness, then hexafluorobutyl methacrylate was polymerized with 3-trimethoxymethylsilyl propyl methacrylate (TSPM), a one-step method is used to prepare a hydrophobic polymer with low surface energy (PHFMA-co-TSPM), and the superhydrophobic surface was prepared by hydrophobic treatment of the paper with a low surface energy polymer. Further tests show that the superhydrophobic paper prepared by this method not only exhibits extremely strong hydrophobicity, but also has strong stability, transparency, and self-cleaning properties.

The accuracy of insulation defect diagnosis based on the dielectric spectrum response is severely influenced by temperature for oil-impregnated paper bushing. The dielectric loss (tan δ) mathematical model with a temperature–frequency factor to restrict the application of the frequency domain dielectric spectrum (FDS) for insulation diagnosis is not clear. In this paper, five temperatures are selected to study the frequency temperature characteristic of the FDS and polarization current for oil-impregnated paper bushing. The experimental results show that the temperature has different effects on the lower frequency (0.001 Hz–1 Hz) and higher frequency (1000 Hz–10 kHz) of FDS. With the increasing temperature, the lower frequency tan δ of 1 mHz–1 Hz shows a better pattern of exponential growth, while the higher frequency tan δ at 1 kHz–10 kHz shows the declining law with the rising temperature. With the increasing temperature, the polarization current shows a better pattern of exponential growth, while resistance obviously shows the declining law of the exponential pattern. The FDS curve of oil-impregnated paper bushings can be amended by the mathematical model of tan δ for the dielectric response on site for accuracy diagnosis.

A study of plasma treatment of clay-coated paper is presented. The wettability of the paper surface before and after the plasma treatment was determined by measuring the water contact angle and surface free energy. The appearance of the surface-functional groups was determined by using high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, while changes in the surface morphology were monitored by scanning electron microscopy. Already after 0.25 s of the plasma treatment, the paper surface improved its wettability. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses showed a gradual increase of oxygen-rich functional groups on the surface while scanning electron microscopy analyses did not show a significant modification of the morphology and no alternation of the surface structure after the plasma treatment.

Cantilevers are one of the most utilized mechanical elements for acoustic sensing. In comparison to the edge clamped diaphragms of different shapes, a single edge clamped cantilever makes an acoustic sensor mechanically sensitive for detection of lower pressure. The aspect ratio of cantilevers is one of the most important parameters which affect sensitivity. Herein, we present a mathematical, finite element method and experimental analysis to determine the effect of the aspect ratio on the resonant frequency, response time, mechanical sensitivity, and capacitive sensitivity of a cantilever-based acoustic pressure sensor. Three cantilevers of different aspect ratios (0.67, 1, and 1.5) have been chosen for sound pressure application to detect capacitance change. The cantilever with the smallest aspect ratio (0.67) has the highest response time (206 ms), mechanical sensitivity, and capacitive sensitivity (22 fF), which reduce after increasing the aspect ratio. The resonant frequency of the cantilever was also analyzed by applying sweep in sound frequency. It was found to be minimum for the cantilever with the smallest aspect ratio (510 Hz) and increases with an increase in the aspect ratio. We have applied the garage fabrication process using low cost, recyclable, and easily available materials such as metal coated polymer sheets, mounting tapes and glass slides as alternative materials for expensive materials.

The effect of silica nanoparticle (Nano-SiO2) dopants on insulation paper cellulose, and the interaction between them, was investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. The mechanical properties, interactions, and cellulose-Nano-SiO2 compatibility of composite models of cellulose doped with Nano-SiO2 were studied. An increase in Nano-SiO2 size leads to a decrease in the mechanical properties, and a decrease in the anti-deformation ability of the composite model. The binding energies and bond energies per surface area of the composite models indicate that the bonding interaction between spherical Nano-SiO2 and cellulose is the strongest among the four different Nano-SiO2 shapes that are investigated. The solubilities of the four composite models decrease with increasing Nano-SiO2 size, and the difference between the solubility of pure cellulose and those of the composite models increases with increasing Nano-SiO2 size. Good doping effects with the highest cellulose-Nano-SiO2 compatibility are achieved for the cellulose model doped with spherical Nano-SiO2 of 10 A in diameter. These findings provide a method for modifying the mechanical properties of cellulose by doping, perhaps for improving insulation dielectrics.

Dewatered sludge is redundantly found in a municipal wastewater treatment plant, and the amount is increasing every year. However, the dewatered sludge could be used to power the membrane-less microbial fuel cell (ML-MFC), which is operated electrochemically via incorporation of electricity producing micro-organisms. The dewatered sludge normally acts as an electron donating substrate. Results showed that the ML-MFC produced voltage at about 927.7 ± 11.24 mV whereby 178.7 mg/L of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was removed after 240 h of incubation period. Nonetheless, voltage and COD removal values obtained from the dewatered sludge in the ML-MFC might differ every time the study is repeated because the availability of maximum biomass of electrogenic bacteria (EB) will be different due to the heterogeneous properties and EB performance inside the ML-MFC. The parametric uncertainty analysis of COD removal was then assessed using Monte Carlo simulation (stochastic variable) to determine the distribution probability affected by the fluctuation and variation of kinetic model parameters. From the study of 100 000 samples tested (simulation), the results show that the substrate removal (S) value ranged from 172.58 to 185.02 mg/L. The impact of each kinetic parameter on the ML-MFC performance was evaluated via sensitivity analysis. It is found that the ML-MFC performance significantly relied on the growth of EB present.

As a new environmentally friendly liquid dielectric material, vegetable insulating oil has been widely used in oil-filled power equipment. In oil-filled power equipment, ageing, faults of overheating and discharge cause the decomposition of insulating oil and insulating paper, resulting in dissolved gases in oils. The diffusion behavior of dissolved gases in oils is helpful for evaluation of health state of oil-filled power equipment. In this study, the molecular dynamics simulation based on polymer consistent force field (PCFF) is adopted to analyze diffusion processes of dissolved gases in camellia insulating oils. The diffusion coefficients and free volume of dissolved gases including hydrocarbons, carbon oxides and hydrogen are calculated. The diffusion trajectory of dissolved gases in oils are also given. In addition, impacts of gas species and temperature on molecular diffusion coefficients of oils were also studied. Results quantitatively describe the diffusion behavior of gases with different molecular weight in the oils under various temperatures. The research provides theoretic support for further application of vegetable insulating oils in power equipment.As a new environmentally friendly liquid dielectric material, vegetable insulating oil has been widely used in oil-filled power equipment. In oil-filled power equipment, ageing, faults of overheating and discharge cause the decomposition of insulating oil and insulating paper, resulting in dissolved gases in oils. The diffusion behavior of dissolved gases in oils is helpful for evaluation of health state of oil-filled power equipment. In this study, the molecular dynamics simulation based on polymer consistent force field (PCFF) is adopted to analyze diffusion processes of dissolved gases in camellia insulating oils. The diffusion coefficients and free volume of dissolved gases including hydrocarbons, carbon oxides and hydrogen are calculated. The diffusion trajectory of dissolved gases in oils are also given. In addition, impacts of gas species and temperature on molecular diffusion coefficients of oils were also studied. Results quantitatively describe the diffusion behavior of gases with different mole...

Electrical breakdown behaviors of nanopaper prepared from nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) were investigated. Compared to conventional insulating paper made from micro softwood fibers, nanopaper has a dramatically enhanced breakdown strength. Breakdown field of nanopaper is 67.7 kV/mm, whereas that of conventional paper is only 20 kV/mm. Air voids in the surface of conventional paper are observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Further analyses using mercury intrusion show that pore diameter of conventional paper is around 1.7 μm, while that of nanopaper is below 3 nm. Specific pore size of nanopaper is determined to be approximately 2.8 nm by the gas adsorption technique. In addition, theoretical breakdown strengths of nanopaper and conventional paper are also calculated to evaluate the effect of pore size. It turns out that theoretical values agree well with experimental data, indicating that the improved strength in nanopaper is mainly attributed to the decreased pore size. Due to its outstanding breakdown strength, this study indicates the suitability of nanopaper for electrical insulation in ultra-high voltage convert transformers and other electrical devices.

Aiming at the ultra high speed permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) supported by gas foil bearings (GFBs), this paper calculates the transient line starting of the motor. Firstly, the start effect of the rotor composed of cylindrical PM and stainless steel sleeve is studied. Then, in order to enhance the start torque, copper ring, nickel ring and copper squirrel-cage are introduced in the rotor and their start effect are analysed, respectively. It can be found that the rotor including nickel ring can be accelerated to set speed, but all the other rotors are failed due to the higher PM and braking torques. It can be concluded that some material owning slight large relative permeability can be applied in the rotor to reduce the PM field and contribute to start by using the line-start method.

This paper proposes a novel permanent magnet (PM) motor for high torque performance, in which hybrid PM material and asymmetric rotor design are applied. The hybrid PM material is adopted to reduce the consumption of rare-earth PM because ferrite PM is assisted to enhance the torque production. Meanwhile, the rotor structure is designed to be asymmetric by shifting the surface-insert PM (SPM), which is used to improve the torque performance, including average torque and torque ripple. Moreover, the reasons for improvement of the torque performance are explained by evaluation and analysis of the performances of the proposed motor. Compared with SPM motor and V-type motor, the merit of high utilization ratio of rare-earth PM is also confirmed, showing that the proposed motor can offer higher torque density and lower torque ripple simultaneously with less consumption of rare-earth PM.

Magnetic nanostructures of different size, shape, and composition possess a great potential to improve current technologies like data storage and electromagnetic sensing. In thin ferromagnetic nanowires, their magnetization behavior is dominated by the competition between magnetocrystalline anisotropy (related to the crystalline structure) and shape anisotropy. In this way electron diffraction methods like precession electron diffraction (PED) can be used to link the magnetic behavior observed by Electron Holography (EH) with its crystallinity. Using off-axis electron holography under Lorentz conditions, we can experimentally determine the magnetization distribution over neighboring nanostructures and their diamagnetic matrix. In the case of a single row of nickel nanowires within the alumina template, the thin TEM samples showed a dominant antiferromagnetic arrangement demonstrating long-range magnetostatic interactions playing a major role.

The role of B on the microstructure and magnetism of Zr16Co82.5-xMo1.5Bx ribbons prepared by arc melting and melt spinning is investigated. Microstructure analysis show that the ribbons consist of a hard-magnetic rhombohedral Zr2Co11 phase and a minor amount of soft-magnetic Co. We show that the addition of B increases the amount of hard-magnetic phase, reduces the amount of soft-magnetic Co and coarsens the grain size from about 35 nm to 110 nm. There is a monotonic increase in the volume of the rhombohedral Zr2Co11 unit cell with increasing B concentration. This is consistent with a previous theoretical prediction that B may occupy a special type of large interstitial sites, called interruption sites. The optimum magnetic properties, obtained for x = 1, are a saturation magnetization of 7.8 kG, a coercivity of 5.4 kOe, and a maximum energy product of 4.1 MGOe.

Epoxy resin is the main material of spacer in a gas insulated transmission line and other gas-insulated equipment. During long-term operation, the charge accumulates on the surface of the epoxy resin, which will distort the electric field and thus accelerate the failure of the insulation. In this paper, the surface of the epoxy resin was fluorinated by dielectric barrier discharge at different times. The surface physical, chemical, and flashover properties of the samples before and after modification were measured. The results show that the method used in this paper can graft fluorine on the surface of the sample, change the surface roughness, and make the electron trap shallower and the hole trap deeper. The appropriate modification time can reduce the charge accumulation on the surface, hinder the formation of flashover channels, and improve the surface flashover voltage, showing potential for use in the improvement of the insulating performance of insulating materials.

It was of great significance to study the damage evolution mechanism of geomaterial/soil interfaces in landfill seepage control systems to evaluate the slope instability of landfill sites with high dam and large storage capacity. In this paper, the interfacial shear behaviors of geomaterial/soil were studied by drawing test. At the same time, the interface meso-test was used to analyze the change characteristics of geomaterial/soil interfaces during the drawing process. The results showed that under the synergistic action of the interface friction of geotextile/geomembrane and the reinforced shear band at the interface of geotextile/soil, the shear strength and interface stability of the composite geomaterial/soil interface not only increased but also improved. In order to describe the shear deformation and softening characteristics of the geomaterial/soil interfaces, a constitutive model of the interface was established based on the statistical damage theory to study the damage evolution mechanism of the interface under the action of drawing. The fitting results showed that the fitting correlation between the interface constitutive model established in this paper and the shear strength–drawing displacement curves obtained from the tests was greater than 0.97, which indicated that the constitutive model could better describe the shear deformation characteristics of the interface.

The use of low-emissivity coatings as an infrared (IR) stealth method for weaponry is an important guarantee for the survival of weaponry in the battlefield. The damage on low-emissivity coatings leads to a significant drop in the IR stealth performance of weaponry. Therefore, this paper carries out a research on the intelligent damage identification of low-emissivity coatings based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs). A low-emissivity coating damage dataset with the characteristics of large changes in brightness, distortion of images, and large changes in the target scale is constructed. A composite network (CompoNet) based on feature fusion is designed to extract the detailed features of damage and identify damage types. Compared with VGG16, the damage identification accuracy of CompoNet is improved by 5.49% points. The idea of specific feature extraction layers (SFELs) is proposed. Three SFELs are designed to extract the color, texture, and contour features, which are important basis for judging damage types. The SFEL accelerates the convergence of the model and increases the identification accuracy of the model by 2.02% points. The generative adversarial network is used to generate low-emissivity coating damage images, which solves the problem that the number of damage images collected is small due to practical difficulties. The final damage identification accuracy of the CompoNet fused with SFELs (CompoNet with SFELs) constructed in this paper reaches 99.17%, which is much higher than other generic CNNs.

The gas spark switch is the most used key device in pulsed power systems. As a difficult problem affecting the performance of the gas spark switch, electrode erosion has always been of wide concern and has been studied by scholars. In order to reduce electrode erosion, the erosion resistance of the electrode materials is particularly critical. At present, researchers at home and abroad mainly perform a large number of experiments to compare the erosion resistance of different electrode materials, which require a lot of time and are expensive. Based on the theoretical derivation of the erosion heat conduction process and the analysis of the molten pool movement process, a theoretical prediction model of erosion resistance of electrode materials is established in this paper. The prediction results of this model are consistent with the experimental results of most researchers in the past. In order to further verify the accuracy of this model, this paper selected six electrode materials [stainless steel, brass, RHEAs (Refractory High Entropy Alloys), 90WCu alloy, 70WCu alloy, and 50WCu alloy] tested for 10 000 times under the experimental conditions of a peak current of 30 kA, a single discharge charge transfer of 78 mC, and 2 bars dry air. The final experimental results show that the six electrode materials ranked from weak to strong in erosion resistance: brass, stainless steel, 50WCu, 70WCu, RHEAs, and 90WCu, which is consistent with the prediction results of the model.

Rate-dependent hysteresis of piezoelectric stack actuators (PSAs) is known to cause oscillations and instabilities. This paper introduces a novel electro-mechanical coupling model that can accurately characterize the high-bandwidth rate-dependent hysteresis of a PSA. The proposed model contains three components to fully represent the output response of the system, namely, an electric model that is used to describe the electric dynamic behaviors of the PSA and its power amplifier, a hysteresis model that is applied to represent the inverse piezoelectric effect, and a mechanical model that is able to characterize the mechanical dynamic behavior of the PSA. It should be noted that, in the mechanical model, the force generated by the inverse piezoelectric effect of piezoelectric wafers is considered a distributed force and the dynamic model of the PSA is regarded as a longitudinal vibration straight bar with a uniform cross section. Through this proposed model, high modeling accuracy is achieved well with high-bandwidth varying frequencies (1–1000 Hz) as well as varying amplitudes. This paper provides a simple and effective novel method for the high-bandwidth modeling of smart material-based actuators with rate-dependent hysteresis nonlinearity.

In this paper, the free vibration characteristics of various coupled composite laminated doubly curved revolution shells are investigated under generalized boundary conditions (BCs). The joint shell structure consists of a doubly curved revolution shell–cylindrical shell–doubly curved revolution shell structure, and here, unlike previous structures, the doubly curved revolution shells are inversely joined together. In this paper, doubly curved shells such as elliptical, paraboloidal, and spherical shells are considered. The first order shear deformation theory and multi-segment partitioning technique are adopted to establish the theoretical model of coupled shell structures. Regardless of the individual shell structures and the BCs, the displacement functions of each shell segment are expanded using ultraspherical polynomials in the meridional direction and using the standard Fourier series in the circumferential direction. In order to generalize the BCs at both ends of a coupled shell and the connecting conditions at the interface, the virtual spring technique is employed. Then, the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the coupled shell structures are obtained by the Ritz method. The reliability and accuracy of the proposed method are verified by the convergence study and numerical comparison with results of the finite element method. In addition, some numerical results are also reported for the free vibration of coupled composite laminated doubly curved revolution shell structures under classical and elastic BCs, which can provide the reference data for future studies.

The temperature of the high-power inductively coupled plasma jet is very high, and its temperature is difficult to measure directly. The heat flux becomes a thermodynamic characteristic to measure the plasma jet. The existing heat flux calculation method is based on the temperature change rate after the response time. The slug is required to stay in the high enthalpy jet area for a longer time. With the slug temperature reaching the melting point as the upper limit, the shorter the residence time, the greater the upper limit of the measured heat flux. In this paper, the first-order transient solution is added to the steady-state solution of temperature (the calculation equation of the existing method), which can shorten the response time. The shortening of the response time can reduce the residence time of the slug in the jet region, and the reduction in the residence time can increase the upper limit of the calorimeter heat flux measurement. This paper uses numerical simulation and experimental methods to verify that the steady-state solution method and the first-order transient solution method can obtain consistent heat flux results. Using the first-order transient solution method can reduce the residence time of the slug calorimeter in the jet region. According to the shortening of the residence time, the method of using the first-order transient solution can increase the upper limit of the heat flux measurement by more than 25%.

Many oilfields report that the viscosity of polymers in high-salinity reservoirs will decrease significantly. In this paper, molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to investigate the molecular configuration and network of hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) molecules in high-salinity formation-water and the viscosity changes from the microscopic dense to dilute phase. In addition, the viscosity of HPAM/formation-water solution was measured to verify and compare with simulation results. Simulation and experimental results show that the molecular network of the microscopic dense phase is essential for the apparent viscosity. The calculated apparent viscosity could decrease 37% as the net-shape molecular network of the microscopic dense phase is broken by calcium ions, which is similar to our experimental results. This paper improved our understanding of the mechanisms of polymer viscosity alteration in high-salinity formation-water and provided insights that can be used to improve the strategy of enhanced polymer flooding and the novel polymer gel formula.

In this paper, we take advantage of the high sensitivity of two-dimensional electron gas concentration in the heterojunction channel of a GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) to device surface states and gate voltages. By integrating a HEMT with ferroelectric materials with photovoltaic effects, a photo-sensitive gate HEMT photodetector based on ferroelectric integration is obtained. By exploring the ferroelectric and composite film sputtering growth epitaxial atmosphere, a high-performance PZT/ZnO composite ferroelectric film grown in an oxygen-containing atmosphere is obtained. Comparing the PZT and LiNbO3 (LN) ferroelectric thin films prepared with or without the buffer layer, the following conclusions are obtained. The quantum efficiency of the PZT/ZnO film increases by 240% and 596% at the peak of 300–400 nm, reaching 14.55%; the residual polarization of the PZT film obtained in an oxygen-containing atmosphere reaches 52.31 μC/cm2; the PZT/ZnO composite film has better fatigue characteristics. The GaN HEMT detector prepared by using magnetron sputtered PZT/ZnO as the sensing gate under the oxygen atmosphere has a photocurrent increment of 11.51 mA under ultraviolet light and a responsivity of 111A/W at 365 nm. At the same time, the device has τr = 0.12 s and τf = 8.3 s transient response. The research in this paper shows that a new structure photodetector based on a GaN HEMT has excellent ultraviolet light response, which provides a new research direction for the light detection mechanism.

The present paper is concerned with the implementation of the optimal homotopy asymptotic method to find the approximate solutions of two-dimensional fractional order Volterra integro-differential equations. The technique’s applicability and validity are tested through some numerical examples. The fractional order derivatives are calculated using Caputo’s sense. Results obtained by the proposed technique are compared with the Legendre wavelet method. The proposed method provides us with efficient and more accurate solutions than the other existing methods in the literature. Error analysis and convergence of the proposed method are also provided in the paper.

Due to its rich variety of electromagnetic properties, such as a colossal magnetoresistance, charge and orbital ordering, and metal-insulator transition, the magnetic behavior in La0.5Ba0.5MnO3 double perovskite compounds has been investigated by several techniques, however more experimental data, especially from atomic resolution techniques, are still necessary to understand such complex behavior. In this paper, we have used a nuclear and short-range technique, the Perturbed Angular Correlation (PAC) spectroscopy, to investigate the magnetic hyperfine interaction at the 140Ce and 111Cd probe nuclei as impurities occupying La sites. This double perovskite samples were synthesized by Sol-Gel route. The crystal structure was determined by X-ray diffraction and the analyses showed that this method produced perovskite oxides with cubic structure in Pm-3m space group and the homogeneity was determined by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The local properties investigated by PAC spectroscopy revealed a ferromagnetic transition temperature above 300 K and a pure antiferromagnetic interaction below 100 K. Moreover, it also indicates an anomalous behavior of the temperature dependence of magnetic hyperfine field at La sites measured with 140Ce probe nuclei, which can be ascribed to the contribution of 4f band of Ce to Magnetic Hyperfine Field (Bhf) at low temperatures due to the increase in its localized character.Due to its rich variety of electromagnetic properties, such as a colossal magnetoresistance, charge and orbital ordering, and metal-insulator transition, the magnetic behavior in La0.5Ba0.5MnO3 double perovskite compounds has been investigated by several techniques, however more experimental data, especially from atomic resolution techniques, are still necessary to understand such complex behavior. In this paper, we have used a nuclear and short-range technique, the Perturbed Angular Correlation (PAC) spectroscopy, to investigate the magnetic hyperfine interaction at the 140Ce and 111Cd probe nuclei as impurities occupying La sites. This double perovskite samples were synthesized by Sol-Gel route. The crystal structure was determined by X-ray diffraction and the analyses showed that this method produced perovskite oxides with cubic structure in Pm-3m space group and the homogeneity was determined by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The local properties investigated by PAC spectroscopy revealed a fe...

Superhydrophobic coatings have been applied in various fields. The materials used in the preparation of superhydrophobic coatings have attracted the attention of scholars. Due to the harm of fluorine-containing substances with low surface energy to the environment, fluorine-free superhydrophobic coatings have become a hotspot in the research field. Herein, a fluorine-free superhydrophobic coating with oil/water separation was made by a solution immersion way. The fluorine-free copolymer and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) were mixed to prepare a composite solution, and the superhydrophobic surface was obtained on the paper by a dipping method. The scanning electron microscope, x-ray photoelectron spectrometer, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance, and Fourier transform infrared were used to study the surface characteristics and structural composition of the superhydrophobic material. The research proved that the copolymer and PDMS/SiO2 NPs were successfully coated on the paper surface, and the rough structure of the superhydrophobic surface was also attributed to the introduction of the copolymer and PDMS/SiO2 NPs. The evaluation of the coating has proved its excellent hydrophobicity, oil/water separation performance, and self-cleaning performance. The coating is a sustainable and environmentally friendly superhydrophobic material that can be used in packaging, construction, petrochemical, and other industries.

This paper investigates the analytical solutions of the perturbed nonlinear Schrodinger equation through the modified Khater method. This method is considered one of the most recent accurate analytical schemes in nonlinear evolution equations where it obtained many distinct forms of solutions of the considered model. The investigated model in this paper is an icon in quantum fields where it describes the wave function or state function of a quantum-mechanical system. The physical characterization of some obtained solutions in our study is explained through sketching them in two- and three-dimensional contour plots. The novelty of our study is clear by showing the matching between our solutions and those that have been constructed in previously published papers.

In this paper, we study the optical filtering properties of plasma-dielectric photonic crystals based on Thue–Morse multilayers. The method of generating the Thue–Morse sequence used in the current paper is different from that used in the available literature. We fix the total multi-material system length and use two, three, and four alternative layers of materials with different refractive indices to study the optical transmission properties of a few proposed structures. We also use plasma layers to have more tunable bandgaps. We employ the transfer matrix method to do our numerical calculations. We change the geometrical parameters, the number of layers, the arrangement of the layers, material refractive indices, and plasma properties and extract their effects on the bandgap behavior. We determine the tunability of the proposed structures to facilitate the selection of the one with desired filtering properties. However, understanding the tunability of our systems can facilitate the devising of optical devices such as an optical filter.

There is no doubt that the accurate assessment of local magnetization in three-dimensional objects exhibiting hysteresis is crucial to accurate performance estimation of a variety of electromagnetic devices. Recently, it has been demonstrated that a Stoner-Wohlfarth-like elementary hysteresis operator may be constructed using two-node Hopfield neural network (HNN) having internal positive feedback. Based upon the previously mentioned approach, this paper presents a methodology using which local magnetization in 3D objects exhibiting hysteresis may be assessed. The approach utilizes a four-node tetrahedron-shaped HNN with activation functions constructed using a weighted superposition of a step and sigmoidal functions in accordance with the M − H curve of the material under consideration. In this approach, the internal feedback factors between the different nodes for any tetrahedron are dependent on its geometrical configuration. Hence, shape configuration effects on the magnetization patterns of any three-dimensional object approximated by an ensemble of tetrahedra are implicitly taken into consideration. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach, computations were carried out for different three-dimensional magnetized bodies having different M − H curves. Theoretical and computational details of the approach are given in the paper.

This paper investigated the influence of gas humidity (1%, 3%, 8%, 10%, and 12%) on the characteristics of a microwave-induced atmospheric plasma jet. The plasma discharge was generated by a microwave solid-state source with a H2O–Ar mixture gas flow of 8.1 L/min. The variation in energy efficiency, O and OH concentrations, rotational temperature of heavy species, shapes of plasma plumes with different humidities, and microwave input powers were recorded and analyzed. The results showed that the concentrations of O and OH increase monotonously with gas humidity at higher input powers while they fluctuate with gas humidity at lower input powers. With an increase in the H2O/Ar ratio from 1% to 12%, the energy efficiency of the plasma generator decreases, and the plasma plumes become shorter and thinner. The rotational temperature of plasma at the nozzle also showed positive correlation with increasing humidity. Adding more input power would make all the values of these parameters increase. This paper is supposed to be helpful for the research of the interaction mechanism of mix gas plasma and microwave power and for improving the effect of plasma treating biomedical materials.

This paper identifies different methodologies used to design suitable magnetic field generators (MFG) with adjustable characteristics. Variations in parameters, such as pulse frequency and amplitude elicit distinct responses. Assessing the differences between design parameters and experimental observations of magnetic field generators is essential for various applications. The use of magnetic field generator-based techniques is first studied in applications related to optical transmission, transcranial magnetic stimulation devices and magnetic resonance. Decades of research and technological advancement are associated with these methods. The associated nomenclature for describing and characterizing these methods are introduced and discussed. Finally, the paper presents possible future framework and design considerations in functionality where new MFGs are expected to play a key role in the future.

High efficiency and short saturation time have great significance on the practical work of high power microwave devices. A dual-band Cerenkov microwave generator with high-efficiency based on electrical tuning is presented in this paper. Two-segment slow wave structures for the C-band and X-band separately are adopted, which are isolated by a drift cavity. The collimating hole is replaced by a resonant reflector, which can effectively shorten the saturation time. Moreover, in order to realize dual-band microwave output, the electrical tuning method is used in this paper. In particle-in-cell simulation, when the guiding magnetic field is 0.7 T, the output microwaves at the X-band can be obtained with an efficiency of 38% and saturation time for nearly 20 ns; when the guiding magnetic field is 1.5 T, the output microwaves at the C-band can be obtained with an efficiency of 32% and saturation time for nearly 20 ns. Thus, microwaves at the X-band and C-band can be generated separately by modulating the guiding magnetic field, which can be realized just by altering the current in the magnetic coil. It should be mentioned that such a modulating method is much more convenient than mechanical modulation.

Aiming at the position sensorless control system of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM), an improved high-frequency square wave (HFSW) signal injection scheme considering nonlinear inductance variation in d-q axis is proposed and implemented in this paper. Compared with the existing model, the modified scheme can take the dynamic variation of d-q axis inductance under different operation conditions into consideration by offsetting the resulting high-frequency incremental (HFI) current harmonic components, thus effectively suppressing the estimation error of the rotor position. The experimental results verify that the improved scheme proposed in this paper can not only improve the estimation accuracy of rotor position impaired by the non-linear variations of d-q axis inductance but also maintain the good steady-state and dynamic performance of traditional schemes.

This paper proposes a possible theoretical model to analyze the impacts of light illumination on the post-illumination transient current of sputter-deposited non-doped ZnO films. Although the authors have already demonstrated experimentally the impact of wavelength on the resistance of such films (various light-emitting diodes were used), the influence of ambient gas on their resistance, and the influence of temperature on resistance in detail, no significant theoretical basis was provided. In this paper, the physical images of the phenomena are theoretically reconsidered and a theoretical model is developed based on the experimental results. The mathematical formulation provided involves the time-dependent diffusion current model, and the continuity equation is solved to achieve a plausible solution of the time constant of the transient process. The theoretical solution strongly suggests that oxygen vacancy levels and/or traps around the grain boundaries and inside the grains contribute to the post-illumination transient behavior of dc-biased current. The non-linear effect on the transient process is also discussed for directing future research.

The key to preparing nano-films by DC (Direct Current) sputtering is to prepare the film materials into targets. Organic small molecule fluorescent materials (such as 1, 4-Bis(2-cyanostyryl) benzene, to be noted as ER-I) are usually not conductive, and it is not possible to make the elements as targets. Therefore, there are some difficulties in preparing the organic materials into films by DC sputtering. In this paper, we fabricated ER-I nano-films by using the DC sputtering method, and their fluorescence properties are significantly different from those of powder materials. The fluorescence emission spectra of the films prepared by the DC sputtering method have an apparent bimodal morphology. Compared with the ER-I powder material, the fluorescence emission peak has a blue shift of 5 nm and 22 nm. To study the luminescence mechanism of the films, we further investigated the fluorescence properties of the films after thermal treatment and analyzed the structure and surface morphology of the films by XRD and SEM. This paper provides a new idea and method for the preparation of organic nano-films and has a potential application value in the preparation of organic light-emitting films and soft optics devices.

In a previous paper, a calculation system for a high-accuracy, high-speed calculation of a one-dimensional (1D) Poisson equation based on the interpolation finite difference method was shown. Spatial high-order finite difference (FD) schemes, including a usual second-order accurate centered space FD scheme, are instantaneously derived on the equally spaced/unequally spaced grid points based on the definition of the Lagrange polynomial function. The upper limit of the higher order FD scheme is not theoretically limited but is studied up to the tenth order, following the previous paper. In the numerical analyses of the 1D Poisson equation published in the previous paper, the FD scheme setting method, SAPI (m), m = 2, 4, …, 10, was defined. Due to specifying the value of m, the setting of FD schemes is uniquely defined. This concept is extended to the numerical analysis of two-dimensional Poisson equations. In this paper, we focus on Poiseuille flows passing through arbitrary cross sections as numerical calculation examples. Over regular and irregular domains, three types of FD methods—(i) forward time explicit method, (ii) time marching successive displacement method, and (iii) alternative direction implicit method—are formulated, and their characteristics of convergence and numerical calculation errors are investigated. The numerical calculation system of the 2D Poisson equation formulated in this paper enables high-accuracy and high-speed calculation by the high-order difference in an arbitrary domain. Especially in the alternative direction implicit method using the band diagonal matrix algorithm, convergence is remarkably accelerated, and high-speed calculation becomes possible.

In this paper, the vorticity-stream function method is proposed to study the incompressible oscillating flow in the channel of Stirling regenerators. The vorticity field and velocity field in the channels of the parallel-plate regenerator are investigated. The plate spacing and oscillating frequency and kinematic viscosity of the working medium are unified as a dimensionless number e. The results showed that when e is ∼7, the “velocity overshoot” phenomenon occurs in the flow field, and this phenomenon becomes more evident with the increase of e and it gradually approaches the wall of the channel. The phase relationship between the pressure drop and the flow rate was obtained; the results showed that the phase of the flow rate lags behind the pressure drop, and the phase difference is influenced by spacing, frequency, and kinematic viscosity, with the maximal phase difference being 90°. The viscous dissipation loss in the channel was obtained based on the characteristic relationship between the cumulative flow and the pressure drop, and the wasted power of helium crossing a single channel was calculated to be less than 50 W when the frequency is no more than 100 Hz and the plate spacing is greater than 0.5 mm (given a swept volume of 500 ml). The results obtained in this paper verified the application of the vorticity-stream function method in oscillating flows, and the advantage of low resistance of helium over nitrogen was theoretically demonstrated in the relatively high frequency range.

Generation of spontaneous magnetic fields (SMFs) is one of the most interesting phenomena accompanying an intense laser–matter interaction. One method of credible SMFs measurements is based on the magneto-optical Faraday effect, which requires simultaneous measurements of an angle of polarization plane rotation of a probe wave and plasma electron density. In classical polaro-interferometry, these values are provided independently by polarimetric and interferometric images. Complex interferometry is an innovative approach in SMF measurement, obtaining information on SMF directly from a phase–amplitude analysis of an image called a complex interferogram. Although the theoretical basis of complex interferometry has been well known for many years, this approach has not been effectively employed in laser plasma research until recently; this approach has been successfully implemented in SMF measurement at the Prague Asterix Laser System (PALS). In this paper, proprietary construction solutions of polaro-interferometers are presented; they allow us to register high-quality complex interferograms in practical experiments, which undergo quantitative analysis (with an original software) to obtain information on the electron density and SMFs distributions in an examined plasma. The theoretical foundations of polaro-interferometric measurement, in particular, complex-interferometry, are presented. The main part of the paper details the methodology of the amplitude–phase analysis of complex interferograms. This includes software testing and examples of the electron density and SMF distribution of a laser ablative plasma generated by irradiating Cu thick planar targets with an iodine PALS laser at an intensity above about 1016 W/cm2.

The self-excitation of asymmetric modes is one of the main factors limiting the long-pulse operation of the relativistic triaxial klystron amplifier (TKA). Research studies have revealed that the asymmetric TM modes with negative beam loading conductance (Ge/G0) in the bunching cavities are the main culprits of self-excitation. The existing studies focus on passively destroying the growth of asymmetric TM modes, but we attempt to actively suppress their self-excitation in this paper. Investigation results demonstrate that the employment of single-gap bunching cavities can significantly reduce the risk of self-excitation of asymmetric TM modes, as the Ge/G0 of asymmetric TMn11 modes in single period structures are positive. The current modulation capacity of a single-gap bunching cavity, however, is not sufficient, so a cascade structure consisting of two groups of bunching cavities is employed to compensate for this deficiency. Based on the above conclusions, an X-band TKA device with four single-gap beam–wave interaction cavities is proposed and investigated in this paper. The three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation results demonstrate that there is no self-excitation of asymmetric modes in the proposed X-band TKA device.

While most studies on bubble dynamics are carried out in unconfined geometries, less attention has been paid to investigate confined bubbles and wall effects. This paper numerically investigates interaction and coalescence of two buoyancy-driven inline bubbles in a confined cylindrical vessel to study wall effects. An improved volume-of-fluid method is adopted, and high mesh resolution is achieved by dynamic adaptive mesh refinement. The confinement ratio, CR (the ratio of the radius of the cylindrical tube to the radius of the bubble), is introduced to quantitatively describe the wall proximity. In this paper, the interaction between bubbles is divided into three regimes according to the strength of the liquid influx behind the trailing bubble during bubble interaction (i.e., “weak interaction,” “intermediate interaction,” and “strong interaction”). If the CR is larger than a critical value (CR = 4 in this study), the wall effect can be neglected. It is found that wall proximity reduces the strength of the liquid influx behind the trailing bubble, which causes regime transition. In “strong interaction” and “intermediate interaction” regimes, if the CR is below another critical value, which is termed the second critical CR, “strong interaction” is degraded to “intermediate interaction,” and “intermediate interaction” can be degraded to “weak interaction.” A broader range of parameters is studied to explore the effect of confinement on bubble coalescence, and we further discovered that decreasing the CR does not necessarily postpone coalescence. This work provides insights into bubble motion and interaction influenced by the side wall.

In this article, two recent computational schemes [the modified Khater method and the generalized exp−φ(I)–expansion method] are applied to the nonlinear predator–prey system for constructing novel explicit solutions that describe a prototype of an excitable system. Many distinct types of solutions are obtained such as hyperbolic, parabolic, and rational. Moreover, the Hamiltonian system’s characteristics are employed to check the stability of the obtained solutions to show their ability to be applied in various applications. 2D, 3D, and contour plots are sketched to illustrate more physical and dynamical properties of the obtained solutions. Comparing our obtained solutions and that obtained in previous published research papers shows the novelty of our paper. The performance of the two used analytical schemes explains their effectiveness, powerfulness, practicality, and usefulness. In addition, their ability in employing various forms of nonlinear evolution equations is also shown.

Studying the flow characteristics of bubbles in a narrow gap is an important problem related to bearing cavitation and gas–liquid two-phase flow. In this paper, we present a modified three-dimensional multi-relaxation-time pseudo-potential model for large density ratio multiphase phenomena. The accuracy of the model is verified by the Maxwell construction, Laplace law, and Rayleigh–Plesset equation. The influence of the force scheme parameter and the dimensionless relaxation time on the thermodynamic consistency of the model is analyzed. The results show that the three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann pseudo-potential model proposed in this paper has good numerical stability in simulating multiphase phenomena. Furthermore, the cavitation bubble collapse process between parallel rigid walls is simulated by the proposed model. The collapse process obtained by the present method agrees well with the experimental result. The different orientations for the bubble to the wall exert a significant influence on the variation of the pressure field, velocity field, and evolution of maximum pressure and micro-jet velocity. During the cavitation bubble collapse process, the pressure and the velocity at the collapse point will increase instantaneously, and the orientation for the bubble to the wall is a key factor to determine the collapsed form of the cavitation bubble. The results verified the practicability of the addressed model to study the collapse of three-dimensional cavitation bubbles in the presence of parallel rigid walls.

In order to analyze the characteristics of the photoacoustic signals of two identical cells at different distances, this paper conducted a finite element analysis on the influence of the parameters of the two-cell photoacoustic spectrum. The study established a two-cell model at different distances and a single cell model under the same peripheral environment. Using the two-cell model, we have obtained the frequency domain sound pressure level curves of the subject red blood cells at different angles under the influence of another cell at a different distance. In the single cell model, this paper obtains the frequency domain sound pressure level curves of a single cell at different angles when it is not affected. The frequency domain sound pressure level curve of each angle of the subject cell is compared with the frequency domain sound pressure level curve of a single cell at the same position. The results show that when the distance between the two cells is 26.6 µm, the frequency domain sound pressure level curve of the subject cell has the highest similarity with the frequency domain sound pressure level curve of a single cell. This study shows that when the distance between two cells is appropriate, the photoacoustic signals between the cells have the least influence on each other.

In this work, a phase-field model for recrystallization is developed based on the conservation laws. There has been no attempt to develop a phase-field model of recrystallization based on the conservation laws, even though various phase-field simulation models to reproduce the recrystallization phenomenon have been proposed. However, it is unclear what conservation laws are required for such a model. In the previous paper, toward solving this problem, we developed conservation laws of mass, momentum, angular momentum, and energy and a law of entropy at the lattice scale for the process of recrystallization. In this paper, first, two continuous variables, i.e., the order parameter and crystal orientation, are introduced into the balance equation of mass for a single phase and that of angular momentum for the lattice, respectively. Next, the fluxes of the order parameter and crystal orientation are derived from the law of entropy by the use of rational thermodynamics. Moreover, the diffusion coefficient and mass source are modeled to derive the evolution equations, i.e., phase-field equations of the order parameter and crystal orientation. Finally, for the phase-field equation of the crystal orientation, neglecting the conservative part and integrating the equation with respect to time under the first-order approximation, a phase-field model that is used for stable calculations is developed. This work aims to develop a phase-field theory on the basis of the change in crystal lattice during recrystallization. This paper gives a physical background to the methodological phase-field approach in the case of recrystallization.

A novel design for complete transfer and robust three-waveguide coupler is presented in this paper, which employs shortcut to adiabaticity (STA) based on stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP). Most recently, some remarkable papers on STA of STIRAP [Phys. Rev. A 94(6), 063411 (2016) and Nat. Comm. 7, 12479 (2016)] have been proposed in both theoretical and experimental configurations. In this paper, we propose to design a novel three-waveguide coupler by employing STA based on STIRAP, which can achieve much shorter device length and also maintain the robust performance against perturbations on device geometry parameters compared to previous devices. This finding significantly improves the performance and fabrication of integrated optical devices to build up more compactable devices.

The electric vehicle (EV) is the future of the modern automotive industry. However, the transmission performance of traditional wireless charging is highly influenced by the misalignment error between the transmitter and the receiver. This paper proposes a maximum power control method for the multiple transmitter coil wireless charging system, which can be used to charge stationary EVs freely and effectively in a wider range. An accurate and reliable mutual inductance estimation method is introduced to estimate M relying on the electric information on the transmitter side only without using empirical formulas and additional communication devices between both sides. Then, the paper proposes a control method, which can maximize the output power in a quite wider range. Experiments and simulations prove that the proposed method has a good performance on charging a receiver coil effectively in a wider range; therefore, it is suitable for charging stationary EVs in the parking space.

A microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID) is a cutting-edge superconducting detector, and its principle is based on a superconducting resonator circuit. The superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of the MKID is an important parameter because various MKID characterization parameters depend on it. In this paper, we propose a method to measure the Tc of the MKID by changing the applied power of the readout microwaves. A small fraction of the readout power is deposited in the MKID, and the number of quasiparticles in the MKID increases with this power. Furthermore, the quasiparticle lifetime decreases with the number of quasiparticles. Therefore, we can measure the relation between the quasiparticle lifetime and the detector response by rapidly varying the readout power. From this relation, we estimate the intrinsic quasiparticle lifetime. This lifetime is theoretically modeled by Tc, the physical temperature of the MKID device, and other known parameters. We obtain Tc by comparing the measured lifetime with that acquired using the theoretical model. Using an MKID fabricated with aluminum, we demonstrate this method at a 0.3 K operation. The results are consistent with those obtained by Tc measured by monitoring the transmittance of the readout microwaves with the variation in the device temperature. The method proposed in this paper is applicable to other types, such as a hybrid-type MKID., Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures

As a non-destructive testing technology, γ-photon imaging technology has a good application prospect in the industrial field. However, due to the γ-photon scattering problem caused by high-density metal and the rapid industrial detection requirement, γ-photon imaging technology has not been effectively applied in industrial detection. Thus, this paper proposed a compensatory single scatter simulation (C-SSS) and combined it with the 3D ordered subset expectation maximization (3D-OSEM) image reconstruction algorithm for optimization to solve the above problems. To verify the effectiveness of the C-SSS algorithm, this paper compared C-SSS with the single scatter simulation by two types of phantoms and the inner cavity detection of industrial components. The comparison results proved that C-SSS can effectively improve the measurement accuracy and reduce the scanning time. In addition, after the algorithm code was optimized and accelerated by the graphic processing unit, the execution time of C-SSS was ∼4 min and a single iteration of 3D-OSEM took ∼3 min, basically satisfying the requirements of rapid industrial detection. Simulation and experiment results show the potential of the proposed algorithm in industrial detection.

This paper offers a solution to address the unstable shallow trench Bosch process problem by altering several major contributing factors involved in chamber polymer deposition. This approach has been implemented to product lines and has proven to be very effective in resolving this long-standing problem. This method can be generalized to all Bosch process related applications in a manufacturing environment. Experimental results indicate that film patterns and pre-conditioning species generate residual polymers, which interact with the etching plasma to cause process drifts. During a sequence run, wafer-less cleaning can be used to reach a steady-state concentration of residual polymers. A qualitative description of the influential factors of the etch rate at various conditions is given in an empirical formula. A prototypical mechanism was set up to reveal possible complications. Typical process charts and statistics were also collected for analysis. Suggestions for further development and fab-line wafer sequence flow will be discussed in this paper.

Diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) model has been widely used to simulate fractal aggregation processes. This DLA model and its improved model growth diffusion-limited aggregation (GDLA) can reasonably plan and manage rivers within the basin scale. In this paper, the growth and evolution of the river network at the basin scale were simulated using the Northwest China Basin as the study area. To achieve this research goal, this paper used gas injection system image processing technology and data analysis methods for overall processing and distributed processing of river basin remote sensing data. A new growth method, unit-gradient growth, was added to the standard DLA model, and a combination of the extracted Daxia River Basin geomorphological features and DEM data was used to optimize the Brownian motion of the model particle growth method. A computational model was proposed: GDLA model to predict the river network growth in the study area. The fractal dimension of the river network in the study area was extracted and corrected by the box-counting method. Finally, the predicted river network was compared with the extracted actual river network. The included angle cosine method was used for modeling evaluation and analysis. The results showed that the fractal dimension of the Daxia River Basin and sub-basin water systems was less than 1.6, indicating that the basin geomorphology was in its infancy. The structural similarity degrees were greater than 0.99, indicating that the GDLA model had a better simulation on fractal river networks, which can successfully reproduce and predict different morphological two-dimensional river networks. Studies showed that using GDLA to model fractal river networks can better predict the river network growth and evolution, ultimately promoting sustainable development of river basin water management.