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Epoxy post-insulator is one of the key parts in SF6 gas-insulated DC wall bushing, which is irreplaceable in high voltage direct current transmission projects. Flashovers occur on post-insulators frequently, where a great number of tiny metal particles exist. The micron metal particles attached to the epoxy will change the insulation state of the surface. However, this relation between microstructure of material and macroscopic electrical properties on flashover would still arouse controversy. In order to study the effect of particles on the flashover characteristics, the particles generated from wear of spring in DC wall bushing were selected, the surface potential decay along surface and the DC flashover voltage of epoxy attached with particles were measured. The results show that the discrete particles could increase surface trap level by 0.025 eV under the effect of Van der Waals force. Furthermore, the deeper traps could capture the charge during the streamer development and inhibit the flashover, when the particle amount less than 500 per mm2. If the particles are more enough to form the continuous paths, these conductive paths could promote the streamer to propagate, which shortens the insulation distance, increases the electric field, and decreases the flashover voltage by 50% finally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epoxy post-insulator is one of the key parts in SF6 gas-insulated DC wall bushing, which is irreplaceable in high voltage direct current transmission projects. Flashovers occur on post-insulators frequently, where a great number of tiny metal particles exist. The micron metal particles attached to the epoxy will change the insulation state of the surface. However, this relation between microstructure of material and macroscopic electrical properties on flashover would still arouse controversy. In order to study the effect of particles on the flashover characteristics, the particles generated from wear of spring in DC wall bushing were selected, the surface potential decay along surface and the DC flashover voltage of epoxy attached with particles were measured. The results show that the discrete particles could increase surface trap level by 0.025 eV under the effect of Van der Waals force. Furthermore, the deeper traps could capture the charge during the streamer development and inhibit the flashover, when the particle amount less than 500 per mm2. If the particles are more enough to form the continuous paths, these conductive paths could promote the streamer to propagate, which shortens the insulation distance, increases the electric field, and decreases the flashover voltage by 50% finally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volume resistivity of polymer dielectrics reduces significantly with the increase of temperature. As a result, in direct current (DC) power apparatus or electronic device, temperature gradient over the material can result in considerable electric field distortion which greatly threats the polymer insulation. Advanced ceramic dielectrics are promising to be alternative to polymer insulation to deal with this issue. In this paper, Al 2 O 3 and Si 3 N 4 ceramic materials with different ion doping concentrations have been manufactured. Temperature dependent resistivity characteristics of the ceramics are obtained and compared with typical polymer dielectrics. Conduction models of the ceramic dielectrics are applied to understand their temperature dependent resistivity and its modulating mechanism. Effect of ion doping on the temperature dependent resistivity has been obtained and analyzed which agrees well with their charge trapping property acquired by thermal stimulation depolarization current measurement, based on which the method to modulate the temperature stability of material resistivity have been proposed. Finally, a comprehensive comparison between ceramics and polymers in high voltage DC applications have been made which further proves the advantage of ceramic dielectrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Concrete has been widely used in underwater structures. However, accidental voids near the concrete protective layer may weaken the bearing capacity of the structures and can even lead to severe disasters. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an efficient and convenient method for quantitatively identifying voids in concrete and guaranteeing structural safety. A percussion–acoustic method is commonly used to identify voids in concrete exposed to air, owing to its high efficiency and low‐cost. Nevertheless, its feasibility for underwater concrete remains questionable, owing to the complexity of the underwater environment. To address this limitation, this study conducted experimental and theoretical studies by using a percussion–acoustic‐based method to identify voids in underwater concrete while considering the fluid–structure coupling effect. The results demonstrate that the frequency characteristics of percussive sound pressure underwater are significantly different from those in air and are determined by the void scopes and depths. Accordingly, this study provides a potentially applicable method for evaluating the voids in underwater concrete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The micron metal particles are inevitably produced in long-term operation condition of high voltage direct current SF6 insulated apparatus, which could frequently cause the surface discharge. Degradation of long-term surface discharge will be a severe threat to the insulation strength. Aiming at this problem, the surface charge accumulation and flashover voltage of epoxy itself before and after discharge degradation by particles were compared in this paper. The composition after degradation was measured by EDS and FTIR. The microstructure was observed by SEM. The roughness was measured as well. The trap distribution was measured by SPD. The mechanism of degradation and its effect on insulation characteristics were analyzed. The results show that the surface charge accumulation increase three times after degradation. Additionally, flashover voltage decreases 19% after degradation. The smoothly surface after degradation decrease the trap energy level for 14%, which might be the change reason of surface charge accumulation and flashover voltage. This paper can offer as a reference for the effect of micron metal particles on insulation degradation in SF6 gas insulated equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general approach to percussion-based monitoring of bolt preload is to train a classifier model to map the preloads and acoustic characteristics of percussion signals. However, the traditional percussion-based approach can only classify the preloads of bolts into certain ranges, and cannot accurately predict the exact bolt preload. This paper proposes an approach to estimate bolt preload using a convolutional neural network (CNN). The frequency contents of the percussion signals are analysed with the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), and the magnitudes of signals in different frequencies ranges are reconstructed into a matrix, which can be treated as an image. Each image is labelled with the corresponding bolt preload. Then the labelled images are used to train the CNN model, and the trained model is used to detect the actual preload of a selected bolt. The proposed model was experimentally verified using a bolted steel plate. The results show that the proposed model can accurately predict the preload values outside the range of training samples with an accuracy over 95%. Meanwhile, compared with the predicted effect of the traditional regression models, the predicted validity of the proposed model is further verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DC wall bushing is one of the key equipment in high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission project. At present, post insulators based on epoxy composites are widely used for supporting insulation in SF6-insulated apparatus. However, the flashover faults caused by surface charge accumulation can be a severe threat to the long-term operation of the post insulators under dc field. Therefore, the issue of charge accumulation on epoxy post insulators in HVDC wall bushing and its effect on flashover has been widely concerned. Aiming at this problem, the flashover characteristics of epoxy samples in SF6 gas under polarity reversal conditions with dc voltage prestressed for 10–600 min were measured in this article. The flashover process is analyzed through surface charge distribution measurement and electric field computation. The results show that with the increase of prestressed time, the accumulated negative charge density could reach $-14.8\,\,\mu \text{C}/\text{m}^{{2}}$ , which led to a 12% increase in maximum field strength. As a result, the polarity reversal flashover voltage could decrease by 12% and the flashover time delay could decrease by 84.6%. This article can offer as a reference for the effect of surface charge accumulation on flashover in SF6 gas-insulated equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The back cover image is based on the Research Article I Feasibility study of percussion-acoustic-based void identification for underwater concrete i by Zhuodong Yang et al., https://doi.org/10.1002/stc.3101. GLO:VUV/01nov22:stc3134-toc-0001.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): . gl. [Extracted from the article]

• A percussion acoustic signal denoising method in marine environment is proposed. • Compared with other denoising methods, the proposed method can significantly improve the SNR of noisy percussion acoustic signals under the complex marine environment with noise interference. • When the main peak frequency of the denoised percussion acoustic signal with the proposed method is used for damage identification, the error is only about 3% Percussion-based inspection of structures has attracted widespread attention in recent years. However, the percussion acoustic signals collected in the marine environment usually have a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and are difficult to use directly due to the interference by a multitude of marine noises. The frequency contents of the ambient noises usually overlap with those of the percussion acoustic signals, thus limiting the denoising using traditional methods. This paper proposes a denoising method using the least mean square (LMS) algorithm to obtain the approximate percussion signal. The noisy percussion signals and marine noise are recorded synchronously by two hydrophones. Then the LMS algorithm processes the collected signals and provides the frequency peaks that cannot be extracted with conventional methods. The proposed method is validated by experiments conducted in a noiseless laboratory environment and a noisy, naturally occurring marine environment. The results reveal that the proposed method is excellent in denoising the raw signal, and the error is about 3% in terms of differences in the estimated value of the primary peak frequency. This study demonstrates the broad potential for the method to be applied toward damage detection for underwater structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global cold chain logistics market is witnessing a significant upswing, driven by the rising demand for perishable food products and increasing shipment volumes worldwide. Technological advancements are leading to a more intelligent and digitally enabled cold chain logistics system. However, the high loss rate of fresh agricultural products in China poses a significant threat to the country's food security. Therefore, it is imperative to explore innovative solutions, such as blockchain, to address the challenges of traditional cold chain logistics. In this paper, inspired by the prospect theory and evolutionary game theory, we propose an evolutionary game model to analyze the behavioral strategies of the tripartite of n-level cold chain participants, consumers, and government. Using MATLAB software, the numerical simulation of the game path of this tripartite theory is conducted, and the influence of variable parameters on the evolutionary process and outcomes of the system is analyzed. The results the following: (1) The development of an effective cold chain supply chain system can be divided into three stages, and blockchain technology plays a pivotal role in creating a seamless cold chain environment. The cost of blockchain adoption, government rewards, as well as penalties can significantly influence the behavioral choices of the three stakeholders. (2) The behavior of individual cold chain participants has a strong negative externality, which can impact the behavior of others. We also find that the larger the scale of the cold chain, the lower the probability of default by the participants. (3) The government's adoption of blockchain technology and the implementation of effective incentive policies can foster the successful development of the cold chain blockchain infrastructure. Our research contributes to the theoretical understanding of cold chain logistics decision making and policy creation for the tripartite stakeholders, including cold chain participants, consumers, and government. Our findings can serve as a valuable reference for scientific decision making and policy formulation to encourage the development of a robust cold chain supply chain system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent study has found excellent bulk and surface insulation property of Si 3 N 4 ceramic which make it potential to serve as key insulation component in various energy transmission apparatus. Charge accumulation at gas-solid interface is a critical insulation property but few relevant study on Si 3 N 4 can be found. This contribution has investigated the surface charge property of Si 3 N 4 ceramic compared to traditional insulation polymer under different electrical-thermal stress. Through its comparison with the electric field distribution, the main source of the surface charge accumulation is analyzed, indicating that the superior surface charge suppression performance of Si 3 N 4 lies on its low carrier density and conduction barrier, which considerably prevent charge injection and suppress the normal electric field which drives the charge to the gas-solid interface. The proposed mechanism is also validated by the characterization on conducting and space charge property for Si 3 N 4 as well as dynamic simulation on surface charge accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As trapping sites for surface charges, the surface trap is an important factor affecting the insulation performance of the epoxy–SF6 interface, which is closely related to the microstructure and its evolution. However, existing studies often ignore the effect of the degradation of the epoxy surface on the surface traps and charge accumulation during the long-term service of the insulation system. In this study, the surface physicochemical evolution and its influence on surface traps of a typical epoxy–SF6 insulation structure were researched under a DC-temperature gradient condition, and an evolution mechanism of surface traps was proposed. The results show that the free radicals introduced during the material degradation process increase the density and depth of both positive and negative charge traps on the epoxy surface. The effect of free radicals formed by the cleavage of epoxy molecules on the electronic orbital and molecular electrostatic potential of epoxy molecules is the intrinsic reason for the evolution of surface trap evolution. This work may help to understand the long-term evolution mechanisms of the physicochemical characteristics of the epoxy–SF6 interface in DC field and may provide a theoretical basis for the long-term failure mechanism revealing and the insulation performance enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The charge accumulation phenomenon at the gas–solid interface under the co-action of DC electric field and temperature gradient is of great significance, but its long-time evolution characteristics are still unclear. In this work, the accumulation and dissipation characteristics of the surface charge on the epoxy-SF6 interface within 216 h were obtained, indicating that, (a) the normal surface electric field is increased by the temperature gradient along the gas–solid interface, which results in a prominent increase in the surface charge density; (b) there are different evolution processes of surface charge in high and low temperature regions under the co-action of DC-temperature gradient, and the increase of the charge trap density caused by the degradation of solid material is considered to be an important reason for the charge evolution; (c) the total charge dissipation ratio within 600 s decreases with the increase of charging time in DC electric field, and the surface charge dissipates mainly to the gas side of the interface; (d) the large amount of charge accumulated at the interface distorts the surface electric field at the triple junction points. The total electric field strength at the low-temperature tri-junction point increases by 35.5%, while the direction of the tangential field at the high-temperature tri-junction point reverses during the long-time co-action of the DC-temperature gradient. The results of this work may be helpful to understand the long-time charge evolution characteristics of the gas–solid interface under the DC-temperature gradient and to reveal the failure mechanism of the gas–solid interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The charge accumulation phenomenon at the gas–solid interface under the co-action of DC electric field and temperature gradient is of great significance, but its long-time evolution characteristics are still unclear. In this work, the accumulation and dissipation characteristics of the surface charge on the epoxy-SF6 interface within 216 h were obtained, indicating that, (a) the normal surface electric field is increased by the temperature gradient along the gas–solid interface, which results in a prominent increase in the surface charge density; (b) there are different evolution processes of surface charge in high and low temperature regions under the co-action of DC-temperature gradient, and the increase of the charge trap density caused by the degradation of solid material is considered to be an important reason for the charge evolution; (c) the total charge dissipation ratio within 600 s decreases with the increase of charging time in DC electric field, and the surface charge dissipates mainly to the gas side of the interface; (d) the large amount of charge accumulated at the interface distorts the surface electric field at the triple junction points. The total electric field strength at the low-temperature tri-junction point increases by 35.5%, while the direction of the tangential field at the high-temperature tri-junction point reverses during the long-time co-action of the DC-temperature gradient. The results of this work may be helpful to understand the long-time charge evolution characteristics of the gas–solid interface under the DC-temperature gradient and to reveal the failure mechanism of the gas–solid interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we present a detailed analysis on the observed streamer characteristics of PEEK (polyetheretherketone) surface in nitrogen at atmospheric pressure driven by positive repetitive pulse voltage, including the forward discharge streamer and the back discharge streamer. Fast oscilloscopic technique and digital photographic technique were employed to observe the streamers of surface discharges, and current pulse waveform analysis technique and image analysis technique were used to analyze the characteristics of the observed streamers. The experimental results show that the current pulse of forward discharge streamer has a shorter rise time, a higher current amplitude, a faster current rising rate, a shorter fall time, a faster current falling rate and a smaller charge quantity than those of back discharge streamer at the same voltage amplitude. Besides, the forward discharge streamer has a longer stopping length, a faster propagation velocity and a stronger maximum light intensity than back discharge streamer at the same voltage amplitude. Furthermore, the correlation between the electrical characteristics and optical characteristics of the streamer was analytically derivated, and the current rising rate of the streamer is proportionally correlated to the product of the streamer stopping length and the streamer velocity square. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyetheretherketone is used in the packaging of high voltage power electronics as a frame material, and the surface discharge behaviors of polyetheretherketone are the main concerns for the packaging design. Pulse width modulation voltage, which shows a variable duty cycle, is applied to polyetheretherketone at working conditions. The surface discharge behaviors of polyetheretherketone under a positive repetitive pulse voltage of 50 Hz with different duty cycles were investigated in this paper. It is generally considered that the surface discharge inception is mainly related to electric field distribution; however, the pulse width of voltage could significantly affect the surface discharge inception characteristics. In this study, the surface discharge inception voltage, time-integrated streamer images, and cumulative surface discharge patterns under a positive repetitive pulse voltage of 50 Hz were obtained. It was found that the surface discharge inception voltage decreased with the increase in the duty cycle. This relationship was explained by the role of time-lag. Time-lag distribution analysis was performed, and the time-lag distribution was mainly determined by stochastic time-lag. The mean stochastic time-lag was obtained by the Laue plot, and the relationship between the mean stochastic time-lag and applied voltage could be well fitted by the inverse power law. Furthermore, the relationship between the surface discharge inception voltage and duty cycle could be exactly fitted by the inverse power law, which was derived from the relationship between the stochastic mean time-lag and applied voltage. The closely related relationships demonstrate that time-lag plays a critical role in the surface discharge inception at different duty cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]