Fiber Technology Research Articles

Performance evaluation of asphalt mixture reinforced by lignin and ceramic fiber

A single-adding fiber technology only plays a role in improving one performance of asphalt mixture such as high temperature or low temperature or water damage performance. Although double-adding fiber-reinforced asphalt mixtures are expected to improve overall road performance, existing research still only focuses on the analysis of a single performance. In this study, two representative fibers including lignin fiber (LF) and ceramic fiber (CF) were selected including to investigate the role of double-adding fibers in asphalt mixtures. The effect of different fiber proportions on the overall road performance of stone matrix asphalt (SMA-13) mixtures was analyzed via wheel tracking tests, low temperature bending test, moisture susceptibility test and fatigue test, etc. The results revealed that the combined addition of LF and CF exhibited superior improvements in mechanical strength, anti-rutting performance, moisture susceptibility, and fatigue life as compared to that of using either fiber alone. Specifically, compared to that of SMA mixtures using LF, the SMA mixtures using both two fibers improved in 11% dynamic stability, 8.6 % low-temperature bending stress, 2.1 % moisture susceptibility and 20 % fatigue life, respectively. And compared to that of SMA mixtures using CF, the mixtures using both two fibers increased in 11 % low-temperature bending strain and 8 % fatigue life, while improving slightly in dynamic stability, low-temperature bending stress, and moisture susceptibility respectively. Based on the results of efficiency coefficient method, the recommended ratio of LF to CF in the asphalt mixture is 1:2, providing a more balanced and comprehensive enhancement of road performances. This study provides a theoretical reference for the engineering application of improving the road performance of asphalt mixture through composite fiber blending, which can effectively enhance the service life of asphalt pavement.

Hybrid Radio over Fiber with Radio over Free Space Optic for 5G Fronthaul Network Implementation in Urban Areas

Optical fiber can meet the demand for fronthaul on 5G networks that offer high bandwidth, large capacity, high data rate and is free from electromagnetic interference. However, deploying infrastructure faces issues like permits and high costs. Hybrid Radio over Fiber (RoF) technology with Radio over Free Space Optic (RoFSO) can be a solution in urban areas, where the installation requires high costs. This research investigates a hybrid RoF-RoFSO scheme at a frequency of mmWave 26 GHz by considering atmospheric attenuation values arising from meteorological effects, such as rain, smog, and dust, using Optisystem. This research considers QPSK, 16-QAM, and 64-QAM modulation schemes, distance variations on the FSO and the meteorological data from the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) from March 2022 to May 2022. The results show that attenuation due to high rainfall is the main cause of signal quality degradation and limits the transmission distance on the FSO link. The maximum distance is 600 m using the QPSK and 16-QAM modulation schemes, while for the 64-QAM modulation scheme, the maximum transmission distance is 500 m. Meanwhile, damping values caused by foggy and dusty conditions can reach distances of up to 1000 m for the three modulation schemes.

Advanced Composite Materials for Structure Strengthening and Resilience Improvement

Advanced composite materials have excellent performance and broad engineering application prospects, and have received widespread attention in recent years. Advanced composite materials can mainly be divided into fiber-reinforced composite materials, laminated composite materials, matrix composite materials, and other composite materials. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the types and characteristics of advanced composite materials, and provides a comprehensive evaluation of the latest research on structural strengthening and resilience improvement in advanced composite materials from the perspectives of new methods, modeling optimization, and practical applications. In the field of fiber-reinforced composite materials, the hybrid technology of carbon fiber and glass fiber can achieve dual advantages in combining the two materials. The maximum increase in mechanical properties of multilayer sandwich RH plate by hybrid technology is 435.4% (tensile strength), 149.2% (flexural strength), and 110.7~114.2% (shear strength), respectively. In the field of laminated composite materials, different mechanical properties of laminated composite materials can be obtained by changing the deposition sequence. In the field of matrix composites, nano copper oxide particles prepared by nanotechnology can increase the hardness and tensile strength of the metal matrix material by 77% and 78%, respectively. In the field of other composite materials, viscoelastic materials and magnetorheological variants have received widespread attention. The development of composite materials benefits from the promotion of new methods and technologies, but there are still problems such as complex preparation, high cost, and unstable performance. Considering the characteristics, application requirements, cost, complexity, and performance of different types of composite materials, further improvements and innovations are needed in modeling and optimization to better meet practical engineering needs, such as the application of advanced composite materials in civil engineering, ships, automobiles, batteries, and other fields.

"DISCRIMINATION OF TEMPERATURE AND STRAIN INTERFERENCE IN FBG SENSORS USING TAPERED OPTICAL FIBER SENSOR "

"The optical fiber industry has progressed a lot in recent years. Earlier, they were used as a bed to carry light and image for medical applications, especially in endoscopy. In the mid-1960s, calls were widely used to transmit information. So far, optical fiber technology has been a worthy subject for research. Low loss rate, high bandwidth, electromagnetic reliability, small size, light weight, safety, relatively cheap price, low need for reconstruction and maintenance are the reasons for the attractiveness of optical fibers. In recent years, optical sensors, including FBG, are widely used in the field. Different methods have been used. Among these applications, we can refer to imaging in the fields of civil engineering, aerospace, marine sciences, oil and gas, composites and smart structures. Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors have found more usages in the industry to diagnose the safety of mechanical structures due to their high sensitivity, non-exposure to the electromagnetic field, linearity, and lightness. A limitation of the application of FBG sensors is the Inability to distinguish the effects of temperature and strain in the simultaneous measurement. For this purpose, we must somehow discriminate the effect of temperature from the strain. In this Article, by designing a tapered fiber-FBG composite sensor we have provided a solution for this problem. Studies performed on the designed composite sensor show that no sensitivity interference will occur in the sensor. In the composite sensor, a tapered fiber optic sensor with a temperature sensitivity of and a FBG sensor with the temperature and strain sensitivity of and, respectively, are used. Keywords: Tapered fiber, Temperature sensor, FBG sensor, Strain health monitor, Structural health monitor, Interferences. "

A holistic approach to achieve the transition from grey to blue to green transport using hollow fibre technology

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is already regarded as a central pillar of industrial decarbonisation and could play a critical role in reducing transport CO2 emissions. However, for it to be retrofitted to all surface transport modes, it must be made as compact as possible. Currently, it can only be feasibly retrofitted to larger surface transport modes. Thus, this paper proposes a holistic approach using state-of-the-art hollow fibre technology which allows the design of smaller and lighter on-board CCS systems. The holistic approach proposed considers the effect diesel and green NH3 fuel blends have on the size of a truck’s fuel tanks, aftertreatment architecture and on-board hollow fibre-based CCS system. In this respect, the breakthrough of this paper is highlighting the importance of hollow fibre technology and how it enables a cleaner transition from grey to blue to green transport.

Insights into the innovative approaches in fiber technology for drug delivery and pharmaceuticals

Insights into the innovative approaches in fiber technology for drug delivery and pharmaceuticals

Surface dynamics and thermophysical mechanics on Reiner–Philippoff fluid flow

Due to high sensitivity of fluid particles to temperature changes, the thermophysical characteristics of fluids are known to exhibit significant variations when exposed to temperature rise, which can impact the overall efficiency of conveying fluid substances in manufacturing processes across different surfaces and media. Industrial and mechanical processes such as aerodynamic extrusion in plastic sheets, fiber technology and biological dynamics as transpiration and muscle cramps exhibit different surface dynamics. The Reiner–Philippoff (RP) fluid model exemplifies shear-thinning, shear-thickening and Newtonian behavior. This study investigates the flow of a RP fluid over a stretching and shrinking surface with nonlinear thermal convection and variable thermophysical properties. The mathematical models describing the dynamical system are transformed through a similar group of transformations. Flow variables such as the fluid’s velocity, temperature and solute concentration were numerically obtained through the spectral local linearization technique (SLLM). Subject to the validation and accuracy of the numerical results, the effects of pertinent parameters on the flow were investigated. The findings in this study reveal that the effects of the flow variables on stretching and shrinking sheets are not diametrically opposite. Moreover, the radiation negatively impacts the flow variables over a stretching sheet compared to the positive effect experienced at some point in flow over a shrinking sheet.

Identifying indigenous bast microfibers for archaeological research in East Asia

East Asia, particularly China, has a long history of fiber production. Before cotton was introduced in historic times, bast fibers from various indigenous plants dominated fiber technologies. Previous studies on early fiber technology primarily relied on indirect evidence because actual fiber and textile remains are extremely rare in archaeological contexts. Such materials tend to decay quickly in normal environmental conditions, a situation that negatively impacts on our knowledge of the origin and diversity of fiber technology in the past. However, archaeologists have often observed microfiber remains when conducting microfossil analysis (such as starch and phytoliths) on artifact residues and soils, indicating a great potential for the study of ancient fibers from archaeological contexts. In this study, we first analyze morphological features of five modern bast fibers indigenous to East Asia, including hemp, ramie, kudzu vine, velvet leaf, and paper mulberry, to create a reference database; then we discuss the applicability of these features to identification of archaeological microfiber remains.

Stretchable and Self-Healable Fiber-Shaped Conductors Suitable for Harsh Environments.

Fiber-shaped conductors with high electrical conductivity, stretchability, and durability have attracted increasing attention due to their potential for integration into arbitrary wearable forms. However, these fiber conductors still suffer from low reliability and short life span, particularly in harsh environments. Herein, a conductive, environment-tolerant, stretchable, and healable fiber conductor (CESH), which consists of a self-healable and stretchable organohydrogel fiber core, a conductive and buckled silver nanowire coating, and a self-healable and waterproof protective sheath, is reported. Such a multilayer core-sheath design not only offers high stretchability (≈2400%), high electrical conductivity (1.0 × 106 S m-1 ), outstanding self-healing ability and durability, but also possesses unprecedented tolerance in harsh environments including wide working temperature (-60-20 °C), arid (≈10 % RH (RH: room humidity)), and underwater conditions. As proof-of-concept demonstrations, CESHs are integrated into various wearable formats as interconnectors to steadily perform the electric function under different mechanical deformations and harsh conditions. Such a new type of multifunctional fiber conductors can bridge the gap in stretchable and self-healing fiber technologies by providing ultrastable electrical conductance and excellent environmental tolerance, which can greatly expand the range of applications for fiber conductors.

Optical Fibre-Based Sensors-An Assessment of Current Innovations.

Optical fibre sensors are an essential subset of optical fibre technology, designed specifically for sensing and measuring several physical parameters. These sensors offer unique advantages over traditional sensors, making them gradually more valuable in a wide range of applications. They can detect extremely small variations in the physical parameters they are designed to measure, such as analytes in the case of biosensing. This high sensitivity allows them to detect subtle variations in temperature, pressure, strain, the refractive index of analytes, vibration, and other environmental factors with exceptional accuracy. Moreover, these sensors enable remote sensing capabilities. Since light signals are used to carry information, the sensing elements can be placed at distant or inaccessible sites and still communicate the data back to the central monitoring system without signal degradation. In recent times, different attractive configurations and approaches have been proposed to enhance the sensitivity of the optical fibre-based sensor and are briefly explained in this review. However, we believe that the choice of optical fibre sensor configuration should be designated based on the specific application. As these sensors continue to evolve and improve, they will play an increasingly vital role in critical monitoring and control applications across various industries.

Study on the electromagnetic field aligning steel fibres in UHPC reinforced beams: Effect, mechanism and flexural behavior

Electromagnetic field aligning steel fibre technology mainly focuses on the properties of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) without considering the interference of reinforcement. In this study, an electromagnetic field was used to align steel fibres in UHPC reinforced beams, which verified the feasibility of this method for reinforced structures. The results indicated that the steel fibres could be magnetised automatically parallel to the direction of the magnetic line. The computed tomography (CT) image shows that the distribution of the steel fibres is uniform, and their orientation in the matrix is clear. The interference effects of the reinforcement were concentrated at the end, and the fibres in the beam span were parallel to the beam length. This approach can significantly improve the flexural capacity of the beams, and the increase in amplitude is positively correlated with the fibre content. In addition, the aligned steel fibre UHPC beams exhibited good plastic deformation and excellent energy dissipation capacities.

Present and future of terahertz integrated photonic devices

Photonic integrated circuits have benefited many fields in the natural sciences. Their nanoscale patterning has led to the discovery of novel sources and detectors from ultraviolet to microwaves. Yet terahertz technologies have so far leveraged surprisingly little of the design and material freedom provided by photonic integrated circuits. Despite photoconduction—the process in which light is absorbed above the bandgap of a semiconductor to generate free carriers—and nonlinear up- and down-conversion being by far the two most widespread approaches to generate and detect terahertz waves, so far, terahertz technologies have been mostly employed in bulk. In this perspective, we discuss the current state-of-the-art, challenges, and perspectives for hybrid optical-terahertz photonic chips. We focus, in particular, on χ(2) and χ(3) nonlinear waveguides and waveguide-integrated photoconductive devices. We highlight opportunities in the micro- and macroscale design of waveguide geometries and printed antennas for the optimization of emission and detection efficiencies of terahertz waves. Realizing complex functionalities for terahertz photonics on a single chip may come into reach by integration and miniaturization compatible with telecom and fiber technologies.

Magnetostrictive Fiber Sensors as Total Field Magnetometers

A novel magnetostrictive thin film fiber sensor is presented which can be utilized in an interferometric architecture. The magnetostrictive fiber sensor utilizes novel fiber and thin film technology to achieve high sensitivity in the sub-nanotesla regime. The base sensor architecture utilizes optical fiber wound in a novel low stress flat coil resembling a record, coated with a thin magnetostrictive film. Two prototype variants were fabricated, incorporating FeCo sputtered films of different thicknesses on 4 μm polyimide jacket single mode fiber. The sensors were incorporated into a fiber optic interferometric measurement apparatus to characterize time-varying magnetic field sensitivity. Device results are presented which demonstrate sensitivity is a function of film thickness. The experimental data exhibited a two-order magnitude sensitivity improvement as the thin film thickness was doubled. Sensitivity projections are made based on film thickness.

The invisible plant technology of Prehistoric Southeast Asia: Indirect evidence for basket and rope making at Tabon Cave, Philippines, 39-33,000 years ago.

A large part of our material culture is made of organic materials, and this was likely the case also during prehistory. Amongst this prehistoric organic material culture are textiles and cordages, taking advantage of the flexibility and resistance of plant fibres. While in very exceptional cases and under very favourable circumstances, fragments of baskets and cords have survived and were discovered in late Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological sites, these objects are generally not preserved, especially in tropical regions. We report here indirect evidence of basket/tying material making found on stone tools dating to 39-33,000 BP from Tabon Cave, Palawan Philippines. The distribution of use-wear on these artefacts is the same as the distribution observed on experimental tools used to thin fibres, following a technique that is widespread in the region currently. The goal of this activity is to turn hard plant segments into supple strips suitable as tying material or to weave baskets, traps, and even boats. This study shows early evidence of this practice in Southeast Asia and adds to the growing set of discoveries showing that fibre technology was an integral part of late Pleistocene skillset. This paper also provides a new way to identify supple strips of fibres made of tropical plants in the archaeological record, an organic technology that is otherwise most of the time invisible.

THE PERFORMANCE COMPARISON OF RF LEVEL MULTIPLEXING AND OPTICAL LEVEL MULTIPLEXING IN RADIO OVER FIBER SYSTEMS WITH DIRECT OPTICAL MODULATION TECHNIQUES

Communication in the world is developing very rapidly, not only limited to voice but data communication. Many techniques have been used to support multimedia services. Radio over Fiber is expected to support communication for long distances. Therefore, a Comparison of Performance Analysis was carried out using optisystem. Radio over Fiber is simulated by radio frequency signals of 10 GHz and 15 GHz. Radio over Fiber technology for long-distance communication is very vulnerable to high BER and attenuation values, so it requires a mature system design and adequate equipment specifications.

Multiple side-coupled images recognition in plastic optical fibers based on deep learning

In recent years, the technology of multi-mode fiber (MMF) output speckle recognition has been widely used in the fields of optical imaging, endoscope devices, and fiber optic sensor. However, previous studies focused on the single-input transmission mode on a single fiber, which limited the application range of MMF. Meanwhile, the fiber optic sensors based on speckle recognition often lack multiplexing ability. In this paper, multiple lateral sections of plastic optical fiber (POF) are polished, and the images corresponding to 26 letters are coupled into POF form them. When images couple into POF from one lateral polishing section, by analyzing the output speckles based on deep learning technology, the accuracy of speckles recognition with convolution neural network (CNN) reaches over 95% and the structural similarity (SSIM) of reconstructed speckles with U-Net reaches up to 0.96. When two images couple into POF from different lateral polishing sections simultaneously, the output speckle can be reconstructed to the two images respectively, and the average SSIM value for them is 0.95. The experiment proves that the images coupled into fiber through the lateral polishing section of POF can be recognized and reconstructed well by output speckle analysis. This technology can promote the multiplexing ability of the speckles-recognition based fiber sensors or be applied to the field of fiber endoscopes.

All-optical half-adder in a linear three-core fiberdevice.

The half-adder is one of the most useful combinational logic functions for data processing. Many research papers in the literature propose nonlinear all-optical half-adders. Few studies propose linear all-optical devices, and those that do usually employ microstructured 2D photonic crystals. This work presents the numerical acquisition of an all-optical half-adder using a linear three-core fiber device. The device presents high performance and acceptable values of fabrication and modulation tolerance. It can be made using any fiber technology and propagated by pulses of any wavelength. Depending on the type of fiber used, the precision needed to fabricate the device's smallest structures can range from 20nm to 90nm. This result is evidence of the possibility of obtaining nonlinear logical processing using only fiber design.

Research progress in conductive polymer-based electrochromic fabrics

Conductive polymer-based electrochromic fabrics show promising applications in new intelligent displays, flexible smart wearables, and military camouflage, thanks to their flexibility, light weight, high degree of controllability, and wide range of color change. However, despite these advantages, electrochromic textiles that rely on conductive polymers face several limitations, such as discomfort during use, instability in structure, and issues with the continuous production technology of electrochromic fibers. These factors hinder their further development. To address these limitations and promote the industrialization of conductive polymer-based electrochromic fabrics, this paper provides a comprehensive analysis that covers various aspects of electrochromic devices, including device structure, color-change mechanisms, electrochromic materials, application of electrochromic textiles, and the advantages and disadvantages of commonly used conductive polymers in electrochromic fabrics. By exploring these aspects, a better understanding of the structure and performance of conductive polymer-based electrochromic fabrics can be achieved, leading to a more effective promotion of their industrialization. Moreover, progress in the research of conductive polymer-based electrochromic fabrics is systematically reviewed from the structural design perspective, both domestically and internationally. Finally, the challenges that conductive polymer-based electrochromic fabrics currently face are discussed, and their future development trends are presented.

Miniaturized Bloch Surface Wave Platform on a Multicore Fiber

We propose a novel implementation of a miniaturized photonic platform fabricated on a multicore fiber tip, capable of tunable optical functions via coupling to Bloch surface waves (BSWs). A one-dimensional photonic crystal is deposited on the cleaved surface of a fiber tip, allowing the propagation of BSWs in the near-infrared. On top of each core, subwavelength gratings are fabricated to operate as optical couplers between BSWs and the corresponding fiber modes. The ability to control the optical interconnection among different pairs of cores of the multicore fiber via polarization-selective BSW coupling is demonstrated. The resulting compact, tunable, and portable platforms can be fruitfully employed in the vast application domain covered by optical fiber technology including sensing, optical trapping, manipulation, and information processing.

Neanderthal fiber technology innovations and the reduction of the biological cost of having offspring

Many laypeople often consider Neanderthals (400 kya to 40 kya) to be our cognitively inferior forebears. Recent interdisciplinary research, however, has contended that Neanderthals were much smarter than our prejudices allow. Archaeological findings of technologies – like digging sticks and woven cordage – indicate that Neanderthals had the capacity to make tools to aid their life processes. As such, Neanderthals innovated technologies related to weaning in order to reduce its energetic demands. By using research from archaeology, anthropology, and dental morphology concerning Neanderthal weaning, this paper contends that Neanderthals had much greater cognitive abilities than many have previously thought.