Helical Cables Research Articles

The Garber Current Pattern: An Additional Contribution to AC Losses in Helical HTS Cables?

The Garber Current Pattern: An Additional Contribution to AC Losses in Helical HTS Cables?

Efficient finite element modelling of helical strand cables utilising periodicity

This paper proposes a repeated unit cell (RUC) FE modelling strategy for multilayered helical strand cables subject to tensile loading and bending with an initial tensile load. The approach utilises the axial periodicity in helical structures to reduce computational domain to two cable periods. A novel mesh creation method allowing the exact geometry of helical strands to be discretised into solid elements while maintaining flat end surfaces is proposed. Periodic boundary conditions (PBC) allowing for geometric and material nonlinearity are used to implement cyclic loads to study hysteresis in single and multilayered cables. Comparisons made to existing experimental and analytical results validate the models ability to capture hysteresis due to plasticity and geometric effects such as the stick–slip transition in bending. Examination of the cross-sectional stress distribution shows plasticity initiates at contact points at loads which are 25% of the load at which the cable tensile response deviates from linearity.

A novel finite element for nonlinear static and dynamic analyses of helical cables

Cables and wire ropes are structural components designed for high axial strength and relatively low torsion and flexure stiffness. Given the complex geometry of helical cables, analytical models for predicting their mechanical behavior include many assumptions and limitations. Three-dimensional finite elements can be used, but its practical use in Engineering applications with hundreds or thousands of meters long is hampered. On the other hand, beam finite elements do not consider the complexity of the cable construction, leading to wrong results, and therefore they are not an option neither, in general. To circumvent this problem, a new finite element is designed and implemented, aiming to incorporate the behavior of a 3D cable modeled using solid elements into a 1D beam element. The designed element is able to combine the accuracy of solid models with the practical implementation of line elements in nonlinear regime. In comparison with the cable modelled with solid elements, the proposed equivalent element yielded deviations of about 4% in the strain energy, when submitted to a variety of load conditions. High accuracy was also obtained in comparing axial, torsional, and bending stiffness of the equivalent element as function of the cable helix angle. Stiffness coupling terms, however, showed lower accuracy. Regarding the dynamic behavior, modal analysis yielded errors below 10% when comparing natural frequencies. Cable’s response under harmonic loading was also accurately reproduced by the introduced element.

Comparison of two cable configurations in 3D printed steerable instruments for minimally invasive surgery.

In laparoscopy, a small incision size improves the surgical outcome but increases at the same time the rigidity of the instrument, with consequent impairment of the surgeon's maneuverability. Such reduction introduces new challenges, such as the loss of wrist articulation or the impossibility of overcoming obstacles. A possible approach is using multi-steerable cable-driven instruments fully mechanical actuated, which allow great maneuverability while keeping the wound small. In this work, we compared the usability of the two most promising cable configurations in 3D printed multi-steerable instruments: a parallel configuration with all cables running straight from the steerable shaft to the handle; and a multi configuration with straight cables in combination with helical cables. Twelve participants were divided into two groups and asked to orient the instrument shaft and randomly hit six targets following the instructions in a laparoscopic simulator. Each participant carried out four trials (two trials for each instrument) with 12 runs per trial. The average task performance time showed a significant decrease over the first trial for both configurations. The decrease was 48% for the parallel and 41% for the multi configuration. Improvement of task performance times reached a plateau in the second trial with both instruments. The participants filled out a TLX questionnaire after each trial. The questionnaire showed a lower burden score for the parallel compared to multi configuration (23% VS 30%). Even though the task performance time for both configurations was comparable, a final questionnaire showed that 10 out of 12 participants preferred the parallel configuration due to a more intuitive hand movement and the possibility of individually orienting the distal end of the steerable shaft.

Experimental investigation on the noise reduction method of helical cables for a circular cylinder and tandem cylinders

Cylinder noise can be remarkably reduced when the surface is helically wrapped with cables along the cylinder span. In this paper, aeroacoustic and aerodynamic experiments are conducted to reveal the noise reduction mechanism of the helical-cable technique. With the application of helical cables on the single circular cylinder, three-dimensional flow is promoted into the cylinder near wake, leading to the suppression of two-dimensional vortex shedding process and flow fluctuations. Besides, the three-dimensional wake also destroys the in-phase relationship of flow fluctuations along the cylinder span, leading to the reduction of spanwise correlation length and noise radiation efficiency. These two effects together contribute to the cylinder noise reduction. Furthermore, this helical-cable technique is extended to tandem cylinders and the results show that it can also reduce the tandem cylinder noise effectively. Especially for the moderate and large spacing tandem cylinder configurations, the key of the noise reduction is the control on the upstream cylinder.

Re-Vitalization and Upgrade of the Svelvik CO2 Field Laboratory in Norway

A small-scale CO2 field laboratory was established in 2010 at Svelvik, Norway, by the SINTEF-coordinated CO2FieldLab project. The original intention of the laboratory was to perform monitoring studies of CO2 migration. The CO2FieldLab project revealed, however, that the test site is better suited for research on monitoring of CO2 storage. Since 2017, SINTEF is working on upgrading the field lab with additional monitoring wells, instrumentation for cross-well DAS (straight and helical cables) and ERT measurements, and trenched DAS cables for surface monitoring. The upgrade of the lab will be completed in spring 2019, and several new research projects have plans for experiments. The first new experimental campaign will be conducted during 2019 within the Pre-ACT project with the objective to produce field data and develop methods for quantification and discrimination of pressure and saturation changes in the subsurface, caused by CO2 injection.

Effect of helical cables on cylinder noise control

This paper presents a parametric study on the far-field noise control effect of a circular cylinder with helical cables wrapping along cylinder span, aiming at finding an optimal operation condition for this treatment. Experimental results reveal that the noise control efficiency of this treatment is highly dependent on the non-dimensional thread pitch and cable density. The noise control efficiency gradually increases with the non-dimensional thread pitch and cable density increasing when both values are smaller than critical values. Further increasing the values of the two parameters, the control efficiency cannot increase any more. By choosing the optimal parameters of helical cables, both tonal and broadband noise can be remarkably suppressed, and the overall sound pressure level can be reduced by as large as 17dB.

Numerical investigation of leaky modes in helical structural waveguides embedded into a solid medium

Helical multi-wire cables are widely used in bridges (suspended or prestressed) and anchored retaining wall constructions. Such structures can be damaged or degraded due to corrosion and fatigue. Non destructive evaluation techniques are required to reveal defects inside cable structures. Among these numerous techniques, elastic guided waves are of potential interest owing to their ability to propagate over long distances. However in civil engineering, cables are often buried or grouted in large solid media that can be considered as unbounded. Waves can strongly attenuate along the guide axis due to the energy leakage into the surrounding medium, which reduces the propagating distance. This energy leakage can be enhanced in helical structures, which further complicates their inspection. Searching modes with low attenuation becomes necessary. The goal of this work is to propose a numerical approach to compute modes in embedded helical structures, combining the so-called semi analytical finite element method and a radial perfectly matched layer technique. Two types of radial perfectly matched layer, centered and off-centered, are considered. Both are implemented in a twisting coordinate system which preserves translational invariance. The centered configuration is validated thanks to the twisted cylinder test case. The effect of twist on the eigenspectrum is briefly discussed. Then, an embedded helical wire of circular cross-section is considered. The off-centered configuration is shown to give the same results as the centered one. The effect of twist on modal attenuation is investigated. Finally, computations are performed for a seven-wire strand embedded into concrete, widely used in civil engineering cables.

Synthesis and hierarchical superstructures of side‐chain liquid crystal polyacetylenes containing galactopyranoside end‐groups

AbstractThree kinds of chiral saccharide‐containing liquid crystalline (LC) acetylenic monomers were prepared by click reaction between 2‐azidoethyl‐2,3,4,6‐tetraacetyl‐β‐D‐galactopyranoside and 1‐biphenylacetylene 4‐alkynyloxybenzoate. The obtained monomers were polymerized by WCl6‐Ph4Sn to form three side‐chain LC polyacetylenes containing 1‐[2‐(2,3,4,6‐tetraacetyl‐β‐D‐galactopyranos‐1‐yl)‐ethyl]‐1H‐[1,2,3]‐triazol‐4′‐biphenyl 4‐alkynyloxybenzoate side groups. All monomers and polymers show a chiral smectic A phase. Self‐assembled hiearchical superstructures of the chiral saccharide‐containing LCs and LCPs in solution state were studied by field‐emission scanning electron microscopy. Because of the LC behavior, the LC molecules exhibit a high segregation strength for phase separation in dilute solution (THF/H2O = 1:9 v/v). The self‐assembled morphology of LC monomers was dependent upon the alkynyloxy chain length. Increasing the alkynyloxy chain length caused the self‐assembled morphology to change from a platelet‐like texture (LC‐6) to helical twists morphology (LC‐11 and LC‐12). Furthermore, the helical twist morphological structure can be aligned on the polyimide rubbed glass substrate to form two‐dimensional ordered helical patterns. In contrast to LC monomers, the LCP‐11 self‐assembled into much more complicate morphologies, including nanospheres and helical nanofibers. These nanofibers are evolved from the helical cables ornamented with entwining nanofibers upon natural evaporation of the solution in a mixture with a THF/methanol ratio of 3:7. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 6596–6611, 2009

Imaging peptidoglycan biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis with fluorescent antibiotics

The peptidoglycan (PG) layers surrounding bacterial cells play an important role in determining cell shape. The machinery controlling when and where new PG is made is not understood, but is proposed to involve interactions between bacterial actin homologs such as Mbl, which forms helical cables within cells, and extracellular multiprotein complexes that include penicillin-binding proteins. It has been suggested that labeled antibiotics that bind to PG precursors may be useful for imaging PG to help determine the genes that control the biosynthesis of this polymer. Here, we compare the staining patterns observed in Bacillus subtilis using fluorescent derivatives of two PG-binding antibiotics, vancomycin and ramoplanin. The staining patterns for both probes exhibit a strong dependence on probe concentration, suggesting antibiotic-induced perturbations in PG synthesis. Ramoplanin probes may be better imaging agents than vancomycin probes because they yield clear staining patterns at concentrations well below their minimum inhibitory concentrations. Under some conditions, both ramoplanin and vancomycin probes produce helicoid staining patterns along the cylindrical walls of B. subtilis cells. This sidewall staining is observed in the absence of the cytoskeletal protein Mbl. Although Mbl plays an important role in cell shape determination, our data indicate that other proteins control the spatial localization of the biosynthetic complexes responsible for new PG synthesis along the walls of B. subtilis cells.

Control of Scour at Vertical Circular Piles under Waves and Current

An experimental study on the control of scour at vertical circular piles under monochromatic waves and a steady current is presented. The experiments on wave and steady currents were carried out under live-bed and clear-water regimes, respectively. In waves, splitter plate attached to the pile along the vertical plane of symmetry and threaded pile (helical wires or cables wrapped spirally on the pile to form threads) were found to be effective to reduce the scour depth. For the Keulegan-Carpenter numbers 6-100, the vortex shedding is the main mechanism of scour under waves. The splitter plate and threaded pile disrupt the vortex shedding. The average reduction of the scour depth by the splitter plate was 61.6%. For threaded piles, different combinations of cable and pile sizes were tested, and the best combination was found for a cable-pile diameter ratio equaling 0.75, in which average scour depth reduction was 51.1%. The average reductions of scour depths for other cable-pile diameter ratios of 0.33 and 0.5 were 43.2 and 48.1%, respectively. On the other hand, in a steady current, the threaded pile proved to be effective to control scour depth to a great extent. Cables wrapped spirally forming threads on the pile help to weaken the downflow and horseshoe vortex, which are the principal agents of scour under a steady current. The experimental results showed that the scour depth consistently decreases with an increase in cable diameter and the number of threads, and with a decrease in thread angle. The maximum reduction of scour depth observed was 46.3% by using a triple threaded pile having a thread angle of 15° and a cable-pile diameter ratio of 0.1. The proposed methods of controlling scour are easy to install and are economical.

The cell-shape protein MreC interacts with extracytoplasmic proteins including cell wall assembly complexes in Caulobacter crescentus

The bacterial actin homolog, MreB, forms helical cables within the cell that are required for maintenance of a rod shape. These helical structures are thought to be involved in the spatial organization of cell wall (peptidoglycan) synthesizing complexes of penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs). Here, we examined the role of the MreC cell shape protein in this process in Caulobacter crescentus. Subcellular fractionation experiments showed that MreC is a periplasmic protein and, as assayed by immunofluorescence microscopy, adopted helical or banded patterns along the cell length reminiscent of those formed by MreB and PBP2. The pattern of MreC and PBP2 localization remained when MreB cables were disrupted by treatment with the inhibitor A22. However, long-term absence of MreB led to cell shape changes and an eventual loss of MreC localization, suggesting that an independent structure, perhaps an intact peptidoglycan layer, contributes to the MreC localization pattern. Using affinity chromatography with MreC covalently bound to Sepharose, we isolated several PBPs from cell extracts that eluted from the column as heterogeneous complexes. In this same experiment, using mass spectrometry-based protein identification, we identified several outer membrane proteins, including TonB-dependent receptor transport proteins, that interacted with MreC. Imaging live cells containing fusions of these outer membrane proteins to green fluorescent protein showed that they adopted a subcellular localization pattern that was similar to that of MreC. These results suggest that MreC may function in the spatial organization of PBPs as well as other proteins that lie outside the cytoplasmic membrane.

Roles for MreC and MreD proteins in helical growth of the cylindrical cell wall in Bacillus subtilis

Actin homologues of the MreB family have an important role in specifying the morphology of many non-spherical eubacteria. The mreC and mreD genes have been implicated in control of cell morphology but their precise functions are unknown. In Bacillus subtilis the MreB homologue Mbl directs helical insertion of new cell wall material in the cylindrical part of the rod-shaped cell. Depletion of either MreC or MreD abolishes the control of cell shape. In the presence of high concentrations of magnesium cells depleted of MreC or MreD can be propagated indefinitely, although they have a spheroidal shape. We show that growth of the spheroidal mutants is based on insertion of new wall material at cell division sites and that this localized growth is dependent on cell division. Under some conditions the MreC and MreD proteins localize in a helical configuration. This localization pattern resembles that of the helical cables of Mbl protein. These results suggest that MreC and MreD act in a morphogenic pathway that couples the helical cytosolic Mbl cables to the extracellular cell wall synthetic machinery, which is critical for cylindrical elongation of the rod-shaped cells.

Two billion years of actin. Meeting on cytoskeletal dynamics: from cell biology to developmental disease.

This meeting began with personal retrospective presentations from two of the founding fathers of European cytoskeletal research—V. Small (Vienna, Austria) and U. Lindberg (Stockholm, Sweden)—to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the first definitive publication to establish the existence of an actin cytoskeleton in non‐muscle cells (Lazarides & Weber, 1974). ### Ancient cytoskeletons Whereas other meetings often feature an occasional talk on the prokaryotic cytoskeleton, this meeting devoted a whole session to several aspects of our present knowledge of these ancient systems. This was well received and served as a useful reminder that the cytoskeleton is not just the domain of eukaryotic cell biologists. J. Errington (Oxford, UK) introduced the topic of the bacterial cytoskeleton and reviewed earlier studies that showed the filamentous nature of the ancient bacterial actin proteins MreB and Mbl (MreB‐like). As he pointed out, although we have known about actin filaments for 30 years, they have almost certainly existed for more than two billion years. Many early studies on bacterial cell shape indicated that the cell wall alone conveyed the information that was required for morphology. However, the finding that some of the genes that had been identified in mutational cell‐shape screens encoded protein products that resided in the cytosol meant that this idea had to be revisited. Errington and colleagues are now investigating the functions of the Mbl protein, which is one of three MreB homologues in Bacillus subtilis . They have used fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), which is a technically demanding technique in an organism as small as a bacterium, to show that the helical Mbl cables are dynamic structures in vivo (Fig 1). The kinetics of recovery indicate that this is achieved through turnover from unbleached parts of the cell. These studies also imply that the organization of the cables is not likely to be …

The Bacterial Cytoskeleton: In Vivo Dynamics of the Actin-like Protein Mbl of Bacillus subtilis

Mbl is a bacterial actin homolog that controls cell morphogenesis in Bacillus subtilis. A functional GFP-Mbl fusion protein was used to examine the behavior of the helical cables formed by Mbl protein in live B. subtilis cells. The cables undergo dynamic changes during cell cycle progression. They are stable but not rigid while elongating in parallel with cell growth, and they require septum formation to divide/cleave. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) analysis showed that the cables are continuously remodeled during cell elongation. Turnover occurs along the length of the helical Mbl filaments, with no obvious polarity and a recovery half-time of about 8 min. These findings have important implications for the nature of bacterial cell wall architecture and synthesis.

Critical examination of various approaches used for analysing helical cables

Using theoretical parametric studies covering a wide range of cable (and wire) diameters and lay angles, the range of validity of various approaches used for analysing helical cables are critically examined. Numerical results strongly suggest that for multi-layered steel strands with small wire/cable diameter ratios, the bending and torsional stiffnesses of the individual wires may safely be ignored when calculating the 2 × 2 matrix for strand axial/torsional stiffnesses. However, such bending and torsional wire stiffnesses are shown to be first order parameters in analysing the overall axial and torsional stiffnesses of, say, seven wire stands, especially under free-fixed end conditions with respect to torsional movements. Interwire contact deformations are shown to be of great importance in evaluating the axial and torsional stiffnesses of large diameter multi-layered steel strands. Their importance diminishes as the number of wires associated with smaller diameter cables decreases. Using a modified version of a previously reported theoretical model for analysing multilayered instrumentation cables, the importance of allowing for the influence of contact deformations in compliant layers on cable overall characteristics such as axial or torsional stiffnesses is demonstrated by theoretical numerical results. In particular, non-Hertzian contact formulations are used to obtain the interlayer compliances in instrumentation cables in preference to a previously reported model employing Hertzian theory with its associated limitations.

Modeling Procedures for the Stress Analysis of Flexible Pipe Cross Sections

Thick tube theory is incorporated into an existing analytical model for the three-dimensional analysis of bonded flexible pipe cross sections under offshore loading conditions. The original model considers material layers as isotropic/orthotopic thin tubes, and layers of helically wound reinforcing cables are modeled separately. The improvement in the results obtained with the incorporation of the new thick tube layer is demonstrated for a flexible pipe with D/t = 10. The finite element technique has also been used to model this type of pipe structure. Pipe sections are discretized using axisymmetric elements for the tube-type layers and special discrete reinforcement elements for the helical cables. A particular example of a three-layer doubly reinforced pipe section under internal pressure is studied. Good agreement is found between analytical model and finite element results for all the main deformation and stress quantities including cable stresses.

Formation and structure of 1-, 3- and 6+1-stranded helical cables of glutamine synthetase

Addition of millimolar concentrations of Co 2+ to Escherichia coli glutamine synthetase induces aggregation along the 6-fold symmetry axes of the protein molecules, forming long strands. The strands subsequently aggregate laterally to form two types of helical cables, a large cable with six outer strands wrapped around a central strand (6+1-stranded cables) and a smaller cable in which three strands wrap around one another. Similar but less extensive aggregation is induced by other divalent metal cations: Cu 2+, Ni 2+ and Zn 2+. The aggregates exhibit little enzymatic activity, and aggregation is completely reversible upon removal of Co 2+ in the presence of millimolar Mn 2+, including regeneration of nearly full enzyme activity. Each type of helical cable exists in a variety of related forms, which vary in their helical pitch: 6+1-stranded cables have 6-fold axial symmetry, and different specimens are observed with helical pitches from 320 to 540 nm; 3-stranded cables apparently do not have 3-fold axial symmetry and have pitches from 140 to 270 nm. The large variation in pitch for glutamine synthetase helical cables implies either a variation of the regions of intermolecular contacts of approximately 4–10 Å, or a movement of the bonding domains relative to the rest of the molecule by a similar amount.

The variation of intermolecular contacts in helical aggregates of glutamine synthetase

Glutamine synthetase from E. coli is a large (MW 600,000) oligomeric enzyme composed of twelve identical polypeptide chains of MW 50,000. These twelve subunits are arranged at the vertices of two eclipsed hexagons to produce a structure with symmetry 622 or D6 as shown by electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The dodecameric molecule has a hexagonal profile of approximately 140 Å diameter and a thickness of approximately 90 Å. When treated with divalent cations such as Co++, Zn++, Ni++ or Cu++, glutamine synthetase molecules aggregate along their six-fold axes to form long strands and these strands will often wrap around one another to form cables (Fig. 1). The aggregation is completely reversed by the addition of excess Mn++ resulting in regeneration of full enzymatic activjjy. The most regular helical aggregates are formed in the presence of 10 mM Co++ at pH 7.0, and we have used these helical cables to study the three dimensional structure and symmetry of the glutamine synthetase molecule and the types of protein-protein interactions involved in the formation of glutamine synthetase cables.

Glutamine synthetase forms three- and seven-stranded helical cables.

When cobaltous ion is bound to glutamine synthetase [L-glutamate:ammonia ligase (ADP-forming), EC 6.3.1.2], the two-layered hexagonal molecules polymerize face-to-face, to form long strands. The strands then wind round each other to form three- and seven-stranded cables. The structures of these cables are not immediately evident from electron micrographs because of the confusing superposition of front and back portions of the cables. But optical diffraction and filtering by the procedure of Klug and DeRosier leads to interpretable images of the cables. Because a micrograph of the seven-stranded cable contains 24 views of the glutamine synthetase molecule, it is possible to reconstruct the three-dimensional electron density of a cable and its constituent molecules at a resolution of 30--50 A. This reconstruction confirms that the symmetry of a glutamine synthetase molecule is D6. It suggests that the single subunit is an oblate ellipsoid with its minor axis (about 48 A) roughly parallel to the 6-fold axis of the molecule and its major axis (about 63 A) perpendicular to the 6-fold axis of the molecule. The subunits of the two hexagonal layers of a molecule are eclipsed. Neighboring molecules along a strand also have their hexagonal faces together, but they are rotated about the strand axis by about 7 degrees with respect to one another, rather than being eclipsed. Six outer strands are coiled about a straight central strand, and each forms identical contacts with the central strand. Moreover, these contacts between central and outer strands are apparently similar to the contacts between neighboring outer strands.