Inclination Research Articles

Analysis of dust deposition law at the micro level and its impact on the annual performance of photovoltaic modules

Solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation is a promising clean energy technology, but dust affects its performance. This study, conducted in nine Chinese cities with varying climates and geographies, analyzed the physicochemical properties of dust and its deposition patterns at different inclination angles using microanalysis. Inclination angles were classified into three categories, and a dust density prediction (DDP) model was developed for each. The study also quantified the effect of different dust densities on PV module temperature in a controlled environment and created a PV module output power prediction (POPP) model to assess dust accumulation impacts on PV efficiency. It was found that dust insulation could increase PV module output power by 1.64 %–1.79 % at dust densities of 5–10 g/m2 and radiation levels of 400–800 W/m2. Combining the DDP and POPP models, a PV efficiency loss rate model was proposed to evaluate annual average PV efficiency and power generation losses at different tilting angles. Results showed an annual average PV efficiency loss of over 7 % at a 15° inclination angle and about 4.5 % at a 90° inclination angle. This study provides a framework for evaluating PV module mounting angles and cleaning intervals, optimizing solar energy systems for improved efficiency and returns.

Visualization study of condensate coverage characteristics on aerosol-deposited walls with different inclination angles

The radioactive aerosols deposited wash-down by condensate on walls in containment is one of the pathways for radioactive migration. Condensate film coverage is critical to the transport properties of aerosol particles during wash-down. In this paper, an experimental study was carried out to visualize the processes of condensation and aerosol wash-down on an aerosol-containing wall. The evolutionary pattern of condensate was observed in the experiment. Variations in condensate coverage on walls with different inclination angles of 0°, 0.4°, 2°, 30°, and 90° were noted. The effect of coverage on aerosol removal efficiency was also analyzed based on the results. Experimental results show that wall coverage on horizontal (0°) or quasi-horizontal walls (0.4°) is close to 100 %. For inclined or vertical walls, under the influence of thermal capillary forces, rivulets are the main forms of condensate coverage, with the maximum area that can be covered by rivulets being about 2/3 of the wall area. The experimental results show that the removal efficiency of aerosol during washing will be higher than the coverage rate of condensate. In the experiments, both condensation rate and aerosol loading tended to promote the spreading of condensate.

Modeling Medium-Term Debris Cloud of Satellite Breakup via Probabilistic Method

Accurately modeling the evolution of debris clouds from satellite breakups is necessary for assessing the collision risk to space assets. Generally, the evolution of debris clouds can be divided into short-, medium-, and long-term phases. Compared to the short- and long-term phases, the study on the medium-term phase was insufficient. This paper proposes a probabilistic method to model the medium-term evolution of a debris cloud. First, a satellite breakup event can be characterized by a probabilistic density distribution of the initial velocity vectors of all fragments. Then, the distribution in the initial velocity can be transformed to that in three classic orbital elements, i.e., semimajor axis, eccentricity, and inclination. Given that the driving force of medium-term evolution is the J2 perturbation and that J2 has no secular contribution to these three classic orbital elements, the distribution of classic orbital elements remains stationary during the evolution. This feature can be exploited to express the probabilistic density distribution of any given target position in terms of the density distribution of the classic orbital elements by changing variables. Finally, 16 one-variable equations with analytical first derivatives were formulated to find the proper inverse mapping from the given position to the classic orbital elements, and the Jacobian matrix of the inverse mapping was derived. Medium-term debris clouds resulting from two typical breakup velocity distributions were tested using the proposed method. Results show that the proposed method can accurately simulate the evolution of the clouds’ geometrical extent and density flow.

Structure Evolution of 2D Covalent Organic Frameworks Unveiled by Single-Crystal X-ray Diffraction.

We report 9 crystal structures of a two-dimensional (2D) covalent organic framework (COF), including the parent Py-1P, 5 derivatives formed by chemical reactions, and 3 dynamic states by solvent exchange/loss. Structure details of these porous crystals, including stacking mode, interlayer distance, pore aperture, and incline angle, before, during, and after conversion processes in solution, were unveiled by single-crystal X-ray diffraction with resolutions up to 0.85 Å. The structure evolution is triggered by stepwise conformational transformation of the molecular building blocks in 2D COF, while their long-range ordering remained unsacrificed.

Precise pose control of shaft boring machine considering the characteristic of stratum

The shaft boring machine (SBM) is innovatively applied to shaft engineering with depth and large diameter for the advantages of efficiency, adaptability, and safety. The manual and rough pose control of SBM blocks the improvement of engineering quality and efficiency. This article presents a precise pose control method for SBM considering the characteristics of strata. The kinematic model of SBM and the mechanical-hydraulic-rock coupled dynamic model of grippers actuator are established considering the characteristics of different surrounding rock, respectively. A test rig is established to validate these models. The stratum-adapted double-layer controller is designed for the pose control from the practical aspects, including the deviation and inclination of the SBM center. The upper layer devotes to the kinematic planning between pose and displacement of grippers. The linear active disturbance rejection control (LADRC) method is used to control each gripper in the lower layer. The compensation control strategy is proposed to improve the reliability of the system under the different strata conditions. The stratum-adapted property is validated with the simulation of different surrounding rock characteristics. The control test under hard rock condition is performed with the test rig. The results indicate that the displacement control error of the single gripper cylinder is less than 1.8%, and the corresponding control error of deviation and inclination angle of the SBM center is less than 2.1% and 2.3% respectively. The proposed method can cover the precise pose control under different strata conditions, and it can be applied in the shaft infrastructure construction practically.

Enhancing Natural Convection Heat Transfer Through Dome-Shaped Nanofluid Enclosures: Two-Phase Simulation Analysis

This study utilizes numerical analysis to investigate laminar flow and natural convective heat transfer of nanofluids (NFs) within dome-shaped enclosures (DSEs). The horizontal walls of the enclosure are adiabatic, while the vertical walls on the right and left are maintained at isothermal conditions with low and high temperatures, respectively. The study focuses on examining the impact of DSEs on flow patterns and natural convection (N.C.) under varying parameters, including Rayleigh numbers (Ra), Lewis numbers (Le), enclosure inclination angles, dome angles, and buoyancy ratio number (Nr). The Prandtl number (Pr) and nanoparticle volume fraction are consistently maintained at 10 and 0.05, respectively. The governing equations have been resolved by applying the Eulerian–Eulerian two-phase model. The study reveals that the DSE significantly influences flow dynamics, leading to smoother circulation patterns that intensify convection currents. This movement of hot fluid toward cooler regions within the enclosure enhances natural convective heat transfer. Across all enclosure inclination angles, the average Nusselt number (Nu) increases with higher Ra, while the Le remains constant at 4. Significantly, due to its robust convective currents, the average Nu in the DSE with a 45° dome angle surpasses those of corresponding square and rectangular enclosures.

Performance Optimization and Simulation Test of No-Tillage Corn Precision Planter Based on Discrete Element Method (DEM)

In order to test the influence of the structural design of a no-tillage corn precision planter on vibration stability performance, a vibration model was constructed with the help of MATLAB/Simulink, and it was concluded that the vibration response curve of the no-tillage corn precision planter was relatively smooth. Based on the theory of the discrete element method (DEM), taking the planting apparatus of the no-tillage corn precision planter as the research object, firstly, a DEM single-factor test was carried out to investigate the effects of the slot inclination angle, number of slots, and rotational speed of the planter plate on the disturbance performance. Then, a three-factor, three-level orthogonal test was conducted with the maximum amount of seed discharging, the minimum average speed, and the minimum average kinetic energy as the final optimization objectives, and the qualified rate of seed discharging and the leakage rate as the evaluation indexes. The results show that the larger the inclination angle, the higher the number of slots, and the faster the rotational speed, the more violent the particle disturbance. At the same time, when the slot inclination angle of the planter plate is 60°, the number of slots is 20, and the rotational speed is 55 rpm, the seed discharge efficiency is the highest, at this time, the seed discharge qualification rate of maize particles is 95%, and the leakage rate is 3%; the results of this test can provide technical support for the research of the same kind of precision sowing equipment in the future.

Influence of design parameters on natural convection heat transfer in additively manufactured body centered cubic lattice structures

The natural convection heat transfer mechanism of the body centered cubic (BCC) lattice structure needs to be clarified for its application in passive cooling thermal management. The BCC lattice heat sinks with various design parameters, such as strut diameter and unit cell length, were fabricated using the laser powder bed fusion process. Subsequently, the thermal performance was experimentally determined for variations in design parameters. The thermal performance tended to be maximized when the relative density of the lattice heat sink constituted approximately 10 %. The numerical analysis was performed to figure out the heat transfer mechanism and investigate the effects of inclination angles. According to numerical results, a lattice heat sink with a smaller strut diameter at the given unit cell length entrains more air than one with a larger strut diameter. However, decreasing strut diameter led to a negative impact on conduction and radiation heat transfer due to the reduction in solid region and surface area. Depending on the inclination angle, thermal performance of a lattice heat sink proportionally decreases. The main cause of performance degradation was the hindrance of plume motion by the base of the heat sink.

The Evolution of Flow Structures and Coolant Coverage in Double-Row Film Cooling with Upstream Forward Jets and Downstream Backward Jets

The spatiotemporal evolution of the flow structures and coolant coverage of double-row film cooling with upstream forward jets and downstream backward jets, having a significant impact on film-cooling performance, is studied using the simplified thermal lattice Boltzmann method (STLBM). Moreover, the effect of the inclination angle of downstream backward jets is considered. The high-performance simulations of film cooling have been conducted by using our verified in-house solver. Results show that special flow structures, such as a sand dune-shaped protrusion, appear in double-row film cooling with upstream forward jets and downstream backward jets, which is mainly because of the blockage effect resulting from the coolant jet with backward injection. The interaction among structures results in the generation of an anti-counterrotating vortex pair (anti-CVP). The anti-CVP with the downwash motion can result in the attachment of coolant to the bottom wall, which promotes the stability and lateral coverage of coolant film. The momentum and heat transport are strengthened as the backward jet is injected into the boundary layer of the mainstream. Although the downstream evolution of the backward jet is not very smooth, its core attaches closely to the bottom wall due to the downwash motion of anti-CVP. Moreover, there is an obvious backflow zone shown in the trailing edge of the downstream backward jet with a large inclination angle. The obvious backflow makes the coolant attach to the bottom wall well. Therefore, the film cooling effectiveness is improved as the inclination angle of the downstream backward jet varies from αdown=135° to αdown=155°, with a constant blowing ratio of BR=0.5. In addition, the fluctuation of the bottom wall’s temperature is weak due to the stable coverage of the coolant layer under αdown=155°. The film-cooling performance with an inclination angle of αdown=155° is the best among all the cases studied in this work. This work provides essential insights into film cooling with backward coolant injection and contributes to obtaining a complete understanding of film cooling with backward coolant injection.

Dynamic fracture mechanism from a pre-existing flaw in granite: Insights from grain-based modelling

Both heterogeneity and pre-existing flaws are closely associated with the mechanical response of crystalline granite. To uncover the underlying mechanism, grain-based model (GBM) based on particle flow code (PFC), i.e., PFC-GBM, with different contacts between any two grains, was employed to carry out numerical calculations to investigate the effect of a single flaw with various inclination angles on the dynamic behavior of LdB granite. The failure pattern is identified through density and spatial distributions of microcracks, and the primary fracture directions are obtained by microcrack orientations. Microcracks are divided into inter-Grain and intra-Grain types, and these two types are further classified into more subtypes according to mineral composition. IG cracks typically form during the pre-peak stage and tend to emerge earlier than TG cracks. Conversely, TG cracks are predominantly created during the post-peak stage but constitute a significant proportion irrespective of flaw inclination angle. A novel method is also proposed to acquire high-stress particles, which promote the identification of dominant macrocrack paths. Finally, the effect of particle size is also systemically analyzed.

Warren truss inspired hierarchical beams for three dimensional hierarchical truss lattice materials

Networks of beams are a subject of increasing interest to create architected materials with exceptional mechanical properties and low density. This paper investigates the mechanical properties of one dimensional (1D) hierarchical beams for the development of three dimensional (3D) truss lattice materials. These 1D hierarchical beams are constructed in two configurations by placing axial and inclined struts in single and double laced Warren truss patterns in each side of a beam with polygon cross section. Analytical and numerical analyses have been used to characterize their mechanical properties, including the elastic modulus, second moment of area, and shear stiffness of hierarchical beams drawn from a broad design space. Also, the failure limits of the beams with respect to parent material failure and various buckling modes are probed. Finally, the hierarchical beams have been implemented as the constituent members of Kelvin and octet lattices, and the elastic modulus and failure boundaries of the second-order hierarchical lattices are evaluated. The investigation reveals the competition between the elastic properties in the individual hierarchical beams based on different combinations of the design variables. The stiffness of the designs under compression and bending is found to be a function of the axial member size and cross sectional shape of the hierarchical beam. On the other hand, the shear stiffness of hierarchical beam designs is a function of the inclined member size and their inclination angle. It is demonstrated that incorporating hierarchy in the Kelvin and octet truss lattices can enhance the load bearing capacity of designs at low relative densities when compared to their hollow counterparts. Also, it is shown that second-order hierarchical stretching and bending-dominated lattices incorporating first-order hierarchical beams, can not only achieve but also surpass the strength and stiffness scaling relations established for first-order lattices. This becomes particularly noteworthy when considering bending-dominated lattices, as the hierarchy can drive their stiffness toward the boundaries, enabling them to outperform their equivalent stretching-dominated rivals.

Оценка нагрузок приводов рабочего оборудования карьерного экскаватора (часть 1)

One of the major tasks in carrying out open-pit mining operations is timely and high quality maintenance and repair of mining equipment, in particular, mechanical shovels, which secures a required availability level. The most loaded are the lift and pressure drives of the shovel's working attachments, which significantly increases the risk of failure of their components. An adequate assessment of the loads acting on these drives through analyzing the changes in currents and voltages of their motors makes it possible to adjust the time between maintenance. In the course of the study, the representative points of the following three lumped working processes were obtained within the working cycle of 26.75 s: excavating; platform rotation with simultaneous movement of the shovel from the upper point of the path to the unloading point; reverse movement of the platform rotation mechanism with the returning and its positioning of the working attachment to the initial position. Changes in forces acting on the ropes of the lifting winch of the shovel were determined based on the evaluation of the obtained layout of the working attachment positions for the EKG-18R mechanical shovel and taking into account the driving and motion resistance forces within the working cycle. Analysis of the obtained force values acting on the ropes of the lifting winch at the three linear excavation paths with the inclination angles of 60, 70 and 80° has shown that the lowest forces in the lifting winch rope occur at the closest path with the angle of 60°. The received data will allow not only to select a rational path and the angle of bench mining, but also to adjust the time between maintenance according to the actual operating time of the lifting, pressure and movement drives.

Study on mechanical behavior of inclined cemented tailings composite backfill (CTCB) under uniaxial compression

The goaf volume in the vacancy method of hard rock mines is significantly larger than the filling capacity, forming layered and inclined planes during the large-scale filling process. This results in unclear mechanical impact mechanisms on the backfill. To investigate the effect of interface inclination angle on the mechanical behavior of backfill, a set of cemented tailings composite backfill (CTCB) samples with interface inclination angles of 15°, 30°, and 45° are prepared. Uniaxial compression tests and digital image correlation techniques are used to investigate the influence of various interface inclination angles on the strength, deformation behavior, and failure mode of the CTCB. The results show that: (1) The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of the CTCB weakens with increasing interface inclination angle but consistently shows exponential growth with curing age (CA) regardless of the interface inclination angle. (2) The interface inclination angle controls the behavior and classification characteristics of the stress-strain curve of CTCB samples, and the increase of interface inclination angle weakens the elastic modulus. (3) The interface inclination angle significantly influences the failure mode and classification characteristics of the samples compared to CA and tailing-to-cement ratio (TCR), with shear slip failure induced by the former and axial splitting failure induced by the latter. The research provides a theoretical basis for understanding the mechanical behavior and stability control of inclined CTCB in underground mining.

Numerical analysis on hydrodynamic performance and wake recovery of helical-bladed hydrokinetic turbine: Impact of section inclination angle

In the context of exploiting renewable sources, cross-flow helical hydrokinetic turbine is conceded as one of the promising choices to unlock the potential in free-flowing water bodies. This study examines the impact of blade section inclination angle (−10° to +8°) and operational parameters, namely, tip speed ratio (0.6–1.4) and inflow velocity (1.0–2.5 m/s) on the performance as well as wake recovery of a 4-bladed rotor. The coefficients of power and section-averaged mean streamwise velocity deficit values are computed by solving the unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations coupled with k-ε RNG turbulence model using numerical simulations to assess the performance and velocity recovery, respectively. The power coefficients are seen to be improved with an increase in negative section inclination angle and are found optimum in the range from −6° to −10° at a tip speed ratio of 1.0. The simulation results also reveal that the section inclination angle and tip speed ratio parameters significantly influence the velocity recovery. Furthermore, the performance decreases as the inflow velocity increases; however, the wake recovery is unaffected, with an identical wake length of 13 times the rotor diameter along the streamwise direction at a tip speed ratio of 1.0.

CHF enhancements of flame-sprayed porous coatings on the outer surface of reactor pressure vessel bottom head

Considering the urgent need for enhancing critical heat flux (CHF) on the outer surface of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) by in-vessel retention (IVR) on Generation III pressurized water reactors (PWRs), we prepare a porous coating of 316 L stainless steel on the surface of SA508 Grade 3 (SA508–3) steel by flame spraying in this study. Using a small-scale pool boiling experimental setup, we first investigate boiling heat transfer characteristics on bare surfaces and flame-sprayed porous coating surfaces of SA508–3 steel in deionized water at atmospheric pressure, and obtain pool boiling curves and CHFs at different inclination angles. Furthermore, we carry out the IVR engineering verification tests for a full-height RPV bottom head on the REPEC-II test facility built at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Our experimental results demonstrate that the flame-sprayed porous coatings can significantly enhance the CHF by 21–50 % at different inclination angles of the RPV bottom head. Our full-height facility tests demonstrate that the CHF in the high-inclination angle region, which normally has very high heat flux due to the focusing effect, exceeds 2 MW/m2 on the flame-sprayed porous coating surface. Therefore, our flame-sprayed porous coating has the potential to improve the safety margin of RPV.

Parameter Design and Optimization of Grass Aerial Seeding Tower Based Computational Fluid Dynamics

Unstable airflow driven by natural wind forces inside a grass aerial seeding tower is a technical problem that needs to be improved. The authors used FLUENT 2020 R2 to simulate a basic nozzle unit, which is the fundamental component of a grass aerial seeding tower. The interior flow characteristics of the tower were first analyzed. Then, an optimization was undertaken to enhance the internal airflow’s uniform stability, taking the cross-sectional inclination angle as the design parameter. The coefficient of variation, uniformity index, and velocity direction index were considered as constraints. The simulation results indicate that, subsequent to traversing the Laval nozzle unit, the grass seeds undergo a considerable acceleration. At an inclination angle of 15°, while ensuring the attainment of desired exit velocities, a commendable balance of uniformity and directional consistency was achieved.

Evaluation of the effect of vascularized fibula graft harvesting on coronal plane alignment and functional outcomes of the lower limb

Recent studies on fibular osteotomy for varus gonarthrosis and possible subsequent biomechanical changes have attracted increasing attention to the topic. Existing studies have focused mainly on proximal fibular osteotomy with short follow-up periods. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in the alignment of the coronal plane of the ankle and knee joints in patients who underwent vascularized fibula graft harvest (VFGH). The evaluation was based on functional outcomes and radiological measurements.In the comparison between the VFGH side and the contralateral side, no significant differences in the knee inclination (KI) or talar inclination (TI) angle, knee medial clear space (K-MCS) or ankle medial clear space (A-MCS) distance were noted. However, a significant difference in the hip knee (HKA) angle was observed between the operated and nonoperated sides (0.3° ± 1.8° and 1.5° ± 1.9°, respectively [p = 0.019]). Statistically significant differences in both the knee society score (KSS) and the AOFAS scores were found between the ipsilateral donor limb and the contralateral healthy limb. Although the contralateral healthy side had better clinical scores than the VFGH side, the outcomes of the VFGH side were still satisfactory or excellent.

Experimental studies on bond behaviour of steel rebar with different rib patterns in concrete

The bond between concrete and steel rebar is one of the most crucial parameters in the construction of reinforced concrete structures. The load-bearing capacity and serviceability of these structures depend heavily on bond strength. The rib pattern of the rebar plays a significant role in enhancing bond behaviour. The impact of different rebar patterns on bond studies in the concrete mix is found to be limited. In the study, six concrete mixes were prepared and tested. Three of these mixes incorporated fly ash in varied amounts to partially replace cement, while the other three mixes had no fly ash. Three different rib patterns of steel bars were embedded into these six grades of concrete. The pull-out tests were used to assess the bond strengths of various combinations in accordance with RILEM recommendations. The findings show that the ribs in rebars significantly increase mechanical interlocking whereas the presence of fly ash improves chemical adhesion in bond behaviour. Particularly, pattern 2 rebar (transverse rib thickness, 0.797 mm; transverse rib width, 2.06 mm; rib spacing (inner to inner), 6.428 mm; longitudinal rib thickness, 1.04 mm; longitudinal rib width, 2.312 mm; rib inclination angle, 66.39o; nominal diameter, 16 mm; length of transverse rib, 25 mm) exhibited notably superior bond strength, reaching a maximum of 17.21 MPa in M30 grade concrete in which 95 kg/m³ of fly ash was used as a replacement for cement.

Physiological and clinical effects of trunk inclination adjustment in patients with respiratory failure: a scoping review and narrative synthesis

BackgroundAdjusting trunk inclination from a semi-recumbent position to a supine-flat position or vice versa in patients with respiratory failure significantly affects numerous aspects of respiratory physiology including respiratory mechanics, oxygenation, end-expiratory lung volume, and ventilatory efficiency. Despite these observed effects, the current clinical evidence regarding this positioning manoeuvre is limited. This study undertakes a scoping review of patients with respiratory failure undergoing mechanical ventilation to assess the effect of trunk inclination on physiological lung parameters.MethodsThe PubMed, Cochrane, and Scopus databases were systematically searched from 2003 to 2023. Interventions: Changes in trunk inclination. Measurements: Four domains were evaluated in this study: 1) respiratory mechanics, 2) ventilation distribution, 3) oxygenation, and 4) ventilatory efficiency.ResultsAfter searching the three databases and removing duplicates, 220 studies were screened. Of these, 37 were assessed in detail, and 13 were included in the final analysis, comprising 274 patients. All selected studies were experimental, and assessed respiratory mechanics, ventilation distribution, oxygenation, and ventilatory efficiency, primarily within 60 min post postural change.ConclusionIn patients with acute respiratory failure, transitioning from a supine to a semi-recumbent position leads to decreased respiratory system compliance and increased airway driving pressure. Additionally, C-ARDS patients experienced an improvement in ventilatory efficiency, which resulted in lower PaCO2 levels. Improvements in oxygenation were observed in a few patients and only in those who exhibited an increase in EELV upon moving to a semi-recumbent position. Therefore, the trunk inclination angle must be accurately reported in patients with respiratory failure under mechanical ventilation.

Eccentricity and inclination of massive planets inside low-density cavities: Results of 3D simulations

Abstract We study the evolution of eccentricity and inclination of massive planets in low-density cavities of protoplanetary discs using three-dimensional (3D) simulations. When the planet’s orbit is aligned with the equatorial plane of the disc, the eccentricity increases to high values of 0.7-0.9 due to the resonant interaction with the inner parts of the disc. For planets on inclined orbits, the eccentricity increases due to the Kozai-Lidov mechanism, where the disc acts as an external massive body, which perturbs the planet’s orbit. At small inclination angles, ≲ 30○, the resonant interaction with the inner disc strongly contributes to the eccentricity growth, while at larger angles, eccentricity growth is mainly due to the Kozai-Lidov mechanism. We conclude that planets inside low-density cavities tend to acquire high eccentricity if favorable conditions give sufficient time for growth. The final value of the planet’s eccentricity after the disc dispersal, depends on the planet’s mass and properties of the cavity and protoplanetary disc.