Width Aspect Ratio Research Articles

Qualitative analysis of the coupling effect of fluid velocity distribution in microchannels on the performance of water-cooling lithium-ion batteries system

ABSTRACT Lithium-ion batteries are the direct power sources of electric vehicles, but their high heat flux density restricts their development. Microchannel heat sinks (MCHS) can assist in heat dissipation to overcome this. The distribution of fluid velocity among microchannels has a considerable effect on the performance of MCHS for a water-cooling lithium-ion batteries system. In this paper, a new microchannel heat sink with high depth to width aspect ratio is proposed and the influence of four different aspect ratios on the distribution of fluid velocity among microchannels and heat transfer performance of MCHS was numerically studied by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The results showed that at the same inlet flow rate, the larger the aspect ratio of the microchannels, the better the uniformity of the internal fluid velocity. The heat performance of microchannel structures with four different aspect ratios for a water-cooling lithium-ion batteries is further investigated experimentally. Compared with the simulation results of the fluid velocity distribution, the coupling effect between the fluid velocity distribution in the microchannels and the heat dissipation performance of a water-cooling lithium-ion batteries is analyzed. The results fully demonstrated that a larger aspect ratio of the microchannels results in a better heat dissipation performance on the surface of the lithium-ion batteries. Optimizing the aspect ratio of the microchannels to facilitate a relatively uniform velocity distribution to improve heat dissipation performance of the water-cooling system may be a key factor to be considered, which provides a new idea for passive thermal management of batteries.

Quantitative model for grain boundary effects on strength-electrical conductivity relation

Fine-long shaped grains have been proved to be an efficient design approach to overcome the traditional trade-off relation between strength and electrical conductivity (EC) of metal wires. However, quantitative models linking grain shape parameters to both strength and EC remain scarce, limiting the precise optimization of material properties. In this study, grain boundaries (GBs) were classified into parallel or perpendicular ones to establish the quantitative models. Accordingly, a novel model for calculating the EC of fine-long shaped grains was proposed by first parallel-connecting the parallel GBs with the matrix, then series-connecting them with the vertical GBs. The EC calculated using this new model shows a small error band of only 0.5 %, indicating an excellent accuracy of EC calculation. Besides, a quantitative model for calculating the strength based on grain width was also developed. Consequently, the general effects of grain shape parameters including grain width, grain length, grain volume and grain aspect ratio on the strength and EC were quantitatively revealed. This work does not only advance the principle for achieving high strength and high EC through fine-long shaped grains from a qualitative concept to a quantitative framework but also offers valuable insights for the quantitative analysis of GB effects on strength and EC in other materials.

A Review of Pressure Drop and Mixing Characteristics in Passive Mixers Involving Miscible Liquids.

The present review focuses on the recent studies carried out in passive micromixers for understanding the hydrodynamics and transport phenomena of miscible liquid-liquid (LL) systems in terms of pressure drop and mixing indices. First, the passive micromixers have been categorized based on the type of complexity in shape, size, and configuration. It is observed that the use of different aspect ratios of the microchannel width, presence of obstructions, flow and operating conditions, and fluid properties majorly affect the mixing characteristics and pressure drop in passive micromixers. A regime map for the micromixer selection based on optimization of mixing index (MI) and pressure drop has been identified based on the literature data for the Reynolds number (Re) range (1 ≤ Re ≤ 100). The map comprehensively summarizes the favorable, moderately favorable, or non-operable regimes of a micromixer. Further, regions for special applications of complex micromixer shapes and micromixers operating at low Re have been identified. Similarly, the operable limits for a micromixer based on pressure drop for Re range 0.1 < Re < 100,000 have been identified. A comparison of measured pressure drop with fundamentally derived analytical expressions show that Category 3 and 4 micromixers mostly have higher pressure drops, except for a few efficient ones. An MI regime map comprising diffusion, chaotic advection, and mixed advection-dominated zones has also been devised. An empirical correlation for pressure drop as a function of Reynolds number has been developed and a corresponding friction factor has been obtained. Predictions on heat and mass transfer based on analogies in micromixers have also been proposed.

Evaluation of 8-bit eDRAM by varying the aspect ratio of the in-cell transistors

Embedded dynamic random-access memories (eDRAM) are widely used in the design of embedded systems for the safeguard of information during their operation. However, since these memories are installed in the same chip as the host system, it is crucial to consider their dimensioning. For this reason, in our work, the aspect ratio width and length (W/L) of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistors inside 3-transistor logic cells (3T) is diversified to evaluate the effect on electrical behavior with area optimization through the figure of merit (FoM): power consumption-delay product of 8-bit memories with an operating frequency of 8.3 MHz, varying the aspect ratio of transistors inside the cell have been obtained 8.6f as lowest and 152.3f as highest FoM values. Those storage devices have been developed on 0.00085 mm2 using a 180-nm CMOS technology.

Preliminarna studija geometrije navara kod navarivanja na nerđajući čelik 316l korištenjem mig postupka zavarivanja

The application of the gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process can produce metal parts in additive manufacturing (AM) and has the advantages of fast production speed and material saving. There are some different requirements for welding beads between the AM process and the usually welded joints, so preliminary research on the 316L GMAW is conducted to find the optimal voltage, wire feed speed (WFS), and travel speed (TS). Taguchi algorithm was used firstly to obtain parameters to achieve the desired higher reinforcement, lower width, and higher aspect ratio (R/W). The voltage of 19 V, WFS of 500 cm/min, and TS of 15 cm/min were obtained as the optimal one among the samples. To further investigate the influence of the parameters and verify the result, a two-factor-three-level full factorial design was carried out, with the consideration of the interaction between factors. At last, the studied parameters were used in the AM process using a GMAW welding robot to verify the reliability.

Phase II control charts for monitoring the depth-ratio of ball-bearings involving three normal variables

This paper investigates the problem of monitoring the ratio involving three variables, jointly distributed as trivariate normal. The Shewhart-type and two exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) type schemes for monitoring depth ratio are proposed. The ratio of a normal variable to the average of two other normal variables has wide applications in natural science, production, and engineering. It is defined with slightly different terminology in various contexts, such as depth or aspect ratios. In modern bearing manufacturing, the aspect ratio of width to the average of inner and outer diameters can be an essential indicator of product quality and process stability. While there are many helpful existing charts for monitoring the three components separately or jointly when these characteristics follow a normal distribution, the ratio aspect is often ignored. The Shewhart-type schemes' exact and approximated control limits are considered and analyzed. Numerical results based on Monte-Carlo are conducted using the average run length as a metric with different values of in-control ratio and correlation between the three variables. An application based on the parts manufacturing data illustrates the implementation design of the two control charts. The real-life data analysis shows the efficacy of the proposed monitoring schemes in practice.

Degradation of Ta2O5 / SiO2 dielectric cavity mirrors in ultra-high vacuum.

In order for optical cavities to enable strong light-matter interactions for quantum metrology, networking, and scalability in quantum computing systems, their mirrors must have minimal losses. However, high-finesse dielectric cavity mirrors can degrade in ultra-high vacuum (UHV), increasing the challenges of upgrading to cavity-coupled quantum systems. We observe the optical degradation of high-finesse dielectric optical cavity mirrors after high-temperature UHV bake in the form of a substantial increase in surface roughness. We provide an explanation of the degradation through atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), selective wet etching, and optical measurements. We find the degradation is explained by oxygen reduction in Ta2O5 followed by growth of tantalum sub-oxide defects with height to width aspect ratios near ten. We discuss the dependence of mirror loss on surface roughness and finally give recommendations to avoid degradation to allow for quick adoption of cavity-coupled systems.

Geometric control of tilt transition dynamics in single-clamped thermalized elastic sheets.

We study the finite-temperature dynamics of thin elastic sheets in a single-clamped cantilever configuration. This system is known to exhibit a tilt transition at which the preferred mean plane of the sheet shifts from horizontal to a plane above or below the horizontal. The resultant thermally roughened two-state (up/down) system possesses rich dynamics on multiple timescales. In the tilted regime a finite-energy barrier separates the spontaneously chosen up state from the inversion-symmetric down state. Molecular dynamics simulations confirm that, over sufficiently long time, such thermalized elastic sheets transition between the two states, residing in each for a finite dwell time. One might expect that temperature is the primary driver for tilt inversion. We find, instead, that the primary control parameter, at fixed tilt order parameter, is the dimensionless and purely geometrical aspect ratio of the clamped width to the total length of the otherwise-free sheet. Using a combination of an effective mean-field theory and Kramers' theory, we derive the transition rate and examine its asymptotic behavior. At length scales beyond a material-dependent thermal length scale, renormalization of the elastic constants qualitatively modifies the temperature response. In particular, the transition is suppressed by thermal fluctuations, enhancing the robustness of the tilted state. We check and supplement these findings with further molecular dynamics simulations for a range of aspect ratios and temperatures.

Enhancing the cyclic performance of shear links using longitudinal stiffeners

Shear links constitute the most crucial part of eccentrically braced frames. Their main responsibility is to dissipate the earthquake input energy away from the main structural members; therefore, keeping them responding within the elastic stage. However, the rotation capacity of vertical shear links directly influences the allowable interstorey drift of the eccentrically braced frame and the energy dissipation capacity. To enhance their rotation capacity and performance, transverse stiffeners in vertical shear links are proposed to be replaced with longitudinal stiffeners in this research. A numerical study is conducted, using Ansys Workbench, on fourteen shear links with different parameters to investigate their cyclic behaviour. The considered parameters are the stiffener configuration (transverse or longitudinal), web thickness, stiffeners number, stiffeners thickness, flanges width, and web aspect ratio. The influence of these parameters on the failure mode, hysteretic response, mechanical parameters (strength, rotation capacity, etc.), ductility, cyclic web shear buckling, and energy dissipation is analysed and discussed. The results demonstrate that longitudinally stiffened shear links surpass conventional transversely stiffened ones in terms of strength, overstrength, rotation capacity, ductility, web shear buckling resistance, and energy dissipation. Additionally, it is found that the current design provisions of EN 1998–1 cannot accurately predict the yield shear strength of longitudinally stiffened shear links. Moreover, numerous remarks involved with the influence of different parameters on the cyclic performance of longitudinally stiffened shear links are presented and discussed.

Response of magnesium microcrystals to c-axis compression and contraction loadings at low and high strain rates

In this work, 99.999% pure magnesium (Mg) single microcrystals have been deformed in [0001] compression (c-axis compression) and [101¯0] tension (c-axis contraction) conditions at room temperature and under loading rates ranging from 5 × 10−4 up to ∼590 s−1. The strain rate sensitivity and apparent activation volume of prismatic and pyramidal slip systems were evaluated. In c-axis contraction, at strain rates of 45 s−1, the formation of a new grain whose crystallographic characteristics do not correspond to those of well-known twin systems could be observed. An explanation was found but it requires the breakdown of the invariant plane strain condition, and a unit cell reconstruction via pyramidal II to basal plane transformation. This unconventional twin is at 2.1° far from a classical simple shear twin on {101¯5} planes. In c-axis compression, at the highest applied strain rate, no twin could be detected in the 5 μm sized pillars of 2:1 (height to width) aspect ratio. Plasticity is thus purely mediated by slip. However, the appearance of newly oriented grains was observed by lowering the sample size or by reducing the aspect ratio. Their crystallographic features suggest a mechanism of unit cell reconstruction through the transformation from pyramidal I to basal plane. The results presented in this study impose to consider twinning as a reorientation mechanism not necessarily limited to a simple shear.

Nanoscale patterning of metallic surfaces with laser patterned tools using a nanoimprinting approach

In this study, we demonstrate that metallic substrates with a nanocrystalline grain size can be structured down to the micro- and nanometre range during a room temperature nanoimprinting process. WC-Co hard metal dies are patterned by Direct Laser Interference Patterning (DLIP), generating an array of separated asperities with a height of 4.7 µm and a spacing of 11.3 µm. Additionally, Laser Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS) with a spacing of 500 nm are formed as a hierarchical substructure. The patterned dies can be used to deform metallic substrates due to their high hardness. For structure replication, the WC-Co tool is pressed onto a nanocrystalline CuZn30 model alloy at room temperature. The pattern transfer process from the hard metallic tool to the nanocrystalline alloy is discussed in detail: At low contact pressures, the asperities on the tools act as single contact points, leading to the formation of separated dimples with a depth of up to 0.8 µm in the nanocrystalline alloy. At high contact pressures, the tool pattern, including the LIPSS is almost completely transferred to the substrate. The formed asperities protrude out of the surface, with a height to width aspect ratio of 0.4. It is thereby demonstrated, that plastic flow processes during the imprinting of nanocrystalline alloys allow for the replication of the DLIP tool pattern, even down to nano-scaled LIPSS. The imprinted array of surface asperities exhibits hydrophobic properties, due to a combined topographical and chemical influence on the wetting behaviour.

Double-Cell Prefabricated Utility Tunnel Composed of Groove-Shaped Elements: An Extended Study of Stiffness Reduction Method

Based on the semi-rigid characteristics of a double-cell prefabricated utility tunnel composed of groove-shaped elements (PUTCGE), this paper proposes an extended study of a stiffness reduction method for PUTCGEs by introducing the stiffness reduction and bending moment adjustment coefficients of the sidewalls. The effects of the joint stiffness ratio, the aspect ratio of width to height, the coefficient of subgrade reaction, and the embedment depth of the utility tunnel on the stiffness reduction and bending moment adjustment coefficients were investigated, and calculation formulas were established. The results showed that the stiffness reduction coefficient increased with the increase in the joint stiffness ratio, while the bending moment adjustment coefficient decreased with the increase in the joint stiffness ratio. The stiffness reduction coefficient increased with the decrease in the aspect ratio of width to height, while the effect of the aspect ratio of width to height on the bending moment adjustment coefficient was found to be very small. It was also found that neither the coefficient of subgrade reaction nor the embedment depth had a significant effect on the stiffness reduction and bending moment adjustment coefficients. The stiffness reduction method for the PUTCGE was validated through comparison with a full-scale physical model test. The proposed method can provide a reference for designing PUTCGEs for underground construction.

Research on the Residual Bearing Capacity of a Rib Beam Bridge Carriageway Slab Based on Fatigue Cumulative Damage

In order to study the residual bearing capacity of the carriageway slab of a reinforced concrete rib beam bridge after fatigue damage, a double T-beam carriageway slab model with a high degree of symmetry was designed and fatigue tests were carried out. Based on the fatigue cumulative damage theory, the fatigue residual strength equation of concrete was improved and a constitutive fatigue model of a steel bar and concrete with arbitrary loading times was established. Because the carriageway slabs are highly symmetrical, we used a ratio of length to width and a ratio of width to height to express the dimensional changes in the carriageway slabs. Abaqus general analysis program was used to create a symmetrical T-beams model and analyze the influence of the fatigue load level, the ratio of width to height of the roadway slab, and the ratio of length to width on the remaining bearing capacity of the roadway slab. Finally, the 1stOpt fitting software was employed to fit the roadway slab’s residual bearing capacity evaluation model. The fatigue test results show that the fatigue failure form of the roadway slab is punching failure, and the development law of fatigue damage can be divided into three stages, accounting for 6.25%, 56.25%, and 37.5% of the total fatigue life. The finite element analysis results showed that the length–width ratio of the roadway slab is positively correlated with its relative residual bearing capacity, and the residual bearing capacity of the two-way slab is higher than that of the one-way slab. The fatigue load level and the aspect ratio of width to height are negatively correlated with their relative residual bearing capacity.

Numerical Study on Microclimate and Outdoor Thermal Comfort of Street Canyon Typology in Extremely Hot Weather—A Case Study of Busan, South Korea

As cities are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, they are fundamental in addressing these changes. However, streets, which are external spaces accessed by citizens in daily life, play an important role in improving the urban environment and public health. This study considered Busan in South Korea as a case study to investigate street canyons, including street canyon geometries and tree configurations, of old, present, and new city centers. The influence of morphological factors on the microclimate and outdoor thermal comfort was evaluated using the ENVI-met program for extremely hot weather. Changes in the street width, street orientation, and street canyon aspect ratio had a significantly higher impact on the microclimate and thermal comfort index (p &lt; 0.01). These results indicated that the orientation of the main street should be consistent with the prevailing wind direction of Busan. Further, the shading of adjacent buildings improved the outdoor thermal comfort and reduced the significance of tree configuration in deeper street canyons. In addition, tree height had a more significant impact on street environment than other tree configuration factors, especially when the tree height increased from 9 m to 12 m. We recommended that the thermal comfort level can be improved by dynamically adjusting the relationship between the planting distance and tree height in streets having shallow street canyons.

Vibration and stability characteristics of functionally graded sandwich plates with/without porosity subjected to localized edge loadings

This article investigates the influence of porosity and localized edge loads on the vibration and buckling characteristics of functionally graded material (FGM) plates using the finite element (FE) method. The analysis is carried out by choosing a single-layer FGM and two different types of FGM sandwich plates in such a way that there is no material discontinuity along the thickness direction. The porosity imperfections are accounted for in this study as criteria of stiffness reduction and are incorporated using modified power law distribution. The vibration and buckling responses are studied by considering four types of localized edge loads on plates with different porosity distributions. The application of different types of localized edge loads on the plate leads to the development of nonuniform in-plane stresses. Hence, they are computed first by using a dynamic approach before obtaining the buckling loads. The accuracy of the FE formulation is first validated for FGM plates by comparing the natural frequencies and the critical buckling loads obtained in the present investigation with the solutions already available in the literature. After validating the accuracy, detailed parametric studies have been performed on plates with varying volume fraction exponent, porosity distribution, porosity index, side-to-thickness ratio, load width ratio, aspect ratio, and support condition, and the results are presented with appropriate conclusions. A probabilistic sensitivity analysis is carried out to identify the significant parameter affecting the buckling load and natural frequency of porous FGM plates subjected to localized edge loads, which considerably aids in the design of the FGM plates.

On the compact modelling of Si nanowire and Si nanosheet MOSFETs

In this paper, three-dimensional technology computer aided design simulations are used to show that the electron concentration, current density, and electric field distribution from the interface at the lateral channels and from the top channel to the centre of the silicon wire, in nanowire and nanosheet structures, are practically same. This characteristic makes it possible to consider that the total channel width for these structures is equal to the perimeter of the transistor sheet, allowing to extend of the application of the symmetric doped double-gate model (SDDGM) model to nanowires and nanosheets metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors, with no need to include new parameters. The model SDDGM is validated for this application using several measured and simulated structures of nanowires and nanosheets transistors, with different aspect ratios of fin width and fin height, showing very good agreement between measured or simulated characteristics and modelled. SDDGM is encoded in Verilog-A language and implemented in the SmartSPICE circuit simulator.

A couple-stress-based moving Kriging meshfree shell model for axial postbuckling analysis of random checkerboard composite cylindrical microshells

The current investigation intends to devise a couple stress continuum-based moving Kriging meshfree shell model for axial nonlinear buckling and postbuckling responses of random checkerboard composite cylindrical microshells. Accordingly, the graphene nanoplatelet reinforcements are supposed to be randomly dispersed based upon a checkerboard scheme within the resin matrix, the effective material properties of which are estimated based upon a probabilistic method. The modified couple stress continuum elasticity is implemented into the higher-order shear deformation shell theory incorporating geometrical nonlinearity. The established microstructural-dependent shell model is then numerically analyzed via the moving Kriging meshfree technique with the ability to take the essential boundary conditions into account accurately by employing proper moving Kriging shape function. By tracing the postbuckling paths, the snap-through phenomenon is observed. It is found that for a higher graphene nanoplatelet volume fraction, the significance of the stiffening character associated with the rotation gradient tensor increases. Furthermore, for a specific value of graphene nanoplatelet volume fraction, by reducing the length to width aspect ratio of graphene nanoplatelet reinforcements, the role of couple stress size dependency in the critical buckling load and critical shortening of an axially compressed cylindrical microshell becomes more important.

Time-lapse observation of pitting corrosion in ferritic stainless steel under bipolar electrochemistry control

A bipolar electrochemistry approach has been applied to characterise pit nucleation and growth kinetics in 13% Cr ferritic stainless steel. In-situ time-lapse imaging, supported by laser confocal microscopy measurements, were applied to obtain pit nucleation frequencies and associated pit growth characteristics. The development of champion pits is observed, and the effect of pit shape and aspect ratio on pit nucleation and growth are discussed. Pits preferentially nucleated and grew with depth to width aspect ratios of 0.4–0.6. The observed pit growth kinetics are independent of pit volume and the acting potentials.

Chemical Vapor Transport Route toward Black Phosphorus Nanobelts and Nanoribbons.

Chemical vapor transport (CVT) method is widely used for bulk black phosphorus (BP) fabrication. In this work, we demonstrate that CVT provides a route for the fabrication of BP nanoribbons and nanobelts. This method consists of a two-step procedure, including initial BP column growth using the CVT technique, followed by ultrasonic treatment and centrifugation. The obtained nanostructures preserve BP column dimensions, forming ultralong ribbon-like structures with the length to the width aspect ratio of up to 500. Computational modeling of the growth mechanism of a BP flake is also presented in support of the observed columnar growth. Calculation of the average energy of the molecule in the asymmetric flakes shows that the growth of the structure in the zigzag direction is more energetically favorable than in the armchair direction.

Nonlinear stability of axially compressed couple stress-based composite micropanels reinforced with random checkerboard nanofillers

In this investigation, by matching the moving Kriging meshfree formulations with the third-order shear flexible shell model together with the modified couple stress continuity, the size-dependent nonlinear stability characteristics of micropanels subjected to axial compression are analyzed. The random checkerboard model is employed for the micropanels made of graphene nanoplatelet random-reinforced composites. The associated material characteristics are evaluated via a probabilistic-based micromechanical scheme. Afterwards, proper meshfree functions are implemented to enforce the essential boundary conditions at the considered nodding system accurately. It is shown that the stiffening character of the couple stress size dependency coming from the rotation gradient tensor causes to rise the nonlinear critical stability load and the associated critical shortening of random reinforced composite micropanels. Moreover, for a specific value of the graphene nanofillers volume fraction, by reducing the length to width aspect ratio of them, the role of rotation gradient size dependency in the both critical stability load and critical shortening of an axially compressed random checkerboard reinforced composite micropanel becomes somehow more significant.