Wave motion in pipe bends is much more complicated than that in straight pipes, thereby changing considerably the propagation characteristics of guided waves in pipes with bends. Therefore, a better understanding of how guided waves propagate in pipe bends is essential for inspecting pipelines with bends. The interaction between a pipe bend and the most used non-dispersive torsional mode at low frequency in a small-bore pipe is studied in this paper. Experiments are conducted on a magnetostrictive system, and it is observed that T(0,1) bend reflections and mode conversions from T(0,1) to F(1,1) and F(2,1) occur in the pipe bend. The magnitude of the T(0,1) bend reflections increases with increasing propagation distance and excitation frequency. The amplitude of the mode-converted signals also increases with increasing propagation distance, but it decreases with increasing excitation frequency. Because of their longer bent path, the test signals for a pipe bend with a bending angle of 180X are much more complicated than those for one with a bending angle of 90X. Therefore, it is even more difficult to scan a bent pipe with a large bending angle. The present findings provide some insights into how guided waves behave in pipe bends, and they generalize the application of guided-wave inspection in pipelines.

The Halbach array structure rotor of the aero motor can satisfy the requirements of high power density and high air-gap flux for aeronautical motors. The size parameters of the rotor are determined by the power rating of the motor based on an analytic method. Producing a Halbach array structure is difficult. Comparison and analysis of the structure of the aero motor showthat the overall structure of the rotor adopts a three-axial-section classic Halbach-array hollow structure, and the rotor magnetic steel adopts a discrete structure of 4 blocks per pole and a single 45◦ magnetisation mode, which reduces the processing difficulty of the rotor magnetic steel. The finite element method was used to analyse the magnetic flux density distribution of the aeronautical motor under various working conditions. The results show that the motor can produce uniform air-gap flux density at various working conditions and present good sinusoidal periodicity. Furthermore, the axial segment did not produce obvious magnetic flux leakage. Finally, considering the eddy current loss of the stator under the rated power-generation condition with high-frequency magnetic field, we conducted coupling analysis of electromagnetic and heat flows to verify that the thermal characteristics of the rotor magnetic steel material could meet the requirements for the aero motor.

The loss of power and voltage can affect distribution networks that have a significant number of distributed power resources and electric vehicles. The present study focuses on a hybrid method to model multi-objective coordination optimisation problems for dis- tributed power generation and charging and discharging of electric vehicles in a distribution system. An improved simulated annealing based particle swarm optimisation (SAPSO) algorithm is employed to solve the proposed multi-objective optimisation problem with two objective functions including the minimal power loss index and minimal voltage deviation index. The proposed method is simulated on IEEE 33-node distribution systems and IEEE-118 nodes large scale distribution systems to demonstrate the performance and effectiveness of the technique. The simulation results indicate that the power loss and node voltage deviation are significantly reduced via the coordination optimisation of the power of distributed generations and charging and discharging power of electric vehicles.With the methodology supposed in this paper, thousands of EVs can be accessed to the distribution network in a slow charging mode.

A hot compression test was conducted on a Gleeble-3500 thermo-simulation machine to study the critical conditions and kinetics of dynamic recrystallization in a high-carbon tool steel. The critical conditions for the initiation of dynamic recrystallization were determined using the working-hardening theory. The quantitative relationship between the critical characteristics of dynamic recrystallization and the hot deformation parameters were elucidated based on two different methods:the apparent method and physically based method. It was found that the two methods both have high applicability for the investigated steel, but the physically-based method needs less parameters and makes it possible to study the effect of different factors. A dynamic recrystallization kinetics model was used to calculate the recrystallization volume fraction under different conditions. The calculation results matched well with the data obtained from the flow curves.

Tight junction proteins are important for the maintenance and repair of the intestinal mucosal barrier. The present study investigated relationships among tight junction protein gene expres- sion, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) infection, and intestinal mucosal morphology in piglets. We compared the expression of six tight junction proteins (ZO-1, ZO-2, Occludin, Claudin-1, Claudin-4, and Claudin-5) between seven-day-old piglets infected with PEDV and normal piglets, as well as in PEDV-infected porcine intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC-J2). We also evaluated differences in mucosal morphology between PEDV-infected and normal piglets. The expression of six tight junction protein genes was lower in PEDV-infected piglets than in the normal animals. The expression of ZO-1, ZO-2, Occludin, and Claudin-4 in the intestine tissue was significantly lower (p<0.05) in PEDV-infected than in normal piglets. The expression of Claudin-5 in the jejunum was significantly lower in PEDV-infected piglets than in the normal animals (p<0.01). The expression of Claudin-1 and Claudin-5 genes in the ileum was signifi- cantly higher in PEDV-infected piglets than in normal piglets (p<0.01). Morphologically, the intestinal mucosa in PEDV-infected piglets exhibited clear pathological changes, including breakage and shedding of intestinal villi. In PEDV-infected IPEC-J2 cells, the mRNA expression of the six tight junction proteins showed a downward trend; in particular, the expression of the Occludin and Claudin-4 genes was significantly lower (p<0.01). These data suggest that the expression of these six tight junction proteins, especially Occludin and Claudin-4, plays an important role in maintaining the integrity of the intestinal mucosal barrier and resistance to PEDV infection in piglets.

This paper addresses weighted L2 gain performance switching controller design of discrete-time switched linear systems with average dwell time (ADT) scheme. Two kinds of methods, so called linearizing change-of-variables based method and controller variable elimination method, are considered for the output-feedback control with a supervisor enforcing a reset rule at each switching instant are considered respectively. Furthermore, some comparison between these two methods are also given.

The structural system of a multiple strip-shaped pillar-roof is common in underground mine exploitation, and research on its mechanics and micro/macroeconomics is meaningful for utilizing strip-shaped pillar resources. A general model of the structural system of a multiple strip-shaped pillar-roof was established, the deformation mechanism of the model was analysed by material mechanics, and the deflection curve equations of the model were obtained. Based on the stress strain constitutive relation of the strip pillar and cusp catastrophe theory, the nonlinear dynamic instability mechanism of the structural system of a multiple strip-shaped pillar-roof was analysed, and the expressions of the pillar width for maintaining the stability of different types of structural systems were derived. The benefits of different structural systems were calculated using micro/macroeconomic theory, the type of the structural system was determined, and different recovery schemes were obtained. Theoretical application research was applied to a large manganese mine, and the results demonstrate that no pillar recovery was needed in 2016, a 9-m wide artificial pillar could be built to replace a pillar in 2017, and the construction of 14-m wide artificial pillars can be conducted in 2018.

In this paper, a frame structure based on the locally resonant (LR) mechanism of phononic crystals (PCs) is designed on account of the wide application of frame structures in high-rise buildings, and the band structures, displacement fields of eigenmodes, and transmission power spectrums of corresponding finite structure are calculated by finite element (FE) method. Numerical results and further analysis demonstrate that a full band gap with low starting frequency can be opened by the frame structure formed by periodically combining soft and hard materials, and the starting frequency can be further lowered with the adjustment of corresponding geometric parameters, which provides a theoretical basis for the studies on vibration insulation and noise reduction of high-rise buildings.

Due to the skin effect of eddy currents, the depth of cracks which can be detected by the traditional eddy current probe is very limited. In order to improve the ability of eddy current probes to inspect deep cracks in metal thick-walled structures, a new eddy current probe using an excitation system with phase shifted fields was proposed. Its feasibility for detecting deep cracks was verified by simulation and experiments. The results showed that the penetration depth of eddy currents in austenitic stainless steel is effectively enhanced by using the new probe.

Quality evaluation is very important for haptic rendering. In this paper, an objective evaluation method for a haptic rendering system based on haptic perception features is proposed. In the method, the haptic rendering process is compared to the real world perception process in a simple standardized procedure based on feature extraction and data analysis. A complete evaluation process for a simple haptic rendering task of pressing a virtual spring is presented as an example to explain the method in detail. Compared with the traditional objective method based on error statistics, the method is more concerned about the consistency of human subjective feelings rather than physical parameters, which makes the evaluation process more consistent with the haptic perception mechanism. The results of comparative analysis show that the method presented in this paper is simple, gives reliable results reflecting the consistency with subjective feeling and has a better discrimination ability for different kinds of devices and algorithms compared with the traditional evaluation methods.

Entries in steeply pitching seams have a more complex stress environment than those in flat seams. This study targets techniques for maintaining the surrounding rock mass stability of entries in steep seams through a case study of a steep-seam entry at a mine in southern China. An in-depth study of the deformation and instability mechanisms of the entry is conducted, employing field measurement, physical simulation experiment, numerical simulation, and theoretical analysis. The study results show that the surrounding rock mass of the entry is characterised by asymmetrical stress distribution, deformation, and failure. Specifically, 1) the entry deformation is characterised by a pattern of floor heaving and roof subsidence; 2) broken rock zones in the two entry walls are larger than those in the roof and floor, and the broken rock zone in the seam-floor side wall is larger than that in the seam-roof side wall; 3) rock bolts in the middle-bottom part of the seam-floor side wall of the entry are prone to failure due to tensile stress; and 4) rock bolts in the seam-roof side wall experience relatively even load and relatively small tensile stress. Through analysis, disturbances were found to occur in both temporal and spatial dimensions. Specifically, in the initial mining stage, the asymmetrical rock structure and stress distribution cause entry deformation and instability; during multiple-seam multiple-panel mining operations, a wedge-shaped rock mass and a quasi-arc cut rock stratum formed in the mining space may cause subsidence in the seam-floor side wall of the entry and inter-stratum transpression, deformation, and instability of the entry roof and floor. The principles for controlling the stability of the surrounding rock mass of the entry are proposed. In addition, an improved asymmetrical coupled support structure design for the entry is proposed to demonstrate the effective control of entry deformation.

In the extra-thick coal seams and multi-layered hard roofs, the longwall hydraulic support yielding, coal face spalling, strong deformations of goaf-side entry, and severe ground pressure dynamic events typically occur at the longwall top coal caving longwall faces. Based on the Key strata theory an overburden caving model is proposed here to predict the multilayered hard strata behaviour. The proposed model together with the measured stress changes in coal seam and underground observations in Tongxin coal mine provides a new idea to analyse stress changes in coal and help to minimise rock bursts in the multi-layered hard rock ground. Using the proposed primary Key and the sub-Key strata units the model predicts the formation and instability of the overlying strata that leads to abrupt dynamic changes to the surrounding rock stress. The data obtained from the vertical stress monitoring in the 38 m wide coal pillar located adjacent to the longwall face indicates that the Key strata layers have a significant influence on ground behaviour. Sudden dynamically driven unloading of strata was caused by the first caving of the sub-Key strata while reloading of the vertical stress occurred when the goaf overhang of the sub-Key strata failed. Based on this findings several measures were recommended to minimise the undesirable dynamic occurrences including pre-split of the hard Key strata by blasting and using the energy consumption yielding reinforcement to support the damage prone gate road areas. Use of the numerical modelling simulations was suggested to improve the key theory accuracy.