The article presents an overview of polymeric materials for flexible substrates in photovoltaic (PV) structures that could be used as power supply in the personal electronic systems. Four types of polymers have been elected for testing. The first two are the most specialized and heat resistant polyimide films. The third material is transparent polyethylene terephthalate film from the group of polyesters which was proposed as a cheap and commercially available substrate for the technology of photovoltaic cells in a superstrate configuration. The last selected polymeric material is a polysiloxane, which meets the criteria of high elasticity, is temperature resistant and it is also characterized by relatively high transparency in the visible light range. For themost promising of these materials additional studies were performed in order to select those of them which represent the best optical, mechanical and temperature parameters according to their usage for flexible substrates in solar cells.

The aim of the study is to compare flexible pavement design lifespans and the main factors which create their values for a standard structure and one with an anti-fatigue course AF at different parameter values of pavement and its load, relevant to their design processes. Depending on the mixture used for the anti-fatigue course or the course thickness, durability improvement of the pavement (compared to the durability of a standard structure) can be obtained by extending the design lifespan of the asphalt base course or by extending the design lifespan of the AF course. On sections with predominantly slow traffic, the lifespan decreases significantly compared to sections with typical vehicle speed – the relative decrease is greater if anti-fatigue course is applied.

The awareness of the growing importance of the complexity in creating a new type of a modern enterprise strategy and in introducing changes within planning, control and organizational structures contributed to undertaking studies on relationships occurring between the complexity of a modern enterprise and its flexibility in the sector of industrial automation, as well as filling the gap relating to the cognitive impact of poor complexity management on the flexibility of the company. The main objective of the research work is to check whether there is an important relationship between the complexity of the business and its flexibility in the industrial automation sector. Quantification of the relationship between these two quantities – the complexity and flexibility – happened by the use of the Multidimensional Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and Perceptual Maps. The study which has been carried out indicated that the flexibility and complexity functions in the enterprise management rise, however, the knowledge of these issues is highly insufficient. The research discovered that the obstacles which hamper striking a balance between the flexibility and complexity in their advanced stages exert a devastating impact on the quality of the process management. Reducing the flexibility at its higher levels generates a context in which the market risk is enhanced. Companies characterised by improper flexibility management bear higher workforce costs and their processes of decision-making last longer. Methodical and systematized study of flexibility and complexity will decrease the destructive influence of the interaction between these two categories.

The article concerns modern, flexible adhesive joints, which might be used in timber construction. The article discusses the test results carried out for timber elements joints using polymeric adhesives produced by Sika®. The scope of the tests includes the analysis of strength criteria, tests of polymer adhesion to the timber with a pull-off method, tests of polymer layer shearing between timber elements as well as examination of bending of timber elements joined with polymer. The conclusions indicate the types of these polymers which are recommended for the creation of polymeric joints of timber-polymeric type in timber constructions.

The technical requirements for the determination of physical parameters of vibration isolating material have not been standardized in Europe and Poland yet, which significantly hinders the ability to compare vibration isolating materials offered on the market. Therefore, there is a need for establishing a norm that could be applied both for the determination of the physico-mechanical properties of elastic vibration isolation elements in rail transport for domestic and foreign producers as well as in their selection for application in a specific vibration isolation system. The paper presents a proposal to standardize the methodology of the estimation of vibration isolation materials physical parameters authorized for use in vibration isolation systems used in rail transport. Methodology for measuring the physico-mechanical parameters of vibration isolating material presented in the paper forms uniform test procedure developed based on a fragmentary norms for flexible materials testing. The use of the proposed research methodology enables the creation of a unified database of elastic materials which parameters will be easy to compare, and choice between them will become easier for designers of vibration isolation systems used in rail transport.

In the present work, a tire model is derived based on geometrically exact shells. The discretization is done with the help of isoparametric quadrilateral finite elements. The interpolation is performed with bilinear Lagrangian polynomials for the midsurface as well as for the director field. As time stepping method for the resulting differential algebraic equation a backward differentiation formula is chosen. A multilayer material model for geometrically exact shells is introduced, to describe the anisotropic behavior of the tire material. To handle the interaction with a rigid road surface, a unilateral frictional contact formulation is introduced. Therein a special surface to surface contact element is developed, which rebuilds the shape of the tire.

Wave-Based Control has been previously applied successfully to simple underactuated flexible mechanical systems. Spacecraft and rockets with structural flexibility and sloshing are examples of such systems but have added difficulties due to nonuniform structure, external disturbing forces and non-ideal actuators and sensors. The aim of this paper is to extend the application of WBC to spacecraft systems, to compare the performance of WBC to other popular controllers and to carry out experimental validation of the designed control laws. A mathematical model is developed for an upper stage accelerating rocket moving in a single plane. Fuel sloshing is represented by an equivalent mechanical pendulum model. A wave-based controller is designed for the upper stage AVUM of the European launcher Vega. In numerical simulations the controller successfully suppresses the sloshing motion. A major advantage of the strategy is that no measurement of the pendulum states (sloshing motion) is required.

Flexible, slender structures like cables, hoses or wires can be described by the geometrically exact Cosserat rod theory. Due to their complex multilayer structure, consisting of various materials, viscoplastic behavior has to be expected for cables under load. Classical experiments like uniaxial tension, torsion or three-point bending already show that the behavior of e.g. electric cables is viscoplastic. A suitable constitutive law for the observed load case is crucial for a realistic simulation of the deformation of a component. Consequently, this contribution aims at a viscoplastic constitutive law formulated in the terms of sectional quantities of Cosserat rods. Since the loading of cables in applications is in most cases not represented by these mostly uniaxial classical experiments, but rather multiaxial, new experiments for cables have to be designed. They have to illustrate viscoplastic effects, enable access to (viscoplastic) material parameters and account for coupling effects between different deformation modes. This work focuses on the design of such experiments.

To study the impact of suspended equipment on the ride comfort in a railway vehicle, a rigid flexible general model of such a vehicle is required. The numerical simulations is based on two different models, derived from the general model of the vehicle, namely a reference model of a vehicle with no equipment, and another model with six suspended elements of equipment mounted in various positions along the carbody. The objective of this paper arises from the observation that the literature does not contain any study that highlights the change in the ride comfort resulting exclusively due to the influence of equipment. The influence of the suspended equipment on the ride comfort is determined by comparing the ride comfort indices calculated in the carbody reference points, at the centre and above the two bogies, for a model with six elements of equipment and a model of the vehicle with no equipment.

The main aim of the article is to develop a simulation model of flexible manufacturing

system with applying the ontology on flexibility. Designing manufacturing systems matching

both production and market requirements becomes more and more challenging due to the

variability of demand for a large number of products made in many variants and short

lead times. Manufacturing flexibility is widely recognised as a proven solution to achieve

and maintain both the strategical and operational goals of the companies exposed to global

competition. Generic simulation model of flexible manufacturing system was developed using

FlexSimr 3D software, then the example data were used to demonstrate the developed model

applicability. “The Ontology on Flexibility” was applied for evaluation of achieved flexibility

of manufacturing system.

The paper presents a dynamic analysis of the damaged masonry building repaired with the Flexible Joint Method. Numerical analysis helped to determine the effect of the applied repairing method on natural frequencies as well as values of stresses and accelerations in the analyzed variants of numerical model. They confirmed efficiency of the proposed repair method.

Many variants of thin film technology are nowadays part of the photovoltaic market. The most popular are amorphous silicon, CIS (Copper Indium Selenide)/CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium Selenide)/CIGSS (Copper Indium Gallium Sulphur Selenide), and CdS/CdTe (Cadmium Sulphide/Cadmium-Telluride) cells. All mentioned types allow potentially for a flexible cell structure. Most emitter contacts are currently based on TCOs (Transparent Conductive Oxides), however, wider approach with alternative carbon nanoforms, silver nanolayers and polymer materials, called TCLs (Transparent Conductive Layers) are also in use. Authors decided to investigate influence of mechanical stresses on physical and electrical behaviour of these layers. Consequently, the aim of work is to determine the level and possible mechanisms of flexible a-Si cell parameters degradation due to a deterioration of transparent contact properties.

The paper describes a research on assessing the quality of edges resulting from the interaction of laser pulses with a material of rigid and flexible printed circuits. A modern Nd:YVO4 crystal diode-pumped solid-state laser generating a 532 nm wavelength radiation with a nanosecond pulse time was used for the research. Influence of laser parameters such as beam power and pulse repetition frequency on a heat affected zone and carbonization was investigated. Quality and morphology of laser-cut substrates were analyzed by optical microscopy. High quality laser cutting of printed circuit board substrates was obtained without delamination and surface damage, with a minimal carbonization and heat affected zone. The developed process was implemented on the printed circuit assembly line.

This paper presents a study of the hybrid electro-discharge mechanical machining BEDMM (Brush Electro-Discharge Mechanical Machining) with the application of a rotary disk brush as a working electrode. The discussed method enables not only an effective machining with a material removal rate of up to 300 mm3/min but also finishing (with the obtained roughness of Ra < 0.5 μm) of the surfaces of complex-shaped alloys with poor machinability. The analysis of the factors involved in the machining process indicates that its efficiency is determined by electrodischarge. The use of flexible working electrodes makes it possible to apply simple technological instrumentation and results in the simplicity of the process automation. The aim of the study was to obtain quantitative relationships between the parameters of brush electro discharge mechanical machining (BEDMM) and its effects. The presented experimental research results define the effect of the process input parameters on the performance and roughness of machined surfaces obtained for manganese cast steel.

Reliable data analysis is one of the hardest tasks in sciences and social sciences. Often misleading and sometimes puzzling results arise when the analysis is done without regard for the special features of the data. In this exposition, I will focus on designing new statistical tools to deal with some prominent questions in Finance and Economics. In particular, I will talk about the following. (1) How to characterize the randomness of variables, motivated by a problem in the pricing of financial options. (2) Uncovering the relation between interest rates on different maturities, now and in the future; the "term structure of interest rates". (3) Modelling the unconventional nonlinear long-memory dynamics that arise from a general-equilibrium economic model, and their implications for exchange rates, stock market indexes, and all macroeconomic variables; with recommendations for trading in financial markets, but also for the design of macroeconomic stabilization policies by governments.