An adaptable product can satisfy different customer requirements by changing its configuration and parameter values during the operation stage. Design of adaptable products aims at reducing the environment impact through replacement of multiple different products with single adaptable ones. Due to the complex architecture, multiple functional requirements, and changes of product configurations and parameter values in operation, impact of uncertainties to the functional performance measures needs to be considered in design of adaptable products. In this paper, a robust design approach is introduced to identify the optimal design configuration and parameters of an adaptable product whose functional performance measures are the least sensitive to uncertainties. An adaptable product in this paper is modeled by both configurations and parameters. At the configuration level, methods to model different product configuration candidates in design and different product configuration states in operation to satisfy design requirements are introduced. At the parameter level, four types of product/operating parameters and relations among these parameters are discussed. A two-level optimization approach is developed to identify the optimal design configuration and its parameter values of the adaptable product. A case study is implemented to illustrate the effectiveness of the newly developed robust adaptable design method.

Magnetorheological (MR) pin joint is a novel device in which its joint moment resistance can be controlled in real-time by altering the applied magnetic field. The smart pin joint is intended to be used as a controllable connector between the columns and beams of a civil structure to instantaneously shift the structural natural frequencies in order to avoid resonance and therefore to reduce unwanted vibrations and hence prevent structural damage. As an intrinsically nonlinear device, modelling of this MR fluid based device is a challenging task and makes the design of a suitable control algorithm a cumbersome situation. Aimed at its application in civil structure, the main purpose of this paper is to test and characterise the hysteretic behaviour of MR pin joint. A test scheme is designed to obtain the dynamic performance of MR pin joint in the dominant earthquake frequency range. Some unique phenomena different from those of MR damper are observed through the experimental testing. A computationally-efficient model is proposed by introducing a hyperbolic element to accurately reproduce its dynamic behaviour and to further facilitate the design of a suitable control algorithm. Comprehensive investigations on the model accuracy and dependences of the proposed model on loading condition (frequency and amplitude) and input current level are reported in the last section of this paper.

As the instant centers in planar mechanisms, the instantaneous poles (or instant poles, in brief) can be used for kinematic analysis in spherical mechanisms. One of the mandatory steps in this analysis is the determination of the location of these poles. This paper presents a theorem showing analytically that the locus of an unknown secondary instant pole in two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) spherical mechanisms is a great circle (GC). The exact location of the pole on its GC is obtained based on the configuration of the mechanism and velocity ratio of the two inputs. Moreover, using the results of the theorem, a geometrical technique is presented to determine the GC of the pole.

In this paper, the thermal buckling behavior of composite laminated plates under a uniform temperature distribution is studied. A finite element of four nodes and 32 degrees of freedom (DOF), previously developed for the bending and mechanical buckling of laminated composite plates, is extended to investigate the thermal buckling behavior of laminated composite plates. Based upon the classical plate theory, the present finite element is a combination of a linear isoparametric membrane element and a high precision rectangular Hermitian element. The numerical implementation of the present finite element allowed the comparison of the numerical obtained results with results obtained from the literature: 1) with element of the same order, 2) the first order shear deformation theory, 3) the high order shear deformation theory and 4) the three-dimensional solution. It was found that the obtained results were very close to the reference results and the proposed element offers a good convergence speed. Furthermore, a parametrical study was also conducted to investigate the effect of the anisotropy of composite materials on the critical buckling temperature of laminated plates. The study showed that: 1) the critical buckling temperature generally decreases with the increasing of the modulus ratio E_L/E_T and thermal expansion ratio α_T/α_L, and 2) the boundary conditions and the orientation angles significantly affect the critical buckling temperature of laminated plates.

In an operation mode of atomic force microscopy that uses a higher eigenmode to determine the physical properties of material surface, the ratio between the eigenfrequency of a higher flexural eigenmode and that of the first flexural eigenmode was identified as an important parameter that affects the sensitivity and accessibility. Structure features such as cut-out are often used to tune the ratio of eigenfrequencies and to enhance the performance. However, there lacks a systematic and automatic method for tailoring the ratio. In order to deal with this issue, a shape and topology optimization problem is formulated, where the ratio between two eigenfrequencies is defined as a constraint and the area of the cantilever is maximized. The optimization problem is solved via the level set based method.

In the current paper, a simplified model of Tower Cranes has been presented in order to investigate and analyze the nonlinear differential equation governing on the presented system in three different cases by Algebraic Method (AGM). Comparisons have been made between AGM and Numerical Solution, and these results have been indicated that this approach is very efficient and easy so it can be applied for other nonlinear equations. It is citable that there are some valuable advantages in this way of solving differential equations and also the answer of various sets of complicated differential equations can be achieved in this manner which in the other methods, so far, they have not had acceptable solutions. The simplification of the solution procedure in Algebraic Method and its application for solving a wide variety of differential equations not only in Vibrations but also in different fields of study such as fluid mechanics, chemical engineering, etc. make AGM be a powerful and useful role model for researchers in order to solve complicated nonlinear differential equations.

Applications like solid oxide fuel cells and sensors increasingly demand the possibility to braze ceramics to metals with a good resistance to high temperatures and oxidative atmospheres. Commonly used silver based active filler metals cannot fulfill these requirements, if application temperatures higher than 600°C occur. Au and Pd based active fillers are too expensive for many fields of use. As one possible solution nickel based active fillers were developed. Due to the high brazing temperatures and the low ductility of nickel based filler metals, the modification of standard nickel based filler metals were necessary to meet the requirements of above mentioned applications. To reduce thermally induced stresses wide brazing gaps and the addition of Al₂O₃ and WC particles to the filler metal were applied. In this study, the microstructure of the brazed joints and the thermo-chemical reactions between filler metal, active elements and WC particles were analyzed to understand the mechanism of the so called wide gap active brazing process. With regard to the behavior in typical application oxidation and thermal cycle tests were conducted as well as tensile tests.

In this paper the reliability and performance of a vapour compression refrigeration system with ZnO nanoparticles in the working fluid was investigated experimentally. Nanorefrigerant was synthesized on the basis of the concept of the nanofluids, which was prepared by mixing ZnO nanoparticles with R152a refrigerant. The conventional refrigerant R134a has a global warming potential (GWP) of 1300 whereas R152a has a significant reduced value of GWP of 140 only. An experimental test rig is designed and fabricated indigenously in the laboratory to carry out the investigations. ZnO nanoparticles with refrigerant mixture were used in HFC R152a refrigeration system. The system performance with nanoparticles was then investigated. The concentration of nano ZnO ranges in the order of 0.1% v, 0.3% v and 0.5%v with particle size of 50 nm and 150 g of R152a was charged and tests were conducted. The compressor suction pressure, discharge pressure and evaporator temperature were measured. The results indicated that ZnO nanorefrigerant works normally and safely in the system. The ZnO nanoparticle concentration is an important factor considered for heat transfer enhancement in the refrigeration system. The performance of the system was significantly improved with 21% less energy consumption when 0.5%v ZnO-R152a refrigerant. Both the suction pressure and discharge pressure were lowered by 10.5% when nanorefrigerant was used. The evaporator temperature was reduced by 6% with the use of nanorefrigerant. Hence ZnO nanoparticles could be used in refrigeration system to considerably reduce energy consumption. The usage of R152a with zero ozone depleting potential (ODP) and very less GWP and thus provides a green and clean environment. The complete experimental results and their analysis are reported in the main paper.

The present work studies and identifies the different variables that affect the output parameters involved in a single cylinder direct injection compression ignition (CI) engine using jatropha biodiesel. Response surface methodology based on Central composite design (CCD) is used to design the experiments. Mathematical models are developed for combustion parameters (Brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and peak cylinder pressure (P_max)), performance parameter brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and emission parameters (CO, NO_x, unburnt HC and smoke) using regression techniques. These regression equations are further utilized for simultaneous optimization of combustion (BSFC, P_max), performance (BTE) and emission (CO, NO_x, HC, smoke) parameters. As the objective is to maximize BTE and minimize BSFC, P_max, CO, NO_x, HC, smoke, a multi-objective optimization problem is formulated. Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II is used in predicting the Pareto optimal sets of solution. Experiments are performed at suitable optimal solutions for predicting the combustion, performance and emission parameters to check the adequacy of the proposed model. The Pareto optimal sets of solution can be used as guidelines for the end users to select optimal combination of engine output and emission parameters depending upon their own requirements.