Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering

ISSN 2095-0233

ISSN 2095-0241(Online)

CN 11-5984/TH

Postal Subscription Code 80-975

2018 Impact Factor: 0.989

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, Volume 10 Issue 3

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EDITORIAL
RESEARCH ARTICLE
One DOF mechanism for the mechanical harvest of vines in an arbor structure and the validation of the acceleration of grape berry harvesting
Osvaldo PENISI,José BOCCA,Horacio AGUILAR,Pedro BOCCA
Front. Mech. Eng.. 2015, 10 (3): 221-232.  
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-015-0347-9

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In the mechanized harvest of vines, grape berries are detached through the vibration to the structure supporting the clusters. According to the kind of guide selected, the clusters require one or two vibration directions in the structure. For guiding in parral structures, vibration is necessary in two directions or planes: One perpendicular to the other. The guide branches producing the clusters develop in these planes, and the guiding is called H-guiding. Mechanism theory indicates that a mechanism has as many degrees of freedom as its actuators, and an actuator is needed to achieve a certain vibration. Having the smallest number of possible actuators is beneficial in reducing moving parts and achieving more compact and easily controllable mecha-nisms. In this case, a single degree-of-freedom mechanism is proposed. It is capable of generating vibrations on two planes: One perpendicular to the other. This mechanism is the sum of two link mechanisms on perpendicular planes with a common outlet located at the output rod of the mechanism where the actuator is found. As the distance between the soil and the elements containing the clusters is not constant, a system has been designed to measure the accelerations at the bars and the rocker to validate the acceleration values that detach the grape berries in a prototype in a lab experiment, to ensure that the acceleration needed for pulling the grape berries are produced at any contact point of the bar.

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Modeling and simulation of normal and hemiparetic gait
Lely A. LUENGAS, Esperanza CAMARGO, Giovanni SANCHEZ
Front. Mech. Eng.. 2015, 10 (3): 233-241.  
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-015-0343-0

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Gait is the collective term for the two types of bipedal locomotion, walking and running. This paper is focused on walking. The analysis of human gait is of interest to many different disciplines, including biomechanics, human-movement science, rehabilitation and medicine in general. Here we present a new model that is capable of reproducing the properties of walking, normal and pathological. The aim of this paper is to establish the biomechanical principles that underlie human walking by using Lagrange method. The constraint forces of Rayleigh dissipation function, through which to consider the effect on the tissues in the gait, are included. Depending on the value of the factor present in the Rayleigh dissipation function, both normal and pathological gait can be simulated. First of all, we apply it in the normal gait and then in the permanent hemiparetic gait. Anthropometric data of adult person are used by simulation, and it is possible to use anthropometric data for children but is necessary to consider existing table of anthropometric data. Validation of these models includes simulations of passive dynamic gait that walk on level ground. The dynamic walking approach provides a new perspective of gait analysis, focusing on the kinematics and kinetics of gait. There have been studies and simulations to show normal human gait, but few of them have focused on abnormal, especially hemiparetic gait. Quantitative comparisons of the model predictions with gait measurements show that the model can reproduce the significant characteristics of normal gait.

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REVIEW ARTICLE
Design of active orthoses for a robotic gait rehabilitation system
A. C. VILLA-PARRA,L. BROCHE,D. DELISLE-RODRÍGUEZ,R. SAGARÓ,T. BASTOS,A. FRIZERA-NETO
Front. Mech. Eng.. 2015, 10 (3): 242-254.  
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-015-0350-1

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An active orthosis (AO) is a robotic device that assists both human gait and rehabilitation therapy. This work proposes portable AOs, one for the knee joint and another for the ankle joint. Both AOs will be used to complete a robotic system that improves gait rehabilitation. The requirements for actuator selection, the biomechanical considerations during the AO design, the finite element method, and a control approach based on electroencephalographic and surface electromyographic signals are reviewed. This work contributes to the design of AOs for users with foot drop and knee flexion impairment. However, the potential of the proposed AOs to be part of a robotic gait rehabilitation system that improves the quality of life of stroke survivors requires further investigation.

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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Some remarks on the engineering application of the fatigue crack growth approach under nonzero mean loads
Jorge Alberto Rodriguez DURAN,Ronney Mancebo BOLOY,Rafael Raider LEONI
Front. Mech. Eng.. 2015, 10 (3): 255-262.  
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-015-0342-1

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The well-known fatigue crack growth (FCG) curves are two-parameter dependents. The range of the stress intensity factor ?K and the load ratio R are the parameters normally used for describing these curves. For engineering purposes, the mathematical representation of these curves should be integrated between the initial and final crack sizes in order to obtain the safety factors for stresses and life. First of all, it is necessary to reduce the dependence of the FCG curves to only one parameter. ?K is almost always selected and, in these conditions, considered as the crack driving force. Using experimental data from literature, the present paper shows how to perform multiple regression analyses using the traditional Walker approach and the more recent unified approach. The correlations so obtained are graphically analyzed in three dimensions. Numerical examples of crack growth analysis for cracks growing under nominal stresses of constant amplitude in smooth and notched geometries are performed, assuming an identical material component as that of the available experimental data. The resulting curves of crack size versus number of cycles (a vs. N) are then compared. The two models give approximately the same (a vs. N) curves in both geometries. Differences between the behaviors of the (a vs. N) curves in smooth and notched geometries are highlighted, and the reasons for these particular behaviors are discussed.

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An invariant descriptor for conjugate forced convection-conduction cooling of 3D protruding heaters in channel flow
Thiago ANTONINI ALVES,Paulo H. D. SANTOS,Murilo A. BARBUR
Front. Mech. Eng.. 2015, 10 (3): 263-276.  
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-015-0345-y

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In this research, the temperatures of three-dimensional (3D) protruding heaters mounted on a conductive substrate in a horizontal rectangular channel with laminar airflow are related to the independent power dissipation in each heater by using a matrix G+ with invariant coefficients, which are dimensionless. These coefficients are defined in this study as the conjugate influence coefficients (g+) caused by the forced convection-conduction nature of the heaters’ cooling process. The temperature increase of each heater in the channel is quantified to clearly identify the contributions attributed to the self-heating and power dissipation in the other heaters (both upstream and downstream). The conjugate coefficients are invariant with the heat generation rate in the array of heaters when assuming a defined geometry, invariable fluid and flow rate, and constant substrate and heater conductivities. The results are numerically obtained by considering three 3D protruding heaters on a two-dimensional (2D) array by ANSYS/FluentTM 15.0 software. The conservation equations are solved by a coupled procedure within a single calculation domain comprising of solid and fluid regions and by considering a steady state laminar airflow with constant properties. Some examples are shown, indicating the effects of substrate thermal conductivity and Reynolds number on conjugate influence coefficients.

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Fault diagnosis of spur gearbox based on random forest and wavelet packet decomposition
Diego CABRERA,Fernando SANCHO,René-Vinicio SÁNCHEZ,Grover ZURITA,Mariela CERRADA,Chuan LI,Rafael E. VÁSQUEZ
Front. Mech. Eng.. 2015, 10 (3): 277-286.  
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-015-0348-8

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This paper addresses the development of a random forest classifier for the multi-class fault diagnosis in spur gearboxes. The vibration signal’s condition parameters are first extracted by applying the wavelet packet decomposition with multiple mother wavelets, and the coefficients’ energy content for terminal nodes is used as the input feature for the classification problem. Then, a study through the parameters’ space to find the best values for the number of trees and the number of random features is performed. In this way, the best set of mother wavelets for the application is identified and the best features are selected through the internal ranking of the random forest classifier. The results show that the proposed method reached 98.68% in classification accuracy, and high efficiency and robustness in the models.

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Experimental evaluation and simulation of volumetric shrinkage and warpage on polymeric composite short natural fibers reinforced injection molded
Jonnathan D. SANTOS,Jorge I. FAJARDO,Alvaro R. CUJI,Jaime A. GARCÍA,Luis E. GARZÓN,Luis M. LÓPEZ
Front. Mech. Eng.. 2015, 10 (3): 287-293.  
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-015-0346-x

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A polymeric natural fiber-reinforced composite is developed by extrusion and injection molding process. The shrinkage and warpage of high-density polyethylene reinforced with short natural fibers of Guadua angustifolia Kunth are analyzed by experimental measurements and computer simulations. Autodesk Moldflow® and Solid Works® are employed to simulate both volumetric shrinkage and warpage of injected parts at different configurations: 0 wt.%, 20 wt.%, 30 wt.% and 40 wt.% reinforcing on shrinkage and warpage behavior of polymer composite. Become evident the restrictive effect of reinforcing on the volumetric shrinkage and warpage of injected parts. The results indicate that volumetric shrinkage of natural composite is reduced up to 58% with fiber increasing, whereas the warpage shows a reduction form 79% to 86% with major fiber content. These results suggest that it is a highly beneficial use of natural fibers to improve the assembly properties of polymeric natural fiber-reinforced composites.

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Elastic modulus and thermal stress in coating during heat cycling with different substrate shapes
Daniel GAONA, Alfredo VALAREZO
Front. Mech. Eng.. 2015, 10 (3): 294-300.  
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-015-0351-0

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The elastic modulus of a deposit (Ed) can be obtained by monitoring the temperature (∆T) and curvature (∆k) of a one-side coated long plate, namely, a one-dimensional (1D) deformation model. The aim of this research is to design an experimental setup that proves whether a 1D deformation model can be scaled for complex geometries. The setup includes a laser displacement sensor mounted on a robotic arm capable of scanning a specimen surface and measuring its deformation. The reproducibility of the results is verified by comparing the present results with Stony Brook University Laboratory’s results. The ∆k-∆T slope error is less than 8%, and the Ed estimation error is close to 2%. These values reveal the repeatability of the experiments. Several samples fabricated with aluminum as the substrate and 100MXC nanowire (Fe and Cr alloy) as the deposit are analyzed and compared with those in finite element (FE) simulations. The linear elastic behavior of 1D (flat long plate) and 2D (squared plate) specimens during heating/cooling cycles is demonstrated by the high linearity of all ∆k-∆T curves (over 97%). The Ed values are approximately equal for 1D and 2D analyses, with a median of 96 GPa and standard deviation of 2 GPa. The correspondence between the experimental and simulated results for the 1D and 2D specimens reveals that deformation and thermal stress in coated specimens can be predicted regardless of specimen geometry through FE modeling and by using the experimental value of Ed. An example of a turbine-blade-shaped substrate is presented to validate the approach.

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Non-thermal plasma for exhaust gases treatment
Elvia ALVA R.,Marquidia PACHECO P.,Fernando GÓMEZ B.,Joel PACHECO P.,Arturo COLÍN C.,Víctor SÁNCHEZ-MENDIETA,Ricardo VALDIVIA B.,Alfredo SANTANA D.,José HUERTAS C.,Hilda FRÍAS P.
Front. Mech. Eng.. 2015, 10 (3): 301-305.  
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-015-0344-z

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This article describes a study on a non-thermal plasma device to treat exhaust gases in an internal combustion engine. Several tests using a plasma device to treat exhaust gases are conducted on a Honda GX200-196 cm3 engine at different rotational speeds. A plasma reactor could be efficient in degrading nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. Monoxide and carbon dioxide treatment is minimal. However, achieving 1%–3% degradation may be interesting to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.

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Determination of energy dissipation of a spider silk structure under impulsive loading
Jorge ALENCASTRE,Carlos MAGO,Richard RIVERA
Front. Mech. Eng.. 2015, 10 (3): 306-310.  
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-015-0349-7

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Various researches and studies have demonstrated that spider silk is much stronger and more deformable than a steel string of the same diameter from a mechanical approach. These excellent properties have caused many scientific disciplines to get involved, such as bio-mechanics, bio-materials and bio-mimetics, in order to create a material of similar properties and characteristics. It should be noted that the researches and studies have been oriented mainly as a quasi-static model. For this research, the analysis has taken a dynamic approach and determined the dissipation energy of a structure which is made of spider silk “Dragline” and produced by the Argiope-Argentata spider, through an analytical-experimental way, when being subjected to impulsive loading. Both experimental and analytical results, the latter obtained by using adjusted models, have given high levels of dissipation energy during the first cycle of vibration, which are consistent with the values suggested by other authors.

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11 articles