High Microwave Absorption of Nano-Fe3O4 Deposited Electrophoretically on Carbon Fiber

Production of magnetite (nano-Fe₃O₄)-coated carbon fibers (MCCFs) composites using the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique has been investigated in the present research. Fe₃O₄ nano-powder was synthesized by the reduction of Fe (III)-tri-ethanolamine (TEA) in an aqueous alkaline solution. By the deposition of nano-Fe₃O₄ particles distributed stably in a suspension on the surface, a uniform and compact Fe₃O₄ thin-film was fabricated on nitric acid-treated carbon fiber. According to the results, the strongest reflection loss (RL) of MCCFs was recognized to be ?11 dB at 10.37 and 11.4 GHz for a layer of 1.7 mm in thickness. EPD was introduced as a suitable method for the production of MCCFs due to its low cost, easy productivity and time efficiency as well as the high absorption properties of the resulting MCCFs compared with the previous reported works.     

The Quest for Hydrological Signatures: Effects of Data Transformation on Bayesian Inference of Watershed Models

Hydrological models contain parameters, values of which cannot be directly measured in the field, and hence need to be meaningfully inferred through calibration against historical records. Although much progress has been made in the model inference literature, relatively little is known about the effects of transforming calibration data (or error residual) on the identifiability of model parameters and reliability of model predictions. Such effects are analyzed herein using two hydrological models and three watersheds. Our results depict that calibration data transformations significantly influence parameter and predictive uncertainty estimates. Those transformations that distort the temporal distribution of calibration data, such as flow duration curve, normal quantile transform, and Fourier transform, considerably deteriorate the identifiability of model parameters derived in a formal Bayesian framework with a residual-based likelihood function. Other transformations, such as wavelet, BoxCox and square root, while demonstrating some merits in identifying specific model parameters, would not consistently improve predictive capability of hydrological models in a single objective inverse problem. Multi-objective optimization schemes, however, may present a more rigorous basis to extract several independent pieces of information from different data transformations. Finally, data transformations might offer a greater potential to evaluate model performance and assess specific sections of model behavior, rather than to calibrate models in a single objective framework. Findings of this study shed light on the importance and impacts of data transformations in search of hydrological signatures.     

An Android runtime security policy enforcement framework

Today, smart phone’s malwares are deceptive enough to spoof itself as a legal mobile application. The front-end service of Trojans is attractive enough to deceive mobile users. Mobile users download similar malwares without knowing their illegitimate background threat. Unlike other vendors, Android is an open-source mobile operating system, and hence, it lacks a dedicated team to analyze the application code and decide its trustworthiness. We propose an augmented framework for Android that monitors the dynamic behavior of application during its execution. Our proposed architecture called Security Enhanced Android Framework (seaf) validates the behavior of an application through its permissions exercising patterns. Based on the exercised permissions’ combination, the mobile user is intimated about the dangerous behavior of an application. We have implemented the proposed framework within Android software stack and ported it to device. Our initial investigation shows that our solution is practical enough to be used in the consumer market.     

Testing the application of Free Flapping Foils (FFF) as a method to improve adhesion in an electrostatic wall-climbing robot

In this paper, extensive testing on an electrostatic wall-climbing robot is carried out to examine the electrostatic adhesion force when using the Free Flapping Foils (FFF) method. This method is successfully applied to an electrostatic robot to enable it to stick more firmly, by about three times, on walls with different materials, including wood, plaster, granite, glass and climb wall with a continuous movement. The innovation in this paper is that successful tests were carried out, when using thin flexible electrodes made from aluminium foil and free movement of those electrodes. The FFF electrodes are flexible enough to get the shape and roughness of the wall and increases the contact surface. Thus, they increase the adhesion force and would also improve performance of the robot in rough surfaces. The experimental parameters including charging voltage, charging time, number of electrodes, area of electrodes, wall material (permittivity) and surface finishing of wall that affect the electrostatic carrying force were investigated. The robot could cross obstacles with different heights. The final robot was 1.27?Kg and able to convey 14?N extra load when sticking and climbing vertical walls.     

Design of a traveling wave thermo‐acoustic engine based on genetic algorithm

This paper presents a novel design scheme for traveling wave thermo‐acoustic Stirling engines (TASEs) based on a target frequency using genetic algorithm (GA). First, the effects of engine design parameters on the system performance are studied via root locus method. Accordingly, it is found that the resonator length, the inertance diameter, and the hot gas temperature are the most effective parameters in the engine design procedure. Next, the relation between the closed‐loop poles positions of the thermo‐acoustic system and the effective design variables are described parametrically. Consequently, in order to estimate the optimum values of the effective design parameters as well as the unknown positions of the nondominant poles, an appropriate fitness function based on the desired engine frequency is proposed. Subsequently, a GA is used to achieve the optimal values of design parameters so as to minimize the considered cost function. Finally, the validity of the proposed design technique is verified by comparing the obtained results with the available data of an experimental case study.     

Micromechanical modeling of interface damage of metal matrix composites subjected to off-axis loading

A three dimensional micromechanics based analytical model is presented to investigate the effects of initiation and propagation of interface damage on the elastoplastic behavior of unidirectional SiC/Ti metal matrix composites (MMCs) subjected to off-axis loading. Manufacturing process thermal residual stress (RS) is also included in the model. The selected representative volume element (RVE) consists of an r × c unit cells in which a quarter of the fiber is surrounded by matrix sub-cells. The constant compliance interface (CCI) model is modified to model interfacial de-bonding and the successive approximation method together with Von-Mises yield criterion is used to obtain elastic–plastic behavior. Dominance mode of damage including fiber fracture, interfacial de-bonding and matrix yielding and ultimate tensile strength of the SiC/Ti MMC are predicted for various loading directions. The effects of thermal residual stress and fiber volume fraction (FVF) on the stress–strain response of the SiC/Ti MMC are studied. Results revealed that for more realistic predictions both interface damage and thermal residual stress effects should be considered in the analysis. The contribution of interfacial de-bonding and thermal residual stress in the overall behavior of the material is also investigated. Comparison between results of the presented model shows very good agreement with finite element micromechanical analysis and experiment for various off-axis angles.     

Kinetic-spectrophotometry method for determination of ultra trace amounts of aluminum in food samples

A simple and sensitive kinetic-spectrophotometry method is developed for the determination of trace amounts of aluminum in food samples based on its catalytic effect on the oxidation of Nile Blue A by potassium bromate in sulfuric acid medium. The absorbance is measured at 595.5 nm with the fixed-time method. The optimization of the operating conditions regarding concentrations of the reagents, temperature and interferences are also investigated. The calibration curve is linear over the concentration range 0.07–0.9 μg ml⁻¹ of aluminum with good precision and accuracy and the detection limit was down to 0.034 μg ml⁻¹. The relative standard deviation for a standard solution of 0.4 μg ml⁻¹ of aluminum is 1.73% (n = 10). The proposed method proved highly sensitive, selective and relatively rapid for the assay of aluminum at ultra trace level without any pre-concentration and separation step. The method was applied to the determination of aluminum in food samples (rice, tea and potato). The analytical results of the real samples were in good agreement with the standard method.     

Thermoelastic free vibration and dynamic behaviour of an FGM doubly curved panel via the analytical hybrid Laplace–Fourier transformation

The paper presents an analysis of functionally graded material doubly curved panels with rectangular planform under the action of thermal and mechanical loads. Based on the first-order shear deformation theory of modified Sanders assumptions, five coupled partially differential equations (PDEs) are established as equations of motion. Each thermo-mechanical property of the shell follows the power law distribution across the thickness, except Poisson’s ratio, which is kept constant through the panel. Assuming that four edges of the shell-panel are simply supported, a Navier-based solution is adopted to reduce the PDEs into time-dependent ODEs. Applying the Laplace transformation, the equations of motion are transformed into the Laplace domain. With the aid of analytical Laplace inverse method, solutions of stresses, strains, and displacements are obtained in time domain and expressed in explicit phrases. Dynamic, free vibration, and thermo-mechanical bending analysis of the panel is carried out for various geometries. Obtained results are validated with the well-known available data reported in the literature.     

Experimental and analytical assessment of axial crushing of circular hybrid tubes under quasi-static load

In the present article, axial crushing behavior of circular aluminum/glass–epoxy hybrid tubes is studied experimentally and analytically. 48 quasi-static axial crushing experiments are carried out on bare metal and hybrid tubes to evaluate the effect of different parameters such as metal and composite wall thicknesses and stacking sequence of composite layers on the crashworthiness characteristics. The specimens are made in two types of layups including angle ply pattern [±θ]_s and multi angle ply pattern (different ply angles). The experimental results reveal that stacking sequence has a considerable effect on crashworthiness characteristics, for example for layup [90/0/0/90], the absorbed energy is more than three times of aluminum tube with the same aluminum wall thickness. Also the aforementioned layup has better energy absorption compared to [90/90/90/90] which has been previously proposed as the best layup.