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The in-wheel motor (IWM) is a promising advancement in electric vehicle propulsion since it offers greater packaging efficiency and torque vectoring capabilities than a chassis-mounted motor. However, the increased unsprung mass degrades the vehicle dynamics by increasing body vertical acceleration (BVA) and tyre dynamic load (TDL), worsening ride comfort and road-holding respectively. Another important consideration is magnetic gap deformation (MGD), which results from the deflection between the motor stator and rotor. Reducing MGD improves the motor reliability and longevity. This paper addresses these issues by incorporating inerters into an existing IWM model. They are incorporated into the strut and bushes to control BVA, TDL and MGD. The system optimised for MGD resulted in a deflection reduction of over 98% without compromising performance of the other indices. Optimising the strut and bushes for BVA and TDL reduced them by 20% and 9% respectively without degrading MGD. A sensitivity analysis of the results is presented. Here the damping and inertance values are varied by 20% from the optimum, and the resulting performance still improves upon the default. It is concluded that there are significant potential improvements where inerters are included in an in-wheel motor system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural rejuvenation in metallic glasses (MGs) induced by cryogenic thermal cycling has been intensively studied. However, the effect of thermal cycling on the atomic dynamics in MGs is still missing. In this work, we present a systematic study on the atomic dynamics in a La-based MG affected by sub-Tg annealing and thermal cycling. We find that the thermal cycling has little effect on the atomic dynamics in both as-cast and annealed MGs although it could significantly increase the free volume and change mechanical properties of the as-cast MG sample. In contrast, both the structure and mechanical properties of the well-relaxed sample are almost unchanged by thermal cycling. The increased open volume, mainly in the form of atomic vacancies, does not greatly promote the atomic dynamics in the as-cast MG sample, indicating that the free volume induced by thermal cycling is not the key factor in stimulating the β-relaxation and the boson peak in the studied MG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural evolution of a liquid GaIn eutectic alloy under high temperature and high pressure is investigated by combining in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. Both experimental and theoretical results confirm that no pressure-induced sudden structural changes are detected in the liquid state along different isotherms below 700 K. The XRD patterns indicate that the liquids at 400 and 673 K both crystallize into a tetragonal crystalline phase under high pressure, whose structure is locally face centered cubic (fcc)-like. The theoretical simulations successfully describe the atomic-scale structural evolution from disordered liquid to ordered solid phases during the isothermal compression at different temperatures, revealing a strong competition between the body-centered cubic (bcc)-like and fcc-like local atomic packings at the early stage of nucleation. The liquid can directly solidify into the bcc-like atomic packing at temperatures above 650 K, whereas this bcc-like structure becomes transient and metastable below 600 K and finally transforms into a stable fcc-like atomic packing with increasing pressure. Furthermore, a high-pressure and high-temperature "phase diagram" of the GaIn eutectic alloy is roughly constructed, providing new insight into atomic-scale disorder-to-order transition of the liquid GaIn eutectic alloy in extreme conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the atomic structure and dynamics of liquid aluminum (Al) has been studied at 1500 K as a function of pressure via ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The origin of the structural evolution is unveiled by various techniques. The structure factor and the mean square displacement data indicate the fortuity of a crystalline-like phase at 25 GPa, first evolving into the metastable body-centered cubic-like local order, followed by face-centered cubic, which is different from the crystallization mechanism proposed for the liquid Al by Desgranges and Delhommelle [J. Chem. Phys. 127, 144509 (2007)]. The three-dimensional structural analysis demonstrates the concentration of distorted icosahedron-like clusters, e.g., Voronoi <0, 3, 6, 3> and <0, 2, 8, 2>, which are closely correlated with crystal nucleation and growth. Crystallization in the liquid Al is distinctly correlated with the bond orientational order (Q6) fluctuations, instead of density fluctuations, where the temperature or pressure comparison on the local atomic structure in the liquid Al and degree of crystallization is also elucidated. The electronic structure study reveals that at ambient pressure, some valence electrons are already localized, showing a strong tendency of electron pairing with each other in the interstitial regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Size-dependent deformation mode transition in metallic glasses (MGs) attracts a lot of interest due to potential application in micro-devices, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear from the perspective of structure, e.g., how the chemical composition affects the deformation mode transition in a particular system is mysterious as well and needs to be addressed. Here, a series of NixNb100−x (x = 30, 50, 62, and 70 at. %) MG thin films has been studied by molecular dynamics simulations for better understanding the thickness-dependent tensile behaviors. The results show that the deformation mode transition from highly-localized to non-localized occurs as the film thickness (t) approaches the critical size, tc, which strongly correlates with the chemical composition, i.e., a Ni-rich specimen with higher modulus has smaller tc. It is revealed that the softening and compressive effect of surface layers with about 0.4 nm thickness in terms of Voronoi volume is the key factor for this transition regardless of composition. We illustrate the surface softening effect in various MG thin films by introducing a softening coefficient (Ψ) parameter reflecting the structural difference between the surface layer and the internal part. It is found that the higher the Ψ, the severer the surface softening effect, and the larger the tc in the Ni-depleted specimen, indicating the importance of Ψ as an indicator for the deformation mode transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The composition and temperature dependence of static and dynamic structures in NixNb1-x (x = 50-70 at. %) were systematically studied using molecular dynamics with a new-released semi-empirical embedded atom method potential by Mendelev. The calculated pair correlation functions and the structure factor match well with the experimental data, demonstrating the reliability of the potential within relatively wide composition and temperature ranges. The local atomic structures were then characterized by bond angle distributions and Voronoi tessellation methods, demonstrating that the icosahedral h0,0,12,0i is only a small fraction in the liquid state but increases significantly during cooling and becomes dominant at 300 K. The most abundant clusters are identified as ‹0,0,12,0› and distorted icosahedron ‹0,2,8,2›. The large fraction of these two clusters hints that the relatively good glass forming ability is near the eutectic point. Unlike Cu-Zr alloys, both the self-diffusion coefficient and shear viscosity are insensitive to compositions upon cooling in Ni-Nb alloys. The breakdownof the Stokes-Einstein relation happens at around 1.6Tg (Tg: glass transition temperature). In the amorphous state, the solid and liquid-like atoms can be distinguished based on the Debye-Waller factor ‹u2›. The insensitivity of the dynamic properties of Ni-Nb alloys to compositions may result from the relatively simple solidification process in the phase diagram, in which only one eutectic point exists in the studied composition range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability of high-entropy alloys (HEAs) is a key issue before their selection for industrial applications. In this study, in-situ high-pressure and high-temperature synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction experiments have been performed on three typical HEAs Ni20Co20Fe20Mn20Cr20, Hf25Nb25Zr25Ti25, and Re25Ru25Co25Fe25 (at. %), having face-centered cubic (fcc), body-centered cubic (bcc), and hexagonal close-packed (hcp) crystal structures, respectively, up to the pressure of ~80 GPa and temperature of ~1262 K. Under the extreme conditions of the pressure and temperature, all three studied HEAs remain stable up to the maximum pressure and temperatures achieved. For these three types of studied HEAs, the pressure-dependence of the volume can be well described with the third order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state. The bulk modulus and its pressure derivative are found to be 88.3 GPa and 4 for bcc-Hf25Nb25Zr25Ti25, 193.9 GPa and 5.9 for fcc-Ni20Co20Fe20Mn20Cr20, and 304.6 GPa and 3.8 for hcp-Re25Ru25Co25Fe25 HEAs, respectively. The thermal expansion coefficient for the three studied HEAs is found to be in the order as follows: fcc-Ni20Co20Fe20Mn20Cr20>bcc-Hf25Nb25Zr25Ti25 ≈hcp-Re25Ru25Co25Fe25. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A band-reject filter working in a near-infrared regime employing a bilayer Ag metasurface was demonstrated numerically and experimentally. This band-reject filter exhibited a broad rejection band (more than 500 nm), simple structure (including an ultrathin metal film, a dielectric layer, and substrate), and high tunability in the near-infrared spectral region, superior to previously reported filters with band-reject features. Simulations of optical reflection spectra under different conditions were carried out and revealed that the filtering behavior strongly depends on structural parameters. Three band-reject filters were experimentally fabricated and proved to be in good agreement with simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature-dependent viscosity and its relationship with local atomic packing structure of a liquid Zr56Co28Al16 alloy have been investigated by using an electromagnetic levitation device on board a parabolic flight airplane, together with ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. It is found that viscosity inversely correlates with the fraction of ‘loose’ atoms having larger free volume, indicating that the temperature-dependent viscosity during cooling is statistically related with the fraction of close packing atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As-cast amorphous AsSe (a-AsSe) has been characterized by in-situ high pressure XRD and Raman spectroscopy up to the pressure of ~30GPa using diamond anvil cell together with ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations. A gradual densification has been observed under compression along with the breakdown of intermediate range ordering at ~16GPa. The whole transformation process can be divided into three relatively distinct pressure regimes from 1 bar to 7GPa, from 7 to 16GPa, and beyond 16GPa. Our XRD results together with Raman spectroscopic studies confirm that in the a-AsSe pressure tuning results in network transformations only, without sudden jump in the density. The results obtained by high pressure ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate the variations in the local structures associated with the experimentally observed transformations. The amorphous-to-amorphous network transformation is found to be reversible upon decompression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The atomic structures of Al89Y11, Al90Y6.5La3.5, and Al82.8Y6.07Ni8La3.13 metallic glasses have been studied by using high energy X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption fine structure combined with the ab initio molecular dynamics and reverse Monte Carlo simulations. It is demonstrated that the partial replacement of Y atoms by La has limited improvement of the glass forming ability (GFA), although La atoms reduce the ordering around Y atoms and also the fractions of icosahedron-like polyhedra centered by Al atoms. In contrast, Ni atoms can significantly improve the GFA, which are inclined to locate in the shell of polyhedra centered by Al, Y, and La atoms, mainly forming Ni-centered icosahedron-like polyhedra to enhance the spatial connectivity between clusters and suppress the crystallization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to shed light on the crystallization pathways of liquid magnesium (Mg) upon cooling from 1700 K to 200 K. Various structural analyses during solidification reveal the microscopic evolution of crystallization pathways. We show that the phase selection depends on temperature. We further discuss the time evolution of nucleation at temperatures of 820, 500, 400, and 350 K. During the solidification process, we observe that at the temperature just below the melting point, the liquid first nucleates to the metastable body centered cubic-like symmetry. This nucleation further dominates until at the lower temperature, where the system finally transforms to the hexagonal close packed phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal behaviors of liquid La-based bulk metallic glasses have been measured by using the dilatometer with a self-sealed sample cell. It is demonstrated that the strong glass forming liquid not only has the small thermal expansion coefficient but also shows the slow variation rate. Moreover, the strong glass former has relatively dense atomic packing and also small density change in the liquid state. The results suggest that the high glass forming ability of La-based metallic glasses would be closely related to the slow atomic rearrangements in liquid melts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]