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A spiral‐artificial basilar membrane (S‐ABM) sensor is reported that mimics the basilar membrane (BM) of the human cochlea and can detect sound by separating it into 24 sensing channels based on the frequency band. For this, an analytical function is proposed to design the width of the BM so that the frequency bands are linearly located along the length of the BM. To fabricate the S‐ABM sensor, a spiral‐shaped polyimide film is used as a vibrating membrane, with maximum displacement at locations corresponding to specific frequency bands of sound, and attach piezoelectric sensor modules made of poly(vinylidene fluoride‐trifluoroethylene) film on top of the polyimide film to measure the vibration amplitude at each channel location. As the result, the S‐ABM sensor implements a characteristic frequency band of 96‐12,821 Hz and 24‐independent critical bands. Using real‐time signals from discriminate channels, it is demonstrated that the sensor can rapidly identify the operational noises from equipment processes as well as vehicle sounds from environmental noises on the road. The sensor can be used in a variety of applications, including speech recognition, dangerous situation recognition, hearing aids, and cochlear implants, and more. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Seongho Yoon, Youngkeun K. Yoon Many efforts have been made to design the cylinder block to improve noise and vibration, to enhance durability, and to reduce weight against increasing engine power. However, it is not straightforward to achieve these goals simultaneously, and the resulting design leads to weight increase. This paper describes how to reduce the block weight by modal analysis and topology optimisation analysis. It also presents multidisciplinary analysis to identify the effect on the structural integrity of the bottom-end, the bearing oil film thickness, the interaction between crankshaft and block vibration, the powertrain vibration transfer to vehicle, and the structure attenuation for combustion noise, when a cylinder block is structurally modified at its bottom-end for weight reduction.

Crystal and phase transitions of a Chinese Datong coal ash were evaluated using room temperature X-ray diffraction (RT-XRD), in-situ high temperature (HT)-XRD, and scanning electron microscope combining energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX) as temperature varied from 300 °C to 1600 °C. The transforming behaviors of ash were related to its melting properties. Results revealed that the transforming behavior of minerals from in-situ HT-XRD was different with that from routine RT-XRD. Low-temperature Datong ash contained quartz and clays (such as kaolinite); the changes in minerals at low-temperature region (300-1000 °C) were mainly due to the minerals decomposition and partial phase transition. Significant transition of quartz to cristobalite occurred at ca. 1100 °C; the continuous transition and reaction of silica and alumina at ca. 1200 °C accelerated the softening of the ash (ST ≈ 1290 °C). An X-ray amorphous liquid phase was formed mainly by the eutectic solution of silica and mullite at ca. 1400 °C, which obviously affected the hemisphere temperature (HT ≈ 1490 °C) of ash; meanwhile, ultra fine alumina solid particles, which were probably derived from kaolinite, were found in the melted ash. Virtually, the fusing (FT > 1500 °C) of Datong ash was considered to be determined by the formation of solid particles and eutectic solution. Eventually, the semi-quantitative evaluation of transformations of ash was successfully obtained through the combined methods. © 2014 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The purpose of this study is to verify the environmental performance of the novel Void Deck Slab (VDS) system developed by the authors. The proposed VDS is a void slab system with enhanced design features that improve the constructability of the system through the elimination of additional works required to connect the void formers with the anchoring devices. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) technique was adopted to assess the carbon dioxide emissions of the void slab system with reference to the ordinary reinforced concrete slab. The system boundary of this study ranged from raw materials to pre-operation phase, in accordance with ISO 14044. The total CO2 emissions of the ordinary reinforced concrete slab and the void slab system were 204,433.06 and 151,754.75 kg CO2-eq, respectively, which equated to about 34% less emissions for the void slab system. In the case of the ordinary reinforced concrete slab, moulds accounted for approximately 62% of CO2 emission, followed by concrete (~34%). The main source of CO2 emissions for the void slab system was concrete that accounted for ~50%, followed by moulds and deck plates that accounted for roughly 27% and 19%, respectively. In the case of the void slab system, void formers would enable a lower amount of concrete, as well as the self-weight of the slab. Besides, although the void formers filled a significant volume of the slab, the contribution to CO2 emissions was less than 1%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]