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As a powerful mathematical analysis tool, the local fractional calculus has attracted wide attention in the field of fractal circuits. The purpose of this paper is to derive a new ℑ-order non-differentiable (ND) R-C zero state-response circuit (ZSRC) by using the local fractional derivative on the Cantor set for the first time.

A new ℑ-order ND R-C ZSRC within the local fractional derivative on the Cantor set is derived for the first time in this work. By defining the ND lumped elements via the local fractional derivative, the ℑ-order Kirchhoff voltage laws equation is established, and the corresponding solutions in the form of the Mittag-Leffler decay defined on the Cantor sets are derived by applying the local fractional Laplace transform and inverse local fractional Laplace transform.

The characteristics of the ℑ-order R-C ZSRC on the Cantor sets are analyzed and presented through the 2-D curves. It is found that the ℑ-order R-C ZSRC becomes the classic one when ℑ = 1. The comparative results between the ℑ-order R-C ZSRC and the classic one show that the proposed method is correct and effective and is expected to shed light on the theory study of the fractal electrical systems.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper, for the first time ever, proposes the ℑ-order ND R-C ZSRC within the local fractional derivative on the Cantor sets. The results of this paper are expected to give some new enlightenment to the development of the fractal circuits.

The purpose of the study is to propose a novel implementation of twisted tape in sinusoidal wavy-walled tubes to enhance the rate of heat transfer without compromising thermal efficiency. The study numerically investigates the fluid flow characteristics and analyzes the effect of different geometrical configurations, including wall wave amplitude, tape twist angles and nanoparticle volume fractions, on heat transfer improvement and performance factor.

This problem is numerically investigated using computational fluid dynamics, and the method is the finite volume method. A two-phase mixture model is used for nanofluid modeling.

The study investigated the effect of wall waviness, twisted tape, and nanoparticles on forced convective heat transfer and friction factor behavior in laminar pipe flow in three different Reynolds number regimes. The results showed that implementing twisted tape in wavy tubes significantly increased the rate of heat transfer and the performance factor, with the best twist ratio between 90 and 180°. Adding nanoparticles also enhanced heat transfer and performance factor, but to a lesser extent than wavy wall-twisted tape combinations. The study suggests selecting a proper combination of wavy wall and twisted tape at each Reynolds number to achieve an optimum solution.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the implementation of the selected passive methods in sinusoidal wavy tubes has not been studied before, and no previous studies have taken into account such a mix of heat transfer improvement techniques.

The fractal and fractional calculus have obtained considerable attention in the electrical and electronic engineering since they can model many complex phenomena that the traditional integer-order calculus cannot. The purpose of this paper is to develop a new fractional pulse narrowing nonlinear transmission lines model within the local fractional calculus for the first time and derive a novel method, namely, the direct mapping method, to seek for the nondifferentiable (ND) exact solutions.

By defining some special functions via the Mittag–Leffler function on the Cantor sets, a novel approach, namely, the direct mapping method is derived via constructing a group of the nonlinear local fractional ordinary differential equations. With the aid of the direct mapping method, four groups of the ND exact solutions are obtained in just one step. The dynamic behaviors of the ND exact solutions on the Cantor sets are also described through the 3D graphical illustration.

It is found that the proposed method is simple but effective and can construct four sets of the ND exact solutions in just one step. In addition, one of the ND exact solutions becomes the exact solution of the classic pulse narrowing nonlinear transmission lines model for the special case 9 = 1, which strongly proves the correctness and effectiveness of the method. The ideas in the paper can be used to study the other fractal partial differential equations (PDEs) within the local fractional derivative (LFD) arising in electrical and electronic engineering.

The fractional pulse narrowing nonlinear transmission lines model within the LFD is proposed for the first time in this paper. The proposed method in the work can be used to study the other fractal PDEs arising in electrical and electronic engineering. The findings in this work are expected to shed a light on the study of the fractal PDEs arising in electrical and electronic engineering.

The purpose of this paper is to derive a new fractal active low-pass filter (LPF) within the local fractional derivative (LFD) calculus on the Cantor set (CS).

To the best of the author’s knowledge, a new fractal active LPF within the LFD on the CS is proposed for the first time in this work. By defining the nondifferentiable (ND) lumped elements on the fractal set, the author successfully extracted its ND transfer function by applying the local fractional Laplace transform. The properties of the ND transfer function on the CS are elaborated in detail.

The comparative results between the fractal active LPF (for γ = ln2/ln3) and the classic one (for γ = 1) on the amplitude–frequency and phase–frequency characteristics show that the proposed method is correct and effective, and is expected to shed light on the theory study of the fractal electrical systems.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, the fractal active LPF within the LFD calculus on the CS is proposed for the first time in this study. The proposed method can be used to study the other problems in the fractal electrical systems, and is expected to shed a light on the theory study of the fractal electrical systems.

The purpose of this paper is to predict a suitable paper substrate which has high capillary pressure with the tendency of subsequent fluid wrenching in onward direction for the fabrication of microfluidics device application.

The experiment has been done on the Whatman^TM grade 1, Whatman^TM chromatography and nitrocellulose paper samples which are made by GE Healthcare Life Sciences. The structural characterization of paper samples for surface properties has been done by scanning electron microscope and ImageJ software. Identification of functional groups on the surface of samples has been done by Fourier transform infrared analysis. A finite elemental analysis has also been performed by using the “Multiphase Flow in Porous Media” module of the COMSOL Multiphysics tool which combines Darcy’s law and Phase Transport in Porous Media interface.

Experimentally, it has been concluded that the paper substrate for flexible microfluidic device application must have large number of internal (intra- and interfiber) pores with fewer void spaces (external pores) that have high capillary pressure to propel the fluid in onward direction with narrow paper fiber channel.

Surface structure has a dynamic impact in paper substrate utilization in multiple applications such as paper manufacturing, printing process and microfluidics applications.

The purpose of this paper is mainly to know: (1) the sound absorption coefficient of porous composite structures constituted by a new kind of lightweight ceramic foam and perforated plate; (2) the availability of an equivalent porous material model, recently proposed by the present author, to these composite structures in sound absorption.

A kind of lightweight ceramic foam with bulk density of 0.38–0.56 g·cm-3 was produced by means of molding, drying and sintering. The effect of stainless steel perforated plate on sound absorption performance of the ceramic foam was investigated by means of JTZB absorption tester.

The results indicate that the sound absorption performance could be obviously changed by adding the stainless steel perforated plate in front of the porous samples and the air gap in back of the porous samples. Adding the perforated plate to the porous sample with a relatively large pore size, the sound absorption performance could be evidently improved for the composite structure. When the air gap is added to the composite structure, the first absorption peak shifts to the lower frequency, and the sound absorption coefficient could increase in the low frequency range.

Based on the equivalent porous material model and the “perforated plate with air gap” model, the sound absorption performance of the composite structures can be simulated conveniently to a great extent by using Johnson-Champoux-Allard model.

Accurately evaluating fluid flow behaviors and determining permeability for deforming porous media is time-consuming and remains challenging. This paper aims to propose a novel machine-learning method for the rapid estimation of permeability of porous media at different deformation stages constrained by hydro-mechanical coupling analysis.

A convolutional neural network (CNN) is proposed in this paper, which is guided by the results of finite element coupling analysis of equilibrium equation for mechanical deformation and Boltzmann equation for fluid dynamics during the hydro-mechanical coupling process [denoted as Finite element lattice Boltzmann model (FELBM) in this paper]. The FELBM ensures the Lattice Boltzmann analysis of coupled fluid flow with an unstructured mesh, which varies with the corresponding nodal displacement resulting from mechanical deformation. It provides reliable label data for permeability estimation at different stages using CNN.

The proposed CNN can rapidly and accurately estimate the permeability of deformable porous media, significantly reducing processing time. The application studies demonstrate high accuracy in predicting the permeability of deformable porous media for both the test and validation sets. The corresponding correlation coefficients (R²) is 0.93 for the validation set, and the R² for the test set A and test set B are 0.93 and 0.94, respectively.

This study proposes an innovative approach with the CNN to rapidly estimate permeability in porous media under dynamic deformations, guided by FELBM coupling analysis. The fast and accurate performance of CNN underscores its promising potential for future applications.

This paper aims to characterize and develop a new ecological lightweight concrete reinforced by addition of palm plant fibers (from vegetal waste) to be used in the thermal and acoustical insulation of local constructions. The date palm plant fibers are characterized by their low sensitivity to chemical reactions, low cost and large availability in local regions. Therefore, the newly obtained lightweight concrete may suggest a great interest, as it seems to be able to achieve good solutions for local construction problems, technically, economically and ecologically.

The experimental program focused on developing the composition of palm-fiber-reinforced concrete, by studying the effect of the length of the fibers (10, 20, 30 and 40 mm) and their mass percentage (0.5%, 1%, 1.5% and 2%), on the mechanical and acoustical properties of the composite. The main measured parameters were the compressive strength and flexural strength, sound absorption coefficient, noise reduction coefficient (NRC), etc. These tests were also borne out by the measure of density and water absorption, as well as microstructure analyses. To fully appreciate the behavior of the material, visualizations under optical microscope and scanning electron microscope analyses were carried out.

The addition of plant fibers to concrete made it possible to formulate a new lightweight concrete having interesting properties. The addition of date palm fibers significantly decreased the density of the concrete and consequently reduced its mechanical strength, particularly in compression. Acceptable compressive strength values were possible, according to the fibers content, while better values have been obtained in flexion. On the other hand, good acoustical performances were obtained: a considerable increase in the sound absorption coefficient and the NRC was recorded, according to the content and length of fibers. Even the rheological behavior has been improved with the addition of fibers, but with short fibers only.

Over the recent decades, many studies have attempted to search for more sustainable and environmentally friendly building materials. Therefore, this work aims to study the possibility of using waste from date palm trees as fibers in concrete instead of the conventionally used fibers. Although many researches have already been conducted on the effect of palm plant fibers on the mechanical/physical properties of concrete, no information is available neither on the formulation of this type of concrete nor on its acoustical properties. Indeed, due to the scarcity of raw materials and the excessive consumption of energy, the trend of plant fibers as resources, which are natural and renewable, is very attractive. It is therefore a major recycling project of waste and recovery of local materials.

Dehydrated bacterial cellulose’s (BC) intrinsic rigidity constrains applicability across textiles, leather, health care and other sectors. This study aims to yield a novel BC modification method using glycerol and succinic acid with catalyst and heat, applied via an industrially scalable padding method to tackle BC’s stiffness drawbacks and enhance BC properties.

Fabric-like BC is generated via mechanical dehydration and then finished by using padding method with glycerol, succinic acid, catalyst and heat. Comprehensive material characterizations, including international testing standards for stiffness, bending properties (cantilever method), tensile properties, moisture vapor transmission rate, moisture content and regain, washing, thermal gravimetric analysis, derivative thermogravimetry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and colorimetric measurement, are used.

The combination of BC/glycerol/succinic acid dramatically enhanced porous structure, elongation (27.40 ± 6.39%), flexibility (flexural rigidity of 21.46 ± 4.01 µN m; bending modulus of 97.45 ± 18.20 MPa) and moisture management (moisture vapor transmission rate of 961.07 ± 86.16 g/m²/24 h; moisture content of 27.43 ± 2.50%; and moisture regain of 37.94 ± 4.73%). This softening process modified the thermal stability of BC. Besides, this study alleviated the drawbacks for washing (five cycles) of BC and glycerol caused by the ineffective affinity between glycerol and cellulose by adding succinic acid with catalyst and heat.

The study yields an effective padding process for BC softening and a unique modified BC to contribute added value to textile and leather industries as a sustainable alternative to existing materials and a premise for future research on BC functionalization by using doable technologies in mass production as padding.

The heat transfer properties play significant roles in the thermal comfort of the clothing products. The purpose of this paper is to find the relationship between heat transfer properties and fabrics' structure, yarn properties and predict the effective thermal conductivity of single layer woven fabrics by a parametric mathematical model.

First, the weave unit was divided into four types of element regions, including yarn overlap regions, yarn crossing regions, yarn floating regions and pore regions. Second, the number and area proportion of each region were calculated respectively. Some formulas were created to calculate the effective thermal conductivity of each element region based on serial model, parallel model or series–parallel mixing model. Finally, according to the number and area proportion of each region in weave unit, the formulas were established to calculate the fabric overall effective thermal conductivity in thickness direction based on the parallel models.

The influences of yarn spacing, yarn width, fabric thickness, the compressing coefficients of air layers and weave type on the effective thermal conductivity were further discussed respectively. In this model, the relationships between the effective thermal conductivity and each parameter are some polynomial fitting curves with different orders. Weave type affects the change of effective thermal conductivity mainly through the numbers of different elements and their area ratios.

In this model, the formulas were created respectively to calculate the effective thermal conductivity of each element region and whole weave unit. The serial–parallel mixing characteristics of yarn and surrounding air are considered, as well as the compression coefficients of air layers. The results of this study can be further applied to the optimal design of mixture fabrics with different warp and filling yarn densities or different yarn thermal properties.