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Article
Publication date: 15 July 2022

Upendra Bajpai, Palash Soni, Vivek Kumar Gaba and Shubhankar Bhowmick

When the temperature of an air conditioning unit’s fin surface goes below its dew point temperature, condensation forms on the unit’s surface. As a result, the cooling coil’s…

Abstract

Purpose

When the temperature of an air conditioning unit’s fin surface goes below its dew point temperature, condensation forms on the unit’s surface. As a result, the cooling coil’s performance is compromised. By altering the cross-section and heat conductivity of the fins, the performance of such systems can be improved. This study aims to analyze the thermal performance of longitudinal fins made up of a variable thickness (assuming constant weight) and functionally graded material.

Design/methodology/approach

Different grading parameters are considered for an exponential variation of thermal conductivity. The humidity ratio and the corresponding fin temperatures are assumed to follow a cubic relationship. The Bvp4c solver in MATLAB® is used to solve the differential heat transfer equation resulting from balancing heat transfer in a small segment.

Findings

Validation of the methodology is provided by previous research presented in this area. For different combinations of grading parameters, geometry parameters and relative humidity, the normalized temperature distribution along the fin length and fin efficiency contours are plotted, and the results are very promising.

Originality/value

When compared to the efficiency of an isotropic homogenous rectangular longitudinal fin with optimal geometry and grading parameters, a 17% increase in efficiency under fully wet conditions is measured. When it comes to fin design, these efficiency contour plots are extremely useful.

Details

World Journal of Engineering, vol. 20 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1708-5284

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 February 2023

Josué Costa-Baptista, Edith Roland Fotsing, Jacky Mardjono, Daniel Therriault and Annie Ross

The purpose of this paper is the design and experimental investigation of compact hybrid sound-absorbing materials presenting low-frequency and broadband sound absorption.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is the design and experimental investigation of compact hybrid sound-absorbing materials presenting low-frequency and broadband sound absorption.

Design/methodology/approach

The hybrid materials combine microchannels and helical tubes. Microchannels provide broadband sound absorption in the middle frequency range. Helical tubes provide low-frequency absorption. Optimal configurations of microchannels are used and analytical equations are developed to guide the design of the helical tubes. Nine hybrid materials with 30 mm thickness are produced via additive manufacturing. They are combinations of one-, two- and four-layer microchannels and helical tubes with 110, 151 and 250 mm length. The sound absorption coefficient of the hybrid materials is measured using an impedance tube.

Findings

The type of microchannels (i.e. one, two or four layers), the number of rotations and the number of tubes are key parameters affecting the acoustic performance. For instance, in the 500 Hz octave band (α500), sound absorption of a 30 mm thick hybrid material can reach 0.52 which is 5.7 times higher than the α500 of a typical periodic porous material with the same thickness. Moreover, the broadband sound absorption for mid-frequencies is reasonably high with and α1000 > 0.7. The ratio of first absorption peak wavelength to structure thickness λ/T can reach 17, which is characteristic of deep-subwavelength behaviour.

Originality/value

The concept and experimental validation of a compact hybrid material combining a periodic porous structure such as microchannels and long helical tubes are original. The ability to increase low-frequency sound absorption at constant depth is an asset for applications where volume and weight are constraints.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 29 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 October 2023

Mohammad Hadi Moradi and Mehdi Ranjbar-Roeintan

The purpose of this research is to extract the natural frequencies of a circular plate containing a central hole reinforced with boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) and containing…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to extract the natural frequencies of a circular plate containing a central hole reinforced with boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) and containing piezoelectric layers.

Design/methodology/approach

A unit cell shall be taken into account for the simulation of BNNT's volume fraction. A rectangular micromechanical model is used to obtain the mechanical properties of unit cell of piezoelectric fiber-reinforced composite (PFRC). The three-dimensional (3D) elasticity method is presented to provide the relationship between displacements and stresses. The one-dimensional differential quadrature method (1D-DQM) and the state-space methodology are combined to create the semi-analytical technique. The state-space approach is utilized to implement an analytical resolution in the thickness direction, and 1D-DQM is used to implement an approximation solution in the radial direction. The composite consists of a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) matrix and BNNTs as reinforcement.

Findings

A study on the PFRC is carried, likewise, the coefficients of its properties are obtained using a micro-electromechanical model known as the rectangular model. To implement the DQM, the plate was radially divided into sample points, each with eight state variables. The boundary situation and DQM are used to discretize the state-space equations, and the top and bottom application surface conditions are used to determine the natural frequencies of the plate. The model's convergence is assessed. Additionally, the dimensionless frequency is compared to earlier works and ABAQUS simulation in order to validate the model. Finally, the effects of the thickness, lateral wavenumber, boundary conditions and BNNT volume fraction on the annular plate's free vibration are investigated. The important achievements are that increasing the volume fraction of BNNTs increases the natural frequency.

Originality/value

The micromechanical “XY rectangle” model in PFRC along with the three-dimensional elasticity model is used in this literature to assess how the piezoelectric capabilities of BNNTs affect the free vibration of polymer-based composite annular plates under various boundary conditions.

Details

International Journal of Structural Integrity, vol. 14 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-9864

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 August 2023

Kevin Moj, Robert Owsiński, Grzegorz Robak and Munish Kumar Gupta

Additive manufacturing (AM), a rapidly evolving paradigm, has shown significant advantages over traditional subtractive processing routines by allowing for the custom creation of…

Abstract

Purpose

Additive manufacturing (AM), a rapidly evolving paradigm, has shown significant advantages over traditional subtractive processing routines by allowing for the custom creation of structural components with enhanced performance. Numerous studies have shown that the technical qualities of AM components are profoundly affected by the discovery of novel metastable substructures in diverse alloys. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the effect of cell structure parameters on its mechanical response.

Design/methodology/approach

Initially, a methodology was suggested for testing porous materials, focusing on static tensile testing. For a qualitative evaluation of the cellular structures produced, computed tomography (CT) was used. Then, the CT scanner was used to analyze a sample and determine its actual relative density, as well as perform a detailed geometric analysis.

Findings

The experimental research demonstrates that the mechanical properties of a cell’s structure are significantly influenced by its shape during formation. It was also determined that using selective laser melting to produce cell structures with a minimum single-cell size of approximately 2 mm would be the most appropriate method.

Research limitations/implications

Further studies of cellular structures for testing their static tensile strength are planned for the future. The study will be carried out for a larger number of samples, taking into account a wider range of cellular structure parameters. An important step will also be the verification of the results of the static tensile test using numerical analysis for the model obtained by CT scanning.

Originality/value

The fabrication of metallic parts with different cellular structures is very important with a selective laser melted machine. However, the determination of cell size and structure with mechanical properties is quiet novel in this current investigation.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 29 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 February 2024

Mohan Kumar K and Arumaikkannu G

The purpose of this paper is to compare the influence of relative density (RD) and strain rates on failure mechanism and specific energy absorption (SEA) of polyamide lattices…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare the influence of relative density (RD) and strain rates on failure mechanism and specific energy absorption (SEA) of polyamide lattices ranging from bending to stretch-dominated structures using selective laser sintering (SLS).

Design/methodology/approach

Three bending and two stretch-dominated unit cells were selected based on the Maxwell stability criterion. Lattices were designed with three RD and fabricated by SLS technique using PA12 material. Quasi-static compression tests with three strain rates were carried out using Taguchi's L9 experiments. The lattice compressive behaviour was verified with the Gibson–Ashby analytical model.

Findings

It has been observed that RD and strain rates played a vital role in lattice compressive properties by controlling failure mechanisms, resulting in distinct post-yielding responses as fluctuating and stable hardening in the plateau region. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) displayed the significant impact of RD and emphasised dissimilar influences of strain rate that vary to cell topology. Bending-dominated lattices showed better compressive properties than stretch-dominated lattices. The interesting observation is that stretch-dominated lattices with over-stiff topology exhibited less compressive properties contrary to the Maxwell stability criterion, whereas strain rate has less influence on the SEA of face-centered and body-centered cubic unit cells with vertical and horizontal struts (FBCCXYZ).

Practical implications

This comparative study is expected to provide new prospects for designing end-user parts that undergo various impact conditions like automotive bumpers and evolving techniques like hybrid and functionally graded lattices.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first work that relates the strain rate with compressive properties and also highlights the lattice behaviour transformation from ductile to brittle while the increase of RD and strain rate analytically using the Gibson–Ashby analytical model.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 June 2023

Mehdi Ranjbar-Roeintan

This article focuses on the low-velocity impact (LVI) output of carbon nanotubes (CNTs)’ reinforcement circular plates, considering agglomeration size effect and clumping of CNTs’…

Abstract

Purpose

This article focuses on the low-velocity impact (LVI) output of carbon nanotubes (CNTs)’ reinforcement circular plates, considering agglomeration size effect and clumping of CNTs’ inner side of the agglomerations.

Design/methodology/approach

A representative volume element (RVE) is used to determine the nanocomposite properties reinforced with agglomerated CNTs with random orientation. First-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) is used to obtain the motion equations of LVI analysis. These equations are handled by developing a Ritz method and Lagrangian mechanics. To extract the mass and stiffness matrices, terms with second and higher degrees are ignored.

Findings

Formulation validation is performed by providing various examples, including comparisons with other research and ABAQUS FE code. The effects of agglomeration size, clumping of CNTs’ inner side of the agglomerations, CNT volume fraction and impact location on the responses of impact load, projectile displacement and plate deflection are analytically studied. These achievements illuminate how the influence of agglomeration size is very small on the impact response. Also, the influence of clumping of CNTs’ inner side of the agglomerations is significant, and as it increases, the displacement values and impact time increase, and the impact force decreases.

Originality/value

In this article, to avoid additional calculations, the parameters of the mass matrix and the stiffness coefficients are linearized to obtain the equations of motion of the impact on the circular plate.

Details

Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials and Structures, vol. 19 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1573-6105

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 February 2023

Mahyar Khorasani, Ian Gibson, Amir Hossein Ghasemi, Elahe Hadavi and Bernard Rolfe

The purpose of this study is, to compare laser-based additive manufacturing and subtractive methods. Laser-based manufacturing is a widely used, noncontact, advanced manufacturing…

1093

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is, to compare laser-based additive manufacturing and subtractive methods. Laser-based manufacturing is a widely used, noncontact, advanced manufacturing technique, which can be applied to a very wide range of materials, with particular emphasis on metals. In this paper, the governing principles of both laser-based subtractive of metals (LB-SM) and laser-based powder bed fusion (LB-PBF) of metallic materials are discussed and evaluated in terms of performance and capabilities. Using the principles of both laser-based methods, some new potential hybrid additive manufacturing options are discussed.

Design methodology approach

Production characteristics, such as surface quality, dimensional accuracy, material range, mechanical properties and applications, are reviewed and discussed. The process parameters for both LB-PBF and LB-SM were identified, and different factors that caused defects in both processes are explored. Advantages, disadvantages and limitations are explained and analyzed to shed light on the process selection for both additive and subtractive processes.

Findings

The performance of subtractive and additive processes is highly related to the material properties, such as diffusivity, reflectivity, thermal conductivity as well as laser parameters. LB-PBF has more influential factors affecting the quality of produced parts and is a more complex process. Both LB-SM and LB-PBF are flexible manufacturing methods that can be applied to a wide range of materials; however, they both suffer from low energy efficiency and production rate. These may be useful when producing highly innovative parts detailed, hollow products, such as medical implants.

Originality value

This paper reviews the literature for both LB-PBF and LB-SM; nevertheless, the main contributions of this paper are twofold. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first to discuss the effect of the production process (both additive and subtractive) on the quality of the produced components. Also, some options for the hybrid capability of both LB-PBF and LB-SM are suggested to produce complex components with the desired macro- and microscale features.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 29 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 August 2023

Fatih Yılmaz, Ercan Gürses and Melin Şahin

This study aims to evaluate and assess the elastoplastic properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy manufactured by Arcam Q20 Plus electron beam melting (EBM) machine by a tensile test…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to evaluate and assess the elastoplastic properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy manufactured by Arcam Q20 Plus electron beam melting (EBM) machine by a tensile test campaign and micro computerized tomography (microCT) imaging.

Design/methodology/approach

ASTM E8 tensile test specimens are designed and manufactured by EBM at an Arcam Q20 Plus machine. Surface quality is improved by machining to discard the effect of surface roughness. After surface machining, hot isostatic pressing (HIP) post-treatment is applied to half of the specimens to remove unsolicited internal defects. ASTM E8 tensile test campaign is carried out simultaneously with digital image correlation to acquire strain data for each sample. Finally, build direction and HIP post-treatment dependencies of elastoplastic properties are analyzed by F-test and t-test statistical analyses methods.

Findings

Modulus of elasticity presents isotropic behavior for each build direction according to F-test and t-test analysis. Yield and ultimate strengths vary according to build direction and post-treatment. Stiffness and strength properties are superior to conventional Ti-6Al-4V material; however, ductility turns out to be poor for aerospace structures compared to conventional Ti-6Al-4V alloy. In addition, micro CT images show that support structure leads to dense internal defects and pores at applied surfaces. However, HIP post-treatment diminishes those internal defects and pores thoroughly.

Originality/value

As a novel scientific contribution, this study investigates the effects of three orthogonal build directions on elastoplastic properties, while many studies focus on only two-build directions. Evaluation of Poisson’s ratio is the other originality of this study. Furthermore, another finding through micro CT imaging is that temporary support structures result in intense defects closer to applied surfaces; hence high-stress regions of structures should be avoided to use support structures.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 29 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 July 2023

Jianhang Xu, Peng Li and Yiren Yang

The paper aims to develop an efficient data-driven modeling approach for the hydroelastic analysis of a semi-circular pipe conveying fluid with elastic end supports. Besides the…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to develop an efficient data-driven modeling approach for the hydroelastic analysis of a semi-circular pipe conveying fluid with elastic end supports. Besides the structural displacement-dependent unsteady fluid force, the steady one related to structural initial configuration and the variable structural parameters (i.e. the variable support stiffness) are considered in the modeling.

Design/methodology/approach

The steady fluid force is treated as a pipe preload, and the elastically supported pipe-fluid model is dealt with as a prestressed hydroelastic system with variable parameters. To avoid repeated numerical simulations caused by parameter variation, structural and hydrodynamic reduced-order models (ROMs) instead of conventional computational structural dynamics (CSD) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solvers are utilized to produce data for the update of the structural, hydrodynamic and hydroelastic state-space equations. Radial basis function neural network (RBFNN), autoregressive with exogenous input (ARX) model as well as proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) algorithm are applied to modeling these two ROMs, and a hybrid framework is proposed to incorporate them.

Findings

The proposed approach is validated by comparing its predictions with theoretical solutions. When the steady fluid force is absent, the predictions agree well with the “inextensible theory”. The pipe always loses its stability via out-of-plane divergence first, regardless of the support stiffness. However, when steady fluid force is considered, the pipe remains stable throughout as flow speed increases, consistent with the “extensible theory”. These results not only verify the accuracy of the present modeling method but also indicate that the steady fluid force, rather than the extensibility of the pipe, is the leading factor for the differences between the in- and extensible theories.

Originality/value

The steady fluid force and the variable structural parameters are considered in the data-driven modeling of a hydroelastic system. Since there are no special restrictions on structural configuration, steady flow pattern and variable structural parameters, the proposed approach has strong portability and great potential application for other hydroelastic problems.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 29 February 2024

Guanchen Liu, Dongdong Xu, Zifu Shen, Hongjie Xu and Liang Ding

As an advanced manufacturing method, additive manufacturing (AM) technology provides new possibilities for efficient production and design of parts. However, with the continuous…

Abstract

Purpose

As an advanced manufacturing method, additive manufacturing (AM) technology provides new possibilities for efficient production and design of parts. However, with the continuous expansion of the application of AM materials, subtractive processing has become one of the necessary steps to improve the accuracy and performance of parts. In this paper, the processing process of AM materials is discussed in depth, and the surface integrity problem caused by it is discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

Firstly, we listed and analyzed the characterization parameters of metal surface integrity and its influence on the performance of parts and then introduced the application of integrated processing of metal adding and subtracting materials and the influence of different processing forms on the surface integrity of parts. The surface of the trial-cut material is detected and analyzed, and the surface of the integrated processing of adding and subtracting materials is compared with that of the pure processing of reducing materials, so that the corresponding conclusions are obtained.

Findings

In this process, we also found some surface integrity problems, such as knife marks, residual stress and thermal effects. These problems may have a potential negative impact on the performance of the final parts. In processing, we can try to use other integrated processing technologies of adding and subtracting materials, try to combine various integrated processing technologies of adding and subtracting materials, or consider exploring more efficient AM technology to improve processing efficiency. We can also consider adopting production process optimization measures to reduce the processing cost of adding and subtracting materials.

Originality/value

With the gradual improvement of the requirements for the surface quality of parts in the production process and the in-depth implementation of sustainable manufacturing, the demand for integrated processing of metal addition and subtraction materials is likely to continue to grow in the future. By deeply understanding and studying the problems of material reduction and surface integrity of AM materials, we can better meet the challenges in the manufacturing process and improve the quality and performance of parts. This research is very important for promoting the development of manufacturing technology and achieving success in practical application.

Details

Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing and Special Equipment, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2633-6596

Keywords

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