Search results

The stepped topography of the friction pairs mainly causes the fluid film thickness to change in the direction of motion. In this region, there have very few topographical design methods for continuous or non-linear distribution of the fluid film. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of the curved surface on the performance of the liquid film.

First, a numerical simulation is used to solve the optimal bearing capacity and friction coefficient of the liquid film under the condition of the minimum film thickness. Then, the curved surface described by the sinusoidal curve equation is applied in the transitional region of maximum and minimum film thickness. The bearing capacity and the friction coefficient of the liquid film are respectively simulated and compared in the same condition of the minimum film thickness.

The research results show that the liquid film using the curved surface transition model, the optimal bearing capacity is significantly increased by 32 per cent while the optimal friction coefficient is clearly reduced by 38 per cent in comparison with using stepped surface model.

The friction pair with curved transition enables better lubrication performance of the liquid film and better adaptability under unstable conditions.

The aim of this paper is to study the effect of deterministic roughness and small elastic deformation of surface on flow rates, load capacity and coefficient of friction in Rayleigh step bearing under thin film lubrication.

Reynolds equation, pressure-density relationship, pressure-viscosity relationship and film thickness equation are discretized using finite difference method. Progressive mesh densification (PMD) method is applied to solve the related equations iteratively.

The nature and shape of roughness play a significant role in pressure generation. It has been observed that square roughness dominates the pressure generation for all values of minimum film thickness. Deformation more than 100 nm in bounding surfaces influences the film formation and pressure distribution greatly. Divergent shapes of film thickness in step zone causes a delay of pressure growth and reduces the load capacity with decreasing film thickness. The optimum value of film thickness ratio and step ratios have been found out for the maximum load capacity and minimum coefficient of friction, which are notably influenced by elastic deformation of the surface.

It is expected that these findings will help in analysing the performance parameters of a Rayleigh step bearing under thin film lubrication more accurately. It will also help the designers, researchers and manufacturers of bearings.

Most of the previous studies have been limited to sinusoidal roughness and thick film lubrication in Rayleigh step bearing. Effect of small surface deformation due to generated pressure in thin film lubrication is significant, as it influences the performance parameters of the bearing. Different wave forms such as triangular, sawtooth, sinusoidal and square formed during finishing operations behaves differently in pressure generation. The analysis of combined effect of roughness and small surface deformation has been performed under thin film lubrication for Rayleigh step bearing using PMD as improved methods for direct iterative approach.

This study aims to compute 3D model similarity by extracting and comparing shape features from the neutral files.

In this work, the clear text encoding document STEP (Standard for The Exchange of Product model data) of 3D models was analysed, and the models were characterized by two-depth trees consisting of both surface and shell nodes. All surfaces in the STEP files can be subdivided into three kinds, namely, free, analytical and loop surfaces. Surface similarity is defined by the variation coefficients of distances between data points on two surfaces, and subsequently, the shell similarity and 3D model similarity are determined using an optimal algorithm for bipartite graph matching.

This approach is used to experimentally verify the effectiveness of the 3D model similarity algorithm.

The novelty of this study research lies in the computation of 3D model similarity by comparison of all surfaces. In addition, the study makes several key observations: surfaces reflect the most information concerning the functions and attributes of a 3D model and so the similarity between surfaces generates more comprehensive content (both external and internal); semantic-based 3D retrieval can be obtained under the premise of comparison of surface semantics; and more accurate similarity of 3D models can be obtained using the optimal algorithm of bipartite graph matching for all surfaces.

The purpose of this paper is to describe an innovative Parametric and Adaptive Slicing (PAS) technique to be used for generating material addition paths along three-dimensional surfaces.

The method is grounded on the possibility to generate layers starting from multiple reference surfaces (already available in the model or created on purpose). These are used for mathematically deriving a family of parametric surfaces whose shape and spacing (the layer thickness) can be tuned to get the desired aesthetic, technical and functional characteristics. The adhesion among layers is obtained guaranteeing a smooth transition among these surfaces.

The examples described in the paper demonstrate that the PAS technique enables the addition of the material along non-planar paths and, hence, the elimination of the staircase effect. In addition, objects printed using this technique show improved mechanical properties with respect to those printed using standard planar layers.

As the method allows a local control of the material addition/deposition, it can be used to design the mechanical behavior of the objects to be printed.

The technique proposed in this paper overcomes the limitations of currently available adaptive and curved layer slicing strategies, by introducing the possibility to generate layers with a non-constant thickness whose shape morphs smoothly from one layer to another.

An adaptive grid solution method is described for computing the time accurate solution of an unsteady flow problem. The solution method consists of three parts: a grid point redistribution method; an unsteady Euler equation solver; and a temporal coupling routine that links the dynamic grid to the flow solver. The grid movement technique is a direct curve by curve method containing grid controls that generate a smooth grid that resolves the severe solution gradients and the sharp transitions in the solution gradients. By design, the temporal coupling procedure provides a grid that does not lag the solution in time. The adaptive solution method is tested by computing the unsteady inviscid solutions for a one‐dimensional shock tube and a two‐dimensional shock vortex interaction. Quantitative comparisons are made between the adaptive solutions, theoretical solutions and numerical solutions computed on stationary grids. Test results demonstrate the good temporal tracking of the solution by the adaptive grid, and the ability of the adaptive method to capture an unsteady solution of comparable accuracy to that computed on a stationary grid containing significantly more grid points than used in the adaptive grid.

This paper aims to propose an automatic and direct method to manipulate global parameters of the object for prototyping and simulation, given an STL mesh model of a thin-walled object. Proposed method is useful in rapid prototyping, where changing the global parameters such as thickness, scaling local features or draft of walls of an STL mesh is often required. Presently, user needs to iterate over the cycle of modification of the computer-aided design (CAD) model and tessellating it to change the global parameters. The proposed algorithm eliminates the need for CAD model while manipulating those global properties, as it works directly with the mesh model.

Proposed algorithm automatically identifies walls and its thickness, and then, it extracts mid-surface from each wall. Global parameters are then modified by using these mid-surfaces.

Mesh directly modified and the mesh obtained by tessellating modified CAD model has same global properties; proposed method can also allow multiple parameters to be modified at the same time.

Input STL model is assumed to be error-free, where models containing errors like self-intersection will lead to incorrect mid-surfaces. Present algorithm assumes that the mid-surface represent of the input STL model is a manifold surface.

A novel algorithm of directly manipulating global parameters of a thin-walled object in its STL mesh model is proposed. The paper also presents a novel method of extracting mid-surface representation from a thin-wall STL mesh.

The paper aims to propose a generation approach for unstructured surface mesh to speed up mesh generation.

The paper proposes a lightweight interactive generation approach for unstructured surface mesh and presents several key technologies to support this approach.

The experimental results show that the proposed approach is feasible for unstructured meshes and it can accelerate the mesh generation process.

More geometric defects should be covered, and more convenient and efficient interactive means need to be provided.

The proposed approach and key technologies are implemented in NNW-GridStar.UG, which is the unstructured version of the mesh generation software of National Numerical Windtunnel (NNW).

This paper proposes a lightweight interactive approach for unstructured surface mesh generation, which can speed up mesh generation.

Neutral format translators such as STEP and IGES have been used to exchange CAD model between the various CAD systems in the product development process. But imperfect interoperability imposes costs on the industry due to higher costs of design and production and slower implementation of design changes. In this paper, we propose a procedural approach to inspect the CAD model's errors that occur in a neutral format. We employed two separate inspection processes for checking CAD model errors without wasting excessive resources: the topological data structure and the geometrical data structure. We developed the 3D CAD model inspection system to check the topological and geometrical errors and applied it to case study. An inspection record can be edited in HTML, and thus can be shared by any designer at any time.

The study aims to fabricate large metal components with overhangs built on cylindrical or conical surfaces with a high dimensional precision. It proposes methods to address the problems of generating tool-paths on cylindrical or conical surfaces simply and precisely, and planning the welding process on these developable surfaces.

The paper presents the algorithm of tool-paths planning on conical surfaces using a parametric slicing equation and a spatial mapping method and deduces the algorithm of five-axis transformation by addressing the rotating question of two sequential points. The welding process is investigated with a regression fitting model on a flat surface, and experimented on a conical surface, which can be flattened onto a flat surface.

The paper provides slicing and path-mapping expressions for cylindrical and conical surfaces and a curvature-speed-width (CSW) model for wire and arc additive manufacturing to improve the surface appearances. The path-planning method and CSW model can be applied in the five-axis fabrication of the prototype of an underwater thruster. The CSW model has a confidence coefficient of 98.02% and root mean squared error of 0.2777 mm. The reverse measuring of the finished blades shows the residual deformation: an average positive deformation of about 0.5546 mm on one side of the blades and an average negative deformation of about −0.4718 mm on the other side.

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability for the fabrication based on arbitrary surfaces.

This paper presented an integrated slicing, tool-path planning and welding process planning method for five-axis wire and arc additive manufacturing.

Elasto‐plastic models based on critical state formulations have been successful in describing many of the most important features of the mechanical behaviour of soils. This review paper deals with the applications of this class of models to the numerical analysis of geotechnical problems. After a brief overview of the development of the models, the basic critical state formulation is presented together with the main modifications which have actually been used in computational applications. The problems associated with the numerical implementation of this type of models are then discussed. Finally, a summary of reported computational applications and some specific examples of analyses of geotechnical problems using critical state models are presented.