Optimizing the shape of PCM container to enhance the melting process

The shape of container influences natural convection inside a latent heat storage with a phase change material (PCM). Often the geometrical design of a PCM container is based on empirical observations. To enhance convection and melting of the PCM, authors propose here new design guidelines for an improved container. Using the so-called Co-factor method as the optimized basis, which is defined as the vector product of the velocity and temperature gradient, the new design method strives to raise the velocity of natural convection in liquid PCM, increase the amount of PCM in the direction of the convective flow, and reduce the amount of PCM far from the heating surface. Following these guidelines and Co factor, an optimized PCM container with an elongated and curved shape is proposed and compared to a rectangular container. Numerical simulations indicated that the total melting time of the PCM in the optimized container could be reduced by more than 20% compared to the rectangular one. The higher natural convection velocity and the better use of it to melt the PCM in the optimized container space attributed to the better performance than that in rectangular container. The results can be used to design more effective PCM storage systems.

Numerical Investigation of Sloshing Under Roll Excitation at Shallow Liquid Depths and the Effect of Baffles

Sloshing is relevant in several applications like ship tanks, space and automotive industry and seiching in harbours. Due to the relationship between ship and sloshing motions and possibility of structural damage, it is important to represent this phenomenon accurately. This paper investigates sloshing at shallow liquid depths in a rectangular container using experiments and RANS simulations. Free and forced sloshing, with and without baffles, are studied at frequencies chosen specifically in proximity to the first mode natural frequency. The numerically calculated free surface elevation is in close agreement with observations from experiments. The upper limit of the resonance zone, sloshing under different filling depths and roll amplitudes and sloshing with one, two and four baffles are also investigated. The results show that the extent of the resonance zone is reduced for higher filling depth and roll amplitude. It is also found that the inclusion of baffles moves the frequency at which the maximum free surface elevation occurs, away from the fundamental frequency. Finally, a submerged baffle is found to dissipate more energy compared to a surface piercing baffle and that the effect of several submerged baffles is similar to that of a single submerged baffle.

Microgel that swims to the beat of light

Complementary to the quickly advancing understanding of the swimming of microorganisms, we demonstrate rather simple design principles for systems that can mimic swimming by body shape deformation. For this purpose, we developed a microswimmer that could be actuated and controlled by fast temperature changes through pulsed infrared light irradiation. The construction of the microswimmer has the following features: (i) it is a bilayer ribbon with a length of 80 or 120 $$\upmu $$ μ m, consisting of a thermo-responsive hydrogel of poly-N-isopropylamide coated with a 2-nm layer of gold and equipped with homogeneously dispersed gold nanorods; (ii) the width of the ribbon is linearly tapered with a wider end of 5 $$\upmu $$ μ m and a tip of 0.5 $$\upmu $$ μ m; (iii) a thickness of only 1 and 2 $$\upmu $$ μ m that ensures a maximum variation of the cross section of the ribbon along its length from square to rectangular. These wedge-shaped ribbons form conical helices when the hydrogel is swollen in cold water and extend to a filament-like object when the temperature is raised above the volume phase transition of the hydrogel at $$32\,^{\circ } \hbox {C}$$ 32 ∘ C . The two ends of these ribbons undergo different but coupled modes of motion upon fast temperature cycling through plasmonic heating of the gel-objects from inside. Proper choice of the IR-light pulse sequence caused the ribbons to move at a rate of 6 body length/s (500 $$\upmu $$ μ m/s) with the wider end ahead. Within the confinement of rectangular container of 30 $$\upmu $$ μ m height and 300 $$\upmu $$ μ m width, the different modes can be actuated in a way that the movement is directed by the energy input between spinning on the spot and fast forward locomotion. Graphic abstract

The maximum diversity assortment selection problem

In this article, we introduce the Maximum Diversity Assortment Selection Problem (MDASP), which is a generalization of the two-dimensional Knapsack Problem (2D-KP). Given a set of rectangles and a rectangular container, the goal of 2D-KP is to determine a subset of rectangles that can be placed in the container without overlapping, i.e., a feasible assortment, such that a maximum area is covered. MDASP is to determine a set of feasible assortments, each of them covering a certain minimum threshold of the container, such that the diversity among them is maximized. Thereby, diversity is defined as the minimum or average normalized Hamming distance of all assortment pairs. MDASP was the topic of the 11th AIMMS-MOPTA Competition in 2019. The methods described in this article and the resulting computational results won the contest. In the following, we give a definition of the problem, introduce a mathematical model and solution approaches, determine upper bounds on the diversity, and conclude with computational experiments conducted on test instances derived from the 2D-KP literature.

A Metaheuristic Approach and Mathematical Programming for Packing Objects in a Rectangular Container

The problem of packing non-congruent circles within bounded regions is considered. The aim is to maximize the number of circles placed into a rectangular container or minimize the waste. The circle is considered as a set of points that are all the same distance (not necessarily Euclidean) from a given point. An integer programming model is proposed using a dotted-board approximating the container and considering the dots as potential positions for assigning centers of the circles. The packing problem is then stated as a large scale linear 0–1 optimization problem. Binary decision variables are associated with each discrete point of the board (a dot) and with each object. Then, the same grid is used to prove a population-based metaheuristic. This metaheuristic is inspired by the monkeys' behavior. The resulting binary problem is then solved by using Gurobi Solver and Python Programming Language as Interface