Morphophysiological changes of Acca sellowiana (Myrtaceae: Myrtoideae) saplings under shade gradient

Understanding morphological and physiological changes under different light conditions in native fruit species in juveniles’ stage is important, as it indicate the appropriate environment to achieve vigorous saplings. We aimed to verify growth and morphophysiological changes under shade gradient in feijoa (Acca sellowiana (O. Berg) Burret) to achieve good quality saplings adequate to improve cultivation in orchards. The saplings were grown for twenty-one-month under four shading treatments (0%, 30%, 50%, and 80%). Growth, photosynthetic pigments, gas exchanges, chlorophyll fluorescence, and leaf anatomy parameters were evaluated. Saplings under full sun and 30% shade had higher height and diameter growth and dry mass accumulation due to higher photosynthesis rate. As main acclimatization mechanisms in feijoa saplings under 80% shade were developed larger leaf area, reduced leaf blade thickness, and enhanced quantum yield of photosystem II. Even so, the net CO2 assimilation and the electron transport rate was lower and, consequently, there was a restriction on the growth and dry mass in saplings under deep shade. Therefore, to obtain higher quality feijoa saplings, we recommend that it be carried out in full sun or up to 30% shade, to maximize the sapling vigor in nurseries and, later, this light environment can also be used in orchards for favor growth and fruit production.

Effect of Blade Thickness on Internal Flow and Performance of a Plastic Centrifugal Pump

Blade thickness is an essential parameter of the impeller, which has significant effects on the pump performance. The plastic pump generally adopts thick blade due to low strength of plastic. The effects of blade thickness on the internal flow and performance of a plastic centrifugal pump were discussed based on the numerical methods. Two kinds of blade profile, the constant thickness blade (CTB) and the variable thickness blade (VTB), were investigated. The results indicated that, for the CTB, when the blade thickness was less than 6 mm, the pump performance did not change significantly. When the blade thickness exceeded 6 mm, the pump head and efficiency decreased rapidly. The pump head and efficiency of CTB 10 decreased by 42.2% and 30% compared with CTB 4, respectively. For the VTB, with blade thickness in a certain range (6 mm–14 mm), the pump performance changed slightly with the increased of trailing edge thickness. The minimum blade thickness of the plastic centrifugal pump should be 4 mm based on the finite element analysis. A variable thickness blade (VTB 4-8-4) with the maximum thickness located at 60% chord length was proposed to improve the pump performance, and its efficiency was 1.67% higher than that of the CTB 4 impeller.

Infestation of the gall midge Dasineura oleae provides first evidence of induced plant volatiles in olive leaves

In this study, we present the first characterization of herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) released from infested olive leaves. The gall midge Dasineura oleae is a specific pest of Olea europaea and endemic of the Mediterranean Basin, an area in which severe outbreaks currently occurred. Little is known about the damage caused by the pest and the relationship with its host. Since gall formation and larval feeding activity may lead to the release of specific plant volatile compounds, we investigated the volatile profiles emitted from infested plants compared with healthy plants under both laboratory and field conditions. Additionally, the volatiles emitted from mechanically damaged plants were considered. A blend of 12 volatiles was emitted from olive trees infested by D. oleae. Of these, β-copaene, β-ocimene, cosmene, unknown 1 and unknown 3 were found to be exclusively emitted in infested plants. The emission of germacrene-D, (E,E)-α-farnesene, and (Z,E)-α-farnesene, α-copaene, (E)-4,8-dimethylnona-1,3,7-triene, (E)-β-guaiene and heptadecane significantly increased in infested trees. Linalool, β-copaen-4-α-ol, β-bourbonene, β-cubebene, β-elemene, β-copaene and δ-amorphene were found only in the field trial and showed differences depending on the level of infestation and the plant stage. (Z)-3-Hexenol, (E)-4-oxohen-2-enal, and 2-(2-butoxyethoxy)-ethanol, were exclusively emitted from the leaves after mechanical damage. In a field trial in Italy, we also demonstrated spring synchronization between adults of D. oleae and O. europaea trees. Analyses of morphoanatomical malformations of gall leaves showed that tissue alterations occur at the spongy parenchyma causing an increase of the leaf blade thickness. We speculate that tissue alterations may lead to HIPV release, in turn potentially attracting D. oleae natural enemies.

Maximizing the performance of pump inducers using CFD-based multi-objective optimization

Pump inducers are usually employed within a limited flow rate range since the performance is known to drop out significantly far from their design point. Therefore, finding an optimal geometry that ensures efficient operation for a relatively wide range of flow rates is challenging. The present study tackles this problem using multi-objective optimization to identify optimal inducer configurations, delivering high performance for a wide flow range. 3D RANS single-phase turbulent simulations were performed using the $$k-\omega$$ k - ω turbulence model. The optimization was done by employing the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) coupled with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). An established in-house flow optimization library (OPAL++) was used to automatically control the numerical simulations. The objective is to optimize the inducer geometrical parameters to simultaneously maximize the efficiency and pressure head curves, considering different flow rates, i.e., 80% (part-load), 100% (nominal), and 150% (overload) of the optimal flow rate for the considered pump. The optimization involves 8 most relevant design parameters, i.e., the axial blade length, blade sweep angle, blade pitch, hub taper angle, tip clearance gap, blade thickness at the hub, blade thickness at the tip, and the number of blades. A total of 5178 simulations over 37 generations have been needed to get a Pareto front containing 5 optimal configurations. This article discusses quantitatively the influence of each geometrical parameter on flow behavior and inducer performance. The results reveal in general that blade length, blade sweep angle, tip clearance gap, and blade thickness should be kept low for the considered application; inducers with high hub taper angles and 3 blades lead to optimal performance.

Turbine Broadband Noise Predictions Using Linearised Frequency Domain Navier-Stokes Solvers

A linear frequency domain Navier-Stokes solver is used to retain the influence of turning, thickness, and main geometric parameters on turbine broadband noise. The methodology has been applied to predict the broadband interaction noise produced by a representative low-speed low-pressure turbine section. The differences in the spectra with respect to those yielded by state-of-the-art flat plate based methodologies are up to 6 dB. The differences are caused by multiple effects that semi-analytical methodologies do not account for. The most important are blade thickness and turning, which have been studied separately to quantify their impact on the broadband noise footprint. The influence of changing the turbine operating conditions has been discussed as well. The outlet sound pressure level scales with the third and second power of the inlet and outlet Mach number, respectively, for constant turbulence intensity, within most of the frequency range considered.

Fan design assessment for BLI propulsion systems

Civil aviation is aiming at fuel efficient aircraft concepts. Propulsion systems using boundary layer ingestion (BLI) are promising to reach this goal. The focus of this study is on the DLR UHBR fan stage of a tube and wing aircraft with rear-integrated engines. In this integration scenario the propulsion system and especially the fan stage receives distorted inflow in steady-state flight conditions. The distortion pattern and distortion intensity are dependent on the operating conditions. Consequently, the interaction of the fan and the distortion changes over the flight envelope. The first part of the paper aims at gaining knowledge of the BLI fan performance in the operating points end of field, approach, cruise (CR) and top of climb (TOC) using high-fidelity, unsteady RANS approaches. The analysis includes fan map performance metrics and a deeper insight into the flow field at CR and TOC. The preliminary design of a fan stage requires fast turn-around times, which are not fulfilled by high-fidelity approaches. Therefore, a fast, throughflow-based methodology is developed, which enables aerodynamicists to design distortion-tolerant fans. The main characteristics of the methodology is outlined in the second part. Consequently, the methodology is taken advantage of to investigate parameter sensitivities in terms of tip speed, blade thickness, solidity, the annulus geometry and a non-axisymmetric stator. This study suggests that distortion-tolerant fans should be designed at higher tip speeds than conventional design experience recommends to limit the local operating point excursion.

A Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian Simulation and Tool Optimization for Belt Punching Process with a Single Cutting Edge

The objective of this paper is to analyze the belt punching process with the use of a single cutting edge and discuss the influence of geometrical features of the piercing punch on the perforation force. Two basic shapes of the piercing punch with a single cutting edge were tested: tools with the blade pointing inside or pointing outside. The analytical models of the stress distribution in the shearing cross sections were derived for both punches. The presented model, along with the series of empirical tests and Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian simulation, was used for finding the effective geometry of the piercing punch with a single cutting edge for the belt perforation. The geometrical parameters taken into consideration for the tool optimization were the following: angle of the blade, thickness of the wall and diameter of the piercing punch cutting edge. The obtained results show that changing these parameters has a significant influence on the perforation force necessary to execute the machining process and affects the quality of the holes in the perforated belts. The most important geometrical features of the hollow sharpened punch are the angle and the direction of the blade, which change the force distribution and, as a result, the mechanics of the process.

Blade Thickness Redesign to Improve Efficiency and Decrease Unsteady Pressure Pulsation of a Low Specific Speed Centrifugal Pump

The existence of secondary flow in the impeller brings extra energy loss and aggravates the pressure pulsation which will worsen the hydraulic and dynamic performance of the pump. In this paper, based on the forces balance in the direction perpendicular to the streamline, an optimal design method for the blade thickness of a low specific speed centrifugal pump is proposed to suppress the secondary flow in the impeller. The origin impellers with 5 and 7 cylinder blades are redesigned and the hydraulic and dynamic performance of the model pump are investigated by numerical simulation and experimental. Results show that the blade modification proposed in this paper can effectively improve the efficiency of the model pump and reduce the internal pressure pulsations. The internal flow analysis shows that the performance improvement attributes to the suppression of secondary flow in the impeller. And the entropy generation rate is introduced to measure and locate the loss in the pump. Results show that on the one hand, the suppression of secondary flow can reduce the energy loss in the pump and improve the efficiency; on the other hand, it can repress the jet wake structure at impeller outlet and alleviate the intensity of pressure pulsations.

Investigating the effect of the impeller blade gradient angle on the compressor reliability

Studies show that operating stress and natural frequency of the turbocharger impeller are two key parameters that affect the service life of the turbocharger. In this regard, NREC and ANSYS software are utilized in the present study to design impellers and calculate the impeller stress, natural frequency, and the inertia moment of the impeller for each baseline impeller and their modifications. Furthermore, modal tests are carried out to verify the simulation results. Finally, the compressor characteristic maps before and after the blade gradient angle optimization are compared. Obtained results show that compared with the cantilever length, the blade thickness has a remarkable influence on the blade gradient angle. Moreover, it is found that the correlation between the blade gradient angle and the first-order frequency multiplication ratio is linear. As the blade gradient angle increases, the maximum stress at the blade root of the compressor initially decreases and then increases. The value of the blade gradient angle varies within the range of 2.288°–3.955°. Moreover, the closer the gradient angle to 3.26°, the smaller the maximum equivalent stress of the impeller, and the higher the impeller strength. The greater the thickness of the blade, the longer the cantilever length of the impeller, and the greater the inertia moment. Optimizing the blade gradient angle can improve the efficiency of the compressor without changing the pressure ratio and flow rate. It should be indicated that error between the results from the simulation and the experiment is within the range 1.736%–1.254%. Therefore, the calculation results are reliable. It is concluded that the regular pattern of the blade gradient angle affects the compressor impeller stress and its natural frequency. The present article is expected to provide a helpful theoretical basis for designing an optimized compressor impeller.

Influence of Blade Thickness on Solid–Liquid Two-Phase Flow and Impeller Wear in a Ceramic Centrifugal Slurry Pump

The impeller blades of ceramic slurry pumps are usually very thick for the purpose of prolonging the service life. In this paper, numerical simulations and wear test were conducted to investigate the influence of blade thickness on the solid–liquid two-phase flow and impeller wear in a ceramic centrifugal slurry pump. The wear test was conducted for CFD validation. The numerical results show that the incident angles of solid particles increase with increasing blade thickness, which results in larger wrap angles of the solid particle trajectories. The increasing wrap angles of the solid particle trajectories offset the region that the collisions between the blade pressure side and the solid particles side take place towards the impeller exit and lead to more impacts between the solid particles and the blade suction side. The numerical results are in good accordance with the wear pattern of the tested impellers, which demonstrates that the numerical method adopted in this paper is predictable in the abrasion of the impeller of a ceramic centrifugal slurry pump. The experimental results show that an increase in the blade thickness alleviates the abrasion of the leading edges and the pressure side of the impeller blades; however, it also aggravates the abrasion of the blade suction side and decreases the pump performance.