Study on the test load for the structural test of the flight-load condition of the external fuel tank for fixed-wing aircraft

In this study, for the purpose of conducting the structural tests for the verification of structural soundness of the flight-load conditions of the external fuel tank for the fixed-wing aircraft, the flight load acting on the external fuel tank was converted to test load and the suitability of the converted loads was verified. The loads imposed on the external fuel tank were expressed as the combination of the inertial load (based on the acceleration in the translational direction) and the tangential direction inertial load (based on the angular acceleration of the moment). To calculate the test load, the transfer function table was generated by calculating the shear load and moment based on the unit load. For this purpose, a transfer function table was established by dividing the external fuel tank into a few sections and calculating the shear load and moment generated by the unit shear load and unit moment in each section. In addition, the test load for each section was calculated by computing the established transfer function table and flight-load conditions. However, in actual structural tests, it is often not possible to impose a load in the same position as the point at which the shear load and moment are calculated. For this reason, the actual test-load positions had to be determined and the calculated test loads were redistributed to those positions. Then, the final test load plan was established by applying a whiffle tree to increase the efficiency of the test while also making it easier to apply the actuators. Finally, the suitability of the established test load plan was confirmed by comparison with the flight-load conditions.

Busy and confused? High risk of missed alerts in the cockpit: an electrophysiological study

Of evolutionary importance, the ability to react to unexpected auditory stimuli remains critical today, especially in settings such as aircraft cockpits or air traffic control towers, characterized by high mental and auditory loads. Evidences show that both factors can negatively impact auditory attention and prevent appropriate reactions in hazardous situations. In the present study, sixty participants performed a simulated aviation task, varying in terms of mental load (no, low, high mental load), that was embedded with a concurrent tone detection paradigm, in which auditory load was manipulated by the number of different tones (1, 2 or 3). We measured both detection performance (miss, false alarm) and brain activity (event-related potentials) related to the target tone. Our results showed that both mental and auditory loads affected tone detection performance. Importantly, their combined effects had a massive impact on the percentage of missed target tones. While, in the no mental load condition, miss rate was very low with 1 (0.53%) and 2 tones (1.11%), it increased drastically with 3 tones (24.44%), and this effect was accentuated as mental load increased, yielding to the higher miss rate in the 3-tone paradigm under high mental load conditions (68.64%). Increased mental load, auditory load, and miss rate, were all associated with disrupted brain response to the target tone as showed by reductions of the P3b amplitude. In sum, our results highlight the importance of balancing mental and auditory loads to maintain or improve efficient reactions to alarms in complex environment.

When Less Is More: Investigating Factors Influencing the Distraction Effect of Virtual Reality From Pain

Virtual reality (VR) is a powerful method of redirecting attention away from pain. Yet, little is known about which factors modulate the size of this distraction effect. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of cognitive load and inter-individual differences in the cognitive and affective domain on heat pain thresholds during a VR game. Ninety healthy participants (mean age ± SD: 23.46 ± 3.28; 50% identified as male and 50% as female) played a low and high load version of a VR game while heat pain thresholds and heart rate were recorded. The effects of cognitive load were assessed by computing the difference in pain thresholds between the high and low load condition for each participant. In addition, we computed the difference in heart rate variability (HRV) measures between both conditions to explore whether these would be correlated with the difference in heat pain thresholds. Prior to the VR session, participants completed questionnaires about their emotional distress, pain-related cognitions, and different executive functioning tasks. Contrary to our expectations, not all participants benefitted from a higher load in terms of distraction from pain. Logistic regression analysis revealed that participants who reported more emotional distress were more likely to exhibit higher pain thresholds in the low relative to the high load condition. Accordingly, these participants tended to show marginally higher HRV in the low compared to the high load condition. Our study demonstrates that the potential benefits of an increased cognitive load in VR on pain sensitivity depends on individual differences in affective state.

A prototype of 3D-printed permanent magnet generator for low power applications

Recently, there has been a growing interest in the field of using 3D-printing technology for electrical machine manufacturing. However, almost research works have been done majorly on the 3D-printing technology of individual working parts for various electrical machines. This research presents a study of design, fabrication and testing of the protopype of permanent magnet generator using 3D-printing technology. The major parts of proposed generator are fabricated though 3D-printed materials. The stator winding of designed generator consists of 12 slots. The stator coil is designed to have 250 turns per slot and 12 pieces of neodymium magnets are used in to generate magnetic field in the rotor core. The prototype generator is tested under different condition; no-load and loaded-test. The experimental have been shown that in the no-load condition, this generator is able to generate output voltage of 3.3-64.5 V, when rotated at speed of 100-2,500 rpm. In the loaded-test, the output voltage and output current are also generated. Furthermore, it can be seen that a proposed generator can generate the output power of 4,245.28 mW, when rotated at speed of 2,500 rpm.

Parametric Design & Analysis of Plastics Fuel Blend by using Taguchi Method in Diesel Engine

Over the past two centuries, energy needs have risen dramatically, particularly due to the transportation and industry sectors. However, the main made fuels like (fossil fuels) are polluting and their reserves are limited. Governments & research organization work together for make the use of renewable resources a priority and reduce irresponsible use of natural supplies through increased conservation. The energy crisis is a broad is biggest problem in world. Most people don't realize to their reality unless the price of fuel at the pump goes up or there are lines at the fuel station. Plastics waste fuel is sustainable and futuristic solution of fossil fuel as well as biggest problem of waste management of plastic waste can solve by this fuel. In thesis we prepare the plastic waste fuel by application of paralysis process in this process use low, medium and high grade of plastic and heated with limited amount of oxygen melt the plastic. The result of paralysis finds of liquid fuel and flammable gas. This fuel can be used as a blend in diesel with a proportion of B0D100, B10D90 B20D80, & B30D70 where B tent to blend of plastic fuel and D tend to diesel as if B0D100 means blend 0% and diesel 100%. These blend run diesel engine. The blends are in 10%, 20% & 30% plastic paralysis oil with standard diesel fuel. For experiment simultaneous optimization used a method called “Taguchi” used in the engine such as injection pressure and load condition. Taguchi Method of Optimization is a simplest method of optimizing experimental parameters in less number of trials.

Evaluation of Waste Plastic Pyrolysis Oil Performance with Diethyl Ether Additive on Insulated Piston Diesel Engine

Considering the amount of waste plastics has risen significantly, energy may be extracted from it. Not only is it possible to dispose of waste plastics by converting them to fuel, but it is also possible to extract energy from them. Our research is motivated by the prospect of using waste plastics as a source of energy through waste plastic pyrolysis oil (WPPO). The innovation of this research is that it will assess the efficiency of plastic pyrolysis oil derived from Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) on a Thermal Barrier Coated (TBC) piston engine. The incremental ratio of WPPO to pure diesel with the addition of diethyl ether (DEE) was determined and its output and exhaust emission standards were evaluated using a direct injection single cylinder low heat rejection diesel engine. The results for the WPPO blends were promising as with TBCW20DEE10 demonstrating a 5 to 15% increase in carbon monoxide under different load conditions. TBCW20DEE10 confirmed a greater reduction of hydrocarbons varying from 5 to 12 %. At half load condition, TBCW20DEE10 emits approximately 3.5 % less unit of smoke.