Investigation and Development of a Three-Dimensional Transmission Tower-Line System Model Using Nonlinear Truss and Elastic Catenary Elements for Wind Loading Dynamic Simulation

The accuracy of transmission tower-line system simulation is highly impacted by the transmission line model and its coupling with the tower. Owing to the high geometry nonlinearity of the transmission line and the complexity of the wind loading, such analysis is often conducted in the commercial software. In most commercial software packages, nonlinear truss element is used for cable modeling, whereas the initial strain condition of the nonlinear truss under gravity loading is not directly available. Elastic catenary element establishes an analytical formulation for cable structure under distributed loading; however, the nonlinear iteration to reach convergence can be computational expensive. To derive an optimal transmission tower-line model solution with high fidelity and computational efficiency, an open-source three-dimensional model is developed. Nonlinear truss element and elastic catenary element are considered in the model development. The results of the study imply that both elements are suitable for the transmission line model; nevertheless, the initial strain in nonlinear truss element largely impacts the model accuracy and should be calibrated from the elastic catenary model. To cross-validate the developed models on the coupled transmission tower and line, a one-span eight-line system is modeled with different elements and compared with several state-of-the-art commercial packages. The results indicate that the displacement time-history root-mean-square error (RMSE) of the open-source transmission tower-line model is less than 1 % and with a 66 % computational time reduction compared with the ANSYS model. The application of the open-source package transmission tower-line model on extreme wind speed considering the aerodynamic damping is further implemented.

The Effect of Long-Term Storage on Mycobacterium bovis

It was established that when stored for many years (10–13 years) in low-temperature conditions (3°C), without sub-culture on a nutrient medium, Mycobacterium bovis grew as visible colonies along the line of inoculation. However, due to long-term storage in conditions of low temperature (3°C) morphology of mycobacteria differed significantly from initial cultures formed by rod-shaped bacteria. Some of them became pigment-forming and smooth on the surface. Unlike the initial strain of mycobacteria, a perennial bacteria stored under hard conditions did not cause the death of guinea pigs or their sensitization to a purified protein derivative for mammals. Morphological forms of the perennial mycobacteria had the following changes: pigment forming, L-forms of the vesicular type, non-acid-fast thread-like (filamentous) bacillary forms, and elementary bodies when compared to the initial strain. There were also some genetic changes in the target DNA due to the long-term storage of M. bovis. It may indicate a mutation in the pathogen’s DNA. These mycobacteria had altered biochemical activity during storage. The number of passages on the solid nutrient medium did not affect their fermentative activity. However, the low cultivation temperature increases mycobacterial catalase activity and the ability to hydrolyze Tween-80.

Enhancing Sesquiterpenoid Production from Methane via Synergy of the Methylerythritol Phosphate Pathway and a Short-Cut Route to 1-Deoxy-D-xylulose 5-Phosphate in Methanotrophic Bacteria

Sesquiterpenoids are one of the most diverse classes of isoprenoids which exhibit numerous potentials in industrial biotechnology. The methanotrophs-based methane bioconversion is a promising approach for sustainable production of chemicals and fuels from methane. With intrinsic high carbon flux though the ribulose monophosphate cycle in Methylotuvimicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z, we demonstrated here that employing a short-cut route from ribulose 5-phosphate to 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate (DXP) could enable a more efficient isoprenoid production via the methylerythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway, using α-humulene as a model compound. An additional 2.8-fold increase in α-humulene production yield was achieved by the fusion of the nDXP enzyme and DXP reductase. Additionally, we utilized these engineering strategies for the production of another sesquiterpenoid, α-bisabolene. The synergy of the nDXP and MEP pathways improved the α-bisabolene titer up to 12.24 ± 0.43 mg/gDCW, twofold greater than that of the initial strain. This study expanded the suite of sesquiterpenoids that can be produced from methane and demonstrated the synergistic uses of the nDXP and MEP pathways for improving sesquiterpenoid production in methanotrophic bacteria.

Superplastic Deformation Behavior of As-Received and Hydrogenated Ti2AlNb Alloy

In this paper, the effects of temperature and initial strain rate on the superplasticity of as-received Ti2AlNb alloy were studied by uniaxial tensile tests. Temperature from 870°C to 1030°C with an interval of 40°C and initial strain rate range of 10-2s-1to 10-4s-1were selected. The optimal superplasticity of 190.3% was obtained at 990°C with initial strain rate of 10-3s-1. The superplastic properties were deteriorated at 1030°C due to serious grain coarsening. In order to improve superplastic properties, the as-received alloy was hydrogenated with different hydrogen contents. It was found that hydrogen addition can significantly decrease flow stress and increase elongation. A higher elongation occurs at 910°C in hydrogenated alloy.

Modeling and Measuring Residual Stress in Autofrettaged Hollow Cylinders Through the Initial Strain Distribution Method

The paper presents a method for modeling and measuring the residual stress (RS) field in axisymmetric autofrettaged elements. The method is based on the assumption that an Initial Strain Distribution (ISD), originated by the plastic strain previously induced during the autofrettage process, is the source of RSs. The ISD is the quantity to be evaluated and, after being determined, it can be used, by means of a dedicated finite element (FE) model, to evaluate the RS field in the component or in any part extracted from it. The ISD is obtained by elaborating the relaxed strains produced by cutting the autofrettaged component in incremental steps. The elaboration is based on solving a set of Fredholm's integral equations in which the unknown function is the ISD and the kernel is an Influence Function (IF) correlating the measured relaxed strain to the ISD. After a general discussion of the RS induced by the autofrettage and the effect of the plastic properties of the material under process, the methods for obtaining the relaxed strains by a rational experimental setup and the procedures for obtaining the IFs are presented and discussed. The whole methodology is applied to evaluate the RS field in a hollow cylinder for which the autofrettage was modeled by a FE simulation. The consistency of the method is verified and useful indications for the experimental activities were obtained.