Study on vibration characteristics of hydraulic planetary transmission considering engine and torque converter excitation

Large-size vehicle loaders are mainly used in various construction projects with complex working environment, which has a serious impact on the internal vibration of the whole system. In this study, the vibration characteristics of hydraulic planetary transmission of vehicle loader considering the influence of the external excitation are evaluated theoretically and experimentally. The output torque of the four-stroke six-cylinder diesel engine is obtained by force calculation of crank and connecting rod mechanism. The equivalent stiffness and damping of the torque converter are solved according to the torsional dynamic equation of the torque converter. The trapped oil area, oil pressure, and flow rate of gear meshing part are extracted to obtain the trapped oil pressure of variable-speed pump. Then, the multi-degree-of-freedom gear system dynamic model is established to calculate the meshing force, which is applied to vibration response analysis model by using mode superposition method. Lastly, the vibration response test is performed on the experimental prototype to verify the calculation method. The conclusion shows that the generation principle of external excitation and its calculation method in this paper are feasible in the analysis of dynamic characteristics of hydraulic planetary torque converter.

Correcting the effect of stellar spots on ARIEL transmission spectra II. The limb darkening effect

This paper is part of an effort to correct the transmission spectra of a transiting planet orbiting an active star. In Paper I (Cracchiolo et al. 2020) we have demonstrated a methodology to minimize the potential bias induced by unocculted star spots on the transmission spectrum, assuming a spot model parameterized by filling factor and temperature. In this work we introduce the limb darkening effect, therefore the position of the spot in the stellar disk and the impact parameter of the transiting planet now play a key role. The method is tested on simulations of planetary transits of three representative kinds of planetary systems, at ARIEL resolution. We find that a realistic treatment of the limb darkening is required to reliably estimate both the spots parameters and the transmission spectrum of the transiting planet. Furthermore, we show that the influence of the spots on the retrieval of the planetary transmission spectrum is significant for spots close to the center of the star, covering a fraction greater than 0.05 and with a temperature contrast greater than 500 K, and that for these cases our method can confidently extract the transmission spectrum and the impact parameter of the transiting planet for both cases of occulted and not occulted spots, provided that we have an accurate characterization of the stellar parameters and a reliable simulator of the instrument performances.

Transmission Comparison for Cooperative Robotic Applications

The development of powered assistive devices that integrate exoskeletal motors and muscle activation for gait restoration benefits from actuators with low backdrive torque. Such an approach enables motors to assist as needed while maximizing the joint torque muscles, contributing to movement, and facilitating ballistic motions instead of overcoming passive dynamics. Two electromechanical actuators were developed to determine the effect of two candidate transmission implementations for an exoskeletal joint. To differentiate the transmission effects, the devices utilized the same motor and similar gearing. One actuator included a commercially available harmonic drive transmission while the other incorporated a custom designed two-stage planetary transmission. Passive resistance and mechanical efficiency were determined based on isometric torque and passive resistance. The planetary-based actuator outperformed the harmonic-based actuator in all tests and would be more suitable for hybrid exoskeletons.

ARES V: No Evidence For Molecular Absorption in the HST WFC3 Spectrum of GJ 1132 b

<p>We present a study on the spatially scanned spectroscopic observations of the transit of GJ 1132 b, a warm (~500 K) Super-Earth (1.13 Re) that was obtained with the G141 grism (1.125 - 1.650 micron) of the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) onboard the Hubble Space Telescope. We used the publicly available Iraclis pipeline to extract the planetary transmission spectra from the five visits and produce a precise transmission spectrum. We analysed the spectrum using the TauREx3 atmospheric retrieval code with which we show that the measurements do not contain molecular signatures in the investigated wavelength range and are best-fit with a flat-line model. Our results suggest that the planet does not have a clear primordial, hydrogen-dominated atmosphere. Instead, GJ 1132 b could have a cloudy hydrogen-dominated envelope, a very enriched secondary atmosphere, be airless, or have a tenuous atmosphere that has not been detected. Due to the narrow wavelength coverage of WFC3, these scenarios cannot be distinguished yet but the James Webb Space Telescope may be capable of detecting atmospheric features, although several observations may be required to provide useful constraints</p>

Fuel Control Systems for Planetary Transmission Vehicles: A Contribution to the LPG-fueled Vehicles Community

The bi-fuel system vehicle (gasoline/LPG) has been developed for a long time because it has the ability to switch fuels, both built as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or as a modified vehicle. However, on vehicles with planetary automatic transmissions, additional control systems are needed to produce optimal performance, both on gasoline and LPG operations, especially on uphill roads. Old vehicles with planetary automatic transmissions are not equipped with road slope angle sensors, so on uphill roads and the driver has not mastered road conditions, the engine tends to stop suddenly. Therefore, this study aims to develop a fuel control system (LPG operation) on a planetary automatic transmission to control gear shifts based on the level of the road slope. A simulation with MATLAB Simulink we used to create a control system, with objective function and constraint defined. As a result, the control system can recognize the level of the road slope to control the speed gear shift. This control system is promising and reliable to be implemented in real conditions.

Semi-numerical analysis of a two-stage series composite planetary transmission considering incremental harmonic balance and multi-scale perturbation methods

This study conducts an analytical investigation of the dynamic response characteristics of a two-stage series composite system (TsSCS) with a planetary transmission consisting of dual-power branches. An improved incremental harmonic balance (IHB) method, which solves the closed solution of incremental parameters passing through the singularity point of the analytical path, based on the arc length extension technique, is proposed. The results are compared with those of the numerical integration method to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the improved method. Following that, the multi-scale perturbation (MsP) method is applied to the TsSCS proposed in this subject to analyze the parameter excitation and gap nonlinear equations and then to obtain the analytical frequency response functions including the fundamental, subharmonic, and superharmonic resonance responses. The frequency response equations of the primary resonance, subharmonic resonance, and superharmonic resonance are solved to generate the frequency response characteristic curves of the planetary gear system (PGS) in this method. A comparison between the results obtained by the MsP method and the numerical integration method proves that the former is ideal and credible in most regions. Considering the parameters of TsSCS excitation frequency and damping, the nonlinear response characteristics of steady-state motion are mutually converted. The effects of the time-varying parameters and the nonlinear deenthing caused by the gear teeth clearance on the amplitude–frequency characteristics of TsSCS components are studied in this special topic.

Data-driven dictionary design–based sparse classification method for intelligent fault diagnosis of planet bearings

Planet bearings have remained as the challenging components for health monitoring and diagnostics in the planetary transmission systems of helicopters and wind turbines, due to their intricate kinematic mechanisms, strong modulations, and heavy interferences from gear vibrations. To address intelligent diagnostics of planet bearings, this article presents a data-driven dictionary design–based sparse classification (DDD-SC) approach. DDD-SC is free of detecting the weak frequency features and can achieve reliable fault recognition performances for planet bearings without establishing any explicit classifiers. In the first step, DDD-SC implements the data-driven dictionary design with an overlapping segmentation strategy, which leverages the self-similarity features of planet bearing data and constructs the category-specific dictionaries with strong representation power. In the second step, DDD-SC implements the sparsity-based intelligent diagnosis with the sparse representation–based classification criterion and differentiates various planet bearing health states based on minimal sparse reconstruction errors. The effectiveness and superiority of DDD-SC for intelligent planet bearing fault diagnosis have been demonstrated with an experimental planetary transmission system. The extensive diagnosis results show that DDD-SC can achieve the highest diagnosis accuracy, strongest anti-noise performance, and lowest computation costs in comparison with three classical sparse representation–based classification and two advanced deep learning methods.

A New Methodology for Multistage Multispeed Planetary Transmission Design Based on Geometry

In the planetary automatic transmission design, efficiency is one of the primary performance indicators determining the final selection from multiple candidates. However, efficiency evaluation is the last step of conceptual design, thereby causing the trial result is often known at the end of the design. A new methodology based on geometry is presented for multistage planetary automatic transmission design, ranging from clutching sequence synthesis to efficiency evaluation. The emphasis is placed on a unified model for design steps with different analysis principles to predict power transfer characteristics earlier. Some new results and improvements are also presented, such as general speed ratio change law, simultaneous traversal of different shift types, and the efficiency formula. An example is provided to illustrate the applicability to a 3-DOF planetary automatic transmission and shows that early identification of power transfer characteristics can lock in necessary subsequent calculations, thereby eliminating unnecessary analysis and speeding up the design process.