DESIGN AND EXPERIMENT OF CENTRIFUGAL COLLISION TEST DEVICE FOR MILLET AND SWEET BUCKWHEAT GRAIN

This critical collision damage force of millet and sweet buckwheat grain and the shelling force of shelled granular materials are important basic data for research of threshing and shelling technology and equipment. In order to master the linear velocity and collision force of grain with different moisture content when collision damage occurs, a centrifugal collision test device is designed. Based on the dynamic and kinematic analysis of grain in the centrifugal rotary table, the collision force between grain and steel plate was measured by PVDF piezoelectric pressure sensor and data acquisition system. The results showed that: under the same moisture content, the higher the rotational speed, the higher the grain crushing rate; at the same rotational speed, with the increase of moisture content, the crushing rate first decreased and then increased. When the moisture content of Jingu-21 and Yuqiao-4 is 19.7% and 17.8%, respectively, the grain crushing rate was the lowest. In terms of the anti-collision ability of grain, the optimum moisture content of threshing is between 19.7% and 21% for millet. For sweet buckwheat, the optimum moisture content of threshing is 17.8% ~19%, while the optimum moisture content of shelling by centrifugal sheller is about 11%. The faster the rotational speed of centrifugal rotary table is, the greater the linear speed of grain is, and the greater the collision force is. When the linear velocity of grain was 8.32 m/s and 11.30 m/s respectively, the millet grain moisture content was 11.1% and 20.9% respectively, damage began to appear, and the corresponding collision force was about 5.51 N and 10.6 N, respectively. When the linear velocity of grain was 8.32 m/s and 11.30m/s respectively, and the moisture content was 11.1% and 22.8% of the sweet buckwheat grain respectively, damage began to appear, the corresponding collision force was about 8.92 N and 12.79 N, respectively. When the rotating speed of rotary table was 910 r/min, the linear speed of grain was 27.05 m/s, the crushing rate of millet and sweet buckwheat grain in harvest period were 56.30% and 63.76%, respectively, and the crushing rate of millet and buckwheat grain with 11.1% moisture content were 86.27% and 89.4%, respectively. The research results can provide theoretical basis for design and optimization of millet and sweet buckwheat combine harvester, threshing device and shelling device.

STUDY ON THE ASSESSMENT OF IMPACT FORCE BETWEEN SHIP AND BRIDGE PIER

The bridge crossing water way is in the risk of impact by vessel, and thus it is very important to estimate the collision force for the safety of bridge. The impact force between bridge pier and vessel is investigated by numerical simulation and various empirical formulae. The collision response between a 5000t DWT bulk carrier with bulb bow and rigid bridge pier is simulated in the explicit finite element code of ANSYS LS-DYNA. The difference of the impact force between the empirical formulae and FE analysis are discussed. Based on the comparison of the results, the coefficient in the formulae is suggested for obtaining more accurate assessment of impact force.

Research on Bridge Structure Reliability Evaluation due to Vessels Collison Based on a Statistical Moment Method

Damage to bridge structures caused by vessel collision is a risk for bridges crossing water traffic routes. Therefore, safety around vessel collision of existing and planned bridges is one of the key technical problems that must be solved by engineering technicians and bridge managers. In the evaluation of the reliability of the bridge structure, the two aspects of vessel-bridge collision force and structural resistance need to be considered. As there are many influencing parameters, the performance function is difficult to express by explicit function. This paper combines the moment method theory of structural reliability with finite element analysis and proposes a statistical moment method based on finite element analysis for the calculation of vessel-bridge collision reliability, which solves the structural reliability problem with a nonlinear implicit performance function. According to the probability model based on current velocity, vessel velocity, and vessel collision tonnage, the estimate points in the standard normal space are converted into estimate points in the original state space through the Rosenblatt reverse transform. According to the estimate points in the original state space and the simplified dynamic load model of vessel-bridge collision, the sample time-history curve of random vessel-bridge collision force is generated, the dynamic response of the bridge structure and the structural resistance of the bridge are calculated by establishing a finite element model, and the failure probability and reliability index of the bridge structure is calculated according to the fourth-moment method. The statistical moment based on the finite element analysis is based on the finite element analysis and the moment method theory of structural reliability. The statistical moment of the limited performance function is calculated through a quite small amount of confirmatory finite element analysis, and the structural reliability index and failure probability are obtained. The method can be widely used in existing finite element analysis programs, greatly reducing the number of finite element analyses needed and improving the efficiency of structural reliability analysis.

A Novel Occupancy Mapping Framework for Risk-Aware Path Planning in Unstructured Environments

In the context of autonomous robots, one of the most important tasks is to prevent potential damage to the robot during navigation. For this purpose, it is often assumed that one must deal with known probabilistic obstacles, then compute the probability of collision with each obstacle. However, in complex scenarios or unstructured environments, it might be difficult to detect such obstacles. In these cases, a metric map is used, where each position stores the information of occupancy. The most common type of metric map is the Bayesian occupancy map. However, this type of map is not well suited for computing risk assessments for continuous paths due to its discrete nature. Hence, we introduce a novel type of map called the Lambda Field, which is specially designed for risk assessment. We first propose a way to compute such a map and the expectation of a generic risk over a path. Then, we demonstrate the benefits of our generic formulation with a use case defining the risk as the expected collision force over a path. Using this risk definition and the Lambda Field, we show that our framework is capable of doing classical path planning while having a physical-based metric. Furthermore, the Lambda Field gives a natural way to deal with unstructured environments, such as tall grass. Where standard environment representations would always generate trajectories going around such obstacles, our framework allows the robot to go through the grass while being aware of the risk taken.

A toolkit for haptic force feedback in a telerobotic ultrasound system

Objective To develop a collision engine (haptic force feedback simulator) compatible with a 5-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) haptic wand. This has broad applications such as telerobotic ultrasound systems. Integrating force feedback into systems is critical to optimize remote scanning. A collision engine compatible with a 5-DOF haptic wand was developed based on the Gilbert–Johnson–Keerthi algorithm. The collision engine calculated force during collision between the wand and a virtual object based on code developed using MATLAB. A proportional force was subsequently returned to a user via the haptic wand, thereby simulating the collision force for the user. Three experiments were conducted to assess the accuracy of the collision engine on curved and flat surfaces. Results The average errors in calculation of distances between the wand and virtual object were 2.1 cm, 3.4 cm, and 4.2 cm for the model of the human hand, cylinder, and cuboid, respectively. The collision engine accurately simulated forces on a flat surface, though was less accurate on curved surfaces. Future work will incorporate haptic force feedback into a telerobotic ultrasound system. The haptic force simulator presented here may also be used in the development of ultrasound simulators for training and education.

Shared-Energy Prediction Model for Ship-Ice Interactions

Low- and non-ice-class ship-ice interactions are modelled with a shared-energy approach, which typically models the internal mechanics with nonlinear finite element methods. For applications like the preliminary design phase and quick operational assessments of the ship’s structural capabilities, a finite element shared-energy approach can be time consuming and information intensive, therefore, an analytical share-energy algorithm is proposed. The proposed algorithm applies the upper bound energy methodology by equating the external collision energy, determined with the Popov collision model (Popov, et al., 1967), to the sum of the internal ice and structural response energies. The distribution of the internal energy, between the ice and the structure, is determined by iterating through possible shared contact forces until the sum of the internal response energies equals the external energy introduced into the system. The ice-crushing energy is modelled with Daley’s (1999) energy based ice collision force models, and the internal structural strain energy is modelled through a combination of classical beam theory and design of experiments methodology. The proposed model is benchmarked against a finite element ice wedge-ship grillage structure interaction.

Approximation Solution for the Zener Impact Theory

Collisions can be classified as completely elastic or inelastic. Collision mechanics theory has gradually developed from elastic to inelastic collision theories. Based on the Hertz elastic collision contact theory and Zener inelastic collision theory model, we derive and explain the Hertz and Zener collision theory model equations in detail in this study and establish the Zener inelastic collision theory, which is a simple and fast calculation of the approximate solution to the nonlinear differential equations of motion. We propose an approximate formula to obtain the Zener nonlinear differential equation of motion in a simple manner. The approximate solution determines the relevant values of the collision force, material displacement, velocity, and contact time.

Research on Bearing Fatigue Life of New Type Tire Unloader based on Ncode DesignLife

The new tire unloading machine is used for unloading and turning over the giant radial tire (weighing 6t). During the turning process, due to the huge inertial force of the tire and the collision force between the plywood and the tire, the tire unloading machine bearing is subjected to complex alternating stresses. It is difficult to predict the fatigue life of a bearing. To this end, the paper combines Ncode DesignLife, ADAMS and Workbench numerical analysis platform to predict the fatigue life of tire unloading machine bearings. At the same time, the ISO bearing life standard calculation method is used to evaluate the bearing life and compare the two calculation results. The research results show that the simulation prediction of the bearing life at the lowermost rocker arm of the tire unloader is 2190.56h, and the bearing life of the uppermost guide wheel bearing is 2025.56h. Accordingly, the ISO prediction results are 1717.12h and 1128.44h, which are basically in the same order of magnitude. It shows that the simulation method of bearing life prediction used in the article is reasonable. The research can provide theoretical guidance for the bearing type matching and service life of the giant tire unloader.