Nonlinear modeling and transition corridor calculation of a tiltrotor without cyclic pitch

In order to solve the problem of rotor airflow interference to the wing of tiltrotor UAV, the lift and drag in the slipstream area and the free flow area were calculated respectively according to the hydrodynamics theory and CFD simulation. The longitudinal nonlinear dynamics model of tiltrotor UAV is established by Newton-Euler method. In order to solve the problem that the lift and thrust are difficult to balance the body gravity in the transition flight mode, a method for calculating the transition corridor of a tiltrotor UAV without cyclic pitch is proposed. The boundary of the transition corridor is restricted by the Angle of attack of the wing and the thrust of the rotor. Considering the requirements of UAV cruise speed, flight safety and minimum energy consumption, the optimal transition curve is selected. The result show that the designed transition curve can ensure that the lift and the rotor thrust can balance the gravity completely and the Angle of attack is in a reasonable range, and the rotor force has enough margin of safety.

Modelling of the shape of railway transition curves from the point of view of passenger comfort

In the past, railway transition curves were not used. Instead of it, a simple connection of the straight track and circular arc was applied. Nowadays, such simplicity is not allowed due to the increasing vehicle operating velocities. It is mainly visible in the high-speed train lines, where long curves are used. The article aims to develop a new shape of railway transition curves for which passenger travel comfort will be as high as possible. Considerations in this paper concern the polynomials of 9th- and 11th-degrees, which were adopted to the mathematical model of the mentioned shape of curves. The study's authors applied a 2-axle rail vehicle model combined with mathematically understood optimisation methods. The advanced vehicle model can better assign the dynamical properties of railway transition curves to freight and passenger vehicles. The mentioned model was adopted to simulate rail vehicle movement in both cases of the shape of transition curves and the shape of circular arc (for comparison of the results). Passenger comfort, described by European Standard EN 12299, was used as the assessment criterion. The work showed that the method using the 2-axle railway vehicle model combined with mathematically understood optimisation works correctly, and the optimisation of the transition curve shape is possible. The current study showed that the 3rd-degree parabola (the shape of the curve traditionally used in railway engineering) is not always the optimum shape. In many cases (especially for the long curves), the optimum shape of curves is between the standard transition curves and the linear curvature of the 3rd-degree parabola. The new shapes of the railway transition curves obtained when the passenger comfort is taken into account result in new railway transition curves shapes. In the authors' opinion, the results presented in the current work are a novelty in optimisation and the properties assessment of railway transition curves.

Structural Characterization of Ectodomain G Protein of Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Its Interaction with Heparan Sulfate: Multi-Spectroscopic and In Silico Studies Elucidating Host-Pathogen Interactions

The global burden of disease caused by a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is becoming more widely recognized in young children and adults. Heparan sulfate helps in attaching the virion through G protein with the host cell membrane. In this study, we examined the structural changes of ectodomain G protein (edG) in a wide pH range. The absorbance results revealed that protein maintains its tertiary structure at physiological and highly acidic and alkaline pH. However, visible aggregation of protein was observed in mild acidic pH. The intrinsic fluorescence study shows no significant change in the λmax except at pH 12.0. The ANS fluorescence of edG at pH 2.0 and 3.0 forms an acid-induced molten globule-like state. The denaturation transition curve monitored by fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that urea and GdmCl induced denaturation native (N) ↔ denatured (D) state follows a two-state process. The fluorescence quenching, molecular docking, and 50 ns simulation measurements suggested that heparan sulfate showed excellent binding affinity to edG. Our binding study provides a preliminary insight into the interaction of edG to the host cell membrane via heparan sulfate. This binding can be inhibited using experimental approaches at the molecular level leading to the prevention of effective host–pathogen interaction.

Helping nurses help themselves with change

Change is an inevitable part of living. Some changes are embraced and others are rejected or resented. In the case of the latter, life can become difficult for staff members and those who work with them, especially if organisational change is challenging. This difficulty can lead to dissatisfaction with work, poor work performance, low morale and increased staff turnover. In order to help nurses understand the emotions surrounding change, this article looks at the Bridges Transition Model and Fisher's Personal Transition Curve. To help nurses better manage change when they are subject to it, four practical tools are explored that can be used to help individuals make change work for them.

B-spline based corner smoothing method to decrease the maximum curvature of the transition curve

Toolpath represented by linear segments leads to tangency discontinuity between blocks, which results in fluctuation of feedrate and reduction of machining efficiency and quality. To eliminate these unwanted external factors, optimal corner smoothing operation is essential for CNC systems to achieve a smooth toolpath. This work proposes a corner smoothing approach by generating a B-spline transition curve with 7 control points. By adjusting the position of the control points, the resulting transition curve is not limited to smooth the corner in the convex side of the corner, but shuttles back and forth between the convex and concave sides to decrease the maximum curvature, while respecting the given error tolerance. The approximation errors in convex and concave sides can be analytically calculated. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method on machining efficiency improvement.

Investigation on Deformation of the Flex-Gear and Optimization Design of Compound Curve Cam Wave Generator with Spiral

The deformation shape and mechanical property of flex-gear greatly affect the meshing accuracy and service life of harmonic drive, and the stress wave generator plays a decisive role in the deformation shape and mechanical properties of the flexible gear. The investigation on deformation of the flex-gear around the major axis is developed with comparative analysis with three kinds of traditional and commonly used wave generators. Based on the influence of the deformation around the major axis on meshing accuracy and service life, the eccentric arc cam wave generator improved by transition curve for controlling the deformation shape and reducing the deformation stress is developed. Considering the achievable flexibility of spiral with smooth curvature change rate, the contour of the compound curve cam wave generator with arc and spiral is proposed. The deformation of the flex-gear under the influence of this compound curve cam and the standard elliptic cam is further comparative analyzed. The conclusion shows that this compound curve cam can indeed reduce the deformation stress in the meshing area by increasing the meshing width, and correct deformation shape can also be gained by shape control on the whole circumference of the flex-gear’s neutral layer.

Offset Trajectory Planning of Robot End Effector and its Jerk with Curvature Theory

Some situations that change the parameters of the kinematic structure may cause the robot end effector to deviate [Merlet [2005] Parallel Robots, Vol. 128 (Springer Science & Business Media, Germany)] from the desired trajectory. This effect is called the robustness of the robot by Merlet. One of the ways to correct the robustness is by updating the robot trajectory. The jerk vector of the robot end effector is the third-order positional variation of the TCP and defined as thus the time derivative of the acceleration vector. If there is a high curvature on the transition curve trajectory of robot, then there is a tangential jerk along the trajectory. In this study, the geometrically offset trajectory of the robot end effector from the current trajectory was obtained by using the curvature theory. The angular velocity and angular acceleration of the offset trajectory were calculated. An example of the main trajectory of robot end effector and its offset is given. Also, the jerk of the robot end effector of the offset trajectory was calculated according to the curvature of the trajectory surface in case of a jerk problem caused by a high curvature in the transition curve along the offset trajectory curve.

A corner smoothing algorithm using Trajectory Pattern Method (TPM) for high-speed and high-quality machining

In micro-line segments machining, transition curves with high harmonic components are more prone to causing vibration issues in the feed drive system, which affects machining efficiency and quality severely. To construct low harmonic trajectories, this paper proposes a corner smoothing algorithm that uses the Trajectory Pattern Method (TPM). The transition curve construction and axial motion scheduling are performed with a specified fundamental frequency in one step, which reduces the smoothing process time and avoids excitation of natural modes of vibration of the system. The synthesized trajectories and axial kinematic profiles are all smooth and only contain the selected fundamental frequency and its first two odd harmonics, which minimizes the number of high harmonic components in the required actuation forces/torques and avoids excitation of the system modes of vibration. Linear programming is used to synthesize the trajectories. The proposed algorithm is shown to achieve near time-optimal trajectories. The provided experimental analysis and comparisons demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves smooth axial kinematic profiles with low harmonic contents, which would improve machining efficiency and quality.

Optimum Railway Transition Curves—Method of the Assessment and Results

This article discusses the optimization of railway transition curves, through the application of polynomials of 9th and 11th degrees. In this work, the authors use a 2-axle rail vehicle model combined with mathematically understood optimization methods. This model is used to simulate rail vehicle movement negotiating both a transition curve and circular arc. Passenger comfort is applied as the criterion to assess which transition is actually is the best one. The 4-axle vehicle was also used to verify the results obtained using the 2-axle vehicle. Our results show that the traditionally used in a railway engineering transition—3rd degree parabola—which is not always the optimum curve. This fact is especially valid for the longest curves, with lengths greater than 150 m. For such cases, the transition curves similar to standard curves of 9th and 11th degrees is the optimum ones. This result is confirmed by the use of the 4-axle vehicle.