Long-term assessment of conventional and mini-screw–assisted rapid palatal expansion on the nasal cavity

ABSTRACT Objectives To evaluate the long-term effects of mini-screw–assisted rapid palatal expansion (MARPE), rapid palatal expansion (RPE), and controls on the nasal cavity with cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods A total of 180 CBCT scans that were part of a previous randomized trial were evaluated retrospectively for 60 patients at pretreatment (T1), postexpansion (T2), and posttreatment (T3). Patients were randomly assigned into 3 groups: MARPE, RPE, and controls (time period T1 to T3; MARPE: 2 years 8 months; RPE: 2 years 9 months; control: 2 years 7 months). Nasal height, nasal length, nasion–ANS height, ANS–PNS length, pyriform height, and nasal septal deviation angle were measured. The changes in alar width, alar base width, anterior nasal cavity width, posterior nasal cavity width, maxillary intermolar width, and maxillary intercanine width were also evaluated. Results The alar base width, posterior nasal cavity width, anterior nasal cavity width, maxillary intercanine width, and maxillary intermolar width significantly increased (P < .05), and the nasal septal deviation angle significantly decreased (P < .05) in both the MARPE and RPE groups as compared with controls in the short term. In the long term, the nasal septal deviation angle was significantly decreased (P < .05) in the MARPE and RPE groups as compared with controls, and the posterior nasal cavity width was significantly increased (P < .05) in the MARPE group compared with the RPE group and controls. Conclusions MARPE and RPE led to a significant increase in the nasal cavity and alar base width compared with controls in the short term. In the long term, a significant increase was observed only in the posterior nasal cavity width with MARPE. Both MARPE and RPE led to a minimal decrease in nasal septal deviation angle in comparison with controls.

Experimental and numerical analysis of the wear mechanism in spring coil forming die and the effects of die geometry on wear

The present work aimed at understanding the wear mechanism of spring coil forming die and the effects of die geometry on wear. The wear morphology was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometer. The main wear mechanism was found to be adhesive wear, and a variant of the Archard wear model was established. The wear distribution in spring coil forming die was numerically analyzed in DEFORM software, and the effects of die geometry parameters on wear were discussed. Numerical results revealed that the wear distribution in the die was uneven and the wear mainly occurred at the sides of the die cavity. The wear depth was greatly affected by the width and angle of the die cavity, whereas the length of the die cavity had little effect. A small cavity width or angle led to severe wear, while a large cavity width reduced the forming quality of the spring coil. Moreover, a simple and effective life prediction method was proposed based on wear results. The findings of this research will be helpful for the effective design of spring coil forming die and the prediction of wear.

BIPV/T for Arctic Residential Applications

This study aims to investigate the performance of an open loop air-based building integrated photovoltaic/thermal collector (BIPV/T) to preheat Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) supply air and to generate electrical energy. ERVs have proven successful in cold climates, but in the extreme cold of the arctic frequent frosting and defrosting cycles reduce their effectiveness and increase energy consumption. Thus, by integrating with BIPV/T, this problem can be reduced while also generating solar electricity. A finite difference model of the BIPV/T system integrated in a typical potential application was simulated in MATLAB using local weather data and fresh air requirements to obtain system outputs. BIPV/T parameters such as tilt angle, cavity width and height were varied, keeping in mind nominal lumber sizes and ease of construction for improved implementation for Arctic residential applications.

Numerical Study of the Effect of Different Variables on the Cooling of a Flat Plate Using a Synthetic Jet

A synthetic jet is caused by the periodic motion of a diaphragm within a cavity. There is one or more orifices or outlets in this cavity. The main advantage of this type of jet compared to a continuous jet is that the synthetic jet is composed of transverse flow, and therefore, it does not need a continuous source of fluid, unlike the continuous jet. In recent years, synthetic jets have received a great deal of attention so that they have been used in a wide range of applications such as controlling separation and turbulence, besides, the cooling of electronic equipment and propulsion. In the present study, the jet is placed perpendicular to the flat plane with constant heat flux, thereafter, the effect of some geometric parameters were evaluated numerically such as the ratio of the distance between the jet and the impinging plate to the nozzle width, the ratio of the impinging plate length to the jet nozzle width, the ratio of cavity width of the synthetic jet to the nozzle width, the ratio of the cavity height to the nozzle width, the angle of the impinging plate, besides, the diaphragm specifications including amplitude and frequency of the jet diaphragm in heat transfer using OpenFOAM open-source software. The results show that the frequency and the length of the impinging plate are the most effective parameters, respectively, in terms of the diaphragm and geometry.

The SPIRou wavelength calibration for precise radial velocities in the near infrared

Aims. SPIRou is a near-infrared (nIR) spectropolarimeter at the CFHT, covering the YJHK nIR spectral bands (980−2350 nm). We describe the development and current status of the SPIRou wavelength calibration in order to obtain precise radial velocities (RVs) in the nIR. Methods. We make use of a UNe hollow-cathode lamp and a Fabry-Pérot étalon to calibrate the pixel-wavelength correspondence for SPIRou. Different methods are developed for identifying the hollow-cathode lines, for calibrating the wavelength dependence of the Fabry-Pérot cavity width, and for combining the two calibrators. Results. The hollow-cathode spectra alone do not provide a sufficiently accurate wavelength solution to meet the design requirements of an internal error of < 0.45 m s−1, for an overall RV precision of 1 m s−1. However, the combination with the Fabry-Pérot spectra allows for significant improvements, leading to an internal error of ∼0.15 m s−1. We examine the inter-night stability, intra-night stability, and impact on the stellar RVs of the wavelength solution.

Influence of Cavity Width on Attenuation Characteristic of Gas Explosion Wave

This study aimed to investigate the influence of cavity width on the attenuation characteristic of gas explosion wave. Attenuation mechanism of gas explosion wave through cavity was obtained by numerical simulation. The gas explosion shock wave energy can be greatly attenuated through the cavity structure in five stages, namely, plane wave, expansion, oblique reflection, Mach reflection, and reflection stack, to ensure that it is eliminated. Cavities with various width sizes, namely, 500 ∗ 300 ∗ 200, 500 ∗ 500 ∗ 200, and 500 ∗ 800 ∗ 200 (length ∗ width ∗ height, unit: mm), were experimented to further investigate the attenuation characteristics through a self-established large-size pipe gas explosion experimental system with 200 mm diameter and 36 m length. Results showed an evident attenuation effect on flame duration light intensity (FDLI) and peak overpressure with increasing cavity width. Compared with 300 mm, the overall FDLI decreased by 83.0%, and the peak overpressure decreased by 71.2% when the cavity width was 800 mm. The fitting curves of the FDLI and peak overpressure attenuation factors to width-diameter demonstrated that the critical width-diameter was 2.19 when the FDLI attenuation factor was 1. The FDLI attenuation factor sharply decreased at the width-diameter ratio range from 1.5 to 2.5 and basically remained steady at 0.17 at the width-diameter ratio range from 2.7 to 4.0. The peak overpressure attenuation factor gradually decreased with the increase of width-diameter ratio and changed from 0.93 to 0.28 with width-diameter ratio from 1.5 to 4.0. The research results can serve as a good reference for the design of gas explosion wave-absorbing structures.

Optimizing the Geometric Parameters of a Straight-Through Labyrinth Seal to Minimize the Leakage Flow Rate and the Discharge Coefficient

A straight-through labyrinth seal is one of the most popular non-contacting annular seals through which energy dissipation by turbulence viscosity interaction is achieved with a series of teeth and cavities. The geometric parameters of the straight-through labyrinth seal, such as clearance, tooth width, tooth height, cavity width, and tooth inclination angle, affect its performance. The space for installing a labyrinth seal in turbomachinery is limited, and so it is important to optimize its geometry for a fixed axial length in order to minimize the leakage flow rate and the discharge coefficient. The objective of the current study is to understand the effects of changing the geometric parameters of the seal on the leakage flow rate and the discharge coefficient, and to determine the optimized geometry for a fixed axial length. When the whole axial length is fixed, the most effective way to decrease the discharge coefficient is to reduce the cavity width by increasing the number of cavities. However, if the number of cavities is too high, the beneficial effect of more cavities can be reversed. The results of this study will help turbomachinery manufacturers to design a more efficient labyrinth seal. Numerical simulations of leakage flow for the straight-through labyrinth seal were carried out using Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) models, and the results for their discharge coefficients and pressure distributions were compared to previously published experimental data.