Analysis of design parameters of round-window stimulating type electromagnetic transducer by a nonlinear lumped parameter model of implanted human ear

<abstract> <p>Round-window stimulating transducer is a new solution to treat mixed hearing loss. To uncover the factors affecting the round-window stimulation's performance, we investigated the influence of four main design parameters of round-window stimulating type electromagnetic transducer. Firstly, we constructed a human ear nonlinear lumped parameter model and confirmed its validity by comparing the stapes responses predicted by the model with the experimental data. Following this, an electromagnetic transducer's mechanical model, which simulates the floating mass transducer, was built and coupled to the human ear model; thereby, we established a nonlinear lumped parameter model of implanted human ear under round-window stimulation and verified its reliability. Finally, based on this model, the influences of the four main design parameters, i.e., the excitation voltage, the electromechanical coupling coefficient, the support stiffness, and the preload force, were analyzed. The results show that the change of excitation voltage does not alter the system's natural frequency. Chaotic motion occurs when the electromechanical coupling coefficient is small. Meanwhile, the stapes displacement appears to increase firstly and then decrease with the increase of the electromechanical coupling coefficient. The increase of the support stiffness enlarges the resonance frequency of the stapes displacement and reduces the stapes displacement near the resonance frequency, deteriorating the transducer's hearing compensation at low frequency. The preload force can improve the transducer's hearing compensation performance in mid-high frequency region.</p> </abstract>

Investigation on friction-induced judder of vehicle driveline based on a nonlinear friction model

Due to friction characteristics of clutch, the driveline is prone to cause a judder during vehicle starting, and then to cause the vehicle body to vibrate, which affects driving quality. In order to analyze the judder phenomenon, a nonlinear numerical friction model based on the Gaussian friction model is established in this paper. For the driveline of a front-wheel-drive vehicle, a five-degree-of-freedom (5DOF) lumped parameter model including a nonlinear friction element is established. The complex mode of the driveline during the clutch in slip condition is calculated. The key parameters affecting the driveline stability are analyzed. The self-excited judder and pressure-induced judder of the driveline are numerically simulated, and the corresponding causes are analyzed. The nonlinear friction torque of the clutch is also calculated. Furthermore, the effects of the key parameters such as the torsional stiffness and damping of the clutch and drive shaft suppressing the self-excited judder and pressure-induced judder are numerically studied respectively. Compared with the widely used Karnopp friction model, the nonlinear numerical friction model established in this paper comprehensively includes the stribeck effect in slip and the friction torque characteristics in stick. The phenomena of the judder and stick-slip of the driveline during vehicle starting are more accurately simulated. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental results, which verify the accuracy and effectiveness of the dynamic model including the nonlinear friction element established in this paper.

On the Optimal Selection of Flux Barrier Reconfiguration for a Five-Phase Permanent Magnet Assisted Synchronous Reluctance Machine for Low-Torque Ripple Application

This paper aims to investigate the reconfigurations of rotor flux barriers for a five-phase Permanent Magnet Assisted Synchronous Reluctance Machine (PMASynRM). To precisely study the performance of the proposed configurations, a conventional PMASynRM with double-layer flux barriers is included in the study. Since the novel rotor schemes consume the same amount of rare-earth magnets, steel sheet materials, and copper wire, resulting in no extra manufacturing costs, the optimal reconfiguration should be determined, providing developed electromagnetic characteristics. Thus, all the proposed models are designed and analyzed under the same condition. The Lumped Parameter Model (LPM) is exported to the Finite Element Method (FEM) for precise analysis to reach developed torque and lower values of torque ripple. Based on the FEM results the model presenting the lowest torque fluctuations is selected as the optimal model and dynamically investigated. According to the results, in comparison with the conventional model, the introduced rotor designs provide a much lower value of torque fluctuations with a desirable amount of electromagnetic torque and power. In addition, the optimal model presents high values of power factor and efficiency, making it a vital alternative for low-torque ripple high-speed operations with no extra cost to the implementation process.

Nonlinear Dynamic Modelling of a Suspension Seat for Predicting the Vertical Seat Transmissibility

Suspension seats are widely used in heavy vehicles to reduce vibration transmitted to human body and promote ride comfort. Previous studies have shown that the dynamics of the suspension seat exhibits nonlinear behaviour with changed vibration magnitudes. Despite various linear seat models developed in the past, a nonlinear model of the suspension seat capturing the nonlinear dynamic behaviour of the seat suspension and cushion has not been developed for the prediction of the seat transmissibility. This paper proposes a nonlinear lumped parameter model of the suspension seat to predict the nonlinear dynamic response of the seat. The suspension seat model comprises of a nonlinear suspension submodel integrated with a nonlinear cushion submodel. The parameters of the submodels are determined by minimizing the error between the simulated and the measured transmissibility of the suspension mechanism and the force-deflection curve of the seat cushion, respectively. The model of the complete seat is then validated using the seat transmissibility measured with inert mass under vertical vibration excitation. The results show that the proposed suspension seat model can be used to predict the seat transmissibility with various excitation magnitudes.

The Effects of Altering the Center of Pressure in Standing Subjects Exposed to Foot-Transmitted Vibration on an Optimized Lumped-Parameter Model of the Foot

Many workers are exposed to foot-transmitted vibration, which can lead to the development of vibration-induced white foot: a debilitating condition with neurological, vascular and osteoarticular symptoms. To design effective prevention mechanisms (i.e., boots and insoles) for isolating workers from vibration exposure, continued model development of the foot’s biodynamic response in different positions is necessary. This study uses a previously developed model of the foot–ankle system (FAS) to investigates how altering the center of pressure (COP) location can change the biodynamic response of the FAS to standing vibration exposure. Formerly published experimental responses for apparent mass and transmissibility at five anatomical locations in three COP positions were used to optimize the model. Differences occurred with the Kelvin–Voigt elements used to represent the soft tissues of the foot sole: at the heel, the distal head of the metatarsals and distal phalanges. The stiffness increased wherever the COP was concentrated (i.e., forward over the toes or backward over the heel). The variability of the model parameters was always greatest when the COP was concentrated in the heel. This suggests future FAS models need to more clearly address how the soft tissue of the plantar fat pad is modelled.

An asymmetric magnetic-coupled bending-torsion piezoelectric energy harvester: modeling and experimental investigation

This paper presents a detailed investigation on an asymmetric magnetic-coupled bending-torsion piezoelectric energy harvester based on harmonic excitation. There is an eccentricity between the shape center of moving magnets and the axis of the piezoelectric beam, which results in the bending and torsion simultaneously in working condition. The distributed mathematical model is derived from the energy method to describe the dynamic characteristics of the harvester, and the correctness of the model is verified by experiments. To further demonstrate the improvement performance of the proposed energy harvester, the bending-torsion energy harvester (i.e. magnetic-coupled was not configured) is experimented and compared. The theoretical and experimental results indicate that the average power increases about 300% but the resonance frequency decreases approximately 2 Hz comparing to the harvester without magnetic-coupled. According to the characteristic of distributed parameter model, the magnetic force and the size of the piezoelectric beam are investigated respectively. And the lumped-parameter model is introduced to analyze the steady-state characteristic. Accordingly, this paper provides a feasible method to improve performance for piezoelectric energy harvester.

Characterization of Giant Magnetostrictive Materials Using Three Complex Material Parameters by Particle Swarm Optimization

Complex material parameters that can represent the losses of giant magnetostrictive materials (GMMs) are the key parameters for high-power transducer design and performance analysis. Since the GMMs work under pre-stress conditions and their performance is highly sensitive to pre-stress, the complex parameters of a GMM are preferably characterized in a specific pre-stress condition. In this study, an optimized characterization method for GMMs is proposed using three complex material parameters. Firstly, a lumped parameter model is improved for a longitudinal transducer by incorporating three material losses. Then, the structural damping and contact damping are experimentally measured and applied to confine the parametric variance ranges. Using the improved lumped parameter model, the real parts of the three key material parameters are characterized by fitting the experimental impedance data while the imaginary parts are separately extracted by the phase data. The global sensitivity analysis that accounts for the interaction effects of the multiple parameter variances shows that the proposed method outperforms the classical method as the sensitivities of all the six key parameters to both impedance and phase fitness functions are all high, which implies that the extracted material complex parameters are credible. In addition, the stability and credibility of the proposed parameter characterization is further corroborated by the results of ten random characterizations.

Gravitational effects on ocular pressure and perfusion pressure

Changes in the gravitational vector by postural changes or weightlessness induce fluid shifts impacting ocular hemodynamics and regional pressures. This investigation explores the impact of changes in direction of the gravitational vector on intraocular pressure (IOP), mean arterial pressure at eyelevel (MAPeye), and ocular perfusion pressure (OPP), which is critical for ocular health. Thirteen subjects underwent 360° of tilt (including both prone and supine positions) at 15º increments. At each angle, steady-state IOP and MAPeye were measured and OPP calculated as MAPeye-IOP. Experimental data were compared to a 6-compartment lumped parameter model of the eye. Mean IOP, MAPeye, and OPP significantly increased from 0º supine to 90º head down tilt (HDT) by 20.7±1.7 mmHg (ᵅD; < 0.001), 38.5±4.1 mmHg (ᵅD; < 0.001), and 17.4±3.2 mmHg (ᵅD; <0.001), respectively. Head up tilt (HUT) significantly decreased OPP by 16.5±2.5 mmHg (ᵅD; < 0.001). IOP was significantly higher in prone vs. supine position for much of the tilt range. Our study indicates that OPP is highly gravitationally dependent. Specifically, data show that MAPeye is more gravitationally dependent than IOP, thus causing OPP to increase during HDT and to decrease during HUT. Additionally, IOP was elevated in prone position compared to supine position due to the additional hydrostatic column between the base of the rostral globe to the mid-caudal plane, supporting the notion that hydrostatic forces play an important role in ocular hemodynamics. Changes in OPP as a function of changes in gravitational stress and/or weightlessness may play a role in the pathogenesis of spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome.