Search Results (184)

Photovoltaic (PV) plants are typically assessed using ~25-year financial horizons and 25–30-year module performance warranties. However, experience from demanding climates shows that actual lifetimes can be shorter and that dry-condition insulation tests may underestimate risks under wet operation. In such cases, repowering after roughly five years can restore energy yield and reduce operational faults, but it also creates repeated waves of waste and increases manufacturing demand. This study synthesizes evidence on moisture-induced insulation loss, backsheet degradation, and delamination-driven failure escalation and complements it with a transparent 30-year scenario comparing module replacement every 5, 10, and 30 years. The findings suggest that humidity-dependent ground-impedance deterioration, frequent inverter trips, delayed morning start-up, and shutdown risks can emerge within about five years at challenging sites, while dry testing may fail to capture these issues. In a severe scenario, five-year repowering requires six full module sets over 30 years, significantly increasing waste volumes and pressure on manufacturing and recycling systems. Therefore, PV sustainability assessments should reflect the effective repowering interval rather than nominal warranties. Promising solutions include repowering-ready, disassemblable module designs, such as those using soft PDMS gel encapsulation. Full article

During the process of damage identification and safety-state evaluation of cable-stayed bridges, the cable tension should also be incorporated into common monitoring, which usually includes displacement and strain. However, the testing process of cable tension is complicated, and the disassembly, installation and maintenance of the cable tension meter are higher priced and difficult. To improve the efficiency of damage evaluation regarding cable-stayed bridges, information-entropy theory is introduced and the curvature entropy index of the difference in the influence line of displacement is proposed. To obtain effective data parameters for damage evaluation, first, the dynamic disturbance in the displacement time-history response is removed through variational modal decomposition, and the multi-axle effect of vehicles is regularized, so as to identify the measured influence line of displacement of cable-stayed bridges. Second, the peak value of the curvature entropy index of the difference in the influence line of displacement under varied damage degrees of stay cables is extracted to construct the inverse fitting formula of damage degree. The entropy value of the measured influence line of displacement is then substituted into a PSO-BP neural network, so as to obtain the damage degree of the corresponding position of the measured data regarding the influence line of displacement of bridges. Finally, the health status of stay cables is evaluated using the information-entropy parameters of the influence line of displacement. The theoretical model and actual data are used for testing, and the research results show that: (1) the location and degree of cable damage can be effectively located and quantified by using the curvature entropy index of the difference in the influence line of displacement, and (2) the cable health index of the cable-stayed bridge tested by actual data is 96.73%, consistent with the conclusion of on-site technical evaluation. Full article

The building sector is responsible for a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions, raw material usage, and waste generation, driving the need for new circular design strategies. Among these, Design for Disassembly (DfD) promotes the reuse, repair, and recycling of building components. However, existing quantitative DfD assessment methodologies generally require extensive preliminary studies, which limit their practical use. This article presents a new quantitative DfD assessment methodology developed within the EU-funded INFINITE project, which aims to provide designers with a simple yet robust tool to evaluate the detachability potential of building integrated systems without requiring prior environmental studies. This methodology has been designed to evaluate specific DfD scores for maintenance, reuse, and recycling, using the mass and lifespan of products or systems as weighting factors. The tool was tested and validated on several systems developed during the INFINITE project. In the specific case of the Building Integrated Solar Thermal (BIST) system, it successfully identified key design improvements—such as enhanced accessibility for maintenance operations and optimized component connections. Industrial partners reported high usability and recognized the tool as a valuable decision-support instrument during early development phases. Nevertheless, the assessment methodology also revealed some limitations related to the assessment of the specific components and end-of-life scenarios, and to the absence of a holistic evaluation of trade-offs between mass-based score and environmental impacts. Full article

This paper presents a minimally intrusive experimental methodology for identifying and modeling power losses in the electric powertrain of a battery electric vehicle, including the inverter, electric motor and speed reducer. Measurements are performed on a roller test bench equipped with an eddy current brake, using two complementary approaches to determine the mechanical power at the wheel: (i) a direct measurement based on an onboard rotary torque sensor integrated into a driveshaft; (ii) an indirect estimation derived from brake power measurements corrected for bench losses and tire longitudinal slip. The two approaches are systematically compared in order to quantify the accuracy loss associated with brake-based measurements and to identify the operating conditions under which they can reliably substitute direct torque measurements. The experimental results show that brake-based estimations provide acceptable accuracy at moderate–high torque levels, while significant deviations occur at low torque. Based on the experimental dataset, an overall power loss model is identified using a polynomial function of motor torque and speed. Two fitting strategies are investigated: an unconstrained least-squares approach, allowing all coefficients to vary freely, and a constrained formulation enforcing physically admissible (non-negative) loss terms; while the unconstrained method slightly improves the numerical fit, it may lead to non-physical coefficients and invalid efficiency predictions. In contrast, the constrained approach preserves physical interpretability and ensures consistent loss and efficiency maps. Finally, a step-by-step practical guide is provided to facilitate the implementation of the proposed methodology for powertrain loss identification on electric vehicles without extensive mechanical disassembly. Full article

Traditional hydraulic transmission education is often hindered by the subject’s theoretical complexity and abstract nature. To address these challenges, this study introduces the Immersive Hydraulic Transmission Laboratory (IHTL), a virtual teaching system designed to enhance practical learning and theoretical comprehension. The IHTL comprises three key modules: hydraulic components, disassembly experiments, and hydraulic circuits. The system’s effectiveness was evaluated through a comparative study of 80 mechanical engineering students. Results showed that the experimental group exhibited a 20% higher rate of inquiry and achieved average test scores 20.475 points higher than the control group. Statistical analysis confirms that the IHTL significantly outperforms traditional teaching methods in both stimulating student interest and improving learning outcomes. Full article

Considering consumer health, consistency in processes, and developing trust among the public, food manufacturing facilities are expected to adhere to strict regulatory policies. Along with these expectations, machinery capabilities, especially considering reliability, maintainability, and hygienic designs, would play a significant role in delivering quality products and developing efficient processes. This paper focuses on a belt-style depositor machine, whose primary purpose is to deposit product pieces onto product passing below it. First, the key issues with the current machine are pinpointed. Next, alternative designs are provided aimed at testing, evaluating, and building belt-driven depositing machines. The original design experienced persistent belt tracking issues, frequent maintenance interruptions, and sanitation concerns due to its complex, heavy components. The project applied the Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verify (DMADV) framework to test alternative belt configurations and implement improvements that significantly reduced maintenance time, improved tracking reliability, and enhanced hygienic design. Lab and real-world tests compared three prototypes, namely the V-Rib, Crowned Roller, and Pin Drive. The prototypes were compared against defined performance targets. The final system, built around a self-tracking V-Rib belt with modular components and reduced tool disassembly, demonstrated a 75% reduction in belt change time, and improved product consistency and compliance with sanitation standards. This redesign offers a replicable model for upgrading depositor systems across production lines. Full article

In the hydraulic hoist design for a water conservancy hub project in western China, the vertically positioned, high-speed, heavy-load hydraulic cylinder is required to achieve closing speeds of up to 16 m/min, which is 4–5 times faster than conventional hydraulic hoists. Traditional buffer structures in hydraulic cylinders are insufficient to meet these performance demands. To address this challenge, a labyrinth buffer sleeve with multi-stage labyrinth buffer channels was designed and manufactured using additive manufacturing technology. The feasibility and effectiveness of the labyrinth buffer sleeve were evaluated through numerical simulations and experimental testing. Results demonstrate that the sleeve offers superior flow capacity, speed control, and pressure reduction capabilities. The maximum flow velocity within the labyrinth flow field reaches 111.7–166.5 m/s at the narrowest section of the flow path. The pressure ranges from 9.95 MPa at the inlet to 0.5 MPa at the outlet. Upon entering the buffer stage, the cylinder’s velocity smoothly decreases from 8 to 9 m/min to 2 m/min. Compared to traditional spiral groove buffer sleeves, the 3D-printed labyrinth design enables staged buffering, reducing peak pressures by 80%, with peak values only 1/16 to 1/5 of those seen in conventional sleeves. This results in an 80% reduction in pressure impacts, eliminating the need for frequent on-site disassembly and reassembly for fit clearance adjustments. Full article

Inflatable structures have attracted increasing attention in recent years due to their light weight, translucency, rapid assembly or disassembly, mobility, and self-cleaning performance. Meanwhile, their flexible characteristics and low-damping behavior render the structures prone to significant deformation and vibration under wind and snow loads and may even lead to structural failure. Therefore, numerous researchers have conducted in-depth investigations into the mechanical response of such structures under wind and snow loads. However, existing studies on inflatable structures subjected to wind and snow loads have mainly focused on an air-supported form, and the mechanical behavior of inflatable ribbed arch structures has not yet been sufficiently investigated. To investigate the mechanical behavior and deformation patterns of inflatable ribbed arch structures subjected to wind and snow loads, static tests were conducted on three specimens with varying spans, heights, and cable arrangements. Following inflation to an internal pressure of 250 kPa and preloading with the tarpaulin weight, the wind load and snow load were converted to the equivalent concentrated loads and applied in five incremental stages. Displacement monitoring points (DMPs) were tracked using a total station. Under the wind load, a consistent wind-induced deformation pattern was observed across specimens characterized by inward displacement in Region I, upward displacement in Region II, and negligible change in Region III. The maximum horizontal displacements of Specimens A, B, and C were 76 mm, 140 mm, and 249 mm, respectively. Under snow load, the upper sections of all three specimens experienced significant downward displacement, while both sides demonstrated a slight tendency for outward expansion and upward lift. The maximum vertical displacements of Specimens A, B, and C were −27 mm, −233 mm, and −255 mm, respectively. The findings of this study provide deeper insights into the mechanical behavior of inflatable arch structures under wind and snow loads and can serve as a valuable reference for their design and optimization. Full article

Quantitative data on the bending capacity and rotational stiffness of corner joints made from acrylic solid-surface PMMA/ATH composites are limited, despite their widespread use in furniture and interior components. The study provides comparative bending moment and rotational-stiffness benchmarks for 18 PMMA/ATH corner-joint series, using a stiffness-evaluation procedure tailored to corner-joint testing. L-type joints produced from two commercial PMMA/ATH materials (Kerrock and Corian) at 6- and 12-mm thickness were manufactured in 18 configurations, including glued butt, 45° mitre, reinforced mitre, rebate, groove variants, and detachable Minifix eccentric and Lamello Clamex connectors. Specimens were tested under arm-compression bending and maximum bending moment (M_max), and joint rotational stiffness was derived. The best-glued solution was the 12 mm Kerrock 45° mitre with M_max 186.21 N·m, whereas the strongest 6 mm joint reached 40 N·m. Reinforcing the 12 mm Kerrock mitre joint increased stiffness to 9521 N·m/rad but did not increase bending capacity relative to the non-reinforced mitre. Detachable joints formed a clearly distinct low-rigidity class with bending moments of 2.22–3.89 N·m and stiffness below 194 N·m/rad. Overall, thickness and joint geometry dominate both strength and stiffness, and the tested detachable connectors should be reserved for applications requiring disassembly rather than for load-bearing corners. Full article

The rise in electric vehicles (EVs) with lithium-ion batteries supports net-zero goals, but the increasing demand will inevitably generate more battery waste. Current pack designs often rely on permanent joining techniques, which hinder disassembly and thereby limit serviceability, reuse and recycling. A critical challenge is the removal of the battery lid, typically bonded to the pack frame with sealant adhesives. In the absence of design for disassembly requirements for OEMs, this study investigates a novel debonding strategy focused on the lid-to-frame bonding. A silane-based adhesive commonly used in battery packs is first characterised under tensile, shear and mode I conditions to establish the baseline performance in the range of flexible adhesive properties. Herein, a heat-activated primer is introduced as a debondable interfacial layer between the adhesive and the substrate. Upon activation at 150 °C, the primer significantly reduces adhesion, around 98% of the initial joint strength, enabling room temperature debonding. The primer demonstrates strong compatibility with epoxy and polyurethane adhesives, but its performance with silane-based systems still needs to be improved in terms of the primer’s compatibility with silane-based adhesives. Finally, a small-scale testing apparatus is developed to evaluate primer effectiveness in the disassembly of battery lids. This approach represents a promising step toward more serviceable, recyclable and sustainable battery systems. Full article

Background/Objective: The primary cilium is the sensory organelle of a cell and a dynamic membrane protrusion during the cell cycle. It originates from the centriole at G₀/G₁ and undergoes disassembly to release centrioles for spindle formation before a cell enters mitosis, thereby serving as a cell cycle checkpoint. Cancer cells that undergo rapid cell cycle and replication have a low ciliation rate. In this study, we aimed to identify cilia-promoting drugs that can accelerate ciliation and decelerate replication of cancer cells. Methods: To perform a comprehensive and efficient literature search on drugs that can promote ciliation, we developed an intelligent process that integrates either the GPT 4 Turbo, Gemini 1.5 Pro, or Claude 3.5 Haiku application programming interfaces (APIs) into a PubMed scraper that we coded, enabling the large language models (LLMs) to directly query articles for predefined user questions. We evaluated the performance of this intelligent literature search based on metrics and tested the effect of two candidate drugs on ciliation and proliferation of medulloblastoma cells. Results: Gemini was the best model overall, as it balanced high accuracy with solid precision and recall scores. Among the top candidate drugs identified are Alvocidib and Alisertib, small-molecule inhibitors of CILK1 and AURKA, respectively. Here, we show that both kinase inhibitors can effectively increase cilia frequency and significantly decrease the replication of medulloblastoma cells. Conclusions: The results demonstrated the potential of using cilia-promoting drugs, such as Alvocidib and Alisertib, to suppress cancer cell replication. Additionally, it shows the massive benefits of integrating accessible large language models to conduct sweeping, rapid, and accurate literature searches. Full article

In this work, highly water-soluble silk fibroin (SF) is first prepared by recrystallizing degummed silkworm cocoon fibers in concentrated CaCl₂ solution (replacing the conventional Ajisawa’s reagent), and then used as both stabilizing and reducing agents to synthesize copper nanoclusters (Cu@SF NCs) at pH = 11. Due to the existence of unreacted Cu²⁺ ions, the resulting SF-templated Cu NCs form slight aggregates, yielding a purple-colored solution with blue fluorescence. Interestingly, upon adding the pesticide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), the Cu NCs aggregates disassemble and the fluorescence is significantly enhanced, creating a “fluorescence-on” sensor for 2,4-D with a detection limit of 0.65 μM. In contrast, the pollutant p-nitrophenol (p-NP) quenches the fluorescence of Cu NCs via a fluorescence resonance energy transfer mechanism (with a detection limit as low as 1.35 nM), which is attributed to the large overlap between absorption spectrum of p-NP and excitation spectrum of Cu NCs. Other tested analytes (i.e., pyrifenox, carbofuran and melamine) produce negligible fluorescence changes. The distinct sensing mechanisms are elucidated with experimental evidence and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The evolutions of fluorescence as a function of incubation time and analyte concentration are systematically investigated, demonstrating a versatile platform for sensitive and selective detection of target analytes. These findings provide an effective strategy for optimizing the optical properties of metal nanoclusters and improving their performance in environmental applications. Full article

This study presents the design, implementation, and experimental validation of an integrated fastening monitoring platform for vehicle ground equipment, aimed at supporting structural maintenance and operational safety. Rather than introducing a fundamentally new sensing principle, the work focuses on the system-level integration and verification of existing sensing, communication, and control technologies for reliable bolt loosening detection and torque-controlled pneumatic fastening. The proposed platform consists of a Smart Control Gateway (SCG), a Signal Transducer Socket (STS), and a Smart Washer Set (SWS), incorporating smart nuts and clamping-force sensing washers for M50 and M35 bolts. Sub-GHz wireless RF communication and wired RS-485 transmission are employed to provide scalable and robust connectivity among system components. The SCG hardware and firmware are fully implemented and verified, enabling continuous acquisition and transmission of fastening-state data. Experimental evaluations include functional verification, mechanical integration tests, and durability assessments. The smart washers demonstrate stable sensing performance over 100 assembly and disassembly cycles without observable degradation. The STS is validated through 200,000 impact cycles under intermittent loading conditions (3 s impact, 3 s pause), confirming its suitability for repeated industrial operation. Real-time data transmission tests verify the system’s capability to detect bolt loosening events induced by vibration or external interference. The results indicate that the proposed platform provides a practical and reliable solution for fastening-state monitoring in safety-relevant ground equipment. This work contributes validated engineering evidence for deploying integrated smart fastening systems in industrial maintenance applications and establishes a foundation for future studies on environmental robustness, false-alarm characterization, and real-time performance guarantees. Full article

The application of volumetric modular construction using Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) has emerged as a sustainable and efficient alternative to traditional building methods, especially in residential and mid-rise structures. However, the widespread adoption of this technology remains limited due to the lack of standardized inter-modular connection systems. This paper presents a comprehensive state-of-the-art review of inter-modular connections used in volumetric CLT modular buildings. This review aims to evaluate the inter-modular connections by developing performance objectives and identifying gaps in knowledge of volumetric CLT inter-modular connections. It begins with an overview of global CLT modular construction trends, highlighting geographic distribution, structural demands, and environmental hazards such as seismic and wind exposure. Seven representative connection systems were identified from the literature and assessed using a multi-criteria framework comprising structural performance, manufacturing feasibility, on-site construction efficiency, and experimental and numerical evaluation. Each connection was scored according to defined evaluation metrics, and the results were provided to identify key strengths and limitations. The top-performing systems demonstrated superior resilience, modular adaptability, and validation through experimental testing and simulation. The paper identified critical research gaps, including limited performance data available for seismic applications, challenges in disassembly and reuse specifications, and the need for adaptable, damage-tolerant systems to enhance building structural performance. These findings provide a reference evaluation methodology for future development of inter-modular connections, to expand the applicability of volumetric CLT modular construction in moderate and high seismic and wind hazard regions. Full article

In two-sided disassembly lines, stations are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the conveyor, which is suitable for large-sized waste products. During the disassembly process, evenly assigning parts to workstations while satisfying various constraints and optimizing some disassembly objectives is a challenging task. Therefore, this study deals with a two-sided partial disassembly line balancing problem, and a multi-objective mathematical model for this problem is built. While satisfying various constraints, four objectives, namely, the hazard index, profit, smoothness index, and demand index, are optimized. Due to the NP-hard nature of the problem, an improved discrete whale optimization algorithm is proposed. According to the characteristics of the feasible solutions, an encoding method based on a one-dimensional integer array is designed, which can effectively decrease the memory space and simplify the design of neighbor structures. In the three stages of encircling prey, random wandering, and bubble-net attacking, based on the search features of each stage, different neighbor operators and search strategies are designed to enhance the local exploitation and global exploration capabilities. Finally, the performance of the proposed algorithm was tested against other algorithms for different types of instances and a disassembly case. The results show that the proposed algorithm can not only solve various types of disassembly line balancing problems but also shows superior performance. Full article