Search Results (3)

Wood has a highly complex and anisotropic structure. Its xylem characteristics are key in determining the hydraulic properties of plants to transport water efficiently and safely, as well as the permeability in the process of wood impregnation modification. Previous studies on the relationship between the xylem structure and hydraulic conductivity of conifer have mainly focused on tracheids and bordered pits, with only a few focusing on the conduction model of cross-field pits which connect tracheids and rays. This study takes the xylem structure of conifer as an example, drawing an analogy between water flow under tension and electric current, and extends the model to the tissue scale, including cross-field pits by establishing isometric scaling. The structure parameters were collected by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The improved model can quantify the important hydraulic functional characteristics of xylem only by measuring the more easily obtained tracheid section size. Then, this model was applied to quantify the relationship between the xylem anatomical structure and hydraulic properties in the pine (Pinus sylvestris L. var. mongholica Litv.) and the spruce (Picea koraiensis Nakai), and also to evaluate the effects of the number and size of cross-field pits on xylem conduction. The results showed that the growth ring conduction value of the pine was more than twice that of the spruce for the two tree species with similar growth widths in this study. The tracheid wall resistance of the pine reflected the result of the interaction of the size and number of cross-field pits, in comparison, the wall resistance of the spruce was more sensitive to the number of cross-field pits. Finally, the calculation output of the new model was cross-validated with the literature, which verified the accuracy and effectiveness of the model. This study provides an effective and complete solution for xylem conductivity measurement and the study of wood ecophysiological diversity and processing. Full article

With an attempt to achieve high-density fine organic stripes for potential applications in solution-processable organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), we have performed slot-die coatings using a shim with slit channels in various shapes (rectangular-shaped narrow, rectangular-shaped wide, and reversely tapered channels) in the presence of narrow µ-tips. Based on hydraulic-electric circuit analogy, we have analyzed the fluid dynamics of an aqueous poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). It is observed that the coating speed can be increased and the stripe width can be reduced using a shim with rectangular-shaped wide slit channels. It is attributed that the hydraulic resistance is decreased and thus more fluid can reach a substrate through µ-tips. This behavior is consistent with the simulation result of the equivalent electrical circuit with a DC voltage source representing a pressure source. Using the shim with 150-µm-wide slit channels, we have successfully fabricated 200 PEDOT:PSS stripes within the effective coating width (150 mm) and 160 OLED stripes (34 stripes per inch) with the luminance of 325 cd/m² at 5 V. Full article

Air puff systems are at once trivially straightforward and dauntingly complex. On the one hand, they are little but a pressure source, valve, and tube connected together. On the other, the air passing through them is a compressible medium, expanding approximately adiabatically while travelling at high velocity through a compliant tube, and exiting as a turbulent jet with velocity peak and profile varying non-linearly in its near-field. This complexity puts precise mathematical prediction of puff properties out of reach of most labs. There are, however, a number of phenomena fundamental to air puff system design that are worth understanding to a first order of approximation, or at least qualitatively. Using a simplified, “electronic–hydraulic analogy” model, this paper discusses these phenomena in just enough depth for the reader to confidently specify parts for an air puff delivery system, to measure its key parameters, and/or to describe a given system unambiguously in publications, thus maximizing reproducibility. Full article