Search results for "Mechanical engineering"
showing 10 items of 4245 documents
Electric control of the spin Hall effect by intervalley transitions
2013
Controlling spin-related material properties by electronic means is a key step towards future spintronic technologies. The spin Hall effect (SHE) has become increasingly important for generating, detecting and using spin currents, but its strength-quantified in terms of the SHE angle-is ultimately fixed by the magnitude of the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) present for any given material system. However, if the electrons generating the SHE can be controlled by populating different areas (valleys) of the electronic structure with different SOC characteristic the SHE angle can be tuned directly within a single sample. Here we report the manipulation of the SHE in bulk GaAs at room temperature by m…
Carbon nanotubes as electrodes for dielectrophoresis of DNA
2006
Dielectrophoresis can potentially be used as an efficient trapping tool in the fabrication of molecular devices. For nanoscale objects, however, the Brownian motion poses a challenge. We show that the use of carbon nanotube electrodes makes it possible to apply relatively low trapping voltages and still achieve high enough field gradients for trapping nanoscale objects, e.g., single molecules. We compare the efficiency and other characteristics of dielectrophoresis between carbon nanotube electrodes and lithographically fabricated metallic electrodes, in the case of trapping nanoscale DNA molecules. The results are analyzed using finite element method simulations and reveal information abou…
Short-duration rainfalls in Sicily
1990
The Italian Hydrographic Service publishes yearly maximum rainfall depths with 1-, 3-, 6-, 12-, and 24-hr duration, recorded by recording rain gauges. It also publishes selected short-duration (t<1 hr) rainfall amounts. It is impossible to carry out a statistical analysis of the short-duration rainfalls for each recording rain gauge because the published data correspond to different record durations and to different recording rain gauges from year to year. Therefore, there is a practical need to derive empirical relationships between the 1-, 3-, 6-, 12-, and 24-hr duration amounts and shorter duration (t<1 hr) rainfall amounts. Such a relationship has been proposed by Bell and has been veri…
Unjamming overcomes kinetic and proliferation arrest in terminally differentiated cells and promotes collective motility of carcinoma.
2019
During wound repair, branching morphogenesis and carcinoma dissemination, cellular rearrangements are fostered by a solid-to-liquid transition, known as unjamming. The biomolecular machinery behind unjamming and its pathophysiological relevance remain, however, unclear. Here, we study unjamming in a variety of normal and tumorigenic epithelial two-dimensional (2D) and 3D collectives. Biologically, the increased level of the small GTPase RAB5A sparks unjamming by promoting non-clathrin-dependent internalization of epidermal growth factor receptor that leads to hyperactivation of the kinase ERK1/2 and phosphorylation of the actin nucleator WAVE2. This cascade triggers collective motility effe…
A thermodynamically consistent CZM for low-cycle fatigue analysis
2018
A cohesive zone model for low-cycle fatigue analysis is developed in a consistent thermodynamic framework of elastic-plastic-damage mechanics with internal variable. A specific fatigue activation condition allows to model the material degradation related to the elastic-plastic cyclic loading conditions, with tractions levels lower than the damage activation condition. A moving endurance surface, in the classic framework of kinematic hardening, enables a pure elastic behavior without any fatigue degradation for low levels loading conditions.
Different energy balances for the redesign of nearly net zero energy buildings: An Italian case study
2015
Abstract The currently developing concept of a Net Zero Energy Building introduces new challenges and research problems. The calculation of a net zero energy balance is heavily influenced by the energy carrier weighting factors that are chosen, which can deeply influence the future energy market towards adopting specific energy technologies. The following paper proposes an analysis of different definitions and conventions for Net Zero Energy Buildings that employ different calculation methodologies and apply different weighting factors to an Italian case study. The case study, which is called “the Leaf House”, is one of the first examples of a nearly net zero energy building in Italy. A bui…
Future district heating plant integrated with municipal solid waste (MSW) gasification for hydrogen production
2019
Abstract Characterizing municipal solid waste (MSW) is a critical step in planning, designing, operating, or upgrading solid waste management systems. For a theoretical investigation of hydrogen production by gasification and water-gas shift reaction, we characterized Norwegian MSW and used the data. Three different gasification setups, named as ‘A-1’, ‘A&S-2’, and ‘S-3’ were modeled using Aspen plus simulation software for direct and indirect gasification processes according to the different gasification agents. The MSW characterization result showed a reasonable agreement with existing studies in different countries. The maximum hydrogen yield achieved in setup ‘S-3’ was around 94% of the…
Reduced weather data for building climatization and application to 29 European locations
1995
Abstract A method for setting up a reference year of reduced temperature data, proposed by Klein and Erbs, has been applied by us to 29 European locations for which an official test-reference year is available. This reference year of reduced temperatures may be utilized in computer programs for analysis of the thermal behaviour of buildings. The effectiveness of the method has been tested by calculating the annual energy demand in 29 European locations for three modules with different thermophysical characteristics.
Innovative control logics for a rational utilization of electric loads and air-conditioning systems in a residential building
2015
The paper focuses on the evaluation of the impact on residential buildings of innovative control logics defined for a rational utilization of the electric loads and air-conditioning systems. The control logics are implementable thanks to a Decision Support and Energy Management Systems developed by the same authors and easily installable in new and still-existing houses. The paper shows how a significant reduction of the primary energy consumption can be obtained by controlling the air-conditioning units together with the other electric loads of the house. After having explained how the control logics operate, a simulation tool is described, developed for a preliminary evaluation of their e…
Electricity demand response schemes in China: Pilot study and future outlook
2021
Abstract Electricity demand response (DR) improves the overall energy management efficiency and allows for the integration of large-scale renewable energy into the power grid through interactive management and control of the supply and demand sides. However, in China and other emerging countries (e.g., Japan and Australia) with DR programs, the DR market mechanism is not well-established. This is particularly the situation in countries where the state power system is not freely open to participate in the DR market. Previous research has proven that considerable DR resources are largely existing in the demand side; however, the dearth of a market mechanism hinders the development of DR. Henc…