You seem to have javascript disabled. Please note that many of the page functionalities won't work as expected without javascript enabled.

Search for Articles:

Title / Keyword

Author / Affiliation / Email

Journal

Article Type

Advanced Search

Section

Special Issue

Volume

Issue

Number

Page

Logical OperatorOperator

Search Text

Search Type

Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms Associated with Paediatric Oral Phenotypes: A Systematic Review and Candidate Panel Design for Precision Prevention
Recovering Na₂SO₄ from Simulated Industrial Brine by Membrane Crystallization
A GPU-Resident MITC4 Shell Solver for a Nakajima Hemispherical-Dome Forming Benchmark: Verification, Abaqus Validation, and LS-DYNA Throughput Benchmarking
The Role of Geometric Simplification in Building Energy Simulation: A Systematic Review with Insights on Historic Buildings
From Bioactivity to Functionality: Bridging Marine Chemical Diversity and Performance in Food Systems

Journal Description

Applied Sciences

Applied Sciences is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal on all aspects of applied natural sciences published semimonthly online by MDPI. The International Society for Plasma Medicine (ISPM) and the Polish Society of Applied Electromagnetics (PTZE) are affiliated with Applied Sciences and their members receive a discount on the article processing charges.

Open Access— free for readers, with article processing charges (APC) paid by authors or their institutions.
High Visibility: indexed within Scopus, SCIE (Web of Science), Ei Compendex, Inspec, Embase, CAPlus / SciFinder, and other databases.
Journal Rank: JCR - Q2 (Engineering, Multidisciplinary) / CiteScore - Q1 (Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes)
Rapid Publication: manuscripts are peer-reviewed and a first decision is provided to authors approximately 15 days after submission; acceptance to publication is undertaken in 2.9 days (median values for papers published in this journal in the first half of 2026).
Recognition of Reviewers: Reviewers whose reports are timely and of high quality receive an APC discount voucher for a future publication in an MDPI journal. Become a reviewer.
Companion journals for Applied Sciences include: Applied Nano, AppliedChem, Applied Biosciences, Virtual Worlds, Spectroscopy Journal, JETA, AI in Medicine and AppliedPhys.

Impact Factor: 2.9 (2025); 5-Year Impact Factor: 3.0 (2025)

Imprint Information Journal Flyer Open Access ISSN: 2076-3417

Latest Articles

30 pages, 1544 KB

Open AccessArticle

Repeated-Voyage Measurement of Cellular–GEO Satellite Complementarity and Buffering Implications for Maritime IoT Backhaul

by Hyounhee Koo, Changho Ryoo and Jaeseung Song

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9361; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189361 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Reliable ship-to-shore backhaul is essential for maritime Internet of Things (IoT) data delivery, yet cellular and satellite connectivity varies by route, operating phase, and qualification criterion. This study analyses 606,625 georeferenced monitoring records collected during a nine-month, 12-voyage campaign aboard a container ship [...] Read more.

Reliable ship-to-shore backhaul is essential for maritime Internet of Things (IoT) data delivery, yet cellular and satellite connectivity varies by route, operating phase, and qualification criterion. This study analyses 606,625 georeferenced monitoring records collected during a nine-month, 12-voyage campaign aboard a container ship operating between Korea and Southeast Asia, with the cellular–geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellite analysis limited to the period of active very small aperture terminal (VSAT) service. During sailing, cellular attachment was reported for 70.3% of valid cellular state records, but only 28.0% satisfied the adopted technology-specific received power criteria, with leg-level qualified fractions ranging from 77.1% (Incheon–Busan) to 17.3% (Shanghai–Ho Chi Minh). Within the joint-analysis window, either the cellular criterion was satisfied or a valid GEO probe response was observed in 99.4% of records, although the residual gap reached 3.1% on Laem Chabang–Ho Chi Minh. Under retrospective cellular-first allocation, raising the candidate VSAT signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold from 6 to 7 dB increased the store-and-forward share from 6.7% to 25.7% without reducing the median round-trip time (RTT) of the retained GEO records, and the longest buffered interval grew from 2.02 to 9.86 h. These results show that route segment, operating phase, state definition, and threshold selection materially influence link allocation and buffering implications; live traffic steering and application-level availability were not evaluated. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Internet of Things (IoT) and Its Application in Monitoring: 2nd Edition)

13 pages, 1741 KB

Open AccessArticle

Tunable Chiral Spectral Responses of Incommensurate Twisted Bilayer Photonic Crystals

by Hyundong Kim, Dowoon Kim and You-Shin No

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9360; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189360 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Recently, twisted bilayer photonic crystals (TBPhCs) have been used as moiré-based optical platforms, supporting twist-tunable chiroptical and polarization-dependent responses. A periodic moiré supercell exists only for commensurate twist angles, whereas conventional supercell approaches are not directly applicable to incommensurate structures. Here, we numerically [...] Read more.

Recently, twisted bilayer photonic crystals (TBPhCs) have been used as moiré-based optical platforms, supporting twist-tunable chiroptical and polarization-dependent responses. A periodic moiré supercell exists only for commensurate twist angles, whereas conventional supercell approaches are not directly applicable to incommensurate structures. Here, we numerically investigate the chiroptical response of dielectric TBPhCs using rigorous coupled-wave analysis 4D (RCWA4D), which treats the reciprocal lattice of each layer independently without constructing a common moiré supercell. We analyze the transmittance spectra under normally incident circularly polarized light while varying the air-hole radius and twist angle. A finite relative twist produces distinct resonant responses for right- and left-circularly polarized incidence, giving rise to circular dichroism (CD). Varying the air-hole radius redistributes the CD features across the resonance spectrum and enhances the integrated absolute CD at a specific geometry. For this geometry, a continuous twist-angle sweep reveals the evolution of positive and negative CD features over the wavelength–angle parameter space, which enables the identification of favorable twist conditions for enhanced circular-polarization contrast. These results demonstrate the applicability of RCWA4D for systematically studying the chiroptical and twist-angle-dependent properties of TBPhCs, including incommensurate configurations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Nanotechnology and Applied Nanosciences)

23 pages, 1361 KB

Open AccessArticle

Compressing Transformer-Based Sensor Fusion Models for Autonomous Driving Using Curriculum-Based Multi-Task Knowledge Distillation

by Dhieddine Barhoumi, Stefan Hensel and Marin B. Marinov

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9359; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189359 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Multimodal sensor fusion architectures such as TransFuser achieve strong waypoint-based driving performance by fusing RGB panoramas and LiDAR bird’s-eye-view (BEV) representations through transformer attention, but their dual backbones and quadratic-cost fusion blocks preclude deployment on resource-constrained platforms. This work proposes LightFuser, a hybrid [...] Read more.

Multimodal sensor fusion architectures such as TransFuser achieve strong waypoint-based driving performance by fusing RGB panoramas and LiDAR bird’s-eye-view (BEV) representations through transformer attention, but their dual backbones and quadratic-cost fusion blocks preclude deployment on resource-constrained platforms. This work proposes LightFuser, a hybrid Performer–Transformer fusion architecture that retains multimodal reasoning at substantially reduced cost. LightFuser halves backbone parameters and FLOPs, applies Performer attention with FAVOR+ at the early, high-resolution fusion stage to obtain linear time and memory complexity, and reserves exact Transformer attention for the mid and late stages, where token counts are small and semantics are richer. A multi-task knowledge distillation framework transfers the decision quality of a high-capacity TransFuser teacher to the lightweight student, organized as a task-ordered curriculum: supervision starts with waypoint control and successively adds depth, semantic segmentation, and BEV objectives. On the CARLA Leaderboard, LightFuser attains a Driving Score of 42.4 (teacher: 47.3) while reducing network latency from 128.4 ms to 67.6 ms per frame. Latency is measured over network modules only and excludes simulator stepping, sensor acquisition, preprocessing, and I/O overhead; the resulting 14.8 FPS sustains a 10 Hz control cycle, meaning near-real-time operation throughout. Full article

17 pages, 2895 KB

Open AccessArticle

Multiscale Stepwise Learning Network for Seismic Impedance Inversion

by Yang Zhang, Hong Cao, Zhifang Yang, Hao Yang, Qiang Ge, Yuqi Qiu, Jiangbei Huang and Sen Zhao

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9358; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189358 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Due to the limitations of seismic data resolution, conventional inversion methods are commonly limited by the band-limited nature of seismic data, noise interference, and insufficient resolution for subtle geological targets. This study proposes a continuous wavelet transform (CWT)-assisted multiscale stepwise learning (MSL) workflow [...] Read more.

Due to the limitations of seismic data resolution, conventional inversion methods are commonly limited by the band-limited nature of seismic data, noise interference, and insufficient resolution for subtle geological targets. This study proposes a continuous wavelet transform (CWT)-assisted multiscale stepwise learning (MSL) workflow for seismic impedance inversion. The proposed workflow transforms seismic traces into time–frequency representations using CWT and progressively learns different frequency components through convolutional modules with different kernel sizes. A seismic forward-modeling constraint is further introduced to improve the consistency between the predicted impedance and the observed seismic response at non-well locations. The network takes a single seismic trace represented by CWT coefficients in the 1–80 Hz frequency range and a corresponding low-frequency initial impedance model as inputs, and outputs the acoustic-impedance trace at each time sample. The main methodological novelty is the progressive learning of different frequency components using frequency-dependent convolutional kernels. The method is evaluated on a 3D seismic dataset from the Sichuan Basin, China, using leave-one-well-out validation involving seven wells. In addition, we provide detailed ablation experiments and quantitative analysis. Across all seven blind-well tests, the proposed method consistently achieves the highest mean correlation coefficient (0.8509) and the lowest mean MSE (0.0636) among the compared methods. These results indicate that the proposed workflow can effectively integrate multiscale seismic information and provide effective support for seismic impedance inversion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploration Geophysics and Seismic Surveying)

23 pages, 1906 KB

Open AccessArticle

Parametric FEM–CLPSO–LightGBM Surrogate Model for Deformation Prediction of Casings in Creep Formations

by Haihao Huang, Zhiguo Wan, Yihua Dou, Haiqing Wen, Zehan Zheng, Wei Zhang and Zhanshan Niu

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9357; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189357 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

The conventional analysis of casing deformation relies on engineering logging, analytical models, or repeated finite element modeling and simulation for different wells or field restricts, which may involve high costs, simplifying assumptions, and low computational efficiency. To improve casing deformation and casing configuration [...] Read more.

The conventional analysis of casing deformation relies on engineering logging, analytical models, or repeated finite element modeling and simulation for different wells or field restricts, which may involve high costs, simplifying assumptions, and low computational efficiency. To improve casing deformation and casing configuration analysis in creep formations, a surrogate model is proposed. A dataset is generated through the parametric finite element modeling of the casing–cement sheath–creep formation system, and input features are optimized by feature engineering. Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM) is adopted as the prediction model, while Comprehensive Learning Particle Swarm Optimization (CLPSO) is employed for hyperparameter optimization. The surrogate model is further used to generate casing deformation contour plots. Algorithm comparisons and finite element simulations are performed to evaluate the prediction accuracy and computational efficiency. The results show that the RMSE for casing nodes in the test set is 0.0825 mm, and the average overlap ratio between the predicted and finite element deformation intervals reaches 98.42%. The predictions show good agreement with the finite element results in terms of the casing deformation magnitude and casing configuration. Compared with conventional analytical models and repeated finite element model construction, the proposed model reduces the dependence on simplifying assumptions, supports the visualization of casing configurations, and improves the computational efficiency. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Artificial Intelligence in Smart Industrial Diagnostics and Manufacturing—Third Edition)

24 pages, 2368 KB

Open AccessArticle

Implementation of an Industry 4.0 Smart Factory: IT/OT Network Integration, MES-Based Control, and Offline Production Optimization Using Discrete Event Simulation

by Hisham ElMoaqet and Yazan Eltobgy

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9356; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189356 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Connecting IT and OT in manufacturing has become a core requirement for realizing Industry 4.0 smart factory architectures. This paper reports on the implementation of a smart factory built on the Festo CP Factory platform, covering three main contributions: IT/OT network architecture, MES-driven [...] Read more.

Connecting IT and OT in manufacturing has become a core requirement for realizing Industry 4.0 smart factory architectures. This paper reports on the implementation of a smart factory built on the Festo CP Factory platform, covering three main contributions: IT/OT network architecture, MES-driven production control, and offline production optimization using Discrete Event Simulation (DES). The system comprises four stations—an Automatic Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS), a Robot Assembly Station (RASS) with a Mitsubishi RV-4FRL six-axis robot, a Magazine Station, and a Muscle Press—linked through a LINEAR conveyor network. A layered communication stack was deployed: PROFINET at the field level, OPC-UA for MES4 connectivity, and MQTT via Node-RED for IoT monitoring. An offline DES model was built in Siemens Siemens Tecnomatix Plant Simulation Environment (version 2302; Siemens Digital Industries Software, Munich, Germany) to study how carrier count affects throughput and station utilization across three carrier configurations. Station processing times were taken directly from the physical line: 86 s for Robot Assembly, 15 s for ASRS, 4 s for Magazine, and 6 s for Muscle Press. The Robot Assembly Station reaches near-full utilization (94.49%, event-based) at three carriers, confirming it as the system bottleneck. Two carriers offer the most practical operating point, delivering 35.8 pallets per hour while keeping the bottleneck station below full saturation. Fuse count also affects cycle time. Zero-fuse assemblies complete production up to 9.3% faster than two-fuse runs due to the shorter Robot Assembly cycle. Testing on the physical CP Factory to validate the developed simulation model covered 27 configurations combining three carrier counts, three batch sizes, and three fuse levels, with simulation errors ranging from 2.9% to 10.0%. The mean error stays close to commonly cited manufacturing DES validation thresholds at low carrier counts, reaching 4.78% at one carrier. It rises at higher carrier counts, reaching 8.64% at three carriers. This progression is consistent with carrier-queuing effects that intensify with carrier count. The results confirm that complete Industry 4.0 implementation is achievable on a modular CP Factory platform and provide a practical reference for similar deployments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Automation and Robotics for Future Factories: Vision Systems, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Engineering)

15 pages, 1155 KB

Open AccessArticle

Development of Apple Vinegar Microcapsules Using Low Glycemic Wall Materials Palatinose and Inulin: A Mixture Design Approach

by Anisa Lipe, Luziana Hoxha, Zoltán Kovács and András Koris

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9355; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189355 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Apple vinegar is a functional ingredient rich in acetic acid; however, its incorporation into powdered food products is limited by its volatility, acidity, and heat sensitivity. This study investigated the spray-drying microencapsulation of apple vinegar using inulin and palatinose as wall materials. A [...] Read more.

Apple vinegar is a functional ingredient rich in acetic acid; however, its incorporation into powdered food products is limited by its volatility, acidity, and heat sensitivity. This study investigated the spray-drying microencapsulation of apple vinegar using inulin and palatinose as wall materials. A two-component simplex lattice design was applied to compare encapsulation efficiency (EE), moisture content, hygroscopicity, and powder morphology among different carrier formulations. During preliminary spray-drying trials, high-palatinose formulations exhibited pronounced wall deposition at an inlet air temperature of 130 °C. Reducing the inlet temperature to formulation-specific values improved processability and enabled powder recovery. Under their respective spray-drying conditions, the investigated formulations exhibited distinct physicochemical properties. Moisture content ranged from 2.29% to 4.22%, hygroscopicity from 0.29 to 2.28 g/100 g, and EE from 19% to 95%. The 100% inulin formulation exhibited the highest EE and a more uniform particle distribution, whereas the 100% palatinose formulation showed lower residual moisture but higher hygroscopicity. The fitted Scheffé mixture models adequately described the observed formulation-dependent responses. Because inlet temperature was adjusted according to formulation processability, the observed differences should be interpreted as formulation performance under the applied formulation-specific spray-drying conditions rather than as effects attributable exclusively to carrier composition. These findings support the potential use of inulin and palatinose as low-glycemic carrier materials for producing spray-dried apple vinegar powders. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Food Science and Technology)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 2847 KB

Open AccessArticle

A Human–AI Interactive Agent Collaboration Framework and Its Application to Dam Seepage Safety Assessment

by Pengfei Nie, Ding Nie, Xinxin Jin, Yi Liu and Qianyu Liao

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9354; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189354 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

This study proposes a human–computer interactive agent collaboration framework for reservoir dam seepage safety assessment. This is to address the large volume of safety assessment reports, inconsistent textual descriptions, low efficiency of manual statistics, and difficulty in maintaining consistent classification criteria. Using a [...] Read more.

This study proposes a human–computer interactive agent collaboration framework for reservoir dam seepage safety assessment. This is to address the large volume of safety assessment reports, inconsistent textual descriptions, low efficiency of manual statistics, and difficulty in maintaining consistent classification criteria. Using a large language model as the core for semantic understanding, the framework decomposes the report review process into subtasks including data preprocessing, knowledge retrieval, semantic classification, result feedback, and manual review. Structured collaboration among multiple agents is achieved through an “entity location-safety hazard” knowledge primary key, semantic rule constraints, and the Model Context Protocol (MCP). While preserving expert control, the system transforms original texts into aggregable and traceable risk statistics, forming a closed-loop mechanism of “machine-enabled efficiency, human oversight, and knowledge accumulation”. Application validation was conducted using more than 2000 reservoir safety assessment reports, from which 2724 valid severe-risk records were extracted. The results show that severe risks were mainly concentrated in key locations, including dam bodies, culverts, spillways, dam foundations, downstream dams, drainage facilities, and abutments. The main risk types were leakage, abnormal seepage behavior, construction quality problems, noncompliant seepage control, structural damage, and noncompliant drainage facilities. The findings indicate that the proposed framework can improve the efficiency of text processing for seepage safety assessments and the consistency of risk statistics, thereby providing intelligent support for reservoir dam hazard screening and scientific decision-making. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue AI-Driven Structural Health Monitoring and Inspection for Civil and Hydraulic Infrastructure)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 2890 KB

Open AccessArticle

Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Removal of Ammonia from Aqueous Solution Using a Pd/g-C₃N₄ Photocatalyst

by Lan-Anh T. Hoang, Quynh-Hoa T. Duong, Juncheol Jeon and Taeyoon Lee

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9353; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189353 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Ammonia is a common nitrogenous pollutant frequently detected in surface waters and wastewater effluents, where elevated concentrations can cause eutrophication and pose risks to aquatic ecosystems and water quality. For these reasons, advancing efficient and sustainable ammonia removal technologies remains a critical objective [...] Read more.

Ammonia is a common nitrogenous pollutant frequently detected in surface waters and wastewater effluents, where elevated concentrations can cause eutrophication and pose risks to aquatic ecosystems and water quality. For these reasons, advancing efficient and sustainable ammonia removal technologies remains a critical objective in water treatment research. To address this issue, this study synthesized a Pd/g-C₃N₄ photocatalyst via a rapid microwave-assisted method, which was then applied to remove ammonia from aqueous solutions under visible-light irradiation. To examine the structural, morphological, and optical properties of the prepared materials, a range of techniques was employed, including XRD, XPS, PL spectroscopy, and UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The photocatalytic performance of Pd/g-C₃N₄ was comprehensively evaluated and compared with that of pristine g-C₃N₄. The Pd/g-C₃N₄ composite exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity, achieving near-complete ammonia removal (~100%) within 3 h, whereas pure g-C₃N₄ showed much lower efficiency. The enhanced photocatalytic activity can be explained by the role of Pd nanoparticles, which promoted separation of photogenerated charges and reduced electron–hole recombination. Based on the results of active species trapping experiments, a plausible mechanism for photocatalytic ammonia degradation over the Pd/g-C₃N₄ system was subsequently proposed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Environmental Sciences)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 5093 KB

Open AccessArticle

A Hybrid Calculation Method for Determining the Frequency Characteristics of the Air-Cored Coils with Complex Structure

by Li Wang, Yigang He and Xiaoyu Liu

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9352; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189352 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Hollow coils with complex structures are very common in electrical equipment and sensors. Additionally, the responses at different frequencies are an important characteristic of the coils. However, it is quite challenging to divide the irregular coils with fine windings (thousands of turns and [...] Read more.

Hollow coils with complex structures are very common in electrical equipment and sensors. Additionally, the responses at different frequencies are an important characteristic of the coils. However, it is quite challenging to divide the irregular coils with fine windings (thousands of turns and wire diameter less than 0.2 mm) into meshes using finite element simulation software (FESS), much less perform the simulation calculations, as theoretical derivations are only applicable to coils with specific shapes. This issue presents challenges in designing coils with high-density, multi-turn and irregular structures. Thus, we propose a calculation method for determining the frequency characteristics of hollow coils with such structures. To validate this method, three sets of hollow coils with complex structures and high-density winding were fabricated. These coils included two coupled PCB coils, one coil with thousands of fine turns, and a PCB coil with a complex and were tested using an LCR analyzer with a frequency range of 0 to 2 MHz. The experimental results showed good agreement with numerical calculations. Full article

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 3575 KB

Open AccessArticle

A Digital Twin Framework for Automated Financial Extension of Time Assessment in Construction Projects

by Mohammad Taghipour, Mostafa Khanzadi, Abdollah Amirkhani and Elpiniki Papageorgiou

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9351; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189351 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Financial disputes constitute the primary source of conflict in construction projects, but current Building Information Modeling (BIM) platforms fail to integrate dynamic financial data into schedule analysis. This study presents a Financial Digital Twin framework designed to automate the assessment of Extensions of [...] Read more.

Financial disputes constitute the primary source of conflict in construction projects, but current Building Information Modeling (BIM) platforms fail to integrate dynamic financial data into schedule analysis. This study presents a Financial Digital Twin framework designed to automate the assessment of Extensions of Time (EOT) triggered by payment defaults. Moving beyond subjective surveys, the methodology encodes the deterministic logic of Time Impact Analysis (TIA) and regulatory circulars into a computational engine. The system applies a custom C# plugin that embeds a financial fragnet into the 5D BIM environment as geometric scheduling constraints. A steel structure building case study illustrates the framework by converting financial payment latency into automated schedule impacts. This approach reduces processing time by over 99%. Consequently, the system advances construction claim management from a reactive process to a proactive model of financial risk visualization and real time decision support. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Twin and IoT, 2nd Edition)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 8561 KB

Open AccessArticle

Triaxial Mechanical Behavior and Strength Model of Basalt Under Freeze–Thaw Cycling: Implications for Engineering Structures in Cold Regions

by Bowen Li, Guan Rong and Maiyong Jiang

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9350; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189350 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Previous freeze–thaw studies have mainly used uniaxial tests, leaving the effects of freeze–thaw damage and confinement on basalt behavior and physically interpretable triaxial strength estimation insufficiently resolved. Here, saturated basalt specimens subjected to 0, 10, 20, and 30 freeze–thaw cycles were tested under [...] Read more.

Previous freeze–thaw studies have mainly used uniaxial tests, leaving the effects of freeze–thaw damage and confinement on basalt behavior and physically interpretable triaxial strength estimation insufficiently resolved. Here, saturated basalt specimens subjected to 0, 10, 20, and 30 freeze–thaw cycles were tested under confining pressures of 0–40 MPa using a triaxial compression system. Stress–strain responses, failure modes, deviatoric stress strength, and Mohr–Coulomb parameters were analyzed; planar, binary quadratic, and freeze–thaw-dependent Mohr–Coulomb models were developed and compared. Freeze–thaw cycling intensified initial compaction and post-peak softening, whereas confinement shifted failure from axial splitting to shear-dominated or mixed modes. After 30 cycles, deviatoric stress strength decreased by 53.6% under uniaxial loading and by 41.1% at 40 MPa confinement; cohesion decreased by 46.2%, from 39.6 to 21.3 MPa, and the internal friction angle decreased from 30.84° to 27.04°. The Mohr–Coulomb model achieved a maximum absolute error of 10.2 MPa, a mean absolute error of 4.7 MPa, and a root-mean-square error of 5.6 MPa. Within 0–30 cycles and 0–40 MPa confinement, the model provides strength estimates for parameter selection and stability assessment of basalt engineering structures in cold regions. Full article

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 7131 KB

Open AccessArticle

Hydrocarbon and Non-Hydrocarbon Generation Potential of Deltaic and Lagoonal Coals from Bohai Bay Basin

by Jinfeng Xie, Yong Li, Weikai Xu, Jiayao Chen and Weiqi Zhang

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9349; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189349 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Coal-derived gases are important natural gas resources, but the evolution of hydrocarbon products during coal thermal transformation remains incompletely understood. Here, two low-maturity coals from deltaic and lagoonal settings (R_o = 0.57% and 0.58%, respectively) were investigated using closed-system gold-tube pyrolysis [...] Read more.

Coal-derived gases are important natural gas resources, but the evolution of hydrocarbon products during coal thermal transformation remains incompletely understood. Here, two low-maturity coals from deltaic and lagoonal settings (R_o = 0.57% and 0.58%, respectively) were investigated using closed-system gold-tube pyrolysis at 300–600 °C to characterize their hydrocarbon-generation sequences, gas compositions, and carbon isotope evolution. Both coals showed a similar hydrocarbon generation sequence, comprising an oil-dominated interval at 300–350 °C, an intermediate interval characterized by light hydrocarbons and heavy hydrocarbon gases at 350–475 °C, and a methane-dominated interval above 475 °C. Maximum oil yields were 81.94 and 85.08 mg/g TOC, and maximum light hydrocarbon yields were 9.64 and 9.97 mg/g TOC for C-1 and C-2, respectively. At 600 °C, hydrocarbon gas (C_1–5) yields were 163.07 and 189.69 mL/g TOC, respectively. CO₂ was the dominant non-hydrocarbon gas, with yields of 24.93 and 32.12 mL/g TOC at 600 °C. The δ13C values of methane, ethane, and propane became lighter up to approximately 425 °C and then progressively heavier, while maintaining the normal isotope sequence of δ¹³C₁ < δ¹³C₂ < δ¹³C₃. These results delineate a common hydrocarbon generation trajectory for the two coals, with differences between the samples expressed primarily in gas generation intensity rather than in the sequence of product evolution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Advances in Coal Geology and Exploration)

30 pages, 6614 KB

Open AccessArticle

Multiscale Heat-Generation and Heat-Transfer Mechanisms and Coupling Effects in IGBT Modules

by Zhuangzhuang Li and Zhaolei Zheng

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9348; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189348 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules exhibit thermal behavior governed by interacting mechanisms spanning carrier transport, chip-scale diffusion, multilayer heat spreading, coolant convection, and thermomechanical response. This study presents an energy-consistent computational framework whose novelty lies not in the individual solvers, but in the [...] Read more.

Insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules exhibit thermal behavior governed by interacting mechanisms spanning carrier transport, chip-scale diffusion, multilayer heat spreading, coolant convection, and thermomechanical response. This study presents an energy-consistent computational framework whose novelty lies not in the individual solvers, but in the explicit cross-scale energy interfaces, multirate synchronization, and observation operators that distinguish local-maximum, area-averaged, current-weighted, and sensor-related junction temperatures. Published first-principles and transport data for bulk silicon are used as reference-calibrated priors; the calculations implemented here comprise terminal-loss evaluation, prescribed energy-normalized spatial sources, analytical and two-dimensional diffusion reconstructions, three-dimensional finite-element thermal analysis, and a reduced-order Cauer network. For an 80 μm silicon chip at 400 K, the Fourier diffusion time is 0.12 ms, whereas the convention δ_T = 2√(αt) reaches the chip thickness at 0.030 ms; these values represent different diffusion criteria. In an illustrative boundary-sensitivity case, increasing h from 650 to 2000 W m⁻² K⁻¹ lowers the modeled maximum temperature from 132.1 to 99.6 °C without eliminating the central hotspot. The chip-side and cold-side cross-model differences are 1.28–2.98% and 9.54–12.56%, respectively, when terminal boundaries differ, while temperature-dependent loss raises the lumped Cauer peak by approximately 11 K. Mesh, time-step, and energy checks verify the numerical implementation, and cross-model comparisons assess consistency. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next-Generation Thermal Management, Power Electronics, and Hydrogen Energy Technology: Design and Efficiency)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 588 KB

Open AccessArticle

Research Progress on Static-Cracking Demolition of Reinforced Concrete: Reinforcement Restraint, Directional Cracking and Engineering Application

by Hui Li, Ying Peng, Junjie An, Fei Han and Sheng Peng

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9347; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189347 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

To address the low demolition efficiency of static-cracking technology in reinforced concrete structures under sensitive environments, which is primarily caused by the reinforcement restraint effect, this paper presents a narrative review based on a systematic literature-search procedure and case-study compilation. Starting from the [...] Read more.

To address the low demolition efficiency of static-cracking technology in reinforced concrete structures under sensitive environments, which is primarily caused by the reinforcement restraint effect, this paper presents a narrative review based on a systematic literature-search procedure and case-study compilation. Starting from the hydration-expansion mechanism of static-cracking agents, the work systematically examines how critical parameters—including borehole diameter, spacing, water-to-agent ratio, and reinforcement ratio—affect cracking performance. Three representative published engineering projects are reviewed to extract empirical design parameters and illustrate typical application scenarios under sensitive-environment conditions. Literature synthesis and case-study compilation indicate that static cracking can fully split structural members when the reinforcement ratio is ≤0.8%; local steel pre-cutting or densified boreholes are required when the reinforcement ratio ranges from 0.8% to 1.2%; and the cracking agent becomes almost ineffective when the reinforcement ratio exceeds 1.5%. Under standard laboratory conditions at 25 °C with a water-to-agent ratio of 0.3, expansion pressure at the borehole bottom reaches 80% of orifice pressure when drilling depth is less than 1.5 m, and declines to 50–60% when the depth is between 2 m and 3 m. As reported in the literature, grooves machined on borehole inner walls can reduce crack initiation pressure by 30–50%, with directional deviation remaining within 10°. It is suggested that three technical paths may hold promise for breaking the existing application limits of static-cracking technology: developing composite expansive materials, deploying lightweight digital-twin design schemes, and formulating multi-process collaborative demolition workflows. Full article

► Show Figures

Figure 1

24 pages, 1366 KB

Open AccessArticle

Application-Layer Intrusion Detection for VoIP over Open-Source 5G Standalone Networks

by Cosmin-Sebastian Badea, Marian Alexandru and Andreea-Mihaela Comșiț

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9346; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189346 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Many open-source 5G standalone testbeds emphasise deployment rather than continuous detection of application-layer abuse. This work presents a reproducible, RF-free, three-node testbed in which SIP signalling traverses a PDU session while a sensor correlates SIP transactions and Asterisk events with Open5GS session records, [...] Read more.

Many open-source 5G standalone testbeds emphasise deployment rather than continuous detection of application-layer abuse. This work presents a reproducible, RF-free, three-node testbed in which SIP signalling traverses a PDU session while a sensor correlates SIP transactions and Asterisk events with Open5GS session records, providing subscriber and data-network attribution. The detector combines a request-rate window with an unanswered-challenge ratio. A separate 5G-dependent rule determines whether SIP traffic attributed to the UE address pool has a corresponding active PDU session. Before execution, the experimental configurations and per-run ground-truth files were hashed; 67 of 70 runs passed the automated validity gates, and every exclusion is reported with its criterion. The detector identified all 60 attack episodes: REGISTER flooding at 2, 5, 10, and 20 requests/s and INVITE flooding at 10 and 20 requests/s. Median first-alert latency for REGISTER decreased from 11.403 s at 2 requests/s to 2.900 s at 20 requests/s; at the two matched rates, mean latencies for the two methods differed by, at most, 28.9 ms. Seven benign runs totalling 3.50 h produced no false alerts and a one-sided 95% Poisson upper bound of 0.86 alerts per hour, and 300 of 300 eligible alerts carried the expected subscriber identity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

29 pages, 7628 KB

Open AccessArticle

Ground-Surface Settlement Control and Prediction for Twin Tunnels Excavated Above an Existing Tunnel: Effects of Existing-Tunnel Constraint

by Jian Lu, Yanlin Li, Ning Jia, Panyi Wei, Chunyang Li, Yongyan Yu and Aijun Yao

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9345; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189345 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

As urban rail transit networks become denser, twin tunnels are increasingly constructed in close proximity above existing operational tunnels, making ground surface settlement control and existing tunnel protection critical challenges. Previous studies have mainly focused on the adverse effects of new tunnel excavation [...] Read more.

As urban rail transit networks become denser, twin tunnels are increasingly constructed in close proximity above existing operational tunnels, making ground surface settlement control and existing tunnel protection critical challenges. Previous studies have mainly focused on the adverse effects of new tunnel excavation on existing tunnels, whereas the reverse mechanism—namely, how an existing tunnel, as a stiff continuous structure, constrains surrounding ground deformation and thereby affects surface settlement—remains insufficiently understood. Clarifying this mechanism helps explain differences in settlement between cases with and without an underlying existing tunnel and provides a basis for optimizing the overcrossing geometry, predicting settlement, and managing construction risk. This study combines numerical simulation with theoretical analysis to investigate the effects of vertical clearance, center-to-center spacing of the new twin tunnels, staggering distance between excavation faces, and crossing angle on soil deformation within the construction-affected area. The settlement control mechanism induced by the constraint of the existing tunnel is identified, and a method for calculating surface settlement is proposed. The numerical results indicate that the existing tunnel reduces surface settlement. This response is interpreted as a combination of local constraints on surrounding ground deformation and global beam-like restraint, thereby reducing ground surface settlement. Vertical clearance, the horizontal spacing of new twin tunnels, and crossing angle govern the settlement response by altering the constraint intensity, superposition of settlement troughs, and restraint provided by the embedded tunnel lining/segments, respectively, whereas the staggering distance between excavation faces mainly affects settlement evolution with excavation advance. Because the settlement profiles obtained with and without an existing tunnel are approximately linearly related, the proposed calculation method does not explicitly account for the settlement reduction associated with the existing tunnel. Verification using an engineering case study indicates that the method is suitable for preliminary settlement prediction and risk assessment in similar projects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Civil Engineering)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 1671 KB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Evaluation of Classical, Deep, and Quantum Machine Learning for Video-Based Physical Activity Classification

by Andrea Lucía Sulla Valdivia, Jorge Martínez Muñoz, Diego Iquira Becerra, Marco Antonio Cossio Bolaños and José Alfredo Sulla Torres

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9344; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189344 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Reliable exercise recognition across schools requires models that remain accurate when acquisition conditions change. This study compares classical machine learning, pose-sequence deep learning, and quantum machine learning to classify four standardized physical-fitness exercises: sit-up, biceps curl, sit-and-reach, and horizontal jump. The original repository [...] Read more.

Reliable exercise recognition across schools requires models that remain accurate when acquisition conditions change. This study compares classical machine learning, pose-sequence deep learning, and quantum machine learning to classify four standardized physical-fitness exercises: sit-up, biceps curl, sit-and-reach, and horizontal jump. The original repository contained 2034 videos. A SHA-256 audit of the temporal pose arrays identified 152 exact duplicate copies, all from the same school, leaving 1882 unique videos for the primary analysis. We used YOLO26n-Pose to extract 17 COCO keypoints. We evaluated two input representations: 110 aggregated biomechanical descriptors and 128-step sequences containing 34 local pose coordinates. Model selection and evaluation followed a nested Leave-One-School-Out protocol. Random Forest obtained the highest pooled outer-fold performance (Macro-F1 = 0.9964, accuracy = 0.9968, MCC = 0.9953), with six errors in 1882 videos; XGBoost and RBF-SVC followed with Macro-F1 values of 0.9932 and 0.9881. Among the deep models, BiLSTM, CNN1D, and ST-GCN achieved Macro-F1 values of 0.9711, 0.9666, and 0.9498, respectively. A paired stratified bootstrap supported the Random Forest advantage over XGBoost for Macro-F1, although the Holm-adjusted exact McNemar test for overall correctness was not significant. In exploratory controlled QML experiments, neither QSVC nor VQC exceeded its matched classical baseline under the tested configurations. These results show that compact biomechanical descriptors provide a strong and stable representation for cross-school exercise recognition in this dataset. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deep Learning-Based Computer Vision Technology and Its Applications)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

36 pages, 2092 KB

Open AccessArticle

When Is a Short Audit Record Sufficient? An Audit-to-Decision Procedure for Industrial Compressed Air Systems

by Tanya Titova, Nikola Shakev, Rosen Kosturkov and Krasimir Stoyanov

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9343; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189343 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Short industrial compressed-air audits can contain thousands of samples while representing only a few dependent operating episodes. Autocorrelation therefore makes nominal sample count an unreliable basis for deciding whether a low-flow regime is sufficiently supported for an energy-efficiency or maintenance action. This paper [...] Read more.

Short industrial compressed-air audits can contain thousands of samples while representing only a few dependent operating episodes. Autocorrelation therefore makes nominal sample count an unreliable basis for deciding whether a low-flow regime is sufficiently supported for an energy-efficiency or maintenance action. This paper proposes an audit-to-decision procedure separating three claims: that a low-flow regime exists, that it is measured reliably enough, and that its relative scale justifies action. hv-block selection and minimum-dwell reconstruction are combined with episode repeatability, effective intra-regime size, resampling uncertainty, metrological distinguishability, and relative non-productive consumption in a six-level action scale (D1–D6). The procedure was applied to 29 records from three operating plants. Five PLC-labeled records provided a limited external evaluation of the operational meaning of the identified low-flow state. Nominal BIC and hv-block selection differed in 20 of 24 audit records. Median deviation fell from 32.2–33.9% for nominal-selection baselines to 2.9% when the HMM used the hv-block-selected regime count. Outcomes were 3 × D1, 15 × D2, 7 × D3, and 4 × D4. D-codes were unchanged in 23/24 threshold-tested and 14/16 pressure-augmented records. In the five-record PLC-labeled evaluation, no action unsupported by the labels was triggered. The strongest time-series-only outcome is a mandatory diagnostic work order, not an automatic repair decision. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Maintenance for Complex Industrial Systems)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 23204 KB

Open AccessArticle

Receptive-Field-Aware Adaptive Fusion for Multiscale Insulator Defect Detection in Transmission-Line Images

by Wengang Yang, Qinglong Wang, Entuo Li, Zhengyu Hu, Yunjian Hu, Wen Peng and Jie Sun

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(18), 9342; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189342 (registering DOI) - 20 Sep 2026

Transmission-line inspection requires a single detector to localize complete insulator strings together with much smaller broken-shell and flashover-damaged regions. These targets differ in spatial extent and in their dependence on local detail and surrounding context, which complicates cross-scale feature fusion when accurate bounding [...] Read more.

Transmission-line inspection requires a single detector to localize complete insulator strings together with much smaller broken-shell and flashover-damaged regions. These targets differ in spatial extent and in their dependence on local detail and surrounding context, which complicates cross-scale feature fusion when accurate bounding boxes are required. This study develops receptive-field-aware path aggregation (PRA) and bidirectional receptive-field-aware aggregation (BRA), combining path aggregation with receptive-field expansion and adaptive scale weighting. Compared with the path aggregation network (PANet), PRA increases mean average precision (mAP) at an intersection-over-union (IoU) threshold of 0.5 (mAP@0.5) by 2.2 percentage points and mAP averaged over IoU thresholds from 0.5 to 0.95 (mAP@0.5: 0.95) by 4.6 points; BRA produces gains of 1.5 and 4.0 points, respectively. The highest mAP@0.5:0.95 of 91.3% is jointly achieved by Swin-T-PRA + Alpha-CIoU and Swin-T-BRA + Alpha-CIoU, with corresponding mAP@0.5 values of 98.6% and 98.5% and model-only inference speeds of 48.5 and 48.3 FPS on an RTX 3080 Ti, respectively. The larger gains across stricter IoU thresholds indicate that PRA/BRA provide greater benefits when more stringent box-overlap criteria are imposed, although the present evaluation does not independently isolate the bounding-box regression mechanism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Computing and Artificial Intelligence)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

More Articles...

Submit to Applied Sciences Review for Applied Sciences

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Highly Accessed Articles

View More...

Latest Books

More Books and Reprints...

E-Mail Alert

News

26 August 2026
Meet Us Virtually at the 7th International Electronic Conference on Applied Sciences, 14–16 December 2026

18 September 2026
Summary of the MDPI Academic Publishing Workshop at the Faculty of Engineering, Naresuan University Held on 7 September 2026

18 September 2026
Applied Sciences Webinar | Biomechanics and Human Movement Analysis in Sport, 28 September 2026

More News & Announcements...

Topics

Propose a Topic

Topic in Applied Sciences, Geomatics, IJGI, Remote Sensing, Smart Cities

The Geography of Digital Twin: Concepts, Architectures, Modeling, AI and Applications Topic Editors: Chaowei Yang, Daniel Q. Duffy, Xiao Huang, Lingbo Liu
Deadline: 20 September 2026

Topic in Applied Sciences, Energies, Fluids, Mathematics, Processes

Heat and Mass Transfer in Engineering Topic Editors: Vasily Novozhilov, Xiaohu Yang
Deadline: 30 September 2026

Topic in Applied Sciences, Designs, Electronics, Energies, Mathematics

Power System Modeling and Control, 3rd Edition Topic Editors: Manuela Minetti, Mahmood Hosseini Imani, Andrea Mazza
Deadline: 20 October 2026

Topic in Applied Sciences, Buildings, Designs, Infrastructures, JMSE

Resilient Civil Infrastructure, 2nd Edition Topic Editors: De-Cheng Feng, Ji-Gang Xu, Xu-Yang Cao
Deadline: 31 October 2026

More Topics

Conferences

Propose a Conference Collaboration

14–16 December 2026 The 7th International Electronic Conference on Applied Sciences

28 September 2026 Applied Sciences Webinar | Biomechanics and Human Movement Analysis in Sport, 28 September 2026

7–9 October 2026 The 1st International Online Conference on Dentistry (IOCDT 2026)

More Conferences...

Special Issues

Propose a Special Issue

Special Issue in Applied Sciences

Large Reasoning Modelling for Scientific Computing Guest Editors: Nicholas Christakis, Dimitris Drikakis, William J. Rider
Deadline: 20 September 2026

Special Issue in Applied Sciences

Biomechanics and Bioengineering in Dental Sleep Medicine Guest Editors: Giovanni Bruno, Alberto De Stefani
Deadline: 20 September 2026

Special Issue in Applied Sciences

Neural Networks for Circuit Design Guest Editors: Sneha Banerjee, Graziella Scandurra
Deadline: 20 September 2026

Special Issue in Applied Sciences

Advanced Blasting Technology for Mining, 2nd Edition Guest Editors: Krzysztof Skrzypkowski, Andrzej Biessikirski
Deadline: 20 September 2026

More Special Issues

Topical Collections

Topical Collection in Applied Sciences

Agriculture 4.0: From Precision Agriculture to Smart Agriculture Collection Editors: Pasquale Catalano, Antonia Tamborrino

Topical Collection in Applied Sciences

Software Engineering: Computer Science and System Collection Editor: Vito Conforti

Topical Collection in Applied Sciences

Heuristic Algorithms in Engineering and Applied Sciences Collection Editor: Panagiotis G. Asteris

Topical Collection in Applied Sciences

Improvements in the Production, Monitoring, Management and Impact on the Grid of Photovoltaic Installations Collection Editors: Isabel Santiago Chiquero, Isabel María Moreno García, Rafael López Luque

More Topical Collections

Back to TopTop