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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Mechanical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 18088

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Carter Hamilton

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Guest Editor

Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Department, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45069, USA
Interests: welding; computational modeling; experimental analysis

Prof. Dr. Hanbin Xiao

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Assistant Guest Editor

School of Transportation and Logistics Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430063, China
Interests: mechanical system dynamic design; port machinery condition monitoring and fault diagnosis; port handling machinery intelligent operation and maintenance technology research

Dr. Xinyi Xiao

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Assistant Guest Editor

Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Department, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45069, USA
Interests: process - quality prediction and control in additive manufacturing; realtime quality enhancement through hybrid additive manufacturing; computational autonomous robotic additive; self-morphing structure design and control

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Advanced manufacturing is entering a new frontier that has the potential to revolutionize every facet of design, process, and product quality. However, it is facing many challenges, such as heavy material waste, low repeatability/reproducibility, and heavy human intervention under uncertainties. To solve the aforementioned issues, new computational models that help to identify the process–product relationships further enhance advanced manufacturing processes in autonomous planning under uncertainty, quality management, assurance, real-time monitoring, prediction, and control need to be developed.

Dr. Carter Hamilton
Prof. Dr. Hanbin Xiao
Dr. Xinyi Xiao
Guest Editors

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Keywords

computational theory and algorithm development in advanced manufacturing
simulation/prediction in additive manufacturing
internet of things
cyber-physical systems
design for additive manufacturing
advances in port engineering

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 4827 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bulk Solids Stacking Strategy of a Rectangular Ship Cabin

by Jianming Yuan, Dongxu Li, Jiahe Shen, Chenglong Jin, Jiahao Yan and Chang Xu

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(6), 3940; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13063940 - 20 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 951

Abstract

Stacking of bulk solids in terminals, ships, trains, and other bulk solids storage yards is always challenging, considering the requirements of optimal utilization of storage areas. In this study, stacking shapes of a variety of bulk solids with different particle sizes were tested, and the curved shapes of the stockpiles were extracted to establish the actual three-dimensional models of the bulk solids accordingly. The three-dimensional curved stockpiles were used to design the bulk solids stacking strategy where the bulk stacking locations, the stacking volume, and the stacking flatness were optimized. A modified golden section method with a self-influenced factor was developed to improve the calculation efficiency of the stacking algorithm for bulk solids stacking flatness. Furthermore, the bulk solids stacking strategy and algorithm were verified by experiments. The results showed that the curved three-dimensional models were very close to the actual shapes of the bulk solids stockpiles, while the improved golden section method was more accurate and efficient than the traditional golden section method in determining the optimal values of the stacking volumes in terms of flatness. For the different bulk solids tested, the experiment results showed that good flat stacking can be achieved by using the developed stacking strategy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Frontiers in Advanced Manufacturing)

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24 pages, 7066 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Networked Control System Based on PSO-RBF Neural Network Time-Delay Prediction Model

by Dazhang You, Yiming Lei, Shan Liu, Yepeng Zhang and Min Zhang

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(1), 536; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13010536 - 30 Dec 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1696

Abstract

To satisfy the requirement of real-time and accurate control of the system, a time-delay prediction control system based on the PSO-RBF neural network model is established to solve the effect of time delay on the control system’s performance. Firstly, a network control model with a time delay is established to predict the control system’s output to solve the uncertainty of the output time delay. Secondly, an improved offline prediction model of RBF networks is proposed to solve the problem of the low accuracy of time-delay prediction in PSO-RBF networks. To solve the problem that the PSO algorithm is prone to fall into local optimality, a nonlinear adjustment formula for the parameters of the PSO algorithm based on the number of iterations is proposed, and the TS algorithm is used to make the optimal global solution. Finally, in order to compensate for the problem of time delay, an online RBF network prediction controller is designed, the parameters of the online RBF network are adjusted by the gradient descent method, and a target function with the differential component is proposed to evaluate the optimization effect of the rolling optimization stage. The results from the true-time simulation platform show that the delay prediction control system based on the PSO-RBF network model proposed in this paper improves the IAE by 59.9% and 31.7%, respectively, compared to the traditional PID controller and fuzzy PID control under the influence of uncertainty disturbances. Therefore, the time-delay prediction control system proposed in this paper has good control capability for the time-delay compensation problem and system output. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Frontiers in Advanced Manufacturing)

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13 pages, 4674 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Influence of Gear Spoke Hole Numbers on Meshing Noise

by Chuyang Hong, Min Liu, Ning Su, Sheng Zou, Jianbo Xiao, Chang Xu and Feng Zhu

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(1), 511; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13010511 - 30 Dec 2022

Viewed by 1381

Abstract

Gear meshing stiffness is one of the important causes of noise, and the structure optimization of gears, such as spoke hole structures, has been proven to be an effective method to reduce gear meshing noise. In this paper, the meshing dynamics model of spur gears with spoke structures was established, and the quasi-static dynamics simulation of the meshing process was carried out by ANSYS. The results show that more spoke holes lead to less meshing stiffness and less stiffness fluctuation. The BEM (boundary element method) acoustic simulation of spur gears meshing was accomplished by the LMS Virtual.Lab. It shows that meshing stiffness is the dominate factor for noise and less meshing stiffness will result in louder noise. In summary, having fewer spoke holes causes less noise, and the experiment shows the same trend. This has certain reference significance for gear structure design considering NVH (noise vibration harshness) performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Frontiers in Advanced Manufacturing)

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13 pages, 5794 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Operation State Evaluation of Miter Gate Based on On-Line Monitoring and Finite Element Analysis

by Ran Li, Jie Zhang and Jianbo Xiao

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(1), 381; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13010381 - 28 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1504

Abstract

As an essential part of the water conservancy hub, the miter gate undertakes the vital task of navigational operation and works in a complex basin with a high water level drop for a long time; therefore, it is necessary to ensure its safe operation. In this paper, taking the Gezhouba No. 2 ship lock miter gate as an example, the actual gate stress and crack signals are obtained using the online monitoring system. The stress distributions of the gate under different working conditions are studied using finite element simulation analysis. Combining simulation analysis with the collected signal analysis, the operation status of the actual gate under each working condition is evaluated. The results show that the stress analysis of the online monitoring is consistent with the finite element analysis results, which verifies the reasonableness of the sensor arrangement. The stress is more concentrated in the area of the gate shaft column, the middle door seam, and the rear flange plate during the operation of the miter gate, and the maximum stress appears on the central sector shaft column of the gate. The cracks of the miter gate mainly appeared in the lower layer of the gate body, and the cracks expand gradually during the long-term operation of the gate. The crack expansion speed corresponds to the miter gate’s stress magnitude. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Frontiers in Advanced Manufacturing)

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18 pages, 6007 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Failure Analysis of Gantry Crane Slewing Bearing Based on Gear Position Accuracy Error

by Jianbo Xiao, Yiming Wu, Wenxing Long and Chang Xu

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(23), 11907; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122311907 - 22 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2856

Abstract

In large ports, shipyards, and other places of handling operations, gantry cranes are widely used. As a typical slewing crane, its slewing-bearing large gear ring is prone to tooth breakage problems due to the existence of long-term complex alternating load. This paper presents a new fault analysis method based on the gear position accuracy error. Firstly, the relative displacement relationship between the pinion and large gear ring and the large gear ring gear teeth stress nature were analyzed through the establishment of the rotary table structure, slewing bearing, and cylinder structure assembly finite element model. In addition, a dynamic data acquisition instrument and resistance strain gauge data were separately applied to analyze the pinion and large gear ring displacement along with cylinder structure stress for the test position accuracy error. The final results show that under the frontal load condition, the horizontal displacement deviation of the pinion gear and the large gear ring is approximately 2.9 mm, which leads to an increase of 23% in the stress value of the upper tooth root at the engagement of the large gear ring, causing extrusion and accelerating the fatigue and even fracture of the gear teeth. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Frontiers in Advanced Manufacturing)

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10 pages, 4086 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Variation of Fracture Toughness with Biaxial Load and T-Stress under Mode I Condition

by Chentong Chen, Zhanfeng Li, Chang Xu, Ze Zhu and Sheng Zou

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(18), 9319; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12189319 - 16 Sep 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1470

Abstract

The effect of a biaxial load on brittle fractures of solids under predominantly elastic deformation and mode I loading conditions is studied in this article. A cross-shaped specimen is used in this work, and the variation of T-stress is achieved by changing the load applied to the arm parallel to the crack. In the tests, under a series of different loads parallel to the crack, a series of load values perpendicular to the crack are obtained, and the stress intensity factor is calculated by FEM (Finite Element Analysis). The test data demonstrate that the apparent fracture toughness of the material varies with the load parallel to the crack and the T-stress, since the T-stress is directly related to the load parallel to the crack. If only the first term of the Williams series solution is used to describe the stress field near the crack tip, the variation of KC is unexplained; therefore, more than one term in the Williams series solutions is used to develop the theory of biaxial effect on solid fracture behavior. The fracture criterion based on this consideration is also used to predict crack instability or crack curving under mode I load conditions. Experimental data are presented and compared with the theory. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Frontiers in Advanced Manufacturing)

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19 pages, 4895 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Motion Generation for Crane Simulators Using Streamlined Motion Blending Technology

by Ze Zhu, Yangyi Luo, Hanbin Xiao, Zhanfeng Li, Chang Xu and Guoxian Wang

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(17), 8799; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12178799 - 1 Sep 2022

Viewed by 1242

Abstract

For development of a simulator with a motion platform to generate an appropriate motion to reproduce the motion sense for the users, one of the most significant but disregarded complicated tasks is to build up a dynamic virtual motion model to reflect the motion of the simulated object in the corresponding physical world. Recently, a motion generation method based on motion blending technology was developed to alleviate the complication involved. It decomposes the simulated motion into a great number of parameterized motion blocks which are depicted by real motion data acquired from field tests and stored in a database. This paper proposes a streamlined motion blending technology suitable for a container crane simulator to further improve the current motion generation method based on the motion blending technology. Motion components, rather than motion blocks specially marked and stored in a database, are taken as the basic motion unit easily acquired through united analysis of crane dynamics and motion perception characteristics. They are then blended on demand to produce a one-stop model to directly act as the driving command of the motion platform without the need for a subsequent dedicated wash-out procedure. The calculation workload is greatly reduced and finally allows for achievement of higher fidelity of motion perceptions. Experiments are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed streamlined motion blending technology for motion perception generation. Better training effect is found to be achieved due to more realistic simulation effects. The comprehensive training effectiveness index is enhanced from 54% to 82% once a motion simulation system developed using the proposed approach is introduced into the crane simulator. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Frontiers in Advanced Manufacturing)

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18 pages, 6898 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Unit Integration Method Solution and Experimental Research on Mechanism Characteristics for Flat Digging of Grab Dredgers

by Chang Xu, Zhe Li, Zhouyi Zhu and Zhanfeng Li

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(14), 6968; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12146968 - 9 Jul 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1912

Abstract

In the process of grab dredger dredging, how to ensure the accuracy of flat digging is a key technical question. The accuracy of flat digging is related to the force of grab digging. However, there are limitations in the traditional method of studying the force of grab digging. In this study, based on the Rankine theory, the unit integration method is proposed to calculate the force process of grab excavation. This method determines the shape and position of the failure surface under the action of active pressure

F_{B}

and passive pressure

F_{E}

and further obtains a functional expression for the relation between digging force and digging parameters. Through the simulation of flat digging force using the discrete element method (DEM), we obtained results consistent with the calculation results of the unit integration method. In addition, this study sought to control the movement distance of the closing wires and the hoist wires through the equation of motion, to carry out the precision calculations of theoretical data, and experimental research into grab flat digging. By comparing theoretical data and test data, the following conclusion was drawn: the deviation of the theoretical flat digging precision from the test data falls within the allowable range, at 3.15%. This study provides technical support for the flat digging process of the grab dredger. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Frontiers in Advanced Manufacturing)

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16 pages, 5608 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Tribological Properties of Two Typical Materials of Hydraulic Motor’s Rotor at Different Ambient Temperatures

by Gao Wan, Qing Wu, Min Tang, Mingjian Lu and Kun Yang

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(11), 5582; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12115582 - 31 May 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1328

Abstract

Cold starting is the biggest challenge for mechanical equipment in polar environments. Selecting suitable friction pair materials and exploring the wear mechanism are keys to improving the reliability in a low-temperature environment. This study analyzed the tribological properties of the two typical materials of hydraulic motor’s rotor at different ambient temperatures, especially at low temperature. Finally, it explored the wear process and mechanism of two sets of friction pairs. The results showed that the low temperature environment not only affects the viscosity of the hydraulic medium in the hydraulic system and changes the lubrication state between the friction pairs, but also enhances the cold brittleness of metal materials and affects the wear characteristics between the friction pairs. There is a maximum difference of around −20 °C. The wear volume of material QT500-7 sharply increases and reaches a maximum of 0.107 mm³ when the normal force is 20 N, which is 3.65 times as much as the wear volume of the LC2-1. When the normal force is 30 N, the wear volume of materials QT500-7 and LC2-1 are 0.125 and 0.036 mm³, respectively. The wear volume of the former is 3.4 times that of the latter. In addition, it indicates that the impact energy of the material affects its tribological properties since the impact energy of the material QT500-7 decreases sharply, including two consecutive subintervals of sharp decreases from 97.3 J to 42.2 J and then to 18.0 J at the temperature of −10 to −30 °C. The material LC2-1 with stable wear performance is more applicable for being processed and manufactured into parts for low-temperature environmental conditions, as there is no serious fluctuation in the temperature range from −40 °C to room temperature. The research findings are expected to provide a theoretical support for hydraulic motors design, material selection and the maintenance of polar deck machinery. They are of great significance for improving the operational reliability of hydraulic motors for polar ships. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Frontiers in Advanced Manufacturing)

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17 pages, 4154 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research on the Crane Safety Assessment Method Based on the Cloud Model and ICWGT

by Ze Zhu, Yangyi Luo, Hanbin Xiao, Chuchen Xiong and Chentong Chen

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(9), 4399; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12094399 - 27 Apr 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1622

Abstract

In crane safety assessment, both quantitative and qualitative indicators are inevitably influenced by the subjective influence of the evaluator, which is unfavorable to the objective requirements of safety assessment. In response to these problems, this study proposes a crane safety assessment method based on the cloud model and the improved combination weighting method of game theory (ICWGT). This evaluation method constructs a multi-level assessment index system for crane safety status by selecting suitable indicators in layers and groups, according to the crane safety assessment rules, and gives a method for constructing the cloud model of the commentary set, the selection and derivation of the membership function, and the determination of the fuzzy relationship matrix. When performing fuzzy synthetic calculations based on the cloud model, the synthetic operator enhances the effect of expectation on entropy and makes the cloud image significantly deformed; this method uses a fine-tuned synthetic operator to improve the algorithm. Compared with the traditional crane fuzzy synthesis assessment method, this method combines the cloud model and ICWGT to achieve finding a balance between expert experience and sample data information, calculating the combined optimization weights of each index and component layer by layer. In order to verify the effectiveness of the method, we take the metal structure system of the shipyard portal crane as an example to explore the applicability of the method in crane safety assessment. The results show that the assessment method can accurately reflect the safety level of the crane and can provide reference material for crane safety assessment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Frontiers in Advanced Manufacturing)

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