Niobium Tin cable is being used in the high field magnets in the Divertor Tokamak Test Facility under construction by ENEA in Italy. Kiswire Advanced Technology was selected to provide 55 tonnes of high-performance Niobium Tin wire for the 18 Toroidal Field Coils. The conductor design is based on a 0.82mm Nb₃Sn strand similar to that provided for the ITER TF coils. H. C. Starck Solutions provided the pure Nb rod and Ta sheet for their conductor design. The enhanced strand requirement has both a minimum current (320 A at 12 Tesla) and maximum hysteresis loss (± 3T cycle 1000mJ/cc) and a Cu/Non-Cu of 1:1. To achieve the current and hysteresis loss reliably, the niobium rod must maintain its shape throughout the drawing process. The n value requirement (>20) is a good indication of niobium filament uniformity while the RRR requirement (>100) is a good indication of tantalum barrier performance. The HCSS rod supplied to KAT provided consistently high Ic (>320A at 12 Tesla), low hysteresis loss and the Ta sheet provided very good RRR values. We report here the consistency of more than 11 tonnes of HCSS Nb rod properties for chemistry, hardness, grain size and wire performance.

Thermodynamic analysis is essential for not only guiding the design of refrigerator, but also studying its operation mechanism. As the core component, the dilution unit plays an important role in deciding the performance of dilution refrigerator. In this study, a coupled thermodynamic model is established by analyzing each component separately for improving the operation of dilution refrigerator. And an optimization calculation based on that model is carried out to obtain some meaningful results on the dilution unit design. The optimal flow rate of the dilution refrigerator under different working conditions are pointed out. By considering the effect of viscous heat on the performance of the heat exchanger, the applicable conditions of the continuous heat exchanger and the methods to overcome the viscous heat are given.

Moving loads represent the dominant component of the load on traffic structures such as bridges and roads. The response of these structures to moving loads can be modeled numerically using a FEM system such as ADYNA or ANSYS. The process requires the creation of a suitable vehicle and bridge computational models. For the purposes of this paper, a spatial computational model of a Tatra T815 heavy truck was created. The modeled bridge is a two span structure with a slab deck. A smooth surface of the bridge is assumed. At the beginning of the solution, the bridge is at rest and the vehicle enters the bridge already vibrated. The dynamic deflections of the bridge and the vehicle over time are monitored. It is possible to display bending moments in the transverse and longitudinal direction and torques at any time. It is also possible to obtain the values of the contact forces between the vehicle wheel and the bridge at any time. The vehicle can move along the bridge at any speed.

The role of embodied intelligence (EI) has the potential to overcome current limitations in the fabrication, control, and resulting behavior to create robust and effective dexterous robotic manipulators. To develop hands that truly exploit EI, we must design hands by considering the entire system: the physical body, sensory systems, and the brain (the controller). However, we lack clear approaches and methods that enable this system level design for hands. We introduce an iterative approach for co-design which seeks to utilize simulation and real world evaluation to maximize the performance by distributing EI across the different elements of the system. To achieve this vision we require hands that can be rapidly fabricated with variability in the design space. Thus, to further the development of robotic hands that utilize EI we need streamlined fabrication pipelines which incorporate spatially distributed sensors, complex geometries and materials, and control distributed at the sensory-motor and high task planning domains.

Large strain characterization of sheet metals has become increasingly important with the generalization of advanced high strength steels, for which the tensile test provides data over a very reduced strain range. Among the numerous alternative characterization tests, the plane strain compression test (PSCT) requires a small amount of material and classical testing machine and acquisition. PSCT was mainly used for hot forming characterization, but recently it has been proved sufficiently accurate for application in cold metal forming. This work provides an in-depth validation of the PSCT by means of the finite element method. When converting the PSCT force-displacement curve into a stress-strain curve (flow curve), several analytical corrections are applied. Several sets of such corrections terms were proposed in the literature, some of which are consistently used by all authors, while others being only used in some papers. The FE simulation of the test was used in order to validate these correction terms and their hypotheses. The originality of the approach is the design of a sequence of test configurations which allow for the individual validation of each and every one of the correction terms concerning the effect of several test parameters. The FE simulations showed that the analytical exploitation of the PSCT provides a very good accuracy. They helped identifying the most suitable correction terms to consider.

Corrosion behavior of eutectic Al-Si automotive alloy is investigated in different strengths of 0.1 M and 0.2 M NaCl solution at room temperature. Alloy with Si as trace impurity is also considered for the comparison of the property. The study is done by electrochemical method, using potentiodynamic polarization measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. The alloy surfaces are characterized by both optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that Si addition improves the corrosion performance of the Al-Si automotive alloy and this improvement is more pronounced in higher corrosive environments. The corrosion rate along with current density (I_corr) of trace Si added alloy showed higher value than that of higher Si added alloy. The corrosion potential (E_corr) and open circuit potential (OCP) of higher Si added alloy are shifted to the more noble direction. The cause behind this, the higher amount of Mg2Si precipitates in higher Si added alloys tends to form oxides like SiO2 and MgO which protects the surfaces from further corrosion. Microscopic images confirm that the polishing scratches on the surfaces of the alloys are not visible after corrosion. The SEM images also confirm that the corroded surfaces seem to have pit formations which are lower in higher Si added alloys due to formation of a protective layer of oxides. The higher corrosion performance is observed for higher Si added alloys especially in higher strength of corrosive environment.