The displacement feedback with time delay considered is introduced in order to enhance the vibration isolation performance of a high-static-low-dynamic stiffness(HSLDS) vibration isolator. Such feedback is detailedly ...The displacement feedback with time delay considered is introduced in order to enhance the vibration isolation performance of a high-static-low-dynamic stiffness(HSLDS) vibration isolator. Such feedback is detailedly analyzed from the viewpoint of equivalent damping. Firstly, the primary resonance of the controlled HSLDS vibration isolator subjected to a harmonic force excitation is obtained based on the multiple scales method and further verified by numerical integration. The stability of the primary resonance is subsequently investigated. Then, the equivalent damping is defined to study the effects of feedback gain and time delay on primary resonance. The condition of jump avoidance is obtained with the purpose of eliminating the adverse effects induced by jumps. Finally, the force transmissibility of the controlled HSLDS vibration isolator is defined to evaluate its isolation performance. It is shown that an appropriate choice of feedback parameters can effectively suppress the force transmissibility in resonant region and reduce the resonance frequency. Furthermore, a wider vibration isolation frequency bandwidth can be achieved compared to the passive HSLDS vibration isolator.展开更多
A nonlinear model of anti-backlash gear with time-varying friction and mesh stiffness was proposed for the further study on dynamic characteristics of anti-backlash gear. In order to improve the model precision, appli...A nonlinear model of anti-backlash gear with time-varying friction and mesh stiffness was proposed for the further study on dynamic characteristics of anti-backlash gear. In order to improve the model precision, applied force analysis was completed in detail, and single or double tooth meshing states of two gear pairs at any timing were determined according to the meshing characteristic of anti-backlash gear. The influences of friction and variations of damping ratio on dynamic transmission error were analyzed finally by numerical calculation and the results show that anti-backlash gear can increase the composite mesh stiffness comparing with the mesh stiffness of the normal gear pair. At the pitch points where the frictions change their signs, additional impulsive effects are observed. The width of impulsive in the same value of center frequency is wider than that without friction, and the amplitude is lower. When gear pairs mesh in and out, damping can reduce the vibration and impact.展开更多
Cycloid speed reducers are widely used in many industrial areas due to the advantages of compact size, high reduction ratio and high stiffness. However, currently, there are not many analytical models for the mesh sti...Cycloid speed reducers are widely used in many industrial areas due to the advantages of compact size, high reduction ratio and high stiffness. However, currently, there are not many analytical models for the mesh stiffness calculation, which is a crucial parameter for the high-fidelity gear dynamic model. This is partially due to the difficulty of backlash determination and the complexity of multi-tooth contact deformation during the meshing process. In this paper, a new method to calculate the mesh stiffness is proposed including the effects of tooth profile modification and eccentricity error. The time-varying mesh parameters and load distribution of cycloid-pin gear pair are determined based on the unloaded tooth contact analysis （TCA） and the nonlinear Hertzian contact theory, allowing accurate calculations of the contact stiffness of single tooth pair and the torsional stiffness of multi-tooth pairs. A detailed parametric study is presented to demonstrate the influences of tooth profile modification, applied torque and eccentricity error on the torsional mesh stiffness, loaded transmission error, Hertzian contact stiffness and load sharing factor. This model can be applied to further study the lost motion and dynamic characteristics of cycloid speed reducer and assist the optimization of its precision, vibration and noise levels.展开更多
The objective of this work is to investigate the fatigue behavior of reinforced concrete(RC) beams strengthened with externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer(CFRP) and steel plate. An experimental investigati...The objective of this work is to investigate the fatigue behavior of reinforced concrete(RC) beams strengthened with externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer(CFRP) and steel plate. An experimental investigation and theoretical analysis were made on the law of deflection development and stiffness degradation, as well as the influence of fatigue load ranges. Test results indicate that the law of three-stage change under fatigue loading is followed by both midspan deflection and permanent deflection, which also have positive correlation with fatigue load amplitude. Fatigue stiffness of composite strengthened beams degrades gradually with the increasing of number of cycles. Based on the experimental results, a theoretical model by effective moment of inertia method is developed for calculating the sectional stiffness of such composite strengthened beams under fatigue loading, and the calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental results.展开更多
The migration mode transition of cancer cell enhances its invasive capability and the drug resistance,where physical confinement of cell microenvironment has been revealed to induce the mesenchymal-amoeboid transition...The migration mode transition of cancer cell enhances its invasive capability and the drug resistance,where physical confinement of cell microenvironment has been revealed to induce the mesenchymal-amoeboid transition(MAT).However,most existing studies are performed in PDMS microchannels,of which the stiffness is much higher than that of most mammalian tissues.Therefore,the amoeboid migration transition observed in these studies is actually induced by the synergistic effect of matrix stiffness and confinement.Since the stiffness of cell microenvironment has been reported to influence the cell migration in 2D substrate,the decoupling of stiffness and confinement effects is thus in need for elucidating the underlying mechanism of MAT.However,it is technically challenging to construct microchannels with physiologically relevant stiffness and channel size,where existing microchannel platforms with physiological relevance stiffness are all with>10μm channel width.Such size is too wide to mimic the physical confinement that migrating cancer cells confront in vivo,and also larger than the width of PDMS channel,in which the MAT of cancer cell was observed.Therefore,an in vitro cell migration platform,which could mimic both stiffness and confinement of the native physical microenvironment during cancer metastasis,could profoundly contribute to researches on cancer cell migration and cellular mechanotransduction.In this paper,we overcome the limitations of engineering soft materials in microscale by combining the collagen-alginate hydrogel with photolithography.This enables us to improve the accuracy of molded microchannel,and thus successfully construct a 3D microchannel platform,which matches the stiffness and width ranges of native environmental confinement that migrating cancer cells confront in vivo.The stiffness(0.3~20 kPa),confinement(channel width:3.5~14μm)and the adhesion ligand density of the microchannel can be tuned independently.Interestingly,using this platform,we observed that the migration speed of cancer cell is influenced by the synergistic effect of channel stiffness and width,and the increasing stiffness reverses the effect of channel width on the migration speed of cancer cells.In addition,MAT has a strong correlation with the channel stiffness.These findings make us reconsider the widely accepted hypothesis:physical confinement can induce MAT.Actually,this transition can only occur in stiff confined microenvironment not in soft one.For soft microchannels,the compliance of the channel walls could cause little cell/nucleus deformation,and the MAT could not be induced.To further investigate the mechanism of MAT,we developed a computational model to simulate the effect of nucleus deformation on MAT.With the model,we found that deforming the cell nuclear by decreasing the nucleus stiffness will reduce the cellmigration speed.This implies that nuclear stiffness plays an important role in the regulation of cancer migration speed and thus MAT in microchannels.The effect of channel stiffness on MAT and migration speed as observed in our experiment could partially explain previous findings reported in the literature,where the increasing matrix stiffness of tumor microenvironment promotes cancer metastasis.Our observations thus highlight the critical role of cell nuclear deformation not only in MAT,but also in regulating cellular mechanotransduction and cell-ECM interactions.This developed platform is capable of mimicking the native physical microenvironment during metastasis,providing a powerful tool for high-throughput screening applications and investigating the interaction between cancer migration and biophysical microenvironment.展开更多
The system considered in this work consists of a cylinder which is controlled by a pair of three-way servo valves rather than a four-way one.Therefore,the cylinder output stiffness is independently controllable of the...The system considered in this work consists of a cylinder which is controlled by a pair of three-way servo valves rather than a four-way one.Therefore,the cylinder output stiffness is independently controllable of the output force.A discontinuous projection based adaptive robust controller (ARC) was constructed to achieve high-accuracy output force trajectory tracking for the system.In ARC,on-line parameter adaptation method was adopted to reduce the extent of parametric uncertainties due to the variation of friction parameters,and sliding mode control method was utilized to attenuate the effects of parameter estimation errors,unmodelled dynamics and disturbance.Furthermore,output stiffness maximization/minimization was introduced to fulfill the requirement of many robotic applications.Extensive experimental results were presented to illustrate the effectiveness and the achievable performance of the proposed scheme.For tracking a 0.5 Hz sinusoidal trajectory,maximum tracking error is 4.1 N and average tracking error is 2.2 N.Meanwhile,the output stiffness can be made and maintained near its maximum/minimum.展开更多
By spraying concrete on inner surface,air-supported fabric structures can be used as formwork to construct reinforced concrete shell structures.The fabric formwork has the finished form of concrete structure.Large dev...By spraying concrete on inner surface,air-supported fabric structures can be used as formwork to construct reinforced concrete shell structures.The fabric formwork has the finished form of concrete structure.Large deviation from the desired shape of concrete shells still remains as central problem due to dead weight of concrete and less stiffness of fabric formwork.Polyurethane can be used not only as a bonding layer between fabrics and concrete but also as an additional stiffening layer.However,there is little research on mechanical behaviors of the polyurethane shell structure.This paper presents experimental studies on an inflated fabric model with and without polyurethane,including relief pressure tests,vertical loading tests and horizontal loading tests.Experimental results show that the additional polyurethane layer can significantly enhance the stiffness of the fabric formwork.Compared with the experiment,a numerical model using shell layered finite elements has a good prediction.The reinforcement by polyurethane to improve stiffness of air-supported fabric formwork is expected to be considered in the design and construction of the concrete shell,especially dealing with the advance of shape-control.展开更多
As the stiffness of the elastic support varies with the physical-chemical erosion and mechanical friction, model catastrophe of a single degree-of-freedom(DOF) isolation system may occur. A 3-DOF four-point-elastic-su...As the stiffness of the elastic support varies with the physical-chemical erosion and mechanical friction, model catastrophe of a single degree-of-freedom(DOF) isolation system may occur. A 3-DOF four-point-elastic-support rigid plate(FERP) structure is presented to describe the catastrophic isolation system. Based on the newly-established structure, theoretical derivation for stiffness matrix calculation by free response(SMCby FR) and the method of stiffness identification by stiffness matrix disassembly(SIby SMD)are proposed. By integrating the SMCby FR and the SIby SMD and defining the stiffness assurance criterion(SAC), the procedures for stiffness identification of a FERP structure(SIFERP) are summarized. Then, a numerical example is adopted for the SIFERP validation, in which the simulated tested free response data are generated by the numerical methods, and operation for filtering noise is conducted to imitate the practical application. Results in the numerical example demonstrate the feasibility and accuracy of the developed SIFERP for stiffness identification.展开更多
A new testing procedure to estimate the low-temperature stiffness of the reclaimed asphalt pavement （RAP） binder was developed. In the testing procedure, the SuperpaveTM Bending Beam Rheometer （BBR） with special m...A new testing procedure to estimate the low-temperature stiffness of the reclaimed asphalt pavement （RAP） binder was developed. In the testing procedure, the SuperpaveTM Bending Beam Rheometer （BBR） with special modifications and binder blending charts by Asphalt Institute were utilized. Modifications involved the development of a new kind of sample mold and different testing parameters were made to BBR testing procedure to capture the theological properties of bitumen mortars produced by mixing fresh binder with fine RAP materials or RAP aggregate. The stiffness relationship between binder and bitumen mortar was established based on the BBR test results. The blended binder stiffness in bitumen RAP mortar was estimated from the RAP mortar stiffness based on the binder-mortar relationship. And finally, the RAP binder stiffness was estimated from the blended binder and fresh binder stiffness based on the blending charts by Asphalt Institute. The results indicate that the new procedure can capture the rheological properties of bitumen mortar and can be used to estimate the low temperature stiffness of RAP binder without binder extraction and/or any chemical treatments.展开更多
Variable stiffness composite laminates(VSCLs)are promising in aerospace engineering due to their designable material properties through changing fiber angles and stacking sequences.Aiming to control the thermal postbu...Variable stiffness composite laminates(VSCLs)are promising in aerospace engineering due to their designable material properties through changing fiber angles and stacking sequences.Aiming to control the thermal postbuckling and nonlinear panel flutter motions of VSCLs,a full-order numerical model is developed based on the linear quadratic regulator(LQR)algorithm in control theory,the classical laminate plate theory(CLPT)considering von Kármán geometrical nonlinearity,and the first-order Piston theory.The critical buckling temperature and the critical aerodynamic pressure of VSCLs are parametrically investigated.The location and shape of piezoelectric actuators for optimal control of the dynamic responses of VSCLs are determined through comparing the norms of feedback control gain(NFCG).Numerical simulations show that the temperature field has a great effect on aeroelastic tailoring of VSCLs;the curvilinear fiber path of VSCLs can significantly affect the optimal location and shape of piezoelectric actuator for flutter suppression;the unstable panel flutter and the thermal postbuckling deflection can be suppressed effectively through optimal design of piezoelectric patches.展开更多
Background Damage to the central nervous system(CNS)usually leads to the activation of astrocytes,followed by glial scar formation.For years,glial scar has been thought as a major obstacle for successful axon regenera...Background Damage to the central nervous system(CNS)usually leads to the activation of astrocytes,followed by glial scar formation.For years,glial scar has been thought as a major obstacle for successful axon regeneration.However,increasing evidence suggests a beneficial role for this scar tissue as part of the endogenous local immune regulation and repair process.Surprisingly,in contrast to scars in other tissues,glial scars(mainly consist of reactive astrocytes)in both rat cortex and spinal cord were recently found to be significantly softer than healthy CNS tissues.Naive astrocytes have been found to change their phenotype to reactive astrocytes and gradually into scar-forming astrocytes,upregulating the astrocyte marker glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP),vimentin,and inflammatory proteins in almost all known brain disorders.Such phenotype transformation process has been widely thought unidirectional or irreversible.However,recent research revealed the environment-dependent plasticity of astrocyte phenotypes,with reactive astrocytes could revert in retrograde to naive astrocytes in proper microenvironment.In consideration of the important roles of mechanical cues in CNS and the unique softening behavior of glial scars,it is of great interesting to study the effects of dynamic changes of matrix stiffness on astrocyte phenotypic switch.Materials&methods Primary astrocyes were isolated from the cortex of SpragueDawley(SD)rats at PI.After cultured for 2 weeks,astrocytes were encapsulated into a set of three-dimensional(3D)hybrid hydrogel system composed of type I collagen and alginate.Immunofluorescence and Western blot expression analysis were applied for characterizting cell responses to different and dynamically changed matrix stiffness.A molecular dynamics model was developed for simulation.Results&discussion In this work,we established an in-vitro model to study the effects of dynamic changes of matrix stiffness on astrocyte phenotypic switchings in 3D.To simulate native cellular environment,we fabricated a set of hybrid hydrogel system composed of type I collagen and alginate.The stiffness of the hybrid hydrogels was demonstrated to be dynamically changed by adding calcium chloride or sodium citrate to crosslink or decrosslink alginate,respectively.Using 3D culture models,we showed that the decrease of matrix stiffness could promote astrocyte activation,with upregulated GFAP and IL-1β.In addition,3D cultured astrocytes spread greater with decreasing matrix stiffness.Moreover,we surprisingly found that astrocyte phenotype could be switched by dynamically changing matrix stiffness.Specifically,matrix stiffening reverted the activation of astrocytes,whereas matrix softening induced astrocyte activation.We further demonstrated that matrix stiffness-induced astrocyte activation was mediated through cytoskeletal tension and YAP protein.To some extent,YAP inhibition enhanced the responses of astrocytes to matrix stiffness.These may guide researchersto re-examine the role of matrix stiffness in reactive astrogliosis in vivo,and inspire the development of novel therapeutic approach for reducing glial scar following injury,enabling axonal regrowth and improving functional recovery by exploiting the benefits of mechanobiology studies.Conclusions Taken together,our results clarify the effects of matrix stiffness and its dynamic changes on phenotypic swtich of astrocytes in three dimensions and reveal environmental factors that regulate astrocytic phenotype transformation process,which may provide potential therapeutic approach for CNS injury.展开更多
Simulation study on the cylindrical gear meshing with the evolution gear meshing stiffness is being done for better understanding the dynamic characteristics of the kinematics.With consideration of damping,bearing cle...Simulation study on the cylindrical gear meshing with the evolution gear meshing stiffness is being done for better understanding the dynamic characteristics of the kinematics.With consideration of damping,bearing clearance and gear backlash nonlinearity,the dynamic model is set up and computed in MATLAB.The analysis about the relationship between the kinematic responses and the meshing stiffness are carried out.And the results showed that as the gear mesh stiffness is changed from small to large,the performance of the system is changed from the harmonic stable periodic motion to with one times,two times,four times,ending chaos of the stability of the bifurcation.The research results would have theoretical guidance value for the fault diagnosis in engineering.展开更多
Along with development of new design and machining me thod production with more complex surface can be manufactured. Researching on th e new equipment used for surface disposal has become the important matter. Grind i...Along with development of new design and machining me thod production with more complex surface can be manufactured. Researching on th e new equipment used for surface disposal has become the important matter. Grind ing and polishing are a common surface processing method. A new type wire driven parallel robot used for grinding processing is proposed in this paper. Wire driven parallel robot is developed from parallel robot and serial wire driven r obot. Steel wire is used to replace the leg of parallel robot. Compared with par allel robot, this kind of robot has lager workspace, lower weight, higher rigidi ty and higher load/deadweight ratio. And the stiffness of robot is controlled by changing the tension of wire. The robot proposed in this paper has three DOF. T he moving part is driven by four wires, three of them are used to drive and the rest to keep them tension, with a restraining machine. The position sensors are installed in restraining machine. The position of terminating of end-effecter c an be ascertained in the space. The tension sensors are installed in each wire t o form force feedback system. By changing the tension the force on the workpiece can be controlled. Also the stiffness of robot can be adjusted.展开更多
Cardiac fibrosis is a common pathway to heart injury and failure,where continued activation of cardiac fibroblasts(CFs)during myocardium damage causes excessive deposition of the extracellular matrix and thus increase...Cardiac fibrosis is a common pathway to heart injury and failure,where continued activation of cardiac fibroblasts(CFs)during myocardium damage causes excessive deposition of the extracellular matrix and thus increases matrix stiffness.Increasing evidence has shown that stiff matrix plays an important positive role in promoting CF differentiation and cardiac fibrosis,with several signaling factors medicating CF mechanotransduction already identified.However,key moleculesthat perceive matrix stiffness to regulate CF differentiation remain to be fully defined.Recently,Hippo pathway transcriptional coactivators,i.e.,Yes-associated protein(YAP)and transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif(TAZ),have been found to work as mechanical signal transductors.Importantly,it has shown that YAP plays important roles in various types of fibrosis.Despite these findings,the role of YAP in CF mechanotransduction and cardiac fibrosis still remains elusive.Moreover,several several types of GPCRs have also been found to enable cells to sense mechanical cues,however,the relationship between these GPCRs and YAP in cell mechanotransduction is still not clear.Our recent work demonstrated that blocking of angiotensin II type 1 receptor(AT1R,the first GPCRs found to be mechanosensors)with losartan significantly inhibited the differentiation of CFs to myofibroblasts induced by stiff substrate.Taken these findings into account,we speculate that YAP may work as an important downstream signaling molecule of AT1R in mediating matrix stiffness-induced CF differentiation.In this work,we first characterized the expression of YAP in normal control(NC)and myocardial infarct(Ml)tissues of rats by using immunohistochemistry,immunofluorescence and Western blot analysis.We then investigated the role of YAP in matrix stiffness-induced CF differentiation in vitro by culturing CFs on mechanically tunable gelatin hydrogels.Finally,we explored the relationship between YAP and AT1R in CF mechanotransduction by selective transfection and inhibition experiments.The expression of YAP andα-SMA in cultured CFs were evaluated with immunofluorescence staining,Western blot and real-time quantitative PCR analysis.Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that both YAP andα-SMA significantly increased in Ml tissue compared with NC tissue.The expression and nuclear localization of YAP increased in CFs cultured on stiff matrix.YAP-deficient CFs cultured on soft and stiff matrix both showed decreased expression ofα-SMA.Meanwhile,YAP-overexpressing CFs cultured on soft and stiff matrix both showed increased expression ofα-SMA.Blocking of AT1R decreased the expression levels ofα-SMA and YAP and thus affected the responses of CFs to matrix stiffness.To sum up,our results identified an important role of YAP in mediating matrix stiffness-induced CF differentiation and also established the YAP pathway as an important signaling branch downstream of AT1R in CF mechanotransduction.This study may help to better understand the mechanism of fibrotic mechanotransduction and inspire the development of new approaches for treating cardiac fibrosis.展开更多
Background&Objective Tumor-associated macrophages(TAM)are induced by many cytokines,such as IL-4,IL-10,IL-13,and are considered to be of the M2 phenotype,which provides an immunosuppressive microenvironment for tu...Background&Objective Tumor-associated macrophages(TAM)are induced by many cytokines,such as IL-4,IL-10,IL-13,and are considered to be of the M2 phenotype,which provides an immunosuppressive microenvironment for tumor growth.However,biomechanistssuggest that cells in the tumor microenvironment are affected not only by chemical signals but also mechanical factors,of which the stiffness of tissues is a major determinant.Compared with normal tissues,including the peri-tumor tissues,tumor tissues are more rigid.Heretofore,the influence,on the differentiation and function of macrophages,of the differences in such physical aspect between展开更多
Smooth muscle cells can work properly over a large length range,drastic reorganization of the cytoskeletal structure has to occur,but the mechanism behind the process of cytoskeleton reorganization of smooth muscle is...Smooth muscle cells can work properly over a large length range,drastic reorganization of the cytoskeletal structure has to occur,but the mechanism behind the process of cytoskeleton reorganization of smooth muscle is still poorly understood,especially with respect to unique problem of maintaining force generation and transmission within the confine of an ever-changing cytoskeleton in smooth muscle.Using a cytoskeletal preparation derived from skinned airway smooth muscle,we aimed at separating the contribution of actomyosin interaction and elucidating the cytoskeletal stiffness in smooth muscle.The results indicate that there is a Ca++de-展开更多
Purpose Ocular hypertension is the primary risk factor for development of glaucoma and the only modifiable endpoint<sup>[1,2]</sup>.Clinical trials involving thousands of patients have shown consistently t...Purpose Ocular hypertension is the primary risk factor for development of glaucoma and the only modifiable endpoint<sup>[1,2]</sup>.Clinical trials involving thousands of patients have shown consistently that lowering intraocular pressure（IOP）in those with glaucoma,whether or not their IOP is above normal,slows vision loss.IOP elevation is the result of diminished outflow facility in the conventional outflow pathway;and the highest resistance to aqueous humor outflow resides in the juxtacanalicular tissue（JCT）layer of trabecular meshwork（TM）and the inner wall of Schlemm’s canal（SC）.However,mechanisms of outflow facility decrease in glaucomatous eyes remain to be determined.展开更多
To solve the problems of divergence,low accuracy and project application of membrane wrinkling analysis,an analysis method of zero shear modulus and equivalent stiffness was proposed.This method is an improvement to t...To solve the problems of divergence,low accuracy and project application of membrane wrinkling analysis,an analysis method of zero shear modulus and equivalent stiffness was proposed.This method is an improvement to the previous method (Method I) of local coordinate transposition and stiffness equivalence.The new method is derived and the feasibility is theoretically proved.A small-scale membrane structure is analyzed by the two methods,and the results show that the computational efficiency of the new method (Method II) is approximately 23 times that of Method I.When Method II is applied to a large-scale membrane stadium structure,it is found that this new method can quickly make the second principal stress of one way wrinkled elements zero,and make the two principal stresses of two-way wrinkled elements zero as well.It could attain the correct load responses right after the appearance of wrinkled elements,which indicates that Method II can be applied to wrinkling analysis of large-scale membrane structures.展开更多
The adaptive simulation algorithm (ASA) based on stiffness recognition is an effective and applicable simulation method. In this paper, a principle of the said method is briefly introduced and more importance is stres...The adaptive simulation algorithm (ASA) based on stiffness recognition is an effective and applicable simulation method. In this paper, a principle of the said method is briefly introduced and more importance is stressed in studying the value of its application by realizing it in MMS.展开更多
A 6-DOF micro-manipulation robot based on a 3-PPTTRS mechanism is proposed in this paper.Its static stiffness is an important index to evaluate load capacity and positioning accuracy.However,it is insufficient to cons...A 6-DOF micro-manipulation robot based on a 3-PPTTRS mechanism is proposed in this paper.Its static stiffness is an important index to evaluate load capacity and positioning accuracy.However,it is insufficient to consider the static stiffness only when the robot is in its initial pose.The stiffness in different positions and poses in its work space must be analyzed also.Thus a method to analyze the relationship between static stiffness and poses in the whole work space is presented.A static stiffness model is proposed first,and the relationship between structural parameters and static stiffness in different poses is discussed.The static stiffness analysis provides foundation for structural parameter design.展开更多
基金Project(KYLX15_0256)supported by the Funding of Jiangsu Innovation Program for Graduate Education,ChinaProject(SV2015-KF-01)supported by the Open Project of State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures,ChinaProject(XZA15003)supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,China
文摘The displacement feedback with time delay considered is introduced in order to enhance the vibration isolation performance of a high-static-low-dynamic stiffness(HSLDS) vibration isolator. Such feedback is detailedly analyzed from the viewpoint of equivalent damping. Firstly, the primary resonance of the controlled HSLDS vibration isolator subjected to a harmonic force excitation is obtained based on the multiple scales method and further verified by numerical integration. The stability of the primary resonance is subsequently investigated. Then, the equivalent damping is defined to study the effects of feedback gain and time delay on primary resonance. The condition of jump avoidance is obtained with the purpose of eliminating the adverse effects induced by jumps. Finally, the force transmissibility of the controlled HSLDS vibration isolator is defined to evaluate its isolation performance. It is shown that an appropriate choice of feedback parameters can effectively suppress the force transmissibility in resonant region and reduce the resonance frequency. Furthermore, a wider vibration isolation frequency bandwidth can be achieved compared to the passive HSLDS vibration isolator.
基金Project(51175505)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
文摘A nonlinear model of anti-backlash gear with time-varying friction and mesh stiffness was proposed for the further study on dynamic characteristics of anti-backlash gear. In order to improve the model precision, applied force analysis was completed in detail, and single or double tooth meshing states of two gear pairs at any timing were determined according to the meshing characteristic of anti-backlash gear. The influences of friction and variations of damping ratio on dynamic transmission error were analyzed finally by numerical calculation and the results show that anti-backlash gear can increase the composite mesh stiffness comparing with the mesh stiffness of the normal gear pair. At the pitch points where the frictions change their signs, additional impulsive effects are observed. The width of impulsive in the same value of center frequency is wider than that without friction, and the amplitude is lower. When gear pairs mesh in and out, damping can reduce the vibration and impact.
基金Project(51575062)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaProject(51605049)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation for Young Scholar of ChinaProject(BA2015177)supported by the Science and Technology Achievements Transformation Program of Jiangsu Province of China
文摘Cycloid speed reducers are widely used in many industrial areas due to the advantages of compact size, high reduction ratio and high stiffness. However, currently, there are not many analytical models for the mesh stiffness calculation, which is a crucial parameter for the high-fidelity gear dynamic model. This is partially due to the difficulty of backlash determination and the complexity of multi-tooth contact deformation during the meshing process. In this paper, a new method to calculate the mesh stiffness is proposed including the effects of tooth profile modification and eccentricity error. The time-varying mesh parameters and load distribution of cycloid-pin gear pair are determined based on the unloaded tooth contact analysis （TCA） and the nonlinear Hertzian contact theory, allowing accurate calculations of the contact stiffness of single tooth pair and the torsional stiffness of multi-tooth pairs. A detailed parametric study is presented to demonstrate the influences of tooth profile modification, applied torque and eccentricity error on the torsional mesh stiffness, loaded transmission error, Hertzian contact stiffness and load sharing factor. This model can be applied to further study the lost motion and dynamic characteristics of cycloid speed reducer and assist the optimization of its precision, vibration and noise levels.
基金Project(51108355)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaProject(2011CDB269)supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province,China
文摘The objective of this work is to investigate the fatigue behavior of reinforced concrete(RC) beams strengthened with externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer(CFRP) and steel plate. An experimental investigation and theoretical analysis were made on the law of deflection development and stiffness degradation, as well as the influence of fatigue load ranges. Test results indicate that the law of three-stage change under fatigue loading is followed by both midspan deflection and permanent deflection, which also have positive correlation with fatigue load amplitude. Fatigue stiffness of composite strengthened beams degrades gradually with the increasing of number of cycles. Based on the experimental results, a theoretical model by effective moment of inertia method is developed for calculating the sectional stiffness of such composite strengthened beams under fatigue loading, and the calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental results.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 11532009, 11602191,21775117)the General Financial Grant from the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation ( 2016M592773)the High Level Returned Overseas Students Foundation ( [2018]642)
文摘The migration mode transition of cancer cell enhances its invasive capability and the drug resistance,where physical confinement of cell microenvironment has been revealed to induce the mesenchymal-amoeboid transition(MAT).However,most existing studies are performed in PDMS microchannels,of which the stiffness is much higher than that of most mammalian tissues.Therefore,the amoeboid migration transition observed in these studies is actually induced by the synergistic effect of matrix stiffness and confinement.Since the stiffness of cell microenvironment has been reported to influence the cell migration in 2D substrate,the decoupling of stiffness and confinement effects is thus in need for elucidating the underlying mechanism of MAT.However,it is technically challenging to construct microchannels with physiologically relevant stiffness and channel size,where existing microchannel platforms with physiological relevance stiffness are all with>10μm channel width.Such size is too wide to mimic the physical confinement that migrating cancer cells confront in vivo,and also larger than the width of PDMS channel,in which the MAT of cancer cell was observed.Therefore,an in vitro cell migration platform,which could mimic both stiffness and confinement of the native physical microenvironment during cancer metastasis,could profoundly contribute to researches on cancer cell migration and cellular mechanotransduction.In this paper,we overcome the limitations of engineering soft materials in microscale by combining the collagen-alginate hydrogel with photolithography.This enables us to improve the accuracy of molded microchannel,and thus successfully construct a 3D microchannel platform,which matches the stiffness and width ranges of native environmental confinement that migrating cancer cells confront in vivo.The stiffness(0.3~20 kPa),confinement(channel width:3.5~14μm)and the adhesion ligand density of the microchannel can be tuned independently.Interestingly,using this platform,we observed that the migration speed of cancer cell is influenced by the synergistic effect of channel stiffness and width,and the increasing stiffness reverses the effect of channel width on the migration speed of cancer cells.In addition,MAT has a strong correlation with the channel stiffness.These findings make us reconsider the widely accepted hypothesis:physical confinement can induce MAT.Actually,this transition can only occur in stiff confined microenvironment not in soft one.For soft microchannels,the compliance of the channel walls could cause little cell/nucleus deformation,and the MAT could not be induced.To further investigate the mechanism of MAT,we developed a computational model to simulate the effect of nucleus deformation on MAT.With the model,we found that deforming the cell nuclear by decreasing the nucleus stiffness will reduce the cellmigration speed.This implies that nuclear stiffness plays an important role in the regulation of cancer migration speed and thus MAT in microchannels.The effect of channel stiffness on MAT and migration speed as observed in our experiment could partially explain previous findings reported in the literature,where the increasing matrix stiffness of tumor microenvironment promotes cancer metastasis.Our observations thus highlight the critical role of cell nuclear deformation not only in MAT,but also in regulating cellular mechanotransduction and cell-ECM interactions.This developed platform is capable of mimicking the native physical microenvironment during metastasis,providing a powerful tool for high-throughput screening applications and investigating the interaction between cancer migration and biophysical microenvironment.
基金Projects(50775200,50905156)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
文摘The system considered in this work consists of a cylinder which is controlled by a pair of three-way servo valves rather than a four-way one.Therefore,the cylinder output stiffness is independently controllable of the output force.A discontinuous projection based adaptive robust controller (ARC) was constructed to achieve high-accuracy output force trajectory tracking for the system.In ARC,on-line parameter adaptation method was adopted to reduce the extent of parametric uncertainties due to the variation of friction parameters,and sliding mode control method was utilized to attenuate the effects of parameter estimation errors,unmodelled dynamics and disturbance.Furthermore,output stiffness maximization/minimization was introduced to fulfill the requirement of many robotic applications.Extensive experimental results were presented to illustrate the effectiveness and the achievable performance of the proposed scheme.For tracking a 0.5 Hz sinusoidal trajectory,maximum tracking error is 4.1 N and average tracking error is 2.2 N.Meanwhile,the output stiffness can be made and maintained near its maximum/minimum.
基金Projects(51178263,51378307)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
文摘By spraying concrete on inner surface,air-supported fabric structures can be used as formwork to construct reinforced concrete shell structures.The fabric formwork has the finished form of concrete structure.Large deviation from the desired shape of concrete shells still remains as central problem due to dead weight of concrete and less stiffness of fabric formwork.Polyurethane can be used not only as a bonding layer between fabrics and concrete but also as an additional stiffening layer.However,there is little research on mechanical behaviors of the polyurethane shell structure.This paper presents experimental studies on an inflated fabric model with and without polyurethane,including relief pressure tests,vertical loading tests and horizontal loading tests.Experimental results show that the additional polyurethane layer can significantly enhance the stiffness of the fabric formwork.Compared with the experiment,a numerical model using shell layered finite elements has a good prediction.The reinforcement by polyurethane to improve stiffness of air-supported fabric formwork is expected to be considered in the design and construction of the concrete shell,especially dealing with the advance of shape-control.
基金Project(51221462)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaProject(20120095110001)supported by the PhD Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of ChinaProject(CXZZ13_0927)supported by Research and Innovation Project for College Graduates of Jiangsu Province,China
文摘As the stiffness of the elastic support varies with the physical-chemical erosion and mechanical friction, model catastrophe of a single degree-of-freedom(DOF) isolation system may occur. A 3-DOF four-point-elastic-support rigid plate(FERP) structure is presented to describe the catastrophic isolation system. Based on the newly-established structure, theoretical derivation for stiffness matrix calculation by free response(SMCby FR) and the method of stiffness identification by stiffness matrix disassembly(SIby SMD)are proposed. By integrating the SMCby FR and the SIby SMD and defining the stiffness assurance criterion(SAC), the procedures for stiffness identification of a FERP structure(SIFERP) are summarized. Then, a numerical example is adopted for the SIFERP validation, in which the simulated tested free response data are generated by the numerical methods, and operation for filtering noise is conducted to imitate the practical application. Results in the numerical example demonstrate the feasibility and accuracy of the developed SIFERP for stiffness identification.
基金Project(200831800044) supported by the Ministry of Communication of ChinaProject(50878054) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaProject(06Y31) supported by the Department of Communication of Zhejiang Province,China
文摘A new testing procedure to estimate the low-temperature stiffness of the reclaimed asphalt pavement （RAP） binder was developed. In the testing procedure, the SuperpaveTM Bending Beam Rheometer （BBR） with special modifications and binder blending charts by Asphalt Institute were utilized. Modifications involved the development of a new kind of sample mold and different testing parameters were made to BBR testing procedure to capture the theological properties of bitumen mortars produced by mixing fresh binder with fine RAP materials or RAP aggregate. The stiffness relationship between binder and bitumen mortar was established based on the BBR test results. The blended binder stiffness in bitumen RAP mortar was estimated from the RAP mortar stiffness based on the binder-mortar relationship. And finally, the RAP binder stiffness was estimated from the blended binder and fresh binder stiffness based on the blending charts by Asphalt Institute. The results indicate that the new procedure can capture the rheological properties of bitumen mortar and can be used to estimate the low temperature stiffness of RAP binder without binder extraction and/or any chemical treatments.
基金Project(JCYJ20190808175801656)supported by the Science and Technology Innovation Commission of Shenzhen,ChinaProject(2021M691427)supported by Postdoctoral Science Foundation of ChinaProject(9680086)supported by the City University of Hong Kong,China。
文摘Variable stiffness composite laminates(VSCLs)are promising in aerospace engineering due to their designable material properties through changing fiber angles and stacking sequences.Aiming to control the thermal postbuckling and nonlinear panel flutter motions of VSCLs,a full-order numerical model is developed based on the linear quadratic regulator(LQR)algorithm in control theory,the classical laminate plate theory(CLPT)considering von Kármán geometrical nonlinearity,and the first-order Piston theory.The critical buckling temperature and the critical aerodynamic pressure of VSCLs are parametrically investigated.The location and shape of piezoelectric actuators for optimal control of the dynamic responses of VSCLs are determined through comparing the norms of feedback control gain(NFCG).Numerical simulations show that the temperature field has a great effect on aeroelastic tailoring of VSCLs;the curvilinear fiber path of VSCLs can significantly affect the optimal location and shape of piezoelectric actuator for flutter suppression;the unstable panel flutter and the thermal postbuckling deflection can be suppressed effectively through optimal design of piezoelectric patches.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 11872298, 11602191,1161101223,11532009)the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation ( 2018M631141)the Shaanxi Postdoctoral Science Foundation,and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities ( Z201811336)
文摘Background Damage to the central nervous system(CNS)usually leads to the activation of astrocytes,followed by glial scar formation.For years,glial scar has been thought as a major obstacle for successful axon regeneration.However,increasing evidence suggests a beneficial role for this scar tissue as part of the endogenous local immune regulation and repair process.Surprisingly,in contrast to scars in other tissues,glial scars(mainly consist of reactive astrocytes)in both rat cortex and spinal cord were recently found to be significantly softer than healthy CNS tissues.Naive astrocytes have been found to change their phenotype to reactive astrocytes and gradually into scar-forming astrocytes,upregulating the astrocyte marker glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP),vimentin,and inflammatory proteins in almost all known brain disorders.Such phenotype transformation process has been widely thought unidirectional or irreversible.However,recent research revealed the environment-dependent plasticity of astrocyte phenotypes,with reactive astrocytes could revert in retrograde to naive astrocytes in proper microenvironment.In consideration of the important roles of mechanical cues in CNS and the unique softening behavior of glial scars,it is of great interesting to study the effects of dynamic changes of matrix stiffness on astrocyte phenotypic switch.Materials&methods Primary astrocyes were isolated from the cortex of SpragueDawley(SD)rats at PI.After cultured for 2 weeks,astrocytes were encapsulated into a set of three-dimensional(3D)hybrid hydrogel system composed of type I collagen and alginate.Immunofluorescence and Western blot expression analysis were applied for characterizting cell responses to different and dynamically changed matrix stiffness.A molecular dynamics model was developed for simulation.Results&discussion In this work,we established an in-vitro model to study the effects of dynamic changes of matrix stiffness on astrocyte phenotypic switchings in 3D.To simulate native cellular environment,we fabricated a set of hybrid hydrogel system composed of type I collagen and alginate.The stiffness of the hybrid hydrogels was demonstrated to be dynamically changed by adding calcium chloride or sodium citrate to crosslink or decrosslink alginate,respectively.Using 3D culture models,we showed that the decrease of matrix stiffness could promote astrocyte activation,with upregulated GFAP and IL-1β.In addition,3D cultured astrocytes spread greater with decreasing matrix stiffness.Moreover,we surprisingly found that astrocyte phenotype could be switched by dynamically changing matrix stiffness.Specifically,matrix stiffening reverted the activation of astrocytes,whereas matrix softening induced astrocyte activation.We further demonstrated that matrix stiffness-induced astrocyte activation was mediated through cytoskeletal tension and YAP protein.To some extent,YAP inhibition enhanced the responses of astrocytes to matrix stiffness.These may guide researchersto re-examine the role of matrix stiffness in reactive astrogliosis in vivo,and inspire the development of novel therapeutic approach for reducing glial scar following injury,enabling axonal regrowth and improving functional recovery by exploiting the benefits of mechanobiology studies.Conclusions Taken together,our results clarify the effects of matrix stiffness and its dynamic changes on phenotypic swtich of astrocytes in three dimensions and reveal environmental factors that regulate astrocytic phenotype transformation process,which may provide potential therapeutic approach for CNS injury.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation-supported Program(51275052&51575055)
文摘Simulation study on the cylindrical gear meshing with the evolution gear meshing stiffness is being done for better understanding the dynamic characteristics of the kinematics.With consideration of damping,bearing clearance and gear backlash nonlinearity,the dynamic model is set up and computed in MATLAB.The analysis about the relationship between the kinematic responses and the meshing stiffness are carried out.And the results showed that as the gear mesh stiffness is changed from small to large,the performance of the system is changed from the harmonic stable periodic motion to with one times,two times,four times,ending chaos of the stability of the bifurcation.The research results would have theoretical guidance value for the fault diagnosis in engineering.
文摘Along with development of new design and machining me thod production with more complex surface can be manufactured. Researching on th e new equipment used for surface disposal has become the important matter. Grind ing and polishing are a common surface processing method. A new type wire driven parallel robot used for grinding processing is proposed in this paper. Wire driven parallel robot is developed from parallel robot and serial wire driven r obot. Steel wire is used to replace the leg of parallel robot. Compared with par allel robot, this kind of robot has lager workspace, lower weight, higher rigidi ty and higher load/deadweight ratio. And the stiffness of robot is controlled by changing the tension of wire. The robot proposed in this paper has three DOF. T he moving part is driven by four wires, three of them are used to drive and the rest to keep them tension, with a restraining machine. The position sensors are installed in restraining machine. The position of terminating of end-effecter c an be ascertained in the space. The tension sensors are installed in each wire t o form force feedback system. By changing the tension the force on the workpiece can be controlled. Also the stiffness of robot can be adjusted.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 11872298, 11602191,11532009)the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation ( 2018M631141)+1 种基金the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China ( 2017JM1026)the Shaanxi Postdoctoral Science Foundation,and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities ( Z201811336)
文摘Cardiac fibrosis is a common pathway to heart injury and failure,where continued activation of cardiac fibroblasts(CFs)during myocardium damage causes excessive deposition of the extracellular matrix and thus increases matrix stiffness.Increasing evidence has shown that stiff matrix plays an important positive role in promoting CF differentiation and cardiac fibrosis,with several signaling factors medicating CF mechanotransduction already identified.However,key moleculesthat perceive matrix stiffness to regulate CF differentiation remain to be fully defined.Recently,Hippo pathway transcriptional coactivators,i.e.,Yes-associated protein(YAP)and transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif(TAZ),have been found to work as mechanical signal transductors.Importantly,it has shown that YAP plays important roles in various types of fibrosis.Despite these findings,the role of YAP in CF mechanotransduction and cardiac fibrosis still remains elusive.Moreover,several several types of GPCRs have also been found to enable cells to sense mechanical cues,however,the relationship between these GPCRs and YAP in cell mechanotransduction is still not clear.Our recent work demonstrated that blocking of angiotensin II type 1 receptor(AT1R,the first GPCRs found to be mechanosensors)with losartan significantly inhibited the differentiation of CFs to myofibroblasts induced by stiff substrate.Taken these findings into account,we speculate that YAP may work as an important downstream signaling molecule of AT1R in mediating matrix stiffness-induced CF differentiation.In this work,we first characterized the expression of YAP in normal control(NC)and myocardial infarct(Ml)tissues of rats by using immunohistochemistry,immunofluorescence and Western blot analysis.We then investigated the role of YAP in matrix stiffness-induced CF differentiation in vitro by culturing CFs on mechanically tunable gelatin hydrogels.Finally,we explored the relationship between YAP and AT1R in CF mechanotransduction by selective transfection and inhibition experiments.The expression of YAP andα-SMA in cultured CFs were evaluated with immunofluorescence staining,Western blot and real-time quantitative PCR analysis.Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that both YAP andα-SMA significantly increased in Ml tissue compared with NC tissue.The expression and nuclear localization of YAP increased in CFs cultured on stiff matrix.YAP-deficient CFs cultured on soft and stiff matrix both showed decreased expression ofα-SMA.Meanwhile,YAP-overexpressing CFs cultured on soft and stiff matrix both showed increased expression ofα-SMA.Blocking of AT1R decreased the expression levels ofα-SMA and YAP and thus affected the responses of CFs to matrix stiffness.To sum up,our results identified an important role of YAP in mediating matrix stiffness-induced CF differentiation and also established the YAP pathway as an important signaling branch downstream of AT1R in CF mechanotransduction.This study may help to better understand the mechanism of fibrotic mechanotransduction and inspire the development of new approaches for treating cardiac fibrosis.
文摘Background&Objective Tumor-associated macrophages(TAM)are induced by many cytokines,such as IL-4,IL-10,IL-13,and are considered to be of the M2 phenotype,which provides an immunosuppressive microenvironment for tumor growth.However,biomechanistssuggest that cells in the tumor microenvironment are affected not only by chemical signals but also mechanical factors,of which the stiffness of tissues is a major determinant.Compared with normal tissues,including the peri-tumor tissues,tumor tissues are more rigid.Heretofore,the influence,on the differentiation and function of macrophages,of the differences in such physical aspect between
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(11172340)Training Program for Hundreds of Distinguished Leading Scientists of ChongqingSpecialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China(20120191120032)
文摘Smooth muscle cells can work properly over a large length range,drastic reorganization of the cytoskeletal structure has to occur,but the mechanism behind the process of cytoskeleton reorganization of smooth muscle is still poorly understood,especially with respect to unique problem of maintaining force generation and transmission within the confine of an ever-changing cytoskeleton in smooth muscle.Using a cytoskeletal preparation derived from skinned airway smooth muscle,we aimed at separating the contribution of actomyosin interaction and elucidating the cytoskeletal stiffness in smooth muscle.The results indicate that there is a Ca++de-
文摘Purpose Ocular hypertension is the primary risk factor for development of glaucoma and the only modifiable endpoint<sup>[1,2]</sup>.Clinical trials involving thousands of patients have shown consistently that lowering intraocular pressure（IOP）in those with glaucoma,whether or not their IOP is above normal,slows vision loss.IOP elevation is the result of diminished outflow facility in the conventional outflow pathway;and the highest resistance to aqueous humor outflow resides in the juxtacanalicular tissue（JCT）layer of trabecular meshwork（TM）and the inner wall of Schlemm’s canal（SC）.However,mechanisms of outflow facility decrease in glaucomatous eyes remain to be determined.
基金Project(020940) supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province,China
文摘To solve the problems of divergence,low accuracy and project application of membrane wrinkling analysis,an analysis method of zero shear modulus and equivalent stiffness was proposed.This method is an improvement to the previous method (Method I) of local coordinate transposition and stiffness equivalence.The new method is derived and the feasibility is theoretically proved.A small-scale membrane structure is analyzed by the two methods,and the results show that the computational efficiency of the new method (Method II) is approximately 23 times that of Method I.When Method II is applied to a large-scale membrane stadium structure,it is found that this new method can quickly make the second principal stress of one way wrinkled elements zero,and make the two principal stresses of two-way wrinkled elements zero as well.It could attain the correct load responses right after the appearance of wrinkled elements,which indicates that Method II can be applied to wrinkling analysis of large-scale membrane structures.
文摘The adaptive simulation algorithm (ASA) based on stiffness recognition is an effective and applicable simulation method. In this paper, a principle of the said method is briefly introduced and more importance is stressed in studying the value of its application by realizing it in MMS.
文摘A 6-DOF micro-manipulation robot based on a 3-PPTTRS mechanism is proposed in this paper.Its static stiffness is an important index to evaluate load capacity and positioning accuracy.However,it is insufficient to consider the static stiffness only when the robot is in its initial pose.The stiffness in different positions and poses in its work space must be analyzed also.Thus a method to analyze the relationship between static stiffness and poses in the whole work space is presented.A static stiffness model is proposed first,and the relationship between structural parameters and static stiffness in different poses is discussed.The static stiffness analysis provides foundation for structural parameter design.
