A new classification of deployable structures

The post-September 11 events have caused many people to reassess interests, goals, and activities. In the particular sphere of protecting against bioterrorism threats and mitigating their effects, there is a particular role for environmental engineering researchers and practitioners. A useful definition of environmental engineering is ‘‘the application of engineering principles to improve and maintain the environment for the protection of human health, for the protection of nature’s beneficial ecosystems, and for environment-related enhancement of the quality of human life’’ ~Bylaws of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers!. The autumn 2001 anthrax events have caused the threat of bioterrorism to gain increasing recognition. However, this has not been the first realized or threatened malicious use of biological agents. At least 200 such situations have occurred worldwide since 1900. The understanding of and response to a threat posed by a malicious biological release definitely involves the use of ‘‘engineering principles to improve and maintain the environment for the protection of human health.’’ Particularly, this requires skills that are in the toolbox of environmental engineers, including risk assessment ~dose-response modeling, exposure assessment!, cleanup technologies, and design of systems to reduce vulnerability. The question of ‘‘what is a safe level’’ poses questions in the context of bioterrorist events that are quite analogous to the question ‘‘how clean is clean’’ in the context of site remediation. It is entirely possible to develop dose-response relationships for pathogens that could potentially be used. From this, with the usual exposure calculations we perform ~how much air is breathed, water or food consumed, etc.!, one can arrive at an answer ~with input from decision makers as to acceptable risk!. The question of how to remediate a site where exposure occurs may involve technologies that are quite familiar ~albeit in other contexts! to environmental engineers. For example, in the remediation of the Hart Senate Office Building, the use of chlorine dioxide, which is used in drinking-water disinfection, played a significant role. We have learned particularly over the past 25 years how to design water and wastewater disinfection systems to achieve public health protection, and more recently how to apply UV to treat infectious agents in air. The development of rational standards for remediation of spaces contaminated with infectious agents is amenable to similar approaches, and environmental engineers should be central to this activity. There are interesting and complex issues with respect to the design of facilities resistant to contamination ~or spread of contamination! from malicious use of microorganisms and to the remediation of spaces in which such use has occurred. When the problem focus is on the ~indoor! air or contact surfaces with air ~e.g., HVAC ducts!, the spread of contamination and the rate at which remediation can occur ~due to penetration of any chemical agents that may be used in the gas phase! can be limited by transport through this complex environment. Lessons that have been learned in the field of indoor air pollution and industrial hygiene have direct relevance. Many of the facilities that could be targets for malicious use of microorganisms are directly within the purview of frequent environmental engineering activity. These include drinking-water systems, wastewater collection, and treatment systems. These must be looked at in detail on a site-specific basis to assess whether additional barriers ~in the form of treatment, monitoring, site modifications or security! need to be put in place to reduce vulnerability. Environmental engineers will need to work in close collaboration with colleagues in mechanical, architectural, civil, and other engineering disciplines in these tasks. Environmental engineers design systems and processes to protect against and cleanup after the release of contaminants into air, water, and land environments. These activities are equally necessary and appropriate when the contaminants are microbial and are released as a consequence of deliberate malicious activity. Vulnerability assessments of these systems to potential threats can be conducted by environmental engineers applying tools perfected in such disciplines as nuclear or mechanical engineering ~failure analysis, event-tree analysis, probabilistic safety, and reliability analysis!. Hence, there is no question that there is a link between environmental engineering and bioterrorism. As there are new challenges to the public health and the environment, our profession must rise to the occasion and show our strength in new applications. But one of the strengths, and joys, of the profession has been the historic incorporation of new skills to meet newly recognized challenges.

Authors

It is with great pleasure to introduce the proceedings of the 2022 3rd International Conference on Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Material Engineering (MECEME 2022). The conference is an international seminar organized by China University of Geosciences, Manipal University and University of Minho. The conference was held during August 13-14, 2022 in Shenyang, China.
 MECEME series provides a forum for accessing to the most up-to-date and authoritative knowledge from both industrial and academic worlds, sharing best practice in the fields of mechanical engineering, civil engineering, material engineering, industrial engineering and green manufacturing. The meeting provides an opportunity to highlight recent developments and to identify emerging and future areas of growth in these exciting fields.
 MECEME 2022 has the main purpose to bring researchers and scholars to share their knowledge and experiences. The conference serves as an excellent opportunity to meet each other and to exchange ideas with theme of "Opportunities and Challenges for Research and Technology Enhancement in Post Covid-19 era".
 Scientific Committee of MECEME 2022
 Shenyang, China

Statistical analysis finds a wide range of applications in scientific research, management, finance, and engineering. In this article, we aim at shedding some light on the significance of two tools of statistical analysis, namely ANOVA and regression, in civil (including environmental), mechanical, and architectural engineering disciplines through a short survey of recent research studies that utilized these tools to reach important engineering models or rules of interest to engineers for design or development. The studies represent diverse areas of traffic planning, residential energy, indoor air quality, and high-speed machining. We briefly present some sample selection rules and analysis outcomes in these studies.

Control: A perspective

Thin plated structures of different geometries are widely used in the field of civil, mechanical, aerospace and naval engineering. The structures can be subjected to any time varying loading like blast or impact loads. This paper thus presents nonlinear transient vibration analysis of arbitrary thin plates using a superparametric element. The geometry of the plate is represented by cubic serendipity shape function and the displacement field is defined by an ACM plate bending element along with in-plane displacements. The element is capable of accommodating different arbitrary shapes but devoid of shearlocking problems or spurious mechanisms as seen in isoparametric elements. Different numerical examples are considered for the response analysis to prove the versatility of the formulations.

In order to ensure high reliability of complex engineered systems against deterioration or natural and man-made hazards, it is essential to have an efficient and accurate method for estimating the probability of system failure regardless of different system configurations (series, parallel, and mixed systems). Since system reliability prediction is of great importance in civil, aerospace, mechanical, and electrical engineering fields, its technical development will have an immediate and major impact on engineered system designs. To this end, this chapter presents a comprehensive review of advanced numerical methods for system reliability analysis under uncertainty. Offering excellent in-depth knowledge for readers, the chapter provides insights on the application of system reliability analysis methods to engineered systems and gives guidance on how we can predict system reliability for series, parallel, and mixed systems. Written for the professionals and researchers, the chapter is designed to awaken readers to the need and usefulness of advanced numerical methods for system reliability analysis.

Beam type structures have many applications in mechanical, aerospace and civil engineering fields. Due to low damping and recent trend for light weight design (especially for aerospace vehicles and transportation systems), these structures may easily vibrate in their low natural frequencies which may subsequently lead to failure of structure. Thus vibration control of these structures is a very important task which should be considered in preliminary structural design optimization. One of the engineering concerns is to design non-uniform beam type structures with changing geometry. In this study, the structural vibration analysis and design of a curved beam with attached tuned mass dampers under random excitations are presented. The finite element formulation of the curved beam with attached tuned mass dampers has been derived and combined with Sequential Quadratic Programming optimization algorithm to find optimal design variables in tuned mass dampers to minimize the vibration. Illustrative examples are provided to demonstrate the methodology.

The particle damping technology is a passive vibration control technique. The particle dampers (PDs) as one of the passive damping devices has found wide use in the field of aeronautical engineering, mechanical engineering, and civil engineering because it has several advantages compared with the forms of viscous damping, for example, structure simplicity, low cost, robust properties, and being effective over a wide range of frequencies. In this paper, a novelty simulation method based on multiphase flow theory (MFT) is developed to evaluate the particle damping characteristics using FEM combining DEM with COMSOL Multiphysics. First, the effects of the collisions and friction between the particles are interpreted as an equivalent nonlinear viscous damping based on MFT of gas particle. Next, the contribution of PDs is estimated as equivalent spring-damper system. Then a cantilever rectangular plate treated with PDs is introduced in a finite element model of structure system. Finally frequency response functions (FRFs) of the plate without and with particle dampers are predicted to study characteristics of the particle damping plates under forced vibration. Meanwhile, an experimental verification is performed. Simulation results are in good agreement with experiment date. It is concluded that the simulation method in this paper is valid.

Strain measurement has important applications in mechanical engineering, civil engineering, aerospace, earthquake monitoring, and other fields. Aiming at the problem of low sensitivity of existing fiber Bragg grating (FBG) strain sensors, a high-sensitivity FBG strain sensor of the substrate type with a sensitization structure is proposed. The sensitivity of the sensor is analyzed theoretically, the sensor is simulated by Solidworks and ANSYS software, and the structural parameters are optimized. According to the simulation results, the real sensor is developed, and the strain test system is built to test the performance of the sensor. The results show that the strain sensitivity of the sensor is 3.21p m/µε, which is about 2.7 times that of the bare FBG strain sensor, which is basically in line with the theoretical value. The fitting linear correlation coefficient is 0.9999, and the repeatability error is 3.9%FS. The research results provide a reference for developing the same type of sensors and further improving the sensitivity of fiber strain sensors.

This article explains the need for the research in the field of engineering terminology, the process of teaching it in foreign languages, the comparative application of engineering terms in different languages and studying the development trends. Objective of the article is to describe the methodology of teaching mechanical engineering terminology on the basis of study research in the field of mechanical engineering as a complex of heavy equipment in industry that produces household appliances, as well as consumer electronics and products of defense importance. Methods of the investigation that enabled to: study and analyze mechanical engineering terms; develop methodology of teaching mechanical engineering terms; analyze selection and assessment criteria of case studies; analyze selection and assessment criteria of project-based teaching; organize pedagogical experiments and analyze their results. It is an integral part to investigate the sphere of machine-building and metalworking industries, the production of metal products, metal structures and the repair of machinery and equipment. Furthermore, the issues of teaching engineering terminology in order to form professional foreign language competence in technical students by means of using new pedagogical technologies are of high significance. Such as, typology of terms in the field of mechanical engineering, teaching terminology whereby case studies and projects, examples of case studies and study projects are given. It is also important to pay attention to the etymology and the sources of the formation of terms, their peculiarities and definitions in special contexts as a complex human speech and language activity. Results and discussion. The article discloses the processes of activating terminology for obtaining information, through cognitive activity. Research works in the field of mechanical engineering, the practical basis of teaching terms and its effectiveness are also analyzed. The terms, vocabulary related to the field of mechanical engineering, case studies and analysis of independent work assignments are taken into account in the organization and conducting the trainings defined in the pedagogical experiment. As a result of experimental research, it was proved by mathematical statistical methods that the efficiency was achieved by 15% in case studies and 17% in educational projects. It was found that the mean value of the scores in the experimental group was 17% higher than in the control group. Hence, the research conducted has proven to be effective. Conclusions. The difficulties that arise in the process of comparing terminological activities show not only the specificity of individual languages, but also the specific role of terms in the national language system. Comparing the terminology of the English and Uzbek languages in the field of mechanical engineering not only allows to determine the general and specific features of the terms of mechanical engineering in the two languages, but also provides an in-depth study of both terminological systems.

In engineering practice, structures with identical components or parts are useful from several points of view: less information is needed to describe the system; designs can be conceptualized quicker and easier; components are made faster than during traditional complex assembly; and finally, the time needed to achieve the structure and the cost involved in manufacturing decrease. Additionally, the subsequent maintenance of this system then becomes easier and cheaper. The aim of this Special Issue is to provide an opportunity for international researchers to share and review recent advances in the finite element modeling of computational friction contact mechanics. Numerical modeling in mathematics, mechanical engineering, computer science, computers, etc. presents many challenges. The finite element method applied in solid mechanics was designed by engineers to simulate numerical models in order to reduce the design costs of prototypes, tests and measurements. This method was initially validated only by measurements but gave encouraging results. After the discovery of Sobolev spaces, the abovementioned results were obtained, and today, numerous researchers are working on improving this method. Some of applications of this method in solid mechanics include mechanical engineering, machine and device design, civil engineering, aerospace and automotive engineering, robotics, etc. Frictional contact is a complex phenomenon that has led to research in mechanical engineering, computational contact mechanics, composite material design, rigid body dynamics, robotics, etc. A good simulation requires that the dynamics of contact with friction be included in the formulation of the dynamic system so that an approximation of the complex phenomena can be made. To solve these linear or nonlinear dynamic systems, which often have non-differentiable terms, or discontinuities, software that considers these high-performance numerical methods and computers with high computing power are needed. This Special Issue is dedicated to this kind of mechanical structure and to describing the properties and methods of analysis of these structures. Discrete or continuous structures in static and dynamic cases are also considered. Additionally, theoretical models, mathematical methods and numerical analysis of these systems, such as the finite element method and experimental methods, are used in these studies. Machine building, automotive, aerospace and civil engineering are the main areas in which such applications appear, but they can also be found in most other engineering fields. With this Special Issue, we want to disseminate knowledge among researchers, designers, manufacturers and users in this exciting field.

Spectral characterization of cell surface motion for mechanistic investigations of cellular mechanobiology

We are pleased to welcome you to the 2nd International Conference on Mechanical, Aerospace, and Electronic Systems (MAES 2024). The conference represent a pivotal gathering of experts, researchers, and industry leaders from around the world, showcasing the latest advancements and innovations in the fields of mechanical engineering, aerospace, electronic systems, and design and manufacturing engineering. MAES 2024 focuses on the cutting-edge trends and challenges in modern mechanical engineering, aerospace technologies, and electronic systems. As technological advancements continue to accelerate, these fields play an increasingly significant role not only in industrial and technological innovation but also in driving global sustainability. We believe the research presented at this conference will provide valuable insights and inspire further breakthroughs in these areas. This year’s conference features a wide array of innovative research, ranging from theoretical studies to practical engineering applications. The event is composed of the keynote speeches delivered respectively by Prof. Pasquale Daponte (Fellow, IEEE, University of Sannio, Italy), Prof. Zhenghong Zhu (York University, Canada), Prof. Roberto Montemanni (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy), Prof. Liang Yu (Northwestern Polytechnical University, China), and the invited talk delivered respectively by Assoc. Prof. Zili Wang (Zhejiang University, China), with the on-site technical session and the online technical session. List of Conference Committee is available in this pdf.

"Spooner, Prof. Henry John, (14 June 1856–16 Dec. 1940), formerly Director and Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, The Polytechnic, Regent Street, W., 1882–1922, and President Polytechnic Engineering Society; Consulting Efficiency and Mechanical Engineer since 1884" published on by Oxford University Press.