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Cyclic thermal treatment parameters of bagasse particle reinforced epoxy bio-composites for sustainable applications
Get PDFThe demand for sustainable, high-performance materials has led to increased interest in bio-based composites. However, optimizing the mechanical properties of such materials for engineering applications remains a challenge. This study addresses this gap by developing and characterizing an epoxy-based biocomposite reinforced with sugarcane bagasse particles, focusing on the influence of cyclic thermal treatment on its properties. The bagasse particles were chemically treated with 1 M NaOH to remove impurities, improve interfacial bonding with the epoxy matrix, and enhance the overall composite performance. The treated particles j were pulverized to 470 µm and incorporated into the epoxy matrix (0–20 wt%) using the hand layup method. The composites were divided into untreated and thermally treated groups, with the latter subjected to cyclic thermal treatment (100 °C for 3 h over 7 days). Mechanical, wear, and water absorption properties were evaluated, while fractured surface morphologies were analyzed using SEM. Results revealed that cyclic thermal treatment significantly enhanced the composites’ performance, with the 15 wt% heat-treated composite showing optimal properties: density of 1.102 g/cm3, flexural strength of 29.13 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 103.50 MPa, impact strength of 3.49 kJ/m2, hardness of 64.70 HS, and wear indices of 0.034 mg. These findings demonstrate that alkali treatment and cyclic thermal treatment synergistically enhance the performance of bio-composites, making them suitable for diverse applications, including automotive, aerospace, and other engineering fields.Discover Polymer
Analysis of key challenges to implementation of FEFO in perishable food supply chain
Get PDFImplementing FEFO practices has become essential for organizations globally to minimize spoilage, enhance inventory turnover, and ensure compliance with health and safety standards. To aid stakeholders in effectively adopting FEFO, it is crucial to identify and address the challenges involved in its implementation. Through an extensive literature review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology and insights from industry experts, this study identifies thirteen core challenges that hinder FEFO adoption. PRISMA methodology was used to systematically organize the existing literature for the purpose of this study. Using tools like Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Total Interpretive Structural Modelling (TISM), the challenges were examined and ranked according to their interdependencies, providing insights into the cause-effect relationships among them. After applying DEMATEL, an alpha threshold value of 0.368 revealed that challenges in effective storage management are the primary barrier in implementing FEFO practices. With level partitioning, this challenge emerged as the most significant, forming the foundation for a roadmap designed to assist stakeholders. The findings from this study offer managers actionable insights for implementing effective FEFO techniques within their organizations. The study's novelty lies in its combination of DEMATEL and TISM methodologies, along with a roadmap that highlights strategic and policy-focused recommendations to support efficient FEFO adoption and the systematic study of challenges preventing effective FEFO adoption. This paper aids implementation of FEFO for better inventory control and management, reduced wastage and greater efficiency. The paper also effectively outlines and analyses the order of importance of challenges in FEFO implementation and their interdependence.Journal of Agriculture and Food Researc
Thermal modelling and temperature estimation of a cylindrical lithium iron phosphate cell subjected to an automotive duty cycle
Get PDFThis article belongs to the Topic Thermal-Related Design, Application, and Optimization of Fuel Cells and BatteriesLi ion batteries are emerging as the mainstream source for propulsion in the automotive industry. Subjecting a battery to extreme conditions of charging and discharging can negatively impact its performance and reduce its cycle life. Assessing a battery’s electrical and thermal behaviour is critical in the later stages of developing battery management systems (BMSs). The present study aims at the thermal modelling of a 3.3 Ah cylindrical 26650 lithium iron phosphate cell using ANSYS 2024 R1 software. The modelling phase involves iterating two geometries of the cell design to evaluate the cell’s surface temperature. The multi-scale multi-domain solution method, coupled with the equivalent circuit model (ECM) solver, is used to determine the temperature characteristics of the cell. Area-weighted average values of the temperature are obtained using a homogeneous and isotropic assembly. A differential equation is implemented to estimate the temperature due to the electrochemical reactions and potential differences. During the discharge tests, the cell is subjected to a load current emulating the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP). The results from the finite element model indicate strikingly similar trends in temperature variations to the ones obtained from the experimental tests.This work was co-funded by the UKRI Faraday Battery Challenge project (10048333) called Next Generation LFP Cathode Material (NEXLFP) and the UKRI-APC project (10078104) called High-performance LFP Cathode Active Material (HiCAM). In addition, Abbas Fotouhi acknowledges funding from the Faraday Institution (Industrial Fellowships FIIF-003 and FIIF-014).Batterie
Architectural design of structural health monitoring (SHM) based digital twin for the next-generation landing gear
Get PDF35th CIRP Design 2025Weight reduction on landing gear (LG) supported with a robust structural health monitoring (SHM) system is considered one of the promising approaches to achieving sustainable aircraft. In this research, the main requirements for establishing an SHM-based digital twin for the next-generation LG are formulated through the findings from a systematic literature review, as the inputs to design a scalable digital twin (DT) architecture comprising high-fidelity finite element (FE) models, sensor data, connectivity, AI, physics-informed-AI simulation models, etc. Given landing gear complexity, the model-based systems engineering (MBSE) paradigm was adopted using Capella and MATLAB to create, verify and validate the architecture.Procedia CIR
Effect of salt deposition patterns on stress corrosion cracking
Get PDFWhile substantial research has been devoted to understanding environmental degradation mechanisms in Ni-base superalloys, the influence of solid contamination morphology on cracking remains comparatively underexplored. This study combines computational modeling and experimental approaches to investigate cracking behavior in CMSX-4 single-crystal superalloys exposed to salt deposition patterns in sulfur-rich environments at moderate temperatures. Utilizing phase-field computational models, we develop a digital twin of the experimental setup to examine crack propagation under varying deposition configurations. The findings reveal that salt deposition patterns can inhibit crack shielding, leading to increased crack lengths and shorter fatigue lives. A novel experimental salt configuration resulted in crack lengths extending from 300 μm to over 2 mm under static loading conditions and decreased corrosion-fatigue life by as much as 83%. The results demonstrate that modeling is a valuable tool to mitigate experimental uncertainty.The authors are grateful for the support from EPSRC Doctoral Training Partnership UK.npj Materials Degradatio
Hybrid cooling solutions for sustainable refrigeration: a path to net-zero in the food industry
Get PDFRefrigeration is essential for the food industry and global food security, yet it is associated with significant energy consumption, contributing for 1% of global carbon emissions and incurring substantial operating costs. As decarbonization and net-zero targets have become imperative in addressing climate change, the shift towards sustainable energy solutions in refrigeration has become crucial. While alternative cooling technologies and renewable energy integration have shown promises individually, their combined potential is largely untapped. This paper proposes the integration of evaporative cooling and solar cooling as a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to the conventional vapor compression cycle. By harnessing the strength of both technologies, we propose an affordable and scalable refrigeration solution for the food industry. A comprehensive techno-economic-environmental analysis is employed to evaluate the economic effectiveness and environmental competitiveness of this hybrid approach. Moreover, the combined refrigeration system performance is compared with the conventional vapor compression cycles, both fossil fuel-based and renewable energy-based, to highlight the potential for carbon emission reductions, as well as energy and cost savings. This research aims to facilitate the adoption of renewable energy into existing refrigeration facilities, promoting sustainable practices within the food industry, especially in developing nations.This research was supported by the Centre of Digital Engineering and Manufacturing (CDEM) at Cranfield University.32nd CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering (LCE2025)Procedia CIR
Guest editorial – are libraries privileged spaces?
Get PDFIntroduction:
A recently published book entitled ‘Privileged Spaces’ (Everitt & Everitt, Citation2024), explores how evolving university estates strategies impact library spaces. These so-called privileged library spaces provide ‘a haven to think, explore the wonders of rich collections, seek solace or simply meet friends’, but we wanted to take the opportunity in this editorial to explore where there are other definitions or tests of privilege which could equally be applied to the academic library.New Review of Academic Librarianshi
Results and data used to validate the FIDF-IBM implementation against previous experimental/numerical data
No full textResults and data acquired in the paper "Fast Implicit Direct-Forcing Immersed Boundary Method (FIDF-IBM)". Grant number EP/T518104/1, Project Reference 2676291.A fast implicit direct-forcing immersed boundary method (FIDF-IBM) is introduced for the simulation of incompressible flows over arbitrarily moving solid structures. This method leverages the operator splitting approach of the pressure implicit with splitting of operators (PISO) algorithm to decouple the pressure, velocity, and boundary force in the solution process. This maintains the no-slip/no-penetration (ns/np) boundary constraint and enforces the divergence-free condition in a segregated manner in the solid and fluid domains, respectively. The proposed scheme produces a modified pressure Poisson equation (PPE) that includes the boundary force already satisfying the ns/np boundary constraint, allowing the usage of fast iterative PPE solvers. The term ``fast direct-forcing'' is achieved by coupling Lagrangian weight methods that enhance the reciprocity of the IBM-related linear operators with the IBM implicit formulation. Additionally, an appropriate boundary force inheritance from previous time-steps further boosts the performance of the implicit DF-IBM algorithm. The method's efficiency and capability are verified through different stationary and moving immersed boundary benchmark tests.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC
Developing a multifunctional indicator framework for soil health
Get PDFWe developed a proof-of-concept indicator framework to monitor soil health based on the delivery of ecosystem services. Instead of distilling soil health to one metric, the framework enables simultaneous comparison of the delivery and trade-offs between different ecosystem services that are delivered by soils, accounting for inherent capability determined by soil type and land use. The framework has potential to explore a whole systems approach, ascertaining soil system response in real time that can detect emergent properties of the system. Initial development of the framework ranked salient soil properties known to be linked and pertinent to the delivery of ecosystem services. These key soil properties, together with other environmental variables were used to create simple conceptual models representing a causal network for soils’ contributions to the ecosystem services of climate regulation, food production, water regulation and below-ground biodiversity. The conceptual models were developed into Bayesian Belief Networks populated with relevant national data and expert judgement. The resulting outputs gave an indication of how well (i.e. healthy) a soil can deliver each ecosystem service at a land parcel scale presented in a dashboard app. The output at a specific location can be contextualised or benchmarked against to the range of values for areas with similar soil and land use types. The idea was to build the model with readily available data and knowledge but with flexibility for iterative development to refine the framework and models and improve outputs over time. This enables indicator updates using inputs of local knowledge of land management, or when additional soil data becomes available, or when soil policy drivers change, or our understanding of the conceptual and statistical models are improved. The indicator framework can be applied and adapted for use in multiple contexts from reporting national policy targets on soil health to determining soil health for a farmer at the field level.This work was funded by Defra and was undertaken by JNCC and Cranfield University through grant number C20-0171-1550.Ecological Indicator
Distributed Spaceborne SAR: a review of systems, applications, and the road ahead
Get PDFAs a crucial sensor for wide-area Earth observation, spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) plays a pivotal role in large-scale terrain mapping, ocean observation, disaster monitoring, and so forth. Driven by the increasing demands for diverse applications, enhanced performance, and the continuous advancement of satellite and radar technologies, the distributed configuration has emerged as a key developmental trend for spaceborne SAR. This review comprehensively summarizes the systems and typical applications of distributed spaceborne SAR. The system configurations encompass homogenous distributed SAR, formed by multiple identical or similar platforms, and heterogeneous distributed SAR, characterized by significant differences between the transmitting and receiving platforms. Typical applications of distributed SAR include intelligent target recognition, terrain mapping, deformation retrieval, atmosphere measurement, and ocean observation, among others. Finally, the review offers a prospective outlook on the future development of distributed spaceborne SAR.This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 61960206009, Grant 62101039, Grant 62201051, and Grant 62471042; in part by the Shandong Excellent Young Scientists Fund Program (Overseas).IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazin