Higher Institute on Territorial Systems for Innovation
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Rimessa circolare di "Torino Smistamento". HBIM: dal rilievo alla modellazione parametrica
No full textThermal behavior of thermoplastic polymer nanocomposites containing graphene nanoplatelets
No full textPolypropylene (PP), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) nanocomposites filled with 5 wt % of two different kinds of commercially available graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) were prepared. Composites materials were characterized in terms of thermal properties (thermal conductivity and thermal stability) in order to study the effect of different fillers within different thermoplastic matrices. The exfoliation process and the mechanical properties were also investigated. We chose three different thermoplastic polymers (polyolefin, copolymer and elastomer) to cover a wide range of thermoplastic materials and identify a guideline in the use of GNPs for nanocomposite materials. No drastic differences were observed in terms of mechanical properties when the same matrices were filled with different GNPs. Concerning thermal conductivity, it was observed that the GNPs plane dimensions play a crucial role in the increase of conductive properties
Fatigue damage in spline couplings: numerical simulations and experimental validation
No full textSpline couplings are often over dimensioned concerning fatigue life, but they are subjected to wear phenomena. For as concerns fatigue life, standard design methods consider only a part of the spline teeth to be in contact and this brings to underestimate the components life, so a better understanding about component fatigue behavior may allow to a weight reduction and a consequent increasing of machine efficiency. On the other hand, wear damage may cause spline coupling run outs; this phenomenon is generally caused by the relative sliding between engaging teeth; the sliding may be due to kinematic conditions (angular misalignment between shafts) of teeth deflection. In order to obtain component optimization, both fatigue and wear behavior have to be taken into account. Standard spline coupling design methods do not properly consider wear damage and they evaluate fatigue life with big approximations. In this work fatigue damage are experimentally and numerically investigated while wear damage has been experimentally evaluated. Experimental results have been obtained by a dedicated test rig. Fatigue tests have been performed by means of a special device connected to a standard fatigue machine. Tests have been done by varying the most important working parameters (torque and misalignment angle). Experimental results have been compared with standard design methods to evaluate if and how they may over dimension the components. Results show that concerning the fatigue life, the actual component life is higher respect to that calculated by standard methods. Regarding wear behavior, results shows that whenever a relative motion between engaging teeth is present, wear damage appears
Systemic innovation in sustainable design of medical devices
No full textThe specific nature and the size of the healthcare sector make its impact on the environment very significant. Over the past years, interest in Sustainable Healthcare has grown globally, and an increasing number of companies is addressing a discipline, Sustainable Design, that is relatively new for the health sector. Design for healthcare must face significant challenges: from the technical, regulatory and ethical complexity, to the lack of a methodological history and the need for an interdisciplinary design approach. The present work shows the methodology and results of an interdisciplinary research on sustainable design for chronic haemodialysis, focusing on the dialysis equipment. Starting from Systemic Design methodology, the equipment has been analysed both as an autonomous system (component and functioning analysis) and as an interacting system (device analysis, interaction, ward management). This allowed to define the main issues and potentialities according to maintenance and end of life, flows management and interactive dynamics
Diminishing cost of electricity from wind power and photovoltaics
No full textThe paper, starting from the evolution of the worldwide renewable capacity that highlights the increasing growth of the photovoltaics and wind power, focuses the attention on the levelized cost of energy of the two technologies. The case of Italy is proposed, because the Italian feed-in tariff has allowed a rapid increase of the installed photovoltaic and wind plants. A comparison of the levelized cost of energy among PV plants, wind plants and other technologies evidences that these technologies are now competitive
Verification of RELAP5-3D code in natural circulation loop as function of the initial water inventory
No full textAbstract. High safety and reliability of advanced nuclear reactors, Generation IV and Small Modular Reactors (SMR), have a crucial role in the acceptance of these new plants design. Among all the possible safety systems, particular efforts are dedicated to the study of passive systems because they rely on simple physical principles like natural circulation, without the need of external energy source to operate. Taking inspiration from the second Decay Heat Removal system (DHR2) of ALFRED, the European Generation IV demonstrator of the fast lead cooled reactor, an experimental facility has been built at the Energy Department of Politecnico di Torino (PROPHET facility) to study single and two-phase flow natural circulation. The facility behavior is simulated using the thermal-hydraulic system code RELAP5-3D, which is widely used in nuclear applications. In this paper, the effect of the initial water inventory on natural circulation is analyzed. The experimental time behaviors of temperatures and pressures are analyzed. The experimental matrix ranges between 69 % and 93%; the influence of the opposite effects related to the increase of the volume available for the expansion and the pressure raise due to phase change is discussed. Simulations of the experimental tests are carried out by using a 1D model at constant heat power and fixed liquid and air mass; the code predictions are compared with experimental results. Two typical responses are observed: subcooled or two phase saturated circulation. The steady state pressure is a strong function of liquid and air mass inventory. The numerical results show that, at low initial liquid mass inventory, the natural circulation is not stable but pulsated
Sperimentalismo grafico e invarianze di metodi nel disegno del cemento armato agli inizi del 1900: l'innovazione esige adattamento e invenzione di codici - Graphical experimentation and method invariances in the reinforced concrete design at the beginning of 1900: the innovation requires adaptation and invention of codes
No full textIl disegno per l'innovazione percorre quasi sempre strade nuove, travalica frontiere di espressione grafica verso territori non ancora o solo in parte esplorati. Per l'avvento del calcestruzzo armato agli inizi del secolo scorso, si tratta di un'esperienza, che per il Disegno abbiamo definito sperimentalismo grafico, che anticipa la codificazione formale rimasta pressoché invariata fino a oggi. L'indagine di quelle forme espressive, è tema centrale della ricerca declinata tanto rispetto a finalità e a contenuti, quanto a segni, simboli, annotazioni, documentati da emblematici esempi. The design for innovation goes through unknown routes and crosses graphical expression boundaries to territories not yet or only partially explored. For the advent of reinforced concrete at the beginning of the twentieth century, this is an experience—which for the drawing we have defined graphical experimentalism—that anticipates the formal codification, which has remained almost invariable nowadays. The aim of the investigation of such expressive forms is the central theme of the research, both in terms of purpose and content, as well as signs, symbols, annotations, documented by emblematic examples
