PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New modelling technique could bypass the need for engineering prototypes

2013-11-20
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Joanne Fryer
joanne.fryer@bristol.ac.uk
44-011-733-17276
University of Bristol
New modelling technique could bypass the need for engineering prototypes A new modelling technique has been developed that could eliminate the need to build costly prototypes, which are used to test engineering structures such as aeroplanes.

The study, by Dr Róbert Szalai at the University of Bristol, is published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society A.

Most engineering structures, for example airplane landing gear, jet engines and gearboxes, involve friction and impact among their components. Traditionally these harsh phenomena are difficult to design for and introduce a great deal of uncertainty in the final product.

The new research offers an alternative view on this problem by providing a modelling technique that allows for more accurate predictions than methods currently available. The proposed method also offers a better understanding of contact mechanics, which might be used to achieve a better design.

Dr Róbert Szalai, Lecturer in the Department of Engineering Mathematics, said: "One of the greatest concerns of engineers is modelling friction and impact.

"Building prototypes to test engineering structures can be extremely expensive and this new modelling technique could mean a prototype does not need to be built."

Alan Champneys, Professor of Applied Non-linear Mathematics in the Department of Engineering Mathematics, added: "Strongly nonlinear behaviour, such as stick-slip motion and impact, are a huge cause of uncertainty in engineering systems.

"The findings from this paper provide a key breakthrough in research that is being pursued by a consortium of major universities and industrialists to address these problems as part of an EPSRC programme grant."

In the paper, the researcher has presented a general mechanical model and described a model reduction technique. The new model includes a memory term to account for effects that traditional models ignore. The study has also discussed the convergence of the method and its implications to non-smooth systems.

The derivation of the memory term is illustrated through the examples of a pre-tensed string and a cantilever beam. The paper has used the example of a bowed string and has demonstrated the properties of the transformed equation of motion, in particular its convergence as the number of vibration modes goes to infinity.

### Paper: Modelling elastic structures with strong nonlinearities with application to stick–slip friction, Róbert Szalai, Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 20 November 2013.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Oral drug may improve survival in men with metastatic prostate cancer

2013-11-20
Oral drug may improve survival in men with metastatic prostate cancer DURHAM, N.C. – An investigational prostate cancer treatment slows the disease's progression and may increase survival, especially among men whose cancer has spread to the bones, ...

New case studies link smoking synthetic marijuana with stroke in healthy, young adults

2013-11-20
New case studies link smoking synthetic marijuana with stroke in healthy, young adults University of South Florida neurologists report both patients experienced ischemic strokes soon after smoking the street drug spice Tampa, FL (Nov. 19, ...

Sex of speaker affects listener language processing

2013-11-20
Sex of speaker affects listener language processing LAWRENCE — Whether we process language we hear without regard to anything about the speaker is a longstanding scientific debate. But it wasn't until University of Kansas scientists set up an experiment showing ...

HIV virus spread and evolution studied through computer modeling

2013-11-20
HIV virus spread and evolution studied through computer modeling LOS ALAMOS, N.M., November 19, 2013—Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory are investigating the complex relationships between the spread of the HIV virus in a population (epidemiology) ...

Blacks have less access to cancer specialists, treatment

2013-11-20
Blacks have less access to cancer specialists, treatment UC San Diego study suggests racial inequality leads to higher mortality Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say metastatic colorectal cancer patients of African-American ...

What water looks like to DNA

2013-11-20
What water looks like to DNA New computational method described in the Journal of Chemical Physics allows researchers to predict how biological molecules interact with water WASHINGTON D.C. Nov. 19, 2013 -- A team of biochemists and mathematicians have ...

Stanford study could lead to paradigm shift in organic solar cell research

2013-11-20
Stanford study could lead to paradigm shift in organic solar cell research Organic solar cells have long been touted as lightweight, low-cost alternatives to rigid solar panels made of silicon. Dramatic improvements in the efficiency of organic photovoltaics have ...

New study finds no benefit to selecting dose of blood thinner based on patients' genetic makeup

2013-11-20
New study finds no benefit to selecting dose of blood thinner based on patients' genetic makeup Largest randomized, multi-center controlled trial of gene-based strategy for warfarin dosing also found better outcome for African ...

Edoxaban effective in preventing stroke, reducing bleeding and cardiovascular death in patients with atrial fibrillation

2013-11-20
Edoxaban effective in preventing stroke, reducing bleeding and cardiovascular death in patients with atrial fibrillation Boston, MA – According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 800,000 ...

Bedroom access to screen-based media may contribute to sleep problems in boys with autism, MU researchers find

2013-11-20
Bedroom access to screen-based media may contribute to sleep problems in boys with autism, MU researchers find Having bedroom access to television, computers or video games is linked to less sleep in boys with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a team of University ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

Resident physician intentions regarding unionization

[Press-News.org] New modelling technique could bypass the need for engineering prototypes