Zeitschriftenaufsätze

Currently, the commonly used performance evaluation approach for accelerating rate calorimeters (ARCs) is based on di‑tert‑butyl peroxide (DTBP). However, DTBP is not a certified reference material that contains untraceable and inaccurate thermodynamic and kinetic parameters. To address this issue, an evaluation approach using Joule heat was proposed. The key point of this approach is the use of Joule heat to simulate the exothermic process of a chemical reaction. First, an evaluation apparatus with reaction rate feedback control was developed. Subsequently, exothermic reaction experiments using the DTBP/toluene solution were simulated. The experimental results indicated that the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters obtained using this approach align with the preset values and exhibit good repeatability. This approach is traceable and can be traced back to the International System of Units, which facilitates reliable performance evaluation of commercial ARCs.

Metal springs are used extensively in technical products. The mathematical relationships and Goodman diagrams contained in the DIN EN 13906-1 standard form the essential basis for the design and calculation of cylindrical helical compression springs. They are used not only nationally, but internationally in the spring industry and by spring users. However, the diagrams are more than 50 years old and no longer reflect the current status of modern spring materials and spring manufacturing technologies. This results in great uncertainty for users of the standard, which currently has to be compensated by costly fatigue tests. In order to overcome the problems, the research project IGF 19693 aimed to renew the Goodman diagrams of the DIN EN 13906-1 standard in accordance with the state of spring technology. Therefore, the FKM guideline “Analytic Strength Assessment for Springs and Spring Elements“ was used to calculate permissible fatigue strength values for standard springs. Additionally, an extensive experimental program was carried out with fatigue tests on cold-formed helical compression springs to validate the calculations. The main results of the project are presented in this manuscript, which strengthens SMEs in designing competitive springs, which they can offer in a shorter time and at a lower cost due to lower development costs.

Electrohydrodynamic wetting manipulation plays a major role in modern microfluidic technologies such as lab-on-a-chip applications and digital microfluidics. Liquid dielectrophoresis (LDEP) is a common driving mechanism, which induces hydrodynamic motion in liquids by the application of nonhomogeneous electrical fields. Among strategies to analyze droplet movement, systematic research on the influence of different frequencies under AC voltage is missing. In this paper, we therefore present a first study covering the motion characteristics of LDEP-driven droplets of the dielectric liquids ethylene glycol and glycerol carbonate in the driving voltage frequency range from 50 Hz to 1600 Hz. A correlation between the switching speed of LDEP-actuated droplets in a planar electrode configuration and the frequency of the applied voltage is shown. Hereby, motion times of different-sized droplets could be reduced by up to a factor of 5.3. A possible excitation of the droplets within their range of eigenfrequencies is investigated using numerical calculations. The featured fluidic device is designed using larger-sized electrodes rather than typical finger or strip electrodes, which are commonly employed in LDEP devices. The influence of the electrode shape is considered simulatively by studying the electric field gradients.

Understanding turbulent thermal convection is essential for modeling many natural phenomena. This study investigates the spatiotemporal dynamics of the vortical structures in the mid-plane of turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection in SF6 via experiments. For this, a Rayleigh-Bénard cell of aspect ratio 10 is placed inside a pressure vessel and pressurized up to 1, 1.5, and 2.5 bar in order to reach Rayleigh numbers of Ra = 9.4 × 10^5, 2.0 × 10^6, and 5.5 × 10^6, respectively. For all three cases, the Prandtl number is Pr = 0.79 and Δ T ≈ 7 K. Then, stereoscopic particle image velocimetry is conducted to measure the three velocity components in the horizontal-mid-plane for 5.78 × 10^3 free fall times. For the given aspect ratio, the flow is no longer dominated by the side walls of the cell and turbulent superstructures that show a two-dimensional repetitive organization form. These superstructures show diverse shapes with faster dissipation rates as Ra increases. Out-of-plane vortices are the main feature of the flow. As Ra increases, the number of these vortices also increases, and their size shrinks. However, their total number is almost constant for each Ra through the measurement period. Furthermore, their occurrence is random and does not depend on whether the flow is upward-heated, downward-cooled, or horizontally directed. Vortex tracking was applied to measure lifetime, displacement, and traveled distance of these structures. The relation between lifetime and traveled distance is rather linear. Interestingly, in the vortex centers, the out-of-plane momentum transport is larger in comparison to the bulk flow. Therefore, these vortices will play a major role in the heat transport in such flows.

Near-infrared (NIR) light accounts for about half of the solar spectrum, and the effective utilization of low-energy NIR light is an important but challenging task in the field of photocatalysis. Molecular semiconductor photocatalytic systems (MSPSs) are highly tunable, available and stable, and are considered to be one of the most promising ways to achieve efficient NIR hydrogen production. Here, we demonstrate efficient dual-excitation in MSPS consisting of ZnIn2S4−x (ZIS1−x) with sulfur vacancies and phytic acid nickel (PA-Ni), which differs from other NIR-responsive photosensitized systems. The system achieves a hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) of 119.85 μmol h−1 g−1 at λ > 800 nm illumination, which is an excellent performance among all reported NIR catalysts and even outperforms the noble metal catalysts when compared to the reported literature. The superior activity is attributed to the unique charge dynamics and higher carrier concentration of the system. This work demonstrates the potential of dual-excitation systems for efficient utilization of low-energy NIR light.