Efficiency of InN/InGaN/GaN Intermediate-Band Solar Cell under the Effects of Hydrostatic Pressure, In-Compositions, Built-in-Electric Field, Confinement, and Thickness

This paper presents a thorough numerical investigation focused on optimizing the efficiency of quantum-well intermediate-band solar cells (QW-IBSCs) based on III-nitride materials. The optimization strategy encompasses manipulating confinement potential energy, controlling hydrostatic pressure, adjusting compositions, and varying thickness. The...

Anonymous, Secure, Traceable, and Efficient Decentralized Digital Forensics

Digital forensics is crucial to fight crimes around the world. Decentralized Digital Forensics (DDF) promotes it to another level by channeling the power of blockchain into digital investigations. In this work, we focus on the privacy and security of DDF. Our motivations arise from (1) how to track an anonymous- and-malicious data user who...

Improving rowing performance by adjusting oar blade size and angle

The principal aim of the work presented here is to investigate and demonstrate that a forward tilted rowing blade would result in a more efficient and effective motion of the blade through the water that would result in a higher boat speed when an equal input power is provided. A 1:5 scaled rowing boat is used to determine the performance of...

CZTSe-Based Solar Cell Performance Improvement Using the CSLO Technique

Here we investigated a novel layer-based optimization technique to improve the performance of a CZTSe solar cell. By using this technique, the optical behavior and electrical properties of the proposed solar cell improved significantly as a result of the changes in the layer specifications and the layer materials. The structure of the cell...

Determining and Controlling External Power Output During Regular Handrim Wheelchair Propulsion

The use of a manual wheelchair is critical to 1% of the world's population. Human powered wheeled mobility research has considerably matured, which has led to improved research techniques becoming available over the last decades. To increase the understanding of wheeled mobility performance, monitoring, training, skill acquisition, and...

Boundaries of Operation for Refurbished Parallel AC–DC Reconfigurable Links in Distribution Grids

Hybrid ac–dc reconfigurable link technology can find interesting applications in medium-voltage power distribution. These are networks having dc links operating in parallel alongside ac links with post-fault reconfiguration capability. A given system can operate in different configurations while maintaining equivalent capacity during (n−1)...

Offline Reconfigurability Based Substation Converter Sizing for Hybrid AC-DC Distribution Links

Hybrid ac-dc distribution systems with multiple parallel operating ac and dc links are being developed to maximize system capacity during (n-1) contingencies. This paper shows that offline reconfigurability between such ac and dc links post-fault clearance allows an additional design flexibility of reducing the required substation converter...

Multiple land use planning for living places and investments spaces

Planning is assessed not only based on its ability to improve the living environment through place making, but also based on its role in facilitating investments in the built environment. This paper approaches the combination of these functions as planning for multiple land use. Contracts, rather than plans, are used to bridge these functions...

Gasifier, Solid Oxide Fuel Cell integrated systems for energy production from wet biomass

Nowadays, there is worldwide interest in diversifying energy supply. In this regard, biomass is the best possible renewable organic substitute for fossil fuels. In particular, the energy content of very wet biomass, recovered with appropriate technology, could potentially be used for power generation. In addition to power generation, this...

A review study on encapsulation-based self-healing for cementitious materials

Encapsulation-based self-healing technology is an effective method for healing the crack-deteriorated cementitious material. Encapsulation-based self-healing initiates by crack occurrence and progresses by chemical reaction of released self-healing agents in the cracks, which are contained in capsules. In this paper, a review has been...

Electro-mechanical efficiency of plasma synthetic jet actuator driven by capacitive discharge

A simplified model is established to estimate the jet exit density variation of a plasma synthetic jet actuator (PSJA) driven by a capacitive arc discharge. This model, in conjunction with phase-locked planar particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) measurements, enables the calculation of jet mechanical energy for different operating conditions....

Experimental method to quantify the efficiency of the first two operational stages of nanosecond dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators

A method to quantify the efficiency of the first two operational stages of a nanosecond dielectric barrier discharge (ns-DBD) plasma actuator is proposed. The method is based on the independent measurements of the energy of electrical pulses and the useful part of the energy which heats up the gas in the discharge region. Energy input is...

Design and evaluation of two different finger concepts for body-powered prosthetic hand

The goal of this study was to find an efficient method of energy transmission for application in an anthropomorphic underactuated body-powered (BP) prosthetic hand. A pulley-cable finger and a hydraulic cylinder finger were designed and tested to compare the pulley-cable transmission principle with the hydraulic cylinder transmission principle....

Comparison of mechanical properties of silicone and PVC (polyvinylchloride) cosmetic gloves for articulating hand prostheses

Current articulating electric and body-powered hands have a lower pinch force (15–34 N) than electric hands with stiff fingers (55–100 N). The cosmetic glove, which covers a hand prosthesis, negatively affects the mechanical efficiency of a prosthesis. The goal of this study is to mechanically compare polyvinylchloride (PVC) and silicone...

Efficiency of voluntary opening hand and hook prosthetic devices, 24 years of development?

Quantitative data on the mechanical performance of upper-limb prostheses are very important in prostheses development and selection. The primary goal of this study was to objectively evaluate the mechanical performance of adult-size voluntary opening (VO) prosthetic terminal devices and select the best tested device. A second goal was to see...

Efficiency of voluntary closing hand and hook prostheses

The Delft Institute of Prosthetics and Orthotics has started a research program to develop an improved voluntary closing, body-powered hand prosthesis. Five commercially available voluntary closing terminal devices were mechanically tested: three hands [Hosmer APRL VC hand, Hosmer Soft VC Male hand, Otto Bock 8K24] and two hooks [Hosmer APRL VC...