All issues

The article focuses on the problem of mechanisms’ co-design for robotic systems to perform adaptive physical interaction with an unstructured environment, including physical human robot interaction. The co-design means simultaneous optimization of mechanics and control system, ensuring optimal behavior and performance of the system. Mechanics optimization refers to the search for optimal structure, geometric parameters, mass distribution among the links and their compliance; control refers to the search for motion trajectories for mechanism’s joints. The paper presents a generalized method of structural-parametric synthesis of underactuated mechanisms with closed kinematics for robotic systems for various purposes, e. g., it was previously used for the co-design of fingers’ mechanisms for anthropomorphic gripper and legs’ mechanisms for galloping robots. The method implements the concept of morphological computation of control laws due to the features of mechanical design, minimizing the control effort from the algorithmic component of the control system, which reduces the requirements for the level of technical equipment and reduces energy consumption. In this paper, the proposed method is used to optimize the structure and geometric parameters of the passive mechanism of the back support module of an industrial exosuit. Human movements are diverse and non-deterministic when compared with the movements of autonomous robots, which complicates the design of wearable robotic devices. To reduce injuries, fatigue and increase the productivity of workers, the synthesized industrial exosuit should not only compensate for loads, but also not interfere with the natural human motions. To test the developed exosuit, kinematic datasets from motion capture of an entire human body during industrial operations were used. The proposed method of structural-parametric synthesis was used to improve the ergonomics of a wearable robotic device. Verification of the synthesized mechanism was carried out using simulation: the passive module of the back is attached to two geometric primitives that move the chest and pelvis of the exosuit operator in accordance with the motion capture data. The ergonomics of the back module is quantified by the distance between the joints connecting the upper and bottom parts of the exosuit; minimizing deviation from the average value corresponds to a lesser limitation of the operator’s movement, i. e. greater ergonomics. The article provides a detailed description of the method of structural-parametric synthesis, an example of synthesis of an exosuit module and the results of simulation.

Integration of LIF protein into the bilayer lipid membrane causes the formation of ion channels. The data on activity of ion channels formed by recombinant protein from mouse and human origin are shown. Also the difference in the effect of LIF protein from eukaryotic and prokaryotic origin is shown.

Modification of the invariant imbedding method to describe the interaction of 3D electromagnetic field with “woodpile” photonic crystal of finite thickness is considered in this paper. This modification allows solving a problem of evanescent modes resonant amplification during numerical calculations for the first layer of photonic crystal. The mathematical model created in this work gives good agreement with physical experiment results.

The article focuses on a nonlinear mathematical model that describes the interaction of the different age groups of the employed population. The interactions are treated by analogy with population relationship (competition, discrimination, assistance, oppression, etc). Under interaction of peoples we mean the generalized social and economic mechanisms that cause related changes in the number of employees of different age groups. Three age groups of the employed population are considered. It is young specialists (15–29 years), workers with experience (30–49 years), the employees of pre-retirement and retirement age (50 and older). The estimation of model’s parameters for the southern regions of the Far Eastern Federal District (FEFD) is executed by statistical data. Analysis of model scenarios allows us to conclude the observed number fluctuations of the different ages employees on the background of a stable total employed population may be a consequence of complex interactions between these groups of peoples. Computational experiments with the obtained values of the parameters allowed us to calculate the rate of decline and the aging of the working population and to determine the nature of the interaction between the age groups of employees that are not directly as reflected in the statistics. It was found that in FEFD the employed of 50 years and older are discriminated against by the young workers under 29, employed up to 29 and 30–49 years are in a partnership. It is shown in most developed regions (Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krai) there is “uniform” competition among different age groups of the employed population. For Primorsky Krai we were able to identify the mixing effect dynamics. It is a typical situation for systems in a state of structural adjustment. This effect is reflected in the fact the long cycles of employed population form with a significant decrease in migration inflows of employees 30–49 years. Besides, the change of migration is accompanied by a change of interaction type — from employment discrimination by the oldest of middle generation to discrimination by the middle of older generation. In less developed regions (Amur, Magadan and Jewish Autonomous Regions) there are lower values of migration balance of almost all age groups and discrimination by young workers up 29 years of other age groups and employment discrimination 30–49 years of the older generation.

The paper presents the results of numerical simulation and experimental data on the high-speed penetration of the impactor into the obstacle. In the calculations, a discrete-element model has been used, based on the representation of the impactor and the target by a set of close packed interconnected particles. This class of models finds an increasingly wide application in the problems of high-speed interaction of bodies. In the previous works of the authors, the questions of application of the discrete-element model to the problem of the penetration of spherical impactors into massive targets were considered. On the basis of a comparative analysis of the data of computational and physical experiments, it was found out that for a wide class of high-speed penetration problems, a high accuracy of discrete-element modeling can be achieved using the two-parameter Lennard–Jones potential. The binding energy was identified as a function of the dynamic hardness of materials. It was shown that the use of this approach makes it possible to describe accurately the penetration process in the range of impactor velocities 500–2500 m/c.

In this paper, we compare the results of discrete-element modeling with experimental data on penetration of high-strength targets of different thickness by steel impactors. The use of computational parallelization technologies on graphic processors in combination with 3D visualization and animation of the results makes it possible to obtain detailed spatio-temporal patterns of the penetration process and compare them with experimental data.

A comparative analysis of the experimental and calculated data has shown a sufficiently high accuracy of discrete-element modeling for a wide range of target thicknesses: for thin targets pierced with preservation of the integrity of the deformed impactor, for targets of medium thickness, pierced with practically complete fragmentation of the impactor at the exit from the target, and for thick impenetrable targets.

In various areas of science, technology, environment protection, construction, it is very important to study processes of porous materials interaction with different substances in different aggregation states. From the point of view of ecology and environmental protection it is particularly actual to investigate processes of porous materials interaction with water in liquid and gaseous phases. Since one mole of water contains 6.022140857 · 10²³ molecules of H₂O, macroscopic approaches considering the water vapor as continuum media in the framework of classical aerodynamics are mainly used to describe properties, for example properties of water vapor in the pore. In this paper we construct and use for simulation the macroscopic two-dimensional diffusion model [Bitsadze, Kalinichenko, 1980] describing the behavior of water vapor inside the isolated pore. Together with the macroscopic model it is proposed microscopic model of the behavior of water vapor inside the isolated pores. This microscopic model is built within the molecular dynamics approach [Gould et al., 2005]. In the microscopic model a description of each water molecule motion is based on Newton classical mechanics considering interactions with other molecules and pore walls. Time evolution of “water vapor – pore” system is explored. Depending on the external to the pore conditions the system evolves to various states of equilibrium, characterized by different values of the macroscopic characteristics such as temperature, density, pressure. Comparisons of results of molecular dynamic simulations with the results of calculations based on the macroscopic diffusion model and experimental data allow to conclude that the combination of macroscopic and microscopic approach could produce more adequate and more accurate description of processes of water vapor interaction with porous materials.

For a non-homogeneous model transport equation with source terms, the stability analysis of a linear hybrid scheme (a combination of upwind and central approximations) is performed. Stability conditions are obtained that depend on the hybridity parameter, the source intensity factor (the product of intensity per time step), and the weight coefficient of the linear combination of source power on the lower- and upper-time layer. In a nonlinear case for the non-equilibrium by velocities and temperatures equations of gas suspension motion, the linear stability analysis was confirmed by calculation. It is established that the maximum permissible Courant number of the hybrid large-particle method of the second order of accuracy in space and time with an implicit account of friction and heat exchange between gas and particles does not depend on the intensity factor of interface interactions, the grid spacing and the relaxation times of phases (K-stability). In the traditional case of an explicit method for calculating the source terms, when a dimensionless intensity factor greater than 10, there is a catastrophic (by several orders of magnitude) decrease in the maximum permissible Courant number, in which the calculated time step becomes unacceptably small.

On the basic ratios of Riemann’s problem in the equilibrium heterogeneous medium, we obtained an asymptotically exact self-similar solution of the problem of interaction of a shock wave with a layer of gas-suspension to which converge the numerical solution of two-velocity two-temperature dynamics of gassuspension when reducing the size of dispersed particles.

The dynamics of the shock wave in gas and its interaction with a limited gas suspension layer for different sizes of dispersed particles: 0.1, 2, and 20 ìm were studied. The problem is characterized by two discontinuities decay: reflected and refracted shock waves at the left boundary of the layer, reflected rarefaction wave, and a past shock wave at the right contact edge. The influence of relaxation processes (dimensionless phase relaxation times) to the flow of a gas suspension is discussed. For small particles, the times of equalization of the velocities and temperatures of the phases are small, and the relaxation zones are sub-grid. The numerical solution at characteristic points converges with relative accuracy $O \, (10^{-4})$ to self-similar solutions.

We analyze variants of considering the inhomogeneity of the environment in computer modeling of the dynamics of a predator and prey based on a system of reaction-diffusion–advection equations. The local interaction of species (reaction terms) is described by the logistic law for the prey and the Beddington –DeAngelis functional response, special cases of which are the Holling type II functional response and the Arditi – Ginzburg model. We consider a one-dimensional problem in space for a heterogeneous resource (carrying capacity) and three types of taxis (the prey to resource and from the predator, the predator to the prey). An analytical approach is used to study the stability of stationary solutions in the case of local interaction (diffusionless approach). We employ the method of lines to study diffusion and advective processes. A comparison of the critical values of the mortality parameter of predators is given. Analysis showed that at constant coefficients in the Beddington –DeAngelis model, critical values are variable along the spatial coordinate, while we do not observe this effect for the Arditi –Ginzburg model. We propose a modification of the reaction terms, which makes it possible to take into account the heterogeneity of the resource. Numerical results on the dynamics of species for large and small migration coefficients are presented, demonstrating a decrease in the influence of the species of local members on the emerging spatio-temporal distributions of populations. Bifurcation transitions are analyzed when changing the parameters of diffusion–advection and reaction terms.

The paper deals with the mathematical model formulation for studying the nonlinear hydro-elastic response of the narrow channel wall supported by a spring with cubic nonlinearity and interacting with a pulsating viscous liquid filling the channel. In contrast to the known approaches, within the framework of the proposed mathematical model, the inertial and dissipative properties of the viscous incompressible liquid and the restoring force nonlinearity of the supporting spring were simultaneously taken into account. The mathematical model was an equations system for the coupled plane hydroelasticity problem, including the motion equations of a viscous incompressible liquid, with the corresponding boundary conditions, and the channel wall motion equation as a single-degree-of-freedom model with a cubic nonlinear restoring force. Initially, the viscous liquid dynamics was investigated within the framework of the hydrodynamic lubrication theory, i. e. without taking into account the liquid motion inertia. At the next stage, the iteration method was used to take into account the motion inertia of the viscous liquid. The distribution laws of the hydrodynamic parameters for the viscous liquid in the channel were found which made it possible to determine its reaction acting on the channel wall. As a result, it was shown that the original hydroelasticity problem is reduced to a single nonlinear equation that coincides with the Duffing equation. In this equation, the damping coefficient is determined by the liquid physical properties and the channel geometric dimensions, and taking into account the liquid motion inertia lead to the appearance of an added mass. The nonlinear equation study for hydroelastic oscillations was carried out by the harmonic balance method for the main frequency of viscous liquid pulsations. As a result, the primary steady-state hydroelastic response for the channel wall supported by a spring with softening or hardening cubic nonlinearity was found. Numerical modeling of the channel wall hydroelastic response showed the possibility of a jumping change in the amplitudes of channel wall oscillations, and also made it possible to assess the effect of the liquid motion inertia on the frequency range in which these amplitude jumps are observed.

The computation model of the interlayer magnetostatic energy and its contribution into the total magnetic energy of multilayer films has been proposed. The model has been used for the energy computation of three-layer Co/Cu/Co structure. The comparison of obtained theoretical results with experimental data has been allowed made an estimation of magnetostatic interaction influence on a value and a character of saturation field behavior for such structures.