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    Wildlife-vehicle collisions in hurungwe safari area, northern zimbabwe
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2020) Gandiwa, Edson; Mashapa, Clayton; Muboko, Never; Chemura, Abel; Kuvaoga, Phillip; Mabika, Cheryl T.
    This study is the first to assess wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) in Zimbabwe. The study analysed the impact and factors that influence vehicle collisions with large wild mammals along the Harare-Chirundu road section in the protected Hurungwe Safari Area, northern Zimbabwe. Data were retrieved from the Hurungwe Safari Area records and covered the period between 2006 and 2013. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the recorded variables across the sampled area and to show trends of the prevalence of large wild mammals roadkill over time. Using STATISTICA version 10 for Windows, a two-tailed Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine differences between the number of wild mammal animal roadkills and seasons. A total of 47 large wild mammal animals were killed between 2006 and 2013. The large wild mammal animals that died as a result of vehicle collisions constituted a total of 11 species, with the African buffalo and spotted hyena being the most hit and killed animal species. Most WVC involved heavy haulage trucks and passenger buses. There was no significance difference (P = 0.936) between number of large wild mammal animals killed from WVC between dry and wet seasons. The large wild mammal animals were mostly killed in areas near water sources. We recommend for the inclusion of wildlife protection safeguards in road infrastructure network design and development, particularly on roads that traverse across protected areas in Zimbabwe and beyond. © 2020 The Author(s)
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    Development and Implementation of a Guideline for the Combination of Additively Manufactured Joint Assemblies with Wire Actuators made of Shape Memory Alloys
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2023) Löffler, Robin; Tremmel, Stephan; Hornfeck, Rüdiger
    Smart Materials actuators in the form of wires made of shape memory alloys in combination with additively manufactured carrier components are used in a wide variety of prototype developments of innovative joint assemblies. This combination is relevant because of the same manufacturing costs of the additively manufactured components, which are independent of the quantity of parts, the free geometric design possibilities as well as the huge energy density of the aforementioned actuator technology. In particular, the focus is on the possibility of appropriately fitting large wire lengths on a compact part volume while taking into account acceptable force losses. Since there is no design guideline for such joint developments, each is individual, which results in unnecessarily long development times and a higher risk of errors. Based on selected in-house and third-party examples, integration possibilities of shape memory alloy wire actuators in additively manufactured carrier components are analysed and transferred into a universally applicable design guideline. These recommendations are brought into the framework of existing design guidelines of the VDI (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure – Association of German Engineers), namely VDI 2206 and VDI 2221 with extensions for additive manufacturing, for a better usability and integrability into existing processes. Finally, this results in a simplified access to the topic of the combination of additive manufacturing and shape memory alloys and a more efficient realisation of such joint developments.
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    Self-cleaning stainless steel surfaces induced by laser processing and chemical engineering
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2022) Lorenz, Pierre; Zajadacz, Joachim; Marquardt, Franka; Ehrhardt, Martin; Hommes, Gregor; Peter, Sebastian; Zimmer, Klaus
    Nanostructured surfaces show a variety of beneficial macroscopic effects. The combination of hierarchic nanostructures with a suitable chemical surface composition allows for the fabrication of surfaces with interesting fluidic properties beyond such effects. This approach enables the specification of nano/microstructure and chemical composition independent of each other. Various hierarchical micro- and nanostructures can be realized by laser texturing of stainless steel surfaces with infrared picosecond laser. Simultaneously, the surface is activated for chemical processing. The surface can now be tuned by bonding of a self-assembled monolayer on the laser-treated surface by chemical treatment. This two-step functionalization process allows the for separated adjusting of the surface topography and chemical composition and thus for the well-defined setting of the surface properties. The fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces with self-cleaning properties are performed that can be functionalized further by subsequent laser-irradiation. Furthermore, the long-time stability of the surface functionalization in relation to the impact chemicals or radiation was investigated.
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    Advanced thermal stability investigations of the Mn–Al-Ga system
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2020) Mix, T.; Woodcock, T.G.
    A ternary Mn–Al-Ga alloy with the nominal composition Mn55Al38.57Ga6.43 was produced by arc melting. After homogenisation, the alloy consisted of the ε and γ2 phases. Appropriate heat treatments were used to transform each of these into a phase with the L10 structure. These two L10 phases had different compositions, lattice parameters and magnetic properties. In order to test the stability of the L10 phases against decomposition, heat treatments were carried out at 700 ​°C for durations of up to 14 days. The results showed that the decomposition started with formation of the β-Mn phase and subsequent appearance of the γ2 phase. The resulting diffusion gradients resulted in composition changes in the L10 phases and after 7 days, only a single, intermediate composition remained. After 14 days, the decomposition was almost complete. The decomposition of the L10 phases in the ternary Mn–Al-Ga alloy was significantly slower than in binary Mn–Al alloys.
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    Process Monitoring of a Vibration Dampening CFRP Drill Tube in BTA deep hole drilling using Fibre-Bragg-Grating Sensors
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2022) Summa, Jannik; Michel, Sebastian; Kurkowski, Moritz; Biermann, Dirk; Stommel, Markus; Herrmann, Hans-Georg
    The large tool length in BTA deep hole drilling often leads to strong torsional vibrations of the tool system, leading to a reduced bore hole quality failures. When substituting steel drill tubes with tubes from composite material, the laminate structure dampens these vibrations. Secondly, the integration of sensors allow to monitor process vibrations. This contribution introduces a new sensor platform to measure process vibrations, feed force and drilling torque using Fibre-Bragg Grating Sensors. The presented experimental results focus on characteristic frequency spectra with natural torsional and compression frequencies of the CFRP drill tube, which show variations due to changed feed.
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    Secondary electron yield engineering of copper surfaces by 532 nm ultrashort laser pulses
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2022) Lorenz, Pierre; Bez, Elena; Himmerlich, Marcel; Ehrhardt, Martin; Taborelli, Mauro; Zimmer, Klaus
    Nanostructured surfaces exhibit outstanding properties and enable manifold industrial applications. In this study the laser surface processing of polycrystalline, flat copper surfaces by 532 nm picosecond laser irradiation for secondary electron yield (SEY) reduction is reported. The laser beam was scanned in parallel lines across the sample surface in order to modify large surface areas. Morphology and SEY are characterized in dependence of the process parameters to derive correlations and mechanisms of the laser-based SEY engineering process. The nano- and microstructure morphology of the laser-modified surface was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and the secondary electron yield was measured. In general, an SEY reduction with increasing accumulated laser fluence was found. In particular, at low scanning speed (1 mm/s - 10 mm/s) and “high” laser power (~ 1 W) compact nanostructures with a very low SEY maximum of 0.7 are formed.