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Scholarly Works - Engineering - Biomechanics

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  • ItemOpen AccessPublished version Peer-reviewed
    Collision-based energetic comparison of rolling and hopping over obstacles.
    (Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2018) Giardina, Fabio; Iida, Fumiya; Giardina, Fabio [0000-0002-2660-5935]
    Locomotion of machines and robots operating in rough terrain is strongly influenced by the mechanics of the ground-machine interactions. A rolling wheel in terrain with obstacles is subject to collisional energy losses, which is governed by mechanics comparable to hopping or walking locomotion. Here we investigate the energetic cost associated with overcoming an obstacle for rolling and hopping locomotion, using a simple mechanics model. The model considers collision-based interactions with the ground and the obstacle, without frictional losses, and we quantify, analyse, and compare the sources of energetic costs for three locomotion strategies. Our results show that the energetic advantages of the locomotion strategies are uniquely defined given the moment of inertia and the Froude number associated with the system. We find that hopping outperforms rolling at larger Froude numbers and vice versa. The analysis is further extended for a comparative study with animals. By applying size and inertial properties through an allometric scaling law of hopping and trotting animals to our models, we found that the conditions at which hopping becomes energetically advantageous to rolling roughly corresponds to animals' preferred gait transition speeds. The energetic collision losses as predicted by the model are largely verified experimentally.
  • ItemOpen AccessAccepted version Peer-reviewed
    Bioprinting of three-dimensional culture models and organ-on-a-chip systems
    (Materials Research Society, 2017-08-10) Huang, YYS; Zhang, D; Liu, Y; Huang, Shery [0000-0003-2619-730X]
    Multimaterial bioprinting technologies offer promising avenues to create mini-organ models with enhanced tissue heterogeneity and complexity. This article focuses on the application of three-dimensional bioprinting to fabricate organ-on-a-chip systems for in vitro drug testing and screening. We illustrate the capabilities and limitations of a bioprinting approach compared to microfabrication in constructing an organ-on-a-chip device. Further, we propose strategies in multimaterial integration for printing microphysiological tissue models. With these analyses, key challenges and future directions are highlighted.
  • ItemOpen AccessPublished version Peer-reviewed
    Optimal control and performance of photovoltachromic switchable glazing for building integration in temperate climates
    (Elsevier BV, 2016) Favoino, Fabio; Fiorito, Francesco; Cannavale, Alessandro; Ranzi, Gianluca; Overend, Mauro; Overend, Mauro [0000-0001-5929-497X]
    The development of adaptive building envelope technologies, and particularly of switchable glazing, can make significant contributions to decarbonisation targets. It is therefore essential to quantify their effect on building energy use and indoor environmental quality when integrated into buildings. The evaluation of their performance presents new challenges when compared to conventional “static” building envelope systems, as they require design and control aspects to be evaluated together, which are also mutually interrelated across thermal and visual physical domains. This paper addresses these challenges by presenting a novel simulation framework for the performance evaluation of responsive building envelope technologies and, particularly, of switchable glazing. This is achieved by integrating a building energy simulation tool and a lighting simulation one, in a control optimisation framework to simulate advanced control of adaptive building envelopes. The performance of a photovoltachromic glazing is evaluated according to building energy use, Useful Daylight Illuminance, glare risk and load profile matching indicators for a sun oriented office building in different temperate climates. The original architecture of photovoltachromic cell provides an automatic control of its transparency as a function of incoming solar irradiance. However, to fully explore the building integration potential of photovoltachromic technology, different control strategies are evaluated, from passive and simple rule based controls, to optimised rule based and predictive controls. The results show that the control strategy has a significant impact on the performance of the photovoltachromic switchable glazing, and of switchable glazing technologies in general. More specifically, simpler control strategies are generally unable to optimise contrasting requirements, while more advanced ones can increase energy saving potential without compromising visual comfort. In cooling dominated scenarios reactive control can be as effective as predictive for a switchable glazing, differently than heating dominated scenarios where predictive control strategies yield higher energy saving potential. Introducing glare as a control parameter can significantly decrease the energy efficiency of some control strategies, especially in heating dominated climates.