• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2004.03a
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• pp.713-721
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• 2004

Variable air intake and variable exhaust nozzle of hypersonic engines are designed and tested in this study. Dimensions for variable geometry air intake, ram combustor and variable geometry exhaust nozzle are defined based on the requirements of a pre-cooled turbojet engine. Hypersonic Ramjet Engine is designed as a scaled test bed for each component. Actuation forces of moving parts for variable intake and variable nozzle are reduced by balancing the other force in the opposite direction. A demonstrator engine which includes variable intake and variable nozzle is designed and the components are fabricated. Composite material with silicone carbide is applied for high temperature parts under oxidation environment such as leading edge of the variable intake and combustor liner. Internal cooling structure is adopted for both moving and static parts of the variable nozzle. Pressure recovery and mass capture ratio of the variable intake at Mach 5 is obtained by a hypersonic wind tunnel test. Flow characteristics of the variable nozzle are obtained by a low temperature flow test. Wall temperature and heat flux of the nozzle at Mach 3 is obtained by a firing test. As results, the intake and the nozzle are proved to be used at designed pressure and temperature environment.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.257-262
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• 2018

Vibrational problems in the domestic Small Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (SHAWT) are due to flap wise vibrations caused by varying wind velocities acting perpendicular to its blade surface. It has been reported that monitoring the structural health of the turbine blades requires special attention as they are key elements of a wind power generation, and account for 15-20% of the total turbine cost. If this vibration problem is taken care, the SHAWT can be made as commercial success. In this work, Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wires made of Nitinol (Ni-Ti) alloys are embedded into the Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) wind turbine blade in order to reduce the flapwise vibrations. Experimental study of Nitinol (Ni-Ti) wire characteristics has been done and relationship between different parameters like current, displacement, time and temperature has been established. When the wind turbine blades are subjected to varying wind velocity, flapwise vibration occurs which has to be controlled continuously, otherwise the blade will be damaged due to the resonance. Therefore, in order to control these flapwise vibrations actively, a non-linear current controller unit was developed and fabricated, which provides actuation force required for active vibration control in smart blade. Experimental analysis was performed on conventional GFRP and smart blade, depicted a 20% increase in natural frequency and 20% reduction in amplitude of vibration. With addition of active vibration control unit, the smart blade showed 61% reduction in amplitude of vibration.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.771-782
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• 2017

This paper describes the development of a wearable robot to assist ankle power for the elderly. Previously developed wearable robots have generally used motors and gears to assist muscle power during walking. However, the combination of motor and reduction gear is heavy and has limitations on the simultaneous control of stiffness and torque due to the friction of the gear reducer unlike human muscles. Therefore, in this study, Mckibben pneumatic muscle, which is lighter, safer, and more powerful than an electric motor with gear, was used to assist ankle joint. Antagonistic actuation using a pair of pneumatic muscles assisted the power of the soleus muscles and tibialis anterior muscles used for the pitching motion of the ankle joint, and the model parameters of the antagonistic actuator were experimentally derived using a muscle test platform. To recognize the wearer's walking intention, foot load and ankle torque were calculated by measuring the pressure and the center of pressure of the foot using force and linear displacement sensors, and the stiffness and the torque of the pneumatic muscle joint were then controlled by the calculated ankle torque and foot load. Finally, the performance of the developed ankle power assistive robot was experimentally verified by measuring EMG signals during walking experiments on a treadmill.