• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.437-444
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• 2006

Recently, as large structures become lighter and more flexible, the necessity of structural control for reducing excessive displacement and acceleration due to seismic excitation is increased. As a means to minimize seismic damages, various base isolation systems are adopted or considered for adoption. In this study, a base isolation system using Magneto-Sensitive(MS) rubbers is proposed and shown to effectively protect structures against earthquakes. The MS Rubber is a class of smart controllable materials whose mechanical properties change instantly by the application of a magnetic field To demonstrate the advantages of this approach, the MS Rubber isolation system is compared to Lead-Rubber Bearing(LRB) isolation systems and judged based on computed responses to several historical earthquakes. The MS Rubber isolation system is shown to achieve notable decreases in base drifts over comparable passive systems with no accompanying increase in base shears or in accelerations imparted to the superstructure.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.499-512
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• 2022

This work proposes a novel contactless vibration damping and thermal isolation tripod platform based on Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (SML). This prototype is suitable for cryogenic environments, where classical passive, semi active and active vibration isolation techniques may present tribological problems due to the low temperatures and/or cannot guarantee an enough thermal isolation. The levitating platform consists of a Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (SML) with inherent passive static stabilization. In addition, the use of Operational Modal Analysis (OMA) technique is proposed to characterize the transmissibility function from the baseplate to the platform. The OMA is based on the Stochastic Subspace Identification (SSI) by using the Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm. This paper contributes to the use of SSI-EM for SML applications by proposing a step-by-step experimental methodology to process the measured data, which are obtained with different unknown excitations: ambient excitation and impulse excitation. Thus, the performance of SSI-EM for SML applications can be improved, providing a good estimation of the natural frequency and damping ratio without any controlled excitation, which is the main obstacle to use an experimental modal analysis in cryogenic environments. The dynamic response of the 510 g levitating platform has been characterized by means of OMA in a cryogenic, 77 K, and high vacuum, 1E-5 mbar, environment. The measured vertical and radial stiffness are 9872.4 N/m and 21329 N/m, respectively, whilst the measured vertical and radial damping values are 0.5278 Nm/s and 0.8938 Nm/s. The first natural frequency in vertical direction has been identified to be 27.39 Hz, whilst a value of 40.26 Hz was identified for the radial direction. The determined damping values for both modes are 0.46% and 0.53%, respectively.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.1402-1408
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• 2015

A MOSFET's gate driver based on magnetic coupling is investigated. The gate driver can meet the demands in applications for wide range of duty cycles and high frequency. Fully galvanic isolation can be realized, and no auxiliary supply is needed. The driver is insensitive to the leakage inductor of the isolated transformer. No gate resistor is needed to damp the oscillation, and thus the peak output current of the gate driver can be improved. Design of the driving transformer can also be made more flexible, which helps to improve the isolation voltage between the power stage and the control electronics, and aids to enhance the electromagnetic compatibility. The driver's operation principle is analyzed, and the design method for its key parameters is presented. The performance analysis is validated via experiment. The disadvantages of the traditional magnetic coupling and optical coupling have been conquered through the investigated circuit.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.327-336
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• 2018

To date, there are no protocols optimized to the effective separation of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) from testicular cells derived from mouse testes, thus hindering studies based on mouse SSCs. In this study, we aimed to determine the most efficient purification method for the isolation of SSCs from mouse testes among previously described techniques. Isolation of SSCs from testicular cells derived from mouse testes was conducted using four different techniques: differential plating (DP), magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) post-DP, MACS, and positive and negative selection double MACS. DP was performed for 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 h, and MACS was performed using EpCAM ($MACS^{EpCAM}$), Thy1 ($MACS^{Thy1}$), or GFR ${\alpha}1$ ($MACS^{GFR{\alpha}1}$) antibodies. The purification efficiency of each method was analyzed by measuring the percentage of cells that stained positively for alkaline phosphatase. DP for 8 h, $MACS^{Thy1}$ post-DP for 8 h, $MACS^{GFR{\alpha}1}$, positive selection double $MACS^{GFR{\alpha}1/EpCAM}$, and negative selection double $MACS^{GFR{\alpha}1/{\alpha}-SMA}$ were identified as the optimal protocols for isolation of SSCs from mouse testicular cells. Comparison of the purification efficiencies of the optimized isolation protocols showed that, numerically, the highest purification efficiency was obtained using $MACS^{GFR{\alpha}1}$. Overall, our results indicate that $MACS^{GFR{\alpha}1}$ is an appropriate purification technique for the isolation of SSCs from mouse testicular cells.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.323-335
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• 2020

Magnetorheological elastomer (MRE), a smart material, is an innovative material for base isolation system. It has magnetorheological (MR) effect that can control the stiffness in real-time. In this paper, a new hybrid base isolation system combining two electromagnetic closed circuits and the roller bearing is proposed. In the proposed system, the roller part can support the vertical load. Thus, the MRE part is free from the vertical load and can exhibit the maximum MR effect. The MRE magnetic loop is constructed in the free space of the roller bearing and forms a strong magnetic field. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed hybrid base isolation system, dynamic characteristic tests and performance evaluation were carried out. Dynamic characteristic tests were performed under the extensive range of strain of the MRE and the change of the applied current. Performance evaluation was carried out using the hybrid simulation under five earthquakes (i.e., El Centro, Kobe, Hachinohe, Northridge, and Loma Prieta). Especially, semi-active fuzzy control algorithm was applied and compared with passive type. From the performance evaluation, the comparison shows that the new hybrid base isolation system using fuzzy control algorithm is superior to passive type in reducing the acceleration and displacement responses of a target structure.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.55-61
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• 2008

One of the most recent base-isolation systems to improve the earthquake resistance of structures is the Friction Pendulum System(FPS). Simple in design but with versatile properties, the FPS has been used in some of the world s largest seismically isolated buildings, bridges and chemical tanks. FPS using PTFE(Polytetrafl-uoroethylene) based material has been developed to provide a simple and effective way for structures to achieve earthquake resistance. PTFE materials are soft, and are apt to become deformed easily after a few working cycles. In this study, magnetic force is used rather than the usual PTFE materials to improve the material shortcomings. A MF-FPS(Magnetic force-Friction Pendulum System) is proposed, and us shown to effectively protect structures against earthquakes. To demonstrate the advantages of this new system, the MF-FPS is compared with FPS as an attempt to prove its performance. A six-degree-of-freedom model is considered as a numerical example. The ground acceleration data of El Centro, Mexico and Gebze earthquakes are used as seismic excitations. The results showed that MF-FPS improved performance compared with FPS.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.755-770
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• 2009

This study proposes a new smart base isolation system that employs Magneto-Rheological Elastomers (MREs), a class of smart materials whose elastic modulus or stiffness can be varied depending on the magnitude of an applied magnetic field. It also evaluates the dynamic performance of the MRE-based isolation system in reducing vibrations in structures subject to various seismic excitations. As controllable stiffness elements, MREs can increase the dynamic control bandwidth of the isolation system, improving its vibration reduction capability. To study the effectiveness of the MRE-based isolation system, this paper compares its dynamic performance in reducing vibration responses of a base-isolated single-story structure (i.e., 2DOF) with that of a conventional base-isolation system. Moreover, two control algorithms (linear quadratic regulator (LQR)-based control and state-switched control) are considered for regulating the stiffness of MREs. The simulation results show that the MRE-based isolation system outperformed the conventional system in suppressing the maximum base drift, acceleration, and displacement of the structure.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.68-73
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• 2009

Automotive inverters may require current sensors for motor torque control, especially, in applications of hybrid electric vehicles or fuel cell vehicles. In this paper, to achieve a compact, integrated and low cost current sensor, a hall current sensor without magnetic core is introduced for integrating an automotive inverter. The compactness of the current sensor is possible by using integrated magnetic concentrators based on the Hall effect. Magnetic fields caused by three-phase currents are analyzed and a magnetic shield design is proposed for decoupling the cross-coupled field. It offers galvanic isolation, wide bandwidth (>100kHz), and accuracy(< 1%). Using 2D FEM analysis, its performance is demonstrated with design parameters at a U-shaped magnetic shield. The proposed coreless current sensor is tested with rated current to validate the linearity and accuracy.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.1-6
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• 2001

In this article, the fundamental concept, characteristics and application potentials of coreless printed-circuit-board (PCB) transformers are described. Coreless PCB transformers do not have the limitations associated with magnetic cores, such as the frequency limitation, magnetic saturation and core losses. In addition, they eliminate the manual winding process and its associated problems, including labor cost, reliability problems and difficulties in ensuring transformer quality in the manufacturing process. The parameters of the printed windings can be precisely controlled in modern PCB technology. Because of the drastic reduction in the vertical dimension, coreless PCB transformers can achieve high power density and are suitable for applications in which stringent height requirements for the circuits have to be met. A transformer's power density of $24W/cm^2$ has been reported in a power conversion application. When used in an isolation amplifier application, coreless PCB transformers tested so far enable the amplifier to achieve a remarkable linear frequency range of 1MHz, which is almost eight times higher than the frequency range of 120kHz in existing Integrated-Circuit products. PCB materials offer extremely high isolation voltage, typically from 15kV to 40kV, which is higher than many other isolation means such as optocouplers. It is envisaged that coreless PCB transformers can replace traditional core-based transformers in some industrial applications. Their application potentials deserve more attention and exploration.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.392-396
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• 2014

The 2-dimensional silicon vertical Hall devices, which are sensitive to X,Y components of the magnetic field parallel to the surface of the chip, are fabricated using a modified bipolar process. It consists of the thin p-layer at Si-$SiO_2$ interface and n-epi layer to improve the sensitivity and influence of interface effect. Experimental samples are a sensor type K with and type J without $p^+$ isolation dam adjacent to the center current electrode. The results for both type show a more high sensitivity than the former's 2-dimensional vertical Hall devices and a good linearity. The measured non-linearity is about 0.8%. The sensitivity of type J and type K are about 66 V/AT and 200 V/AT, respectively. This sensor's behavior can be explained by the similar J-FET model.