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Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering
Scaling Reversible Adhesion In Synthetic And Biological Systems, Michael David Bartlett
Scaling Reversible Adhesion In Synthetic And Biological Systems, Michael David Bartlett
Open Access Dissertations
Geckos and other insects have fascinated scientists and casual observers with their ability to effortlessly climb up walls and across ceilings. This capability has inspired high capacity, easy release synthetic adhesives, which have focused on mimicking the fibrillar features found on the foot pads of these climbing organisms. However, without a fundamental framework that connects biological and synthetic adhesives from nanoscopic to macroscopic features, synthetic mimics have failed to perform favorably at large contact areas. In this thesis, we present a scaling approach which leads to an understanding of reversible adhesion in both synthetic and biological systems over multiple length …
Multi Rotor Wind Turbine Design And Cost Scaling, Preeti Verma
Multi Rotor Wind Turbine Design And Cost Scaling, Preeti Verma
Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014
The current generation wind turbines are upscaled into multi megawatt range in terms of output power. However, the energy benefit from the turbine is offset by the increased mass and cost. Twenty MW wind turbines are now feasible with rotor diameters up to 200 m, according to a new report from the EU-funded UpWind project in 2011. The question is, how much bigger can wind turbines get realistically? One concept worth considering, and the one that is the subject of this thesis, is to have more than one rotor on a single support structure. Such turbines could have a greater …