Academic literature on the topic 'Timed elastic band'

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of 12 weeks of moderate intensity elastic band exercise (EBE) on functional fitness and blood pressure parameters in the elderly. Methods: 27 healthy older adults were randomly assigned to an exercise group (n = 15, age: 75.1 ± 1.4 years) and a control group (n = 12, age: 72.3 ± 1.4 years). Participants performed EBE for 60 min, three times a week, over the course of three months. The EBE consisted of incremental resistance and aerobic exercises designed to improve whole body fitness. Functional fitness and resting cardiovascular parameters were assessed before and after the exercise training program. Results: Grip strength, sit and reach, and one-leg stance improved significantly in the exercise group, while no significant improvements were found in chair stand and timed up and go (p < 0.05). Cardiovascular parameters including systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, and pulse pressure significantly decreased in the exercise group relative to the control group (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Findings of the present study suggest that safe, inexpensive, and easily accessible EBE program with circuit training components play a significant role in improving upper and lower body fitness, as well as cardiovascular fitness, in the elderly.

This study investigated the effects of home-based nutritional and telemedicine-based resistance exercise interventions on improving body composition, blood biochemistry, and lower-limb functional performance. In total, 66 obese patients with mild-to-moderate knee osteoarthritis were randomly divided into a diet control group (D), elastic band resistance exercise group (E), and diet control plus elastic band exercise group (D + E). Each group was supervised by a clinical dietitian and follow-up was conducted via telephone calls or a communication application to track the participants’ progress. After 12 weeks of intervention, the D (p < 0.001) and D + E (p < 0.001) groups achieved significant weight loss. The D + E group exhibited a significant reduction in body fat relative to the D (p = 0.019) and E (p = 0.012) groups. Compared with the D (p = 0.002) and E (p = 0.019) groups, the D + E group achieved significant improvements in the timed up-and-go test and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis total scale. The D + E group experienced significant improvements in total cholesterol (p = 0.001), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p = 0.01), and triglyceride levels (p = 0.007) relative to other groups. In conclusion, individual diet control intervention combined with telemedicine-based resistance exercise intervention significantly improved the body composition, blood biochemistry, and lower-limb functional performance of the investigated population with comorbid conditions.

Planning collision-free trajectories is essential for wheeled mobile robots operating in dynamic environments safely and efficiently. Most current trajectory generation methods focus on achieving optimal trajectories in static maps and considering dynamic obstacles as static depending on the precise motion estimation of the obstacles. However, in realistic applications, dealing with dynamic obstacles that have low reliable motion estimation is a common situation. Furthermore, inaccurate motion estimation leads to poor quality of motion prediction. To generate safe and smooth trajectories in such a dynamic environment, we propose a motion planning algorithm called trend-aware motion planning (TAMP) for dynamic obstacle avoidance, which combines with timed-elastic band. Instead of considering dynamic obstacles as static, our planning approach predicts the moving trends of the obstacles based on the given estimation. Subsequently, the approach generates a trajectory away from dynamic obstacles, meanwhile, avoiding the moving trends of the obstacles. To cope with multiple constraints, an optimization approach is adopted to refine the generated trajectory and minimize the cost. A comparison of our approach against other state-of-the-art methods is conducted. Results show that trajectories generated by TAMP are robust to handle the poor quality of obstacles’ motion prediction and have better efficiency and performance.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is significantly associated with osteoarthritis (OA). This study investigated the effects of two resistance exercise approaches on glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level and function performance. Enrolled were 70 older patients with both T2DM and knee OA. The dynamic group performed resistance exercises with an elastic resistance band. The isometric group underwent isometric contraction exercises. After the 12-week intervention, a significant within-group improvement (all p < 0.001) was observed for the chair stand test (CST; 10.8%, vs. 7.1%), timed up and go (TUG) test (12.6% vs. 7.6%), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) physical function subscale (62.3% vs. 36.1%), and overall WOMAC (54.5% vs. 34.5%) in the dynamic and isometric group, respectively. In addition, in terms of between-group differences, the dynamic group had significant improvements in CST (p = 0.011), TUG (p < 0.001), WOMAC physical function subscale (p = 0.033), and overall WOMAC (p = 0.036) scores compared with the isometric group. However, no significant change in HbA1c was observed in either group. In conclusion, the dynamic resistance exercise significantly improved muscle strength, dynamic balance, and physical function in this comorbid population; however, there was no notable difference in change in HbA1c among different resistance exercises.

The autonomous positioning of tunneling equipment is the key to intellectualization and robotization of a tunneling face. In this paper, a method based on simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) to estimate the body pose of a roadheader and build a navigation map of a roadway is presented. In terms of pose estimation, an RGB-D camera is used to collect images, and a pose calculation model of a roadheader is established based on random sample consensus (RANSAC) and iterative closest point (ICP); constructing a pose graph optimization model with closed-loop constraints. An iterative equation based on Levenberg–Marquadt is derived, which can achieve the optimal estimation of the body pose. In terms of mapping, LiDAR is used to experimentally construct the grid map based on open-source algorithms, such as Gmapping, Cartographer, Karto, and Hector. A point cloud map, octree map, and compound map are experimentally constructed based on the open-source library RTAB-MAP. By setting parameters, such as the expansion radius of an obstacle and the updating frequency of the map, a cost map for the navigation of a roadheader is established. Combined with algorithms, such as Dijskra and timed-elastic-band, simulation experiments show that the combination of octree map and cost map can support global path planning and local obstacle avoidance.

Orthodontic elastic bands are commonly made from natural rubber because they provide high resiliency at a reasonable cost. However, hypersensitivity related to protein present in latex have been reported in some patients which has led to increased usage of non-latex elastic alternatives. Therefore, the assessment of their mechanical properties is of importance. The objective of this study was to compare the physical and mechanical properties of three commercial latex and non-latex type orthodontic elastic bands. Samples of latex and non-latex type orthodontic elastics from manufacturers – AO (6.5oz), MASEL (6.0oz), GAC (6.0oz), with 3/16-inch diameter were selected. Firstly, the physical characteristics (width, cross-sectional thickness, and inner diameter) of the elastic bands were determined, following which their mechanical properties [initial extension force (F0), 24 h-residual force (F24), percentage of force decay, force exerted at 3 times the inner diameter (F3xID) and breaking force] were tested. The data were analyzed with Mann-Whitney U test and multiple comparisons among the groups were done with Kruskal-Wallis Test (p< 0.05). Significant differences were found in the physical characteristics and mechanical properties among each brand and type of elastics. AO elastic bands had significantly low F0 and F24 compared with the others. While the percentage of force decay at 24 h was greatest in AO followed by MASEL and GAC. Non-latex type elastics showed greater force decay than latex type ones, approximately 30-40% and 20-30% of the initial force in non-latex and latex type elastic, respectively. AO elastics showed the highest F3xID and also the lowest breaking force. Overall, non-latex type elastics exhibited lower breaking force compared to latex type ones. Wide variations were observed in the physical and mechanical characteristics among same manufacturer and same elastic type. All commercial brands presented higher F3xID than that stated by the manufacturers. Non-latex type elastics showed greater force decay over 24 h than latex type ones. The differences in the properties between the 2 types of the elastics could be due to the differences in their structure and polymers composition.

Elastics are the simplest device that can be used during a class correction in orthodontics, and despite the simplicity of a latex band, they are very effective and powerful. The resultant inter-maxillary force affects not only the teeth, but even the mandibular position, and consequently the temporomandibular joints (TMJ). The purpose of our work is to simplify the use of elastics, and to reduce the amount of inventory for orthodontists, because there is a lot of merceology available on the market, and different ways of using the elastics. The use of elastics in clinical practice is based on the force extension values, which are given by the manufacturer for the different sizes of the elastics, generally when they are stretched to three times their lumen size. Various configurations allow for the correction of different malocclusions. We propose a new classification and a new device, the elastic selector gauge, in order to allow clinicians to quickly and easily choose the right elastic in all conditions.

ABSTRACT Objective: This clinical study was conducted in order to evaluate force decay over time of latex and non-latex orthodontic intraoral elastics. Methods: Patients (n = 15) were evaluated using latex and non-latex elastics in the periods of : 0, 1, 3, 12 and 24 hours. The rubber bands were transferred to the testing machine (EMIC DL-500 MF), and force values were recorded after stretching the elastic to a length of 25mm. Paired t test was applied and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate the variation of force generated. LSD (Fisher’s least significant difference) post-hoc test was thus employed. Results: As regards the initial forces (zero time), the values of force for non-latex elastic were slightly higher than for the latex elastic. In the subsequent times, the forces generated by the latex elastic showed higher values. Regarding the material degradation, at the end of 24 hours the highest percentage was observed for non-latex elastic. Conclusions: The latex elastics had a more stable behavior during the studied period, compared with non-latex.

Aim: This study was conducted in order to evaluate and compare the behavior of latex and non-latex elastics, as the loss of strength over time in vitro. Methods: The study evaluated 15 of each elastic material for the pre-selected times: 0, 1, 3, 12 and 24 hours. The rubber bands were transferred to the testing machine (EMIC DL-500 MF). The force values were recorded after stretching the elastic to a length of 25mm. Independent t-test was applied. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to check the variation of the forces generated between those determined times. To identify between which times the difference was present, Tukey post-hoc test was accomplished. Results: As regards the initial forces (zero time), the values of force for non-latex elastic were slightly higher than the latex elastic. In subsequent times, the forces generated by the latex elastic showed higher values. Regarding the material degradation, at the end of 24 hours the highest percentage was observed for non-latex elastic. Conclusion: The latex elastic had a more stable behavior during the studied period compared with non-latex.

Under senare år har vi med hjälp av robotar som använder rörelseplanering kunnat automatisera olika processer och uppgifter. Idag finns det väldigt få strategier för lokal rörelseplanering vid jämförelse med global rörelseplanering. Syftet med det här projektet har varit att analysera tre strategier för lokal rörelseplanering, dessa har varit Dynamic Window Approach (DWA), Elastic Band (Eband) och Timed Elastic Band (TEB).I projektet har styrkor, svagheter, beteenden och förbättringsmöjligheter för respektive strategi studerats närmare genom att utföra olika simulerade tester. I testerna mätes tid för att nå mål, antal kollisioner och antalet gånger som målet nåddes. Under projektet användes en virtuell allriktad robot från ABB för att testa strategierna. Testerna genomfördes på ett så rättvist sätt som möjligt, där alla strategier fick samma antal försök och hade samma information om robotens begränsningar.Resultatet visar att TEB är den snabbaste strategin, följt av DWA och sista Eband som var den långsammaste strategin. TEB var också den strategi som presterade bäst vid dynamiska hinder, däremot var den också den strategi som kolliderade mest i testerna, medan Eband kolliderade minst.
In recent years, we have been able to automate various processes and tasks with the help of robots that use motion planning. Today, there are very few strategies for local motion planning when compared to global motion planning. The purpose of this project has been to analyze three strategies for local motion planning, these have been Dynamic Window Approach (DWA), Elastic Band (Eband) and Timed Elastic Band (TEB).In the project, strengths, weaknesses, behaviours and opportunities for improvement for each strategy have been studied in more detail by performing various simulated tests. The tests measure time to reach the goal, the number of collisions and the number of succeeding attempts. During the project, a virtual omni-directional robot from ABB was used to perform the tests. The tests were performed in as fair a way as possible, where all strategies got the same number of attempts and had the same information about the robot's limitations.The results show that TEB is the fastest strategy, followed by DWA and last Eband that was the slowest strategy. TEB was also the strategy that performed best in dynamic obstacles, however, it was also the strategy that collided most of the tests, while Eband collided the least.

Industrial robots are becoming an integral part of the production industry. Efficientoperation with respect to fast movements is critical to increase the economicbenefits of automating the production line. Facilitating near optimalitywith regards to time has high computational demands however and multipleframeworks have been suggested to remedy this. In this thesis we consider oneof these frameworks, namely the elastic band framework. We investigate howthe elastic band time optimal control framework performs regarding computationaltime for point-to-point movements on a SCARA type robot with threerevolute and one prismatic joint. We compare an unconstrained elastic bandformulation with a constrained formulation in the open loop, along with simulatingperformance in the closed-loop. We show that a constrained formulationwhich considers the sparseness of underlying matrices in the optimizationproblem has the lowest computational time. Additionally, we show that the unconstrainedformulation benefits from early stopping. Finally, we show that acontroller implementing this formulation can be used in a model predictivecontroller, although the computational time is still too high for commercialuse on the hardware used in testing.
Industrirobotar har blivit en viktig del av produktionsindustrin. Effektiv driftmed avseende på snabba rörelser är avgörande för att öka de ekonomiska fördelarnaav att använda industrirobotar. I detta examensarbete analyserar vi hurdet så kallade elastic band-ramvärket presterar med avseende på beräkningstidför poit-to-point rörelser på en robot av typ SCARA med tre roterande led ochett prismatikt led. I synnerhet jämför vi en formulering med bivilkor med enformulering där bivilkoren inkorporerats i kostnadsfunktionen. Vi simulerarockså prestanda i ett slutet system. Vi visar att formulering med bivilkor somtar hänsyn till de underliggande matrisernas gleshet har den lägsta beräkningstiden. Vidare visar vi att lösande av optimeringsproblemet för formuleringendär bivilkoren inkorporerats i kostnadsfunktionen kan stoppas tidigt utanstörre försämring av resultat. Till sist visar vi att en regulator som implmenterardenna formulering kan användas i MPC styrning. Beräkningstiden är dockfortfarande för hög för kommersiell användning på hårdvaran som användes idetta exjobb.

[EN] Phononic crystals are artificial materials formed by a periodic arrangement of inclusions embedded into a host medium, where each of them can be solid or fluid. By controlling the geometry and the impedance contrast of its constituent materials, one can control the dispersive properties of waves, giving rise to a huge variety of interesting and fundamental phenomena in the context of wave propagation. When a propagating wave encounters a medium with different physical properties it can be transmitted and reflected in lossless media, but also absorbed if dissipation is taken into account. These fundamental phenomena have been classically explained in the context of homogeneous media, but it has been a subject of increasing interest in the context of periodic structures in recent years as well. This thesis is devoted to the study of different effects found in sonic and phononic crystals associated with transmission, reflection and absorption of waves, as well as the development of a technique for the characterization of its dispersive properties, described by the band structure. We start discussing the control of wave propagation in transmission in conservative systems. Specifically, our interest is to show how sonic crystals can modify the spatial dispersion of propagating waves leading to control the diffractive broadening of sound beams. Making use of the spatial dispersion curves extracted from the analysis of the band structure, we first predict zero and negative diffraction of waves at frequencies close to the band-edge, resulting in collimation and focusing of sound beams in and behind a 3D sonic crystal, and later demonstrate it through experimental measurements. The focusing efficiency of a 3D sonic crystal is limited due to the strong scattering inside the crystal, characteristic of the diffraction regime. To overcome this limitation we consider axisymmetric structures working in the long wavelength regime, as a gradient index lens. In this regime, the scattering is strongly reduced and, in an axisymmetric configuration, the symmetry matching with acoustic sources radiating sound beams increase its efficiency dramatically. Moreover, the homogenization theory can be used to model the structure as an effective medium with effective physical properties, allowing the study of the wave front profile in terms of refraction. We will show the model, design and characterization of an efficient focusing device based on these concepts. Consider now a periodic structure in which one of the parameters of the lattice, such as the lattice constant or the filling fraction, gradually changes along the propagation direction. Chirped crystals represent this concept and are used here to demonstrate a novel mechanism of sound wave enhancement based on a phenomenon known as "soft" reflection. The enhancement is related to a progressive slowing down of the wave as it propagates along the material, which is associated with the group velocity of the local dispersion relation at the planes of the crystal. A model based on the coupled mode theory is proposed to predict and interpret this effect. Two different phenomena are observed here when dealing with dissipation in periodic structures. On one hand, when considering the propagation of in-plane sound waves in a periodic array of absorbing layers, an anomalous decrease in the absorption, combined with a simultaneous increase of reflection and transmission at Bragg frequencies is observed, in contrast to the usual decrease of transmission, characteristic in conservative periodic systems at these frequencies. For a similar layered media, backed now by a rigid reflector, out-of-plane waves impinging the structure from a homogeneous medium will increase dramatically the interaction strength. In other words, the time delay of sound waves inside the periodic system will be considerably increased resulting in an enhanced absorption, for a broadband spectral range.
[ES] Los cristales fonónicos son materiales artificiales formados por una disposición periódica de inclusiones en un medio, pudiendo ambos ser de carácter sólido o fluido. Controlando la geometría y el contraste de impedancias entre los materiales constituyentes se pueden controlar las propiedades dispersivas de las ondas. Cuando una onda propagante se encuentra un medio con diferentes propiedades físicas puede ser transmitida y reflejada, en medios sin pérdidas, pero también absorbida, si la disipación es tenida en cuenta. La presente tesis está dedicada al estudio de diferentes efectos presentes en cristales sónicos y fonónicos relacionados con la transmisión, reflexión y absorción de ondas, así como el desarrollo de una técnica para la caracterización de sus propiedades dispersivas, descritas por la estructura de bandas. En primer lugar, se estudia el control de la propagación de ondas en transmisión en sistemas conservativos. Específicamente, nuestro interés se centra en mostrar cómo los cristales sónicos son capaces de modificar la dispersión espacial de las ondas propagantes, dando lugar al control del ensanchamiento de haces de sonido. Haciendo uso de las curvas de dispersión espacial extraídas del análisis de la estructura de bandas, se predice primero la difracción nula y negativa de ondas a frecuencias cercanas al borde de la banda, resultando en la colimación y focalización de haces acústicos en el interior y detrás de un cristal sónico 3D, y posteriormente se demuestra mediante medidas experimentales. La eficiencia de focalización de un cristal sónico 3D está limitada debido a las múltiples reflexiones existentes en el interior del cristal. Para superar esta limitación se consideran estructuras axisimétricas trabajando en el régimen de longitud de onda larga, como lentes de gradiente de índice. En este régimen, las reflexiones internas se reducen fuertemente y, en configuración axisimétrica, la adaptación de simetría con fuentes acústicas radiando haces de sonido incrementa la eficiencia drásticamente. Además, la teoría de homogenización puede ser empleada para modelar la estructura como un medio efectivo con propiedades físicas efectivas, permitiendo el estudio del frente de ondas en términos refractivos. Se mostrará el modelado, diseño y caracterización de un dispositivo de focalización eficiente basado en los conceptos anteriores. Considérese ahora una estructura periódica en la que uno de los parámetros de la red, sea el paso de red o el factor de llenado, cambia gradualmente a lo largo de la dirección de propagación. Los cristales chirp representan este concepto y son empleados aquí para demostrar un mecanismo novedoso de incremento de la intensidad de la onda sonora basado en un fenómeno conocido como reflexión "suave". Este incremento está relacionado con una ralentización progresiva de la onda conforme se propaga a través del material, asociado con la velocidad de grupo de la relación de dispersión local en los planos del cristal. Un modelo basado en la teoría de modos acoplados es propuesto para predecir e interpretar este efecto. Se observan dos fenómenos diferentes al considerar pérdidas en estructuras periódicas. Por un lado, si se considera la propagación de ondas sonoras en un array periódico de capas absorbentes, cuyo frente de ondas es paralelo a los planos del cristal, se produce una reducción anómala en la absorción combinada con un incremento simultáneo de la reflexión y transmisión a las frecuencias de Bragg, de forma contraria a la habitual reducción de la transmisión, característica de sistemas periódicos conservativos a estas frecuencias. En el caso de la misma estructura laminada en la que se cubre uno de sus lados mediante un reflector rígido, la incidencia de ondas sonoras desde un medio homogéneo, cuyo frente de ondas es perpendicular a los planos del cristal, produce un gran incremento de la fuerza de
[CAT] Els cristalls fonònics són materials artificials formats per una disposició d'inclusions en un medi, ambdós poden ser sòlids o fluids. Controlant la geometría i el contrast d'impedàncies dels seus materials constituents, és poden controlar les propietats dispersives de les ondes, permetent una gran varietatde fenòmens fonamentals interessants en el context de la propagació d'ones. Quan una ona propagant troba un medi amb pèrdues amb propietats físiques diferents es pot transmetre i reflectir, però també absorbida si la dissipació es té en compte. Aquests fenòmens fonamentals s'han explicat clàssicament en el context de medis homogenis, però també ha sigut un tema de creixent interés en el context d'estructures periòdiques en els últims anys. Aquesta tesi doctoral tracta de l'estudi de diferents efectes en cristalls fonònics i sònics lligats a la transmissió, reflexió i absorció d'ones, així com del desenvolupament d'una tècnica de caracterització de les propietats dispersives, descrites mitjançant la estructura de bandes. En primer lloc, s'estudia el control de la propagació ondulatori en transmissió en sistemes conservatius. Més específicament, el nostre interés és mostrar com els cristalls sonors poden modificar la dispersió espacial d'ones propagants donant lloc al control de l'amplària per difracció dels feixos sonors. Mitjançant les corbes dispersió espacial obtingudes de l'anàlisi de l'estructura de bandes, es prediu, en primer lloc, la difracció d'ones zero i negativa a freqüències próximes al final de banda. El resultat és la collimació i focalització de feixos sonors dins i darrere de cristalls de so. Després es mostra amb mesures experimentals. L'eficiència de focalització d'un cristall de so 3D està limitada per la gran dispersió d'ones dins del cristall, que és característic del règim difractiu. Per a superar aquesta limitació, estructures axisimètriques que treballen en el règim de llargues longituds d'ona, i es comporten com a lents de gradient d'índex. En aquest règim, la dispersió es redueix enormement i, en una configuració axisimètrica, a causa de l'acoblament de la simetría amb les fonts acústiques que radien feixos sonors, l'eficiència de radiació s'incrementa significativament. D'altra banda, la teoria d'homogeneïtzació es pot utilitzar per a modelar, dissenyar i caracteritzar un dispositiu eficient de focalització basat en aquests conceptes. Considerem ara una estructura periòdica en la qual un dels seus paràmetres de xarxa, com ara la constant de xarxa o el factor d'ompliment canvia gradualment al llarg de la direcció de propagació. Els cristalls chirped representen aquest concepte i s'utilitzen ací per a demostrar un mecanisme nou d'intensificació d'ones sonores basat en el fenòmen conegut com a reflexió "suau". La intensificació està relacionada amb la alentiment progressiva de l'ona conforme propaga al llarg del material, que està associada amb la velocitat de grup de la relació de dispersió local en els diferents plànols del cristall. Es proposa un model basat en la teoria de modes acoblats per a predir i interpretar este efecte. Dos fenòmens diferents cal destacar quan es tracta d'estructures periòdiques amb dissipació. Per un costat, al considerar la propagació d'ones sonores en el plànol en un array periòdic de capes absorbents, s'observa una disminució anòmala de l'absorció i es combina amb un augment simultani de reflexió i transmissió en les freqüències de Bragg que contrasta amb la usual disminució de transmissió, característica dels sistemes conservatius a eixes freqüències. Per a un medi similar de capes, amb un reflector rígid darrere, les ones fora del pla incidint l'estructura des de un medi homogeni, augmentaran considerablement la interacció. En altres paraules, el retràs temporal de les ones sonores dins del sistema periòdic augmentarà significativament produint un augmen
Cebrecos Ruiz, A. (2015). Transmission, reflection and absorption in Sonic and Phononic Crystals [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/56463
TESIS
Premiado

In this article, we discuss the concept of elastic interfaces, which was originally introduced by Masui, Kashiwagi, and Borden (1995) a decade ago for the manipulation of discrete, time-independent data. It gained recent attraction again by our own work in which we adapted and extended it in order to use it in a couple of other applications, most importantly in the context of continuous, time-dependent documents (Hürst & Götz, 2004; Hürst, Götz, & Lauer, 2004). The basic idea of an elastic interface is illustrated in Figure 1. Normally, objects are moved by dragging them directly to the target position (direct positioning). With elastic interfaces, the object follows the cursor or mouse pointer on its way to the target position with a speed s that is a function of the distance d between the cursor and the object. They are called elastic because the behavior can be explained by the rubber-band metaphor, in which the connection between the cursor and the object is seen as a rubber band: The more the band is stretched, the stronger the force between the object and the cursor gets, which makes the object move faster. Once the object and cursor come closer to each other, the pressure on the rubber band decreases, thus slowing down the object’s movement. In the next section we describe when and why elastic interfaces are commonly used and review related approaches. Afterward, we illustrate different scenarios and applications in which elastic interfaces have been used successfully for visual data browsing, that is, for skimming and navigating through visual data. First, we review the work done by Masui (1998) and Masui et al. (1995) in the context of discrete, time-independent data. Then we describe our own work, which applies the concept of elastic interfaces to continuous, time-dependent media streams. In addition, we discuss specific aspects considering the integration of such an elastic behavior into common GUIs (graphical user interfaces) and introduce a new interface design that is especially useful in context with multimedia-document skimming.

We implement periodic stiffness time-modulation in a beam with piezoelectric patches and switchable shunted negative capacitance. The shunted negative capacitance circuits, connected in series with each piezoelectric patch through a switch, soften the structure. By alternatively opening and closing the switch, the beam’s stiffness effectively oscillates periodically between two values. We present a simplified theoretical model of time-periodic beams and describe the occurrence of flat bands in the dispersion diagrams. We show that a narrowband reflection from a time-modulated domain can be obtained for a broadband incident wave, hence qualifying the modulated domain as a single-port system with tunable response. We validate our theoretical findings by comparing time-domain simulations with experimental measurements of transient wavefields through scanning Doppler laser vibrometry.

Periodic structures provide filtering behavior for vibrations, as a result of the repetition in space of unit blocks, or unit cells. In general, they are characterized by an internal mechanical impedance mismatch, so that waves are reflected and transmitted every time a discontinuity is present. The global behavior given by waves superposition is their cancellation, only for specific frequency ranges, generally called stop-bands or band-gaps. The variation of non-dimensional parameters shows how these attenuation regions move in the frequency domain: the correspondent diagrams are the main tools for the design problem and are known as band-maps. The selection of the geometrical, physical and elastic properties of the unit cell is therefore dependent on the designer experience and nothing can be said about the optimality of the proposed solution. Numerical methods are used for the selection of the best cell geometry, in order to get optimal attenuation. Generally, this is a time consuming approach. In this paper, an new method is presented, based on how the waves are reflected and transmitted at cells interface. Both beam and rod case studies are investigated. The algorithm allows matching between band-gap central frequency and the desired value, while the designed attenuation is optimal there, under certain physical and geometrical constraints. Moreover, the design of the bandgap location has been decoupled from the design of the magnitude of attenuation. This approach is purely analytic, therefore the computational efforts required are minimum. In order to validate the analytical model, a passive periodic beam has been manufactured. Its real frequency response is therefore compared to the expected one.

We assembled a chain composed of a periodic arrangement of aluminum and steel spheres encased in a 4-rod polycarbonate holder with tunable static precompression applied by means of a lever actuated system. To excite periodic oscillations we perturbed the chain with a piezo-stack actuator driven by both continuous and finite bursts of a sinusoidally varying periodic signal. The amplitude of the periodic signal ranged from linear to strongly nonlinear regimes. We report the tunability of the frequency range for the band gap edges as a function of the material parameters, chain geometry and stress conditioning. We analyze the data by means of force-time plot and Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT). We observe a dramatic reduction of the transmitted wave amplitude for harmonic excitations with fundamental frequencies within the gap. The application of both continuous and short bursts of perturbation allows for observation of different dynamic phenomena at selected frequency ranges (in particular close to the lower optical branch edge). By varying the amplitude of the dynamic excitation (and therefore the level of the nonlinearity present in the system) we seek localized discrete breathing modes and surface instabilities. The comparison between continuum theory, discrete numerical modeling and experiments show a qualitative agreement and provide fundamental understanding for future investigation and numerous engineering applications. The challenges and considerations involved with the construction of an experimental system capable of capturing and leveraging on the described phenomena will be detailed.

Abstract A Computational Structural Acoustics (CSA) capability for solving scattering, radiation, and other problems related to the acoustics of submerged structures has been developed by employing some of the recent algorithmic trends in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), namely time-discontinuous Galerkin Least-Squares finite element methods. Traditional computational methods toward simulation of acoustic radiation and scattering from submerged elastic bodies have been primarily based on frequency domain formulations. These classical time-harmonic approaches (including boundary element, finite element, and finite difference methods) have been successful for problems involving a limited range of frequencies (narrow band response) and scales (wavelengths) that are large compared to the characteristic dimensions of the elastic structure. Attempts at solving large-scale structural acoustic systems with dimensions that are much larger than the operating wavelengths and which are complex, consisting of many different components with different scales and broadband frequencies, has revealed limitations of many of the classical methods. As a result, there has been renewed interest in new innovative approaches, including time-domain approaches. This paper describes recent advances in the development of a new class of high-order accurate and unconditionally stable space-time methods for structural acoustics which employ finite element discretization of the time domain as well as the usual discretization of the spatial domain. The formulation is based on a space-time variational equation for both the acoustic fluid and elastic structure together with their interaction. Topics to be discussed include the development and implementation of higher-order accurate non-reflecting boundary conditions based on the exact impedance relation through the. Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DtN) map, and a multi-field representation for the acoustic fluid based on independent pressure and velocity potential variables. Numerical examples involving radiation and scattering of acoustic waves are presented to illustrate the high-order accuracy achieved by the new methodology for CSA.

This study involves the analysis of elastic-plastic-damage dynamics of one-dimensional structures comprising of periodic materials. These structures are composed by multilayer unit cells with different materials. The dynamical characteristics of the composite material present distinct frequency ranges where wave propagation is blocked. The steady-state forced analyses are conducted on a structure constructed from a periodic inelasticity material. The material models have a linear dependence for elasticity problems and non-linear for elastoplasticity-damage problems. This paper discusses the pass and stop-band dispersive behavior of material models on temporal and spatial domains. For this purpose, some structural problems are composed of periodic and damping materials for analysis of vibration suppression have been simulated. This work brings a formulation of Galerkin method for one-dimensional elastic-plastic-damage problems. A time-stepping algorithm for non-linear dynamics is also presented. Numerical treatment of the constitutive models is developed by the use of return-mapping algorithm. For spatial discretization the standard finite element method is used. The procedure proposed in this work can be extended to multidimensional problems, analysis of strain localization, and for others material models.