University of Maryland
Assembly Line
A New Way to Beat the Heat: Scientists Develop an ‘Elastocaloric’ Cooling Device
In search of an environmentally-friendly cooling solution, Dr. Ichiro Takeuchi, a materials scientist at the University of Maryland, and his research lab have developed an innovative “elastocaloric” cooling device made of nitinol—a nickel-titanium alloy—that does not rely on the use of harmful liquid refrigerants. Instead, nitinol tubes possess a unique physical property that allows the alloy to absorb heat, thereby cooling the area around it. This new device cools so effectively that it could be used in commercial refrigerators or air conditioners in the future. Widespread adoption of such a “caloric” cooling device would significantly diminish our dependence on environmentally harmful chemicals for cooling.
Caloric cooling devices are a class of newly developed materials that change temperature under certain conditions. For example, ‘magnetocaloric’ materials change temperature when placed in a magnetic field, and ‘electrocaloric’ materials change temperature when exposed to an electric field. Elastocaloric materials, on the other hand, respond to mechanical force, such as stretching or compressing, and absorb heat after the mechanical strain is released. These materials are non-volatile, meaning they do not easily evaporate into a gas. Therefore, their potential to contribute to global warming is, operationally, zero, making them extremely attractive candidates for alternative refrigeration.
A Unified Industrial Large Knowledge Model Framework in Smart Manufacturing
The recent emergence of large language models (LLMs) shows the potential for artificial general intelligence, revealing new opportunities in industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing. However, a notable gap exists in applying these LLMs in industry, primarily due to their training on general knowledge rather than domain-specific knowledge. Such specialized domain knowledge is vital for effectively addressing the complex needs of industrial applications. To bridge this gap, this paper proposes an Industrial Large Knowledge Model (ILKM) framework emphasizing their potential to revolutionize the industry in smart manufacturing. In addition, ILKMs and LLMs are compared from eight perspectives. Finally, “6S Principle” is proposed as the guideline for the development of ILKMs in smart manufacturing.
Powering Up the Industrial Metaverse
Materials, physics and systems for multicaloric cooling
Calls to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and demands for higher energy efficiency continue to drive research into alternative cooling and refrigeration technologies. The caloric effect is the reversible change in temperature and entropic states of a solid material subjected to one or more fields and can be exploited to achieve cooling. The field of caloric cooling has undergone a series of transformations over the past 50 years, bolstered by the advent of new materials and devices, and these developments have contributed to the emergence of multicalorics in the past decade. Multicaloric materials display one or more types of ferroic order that can give rise to multiple field-induced phase transitions that can enhance various aspects of caloric effects. These materials could open up new avenues for extracting heat and spearhead hitherto unknown technological applications. In this Review, we survey the emerging field of multicaloric cooling and explore state-of-the-art caloric materials and systems (devices) that are responsive to multiple fields. We present our vision of the future applications of multicaloric and caloric cooling and examine key factors that govern the overall system efficiency of the cooling devices.