Rolf Luchsinger | Swiss Federal Laboratories for Material Testing and Research (original) (raw)

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Papers by Rolf Luchsinger

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Journal of Bionic Engineering, 2004

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This panel discussion also includes a short presentation by Amanda Boekholt, Swiss Federal Office... more This panel discussion also includes a short presentation by Amanda Boekholt, Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA), about the U Space set of federated services.

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Airborne wind energy is an emerging field in the renewable energy technologies that aims to repla... more Airborne wind energy is an emerging field in the renewable energy technologies that aims to replace the use of fossil fuels for energy production on an economical basis. A characteristic feature of the various concepts that are currently pursued is the use of tethered flying devices to access wind energy at higher altitudes where the wind is more consistent. This booklet contains 70 abstracts that were presented at the Airborne Wind Energy Conference 2015 (AWEC 2015), which was held from 15-16 June 2915 at Delft University of Technology. Further included are 37 additional full page photos and illustrations, mainly of prototypes characterising the state of airborne wind energy technology in 2015.

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The new structural concept Tensairity is a synergetic combination of a pneumatic structure with a... more The new structural concept Tensairity is a synergetic combination of a pneumatic structure with a cable-strut structure. The basic principle of Tensairity is to stabilize the cable-strut structure with the pneumatic structure. A number of permanent Tensairity structures such as a roof over a parking garage or a skier bridge were realizad in recent years. In order to investigate the potential of the Tensairity technology for temporary structures, a demonstration car bridge with 8 m span was built and tested in our lab.

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The concept of Kalman filtering is described as a tool to find and reconstruct the location of in... more The concept of Kalman filtering is described as a tool to find and reconstruct the location of interaction points in high energy physics events. We discuss the method for using charged particle tracks, and we propose for the first time to apply it also for neutral particles, and to combine the information from both charged and neutral particles originating from a common point in space. The formalism is derived in detail for a particular choice of parametrisation, which we consider representative for a typical particle physics experiment. 1 Introduction In the past, the most common method to find and reconstruct the origin and precise location of interactions, called the vertex, was the "Method of Least Squares Fitting" [1]. In this paper we promote another linear mathematical technique, which has only recently become more popular among the HEP community: the method of Kalman Filter. Despite the fact that it was "invented" for other purposes [2], it has already be...

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An analytical model for the deflection of a symmetric, spindle shaped Tensairity girder under hom... more An analytical model for the deflection of a symmetric, spindle shaped Tensairity girder under homogenous load is proposed which can be solved analytically. The results are compared to FEM predictions for a specific Tensairity girder. Further simplifications of the analytical solution lead to a simple relation for the deflection of the Tensairity girder, which reveals the importance of the elasticity of the chords relative to the air pressure in the inflated hull. Such simple models are crucial to understand the basic principles of Tensairity and provide the engineer with easy rules to estimate the load-deflection behaviour of this new light weight structure.

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This paper shows different tools and approaches that can be useful for the definition of the desi... more This paper shows different tools and approaches that can be useful for the definition of the design of pneumatic structures. Some of these tools have been applied for the design of a Tensairity® hull.

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The purpose of the on-going project DYNASUIT is to design a new intravehicular body suit for coun... more The purpose of the on-going project DYNASUIT is to design a new intravehicular body suit for countermeasure purposes, including state of the art technologies in artificial muscles, body monitoring and biofeedback. This paper focuses on the concepts, designs and testing of the artificial muscles subsystem. Based on a preliminary analysis and a selection of the most promising scenarios, two actuation technologies have been selected for deeper analysis in the project, namely electro-active polymers (EAP) and sigma pneumatic actuators. The paper describes the design and the expected performances of each of the actuation technologies in the suit. The physical demonstrators built during the activity in order to validate the designs and characteristics of the actuators in the context of DYNASUIT, as well as the associated results, are presented. These outputs will be used in the following of the activity to support the detailed design of the full countermeasure suit.

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Tensairity is a lightweight structural concept consisting of struts and cables stabilised by an i... more Tensairity is a lightweight structural concept consisting of struts and cables stabilised by an inflated tube (Luchsinger et al. [1]). One of the latest structural developments is the application of a fabric web inside the air tube. This web, prestressed by the air pressure, is ascribed a positive effect on the stabilisation of the compression elements. Experimental research was performed to study the effect of the inflated tube and, in particular, fabric webs on the buckling behaviour of full-scale Tensairity columns (Wever et al. [2]). Two 5 m long spindle-shaped Tensairity columns were tested: one without and one with internal webs. For different tube pressures the structures were subjected to an axial compressive load. The responses were analysed and compared. In practice the buckling behaviour of both columns appeared to improve for higher pressures, emphasising the stabilising effect of overpressure. Besides, the webs contributed in a positive manner to the response of the col...

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Pumping cycle kite power has attracted considerable interest over the last years with several sta... more Pumping cycle kite power has attracted considerable interest over the last years with several start-ups and research teams investigating the technology. While all these groups produce electrical power with a ground-based generator in a cyclic process, there is no consent about the shape, structure and control of the flying object. In particular the launching and landing strategy has not been settled yet. TwingTec has followed a pragmatic approach focusing on the flying part of the system. The spin-off from Empa and FHNW has developed over the last years in close collaboration with leading research institutes from Switzerland the twing, an acronym for tethered wing. The guiding principle behind the design of the twing was to combine the light weight property of a kite with the aerodynamic properties of a glider plane. Launching and landing was solved by integrating rotors into the structure allowing the twing to hover. Launching, transition into crosswind, autonomous power production...

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Journal of Bionic Engineering, 2004

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