Implementation of Smart Materials for Actuation of Traditional Valve Technology for Hybrid Energy Systems
, Alba Leyva 1,2, Md Sahid Hassan 1,2, Ariztbe Valladolid 1, Nicolas E. Herrera 1, Sofia Gabriela Gomez 1,2, Md Shahjahan Mahmud 1,2, David Tucker 3, Comas Haynes 4 and Yirong Lin 1,2,*
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The trend towards new materials in valve construction has been observed for some time. I have no doubt that this trend will accelerate. The paper addresses an important problem and has great scientific potential. However, in my opinion, the scientific potential of the paper has not been adequately presented. The way in which the valve closure element was selected is questionable. Also the analysis of the valve dynamics lacks harmonic signals. Little can be said about the eigenfrequency of the new valve. The conclusions presented in the paper are largely an abstract or an introduction. It is definitely not a conclusion to say that "SMA spring generate 3.2 N force". The conclusions need to be rethought and rewritten. The literature should also be supplemented. See attached manuscript text for details.
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Author Response
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
А design of a valve actuated by shape memory alloy springs is considered and experimental studies are carried out in the presented paper.
Regarding the content of the paper, I have the following remarks:
1. The abstract should be improved and references should not be used there.
2. The number of literature sources for shape memory alloy actuated valves in the introduction is too limited and needs to be expanded.
3. The formulas in the exposition should be clearly rewritten with numbering, as required in the MDPI template.
4. How is hysteresis taken into account in the total deflection formula?
5. The authors claim that the valve will operate at temperatures of 600 degrees Celsius. If the SMA springs are located in the fluid, how will this temperature affect them since it is much higher than the transition temperature indicated in Table 2?
6. What are the values of the temperatures from table 1 and what is their relationship with the Transition temperature from table 2?
6. The quality of all figures should be improved.
7. How the valve is fixed in the closed position. Is there any kind of lock or does the supply voltage have to be continuously applied?
8. The authors give data on the actuation of the SMA spring when heated by electric current, but do not mention how long it takes for the spring to cool to return to the open position of the valve.
Author Response
Please check the PDF file
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Thank you for your satisfactory answers. Necessary changes made.
Reviewer 2 Report
The authors have addressed my observations and made the necessary corrections. Therefore, I think that the article can be published in the proposed corrected form.
