Disclosed is a brake hose endurance testing apparatus, including: a plurality of first fitting members inserted at one end of the brake hose into a plurality of first fixing brackets; a first mounting block attached to the plurality of first fixing brackets and configured to move up and down; a vertical driving unit configured to drive the first mounting block up and down; a second mounting block attached to a plurality of second fitting members inserted at the opposite end of the brake hose into a plurality of second fixing brackets or attached and fixed to moving brackets; and a horizontal driving unit configured to drive the moving brackets to move left and right, wherein the first and second fitting members of the brake hose are universal fitting members laid out to reflect the interference characteristics between the brake hose and peripheral components.

A method for determining a stiffness of a tube bundle heat exchanger. The heat exchanger has a core tube and a plurality of coil tubes coiled around the core tube to form a tube bundle having a plurality of coil layers at a respective layer coiling angle. The method determines a geometric strength parameter for a coil layer, the strength parameter being an area ratio of a coil-tube cross-sectional area to a cell cross-sectional area resulting from the axial spacing of the coil tubes and an outer diameter of the coil tubes. The area ratio is corrected by a correction factor taking the orientation of the coil tubes of the coil layer in relation to the force of gravity acting on the coil tubes into consideration. The stiffness of the respective coil layer is determined from the corrected area ratio and a modulus of elasticity of the coil-tube material.

Disclosed is a brake hose endurance testing apparatus, including: a plurality of first fitting members inserted at one end of the brake hose into a plurality of first fixing brackets; a first mounting block attached to the plurality of first fixing brackets and configured to move up and down; a vertical driving unit configured to drive the first mounting block up and down; a second mounting block attached to a plurality of second fitting members inserted at the opposite end of the brake hose into a plurality of second fixing brackets or attached and fixed to moving brackets; and a horizontal driving unit configured to drive the moving brackets to move left and right, wherein the first and second fitting members of the brake hose are universal fitting members laid out to reflect the interference characteristics between the brake hose and peripheral components.

A method, circuit and apparatus for detecting capacitance on a droplet actuator, inter alia, for determining the presence, partial presence or absence of a droplet at an electrode on a droplet actuator by: (a) providing a droplet actuator comprising: (i) a substrate comprising electrodes arranged on the substrate for conducting droplet operations on a surface of the substrate; (ii) a capacitance detection circuit for detecting capacitance at the droplet operations surface at one or more of the electrodes; (b) detecting capacitance at the droplet operations surface at one or more of the electrodes; and (c) determining from the capacitance the presence, partial presence or absence of a droplet at the droplet operations surface at the electrode.

A method and apparatus for extracting the contents of voids and/or pores present in a semiconductor device to obtain information indicative of the nature of the voids and/or pores, e.g. to assist with metrology measurements. The method includes heating the semiconductor wafer to expel the contents of the voids and/or pores, collecting the expelled material in a collector, and measuring a consequential change in mass of the semiconductor wafer and/or the collector, to extract information indicative of the nature of the voids. This information may include information relating to the distribution of the voids and/or pores, and/or the sizes of the voids and/or pores, and/or the chemical contents of the voids and/or pores. The collector may include a condenser having a temperature-controlled surface (e.g. in thermal communication with a refrigeration unit) for condensing the expelled material.

A method for determining a stiffness of a tube bundle heat exchanger. The heat exchanger has a core tube and a plurality of coil tubes coiled around the core tube to form a tube bundle having a plurality of coil layers at a respective layer coiling angle. The method determines a geometric strength parameter for a coil layer, the strength parameter being an area ratio of a coil-tube cross-sectional area to a cell cross-sectional area resulting from the axial spacing of the coil tubes and an outer diameter of the coil tubes. The area ratio is corrected by a correction factor taking the orientation of the coil tubes of the coil layer in relation to the force of gravity acting on the coil tubes into consideration. The stiffness of the respective coil layer is determined from the corrected area ratio and a modulus of elasticity of the coil-tube material.