Vector form intrinsic finite element is a recently developed and promising numerical method for the analysis of complicated structural behavior. Taking the cable-link element as example, the framework of the vector form intrinsic finite element is explained first. Based on this, a constant strain triangle element is introduced, and relevant required equations are deduced. Subsequently, the vector form intrinsic finite element is successfully applied to carry out form-finding of shells generated from physical models, such as hanging models, tension models, and pneumatic models. In addition, the resulting geometries are analyzed with finite element method, thus demonstrating that a dominant membrane stress distribution arises when the shell is subjected to gravitational loading.@en

Due to its wide range of related research contents and diversified research approaches, the term ‘Structural Morphology’ has not been clearly defined by the Structural Morphology Group (SMG) of the International Association for Shells and Spatial Structures (IASS), founded in 1991, although some scholars have given their own viewpoints. This paper presents a different way to understand the meaning of “Structural Morphology” and its connotations. Nowadays, numerical techniques have become the most important means to do research in the field of structural engineering, and they can assist in the design, analysis and optimization of structures by handling a large number of parameters. In this paper, we present a common conceptual scheme for these numerical analysis methods. The scheme classifies the parameters of the initial structural system into five categories and, with the aid of numerical analysis methods, leads to the structural performance of the final structure. Two simple numerical examples are shown to verify the rationality of the scheme. On this basis, a conceptual formula to describe 'Structural Morphology' is proposed, which contains the whole numerical analysis process, shows the goal of structural morphology and also suggests a suitable methodology. Moreover, since numerical form-finding and computational morphogenesis have become two main research foci of structural morphology, a basic introduction, methodology and some achievements related to each research focus are presented in this paper.@en

Heterojunction silicon with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cells that combine advanced thin-film hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and crystalline silicon (c-Si) technologies are promising because of the high performance at low cost. Due to the low conductivity of a-Si:H, indium tin oxide (ITO) needs to be used as a front contact layer on top of a-Si:H in order to collect photogenerated currents. The thin a-Si:H layer requires the ITO deposition to be soft so that the passivation is maintained after deposition. Otherwise, the passivation degradation resulting from ITO deposition should be recovered by some post processing. In this contribution, we investigate how the power density and the temperature during ITO deposition as well as post annealing influence the passivation quality of HIT solar cells as characterised by the open-circuit voltage (Voc) and minority carrier lifetime. Firstly, ITO sputtering with lower power density can reduce the degradation of the passivation quality after ITO deposition. Secondly, we have investigated the simultaneous annealing during ITO deposition at elevated temperature. On one hand, simultaneous annealing can recover some of the degradation resulting from sputtering. On the other hand, there is a temperature threshold above which degradation of the passivation is observed, probably by hydrogen effusion. Thirdly, we observe that post annealing can fully recover the degradation resulting from ITO sputtering at room temperature (RT).@en