Reliability of design approaches for axially loaded offshore piles and its consequences with respect to the North Sea

In the near future, several offshore wind farms are planned to be built in the North Sea. Therefore, jacket and tripod constructions with mainly axially loaded piles are suitable as support structures. The current design of axial bearing resistance of these piles leads to deviant results regarding the pile resistance when different design methods are adopted. Hence, a strong deviation regarding the required pile length must be addressed. The reliability of a design method can be evaluated based on a model error which describes the quality of the considered design method by comparing measured and predicted pile bearing resistances. However, only few pile load tests are reported with regard to the boundary conditions in the North Sea. This paper presents 6 large-scale axial pile load tests which were incorporated within a new model error approach for the current design methods used for the axial bearing resistance, namely API Main Text method and cone penetration test (CPT)-based design methods, such as simplified ICP-05, offshore UWA-05, Fugro-05 and NGI-05 methods. Based on these new model errors, a reliability-based study towards the safety was conducted by performing a Monte-Carlo simulation. In addition, consequences regarding the deterministic pile design in terms of quality factors were evaluated. It is shown that the current global safety factor (GSF) prescribed and the partial safety factors are only valid for the API Main Text and the offshore UWA-05 design methods; whereas for the simplified ICP-05, Fugro-05 and NGI-05 design methods, an increase in the required embedded pile length and thus in the GSF up to 2.69, 2.95 and 3.27, respectively, should be considered to satisfy the desired safety level according to DIN EN 1990 of β = 3.8. Further, quality factors for each design method on the basis of all reliability-based design results were derived. Hence, evaluation of each design method regarding the reliability of the pile capacity prediction is possible.     

Application of artificial neural network optimization for resilient ceramic parts fabricated by direct ink writing

Geometries of ceramic parts for high-temperature sealing have great influence on their compression-resilience behaviors. In this work, an accurate and large-scale artificial neural network (ANN) was established to match the relationship between structural parameters and mechanical properties of ZrO₂ parts fabricated by 3D printing. Four geometry parameters of the designed ZrO₂ parts were imported as input and apparent Young's modulus and maximum deformation simulated by finite element method (FEM) were imported as output. FEM calculation provided 400 groups of data for the training of ANN, which greatly improved the predicted accuracy of the network. The predicted results show the mechanical performance of the parts with a range of modulus from 9.24 × 10⁻³ GPa to 100.35 × 10⁻³ GPa and a range of maximum deformation from 2.32% to 5.80% can be forecasted with error less than 8%. Based on the optimized structural parameters, the designed ZrO₂ parts were fabricated by Direct Ink Writing (DIW) technique. The experimental compression-rebound property is comparable to that of ANN prediction. It demonstrates that the combined method of ANN and FEM is a preferable way to optimize the structure and guide the fabrication of complex ceramic parts by 3D printing method.     

基于GA-MVFOSM法的DSA250型受电弓运动可靠性分析

为分析运动副磨损与杆件尺寸不确定性2种因素对受电弓运动可靠性的影响，提出一种基于遗传一次二阶矩法(GA-MVFOSM)的受电弓运动可靠性计算方法。首先，构建受电弓运动学方程，应用Archard磨损理论建立其运动副磨损可靠性模型。在此基础上，考虑运动副磨损与杆件尺寸的不确定性，结合可靠性理论建立受电弓运动可靠性模型。其次，利用遗传算法优化一次二阶矩法，提出GA-MVFOSM算法，用以求解受电弓的运动可靠度。最后，以DSA250型受电弓为研究对象，利用所提方法分析其运动可靠性，并与传统方法进行对比。分析结果表明:各运动副磨损量分别在0.230 0 mm、0.136 6 mm、0.006 6 mm内时，运动副磨损可靠度处于较高水平，2种因素耦合情况下弓头运动可靠度最小值为0.964 7；基于遗传一次二阶矩的计算方法可以有效提高传统方法计算精度，为提高受电弓工作可靠性提供参考依据。     

基于ANSYS的智能搬运AGV小车下车体结构分析

本文以智能搬运AGV小车下车体机械结构为例，应用ANSYS12.0对智能搬运AGV小车下车体机械结构进行有限元分析，旨在校核该结构的合理性、可靠性；进而为新一代AGV小车车体机械结构的设计提供重要科学性保证。     

TSI系统的可靠性分析与探讨

在对某厂TSI系统运行情况总结的基础上,通过对大量异常情况的归类分析,结合火力发电厂热工自动化系统可靠性评估技术导则的要求,就如何提高TSI系统可靠性进行分析和探讨。     

火箭发动机试验台快速高效高可靠试验技术

随着卫星系统组网及发射任务的增加,某运载火箭上面级发动机需求量猛增,试验系统和试验流程已经无法满足形势任务的需求。通过技术改造和流程优化,采用了一系列多余物控制、试验流程监控及可靠性提升等技术,实现了某试验台试验的快速、高效、高可靠,大大提高了试验效率。     

Influence of photovoltaic generation model and time resolution on the reliability evaluation of distribution systems

This paper aims to investigate the influence of photovoltaic (PV) generation on reliability evaluation of distribution systems. Two PV generation models are used to predict the output power injected into the grid, taking into account the main relevant environmental variables, the irradiance and ambient temperature. Issues that directly affect the output power, such as the spatial smoothing effect due to the plant size and the influence of the irradiance and temperature measurement interval are taken into consideration. Using measurement time series of irradiance and local temperature, the models are used to generate power series in 4‐minute and hourly resolutions. The generated power series are used in a reliability assessment model, with the objective of evaluating the impact of solar resource variability on the reliability indices of the system. Case studies on the IEEE RBTS‐Bus 2 and on the real distribution system of Fernando de Noronha in Brazil are presented and discussed, for power plants of different capacities, considering the effect of the PV generation models, the temporal resolution of the time series and the spatial smoothing of the power output fluctuations. The results show that the power time series in hourly resolution significantly underestimates the frequency of interruptions. For the real system, this index is underestimated at the system level (up to 43%) and at the load points (up to 72%). On the other hand, for the interruption duration index, the temporal aggregation results in a small underestimation (just 4%). The results also indicates that the smoothing effect is irrelevant for typical PV system sizes of distribution systems with discretization equal to or above 4 minutes.     

Chromophore-Free Sealing and Repair of Soft Tissues Using Mid-Infrared Light-Activated Biosealants

Poor strength, infection, leakage, long procedure times, and inflammation limit the efficacy of common tissue sealing devices in surgeries and trauma. Light-activated sealing is attractive for tissue sealing and repair, and can be facilitated by the generation of local heat following absorption of nonionizing laser energy by chromophores. Here, the inherent ability of biomaterials is exploited to absorb nonionizing, mid-infrared (midIR) light in order to engender rapid photothermal sealing and repair of soft tissue wounds. In this approach, the biomaterial simultaneously acts as a photothermal convertor as well as a biosealant, which dispenses the need for exogeneous light-absorbing nanoparticles or dyes. Biomechanical recovery, mathematical modeling, histopathology analyses, tissue strain mapping using digital imaging correlation, and visualization of the biosealant-tissue interface using hyperspectral imaging indicate superior performance of midIR sealing in live mice compared to conventional sutures and glue. The midIR-biosealant approach demonstrates rapid sealing of soft tissues, improves cosmesis, lowers potential for scarring, obviates safety concerns because of the nonionizing light used, and allows adoption of a wide diversity of biomaterials. Taken together, the studies demonstrate a novel advance both in biomaterials for surgical sealing along with the use of nonionizing midIR light, with high potential for clinical translation.     

Modeling,design, and optimization of a cost‐effective and reliable hybrid renewable energy system integrated with desalination using the division algorithm

People in the Middle East are facing the problem of freshwater shortages. This problem is more intense for a remote region, which has no access to the power grid. The use of seawater desalination technology integrated with the generated energy unit by renewable energy sources could help overcome this problem. In this study, we refer a seawater reverse osmosis desalination (SWROD) plant with a capacity of 1.5 m³/h used on Larak Island, Iran. Moreover, for producing fresh water and meet the load demand of the SWROD plant, three different stand‐alone hybrid renewable energy systems (SAHRES), namely wind turbine (WT)/photovoltaic (PV)/battery bank storage (BBS), PV/BBS, and WT/BBS are modeled and investigated. The optimization problem was coded in MATLAB software. Furthermore, the optimized results were obtained by the division algorithm (DA). The DA has been developed to solve the sizing problem of three SAHRES configurations by considering the object function's constraints. These results show that this improved algorithm has been simpler, more precise, faster, and more flexible than a genetic algorithm (GA) in solving problems. Moreover, the minimum total life cycle cost (TLCC = 243 763$), with minimum loss of power supply probability (LPSP = 0%) and maximum reliability, was related to the WT/PV/BBS configuration. WT/PV/BBS is also the best configuration to use less battery as a backup unit (69 units). The batteries in this configuration have a longer life cycle (maximum average of annual battery charge level) than two other configurations (93.86%). Moreover, the optimized results have shown that utilizing the configuration of WT/PV/BBS could lead to attaining a cost‐effective and green (without environmental pollution) SAHRES, with high reliability for remote areas, with appropriate potential of wind and solar irradiance.     

采油树平板闸阀柔性密封圈结构优化设计

为了提高采油树平板闸阀密封圈的密封性能,在泛塞封的基础上,设计一种密封圈本体唇边开有锯齿状凸起的新型柔性密封结构;运用有限元分析方法模拟密封圈的工作状况,分析柔性密封结构特性参数对密封圈密封性能的影响,获得不同柔性密封圈结构参数下密封面间接触应力分布规律,并对新型密封结构进行优化。结果表明:密封面间最大接触应力随唇边锯齿数量、唇边夹角度数的增大而增大,随唇谷夹角度数的增大而减小;新型密封结构选择锯齿数量为3、唇边夹角为20°、唇谷夹角为30°的特性参数时,其最大接触应力比常规Y形密封圈提高了15倍;新型柔性密封结构的密封圈与阀杆、阀盖壁面间接触应力比常规Y形密封圈有显著提高,提高了密封圈的密封性能。