Discrete-time setpoint-triggered reset integrator design with guaranteed performance and stability

According to Bode's gain-phase relationship, in linear time-invariant controllers, introducing an integral action to eliminate the steady-state error has an adverse effect of increased phase delay and overshoot, leading to performance deterioration. Moreover, increasing the bandwidth of the closed-loop system to enhance the low-frequency disturbance rejection invariably amplifies the sensitivity to high-frequency disturbances. Hence, the performance of the linear controllers is always limited due to these fundamental frequency- and time-domain limitations. Motivated by the desire to address the fundamental limitations of linear controllers and improve the time-varying closed-loop performance, we put forward a novel setpoint-triggered reset integrator strategy that varies the integrator cut-off frequency based on the setpoint information. Particularly, to tackle the time-varying disturbances and setpoint profiles, the proposed controller consists of a nominal linear controller and a variable-gain reset integrator. We show the global asymptotic stability of the proposed methodology using positive-real lemma along with the LaSalle's invariance principle and experimentally validate using measured frequency response function. Moreover, the efficacy of the proposed technique compared to that of the linear controller is experimentally demonstrated on a benchmark rotary servo system. Experimental results assessed using the tracking error and cumulative power spectral density substantiate that the proposed control strategy can not only improve the low-frequency disturbance rejection but also augment the high-frequency trajectory tracking performance.     

A Generalized Surface Chalcogenation Strategy for Boosting the Electrochemical N2 Fixation of Metal Nanocrystals

Electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) is a promising process relative to energy-intensive Haber–Bosch process. While conventional electrocatalysts underperform with sluggish paths, achieving dissociation of N₂ brings the key challenge for enhancing NRR. This study proposes an effective surface chalcogenation strategy to improve the NRR performance of pristine metal nanocrystals (NCs). Surprisingly, the NH₃ yield and Faraday efficiency (FE) (175.6 ± 23.6 mg h^–1 g^–1_Rh and 13.3 ± 0.4%) of Rh-Se NCs is significantly enhanced by 16 and 15 times, respectively. Detailed investigations show that the superior activity and high FE are attributed to the effect of surface chalcogenation, which not only can decrease the apparent activation energy, but also inhibit the occurrence of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) process. Theoretical calculations reveal that the strong interface strain effect within core@shell system induces a critical redox inversion, resulting in a rather low valence state of Rh and Se surface sites. Such strong correlation indicates an efficient electron-transfer minimizing NRR barrier. Significantly, the surface chalcogenation strategy is general, which can extend to create other NRR metal electrocatalysts with enhanced performance. This strategy open a new avenue for future NH₃ production for breakthrough in the bottleneck of NRR.     

温拌LDPE改性沥青混合料性能研究

选择Sasobit和Evotherm 3G两种温拌剂对温拌LDPE沥青混合料制备工艺和性能进行研究。首先,比较变温等体积法和等黏温度法两种方法,并确定两种温拌混合料的拌和及击实温度。在此基础上,分别采用车辙试验、低温弯曲试验、中点加载弯曲试验以及冻融劈裂试验评价70#、LDPE、Sasobit-LDPE以及3G-LDPE四种沥青混合料的高温性能、低温性能、疲劳性能和水稳定性。结果表明,两种温拌技术均是可行的,Sasobit和3G温拌技术可使施工温度降低20℃和15℃。与热拌LDPE沥青混合料相比,Sasobit温拌沥青混合料具有更好的高温性能和水稳定性,在高应力比条件下抗疲劳性能更好,低温性能虽变差,但是优于70#沥青混合料;3G温拌沥青混合料的高温性能,低温性能以及水稳定性则与热拌LDPE沥青混合料各项性能较为接近,抗疲劳性能变差,但是优于70#沥青混合料。     

高性能有机氟材料制备科学及应用进展

有机氟材料具有优异的热氧稳定性、耐化学腐蚀性、耐老化性、不黏性、电绝缘性以及极小的摩擦系数等特性，因此作为一种不可替代的材料广泛应用于高新技术产业。近年来高新技术产业发展对高性能有机氟材料的需求引发了学术界和工业界对氟材料的研究兴趣。依据本文作者的研究经历及有机氟材料的发展方向，本文介绍了氟树脂（新型含氟聚合物、电活性含氟聚合物、新型全氟磺酸聚合物、聚四氟乙烯3D打印）及氟橡胶（过氧化物硫化氟橡胶、耐低温氟醚橡胶、耐高温全氟醚橡胶、全氟聚醚基类玻璃橡胶）的制备科学及应用进展，特别阐述为了满足航空航天、能源、信息等高新技术产业需求发展的新一代高性能有机氟材料。本文也介绍了近期出现的聚四氟乙烯新成型技术及类玻璃氟橡胶。文章指出发展绿色环保和高效的高性能有机氟材料制备及成型加工方法是今后的发展方向。     

Sustainable supply chain management in Indian organisations: an empirical investigation

The present work is an attempt to investigate the adoption of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices amongst manufacturing and process based organisations in India and its impact on organisational performance encompassing all three dimensions of sustainability. SSCM practices conceived in the present study include environmental management practices (EMP), socially inclusive practices for employees (SPE), socially inclusive practices for community (SPC), operations practices (OP) and supply chain integration (SCI) which were treated as exogenous variables. Organisational performance considered in this study includes five dimensions, namely environmental performance (EPR), employee-centred social performance (ESP), community-centred social performance (CSP), operations performance (OPR) and competitiveness, which were regarded as endogenous variables. The analysis was carried out with the help of structural equation modelling considering natural logarithm of manpower as a control variable. Few major findings are mentioned. EMP does not have any significant association with OPR, nor does it result in competitiveness. However, when jointly mediated through both EPR and OPR, EMP leads to competitiveness. SPC has significant negative association with competitiveness, when only direct relationship is considered. However, indirect relationship between SPC and competitiveness shows significant positive association when mediated through CSP. The resultant total effect between SPC and competitiveness turns out to be insignificant. Further, OPR fully mediates the relationship between OP and competitiveness. Managerial implications of the findings are discussed.     

Investigation of seasonal variations of Beijing pavement condition data using unevenly spaced dynamic panel data model

Beijing municipal highway administration started to collect pavement condition data on its major expressways since 2006. It is advised in the Chinese practice standard that data collection shall be conducted on annual basis. However, pavement data are usually collected at different seasons of the year, which may cause significant seasonal variations in the observed condition. Moreover, for some reasons, data are missing for some of the pavement sections at certain years, which could bring up difficulties in performance model estimation and inference. These concerns have been simply neglected in past practice. This study proposed an unevenly spaced dynamic panel data model to investigate the seasonal patterns of a performance indicator called Ride Quality Index (RQI). A quasi-differencing approach was adopted for the estimation. Data collected from the 5th Ring Road of Beijing were used in the case study. It was found that RQI data collected during the fall season are expected to be lower than that collected during the spring or summer seasons. Findings from this research would be helpful to pavement engineers in using unevenly spaced pavement condition data for future condition estimation.     

高性能通用DSP寄存器扩展设计实现方法

本文提出一种高性能通用DSP扩展寄存器的设计及实现方法,该方法是我国自主研发的高性能通用DSP中实现寄存器堆扩展的一种新方法,其优点是在不影响现有指令集及指令机器码位宽的前提下,实现对处理器内部寄存器堆的成比例扩展。通过在我国自主研制DSP上的实际应用,证明了该扩展方法的有效性和实用性。     

The control of paracetamol particle size and surface morphology through crystallisation in a spray dryer

The parameters governing the crystallisation of paracetamol using various conventional techniques has been extensively studied, however the factors influencing the drug crystallisation using spray drying is not as well understood. The aim of this work was to investigate the crystallisation of an active pharmaceutical ingredient through evaporative crystallisation using a spray dryer to study the physicochemical properties of the drug and to use semi-empirical equations to gain insight into the morphology and particle size of the dried powder. Paracetamol solutions were spray dried at various inlet temperatures ranging from 60 °C to 120 °C and also from a series of inlet feed solvent compositions ranging from 50/50% v/v ethanol/water to 100% ethanol and solid-state characterisation was done. The size and morphology of the dried materials were altered with a change in spray drying parameters, with an increase in inlet temperature leading to an increase in particle Sauter mean diameter (from 3.0 to 4.4 µm) and a decrease in the particle size with an increase in ethanol concentration in the feed (from 4.6 to 4.4 µm) as a result of changes in particle density and atomised droplet size. The morphology of the dried particles consisted of agglomerates of individual crystallites bound together into larger semi-spherical agglomerates with a higher tendency for particles having crystalline ridges to form at higher ethanol concentrations of the feed.     

污泥生物炭中氮硫行为及环境效应研究进展

污泥生物炭中氮硫元素含量高，其氮硫行为和环境效应对全球气候变化的影响不容忽视。以往的研究中，研究者往往以富碳生物炭作为主要研究对象，关注碳对全球气候变化的行为和功效，而对氮硫元素的作用关注不够。本文从原始污泥基本性质到其热解过程，再到生物炭的老化，逐步对污泥生物炭整个生命周期内氮硫的行为及其环境效应研究进行综述，并对未来应注重开展的研究方向进行展望，为生物炭中氮硫元素固定、释放及与之关联的环境效应和温室气体排放控制研究提供理论基础。分析表明，污泥中氮元素含量普遍高于硫元素，且热解过程中氮比硫更容易转移至气相产物。氮硫元素随热解温度的增加，在三相产物中的分配都是炭中持续减少，油中先增后减，气中一直增加。高温（＞800℃）条件下，气相中的氮含量高于固相，而硫元素则仍然主要存在于固相中。污泥生物炭老化及其环境效应研究表明，污泥生物炭氮硫元素与土壤的相互作用及其温室效应问题在今后的研究中应引起重视。