Thermal properties of hierarchical YSZ and LZO ceramic microspheres with multi-scaled voids investigated by using theoretical,experimental and simulation methods

Heat transfer within ceramic feedstock powders is still unclear, which impedes optimization of the thermal and mechanical properties of the thermal sprayed coatings. The microspheres (yttria-stabilized zirconia YSZ and lanthanum zirconate LZO) were prepared via the electro-spraying assisted phase inversion method (ESP). The thermal properties of the two ESP microspheres and a commercial hollow spherical powder (HOSP) were investigated by using theoretical, experimental, and simulation methods. Thermal conductivity of the single microsphere was estimated via a novel nest model that was derived from the Maxwell-Eucken 1 and the EMT model. Thermal conductivity of a single YSZ/LZO-ESP microsphere prepared at 1100–1200 °C was within 0.36–0.75 W/m K, which was ～ 20 % lower than that of a single YSZ-HOSP microsphere with a similar porosity. Heat flux simulation showed that high tortuosity around the multi-scaled voids of the ESP microsphere led to a more efficient decrease in thermal conductivity compared with total porosity.     

High-performance Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbZrO3-PbTiO3 ceramics with the triple point composition

Ternary 0.552Pb(Ni_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-xPbZrO₃-(0.448-x)PbTiO₃ (PNN-PZ-PT) ceramics near the triple point compositions were fabricated by an improved two-step sintering method. The triple point composition 0.552PNN-0.135PZ-0.313PT ceramic has outstanding piezoelectric performance with piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃ = 1200 pC/N. Its easy fabrication and low cost make this piezoelectric material an excellent candidate for high sensitivity sensors and ultrasonic transducers. The evolution of domain structures for ceramics with composition near the triple point provides deeper insight into the mechanism of ultrahigh piezoelectric properties of PNN-PZ-PT ceramics.     

阿尔泰南缘北塔山组火山岩锆石U-Pb定年及地质意义

新疆阿尔泰南缘北塔山组火山岩较为发育。本文对新疆阿尔泰南缘默色克奥依一带北塔山组火山岩进行地球化学分析和年代学研究。研究表明：U-Pb锆石年龄为（384.3±4.0Ma）Ma，为中泥盆世；该组火山岩属于钾质钙碱性系列，全碱（Na2O+K2O=2.07%-6.49%）和YiO2（0.24%-0.64%）含量较低，K2O含量（1.11%-4.04%）变化较大，稀土元素含量（∑REE）较低。稀土元素显示其轻稀土富集且分馏不明显；δEu值均大于1，为Eu富集型；δCe值均小于1，为Ce亏损型。该组火山岩微量元素P明显富集，K、Rb、Ba等大离子亲石元素（LILE）略富集，亏损Ta、Zr、Hf、Ti等高场强元素（HISF）。结合前人研究，本文认为默色克奥依一带北塔山组火山岩形成于岛弧及与俯冲过程有关的活动大陆边缘造山带环境，为泥盆纪古大洋俯冲消减过程中，俯冲板片脱水产生的流体交代上覆地幔楔部分熔融的产物。     

基于混合蚁群算法的异质车队低碳VRP研究

针对货运车辆在配送调度过程中产生大量碳排放的问题，建立模型将多种影响碳排放量的因素协同优化。模型中考虑了不同载重量的异质车队，两个节点之间有多条道路的柔性路径，以及车辆重量随卸货而减少的动态负载等因素，以碳排放量、行驶时间和行驶路程为优化目标，并加入了节点需求时间窗、根据速度变化划分路段、交接和卸货时间的约束。提出了一种混合蚁群算法，利用蚁群算法信息素强度更新方式保持群体记忆性，利用粒子群算法的快速收敛特性增加计算效率。通过随机数值算例的仿真优化与对比分析，验证了算法和模型的有效性。     

Exploring the role of the sharing economy in disasters management

Improvements in information and communications technologies (ICTs) have facilitated the inclusion of the sharing economy (SE) in societies more than ever. In the aftermath of recent disasters, the SE played significant roles to help the affected people and support official responders. However, the literature has not effectively explored these roles, and thus, no framework can support the systematic inclusion of the SE in disasters management. This paper aims to address the gap through a two-stage exploratory research approach. First, we conduct a systematic literature review to identify the extent to which the SE is taken into consideration in disasters. After that, we investigate the role of three Iranian SE-based companies that were involved in the 2019 Iran floods response. We collect empirical data by conducting semi-structured interviews and reviewing official reports.Our findings indicate that very few studies discuss the different roles of the SE in disasters, although SE companies have often provided effective solutions to address critical post-disaster logistics challenges. Four research propositions are presented to describe emerging roles for SE companies. The contribution of our study is twofold. First, our research identifies the different roles that the SE could play in disasters and therefore, brings a new perspective to the literature. Second, the study suggests opportunities for collaboration and partnership models from the point of origin to delivery that can support coordination and logistics in disasters.     

Conductor selection and economic analysis of D.R. congo–guinea ±800 kV UHVDC transmission project

Africa is embracing new opportunities featured with industrialization, urbanization and regionalization. Based on co-development of ‘Electricity, Mining, Metallurgy, Industry and Trade’ and grids interconnection proposed by Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO), the high-quality hydropower resource of the Congo River can be exploited in large scale under the wide-range interconnected framework of African Energy Interconnection (AEI), forging a new engine for Africa economy. The transmission distance of the Congo River hydropower reaches 6,000 km at its farthest end in North Africa, which brings forth challenges to economics of proposed projects. Under this novel continental energy interconnection scheme in Africa, economics of those projects have not yet been in detail studied. This paper has implemented China’s mature engineering experiences and analytical tools of UHVDC project planning into the AEI structure, through exploring the economic behavior of ultra-long distance UHVDC projects in the scope of conductor selection in the Congo River hydropower transmission for the first time, and has provided concerned parties with a technical and analytical results of their economics comparison. This paper has chosen the D.R. Congo - Guinea ±800 kV UHVDC project as a typical example. Its preliminary system planning is introduced and three types of conductor are selected for scheme comparison. Later in this paper, the transmission loss, total investment and equivalent annual cost of the project have been calculated and analyzed. In the final part, sensitivity analysis results of the annual cost to utilization hours, transmission loss, loss tariff and construction cost has been provided     

Mathematical formulation and heuristic algorithms for optimisation of auto-part milk-run logistics network considering forward and reverse flow of pallets

The operational planning of distribution network for automotive industry is complex with many conditions to consider, including heterogeneous fleet, enforcing the feasibility of 3D-packing of pallets into vehicles to address the vehicle's capacity in terms of weight and volume, compatibility of orders in a vehicle, returning empty pallets from assembly-plants backwards to suppliers, and delivery time windows. A mathematical model (MILP) is proposed that takes account of these conditions to minimise total transportation costs. The network structure can be a combination of direct shipment and milk-run for both forward and reverse flow of pallets. The model is solved optimally for small-size problems. For solving larger problems, a heuristic algorithm (in two versions) is proposed that uses a similarity measure to generate a reasonable list of orders. Best/first-fit strategies are employed to generate a feasible solution with the aid of a relaxed version of the proposed MILP. Improvement heuristics are also designed. Unlike most of existing constructive heuristics, our aim for developing the heuristic approach is to force routing decision, with all of its considerations, being made optimal. We also use the proposed best-fit strategy in the body of grouping evolution strategy (GES) algorithm to attain an effective meta-heuristic approach. The effectiveness of heuristics is tested on generated instances which demonstrates they are optimal for small-size problems. They are also tested on the data of daily auto-parts shipments gathered from the largest Iranian automobile company. Results demonstrate there exists a significant potential for cost saving through milk-run strategy compared with the direct shipping strategy.     

Airline planning and scheduling: Models and solution methodologies

The airline industry is a representative industry with high cost and low profitability. Therefore, airlines should carefully plan their schedules to ensure that overall profit is maximized. We review the literature on airline planning and scheduling and focus on mathematical formulations and solution methodologies. Our research framework is anchored on three major problems in the airline scheduling, namely, fleet assignment, aircraft routing, and crew scheduling. General formulation, widely used solution approaches, and important extensions are presented for each problem and integrated problems. We conclude the review by identifying promising areas for further research.     

HSDN‐GRA: A hybrid software‐defined networking‐based geographic routing protocol with multi‐agent approach

We propose in this paper a Hybrid Software‐Defined Networking‐based Geographical Routing Protocol (HSDN‐GRA) with a clustering approach. It takes into account three different criteria to select the best relay to send data: (1) the contact duration between vehicles, (2) the available load of each vehicle, (3) and the log of encountered communication errors embedded in each cluster head. The multi‐criteria strategy allows the selection of the most reliable vehicles by avoiding communication problems and ensuring connection availability. Once the hybrid control plane has found out the next eligible neighbor, the data plane will be in charge of dividing and sending data. To validate our approach, HSDN‐GRA has been modeled and implemented in JADE, a multi‐agent platform, to be compared to other multi‐agent based protocols. Simulation results show that HSDN‐GRA achieves good performance with respect to the average routing overhead, the packet drop rate, and the throughput.