Eco-friendly Geopolymer Composite Based on Non-heat-treated Phosphate Sludge Reinforced With Polypropylene Fibers

Silicon - Geopolymers produced with metakaolin (MK) and thermally untreated phosphate sludge (PS) are beneficial and environmentally advantageous materials, but their fragility limits its...     

Supervised Multi‐Rejector of Periodic Disturbances for Nonlinear Systems Using Decoupled State Multimodel

In this paper, a multi‐rejector of periodic disturbances is proposed for discrete‐time nonlinear systems represented by a decoupled state multimodel. We report a decoupled state multimodel repetitive‐predictive control based on a supervised algorithm to ensure reference trajectory tracking and periodic disturbances rejection. Partial predictors associated to the local controllers make the best choice of the most valid partial controller that meets the desired closed loop performances. The effectiveness of the supervised multi‐rejector is shown via a simulation example. The obtained results are satisfactory and show a good rejection of periodic disturbances and reference trajectory tracking.     

Scheduling two-stage hybrid flow shop with availability constraints

Most of the literature on scheduling assumes that machines are always available. However, in real life industry, machines may be subject to some unavailability periods due to maintenance activities such as breakdowns (stochastic case) and preventive maintenance (deterministic case). In this paper we investigate the two-stage hybrid flow shop scheduling problem with only one machine on the first stage and m machines on the second stage to minimize the makespan. We consider that each machine is subject to at most one unavailability period. The start time and the end time of each period are known in advance (deterministic case) and only the non-resumable case is studied. First we discuss the complexity of the problem. Afterwards, we give the Branch and Bound model for this problem. Last, we calculate the worst-case performances of three heuristics: LIST algorithm, LPT algorithm and H-heuristic.     

Simulation-based investigations on the drape behavior of 3D woven fabrics made of commingled yarns

Composites based on 3D woven fabrics offer excellent mechanical properties due to the nearly non-crimp reinforcement fibers. Additionally, a reduced number of process steps results from the 3D nature of the reinforcement. Their in-plane and out-of-plane behaviors are purposefully adjustable to the expected loading conditions. A previously introduced modelling approach is extended to the simulation of 3D woven fabrics. The tensile, shear and bending behaviors of the fabric are considered in a material formulation for large deformations using shell elements. The model is successfully validated and parameter studies show the significant influence of shear and bending parameters on forming results. Furthermore, it is shown that also the forming process parameters have a significant influence on the draping results. It is concluded that the shearing and wrinkling can be reduced to a minimum with adapted material and process parameters.     

Study of the cohesion of carbon fiber yarns: in-plane shear behavior

Cohesion of the fibers network is a key element in numerous manufacturing processes of textile structures and composite parts, because it significantly affects the implementability and the obtained result. However, cohesion remains at the moment an intuitive concept. This paper aims to deal with this concept, first proposing a first interpretation of yarn cohesion. Thanks to this definition, the in-plane shear test is proposed to characterize and measure cohesion. Among many difficulties, it appears to be an interesting way to analyze the cohesion of yarns extracted from 7 different batches and to establish the link between cohesion and implementation in manufacturing processes of Herakles which supports this study. In addition, the phenomenon responsible for the yarn cohesion are tackled and the influence of the yarn constitution is analyzed.     

Characterization of boride coatings on a ductile cast iron

In this work, the EN-GJS-400-15 cast iron was pack-borided in a powder mixture composed of 5% B₄C, 5% NaBF₄ and 90% SiC at the three temperatures: 900, 950 and 1000°C for 2, 4 and 6 h, respectively. The pack-borided EN-GJS-400-15 cast iron was characterized by the following experimental techniques: optical microscopy, XRD analysis and Microhardness Vickers tester. The growth kinetics of boride layers was also investigated. As a consequence, the boron activation energy was found to be 212.28 kJ mol^–1 for the EN-GJS-400-15 cast iron. Based on a regression model, a useful equation was derived to estimate the boride layer thickness as a function of the boriding parameters (time and temperature). A good agreement was then obtained between the predicted values of boride layers thicknesses and those measured experimentally. In addition, an iso-thickness diagram was proposed to be used as a simple tool to select the boride layers thicknesses according to the potential applications of EN-GJS-400-15 cast iron in industry.     

Robust control of doubly fed induction generator for stand-alone applications

The doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) is generally used in the production of the electric energy and more specifically in wind turbines. Currently, a problem of electrical machine control and especially for wind turbines is the change of internal parameters of the machine, which greatly deteriorates the control. In addition, for stand-alone applications, the load and wind speed change frequently. In this paper, a robust control strategy based on the H_∞ control theory is developed for the independent control of the stator voltage amplitude and frequency of a stand-alone DFIG. The DFIG is fed through the rotor windings by a voltage inverter controlled by Space Vector Modulation (SVM). A capacitive and inductive filter is introduced to reduce harmonics on stator voltages and rotor currents. The robust control strategy rejects all the disturbances that may affect the system and that result from the variations of machine parameters, of the rotor speed and of the load. Experimental tests are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the robust control through a comparison with the classical PI regulator in the framework of the Field Oriented Control (FOC) strategy of the DFIG.     

Microstructural and mechanical features of aluminium semi-solid alloys made by rheocasting technique

The rheocasting process applied by Swirled Enthalpy Equilibration Device (SEED) technique relies on rapid extraction of a controlled quantity of heat from the liquid aluminium alloy via mechanical agitation to form the semi-solid slurry that can be formed under pressure. Microstructural characteristics of both conventional and semi-solid A357 castings under T6 heat treatment conditions were examined using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The fatigue and tensile experiments were applied to evaluate the effect of SEED technique on the mechanical properties of T6-A357 semi-solid alloys and conventional castings. The results showed that the rheocasting–SEED technique has proved successful in producing optimum microstructure of Al–Si–Mg semi-solid alloys providing an excellent combination of quality and mechanical performance as compared to conventional technique.

This paper is part of a Themed Issue on Aluminium-based materials: processing, microstructure, properties, and recycling.     

Intelligent Open Switch Fault Detection for Power Converter in Wind Energy System

This paper proposes a simple and fast fuzzy logic-based open switch fault detection method for rotor side converter (RSC) in doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) wind turbine system. In the proposed scheme, only the mean values of the three-phase rotor currents are used to identify the power switch in which the open-circuit fault has occurred.

The wind energy conversion system model developed for the design and evaluation of the proposed fault detection technique including three principal controls. the first control ensure the regulation of the electromagnetic torque and the reactive stator power (named Rotor Side Converter (RSC) control), the second regulates the DC-link voltage at the desired level (named Grid Side Converter (GSC) control) and in order to achieve maximum power at any wind speed condition a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control strategy has been used. The simulation model was developed in MATLAB/Simulink environment. The results show that the proposed fault detection scheme is able to rapidly and effectively identify open switch faults among other fault types in a time less than one period.     

Intelligent maximum power tracking control of a PMSG wind energy conversion system

A comparative control study for a maximum power tracking strategy of variable speed wind turbine is provided. The system consists of a direct drive permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) and an uncontrolled rectifier followed by a DC/DC switch‐mode step down converter connected to a DC load. The buck converter is used to catch the maximum power from the wind by generating an efficient duty cycle. Distinct Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithms are analyzed and compared: a classical Proportional‐Integral controller (PI) and two based Fuzzy Logic Controllers (FLC), including a conventional Fuzzy‐PI and an Adaptive FLC‐PI. The main aim of the presented study is to develop an advanced control scheme for wind generators to ensure a high level operating of the system and a maximum power extraction from the wind. This is achieved by analyzing the behavior of the system under fluctuating wind conditions employing Matlab Simpower Systems tool. Simulation results confirm that the Adaptive FLC‐PI controller algorithm has better performances in terms of dynamic response and efficiency especially in comparison with the ones of a PI controller under variable wind speed.