Viscoelastic State for the Solutions of Spherically Symmetric Viscoelasticity Problems

The solutions of the spherically symmetric, linear, isothermal, and transient viscoelasticity problems via reciprocity theorem have been investigated for a specific material. The integral form of stress–strain relations has been used. The Laplace transform of a viscoelastic state, which is necessary for the integral equation arising as a result of reciprocity theorem, has been derived. This integral equation has been solved by Laplace transform. A sample problem has been solved to test the presented formulation. A numerical application of the analytic solution of this problem has been given.     

Semantic weaving of configuration fragments into a consistent system configuration

Configuration fragments developed separately and focusing on different aspects, such as availability, security or performance of a system need to be integrated into a consistent system configuration to avoid system malfunctions. The main challenges of such integration are due to the overlapping entities and the integration relations between the entities of the different configuration fragments. In this paper we propose a model based approach for a consistent integration of configuration fragments into a system configuration. We use and extend the model weaving technique to capture the semantics of the relations between the entities of the configuration fragments. Moreover, we generate automatically the constraints corresponding to these semantic relations to complete the target system configuration profile. These constraints can be used to guard the configuration consistency during runtime modifications.     

Grammar constraints

With the introduction of the Regular Membership Constraint, a new line of research has opened where constraints are based on formal languages. This paper is taking the next step, namely to investigate constraints based on grammars higher up in the Chomsky hierarchy. We devise a time- and space-efficient incremental arc-consistency algorithm for context-free grammars, investigate when logic combinations of grammar constraints are tractable, show how to exploit non-constant size grammars and reorderings of languages, and study where the boundaries run between regular, context-free, and context-sensitive grammar filtering.     

An Analytical Approach to the Concept of Counter-UA Operations (CUAOPS)

Unmanned Aircraft (UA) have become an integral part of the present-day joint air operations. UA have potential to be employed across the full spectrum of Air Force functions. On the other hand, UA technology could be a subject of an asymmetric use by state actors in high or low density conflict, and/or by non-state actors in many ways including terrorism, drug smuggling, and limited attack with unconventional payloads i.e. biological or chemical agents. Therefore countering the threat associated with the hostile UA use could be necessary in the future. First part of the research revealed that UA can be a threat in the future. In the second part of the research, the SWOT (Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats) analysis supplemented with the Tree analysis (SWOT+Tree) provided a broader look for investigating the factors related to hostile UA use analytically. In literature, there is little information about the concepts for CUAOPS. The final goal of the paper is to find possible solutions and means for a better understanding of the nature of CUAOPS.     

A comparative study of SiAlON ceramics

Two different varieties of Si₃N₄ powders were used to prepare SiAlON ceramics. 100% β-Si₃N₄ was used from refractory grade powders (B1) and another purer 98% α-Si₃N₄ (50A) powder was used to prepare the SiAlON samples. Since SiC + SiAlON composites reportedly perform better, batches were prepared with 15% SiC addition to the refractory powders (B1) and 17.5% SiC was added to the other SiAlON composition (50A). The samples were gas pressure sintered at 1840 °C and at 22 bar with 1 h dwelling time. Thereby, we could achieve 97–98% theoretical density. The hardness was recorded 14–17 GPa while fracture toughness varied from 4.3 to 5 MPa m^1/2. Fretting experiments showed initial running-in period of 300 cycles for all the tribo-couples. After which, the steady state coefficient of frictions (COF) were achieved. Steel ball of 10 mm diameter, fretting against 50A composition, showed 0.6 average steady state COF while the same composition while fretting against alumina ball of the same diameter, showed 0.57 average steady state COF. Results have been compared with SiAlON composition derived from refractory powder (B1) and found that the 50A composition performs better under identical test conditions. Moreover, cytocompatibility study also suggests that the investigated 50A composition can be used as substrate to support cell adhesion and proliferation of L929 mouse fibroblast cell lines whereas B1 composition derived from refractory powders are toxic in nature.     

Chemical reactivity of mineral aggregates in aqueous solution: relationship with bitumen emulsion breaking

This paper reports a study on chemical reactivity of gneiss, diorite and limestone aggregates in aqueous solution. The originality of this study is that it extended to very short times (less than 1440 min). Rise in pH tests was implemented and dissolution kinetics was analysed. The results showed that calcium was the major element released by the aggregates. It has also been found that dissolution had an influence on the final morphology of aggregates. Polyamine emulsifier adsorption onto aggregates has been assessed using electrophoresis. Finally, the rise in pH and electrophoretic tests were compared to the breaking test traditionally performed to characterise bitumen emulsions. It was found that breaking values were controlled by both the surface area and the surface charge of the particles. Results may be correlated to polyamine adsorption on aggregates. Adsorption seemed to be efficient for gneiss and diorite: at pH 2, their charge turned from slightly negative to highly positive. At this pH value, limestone particles were dissolved and polyamine adsorption must be less efficient than with gneiss and diorite, for which the emulsion breaking was facilitated by the high attraction of particles for the emulsifier, due to their negative surface charge.     

Optimum design of cam-roller follower mechanism using a new evolutionary algorithm

Selection of tooling to perform specific operations like drilling and milling on ceramic materials using rotary ultrasonic machining process is an important aspect to meet stringent dimensions on workpiece as well as intended performance of tool. This phenomenon is more critical for micro rotary ultrasonic machining. In the present study, an effort was made to do micro drilling operation of Ø0.3 mm tool with varying geometry, having different wall thicknesses and abrasive grain sizes using design of experiments. The effect of tool-based parameters like grain size and wall thickness has been studied on axial cutting force, radial cutting force, tool wear, edge chipping area and taper. After examining axial and radial cutting forces, it has been concluded that lower wall thickness (80 μm) tool is good for drilling operation; and higher wall thickness (100 μm) tool is good for milling operation under same material removal rate conditions. It has been also investigated that lower wall thickness (80 μm) tool has less edge chipping area and less taper and can impart high drilling depth as compared to higher wall thickness (100 and 150 μm) tool. It is also concluded that lesser grain size (15 μm) tools are advantageous in terms of edge chipping area and cutting force for drilling and milling operations as compared to higher grain size (30, 35 and 45 μm) tool at constant material removal rate. Higher grain size tools have been broken at 1.13 mm³/h material removal rate conditions due to bad profile accuracy. But higher grain size tools have worked fairly well at less material removal rate condition. Higher grain size tools produced less wear. Tool wear was found minimum in higher wall thickness (100 μm) tool having higher abrasive grain size (30 μm). Using inferred results, Ø0.3 mm drilling experiments have been carried out on six aerospace ceramic materials. Also, groove of 0.5 mm size using Ø0.3 mm optimised tool has been successfully carried out in sintered SiC.     

Hybrid dual-curable cyanate ester/boron phosphate composites via sequential thiol-ene photopolymerization and thermal polymerization

The aim of this study was to improve hybrid dual-curable cyanate ester/boron phosphate composites via sequential thiol-ene photopolymerization and thermal polymerization for high performance applications such as aerospace and electronic devices. A novel 2,2′-diallylbisphenol A dicyanate ester (DA-BADCy) which is the allyl group containing cyanate ester was synthesized and characterized. DA-BADCy, silicon containing monofunctional thiol compound, trifunctional thiol compound and boron phosphate were cured using both ultraviolet (UV) and thermal methods. Using thiol-ene system, cyanate ester formulations, which are normally prepared at high temperatures, were prepared at room temperature. This study maintains ease of application for cyanate esters. Thermal stability, flammability and thermal conductivity of the samples were evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), limiting oxygen index (LOI) and laser flash method, respectively. The samples were characterized with the following analysis; gel content, water absorption capacity and stress–strain test. Hydrophobicity of the samples was determined by the contact angle measurements. Moreover, the surface morphology of the samples was investigated by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM–EDS). The obtained results prove that the composites have good thermal and mechanical properties and with the help of easier preparation techniques, they can be used in many applications such as aerospace, electronic devices, materials engineering.     

Properties of pumice aggregate concretes at elevated temperatures and comparison with ANN models

The mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of concretes including pumice aggregate (PA) exposed to elevated temperature were analyzed by thermal conductivity, compressive strength, flexure strength, dynamic elasticity modulus (DEM) and dry unit weight tests. PA concrete specimens were cast by replacing a varying part of the normal aggregate (0–2 mm) with the PA. All concrete samples were prepared and cured at 23 ± 10C lime saturated water for 28 days. Compressive strength of concretes including PA decreased that reductions were 14, 19, 25 and 34% for 25, 50, 75 and 100% PA, respectively. The maximum thermal conductivity of 1.9382 W/mK was observed with the control samples containing normal aggregate. The tests were carried out by subjecting the samples to a temperature of 0, 100, 200, 300, 400 500, 600 and 700 °C for 3 h, then cooling by air cooling or in water method. The results indicated that all concretes exposed to a temperature of 500 and 700 °C occurred a significant decrease in thermal conductivity, compressive strength, flexure strength and DEM. An artificial neural network (ANN) approach was used to model the thermal and mechanical properties of PA concretes. The predicted values of the ANN were in accordance with the experimental data. The results indicate that the model can predict the concrete properties after elevated temperatures with adequate accuracy. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Disaster-survivable cloud-network mapping

Cloud-computing services are provided to consumers through a network of servers and network equipment. Cloud-network (CN) providers virtualize resources [e.g., virtual machine (VM) and virtual network (VN)] for efficient and secure resource allocation. Disasters are one of the worst threats for CNs as they can cause massive disruptions and CN disconnection. A disaster may also induce post-disaster correlated, cascading failures which can disconnect more CNs. Survivable virtual-network embedding (SVNE) approaches have been studied to protect VNs against single physical-link/-node and dual physical-link failures in communication infrastructure, but massive disruptions due to a disaster and their consequences can make SVNE approaches insufficient to guarantee cloud-computing survivability. In this work, we study the problem of survivable CN mapping from disaster. We consider risk assessment, VM backup location, and post-disaster survivability to reduce the risk of failure and probability of CN disconnection and the penalty paid by operators due to loss of capacity. We formulate the proposed approach as an integer linear program and study two scenarios: a natural disaster, e.g., earthquake and a human-made disaster, e.g., weapons-of-mass-destruction attack. Our illustrative examples show that our approach reduces the risk of CN disconnection and penalty up to 90 % compared with a baseline CN mapping approach and increases the CN survivability up to 100 % in both scenarios.