Performance of structure–equipment systems with a novel roll-n-cage isolation bearing

In this the paper, the problem of mitigating the seismic response of sensitive equipments housed in building structures is addressed by isolating the structure with an innovative device referred to as roll-n-cage isolator. The device is described, characterized and represented by a hysteretic semi-physical mathematical model. A numerical performance assessment is performed by implementing the isolator in a building structure housing equipment in upper floors where accelerations are amplified and motions contain strong components at long periods. The numerical results show that the proposed isolator is efficient in substantially attenuating the structure–equipment response under a wide variety of actual earthquakes while exhibiting robust performance for a wide range of structures.     

A continuous analysis framework for the solution of location–allocation problems with dense demand

Location–allocation problems arise in several contexts, including supply chain and data mining. In its most common interpretation, the basic problem consists of optimally locating facilities and allocating customers to facilities so as to minimize the total cost. The standard approach to solving location–allocation problems is to model alternative location sites and customers as discrete entities. Many problem instances in practice involve dense demand data and uncertainties about the cost and locations of the potential sites. The use of discrete models is often inappropriate in such cases. This paper presents an alternative methodology where the market demand is modeled as a continuous density function and the resulting formulation is solved by means of calculus techniques. The methodology prioritizes the allocation decisions rather than location decisions, which is the common practice in the location literature. The solution algorithm proposed in this framework is a local search heuristic (steepest-descent algorithm) and is applicable to problems where the allocation decisions are in the form of polygons, e.g., with Euclidean distances. Extensive computational experiments confirm the efficiency of the proposed methodology.     

Integrated time–cost tradeoff and resources leveling problems with allowed activity splitting

Resource leveling and time–cost tradeoff are among the most challenging optimization problems in project management. These two problems are usually addressed separately because each problem optimizes different objective functions. In this paper, we develop an integrated model that addresses both problems when activities are allowed to split for better utilization of resources. The formulated mixed integer linear program (MILP) model considers the tradeoff between the crashing‐dependent costs; direct and indirect costs, and resource utilization related costs; acquiring, releasing, and splitting costs. The model can be used as a decision tool to determine whether crashing is recommended when decision makers are also concerned with the better utilization of project's resources. A one‐way sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess total cost savings achieved through the integration of time–cost tradeoff and resource leveling problems. Another experimental study was undertaken to evaluate the performance of the MILP runtime.     

The Bang‐bang principle of time optimal controls for the Kuramoto–Sivashinsky–KdV equation with internal control

This paper is concerned with the time optimal control problem governed by the internal controlled Kuramoto–Sivashinsky–Korteweg‐de Vries equation, which describes many physical processes in motion of turbulence and other unstable process systems. We prove the existence of optimal controls with the help of the Carleman inequality, which has been widely used to obtain the local controllability or null controllability of parabolic differential systems. More precisely, with the help of the Carleman inequality, we obtain a relationship between the null controllability and time optimal control problem. Moreover, we give the bang‐bang principle for an optimal control of our original problem by using the one of approximate problems. This method is new for time optimal control problems. The bang‐bang principle established here seems also to be new for fourth‐order parabolic differential equations. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive coordinate sampling for stochastic primal–dual optimization

We consider the regularized empirical risk minimization (ERM) of linear predictors, which arises in a variety of problems in machine learning and statistics. After reformulating the original ERM as a bilinear saddle-point problem, we can apply stochastic primal–dual methods to solve it. Sampling the primal or dual coordinates with a fixed nonuniform distribution is usually employed to accelerate the convergence of the algorithm, but such a strategy only exploits the global information of the objective function. To capture its local structures, we propose an adaptive importance sampling strategy that chooses the coordinates based on delicately designed nonuniform and nonstationary distributions. When our adaptive coordinate sampling strategy is applied to the Stochastic Primal-Dual Coordinate (SPDC), we prove that the resulting algorithm enjoys linear convergence. Moreover, we show that the ideal form of our adaptive sampling exhibits strictly sharper convergence rate under certain conditions compared with the vanilla SPDC. We also extend our sampling strategy to other algorithms including Doubly Stochastic Primal-Dual Coordinate (DSPDC) and Stochastic Primal-Dual with O(1) per-iteration cost and Variance Reduction (SPD1-VR), where both primal and dual coordinates are randomly sampled. Our experiment results show that the proposed strategy significantly improves the convergence performance of the methods when compared with existing sampling strategies.     

Thermodynamic assessments of the Ni–Pt and Al–Ni–Pt systems

The Ni–Pt system is assessed using the CALPHAD method. The four fcc-based phases, i.e. disordered solid solution phase, Ni₃Pt–L1₂, NiPt–L1₀ and NiPt₃–L1₂, are described by a four-sublattice model. The calculated thermodynamic properties and order/disorder phase transformations are in good agreement with the experimental data. In order to facilitate the assessment, first-principles pseudopotential calculations are also performed to calculate the enthalpy of formation at 0 K, and comparison with the assessed values is discussed. By combining the assessments of Al–Ni and Al–Pt, the Al–Ni–Pt ternary system is assessed within a narrow temperature range, focusing on the fcc-based phases and their phase equilibria with B2 phase.     

Dissolved gases forecast to enhance oil‐immersed transformer fault diagnosis with grey prediction–clustering analysis

Abstract: A method is proposed for dissolved gases forecast and fault diagnosis in oil‐immersed transformers using grey prediction–clustering analysis. Incipient faults can produce hydrocarbon molecules and carbon oxides due to the thermal decomposition of mineral oil, cellulose and other solid insulation. Dissolved gas analysis is employed to detect and monitor abnormal conditions in oil‐immersed power transformers. However, the procedure takes a long time to decompose overall key gases and monitor conditions. The grey prediction GM(1, 2) model uses the variant information of hydrogen to forecast the further trends of both combustible and non‐combustible gases. Grey clustering analysis is applied to diagnose internal faults including thermal faults, electrical faults and faults involving cellulose degradation. Numerical tests with field gas records were conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed model, and are easy to implement with the help of portable devices.     

A feedforward–feedback controller for infinite‐dimensional systems and regulation of bounded uniformly continuous signals

We design a controller for infinite‐dimensional linear systems (with bounded control, observation and feedthrough operators) which, under certain assumptions, achieves asymptotic tracking of arbitrary bounded uniformly continuous reference signals in the presence of disturbances. The proposed controller is of feedforward–feedback type: The dynamic feedback part is used to stabilize the closed‐loop system consisting of the plant and the controller, whereas the feedforward part is tuned using the regulator equations to achieve the regulation of desired signals. We also completely solve the regulator equations for SISO systems, and we discuss robustness properties of the proposed controller. A useful feature in our design is that the feedforward part of the controller can be designed independently of the feedback part. This automatically leads to a degree of robustness in the stabilizing part of the controller, which is not present in the existing state feedback controllers solving the same output regulation problem. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermodynamic modeling of the Mg–Ge–Pb system

All available thermodynamic and phase diagram data of the Mg–Ge and Mg–Pb binary systems, and the Mg–Ge–Pb ternary system have been critically evaluated and all reliable data have been simultaneously optimized to obtain one set of model parameters for the Gibbs energies of the liquid and all solid phases as functions of composition and temperature. The liquid phase was modeled using the Modified Quasichemical Model in order to describe the strong ordering in Mg–Ge and Mg–Pb liquid. Mg₂Ge–Mg₂Pb solid solution phase was modeled with consideration of a solid miscibility gap. All calculations were performed using the FactSage thermochemical software.     

Atomic mobilities and diffusional growth in solid phases of the V–Nb and V–Zr systems

In conjunction with the thermodynamic parameters in the literature, the atomic mobilities of the V–Nb and V–Zr bcc alloys were assessed from experimental diffusion coefficients. The assessed atomic mobilities are given as functions of temperatures and composition in the CALPHAD format. Comparisons between the calculated and experimental quantities show that the obtained mobility parameters enable most of the experimental diffusion data to be well reproduced. Based on the velocity constructions for lattice planes in V/Nb diffusion couples, the displacements of Kirkendall makers were investigated under various annealing conditions, and the results are in general agreement with experimental values. In addition, computational studies of V/Zr diffusion couples were carried out for the kinetic behaviors of V ₂Zr at various annealing temperatures, from which the temperature dependence of the interdiffusion coefficients for V ₂Zr was evaluated.     

Finite element analysis of two-dimensional electrochemical–mechanical response of ionic conducting polymer–metal composite beams

Attention has been focused on ionic conducting polymer–metal composites (IPMCs) as intelligent materials for artificial muscles and robotics for recent years. The two-dimensional finite element formulation based on Galerkin method is conducted for the basic field equations governing electrochemical response of IPMC beams with two pairs of electrodes upon applied electric field. The three-dimensional finite element analysis is also conducted for the deformation of IPMC beams due to water redistribution in the beams associated with the electrochemical response. Some numerical studies are carried out in order to show the validity of the present formulation.     

潜在语义分析在连续语音识别中的应用

研究了潜在语义分析（LSA）理论及其在连续语音识别中应用的相关技术,在此基础上利用WSJ0文本语料库上构建LSA模型,并将其与3-gram模型进行插值组合,构建了包含语义信息的统计语言模型;同时为了进一步优化混合模型的性能,提出了基于密度函数初始化质心的k-means聚类算法对LSA模型的向量空间进行聚类。WSJ0语料库上的连续语音识别实验结果表明：LSA+3-gram混合模型能够使识别的词错误率相比较于标准的3-gram下降13.3%。     

Fluid–structure interaction simulation of aortic blood flow

The numerical tools to simulate blood flow in the cardiovascular system are constantly developing due to the great clinical interest and to scientific advances in mathematical models and computational power. The present work aims to address and validate new algorithms to efficiently predict the hemodynamics in large arteries. These algorithms rely on finite elements simulation of the fluid–structure interaction between blood flow and arterial wall deformation of a healthy aorta. Different sets of boundary conditions are devised and tested. The mean velocity and pressure time evolution is plotted on different sections of the aorta and the wall shear stress distribution is computed. The results are compared with those obtained with a rigid wall simulation. Pulse wave velocity is computed and compared with the values available from the literature. The flow boundary conditions used for the outlets are obtained using the solution of a one-dimensional model. The results of the simulations are in agreement with the physiological data in terms of wall shear stress, wall displacement, pressure waveforms and velocities.     

Analysis of interface states of metal–insulator–semiconductor photodiode with n-type silicon by conductance technique

A metal–insulator–semiconductor photodiode (MIS-PD) as active layer with n-type silicon as interdigitated Schottky electrodes has been fabricated. The current–voltage characteristics, density of interface states and photovoltaic properties of the MIS-PD diode have been investigated. The diode has a metal–insulator–semiconductor configuration with ideality factor higher than unity. The electronic parameters (ideality factor, series resistance and barrier height) of the diode were found to be 1.94, 2.23 × 10⁴ Ω and 0.74, respectively. At voltages between 0.13 and 0.50 V, the charge transport mechanism of the diode is controlled by space charge-limited current mechanism. The interface state density of the diode was found to vary from 5.54 × 10¹² to 5.67 × 10¹² eV⁻¹ cm⁻² with bias voltage. The Au/SiO₂/n-Si/Al device shows a photovoltaic behavior with a maximum open circuit voltage V_oc of 97.7 mV and short-circuit current I_sc of 17.4 μA under lower illumination intensities. The obtained electronic parameters confirm that the Au/SiO₂/n-Si/Al diode is a MIS type photodiode.     

Straightforward modeling of dynamic I–V characteristics for microwave FETs

This work presents a straightforward approach aimed at modeling the dynamic I–V characteristics of microwave active solid‐state devices. The drain‐source current generator represents the most significant source of nonlinearity in a transistor and, therefore, its correct modeling is fundamental to predict accurately the current and voltage waveforms under large‐signal operation. The proposed approach relies on using a small set of low‐frequency time‐domain waveform measurements combined with numerical optimization‐based estimation of the nonlinear model parameters. The procedure is applied to a gallium nitride HEMT and silicon FinFET. The effectiveness of the modeling procedure in terms of prediction accuracy and generalization capability is demonstrated by validation of the extracted models under operating conditions different than the ones used for the parameters estimation. Good agreement between measurements and model simulations is achieved for both technologies and in both low‐ and high‐frequency range. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 24:109–116, 2014.     

Constrained optimal control of Navier–Stokes flow by semismooth Newton methods

We propose and analyze a semismooth Newton-type method for the solution of a pointwise constrained optimal control problem governed by the time-dependent incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. The method is based on a reformulation of the optimality system as an equivalent nonsmooth operator equation. We analyze the flow control problem and prove q-superlinear convergence of the method. In the numerical implementation, adjoint techniques are combined with a truncated conjugate gradient method. Numerical results are presented that support our theoretical results and confirm the viability of the approach.     

Construction of modified embedded atom method potentials for the study of the bulk phase behaviour in binary Pt–Rh, Pt–Pd, Pd–Rh and ternary Pt–Pd–Rh alloys

A first attempt is made to simulate the solid part of the phase diagram of the ternary Pt–Pd–Rh system. To this end, Monte Carlo (MC) simulations are combined with the Modified Embedded Atom Method (MEAM) and optimised parameters entirely based on Density Functional Theory (DFT) data. This MEAM potential is first validated by calculating the heat of mixing or the demixing phase boundary for the binary subsystems Pt–Rh, Pt–Pd and Pd–Rh. For the disordered alloy systems Pt–Rh and Pt–Pd, the MC/MEAM simulation results show a slightly exothermic heat of mixing, thereby contradicting any demixing behaviour, in agreement with other theoretical results. For the Pd–Rh system the experimentally observed demixing region is very well reproduced by the MC/MEAM simulations. The extrapolation of the MEAM potentials to ternary systems is next validated by comparing DFT calculations for the energy of formation of ordered Pt–Pd–Rh compounds with the corresponding MEAM energies. Finally, the validated potential is used for the calculation of the ternary phase diagram at 600 K.