Insights about mental health aspects at intralogistics workplaces – A field study

The present field study investigated mental health aspects at intralogistics workplaces, as cognitive and social demands have largely changed in this branch. Within a cross-sectional, mixed methods study design, forty-one intralogistics employees completed a survey about their working conditions and mental states. Further, nine workers participated in a systematic, qualitative group interview to obtain intralogistics specific job resources and job demands. The results were compared to known mechanisms from a long-established psychological model (the Job-Demands and Resources model, JD-R model) to evaluate if these general assumptions still apply at modern working conditions. As expected and in line with the JD-R model, regression analyzes supported that job resources predicted work engagement (p < .05) and job demands predicted burnout symptoms (p < .001) even at modern intralogistics workplaces. However, no interaction effects (Job Demands X Job Resources) were found. The qualitative interviews highlighted several job demands and job resources, which were reported as especially relevant for modern intralogistics workplaces by the participants. Based on the findings, practical recommendations were evolved for the improvement of mental health at intralogistics workplaces. Job resources, for example process transparency or respectful and esteeming leadership behavior, can be increased in order to improve work engagement. Job demands, for example task interruptions, excessive time pressure or profuse exposure to physical stress should be controlled to reduce burnout symptoms.     

Are the available boiling heat transfer coefficients suitable for silicon microchannel heat sinks?

The typical MEMS fabrication of micro evaporators ensures the perfect smooth wall surface that is lack of nucleation sites, significantly decreasing the heat transfer coefficients compared with miniature evaporators fabricated using copper or stainless steel. In the present paper, we performed the boiling heat transfer experiment in silicon triangular microchannel heat sink over a wide parameter range for 102 runs. Acetone was used as the working fluid. The measured boiling heat transfer coefficients versus the local vapor mass qualities are compared with the classical Chen’s correlation and other correlations for macro and miniature capillary tubes. It is found that most of these correlations significantly over-predict the measured heat transfer coefficients. New correlations are given. There are many reasons for such deviations. The major reason is coming from the perfect smooth silicon surface that lowers the heat transfer performances. New theory is recommended for the silicon microchannel heat sink that should be different from metallic capillary tubes.     

Anthropomorphism in social robotics: empirical results on human–robot interaction in hybrid production workplaces

New forms of artificial intelligence on the one hand and the ubiquitous networking of “everything with everything” on the other hand characterize the fourth industrial revolution. This results in a changed understanding of human–machine interaction, in new models for production, in which man and machine together with virtual agents form hybrid teams. The empirical study “Socializing with robots” aims to gain insight especially into conditions of development and processes of hybrid human–machine teams. In the experiment, human–robot actions and interactions were closely observed in a virtual environment. Robots as partners differed in shape and behavior (reliable or faulty). Participants were instructed to achieve an objective that could only be achieved via close teamwork. This paper unites different aspects from core disciplines of social robotics and psychology contributing to anthropomorphization with the empirical insights of the experiment. It focuses on the psychological effects (e.g. reactions of different personality types) on anthropomorphization and mechanization, taking the inter- and transdisciplinary field of social robotics as a starting point.     

Spatial–temporal patterns of urban anthropogenic heat discharge in Fuzhou,China, observed from sensible heat flux using Landsat TM/ETM+ data

The urban heat island (UHI) effect is the phenomenon of increased surface temperatures in urban environments compared to their surroundings. It is linked to decreased vegetation cover, high proportions of artificial impervious surfaces, and high proportions of anthropogenic heat discharge. We evaluated the surface heat balance to clarify the contribution of anthropogenic heat discharges into the urban thermal environment. We used a heat balance model and satellite images (Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images acquired in 1989 and 2001), together with meteorological station data to assess the urban thermal environment in the city of Fuzhou, China. The objective of this study was to estimate the anthropogenic heat discharge in the form of sensible heat flux in complex urban environments. In order to increase the accuracy of the anthropogenic heat flux analysis, the sub-pixel fractional vegetation cover (FVC) was calculated by linear spectral unmixing. The results were then used to estimate latent heat flux in urban areas and to separate anthropogenic heat discharge from heat radiation due to insolation. Spatial and temporal distributions of anthropogenic heat flux were analysed as a function of land-cover type, percentage of impervious surface area, and FVC. The accuracy of heat fluxes was assessed using the ratios of sensible heat flux (H), latent heat flux (L), and ground heat flux (G) to net radiation (R _n), which were compared to the results from other studies. It is apparent that the contribution of anthropogenic heat is smaller in suburban areas and larger in high-density urban areas. However, seasonal disparities of anthropogenic heat discharge are small, and the variance of anthropogenic heat discharge is influenced by urban expansion, land-cover change, and increasing energy consumption. The results suggest that anthropogenic heat release probably plays a significant role in the UHI effect, and must be considered in urban climate change adaptation strategies. Remote sensing can play a role in mapping the spatial and temporal patterns of UHIs and can differentiate the anthropogenic heat from the solar radiative fluxes. The findings presented here have important implications for urban development planning.     

Latent heat storage — A new concept to control cooling water temperature

The applicability of a latent heat storage in order to control the outlet temperature of cooling water is analysed. The industrial application discussed here concerns the metal industry. The heat transfer at the storage is studied with different models. Details of the storage are analysed with the finite element method. A modified lumped heat capacity method is used in the simulation model. Water is used to charge and discharge the heat storage. The latent heat storage consists of encapsulated phase change material. The capsules are installed in a container. During production periods part of the surplus heat of the cooling water is stored and thus not emitted into the river. The stored heat is then discharged at nonproduction periods without exceeding the restriction of maximum water temperature. The paper presented here is a short version of a paper for Envirosoft 88 by Solmar and Loyd [1].     

Stability of differential-difference equations representing heat exchanger and certain other systems†

Conditions for the stability of certain typos of first-order nonlinear difTerential-difforonce equations are derived. Some of the results are applicable to a simplified model of certain distributed parameter systems, such as heat exchanger.     

A genetic algorithm for optimizing gravity die casting’s heat transfer coefficients

Numerical simulation of solidification has improved our understanding of casting processes significantly over the last two decades. One of the most desirable features in the design of casting of high strength components is directional solidification. Generally, expertise from skilled foundry men is required during the design of casting-mould assembly interrogation in order to achieve a satisfactory thermal control, thus directional solidification. This process is not only costly, both financially and temporally to foundries, it also heavily rely on foundry men’s experiences. Our main aim in this project is to explore a novel and fully automated computer scheme that ties the geometric features of the casting with evolutionary algorithms to achieve thermal control. By extracting the medial axes of the casting geometry and correlate it with the interfacial heat transfer coefficient via evolutionary algorithm, we are able to perform non-exhaustive search of the optimized solution. Preliminary results from our computer experiments showed favourable results. In this paper, the focus is sharpened on the convergence and optimality of the developed GA.     

Stabilization of the Euler–Bernoulli equation via boundary connection with heat equation

In this paper, we are concerned with the stabilization of a coupled system of Euler–Bernoulli beam or plate with heat equation, where the heat equation (or vice versa the beam equation) is considered as the controller of the whole system. The dissipative damping is produced in the heat equation via the boundary connections only. The one-dimensional problem is thoroughly studied by Riesz basis approach: The closed-loop system is showed to be a Riesz spectral system and the spectrum-determined growth condition holds. As the consequences, the boundary connections with dissipation only in heat equation can stabilize exponentially the whole system, and the solution of the system has the Gevrey regularity. The exponential stability is proved for a two dimensional system with additional dissipation in the boundary of the plate part. The study gives rise to a different design in control of distributed parameter systems through weak connections with subsystems where the controls are imposed.     

Numerical modeling of heat exchange and unsaturated–saturated flow in porous media

We discuss the numerical modeling of heat and mass transport in unsaturated–saturated porous media. The heat is transported by infiltrated water underlying capillary and gravitation driven forces. Heat energy is governed by molecular diffusion, convection, dispersion and exchange between the infiltrated water and porous media matrix. An unsaturated–saturated flow is considered with boundary conditions reflecting the external driven forces. The presented mathematical model is motivated by analysis of hygrothermal isolation properties of facades. The main contribution is focused on the determination of model parameters including soil parameters, dispersion coefficients, thermal transmission coefficient, thermal conductivity of porous media matrix and external transmission coefficients. The used mathematical model does not include the vapor transport and its phase exchange with water due to vaporization and condensation. It will be the next step of our research. Thus, practical applications of our model are limited. The developed numerical method is a good candidate for solving corresponding inverse problems. Numerical experiments support our method.     

Thermal performance optimization of Si micro flat heat pipes by Box–Behnken design

Microsystem Technologies - Si micro heat pipe (MHP) is become an excellent passive cooling device for thermal management of micro electronics packages because of its considerable thermo-mechanical...     

A novel approach for estimating heat transfer coefficients of ethylene glycol–water mixtures

Ethylene glycol–water mixtures (EGWM) are vital for cooling engines in automotive industry. Scarce information is available in the literature for estimating the heat transfer coefficients (HTC) of EGWM using knowledge-based estimation techniques such as adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS) and artificial neural networks (ANN) which offer nonlinear input–output mapping. In this paper, the supervised learning methods of ANFIS and ANN are exploited for estimating the experimentally determined HTC. This original research fulfills the preceding modeling efforts on thermal properties of EGWM and HTC applications in the literature. An experimental test setup is designed to compute HTC of mixture over a small circular aluminum heater surface, 9.5 mm in diameter, placed at the bottom 40-mm-wide wall of a rectangular channel 3 mm × 40 mm in cross section. Measurement data are utilized as the train and test data sets of the estimation process. Prediction results have shown that ANFIS provide more accurate and reliable approximations compared to ANN. ANFIS present correlation factor of 98.81 %, whereas ANN estimate 87.83 % accuracy for test samples.     

Fractal analysis of the structure and dynamics of a satellite‐detected urban heat island

In this Letter, three fractal models—surface, profile and pixel models are developed to analyse the structure and dynamics of an urban heat island (UHI). These three models were tested using data from Shanghai taken in 1990, 1995 and 1998. The surface model is capable of capturing the fractal dimension of the entire study area. The profile model can be used to analyse the structural characteristics of the UHI along certain directions and is capable of revealing changes in the texture characteristics of UHI. The pixel model can describe the changes in thermal characteristics surrounding each pixel in a particular locale and is suitable for analysing the micro‐structure of the UHI.     

More accurate results for two-dimensional heat equation with Neumann’s and non-classical boundary conditions

In this article, recently proposed spectral meshless radial point interpolation (SMRPI) method is applied to the two-dimensional diffusion equation with a mixed group of Dirichlet’s and Neumann’s and non-classical boundary conditions. The present method is based on meshless methods and benefits from spectral collocation ideas. The point interpolation method with the help of radial basis functions is proposed to construct shape functions which have Kronecker delta function property. Evaluation of high-order derivatives is possible by constructing and using operational matrices. The computational cost of the method is modest due to using strong form equation and collocation approach. A comparison study of the efficiency and accuracy of the present method and other meshless methods is given by applying on mentioned diffusion equation. Stability and convergence of this meshless approach are discussed and theoretically proven. Convergence studies in the numerical examples show that SMRPI method possesses excellent rates of convergence.     

Fuzzy predictive control based multiple models strategy for a tubular heat exchanger system

This work deals with the problem of controlling the outlet temperature of a tubular heat exchanger system by means of flow pressure. The usual industrial case is to try to control the outlet temperature by either the temperature or the flow of the fluid, which flows through the shell tube. But, in some situations, this is not possible, due to the fact that the whole of system coefficients variation cannot quite be covered by control action. In this case, the system behavior must precisely be modeled and appropriate control action needs to be obtained based on novel techniques. A new multiple models control strategy using the well-known linear generalized predictive control (LGPC) scheme has been proposed, in this paper. The main idea of the proposed control strategy is to represent the operating environments of the system, which have a wide range of variation with respect to time by multiple explicit linear models. In this strategy, the best model of the system is accurately identified, at each instant of time, by an intelligent decision mechanism (IDM), which is organized based on both new recursive weight generator and fuzzy adaptive Kalman filter approaches. After that, the adaptive algorithm is implemented on the chosen model. Finally, for having a good tracking performance, the generalized predictive control is instantly updated and its control action is also applied to the system. For demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed approach, simulations are all done and the results are also compared with those obtained using a nonlinear GPC (NLGPC) approach that is realized based on the Wiener model of the system. The results can verify the validity of the proposed control scheme.     

Effect of magnetic field on Cu–water nanofluid heat transfer using GMDH-type neural network

Heat transfer of Cu–water nanofluid over a stretching cylinder in the presence of magnetic field has been investigated. The group method of data handling (GMDH) type neural networks (NNs) is used to calculate Nusselt number formulation. Results indicate that GMDH-type NN in comparison with fourth-order Runge–Kutta integration scheme provides an effective means of efficiently recognizing the patterns in data and accurately predicting a performance. The effects of nanoparticle volume fraction, magnetic parameter and Reynolds number on Nusselt number are studied by sensitivity analyses. The results show that Nusselt number is an increasing function of Reynolds number and volume fraction of nanoparticles while it is a decreasing function of magnetic parameter. As volume fraction of nanoparticles increases, the effect of this parameter on Nusselt number also increases, but opposite behavior is obtained for magnetic parameter and Reynolds number.     

ASTER‐based study of the night‐time urban heat island effect in Metro Manila

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) was used to derive land surface temperatures to quantify the night‐time urban heat island (UHI) effect in Metro Manila. Temperature differences between Metro Manila and its adjacent rural towns were compared to determine heat island intensity and analyse spatial variation of surface temperature. Transects were drawn across from the rural to the urban region to characterize the UHI profile and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was used to examine the relationship between amount of vegetation and temperature. The thermal images revealed the highest UHI intensity to be 2.96°C with the presence of a heat island existing in the central part of the city. The transects described the cross‐sectional heat island profile characterized by gradients of ‘cliffs’, ‘plateaus’ and a ‘peak’ occurring in the city centre. The study also showed an inverse relationship between NDVI and temperature, which suggests that increasing the amount of plants in cities can reduce the UHI effect.     

Boundary feedback stabilization of a Schr$\＂{o}$dinger equation interconnected with a heat equation

In this paper, we study stabilization for a Schoedinger equation, which is interconnected with a heat equation via boundary coupling. A direct boundary feedback control is adopted. By a detailed spectral analysis, it is found that there are two branches of eigenvalues： one is along the negative real axis, and the other is approaching to a vertical line, which is parallel to the imagine axis. Moreover, it is shown that there is a set of generalized eigenfunctions, which forms a Riesz basis for the energy state space. Finally, the spectrum-determined growth condition is held and the exponential stability of the system is then concluded.     

Sensitivity analysis for transient heat conduction in a solid body —Part II: Interface modification

A transient heat conduction problem within a thermal anisotropic multiphase solid body is formulated. An arbitrary thermal response functional defined over space and time domains is introduced and its first-order sensitivities with respect to variation of two kinds of interfaces are discussed. Both variations of shape and material properties of interface are considered. Sensitivity analysis is performed using the direct and adjoint approaches.