Design of calibrators for extruded profiles. Part I: Modeling the thermal interchanges

The parameters influencing the calibration/cooling stage of profile extrusion are discussed, and a numerical finite‐volume method code to model the heat transfer is described and validated. For this purpose, the numerical predictions are compared with the analytical solution of a simple problem, with results available in the literature and with those produced by a commercial software. The routines developed are then used to identify the main process parameters and boundary conditions and to estimate their relative importance. The investigation clearly shows the advantages of using several calibrators separated by annealing zones, relative to a single calibrator of the same total length, and the large impact of the contact resistance between extrudate and cooling unit while showing negligible impact of other boundary conditions. A decrease of the extrudate velocity is seen to be also an effective control parameter, but it decreases the production rates. Polym. Eng. Sci. 44:2216–2228, 2004. © 2004 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Carbon aerogels, cryogels and xerogels: Influence of the drying method on the textural properties of porous carbon materials

Carbon materials with tailored texture can be obtained from drying and pyrolysis of resorcinol-formaldehyde gels. The pore texture of both dried and pyrolyzed material depends on the drying process. Several more or less expensive methods (supercritical drying, freeze-drying, evaporative drying) were tested in order to determine which process is the most suitable for the synthesis of a porous carbon with a definite texture. Supercritical drying leads to the highest pore volume and the widest texture range, but residual surface tensions and shrinkage are not avoided when the pore size is small or when the material density is low; this hampers to fix both the pore volume and the pore size easily. Monoliths are very difficult to obtain by freeze-drying, and the appearance of huge channels due to ice crystal growth at high dilution ratio hinders the fabrication of low density materials. Moreover, gels with small pores do not remain frozen throughout drying, which leads to surface tensions and shrinkage. Although generally replaced by more complicated techniques, evaporative drying is suitable when dense carbons are needed or when the only selection criterion is the pore size: all pore sizes are reachable, but this parameter is in this case strongly correlated to the pore volume.     

Kinetics and Mechanism of the Reduction of Nickel Oxide in Aligned Nickel Oxide-Zirconia and Nickel Oxide-Yttria Eutectic Structures

Unidirectional solidification experiments were carried out at the eutectic composition of the systems NiO-ZrO₂ and NiO-Y₂O₃, yielding materials made of regularly aligned lamellar structures. Eutectic samples were submitted to a chemical reduction treatment at 1075°C under CO/CO₂ mix tures corresponding to Po ₂ values for which only NiO should be reduced to the metal. The rapid formation of nickel be tween the zirconia or yttria platelets and the morphology of the nickel layer resulting from reduction establish that the reduction kinetics were controlled predominantly by the dif fusion of CO to the Ni/NiO interface through the porous Ni product. Experimental data of the variation of reduction depth of NiO as a function of time are qualitatively inter preted using a simple model of interdiffusion of CO in N₂/ CO/CO₂ mixtures. This model also explains the observation of an influence of the dilution of CO on the reduction depth.     

A multi-modal approach for activity classification and fall detection

The society is changing towards a new paradigm in which an increasing number of old adults live alone. In parallel, the incidence of conditions that affect mobility and independence is also rising as a consequence of a longer life expectancy. In this paper, the specific problem of falls of old adults is addressed by devising a technological solution for monitoring these users. Video cameras, accelerometers and GPS sensors are combined in a multi-modal approach to monitor humans inside and outside the domestic environment. Machine learning techniques are used to detect falls and classify activities from accelerometer data. Video feeds and GPS are used to provide location inside and outside the domestic environment. It results in a monitoring solution that does not imply the confinement of the users to a closed environment.     

Piecewise‐Planar 3D Reconstruction with Edge and Corner Regularization

This paper presents a method for the 3D reconstruction of a piecewise‐planar surface from range images, typically laser scans with millions of points. The reconstructed surface is a watertight polygonal mesh that conforms to observations at a given scale in the visible planar parts of the scene, and that is plausible in hidden parts. We formulate surface reconstruction as a discrete optimization problem based on detected and hypothesized planes. One of our major contributions, besides a treatment of data anisotropy and novel surface hypotheses, is a regularization of the reconstructed surface w.r.t. the length of edges and the number of corners. Compared to classical area‐based regularization, it better captures surface complexity and is therefore better suited for man‐made environments, such as buildings. To handle the underlying higher‐order potentials, that are problematic for MRF optimizers, we formulate minimization as a sparse mixed‐integer linear programming problem and obtain an approximate solution using a simple relaxation. Experiments show that it is fast and reaches near‐optimal solutions.     

Permeability of paint films towards chloride ion

An apparatus for determining the permeability of paint films towards chloride ion is described. This set-up implements the time-lag, method and consists of a permeation cell made up of two chambers divided by a supported paint film. The upper chamber contains an aqueous sodium chloride solution and the lower one, water. The permeability is obtained from the conductivity history read at the lower chamber. Osmotic pressure issue is addressed and the reproducibility of the results reported. The time-lag, method is not described in any standard. The requirement concerning “surface protection systems for concrete” for chloride ion permeability is not quantified in prEN 1504-2. The standard establishes that this requirement is “subject to national standards and national regulations” but when the capillary adsorption of water is lower than 0.01 kg/(m²h^0.5) the diffusion of chloride ion is not to be expected. Some experimental results prove this is not correct and, in Portugal, the National Laboratory of Civil Engineering (LNEC) has proposed a threshold permeability value of 10⁻¹⁴ m²/sec for coatings claiming to be corrosion protective.     

Online dispute resolution: an artificial intelligence perspective

Litigation in court is still the main dispute resolution mode. However, given the amount and characteristics of the new disputes, mostly arising out of electronic contracting, courts are becoming slower and outdated. Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) recently emerged as a set of tools and techniques, supported by technology, aimed at facilitating conflict resolution. In this paper we present a critical evaluation on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based techniques in ODR. In order to fulfill this goal, we analyze a set of commercial providers (in this case twenty four) and some research projects (in this circumstance six). Supported by the results so far achieved, a new approach to deal with the problem of ODR is proposed, in which we take on some of the problems identified in the current state of the art in linking ODR and AI.     

Micro tracking and positioning using off-the-shelf servopneumatics

Conventional pneumatic systems do not exhibit significant heat or magnetic fields and present high force to volume ratios. They are, however, typically confined to simple motion tasks owing to their control complexity. Leveraging on a sliding mode based control strategy, the authors have shown in previous works that good tracking and positioning results can be achieved using off-the-shelf servopneumatics. This paper extends the previously mentioned works by applying a modified version of the control law to a new experimental setup comprising different valves and actuators and a better resolution encoder. The modification of the control law involves the use of a new boundary layer thickness variation law, different from the one previously used. Experimental results show that the modified control law leads to very accurate motion control. The positioning error from a control perspective is only limited by the encoder resolution, 1 μm, in any position of the piston stroke and when carrying loads of 3 kg and 8 kg, without any controller retuning. Good results in the micrometer range are also obtained when tracking sinusoidal and triangular references.     

Conductivity and Local Structure of LaNiO3 Thin Films

A marked conductivity enhancement is reported in 6–11 unit cell LaNiO₃ thin films. A maximal conductivity is also observed in ab initio calculations for films of the same thickness. In agreement with results from state of the art scanning transmission electron microscopy, the calculations also reveal a differentiated film structure comprising characteristic surface, interior, and heterointerface structures. Based on this observation, a three‐element parallel conductor model is considered and leads to the conclusion that the conductivity enhancement for films of 6–11 unit cells, stems from the onset of intercompetition between the three local structures in the film depth.     

A synthesis approach to distributed supervisory control design for manufacturing systems with Grafcet implementation

In supervisory control, computational complexity and implementation flexibility represent major challenges when a large number of local components compose a target system. To overcome these difficulties, we propose a formal approach to distributed control synthesis and implementation for automated manufacturing systems (AMS). We assume that the system is modelled with automata in a local modular fashion. Local control specifications are defined for each local subsystem by means of logical equations to construct local controllers (LCs). Then, global control specifications, stated as logical implications, are applied to the LCs, which allows synchronisation and cooperative interaction among the subsystems. This paper makes two contributions. First, it outlines a formal method for constructing minimally restrictive and deadlock-free distributed controllers (DCs). Second, it proposes a method for the interpretation of these DCs into Grafcet, which is a graphical modelling formalism widely used to design the controller’s dynamic behaviour for AMS. An experimental manufacturing system illustrates the approach.