Preparation and characterization of poly(vinyl alcohol)/gum tragacanth/cellulose nanocomposite film

The effects of gum tragacanth obtained from two species of Astragalus Gossypinus (GT-G) and A. Parrowianus (GT-P) at two levels of 10% and 30% combined with cellulose nanofibers (CNF; 5%) on the physico-mechanical and structural properties of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocomposite film were investigated in this study. The water solubility and water vapor permeability of the films decreased with increasing the content of both gums, especially in the film containing 30% GT-P. The highest values of the tensile strength (39.3 MPa) and elongation at break (445%) belonged to the treatment containing 10% GT-P (90/10P/0). The FTIR and DSC analyses confirmed good interactions between GT and PVA in the 90/10P/0 treatment. SEM images indicated the dense structure of this film as the optimum treatment. Although the presence of CNF in the films containing GT-G improved some properties, especially the Young modulus, it impaired all the functional properties of nanocomposite GT-P film.     

Investigation of Creep Feed Grinding Parameters and Heat treatment Effects on the Nickel-base Superalloys

The Nickel base Superalloys are the most famous complicated and useable of Superalloys to make hot zone components of the gas turbines. The complicated dimensional tolerances, specially at the root of the blade show importance of grinding processes at the production of blades root. The prediction of the effect of machining parameters on the soundness of component surface strengthening for reaching to a suitable surface finishing and avoiding from crack formation at the work part during machining operation often is not easy and feasible so needs to more industrial investigation.This research is about frame 5 blade designed by GE and made from Superalloy IN738LC has been investigated. The formation of a plastically deformed and heat affected zone during grinding of Superalloy IN738LC with a high depth of cut but slow work speed (creep feed grinding) was investigated. Parameters such as work speed, depth of cut and radial dressing speed have been considered as variables and their effects have been studied. During experimental performed, the voltage and current of motor measured and power and special energy calculated.Some samples heat-treated (of the 1176℃ for 1 hr under neutral argon gas and cooling rate of 15℃/min up to 537℃ and then air cooling) to study grains recrystallization. Other samples have been created from the roots of blades and then coated by Nickel to measure boundary layer micro-hardness. The results show that increasing work speed leads to increasing the use power. Increasing the depth of cut, by increasing material removal rate, and the radial dressing speed, by decreasing power, lead to decreasing special energy. The temperature created by grinding lead to decreasing plastic deformation and boundary layer formation. When the radial dressing speed changes from 1 to 0.6μm/rev and other parameters are kept unchanged the roughness of surface increases and the special energy decreases. Sufficient dressing is very essential in limiting the width of the molten zone to few micrometers. As a result, it was found that local melting at contact spots to be a rather common mechanism during grinding of superalloys, lead to so-called white layers which can easily be observed on metallographic cross sections.     

Thin-skin analysis technique for interaction of arbitrary-shape inducer field with long cracks in ferromagnetic metals

In using the AC field measurement (ACFM) technique for non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of metals, a current-carrying wire structure is used to induce eddy current within a thin layer of the metal and a magnetic field sensor to measure the field perturbations in the vicinity of the metal. The sensitivity of ACFM crack detection and sizing relies on an appropriate design of the wire structure geometry together with a dully placement of the sensor. This paper presents an analytical modeling technique for evaluating the electromagnetic field interaction of an ACFM probe with a long uniform crack in a ferromagnetic metallic slab. The probe in the proposed model can have an arbitrary-shape wire inducer with no restrictions on its relative sensor position. The technique is accurate and very efficient computationally. It first uses the two-dimensional Fourier transform to obtain the field distribution at the metal surface. The Laplacian field distribution above the metal is then determined by satisfying the so-obtained boundary condition at air–metal interface. To demonstrate the accuracy of the model, we consider the special case of a rhombic wire inducer. The comparison of our results with those obtained using the conventional algorithm in the literature validates the accuracy of the model introduced in this paper. To show the generality of the model, we also present theoretical and experimental results associated with a solenoid inducer with a three-dimensional geometry for which no analytical solution is available in the literature. The theoretical prediction of crack signal supported by experimental results is used to develop a model-based method for inverting crack signal into crack depth.     

Electrokinetic power generation of non-Newtonian fluids in a finite length microchannel

In order to examine the effects of the fluid type as the electrolyte solvent on the efficiency of electrokinetic energy conversion, a comparative numerical study among three different fluid types of a transient electrokinetic flow through a single circular finite length microchannel has been conducted. The system was initially at an equilibrium non-flow state, and a step change in flow was applied and the calculation proceeding until steady state was achieved. The analysis was based on non-dimensional transport governing equations that were scaled using Debye length as the characteristic length scale and diffusion time as characteristic time scale. The fluid types considered were shear thinning, Newtonian, and shear thickening, and a power law modeled them with the scaled flow behavior index having values of 0.2, 1.0, and 1.8. In order to isolate the electrokinetic effects of the different relationships between the shear strain rate and shear stress, the flow consistency index was adjusted so that in all the cases the flow rate and total pressure drop matched that of water at 25 °C. All other fluid and interfacial properties were the same for all cases. The key observational difference between the various fluid types was that their different axial velocity profile acted on essential the same free charge density profiles. Consequently, the convection current density (i.e., the radial distribution of charge being advected along the channel) was strongly affected by the fluid type. Integration of this quantity to calculate the convection current showed that for the particular fluid properties chosen the shear thinning fluid was 20 % higher than the Newtonian fluid, while the shear thickening fluid was only 4 % lower than the Newtonian fluid. Combined with the effects, these different currents have on the streaming potential, the shear thinning fluid was 50 % more effective in converting flow work to electrical work than the Newtonian fluid, while the shear thickening fluid was only 16 % lower than the Newtonian fluid.     

Nonlinear optimized adaptive trajectory control of helicopter

This paper attempts to develop an optimized adaptive trajectory control system for helicopters based on the dynamic inversion method. This control algorithm is implemented by three time-scale separation architectures. Pseudo control hedging (PCH) is used to protect the adaptive element from actuator saturation nonlinearities and also from the inner-outer-loop interaction. In addition, to augment the attitude control system, two online adaptive architectures that employ a neural network are used. By tuning the neural network based on the system model, a better and faster learning will be achieved, but this is a frustrating and time consuming process. Due to complexity in accurate tuning of neural network, this paper introduces a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) for off-line optimization of the neural network. Thus, in the proposed method, the neural network can compensate model inversion error caused by the deficiency of full knowledge of helicopter dynamics more accurately. The effectiveness of proposed method is demonstrated by numerical simulations.     

QG/GA: a stochastic search for Progol

Most search techniques within ILP require the evaluation of a large number of inconsistent clauses. However, acceptable clauses typically need to be consistent, and are only found at the “fringe” of the search space. A search approach is presented, based on a novel algorithm called QG (Quick Generalization). QG carries out a random-restart stochastic bottom-up search which efficiently generates a consistent clause on the fringe of the refinement graph search without needing to explore the graph in detail. We use a Genetic Algorithm (GA) to evolve and re-combine clauses generated by QG. In this QG/GA setting, QG is used to seed a population of clauses processed by the GA. Experiments with QG/GA indicate that this approach can be more efficient than standard refinement-graph searches, while generating similar or better solutions. Editors: Ramon Otero, Simon Colton.     

The Lattice-Boltzmann Method on Optimal Sampling Lattices

In this paper, we extend the single relaxation time Lattice-Boltzmann Method (LBM) to the 3D body-centered cubic (BCC) lattice. We show that the D3bQ15 lattice defined by a 15 neighborhood connectivity of the BCC lattice is not only capable of more accurately discretizing the velocity space of the continuous Boltzmann equation as compared to the D3Q15 Cartesian lattice, it also achieves a comparable spatial discretization with 30 percent less samples. We validate the accuracy of our proposed lattice by investigating its performance on the 3D lid-driven cavity flow problem and show that the D3bQ15 lattice offers significant cost savings while maintaining a comparable accuracy. We demonstrate the efficiency of our method and the impact on graphics and visualization techniques via the application of line-integral convolution on 2D slices as well as the extraction of streamlines of the 3D flow. We further study the benefits of our proposed lattice by applying it to the problem of simulating smoke and show that the D3bQ15 lattice yields more detail and turbulence at a reduced computational cost.     

Business process management with the user requirements notation

A number of recent initiatives in both academia and industry have sought to achieve improvements in e-businesses through the utilization of Business Process Management (BPM) methodologies and tools. However there are still some inadequacies that need to be addressed when it comes to achieving alignment between business goals and business processes. The User Requirements Notation (URN), recently standardized by ITU-T, has some unique features and capabilities beyond what is available in other notations that can help address alignment issues. In this paper, a URN-based framework and its supporting toolset are introduced which provide business process monitoring and performance management capabilities integrated across the BPM lifecycle. The framework extends the URN notation with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and other concepts to measure and align processes and goals. An example process for controlling access to a healthcare data warehouse is used to illustrate and evaluate the framework. Early results indicate the feasibility of the approach.     

A single-phase p-type ac–ac converter with reduced components count and high boost factor

This paper proposes a new single-phase direct step-up ac–ac converter by modifying the p-type impedance source. It provides a high boost factor as well as high efficiency, while only six parts are required to design it, involving just two bidirectional power switches. A safe commutation method has been applied to power switches to make the converter snubber-free and high efficient. Input and output harmonic filters are no longer required since input and output currents variate continuously with small ripple and low total harmonic distortion (THD). The proposed topology only modulates the output voltage amplitude, not the phase and frequency, so the output frequency is identical to the input frequency and constant. Thus, it can be utilized in step-up conversion applications, like inductive power transmission from low ac voltage sources. Input and output have the same ground, which is a good protective feature. In this paper, the operating principle of the converter is demonstrated. Experimental results have been represented to evaluate the performance of the converter. For this purpose, an experimental prototype has been fabricated. Results are investigated and compared with other previous step-up ac–ac converters. Results confirm the theory, operating principle, and performance of the converter.