Tolerance evaluation of flexible manufacturing architectures

Within the framework of FMS dependability, this article aims to apply the concept of tolerance to flexible manufacturing architectures. This enables flexible architectures to be studied and the one that could best react if failure occurs to be chosen. The methods proposed here are based on a process representation. They could be used on a designed architecture in a feedback process: The analysis is performed off line in order to check whether the workshop is tolerant or the addition of some flexibilities can make the system more tolerant.     

Synthesis of SPR Nanosensor using Gold Nanoparticles and its Application to Copper (II) Determination

This research describes a colorimetric assay for Cu (II) ions that is highly selective over other metal ions. It is based on the measurement of changes in the surface plasmon resonance absorbance (at 525 nm) of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) modified with 1,7-diaza-15-crown-5 (Crown-Au NPs). The unique structure of crown ethers and presence of heteroatoms enable the crown-Au NPs to recognize very low concentrations of Cu (II) ions. After aggregation, the surface plasmon absorption band has a red shift so that the nanoparticle solution shows a violet color. The TEM images data show that this color change is a result of crown-Au NPs aggregation upon addition of Cu (II), In contrast, other metal ions Al³⁺, Ca²⁺, Cd²⁺, Co²⁺, Cr³⁺, Ag⁺, Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺, Hg²⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Mn²⁺, Na⁺, Ni²⁺, Pb²⁺, and Zn²⁺ do not aggregate. The recognition mechanism is attributed to the formation of a sandwich (2+1) between the Cu (II) ion and two diaza-15-crown-5 moieties that are attached to separate nanoparticles. This simple and fast method can be used to determine the Cu (II) ions with a detection limit as low as 200 nM.     

Probability Analysis of Crop Water Stress Index: An Application of Double Bounded Density Function (DB-CDF)

Soil moisture is an uncertain variable due to rainfall randomness. Furthermore, its density function is hybrid in nature, with spikes at maximum and minimum soil moisture (saturation and field capacity). Both of these properties are also considered for crop water stress index. The crop water stress index can be used to show the sensitivity of a crop to deficit irrigation. In this paper, a new methodology is proposed to probability analysis of water stress index using Double Bounded Density Function (DB-CDF) and moment analysis of crop water stress index. For this purpose, two equations were developed for the first and second moments of water stress index. To find out the value of the proposed moment equations, they are used as constraints in a stochastic model of crop water allocation as developed previously by Ganji and Shekarrizfard (Water Resour Manage 25:547–561, 2010). After verification of the model, the DB-CDF of soil moisture stress index was estimated using the value of proposed moments in the growing periods. The results show that in case of deficit irrigation, the probability of crop water stress occurrence is high and as a consequence, any unpredictable water shortage leads to yield reduction. The application of the proposed methodology is novel and has not been reported in the literature to date.     

Regression-based intensity estimation of facial action units

Facial Action Coding System (FACS) is the de facto standard in the analysis of facial expressions. FACS describes expressions in terms of the configuration and strength of atomic units called Action Units: AUs. FACS defines 44 AUs and each AU intensity is defined on a nonlinear scale of five grades. There has been significant progress in the literature on the detection of AUs. However, the companion problem of estimating the AU strengths has not been much investigated. In this work we propose a novel AU intensity estimation scheme applied to 2D luminance and/or 3D surface geometry images. Our scheme is based on regression of selected image features. These features are either non-specific, that is, those inherited from the AU detection algorithm, or are specific in that they are selected for the sole purpose of intensity estimation. For thoroughness, various types of local 3D shape indicators have been considered, such as mean curvature, Gaussian curvature, shape index and curvedness, as well as their fusion. The feature selection from the initial plethora of Gabor moments is instrumented via a regression that optimizes the AU intensity predictions. Our AU intensity estimator is person-independent and when tested on 25 AUs that appear singly or in various combinations, it performs significantly better than the state-of-the-art method which is based on the margins of SVMs designed for AU detection. When evaluated comparatively, one can see that the 2D and 3D modalities have relative merits per upper face and lower face AUs, respectively, and that there is an overall improvement if 2D and 3D intensity estimations are used in fusion.     

Implied Open-circuit Voltage Imaging via a Single Bandpass Filter Method—Its First Application in Perovskite Solar Cells

A novel, camera-based method for direct implied open-circuit voltage (iV_OC) imaging via the use of a single bandpass filter (s-BPF) is developed for large-area photovoltaic solar cells and precursors. The photoluminescence (PL) emission is imaged using a narrow BPF with centre energy inside the high-energy tail of the PL emission, utilising the close-to-unity and nearly constant absorptivity of typical photovoltaic devices in this energy range. As a result, the exact value of the sample's absorptivity within the BPF transmission band is not required. The use of an s-BPF enables a fully contactless approach to calibrate the absolute PL photon flux for spectrally integrated detectors, including cameras. The method eliminates the need for knowledge of the imaging system spectral response. Through an appropriate choice of the BPF centre energy, a range of absorber compositions or a single absorber with different surface morphologies, such as planar and textured, can be imaged, all without the need for additional detection optics. The feasibility of this s-BPF method is first validated. The relative error in iV_OC is determined to be ≤1.5%. The method is then demonstrated on device stacks with two different perovskite compositions commonly used in single-junction and monolithic tandem solar cells.     

Hole effects on lateral buckling of laminated cantilever beams

In this study, the effects of hole diameter and hole location on the lateral buckling behaviour of woven fabric laminated composite cantilever beams have been investigated. In the experimental studies, two different groups of samples were used; samples with a single circular hole and samples with no hole. The critical buckling load for each sample was then determined experimentally. For the numerical analyses, ANSYS 10.0 finite element program was utilized. It has been noted that there is a good agreement between experimental results and those of finite element analyses. On the basis of this harmony, the numerical analyses of some models having different dimensions and fiber orientations have been done by changing length and width of the beam, diameter and location of the hole. It has been concluded that the effects of the hole diameter and hole location on the lateral buckling behaviours is very important, especially for the short beams.     

Preparation of Chitosan-based nanocomposites and biomedical investigations in bone tissue engineering

Chitosan (CS)/Bioglass (BG)/Hydroxyapatite (HA)/Halloysite nanotube (HNT) nanocomposites were deposited on titanium (Ti) by electrophoretic deposition (EPD). The nanostructures with the uniform distribution of ceramic particles into CS polymer were yielded. In vitro experiment depicted CS/BG/HA/HNT is precipitated with apatite particles by immersion into corrected simulated body fluid (C-SBF) at 37?°C. Furthermore, In vitro bioactivity, biomineralization, and cell attachment indicated that all of the coatings have a desirable apatite induced ability and cell compatibility. Finally, biodegradability of CS-BG-HA/HNT nanocomposite verified the degradation ratio of CS-BG-HA-HNT is 4 times more than that of CS-BG-HA.     

Heat transfer due to electroosmotic flow of viscoelastic fluids in a slit microchannel

The bio-microfluidic systems are usually encountered with non-Newtonian behaviors of working fluids. The rheological behavior of some bio-fluids can be described by differential viscoelastic constitutive equations that are related to PTT and FENE-P models. In the present work, thermal transport characteristics of the steady fully developed electroosmotic flow of these fluids in a slit microchannel with constant wall heat fluxes have been investigated. The Debye–Huckel linearization is adopted and the effects of viscous dissipation and Joule heating are taken into account. Analytical solutions are obtained for the transverse distributions of velocity and temperature and finally for Nusselt number. Two different behaviors are observed for the Nusselt number variations due to increasing ?_geWe² which are an increasing trend for positive wall heat flux and a decreasing one for negative wall heat flux. However, the influence of ?_geWe² on Nusselt number vanishes at higher values of the dimensionless Debye–Huckel parameter. It is also realized that the effect of viscous heating is more important at small values of both ?_geWe² and the dimensionless Debye–Huckel parameter. Furthermore, the results show a singularity in Nusselt number at higher negative values of the dimensionless Joule heating parameter.     

Multi-wavelength Q-switched Erbium-doped fiber laser with photonic crystal fiber and multi-walled carbon nanotubes

A simple multi-wavelength passively Q-switched Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) is demonstrated using low-cost multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)-based saturable absorber, which is prepared using polyvinyl alcohol as a host polymer. The multi-wavelength operation is achieved based on non-linear polarization rotation effect by incorporating 50?m long photonic crystal fiber in the ring cavity. The EDFL produces a stable multi-wavelength comb spectrum for more than 14 lines with a fixed spacing of 0.48?nm. The laser also demonstrates a stable pulse train with the repetition rate increasing from 14.9 to 25.4?kHz as the pump power increases from the threshold power of 69.0?mW to the maximum pump power of 133.8?mW. The minimum pulse width of 4.4?μs was obtained at the maximum pump power of 133.8?mW while the highest energy of 0.74 nJ was obtained at the pump power of 69.0?mW.