Optimization of dynamic response using a monolithic-time formulation

The design of systems for dynamic response may involve constraints that need to be satisfied over an entire time interval or objective functions evaluated over the interval. Efficiently performing the constrained optimization is challenging, since the typical response is implicitly linked to the design variables through a numerical integration of the governing differential equations. Evaluating constraints is costly, as is the determination of sensitivities to variations in the design variables. In this paper, we investigate the application of a temporal spectral element method to the optimization of transient and time-periodic responses of fundamental engineering systems. Through the spectral discretization, the response is computed globally, thereby enabling a more explicit connection between the response and design variables and facilitating the efficient computation of response sensitivities. Furthermore, the response is captured in a higher order manner to increase analysis accuracy. Two applications of the coupling of dynamic response optimization with the temporal spectral element method are demonstrated. The first application, a one-degree-of-freedom, linear, impact absorber, is selected from the auto industry, and tests the ability of the method to treat transient constraints over a large-time interval. The second application, a related mass-spring-damper system, shows how the method can be used to obtain work and amplitude optimal time-periodic control force subject to constraints over a periodic time interval. This research was performed while the first author held a National Research Council Research Associateship Award at the Air Force Research Laboratory. An early version of this paper was presented at the 46th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Jan 7–10, 2008, Reno, Nevada.     

Strategic reasoning about business models: a conceptual modeling approach

Strategic reasoning about business models is an integral part of service design. In fast moving markets, businesses must be able to recognize and respond strategically to disruptive change. They have to answer questions such as: what are the threats and opportunities in emerging technologies and innovations? How should they target customer groups? Who are their real competitors? How will competitive battles take shape? In this paper we define a strategic modeling framework to help understand and analyze the goals, intentions, roles, and the rationale behind the strategic actions in a business environment. This understanding is necessary in order to improve existing or design new services. The key component of the framework is a strategic business model ontology for representing and analyzing business models and strategies, using the i* agent and goal oriented methodology as a basis. The ontology introduces a strategy layer which reasons about alternative strategies that are realized in the operational layer. The framework is evaluated using a retroactive example of disruptive technology in the telecommunication services sector from the literature.     

Predictive model for shear strength estimation in reinforced concrete beams with recycled aggregates using Gaussian process regression

Neural Computing and Applications - In order to attain sustainable development, recycled concrete aggregates (RCAs) are increasingly utilized in civil engineering projects. Therefore, it is vital...     

Giant Anomalous Hall and Nernst Conductivities in Magnetic All-d Metal Heusler Alloys

All-d Heuslers are a category of novel compounds combining versatile functionalities such as caloric responses and spintronics with enhanced mechanical properties. Despite the promising transport properties (anomalous Hall (AHC) and anomalous Nernst (ANC) conductivities) shown in the conventional Co₂XY Heuslers with p-d hybridization, the all-d Heuslers with only d-d hybridization open a new horizon to search for new candidates with outstanding transport properties. In this work, the AHC and ANC are evaluated for thermodynamically stable ferro/ferri-magnetic all-d-metal regular Heusler compounds based on high-throughput first-principles calculations. It is observed that quite a few materials exhibit giant AHCs and ANCs, such as cubic Re₂TaMn with an AHC of 2011 S cm^-1, and tetragonal Pt₂CrRh with an AHC of 1966 S cm^-1 and an ANC of 7.50 A m^-1K^-1. Comprehensive analysis on the electronic structure reveals that the high AHC can be attributed to the occurrence of the Weyl nodes or gapped nodal lines in the neighborhood of the Fermi level. The correlations between such transport properties and the number of valence electrons are also thoroughly investigated, which provides a practical guidance to tailor AHC and ANC via chemical doping for transverse thermoelectric applications.     

Alpha Fusion Adversarial Attack Analysis Using Deep Learning

The deep learning model encompasses a powerful learning ability that integrates the feature extraction, and classification method to improve accuracy. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) perform well in machine learning and image processing tasks like segmentation, classification, detection, identification, etc. The CNN models are still sensitive to noise and attack. The smallest change in training images as in an adversarial attack can greatly decrease the accuracy of the CNN model. This paper presents an alpha fusion attack analysis and generates defense against adversarial attacks. The proposed work is divided into three phases: firstly, an MLSTM-based CNN classification model is developed for classifying COVID-CT images. Secondly, an alpha fusion attack is generated to fool the classification model. The alpha fusion attack is tested in the last phase on a modified LSTM-based CNN (CNN-MLSTM) model and other pre-trained models. The results of CNN models show that the accuracy of these models dropped greatly after the alpha-fusion attack. The highest F1 score before the attack was achieved is 97.45 And after the attack lowest F1 score recorded is 22%. Results elucidate the performance in terms of accuracy, precision, F1 score and Recall.     

Passivating Defects of Perovskite Solar Cells with Functional Donor-Acceptor–Donor Type Hole Transporting Materials

In this study, a series of donor–acceptor–donor (D-A-D) type small molecules based on the fluorene and diphenylethenyl enamine units, which are distinguished by different acceptors, as holetransporting materials (HTMs) for perovskite solar cells is presented. The incorporation of the malononitrile acceptor units is found to be beneficial for not only carrier transportation but also defects passivation via Pb–N interactions. The highest power conversion efficiency of over 22% is achieved on cells based on V1359, which is higher than that of spiro-OMeTAD under identical conditions. This st shows that HTMs prepared via simplified synthetic routes are not only a low-cost alternative to spiro-OMeTAD but also outperform in efficiency and stability state-of-art materials obtained via expensive cross-coupling methods.     

Agent-based time delay margin in consensus of multi-agent systems by an event-triggered control method: Concept and computation

This paper deals with defining the concept of agent-based time delay margin and computing its value in multi-agent systems controlled by event-triggered based controllers. The agent-based time delay margin specifying the time delay tolerance of each agent for ensuring consensus in event-triggered controlled multi-agent systems can be considered as complementary for the concept of (network) time delay margin, which has been previously introduced in some literature. In this paper, an event-triggered control method for achieving consensus in multi-agent systems with time delay is considered. It is shown that the Zeno behavior is excluded by applying this method. Then, in a multi-agent system controlled by the considered event-triggered method, the concept of agent-based time delay margin in the presence of a fixed network delay is defined. Moreover, an algorithm for computing the value of the time delay margin for each agent is proposed. Numerical simulation results are also provided to verify the obtained theoretical results.     

Electronic transport behavior of 4,6-bis(4-nitrophenyl)-2-phenyl-3,5-diaza-bicyclo[3.1.0]hex-2-ene (a bicyclic aziridine) as optical molecular switch: a first-principles approach

Journal of Computational Electronics - In this study, the electronic transport properties of 4,6-bis(4-nitrophenyl)-2-phenyl-3,5-diaza-bicyclo[3.1.0]hex-2-ene (as a bicyclic aziridine) have been...     

Adaptive double recycling folded cascode amplifier

Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing - A new structure for improving the performance of recycling folded cascode (RFC) operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) is presented. The...     

Lossless,Passive Transportation of Low Surface Tension Liquids Induced by Patterned Omniphobic Liquidlike Polymer Brushes

Surfaces enabling directional liquid transportation are of great interest for a wide range of applications such as water collection, microfluidics, and heat transfer systems. Surfaces capable of lossless, long-range passive transportation of low surface tension (LST) liquids using wettability patterned, liquidlike coatings with minimal contact angle hysteresis are reported. Lossless LST droplet travel distances over 150 mm are achieved, enabled by a two-phase transportation mechanism: morphological transformation from a bulge to a channel shape, followed by directional transportation along the asymmetrical wedge-shaped channel. The developed surfaces can split, merge, and precisely transport various low-surface tension liquids, including alcohols, alkanes, and solvents. The developed transportation strategy can also enhance LST liquid dropwise condensation through continuous removal of the condensate, even on horizontally positioned surfaces without the assistance of gravity.