Elastoplastic analysis of functionally graded spherical pressure vessels

Purely elastic, partially plastic and fully plastic stress states of internally pressurized functionally graded spherical pressure vessels are investigated analytically in the framework of small deformation theory. The modulus of elasticity and the uniaxial yield limit of the spherical pressure vessel material are assumed to vary nonlinearly in the radial direction. The plastic model is based on Tresca’s yield criterion and ideal plastic material behavior. It is shown that, unlike in the case of a homogeneous spherical pressure vessel, different modes of plasticization may take place due to the radial variation of the functionally grading parameters.     

Asymptotic throughput analysis of multicast transmission schemes

This paper demonstrates the use of extreme value theory in the asymptotic throughput analysis of wireless multicast and unicast for large number of users. Exact analysis of these schemes involves finding the probability distributions of maxima or minima of signal to noise ratios (SNRs). Jointly considering random user distribution and Rayleigh fading, exact distributions of these extreme values become complex and lack insights. On the other hand, asymptotic expressions obtained by using extreme value theory are quite accurate even for moderate number of users and they give insights about the performances without using simulations. The results of this analysis can be used in designing cellular unicast and multicast systems.     

Silicon‐Doped LiFePO4 Single Crystals: Growth,Conductivity Behavior,and Diffusivity

Single crystals of silicon doped LiFePO₄ with a silicon content of 1% are grown successfully by the floating zone technique and characterized by single‐crystal and powder X‐ray diffraction, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and chemical analysis. Electron paramagnetic resonance demonstrates the presence of only Fe²⁺; no traces of Fe³⁺ are found. Impedance spectroscopy as well as step‐function polarization/depolarization (DC) measurements are carried out using the cells Ti/LiFe(Si)PO₄/Ti and LiAl/LiI/LiFe(Si)PO₄/LiI/LiAl. The electronic and ionic conductivities as well as the Li‐diffusivity of the sample in the major crystallographic directions ([h00], [0k0], and [00l]) are determined. Within experimental error the transport properties along the b‐ and c‐axes are found to be the same but differ significantly from the a‐axis, which exhibits lower values. Compared to undoped LiFePO₄, Si‐doping leads to an increase of the ionic conductivity while the electronic conductivity decreases, which is in agreement with a donor effect. The activation energies of conductivities and diffusivities are interpreted in terms of defect chemistry and relevant Brouwer diagrams are given.     

The Numerical Analysis of Oscillating Rectangular Impinging Jets

In this study, the flow and heat transfer characteristics of oscillating air jets impinging on a flat surface were numerically analyzed. The jet velocity oscillated sinusoidally in time. A computer program, based on the control volume method and SIMPLE algorithm, was developed to numerically analyze the problem. Numerical simulations were performed to investigate the effects of the Reynolds number, amplitude, and frequency of the jet oscillation on the flow and heat transfer. It was observed that when the jet is oscillated, the Nusselt number moderately increases compared to the Nusselt number of steady jets.     

Comparison of the effects of different retention appliances on the oxidant–antioxidant system

The aim was to compare oxidative stress (OS) levels with different types of retention appliance. Thirty orthodontic patients were divided into three groups: Group 1 (Essix retainer), Group 2 (lingual retainer with stainless steel retainer wire), and Group 3 (lingual retainer with fiber-reinforced material). OS was assessed in the subjects’ saliva. Saliva samples were taken from the patients at T₀ (before using the retention appliance), T₁ (first month of retention), and T₂ (third month of retention). The specimens were investigated to detect changes in total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), and oxidative stress index (OSI). TAS values in Group 2 were significantly higher than in Group 3. TOS values in Group 3 were significantly lower than in the other groups. TOS values in Group 2 were lower than in Group 1. OSI values of Group 1 were higher than those in Group 2 or 3. There was no statistically significant difference among the time periods. The type of retention appliance affected OS values. A fiber-reinforced material may have a lower OSI. OS or products can affect some systemic disease; therefore, the selection of the retainer will be important on these patients.     

Higher-order nonlinear priors for surface reconstruction

For surface reconstruction problems with noisy and incomplete range data, a Bayesian estimation approach can improve the overall quality of the surfaces. The Bayesian approach to surface estimation relies on a likelihood term, which ties the surface estimate to the input data, and the prior, which ensures surface smoothness or continuity. This paper introduces a new high-order, nonlinear prior for surface reconstruction. The proposed prior can smooth complex, noisy surfaces, while preserving sharp, geometric features, and it is a natural generalization of edge-preserving methods in image processing, such as anisotropic diffusion. An exact solution would require solving a fourth-order partial differential equation (PDE), which can be difficult with conventional numerical techniques. Our approach is to solve a cascade system of two second-order PDEs, which resembles the original fourth-order system. This strategy is based on the observation that the generalization of image processing to surfaces entails filtering the surface normals. We solve one PDE for processing the normals and one for refitting the surface to the normals. Furthermore, we implement the associated surface deformations using level sets. Hence, the algorithm can accommodate very complex shapes with arbitrary and changing topologies. This paper gives the mathematical formulation and describes the numerical algorithms. We also show results using range and medical data.     

Prediction of Critical Submergence for a Rectangular Intake

The effects of the blockage of a rectangular intake duct and impervious flow boundaries on the critical submergence of a rectangular intake are presented. The potential solution, based on the Rankine stagnation point, is determined to be another approximate method for the prediction of the critical submergence of this kind of intake. It is found that a critical cylindrical sink surface capped with two critical hemispherical sink surfaces at both ends with a radius equal to the radial distance of the stagnation point (which is 2/π times the critical submergence of the rectangular intake) can also be used to predict critical submergence. Theoretical results and available experimental data are compared. The theory presented in this study acceptably (by about 1–20%) estimates the critical submergence for the cases where the distance (clearances) of the impervious solid boundaries are larger than 1/2 of the small inner dimension of the intake. On the other hand, the theory overestimates the critical submergence by about 80% for the cases where the distances of the solid boundaries (especially those cutting the free surface such as the dead-end wall) become zero.     

Model-based cache-aware dispatching of object-oriented software for multicore systems

In recent years, processor technology has evolved towards multicore processors, which include multiple processing units (cores) in a single package. Those cores, having their own private caches, often share a higher level cache memory dedicated to each processor die. This multi-level cache hierarchy in multicore processors raises the importance of cache utilization problem. Assigning parallel-running software components with common data to processor cores that do not share a common cache increases the number of cache misses. In this paper we present a novel approach that uses model-based information to guide the OS scheduler in assigning appropriate core affinities to software objects at run-time. We build graph models of software and cache hierarchies of processors and devise a graph matcher algorithm that provides mapping between these two graphs. Using this mapping we obtain candidate core sets that each software object can be affiliated with at run-time. These affiliations are determined based on the idea that software components that have the potential to share common data at run-time should run on cores that share a common cache. We also develop an object dispatcher algorithm that keeps track of object affiliations at run-time and dispatches objects by using the information from the compile-time graph matcher. We apply our approach on design pattern implementations and two different application program running on servers using CFS scheduling. Our results show that cache-aware dispatching based on information obtained from software model, decreases number of cache misses significantly and improves CFS’ scheduling performance.     

Enhanced user performance in an image gallery application with a mobile autostereoscopic touch display

In this study, we explored how stereoscopic depth affects performance and user experience in a mobile device with an autostereoscopic touch display. Participants conducted a visual search task with an image gallery application on three layouts with different depth ranges. The task completion times were recorded, and the participants were asked to rate their experiences. The results revealed that the image search times were facilitated by a mild depth effect and that too great a depth slowed search times and decreased user-experience ratings.