Progressive delamination growth analysis using discontinuous layered element

In this paper, a fracture mechanic approach is used to analyze delamination propagation between layers of composite laminates. A finite element method based on layer-wise theory is extended for the analysis of delamination growth. In this approach, delamination is modeled by jump discontinuity conditions at the interfaces. The layer-wise finite element is developed to calculate the strain energy release rates based on the virtual crack closure technique (VCCT). A procedure is proposed to handle the progressive delamination of laminates. Finally, analyses of the edge delamination propagation for several composite laminates are performed and the corresponding failure stresses are calculated. The predicted results are compared with the available experimental and numerical results. It is shown that the predicted failure stresses using this method are comparable with those obtained using interface elements.     

Fuzzy Controller for Seismically Excited Nonlinear Buildings

This paper focuses on the benchmark control problems for seismically excited nonlinear buildings. The benchmark study focuses on three typical steel structures, 3-, 9-, and 20-story buildings designed for the SAC project for the Los Angeles region. This paper reports the application of the active control scheme on the 3- and 20-story benchmark buildings, where the control action is achieved by a fuzzy logic controller. The main advantage of the fuzzy controller is its inherent robustness and ability to handle any nonlinear behavior of the structure. The performance of the controller is validated through the computer simulation on MATLAB. The control scheme satisfies the control constraints and is presented according to the evaluation criteria provided with the benchmark problems for comparison with other schemes. Four different earthquakes (El Centro 1940, Hachinohe 1968, Northridge 1994, and Kobe 1995) will be used in the simulation.     

Nonlinear spinor fields in LRS Bianchi type-I space-time: Theory and observation

Within the scope of a LRS Bianchi type-I cosmological model we study the role of a nonlinear spinor field in the evolution of the Universe. In doing so, we consider a polynomial type of nonlinearity that describes different stages of the evolution. Finally, we use the observational data to fix the problem parameters that match best with the real picture of the evolution. An assessment of the age of the Universe in the case of a soft beginning of the expansion (initial speed of expansion at the singularity is zero), the age was found to be 15 billion years, whereas in the case of a hard beginning (nonzero initial speed) the Universe is found to be 13.7 billion years old. Values of the constants D₁ and X₁ that define the anisotropy of our model are also calculated.     

Interacting spinor and scalar fields in a bianchi type-I universe filled with viscous fluid: Exact and numerical solutions

We consider a self-consistent system of spinor and scalar fields in a Bianchi type I gravitational field filled with a viscous fluid in the presence of a cosmological constant. Exact solutions to the set of spinor, scalar and gravitational field equations are obtained in terms of v, the volume scale of Bianchi-I universe. A set of equations for v and ε, where ε is the energy of the viscous fluid, is deduced. Some special cases allowing exact solutions are thoroughly studied.     

Solid modelling in a virtual reality environment

This paper presents a constraint-based methodology for intuitive and precise solid modelling in a virtual reality (VR) environment. A hierarchically structured and constraint-based data model is developed to support solid modelling in the VR environment. A constraint reasoning engine is also developed to automatically deduce allowable motions for precise constraint-based 3D manipulations. A prototype system of product modelling has been successfully developed, and experimental results demonstrate the advantage of precise solid modelling through constraint-based manipulation in virtual environments.     

Motion control analysis of a parallel robot assisted minimally invasive surgery/microsurgery system (PRAMiSS)

This paper presents motion control architectures for a parallel robot assisted minimally invasive surgery/microsurgery system (PRAMiSS) that enable it to achieve milli/micro-manipulations under the constraint of moving through a fixed penetration point or so-called remote centre-of-motion (RCM) point without any mechanical constraint. Two control structures suitable for minimally invasive surgery operations with submillimeter accuracy and for minimally invasive microsurgery operations with the desired accuracy in micron range are proposed. The control algorithm also applies orientation constraints preventing the tip from orienting around the instrument axis due to the robot movements as well as a minimum displacement constraint to minimise the movements of the parallel micropositioning robot. Experiments were performed and the results are analysed in this paper to verify accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm for both cases of minimally invasive surgery and microsurgery operations. The experimental results present good accuracy and performance of the control algorithm. The numerical modelling and graphical simulations were also carried out and the results are also provided that demonstrate the correlation between the experimental results and physical responses.     

The entropy of semi-independent hyper <Emphasis Type="Italic">MV</Emphasis>-algebra dynamical systems

In this paper, the notion of a semi-independent dynamical system on a hyper MV-algebra is introduced. The concept of the entropy for a semi-independent hyper MV-algebra dynamical system is developed, and its characteristics are considered. The notion of equivalent semi-independent systems is defined, and it is proved the fact that two equivalent semi-independent hyper MV-algebra dynamical systems have the same entropy. Theorems to help calculate the entropy are given. Specifically, a new version of Kolmogorov–Sinai Theorem has been proved.     

Random weighting estimation for fusion of multi-dimensional position data

This paper adopts the concept of random weighting estimation to multi-sensor data fusion. It presents a new random weighting estimation methodology for optimal fusion of multi-dimensional position data. A multi-sensor observation model is constructed for multi-dimensional position. Based on this observation model, a random weighting estimation algorithm is developed for estimation of position data from single sensors. Using the random weighting estimations from each single sensor, an optimization theory is established for optimal fusion of multi-sensor position data. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed methodology can effectively fuse multi-sensor dimensional position data, and the fusion accuracy is much higher than that of the Kalman fusion method.     

Dynamic schedule execution in an agent based holonic manufacturing system

The present paper deals with the negotiation based task allocation to the resources for preparing dynamic scheduling in an agent based holonic control framework. The scheduling priority is developed by Multi Objective Optimization on the basis of Ratio Analysis (MOORA) technique under Fuzzy Multi Criteria Decision Making (FMCDM) environment considering several attributes. The well-known Contract Net Protocol (CNP) is followed for the purpose of task allocation by negotiation and cooperation, where message based communication is accomplished by eXtensible markup language (XML) using J2EE. Different Document Type Definitions (DTDs) are developed for intended applications. Necessary modifications in the scheduling arising out of changes in the volume-mix are made by a distributed cooperative problem-solving algorithm to meet the demand without violating the deadline. The algorithm is implemented using HTML code in front-end with Java Server Page (JSP) through Apache Tomcat 6.02 server. It is advocated that the cooperation based teamwork coupled with higher flexibility and agility is the key to success to remain unperturbed and provide reasonably good solution in the face of disturbances and stands superior to its hierarchical counterpart.