Effect of midblock on the morphology and properties of blends of ABA triblock copolymers of PDLA-mid-block-PDLA with PLLA

A method to overcome the brittleness of poly (l-lactic acid) (PLLA) by kinetically trapping a continuous low T_g amorphous phase is presented. This morphology is accomplished by exploiting the significant difference in the crystallization temperatures of PLLA vs its stereocomplex with the poly (d-lactic acid) (PDLA) isomer. In our studies, the D isomer is the end block of a triblock copolymer with a configuration of the form PDLAn–Soft Blockm–PDLAn. As demonstrated in this study, when blended with PLLA, the obtained morphology, and improvement in the sample toughness and flexibility, strongly depend on the miscibility of the midblock in the triblock copolymer with the matrix PLLA. The difference in the chemical nature of the midblock clearly affected the stereocomplex crystallization between the PDLA end blocks, the PLLA matrix polymer, and the morphology formed. It is found that the miscible midblock gives rise to a soft continuous amorphous phase while in the case of an immiscible midblock, a glassy phase separated amorphous phase is formed. Dramatically different physical properties can be obtained for various PLLA/triblock copolymer blends giving access to tough, yet flexible, semicrystalline PLLA blends.     

Automatic navigation of mobile robots in unknown environments

Online navigation with known target and unknown obstacles is an interesting problem in mobile robotics. This article presents a technique based on utilization of neural networks and reinforcement learning to enable a mobile robot to learn constructed environments on its own. The robot learns to generate efficient navigation rules automatically without initial settings of rules by experts. This is regarded as the main contribution of this work compared to traditional fuzzy models based on notion of artificial potential fields. The ability for generalization of rules has also been examined. The initial results qualitatively confirmed the efficiency of the model. More experiments showed at least 32 % of improvement in path planning from the first till the third path planning trial in a sample environment. Analysis of the results, limitations, and recommendations is included for future work.     

Coarsening of Inter- and Intra-granular Proeutectoid Cementite in an Initially Pearlitic 2C-4Cr Ultrahigh Carbon Steel

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - We have examined spheroidization and coarsening of cementite in an initially pearlitic 2C-4Cr ultrahigh carbon steel containing a cementite network....     

Vacuum desorption of gases from inorganic solvents with various boiling points

The vacuum desorption of gases from inorganic solvents with low and high boiling points is reported. A thin-film evaporator consisting of regular tubular packing elements is considered. A laminar downward cocurrent flow of liquid and vapor is analyzed. General theoretical propositions are illustrated by the example of the desorption of simple gases from lower alcohols (methanol, ethanol) and liquid naphthalene, as well as by the example of removing the products of ester decomposition from esters at high temperatures.     

Efficient driver drowsiness detection at moderate levels of drowsiness

Previous research on driver drowsiness detection has focused primarily on lane deviation metrics and high levels of fatigue. The present research sought to develop a method for detecting driver drowsiness at more moderate levels of fatigue, well before accident risk is imminent. Eighty-seven different driver drowsiness detection metrics proposed in the literature were evaluated in two simulated shift work studies with high-fidelity simulator driving in a controlled laboratory environment. Twenty-nine participants were subjected to a night shift condition, which resulted in moderate levels of fatigue; 12 participants were in a day shift condition, which served as control. Ten simulated work days in the study design each included four 30-min driving sessions, during which participants drove a standardized scenario of rural highways. Ten straight and uneventful road segments in each driving session were designated to extract the 87 different driving metrics being evaluated. The dimensionality of the overall data set across all participants, all driving sessions and all road segments was reduced with principal component analysis, which revealed that there were two dominant dimensions: measures of steering wheel variability and measures of lateral lane position variability. The latter correlated most with an independent measure of fatigue, namely performance on a psychomotor vigilance test administered prior to each drive. We replicated our findings across eight curved road segments used for validation in each driving session. Furthermore, we showed that lateral lane position variability could be derived from measured changes in steering wheel angle through a transfer function, reflecting how steering wheel movements change vehicle heading in accordance with the forces acting on the vehicle and the road. This is important given that traditional video-based lane tracking technology is prone to data loss when lane markers are missing, when weather conditions are bad, or in darkness. Our research findings indicated that steering wheel variability provides a basis for developing a cost-effective and easy-to-install alternative technology for in-vehicle driver drowsiness detection at moderate levels of fatigue.     

Sweet lemon mechanical damage detection using image processing technique and UV radiation

Non-destructive measurement of qualitative parameters of agricultural produce is quite beneficial in the postharvest operations. The consequential effect of mechanical damage in citrus fruits is rarely visible in their appearance compared to other commodities. The purpose of this study was to propose a fast, non-destructive method for sweet lemon mechanical damage detection using image processing technique and UV radiation. For this purpose, 135 sweet lemons were tested based on a completely randomized factorial design. In order to examine mechanical damage, the independent variables included drop height, fruit diameter and tempering period (holding time at room temperature after treatment). Fruits were dropped from heights of 2, 2.5 and 3 m onto the ground. Then images were captured under UV light having a wavelength of 365 nm, 1, 3 and 6 days after treatment. The images were sent to a PC and analyzed using MATLAB software. “Green Spot Index” or GSI was defined to show the extent of mechanical damage. Results of the analysis of variance showed that the percentage of green spots on fruit skin is significant at the 1% level considering the main and double interaction effects of drop height and fruit diameter. Green spot index significantly increases with the level of mechanical damage. Accuracy of the developed method in differentiating the bruised and undamaged fruits was found to be 100%.     

3D and simplified pseudo-2D modeling of single cell of a high temperature solid oxide fuel cell to be used for online control strategies

In the current study, a single cell of a planar SOFC is firstly modeled in 3D using commercial SOFC module of ANSYS Fluent and the results are validated against the experimental investigations in the literature. Many researchers have used ANSYS Fluent for simulating solid oxide fuel cells. However, there is a huge gap in the literature on explaining the detailed procedure that should be followed in order to use this software effectively. A thorough step-by-step approach is presented to provide a deep insight into the software. Thereafter, a simplified quasi-2D method with infinitely shorter computational time is developed and the results are compared with the 3D model. It is found that the reduced model is capable of being utilized as an alternate method for both online diagnosis and designing active control strategies.