An efficient neural-network model for real-time fault detection in industrial machine

Neural Computing and Applications - Induction machines have extensive demand in industries as they are used for large-scale production and, therefore, vulnerable to both electrical and mechanical...     

An investigation of grain boundary sliding in superplasticity at high elongations

Experiments were performed on the superplastic Zn-22% Al eutectoid alloy to determine the contribution of grain boundary sliding at both low (35%) and high (235%) elongations. The tests were conducted at two different strain rates in the superplastic Region II, and the results show that, within the accuracy of the measurements, there is a large sliding contribution at both elongations. By taking detailed measurements of both the magnitude of the sliding offset and the type of interface, it is shown that the average offsets are generally a maximum at the Zn-Zn boundaries, there is less sliding at the Zn-Al interfaces, and the offsets are a minimum at the Al-Al boundaries. In addition, the distributions of the magnitudes of the sliding offsets are similar at both the low and high elongations. It is concluded that grain boundary sliding is an important deformation process in the superplastic Region II and that it remains important even when the elongation is very high. The nature of the results indicates also that experimental observations of the deformation behaviour in superplastic materials at low elongations (up to 50%) provide meaningful information on the behaviour at much higher (superplastic) elongations.On leave from Mechanical Engineering Department, Nanjing Aeronautical Institute, Nanjing, Jiang-su 210002, People's Republic of China.     

High temperature mechanical properties of single phase alumina

The creep properties of a commercial, single phase aIurnina have been determined in the temperature range of 1623 to 1723 K. The stress exponent,n, in the relationship ⁿ was determined to be 1.9 and the true activation energy was found to be 635 kJ mol^–1. Normal primary stage creep transients were observed up to strains of 1%. At low stresses, steady-state conditions were not obtained due to the occurrence of concurrent grain growth. It is shown that the steady state creep results are consistent with the occurrence of an interface controlled diffusionaI creep mechanism.     

Ionic liquid mediated nano-composite polymer gel electrolyte for rechargeable battery application

ABSTRACT

Nano-composite polymer gel electrolytes (NPGEs) based on polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) PVdF-HFP, ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3- methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide BMIMTFSI, Li-salt along with the addition of SiO₂ nanoparticles have been synthesized and characterized by various techniques. Prepared NPGEs show high room temperature ionic conductivity (~10^?3 S/cm) and have a wide electrochemical window (ECW) (~3.3–3.5 V). The galvanostatic charge/discharge profile was studied by sandwiching best performing NPGEs between a LiFePO₄ cathode and lithium metal anode. The specific discharge capacity of the cell (Li/NPGE/LiFePO₄) room temperature at 0.1C rate is found to be 138 mAh/g.     

Target following with motion prediction for unmanned surface vehicle operating in cluttered environments

The capability of following a moving target in an environment with obstacles is required as a basic and necessary function for realizing an autonomous unmanned surface vehicle (USV). Many target following scenarios involve a follower and target vehicles that may have different maneuvering capabilities. Moreover, the follower vehicle may not have prior information about the intended motion of the target boat. This paper presents a trajectory planning and tracking approach for following a differentially constrained target vehicle operating in an obstacle field. The developed approach includes a novel algorithm for computing a desired pose and surge speed in the vicinity of the target boat, jointly defined as a motion goal, and tightly integrates it with trajectory planning and tracking components of the entire system. The trajectory planner generates a dynamically feasible, collision-free trajectory to allow the USV to safely reach the computed motion goal. Trajectory planning needs to be sufficiently fast and yet produce dynamically feasible and short trajectories due to the moving target. This required speeding up the planning by searching for trajectories through a hybrid, pose-position state space using a multi-resolution control action set. The search in the velocity space is decoupled from the search for a trajectory in the pose space. Therefore, the underlying trajectory tracking controller computes desired surge speed for each segment of the trajectory and ensures that the USV maintains it. We have carried out simulation as well as experimental studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed approach.     

Duration of slip-resistant shoe usage and the rate of slipping in limited-service restaurants: results from a prospective and crossover study

Several studies have indicated that slip-resistant shoes may have a positive effect on reducing the risk of slips and falls, a leading cause of injury at work. Few studies, however, have examined how duration of shoe usage affects their slip-resistance properties. This study examined the association between the duration of slip-resistant shoes usage and the self-reported rate of slipping in limited-service restaurant workers. A total of 475 workers from 36 limited-service restaurants in the USA were recruited to participate in a 12-week prospective study of workplace slipping. Of the 475 participants, 83 reported changing to a new pair of shoes at least once during the 12-week follow-up. The results show that slip-resistant shoes worn for less than six months were moderately more effective than those worn for more than six months. Changing to a new pair of shoes among those wearing slip-resistant shoes at baseline was associated with a 55% reduction in the rate of slipping (RR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.23–0.89). Further research is needed to develop criteria for the replacement of slip-resistant shoes.

Practitioner Summary: The duration of usage impacts the slip-resistance properties of slip-resistant shoes. Slip-resistant shoes worn for less than six months were moderately more effective in reducing slips than slip-resistant shoes worn for more than six months. Shoe use policies should not only encourage or require their use but also include guidance on replacing slip-resistant shoes at regular intervals.     

Kinetics of vinyl polymerization initiated by potassium permanganate/β-hydroxybutyric acid redox system

The aqueous polymerization of acrylamide initiated by potassium permanganate/β-hydroxybutyric acid has been studied volumetrically at 35 ± 0.01°C in an inert medium. The rate of polymerization shows nearly square root dependence on β-hydroxybutyric acid at low concentration (3.12 – 12.5 · 10^?3 mol dm^?3). The order with respect to potassium permanganate has been found to be 0.6 indicating thereby a bimolecular mode of termination. The polymerization rate has been varied linearly at low monomer concentrations i.e. from 2.5 –7.0 · 10^?2 mol dm^?3. The dependence of number average degree of polymerization on the initial rate of polymerization and temperature has been determined. The over-all activation energy has been found to be 51.66 kJ mol^?1. A kinetic reaction scheme is proposed on the basis of experimental results.     

Nucleation and Growth Characteristics of Cavities during the Early Stages of Tensile Creep Deformation in a Superplastic Zirconia–20 wt% Alumina Composite

Constant-stress tensile creep experiments on a superplastic 3-mol%-yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia composite with 20 wt% alumina revealed that cavities nucleate relatively early during tensile deformation. The number of cavities nucleated increases with increasing imposed stress. The cavities nucleate at triple points associated largely with an alumina grain, and then grow rapidly in a cracklike manner to attain dimensions on the order of the grain facet size. It is suggested that coarser-grained superplastic ceramics exhibit lower ductility due to the ease in formation of such grain boundary facet-cracks and their interlinkage to form a macroscopic crack of critical dimensions.     

A mixed boundary-value problem of elasticity with parabolic boundary

Summary The mixed boundary-values problem of elasticity with parabolic boundary when the prescribed displacement is parabolic has been reduced to the solution of the non-homogeneous Hilbert problem following the method of complex variable. The result has been compared with that obtained byParia [5] for parabolic boundary with prescribed constant displacement as a particular case.

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Zusammenfassung Das gemischte Randwertproblem der Elastizitätstheorie wird für parabolische Berandung auf die Lösung des inhomogenen Hilbert-Problems unter Benützung der komplexen Methode zurückgeführt. Die Randverschiebung wird durch ein Polynom zweiten Grades dargestellt. Das Ergebnis wird mit dem vonParia [5] verglichen, das als Sonderfall konstante Verschiebungen am parabolischen Rand vorschreibt.