An ant direction hybrid differential evolution heuristic for the large-scale passive harmonic filters planning problem

This article presents a heuristic which combines the orthogonal array experiment technique and an ant direction hybrid differential evolution algorithm (ADHDEOA) for planning of a large-scale passive harmonic filters problem. The addressed problem has a multi-bus and under abundant harmonic current sources in the system. In this study, an orthogonal array is first conducted to obtain the initial solution. Next, an ant direction hybrid differential evolution (ADHDE) is applied to search for a near optimum solution. The objective is to minimize the cost of the filter, the total demand distortion of harmonic currents and the total harmonic distortion of voltages at each bus simultaneously. In order to determine a set of weights of each term in the objective function, the simplest and most efficient form of triangular membership functions has been considered. The designed heuristic ADHDEOA is applied to a practical harmonic problem in a steel plant, and three design schemes are compared to demonstrate the performance of the ADHDEOA.     

Stability and control of nonlinear systems described by retarded functional equations: a review of recent results

This paper reports on recent results in a series of the work of the authors on the stability and nonlinear control for general dynamical systems described by retarded functional differential and difference equations. Both internal and external stability properties are studied. The corresponding Lyapunov and Razuminkhin characterizations for input-to-state and input-to-output stabilities are proposed. Necessary and sufficient Lyapunov-like conditions are derived for robust nonlinear stabilization. In particular, an explicit controller design procedure is developed for a new class of nonlinear time-delay systems. Lastly, sufficient assumptions, including a small-gain condition, are presented for guaranteeing the input-to-output stability of coupled systems comprised of retarded functional differential and difference equations.     

Polarization discrimination between repeater false-target and radar target

High fidelity repeater false-target badly affects a radar system’s detecting, tracking, and data processing. It is an available approach of confronting false-target for radar that discriminates firstly and then eliminates. Whereas for the technique progress about the repeater false-target jam, it is more and more difficult to discriminate this jam in the time-domain, frequency-domain, or space-domain. The technique using polarization information to discriminate the target and false-target is discussed in th...     

The development of a sub-population genetic algorithm II (SPGA II) for multi-objective combinatorial problems

Previous research has shown that sub-population genetic algorithm is effective in solving the multi-objective combinatorial problems. Based on these pioneering efforts, this paper extends the SPGA algorithm with a global Pareto archive technique and a two-stage approach to solve the multi-objective problems. In the first stage, the areas next to the two single objectives are searched and solutions explored around these two extreme areas are reserved in the global archive for later evolutions. Then, in the second stage, larger searching areas except the middle area are further extended to explore the solution space in finding the near-optimal frontiers. Through extensive experimental results, SPGA II does outperform SPGA, NSGA II, and SPEA 2 in the parallel scheduling problems and knapsack problems; it shows that the approach improves the sub-population genetic algorithm significantly. It may be of interests for researchers in solving multi-objective combinatorial problems.     

Optimal hole shape for minimum stress concentration using parameterized geometry models

The goal of this work is to obtain optimal hole shape for minimum stress concentration in two-dimensional finite plates using parameterized geometry models. The boundary shape for a hole is described by two families of smooth curves: one is a “generalized circular” function with powers as two parameters; the other one is a “generalized elliptic” function a and b are ellipse axes) with powers as two parameters and one of the ellipse axes as the third parameter. Special attention is devoted to the practicability of parameterized equations and the corresponding optimal results under the condition with and without the curvature radius constraint. A number of cases were examined to test the effectiveness of the parameterized equations. The numerical examples show that extremely good results can be obtained under the conditions with and without curvature radius constraint, as compared to the known solutions in the literature. The geometries of the optimized holes are presented in a form of compact parametric functions, which are suitable for use and test by designers. It is anticipated that the implementation of the suggested parameterized equations would lead to considerable improvements in optimizing hole shape with high quality.     

Substrate-mode holographic polarization-division multi/demultiplexer for optical communications

Based on the diffractive properties of a transmission-type phase volume hologram, a new type of polarization-division multi/demultiplexer for optical communications is presented.     

Diffractive-phase-element design that implements several optical functions

A scheme for the design of diffractive phase elements (DPE's) that integrates several optical functions is presented in a consistent sense based on the general theory of amplitude-phase retrieval and the Yang-Gu algorithm [Appl. Opt. 33, 209 (1994)]. We extend the original Yang-Gu algorithm to treat a system illuminated by a beam of incident light whose components are at different wavelengths, and a set of equations for determining the phase distribution of the DPE is derived. The profile of a surface-relief DPE can be designed with an iterative algorithm. Numerical simulations are carried out for the design of one-dimensional DPE's capable of both demultiplexing different wavelength components and focusing each partial wave at predetermined positions. The influence of the extension of sampling points in the DPE's from ideal geometric points to physical spots on design results is also investigated. The numerical simulation results show that the new algorithm can be used successfully to design the desired DPE's. It is therefore expected to be useful in the design of DPE's for micro-optical systems.     

Preparation of PbTiO3 thin films using an alkoxide-alkanolamine sol-gel system

The stable range of PbTiO₃ sol and the processing conditions of uniform thin films were investigated using a solution of titanium isopropoxide, three kinds of alkanolamines (monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, triethanolamine), lead acetate trihydrate and isopropanol. Depending on the sol state with various alkanolamine/alkoxide molar ratios, diethanolamine (DEA) was very effective in preparing uniform and dense oxide films through room-temperature reaction, owing to its superior stability during the hydrolysis and condensation reaction. Perovskite PbTiO₃ thin films were obtained on oxidized silicon wafer above 550 °C and completely pure films were obtained at 650 °C using DEA as a complexing agent. The dielectric constant and loss tangent of these thin films fired at 650 °C for 30 min were found to be 240 and 0.01 at 1 kHz, respectively.