A note on the equivalence of shock manifold equations

Summary The shock manifold equation is a first order nonlinear partial differential equation, which describes the kinematics of a shockfront in an ideal gas with constant specific heats. However, it was found that there was more than one of these shock manifold equations, and the shock surface could be embedded in a one parameter family of surfaces, obtained as a solution of any of these shock manifold equations. Associated with each shock manifold equation is a set of characteristic curves called shock rays. This paper investigates the nature of various associated shock ray equations.On leave from Beloit College, Beloit, WI, 535111 U.S.A.     

Thermoresponsive Shape‐Memory Hydrogel Actuators Made by Phototriggered Click Chemistry

This article describes the design and synthesis of a new series of hydrogel membranes composed of trialkyne derivatives of glycerol ethoxylate and bisphenol A diazide (BA‐diazide) or diazide‐terminated PEG600 monomer via a Cu(I)‐catalyzed photoclick reaction. The water‐swollen hydrogel membranes display thermoresponsive actuation and their lower critical solution temperature (LCST) values are determined by differential scanning calorimetry. Glycerol ethoxylate moiety serves as the thermoresponsive component and hydrophilic part, while the azide‐based component acts as the hydrophobic comonomer and most likely provides a critical hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance contributing also to the significant mechanical strength of the membranes. These hydrogels exhibit a reversible shape‐memory effect in response to temperature through a defined phase transition. The swelling and deswelling behavior of the membranes are systematically examined. Due to the click nature of the reaction, easy availability of azide and alkyne functional‐monomers, and the polymer architecture, the glass transition temperature (T_g) is easily controlled through monomer design and crosslink density by varying the feed ratio of different monomers. The mechanical properties of the membranes are studied by universal tensile testing measurements. Moreover, the hydrogels show the ability to absorb a dye and release it in a controlled manner by applying heat below and above the LCST.     

Fractional Order PI‐PD Control of Liquid Level in Coupled Two Tank System and its Experimental Validation

This paper presents a level control problem of a coupled two tank single input single output (SISO) system. A cascade control strategy is adopted having a fractional order proportional integral (FOPI) controller and fractional order proportional derivative (FOPD) controller in the outer and the inner loops, respectively. Cascaded integer order proportional integral (IOPI) and integer order proportional derivative (IOPD) controllers are also designed to compare the performances. A frequency domain approach is followed to design all the controllers. It is mathematically shown that the FOPI and FOPD controllers can achieve less steady state error and consume less energy than that of the IOPI and IOPD controllers while meeting the same phase margin and gain crossover frequency. All propositions are validated on an experimental setup.     

Wavelet Packet Entropy and RBFNN Based Fault Detection,Classification and Localization on HVAC Transmission Line

The article presents a technique for fast and accurate detection, classification and localization of faults on the high voltage transmission systems considering the alternator's dynamics and the effect of transformers. The systems have been simulated by ATP/EMTP software and three phase fault currents at one end of the transmission line are recorded with a sampling frequency of 50 kHz. The fault signals are decomposed by wavelet packet decomposition (WPD) up to 3^rd level with mother wavelet db6 to calculate wavelet packet entropy (WPE) which has the ability to measure the uncertainty of fault signals during feature extraction. A properly designed radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) trained with these features can recognize, classify and locate faults faster as it utilizes only half cycle data after fault initiation. This technique has been verified for different fault categories, fault impedances and fault inception angles (FIA) at different locations for two different transmission systems. The investigated results demonstrate that the wavelet packet entropy is very powerful for extracting the features from the fault signals and RBFNN is very accurate for classification and localization of faults on the transmission line including locations close to the generator's end.     

An ultrasonic collision detection system

Robots in manufacturing are increasingly being called on to do complex tasks that require intelligence beyond merely following a preprogrammed path. In robotic assembling of mechanisms, welding, machine tending and other tasks, sensing enables robots to adapt to their environments. In this research, an ultrasonic collision detection system for an industrial robot was designed, constructed and tested. Two ultrasonic transducers and ranging modules were mounted on the robot wrist to detect and prevent collisions with objects placed in the end effector's path. Experiments were conducted to determine objectto-robot distance as a function of robot speed after the robot had stopped. Two robot motions and two loads were studied. Statistical methods of stopping distance vs. robot speed are presented and will be useful in planning robot tool paths. This ultrasonic collision detection system can be used on stationary and mobile robots, automatic-guided vehicles, and other manufacturing applications.     

A thermal investigation on coals from Assam (India)

A thermal characterization of two coal samples from Ledo and Tikak collieries of Makum coalfield, Assam, India using XRD, FT-IR, and TGA was reported in this paper. The coal samples were heated for 20, 40 and 60 min in a 1000-watt heater (temperature ∼ 250 °C) in presence of air and characterized by XRD and FT-IR spectroscopy. Both the coals contain amorphous and crystalline phases. The raw coals also contain very small peaks due to quartz, calcite, gypsum, pyrite, and chlorite. The XRD patterns were found to change upon heating. In the coals heated for 20 and 40 min, it was observed that both amorphous and crystalline parts are common in them; crystalline part being the major one in the 40 min heated samples. The XRD patterns of the samples heated for 60 min indicate the presence of major quantities of α-quartz, hematite, and chlorite in them. They also show some new peaks, which are assigned to be kaolinite, illite, magnetite and very small in comparison to the amorphous portion in raw coals. α-quartz was found to be most stable crystalline phase of silica in the coals. The crystallinity % (X-ray) of the coals heat-treated for different times was determined and found to be increasing with time of heating. The FT-IR spectra of raw and heat-treated coal samples at 250 °C were also recorded and compared. The spectra were observed to be almost similar and it was observed that few functional groups disappear on heating at 250 °C. The same coal samples were also characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) techniques. On heat treatment in air atmosphere up to 800 °C, 20–27% weight loss occurs due to removal of various volatile materials. DTA results indicate the chemical reactivity of the coal sample initially at 80–110 °C due to loss of water, and two other major reactions at around 420 and 530 °C due to primary and secondary volatization.     

Determining the Mechanism of In-Service Cylinder Distortion in Aluminum Engine Blocks with Cast-In Gray Iron Liners

In recent years, stringent government legislation on vehicle fuel efficiency has pushed the automotive industry to replace steel and cast iron power train components with light weight Al alloys. However, unlike their ferrous-based equivalents, Al-Si alloy engine blocks are prone to permanent dimensional distortion in critical locations such as the cylinder bore regions. Understanding the mechanisms that cause distortion will promote the use of Al alloys over ferrous alloys for power train applications and enable automotive manufacturers to meet emission standards and reduce fuel consumption. In this study, neutron diffraction was used to evaluate residual stress along the Al cylinder bridge and the gray cast iron liners of distorted and undistorted engine blocks. Microstructural analysis was carried out using OM, SEM, and TEM, while mechanical testing was accomplished via ambient and elevated temperature [~453 K (180 °C)] tensile testing. The results suggest that the distorted engine block had high tensile residual stress in the Al cylinder bridge, reaching a maximum of 170 MPa in the hoop direction, which triggered permanent dimensional distortion in the cylinders when exposed to service conditions. In addition, the middle of the cylinder had the highest magnitude of distortion since this region had a combination of high tensile residual stress (hoop stress of 150 MPa) and reduced strength compared with the bottom of the cylinder.     

FINITE ELEMENT STUDY ON THE ROLE OF CONVECTION IN LASER SURFACE MELTING

The surface-tension-driven convection in laser melting has been simulated by the Galerkin finite element method. The governing laminar, axisymmelric convection equations are solved in a sequential manner by an explicit projection method. The numerical results show a strong dependence of the flow pattern on the value of the temperature coefficient of surface tension (σ_T). Results are presented for a range of σ_T values typical in steel, -l0^?4≤σ_T + l0^?4N/mK. As the melt depth is more affected than the width, the melt aspect ratio changes due to convection. The melt pool is broad and shallow when σ_T < 0, and deep and narrow when σ_T > 0.