Book review

Workload control (WLC) is a leading production planning and control (PPC) solution for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and make-to-order (MTO) companies, but when WLC is implemented, practitioners find it difficult to determine suitable workload norms to obtain optimum performance. Theory has provided some solutions (e.g., based on linear programming) but, to remain optimal, these require the regular feedback of detailed information from the shop floor about the status of work-in-process (WIP), and are therefore often impractical. This paper seeks to predict workload norms without such feedback requirements, analysing the influence of shop floor characteristics on the workload norm. The shop parameters considered are flow characteristics (from an undirected pure job shop to a directed general flow shop), and the number of possible work centres in the routing of a job (i.e., the routing length). Using simulation and optimisation software, the workload norm resulting in optimum performance is determined for each work centre for two aggregate load-oriented WLC approaches: the classical and corrected load methods. Results suggest that the performance of the classical approach is heavily affected by shop floor characteristics but no direct relationship between the characteristics and norm to apply could be established. In contrast, results suggest that the performance of the corrected load approach is not influenced by shop floor characteristics and the workload norm which results in optimum performance is the same for all experiments. Given the changing nature of MTO production and the difficulties encountered with the classical approach, the corrected load approach is considered a better and more robust option for implementation in practice. Future simulations should investigate the influence of differing capacities across work centres on the workload norm while action research should be conducted to apply the findings in practice.     

Distributed scheduling: a review of concepts and applications

Distributed scheduling (DS) is an approach that enables local decision makers to create schedules that consider local objectives and constraints within the boundaries of the overall system objectives. Local decisions from different parts of the system are then integrated through coordination and communication mechanisms. Distributed scheduling attracts the interest of many researchers from a variety of disciplines, such as computer science, economics, manufacturing, and service operations management. One reason is that the problems faced in this area include issues ranging from information architectures, to negotiation mechanisms, to the design of scheduling algorithms. In this paper, we provide a survey and a critical analysis of the literature on distributed scheduling. While we propose a comprehensive taxonomy that accounts for many factors related to distributed scheduling, we also analyse the body of research in which the scheduling aspect is rigorously discussed. The focus of this paper is to review the studies that concern scheduling algorithms in a distributed architecture, not, for example, protocol languages or database architectures. The contribution of this paper is twofold: to unify the literature within our scope under a common terminology and to determine the critical design factors unique to distributed scheduling and in relation to centralised scheduling.     

A Bayesian approach for user aware peer-to-peer video streaming systems

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) architectures for live video streaming has attracted a significant attention from both academia and industry. P2P design enables end-hosts to relay streams to each other overcoming the scalability issue of centralized architectures. However, these systems struggle to provide a service of comparable quality to that of traditional television. Since end-hosts are controlled by users, their behavior has a strong impact on the performance of P2P streaming systems, leading to potential service disruption and low streaming quality. Thus, considering the user behavior in these systems could bring significant performance improvements. Toward this end, we propose a Bayesian network that captures all the elements making part of the user behavior or related to it. This network is built from the information found in a cross-analysis of numerous large-scale measurement campaigns, analyzing the user behavior in video streaming systems. We validate our model through intensive simulations showing that our model can learn a user behavior and is able to predict several activities helping thus in optimizing these systems for a better performance. We also propose a method based on traces collection of the same user type that accelerates the learning process of this network. Furthermore, we evaluate the performance of this model through exploring its applications and comparison with non-contextual models.     

Thermal and thermoelastic problems in dry friction clutch: A comprehensive review

The friction clutch is considered a very important element of machines, as it plays a major role in transferring power from the driving part to the driven part. A common application of the friction clutch is in vehicles to connect between the gearbox and the engine. Fast wear occurs as a result of frictional heating that is generated when the clutch is starting to engage. This wear, in addition to the high thermal stresses, will lead to premature failure in the contacting surfaces. The present review highlights the most important studies of the thermal and thermoelastic problems of friction clutches during the last 10 years to show the challenges that were overcome and also the other challenges that needed to find solutions. The present paper will discuss in detail the influence of the frictional heat generated between contact surfaces during slipping and the main factors affecting the thermal behavior of dry friction clutches, such as sliding speed, friction materials, applied pressure, and so on. Furthermore, significant conclusions and remarks based on the available solutions to the thermal problem of the clutch are presented.     

Effects of α-tocopherol, β-carotene and ascorbyl palmitate on oxidative stability of butter oil triacylglycerols

Butter oil triacylglycerols (BO-TAGs), free of antioxidants, including β-carotene, were obtained via sequential treatments with activated carbon (AC) adsorption and alumina column chromatography. α-Tocopherol, β-carotene and ascorbyl palmitate (AP) were added to BO-TAGs, individually, or in different combinations. An accelerated oven-oxidation test was carried out at 60 °C to determine the most effective dosages of the antioxidants. Among the antioxidants evaluated, α-tocopherol was found to be the most effective, at the concentration of 50 μg/g. To determine the possible synergism between the antioxidants, binary or ternary combinations of α-tocopherol, β-carotene and AP were added to BO-TAGs at concentrations of 50, 5, and 50 μg/g, respectively. Ternary combinations of these antioxidants were significantly better in retarding oxidation than were binary blends of α-tocopherol with β-carotene or AP. However, a prooxidant effect was observed, especially when β-carotene and AP were used individually or in binary combination.     

A novel design method for discrete time chaos based true random number generators

Discrete time chaos based true random number generators are lightweight cryptographic primitives that offer scalable performance for the emerging low power mobile applications. In this work, a novel design method for discrete time chaos based true random number generators is developed using skew tent map as a case study. Optimum parameter values yielding maximum randomness are calculated using a mathematical model of true random number generator. A practical information measure is used to determine the maximum allowable parameter variation limits. Appropriate mapping between dynamic system and circuit parameters is established and a current mode skew tent map circuit is designed to validate proposed method.     

Colemanite ore waste concrete with low shrinkage and high split tensile strength

A laboratory study was undertaken to assess the compressive and cylinder splitting tensile strength and drying shrinkage properties of concrete mixtures containing colemanite ore waste (CW). Possibility of using Kütahya–Emet CW in cement based materials as a shrinkage reducing ingredients was also discussed. Five concrete mixtures including Portland cement and CW concrete mixtures were prepared. The compressive strengths of concrete mixtures were measured at 7, 28, 56 and 90 days. The splitting tensile strength was measured at 28 days. The strength results showed that concrete mixtures containing 3 and 5% CW developed higher strength values than control concrete. The test results also showed that Kütahya–Emet CW reduced drying shrinkage of the mortar by 37% when compared to control concrete. Based on these results, it was concluded that Kütahya–Emet CW can be used as a cost-effective shrinkage-reducing agent.     

Compressive strength,abrasion resistance and energy absorption capacity of rubberized concretes with and without slag

It has been estimated that around one billion tires are withdrawn from use in the world every year. Therefore, the development of new techniques for recycling waste tires is necessary. A number of innovative solutions that meet the challenge of the tire disposal problem involve using waste as an additive to cement-based materials. In this study, an experimental program was carried out to determine the compressive strength, abrasion resistance, and energy absorption capacity of rubberized concretes with and without ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS). For this purpose, a water–binder ratio (0.4), four designated levels of crumb rubber (CR) contents (0, 5, 15 and 25% by fine aggregate volume), and three levels of GGBFS content (0, 20, and 40%) were considered as experimental parameters. In total, 12 concrete mixtures were cast and tested for compressive strength, abrasion resistance, and energy absorption capacity. Test results indicate that using CR aggregate decreases compressive strength and abrasion resistance of the concretes, but increases energy absorption capacity significantly.     

Catalytic conversion of chloromethane to methanol and dimethyl ether over mesoporous γ-alumina

Mesoporous γ-alumina, mp-γ-Al₂O₃, possessing surface area around 385 m²/g and total pore volume of 2.0 cm³/g was prepared via template-free sol-gel synthesis. The catalytic activity of the prepared alumina for the conversion of chloromethane to dimethyl ether, DME, in the presence of water or methanol was studied in the temperature range of 170-450 °C employing FTIR spectroscopy. In the absence of water and methanol, the fresh surface of mp-γ-Al₂O₃ showed 100% conversion of chloromethane to DME at temperatures between 250 and 350 °C. However, rapid deactivation of the catalyst resulted in a sharp decrease in the conversion to < 5% within a few minutes of reaction. The catalytic activity was noticeably enhanced by adding water vapor to the gas feed resulting in higher conversions to DME and methanol. The catalytic activity and DME selectivity were further enhanced in the presence of methanol instead of water. In the temperature range of 200-300 °C, complete conversions were obtained at the beginning of reactions before they declined to values between 31 and 45% depending on the reaction temperature. It was proposed that the surface hydroxyl groups are the active sites where chloromethane molecules dissociatively adsorb forming adsorbed methoxy ion intermediates. The adsorption of molecular methanol regenerates the surface hydroxyl groups and enhances the formation of adsorbed methoxy ions on the surface which react further with chloromethane or methanol molecules to produce more DME.