Characterization of centrifugally atomized Al-12Si-5Fe-3Cu-1Mg(wt%) alloy powder and extruded rod

The Al-12Si-5Fe-3Cu-1Mg(wt%) alloy was rapidly solidified by centrifugal atomization. The microstructural characteristics of rapidly solidified powder and the microstructure changes with heat treatment were investigated in terms and related to powder size. The microstructures of the powder consisted of dendritic -Al, eutectic phase, Cu-rich phase, and needle-like intermetallic compounds. These phases were much finer than that of ingot cast structure and the size decreased with increasing cooling rate. The X-ray diffraction of the atomized powders revealed the presence of non-equilibrium 3-(AlFeSi) intermetallic phase. This phase appeared to transform to an equilibrium -(AlFeSi) phase by heating at temperatures above 470°C. The extruded rod which was hot extruded at 360°C with an extrusion ratio of 40:1 also revealed the presence of the -(AIFeSi) intermetallic phase. Using DSC, the exothermic peak due to precipitation from the supersaturated -Al matrix was observed in the range of 200–250°C during continuous heating of atomized powder, and the size of the peaks increased with decreasing powder size.     

Preparation of beta-alumina powder from kaolin-derived aluminium sulphate solution

The synthesis of beta-alumina powder from kaolin-derived aluminium sulphate solution is described. A homogeneous mixture of Al₂(SO₄)₃·18H₂O and Na₂SO₄·10H₂O was precipitated by dropping the mixed solution of the kaolin-derived aluminium sulphate and sodium hydroxide into ethanol with agitation by stirring. The preparation conditions - mixing mole ratio of Na₂O/Al₂O₃ in the solution and calcination temperature of the resultant precipitate — were experimentally determined for obtaining the beta-alumina powder with a structure consisting of - and -alumina and a well crystallized state.     

Surface modification of polyetherurethaneureas and their antithrombogenicity

Polyetherurethaneurea (PU) films were treated by oxygen plasma discharge followed by acrylic acid (AA) grafting. The carboxyl groups of the AA-grafted PU (PU-AA) surface were coupled with bovine serum albumin and heparin via water soluble carbodiimide. Surface characterization of the modified PUs was carried out by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). The amount of immobilized albumin and heparin on the PU surface was 1.8 and 1.5 g/cm², respectively, as determined by the dye interaction method. Interactions between the surface-modified PUs and blood components such as plasma proteins and platelets were investigated to evaluate the blood compatibility of the samples. Plasma recalcification time (PRT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) of the albumin-immobilized PU (PU-Al) were almost the same as those of PU, while platelets were less adhered on the PU-Al than on PU. On the other hand, PRT and APTT of the PU-He were significantly longer than those of the PU, PU-AA, and PU-Al. Moreover, adhesion of platelets was effectively suppressed on the PU-He, leading to good in vitro blood compatibility.     

Microstructural evolution of potassium titanate whiskers during the synthesis by the calcination and slow-cooling method

K₂Ti₆O₁₃ whisker was synthesized by the calcination and slow-cooling method, and the microstructural evolution of whiskers, and the relations between the phase and the layer structure, were investigated. The amount of K₂O in the starting powder mixture played a key role in forming a layer structure, which can be obtained by addition of excess K₂O. During calcination, rod-like K₂Ti₆O₁₃ particles with a layer structure were formed by reactions between K₂O and TiO₂. During slow-cooling, the K₂O-rich liquid phase reacted with K₂Ti₆O₁₃ layers near the boundary and k₂Ti₄O₉ whiskers were produced by the splitting of layers within rod-like k₂T₆O₁₃ particles. k₂Ti₄O₉ whiskers were reformed into k₂T₆O₁₃ whiskers by treatment in boiling water and reheating. The synthesized k₂T₆O₁₃ whiskers had a clean surface and a length exceeding 100 m.     

A study of a new data association and track initiation method with normalized distance squared ordering

In an underwater environment, measurements regarding true targets and false targets (clutter) can be made. Therefore, a suitable data association method to exactly detect and track a target and an efficient track initiation method for judging tracks formed by the target should be selected in this environment. This paper attempts to propose a new data association method and track initiation method to detect and track targets more effectively. Also, the performance of the new method is tested in a series of Monte Carlo simulation runs and is compared with the existing data association and track initiation methods in a cluttered environment.     

Magnetic compass fault detection method for GPS/INS/magnetic compass integrated navigation systems

This paper proposes a magnetic compass fault detection method for GPS/INS/Magnetic compass integrated navigation systems. The fault is assumed to be caused by the hard iron and soft iron effect and modeled as an abrupt change in the magnetic compass output. In order to detect the fault, a test statistic related with only azimuth error measurement is determined. When a fault is detected, the GPS/INS/Magnetic compass integrated navigation system is changed into a GPS/INS integrated navigation system mode. In order to show the validity of the proposed method, computer simulation and van testing are carried out. The simulation and van test results show that the proposed navigation system gives more accurate outputs than the GPS/INS/Magnetic compass without the proposed method.     

Motion fault detection and isolation in Body Sensor Networks

Significant amount of research and development is being directed on monitoring activities of daily living of senior citizens who live alone as well as those who have certain motion disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. A combination of sophisticated inertial sensing, wireless communication and signal processing technologies has made such a pervasive and remote monitoring possible. Due to the nature of the sensing and communication mechanisms, these monitoring sensors are susceptible to errors and failures. In this paper, we address the issue of identifying and isolating faulty sensors in a Body Sensor Network that is used for remote monitoring of daily living activities. We identify three different types of faults in a Body Sensor Network and propose fault isolation strategies using history-based and non-history based approaches. The contributions of this paper are: (i) faulty sensor node identification in a small number of deployed body sensors (accelerometers); and (ii) identification of a faulty sensor node using a statically or dynamically bound group of sensor nodes that is sharing similar sensor signal patterns.     

Localization of an unmanned ground vehicle based on hybrid 3D registration of 360 degree range data and DSM

A computer vision technique to identify the location of an outdoor unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) is presented. The proposed technique is based on hybrid 3D registration of 360 degree laser range data to a digital surface model (DSM). Range frames obtained from 48 laser detectors are aligned with the reference coordinate system of the DSM. Three novel approaches are proposed for accurate and fast 3D registration of range data and the DSM. First, a two-step hybrid 3D registration technique is proposed. A pair-wise registration step of two consecutive range frames is followed by a refinement step using a layered DSM. Second, a fast projection-based pair-wise registration is proposed by employing rasterized 360 degree range frames. Third, a high elevation DSM is divided into several elevation layers and correspondence search is done near the vehicle’s current elevation. This reduces the number of matching outliers and facilitates fast localization. Experimental results show that the proposed approaches yield better performance in 3D localization compared to conventional 3D registration techniques. Error analysis on five outdoor paths is presented with respect to ground truth.     

数据中心安全管理的创新构想

与运动员都渴望追求好成绩一样,人们都期待数据中心能够实现高性能运转。然而,无论在什么时候,实现成功都需要遵循一个既有的过程：目标设定、设计、规划、培训、执行和维护,这些都是必要的步骤。勾画成功的蓝图是实现预期结果的重要部分,但如果没有有效的措施加以支持,     

A note on the differential regulator equation for non-minimum phase linear systems with time-varying exosystems

Some control problems in practice are often formulated as a linear output regulation problem with time-varying exosystems. Although this problem has been studied recently, an explicit and constructive solution has been given only for minimum phase systems. This paper presents a solution for non-minimum phase systems whose zero dynamics is hyperbolic (or has an exponentially dichotomic split in the case of time-varying zero dynamics). The idea is inspired by the non-causal stable inversion.