Modeling the breakage stage in spheronization of cylindrical paste extrudates

Spheronization of cylindrical extrudates on a rotating friction plate involves breakage and rounding. Little attention has been given to the breakage stage and quantitative modeling of this process is scarce. Two simple models are compared with experimental data obtained for the early stages of spheronization of microcrystalline cellulose/water extrudates. Tests were conducted for different times (t), rotational speeds (ω), initial loadings, and on pyramidal friction plates with different dimensions. The first model, describing the number of pellets, validated ω³t as a characteristic time scale for the breakage stage. The kinetic parameters obtained by fitting showed a systematic dependence on plate dimensions expressed as a scaled gap width. The second model, a simple population balance, described the evolution of the number and length of pellets. The pseudo rate constants provided insights into the kinetics: extrudates tended to break near the middle, while breakage of smaller pellets was slowed down by more pellet–pellet collisions.     

Applying Pareto Ranking and Niche Formation to Genetic Algorithm-Based Multiobjective Time–Cost Optimization

Time–cost optimization (TCO) is one of the greatest challenges in construction project planning and control, since the optimization of either time or cost, would usually be at the expense of the other. Although the TCO problem has been extensively examined, many research studies only focused on minimizing the total cost for an early completion. This does not necessarily convey any reward to the contractor. However, with the increasing popularity of alternative project delivery systems, clients and contractors are more concerned about the combined benefits and opportunities of early completion as well as cost savings. In this paper, a genetic algorithms (GAs)-driven multiobjective model for TCO is proposed. The model integrates the adaptive weight to balance the priority of each objective according to the performance of the previous “generation.” In addition, the model incorporates Pareto ranking as a selection criterion and the niche formation techniques to improve popularity diversity. Based on the proposed framework, a prototype system has been developed in Microsoft Project for testing with a medium-sized project. The results indicate that greater robustness can be attained by the introduction of adaptive weight approach, Pareto ranking, and niche formation to the GA-based multiobjective TCO model.     

Recording performance of discrete track patterned media fabricated by focused ion beam

We report on the recording performance of discrete track patterned media fabricated by focused ion beam (FIB). We investigated performance over a small area by spinstand read/write testing. Discrete track patterned regions show smaller magnetic track width and better signal separation between adjacent tracks and therefore higher track density than that of nonpatterned continuous media as a result of reduced side fringe effect and edge noise. We found that, at a designed groove depth of 4-8 nm, the shallow FIB etched grooves already provide good isolation between adjacent tracks, indicating the superiority of ion beam induced modification of magnetic properties in film media over physical modification of disk surface topography. This has implications for discrete track recording and media fabrication.     

Interaction of oblique waves with an array of long horizontal circular cylinders

The scattering and radiations of linear oblique waves by multiple long horizontal circular cylinders submerged in water of finite depth are investigated using the multipole expansion method. Analytical expressions for the diffracted and radiated potentials are given as a linear combination of infinite multipoles. The unknown coefficients in the expressions are determined by using the addition theorem of the Bessel function and the cylinder boundary conditions. Also analytical expressions for wave forces, hydrodynamic coefficients and reflection and transmission coeffi-cients are derived. The present analytical solution is verified through the boundary element method and applied to investigate three different cases of the interaction of oblique waves with multiple submerged horizontal circular cylinders. The results show that the number of cylinders, the arrangement and spacing between cylinders play an important role in wave forces, hydrodynamic coefficients and reflection and transmission coefficients. Some interesting and important phenomena are ob-served in numerical experiments.     

Throughput Analysis of IEEE802.11 Multi-Hop Ad Hoc Networks

In multi-hop ad hoc networks, stations may pump more traffic into the networks than can be supported, resulting in high packet-loss rate, re-routing instability and unfairness problems. This paper shows that controlling the offered load at the sources can eliminate these problems. To verify the simulation results, we set up a real 6-node multi-hop network. The experimental measurements confirm the existence of the optimal offered load. In addition, we provide an analysis to estimate the optimal offered load that maximizes the throughput of a multi-hop traffic flow. We believe this is a first paper in the literature to provide a quantitative analysis (as opposed to simulation) for the impact of hidden nodes and signal capture on sustainable throughput. The analysis is based on the observation that a large-scale 802.11 network with hidden nodes is a network in which the carrier-sensing capability breaks down partially. Its performance is therefore somewhere between that of a carrier-sensing network and that of an Aloha network. Indeed, our analytical closed-form solution has the appearance of the throughput equation of the Aloha network. Our approach allows one to identify whether the performance of an 802.11 network is hidden-node limited or spatial-reuse limited     

The unbounded single machine parallel batch scheduling problem with family jobs and release dates to minimize makespan

In this paper we consider the unbounded single machine parallel batch scheduling problem with family jobs and release dates to minimize makespan. We show that this problem is strongly NP-hard, and give an O(n(n/m+1)^m) time dynamic programming algorithm and an O(mk^k+1P^2k−1) time dynamic programming algorithm, where n is the number of jobs, m is the number of families, k is the number of distinct release dates and P is the sum of the processing times of all families. We further give a heuristic with a performance ratio 2. We also give a polynomial-time approximation scheme for the problem.     

Design and Modelling of Photonic Band-Gap Resonance Cavity

An optimal design of Photonic Band-Gap (PBG) based resonance cavities has been carried out and optimal design rules have been drawn by a very fast and accurate computer code, developed by the authors, implementing a new model of one-dimensional finite-size PBG materials. The model also takes into account the presence of defects; it allows to accurately determine the mode propagation constants, electromagnetic harmonics and total field distribution, transmission and reflection coefficients, forward and backward power flow, guided and radiated power and total losses due to radiation, Bragg scattering and out of plane scattering. The design of resonance cavities advancing the state of the art of commercial Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) filters is performed. A great number of optical cavities have been designed and quickly simulated thanks to the fastness of the code, allowing optimal design rules to be drawn.     

Performing Binary-Categorization on Multiple-Record Web Documents Using Information Retrieval Models and Application Ontologies

To retrieve Web documents of interest, most of the Web users rely on Web search engines. All existing search engines provide query facility for users to search for the desired documents using search-engine keywords. However, when a search engine retrieves a long list of Web documents, the user might need to browse through each retrieved document in order to determine which document is of interest. We observe that there are two kinds of problems involved in the retrieval of Web documents: (1) an inappropriate selection of keywords specified by the user; and (2) poor precision in the retrieved Web documents. In solving these problems, we propose an automatic binary-categorization method that is applicable for recognizing multiple-record Web documents of interest, which appear often in advertisement Web pages. Our categorization method uses application ontologies and is based on two information retrieval models, the Vector Space Model (VSM) and the Clustering Model (CM). We analyze and cull Web documents to just those applicable to a particular application ontology. The culling analysis (i) uses CM to find a virtual centroid for the records in a Web document, (ii) computes a vector in a multi-dimensional space for this centroid, and (iii) compares the vector with the predefined ontology vector of the same multi-dimensional space using VSM, which we consider the magnitudes of the vectors, as well as the angle between them. Our experimental results show that we have achieved an average of 90% recall and 97% precision in recognizing Web documents belonged to the same category (i.e., domain of interest). Thus our categorization discards very few documents it should have kept and keeps very few it should have discarded.     

Data Management in Peer-to-Peer Environment: A Perspective of BestPeer

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) systems have attracted much attention in academic commu-nity and industry circles due to their promising applications in various domains. This paper presents the authors‘ research efforts on introducing complex query capabilities in a P2P environ-ment consisting of numerous peers with large volume of data. An underlying hybrid P2P computing platform, named BestPeer is described first. The connection among peers within BestPeer is self-configurable through maintaining the nearest neighbor of peers, and the agent techniques employed in the system ensure its capability of providing sophisticated services. The designs of three P2P data management systems which are all based on BestPeer are described in detail. They provide support for information retrieval, query processing and Web services respectively. Advantages and limitations are discussed, while ongoing work is presented. Current systems can provide basic functions for keyword-based search, SQL-like query processing, and Web services querying and discovery. Some further topics on providing fully-fledged data management functionalities for P2P distributed computing systems with security guarantee are also discussed.     

Surface defects during microcutting

Surface microdefects such as dimples are always found on machined 1045 steel surfaces as a result of the dual phase microstructure of the workpiece material. Finite element (FE) analysis on dimple and chip formation showed similar trends to those acquired experimentally. The formation of dimples at grain boundaries is explained by considering the plastic dissipation energy inside of individual grains in the material microstructure during microscale cutting. Dimples are shown to occur at a hard-soft grain boundary in the direction of cutting, but never at a soft-hard grain boundary.