Simulation and stability analysis of neural network based control scheme for switched linear systems

This paper proposes a new adaptive neural network based control scheme for switched linear systems with parametric uncertainty and external disturbance. A key feature of this scheme is that the prior information of the possible upper bound of the uncertainty is not required. A feedforward neural network is employed to learn this upper bound. The adaptive learning algorithm is derived from Lyapunov stability analysis so that the system response under arbitrary switching laws is guaranteed uniformly ultimately bounded. A comparative simulation study with robust controller given in [Zhang L, Lu Y, Chen Y, Mastorakis NE. Robust uniformly ultimate boundedness control for uncertain switched linear systems. Computers and Mathematics with Applications 2008; 56: 1709-14] is presented.     

Analysis of temporal jitter in a copper vapor laser system

Temporal jitter in a magnetic pulse compression based copper vapor laser (CVL) system is analyzed by considering ripple present in the input dc power supply and ripple present in the magnetic core resetting power supply. It is shown that the jitter is a function of the ratio of operating voltage to the designed voltage, percentage ripple, and the total propagation delay of the magnetic pulse compression circuit. Experimental results from a CVL system operating at a repetition rate of 9 kHz are presented.     

On non-symmetric vibration of deep spherical sandwich shells

Summary This paper deals with the free non-symmetric vibration of deep spherical sandwich shells. The sandwich shell considered herein consists of three layers. A variational technique is utilized to obtain the equations of motion as well as the appropriate boundary conditions. The effects of transverse shear deformation and rotary inertia have been included in this analysis.New deformation functions have been introduced which considerably simplify the system of differential equations. The final solution is obtained in terms of Legendre functions.Numerical computations have been performed for the symmetric case and graphs are included to show the frequency variation with andh/R for various modes.     

Bioactive ceramic coatings containing carbon nanotubes on metallic substrates by electrophoretic deposition

A range of potentially bioactive ceramic coatings, based on combinations of either hydroxyapatite (HA) or titanium oxide nanoparticles with carbon nanotubes (CNTs), have been deposited on metallic substrates, using electrophoretic deposition (EPD). Sol–gel derived, ultrafine HA powders (10–70 nm) were dispersed in multi-wall nanotube-containing ethanol suspensions maintained at pH = ∼3.5 and successfully coated onto Ti alloy wires at 20 V for 1–3 min For TiO₂/CNT coatings, commercially available titania nanopowders and surface-treated CNTs in aqueous suspensions were co-deposited on stainless steel planar substrates. A field strength of 20 V/cm and deposition time of 4 min were used working at pH = 5. Although the co-deposition mechanism was not investigated in detail, the evidence suggests that co-deposition occurs due to the opposite signs of the surface charges (zeta potentials) of the particles, at the working pH. Electrostatic attraction between CNTs and TiO₂ particles leads to the creation of composite particles in suspension, consisting of TiO₂ particles homogenously attached onto the surface of individual CNTs. Under the applied electric field, these net negatively charged “composite TiO₂/CNT” elements migrate to and deposit on the anode (working electrode). The process of EPD at constant voltage conditions was optimised in both systems to achieve homogeneous and reasonably adhered deposits of varying thicknesses on the metallic substrates_.     

Determination of various impurities in synthetic diamond powder

Impurities in industrial synthetic diamond powder samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (FAAS). Specimen for FAAS is required in solution form. Diamonds are chemically inert to most acids and alkalies. Carbon was removed as CO₂ on heating and estimated gravimetrically. The remaining residue was fused with di-lithium tetraborate and dissolved in nitric acid. Impurities such as Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, W, Na, Co and Ni were then determined by FAAS. Crystalline phases of major impurities were identified by XRD.     

Tailored microstructure of zirconia and hafnia-based thermal barrier coatings with low thermal conductivity and high hemispherical reflectance by EB-PVD

Zirconia and hafnia based thermal barrier coating materials were produced by industrial prototype electron beam-physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD). Columnar microstructure of the thermal barrier coatings were modified with controlled microporosity and diffuse sub-interfaces resulting in lower thermal conductivity (20–30% depending up on microporosity volume fraction), higher thermal reflectance (15–20%) and more strain tolerance as compared with standard thermal barrier coatings (TBC). The novel processed coating systems were examined by various techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction, thermal conductivity by laser technique, and hemispherical reflectance.     

Elastohydrodynamic analysis of a cylindrical journal bearing with a flexible bearing shell

The effect of the elastic deformation of a bearing shell was considered in the determination of the performance characteristics of a hydrodynamic journal bearing. The finite element method with an iteration scheme was employed to solve the Reynolds equation governing flow in the clearance space and the three-dimensional linear elasticity equations representing the displacement vector field in the bearing shell. For design convenience a nondimensional deformation coefficient ψ relating μ, E_m, U₀ , C, R_j and tis defined. The performance characteristics were obtained in terms of load-carrying capacity, fluid flow, power loss and attitude angle for an aspect ratio $\text{L}\text{D = 1}$, eccentricity ? = 0.6 and for a wide range of deformation coefficients. The results are compared for bearing materials having Poisson's ratio v equal to 0.3 and 0.4.     

pH-Metric Studies on the interaction of oxovanadium (IV) with iminodiacetic (IMDA) and nitrilotriacetic (NTA) acids

Solution equilibrium studies on the interaction of oxovanadium (IV) with iminodiacetic (IMDA) and nitrilotriacetic (NTA) acids have been carried out. pH-Titrations of the reaction mixtures containing vanadyl sulphate and aminopolycarboxylic acid in equimolar ratio have shown the formation of 1:1 chelates. With IMDA, the possibility of 1:2 chelate (metal ion: IMDA) is also indicated. The equilibrium, chelate formation, hydrolysis and polymerization constants have been calculated at 25 and 30°C and also the thermodynamic functions viz. ΔH, ΔF, and ΔS.     

FMS machine loading: A simulated annealing approach

In this paper the problem of FMS machine loading is considered with the objective of minimizing the system imbalance using a simulated annealing (SA) approach. New job sequences are generated with a proposed perturbation scheme named the 'modified insertion scheme' (MIS). These sequences are used in the proposed simulated annealing algorithm to arrive at a near global optimum solution. A new approach for temperature variation in the SA algorithm is also suggested in which temperature is assumed to be parabolic. The SA algorithm using the proposed MIS and the assumed temperature variation proved to be giving substantial improvement in system imbalance as against conventional sequences.