Unconstrained and constrained curve fitting for reverse engineering

Curve fitting is commonly used in reverse engineering for the reconstruction of curves from measured points, and it is critically important to provide various kinds of curve-fitting algorithms to acquire curves that satisfy different constraint conditions. We divide the curve-fitting problem into unconstrained and constrained types. For the unconstrained type, three curve-fitting algorithms are investigated: general, smooth and extended curve fitting. The general curve fitting considers only the accuracy of the fitted curve; the smooth curve fitting can control both the accuracy and the fairness of the fitted curve, while the extended curve fitting can acquire a curve longer than the range of the measured points. For the constrained type, we propose three curve-fitting conditions: fixed end-points, closed curve and continuity to adjacent curves. Detailed discussion for each of the above cases is presented. Associated examples are also provided to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed algorithms.     

Effects of post-annealing on electrical properties of CuF2·xH2O-doped KNN ceramics for rotary-linear ultrasonic motors

Lead-free (K_0.5Na_0.5)NbO₃ (KNN) ceramics were prepared using a novel sintering aid (CuF₂·xH₂O (x$\approx$2)) to investigate the effects of post-annealing temperature and atmosphere on oxygen vacancies, microstructure, and electrical properties. Post-annealing (K_0.5Na_0.5)NbO₃ +?1.5?mol% CuF₂·xH₂O (KNNCH) ceramics at 800?°C under argon was shown to increase the bulk relative density to 97% through the formation of a homogeneous microstructure with liquid phase. The resulting samples presented the following excellent piezoelectric properties: k_p：34.1% ($\pm \text{2\%}$); k_t：45.3% ($\pm \text{2\%}$); Q_m：3170 ($\pm \text{2\%}$); R_z：8.6?Ω ($\pm \text{3}\text{\%}$); and tan$\delta$：0.1%. Our results clearly demonstrate that annealing under argon can produce oxygen vacancies in ceramics, which has a significant influence on the stability of domain structures of the samples. Piezoelectric motors fabricated using these ceramics achieved a velocity of 4.5?mm/s, vertical velocity of 3.02?·mm/s, and output power of 2.93?mW with a negligible increase in temperature and high stability while driven.     

Real-time variable feed rate NURBS curve interpolator for CNC machining

This paper presents a real-time control algorithm based on Taylor’s expansion for implementing variable feed rate non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) curve interpolators using a digital signal processor for precision CNC machining. To efficiently compute the NURBS curve and its derivatives in real-time, an effective method is proposed. The variable feed rate NURBS curve interpolator can be used to realise the ACC/DEC before feed rate interpolation in which the ACC/DEC (acceleration/deceleration) planning on the feed rate command executes before the interpolation takes place, so that the path command errors caused by conventional ACC/DEC planning using the post feed rate interpolation can be effectively eliminated. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm, an X-Y table driven by two servomotors is controlled to track command paths represented by multiple blocks of NURBS curves. Experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Solution‐Processed High‐Performance Tetrathienothiophene‐Based Small Molecular Blends for Ambipolar Charge Transport

Four soluble dialkylated tetrathienoacene ( TTAR) ‐based small molecular semiconductors featuring the combination of a TTAR central core, π‐conjugated spacers comprising bithiophene ( bT ) or thiophene ( T ), and with/without cyanoacrylate ( CA ) end‐capping moieties are synthesized and characterized. The molecule DbT‐TTAR exhibits a promising hole mobility up to 0.36 cm² V^?1 s^?1 due to the enhanced crystallinity of the microribbon‐like films. Binary blends of the p‐type DbT‐TTAR and the n‐type dicyanomethylene substituted dithienothiophene‐quinoid ( DTTQ‐11 ) are investigated in terms of film morphology, microstructure, and organic field‐effect transistor (OFET) performance. The data indicate that as the DbT‐TTAR content in the blend film increases, the charge transport characteristics vary from unipolar (electron‐only) to ambipolar and then back to unipolar (hole‐only). With a 1:1 weight ratio of DbT‐TTAR DTTQ‐11 in the blend, well‐defined pathways for both charge carriers are achieved and resulted in ambipolar transport with high hole and electron mobilities of 0.83 and 0.37 cm² V^?1 s^?1, respectively. This study provides a viable way for tuning microstructure and charge carrier transport in small molecules and their blends to achieve high‐performance solution‐processable OFETs.     

Dispersion of gas pollutant in a fan-filter-unit (FFU) cleanroom

Numerical simulation and experimental measurement of flow and concentration fields in a working fan-filter-unit (FFU) cleanroom have been conducted in this study. The purpose of the study is to find out the unsteady concentration distribution of a leaking gas pollutant. The standard K–ε model was used for the simulation of the flow field. To obtain the gas concentration field, SF₆ gas with a certain concentration was released as a simulated leaking source from a valve manifold box (VMB) for 5 or 10 min, respectively. Three Fourier transform infrared spectrometers (FTIRs) were simultaneously used to measure the spatial and temporal distributions of SF₆ concentrations. The measured data were then compared with the numerical results and the agreement is seen to be quite good. From the numerical results, the pollutant hot spots, peak pollutant concentration at the end of leaking, and time taken for the concentration to reduce to near background level are obtained.     

Comparisons of commuter's exposure to particulate matters while using different transportation modes

This study compared commuters' exposures to particulate matter (PM) while using motorcycles, cars, buses, and the mass rapid transit (MRT) on the same routes in Taipei, Taiwan. Motorcycle commuters who had the shortest travel time (28.4+/-4.2 min) were exposed to the highest concentrations of PM(10) (112.8+/-38.3 microg/m(3)), PM(2.5) (67.5+/-31.3 microg/m(3)), and PM(1.0) (48.4+/-24.7 microg/m(3)) among four commuting modes. By contrast, car commuters were exposed to the lowest PM concentrations and had the second shortest travel time among them. Motorcycle commuters' high trip-averaged PM concentrations and bus commuters' long commuting time (43.1+/-5.1 min) resulted in their high whole-trip PM exposures. Size fractions of PM were relatively consistent across PM exposures of the four commuting modes with fine particles (PM(2.5)) contributing to 53-60% of PM(10) and submicron particle (PM(1)) contributing to 39-43% of PM(10). Motorcycles idled at traffic lights and bus doors opened at stops increased commuters' PM exposures. Fixed-site monitoring data explained well the variation of whole-trip PM(10) exposure of car (r(2)=0.63) and MRT (r(2)=0.52) commuters, and of whole-trip PM(2.5) exposure of car (r(2)=0.76), MRT (r(2)=0.73) and motorcycle (r(2)=0.64) commuters in regression analyses. The coefficients (slopes) of regression between fixed-site monitoring data and PM(2.5) exposures were less than 1 for car and MRT commuters but greater than 1 for motorcycle commuters. In conclusion, proximity to traffic emissions contributes to a person's high PM exposure during his or her daily commute. This proximity occurs when people use motorcycles on roads and when bus/MRT commuters walk or wait along commuting routes. Fixed-site air monitoring data can under-estimate motorcycle commuters' PM(2.5) exposures but over-estimate car and MRT commuters' PM(2.5) exposures.     

Enhancement of bond strength for epoxy-coated rebar using river sand

In this paper, improvement of bond strength for epoxy-coated rebars is studied. Although the epoxy-coated rebar is well accepted as an alternative corrosion prevention method in engineering practice, it still suffers from its poor bond performance, which requires modification of design parameters such as development length and splice length. Following our previous study [Proceedings of the Third Structure Engineering Conference (1996) 651–659], it is proposed to mix the river sand in the epoxy to improve the bond strength of epoxy-coated rebar. Specimens of several sizes of river sand and sand/epoxy weight ratios were studied. The single-rebar pullout test was performed to examine the bond strength. The open circuit potential method and the linear DC polarization method were conducted for corrosion rate measurements to ensure for keeping the merit of epoxy-coated rebar, i.e. the ability of corrosion. Experimental results show that the proposed method is very promising.     

Effect of chlorine content in feeding wastes of incineration on the emission of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans

This study attempts to clarify the effects of chlorine content in waste on the formation mechanisms of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in full scale incinerators by proposing and using the principal component analysis (PCA) to compare the congener profiles of PCDD/Fs in the stack flue gases of 17 emission sources, including incinerators and vehicles. Four incinerators, among these 17 emission sources, were sampled and analyzed in this study, and the data for the other 13 emission sources were selected from previous studies. These 17 emission sources can be classified into four categories, including medical waste incinerators (MWIs, H1-H5), municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs, M1-M8), vehicle fuel combustion (unleaded gas-fueled vehicles, UGFV; diesel-fueled vehicles, DFV, n = 2) and polyvinylchloride (PVC) facility vent combustors (PVC1 and PVC2, n = 2). PCA was conducted for these emission sources with the fractions of 17 2,3,7,8-congeners in the stack flue gases as variables to clarify the effect of chlorine content in feeding wastes on the emission of PCDD/Fs. From the results of PCA, we extrapolated that the threshold value of the chlorine content was at 0.8-1.1%, and the formation mechanisms of PCDD/Fs are influenced first by whether the chlorine content in the feeding waste is over or below the threshold value then by other factors, which furnaces or APCDs represent. When the chlorine level in the waste is below the threshold value at 0.8-1.1%, the formation of PCDDs dominates, probably because the chlorine is used to chlorinate the non-substituted phenol to produce chlorophenols, which are important precursors for PCDDs. rather than chlorinate the dibenzofuran. While the chlorine level in the waste exceeds this threshold (0.8-1.1%), the rates of formation of PCDFs increase faster than those of PCDDs, probably because the chlorine content in the waste contributes to the deterioration of combustion conditions, and many products of incomplete combustion (PICs) like PAHs, will grow to a substantial level. When PCDD/Fs are formed from PAHs, the formation rates of PCDFs are higher than those of PCDDs.     

Characterization of PAHs exposure in workplace atmospheres of a sinter plant and health-risk assessment for sintering workers

This study first measured concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in four selected workplace atmospheres, including the raw materials inlet, sintering grate, rough roll shredder and control room, and the outdoor environment of a sinter plant. Then, PAHs exposures and their resultant health-risks were assessed for sintering workers. We found that total PAH concentrations of the three selected sintering process areas were higher than that of the control room. The above results could be explained by the filtration effect of the air conditioning device installed inside the control room. PAH homologue distributions of the three selected sintering process areas were significantly different from that of the outdoor environment suggesting that PAHs found in the sintering workplace atmospheres were mainly contributed by process fugitives. Total PAH exposure levels were lower than the current permissible exposure limits, thus revealing that sintering workers are not a high risk group for long-term effects attributable to PAHs. Moreover, the lung cancer risks associated with the above PAH exposures were lower than the significant risk level defined by US Supreme Court further confirming that their exposures could be acceptable at this stage.     

Effect of water quenching and SiO2 addition during vitrification of fly ash Part 1: on the crystalline characteristics of slags

The objective of this study is to investigate how cooling rate and basicity in a vitrification process govern the crystalline characteristics of slags. In this experiment, the incineration fly ash mixtures with various SiO2 addition ratios were vitrified at 1450 degrees C and cooled down separately by air or water. Different thermal analysis, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis with an internal standard addition were applied to investigate the crystalline characteristics of slags. The microanalytical mapping images showed that water quenching and the addition of SiO2, both enhanced the glassy amorphous phase to distribute more uniformly in slags. Addition of SiO2 would lower the melting temperature of fly ash mixtures and retard the formation of crystalline phases in slags. When the basicity (mass ratio of CaO to SiO2 before vitrification) was >0.990, the profiles of crystalline phases in slags with equal basicity were similar no matter how they were cooled. However, when the basicity <0.674, water quenching greatly enhanced the formation of the glassy amorphous phase in slags. For air cooled slags, an even lower basicity (<0.511) is required to vitrify fly ash well.