Fuzzy Reliability Assessment of Distribution System with Wind Farms and Plug-in Electric Vehicles

Abstract

The equipment failures are highly uncertain in nature and simple average failure rate will not reflect this uncertainty. The uncertainty level further increases in reliability evaluation due to the integration of wind farm (WF) because of the intermittent nature of wind speed and random charging patterns of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). In this work, the uncertain variables in the distribution system (failure rate, repair time, WF output, PEVs charging and system load factor) are represented as fuzzy numbers to handle the uncertainty. The available uncertain data are used to find the probability distribution function (PDF) of that parameter and is converted into fuzzy membership function using transformation techniques. Failure rate of equipment is converted into failure probability using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) method. Sampling method is applied to create the PDF of a variable which has average value. Fuzzy severity index (FSI) is proposed to find the importance of an equipment on reliability and is evaluated by measuring the fuzzy distance between the fuzzy reliability indices. The proposed assessment method is validated on modified RBTS bus 2 by comparing with analytical and MCS methods. The proposed method has been tested with integration of WFs and PEVs.     

Relationships between vegetation indices and root zone soil moisture under maize and soybean canopies in the US Corn Belt: a comparative study using a close-range sensing approach

Understanding the relationships between root zone soil moisture and vegetation spectral signals will enhance our ability to manage water resources and monitor drought-related stress in vegetation. In this article, the relationships between vegetation indices (VIs) and in situ soil moisture under maize and soybean canopies were analysed using close-range reflectance data acquired at a rainfed cropland site in the US Corn Belt. Because of the deep rooting depths of maize plants, maize-based VIs exhibited significant correlations with soil moisture at a depth of 100 cm (P < 0.01) and kept soil moisture memory for a long period of time (45 days). Among the VIs applied to maize, the chrolophyll red-edge index (CI_red-edge) correlated best with the concurrent soil moisture at 100 cm depth (P < 0.01) for up to 20 day lag periods. The same index showed a significant correlation with soil moisture at a 50 cm depth for lag periods from 10 (P < 0.05) to 60 days (P < 0.01). VIs applied to soybean resulted in statistically significant correlations with soil moisture at the shallower 10 and 25 cm depths, and the correlation coefficients declined with increasing depths. As opposed to maize, soybean held a shorter soil moisture memory as the correlations for all VIs versus soil moisture at 10 cm depth were strongest for the 5 day lag period. Wide dynamic range VI and normalized difference VI performed better in characterizing soil moisture at the 10 and 25 cm depths under soybean canopies when compared with enhanced VI and CI_red-edge.     

Synthesis and characterization of novel octa-arm star-block thermoplastic elastomers consisting of poly (p-chlorostyrene-b-isobutylene) arms radiating from a calix[8]arene core

The synthesis and characterization of novel octa-arm star-blocks consisting of poly(p-chlorostyrene-b-isobutylene) (PpClSt-b-PIB) arms radiating from a calix[8]arene (C8) core are described. The synthesis was accomplished by living isobutylene (IB) polymerization induced by a novel octafunctional calix[8]arene derived initiator 1, followed by addition and living polymerization of p-chlorostyrene (pClSt). This sequential block copolymerization method allowed for precise molecular weight control of both polymeric blocks and thus gave rise to star-block thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) with an outstanding combination of mechanical and thermal properties, i.e., high tensile strengths (22 – 27 MPa) and elongations (∼500 %). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated microphase separation into glassy PpClSt (T_g= 129°C) and rubbery PIB (T_g=−66°C) domains, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that the PpClSt domains are dispersed in the PIB matrix. Received: 1 April 1998/Revised version: 1 June 1998/Accepted: 2 June 1998     

Regioselectivity in Hydroformylation of Aryl Olefins Using Novel Rhodium Polyether Phosphinite Catalysts

Polyethylene glycol based diphosphinite ligands and their Wilkinson type Rh-polymeric carbonyl complexes were prepared for homogeneous hydroformylation of styrenes. The effect of reaction variables such as temperature, pressure, P/Rh ratio, Substrate/Rh ratio, phosphine and phosphinite ligands on the activity and selectivity performance were discussed in detail. The catalyst showed a high rate of reaction, TON and tunable regioselectivity depending upon reaction conditions as compared to conventional Rh-phosphine based catalysts.     

Orientalism in Euro-American and Indian psychology: Historical representations of "natives" in colonial and postcolonial contexts.

The author examines the historical role of Euro-American psychology in constructing Orientalist representations of the natives who were colonized by the European colonial powers. In particular, the author demonstrates how the power to represent the non-Western "Other" has always resided, and still continues to reside, primarily with psychologists working in Europe and America. It is argued that the theoretical frameworks that are used to represent non-Westerners in contemporary times continue to emerge from Euro-American psychology. Finally, the author discusses how non-Western psychologists internalized these Orientalist images and how such a move has led to a virtual abandonment of pursuing "native" forms of indigenous psychologies in Third World psychology departments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On improved hybrid finite elements with rotational degrees of freedom

A set of three new hybrid elements with rotational degrees-of-freedom (d.o.f.'s) is introduced. The solid, 8-node, hexahedron element is developed for solving three-dimensional elasticity problems. This element has three translational and three rotational d.o.f.'s at each node and is based on a 42-parameter. three-dimensional stress field in the natural convected co-ordinate system. For two-dimensional, plane elasticity problems, an improved triangular hybrid element and a quadrilateral hybrid element are presented. These elements use two translational and one rotational d.o.f. at each node. Three different sets of five-parameter stress fields defined in a natural convected co-ordinate system for the entire element are used for the mixed triangular element. The mixed quadrilateral element is based on a nine-parameter complete linear stress field in natural space. The midside translational d.o.f.'s are expressed in terms of the corner nodal translations and rotations using appropriate transformations. The stiffness matrix is derived based on the Hellinger–Reissner variational principle. The elements pass the patch test and demonstrate an improved performance over the existing elements for prescribed test examples.     

Combined Effect of Magnetic Field and Rotation on Thermosolutal Instability of a Compressible Fluid in Porous Medium

The combined effect of magnetic field and rotation on thermosolutal instability of a compressible fluid in porous medium is considered. The system is found to be stable for (C_p/g)β < 1 where C_p, β, and g stand for specific heat at constant pressure, uniform adverse temperature gradient, and acceleration due to gravity, respectively. The stable solute gradient, magnetic field, and rotation introduce oscillatory modes in the system for (C_p/g)β > 1, which were nonexistent in their absence. For stationary convection, the stable solute gradient and rotation have a stabilizing effect on the system for (C_p/g)β > 1. In the presence of rotation, the magnetic field has a stabilizing (or destabilizing) effect, and the medium permeability has a destabilizing (or stabilizing) effect under certain condition, whereas in the absence of rotation, the magnetic field and rotation have stabilizing and destabilizing effects for (C_p/g)β > 1, respectively, on the system. The sufficient conditions for the existence of overs-lability are obtained.     

Experimental Measurement of Impact Pressures Delivered by Oral Water Irrigation Devices

Water irrigation devices (WID's) are widely used in homes and dental clinics across the country for oral hygiene. There have been several reported cases of tissue damage with the use of these devices. In the present investigation, two commercially available oral water irrigation devices were evaluated using engineering techniques. The impact thrusts delivered by these devices were measured at different control settings. Both of the tested commercial oral water irrigation devices were found to exert abnormally high thrust which could cause serious damage to the sulcular epithelium and the underlying tissues. These pressures are far in excess of the pressure intensity necessary to perform the cleaning action. Moreover, the existing designs using reciprocating pumps are unsafe and are potentially dangerous, particularly with small diameter tips.     

A nested iterative scheme for computation of incompressible flows in long domains

We present an effective preconditioning technique for solving the nonsymmetric linear systems encountered in computation of incompressible flows in long domains. The application category we focus on is arterial fluid mechanics. These linear systems are solved using a nested iterative scheme with an outer Richardson scheme and an inner iteration that is handled via a Krylov subspace method. Test computations that demonstrate the robustness of our nested scheme are presented.