Functional Process Capability Indices for Circular Profile

Profile is a relation between one response variable and one or more explanatory variables that represent quality of a product or performance of a process. On the other hand, process capability indices are measures to help practitioners in improving the processes to satisfy the customer's expectations. Few researches are done to account for the process capability index in the areas of profile monitoring. All of these researches are focused on process capability index in simple linear profile. In all of these methods, response variables in different levels of explanatory variable are considered, and the relationship in all range of explanatory variable is neglected. In this paper, a functional method is proposed to measure process capability index of circular profiles in all range of explanatory variable. The proposed method follows the traditional definition of process capability indices. The functional method uses reference profile, functional specification limits and functional natural tolerance limits to present a functional form of process capability indices. This functional form results in measuring the process capability in each level of explanatory variable in circular profile as well as a unique value of process capability index for circular profile. The application of the proposed method is illustrated through a real case in automotive industry. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effectiveness of modified pushover analysis procedure for the estimation of seismic demands of buildings subjected to near‐fault earthquakes having forward directivity

Near‐fault ground motions with long‐period pulses have been identified as being critical in the design of structures. These motions, which have caused severe damage in recent disastrous earthquakes, are characterized by a short‐duration impulsive motion that transmits large amounts of energy into the structures at the beginning of the earthquake. In nearly all of the past near‐fault earthquakes, significant higher mode contributions have been evident, resulting in the migration of dynamic demands (i.e., drifts) from the lower to the upper stories. Due to this, the static nonlinear pushover analysis (PA) (which utilizes a load pattern proportional to the shape of the fundamental mode of vibration) may not produce accurate results when used in the analysis of structures subjected to near‐fault ground motions. The objective of this paper was to improve the accuracy of the pushover method in these situations by introducing a new load pattern into the common pushover procedure. Several PAs are performed for six existing reinforced concrete buildings that possess a variety of natural periods. Then, a comparison is made between the PA results (with four new load patterns) and those of FEMA‐356 with reference to nonlinear dynamic time‐history analyses. The comparison shows that, generally, the proposed pushover method yields better results than all FEMA‐356 PA procedures for all investigated response quantities, and is a closer match to the nonlinear time‐history responses. In general, the method is able to reproduce the essential response features providing a reasonable measure of the likely contribution of higher modes in all phases of the response. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ambient vibration test and finite element modeling of tall liquid storage tanks

This paper addresses the experimental and numerical investigations of the dynamic parameters, natural frequencies and mode shapes, of fixed roof, ground supported, steel storage tanks. Three tall liquid storage tanks with aspect ratios greater than unity are considered. The considered tanks have similar height of 12.190 m and different radius of 6.095, 8.00, and 9.144 m. The effect of the aspect ratio, along with the liquid level on dynamic parameters is discussed. Finite element models of tanks are constructed using the finite element package ANSYS. The fluid-structure interaction is governed in the models. Yet, before using numerical techniques for analyzing the tank-liquid systems, they should be validated by experimental results. For this purpose, a series of ambient vibration tests are carried out to determine the natural frequencies and, if possible, the modes of the vibration. Comparison between numerical and experimental values shows good agreement. The new feature considered in the paper is the influence of roof on the natural frequencies and the modes of vibration. It is found that the influence of roof on the natural frequency of vibration of the considered tanks is negligible, while it does restrain the tank top against radial deformations and has significant effect on the mode shapes of tank.     

Fuzzy logic = computing with words

As its name suggests, computing with words (CW) is a methodology in which words are used in place of numbers for computing and reasoning. The point of this note is that fuzzy logic plays a pivotal role in CW and vice-versa. Thus, as an approximation, fuzzy logic may be equated to CW. There are two major imperatives for computing with words. First, computing with words is a necessity when the available information is too imprecise to justify the use of numbers, and second, when there is a tolerance for imprecision which can be exploited to achieve tractability, robustness, low solution cost, and better rapport with reality. Exploitation of the tolerance for imprecision is an issue of central importance in CW. In CW, a word is viewed as a label of a granule; that is, a fuzzy set of points drawn together by similarity, with the fuzzy set playing the role of a fuzzy constraint on a variable. The premises are assumed to be expressed as propositions in a natural language. In coming years, computing with words is likely to evolve into a basic methodology in its own right with wide-ranging ramifications on both basic and applied levels     

Physical modeling of the electrical double layer effects on multispecies ions transport in cement-based materials

The transport of ions through cement-based materials is described at a microscopic scale with a pore modeled by two infinitely large flat plates. The theory of the electrical double layer (EDL) shows that (i) the overlapping between the diffuse layers occurring in the pore is more important as the pore diameter will be small (low than the Debye length) and the pore walls will be strongly charged, (ii) the fluxes of coions and counterions will be respectively increased and attenuated in such pores. The gel pores of cement based materials have similar characteristics. As the capillary pores of the cement based materials with low porosity are connected between them by the pores gel, the transport of ions at a macroscopic scale could be greatly influenced by the overlapping effect of the diffuse layers.