Application of PCA-based hybrid Taguchi method for correlated multicriteria optimization of submerged arc weld: a case study

Fluid dispensing is a method by which fluid materials, such as epoxy, adhesive, and encapsulant, are delivered in a controlled manner in electronics packaging. This paper presents a brief review of past and recent developments in the modeling and control of the time-pressure fluid dispensing process. In particular, the characterization of the fluid flow behavior is addressed by reviewing several promising models from both time-independent and time-dependent perspectives. In the modeling of the time-pressure fluid dispensing process, various approaches for representing the flow rate of fluid dispensed and the profile of fluid formed on target are examined; and the issues involved are identified. In the control of time-pressure dispensing process, a brief review of various control methods is presented along with their limitations. The challenges associated with this control problem are also discussed. This paper is concluded with the recommendations of research in the future.     

Prediction of metal deposition from arc sound and weld temperature signatures in pulsed MIG welding

The weld deposition efficiency is an important economic factor like productivity and weld quality in gas metal arc welding (GMAW). There is a strong relationship between arc sound signals and arc stability (or deposition efficiency) in GMAW. In this work, the variation of weld deposition efficiency with various pulse parameters in pulsed metal inert gas welding was investigated. The arc sound signal along with current and voltage signals were acquired and analyzed in time domain as well as in frequency domain. The sound signal kurtosis and arc power were found to be highly correlated with welding process stability. The weld deposition efficiency was also related to weld surface peak temperature. Finally, an attempt was made to correlate the sound time domain as well as frequency domain features of sound signal with the deposition efficiency. The variation of pulse shape with the duty factor also influenced the deposition efficiency as evidenced by in fast Fourier transform analysis.     

Analysis based on microcontact mechanism for the roughness dependent stick–slip motion

The stick–slip behavior occurring between an indenter with its round tip treated as a rigid sphere with a radius of 300 nm and the (1 0 0) Si specimen was considered. The characteristic slip distances were observed in the stick–slip behavior under small normal loads. A statistical evaluation of microcontact on the basis of Fourier cosine series was proposed to evaluate the dominant scales of roughness under different normal loads. The experimental results showed the elastic deformation exhibited in the contact between the indenter and the specimen when the contact load was smaller than 40 μN. The characteristic scales of roughness obtained by the proposed method revealed good agreement with the experimental results of slip distance under different contact loads. Through the proposed method, the roughness dependence of the stick–slip behavior can be further understood quantitatively.     

Tribological Performance Optimization of Electroless Ni–P Coatings Using the Taguchi Method and Grey Relational Analysis

The present article considers an experimental study of tribological performance of electroless Ni–P coatings and optimization of tribological test parameters based on the Taguchi method coupled with grey relational analysis. A grey relational grade obtained from the grey relational analysis is used as performance index to study the behaviour of electroless Ni–P coating with respect to friction and wear characteristics. Experiments are carried out by utilizing the combination of tribological test parameters based on L₂₇ Taguchi orthogonal design with three test parameters, viz., load, speed and time. It is observed that all the three test parameters have significant contribution in controlling the friction and wear behaviour of electroless Ni–P coating. In addition, the interaction of load and time has significant influence on tribological performance. The surface morphology, composition and wear mechanism of the coatings are studied with the help of scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis and energy dispersed X-ray analysis.     

Increasing the accuracy of ECG based biometric analysis by data modelling

Here an effort is made to use human electrocardiogram as a tool of biometric analysis for authentication. The proposed method is based on first accurate extraction of characteristic features from each ECG and then design of a suitable classification methodology to comment on the authenticity. As the feature matrix is a huge one, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is applied to avoid handling of large amount of data. Next, the reduced features from PCA are fitted into a quadratic polynomial model by the method of least square. Then the fitted values for the allowed set of data is obtained and the range over which they vary, provides the signature matrix of a person. Finally the classification is done by a comparison based on nearest neighbor method. The method is tested on ECG of 20 individuals taken from PTB database. This method has accuracy more than 95% with the best fit modeling which becomes only 80% without data modeling proving the importance of best fit modeling of data before classification. This accuracy is comparable with conventional biometric techniques; moreover, ECG biometric can be used with other authentication scheme, with ECG providing liveliness proof.     

An improved microfluidics approach for monitoring real-time interaction profiles of ultrafast molecular recognition

Our study illustrates the development of a microfluidics (MF) platform combining fluorescence microscopy and femtosecond/picosecond-resolved spectroscopy to investigate ultrafast chemical processes in liquid-phase diffusion-controlled reactions. By controlling the flow rates of two reactants in a specially designed MF chip, sub-100 ns time resolution for the exploration of chemical intermediates of the reaction in the MF channel has been achieved. Our system clearly rules out the possibility of formation of any intermediate reaction product in a so-called fast ionic reaction between sodium hydroxide and phenolphthalein, and reveals a microsecond time scale associated with the formation of the reaction product. We have also used the developed system for the investigation of intermediate states in the molecular recognition of various macromolecular self-assemblies (micelles) and genomic DNA by small organic ligands (Hoechst 33258 and ethidium bromide). We propose our MF-based system to be an alternative to the existing millisecond-resolved "stopped-flow" technique for a broad range of time-resolved (sub-100 ns to minutes) experiments on complex chemical∕biological systems.     

Effect of shielding gas mixture on gas metal arc welding of HSLA steel using solid and flux-cored wires

In this work, gas metal arc welding of high strength-low alloy (HSLA) steel with solid- and flux-cored arc welding wires using different shielding gas compositions was performed. The composition of filler wire and shielding gas in gas metal arc welds of HSLA steel determines the inclusion characteristics, microstructure and mechanical properties. Thus, acceptable weld metal properties in HSLA steel using gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process could be achieved with the proper combination of filler wire and shielding gas composition.     

Transmission electron microscopy and theoretical analysis of AuCu nanoparticles: atomic distribution and dynamic behavior

Though the application of bimetallic nanoparticles is becoming increasingly important, the local atomistic structure of such alloyed particles, which is critical for tailoring their properties, is not yet very clearly understood. In this work, we present detailed study on the atomistic structure of Au-Cu nanoparticles so as to determine their most stable configurations and the conditions for obtaining clusters of different structural variants. The dynamic behavior of these nanoparticles upon local heating is investigated. AuCu nanoparticles are characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and energy filtering elemental composition mapping (EFECM), which allowed us to study the internal structure and the elemental distribution in the particles. Quantum mechanical approaches and classic molecular dynamics methods are applied to model the structure and to determine the lowest energy configurations, the corresponding electronic structures, and understand structural transition of clusters upon heating, supported by experimental evidences. Our theoretical results demonstrate only the core/shell bimetallic structure have negative heat of formation, both for decahedra and octahedral, and energetically favoring core/shell structure is with Au covering the core of Cu, whose reverse core/shell structure is not stable and may transform back at a certain temperature. Experimental evidences corroborate these structures and their structural changes upon heating, demonstrating the possibility to manipulate the structure of such bimetallic nanoparticles using extra stimulating energy, which is in accordance with the calculated coherence energy proportions between the different configurations.     

Incorporating Ancestors' Influence in Genetic Algorithms

A new criterion of fitness evaluation for Genetic Algorithms is introduced where the fitness value of an individual is determined by considering its own fitness as well as those of its ancestors. Some guidelines for selecting the weighting coefficients for quantifying the importance to be given to the fitness of the individual and its ancestors are provided. This is done both heuristically and automatically under fixed and adaptive frameworks. The Schema Theorem corresponding to the proposed concept is derived. The effectiveness of this new methodology is demonstrated extensively on the problems of optimizing complex functions including a noisy one and selecting optimal neural network parameters.     

Experimental set-up for measuring diffusive and advective transport of radon through building materials

This study describes an approach for measuring and modelling diffusive and advective transport of radon through building materials. The goal of these measurements and model calculations is to improve our understanding concerning the factors influencing the transport of radon through building materials. To reach this goal, a number of experiments have to be conducted. These experiments, including measurements in a large cylinder for creating diffusive and advective transport of radon under controlled, 'dwelling-like' conditions, are described here and the initial results are presented. A better understanding about the transport of radon through building materials will lead to more effective ways to decrease or to prevent the entrance of radon into dwellings.