An anti-windup strategy for active vibration isolation systems

An anti-windup augmentation technique for active vibration isolation systems is considered in this paper and shown to lead to high-performance vibration isolation through simulations and experiments. First, the anti-windup construction is described and desirable properties of the augmented closed-loop system are illustrated. Then, the anti-windup technique is tested on a simulation example and finally shown to perform excellently on a commercial vibration isolation device: Newport Corporation's Elite 3^TM active vibration isolation system which has been patented and is now commercialized with this architecture. Both simulation and experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the anti-windup scheme.     

On the Cutoff Wavelength of Rectangular-Shaped Microshield Line by Edge Element Method

In this paper, the cutoff characteristic of rectangular-shaped microshield transmission line has been analysed by edge element method. Dependence of cutoff wavelengths on the thickness of metallic signal strip, dielectric constant of dielectric substrate and the width of the rectangular-shaped ground conductor are presented in tabular form. Numerical results in this paper have important values in design of rectangular-shaped microshield lines in microwave and millimeter wave integrated circuits.     

The influence of ply sequence and thermoelastic stress field on asymmetric delamination crack growth behavior of embedded elliptical delaminations in laminated FRP composites

The influence of ply lay up and the interaction of residual thermal stresses and mechanical loading on the interlaminar asymmetric embedded delamination crack growth behavior have been investigated. Two sets of full three-dimensional thermo-elastic finite element analyses have been performed for the interlaminar elliptical delaminations, which may be due to manufacturing defects or other reasons and are located symmetrically with respect to the midplane in a quasi-isotropic FRP composite laminate lay up. Depending upon the through-the-thickness location of the embedded elliptical delaminations, four different laminate configurations have been considered. Strain energy release rate (SERR) procedures have been employed to assess the delamination crack growth characteristics at the interfaces. It is found that the individual fracture modes exhibit asymmetric and non self-similar crack growth behavior along the delamination front depending upon the location of the interfacial delaminations; ply sequence and orientation and thermo-elastic anisotropy of the laminae.     

Experimental investigation of the normal spectral emissivity and other thermophysical properties of pulse-heated Ni-Ti and Au-Ni alloys into the liquid phase

1. Introduction Metal working industry needs accurate thermo- physical properties of liquid metals and alloys as input data for different simulation routines to im- prove the performance of their products. Within this paper we continue the systematic investigation of the dependence of emissivity of binary alloys on the relative concentration of the constituent elements (for a previous paper see [1]). 2. Experimental method A fast ohmic pulse heating technique is applied to heat metallic wire-s…     

Blast resistance of FRP composites and polymer strengthened concrete and masonry structures – A state-of-the-art review

Recent world events such as bombings in London, Madrid and Istanbul have highlighted the susceptibility of many civilian structures to terrorist attack. Explosives directed towards vulnerable structures may cause considerable damage and loss of life. As a result, there is now a desire to increase the blast resistance of many types of existing structures. This has led to experimental and finite element (FE) research in retrofitting concrete and masonry structures with fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites for blast protection. This paper presents a review of the publicly available literature and highlights areas where research is lacking.     

Sensor fault tolerant control using sliding mode observers

Previous work has considered the use of sliding mode observers for fault detection and isolation (FDI) in uncertain linear systems whereby the unknown faults are reconstructed by appropriate processing of the so-called equivalent output error injection. The paper builds on this work and considers such a scheme within the broader context of fault tolerant control. Specifically, by correcting the faulty measurement by an estimate of the fault obtained from the sliding mode FDI scheme, good closed-loop performance is still maintained. An example of such a scheme, which has been implemented in real-time on a laboratory dc motor rig, is described.     

A novel poly(p-phenylene vinylene)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) rod-coil diblock copolymer

In this letter, a novel well-defined PPV-b-PMMA rod-coil diblock copolymer, consisting of PPV oligomer as its rod block and PMMA as its coil block, respectively, was prepared via ATRP for the first time. The structure of the copolymer was determined by the measurements of FTIR, ¹H NMR and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The thermal and optical properties of the copolymers are investigated by DSC, TGA, UV-Vis and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The results showed that, the introduction of PMMA coil block can improve both the thermal stability and optical properties of PPV oligomer. The highly ordered hexagonally honeycomb-structured film of the copolymer fabricated by vaporizing solvent is also investigated by optical microscope and SEM.     

A new method of strength calculation and lifetime prediction of pipe bends operating in the creep range

An easy to use method for an approximate creep life prediction for pipe bends was developed within a recent R & D-project in Germany. The new algorithm is based on a Finite-Element parameter study comprising approximately 200 pipe bends. The creep behaviour of the materials primarily used for main steam and hot reheat piping is described using the Graham–Walles creep law. Since the new algorithm considers the time dependent out-of-roundness and stress redistribution of the pipe bend, it yields a more precise creep life prediction, compared to standard piping codes. It is possible to integrate this new calculation into existing online lifetime-monitoring-systems.     

Machine-learning paradigms for selecting ecologically significant input variables

Harmful algal blooms, which are considered a serious environmental problem nowadays, occur in coastal waters in many parts of the world. They cause acute ecological damage and ensuing economic losses, due to fish kills and shellfish poisoning as well as public health threats posed by toxic blooms. Recently, data-driven models including machine-learning (ML) techniques have been employed to mimic dynamics of algal blooms. One of the most important steps in the application of a ML technique is the selection of significant model input variables. In the present paper, we use two extensively used ML techniques, artificial neural networks (ANN) and genetic programming (GP) for selecting the significant input variables. The efficacy of these techniques is first demonstrated on a test problem with known dependence and then they are applied to a real-world case study of water quality data from Tolo Harbour, Hong Kong. These ML techniques overcome some of the limitations of the currently used techniques for input variable selection, a review of which is also presented. The interpretation of the weights of the trained ANN and the GP evolved equations demonstrate their ability to identify the ecologically significant variables precisely. The significant variables suggested by the ML techniques also indicate chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) itself to be the most significant input in predicting the algal blooms, suggesting an auto-regressive nature or persistence in the algal bloom dynamics, which may be related to the long flushing time in the semi-enclosed coastal waters. The study also confirms the previous understanding that the algal blooms in coastal waters of Hong Kong often occur with a life cycle of the order of 1–2 weeks.