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.     

Thermoelastic evaluation of composite laminates using digital imaging processing

The study of the variation of the curvature of non-symmetric composite laminates with temperature provides a measure of the magnitude of the thermal stresses and the mechanical behavior of the material with temperature. In the present work, an experimental method based on the pioneer use of a digital camera and image processing method is proposed to perform such measurements. Taking advantage of the method and by comparing experimental and CLT, extended-CLT and FEM simulation results, an evaluation of the residual stresses is described and an approach providing more precise determination of the residual thermal stresses in non-symmetric laminates is proposed.     

A cell-based robust optimal coordinated control on urban arterial road

Process of optimizing coordinated control is divided into two stages.At the first stage,the study improves a robust optimal control model of single-point intersection to optimize cycle and split.At the second stage,the study combines all links with intersections of arterial road as a complete system,and applies cell transmission model to simulate traffic flow on urban signalized arterial road.We propose a coordinated control model based on the platform to optimize offset between adjacent intersections.Genetic algorithm is executed by MATLAB to solve the model.The performance evaluations show that the model not only effectively reduces average delay and stopping rate of vehicles on arterial road and largely enhances traffic capacity of arterial road,but also lowers the sensitivity of signal control for flow fluctuations.     

基于图像处理技术的瞳孔和角膜反射中心提取算法

为了提高瞳孔中心的实时提取精度和抗干扰能力,利用基于瞳孔-角膜跟踪法原理和图像处理的眼动跟踪技术,实现瞳孔和角膜反射中心的精确提取.首先在红外光源条件下,用摄像机捕获人眼图像,通过图像自适应二值化阈值确定图像处理区域,以减小处理时间;其次,利用高低2次二值化阈值提取角膜反射中心;然后求取自适应最佳阈值确定瞳孔位置和大小;最后用梯度法提取瞳孔轮廓特征点,并用椭圆拟合瞳孔的方法确定瞳孔中心.实验结果表明,该算法在保证瞳孔和角膜反射中心提取的准确性和稳定性的同时,能满足实时处理要求.