Identification of diffusion parameters in a non-linear convection–diffusion equation using adaptive homotopy perturbation method

This paper is concerned with the numerical identification of diffusion parameters in a non-linear convection–diffusion equation, which arises as the saturation equation in the fractional flow formulation of the two-phase porous media flow equations. In order to overcome the defect of the local convergence of traditional methods, an adaptive homotopy perturbation method is applied to solve this parameter identification inverse problem. The adaptive homotopy perturbation method provides a simple way to adapt computational refinement to the choice of the homotopy parameter. Numerical simulations illustrate that the proposed algorithm is globally convergent and computationallyefficient.     

Applicability of Kocks–Mecking approach for tensile work hardening in P9 steel

Abstract

Work hardening behaviour of P9 steel in the temperature range 300–873 K has been examined in the framework of Kocks–Mecking (K–M) approach. At all temperatures, P9 steel exhibited two-stage work hardening behaviour characterised by a rapid decrease in instantaneous work hardening rate (i.e. θ?=?dσ/d?, where σ is the true stress and ? is the true plastic strain) with stress at low stresses (transient stage) followed by a gradual decrease at high stresses (stage III). Stage III work hardening of P9 steel was adequately described by K–M approach. The variations of work hardening parameters associated with K–M approach for stage III with temperature indicated three distinct temperature regimes. At all temperatures, good correlations between the respective work hardening parameters evaluated using K–M approach and from Voce equation and its derivative have been obtained for P9 steel.     

High-pressure phase equilibrium measurements and thermodynamic modeling for the systems involving CO2, ethyl esters (oleate,stearate, palmitate) and acetone

The aim of this work was to study the phase behavior of systems involving carbon dioxide (CO₂), fatty acid ethyl esters (ethyl oleate, ethyl stearate and ethyl palmitate) and acetone at high pressures. The phase behavior involving these components is an important step regarding the design and optimization of industrial processes based on supercritical conditions, such as biodiesel production and fatty esters fractionation involving supercritical and/or pressurized solvents. In addition, supercritical CO₂ can offer an interesting alternative for glycerol separation in water-free biodiesel purification processes. The binary systems investigated in this work were CO₂ + ethyl oleate, and CO₂ + ethyl stearate and these were compared with the CO₂ + ethyl palmitate system. The ternary CO₂ + ethyl palmitate + acetone was also investigated at two different ethyl palmitate to acetone molar ratios of (1:1) and (1:3). The static synthetic method using a variable-volume view cell was employed to obtain the experimental data in the temperature range of 303.15–353.15 K. Vapor–liquid (VL), liquid–liquid (LL) and vapor–liquid–liquid (VLL) phase transitions were observed in these systems. In the binary systems, the solubility increased with the presence of unsaturation and decreased with the number of carbon atoms in the fatty ester chain. Addition of acetone as well as ethanol eliminated the liquid–liquid immiscibility and reduced the pressure transitions, therefore increasing the solubility of the ester in supercritical CO₂. The experimental data sets for the binary and ternary systems were successfully modeled using the Peng–Robinson equation of state with the classical van der Waals quadratic mixing rule (PR-vdW2) and Wong-Sandler (PR-WS) mixing rule. Both models showed good performance in the phase equilibrium correlations and in predictions for the binary and ternary systems.     

A new approach to static output feedback stabilization of linear dynamic systems

The topic of this study is output feedback control of linear control system with output. Use of condensed forms of the linear system under static output feedback (SOF) control is made to derive sufficient conditions for stabilization. A minimal-order control-free observer is presented.     

State-led technological innovation of domestic firms in Shenzhen,China: Evidence from liquid crystal display (LCD) industry

Since 2000, particularly in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, there has emerged revisit of the role of the state in technological upgrading of latecomer cities and regions in developing countries, including China. The effectiveness of a technological innovation strategy driven by transnational corporations (TNCs) has been questioned, despite its significant contribution to rapid industrialization via strategic coupling in the global production networks (GPNs). There has been a paradigm shift of innovation policy towards indigenous innovation through state-led explicit coupling of designated domestic firms and lead firms in the GPNs. The practice of this remains understudied, however. By examining the development of the liquid crystal display (LCD) industry, one of the strategic emerging industries (SEIs) in Shenzhen, this paper sheds light on the collective roles of various state authorities ranging from the central to provincial and municipal governments in fostering technological innovation of domestic firms (e.g. CSOT) through explicit coupling with global lead firms (e.g. Samsung). The empirical experience in Shenzhen indicates that indigenous innovation focused on domestic firms may unnecessarily exclude the participation of TNCs. This study urges more research to examine the changing dynamics of technological catch-up of domestic firms in an increasingly globalized and uncertain world economy.     

Determination of biomass accumulation in mixed belts of Salix,Corylus and Alnus species in combined food and energy production system

Given the energetic, demographic and the climatic challenges faced today, we designed a combined food and energy (CFE) production system integrating food, fodder and mixed belts of Salix, Alnus and Corylus sp. as bioenergy belts. The objective was to assess the shoot dry weight-stem diameter allometric relationship based on stem diameter at 10 (SD₁₀) and 55 cm (SD₅₅) from the shoot base in the mixed bioenergy belts. Allometric relations based on SD₁₀ and SD₅₅ explained 90–96% and 90–98% of the variation in shoot dry weights respectively with no differences between the destructive and the non-destructive methods. The individual stool yields varied widely among the species and within willow species with biomass yield range of 37.60–92.00 oven dry tons (ODT) ha⁻¹ in 4-year growth cycle. The biomass yield of the bioenergy belt, predicted by allometric relations was 48.84 ODT ha⁻¹ in 4-year growth cycle corresponding to 12.21 ODT ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. The relatively high biomass yield is attributed to the border effects and the ‘fertilizing effect’ of alder due to nitrogen fixation, benefitting other SWRC components. On termination of 4-year growth cycle, the bioenergy belts were harvested and the biomass yield recorded was 12.54 ODT ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, in close proximity to the biomass yield predicted by the allometric equations, lending confidence and robustness of the model for biomass yield determination in such integrated agro-ecosystem.     

The relaxed optimal control problem for Mean-Field SDEs systems and application

The present study deals with a new approach of optimal control problems where the state equation is a Mean-Field stochastic differential equation, and the set of strict (classical) controls need not be convex and the diffusion coefficient depends on the term control. Our consideration is based on only one adjoint process, and the necessary conditions as well as a sufficient condition for optimality in the form of a relaxed maximum principle are obtained, with application to Linear quadratic stochastic control problem with mean-field type.     

COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN OF HORN RADIATORS FOR SATELLITE COMMUNICATION BY LEAST SQUARES OPTIMIZATION

Computer aided design optimization of corrugated horns became a powerful tool to reduce development costs on the one hand and to improve performance of space antennas on the other. In this paper the physical model is outlined, based on Maxwell's equations, and it is shown how a complete numerical simulation of a circular corrugated horn can be achieved, assuming that the interior geometry of the horn is known. In order to compute the electromagnetic properties of a horn, the so-called scattering matrix is assembled. This matrix is needed to relate mode amplitudes of reflected and transmitted waves in horn sections with different diameters. Envelope functions, determined by a few geometric design parameters, are used to describe the inner geometry of a horn. These parameters are applied to formulate a least squares optimization problem. As a starting point, an amplitude spectrum in the aperture has to be determined which radiates a given far field. The differences between those amplitudes and the amplitudes predicted by the model are to become as small as possible by adapting the design variables. Moreover, the return loss is to be minimized. The resulting least squares optimization problem can be solved by a standard sequential quadratic programming (SQP) code after a suitable transformation into a nonlinear programming problem, by which typical features of Gauss-Newton methods are retained. Some numerical results are included to show the successful application of the introduced advance to design a circular corrugated horn which radiates a given far field.     

Event-triggered control for semi-global stabilisation of systems with actuator saturation

This paper investigates the problem of event-triggered control for semi-global stabilisation of null controllable systems subject to actuator saturation. First, for a continuous-time system, novel event-triggered low-gain control algorithms based on Riccati equations are proposed to achieve semi-global stabilisation. The algebraic Riccati equation with a low-gain parameter is utilised to design both the event-triggering condition and the linear controller; a minimum inter-event time based on the Riccati ordinary differential equation is set a priori to exclude the Zeno behaviour. In addition, the high–low gain techniques are utilised to extend the semi-global results to event-based global stabilisation. Furthermore, for a discrete-time system, novel low-gain and high–low-gain control algorithms are proposed to achieve event-triggered stabilisation. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the theoretical results.     

The optimal control related to Riemannian manifolds and the viscosity solutions to Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equations

In this paper we study the optimal stochastic control problem for stochastic differential equations on Riemannian manifolds. The cost functional is specified by controlled backward stochastic differential equations in Euclidean space. Under some suitable assumptions, we conclude that the value function is the unique viscosity solution to the associated Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation which is a fully nonlinear parabolic partial differential equation on Riemannian manifolds.