Fatigue crack sizing in steel bridge decks using ultrasonic guided waves

A baseline-free quantitative sizing methodology utilizing ultrasonic guided waves for fatigue cracks under welded stiffeners in steel bridge decks has been developed. An inverse wavefield extrapolation-based formulation for obtaining the crack reflectivity and depth profile has been presented in the kernel of which, the presence of welded orthogonal stiffeners has been accounted for. Having conducted experiments on a test bridge deck subject to fatigue loading, it has been demonstrated that the crack profile can be estimated from the reflection coefficients obtained. In comparison with the reference measurements, the maximum crack depth estimation error turned out to be about 20%.     

A novel optimization method for designing stand alone photovoltaic system

This paper presents a novel optimization method for sizing and design of stand alone photovoltaic systems. Loss of power supply probability analysis is set as a benchmark to determine all possible PV array and battery capacity. Then, the optimum design is proposed based on the lowest levelized cost of energy. The case study, with reference to Malaysia's meteorological data and typical load profile of rural area, has been simulated and compared to selected three past researches.     

A comparison of mixed integer programming formulations of the capacitated lot-sizing problem

We propose a novel mixed integer programming formulation for the capacitated lot-sizing problem with set-up times and set-up carryover. We compare our formulation to two earlier formulations, the Classical and Modified formulations, and a more recent formulation due to Suerie and Stadtler. Extensive computational experiments show that our formulation consistently outperforms the Classical and Modified formulations in terms of CPU time and solution quality. It is competitive with the Suerie–Stadtler (S&S) formulation, but outperforms all other formulations on the most challenging instances, those with low-capacity slack and a dense jobs matrix. We show that some of the differences in the performance of these various formulations arise from their different use of binary variables to represent production or set-up states. We also show that the LP relaxation of our Novel formulation provides a tighter lower bound than that of the Modified formulation. Our experiments demonstrate that, while the S&S formulation provides a much tighter LP bound, the Novel formulation is better able to exploit the intelligence of the CPLEX solution engine.     

Pricing in centrally committed electricity markets

A long-standing issue with centrally committed electricity markets is the design of non-confiscatory and equilibrium-supporting prices. This is because the social planner's problem in such a market is a non-convex unit commitment. O'Neill et al. (2005) propose a pricing scheme that overcomes these issues for any market that can be formulated as a mixed-integer linear program. Moreover, claims appear in the literature implying that such a payment mechanism is currently in use in a number of organized electricity markets. Using an illustrative example, we demonstrate that this is not the case. We further demonstrate that the pricing scheme proposed by O'Neill et al. (2005) has some important implications for long-run capacity investment.     

Mesh generation and geometrical modelling of 3D woven composites with variable tow cross-sections

The modelling of 3D woven composites represents a key part in both material and component design. Current modelling techniques can struggle to mesh correctly accurate unit cell models and apply the complex but necessary periodic boundary conditions required, often with sacrifices made in idealisation of the weave architecture. An automated voxel meshing technique suitable for modelling failure in 3D woven composite unit cells has been developed, which is generic in nature and allows incorporation of architectural deformities within weaves, including tow rotations and misalignments. The model requires node points with only five independent variables to define the unit cell geometry. Application of a smoothing algorithm to the tow/matrix interface voxels produces a suitable surface for modelling tow/matrix debonding, leading to a more accurate representation of the stress field.     

Characterising economic trends by Bayesian stochastic model specification search

A recently proposed Bayesian model selection technique, stochastic model specification search, is carried out to discriminate between two trend generation hypotheses. The first is the trend-stationary hypothesis, for which the trend is a deterministic function of time and the short run dynamics are represented by a stationary autoregressive process. The second is the difference-stationary hypothesis, according to which the trend results from the cumulation of the effects of random disturbances. A difference-stationary process may originate in two ways: from an unobserved components process adding up an integrated trend and an orthogonal transitory component, or implicitly from an autoregressive process with roots on the unit circle. The different trend generation hypotheses are nested within an encompassing linear state space model. After a reparameterisation in non-centred form, the empirical evidence supporting a particular hypothesis is obtained by performing variable selection on the model components, using a suitably designed Gibbs sampling scheme. The methodology is illustrated with reference to a set of US macroeconomic time series which includes the traditional Nelson and Plosser dataset. The conclusion is that most series are better represented by autoregressive models with time-invariant intercept and slope and coefficients that are close to boundary of the stationarity region. The posterior distribution of the autoregressive parameters provides useful insight on quasi-integrated nature of the specifications selected.     

Theory-based metrological traceability in education: A reading measurement network

Huge resources are invested in metrology and standards in the natural sciences, engineering, and across a wide range of commercial technologies. Significant positive returns of human, social, environmental, and economic value on these investments have been sustained for decades. Proven methods for calibrating test and survey instruments in linear units are readily available, as are data- and theory-based methods for equating those instruments to a shared unit. Using these methods, metrological traceability is obtained in a variety of commercially available elementary and secondary English and Spanish language reading education programs in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Australia. Given established historical patterns, widespread routine reproduction of predicted text-based and instructional effects expressed in a common language and shared frame of reference may lead to significant developments in theory and practice. Opportunities for systematic implementations of teacher-driven lean thinking and continuous quality improvement methods may be of particular interest and value.     

On the correct elimination of chain productions from lr parsers

A criterion is formally described which guarantees the correctness of a variety of chain-free LR parsers including the case of grammars containing ?-nonterminals. Using the criterion Pager's algorithm for the elimination of chain productions is shown to produce correct parsers for any compatible merging relation. Also, a mildly restricted version of a claim concerning chain-free SLR parsers made in [K&S 79] is proved correct.     

预湿上浆技术的研究与应用

结合自主研发的预湿浆纱机及多年来的实际应用经验,概述了预湿上浆的工艺机理,总结、分析了预湿上浆技术的应用状况,表明预湿上浆是有待推广应用的先进技术。     

Enabling the measurement of particle sizes in stirred colloidal suspensions by embedding dynamic light scattering into an automated probe head

A novel probe head design is introduced, which enables in-line monitoring of particle sizes in undiluted stirred fluids using dynamic light scattering. The novel probe head separates a small sample volume of 0.65 ml from the bulk liquid by means of an impeller. In this sample volume, particle sizing is performed using a commercially available fiber-optical backscatter probe. While conventional light scattering measurements in stirred media fail due to the superposition of Brownian’ motion and forced convection, undistorted measurements are possible with the proposed probe head. One measurement takes approximately 30 s used for liquid exchange by rotation of the impeller and for collection of scattered light. The probe head is applied for in-line monitoring of the particle growth during microgel synthesis by precipitation polymerization in a one liter laboratory reactor. The in-line measurements are compared to off-line measurements and show a good agreement.