Revisiting rock classification to estimate rock mass properties

This paper presents the results of ongoing research carried out by the author exploring methods to provide a more robust estimate of rock mass properties specifically for use in tunnel design. Data from various large-scale rock mass failures are introduced, including coal pillars. The damage-initiation,spalling-limit approach is compared to the coal pillar database. New comparisons of estimating the geological strength index(GSI) and relationships to estimate the Hoeke Brown failure criterion parameters, mb, s and a, are presented.     

Comparison of co-current and counter-current flow in a bifunctional reactor containing ammonia synthesis and 2-butanol dehydrogenation to MEK

In this study, a multi-tubular thermally coupled packed bed reactor in which simultaneous production of ammonia and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) takes place is simulated. The simulation results are presented in two co-current and counter-current flow modes. Based on this new configuration, the released heat from the ammonia synthesis reaction as an extremely exothermic reaction in the inner tube is employed to supply the required heat for the endothermic 2-butanol dehydrogenation reaction in the outer tube. On the other hand, MEK and hydrogen are produced by the dehydrogenation reaction of 2-butanol in the endothermic side, and the produced hydrogen is used to supply a part of the ammonia synthesis feed in the exothermic side. Thus, 30.72% and 31.88% of the required hydrogen for the ammonia synthesis are provided by the dehydrogenation reaction in the co-current and counter-current configurations, respectively. Also, according to the thermal coupling, the required cooler and furnace for the ammonia synthesis and 2-butanol dehydrogenation conventional plants are eliminated, respectively. As a result, operational costs, energy consumption and furnace emissions are considerably decreased. Finally, a sensitivity analysis and optimization are applied to study the effect of the main process parameters variation on the system performance and obtain the minimum hydrogen make-up flow rate, respectively.     

基于残差决策的自动飞行控制系统远程实时故障诊断

针对自动飞行控制系统结构复杂、关联部件众多,发生故障时诊断时间长,从而影响飞机运行效率的问题,提出一种基于飞机通信寻址报告系统(ACARS)的远程实时故障诊断方案。首先,分析自动飞行控制系统的故障特点,设计搭建检测滤波器;然后,利用ACARS数据链实时发送的自动飞行控制系统的关键信息进行相关部件的残差计算,并根据残差决策算法进行故障诊断及定位;最后,针对不同故障部件残差间的差异大、决策门限无法统一的缺点,提出基于二次差值的残差决策改进算法,减缓了检测对象的整体变化趋势,降低了随机噪声和干扰的影响,避免了将瞬态故障诊断为系统故障的情况。实验仿真结果表明,基于二次差值的改进残差决策算法避免了多决策门限的复杂性,在采样时间为0.1 s的情况下,故障检测所需时间大约为2 s,故障检测时间大幅降低,有效故障检测率大于90%。     

Analysis of adhesively bonded CFRE composite scarf joints modified with MWCNTs

The main objective of the present work is to improve the performance of bonded joints in carbon fiber composite structures through introducing Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) into Epocast 50-A1/946 epoxy, which was primarily developed for joining and repairing of composite aircraft structures. Results from tension characterizations of structural adhesive joints (SAJs) with different scarf angles (5–45°) showed improvement up to 40% compared to neat epoxy (NE)–SAJs. Special attention was considered to investigate the performance of SAJs with 5° scarf angle under different environments. The tensile strength and stiffness of both NE-SAJs and MWCNT/E-SAJs were dramatically decreased at elevated temperature. Water absorption showed a marginal drop of about 2.0% in the tensile strength of the moist SAJs compared to the dry one. Cracks initiation and propagation were detected effectively using instrumented-SAJs with eight strain gauges. The experimental results agree well with the predicted using three-dimensional finite element analysis model.     

Stochastic free vibration analyses of composite shallow doubly curved shells – A Kriging model approach

This paper presents the Kriging model approach for stochastic free vibration analysis of composite shallow doubly curved shells. The finite element formulation is carried out considering rotary inertia and transverse shear deformation based on Mindlin’s theory. The stochastic natural frequencies are expressed in terms of Kriging surrogate models. The influence of random variation of different input parameters on the output natural frequencies is addressed. The sampling size and computational cost is reduced by employing the present method compared to direct Monte Carlo simulation. The convergence studies and error analysis are carried out to ensure the accuracy of present approach. The stochastic mode shapes and frequency response function are also depicted for a typical laminate configuration. Statistical analysis is presented to illustrate the results using Kriging model and its performance.     

Multi-discharge EDM coring of single crystal SiC ingot by electrostatic induction feeding method

A new technique of EDM coring of single crystal silicon carbide (SiC) ingot was proposed in this paper. Currently single crystal SiC devices are still of high cost due to the high cost of bulk crystal SiC material and the difficulty in the fabrication process of SiC. In the manufacturing process of SiC ingot/wafer, localized cracks or defects occasionally occur due to thermal or mechanical causes resulted from fabrication processes which may waste the whole piece of material. To save the part of ingot without defects and maximize the material utilization, the authors proposed EDM coring method to cut out a no defect ingot from a larger diameter ingot which has localized defects. A special experimental setup was developed for EDM coring of SiC ingot in this study and its feasibility and machining performance were investigated. Meanwhile, in order to improve the machining rate, a novel multi-discharge EDM coring method by electrostatic induction feeding was established, which can realize multiple discharges in single pulse duration. Experimental results make it clear that EDM coring of SiC ingot can be carried out stably using the developed experimental setup. Taking advantage of the newly developed multi-discharge EDM method, both the machining speed and surface integrity can be improved.     

Generic mathematical programming formulation and solution for computer-aided molecular design

This short communication presents a generic mathematical programming formulation for computer-aided molecular design (CAMD). A given CAMD problem, based on target properties, is formulated as a mixed integer linear/non-linear program (MILP/MINLP). The mathematical programming model presented here, which is formulated as an MILP/MINLP problem, considers first-order and second-order molecular groups for molecular structure representation and property estimation. It is shown that various CAMD problems can be formulated and solved through this model.     

Microwave assisted-in situ synthesis of porous titanium/calcium phosphate composites and their in vitro apatite-forming capability

Microwave irradiation has been proven to be an effective heating source in synthetic chemistry, and can accelerate the reaction rate, provide more uniform heating and help in developing better synthetic routes for the fabrication of bone-grafting implant materials. In this study, a new technique, which comprises microwave heating and powder metallurgy for in situ synthesis of Ti/CaP composites by using Ti powders, calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) powders and dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (CaHPO₄·2H₂O) powders, has been developed. Three different compositions of Ti:CaCO₃:CaHPO₄·2H₂O powdered mixture were employed to investigate the effect of the starting atomic ratio of the CaCO₃ to CaHPO₄·2H₂O on the phase, microstructural formation and compressive properties of the microwave synthesized composites. When the starting atomic ratio reaches 1.67, composites containing mainly alpha-titanium (α-Ti), hydroxyapatite (HA), beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) and calcium titanate (CaTiO₃) with porosity of 26%, pore size up to 152 μm, compressive strength of 212 MPa and compressive modulus of 12 GPa were formed. The in vitro apatite-forming capability of the composite was evaluated by immersing the composite into a simulated body fluid (SBF) for up to 14 days. The results showed that biodissolution occurred, followed by apatite precipitation after immersion in the SBF, suggesting that the composites are suitable for bone implant applications as apatite is an essential intermediate layer for bone cells attachment. The quantity and size of the apatite globules increased over the immersion time. After 14 days of immersion, the composite surface was fully covered by an apatite layer with a Ca/P atomic ratio approximately of 1.68, which is similar to the bone-like apatite appearing in human hard tissue. The results suggested that the microwave assisted-in situ synthesis technique can be used as an alternative to traditional powder metallurgy for the fabrication of Ti/CaP biocomposites.     

A new numerical algorithm to check the observability and bad-data processing ability of the metering scheme

This paper provides a unified approach for the optimization of measurements placements employed for power system online monitoring through state estimation. The proposed methodology, which can be suitable for the mixed measure system, preserves state estimation observability and bad-data processing capability by employing numerical algorithms for observability checking, critical measurements and critical couple identification. First, node injection radix measurements and measurement categories are defined. According to the above definitions, the coefficient matrix can be solved. The analysis on the column vectors of the coefficient matrix can determine each measurement classification. Furthermore, the numbers of each measurement class contains can determine bad-data processing capability. The observability can be checked by the type number of measurements. The proposed method is illustrated with the IEEE39-bus system and the IEEE118-bus system. Results from the case studies are presented to demonstrate that the approach adequately fulfills the desired properties related to observability, bad-data processing, cost, and robustness.     

基于三维胞元空间的MA双向并行路由算法

针对传统移动代理(MA)在监测无线传感器网络(WSNs)的感兴趣信息时产生的延迟较大和能耗较多问题,提出了基于三维胞元空间的MA双向并行(3D-BPMA)路由算法.3D-BPMA将MA与传统的客户/服务器(c/S)模式相结合,在胞元内利用C/S模式搜集信息,在单层胞元系统和路由器与路由器之间采用MA双向并行的策略进行传输.仿真结果表明:3D-BPMA与LCF,DSG-MIP算法相比减少了平均响应时间和网络平均能耗,提高了MA发送率.