Design criterion for fatigue strengthening of riveted beams in a 120-year-old railway metallic bridge using pre-stressed CFRP plates

This study presents a design criterion developed for fatigue strengthening of a 120-year-old metallic railway bridge in Switzerland and presents a pre-stressed un-bonded reinforcement (PUR) system developed to apply the strengthening. The PUR system uses carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates; however, unlike conventional pre-stressed CFRP reinforcement methods, preparation of the existing metallic bridge surface is not required. This decreases the time required for on-site strengthening procedures. The principle of the constant life diagram (CLD) and two fatigue failure criteria (Johnson and Goodman) are described. Analytical formulations are developed based on the CLD method to determine the minimum CFRP pre-stress level required to prevent fatigue crack initiation. The PUR system uses an applied pre-stress force to reduce the mean stress level (and stress ratio) to shift an existing fatigue-susceptible metallic detail from the ‘at risk’ finite life regime to the ‘safe’ infinite life regime. The applied CLD method is particularly valuable when the stress history of the detail is not known and it is difficult to assess the remaining fatigue life. Moreover, it is shown that the currently adopted approach in many structural codes which emphasizes stress range as the dominant parameter influencing fatigue life are non-conservative for tension–tension stress patterns (i.e., stress ratios of 0 < R < 1). Analyses show that the modified Johnson formula accurately reflects the combined effect of stress range, mean stress level, and material properties, and offers a relatively easy design procedure. Details of a retrofit field application on members of a riveted wrought iron railway bridge are given. A wireless sensor network (WSN) system is used for long-term monitoring of the on-site CFRP stress levels and temperature of the retrofitted details. WSN measurements indicate that increases in ambient temperature result in increased CFRP pre-stress levels.     

High-resolution ISAR imaging of fast rotating targets based on pattern-coupled Bayesian strategy for multiple measurement vectors

Very high resolution inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging of fast rotating targets is a complicated task. There may be insufficient pulses or may introduce migration through range cells (MTRC) during the coherent processing interval (CPI) when we use the conventional range Doppler (RD) ISAR technique. With compressed sensing (CS) technique, we can achieve the high-resolution ISAR imaging of a target with limited number of pulses. Sparse representation based method can achieve the super resolution ISAR imaging of a target with a short CPI, during which the target rotates only a small angle and the range migration of the scatterers is small. However, traditional CS-based ISAR imaging method generally faced with the problem of basis mismatch, which may degrade the ISAR image. To achieve the high resolution ISAR imaging of fast rotating targets, this paper proposed a pattern-coupled sparse Bayesian learning method for multiple measurement vectors, i.e. the PC-MSBL algorithm. A multi-channel pattern-coupled hierarchical Gaussian prior is proposed to model the pattern dependencies among neighboring range cells and correct the MTRC problem. The expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm is used to infer the maximum a posterior (MAP) estimate of the hyperparameters. Simulation results validate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed algorithm.     

Nonlinear response in glass fibre non-crimp fabric reinforced vinylester composites

This paper addresses the nonlinear stress-strain response in glass fibre non-crimp fabric reinforced vinylester composite laminates subjected to in-plane tensile loading. The nonlinearity is shown to be a combination of brittle and plastic failure. It is argued that the shift from plastic to brittle behaviour in the vinylester is caused by the state of stress triaxiality caused by the interaction between fibre and vinylester. A model combining damage and plasticity is calibrated and evaluated using data from extensive experimental testing. The onset of damage is predicted using the Puck failure criterion, and the evolution of damage is calibrated from the observed softening in plies loaded in transverse tension. Shear loading beyond linear elastic response is observed to result in irreversible strains. A yield criterion is implemented for shear deformation. A strain hardening law is fitted to the stress-strain response observed in shear loaded plies. Experimental results from a selection of laminates with different layups are used to verify the numerical models. A complete set of model parameters for predicting elastic behaviour, strength and post failure softening is presented for glass fibre non-crimped fabric reinforced vinylester. The predicted behaviour from using these model parameters are shown to be in good agreement with experimental results.     

Remote Steering of Self‐Propelling Microcircuits by Modulated Electric Field

The principles and design of “active” self‐propelling particles that can convert energy, move directionally on their own, and perform a certain function is an emerging multidisciplinary research field, with high potential for future technologies. A simple and effective technique is presented for on‐demand steering of self‐propelling microdiodes that move electroosmotically on water surface, while supplied with energy by an external alternating (AC) field. It is demonstrated how one can control remotely the direction of diode locomotion by electronically modifying the applied AC signal. The swimming diodes change their direction of motion when a wave asymmetry (equivalent to a DC offset) is introduced into the signal. The data analysis shows that the ability to control and reverse the direction of motion is a result of the electrostatic torque between the asymmetrically polarized diodes and the ionic charges redistributed in the vessel. This novel principle of electrical signal‐coded steering of active functional devices, such as diodes and microcircuits, can find applications in motile sensors, MEMs, and microrobotics.     

Computational studies on the radiative and nonradiative processes of luminescent N-heteroleptic platinum(II) complexes

Three N-heteroleptic Pt(II) complexes, [Pt(C^C)(O^O)] [O^O = acetylacetonate, C^C = 1-phenyl-1,2,4-triazol-5-ylidene (1), C^C = 4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazol-5-ylidene (2), C^C = 2-phenylpyrazine (3)] have been investigated with density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). The radiative decay rate constants of complexes 1–3 have been discussed with the oscillator strength (f_n), the strength of spin–orbit coupling (SOC) interaction between the lowest energy triplet excited state (T₁) and singlet excited states (S_n), and the energy gaps between E(T₁) and E(S_n). To illustrate the nonradiative decay processes, the transition states between triplet metal-centered (³MC) and T₁ states have been optimized and were verified with the calculations of vibrational frequencies and intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC). In addition, the minimum energy crossing points (MECPs) between ³MC and ground states (S₀) were optimized. At last, the potential energy curves relevant to the nonradiative decay pathways are simulated. The results show that complex 3 has the biggest photoluminescence quantum yield because the complex 3 has the biggest radiative decay rate constant and the smallest nonradiative decay rate constant in complexes 1–3.     

Epos – an instrument for the assessment of the ethical position in software development

Digital technology becomes more powerful, intelligent, pervasive and ubiquitous. Ethical aspects of this development have not yet drawn the appropriate attention of researchers and engineers. This paper presents an instrument that aims at measuring the individual ethical position with regard to the design and development of computer software. The development of the Epos tool was based on two data collections. The data of the first survey (n₁ = 147 participants) were used to select items and to determine the factorial structure of the questionnaire. Results show that the Epos instrument reliably assesses peoples’ ethical opinion with respect to five central components: (1) regulation, (2) data privacy, (3) domain specific knowledge, (4) societal responsibility and (5) company responsibility. In the second survey, we determined the stability of the instruments factor structure by assessing a sample of n₂?=?196 participants. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the initial factor structure. Next steps and further implications are discussed regarding the final version of the questionnaire.     

毒品滥用流行病模型的稳定性分析

现有毒品滥用流行病模型假设吸毒者康复后对毒品拥有永久"免疫"力，而忽视了其再次成为毒品易感者的可能性。针对这一问题，通过考虑社区治疗和隔离治疗两种措施，分析了毒品滥用人群的演化过程，提出了基于暂时"免疫"力的毒品滥用流行病模型，并计算了模型的基本再生数，讨论了模型平衡点的存在性和稳定性。当基本再生数小于1时，模型存在一个局部渐进稳定的无毒平衡点；当基本再生数大于1时，模型存在唯一的地方病平衡点，并利用几何方法证明了地方病平衡点的全局稳定性；当基本再生数等于1时，如果满足一定条件，模型出现后向分支现象。数值模拟验证了上述所有结果。研究结果表明提高隔离治疗率、改善社区治疗效果和降低接触传染率可以有效抑制毒品滥用的流行。     

A gradient boosting decision tree approach for insider trading identification: An empirical model evaluation of China stock market

Insider trading is a kind of criminal behavior in stock market by using nonpublic information. In recent years, it has become the major illegal activity in China’s stock market. In this study, a combination approach of GBDT (Gradient Boosting Decision Tree) and DE (Differential Evolution) is proposed to identify insider trading activities by using data of relevant indicators. First, insider trading samples occurred from year 2007 to 2017 and corresponding non-insider trading samples are collected. Next, the proposed method is trained by the GBDT, and initial parameters of the GBDT are optimized by the DE. Finally, out-of-samples are classified by the trained GBDT–DE model and its performances are evaluated. The experiment results show that our proposed method performed the best for insider trading identification under time window length of ninety days, indicating the relevant indicators under 90-days time window length are relatively more useful. Additionally, under all three time window lengths, relative importance result shows that several indicators are consistently crucial for insider trading identification. Furthermore, the proposed approach significantly outperforms other benchmark methods, demonstrating that it could be applied as an intelligent system to improve identification accuracy and efficiency for insider trading regulation in China stock market.     

Efficient hydrogen production for industry and electricity storage via high-temperature electrolysis

The paper describes the development status of Sunfire's reversible solid oxide cell (RSOC) technology. Here, Sunfire is a pioneer in the field of high-temperature electrolysers (HTE) for renewable hydrogen production which can be operated as a fuel cell for power generation in a reverse mode. The maturity of the technology is improved stepwise so that first applications in the field of hydrogen production for industry and electricity storage can be tackled. Three application examples where larger scale prototype has been installed will be discussed: 1) A power-to-power electricity storage based on hydrogen, 2) a RSOC unit that is installed in an iron and steel works, and 3) a pressurized SOEC prototype which will be integrated with a methanation unit. Results show the potentials of the technology in connection with fluctuating renewable energy sources.     

M-estimator based Chinese Remainder Theorem with few remainders using a Kroenecker product based mapping vector

The Chinese Remainder Theorem (CRT) explains how to estimate an integer-valued number from the knowledge of the remainders obtained by dividing such unknown integer by co-prime integers. As an algebraic theorem, CRT is the basis for several techniques concerning data processing. For instance, considering a single-tone signal whose frequency value is above the sampling rate, the respective peak in the DFT informs the impinging frequency value modulo the sampling rate. CRT is nevertheless sensitive to errors in the remainders, and many efforts have been developed in order to improve its robustness. In this paper, we propose a technique to estimate real-valued numbers by means of CRT, employing for this goal a Kroenecker based M-Estimation (ME), specially suitable for CRT systems with low number of remainders. Since ME schemes are in general computationally expensive, we propose a mapping vector obtained via Kroenecker products which considerably reduces the computational complexity. Furthermore, our proposed technique enhances the probability of estimating an unknown number accurately even when the errors in the remainders surpass 1/4 of the greatest common divisor of all moduli. We also provide a version of the mapping vectors based on tensorial n-mode products, delivering in the end the same information of the original method. Our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art CRT methods not only in terms of percentage of successful estimations but also in terms of smaller average error.