Hybrid metaheuristics for scheduling of machines and transport robots in job shop environment

In real manufacturing environments, the control of some elements in systems based on robotic cells, such as transport robots has some difficulties when planning operations dynamically. The Job Shop scheduling Problem with Transportation times and Many Robots (JSPT-MR) is a generalization of the classical Job Shop scheduling Problem (JSP) where a set of jobs additionally have to be transported between machines by several transport robots. Hence, the JSPT-MR is more computationally difficult than the JSP presenting two NP-hard problems simultaneously: the job shop scheduling problem and the robot routing problem. This paper proposes a hybrid metaheuristic approach based on clustered holonic multiagent model for the JSPT-MR. Firstly, a scheduler agent applies a Neighborhood-based Genetic Algorithm (NGA) for a global exploration of the search space. Secondly, a set of cluster agents uses a tabu search technique to guide the research in promising regions. Computational results are presented using two sets of benchmark literature instances. New upper bounds are found, showing the effectiveness of the presented approach.     

The inverse design of the wind turbine blade sections by the singularities method

The aerodynamic characteristics of wind turbines are closely related to the geometry of their blades. The innovation and the technological development of wind turbine blades can be centred on two tendencies. The first is to improve the shape of existing blades; the second is to design new shapes of blades. The aspiration in the two cases is to achieve an optimal circulation and hence enhancing some more ambitious aerodynamic characteristics. This paper presents an inverse design procedure, which can be adapted to both thin and thick wind turbine blade sections aiming to optimise the geometry for a prescribed distribution of bound vortices. A method for simulating the initial contour of the blade section is exposed, which simultaneously satisfy the aerodynamic and geometrical constraints under nominal conditions. A detailed definition of the function characterising the bound vortex distribution is presented. The inviscid velocity field and potential function distributions are obtained by the singularities method. In the design method implemented, these distributions and the circulation of bound vortices on the camber line of the blade profile, are used to rectify its camber in an iterative calculation leading to the final and optimal form of the blade section once convergence is attained. The scheme proposed has been used to design the entire blade of the wind turbine for a given span-wise distribution of bound circulation around the blade contour.     

Effect of porosity and pressure on the PEM fuel cell performance

This paper presents a numerical modeling, provides an improved understanding of the fundamental transport phenomena inside the PEM fuel cell. The problem is stated in a steady-state, two-dimensional model and Cartesian coordinates system by using a single domain and a control volume method. The model consists of non-linear, coupled partial differential equations representing the conservation of mass, momentum, species, charges and energy with electrochemical reactions that are valid for gas diffusion electrodes, catalyst layers and membrane region. The modeling of bidirectional, non-isothermal and steady problem of PEMFC provides results concerning the species fraction, potential and temperature distribution in different domain.     

Ultrabroadband and Reconfigurable Transmissive Acoustic Metascreen

Passive acoustic wave manipulations are severely constrained by the narrow frequency bandwidth of acoustic metastructures. In this research, an unprecedented type of reconfigurable acoustic metascreen is proposed for broadband manipulations of transmitted acoustic waves. The conceived structure is composed of uniquely designed unit cells producing the modulation of the transmitted phase shift within the full 2π range with an excellent impedance matching with the background medium. By rationally arranging the reconfigurable elements within the metascreen based on the corresponding parameter profile, different phenomena and functionalities can be easily realized. As examples, acoustic focusing and acoustic bending are presented to showcase the performance of the proposed metascreen. We indeed numerically and experimentally demonstrate the ultra-broadband and reconfigurable features of our concept over an astonishing frequency range extending from 3 to 17 kHz, which covers the majority spectrum of the audible range of human hearing. Our work provides a unique and remarkable conceptual design of acoustic metascreen opening a promising and pragmatic route to conceive compact broadband acoustic devices, where wavefront manipulations on broadband sound signals or pulsed signals are required.     

A wind turbine blade profile analysis code based on the singularities method

The aerodynamic characteristics of wind turbines are closely related to the geometry of their blade profiles. The innovation and the technological development of wind turbine blade profiles can be centred on two tendencies. The first is to improve the shape of the existing airfoils and the second is to design new shapes of airfoils in order to get some more ambitious aerodynamic characteristics and enhanced performance.The aim of this paper is to develop an accurate airfoil analysis lower order code, based on the singularities method, for wind turbine applications. The 2D incompressible potential flow model has been used. In the implementation of the singularities method, source–vortex distributions over the airfoil contour are used to compute the flow characteristics. The accuracy and the validity of the results have been tested using experimental data obtained from Wind Turbine Airfoil Catalogue “Risø National Laboratory, Roskilde, Denmark, August 2001” and have shown considerable agreement.     

Nonlinear state feedback design for continuous polynomial systems

The objective of this paper is to simplify the complexity of practical implementation of the input-state feedback linearization technique for the control of input-affine systems. A polynomial approach which makes use of the Taylor series expansion and the Kronecker product is developed. Our work aims to address the problem of synthesizing a polynomial control via a nonlinear analytical coordinates transformation. To check the effectiveness of the investigated approach, we consider the control problem of a series DC motor. A comparative study with the input-state feedback linearization control is developed.     

Volume-based large dynamic graph analysis supported by evolution provenance

We present an approach for the visualization and interactive analysis of dynamic graphs that contain a large number of time steps. A specific focus is put on the support of analyzing temporal aspects in the data. Central to our approach is a static, volumetric representation of the dynamic graph based on the concept of space-time cubes that we create by stacking the adjacency matrices of all time steps. The use of GPU-accelerated volume rendering techniques allows us to render this representation interactively. We identified four classes of analytics methods as being important for the analysis of large and complex graph data, which we discuss in detail: data views, aggregation and filtering, comparison, and evolution provenance. Implementations of the respective methods are presented in an integrated application, enabling interactive exploration and analysis of large graphs. We demonstrate the applicability, usefulness, and scalability of our approach by presenting two examples for analyzing dynamic graphs. Furthermore, we let visualization experts evaluate our analytics approach.

     

Retention of trace metals by solidified/stabilized wastes: assessment of long-term metal release

Toxic elements found in wastes may have a negative impact on the environment, especially through the contamination of groundwater and plants. To reduce their mobility and availability, French regulations mandate the solidification and stabilization of toxic wastes. Many methods to stabilize and solidify wastes exist, among them the Ecofix process which employs low cost materials and consists of mixing wastes with lime, aluminum hydroxide, and silica. To evaluate the long-term behavior of solidified/stabilized (S/S) samples, their alteration under saturated conditions was studied in a water extractor, a Soxhlet-like device, used to follow the weathering of rocks. Kinetic measurements have shown that the release of Fe, Pb, Cd, Cr, and Cu was very slow, indicating a strong retention of these elements by the S/S materials prepared by the Ecofix process. To elucidate the mechanisms of retention of the trace metals, the mineral phases that existed in the S/S samples throughout and at the end of the extraction runs were studied by X-ray diffraction and by infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) examinations and electron microprobe analyses of the S/S samples were also performed at different stages of weathering. These observations revealed that assorted calcium silicate hydrates (C-S-H) were the predominant phases in the S/S preparations and that gradual alterations occurred in the structure of the investigated materials. The overall Ca/Si ratio of the C-S-H phases decreased as the enhanced alteration progressed. Although trace metals in oxide, hydroxide, and carbonate forms were found in the S/S materials, the bulk of the trace metals was incorporated in the matrix of the C-S-H phases.     

Three-dimensional modelling of manufacturing tolerancing using the ascendant approach

This paper proposes a three-dimensional approach towards manufacturing tolerancing that uses a strategy to strictly consider the definition of a datum system imposed by ISO standards. This approach, called three-dimensional manufacturing tolerancing (TMT), is based on the small displacement torsor, which describes the possible deviations between machined surfaces and nominal surfaces of the part model. Every requirement of the definition drawing is treated separately with its own calculation model. The iterative ascending analysis allows one to establish the influence of the most recent phase and determine the influential parameters from previous phases. The nominal part model is defined on the datum systems of the requirement, and deviations are expressed with respect to both the machining process and the chosen machine adjustment method. The result takes the form of a formula that yields the variation in characteristics specified in the requirement based on quantifiable parameters identified on the machine.