A new design strategy for DC/DC LLC resonant converter: Concept,modeling, and fabrication

In this paper, a new design procedure for LLC converter has been introduced. In fact, this method is a computer-based design algorithm based on a numerical technique. In the process of designing, the value of the resonant element is obtained by solving the LLC converter fundamental equation. This converter will be controlled by using state feedback, such as output voltage variable. As a matter of fact, in a control system, the change of output voltage (because of load variation) will affect the switching frequency, so the output voltage will be tuned. In the designing process, the fundamental equations of LLC converter are obtained, and the value of the resonant elements is calculated. Also, a comparison analysis is carried out between the proposed and typical methods. The simulation is done to investigate the validity of the proposed method. Moreover, a prototype is manufactured, and the experimental test is done to evaluate its applicability.     

Low-cost and two-cycle hardware structures of PRINCE lightweight block cipher

In this paper, low-cost and two-cycle hardware structures of the PRINCE lightweight block cipher are presented. In the first structure, we proposed an area-constrained structure, and in the second structure, a high-speed implementation of the PRINCE cipher is presented. The substitution box (S-box) and the inverse of S-box (S-box⁻¹) blocks are the most complex blocks in the PRINCE cipher. These blocks are designed by an efficient structure with low critical path delay. In the low-cost structure, the S-boxes and S-boxes⁻¹ are shared between the round computations and the intermediate step of PRINCE cipher. Therefore, the proposed architecture is implemented based on the lowest number of computation resources. The two-cycle implementation of PRINCE cipher is designed by a processing element (PE), which is a general and reconfigurable element. This structure has a regular form with the minimum number of the control signal. Implementation results of the proposed structures in 180-nm CMOS technology and Virtex-4 and Virtex-6 FPGA families are achieved. The proposed structures, based on the results, have better critical path delay and throughput compared with other's related works.     

New approach to unsupported ReS2 nanorod catalyst for upgrading of heavy crude oil using methane as hydrogen source

Highly active ReS₂ nanocatalysts were prepared by CVD method and characterized by XRD, BET -BJH, Raman spectroscopy, XPS, TPR, NH₃-TPD, SEM, and HRTEM techniques. Catalytic activities were used in upgrading heavy crude oil using methane as hydrogen source. The results showed a significant increase in API and decrease in sulfur and nitrogen content of crude oil. RSM technique was used to investigate the interactive effects of temperature (200–400 °C), pressure (20–40 bar) and dosage of nanocatalyst (0.5–2 wt. %) on the performance of HDS reaction. The results represent that the maximum predicted HDS activity (74.375%) was estimated under the optimal conditions (400 °C, 20 bars, and 2 wt % of nanocatalyst). Also, the effect of reaction temperature, pressure and dosage of ReS₂ nanorods catalyst on HDN of heavy crude oil was investigated and highest efficiency in the HDN process (93%) occurred at 400 °C and 40 bar using 2 wt % ReS₂.     

A differential transformer-based force sensor utilizing a magnetic fluid core

Microsystem Technologies - A force sensor utilizing a transformer concept with a ferrofluid core was developed. A ferrofluid reservoir was machined out of Teflon and the open top of the reservoir...     

Intelligent control of static synchronous series compensator via an adaptive self-tuning PID controller for suppression of torsional oscillations

In this paper, an intelligent controller is proposed to control a static synchronous series compensator (SSSC) in order to mitigate subsynchronous resonance (SSR) oscillations in a power system. This intelligent controller is an adaptive self-tuning PID controller. To train the PID controller, the gradient descent method is employed where the learning rate is adapted in every iteration in order to accelerate the speed of convergence. This control scheme also requires a wavelet neural network (WNN) to identify the controlled system dynamic. To update the parameters of WNN, the gradient descent (GD) along with the adaptive learning rates derived by the Lyapunov method is used. The computer simulations are used to show the ability of the proposed controller. In addition, the performance of the proposed controller is compared with another self-tuning PID controller. The results demonstrate that the proposed controller has a successful performance in minimizing the SSR.     

Transforming Vulnerability Indexing for Saltwater Intrusion into Risk Indexing through a Fuzzy Catastrophe Scheme

Mapping vulnerability to Saltwater Intrusion (SWI) in coastal aquifers is studied in this paper using the GALDIT framework but with a novelty of transforming the concept of vulnerability indexing to risk indexing. GALDIT is the acronym of 6 data layers, which are put consensually together to invoke a sense of vulnerability to the intrusion of saltwater against aquifers with freshwater. It is a scoring system of prescribed rates to account for local variations; and prescribed weights to account for relative importance of each data layer but these suffer from subjectivity. Another novelty of the paper is to use fuzzy logic to learn rate values and catastrophe theory to learn weight values and these together are implemented as a scheme and hence Fuzzy-Catastrophe Scheme (FCS). The GALDIT data layers are divided into two groups of Passive Vulnerability Indices (PVI) and Active Vulnerability Indices (AVI), where their sum is Total Vulnerability Index (TVI) and equivalent to GALDIT. Two additional data layers (Pumping and Water table decline) are also introduced to serve as Risk Actuation Index (RAI). The product of TVI and RAI yields Risk Indices. The paper applies these new concepts to a study area, subject to groundwater decline and a possible saltwater intrusion problem. The results provide a proof-of-concept for PVI, AVI, RAI and RI by studying their correlation with groundwater quality samples using the fraction of saltwater (f_sea), Groundwater Quality Indices (GQI) and Piper diagram. Significant correlations between the appropriate values are found and these provide a new insight for the study area.

     

Effects of turbulence and lubricant inertia on dynamics of journal bearings lubricated with molten zinc in a galvanizing process

In a galvanizing process a continuous sheet of steel is passed through a bath of molten zinc around a series of rotating rollers. One or more of these rollers are submerged in the bath of molten zinc and are supported by journal bearings that are lubricated with molten zinc. Dynamic characteristics of these bearings influence the quality of the finished galvanized sheet and also determine the production speed. This work presents a theoretical study of these bearings in terms of the damping, stiffness, and inertia coefficients of the film of molten zinc separating the journal from the bearings. This work also addresses the influence of turbulence on the bearing dynamics. The damping, stiffness, and inertia coefficients of journal bearings lubricated with molten zinc are determined for different zinc alloys at 450,650, and 850 °F.     

Design and simulation of autonomous military vehicle control system based on machine vision and ensemble movement approach

The Journal of Supercomputing - On the battlefield, early detection of armored vehicles can have a positive effect. Because according to this issue, timely and appropriate reactions can be done....