Fault isolation in manufacturing systems based on learning algorithm and fuzzy rule selection

Neural Computing and Applications - This paper addresses the fault detection and isolation problem in manufacturing systems. Some of these systems can be affected by several faults, a first way of...     

New separation method of metal/plastic micronized particles using travelling wave conveyors

The paper reports an experimental investigation for studying the movement dynamics and the separation of micronized particles on a poly-phase travelling wave conveyor (TWC). A digital balance and a sensitive electrometer controlled by Labview software were used to analyse the velocity and the material flow rate on a three-phase conveyor with respect to the variation of both the amplitude and the frequency of the applied voltage. It was found that about 80% of the particles mass move together in one single wave and that the electric charge gained by the particles increases with the intensity of the electric field. Moreover, preliminary experiments showed that it is possible to separate a granular mixture of plastic and copper micronized particles using a TWC. Successful experiments were carried out on micronized samples of both electric cable and electronic card wastes. High purity metal was recovered.     

Crosslinking of Sericin on air atmospheric plasma treated polyester fabric

Durable and highly hydrophilic polyester fabric was produced by cross-linking Sericin on air-atmospheric plasma treated polyester fabric. Surface change properties were characterized by wettability measurements (water contact angle-WCA and % capillarity), Atomic Force Microscopy and zeta potential measurements. Chemical analyses using TBO dye were carried out to estimate surface functional groups after plasma treatment and Sericin cross-linking. Positive zeta potential values at low pH values, as well as AFM images confirm grafting of Sericin. With Sericin cross-linked onto both cleaned PET and plasma-treated PET, WCA reached that of PET subjected to plasma treatment alone, that is WCA between 40° and 46° compared to 81° for the hydrophobic untreated polyester fabric. However, plasma-treated polyester is readily subjected to aging, while cross-linked Sericin on plasma-treated PET yields a more durable hydrophilic finish with a high capillarity, 85% compared to 39% for Sericin on the untreated PET, and 3% for the untreated PET fabric. Plasma treatment creates chain-scissions at the polymer surface leading to the appearance of polar groups which promote the cross-linking of greater amount of Sericin.     

Relationship between small dam efficiency and gully erodibility of the lithologic formations covering their watershed

Soil conservation strategy in the semi-arid areas of central Tunisia has focused on the construction of numerous hill reservoirs. However, limited rainfall combined with severe soil erosion is jeopardizing the usefulness of hill reservoirs such that there is an urgent need to undertake further studies into the location and efficiency of small dams. The paper reports investigations into the relationship between location of the dam and the underlying lithology of the catchment areas with the dam efficiency. A gully erodibility factor has been proposed for nine groups of lithological formations identified and a watershed lithologic number was computed as the product of seven watersheds for which 1:50,000 scale lithological maps were available. A significant linear relationship was determined between the watershed lithologic number and the efficiency of the small dams, indicating that an accurate lithological survey prior to small dam planning can be used to indicate the dam's likely efficiency and to plan any necessary soil and water conservation works in the catchment areas.     

Metamodels in Europe: Languages, Tools, and Applications

Editor's note:This article provides an overview of current efforts in Europe for using metamodeling in the integrated development of critical systems such as automotive electronics. It distinguishes between lightweight versus heavyweight approaches, surveys a number of related current European projects, and gives details about the Speeds project to illustrate the role of metamodeling-driven system engineering.—Sandeep Shukla, Virginia Tech     

Non-hydrolytic sol–gel route to a family of hybrid mesoporous aluminosilicate ethanol dehydration catalysts

Journal of Materials Science - Hybrid materials are intensely studied for potential applications in heterogeneous catalysis. Organic groups at the catalyst surface can modify not only its...     

Investigation of structure and conductivity properties of polyaniline synthesized by solid–solid reaction

Conductive polyaniline has been prepared by solid–solid reaction using ammonium peroxydisulfate as an oxidant. The obtained polymer was examined by X-ray diffraction, UV visible, FTIR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and impedance spectroscopy. The effect of oxidant/monomer molar ratio (R) on the structure and electrical properties of polymer has been examined. The analyses of X-ray diffraction patterns demonstrated that polyaniline prepared by this method is more crystalline than that obtained by conventional solution method. The FTIR spectroscopy showed that the emeraldine salt has been formed. The electrical properties were measured at different temperatures in the range of 296–523 K. The ac conduction shows a regime of constant dc conductivity at low frequencies and a crossover to a frequency-dependent regime of the type A ω^S at high frequencies.