Inter-MAC Green Path Selection for Heterogeneous Networks

Gigabit home networks represent a key technology to make the Future Internet success a reality. Consumers will require networks to be simple to install, without the need of any new wire and with green consideration. To make this network ubiquitous, seamless and robust, a technology independent MAC layer will ensure its global control and provide connectivities to any number of devices the user wishes to connect to it in any room. In order to make this vision comes true, substantial progress is required in the fields of protocol design and in systems architectures. For this goal, we introduce a new convergence layer denoted inter-MAC, which provides a common infrastructure to the home network, Among the inter-MAC functionalities, we focused the interest on the path selection mechanism including the green aspect. To improve quality of service, reduce energy consumption and radiofrequency devices number, we define a new path selection protocol based on several metrics. We present some preliminary results obtained on an experimental test bed.     

Adaptive fuzzy controller for non-affine systems with zero dynamics

In this article, the direct adaptive fuzzy control problem is investigated for a class of general non-linear systems with zero dynamics. The direct adaptive fuzzy controller is developed based on a unified observer which is used to estimate the time derivatives of the output. The corrective term of the proposed observer involves a well-defined design function which is shown to be satisfied by the commonly used high-gain-based observers, namely for the usual high-gain observers and the sliding-mode observers together with their implementable versions. By using a general error function, and without resorting to the famous strictly positive real condition or the filtering of the observation error, a general proportional–integral (PI) law for updating the fuzzy parameters is proposed. Ultimately boundedness of the error signals is shown through Lyapunov's direct method. Theoretical results are illustrated through two simulation examples.     

The thermal effect on vibration of zigzag single walled carbon nanotubes using nonlocal Timoshenko beam theory

Based on nonlocal theory of thermal elasticity mechanics, a nonlocal elastic Timoshenko beam model is developed for free vibration analysis of zigzag single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) considering thermal effect. The nonlocal constitutive equations of Eringen are used in the formulations. The equivalent Young’s modulus and shear modulus for zigzag SWCNT are derived using an energy-equivalent model. Results indicate significant dependence of natural frequencies on the temperature change as well as the chirality of zigzag carbon nanotube. These findings are important in mechanical design considerations of devices that use carbon nanotubes.     

Nature of disorder in synthetic hectorite

The disorder of synthetic Na-hectorite was investigated using structural simulation of X-ray powder patterns.The method used to characterize this clay mineral was based on the comparison between experimental and calculated X-ray diffraction profiles. The study was achieved in two steps: (i) the quantitative interpretation of 00l reflections enabled the determination of the number of intercalated water molecules, their positions and the stacking mode of the clay mineral layers along the normal to the (a, b) plane; and (ii) the study of the hkl reflections with h and/or k ≠ 0 enabled the characterization of the structural evolution in the (a, b) plane of synthetic hectorite. Many models of disorder with random shifts of ± a/3, a/3 + b/3, 80% of a/3 + b/3 and 20% of a/3 with a total density of defects of 80%, gave the best fit to the observed data at the level of (02, 11), (20, 13), (04, 22), (15, 24, 31) and (06, 33) bands with 5° of tetrahedral cavity distortion (the rotation angle of the tetrahedra).     

State and output feedback fuzzy variable structure controllers for multivariable nonlinear systems subject to input nonlinearities

This paper presents three fuzzy adaptive controllers for a class of uncertain multivariable nonlinear systems with both sector nonlinearities and dead zones: two first controllers are state feedbacks and the last controller is an output feedback. The design of the first controller concerns systems with symmetric and positive definite control–gain matrix, while the second control design is extended to the case of nonsymmetric control–gain matrix thanks to an appropriate decomposition, namely the product of a symmetric positive definite matrix, a diagonal matrix with diagonal entries +1 or ?1, and a unity upper triangular matrix. The third controller is an output feedback extension of the second controller. In this controller, a high-gain observer is incorporated to estimate the unmeasurable states. An appropriate adaptive fuzzy logic system is used to reasonably approximate the uncertain functions. A Lyapunov approach is adopted to derive the parameter adaptation laws and prove the stability of those control systems as well as the exponential convergence of their underlying tracking errors within an adjustable region. The effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy adaptive controllers is illustrated through simulation results.     

Finite element prediction of blanking tool cost caused by wear

The total cost of a blanked part is determined by a large number of factors, including the material cost, manufacturing costs. Predicting the manufacturing costs of a blanked part requires accurate estimation of tool cost caused by wear. The aim of this paper is to develop a finite element model allowing for the numerical prediction of the blanking tool life which allows for the evaluation of the cost rate of blanking tool caused by wear needed to assess the total cost of a blanked part. A wear prediction model has been implemented in the finite element code Abaqus in which the tool wear is a function of the normal pressure and some material parameters. In the present work, the tool is modeled as rigid body hypothesis, and the wear variables are computed in the contacting elements. The altered tool contact surface and contact pressure tool shapes are updated iteratively to simulate wear over a long period of time of about 100,000 cycles. A damage model is used in order to describe crack initiation and propagation into the sheet. The distribution of the tool wear on the tool profile is obtained and compared to industrial observations.