Influence of SiC microstructure on its corrosion behavior in molten FLiNaK salt

The influence of the microstructure on the corrosion rate of three monolithic SiC samples in FLiNaK salt at 900 °C for 250 h was studied. The SiC samples, labeled as SiC-1, SiC-2, and SiC-3, had corrosion rates of 0.137, 0.020, and 0.043 mg/cm²h, respectively. Compared with grain size and the presence of special grain boundaries (i.e., Σ3), the content of high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) appeared to have the strongest influence on the corrosion rate of SiC in FLiNaK salt, since the corrosion rate increased six times as the concentration of high-angle grain boundaries increased from 19 to 32% for SiC-2 and SiC-1, respectively. These results stress the importance of controlling the content of HAGBs during the production process of SiC.     

A novel fast distance relay for series compensated transmission lines

This paper presents a fast distance relay for series compensated transmission lines based on the R–L differential-equation algorithm using the theory of equal transfer process of transmission lines. The measuring distances based on the proposed algorithm can fast approach the actual value of fault distance when a fault occurs in front of the series capacitor. When a fault occurs behind of the series capacitor, the fault loop, including the series capacitor, does not match the R–L transmission line model, so the measuring distances fluctuate severely. Based on this, the relative position of the fault with respect to the series capacitor can be judged effectively according to the fluctuation range of the measuring distances, and the accurate fault location can be obtained fast. A variety of PSCAD/EMTDC simulation tests show that the new relay has fast operating speed and high accuracy when applied to the long series compensated transmission lines.     

Adaptive robust boundary control of shaft vibrations under perturbations with unknown upper bounds

This paper presents robust and adaptive boundary control designs to stabilize the two‐dimensional vibration of hybrid shaft model. The hybrid shaft is mathematically represented by a set of partial differential equations, governing the shaft vibrations, coupled to ordinary differential equations, describing rigid body spinning and dynamic boundary conditions. The control objective is to stabilize the transverse vibrations of the perturbed shaft while regulating the spinning rate. To achieve this, the paper first establishes robust boundary control laws that fulfil the control objective in the presence of modeling uncertainties and external disturbances operating over the shaft domain and boundary. Lyapunov‐based analyses show that the proposed robust control exponentially stabilizes the shaft with vanishing distributive perturbations, while assuring ultimately bounded vibrations in the case of nonvanishing perturbations. Then, adaptive control philosophy is utilized to achieve redesigned robust controllers that only use online adaptation of control gains without acquiring the knowledge of bounds on perturbations, as well as dynamic parameters. An advantage of this design is avoiding an overconservative robust control law, which may induce poor stability and chattering in tackling system perturbations with unknown upper bounds. Simulations through finite element method illustrate the results. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Teaching and Learning Electrochemistry

Numerous conceptual difficulties and misconceptions have been reported in the science and chemistry education literature about electrochemistry concepts such as electrolytes, redox equations, and about electrochemical (galvanic and electrolytic) cells. Other studies have considered teaching approaches aimed at improving learning and at overcoming misconceptions. This paper reviews these studies and considers strategies and approaches for the effective teaching of electrochemistry. Then, the review focuses on problem solving in equilibrium electrochemistry, especially problems involving the Nernst equation. The main findings of four studies with Greek university chemistry students, dealing with: (i) algorithmic problem‐solving ability; (ii) practice on problem solving; (iii) the effect of the format of a problem; and (iv) the construction and evaluation of a website devoted to electrochemistry problem solving, are reported.     

A novel quasi-oppositional harmony search algorithm and fuzzy logic controller for frequency stabilization of an isolated hybrid power system

The intermittent wind power in isolated hybrid distributed generation (IHDG) may cause serious problems associated with frequency (f) and power (P) fluctuation. Energy storage devices such as battery, super capacitor, and superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) may be used to reduce these fluctuations associated with f and P. This paper presents a study of IHDG power system for improving both f and P deviation profiles with the help of SMES. The studied IHDG power system is consisted of wind turbine generator and diesel engine generator. Both f and P control problems of the studied power system model are addressed in presence or absence of SMES. Fuzzy logic based proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller with SMES is used for the purpose of minimization of f and P deviations. The different tunable parameters of the PID controller and those of the SMES are tuned by a novel quasi-oppositional harmony search algorithm. Performance study of the IHDG power system model is carried out under different perturbation conditions. The results demonstrate minimum f and P deviations may be achieved by using the proposed fuzzy logic based PID controller along with SMES.     

Rate equation theory for the hydrogenation kinetics of Mg-based materials

A uniform solid product layer normally assumed in the shrinking-core model cannot predict the kinetic transition behavior of the H₂ adsorption reactions. In this study, the concept of a uniform solid product layer has been replaced by that of the inward growth of solid products on the solid surface. A rate equation is established to calculate the inward growth of the solid product and was implemented into the shrinking-core model to calculate the H₂ adsorption kinetics for various shapes of Mg-based materials. The prediction accuracy of the developed model is verified from the detailed experimental data. To account for the external gas diffusion around the particle and the intraparticle gas diffusion, an analytical equation is derived using the Thiele modulus method. This model can be used to analyze various kinetic aspects and to analyze the effect of change in the particle microstructure on intraparticle diffusion.     

Engineering grain boundary anisotropy to elucidate grain growth behavior in alumina

Current grain growth models have evolved to account for the relationship between grain boundary energy/mobility anisotropy and the five degrees of grain boundary character. However, the role of grain boundary networks on overall growth kinetics remains poorly understood. To experimentally investigate this problem, a highly textured Al₂O₃ was fabricated by colloidal casting in a strong magnetic field to engineer a unique spatial distribution of grain boundary character. Microstructural evolution was quantified and compared to an untextured sample. From this comparison, a prevalence of (0001)/(0001) terminated grain boundaries with anisotropic networks were identified in the textured sample. These boundaries and their networks were found to be driving grain growth at a faster rate than predicted by models. These findings will allow better modelling of grain growth in real systems by experimentally exploring the impact thereon of grain boundary plane anisotropy and relative energy/mobility differences between neighboring boundaries.     

On global Hessenberg based methods for solving Sylvester matrix equations

In the first part of this paper, we investigate the use of Hessenberg-based methods for solving the Sylvester matrix equation $AX+XB=C$. To achieve this goal, the Sylvester form of the global generalized Hessenberg process is presented. Using this process, different methods based on a Petrov–Galerkin or on a minimal norm condition are derived. In the second part, we focus on the SGl-CMRH method which is based on the Sylvester form of the Hessenberg process with pivoting strategy combined with a minimal norm condition. In order to accelerate the SGl-CMRH method, a preconditioned framework of this method is also considered. It includes both fixed and flexible variants of the SGl-CMRH method. Moreover, the connection between the flexible preconditioned SGl-CMRH method and the fixed one is studied and some upper bounds for the residual norm are obtained. In particular, application of the obtained theoretical results is investigated for the special case of solving linear systems of equations with several right-hand sides. Finally, some numerical experiments are given in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.     

Thermal imaging of time-varying longitudinal defects in the internal coating of a tube

We deal with the mathematical model of the incremental degradation of the internal coating (e.g. a polymeric material) of a metallic pipe in which a fluid flows relatively fast. The fluid drags solid impurities so that longitudinal scratches, inaccessible to any direct inspection procedure, are produced on the coating. Time evolution of this kind of defects can be reconstructed from the knowledge of a sequence of temperature maps of the external surface. The time-varying orthogonal section of this damaged interface is determined as a function of time and polar angle through the identification of a suitable effective heat transfer coefficient by means of Thin Plate Approximation.