Structural health monitoring system based on multi-agent coordination and fusion for large structure

In practical applications of structural health monitoring technology, a large number of distributed sensors are usually adopted to monitor the big dimension structures and different kinds of damage. The monitored structures are usually divided into different sub-structures and monitored by different sensor sets. Under this situation, how to manage the distributed sensor set and fuse different methods to obtain a fast and accurate evaluation result is an important problem to be addressed deeply. In the paper, a multi-agent fusion and coordination system is presented to deal with the damage identification for the strain distribution and joint failure in the large structure. Firstly, the monitoring system is adopted to distributedly monitor two kinds of damages, and it self-judges whether the static load happens in the monitored sub-region, and focuses on the static load on the sub-region boundary to obtain the sensor network information with blackboard model. Then, the improved contract net protocol is used to dynamically distribute the damage evaluation module for monitoring two kinds of damage uninterruptedly. Lastly, a reliable assessment for the whole structure is given by combing various heterogeneous classifiers strengths with voting-based fusion. The proposed multi-agent system is illustrated through a large aerospace aluminum plate structure experiment. The result shows that the method can significantly improve the monitoring performance for the large-scale structure.     

Profiling drunk driving recidivists in Denmark

Drunk drivers are a menace to themselves and to other road users, as drunk driving significantly increases the risk of involvement in road accidents and the probability of severe or fatal injuries. Although injuries and fatalities related to road accidents have decreased in recent decades, the prevalence of drunk driving among drivers killed in road accidents has remained stable, at around 25% or more during the past 10 years. Understanding drunk driving, and in particular, recidivism, is essential for designing effective countermeasures, and accordingly, the present study aims at identifying the differences between non-drunk drivers, drunk driving non-recidivists and drunk driving recidivists with respect to their demographic and socio-economic characteristics, road accident involvement and other traffic and non-traffic-related law violations. This study is based on register-data from Statistics Denmark and includes information from 2008 to 2012 for the entire population, aged 18 or older, of Denmark. The results from univariate and multivariate statistical analyses reveal a five year prevalence of 17% for drunk driving recidivism, and a significant relation between recidivism and the drunk drivers’ gender, age, income, education, receipt of an early retirement pension, household type, and residential area. Moreover, recidivists are found to have a higher involvement in alcohol-related road accidents, as well as other traffic and, in particular, non-traffic-related offences. These findings indicate that drunk driving recidivism is more likely to occur among persons who are in situations of socio-economic disadvantage and marginalisation. Thus, to increase their effectiveness, preventive measures aiming to reduce drunk driving should also address issues related to the general life situations of the drunk driving recidivists that contribute to an increased risk of drunk driving recidivism.     

Modelling of black carbon statistical distribution and return periods of extreme concentrations

Eight datasets of 1-h black carbon (BC) concentrations measured in Warsaw agglomeration (Poland), at urban background and sub-urban sites, and in Racibórz, a small town in Upper Silesia district (regional background site) were analyzed to evaluate BC levels, daily profiles and statistical distributions of concentrations in Central-Eastern European region. The observed mean levels ranged from 1483 ng m⁻³ in suburban site during summer to 3358 ng m⁻³ in regional background site in winter. Observed diurnal patterns were bimodal in the locations dominated by traffic emissions, but unimodal, with elevated evening peak in individually heated residential area. Three theoretical frequency distributions were applied to fit analyzed datasets separately. The lognormal distribution was the most appropriate to represent the middle-range values, while the high concentrations were satisfactorily predicted by the type I two-parameter exponential distribution which was used to estimate the return periods of extreme concentrations for winter months.     

一种实用的多数据库量子信息检索协议

针对目前量子私有信息检索不能适用与云存储的多数据库问题,基于现在成熟的量子密钥分发方法,提出了一种适合在多数据库环境下,实用的量子私有信息检索协议。对于不同大小的数据库,协议可通过调节参数θ和k,在保证数据库安全及用户隐私的情况下,完成信息的检索。性能分析结果表明,协议的通信复杂度低,检索成功率高、易于实施。     

埋地管道泄漏内封堵装置设计与研究

针对流体输送埋地管道泄漏问题,设计了一种利用管道机器人携带封堵气囊进行快速应急封堵修复的埋地管道泄漏内封堵装置。采用矩阵变换方法建立了牵引系统驱动轮过弯方程,利用MATLAB软件对过弯方程进行了验证,同时利用ADAMS软件仿真分析过弯路径与驱动轮转角对牵引系统行走速度的影响。研究结果表明:由两个串联封堵器组成的应急封堵系统可满足复杂工况下的管道泄漏封堵要求;牵引系统驱动轮在弯管内部行走时,单轮速度呈周期性变化,但三个驱动轮整体周期运动特性一致;驱动轮转角在25°~40°时,牵引系统行走速度与驱动轮转角成正比,且转角为30°时驱动效果最好。该内封堵装置的结构设计可为管道泄漏应急封堵领域装备的研发提供重要参考。     

A multi-start central force optimization for global optimization

Central force optimization (CFO) is an efficient and powerful population-based intelligence algorithm for optimization problems. CFO is deterministic in nature, unlike the most widely used metaheuristics. CFO, however, is not completely free from the problems of premature convergence. One way to overcome local optimality is to utilize the multi-start strategy. By combining the respective advantages of CFO and the multi-start strategy, a multi-start central force optimization (MCFO) algorithm is proposed in this paper. The performance of the MCFO approach is evaluated on a comprehensive set of benchmark functions. The experimental results demonstrate that MCFO not only saves the computational cost, but also performs better than some state-of-the-art CFO algorithms. MCFO is also compared with representative evolutionary algorithms. The results show that MCFO is highly competitive, achieving promising performance.     

A Distribution‐freeCUSUMChart for Monitoring Variability of AutocorrelatedProcesses

We present a distribution‐free tabular cumulative sum chart for monitoring the variability of an autocorrelated process. A quantity known as the asymptotic variance parameter is employed as a measure of the variability, and a distribution‐free tabular cumulative sum chart is applied to variance estimates calculated from batches of nonoverlapping samples. The proposed chart is applicable to a stationary process with a general marginal distribution and a general autocorrelation structure. It also determines control limits analytically without trial‐and‐error simulations. The performance of the proposed chart is tested on stationary processes with both normal and nonnormal marginals with various autocorrelation structures. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flow Reaction Forces upon Blowdown of Safety Valves

The activation of safety valves causes the development of flow reaction forces that have to be transferred in an adequate way via the piping to the steel structure or via the connected vessel into the foundation. If the safety valve outlet piping is connected to a blowdown system or, in case of blowing off into the atmosphere, are equipped with a T‐piece at the outlet, the stationary reaction forces are compensated completely. The transient opening process, however, develops flow reaction forces which culminate in peaks of short duration. In this article, a simple method will be proposed for the estimation of the resulting reaction forces as a function of the length of the pipe at the safety valve outlet. CFD calculations and blowdown tests executed with a full‐lift safety valve have confirmed this method on principle. Special importance is attributed to the short duration of the effect of the reaction forces which seems to have only a negligible impact on the supporting steel structure.     

WAVE INTERACTION WITH PERFORATED CAISSON BREAKWATERS

The reflection coefficient of perforated caissons and the total horizontal forces acting on them were experimentally and numerically analyzed and discussed when wave propagates normally. To consider the viscosity effect of fluid and nonlinear action of waves on structures, the VOF (Volume Of Fluid) method combined with the k-ε turbulence model was used to simulate the interaction between waves and structures. Governing equations were solved with the finite difference method. Through 2D experimental study in the wave flume, the empirical relationship between the reflection coefficient of perforated caissons and the main affecting factors were obtained from the experimental data using the least square method. Also the correlation between the ratio of the total horizontal force acting on perforated caisson and the force acting on solid caisson and the main affecting factors were regressed from the experimental data.