Search results for: second order sliding mode t
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 15494

Search results for: second order sliding mode t

14894 Approaches to Vibration Analysis of Thick Plates Subjected to Different Supports, Loadings and Boundary Conditions: A Literature Review

Authors: Fazl E. Ahad, Shi Dongyan, Anees Ur Rehman

Abstract:

Plates are one of the most important structural components used in many industries like aerospace, marine and various other engineering fields and thus motivate designers and engineers to study the vibrational characteristics of these structures. This paper is a review of existing literature on vibration analysis of plates. Focus has been kept on prominent studies related to isotropic plates based on Mindlin plate theory; however few citations on orthotropic plates and higher order shear deformation theories have also been included. All citations are in English language. This review is aimed to provide contemporarily relevant survey of papers on vibrational characteristics of thick plates and will be useful for scientists, designers and researchers to locate important and relevant literature/research quickly.

Keywords: mindlin plates, vibrations, arbitrary boundary conditions, mode shapes, natural frequency

Procedia PDF Downloads 325
14893 Structural Analysis of a Composite Wind Turbine Blade

Authors: C. Amer, M. Sahin

Abstract:

The design of an optimised horizontal axis 5-meter-long wind turbine rotor blade in according with IEC 61400-2 standard is a research and development project in order to fulfil the requirements of high efficiency of torque from wind production and to optimise the structural components to the lightest and strongest way possible. For this purpose, a research study is presented here by focusing on the structural characteristics of a composite wind turbine blade via finite element modelling and analysis tools. In this work, first, the required data regarding the general geometrical parts are gathered. Then, the airfoil geometries are created at various sections along the span of the blade by using CATIA software to obtain the two surfaces, namely; the suction and the pressure side of the blade in which there is a hat shaped fibre reinforced plastic spar beam, so-called chassis starting at 0.5m from the root of the blade and extends up to 4 m and filled with a foam core. The root part connecting the blade to the main rotor differential metallic hub having twelve hollow threaded studs is then modelled. The materials are assigned as two different types of glass fabrics, polymeric foam core material and the steel-balsa wood combination for the root connection parts. The glass fabrics are applied using hand wet lay-up lamination with epoxy resin as METYX L600E10C-0, is the unidirectional continuous fibres and METYX XL800E10F having a tri-axial architecture with fibres in the 0,+45,-45 degree orientations in a ratio of 2:1:1. Divinycell H45 is used as the polymeric foam. The finite element modelling of the blade is performed via MSC PATRAN software with various meshes created on each structural part considering shell type for all surface geometries, and lumped mass were added to simulate extra adhesive locations. For the static analysis, the boundary conditions are assigned as fixed at the root through aforementioned bolts, where for dynamic analysis both fixed-free and free-free boundary conditions are made. By also taking the mesh independency into account, MSC NASTRAN is used as a solver for both analyses. The static analysis aims the tip deflection of the blade under its own weight and the dynamic analysis comprises normal mode dynamic analysis performed in order to obtain the natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes focusing the first five in and out-of-plane bending and the torsional modes of the blade. The analyses results of this study are then used as a benchmark prior to modal testing, where the experiments over the produced wind turbine rotor blade has approved the analytical calculations.

Keywords: dynamic analysis, fiber reinforced composites, horizontal axis wind turbine blade, hand-wet layup, modal testing

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14892 Studies of the Reaction Products Resulted from Glycerol Electrochemical Conversion under Galvanostatic Mode

Authors: Ching Shya Lee, Mohamed Kheireddine Aroua, Wan Mohd Ashri Wan Daud, Patrick Cognet, Yolande Peres, Mohammed Ajeel

Abstract:

In recent years, with the decreasing supply of fossil fuel, renewable energy has received a significant demand. Biodiesel which is well known as vegetable oil based fatty acid methyl ester is an alternative fuel for diesel. It can be produced from transesterification of vegetable oils, such as palm oil, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, etc., with methanol. During the transesterification process, crude glycerol is formed as a by-product, resulting in 10% wt of the total biodiesel production. To date, due to the fast growing of biodiesel production in worldwide, the crude glycerol supply has also increased rapidly and resulted in a significant price drop for glycerol. Therefore, extensive research has been developed to use glycerol as feedstock to produce various added-value chemicals, such as tartronic acid, mesoxalic acid, glycolic acid, glyceric acid, propanediol, acrolein etc. The industrial processes that usually involved are selective oxidation, biofermentation, esterification, and hydrolysis. However, the conversion of glycerol into added-value compounds by electrochemical approach is rarely discussed. Currently, the approach is mainly focused on the electro-oxidation study of glycerol under potentiostatic mode for cogenerating energy with other chemicals. The electro-organic synthesis study from glycerol under galvanostatic mode is seldom reviewed. In this study, the glycerol was converted into various added-value compounds by electrochemical method under galvanostatic mode. This work aimed to study the possible compounds produced from glycerol by electrochemical technique in a one-pot electrolysis cell. The electro-organic synthesis study from glycerol was carried out in a single compartment reactor for 8 hours, over the platinum cathode and anode electrodes under acidic condition. Various parameters such as electric current (1.0 A to 3.0 A) and reaction temperature (27 °C to 80 °C) were evaluated. The products obtained were characterized by using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy equipped with an aqueous-stable polyethylene glycol stationary phase column. Under the optimized reaction condition, the glycerol conversion achieved as high as 95%. The glycerol was successfully converted into various added-value chemicals such as ethylene glycol, glycolic acid, glyceric acid, acetaldehyde, formic acid, and glyceraldehyde; given the yield of 1%, 45%, 27%, 4%, 0.7% and 5%, respectively. Based on the products obtained from this study, the reaction mechanism of this process is proposed. In conclusion, this study has successfully converted glycerol into a wide variety of added-value compounds. These chemicals are found to have high market value; they can be used in the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries. This study effectively opens a new approach for the electrochemical conversion of glycerol. For further enhancement on the product selectivity, electrode material is an important parameter to be considered.

Keywords: biodiesel, glycerol, electrochemical conversion, galvanostatic mode

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14891 Suburban Large Residential Area Development Strategy with an Example of Liangzhu Culture Village in Hangzhou

Authors: Liang Fang

Abstract:

The development of the large suburban residential area is a product of the leap development during the rapid urbanization process in China. On the process of the large-scale development of large settlements in a short time, various problems arose in the suburban residential area, such as spatial layout being disorder, basic facilities construction lagging behind and being unreasonable, residential neighborhood space and street culture missing. Aimed at the contradictions mentioned above, exploring a way is imminent to construct appropriate residential area. We select a typical Liangzhu Culture Village in Hangzhou and put forward functional composite residential area of fine development strategy, along which business promotes and assists community autonomy and then a good community culture is constructed. All in all, the development and construction mode, contributing to an all-people and full-time participation, is beneficial to create a harmonious community of sustainable development, which gives good implication to a single enterprise development city real estate projects.

Keywords: community autonomy, development and construction mode, functional composite, suburban large residential area

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14890 Electrical Degradation of GaN-based p-channel HFETs Under Dynamic Electrical Stress

Authors: Xuerui Niu, Bolin Wang, Xinchuang Zhang, Xiaohua Ma, Bin Hou, Ling Yang

Abstract:

The application of discrete GaN-based power switches requires the collaboration of silicon-based peripheral circuit structures. However, the packages and interconnection between the Si and GaN devices can introduce parasitic effects to the circuit, which has great impacts on GaN power transistors. GaN-based monolithic power integration technology is an emerging solution which can improve the stability of circuits and allow the GaN-based devices to achieve more functions. Complementary logic circuits consisting of GaN-based E-mode p-channel heterostructure field-effect transistors (p-HFETs) and E-mode n-channel HEMTs can be served as the gate drivers. E-mode p-HFETs with recessed gate have attracted increasing interest because of the low leakage current and large gate swing. However, they suffer from a poor interface between the gate dielectric and polarized nitride layers. The reliability of p-HFETs is analyzed and discussed in this work. In circuit applications, the inverter is always operated with dynamic gate voltage (VGS) rather than a constant VGS. Therefore, dynamic electrical stress has been simulated to resemble the operation conditions for E-mode p-HFETs. The dynamic electrical stress condition is as follows. VGS is a square waveform switching from -5 V to 0 V, VDS is fixed, and the source grounded. The frequency of the square waveform is 100kHz with the rising/falling time of 100 ns and duty ratio of 50%. The effective stress time is 1000s. A number of stress tests are carried out. The stress was briefly interrupted to measure the linear IDS-VGS, saturation IDS-VGS, As VGS switches from -5 V to 0 V and VDS = 0 V, devices are under negative-bias-instability (NBI) condition. Holes are trapped at the interface of oxide layer and GaN channel layer, which results in the reduction of VTH. The negative shift of VTH is serious at the first 10s and then changes slightly with the following stress time. However, different phenomenon is observed when VDS reduces to -5V. VTH shifts negatively during stress condition, and the variation in VTH increases with time, which is different from that when VDS is 0V. Two mechanisms exists in this condition. On the one hand, the electric field in the gate region is influenced by the drain voltage, so that the trapping behavior of holes in the gate region changes. The impact of the gate voltage is weakened. On the other hand, large drain voltage can induce the hot holes generation and lead to serious hot carrier stress (HCS) degradation with time. The poor-quality interface between the oxide layer and GaN channel layer at the gate region makes a major contribution to the high-density interface traps, which will greatly influence the reliability of devices. These results emphasize that the improved etching and pretreatment processes needs to be developed so that high-performance GaN complementary logics with enhanced stability can be achieved.

Keywords: GaN-based E-mode p-HFETs, dynamic electric stress, threshold voltage, monolithic power integration technology

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14889 Analysis of Evolution of Higher Order Solitons by Numerical Simulation

Authors: K. Khadidja

Abstract:

Solitons are stable solution of nonlinear Schrodinger equation. Their stability is due to the exact combination between nonlinearity and dispersion which causes pulse broadening. Higher order solitons are born when nonlinear length is N multiple of dispersive length. Soliton order is determined by the number N itself. In this paper, evolution of higher order solitons is illustrated by simulation using Matlab. Results show that higher order solitons change their shape periodically, the reason why they are bad for transmission comparing to fundamental solitons which are constant. Partial analysis of a soliton of higher order explains that the periodic shape is due to the interplay between nonlinearity and dispersion which are not equal during a period. This class of solitons has many applications such as generation of supercontinuum and the impulse compression on the Femtosecond scale. As a conclusion, the periodicity which is harmful to transmission can be beneficial in other applications.

Keywords: dispersion, nonlinearity, optical fiber, soliton

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14888 Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Small Peptides for Managing Inflammation: Inhibition to Substrate Approach

Authors: Palwinder Singh, Baljit Kaur, Sukhmeet Kaur

Abstract:

Amongst a library of rationally designed small peptides, (H)Gly-Gly-Phe-Leu(OMe) was identified, reducing prostaglandin production of COX-2 with IC50 60 nM vs. 6000 nM for COX-1. The 5 mg Kg-1 dose of this compound rescued albino mice by 80% from capsaicin-induced paw licking and recovered it by 60% from carrageenan-induced inflammation. The mode of action of the compound for targeting COX-2, iNOS, and VGSC was investigated by using substances P, L-arginine, and veratrine, respectively, as the biomarkers. The interactions of the potent compound with COX-2 were supported by the isothermal calorimetry experiments showing Ka 6.10±1.10x104 mol-1 and ΔG -100.3 k J mol-1 in comparison to Ka 0.41x103 ±0.09 mol-1 and ΔG -19.2±0.06 k J mol-1 for COX-1. This compound did not show toxicity up to 2000 mg Kg-1 dose. Furthermore, beyond the conventional mode of working with anti-inflammatory agents through enzyme inhibition, COX-2 was provided with a peptide-based alternate substrate. Proline-centered pentapeptide iso-conformational to arachidonic acid exhibited appreciable selectivity for COX-2 overcoming acetic acid and formalin-induced pain in rats to almost 80% and was treated as a substrate by the enzyme. Hence, we suggest small peptides as highly potent and promising candidates for their further development into an anti-inflammatory drug.

Keywords: small peptides, cyclooxygenase, inflammation, substrate

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14887 Estimation of Dynamic Characteristics of a Middle Rise Steel Reinforced Concrete Building Using Long-Term

Authors: Fumiya Sugino, Naohiro Nakamura, Yuji Miyazu

Abstract:

In earthquake resistant design of buildings, evaluation of vibration characteristics is important. In recent years, due to the increment of super high-rise buildings, the evaluation of response is important for not only the first mode but also higher modes. The knowledge of vibration characteristics in buildings is mostly limited to the first mode and the knowledge of higher modes is still insufficient. In this paper, using earthquake observation records of a SRC building by applying frequency filter to ARX model, characteristics of first and second modes were studied. First, we studied the change of the eigen frequency and the damping ratio during the 3.11 earthquake. The eigen frequency gradually decreases from the time of earthquake occurrence, and it is almost stable after about 150 seconds have passed. At this time, the decreasing rates of the 1st and 2nd eigen frequencies are both about 0.7. Although the damping ratio has more large error than the eigen frequency, both the 1st and 2nd damping ratio are 3 to 5%. Also, there is a strong correlation between the 1st and 2nd eigen frequency, and the regression line is y=3.17x. In the damping ratio, the regression line is y=0.90x. Therefore 1st and 2nd damping ratios are approximately the same degree. Next, we study the eigen frequency and damping ratio from 1998 after 3.11 earthquakes, the final year is 2014. In all the considered earthquakes, they are connected in order of occurrence respectively. The eigen frequency slowly declined from immediately after completion, and tend to stabilize after several years. Although it has declined greatly after the 3.11 earthquake. Both the decresing rate of the 1st and 2nd eigen frequencies until about 7 years later are about 0.8. For the damping ratio, both the 1st and 2nd are about 1 to 6%. After the 3.11 earthquake, the 1st increases by about 1% and the 2nd increases by less than 1%. For the eigen frequency, there is a strong correlation between the 1st and 2nd, and the regression line is y=3.17x. For the damping ratio, the regression line is y=1.01x. Therefore, it can be said that the 1st and 2nd damping ratio is approximately the same degree. Based on the above results, changes in eigen frequency and damping ratio are summarized as follows. In the long-term study of the eigen frequency, both the 1st and 2nd gradually declined from immediately after completion, and tended to stabilize after a few years. Further it declined after the 3.11 earthquake. In addition, there is a strong correlation between the 1st and 2nd, and the declining time and the decreasing rate are the same degree. In the long-term study of the damping ratio, both the 1st and 2nd are about 1 to 6%. After the 3.11 earthquake, the 1st increases by about 1%, the 2nd increases by less than 1%. Also, the 1st and 2nd are approximately the same degree.

Keywords: eigenfrequency, damping ratio, ARX model, earthquake observation records

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14886 Influence of Foundation Size on Seismic Response of Mid-rise Buildings Considering Soil-Structure-Interaction

Authors: Quoc Van Nguyen, Behzad Fatahi, Aslan S. Hokmabadi

Abstract:

Performance based seismic design is a modern approach to earthquake-resistant design shifting emphasis from “strength” to “performance”. Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) can influence the performance level of structures significantly. In this paper, a fifteen storey moment resisting frame sitting on a shallow foundation (footing) with different sizes is simulated numerically using ABAQUS software. The developed three dimensional numerical simulation accounts for nonlinear behaviour of the soil medium by considering the variation of soil stiffness and damping as a function of developed shear strain in the soil elements during earthquake. Elastic-perfectly plastic model is adopted to simulate piles and structural elements. Quiet boundary conditions are assigned to the numerical model and appropriate interface elements, capable of modelling sliding and separation between the foundation and soil elements, are considered. Numerical results in terms of base shear, lateral deformations, and inter-storey drifts of the structure are compared for the cases of soil-structure interaction system with different foundation sizes as well as fixed base condition (excluding SSI). It can be concluded that conventional design procedures excluding SSI may result in aggressive design. Moreover, the size of the foundation can influence the dynamic characteristics and seismic response of the building due to SSI and should therefore be given careful consideration in order to ensure a safe and cost effective seismic design.

Keywords: soil-structure-interaction, seismic response, shallow foundation, abaqus, rayleigh damping

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14885 Control of Hybrid System Using Fuzzy Logic

Authors: Faiza Mahi, Fatima Debbat, Mohamed Fayçal Khelfi

Abstract:

This paper proposes a control approach using Fuzzy Lo system. More precisely, the study focuses on the improvement of users service in terms of analysis and control of a transportation system their waiting times in the exchange platforms of passengers. Many studies have been developed in the literature for such problematic, and many control tools are proposed. In this paper we focus on the use of fuzzy logic technique to control the system during its evolution in order to minimize the arrival gap of connected transportation means at the exchange points of passengers. An example of illustration is worked out and the obtained results are reported. an important area of research is the modeling and simulation ordering system. We describe an approach to analysis using Fuzzy Logic. The hybrid simulator developed in toolbox Matlab consists calculation of waiting time transportation mode.

Keywords: Fuzzy logic, Hybrid system, Waiting Time, Transportation system, Control

Procedia PDF Downloads 555
14884 Structural Parameter Identification of Old Steel Truss Bridges

Authors: A. Bogdanovic, M. Vitanova, J. Bojadjieva, Z. Rakicevic, V. Sesov, K. Edip, N. Naumovski, F. Manojlovski, A.Popovska, A. Shoklarovski, T. Kitanovski, D. Ivanovski, I. Markovski, D. Filipovski

Abstract:

The conditions of existing structures change in the course of time and can hardly be characterized particularly if a bridge has long been in function and there is no design documentation related to it. To define the real conditions of a structure, detailed static and dynamic analysis of the structure has to be carried out and its modal parameters have to be defined accurately. Modal analysis enables a quite accurate identification of the natural frequencies and mode shapes. Presented in this paper are the results from the performed detailed analyses of a steel truss bridge that has been in use for more than 7 decades by the military services of R.N. Macedonia and for which there is no documentation at all. Static and dynamic investigations and ambient vibration measurements were performed. The acquired data were used to identify the mode shapes that were used for comparison with the numerical model. Dynamic tests were performed to define the bridge behaviour and the damping index. Finally, based on all the conducted detailed analyses and investigations, conclusions on the conditions of the bridge structure were drawn.

Keywords: ambient vibrations, dynamic identification, in-situ measurement, steel truss bridge

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14883 Analysis of Lead Time Delays in Supply Chain: A Case Study

Authors: Abdel-Aziz M. Mohamed, Nermeen Coutry

Abstract:

Lead time is an important measure of supply chain performance. It impacts both customer satisfactions as well as the total cost of inventory. This paper presents the result of a study on the analysis of the customer order lead-time for a multinational company. In the study, the lead time was divided into three stages: order entry, order fulfillment, and order delivery. A sample of size 2,425 order lines from the company records were considered for this study. The sample data includes information regarding customer orders from the time of order entry until order delivery. Data regarding the lead time of each sage for different orders were also provided. Summary statistics on lead time data reveals that about 30% of the orders were delivered after the scheduled due date. The result of the multiple linear regression analysis technique revealed that component type, logistics parameter, order size and the customer type have significant impact on lead time. Data analysis on the stages of lead time indicates that stage 2 consumes over 50% of the lead time. Pareto analysis was made to study the reasons for the customer order delay in each of the 3 stages. Recommendation was given to resolve the problem.

Keywords: lead time reduction, customer satisfaction, service quality, statistical analysis

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14882 Cycleloop Personal Rapid Transit: An Exploratory Study for Last Mile Connectivity in Urban Transport

Authors: Suresh Salla

Abstract:

In this paper, author explores for most sustainable last mile transport mode addressing present problems of traffic congestion, jams, pollution and travel stress. Development of energy-efficient sustainable integrated transport system(s) is/are must to make our cities more livable. Emphasis on autonomous, connected, electric, sharing system for effective utilization of systems (vehicles and public infrastructure) is on the rise. Many surface mobility innovations like PBS, Ride hailing, ride sharing, etc. are, although workable but if we analyze holistically, add to the already congested roads, difficult to ride in hostile weather, causes pollution and poses commuter stress. Sustainability of transportation is evaluated with respect to public adoption, average speed, energy consumption, and pollution. Why public prefer certain mode over others? How commute time plays a role in mode selection or shift? What are the factors play-ing role in energy consumption and pollution? Based on the study, it is clear that public prefer a transport mode which is exhaustive (i.e., less need for interchange – network is widespread) and intensive (i.e., less waiting time - vehicles are available at frequent intervals) and convenient with latest technologies. Average speed is dependent on stops, number of intersections, signals, clear route availability, etc. It is clear from Physics that higher the kerb weight of a vehicle; higher is the operational energy consumption. Higher kerb weight also demands heavier infrastructure. Pollution is dependent on source of energy, efficiency of vehicle, average speed. Mode can be made exhaustive when the unit infrastructure cost is less and can be offered intensively when the vehicle cost is less. Reliable and seamless integrated mobility till last ¼ mile (Five Minute Walk-FMW) is a must to encourage sustainable public transportation. Study shows that average speed and reliability of dedicated modes (like Metro, PRT, BRT, etc.) is high compared to road vehicles. Electric vehicles and more so battery-less or 3rd rail vehicles reduce pollution. One potential mode can be Cycleloop PRT, where commuter rides e-cycle in a dedicated path – elevated, at grade or underground. e-Bike with kerb weight per rider at 15 kg being 1/50th of car or 1/10th of other PRT systems makes it sustainable mode. Cycleloop tube will be light, sleek and scalable and can be modular erected, either on modified street lamp-posts or can be hanged/suspended between the two stations. Embarking and dis-embarking points or offline stations can be at an interval which suits FMW to mass public transit. In terms of convenience, guided e-Bike can be made self-balancing thus encouraging driverless on-demand vehicles. e-Bike equipped with smart electronics and drive controls can intelligently respond to field sensors and autonomously move reacting to Central Controller. Smart switching allows travel from origin to destination without interchange of cycles. DC Powered Batteryless e-cycle with voluntary manual pedaling makes it sustainable and provides health benefits. Tandem e-bike, smart switching and Platoon operations algorithm options provide superior through-put of the Cycleloop. Thus Cycleloop PRT will be exhaustive, intensive, convenient, reliable, speedy, sustainable, safe, pollution-free and healthy alternative mode for last mile connectivity in cities.

Keywords: cycleloop PRT, five-minute walk, lean modular infrastructure, self-balanced intelligent e-cycle

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14881 Double Clustering as an Unsupervised Approach for Order Picking of Distributed Warehouses

Authors: Hsin-Yi Huang, Ming-Sheng Liu, Jiun-Yan Shiau

Abstract:

Planning the order picking lists of warehouses to achieve when the costs associated with logistics on the operational performance is a significant challenge. In e-commerce era, this task is especially important productive processes are high. Nowadays, many order planning techniques employ supervised machine learning algorithms. However, the definition of which features should be processed by such algorithms is not a simple task, being crucial to the proposed technique’s success. Against this background, we consider whether unsupervised algorithms can enhance the planning of order-picking lists. A Zone2 picking approach, which is based on using clustering algorithms twice, is developed. A simplified example is given to demonstrate the merit of our approach.

Keywords: order picking, warehouse, clustering, unsupervised learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 159
14880 Soliton Solutions of the Higher-Order Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation with Dispersion Effects

Authors: H. Triki, Y. Hamaizi, A. El-Akrmi

Abstract:

We consider the higher order nonlinear Schrödinger equation model with fourth-order dispersion, cubic-quintic terms, and self-steepening. This equation governs the propagation of fem to second pulses in optical fibers. We present new bright and dark solitary wave type solutions for such a model under certain parametric conditions. This kind of solution may be useful to explain some physical phenomena related to wave propagation in a nonlinear optical fiber systems supporting high-order nonlinear and dispersive effects.

Keywords: nonlinear Schrödinger equation, high-order effects, soliton solution

Procedia PDF Downloads 636
14879 Mechanisms Underlying Comprehension of Visualized Personal Health Information: An Eye Tracking Study

Authors: Da Tao, Mingfu Qin, Wenkai Li, Tieyan Wang

Abstract:

While the use of electronic personal health portals has gained increasing popularity in the healthcare industry, users usually experience difficulty in comprehending and correctly responding to personal health information, partly due to inappropriate or poor presentation of the information. The way personal health information is visualized may affect how users perceive and assess their personal health information. This study was conducted to examine the effects of information visualization format and visualization mode on the comprehension and perceptions of personal health information among personal health information users with eye tracking techniques. A two-factor within-subjects experimental design was employed, where participants were instructed to complete a series of personal health information comprehension tasks under varied types of visualization mode (i.e., whether the information visualization is static or dynamic) and three visualization formats (i.e., bar graph, instrument-like graph, and text-only format). Data on a set of measures, including comprehension performance, perceptions, and eye movement indicators, were collected during the task completion in the experiment. Repeated measure analysis of variance analyses (RM-ANOVAs) was used for data analysis. The results showed that while the visualization format yielded no effects on comprehension performance, it significantly affected users’ perceptions (such as perceived ease of use and satisfaction). The two graphic visualizations yielded significantly higher favorable scores on subjective evaluations than that of the text format. While visualization mode showed no effects on users’ perception measures, it significantly affected users' comprehension performance in that dynamic visualization significantly reduced users' information search time. Both visualization format and visualization mode had significant main effects on eye movement behaviors, and their interaction effects were also significant. While the bar graph format and text format had similar time to first fixation across dynamic and static visualizations, instrument-like graph format had a larger time to first fixation for dynamic visualization than for static visualization. The two graphic visualization formats yielded shorter total fixation duration compared with the text-only format, indicating their ability to improve information comprehension efficiency. The results suggest that dynamic visualization can improve efficiency in comprehending important health information, and graphic visualization formats were favored more by users. The findings are helpful in the underlying comprehension mechanism of visualized personal health information and provide important implications for optimal design and visualization of personal health information.

Keywords: eye tracking, information comprehension, personal health information, visualization

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14878 Evaluating Forecasts Through Stochastic Loss Order

Authors: Wilmer Osvaldo Martinez, Manuel Dario Hernandez, Juan Manuel Julio

Abstract:

We propose to assess the performance of k forecast procedures by exploring the distributions of forecast errors and error losses. We argue that non systematic forecast errors minimize when their distributions are symmetric and unimodal, and that forecast accuracy should be assessed through stochastic loss order rather than expected loss order, which is the way it is customarily performed in previous work. Moreover, since forecast performance evaluation can be understood as a one way analysis of variance, we propose to explore loss distributions under two circumstances; when a strict (but unknown) joint stochastic order exists among the losses of all forecast alternatives, and when such order happens among subsets of alternative procedures. In spite of the fact that loss stochastic order is stronger than loss moment order, our proposals are at least as powerful as competing tests, and are robust to the correlation, autocorrelation and heteroskedasticity settings they consider. In addition, since our proposals do not require samples of the same size, their scope is also wider, and provided that they test the whole loss distribution instead of just loss moments, they can also be used to study forecast distributions as well. We illustrate the usefulness of our proposals by evaluating a set of real world forecasts.

Keywords: forecast evaluation, stochastic order, multiple comparison, non parametric test

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14877 Sequence Component-Based Adaptive Protection for Microgrids Connected Power Systems

Authors: Isabelle Snyder

Abstract:

Microgrid protection presents challenges to conventional protection techniques due to the low induced fault current. Protection relays present in microgrid applications require a combination of settings groups to adjust based on the architecture of the microgrid in islanded and grid-connected mode. In a radial system where the microgrid is at the other end of the feeder, directional elements can be used to identify the direction of the fault current and switch settings groups accordingly (grid connected or microgrid connected). However, with multiple microgrid connections, this concept becomes more challenging, and the direction of the current alone is not sufficient to identify the source of the fault current contribution. ORNL has previously developed adaptive relaying schemes through other DOE-funded research projects that will be evaluated and used as a baseline for this research. The four protection techniques in this study are the following: (1) Adaptive Current only Protection System (ACPS), Intentional (2) Unbalanced Control for Protection Control (IUCPC), (3) Adaptive Protection System with Communication Controller (APSCC) (4) Adaptive Model-Driven Protective Relay (AMDPR). The first two methods focus on identifying the islanded mode without communication by monitoring the current sequence component generated by the system (ACPS) or induced with inverter control during islanded mode (IUCPC) to identify the islanding condition without communication at the relay to adjust the settings. These two methods are used as a backup to the APSCC, which relies on a communication network to communicate the islanded configuration to the system components. The fourth method relies on a short circuit model inside the relay that is used in conjunction with communication to adjust the system configuration and computes the fault current and adjusts the settings accordingly.

Keywords: adaptive relaying, microgrid protection, sequence components, islanding detection, communication controlled protection, integrated short circuit model

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14876 Analysis and Design of Dual-Polarization Antennas for Wireless Communication Systems

Authors: Vladimir Veremey

Abstract:

The paper describes the design and simulation of dual-polarization antennas that use the resonance and radiating properties of the H00 mode of metal open waveguides. The proposed antennas are formed by two orthogonal slots in a finite conducting ground plane. The slots are backed by metal screens connected to the ground plane forming open waveguides. It has been shown that the antenna designs can be efficiently used in mm-wave bands. The antenna single mode operational bandwidth is higher than 10%. The antenna designs are very simple and low-cost. They allow flush installation and can be efficiently used in various communication and remote sensing devices on fast moving carriers. Mutual coupling between antennas of the proposed design is very low. Thus, multiple antenna structures with proposed antennas can be efficiently employed in multi-band and in multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems.

Keywords: antenna, antenna arrays, Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO), millimeter wave bands, slot antenna, flush installation, directivity, open waveguide, conformal antennas

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14875 Dielectric Thickness Modulation Based Optically Transparent Leaky Wave Antenna Design

Authors: Waqar Ali Khan

Abstract:

A leaky-wave antenna design is proposed which is based on the realization of a certain kind of surface impedance profile that allows the existence of a perturbed surface wave (fast wave) that radiates. The antenna is realized by using optically transparent material Plexiglas. Plexiglas behaves as a dielectric at radio frequencies and is transparent at optical frequencies. In order to have a ground plane for the microwave frequencies, metal strips are used parallel to the E field of the operating mode. The microwave wavelength chosen is large enough such that it does not resolve the metal strip ground plane and sees it to be a uniform ground plane. While, at optical frequencies, the metal strips do have some shadowing effect. However still, about 62% of optical power can be transmitted through the antenna.

Keywords: Plexiglass, surface-wave, optically transparent, metal strip

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14874 Preparation and Characterization of BaMnO₃ Application to the Photocatalytic Oxidation of Paracetamol under Solar Light

Authors: Dahmane Mohamed, Tab Asma, Trari Mohamed

Abstract:

BaMnO₃ nanoparticles were synthesized by a nitrate route. Its structure and physical properties were characterized by means of X-ray powder diffraction, radio crystallographic analysis, ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy in diffuse reflectance mode, infrared spectroscopy, and electrochemical measurements. The optical study showed that barium manganese oxide presents a direct transition with band energy 2.13 eV. The electrochemical study allowed us to identify the redox peaks and the corrosion parameters. Capacitance measurement clearly showed n-type conductivity. The photodegradation of paracetamol by BaMnO₃ was followed by UV-visible spectrophotometry; the results were then confirmed by HPLC. BaMnO₃ has shown its photocatalytic efficiency in the photodegradation of 10 mg/L paracetamol under solar irradiation, with a yield of ≈ 88%. The kinetic study has shown that paracetamol degrades with first-order kinetics.

Keywords: BaMnO₃, photodegradation, paracetamol, electrochemical measurements, solar light

Procedia PDF Downloads 103
14873 Vehicles Analysis, Assessment and Redesign Related to Ergonomics and Human Factors

Authors: Susana Aragoneses Garrido

Abstract:

Every day, the roads are scenery of numerous accidents involving vehicles, producing thousands of deaths and serious injuries all over the world. Investigations have revealed that Human Factors (HF) are one of the main causes of road accidents in modern societies. Distracted driving (including external or internal aspects of the vehicle), which is considered as a human factor, is a serious and emergent risk to road safety. Consequently, a further analysis regarding this issue is essential due to its transcendence on today’s society. The objectives of this investigation are the detection and assessment of the HF in order to provide solutions (including a better vehicle design), which might mitigate road accidents. The methodology of the project is divided in different phases. First, a statistical analysis of public databases is provided between Spain and The UK. Second, data is classified in order to analyse the major causes involved in road accidents. Third, a simulation between different paths and vehicles is presented. The causes related to the HF are assessed by Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). Fourth, different car models are evaluated using the Rapid Upper Body Assessment (RULA). Additionally, the JACK SIEMENS PLM tool is used with the intention of evaluating the Human Factor causes and providing the redesign of the vehicles. Finally, improvements in the car design are proposed with the intention of reducing the implication of HF in traffic accidents. The results from the statistical analysis, the simulations and the evaluations confirm that accidents are an important issue in today’s society, especially the accidents caused by HF resembling distractions. The results explore the reduction of external and internal HF through the global analysis risk of vehicle accidents. Moreover, the evaluation of the different car models using RULA method and the JACK SIEMENS PLM prove the importance of having a good regulation of the driver’s seat in order to avoid harmful postures and therefore distractions. For this reason, a car redesign is proposed for the driver to acquire the optimum position and consequently reducing the human factors in road accidents.

Keywords: analysis vehicles, asssesment, ergonomics, car redesign

Procedia PDF Downloads 335
14872 Autonomic Threat Avoidance and Self-Healing in Database Management System

Authors: Wajahat Munir, Muhammad Haseeb, Adeel Anjum, Basit Raza, Ahmad Kamran Malik

Abstract:

Databases are the key components of the software systems. Due to the exponential growth of data, it is the concern that the data should be accurate and available. The data in databases is vulnerable to internal and external threats, especially when it contains sensitive data like medical or military applications. Whenever the data is changed by malicious intent, data analysis result may lead to disastrous decisions. Autonomic self-healing is molded toward computer system after inspiring from the autonomic system of human body. In order to guarantee the accuracy and availability of data, we propose a technique which on a priority basis, tries to avoid any malicious transaction from execution and in case a malicious transaction affects the system, it heals the system in an isolated mode in such a way that the availability of system would not be compromised. Using this autonomic system, the management cost and time of DBAs can be minimized. In the end, we test our model and present the findings.

Keywords: autonomic computing, self-healing, threat avoidance, security

Procedia PDF Downloads 504
14871 Design of a Drift Assist Control System Applied to Remote Control Car

Authors: Sheng-Tse Wu, Wu-Sung Yao

Abstract:

In this paper, a drift assist control system is proposed for remote control (RC) cars to get the perfect drift angle. A steering servo control scheme is given powerfully to assist the drift driving. A gyroscope sensor is included to detect the machine's tail sliding and to achieve a better automatic counter-steering to prevent RC car from spinning. To analysis tire traction and vehicle dynamics is used to obtain the dynamic track of RC cars. It comes with a control gain to adjust counter-steering amount according to the sensor condition. An illustrated example of 1:10 RC drift car is given and the real-time control algorithm is realized by Arduino Uno.

Keywords: drift assist control system, remote control cars, gyroscope, vehicle dynamics

Procedia PDF Downloads 397
14870 Numerical Study of 5kW Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Using DOE Method

Authors: Yan-Ting Lin, Wei-Nian Su

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the design of 5kW vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) using DOE method. The NACA0015 airfoil was implemented for the design and 3D simulation. The critical design parameters are chord length, tip speed ratio (TSR), aspect ratio (AR) and pitch angle in this investigation. The RNG k-ε turbulent model and the sliding mesh method are adopted in the CFD simulation. The results show that the model with zero pitch, 0.3 m in chord length, TSR of 3, and AR of 10 demonstrated the optimum aerodynamic power under the uniform 10m/s inlet velocity. The aerodynamic power is 3.61kW and 3.89kW under TSR of 3 and 4 respectively. The aerodynamic power decreased dramatically while TSR increased to 5.

Keywords: vertical axis wind turbine, CFD, DOE, VAWT

Procedia PDF Downloads 440
14869 Metabolic Cost and Perceived Exertion during Progressive and Randomized Walking Protocols

Authors: Simeon E. H. Davies

Abstract:

This study investigated whether selected metabolic responses and the perception of effort varied during four different walk protocols where speed increased progressively 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 km/hr (progressive treadmill walk (PTW); and progressive land walk (PLW); or where the participant adjusted to random changes of speed e.g. 6, 3, 7, 4, and 5 km/hr during a randomized treadmill walk (RTW); and a randomized land walk (RLW). Mean stature and mass of the seven participants was 1.75m and 70kg respectively, with a mean body fat of 15%. Metabolic measures including heart rate, relative oxygen uptake, ventilation, increased in a linear fashion up to 6 km/hr, however at 7 km/hr there was a significant increase in metabolic response notably during the PLW, and to a similar, although lesser extent in RLW, probably as a consequence of the loss of kinetic energy when turning at each cone in order to maintain the speed during each shuttle. Respiration frequency appeared to be a more sensitive indicator of physical exertion, exhibiting a rapid elevation at 5 km/hr. The perception of effort during each mode and at each speed was largely congruent during each walk protocol.

Keywords: exertion, metabolic, progressive, random, walking

Procedia PDF Downloads 462
14868 Actual Fracture Length Determination Using a Technique for Shale Fracturing Data Analysis in Real Time

Authors: M. Wigwe, M. Y Soloman, E. Pirayesh, R. Eghorieta, N. Stegent

Abstract:

The moving reference point (MRP) technique has been used in the analyses of the first three stages of two fracturing jobs. The results obtained verify the proposition that a hydraulic fracture in shale grows in spurts rather than in a continuous pattern as originally interpreted by Nolte-Smith technique. Rather than a continuous Mode I fracture that is followed by Mode II, III or IV fractures, these fracture modes could alternate throughout the pumping period. It is also shown that the Nolte-Smith time parameter plot can be very helpful in identifying the presence of natural fractures that have been intersected by the hydraulic fracture. In addition, with the aid of a fracture length-time plot generated from any fracture simulation that matches the data, the distance from the wellbore to the natural fractures, which also translates to the actual fracture length for the stage, can be determined. An algorithm for this technique is developed. This procedure was used for the first 9 minutes of the simulated frac job data. It was observed that after 7mins, the actual fracture length is about 150ft, instead of 250ft predicted by the simulator output. This difference gets larger as the analysis proceeds.

Keywords: shale, fracturing, reservoir, simulation, frac-length, moving-reference-point

Procedia PDF Downloads 754
14867 Precarious Employment Experience; Developing a Precariousness Scale

Authors: Gul Selin Erben

Abstract:

Precariousness can be evaluated as the new employment climate of the neo-liberal employment markets. As the word refers to a new mode of employment experience and working practices, it was felt as a necessity to reveal the basic characteristics of this kind of employment experience. Furthermore, according to the literature, precarious employment practices have some negative outcomes such as alienation, sense of anger, and anomy. Thus, it has quite significant to reveal the conditions' characteristics and practices of precarious employment. This study has the purpose to develop an instrument which measures the precarious employment practices. In order to develop a precariousness scale, the relevant literature was examined, and 30 statements were established as a result of the literature review. The development and validation of the scale were done by a sample of 123 individuals who work in different sectors in İstanbul as a white color employee. Convenience sampling was used as a sampling methodology. Reliability and factor analysis were conducted. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, 3 dimensions were gathered.

Keywords: employment, employment experience, precariousness, scale development

Procedia PDF Downloads 167
14866 Characterization of Probability Distributions through Conditional Expectation of Pair of Generalized Order Statistics

Authors: Zubdahe Noor, Haseeb Athar

Abstract:

In this article, first a relation for conditional expectation is developed and then is used to characterize a general class of distributions F(x) = 1-e^(-ah(x)) through conditional expectation of difference of pair of generalized order statistics. Some results are reduced for particular cases. In the end, a list of distributions is presented in the form of table that are compatible with the given general class.

Keywords: generalized order statistics, order statistics, record values, conditional expectation, characterization

Procedia PDF Downloads 460
14865 Characterization of A390 Aluminum Alloy Produced at Different Slow Shot Speeds Using Assisted Vacuum High-Pressure Die Casting

Authors: Wenbo Yu, Zihao Yuan, Zhipeng Guo, Shoumei Xiong

Abstract:

Under different slow shot speeds in vacuum assisted high pressure die casting (VHPDC) process, plate-shaped specimens of hypereutectic A390 aluminum alloy were produced. According to the results, the vacuum pressure inside the die cavity increased linearly with the increasing slow shot speed at the beginning of mold filling. Meanwhile, it was found that the tensile properties of vacuum die castings were deteriorated by the porosity content. In addition, the average primary Si size varies between 14µm to 23µm, which has a binary functional relationship with the slow shot speeds. Due to the vacuum effect, the castings were treated by T6 heat treatment. After heat treatment, microstructural morphologies revealed that needle-shaped and thin-flaked eutectic Si particles became rounded while Al2Cu dissolved into α-Al matrix. For the as-received sample in-situ tensile test, microcracks firstly initiate at the primary Si particles and propagated along Al matrix with a transgranular fracture mode. In contrast, for the treated sample, the crack initiated at the Al2Cu particles and propagated along Al grain boundaries with an intergranular fracture mode. In-situ three bending test, microcracks firstly formed in the primary Si particles for both samples. Subsequently, the cracks between primary Si linked along Al grain boundaries in as received sample. In contrast, the cracks in primary Si linked through the solid lines in Al matrix. Furthermore, the fractography revealed that the fracture mechanism has evolved from brittle transgranular fracture to a fracture mode with many dimples after heat treatment.

Keywords: A390 aluminum, vacuum assisted high pressure die casting, heat treatment, mechanical properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 248