Thermosolutal convection in a fluid‐porous composite medium

In the present study analysis has been performed for thermosolutal convection in a fluid‐porous composite medium, consisting of a fluid‐saturated porous medium followed by an overlaying clean medium. The fluid‐porous composite medium is subjected to both a horizontal solutal and a thermal gradient. Top and bottom walls of the fluid‐porous composite medium are assumed to be impermeable and adiabatic. The Darcy‐Brinkman‐Forchheimer model is used to study the flow through the fluid‐porous composite medium. A single domain approach is taken into consideration for numerical simulation. The solution is done by control volume integration. A comprehensive analysis has been performed for various pertinent parameters to delineate their behavior. Results of the transport phenomenon have been provided in graphical and tabular form, for the complete understanding of the complex phenomenon. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj). DOI 10.1002/htj.21048     

Characterization of confined hydrogen-air jet flame in a crossflow configuration using design of experiments

Hydrogen combustion has many industrial applications and development of new hydrogen burners is required to fulfil new demands. A novel configuration of hydrogen burner utilizing crossflow injection of fuel jets into swirling combustion air is characterized empirically in this work. It is intended as a first step in the development of new burner technologies having reduced emission levels and improved efficiency. Experiments were designed using the full factorial design method. Operating parameters were varied simultaneously and the NO_X emissions from the flame stabilized on the burner were measured. Statistical analysis of the experimental data showed that overall equivalence ratio is the dominant factor and lower NO_X emissions are observed at low equivalence ratios, irrespective of the burner power level. The analysis yielded an empirical relationship among NO_X emission, overall equivalence ratio, and power level that is useful in the design activity for a future combustion system based on the proposed configuration.     

Automatic test case generation from Simulink/Stateflow models using model checking

Model‐based test generation techniques based on random input generation and guided simulation do not satisfy the demands of high test coverage and completeness guarantees as required by safety‐critical applications. Recently, test generation techniques based on model checking have been reported to bridge this gap. To evaluate the effectiveness of these techniques, an in‐house tool suite, AutoMOTGen, has been developed for Simulink/Stateflow and applied on real‐life case studies at General Motors. This paper outlines the test generation methodology of AutoMOTGen and gives a comparative study with a commercial, primarily random input‐based, test generation tool on the same set of examples. The results indicate that in terms of coverage, model checking‐based techniques complement the random input‐based techniques. In addition, they provide proofs for unreachability that can aid in debugging the models. Therefore, it is recommended that model checking‐based tools be utilized to complement and enhance the effectiveness of model‐based testing methods in safety‐critical systems engineering. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lewis acid–base properties of cellulose acetate phthalate‐polycaprolactonediol blend by inverse gas chromatography

The net retention volumes, V_N, of n‐alkanes and five polar probes are determined on cellulose acetate phthalate–polycaprolactonediol blend column by inverse gas chromatography in the temperature range 323.15–363.15 K. The dispersive surface energy, $\gamma _{\bf S}^{\bf d}$ , of the blend has been calculated using the V_N values of n‐alkanes and the $\gamma _{\bf S}^{\bf d}$ at 333.15 K is 12.6 mJ/m². The $\gamma _{\bf S}^{\bf d}$ values are decreasing linearly with increase of temperature. The V_N values of the five polar solutes are used to calculate the specific component of the enthalpy of adsorption, ${\Delta }{H}_{\bf a}^{\bf S}$ . The Lewis acid–base parameters, K_a and K_b, are derived using ${\bf \Delta }{H}_{\bf a}^{\bf S}$ values and are found to be 0.019 and 0.403, respectively. The K_a and K_b values indicate that the blend surface contain more basic sites and interact strongly with the acidic probes. The acid–base parameters have been used to analyze the preferential interaction of the solid surface with acidic and basic probes. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2013. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Selection of Scheduling Criteria in Computer Systems

This paper considers the case in which one wishes to determine a schedule for a two-facility sequencing situation internal to computer systems. For such a problem the total time involved in both calculating an optimal sequence and performing that sequence may sometimes exceed the total time necessary to simply select and process an arbitrary sequence. Linear decision procedures are presented so as to determine whether calculation of an optimal schedule is really worthwhile. Computational aspects of the procedures are also discussed.     

The importance of asepsis in dental implantology

All surgical procedures, including dental implantation, involve certain risk factors. One of the most common is that of postoperative infection. The harsh realities of today's medical environment such as the threat of blood-borne pathogens and transmittable infections, the increased cost of hospitalization, and the increase in malpractice suites against surgeons, make it imperative that all surgeons follow safe and sterile surgical protocols that reduce the chances of infections and ensure satisfactory results.     

Comparative study on linearized robot models

For representing the input—output behaviour of a robot manipulator by a linear time-invariant model, four direct linearization schemes are: (i) state linearization, (ii) linearization based on an identification method, (iii) linearization based on neglecting velocity-dependent and gravity terms and (iv) linearization based on neglecting the velocity-dependent term only (rate linearization). In order to make an appropriate choice of linear model for the development of real-time control, these schemes are extensively studied in this paper. It is shown that the rate linearization method leads to a satisfactory tradeoff between computation, accuracy, and stability. In the case of high velocity motions, a combination of state linearization and rate linearization is proposed.     

Hall effect and thermoelectric studies on Pb and Ag-doped Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O x superconductors

Hall effect and thermoelectric power measurements at room temperature in the magnetic field of 18 kOe on Ag- and Pb-doped Bi₂Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O _x samples indicate that the density of charge carriers decreases with increase in Ag concentration whereas the reverse is observed with Pb. From the reduced scattering factor, it is assumed that the scattering of the charge carriers occurs due to acoustic phonons in the normal state at room temperature.     

Defect Oriented Testing of Analog Circuits Using Wavelet Analysis of Dynamic Supply Current

In recent years, Defect Oriented Testing (DOT) has been investigated as an alternative testing method for analog circuits. In this paper, we propose a wavelet transform based dynamic supply current (IDD) analysis technique for detecting catastrophic and parametric faults in analog circuits. Wavelet transform has the property of resolving events in both time and frequency domain simultaneously unlike Fourier transform which decomposes a signal in frequency components only. Simulation results on benchmark circuits show that wavelet transform has higher fault detection sensitivity than Fourier or time-domain methods and hence, can be considered very promising for defect oriented testing of analog circuits. Effectiveness of wavelet transform based DOT amidst process variation and measurement noise is studied.This research is supported in part by MARCO GSRC under contract number SA3273JB.A paper based on this work was presented at the Fourth IEEE Latin American Test Workshop, Natal, Brazil, February 2003.Swarup Bhunia received the undergraduate degree from Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India, and the Masters degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur. He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.He has worked in the EDA industry on RTL synthesis and verification since 2000. His research interest includes defect-based testing, diagnosis, noise analysis, and noise-aware design.Arijit Raychowdhury received the B.E. degree in 2001 in electronics and telecommunication engineering from Jadavpur University, India. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering in Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.He has worked as an analog circuit designer in Texas Instruments India. His research interests include device/circuit design for scaled silicon and nonsilicon devices. He has received academic excellence awards in 1997, 2000, and 2001 and Messner Fellowship from Purdue University in 2002. Mr. Raychowdhury has been awarded the Best Student Paper Award in the IEEE Nanotechnology Conference, 2003.Kaushik Roy received the B.Tech. degree in electronics and electrical communications engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, and the Ph.D. degree from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1990. He was with the Semiconductor Process and Design Center of Texas Instruments, Dallas, TX, where he worked on FPGA architecture development and low-power circuit design. He joined the electrical and computer engineering faculty, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, in 1993, where he is currently a Professor. His research interests include VLSI design/CAD with particular emphasis in low-power electronics for portable computing and wireless communications, VLSI testing and verification, and reconfigurable computing. He has published more than 250 papers in refereed journals and conferences, holds six patents, and is Co-Author of a book on Low Power CMOS VLSI Design (New York: Wiley). He was Guest Editor for a Special Issue on Low-Power VLSI in IEE Proceedings—Computers and Digital Techniques (July 2002). Dr. Roy received the National Science Foundation Career Development Award in 1995, the IBM Faculty Partnership Award, AT&T/Lucent Foundation Award, Best Paper Awards at the 1997 International Test Conference and 2000 International Symposium on Quality of IC Design, 2003 IEEE Latin American Test Workshop, and 2003 IEEE Nano. He is on the Editorial Board of IEEE Design and Test, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS, and IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VLSI SYSTEMS. He was Guest Editor for a Special Issue on Low-Power VLSI in IEEE DESIGN AND TEST (1994), and for the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VLSI SYSTEMS (June 2000).