Optimal operating conditions to maximize the net power of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells: The stack-system interface of a commercial 18 kW module

A new, experimental method based on air flow rate rather than current is presented to optimize operating parameters for the stacks and systems of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for maximizing their net power. This approach is illustrated for a commercial 18 kW PEMFC module. The impact of contamination pressure drop across the cathode air filter is also investigated on the compressor behavior. It is further shown that a 4V reduction in the compressor voltage reduces its power consumption by 9.1%. Using the 3D graphs of the power-pressure-flow data, it is found that the stack pressure of 180 kPaa is superior to the higher tested pressures as it enhances the net power by 7.0 and 13.7% at different conditions. Application of the present study will lead to the development of PEMFCs with higher power output by optimizing stack pressure, stoichiometry and air flow to properly deliver the system design specifications.     

Semirigid inclusions in elastic bodies: Mechanical interplay and optimal control

The paper concerns an analysis of an equilibrium problem for 2D elastic body with two semirigid inclusions. It is assumed that inclusions have a joint point, and we investigate a junction problem for these inclusions. The existence of solutions is proved, and different equivalent formulations of the problem are proposed. We investigate a convergence to infinity of a rigidity parameter of the semirigid inclusion. It is proved that in the limit, we obtain an equilibrium problem for the elastic body with a rigid inclusion and a semirigid one. A parameter identification problem is investigated. In particular, the existence of a solution to a suitable optimal control problem is proved.     

Unconditional stability and error estimates of the modified characteristics FEMs for the time-dependent incompressible MHD equations

This paper focuses on the unconditional stability and convergence of characteristics type methods for the time-dependent incompressible MHD equations. For this purpose, we introduce a new characteristics time-discrete system. The optimal error estimates in $L^2$ and $H^1$ norms for the typical modified characteristics finite element method unconditionally can be deduced, while the whole previous works require certain time-step restrictions. Some numerical experiments document performance of the characteristics type methods for the time-dependent incompressible MHD equations.     

Numerical analysis of history-dependent hemivariational inequalities and applications to viscoelastic contact problems with normal penetration

In this paper numerical approximation of history-dependent hemivariational inequalities with constraint is considered, and corresponding Céa’s type inequality is derived for error estimate. For a viscoelastic contact problem with normal penetration, an optimal order error estimate is obtained for the linear element method. A numerical experiment for the contact problem is reported which provides numerical evidence of the convergence order predicted by the theoretical analysis.     

Owner’s Risk Allocation and Contractor’s Role Behavior in a Project: A Parallel-mediation Model

Risk allocation decisions are of critical importance in project management. The present study proposes an explanation for how risk allocation in a contract motivates a contractor to cooperate with a project owner. Theories of risk allocation and trust were used to motivate the research. Using a survey methodology, we collected data concerning 124 construction projects in China. We found that risk allocation influenced the contractor’s role behavior through the contractor’s feeling of being trusted but not the contractor’s trust in the owner. Feeling of being trusted partially mediated the effect of risk allocation on the contractor’s in-role (i.e., contractual) behavior and fully mediated the effect on extra-role behavior. The study introduces a social and psychological view of the impacts of risk allocation to the project and engineering management literature. We contribute to theory by arguing and demonstrating the mediating effect of trust on the relationship between risk allocation and contractor behavior. From a practical standpoint, we conclude that contractual risk allocation has a significant impact on building a trusting relationship between owners and contractors and that contractors who feel trusted perform both contractually mandated actions and actions external to the contract more diligently, resulting in the likelihood of improved outcomes for both parties.     

Allocation and sizing of battery energy storage system for primary frequency control based on bio-inspired methods: A case study

This paper presents a new procedure for optimal allocation and optimal sizing of a battery energy storage system (BESS) for primary frequency support in an isolated power system. For the BESS allocation, a transmission bus system with larger frequency decline is recognized and the BESS sizing is performed by a constrained optimization strategy based on a new modified metaheuristic, called Developed Harris Hawks Optimization (DHHO). The simulation results of the suggested DHHO are compared with Bat Optimization Algorithm (BOA) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) from the literature to show the method efficiency. The final results showed higher precision with lower required iterations for the suggested DHHO method. Also, the proposed DHHO gives lower investment costs for BESS with lower power and energy requirement toward the other compared methods.     

A design of a robust discrete-time controller

In this paper, we proposed a robust discrete-time controller. This control system, which is derived from the idea of the normalized plant, does not include plant parameters. Thus, we obtain a control system independent of plant parameters and that has the same structure as a conventional optimal servo control system. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method is fairly robust to plant parameter variations and external disturbances.     

Material-point erosion simulation of dynamic fragmentation of metals

We present a validation assessment of the eigenerosion scheme applied in conjunction with the Optimal Transportation Meshfree (OTM) method. The assessment is based on the detonation-driven 304L steel spherical-cap fragmentation experiments of Campbell et al. (2007). Metrics used for purposes of validation include the velocity history of a witness point of the shell and the histogram of recovered fragment sizes. The results of the simulations are found to be in overall good agreement with the experimental measurements, especially when allowances are made for uncertainties in the characterization of the drive and material properties. The ability of the approach to predictively simulate exceedingly complex patterns of fracture and fragmentation under severe conditions of loading and material behavior is remarkable, especially in consideration of the simplicity of the fracture model and its implementation.