Spatial estimation of aquifer’s hydraulic parameters by a combination of borehole data and inverse solution

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - A combination of borehole data interpretation and inverse solution method used to estimate the spatial distribution of hydraulic conductivity...     

Nonsingular Terminal Sliding Mode Control With Ultra-Local Model and Single Input Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Control for Pitch Control of Wind Turbines

As wind energy is becoming one of the fastest-growing renewable energy resources, controlling large-scale wind turbines remains a challenging task due to its system model nonlinearities and high external uncertainties. The main goal of the current work is to propose an intelligent control of the wind turbine system without the need for model identification. For this purpose, a novel model-independent nonsingular terminal sliding-mode control (MINTSMC) using the basic principles of the ultra-local model (ULM) and combined with the single input interval type-2 fuzzy logic control (SIT2-FLC) is developed for non-linear wind turbine pitch angle control. In the suggested control framework, the MINTSMC scheme is designed to regulate the wind turbine speed rotor, and a sliding-mode (SM) observer is adopted to estimate the unknown phenomena of the ULM. The auxiliary SIT2-FLC is added in the model-independent control structure to improve the rotor speed regulation and compensate for the SM observation estimation error. Extensive examinations and comparative analyses were made using a real-time software-in-the-loop (RT-SiL) based on the dSPACE 1202 board to appraise the efficiency and applicability of the suggested model-independent scheme in a real-time testbed.      

Mission independent fault-tolerant control of heterogeneous linear multiagent systems based on adaptive virtual actuator

In this article, a fault-tolerant control (FTC) scheme for linear multiagent systems (MASs) subject to time-varying loss of effectiveness and time-varying additive actuator faults as well as external disturbance is investigated. The main objective of the proposed FTC approach is to keep the performance of an MAS after the occurrence of actuator faults similar to the healthy one. The envisaged adaptive virtual actuator for each agent does not require a separate fault detection, isolation, and identification unit nor does it require any information regarding the mission of the MAS. It is shown that the difference between the states of each agent before and after the occurrence of actuator faults can be made arbitrary small and the ultimate bounds of the state error are also obtained. Furthermore, it is shown that for constant actuator faults the state error of each agent converges to zero. Simulation results corresponding to a team of F-8 aircraft and a heterogeneous MAS with the different order demonstrate and illustrate the effectiveness of our proposed FTC scheme.     

Potential of Ge-adopted Boron Nitride Nanotube as Catalyst for Sulfur Dioxide Oxidation

Protection of Metals and Physical Chemistry of Surfaces - In recent years, the discovery of efficient catalyst with low price to sulfur dioxide (SO2) oxidation in normal temperature is a major...     

Influence of fabrication stresses on fatigue life of friction stir welded aluminium profiles

Influence of clamping and welding procedure on fatigue life of a friction stir (FS) welded aluminium profile has been analysed. Two series of aluminium profiles (series A and B) have been fatigue tested. The different clamping conditions in series A and B gave rise to different failure positions that could not be explained neither by the effective notch stress method, nor by the critical distance methods. The clamping in series A introduced plastic deformation at the weld notch that gave rise to tensile residual stresses. The failure position could be explained from the value of the stress intensity factor provided that the residual stresses were considered.     

Microstructural Evolutions During Reversion Annealing of Cold-Rolled AISI 316 Austenitic Stainless Steel

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - Microstructural evolutions during reversion annealing of a plastically deformed AISI 316 stainless steel were investigated and three distinct stages...     

Carbon nanotube–polymer interactions in nanocomposites: A review

The interaction between carbon nanotubes and polymers is critically reviewed. The interfacial characteristics directly influence the efficiency of nanotube reinforcements in improving mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of the polymer nanocomposite. In this review, various techniques of interaction measurements, including experimental and modelling studies, are described. From the experimental approaches, wetting, spectroscopy and probe microscopy techniques are discussed in detail. Molecular dynamics, coarse grain simulation and density functional theory are also explained as the main modelling approaches in interaction measurement studies. Different methods of interaction improvement, mainly categorized under covalent and noncovalent interactions, are described afterwards. Modelling predictions of nanocomposite properties, such as Young’s modulus, are compared with the experimental results in the literature and the challenges are discussed. Finally, it is concluded that an optimum carbon nanotube–polymer interaction is a key factor towards reaching the full potential of carbon nanotubes in nanocomposites.     

Interaction stresses in carbon nanotube-polymer nanocomposites

A new technique of atomic force microscopy interaction measurement is used to obtain the three-dimensional stress field in nanocomposites made of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrix. This original approach expands the current capability of AFM from imaging and force mapping to three-dimensional stress field measurements. Latest developments in the field have been limited to three-dimensional imaging at the surface only, and one value (adhesion) force mapping. The current work provides the interaction stress results for a PMMA-SWNT nanocomposite and shows a maximum estimated load transfer of less than 7 MPa (the maximum attraction stress estimated). This value is obtained for an unfunctionalized nanocomposite and hence the interaction stress is mainly based on van der Waals interactions. This means that for this system, carbon nanotubes behave similar to an elastic-fully plastic material with a yield stress of less than 7 MPa. This phenomenon illustrates why carbon nanotubes may not show their strong mechanical properties (yield strength of above 10 GPa) in polymeric nanocomposites.