Robust estimation of continuous nonlinear plants with discrete measurements

In this work the problem of designing a state estimator for completely or partially observable continuous nonlinear plants with discrete measurements is addressed. The combination of a geometric approach with a stability analysis yields an estimator design methodology with a nonlinear detectability condition susceptible of testing, a systematic estimator construction, a robust convergence criterion coupled with a simple tuning scheme, as well as a rationale to explain the interplay between sampling time, estimator gains, and estimator functioning. Comparing with the continuous measurement case where the convergence is attained by tuning the gain above a low limit, in the discrete measurement case the loss of information due to the measurement sampling increases the size of the lower gain limit, and imposes sampling time and high gain limits. The proposed methodology is applied to address the estimation problem of a class of solution homopolymerization reactors, and is tested with a methyl-methacrylate polymerization run taken from a previous extended Kalman filter implementation study with experimental data.     

Robust H∞ filtering for uncertain impulsive stochastic systems under sampled measurements

This paper is concerned with the problem of robust H_∞ filtering for uncertain impulsive stochastic systems under sampled measurements. The parameter uncertainties are assumed to be time-varying norm-bounded. The aim is to design a stochastically stable filter, using the locally sampled measurements, which ensures both the robust stochastic stability and a prescribed level of H_∞ performance for the filtering error dynamics for all admissible uncertainties. A sufficient condition for the existence of such a filter is proposed in terms of certain linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). When these LMIs are feasible, an explicit expression of a desired filter is given. An example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

基于四端参数分析的隔振器传递阻抗测量方法

基于四端参数网络分析方法,推导了隔振器传递阻抗的计算公式,利用公式中易于测量的固定状态和自由状态的输入阻抗,得到隔振器的传递阻抗数据.根据该方法原理,测量了两种隔振器的实际传递阻抗,由测量结果可知,该方法具有简单、方便、理论依据明确的优点.     

Thermal stability of the Ta (1 1 1) surface covered with Pd

The thermal stability of Ta(1 1 1) face covered with Pd layers of different thickness was examined by the complementary scanning tunnelling microscope (STM), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), Auger electron spectroscopy and Δφ techniques. It has been found that for thin layers of θ<3 monolayer (ML) heated to 450 K, uplifts appear on the surface that may be treated as an agglomerated form of Pd adsorbate. For layers thicker than θ>3 ML, facets of the {1 1 0} type were observed upon heating to 700 K. Regardless of the conditions of investigation the faceting of the {2 1 1} type did not appear. During the adsorbate desorption the STM images revealed an ordered arrangement of surface atoms in the form of micropyramids composed of 10 atoms each and equally oriented towards the substrate. The appearance of the pyramids on the surface did not affect the observed LEED pattern.     

A finite element formulation to identify damage fields: the equilibrium gap method

It is proposed to determine damage parameters in two dimensions (surface of a material) or three dimensions (in the bulk of a solid) by using full‐field displacement measurements. A finite‐element approach is developed to evaluate piece‐wise constant elastic parameters modeled by an isotropic damage variable. Two sets of examples are discussed. The first series deals with mechanical fields obtained by finite element simulations to assess the performance of the approach. The second series is concerned with displacement measurements performed during a biaxial test on a composite material. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Qualitative Ordinal Scales: The Concept of Ordinal Range

Many practical problems of quality control involve the use of ordinal scales. Questionnaires planned to collect judgments on qualitative or linguistic scales, whose levels are terms such as “good,” “bad,” “medium,” etc., are extensively used both in evaluating service quality and in visual controls for manufacturing industry. In an ordinal environment, the concept of distance between two generic levels of the same scale is not defined. Therefore, a population (universe) of judgments cannot be described using “traditional” statistical distributions since they are based on the notion of distance. The concept of “distribution shape” cannot be defined as well. In this article, we introduce a new statistical entity, the so-called ordinal distribution, to describe a population of judgments expressed on an ordinal scale. We also discuss which of the traditional location and dispersion measures can be used in this context and we briefly analyze some of their properties. A new dispersion measure, the ordinal range, as an extension of the cardinal range to ordinal scales, is then proposed. A practical application in the field of quality is developed throughout the article.     

Low temperature UV/ozone oxidation formation of HfSiON gate dielectric

Physical and electrical properties of hafnium silicon oxynitride (HfSi_xO_yN_z) dielectric films prepared by UV ozone oxidation of hafnium silicon nitride (HfSiN) followed by annealing to 450 °C are reported. Interfacial layer growth was minimized through room temperature deposition and subsequent ultraviolet/ozone oxidation. The capacitance–voltage (C–V) and current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of the as-deposited and annealed HfSi_xO_yN_z are presented. These 4 nm thick films have a dielectric constant of 8–9 with 12 at.% Hf composition, with a leakage current density of 3×10⁻⁵ A/cm² at V_fb+1 V. The films have a breakdown field strength >10 MV/cm.     

A new didactic approach to statistical analysis of measurement data for the evaluation of measurement uncertainty – “SAM–EMU”

This paper describes assumptions, aims, methodology, content and consortium make up of a European project (SAM–EMU) founded under the Erasmus Lifelong Learning Programme. The project has developed learning materials in the field of evaluation of measurement uncertainty. It is available in the form of a multimedia web based course, which has many advantages. This format is commonly accepted as a good way to prepare an EU wide vocational training vehicle. The course is available in English.     

Comparative topographic study of surface micro‐relief of primary martensite plates in shape memory alloys with different crystalline structures

The surface micro‐reliefs of primary martensite plates, representative for two shape memory alloys (SMAs) with different crystalline structures were compared from qualitative and quantitative point of view by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, respectively. Qualitative evaluations revealed larger widths and heights of the primary plates of ε hexagonal close packed (hcp) martensite, in an Fe‐Mn‐Si‐Cr‐Ni SMA than those of β₂′ orthorhombic (9R) martensite, in a Cu‐Zn‐Al SMA. Quantitative evaluations were based on systematic dimensional measurements of the width and height of primary plate profiles. The measurements were performed on one hundred and twenty five profiles, five on each martensite plate belonging to five typical groups of primary plates, with length above 50 micrometers, of both ε hcp and β₂′ 9R martensites. In order to compare the topographies of the two types of plates a statistical evaluation of the dimensional intervals of width and height of measured plates was performed.     

Study of the dimensional instabilities of laminated polypropylene films during heating treatments

Ensuring the geometrical stability of organic coatings is a key challenge for steel/polymer composites produced by the automotive industry to reduce the cars' weight. During the thermal treatment of painting, which exceeds the melting temperature of the organic part of the laminated film, polymer shrinkage may occur. It induces uncovered parts of the steel sheet which would present negative corrosion behavior in use. Two original and innovative experiments were presented. They enable to measure the deformation induced by the shrinkage and then to identify the microstructural mechanisms responsible for its appearance. Main results show strong influences of the macromolecular chains orientation induced by the film extrusion process and of the postheating parameters used to perform the painting curing. Raman spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry are used both to perform analysis of the microstructure evolution during heating treatments in terms of crystals melting, crystalline macromolecular chains disorientation, and volume damage healing. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012