Prediction of suspended sediment concentration from water quality variables

This study investigates use of water quality (WQ) variables, namely total chromium concentration, total iron concentration, and turbidity for predicting suspended sediment concentration (SSC). For this purpose, the artificial neural networks (ANNs) and regression analysis (RA) models are employed. Seven different RA models are constructed, considering the functional relation between measured WQ variables and SSC. The WQ and SSC data are fortnightly obtained from six monitoring stations, located on the stream Harsit, Eastern Black Sea Basin, Turkey. A total of 132 water samples are collected from April 2009 to February 2010. Model prediction results reveal that ANN is able to predict SSC from WQ data, with mean absolute error (MAE) of 10.30 mg/L and root mean square error (RMSE) of 13.06 mg/L. Among seven RA models, the best one, which has the form including all independent parameters, produces results comparable to those of ANN, with MAE = 14.28 mg/L and RMSE = 15.35 mg/L. The sensitivity analysis results reveal that the most effective parameter on the SSC is total chromium concentration. These results have time- and cost-saving implications.     

The influence of manganese addition on mechanical properties of commercial Al‐4Mg casting alloys

The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanical properties of Al‐Mg‐Si alloys aged to peak hardness with different dispersoid volume fraction. It was found that the tensile strength increases with dispersoid content, for alloys having similar ductility. The effect of an increasingly triaxial stress state on a fracture strain above mentioned alloys were measured using a series of notched tensile specimens whose notch root radius of curvature was changed. The alloy ductility was found to increase with dispersoid content and root radius and to decrease with increased stress triaxiality. The fracture toughness of these alloys was determined as a function of dispersoid content and notch root radius of curvature. It was observed that the fracture toughness increased as the dispersoid content and the notch root radius increased. scanning electron microscope analysis of the fracture surfaces revealed that fracture mechanism was transgranular fracture with dimples formation. It is argued that optimum mechanical properties in these alloys can be achieved at about 0.5 % Mn content.     

Comparison of OR and AI methods in discrete manufacturing using fuzzy logic

Since 1950s the techniques of Operations Research (OR) and Optimization have been utilized to increase the efficiency of the production systems. With the widespread use of computers, it has even become easier to deal with industrial problems. However the complexity of the problems still reveals the difficulty in providing solutions. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) seems to attract the attention of the researcher to overcome to the difficulties. This has already been realized with several successful applications. In this study, the use of AI and OR techniques is compared using fuzzy logic. The progress of manufacturing systems, characteristics of production processes, system managements and system behavior are taken into account. The study is focussed on only discrete manufacturing.     

Stochastic resonance in binary composite hypothesis-testing problems in the Neyman–Pearson framework

Performance of some suboptimal detectors can be enhanced by adding independent noise to their inputs via the stochastic resonance (SR) effect. In this paper, the effects of SR are studied for binary composite hypothesis-testing problems. A Neyman–Pearson framework is considered, and the maximization of detection performance under a constraint on the maximum probability of false-alarm is studied. The detection performance is quantified in terms of the sum, the minimum, and the maximum of the detection probabilities corresponding to possible parameter values under the alternative hypothesis. Sufficient conditions under which detection performance can or cannot be improved are derived for each case. Also, statistical characterization of optimal additive noise is provided, and the resulting false-alarm probabilities and bounds on detection performance are investigated. In addition, optimization theoretic approaches to obtaining the probability distribution of optimal additive noise are discussed. Finally, a detection example is presented to investigate the theoretical results.     

Clean energy investment scenarios using the Bayesian network

Clean energy investment decisions are getting more difficult to make due to public reactions. In order to support the policies in the field, analysis of the positive conditions is needed. This research aims to construct the positive scenarios for nuclear energy and renewable energy investments in the state of Oregon, USA. The Bayesian network technique will be used to create the scenarios. Oregon has a wide range of renewable energies; hence, investment is becoming more complex. Criteria affecting the decisions are taken from the literature, but were reviewed with energy authorities in Oregon in order to define the interactions.     

Synthesis,characterization of poly‐2‐ (2‐hydroxybenzylideneamino)‐6‐phenyl‐4,5,6, 7‐tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophene‐3‐carbonitrile: Investigation of antibacterial activity and optical properties

The oxidative polycondensation reaction conditions of 2‐(2‐hydroxybenzylideneamino)‐6‐phenyl‐4,5,6,7‐tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophene‐3‐carbonitrile were examined. The magnitude of the reflectance of the polymer decreases sharply with increasing of wavelength up to 524 nm, then reflectance of the polymer increases slowly with increasing of wavelength. The refractive index values of the polymer vary from 1.474 to 2.350. The E_p and E_d values of the polymer were found to be 4.56 and 7.068 eV, respectively. Absorption coefficient K of the polymer is of the order 817.062–1434.77 m^?1. Angle values of incidence and refraction of the polymer vary from 57.36 to 66.95° and from 23.05 to 32.65°, respectively. The film‐phase thickness of the polymer increases with increasing photon energy. The thickness, d, of the polymer was of the order 439.3–4184.7 Å for 190 and 1100 nm, respectively. The real part of dielectric constant of the polymer decreases slowly with increasing of frequency up to about 600 THz, then the real part of dielectric constant of the polymer increases sharply with increasing of frequency. The real and imaginary parts of dielectric constant of the polymer vary from 2.17 to 5.52 and from 5.81 × 10^?5 to 3.58 × 10^?4, respectively. Finally, polymer was tested for antibacterial activities against some bacteria. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Heat transfer enhancement in a slot channel via a transversely oscillating adiabatic circular cylinder

Heat transfer enhancement in a uniformly heated slot channel due to vortices shed from a transversely oscillating adiabatic circular cylinder is investigated. Effects of the cylinder motion and vortex shedding on heat transfer are systematically assessed by varying the cylinder oscillation frequency from 75% to 125% of the natural vortex shedding frequency of a fixed cylinder within the same domain. Numerical simulations at Re = 100 and 0.1 ? Pr ? 10 are performed using spectral element discretization of Navier-Stokes and energy equations in a moving domain based on an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation. Results within the thermally developing flow region show heat transfer enhancement due to the placement of a stationary cylinder compared to the straight channel case. Transverse oscillations of the cylinder further increase the wall heat transfer coefficient. Pumping power in the channel and the power necessary to oscillate the cylinder is also provided for comparisons. Cylinder oscillations with 75% of the natural vortex shedding frequency is shown to yield the best results with only 10% more power to pump the fluid, compared with the fixed cylinder case.     

Influence of Growth Rate on Eutectic Spacing,Microhardness, and Ultimate Tensile Strength in the Directionally Solidified Al-Cu-Ni Eutectic Alloy

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - In this work, the mechanical properties of the Al-Cu-Ni eutectic alloy, Al-32.5 wt pct Cu-1 wt pct Ni, were investigated in terms of...     

Operation of a frequency-narrowed high-beam quality broad-area laser by a passively stabilized external cavity technique

The average spectral bandwidth of a 2 W broad-area diode laser was narrowed to 5 GHz with wavelength tunability of up to 12 nm at a center wavelength of 790 nm with the use of a Littman-Metcalf external cavity in a displaced configuration. The use of lens and combined lens-laser transformation systems allowed precise alignment of the beam shaping optics, which led to significant improvements of the beam quality and an enhanced suppression of the free-running laser modes. We characterize the spatial beam quality of our external cavity diode laser by measuring the M2 quality factor and relate this to our measured bandwidths. Our external cavity can be configured over a range of cavity lengths and is modular in design, enabling access to a broad frequency spectrum for a wide range of applications that require high-power, narrow bandwidth operation.     

Rapid determination of the fracture toughness of metallic materials using circumferentially notched bars

Three types of material whose fracture toughness tests were previously performed by using circumferentially notched bars, namely (1) a dual-phase steel with three different morphologies; (2) an Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-wrought alloy; and (3) Al-Si-cast alloys with three different Si contents, were investigated in terms of accuracy and reliability of the testing method. Also, the advantages of using circumferentially notched bars for fracture toughness determination of metallic materials were discussed. With the help of stress concentration factors, which are associated with the bluntness of the notch, correction factors for the fracture toughness calculations are derived. The corrected fracture toughness values are found to be close to the uncorrected ones, implying that the testing procedure is reliable.