Hybrid polymer matrix composite (UHMWPE-HPMC) as solid particle erosion resistant coating for sharp pipe elbows using numerical simulation and experimental analysis

A hybrid polymer matrix composite coating, resistant to solid particle erosion inside sharp elbows, consisting interlocking chains of molecules with the ability to deflect the surface impact stress and to uniformly distribute stresses along the hard-ceramic reinforcement mixture surface was developed. Formulated mixture of ceramic reinforcement particles mixtures (alumina, tungsten carbide, and silicon carbide) with polymer coupling agents; to increase adhesion to the metal surface, led to 600–700 HVN in ternary and 500–550 HVN in binary mixtures. This behavior coincides with high shear strength of 70–76 MPa, Young's and shear modulus of 8.86 and 13.4 GPa in ternary 15%Al₂O₃-5%WC-10%SiC, respectively. The low erosion weight loss of 0.1% and small coefficient of friction near 0.18 indicates the significant wear resistance of the ternary sample. The electron microscopic micrographs determined the dense smooth coating surfaces with adhesive interfaces with the substrate.     

Minimization of exceptional elements and voids in the cell formation problem using a multi-objective genetic algorithm

Cell formation problem is the main issue in designing cellular manufacturing systems. The most important objective in the cell formation problem is to minimize the number of exceptional elements which helps to reduce the number of intercellular movements. Another important but rarely used objective function is to minimize the number of voids inside of the machine cells. This objective function is considered in order to increase the utilization of the machines. We present a bi-objective mathematical model to simultaneously minimize the number of exceptional elements and the number of voids in the part machine incidence matrix. An ε-constraint method is then applied to solve the model and to generate the efficient solutions. Because of the NP-hardness of the model, the optimal algorithms can not be used in large-scale problems and therefore, we have also developed a bi-objective genetic algorithm. Some numerical examples are considered to illustrate the performance of the model and the effectiveness of the solution algorithms. The results demonstrate that in comparison with the ε-constraint method, the proposed genetic algorithm can obtain efficient solution in a reasonable run time.     

A novel hybrid genetic algorithm for the open shop scheduling problem

In this paper, a hybrid genetic algorithm is proposed for the open shop scheduling problem with the objective of minimizing the makespan. In the proposed algorithm, a specialized crossover operator is used that preserves the relative order of jobs on machines and a strategy is applied to prevent from searching redundant solutions in the mutation operator. Moreover, an iterative optimization heuristic is employed which uses the concept of randomized active schedules, a dispatching index based on the longest remaining processing time rule and a lower bound to further decrease the search space. Computational results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms other genetic algorithms and is very competitive with well-known metaheuristics available in the literature.     

Mathematical Modeling the Drying of Poplar Wood Particles in a Closed-Loop Triple Pass Rotary Dryer

Closed-loop drying systems are an attractive alternative to conventional drying systems because they provide a wide range of potential advantages. Consequently, type of drying process is attracting increased interest. Rotary drying of wood particles can be assumed as an incorporated process involving fluid–solid interactions and simultaneous heat and mass transfer within and between the particles. Understanding these mechanisms during rotary drying processes may result in determination of the optimum drying parameters and improved dryer design. In this study, due to the complexity and nonlinearity of the momentum, heat, and mass transfer equations, a computerized mathematical model of a closed-loop triple-pass concurrent rotary dryer was developed to simulate the drying behavior of poplar wood particles within the dryer drums. Wood particle moisture content and temperature, drying air temperature, and drying air humidity ratio along the drums lengths can be simulated using this model. The model presented in this work has been shown to successfully predict the steady-state behavior of a concurrent rotary dryer and can be used to analyze the effects of various drying process parameters on the performance of the closed-loop triple-pass rotary dryer to determine the optimum drying parameters. The model was also used to simulate the performance of industrial closed-loop rotary dryers under various operating conditions.     

Effect of surface modification of fibers on the medium density fiberboard properties

Surface modification of mixed hardwoods fibers by sodium hydroxide (NaOH) was conducted to investigate the effect of chemical treatment on the fiber properties along with physico-mechanical characteristics of the medium density fiberboard (MDF). The results indicated that the NaOH treatments can dissolve a portion of hemicelluloses and almost all amount of extractives from the fibers, but it was not strong enough to remove the lignin thoroughly. The FTIR results illustrated that chemical changes can occur during the various NaOH treatments of the fibers. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the crystallinity of the studied fibers increased after the alkaline treatment. Investigation of mechanical properties of the MDF showed that modulus of rupture and internal bond strength of the treated samples were decreased compared to the control ones. In addition, water absorption and thickness swelling of treated boards were higher than that of untreated samples. This study indicated that the physico-mechanical properties of the boards were negatively affected by the NaOH treatment.     

Integrating cell formation with cellular layout and operations scheduling

Designing a cellular manufacturing (CM) system involves three major decisions: cell formation (CF), cellular layout (CL), and cellular scheduling (CS). The integrated design of CM systems is investigated in this paper by proposing two mathematical models. The first model integrates cellular layout problem with cell formation problem to determine optimal cell configuration and the layout of machines and cells in order to minimize the total movement costs. The second model takes also the cellular scheduling into consideration with the objective of minimizing the total completion time of parts. Two genetic algorithms are developed to solve the real-sized problems. The proposed models are formulated as mixed integer linear programming, and two numerical examples are solved in order to investigate the effects of integration in the CM systems design. The results show that considering CF, CL, and CS decisions in a simultaneous manner can significantly improve the performance of the CM systems.     

Sythhesis of coral‐like and spherical nanoparticles of barium titanate using factorial and Taguchi experimental design

High purity barium titanate (BaTiO₃) nanoparticle and its coral like architectures were synthesized in a laboratory scale from BaO and TiCl₄ by microwave hydrothermal processing using a mixture of 0.1:2 volume ratio of Triethanalamine and distilled deionized water. The products were characterized by XRD, LLS, SEM and wet chemical analysis. The size of barium titanate particles was in the range of 5–25 nm with average particle size of 15.5 nm. The two dimensional coral – like product had the diameter of (3–18 nm and length of 140–420 nm). The experiments were designed to fulfill the 2³ factorial and L₄ Taguchi designs. Data analysis was performed using MINITAB software.     

A coupled stream function-finite element analysis for wire drawing processes

A numerical approach has been developed based on the stream function technique and the finite element analysis to predict required power and temperature rise in wire drawing processes. An admissible velocity field is first proposed using a stream function and then power consumption in the wire drawing is optimized to achieve sensible and unique deformation geometry. In addition, the finite element method together with axi-symmetric Petrov?CGalerkin algorithm is coupled with the deformation model to assess the temperature distribution in both the deforming wire and the die during the process. The work hardening effects are also considered in the model both in the deformation zone and on the velocity discontinuity surfaces. The model can estimate the effects of various process parameters such as drawing velocity and die geometry. In order to evaluate the results of the model, the predictions are compared with the established models including force equilibrium as a lower-bound approach and an upper-bound solution based on the spherical velocity field.     

The beryllium / strontium doped hydrogen storage alanate nano powders for concentrating solar thermal power applications

Nanopowders with MeH₂ and Me_m:1-7AlH_n:4-7 (Me:Be/Sr) stoichiometry are synthesized with different aluminum: alkaline earth metal (beryllium and strontium) 0.1 atomic weight ratio step. Hydrogen storage nanoparticles (beryllium hydride-strontium hydride-strontium alanate) have orthorhombic crystal structure, with one step dissociation near 150 °C with ~8 wt% hydrogen in alane to one step in BeH₂ at 250 °C with 18 wt%, to a one step in SrH₂ at 240 °C with 2.1 wt%, and two steps in strontium alanate at 147 and 240 °C with 1.1 and 5.1 wt%. Particles are near 20–70 nm with small crystallite sizes about 6–21 nm in all hydride, alanate and residual ((metallic aluminum and beryllium) and alloyed aluminum, AlSr, Al₄Sr, Al₂Sr intermetallic) phases. Results indicate a controllable process for hydride and alanates nanopowders formation with exact dissociation temperatures/hydrogen release. Nanoparticles show consistent reversibility and cyclic behavior without reducing storage capacity, suitable for concentrating solar power applications.     

Fixed-time sliding mode observer-based controller for a class of uncertain nonlinear double integrator systems

This paper investigates a fixed-time convergence issue using the sliding mode observer-based controller for a class of uncertain nonlinear double integrator systems. This observer-based controller is designed assuming that only the first state measurement is available and there is no information about external disturbances and modeling uncertainties. A new form of sliding mode observer in combination with a sliding mode controller is designed to estimate unmeasured state and unknown disturbances and uncertainties as well as provide the estimated data in the control law. A novel form of sliding surfaces for the robust observer-based controller is proposed for which fixed-time convergence is guaranteed to achieve trajectory tracking. In the proposed fixed-time scheme, the bound on the settling time is user-defined using design parameters regardless of the system's initial conditions. The control law and observer law are designed such that the chattering issue is alleviated in the control signal. The stability analysis of the closed-loop system using the observer-based controller is established via the Lyapunov theory. The validity of the controller design is tested by applying and simulating an example of a robot manipulator in Simulink/MATLAB. The superiority of the proposed method is demonstrated by comparing it with two other methods from the relevant literature.