The dynamics of industrial emergence

The need to stimulate, identify and nurture new industries is a prominent challenge in advanced economies. While basic science represents a valuable source of new ideas and opportunities, it can often take decades before this science finally finds application in the market. While numerous studies have to date focused on aspects of industrial evolution, (e.g. innovation, internationalisation, new product introduction, technological lifecycles and emerging technologies), far fewer have focused on technology-based industrial emergence. It is clear that if assistance is to be provided to firms and industrial policymakers attempting to navigate industrial emergence then we need an improved understanding of the characteristics and dynamics of this phenomenon. Accordingly, this paper reviews published work from a range of disparate disciplines - evolutionary theory, social construction of technology (SCOT), complexity science, industrial dynamics and technology management - to identify these dynamics. Through this review we conceptualise industrial emergence as a co-evolutionary process in which nonlinear dynamics operate. Industrial emergence is sensitive to the initial availability of resources and the market applications, with growth dependent on the supply-demand coupling, agents' actions to reduce uncertainty and catalytic events. Through synthesizing these key dynamics we go on to propose a conceptual model for industrial emergence. © 2010 IEEE.

Effects of turbulent reynolds number on the displacement speed statistics in the thin reaction zones regime of turbulent premixed combustion

The effects of turbulent Reynolds number on the statistical behaviour of the displacement speed have been studied using three-dimensional Direct Numerical Simulation of statistically planar turbulent premixed flames. The probability of finding negative values of the displacement speed is found to increase with increasing turbulent Reynolds number when the Damkhler number is held constant. It has been shown that the statistical behaviour of the Surface Density Function, and its strain rate and curvature dependence, plays a key role in determining the response of the different components of displacement speed. Increasing the turbulent Reynolds number is shown to reduce the strength of the correlations between tangential strain rate and dilatation rate with curvature, although the qualitative nature of the correlations remains unaffected. The dependence of displacement speed on strain rate and curvature is found to weaken with increasing turbulent Reynolds number when either Damkhler or Karlovitz number is held constant, but the qualitative nature of the correlation remains unaltered. The implications of turbulent Reynolds number effects in the context of Flame Surface Density (FSD) modelling have also been addressed, with emphasis on the influence of displacement speed on the curvature and propagation terms in the FSD balance equation. © 2011 Nilanjan Chakraborty et al.

Statistics and modelling of turbulent kinetic energy transport in different regimes of premixed combustion

The statistical behaviour of turbulent kinetic energy transport in turbulent premixed flames is analysed using data from three-dimensional Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of freely propagating turbulent premixed flames under decaying turbulence. For flames within the corrugated flamelets regime, it is observed that turbulent kinetic energy is generated within the flame brush. By contrast, for flames within the thin reaction zones regime it has been found that the turbulent kinetic energy decays monotonically through the flame brush. Similar trends are observed also for the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy. Within the corrugated flamelets regime, it is demonstrated that the effects of the mean pressure gradient and pressure dilatation within the flame are sufficient to overcome the effects of viscous dissipation and are responsible for the observed augmentation of turbulent kinetic energy in the flame brush. In the thin reaction zones regime, the effects of the mean pressure gradient and pressure dilatation terms are relatively much weaker than those of viscous dissipation, resulting in a monotonic decay of turbulent kinetic energy across the flame brush. The modelling of the various unclosed terms of the turbulent kinetic energy transport equation has been analysed in detail. The predictions of existing models are compared with corresponding quantities extracted from DNS data. Based on this a-priori DNS assessment, either appropriate models are identified or new models are proposed where necessary. It is shown that the turbulent flux of turbulent kinetic energy exhibits counter-gradient (gradient) transport wherever the turbulent scalar flux is counter-gradient (gradient) in nature. A new model has been proposed for the turbulent flux of turbulent kinetic energy, and is found to capture the qualitative and quantitative behaviour obtained from DNS data for both the corrugated flamelets and thin reaction zones regimes without the need to adjust any of the model constants. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Application of scalar dissipation rate modelling to industrial burners in partially premixed regimes

The objective of this paper is to test various available turbulent burning velocity models on an experimental version of Siemens small scale combustor using the commercial CFD code. Failure of burning velocity model with different expressions for turbulent burning velocity is observed with an unphysical flame flashback into the swirler. Eddy Dissipation Model/Finite Rate Chemistry is found to over-predict mean temperature and species concentrations. Solving for reaction progress equation with its variance using scalar dissipation rate modelling produced reasonably good agreement with the available experimental data. Two different turbulence models Shear Stress Transport (SST) and Scale Adaptive Simulation (SAS) SST are tested and results from transient SST simulations are observed to be predicting well. SAS-SST is found to under-predict with temperature and species distribution.

Psychometric evaluation and experimental validation of the statistics anxiety rating scale.

The Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS) was adapted into German to examine its psychometric properties (n = 400). Two validation studies (n = 66, n = 96) were conducted to examine its criterion-related validity. The psychometric properties of the questionnaire were very similar to those previously reported for the original English version in various countries and other language versions. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated 2 second-order factors: One was more closely related to anxiety and the other was more closely related to negative attitudes toward statistics. Predictive validity of the STARS was shown both in an experimental exam-like situation in the laboratory and during a real examination situation. Taken together, the findings indicate that statistics anxiety as assessed by the STARS is a useful construct that is more than just an expression of a more general disposition to anxiety.

Selecting a multi-agent system development tool for industrial applications: A case study of self-serving aircraft assets

Industrialists have few example processes they can benchmark against in order to choose a multi-agent development kit. In this paper we present a review of commercial and academic agent tools with the aim of selecting one for developing an intelligent, self-serving asset architecture. In doing so, we map and enhance relevant assessment criteria found in literature. After a preliminary review of 20 multiagent platforms, we examine in further detail those of JADE, JACK and Cougaar. Our findings indicate that Cougaar is well suited for our requirements, showing excellent support for criteria such as scalability, persistence, mobility and lightweightness. © 2010 IEEE.