Mixed-dimensional consistent coupling by multi-point constraint equations for efficient multi-scale modeling

Finding an appropriate linking method to connect different dimensional element types in a single finite element model is a key issue in the multi-scale modeling. This paper presents a mixed dimensional coupling method using multi-point constraint equations derived by equating the work done on either side of interface connecting beam elements and shell elements for constructing a finite element multiscale model. A typical steel truss frame structure is selected as case example and the reduced scale specimen of this truss section is then studied in the laboratory to measure its dynamic and static behavior in global truss and local welded details while the different analytical models are developed for numerical simulation. Comparison of dynamic and static response of the calculated results among different numerical models as well as the good agreement with those from experimental results indicates that the proposed multi-scale model is efficient and accurate.

The development of ground impact models for the analysis of the risks associated with Unmanned Aircraft Operations over inhabited areas

With the emergence of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) there is a growing need for safety standards and regulatory frameworks to manage the risks associated with their operations. The primary driver for airworthiness regulations (i.e., those governing the design, manufacture, maintenance and operation of UAS) are the risks presented to people in the regions overflown by the aircraft. Models characterising the nature of these risks are needed to inform the development of airworthiness regulations. The output from these models should include measures of the collective, individual and societal risk. A brief review of these measures is provided. Based on the review, it was determined that the model of the operation of an UAS over inhabited areas must be capable of describing the distribution of possible impact locations, given a failure at a particular point in the flight plan. Existing models either do not take the impact distribution into consideration, or propose complex and computationally expensive methods for its calculation. A computationally efficient approach for estimating the boundary (and in turn area) of the impact distribution for fixed wing unmanned aircraft is proposed. A series of geometric templates that approximate the impact distributions are derived using an empirical analysis of the results obtained from a 6-Degree of Freedom (6DoF) simulation. The impact distributions can be aggregated to provide impact footprint distributions for a range of generic phases of flight and missions. The maximum impact footprint areas obtained from the geometric template are shown to have a relative error of typically less than 1% compared to the areas calculated using the computationally more expensive 6DoF simulation. Computation times for the geometric models are on the order of one second or less, using a standard desktop computer. Future work includes characterising the distribution of impact locations within the footprint boundaries.

Large scale monocular vision-only mapping from a fixed-wing sUAS

This paper presents the application of a monocular visual SLAMon a fixed-wing small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) capable of simultaneous estimation of aircraft pose and scene structure. We demonstrate the robustness of unconstrained vision alone in producing reliable pose estimates of a sUAS, at altitude. It is ultimately capable of online state estimation feedback for aircraft control and next-best-view estimation for complete map coverage without the use of additional sensors.We explore some of the challenges of visual SLAM from a sUAS including dealing with planar structure, distant scenes and noisy observations. The developed techniques are applied on vision data gathered from a fast-moving fixed-wing radio control aircraft flown over a 1×1km rural area at an altitude of 20-100m.We present both raw Structure from Motion results and a SLAM solution that includes FAB-MAP based loop-closures and graph-optimised pose. Timing information is also presented to demonstrate near online capabilities. We compare the accuracy of the 6-DOF pose estimates to an off-the-shelfGPS aided INS over a 1.7kmtrajectory.We also present output 3D reconstructions of the observed scene structure and texture that demonstrates future applications in autonomous monitoring and surveying.

The utilization of waste date seed as bio-oil and activated carbon by pyrolysis process

The renovation of biomass waste in the form of date seed waste into activated carbon and biofuel by fixed bed pyrolysis reactor has been focused in this study to obtain gaseous, liquid, and solid products. The date seed in particle form is pyrolysed in an externally heated fixed bed reactor with nitrogen as the carrier gas. The reactor is heated from 400◦C to 600◦C. A maximum liquid yield of 50wt.% and char of 30wt.% are obtained at a reactor bed temperature of 500◦C with a running time of 120 minutes. The oil is found to possess favorable flash point and reasonable density and viscosity. The higher calorific value is found to be 28.636 MJ/kg which is significantly higher than other biomass derived. Decolonization of 85–97% is recorded for the textile effluent and 75–90% for the tannery effluent, in all cases decreasing with temperature increase. Good adsorption capacity of the prepared activated carbon in case of diluted textile and tannery effluent was found.

Design and construction of fixed bed pyrolysis system and plum seed pyrolysis for bio-oil production

This work investigated the production of bio oil from plum seed (Zyziphus jujuba) by fixed bed pyrolysis technology. A fixed bed pyrolysis system has been designed and fabricated for production of bio oil. The major components of the system are: fixed bed reactor, liquid condenser and liquid collector. Nitrogen gas was used to maintain the inert atmosphere in the reactor where the pyrolysis reaction takes place. The feedstock considered in this study is plum seed as it is available waste material in Bangladesh. The reactor is heated by means of a cylindrical biomass external heater. Rice husk was used as the energy source. The products are oil, char and gas. The parameters varied are reactor bed temperature, running time and feed particle size. The parameters are found to influence the product yields significantly. The maximum liquid yield of 39 wt% at 5200C for a feed particle size of 2.36-4.75 mm and a gas flow rate of 8 liter/min with a running time of 120 minute. The pyrolysis oil obtained at these optimum process conditions are analyzed for some of their properties as an alternative fuel. The density of the liquid was closer with diesel. The viscosity of the plum seed liquid was lower than that of the conventional fuels. The calorific value of the pyrolysis oil is one half of the diesel fuel.

Pyrolysis decomposition of mahogony seeds (Swietenia macrophylla) for alternative fuel oil

A fixed bed pyrolysis has been designed and fabricated for obtaining liquid fuel from Mahogany seeds. The major components of the system are fixed bed pyrolysis reactor, liquid condenser and liquid collectors. The Mahogany seed in particle form is pyrolysed in an externally heated 10 cm diameter and 36 cm high fixed bed reactor with nitrogen as the carrier gas. The reactor is heated by means of a biomass source cylindrical heater from 450oC to 600oC. The products are oil, char and gas. The reactor bed temperature, running time and feed particle size are considered as process parameters. A maximum liquid yield of 54wt% of biomass feed is obtained with particle size of 1.18 mm at a reactor bed temperature of 5500C with a running time of 90 minutes. The oil is found to possess favorable flash point and reasonable density and viscosity. The higher calorific value is found to be 39.9 MJ/kg which is higher than other biomass derived pyrolysis oils.

Production of liquid fuel and activated carbon from mahogany seed by using pyrolysis technology

The renovation of biomass waste in the form of Mahogany seed waste into bio-fuel as well as activated carbon by fixed bed pyrolysis reactor has been taken into consideration in this study. The mahogany seed in particle form is pyrolyzed in an enormously heated fixed bed reactor with nitrogen as the carrier gas. The reactor is heated from 4000C to 6000C using a external heater in which rice husk and charcoal are used as the heater biomass fuel. Reactor bed temperature, running time and feed particle size have been varied to get the optimum operating conditions of the system. The parameters are found to influence the product yields to a large extent. A maximum liquid and char yield are 49 wt. % and 35 wt. % respectively obtained at a reactor bed temperature 5000C when the running time is 90 minutes. Acquired pyrolyzed oil at these optimal process conditions were analyzed for some of their properties as an alternative fuel. The oil possesses comparable flame temperature, favorable flash point and reasonable viscosity along with somewhat higher density. The kinematic viscosity of the derived fuel is 3.8 cSt and density is 1525 kg/m3. The higher calorific value is found 32.4 MJ/kg which is significantly higher than other biomass derived fuel. Moderate adsorption capacity of the prepared activated carbon in case of methyl blue & tea water was also revealed.

Point-to-point speed enforcement

This report reviews the use of point-to-point speed enforcement internationally in order to provide principles for better practice for its use in Australia and New Zealand. Point-to-point enforcement is a relatively new technological approach to speed enforcement which involves measuring the average speed of vehicles passing a series of cameras, by using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and other technologies. The approach has been implemented or trialled in a number of countries including Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France. The major research activities were undertaken for the preparation of this report included: (1) an extensive review of the international literature; (2) stakeholder consultation with international and domestic organisations. To date, there have been no formal evaluations of point-to- point speed enforcement in Australia or New Zealand.

Visual servoing approach to collision avoidance for aircraft

This paper presents a reactive Sense and Avoid approach using spherical image-based visual servoing. Avoidance of point targets in the lateral or vertical plane is achieved without requiring an estimate of range. Simulated results for static and dynamic targets are provided using a realistic model of a small fixed wing unmanned aircraft.

Rotorcraft collision avoidance using spherical image-based visual servoing and single point features

This paper presents a reactive collision avoidance method for small unmanned rotorcraft using spherical image-based visual servoing. Only a single point feature is used to guide the aircraft in a safe spiral like trajectory around the target, whilst a spherical camera model ensures the target always remains visible. A decision strategy to stop the avoidance control is derived based on the properties of spiral like motion, and the effect of accurate range measurements on the control scheme is discussed. We show that using a poor range estimate does not significantly degrade the collision avoidance performance, thus relaxing the need for accurate range measurements. We present simulated and experimental results using a small quad rotor to validate the approach.

A deletion and point mutation study of the human papillomavirus type 16 major capsid gene

Recombinant human papillomavirus (HPV) virus-like particles (VLPs) made from the major capsid protein L1 are promising vaccine candidates for use as vaccines against genital and other HPV infections, and particularly against HPV-16. However, HPV-16 genotype variants have different binding affinities for neutralising mouse Mabs raised against HPV-16 L1 VLPs. This paper analyses, using a panel of well-characterised Mabs, the effects on the antigenicity of various C- and N-terminal deletants of HPV-16 L1 made in insect cells via recombinant baculovirus, of an A → T mutation at residue 266 (A266T), and of a C → G mutation at conserved position 428 (C428G). The effects of these changes on assembly of the variant L1s were studied by electron microscopy. Binding of Mab H16:E70 to A266T was reduced by almost half in comparison to wild type L1. Retention of the C-terminal region 428-483 was critical for the binding of conformation-specific Mabs (H16:V5, H16:E70, H16:U4 and H16:9A) whereas deletion of the nuclear localisation signal (NLS) or the C428G mutation or an N-terminal deletion (residues 2-9) did not affect the antigenicity. The N-terminal deletion resulted in a mixed population of 30 and 55 nm VLPs, which differs from the same construct expressed in Escherichia coli, whereas pentamer aggregates resulted from deletion of the 428-465 region or the C428G mutation. The results have implications both for considering use of single-genotype HPV vaccines, and for design of novel second-generation vaccines. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.