Transient Stability Analysis of a Power System with High Wind Penetration

This paper presents transient stability analysis for a power system with high wind penetration. The transient stability has been evaluated based on two stability criteria: rotor angle stability and voltage stability. A modified IEEE-14 bus system has been used as the main study network and simulations have been conducted at several wind power penetration levels, defined as a fraction of total system generation. A wide range of scenarios have been presented based on the wind farm voltage at the point of connection, i.e. low voltage (LV) distribution level and high voltage (HV) transmission level, and the type of wind generator technology, i.e. fixed speed induction generator (FSIG) and doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG).

Application of heterogeneous catalysts prepared by mechanochemical synthesis

Mechanochemical synthesis has the potential to provide more sustainable preparative routes to catalysts than the current multistep solvent-based routes. In this review, the mechanochemical synthesis of catalysts is discussed, with emphasis placed on catalysts for environmental, energy and chemical synthesis applications. This includes the formation of mixed-metal oxides as well as the process of dispersing metals onto solid supports. In most cases the process involves no solvent. Encouragingly, there are several examples where the process is advantageous compared with the more normal solvent-based methods. This can be because of process cost or simplicity, or, notably, where it provides more active/selective catalysts than those made by conventional wet chemical methods. The need for greater, and more systematic, exploration of this currently unconventional approach to catalyst synthesis is highlighted.

The prediction of process-induced deformation in a thermoplastic composite in support of manufacturing simulation

Digital manufacturing techniques can simulate complex assembly sequences using computer-aided design-based, as-designed' part forms, and their utility has been proven across several manufacturing sectors including the ship building, automotive and aerospace industries. However, the reality of working with actual parts and composite components, in particular, is that geometric variability arising from part forming or processing conditions can cause problems during assembly as the as-manufactured' form differs from the geometry used for any simulated build validation. In this work, a simulation strategy is presented for the study of the process-induced deformation behaviour of a 90 degrees, V-shaped angle. Test samples were thermoformed using pre-consolidated carbon fibre-reinforced polyphenylene sulphide, and the processing conditions were re-created in a virtual environment using the finite element method to determine finished component angles. A procedure was then developed for transferring predicted part forms from the finite element outputs to a digital manufacturing platform for the purpose of virtual assembly validation using more realistic part geometry. Ultimately, the outcomes from this work can be used to inform process condition choices, material configuration and tool design, so that the dimensional gap between as-designed' and as-manufactured' part forms can be reduced in the virtual environment.

Prediction of failure and fracture mechanisms of polymeric composites using finite element analysis. Part 1:Particulate filled composites

Micro-mechanical analysis of polymeric composites provides a powerful means for the quantitative assessment of their bulk behavior. In this paper we describe a robust finite element model (FEM) for the micro-structural modeling of the behavior of particulate filled polymer composites under external loads. The developed model is applied to simulate stress distribution in polymer composites containing particulate fillers. Quantitative information about the magnitude and location of maximum stress concentrations obtained from these simulations is used to predict the dominant failure and crack growth mechanisms in these composites. The model predictions are compared with the available experimental data and also with the values found using other methods reported in the literature. These comparisons show the range of the validity of the developed model and its predictive potential.

Wear analysis and prediction of the life of a riveting die used in the automotive industry

Knowledge on the life span of the riveting dies used in the automotive industry is sparse. It is often the case that only when faulty products are produced are workers aware that their tool needs to be changed. This is of course costly both in terms of time and money. Responding to this challenge, this paper proposes a methodology which integrates wear and stress analysis to quantify the life of a riveting die. Experiments are carried out to measure the applied load required to split a rivet. The obtained results (i.e. force curves) are used to validate the wear mechanisms of the die observed using scanning electron microscopy. Sliding, impact, and adhesive wears are observed on the riveting die after a certain number of riveting cycles. The stress distribution on the die during riveting is simulated using a finite element (FE) approach. In order to confirm the accuracy of the FE model, the experimental force results are compared with the ones produced from FE simulation. The maximum and minimum von Mises' stresses generated from the FE model are input into a Goodman diagram and an S-N curve to compute the life of the riveting die. It is found that the riveting die is predicted to run for 4 980 000 cycles before failure.

Prediction of failure and fracture mechanisms of polymeric composites using finite element analysis. Part 2:Fiber reinforced composites

A robust finite element scheme for the micro-mechanical modeling of the behavior of fiber reinforced polymeric composites under external loads is developed. The developed model is used to simulate stress distribution throughout the composite domain and to identify the locations where maximum stress concentrations occur. This information is used as a guide to predict dominant failure and crack growth mechanisms in fiber reinforced composites. The differences between continuous fibers, which are susceptible to unidirectional transverse fracture, and short fibers have been demonstrated. To assess the validity and range of applicability of the developed scheme, numerical results obtained by the model are compared with the available experimental data and also with the values found using other methods reported in the literature. These comparisons show that the present finite element scheme can generate meaningful results in the analysis of fiber reinforced composites.

Prediction of Transonic LCOs using an Aeroelastic Harmonic Balance Method

This work proposes a novel approach to compute transonic Lim
it Cycle Oscillations using high fidelity analysis. CFD based Harmonic Balance methods have proven to be efficient tools to predict periodic phenomena. This paper’s contribution is to present a new methodology to determine the unknown frequency of oscillations, enabling HB methods to accurately capture Limit Cycle Oscillations (LCOs); this is achieved by defining a frequency updating procedure based on a coupled CFD/CSD Harmonic Balance formulation to find the LCO condition. A pitch/plunge aerofoil and delta wing aerodynamic and respective linear structural models are used to validate the new method against conventional time-domain simulations. Results show consistent agreement between the proposed and time-marching methods for both LCO amplitude and frequency, while producing at least one order of magnitude reduction in computational time.

What happens in court?:The development of understanding of the legal system in a sample of Irish children and adults

A total sample of three hundred and sixty (N=360) Irish children and adults, drawn from nine age groups, were administered the specially designed Legal Knowledge and Perception of Court Interview Schedule. Analyses of variance revealed a main effect for age of participant. Participants demonstrated increasing knowledge of the legal system with increasing age. The findings of the present study suggest inter alia that Irish children, particularly those under nine years of age, do not possess sufficient understanding of the legal system to enable them to participate as effectively as they might as witnesses. The potential for developing a systematic programme of preparing child witnesses for their involvement in the legal process is discussed.

Multiple Biomarkers for the prediction of ischemic stroke: the PRIME study

Objective: To simultaneously evaluate 14 biomarkers from distinct biological pathways for risk prediction of ischemic stroke, including biomarkers of hemostasis, inflammation, and endothelial activation as well as chemokines and adipocytokines.
Methods and Results: The Prospective Epidemiological Study on Myocardial Infarction (PRIME) is a cohort of 9771 healthy men 50 to 59 years of age who were followed up over 10 years. In a nested case–control study, 95 ischemic stroke cases were matched with 190 controls. After multivariable adjustment for traditional risk factors, fibrinogen (odds ratio [OR], 1.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03–2.28), E-selectin (OR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.06–2.93), interferon-γ-inducible-protein-10 (OR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.06–2.78), resistin (OR, 2.86; 95% CI, 1.30–6.27), and total adiponectin (OR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.04–3.19) were significantly associated with ischemic stroke. Adding E-selectin and resistin to a traditional risk factor model significantly increased the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve from 0.679 (95% CI, 0.612–0.745) to 0.785 and 0.788, respectively, and yielded a categorical net reclassification improvement of 29.9% (P=0.001) and 28.4% (P=0.002), respectively. Their simultaneous inclusion in the traditional risk factor model increased the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve to 0.824 (95% CI, 0.770–0.877) and resulted in an net reclassification improvement of 41.4% (P<0.001). Results were confirmed when using continuous net reclassification improvement.
Conclusion: Among multiple biomarkers from distinct biological pathways, E-selectin and resistin provided incremental and additive value to traditional risk factors in predicting ischemic stroke.

Loss-of-Mains Protection System by Application of Phasor Measurement Unit Technology with Experimentally Assessed Threshold Settings

Loss-of-mains protection is an important component of the protection systems of embedded generation. The role of loss-of-mains is to disconnect the embedded generator from the utility grid in the event that connection to utility dispatched generation is lost. This is necessary for a number of reasons, including the safety of personnel during fault restoration and the protection of plant against out-of-synchronism reclosure to the mains supply. The incumbent methods of loss-of-mains protection were designed when the installed capacity of embedded generation was low, and known problems with nuisance tripping of the devices were considered acceptable because of the insignificant consequence to system operation. With the dramatic increase in the installed capacity of embedded generation over the last decade, the limitations of current islanding detection methods are no longer acceptable. This study describes a new method of loss-of-mains protection based on phasor measurement unit (PMU) technology, specifically using a low cost PMU device of the authors' design which has been developed for distribution network applications. The proposed method addresses the limitations of the incumbent methods, providing a solution that is free of nuisance tripping and has a zero non-detection zone. This system has been tested experimentally and is shown to be practical, feasible and effective. Threshold settings for the new method are recommended based on data acquired from both the Great Britain and Ireland power systems.

Coupling ground and airborne geophysical data with upscaling techniques for regional groundwater modeling of heterogeneous aquifers: Case study of a sedimentary aquifer intruded by volcanic dykes in Northern Ireland

In highly heterogeneous aquifer systems, conceptualization of regional groundwater flow models frequently results in the generalization or negligence of aquifer heterogeneities, both of which may result in erroneous model outputs. The calculation of equivalence related to hydrogeological parameters and applied to upscaling provides a means of accounting for measurement scale information but at regional scale. In this study, the Permo-Triassic Lagan Valley strategic aquifer in Northern Ireland is observed to be heterogeneous, if not discontinuous, due to subvertical trending low-permeability Tertiary dolerite dykes. Interpretation of ground and aerial magnetic surveys produces a deterministic solution to dyke locations. By measuring relative permeabilities of both the dykes and the sedimentary host rock, equivalent directional permeabilities, that determine anisotropy calculated as a function of dyke density, are obtained. This provides parameters for larger scale equivalent blocks, which can be directly imported to numerical groundwater flow models. Different conceptual models with different degrees of upscaling are numerically tested and results compared to regional flow observations. Simulation results show that the upscaled permeabilities from geophysical data allow one to properly account for the observed spatial variations of groundwater flow, without requiring artificial distribution of aquifer properties. It is also found that an intermediate degree of upscaling, between accounting for mapped field-scale dykes and accounting for one regional anisotropy value (maximum upscaling) provides results the closest to the observations at the regional scale.