Mandrel peeling of a flexible laminate with a pressure-sensitive adhesive: Comparison of experiment with numerical analysis

Mandrel peel tests with mandrels or rollers of varying diameters have been carried out using Mylar backing of several thicknesses and a commercial synthetic acrylic adhesive. The results are critically compared with the numerical predictions of the peeling software package ICPeel. In addition, a finite element model of the mandrel peeling process has been completed which gives good agreement with experiment provided appropriate mechanical properties of adherend and adhesive are used which must include the effects of adherent constraint. The influence of the thickness of the backing is also considered and both experiment and analysis confirm that there is a backing thickness at which the peel force for a laminate of this sort will show a maximum. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Contact and channel modelling using part and function libraries in a function-based design approach

To support the development and analysis of engineering designs at the embodiment stage, designers work iteratively with representations of those designs as they consider the function and form of their constituent parts. Detailed descriptions of "what a machine does" usually include flows of forces and active principles within the technical system, and their localization within parts and across the interfaces between them. This means that a representation should assist a designer in considering form and function at the same time and at different levels of abstraction. This paper describes a design modelling approach that enables designers to break down a system architecture into its subsystems and parts, while assigning functions and flows to parts and the interfaces between them. In turn, this may reveal further requirements to fulfil functions in order to complete the design. The approach is implemented in a software tool which provides a uniform, computable language allowing the user to describe functions and flows as they are iteratively discovered, created and embodied. A database of parts allows the user to search for existing design solutions. The approach is illustrated through an example: modelling the complex mechanisms within a humanoid robot. Copyright © 2010 by ASME.

Use of contexts in language model interpolation and adaptation

Language models (LMs) are often constructed by building multiple individual component models that are combined using context independent interpolation weights. By tuning these weights, using either perplexity or discriminative approaches, it is possible to adapt LMs to a particular task. This paper investigates the use of context dependent weighting in both interpolation and test-time adaptation of language models. Depending on the previous word contexts, a discrete history weighting function is used to adjust the contribution from each component model. As this dramatically increases the number of parameters to estimate, robust weight estimation schemes are required. Several approaches are described in this paper. The first approach is based on MAP estimation where interpolation weights of lower order contexts are used as smoothing priors. The second approach uses training data to ensure robust estimation of LM interpolation weights. This can also serve as a smoothing prior for MAP adaptation. A normalized perplexity metric is proposed to handle the bias of the standard perplexity criterion to corpus size. A range of schemes to combine weight information obtained from training data and test data hypotheses are also proposed to improve robustness during context dependent LM adaptation. In addition, a minimum Bayes' risk (MBR) based discriminative training scheme is also proposed. An efficient weighted finite state transducer (WFST) decoding algorithm for context dependent interpolation is also presented. The proposed technique was evaluated using a state-of-the-art Mandarin Chinese broadcast speech transcription task. Character error rate (CER) reductions up to 7.3 relative were obtained as well as consistent perplexity improvements. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Numerical analysis of AC loss reduction in HTS superconducting coils using magnetic materials to divert flux

In this paper, the use of magnetic materials to divert flux in high-temperature superconductor superconducting coils and reduce transport ac loss is investigated. This particular technique is preferred over other techniques, such as striation, Roebel transposition, and twisted wires because it does not require modification to the conductor itself, which can be detrimental to the properties of the superconductor. The technique can also be implemented for existing coils. The analysis is carried out using a coil model based on the H formulation and implemented in comsol multiphysics. Both weakly and strongly magnetic materials are investigated, and it is shown that the use of such materials can divert flux and achieve a reduction in transport ac loss, which, in some cases, is quite significant. This analysis acts to provide a foundation for further optimization and experimental work in the future. © 2011 IEEE.

Numerical analysis of thermally actuated magnets for magnetization of superconductors

Superconductors, such as YBCO bulks, have extremely high potential magnetic flux densities, comparing to rare earth magnets. Therefore, the magnetization of superconductors has attracted broad attention and contribution from both academic research and industry. In this paper, a novel technique is proposed to magnetize superconductors. Unusually, instead of using high magnetic fields and pulses, repeatedly magnetic waves with strength of as low as rare earth magnets are applied. These magnetic waves, generated by thermally controlling a Gadolinium (Gd) bulk with a rare earth magnet underneath, travel over the flat surface of a YBCO bulk and get trapped little by little. Thus, a very small magnetic field can be used to build up a very large magnetic field. In this paper, the modelling results of thermally actuated magnetic waves are presented showing how to transfer sequentially applied thermal pulses into magnetic waves. The experiment results of the magnetization of YBCO bulk are also presented to demonstrate how superconductors are progressively magnetized by small magnetic field © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.

An investigation into numerical analysis alternatives for predicting reingestion in turbine disc rim cavities

Reliable means of predicting ingestion in cavities adjacent to the main gas path are increasingly being sought by engineers involved in the design of gas turbines. In this paper, analysis is to be presented that results from an extended research programme, MAGPI, sponsored by the EU and several leading gas turbine manufactures and universities. Extensive use is made of CFD modelling techniques to understand the aerodynamic behaviour of a turbine stator well cavity, focusing on the interaction of cooling air supply with the main annulus gas. The objective of the study has been to benchmark a number of CFD codes and numerical techniques covering RANS and URANS calculations with different turbulence models in order to assess the suitability of the standard settings used in the industry for calculating the mechanics of the flow travelling between cavities in a turbine through the main gas path. The modelling methods employed have been compared making use of experimental data gathered from a dedicated two-stage turbine rig, running at engine representative conditions. Extensive measurements are available for a range of flow conditions and alternative cooling arrangements. The limitations of the numerical methods in calculating the interaction of the cooling flow egress and the main stream gas, and subsequent ingestion into downstream cavities in the engine (i.e. re-ingestion), have been exposed. This has been done without losing sight of the validation of the CFD for its use for predicting heat transfer, which was the main objective of the partners of the MAGPI Work- Package 1 consortium. Copyright © 2012 by ASME.

3D numerical analysis of tunnelling induced damage: the influence of the alignment of a masonry building with the tunnel axis.

The development of infrastructure in major cities often involves tunnelling, which can cause damage to existing structures. Therefore, these projects require a careful prediction of the risk of settlement induced damage. The simplified approach of current methods cannot account for three-dimensional structural aspects of buildings, which can result in an inaccurate evaluation of damage. This paper investigates the effect of the building alignment with the tunnel axis on structural damage. A three-dimensional, phased, fully coupled finite element model with non-linear material properties is used as a tool to perform a parametric study. The model includes the simulation of the tunnel construction process, with the tunnel located adjacent to a masonry building. Three different type of settlements are included (sagging, hogging and a combination of them), with seven different increasing angles of the building with respect to the tunnel axis. The alignment parameter is assessed, based on the maximum occurring crack width, measured in the building. Results show a significant dependency of the final damage on the building and tunnel alignment.

Numerical analysis of the settlement induced damage to Palazzo Loggia in Brescia

One of the main causes of failure of historic buildings is represented by the differential settlements of foundations. Finite element analysis provides a useful tool for predicting the consequences of given ground displacements in terms of structural damage and also assesses the need of strengthening techniques. The actual damage classification for buildings subject to settlement bases the assessment of the potential damage on the expected crack pattern of the structure. In this paper, the correlation between the physical description of the damage in terms of crack width and the interpretation of the finite element analysis output is analyzed. Different discrete and continuum crack models are applied to simulate an experiment carried on a scale model of a masonry historical building, the Loggia Palace in Brescia (Italy). Results are discussed and a modified version of the fixed total strain smeared crack model is evaluated, in order to solve the problem related to the calculation of the exact crack width.

Numerical analysis for four-wave mixing based wavelength conversion of differential phase-shift keying signals

We numerically investigate the main constrains for high efficiency wavelength conversion of differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) signals based on four-wave mixing (FWM) in highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF). Using multi-tone pump phase modulation techniques, high efficiency wavelength conversion of DPSK signals is achieved with the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) effects effectively suppressed. Our analysis shows that there is a compromise between conversion efficiency and converted idler degradation. By optimizing the pump phase modulation configuration, the converted DPSK idler's degradation can be dramatically decreased through balancing SBS suppression and pump phase modulation degradation. Our simulation results also show that these multi-tone pump phase modulation techniques are more appropriate for the future high bit rate systems.

The structure and function of neurons with variable nonlinear transfer function

One novel neuron with variable nonlinear transfer function is firstly proposed, It could also be called as subsection transfer function neuron. With different transfer function components, by virtue of multi-thresholded, the variable transfer function neuron switch on among different nonlinear excitated state. And the comparison of output's transfer characteristics between it and single-thresholded neuron will be illustrated, with some practical application experiments on Bi-level logic operation, at last the simple comparison with conventional BP, RBF, and even DBF NN is taken to expect the development foreground on the variable neuron.. The novel nonlinear transfer function neuron could implement the random nonlinear mapping relationship between input layer and output layer, which could make variable transfer function neuron have one much wider applications on lots of reseach realm such as function approximation pattern recognition data compress and so on.

Calculation of Light Delay by FDTD Technique and Pade Approximation

The time delay for light transmission in a coupled microring waveguide structure is calculated from the phase shift of the transmission coefficient obtained by Pade approximation with Baker's algorithm from FDTD Output. The results show that the Pade approximation is a powerful tool for saving time in FDTD simulation.

Numerical analysis of four-wave-mixing based multichannel wavelength conversion techniques in fibers

We numerically investigate four-wave-mixing (FWM) based multichannel wavelength conversion for amplitude-modulated signals, phase-modulated signals, together with mixed amplitude and phase modulated signals. This paper also discusses the influence of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) effects on high-efficiency FWM-based wavelength conversion applications. Our simulation results show that DPSK signals are more suitable for FWM-based multichannel wavelength conversion because the OOK signals will suffer from the inevitable datapattern-dependent pump depletion. In future applications, when the modulation format is partially upgraded from OOK to DPSK, the influence of OOK signals on the updated DPSK signals must be considered when using multichannel wavelength conversion. This influence becomes severe with the increase of OOK channel number. It can be concluded that DPSK signals are more appropriate for both transmission and multichannel wavelength conversion,especially in long haul and high bit-rate system.