Mapping the global flow of steel: from steelmaking to end-use goods.

Our society is addicted to steel. Global demand for steel has risen to 1.4 billion tonnes a year and is set to at least double by 2050, while the steel industry generates nearly a 10th of the world's energy related CO₂ emissions. Meeting our 2050 climate change targets would require a 75% reduction in CO₂ emissions for every tonne of steel produced and finding credible solutions is proving a challenge. The starting point for understanding the environmental impacts of steel production is to accurately map the global steel supply chain and identify the biggest steel flows where actions can be directed to deliver the largest impact. In this paper we present a map of global steel, which for the first time traces steel flows from steelmaking, through casting, forming, and rolling, to the fabrication of final goods. The diagram reveals the relative scale of steel flows and shows where efforts to improve energy and material efficiency should be focused.

Superconducting magnetic bearings for energy storage flywheels

We are investigating the use of flywheels for energy storage. Flywheel devices need to be of high efficiency and an important source of losses is the bearings. In addition, the requirement is for the devices to have long lifetimes with minimal or no maintenance. Conventional rolling element bearings can and have been used, but a non-contact bearing, such as a superconducting magnetic bearing, is expected to have a longer lifetime and lower losses. At Cambridge we have constructed a flywheel system. Designed to run in vacuum this incorporates a 40kg flywheel supported on superconducting magnetic bearings. The production device will be a 5kW device storing 5 kWh of retrievable energy at 50,000 rpm. The Cambridge system is being developed in parallel with a similar device supported on a conventional bearing. This will allow direct performance comparisons. Although superconducting bearings are increasingly well understood, of major importance are the cryogenics and special attention is being paid to methods of packaging and insulating the superconductors to cut down radiation losses. The work reported here is part of a three-year program of work supported by the EPSRC. © 1999 IEEE.

Control of aircraft in the terminal manoeuvring area using parallelised sequential Monte Carlo

This paper reports on the use of a parallelised Model Predictive Control, Sequential Monte Carlo algorithm for solving the problem of conflict resolution and aircraft trajectory control in air traffic management specifically around the terminal manoeuvring area of an airport. The target problem is nonlinear, highly constrained, non-convex and uses a single decision-maker with multiple aircraft. The implementation includes a spatio-temporal wind model and rolling window simulations for realistic ongoing scenarios. The method is capable of handling arriving and departing aircraft simultaneously including some with very low fuel remaining. A novel flow field is proposed to smooth the approach trajectories for arriving aircraft and all trajectories are planned in three dimensions. Massive parallelisation of the algorithm allows solution speeds to approach those required for real-time use.

Fabrication and integration of horizontally aligned carbon nanotube C60 films for UV sensors

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising for microsystems applications, yet few techniques effectively enable integration of CNTs with precise control of placement and alignment of the CNTs at sufficiently high densities necessary for compelling mechanical or electrical performance. This paper explores new methods for scalable integration of dense, horizontally aligned (HA) CNTs with patterned electrodes. Our technique involves the synthesis of vertically aligned (VA) CNTs directly on a conductive underlayer and subsequent mechanical transformation into HA-CNTs, thus making electrical contact between two electrodes. We compare elasto-capillary folding and mechanical rolling as methods for transforming VA-CNTs, which lead to distinctly different HA-CNT morphologies and potentially impact material and device properties. As an example application of this novel CNT morphology, we investigate fabrication of electrically addressable CNT-C60 hybrid thin films that we previously demonstrated as photodetectors. We synthesize these assemblies by crystallizing C60 from dispersion on HA-CNT thin-film scaffoldings. HA-CNTs fabricated by rolling result in relatively low packing density, so C 60 crystals embed inside the HA-CNT matrix during synthesis. On the other hand, C60 crystallization is restricted to near the surface of HA-CNT films made by the elasto-capillary process. © 2013 IEEE.

Effect of process parameters on the morphology and nanostructure of roll-to-roll printed P3HT:PCBM thin films for organic photovoltaics

Roll-to-roll (R2R) gravure exhibits significant advantages such as high precision and throughput for the printing of photoactive and conductive materials and the fabrication of flexible organic electronics such as organic photovoltaics (OPVs). Since the photoactive layer is the core of the OPV, it is important to investigate and finally control the process parameters and mechanisms that define the film morphology in a R2R process. The scope of this work is to study the effect of the R2R gravure printing and drying process on the nanomorphology and nanostructure of the photoactive P3HT:PCBM thin films printed on PEDOT:PSS electrodes towards the fabrication of indium tin oxide (ITO)-free flexible OPVs. In order to achieve this, P3HT:PCBM blends of different concentration were R2R printed under various speeds on the PEDOT:PSS layers. Due to the limited drying time during the rolling, an amount of solvent remains in the P3HT:PCBM films and the slow-drying process takes place which leads to the vertical and lateral phase separation, according to the Spectroscopic Ellipsometry and Atomic Force Microscopy analysis. The enhanced slow-drying leads to stronger phase separation, larger P3HT crystallites according to the Grazing Incidence X-Ray Diffraction data and to weaker mechanical response as it was shown by the nanoindentation creep. However, in the surface of the films the P3HT crystallization is controlled by the impinged hot air during the drying, where the more the drying time the larger the surface P3HT crystallites. The integration of the printed P3HT:PCBM and PEDOT:PSS layers in an OPV device underlined the feasibility of fabricating ITO-free flexible OPVs by R2R gravure processes. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Al2O3 : Cr3+ nanotubes synthesized via homogenization precipitation followed by heat treatment

Cr3+-doped NH4Al(OH)(2)CO3 nanotubes, templated by surfactant assemblies, were successfully synthesized via the homogenization precipitation method, and various crystallographic phase Al2O3:Cr3+ nanotubes were also obtained by postannealing at different temperatures. The characteristic R-1, R-2 doublet line transitions of ruby can be observed in the high crystalline alpha-Al2O3 nanotubes calcined at temperatures higher than 1200 degrees C. The results also indicate that the formation mechanism of the tubular nanostructures should result from the self-rolling action of layered compound NH4Al(OH)(2)CO3 under the assistance of the surfactant soft-template. The convenient synthetic procedure, excellent reproducibility, clean reactions, high yield, and fine quality of products in this work make the present route attractive and significant. Aluminum oxide nanotubes with high specific surface area could be used as fabricating nanosized optical devices doped with different elements and stable catalyst supports of metal clusters.

黄土丘陵沟壑区山坡道路防蚀措施初步研究

山坡道路连接农田、果园 ,对山区经济发展有重要作用。黄土高原山坡道路存在严重的水土流失 ,侵蚀方式主要有沟蚀、泻溜、崩塌、陷穴、悬沟侵蚀与滑坡等。山坡道路网应按照小流域综合治理规划合理布置 ,其主要防护措施 :①修筑梯田 ,防止坡面径流冲刷道路 ;②将路面整修成拱形以分散径流 ;③在道路内侧修蓄水窑窖 ,拦蓄径流 ;④路面及边坡栽植草灌 ,防止雨水冲刷

三维蛇形机器人巡视者Ⅱ的开发

蛇形机器人具有比传统移动机器人更强的运动能力,为实现机器人的三维运动而开发的蛇形机器人巡视者II是一个具有强驱动力和高机动性的三维蛇形机器人。它由具有3自由度的模块化单元组成,该单元具有俯仰、偏航和回转3自由度,单元的俯仰和偏航运动是通过由3个伞齿轮组成的差速机构耦合驱动。该单元的圆柱形外壳周围安装有一系列的被动轮来增加机器人运动灵活性。对蛇形机器人模块单元的自由度作了详细分析,并基于机器人的运动机动性设计三维蛇形机器人的单元结构。给出蛇形机器人的控制系统结构,并对耦合变量进行解耦。将蛇形机器人的蜿蜒运动和扭转运动两种基本步伐应用到巡视者II上,试验结果证明了该三维蛇形机器人具有很强的机动性和运动能力。

基于天际线识别的无人机实时姿态角估计

以无人机天际线识别为背景,提出了一种准确、实时的天际线识别算法,并由此估计姿态角。在结合实际情况的基础上,对天际线建立能量泛函模型,利用变分原理推出相应偏微分方程。在实际应用中出于对实时性的考虑,引入直线约束对该模型进行简化,然后利用由粗到精的思想识别天际线。首先,对图像预处理并垂直剖分,然后利用简化的水平直线模型对天际线进行粗识别,通过拟合获得天际线粗识别结果,最后在基于梯度和区域混合开曲线模型约束下精确识别天际线,并由此估计无人机滚动和俯仰姿态角。实验结果表明,该算法对天际线识别具有较好的鲁棒性、准确性和实时性。

蛇形机器人的翻滚运动及其越障研究

提出了一种新型蛇形机器人机构。该机构既可以实现平面运动又可以实现空间运动。建立了其空间运动学模型并实现了空间翻滚运动。实验结果表明 :翻滚运动不需依靠模块与地面之间动摩擦力方向差来实现驱动 ,而是通过模块与地面之间静摩擦力和互相垂直的两个运动平面内异相波的相互作用产生驱动力。翻滚的方向和姿态由两个波形曲线的相差和传播方向决定。利用翻滚运动 ,实现了少模块数蛇形机器人的越障运动

蛇形机器人侧向运动的研究

本文提出了一种新型蛇形机器人机构 ,建立了其空间运动学模型 ,实现了蛇形机器人的两种侧向运动 :侧向蜿蜒运动和侧向滚动 ,前者通过调节两个异相波的频率比 ,实现了任意方向的侧向运动 .后者通过控制运动波的幅值变化 ,实现了各种形式的纯侧向移动 ,当幅值足够大时 ,这种侧向滚动可以跨越障碍

冷轧薄板厂CIMS环境下经营决策系统

本文针对冷轧机薄板生产线的生产特点 ,以鞍钢冷轧机薄板厂为具体背景 ,讨论了CIMS环境下三种为同生产驱动方式的优化经营决策方法 .(1)订单方式驱动 ;(2 )市场预测方式驱动 ;(3)订单和市场预测混合方式驱动 .对于企业的冷轧厂来说 ,非常有实用价值 .

冷轧生产线机组作业计划过程中的投料混合比算法

为了实现冷轧生产线的均衡生产,提出了机组排产作业计划过程中的投料混合比算法。在该算法中,首先根据各道工序机组的生产能力、产品类型、故障和生产过程中的随机干扰等,计算在生产计划期内依概率平均的最佳缓冲区库存量,该库存量能够使机组实现均衡生产;其次,在现有在制库存条件下,考虑生产机组的生产能力和生产的产品类型,提出了本工序机组负荷平衡的机组排产作业计划在线生成方法;最后,结合上述两种方法,利用程序迭代搜索方式求解,既保证本道工序机组负荷平衡,也保证下道工序最佳库存的优化投料混合比,保证了冷轧生产线均衡生产的可行性。

冷轧MES机组作业计划过程中的任务分配法

基于鞍钢新轧集团股份有限公司冷轧薄板厂MES工程的实际情况,介绍了机组排产作业计划过程中的任务分配方法。该方法以机组与生产任务的最佳匹配、机组的负荷平衡为性能指标,采用了实时最小负荷分配规则,科学地解决了冷轧生产线CIMS环境下机组排产作业计划的在线生成问题,实现了生产线上的生产路径优化控制,从而提高了生产质量和设备利用率。

鞍钢冷轧厂制造执行系统研究

鞍钢新轧钢股份有限公司冷轧厂制造执行系统(MES)覆盖了从接收用户合同到产品发货的整个生产经营活动。接收用户合同后,系统自动生成优化的主生产计划、要料计划和机组作业计划,在生产过程中,系统对生产状况进行全面跟踪,对出现的异常情况进行合理调度,并且,冷轧MES与上游厂、公司ERP、过程控制系统和厂级管理系统连成一体,协同工作。该软件在实际应用中取得了令人满意的效果。