DC-link voltage control strategy for reducing capacitance and total harmonic distortion in single-phase grid-connected photovoltaic inverters

High-volume capacitance is required to buffer the power difference between the input and output ports in single-phase grid-connected photovoltaic inverters, which become an obstacle to high system efficiency and long device lifetime. Furthermore, total harmonic distortion becomes serious when the system runs into low power level. In this study, a comprehensive analysis is introduced for two-stage topology with the consideration of active power, DC-link (DCL) voltage, ripple and capacitance. This study proposed a comprehensive DCL voltage control strategy to minimise the DCL capacitance while maintaining a normal system operation. Furthermore, the proposed control strategy is flexible to be integrated with the pulse-skipping control that significantly improves the power quality at light power conditions. Since the proposed control strategy needs to vary DCL voltage, an active protection scheme is also introduced to prevent any voltage violation across the DCL. The proposed control strategy is evaluated by both simulation and experiments, whose results confirm the system effectiveness.

Nonlinear optical effects manifested by electromagnetic induced transparency in cold atoms

This dissertation reports experimental studies of nonlinear optical effects manifested by electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in cold Rb atoms. The cold Rb atoms are confined in a magneto-optic trap (MOT) obtained with the standard laser cooling and trapping technique. Because of the near zero Doppler shift and a high phase density, the cold Rb sample is well suited for studies of atomic coherence and interference and related applications, and the experiments can be compared quantitatively with theoretical calculations. It is shown that with EIT induced in the multi-level Rb system by laser fields, the linear absorption is suppressed and the nonlinear susceptibility is enhanced, which enables studies of nonlinear optics in the cold atoms with slow photons and at low light intensities. Three independent experiments are described and the experimental results are presented. First, an experimental method that can produce simultaneously co-propagating slow and fast light pulses is discussed and the experimental demonstration is reported. Second, it is shown that in a three-level Rb system coupled by multi-color laser fields, the multi-channel two-photon Raman transitions can be manipulated by the relative phase and frequency of a control laser field. Third, a scheme for all-optical switching near single photon levels is developed. The scheme is based on the phase-dependent multi-photon interference in a coherently coupled four-level system. The phase dependent multi-photon interference is observed and switching of a single light pulse by a control pulse containing ∼20 photons is demonstrated. These experimental studies reveal new phenomena manifested by quantum coherence and interference in cold atoms, contribute to the advancement of fundamental quantum optics and nonlinear optics at ultra-low light intensities, and may lead to the development of new techniques to control quantum states of atoms and photons, which will be useful for applications in quantum measurements and quantum photonic devices.

A thermally wavelength-tunable photonic switch based on silicon microring resonator

Silicon photonics is a very promising technology for future low-cost high-bandwidth optical telecommunication applications down to the chip level. This is due to the high degree of integration, high optical bandwidth and large speed coupled with the development of a wide range of integrated optical functions. Silicon-based microring resonators are a key building block that can be used to realize many optical functions such as switching, multiplexing, demultiplaxing and detection of optical wave. The ability to tune the resonances of the microring resonators is highly desirable in many of their applications. In this work, the study and application of a thermally wavelength-tunable photonic switch based on silicon microring resonator is presented. Devices with 10μm diameter were systematically studied and used in the design. Its resonance wavelength was tuned by thermally induced refractive index change using a designed local micro-heater. While thermo-optic tuning has moderate speed compared with electro-optic and all-optic tuning, with silicon’s high thermo-optic coefficient, a much wider wavelength tunable range can be realized. The device design was verified and optimized by optical and thermal simulations. The fabrication and characterization of the device was also implemented. The microring resonator has a measured FSR of ∼18 nm, FWHM in the range 0.1-0.2 nm and Q around 10,000. A wide tunable range (>6.4 nm) was achieved with the switch, which enables dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) with a channel space of 0.2nm. The time response of the switch was tested on the order of 10 μs with a low power consumption of ∼11.9mW/nm. The measured results are in agreement with the simulations. Important applications using the tunable photonic switch were demonstrated in this work. 1×4 and 4×4 reconfigurable photonic switch were implemented by using multiple switches with a common bus waveguide. The results suggest the feasibility of on-chip DWDM for the development of large-scale integrated photonics. Using the tunable switch for output wavelength control, a fiber laser was demonstrated with Erbium-doped fiber amplifier as the gain media. For the first time, this approach integrated on-chip silicon photonic wavelength control.

Functionalized carbon nanotube nanoelectrodes for biomolecular recognition

The objective of this research is to develop nanoscale ultrasensitive transducers for detection of biological species at molecular level using carbon nanotubes as nanoelectrodes. Rapid detection of ultra low concentration or even single DNA molecules are essential for medical diagnosis and treatment, pharmaceutical applications, gene sequencing as well as forensic analysis. Here the use of functionalized single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) as nanoscale detection platform for rapid detection of single DNA molecules is demonstrated. The detection principle is based on obtaining electrical signal from a single amine terminated DNA molecule which is covalently bridged between two ends of an SWNT separated by a nanoscale gap. The synthesis, fabrication, chemical functionalization of nanoelectrodes and DNA attachment were optimized to perform reliable electrical characterization these molecules. Using this detection system fundamental study on charge transport in DNA molecule of both genomic and non genomic sequences is performed. We measured an electrical signal of about 30 pA through a hybridized DNA molecule of 80 base pair in length which encodes a portion of sequence of H5N1 gene of avian Influenza A virus. Due the dynamic nature of the DNA molecules the local environment such as ion concentration, pH and temperature significantly influence its physical properties. We observed a decrease in DNA conductance of about 33% in high vacuum conditions. The counterion variation was analyzed by changing the buffer from sodium acetate to tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane, which resulted in a two orders of magnitude increase in the conductivity of the DNA. The fabrication of large array of identical SWNT nanoelectrodes was achieved by using ultralong SWNTs. Using these nanoelectrode array we have investigated the sequence dependent charge transport in DNA. A systematic study performed on PolyG - PolyC sequence with varying number of intervening PolyA - PolyT pairs showed a decrease in electrical signal from 180 pA (PolyG - PolyC) to 30 pA with increasing number of the PolyA - PolyT pairs. This work also led to the development of ultrasensitive nanoelectrodes based on enzyme functionalized vertically aligned high density multiwalled CNTs for electrochemical detection of cholesterol. The nanoelectrodes exhibited selectively detection of cholesterol in the presence of common interferents found in human blood.

Inspection of parts with complex geometry and welds with structural health monitoring techniques

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems were developed to evaluate the integrity of a system during operation, and to quickly identify the maintenance problems. They will be used in future aerospace vehicles to improve safety, reduce cost and minimize the maintenance time of a system. Many SHM systems were already developed to evaluate the integrity of plates and used in marine structures. Their implementation in manufacturing processes is still expected. The application of SHM methods for complex geometries and welds are two important challenges in this area of research. This research work started by studying the characteristics of piezoelectric actuators, and a small energy harvester was designed. The output voltages at different frequencies of vibration were acquired to determine the nonlinear characteristics of the piezoelectric stripe actuators. The frequency response was evaluated experimentally. AA battery size energy harvesting devices were developed by using these actuators. When the round and square cross section devices were excited at 50 Hz frequency, they generated 16 V and 25 V respectively. The Surface Response to Excitation (SuRE) and Lamb wave methods were used to estimate the condition of parts with complex geometries. Cutting tools and welded plates were considered. Both approaches used piezoelectric elements that were attached to the surfaces of considered parts. The variation of the magnitude of the frequency response was evaluated when the SuRE method was used. The sum of the square of the differences was calculated. The envelope of the received signal was used for the analysis of wave propagation. Bi-orthogonal wavelet (Binlet) analysis was also used for the evaluation of the data obtained during Lamb wave technique. Both the Lamb wave and SuRE approaches along with the three methods for data analysis worked effectively to detect increasing tool wear. Similarly, they detected defects on the plate, on the weld, and on a separate plate without any sensor as long as it was welded to the test plate.

The discrimination and association of float glass and the quantitative analysis of liquids from aerosols and microdrops using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy

Glass is a common form of trace evidence found at many scenes of crimes in the form of small fragments. These glass fragments can transfer to surrounding objects and/or persons and may provide forensic investigators valuable information to link a suspect to the scene of a crime. Since the elemental composition of different glass sources can be very similar, a highly discriminating technique is required to distinguish between fragments that have originated from different sources. ^ The research presented here demonstrates that Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is a viable analytical technique for the association and discrimination of glass fragments. The first part of this research describes the optimization of the LIBS experiments including the use of different laser wavelengths to investigate laser-material interaction. The use of a 266 nm excitation laser provided the best analytical figures of merit with minimal damage to the sample. The resulting analytical figures of merit are presented. The second part of this research evaluated the sensitivity of LIBS to associate or discriminate float glass samples originating from the same manufacturing plants and produced at approximately the same time period. Two different sample sets were analyzed ranging in manufacturing dates from days to years apart. Eighteen (18) atomic emission lines corresponding to the elements Sr, K, Fe, Ca, Al, Ba, Na, Mg and Ti, were chosen because of their detection above the method detection limits and for presenting differences between the samples. Ten elemental ratios producing the most discrimination were selected for each set. When all the ratios are combined in a comparison, 99% of the possible pairs were discriminated using the optimized LIBS method generating typical analytical precisions of ∼5% RSD. ^ The final study consisted of the development of a new approach for the use of LIBS as a quantitative analysis of ultra-low volume solution analysis using aerosols and microdrops. Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy demonstrated to be an effective technique for the analysis of as low as 90 pL for microdrop LIBS with 1 pg absolute LOD and 20 µL for aerosol LIBS with an absolute LOD of ∼100 fg.^

Field programmable gate array based target detection and gesture recognition

The move from Standard Definition (SD) to High Definition (HD) represents a six times increases in data, which needs to be processed. With expanding resolutions and evolving compression, there is a need for high performance with flexible architectures to allow for quick upgrade ability. The technology advances in image display resolutions, advanced compression techniques, and video intelligence. Software implementation of these systems can attain accuracy with tradeoffs among processing performance (to achieve specified frame rates, working on large image data sets), power and cost constraints. There is a need for new architectures to be in pace with the fast innovations in video and imaging. It contains dedicated hardware implementation of the pixel and frame rate processes on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) to achieve the real-time performance. ^ The following outlines the contributions of the dissertation. (1) We develop a target detection system by applying a novel running average mean threshold (RAMT) approach to globalize the threshold required for background subtraction. This approach adapts the threshold automatically to different environments (indoor and outdoor) and different targets (humans and vehicles). For low power consumption and better performance, we design the complete system on FPGA. (2) We introduce a safe distance factor and develop an algorithm for occlusion occurrence detection during target tracking. A novel mean-threshold is calculated by motion-position analysis. (3) A new strategy for gesture recognition is developed using Combinational Neural Networks (CNN) based on a tree structure. Analysis of the method is done on American Sign Language (ASL) gestures. We introduce novel point of interests approach to reduce the feature vector size and gradient threshold approach for accurate classification. (4) We design a gesture recognition system using a hardware/ software co-simulation neural network for high speed and low memory storage requirements provided by the FPGA. We develop an innovative maximum distant algorithm which uses only 0.39% of the image as the feature vector to train and test the system design. Database set gestures involved in different applications may vary. Therefore, it is highly essential to keep the feature vector as low as possible while maintaining the same accuracy and performance^

A Thermally Wavelength-tunable Photonic Switch Based on Silicon Microring Resonator

Silicon photonics is a very promising technology for future low-cost high-bandwidth optical telecommunication applications down to the chip level. This is due to the high degree of integration, high optical bandwidth and large speed coupled with the development of a wide range of integrated optical functions. Silicon-based microring resonators are a key building block that can be used to realize many optical functions such as switching, multiplexing, demultiplaxing and detection of optical wave. The ability to tune the resonances of the microring resonators is highly desirable in many of their applications. In this work, the study and application of a thermally wavelength-tunable photonic switch based on silicon microring resonator is presented. Devices with 10µm diameter were systematically studied and used in the design. Its resonance wavelength was tuned by thermally induced refractive index change using a designed local micro-heater. While thermo-optic tuning has moderate speed compared with electro-optic and all-optic tuning, with silicon’s high thermo-optic coefficient, a much wider wavelength tunable range can be realized. The device design was verified and optimized by optical and thermal simulations. The fabrication and characterization of the device was also implemented. The microring resonator has a measured FSR of ~18 nm, FWHM in the range 0.1-0.2 nm and Q around 10,000. A wide tunable range (>6.4 nm) was achieved with the switch, which enables dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) with a channel space of 0.2nm. The time response of the switch was tested on the order of 10 us with a low power consumption of ~11.9mW/nm. The measured results are in agreement with the simulations. Important applications using the tunable photonic switch were demonstrated in this work. 1×4 and 4×4 reconfigurable photonic switch were implemented by using multiple switches with a common bus waveguide. The results suggest the feasibility of on-chip DWDM for the development of large-scale integrated photonics. Using the tunable switch for output wavelength control, a fiber laser was demonstrated with Erbium-doped fiber amplifier as the gain media. For the first time, this approach integrated on-chip silicon photonic wavelength control.

Síntese e caracterização de pigmentos nanométricos encapsulados pelos métodos dos precursores poliméricos, hidrotermal de microondas e co-precipitação associado à química sol-gel convencional

The demand for materials with high consistency obtained at relatively low temperatures has been leveraging the search for chemical processes substituents of the conventional ceramic method. This paper aims to obtain nanosized pigments encapsulated (core-shell) the basis of TiO2 doped with transition metals (Fe, Co, Ni, Al) through three (3) methods of synthesis: polymeric precursors (Pechini); hydrothermal microwave, and co-precipitation associated with the sol-gel chemistry. The study was motivated by the simplicity, speed and low power consumption characteristic of these methods. Systems costs are affordable because they allow achieving good control of microstructure, combined with high purity, controlled stoichiometric phases and allowing to obtain particles of nanometer size. The physical, chemical, morphological, structural and optical properties of the materials obtained were analyzed using different techniques for materials characterization. The powder pigments were tested in discoloration and degradation using a photoreactor through the solution of Remazol yellow dye gold (NNI), such as filtration, resulting in a separation of solution and the filter pigments available for further UV-Vis measurements . Different calcination temperatures taken after obtaining the post, the different methods were: 400 º C and 1000 º C. Using a fixed concentration of 10% (Fe, Al, Ni, Co) mass relative to the mass of titanium technologically and economically enabling the study. By transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technique was possible to analyze and confirm the structural formation nanosized particles of encapsulated pigment, TiO2 having the diameter of 20 nm to 100 nm, and thickness of coated layer of Fe, Ni and Co between 2 nm and 10 nm. The method of synthesis more efficient has been studied in the work co-precipitation associated with sol-gel chemistry, in which the best results were achieved without the need for the obtainment of powders the calcination process

High resolution study of narrow tailed radio galaxies in clusters

Clusters of galaxies are the most massive and large gravitationally bounded systems in the whole Universe. Their study is of fundamental importance to constrain cosmological parameters and to obtain informations regarding various kind of emission in different wavebands. In particular, in the radio domain, beside the diffuse emission, the study is focused on the radio galaxies emission. Radio galaxies in clusters can have peculiar morphology, since they interact with the intracluster medium (ICM) in which they are embedded. Particularly, in this thesis we focused our attention on the so-called Narrow-Angle Tailed radio galaxies (NAT), which present radio jets that are bent at extreme angle, up to 90 degrees, from their original orientation. Some NAT show a narrow extended structure and the two radio tails are not resolved even with high resolution radio observations. An example is provided by the source IC310, in the Perseus Cluster, whose structure has been recently interpreted as due to Doppler boosting effects of a relativistic jet oriented at a small angle with respect to the line of sight. If the structure is due to relativistic effects, this implies that the jets are relativistic at about 400 kpc from the core, but this is in contrast with unified models, which predict that for low-power radio source (NAT are classified as FRI radio galaxies) the jets decelerate to sub-relativistic speed within a few kpc from the core. To investigate this scientific topic, in this thesis we have analyzed the innermost structure of a sample of eleven radio galaxies showing a very narrow NAT structure. We can conclude that the structure of these radio galaxies is different from that of IC310. These radio galaxies are indeed strongly influenced by environmental effects and are similar to classical NAT sources.

Dispositivi di recupero energetico: la valvola di regolazione GreenValve del Politecnico di Milano

Oggetto della trattazione è il recupero di energia da parte di una valvola idraulica durante il processo di regolazione del flusso di corrente in un impianto. Questa valvola di regolazione, detta GreenValve, è un brevetto del Politecnico di Milano, ad opera del Prof. Ing. Stefano Malavasi coadiuvato da un gruppo di ricercatori e tesisti, tra i quali spicca il nome di Cecilia Paris. Cecilia ha incentrato il proprio lavoro sull’analisi teorica e sperimentale della “Valvola Verde”, ed è dalla sua Tesi che il suddetto elaborato trae ispirazione.

Light self-focusing in the atmosphere:thin window model

Ultra-high power (exceeding the self-focusing threshold by more than three orders of magnitude) light beams from ground-based laser systems may find applications in space-debris cleaning. The propagation of such powerful laser beams through the atmosphere reveals many novel interesting features compared to traditional light self-focusing. It is demonstrated here that for the relevant laser parameters, when the thickness of the atmosphere is much shorter than the focusing length (that is, of the orbit scale), the beam transit through the atmosphere in lowest order produces phase distortion only. This means that by using adaptive optics it may be possible to eliminate the impact of self-focusing in the atmosphere on the laser beam. The area of applicability of the proposed "thin window" model is broader than the specific physical problem considered here. For instance, it might find applications in femtosecond laser material processing.

Towards the design of monolithic decoupled XYZ compliant parallel mechanisms for multi-function applications

This paper deals with the monolithic decoupled XYZ compliant parallel mechanisms (CPMs) for multi-function applications, which can be fabricated monolithically without assembly and has the capability of kinetostatic decoupling. At first, the conceptual design of monolithic decoupled XYZ CPMs is presented using identical spatial compliant multi-beam modules based on a decoupled 3-PPPR parallel kinematic mechanism. Three types of applications: motion/positioning stages, force/acceleration sensors and energy harvesting devices are described in principle. The kinetostatic and dynamic modelling is then conducted to capture the displacements of any stage under loads acting at any stage and the natural frequency with the comparisons with FEA results. Finally, performance characteristics analysis for motion stage applications is detailed investigated to show how the change of the geometrical parameter can affect the performance characteristics, which provides initial optimal estimations. Results show that the smaller thickness of beams and larger dimension of cubic stages can improve the performance characteristics excluding natural frequency under allowable conditions. In order to improve the natural frequency characteristic, a stiffness-enhanced monolithic decoupled configuration that is achieved through employing more beams in the spatial modules or reducing the mass of each cubic stage mass can be adopted. In addition, an isotropic variation with different motion range along each axis and same payload in each leg is proposed. The redundant design for monolithic fabrication is introduced in this paper, which can overcome the drawback of monolithic fabrication that the failed compliant beam is difficult to replace, and extend the CPM’s life.

Brands, Close Relationships, and Consumer Well-Being

Consumers have relationships with other people, and they have relationships with brands similar to the ones they have with other people. Yet, very little is known about how brand and interpersonal relationships relate to one another. Even less is known about how they jointly affect consumer well-being. The goal of this research, therefore, is to examine how brand and interpersonal relationships influence and are influenced by consumer well-being. Essay 1 uses both empirical methods and surveys from individuals and couples to investigate how consumer preferences in romantic couples, namely brand compatibility, influences life satisfaction. Using traditional statistical techniques and multilevel modeling, I find that the effect of brand compatibility, or the extent to which individuals have similar brand preferences, on life satisfaction depends upon power in the relationship. For high power partners, brand compatibility has no effect on life satisfaction. On the other hand, for low power partners, low brand compatibility is associated with decreased life satisfaction. I find that conflict mediates the link between brand compatibility and power on life satisfaction. In Essay 2 I again use empirical methods and surveys to investigate how resources, which can be considered a form of consumer well-being, influence brand and interpersonal relations. Although social connections have long been considered a fundamental human motivation and deemed necessary for well-being (Baumeister and Leary 1995), recent research has demonstrated that having greater resources is associated with weaker social connections. In the current research I posit that individuals with greater resources still have a need to connect and are using other sources for connection, namely brands. Across several studies I test and find support for my theory that resource level shifts the preference of social connection from people to brands. Specifically, I find that individuals with greater resources have stronger brand relationships, as measured by self-brand connection, brand satisfaction, purchase intentions and willingness to pay with both existing brand relationships and with new brands. This suggests that individuals with greater resources place more emphasis on these relationships. Furthermore, I find that resource level influences the stated importance of brand and interpersonal relationships, and that having or perceiving greater resources is associated with an increased preference to engage with brands over people. This research demonstrates that there are times when people prefer and seek out connections with brands over other people, and highlights the ways in which our brand and interpersonal relationships influence one another.

Dynamics of the Disk-Pendulum Coupled System With Vertical Excitation

This paper investigates the static and dynamic characteristics of the semi-elliptical rocking disk on which a pendulum pinned. This coupled system’s response is also analyzed analytically and numerically when a vertical harmonic excitation is applied to the bottom of the rocking disk. Lagrange’s Equation is used to derive the motion equations of the disk-pendulum coupled system. The second derivative test for the system’s potential energy shows how the location of the pendulum’s pivotal point affects the number and stability of equilibria, and the change of location presents different bifurcation diagrams for different geometries of the rocking disk. For both vertically excited and unforced cases, the coupled system shows chaos easily, but the proper chosen parameters can still help the system reach and keep the steady state. For the steady state of the vertically excited rocking disk without a pendulum, the variation of the excitation’s amplitude and frequency result in the hysteresis for the amplitude of the response. When a pendulum is pinned on the rocking disk, three major categories of steady states are presently in the numerical way.