Flow modeling in a novel non-perfusion conical bioreactor

We have developed a bioreactor vessel design which has the advantages of simplicity and ease of assembly and disassembly, and with the appropriately determined flow rate, even allows for a scaffold to be suspended freely regardless of its weight. This article reports our experimental and numerical investigations to evaluate the performance of a newly developed non-perfusion conical bioreactor by visualizing the flow through scaffolds with 45° and 90° fiber lay down patterns. The experiments were conducted at the Reynolds numbers (Re) 121, 170, and 218 based on the local velocity and width of scaffolds. The flow fields were captured using short-time exposures of 60 µm particles suspended in the bioreactor and illuminated using a thin laser sheet. The effects of scaffold fiber lay down pattern and Reynolds number were obtained and correspondingly compared to results obtained from a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package. The objectives of this article are twofold: to investigate the hypothesis that there may be an insufficient exchange of medium within the interior of the scaffold when using our non-perfusion bioreactor, and second, to compare the flows within and around scaffolds of 45° and 90° fiber lay down patterns. Scaffold porosity was also found to influence flow patterns. It was therefore shown that fluidic transport could be achieved within scaffolds with our bioreactor design, being a non-perfusion vessel. Fluid velocities were generally same of the same or one order lower in magnitude as compared to the inlet flow velocity. Additionally, the 90° fiber lay down pattern scaffold was found to allow for slightly higher fluid velocities within, as compared to the 45° fiber lay down pattern scaffold. This was due to the architecture and pore arrangement of the 90° fiber lay down pattern scaffold, which allows for fluid to flow directly through (channel-like flow).

Probabilistic load flow in AC electrified railways

System analysis within the traction power system is vital to the design and operation of an electrified railway. Loads in traction power systems are often characterised by their mobility, wide range of power variations, regeneration and service dependence. In addition, the feeding systems may take different forms in AC electrified railways. Comprehensive system studies are usually carried out by computer simulation. A number of traction power simulators have been available and they allow calculation of electrical interaction among trains and deterministic solutions of the power network. In the paper, a different approach is presented to enable load-flow analysis on various feeding systems and service demands in AC railways by adopting probabilistic techniques. It is intended to provide a different viewpoint to the load condition. Simulation results are given to verify the probabilistic-load-flow models.

Fuzzy logic traffic control at a road junction with time-varying flow rates

Fuzzy logic has been applied to control traffic at road junctions. A simple controller with one fixed rule-set is inadequate to minimise delays when traffic flow rate is time-varying and likely to span a wide range. To achieve better control, fuzzy rules adapted to the current traffic conditions are used.

Passenger flow and station facilities modelling for metro station layout design

This paper presents the simulation model development of passenger flow in a metro station. The model allows studies of passenger flow in stations with different layouts and facilities, thus providing valuable information, such as passenger flow and density of passenger at critical locations and passenger-handling facilities within a station, to the operators. The adoption of the concept of Petri nets in the simulation model is discussed. Examples are provided to demonstrate its application to passenger flow analysis, train scheduling and the testing of alternative station layouts.

Load flow in electrified railway

Probabilistic load flow techniques have been adopted in AC electrified railways to study the load demand under various train service conditions. This paper highlights the differences in probabilistic load flow analysis between the usual power systems and power supply systems in AC railways; discusses the possible difficulties in problem formulation and presents the link between train movement and the corresponding power demand for load flow calculation.

Probabilistic load flow calculation for AC traction supplies with AT feeding

Power load flow analysis is essential for system planning, operation, development and maintenance. Its application on railway supply system is no exception. Railway power supplies system distinguishes itself in terms of load pattern and mobility, as well as feeding system structure. An attempt has been made to apply probability load flow (PLF) techniques on electrified railways in order to examine the loading on the feeding substations and the voltage profiles of the trains. This study is to formulate a simple and reliable model to support the necessary calculations for probability load flow analysis in railway systems with autotransformer (AT) feeding system, and describe the development of a software suite to realise the computation.

Fair flow control of ABR service by per-VC virtual queuing

In this paper, a rate-based flow control scheme based upon per-VC virtual queuing is proposed for the Available Bit Rate (ABR) service in ATM. In this scheme, each VC in a shared buffer is assigned a virtual queue, which is a counter. To achieve a specific kind of fairness, an appropriate scheduler is applied to the virtual queues. Each VC's bottleneck rate (fair share) is derived from its virtual cell departure rate. This approach of deriving a VC's fair share is simple and accurate. By controlling each VC with respect to its virtual queue and queue build-up in the shared buffer, network congestion is avoided. The principle of the control scheme is first illustrated by max–min flow control, which is realised by scheduling the virtual queues in round-robin. Further application of the control scheme is demonstrated with the achievement of weighted fairness through weighted round robin scheduling. Simulation results show that with a simple computation, the proposed scheme achieves the desired fairness exactly and controls network congestion effectively.

A two-Dimensional finite volume method for variable density flow and solute transport through saturated-unsaturated media

Extensive groundwater withdrawal has resulted in a severe seawater intrusion problem in the Gooburrum aquifers at Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia. Better management strategies can be implemented by understanding the seawater intrusion processes in those aquifers. To study the seawater intrusion process in the region, a two-dimensional density-dependent, saturated and unsaturated flow and transport computational model is used. The model consists of a coupled system of two non-linear partial differential equations. The first equation describes the flow of a variable-density fluid, and the second equation describes the transport of dissolved salt. A two-dimensional control volume finite element model is developed for simulating the seawater intrusion into the heterogeneous aquifer system at Gooburrum. The simulation results provide a realistic mechanism by which to study the convoluted transport phenomena evolving in this complex heterogeneous coastal aquifer.

An event-based traffic flow model for traffic control at railway junctions

This paper introduces an event-based traffic model for railway systems adopting fixed-block signalling schemes. In this model, the events of trains' arrival at and departure from signalling blocks constitute the states of the traffic flow. A state transition is equivalent to the progress of the trains by one signalling block and it is realised by referring to past and present states, as well as a number of pre-calculated look-up tables of run-times in the signalling block under various signalling conditions. Simulation results are compared with those from a time-based multi-train simulator to study the improvement of processing time and accuracy.

Group segmentation during object tracking using optical flow discontinuities

Within a surveillance video, occlusions are commonplace, and accurately resolving these occlusions is key when seeking to accurately track objects. The challenge of accurately segmenting objects is further complicated by the fact that within many real-world surveillance environments, the objects appear very similar. For example, footage of pedestrians in a city environment will consist of many people wearing dark suits. In this paper, we propose a novel technique to segment groups and resolve occlusions using optical flow discontinuities. We demonstrate that the ratio of continuous to discontinuous pixels within a region can be used to locate the overlapping edges, and incorporate this into an object tracking framework. Results on a portion of the ETISEO database show that the proposed algorithm results in improved tracking performance overall, and improved tracking within occlusions.

Experimental modelling of coupled water flow and associated movements in swelling soils

Modelling of water flow and associated deformation in unsaturated reactive soils (shrinking/swelling soils) is important in many applications. The current paper presents a method to capture soil swelling deformation during water infiltration using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The model soil material used is a commercially available bentonite. A swelling chamber was setup to determine the water content profile and extent of soil swelling. The test was run for 61 days, and during this time period, the soil underwent on average across its width swelling of about 26% of the height of the soil column. PIV analysis was able to determine the amount of swelling that occurred within the entire face of the soil box that was used for observations. The swelling was most apparent in the top layers with strains in most cases over 100%.

Volcanic stratigraphy, alteration zoning, and vein paragenesis of the Sascha-Pelligrini low-sulphidation epithermal system, Santa Cruz, Argentina

The Sascha-Pelligrini low-sulphidation epithermal system is located on the western edge of the Deseado Massif, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. Outcrop sampling has returned values of up to 160g/t gold and 796g/t silver, with Mirasol Resources and Coeur D.Alene Mines currently exploring the property. Detailed mapping of the volcanic stratigraphy has defined three units that comprise the middle Jurassic Chon Aike Formation and two units that comprise the upper Jurassic La Matilde Formation. The Chon Aike Formation consists of rhyodacite ignimbrites and tuffs, with the La Matilde Formation including rhyolite ash and lithic tuffs. The volcanic sequence is intruded by a large flow-banded rhyolite dome, with small, spatially restricted granodiorite dykes and sills cropping out across the study area. ASTER multispectral mineral mapping, combined with PIMA (Portable Infrared Mineral Analyser) and XRD (X-ray diffraction) analysis defines an alteration pattern that zones from laumontite-montmorillonite, to illite-pyritechlorite, followed by a quartz-illite-smectite-pyrite-adularia vein selvage. Supergene kaolinite and steam-heated acid-sulphate kaolinite-alunite-opal alteration horizons crop out along the Sascha Vein trend and Pelligrini respectively. Paragenetically, epithermal veining varies from chalcedonic to saccharoidal with minor bladed textures, colloform/crustiform-banded with visible electrum and acanthite, crustiform-banded grey chalcedonic to jasperoidal with fine pyrite, and crystalline comb quartz. Geothermometry of mineralised veins constrains formation temperatures from 174.8 to 205.1¡ÆC and correlates with the stability field for the interstratified illite-smectite vein selvage. Vein morphology, mineralogy and associated alteration are controlled by host rock rheology, permeability, and depth of the palaeo-water table. Mineralisation within ginguro banded veins resulted from fluctuating fluid pH associated with selenide-rich magmatic pulses, pressure release boiling and wall-rock silicate buffering. The study of the Sascha-Pelligrini epithermal system will form the basis for a deposit-specific model helping to clarify the current understanding of epithermal deposits, and may serve as a template for exploration of similar epithermal deposits throughout Santa Cruz.

Terrain following using wide field optic flow

Wall and terrain following is a challenging problem for small, fast, and fragile robot vehicles. This paper presents a robust algorithm based on wide field integration of optic flow. Solutions for two dimensional and three dimensional wall following is provided for vehicles with non-holonomic velocity constraints that ensure that the focus of expansion of the flow field is known. The potential of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated in a simulation environment.

Perturbation solutions for flow through symmetrical hoppers with inserts and asymmetrical wedge hoppers

Under certain circumstances, an industrial hopper which operates under the "funnel-flow" regime can be converted to the "mass-flow" regime with the addition of a flow-corrective insert. This paper is concerned with calculating granular flow patterns near the outlet of hoppers that incorporate a particular type of insert, the cone-in-cone insert. The flow is considered to be quasi-static, and governed by the Coulomb-Mohr yield condition together with the non-dilatant double-shearing theory. In two dimensions, the hoppers are wedge-shaped, and as such the formulation for the wedge-in-wedge hopper also includes the case of asymmetrical hoppers. A perturbation approach, valid for high angles of internal friction, is used for both two-dimensional and axially symmetric flows, with analytic results possible for both leading order and correction terms. This perturbation scheme is compared with numerical solutions to the governing equations, and is shown to work very well for angles of internal friction in excess of 45 degree.

Fixed-wing attitude estimation using temporal tracking of the horizon and optical flow

In this paper, a method has been developed for estimating pitch angle, roll angle and aircraft body rates based on horizon detection and temporal tracking using a forward-looking camera, without assistance from other sensors. Using an image processing front-end, we select several lines in an image that may or may not correspond to the true horizon. The optical flow at each candidate line is calculated, which may be used to measure the body rates of the aircraft. Using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), the aircraft state is propagated using a motion model and a candidate horizon line is associated using a statistical test based on the optical flow measurements and the location of the horizon. Once associated, the selected horizon line, along with the associated optical flow, is used as a measurement to the EKF. To test the accuracy of the algorithm, two flights were conducted, one using a highly dynamic Uninhabited Airborne Vehicle (UAV) in clear flight conditions and the other in a human-piloted Cessna 172 in conditions where the horizon was partially obscured by terrain, haze and smoke. The UAV flight resulted in pitch and roll error standard deviations of 0.42◦ and 0.71◦ respectively when compared with a truth attitude source. The Cessna flight resulted in pitch and roll error standard deviations of 1.79◦ and 1.75◦ respectively. The benefits of selecting and tracking the horizon using a motion model and optical flow rather than naively relying on the image processing front-end is also demonstrated.