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The impact of aerosols on global climate is an area of science that is dominated by uncertainty. The multi-model ensemble range of aerosol indirect forcing estimates has hardly changed through the last three IPCC assessments despite significant advances in our understanding of aerosol processes. In this paper we suggest that new approaches need to be taken to tackle the “uncertainty problem” head on. Here we show how emulators, Monte Carlotype sampling of model output and variance-based uncertainty analysis can be combined to generate an unprecedented amount of information about the magnitude and causes of uncertainty in global aerosol and radiative forcing. The impact of aerosols on global climate is an area of science that is dominated by uncertainty. The multi-model ensemble range of aerosol indirect forcing estimates has hardly changed through the last three IPCC assessments despite significant advances in our understanding of aerosol processes. In this paper we suggest that new approaches need to be ...

This paper explores the extension of the Legendre transform from scalar calculus to geometric calculus. In physics, the Legendre transform provides a change of variables to express equations of motion or other physical relationships in terms of the most convenient dynamical quantities for a given experimental or theoretical analysis. In classical mechanics and in field theory, the Legendre transform generates the Hamiltonian function of a system from the Lagrangian function or vice versa. In thermodynamics, the Legendre transform allows thermodynamic relationships to be written in terms of alternative sets of independent variables. In this paper, we review the properties of the Legendre transform in scalar calculus and show how an analogous transformation with similar properties may be constructed in geometric calculus.

This paper combines first-order system least-squares (FOSLS) and first-order system LL∗ (FOSLL∗) to create a Hybrid method. FOSLS minimizes the error, eh = uh− u, over a finite element subspace, V h, in the operator norm: uh = argminuh∈V h ‖L(uh− u)‖. Here, L is a first-order differential operator, obtained by possibly reformulating the original equations properly, such that c0‖e‖V h ≤ ‖L(uh− u)‖ ≤ c1‖e‖V h . Usually, V h is a subspace of H1, in which case this property of L is called H1-equivalence. This leads to many attractive numerical features of the resulting dicretized problem [5, 6, 11]. FOSLS also offers a locally sharp, globally reliable, and easily computable a posterior error estimate, which can be utilized for adaptive mesh refinement [3, 1]. The FOSLL∗ method seeks an approximation in the range of L∗, the adjoint of L: uh = L∗wh, with wh ∈ W h, a standard finite element space. FOSLL∗ minimizes the L2 norm of the error over L∗(W h), that is, wh = argminwh∈W h ‖L∗wh− u‖. For problems that are not smooth enough due to discontinuous coefficients, or nonsmooth boundary conditions, to name a few, H1-equivalence of L and its associated properties may be lost [12, 13, 17]. One of the solutions is to use FOSLL* [10, 15]. Unfortunately, FOSLL∗ does not have an easily computable error estimate. The Hybrid method attempts to retain the best properties of both FOSLS and FOSLL∗. This is accomplished by combining the FOSLS functional, the FOSLL∗ functional, and an intermediate term that draws them together. The FOSLS and intermediate terms in the Hybrid functional provide an effective a posteriori error measure. In this paper, we show that the Hybrid functional is coercive and continuous in a graph-like norm with modest coercivity and continuity constants, c0 = 1/3 and c1 = 3, which results in a better control of L2 error and mass conservation numerically, without going to a very fine grid. Numerical tests are provided to confirm the efficiency of the Hybrid method and effectiveness of the a posteriori error measure.

Many innovative processes and newer materials are preferred over conventional methods in sheet metal forming and automotive industry to increase the efficiency on many aspects. These innovative processes include complex strain loading on sheet metal during forming. On the other hand newer materials behave differently in these innovative process conditions. Due to these changes the material characterization came as crucial investigation. Hole expansion process is one of the materials mechanical characterization which was investigated in this paper. Hole expansion capacity of the material seems less dependent on materials ductility if the hole surface quality is poor. Crack generation is one of the common failures in this process. Advanced high strength steels which are oriented towards multiphase structure, found more prone to this factor. Due to complexity in material microstructure each phase behaves independent to each other during loading. In this paper multiphase steel CPW800 was investigated through hole expansion process. Hole punching test was performed with punching and broaching combo geometries which is not discussed in this paper. Limit strain was measured for the hole expanded sample and compared with the FLD of this material. Furthermore numerical simulations were performed to validate with experiments. In addition limit strains was predicted and compared with the experimental results.

In this paper, effects of different modeling of cell-face velocities in convection term on accuracy and convergence behavior of the solution are studied. Three different upwind schemes, namely first order mass weighted upwind scheme, second order mass weighted upwind scheme and the modified version of physical influence scheme are used for modeling of convected velocities. Discussions are focused on the collocated scheme of Karimian and Schneider in the context of control volume finite element method. The modified version of this scheme, proposed by Alisadeghi and Karimian, has been used for modeling of mass conserving velocities in the present paper. Results of this method, then are compared with the results of pressure weighted interpolation method of Rhie and Chow. The steady-state flow in a two-dimensional driven cavity is studied for the comparison and validation of the numerical results. In general, the physical influence scheme gives the best accuracy among the three schemes.

In this paper a possibility of introducing new software metric is explored. The new metric reflects the recursive complexity i.e., the complexity of recursive calls appearing in the source code for the purpose of maintainability analysis. The purpose of recursive complexity is to fulfill the gap in complexity and maintainability measurements. Intention of this paper is to provoke the discussion on the needs in the field of maintainability analysis regarding complexity measures. Therefore only the basic concepts of the new metric are discussed.

We showed our work on modeling turbine blade crack detection in Sonic Infrared (IR) Imaging with a method of creating flat crack surface in finite element analysis (FEA) in last year's QNDE paper. This modeling has been carried out continuously as part of model-assisted study on crack detection in aircraft engine turbine blades. We have presented that Sonic IR Imaging NDE is a viable method to detect defects in various structures. It combines ultrasound excitation for frictional heating in defects and infrared imaging to sense this heating, and thus to identify the defects. It is a fast wide-area imaging technology. It only takes a second to image a large area of a target sample. When an aircraft is in flight, the turbine engine blades operate under high temperature and high cyclic stresses. Thus, fatigue cracks can form after many hours of operation. Sonic IR Imaging can be used to detect such cracks. However, we still need to better understand contributions of parameters/factors in the crack detection process with Sonic IR Imaging. FEA modeling can help us to reveal certain aspects through the data it produces where experimental work cannot achieve. Upon the model we presented last year, a two-step simulation process was designed to simulate the important aspects in our experiments. These include a newly designed model for the ultrasound transducer which delivers mechanical energy to the sample and the implementation of static force while engaging the transducer to the sample. In this paper, we present the ideas and the results from the new model.

Simulation has been introduced to solve problems in the form of systems. By using this technique the following two problems can be overcome. First, a problem that has an analytical solution but the cost of running an experiment to solve is high in terms of money and lives. Second, a problem exists but has no analytical solution. In the field of statistical inference the second problem is often encountered. With the advent of high-speed computing devices, a statistician can now use resampling techniques such as the bootstrap and permutations to form pseudo sampling distribution that will lead to the solution of the problem that cannot be solved analytically. This paper discusses how a Monte Carlo simulation was and still being used to verify the analytical solution in inference. This paper also discusses the resampling techniques as simulation techniques. The misunderstandings about these two techniques are examined. The successful usages of both techniques are also explained.

This paper was conducted to determine the optimal travel routes for self-drive tourism based on the allocation of time and expense by maximizing the amount of attraction scores assigned to each city involved. Self-drive tourism represents a type of tourism where tourists hire or travel by their own vehicle. It only involves a tourist destination which can be linked with a network of roads. Normally, the traveling salesman problem (TSP) and multiple traveling salesman problems (MTSP) method were used in the minimization problem such as determination the shortest time or distance traveled. This paper involved an alternative approach for maximization method which is maximize the attraction scores and tested on tourism data for ten cities in Kedah. A set of priority scores are used to set the attraction score at each city. The classical approach of the orienteering problem was used to determine the optimal travel route. This approach is extended to the team orienteering problem and the two methods were compared. These two models have been solved by using LINGO12.0 software. The results indicate that the model involving the team orienteering problem provides a more appropriate solution compared to the orienteering problem model.

The nucleosynthesis of 31P in stars of 30 M⊙ model with solar metallicity is investigated using the MESA (Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics) stellar evolution code. Mass loss mechanisms are included in the evolution of the star with no rotation. The mass loss mechanism used is one constructed by MESA. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the investigations of the main reactions involved in the production and destruction of 31P. The site for the nucleosynthesis of 31P is also suggested. In the second part of the paper we compare the results of our production of 31P to other papers whenever possible and discuss the need to add new reactions to the network. We also explore the possible mechanisms for the distribution of 31P to the galaxy.

To describe the evolution of anisotropy of sheet metals, in terms of both r-values and stresses, the present paper proposes anisotropic hardening models, where the shape of yield surface changes with increasing plastic strain. In this framework of modeling, any types of yield functions are able to be used. The evolution of anisotropy is expressed by updating the yield function as an interpolation between two yield functions defined at two different effective plastic strains. In this paper, two types of interpolation models, i.e., nonlinear interpolation model and piecewise interpolation model are presented. These models are validated by comparing the experimental data on 3003-O aluminum sheet (after Hu, Int J Plasticity 23, 620-639, 2007). To describe the Bauschinger effect, the combined anisotropic-kinematic hardening model is formulated based on Yoshida-Uemori kinematic hardening model.

An optimal Base-Stock inventory policy for Patient and Impatient Customers using finite-horizon models is examined. The Base stock system for Patient and Impatient customers is a different type of inventory policy. In case of the model I, Base stock for Patient customer case is evaluated using the Truncated Exponential Distribution. The model II involves the study of Base-stock inventory policies for Impatient customer. A study on these systems reveals that the Customers wait until the arrival of the next order or the customers leaves the system which leads to lost sale. In both the models demand during the period [0, t] is taken to be a random variable. In this paper, Truncated Exponential Distribution satisfies the Base stock policy for the patient customer as a continuous model. So far the Base stock for Impatient Customers leaded to a discrete case but, in this paper we have modeled this condition into a continuous case. We justify this approach mathematically and also numerically.

Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBC) are used to reduce the working temperature of the high pressure turbine blade metal surface and hence permit engines to operate at higher temperatures/ efficiencies. A sensor TBC is an adaptation of existing TBCs to enhance their functionality, such that they become sensors and allow measurement of component temperatures. The sensing capability is introduced by embedding optically active materials into the TBC and by illuminating these coatings with excitation light phosphorescence can be observed. The phosphorescence carries temperature and structural information about the coating. This paper describes the first ever implementation of a sensor coating system on a full-scale jet engine. The system consists of three main components: industrially manufactured coatings, advanced remote detection optics with large stand-off distances and tailored control and readout software. The majority of coatings were based on yttrium stabilized zirconia doped with Dy and Eu, although other coatings were manufactured, too. Coatings were produced on a production line using atmospheric plasma spraying. An advanced optical system was designed, manufactured and operated permitting scanning of coated components using a wide acceptance angle. Successful measurements were taken from the nozzle guide vanes at the inlet to the turbine section and are reported in the paper.

This new session at QNDE reflects the growing interest in inspection automation. Our paper describes a newly developed platform that makes the complex NDE automation possible without the need for software programmers. Inspection tasks that are tedious, error-prone or impossible for humans to perform can now be automated using a form of drag and drop visual scripting. Our work attempts to rectify the problem that NDE is not keeping pace with the rest of factory automation. Outside of NDE, robots routinely and autonomously machine parts, assemble components, weld structures and report progress to corporate databases. By contrast, components arriving in the NDT department typically require manual part handling, calibrations and analysis. The automation examples in this paper cover the development of robotic thickness gauging and the use of adaptive contour following on the NRU reactor inspection at Chalk River.

In this paper, the linear fractional programming problem with interval coefficients in the objective function is considered. The aim of the paper is to show that a parametric approach, which is an iterative procedure, can be utilized to solve such problem. Questions of how to select the best coefficient through the intervals and also selecting the best value of decision variables are answered in this paper. Finally, the proposed method yields to the optimal solution. An example is given to show the efficiency of the method.

The paper is devoted to VNIIOFI's measurements of thermodynamic temperature of the high temperature fixed points Co-C, Pt-C and Re-C within the scope of the international project coordinated by the Consultative Committee for Thermometry working group 5 "Radiation Thermometry". The melting temperatures of the fixed points were measured by a radiance mode radiation thermometer calibrated against a filter radiometer with known irradiance spectral responsivity via a high temperature black body. This paper describes the facility used for the measurements, the results and estimated uncertainties.

The paper is a part of student cooperation in AKTION project (Austria-Czech). Method of aposteriori error estimation based on weighted averaging to improve initial triangulation to get better solution of the planar elliptic boundary-value problem of second order and numerical illustrations of the method are presented in the paper.

The closed loop thermoshypon is device operate with working fluid phase change principle. It is a simple and reliable device providing heat transfer. This device utilizes the thermodynamic pressure difference and gravitation to circulate working fluid and has extremely high effective thermal conductivity. Usually is used to cooling of electronic components. The paper describes a design and construction of this device. As a working fluid was used fluorinert FC-72. Next the paper deal with dependences measurement of evaporator temperatures on waste heat of the electronic component and their verification by means of a mathematic calculation based on physical phenomena of boiling, condensation and heat transfer.

In a recent paper [On Some Unified Integrals, Advances in Comput. Math. and Its Applications, Vol. 1, No. 3, PP. 151-153 (2012)], the author has evaluated three very interesting integrals involving hypergeometric function in terms of gamma function. In this paper, three new unified integrals involving Fox’s H-function have been evaluated. By specializing the parameters, we can easily obtain a large number of new and known integrals including one obtained earlier by Garg and Mittal. The results established in this paper are simple, interesting, easily established and may be useful.

In this paper, we solve the mixed boundary value problem on bounded multiply connected region by using the method of boundary integral equation. Our approach in this paper is to reformulate the mixed boundary value problem into the form of Riemann-Hilbert problem. The Riemann-Hilbert problem is then solved using a uniquely solvable Fredholm integral equation on the boundary of the region. The kernel of this integral equation is the adjoint generalized Neumann kernel. As an examination of the proposed method, some numerical examples for some different test regions are presented.

In this paper, we applied the Riemann-Liouville approach and the fractional Euler-Lagrange equations in order to obtain the fractional nonlinear dynamic equations involving the classical physical application "Spring-Mass-Dumper System" to both, integer order calculus (IOC) and fractional order calculus (FOC) approaches. After the numerical simulations, we outlined the main results through time histories and the investigation of phase portraits. Thereafter, we believe that the results showed on this paper are pertinent enough to be thoroughly analyzed and maybe it can be the very beginning of a stride towards more realistic and more precise results about fractional-order models when compared to the integer order models in these applications.

In this paper, the sinter cooling process is numerically studied to get the pressure field, velocity field and temperature field when the fluid flows through the porous media by developing a two-dimensional unsteady state computational model. The inlet velocity, layer height, porosity and sinter layer distribution are the main parameters affecting the sinter cooling process. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique is employed to investigate the influences of thermal process of the four parameters. When high temperature sinters are loaded into the sinter cooler from the sintering machine, phenomena of the non-uniform distribution of sinter size takes place which always causes the non-uniform distribution of sinter temperature field and leads to the deformation of the conveyors. In order to get a uniform sinter temperature field, several recommendations are proposed. The results discussed in this paper would be important for the further understanding of the thermal process and transformation of the sinter cooler.

This paper identifies the influence variables affecting the resolution of thermometry resistance bridges. The theoretical limit to the resolution is determined by the spectral density of all noise sources, including the thermal noise from the resistors and amplifiers, quantization noise, and the equivalent noise bandwidth. Optimization of resolution is equivalent to minimization of measurement time, which has a Heisenberg-uncertainty-like relationship with equivalent noise bandwidth. Bridge design has a major influence on the compromises between the different noise sources, as well as influencing compromises with respect to measurement time. The paper explains the concept of an ideal averaging filter and illustrates the use of the Allan variance to evaluate the dependence of the resolution on measurement time.

This paper presents a numerical study of a low Reynolds number flow around a thick airfoil (Eppler's E863 airfoil) with and without an upper-surface vortex-trapping cavity. The numerical model of flow is constructed using an O-grid computational domain around the airfoil and analyzed using four different turbulence models: namely standard k-e, RNG k-e, SST k-ω and the one-equation Spallart-Almaras (SA). Enhance wall treatment is employed for the two-equation turbulence models with the non-dimensional first cell height y+ at the wall region kept close to 1. The Reynolds number is kept constant at 354000. Results of lift & drag coefficient as well as velocity profiles are presented for four different angles of attack from 0 to 15 deg. The RNG k-e model is found to better predict the flow field and airfoil lift and drag characteristics as compared to the other turbulence models taken into consideration in this paper. The presence of the vortex-trapping cavity midway on the upper-surface of the airfoil is fou...

In paper industry, refining the pulp suspension is a costly operation due to the high energy consumed. Nevertheless, this operation is necessary to develop the mechanical properties of the future sheet of paper. Refiners look like hydrodynamic bearing loads, consequently the lubrication theory may be applied. We add to the pioneering work of Rance and Steenberg, the numerical resolution of the Reynolds equation when the local geometry of the bearing load is defined. The validation of this approach was obtained comparing the experimental and theoretical data of the friction coefficient versus the average gap clearance.

The paper describes different studies linked to extrusion problems encountered during production in the cable industry. Extrusion simulation or rheology analysis can be used to understand the origin of the problems in cable manufacturing and to set up durable industrial solutions by selecting the appropriate compounds, optimizing screw profiles, modifying the geometries of the tooling or adapting the processing conditions. Our investigations based on the COMPUPLAST® Virtual Extrusion Laboratory™ software, have brought large understanding and these investigations are cheaper and faster alternatives to real experiments (trials/errors) when analyzing and optimizing extrusion processes. Three examples are presented in the paper.

This paper is a continuation of the paper [1]. Some basic dynamical analysis will be done using the Routh-Hurwitz Criterion. Furthermore, this paper will determine the Hopf bifurcation of the three-dimensional modified Lorenz system by means of the first Lyapunov coefficient. The result shows that Hopf bifurcations occurred at two equilibrium points and are subcritical.

Phased array ultrasonic reconstruction techniques are often presented as a prospect for better and enhanced diagnosis. However to date few applications of these techniques can be found in the industry, partly because of questions on sizing but also because they often require heavy acquisitions. A way forward is then to propose techniques requiring less intensive data acquisition to make them broadly affordable in practice. Several approaches ranging from full matrix capture to paintbrush acquisitions are presented in this paper in combination with associated reconstruction processing like the Total Focusing Method (TFM) and the Time Domain Topological Energy (TDTE) techniques. Emphasis is given to their relative relevancies and practical applicability on typical configurations of interest for industries. The paper also presents recent efforts made on the acceleration of processing computation times, in particular through the use of GPU architectures.

Guided wave structural health monitoring (SHM) has been proposed as a technique to allow permanently attached sensors to provide information about the state of a structure. Typical approaches rely on gathering information about the baseline state of the structure and using this data with subtraction to highlight changes to the system. This relies on the baseline data accurately representing the conditions that the system will experience. In reality this is difficult to ensure and may result in either large periods out of service or poor performance. In addition the size of the baseline set can become prohibitively large. This paper describes an alternative approach that produces an efficient continuously evolving baseline. The paper considers how damage detection performance can be characterized within this framework and presents a series of metrics to do this. The result is a new way of considering the baseline problem with practical applications to the long term inspection of structures.

Allocation capital investment into different assets is the best way to balance the risk and reward. This can prevent from losing big amount of money. Thus, the aim of this paper is to help investors in making wise investment decision in asset allocation. This paper proposes modifying and adapting Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model. The AHP model is widely used in various fields of study that are related in decision making. The results of the case studies show that the proposed model can categorize stocks and determine the portion of capital investment. Hence, it can assist investors in decision making process and reduce the risk of loss in stock market investment.

Road Infrastructure (RI) project evaluation and selection is concern with the allocation of scarce organizational resources. In this paper, it is suggest an improved RI project selection methodology which reflects interdependencies among evaluation criteria and candidate projects. Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) is use to evoking expert group opinion and also to determine a degree of interdependences relationship between the alternative projects. In order to provide a systematic approach to set priorities among multi-criteria and trade-off among objectives, Analytic Network Process (ANP) is suggested to be applied prior to Zero-One Goal Programming (ZOGP) formulation. Specifically, this paper demonstrated how to combined FDM and ANP with ZOGP through a real-world RI empirical example on an ongoing decision-making project in Johor, Malaysia.

As adults, we have always learned throughout our life, but this learning is informal. Now, more career-switchers and career-upgraders who are joining universities for further training are becoming the major group of adult learners. This current situation requires formal education in courses with controlled output. Hence, lifelong learning is seen as a necessity and an opportunity for these adult learners. One characteristic of adult education is that the learners tend to bring with them life experience from their past, especially when learning mathematics. Most of them associate mathematics with the school subjects and unable to recognize the mathematics in their daily practice as mathematics. They normally place a high value on learning mathematics because of its prominent role in their prospective careers, but their learning often requires overcoming personal experience and motivating themselves to learn mathematics again. This paper reports on the study conducted on a group of adult learners currently pursuing their study. The aim of this study is to explore (i) the motivation of the adult learners continuing their study; and (ii) the perception and motivation of these learners in learning mathematics. This paper will take this into account when we discuss learners’ perception and motivation to learning mathematics, as interrelated phenomena. Finding from this study will provide helpful insights in understanding the learning process and adaption of adult learners to formal education.

This paper focuses on some 3-Engel groups. Suppose x and y are elements of a group G. The commutativity degree of a group is the probability that two elements in the group commute and is denoted by P(G). Meanwhile, the nth commutativity degree of a group G is the probability that for any pairs of x and y in G, xn and y commute. In this paper, the nth commutativity degree of some 3-Engel groups is determined.

The ITS-90 Inconsistency in overlap region of the Mercury-Gallium and the Water-Argon Sub-ranges are investigated in this paper. The calibration data of thirteen SPRTs are used to determine the magnitude of the inconsistency. The result shows it no greater than 0.22mK. By mean of extending a logarithm of the platinum resistance ratio of the ITS-90 interpolation in a power series, this paper gives an inconsistency function of the form of interpolation error in the region . The function is only with approximate error less than 3.4×10−5 mK, almost no error, checked by the SPRTs.

This paper summarizes the activities and the discussion of Working Group 5 at the Advanced Accelerator Conceopts Workshop held in Austin, Texas, in June 2012. The themes of this working group are very broad and we have regrouped the sessions and discussions, as well as the organization of this paper, in four general topics: electron sources, phase space manipulation, diagnostics and radiation generation. Within the latter, ampler space was given to beam-based radiation sources in the spectral range where conventional light sources perform poorly, that includes the THz window and the high energy end of the electromagnetic spectrum (x-rays and γ-rays).

Bangladesh has had a glorious physics tradition since the beginning of the last century, when the physicist S.N. Bose published a groundbreaking paper with Albert Einstein on Bose-Einstein statistics. However, women in Bangladesh traditionally have not been able to make their way in the realm of science in general and physics in particular. Since Bangladesh achieved independence in 1971, the situation has gradually changed and more and more women choose physics as an academic discipline. The percentage of women students in physics rose from 10% in 1970 to almost 30% in 2010. In recent years, women physicists have actively participated in many activities promoting science and technology, creating awareness among the public about the importance of physics education. The present status of women physicists in academic, research, and administrative programs in the government and private sectors in Bangladesh is reported. The greater inclusion of women scientists, particularly physicists, in policy-making roles on important issues of global and national interest is suggested.Bangladesh has had a glorious physics tradition since the beginning of the last century, when the physicist S.N. Bose published a groundbreaking paper with Albert Einstein on Bose-Einstein statistics. However, women in Bangladesh traditionally have not been able to make their way in the realm of science in general and physics in particular. Since Bangladesh achieved independence in 1971, the situation has gradually changed and more and more women choose physics as an academic discipline. The percentage of women students in physics rose from 10% in 1970 to almost 30% in 2010. In recent years, women physicists have actively participated in many activities promoting science and technology, creating awareness among the public about the importance of physics education. The present status of women physicists in academic, research, and administrative programs in the government and private sectors in Bangladesh is reported. The greater inclusion of women scientists, particularly physicists, in policy-making roles...

Aiming at the situation that the turn point of the whitenization weight function must be real number, this paper constructed and solved the whitenization function when the turn point is an interval grey number. Firstly, this paper delimited the standardized methods of the interval grey number. Then using the standardized interval grey number replace the real number of the whitenization function. And the expression of the whitenization function with interval grey number is given. Secondly, discussing the two circumstances that only one interval grey number is in the piecewise curve of the whitening weight function or both two endpoints are interval grey numbers. And when the four turn points are all interval grey numbers, the expression of whitenization function is given. At last, an example is given to illustrate the validity and the feasibility of this algorithm.

In this paper designing of microstrip patch antenna has been done. Further to improve the results obtained from single layer patch stack arrangement has been done. This paper presents a stack arrangement of microstrip patch antenna to improve the bandwidth for communication. For this purpose IE3D software has been taken for experimental study. Planer designs are mostly preferred for these structures, due to their advantages of small size, low manufacturing cost and conformabilty. Microstrip patch antenna of 20mm×20 mm size is designed on a FR4 substrate of thickness 1.59mm and relative permittivity of 4.4 and mounted above the ground plate at a height of 6mm. A stack of size 18×18mm is fabricated with air gap between them. High Bandwidth is obtained with stable pattern characterization, such as gain and polarization within its bandwidth. Impedance matching is also observed for this case. Details of the measured and simulated results are presented and discussed in this paper.

In the present paper a two-stage upsetting process preventing buckling at critical upsetting heights of tubular parts of the aluminum alloy EN AW 6082 O1 is analyzed. Numerical investigations have been conducted to determine influencing parameters on the annular fold formation and numerous experimental investigations have been conducted for their validation. It has been shown, that using a two-stage upsetting process buckling at critical upsetting height ratios can be prevented by optimized pre-upsetting shapes obtained by using numerical simulation previously. Although preventing buckling, folding in the annular flange occurs always for investigated geometries within second upsetting stage in experimental investigations while numerical simulations predict sound part quality. Using micro hardness measurements, REM analysis and an alternative process route, further mechanisms and influence factors have been found. These lead to annular folding apart from buckling of the tubular part and are presented in this paper. Furthermore observed folding without buckling in experimental analysis recently cannot be predicted numerically by using common extrapolation of flow curves for high effective strain values, which is also discussed in this contribution.

The Impulse Response (IR) method is a well-established form of non-destructive testing (NDT) where the dynamic response of an element resulting from an impact event (hammer blow) is measured with a geophone to make conclusions about the element’s integrity, stiffness, and/or support conditions. The existing ASTM Standard C1740-10 prescribes a set of parameters that can be used to evaluate the conditions above. These parameters are computed from the so-called ‘mobility’ spectrum which is obtained by dividing the measured bridge deck response by the measured impact force in the frequency domain. While applying the test method in the laboratory as well as on an actual in-service concrete bridge deck, the authors of this paper observed several limitations that are presented and discussed in this paper. In order to better understand the underlying physics of the IR method, a Finite Element (FE) model was created. Parameters prescribed in the Standard were then computed from the FE data and are discussed. One main limitation appears to be the use of a fixed upper frequency of 800 Hz. Test data from the real bridge deck as well as the FE model both show that most energy is found above that limit. This paper presents and discusses limitations of the ASTM Standard found by the authors and suggests ways for improving it.

Non-equilibrium Green function formulism and equation of motion approach has been used to study the electron transport through coupled quantum dot (CQD) system in the presence of intra-dot coulomb interaction. With focus on quantum interference, an obvious Fano interference is readily observed in the conduction spectrum of CQD system. In this paper the possibility of manipulating the Fano line shape in the tunneling spectra of CQD system is being explored by tuning the magnetic flux threading the CQD system and leads. The role of asymmetric coupling during transition from series configuration to parallel one is observed to be magnetic flux dependent. Absence of Fano effect in series CQD system and presence of Fano effect in the symmetric parallel CQD in the presence of magnetic flux is the main hallmark of this paper.

This paper focuses on the commissioning process of pipeline on hilly areas (for short, hereinafter referred to as hilly pipeline). Quasi-steady model is established to simulate the hydraulic characteristics of it. Liquid holdup in pipeline with various parameters such as diameter, flow rate, inclination is calculated and analyzed. Variation trend of liquid height of slug and gas pressure of air pocket is emphatically studied and entrainment effect is further considered in the model. According to the calculation result, although entrainment effect can counterbalance the increase of gas pressure of the air pocket to a certain extent, its effect is not significant. The proposed model and research results quantitatively obtained in this paper may provide guidance for the practical commissioning process.

The aim of this paper is to modify the suggested method by Noura et al. (A.A. Noura, F. Hosseinzadeh Lotfi, G.R. Jahanshahloo, S. Fanati Rashidi, Super-efficiency in DEA by effectiveness of each unit in society, Applied Mathematics Letters, 24, 2010, 623-626), that is a ranking method based on the effectiveness of each unit in society. They utilized the assigned weights for ranking DMUs, but this is not a conventional method for determining the weights. This paper proposes common weights approach for improving its method. A multi-objective linear fractional is derived and then it was converted to a multi-objective linear programming by Taylor series. The model is solved by Max Min method. Based on the obtained optimal solution, common weights are acquired and then DMUs will be ranked. And we introduce stochastic version of this model in DEA. The deterministic equivalent of this stochastic model will be obtained. The proposed method is illustrated by ranking Taiwan forests after reorganization.

This paper comprises two separate parts. First, we present the high-spin states in 139Pm nucleus. Two negative-parity dipole bands have been observed and assigned as πh11/2⊗ν(h11/2)−2 and πh11/2⊗ν(h11/2)−4 configurations. From the systematic comparison with neighboring nuclei and SPAC (Shears mechanism with Principal Axis Cranking) model calculations, the two bands can be suggested as magnetic rotational bands. In the other part of this paper, the construction of one new array of eight Clover and sixteen HPGe detectors has been introduced. The characteristics of the Clover detector have been presented and compared with Geant4 simulations.

In this paper we define and characterize the concepts of polynomial stability in mean square for stochastic cocycles in Hilbert spaces. The main concern of this paper is to give definitions, connections and characterizations for various concepts for the asymptotic properties of stability in mean square of solutions for stochastic equations in Hilbert spaces, in a nonuniform setting.

In this paper the applications, detailed in previous papers, referred to ultrasonic transducers with the addition of axicon lenses are extended. Axicon lenses, both contact and immersion, for normal and angular incidence were manufactured, in order to study defectology in welds and other components. For immersion transducers, as had already been made for contact transducers, signal amplitude in function of the depth of the reflector and transverse acoustic pressure at the focus were measured. For this purpose a small metallic sphere submerged in different fluids was used. Several practical applications are shown where it is possible to exploit the advantages that these transducers offer: high resolution measurements for corrosion, laminations and thickness reduction. Discrimination between a weld root and a defect very close to it, etc. Measurements in anisotropic materials (composites) in order to achieve an SNR improvement.

Reflective metal foil is widely used to reduce radiative heat transfer within the roof space of buildings. Such foils are typically mass-produced by vapor-deposition of a thin metallic coating onto a variety of substrates, ranging from plastic-coated reinforced paper to "bubble-wrap". Although the emissivity of such surfaces is almost negligible in the thermal infrared, typically less than 0.03, an insufficiently thick metal coating, or organic contamination of the surface, can significantly increase this value. To ensure that the quality of the installed insulation is satisfactory, Australian building code AS/NZS 4201.5:1994 requires a practical agreed method for measurement of the emissivity, and the standard ASTM-E408 is implied. Unfortunately this standard is not a "primary method" and requires the use of specified expensive apparatus and calibrated reference materials. At NMIA we have developed a simple primary technique, based on an apparatus to thermally modulate the sample and record the apparent modulation in infra-red radiance with commercially available radiation thermometers. The method achieves an absolute accuracy in the emissivity of approximately 0.004 (k=2). This paper theoretically analyses the equivalence between the thermal emissivity measured in this manner, the effective thermal emissivity in application, and the apparent emissivity measured in accordance with ASTM-E408.

A review of research into high temperature fixed points (HTFPs), since their inception at NMIJ in 1999 until 2011 is given. HTFPs discussed in this paper are those whose transition temperatures are above the freezing point of copper and based on eutectic/peritectic alloys. The paper will begin with an historical overview; including a description of the different types of modern HTFPs. The evolution of construction methods of HTFPs will be elaborated. The performance of the current generation of HTFPs will be compared to that of earlier ones. Current uses of HTFPs will be described. Finally an overview of some remaining research issues will be given including assignment of definitive thermodynamic temperatures and inclusion into the developing mise en pratique for the definition of the kelvin.

In a recent study the bed expansion height and liquid phase velocity was measured for liquid-solid fluidized bed with 0.10 m in diameter and 1.037m in height. Liquid flow velocity measurements were performed using the ultrasonic technique. Measurements of the bed expansion height were conducted by a graph paper marked along the length of the column. The Eulerian-Eulerian framework was employed in the CFD simulation of liquid hydrodynamics and solid motion in liquid fluidized bed. The typical flow pattern of the liquid-solid fluidized bed was obtained in the present calculation, i.e., the core annular flow pattern and back mixing near the wall region. Different fluid-particle drag models, virtual mass force and lift force effects were studied in the simulation. Also, comparisons of different restitution coefficients for particle-particle collisions as well as particle-wall interactions have been carried out to study the effect of particle collisions on solid concentration distributions, and a comprehensive CFD methodology is proposed to simulate the hydrodynamics of liquid-solid fluidized bed. A good agreement was demonstrated between CFD simulation results and experimental findings.In a recent study the bed expansion height and liquid phase velocity was measured for liquid-solid fluidized bed with 0.10 m in diameter and 1.037m in height. Liquid flow velocity measurements were performed using the ultrasonic technique. Measurements of the bed expansion height were conducted by a graph paper marked along the length of the column. The Eulerian-Eulerian framework was employed in the CFD simulation of liquid hydrodynamics and solid motion in liquid fluidized bed. The typical flow pattern of the liquid-solid fluidized bed was obtained in the present calculation, i.e., the core annular flow pattern and back mixing near the wall region. Different fluid-particle drag models, virtual mass force and lift force effects were studied in the simulation. Also, comparisons of different restitution coefficients for particle-particle collisions as well as particle-wall interactions have been carried out to study the effect of particle collisions on solid concentration distributions, and a comprehensive...

The appearance of automotive skin panels creates desirability for a product and differentiates it from the competition. Because of the importance of skin panels, considerable care is taken in minimizing defects such as the 'hollow' defect that occur around door-handle depressions. However, the inspection process is manual, subjective and time-consuming. This paper describes the development of an objective and inspection scheme for the 'hollow' defect. In this inspection process, the geometry of a panel is captured using a structured lighting system. The geometry data is subsequently analyzed by a purpose-built wavelet-based algorithm to identify the location of any defects that may be present and to estimate the perceived severity of the defects without user intervention. This paper describes and critically evaluates the behavior of this physically-based algorithm on an ideal and real geometry and compares its result to an actual audit. The results show that the algorithm is capable of objectively locating and classifying 'hollow' defects in actual panels.