Reliability assessment considering dependent competing failure process and shifting-threshold

The reliability assessment problem for products subject to degradation and random shocks is investigated. Two kinds of probabilistic models are constructed, in which the dependent competing failure process is considered. First, based on the assumption of cumulative shock, the probabilistic models for hard failure and soft failure are built respectively. On this basis, the dependent competing failure model involving degradation and shock processes is established. Furthermore, the situation of the shifting-threshold is also considered, in which the hard failure threshold value decreases to a lower level after the arrival of a certain number of shocks. A case study of fatigue crack growth is given to illustrate the proposed models. Numerical results show that shock has a significant effect on the failure process; meanwhile, the effect will be magnified when the value of the hard threshold shifts to a lower level.

Microstructure and depositional mechanism of Ni-P coatings with nano-ceria particles by pulse electrodeposition

Nano-CeO2 （RE） particles were co-deposited into Ni-P binary composite coatings by applying pulse current （PC） under ultrasonic （U） field. Morphology, chemical content and crystal microstructure were characterized by environmental scanning electron microscopy （E-SEM） with energy dispersive X-ray analysis （EDXA）, XRD diffractometry and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. Experimental results show that Ni-P coating reinforced with 15g/L nano-CeO2, in amorphous state and with compact structure, can be improved in the microhardness from HV0.2580 to HV0.2780 by annealing at 600 °C for 2 h. The highest content of codeposited Ce and deposition rate can reach 2.3% and 68 μm/h, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of RE adsorption and pulse overpotential on depositional mechanism was investigated. n-CeO2 particles or Ce4＋ ions with strong adsorption capacity acted as the catalytic nucleus to improve densification effectively. During annealing at 600 °C for 2 h, n-CeO2 particles will uniformly adsorb on crystal grain to preferentially pad and heal up gaps of cracking Ni boundaries, promoting dispersion strengthening with refiner-grained structure.

Welding characteristics of AZ31B magnesium alloy using DC-PMIG welding

Direct current pulsed metal inert-gas （DC-PMIG） welding was carried out on AZ31B magnesium alloy to obtain continuous welding joints of 3 mm and 8 mm thickness with 1.6 mm diameter of filler wire. The behavior and mechanism of metal transfer, the parameter ranges of stable welding process, the microstructure and mechanical properties of magnesium alloy were investigated. The results show that the metal transfer form of magnesium alloy using DC-PMIG welding is realized in modes of globular transfer, projected transfer and spray transfer. Welding spatter with a large size will be produced in the mode of globular transfer, and high-quality joints with few spatters can be obtained in the mode of projected transfer and spray transfer when the linear energy of filler wire is 242-27l J/cm, droplet diameter is 1.6-0.9 mm tensile strength of weld beads is 94.2% of that of base metals. and transition frequency is 30-69 Hz. The average ultimate

Grain refinement of as-cast superalloy IN718 under action of low voltage pulsed magnetic field

The grain refinement of superalloy IN718 under the action of low voltage pulsed magnetic field was investigated. The experimental results show that fine equiaxed grains are acquired under the action of low voltage pulsed magnetic field. The refinement effect of the pulsed magnetic field is affected by the melt cooling rate and superheating. The decrease of cooling rate and superheating enhance the refinement effect of the low voltage pulsed magnetic field. The magnetic force and the melt flow during solidification are modeled and simulated to reveal the grain refinement mechanism. It is considered that the melt convection caused by the pulsed magnetic field, as well as cooling rate and superheating contributes to the refinement of solidified grains.

Optimization of Nozzle Design for Pulse Cleaning of Ceramic Filter

The experimental study was carried out to optimize the nozzle shape and dimension for the pulse cleaning of a ceramic filter candle. A bench scale unit of ceramic filter consisting of four commercial filter elements was used to measure the traces of the transient pressure around the nozzle and the overpressure in the filter cavity during the pulse-jet injection of pulse gas. Overpressure in the filter cavity is related to the pulse cleaning force. Nozzle design is concerned to increase the overpressure at the open end of filter element of pulse cleaning inlet, as well as to minimize the consumption of pulse gas. Convergent nozzle induces more secondary flow and generates higher pulse cleaning effect than straight nozzle. Nozzles of different convergent ratio （ratio of outlet to inlet diameter of nozzle） by changing the convergent angle and height were tested. The outlet diameter of convergent nozzle seriously influences the cleaning effect. The optimum convergent ratio increases with the increase of pulse gas pressure The nozzle position （distance of nozzle tip from the open end of filter inlet） is also important to decide the nozzle dimension. Nozzle of large outlet diameter accepts high pressure of pulse gas to provide large overpressure in the filter cavity of top position by applying long distance.

CFD analysis of sound pressure in tank gun muzzle silencer

The high pressure waves generated due to muzzle blast flow of tank gun during firing is a critical issue to examine. The impulsive noise from the gun has various negative effects such as damage of human bodies, damage of structures, creating an environmental, social problem and also military problems such as exposure of location of troops. This high pressure impulsive sound, generated during the blast flow, was studied and attenuated. An axisymmetric computational domain was constructed by employing Spalart Allmaras turbulence model. Approximately 90% of pressure and 20 dB of sound level are reduced due to the use of the three baffle silencer at the muzzle end of the gun barrel, in comparison with the tank gun without silencer. Also, the sound pressure level at different points in the ambient region shows the same attenuation in results. This study will be helpful to understand the blast wave characteristics and also to get a good idea to design silencer for large caliber weapon system.

Application of Decision Tree Algorithm in Stamping Process

Various process parameters exert different effects in stamping process. In order to study the relationships among the process parameters of box stamping process, including the blank holder force, friction coefficient, depth of drawbead, offset and length of drawbead, the decision tree algorithm C4.5 was performed to generate the decision tree using the result data of the box stamping simulation. The design and improvement methods of the decision tree were presented. Potential and valuable rules were generated by traversing the decision tree, which plays an instructive role on the practical design. The rules show that the correct combination of blank holder force and setting of drawbead are the dominant contribution for controlling the cracking and wrinkling in box stamping process. In order to validate the rules, the stamping process for box was also performed. The experiment results show good agreement with the generated rules.

Numerical simulation for sheet metal forming process of 16Mn blade of large concrete-mixer truck

A finite element analysis method was used to simulate the stamping process of the blade of a large concrete-mixer truck. The updated Lagrange method and the elasto-plastic constitutive equation were adopted to solve the large strain and displacement deformation of the blade. A modified Coulomb friction model was used to solve the sliding contact between the blade and the dies. The von Mises stress distribution in the blade, the spatial displacement variation and the spring-back of the typical node were investigated in the simulation. The von Mises stress in the blade where the spring-back occurs is lowered from 463.0MPa to 150.0MPa before and after the spring-back. A typical node in the blade has a 3.33mm spring-back in Z direction. The results of the (experiments) agree well with the simulation. The analysis results are valuable for designing optimal tool dies.

Image Analysis on Detachment Process of Dust Cake on Ceramic Candle Filter

Based on the analysis of high-speed video images, the detachment behavior of dust cake from the ceramic candle filter surface during pulse cleaning process is investigated. The influences of the dust cake loading,the reservoir pressure, and the filtration velocity on the cleaning effectiveness are analyzed. Experimental results show that there exists an optimum dust cake thickness for pulse-cleaning process. For thin dust cake, the patchy cleaning exists and the cleaning efficiency is low; if the dust cake is too thick, the pressure drop across the dust cake becomes higher and a higher reservoir pressure may be needed. At the same time there also exists an optimum reservoir pressure for a given filtration condition.

Investigation on Characteristics and the Improving Method of Double Loop Optical Buffer

We establish an equivalent cascaded semiconductor optical amplifier system model to analyze the characteristics of the double loop optical buffer （DLOB）. The theoretical analysis finds that the performance of the DLOB can be improved by inserted amplifying process in an interval of some cycles. The experiment demonstrates that the buffered cycles can be improved from 20 to 50 and the bit error rate is less than 10-9 by inserting amplifying process in an interval of about 10 cycles.

Numerical Analysis of Flow Field in Ceramic Filter During Pulse Cleaning

In the commercial utilization of rigid ceramic filters, the performance of pulse cleaning has crucial effects on the long-term stable operation. In order to get a clear insight into the nature of this cleaning process and provide a solid basis for industrial applications, the flow in ceramic candle filter was investigated. The flow in the pulse-jetspace and inside the ceramic candle is regarded as two- dimensional, unsteady, compressible flow, and numerical simulation is carried out by computational fluid dynamics. The numerical predictions of flow field are in good agreement with the experimental measurements. Effects of the candle diameter, the separation distance between the nozzle and the candle injector and the length of the candle on the flowfield have been numerically analyzed to provide the basis for the optimum design of the pulse cleaning system.

The Neural Network Model for Backflushing in Enzymatic Membrane Reactor

In the enzymatic membrane reactor for separating casein hydrolysate, backflushing technology has been used to decrease the fouling of the membrane. Predication of the backflushing efficiency poses a complex non-linear problem as the system integrates enzymatic hydrolysis, membrane separation and periodic backflushing together. In this paper an alternative artificial neural network approach is developed to predict the backflushing efficiency as a function of duration and interval. A contour plot of backflushing performance is presented to model these effects, and the backflushing conditions have been optimized as duration of 10 s and interval of 10 min using this neural network. Also, simple neural networks are established to predict the time evolution of flux before and after backflushing. The results predicted by the models are in good agreement with the experimental data, and the average deviations for all the cases are well within ±5%. The neural network approach is found to be capable of modeling the backflushing with confidence.

Soliton—Like Pulses in Vertical Granular Chain Under Gravity：Particle—Like or Wave—Like

We numerically study the propagation, reflection and collision of soliton-like pulses in the vertical granular chain under gravity. For the pure granular chain system, during the propagation and reflection processes at the fixed end, it behaves like a particle. When it is reflected at the free end, it behaves as neither particle-like nor wave-like. When the strengths of the two colliding soliton-like pulses are close, they collide just like particles. When their strengths are greatly different, they collide just like waves. For the soliton behavior in the collision process, from particle-like to wave-like, there is a critical value for the ratio of the strengths of the two initial pulses. For the two-layer granular chain, if the mass of the grains in the second layer is less than that in the first layer, the soliton-like pulse in the first layer usually excites about soliton-like pulses in the second layer.

Load Torque Compensator for Model Predictive Direct Current Control in High Power PMSM Drive Systems

The widely used cascade speed and torque controllers have a limited control performance in most high power applications due to the low switching frequency of power electronic converters and the convenience to avoid speed overshoots and oscillations for lifetime considerations. Model Predictive Direct Current Control （MPDCC） leads to an increase of torque control performance taking into account the discrete nature of inverters but temporary offsets and poor responses to load torque variations are still issues in speed control. A load torque estimator is proposed in this paper in order to further improve dynamic behavior. It compensates the load torque influence on the speed control setting a feed forward torque reference value. The benefits are twice; the speed controller reaches the speed reference value without offsets which would need to be compensated by an integrator and a better response to load torque variations is obtained since they are detected and compensated leading to small speed variations. Moreover, the influence of pararneter errors and disturbances has been analyzed and limited so that they play a minor role in operation.

DC boost converter with buck buffer

For a conventional high-power active power factor correction(APFC)boost converter,its output capacitor needs to be precharged,which means that two power switches of the main circuit and the control circuit are needed to be respectively turned on and turned off in a fixed order.After the main circuit switch is turned on,it is necessary to wait for precharging before turning on the control circuit power switch.Once an inadvertent operation is performed,an overcurrent phenomenon from the output capacitor will occur.In this study,the buck circuit is used as the pre-stage snubber circuit,which can directly supply power to the circuit without precharging the output capacitor.As a result,potential safety hazard caused by the overcurrent due to the capacitor and the charging maloperation during the start-up stage can be avoided.Theoretical analysis and simulation experiment show that the DC boost converter with buck buffer can maintain the peak value of the main circuit within the safe range when the device boot does not precharge the output capacitor,and thus the safety and stable operation of the DC boost converter are ensured.

Impulse Control Problem of Partially Observed Diffusion Processes

The authors investigate the problem of impulse control of a partially observed diffusion process. The authors study the impulse control of Zakai type equations. The associated value function is characterized as the only viscosity solution of the corresponding quasi-variational inequality. The authors show the optimal cost function for the problem with incomplete information can be approximated by a sequence of value functions of the previous type.

The Design of the TZ-2 High Voltage Modulator

This paper introduces the design of the TZ-2 high voltage modulator for electron cyclotron resonance heating （ECRH） on HL-2A tokamak. The high voltage power supplies （HVPS） for the cyclotron have to operate advantageously and flexibly, with high stabilization and good insulation to high-voltage. Moreover, the HVPS must carry out the function of protection quickly, for insure the security of people and devices in the experiment on HL-2A. In this year, the HVPS with these modulators satisfies the requirement of the experiment of HL-2A.

Simultaneous Carbon and Nitrogen Removal in Wastewater Treatment Using a Partially Packed Biological Aerated Filter （BAF） without Backwashing Process

Biological aerated filter （BAF） is an advanced oxidation process that can sustain high volumetric loads with high quality effluent. However, backwashing process needed for the system limits its applicability. This study is to investigate the possibility of removing carbon and nitrogen simultaneously in a biological aerated filter （BAF） with partially packed media without any backwashing process. The upper part of BAF up to 0.5 m depth is packed with plastic media （Kaldnes K1） with diameter and length of 10 mm and 7 mm respectively. This partially packed BAF creates a hybrid system of attached growth and suspended growth combined in a single reactor. Three C：N ratios, i.e. 15, 10 and 4, were compared during this study by varying the nitrogen loading while the carbon loading was kept constant at 1.0±0.54 kg COD/（m^3·d）. The organic loading rate （OLR） ratios were calculated based on carbon and TKN loading. The carbon removal percentage of 86.7±7.3%, 85.1±10.3%, and 91.0±5.6% and TKN removal percentage of 24.7±11.6%, 48.0±25.9% and 62.8±7.9% were achieved after steady-state for the C：N ratio of 15, 10, and 4 respectively. Suspended solid concentration in the effluent was found to be high throughout the treatment, but no clogging occurred during the 4 months of operation period even though backwashing was eliminated.

Measurement of Collision Conditions in Magnetic Pulse Welding Processes

MPW （magnetic pulse welding） is a solid state joining technology that allows for the generation of strong metallic bonds, even between dissimilar metals. Due to the absence of external heat, critical intermetallic phases can largely be avoided. In this process, Lorentz forces are utilized for the rapid acceleration of at least one of the two metallic joining partners leading to the controlled high velocity impact between them. The measurement of the collision conditions and their targeted manipulation are the key factors of a successful process development. Optical measuring techniques are preferred, since they are not influenced by the prevalent strong magnetic field in the vicinity of the working coil. In this paper, the characteristic high velocity impact flash during MPW was monitored and evaluated using phototransistors in order to measure the time of the impact. The results are in good accordance with the established PDV （photon Doppler velocimetry） and show a good repeatability. Furthermore, the collision front velocity was investigated using adapted part geometries within a series of tests. This velocity component is one of the key parameters in MPW; its value decreases along the weld zone. With the help of this newly introduced measurement tool, the magnetic pressure distribution or the joining geometry can be adjusted more effectively.

Low-Rate DoS Attack Flows Filtering Based on Frequency Spectral Analysis

In frequency domain,the power spectrum of Low-rate denial of service(LDoS) attacks is totally spread into the spectrum of normal traffic.It is a challenging task to detect and filter LDoS attack flows from the normal traffic.Based on the analysis of LDoS attack flows and legitimate TCP traffic in time and frequency domains,the periodicity of the TCP traffic and LDoS attack flows is explored to facilitate the research of network traffic processing.Hence,an approach of LDoS attack flow filtering based on frequency spectrum analysis is proposed.In this approach,the TCP traffic and LDoS attack flows are transformed from the time domain into the frequency domain.Then the round-trip time(RTT) is estimated by using frequency domain search method.Analysis of amplitude spectrum shows that TCP traffic energy is mainly concentrated on the points of n/RTT.Therefore,a comb filter using infinite impulse response(IIR) filter is designed to filter out the LDoS attack flows in frequency domain,while most legitimate TCP traffic energy at the points of n/RTT are pass through.Experimental results show that the maximum pass rate for legitimate TCP traffic reaches 92.55%,while the maximum filtration rate of LDoS attack flows reaches 81.36%.The proposed approach can effectively filter the LDoS attack flows while less impact on the legitimate TCP traffic.