Two-tier control structure design methodology applied to heat exchanger networks

Because of its paramount importance in the successful industrial control strategy of a given heat exchanger network(HEN),the control structure designs for providing appropriate manipulated variable(MV)and controlled variable pairings have received considerable attention.However,quite frequently HENs with such control structures face the problem of hard constraints,typically holding the HENs at less controlled operating space.So both the MV pairings and the above control pairings should be considered to design a control structure.This paper investigates the systematic incorporation of the two pairings,and presents a methodology for designing such two-tier control structure.This is developed based on the sequential strategy,coupling an indirect-tier with direct-tier control structure design,wherein the intention is realized in the former stage and the latter is implemented for further optimization.The MV identification and pairing are achieved through variations in heat load of heat exchangers to design the indirect-tier control structure.Then the direct-tier control structure is followed the relative gain array pairing rules.With the proposed methodology,on the one hand,it generates an explicit connection between the MV pairings and the HEN configuration,and the quantitative interaction measure is improved to avoid the multiple solutions to break the relationship among all the control pairings into individuals;on the other hand,a two-tier control structure reveals control potentials and control system design requirements,this may avoid complex and economically unfavourable control and HEN structures.The application of proposed framework is illustrated with two cases involving the dynamic simulation analysis,the quantitative assessment and the random test.

Input Structure Design for Structural Controllability of Complex Networks

This paper addresses the problem of the input design of large-scale complex networks.Two types of network components,redundant inaccessible strongly connected component(RISCC)and intermittent inaccessible strongly connected component(IISCC)are defined,and a subnetwork called a driver network is developed.Based on these,an efficient method is proposed to find the minimum number of controlled nodes to achieve structural complete controllability of a network,in the case that each input can act on multiple state nodes.The range of the number of input nodes to achieve minimal control,and the configuration method(the connection between the input nodes and the controlled nodes)are presented.All possible input solutions can be obtained by this method.Moreover,we give an example and some experiments on real-world networks to illustrate the effectiveness of the method.

Structural Controls Analysis and Its Correlation with Geothermal Occurrence at Barrier Volcanic Complex (BVC), Turkana, Kenya

Geothermal is a clean energy source that is freely available in the subsurface. The exploitation of this vital resource needs intensive exploration in order to identify and quantify its occurrence. The three parameters considered when assessing the viability of a geothermal system include;heat source, fractures and fluids. Geological structures are important in transportation of fluids to and from the heat source aiding in recharge of the geothermal system and enhancing productivity. Remote sensing method was applied in mapping the structures at Barrier Volcanic Complex (BVC) by using hill shading technique which utilized four illumination angles of the sun (azimuth) i.e. 45°, 90°, 150°, and 315°, constant elevation of 45° and exaggeration of 10. The data used was Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) Satellite Imagery. ArcGIS Software was used for lineaments delineation and density mapping, PCI Geomatica was used to generate major faults, while Georose and Rockworks 17 were used to generate the rose diagrams. Geological structural analysis was done by delineating lineaments, determining the density distribution of lineaments and finally determining the structural trends of lineaments. The generated major faults in the area and the location of the occurrence of surface manifestations were compared with the generated lineaments. A total of 260 lineaments were generated whereby at 45° there was a total of 60 lineaments, at 90° 95 lineaments, at 150° 61 lineaments, and at 315° 44 lineaments. The results of structural analysis in the area as shown by the rose diagrams indicate an NNE-SSW and N-S trending of structures. In conclusion, the study area is highly fractured as indicated by the presence of numerous lineaments. These lineaments provide good recharge to the geothermal system and enhance the geothermal reservoir in the area.

Unraveling Iterative Control Structures from Business Processes

Iterative control structures allow the repeated execution of tasks,activities or sub-processes according to the given conditions in a process model.Iterative control structures can significantly increase the risk of triggering temporal exceptions since activities within the scope of these control structures could be repeatedly executed until a predefined condition is met.In this paper,we propose two approaches to unravel iterative control structures from process models.The first approach unravels loops based on zero-one principle.The second approach unravels loops based on branching probabilities assigned at split gateways.The proposed methods can be used to unfold structured loops,nested loops and crossing loops.Since the unfolded model does not contain any iterative control structures,it can be used for further analysis by process designers during the modeling phase.The proposed methods are implemented based on workflow graphs,and therefore they are compatible with modeling languages such as Business Process Modelling Notation(BPMN).In the experiments,the execution behavior of unfolded process models is compared against the original models based on the concept of runs.Experimental results reveal that runs generated from the original models can be correctly executed in the unfolded BPMN models that do not contain any loops.

Damping characteristics of friction damped braced frame and its effectiveness in the mega-sub controlled structure system

Based on energy dissipation and structural control principle, a new structural configuration, called the megasub controlled structure （MSCS） with friction damped braces （FDBs）, is first presented. Meanwhile, to calculate the damping coefficient in the slipping state a new analytical method is proposed. The damping characteristics of one-storey friction damped braced frame （FDBF） are investigated, and the influence of the structural parameters on the energy dissipation and the practical engineering design are discussed. The nonlinear dynamic equations and the analytical model of the MSCS with FDBs are established. Three building structures with different structural configurations, which were designed with reference to the conventional mega-sub structures such as used in Tokyo City Hall, are comparatively investigated. The results illustrate that the structure presented in the paper has excellent dynamic properties and satisfactory control effectiveness.

Study on semi-active control of mega-sub controlled structure by MR damper subject to random wind loads

The recently proposed mega-sub controlled structure （MSCS）, a new type of structure associated with the design and construction of super-tall buildings, has attracted the attention of designers for use in enhancing the control effectiveness in mega-frame buildings. In this paper, a dynamic equation and method to assemble parameter matrixes for a mega-sub controlled structure under random wind loads is presented. Semi-active control using magnetorheological dampers for the MSCS under random wind loads is investigated, and is compared with a corresponding system without dampers. A parametric study of the relative stiffness ratio and relative mass ratio between the mega-frame and the substructures, as well as the additional column stiffness ratio that influences the response control effectiveness of the MSCS, is discussed. The studies reveal, for the first time, that different control mechanisms exist. The results indicate that the proposed structure employing semi-active control can offer an effective control mechanism. Guidelines for selecting parameters are provided based on the analytical study.

Non-probabilistic reliability method and reliability-based optimal LQR design for vibration control of structures with uncertain-but-bounded parameters

Uncertainty is inherent and unavoidable in almost all engineering systems. It is of essential significance to deal with uncertainties by means of reliability approach and to achieve a reasonable balance between reliability against uncertainties and system performance in the control design of uncertain systems. Nevertheless, reliability methods which can be used directly for analysis and synthesis of active control of structures in the presence of uncertainties remain to be developed, especially in non-probabilistic uncertainty situations. In the present paper, the issue of vibration con- trol of uncertain structures using linear quadratic regulator （LQR） approach is studied from the viewpoint of reliabil- ity. An efficient non-probabilistic robust reliability method for LQR-based static output feedback robust control of un- certain structures is presented by treating bounded uncertain parameters as interval variables. The optimal vibration con- troller design for uncertain structures is carried out by solv- ing a robust reliability-based optimization problem with the objective to minimize the quadratic performance index. The controller obtained may possess optimum performance un- der the condition that the controlled structure is robustly re- liable with respect to admissible uncertainties. The proposed method provides an essential basis for achieving a balance between robustness and performance in controller design ot uncertain structures. The presented formulations are in the framework of linear matrix inequality and can be carried out conveniently. Two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the present method.

Approximation law for discrete-time variable structure control systems

Two approximation laws of sliding mode for discrete-time variable structure control systems are proposed to overcome the limitations of the exponential approximation law and the variable rate approximation law. By applying the proposed approximation laws of sliding mode to discrete-time variable structure control systems, the stability of origin can be guaranteed, and the chattering along the switching surface caused by discrete-time variable structure control can be restrained effectively. In designing of approximation laws, the problem that the system control input is restricted is also considered, which is very important in practical systems. Finally a simulation example shows the effectiveness of the two approximation laws proposed.

Analysis of the Ore-Controlling Structure of Ductile Shear Zone Type Gold Deposit in Southern Beishan Area, Gansu, Northwest China

The ductile shear zone-type gold deposit is a kind that both the ore-forming mechanism and ore-controlling factors are closely related to the ductile shear zone and its evolution. Ductile shear zone develops in Beishan area, Gansu of Northwest China, and develops especially well in the south belt. The controls of the ductile shear zone on gold deposits are as follows. （1） The regional distribution of gold deposits （and gold spots） is controlled by the ductile shear zone. （2） The ductile-brittle shear zone is formed in the evolution process of ductile shear zone and both are only ore-bearing structures and control the shape, attitude, scale, and distribution of mineralization zones and ore-bodies. （3） Compresso-shear ductile deformation results in that the main kind of gold mineralization is altered mylonite type and the main alteralization is metasomatic. （4） Ore-bearing fracture systems are mainly P-type ones, some D-type and R-type ones, but only individual R＇-type and T-type ones. （5） Dynamic differen- tiation and dynamic metamorphic hydrothermal solution resulting from ductile deformation is one of the sources of ore-forming fluid of gold mineralization, and this is identical with that ore-forming materials are mainly from metamorphic rocks, and ore-forming fluid is mainly composed of metamorphic water, and with the fluid inclusion and geo-chemical characteristics of the deposit. （6） There is a negative correlation between the gold abundance and susceptibility anlsotropy （P） of the altered mylonlte samples from the deposit, which shows that the gold mineralization is slightly later than the structural deformation. All above further expound the ore-forming model of the ductile shear zone type of gold deposits.

Adaptive Variable Structure Control of MIMO Nonlinear Systems with Time-varying Delays and Unknown Dead-zones

In this paper, adaptive variable structure neural control is presented for a class of uncertain multi-input multi-output （MIMO） nonlinear systems with state time-varying delays and unknown nonlinear dead-zones. The unknown time-varying delay uncer- tainties are compensated for using appropriate Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals in the design. The approach removes the assumption of linear function outside the deadband without necessarily constructing a dead-zone inverse as an added contribution. By utilizing the integral-type Lyapunov function and introducing an adaptive compensation term for the upper bound of the residual and optimal approximation error as well as the dead-zone disturbance, the closed-loop control system is proved to be semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded. In addition, a modified adaptive control algorithm is given in order to avoid the high-frequency chattering phenomenon. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach.

Sliding Mode Variable Structure Control for Visual Servoing System

A visual servoing tracking controller is proposed based on the sliding mode control theory in order to achieve strong robustness against parameter variations and external disturbances. A sliding plane with time delay compensation is presented by the pre-estimate of states. To reduce the chattering of the sliding mode controller, a modified exponential reaching law and hyperbolic tangent function are applied to the design of visual controller and robot joint controller. Simulation results show that the visual servoing control scheme is robust and has good tracking performance.

An Approach to Polynomial NARX/NARMAX Systems Identification in a Closed-loop with Variable Structure Control

Many physical processes have nonlinear behavior which can be well represented by a polynomial NARX or NARMAX model. The identification of such models has been widely explored in literature. The majority of these approaches are for the open-loop identification. However, for reasons such as safety and production restrictions, open-loop identification cannot always be done. In such cases, closed-loop identification is necessary. This paper presents a two-step approach to closed-loop identification of the polynomial NARX/NARMAX systems with variable structure control （VSC）. First, a genetic algorithm （GA） is used to maximize the similarity of VSC signal to white noise by tuning the switching function parameters. Second, the system is simulated again and its parameters are estimated by an algorithm of the least square （LS） family. Finally, simulation examples are given to show the validity of the proposed approach.

Variable structure control with sliding mode prediction for discrete-time nonlinear systems

A new variable structure control algorithm based on sliding mode prediction for a class of discrete-time nonlinear systems is presented. By employing a special model to predict future sliding mode value, and combining feedback correction and receding horizon optimization methods which are extensively applied on predictive control strategy, a discrete-time variable structure control law is constructed. The closed-loop systems are proved to have robustness to uncertainties with unspecified boundaries. Numerical simulation and pendulum experiment results illustrate that the closed-loop systems possess desired performance, such as strong robustness, fast convergence and chattering elimination.

ADAPTIVE VARIABLE STRUCTURE CONTROLLERS AND APPLICATION TO ENGINE IDLE SPEED CONTROL SIMULATION

A neural-network-based adaptive variable structure control methodology isproposed for the tracking problem of nonlinear discrete-time input-output systems. The unknowndynamics of the system are approximated via radial basis function neural networks. The control lawis based on sliding modes and simple to implement. The discrete-time adaptive law for tuning theweight of neural networks is presented using the adaptive filtering algorithm with residueupper-bound compensation. The application of the proposed controller to engine idle speed controldesign is discussed. The results indicate the validation and effectiveness of this approach.

Nonlinear and Variable Structure Excitation Controller for Power System Stability

A new nonlinear variable structure excitation controller is proposed. Its design combines the differential geometry theory and the variable structure controlling theory. The mathematical model in the form of ＂an affme nonlinear system＂ is set up for the control of a large-scale power system. The static and dynamic performances of the nonlinear variable structure controller are simulated. The response of system with the controller proposed is compared to that of the nonlinear optimal controller when the system is subjected to a variety of disturbances. Simulation results show that the nonlinear variable structure excitation controller gives more satisfactorily static and dynamic performance and better robustness.

MULTI-CONTROLLER STRUCTURE OF SUPERMANEUVERABLE AIRCRAFT

This paper proposes a method of using multi controllers to control supermaneuverable aircraft. A nonlinear dynamic inversion controller is used for supermaneuver. A gain scheduled controller is used for routine maneuver. A switch algorithm is designed to switch the controllers. The flight envelopes of the controllers are different but have a common area in which the controllers are switched from one to the other. In the common area, some special boundaries are selected to decide switch conditions. The controllers all use vector thrust for lower velocity maneuver control. Unlike the variation structure theory to use a single boundary, this paper uses two boundaries for switching between the two controllers. One boundary is used for switching from dynamic inversion to gain scheduling, while the other is used for switching from gain scheduling to dynamic inversion. This can effectively avoid the system vibration caused by switching repeatedly at a single boundary. The method is very easy for engineering. It can reduce the risk of design of the supermaneuverable aircraft.

Fault detection and accommodation via neural network and variable structure control

This paper proposes a novel idea that classifies faults into two different kinds： serious faults and small faults, and treats them with different strategies respectively. A kind of artificial neural network （ANN） is proposed for detecting serious faults, and variable structure （VS） model-following control is constructed for accommodating small faults. The proposed framework takes both advantages of qualitative way and quantitative way of fault detection and accommodation. Moreover, the uncertainty case is investigated and the VS controller is modified. Simulation results of a remotely piloted aircraft with control actuator failures illustrate the performance of the developed algorithm.

A Novel Genetic Algorithm and Its Application in Variable Structure Control of Robot

A novel genetic algorithm (NGA) is proposed, which possesses micro-regulation and renascence operation. The optimized variable searching interval is regulated gradually according to the sub-group of excellent individuals. The NGA is used to optimize the parameters of the variable structure control (VSC), which satisfies the new reaching law and sliding mode. It is used in robot control systems. Simulation results are given.

Robust H_∞ control for aseismic structures with uncertainties in model parameters

This paper presents a robust H∞ output feedback control approach for structural systems with uncertainties in model parameters by using available acceleration measurements and proposes conditions for the existence of such a robust output feedback controller. The uncertainties of structural stiffness, damping and mass parameters are assumed to be norm-bounded. The proposed control approach is formulated within the framework of linear matrix inequalities, for which existing convex optimization techniques, such as the LM1 toolbox in MATLAB, can be used effectively and conveniently. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed robust H∞ strategy, a six-story building was subjected both to the 1940 E1 Centro earthquake record and to a suddenly applied Kanai-Tajimi filtered white noise random excitation. The results show that the proposed robust H∞ controller provides satisfactory results with or without variation of the structural stiffness, damping and mass parameters.

CONSTRUCTION OF POLYNOMIAL MATRIX USING BLOCK COEFFICIENT MATRIX REPRESENTATION AUTO-REGRESSIVE MOVING AVERAGE MODEL FOR ACTIVELY CONTROLLED STRUCTURES

The polynomial matrix using the block coefficient matrix representation auto-regressive moving average(referred to as the PM-ARMA)model is constructed in this paper for actively controlled multi-degree-of-freedom(MDOF)structures with time-delay through equivalently transforming the preliminary state space realization into the new state space realization.The PM-ARMA model is a more general formulation with respect to the polynomial using the coefficient representation auto-regressive moving average(ARMA)model due to its capability to cope with actively controlled structures with any given structural degrees of freedom and any chosen number of sensors and actuators.(The sensors and actuators are required to maintain the identical number.)under any dimensional stationary stochastic excitation.