Development of multiple soft computing models for estimating organic and inorganic constituents in coal

The distribution of the various organic and inorganic constituents and their influences on the combustion of coal has been comprehensively studied.However,the combustion characteristics of pulverized coal depend not only on rank but also on the composition,distribution,and combination of the macerals.Unlike the proximate and ultimate analyses,determining the macerals in coal involves the use of sophisticated microscopic instrumentation and expertise.In this study,an attempt was made to predict the amount of macerals(vitrinite,inertinite,and liptinite)and total mineral matter from the Witbank Coalfields samples using the multiple input single output white-box artificial neural network(MISOWB-ANN),gene expression programming(GEP),multiple linear regression(MLR),and multiple nonlinear regression(MNLR).The predictive models obtained from the multiple soft computing models adopted are contrasted with one another using difference,efficiency,and composite statistical indicators to examine the appropriateness of the models.The MISOWB-ANN provides a more reliable predictive model than the other three models with the lowest difference and highest efficiency and composite statistical indicators.

Soft Robotics:Morphology and Morphology-inspired Motion Strategy

Robotics has aroused huge attention since the 1950s.Irrespective of the uniqueness that industrial applications exhibit,conventional rigid robots have displayed noticeable limitations,particularly in safe cooperation as well as with environmental adaption.Accordingly,scientists have shifted their focus on soft robotics to apply this type of robots more effectively in unstructured environments.For decades,they have been committed to exploring sub-fields of soft robotics(e.g.,cutting-edge techniques in design and fabrication,accurate modeling,as well as advanced control algorithms).Although scientists have made many different efforts,they share the common goal of enhancing applicability.The presented paper aims to brief the progress of soft robotic research for readers interested in this field,and clarify how an appropriate control algorithm can be produced for soft robots with specific morphologies.This paper,instead of enumerating existing modeling or control methods of a certain soft robot prototype,interprets for the relationship between morphology and morphology-dependent motion strategy,attempts to delve into the common issues in a particular class of soft robots,and elucidates a generic solution to enhance their performance.

Soft measurement model of ring's dimensions for vertical hot ring rolling process using neural networks optimized by genetic algorithm

Vertical hot ring rolling(VHRR) process has the characteristics of nonlinearity,time-variation and being susceptible to disturbance.Furthermore,the ring's growth is quite fast within a short time,and the rolled ring's position is asymmetrical.All of these cause that the ring's dimensions cannot be measured directly.Through analyzing the relationships among the dimensions of ring blanks,the positions of rolls and the ring's inner and outer diameter,the soft measurement model of ring's dimensions is established based on the radial basis function neural network(RBFNN).A mass of data samples are obtained from VHRR finite element(FE) simulations to train and test the soft measurement NN model,and the model's structure parameters are deduced and optimized by genetic algorithm(GA).Finally,the soft measurement system of ring's dimensions is established and validated by the VHRR experiments.The ring's dimensions were measured artificially and calculated by the soft measurement NN model.The results show that the calculation values of GA-RBFNN model are close to the artificial measurement data.In addition,the calculation accuracy of GA-RBFNN model is higher than that of RBFNN model.The research results suggest that the soft measurement NN model has high precision and flexibility.The research can provide practical methods and theoretical guidance for the accurate measurement of VHRR process.

A three-layer structure model for the effect of a soft middle layer on Love waves propagating in layered piezoelectric systems

A three-layer structure model is proposed for investigating the effect of a soft elastic middle layer on the propagation behavior of Love waves in piezoelectric layered systems, with ＂soft＂ implying that the bulk-shear-wave velocity of the middle layer is smaller than that of the upper sensitive layer. Dispersion equations are obtained for unelectroded and traction-free upper surfaces which, in the limit, can be reduced to those for classical Love waves. Systematic parametric studies are subsequently carried out to quantify the effects of the soft middle layer upon Love wave propagation, including its thickness, mass density, dielectric constant and elastic coefficient. It is demonstrated that whilst the thickness and elastic coefficient of the middle layer affect significantly Love wave propagation, its mass density and dielectric constant have negligible influence. On condition that both the thickness and elastic coefficient of the middle layer are vanishingly small so that it degenerates into an imperfectly bonded interface, the three-layer model is also employed to investigate the influence of imperfect interfaces on Love waves propagating in piezoelectric layer/elastic sub- strate systems. Upon comparing with the predictions ob- tained by employing the traditional shear-lag model, the present three-layer structure model is found to be more ac- curate as it avoids the unrealistic displacement discontinuity across imperfectly bonded interfaces assumed by the shearlag model, especially for long waves when the piezoelectric layer is relatively thin.

Numerical simulation study of the failure evolution process and failure mode of surrounding rock in deep soft rock roadways

Based on the safety coefficient method,which assigns rock failure criteria to calculate the rock mass unit,the safety coefficient contour of surrounding rock is plotted to judge the distribution form of the fractured zone in the roadway.This will provide the basis numerical simulation to calculate the surrounding rock fractured zone in a roadway.Using the single factor and multi-factor orthogonal test method,the evolution law of roadway surrounding rock displacements,plastic zone and stress distribution under different conditions is studied.It reveals the roadway surrounding rock burst evolution process,and obtains five kinds of failure modes in deep soft rock roadway.Using the fuzzy mathematics clustering analysis method,the deep soft surrounding rock failure model in Zhujixi mine can be classified and patterns recognized.Compared to the identification results and the results detected by geological radar of surrounding rock loose circle,the reliability of the results of the pattern recognition is verified and lays the foundations for the support design of deep soft rock roadways.

Theoretical analysis of a new segmented anchoring style in weakly cemented soft surrounding rock

According to the tensile failure of rock bolt in weakly cemented soft rock, this paper presents a new segmented anchoring style in order to weaken the cumulative effect of anchoring force associated with the large deformation. Firstly, a segmented mechanical model was established in which free and anchoring section of rock bolt were respectively arranged in different deformation zones. Then, stress and displacement in elastic non-anchoring zone, elastic anchoring zone, elastic sticking zone, softening sticking zone and broken zone were derived respectively based on neural theory and tri-linear strain softening constitutive model of soft rock. Results show that the anchoring effect can be characterized by a supporting parameter b. With its increase, the peak value of tangential stress gradually moves to the roadway wall, and the radial stress significantly increases, which means the decrease of equivalent plastic zone and improvement of confining effect provided by anchorage body. When b increases to 0.72, the equivalent plastic zone disappears, and stresses tend to be the elastic solutions. In addition, the anchoring effect on the displacement of surrounding rock can be quantified by a normalization factor δ.

Modeling and identification for soft sensor systems based on the separation of multi-dynamic and static characteristics

Data-driven soft sensor is an effective solution to provide rapid and reliable estimations for key quality variables online. The secondary variables affect the primary variable in considerably different speed, and soft sensor systems exhibit multi-dynamic characteristics. Thus, the first contribution is improving the model in the previous study with multi-time-constant. The characteristics-separation-based model will be identified in substep way,and the stochastic Newton recursive(SNR) algorithm is adopted. Considering the dual-rate characteristics of soft sensor systems, the proposed model cannot be identified directly. Thus, two auxiliary models are first proposed to offer the intersample estimations at each update period, based on which the improved algorithm(DAM-SNR) is derived. These two auxiliary models function in switching mechanism which has been illustrated in detail. This algorithm serves for the identification of the proposed model together with the SNR algorithm, and the identification procedure is then presented. Finally, the laboratorial case confirms the effectiveness of the proposed soft sensor model and the algorithms.

Endpoint Prediction of EAF Based on Multiple Support Vector Machines

The endpoint parameters are very important to the process of EAF steel-making, but their on-line measurement is difficult. The soft sensor technology is widely used for the prediction of endpoint parameters. Based on the analysis of the smelting process of EAF and the advantages of support vector machines, a soft sensor model for predicting the endpoint parameters was built using multiple support vector machines （MSVM）. In this model, the input space was divided by subtractive clustering and a sub-model based on LS-SVM was built in each sub-space. To decrease the correlation among the sub-models and to improve the accuracy and robustness of the model, the sub- models were combined by Principal Components Regression. The accuracy of the soft sensor model is perfectly improved. The simulation result demonstrates the practicability and efficiency of the MSVM model for the endpoint prediction of EAF.

Numerical modeling of failure mechanisms in phyllite mine slopes in Brazil

This paper presents three case studies comprising failure mechanisms in phyllite mine slopes at Quadrila- tero Ferrifero, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Numerical modeling techniques were used in this study. Fail- ure mechanisms involving discontinuities sub parallel to the main foliation are very common in these mines. Besides, failure through the rock material has also been observed due to the low strength of phyl- lites in this site. Results of this work permitted to establish unknown geotechnical parameters which have significant influence in failure processes, like the in situ stress field and the discontinuity stiffness.

Estimation of catalytic activity using an unscented Kalman filtering in condensation reaction

The catalytic activity of cation exchange resins will be continuously reduced with its use time in a condensation reaction for bisphenol A(BPA).For online estimation of the catalytic activity,a catalytic deactivation model is studied for a production plant of BPA,state equation and observation equation are proposed based on the axial temperature distribution of the reactor and the acetone concentration at reactor entrance.A hybrid model of state equation is constructed for improving estimation precision.The unknown parameters in observation equation are calculated with sample data.The unscented Kalman filtering algorithm is then used for on-line estimation of the catalytic activity.The simulation results show that this hybrid model has higher estimation accuracy than the mechanism model and the model is effective for production process of BPA.

A novel deep learning framework with variational auto-encoder for indoor air quality prediction

Exposure to poor indoor air conditions poses significant risks to human health, increasing morbidity and mortality rates. Soft measurement modeling is suitable for stable and accurate monitoring of air pollutants and improving air quality. Based on partial least squares (PLS), we propose an indoor air quality prediction model that utilizes variational auto-encoder regression (VAER) algorithm. To reduce the negative effects of noise, latent variables in the original data are extracted by PLS in the first step. Then, the extracted variables are used as inputs to VAER, which improve the accuracy and robustness of the model. Through comparative analysis with traditional methods, we demonstrate the superior performance of our PLS-VAER model, which exhibits improved prediction performance and stability. The root mean square error (RMSE) of PLS-VAER is reduced by 14.71%, 26.47%, and 12.50% compared to single VAER, PLS-SVR, and PLS-ANN, respectively. Additionally, the coefficient of determination (R2) of PLS-VAER improves by 13.70%, 30.09%, and 11.25% compared to single VAER, PLS-SVR, and PLS-ANN, respectively. This research offers an innovative and environmentally-friendly approach to monitor and improve indoor air quality.

Control Model of Bloom Dynamic Soft Reduction

There are significant effects of process parameters on internal qualities of bloom, and these process parameters are as follows. position and reduction amount, reduction distribution, reduction rate, and so on. Developing a control model is the key to apply soft reduction technology successfully. As the research object, 360 mm ×450 mm bloom caster in PISCO （Panzhihua Iron and Steel Co. ） has been studied, and the research method for control model of dynamic soft reduction has been proposed. On the basis of solidification and heat transfer model, the position of soft reduction and reduction distribution of each frame are determined according to the bloom temperature distribution and solid fraction in bloom center calculated. Production practice shows that the ratio of center porosity which is less than or equal to 1.0, increased to 97.27%, ratio of central segregation which is less than or equal to 0.5, increased to 80.91%, and ratio of central carbon segregation index which is more than or equal to 1.10, decreased to 4% with the applying model of dynamic soft reduction.

Predicting the friction angle of clays using a multi-layer perceptron neural network enhanced by yeo-johnson transformation and coral reefs optimization

The accurate prediction of the friction angle of clays is crucial for assessing slope stability in engineering applications.This study addresses the importance of estimating the friction angle and presents the development of four soft computing models:YJ-FPA-MLPnet,YJ-CRO-MLPnet,YJ-ACOC-MLPnet,and YJCSA-MLPnet.First of all,the Yeo-Johnson(YJ)transformation technique was used to stabilize the variance of data and make it more suitable for parametric statistical models that assume normality and equal variances.This technique is expected to improve the accuracy of friction angle prediction models.The friction angle prediction models then utilized multi-layer perceptron neural networks(MLPnet)and metaheuristic optimization algorithms to further enhance performance,including flower pollination algorithm(FPA),coral reefs optimization(CRO),ant colony optimization continuous(ACOC),and cuckoo search algorithm(CSA).The prediction models without the YJ technique,i.e.FPA-MLPnet,CRO-MLPnet,ACOC-MLPnet,and CSA-MLPnet,were then compared to those with the YJ technique,i.e.YJ-FPA-MLPnet,YJ-CRO-MLPnet,YJ-ACOC-MLPnet,and YJ-CSA-MLPnet.Among these,the YJ-CRO-MLPnet model demonstrated superior reliability,achieving an accuracy of up to 83%in predicting the friction angle of clay in practical engineering scenarios.This improvement is significant,as it represents an increase from 1.3%to approximately 20%compared to the models that did not utilize the YJ transformation technique.

Jet quenching parameter from a soft wall AdS/QCD model

We study the effect of chemical potential and nonconformality on the jet quenching parameter in a holographic QCD model with conformal invariance broken by background dilaton.The presence of chemical potential and nonconformality both increase the jet quenching parameter,thus enhancing the energy loss,consistently with the findings of the drag force.

Crowd evacuation simulation model with soft computing optimization techniques:a systematic literature review

Crowd evacuation simulation is an essential element when it comes to planning and preparation in evacuation management.This paper presents the survey based on systematic literature review(SLR)technique that aims to identify the crowd evacuation under microscopic model integrated with soft computing technique from previous works.In the review process,renowned databases were searched to retrieve the primary articles and total 38 studies were thoroughly studied.The researcher has identified the potential optimization factors in simulating crowd evacuation and research gaps based on acquired issues,limitation and challenges in this domain.The results of this SLR will serve as a guideline for the researchers that have same interest to develop better and effective crowd evacuation simulation model.The future direction from this SLR also suggests that there is a potential to hybrid the model with softcomputing optimization focusing on latest nature-inspired algorithms in improving the crowd evacuation model.