Big Bang – Big Crunch Optimization Method in Optimum Design of Complex Composite Laminates

An accurate optimal design of laminated composite structures may present considerable difficulties due to the complexity and multi-modality of the functional design space. The Big Bang – Big Crunch (BB-BC) optimization method is a relatively new technique and has already proved to be a valuable tool for structural optimization. In the present study the exceptional efficiency of the method is demonstrated by an example of the lay-up optimization of multilayered anisotropic cylinders based on a three-dimensional elasticity solution. It is shown that, due to its simplicity and speed, the BB-BC is much more efficient for this class of problems when compared to the genetic algorithms.

Evaluation of Efficient CSI Based Channel Feedback Techniques for Adaptive MIMO-OFDM Systems

This paper explores the implementation of adaptive coding and modulation schemes for Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) feedback systems. Adaptive coding and modulation enables robust and spectrally-efficient transmission over time-varying channels. The basic premise is to estimate the channel at the receiver and feed this estimate back to the transmitter, so that the transmission scheme can be adapted relative to the channel characteristics. Two types of codebook based channel feedback techniques are used in this work. The longterm and short-term CSI at the transmitter is used for efficient channel utilization. OFDM is a powerful technique employed in communication systems suffering from frequency selectivity. Combined with multiple antennas at the transmitter and receiver, OFDM proves to be robust against delay spread. Moreover, it leads to significant data rates with improved bit error performance over links having only a single antenna at both the transmitter and receiver. The coded modulation increases the effective transmit power relative to uncoded variablerate variable-power MQAM performance for MIMO-OFDM feedback system. Hence proposed arrangement becomes an attractive approach to achieve enhanced spectral efficiency and improved error rate performance for next generation high speed wireless communication systems.

Formation and Development of a New System of Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Globalization

The concept of the new government should focus on forming a new relationship between public servants and citizens of the state, formed on the principles of transparency, accountability, protection of citizens' rights. These principles are laid down in the problem of administrative reform in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Also, this wish arises, contributing to the improvement of the system of political management in our country. For the full realization of the goals is necessary to develop a special state program designed to improve the regulatory framework for public service, improving training, retraining and advanced training of civil servants, forming a system of incentives in public service and other activities aimed at achieving the efficiency of the entire system government.

Modeling and Simulation of Photovoltaic based LED Lighting System

Although lighting systems powered by Photovoltaic (PV) cells have existed for many years, they are not widely used, especially in lighting for buildings, due to their high initial cost and low conversion efficiency. One of the technical challenges facing PV powered lighting systems has been how to use dc power generated by the PV module to energize common light sources that are designed to operate efficiently under ac power. Usually, the efficiency of the dc light sources is very poor compared to ac light sources. Rapid developments in LED lighting systems have made this technology a potential candidate for PV powered lighting systems. This study analyzed the efficiency of each component of PV powered lighting systems to identify optimum system configurations for different applications.

Fast Extraction of Edge Histogram in DCT Domain based on MPEG7

In these days, multimedia data is transmitted and processed in compressed format. Due to the decoding procedure and filtering for edge detection, the feature extraction process of MPEG-7 Edge Histogram Descriptor is time-consuming as well as computationally expensive. To improve efficiency of compressed image retrieval, we propose a new edge histogram generation algorithm in DCT domain in this paper. Using the edge information provided by only two AC coefficients of DCT coefficients, we can get edge directions and strengths directly in DCT domain. The experimental results demonstrate that our system has good performance in terms of retrieval efficiency and effectiveness.

Benchmarking Cleaner Production Performance of Coal-fired Power Plants Using Two-stage Super-efficiency Data Envelopment Analysis

Benchmarking cleaner production performance is an effective way of pollution control and emission reduction in coal-fired power industry. A benchmarking method using two-stage super-efficiency data envelopment analysis for coal-fired power plants is proposed – firstly, to improve the cleaner production performance of DEA-inefficient or weakly DEA-efficient plants, then to select the benchmark from performance-improved power plants. An empirical study is carried out with the survey data of 24 coal-fired power plants. The result shows that in the first stage the performance of 16 plants is DEA-efficient and that of 8 plants is relatively inefficient. The target values for improving DEA-inefficient plants are acquired by projection analysis. The efficient performance of 24 power plants and the benchmarking plant is achieved in the second stage. The two-stage benchmarking method is practical to select the optimal benchmark in the cleaner production of coal-fired power industry and will continuously improve plants- cleaner production performance.

A Hypermap for Supply Chain Management

We present a prototype interactive (hyper) map of strategic, tactical, and logistic options for Supply Chain Management. The map comprises an anthology of options, broadly classified within the strategic spectrum of efficiency versus responsiveness, and according to logistic and cross-functional drivers. They are exemplified by cases in diverse industries. We seek to get all these information and ideas organized to help supply chain managers identify effective choices for specific business environments. The key and innovative linkage we introduce is the configuration of competitive forces. Instead of going through seemingly endless and isolated cases and wondering how one can borrow from them, we aim to provide a guide by force comparisons. The premise is that best practices in a different industry facing similar forces may be a most productive resource in supply chain design and planning. A prototype template is demonstrated.

3 State Current Mode of a Grid Connected PV Converter

Nowadays in applications of renewable energy sources it is important to develop powerful and energy-saving photovoltaic converters and to keep the prescriptions of the standards. In grid connected PV converters the obvious solution to increase the efficiency is to reduce the switching losses. Our new developed control method reduces the switching losses and keeps the limitations of the harmonic distortion standards. The base idea of the method is the utilization of 3-state control causing discontinuous current mode at low input power. In the following sections the control theory, the realizations and the simulation results are presented.

An Extension of Multi-Layer Perceptron Based on Layer-Topology

There are a lot of extensions made to the classic model of multi-layer perceptron (MLP). A notable amount of them has been designed to hasten the learning process without considering the quality of generalization. The paper proposes a new MLP extension based on exploiting topology of the input layer of the network. Experimental results show the extended model to improve upon generalization capability in certain cases. The new model requires additional computational resources to compare to the classic model, nevertheless the loss in efficiency isn-t regarded to be significant.

A Collaborative Framework for Visual Modeling on Web 2.0

Cooperative visual modeling is more and more necessary in our complicated world. A collaborative environment which supports interactive operation and communication is required to increase work efficiency. We present a collaborative visual modeling framework which collaborative platform could be built on. On this platform, cooperation and communication is available for designers from different regions. This framework, which is different from other collaborative frameworks, contains a uniform message format, a message handling mechanism and other functions such as message pretreatment and Role-Communication-Token Access Control (RCTAC). We also show our implementation of this framework called Orchestra Designer, which support BPLE workflow modeling cooperatively online.

Accurate And Efficient Global Approximation using Adaptive Polynomial RSM for Complex Mechanical and Vehicular Performance Models

Global approximation using metamodel for complex mathematical function or computer model over a large variable domain is often needed in sensibility analysis, computer simulation, optimal control, and global design optimization of complex, multiphysics systems. To overcome the limitations of the existing response surface (RS), surrogate or metamodel modeling methods for complex models over large variable domain, a new adaptive and regressive RS modeling method using quadratic functions and local area model improvement schemes is introduced. The method applies an iterative and Latin hypercube sampling based RS update process, divides the entire domain of design variables into multiple cells, identifies rougher cells with large modeling error, and further divides these cells along the roughest dimension direction. A small number of additional sampling points from the original, expensive model are added over the small and isolated rough cells to improve the RS model locally until the model accuracy criteria are satisfied. The method then combines local RS cells to regenerate the global RS model with satisfactory accuracy. An effective RS cells sorting algorithm is also introduced to improve the efficiency of model evaluation. Benchmark tests are presented and use of the new metamodeling method to replace complex hybrid electrical vehicle powertrain performance model in vehicle design optimization and optimal control are discussed.

Measurement of Convective Heat Transfer from a Vertical Flat Plate Using Mach-Zehnder Interferometer with Wedge Fringe Setting

Laser interferometric methods have been utilized for the measurement of natural convection heat transfer from a heated vertical flat plate, in the investigation presented here. The study mainly aims at comparing two different fringe orientations in the wedge fringe setting of Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), used for the measurements. The interference fringes are set in horizontal and vertical orientations with respect to the heated surface, and two different fringe analysis methods, namely the stepping method and the method proposed by Naylor and Duarte, are used to obtain the heat transfer coefficients. The experimental system is benchmarked with theoretical results, thus validating its reliability in heat transfer measurements. The interference fringe patterns are analyzed digitally using MATLAB 7 and MOTIC Plus softwares, which ensure improved efficiency in fringe analysis, hence reducing the errors associated with conventional fringe tracing. The work also discuss the relative merits and limitations of the two methods used.

Numerical Analysis of Plate Heat Exchanger Performance in Co-Current Fluid Flow Configuration

For many industrial applications plate heat exchangers are demonstrating a large superiority over the other types of heat exchangers. The efficiency of such a device depends on numerous factors the effect of which needs to be analysed and accurately evaluated. In this paper we present a theoretical analysis of a cocurrent plate heat exchanger and the results of its numerical simulation. Knowing the hot and the cold fluid streams inlet temperatures, the respective heat capacities mCp and the value of the overall heat transfer coefficient, a 1-D mathematical model based on the steady flow energy balance for a differential length of the device is developed resulting in a set of N first order differential equations with boundary conditions where N is the number of channels.For specific heat exchanger geometry and operational parameters, the problem is numerically solved using the shooting method. The simulation allows the prediction of the temperature map in the heat exchanger and hence, the evaluation of its performances. A parametric analysis is performed to evaluate the influence of the R-parameter on the e-NTU values. For practical purposes effectiveness-NTU graphs are elaborated for specific heat exchanger geometry and different operating conditions.

Characteristics of Cascade and C3MR Cycle on Natural Gas Liquefaction Process

In this paper, several different types of natural gas liquefaction cycle. First, two processes are a cascade process with two staged compression were designed and simulated. These include Inter-cooler which is consisted to Propane, Ethylene and Methane cycle, and also, liquid-gas heat exchanger is applied to between of methane and ethylene cycles (process2) and between of ethylene and propane (process2). Also, these cycles are compared with two staged cascade process using only a Inter-cooler (process1). The COP of process2 and process3 showed about 13.99% and 6.95% higher than process1, respectively. Also, the yield efficiency of LNG improved comparing with process1 by 13.99% lower specific power. Additionally, C3MR process are simulated and compared with Process 2.

Soil Laboratory Classes in Curtin University, Australia

Soil mechanics is a traditional course in any university. Management of lab classes is one of the main issues to deliver a proper outline. In Curtin University, different methods applied to check the efficiency of these methods. One of them was mainly rely on demonstration and the other one mainly on involving students in running tests. Comparison between these delivery methods also are outlined in summary section. The recommendation also made that the more satisfaction is reachable while the students engaged.

Effects of Energy Consumption on Indoor Air Quality

Continuous measurements and multivariate methods are applied in researching the effects of energy consumption on indoor air quality (IAQ) in a Finnish one-family house. Measured data used in this study was collected continuously in a house in Kuopio, Eastern Finland, during fourteen months long period. Consumption parameters measured were the consumptions of district heat, electricity and water. Indoor parameters gathered were temperature, relative humidity (RH), the concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) and differential air pressure. In this study, self-organizing map (SOM) and Sammon's mapping were applied to resolve the effects of energy consumption on indoor air quality. Namely, the SOM was qualified as a suitable method having a property to summarize the multivariable dependencies into easily observable two-dimensional map. Accompanying that, the Sammon's mapping method was used to cluster pre-processed data to find similarities of the variables, expressing distances and groups in the data. The methods used were able to distinguish 7 different clusters characterizing indoor air quality and energy efficiency in the study house. The results indicate, that the cost implications in euros of heating and electricity energy vary according to the differential pressure, concentration of carbon dioxide, temperature and season.

Novel Adaptive Channel Equalization Algorithms by Statistical Sampling

In this paper, novel statistical sampling based equalization techniques and CNN based detection are proposed to increase the spectral efficiency of multiuser communication systems over fading channels. Multiuser communication combined with selective fading can result in interferences which severely deteriorate the quality of service in wireless data transmission (e.g. CDMA in mobile communication). The paper introduces new equalization methods to combat interferences by minimizing the Bit Error Rate (BER) as a function of the equalizer coefficients. This provides higher performance than the traditional Minimum Mean Square Error equalization. Since the calculation of BER as a function of the equalizer coefficients is of exponential complexity, statistical sampling methods are proposed to approximate the gradient which yields fast equalization and superior performance to the traditional algorithms. Efficient estimation of the gradient is achieved by using stratified sampling and the Li-Silvester bounds. A simple mechanism is derived to identify the dominant samples in real-time, for the sake of efficient estimation. The equalizer weights are adapted recursively by minimizing the estimated BER. The near-optimal performance of the new algorithms is also demonstrated by extensive simulations. The paper has also developed a (Cellular Neural Network) CNN based approach to detection. In this case fast quadratic optimization has been carried out by t, whereas the task of equalizer is to ensure the required template structure (sparseness) for the CNN. The performance of the method has also been analyzed by simulations.

Decoupled, Reduced Order Model for Double Output Induction Generator Using Integral Manifolds and Iterative Separation Theory

In this paper presents a technique for developing the computational efficiency in simulating double output induction generators (DOIG) with two rotor circuits where stator transients are to be included. Iterative decomposition is used to separate the flux– Linkage equations into decoupled fast and slow subsystems, after which the model order of the fast subsystems is reduced by neglecting the heavily damped fast transients caused by the second rotor circuit using integral manifolds theory. The two decoupled subsystems along with the equation for the very slowly changing slip constitute a three time-scale model for the machine which resulted in increasing computational speed. Finally, the proposed method of reduced order in this paper is compared with the other conventional methods in linear and nonlinear modes and it is shown that this method is better than the other methods regarding simulation accuracy and speed.

Simulation and Experimentation of Multibody Mechanical Systems with Clearance Revolute Joints

Clearance in the joints of multibody mechanical systems such as linkage mechanisms and robots is a main source of vibration, and noise of the whole system, and wear of the joints themselves. This clearance is an inevitable matter and cannot be eliminated, since it allows the relative motion between joint components and make them assemblage. This paper presents an experimental verification of the obtained simulation results of a slider – crank mechanism of one clearance revolute joint. The simulation results are obtained with the aid of CAD and dynamic simulation softwares, which is an effective method of simulation multibody systems with clearance joints and have many advantages. The comparison between both simulation and experimental results shows that the simulation results are so close to the experimental ones which proves the accuracy and efficiency of this method of modeling and simulation of mechanical systems with clearance joints.

Partially Knowing of Least Support Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (PKLS-OMP) for Recovering Signal

Given a large sparse signal, great wishes are to reconstruct the signal precisely and accurately from lease number of measurements as possible as it could. Although this seems possible by theory, the difficulty is in built an algorithm to perform the accuracy and efficiency of reconstructing. This paper proposes a new proved method to reconstruct sparse signal depend on using new method called Least Support Matching Pursuit (LS-OMP) merge it with the theory of Partial Knowing Support (PSK) given new method called Partially Knowing of Least Support Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (PKLS-OMP). The new methods depend on the greedy algorithm to compute the support which depends on the number of iterations. So to make it faster, the PKLS-OMP adds the idea of partial knowing support of its algorithm. It shows the efficiency, simplicity, and accuracy to get back the original signal if the sampling matrix satisfies the Restricted Isometry Property (RIP). Simulation results also show that it outperforms many algorithms especially for compressible signals.