Real time estimation of CO2 laser weld quality for automotive industry

Laser welding is one of the most precise welding processes in joining sheet metals. In laser welding, performing real time evaluation of the welding quality is very important to enhance the efficiency of the welding process. In this study, the plasma and spatter, which are generated during laser welding, are measured using UV and IR photodiodes. The factors that influence weld quality are classified into five categories; optimal heat input, slightly low heat input, low heat input, partial joining due to gap mismatch, and nozzle deviation. The data number deviated from reference signals and their standard deviations were also considered to evaluate the qualities. A system was also formulated to perform real time evaluations of the weld quality using a fuzzy multi-feature pattern recognition with the measured signals.     

Application of rainbow schlieren deflectometry to measure temperature and oxygen concentration in a laminar gas-jet diffusion flame

The quantitative rainbow schlieren deflectometry (RSD) technique was applied to measure temperature and oxygen concentration in an axisymmetric hydrogen gas-jet diffusion flame burning in quiescent air at fuel jet exit Reynolds number of 70. Schlieren measurements were compared with conventional measurements using a thermocouple and a gas-sampling probe. Good agreement between the two measurement techniques was achieved on the fuel-lean side of the flame.     

Flow regime identification in a two-phase flow using wavelet transform

This study addresses the problem of the automatic flow regime identification in two-phase flows in pipes. A novel wavelet transform-based approach is proposed and validated using time series of differential pressure fluctuations. The experimental data on the differential pressure measured in a vertically installed Venturi meter for air-water flow were analyzed and found to be appropriate for flow regime identification. The wavelet spectrum of the measured signal is shown to characterize the flow patterns completely, and the vector of the wavelet variances is proposed as the characteristic vector for use in an on-line flow regime identification system.     

Nonlinear electric dipole polarizations of centrosymmetric media at the interaction of fundamental and second harmonic waves

Dominant nonlinear electric dipole polarizations at the interaction of fundamental and second harmonic waves in centrosymmetric media without and with memory are treated in this paper. The process of forming a permanent spatially periodic quadratic susceptibility grating in the medium with memory is described from the phenomenological point of view.Dedicated to the Czechoslovak Student Movement '89.     

Identification technique for nonlinear boundary conditions of a circular plate

As a basic study for developing an identification technique for boundary conditions of machines and structures, a new technique for a circular plate is proposed. This technique has features that do not require data measured on the boundary and is applicable to nonlinear boundary conditions. In the proposed technique, the boundary is modelled by springs and dampers as well as effective mass and moment of inertia. Then their characteristics are determined by using the analytical solution together with the experimental data. Since the technique is based on the analytical solution, it is applicable to any structure, provided that its analytical solution can be derived. Numerical simulation is conducted to show that the procedure determines the boundary conditions accurately.     

Evaluation of the Planck-mean absorption coefficients from HITRAN and HITEMP databases

New values of Planck-mean absorption coefficients are presented for various gases, based on line-by-line calculations from the high-resolution databases, HITRAN and HITEMP. The new values are compared with previously published Planck-mean absorption coefficients.     

Two inequalities involving Hadamard products of positive semi-definite Hermitian matrices

We extend two inequalities involving Hadamard products of positive definite Hermitian matrices to positive semi-definite Hermitian matrices. Simultaneously, we also show the sufficient conditions for equalities to hold. Moreover, some other matrix inequalities are also obtained. Our results and methods are different from those which are obtained by S. Liu in [J. Math. Anal. Appl. 243:458–463(2000)] and B.-Y. Wang et al. in [Lin. Alg. Appl. 302–303: 163–172(1999)].     

Three-dimensional radiative transfer in an anisotropically scattering, semi-infinite medium: generalized reflection function

Three-dimensional radiative transfer in an anisotropic scattering medium exposed to spatially varying, collimated radiation is studied. The generalized reflection function for a semi-infinite medium with a very general scattering phase function is the focus of this investigation. An integral transform is used to reduce the three-dimensional transport equation to a one-dimensional form, and a modified Ambarzumian's method is applied to formulate a nonlinear integral equation for the generalized reflection function. The integration is over both the polar and azimuthal angles; hence, the integral equation is said to be in the double-integral form. The double-integral, reflection function formulation can handle a variety of anisotropic phase functions and does not require an expansion of the phase function in a Legendre polynomial series. Complicated kernel transformations of previous single-integral studies are eliminated. Single and double scattering approximations are developed. Numerical results are presented for a Rayleigh phase function to illustrate the computational characteristics of the method and are compared to results obtained with the single-integral method. Agreement between the two approaches is excellent; however, as the transform variable increases beyond five the number of quadrature points required for the double-integral method to produce accurate solutions significantly increases. A new interpolation scheme produces accurate results when the transform variable is large.     

Gradient-based approximation methods applied to the optimal design of vehicle suspension systems using computational models with severe inherent noise

The principal aim of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility of using gradient-based approximation methods for the optimisation of the spring and damper characteristics of an off-road vehicle, for both ride comfort and handling. The Sequential Quadratic Programming algorithm and the relatively new Dynamic-Q method are the two successive approximation methods used for the optimisation. The determination of the objective function value is performed using computationally expensive numerical simulations that exhibit severe inherent numerical noise. The use of forward finite differences and central finite differences for the determination of the gradients of the objective function within Dynamic-Q is also investigated. This is done in investigating methods for overcoming the difficulties associated with the optimisation of noisy objective functions.A recreational off-road vehicle is modelled in ADAMS, and coupled to MATLAB for the execution of the optimisation process. The full vehicle ADAMS model includes suspension kinematics, a load-dependent tyre model, as well as non-linear springs and dampers. Up to four design variables are considered in modelling the suspension characteristics.It is found that both algorithms perform well in optimising handling. However, difficulties are encountered in obtaining improvements in the design process when ride comfort is considered. Nevertheless, meaningful design configurations are still achievable through the proposed optimisation process, at a relatively low cost in terms of the number of simulations that have to be performed.