Multi-dimensional Capon spectral estimation using discrete Zhang neural networks

The minimum variance spectral estimator, also known as the Capon spectral estimator, is a high resolution spectral estimator used extensively in practice. In this paper, we derive a novel implementation of a very computationally demanding matched filter-bank based a spectral estimator, namely the multi-dimensional Capon spectral estimator. To avoid the direct computation of the inverse covariance matrix used to estimate the Capon spectrum which can be computationally very expensive, particularly when the dimension of the matrix is large, we propose to use the discrete Zhang neural network for the online covariance matrix inversion. The computational complexity of the proposed algorithm for one-dimensional (1-D), as well as for two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) data sequences is lower when a parallel implementation is used.     

Polymer-supported syntheses of thiophene-containing compounds using a new type of traceless linker

A new type of traceless linker is described for use in polymer-supported (PS) syntheses of thiophene-containing compounds. It is based on the cleavage of PS aryl 2-thienyl ketones by a mixture of potassium t-butoxide and water (typical mol ratio 10:3) in an ethereal solvent. Cleavage occurs to give the soluble thiophene-containing product. The method is used to prepare a range of eight thiophene-containing compounds including a terthiophene and a dialkylquaterthiophene. PS unsymmetrical diaryl ketones incorporating, for example, ortho-methoxyphenyl or pyrrole moieties could also serve as traceless linkers.     

Effects of temperature-dependent material properties and shielding gas on molten pool formation during continuous laser welding of AZ91 magnesium alloy

Laser welding processes are widely used for fabrications in many engineering applications such as aerospace and automotives. In this paper, a moving distributed heat source model based on Goldak's method [1] has been implemented into finite volume thermal simulations in order to predict temperature distributions during the welding process of a magnesium alloy and to study the effects of variations in thermal properties, absorption coefficient and gas shielding on the computed temperature distributions and weld pool dimensions. The main conclusion is the significant effects of varying the thermal conductivity and absorption coefficient of magnesium. Also, it has been seen that the shielding gas, besides its main role of protection against oxidation, has a significant effect on the width of the weld pool. Finally, the obtained results have been compared to the experimental ones and a satisfactory correlation has been observed, indicating the reliability of the model developed in this study.     

Transmission loss of periodically stiffened laminate composite panels: shear deformation and in-plane interaction effects

This paper investigates the transmission loss of symmetric and asymmetric laminate composite panels periodically reinforced by composite stiffeners. A comprehensive model based on periodic structure theory is developed. First order shear deformation theory is used and the coupling of the in-plane motion of the panel with its out-of-plane motion is taken into account. Stiffeners interact with the panel through three forces (two in-plane, one out-of-plane) and a torsion moment. Three types of cross sections are investigated for the composite stiffeners: I-shaped, C-shaped, and omega-shaped cross-sections. The model is validated numerically by comparison with the finite element/boundary element method. Experimental validations are also conducted. In both cases, excellent agreement is obtained. Numerical results show that the in-plane coupling effect is increased by increasing the panel thickness and the stiffener's eccentricity. The in-plane coupling effect is also found to increase with frequency.     

A Novel Approach to Processing High‐Performance Polymers that Exploits Entropically Driven Ring‐Opening Polymerization

Summary: Blends of the poly(ether sulfone) derived from 4,4′‐biphenol and 4,4′‐dichlorodiphenylsulfone (Radel‐R™) with its homologous macrocyclic oligomers show greatly lowered melt viscosities relative to that of the parent polymer, potentially enabling more facile production and fabrication of fiber‐reinforced composite materials. The macrocycles can then undergo entropically driven ring‐opening polymerization in situ. The required blends can be obtained easily in one step, by carrying out polycondensations at concentrations lower than those usually used for polymer synthesis.

Percentage of MCOs 5 in the product as a function of total monomer concentration.     

On-Chip Tightly Confined Guiding and Splitting of Surface Acoustic Waves Using Line Defects in Phononic Crystals

Phononic crystals (PnCs) exhibit acoustic properties that are not usually found in natural materials, which leads to the possibility of new devices for the complex manipulation of acoustic waves. In this article, a micron-scale phononic waveguide constructed by line defects in PnCs to achieve on-chip, tightly confined guiding, bending, and splitting of surface acoustic waves (SAWs) is reported. The PnC is made of a square lattice of periodic nickel pillars on a piezoelectric substrate. The PnC lattice constant, pillar diameter, and pillar height are set to 10, 7.5, and 3.2 µm, respectively, leading to a complete bandgap centered at 195 MHz. Interdigitated transducers are monolithically integrated on the same substrate for SAW excitation. The guiding, bending, and splitting of SAWs in the phononic waveguide are experimentally observed through measurement of the out-of-plane displacement fields using a scanning optical interferometer. The combination of destructive interference due to the Bragg bandgap and the interaction of the propagating wave with the pillars around the channel results in a tight confinement of the displacement field. The proposed phononic waveguides demonstrate the feasibility of precise local manipulation of SAW that is essential for emerging frontier applications, notably for phonon-based classical and quantum information processing.     

Novel palladium nanoparticles supported on mesoporous natural phosphate: Catalytic ability for the preparation of aromatic hydrocarbons from natural terpenes

Various ratios of palladium nanoparticles supported on mesoporous natural phosphate (Pd@NP) were prepared using the wetness impregnation method. The prepared catalysts were characterized by IR, XRD, CV, SEM, EDX, XRF, TEM and BET analysis. The reduction and preparation of the palladium nanoparticles afford a crystallite size of 10.88 nm. The performance of the synthesized catalyst was investigated in the solvent-free dehydroaromatization of α-, β- and γ-himachalene mixture from Cedrus atlantica oil as a model substrate. In order to achieve an efficient and selective catalysis, the catalytic dehydroaromatization of various terpenes such as limonene, limonaketone, carvone, carveol and perillyl alcohol was studied. The Pd@NP catalyst performed a high catalytic activity, selectivity and recyclability in the terpenes dehydroaromatization reaction.     

Modelling of CO2 laser welding of magnesium alloys

Laser welding is an important joining process for magnesium alloys. These materials are being increasingly used in different applications such as in aerospace, aircraft, automotive, electronics, etc. To date, carbon dioxide (CO₂) neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) and the high power diode laser have been extensively used to investigate the weldability of magnesium alloys. The present work describes an analytical thermal model for the weldability of magnesium alloys (WE43) using an industrial (CO₂) laser source. The main target of the project is to present to the industrial community a simple and rapid tool for the determination of the penetration depth and the bead width as a function of both the incident laser power and welding speed. The proposed model is based on the Davis thermal approach, largely considered for the characterization of the average radius of the liquid zone, aiming at predicting the joint shape. Moreover, since during the welding process considered in this study, a protecting gas is used to avoid joint oxidation, both thermal convection and radiation phenomena in the welding area have been estimated and introduced in our model for a better characterization of the welding process. The obtained results have been compared to the experimental ones and a satisfactory correlation has been observed, indicating the reliability of the model developed in this study.     

Anisotropic Elliptic Nonlinear Obstacle Problem with Weighted Variable Exponent

In this paper, we are concerned with a show the existence of a entropy solution to the obstacle problem associated with the equation of the type :$\begin{cases}Au+g(x,u,∇u) = f & {\rm in} & Ω \\ u=0 & {\rm on} & ∂Ω \end{cases}$where $\Omega$ is a bounded open subset of $\;\mathbb{R}^{N}$, $N\geq 2$, $A\,$ is an operator of Leray-Lions type acting from $\; W_{0}^{1,\overrightarrow{p}(.)} (\Omega,\ \overrightarrow{w}(.))\;$ into its dual $\; W_{0}^{-1,\overrightarrow{p}'(.)} (\Omega,\ \overrightarrow{w}^*(.))$ and $\,L^1\,-\,$deta. The nonlinear term $\;g\,$: $\Omega\times \mathbb{R}\times \mathbb{R}^{N}\longrightarrow \mathbb{R} $ satisfying only some growth condition.     

Sur les distributions covariantes dans les algèbres de Lie réductives

We study the possibility of factoring a covariant distribution on reductive Lie algebras as finite sum of products of an invariant distribution by a covariant polynomial.