Production lot sizing with process deterioration and machine breakdown

The paper presents a generalized economic manufacturing quantity model for an unreliable production system in which the production facility may shift from an ‘in-control’ state to an ‘out-of-control’ state at any random time (when it starts producing defective items) and may ultimately break down afterwards. If a machine breakdown occurs during a production run, then corrective repair is done; otherwise, preventive repair is performed at the end of the production run to enhance the system reliability. The proposed model is formulated assuming that the time to machine breakdown, corrective and preventive repair times follow arbitrary probability distributions. However, the criteria for the existence and uniqueness of the optimal production time are derived under general breakdown and uniform repair time (corrective and preventive) distributions. The optimal production run time is determined numerically and the joint effect of process deterioration, machine breakdowns and repairs (corrective and preventive) on the optimal decisions is investigated for a numerical example.     

Exact potential minimization for a supergravity model

The low energy effective scalar potential arising from the supergravity model proposed by Nilles, Srednicki and Wyler is minimized exactly. Bounds are derived for the parameters of the theory from the requirement that SU(2) × U(1) be broken at the tree level. These results support earlier approximate results.     

Classification of recyclables using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for waste management

With the ever-increasing amount of generated waste governments around the world are looking for, and implementing, ways to minimize waste output and maximize waste recovery. The main difficulties are sorting waste items, identifying the different types of plastics, and the time taken to sort them manually. Bioplastics such as polylactic acid and Novatein thermoplastic protein can be incorporated into the recycling stream to minimize waste. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy spectra analyzed by k-nearest neighbor and soft independent modeling by class analogy were investigated as methods that can rapidly identify recyclables. Raw, peak normalized, and total intensity normalized spectra were used to identify which would improve classification. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy spectra were generated by single laser shots to different locations on nine samples, glass (brown, green, and clear), tin, aluminum, polylactic acid, Novatein, polyethylene terephthalate, and high-density polyethylene. To prove that the system has the potential to be used on a waste sorting stream an autofocus unit was developed to move the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy beam into focus on the different sample geometries. Two classification methods were investigated, soft independent modeling by class analogy and the k-nearest neighbors algorithm. k-Nearest neighbors on raw spectra produced the best results. Discrimination between bioplastics and plastics were 100%. Glass samples could not be reliably distinguished from each other. Surface contamination produced three misclassifications from 450 spectra. Similar results were obtained when the spectral range was reduced from 182.26–908.07?nm to 313.20–495.12?nm.     

Intermittency at critical transitions and aging dynamics at the onset of chaos

We recall that at both the intermittency transitions and the Feigenbaum attractor, in unimodal maps of non-linearity of order ζ > 1, the dynamics rigorously obeys the Tsallis statistics. We account for theq-indices and the generalized Lyapunov coefficients λ^q that characterize the universality classes of the pitchfork and tangent bifurcations. We identify the Mori singularities in the Lyapunov spectrum at the onset of chaos with the appearance of a special value for the entropic indexq. The physical area of the Tsallis statistics is further probed by considering the dynamics near criticality and glass formation in thermal systems. In both cases a close connection is made with states in unimodal maps with vanishing Lyapunov coefficients.     

Tree-level breaking of SU(2)×U(1) in general SUGRA theories

It is shown that SU(2)×U(1) can be broken at the tree level, without the occurrence of global potential minima that break U(1)_e.m., in supergravity models that are more general than those proposed by Nilles, Srednicki and Wyler. The study comprises an analysis of models with a general soft supersymmetry-breaking structure as well as those of the Hall-Lykken-Weinberg type.     

Coarse Metal Powder-Assisted pulsed CO2 Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for the Direct Determination of Heavy Metals in Soil

A novel method of laser-induced plasma spectroscopy utilizing a pulsed transversely excited atmospheric CO₂ laser has been developed for the high-sensitivity determination of heavy metals in soil. A coarse metal powder was used to trap the soil and to assist with plasma generation. When the CO₂ laser (10.6?µm, 1.5?J, 200?ns) was irradiated on the metal and soil powder, a high-temperature and long-lifetime luminous plasma was induced. Fine particles of soil were dissociated and were excited in the plasma region. The method was used for the rapid determination of Cr, Pb, and Hg in loam. The limits of detection for Cr, Pb, and Hg were approximately 0.8, 15, and 0.7?mg/kg, respectively.     

Large impact in electrical properties of polypropylene by improving the filler-matrix interface effect in PP/PS blends

Inorganic nanoparticles are widely used to improve space charge behavior, DC breakdown strength and other electrical properties of polymer insulating materials, but the uniform distribution of inorganic nanofillers in matrix is difficult due to their agglomeration and bad compatibility with the polymeric matrix. In this paper, polypropylene (PP)/polystyrene (PS) blends were prepared to suppress space charge accumulation and improve DC breakdown strength. Polypropylene-g-polystyrene (PP-g-PS) graft copolymer was used as compatibilizer to improve the compatibility of PP matrix and PS filler. The evolution of microstructure of PP/PS blends were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM), the space charge distributions were measured by a pulsed electro-acoustic (PEA) system, and DC breakdown strength was also tested. The morphologies show that the size of PS particles reduced to 310 nm when the content of PP-g-PS graft copolymer increased to 24 wt%, and the interaction between PP matrix and PS particles enhanced. The presence of PS particles in all PP/PS blends suppressed the space charge accumulation compared to neat PP, but the DC breakdown strength in uncompatibilized blend was lower than neat PP. The increasing of content of PP-g-PS improved the DC breakdown strength with the maximum value of 408.9 kV/mm was obtained. This may attribute to excellent interface structure formed between PP matrix and PS particles.     

支持向量机结台主成分分析辅助激光诱导击穿光谱技术识别鲜肉品种

为提高激光诱导击穿光谱技术(Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy,LIBS)对鲜肉品种的识别率,采用支持向量机结合主成分分析算法辅助LIBS技术对鲜肉品种进行识别.对鲜肉切片用载玻片压平,采用LIBS技术对鲜肉组织(猪肉、牛肉和鸡肉)表面进行光谱数据的采集,每种鲜肉采集150幅光谱并进行随机排列,取前75幅光谱作为训练集建立模型,后75幅作为测试集测试建模结果.研究选取K、Ca、Na、Mg、Al、H、O等元素的49条归一化谱线数据进行主成分分析,并用所得数据建立支持向量机分类模型.结果表明,通过主成分分析降维,输入变量从49个优化减少到18个,模型建模速度从88.91 s降至55.52 s,提高了支持向量机的建模效率;并使预测集的平均识别率提高到89.11%.本研究为激光诱导击穿光谱技术在鲜肉品种快速分类领域提供了方法和数据参考.     

Review: Applications of single-shot laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

As applications for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) become more varied with a greater number of field and industrial LIBS systems developed and as the technique evolves to be more quantitative that qualitative, there is a more significant need for LIBS systems capable of analysis with the use of a single laser shot. In single-shot LIBS, a single laser pulse is used to form a single plasma for spectral analysis. In typical LIBS measurements, multiple laser pulses are formed and collected and an ensemble-averaged method is applied to the spectra. For some applications there is a need for rapid chemical analysis and/or non-destructive measurements; therefore, LIBS is performed using a single laser shot. This article reviews in brief several applications that demonstrate the applicability and need for single-shot LIBS.     

Radiative models of laser-induced plasma and pump-probe diagnostics relevant to laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

The paper describes past and present efforts in modeling of laser-induced plasma and overviews plasma diagnostics carried out by pump-probe techniques. Besides general information on existing plasma models, the emphasis is given to models relevant to spectrochemical analysis, i.e. models of radiating plasma. Special attention is paid to collisional-radiative (CR) and collisional-dominated (CD) plasma models where radiative processes play an important role. Also, calibration-free (CF) models are considered which may endow with the possibility for standardless spectroscopic analysis. In the diagnostic part, only methods based on the use of additional diagnostic tools (auxiliary lasers, optics, and probes) are described omitting those based on plasma own radiation. A short review is provided on image-based diagnostics (shadowgraphy, schlieren, and interferometry), absorption and fluorescence, Langmuir probe, and less frequently used cavity ringdown and Thomson scattering methods.