Robust Speed Control of a Low Damped Electromechanical System Based on CRONE Control: Application to a Four Mass Experimental Test Bench

Robust speed control of a low damped electromechanical system with backlash is studied, controlled load angular speed being not measured. The proposed control strategy combines a Luenberger observer (load angular speed and load torque disturbance estimations) and a robust CRONE controller. The observer provides estimation of the load angular speed and of the disturbance torque applied on the load. Through the computation of only three independent parameters (as many as a PID controller), the CRONE controller permits to ensure the robust speed control of the load in spite of plant parametric variations and speed observation errors. The proposed control strategy is applied to a four mass experimental test bench.     

A new insight into the understanding of the collapsed form of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) molecules

Possible collapsed forms of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) molecules are reviewed on the basis of first principle calculations. Various configurations and associated conformations are detailed. The calculated optimized structures exhibit different possibilities of creating networks of intra-molecular bonds of the hydrogen type. We show that the most remarkable one is able to form a local, self-saturated and well ordered helix. We also indicate in which direction the synthesis of the molecule should be oriented to improve its global behavior in term of hydrophobic/hydrophilic behavior.     

Multiplicité des solutions d'équilibre d'une coque de Marguerre–von Kármán membranaireMultiplicity of solutions to the Marguerre–von Kármán membrane equations

We build explicitly an infinite number of equilibrium solutions of unloaded Marguerre–von Kármán membrane shells. This construction is based upon the existence of three elementary solutions, together with the solution of a Monge–Ampère equation associated with a partition of the reference configuration of the shell. To cite this article: A. Léger, B. Miara, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 335 (2002) 649–654.     

Study of the spontaneous formation of organic layers on carbon and metal surfaces from diazonium salts

This study investigates the spontaneous grafting of different para-substituted phenyl groups on carbon and metallic surfaces from diazonium salts solutions. Glassy carbon, nickel, zinc and iron plates were allowed to react with an acetonitrile solution of aryldiazonium tetrafluoroborate salt by simple dipping. The surfaces were characterized before and after their immersion by XPS and AFM to evidence the formation of a coating on the different materials. The results are indicative of the presence of substituted phenyl groups on all the investigated surfaces. This study also aims at correlating grafting efficiency with metal reactivities and diazonium salt electronic properties by means of AFM and FT-IRRAS. For this purpose, zinc and nickel were chosen due to their opposite reducing properties and two diazonium salts were selected with electron-donor or -withdrawing para-substituents. The results tend to indicate that redox properties of both partners (diazonium + metal) are of prime importance for grafting to occur.     

Indecomposable modules over the Virasoro Lie algebra and a conjecture of V. Kac

We consider a class of indecomposable modules over the Virasoro Lie algebra that we call bounded admissible modules. We get results concerning the center and the dimensions of the weight spaces. We prove that these modules always contain a submodule with one-dimensional weight spaces. From this follows the proof of a conjecture of V. Kac concerning the classification of simple admissible modules.Preprint Université de Bourgogne-mai 1990     

The differential equation satisfied by a plane curve of degree n

Eliminating the arbitrary coefficients in the equation of a generic plane curve of order n by computing sufficiently many derivatives, one obtains a differential equation. This is a projective invariant. The first one, corresponding to conics, has been obtained by Monge. Sylvester, Halphen, Cartan used invariants of higher order. The expression of these invariants is rather complicated, but becomes much simpler when interpreted in terms of symmetric functions.     

An aqueous route to organically functionalized silica diatom skeletons

Diatomaceous earth was functionalized by grafting organotrialkoxysilane precursors onto the surface of the porous silica cell walls of this biomineral. Vinyl- and mercapto-containing structures were prepared in aqueous media without disruption of the diatomic architecture. Successful grafting of the organic moieties was confirmed using solid state ²⁹Si MAS NMR spectroscopy, and the presence of the intact diatom framework by scanning electron microscopy. The sorption properties of mercaptopropyl-functionalized diatoms towards heavy metals was studied by measuring the accessibility and diffusion rates of mercury(II) species to the binding sites (-SH) by the means of electrochemical methods.     

The first encapsulation of hydroxynitrile lyase from Hevea brasiliensis in a sol-gel matrix

A straightforward process for the encapsulation of HbHNL under low methanol conditions has been developed. By adding a sol, prepared by hydrolysis of TMOS/MTMS at pH 2.8 with continuous removal of methanol, to a stirred solution of the enzyme in a buffer at pH 6.5, at least 65% of the activity of the free enzyme could be recovered after the encapsulation. The aquagels were successfully used in the synthesis of (S)-cyanohydrins.     

Synthesis and orientation study of a magnetically aligned liquid‐crystalline chitin/poly(acrylic acid) composite

A high magnetic field of 5 T was used to fabricate a magnetically aligned, optically anisotropic, liquid‐crystalline chitin/poly(acrylic acid) composite. The aligned mesophase was fixed by photoinitiated free‐radical polymerization. From an examination of polarized optical micrographs and an X‐ray diffraction study, a high degree of orientation of 0.70 was observed for the composite with a higher liquid‐crystalline chitin concentration (10.70 wt %); the orientation was reduced with a decreased chitin concentration at a given acrylic acid concentration. The X‐ray data for the developed composite showed a uniplanar orientation for the chitin crystallites, with its molecular long axes perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic field. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 711–714, 2003     

Global solution to a phase transition model based on a microforce balance

Our aim in this article is to prove the existence and the uniqueness of a global solution to a nonisothermal Ginzburg-Landau (Allen-Cahn) system. This system is obtained by considering, in addition to the fundamental laws of thermodynamics, a balance law for internal microforces proposed by M. Gurtin.