Modeling of MIG/MAG welding with experimental validation using an active contour algorithm applied on high speed movies

This paper investigates some issues in physical modeling of metal inert gas/metal active gas (MIG/MAG) welding process in the short arc mode. In this mode, a metal supply is molten in the arc state and then transferred to the weld pool during the short-circuit state. A hybrid model having two distinct continuous states whose switchings are controlled by two guard conditions is proposed. Due to the complexity of the physical phenomena involved in the welding process, simplifications are used to obtain a model accounting for the main physical contributions but simple enough to yield an efficient, fast and numerically tractable simulator which can be used intensively for evaluating different control strategies. In an attempt to validate the proposed model, different measurements have been made including supply voltage and current sampled synchronously with high speed digital video. In order to extract some relevant quantities representative of the metal transfer from image sequences, an active contour algorithm is developed and tested. The effectiveness of the proposed model in the prediction of major tendencies of a welding process, especially in the arc state, is shown using experimental data. Some limitations of the model during the metal transfer are also stressed and possible remedies are then proposed.     

Application of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to provenance studies of Algerian archaeological pottery

The North African regions boast a multimillenary tradition of pottery production that represents a decisive progress in all societies. In this paper, we present the analysis of several fragments of pottery dating from the Middle Ages and collected in the archaeological site of Gouraya in Béjaïa (Algeria). Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence measurements were performed to obtain the elemental composition of the clays and to attempt a classification of the samples through multivariate analysis methods, connecting them to the archaeological information about the sites. Hierarchical clusters analysis (HCA) identified two possible different groups, related to different production sites, even if only one source of clay seem to be used, consistently with the geological contest. Based on the results, a tentative provenance interpretation could be proposed on historical bases. We put in place a strategy that made it possible to perform provenance studies respecting sample integrity as we aim to extend our research also to integer and well-preserved object from museum, to create a database for Algerian production of in the Middle Ages.     

A new adaptive subband decomposition approach for automatic analysis of NMR data

This paper presents a non-iterative, fast, and almost automated time-data analysis method for NMR spectroscopy, based on a new adaptive implementation of high resolution methods used in spectral subbands. It is intended to avoid the choice of the decimation factor (or the width of the spectral windows) which, in the case of a uniform decomposition, strongly conditions the estimation results, and to diminish the computational burden. It is achieved through successive decimation/estimation stages each followed by a test procedure in order to decide whether or not the process should continue. The proposed test is based on a local spectral flatness measure of the estimation residuals. This stop-criterion involves an a posteriori validation of the estimation, thus the method proposed allows one to obtain a better detection rate at a lower complexity comparatively to other stopping rules, while preserving a reasonable estimation variance. Moreover, the reliability of the fitting algorithms considered is improved, by decreasing the influence of the model order and the number of false detections. Finally, the method is more efficient than Fourier transform (FT) at low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated by analyzing a simulation signal and raw carbon-13 experimental data.     

Pulse-amplitude-equalized output from a rational harmonic mode-locked fiber laser

We report, for the first time to our knowledge, the demonstration of amplitude equalization of high-repetition-rate pulses generated from a rational harmonic mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser. The output pulses are injected into another fiber laser with a nonlinear optical loop mirror. This scheme provides pulse-amplitude equalization up to the ninth rational harmonic mode-locked pulse train.