Traditional fractal pattern design has some disadvantages such as inability to effectively reflect the characteristics of real scenery and texture. We propose a novel pattern design technique combining fractal geometry and image texture synthesis to solve these problems. We have improved Wei and Levoy (2000)’s texture synthesis algorithm by first using two-dimensional autocorrelation function to analyze the structure and distribution of textures, and then determining the size of L neighborhood. Several special fractal sets were adopted and HSL (Hue, Saturation, and Light) color space was chosen. The fractal structure was used to manipulate the texture synthesis in HSL color space where the pattern’s color can be adjusted conveniently. Experiments showed that patterns with different styles and different color characteristics can be more efficiently generated using the new technique.

In this paper, we propose a practical and dynamic key management scheme based on the Rabin public key system and a set of matrices with canonical matrix multiplication to solve the access control problem in an arbitrary partially ordered user hierarchy. The advantage is in ensuring that the security class in the higher level can derive any of its successor’s secret keys directly and efficiently and show it is dynamic while a new security class is added into or a class is removed from the hierarchy. Even the ex-member problem can be solved efficiently. Moreover, any user can freely change its own key for some security reasons.

In this study, Virtual Reality (VR)-based plastic injection molding training system (VPIMTS), which can be modeled as an integrated system with a task planning module, an intelligent instruction module, a simulation module, and virtual environment (VE) module, was developed. Presented in this paper are an architecture of VPIMTS, a practical knowledge modelling approach for modelling the training scenarios of the system by using Petri nets formalism and key techniques (FEM, injection molding procedure modelling) which have been developed independently. The utilization of the Petri net model realized the environment where the trainee can behave freely, and also made it possible to equip the system with the function of showing the next action of the trainee whenever he wants. The overall system is a powerful approach for highly improving the trainee’s comprehension and injection molding study-efficiency by building digital, intelligent, knowledgeable, and visual aids.

In this note, a robust adaptive control scheme is proposed for a class of nonlinear systems that have unknown multiplicative terms. Unlike previous results, except for the unknown control directions, we do not require a priori bounds on the unknown parameters. We also allow the unknown parameters to be time-varying provided that they are bounded. Our proposed robust adaptive controller is designed to identify on-line the unknown control directions and is a switching type controller, in which the controller parameters are tuned in a switching manner via a switching logic. Global stability of the closed-loop systems have been proved.

This paper presents a novel carrier frequency offset estimation (CFO) algorithm for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). Compared with previous approaches, this paper extends the whole frequency offset acquisition range by embedding a synthetic algorithm according to the preamble structure of WLANs symbols. The numerical results presented support the effectiveness of this algorithm by which the estimation error of the whole carrier frequency offset in the WLANs is effectively decreased.

Izumiya and Takeuchi (2003) obtained some characterizations for Ruled surfaces. Turgut and Hacısalihoğlu (1998) defined timelike Ruled surfaces and obtained some characterizations in timelike Ruled surfaces. Choi (1995) and Jung and Pak (1996) studied Ruled surfaces. This study uses the method in (Izumiya and Takeuchi, 2003) to investigate cylindrical helices and Bertrand curves as curves on timelike Ruled surfaces in Minkowski 3-space R₁³. We have studied singularities of the rectifying developable (surface) of a timelike curve. We observed that the rectifying developable along a timelike curve α is non-singular if and only if α is a cylindrical helice. In this case the rectifying developable is a cylindrical surface.

In order to improve the efficiency in management of public work projects, screening and controlling influencing factors affecting the quality of a public work project is essential. This study synthesized 9 influential categories including 91 factors related to quality management of public works in Taiwan using a sequential analysis procedure. According to the Borda-values of influencing factors obtained from a first stage questionnaire, the number of primary factors selected by the responsible entities and the design-supervisory entities were 44 and 45 respectively. A Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) was used to prioritize and rank these factors. The top five factors ranked by the responsible entities were (1) introduction of the earned value analysis, (2) working efficiency, (3) environmental laws and regulations, (4) price-index fluctuation, and (5) on-site safety management. The top five factors ranked by the design-supervisory entities were (1) man power, (2) laws and regulations, (3) price-index fluctuation, (4) traffic conditions, and (5) faulty design.

Free convection flow between two vertical parallel plates with transverse sinusoidal injection of the fluid at the stationary plate and its corresponding removal by constant suction through the plate in uniform motion has been analyzed. Due to this type of injection velocity, the flow becomes three-dimensional. Analytical expressions for the velocity, temperature, skin friction and rate of heat transfer were obtained. The important characteristics of the problem, namely the skin friction and the rate of heat transfer are discussed in detail with the help of graphs.

Genetic algorithm (GA) based on wavelet transform threshold shrinkage (WTS) and translation-invariant threshold shrinkage (TIS) is introduced into the method of noise reduction, where parameters used in WTS and TIS, such as wavelet function, decomposition levels, hard or soft threshold and threshold can be selected automatically. This paper ends by comparing two noise reduction methods on the basis of their denoising performances, computation time, etc. The effectiveness of these methods introduced in this paper is validated by the results of analysis of the simulated and real signals.

In this paper, we propose a novel, 3D, like cubic shape, modular self-reconfigurable (MSR) robot named M-Cubes. Its key mechanical components are analyzed in detail. By communicating with the neighboring modules, each unit employs its automatic lock device composed of a pin and a hole on each connection plane which can connect or disconnect with neighboring modules. The M-Cubes system consisting of many identical modules cooperates to change their connection, and then the whole structure transforms into arbitrary structure. Furthermore, we describe its locomotion control based on the driving function and the adjacency matrix which is effective for solving the computationally difficult problem and optimizing the system motion path during the self-reconfiguration process. Finally, a simulation experiment using java 3D technology, proved the new method for controlling modular robot is robust and useful.

After a review of the tufting industry’s development, and a brief introduction to available systems for producing patterned tufted carpets, the principle of ICN (Individually Controlled Needle) and the related advanced tufting technology Colortec are presented. Finally, Colortec machine, Axminster weaving machine, and Wilton loom are compared. It is believed that the Cobble Colortec machine is a significant jump forward in the tufted carpets industry as it now allows access to all major carpet markets in a competitive fashion.

A basic optimization principle of Artificial Neural Network—the Lagrange Programming Neural Network (LPNN) model for solving elastoplastic finite element problems is presented. The nonlinear problems of mechanics are represented as

A 2D stress strength interference model (2D-SSIM) considering that the fatigue reliability of engineering structural components has close relationship to load asymmetric ratio and its variability to some extent is put forward. The principle, geometric schematic and limit state equation of this model are presented. Reliability evaluation for a kind of diesel engine crankshaft was made based on this theory, in which multi-axial loading fatigue criteria was employed. Because more important factors, i.e. stress asymmetric ratio and its variability, are considered, it theoretically can make more accurate evaluation for structural component reliability than the traditional interference model. Correspondingly, a Monte-Carlo Method simulation solution is also given. The computation suggests that this model can yield satisfactory reliability evaluation.

Large vertical steel tanks for fluid storage are usually constructed on soft foundations, so it is not surprising that the tank wall will settle unevenly with the settlement of the foundation, thus inducing deformations and stresses in the tank. This work investigates the linear static behavior of floating-roof tanks under harmonic settlement through finite element (FE) analyses. The influences of the radius-to-thickness ratio, the height-to-radius ratio and the wind girder stiffness on the structural behavior are first analyzed. Comparisons between the circumferential stresses in the wind girder and the vertical stresses in the tank bottom are then made. The displacement and the stress along the tank height are also discussed, and the concept of tank division along its height is presented. Finally, a design approximation for the radial displacement at the tank top is developed based on FE results, and a settlement criterion based on the top radial displacement is proposed which can be used in practical design.

A new type of transferring structure for steel reinforced concrete (SRC) beams is used in high building. The pushover analysis method was used to study the failure mechanism and ductility of SRC transferring structure through consulting pseudo-static test results for the structure. And, the occurrence order and position of the plastic hinge, the weak story and seismic capacity of high building with SRC transferring story were also studied through consulting shaking table test results for the high building, showing that the seismic behavior of high building with SRC transferring story is good.

A frequency domain method for estimating wind-induced fluctuating internal pressure of structure with single windward opening is presented in this paper and wind tunnel tests were carried out to verify the theory. The nonlinear differential equation of internal pressure dynamics and iteration algorithm were applied to calculate fluctuating internal pressure and time domain analysis was used to verify the accuracy of the proposed method. A simplified estimation method is also provided and its scope of application is clarified. The mechanism of internal pressure fluctuation is obtained by using the proposed method in the frequency domain and a new equivalent opening ratio is defined to evaluate internal pressure fluctuation. A series of low-rise building models with various openings and internal volumes were designed for wind tunnel tests with results agreeing well with analytical results. It is shown that the proposed frequency domain method based on Gaussian distribution of internal pressure fluctuations can be applied to predict the RMS internal pressure coefficient with adequate accuracy for any opening dimensions, while the simplified method can only be used for structure with single dominant opening. Helmholtz resonance is likely to occur when the equivalent opening ratio is adequately high, and controlling individual opening dimension is an effective strategy for avoiding Helmholtz resonance in engineering.

As the span length of suspension bridges increases, the diameter of cables and thus the wind load acting on them, the nonlinear wind-structure interaction and the wind speed spatial non-uniformity all increase consequently, which may have unnegligible influence on the aerostatic behavior of long-span suspension bridges. In this work, a method of advanced aerostatic analysis is presented firstly by considering the geometric nonlinearity, the nonlinear wind-structures and wind speed spatial non-uniformity. By taking the Runyang Bridge over the Yangtze River as example, effects of the nonlinear wind-structure interaction, wind speed spatial non-uniformity, and the cable’s wind load on the aerostatic behavior of the bridge are investigated analytically. The results showed that these factors all have important influence on the aerostatic behavior, and should be considered in the aerostatic analysis of long and particularly super long-span suspension bridges.

A series of scaled-model shaking table tests and its simulation analyses using dynamic finite element method were performed to clarify the dynamic behaviors and the seismic stability of embedded corrugated steel culverts due to strong earthquakes like the 1995 Hyogoken-nanbu earthquake. The dynamic strains of the embedded culvert models and the seismic soil pressure acting on the models due to sinusoidal and random strong motions were investigated. This study verified that the corrugated culvert model was subjected to dynamic horizontal forces (lateral seismic soil pressure) from the surrounding ground, which caused the large bending strains on the structure; and that the structures do not exceed the allowable plastic deformation and do not collapse completely during strong earthquake like Hyogoken-nanbu earthquake. The results obtained are useful for design and construction of embedded long span corrugated steel culverts in seismic regions.

Flat Steel Ribbon Wound Pressure Vessels (FSRWPVs) are used in many important industry areas. There is no such kind of pressure vessel exploding on operation for its reasonable structure design. Many explosion experiments on Flat Steel Ribbon Wound Pressure Vessel showed that their limited load pressure is related to the winding angle of the steel ribbons. FSRWPVs with reasonable winding angle have better security and lower cost. Reasonable angels given at the end of this paper facilitate engineering design.

The electrical and thermal performances of a simulated 60 kW Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) cogeneration system are first analyzed and then strategies to make the system operation stable and efficient are developed. The system configuration is described first, and then the power response and coordination strategy are presented on the basis of the electricity model. Two different thermal models are used to estimate the thermal performance of this cogeneration system, and heat management is discussed. Based on these system designs, the 60 kW PEMFC cogeneration system is analyzed in detail. The analysis results will be useful for further study and development of the system.

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) are the main focus of their current development as power sources because they are capable of higher power density and faster start-up than other fuel cells. The humidification system and output performance of PEMFC stack are briefly analyzed. Predictive control of PEMFC based on Support Vector Regression Machine (SVRM) is presented and the SVRM is constructed. The processing plant is modelled on SVRM and the predictive control law is obtained by using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The simulation and the results showed that the SVRM and the PSO receding optimization applied to the PEMFC predictive control yielded good performance.

Optimal parameters for depositing Titanium nitride (TiN) thin films by DC reactive magnetron sputtering were determined. TiN thin films were deposited on Si (100) substrates by DC reactive magnetron sputtering, at different temperatures, different electrical current values, and different N₂/Ar ratios. Structural characteristics of TiN thin films were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD); surface morphology of the thin films was characterized using an atomic force microscope (AFM). The electric resistivity of the TiN films was measured by a four-point probe. In the result, temperature is 500 °C, electrical current value is 1.6 A, pure N₂ is the reacting gas, TiN thin film has the preferred (200) orientation, resistance is small enough for its use as bottom electrodes.

A new asymmetric watermarking scheme is proposed in this letter. In the proposed scheme, a secret real fractional DCT-I transform and a primitive watermark are employed to generate an asymmetric watermark. The secret watermark for embedding is derived from the primitive watermark, and is embedded in the large fractional DCT-I transformation coefficients of a cover signal. The asymmetric detection procedure is performed using a correlation test. Simulation results showed that the asymmetric detection is reliable, and that the scheme can provide minimum security.

This work is aimed at investigating the online scheduling problem on two parallel and identical machines with a new feature that service requests from various customers are entitled to many different grade of service (GoS) levels, so each job and machine are labelled with the GoS levels, and each job can be processed by a particular machine only when its GoS level is no less than that of the machine. The goal is to minimize the makespan. For non-preemptive version, we propose an optimal online algorithm with competitive ratio 5/3. For preemptive version, we propose an optimal online algorithm with competitive ratio 3/2.

This paper presents the forms of the general solution for general anisotropic piezoelectric media starting from the basic equations of piezoelasticity by using the operator method introduced by Lur’e (1964), and gives the analytical form of the general solution for special orthotropic piezoelectric media. This paper uses the non-uniqueness of the general solution to obtain the generalized LHN solution and the generalized E-L solution for special orthotropic piezoelectric media. When the special orthotropic piezoelectric media degenerate to transversely piezoelectric media, the solution given by this paper degenerates to the solution for transversely isotropic piezoelectric media accordingly, so that this paper generalized the results in transversely isotropic piezoelectric media.

Coaxial liquid-liquid flows were numerically studied in a nesting two-tube system. Calculations were carried out when various exit-lengths (meaning length differences between the two tubes) were used. Numerical results indicated that there exists a certain range of exit-length for the liquid-liquid flows to form stable and smooth interfaces, which requires that the exit-length should roughly be less than 5.6 times the outer tube diameter. In this range, interface instability is effectively restrained and the core fluid shows a phenomenon of die swell. When the exit-length is about 1.6 times the outer tube diameter, the core fluid has the greatest diameter size in the shell fluid. Velocity distributions at the outer tube exit favor formation of a continuous and stable core-shell structure.

This paper presents the effects of surface finish and treatment on the high cycle fatigue behaviour of vibrating cylinder block of a new two-stroke free piston engine at complex variable amplitude loading conditions using frequency response approach. Finite element modelling and frequency response analysis was conducted using finite element analysis software Package MSC.PATRAN/MSC.NASTRAN and fatigue life prediction was carried out using MSC.FATIGUE software. Based on the finite element results, different frequency response approach was applied to predict the cylinder block fatigue life. Results for different load histories and material combinations are also discussed. Results indicated great effects for all surface finish and treatment. It is concluded that polished and cast surface finish conditions give the highest and lowest cylinder block lives, respectively; and that Nitrided treatment leads to longest cylinder block life. The results were used to draw contour plots of fatigue life and damage in the worst or most damaging case.

Reinforced concrete structural elements with box section are commonly used in the horizontal and vertical structure of bridges. The reinforced concrete structure in bridge often failed under the combined forces of bending, axial load, shear and torsion caused by wind and earthquake. It is very important to study the mechanism of RC box section structures subjected to a combination of forces. A theoretical study and deduction of the unified expression for failure of reinforced concrete members with box section under combined bending, shear, axial force and torsion were carried out with stress equilibrium assumption. Comparison of theoretical analysis results with experimental results showed that the unified expression for failure of reinforced concrete members with box section can be used for static calculation of such structure members.

Eighteen reinforced concrete beams, including 16 beams strengthened with CFRP laminate at different levels of preload and 2 control beams, were tested to investigate the influence of preload level on flexural behavior of CFRP-strengthened RC beam. The experimental parameters include rebar ratios, number of plies of CFRP laminates and preload level at the time of strengthening. Theoretical analysis was also carried out to explain the experimental phenomena and results. The experimental and theoretical results indicated that the preload level has more influence on the stiffness and deflection of the strengthened beam, both at post-cracking and post-yielding stage, than that on the yielding and ultimate flexural strength of the strengthened beam. The main failure mode of CFRP-strengthened beam is the intermediate crack-induced debonding of CFRP laminates, provided that the development length of CFRP laminates and shear capacity of the beam are sufficient.

The largest urban areas of Mexico cities have witnessed high levels of air pollution in the past few decades. The most important air pollutants are ozone and particulate matter with levels that are still far above current air quality standard. In this work we studied exhaust and evaporative emissions of Mexico City metropolitan area (MAMC) vehicles using fuels in which sulfur content was varied from 89×10⁻⁶ to 817×10⁻⁶, and calculated the ozone forming potential of emissions as well as the specific reactivity of the exhaust for each average fleet-fuel combinations. Data on emission levels were compared to those obtained in 2000 for the same vintage of vehicles. The almost twofold increase in emissions found could be due to degradation of the exhaust emissions control systems.