Refine
Year of publication
Institute
- Fachbereich Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik (249) (remove)
Language
- English (249) (remove)
Document Type
- Article (249) (remove)
Keywords
- avalanche (5)
- snow (3)
- Aeroelasticity (2)
- CFD (2)
- Drinfeld modules (2)
- Obstacle avoidance (2)
- Path planning (2)
- Transcendence (2)
- UAV (2)
- t-modules (2)
In general aviation, too, it is desirable to be able to operate existing internal combustion engines with fuels that produce less CO₂ than Avgas 100LL being widely used today It can be assumed that, in comparison, the fuels CNG, LPG or LNG, which are gaseous under normal conditions, produce significantly lower emissions. Necessary propulsion system adaptations were investigated as part of a research project at Aachen University of Applied Sciences.
Even the shortest flight through unknown, cluttered environments requires reliable local path planning algorithms to avoid unforeseen obstacles. The algorithm must evaluate alternative flight paths and identify the best path if an obstacle blocks its way. Commonly, weighted sums are used here. This work shows that weighted Chebyshev distances and factorial achievement scalarising functions are suitable alternatives to weighted sums if combined with the 3DVFH* local path planning algorithm. Both methods considerably reduce the failure probability of simulated flights in various environments. The standard 3DVFH* uses a weighted sum and has a failure probability of 50% in the test environments. A factorial achievement scalarising function, which minimises the worst combination of two out of four objective functions, reaches a failure probability of 26%; A weighted Chebyshev distance, which optimises the worst objective, has a failure probability of 30%. These results show promise for further enhancements and to support broader applicability.
Numerical avalanche dynamics models have become an essential part of snow engineering. Coupled with field observations and historical records, they are especially helpful in understanding avalanche flow in complex terrain. However, their application poses several new challenges to avalanche engineers. A detailed understanding of the avalanche phenomena is required to construct hazard scenarios which involve the careful specification of initial conditions (release zone location and dimensions) and definition of appropriate friction parameters. The interpretation of simulation results requires an understanding of the numerical solution schemes and easy to use visualization tools. We discuss these problems by presenting the computer model RAMMS, which was specially designed by the SLF as a practical tool for avalanche engineers. RAMMS solves the depth-averaged equations governing avalanche flow with accurate second-order numerical solution schemes. The model allows the specification of multiple release zones in three-dimensional terrain. Snow cover entrainment is considered. Furthermore, two different flow rheologies can be applied: the standard Voellmy–Salm (VS) approach or a random kinetic energy (RKE) model, which accounts for the random motion and inelastic interaction between snow granules. We present the governing differential equations, highlight some of the input and output features of RAMMS and then apply the models with entrainment to simulate two well-documented avalanche events recorded at the Vallée de la Sionne test site.
Recent Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) design procedures rely on full aircraft steady-state Reynolds-Averaged-Navier-Stokes (RANS) analyses in early design stages. Small sensor turrets are included in such simulations, even though their aerodynamic properties show highly unsteady behavior. Very little is known about the effects of this approach on the simulation outcomes of small turrets. Therefore, the flow around a model turret at a Reynolds number of 47,400 is simulated with a steady-state RANS approach and compared to experimental data. Lift, drag, and surface pressure show good agreement with the experiment. The RANS model predicts the separation location too far downstream and shows a larger recirculation region aft of the body. Both characteristic arch and horseshoe vortex structures are visualized and qualitatively match the ones found by the experiment. The Reynolds number dependence of the drag coefficient follows the trend of a sphere within a distinct range. The outcomes indicate that a steady-state RANS model of a small sensor turret is able to give results that are useful for UAV engineering purposes but might not be suited for detailed insight into flow properties.
Purpose
Globally, a detrimental shift in cardiovascular disease risk factors and a higher mortality level are reported in some black populations. The retinal microvasculature provides early insight into the pathogenesis of systemic vascular diseases, but it is unclear whether retinal vessel calibers and acute retinal vessel functional responses differ between young healthy black and white adults.
Methods
We included 112 black and 143 white healthy normotensive adults (20–30 years). Retinal vessel calibers (central retinal artery and vein equivalent (CRAE and CRVE)) were calculated from retinal images and vessel caliber responses to flicker light induced provocation (FLIP) were determined. Additionally, ambulatory blood pressure (BP), anthropometry and blood samples were collected.
Results
The groups displayed similar 24 h BP profiles and anthropometry (all p > .24). Black participants demonstrated a smaller CRAE (158 ± 11 vs. 164 ± 11 MU, p < .001) compared to the white group, whereas CRVE was similar (p = .57). In response to FLIP, artery maximal dilation was greater in the black vs. white group (5.6 ± 2.1 vs. 3.3 ± 1.8%; p < .001).
Conclusions
Already at a young age, healthy black adults showed narrower retinal arteries relative to the white population. Follow-up studies are underway to show if this will be related to increased risk for hypertension development. The reason for the larger vessel dilation responses to FLIP in the black population is unclear and warrants further investigation.
Digital elevation models (DEMs), represent the three-dimensional terrain and are the basic input for numerical snow avalanche dynamics simulations. DEMs can be acquired using topographic maps or remote-sensing technologies, such as photogrammetry or lidar. Depending on the acquisition technique, different spatial resolutions and qualities are achieved. However, there is a lack of studies that investigate the sensitivity of snow avalanche simulation algorithms to the quality and resolution of DEMs. Here, we perform calculations using the numerical avalance dynamics model RAMMS, varying the quality and spatial resolution of the underlying DEMs, while holding the simulation parameters constant. We study both channelized and open-terrain avalanche tracks with variable roughness. To quantify the variance of these simulations, we use well-documented large-scale avalanche events from Davos, Switzerland (winter 2007/08), and from our large-scale avalanche test site, Valĺee de la Sionne (winter 2005/06). We find that the DEM resolution and quality is critical for modeled flow paths, run-out distances, deposits, velocities and impact pressures. Although a spatial resolution of ~25 m is sufficient for large-scale avalanche modeling, the DEM datasets must be checked carefully for anomalies and artifacts before using them for dynamics calculations.
Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is a powerful tool used to evaluate displacements and deformations in a non-intrusive manner. By comparing two images, one of the undeformed reference state of a specimen and another of the deformed target state, the relative displacement between those two states is determined. DIC is well known and often used for post-processing analysis of in-plane displacements and deformation of specimen. Increasing the analysis speed to enable real-time DIC analysis will be beneficial and extend the field of use of this technique.
Here we tested several combinations of the most common DIC methods in combination with different parallelization approaches in MATLAB and evaluated their performance to determine whether real-time analysis is possible with these methods. To reflect improvements in computing technology different hardware settings were also analysed. We found that implementation problems can reduce the efficiency of a theoretically superior algorithm such that it becomes practically slower than a suboptimal algorithm. The Newton-Raphson algorithm in combination with a modified Particle Swarm algorithm in parallel image computation was found to be most effective. This is contrary to theory, suggesting that the inverse-compositional Gauss-Newton algorithm is superior. As expected, the Brute Force Search algorithm is the least effective method. We also found that the correct choice of parallelization tasks is crucial to achieve improvements in computing speed. A poorly chosen parallelisation approach with high parallel overhead leads to inferior performance. Finally, irrespective of the computing mode the correct choice of combinations of integerpixel and sub-pixel search algorithms is decisive for an efficient analysis. Using currently available hardware realtime analysis at high framerates remains an aspiration.