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Humic substances possess distinctive chemical features enabling their use in many advanced applications, including biomedical fields. No chemicals in nature have the same combination of specific chemical and biological properties as humic substances. Traditional medicine and modern research have demonstrated that humic substances from different sources possess immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties, which makes them suitable for the prevention and treatment of chronic dermatoses, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, and other conditions characterized by inflammatory and allergic responses [1-4]. The use of humic compounds as agentswith antifungal and antiviral properties shows great potential [5-7].
In collaborative research projects, both researchers and practitioners work together solving business-critical challenges. These projects often deal with ETL processes, in which humans extract information from non-machine-readable documents by hand. AI-based machine learning models can help to solve this problem.
Since machine learning approaches are not deterministic, their quality of output may decrease over time. This fact leads to an overall quality loss of the application which embeds machine learning models. Hence, the software qualities in development and production may differ.
Machine learning models are black boxes. That makes practitioners skeptical and increases the inhibition threshold for early productive use of research prototypes. Continuous monitoring of software quality in production offers an early response capability on quality loss and encourages the use of machine learning approaches. Furthermore, experts have to ensure that they integrate possible new inputs into the model training as quickly as possible.
In this paper, we introduce an architecture pattern with a reference implementation that extends the concept of Metrics Driven Research Collaboration with an automated software quality monitoring in productive use and a possibility to auto-generate new test data coming from processed documents in production.
Through automated monitoring of the software quality and auto-generated test data, this approach ensures that the software quality meets and keeps requested thresholds in productive use, even during further continuous deployment and changing input data.
Magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) are investigated with great interest for biomedical applications in diagnostics (e.g. imaging: magnetic particle imaging (MPI)), therapeutics (e.g. hyperthermia: magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH)) and multi-purpose biosensing (e.g. magnetic immunoassays (MIA)). What all of these applications have in common is that they are based on the unique magnetic relaxation mechanisms of MNP in an alternating magnetic field (AMF). While MFH and MPI are currently the most prominent examples of biomedical applications, here we present results on the relatively new biosensing application of frequency mixing magnetic detection (FMMD) from a simulation perspective. In general, we ask how the key parameters of MNP (core size and magnetic anisotropy) affect the FMMD signal: by varying the core size, we investigate the effect of the magnetic volume per MNP; and by changing the effective magnetic anisotropy, we study the MNPs’ flexibility to leave its preferred magnetization direction. From this, we predict the most effective combination of MNP core size and magnetic anisotropy for maximum signal generation.
Micromachined thermal heater platforms offer low electrical power consumption and high modulation speed, i.e. properties which are advantageous for realizing nondispersive infrared (NDIR) gas- and liquid monitoring systems. In this paper, we report on investigations on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) based infrared (IR) emitter devices heated by employing different kinds of metallic and semiconductor heater materials. Our results clearly reveal the superior high-temperature performance of semiconductor over metallic heater materials. Long-term stable emitter operation in the vicinity of 1300 K could be attained using heavily antimony-doped tin dioxide (SnO2:Sb) heater elements.
Wing weight estimation methodology for highly non-planar lifting systems during conceptual design
(2013)
The recently proposed NASA and ESA missions to Saturn and Jupiter pose difficult tasks to mission designers because chemical propulsion scenarios are not capable of transferring heavy spacecraft into the outer solar system without the use of gravity assists. Thus our developed mission scenario based on the joint NASA/ESA Titan Saturn System Mission baselines solar electric propulsion to improve mission flexibility and transfer time. For the calculation of near-globally optimal low-thrust trajectories, we have used a method called Evolutionary Neurocontrol, which is implemented in the low-thrust trajectory optimization software InTrance. The studied solar electric propulsion scenario covers trajectory optimization of the interplanetary transfer including variations of the spacecraft's thrust level, the thrust unit's specific impulse and the solar power generator power level. Additionally developed software extensions enabled trajectory optimization with launcher-provided hyperbolic excess energy, a complex solar power generator model and a variable specific impulse ion engine model. For the investigated mission scenario, Evolutionary Neurocontrol yields good optimization results, which also hold valid for the more elaborate spacecraft models. Compared to Cassini/Huygens, the best found solutions have faster transfer times and a higher mission flexibility in general.
Study of swift heavy ion modified conduction polymer composites for application as gas sensor
(2006)
A polyaniline-based conducting composite was prepared by oxidative polymerisation of aniline in a polyvinylchloride (PVC) matrix. The coherent free standing thin films of the composite were prepared by a solution casting method. The polyvinyl chloride-polyaniline composites exposed to 120 MeV ions of silicon with total ion fluence ranging from 1011 to 1013 ions/cm2, were observed to be more sensitive towards ammonia gas than the unirradiated composite. The response time of the irradiated composites was observed to be comparably shorter. We report for the first time the application of swift heavy ion modified insulating polymer conducting polymer (IPCP) composites for sensing of ammonia gas.
This paper presents the direct route to Design by Analysis (DBA) of the new European pressure vessel standard in the language of limit and shakedown analysis (LISA). This approach leads to an optimization problem. Its solution with Finite Element Analysis is demonstrated for some examples from the DBA-Manual. One observation from the examples is, that the optimisation approach gives reliable and close lower bound solutions leading to simple and optimised design decision.
In: Technical feasibility and reliability of passive safety systems for nuclear power plants. Proceedings of an Advisory Group Meeting held in Jülich, 21-24 November 1994. - Vienna , 1996. - Seite: 43 - 55 IAEA-TECDOC-920 Abstract: It is shown that the difficulty for probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) is the general problem of the high reliability of a small population. There is no way around the problem as yet. Therefore what PFM can contribute to the reliability of steel pressure boundaries is demonstrated with the example of a typical reactor pressure vessel and critically discussed. Although no method is distinguishable that could give exact failure probabilities, PFM has several additional chances. Upper limits for failure probability may be obtained together with trends for design and operating conditions. Further, PFM can identify the most sensitive parameters, improved control of which would increase reliability. Thus PFM should play a vital role in the analysis of steel pressure boundaries despite all shortcomings.
The nonlinear scalar constitutive equations of gases lead to a change in sound speed from point to point as would be found in linear inhomogeneous (and time dependent) media. The nonlinear tensor constitutive equations of solids introduce the additional local effect of solution dependent anisotropy. The speed of a wave passing through a point changes with propagation direction and its rays are inclined to the front. It is an open question whether the widely used operator splitting techniques achieve a dimensional splitting with physically reasonable results for these multi-dimensional problems. May be this is the main reason why the theoretical and numerical investigations of multi-dimensional wave propagation in nonlinear solids are so far behind gas dynamics. We hope to promote the subject a little by a discussion of some fundamental aspects of the solution of the equations of nonlinear elastodynamics. We use methods of characteristics because they only integrate mathematically exact equations which have a direct physical interpretation.
Smoothed Finite Element Methods for Nonlinear Solid Mechanics Problems: 2D and 3D Case Studies
(2016)
The Smoothed Finite Element Method (SFEM) is presented as an edge-based and a facebased techniques for 2D and 3D boundary value problems, respectively. SFEMs avoid shortcomings of the standard Finite Element Method (FEM) with lower order elements such as overly stiff behavior, poor stress solution, and locking effects. Based on the idea of averaging spatially the standard strain field of the FEM over so-called smoothing domains SFEM calculates the stiffness matrix for the same number of degrees of freedom (DOFs) as those of the FEM. However, the SFEMs significantly improve accuracy and convergence even for distorted meshes and/or nearly incompressible materials.
Numerical results of the SFEMs for a cardiac tissue membrane (thin plate inflation) and an artery (tension of 3D tube) show clearly their advantageous properties in improving accuracy particularly for the distorted meshes and avoiding shear locking effects.
Limit and shakedown theorems are exact theories of classical plasticity for the direct computation of safety factors or of the load carrying capacity under constant and varying loads. Simple versions of limit and shakedown analysis are the basis of all design codes for pressure vessels and pipings. Using Finite Element Methods more realistic modeling can be used for a more rational design. The methods can be extended to yield optimum plastic design. In this paper we present a first implementation in FE of limit and shakedown analyses for perfectly plastic material. Limit and shakedown analyses are done of a pipe–junction and a interaction diagram is calculated. The results are in good correspondence with the analytic solution we give in the appendix.
Safety and reliability of structures may be assessed indirectly by stress distributions. Limit and shakedown theorems are simplified but exact methods of plasticity that provide safety factors directly in the loading space. These theorems may be used for a direct definition of the limit state function for failure by plastic collapse or by inadaptation. In a FEM formulation the limit state function is obtained from a nonlinear optimization problem. This direct approach reduces considerably the necessary knowledge of uncertain technological input data, the computing time, and the numerical error. Moreover, the direct way leads to highly effective and precise reliability analyses. The theorems are implemented into a general purpose FEM program in a way capable of large-scale analysis.
Structural design analyses are conducted with the aim of verifying the exclusion of ratcheting. To this end it is important to make a clear distinction between the shakedown range and the ratcheting range. In cyclic plasticity more sophisticated hardening models have been suggested in order to model the strain evolution observed in ratcheting experiments. The hardening models used in shakedown analysis are comparatively simple. It is shown that shakedown analysis can make quite stable predictions of admissible load ranges despite the simplicity of the underlying hardening models. A linear and a nonlinear kinematic hardening model of two-surface plasticity are compared in material shakedown analysis. Both give identical or similar shakedown ranges. Structural shakedown analyses show that the loading may have a more pronounced effect than the hardening model.
When confining pressure is low or absent, extensional fractures are typical, with fractures occurring on unloaded planes in rock. These “paradox” fractures can be explained by a phenomenological extension strain failure criterion. In the past, a simple empirical criterion for fracture initiation in brittle rock has been developed. But this criterion makes unrealistic strength predictions in biaxial compression and tension. A new extension strain criterion overcomes this limitation by adding a weighted principal shear component. The weight is chosen, such that the enriched extension strain criterion represents the same failure surface as the Mohr–Coulomb (MC) criterion. Thus, the MC criterion has been derived as an extension strain criterion predicting failure modes, which are unexpected in the understanding of the failure of cohesive-frictional materials. In progressive damage of rock, the most likely fracture direction is orthogonal to the maximum extension strain. The enriched extension strain criterion is proposed as a threshold surface for crack initiation CI and crack damage CD and as a failure surface at peak P. Examples show that the enriched extension strain criterion predicts much lower volumes of damaged rock mass compared to the simple extension strain criterion.
7th International Conference on Reliability of Materials and Structures (RELMAS 2008). June 17 - 20, 2008 ; Saint Petersburg, Russia. pp 354-358. Reprint with corrections in red Introduction Analysis of advanced structures working under extreme heavy loading such as nuclear power plants and piping system should take into account the randomness of loading, geometrical and material parameters. The existing reliability are restricted mostly to the elastic working regime, e.g. allowable local stresses. Development of the limit and shakedown reliability-based analysis and design methods, exploiting potential of the shakedown working regime, is highly needed. In this paper the application of a new algorithm of probabilistic limit and shakedown analysis for shell structures is presented, in which the loading and strength of the material as well as the thickness of the shell are considered as random variables. The reliability analysis problems may be efficiently solved by using a system combining the available FE codes, a deterministic limit and shakedown analysis, and the First and Second Order Reliability Methods (FORM/SORM). Non-linear sensitivity analyses are obtained directly from the solution of the deterministic problem without extra computational costs.
Architects and civil engineers work together regularly during their professional days and are irreplaceable for each other. This co-operation is sometimes made more difficult by the differences in their disciplinary languages and approaches. Structures are evaluated by architects on the basis of criteria such as spatial impact and usability, while civil engineers analyze them more closely by their bearing and deformation properties, as well as by constructive aspects. This diversity of assessment criteria and approaches is often continued in both academic disciplines in the view on structures.
Within the framework of the Exploratory Teaching Space (ETS), a funding program to improve teaching at RWTH Aachen University and to promote new teaching concepts, a project was carried out jointly by the Junior Professorship of Tool-Culture at the Faculty of Architecture and the Institute of Structural Concrete at the Faculty of Civil Engineering. The aim of the project is to present buildings in such a way that the differences in perception between architects and civil engineers are reduced and the common understanding is promoted.
The project develops a database, which contains a collection of striking buildings from Aachen and the surrounding area. The buildings are categorized according to terms that come from both disciplinary areas. The collection can be freely explored or crossed through learning trails. The medium of film plays a special role in presenting the buildings. The buildings are assigned to different categories of load bearing structures as linear, planar and spatial structures, and further to different types of material, functional programs and spatial characteristics. Since the buildings are located in the direct vicinity of Aachen, they can be visited by the students. This makes them more sensitive to their environment. Intrinsic motivation, as well as implicit learning is encouraged. The paper will provide a detailed report of the project, its implementation, the feedback of the students and the plans for further development.
Rocket engine test facilities and launch pads are typically equipped with a guide tube. Its purpose is to ensure the controlled and safe routing of the hot exhaust gases. In addition, the guide tube induces a suction that effects the nozzle flow, namely the flow separation during transient start-up and shut-down of the engine. A cold flow subscale nozzle in combination with a set of guide tubes was studied experimentally
to determine the main influencing parameters.
The complex questions of today for a world of tomorrow are characterized by their global impact. Solutions must therefore not only be sustainable in the sense of the three pillars of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social) but must also function globally. This goes hand in hand with the need for intercultural acceptance of developed services and products. To achieve this, engineers, as the problem solvers of the future, must be able to work in intercultural teams on appropriate solutions, and be sensitive to intercultural perspectives. To equip the engineers of the future with the so-called future skills, teaching concepts are needed in which students can acquire these methods and competencies in application-oriented formats. The presented course "Applying Design Thinking - Sustainability, Innovation and Interculturality" was developed to teach future skills from the competency areas Digital Key Competencies, Classical Competencies and Transformative Competencies. The CDIO Standard 3.0, in particular the standards 5, 6, 7 and 8, was used as a guideline. The course aims to prepare engineering students from different disciplines and cultures for their future work in an international environment by combining a digital teaching format with an interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary and intercultural setting for solving sustainability challenges. The innovative moment lies in the digital application of design thinking and the inclusion of intercultural as well as trans- and interdisciplinary perspectives in innovation development processes. In this paper, the concept of the course will be presented in detail and the particularities of a digital implementation of design thinking will be addressed. Subsequently, the potentials and challenges will be reflected and practical advice for integrating design thinking in engineering education will be given.
Achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 requires global collaboration between different stakeholders. Industry, and in particular engineers who shape industrial developments, have a special role to play as they are confronted with the responsibility to holistically reflect sustainability in industrial processes. This means that, in addition to the technical specifications, engineers must also question the effects of their own actions on an ecological, economic and social level in order to ensure sustainable action and contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. However, this requires competencies that enable engineers to apply all three pillars of sustainability to their own field of activity and to understand the global impact of industrial processes. In this context, it is relevant to understand how industry already reflects sustainability and to identify competences needed for sustainable development.
Within the framework of the project a genderand diversity-oriented teaching evaluation and modern, media-supported blended learning approaches were used in order to achieve the intended goals. First research results of the literature and status quo analysis were already implemented and tested in newly designed teaching approaches, for example in a multidisciplinary introductory lecture of civil engineering at RWTH Aachen University.
The link between diversity and innovation is broadly discussed in the context of research and innovation processes. Many institutions and enterprises, specifically in commerce, have already tried to establish sustainable diversity management concepts, in order to increase the diversity of their workforce in addition to establishing a corporate culture of openness. Alongside the creation of a working place where different experiences and skills are valued equally, the entrepreneurial intention is to transfer diversity into economically relevant advantages. Taking into account the potential of diversity in research and innovation processes, the project “Diversity- and Innovation Management” was incorporated within a large interdisciplinary research Cluster. The project’s purpose was to study the context between diversity and innovation in research associations and to later develop a customised management concept into an interdisciplinary research Cluster on integrative production technology with full integration. The challenge of such research associations lays in an organisational structure which is often described as being decentralised. Researchers coming from different academic disciplines, while having diverse habits, conduct research on large scientific issues and challenges. In addition, these researchers are socialised in different institutions and university chairs. Theses differences in leadership styles, business cultures and organisational strategies, follow into their research team work. Taking a closer look into the management of human resources suggests that decentral organised recruitment processes, as well as allocation of human resources, lead to a lacking overview in regard to missing competencies, perspectives and backgrounds in research networks. These circumstances are comparable to big corporate groups. While developing a management concept for research associations, these characteristics must be considered. To ensure this, the project follows a human-centred approach, which considers top-down, as well as bottom-up perspectives. This paper presents the applied mixed-method approach in the scientific issue described above. In the frame of the Cluster of Excellence “Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries” research results based on quantitative, as well as qualitative studies, were presented as an application example. This paper provides a new perspective on the innovation and diversity context. Against the background of complex research organisations, the development approach of a management concept is particularly interesting.
Engineers are of particular importance for the societies of tomorrow. The big social challenges society has to cope with in future, can only be mastered, if engineers link the development and innovation process closely with the requirements of people. As a result, in the frame of the innovation process engineers have to design and develop products for diverse users. Therefore, the consideration of diversity in this process is a core competence engineers should have. Implementing the consideration of diverse requirements into product design is also linked to the development of sustainable products and thus leads to social responsible research and development, the core concept formulated by the EU.
For this reason, future engineers should be educated to look at the technical perspectives of a problem embedded in the related questions within societies they are developing their artefacts for. As a result, the aim of teaching engineering should be to prepare engineers for these requirements and to draw attention to the diverse needs in a globalized world.
To match the competence profiles of future engineers to the global challenges and the resulting social responsibility, RWTH Aachen University, one of the leading technical universities in Germany, has established the bridging professorship “Gender and Diversity in Engineering” (GDI) which educates engineers with an interdisciplinary approach to expand engineering limits. The interdisciplinary teaching concept of the research group pursues an approach which imparts an application oriented Gender and Diversity expertise to future engineers. In the frame of an established teaching concept, which is a result of experiences and expertise of the research group, students gain theoretical knowledge about Gender and Diversity and learn how to transfer their knowledge into their later field of action.
In the frame of the conference the institutional approach will be presented as well as the teaching concept which will be introduced by concrete course examples.
Diversity is increasingly being addressed as an innovation-promoting factor. For this reason, companies and institutions tackle the integration of a diversity management approach that enables a heterogenic perspective on innovation development. However, system-theoretical frameworks state that the implementation of diversity measures that are not tailored to the needs of the organization often leads to a rejection or reactivity with regard to the management approach. In this context, especially organizations, which are characterized by a specific hierarchical structure, a dominant habitus or specialist culture, must face the challenge of realizing a sustainable change of the corporate culture that sets the basis for implementing diversity management approaches. The presented research project focuses on analyzing the situation in a huge scientific collaborative project - so called Cluster of Excellence (CoE) - with the aim to implement a diversity - and innovation management strategy. Considering the influencing determinants, the CoE is characterized by its embeddedness in the scientific system, a complex organizational structure, and a high fluctuation rate. The paper presents a systemic approach of reflecting these factors in order to develop a diversity- and innovation management strategy. In this frame, the results of a quantitative survey of CoE employees and derived mindset-types are presented. The results show a need for taking different mindset-types into account, to be able to develop a tailored management strategy. The aim of the project is to give recommendations for developing a sustainable management concept that promotes both diversity and innovation by drawing on the persisting mindsets of organization members while reflecting top down as well as bottom up factors of implementation processes as well as the psychology of change. This paper addresses all who are concerned with the management of human resources in innovation processes and are striving for a cultural change within the framework of complex organizations.
Acknowledging that a diverse workforce could be a potential source of innovation, the current research deals with the fine details of why diversity management is central to achieving innovation in heterogeneous research groups and how this could be effectively realized in an organization. The types of heterogeneities addressed mainly include gender, qualification, academic discipline and intercultural perspectives. The type of organization being dealt with in this work is a complex association of research institutes at a technical university in Germany (RWTH Aachen University), namely a 'Cluster of Excellence', whereby several institutes of the university work collaboratively in different sub-projects. The 'Cluster of Excellence' is a part of the 'Excellence Initiative' of the German federal and state governments German Research Foundation (DFG) and German Council of Science and Humanities, with the ultimate aim of promoting cutting-edge research. To support interdisciplinary collaboration and thus the performance of the cluster, the development of a diversity and innovation management concept is presently in the conceptual phase and will be described in the frame of this paper. The 3-S-Diversity Model, composed of the three elements: skills, structure and strategy, serves as a basis for the development of the concept. The proposed concept consists of six phases; the first two phases lay the ground work by developing an understanding of the status quo on the forms of diversity in the Cluster of Excellence, the type of organizational structure of the member institutes and the varieties of specialist work cultures of the same. The third and the fourth phases build up on this foundation by means of qualitative and quantitative studies. While the third phase deals with the sensitization of the management level to the close connection between diversity and innovation; the need to manage them thereafter and find tailor-made methods of doing so, the fourth phase shall mainly focus on the mindset of the employees in this regard. The fifth phase shall consolidate the learnings and the ideas developed in the course of the first four phases into an implementable strategy. The ultimate phase shall be the implementation of this concept in the Cluster. The first three phases have been accomplished successfully and the preliminary results are already available.
Mechatronics consist of the integration of mechanical
engineering, electronic integration and computer science/
engineering. These broad fields are essential for robotic
systems, yet it makes it difficult for the researchers to specialize
and be experts in all these fields. Collaboration between
researchers allow for the integration of experience and specialization,
to allow optimized systems. Collaboration between the
European countries and South Africa is critical, as each country
has different resources available, which the other countries
might not have. Applications with the need for approval of
any restrictions, can also be obtained easier in some countries
compared to others, thus preventing the delays of research.
Some problems that have been experienced are discussed, with
the Robotics Center of South Africa as a possible solution.
The interest in PET detectors with monolithic block scintillators is growing. In order to obtain high spatial resolutions dedicated positioning algorithms are required. But even an ideal algorithm can only deliver information which is provided by the detector. In this simulation study we investigated the light distribution on one surface of cuboid LSO scintillators of different size. Scintillators with a large aspect ratio (small footprint and large height) showed significant position information only for a minimum interaction depth of the gamma particle. The results allow a quantitative estimate for a useful aspect ratio.
IEC Technical Committee 81 is currently creating the new IEC 62305 series of standards on Lightning Protection. Working Group 9 is responsible for Part 2 of this series, which deals with the assessment and management of risk its CDV (Committee Draft for Voting) stage and has been circulated to National Committees for comment. The paper details the development of the Simplified IEC Risk Assessment Calculator software tool as described in Informative Annex J of IEC62305-2 Ed.1/CDV 2. This tool is intended as a simplified implementation of the more rigorous treatment of risk management found in the written document. It is designed to be relatively intuitive for users who wish to obtain an initial assessment of risk sensitivity, but should not be considered a substitute to a full understanding of the methods provided in the standard when dealing with more complicated structures or those where greater risks to personal or system operation are involved.
The industrial revolution especially in the IR4.0 era have driven many states of the art technologies to be introduced.
The automotive industry as well as many other key industries have also been greatly influenced. The rapid development of automotive industries in Europe have created wide industry gap between European Union (EU) and developing countries such as in South East Asia (SEA). Indulging this situation, FH JOANNEUM, Austria together with European partners from FH Aachen, Germany and Politecnico di Torino, Italy are taking initiative to close down the gap utilizing the Erasmus+ United Capacity Building in Higher Education grant from EU. A consortium was founded to engage with automotive technology transfer using the European framework to Malaysian, Indonesian and Thailand Higher Education Institutions (HEI) as well as automotive industries in respective countries. This could be achieved by establishing Engineering Knowledge Transfer Unit (EKTU) in respective SEA institutions guided by the industry partners in their respective countries. This EKTU could offer updated, innovative and high-quality training courses to increase graduate’s employability in higher education institutions and strengthen relations between HEI and the wider economic and social environment by addressing University-industry cooperation which is the regional priority for Asia. It is expected that, the Capacity Building Initiative would improve the quality of higher education and enhancing its relevance for the labor market and society in the SEA partners. The outcome of this project would greatly benefit the partners in strong and complementary partnership targeting the automotive industry and enhanced larger scale international cooperation between the European and SEA partners. It would also prepare the SEA HEI in sustainable partnership with Automotive industry in the region as a mean of income generation in the future.
The industrial revolution IR4.0 era have driven many states of the art technologies to be introduced especially in the automotive industry. The rapid development of automotive industries in Europe have created wide industry gap between European Union (EU) and developing countries such as in South-East Asia (SEA). Indulging this situation, FH Joanneum, Austria together with European partners from FH Aachen, Germany and Politecnico Di Torino, Italy is taking initiative to close the gap utilizing the Erasmus+ United grant from EU. A consortium was founded to engage with automotive technology transfer using the European ramework to Malaysian, Indonesian and Thailand Higher Education Institutions (HEI) as well as automotive industries. This could be achieved by establishing Engineering Knowledge Transfer Unit (EKTU) in respective SEA institutions guided by the industry partners in their respective countries. This EKTU could offer updated, innovative, and high-quality training courses to increase graduate’s employability in higher education institutions and strengthen relations between HEI and the wider economic and social environment by addressing Universityindustry cooperation which is the regional priority for Asia. It is expected that, the Capacity Building Initiative would improve the quality of higher education and enhancing its relevance for the labor market and society in the SEA partners. The outcome of this project would greatly benefit the partners in strong and complementary partnership targeting the automotive industry and enhanced larger scale international cooperation between the European and SEA partners. It would also prepare the SEA HEI in sustainable partnership with Automotive industry in the region as a mean of income generation in the future.
This study presents the concept of AstroBioLab, an autonomous astrobiological field laboratory tailored for the exploration of (sub)glacial habitats. AstroBioLab is an integral component of the TRIPLE (Technologies for Rapid Ice Penetration and subglacial Lake Exploration) DLR-funded project, aimed at advancing astrobiology research through the development and deployment of innovative technologies. AstroBioLab integrates diverse measurement techniques such as fluorescence microscopy, DNA sequencing and fluorescence spectrometry, while leveraging microfluidics for efficient sample delivery and preparation.
Design and implementation aspects of a 3D reconstruction algorithm for the Jülich TierPET system
(1997)
Hydrostatic propeller drive
(2011)
This work proposes a hybrid algorithm combining an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) with a conventional local path planner to navigate UAVs efficiently in various unknown urban environments. The proposed method of a Hybrid Artificial Neural Network Avoidance System is called HANNAS. The ANN analyses a video stream and classifies the current environment. This information about the current Environment is used to set several control parameters of a conventional local path planner, the 3DVFH*. The local path planner then plans the path toward a specific goal point based on distance data from a depth camera. We trained and tested a state-of-the-art image segmentation algorithm, PP-LiteSeg. The proposed HANNAS method reaches a failure probability of 17%, which is less than half the failure probability of the baseline and around half the failure probability of an improved, bio-inspired version of the 3DVFH*. The proposed HANNAS method does not show any disadvantages regarding flight time or flight distance.
Due to the decarbonization of the energy sector, the electric distribution grids are undergoing a major transformation, which is expected to increase the load on the operating resources due to new electrical loads and distributed energy resources. Therefore, grid operators need to gradually move to active grid management in order to ensure safe and reliable grid operation. However, this requires knowledge of key grid variables, such as node voltages, which is why the mass integration of measurement technology (smart meters) is necessary. Another problem is the fact that a large part of the topology of the distribution grids is not sufficiently digitized and models are partly faulty, which means that active grid operation management today has to be carried out largely blindly. It is therefore part of current research to develop methods for determining unknown grid topologies based on measurement data. In this paper, different clustering algorithms are presented and their performance of topology detection of low voltage grids is compared. Furthermore, the influence of measurement uncertainties is investigated in the form of a sensitivity analysis.
In many historical centers in Europe, stone masonry is part of building aggregates, which developed when the layout of the city or village was densified. The analysis of such building aggregates is very challenging and modelling guidelines missing. Advances in the development of analysis methods have been impeded by the lack of experimental data on the seismic response of such aggregates. The SERA project AIMS (Seismic Testing of Adjacent Interacting Masonry Structures) provides such experimental data by testing an aggregate of two buildings under two horizontal components of dynamic excitation. With the aim to advance the modelling of unreinforced masonry aggregates, a blind prediction competition is organized before the experimental campaign. Each group has been provided a complete set of construction drawings, material properties, testing sequence and the list of measurements to be reported. The applied modelling approaches span from equivalent frame models to Finite Element models using shell elements and discrete element models with solid elements. This paper compares the first entries, regarding the modelling approaches, results in terms of base shear, roof displacements, interface openings, and the failure modes.
In many historical centres in Europe, stone masonry buildings are part of building aggregates, which developed when the layout of the city or village was densified. In these aggregates, adjacent buildings share structural walls to support floors and roofs. Meanwhile, the masonry walls of the façades of adjacent buildings are often connected by dry joints since adjacent buildings were constructed at different times. Observations after for example the recent Central Italy earthquakes showed that the dry joints between the building units were often the first elements to be damaged. As a result, the joints opened up leading to pounding between the building units and a complicated interaction at floor and roof beam supports. The analysis of such building aggregates is very challenging and modelling guidelines do not exist. Advances in the development of analysis methods have been impeded by the lack of experimental data on the seismic response of such aggregates. The objective of the project AIMS (Seismic Testing of Adjacent Interacting Masonry Structures), included in the H2020 project SERA, is to provide such experimental data by testing an aggregate of two buildings under two horizontal components of dynamic
excitation. The test unit is built at half-scale, with a two-storey building and a one-storey building. The buildings share one common wall while the façade walls are connected by dry joints. The floors are at different heights leading to a complex dynamic response of this smallest possible building aggregate. The shake table test is conducted at the LNEC seismic testing facility. The testing sequence comprises four levels of shaking: 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of nominal shaking table capacity. Extensive instrumentation, including accelerometers, displacement transducers and optical measurement systems, provides detailed information on the building aggregate response. Special attention is paid to the interface opening, the globa
We propose a stochastic programming method to analyse limit and shakedown of structures under random strength with lognormal distribution. In this investigation a dual chance constrained programming algorithm is developed to calculate simultaneously both the upper and lower bounds of the plastic collapse limit or the shakedown limit. The edge-based smoothed finite element method (ES-FEM) using three-node linear triangular elements is used.
A new formulation to calculate the shakedown limit load of Kirchhoff plates under stochastic conditions of strength is developed. Direct structural reliability design by chance con-strained programming is based on the prescribed failure probabilities, which is an effective approach of stochastic programming if it can be formulated as an equivalent deterministic optimization problem. We restrict uncertainty to strength, the loading is still deterministic. A new formulation is derived in case of random strength with lognormal distribution. Upper bound and lower bound shakedown load factors are calculated simultaneously by a dual algorithm.
Direct methods comprising limit and shakedown analysis is a branch of computational mechanics. It plays a significant role in mechanical and civil engineering design. The concept of direct method aims to determinate the ultimate load bearing capacity of structures beyond the elastic range. For practical problems, the direct methods lead to nonlinear convex optimization problems with a large number of variables and onstraints. If strength and loading are random quantities, the problem of shakedown analysis is considered as stochastic programming. This paper presents a method so called chance constrained programming, an effective method of stochastic programming, to solve shakedown analysis problem under random condition of strength. In this our investigation, the loading is deterministic, the strength is distributed as normal or lognormal variables.
Summary: This paper presents a methodology to study and understand the mechanics of stapled anastomotic behaviors by combining empirical experimentation and finite element analysis. Performance of stapled anastomosis is studied in terms of leakage and numerical results which are compared to in vitro experiments performed on fresh porcine tissue. Results suggest that leaks occur between the tissue and staple legs penetrating through the tissue.
Shakedown analysis of two dimensional structures by an edge-based smoothed finite element method
(2010)
A procedure for the evaluation of the failure probability of elastic-plastic thin shell structures is presented. The procedure involves a deterministic limit and shakedown analysis for each probabilistic iteration which is based on the kinematical approach and the use the exact Ilyushin yield surface. Based on a direct definition of the limit state function, the non-linear problems may be efficiently solved by using the First and Second Order Reliabiblity Methods (Form/SORM). This direct approach reduces considerably the necessary knowledge of uncertain technological input data, computing costs and the numerical error. In: Computational plasticity / ed. by Eugenio Onate. Dordrecht: Springer 2007. VII, 265 S. (Computational Methods in Applied Sciences ; 7) (COMPLAS IX. Part 1 . International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE)). ISBN 978-1-402-06576-7 S. 186-189
Proceedings of the International Conference on Material Theory and Nonlinear Dynamics. MatDyn. Hanoi, Vietnam, Sept. 24-26, 2007, 8 p. In this paper, a method is introduced to determine the limit load of general shells using the finite element method. The method is based on an upper bound limit and shakedown analysis with elastic-perfectly plastic material model. A non-linear constrained optimisation problem is solved by using Newton’s method in conjunction with a penalty method and the Lagrangean dual method. Numerical investigation of a pipe bend subjected to bending moments proves the effectiveness of the algorithm.
Though weir flow has been studied for centuries, there still remains some nuances of weir flow that are not well understood. Therefore, an international study was conducted in which 20 different hydraulics laboratories from around the world built and tested two linear weirs (quarter-round and half-round crested weirs) of common geometry. The only unconstrained dimension was the weir length, which could be adjusted to match the width of the test flume. Participating laboratories used the instrumentation and data collection methodologies of their choosing for head and discharge measurements.
The experimental results found significant variability in the discharge coefficients as a function of dimensionless upstream head, as well as in the head-discharge relationships (as much as 50% in some cases). Potential sources contributing to the scatter may have included head meter instrumentation, flow meter instrumentation, approach flow length (flume length upstream of weir), head measurement location, nappe behavior, laboratory measurement methods and experimental setup, and the care and skill of the investigator (human error). Analyzing the data as a function of instrumentation types, approach length, and head measurement location did not provide any insight regarding the variations. Nappe behavior (e.g., aeration), which could be influenced by laboratory-specific conditions, varied among the datasets primarily for the half-round crested weir (about 20%).
Various planar technologies are employed for developing solid-state sensors having low cost, small size and high reproducibility; thin- and thick-film technologies are most suitable for such productions. Screen-printing is especially suitable due to its simplicity, low-cost, high reproducibility and efficiency in large-scale production. This technology enables the deposition of a thick layer and allows precise pattern control. Moreover, this is a highly economic technology, saving large amounts of the used inks. In the course of repetitions of the film-deposition procedure there is no waste of material due to additivity of this thick-film technology. Finally, the thick films can be easily and quickly deposited on inexpensive substrates. In this contribution, thick-film ion-selective electrodes based on ionophores as well as crystalline ion-selective materials dedicated for potentiometric measurements are demonstrated. Analytical parameters of these sensors are comparable with those reported for conventional potentiometric electrodes. All mentioned thick-film strip electrodes have been totally fabricated in only one, fully automated thickfilm technology, without any additional manual, chemical or electrochemical steps. In all cases simple, inexpensive, commercially available materials, i.e. flexible, plastic substrates and easily cured polymer-based pastes were used.
The determination of spacing, edge and end distance requirements for self-tapping screws requires numerous and comprehensive insertion tests. Yet the results of such tests cannot be transferred to other types of screws or even to screws of different diameter because of differences in shape or geometry. To reduce the effort of insertion tests a new method was developed which allows the estimation of required spacings, distances and timber thickness.
Adapting augmented reality systems to the users’ needs using gamification and error solving methods
(2021)
Animations of virtual items in AR support systems are typically predefined and lack interactions with dynamic physical environments. AR applications rarely consider users’ preferences and do not provide customized spontaneous support under unknown situations. This research focuses on developing adaptive, error-tolerant AR systems based on directed acyclic graphs and error resolving strategies. Using this approach, users will have more freedom of choice during AR supported work, which leads to more efficient workflows. Error correction methods based on CAD models and predefined process data create individual support possibilities. The framework is implemented in the Industry 4.0 model factory at FH Aachen.