Virtual integration platform for computational fluid dynamics

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools used in shipbuilding industry involve multiple disciplines, such as resistance, manoeuvring, and cavitation. Traditionally, the analysis was performed separately and sequentially in each discipline, which often resulted in conflict and inconsistency of hydrodynamic prediction. In an effort to solve such problems for future CFD computations, a Virtual Integration Platform (VIP) has been developed in the University of Strathclyde within two EU FP6 projects - VIRTUE and SAFEDOR1. The VIP provides a holistic collaborative environment for designers with features such as Project/Process Management, Distributed Tools Integration, Global Optimisation, Version Management, and Knowledge Management. These features enhance collaboration among customers, ship design companies, shipyards, and consultancies not least because they bring together the best expertise and resources around the world. The platform has been tested in seven European ship design companies including consultancies. Its main functionalities along with advances are presented in this paper with two industrial applications

Sensemaking on the Pragmatic Web: A Hypermedia Discourse Perspective

The complexity of the dilemmas we face on an organizational, societal and global scale forces us into sensemaking activity. We need tools for expressing and contesting perspectives flexible enough for real time use in meetings, structured enough to help manage longer term memory, and powerful enough to filter the complexity of extended deliberation and debate on an organizational or global scale. This has been the motivation for a programme of basic and applied action research into Hypermedia Discourse, which draws on research in hypertext, information visualization, argumentation, modelling, and meeting facilitation. This paper proposes that this strand of work shares a key principle behind the Pragmatic Web concept, namely, the need to take seriously diverse perspectives and the processes of meaning negotiation. Moreover, it is argued that the hypermedia discourse tools described instantiate this principle in practical tools which permit end-user control over modelling approaches in the absence of consensus

A survey of self organisation in future cellular networks

This article surveys the literature over the period of the last decade on the emerging field of self organisation as applied to wireless cellular communication networks. Self organisation has been extensively studied and applied in adhoc networks, wireless sensor networks and autonomic computer networks; however in the context of wireless cellular networks, this is the first attempt to put in perspective the various efforts in form of a tutorial/survey. We provide a comprehensive survey of the existing literature, projects and standards in self organising cellular networks. Additionally, we also aim to present a clear understanding of this active research area, identifying a clear taxonomy and guidelines for design of self organising mechanisms. We compare strength and weakness of existing solutions and highlight the key research areas for further development. This paper serves as a guide and a starting point for anyone willing to delve into research on self organisation in wireless cellular communication networks

Linking design and manufacturing domains via web-based and enterprise integration technologies

The manufacturing industry faces many challenges such as reducing time-to-market and cutting costs. In order to meet these increasing demands, effective methods are need to support the early product development stages by bridging the gap of communicating early design ideas and the evaluation of manufacturing performance. This paper introduces methods of linking design and manufacturing domains using disparate technologies. The combined technologies include knowledge management supporting for product lifecycle management (PLM) systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, aggregate process planning systems, workflow management and data exchange formats. A case study has been used to demonstrate the use of these technologies, illustrated by adding manufacturing knowledge to generate alternative early process plan which are in turn used by an ERP system to obtain and optimise a rough-cut capacity plan

Optimisation of biochar filter for handwashing wastewater treatment and potential treated water reuse for handwashing

Portable handwashing facilities help fight the transmission of water-borne diseases. However, in places lacking piped drainage systems, handwashing wastewater (HW) is commonly discarded into the ground. This harms the environment and public health and wastes reusable water. This study optimised the biochar filtration parameters such as particle size (0.5–2 mm), filter depth (15–30 cm) and flow rate (1–2.5 L/h) to remove colour, turbidity, phosphates and E. coli from HW using Response Surface Methodology. Fifteen configurations studied the impact of filtration parameters on pollutant removal. Quadratic models provided the best fit for pollution removal data. Optimal conditions were 1.25 mm particle size, 30 cm filter depth and 1 L/h flow rate, with predicted removals of 97.06, 97.50, 82.67 and 73.06 % for colour, turbidity, phosphates and E. coli, respectively. Biochar filter performance under optimal conditions validated the models. Actual removal efficiencies of 97.63, 99.85, 85.94 and 76.08 % for colour, turbidity, phosphates and E. coli, respectively, aligned closely with predicted values. Treated HW quality complied with several international water quality standards. Optimising biochar filtration is crucial for integrating this technology into portable handwashing facilities with potential water reuse, benefiting communities in developing countries with limited handwashing infrastructure and access to water

A review of miniaturised Non-Destructive Testing technologies for in-situ inspections

Non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques have become attractive trends of product manufacturing, installation and post-maintenance in the aerospace, automotive and manufacturing industry, because of its benefits such as cost saving, easy to use and high efficiency etc. With the industrial products becoming large-scale, high integration and complication, developing the NDT miniaturisation technique for in-situ inspections is highly demanded and becoming an inevitable trend. However, in-situ inspection using NDT have been limited by a number of factors, such as the heavy weight, large size or complex structure etc. This paper aims to systematically identify and analyse the current state-of-the-art of NDT miniaturisation techniques in research and innovation, and discuss the challenge and prospect of miniaturisation of the commonly used NDT techniques

Data management of on-line partial discharge monitoring using wireless sensor nodes integrated with a multi-agent system

On-line partial discharge monitoring has been the subject of significant research in previous years but little work has been carried out with regard to the management of on-site data. To date, on-line partial discharge monitoring within a substation has only been concerned with single plant items, so the data management problem has been minimal. As the age of plant equipment increases, so does the need for condition monitoring to ensure maximum lifespan. This paper presents an approach to the management of partial discharge data through the use of embedded monitoring techniques running on wireless sensor nodes. This method is illustrated by a case study on partial discharge monitoring data from an ageing HVDC reactor

XSRL: An XML web-services request language

One of the most serious challenges that web-service enabled e-marketplaces face is the lack of formal support for expressing service requests against UDDI-resident web-services in order to solve a complex business problem. In this paper we present a web-service request language (XSRL) developed on the basis of AI planning and the XML database query language XQuery. This framework is designed to handle and execute XSRL requests and is capable of performing planning actions under uncertainty on the basis of refinement and revision as new service-related information is accumulated (via interaction with the user or UDDI) and as execution circumstances necessitate change