Soft computing for tool life prediction a manufacturing application of neural - fuzzy systems

Tooling technology is recognised as an element of vital importance within the manufacturing industry. Critical tooling decisions related to tool selection, tool life management, optimal determination of cutting conditions and on-line machining process monitoring and control are based on the existence of reliable detailed process models. Among the decisive factors of process planning and control activities, tool wear and tool life considerations hold a dominant role. Yet, both off-line tool life prediction, as well as real tune tool wear identification and prediction are still issues open to research. The main reason lies with the large number of factors, influencing tool wear, some of them being of stochastic nature. The inherent variability of workpiece materials, cutting tools and machine characteristics, further increases the uncertainty about the machining optimisation problem. In machining practice, tool life prediction is based on the availability of data provided from tool manufacturers, machining data handbooks or from the shop floor. This thesis recognises the need for a data-driven, flexible and yet simple approach in predicting tool life. Model building from sample data depends on the availability of a sufficiently rich cutting data set. Flexibility requires a tool-life model with high adaptation capacity. Simplicity calls for a solution with low complexity and easily interpretable by the user. A neural-fuzzy systems approach is adopted, which meets these targets and predicts tool life for a wide range of turning operations. A literature review has been carried out, covering areas such as tool wear and tool life, neural networks, frizzy sets theory and neural-fuzzy systems integration. Various sources of tool life data have been examined. It is concluded that a combined use of simulated data from existing tool life models and real life data is the best policy to follow. The neurofuzzy tool life model developed is constructed by employing neural network-like learning algorithms. The trained model stores the learned knowledge in the form of frizzy IF-THEN rules on its structure, thus featuring desired transparency. Low model complexity is ensured by employing an algorithm which constructs a rule base of reduced size from the available data. In addition, the flexibility of the developed model is demonstrated by the ease, speed and efficiency of its adaptation on the basis of new tool life data. The development of the neurofuzzy tool life model is based on the Fuzzy Logic Toolbox (vl.0) of MATLAB (v4.2cl), a dedicated tool which facilitates design and evaluation of fuzzy logic systems. Extensive results are presented, which demonstrate the neurofuzzy model predictive performance. The model can be directly employed within a process planning system, facilitating the optimisation of turning operations. Recommendations aremade for further enhancements towards this direction

The Messy Nuclear Landscape: Using Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping to Explore Plausible Nuclear Disarmament Scenarios

Nuclear weapons are seemingly permanent fixtures in international relations. Although nuclear abolitionists and actors within the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have taken significant steps towards designing a world without nuclear weapons, the longstanding realist logic that suggests nuclear disarmament is nonviable has born more fruit. On the other hand, some proponents of realism have suggested global nuclear disarmament is feasible, given that certain international instabilities are stabilized and that special care is taken during diplomatic negotiations. This presents an opportunity to test these predictions using fuzzy cognitive mapping, a computational modeling technique that identifies problems, their stakeholders, and stakeholders’ components in order to determine scenarios that solve complex disputes in ways that benefit the system as a whole. This study identifies two problems regarding nuclear disarmament. First, nuclear weapon states are resistant to giving up nuclear weapons, despite agreements to disarm. This problem follows realist logic. Second, the role that the IAEA plays in safeguarding special nuclear materials while guaranteeing states’ rights to nuclear technology is contrasted by states’ interest in maintaining levels of secrecy. These two problems constitute a “mess” that this study analyzes. Synthesis between the problems requires that solving one does not make the other worse. Therefore, this study tests various scenarios and finds that, given present-day international instabilities are stabilized, nuclear disarmament is feasible if three conditions are met: First, a global disarmament agreement must not unreasonably affect states’ sovereign rights outside of the agreement. Second, states outlying the NPT must be brought into the negotiations. Finally, present states with nuclear arsenals adopt the IAEA’s Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the Additional Protocol as a measure of good faith. A final factor suggests states’ rights to the technology inevitably means states should have an ability to re-proliferate in the event of future international instability that threatens global security. Once these steps are taken and technological rights guaranteed, this model suggests global nuclear disarmament is possible

North American Fuzzy Logic Processing Society (NAFIPS 1992), volume 2

This document contains papers presented at the NAFIPS '92 North American Fuzzy Information Processing Society Conference. More than 75 papers were presented at this Conference, which was sponsored by NAFIPS in cooperation with NASA, the Instituto Tecnologico de Morelia, the Indian Society for Fuzzy Mathematics and Information Processing (ISFUMIP), the Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), the International Fuzzy Systems Association (IFSA), the Japan Society for Fuzzy Theory and Systems, and the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC). The fuzzy set theory has led to a large number of diverse applications. Recently, interesting applications have been developed which involve the integration of fuzzy systems with adaptive processes such a neural networks and genetic algorithms. NAFIPS '92 was directed toward the advancement, commercialization, and engineering development of these technologies

Richard Whately\u27s Revitalization of Syllogistic Logic

This is an expanded version of the first chapter Richard Whately’s Revitalization of Syllogistic Logic in Aristotle’s Syllogism and the Creation of Modern Logic edited by Lukas M. Verburgt and Matteo Cosci (Bloomsbury, 2023). Drawing upon the author’s 1982 Ph. D. dissertation (https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/faculty_work/230/ ) and more current scholarship, this essay traces the critical historical background to Whately’s work in more detail than could be done in the published version

Scientific inquiry and the causes of civil war : the feasibility thesis and beyond

This Master's Thesis uses Collier, Hoeffler, and Rohner's (2009) Feasibility Thesis as a field for a thorough inquiry into the question of how we can best study the causes of civil war. We advocate a pluralist research strategy, with set-theoretic (especially fuzzy-set) methods as a key component, as the most promising strategy for the study of the causes of civil war

Balance of Threat, Balance of Mind: Nuclear Rivalry and Arms Control

Under what conditions will rivals choose to accept mutual constraints, limitations, and even reductions on their capabilities for waging war? Contemporary political science lacks a strong theoretical basis for understanding this behavior, despite the fact that states in the modern era continue to negotiate and enter into arms control arrangements. This study contributes a theoretical framework and empirical analysis identifying the conditions under which nuclear-armed rivals might choose to curb their deadly arsenals. Traditional theories grounded in classical deterrence theory suggest arms control serves to preserve a deterrent status quo and prevent expensive and destabilizing arms competition; it should therefore only be expected when rivals feel secure in the strength and effectiveness of their respective retaliatory capabilities. This study suggests a more complicated (yet still predictive) causal logic in which this balance of force is dynamically interactive with militarized hostility and rivals convergence or divergence in how they think — both normatively and instrumentally — about the role of nuclear weapons in their national security. The argument is illustrated through qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) of bilateral arms control interactions among nuclear-armed strategic rivals from 1949 to the present. Further analysis is provided through in-depth case studies of arms control dynamics between three pairs of contemporary nuclear rivals — the United States and Russia, India and Pakistan, and the United States and China

I believe it's possible it might be so.... : Exploiting Lexical Clues for the Automatic Generation of Evidentiality Weights for Information Extracted from English Text

Information formulated in natural language is being created at an incredible pace, far more quickly than we can make sense of it. Thus, computer algorithms for various kinds of text analytics have been developed to try to find nuggets of new, pertinent and useful information. However, information extracted from text is not always credible or reliable; often buried in sentences are lexical and grammatical structures that indicate the uncertainty of the proposition. Such clues include hedges such as modal adverbs and adjectives, as well as hearsay markers, indicators of inference or belief (”mindsay”), and verb forms identifying future actions which may not take place. In this thesis, we demonstrate how analysis of these lexical and grammatical forms of uncertainty can be automatically analyzed to provide a method of determining an evidential weight to the proposition, which can be used to assess the credibility of the information extracted from English text

Special oils for halal and safe cosmetics

Three types of non conventional oils were extracted, analyzed and tested for toxicity. Date palm kernel oil (DPKO), mango kernel oil (MKO) and Ramputan seed oil (RSO). Oil content for tow cultivars of dates Deglect Noor and Moshkan was 9.67% and 7.30%, respectively. The three varieties of mango were found to contain about 10% oil in average. The red yellow types of Ramputan were found to have 11 and 14% oil, respectively. The phenolic compounds in DPKO, MKO and RSO were 0.98, 0.88 and 0.78 mg/ml Gallic acid equivalent, respectively. Oils were analyzed for their fatty acid composition and they are rich in oleic acid C18:1 and showed the presence of (dodecanoic acid) lauric acid C12:0, which reported to appear some antimicrobial activities. All extracted oils, DPKO, MKO and RSO showed no toxic effect using prime shrimp bioassay. Since these oils are stable, melt at skin temperature, have good lubricity and are great source of essential fatty acids; they could be used as highly moisturizing, cleansing and nourishing oils because of high oleic acid content. They are ideal for use in such halal cosmetics such as Science, Engineering and Technology 75 skin care and massage, hair-care, soap and shampoo products

Challenges of Public Housing in a Democratic Nigeria: a Case Study of the Presidential Mandate Housing Scheme

This study examined the challenges of public housing in a democratic Nigeria using the Presidential Mandate Housing Scheme as a case study. Data were derived from purposively selected members of staff of public institutions charged with the responsibility of implementing this scheme in urban areas of Southern Nigeria through interview enquiries and participant observation. These were analyzed using content analysis. The result shows that the scheme was implemented in very few States in Southern part of Nigeria with miniscule number of housing units constructed in those States. Poor programme conception and planning, funding inadequacies and the dearth of preferred building materials were identified as the key challenges that led to the failure of this scheme. The paper argues that despite the return of democratic rule in 1999 and subsequent adoption of the New National Housing and Urban Development Policy in 2002, low organizational capacity of public housing agencies, the lack of collaborations between these agencies and private sector organizations and the none availability of reliable local building materials constitute serious impediments to smooth and successful implementation of public housing programmes in Nigeria. It therefore suggests that the prospects of public housing in democratic Nigeria are contingent upon addressing these challenge