Drilling of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) Composites: Parametric Appraisal and Multi Response Optimization

In today’s scenario, composite like Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) is a standout amongst the most alluring and profitable material among all the designing materials. The reason for using these composite laminates is their superior properties and their influential application in aerospace industries, aircraft structural components, and others. The present learning about machining of GFRP composites is in a moving stage for its ideal usage in different fields of uses in the monetary perspective. Hence, the hypothetical mechanics have ended up overwhelming in this field to attain to completely mechanized substantial scale assembling cycles. Composites fluctuate in their machining direct as a consequence of their mechanical and physical properties that basically depend on upon the kind of fiber, content of fiber, alignment of fiber, and inconsistency in the matrix material. The very common operation for the assembly of components made up of GFRP is using rivets and joints. To join components by rivets and joints the basic requirements is good quality holes, for which drilling operation is performed. Drilling of GFRP by the conventional methods is a complicated machining process, to achieve good quality hole, as glass fibers are used in the material. Likewise, composite overlays are viewed as difficult to machine materials. Drilling process is highly depended on the cutting parameters (i.e. Feed, Speed, and Drill Diameter), tool geometry, instrument and workpiece material, delamination along with torque and thrust force. Optimization is done to get the nominal measures for all parameters. The drilling parameters like spindle speed and feed rate are improved by considering various performance qualities, such as surface roughness of the workpiece, delamination occurred while drill along with thrust force. Understanding the machining behavior of the work-piece results in vi least waste and defects. To evaluate thrust force and torque, motionless and active analysis of the work-piece is done. Multi-response optimization is termed as a process of opting the best suitable alternative among all the options available. Optimization of machining parameters is done to improve the product quality, as well as its productivity. In this perspective, an attempt has been made to develop a vigorous approach for the optimization of multiple responses in GFRP composite drilling. For persistent quality change and logged off quality control, strategy of experimentation has been chosen in light of Taguchi’s orthogonal configuration along with shifting procedure control constraints like, spindle speed, feed and drill diameter. A utility concept incorporated with Taguchi’s reasoning has been proposed for giving possible intends to the important accumulation of more than one objective functions into an equal single execution index

A software classification scheme

Reusing code is one approach to software reusability. Code is the end product of the software lifecycle. It is delivered in a low level representation that is difficult to reuse unless an almost perfect match exists between available features and required specifications. There is a need to organize large inventories of software such that reusable code is easy to locate and exchange. The relative success in the reuse of code fragments reported by some software factories is due in part to their capacity to encapsulate domain specific functions and create specialized libraries of components classified by these locally standardized functions.A general software classification scheme that organizes reusability related attributes and common functions from different domains is proposed as a partial solution to the software reusability problem. For the problem of selecting from similar, potentially reusable. components, a partial solution based on evaluation of common characteristics is also proposed. A library system is presented that integrates the proposed classification scheme with an evaluation mechanism based on inherent component attributes, programming languages characteristics and reuser experience.The fundamental contribution of this dissertation is a formal treatment of a faceted scheme for software classification leading to better understanding of reusability at the code level. This approach has been prototyped in a library system for the semi-automatic classification of software components. Analysis were performed to evaluate the classification scheme. The results show the potential of the scheme in organizing collections of code fragments, in improving retrieval, and in simplifying the classification process. Tests of the evaluation mechanism showed positive correlation with evaluations conducted by potential reusers

On-line monitoring for operational control of water distribution networks

This work concerns the concept of on-line monitoring and control for water distribution networks. The problem is simple to state. It is to produce a robust scheme that can continuously provide reliable information about the state of a water network in real-time and over extended periods with the minimum of operator interaction. This thesis begins by proposing a relational database schema to store 'asset data' for a water distribution network and asserts that asset data should be used as a basis for network modelling. It presents a topology determination algorithm and a demand allocation algorithm so that a mathematical model can be maintained on-line, with operator intervention only necessary to record the change of state of non-telemetered plant items such as switch valves. In order to provide a reliable on-line model of a distribution system, an investigation has been carried out into the methods available for modelling water networks and in particular, the inherent assumptions in these practices. As a result, new methods have been produced for network element combination and for demand allocation. These methods both support the database approach and enhance the robustness of the system by increasing the range of conditions for which the resulting model is applicable. For operational control, a new technique for state estimation is proposed which combines the advantages of weighted least squares estimation with those of weighted least absolute values estimation. The proposed method is tolerant to transducer noise and to the presence of large measurement outliers. However, the method is not limited in its application to water networks and could be applied to a wide range of measurement processing problems. Lastiy, a new topology based method for processing suspect data is proposed which can determine the likely causes using identifying templates. Thus a new approach to water network monitoring is proposed via an overall framework into which the various tasks of on-line operational control can be integrated. The exercise has resulted in the production of a core software package which could realistically be used in a control room to facilitate reliable operational control of water distribution systems

Shall we play a game?

In response to real and perceived short-comings in the quality and productivity of software engineering practices and projects, professionally-endorsed graduate and post-graduate curriculum guides have been developed to meet evolving technical developments and industry demands. Each of these curriculum guidelines identifies better software engineering management skills and soft, peopleware skills as critical for all graduating students, but they provide little guidance on how to achieve this. One possible way is to use a serious game — a game designed to educate players about some of the dynamic complexities of the field in a safe and inexpensive environment. This thesis presents the results of a qualitative research project that used a simple game of a software project to see if and how games could contribute to better software project management education; and if they could, then what features and attributes made them most efficacious. That is, shall we— should we— play games in software engineering management? The primary research tool for this project was a game called Simsoft. Physically, Simsoft comes in two pieces. There is an A0-sized printed game board around which the players gather to discuss the current state of their project and to consider their next move. The board shows the flow of the game while plastic counters are used to represent the staff of the project. Poker chips represent the team’s budget, with which they can purchase more staff, and from which certain game events may draw or reimburse amounts depending on decisions made during the course of the game. There is also a simple Java-based dashboard, through which the players can see the current and historical state of the project in a series of reports and messages; and they can adjust the project’s settings. The engine behind Simsoft is a system dynamics model which embodies the fundamental causal relationships of simple software development projects. In Simsoft game sessions, teams of students, and practicing project managers and software engineers managed a hypothetical software development project with the aim of completing the project on time and within budget (with poker chips left over). Based on the starting scenario of the game, information provided during the game, and their own real-world experience, the players made decisions about how to proceed— whether to hire more staff or reduce the number, what hours should be worked, and so on. After each decision set had been entered, the game was run for another next time period, (a week, a month, or a quarter). The game was now in a new state which the players had to interpret from the game board and decide how to proceed. The findings showed that games can contribute to better software engineering management education and help bridge the pedagogical gaps in current curriculum guidelines. However, they can’t do this by themselves and for best effect they should be used in conjunction with other pedagogical tools. The findings also showed that simple games and games in which the players are able to relate the game world to an external context are the most efficacious

Translational pipelines for closed-loop neuromodulation

Closed-loop neuromodulation systems have shown significant potential for addressing unmet needs in the treatment of disorders of the central nervous system, yet progress towards clinical adoption has been slow. Advanced technological developments often stall in the preclinical stage by failing to account for the constraints of implantable medical devices, and due to the lack of research platforms with a translational focus. This thesis presents the development of three clinically relevant research systems focusing on refinements of deep brain stimulation therapies. First, we introduce a system for synchronising implanted and external stimulation devices, allowing for research into multi-site stimulation paradigms, cross-region neural plasticity, and questions of phase coupling. The proposed design aims to sidestep the limited communication capabilities of existing commercial implant systems in providing a stimulation state readout without reliance on telemetry, creating a cross-platform research tool. Next, we present work on the Picostim-DyNeuMo adaptive neuromodulation platform, focusing on expanding device capabilities from activity and circadian adaptation to bioelectric marker--based responsive stimulation. Here, we introduce a computationally optimised implementation of a popular band power--estimation algorithm suitable for deployment in the DyNeuMo system. The new algorithmic capability was externally validated to establish neural state classification performance in two widely-researched use cases: Parkinsonian beta bursts and seizures. For in vivo validation, a pilot experiment is presented demonstrating responsive neurostimulation to cortical alpha-band activity in a non-human primate model for the modulation of attention state. Finally, we turn our focus to the validation of a recently developed method to provide computationally efficient real-time phase estimation. Following theoretical analysis, the method is integrated into the commonly used Intan electrophysiological recording platform, creating a novel closed-loop optogenetics research platform. The performance of the research system is characterised through a pilot experiment, targeting the modulation of cortical theta-band activity in a transgenic mouse model