CONDUCTIVE PATHWAYS CONSTRUCTION USING GENETIC ALGORITHM AND CONSTRUCTAL DESIGN

In this work, Constructal Design and Genetic Algorithms are used to construct high conductivity paths connected to a heat sink and inserted in a square plate of low conductivity material with internal heat generation. The objective is propose a methodology that leads to minimize the maximum solid domain temperature. Total volume of the plate, amount of high thermal conductivity material and thermal ratio between high and low conductivities are fixed. The high conductive pathway forms found in this work greately resembles to the tree-forms found in nature, on which temperature is efficiently minimized by the application of the Genetic Algorithm and the Constructal Theory combined

GEOMETRIC OPTIMIZATION OF “+”-SHAPED CAVITY USING CONSTRUCTAL THEORY

In this work it is applied the Constructal Theory for the study of the geometry of an “+”-shaped isothermal cavity inserted in a conductive solid body. Main goal is to minimize the maximum temperature in the solid. The total volume of the solid and the total volume of the cavity are kept fixed while the dimensions of the cavity geometry vary according to constraints and degrees of freedom defined by the Constructal Design. The solid body has internal heat generation and its external surfaces are insulated. Cavity walls are isothermal with constant temperature Tmin. Obtained results indicate that the optimal performance of “+”-shape cavity is 37.2% better that the optimal performance of “C”-shape cavity and 10.8% better than the “T”-shaped cavity for the same thermal conditions

AN INTERFACE USABILITY TEST FOR THE EDITOR MUSICAL

Abstract: This paper presents a usability test conducted for a music composition edutainment software called Editor Musical. The software, which offers creative virtual learning environments, has been developed in collaboration between the University of São Paulo, Laboratório de Sistemas Integráveis (LSI) da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, Coordenadoria de Programas Educacionais da Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (OSESP). This paper focuses on the description of a usability test applied to children between 8 and 9 years old. The goal of the test was to verify the easiness of its use and to elaborate a final report that will guide the development of new improved versions of the software.