Guy cable design and damping for vertical axis wind turbines

Guy cables are frequently used to support vertical axis wind turbines since guying the turbine reduces some of the structural requirements on the tower. The guys must be designed to provide both the required strength and the required stiffness at the top of the turbine. The axial load which the guys apply to the tower, bearings, and foundations is an undesirable consequence of using guys to support the turbine. Limiting the axial load so that it does not significantly affect the cost of the turbine is an important objective of the cable design. The lateral vibrations of the cables is another feature of the cable design which needs to be considered. These aspects of the cable design are discussed, and a technique for damping cable vibrations was mathematically analyzed and demonstrated with experimental data

Vertical axis wind turbine drive train transient dynamics

Start up of a vertical axis wind turbine causes transient torque oscillations in the drive train with peak torques which may be over two and one half times the rated torque of the turbine. A computer code, based on a lumped parameter model of the drive train, was developed and tested for the low cost 17 meter turbine; the results show excellent agreement with field data. The code was used to predict the effect of a slip clutch on transient torque oscillations. It was demonstrated that a slip clutch located between the motor and brake can reduce peak torques by thirty eight percent

Euclidean and hyperbolic lenghs of images of arcs

Let $f$ be a function that is analytic in the unit disc. We give new estimates, and new proofs of existing estimates, of the Euclidean length of the image under $f$ of a radial segment in the unit disc. Our methods are based on the hyperbolic geometry of plane domains, and we address some new questions that follow naturally from this approach.Comment: 26 page

Health monitoring of operational structures -- Initial results

Two techniques for damage localization (Structural Translational and Rotational Error Checking -- STRECH and MAtriX COmpletioN -- MAXCON) are described and applied to operational structures. The structures include a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) blade undergoing a fatigue test and a highway bridge undergoing an induced damage test. STRECH is seen to provide a global damage indicator to assess the global damage state of a structure. STRECH is also seen to provide damage localization for static flexibility shapes or the first mode of simple structures. MAXCON is a robust damage localization tool using the higher order dynamics of a structure. Several options arc available to allow the procedure to be tailored to a variety of structures

Quantitative Analysis of the Cervical Texture by Ultrasound and Correlation with Gestational Age

Objectives: Quantitative texture analysis has been proposed to extract robust features from the ultrasound image to detect subtle changes in the textures of the images. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of quantitative cervical texture analysis to assess cervical tissue changes throughout pregnancy. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study including singleton pregnancies between 20.0 and 41.6 weeks of gestation from women who delivered at term. Cervical length was measured, and a selected region of interest in the cervix was delineated. A model to predict gestational age based on features extracted from cervical images was developed following three steps: data splitting, feature transformation, and regression model computation. Results: Seven hundred images, 30 per gestational week, were included for analysis. There was a strong correlation between the gestational age at which the images were obtained and the estimated gestational age by quantitative analysis of the cervical texture (R = 0.88). Discussion: This study provides evidence that quantitative analysis of cervical texture can extract features from cervical ultrasound images which correlate with gestational age. Further research is needed to evaluate its applicability as a biomarker of the risk of spontaneous preterm birth, as well as its role in cervical assessment in other clinical situations in which cervical evaluation might be relevant

An overview of grid-edge control with the digital transformation

Distribution networks are evolving to become more responsive with increasing integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) and digital transformation at the grid edges. This evolution imposes many challenges to the operation of the network, which then calls for new control and operation paradigms. Among others, a so-called grid-edge control is emerging to harmonise the coexistence of the grid control system and DER’s autonomous control. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the grid-edge control with various control architectures, layers, and strategies. The challenges and opportunities for such an approach at the grid edge with the integration of DERs and digital transformation are summarised. The potential solutions to support the network operation by using the inherent controllability of DER and the availability of the digital transformation at the grid edges are discussed

Evidence of the Key Role of H<inf>3</inf>O⁺ in Phospholipid Membrane Morphology

© 2016 American Chemical Society. This study explains the importance of the phosphate moiety and H3O+ in controlling the ionic flux through phospholipid membranes. We show that despite an increase in the H3O+ concentration when the pH is decreased, the level of ionic conduction through phospholipid bilayers is reduced. By modifying the lipid structure, we show the dominant determinant of membrane conduction is the hydrogen bonding between the phosphate oxygens on adjacent phospholipids. The modulation of conduction with pH is proposed to arise from the varying H3O+ concentrations altering the molecular area per lipid and modifying the geometry of conductive defects already present in the membrane. Given the geometrical constraints that control the lipid phase structure of membranes, these area changes predict that organisms evolving in environments with different pHs will select for different phospholipid chain lengths, as is found for organisms near highly acidic volcanic vents (short chains) or in highly alkaline salt lakes (long chains). The stabilizing effect of the hydration shells around phosphate groups also accounts for the prevalence of phospholipids across biology. Measurement of ion permeation through lipid bilayers was made tractable using sparsely tethered bilayer lipid membranes with swept frequency electrical impedance spectroscopy and ramped dc amperometry. Additional evidence of the effect of a change in pH on lipid packing density is obtained from neutron reflectometry data of tethered membranes containing perdeuterated lipids

Quantitative ultrasound texture analysis of fetal lungs to predict neonatal respiratory morbidity

Objective To develop and evaluate the performance of a novel method for predicting neonatal respiratory morbidity based on quantitative analysis of the fetal lung by ultrasound. Methods More than 13¿000 non-clinical images and 900 fetal lung images were used to develop a computerized method based on texture analysis and machine learning algorithms, trained to predict neonatal respiratory morbidity risk on fetal lung ultrasound images. The method, termed ‘quantitative ultrasound fetal lung maturity analysis’ (quantusFLM™), was then validated blindly in 144 neonates, delivered at 28¿+¿0 to 39¿+¿0¿weeks' gestation. Lung ultrasound images in DICOM format were obtained within 48¿h of delivery and the ability of the software to predict neonatal respiratory morbidity, defined as either respiratory distress syndrome or transient tachypnea of the newborn, was determined. Results Mean (SD) gestational age at delivery was 36¿+¿1 (3¿+¿3) weeks. Among the 144 neonates, there were 29 (20.1%) cases of neonatal respiratory morbidity. Quantitative texture analysis predicted neonatal respiratory morbidity with a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 86.2%, 87.0%, 62.5% and 96.2%, respectively. Conclusions Quantitative ultrasound fetal lung maturity analysis predicted neonatal respiratory morbidity with an accuracy comparable to that of current tests using amniotic fluid.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version