Simplified Second-Order Generalized Integrator - Frequency-Locked Loop

Second-Order Generalized Integrator –Frequency-Locked Loop (SOGI-FLL) is a popular technique available in the grid synchronization literature. This technique uses gain normalization in the frequency locked-loop. This increases the computational complex-ity. In this paper, we propose an alternative imple-mentation to reduce the computational complexity of the SOGI-FLL. The proposed implementation modifies mainly the frequency locked-loop part and requires normalized voltage measurement. dSPACE 1104 board-based hardware implementation shows that the proposed implementation executes 20 % faster than the standard implementation. This could be very beneficial for high switching frequency application e.g. ≥ 1 MHz. In ad-dition to the nominal frequency case, multiresonant implementation is also proposed to tackle grid harmonics using a simpler harmonic decoupling network. Small signal dynamical modeling and tuning are performed for both implementations. Dynamical equivalence is also established between the two implementations. Experimental comparative analysis demonstrates similar or better performance (depending on test scenarios) with respect to the standard implementation of the SOGI-FL

Money, income and causality: An open economy reexamination

The positive relationship between the rate of growth of the money supply and the rate of growth of aggregate income is a widely accepted principle in macroeconomics. However, the direction of the causality between these two variables has been an enduring subject of controversy. Recent developments in time series analysis, particularly those relating to the concepts of integration and cointegration, and the stationary nature of economic time series, promise to help settle the debate on the statistical relationship between money supply growth and income growth. Most of the recent work on this issue, however, has been confined to a closed economy framework and has dealt only with US data. This dissertation extends the scope of the recent work on money-income causality to an open economy framework. Three distinctly different economies are investigated: the United States (large economy), Canada (smaller, fairly open economy), and the Netherlands (small, very open economy). The impact of two international variables (world money supply and world aggregate income) on the direction of causality between domestic money supply and domestic income are explicitly examined, using monthly data over the period 1960-1990 and optimally selected lags for the model specifications. Money-income causality is tested over the full sample (1960-1990), and over sample periods corresponding to alternative exchange rate regimes. For all three economies, the exchange rate regime is found to be a critical factor in the direction of the causality between domestic money supply and domestic income. In most cases, however, the two international variables (world money supply and world income) do not appear to have a significant impact on the direction of the causality. The empirical results from this study support the predictions of the standard open economy macroeconomic theory (the Mundell-Fleming model) in one half of the cases. This dissertation also confirms earlier findings on the sensitivity of Granger causality tests to lag length selection

ANALYZING THE LIFE-CYCLE OF UNSTABLE SLOPES USING APPLIED REMOTE SENSING WITHIN AN ASSET MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK

An asset management framework provides a methodology for monitoring and maintaining assets, which include anthropogenic infrastructure (e.g., dams, embankments, and retaining structures) and natural geological features (e.g., soil and rock slopes). It is imperative that these assets operate efficiently, effectively, safely, and at a high standard since many assets are located along transportation corridors (highways, railways, and waterways) and can cause severe damage if compromised. Assets built on or around regions prone to natural hazards are at an increased risk of deterioration and failure. The objective of this study is to utilize remote sensing techniques such as InSAR, LiDAR, and optical photogrammetry to identify assets, assess past and current conditions, and perform long-term monitoring in transportation corridors and urbanized areas prone to natural hazards. Provided are examples of remote sensing techniques successfully applied to various asset management procedures: the characterization of rock slopes (Chapter 2), identification of potentially hazardous slopes along a railroad corridor (Chapter 3), monitoring subsidence rates of buildings in San Pedro, California (Chapter 4), and mapping displacement rates on dams in India (Chapter 5) and California (Chapter 6). A demonstration of how InSAR can be used to map slow landslides (those with a displacement rate \u3c 16 mm/year and may be undetectable without sensitive instrumentation) and update the California Landslide Inventory on the Palos Verdes Peninsula is provided in Chapter 7. Long-term landslide monitoring using optical photogrammetry, GPS, and InSAR measurements is also used to map landslide activity at three orders of magnitude (meter to millimeter scales) in Chapter 8. Remote sensing has proven to be an effective tool at measuring ground deformation, which is an implicit indicator of how geotechnical asset condition changes (e.g., deteriorates) over time. Incorporating these techniques into a geotechnical asset management framework will provide greater spatial and temporal data for preventative approaches towards natural hazards

Monitoring the impact of groundwater pumping on infrastructure using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI)

Transportation infrastructure is critical for the advancement of society. Bridges are vital for an efficient transportation network. Bridges across the world undergo variable deformation/displacement due to the Earth’s dynamic processes. This displacement is caused by ground motion, which occurs from many natural and anthropogenic events. Events causing deformation include temperature fluctuation, subsidence, landslides, earthquakes, water/sea level variation, subsurface resource extraction, etc. Continual deformation may cause bridge failure, putting civilians at risk, if not managed properly. Monitoring bridge displacement, large and small, provides evidence of the state and health of the bridge. Traditionally, bridge monitoring has been executed through on-site surveys. Although this method of bridge monitoring is systematic and successful, it is not the most efficient and cost-effective. Through technological advances, satellite-based Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have provided a system for analyzing ground deformation over time. This method is applied to distinguish bridges that are more at risk than others by generating models that display the displacement at various locations along each bridge. A bridge’s health and its potential risk can be estimated upon analysis of measured displacement rates. In return, this process of monitoring bridges can be done at much faster rates; saving time, money and resources. PSI data covering Oxnard, California, revealed both bridge displacement and regional ground displacement. Although each bridge maintained different patterns of displacement, many of the bridges within the Oxnard area displayed an overall downward movement matching regional subsidence trends observed in the area. Patterns in displacement-time series plots provide evidence for two types of deformation mechanisms. Long-term downward movements correlate with the relatively large regional subsidence observed using PSI in Oxnard. Thermal dilation from seasonal temperature changes may cause short-term variabilities unique to each bridge. Overall, it may be said that linking geologic, weather, and groundwater patterns with bridge displacement has shown promise for monitoring transportation infrastructure and more importantly differentiating between regional subsidence and site-specific displacements

Problème de transport avec contraintes d'horaires

L’industrie forestière est un secteur extrêmement important pour plusieurs pays dont le Canada. En 2007, ce secteur offrait de l’emploi à environ 1 million de personnes (directement et indirectement)à travers le pays et a contribué par $23.4 milliards à la balance commerciale nationale. Plusieurs problèmes liés à cette industrie sont de nature d’aide à la décision. Ils se divisent généralement en trois catégories : stratégique, tactique et opérationnelle. Tout au long de cette thèse, nous nous sommes intéressé à cette dernière catégorie et plus précisément au problème du transport forestier avec horaire. Dans la littérature du domaine, cette question a fait l’objet de plusieurs travaux. De notre part, nous avons adapté le problème au contexte canadien en prenant en compte les contraintes de synchronisation entre les chargeuses et les camions. Ces contraintes de synchronisation traduisent le fait que les chargeuses en forêt ne peuvent pas supporter d’autres opérations en ces lieux, à part le chargement, vu la grande superficie des sites forestiers canadiens. Ainsi, il était primordial de minimiser les attentes des chargeuses et des camions, pour réduire les coûts de transport. Dans le premier article de ce travail, nous avons traité le problème journalier où nous avons supposé que les requêtes de transport sont connues à l’avance. Une méthode hybride mettant en oeuvre la programmation par contraintes et la programmation linéaire en nombres entiers a été adoptée, de sorte que cette dernière modélise la vii circulation des camions comme un problème de flot à coût minimum dans un réseau, alors que programmation par contraintes s’occupe de l’ordonnancement des tâches, une fois la circulation est établie.----------ABSTRACT The forest industry is an important economic sector for several countries including Canada. In 2007, this industry employed about 1 million people (directly and indirectly),and contributed$23.4 billion to Canada’s trade balance. The operations research problems related to this sector are divided into three categories: strategic, tactical and operational. In this thesis, we are interested in the later category and more precisely in the log-truck scheduling problem. Many papers in the literature have addressed this issue, and our contribution has been to address the problem to the Canadian context, taking into account the synchronization constraints between loarders and trucks. These constraints reflect the fact that forest-loaders cannot support other operations in forests except loading, since in Canada, we have large areas.In the first article of this thesis, we presented the daily problem where we have assumed that requests are known in advance. We proposed a hybrid approach involving a linear model to deal with the routing part of the problem and a constraint programming model to deal the scheduling part. Both of these models are combined through the exchange of global cardinality constraints. In the second article, we discussed the weekly problem where inventories at wood mills are taken into consideration in order to allow wood mills to work in a just in x time mode. For this purpose, we have developed a two-phase method

Formulation et Caractérisation des Bétons Autonivelants pour les Travaux de Réparation

La réparation des ouvrages par le béton autonivelant (BAN) occupe aujourd’hui une place de choix parmi les différentes techniques de réparation. Cette technique permet d’obtenir un béton présentant une fluidité très élevée, et une mise en oeuvre sans vibration, tout en conservant son homogénéité grâce à un choix pertinent des matériaux et des adjuvants chimiques. A cet effet, notre étude porte sur la formulation et la caractérisation des bétons autonivelants pour les travaux de réparation. En premier lieu, une matrice complète d’expérimentation a été effectuée pour évaluer les propriétés rhéologiques et mécaniques des BAN. En suite nous avons étudié l’effet des additions minérales, les fibres polypropylènes, et la résine sur leur maniabilité et leur résistance, suivant une étude bibliographique approfondie et critiques des récentes recherches. En fin, notre travail a été clôturé par une simulation de réparation sur des éprouvettes en béton ordinaire, où nous avons présenté la bonne adhérence que peut offrir l’utilisation des BAN dans les travaux de réparation et surtout ceux qui contiennent de la fumée de silice, ainsi que l’effet bénéfique des fibres polypropylènes tout en assurant un comportement ductile au béto

Monitoring the impact of groundwater pumping on infrastructure using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI)

Transportation infrastructure is critical for the advancement of society. Bridges are vital for an efficient transportation network. Bridges across the world undergo variable deformation/displacement due to the Earth’s dynamic processes. This displacement is caused by ground motion, which occurs from many natural and anthropogenic events. Events causing deformation include temperature fluctuation, subsidence, landslides, earthquakes, water/sea level variation, subsurface resource extraction, etc. Continual deformation may cause bridge failure, putting civilians at risk, if not managed properly. Monitoring bridge displacement, large and small, provides evidence of the state and health of the bridge. Traditionally, bridge monitoring has been executed through on-site surveys. Although this method of bridge monitoring is systematic and successful, it is not the most efficient and cost-effective. Through technological advances, satellite-based Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have provided a system for analyzing ground deformation over time. This method is applied to distinguish bridges that are more at risk than others by generating models that display the displacement at various locations along each bridge. A bridge’s health and its potential risk can be estimated upon analysis of measured displacement rates. In return, this process of monitoring bridges can be done at much faster rates; saving time, money and resources. PSI data covering Oxnard, California, revealed both bridge displacement and regional ground displacement. Although each bridge maintained different patterns of displacement, many of the bridges within the Oxnard area displayed an overall downward movement matching regional subsidence trends observed in the area. Patterns in displacement-time series plots provide evidence for two types of deformation mechanisms. Long-term downward movements correlate with the relatively large regional subsidence observed using PSI in Oxnard. Thermal dilation from seasonal temperature changes may cause short-term variabilities unique to each bridge. Overall, it may be said that linking geologic, weather, and groundwater patterns with bridge displacement has shown promise for monitoring transportation infrastructure and more importantly differentiating between regional subsidence and site-specific displacements