Interval type-2 fuzzy modelling and stochastic search for real-world inventory management

Real-world systems present a variety of challenges to the modeller, not least of which is the problem of uncertainty inherent in their operation. In this research, an interval type-2 fuzzy model is applied to a real-world problem, the goal being to discover a suitable optimisation configuration to enable a search for an inventory plan using the model. To this end, a series of simulated annealing configurations and the interval type-2 fuzzy model were used to search for appropriate inventory plans for a large-scale real-world problem. A further set of tests were conducted in which the performance of the interval type-2 fuzzy model was compared with a corresponding type-1 fuzzy model. In these tests the results were inconclusive, though, as will be discussed there are many ways in which type-2 fuzzy logic can be exploited to demonstrate its advantages over a type-1 approach. To conclude, in this research we have shown that a combination of interval type-2 fuzzy logic and simulated annealing is a logical choice for inventory management modelling and inventory plan search, and propose that the benefits that a type-2 model offers, can make it preferable to a corresponding type-1 system

Electric vehicle battery thermal management system with thermoelectric cooling

An experimental investigation is performed on an advanced battery thermal management system for emerging electric vehicles. The developed battery thermal management system is a combination of thermoelectric cooling, forced air cooling, and liquid cooling. The liquid coolant has indirect contact with the battery and acts as the medium to remove the heat generated from the battery during operation. Forced air assisted heat removal is performed from the condenser side of the thermoelectric liquid casing. Detailed experiments are carried out on a simulated electric vehicle battery system. Experimental results reveal a promising cooling effect with a reasonable amount of power dissipation. Moreover, the experimental test shows that the battery surface temperature drops around 43 ºC (from 55 ºC to 12 ºC) using TEC-based water cooling system for a single cell with copper holder when 40 V is supplied to the heater and 12 V to the TEC module