Minimisation du Content par une méthode d'active set pour les équations d'équilibrage hydraulique conduites par la pression

International audienceA new content-based, box-constrained, active-set projected Newton method is presented that solves for the heads, the pipe flows, and the nodal outflows of a water distribution system in which nodal outflows are pressure dependent. The new method is attractive because, by comparison with the previously published weighted least-squares energy and mass residuals (EMR) damped Newton method, (1) it typically takes fewer iterations, (2) it does not require damping, (3) it takes less wall-clock time, (4) it does not require the addition of any virtual elements, and (5) it is algorithmically easier to deal with. Various pressure-outflow relationships (PORs), which model nodal outflows, were considered and two new PORs are presented. The new method is shown, by application to eight previously published case study networks with up to about 20,000 pipes and 18,000 nodes, to be up to five times faster than the EMR method and to take between 34% and 70% fewer iterations than the EMR method

Estimation de la demande pour les réseaux d'alimentation en eau potable : résolution d'un problème sous-déterminé par des algorithmes génétiques

International audienceModeling of water distribution systems is fundamental for the design, analysis and operation of any water network. As with all hydraulic models, water demands are one of the most important input components in the model. However, estimation of the demand parameters is usually complicated due to the stochastic behavior of the water consumptions. Several methods have been proposed for estimating water demands. Most of them have been developed based on given frameworks where the number of unknown parameters is assumed to be equal or less than the number of measurements. The outcomes, therefore, rely on this assumption, which can lead to significant approximation errors in real water distribution systems. The approach proposed in this paper does not require the number of known inputs to be equal to the number of variables. In fact, nodes in the model could each have a different demand pattern. The genetic algorithm approach adopted here shows that the average results of multiple GA runs can estimate the demand patterns at each node. Moreover, the model can also be used to estimate the flow rates and nodal heads at non-measured locations of the water network, although the accuracy of the estimation depends on number, type and location of the measurements. Results are shown and discussed for a literature case study tested for a 24-hour time period

Des indicateurs clés de performances pour accroître la résilience des réseaux sur trois étapes

International audienceWater distribution networks (WDNs) are critical infrastructures that should face multiple and continuous changes and adverse operative conditions (due to abnormal events) that alter their normal service provision. The main objective of a WDN is to deliver the required amount of water to the customer under a certain threshold of the desired pressure and quality. Therefore, ensuring resilience and safety of WDSs are big concerns for water utilities. Several resilience key performance indicators have been suggested to quantify and assessing WDN resilience. Regarding the objectives of resilience, water utility managers require modelling tools to be able to predict how the WDN will perform during disruptive events and understand how the system can better absorb them. Tools such as: demand-driven modelling (DDM) for sufficient pressure conditions, and pressure-driven modelling (PDM) for insufficient pressure conditions, aid to simulate WDNs performance under adverse operative conditions. This work attempts to evaluate the network resilience. The proposed approach is based on an event-driven methodology and there is considered the time when the event occurs, when it evolves, and the sequence of the events. It should be carefully selected the type of the approach (PDM or DDM) used for the hydraulic model, as well as the system performance state and the uses of resilience power-based indicators. The results are promising in order to provide to water managers with a great depth of information and support better preparedness for WDNs

Évaluation de la phase absorbante de résilience basée sur des Indicateurs de criticité pour des réseaux de distribution d'eau

International audienceWater distributions networks (WDNs) are exposed to multiple hazards, leading the network to operate under a range of critical conditions. This paper explored the relationship between the impact of anomalous events (AEs) of WDNs and the consequent palliative actions (PAs) to be implemented in the network to minimize such impact. Both AEs and PAs were assessed through a network resilience criticality index adapted to WDNs. The results were compared with those obtained from normal operating conditions with respect to the satisfaction rate of nodal demands. The proposal was evaluated by two case studies. The first corresponded to a small synthetic network and the second to a medium-size utility network. After a pipe burst event analysis, two different isolation actions were scrutinized in each of the two WDNs. The results quantify system resilience and support water utility managers in further decision-making processes. This is done through critical resilience indicators that provide information and support for better crisis preparedness (planning) and management (mitigation)

Extension of the generalized multipole technique to three-dimensional anisotropic scatterers

New expansions are derived for the simulation of three-dimensional anisotropic scatterers with the generalized multipole technique (GMT). This extension of the GMT makes possible the investigation of subtle phenomena such as the interaction of light with realistic crystals or magneto-optic materials. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America

Electromagnetic scattering in polarizable backgrounds

We develop a fully vectorial formalism for the investigation of electromagnetic scattering in polarizable backgrounds, i.e., where the scatterers are not in vacuum but situated in a medium with a dielectric permittivity different from unity. Our approach is based on the Green's tensor technique and the corresponding Green's tensors for two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) systems are developed. The analysis of 2D systems is not restricted to the case where transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes are decoupled, but treated in a general manner. Practical examples illustrate the application of the method: scattering by a microcavity for two dimensions and color formation in opal for three dimensions

Increasing the performance of the coupled-dipole approximation: A spectral approach

We show that it is possible to increase the performance of the coupled-dipole approximation (CDA) for scattering by using concepts from the sampling theory. In standard CDA, the source in each discretized cell is represented by a point dipole and the corresponding scattered field given by Green's tensor. In the present approach, the source has a certain spatial extension, and the corresponding Green's tensor must be redefined. We derive these so-called filtered Green's tensors for one-dimensional (1-D), two-dimensional (2-D), and three-dimensional (3-D) systems, which forms the basis of our new scheme: the filtered coupled-dipole technique (FCD)

Visual experience shapes the Bouba‑Kiki effect and the size‑weight illusion upon sight restoration from congenital blindness

The Bouba-Kiki effect is the systematic mapping between round/spiky shapes and speech sounds (“Bouba”/“Kiki”). In the size-weight illusion, participants judge the smaller of two equallyweighted objects as being heavier. Here we investigated the contribution of visual experience to the development of these phenomena. We compared three groups: early blind individuals (no visual experience), individuals treated for congenital cataracts years after birth (late visual experience), and typically sighted controls (visual experience from birth). We found that, in cataract-treated participants (tested visually/visuo-haptically), both phenomena are absent shortly after sight onset, just like in blind individuals (tested haptically). However, they emerge within months following surgery, becoming statistically indistinguishable from the sighted controls. This suggests a pivotal role of visual experience and refutes the existence of an early sensitive period: A short period of experience, even when gained only years after birth, is sufficient for participants to visually pick-up regularities in the environment, contributing to the development of these phenomena

Graph partitioning in the analysis of pressure dependent water distribution systems

The forest core partitioning algorithm (FCPA) and the fast graph matrix partitioning algorithm (GMPA) have been used to improve efficiency in the determination of the steady-state heads and flows of water distribution systems that have large, complex network graphs. In this paper, a single framework for the FCPA and the GMPA is used to extend their application from demand dependent models to pressure dependent models (PDMs). The PDM topological minor (TM) is characterized, important properties of its key matrices are identified, and efficient evaluation schemes for the key matrices are presented. The TM captures the network’s most important characteristics: It has exactly the same number of loops as the full network, and the flows and heads of those elements not in the TM depend linearly on those of the TM. The inverse of the TM’s Schur complement is shown to be the top, left block of the inverse of the full system Jacobian’s Schur complement, thereby providing information about the system’s essential behavior more economically than is otherwise possible. The new results are applicable to other nonlinear network problems, such as in gas, district heating, and electrical distribution.Sylvan Elhay, Jochen Deuerlein, Olivier Piller and Angus R. Simpso

Serpulid microbialitic bioherms from the upper Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) of the central Paratethys Sea (NW Hungary) – witnesses of a microbial sea

We present previously unknown stacked bowl-shaped bioherms reaching a size of 45 cm in diameter and 40 cm in height from weakly solidified peloidal sand from the upper Sarmatian of the Paratethys Sea. The bioherms were mostly embedded in sediment, and the “growth stages” reflect a reaction on sediment accretion and sinking into the soft sediment. The bioherms are spirorbid–microclot–acicular cement boundstones with densely packed Janua tubes surrounded by microclots and acicular cement solidifying the bioherm. The surrounding sediment is a thrombolite made of peloids and polylobate particles (mesoclots) which are solidified synsedimentarily by micrite cement and dog-tooth cement in a later stage. The shape of the bioherms reflects a series of growth stages with an initial stage (“start-up stage”) followed by a more massive “keep-up stage” which grades into a structure with a collar-like outer rim and a central protrusion and finally by a termination of growth (“give-up stage”). The setting was a shallow subtidal environment with normal marine or elevated saline, probably oligotrophic, conditions with an elevated alkalinity. The stacked bowl-shaped microbialites are a unique feature that has so far been undescribed. Modern and Neogene microbialite occurrences are not direct analogues to the described structures, but the marine examples, like in The Bahamas, Shark Bay and the Persian Gulf, offer insight into their microbial composition and environmental parameters. The microbialites and the surrounding sediment document a predominance of microbial activity in the shallow marine environments of the Paratethys Sea during the late Middle Miocene, which was characterized by a warm, arid climate.</p