Symmetric Boundary Condition Technique in NASIR Galerkin Finite Volume Solver for 3D Temperature Field

In order to solve a typical three-dimensional temperature problem numerically, the three-dimensional temperature diffusion equation is chosen as the mathematical model. The finite volume formulation is derived using Galerkin approach for the mesh of tetrahedral elements, which facilitates solving temperature problems with complicated geometries. In this approach, the Poisson equation is multiplied by the piece wise linear shape function of tetrahedral element and integrated over the control volumes which are formed by gathering all the elements meeting every computational node. The linear shape functions of the elements vanish by some mathematical manipulations and the resulting formulation can be solved explicitly for each computational node. The algorithm is not only able to handle the essential boundary conditions but also the natural boundary conditions using a novel technique. Accuracy and efficiency of the algorithm are assessed by comparison of the numerical results for a bench mark problem of heat generation and transfer in a block with its analytical solution. Then, the introduced technique for imposing natural boundary conditions on unstructured tetrahedral mesh is examined for cases with inclined symmetric boundaries

Utilizing NASIR Galerkin Finite Volume Analyzer for 2D Plane Strain Problems under Static and Vibrating Concentrated Loads

A Numerical Analyzer for Scientific and Industrial Requirements (NASIR) software which utilizes novel matrix free Finite Volume is applied for solving plane strain solid state problems on linear triangular element meshes. The developed shape function free Galerkin Finite Volume structural solver explicitly computes stresses and displacements in Cartezian coordinate directions for the two dimensional solid mechanic problems under either static or dynamic loads. The accuracy of the introduced algorithm is assessed by comparison of computed results of cantilever structural elements under static concentrated load with analytical solutions. Then, the performance of the introduced method to solve structural plane strain problem under forced and vibrating loads is demonstrated. The performance of the solver is presented in terms of stress and strain contours as well as convergence behavior of the method

Introduction to Monitoring of Bridge Infrastructure Using Soft Computing Techniques

More than a billion structures exist on our planet comprising a million bridges. A number of these infrastructures are near to or have already exceeded their design life and maintaining their health condition is an engineering optimization problem. Besides, these assets are damage-prone during their service life. This is due to the fact that different external loads induced by the environmental effects, overloading, blast loads, wind excitations, floods, earthquakes, and other natural disasters can disturb the serviceability and integrity of these structures. To overcome such bottlenecks, structural health monitoring (SHM) systems have been used to guarantee the safe functioning of structures to make satisfactory decisions on structural maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation. However, conventional SHM approaches such as virtual inspections cannot be used for structural continuous monitoring, real-time and online assessment. Therefore, soft computing techniques can be significantly used to mitigate the aforesaid concerns by handling the qualitative analysis of the complex real world behavior. This chapter aims to introduce the optimized SHM-based soft computing techniques of bridge structures through artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms in order to illustrate the performance of advanced bridge monitoring approaches, which are required to maintain the health condition of infrastructures as well as to protect human lives

Global, regional, and national cancer incidence, mortality, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-Adjusted life-years for 29 cancer groups, 1990 to 2017 : A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study

Importance: Cancer and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are now widely recognized as a threat to global development. The latest United Nations high-level meeting on NCDs reaffirmed this observation and also highlighted the slow progress in meeting the 2011 Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases and the third Sustainable Development Goal. Lack of situational analyses, priority setting, and budgeting have been identified as major obstacles in achieving these goals. All of these have in common that they require information on the local cancer epidemiology. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study is uniquely poised to provide these crucial data. Objective: To describe cancer burden for 29 cancer groups in 195 countries from 1990 through 2017 to provide data needed for cancer control planning. Evidence Review: We used the GBD study estimation methods to describe cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-Adjusted life-years (DALYs). Results are presented at the national level as well as by Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income, educational attainment, and total fertility rate. We also analyzed the influence of the epidemiological vs the demographic transition on cancer incidence. Findings: In 2017, there were 24.5 million incident cancer cases worldwide (16.8 million without nonmelanoma skin cancer [NMSC]) and 9.6 million cancer deaths. The majority of cancer DALYs came from years of life lost (97%), and only 3% came from years lived with disability. The odds of developing cancer were the lowest in the low SDI quintile (1 in 7) and the highest in the high SDI quintile (1 in 2) for both sexes. In 2017, the most common incident cancers in men were NMSC (4.3 million incident cases); tracheal, bronchus, and lung (TBL) cancer (1.5 million incident cases); and prostate cancer (1.3 million incident cases). The most common causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for men were TBL cancer (1.3 million deaths and 28.4 million DALYs), liver cancer (572000 deaths and 15.2 million DALYs), and stomach cancer (542000 deaths and 12.2 million DALYs). For women in 2017, the most common incident cancers were NMSC (3.3 million incident cases), breast cancer (1.9 million incident cases), and colorectal cancer (819000 incident cases). The leading causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for women were breast cancer (601000 deaths and 17.4 million DALYs), TBL cancer (596000 deaths and 12.6 million DALYs), and colorectal cancer (414000 deaths and 8.3 million DALYs). Conclusions and Relevance: The national epidemiological profiles of cancer burden in the GBD study show large heterogeneities, which are a reflection of different exposures to risk factors, economic settings, lifestyles, and access to care and screening. The GBD study can be used by policy makers and other stakeholders to develop and improve national and local cancer control in order to achieve the global targets and improve equity in cancer care. © 2019 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

A Damage Detection Approach in the Era of Industry 4.0 Using the Relationship between Circular Economy, Data Mining, and Artificial Intelligence

Over the last decades, the emergence of new technologies has inspired a paradigm shift for the fourth industrial revolution. For example, circular economy, data mining, and artificial intelligence (AI), which are multidisciplinary topics, have recently attracted industrial and academic interests. Sustainable structural health monitoring (SHM) also concerns the continuous structural assessment of civil, mechanical, aerospace, and industrial structures to upgrade conventional SHM systems. A damage detection approach inspired by the principles of data mining with the adoption of circular-economic thinking is proposed in this study. In addition, vibration characteristics of a composite bridge deck structure are employed as inputs of AI algorithms. Likewise, an artificial neural network (ANN) integrated with a genetic algorithm (GA) was also developed for detecting the damage. GA was applied to define the initial weights of the neural network. To aid the aim, a range of damage scenarios was generated and the achieved outcomes confirm the feasibility of the developed method in the fault diagnosis procedure. Several data mining techniques were also employed to compare the performance of the developed model. It is concluded that the ANN integrated with GA presents a relatively fitting capacity in the detection of damage severity