Integration of simulation and multimedia in automatically generated Internet courses

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47532-4_5This paper describes the automatic generation of simulation-based Internet courses by means of an object-oriented continuous simulation language (OOCSMP), and a compiler for this language (C-OOL). Several multimedia extensions added to the language are also described. These extensions provide the student with a better understanding of the simulated models. The paper finally describes a course developed using the multimedia extensions

Storage Device Sizing for a Hybrid Railway Traction System by Means of Bicausal Bond Graphs

In this paper, the application of bicausal bond graphs for system design in electrical engineering is emphasized. In particular, it is shown how this approach is very useful for model inversion and parameter dimensioning. To illustrate these issues, a hybrid railway traction device is considered as a case study. The synthesis of a storage device (a supercapacitor) included in this system is then discussed

Bond graphs in model matching control

Bond graphs are primarily used in the network modeling of lumped parameter physical systems, but controller design with this graphical technique is relatively unexplored. It is shown that bond graphs can be used as a tool for certain model matching control designs. Some basic facts on the nonlinear model matching problem are recalled. The model matching problem is then associated with a particular disturbance decoupling problem, and it is demonstrated that bicausal assignment methods for bond graphs can be applied to solve the disturbance decoupling problem as to meet the model matching objective. The adopted bond graph approach is presented through a detailed example, which shows that the obtained controller induces port-Hamiltonian error dynamics. As a result, the closed loop system has an associated standard bond graph representation, thereby rendering energy shaping and damping injection possible from within a graphical context

Narayanaswamy’s 1971 aging theory and material time

The Bochkov-Kuzovlev nonlinear fluctuation-dissipation theorem is used to derive Narayanaswamy's phenomenological theory of physical aging, in which this highly nonlinear phenomenon is described by a linear material-time convolution integral. A characteristic property of the Narayanaswamy aging description is material-time translational invariance, which is here taken as the basic assumption of the derivation. It is shown that only one possible definition of the material time obeys this invariance, namely the square of the distance travelled from a configuration of the system far back in time. The paper concludes with suggestions for computer simulations that test for consequences of material-time translational invariance. One of these is the "unique-triangles property" according to which any three points on the system's path form a triangle such that two side lengths determine the third; this is equivalent to the well-known triangular relation for time-autocorrelation functions of aging spin glasses [L. F. Cugliandolo and J. Kurchan, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 27, 5749 (1994)]. The unique-triangles property implies a simple geometric interpretation of out-of-equilibrium time-autocorrelation functions, which extends to aging a previously proposed framework for such functions in equilibrium [J. C. Dyre, cond-mat/9712222]

Construction and analysis of causally dynamic hybrid bond graphs

Engineering systems are frequently abstracted to models with discontinuous behaviour (such as a switch or contact), and a hybrid model is one which contains continuous and discontinuous behaviours. Bond graphs are an established physical modelling method, but there are several methods for constructing switched or ‘hybrid’ bond graphs, developed for either qualitative ‘structural’ analysis or efficient numerical simulation of engineering systems. This article proposes a general hybrid bond graph suitable for both. The controlled junction is adopted as an intuitive way of modelling a discontinuity in the model structure. This element gives rise to ‘dynamic causality’ that is facilitated by a new bond graph notation. From this model, the junction structure and state equations are derived and compared to those obtained by existing methods. The proposed model includes all possible modes of operation and can be represented by a single set of equations. The controlled junctions manifest as Boolean variables in the matrices of coefficients. The method is more compact and intuitive than existing methods and dispenses with the need to derive various modes of operation from a given reference representation. Hence, a method has been developed, which can reach common usage and form a platform for further study

Model for the alpha and beta shear-mechanical properties of supercooled liquids and its comparison to squalane data

This paper presents data for supercooled squalane's frequency-dependent shear modulus covering frequencies from 10 mHz to 30 kHz and temperatures from 168 K to 190 K; measurements are also reported for the glass phase down to 146 K. The data reveal a strong mechanical beta process. A model is proposed for the shear response of supercooled liquids. The model is an electrical equivalent-circuit characterized by additivity of the dynamic shear compliances of the alpha and beta processes. The nontrivial parts of the alpha and beta processes are represented by a "Cole-Cole retardation element", resulting in the Cole-Cole compliance function well-known from dielectrics. The model, which assumes that the high-frequency decay of the alpha shear compliance loss varies with angular frequency as $\omega^{-1/2}$, has seven parameters. Assuming time-temperature superposition for the alpha and the beta processes separately, the number of parameters varying with temperature is reduced to four. From the temperature dependence of the best-fit model parameters the following conclusions are drawn: 1) the alpha relaxation time conforms to the shoving model; 2) the beta relaxation loss-peak frequency is almost temperature independent; 3) the alpha compliance magnitude, which in the model equals the inverse of the instantaneous shear modulus, is only weakly temperature dependent; 4) the beta compliance magnitude decreases by a factor of three upon cooling in the temperature range studied. The final part of the paper briefly presents measurements of the dynamic adiabatic bulk modulus covering frequencies from 10 mHz to 10 kHz in the temperature range 172 K to 200 K. The data are qualitatively similar to the shear data by having a significant beta process. A single-order-parameter framework is suggested to rationalize these similarities

The acquisition of Sign Language: The impact of phonetic complexity on phonology

Research into the effect of phonetic complexity on phonological acquisition has a long history in spoken languages. This paper considers the effect of phonetics on phonological development in a signed language. We report on an experiment in which nonword-repetition methodology was adapted so as to examine in a systematic way how phonetic complexity in two phonological parameters of signed languages — handshape and movement — affects the perception and articulation of signs. Ninety-one Deaf children aged 3–11 acquiring British Sign Language (BSL) and 46 hearing nonsigners aged 6–11 repeated a set of 40 nonsense signs. For Deaf children, repetition accuracy improved with age, correlated with wider BSL abilities, and was lowest for signs that were phonetically complex. Repetition accuracy was correlated with fine motor skills for the youngest children. Despite their lower repetition accuracy, the hearing group were similarly affected by phonetic complexity, suggesting that common visual and motoric factors are at play when processing linguistic information in the visuo-gestural modality

Dynamically dual vibration absorbers: a bond graph approach to vibration control

This paper investigates the use of an actuator and sensor pair coupled via a control system to damp out oscillations in resonant mechanical systems. Specifically the designs emulate passive control strategies, resulting in controller dynamics that resemble a physical system. Here, the use of the novel dynamically dual approach is proposed to design the vibration absorbers to be implemented as the controller dynamics; this gives rise to the dynamically dual vibration absorber (DDVA). It is shown that the method is a natural generalisation of the classical single-degree of freedom mass–spring–damper vibration absorber and also of the popular acceleration feedback controller. This generalisation is applicable to the vibration control of arbitrarily complex resonant dynamical systems. It is further shown that the DDVA approach is analogous to the hybrid numerical-experimental testing technique known as substructuring. This analogy enables methods and results, such as robustness to sensor/actuator dynamics, to be applied to dynamically dual vibration absorbers. Illustrative experiments using both a hinged rigid beam and a flexible cantilever beam are presented