A preliminary design and implementation of the low-thrust simulation and trajectory search program (LOWTRAJ)

The results are presented of one phase of research conducted for the JPL Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) Navigation Software System development program. It deals only with the problem of designing the flight quality trajectory program, which is a major subset of the entire navigation software system. In this phase of research (breadboard development phase), attempts were made to assess the SEP trajectory software functional requirements, to investigate the program design method satisfying these requirements, to identify the primary anticipated problem areas, and to provide solutions to these problem areas. These efforts culminated in the development of a compact breadboard program. A functional description and the mathematical formulation of the program are presented

Classical Extended Conformal Algebras Associated with Constrained KP Hierarchy

We examine the conformal property of the second Hamiltonian structure of constrained KP hierarchy derived by Oevel and Strampp. We find that it naturallygives a family of nonlocal extended conformal algebras. We give two examples of such algebras and find that they are similar to Bilal's V algebra. By taking a gauge transformation one can map the constrained KP hierarchy to Kuperschmidt's nonstandard Lax hierarchy. We consider the second Hamiltonian structure in this representation. We show that after mapping the Lax operator to a pure differential operator the second structure becomes the sum of the second and the third Gelfand-Dickey brackets defined by this differential operator. We show that this Hamiltonian structure defines the W-U(1)-Kac-Moody algebra by working out its conformally covariant form.Comment: NHCU-HEP-94-28, 19 pages (Plain TeX

A New Layer Casting System for Ceramic Laser Rapid Prototyping Apparatus

In the existing Ceramic Laser Fusion system, slurry is fed on the high temperature surface of the green part; therefore, a part of water infiltrates into the green block and vaporizes before the process of layer casting. As a result, the slurry viscosity rises gradually; the quality of the layer surface is not uniform, and the green part density is uneven. The aim of present study is to develop a new layer casting system which can solve the problems mentioned above to obtain a green part with uniform surface quality and density, and to shorten the time-taken of part fabrication. The first part of the paper illustrates the major requirements and parameters of a slurry distributor; the second part describes the integration of the slurry feeding device and layer casting system. The integrated system can feed slurry and cast thin layer simultaneously; consequently, the drawbacks of the existing system can be eliminated and the time-taken of the layer casting can be shortened. A variable-frequency drive (inverter) is used to control the motor speed. The relation between the frequency and the slurry delivery can be included in the process control program to adjust the quantity in accordance with the layer thickness; hence, the waste of the slurry can be reduced.Mechanical Engineerin

Design issues of a reinforcement-based self-learning fuzzy controller for petrochemical process control

Fuzzy logic controllers have some often-cited advantages over conventional techniques such as PID control, including easier implementation, accommodation to natural language, and the ability to cover a wider range of operating conditions. One major obstacle that hinders the broader application of fuzzy logic controllers is the lack of a systematic way to develop and modify their rules; as a result the creation and modification of fuzzy rules often depends on trial and error or pure experimentation. One of the proposed approaches to address this issue is a self-learning fuzzy logic controller (SFLC) that uses reinforcement learning techniques to learn the desirability of states and to adjust the consequent part of its fuzzy control rules accordingly. Due to the different dynamics of the controlled processes, the performance of a self-learning fuzzy controller is highly contingent on its design. The design issue has not received sufficient attention. The issues related to the design of a SFLC for application to a petrochemical process are discussed, and its performance is compared with that of a PID and a self-tuning fuzzy logic controller

Convergence of the age structure of general schemes of population processes

We consider a family of general branching processes with reproduction parameters depending on the age of the individual as well as the population age structure and a parameter $K$, which may represent the carrying capacity. These processes are Markovian in the age structure. In a previous paper the Law of Large Numbers as $K\to\infty$ was derived. Here we prove the Central Limit Theorem, namely the weak convergence of the fluctuation processes in an appropriate Skorokhod space. We also show that the limit is driven by a stochastic partial differential equation