High velocity impact resistance of fibre metal laminates

The high velocity impact resistance of fibre metal laminates (FMLs) based on combinations of three different aluminium alloys (6161-O, 6061-T6, 7075-T6) and a glass fibre reinforced epoxy resin have been investigated both experimentally and numerically. A series of perforation tests on multilayer configurations, ranging from a simple 2/1 lay-up to a seven ply 4/3 laminate. High velocity impact was conducted using a projectile gas-gun launcher, operating in the velocity range between 119 m/s and 252 m/s.[1] The impact response of fibre metal laminates samples was characterised by determining the energy required to perforate the panels. A stereoscopic Digital Image Correlation (DIC) method was adopted to measure full-field deformations and strain for FMLs which providing the full field strain history and 3D measurements up to sample perforation. The perforation resistance of the panels was predicted using the finite element analysis package Abaqus/Explicit. A vectorized user-defined material subroutine (VUMAT) was employed to define Hashin’s 3D rate-dependant damage criteria for the composite layers. The subroutine was implemented into the commercial finite element software ABAQUS/Explicit to simulate the deformation and failure of FMLs. Agreement between the predictions of the finite element models and the experimental data was good across the range of configurations. Ballistic limit of those FMLs was obtained from both the experimental tests and numerical approaches

Solution heat treatment, forming and in-die quenching of a commercial sheet magnesium alloy into a complex-shaped component: experimentation and FE analysis

Interest in lightweight materials, particularly magnesium alloys, has increased significantly with rising efficiency requirements in the automotive sector. Magnesium is the lightest available structural metal, with a density approximately 35% lower than that of aluminium. The potential is great for magnesium to become a primary material used in future low carbon vehicle structures; however, there are significant obstacles, namely low ductility and formability, particularly at room temperature. The aim of this work is to present the feasibility of using the solution Heat treatment, Forming, and in-die Quenching (HFQ) process to produce complex shapes from a sheet magnesium alloy, and to use the results to verify a simulation of the process developed using commercial FE software. Uniaxial tensile tests were initially conducted to establish the optimum parameters for forming the part. Stamping trials were then carried out using these parameters, and a simulation set up modelling the forming operation. It was shown that the HFQ process could be used to form a successful component from this alloy, and that a good match was achieved between the results of the forming experiments and the simulation.The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from the EPSRC (Grant Ref: EP/I038616/1) for TARF-LCV: Towards Affordable, Closed-Loop Recyclable Future Low Carbon Vehicle Structures

Imperialist Competitive Algorithm with Independence and Constrained Assimilation for Solving 0-1 Multidimensional Knapsack Problem

The multidimensional knapsack problem is a well-known constrained optimization problem with many real-world engineering applications. In order to solve this NP-hard problem, a new modified Imperialist Competitive Algorithm with Constrained Assimilation (ICAwICA) is presented. The proposed algorithm introduces the concept of colony independence, a free will to choose between classical ICA assimilation to empires imperialist or any other imperialist in the population. Furthermore, a constrained assimilation process has been implemented that combines classical ICA assimilation and revolution operators, while maintaining population diversity. This work investigates the performance of the proposed algorithm across 101 Multidimensional Knapsack Problem (MKP) benchmark instances. Experimental results show that the algorithm is able to obtain an optimal solution in all small instances and presents very competitive results for large MKP instances

Imperialist Competitive Algorithm with Independence and Constrained Assimilation

Autonomous Supply Chai

Assessing heat pumps as flexible load

In a future power system featuring significant renewable generation, the ability to manipulate domestic demand through the flexible operation of heat-led technologies such as heat pumps and micro-combined heat and power could be a critical factor in providing a secure and stable supply of electrical energy. Using a simulation-based approach, this study examined the linkage between the thermal characteristics of buildings and the scope for flexibility in the operating times of air source heat pumps. This was assessed against the resulting impact on the end-user’s comfort and convenience. A detached dwelling and flat were modelled in detail along with their heating system in order to determine the temporal shift achievable in the heat pump operating times for present-day and future dwellings. The simulation results indicated that the scope for shifting heat pump operating times in the existing building stock was limited, with time shifts of only 1–2 h achieved before there was a serious impact on the comfort of the occupant. However, if insulation levels were dramatically improved and substantial levels of thermal buffering were added into the heating system, sizable time shifts of up to 6 h were achievable without a significant impact on either space or hot water temperatures

no Routing Needed Between Capsules

Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Most capsule network designs rely on traditional matrix multiplication between capsule layers and computationally expensive routing mechanisms to deal with the capsule dimensional entanglement that the matrix multiplication introduces. By using Homogeneous Vector Capsules (HVCs), which use element-wise multiplication rather than matrix multiplication, the dimensions of the capsules remain unentangled. In this work, we study HVCs as applied to the highly structured MNIST dataset in order to produce a direct comparison to the capsule research direction of Geoffrey Hinton, et al. In our study, we show that a simple convolutional neural network using HVCs performs as well as the prior best performing capsule network on MNIST using 5.5× fewer parameters, 4× fewer training epochs, no reconstruction sub-network, and requiring no routing mechanism. The addition of multiple classification branches to the network establishes a new state of the art for the MNIST dataset with an accuracy of 99.87% for an ensemble of these models, as well as establishing a new state of the art for a single model (99.83% accurate)

Correlation between K+-Na+ diffusion coefficient and flexural strength of chemically tempered aluminosilicate glass

The correlation between K+-Na+ diffusion coefficient and mechanical properties of chemically tempered and hybridly tempered (thermally plus chemically tempered) aluminosilicate glass is investigated. First, the profile of the potassium ion concentration is experimentally measured, and the diffusion coefficient is calculated according to the Boltzmann-Matano approach. Second, the flexural strength and the Weibull modulus are determined using a method combining experimental (coaxial double ring) and finite element analysis. The results indicate that the flexural strength decreases with the diffusion coefficient of the air side for both types of glass samples, while there is no significant relationship between the diffusion coefficient and the Weibull modulus. The diffusion coefficient on the air side shows a higher value than that on the tin side. With the same diffusion coefficient, the flexural strength of chemically tempered glasses is found to be higher than that of hybridly tempered glasses. The effect of the diffusion coefficient on the modulus of rupture (MOR) for the hybridly tempered glass is more remarkable. These results would be useful for designing the glass strength and guiding the strengthening process by chemical or hybrid tempering