Science and Technology Studies Commons^™

The Influence Of Pallets On The Behaviour And Design Of Drive-In Steel Storage Racks - Part I: Behaviour, B P. Gilbert, L H. Teh, R X. Badet, K J. R Rasmussen

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Drive-in steel storage racks represent a popular alternative to the more common selective racks when available space is restricted or when storing the same good. In drive-in racks, the forklift truck drives into the rack and stores the pallets on beam rails on the "first-in last-out" principle. Recent experimental studies have shown that by acting as horizontal ties between uprights, pallets significantly influence the structural behaviour of the rack. However, due to the uncertainty in the degree of friction between the rail beams and the pallets, current industry design practice does not consider this effect. This paper quantifies the influence …

An Experimental And Simulated Investigation Of Particle Flow Through A Conveyor Rock Box, David B. Hastie

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The use of rock boxes within conveyor transfers is not new, however, there is little published in the literature to aid in the design and implementation of rock boxes; instead mainly relying on prior knowledge and rules-of-thumb. A benefit of a rock box over other transfer types (e.g. soft loading chutes and impact plates) is their ability to capture material in such a way that it is only the initial feed of material which contacts chute walls or liners, with build-up of material creating a dominance of particle-particle interactions, thus reducing wear of the system and hence cost. This paper …

Effects Of Feed And Draw Solution Temperature And Transmembrane Temperature Difference On The Rejection Of Trace Organic Contaminants By Forward Osmosis, Ming Xie, William E. Price, Long D. Nghiem, Menachem Elimelech

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The effects of feed and draw solution temperature and transmembrane temperature difference on the rejection of 12 trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) by two forward osmosis (FO) membranes were investigated. The membrane structure parameter (S) and the reverse salt (NaCl) flux selectivity (RSFS) were constant over the temperature range of 20-40 1C, suggesting that within this range, the solution temperature did not significantly influence the membrane polymeric structure. Draw solution properties, including diffusivity, viscosity, and osmotic pressure, played an important role in water and reverse salt (NaCl) flux behaviour and TrOC rejection. Pure water and salt (NaCl) permeability coefficients of the …

Free-Standing Nanocomposites With High Conductivity And Extensibility, Kyoung-Yong Chun, Shi Hyeong Kim, Min Kyoon Shin, Youn Tae Kim, Geoffrey M. Spinks, Ali E. Aliev, Ray H. Baughman, Seon Jeong Kim

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The prospect of electronic circuits that are stretchable and bendable promises tantalizing applications such as skin-like electronics, roll-up displays, conformable sensors and actuators, and lightweight solar cells. The preparation of highly conductive and highly extensible materials remains a challenge for mass production applications, such as free-standing films or printable composite inks. Here we present a nanocomposite material consisting of carbon nanotubes, ionic liquid, silver nanoparticles, and polystyrene- polyisoprene-polystyrene having a high electrical conductivity of 3700 S cm -1 that can be stretched to 288% without permanent damage. The material is prepared as a concentrated dispersion suitable for simple processing into …

Development Of Adaptive Seismic Isolators For Ultimate Seismic Protection Of Civil Structures, Jianchun Li, Yan-Cheng Li, Weihua Li, Bijan Samali

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Base isolation is the most popular seismic protection technique for civil engineering structures. However, research has revealed that the traditional base isolation system due to its passive nature is vulnerable to two kinds of earthquakes, i.e. the near-fault and far-fault earthquakes. A great deal of effort has been dedicated to improve the performance of the traditional base isolation system for these two types of earthquakes. This paper presents a recent research breakthrough on the development of a novel adaptive seismic isolation system as the quest for ultimate protection for civil structures, utilizing the field-dependent property of the magnetorheological elastomer (MRE). …

On-Chip High Sensitivity Laser Frequency Sensing With Brillouin Mutually-Modulated Cross-Gain Modulation, Feng Gao, R Pant, Enbang Li, Christopher G. Poulton, D Choi, Stephen J. Madden, B Luther-Davies, Benjamin Eggleton

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

We report the first demonstration of a photonic-chip laser frequency sensor using Brillouin mutually-modulated cross-gain modulation (MMXGM). A large sensitivity (∼9.5 mrad/kHz) of the modulation phase shift to probe carrier frequency is demonstrated at a modulation frequency of 50 kHz using Brillouin MMXGM in a ∼7 cm long chalcogenide rib waveguide. © 2013 Optical Society of America.

Electromagnetically Induced Transparency Of Charge Pumping In A Triple-Quantum-Dots With Λ-Type Level Structure, Chun Guan, Yunhui Xing, Chao Zhang, Zhongshui Ma

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

We demonstrate an electromagnetically induced electron transparency (EIET) in electron transport through a coupled triple-quantum-dots system under two radiation fields. The direct evidence of EIET is that an electron can travel from the left dot to the right dot without any effect from the center dot. The EIET (position, height, and symmetry) can be tuned by several controllable parameters of the radiation fields, such as the Rabi frequencies and detuning frequencies. The result offers a resonant transport tuning technique using radiation fields.

Spectral Triples For Hyperbolic Dynamical Systems, Michael F. Whittaker

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Spectral triples are defined for C-algebras associated with hyperbolic dynam- ical systems known as Smale spaces. The spectral dimension of one of these spectral triples is shown to recover the topological entropy of the Smale space.

Microstructure And Texture Evolution In A Twinning-Induced-Plasticity Steel During Uniaxial Tension, Ahmed A. Saleh, Elena V. Pereloma, Azdiar A. Gazder

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

A combination of electron back-scattering diffraction and X-ray diffraction was used to track the evolution of the microstructure and texture of a fully recrystallized Fe-24 Mn-3 Al-2 Si-1 Ni-0.06 C twinning-induced-plasticity steel during interrupted uniaxial tensile testing. Texture measurements returned the characteristic double fibre texture for face-centred cubic materials, with a relatively stronger 〈1 1 1〉 and a weaker 〈1 0 0〉 partial fibre parallel to the tensile axis. The interaction with the stable 〈1 1 1〉 oriented grains results in preferential plastic flow in the unstable 〈1 1 0〉 oriented grains. Consequently, the grains oriented along the 〈1 1 …

Addressing Retained Austenite Stability In Advanced High Strength Steels, Elena V. Pereloma, Azdiar A. Gazder, Ilana B. Timokhina

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Advances in the development of new high strength steels have resulted in microstructures containing significant volume fractions of retained austenite. The transformation of retained austenite to martensite upon straining contributes towards improving the ductility. However, in order to gain from the above beneficial effect, the volume fraction, size, morphology and distribution of the retained austenite need to be controlled. In this regard, it is well known that carbon concentration in the retained austenite is responsible for its chemical stability, whereas its size and morphology determines its mechanical stability. Thus, to achieve the required mechanical properties, control of the processing parameters …

Economical Data-Intensive Service Provision Supported With A Modified Genetic Algorithm, Lijuan Wang, Jun Shen

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The explosion of digital data and the dependence on data-intensive services have been recognized as the most significant characteristics of the decade. Providing efficient mechanisms for optimized data-intensive services will become critical to meet the expected growing demand. In order to create a cost minimizing data-intensive service composition solution, we design two steps and two negotiation processes over the lifetime of a data-intensive service composition. The solution for the first step is presented in this paper. The proposed service selection algorithm is based on a modified genetic algorithm, which some modifications of crossover and mutation operators are adopted in order …

An Effective Methodology To Solve Inverse Kinematics Of Electroactive Polymer Actuators Modelled As Active And Soft Robotic Structures, Rahim Mutlu, Gursel Alici, Weihua Li

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Electroactive polymers (EAPs) generate highly non-linear deflections when they are used as actuators, which are known as artificial muscles. Though several modelling methods have been proposed before to understand their mechanical, chemical, electrical behaviours or 'electro-chemo-mechanical' behaviour, estimating the whole shape deflection of the EAP actuators has not been studied yet. Therefore, we report on (i) an effective methodology to estimate these actuators' whole shape deflection by employing a soft robotic actuator/manipulator approach and (ii) an angle optimization method, which we call AngleOPT, to accurately solve the EAP actuators' inverse kinematic problem. Laminated polypyrrole (PPy) EAP actuators are employed to …

The Future Prospects Of Embedded Microchips In Humans As Unique Identifiers: The Risks Versus The Rewards, Katina Michael, M G. Michael

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Microchip implants for humans are not new. Placing heart pacemakers in humans for prosthesis is now considered a straightforward procedure. In more recent times we have begun to use brain pacemakers for therapeutic purposes to combat illnesses such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, and severe depression. Microchips are even being placed inside prosthetic knees and hips during restorative procedures to help in the gathering of post-operative analytics that can aid rehabilitation further. While medical innovations that utilize microchips abound, over the last decade we have begun to see the potential use of microchip implants for non-medical devices in humans, namely for …

Effect Of Annealing On Properties Of Carbonaceous Materials. Part Iii: Macro And Microstrengths, Xing Xing, Guangqing Zhang, Mark Dell'amico, George Ciezki, Qingbo Meng, Oleg Ostrovski

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Carbonaceous materials including cokes, chars, and pyrolyzed coals were annealed at temperatures ranging from 973 K to 1773 K (700 C to 1500 C) in an inert atmosphere. Macro and microstrengths of original and annealed carbonaceous materials were characterized by the tensile strength and fracture toughness. Fracture toughness was determined for inert maceralderived component (IMDC) and reactive maceral-derived component (RMDC) using ultramicro indentation. Experimental data obtained by tensile tests were processed using the Weibull statistical method to find ‘‘inherent’’ strength. Tensile strength of chars and coals was significantly increased by annealing at temperatures ranging from 973 K to 1373 K …

The Fate Of Pharmaceuticals, Steroid Hormones, Phytoestrogens, Uv-Filters And Pesticides During Mbr Treatment, Kaushalya C. Wijekoon, Faisal I. Hai, Jinguo Kang, William E. Price, Wenshan Guo, Hao H. Ngo, Long D. Nghiem

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This study examined the relationship between molecular properties and the fate of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) in the aqueous and solid phases during wastewater treatment by MBR. A set of 29 TrOCs was selected to represent pharmaceuticals, steroid hormones, phytoestrogens, UV-filters and pesticides that occur ubiquitously in municipal wastewater. Both adsorption and biodegradation/transformation were found responsible for the removal of TrOCs by MBR treatment. A connection between biodegradation and molecular structure could be observed while adsorption was the dominant removal mechanism for the hydrophobic (logD > 3.2) compounds. Highly hydrophobic (logD > 3.2) but readily biodegradable compounds did not accumulate in sludge. …

Process Design Strategies For Producing Heavy Section Steel With Improved Quality, Jingwei Zhao, Zhengyi Jiang, Dongbin Wei, Chong Soo Lee

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Uniformity of microstructure and mechanical properties is required for the heavy section steel. In the present work, a heavy section wind tower flange was manufactured by controlled ring-rolling. Post-rolling heat treatment was employed to optimize the microstructure and mechanical properties. The chemical composition, microstructure and mechanical properties in different zones of the flange were investigated. The results showed that the chemical composition and microstructure were uniformly distributed in the flange. The tensile strength showed similar values in different sampling locations. The strain and impact energies of specimens prepared along the longitudinal direction were higher than that prepared along both the …

Stochastic Volatility Models And The Pricing Of Vix Options, Joanna Goard, Mathew Mazur

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

In this paper we examine and compare the performance of a variety of continuous- time volatility models in their ability to capture the behaviour of the VIX. The `3/2- model' with a di®usion structure which allows the volatility of volatility changes to be highly sensitive to the actual level of volatility is found to outperform all other popular models tested. Analytic solutions for option prices on the VIX under the 3/2- model are developed and then used to calibrate at-the-money market option prices.

Group Effects Of Piles Due To Lateral Soil Movement, Hongyu Qin, Wei Dong Guo

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Laboratory model tests have been conducted to investigate the responses of piles subjected to lateral soil movement. The results of a single pile test and four tests on two piles arranged in a row perpendicular to the direction of soil movement are presented. The development of maximum bending moment, maximum shear force, and pile deflection with soil movement and the largest pile response profiles for the single pile and pile groups are compared. Group effect was evaluated using group factor which is defined in terms of the measured maximum bending moment. The major findings are (1) the pile head conditions …

Dielectrophoretic Manipulation And Separation Of Particles In An S-Shaped Microchannel With Hurdles, Ming Li, Shunbo Li, Weihua Li, Weijia Wen, Gursel Alici

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This paper presents a novel dielectrophoresis (DEP)-based microfluidic device, which incorporates multiple round hurdles within an S-shaped curved microchannel for continuous manipulation and separation of microparticles. Local nonuniform electric fields are induced by means of both constricted gaps formed between hurdles and outer channel wall, and variable current lengths in curved sections with equal width. Under the effect of negative DEP, particles will be directed away from either inner wall or hurdle edge, as they transport throughout the microchannel electrokinetically. Both experiment and numerical simulation were conducted, the results of which showed that fix-sized (i.e. 10 or 15 Pm) polystyrene …

Electroactive Polymers As Soft Robotic Actuators: Electromechanical Modeling And Identification, Rahim Mutlu, Gursel Alici, Weihua Li

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Biologically inspired robotic applications have recently received significant attention due to developments in novel materials and actuators with an operation principle similar to the natural muscles’. Electroactive polymer (EAP) actuators, also known as artificial muscles, possess extraordinary properties such as low efficiency consumption, compliance, bio-compatibility and ability to be miniaturized. Although several methodologies have been proposed for modeling and identification of their quasi-static bending behavior, a negligibly small attention has been given to their dynamic behavior. In this paper, we, therefore, report on their electromechanical modeling and parameter identification. We model the tri-layer EAP actuators as a soft robotic actuator …

A Literature Review On Business Process Management, Business Process Reengineering, And Business Process Innovation, Abhijith Anand, Samuel Fosso Wamba, Denis Gnanzou

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Business process management (BPM), business process reengineering (BPR), and business process innovation (BPI) have been the primary strategies adopted by several organizations to manage their business successfully along with IT. In the last few years, the concept of BPM, BPR, and BPI has been a hot topic among the IS community, which is evident in the degree of literatures devoted to it. Due to the dynamic nature of this research area, this paper aims to add knowledge to the existing ones by answering (1) what is the current level of development on BPM, BPR, and BPI within AIS basket of …

Confinement Effect Of Frp And Transverse Steel On Retrofitting Square Concrete Columns, Le V. Doan, Xu Lei, Muhammad N. S Hadi, Thong M. Pham

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This study presents an experimental investigation into strain distribution of Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) in FRP-confined concrete columns with internal steel reinforcement under concentric and eccentric loading conditions. A total of nine reinforced concrete columns were cast and tested. Three of them were square in cross-section while the others were originally square but were shape-modified into circular columns with four pieces of segmental circular concrete covers and confined with three layers of CFRP. The nominal compressive strength of the segmental concrete covers was 40 MPa and 80 MPa. All columns were tested under concentric load, 25 mm or 50 mm eccentric …

Operations Strategy Processes: How Significant Are They?, Senevi Kiridena, Kalinga Jagoda, Howard Lin

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Ongoing challenges associated with the implementation of formally developed strategies call for studying the functional level strategy processes from fresh perspectives. This paper presents evidence drawn from the Canadian oil and gas industry towards establishing the statistical significance of alternative operations strategy processes and organisational contextual factors. The analysis discerned four strategy process configurations representing singular and multiple combinations of three strategy process modes identified in previous qualitative studies. The findings will help advance the understanding of operations strategy processes and may contribute to theory building, as the evidence was drawn from a relatively large sample of data representing an …

W^{M,P}-Solution (P ≥ 2) Of Linear Degenerate Backward Stochastic Partial Differential Equations In The Whole Space, Kai Du, Shanjian Tang, Qi Zhang

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

No abstract provided.

A Maximum Principle For Optimal Control Of Stochastic Evolution Equations, Kai Du, Qingxin Meng

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

A general maximum principle is proved for optimal controls of abstract semilinear stochastic evolution equations. The control variable and linear unbounded operators act in both drift and diffusion terms, and the control set need not be convex. Read More: http://epubs.siam.org/doi/abs/10.1137/120882433

Sydney Basin Landslide Susceptibility, Nsw, Australia, Phillip N. Flentje, David Stirling, Robin N. Chowdhury, Darshika Palamakumbure

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

University of Wollongong GIS-based Landslide Inventory has been expanded to facilitate reliable modeling of landslide susceptibility and hazard zonation over the wider Sydney Basin area. Landslide inventory development is underway after designing a state of the art inventory structure following a comprehensive international literature review. The alphanumerical as well as spatial data bases of landslides have been updated after field verification of landslides in Sydney and Newcastle as the stepping stone for the wider Sydney Basin area landslide susceptibility model development. In the lead up to this, landslide susceptibility modeling in two smaller sub-regions of Sydney (Wollongong Local Government Area …

A Finiteness Condition On The Coefficients Of The Probabilistic Zeta Function, Dung Hoang Duong, Andrea Lucchini

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

We discuss whether finiteness properties of a profinite group G can be deduced from the coefficients of the probabilistic‎ ‎zeta function PG(s)‎. ‎In particular we prove that if PG(s) is rational and all but finitely many non abelian composition factors of G are isomorphic to PSL(2,p) for some prime p‎, ‎then G contains only finitely many maximal subgroups‎.

A Medium Frequency Transformer With Multiple Secondary Windings For Medium Voltage Converter Based Wind Turbine Power Generating Systems, Md Rabiul Islam, Youguang Guo, Jianguo Zhu

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Recent advances in magnetic materials have led to the development of compact and light weight, medium and high frequency transformers, which would be a possible solution to reducing the size and weight of wind turbine power generating systems. This paper presents the overall design and analysis of a Metglas amorphous alloy 2605SA1 based medium frequency transformer to generate the isolated balanced multiple DC supplies for medium voltage converter systems. A comprehensive electromagnetic analysis is conducted on the proposed design based on experimental results. The test stand, data analysis, and test results are discussed.

The Critical Role Of Mechanism-Based Models For Understanding And Predicting Liposomal Drug Loading, Binding And Release Kinetics, Sweta Modi

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

Liposomal delivery systems hold considerable promise for improvement of cancer therapy provided that critical formulation design criteria can be met. The main objective of the current project was to enable quality by design in the formulation of liposomal delivery systems by developing comprehensive, mechanism-based mathematical models of drug loading, binding and release kinetics that take into account not only the therapeutic requirement but the physicochemical properties of the drug, the bilayer membrane, and the intraliposomal microenvironment.

Membrane binding of the drug affects both drug loading and release from liposomes. The influence of bilayer composition and phase structure on the partitioning …

Integrating Building Information Modelling (Bim) Into Engineering Education: An Exploratory Study Of Industry Perceptions Using Social Network Data, Kriengsak Panuwatwanich, Mei Liang Wong, Jeung-Hwan Doh, Rodney A. Stewart, Timothy J. Mccarthy

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been widely acknowledged as an emerging technological and procedural shift within the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. BIM represents a methodology to manage the building design and project data in digital format throughout a building lifecycle. With the implementation of BIM, the design, construction and operation processes can be better streamlined to improve project efficiency. Because of its far-reaching benefits, there is a current push for BIM by governments worldwide, including Australia. However, a significant lack of the understanding of BIM and industry readiness has been identified as a major hindrance; hence, there is …