An LMI approach to H∞-control of time-delay systems for the benchmark problem

In this paper, three H_∞-control design methods are developed and applied to a three-storey building with an active mass damper as a control mechanism. The system of equations of the structural system, including the actuator and sensors, has been developed directly from experimentally derived data which forms the basis of the benchmark study discussed in this paper. The building plus the damper are modelled as a nominally linear system with input as well as state delays. Feedback control synthesis are first performed by using either of the two forms; the first is a pure state feedback and the other is a static output feedback. The analytical results are cast into a Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) framework which can be solved numerically by efficient interior-point methods. The developed system is subjected to two historical earthquake excitation inputs (ElCentro and Hachinohe) and to the Kanai–Tajimi filter. The response is given in the form of indices in order to compare with other solutions of the benchmark problem. In addition, simulation results pertinent to the developed techniques are presented. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interpretation of Magnetic Data Through Particle Swarm Optimization: Mineral Exploration Cases Studies

Natural Resources Research - This paper emphasizes the use of the particle swarm optimization to infer second moving average residual magnetic anomalies. This approach was used to remove the impact...     

A Comparative Study Between Least Square and Total Least Square Methods for Time–Series Analysis and Quality Control of Sea Level Observations

In this study, the quality control of tide gauge observations is investigated by two methods of least square (LS-HE) and total least square harmonic estimation (TLS-HE). Particularly, it is shown how to deal with unexpected anomalies, including outliers, offset and gap in the time series of sea level height. To do so, at first the time series is constructed and then a method based on variance threshold is used to eliminate the possible outliers in the observations. Subsequently, a noise assessment algorithm is implemented and the signal is processed to find the possible times of offsets and to eliminate their corresponding observations from the time series. Finally, the signal is checked to find the periods of gap within the time series and then the gap area is predicted with correct observations. Gap filling analysis is performed in two contexts. In the first, only the significant frequencies of tide are considered in the modelling procedure, while in the second, all possible frequencies according to the period of observations are included. Our results show that for modelling and gap filling, the TLS-HE method has a better performance in a comparison with LS-HE method. Although, for offset and outlier detections, the LS-HE is recommended. It also indicates that the TLS-HE method provides a regular solution for gap filling analysis while LS-HE method needs a regularization scheme for which LSQR regularization is used.     

Histopathologic biomarker response of clam, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ruditapes decussates</Emphasis>, to organophosphorous pesticides reldan and roundup: A laboratory study

Clam Ruditapes decussates was used as a biomonitoring organism to measure the potential impact of pollution. The present study investigated histological alterations of R. decussates following a long-term exposure to a sublethal-level of pesticides Reldan and Roundup. The clams were taken to the laboratory and kept for days to adjust to a continuous closed flow system with quality water control. After the adjustment period, clams were exposed either to sublethal concentrations of Reldan (0.6 μl L^?1) or Roundup (1.1 μl L^?1) for 90 days. Clams were taken to determine the histological damage at 30, 60 and 90 days. Most histological alterations were highly localized in the glandular cells of the gills, mantle tissues and digestive gland; secretions of glandular cells were found to be increased by increasing the time of exposure. Histopathological results showed the activation of resistance mechanisms that allowed the clams to survive under sublethal stresses. Thus, histological changes on localized tissues were sensitive and they have positive correlation to the time of exposure to the pesticides, suggesting that they may serve as biomarkers for Reldan and Roundup exposures.     

Numerical study of combined overflow and wave overtopping over a smooth impermeable seawall

A numerical wave flume is used to investigate the discharge characteristics of combined overflow and wave overtopping of impermeable seawalls. The numerical procedure computes solutions to the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations and includes the generation of an irregular train of waves, the simulation of wave breaking and interaction with a sloping, impermeable wall. The numerical model is first tested against published experimental observations, approximate analytical solutions and empirical design formulae for the cases of pure overflow and pure overtopping. A sequence of numerical experiments simulating combined overflow and overtopping are described. The results are used to determine empirical discharge formulae of the form used in current practice.     

Comparative biomass structure and estimated carbon flow in food webs in the deep Gulf of Mexico

A budget of the standing stocks and cycling of organic carbon associated with the sea floor has been generated for seven sites across a 3-km depth gradient in the NE Gulf of Mexico, based on a series of reports by co-authors on specific biotic groups or processes. The standing stocks measured at each site were bacteria, Foraminifera, metazoan meiofauna, macrofauna, invertebrate megafauna, and demersal fishes. Sediment community oxygen consumption (SCOC) by the sediment-dwelling organisms was measured at each site using a remotely deployed benthic lander, profiles of oxygen concentration in the sediment pore water of recovered cores and ship-board core incubations. The long-term incorporation and burial of organic carbon into the sediments has been estimated using profiles of a combination of stable and radiocarbon isotopes. The total stock estimates, carbon burial, and the SCOC allowed estimates of living and detrital carbon residence time within the sediments, illustrating that the total biota turns over on time scales of months on the upper continental slope but this is extended to years on the abyssal plain at 3.6 km depth. The detrital carbon turnover is many times longer, however, over the same depths. A composite carbon budget illustrates that total carbon biomass and associated fluxes declined precipitously with increasing depth. Imbalances in the carbon budgets suggest that organic detritus is exported from the upper continental slope to greater depths offshore.The respiration of each individual “size” or functional group within the community has been estimated from allometric models, supplemented by direct measurements in the laboratory. The respiration and standing stocks were incorporated into budgets of carbon flow through and between the different size groups in hypothetical food webs. The decline in stocks and respiration with depth were more abrupt in the larger forms (fishes and megafauna), resulting in an increase in the relative predominance of smaller sizes (bacteria and meiofauna) at depth. Rates and stocks in the deep northern GoM appeared to be comparable to other continental margins where similar comparisons have been made.     

Analysis of refracturing in horizontal wells: Insights from the poroelastic displacement discontinuity method

In this paper, a fully coupled 2‐dimensional poroelastic displacement discontinuity method is used to investigate the refracturing process in horizontal wells. One of the objectives of refracturing is to access new reserves by adding new hydraulic fractures in zones that were bypassed in the initial fracturing attempt. Pore pressure depletion in the vicinity of old fractures directly affects the state of stress and eventually the propagation of newly created hydraulic fractures. Thus, a poroelastic analysis is required to identify guidelines for the refracturing process, in particular to understand the extension of the pore pressure depletion, and eventually, the orientation of new as well as old fractures. We propose a fully coupled approach to model the whole process of child fracture propagation in a depleted area between 2 parent fractures in the same wellbore. This approach omits the need of using multistep workflow that is regularly used to model the process. The maximum tensile stress criterion (σ criterion) is used for hydraulic fracture propagation. The proposed method is verified using available analytical solutions for total stress and pore pressure loading modes on a line fracture in drained and undrained conditions. Then, test cases of multifractured horizontal wells are studied to calculate the time evolution of the stress and pore pressure fields around old fractures and to understand the effect of these fields on the propagation path of newly created fractures. Finally, the effect of the pore pressure depletion on the propagation path of the newly created fractures in the bypassed area of the same wellbore is studied. The results show that the depleted areas around old fractures are highly affected by the extent and severity of the stress redistribution and pore pressure depletion. It is observed that a successful creation of new fractures may only happen in certain time frames. The results of this study provide new insights on the behavior of newly created fractures in depleted zones. They also clarify the relationship between stress change and pore pressure depletion in horizontal wells.     

Magmatic and post-magmatic evolution of post-collisional rare-metal bearing granite: The Neoproterozoic Homrit Akarem Granitic Intrusion,south Eastern Desert of Egypt,Arabian-Nubian Shield

The Homrit Akarem granitic intrusion (HAGI) outcrops near the western edge of the south Eastern Desert basement exposure in Egypt. It is a composite of two cogenetic intrusive bodies: an early albite granite phase shallowly emplaced at the apex of a magmatic cupola, and a later subjacent pink granite phase with a marginal zone of muscovite granite and better preservation of magmatic features. Mineral chemistry of primary biotite and garnet, together with whole-rock chemistry, identify the HAGI as a highly fractionated A-type peraluminous intrusion. The chemistry of F-dominant, Li-bearing, Fe³⁺-rich primary magmatic mica in the pink granite resembles that typically found in highly evolved Nb-Y-F pegmatites. The HAGI is the evolved product of a primary magma generated by partial melting of juvenile crust of the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS), emplaced along a regional strike-slip fault system that promoted its ascent. The main emplacement mechanism and evolutionary sequence of the HAGI was magmatic, although secondary minerals and textures resulting from hydrothermal fluid interactions are observed, especially at its margins. Primary columbite-(Mn) crystallized from melt and was partly replaced by secondary fluorcalciomicrolite. The high fluorine content of magmatic fluids exsolved from the intrusion is indicated by quartz-fluorite veins, greisenization, albitization, and F-bearing secondary oxide minerals. The magmatic derivation of this fluid is demonstrated by the F-dominant primary mica, a siderophyllite-polylithionite solid solution commonly known as zinnwaldite. The chemistry of zinnwaldite constrains the F/OH activity ratio and oxygen fugacity of its parental melt and thereby resolves the ambiguity between pressure and the effects of F in controlling the normative quartz content of rare-metal granites. The HAGI is less mineralized than the post-collisional rare-metal granites found further east in the south Eastern Desert, replicating a trend observed previously in the central Eastern Desert and suggesting that east-west zoning in rare metal enrichment is a persistent feature across latitudes at the western edge of the ANS.     

Hydrogeochemical processes and multivariate analysis for groundwater quality in the arid Maadher region of Hodna,northern Algeria

Acta Geochimica - This study focused on water quality and hydro-geochemical processes (evolution, origin) in the Maadher region, central Hodna in Algeria. In recent decades, the excessive...     

Post-cyclic Pullout Response of Geogrid in Compacted Sand and Clayey Sand with Emphasis on Pre-cyclic Load Effect

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Soil-geosynthetic interface behavior under cyclic loading will differ from that under static loading. To this end, a series of static and multistep tests...