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Black phosphorus: the rise of phosphorene in 2D materials applications
Get PDFFew layers Black phosphorus (BP) and phosphorene are two-dimensional (2D) materials renowned for their adjustable bandgaps, high carrier mobility, and anisotropic conductivity, which make them highly promising for applications in the visible and infrared spectrum. The incorporation of these materials into polymer matrices has led to significant advancements in material science, resulting in nanocomposites with enhanced mechanical, electrical, and optical properties. This article provides a thorough analysis of BP/phosphorene polymer nanocomposites, including synthesis techniques (such as exfoliation methods) and manufacturing approaches. Advanced characterisation techniques are utilised to assess the structure, morphology, and properties of these composites. The article highlights the potential applications of these materials in energy storage (e.g., high-capacity batteries), flexible electronics (e.g., bendable displays), environmental sensing, and emerging biomedical fields such as targeted drug delivery. Furthermore, the article discusses potential solutions to tackle the challenges associated with the scalable, cost-effective production and ambient stability of BP/phosphorene, leveraging recent advancements in engineering research. The conclusion outlines future research directions, emphasising the importance of addressing persistent challenges through technological breakthroughs and exploring potential avenues for further advancement
Bipartite consensus of nonlinear agents with actuator fault
Get PDFThis paper introduces a bipartite consensus controller to address the challenge of achieving consensus among nonlinear agents, particularly when actuator faults are present, leading to significant obstacles. To tackle this issue, the controller is developed by adapting the Distributed Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion (DNDI) technique, thereby accommodating the impact of actuator faults. The randomness of the actuator the fault is taken into account to reflect real-world conditions. The the paper also furnishes comprehensive mathematical insights into the convergence of the fault-tolerant controller, establishing a robust theoretical foundation. An extensive array of simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed controller effectively manages actuator faults, leading to the successful attainment of bipartite consensus.This research was partially funded by an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) project CASCADE (EP/R009953/1).2024 UKACC 14th International Conference on Control (CONTROL
We need collaboration and co-creation to address challenges facing coastal communities
Get PDFCoastal communities across the globe are faced with multifaceted, interconnected challenges with competing environmental, social and economic needs. In rural coastal communities of the Global South, the challenges presented by climate change are complicated by those related to development, resource management and sustainable livelihoods. The rapid growth of such coastal communities exacerbates these challenges and reinforces the need for effective and sustainable governance. Such governance requires a move from top-down approaches to human-centred approaches. Human-centred coastal governance engages multiple stakeholders and combines multidisciplinary knowledge, participatory approaches, co-creation of solutions and multi-institutional partnerships. Here we present case studies from coastal communities in Vanuatu, Ghana and Bangladesh. These illustrate several of the complex challenges facing such communities and the collaborative and empowering strategies that have been used to meet them. Based on these case studies, we present a transdisciplinary framework to inform the co-creation of coastal management strategies that meet interconnected human and environmental needs.Nature Human Behaviou
High aspect ratio wing design and analysis
No full textDesign and analysis data generated using GENUS. This include energy consumption and emissions of HAR configuration using different alternative fuels including kerosene based jet fuel, biofuel, ammonia, liquefied natural gas and liquid hydrogen
Adam Smith’s implicit theory of distributive justice
Get PDFAdam Smith wrote at a time when new commercial forces were reshaping national politics, pulling people from the countryside into growing towns, and altering the physical, social, and ideological landscapes. He broke with the mercantilist position, which assumed that all that mattered was the wealth of the ruling classes and the state. Smith argued that the best indicator of a country’s success was the prosperity of the workers, created through a commercial system based on natural liberty of self-ownership, equality, liberty, and justice. Although Smith didn’t explicitly develop a theory of distributive justice, he considered the interests of the three main social and economic classes in mid-18th century Britain: workers, owners of capital and landlords. Smith thought of equality as a combination of two ideas that were novel at the time: an account of liberty that was rooted in the nascent discipline of economics and a democratic social ideal of dignity for ordinary people. Grounded in Smith’s moral philosophy that places human equality as its core value, this paper unpacks his theory of economic growth and efficiency, where rents and wages increase as society develops economically while profit and interest rates fall, thus resulting in an overall fall in inequality.Athens Journal of Business & Economic
Layout analysis of the RCEP international airline network based on hub identification using improved contribution matrix
Get PDFThe signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement brings new opportunities for the development of international air transportation. Faced with fierce competition, it is worth studying how hub airports should enhance competitiveness, and how low-cost carriers and full-service carriers should optimize the RCEP international airline network layout for better development. Aiming at providing suggestions for the development of hub airports, low-cost and full-service carriers in the RCEP international airline network, this paper identifies the hub airports, analyzes the layout of the RCEP international airline network, and the multi-layered characteristics based on an improved contribution matrix using data from 2010 to 2019 collected from the Official Airline Guide (OAG). This method comprehensively considers attributes of hub airports and the multi-layered characteristics of the airports and routes. The layout analysis indicates that the RCEP international transportation market presents a more open environment for competition and cooperation where base carriers are often the biggest supporters of hub construction. The multi-layered characteristics analysis reveals that low-cost carriers contribute more towards opening up new RCEP routes than full-service carriers. It is advised that carriers newly entering the RCEP international aviation transportation market and low-cost carriers dedicate to establishing new routes around their hub airports to monopolize this market and enhance their market share, whilst full-service carriers consolidate existing routes and increase route density to achieve economic benefits.Scientific Report
Automated Drinking Water Quality Assessment: New Insights into Flow Cytometry Fluorescent Fingerprinting without Cell Gating
No full textDataset for peer review paper from EngD EPSRC funded thesis L. Claveau - Chapter 2 and Chapter 3EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Engineering for the Water Sector (STREAM IDC
Causal discovery to understand hot corrosion
Get PDFGas turbine superalloys experience hot corrosion, driven by factors including corrosive deposit flux, temperature, gas composition, and component material. The full mechanism still needs clarification and research often focuses on laboratory work. As such, there is interest in causal discovery to confirm the significance of factors and identify potential missing causal relationships or codependencies between these factors. The causal discovery algorithm fast causal inference (FCI) has been trialled on a small set of laboratory data, with the outputs evaluated for their significance to corrosion propagation, and compared to existing mechanistic understanding. FCI identified salt deposition flux as the most influential corrosion variable for this limited data set. However, HCl was the second most influential for pitting regions, compared to temperature for more uniformly corroding regions. Thus, FCI generated causal links aligned with literature from a randomised corrosion data set, while also identifying the presence of two different degradation modes in operation.Materials and Corrosio
A Moroccan soil spectral library use framework for improving soil property prediction: evaluating a geostatistical approach
Get PDFA soil spectrum generated by any spectrometer requires a calibration model to estimate soil properties from it. To achieve best results, the assumption is that locally calibrated models offer more accurate predictions. However, achieving this higher accuracy comes with associated costs, complexity, and resource requirements, thus limiting widespread adoption. Furthermore, there is a lack of comprehensive frameworks for developing and utilizing soil spectral libraries (SSLs) to make predictions for specific samples. While calibration samples are necessary, there is the need to optimize SSL development through strategically determining the quantity, location, and timing of these samples based on the quality of the information in the library. This research aimed to develop a spatially optimized SSL and propose a use-framework tailored for predicting soil properties for a specific farmland context. Consequently, the Moroccan SSL (MSSL) was established utilizing a stratified spatially balanced sampling design, using six environmental covariates and FAO soil units. Subsequently, various criteria for calibration sample selection were explored, including a spatial autocorrelation of spectra principal component (PC) scores (spatial calibration sample selection), spectra similarity memory-based learner (MBL), and selection based on environmental covariate clustering. Twelve soil properties were used to evaluate these calibration sample selections to predict soil properties using the near infrared (NIR) and mid infrared (MIR) ranges. Among the methods assessed, we observed distinct precision improvements resulting from spatial sample selection and MBL compared to the use of the entire MSSL. Notably, the Lin's Concordance Correlation Coefficient (CCC) values using the spatial calibration sample selection was improved for Olsen extractable phosphorus (OlsenP) by 41.3% and Mehlich III extractable phosphorus (P_M3) by 8.5% for the MIR spectra and for CEC by 25.6%, pH by 13.0% and total nitrogen (Tot_N) by 10.6% for the NIR spectra in reference to use of the entire MSSL. Utilizing the spatial autocorrelation of the spectra PC scores proved beneficial in identifying appropriate calibration samples for a new sample location, thereby enhancing prediction performance comparable to, or surpassing that of the use of the entire MSSL. This study signifies notable advancement in crafting targeted models tailored for specific samples within a vast and diverse SSL.The authors want to thank Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and OCP group, for the technical and financial support, respectively.Geoderm
Explainable and interpretable bearing fault classification and diagnosis under limited data
Get PDFReferred to by: BEARING-FDD: an early detection and diagnosis tool for bearing faults in rotating machinery, https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/24872Rotating machinery plays an essential role in various industrial processes such as manufacturing, power generation, and transportation. These machines, which include turbines, pumps, motors, compressors, and many others, are the heartbeats of numerous industries. The seamless operation of these machines is critical for the efficiency and productivity of these sectors. However, over time, these machines degrade and can suffer faults. One of the most critical components are bearings, which can suffer different types of faults. This paper presents a novel approach for bearing fault classification and diagnosis under limited data. A Monotonic Smoothed Stacked AutoEncoder (MS2AE) is used to infer a smoothed monotonic health index from raw bearing acceleration data. The MS2AE is trained using only healthy data, so this approach can also be used with recently comisioned equipment that has not failed yet. Then, using the evolution of the health index, a first faulty point is computed, so two stages are identified in the lifespan of the rotating machinery: healthy and faulty. Correlation matrices are computed to show the relationship of the health index with time-domain and frequency-domain features in order to provide explainability and validate the health index construction process. When the health index is classified as faulty, Dynamic Time Warping is applied between healthy samples and faulty samples to extract differences. Finally, based on a 1/3-binary tree 3 level kurtogram, these differences are filtered using a bandpass filter and converted to the frequency domain, where characteristic harmonics are used to identify the type of bearing fault. The explainability provided in the health index construction process makes the system useful in certain industries where black-box AI models cannot be trusted due to strict regulations. The classification and diagnosis system achieves robustness in fault classification under different working conditions by utilizing multiple bearing fault datsets. Its ability to be trained using only healthy data and the interpretability offered, makes it suitable for recently installed rotating machinery in real industrial facilities, without requiring qualified staff.This research was partially funded by the Spanish National Plan of Research, Development, and Innovation under project EDNA (PID2021-124383OB-100), the University of Oviedo and theUniversity of Cranfield. L. Magadán is supported by the Severo Ochoa program (PA-22-BP21-120).Advanced Engineering Informatic