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    Real-time loading actuator control for an advanced aerospace test rig

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    The growing complexity of aircraft systems requires that extensive testing be performed on dedicated test rigs to grant the necessary flight clearance and to provide troubleshooting of the problems that may arise during prototype flight trials. A new test rig is described herein, that was recently built to provide comprehensive testing of the flight controls, landing gear, and hydraulic systems of the M-346 advanced trainer aircraft. All these subsystems are connected together on the rig as in the real aircraft to ensure that the entire system operates on the rig exactly as on the aircraft. To that purpose, a high-performance force control system was developed to provide accurate dynamic loading of the primary and secondary flight control actuators, and the structure onto which the flight control actuators are mounted provides a mechanical load path with the same stiffness as in the real aircraft. The present paper describes the main characteristics of the test rig and puts particular emphasis on the force control system that makes use of an adaptive control law to provide a very accurate control of the force acting upon the actuators during fast transients

    An Actively Controlled Carbody Centering System for the Lateral Suspension of High Speed Trains

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    High speed trains normally use pneumatic actuation systems to recenter the carbody with respect to the bogie when the train negotiates a curve. Pneumatic systems are used because of their compliance, necessary to ensure dynamic isolation between carbody and bogie, but have the drawbacks of large dimensions and slow response, often accompanied by a few damped oscillations. An innovative solution was developed using hydraulic actuators with an adaptive control law providing the actuators with artificial compliance, hence making them suitable for this application. A carbody centering system is thus obtained presenting fast response, small volume and the necessary compliance. The optimal control law for this system was defined, the system dynamic characteristics were analyzed and a technological demonstrator was built to assess the system merits. The paper presents the theoretical grounds for the system control, its implementation and performance, and the most significant test results obtained with the technological demonstrator

    Hydraulic Actuation System with Active Control for the Lateral Suspensions of High Speed Trains

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    High speed trains normally use actively controlled pneumatic systems to recenter the carbody with respect to the bogie when the train negotiates a curve. Pneumatic systems are used because of their softness, which adds a little contribution to the elastic force generated by the mechanical springs of the lateral suspension system, thereby allowing the neccessary dynamic isolation between carbody and bogie. Howeve, pneumatic systems have the drawbacks of large dimensions and slow response, often accompanied by a few damped oscillations. An innovative solution was developed which makes use of hydraulic actuators providing them with artificial compliance generated by an appropriate control, hence making hydraulic actuators suitable for this application. A carbody centering system is thus obtained presenting fast response, small volume and a softness comparable to that of a pneumatic system. The optimal control law for this system was defined, the system dynamic characteristics were analyzed and a technological demonstrator was built to assess the system merits. The paper outlines the theoretical grounds for the system control, its performance and the most significant results obtained during a test campaign conducted on the technological demonstrator

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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