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    Adaptive polynomial chaos for gas turbine compression systems performance analysis

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    The design of a gas turbine, or one of its constituent modules, is generally approached with some specific operating condition in mind (its design point). Unfortunately, engine components seldom exactly meet their specifications and do not operate at just one condition, but over a range of power settings. This simplification can then lead to a product that exhibits performance worse than nominal in real-world conditions. The integration of some consideration of robustness as an active part of the design process can allow products less sensitive to the presence of the noise factors commonly found in real-world environments to be obtained. To become routinely used as a design tool, minimization of the time required for robustness analysis is paramount. In this study, a nonintrusive polynomial chaos formulation is used to evaluate the variability in the performance of a generic modular-core compression system for a three-spool modern gas turbine engine subject to uncertain operating conditions with a defined probability density function. The standard orthogonal polynomials from the Askey scheme are replaced by a set of orthonormal polynomials calculated relative to the specific probability density function, improving the convergence of the method

    The Benefits of Adaptive Parametrization in Multi-objective Tabu Search Optimization

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    In real-world optimization problems, large design spaces and conflicting objectives are often combined with a large number of constraints, resulting in a highly multi-modal, challenging, fragmented landscape. The local search at the heart of Tabu Search, while being one of its strengths in highly constrained optimization problems, requires a large number of evaluations per optimization step. In this work, a modification of the pattern search algorithm is proposed: this modification, based on a Principal Components’Analysis of the approximation set, allows both a re-alignment of the search directions, thereby creating a more effective parametrization, and also an informed reduction of the size of the design space itself. These changes make the optimization process more computationally efficient and more effective – higher quality solutions are identified in fewer iterations. These advantages are demonstrated on a number of standard analytical test functions (from the ZDT and DTLZ families) and on a real-world problem (the optimization of an axial compressor preliminary design)

    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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