Development Of Design Tools Research Articles

FreesoundVR: soundscape composition in virtual reality using online sound repositories

The intersection between sound and music computing and Virtual Reality (VR) has grown significantly over the past decades, amounting to an established area of research today. However, still scarce research has been conducted on the development of specific tools for sound design and composition. In this paper, we investigate a new way of exploring online sound repositories to retrieve sounds to be used in soundscape composition, which leverages the VR medium. Specifically, we created a VR system that allows users to search, download, and explore Freesound content in an immersive manner, as well as to use it for soundscape composition practices via a virtual digital audio workstation (DAW). The tags associated to a sound in the repository were converted into virtual objects and environments, which the user could navigate while listening to the sound. We conducted a user study with 16 composers where the developed system was compared against a conventional counterpart comprising the Freesound web version and the Audacity DAW. Overall, quantitative and qualitative results did not indicate a clear and generalized preference for a system over the other. The usability of the two systems along with their offered creativity support, cognitive workload and emotional impact were deemed to be at a comparable level. Nevertheless, the full potential of VR in creating novel compositional experiences also clearly emerged. Our study shows that VR is an effective medium to support users’ creativity during the process of exploring and selecting sounds from an online repository as well as for composing a soundscape.

Preface

Welcome to the sbe22 Berlin D-A-CH conferenceThe sbe22 Berlin D-A-CH conference, which will take place under the theme “Built Environment Within Planetary Boundaries”, will provide a platform for the exchange of ideas on innovative design and planning methods, building products, futureproof buildings and infrastructures as well as sustainable neighborhood and urban development. It is primarily aimed at participants from Austria, Switzerland and Germany, as well as from other European countries, and includes representatives from countries of the global south. Participants will be introduced to options for the further development of methodological principles, design, planning and evaluation tools, as well as concrete solutions and examples from the fields of products, buildings and urban planning. The scientific sessions and several special events invite representatives from science, politics and industry to an in-depth exchange of experiences.Europe has formulated ambitious goals for its sustainable development over the next decades and plans corresponding measures. Many of them directly and indirectly affect the construction and real estate sector, as well as the closely related energy supply. Buildings and infrastructures provide prerequisites for social and economic development and have a major impact on the quality of life of their occupants and neighborhood. However, they are also associated with undesirable energy and material flows, as well as effects on the global and local environment, which to prevent further harm, have to be minimized. Climate protection, resource conservation and health protection measures have to be designed in such a way that issues of economic efficiency, value stability and affordability are taken into account. At the same time, buildings and infrastructures are already affected by the local consequences of global climate change and must be adapted to them. It will be necessary to achieve this by assessment of the respective sites and planning with prevision of the developments of the next twenty years. The fact that the construction and real estate sector causes considerable energy and material flows, as well as environmental impacts, also points to the necessity of looking for potential for savings and reduction. The success of sustainable development thus also depends on the players in the construction and real estate industry, including upstream and downstream sectors. The construction and real estate sector is thus both a cause and a victim of the previous code of conduct of resource management of real estate industry and building sector, as well as a field of action for solutions to change it.

Fission Battery transportation and siting aspects

Fission Batteries (FBs) are envisioned to be highly mobile, autonomously operating, and economically competitive small nuclear power reactor systems useable for generating electric power or heat. Such novel systems will face unique challenges pertaining to siting and transportation. This paper presents the findings and recommendations of the 2021 Idaho National Laboratory FB Initiative workshop on the transportation and siting of FBs. Regulatory and technical subject matter experts on the transportation and storage of radioactive materials, licensing of nuclear power plants, innovative sensing technologies, etc., participated in this workshop and shared their professional experiences and perspectives. Based on these conversations, the paper describes the lessons learned from nuclear reactor siting and licensing, as well as from the siting and transportation of radioactive materials such as fresh or spent nuclear fuel. It then explores the applicability of these lessons and practices to FB siting and transportation. In addition, associated regulatory and technological challenges are identified, such as a changing FB source term, criticality safety aspects, neutron activation and embrittlement of structural components, site development, transportation uncertainties, the current regulatory framework, modeling and simulation uncertainties, and limited inspections. Additionally, research and development activities are suggested to address these gaps and challenges, including the development of modeling and simulation tools for FB design, strategies for rapid FB transportation, innovative FB shell materials, procedures for onsite handling of FBs, transportation-accident-proof criticality control mechanisms, self-monitoring and self-testing capabilities, regulatory requirements, and probabilistic risk assessment tools. Carrying out these research initiatives is expected to help accelerate the evolution of FBs and facilitate their design, licensing, and deployment.

Design tool for estimating adsorbent hydrogen storage system characteristics for light-duty fuel cell vehicles

This work combines materials development with hydrogen storage technology advancements to address onboard hydrogen storage challenges in light-duty vehicle applications. These systems are comprised of the vehicle requirements design space, balance of plant requirements, storage system components, and materials engineering culminating in the development of an Adsorbent System Design Tool that serves as a preprocessor to the storage system and vehicle-level models created within the Hydrogen Storage Engineering Center of Excellence. Computational and experimental efforts were integrated to evaluate, design, analyze, and scale potential hydrogen storage systems and their supporting components against the Department of Energy 2020 and Ultimate Technical Targets for Hydrogen Storage Systems for Light Duty Vehicles. Ultimately, the Adsorbent System Design Tool was created to assist material developers in assessing initial design parameters that would be required to estimate the performance of the hydrogen storage system once integrated with the full fuel cell system.

Numerical analysis of marine propellers low frequency noise during maneuvering. Part II: Passive and active noise control strategies

Maneuvering motion inevitably modifies the acoustic signature of marine propellers due to alteration of the wake field past the hull. This aspect is crucial to fulfill the stringent requirements for the noise abatement in the environment. Therefore, design procedures, mainly targeted to rectilinear motion in calm water, should encompass these conditions for achieving a low emission profile. In the present work, the analysis presented in Dubbioso et al., (2020) on the noise generated by a marine propeller in behind-hull is contextualized for the development of holistic tools for design and mission planning, with attention to both passive and active noise control strategies. Passive solutions consist of modification of stern appendages and inversion of propeller rotational direction, while active control is implemented by limiting of the absorbed power, load fluctuation and their combination. The noise sources are first computed by a non-interacting RANS–BEMT procedure and given as input to the acoustic analogy based on the Formulation 1A by Farassat. The test case is a modern twin screw ship undergoing rectilinear advance and turning maneuvers at two different rudder angles for a moderate speed at FN=0.265.

Quantifying means-end reasoning skills in simulation-based training: a logic-based approach

We develop a logic-based approach for designing simulation-based training scenarios. Our methodology embodies a concise definition of the scenario concept and integrates the notions of training goals, acceptable versus unacceptable actions and performance scoring. The approach applies classical artificial intelligence (AI) planning to extract coherent plays from a causal description of the training domain. The domain- and task-specific parts are defined in a high-level action description language [Formula: see text]. Generic causal and temporal logic is added when the causal theory is compiled into the underlying Answer Set Programming (ASP) language. The ASP representation is used to derive a scoring function that reflects the quality of a play or training session, based on a distinction of states and actions into green (acceptable) and red (unacceptable) ones. To that end, we add to the casual theory a set of norms that specify an initial assignment of colors. The ASP engine uses these norms as axioms and propagates colors by consulting the causal theory. We prove that any set of such norms constitutes a conservative extension of the underlying causal theory. With this work, we hope to lay the foundation for the development of design and analysis tools for exercise managers. We envision a software system that lets an exercise manager view all plays of a tentative scenario design, with expediency information and scores for each possible play. Our approach is applicable to any domain in which means-ends reasoning is pertinent. We illustrate the approach in the domain of crisis response and management.

Development of Computational Tools for Seismic Design of Architectural Components in Negative Pressure Isolation Wards

Development of Computational Tools for Seismic Design of Architectural Components in Negative Pressure Isolation Wards

Building Innovation Capability for the Sustainability of Rancabuaya Village Craft Weavers

The research studies how innovation capability can be nurtured within community of artisans through design tool development. Innovation capability has generated widespread interest both academically and practically. However previous works have mostly been performed at profit organizations with few discussed at community level, especially in artisans’ community who are struggling to create innovative product and have lost their competitiveness in the market. The research focusing on a unique case, Rancabuaya Village, Tangerang, Indonesia. The research used qualitative exploratory study design with single case study. Data collection methods used in the study were in-depth interviews, literature study and documentation. Innovation capability is key for long term sustainability and need to be nurtured in community sectors. To accelerate the innovation capability building process in informal setting, the study proposes a design tool to facilitate idea generation for new product development in community of artisans. The design tool is developed with design thinking process: empathize, define, ideation, prototyping and testing. The design tools as the study result are the bamboo and rattan idea book, a book consisting of a mood board and a compilation of different weaving patterns from each component of a weaving object. The book aims to foster the idea management and creativity within a community of artisans, two determinants that are found to be essential for building innovation capability. This research contributes on two main ways: first, it provides an understanding that nurturing innovation capability in community artisans setting necessitates strategic management initiatives such as: a product development strategy, an idea sharing system, and a collaborative culture, this has not been profoundly explored by the present literature; and second, it employs design thinking as an analytical framework that provides a human-centered approach to the process of building innovation capability and ensures that the tool developed is rooted in the needs of the artisan community.

Development of modelling design tool for harpoon for active space debris removal

The level of debris in Earth orbit presents an increasing risk. Active debris removal, involving capture and deorbit of larger items, has been identified as important in controlling future debris population growth. One concept for capturing debris is a harpoon, with low post-penetration residual velocity being a key design requirement. Aluminium sandwich panels are common structural components on typical spacecraft and consequently a probable target structure. An ideal harpooning event is characterised with complete penetration of the sandwich panel and low harpoon residual (post penetration) velocity. This paper presents development of a numerical modelling tool for a harpoon design for active orbital debris removal. The ability to predict the ballistic limit of an aluminium sandwich panel with a honeycomb core representative of a large satellite structural element being the primary requirement for the modelling tool. The modelling approach was validated against the experimental results from normal and oblique impact tests performed for ogive and flat nose projectiles over a velocity range between 50 m/s to 120 m/s. The modelling was based on explicit finite element method, using the commercial LS-DYNA code. An element failure criterion was used to approximate material damage and failure. Sensitivity studies were performed to investigate the influence of model key features on the projectile exit velocity. The features with the strongest influence were the face sheet material model and the projectile-panel friction model. The projectile exist velocities observed in the experiments were used to select the final parameters used. The use of an element deletion criterion that incorporated the influence of stress triaxiality improved the agreement for the plate deformation behaviour between the numerical and experimental results. For the ogive nose projectile, the exit velocity agreed well with the experiments for the range of impact velocities and angles considered. For the flat nose projectile, the model overestimated the exit velocity. In the case of the normal impact this was due to the model's inability to capture the honeycomb crushing ahead of the projectile.

Conjugation-Based Genome Engineering in Deinococcus radiodurans.

Deinococcus radiodurans has become an attractive microbial platform for the study of extremophile biology and industrial bioproduction. To improve the genomic manipulation and tractability of this species, the development of tools for whole genome engineering and design is necessary. Here, we report the development of a simple and robust conjugation-based DNA transfer method from E. coli to D. radiodurans, allowing for the introduction of stable, replicating plasmids expressing antibiotic resistance markers. Using this method with nonreplicating plasmids, we developed a protocol for creating sequential gene deletions in D. radiodurans by targeting restriction-modification genes. Importantly, we demonstrated a conjugation-based method for cloning the large (178 kb), high G+C content MP1 megaplasmid from D. radiodurans in E. coli. The conjugation-based tools described here will facilitate the development of D. radiodurans strains with synthetic genomes for biological studies and industrial applications.

Flow rate control in standing column wells: A flexible solution for reducing the energy use and peak power demand of the built environment

Standing column wells offer a generous and flexible solution to improve the energy efficiency of the built environment. As these systems behavior is strongly affected by groundwater advection, the acute challenge of predicting their thermal evolution with both accuracy and computational efficiency has so far hindered the development of design tools and optimized control strategies. In this work, a powerful simulation algorithm is implemented and applied to the performance assessment of multi-borehole standing column well systems located in a heterogeneous geological environment and operating under various constant and dynamic flow rate control strategies. The iterative algorithm relies on the non-stationary convolution technique to simulate the underground components, and the EnergyPlus approach to represent the heat pump efficiency at full and part loads. The findings suggest that using higher flow rates in peak conditions is a key element that minimizes auxiliary assistance and power demand. Complementary variable flow rate control aiming to maintain a 2 °C temperature difference across the plate heat exchanger has shown to alleviate groundwater usage and generate at least 8%–11% annual energy savings compared with constant flow. This operating strategy allowed the systems to deliver 197–246 W/m with a heating seasonal performance factor of 3.59. These results were achieved through 34 annual simulations having hourly time steps that were performed with the proposed algorithm in a total of 4 h 17 min, compared to 11 days for a single simulation using a numerical reference model.

Probabilistic Structural System Response to Differential Settlement Resulting from Spatially Variable Soil

The role of spatially variable soil stiffness and strength on structural performance has been increasingly recognized with the rapid development of geotechnical reliability-based design tools. Performance criteria linked to the angular distortion between foundations and the probability of exceeding certain limit states as a function of linear-elastic soil property autocorrelation have shed light on the link between foundation soils and potential structural damage. However, the role of soil-structure interaction (SSI), especially considering nonlinearity in soil and structural elements, to redistribute shear and flexure within structures that result from differential foundation movements, has been largely neglected. This study presents a critical examination of the effect of nonlinear SSI to redistribute flexural demands within a steel structure founded in soils exhibiting spatial variability and the corresponding differential settlements through a comparison of uncoupled and coupled Monte Carlo simulations (MCS). This study shows that the differential settlement, Δs, computed using coupled (i.e., SSI) analyses are significantly smaller than those derived from the uncoupled analyses for the random field models (RFMs) used to simulate soil spatial variability. The effect of SSI is to substantially reduce the probability of exceeding selected limit state criteria due to differential movements that vary in magnitude with the level of stringency of the limit state criteria; the most significant reduction corresponds to the structural ultimate limit state (ULS). Furthermore, the effect of SSI on structural performance and the critical scale of fluctuation, δcrit, becomes more apparent and beneficial as the severity of differential movement increases. Smaller and/or “allowable” angular distortions are governed by the local footing-to-footing distance, whereas the probability of exceeding the ULS (i.e., yielding of beams) is controlled by the entire structure working to redistribute the flexural demands. Limit state severity appears to control the critical soil autocorrelation length for angular distortion, indicating that the role of SSI in the performance of structures in spatially varying soils cannot be ignored.

Array Signal Processing on Distributed Acoustic Sensing Data: Directivity Effects in Slowness Space

AbstractDistributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) involves the transmission of laser pulses along a fiber‐optic cable. These pulses are backscattered at fiber inhomogeneities and again detected by the same interrogator unit that emits the pulses. Elastic deformation along the fiber causes phase shifts in the backscattered laser pulses which are converted to spatially averaged strain measurements, typically at regular fiber intervals. DAS systems provide the potential to employ array processing algorithms. However, there are certain differences between DAS and conventional sensors. While seismic sensors typically record the directional particle displacement, velocity, or acceleration, the DAS axial strain is inherently proportional to the spatial gradient of the axial cable displacement. DAS is therefore insensitive to broadside displacement, for example, broadside P‐waves. In classical delay‐and‐sum beamforming, the array response function is the far‐field response on a horizontal slowness (or wavenumber) grid. However, for geometrically non‐linear DAS layouts, the angle between wavefront and cable varies, requiring the analysis of a steered response that varies with the direction of arrival. This contrasts with the traditional array response function which is given in terms of slowness difference between arrival and steering. This paper provides a framework for DAS steered response estimation accounting also for cable directivity and gauge‐length averaging – hereby demonstrating the applicability of DAS in array seismology and to assess DAS design aspects. It bridges a gap between DAS and array theory frameworks and communities, facilitating increased employment of DAS as a seismic array, while providing building blocks for the development of DAS array design tools.

Torsional vibration analysis of diesel driven propulsion systems: The case of a polar-class vessel

The reliability of marine propulsion plants of ice-going vessels is essential in preserving ship safety during ice navigation. Therefore, the development of reliable design tools of the transmission shafting systems is fundamental to simulate ice–propeller interaction processes correctly. This paper outlines a methodology to model the torsional dynamics of fully-geared, Diesel-driven propulsion systems; specifically, a novel analytical model to simulate the dynamic Diesel engine torque is described. We consider the Canadian Coast Guard heavy icebreaker Terry Fox as a case study, whose propulsion plant includes two shaftlines driven by two 4-stroke Diesel engines each and equipped with controllable pitch propellers (CPP). On this vessel, we performed full-scale measurements during open-water sea trials to: (i) validate the Diesel-drive mathematical model; (ii) update the numerical eigenfrequencies of the system; (iii) determine the curve of the propeller-absorbed hydrodynamic torque. Finally, we simulate the dynamic response of the shaftline’s model by applying an ice–propeller transient excitation. The results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology to simulate the Diesel engine torque, and the significance of considering the CPP pitch variation in transient-state conditions when ice-induced loads are concerned.

Efficient DC and AC Impedance Calculation for Arbitrary-Shape and Multilayer PDN Using Boundary Integration

This article presents an efficient methodology based on boundary integration to calculate the dc and ac impedance of power distribution networks (PDNs) for arbitrary-shape and multilayer printed circuit boards (PCBs). The proposed method adopts a boundary element method to extract inductances for the arbitrary parallel-plane shapes. Subsequently, the equivalent circuit formed by the via inductances and plane capacitances is solved using the node voltage method. By merging the parallel and serial inductances and simplifying the equivalent circuit, the computation time can be significantly reduced for a large number of vias and layers. This matrix manipulation strategy can be applied to various PCB structures without human intervention or commercial circuit solvers. Moreover, a contour integral method is employed to calculate the dc resistances for arbitrary shape and multilayer PDNs. Therefore, the wideband PDN impedance from dc to ac frequencies can be efficiently calculated through 1-D boundary integration, which can be performed more quickly than full-wave simulations. The proposed method can aid in the development of electronic design automation tools for PDN design.

Cavity Backed Multiband SIW Antenna for X Band Applications

This article designs, tests, and produces a substrate integrated waveguide based antenna with copper patches in the micro strip in a totally planar construction utilising microstrip technology. The performances of this SIW antenna, as well as geometrical antenna aspects, are investigated in the X-band at frequencies ranging from 5 to 10 GHz. The efficiency and directivity of the substrate integrated waveguide antenna have been improved, and the side lobe level has been increased, making it highly promising. SIW technology seems to be the most viable option for millimeter-wave integrated circuits and systems in the next decade. This article gives an overview of SIW technology research in academia and industry, as well as its current state and future potential. The development of numerical tools for SIW component modelling and design, as well as the investigation of new compact and broadband interconnects and the discovery of design solutions for loss reduction, are all current research priorities. It consists of two connected quarter-mode SIW resonant cavities and one half-mode SIW resonant cavity. This groundbreaking technology combines a considerable bandwidth boost with a tiny footprint and existing PCB manufacturing procedures at a cheap cost, making it ideal for 5G high-speed wireless applications. SIW technology provides a robust antenna basis, enabling for the integration of high-density active electronics without the possibility of damaging coupling.

Undergraduate Research and Inquiry-Based Learning in Geographical Information Science: A Case Study from China

Undergraduate research experience is the process where undergraduates contribute to the development of a subject field through their inquiry-based learning (IBL). IBL is a student-centered learning strategy. Students work as professional scientists do, through inquiry. This article presents approaches to IBL and practices of an instructor from China for strengthening and facilitating IBL in geographical information science (GIS). Two paths were proposed for the development of the students on the basis of four modes of IBL. The practical experience was introduced in two parts: course design and IBL tool development for classroom teaching, and undergraduate mentoring outside of the classroom.

UWB-Based Indoor Localization: How to Optimally Design the Operating Setup?

Localizing objects in indoor environments with anchor–based systems poses several challenges to be faced. The main one is the design phase. What is the minimum number of anchors to be adopted? What is the optimal placement of the anchors in the operating domain? These are typical issues that needs to be solved in this stage. Such issue is generally addressed by several experimental tests, imposing high costs both in the required large amounts of time and in the use of devices. In addition, sometimes the experiments will not warrant to identify the optimal design solution. In this work, a black–box design tool is proposed, able to manage different environments, in terms of domain size, maximum number of available anchors, device metrological features, target performance. Such an approach, to be effective, needs a preliminary validation versus experimental results to make the future performance predictions reliable and avoid unexpected localization accuracy degradation. For this reason, the presented work adopts a side-by-side development, by evaluating results’ compatibility, in static and dynamic contexts, before addressing further and more complex analyses relying on the design tool only. Such comparison proves the goodness of the developed design tool and the outcomes allow an accurate localization system design by finding anchors’ placement solutions with the minimum computational burden.

Novel Fatigue-Damage Sensor for Prediction of Remaining Fatigue Lifetime of Mechanical Components and Structures

In this paper, a novel Internet of Things (IoT) fatigue damage sensor is presented to predict the fatigue damage accumulation level and residual fatigue life of critical mechanical and structural components. The intelligent radio-frequency identification (RFID)-integrated fatigue sensor system has special designed breakable mini beams with multiple parallel oriented geometry and symmetric U-type stress concentrated notches. The fatigue sensing beams with different stress and fatigue lifetime levels are designed to estimate the fatigue damage accumulation and remaining fatigue life of unidirectional and multidirectional structural or mechanical elements, including composite structures. The fatigue damage sensor attached on a real structure goes through the same fatigue life experience of critical structural elements or mechanical components from the beginning of service life or any point in the service life to the end of service life. A fatigue sensor with five parallel symmetric U notched mini beams with different fatigue lifetimes (10% N, 25% N, 50% N, 70% N, 85%–90% N) normalized to the total life (N) of a structure are considered to predict the remaining fatigue lifetime of a real structure using the cumulative damage Miner’s rule. The mini fatigue sensor beams attached to the surface of a structure are designed to fail, depending on their fatigue life, earlier than the total fatigue lifetime of the structure, like a fatigue fuse system. The fatigue damage sensing beams fail gradually while passing through the same fatigue cycles as a structural member. When the service lifetime of a real monitored structure is very close to the total fatigue life, the critical maximum lifetime (80%–90% N) notched mini sensor beam breaks and issues an alarm that the service life of the real structural part is approaching its fatigue strength limit and the end of its service life. The smart fatigue damage sensor is wireless-enabled, which makes it possible to check the health status of the sensor over a sensor network as often as one likes. Since the wireless distributed fatigue sensor network system monitors the fatigue health conditions of structures periodically or on demand, the data collected on the sensor network system can be used not only for condition-based fatigue life prediction but also for sensor-based predictive fatigue maintenance and the development of new fatigue design tools for fatigue-sensitive complex and large engineering structures or mechanical systems.

Modelling flexural performance of hollow pultruded FRP profiles

Hollow Pultruded Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (PFRP) profiles, as novel construction material, require further development of design tool to broaden the applications. This paper proposes a combined experimental and numerical methodology as a design tool to investigate the failure modes of these profiles under four-point bending. Two different profiles, each with 10 samples, were tested until failure and were used to validate the numerical model. A finite element model was built based on a fast-convergence incremental approach that suits flexural loading and reduces the computational cost. The validated model was used to study the failure sequence thoroughly and perform an extensive parametric study on the design parameters. Each geometric parameter was studied individually first to determine the relevant levels for each parameter in the full factorial study. A full factorial design of experiment was used to capture the critical parametric interactions with over 81 numerical models. The design rules and recommendation were established for the optimal flexural behaviour of hollow box PFRP profiles to withstand local buckling of the top flange.