This thesis evaluates different controllers for traction control on an electric forklift truck and has been done in cooperation with Toyota Material Handling Manufacturing Sweden. The need for a traction control system has increased with the introduction of lithium-ion batteries replacing the older lead-acid batteries, reducing the battery weight and therefore the downward force on the driving wheel increasing the risk for slip. The forklift truck was modelled using Simulink and validated by experiment. Different possible control strategies were investigated and three were chosen for implementation in simulation. These were controllers based on Model Following Control, Maximum Transmissible Torque Estimation and Sliding Mode Control. Model Following Control makes use of a nominal model to compare actual wheel speed values with nominal wheel speed values to determine if slip is occurring, Maximum Transmissible Torque Estimation makes use of a closed-loop disturbance observer to compute the maximum transmissible torque possible without inducing slip and using it as a limitation on the input signal, and Sliding Mode Control uses different functions to \say{slide} along a sliding surface to stay around a specific slip value. All three controller types were developed both as speed controlled and torque controlled. All of the controllers could reduce slip heavily in simulation. The Maximum Transmissible Torque Estimation controller reduced slip the most and kept oscillations at a minimum, but was not as responsive as the others to driver commands. The conclusion was that the controller of choice would depend on the working environment of the forklift truck. In a low friction environment where slip is expected to occur often, the Maximum Transmissible Torque Estimation controller is advisable, while the other two would be a better choice for environment with low slip occurrence. The use of torque control, while often better with regards to decreasing slip, could not be advised due to a perceived increase in implementation cost.

En övergång till bilar utrustade med avancerade automatiska säkerhetssystem (ADAS) och även utvecklingen mot självkörande fordon innebär ökad trafik på den lokala databussen. Det finns således ett behov av att både minska den faktiska mängden data som överförs, samtidigt som värdet på datat ökas. Data aggregation tillämpas i dagsläget inom områden såsom trådlösasensornätverk och mindre mobila robotar (WMR’s) och skulle kunna vara en del av en lösning. Denna rapport avser undersöka aggregation av sensordata i ett tidskänsligt system. För ett användarfall gällande halka under konvojkörning testas en aggregationsstrategi genom implementation på en fysisk demonstrator. Demonstratorn består av ett autonomt fordon i mindre skala som befinner sig i en konvoj med ett annat identiskt fordon. Resultaten pekar mot att ett viktat medelvärde, som i realtid anpassar sin viktning baserat på specifika sensorers koherens, med fördel kan användas för att estimera fordonshastighet baserat på individuella hjuls sensordata. Därefter kan en slip ratio beräknas, vilket avgör om fordonet befinner sig i ett tillstånd av halka eller ej. Begränsningar för den undersökta strategin inkluderar antalet icke-halkande hjul som behövs för tillförlitliga resultat. Simulerade resultat antyder att extra hastighetsreferenser behövs för tillförlitliga resultat. Relaterat till användarfallet konvojkörning föreslås att andra fordon används som hastighetsreferens. Detta skulle innebära en ökad precision för estimeringen av fordonshastigheten samt utgöra en intressant sammanslagning av områdena samarbetande cyberfysiska system (CO-CPS) och dataaggregation. / With an impending shift to more advanced safety systems and driver assistance (ADAS) in the vehicles we drive, and also increased autonomousity, comes increased amounts of data on the internal vehicle data bus. There is a need to lessen the amount of data and at the same time increase its value. Data aggregation, often applied in the field of environmental sensing or small mobile robots (WMR’s), could be a partial solution. This thesis choses to investigate an aggregation strategy applied to a use case regarding slip detection in a vehicle convoy. The approach was implemented in a physical demonstrator in the shape of a small autonomousvehicle convoy to produce quantitative data. The results imply that a weighted adaptive average can be used for vehicle velocity estimation based on the input of four individual wheel velocities. There after a slip ratio can be calculated which is used to decide if slip exists or not. Limitations of the proposed approach is however the number of velocity references that is needed since the results currently apply to one-wheel slipon a four-wheel vehicle. A proposed future direction related to the use case of convoy driving could be to include platooning vehicles as extra velocity references for the vehicles in the convoy, thus increasing the accuracy of the slip detection and merging the areas of CO-CPS and data aggregation.

This report evaluates the option of using an equal slip controller, an effective rolling radius and rolling resistance force observer in a 4WD wheel loader. The vehicle studied is an under development- vehicle designed by Volvo CE. A wheel loader is an over actuated, articulated vehicle that is mainly used with low velocities in construction operations. The efficiency subject has been studied earlier by many manufacturers in order to analyze the environmental and economical losses and profits. This has provided research opportunities of optimizing efficiency of different kinds. Since the tire is the only part of a vehicle that is in contact with the ground, the characteristic of the tire effects the dynamics. The analysis shows that the efficiency of a tire is directly connected to the slip ratio which in turn is a component of the overall efficiency ratio. Studies show that the slip ratio should be controlled in such a way that the highest value of efficiency rate is obtained. This optimal value is dependent on all four wheel’s slip conditions. Therefore a strategy should be formulated in order to apply changes to all wheels and not only one. Further analysis shows that the maximum efficiency in a 4WD wheel loader is obtained when the vehicle runs in such a way that the slip ratio is equal for all wheels. I order to maintain same amount of slip for all wheels a control strategy is required. In the control strategy the current amount of slip of each wheel is determined. Further, the average value of slip ratio is calculated. Finally the equal amount of slip is achieved using corresponding optimal torque inputs for each individual wheel. Thus a stable, robust controller is required. The controller used to achieve this goal is a sliding mode controller that is popular among control engineers for its stability, robustness against uncertainties, speed and easy implementation. For an accurate control, states of the rolling resistance and the effective rolling radius need to be determined. The pressure acting on the tire will cause deformation on the tire itself. This leads to a dynamic radius of the tire. This deformation is highly dependent on vertical stress and the structure of tire. Further more velocity, inflation pressure, vertical load etc. also have effect on rolling resistance. Rolling resistance has a great impact on the fuel consumption of the vehicle and the driving characteristics. These estimated variations of effective radius and rolling resistance build a feedback system to the controller which in turn derives the system to the desired slip ratio. As it turns out, the slip efficiency is increased using an equal slip controller. However, it is highly dependent on the ratio of thrust between front and rear wheels. / Denna rapport utvärderar möjligheten att använda en olinjär regulator i syfte att sätta lika stor ’slip’ på fordonets alla fyra hjul. Vidare ska en olinjär observerare modelleras för att uppskatta den så kallad hjulets effektiva radie samt rollmoståndskraften som verkar på däcket. Det studerade fordonet är en hjullastare konstruerad av Volvo CE och som i nuläget är under utveckling. En hjullastare är ett overmanövrerat fordon som huvudsakligen används i låga hastigheter i bygg- och transportverksamheter. Effektivitet är ett ämne som har studerats tidigare av många tillverkare för att analysera miljörelaterade och ekonomiska förluster och vinster. Detta har gett forskarna möjligheten att studera effektivitet av olika slag. Eftersom däcket är den enda delen av ett fordon som kommer i kontakt med marken, påverkar dess karaktär fordonets dynamika beteende i helhet. Analysen visar att däckets effektivitet är direkt kopplad till slipförhållande som i sin tur är en del av det totala effektivitetsförhållandet. Studier visar att slipförhållandet bör kontrolleras på ett sådant sätt att det högsta värdet av effektivitet uppnås. Detta optimala värde är beroende av slipförhållanden hos alla fyra hjul och därför bör en strategi formuleras för att nå optimalt slipeffektivitet på alla hjul. Ytterligare analys visar att maximal slipeffektivitet i en 4WD hjullastare erhålls när fordonet går så att slipförhållandet är lika för alla hjul. I kontrollstrategin bestäms det nuvarande slipförhållandet för varje hjul. Av dessa beräknas medelvärdet som skall presentera referensvärdet av slipförhållandet. Slutligen upp-nås detta värde med motsvarande optimala momentinmatningar för varje enskilt hjul. Styralgoritmen som används för att uppnå detta mål är en Sliding mode regulator som är populär bland kontrollingenjörer för dess stabilitet, robusthet mot osäkerhet, snabbhet och enkel implementering. För en noggrann kontroll måste tillstånden av rullmotståndskraften och effektiv rull-radien observeras. De verkande krafterna på hjulet orsakar deformation på däcket som ger upphov till däckets dynamiska radie. Denna deformation är starkt beroende av vertikal spänning och däckets struktur. Vidare har hastighet, däckets lufttryck, vertikal belastning etc. också effekt på rullmotståndskraften. Rullmotstånd har stor inverkan på fordonets bränsleförbrukning och drivegenskaper. Dessa variationer av effektivradie och rullmotstånd bygger ett återkopplat system till regulatorn som i sin tur leder systemet till önskat slipförhållande. Som det visar sig, ökar slipeffektiviteten med hjälp av "equal slip" styralgoritm. Detta är emellertid mycket beroende av förhållandet av momentinmatningar mellan fram och bakhjulet.

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No / The shear viscosity of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) melt is particularly investigated by using a twin-bore capillary rheometer at four temperatures of 210, 225, 240, and 255 degrees C with different capillary dies. Experimental results show that the geometrical dependence of shear viscosity is significantly dependent on melt pressure as well as melt temperature. The measured shear viscosity increases with the decrease of die diameter at lower temperatures (210 and 225 degrees C) but decreases with the decrease of die diameter at higher temperatures (240 and 255 degrees C). Based on the deviation of shear viscosity curves and Mooney method, negative slip velocity is obtained at low temperatures and positive slip velocity is obtained at high temperatures, respectively. Geometrical dependence and pressure sensitivity of shear viscosity as well as temperature effect are emphasized for this viscosity deviation. Moreover, shear viscosity curve at 210 degrees C deviates from the power law model above a critical pressure and then becomes less thinning. Mechanisms of the negative slip velocity at low temperatures are explored through Doolittle viscosity model and Barus equation, in which the pressure drop is used to obtain the pressure coefficient by curve fitting. Dependence of pressure coefficient on melt temperature suggests that the pressure sensitivity of shear viscosity is significantly affected by temperature. Geometrical dependence of shear viscosity can be somewhat weakened by increasing melt temperature. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 3384-3394, 2013

Timber-concrete composite (TCC) structures are becoming more popular in several industrial applications as an efficient method for optimizing the structural performance and the cost of construction as well as lowering the emissions of carbon dioxide. TCC floors are more sustainable than pure concrete floors and more resistant to vibrations and excessive deflections than pure wooden floors. The effectiveness of a TCC floor is dependent on the connection between the materials. The stiffness and strength of the composite element increases by having a rigid connection. An example of a rigid connection is an adhesive-bonded connection, however obtaining a connection without slip is difficult considering there will always be certain amount of slippage in the connection. In this thesis adhesive connections are investigated with two different types of adhesive, one called Sikasil SG-500 and the other Sika PS. The application of the adhesives for the test specimen differ. Since Sika PS is a more fluid glue, a different approach was necessary than for the Sikasil SG-500. Five test specimen were tested of each adhesive by performing double shear push out tests and comparing the results to a numerical model, which was performed in ABAQUS. In the numerical model, the adhesive was created as a cohesive element. Furthermore the properties of the modeled adhesive was based on the experimental results for respective adhesive. The experimental results showed that both adhesives managed the estimated shear force in the serviceability limit state and the ultimate limit state and yet remained in the elastic region. Sikasil SG-500 turned out to be more flexible while Sika PS specimen resulted in higher shear strength. The short creep tests (30 minutes of a constant load) showed that the deformation increased more for Sika PS than for Sikasil SG-500. However both adhesives had large deformations after only 30 minutes. There was also a difference in the average longitudinal shear strength, where it resulted in 1.06 MPa for Sikasil SG-500 and 2.02 MPa for Sika PS. This study indicates that Sika PS is more preferable in TCC structures than Sikasil SG-500.

The rheological properties of cement-based grouts play a key role in determining the final spread in grouted rock formations. Rheologically, cement grouts are known to be complex thixotropic fluids, but their steady flow behavior is often described by fitting the simple Bingham constitutive law to flow curve data. The resultant Bingham parameters are then used in grouting design of e.g. tunnels, to estimate the penetration length. Since cement grouts are thixotropic suspensions, the interpretation of their flow curves as obtained from flow sweeps in concentric cylinder rotational rheometers is often complicated by: the presence of wall slip, sedimentation and unstable flow at low shear rates. A systematic approach to study these effects within the constraints of the concentric cylinder geometry (Couette) and for different cement grout concentrations was carried out as part of the Licentiate research work. Of particular interest was the influence of geometry and flow sweep measurement interval on flow curves, including the characteristic unstable flow branch that appears at applied shear rates that are below the critical shear rate. The unstable flow branch observed below the critical shear rate has been described as a characteristic feature in the flow curves of thixotropic suspensions, e.g. cement grouts, laponite. From a practical standpoint, this information can then be readily used to improve rheological measurements of cement grouts. The existence of the critical shear rate below which no stable flow occurs, plus the complex wall slip phenomenon are then discussed by considering how they affect actual spread in rough and smooth rock fractures. Another major part of the research presented in this thesis relates to the measurement of model yield stress fluid (YSF), i.e. Carbopol, velocity profiles within the radial flow geometry. Radial flow between parallel plates, is an idealized fundamental flow configuration that is often used as a basis for grout spread estimation in planar rock fractures. Compared to other flow configurations with YSFs, e.g. channels, only a limited amount of work has presented analytical solutions, numerical models and especially experimental work for radial flow. Thus, as a first step towards more systematic studies of the plug flow region of YSFs in radial flow the current work presents the design, manufacture and for the first time velocity profile measurements that were conducted by using the pulsed Ultrasound Velocity Profiling (UVP) technique. The current observations for tests carried out with different disk spacings and flow rates show a distinct plug region, coupled with wall slip effects for the Carbopol model YSF fluid that was used. The theoretically predicted velocity profiles and the measured ones agree reasonably well, and the main discrepancies are discussed. Future studies, would then be targeted at improving the current experimental setup, for detailed measurements of the plug flow region along the radial length, which remains a challenging issue for studies on YSFs and engineering applications such as rock grouting design. / Cementbaserade injekteringsmedels reologiska egenskaper har en stor påverkan på strömning och inträngningslängd i sprickigt berg. Medlens reologi är komplex, inklusive tixotropi, men strömningen beskrivs ändå oftast med den enkla linjära Bingham modellen i injekteringssammanhang. De två parametrarna från denna modell, flytgräns och viskositet, används sedan inom injekteringsdesign, för t.ex. tunnlar och dammar, för att bedöma inträngningen. Eftersom cementbaserade medel är tixoptropa suspensioner försvåras utvärderingen vid mätning med konventionella rotationsviskometrar på grund av glidning vid fasta begränsningsytor, sedimentation/separation av partiklarna och instabila flöden vid låga deformationshastigheter. En systematisk mätprocedur för att studera ovanstående problem med rotationsviskometer och koncentriska cylindrar samt olika vanliga vattencementtal, har utförts inom ramen för detta licentiatarbete. Av särskilt intresse har varit att studera effekten av olika geometrier och tidsintervallet mellan mätningarna, inklusive den instabila delen av flödeskurvan då deformationshastigheten är lägre än ett kritiskt värde. Denna del av kurvan har i litteraturen beskrivits som karakteristisk för tixotropa suspensioner, som t.ex. cementbaserade injekteringsmedel. Praktiskt kan ovanstående kunskap användas för att förbättra mätningen av de reologiska egenskaperna. Existensen av en kritisk deformationshastighet under vilken det inte finns något stabilt flöde, i kombination med glidning vid fasta begränsningsytor, diskuteras särskilt med hänsyn till dess påverkan på faktisk inträngning i släta och råa bergsprickor. Ett annat fokus i licentiatarbetet har varit att studera icke-Newtonska modellvätskors (Carbopol) radiella strömning mellan parallella plattor. Denna typ av strömningsgeometri används ofta som en idealiserad konfiguration för strömning i bergsprickor. I jämförelse med andra enklare geometrier, finns endast en begränsad forskning utförd för denna geometri både då det gäller analytiska och numeriska beräkningar men framförallt då det gäller experiment. Som ett första steg inför en mer systematisk undersökning av icke-Newtonsk radiella strömning presenteras i detta arbete framtagandet av en fysisk laboratoriemodell där hastighetsprofilerna mellan plattorna för första gången visualiserats med hjälp av ultraljud. De utförda mätningarna med tre olika öppningar mellan plattorna sam tre olika värden på det konstanta flödet, visar på en distinkt plugg som är ett resultat av vätskans flytgräns samt glidning i gränsskiktet mellan vätskan och plattornas fasta begränsningsytor. En jämförelse mellan uppmätta hastighetsprofiler och analytiskt beräknade diskuteras där resultaten överensstämmer relativt väl, med beaktande av de långtgående förenklade antaganden som krävs för beräkningarna. Fortsatta studier kommer att fokuseras på att förbättra laboratoriemodellen för en mer detaljerad studie av icke-Newtonska vätskors strömning och hur pluggen utvecklas under den radiella inträngningen, vilket fortsättningsvis är av betydelse för design av injektering i bergsprickor. / <p>QC 20190521</p>

Immediate occupancy and functionality of critical facilities including hospitals, emergency operations centers, communications centers, and police and fire stations is of utmost importance immediately after a damaging earthquake, as they must continue to provide fundamental health, emergency, and security services in the aftermath of an extreme event. Although recent earthquakes have proven the acceptable performance of the structural system in such buildings, when designed according to recent seismic design codes, in many cases damage to the nonstructural components and systems was the main cause of disruption in their functionality. Seismic isolation is proven to be an effective technique to protect building structures from damaging earthquakes. It has been the method of choice for critical facilities, including hospitals in Japan and the United States in recent years. Seismic isolation appears to be an ideal solution for protecting the nonstructural components as well. While this claim was made three decades ago, the supporting research for freestanding (unanchored) equipment and contents (EC) is fairly new. With the focus on freestanding EC, this study investigates the seismic performance of sliding and wheel/caster-supported EC in fixed-base and base-isolated buildings. The study adopts a comparative approach to provide a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of using each structural system. The seismic response of sliding EC is investigated analytically in the first part of the thesis, while the response of EC supported on wheels/casters is examined through shake table experiments on two pieces of hospital equipment. The study finds base isolation to be generally effective in reducing seismic demands on freestanding EC, but it also exposes certain situations where isolation in fact increases demands on EC. Increasing the frictional resistance for sliding EC or locking the wheel/casters in the case of wheel/caster-supported EC is highly recommended for EC in base-isolated buildings to prevent excessive displacement demands. Furthermore, the study suggests several design probability functions that can be used by practicing engineers to estimate the peak seismic demands on sliding and wheel/caster-supported EC in fixed-base and base-isolated buildings. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>Diesel engines emit toxic gases like NOx and hydrocarbons. These gases need to be treated before they are released out the tailpipe. Thus, an aftertreatment system is installed which comprises of DOC, DPF and SCR. The DOC oxidizes the hydrocarbons and NO, the DPF traps the particulate matter and SCR reduces the NOx by reacting with NH3 at high temperatures. However, since NH3 is also a toxic gas, it cannot be released out the tailpipe in excess. It is important to inject an appropriate amount of NH3 so that it does not slip out the tailpipe. With increasingly stringent regulations on the emission limits of these toxic gases, control of SCR has become more necessary than before.</p> <p>In this thesis, the work done by previous members of the lab research group was improved upon. The objective remained the same, namely, keeping the NH3 slip under 50 ppm while maximizing NOx reduction. On initial inspection, it was realized that the entire controller had been designed and implemented in continuous time. Since the controller would be implemented digitally, with limited hardware sampling time, a discrete-time implementation as done via a DCU was created. The controller switched between two controllers – slip-based and storage-based. The slip-based controller was modified to include a feedforward term in the system so that the response time could be improved along with a feedback controller to eliminate any disturbances and steady-state error, using ammonia slip feedback as measured by an NH3 sensor. It aims at keeping the maximum ammonia slip under 50 ppm. The storage controller is a feedback controller which tries to limit the ammonia storage based on the values fed by a lookup table. This lookup table is a simplified table that determines the maximum ammonia storage at any given instant based on the catalyst bed temperature. The feedback controller gains for both controllers were determined based on a linearized plant model since the initial gains were ineffective with the discretized model. The initial switching mode controller that switches between slip control and storage control switched too frequently between the controllers, thereby affecting controller performance. A switching logic was implemented to limit the number of switches. A switch will be permitted only if the previous switch occurred over a certain time. By implementing all the subparts together in the controller, incremental improvements were prominent. In the end, the performance by implementing the proposed idea was distinctly better. The metrics considered for performance comparison are the number of switches and the ability to maximize slip up to 50 ppm. Parameter error was also studied as well and its effect on the controller performance was analyzed. The data when tested against sets of underestimated, overestimated and mixed estimates for the plant parameters resulted in the underestimated parameters to work within the scope of the objective. The controller was able to compensate for the underdosing. Overestimation caused overdosing in the system which led to spikes in the NH3 slip. Thus, it is better to underestimate the plant parameters than overestimate them.</p>

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