Micromagnetic modeling numerically solves magnetization evolution equation to process magnetic domain analysis, which helps to understand the macroscopic magnetic properties of ferromagnets. To apply this method in simulation of magnetostrictive ferromagnets, there exist two main challenges: the complicated microelasticity due to the magnetostrictive strain, and very expensive computation mainly caused by the calculation of long-range magnetostatic and elastic interactions. A parallel computing for phase field model based on computer cluster is then developed as a promising tool for domain analysis in magnetostrictive ferromagnetic materials. We have successfully built an 8-node Apple workgroup cluster, deploying the hardware system and configuring the software environment, as a platform for parallel computation of phase field model of magnetic materials. Several testing programs have been implemented to evaluate the performance of the cluster system, especially for the application of parallel computation using MPI. The results show the cluster system can simultaneously support up to 32 processes for MPI program with high performance of interprocess communication. The parallel computations of phase field model of magnetic materials implemented by a MPI program have been performed on the developed cluster system. The simulated results of a single domain rotation in Terfenol-D crystals agree well with the theoretical prediction. A further simulation including magnetic and elastic interaction among multiple domains shows that we need take into account the interaction effects in order to accurately characterize the magnetization processes in Terfenol-D. These simulation examples suggest that the paralleling computation of the phase field model of magnetic materials based on a powerful cluster system is a promising technology that meets the need of domain analysis.

The purpose of this study was to design games by referring to multiplication and division units, then through a pilot test and modification and integrating modified games in mathematics teaching for elementary third graders, so as to investigate the performance and learning attitude of students and to analyze the advantages and disadvantages in the teaching processes. Results indicated that the children made progress in multiplication and division computation and behaved positively on learning attitude. Meanwhile, the cooperation and team spirit were enhanced and a closed and warm relationship between teachers and students was established. In the end, regarding the curriculum and activities design, the researcher made some recommendations. They are: integration of life experience of children, blend into various characteristics of games, good control of classroom order and time. The above results yielded instructional implications for teachers who consider integrating games into mathematics instruction for elementary school children in future.

This thesis presents an improved method for dynamic force computation applicable to both electrostatic and electromagnetic conductors with complex 3D geometries. During the transient simulation of electrostatic actuated MEMS, the positions of the conductors as well as the potential applied to the conductors may change, necessitating recalculation of electrostatic forces at each time step of computation. Similarly, during the simulation of electromagnetic actuated MEMS, the current re-distribution in the conductors requires recalculation of electromagnetic forces at each time step. In this thesis, a simple method based on the principles of fast multipole algorithm is explored to effectively recalculate the potential coefficients to compute the surface charges and thereby forces during transient simulation of electrostatic conductors. The proposed method improves the speed of electrostatic force computation by 15 - 60% at each time step, depending on the displacement, with an error less than 3%. Electromagnetic forces are also computed by the same method. In addition, an efficient method is also presented for electrostatic analysis of dummy metal filled interconnects.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-171).

This research deals with production scheduling of manufacturing systems that predominantly consist of hybrid flowshops. Hybrid Flowshop Scheduling (HFS) problems are common in metal working industries. Their solution has significant inferences on company performance in a globally competitive market in terms of production cycle time, delivery dates, warehouse and work-in-process inventory management. HFS problems have attracted considerable research efforts on examining their scientific complexity and practical solution algorithms. In conventional HFS systems, an individual job goes through the flowshop with its own processing route, which has no influence on other jobs. However, in many metal working HFS systems, jobs have interdependent relationships during the process. This thesis focuses on addressing two classes of HFS problems with job interdependence that have been motivated by real-life industrial problems observed from our collaborating companies. The first class of HFS problems with job interdependence are faced by manufacturers of typically standard metal components where jobs are organized in families according to their machine settings and tools. Family setup times arise when a machine shifts from processing one job family to another. This problem is compounded by the challenges that the formation of job families is different in different stages and only a limited number of jobs can be processed within one setup. This class of problems is defined as HFS with family setup and inconsistent family formation. The second class of HFS problems with job interdependence is typically faced in a production process consisting of divergent operations where a single input item is converted into multiple output items. Two important challenges have been investigated. One is that one product can be produced following different process routes. The other is that the total inventory capacity is very limited in the company in the sense that the inventory spaces are commonly shared by raw materials, work-in-process items and finished products. This class of problems is defined as HFS with divergent production and common inventory. The aim is to analyze the general characteristics of HFS with job interdependence and develop effective and practical methodologies that can tackle real-world constraints and reduce the scheduling effort in daily production. This research has made the following contributions: (1) A V-A-X structural classification has been proposed to represent the divergent (V), convergent (A) and mixed (X) job interdependent relations during the production. (2) A genetic algorithm based approach and a particle swarm optimization based approach have been developed to solve two classes of HFS problems with job interdependence, respectively. The computational results based on actual production data have shown that the proposed solutions are robust, efficient and advantageous for solving the practical problems. (3) A waiting factor approach and delay timetable approach have been developed to extend the solutions space of two classes of HFS problems by inserting intentional idle times into original schedules. The computational results have indicated that better schedules can be obtained in the extended solution spaces. / published_or_final_version / Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Not available / text

Not available / text

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Computer Science and Information Systems / Master / Master of Philosophy

Due to the fast increasing capabilities of modern computers it is now feasible to calculate spectra of small atom and molecules with the greater level of accuracy than high-resolution measurements. The mathematical algorithms developed and implemented on high performance supercomputers for the quantum mechanical calculations are directly derived from the first principles of quantum mechanics. The codes developed are primarily used to verify, refine, and predict the energies associated within a given system and given angular momentum state of interest. The Hamiltonian operator used to determine the total energy in the approach presented is called the internal Hamiltonian and is obtained by rigorously separating out the center-of-mass motion (or the elimination of translational motion) from the laboratory-frame Hamiltonian. The methods utilized in the articles presented in this dissertation do not include relativistic corrections and quantum electrodynamic effects, nor do these articles assume the Born-Oppenheimer (BO) approximation with the exception of one publication. There is one major review article included herein which describes the major differences between the non-BO method and the BO approximation using explicitly correlated Gaussian (ECG) basis functions. The physical systems studied in this dissertation are the atomic elements with Z < 7 (although the discussion is not limited to these) and diatomic molecules such as H₂⁺ and H₂ including nuclear isotopic substitution studies with deuterium and tritium, as well as electronic substitutions with the muon particle. Preliminary testing for triatomic molecular functionals using a model potential is also included in this dissertation. It has been concluded that using all-particle ECGs with including the addition of nonzero angular momentum functions to describe nonzero angular momentum states is sufficient in determining the energies of these states for both the atomic and molecular case.

Aim of the work – to propose new methods and algorithms for automated deflection yoke tuning.