<p>Composite structures can lower the weight of an airliner significantly. The increased production cost, however, requires the application of cost-effective design strategies. Hence, a comparative value is required which is used for the evaluation of a design solution in terms of cost and weight. The direct operating cost (DOC) can be used as this comparative value; it captures all costs that arise when the aircraft is flown. In this work, a cost/weight optimization framework for composite structures is proposed. It takes into account manufacturing cost, non-destructive testing cost and the lifetime fuel consumption based on the weight of the aircraft, thus using a simplified version of the DOC as the objective function.</p><p>First, the different phases in the design of an aircraft are explained. It is then focused on the advantages and drawbacks of composite structures, the design constraints and allowables, and non-destructive inspection. Further, the topics of multiobjective optimization and the combined optimization of cost and weight are addressed. Manufacturing cost can be estimated by means of different techniques; here, feature-based cost estimations and parametric cost estimations proved to be most suitable for the proposed framework. Finally, a short summary of the appended papers is given.</p><p>The first paper contains a parametric study in which a skin/stringer panel is optimized for a series of cost/weight ratios (weight penalties) and material configurations. The weight penalty, defined as the specific lifetime fuel burn, is dependent on the fuel consumption of the aircraft, the fuel price and the viewpoint of the optimizer. It is concluded that the ideal choice of the design solution is neither low-cost nor low-weight but rather a combination thereof.</p><p>The second paper proposes the inclusion of non-destructive testing cost in the design process of the component, and the adjustment of the design strength of each laminate according to the inspection parameters. Hence, the scan pitch of the ultrasonic testing is regarded as a variable, representing an index for the (guaranteed) laminate quality. It is shown that the direct operating cost can be lowered when the quality level of the laminate is assigned and adjusted in an early design stage.</p>

No description available.

Šiame darbe pasirinkta ištirti, kokie administraciniai teisės pažeidimai sutinkami Lietuvos aplinkosaugoje nuo 1998 iki 2005 metų. Administraciniai teisės pažeidimai aplinkosaugoje buvo analizuojami Lietuvos ir regioninių aplinkos apsaugos departamentų (RAAD) lygmenyse, išanalizuota padarytų pažeidimų žala aplinkos komponentams, remiantis administraciniu teisės pažeidimo kodeksu, išanalizuota, kokios administracinės nuobaudos, aplinkybės, kada rašomas ir nerašomas administracinis teisės pažeidimų protokolas už aplinkosauginius pažeidimus. Administracinių teisės pažeidimų analizei atlikti buvo panaudoti Valstybės aplinkos apsaugos inspekcijos kontrolės rezultatai. Remiantis šiais duomenimis paaiškėjo, kad daugiausiai išaiškinama gyvūnijos apsaugos, išskyrus 1998 metais – atmosferos apsaugos, o mažiausiai nuo 1998 – 1999 metų miškų apsaugos, bei 1999 – 2005 metais pareigybinių pažeidimų. Buvo atlikta apklausa, kurios metu buvo siekiama išsiaiškinti gyventojų požiūrį į administracinius teisės pažeidimus aplinkosaugoje. Tyrimo metu paaiškėjo, kad administraciniais teisės pažeidimais aplinkosaugoje daugiau domisi vyrai. 15 % apklaustųjų žino, kad Lietuvoje daugiausiai išaiškinama gyvūnijos apsaugos pažeidimų bei 10 % žino, kad mažiausiai - pareigybinių pažeidimų. 87% respondentų teigia, kad administracinė atsakomybė už aplinkosaugos pažeidimus yra būtina. 61% respondentų teigia, kad šiuo metu skiriamos baudos neužtikrina auklėjamojo poveikio administraciniams teisės pažeidėjams. 7... [to full text] / In the thesis it was chosen to investigate the administrative violations of law found in the field of environmental protection in Lithuania between 1998 and 2005. The administrative violations of law were analyzed in the levels of Lithuania and REPD (Regional Environmental Protection Departments), the damage caused to the environmental components was analyzed basing on the Code of Administrative Violations of Law, the administrative penalties, the circumstances subject to drawing up and not drawing up a report for violation of environmental protection laws were discussed. The data got from the State Environmental Protection Inspectorate were used for the investigation of the administrative law violations. Basing on the data it appeared that the greatest number of disclosed violations was in fauna protection, except in 1998 when violations in atmosphere protection prevailed, and the smallest number of the disclosed violations in 1998-1999 was in forest protection and in 1999-2005 - in the field of professional misconduct. The poll was carried out in order to find out the population’s attitude towards the administrative law violations in the field of environmental protection. The research showed that males were more interested in administrative law violations in the field of environmental protection. 15% of the respondents know that the greatest part of all the disclosed violations was in fauna protection and 10% of them know that the disclosure of the professional... [to full text]

In this thesis, we first develop a new method called penalty function with memory (PFM). PFM consists of a penalty parameter and a measure of constraint violation and it converts a discrete optimization via simulation (DOvS) problem with stochastic constraints into a series of DOvS problems without stochastic constraints. PFM determines a penalty of a visited solution based on past results of feasibility checks on the solution. Specifically, assuming a minimization problem, a penalty parameter of PFM, namely the penalty sequence, diverges to infinity for an infeasible solution but converges to zero almost surely for any strictly feasible solution under certain conditions. For a feasible solution located on the boundary of feasible and infeasible regions, the sequence converges to zero either with high probability or almost surely. As a result, a DOvS algorithm combined with PFM performs well even when optimal solutions are tight or nearly tight. Second, we design an optimal water quality monitoring network for river systems. The problem is to find the optimal location of a finite number of monitoring devices, minimizing the expected detection time of a contaminant spill event while guaranteeing good detection reliability. When uncertainties in spill and rain events are considered, both the expected detection time and detection reliability need to be estimated by stochastic simulation. This problem is formulated as a stochastic DOvS problem with the objective of minimizing expected detection time and with a stochastic constraint on the detection reliability; and it is solved by a DOvS algorithm combined with PFM. Finally, we improve PFM by combining it with an approximate budget allocation procedure. We revise an existing optimal budget allocation procedure so that it can handle active constraints and satisfy necessary conditions for the convergence of PFM.

All modern High Temperature Reactors (HTR) thermal cycles have one thing in common: the use of some form of heat exchanger. This heat exchanger is used to pre-heat or cool the primary loop gas, from where the secondary power generation cycle is driven. The Compact Heat Exchanger (CHE) type offers high heat loads in smaller volumes. Various studies have been done to improve the heat transfer in the flow channels of these CHEs but little focus has been placed on the thermal design of surrounding material in such a heat exchanger. The focus of this study is on the effective material usage in a CHE. Three test cases were investigated (trapezoidal, serpentine and zigzag layouts with semi-circular cross-sections) all under the same boundary conditions. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to simulate these test cases and the results were evaluated according to four factors, the volume ratio, heat spots, temperature difference and the combined enhancement factor. From the results it was concluded that the zigzag layout performs best when evaluated according to the volume ratio and the temperature difference and gave the best overall enhancement factor. The serpentine layout performed the worst when evaluated according to the enhancement factor. / Thesis (MIng (Nuclear Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

All modern High Temperature Reactors (HTR) thermal cycles have one thing in common: the use of some form of heat exchanger. This heat exchanger is used to pre-heat or cool the primary loop gas, from where the secondary power generation cycle is driven. The Compact Heat Exchanger (CHE) type offers high heat loads in smaller volumes. Various studies have been done to improve the heat transfer in the flow channels of these CHEs but little focus has been placed on the thermal design of surrounding material in such a heat exchanger. The focus of this study is on the effective material usage in a CHE. Three test cases were investigated (trapezoidal, serpentine and zigzag layouts with semi-circular cross-sections) all under the same boundary conditions. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to simulate these test cases and the results were evaluated according to four factors, the volume ratio, heat spots, temperature difference and the combined enhancement factor. From the results it was concluded that the zigzag layout performs best when evaluated according to the volume ratio and the temperature difference and gave the best overall enhancement factor. The serpentine layout performed the worst when evaluated according to the enhancement factor. / Thesis (MIng (Nuclear Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

In my essay, I write about the work at a pre-school in a segregated suburb. I begin my essay with examples from my workday. In one case, it is about Sara, playing games where other children are excluded and she also exhibits a power game towards me. In the second example, it is about how a group of children conspire and expose both themselves and others for destructive conspiracy patterns. When I write down what happens in the group of children at my pre-school, I see patterns reminiscent of destructive gangs. I reflect about whether I am witnessing that my preschooler is in the preliminary stage of youth gangs with destructive patterns. The purpose of my essay is that for my own sake, and from a social perspective to provides deeper understanding of the causes that can generate power game and conspiracy patterns in children in segregated neighborhoods. I also describe how it can be to work in a kindergarten in a segregated suburb. M y questions are what happen to children when norms in the home are in conflict with the norms of the preschool. The norms in the homes may also be an illegal act in Sweden, when punishment and spanking occurs. Children may be in a conflict of loyalties when they know that parents may not spank their children in Sweden, but still do it. I examine whether there may be negative factors in the family's integration that allows contexts do not meet in a positive direction, and therefore can cause cultural clashes. I start from my own experiences as child-minder in the suburbs during twenty five years. I do this by writing the essay, I reflect on my own thoughts, but also through reflective conversations with others. To obtain scientific perspective on my research, I have chosen as the starting point to the support of other studies in ethnological and sociological aspects. I have come to the conclusion that there may be several reasons for pre-school children of my workplace to act as they do. One reason that I think is important is that families in my pre-school are segregated in the segregation, their meetings consisting mostly of their own countrymen and relatives. The majority of parents have no work and their contact with the Swedish society is done by the authorities and at the pre-school. I have met families where parents have lived in Sweden for twenty years, but still have limited language in Swedish. I have also seen that there is an aversion to the "Swedish" and that there is a conscious choice to refrain from it.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:43:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1762262 bytes, checksum: 48f6d4351d028ae118fd26095d9b1f42 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-04-20 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work aims to investigate the coreferential processing of learners of a L2 (french) in three proficiency levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and compare them with native french speakers. It will be analyzed the extent to which the proficiency influences the processing of the L2 in the specific phenomenon of Repeated Name Penalty (Gordon & Chan 1995, Gordon & Hendrick, 1998; Chambers & Smyth, 1998) and Informational Load Hypothesis (Almor, 1999), besides relating the processing of the L2 Shallow Structure Hypothesis (Felser, 2006) and the Declarative/Procedural Model (Ullman, 2001). Two self-observation reading experiments were applied. In the first experiment, we analyzed the reading times for pronouns and repeated names in retrieved anaphoric in the subject position with learners from the three proficiency levels. The results show that each level of proficiency presents a pattern processing. The second experiment was applied to native speakers of French language and reading times compared with the performance of learners of an advanced level in the first experiment. There was a difference in processing between the two groups, although both suffer repeated name penalty, concerning the processing time; Learners process slower than natives, confirming the Shallow Structure Hypothesis and the Declarative/Procedural Model. / Este trabalho pretende investigar o processamento correferencial de aprendizes de L2 (francês) em três níveis de proficiência (iniciante, intermediário, avançado) e compará-los com falantes nativos de francês. Analisaremos até que ponto a proficiência influencia o processamento da L2 no fenômeno específico da Penalidade do Nome Repetido (Gordon & Chan 1995, Gordon & Hendrick, 1998; Chambers & Smyth, 1998) e Hipótese da Carga Informacional (Almor, 1999), além de relacionar o processamento da L2 com a Hipótese da Estrutura Rasa (Felser, 2006) e o Modelo Declarativo-Procedural (Ullman, 2001). Foram aplicados dois experimentos de leitura automonitorada. No primeiro experimento, analisamos os tempos de leitura de pronomes e nomes repetidos em retomadas anafóricas na posição de sujeito com os aprendizes dos três níveis de proficiência. Os resultados mostram que cada nível de proficiência apresenta um padrão de processamento. O segundo experimento foi aplicado com falantes nativos de língua francesa e os tempos de leitura comparados com o desempenho dos aprendizes de nível avançado no primeiro experimento. Observou-se uma diferença de processamento entre os dois grupos, embora ambos sofram penalidade do nome repetido, no que concerne ao tempo de processamento; os aprendizes processam de maneira menos rápida que os nativos, confirmando a Hipótese da Estrutura Rasa e o Modelo Declarativo-Procedural.

Over the past decades, the concepts and methods for reliability assessment have evolved from analysing the ability of individual components to operate without faults and as intended during their lifetime, into the comprehensive approaches for evaluating various engineering strategies for system planning, operation and maintenance studies. The conventional reliability assessment procedures now receive different perspectives in different engineering applications and this thesis aims to improve existing approaches by incorporating in the analysis: a) a more detailed and accurate models of LV and MV networks and their reliability equivalents, which are important for the analysis of transmission and sub-transmission networks, b) the variations in characteristics and parameters of LV and MV networks in different areas, specified as “generic” UK/Scottish highly-urban, urban, sub-urban and rural network models, c) the relevant requirements for network reliability performance imposed by Regulators on network operators, d) the actual aggregate load profiles of supplied customers and their correlation with typical daily variations of fault probabilities and repair times of considered network components, and e) some of the expected “smart grid” functionalities, e.g., increased use of network automation and reconfiguration schemes, as well as the higher penetration levels of distributed generation/storage resources. The conventional reliability assessment procedures typically do not include, or only partially include the abovementioned important factors and aspects in the analysis. In order to demonstrate their importance, the analysis presented in the thesis implements both analytical and probabilistic reliability assessment methods in a number of scenarios and study cases with improved and more detailed “generic” LV and MV network models and their reliability equivalents. Their impact on network reliability performance is analysed and quantified in terms of the frequency and duration of long and short supply interruptions (SAIFI and SAIDI), as well as energy not supplied (ENS). This thesis addresses another important aspect of conventional approaches, which often, if not always, provide separate indicators for the assessment of system-based reliability performance and for the assessment of customer-based reliability performance. The presented analysis attempts to more closely relate system reliability performance indicators, which generally correspond to a fictitious “average customer”, to the actual “best-served” and “worst-served” customers in the considered networks. Here, it is shown that a more complex metric than individual reliability indicators should be used for the analysis, as there are different best-served and worst-served customers in terms of the frequency and duration of supply interruptions, as well as amounts of not supplied energy. Finally, the analysis in the thesis considers some aspects of the anticipated transformation of existing networks into the future smart grids, which effectively require to re-evaluate the ways in which network reliability is approached at both planning and operational stages. Smart grids will feature significantly higher penetration levels of variable renewable-based distributed generation technologies (with or without energy storage), as well as the increased operational flexibility, automation and remote control facilities. In this context, the thesis evaluates some of the considered smart grid capabilities and functionalities, showing that improved system reliability performance might result in a deterioration of power quality performance. This is illustrated through the analysis of applied automation, reconfiguration and automatic reclosing/remote switching schemes, which are shown to reduce frequency and duration of long supply interruptions, but will ultimately result in more frequent and/or longer voltage sags and short interruptions. Similarly, distributed generation/storage resources might have strong positive impact on system reliability performance through the reduced power flows in local networks and provision of alternative supply points, even allowing for a fully independent off-grid operation in microgrids, but this may also result in the reduced power quality levels within the microgrids, or elsewhere in the network, e.g. due to a higher number of switching transfers and transients.

Le droit ne se réduit pas aux règles. Que cet ancien adage paraisse aujourd’hui sibyllin montre la difficulté des juristes face à ce qu’il faut appeler l’anomie. Le pouvoir confié à une autorité de surmonter cette absence de règles provoque l’émergence de l’arbitraire en droit. Depuis l’Antiquité, ses fonctions répressives et administratives témoignent de son utilité indéfectible. Sous l’emprise du déterminisme juridique intégral d’un Dieu (VIIIe-XIIIe) ou d’un Législateur (XVIIIe-XXe), l’arbitraire se réduit à l’interprétation des normes omniprésentes. Il peut également former une voie de droit extraordinaire en complément des règles fixes (XIIIe-XVIIIe). Son apogée comme principe général de gouvernement voire de répression n’est atteinte qu’à l’occasion du profond bouleversement moderne (XVIe). À travers ces variations, trois formes de légalité se côtoient et proposent les conditions du choix d’un arbitraire légal. / Law is not reducible to rules. The fact that this ancient adage now sounds intriguing points out jurist’s difficulties to face what must be called anomie. Arbitrariness refers to the power given to one authority to overcome this absence of rules. Since Antiquity, repressive and administrative functions shows its irreducible utility. Under the empire of an integral determinism of God (VIIIe-XIIIe) or a Legislator (XVIIIe-XXe), arbitrariness is confined to interprete omnipresent norms. It can also provide extraordinary means in complement of fixed rules (XIIIe-XVIIIe). Its apogee as general principle of government or punishment is only reached by the modern upheaval (XVIe). Through its variations, three forms of legality coexists and reveals the conditions surrounding the choice of a legal arbitrariness.