In 2013, cracks were found in the radius of the dovetail slots of the rotor rim sheets in generator 1 of Juktan hydro power plant in Västerbotten, Sweden. The cracks were estimated to be too deep to be able to repair and Alstom conducted an investigation on the cause of fracture. The investigation came to the conclusion that the radius was too small and that the new rotor rim sheets should have a six times greater fillet radius. However, it has not been investigated whether the material structure or the manufacturing process may have an impact on the crack initiation and following propagation that is the focus of this report.Parts of the dovetail slots were cut out and characterized with XRF, SEM and LOM. Further mechanical characterizations were done according to Vickers.From the SEM and LOM micrographs a high amount of large (10μm) and cubic particles were found in the microstructure. The micrographs also showed a deformation of the microstructure and the hardness test showed a deformation hardening near the edge where the sheet had been punched. The edge surface of the sheet also had notches.The large and hard particles in the microstructure impair the mechanical properties of the steel. Furthermore, the hardening effect combined with the notches will make a good crack initiation point. Therefore, there is a higher possibility that a crack will initiate in the radius of the dovetail slots where large stresses occur.

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D-printing is an automated manufacturing process in which the component is built layer upon layer from a predefined 3D computer model. In contrast to conventional manufacturing processes where a vast volume of material is wasted due to machining, AM only uses the material that the component consists of. In addition to material savings, the method has a number of potential benefits. Two of these are (1) a large design freedom which enables the production of complex geometries and (2) a reduced compexity in supply chain as parts can be printed on-demand rather than be kept in stock. This master thesis has been performed at Vattenfall Wind Power and aims to investigate the feasibility to reproduce and/or to refurbish one or two spare parts on a wind turbine by AM and if it can introduce any practical benefits. Components with a high failure rate and/or with an suitible design for AM have been investigated. A rotating union or fluid rotary joint (FRJ) was selected for further analysis. A comprehensive background study has been conducted. A current status of metal AM is described as well as a comparison between conventional and additive processes. Furthermore, current and future applications for AM witihin the wind turbine industry are presented. The mehodology "reverse engineering", main components in a wind power plant including the fluid rotary joint as well as fluid dynamics are also treated in the background study. As a part of the process, a fluid rotary joint with worse historical failure data was disassembled and examined. In order to find other design solutions that contributes to a better and more reliable operation, another better performing fluid roraty joint was investigated. Since detail drawings and material information are missing for the examined units, reverse engineering has been carried out to gather details of the designs. A concept for the first unit has been developed, in which improved design solutions has been introduced and a number of changes have been implemented in order to minimize material consumption and to adapt the design for AM. The concept has been evaluated by the use of numerical methods. Costs and build time have also been estimated for the developed concept. This project has illustated that it is feasable to manufacture spare parts by the use of AM. The developed concept demonstrates several improvements that are not possible to achieve with conventional manufacturing processes. Nevertheless, a number of limitations such as insufficient build volume, costs as well as time cosuming engineering effort and post-proccessing methods are present for AM. These restrictions, in combination with lack of 3D-models, limits the possibility to make use of the technology. However, the future looks bright, if the technology continues to develop and if subcontractors are willing to adapt to AM it will probably have a major breakthrough within the windpower industry. / Additiv tillverkning, "additive manufacturing" (AM) eller 3D-printing är en automatiserad tillverkningsmetod där komponenten byggs lager för lager från en fördefinierad 3D datormodell. Till skillnad från konventionella tillverkningsmetoder där en stor mängd material ofta bearbetas bort, använder AM nästintill endast det material som komponenten består utav. Förutom materialbesparingar, har metoden ett flertal andra potentiella fördelar. Två av dessa är (1) en stor designfrihet vilket möjliggör produktion av komplexa geometrier och (2) en möjlighet till en förenklad logistikkedja eftersom komponenter kan tillverkas vid behov istället för att lagerföras. Detta examensarbete har utförts på Vattenfall Vindkraft och har till syfte att undersöka om det är möjligt att tillverka och/eller reparera en eller två reservdelar genom AM och om det i så fall kan införa några praktiska fördelar. En kartläggning av komponenter med hög felfrekvens och/eller som kan vara lämpade för AM har genomförts. Av dessa har en roterande oljekoppling även kallad roterskarv valts ut för vidare analys. En omfattande bakgrundsstudie har utförts. En nulägesorientering inom området AM för metaller redogörs, här redovisas även en generell jämförelse mellan konventionella och additiva tillverkningsmetoder. Vidare behandlas aktuella och framtida användningsområden för AM inom vindkraftsindustrin. I bakgrundsstudien behandlas också arbetssättet "reverse engineering", huvudkomponenter i ett vindkraftsverk inklusive roterskarven samt flödesdynamik. Under arbetets gång har en roterskarv med sämre driftshistorik undersökts. I syfte att finna andra konstruktionslösningar som bidrar till en säkrare drift har en bättre presenterande enhet från en annan tillverkare granskats. Då viss detaljteknisk data och konstruktionsunderlag saknas för de undersökta enheterna har "reverse engineering" tillämpats. Ett koncept har sedan utvecklats för den första enheten där förbättrade konstruktionslösningar har introducerats samtidigt som en rad konstruktionsförändringar har gjorts i syfte att minimera materialåtgången och samtidigt anpassa enheten för AM. Konceptet har sedan evaluerats med hjälp av numeriska beräkningsmetoder. För det givna konceptet har även kostnad och byggtid uppskattats. Arbetet visar på att det är möjligt att ta fram reservdelar till vindkraftverk med hjälp av AM. Det framtagna konceptet visar på ett flertal förbättringar som inte kan uppnås med konventionella tillverkningsmetoder. Emellertid finns det en rad begränsningar såsom otillräcklig byggvolym, kostnader och tidskrävande ingenjörsmässigt arbete och efterbehandlingsmetoder. Dessa förbehåll i kombination med avsaknad av 3D-modeller begränsar möjligheterna att nyttja tekniken i dagsläget. Framtiden ser dock ljus ut, om tekniken fortsätter att utvecklas samtidigt som underleverantörer är villiga att nyttja denna teknik kan AM få ett stort genombrott i vindkraftsindustrin.

Kuba har i dagsläget ett högt beroende av importerad olja, för att tillgodose sin växande efterfrågan på elektricitet. Importen sker främst från Venezuela. Detta beroende gör Kuba känsligt för ändringar i oljepriser samt det politiska klimatet. Den nuvarande krisen i Venezuela har haft en betydande inverkan på Kubas elproduktion. Genom att utöka landets förnybara energikällor kan Kuba minska sitt beroende av andra länder och diversifiera sin energiförsörjning. Detta kommer även att leda till en positiv miljöpåverkan då landets CO 2-utsläpp minskar. Kubas geografiska läge har ideala förhållanden för förnyelsebar energigenerering, så som solkraft. Solkraft utvecklas konstant och innehåller en hög potential. Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) är en teknologi där speglar och/eller linser används för att koncentrera solljus till en liten yta som konverterar solljuset till värme. Denna värme kan sedan användas i termodynamiska cykler. Det finns två huvudsakliga problem med implementering av CSP på Kuba. För det första är CSP beroende av momentana väderförhållanden, vilket leder till en oregelbunden elproduktion. För det andra har CSP höga investeringskostnader. För att adressera dessa problem, är det möjligt att implementera CSP i ett redan existerande kraftverk med regelbunden energikälla, d.v.s. skapa ett hybridkraftverk. På så vis uppnås regelbunden elproduktion med signifikant lägre investeringskostnad. Ett sådant existerande kraftverk kan hittas hos många av Kubas sockerbruk. Den här studien undersöker möjligheten att implementera solkraft i sockerbruket Carlos Baliño, beläget i Villa Clara, Kuba. Fabriken är självförsörjande av elektricitet på årlig basis. De använder en Rankine-cykel för att generera el och processvärme som används i sockerframställningen. Bränslet som används är bagasse, en restprodukt efter att sockerjuicen pressats ut ur sockerrören. Fyra CSP-teknologier och tre implementeringslayouts undersöktes, vilket resulterade i att parabolic trough-teknologin och förvärmning av vatten ansågs vara de bästa alternativen för Kuba och Carlos Baliño. Vidare undersöktes två olika scenarier för CSP. Scenario 1 innefattar implementering av CSP i sockerbruket under rådande skick och Scenario 2 består av implementering av CSP efter en investering gjorts i en Condensing Extraction turbin (CEST). Resultatet visar att Carlos Baliño bör investera i CEST innan de implementerar CSP, det vill säga Scenario 2. Detta beror på att i scenario 1 är det inte möjligt att generera elektricitet utanför sockersäsongen, vilket leder till att en stor del av solpotentialen inte kan utnyttjas. Den maximala investeringskostnaden för scenario 1 är 3,7 MUSD, vilket inte är en realistisk kostnad. Den maximala investeringskostnaden för scenario 2 beror av tillgänglig bagasseimport och är 5,9 – 7,2 MUSD. Att investera i CSP rekommenderas ej om bagasseimporten är obegränsad. Givet att bagasseimporten är begränsad skulle CSP-implementeringen leda till en utökad elproduktion av 5,4 – 7,2 GWh/år, en årlig minskning av oljeanvändandet med 16 100 – 21 800 tunnor och minskade CO2-utsläpp med 12 00-16 00 ton årligen. Carlos Baliños ekonomiska resultat skulle öka med 0,5 MUSD/år och den kubanska statens med 0,7 – 0,9 MUSD/år. Framtida studier rekommenderas undersöka möjligheten till generering av el året runt vid Carlos Baliño utan en CEST, solkraftsefterfrågan på nationell nivå och potentiella utvecklingar av solkraft hos Carlos Baliño. / Cuba is currently highly dependent on imported oil, mainly from Venezuela, to meet their growing electricity demand. This dependence makes Cuba sensitive to changes in oil price as well as the political climate. The current crisis in Venezuela has a large impact on Cuba’s electricity generation. By expanding its renewable energy sources Cuba could decrease their dependence on other countries and diversify their energy supply. Moreover, it would have a positive climate impact by reducing the country’s CO2-emissions. Geographically, Cuba has ideal conditions for renewable energy utilization, such as solar power. Solar energy is constantly progressing and is considered a great source of energy. Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) is a technology which applies mirrors and/or lenses to concentrate the sunlight onto a small area which converts the sunlight into heat, possible to use in a thermodynamic cycle. There are mainly two problems with the implementation of CSP in Cuba. Firstly, CSP is a non-dispatchable power generating system since it is dependent on the instantaneous weather conditions. Secondly, it has high investment costs. One way of solving these problems is by implementation CSP in an already existing power plants with a dispatchable source of energy, making it a hybrid power plant. Accordingly, the hybrid power plant would be dispatchable and the investment costs would be significantly lower. Existing power plants can be found in Cuban sugar mills. This study investigates the possibility to implement solar power in the sugar mill Carlos Baliño, located in Villa Clara, Cuba. The factory is currently self-sufficient electricity wise on a yearly basis, using a co-generation Rankine cycle to generate electricity and process heat used in the sugar production. The fuel used is bagasse, a rest product obtained after the sugar juice has been pressed out of the sugar canes. Four CSP-technologies and three implementation layouts were examined, resulting in the parabolic trough-technology and feedwater heating being considered the optimal solution. Furthermore, two different scenarios for CSP was investigated; implementation of CSP in the mill at the current state (scenario 1) or after investing in a Condensing-Extraction Turbine (CEST) (scenario 2). The results show that Carlos Baliño should invest in a CEST before considering implementation of CSP. Off-season operation is not available for scenario 1, leading to a vast amount of solar potential being unexploited. The maximal investment allowed for scenario 1 is 3.7 MUSD, which is not a realistic number. The maximal investment allowed for in scenario 2 is 5.9 – 7.2 MUSD, depending on bagasse import availability. If bagasse import is unlimited, it is not recommended to invest in solar power. Implementation of CSP in scenario 2 regarding bagasse import limits would yearly lead to an additional electricity generation at Carlos Baliño of 5.4 – 7.3 GWh, decrease the oil usage with 16,100 – 21,800 barrels and the CO2-emissons with 1,200 – 1,600 tonnes. Carlos Baliño’s annual yield would increase with 0.5 – 0.6 MUSD/year and the Cuban states annual yield would increase with 0.7 – 0.9 MUSD/year. Future work is recommended to explore alternatives to all year-around electricity generation in Carlos Baliño without investing in a CEST, investigate solar power demand on a national level, and examine possible developments of the suggested solar field, for instance solar-only operation.

Detta projekt undersöker olika alternativ av design utav transmissionskedja för ett vågkraftverk. Designen av koncepten kan delas in i två grupper, en grupp med styva länkar och rörliga leder och en annan grupp med stela leder och böjflexibla länkar. Analysen genomförs genom att undersöka olika tvärsnitt och olika material. De material som länkarna undersöks för är kolstål, rostfritt stål, aluminium, glas- och kolfiberkomposit. Analyserna utförs analytiskt för transmissioner med stela leder och böjflexibla länkar och för styva länkar med rörliga leder används Solidworks tillsammans med Ansys Workbench. En transmission med rörliga leder togs fram och idén baserades på en rullkedja. Denna design klarar de ställda kraven men det skapas problem i kontakteringen mellan kedjelederna där det blir koncentrationsspänningar och mycket slitage. I nuläget finns det inte några bussningar eller lager som klarar kraven som ställs på kedjan. I den andra gruppen med stela leder och böjflexibla länkar togs det fram två koncept. Den första har ett rektangulärt tvärsnitt och den andra ett runt. Den med det runda tvärsnittet klarar inte kraven då både böj- och dragspänningarna inte kan hållas tillräckligt låga samtidigt.Konceptet med det rektangulära tvärsnittet, som liknar ett band, klarar alla krav förutom utmattningskravet. Då bandet är tillverkat i stål blir bandets bredd för stor för bojen. Då bandet är tillverkat i aluminium uppfylls inte utmattningskravet. Fiberkompositer tappar mer än 50 % av sin styrka efter 10 miljoner repetitioner vilket gör att de måste bytas ut med jämna mellanrum för att undvika brott. / This project examines different options of designs of transmission chains for a wave power plant. The different designs can be divided into two groups, one group that contains chains with stiff links and moving joints and another group with stiff joints and bend flexible links. The analysis is carried out by examining different cross sections and different materials. The links are evaluated with carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, glass and carbon fiber composite. The analyses are preformed analytically for the group with stiff joints and bend flexible links and the group with stiff links and moving joints are examined with Solidworks together with Ansys workbench. One transmission with stiff links and moving joints was made inspired by a roller chain. This design meets the requirements, but problems occur in the contact between the links, where it appears concentration stresses and a lot of wear. At present there are no bearings that meet the demands on the chain.In the second group with stiff joints and bend flexible links, two designs were developed. The first one has a rectangular cross section and the other one has a round. The circular cross section does not meet the requirements, since both bending and tensile stresses cannot be kept low enough at the same time. The design with the rectangular cross section meets all the requirements except the fatigue requirement. After 10 million repetitions the fiber composites loses more than 50 % of its strength, which means that they needs to be replaced periodically to avoid fracture.

An operator's performance and mental workload when interacting with a complex system, such as the main control room (MCR) of a nuclear power plant (NPP), are major concerns when seeking to accomplish safe and successful operations. The impact of performance on operator workload is one of the most widely researched areas in human factors science with over five hundred workload articles published since the 1960s (Brannick, Salas, & Prince, 1997; Meshkati & Hancock, 2011). Researchers have used specific workload measures across domains to assess the effects of taskload. However, research has not sufficiently assessed the psychometric properties, such as reliability, validity, and sensitivity, which delineates and limits the roles of these measures in workload assessment (Nygren, 1991). As a result, there is no sufficiently effective measure for indicating changes in workload for distinct tasks across multiple domains (Abich, 2013). Abich (2013) was the most recent to systematically test the subjective and objective workload measures for determining the universality and sensitivity of each alone or in combination. This systematic approach assessed taskload changes within three tasks in the context of a military intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. The purpose for the present experiment was to determine if certain workload measures are sufficiently effective across domains by taking the findings from one domain (military) and testing whether those results hold true in a different domain, that of nuclear. Results showed that only two measures (NASA-TLX frustration and fNIR) were sufficiently effective at indicating workload changes between the three task types in the nuclear domain, but many measures were statistically significant. The results of this research effort combined with the results from Abich (2013) highlight an alarming problem. The ability of subjective and physiological measures to indicate changes in workload varies across tasks (Abich, 2013) and across domain. A single measure is not able to measure the complex construct of workload across different tasks within the same domain or across domains. This research effort highlights the importance of proper methodology. As researchers, we have to identify the appropriate workload measure for all tasks regardless of the domain by investigating the effectiveness of each measure. The findings of the present study suggest that responsible science include evaluating workload measures before use, not relying on prior research or theory. In other words, results indicate that it is only acceptable to use a measure based on prior findings if research has tested that measure on the exact task and manipulations within that specific domain.

Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) undergo fault and sensitivity analysis with scenario modelling to predict catastrophic events, specifically releases of Cesium 137 (Cs-137). The purpose of this thesis is to find which of 108 input-features from Modular Accident Analysis Program (MAAP)simulation code are important, when there is large release of Cs-137 emissions. The features are tested all together and in their groupings. To find important features, the Machine learning (ML) model Random Forest (RF) has a built-in attribute which identifies important features. The results of RF model classification are corroborated with Support Vector Machines (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) and use k-folds cross validation to improve and validate the results, resulting in a near 90% accuracy for the three ML models. RF is successful at identifying important features related to Cs-137 emissions, by using the classification model to first identify top features, to further train the models at identifying important input-features. The discovered input-features are important both within their individual groups, but also when including all features simultaneously. The large number of features included did not disrupt RF much, but the skewed dataset with few classified extreme events caused the accuracy to be lower at near 90%.

[pt] Os princípios de gerenciamento de projetos têm alcançado nos últimos anos um grande interesse por parte das organizações, com objetivos de foco operacional em realizações eficazes dentro do custo, prazo e qualidade planejadas. No entanto, muito pouco se fez para reconhecer a disciplina gerenciamento de projetos como uma das core competencies para a composição do diferencial competitivo na estratégia empresarial selecionada. Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo principal o desenvolvimento de um estudo para averiguar se existe adequação entre os processos da disciplina gerenciamento de projetos e a estratégia da empresa pesquisada. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida por meio de estudo de caso único, para o qual foi selecionada como unidade de análise uma empresa governamental: a Eletrobrás Termonuclear S.A. - Eletronuclear. A coleta de dados foi realizada de acordo com o princípio de triangulação de diferentes métodos (YIN, 2003), e: 1) investigação documental (impressa, telematizada, eletrônica); 2) levantamento de percepções com auxílio de questionário estruturado de pesquisa; 3) levantamento de percepções complementares por meio de entrevistas. As interpretações e análises efetuadas dos dados coletados foram fundamentadas no referencial teórico utilizando-se o modelo genérico-integrativo de Macedo-Soares (2001b). Os resultados evidenciaram algumas inconsistências entre os processos da disciplina gerenciamento de projetos e a estratégia da empresa. Permitiram identificar fatores organizacionais que contribuem e outros que não contribuem para a adequação estratégica de projetos. Na conclusão do trabalho, são compartilhadas lições que a pesquisa focada na Eletronuclear trouxe para outras empresas. / [en] In recent years, organizations have become increasingly interested in the principles of project management in order to enhance the operational effectiveness of their undertakings in terms of planned cost, schedule and quality. However, little has been done in the way of recognizing the discipline of project management as one of the core competencies constituting the competitive differential of the business strategy selected. The main objective of this study is to ascertain whether the processes of the project management discipline fit the strategy of the firm at issue. The study adopted the single case study method, focusing on the government firm Eletrobrás Termonuclear S.A. - Eletronuclear. Data collection was performed in accordance with the method triangulation principle (YIN, 2003), together with 1) documental investigation (printed, telematic, electronic); 2) a perceptions survey using a structured research questionnaire; 3) a complementary perceptions survey through interviews. The data collected was analyzed and interpreted using Macedo-Soares` (2001b) generic integrative model. The results evidenced some inconsistencies between the processes of the project management discipline and the firm´s strategy. They permitted the identification of organizational factors that did or did not contribute to projects´ strategic fit. The study concludes by sharing the lessons for other firms that could be drawn from the Electronuclear case.

During the early years of World War II, American ships crossing the Atlantic with oil and supplies were virtually defenseless against German U-boats. Bombs and torpedoes fitted with TNT barely made a dent in the tough steel plating that covered the hulls of Axis submarines and ships. Then, seemingly overnight, a top-secret, $100 million plant appeared near Kingsport, Tennessee, manufacturing a sugar-white substance called Research Department Explosive (code name RDX). Behind thirty-eight miles of fencing, thousands of men and women synthesized 23,000 tons of RDX each month. Twice as deadly as TNT and overshadowed only by the atomic bomb, this ordnance proved to be pivotal in the Battle of the Atlantic and directly contributed to the Allied victory in WWII.In The Secret History of RDX, Colin F. Baxter documents the journey of the super-explosive from conceptualization at Woolwich Arsenal in England to mass production at Holston Ordnance Works in east Tennessee. He examines the debates between RDX advocates and their opponents and explores the use of the explosive in the bomber war over Germany, in the naval war in the Atlantic, and as a key element in the trigger device of the atomic bomb.Drawing on archival records and interviews with individuals who worked at the Kingsport "powder plant" from 1942 to 1945, Baxter illuminates both the explosive's military significance and its impact on the lives of ordinary Americans involved in the war industry. Much more than a technical account, this study assesses the social and economic impact of the military-industrial complex on small communities on the home front. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1163/thumbnail.jpg

No / The current global challenge of climate change has made renewable energy usage very important. There is an ongoing drive for the deployment of renewable energy resource at the domestic level through feed-in tariff, etc. However the intermittent nature of renewable energy has made storage a key priority. In this work, a community having a solar farm with energy storage embedded in the house of the energy consumers is considered. Consumers within the community are aggregated in to a local virtual power plant. Genetic algorithm was used to develop an optimized energy transaction for the virtual power plant. The results shows that it is feasible to have a virtual power plant setup in a local community that involve the use of renewable generation and embedded storage. The result also show that when maximization of battery state of charge is considered as part of an optimization problem in a day ahead market, certain trade-off would have to be made on the profit of the virtual power plant, the incentive of the prosumer, as well as the provision of peak service to the grid.

The complete design process for a new nuclear power plant concept is costly, long, complicated, and the work is generally split between several specialized groups. These design groups separately do their best to design the portion of the reactor that falls in their expertise according to the design criteria before passing the design to the subsequent design group. Ultimately, the work of each design group is combined, with significant iteration between groups striving to facilitate the integration of each of the heavily interdependent systems. Such complex interaction between experts leads to three significant problems: (1) the issues associated with knowledge management, (2) the lack of design optimization, and (3) the failure to discover the hidden interdependencies between different design parameters that may exist. Some prior work has been accomplished in both developing common frame of reference (CFR) support systems to aid in the design process and applying optimization to nuclear system design.The purpose of this work is to use multi-objective optimization to address the second and third problems above on a small subset of reactor design scenarios. Multi-objective optimization generates several design optima in the form of a Pareto front, which portrays the optimal trade-off between design objectives. As a major part of this work, a system design optimization tool is created, namely the Optimization and Preference Tool for the Improvement of Nuclear Systems (OPTIONS). The OPTIONS tool is initially applied to several individual nuclear systems: the power conversion system (PCS) of the Integral, Inherently Safe Light Water Reactor (I²S-LWR), the Kalina cycle being proposed as the PCS for a LWR, the PERCS (or Passive Endothermic Reaction Cooling System), and the core loop of the Zion plant. Initial sensitivity analysis work and the application of the Non-dominated Sorting Particle Swarm Optimization (NSPSO) method provides a Pareto front of design optima for the PCS of the I²S-LWR, while bringing to light some hidden pressure interdependencies for generating steam using a flash drum. A desire to try many new PCS configurations leads to the development of an original multi-objective optimization method, namely the Mixed-Integer Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (MI-NSGA). With this method, the OPTIONS tool provides a novel and improved Pareto front with additional optimal PCS configurations. Then, the simpler NSGA method is used to optimize the Kalina cycle, the PERCS, and the Zion core loop, providing each problem with improved designs and important objective trade-off information. Finally, the OPTIONS tool uses the MI-NSGA method to optimize the integration of three systems (Zion core loop, PERCS, and Rankine cycle PCS) while increasing efficiency, decreasing costs, and improving performance. In addition, the tool is outfitted to receive user preference input to improve the convergence of the optimization to a Pareto front.