Chinese to Braille translation based on Braille word segmentation using statistical model

Automatic translation of Chinese text to Chinese Braille is important for blind people in China to acquire information using computers or smart phones. In this paper, a novel scheme of Chinese-Braille translation is proposed. Under the scheme, a Braille word segmentation model based on statistical machine learning is trained on a Braille corpus, and Braille word segmentation is carried out using the statistical model directly without the stage of Chinese word segmentation. This method avoids establishing rules concerning syntactic and semantic information and uses statistical model to learn the rules stealthily and automatically. To further improve the performance, an algorithm of fusing the results of Chinese word segmentation and Braille word segmentation is also proposed. Our results show that the proposed method achieves accuracy of 92.81% for Braille word segmentation and considerably outperforms current approaches using the segmentation-merging scheme.     

Application of the VOF method based on unstructured quadrilateral mesh

To simulate two-dimensional free-surface flows with complex boundaries directly and accurately, a novel VOF (Volume-of-fluid) method based on unstructured quadrilateral mesh is presented. Without introducing any complicated boundary treatment or artificial diffusion, this method treated curved boundaries directly by utilizing the inherent merit of unstructured mesh in fitting curves. The PLIC (Piecewise Linear Interface Calculation) method was adopted to obtain a second-order accurate linearized reconstruction approximation and the MLER (Modified Lagrangian-Eulerian Re-map) method was introduced to advect fluid volumes on unstructured mesh. Moreover, an analytical relation for the interface’s line constant vs. the volume clipped by the interface was developed so as to improve the method’s efficiency. To validate this method, a comprehensive series of large straining advection tests were performed. Numerical results provide convincing evidences for the method’s high volume conservative accuracy and second-order shape error convergence rate. Also, a dramatic improvement on computational accuracy over its unstructured triangular mesh counterpart is checked.     

A method of multi-channel reference signals acquiring in broadband ANC

In a flank array on an unmanned underwater vehicle （UUV）, self-generated noise which has broadband and colored spectrum property in frequency and spatial domain is the main factor affecting the performance of weak signal detection, so the technique of adaptive noise cancellation （ANC） as well as physical denoising and active noise cancellation are often used in practice. Because ANC is based on correlations, improvements in performance come from better correlation between reference signals and primary signals. Taking full advantage of the characteristics of flank arrays and the characteristics of information obtained from hydrophones, a new method for reference signal acquisition for adaptive noise cancellation is proposed, in which the multi-channel reference signals are obtained by accurate delaying for a given direction of arrival （DOA） and differencing between adjacent outputs of array elements. The validity of the proposed method was verified through system modeling simulations and lake experiments which showed good performance with little additional computational burden.     

Underwater hydraulic shock shovel control system

The control system determines the effectiveness of an underwater hydraulic shock shovel. This paper begins by analyzing the working principles of these shovels and explains the importance of their control systems. A new type of control system’s mathematical model was built and analyzed according to those principles. Since the initial control system’s response time could not fulfill the design requirements, a PID controller was added to the control system. System response time was still slower than required, so a neural network was added to nonlinearly regulate the proportional element, integral element and derivative element coefficients of the PID controller. After these improvements to the control system, system parameters fulfilled the design requirements. The working performance of electrically-controlled parts such as the rapidly moving high speed switch valve is largely determined by the control system. Normal control methods generally can’t satisfy a shovel’s requirements, so advanced and normal control methods were combined to improve the control system, bringing good results.     

Research on techniques to improve accuracy in SBL locating systems

Short baseline system （SBL）, which is a kind of underwater acoustic locating technology, has widely applicable value. In order to examine the capability of ship model design, the ship model experimentation should have high accuracy. This paper focuses on the key techniques of high accuracy locating system, including high accuracy sub-array position emendation, divisional locating, anti multi-path interference measure, etc. Experiments show that the SBL locating systems has received the satisfying effect owing to these key techniques proposed in this paper.     

SPSM and its application in cylindrical shells

In naval architectures, the structure of prismatic shell is used widely. But there is no suitable method to analyze this kind of structure. Stiffened prismatic shell method (SPSM) presented in this paper, is one of the harmonic semi-analytic methods. Theoretically, strong stiffened structure can be analyzed economically and accurately. SPSM is based on the analytical solution of the governing differential equations for orthotropic cylindrical shells. In these differential equations, the torsional stiffness, bending stiffness and the exact position of each stiffener are taken into account with the Heaviside singular function. An algorithm is introduced, in which the actions of stiffeners on shells are replaced by external loads at each stiffener position. Stiffened shells can be computed as non-stiffened shells. Eventually, the displacement solution of the equations is acquired by the introduction of Green function. The stresses in a corrugated transverse bulkhead without pier base of an oil tanker are computed by using SPSM.     

Time-domain simulation for water wave radiation by floating structures （Part A）

Direct time-domain simulation of floating structures has advantages： it can calculate wave pressure fields and forces directly; and it is useful for coupled analysis of floating structures with a mooring system. A time-domain boundary integral equation method is presented to simulate three-dimensional water wave radiation problems. A stable form of the integration free-surface boundary condition （IFBC） is used to update velocity potentials on the free surface. A multi-transmitting formula （MTF） method with an artificial speed is introduced to the artificial radiation boundary （ARB）. The method was applied to simulate a semi-spherical liquefied natural gas （LNG） carrier and a semi-submersible undergoing specified harmonic motion. Numerical parameters such as the form of the ARB, and the time and space discretization related to this method are discussed. It was found that a good agreement can be obtained when artificial speed is between 0.6 and 1.6 times the phase velocity of water waves in the MTF method. A simulation can be done for a long period of time by this method without problems of instability, and the method is also accurate and computationally efficient.     

Effects of split injection,oxygen enriched air and heavy EGR on soot emissions in a diesel engine

The effects of split injection, oxygen enriched air, and heavy exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on soot emissions in a direct injection diesel engine were studied using the KIVA-3V code. When split injection is applied, the second injection of fuel into a cylinder results in two separate stoichiometric zones, which helps soot oxidation. As a result, soot emissions are decreased. When oxygen enriched air is applied together with split injection, a higher concentration of oxygen causes higher temperatures in the cylinder. The increase in temperature promotes the growth reaction of acetylene with soot. However, it does not improve acetylene formation during the second injection of fuel. As more acetylene is consumed in the growth reaction with soot, the concentration of acetylene in the cylinder is decreased, which leads to a decrease in soot formation and thus soot emissions. A combination of split injection, a high concentration of oxygen, and a high EGR ratio shows the best results in terms of diesel emissions. In this paper, the split injection scheme of 75.8.25, in which 75% of total fuel is injected in the first pulse, followed by 8°CA of dwell time, and 25% of fuel is injected in the second pulse, with an oxygen concentration of 23% in volume and an EGR ratio of 30% shows a 45% reduction in soot emissions, with the same NOx emissions as in single injection.     

Automatically finding the number of clusters based on simulated annealing

Based on simulated annealing (SA), automatically finding the number of clusters (AFNC) is proposed in this paper to determine the number of clusters and their initial centers. It is a simple and automatic method that combines local search with two widely-accepted global analysis techniques, namely careful-seeding (CS) and distance-histogram (DH). The procedure for finding a cluster is formulated as mountain-climbing, and the mountain is defined as the convergent domain of SA.When arriving at the peak of one mountain, AFNC has found one of the clusters in the dataset, and its initial center is the peak. Then, AFNC continues to climb up another mountain from a new starting point found by CS till the termination condition is satisfied. In the procedure of climbing-up mountain, the local dense region for searching the next state of SA is found by analyzing the distance histogram. Experimental results show that AFNC can achieve consistent performance for a wide range of datasets.     

Helical wire stress analysis of unbonded flexible riser under irregular response

A helical wire is a critical component of an unbonded flexible riser prone to fatigue failure. The helical wire has been the focus of much research work in recent years because of the complex multilayer construction of the flexible riser. The present study establishes an analytical model for the axisymmetric and bending analyses of an unbonded flexible riser. The interlayer contact under axisymmetric loads in this model is modeled by setting radial dummy springs between adjacent layers. The contact pressure is constant during the bending response and applied to determine the slipping friction force per unit helical wire. The model tracks the axial stress around the angular position at each time step to calculate the axial force gradient, then compares the axial force gradient with the slipping friction force to judge the helical wire slipping region, which would be applied to determine the bending stiffness for the next time step. The proposed model is verified against the experimental data in the literature. The bending moment–curvature relationship under irregular response is also qualitatively discussed. The stress at the critical point of the helical wire is investigated based on the model by considering the local flexure. The results indicate that the present model can well simulate the bending stiffness variation during irregular response, which has significant effect on the stress of helical wire.