A Review of Infrared Thermography for Delamination Detection on Infrastructures and Buildings

This paper provides a comprehensive review on the use of infrared thermography to detect delamination on infrastructures and buildings. Approximately 200 pieces of relevant literature were evaluated, and their findings were summarized. The factors affecting the accuracy and detectability of infrared thermography were consolidated and discussed. Necessary measures to effectively capture latent defects at the early stage of delamination before crack formation were investigated. The results of this study could be used as the benchmarks for setting standardized testing criteria as well as for comparison of results for future works on the use of infrared thermography for detection of delamination on infrastructures and buildings.

Assessment of Brassicaceae Seeds Quality by X-ray Analysis

A serious problem of vegetable production is the quality of sown seeds. In this regard, assessment of seed quality before sowing and storage is of great practical interest. The modern level of scientific research requires the use of instrumental automated methods of seed quality evaluation, allowing to obtain more information and in a shorter time. The material for the study was a variety of samples from the collection of Brassica oleracea L., var. capitata, Raphanus sativus L., var. radicula, and Lepidium sativum L. seeds from the Federal Scientific Center of Vegetable Breeding and the Timofeev Selection Station. Digital X-ray images of seeds were obtained using a mobile X-ray diagnostic device PRDU-02. Automatic analysis of digital X-ray images was performed in the software “VideoTesT-Morphology 5.2.” The following latent defects of cabbage seeds of economic importance were revealed and identified: irregular darkening, significant “patterning” with deep separation of embryo parts, “angularity of seeds” leading to the loss of their viability. Automatic analysis of digital X-ray images of seeds confirmed the informativeness of brightness indices of digital X-ray images, as well as shape indices. Their connection with sowing qualities of the studied seeds was established.

Use of Solar Panels in the Design of Small CubeSat Spacecraft

The article discusses organization of power supply for small spacecraft of CubeSat type. Various methods of power supply of CubeSat onboard equipment are worked out. The use of solar panels (SP) for power supply of CubeSat is proposed. The developed technology for the production of solar arrays of the required size from solar panels has been demonstrated. The organization of incoming control of solar panels to improve reliability and achieve maximum efficiency of produced solar panels is considered. A developed stand for diagnostics of solar cells, which allows detecting latent defects, is presented. The issue of determining power characteristics of the developed solar panels and the necessary optimal load for their maximum efficiency is discussed. The installation of solar panels on the CubeSat aircraft is described. The efficiency of solar panels is tested in space by launching CubeSat on a stratospheric probe. The parameters of the aircraft current supply and current generation by solar panels obtained as a result of the experiment are collected and processed, the results are presented in the article in the form of graphs. On basis of the data obtained, effectiveness of the use of solar panels on small aircraft of the CubeSat type is shown.

Intelligent Rework Process Management System under Smart Factory Environment

Rework for defective items is very common in practical shopfloors; however, it generally causes unnecessary energy consumptions and operational costs. In order to address this problem, we propose a novel approach called the intelligent rework process management (i-RPM) system. The proposed system is based on intelligent rework policy, which provides a preventive rework procedure for items with latent defects. Such items can be detected before quality tests by applying conventional classification techniques. Moreover, training sets for the classification algorithms can be collected by using modern information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructures. Items with latent defects are not allowed to proceed to the following processes under intelligent rework policy. Instead, they are returned to the preceding processes for rework in order to avoid unnecessary losses on the shopfloor. Consequently, the proposed system helps to achieve a sustainable manufacturing system. Nevertheless, misclassification by the classification model can degrade the performance of intelligent rework policy. Therefore, the i-RPM system is designed to compare rework policies based on classification accuracy and choose the best one of them. For illustration, we applied the i-RPM system to the rework procedure of a steel manufacturer located in Busan, South Korea, and our experiment results revealed that the cost reduction effect of the intelligent rework policy is affected by several input parameters.

Vibration monitoring and strength of structural elements taking into account the inertial properties of materials under broadband vibration

The paper considers influence of the inertial properties of structural materials on mechanical stresses under high-frequency vibrations. The necessity of considering acceleration estimates when creating vibration monitoring systems focused on the incorporating cyclic strength is proved. The importance of the effects of high-frequency vibration in the local areas of the structural material is noted, taking into account the formation of latent defects and reducing the fatigue limit during gigacycle fatigue. Recommendations are given concerning supplement to the vibration monitoring system, taking into account the decrease in strength under high-frequency vibration when solving problems of diagnostics, forecasting and protection with new innovative solutions. It provides increased reliability of the diagnosis and protection of equipment. In addition to evaluating the current state of the unit based on the results of vibration intensity measuring, the proposed solutions allow additional assessing the degree of wear and taking into account the impact of fatigue processes in the operation of a multi-level automatic protection system of the equipment.

Appraising the Scope and Application of the Market-Price Rule in Upheld Contracts

The use of the market price for determining liability in contract lacks dedicated attention in South African law. Even far scanter is the holistic literature on the use of the market-price rule in contracts that are not terminated on breach of contract. Although, there has been suggestions that the market-price rule can be used to determine damages in upheld contracts, this was never technically demonstrated. Thus, the argument that the market-price rule can be used in contracts that are not terminated remains moot. This article presents various methods that illustrate how the market-price rule should apply in upheld contracts. The article undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the market-price rule to determine its efficacy in contracts that are not terminated, with the focus on the determination of the degree of liability. Regarding the determination of liability, the article to some extent discusses contracts with latent defects and those with items of questionable quality. Various methods and techniques are discussed to enlighten about how the market price can affect the determination of liability in upheld contracts, and to illustrate that this principle is suitable for determining damages in contracts that are not terminated.

Defects Avoidance in E-commerce Projects using Rayleigh Method

With the advent of e-commerce business, many software providers have started developing e-commerce solutions. However, the emphasis has to be given on developing defect free e-commerce portals. The current work is produced based on quantitative analysis done on five e-commerce projects. The defect data (discovery, fix and regression) are fed into the development process of the subsequent projects that helped in preventing the similar defects. A data analysis is done using Rayleigh Method to estimate the number of latent defects which may seep to the customers. This enabled in reduction in the count of User Acceptance Test defects, in the projects developed subsequently there by greatly decreasing the cost of development.