Search results for "factorial design"

Fabrication of a Silicide Thermoelectric Module Employing Fractional Factorial Design Principles

2021

AbstractThermoelectric modules can be used in waste heat harvesting, sensing, and cooling applications. Here, we report on the fabrication and performance of a four-leg module based on abundant silicide materials. While previously optimized Mg2Si0.3Sn0.675Bi0.025 is used as the n-type leg, we employ a fractional factorial design based on the Taguchi methods mapping out a four-dimensional parameter space among Mnx-εMoεSi1.75−δGeδ higher manganese silicide compositions for the p-type material. The module is assembled using a scalable fabrication process, using a Cu metallization layer and a Pb-based soldering paste. The maximum power output density of 53 μW cm–2 is achieved at a hot-side temp…

Economic Robustness Analysis of Adaptive Chart Schemes for Monitoring the Total Nonconformities Number in Inspection Units

2015

In recent years, a variety of enhanced schemes for the c chart have been developed aimed at the effectiveness improving of the related statistical process control (SPC) procedures. However, the performance of such chart schemes can be very sensitive to values assumed for some operating and cost parameters, in particular to the considered process shift magnitude arising from out-of-control conditions. In such a circumstance, the effectiveness of such chart schemes can be subjected to substantial reductions when they are implemented in operative contexts given that, in practice, such value is unknown and it can be very difficult to accurately estimate. For this reason, in the present paper i…

Statistical analysis of mechanical and dynamic-mechanical properties of PC/CNTs nanocomposites.

2013

Comparison of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation and separate hydrolysis and fermentation processes for butanol production from rice straw

2020

Abstract Rice straw (RS) is one of the lignocellulosic wastes with the highest global production. The main objective of this study was to maximise the butanol production by Clostridium beijerinckii DSM 6422 from RS pretreated by microwave-assisted hydrothermolysis. Two different fermentation strategies were compared: separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF, two-step process) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF, one-step process). In parallel, the variables that significantly affected the butanol production were screened by using fractional factorial designs. Butanol concentration and productivity at 48 h were, respectively, 8% and 173% higher in SSF than in SHF. A one-…

The caramel flavour: impacts of the volatile and the non-volatile fraction on perception

2013

The aim of this thesis was to investigate the impact of the volatile odorant fraction and the non-volatile fraction on the perception of caramel flavour. The first step focused on the analytical characterization of the volatile odorant fraction of caramel using Gas Chromatography coupled to Olfactometry (GC/O), GC/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) and heart-cutting MDGC/MS/O. Results highlighted the presence of more than one hundred compounds and demonstrated the complexity of the caramel volatile fraction. The objective of the second step was to understand the contribution of odorant compounds identified to the caramel aroma typicality. Literature shows that odour intensity is not sufficient to ev…

Statistical analysis of the performances of PC/CNTs nanocomposites

2013

Emotional expression in music: contribution, linearity, and additivity of primary musical cues

2013

The aim of this study is to manipulate musical cues systematically to determine the aspects of music that contribute to emotional expression, and whether these cues operate in additive or interactive fashion, and whether the cue levels can be characterized as linear or non-linear. An optimized factorial design was used with six primary musical cues (mode, tempo, dynamics, articulation, timbre, and register) across four different music examples. Listeners rated 200 musical examples according to four perceived emotional characters (happy, sad, peaceful, and scary). The results exhibited robust effects for all cues and the ranked importance of these was established by multiple regression. The …

CORRELATION BETWEEN THE CHEMICAL-PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF CNT AND MACROSCOPIC PROPERTIES OF RELATED NANOCOMPOSITES: A STATISTICAL APPROACH

2014

In the frame of this work, two different samples of CNTs, namely CNT 1 and CNT 2, were synthesized [1] with different degree of purity and aspect ratio and used as fillers either without any treatment or after a plasma-oxidation, to prepare polycarbonate (PC)-based nanocomposites by melt mixing. The influence of plasma treatment, filler content and type of CNTs on the mechanical, dynamic-mechanical, and electrical properties of the materials was assessed by a two level full factorial design. The morphological analysis carried out by SEM and TEM evidenced the formation of a nanohybrid structure when oxidized CNTs were used as filler. Generally speaking, CNT 2 showed the best dispersion and t…

Statistical study of the influence of CNTs purification and plasma functionalization on the properties of Polycarbonate-CNTs nanocomposites

2014

This work reports a statistical study on the relationship between the chemical-physical properties of CNTs, which vary by changing the conditions of purification and plasma treatment, and the macroscopic properties of PC-based nanocomposites. CNTs are synthesized and then purified in two different ways and used as fillers for the preparation of PC/CNTs nanocomposites. In some cases, oxygen plasma treatment is carried out to improve their affinity to the matrix. The CNTs are characterized by TGA, ICP/OES and FT-Raman spectroscopy, titration and morphological analysis. Mechanical, dynamic-mechanical, electrical and morphological tests are used for characterizing PC/CNTs nanocomposites.

Comparing the Economic Effectiveness of Various Adaptive Schemes for the c Chart

2013

In an attempt to improve the effectiveness of statistical process control (SPC) procedures, a variety of adaptive schemes has been developed in the last decades. However, considering control charts for attributes, relatively few works about adaptive schemes have been proposed, and most of them were proposed only recently. The common characteristic of those schemes is that one or more chart parameters are allowed to adaptively vary during the SPC operations according to the sampling information history, typically the current point plotted on the chart. In this way, the adaptive schemes are smarter than the related static ones, but they are also more complicated in terms of implementation. Th…