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1 – 10 of 660F. Li, M. Soleimani and J. Abascal
Magnetic induction tomography (MIT) is a tomographic imaging technique with a wide range of potential industrial applications. Planar array MIT is a convenient setup but unable to…
Abstract
Purpose
Magnetic induction tomography (MIT) is a tomographic imaging technique with a wide range of potential industrial applications. Planar array MIT is a convenient setup but unable to access freely from the entire periphery as it only collects measurements from one surface, so it remains challenging given the limited data. This study aims to assess the use of sparse regularization methods for accurate position and depth detection in planar array MIT.
Design/methodology/approach
The most difficult challenges in MIT are to solve the inverse and forward problems. The inversion of planar MIT is severely ill-posed due to limited access data. Thus, this paper posed a total variation (TV) problem and solved it efficiently with the Split Bregman formulation to overcome this difficulty. Both isotropic and anisotropic TV formulations are compared to Tikhonov regularization with experimental MIT data.
Findings
The results show that Tikhonov method failed or underestimated the object position and depth. Both isotropic and anisotropic TV led to accurate recovery of depth and position.
Originality/value
There are numerous potential applications for planar array MIT where access to the materials under testing is restrict. Sparse regularization methods are a promising approach to improving depth detection for limited MIT data.
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Maryam Soleimani, Leo Paul Dana, Aidin Salamzadeh, Parisa Bouzari and Pejman Ebrahimi
This study explores the effect of internal branding on organisational financial performance and brand loyalty with the mediating role of psychological empowerment.
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores the effect of internal branding on organisational financial performance and brand loyalty with the mediating role of psychological empowerment.
Design/methodology/approach
The data gathered from 200 Pasargad insurance employees in Iran were analysed. Structural equation modelling and R were used to evaluate the model. Financial performance was measured by four concepts (ROI, ROE, Sales growth, ROA) based on available data from March 2010 to March 2020.
Findings
The results revealed that internal branding and psychological empowerment have no significant effect on financial performance, but both have a significant positive effect on brand loyalty. Likewise, the mediating role of psychological empowerment on the subject of the impact of internal branding on brand loyalty was confirmed. Furthermore, psychological empowerment did not play a mediating role in the impact of internal branding on financial performance.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study could be important for managers of organisations active in the insurance industry to highlight internal branding and enhance psychological empowerment and employee brand loyalty. Moreover, managers' perception of the effective role of psychological empowerment to enhance employee brand loyalty is another practical aspect of this research.
Originality/value
Considering the mediating role of psychological empowerment to the effect of internal branding on financial performance and brand loyalty is an innovative aspect of the present study. Meanwhile, the use of R software for VB-SEM was another point to surge the value of this paper.
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A. Yao and M. Soleimani
Electrical impedance measurement and imaging are techniques that are widely used in a range of applications. Electro‐conductive knitted structure is a major new development in…
Abstract
Purpose
Electrical impedance measurement and imaging are techniques that are widely used in a range of applications. Electro‐conductive knitted structure is a major new development in wearable computing. The purpose of this paper is to carry out a preliminary investigation of applying electrical impedance analysis to predict the behavior of electro‐conductive knitted structure. This can potentially pave the way for a low‐cost solution for pressure mapping imaging.
Design/methodology/approach
Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) has been used as a mapping technique for deformation imaging in conductive knitted fabric. EIT is an imaging system used to generate a map of electrical conductivity. Pressure and deformation mapping scanner is being developed based on electrical conductivity imaging of the conductive area generated in a fabric. The results are presented using these new sensors with various deformations.
Findings
Experimental results show the feasibility of qualitative deformation imaging. In particular, it is promising that multiple deformations can be mapped using the proposed technique. The paper also demonstrates preliminary results regarding quantitative pressure and deformation mapping using EIT technique.
Research limitations/implications
The results presented in the paper are laboratory‐based experiments for proof of principle and will be evaluated in specific application areas in future.
Originality/value
The paper shows, for the first time, detection of multiple pressure points as well as quantifying the pressure map using the new imaging sensor. The sensor proposed here can be used for robotic touch sensing application, as well as some biomechanical observations.
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Electronic textiles are a major new development in the field of smart technology. There are many potential applications for electrically active textiles (EAT). The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
Electronic textiles are a major new development in the field of smart technology. There are many potential applications for electrically active textiles (EAT). The purpose of this paper is to present state‐of‐the‐art knitted switches based on EAT technology.
Design/methodology/approach
The switches operate with double electrodes, and they are designed to be operated by a human finger, with or without a glove. In this study, these switches were manufactured based on EAT technology by generating conductive areas as electrodes.
Findings
A custom‐made impedance analyzer was developed to identify the electrical characteristics of the switches. The deriving circuits were designed to operate the switches according to their impedance characteristics.
Originality/value
The switch working with glove and bare hand is novel.
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C.L. Yang, A. Mohammed, Y Mohamadou, T. I. Oh and M. Soleimani
The aim of this paper is to introduce and to evaluate the performance of a multiple frequency complex impedance reconstruction for fabric-based EIT pressure sensor. Pressure…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to introduce and to evaluate the performance of a multiple frequency complex impedance reconstruction for fabric-based EIT pressure sensor. Pressure mapping is an important and challenging area of modern sensing technology. It has many applications in areas such as artificial skins in Robotics and pressure monitoring on soft tissue in biomechanics. Fabric-based sensors are being developed in conjunction with electrical impedance tomography (EIT) for pressure mapping imaging. This is potentially a very cost-effective pressure mapping imaging solution in particular for imaging large areas. Fabric-based EIT pressure sensors aim to provide a pressure mapping image using current carrying and voltage sensing electrodes attached on the boundary of the fabric patch.
Design/methodology/approach
Recently, promising results are being achieved in conductivity imaging for these sensors. However, the fabric structure presents capacitive behaviour that could also be exploited for pressure mapping imaging. Complex impedance reconstructions with multiple frequencies are implemented to observe both conductivity and permittivity changes due to the pressure applied to the fabric sensor.
Findings
Experimental studies on detecting changes of complex impedance on fabric-based sensor are performed. First, electrical impedance spectroscopy on a fabric-based sensor is performed. Secondly, the complex impedance tomography is carried out on fabric and compared with traditional EIT tank phantoms. Quantitative image quality measures are used to evaluate the performance of a fabric-based sensor at various frequencies and against the tank phantom.
Originality/value
The paper demonstrates for the first time the useful information on pressure mapping imaging from the permittivity component of fabric EIT. Multiple frequency EIT reconstruction reveals spectral behaviour of the fabric-based EIT, which opens up new opportunities in exploration of these sensors.
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Crystallization is the process widely used for components separation and solids purification. The systems for crystallization process evaluation applied so far, involve numerous…
Abstract
Purpose
Crystallization is the process widely used for components separation and solids purification. The systems for crystallization process evaluation applied so far, involve numerous non-invasive tomographic measurement techniques which suffers from some reported problems. The purpose of this paper is to show the abilities of three-dimensional Electrical Capacitance Tomography (3D ECT) in the context of non-invasive and non-intrusive visualization of crystallization processes. Multiple aspects and problems of ECT imaging, as well as the computer model design to work with the high relative permittivity liquids, have been pointed out.
Design/methodology/approach
To design the most efficient (from a mechanical and electrical point of view) 3D ECT sensor structure, the high-precise impedance meter was applied. The three types of sensor were designed, built, and tested. To meet the new concept requirements, the dedicated ECT device has been constructed.
Findings
It has been shown that the ECT technique can be applied to the diagnosis of crystallization. The crystals distribution can be identified using this technique. The achieved measurement resolution allows detecting the localization of crystals. The usage of stabilized electrodes improves the sensitivity of the sensor and provides the images better suitable for further analysis.
Originality/value
The dedicated 3D ECT sensor construction has been proposed to increase its sensitivity in the border area, where the crystals grow. Regarding this feature, some new algorithms for the potential field distribution and the sensitivity matrix calculation have been developed. The adaptation of the iterative 3D image reconstruction process has also been described.
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Seyyed Sajjad Sajjadi and Saeed Reza Ostadzadeh
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ionization and dispersion effects in combination with the inhomogeneity of soil simultaneously on the effective lengths of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ionization and dispersion effects in combination with the inhomogeneity of soil simultaneously on the effective lengths of counterpoise wires.
Design/methodology/approach
Improved multi-conductor transmission line model is used for computing effective length of counterpoise wires considering all aspects of soils.
Findings
The simulation results show that the ionization and dispersion effects simultaneously results in placing the effective length between situations where only one effect is considered. Also, predicting formulae for effective length of counterpoise wires considering all effects are proposed.
Originality/value
A sensitivity analysis on the effective lengths of counterpoise wires considering all aspects of soils is carried out.
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Noreen Sher Akbar, O. Anwar Beg and Z.H. Khan
Sheet processing of magnetic nanomaterials is emerging as a new branch of smart materials’ manufacturing. The efficient production of such materials combines many physical…
Abstract
Purpose
Sheet processing of magnetic nanomaterials is emerging as a new branch of smart materials’ manufacturing. The efficient production of such materials combines many physical phenomena including magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), nanoscale, thermal and mass diffusion effects. To improve the understanding of complex inter-disciplinary transport phenomena in such systems, mathematical models provide a robust approach. Motivated by this, this study aims to develop a mathematical model for steady, laminar, MHD, incompressible nanofluid flow, heat and mass transfer from a stretching sheet.
Design/methodology/approach
This study developed a mathematical model for steady, laminar, MHD, incompressible nanofluid flow, heat and mass transfer from a stretching sheet. A uniform constant-strength magnetic field is applied transversely to the stretching flow plane. The Buongiorno nanofluid model is used to represent thermophoretic and Brownian motion effects. A non-Fourier (Cattaneo–Christov) model is used to simulate thermal conduction effects, of which the Fourier model is a special case when thermal relaxation effects are neglected.
Findings
The governing conservation equations are rendered dimensionless with suitable scaling transformations. The emerging nonlinear boundary value problem is solved with a fourth-order Runge–Kutta algorithm and also shooting quadrature. Validation is achieved with earlier non-magnetic and forced convection flow studies. The influence of key thermophysical parameters, e.g. Hartmann magnetic number, thermal Grashof number, thermal relaxation time parameter, Schmidt number, thermophoresis parameter, Prandtl number and Brownian motion number on velocity, skin friction, temperature, Nusselt number, Sherwood number and nanoparticle concentration distributions, is investigated.
Originality/value
A strong elevation in temperature accompanies an increase in Brownian motion parameter, whereas increasing magnetic parameter is found to reduce heat transfer rate at the wall (Nusselt number). Nanoparticle volume fraction is observed to be strongly suppressed with greater thermal Grashof number, Schmidt number and thermophoresis parameter, whereas it is elevated significantly with greater Brownian motion parameter. Higher temperatures are achieved with greater thermal relaxation time values, i.e. the non-Fourier model predicts greater values for temperature than the classical Fourier model.
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Seyed Sajad Sajadi, Saeed Reza Ostadzadeh and Seyed Hossein Hesamedin Sadeghi
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the simultaneous effects of ionization and dispersion of soil on the impulse behavior of grounding electrodes under first and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the simultaneous effects of ionization and dispersion of soil on the impulse behavior of grounding electrodes under first and subsequent stroke currents.
Design/methodology/approach
A recently introduced technique called improved multi-conductor transmission line (MTL) is simplified for grounding electrodes buried in both-affected soils.
Findings
The simulation results show that including the two effects simultaneously in highly resistive soils under high-valued subsequent stroke current is recommended. Otherwise, simultaneous effects can be disregard.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no research on sensitivity analyses for the simultaneous inclusion of the two effects on the effective length and the induced voltage on the soil surface. To this end, the simplified MTL is applied to the grounding electrodes. The simulation results show that the computational efficiency in comparison with previous methods is, first, considerably increased. Second, the simultaneous effects result in decreasing the soil surface voltage with respect to situations where either ionization or dispersion is taken into account (single-affected soils). In other words, the performance of grounding systems is improved. Third, the effective length in both-affected soil is has a middle value with respect to the single-affected soil. Such findings practically and financially are of importance.
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Amir Bahrami and Saeed Reza Ostadzadeh
The purpose of this paper is to calculate the back scattering response from single, finite and infinite arrays of nonlinear antennas like the case where the antennas are exposed…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to calculate the back scattering response from single, finite and infinite arrays of nonlinear antennas like the case where the antennas are exposed to high-value signals such as lightning strokes.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the authors have used a recently introduced optimization technique called intelligent water drop.
Findings
The results exhibit that the method used by the authors is faster and more accurate than other conventional optimization algorithms, i.e. particle swarm optimization and genetic algorithm.
Originality/value
A new optimization algorithm is used to solve nonlinear problem accurately and sufficiently. Although the technique is not confined to the mentioned examples in the paper, it can be applied to other nonlinear circuits.
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