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High Redundancy Actuation
High-redundancy actuation (HRA) is a new approach to fault-tolerant control in the area of mechanical actuation. Overview The basic idea is to use a lot of small actuation elements, so that a fault of one element has only a minor effect on the overall system. This way, a High Redundancy Actuator can remain functional even after several elements are at fault. This property is also called graceful degradation. Fault-tolerant operation in the presence of actuator faults requires some form of redundancy. Actuators are essential, because they are used to keep the system stable and to bring it into the desired state. Both requires a certain amount of power or force to be applied to the system. No control approach can work unless the actuators produce this necessary force. So the common solution is to err on the side of safety by over-actuation: much more control action than strictly necessary is built into the system. For critical systems, the normal approach involves straightforward ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fault-tolerant Control
Fault tolerance is the property that enables a system to continue operating properly in the event of the failure of one or more faults within some of its components. If its operating quality decreases at all, the decrease is proportional to the severity of the failure, as compared to a naively designed system, in which even a small failure can cause total breakdown. Fault tolerance is particularly sought after in high-availability, mission-critical, or even life-critical systems. The ability of maintaining functionality when portions of a system break down is referred to as graceful degradation. A fault-tolerant design enables a system to continue its intended operation, possibly at a reduced level, rather than failing completely, when some part of the system fails. The term is most commonly used to describe computer systems designed to continue more or less fully operational with, perhaps, a reduction in throughput or an increase in response time in the event of some partial f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graceful Degradation
Fault tolerance is the property that enables a system to continue operating properly in the event of the failure of one or more faults within some of its components. If its operating quality decreases at all, the decrease is proportional to the severity of the failure, as compared to a naively designed system, in which even a small failure can cause total breakdown. Fault tolerance is particularly sought after in high-availability, mission-critical, or even life-critical systems. The ability of maintaining functionality when portions of a system break down is referred to as graceful degradation. A fault-tolerant design enables a system to continue its intended operation, possibly at a reduced level, rather than failing completely, when some part of the system fails. The term is most commonly used to describe computer systems designed to continue more or less fully operational with, perhaps, a reduction in throughput or an increase in response time in the event of some partial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Series And Parallel Circuits
Two-terminal components and electrical networks can be connected in series or parallel. The resulting electrical network will have two terminals, and itself can participate in a series or parallel topology. Whether a two-terminal "object" is an electrical component (e.g. a resistor) or an electrical network (e.g. resistors in series) is a matter of perspective. This article will use "component" to refer to a two-terminal "object" that participate in the series/parallel networks. Components connected in series are connected along a single "electrical path", and each component has the same current through it, equal to the current through the network. The voltage across the network is equal to the sum of the voltages across each component. Components connected in parallel are connected along multiple paths, and each component has the same voltage across it, equal to the voltage across the network. The current through the network is equal to the sum of the currents through eac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Condition Monitoring
Condition monitoring (colloquially, CM) is the process of monitoring a parameter of condition in machinery (vibration, temperature etc.), in order to identify a significant change which is indicative of a developing fault. It is a major component of predictive maintenance. The use of condition monitoring allows maintenance to be scheduled, or other actions to be taken to prevent consequential damages and avoid its consequences. Condition monitoring has a unique benefit in that conditions that would shorten normal lifespan can be addressed before they develop into a major failure. Condition monitoring techniques are normally used on rotating equipment, auxiliary systems and other machinery like belt-driven equipment, (compressors, pumps, electric motors, internal combustion engines, presses), while periodic inspection using non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques and fit for service (FFS) evaluation are used for static plant equipment such as steam boilers, piping and heat exchange ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maintenance, Repair And Operations
The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure, and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installations. Over time, this has come to include multiple wordings that describe various cost-effective practices to keep equipment operational; these activities occur either before or after a failure. Definitions Maintenance functions can defined as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), and MRO is also used for maintenance, repair and operations. Over time, the terminology of maintenance and MRO has begun to become standardized. The United States Department of Defense uses the following definitions:Federal Standard 1037C and from MIL-STD-188 and from the Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms * Any activity—such as tests, measurements, replacements, adjustments, and repairs—intended to retain or restore a func ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Control Reconfiguration
Control reconfiguration is an active approach in control theory to achieve fault-tolerant control for dynamic systems. It is used when severe faults, such as actuator or sensor outages, cause a break-up of the control loop, which must be restructured to prevent failure at the system level. In addition to loop restructuring, the controller parameters must be adjusted to accommodate changed plant dynamics. Control reconfiguration is a building block toward increasing the dependability of systems under feedback control. Reconfiguration problem Fault modelling The figure to the right shows a plant controlled by a controller in a standard control loop. The nominal linear model of the plant is \begin\dot & = \mathbf\mathbf + \mathbf\mathbf\\ \mathbf & = \mathbf\mathbf\end The plant subject to a fault (indicated by a red arrow in the figure) is modelled in general by \begin\dot_f & = \mathbf_f\mathbf_f + \mathbf_f\mathbf\\ \mathbf_f & = \mathbf_f\mathbf_f\end where the sub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reliability Engineering
Reliability engineering is a sub-discipline of systems engineering that emphasizes the ability of equipment to function without failure. Reliability describes the ability of a system or component to function under stated conditions for a specified period of time. Reliability is closely related to availability, which is typically described as the ability of a component or system to function at a specified moment or interval of time. The reliability function is theoretically defined as the probability of success at time t, which is denoted R(t). This probability is estimated from detailed (physics of failure) analysis, previous data sets or through reliability testing and reliability modelling. Availability, testability, maintainability and maintenance are often defined as a part of "reliability engineering" in reliability programs. Reliability often plays the key role in the cost-effectiveness of systems. Reliability engineering deals with the prediction, prevention and mana ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linear Actuator
A linear actuator is an actuator that creates motion in a straight line, in contrast to the circular motion of a conventional electric motor. Linear actuators are used in machine tools and industrial machinery, in computer peripherals such as disk drives and printers, in valves and dampers, and in many other places where linear motion is required. Hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders inherently produce linear motion. Many other mechanisms are used to generate linear motion from a rotating motor. Types Mechanical actuators Mechanical linear actuators typically operate by conversion of rotary motion into linear motion. Conversion is commonly made via a few simple types of mechanism: * Screw: leadscrew, screw jack, ball screw and roller screw actuators all operate on the principle of the simple machine known as the screw. By rotating the actuator's nut, the screw shaft moves in a line. * Wheel and axle: Hoist, winch, rack and pinion, chain drive, belt drive, rigid chain a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electric Actuator
A valve actuator is the mechanism for opening and closing a valve. Manually operated valves require someone in attendance to adjust them using a direct or geared mechanism attached to the valve stem. Power-operated actuators, using gas pressure, hydraulic pressure or electricity, allow a valve to be adjusted remotely, or allow rapid operation of large valves. Power-operated valve actuators may be the final elements of an automatic control loop which automatically regulates some flow, level or other process. Actuators may be only to open and close the valve, or may allow intermediate positioning; some valve actuators include switches or other ways to remotely indicate the position of the valve. Used for the automation of industrial valves, actuators can be found in all kinds of process plants. They are used in waste water treatment plants, power plants, refineries, mining and nuclear processes, food factories, and pipelines. Valve actuators play a major part in automating proces ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pneumatic Actuator
A pneumatic control valve actuator converts energy (typically in the form of compressed air) into mechanical motion. The motion can be rotary or linear, depending on the type of actuator. Principle of operation A Pneumatic actuator mainly consists of a piston or a diaphragm which develops the motive power. It keeps the air in the upper portion of the cylinder, allowing air pressure to force the diaphragm or piston to move the valve stem or rotate the valve control element. Valves require little pressure to operate and usually double or ''triple'' the input force. The larger the size of the piston, the larger the output pressure can be. Having a larger piston can also be good if the air supply is low, allowing the same forces with less input. These pressures are large enough to crush objects in the pipe. On 100 kPa input, you could lift a small car (upwards of 1,000 lbs) easily, and this is only a basic, small pneumatic valve. However, the resulting forces required o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
