Topic Review
Local Route Planning Algorithms for Unmanned Surface Vehicles
Covering approximately 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, the ocean is a vast domain studied by oceanographers—a multidisciplinary scientific branch that explores the geological, biological, chemical, and physical aspects of this dynamic environment. USVs are extensively utilized for search, patrol, resource exploration, and various other tasks due to their compact size and affordable price. The development status of USV route planning is considered an active research area and continues to evolve. Route planning addresses three primary challenges: firstly, accomplishing the task of moving from the initial point to the final destination; secondly, avoiding obstructions along the way; and lastly, selecting the ideal course, which can prioritize minimizing time or conserving control effort.
  • 172
  • 26 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Photonic Crystals in Photovoltaics
Photonic crystals are artificial structures with a spatial periodicity of dielectric permittivity on the wavelength scale. These structures come in various materials and can be constructed in 1D, 2D, and 3D formats, providing a wide range of options for customizing the material's optical properties and potential applications. One of promising application is in the field of solar energy. By utilizing PCs in the design of solar cells, researchers can enhance their performance and efficiency by improving e.g., light management and increasing light trapping capabilities. This innovation can potentially significantly improve solar cells' effectiveness of all generations.
  • 491
  • 26 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Green Closed-Loop Supply Chain Response to Carbon Policies
As greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continue to increase, governments throughout the world are under increasing pressure to enact legislation restricting emissions and implement environmental measures, such as the Kyoto Protocol and the European Union Emission Trading System.
  • 359
  • 26 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Large-Scale Hydrogen Production Systems Using Marine Renewable Energies
The electrochemical dissociation of water using renewable energies allows the production of green hydrogen and oxygen. The behavioral aging dynamics of the electrolyzer and fuel cell (FC) devices must be considered to increase the effectiveness and sustainability of the power-to-hydrogen and hydrogen-to-power systems. Their operation is greatly influenced by factors such as the temperature, dynamic current profiles imposed by the renewable energy sources (RESs), and gas pressure (in electrolyzers and FCs), which accelerate their degradation.
  • 208
  • 26 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Autonomous Vehicles Affect Traffic Conditions in Mixed Traffic
Different methodologies are being used to study the effects of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in mixed traffic to exhibit the interactions between autonomous and human-driven vehicles (HVs). Microscopic simulation tools are popular in such an assessment, as they offer the possibility to experiment in economical, robust, and optimistic ways. A lack of reliable real-world data (also known as natural data) to calibrate and evaluate the connected autonomous vehicle (CAV) simulation model is a major challenge.
  • 385
  • 25 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Sustainability of Earthquake Resilient Near Zero Energy Buildings
The climate crisis, the need for a circular economy, and the large financial losses after earthquakes have promoted the concept of the sustainable and resilient design of societies, and more specifically, of lifelines and building environments. Focused on building facilities, it is imperative to prescribe, within the aforementioned framework, the components that characterize earthquake resilient near zero energy buildings (ERnZEBs). This fact introduces an additional factor recognizing that not all projects have the same technical and financial values; the difference in budget, the type of owner, and the investment (private or public, company or private person) play important roles in creating an ERnZE building.
  • 216
  • 25 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Factors Related to Surface Roughness in Machining
Understanding surface roughness generation in machining is critical to estimate the final quality of the part, optimize cutting conditions, reduce costs and improve manufacturing sustainability in industry.
  • 256
  • 25 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Heavy-Duty Trucking
Seaports are perceived as multimodal hubs of the logistics supply chain where various transport modes intersect to exchange goods shipped by vessels. Increasing trade and capacity constraints are making this area a major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. National and regional decision-makers perceive port sustainability as a concern while planning GHG mitigation projects. However, to plan and conduct successful GHG management programs, it is critical to first develop an appropriate assessment approach that fits well with the operating and geographical context of the given port. For heavy-duty trucking activities taking place within such ports, several models and methodologies for assessing GHG emissions are available, but their generalization is challenging for many reasons, notably because of the specific features of traffic within the port.
  • 544
  • 22 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Climate Change-Related Disaster Risk Mitigation
Instead of addressing the disaster’s underlying risk, the traditional disaster insurance strategy largely focuses on providing financial security for asset recovery after a disaster. This constraint becomes especially concerning as the threat of climate-related disasters grows since it may result in rising long-term damage expenditures.
  • 185
  • 22 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Weld Pool Formation in Keyhole Plasma Arc Welding
The Keyhole Plasma Arc Welding (KPAW) process utilizes arc plasma highly constricted by a water-cooled cupper nozzle to produce great arc pressure for opening a keyhole in the weld pool, achieving full penetration to the thick plate. However, advanced control of welding is known to still be difficult due to the complexity of the process mechanism, in which thermal and dynamic interactions among the arc, keyhole, and weld pool are critically important. In KPAW, two large eddies are generally formed in the weld pool behind the keyhole by plasma shear force as the dominant driving force. These govern the heat transport process in the weld pool and have a strong influence on the weld pool formation process. The weld pool flow velocity is much faster than those of other welding processes such as Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding and Gas Metal Arc (GMA) welding, enhancing the heat transport to lower the weld pool surface temperature. Since the strength and direction of this shear force strongly depend on the keyhole shape, it is possible to control the weld pool formation process by changing the keyhole shape by adjusting the torch design and operating parameters. If the lower eddy is relatively stronger, the heat transport to the bottom side increases and the penetration increases. However, burn-through is more likely to occur, and heat transport to the top side decreases, causing undercut. In order to realize further sophistication of KPAW, a deep theoretical understanding of the process mechanism is essential. 
  • 247
  • 21 Mar 2024
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