In this paper Weibull parametric proportional hazard model (PHM) is used to estimate the failure rate of every individual cable based on its age and a set of explanatory factors. The required information for the proposed method is obtained by exploiting available historical cable inventory and failure data. This data-driven method does not require any additional measurements on the cables, and allows the cables to be ranked for maintenance prioritization and repair actions.

Furthermore, the results of reliability analysis of power cables are compared when the cables are considered as repairable or non-repairable components. The paper demonstrates that the methods which estimate the time-to-the-first failure (for non-repairable components) lead to incorrect conclusions about reliability of repairable power cables.

The proposed method is used to evaluate the failure rate of each individual Paper Insulated Lead Cover (PILC) underground cables in a distribution grid in the south of Sweden.

We present a novel electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structure, which can be used to manufacture low-cost waveguiding structures at high frequencies. The unit cell of the proposed EBG consists of glide-symmetric holes in parallel plate waveguide. Using this unit cell in groove gap waveguide technology has a number of advantages over pin-type EBG at high frequencies, such as acquiring higher accuracy because of larger periodicity as well as an easier and cheaper manufacturing process. The performance of the proposed waveguiding structure is demonstrated using both a straight and a double 90 degrees bent lines through simulation and measurement.

In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate an underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) system using a 450-nm gallium nitride (GaN) laser and adaptive bit-power loading discrete multitone (DMT). To enhance the system capacity, a post nonlinear equalizer based on the simplified Volterra series is employed at the receiver to mitigate the nonlinear impairments of the UWOC system. By combining the adaptive bit-power loading with nonlinear equalization, 7.33-Gb/s DMT-modulated UWOC under 15-m tap water is achieved at a bit error rate below the 7% hard-decision forward error correction (FEC) limit 3.8 x 10(-3). The electrical signal bandwidth is 1.25 GHz, which corresponds to an electrical spectrum efficiency of similar to 6 bit/s/Hz. The capacity-distance product reaches 109.95 Gb/s-m in a single channel UWOC system with tap water. Compared with the linear equalization case, the system capacity at the FEC limit for 15-m underwater transmission is improved by similar to 18% with the nonlinear equalization. Furthermore, the impact of turbidity on the performance of UWOC system is investigated by measuring the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) under different suspension concentrations of Al(OH)(3) and Mg(OH)(2). The results show that significant SNR gains (>3 dB for transmission distance up to 11 m) can be obtained by the nonlinear equalization over a wide range of water turbidity levels representing "clear ocean," "coastal ocean," and "harbor water," which demonstrates the robustness of the proposed scheme in various ocean environments.

In this letter, wave propagation in 2-D doubled corrugated metasurfaces, including glide-symmetric corrugated metasurfaces, embedded in a thin parallel plate waveguide have been analyzed using the mode matching method. The general dispersion equation for propagation at different directions is derived and dispersion surfaces have been obtained for three different cases. The results are in good agreement with reference results obtained using CST Microwave Studio. Moreover, the method is accurate and computationally much faster than CST Microwave Studio and similar commercial software.

The failure rate is essential in power system reliability assessment and thus far it has been commonly assumed as constant. This is a basic approach that delivers reasonable results. However, this approach neglects the heterogeneity in component populations which has a negative impact on the accuracy of the failure rate. This paper proposes a method based on risk functions, which describes the risk behaviour of condition measurements over time, to compute individual failure rates within populations. The method is applied to a population of 12 power transformers on transmission level. The computed individual failure rates depict the impact of maintenance and that power transformers with long operation times have a higher failure rate. Moreover, the paper presents a procedure based on the proposed approach to forecast failure rates. Finally, the individual failure rates are calculated over a specified prediction horizon and depicted with a 95\% confidence interval.

This paper presents the impact of different explanatory variables such as remote control availability and conducted preventive maintenance, among others, on failure statistics of a disconnector population in Sweden using the proportional hazard model. To do so, 2191 work orders were analysed which included 1626 disconnectors and 278 major failures. Here, the results show that the remote control availability for disconnectors - an example of such Smart Grid technology - has a negative effect on the failure rate, whereas preventive maintenance has a positive impact. It is also shown that the disconnector age is not significant and that certain disconnector types have a significant and positive correlation towards failures when compared to other disconnector types. The results increase the understanding of disconnector failures to improve asset management.

Considering that previous invisible gateways (an open entrance that only blocks electromagnetic waves) based on super-scatters designed by transformation optics cannot effectively work for narrow beams and light rays that do not touch negative refractive index material, we explore a new way to realize an improved invisible gateway that can give a good performance for both light waves and rays. In all previous invisible gateways, they require a finite thickness of the wall and the gateway. For the improved invisible gateway proposed in this study, there is no requirement on the thickness of the wall and gateway, i.e. the wall and gateway can be infinitely thin. Our study will go a further step to realize the invisible gateway in fiction.

High voltage circuit breaker (CB) are of fundamental importance to protect and operate the power system. To improve their performance and to better predict failures, it is necessary to understand the effect of covariates such as preventive maintenance, age, voltage level, and the CB type. A straightforward approach is to investigate recurrent failures with regression models for count data. In this paper, several regression models are developed to estimate the impact of the aforementioned covariates to predict the recurrence of failures. The results show that age has a significant and negative impact, preventive maintenance before the first failure has a positive impact, and that the voltage level has a negative impact. Moreover, the Poisson, Negative Binomial, and zero-inflated models are compared. The comparison shows that the Negative Binomial model has the best fit to the studied recurrent failure data.

JWG A3.32 with CIRED completed the Technical Brochure, which provides comprehensive information on Non-Intrusive Condition assessment of the T&D switchgear that can be applied on HV and MV circuit breakers, HV and MV switching equipment, MV reclosers and fault interrupters. Many emerging non-intrusive techniques were reported in the literature, most of them allowing in service evaluation. The JWG reviewed the current and future trends of non-intrusive, especially in service, diagnostic methods completing the work on Condition Assessment of Switchgears dealt in TB 167 and on Online Monitoring HV Substations available in TB 462. The brochure will provide useful information for everybody who is going to apply or improve Condition Assessment Methods to Switchgears.

This paper presents a method for modelling the different modes of failures in a substation and feeder architecture along with updating the possible false tripping scenarios in it. A traditional approach to collectively assess the failure modes using reliability block diagram is reviewed, and the method is updated to count in the unaccounted false tripping scenarios. A generalizable radial feeder branching structure is adopted and the effect of total feeder length and number of feeders from each busbar is examined and modelled with the help of the updated reliability block diagram. The modelled trends are also studied from real-world substation architectures. Thus, the analysis attains an improved estimation of the complex hidden failure probabilities combining theoretical and practical models.

Similar to its electromagnetic counterpart, magnetic cloaking also has very important technological applications. However, the traditional method to build a static magnetic cloak requires the use of superconducting materials as the diamagnetic component, which seriously limits the practical potential because of the cryogenic condition. We show that a diamagnetic active current boundary combined with a high-permeability magnetic inner shell (MIS) can be designed to solve this problem, rendering an ideal magnetic cloaking effect at zero frequency. We first theoretically prove that a current boundary could magnetically behave as a superconductor to external observers. Based on this phenomena, we introduce a high-permeability MIS made of magnetically ultrasoft metallic sheets (permeability mu > 10(3)) and experimentally prove that the bilayer combination can exactly balance out the disturbance to the external probing field and, meanwhile, have a large invisible inner space. We also show that the active boundary currents can be accordingly configured to overcome the permeability and frequency band limits, leading to a robust cloak over the entire quasistatic frequency region. Our work creates an efficient way to circumvent the traditional limits of metamaterials to build magnetic cloaks for ultralow frequencies. The active-passive hybrid approach could be generally extended to yield other artificial magnetic devices or systems as well.

Current commutation switches for HVDC devices are operated with Ultra-fast electromagnetic actuators. They can generate hundreds of kilo-newton force and swiftly open electrical contacts in a couple of milliseconds. An efficient damping mechanism then is crucial to attain an appropriate actuation performance and secure a long lifetime. In this article an electromagnetic Halbach damping actuator was studied. A numerical model based on FEA is used to calculate its damping constant and retardation time down to stand still velocity.

Semi-Definite Relaxation (SDR) techniques for AC optimal power flow (OPF) have recently been proposed as a means of obtaining a provably global optimal solution for many IEEE benchmark power systems. Solving the resulting semi-definite programs (SDP) can, however, be computationally intensive. Therefore new algorithms and techniques that enable more efficient computations are needed to extend the applicability of SDP based AC OPF algorithms to very large power networks. This paper proposes a three-stage algorithm for AC OPF based storage placement in large power systems. The first step involves network reduction whereby a small equivalent system that approximates the original power network is obtained. The AC OPF problem for this equivalent system is then solved by applying an SDR to the non-convex problem. Finally, the results from the reduced system are transferred to the original system using a set of repeating optimizations. The efficacy of the algorithm is tested through case studies using two IEEE benchmark systems and comparing the solutions obtained to those of DC OPF based storage allocation. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm produces more accurate results than the DC OPF based algorithm.

We propose what we believe is a novel method to design waveguide bends for metallic waveguides with arbitrary bending angles. The proposed method is based on a new theoretical branch from transformation optics that is referred as to optic surface transformation. Compared with waveguide bends designed by traditional transformation optics, the design process of our method can be made in a graphical way that is very simple and convenient. To realize any waveguide bend designed by the method proposed in this study, one needs only one homogeneous material, i.e., an optic-null medium (even if the bending angles are different for various cases). After some reductions, we find that the optic-null media here can be approximately realized by some anisotropic zero refractive index materials. 2D numerical simulations verify the performance of the designed waveguide bends. The design principle can be extended to the 3D case.

A rectenna for radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting is presented in this paper. We introduce a novel technique for RF rectification that is based on differential field sampling and a Greinacher voltage doubler rectifier. The proposed rectification antenna is a dual polarized patch with 4 ports that operates for the WiFi frequency band of 2.4-2.5 GHz and has a gain of 6.75 dB at each port. The proposed novel topology doubles the amount of input power accepted for each polarization and then quadruples the overall output power. In addition we have a differential output voltage source that is typically required for the electronics connected to the harvesting system.

In this paper we propose a novel 32 antenna port multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO)-cube. The total volume of the cube is 320 x 320 x 120 mm(3) . On two faces, endfire radiating linear tapered slot antennas (LTSAs) are placed and on the remaining sides, a mix of both LTSAs and broadside patch antennas are placed. In total 16 LTSAs and 8 dual polarized patches are used. The LTSA is designed to operate at the GSM and 3G bands, from 1.7 to 2.3 GHz. A corrugation pattern is introduced along the edges of the LTSAs covering one face to increase directivity and decrease sidelobes. The LTSAs are placed in two different orientations in order to receive two polarisations. The patch antenna is dual band and dual polarized. It operates in the frequency bands 2.4-2.5 and 5.45-5.6 GHz where Wi-Fi communication is made. The spatial placement, with antennas on all sides of the cuboid, ensures full azimuthal coverage despite the high directivity of the antennas. Using different antennas on different faces of the cube further optimizes the volume efficiency of the cube for azimuthal coverage.

In this work an implementation of an ambient radio frequency harvesting system utilizing multiple input single output approach is demonstrated. Measurements of typical ambient radiation have been conducted with respect to power levels and frequency to determine which communication signals are suitable for harvesting. The measurement campaign showed that the WiFi frequency band at 2.45 GHz is a good candidate for indoors applications. A Greinacher voltage doubler is used for the rectification. A multiple input single output - MISO scalable scheme approach is implemented that is able to provide a DC differential output voltage. Simulated and experimental results proved the MISO rectenna to be an efficient scheme for RF harvesting.

In calculations and simulations regarding magnetic materials, it is important to have a have an accurate model of the hysteresis loop. The major loop, in particular, is used in many simulations. However, it is generally not possible to measure the true major loop, and it must therefore be approximated using a minor loop. There are several methods available for approximating magnetization curves, but they are primarily designed for paramagnetic materials, and are poorly suited to the highly grain-oriented steels used in modern transformers. Therefore, we propose two expressions for approximating the magnetization curves of grain-oriented silicon-iron steels. Both methods give close agreement with measurements and can be extrapolated to in order to describe the major loop.

This work introduces a wideband switched beam system for femtocell 5G base stations. The system consists of a 4 x 1 Vivaldi linear array and a 4 x 4 Butler matrix able to operate from 1.9-5.1 GHz. A soft surface is introduced along the outer edges of the vivaldi elements of the array for side lobes and back radiation suppression.

Thin artificial surfaces that act as high frequency bandgap structures have been recently studied for the design of gap waveguides, hard surfaces, and planar lenses. Here, we propose a circuit-based method to analyze glide-symmetric corrugated metasurfaces that are embedded in a thin parallel plate waveguide. Our closed-form solution is based on rigorous analytical derivations. It achieves remarkable agreement with full-wave solvers, even when the waveguide thickness is extremely thin. In contrast, classical homogenization approaches are shown to be inaccurate for thin waveguides due to the interaction of higher order Floquet modes between the surfaces. Numerical results validate our theoretical analysis and show the utility of the proposed method.

Stimulated emission depletion microscopy provides a powerful sub-diffraction imaging modality for life science studies. Conventionally, stimulated emission depletion requires a relatively high light intensity to obtain an adequate depletion efficiency through only light–matter interaction. Here we show efficient emission depletion for a class of lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles with the assistance of interionic cross relaxation, which significantly lowers the laser intensity requirements of optical depletion. We demonstrate two-color super-resolution imaging using upconversion nanoparticles (resolution ~ 66 nm) with a single pair of excitation/depletion beams. In addition, we show super-resolution imaging of immunostained cytoskeleton structures of fixed cells (resolution ~ 82 nm) using upconversion nanoparticles. These achievements provide a new perspective for the development of photoswitchable luminescent probes and will broaden the applications of lanthanide-doped nanoparticles for sub-diffraction microscopic imaging.

We propose a general method, known as acoustic surface transformation (AST), to design novel acoustic devices and study the realization of such devices by using naturally available materials in broadband acoustic frequencies. All devices designed by AST only need one anisotropic homogeneous acoustic-null material (ANM). We design the ANM by exploiting natural material-based metal-fluid structures and verify that by numerical simulation. Unlike traditional methods, no complicated mathematical calculations are needed. We only need to design the geometrical shapes of the input and output surfaces of the devices. The proposed method will pave a new road for future acoustic design.

In many transformer applications, it is necessary to have a core magnetization model that takes into account both magnetic and electrical effects. This becomes particularly important in three-phase transformers, where the zero-sequence impedance is generally high, and therefore affects the magnetization very strongly. In this paper, we demonstrate a time-step topological simulation method that uses a lumped-element approach to accurately model both the electrical and magnetic circuits. The simulation method is independent of the used hysteresis model. In this paper, a hysteresis model based on the first-order reversal-curve has been used. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.