ENG3104 Engineering Simulations and Computations

Assessment:
Due:
Marks:
Value:

Semester 2, 2016

Assignment 2
12 September 2016
400
40%

(worth 100 marks)

1.1

Introduction

Measurements have been made of a cantilever beams deflection (stored in the file ass2q1in.csv).
You must determine what type of loading has been applied and the magnitude of the load. There
are four possibilities to test:
1. Point load (with units of force) on the end, Eq. (1) and Fig. 1(a)
2. Moment (with units of force multiplied by length) at the end, Eq. (2) and Fig. 1(b)
3. Uniformly-distributed load (UDL) (with units of force per unit length), Eq. (3) and
Fig. 1(c)
4. Uniformly-varying load (UVL) (with units of force per unit length), Eq. (4) and Fig. 1(d).
The formulae for the deflections are:
vP
vM
vUDL
vUVL

P x2
(3L x)
6EI
M x2
=
2EI


wx2
=
x2 + 6L2 4Lx
24EI


w0 x 2
=
10L3 10L2 x + 5Lx2 x3
120LEI
=

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)

For your assignment, the following values are to be used:

E = 3.0366 102 GPa
I = 9.8503 108 mm4
L = 9.0 m .

1.2

Requirements

For this assessment item, you must perform hand calculations:

1. Rearrange Eqs. (1)(4) by hand to obtain a formula for the load (i.e. P , M , w or w0 ).
2. Take the first, median1 and last data points and substitute them into the formulae obtained
from Requirement 1. Calculate the average value for each of the loads.
3. Using the average values determined in Requirement 2, determine which of Eqs. (1)(4)
is the best curve-fit when considering the first, median and last data points. Verify your
result using Excel2 .
1
If there are an odd number of data values, the median is the middle value; if there are an even number of
data values, there are two median values: those either side of the arithmetic middle.
2
Yes, I really did say you should perform some calculations in Excel!

ENG3104 Engineering Simulations and Computations

y

Semester 2, 2016

y
P

(a)

(b)

y
w

w0

(c)

(d)

Figure 1: Cantilever beam loadings. The grey box on the left represents the solid wall on which
the beam is mounted. (a) Point load with force P ; (b) moment of magnitude M ; (c) UDL with
magnitude w; (d) UVL with force per unit length a magnitude of w0 at the wall and magnitude
0 at the free end.
You must also produce MATLAB code which:
4. Performs curve-fits of all the data.
5. Determines what type of loading has been applied based on which curve-fit is the best.
6. Demonstrates that the chosen curve-fit is the best both graphically and numerically.
7. Displays a message in the Command Window stating which type of curve-fit was chosen,
stating the parameters of the curve-fit and the result of the numerical test of the curve-fit.
8. Estimates the magnitude of the load for your chosen curve-fit (i.e. one of P , M , w or w0 )
using the formula obtained in Requirement 1. Reports an estimated error for the load
calculation.
9. Compares the results from Requirements 2 and 8 and comments on the outcome.
10. Has appropriate comments throughout.

ENG3104 Engineering Simulations and Computations

1.3

Semester 2, 2016

Assessment Criteria

Your code will be assessed using the following scheme. Note that you are marked based on how
well you perform for each category, so the correct answer determined in a basic way will receive
half marks and the correct answer determined using an excellent method/code will receive full
marks.
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality

of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of

hand calculations
header(s) and comments
determination of appropriate curve-fit
plots (e.g. axis labels, titles)
reporting of curve-fit
load magnitude estimation
load magnitude comparison
the code

30 marks
5 marks
30 marks
5 marks
10 marks
10 marks
5 marks
5 marks

ENG3104 Engineering Simulations and Computations

Semester 2, 2016

(worth 85 marks)

2.1

Introduction

One of the challenges with the results of Question 1 is that the curve-fits dont precisely match
the forms of Eqs. (1)(4) (they dont satisfy the boundary conditions of zero deflection and zero
slope at the fixed support). In this question, you will perform curve-fits which do precisely match
the forms of Eqs. (1)(4). To achieve this, you need to solve appropriate simultaneous equations
for the polynomial coefficients, where the data values are known. For instance, suppose you
have the data in Table 1. You might recognise that this satisfies the form
y = f (x) = a1 x2 + a3 + ,

(5)

where ai , i [1, 3] are the polynomial coefficients, a2 = 0 and is an error. The unknown
coefficients are to take values so that when each (x, y) pair is substituted into Eq. (5), the value
of is minimised. To enforce the constraint a2 = 0, when solving the simultaneous equations
to determine ai , you dont include a2 in the vector of unknown ai .
Table 1: Sample (xi , yi ) data
i x
y
1 1
-6
2 3
10
3 4
24
64
4 6
5 8 120
6 9 154

2.2

Requirements

For this assessment item, you must perform hand calculations:

1. Using the first two rows of Table 1, solve Eq. (5) for a1 and a3 using substitution or
elimination.
2. Repeat Requirement 1, but express the set of equations in the form
Aa = y


a1
a =
a3


y1
y =
.
y2

(6)
(7)
(8)

Then invert A and determine a1 and a3 .

3. Perform the same calculations as in Requirement 2, but use the first and last data values
from ass2q1in.csv and estimate the polynomial coefficients for Eq. (1).
You must also produce MATLAB code which analyses the data in ass2q1in.csv:
4. Performs a curve-fit of Eq. (1) using all the data. Solve for a complete cubic polynomial
(include all polynomial coefficients) using the method of Requirement 2 to verify your
method against polyfit.
4

ENG3104 Engineering Simulations and Computations

Semester 2, 2016

5. Performs curve-fits of all the data using polynomials that have the same terms as Eqs. (1)
(4).
6. Determines what type of loading has been applied based on which curve-fit is the best.
7. Demonstrates that the chosen curve-fit is the best both graphically and numerically.
8. Displays a message in the Command Window stating which type of curve-fit was chosen,
stating the parameters of the curve-fit and the result of the numerical test of the curve-fit.
9. Discusses whether the chosen curve-fit from Question 1 is the same as from Question 2
and comments on any reasons.
10. Has appropriate comments throughout.

2.3

Assessment Criteria

Your code will be assessed using the following scheme. Note that you are marked based on how
well you perform for each category, so the correct answer determined in a basic way will receive
half marks and the correct answer determined using an excellent method/code will receive full
marks.
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality

of
of
of
of
of
of
of

hand calculations
header(s) and comments
verification
determination of appropriate curve-fit
plots and reporting
comparisons
the code

30 marks
5 marks
5 marks
30 marks
5 marks
5 marks
5 marks

ENG3104 Engineering Simulations and Computations

Semester 2, 2016

(worth 60 marks)

3.1

Introduction

The chosen switch to be used in an inverter is an IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar junction
Transistor), the voltage-controlled drive side of a MOSFET with the power side of a power
transistor. One design issue for these devices is to ensure that they do not overheat and
therefore fail. Your task is to check whether the SEMIKRON SKM75GB12T4 is an appropriate
choice for the application. The specifications for this unit are available from the StudyDesk.
This question relies heavily on Figs. 1 and 3 from those specifications.
The gate drive voltage (VGE ) is the input voltage to the switch and for a particular rated
current (IC ) and temperature (Ti ) there is a specific voltage drop across the switch (VCE ) which
occurs. The greater the value of VCE , the greater the energy losses (Eon + Eoff ) and therefore
the more likely it is that the switch will overheat. Your task is to determine whether the energy
losses are below the critical value Ecrit for your particular application. The switch will overheat
if the energy losses reach the critical value.
For your assignment, the following values are to be used:
IC

= 5.3542 5 + 25 A

VGE = 3.678 3 + 11 V
Ti = 150 C
Ecrit = 6.5852 2 mJ
VCC = 600 V ,

(9)

where VCC is the bus voltage.

3.2

Requirements

For this assessment item, you must perform hand calculations based on Figs. 1 and 3 from the
SEMIKRON spec. sheet:
1. For the value of Ti and VGE = 15 V, determine the values of VCE for IC = 25 A, 50 A and
75 A.
2. Using the values from Requirement 1, use linear interpolation to determine the value of
VCE for your value of IC .
3. Repeat Requirement 1 for VGE = 11 V.
4. Repeat Requirement 2 for VGE = 11 V.
5. Using your results from Requirements 2 and 4, estimate the value of VCE for your value
of VGE .
6. For your value of IC , determine the values of Eon and Eoff for VGE = 15 V.
You must also produce MATLAB code which uses the data from Figs. 1 and 3 in the SEMIKRON
spec. sheet:
7. Using the values from Requirement 1, use linear interpolation to determine the value of
VCE for your value of IC (obtain the same answer as Requirement 2).
8. Repeat Requirements 4 and 5. Verify your result against that from Requirement 5.
9. Calculate the result from Requirement 8 directly from the data in Requirements 1 and 3
(i.e. perform one linear interpolation operation to determine the answer). Compare your
result with that from Requirement 8 and discuss why they are similar or different.
6

ENG3104 Engineering Simulations and Computations

Semester 2, 2016

10. Estimate the error in your calculation of Requirement 7. As part of this error estimation,
use the formula:
VCE (IC = 25 A) 2VCE (IC = 50 A) + VCE (IC = 75 A)
d2 VCE
=
.
2
(25 A)2
dIC

(10)

Discuss the size of the error and how accurate you consider the answer from Requirement 8
to be.
11. The values from Requirement 6 are proportional to VCE . Determine the values of Eon
and Eoff for your value of VCE from Requirement 8. Thereby test whether this switch will
overheat for the given operating conditions.
12. Has appropriate comments throughout.

3.3

Assessment Criteria

Your code will be assessed using the following scheme. Note that you are marked based on how
well you perform for each category, so the correct answer determined in a basic way will receive
half marks and the correct answer determined using an excellent method/code will receive full
marks.
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality

of
of
of
of
of
of

hand calculations
header(s) and comments
calculating VCE
error analysis
energy test
the code

20 marks
5 marks
20 marks
5 marks
5 marks
5 marks

ENG3104 Engineering Simulations and Computations

Semester 2, 2016

(worth 150 marks)

4.1

Introduction

At the start of the film Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, unbiased coins are tossed.
The first 157 tosses are all heads, before the 158th toss yields a tail.
In another test, an unbiased coin is tossed 10 times and the total number of tails is counted.
This test is repeated 20 times (so the coin is tossed a total of 200 times), with the results
recorded in Table 2:
Table 2: Total number of tails k for n = 10 coin tosses. Each i is an independent test.
i 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
k 8 5 5 7 4 4 7 4 7 5
5
5
6
6
2
1
6
3
1
4
The binomial distribution describes the probability for a binary system [where there are two
possible outcomes for a realisation (e.g. an individual coin toss), a set of realisations forms a
test (in Table 2 there are 10 realisations in each test) and each realisation is independent of
each other]. A set of tests forms the sample (in Table 2 there are 20 tests in the sample). There
are two parameters: n, which is the total number of realisations in the test; and p, which is the
probability of the target outcome.
A limitation of the binomial distribution is that it only contains information on the total
number of instances: it does not provide information on the actual sequence of values. To
obtain that additional information, you actually need to conduct the random test (the total of
which will obey the binomial distribution).
To obtain consistent results from your random number generation, you should initialise the
seed to a fixed value using rng(seed). For your assignment, the value is:
seed = 2.2198

4.2

Requirements

For this assessment item, you must perform hand calculations on the data in Table 2:
1. Calculate the sample mean and standard deviation.
2. Calculates the population mean E(k) = np and population variance E(k 02 ) = np(1 p).
3. Plot the sample pdf. You can produce the plot in MATLAB, but you must perform the
calculations by hand.
You must also perform hand calculations:
4. Hypothesise a random sequence by writing a sequence of 10 realisations of a coin toss
(write H for Heads or T for Tails), making the sequence obey what you consider
to be a completely random sequence. This forms a single test of 10 realisations. At the
conclusion of the test, write the total number of tails and also the longest sequence of
repeating values (e.g. in the sequence HTHHTT the result is 2 because the 3rd and 4th
values are both H; it is also 2 because the 5th and 6th values are both T).
5. Actually perform a coin toss 10 times and record the same information as Requirement 4
(conduct a test).
You must also produce MATLAB code which analyses Table 2:
8

ENG3104 Engineering Simulations and Computations

Semester 2, 2016

6. Calculates the sample mean and standard deviation for the data in Table 2.
7. Plots the sample pdf of Table 2, with the calculations performed in MATLAB. Plots the
population pdf on the same axes.
8. Verifies that all the MATLAB calculations match the hand calculations.
9. Compares the sample mean and standard deviation to the population mean and population
variance (note that it is not easily possible in MATLAB to calculate confidence intervals
for sample statistics of a binomial distribution). Also compares the sample pdf to the
population pdf.
10. Randomly produces a sequence of 10 coin tosses and records the same information as
Requirement 4 (conduct a test).
11. Compares all the outcomes from Requirements 4, 5 and 10.
12. Repeats the test from Requirement 10 so that a total of 20 tests are conducted and
compares the results with Requirements 6 and 7 (compile a sample of 20 tests).
13. Estimate how big the sample size needs to be in order for the sample pdf to have non-zero
probability everywhere the population pdf is non-zero. Report the value to the Command
Window. Hint: If the smallest value of the population pdf had an absolute frequency of
1, how many samples would be required?
14. Run additional tests to the 20 that you have performed so that you have conducted the
number of tests estimated in Requirement 13. Check to see if every possible value has
been sampled.
You must also produce MATLAB code which analyses the longest sequence data:
15. Calculates the probability of 1 realisation being a tail for a test containing 158 realisations.
Calculates the probability that the first 157 tests are all heads and the last test is a tail.
Reports the results to the Command Window.
16. Plots the sample pdf for the longest sequence (as obtained from Requirement 14 if you have
completed that, or Requirement 12). Determine which is the most appropriate discrete
distribution for this data (discrete distributions only have probabilities for integer values;
continuous distributions have probabilities for any number between integers). Determine
the appropriate parametric value(s) for your chosen distribution (hint: since a value of 0
is impossible and 1 is inconceivable, perform this calculation by subtracting 2 from the
data and ignoring any instances of 1 in the data). Check whether the sample statistics
are consistent with the distributions parameter(s). Report the parameters and the test
results to the Command Window.
17. Estimate the maximum longest sequence of repeated values for a test containing:
(a) 100 realisations
(b) 1000 realisations
(c) 104 realisations
(d) 105 realisations
Set seed = 1 before running these tests. Report the results to the Command Window.
Hint: Run 1000 tests3 for each number of realisations. Change the seed if the longest
sequence doesnt monotonically increase with number of realisations.
3

This is not enough tests to reliably obtain this information, but we have to execute and mark over 300
assignments, so dont want your code running for too long!

ENG3104 Engineering Simulations and Computations

Semester 2, 2016

18. Based on your results from Requirement 17, estimate and report how many realisations
would be required in a test to make 157 repeated values possible (i.e. at least 0.1% chance).
19. Has appropriate comments throughout.

4.3

Assessment Criteria

Your code will be assessed using the following scheme. Note that you are marked based on how
well you perform for each category, so the correct answer determined in a basic way will receive
half marks and the correct answer determined using an excellent method/code will receive full
marks.
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality
Quality

of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of

hand calculations
header(s) and comments
calculation and plotting of hand statistics
verification based on hand calculations
coin toss simulation
Requirement 11
Requirement 12
sample size estimation and testing
probability calculation
longest sequence statistical analysis
longest sequence simulations
realisation value estimation
the code

10

30 marks
5 marks
30 marks
10 marks
10 marks
5 marks
15 marks
10 marks
5 marks
10 marks
5 marks
10 marks
5 marks

ENG3104 Engineering Simulations and Computations

Semester 2, 2016

(worth 5 marks)

You are to write a brief report (about 100 words, excluding any code), which includes:
1. A description of an instance during the writing of your code for this assignment where
there was a problem (e.g. a bug, an error, an unexpected result) or the most challenging
aspect to overcome.
2. What steps you took to overcome the problem or challenge (including any code you wrote
to test the problem/challenge).
3. The code before you resolved the problem or challenge, highlighting the line(s) of code
where the problem or challenge occurred.
4. The code after you resolved the problem/overcame the challenge.
5. Code from the MATLAB editor is to be copied into Word; screenshots should be taken of
the Command window.
The problem report will be assessed using the following scheme:
Description
Excellent description of a difficult problem and effective solution
Good description of a moderate problem and useful solution
Reasonable description of a genuine problem with a pragmatic solution
Poor description or Problem is not very challenging or Solution is not effective/efficient
Problem is trivial or Solution is poor
No report or description does not include a genuine problem

Marks
5
4
3
2
1
0

Submission
Submit your code, with the ass2q1in.csv file that is provided to you, by the due date to
the StudyDesk. Submit your problem report as a pdf file that contains selectable text (your
assignment will not be marked if the pdf file does not satisfy this requirement). Note that:
only code appearing in *.m files will be marked.
You do not need to rename your files when uploading: the system automatically segregates
different students submissions.
You can submit all your MATLAB files and ass2q1in.csv in a *.zip file or individually
(do not archive in another file format such as rar or 7z). Any zipped file MUST have the
extension *.zip. You must submit your pdf file(s) separately.
Your problem report and all other pdf files must be separate files that arent archived.
You will NOT receive any confirmation of receipt. If you can see that the files have
uploaded, then you have successfully submitted your assignment. There is no need to
click a send for marking button, but you will have to click a button confirming that the
submission is your own work.

After your files are successfully submitted, the system will automatically attempt to
submit each file to Turnitin. The system can ONLY submit your file to Turnitin if
it has been SUCCESSFULLY SUBMITTED for marking. You will almost certainly
receive a warning or error message from Turnitin:
11

ENG3104 Engineering Simulations and Computations

Semester 2, 2016

*.zip files WILL ALWAYS return an error message (Turnitin cannot extract
the files to process them)
*.m files SOMETIMES return an error message (although they contain plain
text, *.m is not a standard file extension which Turnitin recognises)
*.mat files WILL ALWAYS return an error message (it is a binary format which
Turnitin doesnt recognise)
*.pdf files without selectable text MAY return an error/warning message (there
is no content that Turnitin can process).

If you receive an error message from Turnitin, there is NO DOUBT:

your file has DEFINITELY BEEN SUCCESSFULLY SUBMITTED
for marking by the markers.

12