Search results for: design elements

Authors: Agi Sunday, Agih Ukuru Agih

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In Nigeria, the food processing sector is dominated by small and medium enterprises, as well as multinational food companies. Quality standards are usually related to improving the safety of food products suitable for consumption in accordance to specifications by food regulatory bodies. These standards are essential elements for local and international businesses which contribute to economic progress through industrial development and trade. This review takes a critical look on the Nigerian food industry development in terms of quality standards that are necessary to be given consideration in the production of food and also ways of improving food production in Nigeria through the use of Total Quality Management (TQM) technique and the use of computerized systems to produce high quality and high value products while at the same time reducing production time and cost.

Keywords: food industry, quality assurance, Nigeria, TQM, computerized systems

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Authors: Bharat Mishra, Sanjay Kumar Awasthi, Raj Kumar Rajak

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The devices, which convert the energy in the form of electricity from organic matters, are called microbial fuel cell (MFC). Recently, MFCs have been given a lot of attention due to their mild operating conditions, and various types of biodegradable substrates have been used in the form of fuel. Traditional MFCs were included in anode and cathode chambers, but there are single chamber MFCs. Microorganisms actively catabolize substrate, and bioelectricities are produced. In the field of power generation from non-conventional sources, apart from the benefits of this technique, it is still facing practical constraints such as low potential and power. In this study, most suitable, natural, low cost MFCs components are electrodes (anode and cathode), organic substrates, membranes and its design is selected on the basis of maximum potential (voltage) as an electrical parameter, which indicates a vital role of affecting factor in MFC for sustainable power production.

Keywords: substrates, electrodes, membranes, MFCs design, voltage

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Authors: Koe Han Beng, Khoo Boo Cheong

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The rising interest of stepped hull design has been led by the demand of more efficient high-speed boat. At the same time, the need of accurate prediction method for stepped planing hull is getting more important. By understanding the flow at high Froude number is the key in designing a practical step hull, the study surrounding stepped hull has been done mainly in the towing tank which is time-consuming and costly for initial design phase. Here the feasibility of predicting hydrodynamics of high-speed planing hull both with and without step using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with the volume of fluid (VOF) methodology is studied in this work. First the flow around the prismatic body is analyzed, the force generated and its center of pressure are compared with available experimental and empirical data from the literature. The wake behind the transom on the keel line as well as the quarter beam buttock line are then compared with the available data, this is important since the afterbody flow of stepped hull is subjected from the wake of the forebody. Finally the calm water performance prediction of a conventional planing hull and its stepped version is then analyzed. Overset mesh methodology is employed in solving the dynamic equilibrium of the hull. The resistance, trim, and heave are then compared with the experimental data. The resistance is found to be predicted well and the dynamic equilibrium solved by the numerical method is deemed to be acceptable. This means that computational fluid dynamics will be very useful in further study on the complex flow around stepped hull and its potential usage in the design phase.

Keywords: planing hulls, stepped hulls, wake shape, numerical simulation, hydrodynamics

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Authors: Bobuchi Ken-Opurum

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The impacts of climate change on urban settlements is growing. In the global south, communities are even more vulnerable and suffer there is an increased vulnerability from due to climate change disasters such as flooding and high temperatures. This is primarily due to high intensity rainfall, low-lying coasts, inadequate infrastructure, and limited resources. According to the Emergency Events Database, floods were the leading cause of disaster -based deaths in the global south between 2006 and 2015. This includes deaths from heat stress related health outcomes. Adapting to climate vulnerabilities is paramount in reducing the significant redevelopment costs from climate disasters. Governments and urban planners provide top-down approaches such as evacuation, and disaster and emergency communication. While they address infrastructure and public services, they are not always able to address the immediate and critical day to day needs of poor and vulnerable populations. There is growing evidence that some bottom-up strategies and grassroots initiatives of self-build housing such as in urban informal settlements are successful in coping and adapting to hydroclimatic impacts. However, these research findings are not consolidated and the evaluation of the resilience outcomes of the bottom-up strategies are limited. Using self-build housing as a model for sustainable and resilient urban planning, this research aimed to consolidate the flood and heat stress resilient design solutions, analyze the effectiveness of these solutions, and develop guidelines and methods for adopting these design solutions into mainstream housing in megathermal climates. The methodological approach comprised of analyses of over 40 ethnographic based peer reviewed literature, white papers, and reports between the years 2000 and 2019 to identify coping strategies and grassroots initiatives that have been applied by occupants and communities of the global south. The results of the research provide a consolidated source and prioritized list of the best bottom-up strategies for communities in megathermal climates to improve the lives of people in some of the most vulnerable places in the world.

Keywords: resilient, design, megathermal, climate change

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Authors: J. van Vuuren, D. J. van Vuuren, R. Muigai

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In recent times, South Africa has experienced extensive droughts that created the need for reliable small water reservoirs. These reservoirs have comparatively quick fabrication and installation times compared to market alternatives. An elevated water tank has inherent potential energy, resulting in that no additional water pumps are required to sustain water pressure at the outlet point – thus ensuring that, without electricity, a water source is available. The initial construction formwork and the complex geometric shape of concrete towers that requires casting can become time-consuming, rendering steel towers preferable. Reinforced concrete foundations, cast in advance, are required to be of sufficient strength. Thereafter, the prefabricated steel supporting structure and tank, which consist of steel panels, can be assembled and erected on site within a couple of days. Due to the time effectiveness of this system, it has become a popular solution to aid drought-stricken areas. These sites are normally in rural, schools or farmland areas. As these tanks can contain up to 2000kL (approximately 19.62MN) of water, combined with supporting lattice steel structures ranging between 5m and 30m in height, failure of one of the supporting members will result in system failure. Thus, there is a need to gain a comprehensive understanding of the operation conditions because of wind loadings on both the tank and the supporting structure. The aim of the research is to investigate the relationship between the theoretical wind loading on a lattice steel tower in combination with an elevated sectional steel tank, and the current wind loading codes, as applicable to South Africa. The research compares the respective design parameters (both theoretical and wind loading codes) whereby FEA analyses are conducted on the various design solutions. The currently available wind loading codes are not sufficient to design slender cantilever latticed steel towers that support elevated water storage tanks. Numerous factors in the design codes are not comprehensively considered when designing the system as these codes are dependent on various assumptions. Factors that require investigation for the study are; the wind loading angle to the face of the structure that will result in maximum load; the internal structural effects on models with different bracing patterns; the loading influence of the aspect ratio of the tank; and the clearance height of the tank on the structural members. Wind loads, as the variable that results in the highest failure rate of cantilevered lattice steel tower structures, require greater understanding. This study aims to contribute towards the design process of elevated steel tanks with lattice tower supporting structures.

Keywords: aspect ratio, bracing patterns, clearance height, elevated steel tanks, lattice steel tower, wind loads

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Authors: Anchal Gupta

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Amid the escalating digitalization and deployment of cross-border technological solutions, a significant portion of the industry and regulatory bodies have begun to pose queries concerning the formulation, computation, and contemplation of concentration risk. In the financial sector, well-established parameters exist for gauging the concentration of a portfolio and similar elements. However, a unified framework appears to be absent, which could guide industry and regulators pertaining to non-financial concentration risk. This paper introduces a framework, constructed on the foundation of multiple regulations where regulators are advocating for licensed corporations to evaluate their concentration risk. The lacuna lies in the fact that, while regulators delineate what constitutes concentration risk, unlike other domains, no guidelines are provided that could assist firms. This frequently results in ambiguity and individual corporate interpretation, which, from a risk management standpoint, is less than ideal.

Keywords: concentration risk, non-financial risk, government regulation, financial regulation, non-market risk, MAS, DORA, EDSP, SFC

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Authors: H. Asadi, H. Naderan Tahan

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The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of geometrical properties of helical fins in double pipe heat exchangers. On the other hand, the purpose of this project is to derive the hydraulic and thermal design tables and equations of double heat exchangers with helical fins. The numerical modeling is implemented to calculate the considered parameters. Design tables and correlated equations are generated by repeating the parametric numerical procedure for different fin geometries. Friction factor coefficient and Nusselt number are calculated for different amounts of Reynolds, fluid Prantle and fin twist angles for the range of laminar fluid flow in annular tube with helical fins. Results showed that friction factor coefficient and Nusselt number will be increased for higher Reynolds numbers and fins’ twist angles in general. These two parameters follow different patterns in response to Reynolds number increment. Thermal performance factor is defined to analyze these different patterns. Temperature and velocity contours are plotted against twist angle and number of fins to describe the changes in flow patterns in different geometries of twisted finned annulus. Finally twisted finned annulus friction factor coefficient, Nusselt Number and thermal performance factor are correlated by simulating the model in different design points.

Keywords: double pipe heat exchangers, heat exchanger performance, twisted fins, computational fluid dynamics

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Authors: Aikaterini Tavoulari, Mike Richardson

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Objective: This abstract presents a multisensory participatory design project, inspired by a deafblind PhD student's ambition to climb Mount Everest. The project aims to explore accessible routes for filmmaking and video content creation, catering to the needs of individuals with hearing and sight loss. By engaging participants from the Southwest area of England, recruited through multiple networks, the project seeks to gather qualitative data and insights to inform the development of inclusive media practices. Design: It will be a community-based participatory research design. The workshop will feature various stations that stimulate different senses, such as scent, touch, sight, hearing as well as movement. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with these multisensory experiences, providing valuable feedback on their effectiveness and potential for enhancing accessibility in filmmaking and video content. Methods: Brief semi-structured interviews will be conducted to collect qualitative data, allowing participants to share their perspectives, challenges, and suggestions for improvement. The participatory design approach emphasizes the importance of involving the target audience in the creative process. By actively engaging individuals with hearing and sight loss, the project aims to ensure that their needs and preferences are central to the development of accessible filmmaking techniques and video content. This collaborative effort seeks to bridge the gap between content creators and diverse audiences, fostering a more inclusive media landscape. Results: The findings from this study will contribute to the growing body of research on accessible filmmaking and video content creation. Via inductive thematic analysis of the qualitative data collected through interviews and observations, the researchers aim to identify key themes, challenges, and opportunities for creating engaging and inclusive media experiences for deafblind audiences. The insights will inform the development of best practices and guidelines for accessible filmmaking, empowering content creators to produce more inclusive and immersive video content. Conclusion: The abstract targets the hybrid International Conference for Disability and Diversity in Canada (January 2025), as this platform provides an excellent opportunity to share the outcomes of the project with a global audience of researchers, practitioners, and advocates working towards inclusivity and accessibility in various disability domains. By presenting this research at the conference in person, the authors aim to contribute to the ongoing discourse on disability and diversity, highlighting the importance of multisensory experiences and participatory design in creating accessible media content for the deafblind community and the community with sensory impairments more broadly.

Keywords: vision impairment, hearing impairment, deafblindness, accessibility, filmmaking

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Authors: Saman R. Khan, Najma Sadiq

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Silencing of opinions is an important aspect of Spiral of Silence theory however its applicability in rape-themed dramas requires investigation. This study focuses on the portrayal of female rape victim protagonists in Pakistani dramas and the factors influencing their behavior after rape. A quantitative content analysis was conducted on two prime-time dramas which directly dealt with female rape victims. Results indicate that the female protagonists who faced rape are shown as silent and submissive characters who are unable to communicate about their ordeal due to fear of social isolation. These findings lend support to the Spiral of Silence theory and indicate that the theory’s basic elements (inability to express opinions and fear of social isolation) exist in these TV dramas.

Keywords: gender stereotyping, rape victims, the spiral of silence, TV dramas

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Authors: T. Godwin

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The design of a supply chain always entails the trade-off between responsiveness and efficiency. The launch of e-commerce has not only changed the way of shopping but also altered the supply chain design while trading off efficiency with responsiveness. A concept called ‘virtual responsiveness’ is introduced in the context of e-commerce supply chain. A simulation model is developed to compare actual responsiveness and virtual responsiveness to the customer in an e-commerce supply chain. The simulation is restricted to the movement of goods from the e-tailer to the customer. Customer demand follows a statistical distribution and is generated using inverse transformation technique. The two responsiveness schemes of the supply chain are compared in terms of the minimum number of inventory required at the e-tailer to fulfill the orders. Computational results show the savings achieved through virtual responsiveness. The insights gained from this study could be used to redesign e-commerce supply chain by incorporating virtual responsiveness. A part of the achieved cost savings could be passed back to the customer, thereby making the supply chain both effective and competitive.

Keywords: e-commerce, simulation modeling, supply chain, virtual responsiveness

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Authors: Jeevan Balaji, Shreyas Chigurupati

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Pneumatic gripper use compressed air to operate its actuators (fingers). Unlike the conventional metallic gripper, a soft pneumatic actuator (SPA) can be used for relocating fragile objects. An added advantage for this gripper is that the pressure exerted on the object can be varied by changing the dimensions of the air chambers and also by the number of chambers. SPAs have many benefits over conventional robots in the military, medical fields because of their compliance nature and are easily produced using the 3D printing process. In the paper, SPA is proposed to perform pick and place tasks. A design was developed for the actuators, which is convenient for gripping any fragile objects. Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is used for 3D printing the actuators. The actuator model behaves differently as the parameters such as its chamber height, number of chambers change. A detailed FEM model of the actuator is drafted for different pressure inputs using ABAQUS CAE software, and a safe loading pressure range is found.

Keywords: soft robotics, pneumatic actuator, design and modelling, bending analysis

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Authors: M. Kamal, Y. Wang, R. Kennon

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Quality Function Deployment is a useful tool in product development with the application of voice of customer. In this paper, it aims to be applied as a product development tool in redesigning fashion and textile product. The purpose of these studies is to apply the effective use of Voice of Customer in redesigning cultural fashion product. The data collection from Voice of Customer or consumers’ feedback might help the producer to improve the quality of merchandise ahead. Voice of Customer could give a specific detailing for quality which needs to be redesigned according to customers’ requirements. Meanwhile, the next objective is to differentiate design specifications and characteristics using House of Quality. In product designing phase, it is very important to distinguish each specification and characteristic which translated from Voice of Customer to House of Quality matrix. This matrix would help designers to development according to qualities that customer wants for the better and successful product in the market. It is hope this research would indicate the customers’ requirements and production team idea might be measured and translated to a systematic data. The specific technical data could be planned ahead with specific design details as well. This could be a sustainable approach for a traditional product which could control the material that they use and sustain the quality as the past production. As a conclusion, this study would benefit the Small Medium Enterprises design team or the designers to style an item from customers view with organised projection of the product. The finding also could assist designers or batik producers’ to recognise specific details Batik sarong from consumers as well as in in advertising and marketing strategy plan.

Keywords: house of quality, Malaysia batik sarong, quality function deployment, voice of customer

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Authors: Mohammed Eltayeb Salih Elamin

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This study discusses the concept of the artificial heart using engineering concepts, of the fluid mechanics and the characteristics of the non-Newtonian fluid. For the purpose to serve heart patients and improve aspects of their lives and since the Statistics review according to world health organization (WHO) says that heart disease and blood vessels are the first cause of death in the world. Statistics shows that 30% of the death cases in the world by the heart disease, so simply we can consider it as the number one leading cause of death in the entire world is heart failure. And since the heart implantation become a very difficult and not always available, the idea of the artificial heart become very essential. So it’s important that we participate in the developing this idea by searching and finding the weakness point in the earlier designs and hoping for improving it for the best of humanity. In this study a pump was designed in order to pump blood to the human body and taking into account all the factors that allows it to replace the human heart, in order to work at the same characteristics and the efficiency of the human heart. The pump was designed on the idea of the diaphragm pump. Three models of blood obtained from the blood real characteristics and all of these models were simulated in order to study the effect of the pumping work on the fluid. After that, we study the properties of this pump by using Ansys15 software to simulate blood flow inside the pump and the amount of stress that it will go under. The 3D geometries modeling was done using SOLID WORKS and the geometries then imported to Ansys design modeler which is used during the pre-processing procedure. The solver used throughout the study is Ansys FLUENT. This is a tool used to analysis the fluid flow troubles and the general well-known term used for this branch of science is known as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Basically, Design Modeler used during the pre-processing procedure which is a crucial step before the start of the fluid flow problem. Some of the key operations are the geometry creations which specify the domain of the fluid flow problem. Next is mesh generation which means discretization of the domain to solve governing equations at each cell and later, specify the boundary zones to apply boundary conditions for the problem. Finally, the pre–processed work will be saved at the Ansys workbench for future work continuation.

Keywords: Artificial heart, computational fluid dynamic heart chamber, design, pump

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Authors: Claudia Aguilar, Amen Farooq

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Among other cities in the United States, the city of Atlanta is experiencing levels of growth that surpass anything we have witnessed in the last century. With the surge of population influx, the available housing is practically bursting at the seams. Supply is low, and demand is high. In effect, the average one-bedroom apartment runs for 1,800 dollars per month. The city is desperately seeking new opportunities to provide affordable housing at an expeditious rate. This has been made evident by the recent updates to the city’s zoning. With the recent influx in the housing market, young professionals, in particular millennials, are desperately looking for alternatives to stay within the city. To remedy Atlanta’s affordable housing crisis, the city of Atlanta is planning to introduce 40 thousand of new affordable housing units by 2026. To achieve the urgent need for more affordable housing, the architectural response needs to adapt to overcome this goal. A method that has proven successful in modern housing is to practice modular means of development. A method that has been constrained to the dimensions of the max load for an eighteen-wheeler. This approach has diluted the architect’s ability to produce site-specific, informed design and rather contributes to the “cookie cutter” stigma that the method has been labeled with. This thesis explores the design methodology for modular housing by revisiting its constructability and adaptability. This research focuses on a modular housing type that could break away from the constraints of transport and deliver adaptive reconfigurable assemblies. The adaptive assemblies represent an integrated design strategy for assembling the future of affordable dwelling units. The goal is to take advantage of a component-based system and explore a scalable solution to modular housing. This proposal aims specifically to design a kit of parts that are made to be easily transported and assembled but also gives the ability to customize the use of components to benefit all unique conditions. The benefits of this concept could include decreased construction time, cost, on-site labor, and disruption while providing quality housing with affordable and flexible options.

Keywords: adaptive assemblies, modular architecture, adaptability, constructibility, kit of parts

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Authors: Aline V. Arroteia, Gustavo G. Do Amaral, Simone Z. Kikuti, Norberto C. S. Moura, Silvio B. Melhado

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Despite the significant advances made by the construction industry in recent years, the crystalized absence of integration between the design and construction phases is still an evident and costly problem in building construction. Globally, the construction industry has sought to adopt collaborative practices through new technologies to mitigate impacts of this fragmented process and to optimize its production. In this new technological business environment, professionals are required to develop new methodologies based on the notion of collaboration and integration of information throughout the building lifecycle. This scenario also represents the industry’s reality in developing nations, and the increasing need for overall efficiency has demanded new educational alternatives at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. In countries like Brazil, it is the common understanding that Architecture, Engineering and Building Construction educational programs are being required to review the traditional design pedagogical processes to promote a comprehensive notion about integration and simultaneity between the phases of the project. In this context, the coherent inclusion of computation design to all segments of the educational programs of construction related professionals represents a significant research topic that, in fact, can affect the industry practice. Thus, the main objective of the present study was to comparatively measure the effectiveness of the Building Information Modeling courses offered by the University of Sao Paulo, the most important academic institution in Brazil, at the Schools of Architecture and Civil Engineering and the courses offered in well recognized BIM research institutions, such as the School of Design in the College of Architecture of the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, to evaluate the dissemination of BIM knowledge amongst students in post graduate level. The qualitative research methodology was developed based on the analysis of the program and activities proposed by two BIM courses offered in each of the above-mentioned institutions, which were used as case studies. The data collection instruments were a student questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, participatory evaluation and pedagogical practices. The found results have detected a broad heterogeneity of the students regarding their professional experience, hours dedicated to training, and especially in relation to their general knowledge of BIM technology and its applications. The research observed that BIM is mostly understood as an operational tool and not as methodological project development approach, relevant to the whole building life cycle. The present research offers in its conclusion an assessment about the importance of the incorporation of BIM, with efficiency and in its totality, as a teaching method in undergraduate and graduate courses in the Brazilian architecture, engineering and building construction schools.

Keywords: building information modeling (BIM), BIM education, BIM process, design teaching

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Authors: Katarina Rogulj, Ivana Racetin, Jelena Kilic

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In this study, the fuzzy logic approach (FLA) was developed for construction project management (CPM) under uncertainty and duality. The focus was on decision making in selecting the type of the glass facade for a residential-commercial building in the main design. The adoption of fuzzy sets was capable of reflecting construction managers’ reliability level over subjective judgments, and thus the robustness of the system can be achieved. An α-cuts method was utilized for discretizing the fuzzy sets in FLA. This method can communicate all uncertain information in the optimization process, taking into account the values of this information. Furthermore, FLA provides in-depth analyses of diverse policy scenarios that are related to various levels of economic aspects when it comes to the construction projects' valid decision making. The developed approach is applied to CPM to demonstrate its applicability. Analyzing the materials of glass facades, variants were defined. The development of the FLA for the CPM included relevant construction projec'ts stakeholders that were involved in the criteria definition to evaluate each variant. Using fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory Method (DEMATEL) comparison of the glass facade was conducted. This way, a rank, according to the priorities for inclusion into the main design, of variants is obtained. The concept was tested on a residential-commercial building in the city of Rijeka, Croatia. The newly developed methodology was then compared with the existing one. The aim of the research was to define an approach that will improve current judgments and decisions when it comes to the material selection of buildings facade as one of the most important architectural and engineering tasks in the main design. The advantage of the new methodology compared to the old one is that it includes the subjective side of the managers’ decisions, as an inevitable factor in each decision making. The proposed approach can help construction projects managers to identify the desired type of glass facade according to their preference and practical conditions, as well as facilitate in-depth analyses of tradeoffs between economic efficiency and architectural design.

Keywords: construction projects management, DEMATEL, fuzzy logic approach, glass façade selection

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Authors: Ashwini Bhosale, Yogesh Patil

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Urban areas are extremely complicated environmental settings, where health and well-being of an individual and population are governed by a large number of bio-physical, socio-economical, and inclusive aspects. Although poverty and slums are the prime issues under UN-HABITAT agenda of environmental sustainability, slums, the inevitable part of urban environment, have not accounted for inclusive city planning. Developing nations, where about 60 % of world slum population resides, are increasingly under pressure to uplift the urban poor, particularly slum dwellers. From a point of advantage, these new slum redevelopment projects have succeeded in providing legitimized and more permanent and stable shelter for the low income people, as well as individualized sanitation and water supply. However, they unfortunately follow the “one type fits all" approach and exhibit no response to the climatic design needs on Mumbai. The thesis focuses on the study of environmental perspectives in the context of Daylight, natural ventilation and social aspects in the design process of Slum-Rehabilitation schemes (SRS) – case of Mumbai. It attempts to investigate into Indian approaches about SRS and concludes upon strategies to be incorporated in SRS to improve the overall SRS environment. The main objectives of this work have been to identify and study the spatial configuration and possibilities of daylight and natural ventilation in Slum Rehabilitated buildings. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated by comparison with the daylight luminance simulated by lighting software, namely ECOTECT, and with measurements under real skies whereas for the ventilation study purpose, software named FLOW DESIGN was used.

Keywords: urban environment, slum-rehabilitation, daylight, natural-ventilation, architectural consequences

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Authors: Han Ik Park, Jeong Hyeon Seong, Dong Seop Han, Su-Chul Shin, Young Chul Park

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A Spudcan is mounted on the lower leg of the jack-up rig, a device for preventing a rollover of a structure and to support the structure in a stable sea floor. At the time of inserting the surface of the spud can to penetrate when the sand layer is stable and smoothly pulled to the clay layer, and at that time of recovery when uploading the spud can is equipped with a water injection device. In this study, it is significant to optimize the shape of pipelines holes for water injection device and it was set in two kinds of shape, the oval and round. Interpretation of the subject into the site of Gulf of Mexico offshore Wind Turbine Installation Vessels (WTIV)was chosen as a target platform. Using the ANSYS Workbench commercial programs, optimal design was conducted. The results of this study can be applied to the hole-shaped design of various marine structures.

Keywords: kriging method, jack-up rig, shape optimization, spudcan

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Authors: Valentina Rodas, Luis Almache

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The interaction effects between the existing soil and the substructure of a 5-story building with an underground one were evaluated in such a way that the structural-geotechnical concepts were validated through the method of impedance factors with a program based on the method of the finite elements. The continuous wall-type foundation had a constant thickness and followed inclined and orthogonal directions, while the ground had homogeneous and medium-type characteristics. The soil considered was type C according to the Ecuadorian Construction Standard (NEC) and the corresponding foundation comprised a depth of 4.00 meters and a basement wall thickness of 40 centimeters. This project is part of a mid-rise building in the city of Azogues (Ecuador). The hypotheses raised responded to the objectives in such a way that the model implemented with springs had a variation with respect to the embedded base, obtaining conservative results.

Keywords: interaction, soil, substructure, springs, effects, modeling , embedment

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Authors: T. Nishimura, K. Doi, H. Fujimoto, T. Wada

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We conducted perception experiments on tactile symbols to elucidate the impact of the size of these letters on the level of perceptibility. This study was based on the accessible design perspective and aimed at expanding the availability of tactile symbols for the visually impaired who are unable to read Braille characters. In particular, this study targeted people with acquired visual impairments as users of the tactile symbols. The subjects (young and elderly individuals) in this study had normal vision. They were asked to participate in the experiments to identify tactile symbols while unable to see their hand during the experiments. This study investigated the relation between the size and perceptibility of tactile symbols based on an examination using test pieces of these letters in different sizes. The results revealed that the error rates for both young and elderly subjects converged to almost 0% when 12 mm size tactile symbols were used. The findings also showed that the error rate was low and subjects could identify the symbols in 5 s when 16 mm size tactile symbols were introduced.

Keywords: accessible design, tactile sense, tactile symbols, bioinformatic

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Authors: Ridvan Yamanoglu, Erdinc Efendi, Ismail Daoud

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In this study, Ti-5Al-2.5Fe alloy was prepared by powder metallurgy. The elemental titanium, aluminum, and iron powders were mechanically alloyed for 10 h in a vacuum atmosphere. A stainless steel jar and stainless steel balls were used for mechanical alloying. The alloyed powders were then sintered by vacuum hot pressing at 950 °C for a soaking time of 30 minutes. Pure titanium was also sintered at the same conditions for comparison of mechanical properties and microstructural behavior. The samples were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, XRD analysis, and optical microscopy. Results showed that, after mechanical alloying, a homogeneous distribution of the elements was obtained, and desired a-b structure was determined. Ti-5Al-2.5Fe alloy was successfully produced, and the alloy showed enhanced mechanical properties compared to the commercial pure titanium.

Keywords: Ti5Al-2.5Fe, mechanical alloying, hot pressing, sintering

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Authors: Pitak Keawbunsong, Sathaporn Promwong

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This paper presents an investigation on the efficiency of the optimized Davison path loss model in order to look for a suitable path loss model to design and planning DTTV propagation for small and medium urban areas in southern Thailand. Hadyai City in Songkla Province is chosen as the case study to collect the analytical data on the electric field strength. The optimization is conducted through the least square method while the efficiency index is through the statistical value of relative error (RE). The result of the least square method is the offset and slop of the frequency to be used in the optimized process. The statistical result shows that RE of the old Davidson model is at the least when being compared with the optimized Davison and the Hata models. Thus, the old Davison path loss model is the most accurate that further becomes the most optimized for the plan on the propagation network design.

Keywords: DTTV propagation, path loss model, Davidson model, least square method

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Authors: Suzan Sami Ibrahim, Mohamed Gad Shahien, Ali Quarny Seliem, Mostafa Ragab Abukhadra

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Pegmatite quartz deposits of Marwit Rod El Leqah area classify as medium purity quartz with 99.575 % average SiO2 content and therefore do not match the requirements of high technical applications (99.8 % SiO2 for solar cells, 99.8% SiO2 for electronics). Petrographic field and petrographic investigations reveal that, the reduction of the silica content attributed mainly to impurities of iron oxide, muscovite, rutile, orthoclase, granitic rafts and fluid inclusions. Such impurities resulted in raising Fe2O3, Al2O3, MgO, CaO, K2O and Na2O relative to the silica content. Structural impurities are the main source of trace elements in the quartz samples.

Keywords: High purity quartz, High-tech applications, solid impurities, structural impurities

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Authors: Jo-Han Chang, Chung-Jung Wu

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This study involves a design proposal. The objective of is to create a seat arrangement model for public reading spaces that enable free arrangement without disturbing the users. Through a subjective perception scale, this study explored whether distance between seats and direction of seats influence individual subjective perceptions in a public reading space. This study also involves analysis of user subjective perceptions when reading in the settings on 3 seats at different directions and with 5 distances between seats. The results may be applied to public chair design. This study investigated that (a) whether different directions of seats and distances between seats influence individual subjective perceptions and (b) the acceptable personal space between 2 strangers in a public reading space. The results are shown as follows: (a) the directions of seats and distances between seats influenced individual subjective perceptions. (b) subjective evaluation scores were higher for back-to-back seat directions with Distances A (10 cm) and B (62 cm) compared with face-to-face and side-by-side seat directions; however, when the seat distance exceeded 114 cm (Distance C), no difference existed among the directions of seats. (c) regarding reading in public spaces, when the distance between seats is 10 cm only, we recommend arranging the seats in a back-to-back fashion to increase user comfort and arrangement of face-to-face and side- by-side seat directions should be avoided. When the seat arrangement is limited to face-to-face design, the distance between seats should be increased to at least 62 cm. Moreover, the distance between seats should be increased to at least 114 cm for side- by-side seats to elevate user comfort.

Keywords: individual subjective perceptions, personal space, seat arrangement, direction, distances

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Authors: Trung Hieu Tran, Jesse O'Hanley, Russell Fowler

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When in-wheel wireless charging technology for electric vehicles becomes mature, a need for such integrated charging stations network development is essential. In this paper, we thus investigate the optimisation problem of in-wheel wireless electric vehicle charging network design. A mixed-integer linear programming model is formulated to solve into optimality the problem. In addition, a meta-heuristic algorithm is proposed for efficiently solving large-sized instances within a reasonable computation time. A parallel computing strategy is integrated into the algorithm to speed up its computation time. Experimental results carried out on the benchmark instances show that our model and algorithm can find the optimal solutions and their potential for practical applications.

Keywords: electric vehicle, wireless charging station, mathematical programming, meta-heuristic algorithm, parallel computing

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Authors: Mannika Garg, N. Srinivas Murthy, Sunish Nair

Abstract:

TeamIndus is only Indian team participated in the Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP). GLXP is an incentive prize space competition which is organized by the XPrize Foundation and sponsored by Google. The main objective of the mission is to soft land a rover on the moon surface, travel minimum displacement of 500 meters and transmit HD and NRT videos and images to the Earth. Team Indus is designing a Lunar Lander which carries Rover with it and deliver onto the surface of the moon with a soft landing. For lander to survive throughout the mission, energy is required to operate all attitude control sensors, actuators, heaters and other necessary components. Photovoltaic solar array systems are the most common and primary source of power generation for any spacecraft. The scope of this paper is to provide a system-level approach for designing the solar array systems of the lander to generate required power to accomplish the mission. For this mission, the direction of design effort is to higher efficiency, high reliability and high specific power. Towards this approach, highly efficient multi-junction cells have been considered. The design is influenced by other constraints also like; mission profile, chosen spacecraft attitude, overall lander configuration, cost effectiveness and sizing requirements. This paper also addresses the various solar array design challenges such as operating temperature, shadowing, radiation environment and mission life and strategy of supporting required power levels (peak and average). The challenge to generate sufficient power at the time of surface touchdown, due to low sun elevation (El) and azimuth (Az) angle which depends on Lunar landing site, has also been showcased in this paper. To achieve this goal, energy balance analysis has been carried out to study the impact of the above-mentioned factors and to meet the requirements and has been discussed in this paper.

Keywords: energy balance analysis, multi junction solar cells, photovoltaic, reliability, spacecraft attitude

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Authors: Mohammad Arif Sobhan Bhuiyan, Mamun Bin Ibne Reaz

Abstract:

The rapid advancement of CMOS technology, in the recent years, has led the scientists to fabricate wireless transceivers fully on-chip which results in smaller size and lower cost wireless communication devices with acceptable performance characteristics. Moreover, the performance of the wireless transceivers rigorously depends on the performance of its first block T/R switch. This article proposes a design of a high performance T/R switch for 2.4 GHz RF wireless transceivers in 0.13 µm CMOS technology. The switch exhibits 1- dB insertion loss, 37.2-dB isolation in transmit mode and 1.4-dB insertion loss, 25.6-dB isolation in receive mode. The switch has a power handling capacity (P1dB) of 30.9-dBm. Besides, by avoiding bulky inductors and capacitors, the size of the switch is drastically reduced and it occupies only (0.00296) mm2 which is the lowest ever reported in this frequency band. Therefore, simplicity and low chip area of the circuit will trim down the cost of fabrication as well as the whole transceiver.

Keywords: CMOS, ISM band, SPDT, t/r switch, transceiver

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Authors: Urrutia Fernando, López Jessica, Sánchez Carlos, San Antonio Thalía

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Ecuador, as a signatory country of the convention of the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD) has, in the recent years, strengthened the structures and legal framework required to protect this minority comprised of 13.2% of its total population. However, the reality is that this group has disproportionately low earnings and low educational attainment in comparison with the general population. The main struggles, to promote job placement of wheelchairs users, are environmental discrimination caused by accessibility in structures and transportation, this mainly due to the cost, for private and public entities, of performing the reasonable accommodation they require. It is widely known that product development and production is needed to support effective implementation of the CRPD and that walking and standing are the major life activities, in this context the objective of this investigation is to promote job placement of wheelchair user in the province of Tungurahua by means of the design, production and marketing of a customized stand up wheelchair. Exploratory interviews and measurements were performed in a representative sample of working age wheelchairs users that develop their disability after achieving their physical maturity and that are capable of performing professional activities with their upper limbs, this in order to detect the user’s preference and determine the local economic and anthropometric parameters to be included in the wheelchair design. The findings reveal factors that uniquely impact quality of life and development for people with a mobility disability within the context of the province, first that transportation is a big issue since public buses does not have accessibility for wheelchair users and the absence of curb cuts and the presence of trash bins over the sidewalks among other hinders an economic independent mobility, second that the proposal based in the idea of modifying the wheelchairs to make it able to overcome certain obstacles helps people in wheelchair to improve their independent living and by reducing the costs of modification for the employer could improve their chances of finding work.

Keywords: anthropometrics, job placement, stand up wheelchair, user centered design

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Authors: Ying Li, Zaisheng Hong, Weihong Wang

Abstract:

With the rapid enlargement of the size of Chinese universities, newly built campuses are springing up everywhere in recent years. It is urged to build eco-green campus because the role of higher education institutions in the transition to a more sustainable society has been highlighted for almost three decades. On condition that a new campus is usually built on an undeveloped site, where the basic infrastructure is not completed, finding proper strategies in planning and design of the campus becomes a primary concern. Low Impact Development (LID) options have been proposed as an alternative approach to make better use of rainwater in planning and design of an undeveloped site. On the basis of analyzing the natural circumstance, geographic condition, and other relative information, four main LID approaches are coordinated in this study of Hebei Union University, which are ‘Storage’, ‘Retaining’, ‘Infiltration’ and ‘Purification’. ‘Storage’ refers to a big central lake in the campus for rainwater harvesting. ‘Retaining’ means rainwater gardens scattered in the campus, also being known as bioretention areas which mimic the naturally created pools of water, to decrease surface flow runoff. ‘Infiltration’ is designed of grassed swales, which also play a part of floodway channel. ‘Purification’ is known as either natural or artificial wetland to reduce pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorous in the waterbody. With above mentioned measures dealing with the synthetic use of rainwater in the acid & alkali area in the coastal district, an eco-green campus construction and an ecological sustainability will be realized, which will give us more enlightenment and reference.

Keywords: newly built campus, low impact development, planning design, rainwater reuse

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Authors: El Ghazi Safae, Cherkaoui Mounia

Abstract:

Within companies, emotions have been forgotten as key elements of successful management systems. Seen as factors which disturb judgment, make reckless acts or affect negatively decision-making. Since management systems were influenced by the Taylorist worker image, that made the work regular and plain, and considered employees as executing machines. However, recently, in globalized economy characterized by a variety of uncertainties, emotions are proved as useful elements, even necessary, to attend high-level management. The work of Elton Mayo and Kurt Lewin reveals the importance of emotions. Since then emotions start to attract considerable attention. These studies have shown that emotions influence, directly or indirectly, many organization processes. For example, the quality of interpersonal relationships, job satisfaction, absenteeism, stress, leadership, performance and team commitment. Emotions became fundamental and indispensable to individual yield and so on to management efficiency. The idea that a person potential is associated to Intellectual Intelligence, measured by the IQ as the main factor of social, professional and even sentimental success, was the main problematic that need to be questioned. The literature on emotional intelligence has made clear that success at work does not only depend on intellectual intelligence but also other factors. Several researches investigating emotional intelligence impact on performance showed that emotionally intelligent managers perform more, attain remarkable results, able to achieve organizational objectives, impact the mood of their subordinates and create a friendly work environment. An improvement in the emotional intelligence of managers is therefore linked to the professional development of the organization and not only to the personal development of the manager. In this context, it would be interesting to question the importance of emotional intelligence. Does it impact organizational performance? What is the importance of emotional intelligence and how it impacts organizational performance? The literature highlighted that measurement and conceptualization of emotional intelligence are difficult to define. Efforts to measure emotional intelligence have identified three models that are more prominent: the mixed model, the ability model, and the trait model. The first is considered as cognitive skill, the second relates to the mixing of emotional skills with personality-related aspects and the latter is intertwined with personality traits. But, despite strong claims about the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace, few studies have empirically examined the impact of emotional intelligence on organizational performance, because even though the concept of performance is at the heart of all evaluation processes of companies and organizations, we observe that performance remains a multidimensional concept and many authors insist about the vagueness that surrounds the concept. Given the above, this article provides an overview of the researches related to emotional intelligence, particularly focusing on studies that investigated the impact of emotional intelligence on organizational performance to contribute to the emotional intelligence literature and highlight its importance and show how it impacts companies’ performance.

Keywords: emotions, performance, intelligence, firms

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