Search results for: multi-mode resource constrained project scheduling problem

Authors: Diego Romero, Fabio Rojas, J. Alejandro Urrego

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The sounding rockets are aerospace vehicles that were developed in the mid-20th century, and Colombia has been involved in research that was carried out with the aim of innovating with this technology. The rockets are university research programs with the collaboration of the local government, with a simple strategy, develop and reduce the greatest costs associated with the production of a kind type of technology. In this way, in this document presents the failure analysis of a solid rocket motor, with the real compatibly to reach the thermosphere with a low-cost fuel. This solid rocket motor is the latest development of the Uniandes Aerospace Project (PUA for its Spanish acronym), an undergraduate and postgraduate research group at Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia), dedicated to incurring in this type of technology. This motor has been carried out on Candy-type solid fuel, which is a compound of potassium nitrate and sorbitol, and the investigation has allowed the production of solid motors powerful enough to reach space, and which represents a unique technological advance in Latin America and an important development in experimental rocketry.To outline the main points the explosion in a static test is an important to explore and demonstrate the ways to develop technology, methodologies, production and manufacturing, being a solid rocket motor with 30 kN of thrust. In conclusion, this analysis explores different fields such as: design, manufacture, materials, production, first fire and more, with different engineering tools with principal objective find root failure. Following the engineering analysis methodology, was possible to design a new version of motor, with learned lessons new manufacturing specification, therefore, when publishing this project, it is intended to be a reference for future research in this field and benefit the industry.

Keywords: candy propellant, candy rockets, explosion, failure analysis, static test, solid rocket motor

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Authors: Judit Vilarmau

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Generative AI is emerging rapidly and transforming higher education in many ways, occasioning new challenges and disrupting traditional models and methods. The studies and authors explored remark on the impact on the ethics, curriculum, and pedagogical methods. Students are increasingly using generative AI for study, as a virtual tutor, and as a resource for generating works and doing assignments. This point is crucial for educators to make sure that students are using generative AI with ethical considerations. Generative AI also has relevant benefits for educators and can help them personalize learning experiences and promote self-regulation. Educators must seek and explore tools like ChatGPT to innovate without forgetting an ethical and pedagogical perspective. Eighteen studies were systematically reviewed, and the findings provide implementation guidelines with pedagogical and ethical considerations.

Keywords: ethics, generative artificial intelligence, guidelines, higher education, pedagogy

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Authors: Arpit Sachan, Nilanshu Kumar

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This paper tries to understand the nuances of feminisation of agriculture in the Indian context and how that is associated with better intrahousehold bargaining power for women. The economic survey of India indicates a constant increase in the share of the female workforce in Indian agriculture in the past few decades. This can be accounted for by many factors like the migration of male workers to urban areas and, therefore, the complete burden of agriculture shifting on the female counterparts. Therefore this study is an attempt to study that how this increase in the female workforce corresponds to a better decision-making ability for women in rural farm households. This paper is an attempt to carefully evaluate this aspect of the feminisation of Indian agriculture. The paper tries to study how various factors that improve the status of women in agriculture change with things like resource ownership. This paper uses both the macro-level and micro-level data to study the dynamics of the proportion of the workforce in agriculture across different states in India and how that has translated into better indicators for women in rural areas. The fall in India’s rank in the global gender wage gap index is alarming in such a context, and this creates a puzzle with increasing female workforce participation. The paper will consider if the condition of women improved over time with the increased share of employment or not? Using field survey data, this paper tries to understand if there exists any digression for some of the indicators both at the macro and micro level. The paper also tries to integrate the economic understanding of gender aspects of the workforce and the sociological stance prevailing in the existing literature. Therefore, this paper takes a mixed-method approach to better understand the role that social structure plays in the improved status of women within and across various households. Therefore, this paper will finally help us understanding if at all there is a feminisation of Indian agriculture or it's just exploitation of a different kind. This study intends to create a distinction between the gendered labour force in Indian agriculture and the complete democratization of Indian agriculture. The study is primarily focused on areas where the exodus of male migrants pushes women to work on agricultural farms. The question posits is whether it is the willingness of women to work in agriculture or is it urbanisation and development-induced conditions that make women work in agriculture as farm labourers? The motive is to understand if factors like resource ownership and the ability to autonomous decision-making are interlinked with an increased proportion of the female workforce or not? Based on this framework, we finally provide a brief comment on policy implications of government intervention in improving Indian agriculture and the gender aspects associated with it.

Keywords: feminisation, intrahousehold bargaining, farm households, migration, agriculture, decision-making

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Authors: Muhammad Akmal Putera, Noriyuki Yasufuku, Adel Alowaisy, Ahmad Rifai

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Indonesia’s government has planned a project for a high-speed railway connecting the capital cities, Jakarta and Surabaya, about 700 km. Based on that location, it has been planning construction above the lowland soil region. The lowland soil region comprises cohesive soil with high water content and high compressibility index, which in fact, led to a settlement problem. Among the variety of railway track structures, the adoption of the ballastless track was used effectively to reduce the settlement; it provided a lightweight structure and minimized workspace. Contradictorily, deploying this thin layer structure above the lowland area was compensated with several problems, such as lack of bearing capacity and deflection behavior during traffic loading. It is necessary to combine with ground improvement to assure a settlement behavior on the clayey soil. Reflecting on the assurance of strength increment and working period, those were convinced by adopting methods such as cement-treated soil as the substructure of railway track. Particularly, evaluating mechanical properties in the field has been well known by using the plate load test and cone penetration test. However, observing an increment of mechanical properties has uncertainty, especially for evaluating cement-treated soil on the substructure. The current quality control of cement-treated soils was established by laboratory tests. Moreover, using small strain devices measurement in the laboratory can predict more reliable results that are identical to field measurement tests. Aims of this research are to show an intercorrelation of confining pressure with the initial condition of the Young modulus (E_o), Poisson ratio (υ_o) and Shear modulus (G_o) within small strain ranges. Furthermore, discrepancies between those parameters were also investigated. Based on the experimental result confirmed the intercorrelation between cement content and confining pressure with a power function. In addition, higher cement ratios have discrepancies, conversely with low mixing ratios.

Keywords: amount of cement, elastic zone, high-speed railway, lightweight structure

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Authors: Miguel A. Jimenez Barros, Elyn L. Solano Charris, Luis E. Ramirez, Lauren Castro Bolano, Carlos Torres Barreto, Juliana Morales Cubillo

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This project sought to mitigate the high levels of water consumption in industrial processes in accordance with the water-rationing plan promoted at national and international level due to the water consumption projections published by the United Nations. Water consumption has three main uses, municipal (common use), agricultural and industrial where the latter consumes a minimum percentage (around 20% of the total consumption). Awareness on world water scarcity, a Colombian company responsible for generation of massive consumption products, decided to implement politics and techniques for water treatment, recycling, and reuse. The project consisted in a business technology program that permits a better use of wastewater caused by production operations. This approach reduces the potable water consumption, generates better conditions of water in the sewage dumps, generates a positive environmental impact for the region, and is a reference model in national and international levels. In order to achieve the objective, a process flow diagram was used in order to define the industrial processes that required potable water. This strategy allowed the industry to determine a water reuse plan at the operational level without affecting the requirements associated with the manufacturing process and even more, to support the activities developed in administrative buildings. Afterwards, the company made an evaluation and selection of the chemical and biological processes required for water reuse, in compliance with the Colombian Law. The implementation of the business technology program optimized the water use and recirculation rate up to 70%, accomplishing an important reduction of the regional environmental impact.

Keywords: bio-reactor, potable water, reverse osmosis, water treatment

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Authors: Giulia Sarego, Lorenzo Olivieri, Andrea Valmorbida, Carlo Bettanini, Giacomo Colombatti, Marco Pertile, Enrico C. Lorenzini

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International guidelines recommend removing any artificial body in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) within 25 years from mission completion. Among disposal strategies, electrodynamic tethers appear to be a promising option for LEO, thanks to the limited storage mass and the minimum interface requirements to the host spacecraft. In particular, recent technological advances make it feasible to deorbit large objects with tether lengths of a few kilometers or less. To further investigate such an innovative passive system, the European Union is currently funding the project E.T.PACK – Electrodynamic Tether Technology for Passive Consumable-less Deorbit Kit in the framework of the H2020 Future Emerging Technologies (FET) Open program. The project focuses on the design of an end of life disposal kit for LEO satellites. This kit aims to deploy a taped tether that can be activated at the spacecraft end of life to perform autonomous deorbit within the international guidelines. In this paper, the orbital performance of the E.T.PACK deorbiting kit is compared to other disposal methods. Besides, the orbital decay prediction is parametrized as a function of spacecraft mass and tether system performance. Different values of length, width, and thickness of the tether will be evaluated for various scenarios (i.e., different initial orbital parameters). The results will be compared to other end-of-life disposal methods with similar allocated resources. The analysis of the more innovative system’s performance with the tape coated with a thermionic material, which has a low work-function (LWT), for which no active component for the cathode is required, will also be briefly discussed. The results show that the electrodynamic tether option can be a competitive and performant solution for satellite disposal compared to other deorbit technologies.

Keywords: deorbiting performance, H2020, spacecraft disposal, space electrodynamic tethers

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Authors: José Manuel Palma, Paula Pereira, Margarida Tomás

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Foreseen the future: Human factors integration in European Horizon Projects The development of new technology as artificial intelligence, smart sensing, robotics, cobotics or intelligent machinery must integrate human factors to address the need to optimize systems and processes, thereby contributing to the creation of a safe and accident-free work environment. Human Factors Integration (HFI) consistently pose a challenge for organizations when applied to daily operations. AGILEHAND and FORTIS projects are grounded in the development of cutting-edge technology - industry 4.0 and 5.0. AGILEHAND aims to create advanced technologies for autonomously sort, handle, and package soft and deformable products, whereas FORTIS focuses on developing a comprehensive Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) solution. Both projects employ different approaches to explore HFI. AGILEHAND is mainly empirical, involving a comparison between the current and future work conditions reality, coupled with an understanding of best practices and the enhancement of safety aspects, primarily through management. FORTIS applies HFI throughout the project, developing a human-centric approach that includes understanding human behavior, perceiving activities, and facilitating contextual human-robot information exchange. it intervention is holistic, merging technology with the physical and social contexts, based on a total safety culture model. In AGILEHAND we will identify safety emergent risks, challenges, their causes and how to overcome them by resorting to interviews, questionnaires, literature review and case studies. Findings and results will be presented in “Strategies for Workers’ Skills Development, Health and Safety, Communication and Engagement” Handbook. The FORTIS project will implement continuous monitoring and guidance of activities, with a critical focus on early detection and elimination (or mitigation) of risks associated with the new technology, as well as guidance to adhere correctly with European Union safety and privacy regulations, ensuring HFI, thereby contributing to an optimized safe work environment. To achieve this, we will embed safety by design, and apply questionnaires, perform site visits, provide risk assessments, and closely track progress while suggesting and recommending best practices. The outcomes of these measures will be compiled in the project deliverable titled “Human Safety and Privacy Measures”. These projects received funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020/Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No101092043 (AGILEHAND) and No 101135707 (FORTIS).

Keywords: human factors integration, automation, digitalization, human robot interaction, industry 4.0 and 5.0

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Authors: Farrin Ghorbanalavi, Nihal Arıoğlu

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The concept of enhancing mechanical /thermal/physical properties of architectural materials is being practiced for over five decades. In comparison with other approaches, the current nanotechnology era equally attracted the structural scientists, engineers, and industries. It simply promises that using building blocks with dimensions in the nano size range makes it possible to design and develop new multi-functional materials. This research focuses on understanding the effects of nanotechnology on the building facade and new facade concepts based on the new possibilities of nanotechnology. Mentioned factors are very prosperous for the comfort as well as sustainability of the building itself. Furthermore, the study suggests that the potential for energy conservation and reduced waste, toxicity, non-renewable resource consumption, and carbon emissions through the architectural applications of nanotechnologies significant. More clearly, it provides us the information about what does the future hold for surface structures.

Keywords: sustainable, nano materials, façade, energy efficiency

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Authors: Zhanna Dedovets

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Fostering a mathematical style of thinking is crucial for cultivating intellectual personalities capable of thriving in modern society. Intuitive thinking stands as a cornerstone among the components of mathematical cognition, playing a pivotal role in grasping mathematical truths across various disciplines. This article delves into the exploration of leveraging search activities rooted in students' intuitive thinking, particularly when tackling geometric problems. Emphasizing both student engagement with the task and their active involvement in the search process, the study underscores the importance of heuristic procedures and the freedom for students to chart their own problem-solving paths. Spanning several years (2019-2023) at the Physics and Mathematics Lyceum of Dushanbe, the research engaged 17 teachers and 78 high school students. After assessing the initial levels of intuitive thinking in both control and experimental groups, the experimental group underwent training following the authors' methodology. Subsequent analysis revealed a significant advancement in thinking levels among the experimental group students. The methodological approaches and teaching materials developed through this process offer valuable resources for mathematics educators seeking to enhance their students' learning experiences effectively.

Keywords: teaching of mathematics, intuitive thinking, heuristic procedures, geometric problem, students.

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Authors: Roberto M. G. Velásquez, Jonas R. Gazoli, Nelson Ponce Jr, Valério L. Borges, Alessandro Sete, Fernanda M. C. Tomé, Julian D. Hunt, Heitor C. Lira, Cristiano L. de Souza, Fabio T. Bindemann, Wilmar Wounnsoscky

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Nowadays, society is working toward reducing energy losses and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as seeking clean energy sources, as a result of the constant increase in energy demand and emissions. Energy loss occurs in the gas pressure reduction stations at the delivery points in natural gas distribution systems (city gates). Installing pressure reduction turbines (PRT) parallel to the static reduction valves at the city gates enhances the energy efficiency of the system by recovering the enthalpy of the pressurized natural gas, obtaining in the pressure-lowering process shaft work and generating electrical power. Currently, the Brazilian natural gas transportation network has 9,409 km in extension, while the system has 16 national and 3 international natural gas processing plants, including more than 143 delivery points to final consumers. Thus, the potential of installing PRT in Brazil is 66 MW of power, which could yearly avoid the emission of 235,800 tons of CO2 and generate 333 GWh/year of electricity. On the other hand, an economic viability analysis of these energy efficiency projects is commonly carried out based on estimates of the project's cash flow obtained from several variables forecast. Usually, the cash flow analysis is performed using representative values of these variables, obtaining a deterministic set of financial indicators associated with the project. However, in most cases, these variables cannot be predicted with sufficient accuracy, resulting in the need to consider, to a greater or lesser degree, the risk associated with the calculated financial return. This paper presents an approach applied to the technical-economic viability analysis of PRTs projects that explicitly considers the uncertainties associated with the input parameters for the financial model, such as gas pressure at the delivery point, amount of energy generated by TRP, the future price of energy, among others, using sensitivity analysis techniques, scenario analysis, and Monte Carlo methods. In the latter case, estimates of several financial risk indicators, as well as their empirical probability distributions, can be obtained. This is a methodology for the financial risk analysis of PRT projects. The results of this paper allow a more accurate assessment of the potential PRT project's financial feasibility in Brazil. This methodology will be tested at the Cuiabá thermoelectric plant, located in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, and can be applied to study the potential in other countries.

Keywords: pressure reduction turbine, natural gas pressure drop station, energy efficiency, electricity generation, monte carlo methods

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Authors: Sajjad Ahmed

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Since September 2001, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) have become a hotbed of Talibanization. The eruption of Talibanization has caused a catastrophic human and socio-economic cost on Pakistan ever since. The vast majority of extant studies have tended to focus on assessing the current disparaging and destructive condition of FATA as a product of the notorious 'Global War on Terrorism' and its consequences in the form of the Afghan war and the rising socio-political unrest in the region. This, however, is not the case. This study argues that the Talibanization has not happened overnight, the magma of current militant volcanic outburst has been stockpiled since the inception of Pakistan in 1947. The study claims that the Talibanization is the expression of the conflict between the privileged and the underprivileged. The prevailing situation in FATA warrants an in-depth analysis of the problem. By using a qualitative and quantitative research principle, this paper attempts to critically examine 'How is Talibanization in Pakistan connected with the political, social, and economic conditions in FATA?' The critical analyses of this study would assist to policymakers in order to formulate all-encompassing anti-radicalization policies to effectively root out Talibanization in FATA. This research intends to explore the undiscovered root causes of the problem and to suggest remedial measures.

Keywords: exclusion, FATA (Federally Administrated Tribal Areas), inequalities, marginalization, Pakistan, socio-economic, talibanization

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Authors: Aayushi Somani, Siba P. Samal

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Three-dimensional (3D) meshes are data structures, which store geometric information of an object or scene, generally in the form of vertices and edges. Current technology in laser scanning and other geometric data acquisition technologies acquire high resolution sampling which leads to high resolution meshes. While high resolution meshes give better quality rendering and hence is used often, the processing, as well as storage of 3D meshes, is currently resource-intensive. At the same time, web applications for data processing have become ubiquitous owing to their accessibility. For 3D meshes, the advancement of 3D web technologies, such as WebGL, WebVR, has enabled high fidelity rendering of huge meshes. However, there exists a gap in ability to stream huge meshes to a native client and browser application due to high network latency. Also, there is an inherent delay of loading WebGL pages due to large and complex models. The focus of our work is to identify the challenges faced when such meshes are streamed into and processed on hand-held devices, owing to its limited resources. One of the solutions that are conventionally used in the graphics community to alleviate resource limitations is mesh compression. Our approach deals with a two-step approach for random accessible progressive compression and its parallel implementation. The first step includes partition of the original mesh to multiple sub-meshes, and then we invoke data parallelism on these sub-meshes for its compression. Subsequent threaded decompression logic is implemented inside the Web Browser Engine with modification of WebGL implementation in Chromium open source engine. This concept can be used to completely revolutionize the way e-commerce and Virtual Reality technology works for consumer electronic devices. These objects can be compressed in the server and can be transmitted over the network. The progressive decompression can be performed on the client device and rendered. Multiple views currently used in e-commerce sites for viewing the same product from different angles can be replaced by a single progressive model for better UX and smoother user experience. Can also be used in WebVR for commonly and most widely used activities like virtual reality shopping, watching movies and playing games. Our experiments and comparison with existing techniques show encouraging results in terms of latency (compressed size is ~10-15% of the original mesh), processing time (20-22% increase over serial implementation) and quality of user experience in web browser.

Keywords: 3D compression, 3D mesh, 3D web, chromium, client-server architecture, e-commerce, level of details, parallelization, progressive compression, WebGL, WebVR

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Authors: Catherine Sunter, Marius Nygaard, Lars Hamran, Børre Skodvin, Ute Groba

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Globally, the construction and operation of buildings contribute up to 30% of annual green house gas emissions. In addition, the building sector is responsible for approximately a third of global waste. In this context, the utilization of renewable resources in buildings, especially materials that store carbon, will play a significant role in the growing city. These are two reasons for introducing wood as a building material with a growing relevance. A third is the potential economic value in countries with a forest industry that is not currently used to capacity. In 2013, a four-year interdisciplinary research project titled “Wood Be Better” was created, with the principle goal to produce and publicise knowledge that would facilitate increased use of wood in buildings in urban areas. The research team consisted of architects, engineers, wood technologists and mycologists, both from research institutions and industrial organisations. Five structured work packages were included in the initial research proposal. Work package 2 was titled “Design-based research” and proposed using architecture master courses as laboratories for systematic architectural exploration. The aim was twofold: to provide students with an interdisciplinary team of experts from consultancies and producers, as well as teachers and researchers, that could offer the latest information on wood technologies; whilst at the same time having the studio course test the effects of the use of wood on the functional, technical and tectonic quality within different architectural projects on an urban scale, providing results that could be fed back into the research material. The aim of this article is to examine the successes and failures of this pedagogical approach in an architecture school, as well as the opportunities for greater integration between academic research projects, industry experts and studio courses in the future. This will be done through a set of qualitative interviews with researchers, teaching staff and students of the studio courses held each semester since spring 2013. These will investigate the value of the various experts of the course; the different themes of each course; the response to the urban scale, architectural form and construction detail; the effect of working with the goals of a research project; and the value of the studio projects to the research. In addition, six sample projects will be presented as case studies. These will show how the projects related to the research and could be collected and further analysed, innovative solutions that were developed during the course, different architectural expressions that were enabled by timber, and how projects were used as an interdisciplinary testing ground for integrated architectural and engineering solutions between the participating institutions. The conclusion will reflect on the original intentions of the studio courses, the opportunities and challenges faced by students, researchers and teachers, the educational implications, and on the transparent and inclusive discourse between the architectural researcher, the architecture student and the interdisciplinary experts.

Keywords: architecture, interdisciplinary, research, studio, students, wood

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Authors: Magdalena Suárez-Ortega, M. Fe. Sánchez-García

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This paper focuses on the analysis of the motivations that lead people to undertake and consolidate their business. It is addressed from the framework of planned behavior theory, which recognizes the importance of the social environment and cultural values, both in the decision to undertake business and in business consolidation. Similarly, it is also based on theories of career development, which emphasize the importance of career management competencies and their connections to other vital aspects of people, including their roles within their families and other personal activities. This connects directly with the impact of entrepreneurship on the career and the professional-personal project of each individual. This study is part of the project titled Career Design and Talent Management (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain, State Plan 2013-2016 Excellence Ref. EDU2013-45704-P). The aim of the study is to identify and describe entrepreneurial competencies and motivational profiles in a sample of 248 Spanish entrepreneurs, considering the consolidated profile and the profile in transition (n = 248).In order to obtain the information, the Questionnaire of Motivation and conditioners of the entrepreneurial career (MCEC) has been applied. This consists of 67 items and includes four scales (E1-Conflicts in conciliation, E2-Satisfaction in the career path, E3-Motivations to undertake, E4-Guidance Needs). Cluster analysis (mixed method, combining k-means clustering with a hierarchical method) was carried out, characterizing the groups profiles according to the categorical variables (chi square, p = 0.05), and the quantitative variables (ANOVA). The results have allowed us to characterize three motivational profiles relevant to the motivation, the degree of conciliation between personal and professional life, and the degree of conflict in conciliation, levels of career satisfaction and orientation needs (in the entrepreneurial project and life-career). The first profile is formed by extrinsically motivated entrepreneurs, professionally satisfied and without conflict of vital roles. The second profile acts with intrinsic motivation and also associated with family models, and although it shows satisfaction with their professional career, it finds a high conflict in their family and professional life. The third is composed of entrepreneurs with high extrinsic motivation, professional dissatisfaction and at the same time, feel the conflict in their professional life by the effect of personal roles. Ultimately, the analysis has allowed us to line the kinds of entrepreneurs to different levels of motivation, satisfaction, needs and articulation in professional and personal life, showing characterizations associated with the use of time for leisure, and the care of the family. Associations related to gender, age, activity sector, environment (rural, urban, virtual), and the use of time for domestic tasks are not identified. The model obtained and its implications for the design of training actions and orientation to entrepreneurs is also discussed.

Keywords: motivation, entrepreneurial career, guidance needs, life-work balance, job satisfaction, assessment

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Authors: A. Pascual Ramsay

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Accounts of the management of the economic and euro crisis in Spain have been dominated by an emphasis on external constraints. However, this approach leaves unanswered important questions about the role of domestic political factors. Using systematic qualitative primary research and employing elite interviewing and process tracing, this paper aims to fill this gap for the period of the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) administration. The paper shows that domestic politics played a crucial role in the management of the crisis, most importantly by determining the shape of the measures undertaken. In its three distinct stages – downplaying/inaction, reaction/stimulus, and austerity/reform – the PSOE's response was certainly constrained by external factors, most notably EMU membership and the actions of sovereign-bond investors, the ECB and Germany. Yet while these external constraints forced the government to act, domestic political factors fundamentally shaped the content of key measures: the fiscal stimulus, the labour, financial and pension reforms, the refusal to accept a bailout or the reform of the Constitution. Seven factors were particularly influential: i) electoral and political cost, ii) party and partisanship, iii) organised interests, iv) domestic institutions, v) ideological preferences, vi) ineffective decision-making, and vii) judgement and personal characteristics of decision-makers. In conclusion, domestic politics played an important role in the management of the crisis, a role that has been underestimated by dominant approaches focusing on external constraints and weak domestic policy autonomy. The findings provide empirical evidence to support research agendas that identify significant state discretion in the face of international economic integration and an important role for domestic political factors such as institutions, material interests, partisanship and ideology in shaping economic outcomes.

Keywords: economic crisis, Euro, PSOE, Spain

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Authors: Min-Woo Kim, Ok-Kyun Na, Jun-Ho Byun, Jong-Hwan Park, Seung-Hwa Yang, Joon-Hong Park, Young-Chul Park

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This study is focused on the comparative analysis and improvement to grasp the flow characteristic of the Anti-Splash Device located under the P/V Valve and new concept design models using the CFD analysis and Artificial Neural Network. The P/V valve located upper deck to solve the pressure rising and vacuum condition of inner tank of the liquid cargo ships occurred oil outflow accident by transverse and longitudinal sloshing force. Anti-Splash Device is fitted to improve and prevent this problem in the shipbuilding industry. But the oil outflow accidents are still reported by ship owners. Thus, four types of new design model are presented by study. Then, comparative analysis is conducted with new models and existing model. Mostly the key criterion of this problem is flux in the outlet of the Anti-Splash Device. Therefore, the flow and velocity are grasped by transient analysis. And then it decided optimum model and design parameters to develop model. Later, it needs to develop an Anti-Splash Device by Flow Test to get certification and verification using experiment equipment.

Keywords: anti-splash device, P/V valve, sloshing, artificial neural network

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Authors: Munenari Inoguchi, Keiko Tamura

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In Japan, we were suffered by earthquake, typhoon, and flood disaster in 2019. Especially, 38 of 47 prefectures were affected by typhoon #1919 occurred in October 2019. By this disaster, 99 people were dead, three people were missing, and 484 people were injured as human damage. Furthermore, 3,081 buildings were totally collapsed, 24,998 buildings were half-collapsed. Once disaster occurs, local responders have to inspect damage level of each building by themselves in order to certificate building damage for survivors for starting their life reconstruction process. At that disaster, the total number to be inspected was so high. Based on this situation, Cabinet Office of Japan approved the way to detect building damage level efficiently, that is collectively detection. However, they proposed a just guideline, and local responders had to establish the concrete and infallible method by themselves. Against this issue, we decided to establish the effective and efficient methodology to detect building damage level collectively with flood depth. Besides, we thought that the flood depth was relied on the land height, and we decided to utilize GIS (Geographic Information System) for analyzing the elevation spatially. We focused on the analyzing tool of spatial interpolation, which is utilized to survey the ground water level usually. In establishing the methodology, we considered 4 key-points: 1) how to satisfy the condition defined in the guideline approved by Cabinet Office for detecting building damage level, 2) how to satisfy survivors for the result of building damage level, 3) how to keep equitability and fairness because the detection of building damage level was executed by public institution, 4) how to reduce cost of time and human-resource because they do not have enough time and human-resource for disaster response. Then, we proposed a methodology for detecting building damage level collectively with flood depth utilizing GIS with five steps. First is to obtain the boundary of flooded area. Second is to collect the actual flood depth as sampling over flooded area. Third is to execute spatial analysis of interpolation with sampled flood depth to detect two-dimensional flood depth extent. Fourth is to divide to blocks by four categories of flood depth (non-flooded, over the floor to 100 cm, 100 cm to 180 cm and over 180 cm) following lines of roads for getting satisfaction from survivors. Fifth is to put flood depth level to each building. In Koriyama city of Fukushima prefecture, we proposed the methodology of collectively detection for building damage level as described above, and local responders decided to adopt our methodology at typhoon #1919 in 2019. Then, we and local responders detect building damage level collectively to over 1,000 buildings. We have received good feedback that the methodology was so simple, and it reduced cost of time and human-resources.

Keywords: building damage inspection, flood, geographic information system, spatial interpolation

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Authors: Yurnalis Usman

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In an organization, institution or enterprise, human resource is very important aspect since many human skills cannot be replaced by technology tools even though technology has advanced rapidly now. The relationship among people is very necessary to create a subordinate and leader relation in the assumption that human beings are creatures who have feeling, desires, needs, aspirations and ideas differing from one another. This study on human relation was conducted at the Faculty of Economics of UNSYIAH, Darussalam, Banda Aceh, while the research object is associated with human relations and employee performance in Faculty of Economics of UNSYIAH. To determine the extent of employee relations in Faculty of Economics with fellow employees or superiors, the employees are given some questions. The result shows that human relations influence the employee performance at Faculty of Economics UNSYIAH strongly.

Keywords: human relation, employee performance, communication, Syiah Kuala

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Authors: Diana Fajardo, Sebastián Ortiz, Oscar Herrera, Angélica Santis

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Currently, in Colombia is arising a problem related to collecting used lubricant oils which are generated by the increment of the vehicle fleet. This situation does not allow a proper disposal of this type of waste, which in turn results in a negative impact on the environment. Therefore, through the comparative analysis of various heuristics, the best solution to the VRP (Vehicle Routing Problem) was selected by comparing costs and times for the collection of used lubricant oils in the city of Pereira, Colombia; since there is no presence of management companies engaged in the direct administration of the collection of this pollutant. To achieve this aim, six proposals of through methods of solution of two phases were discussed. First, the assignment of the group of generator points of the residue was made (previously identified). Proposals one and four of through methods are based on the closeness of points. The proposals two and five are using the scanning method and the proposals three and six are considering the restriction of the capacity of collection vehicle. Subsequently, the routes were developed - in the first three proposals by the Clarke and Wright's savings algorithm and in the following proposals by the Traveling Salesman optimization mathematical model. After applying techniques, a comparative analysis of the results was performed and it was determined which of the proposals presented the most optimal values in terms of the distance, cost and travel time.

Keywords: Heuristics, optimization Model, savings algorithm, used vehicular oil, V.R.P.

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Authors: Ngabirano Levis

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One of Africa’s major environmental challenges remains air pollution. In 2017, UNICEF estimated over 400,000 children in Africa died as a result of indoor pollution, while 350 million children remain exposed to the risks of indoor pollution due to the use of biomass and burning of wood for cooking. Over time, indeed, the major causes of mortality across Africa are shifting from the unsafe water, poor sanitation, and malnutrition to the ambient and household indoor pollution, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remain a key factor in this. In addition, studies by the OECD estimated that the economic cost of premature deaths due to Ambient Particulate Matter Pollution (APMP) and Household Air Pollution across Africa in 2013 was about 215 Billion US Dollars and US 232 Billion US Dollars, respectively. This is not only a huge cost for a continent where over 41% of the Sub-Saharan population lives on less than 1.9 US Dollars a day but also makes the people extremely vulnerable to the negative climate change and environmental degradation effects. Such impacts have led to extended droughts, flooding, health complications, and reduced crop yields hence food insecurity. Climate change, therefore, poses a threat to global targets like poverty reduction, health, and famine. Despite efforts towards mitigation, air contributors like carbon dioxide emissions are on a generally upward trajectory across Africa. In Egypt, for instance, emission levels had increased by over 141% in 2010 from the 1990 baseline. Efforts like the climate change adaptation and mitigation financing have also hit obstacles on the continent. The International Community and developed nations stress that Africa still faces challenges of limited human, institutional and financial systems capable of attracting climate funding from these developed economies. By using the qualitative multi-case study method supplemented by interviews of key actors and comprehensive textual analysis of relevant literature, this paper dissects the key emissions and air pollutant sources, their impact on the well-being of the African people, and puts forward suggestions as well as a remedial mechanism to these challenges. The findings reveal that whereas climate change mitigation plans appear comprehensive and good on paper for many African countries like Uganda; the lingering political interference, limited research guided planning, lack of population engagement, irrational resource allocation, and limited system and personnel capacity has largely impeded the realization of the set targets. Recommendations have been put forward to address the above climate change impacts that threaten the food security, health, and livelihoods of the people on the continent.

Keywords: Africa, air pollution, climate change, mitigation, emissions, effective planning, institutional strengthening

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Authors: I. Alhassan, A. M. Saddiq, A. G. Gashua, K. K. Gwio-Kura

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The main objective of any irrigation program is the development of an efficient water management system to sustain crop growth and development and avoid physiological water stress in the growing plants. Field experiment to evaluate the effects of some soil moisture conservation practices on yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of maize was carried out in three locations (i.e. Mubi and Yola in the northern Guinea Savannah and Ganye in the southern Guinea Savannah of Adamawa State, Nigeria) during the dry seasons of 2013 and 2014. The experiment consisted of three different irrigation levels (7, 10 and 12 day irrigation intervals), two levels of mulch (mulch and un-mulched) and two tillage practices (no tillage and minimum tillage) arranged in a randomized complete block design with split-split plot arrangement and replicated three times. The Blaney-Criddle method was used for measuring crop evapotranspiration. The results indicated that seven-day irrigation intervals and mulched treatment were found to have significant effect (P>0.05) on grain yield and water use efficiency in all the locations. The main effect of tillage was non-significant (P<0.05) on grain yield and WUE. The interaction effects of irrigation and mulch were significant (P>0.05) on grain yield and WUE at Mubi and Yola. Generally, higher grain yield and WUE were recorded on mulched and seven-day irrigation intervals, whereas lower values were recorded on un-mulched with 12-day irrigation intervals. Tillage exerts little influence on the yield and WUE. Results from Ganye were found to be generally higher than those recorded in Mubi and Yola; it also showed that an irrigation interval of 10 days with mulching could be adopted for the Ganye area, while seven days interval is more appropriate for Mubi and Yola.

Keywords: irrigation, maize, mulching, tillage, savanna

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Authors: Mehmet Savsar

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Industrial Engineering is one of the engineering disciplines that deal with analysis, design, and improvement of systems, which include manufacturing, supply chain, healthcare, communication, and general service systems. Industrial engineers involve with comprehensive study of a given system, analysis of its interacting units, determination of problem areas, application of various optimization and operations research tools, and recommendation of solutions resulting in significant improvements. The Senior Design course in Industrial Engineering is the culmination of the Industrial Engineering Curriculum in a Capstone Design course, which fundamentally deals with systems analysis and design. The course at Kuwait University has been carefully designed with various course objectives and course outcomes in mind to achieve several program outcomes by practices and learning experiences, which are explicitly gained by systems analysis and design. The Senior Design Course is carried out in a selected industrial or service organization, with support from its engineering personnel, during a full semester by a team of students, who are usually in the last semester of their academic programs. A senior faculty member constantly administers the course to ensure that the students accomplish the prescribed objectives. Students work in groups to formulate issues and propose solutions and communicate, results in formal written and oral presentations. When the course is completed, they emerge as engineers that can be clearly identified as more mature, able to communicate better, able to participate in team work, able to see systems perspective in analysis and design, and more importantly, able to assume responsibility at entry level as engineers. The accomplishments are mainly due to real life experiences gained during the course of their design study. This paper presents methods, procedures, and experiences in teaching a Senior Design Course in Industrial Engineering Curriculum. A detailed description of the course, its role, its objectives, outcomes, learning practices, and assessments are explained in relation to other courses in Industrial Engineering Curriculum. The administration of the course, selected organizations where the course project is carried out, problems and solution tools utilized, student accomplishments and obstacles faced are presented. Issues discussed in this paper could help instructors in teaching the course as well as in clarifying the contribution of a design course to the industrial engineering education in general. In addition, the methods and teaching procedures presented could facilitate future improvements in industrial engineering curriculum.

Keywords: senior design course, industrial engineering, capstone design, education

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Authors: G. Andreutti, G. Saccone, D. Lucariello, C. Pirozzi, S. Franchitti, R. Borrelli, C. Toscano, P. Caso, G. Ferraro, C. Pascarella

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The reduction of greenhouse gases and pollution emissions is a worldwide environmental issue. The amount of CO₂ released by an aircraft is associated with the amount of fuel burned, so the improvement of engine thermo-mechanical efficiency and specific fuel consumption is a significant technological driver for aviation. Moreover, with the prospect that avgas will be phased out, an engine able to use more available and cheaper fuels is an evident advantage. An advanced aeronautical Diesel engine, because of its high efficiency and ability to use widely available and low-cost jet and diesel fuels, is a promising solution to achieve a more fuel-efficient aircraft. On the other hand, a Diesel engine has generally a higher overall weight, if compared with a gasoline one of same power performances. Fixing the MTOW, Max Take-Off Weight, and the operational payload, this extra-weight reduces the aircraft fuel fraction, partially vinifying the associated benefits. Therefore, an effort in weight saving manufacturing technologies is likely desirable. In this work, in order to achieve the mentioned goals, innovative Electron Beam Melting – EBM, Additive Manufacturing – AM technologies were applied to a two-stroke, common rail, GF56 Diesel engine, developed by the CMD Company for aeronautic applications. For this purpose, a consortium of academic, research and industrial partners, including CMD Company, Italian Aerospace Research Centre – CIRA, University of Naples Federico II and the University of Salerno carried out a technological project, funded by the Italian Minister of Education and Research – MIUR. The project aimed to optimize the baseline engine in order to improve its performance and increase its airworthiness features. This project was focused on the definition, design, development, and application of enabling technologies for performance improvement of GF56. Weight saving of this engine was pursued through the application of EBM-AM technologies and in particular using Arcam AB A2X machine, available at CIRA. The 3D printer processes titanium alloy micro-powders and it was employed to realize new connecting rods of the GF56 engine with an additive-oriented design approach. After a preliminary investigation of EBM process parameters and a thermo-mechanical characterization of titanium alloy samples, additive manufactured, innovative connecting rods were fabricated. These engine elements were structurally verified, topologically optimized, 3D printed and suitably post-processed. Finally, the overall performance improvement, on a typical General Aviation aircraft, was estimated, substituting the conventional engine with the optimized GF56 propulsion system.

Keywords: aeronautic propulsion, additive manufacturing, performance improvement, weight saving, piston engine

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Authors: Raghava Satya SaiKrishna Dittakavi

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Cloud computing has revolutionized how businesses and individuals store, access, and process data, increasing efficiency and reducing infrastructure costs. However, the need for more transparency in cloud service billing often raises concerns about overcharging and hidden fees, hindering the realization of the full potential of cloud computing. This research paper explores how blockchain technology can be leveraged to introduce cost transparency and accountability in cloud computing services. We present a comprehensive analysis of blockchain-enabled solutions that enhance cost visibility, facilitate auditability, and promote trust in cloud service providers. Through this study, we aim to provide insights into the potential benefits and challenges of implementing blockchain in the cloud computing domain, leading to improved cost management and customer satisfaction.

Keywords: blockchain, cloud computing, cost transparency, blockchain technology

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Authors: Sung-Chul Hwang, Di Ren, Sang-Moon Yoon, Jong-Chun Park, Abbas Khayyer, Hitoshi Gotoh

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The slamming impact problem has a very important engineering background. For seaplane landing, recycling for the satellite re-entry capsule, and the impact load of the bow in the adverse sea conditions, the slamming problem always plays the important role. Due to its strong nonlinear effect, however, it seems to be not easy to obtain the accurate simulation results. Combined with the strong interaction between the fluid field and the elastic structure, the difficulty for the simulation leads to a new level for challenging. This paper presents a fully Lagrangian coupled solver for simulations of fluid-structure interactions, which is based on the Moving Particle Semi-implicit (MPS) method to solve the governing equations corresponding to incompressible flows as well as elastic structures. The developed solver is verified by reproducing the high velocity impact loads of deformable thin wedges with two different materials such as aluminum and steel on water entry. The present simulation results are compared with analytical solution derived using the hydrodynamic Wagner model and linear theory by Wan.

Keywords: fluid-structure interaction, moving particle semi-implicit (MPS) method, elastic structure, incompressible flow, wedge slamming impact

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Authors: Saou Mohamed Amine

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The construction industry has been identified as a user of substantial amount of materials and energy resources that has an enormous impact on environment. The energy efficient in refurbishment project is being considered as one of the approaches to achieve sustainability in construction industry. The increasing concern for environment has made building owners and designers to incorporate the energy efficiency features into their building projects.

Keywords: construction industry, design team attributes, energy efficient performance, refurbishment projects characteristics

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Authors: Somayeh Lotfi, Manuel Eggimann, Eckhard Wagner, Radosław Mróz, Jan Deja

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One of the main environmental challenges in the construction industry is a strong social force to decrease the bulk transport of the building materials in urban environments. Considering this fact, applying more in-situ recycling technologies for Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) is an urgent need. The European C2CA project develops a novel concrete recycling technology that can be performed purely mechanically and in situ. The technology consists of a combination of smart demolition, gentle grinding of the crushed concrete in an autogenous mill, and a novel dry classification technology called ADR to remove the fines. The feasibility of this recycling process was examined in demonstration projects involving in total 20,000 tons of End of Life (EOL) concrete from two office towers in Groningen, The Netherlands. This paper concentrates on the second demonstration project of C2CA, where EOL concrete was recycled on an industrial site. After recycling, the properties of the produced Recycled Aggregate (RA) were investigated, and results are presented. An experimental study was carried out on mechanical and durability properties of produced Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC) compared to those of the Natural Aggregate Concrete (NAC). The aim was to understand the importance of RA substitution, w/c ratio and type of cement to the properties of RAC. In this regard, two series of reference concrete with strength classes of C25/30 and C45/55 were produced using natural coarse aggregates (rounded and crushed) and natural sand. The RAC series were created by replacing parts of the natural aggregate, resulting in series of concrete with 0%, 20%, 50% and 100% of RA. Results show that the concrete mix design and type of cement have a decisive effect on the properties of RAC. On the other hand, the substitution of RA even at a high percentage replacement level has a minor and manageable impact on the performance of RAC. This result is a good indication towards the feasibility of using RA in structural concrete by modifying the mix design and using a proper type of cement.

Keywords: C2CA, ADR, concrete recycling, recycled aggregate, durability

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Authors: M. Karaman, H. Catalkaya

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Due to the complex nature of cyber attacks and their effects ranging from personal to governmental level, it becomes one of the priority tasks for operation planners to take into account the risks, influences and effects of cyber attacks. However it can also be embedded or integrated technically with electronic warfare planning, cyber operation planning is needed to have a sole and broadened perspective. This perspective embodies itself firstly in operational design and then military decision making process. In order to find out the ill-structured problems, understand or visualize the operational environment and frame the problem, operational design can help support cyber operation planners and commanders. After having a broadened and conceptual startup with cyber operational design, military decision making process will follow the principles of design into more concrete elements like reaching results after risk management and center of gravity analysis of our and the enemy. In this paper we tried to emphasize the importance of cyber operational design, cyber operation planning and its integration to military decision making problem. In this foggy, uncertain and unaccountable cyber security environment, it is inevitable to stay away from cyber attacks. Therefore, a cyber operational design should be formed with line of operations, decisive points and end states in cyber then a tactical military decision making process should be followed with cyber security focus in order to support the whole operation.

Keywords: cyber operational design, military decision making process (MDMP), operation planning, end state

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Authors: Wenhao Lan, Ning Li, Qiang Tong

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To improve the registration accuracy of a source point cloud and template point cloud when the initial relative deflection angle is too large, a PointNetLK algorithm combined with an oriented bounding box (PointNetLK-OBB) is proposed. In this algorithm, the OBB of a 3D point cloud is used to represent the macro feature of source and template point clouds. Under the guidance of the iterative closest point algorithm, the OBB of the source and template point clouds is aligned, and a mirror symmetry effect is produced between them. According to the fitting degree of the source and template point clouds, the mirror symmetry plane is detected, and the optimal rotation and translation of the source point cloud is obtained to complete the 3D point cloud registration task. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, a comparative experiment was performed using the publicly available ModelNet40 dataset. The experimental results demonstrate that, compared with PointNetLK, PointNetLK-OBB improves the registration accuracy of the source and template point clouds when the initial relative deflection angle is too large, and the sensitivity of the initial relative position between the source point cloud and template point cloud is reduced. The primary contribution of this paper is the use of PointNetLK to avoid the non-convex problem of traditional point cloud registration and leveraging the regularity of the OBB to avoid the local optimization problem in the PointNetLK context.

Keywords: mirror symmetry, oriented bounding box, point cloud registration, PointNetLK-OBB

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Authors: Monica Jong, Antonios Banos, Tom Scott, Chris Webster, David Fletcher

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Hydrogen, as a clean alternative to methane, is relatively easy to make, either from water using electrolysis or from methane using steam reformation. However, hydrogen is much trickier to store than methane, and without effective storage, it simply won’t pass muster as a suitable methane substitute. Physical storage of hydrogen is quite inefficient. Storing hydrogen as a compressed gas at pressures up to 900 times atmospheric is volumetrically inefficient and carries safety implications, whilst storing it as a liquid requires costly and constant cryogenic cooling to minus 253°C. This is where DU steps in as a possible solution. Across the periodic table, there are many different metallic elements that will react with hydrogen to form a chemical compound known as a hydride (or metal hydride). From a chemical perspective, the ‘king’ of the hydride forming metals is palladium because it offers the highest hydrogen storage volumetric capacity. However, this material is simply too expensive and scarce to be used in a scaled-up bulk hydrogen storage solution. Depleted Uranium is the second most volumetrically efficient hydride-forming metal after palladium. The UK has accrued a significant amount of DU because of manufacturing nuclear fuel for many decades, and that is currently without real commercial use. Uranium trihydride (UH3) contains three hydrogen atoms for every uranium atom and can chemically store hydrogen at ambient pressure and temperature at more than twice the density of pure liquid hydrogen for the same volume. To release the hydrogen from the hydride, all you do is heat it up. At temperatures above 250°C, the hydride starts to thermally decompose, releasing hydrogen as a gas and leaving the Uranium as a metal again. The reversible nature of this reaction allows the hydride to be formed and unformed again and again, enabling its use as a high-density hydrogen storage material which is already available in large quantities because of its stockpiling as a ‘waste’ by-product. Whilst the tritium storage credentials of Uranium have been rigorously proven at the laboratory scale and at the fusion demonstrator JET for over 30 years, there is a need to prove the concept for depleted uranium hydrogen storage (HyDUS) at scales towards that which is needed to flexibly supply our national power grid with energy. This is exactly the purpose of the HyDUS project, a collaborative venture involving EDF as the interested energy vendor, Urenco as the owner of the waste DU, and the University of Bristol with the UKAEA as the architects of the technology. The team will embark on building and proving the world’s first pilot scale demonstrator of bulk chemical hydrogen storage using depleted Uranium. Within 24 months, the team will attempt to prove both the technical and commercial viability of this technology as a longer duration energy storage solution for the UK. The HyDUS project seeks to enable a true by-product to wonder material story for depleted Uranium, demonstrating that we can think sustainably about unlocking the potential value trapped inside nuclear waste materials.

Keywords: hydrogen, long duration storage, storage, depleted uranium, HyDUS

Procedia PDF Downloads 158