Search results for: renewable energy

Authors: Jing-Gang Xie

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The research, in this case, considers the integration of the Quantum Field Theory and the General Relativity Theory. As two successful models in explaining behaviors of particles, they are incompatible since they work at different masses and scales of energy, with the evidence that regards the description of black holes and universe formation. It is so considering previous efforts in merging the two theories, including the likes of the String Theory, Quantum Gravity models, and others. In a bid to prove an actionable experiment, the paper’s approach starts with the derivations of the existing theories at present. It goes on to test the derivations by applying the same initial assumptions, coupled with several deviations. The resulting equations get similar results to those of classical Newton model, quantum mechanics, and general relativity as long as conditions are normal. However, outcomes are different when conditions are extreme, specifically with no breakdowns even for less than Schwarzschild radius, or at Planck length cases. Even so, it proves the possibilities of integrating the two theories.

Keywords: general relativity theory, particles, photons, Quantum Gravity Model, gravitational frequency shift

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Authors: Bing Shi, Raymond A. Conley, Jun Qian, Xianbo Shi, Steve Heald, Lahsen Assoufid

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A pair of Kirkpatrick-Baez (KB) mirrors were designed and fabricated for experiments within a hard x-ray energy range lower than 20 kev at beamline 20-ID in a synchrotron radiation facility, Advanced Photon Source (APS). The KB mirrors were deposited with Rhodium thin films using a customized designed and self-built magnetron sputtering system. The purpose of these mirrors is to focus the x-ray beam down to 1 micron. This is the first pair of Rhodium-coated KB mirrors with elliptical shape that was fabricated using the profile coating technique. The profile coating technique is to coat the substrate with designed shape using masks during the deposition. The mirrors were equipped at the beamline and achieved the designed focusing requirement. The details of the mirror design, the fabrication process, and the customized magnetron sputtering deposition system will be discussed.

Keywords: magnetron-sputtering deposition, focusing optics, x-ray, rhodium thin film

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Authors: Cha’o-Kuang Chen, Ching-Chang Cho

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This paper investigates the natural convection heat transfer performance in a complex-wavy-wall cavity filled with power-law fluid. In performing the simulations, the continuity, Cauchy momentum and energy equations are solved subject to the Boussinesq approximation using a finite volume method. The simulations focus specifically on the effects of the flow behavior index in the power-law model and the Rayleigh number on the flow streamlines, isothermal contours and mean Nusselt number within the cavity. The results show that pseudoplastic fluids have a better heat transfer performance than Newtonian or dilatant fluids. Moreover, it is shown that for Rayleigh numbers greater than Ra=103, the mean Nusselt number has a significantly increase as the flow behavior index is decreased.

Keywords: non-Newtonian fluid, power-law fluid, natural convection, heat transfer enhancement, cavity, wavy wall

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Authors: Salmi-Laouar Sihem, Aouissi Riadh

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The Cenomanian formations of the Bellezma-Batna Range are yielding very diversified fossiliferous beds. Among the abundant and well-preserved fossils stands out Aspidiscus cristatus (Lamarck). This taxon is assigned to the Family Latomeandridae (Alloiteau) for the presence of six symmetry axes. The outer morphology of sampled specimens documents a low-energy environment with a high sedimentary rate and a mud-supported bottom. Its provincialism evidences some characteristic thermal gradients of the marked Tethysian climatic areas. Biometric measurements are given. Coral size increases from the North towards the southeastern Tethysian margin where waters are supposed warmer; this feature is also underlined by a frequent bio-erosion of sampled specimens. Its limited stratigraphic range makes it a good candidate for an index species for the Middle Cenomanian.

Keywords: Aspidiscus cristatus, coral, Middle Cenomanian, Batna, Bellezma, Algeria

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Authors: Youcef Faci, Ahmed Mebtouche, Badredine Maalem

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n the present work, an experimental study is carried out using acoustic emission and DIC techniques to analyze the damage of open hole woven composite carbon/epoxy under solicitations. Damage mechanisms were identified based on acoustic emission parameters such as amplitude, energy, and cumulative account. The findings of the AE measurement were successfully identified by digital image correlation (DIC) measurements. The evolution value of bolt angle inclination during tensile tests was studied and analyzed. Consequently, the relationship between the bolt inclination angles during tensile tests associated with failure modes of fastened joints of composite materials is determined. Moreover, there is an interaction between laminate pattern, laminate thickness, fastener size and type, surface strain concentrations, and out-of-plane displacement. Conclusions are supported by microscopic visualizations of the composite specimen.

Keywords: tensile test, damage, acoustic emission, digital image correlation

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Authors: Josef Sepitka, Petr Vlcak, Tomas Horazdovsky, Vratislav Perina

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An ion implantation technique was used for designing the surface area of a titanium alloy and for irradiation-enhanced hardening of the surface. The Ti6Al4V alloy was treated by nitrogen ion implantation at fluences of 2·10¹⁷ and 4·10¹⁷ cm^-2 and at ion energy 90 keV. The depth distribution of the nitrogen was investigated by Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy. The gradient of mechanical properties was investigated by nanoindentation. The continuous measurement mode was used to obtain depth profiles of the indentation hardness and the reduced storage modulus of the modified surface area. The reduced storage modulus and the hardness increase with increasing fluence. Increased fluence shifts the peak of the mechanical properties as well as the peak of nitrogen concentration towards to the surface. This effect suggests a direct relationship between mechanical properties and nitrogen distribution.

Keywords: nitrogen ion implantation, titanium-based nanolayer, storage modulus, hardness, microstructure

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Authors: Ebrahim Ghanbari, Mohammad Reza Nematollahi

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Integrating deterministic and probabilistic safety assessment (IDPSA) is one of the most commonly used issues in the field of safety analysis of power plant accident. It has also been recognized today that the role of human error in creating these accidents is not less than systemic errors, so the human interference and system errors in fault and event sequences are necessary. The integration of these analytical topics will be reflected in the frequency of core damage and also the study of the use of water resources in an accident such as the loss of all electrical power of the plant. In this regard, the SBO accident was simulated for the pressurized water reactor in the deterministic analysis issue, and by analyzing the operator's behavior in controlling the accident, the results of the combination of deterministic and probabilistic assessment were identified. The results showed that the best performance of the plant operator would reduce the risk of an accident by 10%, as well as a decrease of 6.82 liters/second of the water sources of the plant.

Keywords: IDPSA, human error, SBO, risk

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Authors: Masoud Nasiri Sarvi, Yunhua Luo

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Low-trauma hip fracture, usually caused by fall from standing height, has become a main source of morbidity and mortality for the elderly. Factors affecting hip fracture include sex, race, age, body weight, height, body mass distribution, etc., and thus, hip fracture risk in fall differs widely from subject to subject. It is therefore necessary to develop a subject-specific biomechanical model to predict hip fracture risk. The objective of this study is to develop a two-level, image-based, subject-specific biomechanical model consisting of a whole-body dynamics model and a proximal-femur finite element (FE) model for more accurately assessing the risk of hip fracture in lateral falls. Required information for constructing the model is extracted from a whole-body and a hip DXA (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) image of the subject. The proposed model considers all parameters subject-specifically, which will provide a fast, accurate, and non-expensive method for predicting hip fracture risk.

Keywords: bone mineral density, hip fracture risk, impact force, sideways falls

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Authors: Manal Osman

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Sprinkler irrigation system became more popular to reduce water consumption and increase irrigation efficiency. The water distribution uniformity plays an important role in the performance of the sprinkler irrigation system. The use of low operating pressure instead of high operating pressure can be achieved many benefits including energy and water saving. An experimental study was performed to investigate the water distribution uniformity of the solid-set sprinkler irrigation system under low operating pressure. Different low operating pressures (62, 82, 102 and 122 kPa) were selected. The range of operating pressure was lower than the recommended in the previous studies to investigate the effect of low pressure on the water distribution uniformity. Different nozzle diameters (4, 5, 6 and 7 mm) were used. The outdoor single sprinkler test was performed. The water distribution of single sprinkler, the coefficients of uniformity such as coefficient of uniformity (CU), distribution uniformity of low quarter (DUlq), distribution uniformity of low half (DUlh), coefficient of variation (CV) and the distribution characteristics like rotation speed, throw radius and overlapping distance are presented in this paper.

Keywords: low operating pressure, sprinkler irrigation system, water distribution uniformity

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Authors: Nandini Sharma

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Monitoring the characteristics of a nanostructured material comprises measurements of structural, morphological, mechanical, optical and electronic properties of the synthesized nanopowder and different layers and coatings of nanomaterials coated on transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) substrates like fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) or Indium doped tin oxide (ITO). This article focuses on structural and optical characterization with emphasis on measurements of the photocatalytic efficiency as a photocatalyst and their interpretation to extract relevant information about various TCOs and materials, their emitter regions, and surface passivation. It also covers a brief description of techniques based on photoluminescence that can portray high resolution pictorial graphs for application as solar energy devices. With the advancement in the scientific techniques, detailed information about the structural, morphological, and optical properties can be investigated, which is further useful for engineering and designing of an efficient device. The common principles involved in the prevalent characterization techniques aid to illustrate the range of options that can be broadened in near future for acurate device characterization and diagnosis.

Keywords: characterization, structural, optical, nanomaterial

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Authors: Ahmadali Shirazytabar, Hamidreza Namazi

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The inherent irreversibility of thermo-acoustics primarily in the stack region causes poor efficiency of thermo-acoustic engines which is the major weakness of these devices. In view of the above, this study examines entropy generation in the stack of a thermo-acoustic system. For this purpose two parallel plates representative of the stack is considered. A general equation for entropy generation is derived based on the Second Law of thermodynamics. Assumptions such as Rott’s linear thermo-acoustic approximation, boundary layer type flow, etc. are made to simplify the governing continuity, momentum and energy equations to achieve analytical solutions for velocity and temperature. The entropy generation equation is also simplified based on the same assumptions and then is converted to dimensionless form by using characteristic entropy generation. A time averaged entropy generation rate followed by a global entropy generation rate are calculated and graphically represented for further analysis and inspecting the effect of different parameters on the entropy generation.

Keywords: thermo-acoustics, entropy, second law of thermodynamics, Rott’s linear thermo-acoustic approximation

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Authors: Nur Ashida Salim, Muhammad Murtadha Othman, Ismail Musirin, Mohd Salleh Serwan

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Over the past few decades, the power system industry in many developing and developed countries has gone through a restructuring process of the industry where they are moving towards a deregulated power industry. This situation will lead to competition among the generation and distribution companies to achieve a certain objective which is to provide quality and efficient production of electric energy, which will reduce the price of electricity. Therefore it is important to obtain an accurate value of the Available Transfer Capability (ATC) and Transmission Reliability Margin (TRM) in order to ensure the effective power transfer between areas during the occurrence of uncertainties in the system. In this paper, the TRM and ATC is determined by taking into consideration the uncertainties of the system operating condition and system cascading collapse by applying the bootstrap technique. A case study of the IEEE RTS-79 is employed to verify the robustness of the technique proposed in the determination of TRM and ATC.

Keywords: available transfer capability, bootstrap technique, cascading collapse, transmission reliability margin

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Authors: Elison Eduardo Jardim Bierhals, Claudineia Brazil, Rafael Haag, Elton Rossini

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This work aims to validate and make the projections of solar energy for the Brazilian period from 2025 to 2100. As the plants designed by the HadGEM2-AO (Global Hadley Model 2 - Atmosphere) General Circulation Model UK Met Office Hadley Center, belonging to Phase 5 of the Intercomparison of Coupled Models (CMIP5). The simulation results of the model are compared with monthly data from 2006 to 2013, measured by a network of meteorological sections of the National Institute of Meteorology (INMET). The performance of HadGEM2-AO is evaluated by the efficiency coefficient (CEF) and bias. The results are shown in the table of maps and maps. HadGEM2-AO, in the most pessimistic scenario, RCP 8.5 had a very good accuracy, presenting efficiency coefficients between 0.94 and 0.98, the perfect setting being Solar radiation, which indicates a horizontal trend, is a climatic alternative for some regions of the Brazilian scenario, especially in spring.

Keywords: climate change, projections, solar radiation, scenarios climate change

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Authors: Sachin S. Patil, Mohan I. Mehta, Sandip J. Sutar, Akshay B. Patil, Shreyas S. Kirwai, Suresh Arangi

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MnS is the most commonly found inclusion in steel, which is desirable for machinability of alloy steels but only up to a certain limit, beyond which it weakens fatigue properties of steel. In present work, the effect of sulfur content and its inclusions on the fatigue behavior of AISI 4140 steel is studied (sulfur content 0.002% and 0.016%). Metallurgical analysis, Mechanical testing and Rotating Bending Fatigue (RBF) test were carried out. With the increase in sulfur content, ductility and toughness of the material decrease significantly and large scatter is observed in UTS and impact energy values. From the results of RBF testing, it can be observed that increase in sulfur content from 0.002% to 0.016% has a negligible effect on the endurance strength of AISI 4140 for similar hardness level. Fractography analysis was carried out to study the failure modes in testing.

Keywords: AISI 4140, sulfur content, MnS inclusion, rotating bending fatigue

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Authors: Huey-Kuo Chen

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This paper applies directional marginal productivity model to study the shadow price of emissions by transportation modes in the years of 2011 and 2013 with the aim to provide a reference for policy makers to improve the emission of pollutants. One input variable (i.e., energy consumption), one desirable output variable (i.e., vehicle kilometers traveled) and three undesirable output variables (i.e., carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides) generated by road transportation modes were used to evaluate directional marginal productivity and directional shadow price for 18 transportation modes. The results show that the directional shadow price (DSP) of SOx is much higher than CO2 and NOx. Nevertheless, the emission of CO2 is the largest among the three kinds of pollutants. To improve the air quality, the government should pay more attention to the emission of CO2 and apply the alternative solution such as promoting public transportation and subsidizing electric vehicles to reduce the use of private vehicles.

Keywords: marginal productivity, road transportation modes, shadow price, undesirable outputs

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Authors: D. Shobha Rani, M. Muralidhar

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Solar photovoltaic (SPV) power systems can be employed as electrical power sources to meet the daily residential energy needs of rural areas that have no access to grid systems. In view of this, a standalone SPV powered air cooling system is proposed in this paper, which constitutes a dc-dc boost converter, two voltage source inverters (VSI) connected to two brushless dc (BLDC) motors which are coupled to a centrifugal water pump and a fan blower. A simple and efficient Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) technique based on Silver Mean Method (SMM) is utilized in this paper. The air cooling system is developed and simulated using the MATLAB / Simulink environment considering the dynamic and steady state variation in the solar irradiance.

Keywords: boost converter, solar photovoltaic array, voltage source inverter, brushless DC motor, solar irradiance, maximum power point tracking, silver mean method

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Authors: Abderrhamane Jarou, Dominique Sauter, Christophe Aubrun

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Over the past decade, the growing demand for energy efficiency in buildings has attracted the attention of the control community. Failures in HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems in buildings can have a significant impact on the desired and expected energy performance of buildings and on the user's comfort as well. FTC is a recent technology area that studies the adaptation of control algorithms to faulty operating conditions of a system. The application of Fault-Tolerant Control (FTC) in HVAC systems has gained attention in the last two decades. The objective is to maintain the variations in system performance due to faults within an acceptable range with respect to the desired nominal behavior. This paper considers the so-called active approach, which is based on fault and identification scheme combined with a control reconfiguration algorithm that consists in determining a new set of control parameters so that the reconfigured performance is "as close as possible, "in some sense, to the nominal performance. Thermal models of buildings and their HVAC systems are described by non-linear (usually bi-linear) equations. Most of the works carried out so far in FDI (fault diagnosis and isolation) or FTC consider a linearized model of the studied system. However, this model is only valid in a reduced range of variation. This study presents a new fault diagnosis (FD) algorithm based on a bilinear observer for the detection and accurate estimation of the magnitude of the HVAC system failure. The main contribution of the proposed FD algorithm is that instead of using specific linearized models, the algorithm inherits the structure of the actual bilinear model of the building thermal dynamics. As an immediate consequence, the algorithm is applicable to a wide range of unpredictable operating conditions, i.e., weather dynamics, outdoor air temperature, zone occupancy profile. A bilinear fault detection observer is proposed for a bilinear system with unknown inputs. The residual vector in the observer design is decoupled from the unknown inputs and, under certain conditions, is made sensitive to all faults. Sufficient conditions are given for the existence of the observer and results are given for the explicit computation of observer design matrices. Dedicated observer schemes (DOS) are considered for sensor FDI while unknown input bilinear observers are considered for actuator or system components FDI. The proposed strategy for FTC works as follows: At a first level, FDI algorithms are implemented, making it also possible to estimate the magnitude of the fault. Once the fault is detected, the fault estimation is then used to feed the second level and reconfigure the control low so that that expected performances are recovered. This paper is organized as follows. A general structure for fault-tolerant control of buildings is first presented and the building model under consideration is introduced. Then, the observer-based design for Fault Diagnosis of bilinear systems is studied. The FTC approach is developed in Section IV. Finally, a simulation example is given in Section V to illustrate the proposed method.

Keywords: bilinear systems, fault diagnosis, fault-tolerant control, multi-zones building

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Authors: Aseem Rajvanshi, Pankaj Kumar Pandey

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Increase in population has increased the demand of energy to fulfill all its needs. This will result in burden on fossil fuels especially crude oil. Waste oil due to its disposal problem creates environmental degradation. In this context, this paper studies utilization of waste cooking oil and waste motor sludge for making lubricating grease. Experimental studies have been performed by variation in time and concentration of mixture of waste cooking oil and waste motor sludge. The samples were analyzed using penetration test (ASTM D-217), dropping point (ASTM D-566), work penetration (ASTM D-217) and copper strip test (ASTM D-408). Among 6 samples, sample 6 gives the best results with a good drop point and a fine penetration value. The dropping point and penetration test values were found to be 205 °C and 315, respectively. The penetration value falls under the category of NLGI (National Lubricating Grease Institute) consistency number 1.

Keywords: crude oil, copper strip corrosion test, dropping point, penetration test

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Authors: Alibakhsh Kasaeian, Mohammad Sameti, Zahra Noori, Mona Rastgoo Bahambari

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Nowadays, the parabolic trough solar collector technology has become the most promising large-scale technology among various solar thermal generations. In this paper, a detailed numerical heat transfer model for a parabolic trough collector with nanofluid is presented based on the finite difference approach for which a MATLAB code was developed. The model was used to simulate the performance of a parabolic trough solar collector’s linear receiver, called a heat collector element (HCE). In this model, the heat collector element of the receiver was discretized into several segments in axial directions and energy balances were used for each control volume. All the heat transfer correlations, the thermodynamic equations and the optical properties were considered in details and the set of algebraic equations were solved simultaneously using iterative numerical solutions. The modeling assumptions and limitations are also discussed, along with recommendations for model improvement.

Keywords: heat transfer, nanofluid, numerical analysis, trough

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Authors: Zhuoqun Sun, Francisco Sierra, A. Booth

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With BIM rapidly implemented in the design and construction stage of a project, researchers begin to focus on improving the operation and maintenance stage with the aid of BIM. Since the increasing amount of electronic equipment installed in the building, building management system becomes mainstream for controlling a building, especially in higher education institutions that can play an important role in terms of reducing carbon emission and improving energy efficiency. Currently, an approach to integrate BIM and BMS to improve HEIs facility management has not been established yet. Thus, this paper aims to analyse the benefits, issues, and trends of BIM and BMS integration and their application in HEIs. A systematic literature review was carried out on SCOPUS by applying the PRISMA methodology. 73 articles have been chosen based on keywords, abstracts, and the full content of the articles. The benefit and existed issues from the articles are analysed. The review shows the need to develop a tool to improve facility management through BIM BMS integration.

Keywords: BIM, BMS, HEIs, review

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Authors: Majid Karimabadi, Ahmad Farzaneh Kore, Behnam Azadegan

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The evolution of magnetized quark gluon plasma (QGP) in the framework of magneto- hydrodynamics is the focus of our study. We are investigating the temporal and spatial evolution of QGP using a second order viscous hydrodynamic framework. The fluid is considered to be magnetized and subjected to the influence of a magnetic field that is generated during the early stages of relativistic heavy ion collisions. We assume boost invariance along the beam line, which is represented by the z coordinate, and fluid expansion in the x direction. Additionally, we assume that the magnetic field is perpendicular to the reaction plane, which corresponds to the y direction. The fluid is considered to have infinite electrical conductivity. To analyze this system, we solve the coupled Maxwell and conservation equations. By doing so, we are able to determine the time and space dependence of the energy density, velocity, and magnetic field in the transverse plane of the viscous magnetized hot plasma. Furthermore, we obtain the spectrum of hadrons and compare it with experimental data.

Keywords: QGP, magnetohydrodynamics, hadrons, conversation

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Authors: Eric Asare, Jamie Evans, Mark Newton, Emiliano Bilotti

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Two types of filler shapes (sphere and flakes) and three different sizes are employed to study the size effect on PTC. The composite is prepared using a mini-extruder with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) as the matrix. A computer modelling is used to fit the experimental results. The percolation threshold decreases with decreasing filler size and this was observed for both the spherical particles as well as the flakes. This was caused by the decrease in interparticle distance with decreasing filler size. The 100 µm particles showed a larger PTC intensity compared to the 5 µm particles for the metal coated glass sphere and flake. The small particles have a large surface area and agglomeration and this makes it difficult for the conductive network to e disturbed. Increasing the filler content decreased the PTC intensity and this is due to an increase in the conductive network within the polymer matrix hence more energy is needed to disrupt the network.

Keywords: positive temperature coefficient (PTC) effect, conductive polymer composite (CPC), electrical conductivity

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Authors: Ruitao Li, Zhili Dong, Nay Win Khun, Khiam Aik Khor

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In this study, microstructure and sintering mechanism as well as wear resistance properties of Ti/Al-Cr-Fe metal matrix composites (MMCs) fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) with Ti as matrix and Al-Cr-Fe as reinforcement were investigated. Phases and microstructure of the sintered samples were analyzed using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Wear resistance properties were tested by ball-on-disk method. An Al3Ti ring forms around each Al-Cr-Fe particle as the bonding layer between Ti and Al-Cr-Fe particles. The Al content in Al-Cr-Fe particles experiences a decrease from 70 at.% to 60 at.% in the sintering process. And these particles consist of quasicrystalline icosahedral AlCrFe and quasicrystal approximants γ-brass Al8(Cr,Fe)5 and Al9(Cr,Fe)4 in the sintered compact. The addition of Al-Cr-Fe particles into the Ti matrix can improve the microhardness by about 40% and the wear resistance is improved by more than 50% due to the increase in the microhardness and the change of wear mechanism.

Keywords: metal matrix composites, spark plasma sintering, phase transformation, wear

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Authors: Shail N. Shah, K. K. Baraya, A. Madhusudan Achari

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Loop Heat Pipe is a passive two-phase heat transfer device which can be used without any external power source to transfer heat from source to sink. The main aim of this paper is to have modelling of water-based LHP at varying heat loads. Through figures, how the fluid flow occurs within the loop has been explained. Energy Balance has been done in each section. IC (Iterative Convergence) scheme to find out the SSOT (Steady State Operating Temperature) has been developed. It is developed using Dev C++. To best of the author’s knowledge, hardly any detail is available in the open literature about how temperature distribution along the loop is to be evaluated. Results for water-based loop heat pipe is obtained and compared with open literature and error is found within 4%. Parametric study has been done to see the effect of different parameters on pressure drop and SSOT at varying heat loads.

Keywords: loop heat pipe, modelling of loop heat pipe, parametric study of loop heat pipe, functioning of loop heat pipe

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Authors: A.H. Martínez, T. López-Montero, R. Miró, R. Puig, R. Villar

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An alternative to mitigate the heat island effect is to pave streets and sidewalks with pavements that reflect incident solar energy, keeping their surface temperature lower than conventional pavements. The “Heat island mitigation to prevent global warming by designing sustainable pavements with reflective and photoluminescent properties (RELUM) Project” has been carried out with this intention in mind. Its objective has been to develop bituminous mixtures for urban pavements that help in the fight against global warming and climate change, while improving the quality of life of citizens. The technology employed has focused on the use of reflective pavements, using bituminous mixes made with synthetic bitumens and light pigments that provide high solar reflectance. In addition to this advantage, the light surface colour achieved with these mixes can improve visibility, especially at night. In parallel and following the latter approach, an appropriate type of treatment has also been developed on bituminous mixtures to make them capable of illuminating at night, giving rise to photoluminescent applications, which can reduce energy consumption and increase road safety due to improved night-time visibility. The work carried out consisted of designing different bituminous mixtures in which the nature of the aggregate was varied (porphyry, granite and limestone) and also the colour of the mixture, which was lightened by adding pigments (titanium dioxide and iron oxide). The reflectance of each of these mixtures was measured, as well as the temperatures recorded throughout the day, at different times of the year. The results obtained make it possible to propose bituminous mixtures whose characteristics can contribute to the reduction of urban heat islands. Among the most outstanding results is the mixture made with synthetic bitumen, white limestone aggregate and a small percentage of titanium dioxide, which would be the most suitable for urban surfaces without road traffic, given its high reflectance and the greater temperature reduction it offers. With this solution, a surface temperature reduction of 9.7°C is achieved at the beginning of the night in the summer season with the highest radiation. As for luminescent pavements, paints with different contents of strontium aluminate and glass microspheres have been applied to asphalt mixtures, and the luminance of all the applications designed has been measured by exciting them with electric bulbs that simulate the effect of sunlight. The results obtained at this stage confirm the ability of all the designed dosages to emit light for a certain time, varying according to the proportions used. Not only the effect of the strontium aluminate and microsphere content has been observed, but also the influence of the colour of the base on which the paint is applied; the lighter the base, the higher the luminance. Ongoing studies are focusing on the evaluation of the durability of the designed solutions in order to determine their lifetime.

Keywords: heat island, luminescent paints, reflective pavement, temperature reduction

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Authors: Gelacio Juárez-Luna, Gustavo Ayala, Jaime Retama-Velasco

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This paper shows the advantages of the material failure process simulation by improve finite elements with embedded discontinuities, using a new definition of traction vector, dependent on the discontinuity length and the angle. Particularly, two families of this kind of elements are compared: kinematically optimal symmetric and statically and kinematically optimal non-symmetric. The constitutive model to describe the behavior of the material in the symmetric formulation is a traction-displacement jump relationship equipped with softening after reaching the failure surface. To show the validity of this symmetric formulation, representative numerical examples illustrating the performance of the proposed formulation are presented. It is shown that the non-symmetric family may over or underestimate the energy required to create a discontinuity, as this effect is related with the total length of the discontinuity, fact that is not noticed when the discontinuity path is a straight line.

Keywords: variational formulation, strong discontinuity, embedded discontinuities, strain localization

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Authors: Ameur Soukaina, Zeroual Abdellah, Mazoir Noureddine

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Molecular Electron Density Theory (MEDT) elucidates the regioselectivity of the [4+2] cycloaddition reaction between 3-aroylpyrrolo[1,2-α]quinoxaline-1,2,4(5H)-trione and butyl vinyl ether Regioselectivity and stereoselectivity. The regioselectivity mechanisms of these reactions were investigated by evaluating potential energy surfaces calculated for cycloaddition processes and DFT density-based reactivity indices. These methods have been successfully applied to predict preferred regioisomers for different method alternatives. Reactions were monitored by performing transition state optimizations, calculations of intrinsic reaction coordinates, and activation energies. The observed regioselectivity was rationalized using DFT-based reactivity descriptors such as the Parr function. Solvent effects were also investigated in 1,4-dioxane solvent using a field model for self-consistent reactions. The results were compared with experimental data to find good agreement.

Keywords: cycloaddition, DFT, ELF, MEDT, parr, stereoselectivité

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Authors: Igor Svishchev, Kashif Choudhry

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Progress in advanced energy technologies is not feasible without understanding how engineering materials perform under extreme environmental conditions. The corrosion behaviour of Fe-Ni-Cr and Zr alloys has been systematically examined under high-temperature and supercritical water flow conditions. The changes in elemental release rate and dissolved gas concentration provide valuable insights into the mechanism of passivation by forming oxide films. A non-intrusive method for monitoring the extent of surface oxidation based on hydrogen release rate has been developed. This approach can be used for the on-line monitoring corrosion behavior of reactor materials without the need to interrupt the flow and remove corrosion coupons. Surface catalysed thermochemical reactions may generate sufficient hydrogen to have an effect on the accumulation of oxidizing species generated by radiolytic processes in the heat transport systems of the supercritical water cooled nuclear reactor.

Keywords: high-temperature corrosion, non-intrusive monitoring, reactor materials, supercritical water

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Authors: Hong Seung Kim, Chang Hoi Kim, Lili Yue

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Single-phase, high band gap energy Zn0.5Mg0.5O films were grown under oxygen pressure, using pulse laser deposition with a Zn0.5Mg0.5O target. Structural characterization studies revealed that the crystal structures of the ZnX-1MgXO films could be controlled via changes in the oxygen pressure. TEM analysis showed that the thickness of the deposited Zn1-xMgxO thin films was 50–75 nm. As the oxygen pressure increased, we found that one axis of the crystals did not show a very significant increase in the crystallization compared with that observed at low oxygen pressure. The X-ray diffraction peak intensity for the hexagonal-ZnMgO (002) plane increased relative to that for the cubic-ZnMgO (111) plane. The corresponding c-axis of the h-ZnMgO lattice constant increased from 5.141 to 5.148 Å, and the a-axis of the c-ZnMgO lattice constant decreased from 4.255 to 4.250 Å. EDX analysis showed that the Mg content in the mixed-phase ZnMgO films decreased significantly, from 54.25 to 46.96 at.%. As the oxygen pressure was increased from 100 to 150 mTorr, the absorption edge red-shifted from 3.96 to 3.81 eV; however, a film grown at the highest oxygen pressure tested here (200 mTorr).

Keywords: MgO, UV LED, ZnMgO, ZnO

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Authors: Claudio Di Benedetto, Irene Bengo

Abstract:

The objective of the paper is to study how large European companies develop social business (SB) at the base of the economic pyramid (BoP). BoP markets are defined as the four billions people living with an annual income below $3,260 in local purchasing power. Despite they are heterogeneous in terms of geographic range they present some common characteristics: the presence of significant unmet (social) needs, high level of informal economy and the so-called ‘poverty penalty’. As a result, most people living at BoP are excluded from the value created by the global market economy. But it is worth noting, that BoP population with an aggregate purchasing power of around $5 trillion a year, represent a huge opportunity for companies that want to enhance their long-term profitability perspective. We suggest that in this context, the development of SB is, for companies, an innovative and promising way to satisfy unmet social needs and to experience new forms of value creation. Indeed, SB can be considered a strategic model to develop CSR programs that fully integrate the social dimension into the business to create economic and social value simultaneously. Despite in literature many studies have been conducted on social business, only few have explicitly analyzed such phenomenon from a company perspective and their role in the development of such initiatives remains understudied with fragmented results. To fill this gap the paper analyzes the key characteristics of the social business initiatives developed by European companies at BoP. The study was performed analyzing 1475 European companies participating in the United Nation Global Compact, the world’s leading corporate social responsibility program. Through the analysis of the corporate websites the study identifies companies that actually do SB at BoP. For SB initiatives identified, information were collected according to a framework adapted from the SB model developed by preliminary results show that more than one hundred European companies have already implemented social businesses at BoP accounting for the 6,5% of the total. This percentage increases to 15% if the focus is on companies with more than 10.440 employees. In terms of geographic distribution 80% of companies doing SB at BoP are located in western and southern Europe. The companies more active in promoting SB belong to financial sector (20%), energy sector (17%) and food and beverage sector (12%). In terms of social needs addressed almost 30% of the companies develop SB to provide access to energy and WASH, 25% of companies develop SB to reduce local unemployment or to promote local entrepreneurship and 21% of companies develop SB to promote financial inclusion of poor. In developing SB companies implement different social business configurations ranging from forms of outsourcing to internal development models. The study identifies seven main configurations through which company develops social business and each configuration present distinguishing characteristics respect to the involvement of the company in the management, the resources provided and the benefits achieved. By performing different analysis on data collected the paper provides detailed insights on how European companies develop SB at BoP.

Keywords: base of the economic pyramid, corporate social responsibility, social business, social enterprise

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