Search results for: Compression Chiller
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 901

Search results for: Compression Chiller

361 Image Enhancement of Histological Slides by Using Nonlinear Transfer Function

Authors: D. Suman, B. Nikitha, J. Sarvani, V. Archana

Abstract:

Histological slides provide clinical diagnostic information about the subjects from the ancient times. Even with the advent of high resolution imaging cameras the image tend to have some background noise which makes the analysis complex. A study of the histological slides is done by using a nonlinear transfer function based image enhancement method. The method processes the raw, color images acquired from the biological microscope, which, in general, is associated with background noise. The images usually appearing blurred does not convey the intended information. In this regard, an enhancement method is proposed and implemented on 50 histological slides of human tissue by using nonlinear transfer function method. The histological image is converted into HSV color image. The luminance value of the image is enhanced (V component) because change in the H and S components could change the color balance between HSV components. The HSV image is divided into smaller blocks for carrying out the dynamic range compression by using a linear transformation function. Each pixel in the block is enhanced based on the contrast of the center pixel and its neighborhood. After the processing the V component, the HSV image is transformed into a colour image. The study has shown improvement of the characteristics of the image so that the significant details of the histological images were improved.

Keywords: HSV space, histology, enhancement, image

Procedia PDF Downloads 308
360 Study of Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Ethylene/1-Octene Copolymer Based Nanocomposites

Authors: Sharmila Pradhan, Ralf Lach, George Michler, Jean Mark Saiter, Rameshwar Adhikari

Abstract:

Ethylene/1-octene copolymer was modified incorporating three types of nanofillers differed in their dimensionality in order to investigate the effect of filler dimensionality on mechanical properties, for instance, tensile strength, microhardness etc. The samples were prepared by melt mixing followed by compression moldings. The microstructure of the novel material was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) method and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Other important properties such as melting, crystallizing and thermal stability were also investigated via differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA). The FTIR and XRD results showed that the composites were formed by physical mixing. The TEM result supported the homogeneous dispersion of nanofillers in the matrix. The mechanical characterization performed by tensile testing showed that the composites with 1D nanofiller effectively reinforced the polymer. TGA results revealed that the thermal stability of pure EOC is marginally improved by the addition of nanofillers. Likewise, melting and crystallizing properties of the composites are not much different from that of pure.

Keywords: copolymer, differential scanning calorimetry, nanofiller, tensile strength

Procedia PDF Downloads 210
359 Optimized and Secured Digital Watermarking Using Entropy, Chaotic Grid Map and Its Performance Analysis

Authors: R. Rama Kishore, Sunesh

Abstract:

This paper presents an optimized, robust, and secured watermarking technique. The methodology used in this work is the combination of entropy and chaotic grid map. The proposed methodology incorporates Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) on the host image. To improve the imperceptibility of the method, the host image DCT blocks, where the watermark is to be embedded, are further optimized by considering the entropy of the blocks. Chaotic grid is used as a key to reorder the DCT blocks so that it will further increase security while selecting the watermark embedding locations and its sequence. Without a key, one cannot reveal the exact watermark from the watermarked image. The proposed method is implemented on four different images. It is concluded that the proposed method is giving better results in terms of imperceptibility measured through PSNR and found to be above 50. In order to prove the effectiveness of the method, the performance analysis is done after implementing different attacks on the watermarked images. It is found that the methodology is very strong against JPEG compression attack even with the quality parameter up to 15. The experimental results are confirming that the combination of entropy and chaotic grid map method is strong and secured to different image processing attacks.

Keywords: digital watermarking, discreate cosine transform, chaotic grid map, entropy

Procedia PDF Downloads 221
358 Cover Spalling in Reinforced Concrete Columns

Authors: Bambang Piscesa, Mario M. Attard, Dwi Presetya, Ali K. Samani

Abstract:

A numerical strategy formulated using a plasticity approach is presented to model spalling of the concrete cover in reinforced concrete columns. The stage at which the concrete cover within reinforced concrete column spalls has a direct bearing on the load capacity. The concrete cover can prematurely spall before the full cross-section can be utilized if the concrete is very brittle under compression such as for very high strength concretes. If the confinement to the core is high enough, the column can achieve a higher peak load by utilizing the core. A numerical strategy is presented to model spalling of the concrete cover. Various numerical strategies are employed to model the behavior of reinforced concrete columns which include: (1) adjusting the material properties to incorporate restrained shrinkage; (2) modifying the plastic dilation rate in the presence of the tensile pressure; (3) adding a tension cut-off failure surface and (4) giving the concrete cover region and the column core different material properties. Numerical comparisons against experimental results are carried out that shown excellent agreement with the experimental results and justify the use of the proposed strategies to predict the axial load capacity of reinforce concrete columns.

Keywords: spalling, concrete, plastic dilation, reinforced concrete columns

Procedia PDF Downloads 131
357 Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) Signal Detection and Analysis Using Choi-Williams Distribution

Authors: V. S. S. Kumar, V. Ramya

Abstract:

In the modern electronic warfare, the signal scenario is changing at a rapid pace with the introduction of Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) radars. In the modern battlefield, radar system faces serious threats from passive intercept receivers such as Electronic Attack (EA) and Anti-Radiation Missiles (ARMs). To perform necessary target detection and tracking and simultaneously hide themselves from enemy attack, radar systems should be LPI. These LPI radars use a variety of complex signal modulation schemes together with pulse compression with the aid of advancement in signal processing capabilities of the radar such that the radar performs target detection and tracking while simultaneously hiding enemy from attack such as EA etc., thus posing a major challenge to the ES/ELINT receivers. Today an increasing number of LPI radars are being introduced into the modern platforms and weapon systems so these LPI radars created a requirement for the armed forces to develop new techniques, strategies and equipment to counter them. This paper presents various modulation techniques used in generation of LPI signals and development of Time Frequency Algorithms to analyse those signals.

Keywords: anti-radiation missiles, cross terms, electronic attack, electronic intelligence, electronic warfare, intercept receiver, low probability of intercept

Procedia PDF Downloads 423
356 Protein Derived Biodegradable Food Packaging Material from Poultry By-Product

Authors: Muhammad Zubair, Aman Ullah, Jianping Wu

Abstract:

During the last decades, petroleum derived synthetic polymers like polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinylchloride, polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene has extensively been used in the field of food packaging and mostly are non-degradable. Biopolymers are a good fit for single-use or short-lived products such as food packaging. Spent hens, a poultry by-product which is of little economic value and their disposal are environmentally harmful. Through current study, we have explored the possibility to transform proteins from spent fowl into green food packaging material. Proteins from spent fowl were extracted within 1 hour using pH shift method with recovery of about 74%. Different plasticizers were tried like glycerol, sorbitol, glutaraldehyde, 1,2 ethylene glycol and 1,2 butanediol. Glycerol was the best plasticizer among all these plasticizers. A naturally occurring and non-toxic cross-linking agent, chitosan, was used to form the chitosan/glycerol/protein blend by casting and compression molding techniques. The mechanical properties were characterized using tensile strength analyzer. The nano-reinforcements with homogeneous dispersion of nanoparticles lead to improved physical properties suggesting that these materials have great potential for food packaging applications.

Keywords: differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, scanning electron microscopy, spent hen

Procedia PDF Downloads 250
355 Behavior of Reinforced Soil by Polypropylene Fibers

Authors: M. Kamal Elbokl

Abstract:

The beneficial effects of reinforcing the subgrade soil in pavement system with randomly distributed polypropylene fibers were investigated. For this issue, two types of soils and one type of fiber were selected. Proctor, CBR and unconfined compression tests were conducted on unreinforced samples as well as reinforced ones at different concentrations and aspect ratio of fibers. OMC, CBR and modulus of elasticity were investigated and thereby, the optimum value of aspect ratio and fiber content were determined. The static and repeated triaxial tests were also conducted to study the behaviour of fiber reinforced soils under both static and repeated loading. The results indicated that CBR values of reinforced sand and clay were 3.1 and 4.2 times of their unreinforced values respectively. The modulus of elasticity of fiber reinforced soils has increased by 100% for silty sandy soil and 60.20% for silty clay soil due to fiber reinforcement. The reinforced soils exhibited higher failure stresses in the static triaxial tests than the unreinforced ones due to the apparent bond developed between soil particle and the fiber. Fiber reinforcement of subgrade soils can play an important role in control the rut formation in the pavement system.

Keywords: polypropylene fibers, CBR, static triaxial, cyclic triaxial, resilient strain, permanent strain

Procedia PDF Downloads 591
354 Discrete Element Method Simulation of Crushable Pumice Sand

Authors: Sayed Hessam Bahmani, Rolsndo P. Orense

Abstract:

From an engineering point of view, pumice particles are problematic because of their crushability and compressibility due to their vesicular nature. Currently, information on the geotechnical characteristics of pumice sands is limited. While extensive empirical and laboratory tests can be implemented to characterize their behavior, these are generally time-consuming and expensive. These drawbacks have motivated attempts to study the effects of particle breakage of pumice sand through the Discrete Element Method (DEM). This method provides insights into the behavior of crushable granular material at both the micro and macro-level. In this paper, the results of single-particle crushing tests conducted in the laboratory are simulated using DEM through the open-source code YADE. This is done to better understand the parameters necessary to represent the pumice microstructure that governs its crushing features, and to examine how the resulting microstructure evolution affects a particle’s properties. The DEM particle model is then used to simulate the behavior of pumice sand during consolidated drained triaxial tests. The results indicate the importance of incorporating particle porosity and unique surface textures in the material characterization and show that interlocking between the crushed particles significantly influences the drained behavior of the pumice specimen.

Keywords: pumice sand, triaxial compression, simulation, particle breakage

Procedia PDF Downloads 217
353 Improving the Strength Characteristics of Soil Using Cotton Fibers

Authors: Bindhu Lal, Karnika Kochal

Abstract:

Clayey soil contains clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter, which exhibits properties like low drainage, high plasticity, and shrinkage. To overcome these issues, various soil reinforcement techniques are used to elevate the stiffness, water tightness, and bearing capacity of the soil. Such techniques include cementation, bituminization, freezing, fiber inclusion, geo-synthetics, nailing, etc. Reinforcement of soil with fibers has been a cost-effective solution to soil improvement problems. An experimental study was undertaken involving the inclusion of cotton waste fibers in clayey soil as reinforcement with different fiber contents (1%, 1.5%, 2%, and 2.5% by weight) and analyzing its effects on the unconfined compressive strength of the soil. Two categories of soil were taken, comprising of natural clay and clay mixed with 5% sodium bentonite by weight. The soil specimens were subjected to proctor compaction and unconfined compression tests. The validated outcome shows that fiber inclusion has a strikingly positive impact on the compressive strength and axial strain at failure of the soil. Based on the commendatory results procured, compressive strength was found to be directly proportional to the fiber content, with the effect being more pronounced at lower water content.

Keywords: bentonite clay, clay, cotton fibers, unconfined compressive strength

Procedia PDF Downloads 150
352 Experimental and Analytical Study to Investigate the Effect of Tension Reinforcement on Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Short Beams

Authors: Hakan Ozturk, Aydin Demir, Kemal Edip, Marta Stojmanovska, Julijana Bojadjieva

Abstract:

There are many factors that affect the behavior of reinforced concrete beams. These can be listed as concrete compressive and reinforcement yield strength, amount of tension, compression and confinement bars, and strain hardening of reinforcement. In the study, support condition of short beams is selected statically indeterminate to first degree. Experimental and numerical analysis are carried for reinforcement concrete (RC) short beams. Dimensions of cross sections are selected as 250mm width and 500 mm height. The length of RC short beams is designed as 2250 mm and these values are constant in all beams. After verifying accurately finite element model, a numerical parametric study is performed with varied diameter of tension reinforcement. Effect of change in diameter is investigated on behavior of RC short beams. As a result of the study, ductility ratios and failure modes are determined, and load-displacement graphs are obtained in order to understand the behavior of short beams. It is deduced that diameter of tension reinforcement plays very important role on the behavior of RC short beams in terms of ductility and brittleness.

Keywords: short beam, reinforced concrete, finite element analysis, longitudinal reinforcement

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351 Iranian Sexual Health Needs in Viewpoint of Policy Makers: A Qualitative Study

Authors: Mahnaz Motamedi, Mohammad Shahbazi, Shahrzad Rahimi-Naghani, Mehrdad Salehi

Abstract:

Introduction: Identifying sexual health needs, developing appropriate plans, and delivering services to meet those needs is an essential component of health programs for women, men, and children all over the world, especially in poor countries. Main Subject: The aim of this study was to describe the needs of sexual health from the viewpoint of health policymakers in Iran. Methods: A qualitative study using thematic content analysis was designed and conducted. Data gathering was conducted through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 25 key informants within the healthcare system. Key informants were selected through both purposive and snowball sampling. MAXQUDA software (version 10) was used to facilitate transcription, classification of codes, and conversion of data into meaningful units, by the process of reduction and compression. Results: The analysis of narratives and information categorized sexual health needs into five categories: culturalization of sexual health discourse, sexual health care services, sexual health educational needs, sexual health research needs, and organizational needs. Conclusion: Identifying and explaining sexual health needs is an important factor in determining the priority of sexual health programs and identification of barriers to meet these needs. This can help other policymakers and health planners to develop appropriate programs to promote sexual and reproductive health.

Keywords: sexual health, sexual health needs, policy makers, health system, qualitative study

Procedia PDF Downloads 197
350 A Simple Adaptive Atomic Decomposition Voice Activity Detector Implemented by Matching Pursuit

Authors: Thomas Bryan, Veton Kepuska, Ivica Kostanic

Abstract:

A simple adaptive voice activity detector (VAD) is implemented using Gabor and gammatone atomic decomposition of speech for high Gaussian noise environments. Matching pursuit is used for atomic decomposition, and is shown to achieve optimal speech detection capability at high data compression rates for low signal to noise ratios. The most active dictionary elements found by matching pursuit are used for the signal reconstruction so that the algorithm adapts to the individual speakers dominant time-frequency characteristics. Speech has a high peak to average ratio enabling matching pursuit greedy heuristic of highest inner products to isolate high energy speech components in high noise environments. Gabor and gammatone atoms are both investigated with identical logarithmically spaced center frequencies, and similar bandwidths. The algorithm performs equally well for both Gabor and gammatone atoms with no significant statistical differences. The algorithm achieves 70% accuracy at a 0 dB SNR, 90% accuracy at a 5 dB SNR and 98% accuracy at a 20dB SNR using 30dB SNR as a reference for voice activity.

Keywords: atomic decomposition, gabor, gammatone, matching pursuit, voice activity detection

Procedia PDF Downloads 271
349 Predicting Consolidation Coefficient of Busan Clay by Time-Displacement-Velocity Methods

Authors: Thang Minh Le, Hadi Khabbaz

Abstract:

The coefficient of consolidation is a parameter governing the rate at which saturated soil particularly clay undergoes consolidation when subjected to an increase in pressure. The rate and amount of compression in soil varies with the rate that pore water is lost; and hence depends on soil permeability. Over many years, various methods have been proposed to determine the coefficient of consolidation, cv, which is an indication of the rate of foundation settlement on soft ground. However, defining this parameter is often problematic and heavily relies on graphical techniques, which are subject to some uncertainties. This paper initially presents an overview of many well-established methods to determine the vertical coefficient of consolidation from the incremental loading consolidation tests. An array of consolidation tests was conducted on the undisturbed clay samples, collected at various depths from a site in Nakdong river delta, Busan, South Korea. The consolidation test results on these soft sensitive clay samples were employed to evaluate the targeted methods to predict the settlement rate of Busan clay. In relationship of time-displacement-velocity, a total of 3 method groups from 10 common procedures were classified and compared together. Discussions on study results will be also provided.

Keywords: Busan clay, coefficient of consolidation, constant rate of strain, incremental loading

Procedia PDF Downloads 159
348 Hardware Implementation of Local Binary Pattern Based Two-Bit Transform Motion Estimation

Authors: Seda Yavuz, Anıl Çelebi, Aysun Taşyapı Çelebi, Oğuzhan Urhan

Abstract:

Nowadays, demand for using real-time video transmission capable devices is ever-increasing. So, high resolution videos have made efficient video compression techniques an essential component for capturing and transmitting video data. Motion estimation has a critical role in encoding raw video. Hence, various motion estimation methods are introduced to efficiently compress the video. Low bit‑depth representation based motion estimation methods facilitate computation of matching criteria and thus, provide small hardware footprint. In this paper, a hardware implementation of a two-bit transformation based low-complexity motion estimation method using local binary pattern approach is proposed. Image frames are represented in two-bit depth instead of full-depth by making use of the local binary pattern as a binarization approach and the binarization part of the hardware architecture is explained in detail. Experimental results demonstrate the difference between the proposed hardware architecture and the architectures of well-known low-complexity motion estimation methods in terms of important aspects such as resource utilization, energy and power consumption.

Keywords: binarization, hardware architecture, local binary pattern, motion estimation, two-bit transform

Procedia PDF Downloads 277
347 Numerical Investigation of Static and Dynamic Responses of Fiber Reinforced Sand

Authors: Sandeep Kumar, Mahesh Kumar Jat, Rajib Sarkar

Abstract:

Soil reinforced with randomly distributed fibers is an attractive means to improve the performance of soil in a cost effective manner. Static and dynamic characterization of fiber reinforced soil have become important to evaluate adequate performance for all classes of geotechnical engineering problems. Present study investigates the behaviour of fiber reinforced cohesionless soil through numerical simulation of triaxial specimen. The numerical model has been validated with the existing literature of laboratory triaxial compression testing. A parametric study has been done to find out optimum fiber content for shear resistance. Cyclic triaxial testing has been simulated and the stress-strain response of fiber-reinforced sand has been examined considering different combination of fiber contents. Shear modulus values and damping values of fiber-reinforced sand are evaluated. It has been observed from results that for 1.0 percent fiber content shear modulus increased 2.28 times and damping ratio decreased 4.6 times. The influence of amplitude of cyclic strain, confining pressure and frequency of loading on the dynamic properties of fiber reinforced sand has been investigated and presented.

Keywords: damping, fiber reinforced soil, numerical modelling, shear modulus

Procedia PDF Downloads 252
346 Enhancement of Recycled Concrete Aggregates Properties by Mechanical Treatment and Verification in Concrete Mixes with Replacement up to 100%

Authors: Iveta Nováková, Martin-Andrè S. Husby, Boy-Arne Buyle

Abstract:

The building industry has one of the most significant contributions to global warming due to the production of building materials, transportation, building activities, and demolition of structures when they reach the end of their life. Implementation of circular material flow and circular economy can significantly reduce greenhouse gasses and simultaneously reduce the need for natural resources. The use of recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) is one of the possibilities for reducing the depletion of raw materials for concrete production. Concrete is the most used building material worldwide, and aggregates constitute 70% of its volume. RCA can replace a certain amount of natural aggregates (NA), and concrete will still perform as required. The aim of this scientific paper is to evaluate RCA properties with and without mechanical treatment. Analysis of RCA itself will be followed by compressive strength of concrete containing various amounts of treated and non-treated RCA. Results showed improvement in compressive strength of the mix with mechanically treated RCA compared to standard RCA, and even the strength of concrete with mechanically treated RCA in dose 50% of coarse aggregates was higher than the reference mix by 4%. Based on obtained results, it can be concluded that integration of RCA in industrial concrete production is feasible, at a replacement ratio of 50% for mechanically treated RCA and 30% if untreated RCA is used, without affecting the compressive strength negatively.

Keywords: recycled concrete aggregates, mechanical treatment, aggregate properties, compression strength

Procedia PDF Downloads 212
345 Comparison of Homogeneous and Micro-Mechanical Modelling Approach for Paper Honeycomb Materials

Authors: Yiğit Gürler, Berkay Türkcan İmrağ, Taylan Güçkıran, İbrahim Şimşek, Alper Taşdemirci

Abstract:

Paper honeycombs, which is a sandwich structure, consists of two liner faces and one paper honeycomb core. These materials are widely used in the packaging industry due to their low cost, low weight, good energy absorption capabilities and easy recycling properties. However, to provide maximum protection to the products in cases such as the drop of the packaged products, the mechanical behavior of these materials should be well known at the packaging design stage. In this study, the necessary input parameters for the modeling study were obtained by performing compression tests in the through-thickness and in-plane directions of paper-based honeycomb sandwich structures. With the obtained parameters, homogeneous and micro-mechanical numerical models were developed in the Ls-Dyna environment. The material card used for the homogeneous model is MAT_MODIFIED_HONEYCOMB, and the material card used for the micromechanical model is MAT_PIECEWISE_LINEAR_PLASTICITY. As a result, the effectiveness of homogeneous and micromechanical modeling approaches for paper-based honeycomb sandwich structure was investigated using force-displacement curves. Densification points and peak points on these curves will be compared.

Keywords: environmental packaging, mechanical characterization, Ls-Dyna, sandwich structure

Procedia PDF Downloads 166
344 Energy Efficiency Analysis of Discharge Modes of an Adiabatic Compressed Air Energy Storage System

Authors: Shane D. Inder, Mehrdad Khamooshi

Abstract:

Efficient energy storage is a crucial factor in facilitating the uptake of renewable energy resources. Among the many options available for energy storage systems required to balance imbalanced supply and demand cycles, compressed air energy storage (CAES) is a proven technology in grid-scale applications. This paper reviews the current state of micro scale CAES technology and describes a micro-scale advanced adiabatic CAES (A-CAES) system, where heat generated during compression is stored for use in the discharge phase. It will also describe a thermodynamic model, developed in EES (Engineering Equation Solver) to evaluate the performance and critical parameters of the discharge phase of the proposed system. Three configurations are explained including: single turbine without preheater, two turbines with preheaters, and three turbines with preheaters. It is shown that the micro-scale A-CAES is highly dependent upon key parameters including; regulator pressure, air pressure and volume, thermal energy storage temperature and flow rate and the number of turbines. It was found that a micro-scale AA-CAES, when optimized with an appropriate configuration, could deliver energy input to output efficiency of up to 70%.

Keywords: CAES, adiabatic compressed air energy storage, expansion phase, micro generation, thermodynamic

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343 Experimental Investigation on the Mechanical Behaviour of Three-Leaf Masonry Walls under In-Plane Loading

Authors: Osama Amer, Yaser Abdel-Aty, Mohamed Abd El Hady

Abstract:

The present paper illustrates an experimental approach to provide understanding of the mechanical behavior and failure mechanisms of different typologies of unreinforced three-leaf masonry walls of historical Islamic architectural heritage in Egypt. The main objective of this study is to investigate the propagation of possible cracking, ultimate load, deformations and failure mechanisms. Experimental data on interface-shear and compression tests on large scale three-leaf masonry wallets are provided. The wallets were built basically of Egyptian limestone and modified lime mortar. External wallets were built of stone blocks while the inner leaf was built of rubble limestone. Different loading conditions and dimensions of core layer for two types of collar joints (with and without shear keys) are considered in the tests. Mechanical properties of the constituent materials of masonry were tested and a database of characteristic properties was created. The results of the experiments will highlight the properties, force-displacement curves, stress distribution of multiple-leaf masonry walls contributing to the derivation of rational design rules and validation of numerical models.

Keywords: masonry, three-leaf walls, mechanical behavior, testing, architectural heritage

Procedia PDF Downloads 263
342 Analysis of Experimentally Designed Soundproof Gypsum Partition Wall's Sections in Terms of Structural Engineering

Authors: Abdulkerim Ilgun, Ahmad Javid Zia

Abstract:

In developing countries, the urban populations are increasing rapidly and with this increment the residential areas are experiencing major problems. Construction of high-rise buildings in confined spaces is one of the most practical solutions for this problem. However, by living in high-rise buildings and sharing common residential areas, residents will face many problems. Irritating sound problem which is known as noise is one of the major problems mentioned above. The second most important problem is the weight of the high-rise buildings which makes the structure more vulnerable to earthquakes. To decrease earthquake loads it’s very important to decrease the weight of the buildings. To solve the problem of noise and keep the building weight at minimum level, experimentally designed soundproof gypsum partition wall which has optimum thickness has been used in high-rise story building and the results have been compared with ordinary brick partition walls. In this compression the effect of weights of soundproof gypsum walls and ordinary brick walls in accordance to structural engineering have been investigated.

Keywords: cellubor, gypsum board, gypsum partition walls, light partition walls, noise, sound

Procedia PDF Downloads 284
341 Nutrient Foramina of the Lunate Bone of the Hand – an Anatomical Study

Authors: P.J. Jiji, B.V. Murlimanju, Latha V. Prabhu, Mangala M. Pai

Abstract:

Background: The lunate bone dislocation can lead to the compression of the median nerve and subsequent carpal tunnel syndrome. The dislocation can interrupt the vasculature and would cause avascular necrosis. The objective of the present study was to study the morphology and number of the nutrient foramina in the cadaveric dried lunate bones of the Indian population. Methods: The present study included 28 lunate bones (13 right sided and 15 left sided) which were obtained from the gross anatomy laboratory of our institution. The bones were macroscopically observed for the nutrient foramina and the data was collected with respect to their number. The tabulation of the data and analysis were done. Results: All of our specimens (100%) exhibited the nutrient foramina over the non-articular surfaces. The foramina were observed only over the palmar and dorsal surfaces of the lunate bones. The foramen ranged between 2 and 10. The foramina were more in number over the dorsal surface (average number 3.3) in comparison to the palmar surface (average number 2.4). Conclusion: We believe that the present study has provided important data about the nutrient foramina of the lunate bones. The data is enlightening to the orthopedic surgeon and would help in the hand surgeries. The morphological knowledge of the vasculature, their foramina of entry and their number is required to understand the concepts in the lunatomalacia and Kienbock’s disease.

Keywords: avascular necrosis, foramen, lunate, nutrient

Procedia PDF Downloads 223
340 New Hybrid Process for Converting Small Structural Parts from Metal to CFRP

Authors: Yannick Willemin

Abstract:

Carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) offers outstanding value. However, like all materials, CFRP also has its challenges. Many forming processes are largely manual and hard to automate, making it challenging to control repeatability and reproducibility (R&R); they generate significant scrap and are too slow for high-series production; fibre costs are relatively high and subject to supply and cost fluctuations; the supply chain is fragmented; many forms of CFRP are not recyclable, and many materials have yet to be fully characterized for accurate simulation; shelf life and outlife limitations add cost; continuous-fibre forms have design limitations; many materials are brittle; and small and/or thick parts are costly to produce and difficult to automate. A majority of small structural parts are metal due to high CFRP fabrication costs for the small-size class. The fact that CFRP manufacturing processes that produce the highest performance parts also tend to be the slowest and least automated is another reason CFRP parts are generally higher in cost than comparably performing metal parts, which are easier to produce. Fortunately, business is in the midst of a major manufacturing evolution—Industry 4.0— one technology seeing rapid growth is additive manufacturing/3D printing, thanks to new processes and materials, plus an ability to harness Industry 4.0 tools. No longer limited to just prototype parts, metal-additive technologies are used to produce tooling and mold components for high-volume manufacturing, and polymer-additive technologies can incorporate fibres to produce true composites and be used to produce end-use parts with high aesthetics, unmatched complexity, mass customization opportunities, and high mechanical performance. A new hybrid manufacturing process combines the best capabilities of additive—high complexity, low energy usage and waste, 100% traceability, faster to market—and post-consolidation—tight tolerances, high R&R, established materials, and supply chains—technologies. The platform was developed by Zürich-based 9T Labs AG and is called Additive Fusion Technology (AFT). It consists of a design software offering the possibility to determine optimal fibre layup, then exports files back to check predicted performance—plus two pieces of equipment: a 3d-printer—which lays up (near)-net-shape preforms using neat thermoplastic filaments and slit, roll-formed unidirectional carbon fibre-reinforced thermoplastic tapes—and a post-consolidation module—which consolidates then shapes preforms into final parts using a compact compression press fitted with a heating unit and matched metal molds. Matrices—currently including PEKK, PEEK, PA12, and PPS, although nearly any high-quality commercial thermoplastic tapes and filaments can be used—are matched between filaments and tapes to assure excellent bonding. Since thermoplastics are used exclusively, larger assemblies can be produced by bonding or welding together smaller components, and end-of-life parts can be recycled. By combining compression molding with 3D printing, higher part quality with very-low voids and excellent surface finish on A and B sides can be produced. Tight tolerances (min. section thickness=1.5mm, min. section height=0.6mm, min. fibre radius=1.5mm) with high R&R can be cost-competitively held in production volumes of 100 to 10,000 parts/year on a single set of machines.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, composites, thermoplastic, hybrid manufacturing

Procedia PDF Downloads 72
339 Multiobjective Optimization of a Pharmaceutical Formulation Using Regression Method

Authors: J. Satya Eswari, Ch. Venkateswarlu

Abstract:

The formulation of a commercial pharmaceutical product involves several composition factors and response characteristics. When the formulation requires to satisfy multiple response characteristics which are conflicting, an optimal solution requires the need for an efficient multiobjective optimization technique. In this work, a regression is combined with a non-dominated sorting differential evolution (NSDE) involving Naïve & Slow and ε constraint techniques to derive different multiobjective optimization strategies, which are then evaluated by means of a trapidil pharmaceutical formulation. The analysis of the results show the effectiveness of the strategy that combines the regression model and NSDE with the integration of both Naïve & Slow and ε constraint techniques for Pareto optimization of trapidil formulation. With this strategy, the optimal formulation at pH=6.8 is obtained with the decision variables of micro crystalline cellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and compression pressure. The corresponding response characteristics of rate constant and release order are also noted down. The comparison of these results with the experimental data and with those of other multiple regression model based multiobjective evolutionary optimization strategies signify the better performance for optimal trapidil formulation.

Keywords: pharmaceutical formulation, multiple regression model, response surface method, radial basis function network, differential evolution, multiobjective optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 388
338 Improvement of Parallel Compressor Model in Dealing Outlet Unequal Pressure Distribution

Authors: Kewei Xu, Jens Friedrich, Kevin Dwinger, Wei Fan, Xijin Zhang

Abstract:

Parallel Compressor Model (PCM) is a simplified approach to predict compressor performance with inlet distortions. In PCM calculation, it is assumed that the sub-compressors’ outlet static pressure is uniform and therefore simplifies PCM calculation procedure. However, if the compressor’s outlet duct is not long and straight, such assumption frequently induces error ranging from 10% to 15%. This paper provides a revised calculation method of PCM that can correct the error. The revised method employs energy equation, momentum equation and continuity equation to acquire needed parameters and replace the equal static pressure assumption. Based on the revised method, PCM is applied on two compression system with different blades types. The predictions of their performance in non-uniform inlet conditions are yielded through the revised calculation method and are employed to evaluate the method’s efficiency. Validating the results by experimental data, it is found that although little deviation occurs, calculated result agrees well with experiment data whose error ranges from 0.1% to 3%. Therefore, this proves the revised calculation method of PCM possesses great advantages in predicting the performance of the distorted compressor with limited exhaust duct.

Keywords: parallel compressor model (pcm), revised calculation method, inlet distortion, outlet unequal pressure distribution

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337 The Impact of Alumina Cement on Properties of Portland Cement Slurries and Mortars

Authors: Krzysztof Zieliński, Dariusz Kierzek

Abstract:

The addition of a small amount of alumina cement to Portland cement results in immediate setting, a rapid increase in the compressive strength and a clear increase of the adhesion to concrete substrate. This phenomenon is used, among others, for the production of liquid floor self-levelling compounds. Alumina cement is several times more expensive than Portland cement and is a component having a significant impact on prices of products manufactured with its use. For the production of liquid floor self-levelling compounds, low-alumina cement containing approximately 40% Al2O3 is normally used. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of Portland cement with the addition of alumina cement on the basic physical and mechanical properties of cement slurries and mortars. CEM I 42.5R and three types of alumina cement containing 40%, 50% and 70% of Al2O3 were used for the tests. Mixes containing 4%, 6%, 8%, 10% and 12% of different varieties of alumina cement were prepared; for which, the time of initial and final setting, compressive and flexural strength and adhesion to concrete substrate were determined. The analysis of the obtained test results showed that a similar immediate setting effect and clearly better adhesion strength can be obtained using the addition of 6% of high-alumina cement than 12% of low-alumina cement. As the prices of these cements are similar, this can give significant financial savings in the production of liquid floor self-levelling compounds.

Keywords: alumina cement, immediate setting, compression strength, adhesion to substrate

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336 Studying the Possibility to Weld AA1100 Aluminum Alloy by Friction Stir Spot Welding

Authors: Ahmad K. Jassim, Raheem Kh. Al-Subar

Abstract:

Friction stir welding is a modern and an environmentally friendly solid state joining process used to joint relatively lighter family of materials. Recently, friction stir spot welding has been used instead of resistance spot welding which has received considerable attention from the automotive industry. It is environmentally friendly process that eliminated heat and pollution. In this research, friction stir spot welding has been used to study the possibility to weld AA1100 aluminum alloy sheet with 3 mm thickness by overlapping the edges of sheet as lap joint. The process was done using a drilling machine instead of milling machine. Different tool rotational speeds of 760, 1065, 1445, and 2000 RPM have been applied with manual and automatic compression to study their effect on the quality of welded joints. Heat generation, pressure applied, and depth of tool penetration have been measured during the welding process. The result shows that there is a possibility to weld AA1100 sheets; however, there is some surface defect that happened due to insufficient condition of welding. Moreover, the relationship between rotational speed, pressure, heat generation and tool depth penetration was created.

Keywords: friction, spot, stir, environmental, sustainable, AA1100 aluminum alloy

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335 Effect of Hydrogen-Diesel Dual Fuel Combustion on the Performance and Emission Characteristics of a Four Stroke-Single Cylinder Diesel Engine

Authors: Madhujit Deb, G. R. K. Sastry, R. S. Panua, Rahul Banerjee, P. K. Bose

Abstract:

The present work attempts to investigate the combustion, performance and emission characteristics of an existing single-cylinder four-stroke compression-ignition engine operated in dual-fuel mode with hydrogen as an alternative fuel. Environmental concerns and limited amount of petroleum fuels have caused interests in the development of alternative fuels like hydrogen for internal combustion (IC) engines. In this experimental investigation, a diesel engine is made to run using hydrogen in dual fuel mode with diesel, where hydrogen is introduced into the intake manifold using an LPG-CNG injector and pilot diesel is injected using diesel injectors. A Timed Manifold Injection (TMI) system has been developed to vary the injection strategies. The optimized timing for the injection of hydrogen was 100 CA after top dead center (ATDC). From the study it was observed that with increasing hydrogen rate, enhancement in brake thermal efficiency (BTHE) of the engine has been observed with reduction in brake specific energy consumption (BSEC). Furthermore, Soot contents decrease with an increase in indicated specific NOx emissions with the enhancement of hydrogen flow rate.

Keywords: diesel engine, hydrogen, BTHE, BSEC, soot, NOx

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334 Embedment Design Concept of Signature Tower in Chennai

Authors: M. Gobinath, S. Balaji

Abstract:

Assumptions in model inputs: Grade of concrete=40 N/mm2 (for slab), Grade of concrete=40 N/mm2 (for shear wall), Grade of Structural steel (plate girder)=350 N/mm2 (yield strength), Ultimate strength of structural steel=490 N/mm2, Grade of rebar=500 N/mm2 (yield strength), Applied Load=1716 kN (un-factored). Following assumptions are made for the mathematical modelling of RCC with steel embedment: (1) The bond between the structural steel and concrete is neglected. (2) The stiffener is provided with shear studs to transfer the shear force. Hence nodal connectivity is established between solid nodes (concrete) and shell elements (stiffener) at those locations. (3) As the end reinforcements transfer either tension/compression, it is modeled as line element and connected to solid nodes. (4) In order to capture the bearing of bottom flange on to the concrete, the line element of plan size of solid equal to the cross section of line elements is connected between solid and shell elements below for bottom flange and above for top flange. (5) As the concrete cannot resist tension at the interface (i.e., between structural steel and RCC), the tensile stiffness is assigned as zero and only compressive stiffness is enabled to take. Hence, non-linear static analysis option is invoked.

Keywords: structure, construction, signature tower, embedment design concept

Procedia PDF Downloads 279
333 Numerical Evaluation of Shear Strength for Cold-Formed Steel Shear Wall Panel

Authors: Rouaz Idriss, Bourahla Nour-Eddine, Kahlouche Farah, Rafa Sid Ali

Abstract:

The stability of structures made of light-gauge steel depends highly on the contribution of Shear Wall Panel (SWP) systems under horizontal forces due to wind or earthquake loads. Steel plate sheathing is often used with these panels made of cold formed steel (CFS) to improve its shear strength. In order to predict the shear strength resistance, two methods are presented in this paper. In the first method, the steel plate sheathing is modeled with plats strip taking into account only the tension and compression force due to the horizontal load, where both track and stud are modeled according to the geometrical and mechanical characteristics of the specimen used in the experiments. The theoretical background and empirical formulations of this method are presented in this paper. However, the second method is based on a micro modeling of the cold formed steel Shear Wall Panel “CFS-SWP” using Abaqus software. A nonlinear analysis was carried out with an in-plan monotonic load. Finally, the comparison between these two methods shows that the micro modeling with Abaqus gives better prediction of shear resistance of SWP than strips method. However, the latter is easier and less time consuming than the micro modeling method.

Keywords: cold formed steel 'CFS', shear wall panel, strip method, finite elements

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332 A Hybrid Combustion Chamber Design for Diesel Engines

Authors: R. Gopakumar, G. Nagarajan

Abstract:

Both DI and IDI systems possess inherent advantages as well as disadvantages. The objective of the present work is to obtain maximum advantages of both systems by implementing a hybrid design. A hybrid combustion chamber design consists of two combustion chambers viz., the main combustion chamber and an auxiliary combustion chamber. A fuel injector supplies major quantity of fuel to the auxiliary chamber. Due to the increased swirl motion in auxiliary chamber, mixing becomes more efficient which contributes to reduction in soot/particulate emissions. Also, by increasing the fuel injection pressure, NOx emissions can be reduced. The main objective of the hybrid combustion chamber design is to merge the positive features of both DI and IDI combustion chamber designs, which provides increased swirl motion and improved thermal efficiency. Due to the efficient utilization of fuel, low specific fuel consumption can be ensured. This system also aids in increasing the power output for same compression ratio and injection timing as compared with the conventional combustion chamber designs. The present system also reduces heat transfer and fluid dynamic losses which are encountered in IDI diesel engines. Since the losses are reduced, overall efficiency of the engine increases. It also minimizes the combustion noise and NOx emissions in conventional DI diesel engines.

Keywords: DI, IDI, hybrid combustion, diesel engines

Procedia PDF Downloads 497