Search results for: maximum power point tracking (mppt)
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 14406

Search results for: maximum power point tracking (mppt)

8646 Assessment of the Ecological Tragedy on Lake Chad

Authors: Luke Onyekakeyah, Cynthia Onyekakeyah

Abstract:

The conflict in Northeastern Nigeria could mar local and international efforts to salvage the drying Lake Chad, which at present is merely 20 per cent of its original size. The conflict which began in 2009, assumed a monstrous dimension to the extent that any prospects of a redeeming action on the Lake is bleak. The concern of the authorities in the basin countries is how to bring the conflict to an end in the interest of the ecologically-dependent riparian population. Lake Chad is Africa’s fourth largest lake. From a previous 388,500 km2 some 600, 000 years ago, the Lake has shrunk to a maximum length of 25,000 km2. During the last four decades, the Lake has been susceptible to increasing variability and irregular rainfall. Dry spell, excessive evaporation and sandstorm have adversely affected the Lake, such that a 2001 estimate put the Lake to a meager 19,000 km2. Given the critical importance of the Lake as a source of livelihood for over 20 million people, there is mounting concern that an unprecedented human and ecological catastrophe is unfolding, should the Lake eventually dries up. The study evaluates the Lake Chad and how the conflict has adversely impacted it.

Keywords: lake chad, conflict, salvage, Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 210
8645 Influence of High Temperature and Humidity on Polymer Composites Used in Relining of Sewage

Authors: Parastou Kharazmi, Folke Björk

Abstract:

Some of the main causes for degradation of polymeric materials are thermal aging, hydrolysis, oxidation or chemical degradation by acids, alkalis or water. The first part of this paper provides a brief summary of advances in technology, methods and specification of composite materials for relining as a rehabilitation technique for sewage systems. The second part summarizes an investigation on frequently used composite materials for relining in Sweden, the rubber filled epoxy composite and reinforced polyester composite when they were immersed in deionized water or in dry conditions, and elevated temperatures up to 80°C in the laboratory. The tests were conducted by visual inspection, microscopy, Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) as well as mechanical testing, three point bending and tensile testing.

Keywords: composite, epoxy, polyester, relining, sewage

Procedia PDF Downloads 327
8644 Health as a Proxy for Labour Productivity: The Impact on Wages in Egypt’s Private Sector

Authors: Yasmine Ahmed Shemeis

Abstract:

Determining the impact of productivity increases on wage levels is often difficult due to the unavailability of individual-level productivity data. Accordingly, we proxy for productivity using a self-perceived measure of health based on the postulated positive relationship between better health and productivity improvements. Using Egypt’s labour market data for the years 2012 and 2018 and utilizing a Maximum Likelihood Estimation method, we address two issues: the endogeneity of health in the estimation of wages and a sample selection bias. Our findings indicate the great value that better health has in enhancing wage levels in Egypt’s private sector. Also, we find that overlooking the endogeneity of health underestimates its effect on wages. Thus, the improvement of health states is likely to be beneficial in improving labour market outcomes in terms of wages as well as labour productivity in Egypt.

Keywords: labour, Productivity, Wages, Endogeneity, Sample Selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 60
8643 Enhancing of Paraffin Wax Properties by Adding of Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)

Authors: Siham Mezher Yousif, Intisar Yahiya Mohammed, Salma Nagem Mouhy

Abstract:

Low Density Polyethylene is a thermoplastic resin extracted from petroleum based, whereas the wax is an oily organic component that is contains of alkanes, ester, polyester, and hydroxyl ester. The purpose of this research is to find out the optimum conditions of the wax produced by inducing with LDPE. The experiments were carried out by mixing different percentages of wax and LDPE to produce different polymer/wax compositions, in which lower values of the penetration, thickness, and electrical conductivity are obtained with increasing of mixing ratio of LDPE/wax which showed results of 19 mm penetration, 692 micron thickness and 5.9 mA electrical conductivity for 90 wt % of LDPE/wax) maximum mixing ratio (. It’s found that the optimum results regarding penetration, enamel thickness, and electrical conductivity “according to the enamel hardness, insulation properties, and economic aspects” are 20 mm, 276 micron, and 6.2 mA respectively.

Keywords: paraffin wax, low density polyethylene, blending, mixing ratio, bleaching

Procedia PDF Downloads 94
8642 Nanoporous Activated Carbons for Fuel Cells and Supercapacitors

Authors: A. Volperts, G. Dobele, A. Zhurinsh, I. Kruusenberg, A. Plavniece, J. Locs

Abstract:

Nowadays energy consumption constantly increases and development of effective and cheap electrochemical sources of power, such as fuel cells and electrochemical capacitors, is topical. Due to their high specific power, charge and discharge rates, working lifetime supercapacitor based energy accumulation systems are more and more extensively being used in mobile and stationary devices. Lignocellulosic materials are widely used as precursors and account for around 45% of the total raw materials used for the manufacture of activated carbon which is the most suitable material for supercapacitors. First part of our research is devoted to study of influence of main stages of wood thermochemical activation parameters on activated carbons porous structure formation. It was found that the main factors governing the properties of carbon materials are specific surface area, volume and pore size distribution, particles dispersity, ash content and oxygen containing groups content. Influence of activated carbons attributes on capacitance and working properties of supercapacitor are demonstrated. The correlation between activated carbons porous structure indices and electrochemical specifications of supercapacitors with electrodes made from these materials has been determined. It is shown that if synthesized activated carbons are used in supercapacitors then high specific capacitances can be reached – more than 380 F/g in 4.9M sulfuric acid based electrolytes and more than 170 F/g in 1 M tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate in acetonitrile electrolyte. Power specifications and minimal price of H₂-O₂ fuel cells are limited by the expensive platinum-based catalysts. The main direction in development of non-platinum catalysts for the oxygen reduction is the study of cheap porous carbonaceous materials which can be obtained by the pyrolysis of polymers including renewable biomass. It is known that nitrogen atoms in carbon materials to a high degree determine properties of the doped activated carbons, such as high electrochemical stability, hardness, electric resistance, etc. The lack of sufficient knowledge on the doping of the carbon materials calls for the ongoing researches of properties and structure of modified carbon matrix. In the second part of this study, highly porous activated carbons were synthesized using alkali thermochemical activation from wood, cellulose and cellulose production residues – craft lignin and sewage sludge. Activated carbon samples were doped with dicyandiamide and melamine for the application as fuel cell cathodes. Conditions of nitrogen introduction (solvent, treatment temperature) and its content in the carbonaceous material, as well as porous structure characteristics, such as specific surface and pore size distribution, were studied. It was found that efficiency of doping reaction depends on the elemental oxygen content in the activated carbon. Relationships between nitrogen content, porous structure characteristics and electrodes electrochemical properties are demonstrated.

Keywords: activated carbons, low-temperature fuel cells, nitrogen doping, porous structure, supercapacitors

Procedia PDF Downloads 109
8641 Study the Sloshing Phenomenon in the Tank Filled Partially with Liquid Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Simulation

Authors: Amit Kumar, Jaikumar V., Pradeep A. G., Shivakumar Bhavi

Abstract:

Amit Kumar, Jaikumar V, Pradeep AG, Shivakumar Bhavi Reducing sloshing is one of the major challenges in industries where transporting of liquid is involved. The present study investigates the sloshing effect for different liquid levels of 50% of the tank capacity. CFD simulation for two different baffle configurations has been carried out using a time-based multiphase Volume of fluid (VOF) scheme. Baffles were introduced to examine the sloshing effect inside the tank. Results were compared against the baseline case to assess the effectiveness of baffles; maximum liquid height over the period of the simulation was considered as the parameter for measuring the sloshing effect inside the tank. It was found that the addition of baffles reduced the sloshing effect inside the tank as compared to the baseline model.

Keywords: CFD, sloshing, VOF, multiphase

Procedia PDF Downloads 179
8640 Controlled Chemotherapy Strategy Applied to HIV Model

Authors: Shohel Ahmed, Md. Abdul Alim, Sumaiya Rahman

Abstract:

Optimal control can be helpful to test and compare different vaccination strategies of a certain disease. The mathematical model of HIV we consider here is a set of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) describing the interactions of CD4+T cells of the immune system with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). As an early treatment setting, we investigate an optimal chemotherapy strategy where control represents the percentage of effect the chemotherapy has on the system. The aim is to obtain a new optimal chemotherapeutic strategy where an isoperimetric constraint on the chemotherapy supply plays a crucial role. We outline the steps in formulating an optimal control problem, derive optimality conditions and demonstrate numerical results of an optimal control for the model. Numerical results illustrate how such a constraint alters the optimal vaccination schedule and its effect on cell-virus interactions.

Keywords: chemotherapy of HIV, optimal control involving ODEs, optimality conditions, Pontryagin’s maximum principle

Procedia PDF Downloads 319
8639 Influence of Nonlinearity of Concrete and Reinforcement Using Micropiles on the Seismic Interaction of Soil-Piles-Bridge

Authors: Mohanad Alfach, Amjad Al Helwani

Abstract:

Post-seismic observations of recent devastating earthquakes have shown that the behavior of the soil-pile-structure shows strong nonlinearity of soil and concrete under intensive seismic loading. Many of pile ruptures recently observed after the strong earthquake due to structural reasons (development of plastic hinges in the piles). The most likely reason for this rupture is the exceeding of maximum bending moment supported by the pile at several points. An analysis of these problems is necessary to take into account the nonlinearity of concrete, the strategy of strengthening the damaged piles and the interaction of these piles with the proposed strengthening by using micropiles. This study aims to investigate the interaction aspects for soil-piles- micropiles-structure using a global approach with a three dimensional finite difference code Flac 3D (Fast lagrangian analysis of continua in 3 dimensions).

Keywords: interaction, piles, micropiles, concrete, seismic, nonlinear, three-dimensional

Procedia PDF Downloads 246
8638 Numerical Solution of 1-D Shallow Water Equations at Junction for Sub-Critical and Super-Critical Flow

Authors: Mohamed Elshobaki, Alessandro Valiani, Valerio Caleffi

Abstract:

In this paper, we solve 1-D shallow water equation for sub-critical and super-critical water flow at junction. The water flow at junction has been studied for the last 50 years from the physical-hydraulic point of views and for numerical computations need more attention. For numerical simulation, we need to establish an inner boundary condition at the junction to avoid an oscillation which rise from the waves interactions at the junction. Indeed, we introduce a new boundary condition at the junction based on the mass conservation, total head, and the admissible wave relations between the flow parameters in the three branches to predict the water depths and discharges at the junction. These boundary conditions are valid for sub-critical flow and super-critical flow.

Keywords: numerical simulation, junction flow, sub-critical flow, super-critical flow

Procedia PDF Downloads 490
8637 Optimizing Wind Turbine Blade Geometry for Enhanced Performance and Durability: A Computational Approach

Authors: Nwachukwu Ifeanyi

Abstract:

Wind energy is a vital component of the global renewable energy portfolio, with wind turbines serving as the primary means of harnessing this abundant resource. However, the efficiency and stability of wind turbines remain critical challenges in maximizing energy output and ensuring long-term operational viability. This study proposes a comprehensive approach utilizing computational aerodynamics and aeromechanics to optimize wind turbine performance across multiple objectives. The proposed research aims to integrate advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with structural analysis techniques to enhance the aerodynamic efficiency and mechanical stability of wind turbine blades. By leveraging multi-objective optimization algorithms, the study seeks to simultaneously optimize aerodynamic performance metrics such as lift-to-drag ratio and power coefficient while ensuring structural integrity and minimizing fatigue loads on the turbine components. Furthermore, the investigation will explore the influence of various design parameters, including blade geometry, airfoil profiles, and turbine operating conditions, on the overall performance and stability of wind turbines. Through detailed parametric studies and sensitivity analyses, valuable insights into the complex interplay between aerodynamics and structural dynamics will be gained, facilitating the development of next-generation wind turbine designs. Ultimately, this research endeavours to contribute to the advancement of sustainable energy technologies by providing innovative solutions to enhance the efficiency, reliability, and economic viability of wind power generation systems. The findings have the potential to inform the design and optimization of wind turbines, leading to increased energy output, reduced maintenance costs, and greater environmental benefits in the transition towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy future.

Keywords: computation, robotics, mathematics, simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 34
8636 Theoretical Study of the Structural and Elastic Properties of Semiconducting Rare Earth Chalcogenide Sm1-XEuXS under Pressure

Authors: R. Dubey, M. Sarwan, S. Singh

Abstract:

We have investigated the phase transition pressure and associated volume collapse in Sm1– X EuX S alloy (0≤x≤1) which shows transition from discontinuous to continuous as x is reduced. The calculated results from present approach are in good agreement with experimental data available for the end point members (x=0 and x=1). The results for the alloy counter parts are also in fair agreement with experimental data generated from the vegard’s law. An improved interaction potential model has been developed which includes coulomb, three body interaction, polarizability effect and overlap repulsive interaction operative up to second neighbor ions. It is found that the inclusion of polarizability effect has improved our results.

Keywords: elastic constants, high pressure, phase transition, rare earth compound

Procedia PDF Downloads 405
8635 Development of Enhanced Data Encryption Standard

Authors: Benjamin Okike

Abstract:

There is a need to hide information along the superhighway. Today, information relating to the survival of individuals, organizations, or government agencies is transmitted from one point to another. Adversaries are always on the watch along the superhighway to intercept any information that would enable them to inflict psychological ‘injuries’ to their victims. But with information encryption, this can be prevented completely or at worst reduced to the barest minimum. There is no doubt that so many encryption techniques have been proposed, and some of them are already being implemented. However, adversaries always discover loopholes on them to perpetuate their evil plans. In this work, we propose the enhanced data encryption standard (EDES) that would deploy randomly generated numbers as an encryption method. Each time encryption is to be carried out, a new set of random numbers would be generated, thereby making it almost impossible for cryptanalysts to decrypt any information encrypted with this newly proposed method.

Keywords: encryption, enhanced data encryption, encryption techniques, information security

Procedia PDF Downloads 131
8634 Measurement Technologies for Advanced Characterization of Magnetic Materials Used in Electric Drives and Automotive Applications

Authors: Lukasz Mierczak, Patrick Denke, Piotr Klimczyk, Stefan Siebert

Abstract:

Due to the high complexity of the magnetization in electrical machines and influence of the manufacturing processes on the magnetic properties of their components, the assessment and prediction of hysteresis and eddy current losses has remained a challenge. In the design process of electric motors and generators, the power losses of stators and rotors are calculated based on the material supplier’s data from standard magnetic measurements. This type of data does not include the additional loss from non-sinusoidal multi-harmonic motor excitation nor the detrimental effects of residual stress remaining in the motor laminations after manufacturing processes, such as punching, housing shrink fitting and winding. Moreover, in production, considerable attention is given to the measurements of mechanical dimensions of stator and rotor cores, whereas verification of their magnetic properties is typically neglected, which can lead to inconsistent efficiency of assembled motors. Therefore, to enable a comprehensive characterization of motor materials and components, Brockhaus Measurements developed a range of in-line and offline measurement technologies for testing their magnetic properties under actual motor operating conditions. Multiple sets of experimental data were obtained to evaluate the influence of various factors, such as elevated temperature, applied and residual stress, and arbitrary magnetization on the magnetic properties of different grades of non-oriented steel. Measured power loss for tested samples and stator cores varied significantly, by more than 100%, comparing to standard measurement conditions. Quantitative effects of each of the applied measurement were analyzed. This research and applied Brockhaus measurement methodologies emphasized the requirement for advanced characterization of magnetic materials used in electric drives and automotive applications.

Keywords: magnetic materials, measurement technologies, permanent magnets, stator and rotor cores

Procedia PDF Downloads 133
8633 Synthesis and Spectrophotometric Study of Omeprazole Charge Transfer Complexes with Bromothymol Blue, Methyl Orange, and Picric Acid

Authors: Saeeda Nadir Ali, Najma Sultana, Muhammad Saeed Arayne

Abstract:

Charge transfer complexes of omeprazole with bromothymol blue, methyl orange, and picric acid in the Beer’s law ranges 7-56, 6-48, and 10-80 µg mL-1, exhibiting stoichiometric ratio 1:1, and maximum wavelength 400, 420 and 373 nm respectively have been studied in aqueous medium. ICH guidelines were followed for validation study. Spectroscopic parameters including oscillator’s strength, dipole moment, ionization potential, energy of complexes, resonance energy, association constant and Gibb’s free energy changes have also been investigated and Benesi-Hildebrand plot in each case has been obtained. In addition, the methods were fruitfully employed for omeprazole determination in pharmaceutical formulations with no excipients obstruction during analysis. Solid omeprazole complexes with all the acceptors were synthesized and then structure was elucidated by IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy.

Keywords: omeprazole, bromothymol blue, methyl orange and picric acid, charge transfer complexes

Procedia PDF Downloads 524
8632 Dependence of Shaft Stiffness on the Crack Location

Authors: H. M. Mobarak, Helen Wu, Chunhui Yang

Abstract:

In this study, an analytical model is developed to study crack breathing behavior under the effect of crack location and unbalance force. Crack breathing behavior is determined using effectual bending angle by studying the transient change in closed area of the crack. The status of the crack of a balanced shaft is symmetrical about shaft rotational angle and the duration of each crack status remains unchanged. The global stiffness of the balanced shaft is independent of crack location. Different crack breathing behavior for the unbalanced shaft has been observed. The influence of crack location on the unbalanced shaft stiffness can be divided into three regions. When the crack is located between 0.3L and 0.8335L, where L is the total length of the shaft, the unbalanced shaft is less stiff and when located outside this region it is stiffer than the balanced shaft. It was also found that unbalanced shaft stiffness has a maximum value with a crack at 0.1946L, a minimum value at 0.8053L and same value as balanced shaft at 0.3L and 0.8335L.

Keywords: cracked shaft, crack location, shaft stiffness, unbalanced force

Procedia PDF Downloads 292
8631 Implementing a Mobility Platform to Connect Hubs in Rural Areas

Authors: E. Neidhardt

Abstract:

Mobility is not only an aspect of personal freedom, but for many people mobility is also a requirement to be able to satisfy the needs of daily life. They must buy food, get to work, or go to the doctor. Many people are dependent on public transport to satisfy their needs. Especially in rural areas with a low population density this is difficult. In these areas it is often not cost-effective to provide public transport with sufficient coverage and frequency. Therefore, the available public transport is unattractive. As a result, people use their own car, which is not desirable from a sustainable point of view. Children and some elderly people also do not have this option. Sometimes people organize themselves and volunteer transport services are created, which function similarly to the demand-oriented taxis. With a platform for demand-oriented transport, we want to make the available public transport more usable and attractive by linking scheduled transport with voluntary transport services.

Keywords: demand-oriented, HubChain, living lab, public transport

Procedia PDF Downloads 203
8630 An Investigation on Electric Field Distribution around 380 kV Transmission Line for Various Pylon Models

Authors: C. F. Kumru, C. Kocatepe, O. Arikan

Abstract:

In this study, electric field distribution analyses for three pylon models are carried out by a Finite Element Method (FEM) based software. Analyses are performed in both stationary and time domains to observe instantaneous values along with the effective ones. Considering the results of the study, different line geometries is considerably affecting the magnitude and distribution of electric field although the line voltages are the same. Furthermore, it is observed that maximum values of instantaneous electric field obtained in time domain analysis are quite higher than the effective ones in stationary mode. In consequence, electric field distribution analyses should be individually made for each different line model and the limit exposure values or distances to residential buildings should be defined according to the results obtained.

Keywords: electric field, energy transmission line, finite element method, pylon

Procedia PDF Downloads 712
8629 Promoters' Perspectives on the Impact of Development Projects: Do They Suffer from Any Forms of Social Injustice?

Authors: Ola Hosny

Abstract:

This paper illustrates promoters’ role in any development project and factors affecting their performance. The paper starts by giving an overview of the Egyptian context and the born of non-formal education. This is then followed by answers to the following questions; who are promoters, why build promoters’ skills, do promoters suffer from any forms of social injustice, what is meant by leadership’s skills, why build promoters’ leadership skills in specific, and finally what is the desired final destination. Given the fact that promoters are the actual implementers on ground of any project, this paper pinpoints the extent to which promoters' capacities should be developed to institutionalize projects' values into the community, transfer knowledge, and be able to act as pillars of change to sustain the maximum achievements from any intervention, illustrating the role of education for sustainable development. The paper wraps-up by a conclusion that reflects the main findings.

Keywords: social justice, women's empowerment, gender equity, young rural women, promoters

Procedia PDF Downloads 348
8628 Study of Tool Shape during Electrical Discharge Machining of AISI 52100 Steel

Authors: Arminder Singh Walia, Vineet Srivastava, Vivek Jain

Abstract:

In Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) operations, the workpiece confers to the shape of the tool. Further, the cost of the tool contributes the maximum effect on total operation cost. Therefore, the shape and profile of the tool become highly significant. Thus, in this work, an attempt has been made to study the effect of process parameters on the shape of the tool. Copper has been used as the tool material for the machining of AISI 52100 die steel. The shape of the tool has been evaluated by determining the difference in out of roundness of tool before and after machining. Statistical model has been developed and significant process parameters have been identified which affect the shape of the tool. Optimum process parameters have been identified which minimizes the shape distortion.

Keywords: discharge current, flushing pressure, pulse-on time, pulse-off time, out of roundness, electrical discharge machining

Procedia PDF Downloads 272
8627 Studies on Optimization of Batch Biosorption of Cr (VI) and Cu (II) from Wastewater Using Bacillus subtilis

Authors: Narasimhulu Korrapati

Abstract:

The objective of this present study is to optimize the process parameters for batch biosorption of Cr(VI) and Cu(II) ions by Bacillus subtilis using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Batch biosorption studies were conducted under optimum pH, temperature, biomass concentration and contact time for the removal of Cr(VI) and Cu(II) ions using Bacillus subtilis. From the studies it is noticed that the maximum biosorption of Cr(VI) and Cu(II) was by Bacillus subtilis at optimum conditions of contact time of 30 minutes, pH of 4.0, biomass concentration of 2.0 mg/mL, the temperature of 32°C in batch biosorption studies. Predicted percent biosorption of the selected heavy metal ions by the design expert software is in agreement with experimental results of percent biosorption. The percent biosorption of Cr(VI) and Cu(II) in batch studies is 80% and 78.4%, respectively.

Keywords: heavy metal ions, response surface methodology, biosorption, wastewater

Procedia PDF Downloads 258
8626 Empirical Study on Causes of Project Delays

Authors: Khan Farhan Rafat, Riaz Ahmed

Abstract:

Renowned offshore organizations are drifting towards collaborative exertion to win and implement international projects for business gains. However, devoid of financial constraints, with the availability of skilled professionals, and despite improved project management practices through state-of-the-art tools and techniques, project delays have become a norm these days. This situation calls for exploring the factor(s) affecting the bonding between project management performance and project success. In the context of the well-known 3M’s of project management (that is, manpower, machinery, and materials), machinery and materials are dependent upon manpower. Because the body of knowledge inveterate on the influence of national culture on men, hence, the realization of the impact on the link between project management performance and project success need to be investigated in detail to arrive at the possible cause(s) of project delays. This research initiative was, therefore, undertaken to fill the research gap. The unit of analysis for the proposed research excretion was the individuals who had worked on skyscraper construction projects. In reverent studies, project management is best described using construction examples. It is due to this reason that the project oriented city of Dubai was chosen to reconnoiter on causes of project delays. A structured questionnaire survey was disseminated online with the courtesy of the Project Management Institute local chapter to carry out the cross-sectional study. The Construction Industry Institute, Austin, of the United States of America along with 23 high-rise builders in Dubai were also contacted by email requesting for their contribution to the study and providing them with the online link to the survey questionnaire. The reliability of the instrument was warranted using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.70. The appropriateness of sampling adequacy and homogeneity in variance was ensured by keeping Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett’s test of sphericity in the range ≥ 0.60 and < 0.05, respectively. Factor analysis was used to verify construct validity. During exploratory factor analysis, all items were loaded using a threshold of 0.4. Four hundred and seventeen respondents, including members from top management, project managers, and project staff, contributed to the study. The link between project management performance and project success was significant at 0.01 level (2-tailed), and 0.05 level (2-tailed) for Pearson’s correlation. Before initiating the moderator analysis test for linearity, multicollinearity, outliers, leverage points and influential cases, test for homoscedasticity and normality were carried out which are prerequisites for conducting moderator review. The moderator analysis, using a macro named PROCESS, was performed to verify the hypothesis that national culture has an influence on the said link. The empirical findings, when compared with Hofstede's results, showed high power distance as the cause of construction project delays in Dubai. The research outcome calls for the project sponsors and top management to reshape their project management strategy and allow for low power distance between management and project personnel for timely completion of projects.

Keywords: causes of construction project delays, construction industry, construction management, power distance

Procedia PDF Downloads 205
8625 The Dynamics of a Droplet Spreading on a Steel Surface

Authors: Evgeniya Orlova, Dmitriy Feoktistov, Geniy Kuznetsov

Abstract:

Spreading of a droplet over a solid substrate is a key phenomenon observed in the following engineering applications: thin film coating, oil extraction, inkjet printing, and spray cooling of heated surfaces. Droplet cooling systems are known to be more effective than film or rivulet cooling systems. It is caused by the greater evaporation surface area of droplets compared with the film of the same mass and wetting surface. And the greater surface area of droplets is connected with the curvature of the interface. Location of the droplets on the cooling surface influences on the heat transfer conditions. The close distance between the droplets provides intensive heat removal, but there is a possibility of their coalescence in the liquid film. The long distance leads to overheating of the local areas of the cooling surface and the occurrence of thermal stresses. To control the location of droplets is possible by changing the roughness, structure and chemical composition of the surface. Thus, control of spreading can be implemented. The most important characteristic of spreading of droplets on solid surfaces is a dynamic contact angle, which is a function of the contact line speed or capillary number. However, there is currently no universal equation, which would describe the relationship between these parameters. This paper presents the results of the experimental studies of water droplet spreading on metal substrates with different surface roughness. The effect of the droplet growth rate and the surface roughness on spreading characteristics was studied at low capillary numbers. The shadow method using high speed video cameras recording up to 10,000 frames per seconds was implemented. A droplet profile was analyzed by Axisymmetric Drop Shape Analyses techniques. According to change of the dynamic contact angle and the contact line speed three sequential spreading stages were observed: rapid increase in the dynamic contact angle; monotonous decrease in the contact angle and the contact line speed; and form of the equilibrium contact angle at constant contact line. At low droplet growth rate, the dynamic contact angle of the droplet spreading on the surfaces with the maximum roughness is found to increase throughout the spreading time. It is due to the fact that the friction force on such surfaces is significantly greater than the inertia force; and the contact line is pinned on microasperities of a relief. At high droplet growth rate the contact angle decreases during the second stage even on the surfaces with the maximum roughness, as in this case, the liquid does not fill the microcavities, and the droplet moves over the “air cushion”, i.e. the interface is a liquid/gas/solid system. Also at such growth rates pulsation of liquid flow was detected; and the droplet oscillates during the spreading. Thus, obtained results allow to conclude that it is possible to control spreading by using the surface roughness and the growth rate of droplets on surfaces as varied factors. Also, the research findings may be used for analyzing heat transfer in rivulet and drop cooling systems of high energy equipment.

Keywords: contact line speed, droplet growth rate, dynamic contact angle, shadow system, spreading

Procedia PDF Downloads 315
8624 Diagonal Crack Width of RC Members with High Strength Materials

Authors: J. Y. Lee, H. S. Lim, S. H. Yoon

Abstract:

This paper presents an analysis of the diagonal crack widths of RC members with various types of materials by simulating a compatibility-aided truss model. The analytical results indicated that the diagonal crack width was influenced by not only the shear reinforcement ratio but also the yield strength of shear reinforcement and the compressive strength of concrete. The yield strength of shear reinforcement and the compressive strength of concrete decreased the diagonal shear crack width of RC members for the same shear force because of the change of shear failure modes. However, regarding the maximum shear crack width at shear failure, the shear crack width of the beam with high strength materials was greater than that of the beam with normal strength materials.

Keywords: diagonal crack width, high strength stirrups, high strength concrete, RC members, shear behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 294
8623 Evaluation of Applicability of High Strength Stirrup for Prestressed Concrete Members

Authors: J.-Y. Lee, H.-S. Lim, S.-E. Kim

Abstract:

Recently, the use of high-strength materials is increasing as the construction of large structures and high-rise structures increases. This paper presents an analysis of the shear behavior of prestressed concrete members with various types of materials by simulating a finite element (FE) analysis. The analytical results indicated that the shear strength and shear failure mode were strongly influenced by not only the shear reinforcement ratio but also the yield strength of shear reinforcement and the compressive strength of concrete. Though the yield strength of shear reinforcement increased the shear strength of prestressed concrete members, there was a limit to the increase in strength because of the change of shear failure modes. According to the results of FE analysis on various parameters, the maximum yield strength of the steel stirrup that can be applied to prestressed concrete members was about 860 MPa.

Keywords: prestressed concrete members, high strength reinforcing bars, high strength concrete, shear behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 285
8622 Italian Colonial Strategy in Libya and the Conflict of Super Powers

Authors: Mohamed Basheer Abdul Atti Hassan

Abstract:

This research paper will follow the main outlines of the Italian colonization in Libya in a historical geopolitical approach; before we reach the contemporary map. In this study, we are also concerned with following the chain's links, not as drama in time, but as a strategy in place, so that it draws to us a map of power and the distribution of political formations throughout this period within and around Libya. From the sum of these variable distributions and successive balances, we can come up with the basic principles that determined the Italian history in Libya and formed its political entity, which is a compass of guidance and an indication of the future.

Keywords: conflict, Mediterranean, colonization, political history

Procedia PDF Downloads 146
8621 Limit State of Heterogeneous Smart Structures under Unknown Cyclic Loading

Authors: M. Chen, S-Q. Zhang, X. Wang, D. Tate

Abstract:

This paper presents a numerical solution, namely limit and shakedown analysis, to predict the safety state of smart structures made of heterogeneous materials under unknown cyclic loadings, for instance, the flexure hinge in the micro-positioning stage driven by piezoelectric actuator. In combination of homogenization theory and finite-element method (FEM), the safety evaluation problem is converted to a large-scale nonlinear optimization programming for an acceptable bounded loading as the design reference. Furthermore, a general numerical scheme integrated with the FEM and interior-point-algorithm based optimization tool is developed, which makes the practical application possible.

Keywords: limit state, shakedown analysis, homogenization, heterogeneous structure

Procedia PDF Downloads 320
8620 Unsupervised Learning and Similarity Comparison of Water Mass Characteristics with Gaussian Mixture Model for Visualizing Ocean Data

Authors: Jian-Heng Wu, Bor-Shen Lin

Abstract:

The temperature-salinity relationship is one of the most important characteristics used for identifying water masses in marine research. Temperature-salinity characteristics, however, may change dynamically with respect to the geographic location and is quite sensitive to the depth at the same location. When depth is taken into consideration, however, it is not easy to compare the characteristics of different water masses efficiently for a wide range of areas of the ocean. In this paper, the Gaussian mixture model was proposed to analyze the temperature-salinity-depth characteristics of water masses, based on which comparison between water masses may be conducted. Gaussian mixture model could model the distribution of a random vector and is formulated as the weighting sum for a set of multivariate normal distributions. The temperature-salinity-depth data for different locations are first used to train a set of Gaussian mixture models individually. The distance between two Gaussian mixture models can then be defined as the weighting sum of pairwise Bhattacharyya distances among the Gaussian distributions. Consequently, the distance between two water masses may be measured fast, which allows the automatic and efficient comparison of the water masses for a wide range area. The proposed approach not only can approximate the distribution of temperature, salinity, and depth directly without the prior knowledge for assuming the regression family, but may restrict the complexity by controlling the number of mixtures when the amounts of samples are unevenly distributed. In addition, it is critical for knowledge discovery in marine research to represent, manage and share the temperature-salinity-depth characteristics flexibly and responsively. The proposed approach has been applied to a real-time visualization system of ocean data, which may facilitate the comparison of water masses by aggregating the data without degrading the discriminating capabilities. This system provides an interface for querying geographic locations with similar temperature-salinity-depth characteristics interactively and for tracking specific patterns of water masses, such as the Kuroshio near Taiwan or those in the South China Sea.

Keywords: water mass, Gaussian mixture model, data visualization, system framework

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8619 Development and Evaluation of Simvastatin Based Self Nanoemulsifying Drug Delivery System (SNEDDS) for Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease

Authors: Hardeep

Abstract:

The aim of this research work to improve the solubility and bioavailability of Simvastatin using a self nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS). Self emulsifying property of various oils including essential oils was evaluated with suitable surfactants and co-surfactants. Validation of a method for accuracy, repeatability, Interday and intraday precision, ruggedness, and robustness were within acceptable limits. The liquid SNEDDS was prepared and optimized using a ternary phase diagram, thermodynamic, centrifugation and cloud point studies. The globule size of optimized formulations was less than 200 nm which could be an acceptable nanoemulsion size range. The mean droplet size, drug loading, PDI and zeta potential were found to be 141.0 nm, 92.22%, 0.23 and -10.13 mV and 153.5nm, 93.89 % ,0.41 and -11.7 mV and 164.26 nm, 95.26% , 0.41 and -10.66mV respectively.

Keywords: simvastatin, self nanoemulsifying drug delivery system, solubility, bioavailability

Procedia PDF Downloads 183
8618 Field Management Solutions Supporting Foreman Executive Tasks

Authors: Maroua Sbiti, Karim Beddiar, Djaoued Beladjine, Romuald Perrault

Abstract:

Productivity is decreasing in construction compared to the manufacturing industry. It seems that the sector is suffering from organizational problems and have low maturity regarding technological advances. High international competition due to the growing context of globalization, complex projects, and shorter deadlines increases these challenges. Field employees are more exposed to coordination problems than design officers. Execution collaboration is then a major issue that can threaten the cost, time, and quality completion of a project. Initially, this paper will try to identify field professional requirements as to address building management process weaknesses such as the unreliability of scheduling, the fickleness of monitoring and inspection processes, the inaccuracy of project’s indicators, inconsistency of building documents and the random logistic management. Subsequently, we will focus our attention on providing solutions to improve scheduling, inspection, and hours tracking processes using emerging lean tools and field mobility applications that bring new perspectives in terms of cooperation. They have shown a great ability to connect various field teams and make informations visual and accessible to planify accurately and eliminate at the source the potential defects. In addition to software as a service use, the adoption of the human resource module of the Enterprise Resource Planning system can allow a meticulous time accounting and thus make the faster decision making. The next step is to integrate external data sources received from or destined to design engineers, logisticians, and suppliers in a holistic system. Creating a monolithic system that consolidates planning, quality, procurement, and resources management modules should be our ultimate target to build the construction industry supply chain.

Keywords: lean, last planner system, field mobility applications, construction productivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 101
8617 Open Channel Flow Measurement of Water by Using Width Contraction

Authors: Arun Goel, D. V. S. Verma, Sanjeev Sangwan

Abstract:

The present study was aimed to develop a discharge measuring device for irrigation and laboratory channels. Experiments were conducted on a sharp edged constricted flow meters having four types of width constrictions namely 2:1, 1.5:1, 1:1, and 90o in the direction of flow. These devices were made of MS sheets and installed separately in a rectangular flume. All these four devices were tested under free and submerged flow conditions. Eight different discharges varying from 2 lit/sec to 30 lit/sec were passed through each device. In total around 500 observations of upstream and downstream depths were taken in the present work. For each discharge, free submerged and critical submergence under different flow conditions were noted and plotted. Once the upstream and downstream depths of flow over any of the device are known, the discharge can be easily calculated with the help of the curves developed for free and submerged flow conditions. The device having contraction 2:1 is the most efficient one as it allows maximum critical submergence.

Keywords: flowrate, flowmeter, open channels, submergence

Procedia PDF Downloads 419