Search results for: energy demand model

Authors: Mahsa Mahtab, Morteza Habibi

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The effect of different anode tip geometries on the intensity of soft and hard x-ray emitted from a 4 kJ plasma focus device is investigated. For this purpose, 5 different anode tips are used. The shapes of the uppermost region of these anodes have been cylindrical-flat, cylindrical-hollow, spherical-convex, cone-flat and cone-hollow. Analyzed data have shown that cone-flat, spherical-convex and cone-hollow anodes significantly increase X-ray intensity respectively in comparison with cylindrical-flat anode; while the cylindrical-hollow tip decreases. Anode radius reduction at its end in conic or spherical anodes enhance SXR by increasing plasma density through collecting a greater mass of gas and more gradual transition phase to form a more stable dense plasma pinch. Also, HXR is enhanced by increasing the energy of electrons colliding with the anode surface through raise of induced electrical field. Finally, the cone-flat anode is introduced to use in cases in which the plasma focus device is used as an X-ray source due to its highest yield of X-ray emissions.

Keywords: plasma focus, anode tip, HXR, SXR, pinched plasma

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Authors: Breanna Macumber, Victor A. Huayamave, Emir A. Vela, Wangdo Kim, Tamara T. Chamber, Esteban Centeno

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Spina bifida is a type of neural tube defect that affects the nervous system and can lead to problems such as total leg paralysis. Treatment requires physical therapy and rehabilitation. Robotic exoskeletons have been used for rehabilitation to train muscle movement and assist in injury recovery; however, current models focus on the adult populations and not on the infant population. The proposed framework aims to couple a musculoskeletal infant model with a robotic exoskeleton using vacuum-powered artificial muscles to provide rehabilitation to infants affected by spina bifida. The study that drove the input values for the robotic exoskeleton used motion capture technology to collect data from the spontaneous kicking movement of a 2.4-month-old infant lying supine. OpenSim was used to develop the musculoskeletal model, and Inverse kinematics was used to estimate hip joint angles. A total of 4 kicks (A, B, C, D) were selected, and the selection was based on range, transient response, and stable response. Kicks had at least 5° of range of motion with a smooth transient response and a stable period. The robotic exoskeleton used a Vacuum-Powered Artificial Muscle (VPAM) the structure comprised of cells that were clipped in a collapsed state and unclipped when desired to simulate infant’s age. The artificial muscle works with vacuum pressure. When air is removed, the muscle contracts and when air is added, the muscle relaxes. Bench testing was performed using a 6-month-old infant mannequin. The previously developed exoskeleton worked really well with controlled ranges of motion and frequencies, which are typical of rehabilitation protocols for infants suffering with spina bifida. However, the random kicking motion in this study contained high frequency kicks and was not able to accurately replicate all the investigated kicks. Kick 'A' had a greater error when compared to the other kicks. This study has the potential to advance the infant rehabilitation field.

Keywords: musculoskeletal modeling, soft robotics, rehabilitation, pediatrics

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Authors: Frank Adusah-Poku, John Bosco Dramani, Prince Boakye Frimpong

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Climate change is considered a principal threat to human existence and livelihood. The persistence and intensity of droughts and floods in recent years have adversely affected food production systems and value chains, making it impossible to end global hunger by 2030. Thus, this study aims to examine the effect of climate change on food consumption for both farm and non-farm households in Ghana. An important focus of the analysis is to investigate how climate change affects alternative dimensions of food security, examine the extent to which these effects vary across heterogeneous groups, and explore the channels through which climate change affects food consumption. Finally, we conducted a pilot study to understand the significance of farm and non-farm diversification measures in reducing the harmful impact of climate change on farm households. The approach of this article is to use two secondary and one primary datasets. The first secondary dataset is the Ghana Socioeconomic Panel Survey (GSPS). The GSPS is a household panel dataset collected during the period 2009 to 2019. The second dataset is monthly district rainfall and temperature gridded data from the Ghana Meteorological Agency. This data was matched to the GSPS dataset at the district level. Finally, the primary data was obtained from a survey of farm and non-farm adaptation practices used by farmers in three regions in Northern Ghana. The study employed the household fixed effects model to estimate the effect of climate change (measured by temperature and rainfall) on food consumption in Ghana. Again, it used the spatial and temporal variation in temperature and rainfall across the districts in Ghana to estimate the household-level model. Evidence of potential mechanisms through which climate change affects food consumption was explored using two steps. First, the potential mechanism variables were regressed on temperature, rainfall, and the control variables. In the second and final step, the potential mechanism variables were included as extra covariates in the first model. The results revealed that extreme average temperature and drought had caused a decrease in food consumption as well as reduced the intake of important food nutrients such as carbohydrates, protein and vitamins. The results further indicated that low rainfall increased food insecurity among households with no education compared with those with primary and secondary education. Again, non-farm activity and silos have been revealed as the transmission pathways through which the effect of climate change on farm households can be moderated. Finally, the results indicated over 90% of the small-holder farmers interviewed had no farm diversification adaptation strategies for climate change, and a little over 50% of the farmers owned unskilled or manual non-farm economic ventures. This makes it very difficult for the majority of the farmers to withstand climate-related shocks. These findings suggest that achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030 needs an integrated approach, such as reducing the over-reliance on rainfed agriculture, educating farmers, and implementing non-farm interventions to improve food consumption in Ghana.

Keywords: climate change, food consumption, Ghana, non-farm activity

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Authors: B. Godefroy, D. Beladjine, K. Beddiar

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In France, construction BIM actors commonly evoke the BIM gains for exploitation by integrating of the life cycle of a building. The standardization of level 7 of development would achieve this stage of the digital model. The householders include local public authorities, social landlords, public institutions (health and education), enterprises, facilities management companies. They have a dual role: owner and manager of their housing complex. In a context of financial constraint, the BIM of exploitation aims to control costs, make long-term investment choices, renew the portfolio and enable environmental standards to be met. It assumes a knowledge of the existing buildings, marked by its size and complexity. The information sought must be synthetic and structured, it concerns, in general, a real estate complex. We conducted a study with professionals about their concerns and ways to use it to see how householders could benefit from this development. To obtain results, we had in mind the recurring interrogation of the project management, on the needs of the operators, we tested the following stages: 1) Inculcate a minimal culture of BIM with multidisciplinary teams of the operator then by business, 2) Learn by BIM tools, the adaptation of their trade in operations, 3) Understand the place and creation of a graphic and technical database management system, determine the components of its library so their needs, 4) Identify the cross-functional interventions of its managers by business (operations, technical, information system, purchasing and legal aspects), 5) Set an internal protocol and define the BIM impact in their digital strategy. In addition, continuity of management by the integration of construction models in the operation phase raises the question of interoperability in the control of the production of IFC files in the operator’s proprietary format and the export and import processes, a solution rivaled by the traditional method of vectorization of paper plans. Companies that digitize housing complex and those in FM produce a file IFC, directly, according to their needs without recourse to the model of construction, they produce models business for the exploitation. They standardize components, equipment that are useful for coding. We observed the consequences resulting from the use of the BIM in the property industry and, made the following observations: a) The value of data prevail over the graphics, 3D is little used b) The owner must, through his organization, promote the feedback of technical management information during the design phase c) The operator's reflection on outsourcing concerns the acquisition of its information system and these services, observing the risks and costs related to their internal or external developments. This study allows us to highlight: i) The need for an internal organization of operators prior to a response to the construction management ii) The evolution towards automated methods for creating models dedicated to the exploitation, a specialization would be required iii) A review of the communication of the project management, management continuity not articulating around his building model, it must take into account the environment of the operator and reflect on its scope of action.

Keywords: information system, interoperability, models for exploitation, property industry

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Authors: Alexander Nitsche, Piotr-Robert Lazik, Harald Garrecht

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The viscosity of the concrete has a great influence on the properties of the fresh concrete. Fresh concretes with low viscosity have a good flowability, whereas high viscosity has a lower flowability. Clearly, viscosity is directly linked to other parameters such as consistency, compaction, and workability of the concrete. The above parameters also depend very much on the energy induced during the mixing process and, of course, on the installation of the mixer itself. The University of Stuttgart has decided to investigate the influence of different mixing systems on the viscosity of various types of concrete, such as road concrete, self-compacting concrete, and lightweight concrete, using a rheometer and other testing methods. Each type is tested with three different mixers, and the rheological properties, namely consistency, and viscosity are determined. The aim of the study is to show that different types of concrete mixed with different types of mixers reach completely different yield points. Therefore, a 3 step procedure will be introduced. At first, various types of concrete mixtures and their differences are introduced. Then, the chosen suspension mixer and conventional mixers, which are going to be used in this paper, will be discussed. Lastly, the influence of the mixing system on the rheological properties of each of the select mix designs, as well as on fresh concrete, in general, will be presented.

Keywords: rheological properties, flowability, suspension mixer, viscosity

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Authors: Seulki Lee, Seoung Bum Kim

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Statistical process control (SPC) is a practical and effective method for quality control. The most important and widely used technique in SPC is a control chart. The main goal of a control chart is to detect any assignable changes that affect the quality output. Most conventional control charts, such as Hotelling’s T2 charts, are commonly based on the assumption that the quality characteristics follow a multivariate normal distribution. However, in modern complicated manufacturing systems, appropriate control chart techniques that can efficiently handle the nonnormal processes are required. To overcome the shortcomings of conventional control charts for nonnormal processes, several methods have been proposed to combine statistical learning algorithms and multivariate control charts. Statistical learning-based control charts, such as support vector data description (SVDD)-based charts, k-nearest neighbors-based charts, have proven their improved performance in nonnormal situations compared to that of the T2 chart. Beside the nonnormal property, time-varying operations are also quite common in real manufacturing fields because of various factors such as product and set-point changes, seasonal variations, catalyst degradation, and sensor drifting. However, traditional control charts cannot accommodate future condition changes of the process because they are formulated based on the data information recorded in the early stage of the process. In the present paper, we propose a SVDD algorithm-based control chart, which is capable of adaptively monitoring time-varying and nonnormal processes. We reformulated the SVDD algorithm into a time-adaptive SVDD algorithm by adding a weighting factor that reflects time-varying situations. Moreover, we defined the updating region for the efficient model-updating structure of the control chart. The proposed control chart simultaneously allows efficient model updates and timely detection of out-of-control signals. The effectiveness and applicability of the proposed chart were demonstrated through experiments with the simulated data and the real data from the metal frame process in mobile device manufacturing.

Keywords: multivariate control chart, nonparametric method, support vector data description, time-varying process

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Authors: Louk Aourelien Andrianos, Edward Dommen, Athena Peralta

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Greed, as epitomized by overconsumption of natural resources, is at the root of ecological destruction and unsustainability of modern societies. Presently economies rely on unrestricted structural greed which fuels unlimited economic growth, overconsumption, and individualistic competitive behavior. Structural greed undermines the life support system on earth and threatens ecological integrity, social justice and peace. The World Council of Churches (WCC) has developed a program on ecological and economic justice (EEJ) with the aim to promote an economy of life where the economy is embedded in society and society in ecology. This paper aims at analyzing and assessing the economy of life (EcoLife) by offering an empirical tool to measure and monitor the root causes and effects of unsustainability resulting from human greed on global, national, institutional and individual levels. This holistic approach is based on the integrity of ecology and economy in a society founded on justice. The paper will discuss critical questions such as ‘what is an economy of life’ and ‘how to measure and control it from the effect of greed’. A model called GLIMS, which stands for Greed Lines and Indices Measurement System is used to clarify the concept of greed and help measuring the economy of life index by fuzzy logic reasoning. The inputs of the model are from statistical indicators of natural resources consumption, financial realities, economic performance, social welfare and ethical and political facts. The outputs are concrete measures of three primary indices of ecological, economic and socio-political greed (ECOL-GI, ECON-GI, SOCI-GI) and one overall multidimensional economy of life index (EcoLife-I). EcoLife measurement aims to build awareness of an economy life and to address the effects of greed in systemic and structural aspects. It is a tool for ethical diagnosis and policy making.

Keywords: greed line, sustainability indicators, fuzzy logic, eco-justice, World Council of Churches (WCC)

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Authors: Nauman A. Siddiqui

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High performance requirement of aircrafts and marines industry demands to cater major industrial problems like wetting, high-speed efficiency, and corrosion resistance. These problems can be resolved by producing the hydrophobic surfaces on the metal substrate. By anodization process, the surface of AA 7075 has been modified and achieved a rough surface with a porous aluminum oxide (Al2O3) structure at nano-level. This surface modification process reduces the surface contact energy and increases the liquid contact angle which ultimately enhances the anti-icing properties. Later the Silane and Polyurethane (PU) coatings on the anodized surface have produced a contact angle of 130°. The results showed a good water repellency and self-cleaning properties. Using SEM analysis, micrographs revealed the round nano-porous oxide structure on the substrate. Therefore this technique can help in increasing the speed efficiency by reducing the friction with the outer interaction and can also be declared as a green technique since it is user-friendly.

Keywords: AA 7075, hydrophobicity, silanes, polyurethane, anodization

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Authors: Ankit Kumar Yadav, Nagendra R. Velaga

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Driving under the influence of alcohol impairs the driving performance and increases the crash risks worldwide. The present study investigated the effect of different Blood Alcohol Concentrations (BAC) on the accelerating and braking behaviour of drivers with the help of driving simulator experiments. Eighty-two licensed Indian drivers drove on the rural road environment designed in the driving simulator at BAC levels of 0.00%, 0.03%, 0.05%, and 0.08% respectively. Driving performance was analysed with the help of vehicle control performance indicators such as mean acceleration and mean brake pedal force of the participants. Preliminary analysis reported an increase in mean acceleration and mean brake pedal force with increasing BAC levels. Generalized linear mixed models were developed to quantify the effect of different alcohol levels and explanatory variables such as driver’s age, gender and other driver characteristic variables on the driving performance indicators. Alcohol use was reported as a significant factor affecting the accelerating and braking performance of the drivers. The acceleration model results indicated that mean acceleration of the drivers increased by 0.013 m/s², 0.026 m/s² and 0.027 m/s² for the BAC levels of 0.03%, 0.05% and 0.08% respectively. Results of the brake pedal force model reported that mean brake pedal force of the drivers increased by 1.09 N, 1.32 N and 1.44 N for the BAC levels of 0.03%, 0.05% and 0.08% respectively. Age was a significant factor in both the models where one year increase in drivers’ age resulted in 0.2% reduction in mean acceleration and 19% reduction in mean brake pedal force of the drivers. It shows that driving experience could compensate for the negative effects of alcohol to some extent while driving. Female drivers were found to accelerate slower and brake harder as compared to the male drivers which confirmed that female drivers are more conscious about their safety while driving. It was observed that drivers who were regular exercisers had better control on their accelerator pedal as compared to the non-regular exercisers during drunken driving. The findings of the present study revealed that drivers tend to be more aggressive and impulsive under the influence of alcohol which deteriorates their driving performance. Drunk driving state can be differentiated from sober driving state by observing the accelerating and braking behaviour of the drivers. The conclusions may provide reference in making countermeasures against drinking and driving and contribute to traffic safety.

Keywords: alcohol, acceleration, braking behaviour, driving simulator

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Authors: Ahmad Taghinia, Negar Gholamishaker

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GaAs (gallium arsenide) solar cells have gained significant attention for their use in space applications. These solar cells have the potential for efficient energy conversion and are being explored as potential power sources for electronic devices, satellites, and telecommunication equipment. In this study, the aim is to investigate the effect of adding a window layer and a back surface field (BSF) layer made of InₓGa₍₁₋ₓ₎P material to a GaAs single junction solar cell. In this paper, we first obtain the important electrical parameters of a single-junction GaAs solar cell by utilizing a two-dimensional simulator software for virtual investigation of the solar cell; then, we analyze the impact of adding a window layer and a back surface field layer made of InₓGa₍₁₋ₓ₎P on the solar cell. The results show that the incorporation of these layers led to enhancements in Jsc, Voc, FF, and the overall efficiency of the solar cell.

Keywords: back surface field layer, solar cell, GaAs, InₓGa₍₁₋ₓ₎P, window layer

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Authors: Luo Jiaoyang, Yu Hongyang

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In this paper, we explore a method that can be used in the working scene of intelligent industrial robots to confirm the identity information of operators to ensure that the robot executes instructions in a sufficiently safe environment. This approach uses three information modalities, namely visible light, depth, and sound. We explored a variety of fusion modes for the three modalities and finally used the joint feature learning method to improve the performance of the model in the case of noise compared with the single-modal case, making the maximum noise in the experiment. It can also maintain an accuracy rate of more than 90%.

Keywords: multimodal, kinect, machine learning, distance image

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Authors: M. Chaichanyut, S. Tungjitkusolmun

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This paper is concerned with microwave (MW) ablation for a liver cancer tissue by using helix antenna. The antenna structure supports the propagation of microwave energy at 2.45 GHz. A 1½ turn spiral catheter-based microwave antenna applicator has been developed. We utilize the three-dimensional finite element method (3D FEM) simulation to analyze where the tissue heat flux, lesion pattern and volume destruction during MW ablation. The configurations of helix antenna where Helix air-core antenna and Helix Dielectric-core antenna. The 3D FEMs solutions were based on Maxwell and bio-heat equations. The simulation protocol was power control (10 W, 300s). Our simulation result, both helix antennas have heat flux occurred around the helix antenna and that can be induced the temperature distribution similar (teardrop). The region where the temperature exceeds 50°C the microwave ablation was successful (i.e. complete destruction). The Helix air-core antenna and Helix Dielectric-core antenna, ablation zone or axial ratios (Widest/length) were respectively 0.82 and 0.85; the complete destructions were respectively 4.18 cm³ and 5.64 cm³.

Keywords: liver cancer, Helix antenna, finite element, microwave ablation

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Authors: Mohammadreza Akbari, Pooya Soleimani Besheli, Reza Khalili, Sara Akbari

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In this study, we investigate building structures nonlinear behavior also solving analytic of nonlinear differential at vibrations. As we know most of engineering systems behavior in practical are non- linear process (especial at structural) and analytical solving (no numerical) these problems are complex, difficult and sometimes impossible (of course at form of analytical solving). In this symposium, we are going to exposure one method in engineering, that can solve sets of nonlinear differential equations with high accuracy and simple solution and so this issue will emerge after comparing the achieved solutions by Numerical Method (Runge-Kutte 4th) and exact solutions. Finally, we can proof AGM method could be created huge evolution for researcher and student (engineering and basic science) in whole over the world, because of AGM coding system, so by using this software, we can analytical solve all complicated linear and nonlinear differential equations, with help of that there is no difficulty for solving nonlinear differential equations.

Keywords: new method AGM, vibrations, beam-column, angular frequency, energy dissipated, critical load

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Authors: Jae-Yong Park, Yeo-Kyeong Lee, Hee-Sun Kim

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Purpose: This study aims at investigating the mechanical behaviors of mastication, according to various teeth movement. There are three masticatory cases which are general case and 2 cases of teeth movement. General case includes the common arrange of all teeth and 2 cases of teeth movement are that one is the half movement location case of molar teeth in no. 14 tooth seat after extraction of no. 14 tooth and the other is no. 14 tooth seat location case of molar teeth after extraction in the same case before. Materials and Methods: In order to analyze these cases, 3 dimensional finite element (FE) model of the skull were generated based on computed tomography images, 964 dicom files of 38 year old male having normal occlusion status. An FE model in general occlusal case was used to develop CAE procedure. This procedure was applied to FE models in other occlusal cases. The displacement controls according to loading condition were applied effectively to simulate occlusal behaviors in all cases. From the FE analyses, von Mises stress distribution of skull and teeth was observed. The von Mises stress, effective stress, had been widely used to determine the absolute stress value, regardless of stress direction and yield characteristics of materials. Results: High stress was distributed over the periodontal area of mandible under molar teeth when the mandible was transmitted to the coronal-apical direction in the general occlusal case. According to the stress propagation from teeth to cranium, stress distribution decreased as the distribution propagated from molar teeth to infratemporal crest of the greater wing of the sphenoid bone and lateral pterygoid plate in general case. In 2 cases of teeth movement, there were observed that high stresses were distributed over the periodontal area of mandible under teeth where they are located under the moved molar teeth in cranium. Conclusion: The predictions of the mechanical behaviors of general case and 2 cases of teeth movement during the masticatory process were investigated including qualitative validation. The displacement controls as the loading condition were applied effectively to simulate occlusal behaviors in 2 cases of teeth movement of molar teeth.

Keywords: cranium, finite element analysis, mandible, masticatory action, occlusal force

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Authors: Hamid Reza Shariatmadari

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The Muslims who believe in twelve Imams and believe that their twelfth Imam is now hidden, because of their kind of consideration of immune Imam as their unique canonical authority for interpretation of Islam, are subject of these important questions; how can you be democratic? And can you speak of democracy as the best model of governing? Answering this question, we can talk firstly about the nature of democracy and realize it as a way and mechanism not as a philosophy of identity and secondly we can refer to the nature and functions of Imam in Shiism and thirdly we will focus on the age of Ghaybah (Or concealment of Imam). In such a time we can or have to combine domination of Islamic Faqis (Islamic Jurists) and democracy which is known in Shiite Iran for instance as religious democracy.

Keywords: Shiism, concealment of Imam, Islamic Jurists, Democracy

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Authors: Jazlah Majeed Sulaiman, Lakshmi P.

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Concrete slabs are considered to be very ductile structural members. Openings in reinforced slabs are necessary so as to install the mechanical, electrical and pumping (MEP) conduits and ducts. However, these openings reduce the load-carrying capacity, stiffness, energy, and ductility of the slabs. To resolve the undesirable effects of openings in the slab behavior, it is significant to achieve the desired strength against the loads acting on it. The use of Basalt Fiber Reinforcement Polymers (BFRP) as reinforcement has become a valid sustainable option as they produce less greenhouse gases, resist corrosion and have higher tensile strength. In this paper, five slab models are analyzed using non-linear static analysis in ANSYS Workbench to study the effect of openings on slabs reinforced with basalt bars. A parametric numerical study on the loading condition and the shape and size of the opening is conducted, and their load and displacement values are compared. One of the models is validated experimentally.

Keywords: concrete slabs, openings, BFRP, sustainable, corrosion resistant, non-linear static analysis, ANSYS

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Authors: Hanna Schübel, Ivo Wallimann-Helmer

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In order to reach the goal of the Paris Agreement to not overshoot 1.5°C of warming above pre-industrial levels, various countries including the UK and Switzerland have committed themselves to net zero emissions by 2050. The employment of negative emission technologies (NETs) is very likely going to be necessary for meeting these national objectives as well as other internationally agreed climate targets. NETs are methods of removing carbon from the atmosphere and are thus a means for addressing climate change. They range from afforestation to technological measures such as direct air capture and carbon storage (DACCS), where CO2 is captured from the air and stored underground. As all so-called geoengineering technologies, the development and deployment of NETs are often subject to moral hazard arguments. As these technologies could be perceived as an alternative to mitigation efforts, so the argument goes, they are potentially a dangerous distraction from the main target of mitigating emissions. We think that this is a dangerous argument to make as it may hinder the development of NETs which are an essential element of net zero emission targets. In this paper we argue that the moral hazard argument is only problematic if we do not reflect upon which levels of emissions are at stake in order to meet net zero emissions. In response to the moral hazard argument we develop an account of which levels of emissions in given societies should be mitigated and not be the target of NETs and which levels of emissions can legitimately be a target of NETs. For this purpose, we define four different levels of emissions: the current level of individual emissions, the level individuals emit in order to appear in public without shame, the level of a fair share of individual emissions in the global budget, and finally the baseline of net zero emissions. At each level of emissions there are different subjects to be assigned responsibilities if societies and/or individuals are committed to the target of net zero emissions. We argue that all emissions within one’s fair share do not demand individual mitigation efforts. The same holds with regard to individuals and the baseline level of emissions necessary to appear in public in their societies without shame. Individuals are only under duty to reduce their emissions if they exceed this baseline level. This is different for whole societies. Societies demanding more emissions to appear in public without shame than the individual fair share are under duty to foster emission reductions and are not legitimate to reduce by introducing NETs. NETs are legitimate for reducing emissions only below the level of fair shares and for reaching net zero emissions. Since access to NETs to achieve net zero emissions demands technology not affordable to individuals there are also no full individual responsibilities to achieve net zero emissions. This is mainly a responsibility of societies as a whole.

Keywords: climate change, mitigation, moral hazard, negative emission technologies, responsibility

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Authors: Bakr Gomaa

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Cross ventilation is an important and practical mean to achieve thermal comfort and conserve energy. This is especially true in the breezy waterfront settings. However, due to a number of factors, cross ventilation in buildings is usually studied by using oversimplified scenarios. It is then reasonable to study the impact of complex set of factors on the accuracy of predicting air flow rate because of wind driven cross ventilation. The objective of this paper is to provide architects with the tools necessary to achieve natural ventilation for cooling purposes in a waterfront urban canyon context. Also, urban canyons have not received much attention in terms of their impact on cross ventilation, and while we know how the wind flows between buildings in different urban canyon settings, the effect of the parallel-to-the-wind urban canyon on cross ventilation in buildings remains unclear. For this, we use detailed weather data, boundary layer correction factor, and CFD simulations to study the pressure patterns that form on the canyons surfaces in the case study of Alexandria. We found that the simplified numerical methods of calculating the cross ventilation in buildings can lead to inaccurate design decisions.

Keywords: cross ventilation, Alexandria, CFD, urban canyon

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Authors: M. Khalid Alamgir, Javed Ahsan Bhatti, M. Zafarullah Khan

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Thin film of amorphous carbon (DLC) was deposited on 316 steel using Nd: YAG laser having energy 300mJ. Pure graphite was used as a target. The vacuum in the deposition chamber was generated in the range of 10-6 mbar by turbo molecular pump. Ratio of sp3 to sp2 content shows amorphous nature of the film. This was confirmed by Raman spectra having two peaks around 1300 cm-1 i.e. D-band to 1700 cm-1 i.e. G-band. If sp3 bonding ratio is high, the films behave like diamond-like whereas, with high sp2, films are graphite-like. The ratio of sp3 and sp2 contents in the film depends upon the deposition method, hydrogen contents and system parameters. The structural study of the film was carried out by XRD. The hardness of the films as measured by Vickers hardness tester and was found to be 28 GPa. The EDX result shows the presence of carbon contents on the surface in high rate and optical microscopy result shows the smoothness of the film on substrate. The film possesses good adhesion and can be used to coat surgical instruments.

Keywords: DLC, thin film, Raman spectroscopy, XRD, EDX

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Authors: Alaa Morsy, Youssef Ibrahim

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Earthquake is one of the most catastrophic events, which makes enormous harm to properties and human lives. As a piece of a safe building configuration, reinforced concrete walls are given in structures to decrease horizontal displacements under seismic load. Shear walls are additionally used to oppose the horizontal loads that might be incited by the impact of wind. Reinforced concrete walls in residential buildings might have openings that are required for windows in outside walls or for doors in inside walls or different states of openings due to architectural purposes. The size, position, and area of openings may fluctuate from an engineering perspective. Shear walls can encounter harm around corners of entryways and windows because of advancement of stress concentration under the impact of vertical or horizontal loads. The openings cause a diminishing in shear wall capacity. It might have an unfavorable impact on the stiffness of reinforced concrete wall and on the seismic reaction of structures. Finite Element Method using software package ‘ANSYS ver. 12’ becomes an essential approach in analyzing civil engineering problems numerically. Now we can make various models with different parameters in short time by using ANSYS instead of doing it experimentally, which consumes a lot of time and money. Finite element modeling approach has been conducted to study the effect of opening shape, size and position in RC wall with different thicknesses under axial and lateral static loads. The proposed finite element approach has been verified with experimental programme conducted by the researchers and validated by their variables. A very good correlation has been observed between the model and experimental results including load capacity, failure mode, and lateral displacement. A parametric study is applied to investigate the effect of opening size, shape, position on different reinforced concrete wall thicknesses. The results may be useful for improving existing design models and to be applied in practice, as it satisfies both the architectural and the structural requirements.

Keywords: Ansys, concrete walls, openings, out of plane behavior, seismic, shear wall

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Authors: A. Douara, N. Kermas, B. Djellouli

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In this study, we report calculations of gate capacitance of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with nextnano device simulation software. We have used a physical gate capacitance model for III-V FETs that incorporates quantum capacitance and centroid capacitance in the channel. These simulations explore various device structures with different values of barrier thickness and channel thickness. A detailed understanding of the impact of gate capacitance in HEMTs will allow us to determine their role in future 10 nm physical gate length node.

Keywords: gate capacitance, AlGaN/GaN, HEMTs, quantum capacitance, centroid capacitance

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Authors: Tridipa Biswas, Kamal Pandey

Abstract:

A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is a simple representation of a surface in 3 dimensional space with elevation as the third dimension along with X (horizontal coordinates) and Y (vertical coordinates) in rectangular coordinates. DEM has wide applications in various fields like disaster management, hydrology and watershed management, geomorphology, urban development, map creation and resource management etc. Cartosat-1 or IRS P5 (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite) is a state-of-the-art remote sensing satellite built by ISRO (May 5, 2005) which is mainly intended for cartographic applications.Cartosat-1 is equipped with two panchromatic cameras capable of simultaneous acquiring images of 2.5 meters spatial resolution. One camera is looking at +26 degrees forward while another looks at –5 degrees backward to acquire stereoscopic imagery with base to height ratio of 0.62. The time difference between acquiring of the stereopair images is approximately 52 seconds. The high resolution stereo data have great potential to produce high-quality DEM. The high-resolution Cartosat-1 stereo image data is expected to have significant impact in topographic mapping and watershed applications. The objective of the present study is to generate high-resolution DEM, quality evaluation in different elevation strata, generation of ortho-rectified image and associated accuracy assessment from CARTOSAT-1 data based Ground Control Points (GCPs) for Aglar watershed (Tehri-Garhwal and Dehradun district, Uttarakhand, India). The present study reveals that generated DEMs (10m and 30m) derived from the CARTOSAT-1 stereo pair is much better and accurate when compared with existing DEMs (ASTER and CARTO DEM) also for different terrain parameters like slope, aspect, drainage, watershed boundaries etc., which are derived from the generated DEMs, have better accuracy and results when compared with the other two (ASTER and CARTO) DEMs derived terrain parameters.

Keywords: ASTER-DEM, CARTO-DEM, CARTOSAT-1, digital elevation model (DEM), ortho-rectified image, photogrammetry, RPC, stereo pair, terrain parameters

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Authors: S. Sadallah

Abstract:

In this paper, dynamic programming is used to determine the optimal management of financial resources in company. Solution of the problem by consider into simpler substructures is constructed. The optimal management of internal capital of company are simulated. The tools applied in this development are based on graph theory. The software of given problems is built by using greedy algorithm. The obtained model and program maintenance enable us to define the optimal version of management of proper financial flows by using visual diagram on each level of investment.

Keywords: management, software, optimal, greedy algorithm, graph-diagram

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Authors: Suzannah Sharif, Aznie Aida Ahmad, Maznah Ismail

Abstract:

Cocoa bean is the raw material for products such as cocoa powder and chocolate. Cocoa bean contains polyphenol which has been shown in several clinical studies to confer beneficial health effects. However studies showed that cocoa polyphenol absorption in the human intestinal tracts are very low. Therefore nanoemulsion may be one way to increase the bioavailability of cocoa polyphenol. This study aim to characterize nanoemulsion incorporating crude cocoa polyphenol produced using high energy technique. Cocoa polyphenol was extracted from fresh freeze-dried cocoa beans from Malaysia. The particle distribution, particle size, and zeta potential were determined. The emulsion was also analysed using transmission electron microscope to visualize the particles. Solubilization study was conducted by titrating the nanoemulsion into distilled water or 1% surfactant solution. Result showed that the nanoemulsion contains particle which have narrow size distribution. The particles size average at 112nm with zeta potential of -45mV. The nanoemulsions behave differently in distilled water and surfactant solution.

Keywords: cocoa, nanoemulsion, cocoa polyphenol, solubilisation study

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Authors: Cesar Augusto Hoil Rosas, José Luis Vázquez Burgos, José Juan Carbajal Hernandez

Abstract:

White fish (Chirostoma estor estor) is an endemic species that habits in the Patzcuaro Lake, located in Michoacan, Mexico; being an important source of gastronomic and cultural wealth of the area. Actually, it have undergone an immense depopulation of individuals, due to the high fishing, contamination and eutrophication of the lake water, resulting in the possible extinction of this important species. This work proposes a new computational model for monitoring and assessment of critical environmental parameters of the white fish ecosystem. According to an Analytical Hierarchy Process, a mathematical model is built assigning weights to each environmental parameter depending on their water quality importance on the ecosystem. Then, a development of an advanced system for the monitoring, analysis and control of water quality is built using the virtual environment of LabVIEW. As results, we have obtained a global score that indicates the condition level of the water quality in the Chirostoma estor ecosystem (excellent, good, regular and poor), allowing to provide an effective decision making about the environmental parameters that affect the proper culture of the white fish such as temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen. In situ evaluations show regular conditions for a success reproduction and growth rates of this species where the water quality tends to have regular levels. This system emerges as a suitable tool for the water management, where future laws for white fish fishery regulations will result in the reduction of the mortality rate in the early stages of development of the species, which represent the most critical phase. This can guarantees better population sizes than those currently obtained in the aquiculture crop. The main benefit will be seen as a contribution to maintain the cultural and gastronomic wealth of the area and for its inhabitants, since white fish is an important food and economical income of the region, but the species is endangered.

Keywords: Chirostoma estor estor, computational system, lab view, white fish

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Authors: Swathi Ganesan, Nalinda Somasiri, Rebecca Jeyavadhanam, Gayathri Karthick

Abstract:

The COVID-19 crisis presents a substantial and critical hazard to worldwide health. Since the occurrence of the disease in late January 2020 in the UK, the number of infected people confirmed to acquire the illness has increased tremendously across the country, and the number of individuals affected is undoubtedly considerably high. The purpose of this research is to figure out a predictive machine learning archetypal that could forecast COVID-19 cases within the UK. This study concentrates on the statistical data collected from 31st January 2020 to 31st March 2021 in the United Kingdom. Information on total COVID cases registered, new cases encountered on a daily basis, total death registered, and patients’ death per day due to Coronavirus is collected from World Health Organisation (WHO). Data preprocessing is carried out to identify any missing values, outliers, or anomalies in the dataset. The data is split into 8:2 ratio for training and testing purposes to forecast future new COVID cases. Support Vector Machines (SVM), Random Forests, and linear regression algorithms are chosen to study the model performance in the prediction of new COVID-19 cases. From the evaluation metrics such as r-squared value and mean squared error, the statistical performance of the model in predicting the new COVID cases is evaluated. Random Forest outperformed the other two Machine Learning algorithms with a training accuracy of 99.47% and testing accuracy of 98.26% when n=30. The mean square error obtained for Random Forest is 4.05e11, which is lesser compared to the other predictive models used for this study. From the experimental analysis Random Forest algorithm can perform more effectively and efficiently in predicting the new COVID cases, which could help the health sector to take relevant control measures for the spread of the virus.

Keywords: COVID-19, machine learning, supervised learning, unsupervised learning, linear regression, support vector machine, random forest

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Authors: Josue Javier Martinez Flores, Jaime Alvarez Quintana

Abstract:

A thermal rectifier consists of a device which can load a different heat flow which depends on the direction of that flow. That device is a thermal diode. It is well known that heat transfer in solids basically depends on the electrical, magnetic and crystalline nature of materials via electrons, magnons and phonons as thermal energy carriers respectively. In the present research, we have synthesized polycrystalline Ni-Cu alloys and identified the Curie temperatures; and we have observed that by way of secondary phase transitions, it is possible manipulate the heat conduction in solid state thermal diodes via transition temperature. In this sense, we have succeeded in developing solid state thermal diodes with a control gate through the Curie temperature via the activation and deactivation of magnons in Ni-Cu ferromagnetic alloys at room temperature. Results show thermal diodes with thermal rectification factors up to 1.5. Besides, the performance of the electrical rectifiers can be controlled by way of alloy Cu content; hence, lower Cu content alloys present enhanced thermal rectifications factors than higher ones.

Keywords: thermal rectification, Curie temperature, ferromagnetic alloys, magnons

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Authors: M. Yusuf Ansari, Asad Abbas

Abstract:

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is a very efficient and promising energy conversion device. Although Nafion® is considered as benchmark materials for membrane used in PEM fuel cell, it has limitations that restrict its uses. Alternative materials for the membrane is always a challenging field for researchers. Sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) is one of the promising material for membrane due to its chemical and mechanical stability and lower cost. In this work, SPEEK is synthesized, and property booster such as silica nanoparticles and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) are also added to analyse changes in properties such as water uptake, IEC, and conductivity. It has been found that adding PVA support high water uptake and proton conductivity but at large amount of PVA reduces the proton conductivity due to very high water uptake. Adding silica enhances water uptake and proton conductivity.

Keywords: PEM Membrane, sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) (SPEEK), silica fumes (SiO2), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)

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Authors: Salwa Mowafi, Mohamed Rehan, Hany Kafafy

Abstract:

In this study, three different systems including room temperature, conventional water bath heating and microwave irradiation technique will be employed in the fabrication of silver nanoparticle-wool fibers. The silver nanoparticles will be synthesized in-situ incorporated into wool fibers under redox active bio-template of wool protein which facilitates the reduction of Ag+ to nanoparticulate Ag0. Silver NPs incorporated wool fiber will be characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, FTIR, TGA, silver content and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The mechanism of binding Ag NPs in-situ incorporated wool fibers matrix will be discussed. The effect of silver nanoparticles on the coloration, antimicrobial, UV-protection and catalytic properties of the wool fibers will be evaluated. The overall results of this study indicate that the Ag NPs in-situ incorporated wool fibers will be applied as colorants for wool fibers with improving in its multi-functionality properties. So, this study provides a simple approach for innovative protein fibers design by applying the optical properties of Plasmonic noble metal nanoparticles.

Keywords: microwave irradiation technique, multi-functionality properties, silver nanoparticles, wool fibers

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Authors: Elida M. R. Bonifacio

Abstract:

English language proficiency has become an essential issue in aviation communication after aviation incidents, and accidents happened. Lack of proficiency or inappropriate use of the English language has been found as one of the factors that cause most of those incidents or accidents. Therefore, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) established the requirements for minimum English language proficiency of aviation personnel, especially pilots and air traffic controllers in the 192 member states. In Brazil, the discussions about this topic became patent after an accident that occurred in 2006, which was a mid-air collision and costed the life of 154 passengers and crew members. Thus, the number of schools and private practitioners willing to teach English for aviation purposes started to increase. Although the number of teaching materials internationally used for general purposes is relatively large, it would be inappropriate to adopt the same materials in classes that focus on communication in aviation contexts. On the contrary, the options of aviation English materials are scarce; moreover, they are internationally used and may not fulfill the linguistic needs of all their users around the world. In order to diminish the problems that Brazilian practitioners may encounter in the adoption of materials that demand a great level of adaptation to meet their students’ needs, a checklist was thought to evaluate textbooks. The aim of this paper is to propose a checklist that evaluates textbooks used in English language training of Brazilian air traffic controllers. The criteria used to compound the checklist are based on materials development literature, as well as on linguistic requirements established by ICAO on its publications, on English for Specific Purposes (ESP) principles, and on Brazilian aviation English language proficiency test format. The checklist has as main indicators the language learning tenets under which the book was written, graphical features, lexical, grammatical and functional competencies required for minimum proficiency, similarities to official testing format, and support materials, totaling 117 items marked as YES, NO or PARTIALLY. In order to verify if the use of the checklist is effective, an aviation English textbook was evaluated. From this evaluation, it is possible to measure quantitatively how much the material meets the students’ needs and to offer a tool to help professionals engaged in aviation English teaching around the world to choose the most appropriate textbook according to their audience. From the results, practitioners are able to verify which items the material does not fulfill and to make proper adaptations since the perfect material will be difficult to find.

Keywords: aviation English, ICAO, materials development, English language proficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 140