Search results for: three dimensional finite element modelling.

Authors: Wann-Ming Wey

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The link between urban planning and design principles and the built environment of an urban renewal area is of interest to the field of urban studies. During the past decade, there has also been increasing interest in urban planning and design; this interest is motivated by the possibility that design policies associated with the built environment can be used to control, manage, and shape individual activity and behavior. However, direct assessments and design techniques of the links between how urban planning design policies influence individuals are still rare in the field. Recent research efforts in urban design have focused on the idea that land use and design policies can be used to increase the quality of design projects for an urban renewal area-s built environment. The development of appropriate design techniques for the built environment is an essential element of this research. Quality function deployment (QFD) is a powerful tool for improving alternative urban design and quality for urban renewal areas, and for procuring a citizen-driven quality system. In this research, we propose an integrated framework based on QFD and an Analytic Network Process (ANP) approach to determine the Alternative Technical Requirements (ATRs) to be considered in designing an urban renewal planning and design alternative. We also identify the research designs and methodologies that can be used to evaluate the performance of urban built environment projects. An application in an urban renewal built environment planning and design project evaluation is presented to illustrate the proposed framework.

Keywords: Analytic Network Process, Built Environment, Quality Function Deployment, Urban Design, Urban Renewal.

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Authors: Zhongmin Wang, Wudong Fan, Hengshan Zhang, Yimin Zhou

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In data-driven prognostic methods, the prediction accuracy of the estimation for remaining useful life of bearings mainly depends on the performance of health indicators, which are usually fused some statistical features extracted from vibrating signals. However, the existing health indicators have the following two drawbacks: (1) The differnet ranges of the statistical features have the different contributions to construct the health indicators, the expert knowledge is required to extract the features. (2) When convolutional neural networks are utilized to tackle time-frequency features of signals, the time-series of signals are not considered. To overcome these drawbacks, in this study, the method combining convolutional neural network with gated recurrent unit is proposed to extract the time-frequency image features. The extracted features are utilized to construct health indicator and predict remaining useful life of bearings. First, original signals are converted into time-frequency images by using continuous wavelet transform so as to form the original feature sets. Second, with convolutional and pooling layers of convolutional neural networks, the most sensitive features of time-frequency images are selected from the original feature sets. Finally, these selected features are fed into the gated recurrent unit to construct the health indicator. The results state that the proposed method shows the enhance performance than the related studies which have used the same bearing dataset provided by PRONOSTIA.

Keywords: Continuous wavelet transform, convolution neural network, gated recurrent unit, health indicators, remaining useful life.

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Authors: Manoj Sarda, Abhishek Agarwal, Juhi Kaushik, Vatsal Sanjay, Arup Kumar Das

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Railways in India remain primary mode of transport having one of the largest networks in the world and catering to billions of transits yearly. Catastrophic economic damage and loss to life is encountered over the past few decades due to fire to locomotives. Study of fire dynamics and fire propagation plays an important role in evacuation planning and reducing losses. Simulation based study of propagation of fire and soot inside an air conditioned coach of Indian locomotive is done in this paper. Finite difference based solver, Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS) version 6 has been used for analysis. A single air conditioned 3 tier coupe closed to ambient surroundings by glass windows having occupancy for 8 people is the basic unit of the domain. A system of three such coupes combined is taken to be fundamental unit for the entire study to resemble effect to an entire coach. Analysis of flame and soot contours and concentrations is done corresponding to variations in heat release rate per unit volume (HRRPUA) of fire source, variations in conditioned air velocity being circulated inside coupes by vents and an alternate fire initiation and propagation mechanism via ducts. Quantitative results of fractional area in top and front view of the three coupes under fire and smoke are obtained using MATLAB (IMT). Present simulations and its findings will be useful for organizations like Commission of Railway Safety and others in designing and implementing safety and evacuation measures.

Keywords: Air-conditioned coaches, fire propagation, flame contour, soot flow, train fire.

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Authors: T. Nozu, K. Hibi, T. Nishiie

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This paper discusses the applicability of the numerical model for a damage prediction method of the accidental hydrogen explosion occurring in a hydrogen facility. The numerical model was based on an unstructured finite volume method (FVM) code “NuFD/FrontFlowRed”. For simulating unsteady turbulent combustion of leaked hydrogen gas, a combination of Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and a combustion model were used. The combustion model was based on a two scalar flamelet approach, where a G-equation model and a conserved scalar model expressed a propagation of premixed flame surface and a diffusion combustion process, respectively. For validation of this numerical model, we have simulated the previous two types of hydrogen explosion tests. One is open-space explosion test, and the source was a prismatic 5.27 m³ volume with 30% of hydrogen-air mixture. A reinforced concrete wall was set 4 m away from the front surface of the source. The source was ignited at the bottom center by a spark. The other is vented enclosure explosion test, and the chamber was 4.6 m × 4.6 m × 3.0 m with a vent opening on one side. Vent area of 5.4 m² was used. Test was performed with ignition at the center of the wall opposite the vent. Hydrogen-air mixtures with hydrogen concentrations close to 18% vol. were used in the tests. The results from the numerical simulations are compared with the previous experimental data for the accuracy of the numerical model, and we have verified that the simulated overpressures and flame time-of-arrival data were in good agreement with the results of the previous two explosion tests.

Keywords: Deflagration, Large Eddy Simulation, Turbulent combustion, Vented enclosure.

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Authors: K. Okubo, Y. Kurihara, T. Kaburagi, K. Watanabe

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Many of the ever-growing elderly population require exercise, such as running, for health management. One important element of a runner’s training is the choice of shoes for exercise; shoes are important because they provide the interface between the feet and road. When we purchase shoes, we may instinctively choose a pair after trying on many different pairs of shoes. Selecting the shoes instinctively may work, but it does not guarantee a suitable fit for running activities. Therefore, if we could select suitable shoes for each runner from the viewpoint of brain activities, it would be helpful for validating shoe selection. In this paper, we describe how brain activities show different characteristics during particular task, corresponding to different properties of shoes. Using five subjects, we performed a verification experiment, applying weight, softness, and flexibility as shoe properties. In order to affect the shoe property’s differences to the brain, subjects run for 10 min. Before and after running, subjects conducted a paced auditory serial addition task (PASAT) as the particular task; and the subjects’ brain activities during the PASAT are evaluated based on oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin relative concentration changes, measured by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). When the brain works actively, oxihemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin concentration drastically changes; therefore, we calculate the maximum values of concentration changes. In order to normalize relative concentration changes after running, the maximum value are divided by before running maximum value as evaluation parameters. The classification of the groups of shoes is expressed on a self-organizing map (SOM). As a result, deoxyhemoglobin can make clusters for two of the three types of shoes.

Keywords: Brain activities, NIRS, PASAT, running shoes.

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Authors: R. Ziaie Moayed, M. Nazari

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This paper tries to study the effect of geosynthetic inclusion on the improvement of the load-settlement characters of two layered soil. In addition, the effect of geogrid and geotextile in reduction of the required thickness of subbase layer in unpaved roads is studied. Considering the vast application of bearing ratio tests in road construction projects, this test is used in present investigation. Bearing ratio tests were performed on two layered soil including a granular soil layer at the top (as the subbase layer) and a weak clayey soil placed at the bottom (as the subgrade layer). These tests were performed for different conditions including unreinforced and reinforced by geogrid and geotextile and three thicknesses for top layer soil (subbase layer). In the reinforced condition the reinforcing element was placed on the interface of the top granular layer and the beneath clayey layer to study the separation effect of geosynthetics. In all tests the soils (both granular and clayey soil layers) were compacted according to optimum water content. At the end, the diagrams were plotted and were compared with each other. Furthermore, a comparison between geogrids and geotextiles behaviors on two layer soil is done in this paper. The results show an increase in compression strength of reinforced specimen in comparison with unreinforced soil sample. The effect of geosynthetic inclusion reduces by increasing the subbase thickness. In addition it was found that geogrids have more desirable behavior rather than geotextiles due to interlocking with the subbase layer aggregates.

Keywords: Bearing ratio, Subgrade, Subbase, Sand layer thickness, Geosynthetic.

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Authors: Mariann Veresne Somosi, Zoltan Nagy, Krisztina Varga

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Innovation is the key element of economic development and a key factor in social processes. Technical innovations can be identified as prerequisites and causes of social change and cannot be created without the renewal of society. The study of social innovation can be characterised as one of the significant research areas of our day. The study’s aim is to identify the process of social innovation, which can be defined by input, transformation, and output factors. This approach divides the social innovation process into three parts: situation analysis, implementation, follow-up. The methods associated with each stage of the process are illustrated by the chronological line of social innovation. In this study, we have sought to present methodologies that support long- and short-term decision-making that is easy to apply, have different complementary content, and are well visualised for different user groups. When applying the methods, the reference objects are different: county, district, settlement, specific organisation. The solution proposed by the study supports the development of a methodological combination adapted to different situations. Having reviewed metric and conceptualisation issues, we wanted to develop a methodological combination along with a change management logic suitable for structured support to the generation of social innovation in the case of a locality or a specific organisation. In addition to a theoretical summary, in the second part of the study, we want to give a non-exhaustive picture of the two counties located in the north-eastern part of Hungary through specific analyses and case descriptions.

Keywords: Factors of social innovation, methodological combination, social innovation process, supporting decision-making.

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Authors: I. Cano-Aguilera, B. E. Rubio-Campos, G. De la Rosa, A. F. Aguilera-Alvarado

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Mining tailings represent a generating source of rich heavy metal material with a potential danger the public health and the environment, since these metals, under certain conditions, can leach and contaminate aqueous systems that serve like supplying potable water sources. The strategy for this work is based on the observation, experimentation and the simulation that can be obtained by binding real answers of the hydrodynamic behavior of metals leached from mining tailings, and the applied mathematics that provides the logical structure to decipher the individual effects of the general physicochemical phenomenon. The case of study presented herein focuses on mining tailings deposits located in Monte San Nicolas, Guanajuato, Mexico, an abandoned mine. This was considered the contamination source that under certain physicochemical conditions can favor the metal leaching, and its transport towards aqueous systems. In addition, the cartography, meteorology, geology and the hydrodynamics and hydrological characteristics of the place, will be helpful in determining the way and the time in which these systems can interact. Preliminary results demonstrated that arsenic presents a great mobility, since this one was identified in several superficial aqueous systems of the micro watershed, as well as in sediments in concentrations that exceed the established maximum limits in the official norms. Also variations in pH and potential oxide-reduction were registered, conditions that favor the presence of different species from this element its solubility and therefore its mobility.

Keywords: Arsenic, mining tailings, transport.

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Authors: Wei-Hsin Sun, Jr-Ming Miao, Chang-Hsien Tai, Chien-Chun Hung

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The development of biomimetic micro-aerial-vehicles (MAVs) with flapping wings is the future trend in military/domestic field. The successful flight of MAVs is strongly related to the understanding of unsteady aerodynamic performance of low Reynolds number airfoils under dynamic flapping motion. This study explored the effects of flapping frequency, stroke amplitude, and the inclined angle of stroke plane on lift force and thrust force of a bio-inspiration corrugated airfoil with 33 full factorial design of experiment and ANOVA analysis. Unsteady vorticity flows over a corrugated thin airfoil executing flapping motion are computed with time-dependent two-dimensional laminar incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the conformal hybrid mesh. The tested freestream Reynolds number based on the chord length of airfoil as characteristic length is fixed of 103. The dynamic mesh technique is applied to model the flapping motion of a corrugated airfoil. Instant vorticity contours over a complete flapping cycle clearly reveals the flow mechanisms for lift force generation are dynamic stall, rotational circulation, and wake capture. The thrust force is produced as the leading edge vortex shedding from the trailing edge of airfoil to form a reverse von Karman vortex. Results also indicated that the inclined angle is the most significant factor on both the lift force and thrust force. There are strong interactions between tested factors which mean an optimization study on parameters should be conducted in further runs.

Keywords: biomimetic, MAVs, aerodynamic, ANOVA analysis.

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Authors: D. Sun, T. F. Lu, A. Zander, M. Trinkle

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This paper investigates the potential use of airborne ultrasonic phased arrays for imaging in outdoor environments as a means of overcoming the limitations experienced by kinect sensors, which may fail to work in the outdoor environments due to the oversaturation of the infrared photo diodes. Ultrasonic phased arrays have been well studied for static media, yet there appears to be no comparable examination in the literature of the impact of a flowing medium on the focusing behaviour of near field focused ultrasonic arrays. This paper presents a method for predicting the sound pressure fields produced by a single ultrasound element or an ultrasonic phased array influenced by airflows. The approach can be used to determine the actual focal point location of an array exposed in a known flow field. From the presented simulation results based upon this model, it can be concluded that uniform flows in the direction orthogonal to the acoustic propagation have a noticeable influence on the sound pressure field, which is reflected in the twisting of the steering angle of the array. Uniform flows in the same direction as the acoustic propagation have negligible influence on the array. For an array impacted by a turbulent flow, determining the location of the focused sound field becomes difficult due to the irregularity and continuously changing direction and the speed of the turbulent flow. In some circumstances, ultrasonic phased arrays impacted by turbulent flows may not be capable of producing a focused sound field.

Keywords: Airborne, airflow, focused sound field, ultrasonic phased array.

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Authors: L. Nikakhtar, S. Zare

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One of the main practical difficulties attended with tunnel construction is related to underground water. Uncontrolled water behavior may cause extra loads on the lining, mechanical instability, and unfavorable environmental problems. Estimating underground water inflow rate to the tunnels is a complex skill. The common calculation methods are: empirical methods, analytical solutions, numerical solutions based on the equivalent continuous porous media. In this research the rate of underground water inflow to the Tabriz metro first line tunnel has been investigated by numerical finite difference method using FLAC^2D software. Comparing results of Heuer analytical method and numerical simulation showed good agreement with each other. Fully coupled and one-way coupled hydro mechanical states as well as water-free conditions in the soil around the tunnel are used in numerical models and these models have been applied to evaluate the loading value on the tunnel support system. Results showed that the fully coupled hydro mechanical analysis estimated more axial forces, moments and shear forces in linings, so this type of analysis is more conservative and reliable method for design of tunnel lining system. As sensitivity analysis, inflow water rates into the tunnel were evaluated in different soil permeability, underground water levels and depths of the tunnel. Result demonstrated that water level in constant depth of the tunnel is more sensitive factor for water inflow rate to the tunnel in comparison of other parameters investigated in the sensitivity analysis.

Keywords: Coupled hydro mechanical analysis, FLAC2D, Tabriz Metro, inflow rate.

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Authors: Suguru Ochiai, Toru Yabuki, Yoshiki Yamaguchi, Yuetsu Kodama

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In this paper, we propose a Connect6 solver which adopts a hybrid approach based on a tree-search algorithm and image processing techniques. The solver must deal with the complicated computation and provide high performance in order to make real-time decisions. The proposed approach enables the solver to be implemented on a single Spartan-6 XC6SLX45 FPGA produced by XILINX without using any external devices. The compact implementation is achieved through image processing techniques to optimize a tree-search algorithm of the Connect6 game. The tree search is widely used in computer games and the optimal search brings the best move in every turn of a computer game. Thus, many tree-search algorithms such as Minimax algorithm and artificial intelligence approaches have been widely proposed in this field. However, there is one fundamental problem in this area; the computation time increases rapidly in response to the growth of the game tree. It means the larger the game tree is, the bigger the circuit size is because of their highly parallel computation characteristics. Here, this paper aims to reduce the size of a Connect6 game tree using image processing techniques and its position symmetric property. The proposed solver is composed of four computational modules: a two-dimensional checkmate strategy checker, a template matching module, a skilful-line predictor, and a next-move selector. These modules work well together in selecting next moves from some candidates and the total amount of their circuits is small. The details of the hardware design for an FPGA implementation are described and the performance of this design is also shown in this paper.

Keywords: Connect6, pattern matching, game-tree reduction, hardware direct computation

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Authors: Elia Favarelli, Enrico Testi, Andrea Giorgetti

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Autonomous structural health monitoring (SHM) of many structures and bridges became a topic of paramount importance for maintenance purposes and safety reasons. This paper proposes a set of machine learning (ML) tools to perform automatic feature selection and detection of anomalies in a bridge from vibrational data and compare different feature extraction schemes to increase the accuracy and reduce the amount of data collected. As a case study, the Z-24 bridge is considered because of the extensive database of accelerometric data in both standard and damaged conditions. The proposed framework starts from the first four fundamental frequencies extracted through operational modal analysis (OMA) and clustering, followed by time-domain filtering (tracking). The fundamental frequencies extracted are then fed to a dimensionality reduction block implemented through two different approaches: feature selection (intelligent multiplexer) that tries to estimate the most reliable frequencies based on the evaluation of some statistical features (i.e., entropy, variance, kurtosis), and feature extraction (auto-associative neural network (ANN)) that combine the fundamental frequencies to extract new damage sensitive features in a low dimensional feature space. Finally, one-class classification (OCC) algorithms perform anomaly detection, trained with standard condition points, and tested with normal and anomaly ones. In particular, principal component analysis (PCA), kernel principal component analysis (KPCA), and autoassociative neural network (ANN) are presented and their performance are compared. It is also shown that, by evaluating the correct features, the anomaly can be detected with accuracy and an F1 score greater than 95%.

Keywords: Anomaly detection, dimensionality reduction, frequencies selection, modal analysis, neural network, structural health monitoring, vibration measurement.

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Authors: Haitao Yang, Jianming Lv, Fei Xu, Xintong Wang, Yilin Huang, Lanting Xia, Xuewu Zhu

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Given a fixed fund, purchasing fewer hosts of higher capability or inversely more of lower capability is a must-be-made trade-off in practices for building a Hadoop big data platform. An exploratory study is presented for a Housing Big Data Platform project (HBDP), where typical big data computing is with SQL queries of aggregate, join, and space-time condition selections executed upon massive data from more than 10 million housing units. In HBDP, an empirical formula was introduced to predict the performance of host clusters potential for the intended typical big data computing, and it was shaped via a regression approach. With this empirical formula, it is easy to suggest an optimal cluster configuration. The investigation was based on a typical Hadoop computing ecosystem HDFS+Hive+Spark. A proper metric was raised to measure the performance of Hadoop clusters in HBDP, which was tested and compared with its predicted counterpart, on executing three kinds of typical SQL query tasks. Tests were conducted with respect to factors of CPU benchmark, memory size, virtual host division, and the number of element physical host in cluster. The research has been applied to practical cluster procurement for housing big data computing.

Keywords: Hadoop platform planning, optimal cluster scheme at fixed-fund, performance empirical formula, typical SQL query tasks.

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Authors: Nagore Guerra Bilbao, Clemente Lobato Fraile

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This paper outlines the design and development of the MENDEPRO questionnaire, designed to analyze mentoring performance within a professional development process carried out with professors at the University of the Basque Country, Spain. The study took into account the international research carried out over the past two decades into teachers' professional development, and was also based on a thorough review of the most common instruments used to identify and analyze mentoring styles, many of which fail to provide sufficient psychometric guarantees. The present study aimed to gather empirical data in order to verify the metric quality of the questionnaire developed. To this end, the process followed to validate the theoretical construct was as follows: The formulation of the items and indicators in accordance with the study variables; the analysis of the validity and reliability of the initial questionnaire; the review of the second version of the questionnaire and the definitive measurement instrument. Content was validated through the formal agreement and consensus of 12 university professor training experts. A reduced sample of professors who had participated in a lifelong learning program was then selected for a trial evaluation of the instrument developed. After the trial, 18 items were removed from the initial questionnaire. The final version of the instrument, comprising 33 items, was then administered to a sample group of 99 participants. The results revealed a five-dimensional structure matching theoretical expectations. Also, the reliability data for both the instrument as a whole (.98) and its various dimensions (between .91 and .97) were very high. The questionnaire was thus found to have satisfactory psychometric properties and can therefore be considered apt for studying the performance of mentoring in both induction programs for young professors and lifelong learning programs for senior faculty members.

Keywords: Higher education, mentoring, professional development, university teachers.

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Authors: Morten Brøgger, Kim Wittchen

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Focus on reducing energy consumption in existing buildings at large scale, e.g. in cities or countries, has been increasing in recent years. In order to reduce energy consumption in existing buildings, political incentive schemes are put in place and large scale investments are made by utility companies. Prioritising these investments requires a comprehensive overview of the energy consumption in the existing building stock, as well as potential energy-savings. However, a building stock comprises thousands of buildings with different characteristics making it difficult to model energy consumption accurately. Moreover, the complexity of the building stock makes it difficult to convey model results to policymakers and other stakeholders. In order to manage the complexity of the building stock, building archetypes are often employed in building stock energy models (BSEMs). Building archetypes are formed by segmenting the building stock according to specific characteristics. Segmenting the building stock according to building type and building age is common, among other things because this information is often easily available. This segmentation makes it easy to convey results to non-experts. However, using a single archetypical building to represent all buildings in a segment of the building stock is associated with loss of detail. Thermal characteristics are aggregated while other characteristics, which could affect the energy efficiency of a building, are disregarded. Thus, using a simplified representation of the building stock could come at the expense of the accuracy of the model. The present study evaluates the accuracy of a conventional archetype-based BSEM that segments the building stock according to building type- and age. The accuracy is evaluated in terms of the archetypes’ ability to accurately emulate the average energy demands of the corresponding buildings they were meant to represent. This is done for the buildings’ energy demands as a whole as well as for relevant sub-demands. Both are evaluated in relation to the type- and the age of the building. This should provide researchers, who use archetypes in BSEMs, with an indication of the expected accuracy of the conventional archetype model, as well as the accuracy lost in specific parts of the calculation, due to use of the archetype method.

Keywords: Building stock energy modelling, energy-savings, archetype.

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Authors: Lovorka Galetic, Zeljko Vukelic

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The advanced concepts of strategic and innovation management in the sphere of company dynamic and innovation capabilities, and achieving their mutual alignment and a synergy effect, are important elements in business today. This paper analyses the theory and empirically investigates the influence of a company’s dynamic capabilities on its innovation capabilities. A new multidimensional model of dynamic capabilities is presented, consisting of five factors appropriate to real time requirements, while innovation capabilities are considered pursuant to the official OECD and Eurostat standards. After examination of dynamic and innovation capabilities indicated their theoretical links, the empirical study testing the model and examining the influence of a company’s dynamic capabilities on its innovation capabilities showed significant results. In the study, a research model was posed to relate company dynamic and innovation capabilities. One side of the model features the variables that are the determinants of dynamic capabilities defined through their factors, while the other side features the determinants of innovation capabilities pursuant to the official standards. With regard to the research model, five hypotheses were set. The study was performed in late 2014 on a representative sample of large and very large Croatian enterprises with a minimum of 250 employees. The research instrument was a questionnaire administered to company top management. For both variables, the position of the company was tested in comparison to industry competitors, on a fivepoint scale. In order to test the hypotheses, correlation tests were performed to determine whether there is a correlation between each individual factor of company dynamic capabilities with the existence of its innovation capabilities, in line with the research model. The results indicate a strong correlation between a company’s possession of dynamic capabilities in terms of their factors, due to the new multi-dimensional model presented in this paper, with its possession of innovation capabilities. Based on the results, all five hypotheses were accepted. Ultimately, it was concluded that there is a strong association between the dynamic and innovation capabilities of a company. 

Keywords: Dynamic capabilities, innovation capabilities, competitive advantage, business results.

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Authors: Jalal Khan, Daniyal Ali Sehrai, Shakeel Ahmad

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This paper presents the design and performance evaluation of multiband metamaterial based antenna operating in the 3.6 GHz (4G), 14.33 GHz, and 28.86 GHz (5G) frequency bands, for future mobile and handheld devices. The radiating element of the proposed design is made up of a conductive material supported by a 1.524 mm thicker Rogers-4003 substrate, having a relative dielectric constant and loss tangent of 3.55 and 0.0027, respectively. The substrate is backed by truncated ground plane. The future mobile communication system is based on higher frequencies, which are highly affected by the atmospheric conditions. Therefore, to overcome the path loss problem, essential enhancements and improvements must be made in the overall performance of the antenna. The traditional ground plane does not provide the in-phase reflection and surface wave suppression due to which side and back lobes are produced. This will affect the antenna performance in terms of gain and efficiency. To enhance the overall performance of the antenna, a metamaterial acting as a high impedance surface (HIS) is used as a reflector in the proposed design. The simulated gain of the metamaterial based antenna is enhanced from {2.76-6.47, 4.83-6.71 and 7.52-7.73} dB at 3.6, 14.33 and 28.89 GHz, respectively relative to the gain of the antenna backed by a traditional ground plane. The proposed antenna radiated efficiently with a radiated efficiency (>85 %) in all the three frequency bands with and without metamaterial surface. The total volume of the antenna is (L x W x h=45 x 40 x 1.524) mm³. The antenna can be potentially used for wireless handheld devices and mobile terminal. All the simulations have been performed using the Computer Simulation Technology (CST) software.

Keywords: Multiband, fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G), metamaterial, CST MWS.

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Authors: Ahmed Noor Al-Qayyim, Barlas Ozden Caglayan

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Structural failure is caused mainly by damage that often occurs on structures. Many researchers focus on to obtain very efficient tools to detect the damage in structures in the early state. In the past decades, a subject that has received considerable attention in literature is the damage detection as determined by variations in the dynamic characteristics or response of structures. The study presents a new damage identification technique. The technique detects the damage location for the incomplete structure system using output data only. The method indicates the damage based on the free vibration test data by using ‘Two Points Condensation (TPC) technique’. This method creates a set of matrices by reducing the structural system to two degrees of freedom systems. The current stiffness matrices obtain from optimization the equation of motion using the measured test data. The current stiffness matrices compare with original (undamaged) stiffness matrices. The large percentage changes in matrices’ coefficients lead to the location of the damage. TPC technique is applied to the experimental data of a simply supported steel beam model structure after inducing thickness change in one element, where two cases consider. The method detects the damage and determines its location accurately in both cases. In addition, the results illustrate these changes in stiffness matrix can be a useful tool for continuous monitoring of structural safety using ambient vibration data. Furthermore, its efficiency proves that this technique can be used also for big structures.

Keywords: Damage detection, two points–condensation, structural health monitoring, signals processing, optimization.

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Authors: Foad Hassaninejadafarahani, Scott Ormiston

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Reflux condensation occurs in vertical channels and tubes when there is an upward core flow of vapour (or gas-vapour mixture) and a downward flow of the liquid film. The understanding of this condensation configuration is crucial in the design of reflux condensers, distillation columns, and in loss-of-coolant safety analyses in nuclear power plant steam generators. The unique feature of this flow is the upward flow of the vapour-gas mixture (or pure vapour) that retards the liquid flow via shear at the liquid-mixture interface. The present model solves the full, elliptic governing equations in both the film and the gas-vapour core flow. The computational mesh is non-orthogonal and adapts dynamically the phase interface, thus produces a sharp and accurate interface. Shear forces and heat and mass transfer at the interface are accounted for fundamentally. This modeling is a big step ahead of current capabilities by removing the limitations of previous reflux condensation models which inherently cannot account for the detailed local balances of shear, mass, and heat transfer at the interface. Discretisation has been done based on finite volume method and co-located variable storage scheme. An in-house computer code was developed to implement the numerical solution scheme. Detailed results are presented for laminar reflux condensation from steam-air mixtures flowing in vertical parallel plate channels. The results include velocity and gas mass fraction profiles, as well as axial variations of film thickness.

Keywords: Reflux Condensation, Heat Transfer, Channel, Laminar Flow

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Authors: Mawarni F. Mohamad, Khairul S.N. Kamarudin, Nik N.F.N.M. Fathilah, Mohamad M. Salleh

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Mercury is a natural occurring element and present in various concentrations in the environment. Due to its toxic effects, it is desirable to research mercury sensitive materials to adsorb mercury. This paper describes the preparation of Au nanoparticles for mercury adsorption by using a microwave (MW)-polyol method in the presence of three different Sodium Chloride (NaCl) concentrations (10, 20 and 30 mM). Mixtures of spherical, triangular, octahedral, decahedral particles and 1-D product were obtained using this rapid method. Sizes and shapes was found strongly depend on the concentrations of NaCl. Without NaCl concentration, spherical, triangular plates, octahedral, decahedral nanoparticles and 1D product were produced. At the lower NaCl concentration (10 mM), spherical, octahedral and decahedral nanoparticles were present, while spherical and decahedral nanoparticles were preferentially form by using 20 mM of NaCl concentration. Spherical, triangular plates, octahedral and decahedral nanoparticles were obtained at the highest NaCl concentration (30 mM). The amount of mercury adsorbed using 20 ppm mercury solution is the highest (67.5 %) for NaCl concentration of 30 mM. The high yield of polygonal particles will increase the mercury adsorption. In addition, the adsorption of mercury is also due to the sizes of the particles. The sizes of particles become smaller with increasing NaCl concentrations (size ranges, 5- 16 nm) than those synthesized without addition of NaCl (size ranges 11-32 nm). It is concluded that NaCl concentrations affects the formation of sizes and shapes of Au nanoparticles thus affects the mercury adsorption.

Keywords: Adsorption, Au Nanoparticles, Mercury, SodiumChloride.

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Authors: Yehia A. Eldrainy, Mohammad Nazri Mohd. Jaafar, Tholudin Mat Lazim

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This paper presents a cold flow simulation study of a small gas turbine combustor performed using laboratory scale test rig. The main objective of this investigation is to obtain physical insight of the main vortex, responsible for the efficient mixing of fuel and air. Such models are necessary for predictions and optimization of real gas turbine combustors. Air swirler can control the combustor performance by assisting in the fuel-air mixing process and by producing recirculation region which can act as flame holders and influences residence time. Thus, proper selection of a swirler is needed to enhance combustor performance and to reduce NOx emissions. Three different axial air swirlers were used based on their vane angles i.e., 30°, 45°, and 60°. Three-dimensional, viscous, turbulent, isothermal flow characteristics of the combustor model operating at room temperature were simulated via Reynolds- Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) code. The model geometry has been created using solid model, and the meshing has been done using GAMBIT preprocessing package. Finally, the solution and analysis were carried out in a FLUENT solver. This serves to demonstrate the capability of the code for design and analysis of real combustor. The effects of swirlers and mass flow rate were examined. Details of the complex flow structure such as vortices and recirculation zones were obtained by the simulation model. The computational model predicts a major recirculation zone in the central region immediately downstream of the fuel nozzle and a second recirculation zone in the upstream corner of the combustion chamber. It is also shown that swirler angles changes have significant effects on the combustor flowfield as well as pressure losses.

Keywords: cold flow, numerical simulation, combustor;turbulence, axial swirler.

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Authors: Laurent Pitteloud, Jörg Meier

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Piled raft foundations represent an efficient and reliable technique for transferring high vertical and horizontal loads to the subsoil. Piled raft foundations were success­fully implemented for several high-rise buildings world­wide over the last decades. For the structural design of this foundation type the stiffnesses of both the piles and the raft have to be deter­mined for the static (e.g. dead load, live load) and the dynamic load cases (e.g. earthquake). In this context the question often arises, to which proportion wind loads are to be considered as dynamic loads. Usually a piled raft foundation has to be monitored in order to verify the design hypotheses. As an additional benefit, the analysis of this monitoring data may lead to a better under­standing of the behaviour of this foundation type for future projects in similar subsoil conditions. In case the measurement frequency is high enough, one may also draw conclusions on the effect of wind loading on the piled raft foundation. For a 41-storey office building in Basel, Switzerland, the preliminary design showed that a piled raft foundation was the best solution to satisfy both design requirements, as well as economic aspects. A high-frequency monitoring of the foundation including pile loads, vertical stresses under the raft, as well as pore water pressures was performed over 5 years. In windy situations the analysis of the measure­ments shows that the pile load increment due to wind consists of a static and a cyclic load term. As piles and raft react with different stiffnesses under static and dynamic loading, these measure­ments are useful for the correct definition of stiffnesses of future piled raft foundations. This paper outlines the design strategy and the numerical modelling of the aforementioned piled raft foundation. The measurement results are presented and analysed. Based on the findings, comments and conclusions on the definition of pile and raft stiffnesses for vertical and wind loading are proposed.

Keywords: Dynamic loading, high-frequency monitoring, piled raft foundations, wind loading.

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Authors: Shidvash Vakilipour, Scott Ormiston, Masoud Mohammadi, Rouzbeh Riazi, Kimia Amiri, Sahar Barati

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Two-phase and multi-phase flows are common flow types in fluid mechanics engineering. Among the basic and applied problems of these flow types, two-phase parallel flow is the one that two immiscible fluids flow in the vicinity of each other. In this type of flow, fluid properties (e.g. density, viscosity, and temperature) are different at the two sides of the interface of the two fluids. The most challenging part of the numerical simulation of two-phase flow is to determine the location of interface accurately. In the present work, a coupled interface tracking algorithm is developed based on Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) approach using a cell-centered, pressure-based, coupled solver. To validate this algorithm, an analytical solution for fully developed two-phase flow in presence of gravity is derived, and then, the results of the numerical simulation of this flow are compared with analytical solution at various flow conditions. The results of the simulations show good accuracy of the algorithm despite using a nearly coarse and uniform grid. Temporal variations of interface profile toward the steady-state solution show that a greater difference between fluids properties (especially dynamic viscosity) will result in larger traveling waves. Gravity effect studies also show that favorable gravity will result in a reduction of heavier fluid thickness and adverse gravity leads to increasing it with respect to the zero gravity condition. However, the magnitude of variation in favorable gravity is much more than adverse gravity.

Keywords: Coupled solver, gravitational force, interface tracking, Reynolds number to Froude number, two-phase flow.

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Authors: Hesham Abd Elkhalek, Sherif M. Hafez, Yasser M. El Fahham

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Allocating limited budget to maintain bridge networks and selecting effective maintenance strategies for each bridge represent challenging tasks for maintenance managers and decision makers. In Egypt, bridges are continuously deteriorating. In many cases, maintenance works are performed due to user complaints. The objective of this paper is to develop a practical and reliable framework to manage the maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation (MR&R) activities of Bridges network considering performance and budget limits. The model solves an optimization problem that maximizes the average condition of the entire network given the limited available budget using Genetic Algorithm (GA). The framework contains bridge inventory, condition assessment, repair cost calculation, deterioration prediction, and maintenance optimization. The developed model takes into account multiple parameters including serviceability requirements, budget allocation, element importance on structural safety and serviceability, bridge impact on network, and traffic. A questionnaire is conducted to complete the research scope. The proposed model is implemented in software, which provides a friendly user interface. The framework provides a multi-year maintenance plan for the entire network for up to five years. A case study of ten bridges is presented to validate and test the proposed model with data collected from Transportation Authorities in Egypt. Different scenarios are presented. The results are reasonable, feasible and within acceptable domain.

Keywords: Bridge Management Systems (BMS), cost optimization condition assessment, fund allocation, Markov chain.

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Authors: Maumita Bhattacharya

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Evolutionary Algorithms are population-based, stochastic search techniques, widely used as efficient global optimizers. However, many real life optimization problems often require finding optimal solution to complex high dimensional, multimodal problems involving computationally very expensive fitness function evaluations. Use of evolutionary algorithms in such problem domains is thus practically prohibitive. An attractive alternative is to build meta models or use an approximation of the actual fitness functions to be evaluated. These meta models are order of magnitude cheaper to evaluate compared to the actual function evaluation. Many regression and interpolation tools are available to build such meta models. This paper briefly discusses the architectures and use of such meta-modeling tools in an evolutionary optimization context. We further present two evolutionary algorithm frameworks which involve use of meta models for fitness function evaluation. The first framework, namely the Dynamic Approximate Fitness based Hybrid EA (DAFHEA) model [14] reduces computation time by controlled use of meta-models (in this case approximate model generated by Support Vector Machine regression) to partially replace the actual function evaluation by approximate function evaluation. However, the underlying assumption in DAFHEA is that the training samples for the metamodel are generated from a single uniform model. This does not take into account uncertain scenarios involving noisy fitness functions. The second model, DAFHEA-II, an enhanced version of the original DAFHEA framework, incorporates a multiple-model based learning approach for the support vector machine approximator to handle noisy functions [15]. Empirical results obtained by evaluating the frameworks using several benchmark functions demonstrate their efficiency

Keywords: Meta model, Evolutionary algorithm, Stochastictechnique, Fitness function, Optimization, Support vector machine.

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Authors: A. Suñol, D. Vucinic, S.Vanlanduit, T. Markova, A. Aksenov, I. Moskalyov

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Feeder is one of the airships of the Multibody Advanced Airship for Transport (MAAT) system, under development within the EU FP7 project. MAAT is based on a modular concept composed of two different parts that have the possibility to join; respectively they are the so-called Cruiser and Feeder, designed on the lighter than air principle. Feeder, also named ATEN (Airship Transport Elevator Network), is the smaller one which joins the bigger one, Cruiser, also named PTAH (Photovoltaic modular Transport Airship for High altitude),envisaged to happen at 15km altitude. During the MAAT design phase, the aerodynamic studies of the both airships and their interactions are analyzed. The objective of these studies is to understand the aerodynamic behavior of all the preselected configurations, as an important element in the overall MAAT system design. The most of these configurations are only simulated by CFD, while the most feasible one is experimentally analyzed in order to validate and thrust the CFD predictions. This paper presents the numerical and experimental investigation of the Feeder “conical like" shape configuration. The experiments are focused on the aerodynamic force coefficients and the pressure distribution over the Feeder outer surface, while the numerical simulation cover also the analysis of the velocity and pressure distribution. Finally, the wind tunnel experiment is compared with its CFD model in order to validate such specific simulations with respective experiments and to better understand the difference between the wind tunnel and in-flight circumstances.

Keywords: MAAT project Feeder, CFD simulations, wind tunnel experiments, lateral wind influence.

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Authors: Peng Hao Wang, Garam Kim, Ronald Sterkenburg

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The applications of composite materials within the aviation industry has been increasing at a rapid pace.  However, the growing applications of composite materials have also led to growing demand for more tooling to support its manufacturing processes. Tooling and tooling maintenance represents a large portion of the composite manufacturing process and cost. Therefore, the industry’s adaptability to new techniques for fabricating high quality tools quickly and inexpensively will play a crucial role in composite material’s growing popularity in the aviation industry. One popular tool fabrication technique currently being developed involves additive manufacturing such as 3D printing. Although additive manufacturing and 3D printing are not entirely new concepts, the technique has been gaining popularity due to its ability to quickly fabricate components, maintain low material waste, and low cost. In this study, a team of Purdue University School of Aviation and Transportation Technology (SATT) faculty and students investigated the effectiveness of a 3D printed composite compression mold. A 3D printed composite compression mold was fabricated by 3D scanning a steel valve cover of an aircraft reciprocating engine. The 3D printed composite compression mold was used to fabricate carbon fiber versions of the aircraft reciprocating engine valve cover. The 3D printed composite compression mold was evaluated for its performance, durability, and dimensional stability while the fabricated carbon fiber valve covers were evaluated for its accuracy and quality. The results and data gathered from this study will determine the effectiveness of the 3D printed composite compression mold in a mass production environment and provide valuable information for future understanding, improvements, and design considerations of 3D printed composite molds.

Keywords: Additive manufacturing, carbon fiber, composite tooling, molds.

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Authors: Chin-Pin, Chen, Shi-Chi, Shiao, Ting-Hao, Lin

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Current industry is facing the rapid development of new technology in the world and fierce changes of economic environment in the society so that the industry development trend gradually does not focus on labor, but leads the industry and the academic circle with innovation and creativity. The development trend in machinery industry presents the same situation. Based on the aim of Creativity White Paper, Ministry of Education in Taiwan promotes and develops various creativity contests to cope with the industry trend. Domestic students and enterprises have good performance on domestic and international creativity contests in recent years. There must be important creative elements in such creative works to win the award among so many works. Literature review and in-depth interview with five creativity contest awarded instructors are first proceeded to conclude 15 machinery creative elements, which are further compared with the creative elements of machinery awarded creative works in past five years to understand the relationship between awarded works and creative elements. The statistical analysis results show that IDEA (Industrial Design Excellence Award) contains the most creative elements among four major international creativity contests. That is, most creativity review focuses on creative elements that are comparatively stricter. Concerning the groups participating in creativity contests, enterprises consider more creative elements of the creative works than other two elements for contests. From such contest works, creative elements of “replacement or improvement”, “convenience”, and “modeling” present higher significance. It is expected that the above findings could provide domestic colleges and universities with reference for participating in creativity related contests in the future.

Keywords: Machinery, creativity contest, creative elements, creativity works.

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Authors: A. Nicknam, N. Eftekhari, A. Mazarei, M. Ganjvar

Abstract:

This article presents an alternative collapse capacity intensity measure in the three elements form which is influenced by the spectral ordinates at periods longer than that of the first mode period at near and far source sites. A parameter, denoted by β, is defined by which the spectral ordinate effects, up to the effective period (2T1), on the intensity measure are taken into account. The methodology permits to meet the hazard-levelled target extreme event in the probabilistic and deterministic forms. A MATLAB code is developed involving OpenSees to calculate the collapse capacities of the 8 archetype RC structures having 2 to 20 stories for regression process. The incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) method is used to calculate the structure’s collapse values accounting for the element stiffness and strength deterioration. The general near field set presented by FEMA is used in a series of performing nonlinear analyses. 8 linear relationships are developed for the 8structutres leading to the correlation coefficient up to 0.93. A collapse capacity near field prediction equation is developed taking into account the results of regression processes obtained from the 8 structures. The proposed prediction equation is validated against a set of actual near field records leading to a good agreement. Implementation of the proposed equation to the four archetype RC structures demonstrated different collapse capacities at near field site compared to those of FEMA. The reasons of differences are believed to be due to accounting for the spectral shape effects.

Keywords: Collapse capacity, fragility analysis, spectral shape effects, IDA method.

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