Search results for: stress analysis.

Authors: Chinnaiah Madduri, Raghu V. Prakash

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This paper presents the results of corrosion fatigue crack growth behaviour of a Ni-Cr-Mn steel commonly used in marine applications. The effect of mechanical variables such as frequency and load ratio on fatigue crack growth rate at various stages has been studied using compact tension (C(T)) specimens along the rolling direction of steel plate under 3.5% saturated NaCl aqueous environment. The significance of crack closure on corrosion fatigue, and the validity of Elber-s empirical linear crack closure model with the ASTM compliance offset method have been examined. Fatigue crack growth rate is higher and threshold stress intensities are lower in aqueous environment compared to the lab air conditions. It is also observed that the crack growth rate increases at lower frequencies. The higher stress ratio promotes the crack growth. The effect of oxidization and corrosion pit formation is very less as the stress ratio is increased. It is observed that as stress ratios are increased, the Elber-s crack closure model agrees well with the crack closure estimated by the ASTM compliance offset method for tests conducted at 5Hz frequency compared to tests conducted at 1Hz in corrosive environment.

Keywords: Corrosion fatigue, oxide induced crack closure, Elber's crack closure, ASTM compliance offset method.

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Authors: Hirich A., Choukr-allah R., Jacobsen S-E., Hamdy A., El youssfi L., El Omari H.

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An experiment was performed in the south of Morocco in order to evaluate the effect of deficit irrigation by treated wastewater on chickpea production. We applied six irrigation treatments on a local variety of chickpea by supplying alternatively 50 or 100% of ETm in a completely randomized design. We found a highly significant difference between treatments in terms of biomass production. Drought stress during the vegetative period showed highest yield with 6.5 t/ha which was more than the yield obtained for the control (4.9 t/ha). The optimal crop stage in which deficit irrigation can be applied is the vegetative growth stage, as the crop has a chance to develop its root system, to be able to cover the plant needs for water and nutrient supply during the rest of cycle, and non stress conditions during the flowering and seed filling stages allow the plant to optimize its photosynthesis and carbon translocation, therefore increase its productivity.

Keywords: chickpea, crop stages, drought stress, water productivity

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Authors: H. Sakamoto, S. Kurosawa, M. Suzuki, S. Oguri

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In Arabidopsis, several genes encoding proteins with ankyrin repeats and transmembrane domains (AtANKTM) have been identified as mediators of biotic and abiotic stress responses. It has been known that the expression of an AtANKTM gene, At2g24600, is induced in response to abiotic stress and that there are four splicing variants derived from this locus. In this study, by RT-PCR and sequencing analysis, an unknown splicing variant of the At2g24600 transcript was identified. Based on differences in the predicted amino acid sequences, the five splicing variants are divided into three groups. The three predicted proteins are highly homologous, yet have different numbers of ankyrinrepeats and transmembrane domains. It is generally considered that ankyrin repeats mediate protein-protein interaction and that the number oftransmembrane domains affects membrane topology of proteins. The protein variants derived from the At2g24600 locus may have different molecular functions each other.

Keywords: Alternative splicing, ankyrin repeats, transmembrane domains, Arabidopsis.

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Authors: Elnaz Afshari, Siamak Najarian, Naser Simforoosh, Siamak Hajizadeh Farkoush

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Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is now being widely used as a preferred choice for various types of operations. The need to detect various tactile properties, justifies the key role of tactile sensing that is currently missing in MIS. In this regard, Laparoscopy is one of the methods of minimally invasive surgery that can be used in kidney stone removal surgeries. At this moment, determination of the exact location of stone during laparoscopy is one of the limitations of this method that no scientific solution has been found for so far. Artificial tactile sensing is a new method for obtaining the characteristics of a hard object embedded in a soft tissue. Artificial palpation is an important application of artificial tactile sensing that can be used in different types of surgeries. In this study, a new method for determining the exact location of stone during laparoscopy is presented. In the present study, the effects of stone existence on the surface of kidney were investigated using conceptual 3D model of kidney containing a simulated stone. Having imitated palpation and modeled it conceptually, indications of stone existence that appear on the surface of kidney were determined. A number of different cases were created and solved by the software and using stress distribution contours and stress graphs, it is illustrated that the created stress patterns on the surface of kidney show not only the existence of stone inside, but also its exact location. So three-dimensional analysis leads to a novel method of predicting the exact location of stone and can be directly applied to the incorporation of tactile sensing in artificial palpation, helping surgeons in non-invasive procedures.

Keywords: Kidney Stone, Laparoscopic Surgery, Artificial Tactile Sensing, Finite Element Method.

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Authors: Kay-Anne Haykal, Issack Biyong

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The post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) rises from exposure to a traumatic event and appears by a persistent experience of this event. Several psychiatric co-morbidities are associated with PTSD and include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse. The main objective was to compare the criteria for PTSD according to the literature to those used to diagnose a patient in a francophone hospital and to check the correspondence of these two criteria. 700 medical charts of admitted patients on the medicine or psychiatric unit at the Montfort Hospital were identified with the following diagnoses: major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, substance abuse, and PTSD for the period of time between April 2005 and March 2006. Multiple demographic criteria were assembled. Also, for every chart analyzed, the PTSD criteria, according to the Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV were found, identified, and grouped according to pre-established codes. An analysis using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) method was elaborated for the study of data. A sample of 57 women and 50 men was studied. Age was varying between 18 and 88 years with a median age of 48. According to the PTSD criteria in the DSM IV, 12 patients should have the diagnosis of PTSD in opposition to only two identified in the medical charts. The ROC method establishes that with the combination of data from PTSD and depression, the sensitivity varies between 0,127 and 0,282, and the specificity varies between 0,889 and 0,917. Otherwise, if we examine the PTSD data alone, the sensibility jumps to 0.50, and the specificity varies between 0,781 and 0,895. This study confirms the presence of an underdiagnosed and treated PTSD that causes severe perturbations for the affected individual.

Keywords: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, diagnosis, co-morbidities, mental health disorders.

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Authors: Xiaofei Hu, Zhiyu Cai, Weian Yao

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V-notch problem under dynamic loading condition is considered in this paper. In the time domain, the precise time domain expanding algorithm is employed, in which a self-adaptive technique is carried out to improve computing accuracy. By expanding variables in each time interval, the recursive finite element formulas are derived. In the space domain, a Symplectic Analytical Singular Element (SASE) for V-notch problem is constructed addressing the stress singularity of the notch tip. Combining with the conventional finite elements, the proposed SASE can be used to solve the dynamic stress intensity factors (DSIFs) in a simple way. Numerical results show that the proposed SASE for V-notch problem subjected to dynamic loading condition is effective and efficient.

Keywords: V-notch, dynamic stress intensity factor, finite element method, precise time domain expanding algorithm.

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Authors: Omer S. Mughieda

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Two-dimensional finite element model was created in this work to investigate the stresses distribution within rock-like samples with offset open non-persistent joints under biaxial loading. The results of this study have explained the fracture mechanisms observed in tests on rock-like material with open non-persistent offset joints [1]. Finite element code SAP2000 was used to study the stresses distribution within the specimens. Four-nodded isoperimetric plain strain element with two degree of freedom per node, and the three-nodded constant strain triangular element with two degree of freedom per node were used in the present study.The results of the present study explained the formation of wing cracks at the tip of the joints for low confining stress as well as the formation of wing cracks at the middle of the joint for the higher confining stress. High shear stresses found in the numerical study at the tip of the joints explained the formation of secondary cracks at the tip of the joints in the experimental study. The study results coincide with the experimental observations which showed that for bridge inclination of 0o, the coalescence occurred due to shear failure and for bridge inclination of 90o the coalescence occurred due to tensile failure while for the other bridge inclinations coalescence occurred due to mixed tensile and shear failure.

Keywords: Finite element, open offset rock joint, SAP2000, biaxial loading.

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Authors: Anusua Ghosh, Andrew Nafalski, Jeffery Tweedale, Maureen Dollard

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This paper presents anapproach of hybridizing two or more artificial intelligence (AI) techniques which arebeing used to fuzzify the workstress level ranking and categorize the rating accordingly. The use of two or more techniques (hybrid approach) has been considered in this case, as combining different techniques may lead to neutralizing each other-s weaknesses generating a superior hybrid solution. Recent researches have shown that there is a need for a more valid and reliable tools, for assessing work stress. Thus artificial intelligence techniques have been applied in this instance to provide a solution to a psychological application. An overview about the novel and autonomous interactive model for analysing work-stress that has been developedusing multi-agent systems is also presented in this paper. The establishment of the intelligent multi-agent decision analyser (IMADA) using hybridized technique of neural networks and fuzzy logic within the multi-agent based framework is also described.

Keywords: Fuzzy logic, intelligent agent, multi-agent systems, neural network, workplace stress.

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Authors: H. F. Hozyen, A. M. Abo-El Maaty

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Heat stress is a recognized problem causing huge economic losses to the buffalo breeders as well as dairy industry. The aim of the present work was to study the pattern of vitamin C and nitric oxide in follicular fluid of buffalo during different seasons of the year considering phase of estrous cycle. This study was conducted on 208 cyclic buffaloes slaughtered at Al-Qaliobia governorate, Egypt, over one year. The obtained results revealed that vitamin C in follicular fluid was significantly lower in summer than winter and spring. On the other hand, nitric oxide (NO) was significantly higher in summer and autumn than winter and spring. Both vitamin C and NO did not differ significantly between follicular and luteal phases. In conclusion, the present study revealed that alterations in concentrations of follicular fluid vitamin C and NO that occur in summer could be related to low summer fertility in buffalo.

Keywords: Buffalo, follicular fluid, vitamin C, NO and heat stress.

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Authors: Weifeng Wang, Xianwei Zeng, Jianping Ding

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The problem of N cracks interaction in an isotropic elastic solid is decomposed into a subproblem of a homogeneous solid without crack and N subproblems with each having a single crack subjected to unknown tractions on the two crack faces. The unknown tractions, namely pseudo tractions on each crack are expanded into polynomials with unknown coefficients, which have to be determined by the consistency condition, i.e. by the equivalence of the original multiple cracks interaction problem and the superposition of the N+1 subproblems. In this paper, Kachanov-s approach of average tractions is extended into the method of moments to approximately impose the consistence condition. Hence Kachanov-s method can be viewed as the zero-order method of moments. Numerical results of the stress intensity factors are presented for interactions of two collinear cracks, three collinear cracks, two parallel cracks, and three parallel cracks. As the order of moment increases, the accuracy of the method of moments improves.

Keywords: Crack interaction, stress intensity factor, multiplecracks, method of moments.

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Authors: Pudji Astuti, C. P. C. Putro, C. M. Airin, L. Sjahfirdi, S. Widiyanto, H. Maheshwari

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Stress of slaughter animals starting long before until at the time of process of slaughtering which cause misery and decrease of meat quality. Meanwhile, determination of animal stress using hormonal such as cortisol is expensive and less practical so that portable stress indicator for cows based on Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) must be provided. The aims of this research are to find out the comparison process of slaughter between Rope Casting Local (RCL) and Restraining Box Method (RBM) by measuring of cortisol and wavelength in FTIR methods. Thirty two of male Ongole crossbred cattle were used in this experiment. Blood sampling was taken from jugular vein when they were rested and repeated when slaughtered. All of blood samples were centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 20 minutes to get serum, and then divided into two parts for cortisol assayed using ELISA and for measuring the wavelength using FTIR. The serum then measured at the wavelength between 4000-400 cm-1 using MB3000 FTIR. Band data absorption in wavelength of FTIR is analyzed descriptively by using FTIR Horizon MBTM. For RCL, average of serum cortisol when the animals rested were 11.47 ± 4.88 ng/mL, when the time of slaughter were 23.27 ± 7.84 ng/mL. For RBM, level of cortisol when rested animals were 13.67 ± 3.41 ng/mL and 53.47 ± 20.25 ng/mL during the slaughter. Based on student t-Test, there were significantly different between RBM and RCL methods when beef cattle were slaughtered (P<0.05), but no significantly different when animals were rested (P>0.05). Result of FTIR with the various of wavelength such as methyl group (=CH3 ) 2986cm-1, methylene (=CH2 ) 2827 cm-1, hydroxyl (- OH) 3371 cm-1, carbonyl (ketones) (C=O) 1636 cm-1, carboxyl (COO-1) 1408 cm-1, glucosa 1057 cm-1, urea 1011 cm-1have been obtained. It can be concluded that the RCL slaughtered method is better than the RBM method based on the increase of cortisol as an indicator of stress in beef cattle (P<0.05). FTIR is really possible to be used as stub of stress tool due to differentiate of resting and slaughter condition by recognizing the increase of absorption and the separation of component group at the wavelength.  

Keywords: Cows, cortisol, FTIR, RBM, RCL, stress indicator.

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Authors: Wei-Wen Liu, Feng-Chuan Pan, Pei-Chi Wen, Sen-Ji Chen, Su-Hui Lin

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Nurses in an Armed Force Hospital (AFH) expose to stronger stress than those in a civil hospital, especially in an emergency department (ED). Ironically, stresses of these nurses received few if any attention in academic research in the past. This study collects 227 samples from the emergency departments of four armed force hospitals in central and southern Taiwan. The research indicates that the top five stressors are a massive casualty event, delayed physician support, overloads of routine work, overloads of assignments, and annoying paper work. Excessive work loading was found to be the primary source of stress. Nurses who were perceived to have greater stress levels were more inclined to deploy emotion-oriented approaches and more likely to seek job rotations. Professional stressors and problem-oriented approaches were positively correlated. Unlike other local studies, this study concludes that the excessive work-loading is more stressful in an AFH.

Keywords: Emergency nurse, Job stressor, Coping behavior, Armed force hospital.

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Authors: Nosheen Zareen Khan, Abdul Majeed Siddiqui, Muhammad Afzal Rana

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The steady flow of a second order fluid through constricted tube with slip velocity at wall is modeled and analyzed theoretically. The governing equations are simplified by implying no slip in radial direction. Based on Karman Pohlhausen procedure polynomial solution for axial velocity profile is presented. Expressions for pressure gradient, shear stress, separation and reattachment points, and radial velocity are also calculated. The effect of slip and no slip velocity on magnitude velocity, shear stress, and pressure gradient are discussed and depicted graphically. It is noted that when Reynolds number increases magnitude velocity of the fluid decreases in both slip and no slip conditions. It is also found that the wall shear stress, separation, and reattachment points are strongly affected by Reynolds number.

Keywords: Approximate solution, constricted tube, non-Newtonian fluids, Reynolds number.

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Authors: Y. J. Zhou, G. Lu

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In this paper, an analytical study is made for the dynamic behavior of human brain tissue under transient loading. In this analytical model the Mooney-Rivlin constitutive law is coupled with visco-elastic constitutive equations to take into account both the nonlinear and time-dependent mechanical behavior of brain tissue. Five ordinary differential equations representing the relationships of five main parameters (radial stress, circumferential stress, radial strain, circumferential strain, and particle velocity) are obtained by using the characteristic method to transform five partial differential equations (two continuity equations, one motion equation, and two constitutive equations). Analytical expressions of the attenuation properties for spherical wave in brain tissue are analytically derived. Numerical results are obtained based on the five ordinary differential equations. The mechanical responses (particle velocity and stress) of brain are compared at different radii including 5, 6, 10, 15 and 25 mm under four different input conditions. The results illustrate that loading curves types of the particle velocity significantly influences the stress in brain tissue. The understanding of the influence by the input loading cures can be used to reduce the potentially injury to brain under head impact by designing protective structures to control the loading curves types.

Keywords: Analytical method, mechanical responses, spherical wave propagation, traumatic brain injury.

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Authors: S. Barabas, F. Sarbu, B. Barabas, A. Fota

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Main objective of this paper is to establish a link between inertial forces of the bearings used in construction of wind power plant and its behavior. Using bearings with lower inertial forces has the immediate effect of decreasing inertia rotor system, with significant results in increased energy efficiency, due to decreased friction forces between rollers and raceways. The F.E.M. analysis shows the appearance of uniform contact stress at the ends of the rollers, demonstrated the necessity of production of low mass bearings. Favorable results are expected in the economic field, by reducing material consumption and by increasing the durability of bearings. Using low mass bearings with hollow rollers instead of solid rollers has an impact on working temperature, on vibrations and noise which decrease. Implementation of types of hollow rollers of cylindrical tubular type, instead of expensive rollers with logarithmic profile, will bring significant inertial forces decrease with large benefits in behavior of wind power plant.

Keywords: Inertial forces, Von Mises stress, hollow rollers.

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Authors: J. R. Büttler, T. Pham

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Basic understanding of interfacial mechanisms is of importance for the development of polymer composites. For this purpose, we need techniques to analyze the quality of interphases, their chemical and physical interactions and their strength and fracture resistance. In order to investigate the interfacial phenomena in detail, advanced characterization techniques are favorable. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) using a rheological system is a sensitive tool. T-peel tests were performed with this system, to investigate the temperature-dependent peel behavior of woven textile composites. A model system was made of polyamide (PA) woven fabric laminated with films of polypropylene (PP) or PP modified by grafting with maleic anhydride (PP-g-MAH). Firstly, control measurements were performed with solely PP matrixes. Polymer melt investigations, as well as the extensional stress, extensional viscosity and extensional relaxation modulus at -10°C, 100 °C and 170 °C, demonstrate similar viscoelastic behavior for films made of PP-g-MAH and its non-modified PP-control. Frequency sweeps have shown that PP-g-MAH has a zero phase viscosity of around 1600 Pa·s and PP-control has a similar zero phase viscosity of 1345 Pa·s. Also, the gelation points are similar at 2.42*104 Pa (118 rad/s) and 2.81*104 Pa (161 rad/s) for PP-control and PP-g-MAH, respectively. Secondly, the textile composite was analyzed. The extensional stress of PA66 fabric laminated with either PP-control or PP-g-MAH at -10 °C, 25 °C and 170 °C for strain rates of 0.001 – 1 s^-1 was investigated. The laminates containing the modified PP need more stress for T-peeling. However, the strengthening effect due to the modification decreases by increasing temperature and at 170 °C, just above the melting temperature of the matrix, the difference disappears. Independent of the matrix used in the textile composite, there is a decrease of extensional stress by increasing temperature. It appears that the more viscous is the matrix, the weaker the laminar adhesion. Possibly, the measurement is influenced by the fact that the laminate becomes stiffer at lower temperatures. Adhesive lap-shear testing at room temperature supports the findings obtained with the T-peel test. Additional analysis of the textile composite at the microscopic level ensures that the fibers are well embedded in the matrix. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging of a cross section of the composite shows no gaps between the fibers and matrix. Measurements of the water contact angle show that the MAH grafted PP is more polar than the virgin-PP, and that suggests a more favorable chemical interaction of PP-g-MAH with PA, compared to the non-modified PP. In fact, this study indicates that T-peel testing by DMTA is a technique to achieve more insights into polymeric textile composites.

Keywords: Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, interphase, polyamide, polypropylene, textile composite, T-peel test.

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Authors: M.Jalali Azizpour, S.Norouzi, D.Sajedipour, H.Mohammadi Majd

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In this paper, the residual stress of thermal spray coatings in gas turbine component by curvature method has been studied. The samples and shaft were coated by hard WC-12Co cermets using high velocity oxy fuel (HVOF) after preparation in same conditions. The curvature of coated samples was measured by using of coordinate measurement machine (CMM). The metallurgical and Tribological studies has been made on the coated shaft using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)

Keywords: Thermal spray, Residual stress, Wear mechanism, HVOF, Gas compressor shafts

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Authors: H.Panahi, S.Asadi

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In this article, we consider the estimation of P[Y < X], when strength, X and stress, Y are two independent variables of Burr Type XII distribution. The MLE of the R based on one simple iterative procedure is obtained. Assuming that the common parameter is known, the maximum likelihood estimator, uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimator and Bayes estimator of P[Y < X] are discussed. The exact confidence interval of the R is also obtained. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to compare the different proposed methods.

Keywords: Stress-Strength model, Maximum likelihood estimator, Bayes estimator, Burr type XII distribution.

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Authors: Zainul Huda, Muhammad Hani Ajani

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The design, manufacture, and operation of thin-walled pressure vessels must be based on maximum safe operating pressure and an adequate factor of safety (FoS). This research paper first reports experimental evaluation of longitudinal and hoops stresses based on working pressure as well as maximum pressure; and then includes a critical study of factor of safety (FoS) in the design of a glass fiber pressure vessel. Experimental work involved the use of measuring instruments and the readings from pressure gauges. Design calculations involved the computations of design stress and FoS; the latter was based on breaking strength of 55 MPa for the glass fiber (pressure-vessel material). The experimentally determined FoS value has been critically compared with the general FoS allowed in the design of glass fiber pressure vessels.

Keywords: Thin-walled pressure vessel, hoop stress, longitudinal stress, factor of safety (FoS), fiberglass.

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Authors: Manuela Ciocoiu, Laur Badescu, Oana Badulescu, Magda Badescu

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The research focuses on the effects of polyphenols extracted from Sambucus nigra fruit, using an experimental arterial hypertension pattern, as well as their influence on the oxidative stress. The results reveal the normalization of the reduced glutathion concentration, as well as a considerable reduction in the malondialdehide serum concentration by the polyphenolic protection. The rat blood pressure values were recorded using a CODATM system, which uses a non-invasive blood pressure measuring method. All the measured blood pressure components revealed a biostatistically significant (p<0.05) blood pressure drop between the AHT and the AHT+P groups. The results prove that oxidative stress is considerably lower, statistically speaking, in rats with hypertension but also provided with natural polyphenolic protection from Sambucus nigra fruits than in the rats belonging to the control group. In addition to the demonstrated antioxidant effects, natural polyphenols also have other biological properties that might contribute to the cardioprotective effects.

Keywords: Arterial hypertension, Oxidative stress, Sambucus nigra

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Authors: Meseret Teshome

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This study has the objective of assessing the effect of kaizen (5S, Muda elimination and Quality Control Circle (QCC) on employees’ affective attitude (job satisfaction, commitment and job stress) in Kombolcha Textile Share Company. A conceptual model was developed to describe the relationship between Kaizen and Employees’ Affective Attitude (EAA) factors. The three factors of Employee Affective Attitude were measured using questionnaire derived from other validated questionnaire. In the data collection to conduct this study; questionnaire, unstructured interview, written documents and direct observations are used. To analyze the data, SPSS and Microsoft Excel were used. In addition, the internal consistency of similar items in the questionnaire instrument was measured for their equivalence by using the cronbach’s alpha test. In this study, the effect of 5S, Muda elimination and QCC on job satisfaction, commitment and job stress in Kombolcha Textile Share Company is assessed and factors that reduce employees’ job satisfaction with respect to kaizen implementation are identified. The total averages of means from the questionnaire are 3.1 for job satisfaction, 4.31 for job commitment and 4.2 for job stress. And results from interview and secondary data show that kaizen implementation have effect on EAA. In general, based on the thesis results it was concluded that kaizen (5S, muda elimination and QCC) have positive effect for improving EAA factors at KTSC. Finally, recommendations for improvement are given based on the results.

Keywords: Kaizen, job satisfaction, job commitment, job stress.

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Authors: M. Soltani Howyzeh, N. Kardoni, M. Mojadam

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To evaluate the vigor of wheat seeds and stress of premature aging effects on germination percentage, root length and shoot length of five wheat cultivars that include Vynak, Karkheh, Chamran, Star and Kavir which underwent a period of zero, two, three, four days in terms of premature aging with 41°C temperature and 100% relative humidity. Seed germination percentage, root length and shoot length in these conditions were measured. This experiment was conducted as a factorial completely randomized design with four replications in laboratory conditions. The results showed that each of aging treatments used in this experiment can be used to detect differences in vigor of wheat varieties. Wheat cultivars illustrated significant differences in germination percentage, root length and shoot length in terms of premature aging. The wheat cultivars; Astar and Vynak had maximum germination percentage and Karkheh, respectively Kavir and Chamran had lowest percentage of seed germination. Reactions of root and shoot length of wheat cultivars was also different. The results showed that the seeds with a stronger vigor affected less in premature aging condition and the difference between the percentage of seed germination under normal conditions and stress was significant and the seeds with the weaker vigor were more sensitive to the premature aging stress and the premature aging had more severe negative impact on seed vigor.

Keywords: Wheat cultivars, seed vigor, premature aging effects.

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Authors: Jinyong Yao, Hongzhi Li, Chao Du, Jiao Li

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Reliability of long-term storage products is related to the availability of the whole system, and the evaluation of storage life is of great necessity. These products are usually highly reliable and little failure information can be collected. In this paper, an analytical method based on data from accelerated storage life test is proposed to evaluate the reliability index of the long-term storage products. Firstly, singularities are eliminated by data normalization and residual analysis. Secondly, with the preprocessed data, the degradation path model is built to obtain the pseudo life values. Then by life distribution hypothesis, we can get the estimator of parameters in high stress levels and verify failure mechanism consistency. Finally, the life distribution under the normal stress level is extrapolated via the acceleration model and evaluation of the actual average life is available. An application example with the camera stabilization device is provided to illustrate the methodology we proposed.

Keywords: Accelerated storage life test, failure mechanism consistency, life distribution, reliability.

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Authors: Farhad Asadi, Gholamhasan Payganeh

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High-speed turbomachine can experience significant centrifugal and gas bending loads. As a result, the compressor blades must be able to resist high-frequency oscillations due to surge or stall condition in flow field dynamics. In this paper, vibration characteristics of the 6th stage blade compressor have been examined in detail with, using 3-D finite element (FE) methods. The primary aim of this article is to gain an understanding of nonlinear vibration induced in the blade against different loading conditions. The results indicate the nonlinear behavior of the blade as a result of the amplitude of resonances or material properties. Since one of the leading causes of turbine blade failure is high cycle fatigue, simulations were started by specifying the stress distribution in the blade due to the centrifugal rotation. Next, resonant frequencies and critical speeds of the blade were defined by modal analysis. Finally, the harmonic analysis was simulated on the blades.

Keywords: Nonlinear vibration, modal analysis, resonance, frequency response, compressor blade.

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Authors: Minto Rattan, Tania Bose, Neeraj Chamoli

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The present paper investigates the effect of linear thermal gradient on the steady-state creep behavior of rotating isotropic disc using threshold stress based Sherby’s creep law. The composite discs made of aluminum matrix reinforced with silicon carbide particulate has been taken for analysis. The stress and strain rate distributions have been calculated for discs rotating at linear thermal gradation using von Mises’ yield criterion. The material parameters have been estimated by regression fit of the available experimental data. The results are displayed and compared graphically in designer friendly format for the above said temperature profile with the disc operating under uniform temperature profile. It is observed that radial and tangential stresses show minor variation and the strain rates vary significantly in the presence of thermal gradation as compared to disc having uniform temperature.

Keywords: Creep, isotropic, steady-state, thermal gradient.

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Authors: Ahmad M. Khalil, Ahmad M. Alshamali, Marwan H. Gagaa

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We investigated oxidative DNA damage caused by radio frequency radiation using 8-oxo-7, 8-dihydro-2'- deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) generated in mice tissues after exposure to 900 MHz mobile phone radio frequency in three independent experiments. The RF was generated by a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) signal generator. The radio frequency field was adjusted to 25 V/m. The whole body specific absorption rate (SAR) was 1.0 W/kg. Animals were exposed to this field for 30 min daily for 30 days. 24 h post-exposure, blood serum, brain and spleen were removed and DNA was isolated. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure 8-oxodG concentration. All animals survived the whole experimental period. The body weight of animals did not change significantly at the end of the experiment. No statistically significant differences observed in the levels of oxidative stress. Our results are not in favor of the hypothesis that 900 MHz RF induces oxidative damage.

Keywords: Mice, Mobile phone radiation, oxidative stress, 8-oxo-7, 8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine

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Authors: Abu Rayhan Md. Ali, Nidul Ch. Ghosh, Tanvir-E-Alam

Abstract:

The effect of autofrettage process in strain hardened thick-walled pressure vessels has been investigated theoretically by finite element modeling. Equivalent von Mises stress is used as yield criterion to evaluate the optimum autofrettage pressure and the optimum radius of elastic-plastic junction. It has been observed that the optimum autofrettage pressure increases along with the working pressure. For two different working pressures, the effect of the ratio of outer to inner radius (b/a=k) value on the optimum autofrettage pressure is also noticed. The Optimum autofrettage pressure solely depends on K value rather than on the inner or outer radius. Furthermore, percentage reduction of von Mises stresses is compared for different working pressures and different k values. Maximum von Mises stress developed at different autofrettage pressure is equated for elastic perfectly plastic and elastic-plastic material with different slope of strain hardening segment. Cylinder material having higher slope of strain hardening segment provides better benedictions in the autofrettage process.

Keywords: Autofrettage, elastic plastic junction, pressure vessel, von Mises stress.

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Authors: M. Shannag, A. Charif, S. Naser, F. Faisal, A. Karim

Abstract:

Structural lightweight concrete is used primarily to reduce the dead-load weight in concrete members such as floors in high-rise buildings and bridge decks. With given materials, it is generally desired to have the highest possible strength/unit weight ratio with the lowest cost of concrete. The work presented herein is part of an ongoing research project that investigates the properties of concrete mixes containing locally available Scoria lightweight aggregates and mineral admixtures. Properties considered included: workability, unit weight, compressive strength, and splitting tensile strength. Test results indicated that developing structural lightweight concretes (SLWC) using locally available Scoria lightweight aggregates and specific blends of silica fume and fly ash seems to be feasible. The stress-strain diagrams plotted for the structural LWC mixes developed in this investigation were comparable to a typical stress-strain diagram for normal weight concrete with relatively larger strain capacity at failure in case of LWC.

Keywords: Lightweight Concrete, Scoria, Stress, Strain, Silica fume, Fly Ash.

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Authors: M. Meriem-Benziane, Sabah A. Abdul-Wahab, H. Zahloul, M. Belhadri

Abstract:

This paper made an attempt to investigate the problem associated with enhancement of emulsions of light crude oil-water recovery in an oil field of Algerian Sahara. Measurements were taken through experiments using RheoStress (RS600). Factors such as shear rate, temperature and light oil concentration on the viscosity behavior were considered. Experimental measurements were performed in terms of shear stress–shear rate, yield stress and flow index on mixture of light crude oil–water. The rheological behavior of emulsion showed Non-Newtonian shear thinning behavior (Herschel-Bulkley). The experiments done in the laboratory showed the stability of some water in light crude oil emulsions form during consolidate oil recovery process. To break the emulsion using additives may involve higher cost and could be very expensive. Therefore, further research should be directed to find solution of these problems that have been encountered.

Keywords: Emulsion, Flow index, Herschel-Bulkley model, Newton model, Oil field, Rheology, Yield stress

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Authors: Y. Obikane, T. Nemoto , K. Ogura, M. Iwata, K. Ono

Abstract:

The objective of this research was to find the diffusion properties of vehicles on the road by using the V-Sphere Code. The diffusion coefficient and the size of the height of the wake were estimated with the LES option and the third order MUSCL scheme. We evaluated the code with the changes in the moments of Reynolds Stress along the mean streamline. The results show that at the leading part of a bluff body the LES has some advantages over the RNS since the changes in the strain rates are larger for the leading part. We estimated that the diffusion coefficient with the computed Reynolds stress (non-dimensional) was about 0.96 times the mean velocity.

Keywords: Wake , bluff body, V-CAD, turbulence diffusion.

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