Search results for: internal and external carotid arteries
830 Advantages of Neural Network Based Air Data Estimation for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Authors: Angelo Lerro, Manuela Battipede, Piero Gili, Alberto Brandl
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Redundancy requirements for UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) are hardly faced due to the generally restricted amount of available space and allowable weight for the aircraft systems, limiting their exploitation. Essential equipment as the Air Data, Attitude and Heading Reference Systems (ADAHRS) require several external probes to measure significant data as the Angle of Attack or the Sideslip Angle. Previous research focused on the analysis of a patented technology named Smart-ADAHRS (Smart Air Data, Attitude and Heading Reference System) as an alternative method to obtain reliable and accurate estimates of the aerodynamic angles. This solution is based on an innovative sensor fusion algorithm implementing soft computing techniques and it allows to obtain a simplified inertial and air data system reducing external devices. In fact, only one external source of dynamic and static pressures is needed. This paper focuses on the benefits which would be gained by the implementation of this system in UAV applications. A simplification of the entire ADAHRS architecture will bring to reduce the overall cost together with improved safety performance. Smart-ADAHRS has currently reached Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6. Real flight tests took place on ultralight aircraft equipped with a suitable Flight Test Instrumentation (FTI). The output of the algorithm using the flight test measurements demonstrates the capability for this fusion algorithm to embed in a single device multiple physical and virtual sensors. Any source of dynamic and static pressure can be integrated with this system gaining a significant improvement in terms of versatility.Keywords: Neural network, aerodynamic angles, virtual sensor, unmanned aerial vehicle, air data system, flight test.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1023829 Genetic Algorithm Application in a Dynamic PCB Assembly with Carryover Sequence- Dependent Setups
Authors: M. T. Yazdani Sabouni, Rasaratnam Logendran
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We consider a typical problem in the assembly of printed circuit boards (PCBs) in a two-machine flow shop system to simultaneously minimize the weighted sum of weighted tardiness and weighted flow time. The investigated problem is a group scheduling problem in which PCBs are assembled in groups and the interest is to find the best sequence of groups as well as the boards within each group to minimize the objective function value. The type of setup operation between any two board groups is characterized as carryover sequence-dependent setup time, which exactly matches with the real application of this problem. As a technical constraint, all of the boards must be kitted before the assembly operation starts (kitting operation) and by kitting staff. The main idea developed in this paper is to completely eliminate the role of kitting staff by assigning the task of kitting to the machine operator during the time he is idle which is referred to as integration of internal (machine) and external (kitting) setup times. Performing the kitting operation, which is a preparation process of the next set of boards while the other boards are currently being assembled, results in the boards to continuously enter the system or have dynamic arrival times. Consequently, a dynamic PCB assembly system is introduced for the first time in the assembly of PCBs, which also has characteristics similar to that of just-in-time manufacturing. The problem investigated is computationally very complex, meaning that finding the optimal solutions especially when the problem size gets larger is impossible. Thus, a heuristic based on Genetic Algorithm (GA) is employed. An example problem on the application of the GA developed is demonstrated and also numerical results of applying the GA on solving several instances are provided.Keywords: Genetic algorithm, Dynamic PCB assembly, Carryover sequence-dependent setup times, Multi-objective.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1569828 Characterization of Candlenut Shells and Its Application to Remove Oil and Fine Solids of Produced Water in Nutshell Filters of Water Cleaning Plant
Authors: Annur Suhadi, Haris B. Harahap, Zaim Arrosyidi, Epan, Darmapala
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Oilfields under waterflood often face the problem of plugging injectors either by internal filtration or external filter cake built up inside pore throats. The content of suspended solids shall be reduced to required level of filtration since corrective action of plugging is costly expensive. The performance of nutshell filters, where filtration takes place, is good using pecan and walnut shells. Candlenut shells were used instead of pecan and walnut shells since they were abundant in Indonesia, Malaysia, and East Africa. Physical and chemical properties of walnut, pecan, and candlenut shells were tested and the results were compared. Testing, using full-scale nutshell filters, was conducted to determine the oil content, turbidity, and suspended solid removal, which was based on designed flux rate. The performance of candlenut shells, which were deeply bedded in nutshell filters for filtration process, was monitored. Cleaned water outgoing nutshell filters had total suspended solids of 17 ppm, while oil content could be reduced to 15.1 ppm. Turbidity, using candlenut shells, was below the specification for injection water, which was less than 10 Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU). Turbidity of water, outgoing nutshell filter, was ranged from 1.7-5.0 NTU at various dates of operation. Walnut, pecan, and candlenut shells had moisture content of 8.98 wt%, 10.95 wt%, and 9.95 wt%, respectively. The porosity of walnut, pecan, and candlenut shells was significantly affected by moisture content. Candlenut shells had property of toluene solubility of 7.68 wt%, which was much higher than walnut shells, reflecting more crude oil adsorption. The hardness of candlenut shells was 2.5-3 Mohs, which was close to walnut shells’ hardness. It was advantage to guarantee the cleaning filter cake by fluidization process during backwashing.
Keywords: Candlenut shells, walnut shells, pecan shells, nutshell filter, filtration.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 455827 A Computational Study of the Effect of Intake Design on Volumetric Efficiency for Best Performance in Motorsport
Authors: Dominic Wentworth-Linton, Shian Gao
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This project was aimed at investigating the effect of velocity stacks on the intakes of internal combustion engines for motorsport applications. The intake systems in motorsport are predominantly fuel injection with a plate mounted for the stacks. Using Computational Fluid Dynamics software, the relationship between the stack length and power and torque delivery across the engine’s rev range was investigated and the results were used to choose the best option for its intended motorsport discipline. The test results are expected to vary with engine geometry and its natural manufacturer characteristics. The test was also relevant in bridging between computational data and real simulation as the results show flow, pressure and velocity readings but the behaviour of the engine is inferred from the nature of each test. The results of the data analysis were tested in a real-life simulation on a dynamometer to prove the theory of stack length on power and torque delivery, which helps determine the most suitable stack for the Vauxhall engine for rallying in the Caribbean.
Keywords: CFD simulation, internal combustion engine, intake system, dynamometer test.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2246826 Studies on Race Car Aerodynamics at Wing in Ground Effect
Authors: Dharni Vasudhevan Venkatesan, Shanjay K E, Sujith Kumar H, Abhilash N A, Aswin Ram D, V.R.Sanal Kumar
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Numerical studies on race car aerodynamics at wing in ground effect have been carried out using a steady 3d, double precision, pressure-based, and standard k-epsilon turbulence model. Through various parametric analytical studies we have observed that at a particular speed and ground clearance of the wings a favorable negative lift was found high at a particular angle of attack for all the physical models considered in this paper. The fact is that if the ground clearance height to chord length (h/c) is too small, the developing boundary layers from either side (the ground and the lower surface of the wing) can interact, leading to an altered variation of the aerodynamic characteristics at wing in ground effect. Therefore a suitable ground clearance must be predicted throughout the racing for a better performance of the race car, which obviously depends upon the coupled effects of the topography, wing orientation with respect to the ground, the incoming flow features and/or the race car speed. We have concluded that for the design of high performance and high speed race cars the adjustable wings capable to alter the ground clearance and the angles of attack is the best design option for any race car for racing safely with variable speeds.
Keywords: External aerodynamics, External Flow Choking, Race car aerodynamics, Wing in Ground Effect.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5798825 Numerical Study of Steel Structures Responses to External Explosions
Authors: Mohammad Abdallah
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Due to the constant increase in terrorist attacks, the research and engineering communities have given significant attention to building performance under explosions. This paper presents a methodology for studying and simulating the dynamic responses of steel structures during external detonations, particularly for accurately investigating the impact of incrementing charge weight on the members total behavior, resistance and failure. Prediction damage method was introduced to evaluate the damage level of the steel members based on five scenarios of explosions. Johnson–Cook strength and failure model have been used as well as ABAQUS finite element code to simulate the explicit dynamic analysis, and antecedent field tests were used to verify the acceptance and accuracy of the proposed material strength and failure model. Based on the structural response, evaluation criteria such as deflection, vertical displacement, drift index, and damage level; the obtained results show the vulnerability of steel columns and un-braced steel frames which are designed and optimized to carry dead and live load to resist and endure blast loading.
Keywords: Steel structure, blast load, terrorist attacks, charge weight, damage level.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 775824 Improving the Frequency Response of a Circular Dual-Mode Resonator with a Reconfigurable Bandwidth
Authors: Muhammad Haitham Albahnassi, Adnan Malki, Shokri Almekdad
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In this paper, a method for reconfiguring bandwidth in a circular dual-mode resonator is presented. The method concerns the optimized geometry of a structure that may be used to host the tuning elements, which are typically RF (Radio Frequency) switches. The tuning elements themselves, and their performance during tuning, are not the focus of this paper. The designed resonator is able to reconfigure its fractional bandwidth by adjusting the inter-coupling level between the degenerate modes, while at the same time improving its response by adjusting the external-coupling level and keeping the center frequency fixed. The inter-coupling level has been adjusted by changing the dimensions of the perturbation element, while the external-coupling level has been adjusted by changing one of the feeder dimensions. The design was arrived at via optimization. Agreeing simulation and measurement results of the designed and implemented filters showed good improvements in return loss values and the stability of the center frequency.Keywords: Dual-mode resonators, perturbation element, perturbation theory, reconfigurable filters, software defined radio (SDR), cognitine radio.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 629823 Pollution Control and Sustainable Urban Transport System - Electric Vehicle
Authors: M.M. Al Emran Hasan, M.Ektesabi, A.Kapoor
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Recently electric vehicles are becoming popular as an alternative of conventional fossil fuel vehicles. Conventional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicle uses fossil fuel which contributing a major part of overall carbon emission in the environment. Carbon and other green house gas emission are responsible for global warming and resulting climate change. It becomes vital to evaluate performance of vehicle based on emission. In this paper an effort has been made to depict the picture of emission caused by vehicle and scenario of Australia has taken into account. Effort has been made to compare the fossil based vehicle with electric vehicle in phases. The study also evaluates advancement in electric vehicle technology, required infrastructure for sustainability and future scope of developments. This paper also includes the evaluation of electric vehicle concept for pollution control and sustainable transport systems in future. This study can be a benchmark for development of electric vehicle as low carbon emission alternative for the cities of tomorrow.Keywords: Electric Vehicle, Fossil Fuel, Internal CombustionEngine, Green House Gas, In wheel motor, Smart grid
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1724822 Image Clustering Framework for BAVM Segmentation in 3DRA Images: Performance Analysis
Authors: FH. Sarieddeen, R. El Berbari, S. Imad, J. Abdel Baki, M. Hamad, R. Blanc, A. Nakib, Y.Chenoune
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Brain ArterioVenous Malformation (BAVM) is an abnormal tangle of brain blood vessels where arteries shunt directly into veins with no intervening capillary bed which causes high pressure and hemorrhage risk. The success of treatment by embolization in interventional neuroradiology is highly dependent on the accuracy of the vessels visualization. In this paper the performance of clustering techniques on vessel segmentation from 3- D rotational angiography (3DRA) images is investigated and a new technique of segmentation is proposed. This method consists in: preprocessing step of image enhancement, then K-Means (KM), Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) and Expectation Maximization (EM) clustering are used to separate vessel pixels from background and artery pixels from vein pixels when possible. A post processing step of removing false-alarm components is applied before constructing a three-dimensional volume of the vessels. The proposed method was tested on six datasets along with a medical assessment of an expert. Obtained results showed encouraging segmentations.
Keywords: Brain arteriovenous malformation (BAVM), 3-D rotational angiography (3DRA), K-Means (KM) clustering, Fuzzy CMeans (FCM) clustering, Expectation Maximization (EM) clustering, volume rendering.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1910821 A Comprehensive Evaluation of IGBTs Performance under Zero Current Switching
Authors: Ly. Benbahouche
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Currently, several soft switching topologies have been studied to achieve high power switching efficiency, reduced cost, improved reliability and reduced parasites. It is well known that improvement in power electronics systems always depend on advanced in power devices. The IGBT has been successfully used in a variety of switching applications such as motor drives and appliance control because of its superior characteristics.
The aim of this paper is focuses on simulation and explication of the internal dynamics of IGBTs behaviour under the most popular soft switching schemas that is Zero Current Switching (ZCS) environments.
The main purpose of this paper is to point out some mechanisms relating to current tail during the turn-off and examination of the response at turn-off with variation of temperature, inductance L, snubber capacitors Cs, and bus voltage in order to achieve an improved understanding of internal carrier dynamics. It is shown that the snubber capacitor, the inductance and even the temperature controls the magnitude and extent of the tail current, hence the turn-off time (switching speed of the device).
Moreover, it has also been demonstrated that the ZCS switching can be utilized efficiently to improve and reduce the power losses as well as the turn-off time. Furthermore, the turn-off loss in ZCS was found to depend on the time of switching of the device.
Keywords: PT-IGBT, ZCS, turn-off losses, dV/dt.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2587820 Mental Health in Young People Living Poverty in Southeastern Mexico
Authors: Teresita Castillo, Concepción Campo, Carlos Carrillo
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Attention, comprehension and solution of poverty can be worked considering a socioeconomic approach; but it also can be attended from a multidimensional perspective that allows considering other dimensions including psychological variables manifested in behaviors, thoughts and feelings concerning this phenomenon. Considering the importance of research regarding psychology and poverty, this paper presents results about psychosocial impacts of poverty on young people related to mental health issues and its relation to fatalism. These results are part of a bigger transcultural study done in collaboration with the Federal University of Ceará, in Brazil. Participants were 101 young men and women, between 12 and 29 years old, living in two emarginated suburbs in Mérida, Mexico, located in the southeastern zone of the country. Participants responded the Self Report Questionnaire (SRQ- 20), with 20 items dichotomous presence/absence that assess anxious and depressive issues and the Fatalism Scale, with 30 items Likert five-point spread over five factors. Results show that one third of participants mentioned to get easily frightened, feeling nervous, tense or worried as well as unhappy, difficulty on making decisions, and troubles in thinking clearly. About 20% mentioned to have headaches, to sleep badly, to cry more than usual and to feel tired all the time. Regarding Fatalism, results show there is a greater internal allocation and lower external attribution in young participants, but they have some symptoms regarding poor mental health. Discussion is in terms of possible explanations about the results and emphasizes the importance of holistic approaches for a better understanding of the psychosocial impacts of poverty on young people and strengthening the resilience to increase positive mental health in emarginated contexts, where Community Psychology could have an important duty in community health promotion.
Keywords: Fatalism, mental health, poverty, youth.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1124819 Modeling of Steady State Creep in Thick-Walled Cylinders under Internal Pressure
Authors: Tejeet Singh, Ishavneet Singh
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The present study focused on carrying out the creep analysis in an isotropic thick-walled composite cylindrical pressure vessel composed of aluminum matrix reinforced with silicon-carbide in particulate form. The creep behavior of the composite material has been described by the threshold stress based creep law. The values of stress exponent appearing in the creep law were selected as 3, 5 and 8. The constitutive equations were developed using well known von-Mises yield criteria. Models were developed to find out the distributions of creep stress and strain rate in thick-walled composite cylindrical pressure vessels under internal pressure. In order to obtain the stress distributions in the cylinder, the equilibrium equation of the continuum mechanics and the constitutive equations are solved together. It was observed that the radial stress, tangential stress and axial stress increases along with the radial distance. The cross-over was also obtained almost at the middle region of cylindrical vessel for tangential and axial stress for different values of stress exponent. The strain rates were also decreasing in nature along the entire radius.Keywords: Steady state creep, composite, cylinder, pressure.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1614818 Development of a Small-Group Teaching Method for Enhancing the Learning of Basic Acupuncture Manipulation Optimized with the Theory of Motor Learning
Authors: Wen-Chao Tang, Tang-Yi Liu, Ming Gao, Gang Xu, Hua-Yuan Yang
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This study developed a method for teaching acupuncture manipulation in small groups optimized with the theory of motor learning. Sixty acupuncture students and their teacher participated in our research. Motion videos were recorded of their manipulations using the lifting-thrusting method. These videos were analyzed using Simi Motion software to acquire the movement parameters of the thumb tip. The parameter velocity curves along Y axis was used to generate small teaching groups clustered by a self-organized map (SOM) and K-means. Ten groups were generated. All the targeted instruction based on the comparative results groups as well as the videos of teacher and student was provided to the members of each group respectively. According to the theory and research of motor learning, the factors or technologies such as video instruction, observational learning, external focus and summary feedback were integrated into this teaching method. Such efforts were desired to improve and enhance the effectiveness of current acupuncture teaching methods in limited classroom teaching time and extracurricular training.Keywords: Acupuncture, group teaching, video instruction, observational learning, external focus, summary feedback.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 594817 A Review on the Potential of Electric Vehicles in Reducing World CO2 Footprints
Authors: S. Alotaibi, S. Omer, Y. Su
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The conventional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) based vehicles are a threat to the environment as they account for a large proportion of the overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the world. Hence, it is required to replace these vehicles with more environment-friendly vehicles. Electric Vehicles (EVs) are promising technologies which offer both human comfort “noise, pollution” as well as reduced (or no) emissions of GHGs. In this paper, different types of EVs are reviewed and their advantages and disadvantages are identified. It is found that in terms of fuel economy, Plug-in Hybrid EVs (PHEVs) have the best fuel economy, followed by Hybrid EVs (HEVs) and ICE vehicles. Since Battery EVs (BEVs) do not use any fuel, their fuel economy is estimated as price per kilometer. Similarly, in terms of GHG emissions, BEVs are the most environmentally friendly since they do not result in any emissions while HEVs and PHEVs produce less emissions compared to the conventional ICE based vehicles. Fuel Cell EVs (FCEVs) are also zero-emission vehicles, but they have large costs associated with them. Finally, if the electricity is provided by using the renewable energy technologies through grid connection, then BEVs could be considered as zero emission vehicles.
Keywords: Electric vehicle, fuel cell electric vehicle, hybrid electric vehicle, internal combustion engine.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 538816 A Smart Monitoring System for Preventing Gas Risks in Indoor
Authors: Gyoutae Park, Geunjun Lyu, Yeonjae Lee, Wooksuk Kim, Jaheon Gu, Sanguk Ahn, Hiesik Kim
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In this paper, we propose a system for preventing gas risks through the use of wireless communication modules and intelligent gas safety appliances. Our system configuration consists of an automatic extinguishing system, detectors, a wall-pad, and a microcomputer controlled micom gas meter to monitor gas flow and pressure as well as the occurrence of earthquakes. The automatic fire extinguishing system checks for both combustible gaseous leaks and monitors the environmental temperature, while the detector array measures smoke and CO gas concentrations. Depending on detected conditions, the micom gas meter cuts off an inner valve and generates a warning, the automatic fire-extinguishing system cuts off an external valve and sprays extinguishing materials, or the sensors generate signals and take further action when smoke or CO are detected. Information on intelligent measures taken by the gas safety appliances and sensors are transmitted to the wall-pad, which in turn relays this as real time data to a server that can be monitored via an external network (BcN) connection to a web or mobile application for the management of gas safety. To validate this smart-home gas management system, we field-tested its suitability for use in Korean apartments under several scenarios.Keywords: Gas sensor, leak, gas safety, gas meter, gas risk, wireless communication.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2719815 Verification of K-ω SST Turbulence Model for Supersonic Internal Flows
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In this work, we try to find the best setting of Computational Fluid Dynamic solver available for the problems in the field of supersonic internal flows. We used the supersonic air-toair ejector to represent the typical problem in focus. There are multiple oblique shock waves, shear layers, boundary layers and normal shock interacting in the supersonic ejector making this device typical in field of supersonic inner flows. Modeling of shocks in general is demanding on the physical model of fluid, because ordinary conservation equation does not conform to real conditions in the near-shock region as found in many works. From these reasons, we decided to take special care about solver setting in this article by means of experimental approach of color Schlieren pictures and pneumatic measurement. Fast pressure transducers were used to measure unsteady static pressure in regimes with normal shock in mixing chamber. Physical behavior of ejector in several regimes is discussed. Best choice of eddy-viscosity setting is discussed on the theoretical base. The final verification of the k-ω SST is done on the base of comparison between experiment and numerical results.Keywords: CFD simulations, color Schlieren, k-ω SST, supersonic flows, shock waves.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6472814 Analytical Model to Predict the Shear Capacity of Reinforced Concrete Beams Externally Strengthened with CFRP Composites Conditions
Authors: Rajai Al-Rousan
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This paper presents a proposed analytical model for predicting the shear strength of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with CFRP composites as external reinforcement. The proposed analytical model can predict the shear contribution of CFRP composites of RC beams with an acceptable coefficient of correlation with the tested results. Based on the comparison of the proposed model with the published well-known models (ACI model, Triantafillou model, and Colotti model), the ACI model had a wider range of 0.16 to 10.08 for the ratio between tested and predicted ultimate shears at failure. Also, an acceptable range of 0.27 to 2.78 for the ratio between tested and predicted ultimate shears by the Triantafillou model. Finally, the best prediction (the ratio between the tested and predicted ones) of the ultimate shear capacity is observed by using Colotti model with a range of 0.20 to 1.78. Thus, the contribution of the CFRP composites as external reinforcement can be predicted with high accuracy by using the proposed analytical model.
Keywords: Predicting, shear capacity, reinforced concrete, beams, strengthened, externally, CFRP composites.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 871813 A Literature Review on the Effect of Industrial Clusters and the Absorptive Capacity on Innovation
Authors: Enrique Claver Cortés, Bartolomé Marco Lajara, Eduardo Sánchez García, Pedro Seva Larrosa, Encarnación Manresa Marhuenda, Lorena Ruiz Fernández, Esther Poveda Pareja
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In recent decades, the analysis of the effects of clustering as an essential factor for the development of innovations and the competitiveness of enterprises has raised great interest in different areas. Nowadays, companies have access to almost all tangible and intangible resources located and/or developed in any country in the world. However, despite the obvious advantages that this situation entails for companies, their geographical location has shown itself, increasingly clearly, to be a fundamental factor that positively influences their innovative performance and competitiveness. Industrial clusters could represent a unique level of analysis, positioned between the individual company and the industry, which makes them an ideal unit of analysis to determine the effects derived from company membership of a cluster. Also, the absorptive capacity (hereinafter 'AC') can mediate the process of innovation development by companies located in a cluster. The transformation and exploitation of knowledge could have a mediating effect between knowledge acquisition and innovative performance. The main objective of this work is to determine the key factors that affect the degree of generation and use of knowledge from the environment by companies and, consequently, their innovative performance and competitiveness. The elements analyzed are the companies' membership of a cluster and the AC. To this end, 30 most relevant papers published on this subject in the "Web of Science" database have been reviewed. Our findings show that, within a cluster, the knowledge coming from the companies' environment can significantly influence their innovative performance and competitiveness, although in this relationship, the degree of access and exploitation of the companies to this knowledge plays a fundamental role, which depends on a series of elements both internal and external to the company.
Keywords: Absorptive capacity, clusters, innovation, knowledge.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 896812 Simplified 3R2C Building Thermal Network Model: A Case Study
Authors: S. M. Mahbobur Rahman
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Whole building energy simulation models are widely used for predicting future energy consumption, performance diagnosis and optimum control. Black box building energy modeling approach has been heavily studied in the past decade. The thermal response of a building can also be modeled using a network of interconnected resistors (R) and capacitors (C) at each node called R-C network. In this study, a model building, Case 600, as described in the “Standard Method of Test for the Evaluation of Building Energy Analysis Computer Program”, ASHRAE standard 140, is studied along with a 3R2C thermal network model and the ASHRAE clear sky solar radiation model. Although building an energy model involves two important parts of building component i.e., the envelope and internal mass, the effect of building internal mass is not considered in this study. All the characteristic parameters of the building envelope are evaluated as on Case 600. Finally, monthly building energy consumption from the thermal network model is compared with a simple-box energy model within reasonable accuracy. From the results, 0.6-9.4% variation of monthly energy consumption is observed because of the south-facing windows.
Keywords: ASHRAE case study, clear sky solar radiation model, energy modeling, thermal network model.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1230811 Reproduction Performance of Etawah Cross Bred Goats in Estrus Synchronization by Controlled Internal Drug Release Implant and Pgf2α Continued by Artificial Insemination
Authors: Diah Tri Widayati, Aris Junaidi, Kresno Suharto, Amelia Oktaviani, Wahyuningsih
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The estrus female Etawah cross bred goats were synchronized estrus by controlled internal drug release (CIDR) implants for 10 days combined with PGF2α injection, and continued by artificial insemination (AI) within the hours of 24 period. Vaginal epithelium was taken to determine estrus cycle of the goats without estrus synchronization. The estrus responds (the puffy of vulva and vaginal pH) and percentage of pregnancy were investigated. The data were analyzed descriptively and Independent Sample T-Test. The results showed that the puffy of vulva and vaginal pH were significantly different in synchronized estrus goats and control goats (2.18 ± 0.33 cm vs. 1.20 ± 0.16 cm and 8.55 ± 0.63 vs. 8.22 ± 0.22). Percentage of pregnancy was higher in synchronized estrus goats (73.33%) than in control (53.3%). Estrus synchronization by using CIDR implants and PGF2, continued by AI was effective to improve reproduction performance of Etawah cross bred goats.Keywords: Artificial insemination, Estrus synchronization, Etawah cross bred goat, Reproduction performance.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5049810 Internal Power Recovery in Cryogenic Cooling Plants Part I: Expander Development
Authors: Ambra Giovannelli, Erika Maria Archilei
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The amount of the electrical power required by refrigeration systems is relevant worldwide. It is evaluated in the order of 15% of the total electricity production taking refrigeration and air-conditioning into consideration. For this reason, in the last years several energy saving techniques have been proposed to reduce the power demand of such plants. The paper deals with the development of an innovative internal recovery system for cryogenic cooling plants. Such a system consists in a Compressor-Expander Group (CEG) designed on the basis of the automotive turbocharging technology. In particular, the paper is focused on the design of the expander, the critical component of the CEG system. Due to the low volumetric flow entering the expander and the high expansion ratio, a commercial turbocharger expander wheel was strongly modified. It was equipped with a transonic nozzle, designed to have a radially inflow full admission. To verify the performance of such a machine and suggest improvements, two different set of nozzles have been designed and modelled by means of the commercial Ansys-CFX software. steady-state 3D CFD simulations of the second-generation prototype are presented and compared with the initial ones.
Keywords: Energy saving, organic fluids, radial turbine, refrigeration plant, vapor compression systems.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1219809 Effect of Installation of Long Cylindrical External Store on Performance, Stability, Control and Handling Qualities of Light Transport Aircraft
Authors: Ambuj Srivastava, Narender Singh
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This paper presents the effect of installation of cylindrical external store on the performance, stability, control and handling qualities of light transport category aircraft. A pair of long cylindrical store was installed symmetrically on either side of the fuselage (port and starboard) ahead of the wing and below the fuselage bottom surface running below pilot and co-pilot window. The cylindrical store was installed as hanging from aircraft surface through specially designed brackets. The adjoining structure was sufficiently reinforced for bearing aerodynamic loads. The length to diameter ratio of long cylindrical store was ~20. Based on academic studies and flow simulation analysis, a considerable detrimental effect on single engine second segment climb performance was found which was later validated through extensive flight testing exercise. The methodology of progressive flight envelope opening was adopted. The certification was sought from Regional airworthiness authorities and for according approval.Keywords: Second segment climb, maximum operating speed, cruise performance, single engine and twin engine, minimum control speed, and additional trim required.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1237808 Morpho-Phonological Modelling in Natural Language Processing
Authors: Eleni Galiotou, Angela Ralli
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In this paper we propose a computational model for the representation and processing of morpho-phonological phenomena in a natural language, like Modern Greek. We aim at a unified treatment of inflection, compounding, and word-internal phonological changes, in a model that is used for both analysis and generation. After discussing certain difficulties cuase by well-known finitestate approaches, such as Koskenniemi-s two-level model [7] when applied to a computational treatment of compounding, we argue that a morphology-based model provides a more adequate account of word-internal phenomena. Contrary to the finite state approaches that cannot handle hierarchical word constituency in a satisfactory way, we propose a unification-based word grammar, as the nucleus of our strategy, which takes into consideration word representations that are based on affixation and [stem stem] or [stem word] compounds. In our formalism, feature-passing operations are formulated with the use of the unification device, and phonological rules modeling the correspondence between lexical and surface forms apply at morpheme boundaries. In the paper, examples from Modern Greek illustrate our approach. Morpheme structures, stress, and morphologically conditioned phoneme changes are analyzed and generated in a principled way.
Keywords: Morpho-Phonology, Natural Language Processing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2129807 Modular Hybrid Robots for Safe Human-Robot Interaction
Authors: J. Radojicic, D. Surdilovic, G. Schreck
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The paper considers a novel modular and intrinsically safe redundant robotic system with biologically inspired actuators (pneumatic artificial muscles and rubber bellows actuators). Similarly to the biological systems, the stiffness of the internal parallel modules, representing 2 DOF joints in the serial robotic chains, is controlled by co-activation of opposing redundant actuator groups in the null-space of the module Jacobian, without influencing the actual robot position. The decoupled position/stiffness control allows the realization of variable joint stiffness according to different force-displacement relationships. The variable joint stiffness, as well as limited pneumatic muscle/bellows force ability, ensures internal system safety that is crucial for development of human-friendly robots intended for human-robot collaboration. The initial experiments with the system prototype demonstrate the capabilities of independently, simultaneously controlling both joint (Cartesian) motion and joint stiffness. The paper also presents the possible industrial applications of snake-like robots built using the new modules.
Keywords: bellows actuator, human-robot interaction, hyper redundant robot, pneumatic muscle.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2002806 New Vision of 'Social Europe': Renationalising the Integration Process in the Internal Market of the European Union
Authors: Robert Grzeszczak, Magdalena Gniadzik
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The article deals with one of the most significant issues concerning the functioning of the internal market of the European Union – the free movement of workers and free movement of persons. The purpose is to identify the political and legal effects of the “renationalisation process” on the EU and its Member States. The concept of renationalisation is expressed through Member States’ aim to verify the relationship with the EU. The tendency is more visible in the public opinion of several MS’s of the ‘EU core’ and may be confirmed by the changes applied by the regulatory body. The thesis for the article is the return of renationalisation tendencies in the area of the Single Market, which is supported by, among others, an open criticism of the foundations of EU integration or considerations on withdrawal from the EU by some MS. This analysis will focus primarily on the effects that renationalisation may have on the free movement of persons. The free movement of persons is one of the key issues for the development of the European integration. It is still subject to theoretical reflections, new doubts and practical issues. The latest developments in politics, law and jurisprudence demonstrate the need to reflect on the attempts to redefine certain principles regarding migrant EU workers and their protection against nationality-based discrimination.
Keywords: European law, European Union, common market, free movement of workers, posting of workers, case law.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1078805 Design of IMC-PID Controller Cascaded Filter for Simplified Decoupling Control System
Authors: Le Linh, Truong Nguyen Luan Vu, Le Hieu Giang
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In this work, the IMC-PID controller cascaded filter based on Internal Model Control (IMC) scheme is systematically proposed for the simplified decoupling control system. The simplified decoupling is firstly introduced for multivariable processes by using coefficient matching to obtain a stable, proper, and causal simplified decoupler. Accordingly, transfer functions of decoupled apparent processes can be expressed as a set of n equivalent independent processes and then derived as a ratio of the original open-loop transfer function to the diagonal element of the dynamic relative gain array. The IMC-PID controller in series with filter is then directly employed to enhance the overall performance of the decoupling control system while avoiding difficulties arising from properties inherent to simplified decoupling. Some simulation studies are considered to demonstrate the simplicity and effectiveness of the proposed method. Simulations were conducted by tuning various controllers of the multivariate processes with multiple time delays. The results indicate that the proposed method consistently performs well with fast and well-balanced closed-loop time responses.
Keywords: Coefficient matching method, internal model control scheme, PID controller cascaded filter, simplified decoupler.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1483804 The Impact of Quality Cost on Revenue Sharing in Supply Chain Management
Authors: Fayza Obied-Allah
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Customer’ needs, quality, and value creation while reducing costs through supply chain management provides challenges and opportunities for companies and researchers. In the light of these challenges, modern ideas must contribute to counter these challenges and exploit opportunities. Therefore, this paper discusses the impact of the quality cost on revenue sharing as a most important incentive to configure business networks. This paper develops the quality cost approach to align with the modern era. It develops a model to measure quality costs which might enable firms to manage revenue sharing in a supply chain. The developed model includes five categories; besides the well-known four categories (namely prevention costs, appraisal costs, internal failure costs, and external failure costs), a new category has been developed in this research as a new vision of the relationship between quality costs and innovations in industry. This new category is Recycle Cost. This paper also examines whether such quality costs in supply chains influence the revenue sharing between partners. Using the author's quality cost model, the relationship between quality costs and revenue sharing among partners is examined using a case study in an Egyptian manufacturing company which is a part of a supply chain. This paper argues that the revenue-sharing proportion allocated to supplier increases as the recycle cost of supplier increases, and the revenue-sharing proportion allocated to manufacturer increases as the prevention and appraisal costs increase, as well as the failure costs, the recycle costs of manufacturer, and the recycle costs of suppliers decrease. However, the results present surprising findings. The purposes of this study are developing quality cost approach and understanding the relationships between quality costs and revenue sharing in supply chains. Therefore, the present study contributes to theory and practice by explaining how the cost of recycling can be combined in quality cost model to better understanding the revenue sharing among partners in supply chains.Keywords: Quality cost, Recycle cost, Revenue sharing, Supply chain.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1979803 Evaluation of Shear Strength Parameters of Rudsar Sandy Soil Stabilized with Waste Rubber Chips
Authors: R. Ziaie Moayed, M. Hamidzadeh
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The use of waste rubber chips not only can be of great importance in terms of the environment, but also can be used to increase the shear strength of soils. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the variation of the internal friction angle of liquefiable sandy soil using waste rubber chips. For this purpose, the geotechnical properties of unmodified and modified soil samples by waste lining rubber chips have been evaluated and analyzed by performing the triaxial consolidated drained test. In order to prepare the laboratory specimens, the sandy soil in part of Rudsar shores in Gilan province, north of Iran with high liquefaction potential has been replaced by two percent of waste rubber chips. Samples have been compressed until reaching the two levels of density of 15.5 and 16.7 kN/m3. Also, in order to find the optimal length of chips in sandy soil, the rectangular rubber chips with the widths of 0.5 and 1 cm and the lengths of 0.5, 1, and 2 cm were used. The results showed that the addition of rubber chips to liquefiable sandy soil greatly increases the shear resistance of these soils. Also, it can be seen that decreasing the width and increasing the length-to-width ratio of rubber chips has a direct impact on the shear strength of the modified soil samples with rubber chips.
Keywords: Improvement, shear strength, internal friction angle, sandy soil, rubber chip.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 669802 Semantic Mobility Channel (SMC): Ubiquitous and Mobile Computing Meets the Semantic Web
Authors: José M. Cantera, Miguel Jiménez, Genoveva López, Javier Soriano
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With the advent of emerging personal computing paradigms such as ubiquitous and mobile computing, Web contents are becoming accessible from a wide range of mobile devices. Since these devices do not have the same rendering capabilities, Web contents need to be adapted for transparent access from a variety of client agents. Such content adaptation is exploited for either an individual element or a set of consecutive elements in a Web document and results in better rendering and faster delivery to the client device. Nevertheless, Web content adaptation sets new challenges for semantic markup. This paper presents an advanced components platform, called SMC, enabling the development of mobility applications and services according to a channel model based on the principles of Services Oriented Architecture (SOA). It then goes on to describe the potential for integration with the Semantic Web through a novel framework of external semantic annotation that prescribes a scheme for representing semantic markup files and a way of associating Web documents with these external annotations. The role of semantic annotation in this framework is to describe the contents of individual documents themselves, assuring the preservation of the semantics during the process of adapting content rendering. Semantic Web content adaptation is a way of adding value to Web contents and facilitates repurposing of Web contents (enhanced browsing, Web Services location and access, etc).
Keywords: Semantic web, ubiquitous and mobile computing, web content transcoding. semantic mark-up, mobile computing, middleware and services.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1810801 Development of the Maturity Sensor Prototype and Method of Its Placement in the Structure
Authors: Ye. B. Utepov, A. S. Tulebekova, A. B. Kazkeyev
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Maturity sensors are used to determine concrete strength by the non-destructive method. The method of placement of the maturity sensors determines their number required for a certain frame of a monolithic building. This paper proposes a cheap prototype of an embedded wireless sensor for monitoring concrete structures, as well as an alternative strategy for placing sensors based on the transitional boundaries of the temperature distribution of concrete curing, which were determined by building a heat map of the temperature distribution, where unknown values are calculated by the method of inverse distance weighing. The developed prototype can simultaneously measure temperature and relative humidity over a smartphone-controlled time interval. It implements a maturity method to assess the in-situ strength of concrete, which is considered an alternative to the traditional shock impulse and compression testing method used in Kazakhstan. The prototype was tested in laboratory and field conditions. The tests were aimed at studying the effect of internal and external temperature and relative humidity on concrete's strength gain. Based on an experimentally poured concrete slab with randomly integrated maturity sensors, it the transition boundaries form elliptical forms were determined. Temperature distribution over the largest diameter of the ellipses was plotted, resulting in correct and inverted parabolas. As a result, the distance between the closest opposite crossing points of the parabolas is accepted as the maximum permissible step for setting the maturity sensors. The proposed placement strategy can be applied to sensors that measure various continuous phenomena such as relative humidity. Prototype testing has also revealed Bluetooth inconvenience due to weak signal and inability to access multiple prototypes simultaneously. For this reason, further prototype upgrades are planned in the future work.
Keywords: Heat map, placement strategy, temperature and relative humidity, wireless embedded sensor.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 365