Search results for: Work target
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 4860

Search results for: Work target

4470 Analysis of Construction Waste Generation and Its Effect in a Construction Site

Authors: R. K. D. G. Kaluarachchi

Abstract:

The generation of solid waste and its effective management are debated topics in Sri Lanka as well as in the global environment. It was estimated that the most of the waste generated in global was originated from construction and demolition of buildings. Thus, the proportion of construction waste in solid waste generation cannot be underestimated. The construction waste, which is the by-product generated and removed from work sites is collected in direct and indirect processes. Hence, the objectives of this research are to identify the proportion of construction waste which can be reused and identify the methods to reduce the waste generation without reducing the quality of the process. A 6-storey building construction site was selected for this research. The site was divided into six zones depending on the process. Ten waste materials were identified by considering the adverse effects on safety and health of people and the economic value of them. The generated construction waste in each zone was recorded per week for a period of five months. The data revealed that sand, cement, wood used for form work and rusted steel rods were the generated waste which has higher economic value in all zones. Structured interviews were conducted to gather information on how the materials are categorized as waste and the capability of reducing, reusing and recycling the waste. It was identified that waste is generated in following processes; ineffective storage of material for a longer time and improper handling of material during the work process. Further, the alteration of scheduled activities of construction work also yielded more waste. Finally, a proper management of construction waste is suggested to reduce and reuse waste.

Keywords: Construction waste, effective management, reduce, reuse.

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4469 Discovering Liouville-Type Problems for p-Energy Minimizing Maps in Closed Half-Ellipsoids by Calculus Variation Method

Authors: Lina Wu, Jia Liu, Ye Li

Abstract:

The goal of this project is to investigate constant properties (called the Liouville-type Problem) for a p-stable map as a local or global minimum of a p-energy functional where the domain is a Euclidean space and the target space is a closed half-ellipsoid. The First and Second Variation Formulas for a p-energy functional has been applied in the Calculus Variation Method as computation techniques. Stokes’ Theorem, Cauchy-Schwarz Inequality, Hardy-Sobolev type Inequalities, and the Bochner Formula as estimation techniques have been used to estimate the lower bound and the upper bound of the derived p-Harmonic Stability Inequality. One challenging point in this project is to construct a family of variation maps such that the images of variation maps must be guaranteed in a closed half-ellipsoid. The other challenging point is to find a contradiction between the lower bound and the upper bound in an analysis of p-Harmonic Stability Inequality when a p-energy minimizing map is not constant. Therefore, the possibility of a non-constant p-energy minimizing map has been ruled out and the constant property for a p-energy minimizing map has been obtained. Our research finding is to explore the constant property for a p-stable map from a Euclidean space into a closed half-ellipsoid in a certain range of p. The certain range of p is determined by the dimension values of a Euclidean space (the domain) and an ellipsoid (the target space). The certain range of p is also bounded by the curvature values on an ellipsoid (that is, the ratio of the longest axis to the shortest axis). Regarding Liouville-type results for a p-stable map, our research finding on an ellipsoid is a generalization of mathematicians’ results on a sphere. Our result is also an extension of mathematicians’ Liouville-type results from a special ellipsoid with only one parameter to any ellipsoid with (n+1) parameters in the general setting.

Keywords: Bochner Formula, Stokes’ Theorem, Cauchy-Schwarz Inequality, first and second variation formulas, Hardy-Sobolev type inequalities, Liouville-type problem, p-harmonic map.

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4468 A Dual Model for Efficiency Evaluation Considering Time Lag Effect

Authors: Yan Shuang Zhang, Taehan Lee, Byung Ho Jeong

Abstract:

A DEA model can generally evaluate the performance using multiple inputs and outputs for the same period. However, it is hard to avoid the production lead time phenomenon some times, such as long-term project or marketing activity. A couple of models have been suggested to capture this time lag issue in the context of DEA. This paper develops a dual-MPO model to deal with time lag effect in evaluating efficiency. A numerical example is also given to show that the proposed model can be used to get efficiency and reference set of inefficient DMUs and to obtain projected target value of input attributes for inefficient DMUs to be efficient.

Keywords: DEA, efficiency, time lag, dual problem.

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4467 Trace Emergence of Ants- Traffic Flow, based upon Exclusion Process

Authors: Ali Lemouari, Mohamed Benmohamed

Abstract:

Biological evolution has generated a rich variety of successful solutions; from nature, optimized strategies can be inspired. One interesting example is the ant colonies, which are able to exhibit a collective intelligence, still that their dynamic is simple. The emergence of different patterns depends on the pheromone trail, leaved by the foragers. It serves as positive feedback mechanism for sharing information. In this paper, we use the dynamic of TASEP as a model of interaction at a low level of the collective environment in the ant-s traffic flow. This work consists of modifying the movement rules of particles “ants" belonging to the TASEP model, so that it adopts with the natural movement of ants. Therefore, as to respect the constraints of having no more than one particle per a given site, and in order to avoid collision within a bidirectional circulation, we suggested two strategies: decease strategy and waiting strategy. As a third work stage, this is devoted to the study of these two proposed strategies- stability. As a final work stage, we applied the first strategy to the whole environment, in order to get to the emergence of traffic flow, which is a way of learning.

Keywords: Ants system, emergence, exclusion process, pheromone.

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4466 Evaluation of Algorithms for Sequential Decision in Biosonar Target Classification

Authors: Turgay Temel, John Hallam

Abstract:

A sequential decision problem, based on the task ofidentifying the species of trees given acoustic echo data collectedfrom them, is considered with well-known stochastic classifiers,including single and mixture Gaussian models. Echoes are processedwith a preprocessing stage based on a model of mammalian cochlearfiltering, using a new discrete low-pass filter characteristic. Stoppingtime performance of the sequential decision process is evaluated andcompared. It is observed that the new low pass filter processingresults in faster sequential decisions.

Keywords: Classification, neuro-spike coding, parametricmodel, Gaussian mixture with EM algorithm, sequential decision.

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4465 Lean Production to Increase Reproducibility and Work Safety in the Laser Beam Melting Process Chain

Authors: C. Bay, A. Mahr, H. Groneberg, F. Döpper

Abstract:

Additive Manufacturing processes are becoming increasingly established in the industry for the economic production of complex prototypes and functional components. Laser beam melting (LBM), the most frequently used Additive Manufacturing technology for metal parts, has been gaining in industrial importance for several years. The LBM process chain – from material storage to machine set-up and component post-processing – requires many manual operations. These steps often depend on the manufactured component and are therefore not standardized. These operations are often not performed in a standardized manner, but depend on the experience of the machine operator, e.g., levelling of the build plate and adjusting the first powder layer in the LBM machine. This lack of standardization limits the reproducibility of the component quality. When processing metal powders with inhalable and alveolar particle fractions, the machine operator is at high risk due to the high reactivity and the toxic (e.g., carcinogenic) effect of the various metal powders. Faulty execution of the operation or unintentional omission of safety-relevant steps can impair the health of the machine operator. In this paper, all the steps of the LBM process chain are first analysed in terms of their influence on the two aforementioned challenges: reproducibility and work safety. Standardization to avoid errors increases the reproducibility of component quality as well as the adherence to and correct execution of safety-relevant operations. The corresponding lean method 5S will therefore be applied, in order to develop approaches in the form of recommended actions that standardize the work processes. These approaches will then be evaluated in terms of ease of implementation and their potential for improving reproducibility and work safety. The analysis and evaluation showed that sorting tools and spare parts as well as standardizing the workflow are likely to increase reproducibility. Organizing the operational steps and production environment decreases the hazards of material handling and consequently improves work safety.

Keywords: Additive manufacturing, lean production, reproducibility, work safety.

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4464 EU Socioeconomic Indicators and Car Market

Authors: Christina Babatsou, Efthimios Zervas

Abstract:

Since 2008 a new economic crisis is present is the entire planet. This crisis affects several domains of the economic but also of the social life. Consumption decreases due to the lack of necessary resources of households to increase their expenditures. The car manufacturing is one of the main industrial activities in European Union (EU) and the present crisis particularly affects it. The present study examines the correlations between several socio-economic indicators and car market in European Union. The target is to find out the impact of the present economic crisis on the car market in EU.

Keywords: European Union, Passenger cars, Social indicators, Correlations

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4463 Developing the Personal, Dissolving the Political

Authors: James Moir

Abstract:

The emergence of person-centred discourse based around notions of 'personal development planning- and 'work'life balance' has taken hold in education and the workplace in recent years. This paper examines this discourse with regard to recent developments in higher education as well as the inter-related issue of work-life balance in occupational careers. In both cases there have been national and trans-national policy initiatives directed towards improving both personal opportunities and competitive advantage in a global knowledge-based economy. However, despite an increasing concern with looking outward at this globalised educational and employment marketplace, there is something of a paradox in encouraging people to look inward at themselves in order to become more self-determined. This apparent paradox is considered from a discourse analytic perspective in terms of the ideological effects of an increasing concern with the personal world. Specifically, it is argued that there are tensions that emerge from a concern with an innerdirected process of self-reflection that dissolve any engagement with wider political issues that impact upon educational and career development.

Keywords: Personal development planning, higher education, work-life balance, career.

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4462 An Evaluation of Algorithms for Single-Echo Biosonar Target Classification

Authors: Turgay Temel, John Hallam

Abstract:

A recent neurospiking coding scheme for feature extraction from biosonar echoes of various plants is examined with avariety of stochastic classifiers. Feature vectors derived are employedin well-known stochastic classifiers, including nearest-neighborhood,single Gaussian and a Gaussian mixture with EM optimization.Classifiers' performances are evaluated by using cross-validation and bootstrapping techniques. It is shown that the various classifers perform equivalently and that the modified preprocessing configuration yields considerably improved results.

Keywords: Classification, neuro-spike coding, non-parametricmodel, parametric model, Gaussian mixture, EM algorithm.

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4461 Modeling and Simulation of a Serial Production Line with Constant Work-In-Process

Authors: Mehmet Savsar

Abstract:

This paper presents a model for an unreliable production line, which is operated according to demand with constant work-in-process (CONWIP). A simulation model is developed based on the discrete model and several case problems are analyzed using the model. The model is utilized to optimize storage space capacities at intermediate stages and the number of kanbans at the last stage, which is used to trigger the production at the first stage. Furthermore, effects of several line parameters on production rate are analyzed using design of experiments.

Keywords: Production line simulator, Push-pull system, JIT system, Constant WIP, Machine failures.

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4460 Noise Reduction in Web Data: A Learning Approach Based on Dynamic User Interests

Authors: Julius Onyancha, Valentina Plekhanova

Abstract:

One of the significant issues facing web users is the amount of noise in web data which hinders the process of finding useful information in relation to their dynamic interests. Current research works consider noise as any data that does not form part of the main web page and propose noise web data reduction tools which mainly focus on eliminating noise in relation to the content and layout of web data. This paper argues that not all data that form part of the main web page is of a user interest and not all noise data is actually noise to a given user. Therefore, learning of noise web data allocated to the user requests ensures not only reduction of noisiness level in a web user profile, but also a decrease in the loss of useful information hence improves the quality of a web user profile. Noise Web Data Learning (NWDL) tool/algorithm capable of learning noise web data in web user profile is proposed. The proposed work considers elimination of noise data in relation to dynamic user interest. In order to validate the performance of the proposed work, an experimental design setup is presented. The results obtained are compared with the current algorithms applied in noise web data reduction process. The experimental results show that the proposed work considers the dynamic change of user interest prior to elimination of noise data. The proposed work contributes towards improving the quality of a web user profile by reducing the amount of useful information eliminated as noise.

Keywords: Web log data, web user profile, user interest, noise web data learning, machine learning.

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4459 Interaction Effect of Feed Rate and Cutting Speed in CNC-Turning on Chip Micro-Hardness of 304- Austenitic Stainless Steel

Authors: G. H. Senussi

Abstract:

The present work is concerned with the effect of turning process parameters (cutting speed, feed rate, and depth of cut) and distance from the center of work piece as input variables on the chip micro-hardness as response or output. Three experiments were conducted; they were used to investigate the chip micro-hardness behavior at diameter of work piece for 30[mm], 40[mm], and 50[mm]. Response surface methodology (R.S.M) is used to determine and present the cause and effect of the relationship between true mean response and input control variables influencing the response as a two or three dimensional hyper surface. R.S.M has been used for designing a three factor with five level central composite rotatable factors design in order to construct statistical models capable of accurate prediction of responses. The results obtained showed that the application of R.S.M can predict the effect of machining parameters on chip micro-hardness. The five level factorial designs can be employed easily for developing statistical models to predict chip micro-hardness by controllable machining parameters. Results obtained showed that the combined effect of cutting speed at it?s lower level, feed rate and depth of cut at their higher values, and larger work piece diameter can result increasing chi micro-hardness.

Keywords: Machining Parameters, Chip Micro-Hardness, CNCMachining, 304-Austenic Stainless Steel.

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4458 Adaptive Conjoint Analysis of Professionals’ Job Preferences

Authors: N. Scheidegger, A. Mueller

Abstract:

Job preferences are a well-developed research field. Many studies analyze the preferences using simple ratings with a sample of university graduates. The current study analyzes the preferences with a mixed method approach of a qualitative preliminary study and adaptive conjoint-analysis. Preconditions of accepting job offers are clarified for professionals in the industrial sector. It could be shown that, e.g. wages above the average are critical and that career opportunities must be seen broader than merely a focus on formal personnel development programs. The results suggest that, to be effective with their recruitment efforts, employers must take into account key desirable job attributes of their target group.

Keywords: Conjoint analysis, employer attractiveness, job preferences, personnel marketing.

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4457 Particle Swarm Optimization with Interval-valued Genotypes and Its Application to Neuroevolution

Authors: Hidehiko Okada

Abstract:

The author proposes an extension of particle swarm optimization (PSO) for solving interval-valued optimization problems and applies the extended PSO to evolutionary training of neural networks (NNs) with interval weights. In the proposed PSO, values in the genotypes are not real numbers but intervals. Experimental results show that interval-valued NNs trained by the proposed method could well approximate hidden target functions despite the fact that no training data was explicitly provided.

Keywords: Evolutionary algorithms, swarm intelligence, particle swarm optimization, neural network, interval arithmetic.

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4456 Accurate Positioning Method of Indoor Plastering Robot Based on Line Laser

Authors: Guanqiao Wang, Hongyang Yu

Abstract:

There is a lot of repetitive work in the traditional construction industry. These repetitive tasks can significantly improve production efficiency by replacing manual tasks with robots. Therefore, robots appear more and more frequently in the construction industry. Navigation and positioning is a very important task for construction robots, and the requirements for accuracy of positioning are very high. Traditional indoor robots mainly use radio frequency or vision methods for positioning. Compared with ordinary robots, the indoor plastering robot needs to be positioned closer to the wall for wall plastering, so the requirements for construction positioning accuracy are higher, and the traditional navigation positioning method has a large error, which will cause the robot to move. Without the exact position, the wall cannot be plastered or the error of plastering the wall is large. A positioning method is proposed, which is assisted by line lasers and uses image processing-based positioning to perform more accurate positioning on the traditional positioning work. In actual work, filter, edge detection, Hough transform and other operations are performed on the images captured by the camera. Each time the position of the laser line is found, it is compared with the standard value, and the position of the robot is moved or rotated to complete the positioning work. The experimental results show that the actual positioning error is reduced to less than 0.5 mm by this accurate positioning method.

Keywords: Indoor plastering robot, navigation, precise positioning, line laser, image processing.

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4455 Effects of Superheating on Thermodynamic Performance of Organic Rankine Cycles

Authors: Kyoung Hoon Kim

Abstract:

Recently ORC(Organic Rankine Cycle) has attracted much attention due to its potential in reducing consumption of fossil fuels and its favorable characteristics to exploit low-grade heat sources. In this work thermodynamic performance of ORC with superheating of vapor is comparatively assessed for various working fluids. Special attention is paid to the effects of system parameters such as the evaporating temperature and the turbine inlet temperature on the characteristics of the system such as maximum possible work extraction from the given source, volumetric flow rate per 1 kW of net work and quality of the working fluid at turbine exit as well as thermal and exergy efficiencies. Results show that for a given source the thermal efficiency increases with decrease of the superheating but exergy efficiency may have a maximum value with respect to the superheating of the working fluid. Results also show that in selection of working fluid it is required to consider various criteria of performance characteristics as well as thermal efficiency.

Keywords: organic Rankine cycle (ORC), low-grade energysource, Patel-Teja equation, thermodynamic performance

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4454 Face Recognition Using Eigen face Coefficients and Principal Component Analysis

Authors: Parvinder S. Sandhu, Iqbaldeep Kaur, Amit Verma, Samriti Jindal, Inderpreet Kaur, Shilpi Kumari

Abstract:

Face Recognition is a field of multidimensional applications. A lot of work has been done, extensively on the most of details related to face recognition. This idea of face recognition using PCA is one of them. In this paper the PCA features for Feature extraction are used and matching is done for the face under consideration with the test image using Eigen face coefficients. The crux of the work lies in optimizing Euclidean distance and paving the way to test the same algorithm using Matlab which is an efficient tool having powerful user interface along with simplicity in representing complex images.

Keywords: Eigen Face, Multidimensional, Matching, PCA.

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4453 Minimization of Power Loss in Distribution Networks by Different Techniques

Authors: L.Ramesh, S.P.Chowdhury, S.Chowdhury, A.A.Natarajan, C.T.Gaunt

Abstract:

Accurate loss minimization is the critical component for efficient electrical distribution power flow .The contribution of this work presents loss minimization in power distribution system through feeder restructuring, incorporating DG and placement of capacitor. The study of this work was conducted on IEEE distribution network and India Electricity Board benchmark distribution system. The executed experimental result of Indian system is recommended to board and implement practically for regulated stable output.

Keywords: Distribution system, Distributed Generation LossMinimization, Network Restructuring

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4452 Durability Properties of Foamed Concrete with Fiber Inclusion

Authors: Hanizam Awang, Muhammad Hafiz Ahmad

Abstract:

An experimental study was conducted on foamed concrete with synthetic and natural fibres consisting of AR-glas, polypropylene, steel, kenaf and oil palm fibre. The foamed concrete mixtures produced had a target density of 1000kg/m3 and a mix ratio of (1:1.5:0.45). The fibres were used as additives. The inclusion of fibre was maintained at a volumetric fraction of 0.25 and 0.4%. The water absorption, thermal and shrinkage were determined to study the effect of the fibre on the durability properties of foamed concrete. The results showed that AR-glass fibre has the lowest percentage value of drying shrinkage compared to others.

Keywords: Foamed concrete, Fibres, Durability.

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4451 Sliding Mode Control with Fuzzy Boundary Layer to Air-Air Interception Problem

Authors: Mustafa Resa Becan

Abstract:

The performance of a type of fuzzy sliding mode control is researched by considering the nonlinear characteristic of a missile-target interception problem to obtain a robust interception process. The variable boundary layer by using fuzzy logic is proposed to reduce the chattering around the switching surface then is applied to the interception model which was derived. The performances of the sliding mode control with constant and fuzzy boundary layer are compared at the end of the study and the results are evaluated.

Keywords: Sliding mode control, fuzzy, boundary layer, interception problem.

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4450 Simulation Tools for Fixed Point DSP Algorithms and Architectures

Authors: K. B. Cullen, G. C. M. Silvestre, N. J. Hurley

Abstract:

This paper presents software tools that convert the C/Cµ floating point source code for a DSP algorithm into a fixedpoint simulation model that can be used to evaluate the numericalperformance of the algorithm on several different fixed pointplatforms including microprocessors, DSPs and FPGAs. The tools use a novel system for maintaining binary point informationso that the conversion from floating point to fixed point isautomated and the resulting fixed point algorithm achieves maximum possible precision. A configurable architecture is used during the simulation phase so that the algorithm can produce a bit-exact output for several different target devices.

Keywords: DSP devices, DSP algorithm, simulation model, software

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4449 Using LabVIEW Software in an Introductory Residual Current Device Course

Authors: B. Rajkumarsingh, S. Goolaup, A. Galleegadoo

Abstract:

Laboratory classes in Electrical Engineering are often hampered by safety issues, as students have to work on high voltage lines. One solution is to make use of virtual laboratory simulations, to help students understand the concepts taught in their coursework. In this context, we have conceived and implemented virtual lab experiments in connection with the study of earthing arrangements. In this work, software was developed, which aid student in understanding the working of a residual current device (RCD) in a TT earthing system. Various parameters, such as the earthing resistances, leakage currents and harmonics were included for a TT system with RCD connection.

Keywords: TT system, RCD, LabVIEW, Learning aids.

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4448 Maintaining User-Level Security in Short Message Service

Authors: T. Arudchelvam, W. W. E. N. Fernando

Abstract:

Mobile phone has become as an essential thing in our life. Therefore, security is the most important thing to be considered in mobile communication. Short message service is the cheapest way of communication via the mobile phones. Therefore, security is very important in the short message service as well. This paper presents a method to maintain the security at user level. Different types of encryption methods are used to implement the user level security in mobile phones. Caesar cipher, Rail Fence, Vigenere cipher and RSA are used as encryption methods in this work. Caesar cipher and the Rail Fence methods are enhanced and implemented. The beauty in this work is that the user can select the encryption method and the key. Therefore, by changing the encryption method and the key time to time, the user can ensure the security of messages. By this work, while users can safely send/receive messages, they can save their information from unauthorised and unwanted people in their own mobile phone as well.

Keywords: SMS, user level security, encryption, mobile communication.

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4447 Estimating the Absorption of Volatile Organic Compounds in Four Biodiesels Using the UNIFAC Procedure

Authors: Corina M Mateescu, Edison Muzenda, Mohamed Belaid, Saka Abdulkareem, Ayo S Afolabi

Abstract:

This work considered the thermodynamic feasibility of scrubbing volatile organic compounds into biodiesel in view of designing a gas treatment process with this absorbent. A detailed vapour – liquid equilibrium investigation was performed using the original UNIFAC group contribution method. The four biodiesels studied in this work are methyl oleate, methyl palmitate, methyl linolenate and ethyl stearate. The original UNIFAC procedure was used to estimate the infinite dilution activity coefficients of 13 selected volatile organic compounds in the biodiesels. The calculations were done at the VOC mole fraction of 9.213x10-8. Ethyl stearate gave the most favourable phase equilibrium. A close agreement was found between the infinite dilution activity coefficient of toluene found in this work and those reported in literature. Thermodynamic models can efficiently be used to calculate vast amount of phase equilibrium behaviour using limited number of experimental data.

Keywords: Biodiesel, Equilibrium, Gas treatment, Infinitedilution, Thermodynamic

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4446 Effect of Jet Diameter on Surface Quenching at Different Spatial Locations

Authors: C. Agrawal, R. Kumar, A. Gupta, B. Chatterjee

Abstract:

An experimental investigation has been carried out to study the cooling of a hot horizontal Stainless Steel surface of 3 mm thickness, which has 800±10 C initial temperature. A round water jet of 22 ± 1 oC temperature was injected over the hot surface through straight tube type nozzles of 2.5- 4.8 mm diameter and 250 mm length. The experiments were performed for the jet exit to target surface spacing of 4 times of jet diameter and jet Reynolds number of 5000 -24000. The effect of change in jet Reynolds number on the surface quenching has been investigated form the stagnation point to 16 mm spatial location.  

Keywords: Hot-Surface, Jet Impingement, Quenching, Stagnation Point.

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4445 Effect of Inventory Management on Financial Performance: Evidence from Nigerian Conglomerate Companies

Authors: Adamu Danlami Ahmed

Abstract:

Inventory management is the determinant of effective and efficient work for any manager. This study looked at the relationship between inventory management and financial performance. The population of the study comprises all conglomerate quoted companies in the Nigerian Stock Exchange market as at 31st December 2010. The scope of the study covered the period from 2010 to 2014. Descriptive, Pearson correlation and multiple regressions are used to analyze the data. It was found that inventory management is significantly related to the profitability of the company. This entails that an efficient management of the inventory cycle will enhance the profitability of the company. Also, lack of proper management of it will hinder the financial performance of organizations. Based on the results, it was recommended that a conglomerate company should try to see that inventories are kept to a minimum, as well as make sure the proper checks are maintained to make sure only needed inventories are in the store. As well as to keep track of the movement of goods, in order to avoid unnecessary delay of finished and work in progress (WIP) goods in the store and warehouse.

Keywords: Finished goods, work in progress, financial performance, inventory.

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4444 Automatic Iterative Methods for the Multivariate Solution of Nonlinear Algebraic Equations

Authors: Rafat Alshorman, Safwan Al-Shara', I. Obeidat

Abstract:

Most real world systems express themselves formally as a set of nonlinear algebraic equations. As applications grow, the size and complexity of these equations also increase. In this work, we highlight the key concepts in using the homotopy analysis method as a methodology used to construct efficient iteration formulas for nonlinear equations solving. The proposed method is experimentally characterized according to a set of determined parameters which affect the systems. The experimental results show the potential and limitations of the new method and imply directions for future work.

Keywords: Nonlinear Algebraic Equations, Iterative Methods, Homotopy Analysis Method.

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4443 Passenger Seat Vibration Control of Quarter Car System with MR Shock Absorber

Authors: Devdutt, M. L. Aggarwal

Abstract:

Semi-active Fuzzy control of quarter car system having three degrees of freedom and assembled with magneto-rheological (MR) shock absorber is studied in present paper. First, experimental work was performed on an MR shock absorber under different excitation conditions to obtain force-displacement and force-velocity curves. Then, for the application of experimental data in semi-active quarter car system, a polynomial model was selected. Finally, Fuzzy logic controller was designed having the combination of Forward fuzzy controller and Inverse fuzzy controller for integration in secondary suspension system of concerned model. The proposed controlled quarter car model was compared with uncontrolled system using simulation work under bump type of road excitation. Results obtained by simulation work shows the effectiveness of fuzzy controlled suspension system in improving the ride comfort and safety of travelling passengers compared to uncontrolled suspension system.

Keywords: MR shock absorber, three degrees of freedom, quarter car model, fuzzy controller.

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4442 Theme Park Investments: How to Beat the Average - A Case Study from the Netherlands

Authors: Pieter C. M. Cornelis

Abstract:

(European) theme parks invest approximately 10 percent of their yearly turnover into new rides and park improvements. Without these investments these parks assume not to be a very competitive and appealing daytrip for their target audiences. However, the impact of investments in attracting new visitors is not well-known and seems to differ dramatically between parks. This paper presents a case study from the Netherlands in which a small amusement park applied a suggested, not yet proven, investment method. The results of the investment are discussed in (a) the form of return on investment and (b) the success of the predictions with regard to this investment. Suggestions for future research are presented.

Keywords: Entertainment industry, innovation, investments, theme parks.

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4441 Using the Polynomial Approximation Algorithm in the Algorithm 2 for Manipulator's Control in an Unknown Environment

Authors: Pavel K. Lopatin, Artyom S. Yegorov

Abstract:

The Algorithm 2 for a n-link manipulator movement amidst arbitrary unknown static obstacles for a case when a sensor system supplies information about local neighborhoods of different points in the configuration space is presented. The Algorithm 2 guarantees the reaching of a target position in a finite number of steps. The Algorithm 2 is reduced to a finite number of calls of a subroutine for planning a trajectory in the presence of known forbidden states. The polynomial approximation algorithm which is used as the subroutine is presented. The results of the Algorithm2 implementation are given.

Keywords: Manipulator, trajectory planning, unknown obstacles.

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