Search results for: safety culture
642 Customer-Supplier Collaboration in Casting Industry: a Review on Organizational and Human Aspects
Authors: Taneli Eisto, Venlakaisa Hölttä
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Customer-supplier collaboration enables firms to achieve greater success than acting independently. Nevertheless, not many firms have fully utilized the potential of collaboration. This paper presents organizational and human related success factors for collaboration in manufacturing supply chains in casting industry. Our research approach was a case study including multiple cases. Data was gathered by interviews and group discussions in two different research projects. In the first research project we studied seven firms and in the second five. It was found that the success factors are interrelated, in other words, organizational and human factors together enable success but not any of them alone. Some of the found success factors are a culture of following agreements, and a speed of informing the partner about changes affecting to the product or the delivery chain.Keywords: Casting industry, collaboration success factors, customer-supplier collaboration, supply chain collaboration.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1700641 The Investigation and Analysis of Village Remains in Jinzhong Prefecture of Shanxi Province, China
Authors: Zhang Yu
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Shanxi Province is a province with a long history in China. The historical characteristics of Jinzhong Prefecture in Shaanxi Province are very prominent. This research has done a lot of field research and analysis, and has analyzed a large number of documents. The formation and characteristics of villages in Jinzhong Prefecture are summarized. But the remains of many areas have not been systematically discovered and analyzed. This study found that the reasons for the formation of villages are natural, cultural, traffic and economic reasons. It mainly includes water, mountain, and developed business culture during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. By analyzing the evolution characteristics of each period, the characteristics and remains of the existing villages are explained in detail. These types of relics mainly include courtyards, fortresses, and Exchange shops. This study can provide systematic guidance on the protection of future village remains.
Keywords: Jinzhong Prefecture, village, features, remains.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 722640 Production of Milk Clotting Protease by Rhizopus Stolonifer through Optimization of Culture Conditions
Authors: S. Gais, F. Fazouane, A. Mechakra
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The present study describes the biosynthesis of a milkclotting protease by solid state fermentation (SSF) of a locally isolated mould, Rhizopus stolonifer. The production medium was prepared using wheat bran at 50% (w/v). The production conditions are optimized by varying 7 parameters: carbon and nitrogen sources, medium moisture, temperature, pH, fermentation time and inoculum-s size. The maximum enzyme synthesis was measured after 96 h of incubation time at temperature of 28°C. The optimum pH determined was 6 and the inoculum size was 3.106spores/ml. The optimum initial moisture content is comprised between 50 to 70%. The formation of milk clotting protease is enhanced when galactose and peptone are used at 10% (w/v) and 1% (w/v) concentrations respectively. The maximum production of milk clotting protease is 120 US/ml.Keywords: Milk clotting activity, protease production, Rhizopus stolonifer, Solid state fermentation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2304639 The Experimental and Statistical Analysis of the Wood Strength against Pressure According to Different Wood Types, Sizes, and Coatings
Authors: Mustafa Altin, Sakir Tasdemir, Gamze Fahriye Pehlivan, Sadiye Didem Boztepe Erkis, Sevda Altin
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In this study, an experiment was executed related to the strength of wooden materials which have been commonly used both in the past and present against pressure and whether fire retardant materials used against fire have any effects or not. Totally 81 samples which included 3 different wood species, 3 different sizes, 2 different fire retardants and 2 unprocessed samples were prepared. Compressive pressure tests were applied to the prepared samples, their variance analyses were executed in accordance with the obtained results and it was aimed to determine the most convenient wooden materials and fire-retardant coating material. It was also determined that the species of wood and the species of coating caused the decrease and/or increase in the resistance against pressure.
Keywords: Resistance of wood against pressure, species of wood, variance analysis, wood coating, wood fire safety.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1715638 Improving Sales through Inventory Reduction: A Retail Chain Case Study
Authors: M. G. Mattos, J. E. Pécora Jr, T. A. Briso
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Today's challenging business environment, with unpredictable demand and volatility, requires a supply chain strategy that handles uncertainty and risks in the right way. Even though inventory models have been previously explored, this paper seeks to apply these concepts on a practical situation. This study involves the inventory replenishment problem, applying techniques that are mainly based on mathematical assumptions and modeling. The primary goal is to improve the retailer’s supply chain processes taking store differences when setting the various target stock levels. Through inventory review policy, picking piece implementation and minimum exposure definition, we were able not only to promote the inventory reduction as well as improve sales results. The inventory management theory from literature review was then tested on a single case study regarding a particular department in one of the largest Latam retail chains.
Keywords: Inventory, distribution, retail, risk, safety stock, sales, uncertainty.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1813637 One Typical Jacket Platform’s Reactions in Front of Sea Water Level Variations
Authors: M. A. Lotfollahi Yaghin, R. Rezaei
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Demanding structural safety under various loading conditions, has focused attention on their variation and structural elements behavior due to these variations. Jacket structures are designed for a specific water level (LAT). One of the important issues about these kinds of structures is the water level rise. For example, the level of water in the Caspian Sea has risen by 2.5m in the last fifteen years and is continuing to rise. In this paper, the structural behavior of one typical shallow or medium water jacket platform (a four-leg steel jacket platform in 55m water depth) under water level rise has been studied. The time history of Von Mises stress and nodal displacement has chosen for evaluating structural behavior. The results show that dependent on previous water depth and structural elements position; different structural elements have different behavior due to water level rise.
Keywords: Jacket offshore platform, Time- history, Von Mises, Water level rise, Utilization Ratio.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2418636 Factors of Successful Wooden Furniture Design Process
Authors: S. Choodoung, U. Smutkupt
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This study systemizes processes and methods in wooden furniture design that contains uniqueness in function and aesthetics. The study was done by research and analysis for designer-s consideration factors that affect function and production. Therefore, the study result indicates that such factors are design process (planning for design, product specifications, concept design, product architecture, industrial design, production), design evaluation as well as wooden furniture design dependent factors i.e. art (art style; furniture history, form), functionality (the strength and durability, area place, using), material (appropriate to function, wood mechanical properties), joints, cost, safety, and social responsibility. Specifically, all aforementioned factors affect good design. Resulting from direct experience gained through user-s usage, the designer must design the wooden furniture systemically and effectively. As a result, this study selected dinning armchair as a case study with all involving factors and all design process stated in this study.Keywords: Furniture Design, Function Design, Aesthetic, Wooden Furniture.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10014635 The Effect of Land Cover on Movement of Vehicles in the Terrain
Authors: Dana Kristalova, Jan Mazal
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This article deals with geographical conditions in terrain and their effect on the movement of vehicles, their effect on speed and safety of movement of people and vehicles. Finding of the optimal routes outside the communication is studied in the Army environment, but it occur in civilian as well, primarily in crisis situation, or by the provision of assistance when natural disasters such as floods, fires, storms etc., have happened. These movements require the optimization of routes when effects of geographical factors should be included. The most important factor is the surface of a terrain. It is based on several geographical factors as are slopes, soil conditions, micro-relief, a type of surface and meteorological conditions. Their mutual impact has been given by coefficient of deceleration. This coefficient can be used for the commander`s decision. New approaches and methods of terrain testing, mathematical computing, mathematical statistics or cartometric investigation are necessary parts of this evaluation.
Keywords: Movement in a terrain, geographical factors, surface of a field, mathematical evaluation, optimization and searching paths.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1890634 Knowledge Management in a Combined/Joint Environment
Authors: Cory Cannon
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In the current era of shrinking budgets, increasing amounts of worldwide natural disasters, state and non-state initiated conflicts within the world. The response has involved multinational coalitions to conduct effective military operations. The need for a Knowledge Management strategy when developing these coalitions have been overlooked in the past and the need for developing these accords early on will save time and help shape the way information and knowledge are transferred from the staff and action officers of the coalition to the decision-makers in order to make timely decisions within an ever changing environment. The aim of this paper is to show how Knowledge Management has developed within the United States military and how the transformation of working within a Combined/ Joint environment in both the Middle East and the Far East has improved relations between members of the coalitions as well as being more effective as a military force. These same principles could be applied to multinational corporations when dealing with cultures and decision-making processes.
Keywords: Civil-military, culture, joint environment, knowledge management.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1824633 User Acceptance of Location-based Services
Authors: Neven Vrček, Goran Bubaš, Neven Bosilj
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Location-based services (LBS) exploit the known location of a user to provide services dependent on their geographic context and personalized needs [1]. The development and arrival of broadband mobile data networks supported with mobile terminals equipped with new location technologies like GPS have finally created opportunities for implementation of LBS applications. But, from the other side, collecting location information data in general raises privacy concerns. This paper presents results from two surveys of LBS acceptance in Croatia. The first survey was administered on 181 students, and the second extended survey involved pattern of 180 Croatian citizens. We developed questionnaire which consists of descriptions of 15 different applications with scale which measures perceptions and attitudes of users towards these applications. We report the results to identify potential commercial applications for LBS in B2C segment. Our findings suggest that some types of applications like emergency&safety services and navigation have significantly higher rate of acceptance than other types.Keywords: Acceptance, location-based services, m-application.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1965632 The Analysis of TRACE/FRAPTRAN in the Fuel Rods of Maanshan PWR for LBLOCA
Authors: J. R. Wang, W.Y. Li, H.T. Lin, J.H. Yang, C. Shih, S.W. Chen
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Fuel rod analysis program transient (FRAPTRAN) code was used to study the fuel rod performance during a postulated large break loss of coolant accident (LBLOCA) in Maanshan nuclear power plant (NPP). Previous transient results from thermal hydraulic code, TRACE, with the same LBLOCA scenario, were used as input boundary conditions for FRAPTRAN. The simulation results showed that the peak cladding temperatures and the fuel centerline temperatures were all below the 10CFR50.46 LOCA criteria. In addition, the maximum hoop stress was 18 MPa and the oxide thickness was 0.003mm for the present simulation cases, which are all within the safety operation ranges. The present study confirms that this analysis method, the FRAPTRAN code combined with TRACE, is an appropriate approach to predict the fuel integrity under LBLOCA with operational ECCS.
Keywords: —FRAPTRAN, TRACE, LOCA, PWR.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2679631 A Framework and Case Study for Sustainable Development of Urban Areas
Authors: Yasaman Zeinali, Farid Khosravikia
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This paper presents a multi-objective framework for sustainable urban development. The proposed framework aims to address different aspects of sustainability in urban development planning. These aspects include, but are not limited to education, health, job opportunities, architecture, culture, environment, mobility, energy, water, waste, and so on. Then, the proposed framework is applied to the Brackenridge Tract (an area in downtown Austin, Texas), to redevelop that area in a sustainable way. The detail of the implementation process is presented in this paper. The ultimate goal of this paper is to develop a sustainable area in downtown Austin with ensuring that it locally meets the needs of present and future generations with respect to economic, social, environmental, health as well as cultural aspects. Moreover, it helps the city with the population growth problem by accommodating more people in that area.
Keywords: Environmental impacts of human activities, sustainability, urban planning.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1250630 Investigating Cultural, Artistic and Architectural Consequences of Mongolian Invasion of Iran and Establishment of Ilkhanate Dynasty
Authors: Hamid Mamani, Negin Sharifi, Nangkula Utaberta
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Social, culture and artistic status of a society in various historical eras is affected by numerous, and sometimes imposed, factors that better understanding requires analysis of such conditions. Throughout history Iran has been involved with determining and significant events that examining each of these events can improve the understanding of social conditions of this country in the intended time. Mongolian conquest of Iran is one of most significant events in the history of Iran with consequences that never left Iranian societies. During this tragic invasion and subsequent devastating wars, which led to establishment of Ilkhanate dynasty, numerous cultural and artistic changes occurred both in Mongolian conquerors and Iranian society. This study examines these changes with a glimpse towards art and architecture as important part of cultural aspects and social communication.Keywords: Art and Architecture, Exchanging cultures, Ilkhanates, War
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2308629 Screening and Identification of Microorganisms – Potential Producers of Arachidonic Acid
Authors: A. V. Goncharova, T. A. Karpenyuk, Y. S. Tsurkan, R. U. Beisembaeva, A. M. Kalbaeva, T. D. Mukasheva, L. V. Ignatova
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Microorganisms isolated from water and soil of Kazakhstan to identify potential high-effective producers of the arachidonic acid, exhibiting a wide range of physiological activity and having practical applications were screened. Based on the results of two independent tests (the test on the sensitivity of the growth processes of microorganisms to acetylsalicylic acid - an irreversible inhibitor of PGH-synthase involved in the metabolism of arachidonic acid and its derivatives, the test for inhibition of peroxidase activity of membrane-bounding fraction of PGH - synthase by acetylsalicylic acid) were selected microbial cultures which are potential highproducer of arachidonic acid. They are characterized by a stable strong growth in the laboratory conditions. Identification of microorganism cultures based on morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular genetic characteristics was performed.
Keywords: Arachidonic acid, aspirin-sensitive culture, bacteria, producers, screening.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2104628 Wearable Sensing Application- Carbon Dioxide Monitoring for Emergency Personnel Using Wearable Sensors
Authors: Tanja Radu, Cormac Fay, King Tong Lau, Rhys Waite, Dermot Diamond
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The development of wearable sensing technologies is a great challenge which is being addressed by the Proetex FP6 project (www.proetex.org). Its main aim is the development of wearable sensors to improve the safety and efficiency of emergency personnel. This will be achieved by continuous, real-time monitoring of vital signs, posture, activity, and external hazards surrounding emergency workers. We report here the development of carbon dioxide (CO2) sensing boot by incorporating commercially available CO2 sensor with a wireless platform into the boot assembly. Carefully selected commercially available sensors have been tested. Some of the key characteristics of the selected sensors are high selectivity and sensitivity, robustness and the power demand. This paper discusses some of the results of CO2 sensor tests and sensor integration with wireless data transmission
Keywords: Proetex, gas sensing, wireless, wearable sensors, carbon dioxide
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1581627 Maintenance Dredging at Port of Townsville
Authors: M. Jaditager, J. Lovisa, N. Sivakugan
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The Port of Townsville conducts regular annual maintenance dredging to maintain depths of its harbor basin and approach channels for the navigational safety of the vessels against the natural accumulation of marine sediments. In addition to the regular maintenance dredging, the port undertakes emergency dredging in cases where large quantities of sediments are mobilized and deposited in port waters by cyclone or major flood events. The maintenance dredging material derived from the port may be disposed at sea or on land in accordance with relevant state and commonwealth regulations. For the land disposal, the dredged mud slurry is hydraulically placed into containment ponds and left to undergo sedimentation and self-weight consolidation to form fill material for land reclamation. This paper provides an overview of the maintenance dredging at the Port of Townsville and emphasis on maintenance dredging requirements, sediment quality, bathymetry, dredging methods used, and dredged material disposal options.
Keywords: Consolidation, dredged material, maintenance dredging, marine sediments, sedimentation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2447626 Reliability Analysis of Tubular Joints of Offshore Platforms in Malaysia
Authors: Nelson J. Cossa, Narayanan S. Potty, Mohd Shahir Liew, Arazi B. Idrus
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The oil and gas industry has moved towards Load and Resistance Factor Design through API RP2A - LRFD and the recently published international standard, ISO-19902, for design of fixed steel offshore structures. The ISO 19902 is intended to provide a harmonized design practice that offers a balanced structural fitness for the purpose, economy and safety. As part of an ongoing work, the reliability analysis of tubular joints of the jacket structure has been carried out to calibrate the load and resistance factors for the design of offshore platforms in Malaysia, as proposed in the ISO. Probabilistic models have been established for the load effects (wave, wind and current) and the tubular joints strengths. In this study the First Order Reliability Method (FORM), coded in MATLAB Software has been employed to evaluate the reliability index of the typical joints, designed using API RP2A - WSD and ISO 19902.Keywords: FORM, Reliability Analysis, Tubular Joints
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3494625 Redundancy Component Matrix and Structural Robustness
Authors: Xinjian Kou, Linlin Li, Yongju Zhou, Jimian Song
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We introduce the redundancy matrix that expresses clearly the geometrical/topological configuration of the structure. With the matrix, the redundancy of the structure is resolved into redundant components and assigned to each member or rigid joint. The values of the diagonal elements in the matrix indicates the importance of the corresponding members or rigid joints, and the geometrically correlations can be shown with the non-diagonal elements. If a member or rigid joint failures, reassignment of the redundant components can be calculated with the recursive method given in the paper. By combining the indexes of reliability and redundancy components, we define an index concerning the structural robustness. To further explain the properties of the redundancy matrix, we cited several examples of statically indeterminate structures, including two trusses and a rigid frame. With the examples, some simple results and the properties of the matrix are discussed. The examples also illustrate that the redundancy matrix and the relevant concepts are valuable in structural safety analysis.
Keywords: Structural robustness, structural reliability, redundancy component, redundancy matrix.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1141624 ATM Location Problem and Cash Management in Automated Teller Machines
Authors: M. Erol Genevois, D. Celik, H. Z. Ulukan
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Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) can be considered among one of the most important service facilities in the banking industry. The investment in ATMs and the impact on the banking industry is growing steadily in every part of the world. The banks take into consideration many factors like safety, convenience, visibility, and cost in order to determine the optimum locations of ATMs. Today, ATMs are not only available in bank branches but also at retail locations. Another important factor is the cash management in ATMs. A cash demand model for every ATM is needed in order to have an efficient cash management system. This forecasting model is based on historical cash demand data which is highly related to the ATMs location. So, the location and the cash management problem should be considered together. This paper provides a general review on studies, efforts and development in ATMs location and cash management problem.Keywords: ATM location problem, cash management problem, ATM cash replenishment problem, literature review in ATMs.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5258623 Impact of Node Density and Transmission Range on the Performance of OLSR and DSDV Routing Protocols in VANET City Scenarios
Authors: Yassine Meraihi, Dalila Acheli, Rabah Meraihi
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Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET) is a special case of Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) used to establish communications and exchange information among nearby vehicles and between vehicles and nearby fixed infrastructure. VANET is seen as a promising technology used to provide safety, efficiency, assistance and comfort to the road users. Routing is an important issue in Vehicular Ad Hoc Network to find and maintain communication between vehicles due to the highly dynamic topology, frequently disconnected network and mobility constraints.
This paper evaluates the performance of two most popular proactive routing protocols OLSR and DSDV in real city traffic scenario on the basis of three metrics namely Packet delivery ratio, throughput and average end to end delay by varying vehicles density and transmission range.
Keywords: DSDV, OLSR, Quality of service, Routing protocols, VANET.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2276622 The Influences of Marketplace Knowledge, General Product Class Knowledge, and Knowledge in Meat Product with Traceability on Trust in Meat Traceability
Authors: Kawpong Polyorat
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Since the outbreak of mad cow disease and bird flu, consumers have become more concerned with meat quality and safety. As a result, meat traceability is adopted as one approach to handle consumers’ concern in this issue. Nevertheless, in Thailand, meat traceability is rarely used as a marketing tool to persuade consumers. As a consequence, the present study attempts to understand consumer trust in the meat traceability system by conducting a study in this country to examine the impact of three types of consumer knowledge on this trust. The study results reveal that out of three types of consumer knowledge, marketplace knowledge was the sole predictor of consumer trust in meat traceability and it has a positive influence. General product class knowledge and knowledge in meat products with traceability, however, did not significantly influence consumer trust. The research results provide several implications and directions for future study.Keywords: Consumer knowledge, marketing, product knowledge, traceability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1090621 Demythologization of Female Smokers in Korean Films
Authors: Yoojin Chung
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Compare to western cultures, women who smoke in Korea are not tolerated. Korean people are prejudiced against women smoking. In spite of the relative prevalence of sexual equality in South Korea, women too often feel obliged to confine their smoking to only a few public spaces, such as designated smoking rooms, coffee shops or pubs. Korean Confucianism classifies people according to gender and social status. According to Confucian culture, cigarettes convey clear social meanings as well as reinforcing status, age and gender, beyond personal preferences. For these reasons, the significant of people smoking in Korea varies according to their gender. This study will determine reasons for the ongoing sexual discrimination against female Korean smokers thorough analyzing Korean films. Since film is a medium reflects social phenomenon. Roland Barthes- Mythology Theory will be used to analyze films.
Keywords: Korean films, Mythology, Sexual discrimination, Women Smoking
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2024620 Seismic Performance Evaluation of Bridge Structures Using 3D Finite Element Methods in South Korea
Authors: Woo Young Jung, Bu Seog Ju
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This study described the seismic performance evaluation of bridge structures, located near Daegu metropolitan city in Korea. The structural design code or regulatory guidelines is focusing on the protection of brittle failure or collapse in bridges’ lifetime during an earthquake. This paper illustrated the procedure in terms of the safety evaluation of bridges using simple linear elastic 3D Finite Element (FE) model in ABAQUS platform. The design response spectra based on KBC 2009 were then developed, in order to understand the seismic behavior of bridge structures. Besides, the multiple directional earthquakes were applied and it revealed that the most dominated earthquake direction was transverse direction of the bridge. Also, the bridge structure under the compressive stress was more fragile than the tensile stress and the vertical direction of seismic ground motions was not significantly affected to the structural system.Keywords: Bridge, Finite Element, 3D model, Earthquake, Spectrum.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1640619 Impact Assessment of Lean Practices on Social Sustainability Indicators: An Approach Using ISM Method
Authors: Aline F. Marcon, Eduardo F. da Silva, Marina Bouzon
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The impact of lean management on environmental sustainability is the research line that receives the most attention from academicians. Therefore, the social dimension of sustainable development has so far received less attention. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of intra-plant lean manufacturing practices on social sustainability indicators extracted from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) parameters. The method is two-phased, including MCDM approach to uncover the most relevant practices regarding social performance and Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) method to reveal the structural relationship among lean practices. Professionals from the academic and industrial fields answered the questionnaires. From the results of this paper, it is possible to verify that practices such as “Safety Improvement Programs”, “Total Quality Management” and “Cross-functional Workforce” are the ones which have the most positive influence on the set of GRI social indicators.
Keywords: Indicators, ISM, lean, social, sustainability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 797618 Identifying and Prioritizing Factors Affecting Consumer Behavior Based on Product Value
Authors: Houshang Taghizadeh, Gholamreza Soltani Fesghandis
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Nowadays, without the awareness of consumer behavior and correct understanding of it, it is not possible for organizations to take appropriate measures to meet the consumer needs and demands. The aim of this paper is the identification and prioritization of the factors affecting the consumer behavior based on the product value. The population of the study includes all the consumers of furniture producing firms in East Azarbaijan province, Iran. The research sample includes 93 people selected by the sampling formula in unlimited population. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire, the validity of which was confirmed through face validity and the reliability of which was determined, using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The Kolmogorov-Smironov test was used to test data normality, the t-test for identification of factors affecting the product value, and Friedman test for prioritizing the factors. The results show that quality, satisfaction, styling, price, finishing operation, performance, safety, worth, shape, use, and excellence are placed from 1 to 11 priorities, respectively.Keywords: Consumer Behavior, Consumer Satisfaction, Product, Value
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2903617 Effects of Turbulence Penetration on Valve Leakage in Nuclear Reactor Coolant System
Authors: Gupta Rajesh, Paudel Sagar, Sharma Utkarsh, Singh Amit Kumar
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Thermal stratification has drawn much attention because of the malfunctions at various nuclear plants in U.S.A that raised significant safety concerns. The concerns due to this phenomenon relate to thermal stresses in branch pipes connected to the reactor coolant system piping. This stress limits the lifetime of the piping system, and even leading to penetrating cracks. To assess origin of valve damage in the pipeline, it is essential to determine the effect of turbulence penetration on valve leakage; since stratified flow is generally generated by turbulent penetration or valve leakage. As a result, we concluded with the help of coupled fluent-structural analysis that the pipe with less turbulence has less chance of failure there by requiring less maintenance.
Keywords: Reactor coolant system, thermal stratification, turbulent penetration, coupled fluent-structural analysis, Von Mises stress.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1479616 Studying the Effect of Froude Number and Densimetric Froude Number on Local Scours around Circular Bridge Piers
Authors: Md Abdullah Al Faruque
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A very large percentage of bridge failures are attributed to scouring around bridge piers and this directly influences public safety. Experiments are carried out in a 12-m long rectangular open channel flume made of transparent tempered glass. A 300 mm thick bed made up of sand particles is leveled horizontally to create the test bed and a 50 mm hollow plastic cylinder is used as a model bridge pier. Tests are carried out with varying flow depths and velocities. Data points of various scour parameters such as scour depth, width, and length are collected based on different flow conditions and visual observations of changes in the stream bed downstream the bridge pier are also made as the scour progresses. Result shows that all three major flow characteristics (flow depth, Froude number and densimetric Froude number) have one way or other affect the scour profile.
Keywords: Bridge pier scour, densimetric Froude number, flow depth, Froude Number, sand.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 983615 Specifying Strict Serializability of Iterated Transactions in Propositional Temporal Logic
Authors: Walter Hussak
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We present an operator for a propositional linear temporal logic over infinite schedules of iterated transactions, which, when applied to a formula, asserts that any schedule satisfying the formula is serializable. The resulting logic is suitable for specifying and verifying consistency properties of concurrent transaction management systems, that can be defined in terms of serializability, as well as other general safety and liveness properties. A strict form of serializability is used requiring that, whenever the read and write steps of a transaction occurrence precede the read and write steps of another transaction occurrence in a schedule, the first transaction must precede the second transaction in an equivalent serial schedule. This work improves on previous work in providing a propositional temporal logic with a serializability operator that is of the same PSPACE complete computational complexity as standard propositional linear temporal logic without a serializability operator.
Keywords: Temporal logic, iterated transactions, serializability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1566614 Dynamic Construction Site Layout Using Ant Colony Optimization
Authors: Y. Abdelrazig
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Evolutionary optimization methods such as genetic algorithms have been used extensively for the construction site layout problem. More recently, ant colony optimization algorithms, which are evolutionary methods based on the foraging behavior of ants, have been successfully applied to benchmark combinatorial optimization problems. This paper proposes a formulation of the site layout problem in terms of a sequencing problem that is suitable for solution using an ant colony optimization algorithm. In the construction industry, site layout is a very important planning problem. The objective of site layout is to position temporary facilities both geographically and at the correct time such that the construction work can be performed satisfactorily with minimal costs and improved safety and working environment. During the last decade, evolutionary methods such as genetic algorithms have been used extensively for the construction site layout problem. This paper proposes an ant colony optimization model for construction site layout. A simple case study for a highway project is utilized to illustrate the application of the model.Keywords: Construction site layout, optimization, ant colony.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3126613 Studying the Causes and Affecting Factors of Motorcycle Accidents A Case Study on the Road Accidents in Zanjan Province (IRAN) - 2007
Authors: A. Beheshti, S. Salkhordeh, H. Amini
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Based on statistics released by Islamic Republic of Iran Police (IRIP), from among the total 9555 motorcycle accidents that happened in 2007, 857 riders died and 11219 one got injured. If we also consider the death toll and injuries of other vehicles' accidents resulted from traffic violation by motorcycle riders, then paying attention to the motorcycle accidents seems to be very necessary. Therefore, in this study we tried to investigate the traits and issues related to production, application, and training, along with causes of motorcycle accidents from 4 perspectives of road, human, environment and vehicle and also based on statistical and geographical analysis of accident-sheets prepared by Iran Road Patrol Department (IRPD). Unfamiliarity of riders with regulations and techniques of motorcycling, disuse of safety equipments, inefficiency of roads and design of junctions for safe trafficking of motorcycles and finally the lack of sufficient control of responsible organizations are among the major causes which lead to these accidents.Keywords: Motorcycle, Motorcycle riders, Road accidents, Statistical analysis of accidents.
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