Search results for: transportation capacity

Authors: Mitra Bahri, Jean Leopold Kabambi, Jacqueline Yakobi-Hancock, William Render, Stephanie So

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Reducing formaldehyde concentration in residential buildings is an important challenge, especially during the summer. In this study, a ceiling tile was used as a sorptive passive panel for formaldehyde removal. The performance of this passive panel was evaluated under different environmental conditions. The results demonstrated that the removal efficiency is comprised between 40% and 71%. Change in the level of relative humidity (30%, 50%, and 75%) had a slight positive effect on the sorption capacity. However, increase in temperature from 21 °C to 26 °C led to approximately 7% decrease in the average formaldehyde removal performance. GC/MS and HPLC analysis revealed the formation of different by-products at low concentrations under extreme environmental conditions. These findings suggest that the passive panel selected for this study holds the potential to be used for formaldehyde removal under various conditions.

Keywords: Formaldehyde, indoor air quality, passive panel, removal efficiency, sorption.

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Authors: S. Sumathi, V. Sethuprakhash, W. J. Basirun

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This study was focused on polymer electrolytes containing methanesulfonic acid (MSA) and p-toluene sulfonic acid (pTSA) mixed with polyacrylamide (PAAm) respectively. Impedance Spectroscopy technique has been employed to compare the ionic conductivity of these polymer electrolytes. The ionic conductivity of the PAAm hydrogel electrolytes increase upon adding the sulfonic acids. Ionic conductivity of PAAm-pTSA is higher than PAAm-MSA. The electrochemical performance evaluations were done with the tin-air cells discharge at zero current for 30minutes and at constant current density of 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5 and 15mA/cm². The tin-air cell of PAAm-MSA produce higher specific discharge capacity compared to PAAm-pTSA. Open-circuit voltage measurement revealed a higher voltage for tin-air cell of PAAm-MSA which is 1.27V.

Keywords: Methane sulfonic acid, polyacrylamide, polymer gel electrolytes, p-toluene sulfonic acid.

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Authors: Ibrahim I. Elshahawy

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The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of green tea extract on serum oxidant and antioxidant profile, liver and kidney function. 40 Friesian calves are included in this study and allocated into two groups: Group I (n=20) clinically healthy calves showing no clinical abnormalities, not receiving any treatment and served as control; group II (n=20) received green tea extract (GTE) for 30 days. Non-significant changes in blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were detected between groups, on contrary, serum creatinine and activities of liver enzymes aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) were significantly different between two groups. There were significant increases in the mean values of serum antioxidative parameters (total antioxidant capacity, catalase, superoxide dismutase, reduced glutathione and glutathione peroxidase) in group II. Whereas, the activity of lipid peroxidase significantly decreased in GTE treated calves when compared to control.

Keywords: Green tea extract, antioxidants, oxidants, calves.

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Authors: Nazeema Ahmed

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Mental health in higher education has received increasing attention over the past few decades. The high academic demands of the engineering degree, coupled with students’ mental health challenges, have led to higher education institutions offering psychotherapeutic services to students. This paper discusses an evaluation of the psychotherapy service at the University of Cape Town. The aim was to determine (i) the efficacy of the service; and (ii) the impact of race, gender, and language of the therapist on the students’ therapeutic process. An online survey was sent to 109 students who attended psychotherapy. The majority expressed favorable experiences of psychotherapy, with reports of increased capacity to engage with their academic work. Most students did not experience the gender, race, or language of the psychologists to be barriers to their therapy. The findings point to a need for ongoing psychological support for students.

Keywords: Psychotherapy, efficacy, engineering, education.

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Authors: S.C. Chin, N. Shafiq, M.F. Nuruddin

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In the modern construction practices, industrial wastes or by-products are largely used as raw materials in cement and concrete. These impart many benefits to the environment and bringabout an economic impact because the cost of waste disposal is constantly increasing due to strict environmental regulations. It was reported in literature that the leakage of oil onto concrete element in older cement grinding unit resulted in concrete with greater resistance to freezing and thawing. This effect was thought to be similar to adding an air-entraining chemical admixture to concrete. This paper presents an investigation on the load deflection behaviour and crack patterns of reinforced concrete (RC) beams subjected to four point loading. Ten 120x260x1900 mm beams were cast with 100% ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete, 20% fly ash (FA) and 20% rice husk ash (RHA) blended cement concrete. 0.15% dosage of admixtures (used engine oil, new engine oil, and superplasticizer) was used throughout the experiment. Results show that OPC and OPC/RHA RC beams containing used engine oil and superplasticizer exhibit higher capacity, 18-26% than their corresponding control mix.

Keywords: by-products, RC beams, superplasticizer, used engine oil

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Authors: Iqbal Hossain, Monzur Alam Imteaz, Mohammed Iqbal Hossain

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Estimation of stormwater pollutants is a pre-requisite for the protection and improvement of the aquatic environment and for appropriate management options. The usual practice for the stormwater quality prediction is performed through water quality modeling. However, the accuracy of the prediction by the models depends on the proper estimation of model parameters. This paper presents the estimation of model parameters for a catchment water quality model developed for the continuous simulation of stormwater pollutants from a catchment to the catchment outlet. The model is capable of simulating the accumulation and transportation of the stormwater pollutants; suspended solids (SS), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) from a particular catchment. Rainfall and water quality data were collected for the Hotham Creek Catchment (HTCC), Gold Coast, Australia. Runoff calculations from the developed model were compared with the calculated discharges from the widely used hydrological models, WBNM and DRAINS. Based on the measured water quality data, model water quality parameters were calibrated for the above-mentioned catchment. The calibrated parameters are expected to be helpful for the best management practices (BMPs) of the region. Sensitivity analyses of the estimated parameters were performed to assess the impacts of the model parameters on overall model estimations of runoff water quality.

Keywords: Calibration, Model Parameters, Suspended Solids, TotalNitrogen, Total Phosphorus.

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Authors: Jae-Min Yu, Hyoung-Ho Doh, Ji-Su Kim, Dong-Ho Lee, Sung-Ho Nam

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A reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS) is an advanced system designed at the outset for rapid changes in its hardware and software components in order to quickly adjust its production capacity and functionally. Among various operational decisions, this study considers the scheduling problem that determines the input sequence and schedule at the same time for a given set of parts. In particular, we consider the practical constraints that the numbers of pallets/fixtures are limited and hence a part can be released into the system only when the fixture required for the part is available. To solve the integrated input sequencing and scheduling problems, we suggest a priority rule based approach in which the two sub-problems are solved using a combination of priority rules. To show the effectiveness of various rule combinations, a simulation experiment was done on the data for a real RMS, and the test results are reported.

Keywords: Reconfigurable manufacturing system, scheduling, priority rules, multiple process plans, pallets/fixtures

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Authors: A. Yacob, N. Hj. Ali, M. H. Yusoff, M. Y. MohdSaman, W. M. A. F. W. Hamzah

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Personalized learning becomes increasingly popular which not be restricted by time, place or any other barriers. This study proposes an analysis of Personalized Learning using Item Response Theory which considers course material difficulty and learner ability.The study investigates twenty undergraduate students at TATI University College, who are taking programming subject. By using the IRT,it was found that, finding the most appropriate problem levels to each student include high and low level test items together is not a problem. Thus, the student abilities can be asses more accurately and fairly. Learners who experience more anxiety will affect a heavier cognitive load and receive lower test scores.Instructors are encouraged to provide a supportive learning environment to enhance learning effectiveness because Cognitive Load Theory concerns the limited capacity of the brain to absorb new information.

Keywords: Analysis, Cognitive Load Theory, Item Response Theory, Learning, Motivation, Performance.

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Authors: Abed Ahmed, Mehrdad Asadi, Jennifer Martay

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Stainless steel pipelines are crucial components to transportation and storage in the oil and gas industry. However, the rise of random attacks and vandalism on these pipes for their valuable transport has led to more security and protection for incoming surface impacts. These surface impacts can lead to large global deformations of the pipe and place the pipe under strain, causing the eventual failure of the pipeline. Therefore, understanding how these surface impact loads affect the pipes is vital to improving the pipes’ security and protection. In this study, experimental test and finite element analysis (FEA) have been carried out on EN3B stainless steel specimens to study the impact behaviour. Low velocity impact tests at 9 m/s with 16 kg dome impactor was used to simulate for high momentum impact for localised failure. FEA models of clamped and deformable boundaries were modelled to study the effect of the boundaries on the pipes impact behaviour on its impact resistance, using experimental and FEA approach. Comparison of experimental and FE simulation shows good correlation to the deformable boundaries in order to validate the robustness of the FE model to be implemented in pipe models with complex anisotropic structure.

Keywords: Dynamic impact, deformable boundary conditions, finite element modeling, FEM, finite element, FE, LS-DYNA, Stainless steel pipe.

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Authors: S. M. Anisuzzaman, Sariah Abang, Awang Bono, D. Krishnaiah, N. M. Ismail, G. B. Sandrison

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Wax and asphaltene are high molecular weighted compounds that contribute to the stability of crude oil at a dispersed state. Transportation of crude oil along pipelines from the oil rig to the refineries causes fluctuation of temperature which will lead to the coagulation of wax and flocculation of asphaltenes. This paper focuses on the prevention of wax and asphaltene precipitate deposition on the inner surface of the pipelines by using a wax inhibitor and an asphaltene dispersant. The novelty of this prevention method is the combination of three substances; a wax inhibitor dissolved in a wax inhibitor solvent and an asphaltene solvent, namely, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer dissolved in methylcyclohexane (MCH) and toluene (TOL) to inhibit the precipitation and deposition of wax and asphaltene. The objective of this paper was to optimize the percentage composition of each component in this inhibitor which can maximize the viscosity reduction of crude oil. The optimization was divided into two stages which are the laboratory experimental stage in which the viscosity of crude oil samples containing inhibitor of different component compositions is tested at decreasing temperatures and the data optimization stage using response surface methodology (RSM) to design an optimizing model. The results of experiment proved that the combination of 50% EVA + 25% MCH + 25% TOL gave a maximum viscosity reduction of 67% while the RSM model proved that the combination of 57% EVA + 20.5% MCH + 22.5% TOL gave a maximum viscosity reduction of up to 61%.

Keywords: Asphaltene, ethylene-vinyl acetate, methylcyclohexane, toluene, wax.

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Authors: Sangram A. Sathe, Neha A. Madgulkar, Shruti S. Raut, S. P. Wadkar

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Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) surgeries have nowadays became popular for treatment of degenerated spinal disorders. The interbody fusion technique like TLIF maintains load bearing capacity of the spine and a suitable disc height. Currently many techniques have been introduced to cure Spondylolisthesis. This surgery provides greater rehabilitation of degenerative spines. While performing this TLIF surgery existing methods use guideway, which is a troublesome surgery technique as the use of two separate instruments is required to perform this surgery. This paper presents a concept which eliminates the use of guideway. This concept also eliminates problems that occur like reverting the cage. The concept discussed in this paper also gives high accuracy while performing surgery.

Keywords: Degenerative disc diseases, pedicle screw, spine, spondylolisthesis, transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion.

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Authors: Hyun-Seop Shin, Chin-Hyung Lee, Ki-Tae Park

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In order to apply partially filled steel grid composite deck as the horizontal supporting structure of various kinds of infrastructures, the variation of its flexural strength according to design parameters such as cross and longitudinal bars constituting the steel grid and the type of shear connection is evaluated and compared experimentally. The result shows that the design sensitivity of the deck to the spacing of the cross bars is insignificant in the case of structure with low risk of punching failure or without load distribution problem. By means of shear connection composed by transverse rebar and longitudinal bar without additional shear stud bolts, the complete interaction between steel grid and concrete slab is able to be achieved and the composite deck can develop its bending resistance capacity.

Keywords: bending strength, composite action, shear connection, steel grid composite deck

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Authors: Nidal H. Abu-Zahra, Subhashini Gunashekar

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Polyurethane foam is functionalized with Sulfonic acid groups to remove lead ions (Pb²⁺) from drinking water through a cation exchange process. The synthesis is based on addition polymerization of the -NCO groups of an isocyanate with the –OH groups of a polyol to form the urethane. Toluene-diisocyanateis reacted with Polypropylene glycol to form a linear pre-polymer, which is further polymerized using a chain extender, N, N-bis(2-hydorxyethyl)-2-aminoethane-sulfonic acid (BES). BES acts as a functional group site to exchange Pb²⁺ ions. A set of experiments was designed to study the effect of various processing parameters on the performance of the synthesized foam. The maximum Pb²⁺ ion exchange capacity of the foam was found to be 47ppb/g from a 100ppb Pb²⁺ solution over a period of 60 minutes. A multistage batch filtration process increased the lead removal to 50-54ppb/3g of foam over a period of 90 minutes.

Keywords: Adsorption, Functionalized, Ion exchange, Polyurethane, Sulfonic.

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Authors: Tao Liu, Qingliang Yu, H. J. H. Brouwers

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Among the reaction products in the alkali activated ground granulated blast furnace slag (AAS), the layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have a remarkable capacity of chloride and heavy metal ions absorption. The promotion of LDH phases in the AAS matrix can increase chloride resistance. The objective of this study is that using the different dosages of sodium aluminate to activate slag, consequently, promoting the formation of in-situ LDH. The hydration kinetics of the sodium aluminate activated slag (SAAS) was tested by the isothermal calorimetry. Meanwhile, the reaction products were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The sodium hydroxide activated slag is selected as the reference. The results of XRD, TGA, and FTIR showed that the formation of LDH in SAAS is governed by the aluminate dosages.

Keywords: ground granulated blast furnace slag, sodium aluminate activated slag, in-situ LDH formation, chloride absorption

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Authors: Ali Awde, Yacine Bellik, Chakib Tadj

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Our adaptive multimodal system aims at correctly presenting a mathematical expression to visually impaired users. Given an interaction context (i.e. combination of user, environment and system resources) as well as the complexity of the expression itself and the user-s preferences, the suitability scores of different presentation format are calculated. Unlike the current state-of-the art solutions, our approach takes into account the user-s situation and not imposes a solution that is not suitable to his context and capacity. In this wok, we present our methodology for calculating the mathematical expression complexity and the results of our experiment. Finally, this paper discusses the concepts and principles applied on our system as well as their validation through cases studies. This work is our original contribution to an ongoing research to make informatics more accessible to handicapped users.

Keywords: Adaptive system, intelligent multi-agent system, mathematics for visually-impaired users.

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Authors: G. M. Mir, N. A. Shah, Moinuddin

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Efficient handoff algorithms are a cost-effective way of enhancing the capacity and QoS of cellular system. The higher value of hysteresis effectively prevents unnecessary handoffs but causes undesired cell dragging. This undesired cell dragging causes interference or could lead to dropped calls in microcellular environment. The problems are further exacerbated by the corner effect phenomenon which causes the signal level to drop by 20-30 dB in 10-20 meters. Thus, in order to maintain reliable communication in a microcellular system new and better handoff algorithms must be developed. A fuzzy based handoff algorithm is proposed in this paper as a solution to this problem. Handoff on the basis of ratio of slopes of normal signal loss to the actual signal loss is presented. The fuzzy based solution is supported by comparing its results with the results obtained in analytical solution.

Keywords: Slope ratio, handoff, corner effect, fuzzy logic.

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Authors: Yu Li, Jingwu He, Yuexi Xiong

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The spar layout will affect the wing’s stiffness characteristics, and irrational spar arrangement will reduce the overall bending and twisting resistance capacity of the wing. In this paper, the active structural stiffness design theory is used to match the stiffness-center axis position and load-cases under the corresponding multiple flight conditions, in order to achieve better stiffness properties of the wing. The combination of active stiffness method and principle of stiffness distribution is proved to be reasonable supplying an initial reference for wing designing. The optimized layout of spars is eventually obtained, and the high-aspect-ratio wing will have better stiffness characteristics.

Keywords: Active structural stiffness design theory, high-aspect-ratio wing, flight load cases, layout of spars.

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Authors: Kyonghoon Kim, Wonyoung Park, Taeil Park

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Aging infrastructures became a serious social problem. This brought out the increased need for the legislation of a new strict guideline for infrastructure management. Although existing guidelines provided basics of how to evaluate and manage the condition of infrastructures, they needed improvements for their evaluation procedures. Most guidelines mainly focused on the structural condition of infrastructures and did not properly reflect service aspects of infrastructures such as performance, public demand, capacity, etc., which were significantly valuable to public. Regardless of the importance, these factors were often neglected in infrastructure evaluations, because they were quite subjective and difficult to quantify in rational manner. Thus, this study proposed a framework to properly identify and evaluate the service indicators. This study showed that service indicators could be grouped into two categories and properly evaluated using AHP and Fuzzy. Overall, proposed framework is expected to assist governmental agency in establishing effective investment strategies for infrastructure improvements.

Keywords: Infrastructure, evaluation, serviceability, fuzzy.

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Authors: Wilaiwan Sornpoon, Sébastien Bonnet, Savitri Garivait

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Open burning of sugarcane fields is recognized to have a negative impact on soil by degrading its properties, especially soil organic carbon (SOC) content. Better understating the effect of open burning on soil carbon dynamics is crucial for documenting the carbon sequestration capacity of agricultural soils. In this study, experiments to investigate soil carbon stocks under burned and unburned sugarcane plantation systems in Thailand were conducted. The results showed that cultivation fields without open burning during 5 consecutive years enabled to increase the SOC content at a rate of 1.37 Mg ha^-1y^-1. Also it was found that sugarcane fields burning led to about 15% reduction of the total carbon stock in the 0-30 cm soil layer. The overall increase in SOC under unburned practice is mainly due to the large input of organic material through the use of sugarcane residues. 

Keywords: Soil organic carbon, Soil inorganic carbon, Carbon sequestration, Open burning, Sugarcane.

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Authors: S. Mohammadzadehmoghadam, Y. Dong

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In this study, Bombyx mori silk fibroin/gelatin (SF/GT) nanocomposite with different GT ratio (SF/GT 100/0, 90/10 and 70/30) were prepared by electrospinning process and crosslinked with glutaraldehyde (GA) vapor. Properties of crosslinked SF/GT nanocomposites were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mechanical test, water uptake capacity (WUC) and porosity. From SEM images, it was found that fiber diameter increased as GT content increased. The results of mechanical test indicated that the SF/GT 70/30 nanocomposites had both the highest Young’s modulus of 342 MPa and the highest tensile strength of about 14 MPa. However, porosity and WUC decreased from 62% and 405% for pristine SF to 47% and 232% for SF/GT 70/30, respectively. This behavior can be related to higher degree of crosslinking as GT ratio increased which altered the structure and physical properties of scaffolds. This study showed that incorporation of GT into SF nanofibers can enhance mechanical properties of resultant nanocomposite, but the GA treatment should be optimized to control and fine-tune other properties to warrant their biomedical application.

Keywords: Electrospinning, gelatin, mechanical properties, nanocomposites, silk fibroin.

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Authors: M. Mamatha, H. B. Aravinda, E. T. Puttaiah, S. Manjappa

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One of the causes of water pollution is the presence of heavy metals in water. In the present study, an adsorbent prepared from the raw bark of the Pongamia pinnata tree is used for the removal of ferrous or ferric ions from aqueous and waste water containing heavy metals. Adsorption studies were conducted at different pH, concentration of metal ion, amount of adsorbent, contact time, agitation and temperature. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models were applied for the results. The Langmuir isotherms were best fitted by the equilibrium data. The maximum adsorption was found to 146mg/g in waste water at a temperature of 30°C which is in agreement as comparable to the adsorption capacity of different adsorbents reported in literature. Pseudo second order model best fitted the adsorption of both ferrous and ferric ions.

Keywords: Adsorption, Adsorption isotherms, Heavy metals, Industrial effluents.

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Authors: Sittichai Kaewkuekool, Vanchai Laemlaksakul

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At the present, auto part industries have become higher challenge in strategy market. As this consequence, manufacturers need to have better response to customers in terms of quality, cost, and delivery time. Moreover, they need to have a good management in factory to comply with international standard maximum capacity and lower cost. This would lead companies to have to order standard part from aboard and become the major cost of inventory. The development of auto part research by recycling materials experiment is to compare the auto parts from recycle materials to international auto parts (CKD). Factors studied in this research were the recycle material ratios of PU-foam, felt, and fabric. Results of recycling materials were considered in terms of qualities and properties on the parameters such as weight, sound absorption, water absorption, tensile strength, elongation, and heat resistance with the CKD. The results were showed that recycling materials would be used to replace for the CKD.

Keywords: International auto parts, recycling materials.

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Authors: Hyung Jong Ko, Kyoung Hoon Kim

Abstract:

In this study thermodynamic performance analysis of a combined organic Rankine cycle and ejector refrigeration cycle is carried out for use of low-grade heat source in the form of sensible energy. Special attention is paid to the effects of system parameters including the turbine inlet temperature and turbine inlet pressure on the characteristics of the system such as ratios of mass flow rate, net work production, and refrigeration capacity as well as the coefficient of performance and exergy efficiency of the system. Results show that for a given source the coefficient of performance increases with increasing of the turbine inlet pressure. However, the exergy efficiency has an optimal condition with respect to the turbine inlet pressure.

Keywords: Coefficient of performance, ejector refrigeration cycle, exergy efficiency, low-grade energy, organic rankine cycle.

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Authors: Bhim Kumar Dahal

Abstract:

Transportation network development in the developing country is in rapid pace. The majority of the network belongs to railway and expressway which passes through diverse topography, landform and geological conditions despite the avoidance principle during route selection. Construction of such networks demand many low to high embankment which required improvement in the foundation soil. This paper is mainly focused on the various advanced ground improvement techniques used to improve the soft soil, modelling approach and its predictability for embankments construction. The ground improvement techniques can be broadly classified in to three groups i.e. densification group, drainage and consolidation group and reinforcement group which are discussed with some case studies.  Various methods were used in modelling of the embankments from simple 1-dimensional to complex 3-dimensional model using variety of constitutive models. However, the reliability of the predictions is not found systematically improved with the level of sophistication.  And sometimes the predictions are deviated more than 60% to the monitored value besides using same level of erudition. This deviation is found mainly due to the selection of constitutive model, assumptions made during different stages, deviation in the selection of model parameters and simplification during physical modelling of the ground condition. This deviation can be reduced by using optimization process, optimization tools and sensitivity analysis of the model parameters which will guide to select the appropriate model parameters.

Keywords: Embankment, ground improvement, modelling, model prediction.

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Authors: Ogunsina Babatunde, Aregbesola Omotayo, Adebayo Adewale, Odunlami Johnson

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The physical properties of nine Nigerian staple food flours related to bulk handling and processing were investigated following standard procedures. The results showed that the moisture content, bulk density, angle of repose, water absorption capacity, swelling index, dispersability, pH and wettability of the flours ranged from 9.95 to 11.98%, 0.44 to 0.66 g/cm³, 31.43 to 39.65^o, 198.3 to 291.7 g of water/100 g of sample, 5.53 to 7.63, 60.3 to 73.8%, 4.43 to 6.70, and 11 to 150 s. The particle size analysis of the flour samples indicated significant differences (p<0.05). The least gelation concentration of the flour samples ranged from 6 to 14%. The colour of the flours fell between light and saturated, with the exception of cassava, millet and maize flours which appear dark and dull. The properties of food flours depend largely on the inherent property of the food material and may influence their functional behaviour as food materials.

Keywords: Properties, staple food flours, Nigeria, cereals, tuber, root crops, fruits.

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Authors: Vaclav David, Tereza Davidova

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The restoration of extinct ponds is considered as one of ways to gain new retention capacities for water which is getting much more important issue with respect to expected impacts of a climate change. However, there are also other pressures on the landscape which must be all taken into consideration when making a decision on the possible restoration of extinct ponds. The research presented here focuses besides others on the restoration of former ponds which could be important for both the flood protection and drought impacts prevention. The first step of the methodology development for the assessment of such areas is the assessment of their present state. In this paper, the results of land use types assessment for 22 localities are presented. These results confirm the assumption that the most present land use type in such areas is the permanent grassland. However, the spectra of land use types present in extinct pond areas is very diverse and include besides others also airport areas and industry.

Keywords: Extinct pond, land use change, sustainable water resources management, pond restoration.

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Authors: Nilay Tanrıver, Birgül Benli, Nilgün Kızılcan

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Polysulfone (PSU) is a specialty engineering polymer having various industrial applications. PSU is especially used in waste water treatment membranes due to its good mechanical properties, structural and chemical stability. But it is a hydrophobic material and therefore its surface aim to pollute easily. In order to resolve this problem and extend the properties of membrane, PSU surface is rendered hydrophilic by addition of the sepiolite nanofibers. Sepiolite is one of the natural clays, which is a hydrate magnesium silicate fiber, also one of the well known layered clays of the montmorillonites where has several unique channels and pores within. It has also moisture durability, strength and low price. Sepiolite channels give great capacity of absorption and good surface properties. In this study, nanocomposites of commercial PSU and Sepiolite were prepared by solvent mixing method. Different organic solvents and their mixtures were used. Rheological characteristics of PSU-Sepiolite solvent mixtures were analyzed, the solubility of nanocomposite content in those mixtures were studied.

Keywords: Nanocomposite, polysulfone, rheology, sepiolite, solution mixing.

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Authors: M. M. Sadeghi, S. Vahdani

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Masonry dome structures had been widely used for covering large spans in the past. The seismic assessment of these historical structures is very complicated due to the nonlinear behavior of the material, their rigidness, and special stability configuration. The assessment method based on energy balance concept, as well as the standard pushover analysis, is used to evaluate the effectiveness of these methods in the case of masonry dome structures. The Soltanieh dome building is used as an example to which two methods are applied. The performance points are given from superimposing the capacity, and demand curves in Acceleration Displacement Response Spectra (ADRS) and energy coordination are compared with the nonlinear time history analysis as the exact result. The results show a good agreement between the dynamic analysis and the energy balance method, but standard pushover method does not provide an acceptable estimation.

Keywords: Energy balance method, pushover analysis, time history analysis, masonry dome.

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Authors: Kaishuan Shen, Pan Changyu, Yuhsiang Lu, Zongshao Liu, Chishxsin Chuang, Minyuan Ma

Abstract:

The culture of riding heavy motorcycles originates from advanced countries and mainly comes from Europe, North America, and Japan. Heavy duty motorcycle riders are different from people who view motorcycles as a convenient mean of transportation. They regard riding them as a kind of enjoyment and high-level taste. The activities of riding heavy duty motorcycles have formes a distinctive landscape in domestic land in Taiwan. Previous studies which explored motorcycle culture in Taiwan still focused on the objects of motorcycle engine displacement under 50 cc.. The study aims to study the heavy duty motorcycles of engine displacement over 550 cc. and explores where their attractiveness is. For finding the attractiveness of heavy duty motorcycle, the study chooses Miryoku Engineering (Preference-Based Design) approach. Two steps are adopted to proceed the research. First, through arranging the letters obtained from interviewing experts, EGM (The Evaluation Grid Method) was applied to find out the structure of attractiveness. The attractive styles are eye-dazzling, leisure, classic, and racing competitive styles. Secondarily, Quantification Theory Type I analysis was adopted as a tool for analyzing the importance of attractiveness. The relationship between style and attractive parts was also discussed. The results could contribute to the design and research development of heavy duty motorcycle industry in Taiwan.

Keywords: attractiveness, evaluation, heavy dutymotorcycle, miryoku engineering

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Authors: Isabel Díez Vial, Marta Fernández Olmoss

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This research tries to analyze the role that knowledge about foreign markets has in increasing firms- exports in clustered spaces. We consider two interrelated sources of knowledge: firms- direct experience and indirect experience from other clustered firms – export externalities. In particular, it is proposed that firms would improve their export performance by accessing to export externalities if they have some previous direct experience that allows them to identify, understand and exploit them. Also, we propose that this positive influence of previous direct experience on export externalities keeps only up to a point, where it becomes negative, creating an inverted “U" shape. Empirical evidence gathered among wine producers located in La Rioja tends to confirm that firms enjoy of export externalities if they have export experience along several years and countries increase their export performance. While this relationship becomes less relevant as they develop a higher experience, we could not confirm the existence of a curvilinear relationship in their influence on export externalities and export performance.

Keywords: Clusters, curvilinear relationship, absorptive capacity

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