Search results for: Surface reconstruction

Authors: Modreck Gomo

Abstract:

The evolution of groundwater chemistry and its quality is largely controlled by hydrogeochemical processes and their understanding is therefore important for groundwater quality assessments and protection of the water resources. A study was conducted in Bloemfontein town of South Africa to assess and compare the groundwater chemistry and quality characteristics in an alluvial aquifer and single-plane fractured-rock aquifers. 9 groundwater samples were collected from monitoring boreholes drilled into the two aquifer systems during a once-off sampling exercise. Samples were collected through low-flow purging technique and analysed for major ions and trace elements. In order to describe the hydrochemical facies and identify dominant hydrogeochemical processes, the groundwater chemistry data are interpreted using stiff diagrams and principal component analysis (PCA), as complimentary tools. The fitness of the groundwater quality for domestic and irrigation uses is also assessed. Results show that the alluvial aquifer is characterised by a Na-HCO₃ hydrochemical facie while fractured-rock aquifer has a Ca-HCO₃ facie. The groundwater in both aquifers originally evolved from the dissolution of calcite rocks that are common on land surface environments. However the groundwater in the alluvial aquifer further goes through another evolution as driven by cation exchange process in which Na in the sediments exchanges with Ca²⁺ in the Ca-HCO₃ hydrochemical type to result in the Na-HCO₃ hydrochemical type. Despite the difference in the hydrogeochemical processes between the alluvial aquifer and single-plane fractured-rock aquifer, this did not influence the groundwater quality. The groundwater in the two aquifers is very hard as influenced by the elevated magnesium and calcium ions that evolve from dissolution of carbonate minerals which typically occurs in surface environments. Based on total dissolved levels (600-900 mg/L), groundwater quality of the two aquifer systems is classified to be of fair quality. The negative potential impacts of the groundwater quality for domestic uses are highlighted.

Keywords: Alluvial aquifer, fractured-rock aquifer, groundwater quality, hydrogeochemical processes.

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Authors: Maharavo Randrianarivony

Abstract:

The objective is to split a simply connected polygon into a set of convex quadrilaterals without inserting new boundary nodes. The presented approach consists in repeatedly removing quadrilaterals from the polygon. Theoretical results pertaining to quadrangulation of simply connected polygons are derived from the usual 2-ear theorem. It produces a quadrangulation technique with O(n) number of quadrilaterals. The theoretical methodology is supplemented by practical results and CAD surface segmentation.

Keywords: Quadrangulation, simply connected, two-ear theorem.

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Authors: Jochen Nelles, Susanne Kohns, Julia Spies, Friederike Schmitz-Buhl, Roland Thietje, Christopher Brandl, Alexander Mertens, Christopher M. Schlick

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Industrial robots as part of highly automated manufacturing are recently developed to cooperative (light-weight) robots. This offers the opportunity of using them as assistance robots and to improve the participation in professional life of disabled or handicapped people such as tetraplegics. Robots under development are located within a cooperation area together with the working person at the same workplace. This cooperation area is an area where the robot and the working person can perform tasks at the same time. Thus, working people and robots are operating in the immediate proximity. Considering the physical restrictions and the limited mobility of tetraplegics, a hands-free robot control could be an appropriate approach for a cooperative assistance robot. To meet these requirements, the research project MeRoSy (human-robot synergy) develops methods for cooperative assistance robots based on the measurement of head movements of the working person. One research objective is to improve the participation in professional life of people with disabilities and, in particular, mobility impaired persons (e.g. wheelchair users or tetraplegics), whose participation in a self-determined working life is denied. This raises the research question, how a human-robot cooperation workplace can be designed for hands-free robot control. Here, the example of a library scenario is demonstrated. In this paper, an empirical study that focuses on the impact of head movement related stress is presented. 12 test subjects with tetraplegia participated in the study. Tetraplegia also known as quadriplegia is the worst type of spinal cord injury. In the experiment, three various basic head movements were examined. Data of the head posture were collected by a motion capture system; muscle activity was measured via surface electromyography and the subjective mental stress was assessed via a mental effort questionnaire. The muscle activity was measured for the sternocleidomastoid (SCM), the upper trapezius (UT) or trapezius pars descendens, and the splenius capitis (SPL) muscle. For this purpose, six non-invasive surface electromyography sensors were mounted on the head and neck area. An analysis of variance shows differentiated muscular strains depending on the type of head movement. Systematically investigating the influence of different basic head movements on the resulting strain is an important issue to relate the research results to other scenarios. At the end of this paper, a conclusion will be drawn and an outlook of future work will be presented.

Keywords: Assistance robot, human-robot-interaction, motion capture, stress-strain-concept, surface electromyography, tetraplegia.

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Authors: Le Chi Cuong

Abstract:

X-ray diffraction is an effective mean for analyzing material properties. This paper developed a new computational software for determining the properties of crystalline materials such as elastic constants, residual stresses, surface hardness, phase components, and etc. The results computed from the X-ray diffraction method were compared to those from the traditional methods and they are in the 95% confidential limits, showing that the newly developed software has high reproducibility, opening a possibility of its commercialization.

Keywords: X-ray diffraction, Nondestructive evaluation, Hardness, Residual stress, Phase determination.

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Authors: S. A. Nta, M. J. Ayotamuno, A. H. Igoni, R. N. Okparanma

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The work sought to understand the pattern of movement of contaminant from a continuous point source through soil. The soil used was sandy-loam in texture. The contaminant used was municipal solid waste landfill leachate, introduced as a point source through an entry point located at the center of top layer of the soil tank. Analyses were conducted after maturity periods of 50 and 80 days. The maximum change in chemical concentration was observed on soil samples at a radial distance of 0.25 m. Finite element approximation based model was used to assess the future prediction, management and remediation in the polluted area. The actual field data collected for the case study were used to calibrate the modeling and thus simulated the flow pattern of the pollutants through soil. MATLAB R2015a was used to visualize the flow of pollutant through the soil. Dispersion coefficient at 0.25 and 0.50 m radial distance from the point of application of leachate shows a measure of the spreading of a flowing leachate due to the nature of the soil medium, with its interconnected channels distributed at random in all directions. Surface plots of metals on soil after maturity period of 80 days shows a functional relationship between a designated dependent variable (Y), and two independent variables (X and Z). Comparison of measured and predicted profile transport along the depth after 50 and 80 days of leachate application and end of the experiment shows that there were no much difference between the predicted and measured concentrations as they were all lying close to each other. For the analysis of contaminant transport, finite difference approximation based model was very effective in assessing the future prediction, management and remediation in the polluted area. The experiment gave insight into the most likely pattern of movement of contaminant as a result of continuous percolations of the leachate on soil. This is important for contaminant movement prediction and subsequent remediation of such soils.

Keywords: Contaminant, dispersion, point or leaky source, surface plot, soil.

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Authors: Maribel G. Guzmán, Jean Dille, Stephan Godet

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Silver nanoparticles were prepared by chemical reduction method. Silver nitrate was taken as the metal precursor and hydrazine hydrate as a reducing agent. The formation of the silver nanoparticles was monitored using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. The UV-Vis spectroscopy revealed the formation of silver nanopart├¡cles by exhibing the typical surface plasmon absorption maxima at 418-420 nm from the UV–Vis spectrum. Comparison of theoretical (Mie light scattering theory) and experimental results showed that diameter of silver nanoparticles in colloidal solution is about 60 nm. We have used energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and, UV–Vis spectroscopy to characterize the nanoparticles obtained. The energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) of the nanoparticles dispersion confirmed the presence of elemental silver signal no peaks of other impurity were detected. The average size and morphology of silver nanoparticles were determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM photographs indicate that the nanopowders consist of well dispersed agglomerates of grains with a narrow size distribution (40 and 60 nm), whereas the radius of the individual particles are between 10 and 20 nm. The synthesized nanoparticles have been structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission high-energy electron diffraction (HEED). The peaks in the XRD pattern are in good agreement with the standard values of the face-centered-cubic form of metallic silver (ICCD-JCPDS card no. 4-0787) and no peaks of other impurity crystalline phases were detected. Additionally, the antibacterial activity of the nanopart├¡culas dispersion was measured by Kirby-Bauer method. The nanoparticles of silver showed high antimicrobial and bactericidal activity against gram positive bacteria such as Escherichia Coli, Pseudimonas aureginosa and staphylococcus aureus which is a highly methicillin resistant strain.

Keywords: Silver nanoparticles, surface plasmon, UV-Vis absorption spectrum, chemicals reduction.

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Authors: Mahbod Seyednia, Shidvash Vakilipour, Mehran Masdari

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Computations for two-dimensional flow past a stationary and harmonically pitching wind turbine airfoil at a moderate value of Reynolds number (400000) are carried out by progressively increasing the angle of attack for stationary airfoil and at fixed pitching frequencies for rotary one. The incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in conjunction with Unsteady Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes (URANS) equations for turbulence modeling are solved by OpenFOAM package to investigate the aerodynamic phenomena occurred at stationary and pitching conditions on a NACA 6-series wind turbine airfoil. The aim of this study is to enhance the accuracy of numerical simulation in predicting the aerodynamic behavior of an oscillating airfoil in OpenFOAM. Hence, for turbulence modelling, k-ω-SST with low-Reynolds correction is employed to capture the unsteady phenomena occurred in stationary and oscillating motion of the airfoil. Using aerodynamic and pressure coefficients along with flow patterns, the unsteady aerodynamics at pre-, near-, and post-static stall regions are analyzed in harmonically pitching airfoil, and the results are validated with the corresponding experimental data possessed by the authors. The results indicate that implementing the mentioned turbulence model leads to accurate prediction of the angle of static stall for stationary airfoil and flow separation, dynamic stall phenomenon, and reattachment of the flow on the surface of airfoil for pitching one. Due to the geometry of the studied 6-series airfoil, the vortex on the upper surface of the airfoil during upstrokes is formed at the trailing edge. Therefore, the pattern flow obtained by our numerical simulations represents the formation and change of the trailing-edge vortex at near- and post-stall regions where this process determines the dynamic stall phenomenon.

Keywords: CFD, Moderate Reynolds number, OpenFOAM, pitching oscillation, unsteady aerodynamics, wind turbine.

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Authors: P. Worathanakul, P. Kongkachuichay

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A new SUZ-4 zeolite membrane with tetraethlyammonium hydroxide as the template was fabricated on mullite tube via hydrothermal sol-gel synthesis in a rotating autoclave reactor. The suitable synthesis condition was SiO2:Al2O3 ratio of 21.2 for 4 days at 155 °C crystallization under autogenous pressure. The obtained SUZ-4 possessed a high BET surface area of 396.4 m2/g, total pore volume at 2.611 cm3/g, and narrow pore size distribution with 97 nm mean diameter and 760 nm long of needle crystal shape. The SUZ-4 layer obtained from seeding crystallization was thicker than that of without seeds or in situ crystallization.

Keywords: Membrane, seeding, sol-gel, SUZ-4 Zeolite.

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Authors: O. Shiman, V. Gerbreders, E. Sledevskis, A. Bulanovs, V.Pashkevich

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The selective wet-etching of amorphous and crystalline region of Sb20Se80 thin films was carried out using organic based solution e.g. amines. We report the development of an in situ real-time method to study the wet chemical etching process of thin films. Characterization of the structure and surface of films studied by X-ray diffraction, SEM and EBSD methods has been done and potential application suggested.

Keywords: amorphous and crystalline phases, chalcogenide thinfilm, etching process

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Authors: T. Strobl, D. Raps, M. Hornung

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In this study, the adhesion of ice to solid substrates with different surface properties is compared. Clear ice, similar to atmospheric in-flight icing encounters, is accreted on the different substrates under controlled conditions. The ice adhesion behavior is investigated by means of a dynamic vibration testing technique with an electromagnetic shaker initiating ice de-bonding in the interface between the substrate and the ice. The results of the experiments reveal that the affinity for ice accretion is significantly influenced by the water contact angle of the respective sample.

Keywords: Contact angle, dynamic vibration measurement, ice adhesion, interfacial shear stress.

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Authors: Pınar Tüfekçi, Yılmaz Kılıçaslan

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In this paper we present a computational model for pronominal anaphora resolution in Turkish. The model is based on Hobbs’ Naїve Algorithm [4, 5, 6], which exploits only the surface syntax of sentences in a given text.

Keywords: Anaphora Resolution, Pronoun Resolution, Syntax based Algorithms, Naїve Algorithm.

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Authors: R. Estrada, A. Henriquez, R. Becerra, C. Laguna

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Spatial Augmented Reality is a variation of Augmented Reality where the Head-Mounted Display is not required. This variation of Augmented Reality is useful in cases where the need for a Head-Mounted Display itself is a limitation. To achieve this, Spatial Augmented Reality techniques substitute the technological elements of Augmented Reality; the virtual world is projected onto a physical surface. To create an interactive spatial augmented experience, the application must be aware of the spatial relations that exist between its core elements. In this case, the core elements are referred to as a projection system and an input system, and the process to achieve this spatial awareness is called system calibration. The Spatial Augmented Reality system is considered calibrated if the projected virtual world scale is similar to the real-world scale, meaning that a virtual object will maintain its perceived dimensions when projected to the real world. Also, the input system is calibrated if the application knows the relative position of a point in the projection plane and the RGB-depth sensor origin point. Any kind of projection technology can be used, light-based projectors, close-range projectors, and screens, as long as it complies with the defined constraints; the method was tested on different configurations. The proposed procedure does not rely on a physical marker, minimizing the human intervention on the process. The tests are made using a Kinect V2 as an input sensor and several projection devices. In order to test the method, the constraints defined were applied to a variety of physical configurations; once the method was executed, some variables were obtained to measure the method performance. It was demonstrated that the method obtained can solve different arrangements, giving the user a wide range of setup possibilities.

Keywords: Color depth sensor, human computer interface, interactive surface, spatial augmented reality.

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Authors: Mária Csernoch, Piroska Biró

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The legends about “user-friendly” and “easy-to-use” birotical tools (computer-related office tools) have been spreading and misleading end-users. This approach has led us to the extremely high number of incorrect documents, causing serious financial losses in the creating, modifying, and retrieving processes. Our research proved that there are at least two sources of this underachievement: (1) The lack of the definition of the correctly edited, formatted documents. Consequently, end-users do not know whether their methods and results are correct or not. They are not aware of their ignorance. They are so ignorant that their ignorance does not allow them to realize their lack of knowledge. (2) The end-users’ problem solving methods. We have found that in non-traditional programming environments end-users apply, almost exclusively, surface approach metacognitive methods to carry out their computer related activities, which are proved less effective than deep approach methods. Based on these findings we have developed deep approach methods which are based on and adapted from traditional programming languages. In this study, we focus on the most popular type of birotical documents, the text based documents. We have provided the definition of the correctly edited text, and based on this definition, adapted the debugging method known in programming. According to the method, before the realization of text editing, a thorough debugging of already existing texts and the categorization of errors are carried out. With this method in advance to real text editing users learn the requirements of text based documents and also of the correctly formatted text. The method has been proved much more effective than the previously applied surface approach methods. The advantages of the method are that the real text handling requires much less human and computer sources than clicking aimlessly in the GUI (Graphical User Interface), and the data retrieval is much more effective than from error-prone documents.

Keywords: Deep approach metacognitive methods, error-prone birotical documents, financial losses, human and computer resources.

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Authors: P. Luangpaiboon

Abstract:

Various intelligences and inspirations have been adopted into the iterative searching process called as meta-heuristics. They intelligently perform the exploration and exploitation in the solution domain space aiming to efficiently seek near optimal solutions. In this work, the bee algorithm, inspired by the natural foraging behaviour of honey bees, was adapted to find the near optimal solutions of the transportation management system, dynamic multi-zone dispatching. This problem prepares for an uncertainty and changing customers- demand. In striving to remain competitive, transportation system should therefore be flexible in order to cope with the changes of customers- demand in terms of in-bound and outbound goods and technological innovations. To remain higher service level but lower cost management via the minimal imbalance scenario, the rearrangement penalty of the area, in each zone, including time periods are also included. However, the performance of the algorithm depends on the appropriate parameters- setting and need to be determined and analysed before its implementation. BEE parameters are determined through the linear constrained response surface optimisation or LCRSOM and weighted centroid modified simplex methods or WCMSM. Experimental results were analysed in terms of best solutions found so far, mean and standard deviation on the imbalance values including the convergence of the solutions obtained. It was found that the results obtained from the LCRSOM were better than those using the WCMSM. However, the average execution time of experimental run using the LCRSOM was longer than those using the WCMSM. Finally a recommendation of proper level settings of BEE parameters for some selected problem sizes is given as a guideline for future applications.

Keywords: Meta-heuristic, Bee Algorithm, Dynamic Multi-Zone Dispatching, Linear Constrained Response SurfaceOptimisation Method, Weighted Centroid Modified Simplex Method

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Authors: Jarno Haapamäki, Juha Röning

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Scale defects are common surface defects in hot steel rolling. The modelling of such defects is problematic and their causes are not straightforward. In this study, we investigated genetic algorithms in search for a mathematical solution to scale formation. For this research, a high-dimensional data set from hot steel rolling process was gathered. The synchronisation of the variables as well as the allocation of the measurements made on the steel strip were solved before the modelling phase.

Keywords: Genetic algorithms, hot strip rolling, knowledge discovery, modeling.

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Authors: Kukuri Tavartkiladze, Nana Bolashvili

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The purpose of this paper was separation and study of the part of structure regime, which directly affects the process of desertification. A simple scheme was prepared for the assessment of desertification process; surface air temperature and precipitation for the years of 1936-2009 were analyzed.  The map of distribution of the Desertification Contributing Coefficient in the territory of Georgia was compiled. The simple scheme for identification of the intensity of the desertification contributing process has been developed and the illustrative example of its practical application for the territory of Georgia has been conducted.

Keywords: Climate change, aridity, desertification, precipitation.

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Authors: Philip T. Broughton, Mark P. Bettney, Isla L. Smail

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Effective treatment of ground instability is essential when managing the impacts associated with historic mining. A field trial was undertaken by the Coal Authority to investigate the geotechnical performance and potential use of composite materials comprising resin and fill or stone to safely treat surface collapses, such as crown-holes, associated with shallow mining. Test pits were loosely filled with various granular fill materials. The fill material was injected with commercially available silicate and polyurethane resin foam products. In situ and laboratory testing was undertaken to assess the geotechnical properties of the resultant composite materials. The test pits were subsequently excavated to assess resin permeation. Drilling and resin injection was easiest through clean limestone fill materials. Recycled building waste fill material proved difficult to inject with resin; this material is thus considered unsuitable for use in resin composites. Incomplete resin permeation in several of the test pits created irregular ‘blocks’ of composite. Injected resin foams significantly improve the stiffness and resistance (strength) of the un-compacted fill material. The stiffness of the treated fill material appears to be a function of the stone particle size, its associated compaction characteristics (under loose tipping) and the proportion of resin foam matrix. The type of fill material is more critical than the type of resin to the geotechnical properties of the composite materials. Resin composites can effectively support typical design imposed loads. Compared to other traditional treatment options, such as cement grouting, the use of resin composites is potentially less disruptive, particularly for sites with limited access, and thus likely to achieve significant reinstatement cost savings. The use of resin composites is considered a suitable option for the future treatment of shallow mining collapses.

Keywords: Composite material, ground improvement, mining legacy, resin.

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Authors: M. Meskinfam , M. S. Sadjadi , H. Jazdarreh

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In this study, synthesis of biomemitic patterned nano hydroxyapatite-starch biocomposites using different concentration of starch to evaluate effect of polymer alteration on biocomposites structural properties has been reported. Formation of hydroxyapatite nano particles was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Size and morphology of the samples were characterized using scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM). It seems that by increasing starch content, the more active site of polymer (oxygen atoms) can be provided for interaction with Ca2+ followed by phosphate and hydroxyl group.

Keywords: Biocomposite, Biomimetic, Nano hydroxyapatite, Starch

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Authors: S. Kong Wang

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficiency of a double-layer roof in collecting solar energy as an application to the areas such as raising high-end temperature of organic Rankine cycle (ORC). The by-product of the solar roof is to reduce building air-conditioning loads. The experimental apparatus are arranged to evaluate the effects of the solar roof in absorbing solar energy. The flow channel is basically formed by an aluminum plate on top of a plywood plate. The geometric configurations in which the effects of absorbing energy is analyzed include: a bare uncovered aluminum plate, a glass-covered aluminum plate, a glass-covered/black-painted aluminum plate, a plate with variable lengths, a flow channel with stuffed material (in an attempt on enhancement of heat conduction), and a flow channel with variable slanted angles. The experimental results show that the efficiency of energy collection varies from 0.6 % to 11 % for the geometric configurations mentioned above. An additional study is carried out using CFD simulation to investigate the effects of fins on the aluminum plate. It shows that due to vastly enhanced heat conduction, the efficiency can reach ~23 % if 50 fins are installed on the aluminum plate. The study shows that a double-layer roof can efficiently absorb solar energy and substantially reduce building air-conditioning loads. On the high end of an organic Rankine cycle, a solar pond is used to replace the warm surface water of the sea as OTEC (ocean thermal energy conversion) is the driving energy for the ORC. The energy collected from the double-layered solar roof can be pumped into the pond and raise the pond temperature as the pond surface area is equivalently increased by nearly one-fourth of the total area of the double-layer solar roof. The effect of raising solar pond temperature is especially prominent if the double-layer solar roofs are installed in a community area.

Keywords: solar energy collection, double-layer solar roof, energy conservation, ORC, OTEC

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Authors: Mohammad Syed Ali Molla, Mohammed Azim, Mohammad Esharuzzaman

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Centrifugal-casting machine is used in manufacturing special machine components like multi-layer journal bearing used in all internal combustion engine, steam, gas turbine and air craft turboengine where isotropic properties and high precisions are desired. Moreover, this machine can be used in manufacturing thin wall hightech machine components like cylinder liners and piston rings of IC engine and other machine parts like sleeves, and bushes. Heavy-duty machine component like railway wheel can also be prepared by centrifugal casting. A lot of technological developments are required in casting process for production of good casted machine body and machine parts. Usually defects like blowholes, surface roughness, chilled surface etc. are found in sand casted machine parts. But these can be removed by centrifugal casting machine using rotating metallic die. Moreover, die rotation, its temperature control, and good pouring practice can contribute to the quality of casting because of the fact that the soundness of a casting in large part depends upon how the metal enters into the mold or dies and solidifies. Poor pouring practice leads to variety of casting defects such as temperature loss, low quality casting, excessive turbulence, over pouring etc. Besides these, handling of molten metal is very unsecured and dangerous for the workers. In order to get rid of all these problems, the need of an automatic pouring device arises. In this research work, a robot assisted pouring device and a centrifugal casting machine are designed, developed constructed and tested experimentally which are found to work satisfactorily. The robot assisted pouring device is further modified and developed for using it in actual metal casting process. Lot of settings and tests are required to control the system and ultimately it can be used in automation of centrifugal casting machine to produce high-tech machine parts with desired precision.

Keywords: Casting, cylinder liners, journal bearing, robot.

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Authors: Malek Ali

Abstract:

Composites materials of Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/Chitosan (CS) have been synthesized and characterized successfully. HNTs have been added to composites to enhance the mechanical and degradation properties by hydrogen bonding interactions, compatibility, and chemical crosslink between HNTs and PVA. PVA/CS/HNTs composites prepared with different concentration ratio. SEM micrographs of composites surface showed that more agglomeration with more chitosan ratio. Mechanical and degradation properties were characterized and the result indicates that Mechanical and degradation of 80%PVA/5%Chitosan/15%HNTs higher than the others PVA/CS/HNTs composites.

Keywords: PVA/Chitosan, Composites, PVA/CS/HNTs, HNTs.

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Authors: Ime R. Udotong, Justina I. R. Udotong, Ofonime U. M. John

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Brass terminal, one of the several crude oil and petroleum products storage/handling facilities in the Niger Delta was built in the 1980s. Activities at this site, over the years, released crude oil into this 3 m-deep, 1500 m-long canal lying adjacent to the terminal with oil floating on it and its sediment heavily polluted. To ensure effective clean-up, three major activities were planned: site characterization, bioremediation pilot plant construction and testing and full-scale bioremediation of contaminated sediment / bank soil by land farming. The canal was delineated into 12 lots and each characterized, with reference to the floating oily phase, contaminated sediment and canal bank soil. As a result of site characterization, a pilot plant for on-site bioremediation was designed and a treatment basin constructed for carrying out pilot bioremediation test. Following a designed sampling protocol, samples from this pilot plant were collected for analysis at two laboratories as a quality assurance / quality control check. Results showed that Brass Canal upstream is contaminated with dark, thick and viscous oily film with characteristic hydrocarbon smell while downstream, thin oily film interspersed with water was observed. Sediments were observed to be dark with mixture of brownish sandy soil with TPH ranging from 17,800 mg/kg in Lot 1 to 88,500 mg/kg in Lot 12 samples. Brass Canal bank soil was observed to be sandy from ground surface to 3m, below ground surface (bgs) it was silty-sandy and brownish while subsurface soil (4-10m bgs) was sandy-clayey and whitish/grayish with typical hydrocarbon smell. Preliminary results obtained so far have been very promising but were proprietary. This project is considered, to the best of technical literature knowledge, the first large-scale on-site bioremediation project in the Niger Delta region, Nigeria.

Keywords: Bioremediation, Contaminated sediment, Land farming, Oily sludge, Oil Terminal.

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Authors: L. C. Ding, Bradley. G. Orr, K. Rahaoui, S. Truza, A. Date, A. Akbarzadeh

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The research on thermoelectric has been a blooming field of research for the latest decade, owing to large amount of heat source available to be harvested, being eco-friendly and static in operation. This paper provides the performance of thermoelectric generator (TEG) with bulk material of bismuth telluride, Bi₂Te₃. Later, the performance of the TEGs is evaluated by considering attaching the TEGs on a plastic (polyethylene sheet) in contrast to the common method of attaching the TEGs on the metal surface.

Keywords: Electric power, heat transfer, renewable energy, thermoelectric generator.

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Authors: Yeo Kyeong Lee, Hae Won Min, Ji Yeon Kang, Hee Sun Kim, Yeong Soo Shin

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In recent years, fire accidents have been steadily increased and the amount of property damage caused by the accidents has gradually raised. Damaging building structure, fire incidents bring about not only such property damage but also strength degradation and member deformation. As a result, the building structure undermines its structural ability. Examining the degradation and the deformation is very important because reusing the building is more economical than reconstruction. Therefore, engineers need to investigate the strength degradation and member deformation well, and make sure that they apply right rehabilitation methods. This study aims at evaluating deformation characteristics of fire damaged and rehabilitated normal strength concrete beams through both experiments and finite element analyses. For the experiments, control beams, fire damaged beams and rehabilitated beams are tested to examine deformation characteristics. Ten test beam specimens with compressive strength of 21MPa are fabricated and main test variables are selected as cover thickness of 40mm and 50mm and fire exposure time of 1 hour or 2 hours. After heating, fire damaged beams are air-recurred for 2 months and rehabilitated beams are repaired with polymeric cement mortar after being removed the fire damaged concrete cover. All beam specimens are tested under four points loading. FE analyses are executed to investigate the effects of main parameters applied to experimental study. Test results show that both maximum load and stiffness of the rehabilitated beams are higher than those of the fire damaged beams. In addition, predicted structural behaviors from the analyses also show good rehabilitation effect and the predicted load-deflection curves are similar to the experimental results. For the further, the proposed analytical method can be used to predict deformation characteristics of fire damaged and rehabilitated concrete beams without suffering from time and cost consuming of experimental process.

Keywords: Fire, Normal strength concrete, Rehabilitation, Reinforced concrete beam.

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Authors: A. Sakavičius, A. Lukša, V. Nargelienė, V. Bukauskas, G. Astromskas, A. Šetkus

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We investigate the influence of annealing on the properties of a contact between graphene and metal (Au and Ni), using circular transmission line model (CTLM) contact geometry. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) and Raman spectroscopy are applied for characterization of the surface and interface properties. Annealing causes a decrease of the metal-graphene contact resistance for both Ni and Au.

Keywords: Graphene, Kelvin force probe microscopy, Raman spectroscopy.

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Authors: Md Y. Reja, Samuel D. Brody, Wesley E. Highfield, Galen D. Newman

Abstract:

Historically, wetlands in the United States have been lost due to agriculture, anthropogenic activities, and rapid urbanization along the coast. Such losses of wetlands have resulted in high flooding risk for coastal communities over the period of time. In addition, alteration of wetlands via the Section 404 Clean Water Act permits can increase the flooding risk to future hurricane events, as the cumulative impact of this program is poorly understood and under-accounted. Further, recovery after hurricane events is acting as an encouragement for new development and reconstruction activities by converting wetlands under the wetland alteration permitting program. This study investigates the degree to which hurricane recovery activities in coastal communities are undermining the ability of these places to absorb the impacts of future storm events. Specifically, this work explores how and to what extent wetlands are being affected by the federal permitting program post-Hurricane Ike in 2008. Wetland alteration patterns are examined across three counties (Harris, Galveston, and Chambers County) along the Texas Gulf Coast over a 10-year time period, from 2004-2013 (five years before and after Hurricane Ike) by conducting descriptive spatial analyses. Results indicate that after Hurricane Ike, the number of permits substantially increased in Harris and Chambers County. The vast majority of individual and nationwide type permits were issued within the 100-year floodplain, storm surge zones, and areas damaged by Ike flooding, suggesting that recovery after the hurricane is compromising the ecological resiliency on which coastal communities depend. The authors expect that the findings of this study can increase awareness to policy makers and hazard mitigation planners regarding how to manage wetlands during a long-term recovery process to maintain their natural functions for future flood mitigation.

Keywords: Ecological resiliency, Hurricane Ike, recovery, Section 404 permitting, wetland alteration.

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Authors: Sh. Sohrabnezhad, A. Jafarzadeh

Abstract:

In this paper, MCM-41 mesoporous material nanofibers were synthesized by an electrospinning technique. The nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and nitrogen adsorption–desorption measurement. Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were used as a silica source and fiber forming source, respectively. TEM and SEM images showed synthesis of MCM-41 nanofibers with a diameter of 200 nm. The pore diameter and surface area of calcined MCM-41 nanofibers was 2.2 nm and 970 m²/g, respectively. The morphology of the MCM-41 nanofibers depended on spinning voltages.

Keywords: Electrospinning, electron microscopy, fiber technology, porous materials, X-ray techniques.

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Authors: Wanida Wonsawat

Abstract:

This research describes a voltammetric approach to determine amounts of vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) in orange juice sample, using three screen printed electrode. The anodic currents of vitamin C were proportional to vitamin C concentration in the range of 0 – 10.0 mM with the limit of detection of 1.36 mM. The method was successfully employed with 2 µL of the working solution dropped on the electrode surface. The proposed method was applied for the analysis of vitamin C in packed orange juice without sample purification or complexion of sample preparation step.

Keywords: Ascorbic acid, Vitamin C, Juice, Voltammetry

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Authors: Jianwen Li, Hongfang Ma, Haitao Zhang, Qiwen Sun, Weiyong Ying

Abstract:

Catalytic cracking of butene to propylene was carried out in a continuous-flow fixed-bed reactor over HZSM-5 catalysts modified by nickel and phosphorus. The structure and acidity of catalysts were measured by N₂ adsorption, NH₃-TPD and XPS. The results revealed that surface area and strong acid sites both decreased with increasing phosphorus loadings. The increment of phosphorus loadings reduced the butene conversion but enhanced the propylene selectivity and catalyst stability.

Keywords: Butene, catalytic cracking, HZSM-5, modification.

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Authors: N. Nagabhushana Ramesh, Kalley Harinarayana, T. Raghavender Reddy, B. Balu Naik

Abstract:

Electro Discharge Sawing is a hybrid process combining the features of SEDM and ECM. Its major characteristic is extremely fast erosion rate compare to either of the above processes. This paper brings out its relative feature of SEDM and EDS about their erosion rates, surface roughness, and morphology of machined surfaces.

Keywords: Electro Chemical Machining (ECM), Electro Discharge Sawing (EDS), Sinking Electro Discharge Machining (SEDM).

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