Search results for: thermal and structural loading.
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3003

Search results for: thermal and structural loading.

1923 An Intelligent Water Drop Algorithm for Solving Economic Load Dispatch Problem

Authors: S. Rao Rayapudi

Abstract:

Economic Load Dispatch (ELD) is a method of determining the most efficient, low-cost and reliable operation of a power system by dispatching available electricity generation resources to supply load on the system. The primary objective of economic dispatch is to minimize total cost of generation while honoring operational constraints of available generation resources. In this paper an intelligent water drop (IWD) algorithm has been proposed to solve ELD problem with an objective of minimizing the total cost of generation. Intelligent water drop algorithm is a swarm-based natureinspired optimization algorithm, which has been inspired from natural rivers. A natural river often finds good paths among lots of possible paths in its ways from source to destination and finally find almost optimal path to their destination. These ideas are embedded into the proposed algorithm for solving economic load dispatch problem. The main advantage of the proposed technique is easy is implement and capable of finding feasible near global optimal solution with less computational effort. In order to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, it has been tested on 6-unit and 20-unit test systems with incremental fuel cost functions taking into account the valve point-point loading effects. Numerical results shows that the proposed method has good convergence property and better in quality of solution than other algorithms reported in recent literature.

Keywords: Economic load dispatch, Transmission loss, Optimization, Valve point loading, Intelligent Water Drop Algorithm.

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1922 Mechanical and Chemical Reliability Assessment of Silica Optical Fibres

Authors: Irina Severin, M. Caramihai, K. Chung, G. Tasca, T. Park

Abstract:

The current study has investigated the ageing phenomena of silica optical fibres in relation to water activity which might be accelerated when exposed to a supplementary energy, such as microwaves. A controlled stress by winding fibres onto accurate diameter mandrel was applied. Taking into account that normally a decrease in fibre strength is induced in time by chemical action of water, the effects of cumulative reagents such as: water, applied stress and supplementary energy (microwave) in some cases acted in the opposite manner. The microwave effect as a structural relaxation catalyst appears unexpected, even if the overall gain in fibre strength is not high, but the stress corrosion factor revealed significant increase in certain simulation conditions.

Keywords: optical fibres, mechanical testing, aging, microwave, structural relaxation.

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1921 Structural and Optical Characterization of Silica@PbS Core–Shell Nanoparticles

Authors: A. Pourahmad, Sh. Gharipour

Abstract:

The present work describes the preparation and characterization of nanosized SiO2@PbS core-shell particles by using a simple wet chemical route. This method utilizes silica spheres formation followed by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method assisted lead sulphide shell layer formation. The final product was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–vis spectroscopic, infrared spectroscopy (IR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) experiments. The morphological studies revealed the uniformity in size distribution with core size of 250 nm and shell thickness of 18 nm. The electron microscopic images also indicate the irregular morphology of lead sulphide shell layer. The structural studies indicate the face-centered cubic system of PbS shell with no other trace for impurities in the crystal structure.

Keywords: Core-shell, nanostructure, semiconductor, optical property, XRD.

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1920 Thermal Performance Analysis of Nanofluids in a Concetric Heat Exchanger Equipped with Turbulators

Authors: Feyza Eda Akyurek, Bayram Sahin, Kadir Gelis, Eyuphan Manay, Murat Ceylan

Abstract:

Turbulent forced convection heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of Al2O3–water nanofluid flowing through a concentric tube heat exchanger with and without coiled wire turbulators were studied experimentally. The experiments were conducted in the Reynolds number ranging from 4000 to 20000, particle volume concentrations of 0.8 vol.% and 1.6 vol.%. Two turbulators with the pitches of 25 mm and 39 mm were used. The results of nanofluids indicated that average Nusselt number increased much more with increasing Reynolds number compared to that of pure water. Thermal conductivity enhancement by the nanofluids resulted in heat transfer enhancement. Once the pressure drop of the alumina/water nanofluid was analyzed, it was nearly equal to that of pure water at the same Reynolds number range. It was concluded that nanofluids with the volume fractions of 0.8 and 1.6 did not have a significant effect on pressure drop change. However, the use of wire coils in heat exchanger enhanced heat transfer as well as the pressure drop.

Keywords: Turbulators, heat exchanger, nanofluids, heat transfer enhancement.

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1919 Triplet Shear Tests on Retrofitted Brickwork Masonry Walls

Authors: Berna Istegun, Erkan Celebi

Abstract:

The main objective of this experimental study is to assess the shear strength and the crack behavior of the triplets built of perforated brickwork masonry elements. In order to observe the influence of shear resistance and energy dissipating before and after retrofitting applications by using the reinforcing system, static-cyclic shear tests were employed in the structural mechanics laboratory of Sakarya University. The reinforcing system is composed of hybrid multiaxial seismic fabric consisting of alkali resistant glass and polypropylene fibers. The plaster as bonding material used in the specimen’s retrofitting consists of expanded glass granular. In order to acquire exact measuring data about the failure behavior of the two mortar joints under shear stressing, vertical load-controlled cylinder having force capacity of 50 kN and loading rate of 1.5 mm/min. with an internal inductive displacement transducers is carried out perpendicular to the triplet specimens. In this study, a total of six triplet specimens with textile reinforcement were prepared for these shear bond tests. The three of them were produced as single-sided reinforced triplets with seismic fabric, while the others were strengthened on both sides. In addition, three triplet specimens without retrofitting and plaster were also tested as reference samples. The obtained test results were given in the manner of force-displacement relationships, ductility coefficients and shear strength parameters comparatively. It is concluded that two-side seismic textile applications on masonry elements with relevant plaster have considerably increased the sheer force resistance and the ductility capacity.

Keywords: Triplet shears tests, retrofitting, seismic fabric, perforated brickwork, expanded glass granular.

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1918 Short Term Tests on Performance Evaluation of Water-washed and Dry-washed Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil

Authors: Shumani Ramuhaheli, Christopher C. Enweremadu, Hilary L. Rutto

Abstract:

In this study, biodiesel from used cooking oil was produced as purified by washing with water (water wash) and amberlite (dry wash). The work presents the results of short term tests on performance characteristics of diesel engine using both biodiesel-fuel samples. In this investigation, the water wash biodiesel and dry wash biodiesel and diesel were compared for performance using a four-cylinder diesel engine. The torque, brake power, specific fuel consumption and brake thermal efficiency were analyzed. The tests showed that in all cases, dry wash biodiesel performed marginally poorer compared to water wash biodiesel. Except for brake thermal efficiency, diesel fuel had better engine performance characteristics compared to the biodiesel-fuel samples. According to these results, dry washing of biodiesel has a marginal effect on engine performance.

Keywords: Biodiesel, engine performance, used cooking oil, water wash, dry wash.

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1917 Future Housing Energy Efficiency Associated with the Auckland Unitary Plan

Authors: Bin Su

Abstract:

The draft Auckland Unitary Plan outlines the future land used for new housing and businesses with Auckland population growth over the next thirty years. According to Auckland Unitary Plan, over the next 30 years, the population of Auckland is projected to increase by one million, and up to 70% of total new dwellings occur within the existing urban area. Intensification will not only increase the number of median or higher density houses such as terrace house, apartment building, etc. within the existing urban area but also change mean housing design data that can impact building thermal performance under the local climate. Based on mean energy consumption and building design data, and their relationships of a number of Auckland sample houses, this study is to estimate the future mean housing energy consumption associated with the change of mean housing design data and evaluate housing energy efficiency with the Auckland Unitary Plan.

Keywords: Auckland Unitary Plan, Building thermal design, Housing design, Housing energy efficiency.

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1916 Dynamic High-Rise Moment Resisting Frame Dissipation Performances Adopting Glazed Curtain Walls with Superelastic Shape Memory Alloy Joints

Authors: Lorenzo Casagrande, Antonio Bonati, Ferdinando Auricchio, Antonio Occhiuzzi

Abstract:

This paper summarizes the results of a survey on smart non-structural element dynamic dissipation when installed in modern high-rise mega-frame prototypes. An innovative glazed curtain wall was designed using Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) joints in order to increase the energy dissipation and enhance the seismic/wind response of the structures. The studied buildings consisted of thirty- and sixty-storey planar frames, extracted from reference three-dimensional steel Moment Resisting Frame (MRF) with outriggers and belt trusses. The internal core was composed of a CBF system, whilst outriggers were placed every fifteen stories to limit second order effects and inter-storey drifts. These structural systems were designed in accordance with European rules and numerical FE models were developed with an open-source code, able to account for geometric and material nonlinearities. With regard to the characterization of non-structural building components, full-scale crescendo tests were performed on aluminium/glass curtain wall units at the laboratory of the Construction Technologies Institute (ITC) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), deriving force-displacement curves. Three-dimensional brick-based inelastic FE models were calibrated according to experimental results, simulating the fac¸ade response. Since recent seismic events and extreme dynamic wind loads have generated the large occurrence of non-structural components failure, which causes sensitive economic losses and represents a hazard for pedestrians safety, a more dissipative glazed curtain wall was studied. Taking advantage of the mechanical properties of SMA, advanced smart joints were designed with the aim to enhance both the dynamic performance of the single non-structural unit and the global behavior. Thus, three-dimensional brick-based plastic FE models were produced, based on the innovated non-structural system, simulating the evolution of mechanical degradation in aluminium-to-glass and SMA-to-glass connections when high deformations occurred. Consequently, equivalent nonlinear links were calibrated to reproduce the behavior of both tested and smart designed units, and implemented on the thirty- and sixty-storey structural planar frame FE models. Nonlinear time history analyses (NLTHAs) were performed to quantify the potential of the new system, when considered in the lateral resisting frame system (LRFS) of modern high-rise MRFs. Sensitivity to the structure height was explored comparing the responses of the two prototypes. Trends in global and local performance were discussed to show that, if accurately designed, advanced materials in non-structural elements provide new sources of energy dissipation.

Keywords: Advanced technologies, glazed curtain walls, non-structural elements, seismic-action reduction, shape memory alloy.

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1915 Automatic Classification of Initial Categories of Alzheimer's Disease from Structural MRI Phase Images: A Comparison of PSVM, KNN and ANN Methods

Authors: Ahsan Bin Tufail, Ali Abidi, Adil Masood Siddiqui, Muhammad Shahzad Younis

Abstract:

An early and accurate detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an important stage in the treatment of individuals suffering from AD. We present an approach based on the use of structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) phase images to distinguish between normal controls (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD patients with clinical dementia rating (CDR) of 1. Independent component analysis (ICA) technique is used for extracting useful features which form the inputs to the support vector machines (SVM), K nearest neighbour (kNN) and multilayer artificial neural network (ANN) classifiers to discriminate between the three classes. The obtained results are encouraging in terms of classification accuracy and effectively ascertain the usefulness of phase images for the classification of different stages of Alzheimer-s disease.

Keywords: Biomedical image processing, classification algorithms, feature extraction, statistical learning.

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1914 Simulation of Thermal Storage Phase Change Material in Buildings

Authors: Samira Haghshenaskashani, Hadi Pasdarshahri

Abstract:

One of the potential and effective ways of storing thermal energy in buildings is the integration of brick with phase change materials (PCMs). This paper presents a two-dimensional model for simulating and analyzing of PCM in order to minimize energy consumption in the buildings. The numerical approach has been used with the real weather data of a selected city of Iran (Tehran). Two kinds of brick integrated PCM are investigated and compared base on outdoor weather conditions and the amount of energy consumption. The results show a significant reduction in maximum entering heat flux to building about 32.8% depending on PCM quantity. The results are analyzed by various temperature contour plots. The contour plots illustrated the time dependent mechanism of entering heat flux for a brick integrated with PCM. Further analysis is developed to investigate the effect of PCM location on the inlet heat flux. The results demonstrated that to achieve maximum performance of PCM it is better to locate PCM near the outdoor.

Keywords: Building, Energy Storage, PCM, Phase Change Material

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1913 The Effects of Increasing Unsaturation in Palm Oil and Incorporation of Carbon Nanotubes on Resinous Properties

Authors: Muhammad R. Islam, Mohammad Dalour H. Beg, Saidatul S. Jamari

Abstract:

Considering palm oil as non-drying oil owing to its low iodine value, an attempt was taken to increase the unsaturation in the fatty acid chains of palm oil for the preparation of alkyds. To increase the unsaturation in the palm oil, sulphuric acid (SA) and para-toluene sulphonic acid (PTSA) was used prior to alcoholysis for the dehydration process. The iodine number of the oil samples was checked for the unsaturation measurement by Wijs method. Alkyd resin was prepared using the dehydrated palm oil by following alcoholysis and esterification reaction. To improve the film properties 0.5wt.% multi-wall carbon nano tubes (MWCNTs) were used to manufacture polymeric film. The properties of the resins were characterized by various physico-chemical properties such as density, viscosity, iodine value, saponification value, etc. Structural elucidation was confirmed by Fourier transform of infrared spectroscopy and proton nuclear magnetic resonance; surfaces of the films were examined by field-emission scanning electron microscope. In addition, pencil hardness and chemical resistivity was also measured by using standard methods. The effect of enhancement of the unsaturation in the fatty acid chain found significant and motivational. The resin prepared with dehydrated palm oil showed improved properties regarding hardness and chemical resistivity testing. The incorporation of MWCNTs enhanced the thermal stability and hardness of the films as well.

Keywords: Alkyd resin, nano-coatings, dehydration, palm oil.

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1912 Robust Integrated Design for a Mechatronic Feed Drive System of Machine Tools

Authors: Chin-Yin Chen, Chi-Cheng Cheng

Abstract:

This paper aims at to develop a robust optimization methodology for the mechatronic modules of machine tools by considering all important characteristics from all structural and control domains in one single process. The relationship between these two domains is strongly coupled. In order to reduce the disturbance caused by parameters in either one, the mechanical and controller design domains need to be integrated. Therefore, the concurrent integrated design method Design For Control (DFC), will be employed in this paper. In this connect, it is not only applied to achieve minimal power consumption but also enhance structural performance and system response at same time. To investigate the method for integrated optimization, a mechatronic feed drive system of the machine tools is used as a design platform. Pro/Engineer and AnSys are first used to build the 3D model to analyze and design structure parameters such as elastic deformation, nature frequency and component size, based on their effects and sensitivities to the structure. In addition, the robust controller,based on Quantitative Feedback Theory (QFT), will be applied to determine proper control parameters for the controller. Therefore, overall physical properties of the machine tool will be obtained in the initial stage. Finally, the technology of design for control will be carried out to modify the structural and control parameters to achieve overall system performance. Hence, the corresponding productivity is expected to be greatly improved.

Keywords: Machine tools, integrated structure and control design, design for control, multilevel decomposition, quantitative feedback theory.

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1911 Flexural Strength of Alkali Resistant Glass Textile Reinforced Concrete Beam with Prestressing

Authors: Jongho Park, Taekyun Kim, Jungbhin You, Sungnam Hong, Sun-Kyu Park

Abstract:

Due to the aging of bridges, increasing of maintenance costs and decreasing of structural safety is occurred. The steel corrosion of reinforced concrete bridge is the most common problem and this phenomenon is accelerating due to abnormal weather and increasing CO2 concentration due to climate change. To solve these problems, composite members using textile have been studied. A textile reinforced concrete can reduce carbon emissions by reduced concrete and without steel bars, so a lot of structural behavior studies are needed. Therefore, in this study, textile reinforced concrete beam was made and flexural test was performed. Also, the change of flexural strength according to the prestressing was conducted. As a result, flexural strength of TRC with prestressing was increased compared and flexural behavior was shown as reinforced concrete.

Keywords: AR-glass, flexural strength, prestressing, textile reinforced concrete.

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1910 Experimental Investigations on the Use of Preheated Neat Karanja Oil as Fuel in a Compression Ignition Engine

Authors: Sagar Pramodrao Kadu, Rajendra H. Sarda

Abstract:

The concerns about clean environment and high oil prices driving forces for the research on alternative fuels. The research efforts directed towards improving the performance of C.I engines using vegetable oil as fuel. The paper deals results of performance of a four stroke, single cylinder C.I. engine by preheated neat Karanja oil is done from 30 o C to 100 o C. The performance of the engine was studied for a speed range between 1500 to 4000 rpm, with the engine operated under full load conditions. The performance parameters considered for comparing are brake specific fuel consumption, thermal efficiency, brake power, Nox emission of the engine. The engine offers lower thermal efficiency when it is powered by preheated neat Karanja oil at higher speed. The power developed and Nox emission increase with the increase in the fuel inlet temperature and the specific fuel consumption is higher than diesel fuel operation at all elevated fuel inlet temperature.

Keywords: Alternative fuel, Compression ignition engine, neatKaranja oil, preheating.

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1909 Artificial Neural Network Modeling of a Closed Loop Pulsating Heat Pipe

Authors: Vipul M. Patel, Hemantkumar B. Mehta

Abstract:

Technological innovations in electronic world demand novel, compact, simple in design, less costly and effective heat transfer devices. Closed Loop Pulsating Heat Pipe (CLPHP) is a passive phase change heat transfer device and has potential to transfer heat quickly and efficiently from source to sink. Thermal performance of a CLPHP is governed by various parameters such as number of U-turns, orientations, input heat, working fluids and filling ratio. The present paper is an attempt to predict the thermal performance of a CLPHP using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Filling ratio and heat input are considered as input parameters while thermal resistance is set as target parameter. Types of neural networks considered in the present paper are radial basis, generalized regression, linear layer, cascade forward back propagation, feed forward back propagation; feed forward distributed time delay, layer recurrent and Elman back propagation. Linear, logistic sigmoid, tangent sigmoid and Radial Basis Gaussian Function are used as transfer functions. Prediction accuracy is measured based on the experimental data reported by the researchers in open literature as a function of Mean Absolute Relative Deviation (MARD). The prediction of a generalized regression ANN model with spread constant of 4.8 is found in agreement with the experimental data for MARD in the range of ±1.81%.

Keywords: ANN models, CLPHP, filling ratio, generalized regression, spread constant.

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1908 Architectural and Structural Analysis of Selected Tall Buildings in Warsaw, Poland

Authors: J. Szolomicki, H. Golasz-Szolomicka

Abstract:

This paper presents elements of architectural and structural analysis of selected high-rise buildings in the Polish capital city of Warsaw. When analyzing the architecture of Warsaw, it can be concluded that it is currently a rapidly growing city with technologically advanced skyscrapers that belong to the category of intelligent buildings. The constructional boom over the last dozen years has seen the erection of postmodern skyscrapers for office and residential use. This article focuses on how Warsaw has recently joined the most architecturally interesting cities in Europe. Warsaw is currently in fifth place in Europe in terms of the number of skyscrapers and is considered the second most preferred city in Europe (after London) for investment related to them. However, the architectural development of the city could not take place without the participation of eminent Polish and foreign architects such as Stefan Kuryłowicz, Lary Oltmans, Helmut Jahn or Daniel Libeskind.

Keywords: Core structure, raft foundation, tall buildings.

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1907 The Importance of Bridge Health Monitoring

Authors: Punya Chupanit, Chayatan Phromsorn

Abstract:

In the past, there were many bridge-s collapses due to lack of bridge structural capacity information. Most of concrete bridge health was relied on information from visual inspection, which sometime was inadequate. This study was conducted in order to investigate relationship between bridge structural condition and bridge visual condition. This study was a part of a big project conducted at Department of Highways of Thailand. In this study, 31 bridges including slab-type bridges, plank-girder bridges, prestressed box-beam bridges, prestressed I-girder bridges and prestressed multibeam bridges were selected for visual inspection and load test. It was found a positive correlation between bridge appearance and bridge-s load carrying capacity. However, statistical characteristic revealed low correlation between them.

Keywords: Bridge, Visual Inspection, Load Test, Condition Rating, Rating Factor

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1906 Family Bonding and Self-Concept: An Indirect Effect Mediated by School Experiences among Students

Authors: Z. Ishak, F.P Chew

Abstract:

School experiences, family bonding and self-concept had always been a crucial factor in influencing all aspects of a student-s development. The purpose of this study is to develop and to validate a priori model of self-concept among students. The study was tested empirically using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to validate the structural model. To address these concerns, 1167 students were randomly selected and utilized the Cognitive Psycho-Social University of Malaya instrument (2009).Resulted demonstrated there is indirect effect from family bonding to self-concept through school experiences among secondary school students as a mediator. Besides school experiences, there is a direct effect from family bonding to self-concept and family bonding to school experiences among students.

Keywords: Confirmatory Factor Analysis, self-concept, family bonding, and school experience

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1905 From Experiments to Numerical Modeling: A Tool for Teaching Heat Transfer in Mechanical Engineering

Authors: D. Zabala, Y. Cárdenas, G. Núñez

Abstract:

In this work the numerical simulation of transient heat transfer in a cylindrical probe is done. An experiment was conducted introducing a steel cylinder in a heating chamber and registering its surface temperature along the time during one hour. In parallel, a mathematical model was solved for one dimension transient heat transfer in cylindrical coordinates, considering the boundary conditions of the test. The model was solved using finite difference method, because the thermal conductivity in the cylindrical steel bar and the convection heat transfer coefficient used in the model are considered temperature dependant functions, and both conditions prevent the use of the analytical solution. The comparison between theoretical and experimental results showed the average deviation is below 2%. It was concluded that numerical methods are useful in order to solve engineering complex problems. For constant k and h, the experimental methodology used here can be used as a tool for teaching heat transfer in mechanical engineering, using mathematical simplified models with analytical solutions.

Keywords: Heat transfer experiment, thermal conductivity, finite difference, engineering education.

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1904 Stress Analysis of Hexagonal Element for Precast Concrete Pavements

Authors: J. Novak, A. Kohoutkova, V. Kristek, J. Vodicka, M. Sramek

Abstract:

While the use of cast-in-place concrete for an airfield and highway pavement overlay is very common, the application of precast concrete elements is very limited today. The main reasons consist of high production costs and complex structural behavior. Despite that, several precast concrete systems have been developed and tested with the aim to provide a system with rapid construction. The contribution deals with the reinforcement design of a hexagonal element developed for a proposed airfield pavement system. The sub-base course of the system is composed of compacted recycled concrete aggregates and fiber reinforced concrete with recycled aggregates place on top of it. The selected element belongs to a group of precast concrete elements which are being considered for the construction of a surface course. Both high costs of full-scale experiments and the need to investigate various elements force to simulate their behavior in a numerical analysis software by using finite element method instead of performing expensive experiments. The simulation of the selected element was conducted on a nonlinear model in order to obtain such results which could fully compensate results from experiments. The main objective was to design reinforcement of the precast concrete element subject to quasi-static loading from airplanes with respect to geometrical imperfections, manufacturing imperfections, tensile stress in reinforcement, compressive stress in concrete and crack width. The obtained findings demonstrate that the position and the presence of imperfection in a pavement highly affect the stress distribution in the precast concrete element. The precast concrete element should be heavily reinforced to fulfill all the demands. Using under-reinforced concrete elements would lead to the formation of wide cracks and cracks permanently open.

Keywords: Imperfection, numerical simulation, pavement, precast concrete element, reinforcement design, stress analysis.

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1903 Identifying Unknown Dynamic Forces Applied on Two Dimensional Frames

Authors: H. Katkhuda

Abstract:

A time domain approach is used in this paper to identify unknown dynamic forces applied on two dimensional frames using the measured dynamic structural responses for a sub-structure in the two dimensional frame. In this paper a sub-structure finite element model with short length of measurement from only three or four accelerometers is required, and an iterative least-square algorithm is used to identify the unknown dynamic force applied on the structure. Validity of the method is demonstrated with numerical examples using noise-free and noise-contaminated structural responses. Both harmonic and impulsive forces are studied. The results show that the proposed approach can identify unknown dynamic forces within very limited iterations with high accuracy and shows its robustness even noise- polluted dynamic response measurements are utilized.

Keywords: Dynamic Force Identification, Dynamic Responses, Sub-structure and Time Domain.

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1902 Numerical Optimization of Trapezoidal Microchannel Heat Sinks

Authors: Yue-Tzu Yang, Shu-Ching Liao

Abstract:

This study presents the numerical simulation of three-dimensional incompressible steady and laminar fluid flow and conjugate heat transfer of a trapezoidal microchannel heat sink using water as a cooling fluid in a silicon substrate. Navier-Stokes equations with conjugate energy equation are discretized by finite-volume method. We perform numerical computations for a range of 50 ≦ Re ≦ 600, 0.05W ≦ P ≦ 0.8W, 20W/cm2 q"≦ 40W/cm2. The present study demonstrates the numerical optimization of a trapezoidal microchannel heat sink design using the response surface methodology (RSM) and the genetic algorithm method (GA). The results show that the average Nusselt number increases with an increase in the Reynolds number or pumping power, and the thermal resistance decreases as the pumping power increases. The thermal resistance of a trapezoidal microchannel is minimized for a constant heat flux and constant pumping power.

Keywords: Microchannel heat sinks, Conjugate heat transfer, Optimization, Genetic algorithm method.

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1901 Radiation Heat Transfer in Planar SOFC Components: Application of the Lattice Boltzmann Method

Authors: Imen Mejri, Ahmed Mahmoudi, Mohamed A. Abbassi, Ahmed Omri

Abstract:

Thermal radiation plays a very important role in the heat transfer combination through the various components of the SOFC fuel cell operating at high temperatures. Lattice Boltzmann method is used for treating conduction-radiation heat transfer in the electrolyte. The thermal radiation heat transfer is coupled to the overall energy conservation equations through the divergence of the local radiative flux. The equation of energy in one dimension is numerically resolved by using the Lattice Boltzmann method. A computing program (FORTRAN) is developed locally for this purpose in order to obtain fields of temperature in every element of the cell. The parameters investigated are: functioning temperature, cell voltages and electrolyte thickness. The results show that the radiation effect increases with increasing the electrolyte thickness, also increases with increasing the functioning temperature and decreases with the increase of the voltage of the cell.

Keywords: SOFC, lattice Boltzmann method, conduction, radiation, planar medium.

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1900 A Taguchi Approach to Investigate Impact of Factors for Reusability of Software Components

Authors: Parvinder S. Sandhu, Pavel Blecharz, Hardeep Singh

Abstract:

Quantitative Investigation of impact of the factors' contribution towards measuring the reusability of software components could be helpful in evaluating the quality of developed or developing reusable software components and in identification of reusable component from existing legacy systems; that can save cost of developing the software from scratch. But the issue of the relative significance of contributing factors has remained relatively unexplored. In this paper, we have use the Taguchi's approach in analyzing the significance of different structural attributes or factors in deciding the reusability level of a particular component. The results obtained shows that the complexity is the most important factor in deciding the better Reusability of a function oriented Software. In case of Object Oriented Software, Coupling and Complexity collectively play significant role in high reusability.

Keywords: Taguchi Approach, Reusability, SoftwareComponents, Structural Attributes.

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1899 Studies on the Characterization and Machinability of Duplex Stainless Steel 2205 during Dry Turning

Authors: Gaurav D. Sonawane, Vikas G. Sargade

Abstract:

The present investigation is a study of the effect of advanced Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) coatings on cutting temperature residual stresses and surface roughness during Duplex Stainless Steel (DSS) 2205 turning. Austenite stabilizers like nickel, manganese, and molybdenum reduced the cost of DSS. Surface Integrity (SI) plays an important role in determining corrosion resistance and fatigue life. Resistance to various types of corrosion makes DSS suitable for applications with critical environments like Heat exchangers, Desalination plants, Seawater pipes and Marine components. However, lower thermal conductivity, poor chip control and non-uniform tool wear make DSS very difficult to machine. Cemented carbide tools (M grade) were used to turn DSS in a dry environment. AlTiN and AlTiCrN coatings were deposited using advanced PVD High Pulse Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) technique. Experiments were conducted with cutting speed of 100 m/min, 140 m/min and 180 m/min. A constant feed and depth of cut of 0.18 mm/rev and 0.8 mm were used, respectively. AlTiCrN coated tools followed by AlTiN coated tools outperformed uncoated tools due to properties like lower thermal conductivity, higher adhesion strength and hardness. Residual stresses were found to be compressive for all the tools used for dry turning, increasing the fatigue life of the machined component. Higher cutting temperatures were observed for coated tools due to its lower thermal conductivity, which results in very less tool wear than uncoated tools. Surface roughness with uncoated tools was found to be three times higher than coated tools due to lower coefficient of friction of coating used.

Keywords: Cutting temperatures, DSS2205, dry turning, HiPIMS, surface integrity.

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1898 Development of a Nano-Alumina-Zirconia Composite Catalyst as an Active Thin Film in Biodiesel Production

Authors: N. Marzban, J. K. Heydarzadeh M. Pourmohammadbagher, M. H. Hatami, A. Samia

Abstract:

A nano-alumina-zirconia composite catalyst was synthesized by a simple aqueous sol-gel method using AlCl3.6H2O and ZrCl4 as precursors. Thermal decomposition of the precursor and subsequent formation of γ-Al2O3 and t-Zr were investigated by thermal analysis. XRD analysis showed that γ-Al2O3 and t-ZrO2 phases were formed at 700 °C. FT-IR analysis also indicated that the phase transition to γ-Al2O3 occurred in corroboration with X-ray studies. TEM analysis of the calcined powder revealed that spherical particles were in the range of 8-12 nm. The nano-alumina-zirconia composite particles were mesoporous and uniformly distributed in their crystalline phase. In order to measure the catalytic activity, esterification reaction was carried out. Biodiesel, as a renewable fuel, was formed in a continuous packed column reactor. Free fatty acid (FFA) was esterified with ethanol in a heterogeneous catalytic reactor. It was found that the synthesized γ-Al2O3/ZrO2 composite had the potential to be used as a heterogeneous base catalyst for biodiesel production processes.

Keywords: Nano-alumina-zirconia, composite catalyst, thin film, biodiesel.

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1897 Optimization of CO2 Emissions and Cost for Composite Building Design with NSGA-II

Authors: Ji Hyeong Park, Ji Hye Jeon, Hyo Seon Park

Abstract:

Environmental pollution problems have been globally main concern in all fields including economy, society and culture into the 21st century. Beginning with the Kyoto Protocol, the reduction on the emissions of greenhouse gas such as CO2 and SOX has been a principal challenge of our day. As most buildings unlike durable goods in other industries have a characteristic and long life cycle, they consume energy in quantity and emit much CO2. Thus, for green building construction, more research is needed to reduce the CO2 emissions at each stage in the life cycle. However, recent studies are focused on the use and maintenance phase. Also, there is a lack of research on the initial design stage, especially the structure design. Therefore, in this study, we propose an optimal design plan considering CO2 emissions and cost in composite buildings simultaneously by applying to the structural design of actual building.

Keywords: Multi-objective optimization, CO2 emissions, structural cost, encased composite structure

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1896 Synthesizing CuFe2O4 Spinel Powders by a Combustion-Like Process for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Interconnect Coatings

Authors: S. N. Hosseini, M. H. Enayati, F. Karimzadeh, N. M. Sammes

Abstract:

The synthesis of CuFe2O4 spinel powders by an optimized combustion-like process followed by calcination is described herein. The samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dilatometry and 4-probe DC methods. Different glycine to nitrate (G/N) ratios of 1 (fuel-deficient), 1.48 (stoichiometric) and 2 (fuel-rich) were employed. Calcining the asprepared powders at 800 and 1000°C for 5 hours showed that the G/N ratio of 2 results in the formation of the desired copper spinel single phase at both calcination temperatures. For G/N=1, formation of CuFe2O4 takes place in three steps. First, iron and copper nitrates decompose to iron oxide and pure copper. Then, copper transforms to copper oxide and finally, copper and iron oxides react with each other to form a copper ferrite spinel phase. The electrical conductivity and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the sintered pelletized samples were 2 S.cm-1 (800°C) and 11×10-6 °C-1 (25-800°C), respectively.

Keywords: SOFC interconnect coatings, Copper ferrite, Spinels, Electrical conductivity, Glycine–nitrate process.

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1895 Possible Utilization of Cigarette Butts in Light- Weight Fired Clay Bricks

Authors: Aeslina Abdul Kadir, Abbas Mohajerani

Abstract:

Over a million tonnes of cigarette butts (CBs) are produced worldwide annually. These CBs accumulate in the environment due to the poor biodegradability of the cellulose acetate filters and pose a serious environmental risk. This paper presents some of the results from a continuing study on recycling CBs into fired clay bricks. Properties including compressive strength, flexural strength, density, water absorption and thermal conductivity of fired clay bricks are reported and discussed. Furthermore, leaching of heavy metals from the manufactured clay bricks was tested. The results show that the density of fired bricks was reduced by about 8 – 30 %, depending on the percentage of CBs incorporated into the raw materials. The compressive strength of bricks tested was 12.57, 5.22 and 3.00 MPa for 2.5, 5.0 and 10 % CB content respectively. Water absorption and initial rate of absorption values increased as density, and hence porosity, of bricks decreased with increasing CB volume. The leaching test results revealed trace amounts of heavy metals.

Keywords: Cigarette butts, Fired clay bricks, Light bricks, Recycling waste, Thermal conductivity.

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1894 The Low-Cost Design and 3D Printing of Structural Knee Orthotics for Athletic Knee Injury Patients

Authors: Alexander Hendricks, Sean Nevin, Clayton Wikoff, Melissa Dougherty, Jacob Orlita, Rafiqul Noorani

Abstract:

Knee orthotics play an important role in aiding in the recovery of those with knee injuries, especially athletes. However, structural knee orthotics is often very expensive, ranging between $300 and $800. The primary reason for this project was to answer the question: can 3D printed orthotics represent a viable and cost-effective alternative to present structural knee orthotics? The primary objective for this research project was to design a knee orthotic for athletes with knee injuries for a low-cost under $100 and evaluate its effectiveness. The initial design for the orthotic was done in SolidWorks, a computer-aided design (CAD) software available at Loyola Marymount University. After this design was completed, finite element analysis (FEA) was utilized to understand how normal stresses placed upon the knee affected the orthotic. The knee orthotic was then adjusted and redesigned to meet a specified factor-of-safety of 3.25 based on the data gathered during FEA and literature sources. Once the FEA was completed and the orthotic was redesigned based from the data gathered, the next step was to move on to 3D-printing the first design of the knee brace. Subsequently, physical therapy movement trials were used to evaluate physical performance. Using the data from these movement trials, the CAD design of the brace was refined to accommodate the design requirements. The final goal of this research means to explore the possibility of replacing high-cost, outsourced knee orthotics with a readily available low-cost alternative.

Keywords: Knee Orthotics, 3D printing, finite element analysis.

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