Search results for: Step-Index Polymer Optical Fiber (SI-POF)
230 Effect of Coupling Media on Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity in Concrete: A Preliminary Investigation
Authors: Sura Al-Khafaji, Phil Purnell
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Measurement of the ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) is an important tool in diagnostic examination of concrete. In this method piezoelectric transducers are normally held in direct contact with the concrete surface. The current study aims to test the hypothesis that a preferential coupling effect might exist i.e. that the speed of sound measured depends on the couplant used. In this study, different coupling media of varying acoustic impedance were placed between the transducers and concrete samples made with constant aggregate content but with different compressive strengths. The preliminary results show that using coupling materials (both solid and a range of liquid substances) has an effect on the pulse velocity measured in a given concrete. The effect varies depending on the material used. The UPV measurements with solid coupling were higher than these from the liquid coupling at all strength levels. The tests using couplants generally recorded lower UPV values than the conventional test, except when carbon fiber composite was used, which retuned higher values. Analysis of variances (ANOVA) was performed to confirm that there are statistically significant differences between the measurements recorded using a conventional system and a coupled system.
Keywords: Compressive strength, coupling effect, statistical analysis, ultrasonic.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1770229 Automatic Extraction of Arbitrarily Shaped Buildings from VHR Satellite Imagery
Authors: Evans Belly, Imdad Rizvi, M. M. Kadam
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Satellite imagery is one of the emerging technologies which are extensively utilized in various applications such as detection/extraction of man-made structures, monitoring of sensitive areas, creating graphic maps etc. The main approach here is the automated detection of buildings from very high resolution (VHR) optical satellite images. Initially, the shadow, the building and the non-building regions (roads, vegetation etc.) are investigated wherein building extraction is mainly focused. Once all the landscape is collected a trimming process is done so as to eliminate the landscapes that may occur due to non-building objects. Finally the label method is used to extract the building regions. The label method may be altered for efficient building extraction. The images used for the analysis are the ones which are extracted from the sensors having resolution less than 1 meter (VHR). This method provides an efficient way to produce good results. The additional overhead of mid processing is eliminated without compromising the quality of the output to ease the processing steps required and time consumed.Keywords: Building detection, shadow detection, landscape generation, label, partitioning, very high resolution satellite imagery.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 816228 Hair Mechanical Properties Depending on Age and Origin
Authors: Meriem Benzarti, Mohamed Ben Tkaya, Cyril Pailler Mattei, Hassan Zahouani
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Hair is a non homogenous complex material which can be associated with a polymer. It is made up 95% of Keratin. Hair has a great social significance for human beings. In the High Middle Ages, for example, long hairs have been reserved for kings and nobles. Most common interest in hair is focused on hair growth, hair types and hair care, but hair is also an important biomaterial which can vary depending on ethnic origin or on age, hair colour for example can be a sign of ethnic ancestry or age (dark hair for Asiatic, blond hair for Caucasian and white hair for old people in general). In this context, different approaches have been conducted to determine the differences in mechanical properties and characterize the fracture topography at the surface of hair depending on its type and its age. A tensile testing machine was especially designed to achieve tensile tests on hair. This device is composed of a microdisplacement system and a force sensor whose peak load is limited to 3N. The curves and the values extracted from each experiment, allow us to compare the evolution of the mechanical properties from one hair to another. Observations with a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and with an interferometer were made on different hairs. Thus, it is possible to access the cuticle state and the fracture topography for each category.Keywords: Hair, relaxation test, SEM, interferometer, mechanical properties.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2457227 Segmentation and Recognition of Handwritten Numeric Chains
Authors: Salim Ouchtati, Bedda Mouldi, Abderrazak Lachouri
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In this paper we present an off line system for the recognition of the handwritten numeric chains. Our work is divided in two big parts. The first part is the realization of a recognition system of the isolated handwritten digits. In this case the study is based mainly on the evaluation of neural network performances, trained with the gradient back propagation algorithm. The used parameters to form the input vector of the neural network are extracted on the binary images of the digits by several methods: the distribution sequence, the Barr features and the centred moments of the different projections and profiles. The second part is the extension of our system for the reading of the handwritten numeric chains constituted of a variable number of digits. The vertical projection is used to segment the numeric chain at isolated digits and every digit (or segment) will be presented separately to the entry of the system achieved in the first part (recognition system of the isolated handwritten digits). The result of the recognition of the numeric chain will be displayed at the exit of the global system.Keywords: Optical Characters Recognition, Neural networks, Barr features, Image processing, Pattern Recognition, Featuresextraction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1426226 Corrosion Protection of Structural Steel by Surfactant Containing Reagents
Authors: D. Erdenechimeg, T. Bujinlkham, N. Erdenepurev
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The anti-corrosion performance of fatty acid coated mild steel samples is studied. Samples of structural steel coated with collector reagents deposited from surfactant in ethanol solution and overcoated with an epoxy barrier paint. A quantitative corrosion rate was determined by linear polarization resistance method using biopotentiostat/galvanostat 400. Coating morphology was determined by scanning electronic microscopy. A test for hydrophobic surface of steel by surfactant was done. From the samples, the main component or high content iron was determined by chemical method and other metal contents were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) method. Prior to measuring the corrosion rate, mechanical and chemical treatments were performed to prepare the test specimens. Overcoating the metal samples with epoxy barrier paint after exposing them with surfactant the corrosion rate can be inhibited by 34-35 µm/year.
Keywords: Corrosion, linear polarization resistance, coating, surfactant.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 628225 Effect of Support Distance on Damage of Drilled Thin CFRP Laminates
Authors: Jean François Chatelain, Imed Zaghbani, Gilbert Lebrun, Kaml Hasni
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Severe damages may occur during the drilling of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). In practice, this damage is limited by adding a backup support to the drilled parts. For some aeronautical parts with curvatures, backing up parts is a demanding process. In order to simplify the operation, this research studies the effect of using a configurable setup to support parts on the resulting quality of drilled holes. The test coupons referenced in this study are twenty four-plies unidirectional laminates made of carbon fibers and epoxy resin. Different signals were measured during the drilling process for these laminates, including the thrust force, the displacement and the acceleration. The processing of these signals demonstrated that the damage is due to the combination of two main factors: the spring-back of the thin part and the thrust force. The results found were confirmed for different feeds and speeds. When the distance between supports is increased, it is observed that the spring-back increases but the thrust force decreases. The study proves the feasibility of unsupported drilling of thin CFRP laminates without creating any observable damage.
Keywords: CFRP, Damage, Drilling, Flexible setup.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1784224 Fracture Characterization of Plain Woven Fabric Glass-Epoxy Composites
Authors: Sabita Rani Sahoo, A.Mishra
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Delamination between layers in composite materials is a major structural failure. The delamination resistance is quantified by the critical strain energy release rate (SERR). The present investigation deals with the strain energy release rate of two woven fabric composites. Materials used are made of two types of glass fiber (360 gsm and 600 gsm) of plain weave and epoxy as matrix. The fracture behavior is studied using the mode I, double cantilever beam test and the mode II, end notched flexure test, in order to determine the energy required for the initiation and growth of an artificial crack. The delamination energy of these two materials is compared in order to study the effect of weave and reinforcement on mechanical properties. The fracture mechanism is also analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It is observed that the plain weave fabric composite with lesser strand width has higher inter laminar fracture properties compared to the plain weave fabric composite with more strand width.
Keywords: Glass- epoxy composites, Fracture Tests: mode I (DCB) and mode II (ENF), Delamination, Calculation of strain energy release rate, SEM Analysis
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3244223 The Effects of NaF Concentration on the Zinc Coating Electroplated in Supercritical CO2 Mixed Zinc Chloride Bath
Authors: Chun-Ying Lee, Mei-Wen Wu, Li-Yi Cheng, Chiang-Ho Cheng
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This research studies the electroplating of zinc coating in the zinc chloride bath mixed with supercritical CO2. The sodium fluoride (NaF) was used as the bath additive to change the structure and property of the coating, and therefore the roughness and corrosion resistance of the zinc coating was investigated. The surface characterization was performed using optical microscope (OM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), and α-step profilometer. Moreover, the potentiodynamic polarization measurement in 3% NaCl solution was employed in the corrosion resistance evaluation. Because of the emulsification of the electrolyte mixed in Sc-CO2, the electroplated zinc produced the coating with smoother surface, smaller grain, better throwing power and higher corrosion resistance. The main role played by the NaF was to reduce the coating’s roughness and grain size. In other words, the CO2 mixed with the electrolyte under the supercritical condition performed the similar function as brighter and leveler in zinc electroplating to enhance the throwing power and corrosion resistance of the coating.
Keywords: Supercritical CO2, zinc-electroplating, sodium fluoride.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2046222 A New Perturbation Technique in Numerical Study on Buckling of Composite Shells under Axial Compression
Authors: Zia R. Tahir, P. Mandal
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A numerical study is presented on buckling and post buckling behaviour of laminated carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) thin-walled cylindrical shells under axial compression using asymmetric meshing technique (AMT). Asymmetric meshing technique is a perturbation technique to introduce disturbance without changing geometry, boundary conditions or loading conditions. Asymmetric meshing affects predicted buckling load, buckling mode shape and post-buckling behaviour. Linear (eigenvalue) and nonlinear (Riks) analyses have been performed to study the effect of asymmetric meshing in the form of a patch on buckling behaviour. The reduction in the buckling load using Asymmetric meshing technique was observed to be about 15%. An isolated dimple formed near the bifurcation point and the size of which increased to reach a stable state in the post-buckling region. The load-displacement curve behaviour applying asymmetric meshing is quite similar to the curve obtained using initial geometric imperfection in the shell model.Keywords: CFRP Composite Cylindrical Shell, Finite Element Analysis, Perturbation Technique, Asymmetric Meshing Technique, Linear Eigenvalue analysis, Non-linear Riks Analysis
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2360221 Correlation between Heat Treatment, Microstructure and Properties of Trip-Assisted Steels
Authors: A. Talapatra, N. R. Bandhyopadhyay, J. Datta
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In the present study, two TRIP-assisted steels were designated as A (having no Cr and Cu content) and B (having higher Ni, Cr and Cu content) heat treated under different conditions, and the correlation between its heat treatment, microstructure and properties were investigated. Micro structural examination was carried out by optical microscope and scanning electron microscope after electrolytic etching. Non-destructive electrochemical and ultrasonic testing on two TRIP-assisted steels was used to find out corrosion and mechanical properties of different alter microstructure phase’s steels. Furthermore, micro structural studies accompanied by the evaluation of mechanical properties revealed that steels having martensite phases with higher corrosive and hardness value were less sound velocity and also steel’s microstructure having finer grains that was more grain boundary was less corrosion resistance. Steel containing more Cu, Ni and Cr was less corrosive compared to other steels having same processing or microstructure.
Keywords: TRIP-assisted steels, heat treatment, corrosion, electrochemical techniques, micro-structural characterization, non-destructive (ultrasonic) technique.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3003220 Effect of Nanofibers on the Behavior of Cement Mortar and Concrete
Authors: Mostafa Osman, Ata El-kareim Shoeib
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The main objective of this paper is study the influence of carbon nano-tubes fibers and nano silica fibers on the characteristic compressive strength and flexural strength on concrete and cement mortar. Twelve tested specimens were tested with square section its dimensions (4040 160) mm, divided into four groups. The first and second group studied the effect of carbon nano-tubes (CNTs) fibers with different percentage equal to 0.0, 0.11%, 0.22%, and 0.33% by weight of cement and effect of nano-silica (nS) fibers with different percentages equal to 0.0, 1.0%, 2.0%, and 3.0% by weight of cement on the cement mortar. The third and fourth groups studied the effect of CNTs fiber with different percentage equal to 0.0%, 0.11%, and 0.22% by weight of cement, and effect of nS fibers with different percentages were equal to 0.0%, 1.0%, and 2.0% by weight of cement on the concrete. The compressive strength and flexural strength at 7, 28, and 90 days is determined. From analysis of tested results concluded that the nano-fibers is more effective when used with cement mortar more than used with concrete because of increasing the surface area, decreasing the pore and the collection of nano-fibers. And also by adding nano-fibers the improvement of flexural strength of concrete and cement mortar is more than improvement of compressive strength.
Keywords: Carbon nano-tubes fibers, nano-silica (nS) fibers, compressive strength, flexural.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2710219 Pre-Analysis of Printed Circuit Boards Based On Multispectral Imaging for Vision Based Recognition of Electronics Waste
Authors: Florian Kleber, Martin Kampel
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The increasing demand of gallium, indium and rare-earth elements for the production of electronics, e.g. solid state-lighting, photovoltaics, integrated circuits, and liquid crystal displays, will exceed the world-wide supply according to current forecasts. Recycling systems to reclaim these materials are not yet in place, which challenges the sustainability of these technologies. This paper proposes a multispectral imaging system as a basis for a vision based recognition system for valuable components of electronics waste. Multispectral images intend to enhance the contrast of images of printed circuit boards (single components, as well as labels) for further analysis, such as optical character recognition and entire printed circuit board recognition. The results show, that a higher contrast is achieved in the near infrared compared to ultraviolett and visible light.
Keywords: Electronic Waste, Recycling, Multispectral Imaging, Printed Circuit Boards, Rare-Earth Elements.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2672218 High Strain Rate Characteristics of the Advanced Blast Energy Absorbers
Authors: Martina Drdlová, Michal Frank, Jaroslav Buchar, Josef Krátký
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The main aim of the presented experiments is to improve behaviour of sandwich structures under dynamic loading, such as crash or explosion. Several cellular materials are widely used as core of the sandwich structures and their properties influence the response of the entire element under impact load. To optimize their performance requires the characterisation of the core material behaviour at high strain rates and identification of the underlying mechanism. This work presents the study of high strain-rate characteristics of a specific porous lightweight blast energy absorbing foam using a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) technique adapted to perform tests on low strength materials. Two different velocities, 15 and 30 m.s-1 were used to determine the strain sensitivity of the material. Foams were designed using two types of porous lightweight spherical raw materials with diameters of 30- 100 *m, combined with polymer matrix. Cylindrical specimens with diameter of 15 mm and length of 7 mm were prepared and loaded using a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar apparatus to assess the relation between the composition of the material and its shock wave attenuation capacity.
Keywords: Blast, foam, microsphere, resin.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2471217 NiO-CeO2 Nano-Catalyst for the Removal of Priority Organic Pollutants from Wastewater through Catalytic Wet Air Oxidation at Mild Conditions
Authors: Anushree, Chhaya Sharma, Satish Kumar
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Catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) is normally carried out at elevated temperature and pressure. This work investigates the potential of NiO-CeO2 nano-catalyst in CWAO of paper industry wastewater under milder operating conditions of 90 °C and 1 atm. The NiO-CeO2 nano-catalysts were synthesized by a simple co-precipitation method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), before and after use, in order to study any crystallographic change during experiment. The extent of metal-leaching from the catalyst was determined using the inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The catalytic activity of nano-catalysts was studied in terms of total organic carbon (TOC), adsorbable organic halides (AOX) and chlorophenolics (CHPs) removal. Interestingly, mixed oxide catalysts exhibited higher activity than the corresponding single-metal oxides. The maximum removal efficiency was achieved with Ce40Ni60 catalyst. The results indicate that the CWAO process is efficient in removing the priority organic pollutants from wastewater, as it exhibited up to 59% TOC, 55% AOX, and 54 % CHPs removal.
Keywords: Nano-materials, NiO-CeO2, wastewater, wet air oxidation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1361216 OCR for Script Identification of Hindi (Devnagari) Numerals using Feature Sub Selection by Means of End-Point with Neuro-Memetic Model
Authors: Banashree N. P., R. Vasanta
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Recognition of Indian languages scripts is challenging problems. In Optical Character Recognition [OCR], a character or symbol to be recognized can be machine printed or handwritten characters/numerals. There are several approaches that deal with problem of recognition of numerals/character depending on the type of feature extracted and different way of extracting them. This paper proposes a recognition scheme for handwritten Hindi (devnagiri) numerals; most admired one in Indian subcontinent. Our work focused on a technique in feature extraction i.e. global based approach using end-points information, which is extracted from images of isolated numerals. These feature vectors are fed to neuro-memetic model [18] that has been trained to recognize a Hindi numeral. The archetype of system has been tested on varieties of image of numerals. . In proposed scheme data sets are fed to neuro-memetic algorithm, which identifies the rule with highest fitness value of nearly 100 % & template associates with this rule is nothing but identified numerals. Experimentation result shows that recognition rate is 92-97 % compared to other models.Keywords: OCR, Global Feature, End-Points, Neuro-Memetic model.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1753215 Selection and Exergy Analysis of Fuel Cell System to Meet all Energy Needs of Residential Buildings
Authors: G.R. Ashari, N.Hedayat, S. Shalbaf, E.Hajidavalloo
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In this paper a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell power system including burner, steam reformer, heat exchanger and water heater has been considered to meet the electrical, heating, cooling and domestic hot water loads of residential building which in Tehran. The system uses natural gas as fuel and works in CHP mode. Design and operating conditions of a PEM fuel cell system is considered in this study. The energy requirements of residential building and the number of fuel cell stacks to meet them have been estimated. The method involved exergy analysis and entropy generation thorough the months of the year. Results show that all the energy needs of the building can be met with 12 fuel cell stacks at a nominal capacity of 8.5 kW. Exergy analysis of the CHP system shows that the increase in the ambient air temperature from 1oC to 40oC, will have an increase of entropy generation by 5.73%.Maximum entropy generates for 15 hour in 15th of June and 15th of July is estimated to amount at 12624 (kW/K). Entropy generation of this system through a year is estimated to amount to 1004.54 GJ/k.year.Keywords: CHP mode, entropy, exergy, no of fuel cell stacks.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1883214 Heteromolecular Structure Formation in Aqueous Solutions of Ethanol, Tetrahydrofuran and Dimethylformamide
Authors: Sh. Gofurov, O. Ismailova, U. Makhmanov, A. Kokhkharov
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The refractometric method has been used to determine optical properties of concentration features of aqueous solutions of ethanol, tetrahydrofuran and dimethylformamide at the room temperature. Changes in dielectric permittivity of aqueous solutions of ethanol, tetrahydrofuran and dimethylformamide in a wide range of concentrations (0÷1.0 molar fraction) have been studied using molecular dynamics method. The curves depending on the concentration of experimental data on excess refractive indices and excess dielectric permittivity were compared. It has been shown that stable heteromolecular complexes in binary solutions are formed in the concentration range of 0.3÷0.4 mole fractions. The real and complex part of dielectric permittivity was obtained from dipole-dipole autocorrelation functions of molecules. At the concentrations of C = 0.3 / 0.4 m.f. the heteromolecular structures with hydrogen bonds are formed. This is confirmed by the extremum values of excessive dielectric permittivity and excessive refractive index of aqueous solutions.
Keywords: Refractometric method, dielectric constant, molecular dynamics, aqueous solution.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 981213 Design and Analysis of Extra High Voltage Non-Ceramic Insulator by Finite Element Method
Authors: M. Nageswara Rao, V. S. N. K. Chaitanya, P. Pratyusha
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High voltage insulator has to withstand sever electrical stresses. Higher electrical stresses lead to erosion of the insulator surface. Degradation of insulating properties leads to flashover and in some extreme cases it may cause to puncture. For analyzing these electrical stresses and implement necessary actions to diminish the electrical stresses, numerical methods are best. By minimizing the electrical stresses, reliability of the power system will improve. In this paper electric field intensity at critical regions of 400 kV silicone composite insulator is analyzed using finite element method. Insulator is designed using FEMM-2D software package. Electric Field Analysis (EFA) results are analyzed for five cases i.e., only insulator, insulator with two sides arcing horn, High Voltage (HV) end grading ring, grading ring-arcing horn arrangement and two sides grading ring. These EFA results recommended that two sides grading ring is better for minimization of electrical stresses and improving life span of insulator.
Keywords: Polymer insulator, electric field analysis, numerical methods, finite element method, FEMM-2D.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1136212 Corrosion Behaviour of Hypereutectic Al-Si Automotive Alloy in Different pH Environment
Authors: M. Al Nur, M. S. Kaiser
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Corrosion behaviour of hypereutectic Al-19Si automotive alloy in different pH=1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 environments was carried out using conventional gravimetric measurements and was complemented by resistivity, optical micrograph, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray analyzer (EDX) investigations. Gravimetric analysis confirmed that the highest corrosion rate is shown at pH 13 followed by pH 1. Minimum corrosion occurs in the pH range of 3.0 to 11 due to establishment of passive layer on the surface. The highest corrosion rate at pH 13 is due to the presence of sodium hydroxide in the solution which dissolves the surface oxide film at a steady rate. At pH 1, it can be attributed that the presence of aggressive chloride ions serves to pick up the damage of the passive films at localized regions. With varying exposure periods by both, the environment complies with the normal corrosion rate profile that is an initial steep rise followed by a nearly constant value of corrosion rate. Resistivity increases in case of pH 1 solution for the higher pit formation and decreases at pH 13 due to formation of thin film. The SEM image of corroded samples immersed in pH 1 solution clearly shows pores on the surface and in pH 13 solution, and the corrosion layer seems more compact and homogenous and not porous.
Keywords: Al-Si alloy, corrosion, pH, resistivity, SEM.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1008211 Importance of E-Participation by U-Society in the Development of the U-City
Authors: Jalaluddin Abdul Malek, Mohd Asruladlyi Ibrahim, Zurinah Tahir
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This paper is to reveal developments in the areas of urban technology in Malaysia. Developments occur intend to add value intelligent city development to the ubiquitous city (U-city) or smart city. The phenomenon of change is called the development of post intelligent cities. U-City development discourse is seen from the perspective of the philosophy of the virtuous city organized by al-Farabi. The prosperity and perfection of a city is mainly caused by human personality factors, as well as its relationship with material and technological aspects of the city. The question is, to what extent to which human factors are taken into account in the concept of U-City as an added value to the intelligent city concept to realize the prosperity and perfection of the city? Previously, the intelligent city concept was developed based on global change and ICT movement, while the U-city added value to the development of intelligent cities and focused more on the development of information and communications technology (ICT). Value added is defined as the use of fiber optic technology that is wired to the use of wireless technology, such as wireless broadband. In this discourse, the debate on the concept of U-City is to the symbiosis between the U-City and the importance of local human e-participation (U-Society) for prosperity. In the context of virtuous city philosophy, it supports the thought of symbiosis so the concept of U-City can achieve sustainability, prosperity and perfection of the city.
Keywords: Smart city, ubiquitous city, U-Society, e-participation, prosperity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1161210 The Use of Lane-Centering to Assure the Visible Light Communication Connectivity for a Platoon of Autonomous Vehicles
Authors: Mohammad Y. Abualhoul, Edgar Talavera Munoz, Fawzi Nashashibi
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The new emerging Visible Light Communication (VLC) technology has been subjected to intensive investigation, evaluation, and lately, deployed in the context of convoy-based applications for Intelligent Transportations Systems (ITS). The technology limitations were defined and supported by different solutions proposals to enhance the crucial alignment and mobility limitations. In this paper, we propose the incorporation of VLC technology and Lane-Centering (LC) technique to assure the VLC-connectivity by keeping the autonomous vehicle aligned to the lane center using vision-based lane detection in a convoy-based formation. Such combination can ensure the optical communication connectivity with a lateral error less than 30 cm. As soon as the road lanes are detectable, the evaluated system showed stable behavior independently from the inter-vehicle distances and without the need for any exchanged information of the remote vehicles. The evaluation of the proposed system is verified using VLC prototype and an empirical result of LC running application over 60 km in Madrid M40 highway.Keywords: VLC, lane-centering, platoon, ITS, road safety applications.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 761209 Study of the Green Composite Jute/Epoxy
Authors: A. Mir, C. Aribi, B. Bezzazi
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Work presented is interested in the characterization of the quasistatic mechanical properties and in fatigue of a composite laminated in jute/epoxy. The natural fibers offer promising prospects thanks to their interesting specific properties, because of their low density, but also with their bio-deterioration. Several scientific studies highlighted the good mechanical resistance of the vegetable fiber composites reinforced, even after several recycling. Because of the environmental standards that become increasingly severe, one attends the emergence of eco-materials at the base of natural fibers such as flax, bamboo, hemp, sisal, jute. The fatigue tests on elementary vegetable fibers show an increase of about 60% of the rigidity of elementary fibers of hemp subjected to cyclic loadings. In this study, the test-tubes manufactured by the method infusion have sequences of stacking of 0/90° and ± 45° for the shearing and tensile tests. The quasistatic tests reveal a variability of the mechanical properties of about 8%. The tensile fatigue tests were carried out for levels of constraints equivalent to half of the ultimate values of the composite. Once the fatigue tests carried out for well-defined values of cycles, a series of static tests of traction type highlights the influence of the number of cycles on the quasi-static mechanical behavior of the laminate jute/epoxy.
Keywords: Jute, epoxy resin, mechanical, static, dynamic behavior.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2140208 Effect of a Probiotic Compound in Rumen Development, Diarrhea Incidence and Weight Gain in Young Holstein Calves
Authors: Camilo Aldana, Sara Cabra, Carlos A. Ospina, Fredy Carvajal, Fernando Rodríguez
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It has been proven that early establishment of microbial flora in digestive tract of ruminants, has a beneficial effect on their health condition and productivity. A probiotic compound, made from five bacteria isolated from adult bovine cattle, was dosed to 15 Holstein newborn calves in order to measure its capacity of improving body weight gain and reduce diarrhea incidence. The test was performed in the municipality of Cajicá (Colombia), at 2580 m.a.s.l., throughout rainy season, with environmental temperature that oscillated between 4 to 25 °C. Five calves were allotted to control (no addition of probiotic). Treatments 1, and 2 (5 calves per group) received 10 ml Probiotic mix 1 and 2, respectively. Probiotic mixes 1 and 2 where similar in microbial composition but different in production process. Probiotics were added to the morning milk and dosed on a daily basis by a month and then on a weekly basis for three additional months. Diarrhea incidence was measured by observance of number of animals affected in each group; each animal was weighed up on a daily basis for obtaining weight gain and rumen fluid samples were extracted with oro-esophageal catheter for determining level of fiber and grain consumption.Keywords: Calve, diarrhea, probiotic, rumen microorganisms.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2332207 A New Strategy for Minimizing Precipitations during ASP Flooding in Carbonate Reservoirs
Authors: Khaled Abdalla Elraies, Shuaib Ahmed
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A large quantity of world-s oil reserves exists in carbonate reservoirs. Carbonate reservoirs are very sensitive to chemical enhanced oil recovery process because of containing large amount of calcite, dolomite and calcium sulfate minerals. These minerals cause major obstacles during alkali-surfactant-polymer (ASP) flooding. Alkali reacts with these minerals and form undesired precipitations which plug effective porous openings, reduce permeability and cause scale occurrence at the wellbore. In this paper, a new chemical combination consists of acrylic acid and alkali was used to minimize precipitation problem during ASP flooding. A series of fluid-fluid compatibility tests were performed using acrylic acid and different concentrations of alkaline. Two types of alkalis namely; sodium carbonate and sodium metaborate were screened. As a result, the combination of acrylic acid and sodium carbonate was not effective in preventing calcium and magnesium precipitations. However, acrylic acid and sodium metaborate showed promising results for keeping all solutions without any precipitations. The ratio of acrylic acid to sodium metaborate of 0.7:1.0 was found to be optimum for achieving a compatible solution for 30 days at 80oC.Keywords: Fluid-fluid compatibility test, Carbonate reservoirs, Precipitations and ASP flooding.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2737206 Investigating the Thermal Characteristics of Reclaimed Solid Waste from a Landfill Site Using Thermogravimetry
Authors: S. M. Al-Salem, G.A. Leeke, H. J. Karam, R. Al-Enzi, A. T. Al-Dhafeeri, J. Wang
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Thermogravimetry has been popularized as a thermal characterization technique since the 1950s. It aims at investigating the weight loss against both reaction time and temperature, whilst being able to characterize the evolved gases from the volatile components of the organic material being tested using an appropriate hyphenated analytical technique. In an effort to characterize and identify the reclaimed waste from an unsanitary landfill site, this approach was initiated. Solid waste (SW) reclaimed from an active landfill site in the State of Kuwait was collected and prepared for characterization in accordance with international protocols. The SW was segregated and its major components were identified after washing and air drying. Shredding and cryomilling was conducted on the plastic solid waste (PSW) component to yield a material that is representative for further testing and characterization. The material was subjected to five heating rates (b) with minimal repeatable weight for high accuracy thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) following the recommendation of the International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry (ICTAC). The TGA yielded thermograms that showed an off-set from typical behavior of commercial grade resin which was attributed to contact of material with soil and thermal/photo-degradation.
Keywords: Polymer, TGA, Pollution, Landfill, Waste, Plastic.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 686205 Skew Detection Technique for Binary Document Images based on Hough Transform
Authors: Manjunath Aradhya V N, Hemantha Kumar G, Shivakumara P
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Document image processing has become an increasingly important technology in the automation of office documentation tasks. During document scanning, skew is inevitably introduced into the incoming document image. Since the algorithm for layout analysis and character recognition are generally very sensitive to the page skew. Hence, skew detection and correction in document images are the critical steps before layout analysis. In this paper, a novel skew detection method is presented for binary document images. The method considered the some selected characters of the text which may be subjected to thinning and Hough transform to estimate skew angle accurately. Several experiments have been conducted on various types of documents such as documents containing English Documents, Journals, Text-Book, Different Languages and Document with different fonts, Documents with different resolutions, to reveal the robustness of the proposed method. The experimental results revealed that the proposed method is accurate compared to the results of well-known existing methods.Keywords: Optical Character Recognition, Skew angle, Thinning, Hough transform, Document processing
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2086204 An Investigation of a Three-Dimensional Constitutive Model of Gas Diffusion Layers in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells
Authors: Yanqin Chen, Chao Jiang, Chongdu Cho
Abstract:
This research presents the three-dimensional mechanical characteristics of a commercial gas diffusion layer by experiment and simulation results. Although the mechanical performance of gas diffusion layers has attracted much attention, its reliability and accuracy are still a major challenge. With the help of simulation analysis methods, it is beneficial to the gas diffusion layer’s extensive commercial development and the overall stress analysis of proton electrolyte membrane fuel cells during its pre-production design period. Therefore, in this paper, a three-dimensional constitutive model of a commercial gas diffusion layer, including its material stiffness matrix parameters, is developed and coded, in the user-defined material model of a commercial finite element method software for simulation. Then, the model is validated by comparing experimental results as well as simulation outcomes. As a result, both the experimental data and simulation results show a good agreement with each other, with high accuracy.
Keywords: Gas diffusion layer, proton electrolyte membrane fuel cell, stiffness matrix, three-dimensional mechanical characteristics, user-defined material model.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 928203 Efficacy of Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Filtration with Low-Cost Organic Fiber Filter
Authors: Gautham Das, Edward Morrone, Erik Treble, Clinton Binder
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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a low-cost filter regarding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS is a commonly used man-made chemical that can be found in a variety of household and industrial products with deleterious effects on humans. The filter consists of a combination of low-cost materials which could be locally procured. Water testing results for 4 different PFAS contaminants indicated that for Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) regulation is 7 ppt, the initial concentration was 15 ppt, and the final concentration was 3.9 ppt. For Perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), the ATSDR regulation is 10.5 ppt, the initial concentration was 15 ppt, and the final concentration was 3.9 ppt. For Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), the ATSDR regulation is 11 ppt, the initial concentration was 15 ppt, and the final concentration was 3.9 ppt. For Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), the ATSDR regulation is 70 ppt, the initial concentration was 15 ppt, and the final concentration was 3.9 ppt. The results indicated a 74% reduction in PFAS concentration in filtered samples. Statistical data through regression analysis showed 0.9 validity of the sample data. Initial tests show the efficiency of the proposed filter described could be far greater if tested at a greater scale. It is highly recommended further testing to be conducted to validate the data for an innovative solution to a ubiquitous problem.
Keywords: PFAS, PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, low-cost filter.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 628202 Conceptual Design and Characterization of Contractile Water Jet Thruster Using IPMC Actuator
Authors: Muhammad Farid Shaari, Zahurin Samad
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This paper presents the design, development and characterization of contractile water jet thruster (CWJT) for mini underwater robot. Instead of electric motor, this CWJT utilizes the Ionic Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC) as the actuator to generate the water jet. The main focus of this paper is to analyze the conceptual design of the proposed CWJT which would determine the thrust force value, jet flow behavior and actuator’s stress. Those thrust force and jet flow studies were carried out using Matlab/Simscape simulation software. The actuator stress had been analyzed using COSMOS simulation software. The results showed that there was no significant change for jet velocity at variable cross sectional nozzle area. However, a significant change was detected for jet velocity at different nozzle cross sectional area ratio which was up to 37%. The generated thrust force has proportional relation to the nozzle cross sectional area.
Keywords: Contractile water jet thruster, IPMC actuator, Thrust force.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2209201 Impact of Process Parameters on Tensile Strength of Fused Deposition Modeling Printed Crisscross Poylactic Acid
Authors: Shilpesh R. Rajpurohit, Harshit K. Dave
Abstract:
Additive manufacturing gains the popularity in recent times, due to its capability to create prototype as well functional as end use product directly from CAD data without any specific requirement of tooling. Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is one of the widely used additive manufacturing techniques that are used to create functional end use part of polymer that is comparable with the injection-molded parts. FDM printed part has an application in various fields such as automobile, aerospace, medical, electronic, etc. However, application of FDM part is greatly affected by poor mechanical properties. Proper selection of the process parameter could enhance the mechanical performance of the printed part. In the present study, experimental investigation has been carried out to study the behavior of the mechanical performance of the printed part with respect to process variables. Three process variables viz. raster angle, raster width and layer height have been varied to understand its effect on tensile strength. Further, effect of process variables on fractured surface has been also investigated.
Keywords: 3D printing, fused deposition modeling, layer height, raster angle, raster width, tensile strength.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1647