Search results for: Gamma-sterilization and stabilization.

Authors: X. L. Zhang, K. L. Li, R. M. Skitmore

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Hong Kong is a densely populated city suffering badly from the urban heat island effect. Green wall offers a means of ameliorating the situation but there are doubts over its suitability in Hong Kong’s unique environment. In this paper, we look at the potential for green walls in Hong Kong first by summarizing some of the Chinese green walling systems and associated vegetation in use, then by an introduction to three existing green walls in Hong Kong, and finally through a small experiment aimed at identifying the likely main effects of green walled housing.

The results indicate that green walling in Hong Kong is likely to provide enhanced internal house environment in terms of warm weather temperature reduction, stabilization and damping, with direct energy savings in air-conditioning and indirect district benefits of reduced heat island effect and carbon emissions. The green walling insulation properties also suggest the possibility of warmer homes in winter and/or energy savings in mechanical heating provision.

Keywords: Case studies, experiment, green wall, Hong Kong.

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Authors: Jeong-Min Jo, Young-Jae Han, Chang-Young Lee

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Attracting ferromagnetic forces between magnet and reaction rail provide the supporting force in Electromagnetic Suspension. Miniature maglev using permanent magnets and electromagnets is based on the idea to generate the nominal magnetic force by permanent magnets and superimpose the variable magnetic field required for stabilization by currents flowing through control windings in electromagnets. Permanent magnets with a high energy density have lower power losses with regard to supporting force and magnet weight. So the advantage of the maglev using electromagnets and permanent magnets is partially reduced by the power required to feed the remaining onboard supply system so that the overall onboard power is diminished as compared to that of the electromagnet. In this paper we proposed the how to design and control the miniature maglev and confirmed the feasibility of the levitation system using electromagnets and permanent magnets through the manufacturing the miniature maglev

Keywords: Magnetic Levitation system, Maglev, Permanent Magnets, Hybrid Magnet.

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Authors: Reimund Neugebauer, Welf-Guntram Drossel, Andre Bucht, Christoph Ohsenbrügge

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In this paper the authors propose and verify an approach to control heat flow in machine tool components. Thermal deformations are a main aspect that affects the accuracy of machining. Due to goals of energy efficiency, thermal basic loads should be reduced. This leads to inhomogeneous and time variant temperature profiles. To counteract these negative consequences, material with high melting enthalpy is used as a method for thermal stabilization. The increased thermal capacity slows down the transient thermal behavior. To account for the delayed thermal equilibrium, a control mechanism for thermal flow is introduced. By varying a gap in a heat flow path the thermal resistance of an assembly can be controlled. This mechanism is evaluated in two experimental setups. First to validate the ability to control the thermal resistance and second to prove the possibility of a self-sufficient option based on the selfsensing abilities of thermal shape memory alloys.

Keywords: energy-efficiency, heat transfer path, MT thermal stability, thermal shape memory alloy

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Authors: Mahdi Kiani, Hassan Salarieh, Aria Alasty, S. Mahdi Darbandi

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The design and implementation of the hybrid control method for a three-pole active magnetic bearing (AMB) is proposed in this paper. The system is inherently nonlinear and conventional nonlinear controllers are a little complicated, while the proposed hybrid controller has a piecewise linear form, i.e. linear in each sub-region. A state-feedback hybrid controller is designed in this study, and the unmeasurable states are estimated by an observer. The gains of the hybrid controller are obtained by the Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) method in each sub-region. To evaluate the performance, the designed controller is implemented on an experimental setup in static mode. The experimental results show that the proposed method can efficiently stabilize the three-pole AMB system. The simplicity of design, domain of attraction, uncomplicated control law, and computational time are advantages of this method over other nonlinear control strategies in AMB systems.

Keywords: Active magnetic bearing, three pole AMB, hybrid control, Lyapunov function.

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Authors: F. Ammari, M. Chenouf

Abstract:

Synthesis of gold nanoparticles has attracted much attention since the pioneering discovery of the high catalytic activity of supported gold nanoparticles in the reaction of CO oxidation at low temperature. In this research field, we used Na-montmorillonite for gold nanoparticles stabilization; various gold loading percentage 1, 2 and 5% were used for gold nanoparticles preparation. The gold nanoparticles were obtained using chemical reduction method using NaBH4 as reductant agent. The obtained gold nanoparticles stabilized in Na-montmorillonite were used as catalysts for the reduction of 4- nitrophenol to aminophenol with sodium borohydride at room temperature. The UV-Vis results confirmed directly the gold nanoparticles formation. The XRD and N2 adsorption results showed the formation of gold nanoparticles in the pores of montmorillonite with an average size of 5 nm obtained on samples with 2% gold loading percentage. The gold particles size increased with the increase of gold loading percentage. The reduction reaction of 4- nitrophenol into 4-aminophenol with NaBH4 catalyzed by Au-Namontmorillonite catalyst exhibits remarkably a high activity; the reaction was completed within 9 min for 1%Au-Na-montmorillonite and within 3 min for 2%Au-Na-montmorillonite.

Keywords: Chemical reduction, gold, montmorillonite, nanoparticles, 4-nitrophenol.

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Authors: Jinyong Yao, Hongzhi Li, Chao Du, Jiao Li

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Reliability of long-term storage products is related to the availability of the whole system, and the evaluation of storage life is of great necessity. These products are usually highly reliable and little failure information can be collected. In this paper, an analytical method based on data from accelerated storage life test is proposed to evaluate the reliability index of the long-term storage products. Firstly, singularities are eliminated by data normalization and residual analysis. Secondly, with the preprocessed data, the degradation path model is built to obtain the pseudo life values. Then by life distribution hypothesis, we can get the estimator of parameters in high stress levels and verify failure mechanism consistency. Finally, the life distribution under the normal stress level is extrapolated via the acceleration model and evaluation of the actual average life is available. An application example with the camera stabilization device is provided to illustrate the methodology we proposed.

Keywords: Accelerated storage life test, failure mechanism consistency, life distribution, reliability.

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Authors: Lianglin Xiong, Shouming Zhong, Mao Ye

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This paper considers the robust exponential stability issues for a class of uncertain switched neutral system which delays switched according to the switching rule. The system under consideration includes both stable and unstable subsystems. The uncertainties considered in this paper are norm bounded, and possibly time varying. Based on multiple Lyapunov functional approach and dwell-time technique, the time-dependent switching rule is designed depend on the so-called average dwell time of stable subsystems as well as the ratio of the total activation time of stable subsystems and unstable subsystems. It is shown that by suitably controlling the switching between the stable and unstable modes, the robust stabilization of the switched uncertain neutral systems can be achieved. Two simulation examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Keywords: Switched neutral system, exponential stability, multiple Lyapunov functional, dwell time technique, time-dependent switching rule.

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Authors: Dana Madalina Pohrib, Elena Irina Ciobanu

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In compaction works, the most often used codes and standards are those for road embankments and refer to a maximum filling height of 3.00m. When filling a height greater than 3.00m, such codes are no longer valid and thus their application may lead to technical difficulties in the process of compaction and to the achievement of a sufficient degree of compaction. For this reason, in the case of controlled fillings with heights greater than 3.00m it is necessary to formulate and apply a number of special techniques, which can be determined by performing a full scale test. This paper presents the results of the studies and full scale tests conducted for the stabilization of a ravine with vertical banks and a depth of about 12.00m. The fillings will support a heavy traffic road connecting the two parts of a village in Vaslui County, Romania. After analyzing two comparative intervention solutions, the variant of a controlled filling bordered by a monolith concrete retaining wall was chosen. The results obtained by the authors highlighted the need to insert a geogrid reinforcement at every 2.00m for creating a 12.00m thick compacted fill.

Keywords: Compaction, dynamic probing, stability, soil stratification.

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Authors: Takao Sakakura, Kazunori Fujimoto

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This paper proposes an analytical method for the dynamics of generating firms- alliance networks along with business phases. Dynamics in network developments have previously been discussed in the research areas of organizational strategy rather than in the areas of regional cluster, where the static properties of the networks are often discussed. The analytical method introduces the concept of business phases into innovation processes and uses relationships called prior experiences; this idea was developed in organizational strategy to investigate the state of networks from the viewpoints of tradeoffs between link stabilization and node exploration. This paper also discusses the results of the analytical method using five cases of the network developments of firms. The idea of Embeddedness helps interpret the backgrounds of the analytical results. The analytical method is useful for policymakers of regional clusters to establish concrete evaluation targets and a viewpoint for comparisons of policy programs.

Keywords: Regional Clusters, Alliance Networks, Innovation Processes, Prior Experiences, Embeddedness.

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Authors: A. Mavrikos, N. Petsas, E. Kaltsi, D. Kaliampakos

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The lignite-fired power plants in the Western Macedonia Lignite Center produce more than 810⁶ t of fly ash per year. Approximately 90% of this quantity is used for restoration-reclamation of exhausted open-cast lignite mines and slope stabilization of the overburden. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the environmental behavior of the mixture of waste rock and fly ash that is being used in the external deposition site of the South Field lignite mine. For this reason, a borehole was made within the site and 86 samples were taken and subjected to chemical analyses and leaching tests. The results showed very limited leaching of trace elements and heavy metals from this mixture. Moreover, when compared to the limit values set for waste acceptable in inert waste landfills, only few excesses were observed, indicating only minor risk for groundwater pollution. However, due to the complexity of both the leaching process and the contaminant pathway, more boreholes and analyses should be made in nearby locations and a systematic groundwater monitoring program should be implemented both downstream and within the external deposition site.

Keywords: Co-deposition, fly ash, leaching tests, lignite, waste rock.

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Authors: J. O. Akinyele, R. W. Salim, K. O. Oikelome, O. T. Olateju

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Rice Husk (RH) is the major byproduct in the processing of paddy rice. The management of this waste has become a big challenge to some of the rice producers, some of these wastes are left in open dumps while some are burn in the open space, and these two actions have been contributing to environmental pollution. This study evaluates an alternative waste management of this agricultural product for use as a civil engineering material. The RH was burn in a controlled environment to form Rice Husk Ash (RHA). The RHA was mix with lateritic clay at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10% proportion by weight. Chemical test was conducted on the open burn and controlled burn RHA with the lateritic clay. Physical test such as particle size distribution, Atterberg limits test, and density test were carried out on the mix material. The chemical composition obtained for the RHA showed that the total percentage compositions of Fe2O3, SiO2 and Al2O3 were found to be above 70% (class “F” pozzolan) which qualifies it as a very good pozzolan. The coefficient of uniformity (Cu) was 8 and coefficient of curvature (Cc) was 2 for the soil sample. The Plasticity Index (PI) for the 0, 2, 4, 6, 8. 10% was 21.0, 18.8, 16.7, 14.4, 12.4 and 10.7 respectively. The work concluded that RHA can be effectively used in hydraulic barriers and as a stabilizing agent in soil stabilization.

Keywords: Rice husk ash, pozzolans, paddy rice, lateritic clay.

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Authors: Lalitchandra J. Shah, Katarzyna Bialek, Melinda L. Clarke, Jessica L. Jansson

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Handwriting is essential to academic success; however, the current literature is limited in the identification of pre-handwriting skills. The purpose of this study was to identify the pre-handwriting skills, which occupational therapy practitioners deem important to handwriting success, as well as those which aid in intervention planning. The online survey instrument consisted of 33 questions that assessed various skills related to the development of handwriting, as well as captured demographic information. Both occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants were included in the survey study. The survey found that the respondents were in agreement that purposeful scribbling, the ability of a child to copy (vertical/horizontal lines, circle, squares, and triangles), imitating an oblique cross, cognitive skills (attention, praxis, self-regulation, sequencing), grasp patterns, hand dominance, in hand manipulation skills (shift, translation, rotation), bilateral integration, stabilization of paper, crossing midline, and visual perception were important indicators of handwriting readiness. The results of the survey support existing research regarding the skills necessary for the successful development of handwriting in children.

Keywords: Development, handwriting, occupational therapy, visual perceptual skills.

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Authors: Yehia A. Eldrainy, Hossam S. Aly, Khalid M. Saqr, Mohammad Nazri Mohd Jaafar

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The central recirculation zone (CRZ) in a swirl stabilized gas turbine combustor has a dominant effect on the fuel air mixing process and flame stability. Most of state of the art swirlers share one disadvantage; the fixed swirl number for the same swirler configuration. Thus, in a mathematical sense, Reynolds number becomes the sole parameter for controlling the flow characteristics inside the combustor. As a result, at low load operation, the generated swirl is more likely to become feeble affecting the flame stabilization and mixing process. This paper introduces a new swirler concept which overcomes the mentioned weakness of the modern configurations. The new swirler introduces air tangentially and axially to the combustor through tangential vanes and an axial vanes respectively. Therefore, it provides different swirl numbers for the same configuration by regulating the ratio between the axial and tangential flow momenta. The swirler aerodynamic performance was investigated using four CFD simulations in order to demonstrate the impact of tangential to axial flow rate ratio on the CRZ. It was found that the length of the CRZ is directly proportional to the tangential to axial air flow rate ratio.

Keywords: Swirler, Gas turbine, CFD, Numerical simulation, Recirculation zone, Swirl number

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Authors: S. A. Taher, A. Shemshadi

Abstract:

Power system stabilizers (PSS) must be capable of providing appropriate stabilization signals over a broad range of operating conditions and disturbance. Traditional PSS rely on robust linear design method in an attempt to cover a wider range of operating condition. Expert or rule-based controllers have also been proposed. Recently fuzzy logic (FL) as a novel robust control design method has shown promising results. The emphasis in fuzzy control design center is around uncertainties in the system parameters & operating conditions. In this paper a novel Robust Fuzzy Logic Power System Stabilizer (RFLPSS) design is proposed The RFLPSS basically utilizes only one measurable Δω signal as input (generator shaft speed). The speed signal is discretized resulting in three inputs to the RFLPSS. There are six rules for the fuzzification and two rules for defuzzification. To provide robustness, additional signal namely, speed are used as inputs to RFLPSS enabling appropriate gain adjustments for the three RFLPSS inputs. Simulation studies show the superior performance of the RFLPSS compared with an optimally designed conventional PSS and discrete mode FLPSS.

Keywords: Controller design, Fuzzy Logic, PID, Power SystemStabilizer, Robust control.

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Authors: Tushar Vasant Salunkhe, Sariput M. Nawghare, Maheboobsab B. Nadaf, Sushovan Dutta, J. N. Mandal

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The model tests were conducted in the laboratory without and with Plastic recycled polymer in fly ash steep slopes overlaying soft foundation soils like fly ash and powai soil in order to check the stability of steep slope. In this experiment, fly ash is used as a filling material and Plastic Recycled Polymers of diameter = 3mm and length = 4mm were made from waste plastic product (lower grade plastic product). The properties of fly ash and Plastic recycled polymers are determined. From the experiments, load and settlement have measured. From these data, load –settlement curves have reported. It has been observed from test results that load carrying capacity of mixture fly ash with Plastic Recycled Polymers slope is more than that of fly ash slope. The deformation of Plastic Recycled Polymers slope is slightly more than that of fly ash slope. A Finite Element Method (F.E.M.) was also evaluated using PLAXIS 3D version. The failure pattern, deformations and factor of safety are reported based on analytical programme. The results from experimental data and analytical programme are compared and reported.

Keywords: Fly ash, Plastic recycled polymer, Factor of safety, Finite element method (FEM), Bishop’s simplified method.

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Authors: A. Goodarzian, A. Ghasemipanah, R. Ziaie Moayed, H. Niroumand

Abstract:

The problem of soil stabilization has been one of the important issues in geotechnical engineering. Nowadays, nanomaterials have revolutionized many industries. In this research, improvement of the Kerman fine-grained soil by nanozeolite and nanobentonite additives separately has been investigated using Atterberg Limits and unconfined compression test. In unconfined compression test, the samples were prepared with 3, 5 and 7% nano additives, with 1, 7 and 28 days curing time with strain control method. Finally, the effect of different percentages of nanozeolite and nanobentonite on the geotechnical behavior and characteristics of Kerman fine-grained soil was investigated. The results showed that with increasing the amount of nanozeolite and also nanobentonite to fine-grained soil, the soil exhibits more compression strength. So that by adding 7% nanozeolite and nanobentonite with 1 day curing, the unconfined compression strength is 1.18 and 2.1 times higher than the unstabilized soil. In addition, the failure strain decreases in samples containing nanozeolite, whereas it increases in the presence of nanobentonite. Increasing the percentage of nanozeolite and nanobentonite also increased the elasticity modulus of soil.

Keywords: Nanozeolite particles, nanobentonite particles, clayey soil, unconfined compression stress, specific surface area, cation exchange capacity, Atterberg limits.

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Authors: A. Ghasemipanah, R. Ziaie Moayed, H. Niroumand

Abstract:

Improving the geotechnical properties of soil has always been one of the issues in geotechnical engineering. Traditional materials have been used to improve and stabilize soils to date, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Although the soil stabilization by adding materials such as cement, lime, bitumen, etc. is one of the effective methods to improve the geotechnical properties of soil, but nanoparticles are one of the newest additives which can improve the loose soils. This research is intended to study the effect of adding nanobentonite on soil engineering properties, especially the unconfined compression strength and maximum dry unit weight, using clayey soil with low liquid limit (CL) from Kerman (Iran). Nanobentonite was mixed with soil in three different percentages (i.e. 3, 5, 7% by weight of the parent soil) with different curing time (1, 7 and 28 days). The unconfined compression strength, liquid and plastic limits and plasticity index of treated specimens were measured by unconfined compression and Atterberg limits test. It was found that increase in nanobentonite content resulted in increase in the unconfined compression strength, liquid and plastic limits of the clayey soil and reduce in plasticity index.

Keywords: Nanobentonite particles, clayey soil, unconfined compression stress, soil improvement.

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Authors: Sameh Abu El-Soud, Zahra Zayed, Safwan Khedr, Adel M. Belal

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The population increase in Egypt is urging for horizontal land development which became a demand to allow the benefit of different natural resources and expand from the narrow Nile valley. However, this development is facing challenges preventing land development and agriculture development. Desertification and moving sand dunes in the west sector of Egypt are considered the major obstacle that is blocking the ideal land use and development. In the proposed research, the sandy soil is treated biologically using Bacillus pasteurii bacteria as these bacteria have the ability to bond the sand partials to change its state of loose sand to cemented sand, which reduces the moving ability of the sand dunes. The procedure of implementing the Microbial Induced Carbonate Precipitation Technique (MICP) technique is examined, and the different factors affecting on this process such as the medium of bacteria sample preparation, the optical density (OD600), the reactant concentration, injection rates and intervals are highlighted. Based on the findings of the MICP treatment for sandy soil, conclusions and future recommendations are reached.

Keywords: Soil stabilization, biological treatment, MICP, sand cementation.

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Authors: Cigdem Yangin-Gomec, Aigerim Jaxybayeva, Orhan Ince

Abstract:

In this study, the anaerobic treatability of chicken manure diluted with tap water (with an influent feed ratio of 1 kg of fresh chicken manure to 6 liter of tap water) was investigated in a lab-scale anaerobic sludge bed (ASB) reactor inoculated with the granular sludge already adapted to chicken manure. The raw waste digested in this study was the manure from laying-hens having average total solids (TS) of about 30% with ca. 60% volatile content. The ASB reactor was fed semi-continuously at ambient operating temperature range (17-23^◦C) at a HRT of 13 and 26 days for about 6 months, respectively. The respective average total and soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) removals were ca. 90% and 75%, whereas average biomethane production rate was calculated ca. 180 lt per kg of COD_removed from the ASB reactor at an average HRT of 13 days. Moreover, total suspended solids (TSS) and volatile suspended solids (VSS) in the influent were reduced more than 97%. Hence, high removals of the organic compounds with respective biogas production made anaerobic stabilization of the diluted chicken manure by ASB reactor at ambient operating temperatures viable. By this way, external heating up to 35^◦C (i.e. anaerobic processes have been traditionally operated at mesophilic conditions) could be avoided in the scope of this study.

Keywords: Ambient anaerobic digestion, biogas recovery, poultry manure.

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Authors: Abbas Alli Taghipoor Bafghi, Hosein Bakhoda, Fateme Khodaei Chegeni

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An experimental investigation is carried out to establish the performance characteristics of a compression ignition engine while using cerium oxide nanoparticles as additive in neat diesel and diesel-biodiesel blends. In the first phase of the experiments, stability of neat diesel and diesel-biodiesel fuel blends with the addition of cerium oxide nanoparticles is analyzed. After series of experiments, it is found that the blends subjected to high speed blending followed by ultrasonic bath stabilization improves the stability. In the second phase, performance characteristics are studied using the stable fuel blends in a single cylinder four stroke engine coupled with an electrical dynamometer and a data acquisition system. The cerium oxide acts as an oxygen donating catalyst and provides oxygen for combustion. The activation energy of cerium oxide acts to burn off carbon deposits within the engine cylinder at the wall temperature and prevents the deposition of non-polar compounds on the cylinder wall results reduction in HC emissions. The tests revealed that cerium oxide nanoparticles can be used as additive in diesel and diesel-biodiesel blends to improve complete combustion of the fuel significantly.

Keywords: Diesel engine, cerium oxide, diesel-biodiesel blends, nanoparticles.

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Authors: Osama Brinji, Wing Kong Chiu, Graham Tew

Abstract:

Understanding the stability of rail ballast is one of the most important aspects in the railways. An unstable track may cause some issues such as unnecessary vibration and ultimately loss of track quality. The track foundation plays an important role in the stabilization of the railway. The dynamic response of rail ballast in the vicinity of the rail sleeper can affect the stability of the rail track and this has not been studied in detail. A review of literature showed that most of the works focused on the area under the concrete sleeper. Although there are some theories about the shear (longitudinal) effect of the rail ballast, these have not properly been studied and hence are not well understood. The stability of a rail track will depend on the compactness of the ballast in its vicinity. This paper will try to determine the dynamic response of the ballast to identify its resonant behaviour. This preliminary research is one of several studies that examine the vibration response of the granular materials. The main aim is to use this information for future design of sleepers to ensure that any dynamic response of the sleeper will not compromise the state of compactness of the ballast. This paper will report on the dependence of damping and the natural frequency of the ballast as a function of depth and distance from the point of excitation introduced through a concrete block. The concrete block is used to simulate a sleeper and the ballast is simulated with gravel. In spite of these approximations, the results presented in the paper will show an agreement with theories and the assumptions that are used in study the mechanical behaviour of the rail ballast.

Keywords: Ballast, dynamic response, sleeper, stability.

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Authors: Xingwen Lu, Kaimin Shih

Abstract:

This study investigated a strategy of blending lead-laden sludge and Al-rich precursors to reduce the release of metals from the stabilized products. Using PbO as the simulated lead-laden sludge to sinter with γ-Al2O3 by Pb:Al molar ratios of 1:2 and 1:12, PbAl2O4 and PbAl12O19 were formed as final products during the sintering process, respectively. By firing the PbO + γ-Al2O3 mixtures with different Pb/Al molar ratios at 600 to 1000 °C, the lead transformation was determined through X-ray diffraction (XRD) data. In Pb/Al molar ratio of 1/2 system, the formation of PbAl2O4 is initiated at 700 °C, but an effective formation was observed above 750 °C. An intermediate phase, Pb9Al8O21, was detected in the temperature range of 800-900 °C. However, different incorporation behavior for sintering PbO with Al-rich precursors at a Pb/Al molar ratio of 1/12 was observed during the formation of PbAl12O19 in this system. In the sintering process, both temperature and time effect on the formation of PbAl2O4 and PbAl12O19 phases were estimated. Finally, a prolonged leaching test modified from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-s toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) was used to evaluate the durability of PbO, Pb9Al8O21, PbAl2O4 and PbAl12O19 phases. Comparison for the leaching results of the four phases demonstrated the higher intrinsic resistance of PbAl12O19 against acid attack.

Keywords: Sludge, Lead, Stabilization, Leaching behavior

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Authors: N. Boshkova, K. Kamburova, N. Tabakova, N. Boshkov, Ts. Radeva

Abstract:

Coatings based on polyaniline (PANI) can improve the resistance of steel against corrosion. In this work, the preparation of stable suspensions of colloidal PANI-SiO₂ particles, suitable for obtaining of composite anticorrosive coating on steel, is described. Electrokinetic data as a function of pH are presented, showing that the zeta potentials of the PANI-SiO₂ particles are governed primarily by the charged groups at the silica oxide surface. Electrosteric stabilization of the PANI-SiO₂ particles’ suspension against aggregation is realized at pH>5.5 (EB form of PANI) by adsorption of positively charged polyelectrolyte molecules onto negatively charged PANI-SiO₂ particles. The PANI-SiO₂ particles are incorporated by electrodeposition into the metal matrix of zinc in order to obtain composite (hybrid) coatings. The latter are aimed to ensure sacrificial protection of steel mainly in aggressive media leading to local corrosion damages. The surface morphology of the composite zinc coatings is investigated with SEM. The influence of PANI-SiO₂ particles on the cathodic and anodic processes occurring in the starting electrolyte for obtaining of the coatings is followed with cyclic voltammetry. The electrochemical and corrosion behavior is evaluated with potentiodynamic polarization curves and polarization resistance measurements. The beneficial effect of the stabilized PANI-SiO₂ particles for the increased protective ability of the composites is commented and discussed.

Keywords: Corrosion, polyaniline particles, zinc, protective ability.

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Authors: Axay J Mehta, Hema A Mehta, T.C.Manjunath, C. Ardil

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In this paper, the modelling and design of artificial neural network architecture for load forecasting purposes is investigated. The primary pre-requisite for power system planning is to arrive at realistic estimates of future demand of power, which is known as Load Forecasting. Short Term Load Forecasting (STLF) helps in determining the economic, reliable and secure operating strategies for power system. The dependence of load on several factors makes the load forecasting a very challenging job. An over estimation of the load may cause premature investment and unnecessary blocking of the capital where as under estimation of load may result in shortage of equipment and circuits. It is always better to plan the system for the load slightly higher than expected one so that no exigency may arise. In this paper, a load-forecasting model is proposed using a multilayer neural network with an appropriately modified back propagation learning algorithm. Once the neural network model is designed and trained, it can forecast the load of the power system 24 hours ahead on daily basis and can also forecast the cumulative load on daily basis. The real load data that is used for the Artificial Neural Network training was taken from LDC, Gujarat Electricity Board, Jambuva, Gujarat, India. The results show that the load forecasting of the ANN model follows the actual load pattern more accurately throughout the forecasted period.

Keywords: Power system, Load forecasting, Neural Network, Neuron, Stabilization, Network structure, Load.

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Authors: Anton Golubkov, Gleb Ermachkov, Aleksandr Smerdin, Oleg Sidorov, Victor Philippov

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Current collection quality is one of the limiting factors when increasing trains movement speed in the rail sector. With the movement speed growth, the impact forces on the current collector from the rolling stock and the aerodynamic influence increase, which leads to the spread in the contact pressure values, separation of the current collector head from the contact wire, contact arcing and excessive wear of the contact elements. The upcoming trend in resolving this issue is the use of the automatic control systems providing stabilization of the contact pressure value. The present paper considers the features of the contemporary automatic control systems of the current collector’s pressure; their major disadvantages have been stated. A scheme of current collector pressure automatic control has been proposed, distinguished by a proactive influence on undesirable effects. A mathematical model of contact strips wearing has been presented, obtained in accordance with the provisions of the central composition rotatable design program. The analysis of the obtained dependencies has been carried out. The procedures for determining the optimal current collector pressure on the contact wire and the pressure control principle in the pneumatic drive have been described.

Keywords: High-speed running, current collector, contact strip, mathematical model, contact pressure, program control, wear, life cycle.

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Authors: Djordjevic J. Sladjana, Djordjevic-Milošević B. Suzana, Milošević M. Slobodan

Abstract:

The potential of biomass as a renewable energy source leads Serbia to be the top of European countries by the amount of available but unused biomass. Technologies for its use are available and ecologically acceptable. Moreover, they are not expensive high-tech solutions even for the poor investment environment of Serbia, while other options seem to be less achievable. From the other point of view, Serbia has a huge percentage of unused agriculture land. Agricultural production in Serbia languishes: a large share of agricultural land therefore remains untreated, and there is a significant proportion of degraded land. From all the above, biomass intended for energy production is becoming an increasingly important factor in the stabilization of agricultural activities. Orientation towards the growing bioenergy crops versus conventional crop cultivation becomes an interesting option. The aim of this paper is to point out the possibility of growing energy crops in accordance with the conditions and cultural practice in rural areas of Serbia. First of all, the cultivation of energy crops on lower quality land is being discussed, in order to revitalize the rural areas of crops through their inclusion into potential energy sector. Next is the theme of throwing more light on the increase in the area under this competitive agricultural production to correct land use in terms of climate change in Serbia. The goal of this paper is to point out the contribution of the share of biomass in energy production and consumption, and the effect of reducing the negative environmental impact.

Keywords: Agro-energy crops, conditions for plantation, revitalization of rural areas, degraded and unused soils.

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Authors: H. W. Xiao, F. H. Lee

Abstract:

Cement stabilization has been widely used for improving the strength and stiffness of soft clayey soils. Cement treated soil specimens used to investigate the stress-strain behaviour in the laboratory study are usually cured for 7 days. This paper examines the effects of curing time on the strength and stress strain behaviour of cement treated marine clay under triaxial loading condition. Laboratory-prepared cement treated Singapore marine clay with different mix proportion S-C-W (soil solid-cement solid-water) and curing time (7 days to 180 days) was investigated through conducting unconfined compressive strength test and triaxial test. The results show that the curing time has a significant effect on the unconfined compressive strength u q , isotropic compression behaviour and stress strain behaviour. Although the primary yield loci of the cement treated soil specimens with the same mix proportion expand with curing time, they are very narrowly banded and have nearly the same shape after being normalized by isotropic compression primary stress ' py p . The isotropic compression primary yield stress ' py p was shown to be linearly related to unconfined compressive strength u q for specimens with different curing time and mix proportion. The effect of curing time on the hardening behaviour will diminish with consolidation stress higher than isotropic compression primary yield stress but its damping rate is dependent on the cement content.

Keywords: Cement treated soil, curing time effect, hardening behaviour, isotropic compression primary yield stress, unconfined compressive strength.

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Authors: Barenten Suciu

Abstract:

Classical matrix calculus and Routh-Hurwitz stability conditions, applied to the snake-like motion of the conical wheel axle, lead to the conclusion that the hunting mode is inherently unstable, and its natural frequency is a complex number. In order to analytically solve such a complicated vibration model, either the inertia terms were neglected, in the model designated as geometrical, or restrictions on the creep coefficients and yawing diameter were imposed, in the so-called dynamical model. Here, an alternative solution is proposed to solve the hunting mode, based on the observation that the bullet train wheel axle is equipped with cylindrical wheels. One argues that for such wheel treads, the geometrical hunting is irrelevant, since its natural frequency becomes nil, but the dynamical hunting is significant since its natural frequency reduces to a real number. Moreover, one illustrates that the geometrical simplification of the wheel causes the stabilization of the hunting mode, since the characteristic quartic equation, derived for conical wheels, reduces to a quadratic equation of positive coefficients, for cylindrical wheels. Quite simple analytical expressions for the damping ratio and natural frequency are obtained, without applying restrictions into the model of contact. Graphs of the time-depending hunting lateral perturbation, including the maximal and inflexion points, are presented both for the critically-damped and the over-damped wheel axles.

Keywords: Bullet train, dynamical hunting, cylindrical wheels, damping, stability, creep, vibration analysis.

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Authors: A. S. Gorobtsov, A. S. Polyanina, A. E. Andreev

Abstract:

The movement of points feet of the anthropomorphous robot in space occurs along some stable trajectory of a known form. A large number of modifications to the methods of control of biped robots indicate the fundamental complexity of the problem of stability of the program trajectory and, consequently, the stability of the control for the deviation for this trajectory. Existing gait generators use piecewise interpolation of program trajectories. This leads to jumps in the acceleration at the boundaries of sites. Another interpolation can be realized using differential equations with fractional derivatives. In work, the approach to synthesis of generators of program trajectories is considered. The resulting system of nonlinear differential equations describes a smooth trajectory of movement having rectilinear sites. The method is based on the theory of an asymptotic stability of invariant sets. The stability of such systems in the area of localization of oscillatory processes is investigated. The boundary of the area is a bounded closed surface. In the corresponding subspaces of the oscillatory circuits, the resulting stable limit cycles are curves having rectilinear sites. The solution of the problem is carried out by means of synthesis of a set of the continuous smooth controls with feedback. The necessary geometry of closed trajectories of movement is obtained due to the introduction of high-order nonlinearities in the control of stabilization systems. The offered method was used for the generation of trajectories of movement of point’s feet of the anthropomorphous robot. The synthesis of the robot's program movement was carried out by means of the inverse method.

Keywords: Control, limits cycle, robot, stability.

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Authors: Ashwini V. Chavan, Sukhanand S. Bhosale

Abstract:

Challenges of weak soil subgrade are often resolved either by stabilization or reinforcing it. However, it is also practiced to reinforce the granular fill to improve the load-settlement behavior of it over weak soil strata. The inclusion of reinforcement in the engineered granular fill provided a new impetus for the development of enhanced Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) models, also known as mechanical foundation models or lumped parameter models. Several researchers have been working in this direction to understand the mechanism of granular fill-reinforcement interaction and the response of weak soil under the application of load. These models have been developed by extending available SSI models such as the Winkler Model, Pasternak Model, Hetenyi Model, Kerr Model etc., and are helpful to visualize the load-settlement behavior of a physical system through 1-D and 2-D analysis considering beam and plate resting on the foundation, respectively. Based on the literature survey, these models are categorized as ‘Reinforced Pasternak Model,’ ‘Double Beam Model,’ ‘Reinforced Timoshenko Beam Model,’ and ‘Reinforced Kerr Model’. The present work reviews the past 30+ years of research in the field of SSI models for reinforced foundation systems, presenting the conceptual development of these models systematically and discussing their limitations. A flow-chart showing procedure for compution of deformation and mobilized tension is also incorporated in the paper. Special efforts are taken to tabulate the parameters and their significance in the load-settlement analysis, which may be helpful in future studies for the comparison and enhancement of results and findings of physical models. 

Keywords: geosynthetics, mathematical modeling, reinforced foundation, soil-structure interaction, ground improvement, soft soil

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