Search results for: precision irrigation components

Authors: R. M. Chandima Ratnayake, Daniel Dyakov

Abstract:

Super steel materials play a vital role in the construction and fabrication of structural, piping and pipeline components. In assuring the integrity of onshore and offshore operating systems, they enable life cycle costs to be minimized. In this context, Duplex stainless steel (DSS) material related welding on constructions and fabrications plays a significant role in maintaining and assuring integrity at an optimal expenditure over the life cycle of production and process systems as well as associated structures. In DSS welding, factors such as gap geometry, shielding gas supply rate, welding current, and type of the welding process are vital to the final joint performance. Hence, an experimental investigation has been performed using an engineering robust design approach (ERDA) to investigate the optimal settings that generate optimal super DSS (i.e. UNS S32750) joint performance. This manuscript illustrates the mathematical approach and experimental design, optimal parameter settings and results of the verification experiment.

Keywords: Duplex stainless steel welding, engineering robust design, mathematical framework, optimal parameter settings.

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Authors: Mochamad Chalid, Imam Prabowo

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Today, the pollution due to non-degradable material such as plastics, has led to studies about the development of environmental-friendly material. Because of biodegradability obtained from natural sources, polylactid acid (PLA) and ijuk fiber are interesting to modify into a composite. This material is also expected to reduce the impact of environmental pollution. Surface modification of ijuk fiber through alkalinization with 0.25 M NaOH solution for 30 minutes was aimed to enhance its compatibility to PLA, in order to improve properties of the composite such as the mechanical properties. Alkalinization of the ijuk fibers annihilates some surface components such as lignin, wax and hemicelloluse, so the pore on the surface clearly appeared, decreasing of the density and diameter of the ijuk fibers. The change of the ijuk fiber properties leads to increase the mechanical properties of PLA composites reinforced the ijuk fibers through strengthening of the mechanical interlocking with the PLA matrix. An addition to enhance the distribution of the fibers in the PLA matrix, the stirring during DCM solvent evaporation from the mixture of the ijuk fibers and the dissolved-PLA can reduce amount of the trapped-voids and fibers pull-out phenomena, which can decrease the mechanical properties of the composite.

Keywords: Polylactic acid, Arenga pinnata, alkalinization, compatibility, adhesion, morphology, mechanical properties, volume fraction, distributiom.

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Authors: Tisciane Perpetuo e Oliveira, Dante Inga Narvaez, Marcelo Gradella Villalva

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Installations of solar photovoltaic systems have increased considerably in the last decade. Therefore, it has been noticed that monitoring of meteorological data (solar irradiance, air temperature, wind velocity, etc.) is important to predict the potential of a given geographical area in solar energy production. In this sense, the present work compares two computational tools that are capable of estimating the energy generation of a photovoltaic system through correlation analyzes of solar radiation data: PVsyst software and an algorithm based on the PVlib package implemented in MATLAB. In order to achieve the objective, it was necessary to obtain solar radiation data (measured and from a solarimetric database), analyze the decomposition of global solar irradiance in direct normal and horizontal diffuse components, as well as analyze the modeling of the devices of a photovoltaic system (solar modules and inverters) for energy production calculations. Simulated results were compared with experimental data in order to evaluate the performance of the studied methods. Errors in estimation of energy production were less than 30% for the MATLAB algorithm and less than 20% for the PVsyst software.

Keywords: Energy production, meteorological data, irradiance decomposition, solar photovoltaic system.

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Authors: Ahmed S. Fayed, Umima M. Mansour

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Three polyvinyl chloride membrane sensors were developed for the electrochemical evaluation of ferrous, manganese and zinc ions. The sensors were used for assaying metal ions in cervical mucus (CM) of Egyptian river buffalo-cows (Bubalus bubalis) as their levels vary dependent on cyclical hormone variation during different phases of estrus cycle. The presented sensors are based on using ionophores, β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) and sulfocalix-4-arene (SCAL) for sensors 1, 2 and 3 for Fe²⁺, Mn²⁺ and Zn²⁺, respectively. Dioctyl phthalate (DOP) was used as the plasticizer in a polymeric matrix of polyvinylchloride (PVC). For increasing the selectivity and sensitivity of the sensors, each sensor was enriched with a suitable complexing agent, which enhanced the sensor’s response. For sensor 1, β-CD was mixed with bathophenanthroline; for sensor 2, porphyrin was incorporated with HP-β-CD; while for sensor 3, oxine was the used complexing agent with SCAL. Linear responses of 10^-7-10^-2 M with cationic slopes of 53.46, 45.01 and 50.96 over pH range 4-8 were obtained using coated graphite sensors for ferrous, manganese and zinc ionic solutions, respectively. The three sensors were validated, according to the IUPAC guidelines. The obtained results by the presented potentiometric procedures were statistically analyzed and compared with those obtained by atomic absorption spectrophotometric method (AAS). No significant differences for either accuracy or precision were observed between the two techniques. Successful application for the determination of the three studied cations in CM, for the purpose to determine the proper time for artificial insemination (AI) was achieved. The results were compared with those obtained upon analyzing the samples by AAS. Proper detection of estrus and correct time of AI was necessary to maximize the production of buffaloes. In this experiment, 30 multi-parous buffalo-cows were in second to third lactation and weighting 415-530 kg, and were synchronized with OVSynch protocol. Samples were taken in three times around ovulation, on day 8 of OVSynch protocol, on day 9 (20 h before AI) and on day 10 (1 h before AI). Beside analysis of trace elements (Fe²⁺, Mn²⁺ and Zn²⁺) in CM using the three sensors, the samples were analyzed for the three cations and also Cu²⁺ by AAS in the CM samples and blood samples. The results obtained were correlated with hormonal analysis of serum samples and ultrasonography for the purpose of determining of the optimum time of AI. The results showed significant differences and powerful correlation with Zn²⁺ composition of CM during heat phase and the ovulation time, indicating that the parameter could be used as a tool to decide optimal time of AI in buffalo-cows.

Keywords: PVC sensors, buffalo-cows, cyclodextrins, atomic absorption spectrophotometry, artificial insemination, OVSynch protocol.

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Authors: Jeong Hoon Lee, Jin Hwan Yu

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The number of people using SNS with their mobile devices is soaring. This research focuses on the Twitter service that has the most third-party applications and delved into the fact that there were not sufficient studies on the UX design aspects of Twitter applications. Among social network services which have emerged as a major social topic lately, this research try to analyze the UX design of the Twitter application which is also called micro-blogging service. Therefore this research sets its goal to draw components of the UX design aspect of the Tweeter application on which there are not enough analysis yet. Moreover, this research suggests improvement of mobile application which will assure better users- experience. In order to analyze the UX design aspect of the mobile twitter application, with relevant document and user research, evaluating factors of the UX Design which would affect users- experience were organized. The subjects for cases were selected among six paid and free social networking applications that had been consistently ranked from 1st to 100th in the Korean application store during May, 2012 after closely monitoring the rank. From May 15th to May 11th in 2012, in accordance with the evaluating standard, surveys were conducted in a form of interviews with 20 subjects who have used the Twitter application to find out problems and solutions for the UX design of the mobile Twitter application.

Keywords: Social network service, twitter, user experience design, interface design.

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Authors: K. Jahani, J. Razavi

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Nowadays, to decrease the number of downtimes in the industries such as metal mining, petroleum and chemical industries, predictive maintenance is crucial. In order to have efficient predictive maintenance, knowing the performance of critical equipment of production line such as pumps and hydro-cyclones under variable operating parameters, selecting best indicators of this equipment health situations, best locations for instrumentation, and also measuring of these indicators are very important. In this paper, computer aided engineering (CAE) tools are implemented to study some important elements of copper process line, namely slurry pumps and cyclone to predict the performance of these components under different working conditions. These modeling and simulations can be used in predicting, for example, the damage tolerance of the main shaft of the slurry pump or wear rate and location of cyclone wall or pump case and impeller. Also, the simulations can suggest best-measuring parameters, measuring intervals, and their locations.

Keywords: Computer aided engineering, predictive maintenance, fault detection, mining process line, slurry pump, hydrocyclone.

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Authors: Min Ye Koo, Ji Ho Ahn, Byung Il You, Gyo Woo Lee

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Everything that is attached to the outside of the vehicle to improve the driving performance of the vehicle by changing the flow characteristics of the surrounding air or to pursue the external personality is called a tuning part. Typical tuning components include front or rear air dam, also known as spoilers, splitter, and side air dam. Particularly, the front air dam prevents the airflow flowing into the lower portion of the vehicle and increases the amount of air flow to the side and front of the vehicle body, thereby reducing lift force generation that lifts the vehicle body, and thus, improving the steering and driving performance of the vehicle. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of anterior air dam in the flow around a sedan passenger car using computational fluid dynamics. The effects of flow velocity, trajectory of fluid particles on static pressure distribution and pressure distribution on body surface were investigated by varying flow velocity and size of air dam. As a result, it has been confirmed that the front air dam improves the flow characteristics, thereby reducing the generation of lift force of the vehicle, so it helps in steering and driving characteristics.

Keywords: Numerical study, computational fluid dynamics, air dam, tuning parts, drag, lift force.

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Authors: Wael I. Alnahhal

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It is a major challenge to build a bridge superstructure that has long-term durability and low maintenance requirements. A solution to this challenge may be to use new materials or to implement new structural systems. Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites have continued to play an important role in solving some of persistent problems in infrastructure applications because of its high specific strength, light weight, and durability. In this study, the concept of the hybrid FRP-concrete structural systems is applied to a bridge superstructure. The hybrid FRP-concrete bridge superstructure is intended to have durable, structurally sound, and cost effective hybrid system that will take full advantage of the inherent properties of both FRP materials and concrete. In this study, two hybrid FRP-concrete bridge systems were investigated. The first system consists of trapezoidal cell units forming a bridge superstructure. The second one is formed by arch cells. The two systems rely on using cellular components to form the core of the bridge superstructure, and an outer shell to warp around those cells to form the integral unit of the bridge. Both systems were investigated analytically by using finite element (FE) analysis. From the rigorous FE studies, it was concluded that first system is more efficient than the second.

Keywords: Bridge superstructure, hybrid system, fiber reinforced polymer, finite element analysis.

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Authors: Espinoza S. Clara, Gamarra Q. Flor, Marianela F. Ramos Quispe S. Miguel, Flores R. Omar

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Tropaeolum majus L. is a native plant to South and Central America, used since ancient times by our ancestors to combat different diseases. Glucotropaeolonin is one of its main components, which when hydrolyzed, forms benzyl isothiocyanate (BIT) that promotes cellular apoptosis (programmed cell death in cancer cells). Therefore, the present research aims to evaluate the effect of the pressure and temperature of BIT extraction by supercritical CO₂ from Tropaeolum majus L. The extraction was carried out in a supercritical fluid extractor equipment Speed SFE BASIC Brand: Poly science, the leaves of Tropaeolum majus L. were ground for one hour and lyophilized until obtaining a humidity of 6%. The extraction with supercritical CO₂ was carried out with pressures of 200 bar and 300 bar, temperatures of 50°C, 60°C and 70°C, obtained by the conjugation of these six treatments. BIT was identified by thin layer chromatography using 98% BIT as the standard, and as the mobile phase hexane: dichloromethane (4:2). Subsequently, BIT quantification was performed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The highest yield of oleoresin by supercritical CO₂ extraction was obtained pressure 300 bar and temperature at 60°C; and the higher content of BIT at pressure 200 bar and 70°C for 30 minutes to obtain 113.615 ± 0.03 mg BIT/100 g dry matter was obtained.

Keywords: Tropaeolum majus L., supercritical fluids, benzyl isothiocyanate.

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Authors: Víctor Martínez del Rey, Kourosh Nasr Esfahani, Amir Masoud Samani Majd

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In this experimental study, the behaviors of Mixed Oxidant solution components (MOS) and sodium hypochlorite (HYPO) as the most commonly applied surface disinfectant were compared through the effectiveness of chlorine disinfection as a function of the contact time and residual chlorine. In this regard, the variation of pH, free available chlorine (FAC) concentration, and electric conductivity (EC) of disinfection solutions in different concentrations were monitored over 48 h contact time. In parallel, the plant stress activated by chlorine-based disinfectants was assessed by comparing MOS and HYPO. The elements of pH and EC in the plant-soil and their environmental impacts, spread by disinfection solutions were analyzed through several concentrations of FAC including 500 mg/L, 1000 mg/L, and 5000 mg/L in irrigated water. All the experiments were carried out at the service station of Sant Cugat, Spain. The outcomes indicated lower pH and higher durability of MOS than HYPO at the same concentration of FAC which resulted in promising stability of FAC within MOS. Furthermore, the pH and EC value of plant-soil irrigated by NaOCl solution were higher than that of MOS solution at the same FAC concentration. On-site generation of MOS as a safe chlorination option might be considered an imaginary future of smart cities.

Keywords: Disinfection, free available chlorine, on-site generation, sodium hypochlorite.

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Authors: K. Indra Gandhi

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Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have always been characterized for application-specific sensing, relaying and collection of information for further analysis. However, software development was not considered as a separate entity in this process of data collection which has posed severe limitations on the software development for WSN. Software development for WSN is a complex process since the components involved are data-driven, network-driven and application-driven in nature. This implies that there is a tremendous need for the separation of concern from the software development perspective. A layered approach for developing data acquisition design based on Model Driven Development (MDD) has been proposed as the sensed data collection process itself varies depending upon the application taken into consideration. This work focuses on the layered view of the data acquisition process so as to ease the software point of development. A metamodel has been proposed that enables reusability and realization of the software development as an adaptable component for WSN systems. Further, observing users perception indicates that proposed model helps in improving the programmer's productivity by realizing the collaborative system involved.

Keywords: Model-driven development, wireless sensor networks, data acquisition, separation of concern, layered design.

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Authors: Tarik Rashid, B. Q. Huang, M-T. Kechadi, B. Gleeson

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this paper presents an auto-regressive network called the Auto-Regressive Multi-Context Recurrent Neural Network (ARMCRN), which forecasts the daily peak load for two large power plant systems. The auto-regressive network is a combination of both recurrent and non-recurrent networks. Weather component variables are the key elements in forecasting because any change in these variables affects the demand of energy load. So the AR-MCRN is used to learn the relationship between past, previous, and future exogenous and endogenous variables. Experimental results show that using the change in weather components and the change that occurred in past load as inputs to the AR-MCRN, rather than the basic weather parameters and past load itself as inputs to the same network, produce higher accuracy of predicted load. Experimental results also show that using exogenous and endogenous variables as inputs is better than using only the exogenous variables as inputs to the network.

Keywords: Daily peak load forecasting, neural networks, recurrent neural networks, auto regressive multi-context neural network.

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Authors: S. Ariffin, K. Hasnan, R.H. Weston

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A new generation of manufacturing machines so-called MIMCA (modular and integrated machine control architecture) capable of handling much increased complexity in manufacturing control-systems is presented. Requirement for more flexible and effective control systems for manufacturing machine systems is investigated and dimensioned-which highlights a need for improved means of coordinating and monitoring production machinery and equipment used to- transport material. The MIMCA supports simulation based on machine modeling, was conceived by the authors to address the issues. Essentially MIMCA comprises an organized unification of selected architectural frameworks and modeling methods, which include: NISTRCS, UMC and Colored Timed Petri nets (CTPN). The unification has been achieved; to support the design and construction of hierarchical and distributed machine control which realized the concurrent operation of reusable and distributed machine control components; ability to handle growing complexity; and support requirements for real- time control systems. Thus MIMCA enables mapping between 'what a machine should do' and 'how the machine does it' in a well-defined but flexible way designed to facilitate reconfiguration of machine systems.

Keywords: Machine control, architectures, Petri nets, modularity, modeling, simulation.

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Authors: Parviz Alinezhad, Ali Sanati, Koorosh Naser Momtahen

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Square pipes (pipes with square cross sections) are being used for various industrial objectives, such as machine structure components and housing/building elements. The utilization of them is extending rapidly and widely. Hence, the out-put of those pipes is increasing and new application fields are continually developing. Due to various demands in recent time, the products have to satisfy difficult specifications with high accuracy in dimensions. The reshaping process design of pipes with square cross sections; however, is performed by trial and error and based on expert-s experience. In this paper, a computer-aided simulation is developed based on the 2-D elastic-plastic method with consideration of the shear deformation to analyze the reshaping process. Effect of various parameters such as diameter of the circular pipe and mechanical properties of metal on product dimension and quality can be evaluated by using this simulation. Moreover, design of reshaping process include determination of shrinkage of cross section, necessary number of stands, radius of rolls and height of pipe at each stand, are investigated. Further, it is shown that there are good agreements between the results of the design method and the experimental results.

Keywords: Circular Pipes, Square Pipes, Shear Deformation, Reshaping Process, Numerical Simulation.

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Authors: Rizwan Ullah, Abdar Ali, Zahid Ullah

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This paper illustrates the study of three isolated zero voltage switched (ZVS) PWM full bridge (FB) converters to charge the high voltage battery in the charger of electric vehicle (EV). EV battery chargers have several challenges such as high efficiency, high reliability, low cost, isolation, and high power density. The cost of magnetic and filter components in the battery charger is reduced when switching frequency is increased. The increase in the switching frequency increases switching losses. ZVS is used to reduce switching losses and to operate the converter in the battery charger at high frequency. The performance of each of the three converters is evaluated on the basis of ZVS range, dead times of the switches, conduction losses of switches, circulating current stress, circulating energy, duty cycle loss, and efficiency. The limitations and merits of each PWM FB converter are reviewed. The converter with broader ZVS range, high efficiency and low switch stresses is selected for battery charger applications in EV.

Keywords: Electric vehicle, PWM FB converter, zero voltage switching, circulating energy, duty cycle loss, battery charger.

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Authors: Roozbeh Mansouri, Hassan Hadidi

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Truss spars are used for oil exploitation in deep and ultra-deep water if storage crude oil is not needed. The linear hydrodynamic analysis of truss spar in random sea wave load is necessary for determining the behaviour of truss spar. This understanding is not only important for design of the mooring lines, but also for optimising the truss spar design. In this paper linear hydrodynamic analysis of truss spar is carried out in frequency domain. The hydrodynamic forces are calculated using the modified Morison equation and diffraction theory. Added mass and drag coefficients of truss section computed by transmission matrix and normal acceleration and velocity component acting on each element and for hull section computed by strip theory. The stiffness properties of the truss spar can be separated into two components; hydrostatic stiffness and mooring line stiffness. Then, platform response amplitudes obtained by solved the equation of motion. This equation is non-linear due to viscous damping term therefore linearised by iteration method [1]. Finally computed RAOs and significant response amplitude and results are compared with experimental data.

Keywords: Truss Spar, Hydrodynamic analysis, Wave spectrum, Frequency Domain

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Authors: D. SuganyaDevi, G. Padmavathi

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Reliable secure multicast communication in mobile adhoc networks is challenging due to its inherent characteristics of infrastructure-less architecture with lack of central authority, high packet loss rates and limited resources such as bandwidth, time and power. Many emerging commercial and military applications require secure multicast communication in adhoc environments. Hence key management is the fundamental challenge in achieving reliable secure communication using multicast key distribution for mobile adhoc networks. Thus in designing a reliable multicast key distribution scheme, reliability and congestion control over throughput are essential components. This paper proposes and evaluates the performance of an enhanced optimized multicast cluster tree algorithm with destination sequenced distance vector routing protocol to provide reliable multicast key distribution. Simulation results in NS2 accurately predict the performance of proposed scheme in terms of key delivery ratio and packet loss rate under varying network conditions. This proposed scheme achieves reliability, while exhibiting low packet loss rate with high key delivery ratio compared with the existing scheme.

Keywords: Key Distribution, Mobile Adhoc Network, Multicast and Reliability.

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Authors: Lekbir Adel, Alloui-Lombarkia Ourida, Mekentichi Sihem, Noui Yassine, Baississe Salima

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The objective of this study was to optimize the extraction conditions for phenolic compounds, total flavonoids, and antioxidant activity from Deglet-Nour variety. The extraction of active components from natural sources depends on different factors. The knowledge of the effects of different extraction parameters is useful for the optimization of the process, as well for the ability to predict the extraction yield. The effects of extraction variables, namely types of solvent (methanol, ethanol and acetone) and extraction time (1h, 6h, 12h and 24h) on phenolics extraction yield were evaluated. It has been shown that the time of extraction and types of solvent have a statistically significant influence on the extraction of phenolic compounds from Deglet-Nour variety. The optimised conditions yielded values of 80.19 ± 6.37 mg GAE/100 g FW for TPC, 2.34 ± 0.27 mg QE/100 g FW for TFC and 90.20 ± 1.29% for antioxidant activity were methanol solvent and 6 hours of time. According to the results obtained in this study, Deglet-Nour variety can be considered as a natural source of phenolic compounds with good antioxidant capacity.

Keywords: Deglet-Nour variety, Date palm Fruit, Phenolic compounds, Total flavonoids, Antioxidant activity, Extraction, Optimization.

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Authors: Christoph Speer

Abstract:

Decentralized ventilation systems should combine a small and economical design with high aerodynamic and thermal efficiency. The Counter Flow Heat Recovery Fan (CHRF) provides the ability to meet these requirements by using only one cross flow fan with a large number of blades to generate both airflows and which simultaneously acts as a regenerative counter flow heat exchanger. The successful development of the first laboratory prototype has shown the potential of this ventilation system. Occurring condensate on the surfaces of the fan blades during the cold and dry season can be recovered through the characteristic mode of operation. Hence the CHRF provides the possibility to avoid the need for frost protection and condensate drain. Through the implementation of system-specific solutions for flow balancing and summer bypass the required functionality is assured. The scalability of the CHRF concept allows the use in renovation as well as in new buildings from single-room devices through to systems for office buildings. High aerodynamic and thermal efficiency and the lower number of required mechatronic components should enable a reduction in investment as well as operating costs. The rotor is the key component of the system, the requirements and possible implementation variants are presented.

Keywords: CHRF, counter flow heat recovery fan, decentralized ventilation system, renovation.

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Authors: Emari Hossien

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This study examined the underlying dimensions of brand equity in the chocolate industry. For this purpose, researchers developed a model to identify which factors are influential in building brand equity. The second purpose was to assess brand loyalty and brand images mediating effect between brand attitude, brand personality, brand association with brand equity. The study employed structural equation modeling to investigate the causal relationships between the dimensions of brand equity and brand equity itself. It specifically measured the way in which consumers’ perceptions of the dimensions of brand equity affected the overall brand equity evaluations. Data were collected from a sample of consumers of chocolate industry in Iran. The results of this empirical study indicate that brand loyalty and brand image are important components of brand equity in this industry. Moreover, the role of brand loyalty and brand image as mediating factors in the intention of brand equity are supported. The principal contribution of the present research is that it provides empirical evidence of the multidimensionality of consumer based brand equity, supporting Aaker´s and Keller´s conceptualization of brand equity. The present research also enriched brand equity building by incorporating the brand personality and brand image, as recommended by previous researchers. Moreover, creating the brand equity index in chocolate industry of Iran particularly is novel.

Keywords: brand equity, brand personality, structural equationmodeling, Iran.

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Authors: Ahmad Majdi Bin Abdul-Rani, Mesfin Gizaw, Yusri Yusof

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Researches related to standard product model and development of neutral manufacturing interfaces for numerical control machines becomes a significant topic since the last 25 years. In this paper, a detail description of STEP implementation on turnmill manufacturing has been discussed. It shows requirements of information contents from ISO14649 data model. It covers to describe the design of STEP-NC framework applicable to turn-mill manufacturing. In the framework, EXPRESS-G and UML modeling tools are used to depict the information contents of the system and established the bases of information model requirement. A product and manufacturing data model applicable for STEP compliant manufacturing. The next generation turn-mill operations requirements have been represented by a UML diagram. An object oriented classes of ISO1449 has been developed on Visual Basic dot NET platform for binding the static information model represented by the UML diagram. An architect of the proposed system implementation has been given on the bases of the design and manufacturing module of STEP-NC interface established. Finally, a part 21 file process plan generated for an illustration of turn-mill components.

Keywords: CAPP, ISO14649, Product modeling, STEP-NC

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Authors: Arash Karimipour, A. Hossein Nezhad, E. Shirani, A. Safaei

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In this paper, Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) is used to study laminar flow with mixed convection heat transfer inside a two-dimensional inclined lid-driven rectangular cavity with aspect ratio AR = 3. Bottom wall of the cavity is maintained at lower temperature than the top lid, and its vertical walls are assumed insulated. Top lid motion results in fluid motion inside the cavity. Inclination of the cavity causes horizontal and vertical components of velocity to be affected by buoyancy force. To include this effect, calculation procedure of macroscopic properties by LBM is changed and collision term of Boltzmann equation is modified. A computer program is developed to simulate this problem using BGK model of lattice Boltzmann method. The effects of the variations of Richardson number and inclination angle on the thermal and flow behavior of the fluid inside the cavity are investigated. The results are presented as velocity and temperature profiles, stream function contours and isotherms. It is concluded that LBM has good potential to simulate mixed convection heat transfer problems.

Keywords: gravity, inclined lid driven cavity, lattice Boltzmannmethod, mixed convection.

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Authors: Abu S.M. Junaid, Wei Wang, Christopher Street, Moshfiqur Rahman, Matt Gersbach, Sarah Zhou, William McCaffrey, Steven M. Kuznicki

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Oilsands bitumen is an extremely important source of energy for North America. However, due to the presence of large molecules such as asphaltenes, the density and viscosity of the bitumen recovered from these sands are much higher than those of conventional crude oil. As a result the extracted bitumen has to be diluted with expensive solvents, or thermochemically upgraded in large, capital-intensive conventional upgrading facilities prior to pipeline transport. This study demonstrates that globally abundant natural zeolites such as clinoptilolite from Saint Clouds, New Mexico and Ca-chabazite from Bowie, Arizona can be used as very effective reagents for cracking and visbreaking of oilsands bitumen. Natural zeolite cracked oilsands bitumen products are highly recoverable (up to ~ 83%) using light hydrocarbons such as pentane, which indicates substantial conversion of heavier fractions to lighter components. The resultant liquid products are much less viscous, and have lighter product distribution compared to those produced from pure thermal treatment. These natural minerals impart similar effect on industrially extracted Athabasca bitumen.

Keywords: Natural Zeolites, Oilsands Bitumen, Cracking, Viscosity Reduction, Upgrading.

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Authors: Weinian Wang, Joseph C. Chen

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The objective of this research is to optimize the process of cutting cylindrical workpieces utilizing live tooling on a HAAS ST-20 lathe. Surface roughness (Ra) has been investigated as the indicator of quality characteristics for machining process. Aluminum alloy was used to conduct experiments due to its wide range usages in engineering structures and components where light weight or corrosion resistance is required. In this study, Taguchi methodology is utilized to determine the effects that each of the parameters has on surface roughness (Ra). A total of 18 experiments of each process were designed according to Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array (OA) with four control factors at three levels of each and signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) were computed with Smaller the better equation for minimizing the system. The optimal parameters identified for the surface roughness of the turning operation utilizing live tooling were a feed rate of 3 inches/min(A3); a spindle speed of 1300 rpm(B3); a 2-flute titanium nitrite coated 3/8” endmill (C1); and a depth of cut of 0.025 inches (D2). The mean surface roughness of the confirmation runs in turning operation was 8.22 micro inches. The final results demonstrate that Taguchi methodology is a sufficient way of process improvement in turning process on surface roughness.

Keywords: Live tooling, surface roughness, Taguchi Parameter Design, CNC turning operation.

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Authors: Elmira Tavasoli Yousef Abadi

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All structural components influencing the inelastic analysis alter response modification factor too. Ductility of connections has been regarded among the factors which have a direct impact on steel frame response modification factor. The experience of recent earthquakes such as the 1994 Northridge earthquake showed that structural connections in steel frame incurred unexpected (brittle) fracture in beam-to-column connection area. One of the methods to improve performance of moment frames is to reduce the beam section near the connection to the column. Reduced Beam Section (RBS) refers to one of the proposed moment connections in FEMA350. Ductility is the most important advantage of this connection over the other moment connections; it is found as the major factor in suitable plastic behavior of structural system. In this paper, beam-to-column connection with RBS and wide-flange beams has been examined via software Abaqus 6.12. It is observed that use of RBS connections can improve the connection behavior at inelastic area to a large extent and avoid stress concentrations and large deformation in the column.

Keywords: RBS, seismic performance, beam-to-column connection, ductility, wide-flange beam.

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Authors: Pratap Sriram Sundar, Chandan Chowdhury, Sagar Kamarthi

Abstract:

Nature has perfected her designs over 3.5 billion years of evolution. Research fields such as biomimicry, biomimetics, bionics, bio-inspired computing, and nature-inspired designs have explored nature-made artifacts and systems to understand nature’s mechanisms and intelligence. Learning from nature, the researchers have generated sustainable designs and innovation in a variety of fields such as energy, architecture, agriculture, transportation, communication, and medicine. Axiomatic design offers a method to judge if a design is good. This paper analyzes design aspects of one of the nature’s amazing object: chicken egg. The functional requirements (FRs) of components of the object are tabulated and mapped on to nature-chosen design parameters (DPs). The ‘independence axiom’ of the axiomatic design methodology is applied to analyze couplings and to evaluate if eggs’ design is good (i.e., uncoupled design) or bad (i.e., coupled design). The analysis revealed that eggs design is a good design, i.e., uncoupled design. This approach can be applied to any nature’s artifacts to judge whether their design is a good or a bad. This methodology is valuable for biomimicry studies. This approach can also be a very useful teaching design consideration of biology and bio-inspired innovation.

Keywords: Uncoupled design, axiomatic design, nature design, design evaluation.

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Authors: T. Vigneswaran, B. Mukundhan, P. Subbarami Reddy

Abstract:

Full adders are important components in applications such as digital signal processors (DSP) architectures and microprocessors. In addition to its main task, which is adding two numbers, it participates in many other useful operations such as subtraction, multiplication, division,, address calculation,..etc. In most of these systems the adder lies in the critical path that determines the overall speed of the system. So enhancing the performance of the 1-bit full adder cell (the building block of the adder) is a significant goal.Demands for the low power VLSI have been pushing the development of aggressive design methodologies to reduce the power consumption drastically. To meet the growing demand, we propose a new low power adder cell by sacrificing the MOS Transistor count that reduces the serious threshold loss problem, considerably increases the speed and decreases the power when compared to the static energy recovery full (SERF) adder. So a new improved 14T CMOS l-bit full adder cell is presented in this paper. Results show 50% improvement in threshold loss problem, 45% improvement in speed and considerable power consumption over the SERF adder and other different types of adders with comparable performance.

Keywords: Arithmetic circuit, full adder, multiplier, low power, very Large-scale integration (VLSI).

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Authors: S. Boorboor, S. A. H. Feghhi, H. Jafari

Abstract:

The ionizing radiations cause different kinds of damages in electronic components. MOSFETs, most common transistors in today’s digital and analog circuits, are severely sensitive to TID damage. In this work, the threshold voltage shift of CD4007 device, which is an integrated circuit including P-channel and N-channel MOS transistors, was investigated for low dose gamma irradiation under different gate bias voltages. We used linear extrapolation method to extract threshold voltage from I_D-V_G characteristic curve. The results showed that the threshold voltage shift was approximately 27.5 mV/Gy for N-channel and 3.5 mV/Gy for P-channel transistors at the gate bias of |9 V| after irradiation by Co-60 gamma ray source. Although the sensitivity of the devices under test were strongly dependent to biasing condition and transistor type, the threshold voltage shifted linearly versus accumulated dose in all cases. The overall results show that the application of CD4007 as an electronic buffer in a radiation therapy system is limited by TID damage. However, this integrated circuit can be used as a cheap and sensitive radiation dosimeter for accumulated dose measurement in radiation therapy systems.

Keywords: Threshold voltage shift, MOS transistor, linear extrapolation, gamma irradiation.

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Authors: Arijit Ghosh, Tony Givargis

Abstract:

Video sensor networks operate on stringent requirements of latency. Packets have a deadline within which they have to be delivered. Violation of the deadline causes a packet to be treated as lost and the loss of packets ultimately affects the quality of the application. Network latency is typically a function of many interacting components. In this paper, we propose ways of reducing the forwarding latency of a packet at intermediate nodes. The forwarding latency is caused by a combination of processing delay and queueing delay. The former is incurred in order to determine the next hop in dynamic routing. We show that unless link failures in a very specific and unlikely pattern, a vast majority of these lookups are redundant. To counter this we propose source routing as the routing strategy. However, source routing suffers from issues related to scalability and being impervious to network dynamics. We propose solutions to counter these and show that source routing is definitely a viable option in practical sized video networks. We also propose a fast and fair packet scheduling algorithm that reduces queueing delay at the nodes. We support our claims through extensive simulation on realistic topologies with practical traffic loads and failure patterns.

Keywords: Sensor networks, Packet latency, Network design, Networkperformance.

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Authors: C. Mallada Fernández

Abstract:

Economic development and globalization of international markets have created a favourable atmosphere for the emergence of new forms of crime such as money laundering or financing of terrorism, which may contribute to destabilized and damage economic systems. In particular, money laundering have acquired great importance since the 11S attacks, what has caused on the one hand, the establishment and development of preventive measures and, on the other hand, a progressive hardening of penal measures. Since then, the regulations imposed to fight against money laundering have been viewed as key components also in the fight against terrorist financing. Terrorism, at the beginning, was a “national” crime connected with internal problems of the State (for instance the RAF in Germany or ETA in Spain) but in the last 20 years has started to be an international problem that is connected with the defence and security of the States. Therefore, the new strategic concept for the defense and security of NATO has a comprehensive list of security threats to the Alliance, such as terrorism, international instability, money laundering or attacks on cyberspace, among others. With this new concept, money laundering and terrorism has become a priority in the national defense.

In this work we will analyze the methods to combat these new threats to the national security. We will study the preventive legislations to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism, the UIF that exchange information between States, and the hawala-Banking.

Keywords: Control of financial flows, money laundering, terrorism, financing of terrorism.

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