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179 Environmental Impact Assessment of Ceramic Tile Materials Used in Jordan on Indoor Radon Level
Authors: Mefleh S. Hamideen
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In this investigation, activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K, of some ceramic tile materials used in the local market of Jordan for interior decoration were determined by making use of High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector. Twenty samples of different country of origin and sizes used in Jordan were analyzed. The concentration values of the last-mentioned radionuclides ranged from 30 Bq.kg-1 (Sample from Jordan) to 98 Bq.kg-1 (Sample from China) for 226Ra, 31 Bq.kg-1 (Sample from Italy) to 98 Bq.kg-1 (Sample from China) for 232Th, and 129 Bq.kg-1 (Sample from Spain) to 679 Bq.kg-1 (Sample from Italy) for 40K. Based on the calculated activity concentrations, some radiological parameters have been calculated to test the radiation hazards in the ceramic tiles. In this work, the following parameters: Total absorbed dose rate (DR), Annual effective dose rate (HR), Radium equivalent activity (Raeq), Radon emanation coefficient F (%) and Radon mass exhalation rate (Em) were calculated for all ceramic tiles and listed in the body of the work. Fortunately, the average calculated values of all parameters are less than the recommended values for each parameter. Consequently, almost all the examined ceramic materials appear to have low radon emanation coefficients. As a result of that investigation, no problems on people can appear by using those ceramic tiles in Jordan.
Keywords: radon emanation coefficient, radon mass exhalation rate, total annual effective dose, radon level
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 548178 Influence of the Granular Mixture Properties on the Rheological Properties of Concrete: Yield Stress Determination Using Modified Chateau et al. Model
Authors: Rachid Zentar, Mokrane Bala, Pascal Boustingorry
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The prediction of the rheological behavior of concrete is at the center of current concerns of the concrete industry for different reasons. The shortage of good quality standard materials combined with variable properties of available materials imposes to improve existing models to take into account these variations at the design stage of concrete. The main reasons for improving the predictive models are, of course, saving time and cost at the design stage as well as to optimize concrete performances. In this study, we will highlight the different properties of the granular mixtures that affect the rheological properties of concrete. Our objective is to identify the intrinsic parameters of the aggregates which make it possible to predict the yield stress of concrete. The work was done using two typologies of grains: crushed and rolled aggregates. The experimental results have shown that the rheology of concrete is improved by increasing the packing density of the granular mixture using rolled aggregates. The experimental program realized allowed to model the yield stress of concrete by a modified model of Chateau et al. through a dimensionless parameter following Krieger-Dougherty law. The modelling confirms that the yield stress of concrete depends not only on the properties of cement paste but also on the packing density of the granular skeleton and the shape of grains.
Keywords: Crushed aggregates, intrinsic viscosity, packing density, rolled aggregates, slump, yield stress of concrete.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 601177 Solar Thermal Aquaculture System Controller Based on Artificial Neural Network
Authors: A. Doaa M. Atia, Faten H. Fahmy, Ninet M. Ahmed, Hassen T. Dorrah
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Temperature is one of the most principle factors affects aquaculture system. It can cause stress and mortality or superior environment for growth and reproduction. This paper presents the control of pond water temperature using artificial intelligence technique. The water temperature is very important parameter for shrimp growth. The required temperature for optimal growth is 34oC, if temperature increase up to 38oC it cause death of the shrimp, so it is important to control water temperature. Solar thermal water heating system is designed to supply an aquaculture pond with the required hot water in Mersa Matruh in Egypt. Neural networks are massively parallel processors that have the ability to learn patterns through a training experience. Because of this feature, they are often well suited for modeling complex and non-linear processes such as those commonly found in the heating system. Artificial neural network is proposed to control water temperature due to Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques are becoming useful as alternate approaches to conventional techniques. They have been used to solve complicated practical problems. Moreover this paper introduces a complete mathematical modeling and MATLAB SIMULINK model for the aquaculture system. The simulation results indicate that, the control unit success in keeping water temperature constant at the desired temperature by controlling the hot water flow rate.
Keywords: artificial neural networks, aquaculture, forced circulation hot water system,
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2060176 Hybrid Weighted Multiple Attribute Decision Making Handover Method for Heterogeneous Networks
Authors: Mohanad Alhabo, Li Zhang, Naveed Nawaz
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Small cell deployment in 5G networks is a promising technology to enhance the capacity and coverage. However, unplanned deployment may cause high interference levels and high number of unnecessary handovers, which in turn result in an increase in the signalling overhead. To guarantee service continuity, minimize unnecessary handovers and reduce signalling overhead in heterogeneous networks, it is essential to properly model the handover decision problem. In this paper, we model the handover decision problem using Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) method, specifically Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), and propose a hybrid TOPSIS method to control the handover in heterogeneous network. The proposed method adopts a hybrid weighting policy, which is a combination of entropy and standard deviation. A hybrid weighting control parameter is introduced to balance the impact of the standard deviation and entropy weighting on the network selection process and the overall performance. Our proposed method show better performance, in terms of the number of frequent handovers and the mean user throughput, compared to the existing methods.
Keywords: Handover, HetNets, interference, MADM, small cells, TOPSIS, weight.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 582175 Taguchi-Based Six Sigma Approach to Optimize Surface Roughness for Milling Processes
Authors: Sky Chou, Joseph C. Chen
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This paper focuses on using Six Sigma methodologies to improve the surface roughness of a manufactured part produced by the CNC milling machine. It presents a case study where the surface roughness of milled aluminum is required to reduce or eliminate defects and to improve the process capability index Cp and Cpk for a CNC milling process. The six sigma methodology, DMAIC (design, measure, analyze, improve, and control) approach, was applied in this study to improve the process, reduce defects, and ultimately reduce costs. The Taguchi-based six sigma approach was applied to identify the optimized processing parameters that led to the targeted surface roughness specified by our customer. A L9 orthogonal array was applied in the Taguchi experimental design, with four controllable factors and one non-controllable/noise factor. The four controllable factors identified consist of feed rate, depth of cut, spindle speed, and surface roughness. The noise factor is the difference between the old cutting tool and the new cutting tool. The confirmation run with the optimal parameters confirmed that the new parameter settings are correct. The new settings also improved the process capability index. The purpose of this study is that the Taguchi–based six sigma approach can be efficiently used to phase out defects and improve the process capability index of the CNC milling process.
Keywords: CNC machining, Six Sigma, Surface roughness, Taguchi methodology.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1060174 Sensitivity and Reliability Analysis of Masonry Infilled Frames
Authors: Avadhoot Bhosale, Robin Davis P., Pradip Sarkar
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The seismic performance of buildings with irregular distribution of mass, stiffness and strength along the height may be significantly different from that of regular buildings with masonry infill. Masonry infilled reinforced concrete (RC) frames are very common structural forms used for multi-storey building construction. These structures are found to perform better in past earthquakes owing to additional strength, stiffness and energy dissipation in the infill walls. The seismic performance of a building depends on the variation of material, structural and geometrical properties. The sensitivity of these properties affects the seismic response of the building. The main objective of the sensitivity analysis is to found out the most sensitive parameter that affects the response of the building. This paper presents a sensitivity analysis by considering 5% and 95% probability value of random variable in the infills characteristics, trying to obtain a reasonable range of results representing a wide number of possible situations that can be met in practice by using pushover analysis. The results show that the strength-related variation values of concrete and masonry, with the exception of tensile strength of the concrete, have shown a significant effect on the structural performance and that this effect increases with the progress of damage condition for the concrete. The seismic risk assessments of the selected frames are expressed in terms of reliability index.Keywords: Fragility curve, sensitivity analysis, reliability index, RC frames.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1211173 Statistical Analysis of Parameters Effects on Maximum Strain and Torsion Angle of FRP Honeycomb Sandwich Panels Subjected to Torsion
Authors: Mehdi Modabberifar, Milad Roodi, Ehsan Souri
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In recent years, honeycomb fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) sandwich panels have been increasingly used in various industries. Low weight, low price and high mechanical strength are the benefits of these structures. However, their mechanical properties and behavior have not been fully explored. The objective of this study is to conduct a combined numerical-statistical investigation of honeycomb FRP sandwich beams subject to torsion load. In this paper, the effect of geometric parameters of sandwich panel on maximum shear strain in both face and core and angle of torsion in a honeycomb FRP sandwich structures in torsion is investigated. The effect of Parameters including core thickness, face skin thickness, cell shape, cell size, and cell thickness on mechanical behavior of the structure were numerically investigated. Main effects of factors were considered in this paper and regression equations were derived. Taguchi method was employed as experimental design and an optimum parameter combination for the maximum structure stiffness has been obtained. The results showed that cell size and face skin thickness have the most significant impacts on torsion angle, maximum shear strain in face and core.Keywords: Finite element, honeycomb FRP sandwich panel, torsion, civil engineering.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2629172 Development of In Situ Permeability Test Using Constant Discharge Method for Sandy Soils
Authors: A. Rifa’i, Y. Takeshita, M. Komatsu
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The post-rain puddles problem that occurs in the first yard of Prambanan Temple are often disturbing visitor activity. A poodle layer and a drainage system had ever built to avoid such a problem, but puddles still did not stop appearing after rain. Permeability parameter needs to be determined by using a simpler procedure to find exact method of solution. The instrument modelling was proposed according to the development of field permeability testing instrument. This experiment used a proposed Constant Discharge method. Constant Discharge method used a tube poured with constant water flow from unsaturated until saturated soil condition. Volumetric water content (θ) were monitored by soil moisture measurement device. The results were correlations between k and θ which were drawn by numerical approach from Van Genutchen model. Parameters θr optimum value obtained from the test was at very dry soil. Coefficient of permeability with a density of 19.8 kN/m3 for unsaturated conditions was in range of 3 x 10-6 cm/sec (Sr=68%) until 9.98 x 10-4 cm/sec (Sr=82%). The equipment and testing procedure developed in this research was quite effective, simple and easy to be implemented on determining field soil permeability coefficient value of sandy soil. Using constant discharge method in proposed permeability test, value of permeability coefficient under unsaturated condition can be obtained without establish soil water characteristic curve.
Keywords: Constant discharge method, in situ permeability test, sandy soil, unsaturated conditions.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3461171 Price Prediction Line, Investment Signals and Limit Conditions Applied for the German Financial Market
Authors: Cristian Păuna
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In the first decades of the 21st century, in the electronic trading environment, algorithmic capital investments became the primary tool to make a profit by speculations in financial markets. A significant number of traders, private or institutional investors are participating in the capital markets every day using automated algorithms. The autonomous trading software is today a considerable part in the business intelligence system of any modern financial activity. The trading decisions and orders are made automatically by computers using different mathematical models. This paper will present one of these models called Price Prediction Line. A mathematical algorithm will be revealed to build a reliable trend line, which is the base for limit conditions and automated investment signals, the core for a computerized investment system. The paper will guide how to apply these tools to generate entry and exit investment signals, limit conditions to build a mathematical filter for the investment opportunities, and the methodology to integrate all of these in automated investment software. The paper will also present trading results obtained for the leading German financial market index with the presented methods to analyze and to compare different automated investment algorithms. It was found that a specific mathematical algorithm can be optimized and integrated into an automated trading system with good and sustained results for the leading German Market. Investment results will be compared in order to qualify the presented model. In conclusion, a 1:6.12 risk was obtained to reward ratio applying the trigonometric method to the DAX Deutscher Aktienindex on 24 months investment. These results are superior to those obtained with other similar models as this paper reveal. The general idea sustained by this paper is that the Price Prediction Line model presented is a reliable capital investment methodology that can be successfully applied to build an automated investment system with excellent results.
Keywords: Algorithmic trading, automated investment system, DAX Deutscher Aktienindex.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 699170 Effects of Sea Water Level Fluctuations on Seismic Response of Jacket Type Offshore Platforms
Authors: M. Rad, M. Dolatshahi Pirooz, M. Esmayili
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To understand the seismic behavior of the offshore structures, the dynamic interaction of the water-structure-soil should be assessed. In this regard the role of the water dynamic properties in magnifying or reducing of the effects of earthquake induced motions on offshore structures haven't been investigated in precise manner in available literature. In this paper the sea water level fluctuations effects on the seismic behavior of a sample of offshore structures has been investigated by emphasizing on the water-structure interaction phenomenon. For this purpose a two dimensional finite element model of offshore structures as well as surrounded water has been developed using ANSYS software. The effect of soil interaction with embedded pile foundation has been imposed by using a series of nonlinear springs in horizontal and vertical directions in soil-piles contact points. In the model, the earthquake induced motions have been applied on springs and consequently the motions propagated upward to the structure and surrounded water. As a result of numerical study, the horizontal deformations of the offshore deck as well as internal force and buckling coefficient in structural elements have been recorded and controlled with and without water presence. In part of study a parametric study has been accomplished on sea water level fluctuations and effect of this parameter has been studied on the aforementioned numerical results.Keywords: Fluid-Structure Interaction, Jacket, Sea Water Level, Seismic Loading.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2089169 Neuron Efficiency in Fluid Dynamics and Prediction of Groundwater Reservoirs'' Properties Using Pattern Recognition
Authors: J. K. Adedeji, S. T. Ijatuyi
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The application of neural network using pattern recognition to study the fluid dynamics and predict the groundwater reservoirs properties has been used in this research. The essential of geophysical survey using the manual methods has failed in basement environment, hence the need for an intelligent computing such as predicted from neural network is inevitable. A non-linear neural network with an XOR (exclusive OR) output of 8-bits configuration has been used in this research to predict the nature of groundwater reservoirs and fluid dynamics of a typical basement crystalline rock. The control variables are the apparent resistivity of weathered layer (p1), fractured layer (p2), and the depth (h), while the dependent variable is the flow parameter (F=λ). The algorithm that was used in training the neural network is the back-propagation coded in C++ language with 300 epoch runs. The neural network was very intelligent to map out the flow channels and detect how they behave to form viable storage within the strata. The neural network model showed that an important variable gr (gravitational resistance) can be deduced from the elevation and apparent resistivity pa. The model results from SPSS showed that the coefficients, a, b and c are statistically significant with reduced standard error at 5%.
Keywords: Neural network, gravitational resistance, pattern recognition, non-linear.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 805168 Modeling Aeration of Sharp Crested Weirs by Using Support Vector Machines
Authors: Arun Goel
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The present paper attempts to investigate the prediction of air entrainment rate and aeration efficiency of a free overfall jets issuing from a triangular sharp crested weir by using regression based modelling. The empirical equations, Support vector machine (polynomial and radial basis function) models and the linear regression techniques were applied on the triangular sharp crested weirs relating the air entrainment rate and the aeration efficiency to the input parameters namely drop height, discharge, and vertex angle. It was observed that there exists a good agreement between the measured values and the values obtained using empirical equations, Support vector machine (Polynomial and rbf) models and the linear regression techniques. The test results demonstrated that the SVM based (Poly & rbf) model also provided acceptable prediction of the measured values with reasonable accuracy along with empirical equations and linear regression techniques in modelling the air entrainment rate and the aeration efficiency of a free overfall jets issuing from triangular sharp crested weir. Further sensitivity analysis has also been performed to study the impact of input parameter on the output in terms of air entrainment rate and aeration efficiency.Keywords: Air entrainment rate, dissolved oxygen, regression, SVM, weir.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1959167 Comparison between Deterministic and Probabilistic Stability Analysis, Featuring Consequent Risk Assessment
Authors: Isabela Moreira Queiroz
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Slope stability analyses are largely carried out by deterministic methods and evaluated through a single security factor. Although it is known that the geotechnical parameters can present great dispersal, such analyses are considered fixed and known. The probabilistic methods, in turn, incorporate the variability of input key parameters (random variables), resulting in a range of values of safety factors, thus enabling the determination of the probability of failure, which is an essential parameter in the calculation of the risk (probability multiplied by the consequence of the event). Among the probabilistic methods, there are three frequently used methods in geotechnical society: FOSM (First-Order, Second-Moment), Rosenblueth (Point Estimates) and Monte Carlo. This paper presents a comparison between the results from deterministic and probabilistic analyses (FOSM method, Monte Carlo and Rosenblueth) applied to a hypothetical slope. The end was held to evaluate the behavior of the slope and consequent risk analysis, which is used to calculate the risk and analyze their mitigation and control solutions. It can be observed that the results obtained by the three probabilistic methods were quite close. It should be noticed that the calculation of the risk makes it possible to list the priority to the implementation of mitigation measures. Therefore, it is recommended to do a good assessment of the geological-geotechnical model incorporating the uncertainty in viability, design, construction, operation and closure by means of risk management.Keywords: Probabilistic methods, risk assessment, risk management, slope stability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1745166 Transmission Model for Plasmodium Vivax Malaria: Conditions for Bifurcation
Authors: P. Pongsumpun, I.M. Tang
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Plasmodium vivax malaria differs from P. falciparum malaria in that a person suffering from P. vivax infection can suffer relapses of the disease. This is due the parasite being able to remain dormant in the liver of the patients where it is able to re-infect the patient after a passage of time. During this stage, the patient is classified as being in the dormant class. The model to describe the transmission of P. vivax malaria consists of a human population divided into four classes, the susceptible, the infected, the dormant and the recovered. The effect of a time delay on the transmission of this disease is studied. The time delay is the period in which the P. vivax parasite develops inside the mosquito (vector) before the vector becomes infectious (i.e., pass on the infection). We analyze our model by using standard dynamic modeling method. Two stable equilibrium states, a disease free state E0 and an endemic state E1, are found to be possible. It is found that the E0 state is stable when a newly defined basic reproduction number G is less than one. If G is greater than one the endemic state E1 is stable. The conditions for the endemic equilibrium state E1 to be a stable spiral node are established. For realistic values of the parameters in the model, it is found that solutions in phase space are trajectories spiraling into the endemic state. It is shown that the limit cycle and chaotic behaviors can only be achieved with unrealistic parameter values.
Keywords: Equilibrium states, Hopf bifurcation, limit cyclebehavior, local stability, Plasmodium Vivax, time delay.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2246165 Evaluation of Storage Stability and Quality Parameters in Biscuit Made from Blends of Wheat, Cassava (Manihot esculenta) and Carrot (Daucus carota) Flour
Authors: Aminat. O Adelekan, Olawale T. Gbadebo
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Biscuit is one of the most consumed cereal foods in Nigeria and research has shown that locally available tropical crops like cassava, sweet potato can be made into flour and used in the production of biscuits and other pastries. This study investigates some quality parameters in biscuits made from blends of wheat, cassava and carrot flour. The values of result of samples increased with increasing percentage substitution of cassava and carrot flour in some quality parameter like fiber, ash, gluten content, and carbohydrate. The protein content reduced significantly (P < 0.05) with increasing percentage substitution of cassava and carrot flour which ranged from 14.80% to 11.80% compared with the control sample which had 15.60%. There was a recorded significant increase (P < 0.05) in some mineral composition such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, iron, phosphorus, and vitamin A and C composition as the percentage substitution of cassava and carrot flour increased. During storage stability test, samples stored in the fridge and freezer were found to be the best storage location to preserve the sensory attributes and inhibit microbial growth when compared with storage under the sun and on the shelf. Biscuit made with blends of wheat, cassava and carrot flour can therefore serve as an alternative to biscuits made from 100% wheat flour, as they are richer in vitamin A, vitamin C, carbohydrate, dietary fiber and some essential minerals.
Keywords: Biscuit, carrot, flour blends, storage.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 812164 Material and Parameter Analysis of the PolyJet Process for Mold Making Using Design of Experiments
Authors: A. Kampker, K. Kreisköther, C. Reinders
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Since additive manufacturing technologies constantly advance, the use of this technology in mold making seems reasonable. Many manufacturers of additive manufacturing machines, however, do not offer any suggestions on how to parameterize the machine to achieve optimal results for mold making. The purpose of this research is to determine the interdependencies of different materials and parameters within the PolyJet process by using design of experiments (DoE), to additively manufacture molds, e.g. for thermoforming and injection molding applications. Therefore, the general requirements of thermoforming molds, such as heat resistance, surface quality and hardness, have been identified. Then, different materials and parameters of the PolyJet process, such as the orientation of the printed part, the layer thickness, the printing mode (matte or glossy), the distance between printed parts and the scaling of parts, have been examined. The multifactorial analysis covers the following properties of the printed samples: Tensile strength, tensile modulus, bending strength, elongation at break, surface quality, heat deflection temperature and surface hardness. The key objective of this research is that by joining the results from the DoE with the requirements of the mold making, optimal and tailored molds can be additively manufactured with the PolyJet process. These additively manufactured molds can then be used in prototyping processes, in process testing and in small to medium batch production.
Keywords: Additive manufacturing, design of experiments, mold making, PolyJet.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1734163 Effect of Laser Power and Powder Flow Rate on Properties of Laser Metal Deposited Ti6Al4V
Authors: Mukul Shukla, Rasheedat M. Mahamood, Esther T. Akinlabi, Sisa. Pityana
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Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) is an additive manufacturing process with capabilities that include: producing new part directly from 3 Dimensional Computer Aided Design (3D CAD) model, building new part on the existing old component and repairing an existing high valued component parts that would have been discarded in the past. With all these capabilities and its advantages over other additive manufacturing techniques, the underlying physics of the LMD process is yet to be fully understood probably because of high interaction between the processing parameters and studying many parameters at the same time makes it further complex to understand. In this study, the effect of laser power and powder flow rate on physical properties (deposition height and deposition width), metallurgical property (microstructure) and mechanical (microhardness) properties on laser deposited most widely used aerospace alloy are studied. Also, because the Ti6Al4V is very expensive, and LMD is capable of reducing buy-to-fly ratio of aerospace parts, the material utilization efficiency is also studied. Four sets of experiments were performed and repeated to establish repeatability using laser power of 1.8 kW and 3.0 kW, powder flow rate of 2.88 g/min and 5.67 g/min, and keeping the gas flow rate and scanning speed constant at 2 l/min and 0.005 m/s respectively. The deposition height / width are found to increase with increase in laser power and increase in powder flow rate. The material utilization is favoured by higher power while higher powder flow rate reduces material utilization. The results are presented and fully discussed.Keywords: Laser Metal Deposition, Material Efficiency, Microstructure, Ti6Al4V.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3636162 Non-Methane Hydrocarbons Emission during the Photocopying Process
Authors: Kiurski S. Jelena, Aksentijević M. Snežana, Kecić S. Vesna, Oros B. Ivana
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Prosperity of electronic equipment in photocopying environment not only has improved work efficiency, but also has changed indoor air quality. Considering the number of photocopying employed, indoor air quality might be worse than in general office environments. Determining the contribution from any type of equipment to indoor air pollution is a complex matter. Non-methane hydrocarbons are known to have an important role on air quality due to their high reactivity. The presence of hazardous pollutants in indoor air has been detected in one photocopying shop in Novi Sad, Serbia. Air samples were collected and analyzed for five days, during 8-hr working time in three time intervals, whereas three different sampling points were determined. Using multiple linear regression model and software package STATISTICA 10 the concentrations of occupational hazards and microclimates parameters were mutually correlated. Based on the obtained multiple coefficients of determination (0.3751, 0.2389 and 0.1975), a weak positive correlation between the observed variables was determined. Small values of parameter F indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the concentration levels of nonmethane hydrocarbons and microclimates parameters. The results showed that variable could be presented by the general regression model: y = b0 + b1xi1+ b2xi2. Obtained regression equations allow to measure the quantitative agreement between the variables and thus obtain more accurate knowledge of their mutual relations.Keywords: Indoor air quality, multiple regression analysis, nonmethane hydrocarbons, photocopying process.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1979161 Transient Thermal Modeling of an Axial Flux Permanent Magnet (AFPM) Machine Using a Hybrid Thermal Model
Authors: J. Hey, D. A. Howey, R. Martinez-Botas, M. Lamperth
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This paper presents the development of a hybrid thermal model for the EVO Electric AFM 140 Axial Flux Permanent Magnet (AFPM) machine as used in hybrid and electric vehicles. The adopted approach is based on a hybrid lumped parameter and finite difference method. The proposed method divides each motor component into regular elements which are connected together in a thermal resistance network representing all the physical connections in all three dimensions. The element shape and size are chosen according to the component geometry to ensure consistency. The fluid domain is lumped into one region with averaged heat transfer parameters connecting it to the solid domain. Some model parameters are obtained from Computation Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulation and empirical data. The hybrid thermal model is described by a set of coupled linear first order differential equations which is discretised and solved iteratively to obtain the temperature profile. The computation involved is low and thus the model is suitable for transient temperature predictions. The maximum error in temperature prediction is 3.4% and the mean error is consistently lower than the mean error due to uncertainty in measurements. The details of the model development, temperature predictions and suggestions for design improvements are presented in this paper.Keywords: Electric vehicle, hybrid thermal model, transient temperature prediction, Axial Flux Permanent Magnet machine.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2162160 Some Mechanical Properties of Cement Stabilized Malaysian Soft Clay
Authors: Meei-Hoan Ho, Chee-Ming Chan
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Soft clays are defined as cohesive soil whose water content is higher than its liquid limits. Thus, soil-cement mixing is adopted to improve the ground conditions by enhancing the strength and deformation characteristics of the soft clays. For the above mentioned reasons, a series of laboratory tests were carried out to study some fundamental mechanical properties of cement stabilized soft clay. The test specimens were prepared by varying the portion of ordinary Portland cement to the soft clay sample retrieved from the test site of RECESS (Research Centre for Soft Soil). Comparisons were made for both homogeneous and columnar system specimens by relating the effects of cement stabilized clay of for 0, 5 and 10 % cement and curing for 3, 28 and 56 days. The mechanical properties examined included one-dimensional compressibility and undrained shear strength. For the mechanical properties, both homogeneous and columnar system specimens were prepared to examine the effect of different cement contents and curing periods on the stabilized soil. The one-dimensional compressibility test was conducted using an oedometer, while a direct shear box was used for measuring the undrained shear strength. The higher the value of cement content, the greater is the enhancement of the yield stress and the decrease of compression index. The value of cement content in a specimen is a more active parameter than the curing period.Keywords: Soft soil, Oedometer, Direct shear box, Cementstabilisedcolumn.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3257159 Persian/Arabic Document Segmentation Based On Pyramidal Image Structure
Authors: Seyyed Yasser Hashemi, Khalil Monfaredi
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Automatic transformation of paper documents into electronic documents requires document segmentation at the first stage. However, some parameters restrictions such as variations in character font sizes, different text line spacing, and also not uniform document layout structures altogether have made it difficult to design a general-purpose document layout analysis algorithm for many years. Thus in most previously reported methods it is inevitable to include these parameters. This problem becomes excessively acute and severe, especially in Persian/Arabic documents. Since the Persian/Arabic scripts differ considerably from the English scripts, most of the proposed methods for the English scripts do not render good results for the Persian scripts. In this paper, we present a novel parameter-free method for segmenting the Persian/Arabic document images which also works well for English scripts. This method segments the document image into maximal homogeneous regions and identifies them as texts and non-texts based on a pyramidal image structure. In other words the proposed method is capable of document segmentation without considering the character font sizes, text line spacing, and document layout structures. This algorithm is examined for 150 Arabic/Persian and English documents and document segmentation process are done successfully for 96 percent of documents.
Keywords: Persian/Arabic document, document segmentation, Pyramidal Image Structure, skew detection and correction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1770158 Optimization of End Milling Process Parameters for Minimization of Surface Roughness of AISI D2 Steel
Authors: Pankaj Chandna, Dinesh Kumar
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The present work analyses different parameters of end milling to minimize the surface roughness for AISI D2 steel. D2 Steel is generally used for stamping or forming dies, punches, forming rolls, knives, slitters, shear blades, tools, scrap choppers, tyre shredders etc. Surface roughness is one of the main indices that determines the quality of machined products and is influenced by various cutting parameters. In machining operations, achieving desired surface quality by optimization of machining parameters, is a challenging job. In case of mating components the surface roughness become more essential and is influenced by the cutting parameters, because, these quality structures are highly correlated and are expected to be influenced directly or indirectly by the direct effect of process parameters or their interactive effects (i.e. on process environment). In this work, the effects of selected process parameters on surface roughness and subsequent setting of parameters with the levels have been accomplished by Taguchi’s parameter design approach. The experiments have been performed as per the combination of levels of different process parameters suggested by L9 orthogonal array. Experimental investigation of the end milling of AISI D2 steel with carbide tool by varying feed, speed and depth of cut and the surface roughness has been measured using surface roughness tester. Analyses of variance have been performed for mean and signal-to-noise ratio to estimate the contribution of the different process parameters on the process.
Keywords: D2 Steel, Orthogonal Array, Optimization, Surface Roughness, Taguchi Methodology.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2771157 Nonlinear Sensitive Control of Centrifugal Compressor
Authors: F. Laaouad, M. Bouguerra, A. Hafaifa, A. Iratni
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In this work, we treat the problems related to chemical and petrochemical plants of a certain complex process taking the centrifugal compressor as an example, a system being very complex by its physical structure as well as its behaviour (surge phenomenon). We propose to study the application possibilities of the recent control approaches to the compressor behaviour, and consequently evaluate their contribution in the practical and theoretical fields. Facing the studied industrial process complexity, we choose to make recourse to fuzzy logic for analysis and treatment of its control problem owing to the fact that these techniques constitute the only framework in which the types of imperfect knowledge can jointly be treated (uncertainties, inaccuracies, etc..) offering suitable tools to characterise them. In the particular case of the centrifugal compressor, these imperfections are interpreted by modelling errors, the neglected dynamics, no modelisable dynamics and the parametric variations. The purpose of this paper is to produce a total robust nonlinear controller design method to stabilize the compression process at its optimum steady state by manipulating the gas rate flow. In order to cope with both the parameter uncertainty and the structured non linearity of the plant, the proposed method consists of a linear steady state regulation that ensures robust optimal control and of a nonlinear compensation that achieves the exact input/output linearization.
Keywords: Compressor, Fuzzy logic, Surge control, Bilinearcontroller, Stability analysis, Nonlinear plant.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2149156 Dynamic Analysis of a Moderately Thick Plate on Pasternak Type Foundation under Impact and Moving Loads
Authors: Neslihan Genckal, Reha Gursoy, Vedat Z. Dogan
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In this study, dynamic responses of composite plates on elastic foundations subjected to impact and moving loads are investigated. The first order shear deformation (FSDT) theory is used for moderately thick plates. Pasternak-type (two-parameter) elastic foundation is assumed. Elastic foundation effects are integrated into the governing equations. It is assumed that plate is first hit by a mass as an impact type loading then the mass continues to move on the composite plate as a distributed moving loading, which resembles the aircraft landing on airport pavements. Impact and moving loadings are modeled by a mass-spring-damper system with a wheel. The wheel is assumed to be continuously in contact with the plate after impact. The governing partial differential equations of motion for displacements are converted into the ordinary differential equations in the time domain by using Galerkin’s method. Then, these sets of equations are solved by using the Runge-Kutta method. Several parameters such as vertical and horizontal velocities of the aircraft, volume fractions of the steel rebar in the reinforced concrete layer, and the different touchdown locations of the aircraft tire on the runway are considered in the numerical simulation. The results are compared with those of the ABAQUS, which is a commercial finite element code.
Keywords: Elastic foundation, impact, moving load, thick plate.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1490155 Empirical Roughness Progression Models of Heavy Duty Rural Pavements
Authors: Nahla H. Alaswadko, Rayya A. Hassan, Bayar N. Mohammed
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Empirical deterministic models have been developed to predict roughness progression of heavy duty spray sealed pavements for a dataset representing rural arterial roads. The dataset provides a good representation of the relevant network and covers a wide range of operating and environmental conditions. A sample with a large size of historical time series data for many pavement sections has been collected and prepared for use in multilevel regression analysis. The modelling parameters include road roughness as performance parameter and traffic loading, time, initial pavement strength, reactivity level of subgrade soil, climate condition, and condition of drainage system as predictor parameters. The purpose of this paper is to report the approaches adopted for models development and validation. The study presents multilevel models that can account for the correlation among time series data of the same section and to capture the effect of unobserved variables. Study results show that the models fit the data very well. The contribution and significance of relevant influencing factors in predicting roughness progression are presented and explained. The paper concludes that the analysis approach used for developing the models confirmed their accuracy and reliability by well-fitting to the validation data.
Keywords: Roughness progression, empirical model, pavement performance, heavy duty pavement.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 808154 Enhanced Efficacy of Kinetic Power Transform for High-Speed Wind Field
Authors: Nan-Chyuan Tsai, Chao-Wen Chiang, Bai-Lu Wang
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The three-time-scale plant model of a wind power generator, including a wind turbine, a flexible vertical shaft, a Variable Inertia Flywheel (VIF) module, an Active Magnetic Bearing (AMB) unit and the applied wind sequence, is constructed. In order to make the wind power generator be still able to operate as the spindle speed exceeds its rated speed, the VIF is equipped so that the spindle speed can be appropriately slowed down once any stronger wind field is exerted. To prevent any potential damage due to collision by shaft against conventional bearings, the AMB unit is proposed to regulate the shaft position deviation. By singular perturbation order-reduction technique, a lower-order plant model can be established for the synthesis of feedback controller. Two major system parameter uncertainties, an additive uncertainty and a multiplicative uncertainty, are constituted by the wind turbine and the VIF respectively. Frequency Shaping Sliding Mode Control (FSSMC) loop is proposed to account for these uncertainties and suppress the unmodeled higher-order plant dynamics. At last, the efficacy of the FSSMC is verified by intensive computer and experimental simulations for regulation on position deviation of the shaft and counter-balance of unpredictable wind disturbance.Keywords: Sliding Mode Control, Singular Perturbation, Variable Inertia Flywheel.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1459153 Performance Evaluation of Conventional and Wiper Carbide Tools When Turning 6060 Aluminium Alloy: Analysis of Surface Roughness
Authors: Salah Gariani, Taher Dao, Khaled Jegandi
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Wiper inserts are widely used nowadays, particularly in turning and milling operations, due to their unique geometric characteristics that generate superb surface finish and improve productivity. Wiper inserts can produce double the feed rate while preserving comparable surface roughness compared to that produced by conventional cutting tools. This paper reports an experimental investigation of surface quality generated in the precision dry turning of 6060 Aluminium alloy using conventional and wiper inserts at different cutting conditions. The Taguchi L9 array, Analysis of Means (AOM) and variance (ANOVA) were employed in the development of the experimental design and to optimise the process parameter identified: average surface roughness (Ra). The experimental results show that the wiper inserts substantially improved the surface quality of the machined samples by a factor of two compared to those for the conventional insert under all cutting conditions. The ANOVA and AOM analysis showed that the type of insert is the most significant factor affecting surface roughness, with a Percentage Contribution Ratio (PCR) value of 67.41%. Feed rate also significantly affected surface roughness but contributed less to its variation. No significant difference was found between values of Ra using wiper inserts under dry and wet cooling modes when turning 6060 Aluminium alloy.
Keywords: 6060 Aluminium alloy, conventional and wiper carbide tools, dry turning, average surface roughness.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 328152 A Study on Fuzzy Adaptive Control of Enteral Feeding Pump
Authors: Seungwoo Kim, Hyojune Chae, Yongrae Jung, Jongwook Kim
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Recent medical studies have investigated the importance of enteral feeding and the use of feeding pumps for recovering patients unable to feed themselves or gain nourishment and nutrients by natural means. The most of enteral feeding system uses a peristaltic tube pump. A peristaltic pump is a form of positive displacement pump in which a flexible tube is progressively squeezed externally to allow the resulting enclosed pillow of fluid to progress along it. The squeezing of the tube requires a precise and robust controller of the geared motor to overcome parametric uncertainty of the pumping system which generates due to a wide variation of friction and slip between tube and roller. So, this paper proposes fuzzy adaptive controller for the robust control of the peristaltic tube pump. This new adaptive controller uses a fuzzy multi-layered architecture which has several independent fuzzy controllers in parallel, each with different robust stability area. Out of several independent fuzzy controllers, the most suited one is selected by a system identifier which observes variations in the controlled system parameter. This paper proposes a design procedure which can be carried out mathematically and systematically from the model of a controlled system. Finally, the good control performance, accurate dose rate and robust system stability, of the developed feeding pump is confirmed through experimental and clinic testing.
Keywords: Enteral Feeding Pump, Peristaltic Tube Pump, Fuzzy Adaptive Control, Fuzzy Multi-layered Controller, Look-up Table..
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1648151 The Application of Dynamic Network Process to Environment Planning Support Systems
Authors: Wann-Ming Wey
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In recent years, in addition to face the external threats such as energy shortages and climate change, traffic congestion and environmental pollution have become anxious problems for many cities. Considering private automobile-oriented urban development had produced many negative environmental and social impacts, the transit-oriented development (TOD) has been considered as a sustainable urban model. TOD encourages public transport combined with friendly walking and cycling environment designs, however, non-motorized modes help improving human health, energy saving, and reducing carbon emissions. Due to environmental changes often affect the planners’ decision-making; this research applies dynamic network process (DNP) which includes the time dependent concept to promoting friendly walking and cycling environmental designs as an advanced planning support system for environment improvements.
This research aims to discuss what kinds of design strategies can improve a friendly walking and cycling environment under TOD. First of all, we collate and analyze environment designing factors by reviewing the relevant literatures as well as divide into three aspects of “safety”, “convenience”, and “amenity” from fifteen environment designing factors. Furthermore, we utilize fuzzy Delphi Technique (FDT) expert questionnaire to filter out the more important designing criteria for the study case. Finally, we utilized DNP expert questionnaire to obtain the weights changes at different time points for each design criterion. Based on the changing trends of each criterion weight, we are able to develop appropriate designing strategies as the reference for planners to allocate resources in a dynamic environment. In order to illustrate the approach we propose in this research, Taipei city as one example has been used as an empirical study, and the results are in depth analyzed to explain the application of our proposed approach.
Keywords: Environment Planning Support Systems, Walking and Cycling, Transit-oriented Development (TOD), Dynamic Network Process (DNP).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1854150 Supersonic Flow around a Dihedral Airfoil: Modeling and Experimentation Investigation
Authors: A. Naamane, M. Hasnaoui
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Numerical modeling of fluid flows, whether compressible or incompressible, laminar or turbulent presents a considerable contribution in the scientific and industrial fields. However, the development of an approximate model of a supersonic flow requires the introduction of specific and more precise techniques and methods. For this purpose, the object of this paper is modeling a supersonic flow of inviscid fluid around a dihedral airfoil. Based on the thin airfoils theory and the non-dimensional stationary Steichen equation of a two-dimensional supersonic flow in isentropic evolution, we obtained a solution for the downstream velocity potential of the oblique shock at the second order of relative thickness that characterizes a perturbation parameter. This result has been dealt with by the asymptotic analysis and characteristics method. In order to validate our model, the results are discussed in comparison with theoretical and experimental results. Indeed, firstly, the comparison of the results of our model has shown that they are quantitatively acceptable compared to the existing theoretical results. Finally, an experimental study was conducted using the AF300 supersonic wind tunnel. In this experiment, we have considered the incident upstream Mach number over a symmetrical dihedral airfoil wing. The comparison of the different Mach number downstream results of our model with those of the existing theoretical data (relative margin between 0.07% and 4%) and with experimental results (concordance for a deflection angle between 1° and 11°) support the validation of our model with accuracy.
Keywords: Asymptotic modelling, dihedral airfoil, supersonic flow, supersonic wind tunnel.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 720