Search results for: and Large scale Testing.
2359 Removal of Heavy Metals from Rainwater in Batch Reactors with Sulphate Reducing Bacteria (SRB)
Authors: Abdulsalam I. Rafida
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The main objective of this research was to investigate the biosorption capacity for biofilms of sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) to remove heavy metals, such as Zn, Pb and Cd from rainwater using laboratory-scale reactors containing mixed support media. Evidence showed that biosorption had contributed to removal of heavy metals including Zn, Pb and Cd in presence of SRB and SRB were also found in the aqueous samples from reactors. However, the SRB and specific families (Desulfobacteriaceae and Desulfovibrionaceae) were found mainly in the biomass samples taken from all reactors at the end of the experiment. EDX-analysis of reactor solids at end of experiment showed that heavy metals Zn, Pb and Cd had also accumulated in these precipitates.Keywords: Sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB), biosorption capacity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14482358 Gas Generator Pyrotechnics Using Gun Propellant Technology Methods
Authors: B. A. Parate
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This research article describes the gas generator pyro-cartridge using gun propellant technology methods for fighter aircraft application. The emphasis of this work is to design and develop a gas generating device with pyro-cartridge using double base (DB) propellant to generate a high temperature and pressure gas. This device is utilised for dropping empty fuel tank in an emergency from military aircraft. A data acquisition system (DAS) is used to record time to maximum pressure, maximum pressure and time to half maximum pressure generated in a vented vessel (VV) for gas generator. Pyro-cartridge as a part of the gas generator creates a maximum pressure and time in the closed vessel (CV). This article also covers the qualification testing of gas generator. The performance parameters of pyro-cartridge devices such as ignition delay and maximum pressure are experimentally presented through the CV tests.
Keywords: Closed vessel, data acquisition, double base propellant, gas generator, ignition system, ignition delay, propellant, pyro-cartridge, pyrotechnics, vented vessel.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5202357 Deterministic Random Number Generator Algorithm for Cryptosystem Keys
Authors: Adi A. Maaita, Hamza A. A. Al_Sewadi
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One of the crucial parameters of digital cryptographic systems is the selection of the keys used and their distribution. The randomness of the keys has a strong impact on the system’s security strength being difficult to be predicted, guessed, reproduced, or discovered by a cryptanalyst. Therefore, adequate key randomness generation is still sought for the benefit of stronger cryptosystems. This paper suggests an algorithm designed to generate and test pseudo random number sequences intended for cryptographic applications. This algorithm is based on mathematically manipulating a publically agreed upon information between sender and receiver over a public channel. This information is used as a seed for performing some mathematical functions in order to generate a sequence of pseudorandom numbers that will be used for encryption/decryption purposes. This manipulation involves permutations and substitutions that fulfill Shannon’s principle of “confusion and diffusion”. ASCII code characters were utilized in the generation process instead of using bit strings initially, which adds more flexibility in testing different seed values. Finally, the obtained results would indicate sound difficulty of guessing keys by attackers.Keywords: Cryptosystems, Information Security agreement, Key distribution, Random numbers.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 34322356 Comparison of the DC/DC-Converters for Fuel Cell Applications
Authors: Oleksandr Krykunov
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The source voltage of high-power fuel cell shows strong load dependence at comparatively low voltage levels. In order to provide the voltage of 750V on the DC-link for feeding electrical energy into the mains via a three phase inverter a step-up converter with a large step-up ratio is required. The output voltage of this DC/DC-converter must be stabile during variations of the load current and the voltage of the fuel cell. This paper presents the methods and results of the calculation of the efficiency and the expense for the realization for the circuits of the DC/DC-converter that meet these requirements.Keywords: DC/DC-converter, calculation, efficiency, fuel cell.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25842355 An Asymptotic Formula for Pricing an American Exchange Option
Authors: Hsuan-Ku Liu
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In this paper, the American exchange option (AEO) valuation problem is modelled as a free boundary problem. The critical stock price for an AEO is satisfied an integral equation implicitly. When the remaining time is large enough, an asymptotic formula is provided for pricing an AEO. The numerical results reveal that our asymptotic pricing formula is robust and accurate for the long-term AEO.
Keywords: Integral equation, asymptotic solution, free boundary problem, American exchange option.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16132354 Calculus-based Runtime Verification
Authors: Xuan Qi, Changzhi Zhao
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In this paper, a uniform calculus-based approach for synthesizing monitors checking correctness properties specified by a large variety of logics at runtime is provided, including future and past time logics, interval logics, state machine and parameterized temporal logics. We present a calculus mechanism to synthesize monitors from the logical specification for the incremental analysis of execution traces during test and real run. The monitor detects both good and bad prefix of a particular kind, namely those that are informative for the property under investigation. We elaborate the procedure of calculus as monitors.Keywords: calculus, eagle logic, monitor synthesis, runtime verification
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12582353 A Systematic Approach for Identifying Turning Center Capabilities with Vertical Machining Center in Milling Operation
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Conventional machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, in which a collection of material-working processes utilizing power-driven machine tools are used to remove undesired material to achieve a desired geometry. This paper presents an approach for comparison between turning center and vertical machining center by optimization of cutting parameters at cylindrical workpieces leading to minimum surface roughness by using taguchi methodology. Aluminum alloy was taken to conduct experiments due to its unique high strength-weight ratio that is maintained at elevated temperatures and their exceptional corrosion resistance. During testing, the effects of the cutting parameters on the surface roughness were investigated. Additionally, by using taguchi methodology for each of the cutting parameters (spindle speed, depth of cut, insert diameter, and feed rate) minimum surface roughness for the process of turn-milling was determined according to the cutting parameters. A confirmation experiment demonstrates the effectiveness of taguchi method.
Keywords: Surface roughness, taguchi parameter design, turning center, turn-milling operations, vertical machining center.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25232352 Behaviors and Factors Affecting the Selection of Spa Services among Consumers in Amphawa, Samut Songkhram, Thailand
Authors: Chutima Klaysung
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This research aims to study the factors that influence the decision to choose the spa service of consumers in Amphawa, Samut Songkhram, Thailand. The research method will use quantitative research; data were collected by questionnaires distributed to spa consumers, both female and male, aged between 20 years and 70 years in the Amphawa, Samut Songkhram area for 400 samples by convenience sampling method. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including percentage, mean, standard deviation and inferential statistics, including Pearson correlation for hypothesis testing. The results showed that the demographic variables including age, education, occupation, income and frequency of access to service spa were related to the decision to choose the spa service of consumers in Amphawa, Samut Songkhram. In addition, the researchers found the marketing mixed factors such as products, prices, places, promotion, personnel selling, physical evidence and processes were associated with the decision to choose the spa service of consumers in Amphawa, Samut Songkhram, Thailand.
Keywords: Consumers in Amphawa, Samut Songkhram, Thailand, decision to choose a spa service, marketing mixed factor, spa service.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21022351 Simulation of the Large Hadrons Collisions Using Monte Carlo Tools
Authors: E. Al Daoud
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In many cases, theoretical treatments are available for models for which there is no perfect physical realization. In this situation, the only possible test for an approximate theoretical solution is to compare with data generated from a computer simulation. In this paper, Monte Carlo tools are used to study and compare the elementary particles models. All the experiments are implemented using 10000 events, and the simulated energy is 13 TeV. The mean and the curves of several variables are calculated for each model using MadAnalysis 5. Anomalies in the results can be seen in the muons masses of the minimal supersymmetric standard model and the two Higgs doublet model.Keywords: Feynman rules, hadrons, Lagrangian, Monte Carlo, simulation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11262350 Information Theoretical Analysis of Neural Spiking Activity with Temperature Modulation
Authors: Young-Seok Choi
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This work assesses the cortical and the sub-cortical neural activity recorded from rodents using entropy and mutual information based approaches to study how hypothermia affects neural activity. By applying the multi-scale entropy and Shannon entropy, we quantify the degree of the regularity embedded in the cortical and sub-cortical neurons and characterize the dependency of entropy of these regions on temperature. We study also the degree of the mutual information on thalamocortical pathway depending on temperature. The latter is most likely an indicator of coupling between these highly connected structures in response to temperature manipulation leading to arousal after global cerebral ischemia.Keywords: Spiking activity, entropy, mutual information, temperature modulation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16252349 Structural Parsing of Natural Language Text in Tamil Using Phrase Structure Hybrid Language Model
Authors: Selvam M, Natarajan. A M, Thangarajan R
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Parsing is important in Linguistics and Natural Language Processing to understand the syntax and semantics of a natural language grammar. Parsing natural language text is challenging because of the problems like ambiguity and inefficiency. Also the interpretation of natural language text depends on context based techniques. A probabilistic component is essential to resolve ambiguity in both syntax and semantics thereby increasing accuracy and efficiency of the parser. Tamil language has some inherent features which are more challenging. In order to obtain the solutions, lexicalized and statistical approach is to be applied in the parsing with the aid of a language model. Statistical models mainly focus on semantics of the language which are suitable for large vocabulary tasks where as structural methods focus on syntax which models small vocabulary tasks. A statistical language model based on Trigram for Tamil language with medium vocabulary of 5000 words has been built. Though statistical parsing gives better performance through tri-gram probabilities and large vocabulary size, it has some disadvantages like focus on semantics rather than syntax, lack of support in free ordering of words and long term relationship. To overcome the disadvantages a structural component is to be incorporated in statistical language models which leads to the implementation of hybrid language models. This paper has attempted to build phrase structured hybrid language model which resolves above mentioned disadvantages. In the development of hybrid language model, new part of speech tag set for Tamil language has been developed with more than 500 tags which have the wider coverage. A phrase structured Treebank has been developed with 326 Tamil sentences which covers more than 5000 words. A hybrid language model has been trained with the phrase structured Treebank using immediate head parsing technique. Lexicalized and statistical parser which employs this hybrid language model and immediate head parsing technique gives better results than pure grammar and trigram based model.Keywords: Hybrid Language Model, Immediate Head Parsing, Lexicalized and Statistical Parsing, Natural Language Processing, Parts of Speech, Probabilistic Context Free Grammar, Tamil Language, Tree Bank.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 36432348 Do C-Test and Cloze Procedure Measure what they Purport to be Measuring? A Case of Criterion-Related Validity
Authors: Masoud Saeedi, Mansour Tavakoli, Shirin Rahimi Kazerooni, Vahid Parvaresh
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This article investigated the validity of C-test and Cloze test which purport to measure general English proficiency. To provide empirical evidence pertaining to the validity of the interpretations based on the results of these integrative language tests, their criterion-related validity was investigated. In doing so, the test of English as a foreign language (TOEFL) which is an established, standardized, and internationally administered test of general English proficiency was used as the criterion measure. Some 90 Iranian English majors participated in this study. They were seniors studying English at a university in Tehran, Iran. The results of analyses showed that there is a statistically significant correlation among participants- scores on Cloze test, C-test, and the TOEFL. Building on the findings of the study and considering criterion-related validity as the evidential basis of the validity argument, it was cautiously deducted that these tests measure the same underlying trait. However, considering the limitations of using criterion measures to validate tests, no absolute claims can be made as to the construct validity of these integrative tests.
Keywords: Integrative testing, C-test, Cloze test, theTOEFL, Validity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 33292347 Semantic Web as an Enabling Technology for Better e-Services Addoption
Authors: Luka Pavlič, Marjan Heričko
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E-services have significantly changed the way of doing business in recent years. We can, however, observe poor use of these services. There is a large gap between supply and actual eservices usage. This is why we started a project to provide an environment that will encourage the use of e-services. We believe that only providing e-service does not automatically mean consumers would use them. This paper shows the origins of our project and its current position. We discuss the decision of using semantic web technologies and their potential to improve e-services usage. We also present current knowledge base and its real-world classification. In the paper, we discuss further work to be done in the project. Current state of the project is promising.Keywords: E-Services, E-Services Repository, Ontologies, Semantic Web
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14002346 Operational Risk – Scenario Analysis
Authors: Milan Rippel, Petr Teply
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This paper focuses on operational risk measurement techniques and on economic capital estimation methods. A data sample of operational losses provided by an anonymous Central European bank is analyzed using several approaches. Loss Distribution Approach and scenario analysis method are considered. Custom plausible loss events defined in a particular scenario are merged with the original data sample and their impact on capital estimates and on the financial institution is evaluated. Two main questions are assessed – What is the most appropriate statistical method to measure and model operational loss data distribution? and What is the impact of hypothetical plausible events on the financial institution? The g&h distribution was evaluated to be the most suitable one for operational risk modeling. The method based on the combination of historical loss events modeling and scenario analysis provides reasonable capital estimates and allows for the measurement of the impact of extreme events on banking operations.Keywords: operational risk, scenario analysis, economic capital, loss distribution approach, extreme value theory, stress testing
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24292345 Performance Evaluation of Data Mining Techniques for Predicting Software Reliability
Authors: Pradeep Kumar, Abdul Wahid
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Accurate software reliability prediction not only enables developers to improve the quality of software but also provides useful information to help them for planning valuable resources. This paper examines the performance of three well-known data mining techniques (CART, TreeNet and Random Forest) for predicting software reliability. We evaluate and compare the performance of proposed models with Cascade Correlation Neural Network (CCNN) using sixteen empirical databases from the Data and Analysis Center for Software. The goal of our study is to help project managers to concentrate their testing efforts to minimize the software failures in order to improve the reliability of the software systems. Two performance measures, Normalized Root Mean Squared Error (NRMSE) and Mean Absolute Errors (MAE), illustrate that CART model is accurate than the models predicted using Random Forest, TreeNet and CCNN in all datasets used in our study. Finally, we conclude that such methods can help in reliability prediction using real-life failure datasets.
Keywords: Classification, Cascade Correlation Neural Network, Random Forest, Software reliability, TreeNet.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18392344 Evaluations of 3D Concrete Printing Produced in the Environment of United Arab Emirates
Authors: Adil K. Tamimi, Tarig Ali, Rawan Anoohi, Ahmed Rajput, Kaltham Alkamali
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3D concrete printing is one of the most innovative and modern techniques in the field of construction that achieved several milestones in that field for the following advantages: saving project’s time, ability to execute complicated shapes, reduce waste and low cost. However, the concept of 3D printing in UAE is relatively new where construction teams, including clients, consultants, and contractors, do not have the required knowledge and experience in the field. This is the most significant obstacle for the construction parties, which make them refrained from using 3D concrete printing compared to conventional concreting methods. This study shows the historical development of the 3D concrete printing, its advantages, and the challenges facing this innovation. Concrete mixes and materials have been proposed and evaluated to select the best combination for successful 3D concrete printing. The main characteristics of the 3D concrete printing in the fresh and hardened states are considered, such as slump test, flow table, compressive strength, tensile, and flexural strengths. There is need to assess the structural stability of the 3D concrete by testing the bond between interlayers of the concrete.
Keywords: 3D printing, concrete mixes, workability, compressive strength, slump test, tensile strength, flexural strength.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6742343 Parallel Block Backward Differentiation Formulas For Solving Large Systems of Ordinary Differential Equations
Authors: Zarina Bibi, I., Khairil Iskandar, O.
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In this paper, parallelism in the solution of Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) to increase the computational speed is studied. The focus is the development of parallel algorithm of the two point Block Backward Differentiation Formulas (PBBDF) that can take advantage of the parallel architecture in computer technology. Parallelism is obtained by using Message Passing Interface (MPI). Numerical results are given to validate the efficiency of the PBBDF implementation as compared to the sequential implementation.Keywords: Ordinary differential equations, parallel.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16682342 Customer Relationship Management on Social Media Affecting Brand Loyalty of Siam Commercial Bank in Bangkok
Authors: Charawee Butbumrung
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The purpose of this research was to study customer relationship management on social media affecting brand loyalty of Siam Commercial Bank in Bangkok. The statistics used in data analysis were frequency, mean, standard deviation, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient based on social science statistic program. The result of the study found that the majority of the respondents were female, 37–47 years old of age, bachelor degree of education and monthly income between 10,001 and 15,000 Baht. In addition, customer relationship management in the overall and by each aspect of formulating, maintaining, and extending the customer relationship had a high score. Furthermore, the result of hypothesis testing showed that the difference of the customer’s age, education, occupation, average monthly income had the difference in brand loyalty with the statistical significance level of 0.05 and customer relationship management had related with brand loyalty in the same direction with the low level of statistical significance 0.05.Keywords: Brand loyalty, customer relationship, management, Siam Commercial Bank, social media.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11322341 Circular Raft Footings Strengthened by Stone Columns under Static Loads
Authors: R. Ziaie Moayed, B. Mohammadi-Haji
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Stone columns have been widely employed to improve the load-settlement characteristics of soft soils. The results of two small scale displacement control loading tests on stone columns were used in order to validate numerical finite element simulations. Additionally, a series of numerical calculations of static loading have been performed on strengthened raft footing to investigate the effects of using stone columns on bearing capacity of footings. The bearing capacity of single and group of stone columns under static loading compares with unimproved ground.Keywords: Circular raft footing, numerical analysis, validation, vertically encased stone column.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16352340 Using Genetic Algorithm for Distributed Generation Allocation to Reduce Losses and Improve Voltage Profile
Authors: M. Sedighizadeh, A. Rezazadeh
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This paper presents a method for the optimal allocation of Distributed generation in distribution systems. In this paper, our aim would be optimal distributed generation allocation for voltage profile improvement and loss reduction in distribution network. Genetic Algorithm (GA) was used as the solving tool, which referring two determined aim; the problem is defined and objective function is introduced. Considering to fitness values sensitivity in genetic algorithm process, there is needed to apply load flow for decision-making. Load flow algorithm is combined appropriately with GA, till access to acceptable results of this operation. We used MATPOWER package for load flow algorithm and composed it with our Genetic Algorithm. The suggested method is programmed under MATLAB software and applied ETAP software for evaluating of results correctness. It was implemented on part of Tehran electricity distributing grid. The resulting operation of this method on some testing system is illuminated improvement of voltage profile and loss reduction indexes.Keywords: Distributed Generation, Allocation, Voltage Profile, losses, Genetic Algorithm.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18942339 Effect of Implementation of Nonlinear Sequence Transformations on Power Series Expansion for a Class of Non-Linear Abel Equations
Authors: Javad Abdalkhani
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Convergence of power series solutions for a class of non-linear Abel type equations, including an equation that arises in nonlinear cooling of semi-infinite rods, is very slow inside their small radius of convergence. Beyond that the corresponding power series are wildly divergent. Implementation of nonlinear sequence transformation allow effortless evaluation of these power series on very large intervals..Keywords: Nonlinear transformation, Abel Volterra Equations, Mathematica
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13052338 Intrinsic Kinetics of Methanol Dehydration over Al2O3 Catalyst
Authors: Liang Zhang, Hai-Tao Zhang, W ei-Yong Ying, Ding-Ye Fang
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Dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether (DME) over a commercial Al2O3 catalyst was studied in an isothermal integral fixed bed reactor. The experiments were performed on the temperature interval 513-613 K, liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) of 0.9-2.1h-1, pressures between 0.1 and 1.0 MPa. The effect of different operation conditions on the dehydration of methanol was investigated in a laboratory scale experiment. A new intrinsic kinetics equation based on the mechanism of Langmuir-Hinshelwood dissociation adsorption was developed for the dehydration reaction by fitting the expressions to the experimental data. An activation energy of 67.21 kJ/mol was obtained for the catalyst with the best performance. Statistic test showed that this new intrinsic kinetics equation was acceptable.Keywords: catalyst, dimethyl ether, intrinsic kinetics, methanol
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 46572337 Experimental Study on the Floor Vibration Evaluation of Concrete Slab for Existing Buildings
Authors: Yong-Taeg Lee, Jun-Ho Na, Seung-Hun Kim, Seong-Uk Hong
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Damages from noise and vibration are increasing every year, most of which are noises between floors in deteriorated building caused by floor impact sound. In this study, the concrete slab measured vibration impact sound for evaluation floor vibration of deteriorated buildings that fails to satisfy with the minimum thickness. In this experimental study, the vibration scale by impact sound was calibrated and compared with ISO and AIJ standard for vibration. The results show that vibration in slab with thickness used in existing building reach human perception levels.
Keywords: Vibration, Frequency, Accelerometer, Concrete slab.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 38862336 Influence of Cyclic Thermal Loading on Fatigue Behavior of Thermal Barrier Coatings
Authors: Vidyasagar H. N., S. Gopal Prakash, Shivrudraiah, K. V. Sharma
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Thermally insulating ceramic coatings also known as thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) have been essential technologies to improve the performance and efficiency of advanced gas turbines in service at extremely high temperatures. The damage mechanisms of air-plasma sprayed YSZ thermal barrier coatings (TBC) with various microstructures were studied by microscopic techniques after thermal cycling. The typical degradation of plasma TBCs that occurs during cyclic furnace testing of an YSZ and alumina coating on a Titanium alloy are analyzed. During the present investigation the effects of topcoat thickness, bond coat oxidation, thermal cycle lengths and test temperature are investigated using thermal cycling. These results were correlated with stresses measured by a spectroscopic technique in order to understand specific damage mechanism. The failure mechanism of former bond coats was found to involve fracture initiation at the thermally grown oxide (TGO) interface and at the TGO bond coat interface. The failure mechanism of the YZ was found to involve combination of fracture along the interface between TGO and bond coat.Keywords: Thermal barrier coatings, thermal loading.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19562335 Understanding and Predicting Foam in Anaerobic Digester
Authors: I. R. Kanu, T. J. Aspray, A. J. Adeloye
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As a result of the ambiguity and complexity surrounding anaerobic digester foaming, efforts have been made by various researchers to understand the process of anaerobic digester foaming so as to proffer a solution that can be universally applied rather than site specific. All attempts ranging from experimental analysis to comparative review of other process has not fully explained the conditions and process of foaming in anaerobic digester. Studying the current available knowledge on foam formation and relating it to anaerobic digester process and operating condition, this piece of work presents a succinct and enhanced understanding of foaming in anaerobic digesters as well as introducing a simple method to identify the onset of anaerobic digester foaming based on analysis of historical data from a field scale system.
Keywords: Anaerobic digester, foam, biogas, surfactants, wastewater sludge.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29702334 Banking Union: A New Step towards Completing the Economic and Monetary Union
Authors: Marijana Ivanov, Roman Šubić
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This study analyzes the critical gaps in the architecture of European stability and the expected role of the banking union as the new important step towards completing the Economic and Monetary Union that should enable the creation of safe and sound financial sector for the euro area market. The single rulebook together with the Single Supervisory Mechanism and the Single Resolution Mechanism - as two main pillars of the banking union, should provide a consistent application of common rules and administrative standards for supervision, recovery and resolution of banks – with the final aim of replacing the former bail-out practice with the bail-in system through which possible future bank failures would be resolved by their own funds, i.e. with minimal costs for taxpayers and real economy. In this way, the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns would be broken. It would also reduce the financial fragmentation recorded in the years of crisis as the result of divergent behaviors in risk premium, lending activities and interest rates between the core and the periphery. In addition, it should strengthen the effectiveness of monetary transmission channels, in particular the credit channels and overflows of liquidity on the money market which, due to the fragmentation of the common financial market, has been significantly disabled in period of crisis. However, contrary to all the positive expectations related to the future functioning of the banking union, major findings of this study indicate that characteristics of the economic system in which the banking union will operate should not be ignored. The euro area is an integration of strong and weak entities with large differences in economic development, wealth, assets of banking systems, growth rates and accountability of fiscal policy. The analysis indicates that low and unbalanced economic growth remains a challenge for the maintenance of financial stability and this problem cannot be resolved just by a single supervision. In many countries bank assets exceed their GDP by several times and large banks are still a matter of concern, because of their systemic importance for individual countries and the euro zone as a whole. The creation of the Single Supervisory Mechanism and the Single Resolution Mechanism is a response to the European crisis, which has particularly affected peripheral countries and caused the associated loop between the banking crisis and the sovereign debt crisis, but has also influenced banks’ balance sheets in the core countries, as the result of crossborder capital flows. The creation of the SSM and the SRM should prevent the similar episodes to happen again and should also provide a new opportunity for strengthening of economic and financial systems of the peripheral countries. On the other hand, there is a potential threat that future focus of the ECB, resolution mechanism and other relevant institutions will be extremely oriented towards large and significant banks (whereby one half of them operate in the core and most important euro area countries), and therefore it remains questionable to what extent will the common resolution funds will be used for rescue of less important institutions. Recent geopolitical developments will be the optimal indicator to show whether the previously established mechanisms are sufficient enough to maintain the adequate financial stability in the euro area market.Keywords: Banking Union, financial integration, single supervisory mechanism (SSM).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16652333 Rapid Method for Low Level 90Sr Determination in Seawater by Liquid Extraction Technique
Authors: S. Visetpotjanakit, N. Nakkaew
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Determination of low level 90Sr in seawater has been widely developed for the purpose of environmental monitoring and radiological research because 90Sr is one of the most hazardous radionuclides released from atmospheric during the testing of nuclear weapons, waste discharge from the generation nuclear energy and nuclear accident occurring at power plants. A liquid extraction technique using bis-2-etylhexyl-phosphoric acid to separate and purify yttrium followed by Cherenkov counting using a liquid scintillation counter to determine 90Y in secular equilibrium to 90Sr was developed to monitor 90Sr in the Asia Pacific Ocean. The analytical performance was validated for the accuracy, precision, and trueness criteria. Sr-90 determination in seawater using various low concentrations in a range of 0.01 – 1 Bq/L of 30 liters spiked seawater samples and 0.5 liters of IAEA-RML-2015-01 proficiency test sample was performed for statistical evaluation. The results had a relative bias in the range from 3.41% to 12.28%, which is below accepted relative bias of ± 25% and passed the criteria confirming that our analytical approach for determination of low levels of 90Sr in seawater was acceptable. Moreover, the approach is economical, non-laborious and fast.
Keywords: Proficiency test, radiation monitoring, seawater, strontium determination.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8662332 Solar Energy Generation Based Urban Development: A Case of Jodhpur City
Authors: A. Kumar, V. Devadas
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India has the most year-round favorable sunny conditions along with the second-highest solar irradiation in the world, the country holds the potential to become the global solar hub. The solar and wind-based generation capacity has skyrocketed in India with the successful effort of the Ministry of Renewable Energy, whereas the potential of rooftop based solar power generation has yet to be explored for proposed solar cities in India. The research aims to analyze the gap in the energy scenario in Jodhpur City and proposes interventions of solar energy generation systems as a catalyst for urban development. The research is based on the system concept which deals with simulation between the city system as a whole and its interactions between different subsystems. A system-dynamics based mathematical model is developed by identifying the control parameters using regression and correlation analysis to assess the gap in energy sector. The base model validation is done using the past 10 years timeline data collected from secondary sources. Further, energy consumption and solar energy generation-based projection are made for testing different scenarios to conclude the feasibility for maintaining the city level energy independence till 2031.
Keywords: City, consumption, energy, generation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5632331 A Numerical Description of a Fibre Reinforced Concrete Using a Genetic Algorithm
Authors: Henrik L. Funke, Lars Ulke-Winter, Sandra Gelbrich, Lothar Kroll
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This work reports about an approach for an automatic adaptation of concrete formulations based on genetic algorithms (GA) to optimize a wide range of different fit-functions. In order to achieve the goal, a method was developed which provides a numerical description of a fibre reinforced concrete (FRC) mixture regarding the production technology and the property spectrum of the concrete. In a first step, the FRC mixture with seven fixed components was characterized by varying amounts of the components. For that purpose, ten concrete mixtures were prepared and tested. The testing procedure comprised flow spread, compressive and bending tensile strength. The analysis and approximation of the determined data was carried out by GAs. The aim was to obtain a closed mathematical expression which best describes the given seven-point cloud of FRC by applying a Gene Expression Programming with Free Coefficients (GEP-FC) strategy. The seven-parametric FRC-mixtures model which is generated according to this method correlated well with the measured data. The developed procedure can be used for concrete mixtures finding closed mathematical expressions, which are based on the measured data.
Keywords: Concrete design, fibre reinforced concrete, genetic algorithms, GEP-FC.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9902330 Optical Induction of 2D and 3D Photonic Lattices in Photorefractive Materials based on Talbot effect
Authors: A. Badalyan, R. Hovsepyan, V. Mekhitaryan, P. Mantashyan, R. Drampyan
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In this paper we report the technique of optical induction of 2 and 3-dimensional (2D and 3D) photonic lattices in photorefractive materials based on diffraction grating self replication -Talbot effect. 1D and 2D different rotational symmery diffraction masks with the periods of few tens micrometers and 532 nm cw laser beam were used in the experiments to form an intensity modulated light beam profile. A few hundred micrometric scale replications of mask generated intensity structures along the beam propagation axis were observed. Up to 20 high contrast replications were detected for 1D annular mask with 30Keywords: Diffraction gratings, laser, photonic lattice, Talbot effect.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1867