Search results for: Viscous Flow Structure.
2916 Fractional Delay FIR Filters Design with Enhanced Differential Evolution
Authors: Krzysztof Walczak
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Fractional delay FIR filters design method based on the differential evolution algorithm is presented. Differential evolution is an evolutionary algorithm for solving a global optimization problems in the continuous search space. In the proposed approach, an evolutionary algorithm is used to determine the coefficients of a fractional delay FIR filter based on the Farrow structure. Basic differential evolution is enhanced with a restricted mating technique, which improves the algorithm performance in terms of convergence speed and obtained solution. Evolutionary optimization is carried out by minimizing an objective function which is based on the amplitude response and phase delay errors. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm leads to a reduction in the amplitude response and phase delay errors relative to those achieved with the Least-Squares method.Keywords: Fractional Delay Filters, Farrow Structure, Evolutionary Computation, Differential Evolution
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18612915 Learning Object Interface Adapted to the Learner's Learning Style
Authors: Zenaide Carvalho da Silva, Leandro Rodrigues Ferreira, Andrey Ricardo Pimentel
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Learning styles (LS) refer to the ways and forms that the student prefers to learn in the teaching and learning process. Each student has their own way of receiving and processing information throughout the learning process. Therefore, knowing their LS is important to better understand their individual learning preferences, and also, understand why the use of some teaching methods and techniques give better results with some students, while others it does not. We believe that knowledge of these styles enables the possibility of making propositions for teaching; thus, reorganizing teaching methods and techniques in order to allow learning that is adapted to the individual needs of the student. Adapting learning would be possible through the creation of online educational resources adapted to the style of the student. In this context, this article presents the structure of a learning object interface adaptation based on the LS. The structure created should enable the creation of the adapted learning object according to the student's LS and contributes to the increase of student’s motivation in the use of a learning object as an educational resource.
Keywords: Adaptation, interface, learning object, learning style.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9862914 Prediction of the Dynamic Characteristics of a Milling Machine Using the Integrated Model of Machine Frame and Spindle Unit
Authors: Jui P. Hung, Yuan L. Lai, Tzuo L. Luo, Hsi H. Hsiao
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The machining performance is determined by the frequency characteristics of the machine-tool structure and the dynamics of the cutting process. Therefore, the prediction of dynamic vibration behavior of spindle tool system is of great importance for the design of a machine tool capable of high-precision and high-speed machining. The aim of this study is to develop a finite element model to predict the dynamic characteristics of milling machine tool and hence evaluate the influence of the preload of the spindle bearings. To this purpose, a three dimensional spindle bearing model of a high speed engraving spindle tool was created. In this model, the rolling interfaces with contact stiffness defined by Harris model were used to simulate the spindle bearing components. Then a full finite element model of a vertical milling machine was established by coupling the spindle tool unit with the machine frame structure. Using this model, the vibration mode that had a dominant influence on the dynamic stiffness was determined. The results of the finite element simulations reveal that spindle bearing with different preloads greatly affect the dynamic behavior of the spindle tool unit and hence the dynamic responses of the vertical column milling system. These results were validated by performing vibration on the individual spindle tool unit and the milling machine prototype, respectively. We conclude that preload of the spindle bearings is an important component affecting the dynamic characteristics and machining performance of the entire vertical column structure of the milling machine.Keywords: Dynamic compliance, Milling machine, Spindle unit, Bearing preload.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 36512913 Spatial Structure and Process of Arctic Warming and Land Cover Change in the Feedback Systems Framework
Authors: Eric Kojo Wu Aikins
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This paper examines the relationships between and among the various drivers of climate change that have both climatic and ecological consequences for vegetation and land cover change in arctic areas, particularly in arctic Alaska. It discusses the various processes that have created spatial and climatic structures that have facilitated observable vegetation and land cover changes in the Arctic. Also, it indicates that the drivers of both climatic and ecological changes in the Arctic are multi-faceted and operate in a system with both positive and negative feedbacks that largely results in further increases or decreases of the initial drivers of climatic and vegetation change mainly at the local and regional scales. It demonstrates that the impact of arctic warming on land cover change and the Arctic ecosystems is not unidirectional and one dimensional in nature but it represents a multi-directional and multi-dimensional forces operating in a feedback system.Keywords: Arctic Vegetation Change, Climate Change, Feedback System, Spatial Process and Structure.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17472912 Design Development of Floating Performance Structure for Coastal Areas in the Maltese Islands
Authors: Rebecca E. Dalli Gonzi, Joseph Falzon
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Background: Islands in the Mediterranean region offer opportunities for various industries to take advantage of the facilitation and use of versatile floating structures in coastal areas. In the context of dense land use, marine structures can contribute to ensure both terrestrial and marine resource sustainability. Objective: The aim of this paper is to present and critically discuss an array of issues that characterize the design process of a floating structure for coastal areas and to present the challenges and opportunities of providing such multifunctional and versatile structures around the Maltese coastline. Research Design: A three-tier research design commenced with a systematic literature review. Semi-structured interviews with stakeholders including a naval architect, a marine engineer and civil designers were conducted. A second stage preceded a focus group with stakeholders in design and construction of marine lightweight structures. The three tier research design ensured triangulation of issues. All phases of the study were governed by research ethics. Findings: Findings were grouped into three main themes: excellence, impact and implementation. These included design considerations, applications and potential impacts on local industry. Literature for the design and construction of marine structures in the Maltese Islands presented multiple gaps in the application of marine structures for local industries. Weather conditions, depth of sea bed and wave actions presented limitations on the design capabilities of the structure. Conclusion: Water structures offer great potential and conclusions demonstrate the applicability of such designs for Maltese waters. There is still no such provision within Maltese coastal areas for multi-purpose use. The introduction of such facilities presents a range of benefits for visiting tourists and locals thereby offering wide range of services to tourism and marine industry. Costs for construction and adverse weather conditions were amongst the main limitations that shaped design capacities of the water structures.Keywords: Coastal areas, lightweight, marine structure, multipurpose, versatile, floating device.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9412911 Nonlinear and Chaotic Motions for a Shock Absorbing Structure Supported by Nonlinear Springs with Hysteresis Using Fast FEA
Authors: T. Yamaguchi, Y. Kurosawa, S. Maruyama, K. Tobita, Y. Hirano, K. Yokouchi, K. Kihara, T. Sunaga
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This paper describes dynamic analysis using proposed fast finite element method for a shock absorbing structure including a sponge. The structure is supported by nonlinear concentrated springs. The restoring force of the spring has cubic nonlinearity and linear hysteresis damping. To calculate damping properties for the structures including elastic body and porous body, displacement vectors as common unknown variable are solved under coupled condition. Under small amplitude, we apply asymptotic method to complex eigenvalue problem of this system to obtain modal parameters. And then expressions of modal loss factor are derived approximately. This approach was proposed by one of the authors previously. We call this method as Modal Strain and Kinetic Energy Method (MSKE method). Further, using the modal loss factors, the discretized equations in physical coordinate are transformed into the nonlinear ordinary coupled equations using normal coordinate corresponding to linear natural modes. This transformation yields computation efficiency. As a numerical example of a shock absorbing structures, we adopt double skins with a sponge. The double skins are supported by nonlinear concentrated springs. We clarify influences of amplitude of the input force on nonlinear and chaotic responses.
Keywords: Dynamic response, Nonlinear and chaotic motions, Finite Element analysis, Numerical analysis.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19722910 Analysis of Seismic Waves Generated by Blasting Operations and their Response on Buildings
Authors: S. Ziaran, M. Musil, M. Cekan, O. Chlebo
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The paper analyzes the response of buildings and industrially structures on seismic waves (low frequency mechanical vibration) generated by blasting operations. The principles of seismic analysis can be applied for different kinds of excitation such as: earthquakes, wind, explosions, random excitation from local transportation, periodic excitation from large rotating and/or machines with reciprocating motion, metal forming processes such as forging, shearing and stamping, chemical reactions, construction and earth moving work, and other strong deterministic and random energy sources caused by human activities. The article deals with the response of seismic, low frequency, mechanical vibrations generated by nearby blasting operations on a residential home. The goal was to determine the fundamental natural frequencies of the measured structure; therefore it is important to determine the resonant frequencies to design a suitable modal damping. The article also analyzes the package of seismic waves generated by blasting (Primary waves – P-waves and Secondary waves S-waves) and investigated the transfer regions. For the detection of seismic waves resulting from an explosion, the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and modal analysis, in the frequency domain, is used and the signal was acquired and analyzed also in the time domain. In the conclusions the measured results of seismic waves caused by blasting in a nearby quarry and its effect on a nearby structure (house) is analyzed. The response on the house, including the fundamental natural frequency and possible fatigue damage is also assessed.
Keywords: Building structure, seismic waves, spectral analysis, structural response.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 52972909 Vacuum Membrane Distillation for Desalination of Ground Water by using Flat Sheet Membrane
Authors: Bhausaheb L. Pangarkar, M.G. Sane, Saroj B. Parjane, Mahendra Guddad
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The possibility of producing drinking water from brackish ground water using Vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) process was studied. It is a rising technology for seawater or brine desalination process. The process simply consists of a flat sheet hydrophobic micro porous PTFE membrane and diaphragm vacuum pump without a condenser for the water recovery or trap. In this work, VMD performance was investigated for aqueous NaCl solution and natural ground water. The influence of operational parameters such as feed flow rate (30 to 55 l/h), feed temperature (313 to 333 K), feed salt concentration (5000 to 7000 mg/l) and permeate pressure (1.5 to 6 kPa) on the membrane distillation (MD) permeation flux have been investigated. The maximum flux reached to 28.34 kg/m2 h at feed temperature, 333 K; vacuum pressure, 1.5 kPa; feed flow rate, 55 l/h and feed salt concentration, 7000 mg/l. The negligible effects in the reduction of permeate flux found over 150 h experimental run for salt water. But for the natural ground water application over 75 h, scale deposits observed on the membrane surface and 29% reduction in the permeate flux over 75 h. This reduction can be eliminated by acidification of feed water. Hence, promote the research attention in apply of VMD for the ground water purification over today-s conventional RO operation.Keywords: VMD, hydrophobic PTFE flat membrane, desalination, ground water
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 32892908 A New Vector Quantization Front-End Process for Discrete HMM Speech Recognition System
Authors: M. Debyeche, J.P Haton, A. Houacine
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The paper presents a complete discrete statistical framework, based on a novel vector quantization (VQ) front-end process. This new VQ approach performs an optimal distribution of VQ codebook components on HMM states. This technique that we named the distributed vector quantization (DVQ) of hidden Markov models, succeeds in unifying acoustic micro-structure and phonetic macro-structure, when the estimation of HMM parameters is performed. The DVQ technique is implemented through two variants. The first variant uses the K-means algorithm (K-means- DVQ) to optimize the VQ, while the second variant exploits the benefits of the classification behavior of neural networks (NN-DVQ) for the same purpose. The proposed variants are compared with the HMM-based baseline system by experiments of specific Arabic consonants recognition. The results show that the distributed vector quantization technique increase the performance of the discrete HMM system.
Keywords: Hidden Markov Model, Vector Quantization, Neural Network, Speech Recognition, Arabic Language
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20562907 ANP-based Intra and Inter-industry Analysis for Measuring Spillover Effect of ICT Industries
Authors: Yongyoon Suh, Yongtae Park
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The interaction among information and communication technology (ICT) industries is a recently ubiquitous phenomenon through fixed-mobile integration. To monitor the impact of interaction, previous research has mainly focused on measuring spillover effect among ICT industries using various methods. Among others, inter-industry analysis is one of the useful methods for examining spillover effect between industries. However, more complex ICT industries become, more important the impact within an industry is. Inter-industry analysis is limited in mirroring intra-relationships within an industry. Thus, this study applies the analytic network process (ANP) to measure the spillover effect, capturing all of the intra and inter-relationships. Using ANP-based intra and inter-industry analysis, the spillover effect is effectively measured, mirroring the complex structure of ICT industries. A main ICT industry and its linkages are also explored to show the current structure of ICT industries. The proposed approach is expected to allow policy makers to understand interactions of ICT industries and their impact.
Keywords: ANP, intra and inter-industry analysis, spillover effect
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17372906 Novel Structural Insights of Glutamate Racemase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis through Modeling and Docking Studies
Authors: Jayashree Ramana
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An alarming emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of the tuberculosis pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis and continuing high worldwide incidence of tuberculosis has invigorated the search for novel drug targets. The enzyme glutamate racemase (MurI) in bacteria catalyzes the stereoconversion of L-glutamate to D-glutamate which is a component of the peptidoglycan cell wall of the bacterium. The inhibitors targeted against MurI from several bacterial species have been patented and are advocated as promising antibacterial agents. However there are none available against MurI from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, due to the lack of its threedimensional structure. This work accomplished two major objectives. First, the tertiary structure of MtMurI was deduced computationally through homology modeling using the templates from bacterial homologues. It is speculated that like in other Gram-positive bacteria, MtMurI exists as a dimer and many of the protein interactions at the dimer interface are also conserved. Second, potent candidate inhibitors against MtMurI were identified through docking against already known inhibitors in other organisms.
Keywords: Glutamate racemase, homology modeling, docking, drug resistance.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 28682905 Continuous Plug Flow and Discrete Particle Phase Coupling Using Triangular Parcels
Authors: Anders Schou Simonsen, Thomas Condra, Kim Sørensen
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Various processes are modelled using a discrete phase, where particles are seeded from a source. Such particles can represent liquid water droplets, which are affecting the continuous phase by exchanging thermal energy, momentum, species etc. Discrete phases are typically modelled using parcel, which represents a collection of particles, which share properties such as temperature, velocity etc. When coupling the phases, the exchange rates are integrated over the cell, in which the parcel is located. This can cause spikes and fluctuating exchange rates. This paper presents an alternative method of coupling a discrete and a continuous plug flow phase. This is done using triangular parcels, which span between nodes following the dynamics of single droplets. Thus, the triangular parcels are propagated using the corner nodes. At each time step, the exchange rates are spatially integrated over the surface of the triangular parcels, which yields a smooth continuous exchange rate to the continuous phase. The results shows that the method is more stable, converges slightly faster and yields smooth exchange rates compared with the steam tube approach. However, the computational requirements are about five times greater, so the applicability of the alternative method should be limited to processes, where the exchange rates are important. The overall balances of the exchanged properties did not change significantly using the new approach.Keywords: CFD, coupling, discrete phase, parcel.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6102904 Optimal Multilayer Perceptron Structure For Classification of HIV Sub-Type Viruses
Authors: Zeyneb Kurt, Oguzhan Yavuz
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The feature of HIV genome is in a wide range because of it is highly heterogeneous. Hence, the infection ability of the virus changes related with different chemokine receptors. From this point, R5 and X4 HIV viruses use CCR5 and CXCR5 coreceptors respectively while R5X4 viruses can utilize both coreceptors. Recently, in Bioinformatics, R5X4 viruses have been studied to classify by using the coreceptors of HIV genome. The aim of this study is to develop the optimal Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) for high classification accuracy of HIV sub-type viruses. To accomplish this purpose, the unit number in hidden layer was incremented one by one, from one to a particular number. The statistical data of R5X4, R5 and X4 viruses was preprocessed by the signal processing methods. Accessible residues of these virus sequences were extracted and modeled by Auto-Regressive Model (AR) due to the dimension of residues is large and different from each other. Finally the pre-processed dataset was used to evolve MLP with various number of hidden units to determine R5X4 viruses. Furthermore, ROC analysis was used to figure out the optimal MLP structure.Keywords: Multilayer Perceptron, Auto-Regressive Model, HIV, ROC Analysis
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14402903 pH-Responsiveness Properties of a Biodigradable Hydrogels Based on Carrageenan-g-poly(NaAA-co-NIPAM)
Authors: Mohammad Sadeghi, Behrouz Heidari, Korush Montazeri
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A novel thermo-sensitive superabsorbent hydrogel with salt- and pH-responsiveness properties was obtained by grafting of mixtures of acrylic acid (AA) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) monomers onto kappa-carrageenan, kC, using ammonium persulfate (APS) as a free radical initiator in the presence of methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinker. Infrared spectroscopy was carried out to confirm the chemical structure of the hydrogel. Moreover, morphology of the samples was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of MBA concentration and AA/NIPAM weight ratio on the water absorbency capacity has been investigated. The swelling variations of hydrogels were explained according to swelling theory based on the hydrogel chemical structure. The hydrogels exhibited salt-sensitivity and cation exchange properties. The temperature- and pH-reversibility properties of the hydrogels make the intelligent polymers as good candidates for considering as potential carriers for bioactive agents, e.g. drugs.Keywords: superabsorbent, carrageenan, acrylic acid, Nisopropylacrylamide, hydrogel, swelling
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16752902 Very Large Scale Integration Architecture of Finite Impulse Response Filter Implementation Using Retiming Technique
Authors: S. Jalaja, A. M. Vijaya Prakash
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Recursive combination of an algorithm based on Karatsuba multiplication is exploited to design a generalized transpose and parallel Finite Impulse Response (FIR) Filter. Mid-range Karatsuba multiplication and Carry Save adder based on Karatsuba multiplication reduce time complexity for higher order multiplication implemented up to n-bit. As a result, we design modified N-tap Transpose and Parallel Symmetric FIR Filter Structure using Karatsuba algorithm. The mathematical formulation of the FFA Filter is derived. The proposed architecture involves significantly less area delay product (APD) then the existing block implementation. By adopting retiming technique, hardware cost is reduced further. The filter architecture is designed by using 90 nm technology library and is implemented by using cadence EDA Tool. The synthesized result shows better performance for different word length and block size. The design achieves switching activity reduction and low power consumption by applying with and without retiming for different combination of the circuit. The proposed structure achieves more than a half of the power reduction by adopting with and without retiming techniques compared to the earlier design structure. As a proof of the concept for block size 16 and filter length 64 for CKA method, it achieves a 51% as well as 70% less power by applying retiming technique, and for CSA method it achieves a 57% as well as 77% less power by applying retiming technique compared to the previously proposed design.Keywords: Carry save adder Karatsuba multiplication, mid-range Karatsuba multiplication, modified FFA, transposed filter, retiming.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9102901 Effect of Moisture Content Compaction in the Geometry Definition of Earth Dams
Authors: Julian B. García, Virginie Q. R. Pinto, André P. Assis
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This paper presents numerical flow and slope stability simulations in three typical sections of earth dams built in tropical regions, two homogeneous with different slope inclinations, and the other one heterogeneous with impermeable core. The geotechnical material parameters used in this work were obtained from a lab testing of physical characterization, compaction, consolidation, variable load permeability and saturated triaxial type CD for compacted soil samples with standard proctor energy at optimum moisture content (23%), optimum moisture content + 2% and optimum moisture content +5%. The objective is to analyze the general behavior of earth dams built in rainy regions where optimum moisture is exceeded. The factor of safety is satisfactory for the three sections compacted in all moisture content during the stages of operation and end of construction. On The other hand, the rapid drawdown condition is the critical phase for homogeneus dams configuration, the factor of safety obtained were unsatisfactory. In general, the heterogeneous dam behavior is more efficient due to the fact that the slopes are made up of gravel, which favors the dissipation of pore pressures during the rapid drawdown. For the critical phase, the slopes should have lower inclinations of the upstream and downstream slopes to guarantee stability, although it increases the costs.
Keywords: Earth dams, flow, moisture content, slope stability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9272900 Estimation of Seismic Deformation Demands of Tall Buildings with Symmetric Setbacks
Authors: A. Alirezaei, S. Vahdani
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This study estimates the seismic demands of tall buildings with central symmetric setbacks by using nonlinear time history analysis. Three setback structures, all 60-story high with setback in three levels, are used for evaluation. The effects of irregularities occurred by setback are evaluated by determination of global-drift, story-displacement and story drift. Story-displacement is modified by roof displacement and first story displacement and story drift is modified by global drift. All results are calculated at the center of mass and in x and y direction. Also the absolute values of these quantities are determined. The results show that increasing of vertical irregularities increases the global drift of the structure and enlarges the deformations in the height of the structure. It is also observed that the effects of geometry irregularity in the seismic deformations of setback structures are higher than those of mass irregularity.
Keywords: Deformation demand, drift, setback, tall building.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22682899 Predictions and Comparisons of Thermohydrodynamic State for Single and Three Pads Gas Foil Bearings Operating at Steady-State Based on Multi-Physics Coupling Computer-Aided Engineering Simulations
Authors: Tai Yuan Yu, Pei-Jen Wang
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Oil-free turbomachinery is considered one of the critical technologies for future green power generation systems as rotor machinery systems. Oil-free technology allows clean, compact, and maintenance-free working, and gas foil bearings (GFBs) are important for the technology. Since the first applications in the auxiliary power units and air cycle machines in the 1970s, obvious improvement has been created to the computational models for dynamic rotor behavior. However, many technical issues are still poorly understood or remain unsolved, and some of those are thermal management and the pattern of how pressure will be distributed in bearing clearance. This paper presents a three-dimensional (3D) fluid-structure interaction model of single pad foil bearings and three pad foil bearings to predict bearing working behavior that researchers could compare characteristics of those. The coupling analysis model involves dynamic working characteristics applied to all the gas film and mechanical structures. Therefore, the elastic deformation of foil structure and the hydrodynamic pressure of gas film can both be calculated by a finite element method program. As a result, the temperature distribution pattern could also be iteratively solved by coupling analysis. In conclusion, the working fluid state in a gas film of various pad forms of bearings working characteristic at constant rotational speed for both can be solved for comparisons with the experimental results.
Keywords: Fluid structure interaction multi-physics simulations, gas foil bearing, oil-free, transient thermohydrodynamic.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4592898 Generation of Highly Ordered Porous Antimony-Doped Tin Oxide Film by A Simple Coating Method with Colloidal Template
Authors: Asep Bayu Dani Nandiyanto, Asep Suhendi, Yutaka Kisakibaru, Takashi Ogi, Kikuo Okuyama
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An ordered porous antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) film was successfully prepared using a simple coating process with colloidal templates. The facile production was effective when a combination of 16-nm ATO (as a model of an inorganic nanoparticle) and polystyrene (PS) spheres (as a model of the template) weresimply coated to produce a composite ATO/PS film. Heat treatment was then used to remove the PS and produce the porous film. The porous film with a spherical pore shape and a highly ordered porous structure could be obtained. A potential way for the control of pore size could be also achieved by changing initial template size. The theoretical explanation and mechanism of porous formation were also added, which would be important for the scaling-up prediction and estimation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15712897 Measuring the Influence of Functional Proximity on Environmental Urban Performance via Integrated Modification Methodology: Four Study Cases in Milan
Authors: M. Tadi, M. Hadi Mohammad Zadeh, Ozge Ogut
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Although how cities’ forms are structured is studied, more efforts are needed on systemic comprehensions and evaluations of the urban morphology through quantitative metrics that are able to describe the performance of a city in relation to its formal properties. More research is required in this direction in order to better describe the urban form characteristics and their impact on the environmental performance of cities and to increase their sustainability stewardship. With the aim of developing a better understanding of the built environment’s systemic structure, the intention of this paper is to present a holistic methodology for studying the behavior of the built environment and investigate the methods for measuring the effect of urban structure to the environmental performance. This goal will be pursued through an inquiry into the morphological components of the urban systems and the complex relationships between them. Particularly, this paper focuses on proximity, referring to the proximity of different land-uses, is a concept with which Integrated Modification Methodology (IMM) explains how land-use allocation might affect the choice of mobility in neighborhoods, and especially, encourage or discourage non-motived mobility. This paper uses proximity to demonstrate that the structure attributes can quantifiably relate to the performing behavior in the city. The target is to devise a mathematical pattern from the structural elements and correlate it directly with urban performance indicators concerned with environmental sustainability. The paper presents some results of this rigorous investigation of urban proximity and its correlation with performance indicators in four different areas in the city of Milan, each of them characterized by different morphological features.
Keywords: Built environment, ecology, sustainable indicators, sustainability, urban morphology.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6312896 Impact of Mixing Parameters on Homogenization of Borax Solution and Nucleation Rate in Dual Radial Impeller Crystallizer
Authors: A. Kaćunić, M. Ćosić, N. Kuzmanić
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Interaction between mixing and crystallization is often ignored despite the fact that it affects almost every aspect of the operation including nucleation, growth, and maintenance of the crystal slurry. This is especially pronounced in multiple impeller systems where flow complexity is increased. By choosing proper mixing parameters, what closely depends on the knowledge of the hydrodynamics in a mixing vessel, the process of batch cooling crystallization may considerably be improved. The values that render useful information when making this choice are mixing time and power consumption. The predominant motivation for this work was to investigate the extent to which radial dual impeller configuration influences mixing time, power consumption and consequently the values of metastable zone width and nucleation rate. In this research, crystallization of borax was conducted in a 15 dm3 baffled batch cooling crystallizer with an aspect ratio (H/T) of 1.3. Mixing was performed using two straight blade turbines (4-SBT) mounted on the same shaft that generated radial fluid flow. Experiments were conducted at different values of N/NJS ratio (impeller speed/ minimum impeller speed for complete suspension), D/T ratio (impeller diameter/crystallizer diameter), c/D ratio (lower impeller off-bottom clearance/impeller diameter), and s/D ratio (spacing between impellers/impeller diameter). Mother liquor was saturated at 30°C and was cooled at the rate of 6°C/h. Its concentration was monitored in line by Na-ion selective electrode. From the values of supersaturation that was monitored continuously over process time, it was possible to determine the metastable zone width and subsequently the nucleation rate using the Mersmann’s nucleation criterion. For all applied dual impeller configurations, the mixing time was determined by potentiometric method using a pulse technique, while the power consumption was determined using a torque meter produced by Himmelstein & Co. Results obtained in this investigation show that dual impeller configuration significantly influences the values of mixing time, power consumption as well as the metastable zone width and nucleation rate. A special attention should be addressed to the impeller spacing considering the flow interaction that could be more or less pronounced depending on the spacing value.Keywords: Dual impeller crystallizer, mixing time, power consumption, metastable zone width, nucleation rate.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15722895 Probabilistic Method of Wind Generation Placement for Congestion Management
Authors: S. Z. Moussavi, A. Badri, F. Rastegar Kashkooli
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Wind farms (WFs) with high level of penetration are being established in power systems worldwide more rapidly than other renewable resources. The Independent System Operator (ISO), as a policy maker, should propose appropriate places for WF installation in order to maximize the benefits for the investors. There is also a possibility of congestion relief using the new installation of WFs which should be taken into account by the ISO when proposing the locations for WF installation. In this context, efficient wind farm (WF) placement method is proposed in order to reduce burdens on congested lines. Since the wind speed is a random variable and load forecasts also contain uncertainties, probabilistic approaches are used for this type of study. AC probabilistic optimal power flow (P-OPF) is formulated and solved using Monte Carlo Simulations (MCS). In order to reduce computation time, point estimate methods (PEM) are introduced as efficient alternative for time-demanding MCS. Subsequently, WF optimal placement is determined using generation shift distribution factors (GSDF) considering a new parameter entitled, wind availability factor (WAF). In order to obtain more realistic results, N-1 contingency analysis is employed to find the optimal size of WF, by means of line outage distribution factors (LODF). The IEEE 30-bus test system is used to show and compare the accuracy of proposed methodology.Keywords: Probabilistic optimal power flow, Wind power, Pointestimate methods, Congestion management
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18882894 Implicit Eulerian Fluid-Structure Interaction Method for the Modeling of Highly Deformable Elastic Membranes
Authors: Aymen Laadhari, Gábor Székely
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This paper is concerned with the development of a fully implicit and purely Eulerian fluid-structure interaction method tailored for the modeling of the large deformations of elastic membranes in a surrounding Newtonian fluid. We consider a simplified model for the mechanical properties of the membrane, in which the surface strain energy depends on the membrane stretching. The fully Eulerian description is based on the advection of a modified surface tension tensor, and the deformations of the membrane are tracked using a level set strategy. The resulting nonlinear problem is solved by a Newton-Raphson method, featuring a quadratic convergence behavior. A monolithic solver is implemented, and we report several numerical experiments aimed at model validation and illustrating the accuracy of the presented method. We show that stability is maintained for significantly larger time steps.Keywords: Fluid-membrane interaction, stretching, Eulerian, finite element method, Newton, implicit.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12872893 Submicron Size of Alumina/Titania Tubes for CO2-CH4 Conversion
Authors: Chien-Wan Hun, Shao-Fu Chang, Jheng-En Yang, Chien-Chon Chen, Wern-Dare Jheng
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This research provides a systematic way to study and better understand double nano-tubular structure of alunina (Al2O3) and titania (TiO2). The TiO2 NT was prepared by immersing Al2O3 template in 0.02 M titanium fluoride (TiF4) solution (pH=3) at 25 °C for 120 min, followed by annealing at 450 °C for 1 h to obtain anatase TiO2 NT in the Al2O3 template. Large-scale development of film for nanotube-based CO2 capture and conversion can potentially result in more efficient energy harvesting. In addition, the production process will be relatively environmentally friendly. The knowledge generated by this research will significantly advance research in the area of Al2O3, TiO2, CaO, and Ca2O3 nano-structure film fabrication and applications for CO2 capture and conversion. This green energy source will potentially reduce reliance on carbon-based energy resources and increase interest in science and engineering careers.Keywords: Alumina, titania, nano-tubular, film, CO2.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15702892 A Taxonomy Proposal on Criterion Structure for Evaluating Freight Village Concepts in Early-Stage Design Projects
Authors: Rıza Gürhan Korkut, Metin Çelik, Süleyman Özkaynak
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The early-stage design and development projects for the freight village initiatives require a comprehensive analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data. Considering the literature review on structural and operational management requirements, this study proposed an original taxonomy on criterion structure to assess freight village conceptualization. The potential challenges and uncertainties of the developed taxonomy are extended. Besides requirement analysis, this study is also expected to contribute to forthcoming research on benchmarking of freight villages in different regions. The methodology used in this research is a systematic review on several articles as per their modelling approaches, sustainability, entities and decisions made together with the uncertainties and features of their models taken into consideration. The major findings of the study that are the categories for assessing the projects attributes on their environmental, socio-economical, accessibility and location aspects.Keywords: Freight village, logistics centers, operational management, taxonomy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8302891 A Tree Based Association Rule Approach for XML Data with Semantic Integration
Authors: D. Sasikala, K. Premalatha
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The use of eXtensible Markup Language (XML) in web, business and scientific databases lead to the development of methods, techniques and systems to manage and analyze XML data. Semi-structured documents suffer due to its heterogeneity and dimensionality. XML structure and content mining represent convergence for research in semi-structured data and text mining. As the information available on the internet grows drastically, extracting knowledge from XML documents becomes a harder task. Certainly, documents are often so large that the data set returned as answer to a query may also be very big to convey the required information. To improve the query answering, a Semantic Tree Based Association Rule (STAR) mining method is proposed. This method provides intentional information by considering the structure, content and the semantics of the content. The method is applied on Reuter’s dataset and the results show that the proposed method outperforms well.
Keywords: Semi--structured Document, Tree based Association Rule (TAR), Semantic Association Rule Mining.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23522890 Novel Anti-leukemia Calanone Compounds by Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship AM1 Semiempirical Method
Authors: Ponco Iswanto, Mochammad Chasani, Muhammad Hanafi, Iqmal Tahir, Eva Vaulina YD, Harjono, Lestari Solikhati, Winkanda S. Putra, Yayuk Yuliantini
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Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) approach for discovering novel more active Calanone derivative as anti-leukemia compound has been conducted. There are 6 experimental activities of Calanone compounds against leukemia cell L1210 that are used as material of the research. Calculation of theoretical predictors (independent variables) was performed by AM1 semiempirical method. The QSAR equation is determined by Principle Component Regression (PCR) analysis, with Log IC50 as dependent variable and the independent variables are atomic net charges, dipole moment (μ), and coefficient partition of noctanol/ water (Log P). Three novel Calanone derivatives that obtained by this research have higher activity against leukemia cell L1210 than pure Calanone.Keywords: AM1 semiempirical calculation, Calanone, Principle Component Regression, QSAR approach.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14782889 Experimental and Numerical Study of A/C Outletsand Its Impact on Room Airflow Characteristics
Authors: Mohammed A. Aziz, Ibrahim A. M. Gad, El Shahat F. A. Mohammed, Ramy H. Mohammed
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This paper investigates experimental and numerical study of the airflow characteristics for vortex, round and square ceiling diffusers and its effect on the thermal comfort in a ventilated room. Three different thermal comfort criteria namely; Mean Age of the Air (MAA), ventilation effectiveness (E), and Effective Draft Temperature (EDT) have been used to predict the thermal comfort zone inside the room. In experimental work, a sub-scale room is set-up to measure the temperature field in the room. In numerical analysis, unstructured grids have been used to discretize the numerical domain. Conservation equations are solved using FLUENT commercial flow solver. The code is validated by comparing the numerical results obtained from three different turbulence models with the available experimental data. The comparison between the various numerical models shows that the standard k-ε turbulence model can be used to simulate these cases successfully. After validation of the code, effect of supply air velocity on the flow and thermal field could be investigated and hence the thermal comfort. The results show that the pressure coefficient created by the square diffuser is 1.5 times greater than that created by the vortex diffuser. The velocity decay coefficient is nearly the same for square and round diffusers and is 2.6 times greater than that for the vortex diffuser.
Keywords: Ceiling diffuser, Thermal Comfort, MAA, EDT, Fluent, Turbulence model.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21432888 Effect of Hormonal Manipulations on the Pattern of the Vaginal Tissue Structure
Authors: Fatahian Dehkordi RF., Parchami A.
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Design of experiments made for correlated the hormonal activity of steroids and their effect on the vaginal structure properties. Vaginal wall consists of distinct layers of cells which strongly differ regarding growth in answer to steroid hormones. The presence study carried out for functional evaluation and sustained replacement effect of the reproductive hormones on the vaginal morphometry in the rabbit. Rabbits were maintained control (Co) or ovariectomized (Ovz) and continuously treated with estradiol (Ovz E) and estradiol mixture with testosterone (Ovz ET). Relative to control rabbits with the distinct tissue distribution pattern, ovariectomized animals displayed declined epithelial thickness and atrophy of the muscularis layer that cause the vaginal wall thinning. Estradiol treatment of Orz rabbits inverted these changes to status of the preovariectomy. Histometric measurements in Ovz ET group completely including of thickness of the epithelial and muscular layers was greater in comparison to that of control animals.
Keywords: Vagina, Ovariectomy, Rabbit, Morphometry
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17312887 Structural Characteristics of Batch Processed Agro-Waste Fibres
Authors: E. I. Akpan, S. O. Adeosun, G. I. Lawal, S. A. Balogun, X. D. Chen
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The characterisation of agro-wastes fibres for composite applications from Nigeria using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) has been done. Fibres extracted from groundnut shell, coconut husk, rice husk, palm fruit bunch and palm fruit stalk are processed using two novel cellulose fibre production methods developed by the authors. Cellulose apparent crystallinity calculated using the deconvolution of the diffractometer trace shows that the amorphous portion of cellulose was permeable to hydrolysis yielding high crystallinity after treatment. All diffratograms show typical cellulose structure with well-defined 110, 200 and 040 peaks. Palm fruit fibres had the highest 200 crystalline cellulose peaks compared to others and it is an indication of rich cellulose content. Surface examination of the resulting fibres using SEM indicates the presence of regular cellulose network structure with some agglomerated laminated layer of thin leaves of cellulose microfibrils. The surfaces were relatively smooth indicating the removal of hemicellulose, lignin and pectin.
Keywords: X-ray diffraction, SEM, cellulose, deconvolution, crystallinity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2731