Search results for: load carrying capacity.

Authors: K. Bourouni, M. Chacha, T. Jaber, A. Tchantchane

Abstract:

In Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) desalination evaporators, the scale deposit outside the tubes presents a barrier to heat transfers reducing the global heat transfer coefficient and causing a decrease in water production; hence a loss of efficiency and an increase in operating and maintenance costs. Scale removal (by acid cleaning) is the main maintenance operation and constitutes the major reason for periodic plant shutdowns. A better understanding of scale deposition mechanisms will lead to an accurate determination of the variation of scale thickness around the tubes and an improved accuracy of the overall heat transfer coefficient calculation. In this paper, a coupled heat transfer-calcium carbonate scale deposition model on a horizontal tube bundle is presented. The developed tool is used to determine precisely the heat transfer area leading to a significant cost reduction for a given water production capacity. Simulations are carried to investigate the influence of different parameters such as water salinity, temperature, etc. on the heat transfer.

Keywords: Multi-effect-evaporator, water desalination, scale deposition, heat transfer coefficient.

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Authors: Ebrahim Farahmand, Ali Mahani

Abstract:

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) can facilitate continuous monitoring of patients and increase early detection of emergency conditions and diseases. High density WSNs helps us to accurately monitor a remote environment by intelligently combining the data from the individual nodes. Due to energy capacity limitation of sensors, enhancing the lifetime and the reliability of WSNs are important factors in designing of these networks. The clustering strategies are verified as effective and practical algorithms for reducing energy consumption in WSNs and can tackle WSNs limitations. In this paper, an Energy-efficient weight-based Clustering Protocol (EWCP) is presented. Artificial retina is selected as a case study of WSNs applied in body sensors. Cluster heads’ (CHs) selection is equipped with energy efficient parameters. Moreover, cluster members are selected based on their distance to the selected CHs. Comparing with the other benchmark protocols, the lifetime of EWCP is improved significantly.

Keywords: Clustering of WSNs, healthcare monitoring, weight-based clustering, wireless sensor networks.

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Authors: Ghulam Haider Haidaree, Nsenda Lukumwena

Abstract:

Most developing nations face energy production and supply problems. This is also the case of Afghanistan whose generating capacity does not meet its energy demand. This is due in part to high security and risk caused by war which deters foreign investments and insufficient internal revenue. To address the issue above, this paper would like to suggest an alternative and affordable way to deal with the energy problem. That is by converting Solid Waste to energy. As a result, this approach tackles the municipal solid waste issue (potential cause of several diseases), contributes to the improvement of the quality of life, local economy, and so on. While addressing the solid waste problem in general, this paper samples specifically one municipality which is District-12, one of the 22 districts of Kabul city. Using geographic information system (GIS) technology, District-12 is divided into nine different zones whose municipal solid waste is respectively collected, processed, and converted into electricity and distributed to the closest area. It is important to mention that GIS has been used to estimate the amount of electricity to be distributed and to optimally position the production plant.

Keywords: Energy problem, estimation of electricity, GIS zones, solid waste management system.

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Authors: Isik Cetintav, Cenk Misirli, Yilmaz Can

Abstract:

This work investigates upsetting of the tri-metallic cylindrical billets both experimentally and analytically with a reduction ratio 30%. Steel, brass, and copper are used for the outer and outmost rings and aluminum for the inner core. Two different models have been designed to show material flow and the cavity took place over the two interfaces during forming after this reduction ratio. Each model has an outmost ring material as steel. Model 1 has an outer ring between the outmost ring and the solid core material as copper and Model 2 has a material as brass. Solid core is aluminum for each model. Billets were upset in press machine by using parallel flat dies. Upsetting load was recorded and compared for models and single billets. To extend the tests and compare with experimental procedure to a wider range of inner core and outer ring geometries, finite element model was performed. ABAQUS software was used for the simulations. The aim is to show how contact between outmost ring, outer ring and the inner core are carried on throughout the upsetting process. Results have shown that, with changing in height, between outmost ring, outer ring and inner core, the Model 1 and Model 2 had very good interaction, and the contact surfaces of models had various interface behaviour. It is also observed that tri-metallic materials have lower weight but better mechanical properties than single materials. This can give an idea for using and producing these new materials for different purposes.

Keywords: Tri-metallic, upsetting, copper, brass, steel, aluminum.

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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.

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Authors: P. K. Singhal, R. Naresh, V. Sharma

Abstract:

This paper presents the three optimization models, namely New Binary Artificial Bee Colony (NBABC) algorithm, NBABC with Local Search (NBABC-LS), and NBABC with Genetic Crossover (NBABC-GC) for solving the Wind-Thermal Unit Commitment (WTUC) problem. The uncertain nature of the wind power is incorporated using the Weibull probability density function, which is used to calculate the overestimation and underestimation costs associated with the wind power fluctuation. The NBABC algorithm utilizes a mechanism based on the dissimilarity measure between binary strings for generating the binary solutions in WTUC problem. In NBABC algorithm, an intelligent scout bee phase is proposed that replaces the abandoned solution with the global best solution. The local search operator exploits the neighboring region of the current solutions, whereas the integration of genetic crossover with the NBABC algorithm increases the diversity in the search space and thus avoids the problem of local trappings encountered with the NBABC algorithm. These models are then used to decide the units on/off status, whereas the lambda iteration method is used to dispatch the hourly load demand among the committed units. The effectiveness of the proposed models is validated on an IEEE 10-unit thermal system combined with a wind farm over the planning period of 24 hours.

Keywords: Artificial bee colony algorithm, economic dispatch, unit commitment, wind power.

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Authors: P. K. Singhal, R. Naresh, V. Sharma

Abstract:

This paper presents the three optimization models, namely New Binary Artificial Bee Colony (NBABC) algorithm, NBABC with Local Search (NBABC-LS), and NBABC with Genetic Crossover (NBABC-GC) for solving the Wind-Thermal Unit Commitment (WTUC) problem. The uncertain nature of the wind power is incorporated using the Weibull probability density function, which is used to calculate the overestimation and underestimation costs associated with the wind power fluctuation. The NBABC algorithm utilizes a mechanism based on the dissimilarity measure between binary strings for generating the binary solutions in WTUC problem. In NBABC algorithm, an intelligent scout bee phase is proposed that replaces the abandoned solution with the global best solution. The local search operator exploits the neighboring region of the current solutions, whereas the integration of genetic crossover with the NBABC algorithm increases the diversity in the search space and thus avoids the problem of local trappings encountered with the NBABC algorithm. These models are then used to decide the units on/off status, whereas the lambda iteration method is used to dispatch the hourly load demand among the committed units. The effectiveness of the proposed models is validated on an IEEE 10-unit thermal system combined with a wind farm over the planning period of 24 hours.

Keywords: Artificial bee colony algorithm, economic dispatch, unit commitment, wind power.

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Authors: Fooad Karimi Ghaleh Jough, Mohsen Soori

Abstract:

Today, the occurrence of progressive failure in structures has become a challenging issue, requiring the presentation of suitable solutions for structural resistance to this phenomenon. It is also necessary to evaluate the vulnerability of existing and under-construction buildings to progressive failure. The kind of lateral load-resisting system the building and its connections have is one of the most significant and influential variables in structural resistance to the risk of progressing failure. Using the "Alternative Path" approach suggested by the GSA2003 and UFC2013 recommendations, different configurations of semi-rigid connections against progressive failure are offered in this study. In order to do this, the Opensees program was used to model nine distinct semi-rigid connection configurations on a three-story Special Area of Conservation (SAC) structure, accounting for the impact of connection stiffness. Then, using nonlinear dynamic analysis, the effects of column removal were explored in two scenarios: corner column removal and middle column removal on the first level. Nonlinear static analysis results showed that when a column is removed, structures with semi-rigid connections experience larger displacements, which result in the construction of a plastic hinge. Furthermore, it was clear from the findings of the nonlinear static analysis that the possibility of progressive failure increased with the number of semi-rigid connections in the structure.

Keywords: Semi-rigid, nonlinear static analysis, progressive collapse, alternative path.

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Authors: Mohamed A. Shanan, Ashraf H. El-Zanaty, Kamal G. Metwally

Abstract:

This paper presents the effect of concrete compressive strength and rectangularity ratio on strength and ductility of normal and high strength reinforced concrete columns confined with transverse steel under axial compressive loading. Nineteen normal strength concrete rectangular columns with different variables tested in this research were used to study the effect of concrete compressive strength and rectangularity ratio on strength and ductility of columns. The paper also presents a nonlinear finite element analysis for these specimens and another twenty high strength concrete square columns tested by other researchers using ANSYS 15 finite element software. The results indicate that the axial force – axial strain relationship obtained from the analytical model using ANSYS are in good agreement with the experimental data. The comparison shows that the ANSYS is capable of modeling and predicting the actual nonlinear behavior of confined normal and high-strength concrete columns under concentric loading. The maximum applied load and the maximum strain have also been confirmed to be satisfactory. Depending on this agreement between the experimental and analytical results, a parametric numerical study was conducted by ANSYS 15 to clarify and evaluate the effect of each variable on strength and ductility of the columns.

Keywords: ANSYS, concrete compressive strength effect, ductility, rectangularity ratio, strength.

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Authors: T. Sattarpour, D. Nazarpour

Abstract:

This paper investigates the effect of simultaneous placement of DGs and smart meters (SMs), on voltage profile improvement in active distribution networks (ADNs). A substantial center of attention has recently been on responsive loads initiated in power system problem studies such as distributed generations (DGs). Existence of responsive loads in active distribution networks (ADNs) would have undeniable effect on sizing and siting of DGs. For this reason, an optimal framework is proposed for sizing and siting of DGs and SMs in ADNs. SMs are taken into consideration for the sake of successful implementing of demand response programs (DRPs) such as direct load control (DLC) with end-side consumers. Looking for voltage profile improvement, the optimization procedure is solved by genetic algorithm (GA) and tested on IEEE 33-bus distribution test system. Different scenarios with variations in the number of DG units, individual or simultaneous placing of DGs and SMs, and adaptive power factor (APF) mode for DGs to support reactive power have been established. The obtained results confirm the significant effect of DRPs and APF mode in determining the optimal size and site of DGs to be connected in ADN resulting to the improvement of voltage profile as well.

Keywords: Active distribution network (ADN), distributed generations (DGs), smart meters (SMs), demand response programs (DRPs), adaptive power factor (APF).

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Authors: SeungKyu Shin, Jeong Hyub Ha, Sung Han, JiHyeon Song

Abstract:

Silver nano-particles have been used for antibacterial purpose and it is also believed to have removal of odorous compounds, oxidation capacity as a metal catalyst. In this study, silver nano-particles in nano sizes (5-30 nm) were prepared on the surface of NaHCO3, the supporting material, using a sputtering method that provided high silver content and minimized conglomerating problems observed in the common AgNO3 photo-deposition method. The silver nano-particles were dispersed by dissolving Ag-NaHCO3 into water, and the dispersed silver nano-particles in the aqueous phase were applied to remove inorganic odor compounds, H2S, in a scrubbing reactor. Hydrogen sulfide in the gas phase was rapidly removed by the silver nano-particles, and the concentration of sulfate (SO4 2-) ion increased with time due to the oxidation reaction by silver as a catalyst. Consequently, the experimental results demonstrated that the silver nano-particles in the aqueous solution can be successfully applied to remove odorous compounds without adding additional energy sources and producing any harmful byproducts

Keywords: Silver nano-particles, Scrubbing, Oxidation, Hydrogen sulfide, Ammonia

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Authors: Brahmjit Singh

Abstract:

Mobile IP has been developed to provide the continuous information network access to mobile users. In IP-based mobile networks, location management is an important component of mobility management. This management enables the system to track the location of mobile node between consecutive communications. It includes two important tasks- location update and call delivery. Location update is associated with signaling load. Frequent updates lead to degradation in the overall performance of the network and the underutilization of the resources. It is, therefore, required to devise the mechanism to minimize the update rate. Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6) and Hierarchical MIPv6 (HMIPv6) have been the potential candidates for deployments in mobile IP networks for mobility management. HMIPv6 through studies has been shown with better performance as compared to MIPv6. It reduces the signaling overhead traffic by making registration process local. In this paper, we present performance analysis of MIPv6 and HMIPv6 using an analytical model. Location update cost function is formulated based on fluid flow mobility model. The impact of cell residence time, cell residence probability and user-s mobility is investigated. Numerical results are obtained and presented in graphical form. It is shown that HMIPv6 outperforms MIPv6 for high mobility users only and for low mobility users; performance of both the schemes is almost equivalent to each other.

Keywords: Wireless networks, Mobile IP networks, Mobility management, performance analysis, Handover.

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Authors: Mohd Tariq

Abstract:

The three phase system drives produce the problem of more torque pulsations and harmonics. This issue prevents the smooth operation of the drives and it also induces the amount of heat generated thus resulting in an increase in power loss. Higher phase system offers smooth operation of the machines with greater power capacity. Five phase variable-speed induction motor drives are commonly used in various industrial and commercial applications like tractions, electrical vehicles, ship propulsions and conveyor belt drive system. In this work, a comparative analysis of the different modulation schemes applied on the five-level five-phase Packed U Cell (PUC) inverter fed induction motor drives is presented. The performance of the inverter is greatly affected with the modulation schemes applied. The system is modeled, designed, and implemented in MATLAB^®/Simulink environment. Experimental validation is done for the prototype of single phase, whereas five phase experimental validation is proposed in the future works.

Keywords: Packed U-Cell inverter, pulse width modulation, five-phase system, induction motor.

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Authors: Dejan Prvulović, Djordje Malenčić, Milan Popović, Mirjana Ljubojević, Vladislav Ognjanov

Abstract:

Sweet cherries (Prunus avium L.) contain various phenolic compounds which contribute to total antioxidant activity. Total polyphenols, tannins, flavonoids and anthocyanins, and antioxidant capacity in a fruits of a number of selected sweet cherry genotypes were investigated. Total polyphenols content ranged from 4.12 to 8.34 mg gallic acid equivantents/g dry fruit weight and total tannins content ranged from 0.19 to 1.95 mg gallic acid equivalent/g dry fruit weight. Total flavonoids were within the range 0.42-1.56 mg of rutin equivalents/g dry fruit weight and total anthocyanins content were between 0.35 and 0.69 mg cyanidin 3-glucoside equivalent/ g dry fruit weight. Although sweet cherry fruits are a significant source of different phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity of sweet cherries is not related only with the total polyphenolics, flavonoids or anthocyanins.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, polyphenols, Prunus avium L., sweet cherry

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Authors: Adtha Lawanna

Abstract:

Software maintenance is one of the essential processes of Software-Development Life Cycle. The main philosophies of retaining software concern the improvement of errors, the revision of codes, the inhibition of future errors, and the development in piece and capacity. While the adjustment has been employing, the software structure has to be retested to an upsurge a level of assurance that it will be prepared due to the requirements. According to this state, the test cases must be considered for challenging the revised modules and the whole software. A concept of resolving this problem is ongoing by regression test selection such as the retest-all selections, random/ad-hoc selection and the safe regression test selection. Particularly, the traditional techniques concern a mapping between the test cases in a test suite and the lines of code it executes. However, there are not only the lines of code as one of the requirements that can affect the size of test suite but including the number of functions and faulty versions. Therefore, a model for test case selection is developed to cover those three requirements by the integral technique which can produce the smaller size of the test cases when compared with the traditional regression selection techniques.

Keywords: Software maintenance, regression test selection, test case.

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Authors: Adtha Lawanna

Abstract:

Software maintenance is one of the essential processes of Software-Development Life Cycle. The main philosophies of retaining software concern the improvement of errors, the revision of codes, the inhibition of future errors, and the development in piece and capacity. While the adjustment has been employing, the software structure has to be retested to an upsurge a level of assurance that it will be prepared due to the requirements. According to this state, the test cases must be considered for challenging the revised modules and the whole software. A concept of resolving this problem is ongoing by regression test selection such as the retest-all selections, random/ad-hoc selection and the safe regression test selection. Particularly, the traditional techniques concern a mapping between the test cases in a test suite and the lines of code it executes. However, there are not only the lines of code as one of the requirements that can affect the size of test suite but including the number of functions and faulty versions. Therefore, a model for test case selection is developed to cover those three requirements by the integral technique which can produce the smaller size of the test cases when compared with the traditional regression selection techniques.

Keywords: Software maintenance, regression test selection, test case.

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Authors: Oluwaseyi O. Taiwo, Adeolu A. Adediran, Abayomi A. Akinwande, Frank C. Okoyeh

Abstract:

The use of fuel fired crucible furnace is essential in the foundries of developing countries owing to the luxury of electricity. Fuel fired crucible furnace are commonly used in recycling, casting, research and training activities in tertiary institutions, therefore, several attempts are being made to improve the performance and service life of fuel fired crucible. The current study reviews the sequential stages involved in the designs and fabrication of fuel fired crucible furnace which include; design, material selection, modelling and simulation as well as performance evaluation. The study shows that selecting appropriate materials for the different units in the fabrication process is important to the efficiency and service life of fuel fired crucible furnaces. Also, efficiency and performance of fuel fired furnaces are independent of cost of fabrication and their capacity. The importance of modelling and simulation tools in the fabrication process are identified while their non-frequent usage in several works is observed. The need to widen performance evaluations in further studies beyond efficiency determination to give a more detailed assessment of fuel fired crucible furnaces is also observed.

Keywords: Crucible furnace, furnace design, fabrication, fuel.

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Authors: John McCullagh, Jaclyn Munge, NivanWeerakkody, Kerrie Gamble

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of preexercise glycerol hyperhydration on endurance performance in a heat chamber designed to simulate the World Championship Distance (WCD) duathlon (10km run, 40km ride, 5 km run). Duathlons are often performed in hot and humid conditions and as a result hydration is a major issue. Glycerol enhances the body’s capacity for fluid retention by inducing hyperhydration, which is theorized to improve thermoregulatory and cardiovascular responses, and thereby improve performance. Six well-trained athletes completed the testing protocol in a heat chamber at the La Trobe University Exercise Physiology Laboratory. Each testing session was approximately 4.5 hours in duration (2 hours of pre-exercise glycerol hyper-hydration followed by approximately 2.5 hours of exercise). The results showed an increased water retention pre-exercise and an improved overall performance of 2.04% was achieved by subjects ingesting the glycerol solution.

Keywords: Endurance performance, glycerol hyperhydration, heat chamber.

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Authors: Abdulrahman K. Alshegaifi, Chun-Hsi Huang

Abstract:

Treating data based on its location in memory has received much attention in recent years due to its different properties, which offer important aspects for cache utilization. Stack data and non-stack data may interfere with each other’s locality in the data cache. One of the important aspects of stack data is that it has high spatial and temporal locality. In this work, we simulate non-unified cache design that split data cache into stack and non-stack caches in order to maintain stack data and non-stack data separate in different caches. We observe that the overall hit rate of non-unified cache design is sensitive to the size of non-stack cache. Then, we investigate the appropriate size and associativity for stack cache to achieve high hit ratio especially when over 99% of accesses are directed to stack cache. The result shows that on average more than 99% of stack cache accuracy is achieved by using 2KB of capacity and 1-way associativity. Further, we analyze the improvement in hit rate when adding small, fixed, size of stack cache at level1 to unified cache architecture. The result shows that the overall hit rate of unified cache design with adding 1KB of stack cache is improved by approximately, on average, 3.9% for Rijndael benchmark. The stack cache is simulated by using SimpleScalar toolset.

Keywords: Hit rate, Locality of program, Stack cache, and Stack data.

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Authors: Noor Asma Husain, Mohd Shafry Mohd Rahim, Abdullah Bade

Abstract:

Subdivision surfaces were applied to the entire meshes in order to produce smooth surfaces refinement from coarse mesh. Several schemes had been introduced in this area to provide a set of rules to converge smooth surfaces. However, to compute and render all the vertices are really inconvenient in terms of memory consumption and runtime during the subdivision process. It will lead to a heavy computational load especially at a higher level of subdivision. Adaptive subdivision is a method that subdivides only at certain areas of the meshes while the rest were maintained less polygons. Although adaptive subdivision occurs at the selected areas, the quality of produced surfaces which is their smoothness can be preserved similar as well as regular subdivision. Nevertheless, adaptive subdivision process burdened from two causes; calculations need to be done to define areas that are required to be subdivided and to remove cracks created from the subdivision depth difference between the selected and unselected areas. Unfortunately, the result of adaptive subdivision when it reaches to the higher level of subdivision, it still brings the problem with memory consumption. This research brings to iterative process of adaptive subdivision to improve the previous adaptive method that will reduce memory consumption applied on triangular mesh. The result of this iterative process was acceptable better in memory and appearance in order to produce fewer polygons while it preserves smooth surfaces.

Keywords: Subdivision surfaces, adaptive subdivision, selectioncriteria, handle cracks, smooth surface

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Authors: XhevrieMamaqi

Abstract:

Organization capacity learning is a process referring to the sum total of individual and collective learning through training programs, experience and experimentation, among others. Today, in-business ongoing training is one of the most important strategies for human capital development and it is crucial to sustain and improve workers’ knowledge and skills. Many organizations, firms and business are adopting a strategy of continuous learning, encouraging employees to learn new skills continually to be innovative and to try new processes and work in order to achieve a competitive advantage and superior business results. This paper uses the Resource Based View and Capacities (RBV) approach to construct a hypothetical relationships model between training and business results. The test of the model is applied on transversal data. A sample of 266 business of Spanish sector service has been selected. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) is used to estimate the relationship between ongoing training, represented by two latent dimension denominated Human and Social Capital resources and economic business results. The coefficients estimated have shown the efficient of some training aspectsexplaining the variation in business results.

Keywords: Business results, Human and Social Capital resources, training, RBV Theory, SEM.

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Authors: Qian, C. Z., Chen, V. Y., R. F. Woodbury

Abstract:

This paper describes the NEAR (Navigating Exhibitions, Annotations and Resources) panel, a novel interactive visualization technique designed to help people navigate and interpret groups of resources, exhibitions and annotations by revealing hidden relations such as similarities and references. NEAR is implemented on A•VI•RE, an extended online information repository. A•VI•RE supports a semi-structured collection of exhibitions containing various resources and annotations. Users are encouraged to contribute, share, annotate and interpret resources in the system by building their own exhibitions and annotations. However, it is hard to navigate smoothly and efficiently in A•VI•RE because of its high capacity and complexity. We present a visual panel that implements new navigation and communication approaches that support discovery of implied relations. By quickly scanning and interacting with NEAR, users can see not only implied relations but also potential connections among different data elements. NEAR was tested by several users in the A•VI•RE system and shown to be a supportive navigation tool. In the paper, we further analyze the design, report the evaluation and consider its usage in other applications.

Keywords: measure similarity, trace reference, inherentrelation, information visualization, online multimedia repository

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Authors: B. Bahmani Firouzi, T. Niknam, M. Nayeripour

Abstract:

With Power system movement toward restructuring along with factors such as life environment pollution, problems of transmission expansion and with advancement in construction technology of small generation units, it is expected that small units like wind turbines, fuel cells, photovoltaic, ... that most of the time connect to the distribution networks play a very essential role in electric power industry. With increase in developing usage of small generation units, management of distribution networks should be reviewed. The target of this paper is to present a new method for optimal management of active and reactive power in distribution networks with regard to costs pertaining to various types of dispersed generations, capacitors and cost of electric energy achieved from network. In other words, in this method it-s endeavored to select optimal sources of active and reactive power generation and controlling equipments such as dispersed generations, capacitors, under load tapchanger transformers and substations in a way that firstly costs in relation to them are minimized and secondly technical and physical constraints are regarded. Because the optimal management of distribution networks is an optimization problem with continuous and discrete variables, the new evolutionary method based on Ant Colony Algorithm has been applied. The simulation results of the method tested on two cases containing 23 and 34 buses exist and will be shown at later sections.

Keywords: Distributed Generation, Optimal Operation Management of distribution networks, Ant Colony Optimization(ACO).

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Authors: Alper Akın, İbrahim Aydoğdu

Abstract:

This study presents a hybrid metaheuristic algorithm to obtain optimum designs for steel space buildings. The optimum design problem of three-dimensional steel frames is mathematically formulated according to provisions of LRFD-AISC (Load and Resistance factor design of American Institute of Steel Construction). Design constraints such as the strength requirements of structural members, the displacement limitations, the inter-story drift and the other structural constraints are derived from LRFD-AISC specification. In this study, a hybrid algorithm by using teachinglearning based optimization (TLBO) and harmony search (HS) algorithms is employed to solve the stated optimum design problem. These algorithms are two of the recent additions to metaheuristic techniques of numerical optimization and have been an efficient tool for solving discrete programming problems. Using these two algorithms in collaboration creates a more powerful tool and mitigates each other’s weaknesses. To demonstrate the powerful performance of presented hybrid algorithm, the optimum design of a large scale steel building is presented and the results are compared to the previously obtained results available in the literature.

Keywords: Optimum structural design, hybrid techniques, teaching-learning based optimization, harmony search algorithm, minimum weight, steel space frame.

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Authors: Safa Boudhaouia, Mohamed Amen Gahbiche, Eliane Giraud, Wacef Ben Salem, Philippe Dal Santo

Abstract:

Multi-point forming (MPF) and asymmetric incremental forming (ISF) are two flexible processes for sheet metal manufacturing. To take advantages of these two techniques, a hybrid process has been developed: The Multipoint Incremental Forming (MPIF). This process accumulates at once the advantages of each of these last mentioned forming techniques, which makes it a very interesting and particularly an efficient process for single, small, and medium series production. In this paper, an experimental and a numerical investigation of this technique are presented. To highlight the flexibility of this process and its capacity to manufacture standard and complex shapes, several pieces were produced by using MPIF. The forming experiments are performed on a 3-axis CNC machine. Moreover, a numerical model of the MPIF process has been implemented in ABAQUS and the analysis showed a good agreement with experimental results in terms of deformed shape. Furthermore, the use of an elastomeric interpolator allows avoiding classical local defaults like dimples, which are generally caused by the asymmetric contact and also improves the distribution of residual strain. Future works will apply this approach to other alloys used in aeronautic or automotive applications.

Keywords: Incremental forming, numerical simulation, MPIF, multipoint forming.

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Authors: S. A. Anuar, N. H. Hamid, M. H. Hashim, S. M. D. Salleh

Abstract:

This paper present the experimental work of double unit tunnel form building (TFB) subjected to in-plane lateral cyclic loading. A one third scale of 3-storey double unit of TFB is tested until its strength degradation. Then, the TFB is repaired and retrofitted using additional shear wall, steel angle and CFRP sheet. The crack patterns, lateral strength, stiffness, ductility and equivalent viscous damping (EVD) were analyzed and compared before and after repair and retrofit. The result indicates that the lateral strength increases by 22% in pushing and 27% in pulling direction. Moreover, the stiffness and ductility obtained before and after retrofit increase tremendously by 87.87% and 39.66%, respectively. Meanwhile, the energy absorption measured by equivalent viscous damping obtained after retrofit increase by 12.34% in pulling direction. It can be concluded that the proposed retrofit method is capable to increase the lateral strength capacity, stiffness and energy absorption of double unit TFB.

Keywords: Crack pattern, stiffness, ductility, equivalent viscous damping.

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Authors: W. Swiderski

Abstract:

In the paper introduced the diagnostic technique making possible the research of internal structures in composite materials reinforced fibres using in different applications. The main reason of damages in structures of these materials is the changing distribution of load in constructions in the lifetime. Appearing defect is largely complicated because of the appearance of disturbing of continuity of reinforced fibres, binder cracks and loss of fibres adhesiveness from binders. Defect in composite materials is usually more complicated than in metals. At present, infrared thermography is the most effective method in non-destructive testing composite. One of IR thermography methods used in non-destructive evaluation is vibrothermography. The vibrothermography is not a new non-destructive method, but the new solution in this test is use ultrasonic waves to thermal stimulation of materials. In this paper, both modelling and experimental results which illustrate the advantages and limitations of ultrasonic IR thermography in inspecting composite materials will be presented. The ThermoSon computer program for computing 3D dynamic temperature distribuions in anisotropic layered solids with subsurface defects subject to ulrasonic stimulation was used to optimise heating parameters in the detection of subsurface defects in composite materials. The program allows for the analysis of transient heat conduction and ultrasonic wave propagation phenomena in solids. The experiments at MIAT were fulfilled by means of FLIR SC 7600 IR camera. Ultrasonic stimulation was performed with the frequency from 15 kHz to 30 kHz with maximum power up to 2 kW.

Keywords: Composite material, ultrasonic, infrared thermography, non-destructive testing.

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Authors: Quanru Pan

Abstract:

How to maintain the service speeds for the business to make the biggest profit is a problem worthy of study, which is discussed in this paper with the use of queuing theory. An M/M/1/N queuing model with variable input rates, variable service rates and impatient customers is established, and the following conclusions are drawn: the stationary distribution of the model, the relationship between the stationary distribution and the probability that there are n customers left in the system when a customer leaves (not including the customer who leaves himself), the busy period of the system, the average operating cycle, the loss probability for the customers not entering the system while they arriving at the system, the mean of the customers who leaves the system being for impatient, the loss probability for the customers not joining the queue due to the limited capacity of the system and many other indicators. This paper also indicates that the following conclusion is not correct: the more customers the business serve, the more profit they will get. At last, this paper points out the appropriate service speeds the business should keep to make the biggest profit.

Keywords: variable input rates, impatient customer, variable servicerates, profit maximization.

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Authors: Yoon- Ho Shin, Jin-Seung Choi, Dong-Won Kang, Jeong-Woo Seo, Joo-Hack Lee, Ju-Young Kim, Dae-Hyeok Kim, Seung-Tae Yang, Gye-Rae Tack

Abstract:

It is difficult to study the effect of various variables on cycle fitting through actual experiment. To overcome such difficulty, the forward dynamics of a musculoskeletal model was applied to cycle fitting in this study. The measured EMG data weres compared with the muscle activities of the musculoskeletal model through forward dynamics. EMG data were measured from five cyclists who do not have musculoskeletal diseases during three minutes pedaling with a constant load (150 W) and cadence (90 RPM). The muscles used for the analysis were the Vastus Lateralis (VL), Tibialis Anterior (TA), Bicep Femoris (BF), and Gastrocnemius Medial (GM). Person’s correlation coefficients of the muscle activity patterns, the peak timing of the maximum muscle activities, and the total muscle activities were calculated and compared. BIKE3D model of AnyBody (Anybodytech, Denmark) was used for the musculoskeletal model simulation. The comparisons of the actual experiments with the simulation results showed significant correlations in the muscle activity patterns (VL: 0.789, TA: 0.503, BF: 0.468, GM: 0.670). The peak timings of the maximum muscle activities were distributed at particular phases. The total muscle activities were compared with the normalized muscle activities, and the comparison showed about 10% difference in the VL (+10%), TA (+9.7%), and BF (+10%), excluding the GM (+29.4%). Thus, it can be concluded that muscle activities of model & experiment showed similar results. The results of this study indicated that it was possible to apply the simulation of further improved musculoskeletal model to cycle fitting.

Keywords: Cycle fitting, EMG, Musculoskeletal modeling, Simulation.

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Authors: A. Kumar, V. Devadas

Abstract:

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.

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