Search results for: Analysis of samples as consumed
7588 Optimal Combination for Modal Pushover Analysis by Using Genetic Algorithm
Authors: K. Shakeri, M. Mohebbi
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In order to consider the effects of the higher modes in the pushover analysis, during the recent years several multi-modal pushover procedures have been presented. In these methods the response of the considered modes are combined by the square-rootof- sum-of-squares (SRSS) rule while application of the elastic modal combination rules in the inelastic phases is no longer valid. In this research the feasibility of defining an efficient alternative combination method is investigated. Two steel moment-frame buildings denoted SAC-9 and SAC-20 under ten earthquake records are considered. The nonlinear responses of the structures are estimated by the directed algebraic combination of the weighted responses of the separate modes. The weight of the each mode is defined so that the resulted response of the combination has a minimum error to the nonlinear time history analysis. The genetic algorithm (GA) is used to minimize the error and optimize the weight factors. The obtained optimal factors for each mode in different cases are compared together to find unique appropriate weight factors for each mode in all cases.Keywords: Genetic Algorithm, Modal Pushover, Optimalweight.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18047587 The Behavior of Dam Foundation Reinforced by Stone Columns: Case Study of Kissir Dam-Jijel
Authors: Toufik Karech, Abderahmen Benseghir, Tayeb Bouzid
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This work presents a 2D numerical simulation of an earth dam to assess the behavior of its foundation after a treatment by stone columns. This treatment aims to improve the bearing capacity, to increase the mechanical properties of the soil, to accelerate the consolidation, to reduce the settlements and to eliminate the liquefaction phenomenon in case of seismic excitation. For the evaluation of the pore pressures, the position of the phreatic line and the flow network was defined, and a seepage analysis was performed with the software MIDAS Soil Works. The consolidation calculation is performed through a simulation of the actual construction stages of the dam. These analyzes were performed using the Mohr-Coulomb soil model and the results are compared with the actual measurements of settlement gauges implanted in the dam. An analysis of the bearing capacity was conducted to show the role of stone columns in improving the bearing capacity of the foundation.
Keywords: Earth dam, dam foundation, numerical simulation, stone columns, seepage analysis, consolidation, bearing capacity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11277586 Fragility Analysis of Weir Structure Subjected to Flooding Water Damage
Authors: Oh Hyeon Jeon, WooYoung Jung
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In this study, seepage analysis was performed by the level difference between upstream and downstream of weir structure for safety evaluation of weir structure against flooding. Monte Carlo Simulation method was employed by considering the probability distribution of the adjacent ground parameter, i.e., permeability coefficient of weir structure. Moreover, by using a commercially available finite element program (ABAQUS), modeling of the weir structure is carried out. Based on this model, the characteristic of water seepage during flooding was determined at each water level with consideration of the uncertainty of their corresponding permeability coefficient. Subsequently, fragility function could be constructed based on this response from numerical analysis; this fragility function results could be used to determine the weakness of weir structure subjected to flooding disaster. They can also be used as a reference data that can comprehensively predict the probability of failur,e and the degree of damage of a weir structure.
Keywords: Weir structure, seepage, flood disaster fragility, probabilistic risk assessment, Monte-Carlo Simulation, permeability coefficient.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11617585 Effect of Different Treatments on Heavy Metal Concentration in Sugar Cane Molasses
Authors: Gomaa N. Abdel-Rahman, Nadia R. A. Nassar, Yehia A. Heikal, Mahmoud A. M. Abou-Donia, Mohamed M. Naguib, Mohamed Fadel
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Cane molasses is used as a raw material for the production of baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) in Egypt. The high levels of heavy metals in molasses cause a critical problem during fermentation and cause various kinds of technological difficulties (yield and quality of yeast become lower). The aim of the present study was to determine heavy metal concentrations (cadmium, nickel, lead, and copper) in crude and treated molasses obtained from the storage tanks of the baker’s yeast factory through four seasons. Also, the effect of crude molasses treatment by different methods (at laboratory scale) on heavy metals reduction and its comparison with factory treated molasses were conducted. The molasses samples obtained at autumn season had the highest values of all the studied heavy metals. The molasses treated by cation exchange resin then sulfuric acid had the lowest concentrations of heavy metals compared with other treatments.
Keywords: Molasses, baker’s yeast, heavy metals, treatment.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24927584 Evaluation and Analysis of the Secure E-Voting Authentication Preparation Scheme
Authors: Nidal F. Shilbayeh, Reem A. Al-Saidi, Ahmed H. Alsswey
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In this paper, we presented an evaluation and analysis of E-Voting Authentication Preparation Scheme (EV-APS). EV-APS applies some modified security aspects that enhance the security measures and adds a strong wall of protection, confidentiality, non-repudiation and authentication requirements. Some of these modified security aspects are Kerberos authentication protocol, PVID scheme, responder certificate validation, and the converted Ferguson e-cash protocol. Authentication and privacy requirements have been evaluated and proved. Authentication guaranteed only eligible and authorized voters were permitted to vote. Also, the privacy guaranteed that all votes will be kept secret. Evaluation and analysis of some of these security requirements have been given. These modified aspects will help in filtering the counter buffer from unauthorized votes by ensuring that only authorized voters are permitted to vote.
Keywords: E-Voting preparation stage, blind signature protocol, nonce based authentication scheme, Kerberos authentication protocol, pseudo voter identity scheme PVID.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16187583 VLSI Design of 2-D Discrete Wavelet Transform for Area-Efficient and High-Speed Image Computing
Authors: Mountassar Maamoun, Mehdi Neggazi, Abdelhamid Meraghni, Daoud Berkani
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This paper presents a VLSI design approach of a highspeed and real-time 2-D Discrete Wavelet Transform computing. The proposed architecture, based on new and fast convolution approach, reduces the hardware complexity in addition to reduce the critical path to the multiplier delay. Furthermore, an advanced twodimensional (2-D) discrete wavelet transform (DWT) implementation, with an efficient memory area, is designed to produce one output in every clock cycle. As a result, a very highspeed is attained. The system is verified, using JPEG2000 coefficients filters, on Xilinx Virtex-II Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) device without accessing any external memory. The resulting computing rate is up to 270 M samples/s and the (9,7) 2-D wavelet filter uses only 18 kb of memory (16 kb of first-in-first-out memory) with 256×256 image size. In this way, the developed design requests reduced memory and provide very high-speed processing as well as high PSNR quality.Keywords: Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), Fast Convolution, FPGA, VLSI.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19667582 Methodology for the Multi-Objective Analysis of Data Sets in Freight Delivery
Authors: Dale Dzemydiene, Aurelija Burinskiene, Arunas Miliauskas, Kristina Ciziuniene
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Data flow and the purpose of reporting the data are different and dependent on business needs. Different parameters are reported and transferred regularly during freight delivery. This business practices form the dataset constructed for each time point and contain all required information for freight moving decisions. As a significant amount of these data is used for various purposes, an integrating methodological approach must be developed to respond to the indicated problem. The proposed methodology contains several steps: (1) collecting context data sets and data validation; (2) multi-objective analysis for optimizing freight transfer services. For data validation, the study involves Grubbs outliers analysis, particularly for data cleaning and the identification of statistical significance of data reporting event cases. The Grubbs test is often used as it measures one external value at a time exceeding the boundaries of standard normal distribution. In the study area, the test was not widely applied by authors, except when the Grubbs test for outlier detection was used to identify outsiders in fuel consumption data. In the study, the authors applied the method with a confidence level of 99%. For the multi-objective analysis, the authors would like to select the forms of construction of the genetic algorithms, which have more possibilities to extract the best solution. For freight delivery management, the schemas of genetic algorithms' structure are used as a more effective technique. Due to that, the adaptable genetic algorithm is applied for the description of choosing process of the effective transportation corridor. In this study, the multi-objective genetic algorithm methods are used to optimize the data evaluation and select the appropriate transport corridor. The authors suggest a methodology for the multi-objective analysis, which evaluates collected context data sets and uses this evaluation to determine a delivery corridor for freight transfer service in the multi-modal transportation network. In the multi-objective analysis, authors include safety components, the number of accidents a year, and freight delivery time in the multi-modal transportation network. The proposed methodology has practical value in the management of multi-modal transportation processes.
Keywords: Multi-objective decision support, analysis, data validation, freight delivery, multi-modal transportation, genetic programming methods.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4847581 Analysis of Possible Causes of Fukushima Disaster
Authors: Abid Hossain Khan, Syam Hasan, M. A. R. Sarkar
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Fukushima disaster is one of the most publicly exposed accidents in a nuclear facility which has changed the outlook of people towards nuclear power. Some have used it as an example to establish nuclear energy as an unsafe source, while others have tried to find the real reasons behind this accident. Many papers have tried to shed light on the possible causes, some of which are purely based on assumptions while others rely on rigorous data analysis. To our best knowledge, none of the works can say with absolute certainty that there is a single prominent reason that has paved the way to this unexpected incident. This paper attempts to compile all the apparent reasons behind Fukushima disaster and tries to analyze and identify the most likely one.
Keywords: Fuel meltdown, Fukushima disaster, manmade calamity, nuclear facility, tsunami.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21847580 Leaching of Mineral Nitrogen and Phosphate from Rhizosphere Soil Stressed by Drought and Intensive Rainfall
Authors: J. Elbl, J. K. Friedel, J. Záhora, L. Plošek, A. Kintl, J. Přichystalová, J. Hynšt, L. Dostálová, K. Zákoutská
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This work presents the first results from the long-term experiment, which is focused on the impact of intensive rainfall and long period of drought on microbial activities in soil. Fifteen lysimeters were prepared in the area of our interest. This area is a protection zone of underground source of drinking water. These lysimeters were filed with topsoil and subsoil collected in this area and divided into two groups. These groups differ in fertilization and amount of water received during the growing season. Amount of microbial biomass and leaching of mineral nitrogen and phosphates were chosen as main indicators of microbial activities in soil. Content of mineral nitrogen and phosphates was measured in soil solution, which was collected from each lysimeters. Amount of microbial biomass was determined in soil samples that were taken from the lysimeters before and after the long period of drought and intensive rainfall.
Keywords: Mineral nitrogen, Phosphates, Microbial activities, Drought, Precipitation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21467579 Stability Analysis of Impulsive Stochastic Fuzzy Cellular Neural Networks with Time-varying Delays and Reaction-diffusion Terms
Authors: Xinhua Zhang, Kelin Li
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In this paper, the problem of stability analysis for a class of impulsive stochastic fuzzy neural networks with timevarying delays and reaction-diffusion is considered. By utilizing suitable Lyapunov-Krasovskii funcational, the inequality technique and stochastic analysis technique, some sufficient conditions ensuring global exponential stability of equilibrium point for impulsive stochastic fuzzy cellular neural networks with time-varying delays and diffusion are obtained. In particular, the estimate of the exponential convergence rate is also provided, which depends on system parameters, diffusion effect and impulsive disturbed intention. It is believed that these results are significant and useful for the design and applications of fuzzy neural networks. An example is given to show the effectiveness of the obtained results.
Keywords: Exponential stability, stochastic fuzzy cellular neural networks, time-varying delays, impulses, reaction-diffusion terms.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13827578 Visualization of Quantitative Thresholds in Stocks
Authors: Siddhant Sahu, P. James Daniel Paul
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Technical analysis comprised by various technical indicators is a holistic way of representing price movement of stocks in the market. Various forms of indicators have evolved from the primitive ones in the past decades. There have been many attempts to introduce volume as a major determinant to determine strong patterns in market forecasting. The law of demand defines the relationship between the volume and price. Most of the traders are familiar with the volume game. Including the time dimension to the law of demand provides a different visualization to the theory. While attempting the same, it was found that there are different thresholds in the market for different companies. These thresholds have a significant influence on the price. This article is an attempt in determining the thresholds for companies using the three dimensional graphs for optimizing the portfolios. It also emphasizes on the magnitude of importance of volumes as a key factor for determining of predicting strong price movements, bullish and bearish markets. It uses a comprehensive data set of major companies which form a major chunk of the Indian automotive sector and are thus used as an illustration.
Keywords: Technical Analysis, Expert System, Law of demand, Stocks, Portfolio Analysis, Indian Automotive Sector.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20877577 Microwave Sintering and Its Application on Cemented Carbides
Authors: Rumman Md Raihanuzzaman, Lee Chang Chuan, Zonghan Xie, Reza Ghomashchi
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Cemented carbides, owing to their excellent mechanical properties, have been of immense interest in the field of hard materials for the past few decades. A number of processing techniques have been developed to obtain high quality carbide tools, with a wide range of grain size depending on the application and requirements. Microwave sintering is one of the heating processes, which has been used to prepare a wide range of materials including ceramics. A deep understanding of microwave sintering and its contribution towards control of grain growth and on deformation of the resulting carbide materials requires further studies and attention. In addition, the effect of binder materials and their behavior during microwave sintering is another area that requires clear understanding. This review aims to focus on microwave sintering, providing information of how the process works and what type of materials it is best suited for. In addition, a closer look at some microwave sintered Tungsten Carbide-Cobalt samples will be taken and discussed, highlighting some of the key issues and challenges faced in this research area.Keywords: Cemented carbides, consolidation, microwave sintering, mechanical properties.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29187576 Knowledge Based Wear Particle Analysis
Authors: Mohammad S. Laghari, Qurban A. Memon, Gulzar A. Khuwaja
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The paper describes a knowledge based system for analysis of microscopic wear particles. Wear particles contained in lubricating oil carry important information concerning machine condition, in particular the state of wear. Experts (Tribologists) in the field extract this information to monitor the operation of the machine and ensure safety, efficiency, quality, productivity, and economy of operation. This procedure is not always objective and it can also be expensive. The aim is to classify these particles according to their morphological attributes of size, shape, edge detail, thickness ratio, color, and texture, and by using this classification thereby predict wear failure modes in engines and other machinery. The attribute knowledge links human expertise to the devised Knowledge Based Wear Particle Analysis System (KBWPAS). The system provides an automated and systematic approach to wear particle identification which is linked directly to wear processes and modes that occur in machinery. This brings consistency in wear judgment prediction which leads to standardization and also less dependence on Tribologists.Keywords: Computer vision, knowledge based systems, morphology, wear particles.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17447575 Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Mg-Zn Alloys
Authors: Young Sik Kim, Tae Kwon Ha
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Effect of Zn addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-Zn alloys with Zn contents from 6 to 10 weight percent was investigated in this study. Through calculation of phase equilibria of Mg-Zn alloys, carried out by using FactSage® and FTLite database, solution treatment temperature was decided as temperatures from 300 to 400oC, where supersaturated solid solution can be obtained. Solid solution treatment of Mg-Zn alloys was successfully conducted at 380oC and supersaturated microstructure with all beta phase resolved into matrix was obtained. After solution treatment, hot rolling was successfully conducted by reduction of 60%. Compression and tension tests were carried out at room temperature on the samples as-cast, solution treated, hot-rolled and recrystallized after rolling. After solid solution treatment, each alloy was annealed at temperatures of 180 and 200oC for time intervals from 1 min to 48 hrs and hardness of each condition was measured by micro-Vickers method. Peak aging conditions were deduced as at the temperature of 200oC for 10 hrs. By addition of Zn by 10 weight percent, hardness and strength were enhanced.Keywords: Mg-Zn alloy, Heat treatment, Microstructure, Mechanical properties, Hardness.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23677574 Physicochemical Characterization of Waste from Vegetal Extracts Industry for Use as Briquettes
Authors: Maíra O. Palm, Cintia Marangoni, Ozair Souza, Noeli Sellin
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Wastes from a vegetal extracts industry (cocoa, oak, Guarana and mate) were characterized by particle size, proximate and ultimate analysis, lignocellulosic fractions, high heating value, thermal analysis (Thermogravimetric analysis – TGA, and Differential thermal analysis - DTA) and energy density to evaluate their potential as biomass in the form of briquettes for power generation. All wastes presented adequate particle sizes to briquettes production. The wastes showed high moisture content, requiring previous drying for use as briquettes. Cocoa and oak wastes had the highest volatile matter contents with maximum mass loss at 310 ºC and 450 ºC, respectively. The solvents used in the aroma extraction process influenced in the moisture content of the wastes, which was higher for mate due to water has been used as solvent. All wastes showed an insignificant loss mass after 565 °C, hence resulting in low ash content. High carbon and hydrogen contents and low sulfur and nitrogen contents were observed ensuring a low generation of sulfur and nitrous oxides. Mate and cocoa exhibited the highest carbon and lignin content, and high heating value. The dried wastes had high heating value, from 17.1 MJ/kg to 20.8 MJ/kg. The results indicate the energy potential of wastes for use as fuel in power generation.
Keywords: Agro-industrial waste, biomass, briquettes, combustion.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10387573 Selecting an Advanced Creep Model or a Sophisticated Time-Integration? A New Approach by Means of Sensitivity Analysis
Authors: Holger Keitel
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The prediction of long-term deformations of concrete and reinforced concrete structures has been a field of extensive research and several different creep models have been developed so far. Most of the models were developed for constant concrete stresses, thus, in case of varying stresses a specific superposition principle or time-integration, respectively, is necessary. Nowadays, when modeling concrete creep the engineering focus is rather on the application of sophisticated time-integration methods than choosing the more appropriate creep model. For this reason, this paper presents a method to quantify the uncertainties of creep prediction originating from the selection of creep models or from the time-integration methods. By adapting variance based global sensitivity analysis, a methodology is developed to quantify the influence of creep model selection or choice of time-integration method. Applying the developed method, general recommendations how to model creep behavior for varying stresses are given.
Keywords: Concrete creep models, time-integration methods, sensitivity analysis, prediction uncertainty.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15387572 Measurement and Analysis of Temperature Effects on Box Girders of Continuous Rigid Frame Bridges
Authors: Bugao Wang, Weifeng Wang, Xianwei Zeng
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Researches on the general rules of temperature field changing and their effects on the bridge in construction are necessary. This paper investigated the rules of temperature field changing and its effects on bridge using onsite measurement and computational analysis. Guanyinsha Bridge was used as a case study in this research. The temperature field was simulated in analyses. The effects of certain boundary conditions such as sun radiance, wind speed, and model parameters such as heat factor and specific heat on temperature field are investigated. Recommended values for these parameters are proposed. The simulated temperature field matches the measured observations with high accuracy. At the same time, the stresses and deflections of the bridge computed with the simulated temperature field matches measured values too. As a conclusion, the temperature effect analysis of reinforced concrete box girder can be conducted directly based on the reliable weather data of the concerned area.Keywords: continuous rigid frame bridge, temperature effectanalysis, temperature field, temperature field simulation
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25807571 A Numerical Approach for Static and Dynamic Analysis of Deformable Journal Bearings
Authors: D. Benasciutti, M. Gallina, M. Gh. Munteanu, F. Flumian
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This paper presents a numerical approach for the static and dynamic analysis of hydrodynamic radial journal bearings. In the first part, the effect of shaft and housing deformability on pressure distribution within oil film is investigated. An iterative algorithm that couples Reynolds equation with a plane finite elements (FE) structural model is solved. Viscosity-to-pressure dependency (Vogel- Barus equation) is also included. The deformed lubrication gap and the overall stress state are obtained. Numerical results are presented with reference to a typical journal bearing configuration at two different inlet oil temperatures. Obtained results show the great influence of bearing components structural deformation on oil pressure distribution, compared with results for ideally rigid components. In the second part, a numerical approach based on perturbation method is used to compute stiffness and damping matrices, which characterize the journal bearing dynamic behavior.Keywords: Journal bearing, finite elements, deformation, dynamic analysis
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20377570 Quantifying and Adjusting the Effects of Publication Bias in Continuous Meta-Analysis
Authors: N.R.N. Idris
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This study uses simulated meta-analysis to assess the effects of publication bias on meta-analysis estimates and to evaluate the efficacy of the trim and fill method in adjusting for these biases. The estimated effect sizes and the standard error were evaluated in terms of the statistical bias and the coverage probability. The results demonstrate that if publication bias is not adjusted it could lead to up to 40% bias in the treatment effect estimates. Utilization of the trim and fill method could reduce the bias in the overall estimate by more than half. The method is optimum in presence of moderate underlying bias but has minimal effects in presence of low and severe publication bias. Additionally, the trim and fill method improves the coverage probability by more than half when subjected to the same level of publication bias as those of the unadjusted data. The method however tends to produce false positive results and will incorrectly adjust the data for publication bias up to 45 % of the time. Nonetheless, the bias introduced into the estimates due to this adjustment is minimal
Keywords: Publication bias, Trim and Fill method, percentage relative bias, coverage probability
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15587569 Searching the Efficient Frontier for the Coherent Covering Location Problem
Authors: Felipe Azocar Simonet, Luis Acosta Espejo
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In this article, we will try to find an efficient boundary approximation for the bi-objective location problem with coherent coverage for two levels of hierarchy (CCLP). We present the mathematical formulation of the model used. Supported efficient solutions and unsupported efficient solutions are obtained by solving the bi-objective combinatorial problem through the weights method using a Lagrangean heuristic. Subsequently, the results are validated through the DEA analysis with the GEM index (Global efficiency measurement).Keywords: Coherent covering location problem, efficient frontier, Lagrangian relaxation, data envelopment analysis.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8097568 Ozone Assisted Low Temperature Catalytic Benzene Oxidation over Al2O3, SiO2, AlOOH Supported Ni/Pd Catalytic
Authors: V. Georgiev
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Catalytic oxidation of benzene assisted by ozone, on alumina, silica, and boehmite-supported Ni/Pd catalysts was investigated at 353 K to assess the influence of the support on the reaction. Three bimetallic Ni/Pd nanosized samples with loading 4.7% of Ni and 0.17% of Pd supported on SiO2, AlOOH and Al2O3 were synthesized by the extractive-pyrolytic method. The phase composition was characterized by means of XRD and the surface area and pore size were estimated using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and Barrett–Joyner–Halenda (BJH) methods. At the beginning of the reaction, catalysts were significantly deactivated due to the accumulation of intermediates on the catalyst surface and after 60 minutes it turned stable. Ni/Pd/AlOOH catalyst showed the highest steady-state activity in comparison with the Ni/Pd/SiO2 and Ni/Pd/Al2O3 catalysts. Their activity depends on the ozone decomposition potential of the catalysts because of generating oxidizing active species. The sample with the highest ozone decomposition ability which correlated to the surface area of the support oxidizes benzene to the highest extent.
Keywords: Ozone, catalysts, oxidation, Volatile organic compounds, VOCs.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6197567 Selenium Content in Agricultural Soils and Wheat from the Balkan Peninsula
Authors: S. Krustev, V. Angelova, P. Zaprjanova
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Selenium (Se) is an essential micro-nutrient for human and animals but it is highly toxic. Its organic compounds play an important role in biochemistry and nutrition of the cells. Concentration levels of this element in the different regions of the world vary considerably. This study aimed to compare the availability and levels of the Se in some rural areas of the Balkan Peninsula and relationship with the concentrations of other trace elements. For this purpose soil samples and wheat grains from different regions of Bulgaria, Serbia, Nord Macedonia, Romania, and Greece situated far from large industrial centers have been analyzed. The main methods for their determination were the atomic spectral techniques – atomic absorption and plasma atomic emission. As a result of this study, data on microelements levels from the main grain-producing regions of the Balkan Peninsula were determined and systematized. The presented results confirm the low levels of Se in this region: 0.222– 0.962 mg.kg-1 in soils and 0.001 - 0.005 mg.kg-1 in wheat grains and require measures to offset the effect of this deficiency.
Keywords: Agricultural soils, Balkan Peninsula, rural areas, selenium.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6557566 AC Signals Estimation from Irregular Samples
Authors: Predrag B. Petrović
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The paper deals with the estimation of amplitude and phase of an analogue multi-harmonic band-limited signal from irregularly spaced sampling values. To this end, assuming the signal fundamental frequency is known in advance (i.e., estimated at an independent stage), a complexity-reduced algorithm for signal reconstruction in time domain is proposed. The reduction in complexity is achieved owing to completely new analytical and summarized expressions that enable a quick estimation at a low numerical error. The proposed algorithm for the calculation of the unknown parameters requires O((2M+1)2) flops, while the straightforward solution of the obtained equations takes O((2M+1)3) flops (M is the number of the harmonic components). It is applied in signal reconstruction, spectral estimation, system identification, as well as in other important signal processing problems. The proposed method of processing can be used for precise RMS measurements (for power and energy) of a periodic signal based on the presented signal reconstruction. The paper investigates the errors related to the signal parameter estimation, and there is a computer simulation that demonstrates the accuracy of these algorithms.
Keywords: Band-limited signals, Fourier coefficient estimation, analytical solutions, signal reconstruction, time.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17497565 RoboWeedSupport-Sub Millimeter Weed Image Acquisition in Cereal Crops with Speeds up till 50 Km/H
Authors: Morten Stigaard Laursen, Rasmus Nyholm Jørgensen, Mads Dyrmann, Robert Poulsen
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For the past three years, the Danish project, RoboWeedSupport, has sought to bridge the gap between the potential herbicide savings using a decision support system and the required weed inspections. In order to automate the weed inspections it is desired to generate a map of the weed species present within the field, to generate the map images must be captured with samples covering the field. This paper investigates the economical cost of performing this data collection based on a camera system mounted on a all-terain vehicle (ATV) able to drive and collect data at up to 50 km/h while still maintaining a image quality sufficient for identifying newly emerged grass weeds. The economical estimates are based on approximately 100 hectares recorded at three different locations in Denmark. With an average image density of 99 images per hectare the ATV had an capacity of 28 ha per hour, which is estimated to cost 6.6 EUR/ha. Alternatively relying on a boom solution for an existing tracktor it was estimated that a cost of 2.4 EUR/ha is obtainable under equal conditions.Keywords: Weed mapping, integrated weed management, weed recognition.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14657564 Seismic Assessment of an Existing Dual System RC Buildings in Madinah City
Authors: Tarek M. Alguhane, Ayman H. Khalil, M. N. Fayed, Ayman M. Ismail
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A 15-storey RC building, studied in this paper, is representative of modern building type constructed in Madina City in Saudi Arabia before 10 years ago. These buildings are almost consisting of reinforced concrete skeleton i.e. columns, beams and flat slab as well as shear walls in the stairs and elevator areas arranged in the way to have a resistance system for lateral loads (wind – earthquake loads). In this study, the dynamic properties of the 15-storey RC building were identified using ambient motions recorded at several, spatially-distributed locations within each building. Three dimensional pushover analysis (Nonlinear static analysis) was carried out using SAP2000 software incorporating inelastic material properties for concrete, infill and steel. The effect of modeling the building with and without infill walls, on the performance point as well as capacity and demand spectra due to EQ design spectrum function in Madina area has been investigated. ATC- 40 capacity and demand spectra are utilized to get the modification factor (R) for the studied building. The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the expected performance of structural systems by estimating, strength and deformation demands in design, and comparing these demands to available capacities at the performance levels of interest. The results are summarized and discussed.
Keywords: Seismic assessment, pushover analysis, ambient vibration, modal update.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19027563 Improving the Analytical Power of Dynamic DEA Models, by the Consideration of the Shape of the Distribution of Inputs/Outputs Data: A Linear Piecewise Decomposition Approach
Authors: Elias K. Maragos, Petros E. Maravelakis
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In Dynamic Data Envelopment Analysis (DDEA), which is a subfield of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), the productivity of Decision Making Units (DMUs) is considered in relation to time. In this case, as it is accepted by the most of the researchers, there are outputs, which are produced by a DMU to be used as inputs in a future time. Those outputs are known as intermediates. The common models, in DDEA, do not take into account the shape of the distribution of those inputs, outputs or intermediates data, assuming that the distribution of the virtual value of them does not deviate from linearity. This weakness causes the limitation of the accuracy of the analytical power of the traditional DDEA models. In this paper, the authors, using the concept of piecewise linear inputs and outputs, propose an extended DDEA model. The proposed model increases the flexibility of the traditional DDEA models and improves the measurement of the dynamic performance of DMUs.
Keywords: Data envelopment analysis, Dynamic DEA, Piecewise linear inputs, Piecewise linear outputs.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6567562 Study on Characterization of Tuncbilek Fly Ash
Authors: A.S. Kipcak, N. Baran Acarali, S. Kolemen, N. Tugrul, E. Moroydor Derun, S. Piskin
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Fly ash is one of the residues generated in combustion, and comprises the fine particles that rise with the flue gases. Ash which does not rise is termed bottom ash [1]. In our country, it is expected that will be occurred 50 million tons of waste ash per year until 2020. Released waste from the thermal power plants is caused very significant problems as known. The fly ashes can be evaluated by using as adsorbent material. The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of use of Tuncbilek fly ash like low-cost adsorbents for heavy metal adsorption. First of all, Tuncbilek fly ash was characterized. For this purpose; analysis such as sieve analysis, XRD, XRF, SEM and FT-IR were performed.Keywords: Fly ash, heavy metal, sieve, adsorbent
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18537561 A Formulation of the Latent Class Vector Model for Pairwise Data
Authors: Tomoya Okubo, Kuninori Nakamura, Shin-ichi Mayekawa
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In this research, a latent class vector model for pairwise data is formulated. As compared to the basic vector model, this model yields consistent estimates of the parameters since the number of parameters to be estimated does not increase with the number of subjects. The result of the analysis reveals that the model was stable and could classify each subject to the latent classes representing the typical scales used by these subjects.
Keywords: finite mixture models, latent class analysis, Thrustone's paired comparison method, vector model
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12167560 Spatial Correlation Analysis between Climate Factors and Plant Production in Asia
Authors: Yukiyo Yamamoto, Jun Furuya, Shintaro Kobayashi
Abstract:
Using 1km grid datasets representing monthly mean precipitation, monthly mean temperature, and dry matter production (DMP), we considered the regional plant production ability in Southeast and South Asia, and also employed pixel-by-pixel correlation analysis to assess the intensity of relation between climate factors and plant production. While annual DMP in South Asia was approximately less than 2,000kg, the one in most part of Southeast Asia exceeded 2,500 - 3,000kg. It suggested that plant production in Southeast Asia was superior to South Asia, however, Rain-Use Efficiency (RUE) representing dry matter production per 1mm precipitation showed that inland of Indochina Peninsula and India were higher than islands in Southeast Asia. By the results of correlation analysis between climate factors and DMP, while the area in most parts of Indochina Peninsula indicated negative correlation coefficients between DMP and precipitation or temperature, the area in Malay Peninsula and islands showed negative correlation to precipitation and positive one to temperature, and most part of India dominating South Asia showed positive to precipitation and negative to temperature. In addition, the areas where the correlation coefficients exceeded |0.8| were regarded as “susceptible" to climate factors, and the areas smaller than |0.2| were “insusceptible". By following the discrimination, the map implying expected impacts by climate change was provided.Keywords: Asia, correlation analysis, plant production, precipitation, temperature.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14507559 The Model Establishment and Analysis of TRACE/MELCOR for Kuosheng Nuclear Power Plant Spent Fuel Pool
Authors: W. S. Hsu, Y. Chiang, Y. S. Tseng, J. R. Wang, C. Shih, S. W. Chen
Abstract:
Kuosheng nuclear power plant (NPP) is a BWR/6 plant in Taiwan. There is more concern for the safety of NPPs in Taiwan after Japan Fukushima NPP disaster occurred. Hence, in order to estimate the safety of Kuosheng NPP spent fuel pool (SFP), by using TRACE, MELCOR, and SNAP codes, the safety analysis of Kuosheng NPP SFP was performed. There were two main steps in this research. First, the Kuosheng NPP SFP models were established. Second, the transient analysis of Kuosheng SFP was done by TRACE and MELCOR under the cooling system failure condition (Fukushima-like condition). The results showed that the calculations of MELCOR and TRACE were very similar in this case, and the fuel uncover happened roughly at 4th day after the failure of cooling system. The above results indicated that Kuosheng NPP SFP may be unsafe in the case of long-term SBO situation. In addition, future calculations were needed to be done by the other codes like FRAPTRAN for the cladding calculations.
Keywords: TRACE, MELCOR, SNAP, spent fuel pool.
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