Search results for: Valve-point loading effect

Authors: Velid Demir, Mesut Akgün

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The lanthanum and zinc oxide were synthesized and then loaded with 6 wt% over γ-Al2O3 using the wet impregnation method. The samples were calcined at 900 °C to ensure a coherent structure with high catalytic performance. Characterization of the catalysts was verified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The effect of catalysts on biodiesel content from jatropha oil was studied under supercritical conditions. The results showed that ZnO/γ-Al2O3 was the superior catalyst for jatropha oil with 98.05% biodiesel under reaction conditions of 7 min reaction time, 1:40 oil to methanol molar ratio, 6 wt% of catalyst loading, 90 bar of reaction pressure, and 300 °C of reaction temperature, compared to 95.50% with La2O3/γ-Al2O3 at the same parameters. For this study, ZnO/γ-Al2O3 was the most suitable catalyst due to performance and cost considerations.

Keywords: Biodiesel, heterogeneous catalyst, Jatropha oil, supercritical methanol, transesterification.

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Authors: Gabi Nehme

Abstract:

The relationship between different types of Molybdenum disulfide greases under extreme pressure loading and different speed situations have been studied using Design of Experiment (DOE) under 1200rpm steady state rotational speed and cyclic frequencies between 2400 and 1200rpm using a Plint machine software to set up the different rotational speed situations.  Research described here is aimed at providing good friction and wear performance while optimizing cyclic frequencies and MoS2 concentration due to the recent concern about grease behavior in extreme pressure applications. Extreme load of 785 Newton was used in conjunction with different cyclic frequencies (2400rpm -3.75min, 1200rpm -7.5min, 2400rpm -3.75min, 1200rpm -7.5min), to examine lithium based grease with and without MoS2 for equal number of revolutions, and a total run of 36000 revolutions; then compared to 1200rpm steady speed for the same total number of revolutions. 4 Ball wear tester was utilized to run large number of experiments randomly selected by the DOE software. The grease was combined with fine grade MoS2 or technical grade then heated to 750C and the wear scar width was collected at the end of each test. DOE model validation results verify that the data were very significant and can be applied to a wide range of extreme pressure applications. Based on simulation results and Scanning Electron images (SEM), it has been found that wear was largely dependent on the cyclic frequency condition. It is believed that technical grade MoS2 greases under faster cyclic speeds perform better and provides antiwear film that can resist extreme pressure loadings. Figures showed reduced wear scars width and improved frictional values.

 

Keywords: MoS2 grease, wear, friction, extreme load, cyclic frequencies, aircraft grade bearing.

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Authors: Wei-Wen Liu, Feng-Chuan Pan, Pei-Chi Wen, Sen-Ji Chen, Su-Hui Lin

Abstract:

Nurses in an Armed Force Hospital (AFH) expose to stronger stress than those in a civil hospital, especially in an emergency department (ED). Ironically, stresses of these nurses received few if any attention in academic research in the past. This study collects 227 samples from the emergency departments of four armed force hospitals in central and southern Taiwan. The research indicates that the top five stressors are a massive casualty event, delayed physician support, overloads of routine work, overloads of assignments, and annoying paper work. Excessive work loading was found to be the primary source of stress. Nurses who were perceived to have greater stress levels were more inclined to deploy emotion-oriented approaches and more likely to seek job rotations. Professional stressors and problem-oriented approaches were positively correlated. Unlike other local studies, this study concludes that the excessive work-loading is more stressful in an AFH.

Keywords: Emergency nurse, Job stressor, Coping behavior, Armed force hospital.

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Authors: A. A. Okeola, T. I. Sijuade

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Unreinforced concrete is a comparatively brittle substance when exposed to tensile stresses, the required tensile strength is provided by the introduction of steel which is used as reinforcement. The strength of concrete may be improved tremendously by the addition of fibre. This study focused on investigating the compressive strength of mass concrete mixed with different percentage of plastic fibre. Twelve samples of concrete cubes with varied percentage of plastic fibre at 7, 14 and 28 days of water submerged curing were tested under compression loading. The result shows that the compressive strength of plastic fibre reinforced concrete increased with rise in curing age. The strength increases for all percentage dosage of fibre used for the concrete. The density of the Plastic Fibre Reinforced Concrete (PFRC) also increases with curing age, which implies that during curing, concrete absorbs water which aids its hydration. The least compressive strength obtained with the introduction of plastic fibre is more than the targeted 20 N/mm² recommended for construction work showing that PFRC can be used where significant loading is expected.

Keywords: Compressive strength, plastic fibre, concrete, curing, density.

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Authors: Pavan K. Emani, Shashank Kothari, V. S. Phanikanth

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The ultimate load analysis of RC pile groups has assumed a lot of significance under liquefying soil conditions, especially due to post-earthquake studies of 1964 Niigata, 1995 Kobe and 2001 Bhuj earthquakes. The present study reports the results of numerical simulations on pile groups subjected to monotonically increasing lateral loads under design amounts of pile axial loading. The soil liquefaction has been considered through the non-linear p-y relationship of the soil springs, which can vary along the depth/length of the pile. This variation again is related to the liquefaction potential of the site and the magnitude of the seismic shaking. As the piles in the group can reach their extreme deflections and rotations during increased amounts of lateral loading, a precise modeling of the inelastic behavior of the pile cross-section is done, considering the complete stress-strain behavior of concrete, with and without confinement, and reinforcing steel, including the strain-hardening portion. The possibility of the inelastic buckling of the individual piles is considered in the overall collapse modes. The model is analysed using Riks analysis in finite element software to check the post buckling behavior and plastic collapse of piles. The results confirm the kinds of failure modes predicted by centrifuge test results reported by researchers on pile group, although the pile material used is significantly different from that of the simulation model. The extension of the present work promises an important contribution to the design codes for pile groups in liquefying soils.

Keywords: Collapse load analysis, inelastic buckling, liquefaction, pile group.

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Authors: Othman S. Alsheraida, Sherif El-Gamal

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Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) is a composite material with exceptional properties that are capable to replace conventional steel reinforcement in reinforced and pre-stressed concrete structures. However, the main obstacle for their wide use in pre-stressed concrete application is the anchorage system. Due to the weakness of FRP in the transverse direction, the pre-stressing capacity of FRP bars are limited. This paper investigates the modification of the conventional wedge anchorage system to be used for stressing of FRP bars in pre-stressed applications. Epoxy adhesive material with glass FRP (GFRP) bars and conventional steel wedge were used in this paper. The GFRP bars are encased with epoxy at the anchor zone and the wedge system was used in pull-out test. The results showed a loading capacity of 47.6 kN which is 69% of the bar ultimate capacity. Additionally, nylon wedge was made with the same dimensions of the steel wedge and tested for GFRP bars without epoxy layer. The nylon wedge showed a loading capacity of 19.7 kN which is only 28.5% of the ultimate bar capacity.

Keywords: Anchorage, concrete, epoxy, FRP, pre-stressed.

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Authors: M. Saravani, M. Azizi,

Abstract:

The V-notches are most possible case for initiation of cracks in parts. The specifications of cracks on the tip of the notch will be influenced via opening angle, tip radius and depth of V-notch. In this study, the effects of V-notch-s opening angle on stress intensity factor and T-stress of crack on the notch has been investigated. The experiment has been done in different opening angles and various crack length in mode (I) loading using Photoelasticity method. The results illustrate that while angle increases in constant crack-s length, SIF and T-stress will decrease. Beside, the effect of V-notch angle in short crack is more than long crack. These V-notch affects are negligible by increasing the length of crack, and the crack-s behavior can be considered as a single-edge crack specimen. Finally, the results have been evaluated with numerical finite element analysis and good agreement was obvious.

Keywords: Photoelasticity, Stress intensity factor, T-stress, V-notch.

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Authors: Aaron Aboshio, Jianqioa Ye

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In this study, static and dynamic responses of a typical reinforced concrete solid slab, designed to British Standard (BS 8110: 1997) and under self and live loadings for dance halls are reported. Linear perturbation analysis using finite element method was employed for modal, impulse loading and frequency response analyses of the slab under the aforementioned loading condition. Results from the static and dynamic analyses, comprising of the slab fundamental frequencies and mode shapes, dynamic amplification factor, maximum deflection, stress distributions among other valuable outcomes are presented and discussed. These were gauged with the limiting provisions in the design code with a view of justifying valid optimization objective function for the structure that can ensure both adequate strength and economical section for large clear span slabs. This is necessary owing to the continued increase in cost of erecting building structures and the squeeze on public finance globally.

Keywords: Economical design, Finite element method, Modal dynamics, Reinforced concrete, Slab.

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Authors: Marco Raciti Castelli, Stefano De Betta, Ernesto Benini

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A two-dimensional numerical simulation of the contribution of both inertial and aerodynamic forces on the blade loads of a Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) is presented. After describing the computational model and the relative validation procedure, a complete campaign of simulations - based on full RANS unsteady calculations - is proposed for a three-bladed rotor architecture characterized by a NACA 0021 airfoil. For each analyzed angular velocity, the combined effect of pressure and viscous forces acting on every rotor blade are compared to the corresponding centrifugal forces, due to the revolution of the turbine, thus achieving a preliminary estimation of the correlation between overall rotor efficiency and structural blade loads.

Keywords: CFD, VAWT, NACA 0021, aerodynamic forces, inertial loadings.

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Authors: A. I. Alateyah, H. N. Dhakal, Z. Y. Zhang

Abstract:

Contact angle measurement was utilized in order to study the subject of the wettability and surface chemistry of the nanocomposites materials. Water and glycerol droplets were used in this study. The incorporation of layered silicate into the vinyl ester matrix helped to improve the wettability and reduced the θ values of both liquids used. The addition of 2 wt.% clay loading reduced the θ values of water and glycerol by up to 21% and 6% respectively. Likewise, the incorporation of 4 wt.% clay loading reduced the water and glycerol θ values by 49% and 38% respectively. Also this study confirms the findings in the literature regarding the relationship between the intercalation nanocomposites level and the wettability. Wide Angle X-ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy were utilised in order to characterise the interlamellar structure of nanocomposites.

Keywords: Vinyl ester, nanocomposites, layered silicate, characterisations, contact angle measurement, wettability.

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Authors: Heri Hermansyah, Annisa Kurnia, A. Vania Anisya, Adi Surjosatyo, Yopi Sunarya, Rita Arbianti, Tania Surya Utami

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Lipase is one of biocatalyst which is applied commercially for the process in industries, such as bioenergy, food, and pharmaceutical industry. Nowadays, biocatalysts are preferred in industries because they work in mild condition, high specificity, and reduce energy consumption (high pressure and temperature). But, the usage of lipase for industry scale is limited by economic reason due to the high price of lipase and difficulty of the separation system. Immobilization of lipase is one of the solutions to maintain the activity of lipase and reduce separation system in the process. Therefore, we conduct a study about lipase immobilization with the adsorption-cross linking method using glutaraldehyde because this method produces high enzyme loading and stability. Lipase is immobilized on different kind of resin with the various functional group. Highest enzyme loading (76.69%) was achieved by lipase immobilized on anion macroporous which have anion functional group (OH^‑). However, highest activity (24,69 U/g support) through olive oil emulsion method was achieved by lipase immobilized on anion macroporous-chitosan which have amino (NH₂) and anion (OH^-) functional group. In addition, it also success to produce biodiesel until reach yield 50,6% through interesterification reaction and after 4 cycles stable 63.9% relative with initial yield. While for Aspergillus, niger lipase immobilized on anion macroporous-kitosan have unit activity 22,84 U/g resin and yield biodiesel higher than commercial lipase (69,1%) and after 4 cycles stable reach 70.6% relative from initial yield. This shows that optimum functional group on support for immobilization with adsorption-cross linking is the support that contains amino (NH₂) and anion (OH^-) functional group because they can react with glutaraldehyde and binding with enzyme prevent desorption of lipase from support through binding lipase with a functional group on support.

Keywords: Adsorption-Cross linking, lipase, resin, immobilization.

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Authors: Tao Qu, Chandra Prakash, Vikas Tomar

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The interfaces between organic and inorganic phases in natural materials have been shown to be a key factor contributing to their high performance. This work analyzes crack propagation in a 2-ply laminate subjected to uniaxial tensile mode-I crack propagation loading that has laminate properties derived based on biological material constituents (marine exoskeleton- chitin and calcite). Interfaces in such laminates are explicitly modeled based on earlier molecular simulations performed by authors. Extended finite element method and cohesive zone modeling based simulations coupled with theoretical analysis are used to analyze crack propagation. Analyses explicitly quantify the effect that interface mechanical property variation has on the delamination as well as the transverse crack propagation in examined 2-ply laminates.

Keywords: Chitin, composites, interfaces, fracture.

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Authors: Mehdi Saeidmanesh, Razali Ismail

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Recently, Graphene Nanoribbon Field Effect Transistors (GNR FETs) attract a great deal of attention due to their better performance in comparison with conventional devices. In this paper, channel length Modulation (CLM) effect on the electrical characteristics of GNR FETs is analytically studied and modeled. To this end, the special distribution of the electric potential along the channel and current-voltage characteristic of the device is modeled. The obtained results of analytical model are compared to the experimental data of published works. As a result, it is observable that considering the effect of CLM, the current-voltage response of GNR FET is more realistic.

Keywords: Graphene nanoribbon, field effect transistors, short channel effects, channel length modulation.

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Authors: M. Rad, M. Dolatshahi Pirooz, M. Esmayili

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To understand the seismic behavior of the offshore structures, the dynamic interaction of the water-structure-soil should be assessed. In this regard the role of the water dynamic properties in magnifying or reducing of the effects of earthquake induced motions on offshore structures haven't been investigated in precise manner in available literature. In this paper the sea water level fluctuations effects on the seismic behavior of a sample of offshore structures has been investigated by emphasizing on the water-structure interaction phenomenon. For this purpose a two dimensional finite element model of offshore structures as well as surrounded water has been developed using ANSYS software. The effect of soil interaction with embedded pile foundation has been imposed by using a series of nonlinear springs in horizontal and vertical directions in soil-piles contact points. In the model, the earthquake induced motions have been applied on springs and consequently the motions propagated upward to the structure and surrounded water. As a result of numerical study, the horizontal deformations of the offshore deck as well as internal force and buckling coefficient in structural elements have been recorded and controlled with and without water presence. In part of study a parametric study has been accomplished on sea water level fluctuations and effect of this parameter has been studied on the aforementioned numerical results.

Keywords: Fluid-Structure Interaction, Jacket, Sea Water Level, Seismic Loading.

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Authors: Yuan Jie Kelvin Lu, Amin Chegenizadeh

Abstract:

Asphalt pavement itself is a mixture made up of mainly aggregates, binders, and fillers that acts as a composition used for pavement construction. An experimental program was setup to determine the fatigue performance test of Asphalt with three different grades of conventional binders. Asphalt specimen has achieved the maximum optimum bulk density and air voids with a consistent bulk density of 2.3 t/m3, with an air void of 5% ± 0.5, before loading into the Asphalt Mixture Performance Tested (AMPT) for fatigue test. The number of cycles is defined as the point where phase angle drops, which is caused by the formation of cracks due to the increasing micro cracks when asphalt is undergoing repeated cycles of loading. Thus, the data collected are analyzed using the drop of phase angle as failure criteria. Based in the data analyzed, it is evident that the fatigue life of asphalt lies on the grade of binder. The result obtained shows that all specimens do experience a drop in phase angle due to macro cracks in the asphalt specimen.

Keywords: Asphalt binder, AMPT, CX test, simplified–viscoelastic continuum damage (S-VECD).

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Authors: F. Atheer, Al-Saoudi, Robin Kalfat, Riadh Al-Mahaidi

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Over the last two decades, externally bonded fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites bonded to concrete substrates has become a popular method for strengthening reinforced concrete (RC) highway and railway bridges. Such structures are exposed to severe cyclic loading throughout their lifetime often resulting in fatigue damage to structural components and a reduction in the service life of the structure. Since experimental and numerical results on the fatigue performance of FRP-to-concrete joints are still limited, the current research focuses on assessing the fatigue performance of externally bonded FRP-to-concrete joints using a direct shear test. Some early results indicate that the stress ratio and the applied cyclic stress level have a direct influence on the fatigue life of the externally bonded FRP. In addition, a calibrated finite element model is developed to provide further insight into the influence of certain parameters such as: concrete strength, FRP thickness, number of cycles, frequency, and stiffness on the fatigue life of the FRP-toconcrete joints.

Keywords: FRP, concrete bond, control, fatigue, finite element model.

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Authors: Majid Yazdandoust

Abstract:

This study, tries to suggest a design method based on displacement using finite difference numerical modeling in reinforcing soil retaining wall with steel strip. In this case, dynamic loading characteristics such as duration, frequency, peak ground acceleration, geometrical characteristics of reinforced soil structure and type of the site are considered to correct the pseudo static method and finally introduce the pseudo static coefficient as a function of seismic performance level and peak ground acceleration. For this purpose, the influence of dynamic loading characteristics, reinforcement length, height of reinforced system and type of the site are investigated on seismic behavior of reinforcing soil retaining wall with steel strip. Numerical results illustrate that the seismic response of this type of wall is highly dependent to cumulative absolute velocity, maximum acceleration, and height and reinforcement length so that the reinforcement length can be introduced as the main factor in shape of failure. Considering the loading parameters, geometric parameters of the wall and type of the site showed that the used method in this study leads to efficient designs in comparison with other methods, which are usually based on limit-equilibrium concept. The outputs show the over-estimation of equilibrium design methods in comparison with proposed displacement based methods here.

Keywords: Pseudo static coefficient, seismic performance design, numerical modeling, steel strip reinforcement, retaining walls, cumulative absolute velocity, failure shape.

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Authors: K. Nagaraju, S. Sivanagaraju, T. Ramana, V. Ganesh

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This paper presents a simple method for estimation of additional load as a factor of the existing load that may be drawn before reaching the point of line maximum loadability of radial distribution system (RDS) with different realistic load models at different substation voltages. The proposed method involves a simple line loadability index (LLI) that gives a measure of the proximity of the present state of a line in the distribution system. The LLI can use to assess voltage instability and the line loading margin. The proposed method also compares with the existing method of maximum loadability index [10]. The simulation results show that the LLI can identify not only the weakest line/branch causing system instability but also the system voltage collapse point when it is near one. This feature enables us to set an index threshold to monitor and predict system stability on-line so that a proper action can be taken to prevent the system from collapse. To demonstrate the validity of the proposed algorithm, computer simulations are carried out on two bus and 69 bus RDS.

Keywords: line loadability index, line loading margin, maximum line loadability, system stability, radial distribution system

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Authors: A. Gherbi, L. Dahmani, A. Boudjemia

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This paper presents the Finite Element Method (FEM) for analyzing the failure pattern of rectangular slab with various edge conditions. Non-Linear static analysis is carried out using ANSYS 15 Software. Using SOLID65 solid elements, the compressive crushing of concrete is facilitated using plasticity algorithm, while the concrete cracking in tension zone is accommodated by the nonlinear material model. Smeared reinforcement is used and introduced as a percentage of steel embedded in concrete slab. The behavior of the analyzed concrete slab has been observed in terms of the crack pattern and displacement for various loading and boundary conditions. The finite element results are also compared with the experimental data. One of the other objectives of the present study is to show how similar the crack path found by ANSYS program to those observed for the yield line analysis. The smeared reinforcement method is found to be more practical especially for the layered elements like concrete slabs. The value of this method is that it does not require explicit modeling of the rebar, and thus a much coarser mesh can be defined.

Keywords: ANSYS, cracking pattern, displacements, RC Slab, smeared reinforcement.

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Authors: Chih-Hsiang Chang

Abstract:

This study aims to explore the relationship between the disposition effect and herding behavior of investors trading Taiwanese information technology stocks. This study differs from previous literature in two aspects. First, in contrast with the earlier studies that focused on investigating investors’ herding behavior, this study explores the possibility that the disposition effect drives investors’ herding behavior. Additionally, it takes an in-depth look at the interdependence between the disposition effect and herding behavior of investors, including lead-lag relationship and volatility transmission effect. Empirical results show that investors trading Taiwan’s information technology stocks exhibit pronounced herding behavior and that the disposition effect has a great impact on their herding behavior.

Keywords: Herding behavior, Disposition effect, Behavioral finance.

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Authors: Yu Yuan, David Feng, Yu-Zhuo Zhong

Abstract:

Ringing effect is one of the most annoying visual artifacts in digital video. It is a significant factor of subjective quality deterioration. However, there is a widely-accepted misunderstanding of its cause. In this paper, we propose a reasonable interpretation of the cause of ringing effect. Based on the interpretation, we suggest further two methods to reduce ringing effect in DCT-based video coding. The methods adaptively adjust quantizers according to video features. Our experiments proved that the methods could efficiently improve subjective quality with acceptable additional computing costs.

Keywords: ringing effect, video coding, subjective quality, DCT.

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Authors: O. I. H. Dimitry, N. A. Mansour, A. L. G. Saad

Abstract:

Natural sodium montmorillonite (NaMMT), Cloisite Na⁺ and two organophilic montmorillonites (OMMTs), Cloisites 20A and 15A were used. Polycaprolactone (PCL)/MMT composites containing 1, 3, 5, and 10 wt% of Cloisite Na⁺ and PCL/OMMT nanocomposites containing 5 and 10 wt% of Cloisites 20A and 15A were prepared via solution intercalation technique to study the influence of organic modifier loading on particle dispersion of PCL/ NaMMT composites. Thermal stabilities of the obtained composites were characterized by thermal analysis using the thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) which showed that in the presence of nitrogen flow the incorporation of 5 and 10 wt% of filler brings some decrease in PCL thermal stability in the sequence: Cloisite Na+>Cloisite 15A > Cloisite 20A, while in the presence of air flow these fillers scarcely influenced the thermoxidative stability of PCL by slightly accelerating the process. The interaction between PCL and silicate layers was studied by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy which confirmed moderate interactions between nanometric silicate layers and PCL segments. The electrical conductivity (σ) which describes the ionic mobility of the systems was studied as a function of temperature and showed that σ of PCL was enhanced on increasing the modifier loading at filler content of 5 wt%, especially at higher temperatures in the sequence: Cloisite Na⁺<Cloisite 20A<Cloisite 15A, and was then decreased to some extent with a further increase to 10 wt%. The activation energy E_σ obtained from the dependency of σ on temperature using Arrhenius equation was found to be lowest for the nanocomposite containing 5 wt% of Cloisite 15A. The dispersed behavior of clay in PCL matrix was evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses which revealed partial intercalated structures in PCL/NaMMT composites and semi-intercalated/semi-exfoliated structures in PCL/OMMT nanocomposites containing 5 wt% of Cloisite 20A or Cloisite 15A.

Keywords: Polycaprolactone, organoclay, nanocomposite, montmorillonite, electrical conductivity, activation energy, exfoliation, intercalation.

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Authors: Manatchanok Tantiphiphatthana, Lin Peng, Rujira Jitrwung, Kunio Yoshikawa

Abstract:

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is a technique for obtaining clean biofuel from biomass in the presence of heat and pressure in an aqueous medium which leads to a decomposition of this biomass to the formation of various products. A role of operating conditions is essential for the bio-oil and other products’ yield and also quality of the products. The effects of these parameters were investigated in regards to the composition and yield of the products. Chlorellaceae microalgae were tested under different HTL conditions to clarify suitable conditions for extracting bio-oil together with value-added co-products. Firstly, different microalgae loading rates (5-30%) were tested and found that this parameter has not much significant to product yield. Therefore, 10% microalgae loading rate was selected as a proper economical solution for conditioned schedule at 250oC and 30 min-reaction time. Next, a range of temperature (210-290oC) was applied to verify the effects of each parameter by keeping the reaction time constant at 30 min. The results showed no linkage with the increase of the reaction temperature and some reactions occurred that lead to different product yields. Moreover, some nutrients found in the aqueous product are possible to be utilized for nutrient recovery.

Keywords: Bio-oil, Hydrothermal Liquefaction, Microalgae, Aqueous co-product.

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Authors: Vidyasagar H. N., S. Gopal Prakash, Shivrudraiah, K. V. Sharma

Abstract:

Thermally insulating ceramic coatings also known as thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) have been essential technologies to improve the performance and efficiency of advanced gas turbines in service at extremely high temperatures. The damage mechanisms of air-plasma sprayed YSZ thermal barrier coatings (TBC) with various microstructures were studied by microscopic techniques after thermal cycling. The typical degradation of plasma TBCs that occurs during cyclic furnace testing of an YSZ and alumina coating on a Titanium alloy are analyzed. During the present investigation the effects of topcoat thickness, bond coat oxidation, thermal cycle lengths and test temperature are investigated using thermal cycling. These results were correlated with stresses measured by a spectroscopic technique in order to understand specific damage mechanism. The failure mechanism of former bond coats was found to involve fracture initiation at the thermally grown oxide (TGO) interface and at the TGO bond coat interface. The failure mechanism of the YZ was found to involve combination of fracture along the interface between TGO and bond coat.

Keywords: Thermal barrier coatings, thermal loading.

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Authors: Fouzieh Rouzmehr, Mehdi Mousavi

Abstract:

Hot mix asphalt concrete is a viscoelastic material, and its stress-strain relationship depends on the loading duration and the strain rate. To investigate the effect of elastic and viscoelastic modeling under traffic load, asphalt concrete pavement is modeled with both elastic and viscoelastic properties and the pavement performance is predicted. The differences of these two models are investigated on fatigue cracking and rutting problem which are the two main design parameters in flexible pavement design. Although the differences in rutting problem between two models were negligible, in fatigue cracking, the viscoelastic model results were more accurate. Results indicate that modeling the flexible pavement with elastic material is efficient enough and gives the acceptable results.

Keywords: Flexible pavement, asphalt, FEM modeling, viscoelastic, elastic, ANSYS.

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

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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: M. Cangi, T. Dolar, C. Ersoy, Y. E. Aydogdu, A. I. Aydeniz, A. Mugan

Abstract:

The drum is one of the critical parts in a washing machine in which the clothes are washed and spin by the rotational movement. It is activated by the drum shaft which is attached to an electric motor and subjected to dynamic loading. Being one of the critical components, failures of the drum require costly repairs of dynamic components. In this study, tolerance bands between the drum shaft and its two bearings were examined to develop a relationship between the fatigue life of the shaft and the interaction tolerances. Optimization of tolerance bands was completed in consideration of the fatigue life of the shaft as the cost function. The following methodology is followed: multibody dynamic model of a washing machine was constructed and used to calculate dynamic loading on the components. Then, these forces were used in finite element analyses to calculate the stress field in critical components which was used for fatigue life predictions. The factors affecting the fatigue life were examined to find optimum tolerance grade for a given test condition. Numerical results were verified by experimental observations.

Keywords: Fatigue life, finite element analysis, tolerance analysis, optimization.

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Authors: H. Godini, A. Rezaee, A. Jafari, S. H. Mirhousaini

Abstract:

A Laboratory-scale packed bed reactor with microbial cellulose as the biofilm carrier was used to investigate the denitrification of high-strength nitrate wastewater with specific emphasis on the effect the nitrogen loading rate and hydraulic retention time. Ethanol was added as a carbon source for denitrification. As a result of this investigation, it was found that up to 500 mg/l feed nitrate concentration the present system is able to produce an effluent with nitrate content below 10 ppm at 3 h hydraulic retention time. The highest observed denitrification rate was 4.57 kg NO3-N/ (m3 .d) at a nitrate load of 5.64 kg NO3- N/(m3 .d), and removal efficiencies higher than 90% were obtained for loads up to 4.2 kg NO3-N/(m3 .d). A mass relation between COD consumed and NO3-N removed around 2.82 was observed. This continuous-flow bioreactor proved an efficient denitrification system with a relatively low retention time.

Keywords: Biological nitrate removal, Denitrification, Microbial cellulose, Packed-bed reactor.

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Authors: Abhay Bodake, Ping Sui, Hafeez Syed, Ratish Kadam

Abstract:

Real-time measurement of applied forces, like tension, compression, torsion, and bending moment, identifies the transferred energies being applied to the bottomhole assembly (BHA). These forces are highly detrimental to measurement/logging-while-drilling tools and downhole equipment. Real-time measurement of the dynamic downhole behavior, including weight, torque, bending on bit, and vibration, establishes a real-time feedback loop between the downhole drilling system and drilling team at the surface. This paper describes the numerical analysis of the strain data acquired by the measurement tool at different locations on the strain pockets. The strain values obtained by FEA for various loading conditions (tension, compression, torque, and bending moment) are compared against experimental results obtained from an identical experimental setup. Numerical analyses results agree with experimental data within 8% and, therefore, substantiate and validate the FEA model. This FEA model can be used to analyze the combined loading conditions that reflect the actual drilling environment.

Keywords: FEA, M/LWD, Oil & Gas, Strain Measurement.

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Authors: Hardik Vaghela, Mamta Khosla, Balwindar Raj

Abstract:

In this paper, we present and investigate a double gate PN diode based tunnel field effect transistor (DGPNTFET). The importance of proposed structure is that the formation of different drain doping is not required and ambipolar effect in OFF state is completely removed for this structure. Validation of this structure to behave like a Tunnel Field Effect Transistor (TFET) is carried out through energy band diagrams and transfer characteristics. Simulated result shows point subthreshold slope (SS) of 19.14 mV/decade and ON to OFF current ratio (I_ON / I_OFF) of 2.66 × 10¹⁴ (I_ON at V_GS=1.5V, V_DS=1V and I_OFF at V_GS=0V, V_DS=1V) for gate length of 20nm and HfO₂ as gate oxide at room temperature. Which indicate that the DGPNTFET is a promising candidate for nano-scale, ambipolar free switch.

Keywords: Ambipolar effect, double gate PN diode based tunnel field effect transistor, high-κ dielectric material, subthreshold slope, tunnel field effect transistor.

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