Search results for: soft storey

Authors: Jyoti Chaturvedi Gursaran

Abstract:

Nature conducts its action in a very private manner. To reveal these actions classical science has done a great effort. But classical science can experiment only with the things that can be seen with eyes. Beyond the scope of classical science quantum science works very well. It is based on some postulates like qubit, superposition of two states, entanglement, measurement and evolution of states that are briefly described in the present paper. One of the applications of quantum computing i.e. implementation of a novel quantum evolutionary algorithm(QEA) to automate the time tabling problem of Dayalbagh Educational Institute (Deemed University) is also presented in this paper. Making a good timetable is a scheduling problem. It is NP-hard, multi-constrained, complex and a combinatorial optimization problem. The solution of this problem cannot be obtained in polynomial time. The QEA uses genetic operators on the Q-bit as well as updating operator of quantum gate which is introduced as a variation operator to converge toward better solutions.

Keywords: Quantum computing, qubit, superposition, entanglement, measurement of states, evolution of states, Scheduling problem, hard and soft constraints, evolutionary algorithm, quantum evolutionary algorithm.

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Authors: Siti Khadijah Che Osmi, Syed Mohd Ahmad

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This paper presents a methodology to develop fragility curves for shallow tunnels so as to describe a relationship between seismic hazard and tunnel vulnerability. Emphasis is given to the influence of surrounding soil material properties because the dynamic behaviour of the tunnel mostly depends on it. Four ground properties of soils ranging from stiff to soft soils are selected. A 3D nonlinear time history analysis is used to evaluate the seismic response of the tunnel when subjected to five real earthquake ground intensities. The derived curves show the future probabilistic performance of the tunnels based on the predicted level of damage states corresponding to the peak ground acceleration. A comparison of the obtained results with the previous literature is provided to validate the reliability of the proposed fragility curves. Results show the significant role of soil properties and input motions in evaluating the seismic performance and response of shallow tunnels.

Keywords: Fragility analysis, seismic performance, tunnel lining, vulnerability.

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Authors: A. Biran, P. Sobhe Bidari, K. Raahemifar

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Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is an eye disease that leads to blindness. The earliest signs of DR are the appearance of red and yellow lesions on the retina called hemorrhages and exudates. Early diagnosis of DR prevents from blindness; hence, many automated algorithms have been proposed to extract hemorrhages and exudates. In this paper, an automated algorithm is presented to extract hemorrhages and exudates separately from retinal fundus images using different image processing techniques including Circular Hough Transform (CHT), Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE), Gabor filter and thresholding. Since Optic Disc is the same color as the exudates, it is first localized and detected. The presented method has been tested on fundus images from Structured Analysis of the Retina (STARE) and Digital Retinal Images for Vessel Extraction (DRIVE) databases by using MATLAB codes. The results show that this method is perfectly capable of detecting hard exudates and the highly probable soft exudates. It is also capable of detecting the hemorrhages and distinguishing them from blood vessels.

Keywords: Diabetic retinopathy, fundus, CHT, exudates, hemorrhages.

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Authors: A. V. Budin, Ph. G. Rutberg, M. E. Pinchuk, A. A. Bogomaz, V. Yu. Svetova

Abstract:

The investigation results of high-density hydrogen heating by high-current electric arc are presented at initial pressure from 5 MPa to 160 MPa with current amplitude up to 1.6 MA and current rate of rise 109-1011 A/s. When changing the initial pressure and current rate of rise, channel temperature varies from several electronvolts to hundreds electronvolts. Arc channel radius is several millimeters. But the radius of the discharge chamber greater than the radius of the arc channel on approximately order of magnitude. High efficiency of gas heating is caused by radiation absorption of hydrogen surrounding the arc. Current channel consist from vapor of the initiating wire. At current rate of rise of 109 A/s and relatively small current amplitude gas heating occurs due to radiation absorption in the band transparency of hydrogen by the wire vapours with photon energies less than 13.6 eV. At current rate of rise of 1011 A/s gas heating is due to hydrogen absorption of soft X-rays from discharge channel.

Keywords: High-density hydrogen heating by high-current electric arc.

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Authors: Hanan Moawad, Naglaa M. Abd EL-Rahman

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Erwinia carotovora var. carotovora is the main cause of soft rot in potatoes. Hyphaene thebaica was studied for biocontrol of E. carotovora which inhibited growth of E. carotovora on solid medium, a comparative study of classical and ultrasound-assisted extractions of Hyphaene thebaica fruit. The use of ultrasound decreased significant the total time of treatment and increase the total amount of crude extract. The crude extract was subjected to determine the in vitro, by a bioassay technique revealed that the treatment of paper disks with ultrasound extraction of Hyphaene thebaica reduced the growth of pathogen and produced inhibition zones up to 38mm in diameter. The antioxidant activity of ultrasound-ethanolic extract of Doum fruits (Hyphaene thebaica) was determined. Data obtained showed that the extract contains the secondary metabolites such as Tannins, Saponin, Flavonoids, Phenols, Steroids, Terpenoids, Glycosides and Alkaloids.

Keywords: Ultrasound, classical extract, Biological control, Erwinia carotovora, Hyphaene thebaica.

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Authors: M. Ovinis, D. Kerr, K. Bouazza-Marouf, M. Vloeberghs

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The use of anatomical landmarks as a basis for image to patient registration is appealing because the registration may be performed retrospectively. We have previously proposed the use of two anatomical soft tissue landmarks of the head, the canthus (corner of the eye) and the tragus (a small, pointed, cartilaginous flap of the ear), as a registration basis for an automated CT image to patient registration system, and described their localization in patient space using close range photogrammetry. In this paper, the automatic localization of these landmarks in CT images, based on their curvature saliency and using a rule based system that incorporates prior knowledge of their characteristics, is described. Existing approaches to landmark localization in CT images are predominantly semi-automatic and primarily for localizing internal landmarks. To validate our approach, the positions of the landmarks localized automatically and manually in near isotropic CT images of 102 patients were compared. The average difference was 1.2mm (std = 0.9mm, max = 4.5mm) for the medial canthus and 0.8mm (std = 0.6mm, max = 2.6mm) for the tragus. The medial canthus and tragus can be automatically localized in CT images, with performance comparable to manual localization, based on the approach presented.

Keywords: Anatomical Landmarks, CT, Localization.

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Authors: Mert Bal, Hayri Sever, Oya Kalıpsız

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Medical Decision Support Systems (MDSSs) are sophisticated, intelligent systems that can provide inference due to lack of information and uncertainty. In such systems, to model the uncertainty various soft computing methods such as Bayesian networks, rough sets, artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, inductive logic programming and genetic algorithms and hybrid methods that formed from the combination of the few mentioned methods are used. In this study, symptom-disease relationships are presented by a framework which is modeled with a formal concept analysis and theory, as diseases, objects and attributes of symptoms. After a concept lattice is formed, Bayes theorem can be used to determine the relationships between attributes and objects. A discernibility relation that forms the base of the rough sets can be applied to attribute data sets in order to reduce attributes and decrease the complexity of computation.

Keywords: Formal Concept Analysis, Rough Set Theory, Granular Computing, Medical Decision Support System.

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Authors: Behnam Mehrkian, Arash Bahar, Ali Chaibakhsh

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Magneto-rheological (MR) fluid damper is a semiactive control device that has recently received more attention by the vibration control community. But inherent hysteretic and highly nonlinear dynamics of MR fluid damper is one of the challenging aspects to employ its unique characteristics. The combination of artificial neural network (ANN) and fuzzy logic system (FLS) have been used to imitate more precisely the behavior of this device. However, the derivative-based nature of adaptive networks causes some deficiencies. Therefore, in this paper, a novel approach that employ genetic algorithm, as a free-derivative algorithm, to enhance the capability of fuzzy systems, is proposed. The proposed method used to model MR damper. The results will be compared with adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) model, which is one of the well-known approaches in soft computing framework, and two best parametric models of MR damper. Data are generated based on benchmark program by applying a number of famous earthquake records.

Keywords: Benchmark program, earthquake record filtering, fuzzy logic, genetic algorithm, MR damper.

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Authors: R. Tur, A. Yardımcı

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Imperfect knowledge cannot be avoided all the time. Imperfections may have several forms; uncertainties, imprecision and incompleteness. When we look to classification of methods for the management of imperfect knowledge we see fuzzy set-based techniques. The choice of a method to process data is linked to the choice of knowledge representation, which can be numerical, symbolic, logical or semantic and it depends on the nature of the problem to be solved for example decision support, which will be mentioned in our study. Fuzzy Logic is used for its ability to manage imprecise knowledge, but it can take advantage of the ability of neural networks to learn coefficients or functions. Such an association of methods is typical of so-called soft computing. In this study a new method was used for the management of imprecision for collected knowledge which related to economic analysis of construction industry in Turkey. Because of sudden changes occurring in economic factors decrease competition strength of construction companies. The better evaluation of these changes in economical factors in view of construction industry will made positive influence on company-s decisions which are dealing construction.

Keywords: Fuzzy logic, decision support systems, construction industry.

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Authors: Mimi N. A. Mohamed

Abstract:

The complexity of teaching English in higher institutions by non-native speakers within a second/foreign language setting has created continuous discussions and research about teaching approaches and teaching practises, professional identities and challenges. In addition, there is a growing awareness that teaching English within discipline-specific contexts adds up to the existing complexity. This awareness leads to reassessments, discussions and suggestions on course design and content and teaching approaches and techniques. In meeting expectations teaching at a university specified in a particular discipline such as engineering, English language educators are not only required to teach students to be able to communicate in English effectively but also to teach soft skills such as problem solving skills. This paper is part of a research conducted to investigate how English language educators negotiate with the complexities of teaching problem solving skills through English language teaching at a technical university. This paper reports the way an English language educator identified himself and the way he approached his teaching in this institutional context.

Keywords: English Language Teaching, Teacher Agency, Problem Solving Skills, Professional Identities.

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Authors: Mohammad Gholizadeh, Khairun Yahya, Anita Talib, Omar Ahmad

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Macrobenthos distribution along the coastal waters of Penang National Park was studid to estimate the effect of different environmental parameters at three stations, during six sampling months, from June 2010 to April 2011. The aim of this survey was to investigate different environment stress over soft bottom polychaete community along Teluk Ketapang and Pantai Acheh (Penang National Park) over a year period. Variations in the polychaete community were evaluated using univariate and multivariate methods. A total of 604 individuals were examined which was grouped into 23 families. Family Nereidae was the most abundant (22.68%), followed by Spionidae (22.02%), Hesionidae (12.58%), Nephtylidae (9.27%) and Orbiniidae (8.61%). It is noticeable that good results can only be obtained on the basis of good taxonomic resolution. The maximum Shannon-Wiener diversity (H'=2.16) was recorded at distance 200m and 1200m (August 2010) in Teluk Ketapang and lowest value of diversity was found at distance 1200m (December 2010) in Teluk Ketapang.

Keywords: Polychaete assemblage, environment factor, Pantai Acheh, Teluk Ketapang.

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Authors: S. Shefali, S. M. Deshpande, S. G. Tamhankar

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Now a days, a significant part of commercial and governmental organisations like museums, cultural organizations, libraries, commercial enterprises, etc. invest intensively in new technologies for image digitization, digital libraries, image archiving and retrieval. Hence image authorization, authentication and security has become prime need. In this paper, we present a semi-fragile watermarking scheme for color images. The method converts the host image into YIQ color space followed by application of orthogonal dual domains of DCT and DWT transforms. The DCT helps to separate relevant from irrelevant image content to generate silent image features. DWT has excellent spatial localisation to help aid in spatial tamper characterisation. Thus image adaptive watermark is generated based of image features which allows the sharp detection of microscopic changes to locate modifications in the image. Further, the scheme utilises the multipurpose watermark consisting of soft authenticator watermark and chrominance watermark. Which has been proved fragile to some predefined processing like intentinal fabrication of the image or forgery and robust to other incidental attacks caused in the communication channel.

Keywords: Cryptography, Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), Watermarking.

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Authors: Mohamed Abdallah, Mostafa Warith, Roberto Narbaitz, Emil Petriu, Kevin Kennedy

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Heterogeneity of solid waste characteristics as well as the complex processes taking place within the landfill ecosystem motivated the implementation of soft computing methodologies such as artificial neural networks (ANN), fuzzy logic (FL), and their combination. The present work uses a hybrid ANN-FL model that employs knowledge-based FL to describe the process qualitatively and implements the learning algorithm of ANN to optimize model parameters. The model was developed to simulate and predict the landfill gas production at a given time based on operational parameters. The experimental data used were compiled from lab-scale experiment that involved various operating scenarios. The developed model was validated and statistically analyzed using F-test, linear regression between actual and predicted data, and mean squared error measures. Overall, the simulated landfill gas production rates demonstrated reasonable agreement with actual data. The discussion focused on the effect of the size of training datasets and number of training epochs.

Keywords: Adaptive neural fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), gas production, landfill

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Authors: Hamid Reza Nejati, Amin Nazerigivi, Ahmad Reza Sayadi

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Failure mechanism of rocks is one of the fundamental aspects to study rock engineering stability. Rock is a material that contains flaws, initial damage, micro-cracks, etc. Failure of rock structure is largely due to tensile stress and was influenced by various parameters. In the present study, the effect of brittleness and loading rate on the physical and mechanical phenomena produced in rock during loading sequences is considered. For this purpose, Acoustic Emission (AE) technique is used to monitor fracturing process of three rock types (onyx marble, sandstone and soft limestone) with different brittleness and sandstone samples under different loading rate. The results of experimental tests revealed that brittleness and loading rate have a significant effect on the mode and number of induced fracture in rocks. An increase in rock brittleness increases the frequency of induced cracks, and the number of tensile fracture decreases when loading rate increases.

Keywords: Brittleness, loading rate, acoustic emission, tensile fracture, shear fracture.

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Authors: H. K. Sachidananda, K. Raghunandana, B. Shivamurthy

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The estimation of gear tooth stiffness is important for finding the load distribution between the gear teeth when two consecutive sets of teeth are in contact. Based on dynamic model a C-program has been developed to compute mesh stiffness. By using this program position dependent mesh stiffness of spur gear tooth for various profile shifts have been computed for a fixed center distance and altering tooth-sum gearing (100 by ± 4%). It is found that the C-program using dynamic model is one of the rapid soft computing technique which helps in design of gears. The mesh tooth stiffness along the path of contact is studied for both 20° and 25° pressure angle gears at various profile shifts. Better tooth stiffness is noticed in case of negative alteration tooth-sum gears compared to standard and positive alteration tooth-sum gears. Also, in case of negative alteration tooth-sum gearing better mesh stiffness is noticed in 20° pressure angle when compared to 25°.

Keywords: Altered tooth-sum gearing, bending fatigue, mesh stiffness, spur gear.

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Authors: R. Ziaie Moayed, A. Khalili

Abstract:

Improvement and reinforcement of soils with poor strength and engineering properties for constructing low height structures or structures such as liquid storage tanks, bridge columns, and heavy structures have necessitated applying particular techniques. Stone columns are among the well-known methods applied in such soils. This method provides an economically justified way for improving engineering properties of soft clay and loose sandy soils. Stone column implementation in these soils increases their bearing capacity and reduces the settlement of foundation build on them. In the present study, the finite difference based FLAC3D software was used to investigate the performance and effect of soil reinforcement through stone columns without lining and those with geosynthetic lining with different levels of stiffness in horizontal and vertical modes in clayey soils. The results showed that soil improvement using stone columns with lining in vertical and horizontal modes results in improvement of bearing capacity and foundation settlement.

Keywords: Bearing capacity, FLAC3D, geosynthetic, settlement, stone column.

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Authors: Aws Al-azawi, John Soraghan

Abstract:

There is a growing interest in the use of ultrasonic speckle tracking for biomedical image formation of tissue deformation. Speckle tracking is angle independent and has an ability to differentiate soft tissue into benign and malignant regions. In this paper a simulation model for dynamic ultrasound scatterer is presented. The model composes Field-II ultrasonic scatterers and FEM (ANSYS-11) nodes as a regional tissue deformation. A performance evaluation is presented on axial displacement and strain fields estimation of a uniformly elastic model, using speckle tracking based 1D cross-correlation of optimally segmented pre and post-deformation frames. Optimum correlation window length is investigated in terms of highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for a selected region of interest of a smoothed displacement field. Finally, gradient based strain field of both smoothed and non-smoothed displacement fields are compared. Simulation results from the model are shown to compare favorably with FEM results.

Keywords: Speckle tracking, tissue deformation, ultrasonic simulation.

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Authors: J. Ruenin, S. Sukprasong, R. Phatthanakun, N. Chomnawang, P. Kuntanawat

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In this paper, a simple microfluidic device for monitoring algal cell behavior is proposed. An array of algal microwells is fabricated by PDMS soft-lithography using X-ray LIGA mold, placed on a glass substrate. Two layers of replicated PDMS and substrate are attached by oxygen plasma bonding, creating a microchannel for the microfluidic system. Algal cell are loaded into the microfluidic device, which provides positive charge on the bottom surface of wells. Algal cells, which are negative charged, can be attracted to the bottom of the wells via electrostatic interaction. By varying the concentration of algal cells in the loading suspension, it is possible to obtain wells with a single cell. Liquid medium for cells monitoring are flown continuously over the wells, providing nutrient and waste exchange between the well and the main flow. This device could lead to the uncovering of the quantitative biology of the algae, which is a key to effective and extensive algal utilizations in the field of biotechnology, food industry and bioenergy research and developments.

Keywords: Algal cells, microfluidic device, X-ray LIGA, X-ray lithography, metallic mold, synchrotron light, PDMS

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Authors: Prabh Preet Singh, Harpreet Kaur

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This paper presents a method for single image dehazing based on dark channel prior (DCP). The property that the intensity of the dark channel gives an approximate thickness of the haze is used to estimate the transmission and atmospheric light. Instead of constant atmospheric light, the proposed method employs scene depth to estimate spatially varying atmospheric light as it truly occurs in nature. Haze imaging model together with the soft matting method has been used in this work to produce high quality haze free image. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach produces better results than the classic DCP approach as color fidelity and contrast of haze free image are improved and no over-saturation in the sky region is observed. Further, lifting Haar wavelet transform is employed to reduce overall execution time by a factor of two to three as compared to the conventional approach.

Keywords: Depth based atmospheric light, dark channel prior, lifting wavelet.

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Authors: Faraj Farhat El Dabee, Rajab Abdullah Hokoma

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Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the integration between manufacturer, transporter and customer in order to form one seamless chain that allows smooth flow of raw materials, information and products throughout the entire network that help in minimizing all related efforts and costs. The main objective of this paper is to develop a model that can accept a specified number of spare-parts within the supply chain, simulating its inventory operations throughout all stages in order to minimize the inventory holding costs, base-stock, safety-stock, and to find the optimum quantity of inventory levels, thereby suggesting a way forward to adapt some factors of Just-In-Time to minimizing the inventory costs throughout the entire supply chain. The model has been developed using Micro- Soft Excel & Visual Basic in order to study inventory allocations in any network of the supply chain. The application and reproducibility of this model were tested by comparing the actual system that was implemented in the case study with the results of the developed model. The findings showed that the total inventory costs of the developed model are about 50% less than the actual costs of the inventory items within the case study.

Keywords: Holding Costs, Inventory, JIT, Modeling, SCM

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Authors: Liyakathunisa, V. K. Ananthashayana

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Crucial information barely visible to the human eye is often embedded in a series of low resolution images taken of the same scene. Super resolution reconstruction is the process of combining several low resolution images into a single higher resolution image. The ideal algorithm should be fast, and should add sharpness and details, both at edges and in regions without adding artifacts. In this paper we propose a super resolution blind reconstruction technique for linearly degraded images. In our proposed technique the algorithm is divided into three parts an image registration, wavelets based fusion and an image restoration. In this paper three low resolution images are considered which may sub pixels shifted, rotated, blurred or noisy, the sub pixel shifted images are registered using affine transformation model; A wavelet based fusion is performed and the noise is removed using soft thresolding. Our proposed technique reduces blocking artifacts and also smoothens the edges and it is also able to restore high frequency details in an image. Our technique is efficient and computationally fast having clear perspective of real time implementation.

Keywords: Affine Transforms, Denoiseing, DWT, Fusion, Image registration.

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Authors: Agnieszka Misztal

Abstract:

The popularity of quality management system models continues to grow despite the transitional crisis in 2008. Their development is associated with demands of the new requirements for entrepreneurs, such as risk analysis projects and more emphasis on supervision of outsourced processes. In parallel, it is appropriate to focus attention on the selection of companies aspiring to a quality management system. This is particularly important in the automotive supplier industry, where requirements transferred to the levels in the supply chain should be clear, transparent and fairly satisfied. The author has carried out a series of researches aimed at finding the factors that allow for the effective implementation of the quality management system in automotive companies. The research was focused on four groups of companies: 1) manufacturing (parts and assemblies for the purpose of sale or for vehicle manufacturers), 2) service (repair and maintenance of the car) 3) services for the transport of goods or people, 4) commercial (auto parts and vehicles). The identified determinants were divided into two types of criteria: internal and external, as well as hard and soft. The article presents the hard – technical factors that an automotive company must meet in order to achieve the goal of the quality management system implementation.

Keywords: Automotive industry, quality management system.

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Authors: Federico Valenzuela-Beltran, Sonia E. Ruiz, Alfredo Reyes-Salazar, Juan Bojorquez

Abstract:

A reliability-based methodology which uses structural demand hazard curves to consider the increment of the ductility demands of structures with tilting is proposed. The approach considers the effect of two orthogonal components of the ground motions as well as the influence of soil-structure interaction. The approach involves the calculation of ductility demand hazard curves for symmetric systems and, alternatively, for systems with different degrees of asymmetry. To get this objective, demand hazard curves corresponding to different global ductility demands of the systems are calculated. Next, Uniform Exceedance Rate Spectra (UERS) are developed for a specific mean annual rate of exceedance value. Ratios between UERS corresponding to asymmetric and to symmetric systems located in soft soil of the valley of Mexico are obtained. Results indicate that the ductility demands corresponding to tilted structures may be several times higher than those corresponding to symmetric structures, depending on several factors such as tilting angle and vibration period of structure and soil.

Keywords: Asymmetric yielding, tilted structures, seismic performance, structural reliability

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Authors: Mohamed M. El-Gendy, Ibrahim A. El-Arabi, Rafik W. Abdel-Missih, Omar A. Kandil

Abstract:

In the present research, a finite element model is presented to study the geometrical and material nonlinear behavior of reinforced concrete plane frames considering soil-structure interaction. The nonlinear behaviors of concrete and reinforcing steel are considered both in compression and tension up to failure. The model takes account also for the number, diameter, and distribution of rebar along every cross section. Soil behavior is taken into consideration using four different models; namely: linear-, nonlinear Winkler's model, and linear-, nonlinear continuum model. A computer program (NARC) is specially developed in order to perform the analysis. The results achieved by the present model show good agreement with both theoretical and experimental published literature. The nonlinear behavior of a rectangular frame resting on soft soil up to failure using the proposed model is introduced for demonstration.

Keywords: Nonlinear analysis, Geometric nonlinearity, Material nonlinearity, Reinforced concrete, Finite element method, Soilstructure interaction, Winkler's soil model, Continuum soil model

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Authors: Alireza Ghasemizad

Abstract:

In Both developed and developing countries, governments play a basic role in making policies, programs and instruments which support the development of micro, small and medium enterprises. One of the mechanisms employed to nurture small firms for more than two decades is business incubation. One of the mechanisms employed to nurture small firms for more than two decades is technology business incubation. The main aim of this research was to establish influencing factors in Technology Business Incubator's effectiveness and their explanatory model. Therefore, among 56 Technology Business Incubators in Iran, 32 active incubators were selected and by stratified random sampling, 528 start-ups were chosen. The validity of research questionnaires was determines by expert consensus, item analysis and factor analysis; and their reliability calculated by Cronbach-s alpha. Data analysis was then made through SPSS and LISREL soft wares. Both organizational procedures and entrepreneurial behaviors were the meaningful mediators. Organizational procedures with (P < .01, β =0.45) was stronger mediator for the improvement of Technology Business Incubator's effectiveness comparing to entrepreneurial behavior with (P < .01, β =0.36).

Keywords: Technology, Incubators, Effectiveness, Explanatorymodel.

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Authors: Adel A. Ghoneim

Abstract:

In most existing buildings in hot climate, cooling loads lead to high primary energy consumption and consequently high CO2 emissions. These can be substantially decreased with integrated renewable energy systems. Kuwait is characterized by its dry hot long summer and short warm winter. Kuwait receives annual total radiation more than 5280 MJ/m2 with approximately 3347 h of sunshine. Solar energy systems consist of PV modules and parabolic trough collectors are considered to satisfy electricity consumption, domestic water heating, and cooling loads of an existing building. This paper presents the results of an extensive program of energy conservation and energy generation using integrated photovoltaic (PV) modules and Parabolic Trough Collectors (PTC). The program conducted on an existing institutional building intending to convert it into a Net-Zero Energy Building (NZEB) or near net Zero Energy Building (nNZEB). The program consists of two phases; the first phase is concerned with energy auditing and energy conservation measures at minimum cost and the second phase considers the installation of photovoltaic modules and parabolic trough collectors. The 2-storey building under consideration is the Applied Sciences Department at the College of Technological Studies, Kuwait. Single effect lithium bromide water absorption chillers are implemented to provide air conditioning load to the building. A numerical model is developed to evaluate the performance of parabolic trough collectors in Kuwait climate. Transient simulation program (TRNSYS) is adapted to simulate the performance of different solar system components. In addition, a numerical model is developed to assess the environmental impacts of building integrated renewable energy systems. Results indicate that efficient energy conservation can play an important role in converting the existing buildings into NZEBs as it saves a significant portion of annual energy consumption of the building. The first phase results in an energy conservation of about 28% of the building consumption. In the second phase, the integrated PV completely covers the lighting and equipment loads of the building. On the other hand, parabolic trough collectors of optimum area of 765 m2 can satisfy a significant portion of the cooling load, i.e about73% of the total building cooling load. The annual avoided CO2 emission is evaluated at the optimum conditions to assess the environmental impacts of renewable energy systems. The total annual avoided CO2 emission is about 680 metric ton/year which confirms the environmental impacts of these systems in Kuwait.

Keywords: Building integrated renewable systems, Net-Zero Energy Building, solar fraction, avoided CO2 emission.

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Authors: Hari Babu Kotte, Radhika Ambatipudi, Dr. Kent Bertilsson

Abstract:

The experimental and theoretical results of a ZVS (Zero Voltage Switching) isolated flyback DC-DC converter using multilayered coreless PCB step down 2:1 transformer are presented. The performance characteristics of the transformer are shown which are useful for the parameters extraction. The measured energy efficiency of the transformer is found to be more than 94% with the sinusoidal input voltage excitation. The designed flyback converter has been tested successfully upto the output power level of 10W, with a switching frequency in the range of 2.7MHz-4.3MHz. The input voltage of the converter is varied from 25V-40V DC. Frequency modulation technique is employed by maintaining constant off time to regulate the output voltage of the converter. The energy efficiency of the isolated flyback converter circuit under ZVS condition in the MHz frequency region is found to be approximately in the range of 72-84%. This paper gives the comparative results in terms of the energy efficiency of the hard switched and soft switched flyback converter in the MHz frequency region.

Keywords: Coreless PCB step down transformer, DC-DCconverter, Flyback, Hard Switched Converter, MHz frequencyregion, Multilayered PCB transformer, Zero Voltage Switching

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Authors: Tushar Vasant Salunkhe, Sariput M. Nawghare, Maheboobsab B. Nadaf, Sushovan Dutta, J. N. Mandal

Abstract:

The model tests were conducted in the laboratory without and with Plastic recycled polymer in fly ash steep slopes overlaying soft foundation soils like fly ash and powai soil in order to check the stability of steep slope. In this experiment, fly ash is used as a filling material and Plastic Recycled Polymers of diameter = 3mm and length = 4mm were made from waste plastic product (lower grade plastic product). The properties of fly ash and Plastic recycled polymers are determined. From the experiments, load and settlement have measured. From these data, load –settlement curves have reported. It has been observed from test results that load carrying capacity of mixture fly ash with Plastic Recycled Polymers slope is more than that of fly ash slope. The deformation of Plastic Recycled Polymers slope is slightly more than that of fly ash slope. A Finite Element Method (F.E.M.) was also evaluated using PLAXIS 3D version. The failure pattern, deformations and factor of safety are reported based on analytical programme. The results from experimental data and analytical programme are compared and reported.

Keywords: Fly ash, Plastic recycled polymer, Factor of safety, Finite element method (FEM), Bishop’s simplified method.

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Authors: Yeong-Hwa Chang, Chang-Hung Hsu, Huei-Lung Chu, Chia-Wen Chang, Wei-Shou Chan, Chun-Yao Lee; Chia-Shiang Yao, Yan-Lou He

Abstract:

This study reports the preparation of soft magnetic ribbons of Fe-based amorphous alloys using the single-roller melt-spinning technique. Ribbon width varied from 142 mm to 213 mm and, with a thickness of approximately 22 μm 2 μm. The microstructure and magnetic properties of the ribbons were characterized by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and electrical resistivity measurements (ERM). The amorphous material properties dependence of the cooling rate and nozzle pressure have uneven surface in ribbon thicknesses are investigated. Magnetic measurement results indicate that some region of the ribbon exhibits good magnetic properties, higher saturation induction and lower coercivity. However, due to the uneven surface of 213 mm wide ribbon, the magnetic responses are not uniformly distributed. To understand the transformer magnetic performances, this study analyzes the measurements of a three-phase 2 MVA amorphous-cored transformer. Experimental results confirm that the transformer with a ribbon width of 142 mm has better magnetic properties in terms of lower core loss, exciting power, and audible noise. 

Keywords: Amorphous ribbon, uneven surface, magnetic properties, and rapid solidification

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Authors: Chang-Hung Hsu, Yeong-Hwa Chang, Chun-Yao Lee, Chia-Shiang Yao, Yan-Lou He, Huei-Lung Chu, Chia-Wen Chang, Wei-Shou Chan

Abstract:

This study reports the preparation of soft magnetic ribbons of Fe-based amorphous alloys using the single-roller melt-spinning technique. Ribbon width varied from 142 mm to 213 mm and, with a thickness of approximately 22 μm ± 2 μm. The microstructure and magnetic properties of the ribbons were characterized by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and electrical resistivity measurements (ERM). The amorphous material properties dependence of the cooling rate and nozzle pressure have uneven surface in ribbon thicknesses are investigated. Magnetic measurement results indicate that some region of the ribbon exhibits good magnetic properties, higher saturation induction and lower coercivity. However, due to the uneven surface of 213 mm wide ribbon, the magnetic responses are not uniformly distributed. To understand the transformer magnetic performances, this study analyzes the measurements of a three-phase 2 MVA amorphous-cored transformer. Experimental results confirm that the transformer with a ribbon width of 142 mm has better magnetic properties in terms of lower core loss, exciting power, and audible noise.

Keywords: Amorphous ribbon, uneven surface, magnetic properties, and rapid solidification

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