Search results for: flow rate coefficient
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 5236

Search results for: flow rate coefficient

2326 Systematic Analysis of Dynamic Association of Health Outcomes with Computer Usage for Office Staff

Authors: Xiaoshu Lu, Esa-Pekka Takala, Risto Toivonen

Abstract:

This paper systematically investigates the timedependent health outcomes for office staff during computer work using the developed mathematical model. The model describes timedependent health outcomes in multiple body regions associated with computer usage. The association is explicitly presented with a doseresponse relationship which is parametrized by body region parameters. Using the developed model we perform extensive investigations of the health outcomes statically and dynamically. We compare the risk body regions and provide various severity rankings of the discomfort rate changes with respect to computer-related workload dynamically for the study population. Application of the developed model reveals a wide range of findings. Such broad spectrum of investigations in a single report literature is lacking. Based upon the model analysis, it is discovered that the highest average severity level of the discomfort exists in neck, shoulder, eyes, shoulder joint/upper arm, upper back, low back and head etc. The biggest weekly changes of discomfort rates are in eyes, neck, head, shoulder, shoulder joint/upper arm and upper back etc. The fastest discomfort rate is found in neck, followed by shoulder, eyes, head, shoulder joint/upper arm and upper back etc. Most of our findings are consistent with the literature, which demonstrates that the developed model and results are applicable and valuable and can be utilized to assess correlation between the amount of computer-related workload and health risk.

Keywords: Computer-related workload, health outcomes, dynamic association, dose-response relationship, systematic analysis.

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2325 Estimation of Aquifer Properties Using Pumping Tests: Case Study of Pydibhimavaram Industrial Area, Srikakulam, India

Authors: G. Venkata Rao, P. Kalpana, R. Srinivasa Rao

Abstract:

Adequate and reliable estimates of aquifer parameters are of utmost importance for proper management of vital groundwater resources. At present scenario, the ground water is polluted because of industrial waste disposed over the land and the contaminants are transported in the aquifer from one area to another area, which is depending on the characteristics of the aquifer and contaminants. To know the contaminant transport, the accurate estimation of aquifer properties is highly needed. Conventionally, these properties are estimated through pumping tests carried out on water wells. The occurrence and movement of ground water in the aquifer are characteristically defined by the aquifer parameters. The pumping (aquifer) test is the standard technique for estimating various hydraulic properties of aquifer systems, viz., transmissivity (T), hydraulic conductivity (K), storage coefficient (S) etc., for which the graphical method is widely used. The study area for conducting pumping test is Pydibheemavaram Industrial area near the coastal belt of Srikulam, AP, India. The main objective of the present work is to estimate the aquifer properties for developing contaminant transport model for the study area.

Keywords: Aquifer, contaminant transport, hydraulic conductivity, industrial waste, pumping test.

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2324 Staling and Quality of Iranian Flat Bread Stored at Modified Atmosphere in Different Packaging

Authors: A. Hematian Sourki, F. Tabatabaei Yazdi, M. Ghiafeh Davoodi, S.A. Mortazavi, M. Karimi, S.H. Razavizadegan Jahromi, A. Pourfarzad

Abstract:

This study investigated the use of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and different packaging to extend the shelf life of Barbari flat bread. Three atmospheres including 70%CO2 and 30%N2, 50% CO2 and 50%N2 and a normal air as control were used. The bread samples were packaged in three type pouches. The shelf life was determined by appearance of mold and yeast (M +Y) in Barbari bread samples stored at 25 ± 1°C and 38 ± 2% relative humidity. The results showed that it is possible to prolong the shelf life of Barbari bread from four days to about 21 days by using modified atmosphere packaging with high carbon dioxide concentration and high-barrier laminated and vacuum bags packages. However, the hardness of samples kept in MAP increase significantly by increase of carbon dioxide concentration. The correlation coefficient (r) between headspace CO2 concentration and hardness was 0.997, 0.997 and 0.599 for A, B and C packaging respectively. High negative correlation coefficients were found between the crumb moisture and the hardness values in various packaging. There were significant negative correlation coefficients between sensory parameters and hardness of texture.

Keywords: modified atmosphere packaging, flat bread, Iranian bread, staling, correlation.

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2323 The Effect of Air Entraining Agents on Compressive Strength

Authors: Demet Yavuz

Abstract:

Freeze-thaw cycles are one of the greatest threats to concrete durability. Lately, protection against this threat excites scientists’ attention. Air-entraining admixtures have been widely used to produce freeze-thaw resistant at concretes. The use of air-entraining agents (AEAs) enhances not only freeze-thaw endurance but also the properties of fresh concrete such as segregation, bleeding and flow ability. This paper examines the effects of air-entraining on compressive strength of concrete. Air-entraining is used between 0.05% and 0.4% by weight of cement. One control and four fiber reinforced concrete mixes are prepared and three specimens are tested for each mix. It is concluded from the test results that when air entraining is increased the compressive strength of concrete reduces for all mixes with AEAs.

Keywords: Concrete, air-entraining, compressive strength, mechanical properties.

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2322 Investigation of Enhancement of Heat Transfer in Natural Convection Utilizing of Nanofluids

Authors: S. Etaig, R. Hasan, N. Perera

Abstract:

This paper analyses the heat transfer performance and fluid flow using different nanofluids in a square enclosure. The energy equation and Navier-Stokes equation are solved numerically using finite volume scheme. The effect of volume fraction concentration on the enhancement of heat transfer has been studied icorporating the Brownian motion; the influence of effective thermal conductivity on the enhancement was also investigated for a range of volume fraction concentration. The velocity profile for different Rayleigh number. Water-Cu, water AL2O3 and water-TiO2 were tested.

Keywords: Computational fluid Dynamics, Natural convection, Nanofluid and Thermal conductivity.

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2321 Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Air Ejector with Diffuser with Boundary Layer Suction

Authors: Vaclav Dvorak

Abstract:

The article deals with experimental and numerical investigation of axi-symmetric subsonic air to air ejector with diffuser adapted for boundary layer suction. The diffuser, which is placed behind the mixing chamber of the ejector, has high divergence angle and therefore low efficiency. To increase the efficiency, the diffuser is equipped with slot enabling boundary layer suction. The effect of boundary layer suction on flow in ejector, static pressure distribution on the mixing chamber wall and characteristic were measured and studied numerically. Both diffuser and ejector efficiency were evaluated. The diffuser efficiency was increased, however, the efficiency of ejector itself remained low.

Keywords: Air ejector, boundary layer suction, CFD, diffuser.

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2320 Tracking Performance Evaluation of Robust Back-Stepping Control Design for a Nonlinear Electrohydraulic Servo System

Authors: M. Ahmadnezhad, M. Soltanpour

Abstract:

Electrohydraulic servo system have been used in industry in a wide number of applications. Its dynamics are highly nonlinear and also have large extent of model uncertainties and external disturbances. In this paper, a robust back-stepping control (RBSC) scheme is proposed to overcome the problem of disturbances and system uncertainties effectively and to improve the tracking performance of EHS systems. In order to implement the proposed control scheme, the system uncertainties in EHS systems are considered as total leakage coefficient and effective oil volume. In addition, in order to obtain the virtual controls for stabilizing system, the update rule for the system uncertainty term is induced by the Lyapunov control function (LCF). To verify the performance and robustness of the proposed control system, computer simulation of the proposed control system using Matlab/Simulink Software is executed. From the computer simulation, it was found that the RBSC system produces the desired tracking performance and has robustness to the disturbances and system uncertainties of EHS systems.

Keywords: Electro hydraulic servo system, back-stepping control, robust back-stepping control, Lyapunov redesign

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2319 Tracking Performance Evaluation of Robust Back-Stepping Control Design for a Nonlinear Electrohydraulic Servo System

Authors: M. Ahmadnezhad, M. Soltanpour

Abstract:

Electrohydraulic servo system have been used in industry in a wide number of applications. Its dynamics are highly nonlinear and also have large extent of model uncertainties and external disturbances. In this paper, a robust back-stepping control (RBSC) scheme is proposed to overcome the problem of disturbances and system uncertainties effectively and to improve the tracking performance of EHS systems. In order to implement the proposed control scheme, the system uncertainties in EHS systems are considered as total leakage coefficient and effective oil volume. In addition, in order to obtain the virtual controls for stabilizing system, the update rule for the system uncertainty term is induced by the Lyapunov control function (LCF). To verify the performance and robustness of the proposed control system, computer simulation of the proposed control system using Matlab/Simulink Software is executed. From the computer simulation, it was found that the RBSC system produces the desired tracking performance and has robustness to the disturbances and system uncertainties of EHS systems.

Keywords: Electro hydraulic servo system, back-stepping control, robust back-stepping control, Lyapunov redesign.

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2318 Trade Openness and Its Effects on Economic Growth in Selected South Asian Countries: A Panel Data Study

Authors: Samra Bajwa, Muhammad W. Siddiqi

Abstract:

The study investigates the causal link between trade openness and economic growth for four South Asian countries for period 1972-1985 and 1986-2007 to examine the scenario before and after the implementation of SAARC. Panel cointegration and FMOLS techniques are employed for short run and long run estimates. In 1972-85 short run unidirectional causality from GDP to openness is found whereas, in 1986-2007 there exists bi-directional causality between GDP and openness. The long run elasticity magnitude between GDP and openness contains negative sign in 1972-85 which shows that there exists long run negative relationship. While in time period 1986-2007 the elasticity magnitude has positive sign that indicates positive causation between GDP and openness. So it can be concluded that after the implementation of SAARC overall situation of selected countries got better. Also long run coefficient of error term suggests that short term equilibrium adjustments are driven by adjustment back to long run equilibrium.

Keywords: Causality, Economic Growth, Panel Co-integration, SAARC, Trade Openness.

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2317 Speaker Identification Using Admissible Wavelet Packet Based Decomposition

Authors: Mangesh S. Deshpande, Raghunath S. Holambe

Abstract:

Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient (MFCC) features are widely used as acoustic features for speech recognition as well as speaker recognition. In MFCC feature representation, the Mel frequency scale is used to get a high resolution in low frequency region, and a low resolution in high frequency region. This kind of processing is good for obtaining stable phonetic information, but not suitable for speaker features that are located in high frequency regions. The speaker individual information, which is non-uniformly distributed in the high frequencies, is equally important for speaker recognition. Based on this fact we proposed an admissible wavelet packet based filter structure for speaker identification. Multiresolution capabilities of wavelet packet transform are used to derive the new features. The proposed scheme differs from previous wavelet based works, mainly in designing the filter structure. Unlike others, the proposed filter structure does not follow Mel scale. The closed-set speaker identification experiments performed on the TIMIT database shows improved identification performance compared to other commonly used Mel scale based filter structures using wavelets.

Keywords: Speaker identification, Wavelet transform, Feature extraction, MFCC, GMM.

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2316 Application of Ultrasonic Assisted Machining Technique for Glass-Ceramic Milling

Authors: S. Y. Lin, C. H. Kuan, C. H. She, W. T. Wang

Abstract:

In this study, ultrasonic assisted machining (UAM) technique is applied in side-surface milling experiment for glass-ceramic workpiece material. The tungsten carbide cutting-tool with diamond coating is used in conjunction with two kinds of cooling/lubrication mediums such as water-soluble (WS) cutting fluid and minimum quantity lubricant (MQL). Full factorial process parameter combinations on the milling experiments are planned to investigate the effect of process parameters on cutting performance. From the experimental results, it tries to search for the better process parameter combination which the edge-indentation and the surface roughness are acceptable. In the machining experiments, ultrasonic oscillator was used to excite a cutting-tool along the radial direction producing a very small amplitude of vibration frequency of 20KHz to assist the machining process. After processing, toolmaker microscope was used to detect the side-surface morphology, edge-indentation and cutting tool wear under different combination of cutting parameters, and analysis and discussion were also conducted for experimental results. The results show that the main leading parameters to edge-indentation of glass ceramic are cutting depth and feed rate. In order to reduce edge-indentation, it needs to use lower cutting depth and feed rate. Water-soluble cutting fluid provides a better cooling effect in the primary cutting area; it may effectively reduce the edge-indentation and improve the surface morphology of the glass ceramic. The use of ultrasonic assisted technique can effectively enhance the surface finish cleanness and reduce cutting tool wear and edge-indentation. 

Keywords: Glass-ceramic, ultrasonic assisted machining, cutting performance, edge-indentation

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2315 The Effect of Eight Weeks of Aerobic Training on Indices of Cardio-Respiratory and Exercise Tolerance in Overweight Women with Chronic Asthma

Authors: Somayeh Negahdari, Mohsen Ghanbarzadeh, Masoud Nikbakht, Heshmatolah Tavakol

Abstract:

Asthma, obesity and overweight are the main factors causing change within the heart and respiratory airways. Asthma symptoms are normally observed during exercising. Epidemiological studies have indicated asthma symptoms occurring due to certain lifestyle habits; for example, a sedentary lifestyle. In this study, eight weeks of aerobic exercises resulted in a positive effect overall in overweight women experiencing mild chronic asthma. The quasi-experimental applied research has been done based on experimental and control groups. The experimental group (seven patients) and control group (n = 7) were graded before and after the test. According to the Borg dyspnea and fatigue Perception Index, the training intensity has determined. Participants in the study performed a sub-maximal aerobic activity schedule (45% to 80% of maximum heart rate) for two months, while the control group (n = 7) stayed away from aerobic exercise. Data evaluation and analysis of covariance compared both the pre-test and post-test with paired t-test at significance level of P≤ 0.05. After eight weeks of exercise, the results of the experimental group show a significant decrease in resting heart rate, systolic blood pressure, minute ventilation, while a significant increase in maximal oxygen uptake and tolerance activity (P ≤ 0.05). In the control group, there was no significant difference in these parameters ((P ≤ 0.05). The results indicate the aerobic activity can strengthen the respiratory muscles, while other physiological factors could result in breathing and heart recovery. Aerobic activity also resulted in favorable changes in cardiovascular parameters, and exercise tolerance of overweight women with chronic asthma.

Keywords: Asthma, respiratory cardiac index, exercise tolerance, aerobic, overweight.

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2314 Double Diffusive Convection in a Partially Porous Cavity under Suction/Injection Effects

Authors: Y. Outaleb, K. Bouhadef, O. Rahli

Abstract:

Double-diffusive steady convection in a partially porous cavity with partially permeable walls and under the combined buoyancy effects of thermal and mass diffusion was analysed numerically using finite volume method. The top wall is well insulated and impermeable while the bottom surface is partially well insulated and impermeable and partially submitted to constant temperature T1 and concentration C1. Constant equal temperature T2 and concentration C2 are imposed along the vertical surfaces of the enclosure. Mass suction/injection and injection/suction are respectively considered at the bottom of the porous centred partition and at one of the vertical walls. Heat and mass transfer characteristics as streamlines and average Nusselt numbers and Sherwood numbers were discussed for different values of buoyancy ratio, Rayleigh number, and injection/suction coefficient. It is especially noted that increasing the injection factor disadvantages the exchanges in the case of the injection while the transfer is augmented in case of suction. On the other hand, a critical value of the buoyancy ratio was highlighted for which heat and mass transfers are minimized.

Keywords: Double diffusive convection, Injection/Extraction, Partially porous cavity

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2313 Numerical Investigation of Instabilities in Free Shear Layer Produced by NS-DBD Actuator

Authors: Ilya Popov, Steven Hulshoff

Abstract:

A numerical investigation of the effects of nanosecond barrier discharge on the stability of a two-dimensional free shear layer is performed. The computations are carried out using a compressible Navier-Stokes algorithm coupled with a thermodynamic model of the discharge. The results show that significant increases in the shear layer-s momentum thickness and Reynolds stresses occur due to actuation. Dependence on both frequency and amplitude of actuation are considered, and a comparison is made of the computed growth rates with those predicted by linear stability theory. Amplitude and frequency ranges for the efficient promotion of shear-layer instabilities are identified.

Keywords: NS-DBD, plasma, actuator, flow control, instability, shear layer

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2312 Assessment of ATC with Shunt FACTS Devices

Authors: Ashwani Kumar, Jitender Kumar

Abstract:

In this paper, an optimal power flow based approach has been applied for multi-transactions deregulated environment for ATC determination with SVC and STATCOM. The main contribution of the paper is (i) OPF based approach for evaluation of ATC with multi-transactions, (ii) ATC enhancement with FACTS devices viz. SVC and STATCOM for intact and line contingency cases, (iii) Impact of ZIP load on ATC determination and comparison of ATC obtained with SVC and STATCOM. The results have been determined for intact and line contingency cases taking simultaneous as well as single transaction cases for IEEE 24 bus RTS.

Keywords: Available transfer capability, FACTS devices, line contingency, multi-transactions, ZIP load model.

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2311 Production of Spherical Ag/ZnO Nanocomposite Particles for Photocatalytic Applications

Authors: K. B. Dermenci, B. Ebin, S.Gürmen

Abstract:

Noble metal participation in nanostructured semiconductor catalysts has drawn much interest because of their improved properties. Recently, it has been discussed by many researchers that Ag participation in TiO2, CuO, ZnO semiconductors showed improved photocatalytic and optical properties. In this research, Ag/ZnO nanocomposite particles were prepared by Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis(USP) Method. 0.1M silver and zinc nitrate aqueous solutions were used as precursor solutions. The Ag:Zn atomic ratio of the solution was selected 1:1. Experiments were taken place under constant air flow of 400 mL/min at 800°C furnace temperature. Particles were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). The crystallite sizes of Ag and ZnO in composite particles are 24.6 nm, 19.7 nm respectively. Although, spherical nanocomposite particles are in a range of 300- 800 nm, these particles are formed by the aggregation of primary particles which are in a range of 20-60 nm.

Keywords: Ag/ZnO nanocatalysts, Nanotechnology, USP

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2310 Application of an in vitro Alveolus Model in Evaluating the Alveolar Response to Pressure- Induced Injury

Authors: Divya D. Nalayanda, William B. Fulton, Tza-Huei Wang, Fizan Abdullah

Abstract:

In an effort to understand the preliminary effects of aerodynamic stress on alveolar epithelial cells, we developed a multifluidic cell culture platform capable of supporting alveolar cultures at an air-liquid interface under constant air flow and exposure to varying pressure stimuli on the apical side while providing nourishment on the basolateral plane. Our current study involved utilizing the platform to study the effect of basement membrane coating and addition of dexamethasone on cellular response to pressure in A549 and H441 alveolar epithelial cells.

Keywords: Aerodynamic stress, Air-liquid interface, Alveolar, Dexamethasone.

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2309 HOPF Bifurcation of a Predator-prey Model with Time Delay and Habitat Complexity

Authors: Li Hongwei

Abstract:

In this paper, a predator-prey model with time delay and habitat complexity is investigated. By analyzing the characteristic equations, the local stability of each feasible equilibria of the system is discussed and the existence of a Hopf bifurcation at the coexistence equilibrium is established. By choosing the sum of two delays as a bifurcation parameter, we show that Hopf bifurcations can occur as  crosses some critical values. By deriving the equation describing the flow on the center manifold, we can determine the direction of the Hopf bifurcations and the stability of the bifurcating periodic solutions. Numerical simulations are carried out to illustrate the main theoretical results.

Keywords: Predator-prey system, delay, habitat complexity, HOPF bifurcation.

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2308 An Improved Model for Prediction of the Effective Thermal Conductivity of Nanofluids

Authors: K. Abbaspoursani, M. Allahyari, M. Rahmani

Abstract:

Thermal conductivity is an important characteristic of a nanofluid in laminar flow heat transfer. This paper presents an improved model for the prediction of the effective thermal conductivity of nanofluids based on dimensionless groups. The model expresses the thermal conductivity of a nanofluid as a function of the thermal conductivity of the solid and liquid, their volume fractions and particle size. The proposed model includes a parameter which accounts for the interfacial shell, brownian motion, and aggregation of particle. The validation of the model is verified by applying the results obtained by the experiments of Tio2-water and Al2o3-water nanofluids.

Keywords: Critical particle size, nanofluid, model, and thermal conductivity.

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2307 A Novel Approach towards Segmentation of Breast Tumors from Screening Mammograms for Efficient Decision Support System

Authors: M.Suganthi, M.Madheswaran

Abstract:

This paper presents a novel approach to finding a priori interesting regions in mammograms. In order to delineate those regions of interest (ROI-s) in mammograms, which appear to be prominent, a topographic representation called the iso-level contour map consisting of iso-level contours at multiple intensity levels and region segmentation based-thresholding have been proposed. The simulation results indicate that the computed boundary gives the detection rate of 99.5% accuracy.

Keywords: Breast Cancer, Mammogram, and Segmentation.

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2306 Multivariable Predictive PID Control for Quadruple Tank

Authors: Qamar Saeed, Vali Uddin, Reza Katebi

Abstract:

In this paper multivariable predictive PID controller has been implemented on a multi-inputs multi-outputs control problem i.e., quadruple tank system, in comparison with a simple multiloop PI controller. One of the salient feature of this system is an adjustable transmission zero which can be adjust to operate in both minimum and non-minimum phase configuration, through the flow distribution to upper and lower tanks in quadruple tank system. Stability and performance analysis has also been carried out for this highly interactive two input two output system, both in minimum and non-minimum phases. Simulations of control system revealed that better performance are obtained in predictive PID design.

Keywords: Proportional-integral-derivative Control, GeneralizedPredictive Control, Predictive PID Control, Multivariable Systems

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2305 Novel Intrinsic Conducting Polymer Current Limiting Device (CLD) for Surge Protection

Authors: Noor H Jabarullah

Abstract:

In the past many uneconomic solutions for limitation and interruption of short-circuit currents in low power applications have been introduced, especially polymer switch based on the positive temperature coefficient of resistance (PCTR) concept. However there are many limitations in the active material, which consists of conductive fillers. This paper presents a significantly improved and simplified approach that replaces the existing current limiters with faster switching elements. Its elegance lies in the remarkable simplicity and low-cost processes of producing the device using polyaniline (PANI) doped with methane-sulfonic acid (MSA). Samples characterized as lying in the metallic and critical regimes of metal insulator transition have been studied by means of electrical performance in the voltage range from 1V to 5 V under different environmental conditions. Moisture presence is shown to increase the resistivity and also improved its current limiting performance. Additionally, the device has also been studied for electrical resistivity in the temperature range 77 K-300 K. The temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity gives evidence for a transport mechanism based on variable range hopping in three dimensions.

Keywords: Conducting polymer, current limiter, intrinsic, moisture dependence, polyaniline, resettable, surge protection.

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2304 Hole Configuration Effect on Turbine Blade Cooling

Authors: A.Hasanpour, M. Farhadi, H.R. Ashorynejad

Abstract:

In this paper a numerical technique is used to predict the metal temperature of a gas turbine vane. The Rising combustor exit temperatures in gas turbine engines necessitate active cooling for the downstream turbine section to avoid thermal failure. This study is performed the solution of external flow, internal convection, and conduction within the metal vane. Also the trade-off between the cooling performances in four different hole shapes and configurations is performed. At first one of the commonly used cooling hole geometry is investigated; cylindrical holes and then two other configurations are simulated. The average temperature magnitude in mid-plan section of each configuration is obtained and finally the lower temperature value is selected such as best arrangement.

Keywords: Forced Convection, Gas Turbine Blade, Hole Configuration

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2303 Generalized Stokes’ Problems for an Incompressible Couple Stress Fluid

Authors: M.Devakar, T.K.V.Iyengar

Abstract:

In this paper, we investigate the generalized Stokes’ problems for an incompressible couple stress fluid. Analytical solution of the governing equations is obtained in Laplace transform domain for each problem. A standard numerical inversion technique is used to invert the Laplace transform of the velocity in each case. The effect of various material parameters on velocity is discussed and the results are presented through graphs. It is observed that, the results are in tune with the observation of V.K.Stokes in connection with the variation of velocity in the flow between two parallel plates when the top one is moving with constant velocity and the bottom one is at rest.

Keywords: Couple stress fluid, Generalized Stokes’ problems, Laplace transform, Numerical inversion

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2302 Comparison of SVC and STATCOM in Static Voltage Stability Margin Enhancement

Authors: Mehrdad Ahmadi Kamarposhti, Mostafa Alinezhad

Abstract:

One of the major causes of voltage instability is the reactive power limit of the system. Improving the system's reactive power handling capacity via Flexible AC transmission System (FACTS) devices is a remedy for prevention of voltage instability and hence voltage collapse. In this paper, the effects of SVC and STATCOM in Static Voltage Stability Margin Enhancement will be studied. AC and DC representations of SVC and STATCOM are used in the continuation power flow process in static voltage stability study. The IEEE-14 bus system is simulated to test the increasing loadability. It is found that these controllers significantly increase the loadability margin of power systems.

Keywords: SVC, STATCOM, Voltage Collapse, Maximum Loading Point.

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2301 Rotary Machine Sealing Oscillation Frequencies and Phase Shift Analysis

Authors: Liliia N. Butymova, Vladimir Ya Modorskii

Abstract:

To ensure the gas transmittal GCU's efficient operation, leakages through the labyrinth packings (LP) should be minimized. Leakages can be minimized by decreasing the LP gap, which in turn depends on thermal processes and possible rotor vibrations and is designed to ensure absence of mechanical contact. Vibration mitigation allows to minimize the LP gap. It is advantageous to research influence of processes in the dynamic gas-structure system on LP vibrations. This paper considers influence of rotor vibrations on LP gas dynamics and influence of the latter on the rotor structure within the FSI unidirectional dynamical coupled problem. Dependences of nonstationary parameters of gas-dynamic process in LP on rotor vibrations under various gas speeds and pressures, shaft rotation speeds and vibration amplitudes, and working medium features were studied. The programmed multi-processor ANSYS CFX was chosen as a numerical computation tool. The problem was solved using PNRPU high-capacity computer complex. Deformed shaft vibrations are replaced with an unyielding profile that moves in the fixed annulus "up-and-down" according to set harmonic rule. This solves a nonstationary gas-dynamic problem and determines time dependence of total gas-dynamic force value influencing the shaft. Pressure increase from 0.1 to 10 MPa causes growth of gas-dynamic force oscillation amplitude and frequency. The phase shift angle between gas-dynamic force oscillations and those of shaft displacement decreases from 3π/4 to π/2. Damping constant has maximum value under 1 MPa pressure in the gap. Increase of shaft oscillation frequency from 50 to 150 Hz under P=10 MPa causes growth of gas-dynamic force oscillation amplitude. Damping constant has maximum value at 50 Hz equaling 1.012. Increase of shaft vibration amplitude from 20 to 80 µm under P=10 MPa causes the rise of gas-dynamic force amplitude up to 20 times. Damping constant increases from 0.092 to 0.251. Calculations for various working substances (methane, perfect gas, air at 25 ˚С) prove the minimum gas-dynamic force persistent oscillating amplitude under P=0.1 MPa being observed in methane, and maximum in the air. Frequency remains almost unchanged and the phase shift in the air changes from 3π/4 to π/2. Calculations for various working substances (methane, perfect gas, air at 25 ˚С) prove the maximum gas-dynamic force oscillating amplitude under P=10 MPa being observed in methane, and minimum in the air. Air demonstrates surging. Increase of leakage speed from 0 to 20 m/s through LP under P=0.1 MPa causes the gas-dynamic force oscillating amplitude to decrease by 3 orders and oscillation frequency and the phase shift to increase 2 times and stabilize. Increase of leakage speed from 0 to 20 m/s in LP under P=1 MPa causes gas-dynamic force oscillating amplitude to decrease by almost 4 orders. The phase shift angle increases from π/72 to π/2. Oscillations become persistent. Flow rate proved to influence greatly on pressure oscillations amplitude and a phase shift angle. Work medium influence depends on operation conditions. At pressure growth, vibrations are mostly affected in methane (of working substances list considered), and at pressure decrease, in the air at 25 ˚С.

Keywords: Aeroelasticity, labyrinth packings, oscillation phase shift, vibration.

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2300 The Development and Examination of a Teaching Commitment Scale for Elementary School Health and Physical Education Teachers

Authors: Yi-Hsiang Pan, Wei-Ting Hsu, Chang-Pang Lin

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to develop and examine a Teaching Commitment Scale of Health and Physical Education (TCS-HPE) for Taiwanese elementary school teachers. First of all, based on teaching commitment related theory and literatures to develop a original scale with 40 items, later both stratified random sampling and cluster sampling were used to sample participants. During the first stage, 300 teachers were sampled and 251 valid scales (83.7%) returned. Later, the data was analyzed by exploratory factor analysis to obtain 74.30% of total variance for the construct validity. The Cronbach-s alpha coefficient of sum scale reliability was 0.94, and subscale coefficients were between 0.80 and 0.96. In the second stage, 400 teachers were sampled and 318 valid scales (79.5%) returned. Finally, this study used confirmatory factor analysis to test validity and reliability of TCS-HPE. The result showed that the fit indexes reached acceptable criteria(¤ç2 (246 ) =557.64 , p<.05, RMSEA= 0.03, GFI = 0.96, AGFI = 0.95, NFI = 0.91, CFI = 0.98, RMR = 0.04, SRMR = 0.03). In conclusion, TCS-HPE has four dimensions with 24 items, including teaching identification, teaching involvement, teaching objectives and tendency towards work continuation. It is an acceptable measurement instrument with reliability and validity.

Keywords: Attitude, belief, construct validity, teachers' professional development.

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2299 Efficiency Improvement for Conventional Rectangular Horn Antenna by Using EBG Technique

Authors: S. Kampeephat, P. Krachodnok, R. Wongsan

Abstract:

The conventional rectangular horn has been used for microwave antenna a long time. Its gain can be increased by enlarging the construction of horn to flare exponentially. This paper presents a study of the shaped woodpile Electromagnetic Band Gap (EBG) to improve its gain for conventional horn without construction enlargement. The gain enhancement synthesis method for shaped woodpile EBG that has to transfer the electromagnetic fields from aperture of a horn antenna through woodpile EBG is presented by using the variety of shaped woodpile EBGs such as planar, triangular, quadratic, circular, gaussian, cosine, and squared cosine structures. The proposed technique has the advantages of low profile, low cost for fabrication and light weight. The antenna characteristics such as reflection coefficient (S11), radiation patterns and gain are simulated by utilized A Computer Simulation Technology (CST) software. With the proposed concept, an antenna prototype was fabricated and experimented. The S11 and radiation patterns obtained from measurements show a good impedance matching and a gain enhancement of the proposed antenna. The gain at dominant frequency of 10 GHz is 25.6 dB, application for X- and Ku-Band Radar, that higher than the gain of the basic rectangular horn antenna around 8 dB with adding only one appropriated EBG structures.

Keywords: Conventional Rectangular Horn Antenna, Electromagnetic Band Gap, Gain Enhancement, X- and Ku-Band Radar.

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2298 Comparison of ANFIS and ANN for Estimation of Biochemical Oxygen Demand Parameter in Surface Water

Authors: S. Areerachakul

Abstract:

Nowadays, several techniques such as; Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) and Neural Network (NN) are employed for developing of the predictive models to estimate parameters of water quality. The main objective of this study is to compare between the predictive ability of the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) model and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model to estimate the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) on data from 11 sampling sites of Saen Saep canal in Bangkok, Thailand. The data is obtained from the Department of Drainage and Sewerage, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, during 2004-2011. The five parameters of water quality namely Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Ammonia Nitrogen (NH3N), Nitrate Nitrogen (NO3N), and Total Coliform bacteria (T-coliform) are used as the input of the models. These water quality indices affect the biochemical oxygen demand. The experimental results indicate that the ANN model provides a higher correlation coefficient (R=0.73) and a lower root mean square error (RMSE=4.53) than the corresponding ANFIS model.

Keywords: adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system, artificial neural network, biochemical oxygen demand, surface water.

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2297 Using Mean-Shift Tracking Algorithms for Real-Time Tracking of Moving Images on an Autonomous Vehicle Testbed Platform

Authors: Benjamin Gorry, Zezhi Chen, Kevin Hammond, Andy Wallace, Greg Michaelson

Abstract:

This paper describes new computer vision algorithms that have been developed to track moving objects as part of a long-term study into the design of (semi-)autonomous vehicles. We present the results of a study to exploit variable kernels for tracking in video sequences. The basis of our work is the mean shift object-tracking algorithm; for a moving target, it is usual to define a rectangular target window in an initial frame, and then process the data within that window to separate the tracked object from the background by the mean shift segmentation algorithm. Rather than use the standard, Epanechnikov kernel, we have used a kernel weighted by the Chamfer distance transform to improve the accuracy of target representation and localization, minimising the distance between the two distributions in RGB color space using the Bhattacharyya coefficient. Experimental results show the improved tracking capability and versatility of the algorithm in comparison with results using the standard kernel. These algorithms are incorporated as part of a robot test-bed architecture which has been used to demonstrate their effectiveness.

Keywords: Hume, functional programming, autonomous vehicle, pioneer robot, vision.

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