Search results for: structural details

Authors: Samppa Suoniemi, Harri Terho, Rami Olkkonen

Abstract:

In recent methodological articles related to structural equation modeling (SEM), the question of how to measure endogenous formative variables has been raised as an urgent, unresolved issue. This research presents an empirical application from the CRM system development context to test a recently developed technique, which makes it possible to measure endogenous formative constructs in structural models. PLS path modeling is used to demonstrate the feasibility of measuring antecedent relationships at the formative indicator level, not the formative construct level. Empirical results show that this technique is a promising approach to measure antecedent relationships of formative constructs in SEM.

Keywords: CRM system development, formative measures, PLS path modeling, research methodology.

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Authors: Gao Wei, Xu Minglu, Xu Yan, Zhang Xiaotong, Wang Xinghua

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A 3.5-bit stage of the CMOS pipelined ADC is proposed. In this report, the main part of 3.5-bit stage ADC is introduced. How the MDAC, comparator and encoder worked and designed are shown in details. Besides, an OTA which is used in fully differential pipelined ADC was described. Using gain-boost architecture with differential amplifier, this OTA achieve high-gain and high-speed. This design was using CMOS 0.18um process and simulation in Cadence. The result of the simulation shows that the OTA has a gain up to 80dB, the unity gain bandwidth of about 1.138GHz with 2pF load.

Keywords: pipelined ADC, MDAC, operational amplifier.

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Authors: Irina Severin, M. Caramihai, K. Chung, G. Tasca, T. Park

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The current study has investigated the ageing phenomena of silica optical fibres in relation to water activity which might be accelerated when exposed to a supplementary energy, such as microwaves. A controlled stress by winding fibres onto accurate diameter mandrel was applied. Taking into account that normally a decrease in fibre strength is induced in time by chemical action of water, the effects of cumulative reagents such as: water, applied stress and supplementary energy (microwave) in some cases acted in the opposite manner. The microwave effect as a structural relaxation catalyst appears unexpected, even if the overall gain in fibre strength is not high, but the stress corrosion factor revealed significant increase in certain simulation conditions.

Keywords: optical fibres, mechanical testing, aging, microwave, structural relaxation.

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Authors: A. Pourahmad, Sh. Gharipour

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The present work describes the preparation and characterization of nanosized SiO₂@PbS core-shell particles by using a simple wet chemical route. This method utilizes silica spheres formation followed by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method assisted lead sulphide shell layer formation. The final product was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–vis spectroscopic, infrared spectroscopy (IR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) experiments. The morphological studies revealed the uniformity in size distribution with core size of 250 nm and shell thickness of 18 nm. The electron microscopic images also indicate the irregular morphology of lead sulphide shell layer. The structural studies indicate the face-centered cubic system of PbS shell with no other trace for impurities in the crystal structure.

Keywords: Core-shell, nanostructure, semiconductor, optical property, XRD.

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Authors: Shahrad Ebrahimzadeh

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Nowadays, the main efforts of the researchers aim to constantly evolve new, optimized, and efficient construction materials and methods related to reinforced concrete beams. Due to the fewer applied materials and higher structural efficiency than solid concrete beams with the same concrete area, hollow reinforced concrete beams (HRCBs) internally reinforced with steel rebars have been employed extensively for bridge structural members and high-rise buildings. Many experimental studies have been conducted to investigate the behavior of hollow beams subjected to bending loading and found that the structural performance of HRCBs is critically affected by many design parameters. While the proper design of the HRCBs demonstrated comparable behavior to solid sections, inappropriate design leads beams to be extremely prone to brittle failure. Another potential issue that needs further investigation is replacing steel bars with suitable materials due to their susceptibility to corrosion. Hence, to develop a reliable construction system, the application of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars as a non-corroding material has been utilized. Furthermore, this study aims to critically review the different design parameters that affect the flexural performance of the HRCBs and recognize the gaps of knowledge in the better design and more effective use of this construction system.

Keywords: Design parameters, experimental investigations, hollow reinforced concrete beams, steel, GFRP, flexural strength.

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Authors: Lorenzo Casagrande, Antonio Bonati, Ferdinando Auricchio, Antonio Occhiuzzi

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This paper summarizes the results of a survey on smart non-structural element dynamic dissipation when installed in modern high-rise mega-frame prototypes. An innovative glazed curtain wall was designed using Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) joints in order to increase the energy dissipation and enhance the seismic/wind response of the structures. The studied buildings consisted of thirty- and sixty-storey planar frames, extracted from reference three-dimensional steel Moment Resisting Frame (MRF) with outriggers and belt trusses. The internal core was composed of a CBF system, whilst outriggers were placed every fifteen stories to limit second order effects and inter-storey drifts. These structural systems were designed in accordance with European rules and numerical FE models were developed with an open-source code, able to account for geometric and material nonlinearities. With regard to the characterization of non-structural building components, full-scale crescendo tests were performed on aluminium/glass curtain wall units at the laboratory of the Construction Technologies Institute (ITC) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), deriving force-displacement curves. Three-dimensional brick-based inelastic FE models were calibrated according to experimental results, simulating the fac¸ade response. Since recent seismic events and extreme dynamic wind loads have generated the large occurrence of non-structural components failure, which causes sensitive economic losses and represents a hazard for pedestrians safety, a more dissipative glazed curtain wall was studied. Taking advantage of the mechanical properties of SMA, advanced smart joints were designed with the aim to enhance both the dynamic performance of the single non-structural unit and the global behavior. Thus, three-dimensional brick-based plastic FE models were produced, based on the innovated non-structural system, simulating the evolution of mechanical degradation in aluminium-to-glass and SMA-to-glass connections when high deformations occurred. Consequently, equivalent nonlinear links were calibrated to reproduce the behavior of both tested and smart designed units, and implemented on the thirty- and sixty-storey structural planar frame FE models. Nonlinear time history analyses (NLTHAs) were performed to quantify the potential of the new system, when considered in the lateral resisting frame system (LRFS) of modern high-rise MRFs. Sensitivity to the structure height was explored comparing the responses of the two prototypes. Trends in global and local performance were discussed to show that, if accurately designed, advanced materials in non-structural elements provide new sources of energy dissipation.

Keywords: Advanced technologies, glazed curtain walls, non-structural elements, seismic-action reduction, shape memory alloy.

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Authors: Ahsan Bin Tufail, Ali Abidi, Adil Masood Siddiqui, Muhammad Shahzad Younis

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An early and accurate detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an important stage in the treatment of individuals suffering from AD. We present an approach based on the use of structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) phase images to distinguish between normal controls (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD patients with clinical dementia rating (CDR) of 1. Independent component analysis (ICA) technique is used for extracting useful features which form the inputs to the support vector machines (SVM), K nearest neighbour (kNN) and multilayer artificial neural network (ANN) classifiers to discriminate between the three classes. The obtained results are encouraging in terms of classification accuracy and effectively ascertain the usefulness of phase images for the classification of different stages of Alzheimer-s disease.

Keywords: Biomedical image processing, classification algorithms, feature extraction, statistical learning.

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Authors: Chin-Yin Chen, Chi-Cheng Cheng

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This paper aims at to develop a robust optimization methodology for the mechatronic modules of machine tools by considering all important characteristics from all structural and control domains in one single process. The relationship between these two domains is strongly coupled. In order to reduce the disturbance caused by parameters in either one, the mechanical and controller design domains need to be integrated. Therefore, the concurrent integrated design method Design For Control (DFC), will be employed in this paper. In this connect, it is not only applied to achieve minimal power consumption but also enhance structural performance and system response at same time. To investigate the method for integrated optimization, a mechatronic feed drive system of the machine tools is used as a design platform. Pro/Engineer and AnSys are first used to build the 3D model to analyze and design structure parameters such as elastic deformation, nature frequency and component size, based on their effects and sensitivities to the structure. In addition, the robust controller,based on Quantitative Feedback Theory (QFT), will be applied to determine proper control parameters for the controller. Therefore, overall physical properties of the machine tool will be obtained in the initial stage. Finally, the technology of design for control will be carried out to modify the structural and control parameters to achieve overall system performance. Hence, the corresponding productivity is expected to be greatly improved.

Keywords: Machine tools, integrated structure and control design, design for control, multilevel decomposition, quantitative feedback theory.

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Authors: G. Çelik Gül, F. Kurtuluş

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Colemanite is the most common borate mineral, and the main source of the boron required by plants, human, and earth. Transition metals exhibit optical and physical properties such as; non-linear optical character, structural diversity, thermal stability, long cycle life and luminescent radiation. The doping of colemanite with a transition metal, bring it very interesting and attractive properties which make them applicable in industry. Iron doped calcium borate was synthesized by conventional solid state method at 1200 °C for 12 h with a systematic pathway. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive analyze (SEM/EDS) were used to characterize structural and morphological properties. Also, thermal properties were recorded by thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA). 

Keywords: Colemanite, conventional synthesis, powder x-ray diffraction, borates.

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Authors: Jongho Park, Taekyun Kim, Jungbhin You, Sungnam Hong, Sun-Kyu Park

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Due to the aging of bridges, increasing of maintenance costs and decreasing of structural safety is occurred. The steel corrosion of reinforced concrete bridge is the most common problem and this phenomenon is accelerating due to abnormal weather and increasing CO₂ concentration due to climate change. To solve these problems, composite members using textile have been studied. A textile reinforced concrete can reduce carbon emissions by reduced concrete and without steel bars, so a lot of structural behavior studies are needed. Therefore, in this study, textile reinforced concrete beam was made and flexural test was performed. Also, the change of flexural strength according to the prestressing was conducted. As a result, flexural strength of TRC with prestressing was increased compared and flexural behavior was shown as reinforced concrete.

Keywords: AR-glass, flexural strength, prestressing, textile reinforced concrete.

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Authors: Fakhra Aziz, K. Sulaiman, M. R. Muhammad, M. Hassan Sayyad, Kh. Karimov

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This paper presents a comparative study on Vanadyl Phthalocyanine (VOPc) thin films deposited by thermal evaporation and spin coating techniques. The samples were prepared on cleaned glass substrates and annealed at various temperatures ranging form 95oC to 155oC. To obtain the morphological and structural properties of VOPc thin films, X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been implied. The AFM topographic images show a very slight difference in the thermally grown films, before and after annealing, however best results are achieved for the spin-cast film annealed at 125oC. The XRD spectra show no existence of the sharp peaks, suggesting the material to be amorphous. The humps in the XRD patterns indicate the presence of some crystallites.

Keywords: Annealing, optical properties, thin films, Vanadylphthalocyanine.

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Authors: J. Szolomicki, H. Golasz-Szolomicka

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This paper presents elements of architectural and structural analysis of selected high-rise buildings in the Polish capital city of Warsaw. When analyzing the architecture of Warsaw, it can be concluded that it is currently a rapidly growing city with technologically advanced skyscrapers that belong to the category of intelligent buildings. The constructional boom over the last dozen years has seen the erection of postmodern skyscrapers for office and residential use. This article focuses on how Warsaw has recently joined the most architecturally interesting cities in Europe. Warsaw is currently in fifth place in Europe in terms of the number of skyscrapers and is considered the second most preferred city in Europe (after London) for investment related to them. However, the architectural development of the city could not take place without the participation of eminent Polish and foreign architects such as Stefan Kuryłowicz, Lary Oltmans, Helmut Jahn or Daniel Libeskind.

Keywords: Core structure, raft foundation, tall buildings.

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Authors: Punya Chupanit, Chayatan Phromsorn

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In the past, there were many bridge-s collapses due to lack of bridge structural capacity information. Most of concrete bridge health was relied on information from visual inspection, which sometime was inadequate. This study was conducted in order to investigate relationship between bridge structural condition and bridge visual condition. This study was a part of a big project conducted at Department of Highways of Thailand. In this study, 31 bridges including slab-type bridges, plank-girder bridges, prestressed box-beam bridges, prestressed I-girder bridges and prestressed multibeam bridges were selected for visual inspection and load test. It was found a positive correlation between bridge appearance and bridge-s load carrying capacity. However, statistical characteristic revealed low correlation between them.

Keywords: Bridge, Visual Inspection, Load Test, Condition Rating, Rating Factor

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Authors: Z. Ishak, F.P Chew

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School experiences, family bonding and self-concept had always been a crucial factor in influencing all aspects of a student-s development. The purpose of this study is to develop and to validate a priori model of self-concept among students. The study was tested empirically using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to validate the structural model. To address these concerns, 1167 students were randomly selected and utilized the Cognitive Psycho-Social University of Malaya instrument (2009).Resulted demonstrated there is indirect effect from family bonding to self-concept through school experiences among secondary school students as a mediator. Besides school experiences, there is a direct effect from family bonding to self-concept and family bonding to school experiences among students.

Keywords: Confirmatory Factor Analysis, self-concept, family bonding, and school experience

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Authors: André Smith, Amr Abdel-Dayem

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This paper presents an overview of the history and development of stereo matching algorithms. Details from its inception, up to relatively recent techniques are described, noting challenges that have been surmounted across these past decades. Different components of these are explored, though focus is directed towards the local matching techniques. While global approaches have existed for some time, and demonstrated greater accuracy than their counterparts, they are generally quite slow. Many strides have been made more recently, allowing local methods to catch up in terms of accuracy, without sacrificing the overall performance.

Keywords: Developmental survey, local stereo matching, stereo correspondence.

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Authors: H. Katkhuda

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A time domain approach is used in this paper to identify unknown dynamic forces applied on two dimensional frames using the measured dynamic structural responses for a sub-structure in the two dimensional frame. In this paper a sub-structure finite element model with short length of measurement from only three or four accelerometers is required, and an iterative least-square algorithm is used to identify the unknown dynamic force applied on the structure. Validity of the method is demonstrated with numerical examples using noise-free and noise-contaminated structural responses. Both harmonic and impulsive forces are studied. The results show that the proposed approach can identify unknown dynamic forces within very limited iterations with high accuracy and shows its robustness even noise- polluted dynamic response measurements are utilized.

Keywords: Dynamic Force Identification, Dynamic Responses, Sub-structure and Time Domain.

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Authors: Parvinder S. Sandhu, Pavel Blecharz, Hardeep Singh

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Quantitative Investigation of impact of the factors' contribution towards measuring the reusability of software components could be helpful in evaluating the quality of developed or developing reusable software components and in identification of reusable component from existing legacy systems; that can save cost of developing the software from scratch. But the issue of the relative significance of contributing factors has remained relatively unexplored. In this paper, we have use the Taguchi's approach in analyzing the significance of different structural attributes or factors in deciding the reusability level of a particular component. The results obtained shows that the complexity is the most important factor in deciding the better Reusability of a function oriented Software. In case of Object Oriented Software, Coupling and Complexity collectively play significant role in high reusability.

Keywords: Taguchi Approach, Reusability, SoftwareComponents, Structural Attributes.

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Authors: Zsolt Dugár, Péter Barkóczy, Gábor Béres, Dávid Kis, Attila Bata, Tamás Dugár, Zoltán Weltsch

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This study is about the structural transformations of aluminium examining with the Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analyzer (DMTA). It is a faster and simpler measuring method to make consequence about the metal’s structural transformations. The device measures the changing of the mechanical characteristics depending on the heating rate, and concludes certain transformations. This measuring method fast and shows clean-cut results comparing the conventional ways. Applying polymer measuring devices for metal investigations is not widespread method. One of the adaptable ways is shown in this study. The article compares the results of the small specimen test and the DMTA method, considering the temperature and the forming dependence of recrystallization temperature.

Keywords: DMTA, recrystallization, cold forming, rotation.

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Authors: Ji Hyeong Park, Ji Hye Jeon, Hyo Seon Park

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Environmental pollution problems have been globally main concern in all fields including economy, society and culture into the 21st century. Beginning with the Kyoto Protocol, the reduction on the emissions of greenhouse gas such as CO2 and SOX has been a principal challenge of our day. As most buildings unlike durable goods in other industries have a characteristic and long life cycle, they consume energy in quantity and emit much CO2. Thus, for green building construction, more research is needed to reduce the CO2 emissions at each stage in the life cycle. However, recent studies are focused on the use and maintenance phase. Also, there is a lack of research on the initial design stage, especially the structure design. Therefore, in this study, we propose an optimal design plan considering CO2 emissions and cost in composite buildings simultaneously by applying to the structural design of actual building.

Keywords: Multi-objective optimization, CO2 emissions, structural cost, encased composite structure

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Authors: Kangkang Tang

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A large amount of blast furnace slag is generated in China. Most ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) however ends up in low-grade applications. Blast furnace slag, ground to an appropriate fineness, can be used as a partial replacement of cementitious material in concrete. The potential for using GGBS in structural concrete, e.g. concrete beams and columns is investigated at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU). With 50% of CEM I cement replaced with GGBS, peak hydration temperatures determined in a suspended concrete slab reduced by 20%. This beneficiary effect has not been further improved with 70% of CEM I replaced with GGBS. Partial replacement of CEM I with GGBS has a retardation effect on the early-age strength of concrete. More GGBS concrete mixes will be conducted to identify an ‘optimum’ replacement level which will lead to a reduced thermal loading, without significantly compromising the early-age strength of concrete.

Keywords: GGBS, thermal effect, sustainable construction, CEM I.

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Authors: Alexander Hendricks, Sean Nevin, Clayton Wikoff, Melissa Dougherty, Jacob Orlita, Rafiqul Noorani

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Knee orthotics play an important role in aiding in the recovery of those with knee injuries, especially athletes. However, structural knee orthotics is often very expensive, ranging between $300 and $800. The primary reason for this project was to answer the question: can 3D printed orthotics represent a viable and cost-effective alternative to present structural knee orthotics? The primary objective for this research project was to design a knee orthotic for athletes with knee injuries for a low-cost under $100 and evaluate its effectiveness. The initial design for the orthotic was done in SolidWorks, a computer-aided design (CAD) software available at Loyola Marymount University. After this design was completed, finite element analysis (FEA) was utilized to understand how normal stresses placed upon the knee affected the orthotic. The knee orthotic was then adjusted and redesigned to meet a specified factor-of-safety of 3.25 based on the data gathered during FEA and literature sources. Once the FEA was completed and the orthotic was redesigned based from the data gathered, the next step was to move on to 3D-printing the first design of the knee brace. Subsequently, physical therapy movement trials were used to evaluate physical performance. Using the data from these movement trials, the CAD design of the brace was refined to accommodate the design requirements. The final goal of this research means to explore the possibility of replacing high-cost, outsourced knee orthotics with a readily available low-cost alternative.

Keywords: Knee Orthotics, 3D printing, finite element analysis.

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Authors: Zhiqing Zhang, Xiangong Zhou, Zihan Zhou

Abstract:

Ground fissures can be seen in some cities all over the world. As a special urban geological disaster, ground fissures in Xi'an have caused great harm to infrastructure. Chang'an Road Interchange in Xi'an City is a bridge across ground fissures. The damage to Chang'an Road interchange is the most serious and typical. To study the influence of ground fissures on the bridge, we established a bridge monitoring system. The main monitoring items include elevation monitoring, structural displacement monitoring, etc. The monitoring results show that the typical failure is mainly reflected in the bridge deck damage caused by horizontal tension and vertical dislocation. For the construction of urban interchange spanning ground fissures, the interchange should be divided reasonably, a simple support structure with less restriction should be adopted, and the monitoring of supports should be strengthened to prevent the occurrence of beam falling.

Keywords: Bridge monitoring, ground fissures, typical disease, structural displacement.

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Authors: Yuan L. Lai, Yong R. Chen, Jui P. Hung, Tzuo L. Luo, Hsi H. Hsiao

Abstract:

Chatter vibration has been a troublesome problem for a machine tool toward the high precision and high speed machining. Essentially, the machining performance is determined by the dynamic characteristics of the machine tool structure and dynamics of cutting process. Therefore the dynamic vibration behavior of spindle tool system greatly determines the performance of machine tool. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influences of the machine frame structure on the dynamic frequency of spindle tool unit through finite element modeling approach. To this end, a realistic finite element model of the vertical milling system was created by incorporated the spindle-bearing model into the spindle head stock of the machine frame. Using this model, the dynamic characteristics of the milling machines with different structural designs of spindle head stock and identical spindle tool unit were demonstrated. The results of the finite element modeling reveal that the spindle tool unit behaves more compliant when the excited frequency approaches the natural mode of the spindle tool; while the spindle tool show a higher dynamic stiffness at lower frequency that may be initiated by the structural mode of milling head. Under this condition, it is concluded that the structural configuration of spindle head stock associated with the vertical column of milling machine plays an important role in determining the machining dynamics of the spindle unit.

Keywords: Machine tools, Compliance, Frequency response function, Machine frame structure, Spindle unit

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Authors: Mohammad Ali Tabarzad, Caro Lucas

Abstract:

The daily growing use of agents in software environments, because of many reasons such as independence and intelligence is not a secret anymore. One of such environments in which there is a prominent job for the agents would be emarketplaces in which a user is able to give those agents the responsibility of buying and selling, instead of searching the emarketplace himself. Making up a framework which has sufficient attention to the required roles and their relations, is the first step of achieving such e-markets. In this paper, we suggest a framework in order to establish such e-markets and we will continue investigating the roles such as seller or buyer and the relations in JADE environment in details.

Keywords: Framework, software agents, e-commerce, e-market.

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Authors: Khoo Shin Yee, Lian Yee Cheng, Ong Zhi Chao, Zubaidah Ismail, Siamak Noroozi

Abstract:

Structural frequency response testing is accurate in identifying the dynamic characteristic of a machinery structure. In practical perspective, conventional structural frequency response testing such as experimental modal analysis with impulse technique (also known as “impulse testing”) has limitation especially on its long acquisition time. The high acquisition time is mainly due to the redundancy procedure where the engineer has to repeatedly perform the test in 3 directions, namely the axial-, horizontal- and vertical-axis, in order to comprehensively define the dynamic behavior of a 3D structure. This is unfavorable to numerous industries where the downtime cost is high. This study proposes to reduce the testing time by using oblique impact. Theoretically, a single oblique impact can induce significant vibration responses and vibration modes in all the 3 directions. Hence, the acquisition time with the implementation of the oblique impulse technique can be reduced by a factor of three (i.e. for a 3D dynamic system). This study initiates an experimental investigation of impulse testing with oblique excitation. A motor-driven test rig has been used for the testing purpose. Its dynamic characteristic has been identified using the impulse testing with the conventional normal impact and the proposed oblique impact respectively. The results show that the proposed oblique impulse testing is able to obtain all the desired natural frequencies in all 3 directions and thus providing a feasible solution for a fast and time effective way of conducting the impulse testing.

Keywords: Frequency response function, impact testing, modal analysis, oblique angle, oblique impact.

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Authors: F. Niazkar, N. Arab-Moghaddam

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In this research, effort was made to identify and evaluate barriers to the development of entrepreneurship among Iranian entrepreneur women who were graduated from universities. In this study, perspectives of thirty-seven available entrepreneur women were examined. In order to prepare questionnaires and receive knowledge about barriers among these women, seven cases of entrepreneur women took part in in-depth interviews. Then, to evaluate the importance of barriers, the researchers made a questionnaire with closed questions in which the barriers were classified into the following categories: personal-familial barriers; socio-cultural barriers; economic-financial-commercial barriers; and structural barriers. Entrepreneur women were requested to rate the importance of each item. The results indicated that there were different obstacles among entrepreneur women. The order of the important barriers was as fallow: economic-financial-commercial, structural, socio-cultural, and personal-familial.

Keywords: Barriers to Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneur Women

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Authors: Sheroz Khan, A. F. Salami, W. A. Lawal, AHM Zahirul Alam, Shihab Abdel Hameed, M. J. E.Salami

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In this paper, a multi-branch power line is modeled using ABCD matrix to show its worth as a communication channel. The model is simulated using MATLAB in an effort to investigate the effects of multiple loading, multipath, and those as a result of load mismatching. The channel transfer function is obtained and investigated using different cable lengths, and different number of bridge taps under given loading conditions.

Keywords: Power line Communication, Transfer Function, Channel Modeling, Signal Transmission.

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Authors: Arunroong Wongkungwan

Abstract:

This study aimed to investigate the influence of selected antecedents, which were tourists’ satisfaction towards attractions in Bangkok, perceived value of the attractions, feelings of engagement with the attractions, acquaintance with the attractions, push factors, pull factors and motivation to seek novelty, on foreign tourist’s loyalty towards tourist attractions in Bangkok. By using multi stage sampling technique, 400 international tourists were sampled. After that, Semi Structural Equation Model was utilized in the analysis stage by LISREL. The Semi Structural Equation Model of the selected antecedents of tourist’s loyalty attractions had a correlation with the empirical data through the following statistical descriptions: Chi- square = 3.43, df = 4, P- value = 0.48893; RMSEA = 0.000; CFI = 1.00; CN = 1539.75; RMR = 0.0022; GFI = 1.00 and AGFI = 0.98. The findings indicated that all antecedents were able together to predict the loyalty of the foreign tourists who visited Bangkok at 73 percent.

Keywords: Antecedents, Loyalty, Foreign Tourists, Tourist Attractions, Bangkok.

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Authors: Jing Lu, Malcolm Keech, Weiru Chen

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Web usage mining is an interesting application of data mining which provides insight into customer behaviour on the Internet. An important technique to discover user access and navigation trails is based on sequential patterns mining. One of the key challenges for web access patterns mining is tackling the problem of mining richly structured patterns. This paper proposes a novel model called Web Access Patterns Graph (WAP-Graph) to represent all of the access patterns from web mining graphically. WAP-Graph also motivates the search for new structural relation patterns, i.e. Concurrent Access Patterns (CAP), to identify and predict more complex web page requests. Corresponding CAP mining and modelling methods are proposed and shown to be effective in the search for and representation of concurrency between access patterns on the web. From experiments conducted on large-scale synthetic sequence data as well as real web access data, it is demonstrated that CAP mining provides a powerful method for structural knowledge discovery, which can be visualised through the CAP-Graph model.

Keywords: concurrent access patterns (CAP), CAP mining and modelling, CAP-Graph, web access patterns (WAP), WAP-Graph, Web usage mining.

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Authors: Md. Soebur Rahman, Mahbuba Begum, Raquib Ahsan

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Composite column is a structural member that uses a combination of structural steel shapes, pipes or tubes with or without reinforcing steel bars and reinforced concrete to provide adequate load carrying capacity to sustain either axial compressive loads alone or a combination of axial loads and bending moments. Composite construction takes the advantages of the speed of construction, light weight and strength of steel, and the higher mass, stiffness, damping properties and economy of reinforced concrete. The most usual types of composite columns are the concrete filled steel tubes and the partially or fully encased steel profiles. Fully encased composite column (FEC) provides compressive strength, stability, stiffness, improved fire proofing and better corrosion protection. This paper reports experimental and numerical investigations of the behaviour of concrete encased steel composite columns subjected to short-term axial load. In this study, eleven short FEC columns with square shaped cross section were constructed and tested to examine the load-deflection behavior. The main variables in the test were considered as concrete compressive strength, cross sectional size and percentage of structural steel. A nonlinear 3-D finite element (FE) model has been developed to analyse the inelastic behaviour of steel, concrete, and longitudinal reinforcement as well as the effect of concrete confinement of the FEC columns. FE models have been validated against the current experimental study conduct in the laboratory and published experimental results under concentric load. It has been observed that FE model is able to predict the experimental behaviour of FEC columns under concentric gravity loads with good accuracy. Good agreement has been achieved between the complete experimental and the numerical load-deflection behaviour in this study. The capacities of each constituent of FEC columns such as structural steel, concrete and rebar's were also determined from the numerical study. Concrete is observed to provide around 57% of the total axial capacity of the column whereas the steel I-sections contributes to the rest of the capacity as well as ductility of the overall system. The nonlinear FE model developed in this study is also used to explore the effect of concrete strength and percentage of structural steel on the behaviour of FEC columns under concentric loads. The axial capacity of FEC columns has been found to increase significantly by increasing the strength of concrete.

Keywords: Composite, columns, experimental, finite element, fully encased, strength.

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