Abstract: Within this work High Temperature Single Impact
Studies were performed to evaluate deformation mechanisms at
different energy and momentum levels. To show the influence of
different microstructures and hardness levels and their response to
single impacts four different materials were tested at various
temperatures up to 700°C. One carbide reinforced NiCrBSi based
Metal Matrix Composite and three different steels were tested. The
aim of this work is to determine critical energies for fracture
appearance and the materials response at different energy and
momenta levels. Critical impact loadings were examined at elevated
temperatures to limit operating conditions in impact dominated
regimes at elevated temperatures. The investigations on the
mechanisms were performed using different means of microscopy at
the surface and in metallographic cross sections. Results indicate
temperature dependence of the occurrence of cracks in hardphase
rich materials, such as Metal Matrix Composites High Speed Steels
and the influence of different impact momenta at constant energies
on the deformation of different steels.
Abstract: The stability analysis of Marangoni convection in porous media with a deformable upper free surface is investigated. The linear stability theory and the normal mode analysis are applied and the resulting eigenvalue problem is solved exactly. The Darcy law and the Brinkman model are used to describe the flow in the porous medium heated from below. The effect of the Crispation number, Bond number and the Biot number are analyzed for the stability of the system. It is found that a decrease in the Crispation number and an increase in the Bond number delay the onset of convection in porous media. In addition, the system becomes more stable when the Biot number is increases and the Daeff number is decreases.
Abstract: In this project, a tele-operated anthropomorphic
robotic arm and hand is designed and built as a versatile robotic arm
system. The robot has the ability to manipulate objects such as pick
and place operations. It is also able to function by itself, in
standalone mode.
Firstly, the robotic arm is built in order to interface with a personal
computer via a serial servo controller circuit board. The circuit board
enables user to completely control the robotic arm and moreover,
enables feedbacks from user. The control circuit board uses a
powerful integrated microcontroller, a PIC (Programmable Interface
Controller). The PIC is firstly programmed using BASIC (Beginner-s
All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) and it is used as the 'brain'
of the robot. In addition a user friendly Graphical User Interface
(GUI) is developed as the serial servo interface software using
Microsoft-s Visual Basic 6.
The second part of the project is to use speech recognition control
on the robotic arm. A speech recognition circuit board is constructed
with onboard components such as PIC and other integrated circuits. It
replaces the computers- Graphical User Interface. The robotic arm is
able to receive instructions as spoken commands through a
microphone and perform operations with respect to the commands
such as picking and placing operations.
Abstract: commercially produced in Malaysia granular
palm shell activated carbon (PSAC) was biomodified with
bacterial biomass (Bacillus subtilis) to produce a hybrid
biosorbent of higher efficiency. The obtained biosorbent was
evaluated in terms of adsorption capacity to remove copper
and zinc metal ions from aqueous solutions. The adsorption
capacity was evaluated in batch adsorption experiments where
concentrations of metal ions varied from 20 to 350 mg/L. A
range of pH from 3 to 6 of aqueous solutions containing metal
ions was tested. Langmuir adsorption model was used to
interpret the experimental data. Comparison of the adsorption
data of the biomodified and original palm shell activated
carbon showed higher uptake of metal ions by the hybrid
biosorbent. A trend in metal ions uptake increase with the
increase in the solution-s pH was observed. The surface
characterization data indicated a decrease in the total surface
area for the hybrid biosorbent; however the uptake of copper
and zinc by it was at least equal to the original PSAC at pH 4
and 5. The highest capacity of the hybrid biosorbent was
observed at pH 5 and comprised 22 mg/g and 19 mg/g for
copper and zinc, respectively. The adsorption capacity at the
lowest pH of 3 was significantly low. The experimental results
facilitated identification of potential factors influencing the
adsorption of copper and zinc onto biomodified and original
palm shell activated carbon.
Abstract: In most wheat growing moderate regions and
especially in the north of Iran climate, is affected grain filling by
several physical and abiotic stresses. In this region, grain filling often
occurs when temperatures are increasing and moisture supply is
decreasing. The experiment was designed in RCBD with split plot
arrangements with four replications. Four irrigation treatments
included (I0) no irrigation (check); (I1) one irrigation (50 mm) at
heading stage; (I2) two irrigation (100 mm) at heading and anthesis
stage; and (I3) three irrigation (150 mm) at heading, anthesis and
early grain filling growth stage, two wheat cultivars (Milan and
Shanghai) were cultured in the experiment. Totally raining was 453
mm during the growth season. The result indicated that biological
yield, grain yield and harvest index were significantly affected by
irrigation levels. I3 treatment produced more tillers number in m2,
fertile tillers number in m2, harvest index and biological yield. Milan
produced more tillers number in m2, fertile tillers in m2, while
Shanghai produced heavier tillers and grain 1000 weight. Plant height
was significant in wheat varieties while were not statistically
significant in irrigation levels. Milan produced more grain yield,
harvest index and biological yield. Grain yield shown that I1, I2, and
I3 produced increasing of 5228 (21%), 5460 (27%) and 5670 (29%)
kg ha-1, respectively. There was an interaction of irrigation and
cultivar on grain yields. In the absence of the irrigation reduced grain
1000 weight from 45 to 40 g. No irrigation reduced soil moisture
extraction during the grain filling stage. Current assimilation as a
source of carbon for grain filling depends on the light intercepting
viable green surfaces of the plant after anthesis that due to natural
senescence and the effect of various stresses. At the same time the
demand by the growing grain is increasing. It is concluded from
research work that wheat crop irrigated Milan cultivar could increase
the grain yield in comparison with Shanghai cultivar. Although, the
grain yield of Shanghai under irrigation was slightly lower than
Milan. This grain yield also was related to weather condition, sowing
date, plant density and location conditions and management of
fertilizers, because there was not significant difference in biological
and straw yield. The best result was produced by I1 treatment. I2 and
I3 treatments were not significantly difference with I1 treatment.
Grain yield of I1 indicated that wheat is under soil moisture
deficiency. Therefore, I1 irrigation was better than I0.
Abstract: Thin linear-elastic cylindrical circular shells having a
micro-periodic structure along two directions tangent to the shell
midsurface (biperiodic shells) are object of considerations. The aim
of this paper is twofold. First, we formulate an averaged nonasymptotic
model for the analysis of parametric vibrations or dynamical
stability of periodic shells under consideration, which has constant
coefficients and takes into account the effect of a cell size on the
overall shell behavior (a length-scale effect). This model is derived
employing the tolerance modeling procedure. Second we apply the
obtained model to derivation of frequency equation being a starting
point in the analysis of parametric vibrations. The effect of the microstructure
length oh this frequency equation is discussed.
Abstract: Because of the reservoir effect, dynamic analysis of concrete dams is more involved than other common structures. This problem is mostly sourced by the differences between reservoir water, dam body and foundation material behaviors. To account for the reservoir effect in dynamic analysis of concrete gravity dams, two methods are generally employed. Eulerian method in reservoir modeling gives rise to a set of coupled equations, whereas in Lagrangian method, the same equations for dam and foundation structure are used. The Purpose of this paper is to evaluate and study possible advantages and disadvantages of both methods. Specifically, application of the above methods in the analysis of dam-foundationreservoir systems is leveraged to calculate the hydrodynamic pressure on dam faces. Within the frame work of dam- foundationreservoir systems, dam displacement under earthquake for various dimensions and characteristics are also studied. The results of both Lagrangian and Eulerian methods in effects of loading frequency, boundary condition and foundation elasticity modulus are quantitatively evaluated and compared. Our analyses show that each method has individual advantages and disadvantages. As such, in any particular case, one of the two methods may prove more suitable as presented in the results section of this study.
Abstract: This study aims at using multi-source data to monitor
coral biodiversity and coral bleaching. We used coral reef at Racha
Islands, Phuket as a study area. There were three sources of data:
coral diversity, sensor based data and satellite data.
Abstract: In this paper we present an approach for 3D face
recognition based on extracting principal components of range
images by utilizing modified PCA methods namely 2DPCA and
bidirectional 2DPCA also known as (2D) 2 PCA.A preprocessing
stage was implemented on the images to smooth them using median
and Gaussian filtering. In the normalization stage we locate the nose
tip to lay it at the center of images then crop each image to a standard
size of 100*100. In the face recognition stage we extract the principal
component of each image using both 2DPCA and (2D) 2 PCA.
Finally, we use Euclidean distance to measure the minimum distance
between a given test image to the training images in the database. We
also compare the result of using both methods. The best result
achieved by experiments on a public face database shows that 83.3
percent is the rate of face recognition for a random facial expression.
Abstract: Modular fixtures (MFs) are very important tools in
manufacturing processes in terms of reduction the cost and the
production time. This paper introduces an automated approach for
assembling MFs elements by employing SolidWorks as a powerful
3D CAD software. Visual Basic (VB) programming language was
applied integrating with SolidWorks API (Application programming
interface) functions. This integration allowed creating plug-in file and
generating new menus in the SolidWorks environment. The menus
allow the user to select, insert, and assemble MFs elements.
Abstract: The article presents analysis results of maps of
expected subsidence in undermined areas for road repair
management. The analysis was done in the area of Karvina district in
the Czech Republic, including undermined areas with ongoing deep
mining activities or finished deep mining in years 2003 - 2009.
The article discusses the possibilities of local road maintenance
authorities to determine areas that will need most repairs in the future
with limited data available. Using the expected subsidence maps new
map of surface curvature was calculated. Combined with road maps
and historical data about repairs the result came for five main
categories of undermined areas, proving very simple tool for
management.
Abstract: The need to have standards has always been a priority
of all the disciplines in the world. Today, standards such as XML and
USB are trying to create a universal interface for their respective
areas. The information regarding every family in the discipline
addressed, must have a lot in common, known as Metadata. A lot of
work has been done in specific domains such as IEEE LOM and
MPEG-7 but they do not appeal to the universality of creating
Metadata for all entities, where we take an entity (object) as, not
restricted to Software Terms. This paper tries to address this problem
of universal Metadata Definition which may lead to increase in
precision of search.
Abstract: Facial features are frequently used to represent local
properties of a human face image in computer vision applications. In
this paper, we present a fast algorithm that can extract the facial
features online such that they can give a satisfying representation of a
face image. It includes one step for a coarse detection of each facial
feature by AdaBoost and another one to increase the accuracy of the
found points by Active Shape Models (ASM) in the regions of interest.
The resulted facial features are evaluated by matching with artificial
face models in the applications of physiognomy. The distance measure
between the features and those in the fate models from the database is
carried out by means of the Hausdorff distance. In the experiment, the
proposed method shows the efficient performance in facial feature
extractions and online system of physiognomy.
Abstract: Oxyleotris marmorata is considered as
undomesticated fish, and its culture occasionally faces a problem of
food deprivation. The present study aims to evaluate alteration of
hematological indices, blood chemical associated with liver function
during 4 weeks of fasting. A non-linear relationships between fasting
days and hematological parameters (red blood cell number; y = -
0.002x2 + 0.041x + 1.249; R2=0.915, P0.05), mean corpuscular
volume; y = -0.180x2 + 2.183x + 149.61; R2=0.732, P>0.05, mean
corpuscular hemoglobin; y = -0.041x2 + 0.862x + 29.864; R2=0.818,
P>0.05 and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration; y = -
0.044x2 + 0.711x + 21.580; R2=0.730, P>0.05) were demonstrated.
Significant change in hematocrit (Ht) during fasting period was
observed. Ht elevated sharply increase at the first weeks of fasting
period. Higher Ht also was detected during week 2-4 of fasting time.
The significant reduction of hepatosomatic index was observed (y = -
0.007x2 - 0.096x + 1.414; R2=0.968, P0.05, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase;
y = 0.005x2 – 0.201x2 + 1.297x + 33.256; R2=1, P0.05). Taken together, prolonged fasting has
deleterious effects on hematological indices, liver mass and enzyme
associated in liver function. The marked adverse effects occurred
after the first week of fasting state.
Abstract: This paper presents the study of hardness profile of spur gear heated by induction heating process in function of the machine parameters, such as the power (kW), the heating time (s) and the generator frequency (kHz). The global work is realized by 3D finite-element simulation applied to the process by coupling and resolving the electromagnetic field and the heat transfer problems, and it was performed in three distinguished steps. First, a Comsol 3D model was built using an adequate formulation and taking into account the material properties and the machine parameters. Second, the convergence study was conducted to optimize the mesh. Then, the surface temperatures and the case depths were deeply analyzed in function of the initial current density and the heating time in medium frequency (MF) and high frequency (HF) heating modes and the edge effect were studied. Finally, the simulations results are validated using experimental tests.
Abstract: One of the processes of slope that occurs every year in Iran and some parts of world and cause a lot of criminal and financial harms is called landslide. They are plenty of method to stability landslide in soil and rock slides. The use of the best method with the least cost and in the shortest time is important for researchers. In this research, determining the best method of stability is investigated by using of Decision Support systems. DSS is made for this purpose and was used (for Hasan Salaran area in Kurdistan). Field study data from topography, slope, geology, geometry of landslide and the related features was used. The related data entered decision making managements programs (DSS) (ALES).Analysis of mass stability indicated the instability potential at present. Research results show that surface and sub surface drainage the best method of stabilizing. Analysis of stability shows that acceptable increase in security coefficient is a consequence of drainage.
Abstract: This is an application research presenting the
improvement of production quality using the six sigma solutions and
the analyses of benefit-cost ratio. The case of interest is the
production of tile-concrete. Such production has faced with the
problem of high nonconforming products from an inappropriate
surface coating and had low process capability based on the strength
property of tile. Surface coating and tile strength are the most critical
to quality of this product. The improvements followed five stages of
six sigma solutions. After the improvement, the production yield was
improved to 80% as target required and the defective products from
coating process was remarkably reduced from 29.40% to 4.09%. The
process capability based on the strength quality was increased from
0.87 to 1.08 as customer oriented. The improvement was able to save
the materials loss for 3.24 millions baht or 0.11 million dollars. The
benefits from the improvement were analyzed from (1) the reduction
of the numbers of non conforming tile using its factory price for
surface coating improvement and (2) the materials saved from the
increment of process capability. The benefit-cost ratio of overall
improvement was high as 7.03. It was non valuable investment in
define, measure, analyses and the initial of improve stages after that
it kept increasing. This was due to there were no benefits in define,
measure, and analyze stages of six sigma since these three stages
mainly determine the cause of problem and its effects rather than
improve the process. The benefit-cost ratio starts existing in the
improve stage and go on. Within each stage, the individual benefitcost
ratio was much higher than the accumulative one as there was an
accumulation of cost since the first stage of six sigma. The
consideration of the benefit-cost ratio during the improvement
project helps make decisions for cost saving of similar activities
during the improvement and for new project. In conclusion, the
determination of benefit-cost ratio behavior through out six sigma
implementation period provides the useful data for managing quality
improvement for the optimal effectiveness. This is the additional
outcome from the regular proceeding of six sigma.
Abstract: The objective of this paper is to study the electrical
resistivity complexity between field and laboratory measurement, in
order to improve the effectiveness of data interpretation for
geophysical ground resistivity survey. The geological outcrop in
Penang, Malaysia with an obvious layering contact was chosen as the
study site. Two dimensional geoelectrical resistivity imaging were
used in this study to maps the resistivity distribution of subsurface,
whereas few subsurface sample were obtained for laboratory
advance. In this study, resistivity of samples in original conditions is
measured in laboratory by using time domain low-voltage technique,
particularly for granite core sample and soil resistivity measuring set
for soil sample. The experimentation results from both schemes are
studied, analyzed, calibrated and verified, including basis and
correlation, degree of tolerance and characteristics of substance.
Consequently, the significant different between both schemes is
explained comprehensively within this paper.
Abstract: This paper proposes a method, combining color and
layout features, for identifying documents captured from lowresolution
handheld devices. On one hand, the document image color
density surface is estimated and represented with an equivalent
ellipse and on the other hand, the document shallow layout structure
is computed and hierarchically represented. The combined color and
layout features are arranged in a symbolic file, which is unique for
each document and is called the document-s visual signature. Our
identification method first uses the color information in the
signatures in order to focus the search space on documents having a
similar color distribution, and finally selects the document having the
most similar layout structure in the remaining search space. Finally,
our experiment considers slide documents, which are often captured
using handheld devices.
Abstract: Sharing the manufacturing facility through remote
operation and monitoring of a machining process is challenge for
effective use the production facility. Several automation tools in term
of hardware and software are necessary for successfully remote
operation of a machine. This paper presents a prototype of workpiece
holding attachment for remote operation of milling process by self
configuration the workpiece setup. The prototype is designed with
mechanism to reorient the work surface into machining spindle
direction with high positioning accuracy. Variety of parts geometry
is hold by attachment to perform single setup machining. Pin type
with array pattern additionally clamps the workpiece surface from
two opposite directions for increasing the machining rigidity.
Optimum pins configuration for conforming the workpiece geometry
with minimum deformation is determined through hybrid algorithms,
Genetic Algorithms (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO).
Prototype with intelligent optimization technique enables to hold
several variety of workpiece geometry which is suitable for
machining low of repetitive production in remote operation.