Abstract: This paper describes an ab-initio design, development and calibration results of an Optical Sensor Ground Reaction Force Measurement Platform (OSGRFP) for gait and geriatric studies. The developed system employs an array of FBG sensors to measure the respective ground reaction forces from all three axes (X, Y and Z), which are perpendicular to each other. The novelty of this work is two folded. One is in its uniqueness to resolve the tri axial resultant forces during the stance in to the respective pure axis loads and the other is the applicability of inherently advantageous FBG sensors which are most suitable for biomechanical instrumentation. To validate the response of the FBG sensors installed in OSGRFP and to measure the cross sensitivity of the force applied in other directions, load sensors with indicators are used. Further in this work, relevant mathematical formulations are presented for extracting respective ground reaction forces from wavelength shifts/strain of FBG sensors on the OSGRFP. The result of this device has implications in understanding the foot function, identifying issues in gait cycle and measuring discrepancies between left and right foot. The device also provides a method to quantify and compare relative postural stability of different subjects under test, which has implications in post-surgical rehabilitation, geriatrics and optimizing training protocols for sports personnel.
Abstract: Motion response of floating structures is of great
concern in marine engineering. Nonlinearity is an inherent property
of any floating bodies subjected to irregular waves. These floating
structures are continuously subjected to environmental loadings from
wave, current, wind etc. This can result in undesirable motions of the
vessel which may challenge the operability. For a floating body to
remain in its position, it should be able to induce a restoring force
when displaced. Mooring is provided to enable this restoring force.
This paper discusses the hydrodynamic performance and motion
characteristics of an 8 point spread mooring system applied to a pipe
laying barge operating in the West African sea. The modelling of the
barge is done using a computer aided-design (CAD) software
RHINOCEROS. Irregular waves are generated using a suitable wave
spectrum. Both frequency domain and time domain analysis is done.
Numerical simulations based on potential theory are carried out to
find the responses and hydrodynamic performance of the barge in
both free floating as well as moored conditions. Initially, potential
flow frequency domain analysis is done to obtain the Response
Amplitude Operator (RAO) which gives an idea about the structural
motion in free floating state. RAOs for different wave headings are
analyzed. In the following step, a time domain analysis is carried out
to obtain the responses of the structure in the moored condition. In
this study, wave induced motions are only taken into consideration.
Wind and current loads are ruled out and shall be included in further
studies. For the current study, 2000 seconds simulation is taken. The
results represent wave induced motion responses, mooring line
tensions and identify critical mooring lines.
Abstract: We have aimed to produce a self-cleaning transparent
polymer coating with polyurethane (PU) matrix as the latter is highly
solvent, chemical and weather resistant having good mechanical
properties. Nano-silica modified by 1H, 1H, 2H, 2Hperflurooctyltriethoxysilane
was incorporated into the PU matrix for
attaining self-cleaning ability through hydrophobicity. The
modification was confirmed by particle size analysis and scanning
electron microscopy (SEM). Thermo-gravimetric (TGA) studies were
carried to ascertain the grafting of silane onto the silica. Several
coating formulations were prepared by varying the silica loading
content and compared to a commercial equivalent. The effect of
dispersion and the morphology of the coated films were assessed by
SEM analysis. All coating standardized tests like solvent resistance,
adhesion, flexibility, acid, alkali, gloss etc. have been performed as
per ASTM standards. Water contact angle studies were conducted to
analyze the hydrophobic character of the coating. In addition, the
coatings were also subjected to salt spray and accelerated weather
testing to analyze the durability of the coating.
Abstract: A 15-storey RC building, studied in this paper, is
representative of modern building type constructed in Madina City in
Saudi Arabia before 10 years ago. These buildings are almost
consisting of reinforced concrete skeleton i.e. columns, beams and
flat slab as well as shear walls in the stairs and elevator areas
arranged in the way to have a resistance system for lateral loads
(wind – earthquake loads). In this study, the dynamic properties of
the 15-storey RC building were identified using ambient motions
recorded at several, spatially-distributed locations within each
building. Three dimensional pushover analysis (Nonlinear static
analysis) was carried out using SAP2000 software incorporating
inelastic material properties for concrete, infill and steel. The effect
of modeling the building with and without infill walls, on the
performance point as well as capacity and demand spectra due to EQ
design spectrum function in Madina area has been investigated. ATC-
40 capacity and demand spectra are utilized to get the modification
factor (R) for the studied building. The purpose of this analysis is to
evaluate the expected performance of structural systems by
estimating, strength and deformation demands in design, and
comparing these demands to available capacities at the performance
levels of interest. The results are summarized and discussed.
Abstract: The out-of-band impedance environment is considered
to be of paramount importance in engineering the in-band impedance
environment. Presenting the frequency independent and constant outof-
band impedances across the wide modulation bandwidth is
extremely important for reliable device characterization for future
wireless systems. This paper presents an out-of-band impedance
optimization scheme based on simultaneous engineering of
significant baseband components IF1 (twice the modulation
frequency) and IF2 (four times the modulation frequency) and higher
baseband components such as IF3 (six times the modulation
frequency) and IF4 (eight times the modulation frequency) to
engineer the in-band impedance environment. The investigations
were carried out on a 10W GaN HEMT device driven to deliver a
peak envelope power of approximately 40.5dBm under modulated
excitation. The presentation of frequency independent baseband
impedances to all the significant baseband components whilst
maintaining the optimum termination for fundamental tones as well
as reactive termination for 2nd harmonic under class-J mode of
operation has outlined separate optimum impedances for best
intermodulation (IM) linearity.
Abstract: Biodiesel is widely investigated to solve the twin
problem of depletion of fossil fuel and environmental degradation.
The main objective of the present work is to compare performance,
emissions, and combustion characteristics of biodiesel derived from
cotton seed oil in a diesel engine with the baseline results of
petrodiesel fuel. Tests have been conducted on a single cylinder, four
stroke CIDI diesel engine with a speed of 1500 rpm and a fixed
compression ratio of 17.5 at different load conditions. The
performance parameters evaluated include brake thermal efficiency,
brake specific fuel consumption, brake power, indicated mean
effective pressure, mechanical efficiency, and exhaust gas
temperature. Regarding combustion study, cylinder pressure, rate of
pressure rise, net heat release rate, cumulative heat release, mean gas
temperature, mass fraction burned, and fuel line pressure were
evaluated. The emission parameters such as carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide, un-burnt hydrocarbon, oxides of nitrogen, and smoke
opacity were also measured by a smoke meter and an exhaust gas
analyzer and compared with baseline results. The brake thermal
efficiency of cotton seed oil methyl ester (CSOME) was lower than
that of petrodiesel and brake specific fuel consumption was found to
be higher. However, biodiesel resulted in the reduction of carbon
dioxide, un-burnt hydrocarbon, and smoke opacity at the expense of
nitrogen oxides. Carbon monoxide emissions for biodiesel was higher
at maximum output power. It has been found that the combustion
characteristics of cotton seed oil methyl ester closely followed those
of standard petrodiesel. The experimental results suggested that
biodiesel derived from cotton seed oil could be used as a good
substitute to petrodiesel fuel in a conventional diesel without any
modification.
Abstract: The early-stage damage detection in offshore
structures requires continuous structural health monitoring and for the
large area the position of sensors will also plays an important role in
the efficient damage detection. Determining the dynamic behavior of
offshore structures requires dense deployment of sensors. The wired
Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems are highly expensive
and always needs larger installation space to deploy. Wireless sensor
networks can enhance the SHM system by deployment of scalable
sensor network, which consumes lesser space. This paper presents the
results of wireless sensor network based Structural Health Monitoring
method applied to a scaled experimental model of offshore structure
that underwent wave loading. This method determines the
serviceability of the offshore structure which is subjected to various
environment loads. Wired and wireless sensors were installed in the
model and the response of the scaled BLSRP model under wave
loading was recorded. The wireless system discussed in this study is
the Raspberry pi board with Arm V6 processor which is programmed
to transmit the data acquired by the sensor to the server using Wi-Fi
adapter, the data is then hosted in the webpage. The data acquired
from the wireless and wired SHM systems were compared and the
design of the wireless system is verified.
Abstract: The paper deals with possibilities of increase train
capacity by using a new type of railway wagon. In the first part is
created a mathematical model to calculate the capacity of the train.
The model is based on the main limiting parameters of the train -
maximum number of axles per train, maximum gross weight of train,
maximum length of train and number of TEUs per one wagon. In the
second part is the model applied to four different model trains with
different composition of the train set and three different average
weights of TEU and a train consisting of a new type of wagons. The
result is to identify where the carrying capacity of the original trains
is higher, respectively less than a capacity of train consisting of a new
type of wagons.
Abstract: One of the main purposes of designing bucklingrestrained
braces is the fact that the entire lateral load is wasted by
the braces, the entire gravitational load is moved to the foundation
through the beams, and the columns can be moved to the foundation.
In other words, braces are designed for bearing lateral load. In the
implementation of the structure, it should be noted that the
implementation of various parts of the structure must be conducted in
such a way that the buckling-restrained braces would not bear the
gravitational load. Moreover, this type of brace has been investigated
under impact loading, and the design goals of designing method
(direct motion) are controlled under impact loading. The results of
dynamic analysis are shown as the relocation charts of the floors and
switch between the floors. Finally, the results are compared with each
other.
Abstract: There was a scenario present day that drying of fresh
fruits and vegetables by indirect solar drying by using mechanical
device; hence, an effort was made to develop a small scale solar
tunnel dryer (STD). Drying of spinach is carried out to analyze the
performance of the dryer and to study its drying characteristics. To
evaluate the performance of dryer the independent variables were
selected as air flow rate, loading density and shade net while collector
efficiency, drying efficiency, overall efficiency and specific energy
consumption were selected as responses during performing the
experiments. The spinach was dried from initial moisture content
88.21-94.04% (w.b.) to final moisture content 3.50-5.13% (w.b.). The
drying time considerably reduced as compared to open sun drying of
spinach as sun drying took 15 h for drying. The average collector
efficiency, drying efficiency and overall efficiency were in the range
28.73-61.15%, 11.63% to 22.13%, and 7.61-14.66%, respectively.
Abstract: Currently, there are few user friendly Weigh-in-
Motion (WIM) data analysis softwares available which can produce
traffic input data for the recently developed AASHTOWare pavement
Mechanistic-Empirical (ME) design software. However, these
softwares have only rudimentary Quality Control (QC) processes.
Therefore, they cannot properly deal with erroneous WIM data. As
the pavement performance is highly sensible to the quality of WIM
data, it is highly recommended to use more refined QC process on
raw WIM data to get a good result. This study develops a userfriendly
software, which can produce traffic input for the ME design
software. This software takes the raw data (Class and Weight data)
collected from the WIM station and processes it with a sophisticated
QC procedure. Traffic data such as traffic volume, traffic distribution,
axle load spectra, etc. can be obtained from this software; which can
directly be used in the ME design software.
Abstract: In India, most of the pavement is laid by bituminous
road and the consumption of binder is high for pavement construction
and also modified binders are used to satisfy any specific pavement
requirement. Since the binders are visco-elastic material which is
having the mechanical properties of binder transition from viscoelastic
solid to visco-elastic fluid. In this paper, two different
protocols were used to measure the viscosity property of binder using
a Brookfield Viscometer and there is a need to find the appropriate
mixing and compaction temperatures of various types of binders
which can result in complete aggregate coating and adequate field
density of HMA mixtures. The aim of this work is to find the
transition temperature from Non-Newtonian behavior to Newtonian
behavior of the binder by adopting a steady shear protocol and the
shear rate ramp protocol. The transition from non-Newtonian to
Newtonian can occur through an increase of temperature and shear of
the material. The test has been conducted for unmodified binder VG
30. The transition temperature was found in the unmodified binder
VG is 120oC. Therefore, the application of both modified binder and
unmodified binder in the pavement construction needs to be studied
properly by considering temperature and traffic loading factors of the
respective project site.
Abstract: Lightweight and efficient structures have the aim to
enhance the efficiency of the components in various industries.
Toward this end, composites are one of the most widely used
materials because of durability, high strength and modulus, and low
weight. One type of the advanced composites is grid-stiffened
composite (GSC) structures, which have been extensively considered
in aerospace, automotive, and aircraft industries. They are one of the
top candidates for replacing some of the traditional components,
which are used here. Although there are a good number of published
surveys on the design aspects and fabrication of GSC structures, little
systematic work has been reported on their material modification to
improve their properties, to our knowledge. Matrix modification
using nanoparticles is an effective method to enhance the flexural
properties of the fibrous composites. In the present study, a silanecoupling
agent (3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane/3-GPTS) was
introduced onto the silica (SiO2) nanoparticle surface and its effects
on the three-point flexural response of isogrid E-glass/epoxy
composites were assessed. Based on the Fourier Transform Infrared
Spectrometer (FTIR) spectra, it was inferred that the 3-GPTS
coupling agent was successfully grafted onto the surface of SiO2
nanoparticles after modification. Flexural test revealed an
improvement of 16%, 14%, and 36% in stiffness, maximum load and
energy absorption of the isogrid specimen filled with 3 wt.% 3-
GPTS/SiO2 compared to the neat one. It would be worth mentioning
that in these structures, considerable energy absorption was observed
after the primary failure related to the load peak. In addition, 3-
GPTMS functionalization had a positive effect on the flexural
behavior of the multiscale isogrid composites. In conclusion, this
study suggests that the addition of modified silica nanoparticles is a
promising method to improve the flexural properties of the gridstiffened
fibrous composite structures.
Abstract: Over the last two decades, externally bonded fiber
reinforced polymer (FRP) composites bonded to concrete substrates
has become a popular method for strengthening reinforced concrete
(RC) highway and railway bridges. Such structures are exposed to
severe cyclic loading throughout their lifetime often resulting in
fatigue damage to structural components and a reduction in the
service life of the structure. Since experimental and numerical results
on the fatigue performance of FRP-to-concrete joints are still limited,
the current research focuses on assessing the fatigue performance of
externally bonded FRP-to-concrete joints using a direct shear test.
Some early results indicate that the stress ratio and the applied cyclic
stress level have a direct influence on the fatigue life of the externally
bonded FRP. In addition, a calibrated finite element model is
developed to provide further insight into the influence of certain
parameters such as: concrete strength, FRP thickness, number of
cycles, frequency, and stiffness on the fatigue life of the FRP-toconcrete
joints.
Abstract: Green and renewable energy is getting extraordinary
consideration today, because of ecological concerns made by blazing
of fossil powers. Photovoltaic and wind power generation are the
basic decisions for delivering power in this respects. Producing
power by the sun based photovoltaic systems is known to the world,
yet control makers may get confounded to pick between on-grid and
off-grid systems. In this exploration work, an endeavor is made to
compare the off-grid (stand-alone) and on-grid (grid-connected)
frameworks. The work presents relative examination, between two
distinctive PV frameworks situated at V.V.P. Engineering College,
Rajkot. The first framework is 100 kW remain solitary and the
second is 60 kW network joined. The real-time parameters compared
are; output voltage, load current, power in-flow, power output,
performance ratio, yield factor, and capacity factor. The voltage
changes and the power variances in both frameworks are given
exceptional consideration and the examination is made between the
two frameworks to judge the focal points and confinements of both
the frameworks.
Abstract: Carbon dioxide is one of the major greenhouse gas
(GHG) contributors. It is an obligation of the industry to reduce the
amount of carbon dioxide emission to the acceptable limits.
Tremendous research and studies are reported in the past and still the
quest to find the suitable and economical solution of this problem
needed to be explored in order to develop the most plausible absorber
for carbon dioxide removal. Amino acids can be potential alternate
solvents for carbon dioxide capture from gaseous streams. This is due
to its ability to resist oxidative degradation, low volatility and its
ionic structure. In addition, the introduction of promoter-like
piperazine to amino acid helps to further enhance the solubility. In
this work, the effect of piperazine on thermo physical properties and
solubility of β-Alanine aqueous solutions were studied for various
concentrations. The measured physicochemical properties data was
correlated as a function of temperature using least-squares method
and the correlation parameters are reported together with it respective
standard deviations. The effect of activator piperazine on the CO2
loading performance of selected amino acid under high-pressure
conditions (1bar to 10bar) at temperature range of (30 to 60)oC was
also studied. Solubility of CO2 decreases with increasing temperature
and increases with increasing pressure. Quadratic representation of
solubility using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) shows that
the most important parameter to optimize solubility is system
pressure. The addition of promoter increases the solubility effect of
the solvent.
Abstract: A broadband wire monopole antenna loaded by inhomogeneous stack of annular dielectric ring resonators (DRRs) is proposed. The proposed antenna exhibits a broad impedance bandwidth from 3 to 30 GHz. This is achieved by adding an external step matching network at the antenna feed point. The matching network is comprised of three annular DRRs possessing different permittivity values and sharing the same axial over a finite ground plane. The antenna performance is characterized using full-wave EM simulation. Compared to previous-reported wire antennas with improved bandwidth achieved by DRRs, the proposed topology provides relatively compact realization and superior broadband performance.
Abstract: Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease endemic in
many countries in the tropics and sub-tropics. The state of Punjab in
India shows cyclical and seasonal variation in dengue cases. The
Case Fatality Rate of Dengue has ranged from 0.6 to 1.0 in the past
years. The department has initiated review of the cases that have died
due to dengue in order to know the exact cause of the death in a case
of dengue. The study has been undertaken to know the other
associated co-morbidities and factors causing death in a case of
dengue. The study used the predesigned proforma on which the
records (medical and Lab) were recorded and reviewed by the expert
committee of the doctors. This study has revealed that cases of
dengue having co-morbidities have longer stay in hospital. Fluid
overload and co-morbidities have been found as major factors leading
to death, however, in a confirmed case of dengue hepatorenal
shutdown was found to be major cause of mortality. The data
obtained will help in sensitizing the treating physicians in order to
decrease the mortality due to dengue in future.
Abstract: This paper presents the effect of the orbit inclination
on the pointing error of the satellite antenna and consequently on its
footprint on earth for a typical Ku- band payload system. The performance assessment is examined using both analytical
simulations and practical measurements, taking into account all the
additional sources of the pointing errors, such as East-West station
keeping, orbit eccentricity, and actual attitude control performance. An implementation and computation of the sinusoidal biases in
satellite roll and pitch used to compensate the pointing error of the
satellite antenna coverage is studied and evaluated before and after
the pointing corrections performed. A method for evaluation of the performance of the implemented
biases has been introduced through measuring satellite received level
from a mono-pulse tracking 11.1m transmitting antenna before and
after the implementation of the pointing corrections.
Abstract: Recently, Job Recommender Systems have gained
much attention in industries since they solve the problem of
information overload on the recruiting website. Therefore, we
proposed Extended Personalized Job System that has the capability of
providing the appropriate jobs for job seeker and recommending
some suitable information for them using Data Mining Techniques
and Dynamic User Profile. On the other hands, company can also
interact to the system for publishing and updating job information.
This system have emerged and supported various platforms such as
web application and android mobile application. In this paper, User
profiles, Implicit User Action, User Feedback, and Clustering
Techniques in WEKA libraries were applied and implemented. In
additions, open source tools like Yii Web Application Framework,
Bootstrap Front End Framework and Android Mobile Technology
were also applied.