Abstract: When cars are released from the factory, strut noises are very small and therefore it is difficult to perceive them. As the use time and travel distance increase, however, strut noises get larger so as to cause users much uneasiness. The noises generated at the field include engine noises and flow noises and therefore it is difficult to clearly discern the noises generated from struts. This study developed a test method which can reproduce field strut noises in the lab. Using the newly developed noise evaluation test, this study analyzed the effects that insulator performance degradation and failure can have on car noises. The study also confirmed that the insulator durability test by the simple back-and-forth motion cannot completely reflect the state of the parts failure in the field. Based on this, the study also confirmed that field noises can be reproduced through a durability test that considers heat aging.
Abstract: Mobile Ad hoc network consists of a set of mobile
nodes. It is a dynamic network which does not have fixed topology.
This network does not have any infrastructure or central
administration, hence it is called infrastructure-less network. The
change in topology makes the route from source to destination as
dynamic fixed and changes with respect to time. The nature of
network requires the algorithm to perform route discovery, maintain
route and detect failure along the path between two nodes [1]. This
paper presents the enhancements of ARA [2] to improve the
performance of routing algorithm. ARA [2] finds route between
nodes in mobile ad-hoc network. The algorithm is on-demand source
initiated routing algorithm. This is based on the principles of swarm
intelligence. The algorithm is adaptive, scalable and favors load
balancing. The improvements suggested in this paper are handling of
loss ants and resource reservation.
Abstract: In this paper, backup and recovery technique for Peer
to Peer applications, such as a distributed asynchronous Web-Based
Training system that we have previously proposed. In order to
improve the scalability and robustness of this system, all contents and
function are realized on mobile agents. These agents are distributed
to computers, and they can obtain using a Peer to Peer network
that modified Content-Addressable Network. In the proposed system,
although entire services do not become impossible even if some
computers break down, the problem that contents disappear occurs
with an agent-s disappearance. As a solution for this issue, backups
of agents are distributed to computers. If a failure of a computer is
detected, other computers will continue service using backups of the
agents belonged to the computer.
Abstract: This study examines the structural and systematic processes of the Human Resources Division at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago for evidence of incorporation of the University's 2012- 2017 Strategic Plan. In conducting the study the structure of the Human Resources Management Division and its functions were carefully reviewed and measured against the strategic direction of the organisation. Findings indicate disconnect between these areas as there is apparent failure of the Human Resources Division to totally align its mandate with that of the organisation-s strategic direction. This action serves to threaten the viability of the organisation and its efficiency and effectiveness as an institution. The recommendations being put forward are for the realignment of the Human Resources Management Division and for its focus to mirror that of the organisation and the organisation-s goals and objectives. This may entail a restructuring of the Division.
Abstract: This paper in essence presents comparative
experimental data on the mechanical performance of steel and
synthetic fibre-reinforced concrete under compression, tensile split
and flexure. URW1050 steel fibre and HPP45 synthetic fibre, both
with the same concrete design mix, have been used to make cube
specimens for a compression test, cylinders for a tensile split test and
beam specimens for a flexural test. The experimental data
demonstrated steel fibre reinforced concrete to be stronger in flexure
at early stages, whilst both fibre reinforced concrete types displayed
comparatively the same performance in compression, tensile splitting
and 28-day flexural strength. In terms of post-crack controlHPP45
was preferable.
Abstract: High strength concrete (HSC) provides high strength
but lower ductility than normal strength concrete. This low ductility
limits the benefit of using HSC in building safe structures. On the
other hand, when designing reinforced concrete beams, designers
have to limit the amount of tensile reinforcement to prevent the
brittle failure of concrete. Therefore the full potential of the use of
steel reinforcement can not be achieved. This paper presents the idea
of confining concrete in the compression zone so that the HSC will
be in a state of triaxial compression, which leads to improvements in
strength and ductility. Five beams made of HSC were cast and tested.
The cross section of the beams was 200×300 mm, with a length of 4
m and a clear span of 3.6 m subjected to four-point loading, with
emphasis placed on the midspan deflection. The first beam served as
a reference beam. The remaining beams had different tensile
reinforcement and the confinement shapes were changed to gauge
their effectiveness in improving the strength and ductility of the
beams. The compressive strength of the concrete was 85 MPa and the
tensile strength of the steel was 500 MPa and for the stirrups and
helixes was 250 MPa. Results of testing the five beams proved that
placing helixes with different diameters as a variable parameter in the
compression zone of reinforced concrete beams improve their
strength and ductility.
Abstract: The paper investigates the main issues concerning the activity of mergers and acquisitions in Romania in the period 2000- 2004. As in the first decade after the failure of the socialist economy the market of M&A was living its infancy based exclusively on privatization transactions, after 2000 the market entered in a stage of maturity. We are investigated both the registered evolutions in terms of number and value of transactions, and some sectoral issues, concerning the most important industries affected by the M&A process.
Abstract: This study proposes a hybrid minimal repair policy
which combines periodic maintenance policy with age-based maintenance policy for a serial production system. Parameters of such policy are defined as and which indicate as hybrid minimal
repair time and planned preventive maintenance time
respectively . Under this hybrid policy, the system is
repaired minimally if it fails during , . A perfect repair is
conducted on the first failure after at any machines. At the same time, we take opportunity to advance the preventive maintenance of
other machines simultaneously. If the system is still operating
properly up to , then the preventive maintenance is carried out as its
predetermined schedule. For a given , we obtain the optimal value which minimizes the expected cost per time unit. Numerical
example is presented to illustrate the properties of the optimal solution.
Abstract: The power transformer is the most expensive, indispensable and arguably the most important equipment item in a power system Insulation failure in transformers can cause long term interruption to supply and loss of revenue and the condition assessment of the insulation is thus an important maintenance procedure. Oil-impregnated transformer insulation consists of mainly organic materials including mineral oil and cellulose-base paper and pressboard. The operating life of cellulose-based insulation, as with most organic insulation, depends heavily on its operating temperature rise above ambient. This paper reports results of a laboratory-based experimental investigation of partial discharge (PD) activity at high temperature in oil-impregnated insulation. The experiments reported here are part an on-going programme aimed at investigating the way in which insulation deterioration can be monitored and quantified by use of partial discharge diagnostics. Partial discharge patterns were recorded and analysed during increasing and decreasing phases of the temperature. The effect of ageing of the insulation on the PD patterns in oil and oil-impregnated insulation are also considered.
Abstract: This paper describes an automated event detection and location system for water distribution pipelines which is based upon low-cost sensor technology and signature analysis by an Artificial
Neural Network (ANN). The development of a low cost failure sensor which measures the opacity or cloudiness of the local water
flow has been designed, developed and validated, and an ANN based system is then described which uses time series data produced by
sensors to construct an empirical model for time series prediction and
classification of events. These two components have been installed,
tested and verified in an experimental site in a UK water distribution
system. Verification of the system has been achieved from a series of
simulated burst trials which have provided real data sets. It is concluded that the system has potential in water distribution network
management.
Abstract: Video Mosaicing is the stitching of selected frames of
a video by estimating the camera motion between the frames and
thereby registering successive frames of the video to arrive at the
mosaic. Different techniques have been proposed in the literature for
video mosaicing. Despite of the large number of papers dealing with
techniques to generate mosaic, only a few authors have investigated
conditions under which these techniques generate good estimate of
motion parameters. In this paper, these techniques are studied under
different videos, and the reasons for failures are found. We propose
algorithms with incorporation of outlier removal algorithms for better
estimation of motion parameters.
Abstract: Video sensor networks operate on stringent requirements
of latency. Packets have a deadline within which they have
to be delivered. Violation of the deadline causes a packet to be
treated as lost and the loss of packets ultimately affects the quality
of the application. Network latency is typically a function of many
interacting components. In this paper, we propose ways of reducing
the forwarding latency of a packet at intermediate nodes. The
forwarding latency is caused by a combination of processing delay
and queueing delay. The former is incurred in order to determine the
next hop in dynamic routing. We show that unless link failures in a
very specific and unlikely pattern, a vast majority of these lookups
are redundant. To counter this we propose source routing as the
routing strategy. However, source routing suffers from issues related
to scalability and being impervious to network dynamics. We propose
solutions to counter these and show that source routing is definitely
a viable option in practical sized video networks. We also propose a
fast and fair packet scheduling algorithm that reduces queueing delay
at the nodes. We support our claims through extensive simulation on
realistic topologies with practical traffic loads and failure patterns.
Abstract: Firms have invested heavily in knowledge
management (KM) with the aim to build a knowledge capability and
use it to achieve a competitive advantage. Research has shown,
however, that not all knowledge management projects succeed. Some
studies report that about 84% of knowledge management projects
fail. This paper has integrated studies on the impediments to
knowledge management into a theoretical framework. Based on this
framework, five cases documenting failed KM initiatives were
analysed. The analysis gave us a clear picture about why certain KM
projects fail. The high failure rate of KM can be explained by the
gaps that exist between users and management in terms of KM
perceptions and objectives
Abstract: Thermal water hammer is a special type of water
hammer which rarely occurs in heat exchangers. In biphasic fluids, if
steam bubbles are surrounded by condensate, regarding lower
condensate temperature than steam, they will suddenly collapse. As a
result, the vacuum caused by an extreme change in volume lead to
movement of the condensates in all directions and their collision the
force produced by this collision leads to a severe stress in the pipe
wall. This phenomenon is a special type of water hammer. According
to fluid mechanics, this phenomenon is a particular type of transient
flows during which abrupt change of fluid leads to sudden pressure
change inside the tube. In this paper, the mechanism of abrupt failure
of 80 tubes of 481 tubes of a methanol heat exchanger is discussed.
Initially, due to excessive temperature differences between heat
transfer fluids and simultaneous failure of 80 tubes, thermal shock
was presupposed as the reason of failure. Deeper investigation on
cross-section of failed tubes showed that failure was, ductile type of
failure, so the first hypothesis was rejected. Further analysis and more
accurate experiments revealed that failure of tubes caused by thermal
water hammer. Finally, the causes of thermal water hammer and
various solutions to avoid such mechanism are discussed.
Abstract: The scale dependence of the strength of virtually homogeneous rock is usually considered to be insignificant but the spectrum of discontinuities plays a very important role for the strength of differently sized rock elements and also controls the rock creep strain. Large-scale load tests comprised recording of the creep strain rate that was found to be strongly retarded and negligible for stresses lower than about 1/3 of the failure load. For higher stresses creep took place according to a log time law representing secondary creep that ultimately changed to tertiary creep and failure.
Abstract: The Želazny Most tailing pond is one of the largest
facilities worldwide for waste disposal from the copper mines located
in South-West Poland. A potential failure of the dam would allow
more than 10 million cubic meters of contaminated slurry to flow to
the valley, causing immense environmental problems to the
surrounding area. Thus, the determination of the strength properties
of the dam's soils and their variability is of utmost importance.
An extensive site investigation consisting of more than 480 cone
penetration tests (CPTs) with or without pore water pressure
measurements were conducted within a period of 13 years to study
the mechanical properties of the tailings body. The present work
investigates the point variability of the soil strength parameters
(effective friction angle
Abstract: Implementing Information Technology/ Information
System (IT/IS) is critical for every industry as its potential benefits
have been to motivate many industries including the Malaysian
construction industry to invest in it. To successfully implement IT/IS
has become the major concern for every organisation. Identifying the
critical success factors (CSFs) has become the main agenda for
researchers, academicians and practitioners due to the wide number
of failures reported. This research paper seeks to identify the CSFs
that influence the successful implementation of IT/IS in construction
industry in Malaysia. Limited factors relating to people issue will be
highlighted here to showcase some as it becomes one of the major
contributing factors to the failure. Three (3) organisations have
participated in this study. Semi-structured interviews are employed as
they offer sufficient flexibility to ensure that all relevant factors are
covered. Several key issues contributing to successful
implementations of IT/IS are identified. The results of this study
reveal that top management support, communication, user
involvement, IT staff roles and responsibility, training/skills, leader/
IT Leader, organisation culture, knowledge/ experience, motivation,
awareness, focus and ambition, satisfaction, teamwork/ collaboration,
willingness to change, attitude, commitment, management style,
interest in IT, employee behaviour towards collaborative
environment, trust, interpersonal relationship, personal characteristic
and competencies are significantly associated with the successful
implementations of IT/IS. It is anticipated that this study will create
awareness and contribute to a better understanding amongst
construction industry players and will assist them to successfully
implement IT/IS.
Abstract: MMR vaccine failure had been reported globally and
here we report that it occurs now in India. Samples were collected from clinically suspected mumps cases were subjected for anti
mumps antibodies, virus isolation, RT-PCR, sequencing and
phylogenetic tree analysis. 56 samples collected from men and women belonging to various age groups. 30 had been vaccinated and
the status of 26 patients was unknown. 28 out of 30 samples were
found to be symptomatic and positive for Mumps IgM, indicating
active mumps infection in 93.4% of the vaccinated population. A
phylogenetic tree comparison of the clinical isolate is shown to be genotype C which is distinct from vaccine strain. Our study clearly sending warning signs that MMR vaccine is a failure and it needs to be revamped for the human use by increasing its efficacy and efficiency.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to identify the underlying
causes of late payment from the contractors- perspective in the
Malaysian construction industry and to recommend effective solutions
to mitigate late payment problems. The target groups of respondents in
this study were Grades G3, G5, G6 and G7 contractors with
specialization in building works and civil engineering works registered
with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in
Malaysia. Results from this study were analyzed with Statistical
Package for the Social Science (SPSS 15.0). From this study, it was
found that respondents have highest ranked five significant variables
out of a total of forty-one variables which can caused late payment
problems: a) cash flow problems due to deficiencies in client-s
management capacity (mean = 3.96); b) client-s ineffective utilization
of funds (mean = 3.88); c) scarcity of capital to finance the project
(mean = 3.81); d) clients failure to generate income from bank when
sales of houses do not hit the targeted amount (mean=3.72); and e)
poor cash flow because of lack of proper process implementation,
delay in releasing of the retention monies to contractor and delay in the
evaluation and certification of interim and final payment (mean =
3.66).
Abstract: Two-dimensional finite element model was created in this work to investigate the stresses distribution within rock-like samples with offset open non-persistent joints under biaxial loading. The results of this study have explained the fracture mechanisms observed in tests on rock-like material with open non-persistent offset joints [1]. Finite element code SAP2000 was used to study the stresses distribution within the specimens. Four-nodded isoperimetric plain strain element with two degree of freedom per node, and the three-nodded constant strain triangular element with two degree of freedom per node were used in the present study.The results of the present study explained the formation of wing cracks at the tip of the joints for low confining stress as well as the formation of wing cracks at the middle of the joint for the higher confining stress. High shear stresses found in the numerical study at the tip of the joints explained the formation of secondary cracks at the tip of the joints in the experimental study. The study results coincide with the experimental observations which showed that for bridge inclination of 0o, the coalescence occurred due to shear failure and for bridge inclination of 90o the coalescence occurred due to tensile failure while for the other bridge inclinations coalescence occurred due to mixed tensile and shear failure.