Abstract: English like any other language is rich by means of arbitrary, conventional, symbols which lend it to lot of inconsistencies in spelling, phonology, syntax, and morphology. The research examines the irregularities prevalent in the structure and meaning of some ‘er’ lexical items in English and its implication to vocabulary acquisition. It centers its investigation on the derivational suffix ‘er’, which changes the grammatical category of word. English language poses many challenges to Second Language Learners because of its irregularities, exceptions, and rules. One of the meaning of –er derivational suffix is someone or somebody who does something. This rule often confuses the learners when they meet with the exceptions in normal discourse. The need to investigate instances of such inconsistencies in the formation of –er words and the meanings given to such words by the students motivated this study. For this purpose, some senior secondary two (SS2) students in six randomly selected schools in the metropolis were provided a large number of alphabetically selected ‘er’ suffix ending words, The researcher opts for a test technique, which requires them to provide the meaning of the selected words with- er. The marking of the test was scored on the scale of 1-0, where correct formation of –er word and meaning is scored one while wrong formation and meaning is scored zero. The number of wrong and correct formations of –er words meaning were calculated using percentage. The result of this research shows that a large number of students made wrong generalization of the meaning of the selected -er ending words. This shows how enormous the inconsistencies are in English language and how are affect the learning of English. Findings from the study revealed that though students mastered the basic morphological rules but the errors are generally committed on those vocabulary items that are not frequently in use. The study arrives at this conclusion from the survey of their textbook and their spoken activities. Therefore, the researcher recommends that there should be effective reappraisal of language teaching through implementation of the designed curriculum to reflect on modern strategies of teaching language, identification, and incorporation of the exceptions in rigorous communicative activities in language teaching, language course books and tutorials, training and retraining of teachers on the strategies that conform to the new pedagogy.
Abstract: A Reconfigurable Wilkinson power divider is
proposed in this paper. In existing system only a limited number of
bandwidth is used at the output ports, in the proposed Wilkinson
power divider different band of frequencies are obtained by using
PIN diode. By tuning the PIN diode, different frequencies are
achieved. The size of the power divider is reduced for the operating
frequency and increases the fractional bandwidth.
Abstract: In this paper, a prototype PEM fuel cell vehicle
integrated with a 1 kW air-blowing proton exchange membrane fuel
cell (PEMFC) stack as a main power sources has been developed for
a lightweight cruising vehicle. The test vehicle is equipped with a
PEM fuel cell system that provides electric power to a brushed DC
motor. This vehicle was designed to compete with industrial
lightweight vehicle with the target of consuming least amount of
energy and high performance. Individual variations in driving style
have a significant impact on vehicle energy efficiency and it is well
established from the literature. The primary aim of this study was to
assesses the power and fuel consumption of a hydrogen fuel cell
vehicle operating at three difference driving technique (i.e. 25 km/h
constant speed, 22-28 km/h speed range, 20-30 km/h speed range).
The goal is to develop the best driving strategy to maximize
performance and minimize fuel consumption for the vehicle system.
The relationship between power demand and hydrogen consumption
has also been discussed. All the techniques can be evaluated and
compared on broadly similar terms. Automatic intelligent controller
for driving prototype fuel cell vehicle on different obstacle while
maintaining all systems at maximum efficiency was used. The result
showed that 25 km/h constant speed was identified for optimal
driving with less fuel consumption.
Abstract: In this paper, we introduce a flexible box erecting
machine (BEM) that swiftly and automatically transforms cardboard
into a three dimensional box. Recently, the parcel service and
home-shopping industries have grown rapidly, and there is an
increasing need for various box types to ship various products.
However, workers cannot fold thousands of boxes manually in a day.
As such, automatic BEMs are garnering greater attention. This study
takes equipment operation into consideration as well as mechanical
improvements in order to design a BEM that is able to outperform its
conventional counterparts. We analyzed six dispatching rules – First In
First Out (FIFO), Shortest Processing Time (SPT), Earliest Due Date
(EDD), Setup Avoidance, EDD + SPT, and EDD + Setup Avoidance –
to determine which one was most suitable for BEM operation.
Consequently, SPT and Setup Avoidance were found to be the most
critical rules, followed by EDD + Setup Avoidance, EDD + SPT,
EDD, and FIFO. This hierarchy was valid for both our conventional
BEM and our new flexible BEM from the viewpoint of processing
time. We believe that this research can contribute to flexible BEM
management, which has the potential to increase productivity and
convenience.
Abstract: Fresh concrete has one of dynamic properties known
as slump. Slump of concrete is design to compatible with placing
method. Due to hydration reaction of cement, the slump of concrete
is loss through time. Therefore, delayed concrete probably get reject
because slump is unacceptable. In order to recover the slump of
delayed concrete the second dose of superplasticizer (naphthalene
based type F) is added into the system, the slump recovery can be
done as long as the concrete is not setting. By adding superplasticizer
as solution for recover unusable slump loss concrete may affects
other concrete properties. Therefore, this paper was observed setting
times and compressive strength of concrete after being re-dose with
chemical admixture type F (superplasticizer, naphthalene based) for
slump recovery. The concrete used in this study was fly ash concrete
with fly ash replacement of 0%, 30% and 50% respectively. Concrete
mix designed for test specimen was prepared with paste content (ratio
of volume of cement to volume of void in the aggregate) of 1.2 and
1.3, water-to-binder ratio (w/b) range of 0.3 to 0.58, initial dose of
superplasticizer (SP) range from 0.5 to 1.6%. The setting times of
concrete were tested both before and after re-dosed with different
amount of second dose and time of dosing. The research was
concluded that addition of second dose of superplasticizer would
increase both initial and final setting times accordingly to dosage of
addition. As for fly ash concrete, the prolongation effect was higher
as the replacement of fly ash increase. The prolongation effect can
reach up to maximum about 4 hours. In case of compressive strength,
the re-dosed concrete has strength fluctuation within acceptable range
of ±10%.
Abstract: Brushless DC motors (BLDC) are widely used in
industrial areas. The BLDC motors are driven either by indirect ACAC
converters or by direct AC-AC converters. Direct AC-AC
converters i.e. matrix converters are used in this paper to drive the
three phase BLDC motor and it eliminates the bulky DC link energy
storage element. A matrix converter converts the AC power supply to
an AC voltage of variable amplitude and variable frequency. A
control technique is designed to generate the switching pulses for the
three phase matrix converter. For the control of speed of the BLDC
motor a separate PI controller and Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) are
designed and a hysteresis current controller is also designed for the
control of motor torque. The control schemes are designed and tested
separately. The simulation results of both the schemes are compared
and contrasted in this paper. The results show that the fuzzy logic
control scheme outperforms the PI control scheme in terms of
dynamic performance of the BLDC motor. Simulation results are
validated with the experimental results.
Abstract: The quality of concrete is usually defined by compressive strength, but flexural strength is the most important characteristic of concrete in a pavement which control the mix design of concrete instead of compressive strength. Therefore, the aggregates which are selected for the pavements are affected by higher flexural strength. Roller Compacting Concrete Pavement (RCCP) is not a new construction method. The other characteristic of this method is no bleeding and less shrinkage due to the lower amount of water. For this purpose, a roller is needed for placing and compacting. The surface of RCCP is not smooth; therefore, the most common use of this pavement is in an industrial zone with slower traffic speed which requires durable and tough pavement. For preparing a smoother surface, it can be achieved by asphalt paver. RCCP decrease the finishing cost because there are no bars, formwork, and the lesser labor need for placing the concrete. In this paper, different aspect of RCCP such as mix design, flexural, compressive strength and focus on the different part of RCCP on detail have been investigated.
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: A myriad of environmental issues face the Nigerian
industrial region, resulting from; oil and gas production, mining,
manufacturing and domestic wastes. Amidst these, much effort has
been directed by stakeholders in the Nigerian oil producing regions,
because of the impacts of the region on the wider Nigerian economy.
Although collaborative environmental management has been noted as
an effective approach in managing environmental issues, little
attention has been given to the roles and practices of stakeholders in
effecting a collaborative environmental management framework for
the Nigerian oil-producing region. This paper produces a framework
to expand and deepen knowledge relating to stakeholders aspects of
collaborative roles in managing environmental issues in the Nigeria
oil-producing region. The knowledge is derived from analysis of
stakeholders’ practices – studied through multiple case studies using
document analysis. Selected documents of key stakeholders –
Nigerian government agencies, multi-national oil companies and host
communities, were analyzed. Open and selective coding was
employed manually during document analysis of data collected from
the offices and websites of the stakeholders. The findings showed
that the stakeholders have a range of roles, practices, interests, drivers
and barriers regarding their collaborative roles in managing
environmental issues. While they have interests for efficient resource
use, compliance to standards, sharing of responsibilities, generating
of new solutions, and shared objectives; there is evidence of major
barriers and these include resource allocation, disjointed policy,
ineffective monitoring, diverse socio- economic interests, lack of
stakeholders’ commitment and limited knowledge sharing. However,
host communities hold deep concerns over the collaborative roles of
stakeholders for economic interests, particularly, where government
agencies and multi-national oil companies are involved. With these
barriers and concerns, a genuine stakeholders’ collaboration is found
to be limited, and as a result, optimal environmental management
practices and policies have not been successfully implemented in the
Nigeria oil-producing region. A framework is produced that describes
practices that characterize collaborative environmental management
might be employed to satisfy the stakeholders’ interests. The
framework recommends critical factors, based on the findings, which
may guide a collaborative environmental management in the oil
producing regions. The recommendations are designed to re-define
the practices of stakeholders in managing environmental issues in the
oil producing regions, not as something wholly new, but as an
approach essential for implementing a sustainable environmental
policy. This research outcome may clarify areas for future research as
well as to contribute to industry guidance in the area of collaborative
environmental management.
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.
Abstract: This study focuses on the stress analysis of Mandibular
Advancement Devices (MADs), which are considered as a standard
treatment of snoring that promoted by American Academy of Sleep
Medicine (AASM). Snoring is the most significant feature of
sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). SDB will lead to serious problems
in human health. Oral appliances are ensured in therapeutic effect and
compliance, especially the MADs. This paper proposes a new MAD
design, and the finite element analysis (FEA) is introduced to precede
the stress simulation for this MAD.
Abstract: Inspired by the Formula-1 competition, IMechE
(Institute of Mechanical Engineers) and Formula SAE (Society of
Mechanical Engineers) organize annual competitions for University
and College students worldwide to compete with a single-seat racecar
they have designed and built. Design of the chassis or the frame is a
key component of the competition because the weight and stiffness
properties are directly related with the performance of the car and the
safety of the driver. In addition, a reduced weight of the chassis has
direct influence on the design of other components in the car. Among
others, it improves the power to weight ratio and the aerodynamic
performance. As the power output of the engine or the battery
installed in the car is limited to 80 kW, increasing the power to
weight ratio demands reduction of the weight of the chassis, which
represents the major part of the weight of the car. In order to reduce
the weight of the car, ION Racing team from University of
Stavanger, Norway, opted for a monocoque design. To ensure
fulfilment of the competition requirements of the chassis, the
monocoque design should provide sufficient torsional stiffness and
absorb the impact energy in case of possible collision. The study reported in this article is based on the requirements for
Formula Student competition. As part of this study, diverse
mechanical tests were conducted to determine the mechanical
properties and performances of the monocoque design. Upon a
comprehensive theoretical study of the mechanical properties of
sandwich composite materials and the requirements of monocoque
design in the competition rules, diverse tests were conducted
including 3-point bending test, perimeter shear test and test for
absorbed energy. The test panels were homemade and prepared with
equivalent size of the side impact zone of the monocoque, i.e. 275
mm x 500 mm, so that the obtained results from the tests can be
representative. Different layups of the test panels with identical core
material and the same number of layers of carbon fibre were tested
and compared. Influence of the core material thickness was also
studied. Furthermore, analytical calculations and numerical analysis
were conducted to check compliance to the stated rules for Structural
Equivalency with steel grade SAE/AISI 1010. The test results were
also compared with calculated results with respect to bending and
torsional stiffness, energy absorption, buckling, etc. The obtained results demonstrate that the material composition
and strength of the composite material selected for the monocoque
design has equivalent structural properties as a welded frame and thus
comply with the competition requirements. The developed analytical
calculation algorithms and relations will be useful for future
monocoque designs with different lay-ups and compositions.
Abstract: Large quantities of solid wastes being generated
worldwide from sources such as household, domestic, industrial,
commercial and construction demolition activities, leads to
environmental concerns. Utilization of these wastes in making
building construction materials can reduce the magnitude of the
associated problems. When these waste products are used in place of
other conventional materials, natural resources and energy are
preserved and expensive and/or potentially harmful waste disposal is
avoided. Recycling which is regarded as the third most preferred waste
disposal option, with its numerous environmental benefits, stand as a
viable option to offset the environmental impact associated with the
construction industry. This paper reviews the results of laboratory tests and important
research findings, and the potential of using these wastes in building
construction materials with focus on sustainable development.
Research gaps, which includes; the need to develop standard mix
design for solid waste based building materials; the need to develop
energy efficient method of processing solid waste use in concrete; the
need to study the actual behavior or performance of such building
materials in practical application and the limited real life application
of such building materials have also been identified. A research is being proposed to develop an environmentally
friendly, lightweight building block from recycled waste paper,
without the use of cement, and with properties suitable for use as
walling unit. This proposed research intends to incorporate,
laboratory experimentation and modeling to address the identified
research gaps.
Abstract: In the past years electric mobility became part of a
public discussion. The trend to fully electrified vehicles instead of
vehicles fueled with fossil energy has notably gained momentum.
Today nearly every big car manufacturer produces and sells fully
electrified vehicles, but electrified vehicles are still not as competitive
as conventional powered vehicles. As the traction battery states the
largest cost driver, lowering its price is a crucial objective. In
addition to improvements in product and production processes a nonnegligible,
but widely underestimated cost driver of production can
be found in logistics, since the production technology is not
continuous yet and neither are the logistics systems. This paper presents an approach to evaluate cost factors on
different designs of load carrier systems. Due to numerous
interdependencies, the combination of costs factors for a particular
scenario is not transparent. This is effecting actions for cost reduction
negatively, but still cost reduction is one of the major goals for
simultaneous engineering processes. Therefore a concurrent and
phase appropriate cost valuation method is necessary to serve cost
transparency. In this paper the four phases of this cost valuation
method are defined and explained, which based upon a new approach
integrating the logistics development process in to the integrated
product and process development.
Abstract: Response Surface Methods (RSM) provide
statistically validated predictive models that can then be manipulated
for finding optimal process configurations. Variation transmitted to
responses from poorly controlled process factors can be accounted
for by the mathematical technique of propagation of error (POE),
which facilitates ‘finding the flats’ on the surfaces generated by
RSM. The dual response approach to RSM captures the standard
deviation of the output as well as the average. It accounts for
unknown sources of variation. Dual response plus propagation of
error (POE) provides a more useful model of overall response
variation. In our case, we implemented this technique in predicting
compressive strength of concrete of 28 days in age. Since 28 days is
quite time consuming, while it is important to ensure the quality
control process. This paper investigates the potential of using design
of experiments (DOE-RSM) to predict the compressive strength of
concrete at 28th day. Data used for this study was carried out from
experiment schemes at university of Benghazi, civil engineering
department. A total of 114 sets of data were implemented. ACI mix
design method was utilized for the mix design. No admixtures were
used, only the main concrete mix constituents such as cement, coarseaggregate,
fine aggregate and water were utilized in all mixes.
Different mix proportions of the ingredients and different water
cement ratio were used. The proposed mathematical models are
capable of predicting the required concrete compressive strength of
concrete from early ages.
Abstract: This study investigates how the site specific traffic
data differs from the Mechanistic Empirical Pavement Design
Software default values. Two Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) stations were
installed in Interstate-40 (I-40) and Interstate-25 (I-25) to developed
site specific data. A computer program named WIM Data Analysis
Software (WIMDAS) was developed using Microsoft C-Sharp (.Net)
for quality checking and processing of raw WIM data. A complete
year data from November 2013 to October 2014 was analyzed using
the developed WIM Data Analysis Program. After that, the vehicle
class distribution, directional distribution, lane distribution, monthly
adjustment factor, hourly distribution, axle load spectra, average
number of axle per vehicle, axle spacing, lateral wander distribution,
and wheelbase distribution were calculated. Then a comparative
study was done between measured data and AASHTOWare default
values. It was found that the measured general traffic inputs for I-40
and I-25 significantly differ from the default values.
Abstract: The end panels of a large rectangular industrial duct,
which experience significant internal pressures, also experience
considerable transverse shear due to transfer of gravity loads to the
supports. The current design practice of such thin plate panels for
shear load is based on methods used for the design of plate girder
webs. The structural arrangements, the loadings and the resulting
behavior associated with the industrial duct end panels are, however,
significantly different from those of the web of a plate girder. The
large aspect ratio of the end panels gives rise to multiple bands of
tension fields, whereas the plate girder web design is based on one
tension field. In addition to shear, the industrial end panels are
subjected to internal pressure which in turn produces significant
membrane action. This paper reports a study which was undertaken
to review the current industrial analysis and design methods and to
propose a comprehensive method of designing industrial duct end
panels for shear resistance. In this investigation, a nonlinear finite element model was
developed to simulate the behavior of industrial duct end panel, along
with the associated edge stiffeners, subjected to transverse shear and
internal pressures. The model considered the geometric imperfections
and constitutive relations for steels. Six scale independent
dimensionless parameters that govern the behavior of such end panel
were identified and were then used in a parametric study. It was
concluded that the plate slenderness dominates the shear strength of
stockier end panels, and whereas, both the plate slenderness and the
aspect ratio influence the shear strength of slender end panels. Based
on these studies, this paper proposes design aids for estimating the
shear strength of rectangular duct end panels.
Abstract: A three-dimensional numerical simulation of flow
through mini and microchannels with designed roughness is
conducted here. The effect of the roughness height (surface
roughness), geometry, Reynolds number on the friction factor, and
Nusselt number is investigated. The study is carried out by
employing CFD software, CFX. Our work focuses on a water flow
inside a circular mini-channel of 1 mm and microchannels of 500 and
100 m in diameter. The speed entry varies from 0.1 m/s to 20 m/s.
The general trend can be observed that bigger sizes of roughness
element lead to higher flow resistance. It is found that the friction
factor increases in a nonlinear fashion with the increase in obstruction
height. Particularly, the effect of roughness can no longer be ignored
at relative roughness height higher than 3%. A significant increase in
Poiseuille number is detected for all configurations considered. The
same observation can be done for Nusselt number. The transition
zone between laminar and turbulent flow depends on the channel
diameter.
Abstract: We regard forecasting of energy consumption by
private production areas of a large industrial facility as well as by the
facility itself. As for production areas, the forecast is made based on
empirical dependencies of the specific energy consumption and the
production output. As for the facility itself, implementation of the
task to minimize the energy consumption forecasting error is based
on adjustment of the facility’s actual energy consumption values
evaluated with the metering device and the total design energy
consumption of separate production areas of the facility. The
suggested procedure of optimal energy consumption was tested based
on the actual data of core product output and energy consumption by
a group of workshops and power plants of the large iron and steel
facility. Test results show that implementation of this procedure gives
the mean accuracy of energy consumption forecasting for winter
2014 of 0.11% for the group of workshops and 0.137% for the power
plants.
Abstract: Gladiolus is an important cash crop and is grown
mainly for its elegant spikes. Traditionally the gladiolus corms are
planted manually which is very tedious, time consuming and labor
intensive operation. So far, there is no planter available for planting
of gladiolus corms. With a view to mechanize the planting operation
of this horticultural crop, a prototype of 4-row gladiolus planter was
developed and its performance was evaluated in-situ condition. Cupchain
type metering device was used to place each single gladiolus
corm in furrow at required spacing while planting. Three levels of
corm spacing viz 15, 20 and 25 cm and four levels of forward speed
viz 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 km/h was taken as evaluation parameter for
the planter. The performance indicators namely corm spacing in each
row, coefficient of uniformity, missing index, multiple index, quality
of feed index, number of corms per meter length, mechanical damage
to the corms etc. were determined during the field test. The data was
statistically analyzed using Completely Randomized Design (CRD)
for testing the significance of the parameters. The result indicated
that planter was able to drop the corms at required nominal spacing
with minor variations. The highest deviation from the mean corm
spacing was observed as 3.53 cm with maximum coefficient of
variation as 13.88%. The highest missing and quality of feed indexes
were observed as 6.33% and 97.45% respectively with no multiples.
The performance of the planter was observed better at lower forward
speed and wider corm spacing. The field capacity of the planter was
found as 0.103 ha/h with an observed field efficiency of 76.57%.