Study of the S-Bend Intake Hammershock Based on Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation

Numerical investigation of hammershock propagation in the S-bend intake caused by engine surge has been conducted by using Improved Delayed Detach-Eddy Simulation (IDDES). The effects of surge signatures on hammershock characteristics are obtained. It was shown that once the hammershock is produced, it moves upward to the intake entrance quickly with constant speed, however, the strength of hammershock keeps increasing. Meanwhile, being influenced by the centrifugal force, the hammershock strength on the larger radius side is much larger. Hammershock propagation speed and strength are sensitive to the ramp upgradient of surge signature. A larger ramp up gradient results in higher propagation speed and greater strength. Nevertheless, ramp down profile of surge signature have no obvious effect on the propagation speed and strength of hammershock. Increasing the maximum value of surge signature leads to enhance in the intensity of hammershock, they approximately match quadratic function distribution law.

Numerical Analysis of Effect of Crack Location on the Crack Breathing Behavior

In this work, a three-dimensional finite element model was developed to investigate the crack breathing behavior at different crack locations considering the effect of unbalance force. A two-disk rotor with a crack is simulated using ABAQUS. The duration of each crack status (open, closed and partially open/closed) during a full shaft rotation was examined to analyse the crack breathing behavior. Unbalanced shaft crack breathing behavior was found to be different at different crack locations. The breathing behavior of crack along the shaft length is divided into different regions depending on the unbalance force and crack location. The simulated results in this work can be further utilised to obtain the time-varying stiffness matrix of the cracked shaft element under the influence of unbalance force.

Minimizing the Drilling-Induced Damage in Fiber Reinforced Polymeric Composites

Fiber reinforced polymeric (FRP) composites are finding wide-spread industrial applications because of their exceptionally high specific strength and specific modulus of elasticity. Nevertheless, it is very seldom to get ready-for-use components or products made of FRP composites. Secondary processing by machining, particularly drilling, is almost always required to make holes for fastening components together to produce assemblies. That creates problems since the FRP composites are neither homogeneous nor isotropic. Some of the problems that are encountered include the subsequent damage in the region around the drilled hole and the drilling – induced delamination of the layer of ply, that occurs both at the entrance and the exit planes of the work piece. Evidently, the functionality of the work piece would be detrimentally affected. The current work was carried out with the aim of eliminating or at least minimizing the work piece damage associated with drilling of FPR composites. Each test specimen involves a woven reinforced graphite fiber/epoxy composite having a thickness of 12.5 mm (0.5 inch). A large number of test specimens were subjected to drilling operations with different combinations of feed rates and cutting speeds. The drilling induced damage was taken as the absolute value of the difference between the drilled hole diameter and the nominal one taken as a percentage of the nominal diameter. The later was determined for each combination of feed rate and cutting speed, and a matrix comprising those values was established, where the columns indicate varying feed rate while and rows indicate varying cutting speeds. Next, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) approach was employed using Minitab software, in order to obtain the combination that would improve the drilling induced damage. Experimental results show that low feed rates coupled with low cutting speeds yielded the best results.

Conversion of HVAC Lines into HVDC in Transmission Expansion Planning

This paper presents a transmission planning methodology that considers the conversion of HVAC transmission lines to HVDC as an alternative of expansion of power systems, as a consequence of restrictions for the construction of new lines. The transmission expansion planning problem formulates an optimization problem that minimizes the total cost that includes the investment cost to convert lines from HVAC to HVDC and possible required reinforcements of the power system prior to the conversion. The costs analysis assesses the impact of the conversion on the reliability because transmission lines are out of service during the conversion work. The presented methodology is applied to a test system considering a planning a horizon of 10 years.

An Evaluation of ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9001:2015 Standard Changes in Quality Management System

The objective of this study provides an insight into enterprises, who need to carry on their sustainability in harmony with the changing competition conditions, technology and laws, regarding the ISO 9001:2015. In the study, ISO 9001:2015, which is planned to be put in force and exists as a draft, was studied and its differences from the previous standard, ISO 9001:2008, were determined. To find out the differences, a survey was conducted among enterprises that implement a quality system. According to the findings obtained at the end of the study, it was observed that the enterprises attach importance to quality and follow the developments about quality management system, and they find the changes in the new draft document necessary.

A Method of Drilling a Ground Using a Robotic Arm

Underground tunnel face bolting and pipe umbrella reinforcement are one of the most challenging tasks in construction whether industrial or not, and infrastructures such as roads or pipelines. It is one of the first sectors of economic activity in the world. Through a variety of soil and rock, a cyclic Conventional Tunneling Method (CTM) remains the best one for projects with highly variable ground conditions or shapes. CTM is the only alternative for the renovation of existing tunnels and creating emergency exit. During the drilling process, a wide variety of non-desired vibrations may arise, and a method using a robot arm is proposed. The main kinds of drilling through vibration here is the bit-bouncing phenomenon (resonant axial vibration). Hence, assisting the task by a robot arm may play an important role on drilling performances and security. We propose to control the axial-vibration phenomenon along the drillstring at a practical resonant frequency, and embed a Resonant Sonic Drilling Head (RSDH) as a robot end effector for drilling. Many questionable industry drilling criteria and stability are discussed in this paper.

Analysis of Impact Load Induced by Ultrasonic Cavitation Bubble Collapse Using Thin Film Pressure Sensors

The understanding of generation and collapse of acoustic cavitation bubbles are prerequisites for application of cavitation erosion. Microbubbles generated due to rapid fluctuation of pressure induced by propagation of ultrasonic wave lead to formation of high velocity microjets and or shock waves upon collapse. Due to vast application of ultrasonic, it is important to characterize and understand cavitation collapse pressure under the radiating surface at different conditions. A comparative investigation is carried out to determine impact load and dynamic pressure distribution exerted upon bubble collapse using thin film pressure sensors. Measurements were recorded at different input conditions such as amplitude, stand-off distance, insertion depth of the horn inside the liquid and pulse on-off time of acoustic vibrations. Impact force of 2.97 N is recorded at amplitude of 108 μm and stand-off distance of 1 mm from the sensor film, whereas impulsive force as low as 0.4 N is recorded at amplitude of 12 μm and stand-off distance of 5 mm from the sensor film. The results drawn from the investigation indicated that variety of impact loads can be achieved by controlling generation and collapse of bubbles, making it suitable to use for numerous application.

Studying the Dynamical Response of Nano-Microelectromechanical Devices for Nanomechanical Testing of Nanostructures

Characterizing the fatigue and fracture properties of nanostructures is one of the most challenging tasks in nanoscience and nanotechnology due to lack of a MEMS/NEMS device for generating uniform cyclic loadings at high frequencies. Here, the dynamic response of a recently proposed MEMS/NEMS device under different inputs signals is completely investigated. This MEMS/NEMS device is designed and modeled based on the electromagnetic force induced between paired parallel wires carrying electrical currents, known as Ampere’s Force Law (AFL). Since this MEMS/NEMS device only uses two paired wires for actuation part and sensing part, it represents highly sensitive and linear response for nanostructures with any stiffness and shapes (single or arrays of nanowires, nanotubes, nanosheets or nanowalls). In addition to studying the maximum gains at different resonance frequencies of the MEMS/NEMS device, its dynamical responses are investigated for different inputs and nanostructure properties to demonstrate the capability, usability, and reliability of the device for wide range of nanostructures. This MEMS/NEMS device can be readily integrated into SEM/TEM instruments to provide real time study of the fatigue and fracture properties of nanostructures as well as their softening or hardening behaviors, and initiation and/or propagation of nanocracks in them.

Surface Elevation Dynamics Assessment Using Digital Elevation Models, Light Detection and Ranging, GPS and Geospatial Information Science Analysis: Ecosystem Modelling Approach

Surface elevation dynamics have always responded to disturbance regimes. Creating Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) to detect surface dynamics has led to the development of several methods, devices and data clouds. DEMs can provide accurate and quick results with cost efficiency, in comparison to the inherited geomatics survey techniques. Nowadays, remote sensing datasets have become a primary source to create DEMs, including LiDAR point clouds with GIS analytic tools. However, these data need to be tested for error detection and correction. This paper evaluates various DEMs from different data sources over time for Apple Orchard Island, a coastal site in southeastern Australia, in order to detect surface dynamics. Subsequently, 30 chosen locations were examined in the field to test the error of the DEMs surface detection using high resolution global positioning systems (GPSs). Results show significant surface elevation changes on Apple Orchard Island. Accretion occurred on most of the island while surface elevation loss due to erosion is limited to the northern and southern parts. Concurrently, the projected differential correction and validation method aimed to identify errors in the dataset. The resultant DEMs demonstrated a small error ratio (≤ 3%) from the gathered datasets when compared with the fieldwork survey using RTK-GPS. As modern modelling approaches need to become more effective and accurate, applying several tools to create different DEMs on a multi-temporal scale would allow easy predictions in time-cost-frames with more comprehensive coverage and greater accuracy. With a DEM technique for the eco-geomorphic context, such insights about the ecosystem dynamic detection, at such a coastal intertidal system, would be valuable to assess the accuracy of the predicted eco-geomorphic risk for the conservation management sustainability. Demonstrating this framework to evaluate the historical and current anthropogenic and environmental stressors on coastal surface elevation dynamism could be profitably applied worldwide.

Development and Psychometric Properties of the Relational Mobility Scale for the Indonesian Population

This study aims to develop the Relational Mobility Scale for the Indonesian population and to investigate its psychometric properties. New items of the scale were created taking into account the Indonesian population which consists of two parallel forms (A and A’). This study uses 30 newly orchestrated items while keeping in mind the characteristics of the targeted population. The scale was administered to 433 public high school students in Malang, Indonesia. Construct validity of its factor structure was demonstrated using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The result exhibits that he model fits the data, and that the delayed alternate form method shows acceptable result. Results yielded that 21 items of the three-dimensional Relational Mobility Scale is suitable for measuring relational mobility in high school students of Indonesian population.

Numerical Study for Compressive Strength of Basalt Composite Sandwich Infill Panel

In this study, we investigated the buckling performance of basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) sandwich infill panels. Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) is a major evolution for energy dissipation when used as infill material of frame structure, a basic Polymer Matrix Composite (PMC) infill wall system consists of two FRP laminates surrounding an infill of foam core. Furthermore, this type of component is for retrofitting and strengthening frame structure to withstand the seismic disaster. In-plane compression was considered in the numerical analysis with ABAQUS platform to determine the buckling failure load of BFRP infill panel system. The present result shows that the sandwich BFRP infill panel system has higher resistance to buckling failure than those of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) infill panel system, i.e. 16% increase in buckling resistance capacity.

Evaluation of the Mechanical Behavior of a Retaining Wall Structure on a Weathered Soil through Probabilistic Methods

Retaining slope structures are increasingly considered in geotechnical engineering projects due to extensive urban cities growth. These kinds of engineering constructions may present instabilities over the time and may require reinforcement or even rebuilding of the structure. In this context, statistical analysis is an important tool for decision making regarding retaining structures. This study approaches the failure probability of the construction of a retaining wall over the debris of an old and collapsed one. The new solution’s extension length will be of approximately 350 m and will be located over the margins of the Lake Paranoá, Brasilia, in the capital of Brazil. The building process must also account for the utilization of the ruins as a caisson. A series of in situ and laboratory experiments defined local soil strength parameters. A Standard Penetration Test (SPT) defined the in situ soil stratigraphy. Also, the parameters obtained were verified using soil data from a collection of masters and doctoral works from the University of Brasília, which is similar to the local soil. Initial studies show that the concrete wall is the proper solution for this case, taking into account the technical, economic and deterministic analysis. On the other hand, in order to better analyze the statistical significance of the factor-of-safety factors obtained, a Monte Carlo analysis was performed for the concrete wall and two more initial solutions. A comparison between the statistical and risk results generated for the different solutions indicated that a Gabion solution would better fit the financial and technical feasibility of the project.

Polymer Modification of Fine Grained Concretes Used in Textile Reinforced Cementitious Composites

Textile reinforced cementitious composite (TRCC) is a development of a composite material where textile and fine-grained concrete (matrix) materials are used in combination. These matrices offer high performance properties in many aspects. To achieve high performance, polymer modified fine-grained concretes were used as matrix material which have high flexural strength. In this study, ten latex polymers and ten powder polymers were added to fine-grained concrete mixtures. These latex and powder polymers were added to the mixtures at different rates related to binder weight. Mechanical properties such as compressive and flexural strength were studied. Results showed that latex polymer and redispersible polymer modified fine-grained concretes showed different mechanical performance. A wide range of both latex and redispersible powder polymers were studied. As the addition rate increased compressive strength decreased for all mixtures. Flexural strength increased as the addition rate increased but significant enhancement was not observed through all mixtures.

Long Wavelength Coherent Pulse of Sound Propagating in Granular Media

A mechanical wave or vibration propagating through granular media exhibits a specific signature in time. A coherent pulse or wavefront arrives first with multiply scattered waves (coda) arriving later. The coherent pulse is micro-structure independent i.e. it depends only on the bulk properties of the disordered granular sample, the sound wave velocity of the granular sample and hence bulk and shear moduli. The coherent wavefront attenuates (decreases in amplitude) and broadens with distance from its source. The pulse attenuation and broadening effects are affected by disorder (polydispersity; contrast in size of the granules) and have often been attributed to dispersion and scattering. To study the effect of disorder and initial amplitude (non-linearity) of the pulse imparted to the system on the coherent wavefront, numerical simulations have been carried out on one-dimensional sets of particles (granular chains). The interaction force between the particles is given by a Hertzian contact model. The sizes of particles have been selected randomly from a Gaussian distribution, where the standard deviation of this distribution is the relevant parameter that quantifies the effect of disorder on the coherent wavefront. Since, the coherent wavefront is system configuration independent, ensemble averaging has been used for improving the signal quality of the coherent pulse and removing the multiply scattered waves. The results concerning the width of the coherent wavefront have been formulated in terms of scaling laws. An experimental set-up of photoelastic particles constituting a granular chain is proposed to validate the numerical results.

Iron(III)-Tosylate Doped PEDOT and PEG: A Nanoscale Conductivity Study of an Electrochemical System with Biosensing Applications

The addition of PEG of different molecular weights has important effects on the physical, electrical and electrochemical properties of iron(III)-tosylate doped PEDOT. This particular polymer can be easily spin coated over plastic discs, optimizing thickness and uniformity of the PEDOT-PEG films. The conductivity and morphological analysis of the hybrid PEDOT-PEG polymer by 4-point probe (4PP), 12-point probe (12PP), and conductive AFM (C-AFM) show strong effects of the PEG doping. Moreover, the conductive films kinetics at the nanoscale, in response to different bias voltages, change radically depending on the PEG molecular weight. The hybrid conductive films show also interesting electrochemical properties, making the PEDOT PEG doping appealing for biosensing applications both for EIS-based and amperometric affinity/catalytic biosensors.

Behavior of the Foundation of Bridge Reinforced by Rigid and Flexible Inclusions

This article presents a comparative study by numerical analysis of the behavior of reinforcements of clayey soils by flexible columns (stone columns) and rigid columns (piles). The numerical simulation was carried out in 3D for an assembly of foundation, columns and a pile of a bridge. Particular attention has been paid to take into account the installation of the columns. Indeed, in practice, due to the compaction of the column, the soil around it sustains a lateral expansion and the horizontal stresses are increased. This lateral expansion of the column can be simulated numerically. This work represents a comparative study of the interaction between the soil on one side, and the two types of reinforcement on the other side, and their influence on the behavior of the soil and of the pile of a bridge.

Applying WILSERV in Measuring Visitor Satisfaction at Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre (SORC)

There is an increasing worldwide demand on the field of interaction with wildlife tourism. Studies pertaining to the service quality within the sphere of interaction with wildlife tourism are plentiful. However, studies on service quality in wildlife attractions, especially on semi-captured wildlife tourism are still limited. The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre (SORC) in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia is one good example of a semi-captured wildlife attraction and a renowned attraction in Sabah. This study presents a gap analysis by measuring the perception and expectation of service quality at SORC through the use of a modified SERVQUAL, referred to as WILSERV. A survey questionnaire was devised and administered to 190 visitors who visited SORC. The study revealed that all the means of the six dimensions for perceived perceptions were lower than the expectations. The highest gap was from the dimension of reliability (-0.21), followed by tangible (-0.17), responsiveness (-0.11), assurance, (-0.11), empathy (-0.11) and wild-tangible (-0.05). Similarly, the study also showed that all six dimensions for perceived perceptions means were lower than the expectations for both local and foreign visitors.

The Extent of Land Use Externalities in the Fringe of Jakarta Metropolitan: An Application of Spatial Panel Dynamic Land Value Model

In a fast growing region, conversion of agricultural lands which are surrounded by some new development sites will occur sooner than expected. This phenomenon has been experienced by many regions in Indonesia, especially the fringe of Jakarta (BoDeTaBek). Being Indonesia’s capital city, rapid conversion of land in this area is an unavoidable process. The land conversion expands spatially into the fringe regions, which were initially dominated by agricultural land or conservation sites. Without proper control or growth management, this activity will invite greater costs than benefits. The current land use is the use which maximizes its value. In order to maintain land for agricultural activity or conservation, some efforts are needed to keep the land value of this activity as high as possible. In this case, the knowledge regarding the functional relationship between land value and its driving forces is necessary. In a fast growing region, development externalities are the assumed dominant driving force. Land value is the product of the past decision of its use leading to its value. It is also affected by the local characteristics and the observed surrounded land use (externalities) from the previous period. The effect of each factor on land value has dynamic and spatial virtues; an empirical spatial dynamic land value model will be more useful to capture them. The model will be useful to test and to estimate the extent of land use externalities on land value in the short run as well as in the long run. It serves as a basis to formulate an effective urban growth management’s policy. This study will apply the model to the case of land value in the fringe of Jakarta Metropolitan. The model will be used further to predict the effect of externalities on land value, in the form of prediction map. For the case of Jakarta’s fringe, there is some evidence about the significance of neighborhood urban activity – negative externalities, the previous land value and local accessibility on land value. The effects are accumulated dynamically over years, but they will fully affect the land value after six years.

Comparative Study on Soil Tillage Using Rotary Tiller and Power Harrow

Farmers try to reduce steps of soil preparation by using subsoiler and then following by equipment for soil pulverization such as a rotary tiller and a power harrow which take advantage of using a power take-off of a tractor. Therefore, this study was conducted to compare the tilling performances of a rotary tiller and a power harrow applying after subsoiling. The results showed that both the rotary tiller and the power harrow had negative slip, indicating that they generated force to push a tractor. The rotary tiller created negative vertical force to lift up the tractor whereas opposite result was found when using the power harrow. Since working depths were different, vertical forces, torques and PTO powers for two equipment types were significantly different. However, no significant differences were found for the forward speeds, slips, drawbar pulls and drawbar powers. Comparative analysis showed that two equipment types had significant difference in PTO power to working depth, drawbar power to working depth, PTO power to working area, drawbar power to working area and soil pulverization.

Adsorption of Phenolic Compounds on Activated Carbon DSAC36-24

Activated carbon DSAC36-24 iy is adsorbent materials, characterized by a specific surface area of 548.13 m²g⁻¹. Their manufacture uses the natural raw materials like the nucleus of dates. In this study the treatment is done in two stages: A chemical treatment by H3PO4 followed by a physical treatment under nitrogen for 1 hour then under stream of CO2 for 24 hours. A characterization of the various parameters was determined such as the measurement of the specific surface area, determination of pHPZC, bulk density, iodine value. The study of the adsorption of organic molecules (hydroquinone, paranitrophenol, 2,4-dinitrophenol, 2,4,6-trinitrophenol) indicates that the adsorption phenomena are essentially due to the van der Waals interaction. In the case of organic molecules carrying the polar substituents, the existence of hydrogen bonds is also proved by the donor-acceptor forces. The study of the pH effect was done with modeling by different models (Langmuir, Freundlich, Langmuir-Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson), a kinetic treatment is also followed by the application of Lagergren, Weber, Macky.