Abstract: The static stability analysis of stiffened functionally
graded cylindrical shells by isotropic rings and stringers subjected to
axial compression is presented in this paper. The Young's modulus of
the shell is taken to be function of the thickness coordinate. The
fundamental relations, the equilibrium and stability equations are
derived using the Sander's assumption. Resulting equations are
employed to obtain the closed-form solution for the critical axial
loads. The effects of material properties, geometric size and different
material coefficient on the critical axial loads are examined. The
analytical results are compared and validated using the finite element
model.
Abstract: The use of contour strips of perennial vegetation with
bio-fuel potential can improve surface water quality by reducing
NO3-N and sediment outflow from cropland to surface water-bodies.
It also has economic benefits of producing ethanol. In this study,
The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was applied to
a watershed in Iowa, USA to examine the effectiveness of contour
strips of switch grass in reducing the NO3-N outflows from crop
fields to rivers or lakes. Numerical experiments were conducted to
identify potential subbasins in the watershed that have high water
quality impact, and to examine the effects of strip size on NO3-N
reduction under various meteorological conditions, i.e. dry, average
and wet years. Useful information was obtained for the evaluation of
economic feasibility of growing switch grass for bio-fuel in contour
strips. The results can assist in cost-benefit analysis and decisionmaking
in best management practices for environmental protection.
Abstract: This paper presents a computational study of the separated flow in a planer asymmetric diffuser. The steady RANS equations for turbulent incompressible fluid flow and six turbulence closures are used in the present study. The commercial software code, FLUENT 6.3.26, was used for solving the set of governing equations using various turbulence models. Five of the used turbulence models are available directly in the code while the v2-f turbulence model was implemented via User Defined Scalars (UDS) and User Defined Functions (UDF). A series of computational analysis is performed to assess the performance of turbulence models at different grid density. The results show that the standard k-ω, SST k-ω and v2-f models clearly performed better than other models when an adverse pressure gradient was present. The RSM model shows an acceptable agreement with the velocity and turbulent kinetic energy profiles but it failed to predict the location of separation and attachment points. The standard k-ε and the low-Re k- ε delivered very poor results.
Abstract: In this paper, a strategy for long-span bridge disaster response was developed, divided into risk analysis, business impact analysis, and emergency response plan. At the risk analysis stage, the critical risk was estimated. The critical risk was “car accident."The critical process by critical-risk classification was assessed at the business impact analysis stage. The critical process was the task related to the road conditions and traffic safety. Based on the results of the precedent analysis, an emergency response plan was established. By making the order of the standard operating procedures clear, an effective plan for dealing with disaster was formulated. Finally, a prototype software was developed based on the research findings. This study laid the foundation of an information-technology-based disaster response guideline and is significant in that it computerized the disaster response plan to improve the plan-s accessibility.
Abstract: Because of architectural condition and structure application, sometimes mass source and stiffness source are not coincidence, and the structure is irregular. The structure is also might be asymmetric as an asymmetric bracing in plan which leads to unbalance distribution of stiffness or because of unbalance distribution of the mass. Both condition lead to eccentricity and torsion in the structure. The deficiency of ordinary code to evaluate the performance of steel structures against earthquake has been caused designing based on performance level or capacity spectrum be used. By using the mentioned methods it is possible to design a structure that its behavior against different earthquakes be predictive. In this article 5- story buildings with different percentage of asymmetric which is because of stiffness changes and kind of bracing (x and chevron bracing) have been designed. The static and dynamic nonlinear analysis under three acceleration recording has been done. Finally performance level of the structure has been evaluated.
Abstract: The present report describes the characteristics of
damages and behavior of reinforced concrete buildings during the
tsunami action. The discussion is based on the field damage survey in
selected cities located on the coast of the zone affected by the Great
East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. This earthquake is the most
powerful know earthquake that has hit Japan with a magnitude 9.0 and
with epicenter located at 129 km of Sendai city (off the coast). The
earthquake triggered a destructive tsunami with run up height of up to
40 meters that mainly affect cities located on the Pacific Ocean coast of
the Tohoku region (north-east region of Japan). Reinforced concrete
buildings in general resist the tsunami without collapse however the
non-structural elements like panels and ceilings were severely
damaged. The analysis of damages has permitted to understand the
behavior of RC buildings under tsunami attack, and has also permitted
to establish recommendations for their use to take refuge from tsunami
in places where natural topography makes impossible to reach hilltops
or other safer places.
Abstract: The increasing divorce and fertility rates outside of marriage, the changing values in the last decades have led to a high prevalence of single parent families. Currently, worldwide, singleparent families represent about a quarter of all families. Recent changes occurring in the structure of single-parent families and also the multitude of factors that influence the quality of life of these families require the development of new research tools in order to provide foundations for social policies addressed to this type of family. The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis concerning the quality of life for single parent families in Romania, based on data collected through a research methodology developed by the authors within a scientific research project funded by a national grant called Partnerships in priority areas.
Abstract: This paper presents the experimental results on
ageing deterioration of silicone rubber outdoor polymer insulator
under salt water dip wheel test based on IEC 62217. In order to comparison effect of chemical contents, silicone rubber outdoor
polymer insulators having same configuration and leakage distant
from two manufactures were tested together continuously 30,000 test cycles. Many discharge activities were observed in during the test.
After 30,000 test cycles, in spite of same configuration, differences in
degree of surface aging were observed. Physical analysis such as
decreasing in hydrophobicity and increasing in hardness
measurement were measured on two-type tested specimen surface in order to confirm degree of surface ageing. Furthermore, chemical
analysis by ATR-FTIR to diagnose the chemical change of tested
specimen surface was conducted to confirm the physical analysis results.
Abstract: The main objective of the present paper is to derive an easy numerical technique for the analysis of the free vibration through the stepped regions of plates. Based on the utilities of the step by step integration initial values IV and Finite differences FD methods, the present improved Initial Value Finite Differences (IVFD) technique is achieved. The first initial conditions are formulated in convenient forms for the step by step integrations while the upper and lower edge conditions are expressed in finite difference modes. Also compatibility conditions are created due to the sudden variation of plate thickness. The present method (IVFD) is applied to solve the fourth order partial differential equation of motion for stepped plate across two different panels under the sudden step compatibility in addition to different types of end conditions. The obtained results are examined and the validity of the present method is proved showing excellent efficiency and rapid convergence.
Abstract: Tritium activity concentration in Danube river water
in Serbia has been determinate using a liquid scintillation counter
Quantulus 1220. During December 2010, water samples were taken
along the entire course of Danube through Serbia, from Hungarian-
Serbian to Romanian-Serbian border. This investigation is very
important because of the nearness of nuclear reactor Paks in
Hungary. Sample preparation was performed by standard test method
using Optiphase HiSafe 3 scintillation cocktail. We used a rapid
method for the preparation of environmental samples, without
electrolytic enrichment.
Abstract: Considering the serious health hazards of air pollutants from automobiles, the present study was aimed to estimate the genotoxic/tumor inducing potential of three soil samples collected from junctions of Bus stand (BS), Crystal (CT) and Railway station (RS) of Amritsar, Punjab (India) using Allium cepa root chromosomal aberration assay (AlRCAA) and potato disc tumor assay (PDTA). The genotoxic potential in AlRCAA was 41.27% and 41.26% for BS; 37.89% and 43.38% for RS and 33.76% and 37.83% for CT during in situ and root dip treatments, respectively. The maximum number of tumors were induced in RS sample (64) followed by BS (21) and CT (9) during PDTA. The physicochemical parameters of soil sample were also studied and the concentration of lead was found to be 95.21 mg/Kg in RS, 35.30 mg/Kg in BS and 24.59 mg/Kg in CT samples.
Abstract: The VoIP networks as alternative method to traditional PSTN system has been implemented in a wide variety of structures
with multiple protocols, codecs, software and hardware–based
distributions. The use of cryptographic techniques let the users to have a secure communication, but the calculate throughput as well as the QoS parameters are affected according to the used algorithm. This
paper analyzes the VoIP throughput and the QoS parameters with
different commercial encryption methods. The measurement–based
approach uses lab scenarios to simulate LAN and WAN
environments. Security mechanisms such as TLS, SIAX2, SRTP,
IPSEC and ZRTP are analyzed with μ-LAW and GSM codecs.
Abstract: In this paper, for the understanding of the phytoplankton dynamics in marine ecosystem, a susceptible and an infected class of phytoplankton population is considered in spatiotemporal domain.
Here, the susceptible phytoplankton is growing logistically and the
growth of infected phytoplankton is due to the instantaneous Holling
type-II infection response function. The dynamics are studied in terms of the local and global stabilities for the system and further
explore the possibility of Hopf -bifurcation, taking the half saturation period as (i.e., ) the bifurcation parameter in temporal domain.
It is also observe that the reaction diffusion system exhibits spatiotemporal
chaos and pattern formation in phytoplankton dynamics,
which is particularly important role play for the spatially extended phytoplankton system. Also the effect of the diffusion coefficient
on the spatial system for both one and two dimensional case is obtained. Furthermore, we explore the higher-order stability analysis
of the spatial phytoplankton system for both linear and no-linear system. Finally, few numerical simulations are carried out for pattern
formation.
Abstract: The objective of the paper was to understand the use
of an important element of design, namely color in a Semiotic
system. Semiotics is the study of signs and sign processes, it is often
divided into three branches namely (i) Semantics that deals with the
relation between signs and the things to which they refer to mean, (ii)
Syntactics which addresses the relations among signs in formal
structures and (iii) Pragmatics that relates between signs and its
effects on they have on the people who use them to create a plan for
an object or a system referred to as design. Cubism with its versatility
was the key design tool prevalent across the 20th century. In order to
analyze the user's understanding of interaction and appreciation of
color through the movement of Cubism, an exercise was undertaken
in Dept. of Design, IIT Guwahati. This included tasks to design a
composition using color and sign process to the theme 'Between the
Lines' on a given tessellation where the users relate their work to the
world they live in, which in this case was the college campus of IIT
Guwahati. The findings demonstrate impact of the key design
element color on the principles of visual perception based on image
analysis of specific compositions.
Abstract: The pollutant removal efficiency of the Intermittently
Decanted Extended Aeration (IDEA) wastewater treatment system at
Curtin University Sarawak Campus, and conventional activated
sludge wastewater treatment system at a local resort, Resort A, is
monitored. The influent and effluent characteristics are tested during
wet and dry weather conditions, and peak and off peak periods. For
the wastewater treatment systems at Curtin Sarawak and Resort A,
during dry weather and peak season, it was found that the BOD5
concentration in the influent is 121.7mg/L and 80.0mg/L
respectively, and in the effluent, 18.7mg/L and and 18.0mg/L
respectively. Analysis of the performance of the IDEA treatment
system showed that the operational costs can be minimized by 3%, by
decreasing the number of operating cycles. As for the treatment
system in Resort A, by utilizing a smaller capacity air blower, a
saving of 12% could be made in the operational costs.
Abstract: This paper presents an architecture to assist in the
development of tools to perform experimental analysis. Existing
implementations of tools based on this architecture are also described
in this paper. These tools are applied to the real world problem of
fault attack emulation and detection in cryptographic algorithms.
Abstract: In this study, a fuzzy similarity approach for Arabic web pages classification is presented. The approach uses a fuzzy term-category relation by manipulating membership degree for the training data and the degree value for a test web page. Six measures are used and compared in this study. These measures include: Einstein, Algebraic, Hamacher, MinMax, Special case fuzzy and Bounded Difference approaches. These measures are applied and compared using 50 different Arabic web-pages. Einstein measure was gave best performance among the other measures. An analysis of these measures and concluding remarks are drawn in this study.
Abstract: This paper investigates the problem of absolute stability and robust stability of a class of Lur-e systems with neutral type and time-varying delays. By using Lyapunov direct method and linear matrix inequality technique, new delay-dependent stability criteria are obtained and formulated in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) which are easy to check the stability of the considered systems. To obtain less conservative stability conditions, an operator is defined to construct the Lyapunov functional. Also, the free weighting matrices approach combining a matrix inequality technique is used to reduce the entailed conservativeness. Numerical examples are given to indicate significant improvements over some existing results.
Abstract: The aim of a biological model is to understand the
integrated structure and behavior of complex biological systems as a
function of the underlying molecular networks to achieve simulation
and forecast of their operation. Although several approaches have
been introduced to take into account structural and environment
related features, relatively little attention has been given to represent
the behavior of biological systems. The Abstract Biological Process
(ABP) model illustrated in this paper is an object-oriented model
based on UML (the standard object-oriented language). Its main
objective is to bring into focus the functional aspects of the
biological system under analysis.
Abstract: Point quad tree is considered as one of the most
common data organizations to deal with spatial data & can be used to
increase the efficiency for searching the point features. As the
efficiency of the searching technique depends on the height of the
tree, arbitrary insertion of the point features may make the tree
unbalanced and lead to higher time of searching. This paper attempts
to design an algorithm to make a nearly balanced quad tree. Point
pattern analysis technique has been applied for this purpose which
shows a significant enhancement of the performance and the results
are also included in the paper for the sake of completeness.