New Dynamic Constitutive Model for OFHC Copper Film

The material properties of OFHC copper film was investigated with the High-Speed Material Micro Testing Machine (HSMMTM) at the high strain rates. The rate-dependent stress-strain curves from the experiment and the Johnson−Cook curve fitting showed large discrepancies as the plastic strain increases since the constitutive model implies no rate-dependent strain hardening effect. A new constitutive model was proposed in consideration of rate-dependent strain hardening effect. The strain rate hardening term in the new constitutive model consists of the strain rate sensitivity coefficients of the yield strength and strain hardening.

From Customer Innovations to Manufactured Products: A Project Outlook

This paper gives insights into the research project “InnoCyFer” (in the form of an outlook) which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. Enabling the integrated customer individual product design as well as flexible manufacturing of these products are the main objectives of the project. To achieve this, a web-based Open Innovation-Platform containing an integrated Toolkit will be developed. This toolkit enables the active integration of the customer’s creativity and potentials of innovation in the product development process. Furthermore, the project will show the chances and possibilities of customer individualized products by building and examining the continuous process from innovation through the customers to the flexible manufacturing of individual products.

CFD Prediction of the Round Elbow Fitting Loss Coefficient

Pressure loss in ductworks is an important factor to be considered in design of engineering systems such as power-plants, refineries, HVAC systems to reduce energy costs. Ductwork can be composed by straight ducts and different types of fittings (elbows, transitions, converging and diverging tees and wyes). Duct fittings are significant sources of pressure loss in fluid distribution systems. Fitting losses can be even more significant than equipment components such as coils, filters, and dampers. At the present work, a conventional 90o round elbow under turbulent incompressible airflow is studied. Mass, momentum, and k-e turbulence model equations are solved employing the finite volume method. The SIMPLE algorithm is used for the pressure-velocity coupling. In order to validate the numerical tool, the elbow pressure loss coefficient is determined using the same conditions to compare with ASHRAE database. Furthermore, the effect of Reynolds number variation on the elbow pressure loss coefficient is investigated. These results can be useful to perform better preliminary design of air distribution ductworks in air conditioning systems.

Substructure Method for Thermal-Stress Analysis of Liquid-Propellant Rocket Engine Combustion Chamber

This article is devoted to an important problem of calculation of deflected mode of the combustion chamber and the nozzle end of a new liquid-propellant rocket cruise engine. A special attention is given to the methodology of calculation. Three operating modes are considered. The analysis has been conducted in ANSYS software. The methods of conducted research are mathematical modeling, substructure method, cyclic symmetry, finite element method. The calculation has been carried out to order of S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation «Energia». The main results are practical. Proposed methodology and created models would be able to use for a wide range of strength problems.

Key Strategies for a Competitive Supply Chain

In this era of competitiveness, there is a growing need for supply chains also to become competitive enough to handle pressures like varying customer’s expectations, low cost high quality products to be delivered at the minimum time and the most important is throat cutting competition at world wide scale. In the recent years, supply chain competitiveness has been, therefore, accepted as one of the most important philosophies in the supply chain literature and researchers have tried to identify variables of supply chain competitiveness. This paper highlights some of the concepts of supply chain competitiveness and tries to identify select variables on the basis of literature review. Further, the paper tries to highlight the importance of the identified variables in the achievement of supply chain competitiveness. The aim is to explore the concept and to motivate researchers to further investigate the unexplored areas of this important subject domain.

Transaction Costs in Institutional Environment and Entry Mode Choice

In the study presented institutional context is discussed in terms of companies’ entry mode choice. In contrary to many previous analyses, instead of using one or two aggregated variables, a set of eleven determinants is used to establish equity and non-equity internationalization friendly conditions. Based on secondary data, 140 countries are analyzed and grouped into clusters revealing similar framework. The range of the economies explored is wide as it covers all regions distinguished by The World Bank. The results can prove a useful alternative for operationalization of institutional variables in further research concerning entry modes or strategic management in international markets.

Synchronization of a Perturbed Satellite Attitude Motion

In the paper, the predictive control method is proposed to control the synchronization of two perturbed satellites attitude motion. Based on delayed feedback control of continuous-time systems combines with the prediction-based method of discrete-time systems, this approach only needs a single controller to realize synchronization, which has considerable significance in reducing the cost and complexity for controller implementation.

Removal of Lead in High Rate Activated Sludge System

The heavy metals pollution in water, sediments and fish of Lake Manzala affected form the disposal of wastewater, industrial and agricultural drainage water into the lake on the environmental situation. A pilot plant with an industrial discharge flow of 135L/h designed according to the activated sludge plant to simulate between the biological and chemical treatment with the addition of alum to the aeration tank with dosages of 100, 150, 200 and 250 mg/L. The industrial discharge had concentrations of Lead and BOD5 with an average range 1.22, 145mg/L respectively. That means the average Pb was high up to 25 times than the allowed permissible concentration. The optimization of the chemical-biological process using 200mg/L Alum dosage compared has improvement of Lead and BOD5 removal efficiency to 61.76% and 56% respectively.

Personalized Learning: An Analysis Using Item Response Theory

Personalized learning becomes increasingly popular which not be restricted by time, place or any other barriers. This study proposes an analysis of Personalized Learning using Item Response Theory which considers course material difficulty and learner ability.The study investigates twenty undergraduate students at TATI University College, who are taking programming subject. By using the IRT,it was found that, finding the most appropriate problem levels to each student include high and low level test items together is not a problem. Thus, the student abilities can be asses more accurately and fairly. Learners who experience more anxiety will affect a heavier cognitive load and receive lower test scores.Instructors are encouraged to provide a supportive learning environment to enhance learning effectiveness because Cognitive Load Theory concerns the limited capacity of the brain to absorb new information.

A Simple Electronic Curvy Length Measurement System: Application to Geography

This article describes an interesting and inexpensive laboratory experiment for undergraduate students of electronics, geography and related disciplines. The objective of the proposed experiment is to improve the students’ exposure on the basic principles of instrumentation and to demonstrate an electronic measurement system. A simple electronic curvy length measurement system is presented here. Such a system can be used to measure curvy lengths e.g. length of a river, road or railway line etc. from topographical map. The proposed system is composed of simple functional blocks which are usually demonstrated in laboratory or in theory course of electronics at the undergraduate level. The experiment is assigned to a group of students and it is found that the experiment can fulfill its objectives with high degree of satisfaction.

A Note on Significance of Solar Pond Technology for Power Generation

In the view of current requirements of power generation and the increased interest on renewable energy sources, many options are available for generation of clean power. Solar power generation would be one of the best options in this context. The solar pond uses the principle of conversion of solar energy into heat energy, and also has the capability of storing this energy for certain period of time. The solar ponds could be best option for the regions with high solar radiation throughout the day, and also has free land availability. The paper depicts the significance of solar pond for conversion of solar energy into heat energy with a sight towards the parameters like thermal efficiency, working conditions and cost of construction. The simulation of solar pond system has been carried out for understanding the trends of the thermal efficiencies with respect to time.

Association of Sensory Processing and Cognitive Deficits in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders – Pioneer Study in Saudi Arabia

The association between sensory problems and cognitive abilities has been studied in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). In this study, we used a Neuropsychological Test to evaluate memory and attention in ASDs children with sensory problems compared to the ASDs children without sensory problems. Four visual memory tests of Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) including Big/little circle (BLC), Simple Reaction Time (SRT) Intra /Extra dimensional set shift (IED), Spatial recognition memory (SRM), were administered to 14 ASDs children with sensory problems compared to 13 ASDs without sensory problems aged 3 to 12 with IQ of above 70. ASDs individuals with sensory problems performed worse than the ASDs group without sensory problems on comprehension, learning, reversal and simple reaction time tasks, and no significant difference between the two groups was recorded in terms of the visual memory and visual comprehension tasks. The findings of this study suggest that ASDs children with sensory problems are facing deficits in learning, comprehension, reversal, and speed of response to a stimulus.

Characterization of 3D-MRP for Analyzing of Brain Balancing Index (BBI) Pattern

This paper discusses on power spectral density (PSD) characteristics which are extracted from three-dimensional (3D) electroencephalogram (EEG) models. The EEG signal recording was conducted on 150 healthy subjects. Development of 3D EEG models involves pre-processing of raw EEG signals and construction of spectrogram images. Then, the values of maximum PSD were extracted as features from the model. These features are analyzed using mean relative power (MRP) and different mean relative power (DMRP) technique to observe the pattern among different brain balancing indexes. The results showed that by implementing these techniques, the pattern of brain balancing indexes can be clearly observed. Some patterns are indicates between index 1 to index 5 for left frontal (LF) and right frontal (RF).

Influence of Propeller Blade Lift Distribution on Whirl Flutter Stability Characteristics

This paper deals with the whirl flutter of the turboprop aircraft structures. It is focused on the influence of the blade lift span-wise distribution on the whirl flutter stability. Firstly it gives the overall theoretical background of the whirl flutter phenomenon. After that the propeller blade forces solution and the options of the blade lift modeling are described. The problem is demonstrated on the example of a twin turboprop aircraft structure. There are evaluated the influences with respect to the propeller aerodynamic derivatives and finally the influences to the whirl flutter speed and the whirl flutter margin respectively.

Antiinflammatory and Antinociceptive of Hydro Alcoholic Tanacetum balsamita L. Extract

The use of herbs to treat disease is accompanied with the history of human life. This research is aimed to study the anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive effects of hydroalcoholic extract of aerial parts of "Tanacetum balsamita balsamita". In the experimental studies 144 male mice are used. In the inflammatory test, animals were divided into six groups: Control, positive control (receiving Dexamethason at dose of 15mg/kg), and four experimental groups receiving Tanacetum balsamita balsamita hydroalcoholic extract at doses of 25, 50, 100 and 200mg/kg. Xylene was used to induce inflammation. Formalin was used to study the nociceptive effects. Animals were divided into six groups: control group, positive control group (receiving morphine) and four experimental groups receiving Tanacetum balsamita balsamita (Tb.) hydroalcoholic extract at doses of 25, 50, 100 and 200mg/kg. I.p. injection of drugs or normal saline was performed 30 minutes before test. The data were analyzed by using one way Variance analysis and Tukey post test. Aerial parts of Tanacetum balsamita balsamita hydroalcoholic extract decreased significantly inflammatory at dose of 200mg/kg (P

Useful Lifetime Prediction of Rail Pads for High Speed Trains

Useful lifetime evaluation of railpads were very important in design procedure to assure the safety and reliability. It is, therefore, necessary to establish a suitable criterion for the replacement period of rail pads. In this study, we performed properties and accelerated heat aging tests of rail pads considering degradation factors and all environmental conditions including operation, and then derived a lifetime prediction equation according to changes in hardness, thickness, and static spring constants in the Arrhenius plot to establish how to estimate the aging of rail pads. With the useful lifetime prediction equation, the lifetime of e-clip pads was 2.5 years when the change in hardness was 10% at 25°C; and that of f-clip pads was 1.7 years. When the change in thickness was 10%, the lifetime of e-clip pads and f-clip pads is 2.6 years respectively. The results obtained in this study to estimate the useful lifetime of rail pads for high speed trains can be used for determining the maintenance and replacement schedule for rail pads.

LIDAR Obstacle Warning and Avoidance System for Unmanned Aircraft

The availability of powerful eye-safe laser sources and the recent advancements in electro-optical and mechanical beam-steering components have allowed laser-based Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) to become a promising technology for obstacle warning and avoidance in a variety of manned and unmanned aircraft applications. LIDAR outstanding angular resolution and accuracy characteristics are coupled to its good detection performance in a wide range of incidence angles and weather conditions, providing an ideal obstacle avoidance solution, which is especially attractive in low-level flying platforms such as helicopters and small-to-medium size Unmanned Aircraft (UA). The Laser Obstacle Avoidance Marconi (LOAM) system is one of such systems, which was jointly developed and tested by SELEX-ES and the Italian Air Force Research and Flight Test Centre. The system was originally conceived for military rotorcraft platforms and, in this paper, we briefly review the previous work and discuss in more details some of the key development activities required for integration of LOAM on UA platforms. The main hardware and software design features of this LOAM variant are presented, including a brief description of the system interfaces and sensor characteristics, together with the system performance models and data processing algorithms for obstacle detection, classification and avoidance. In particular, the paper focuses on the algorithm proposed for optimal avoidance trajectory generation in UA applications.

Recent Advances in Pulse Width Modulation Techniques and Multilevel Inverters

This paper presents advances in pulse width modulation techniques which refers to a method of carrying information on train of pulses and the information be encoded in the width of pulses. Pulse Width Modulation is used to control the inverter output voltage. This is done by exercising the control within the inverter itself by adjusting the ON and OFF periods of inverter. By fixing the DC input voltage we get AC output voltage. In variable speed AC motors the AC output voltage from a constant DC voltage is obtained by using inverter. Recent developments in power electronics and semiconductor technology have lead improvements in power electronic systems. Hence, different circuit configurations namely multilevel inverters have became popular and considerable interest by researcher are given on them. A fast space-vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) method for five-level inverter is also discussed. In this method, the space vector diagram of the five-level inverter is decomposed into six space vector diagrams of three-level inverters. In turn, each of these six space vector diagrams of three-level inverter is decomposed into six space vector diagrams of two-level inverters. After decomposition, all the remaining necessary procedures for the three-level SVPWM are done like conventional two-level inverter. The proposed method reduces the algorithm complexity and the execution time. It can be applied to the multilevel inverters above the five-level also. The experimental setup for three-level diode-clamped inverter is developed using TMS320LF2407 DSP controller and the experimental results are analyzed.

Simulation of Static Frequency Converter for Synchronous Machine Operation and Investigation of Shaft Voltage

This study is carried out to understand the effects of Static frequency converter (SFC) on large machine. SFC has a feature of four quadrant operations. By virtue of this it can be implemented to run a synchronous machine either as a motor or alternator. This dual mode operation helps a single machine to start & run as a motor and then it can be converted as an alternator whenever required. One such dual purpose machine is taken here for study. This machine is installed at a laboratory carrying out short circuit test on high power electrical equipment. SFC connected with this machine is broadly described in this paper. The same SFC has been modeled with the MATLAB/Simulink software. The data applied on this virtual model are the actual parameters from SFC and synchronous machine. After running the model, simulated machine voltage and current waveforms are validated with the real measurements. Processing of these waveforms is done through Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) which reveals that the waveforms are not sinusoidal rather they contain number of harmonics. These harmonics are the major cause of generating shaft voltage. It is known that bearings of electrical machine are vulnerable to current flow through it due to shaft voltage. A general discussion on causes of shaft voltage in perspective with this machine is presented in this paper.

The Impact of NICTBB in Facilitating the E-Services and M-Services in Tanzania

ICT services are a key element of communications and important for socio-economic development. In recognition of the importance of this, the Tanzanian Government started to implement a National ICT Broadband Infrastructure Fibre Optic Backbone (NICTBB) in 2009; this development was planned to be implemented in four phases using an optical dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) network technology in collaboration with the Chinese Government through the Chinese International Telecommunications Construction Corporation (CITCC) under a bilateral agreement. This paper briefly explores the NICTBB network technologies implementation, operations and Internet bandwidth costs. It also provides an in depth assessment of the delivery of ICT services such as e-services and m-services in both urban and rural areas following commissioning of the NICTBB system. Following quantitative and qualitative approaches, the study shows that there have been significant improvements in utilization efficiency, effectiveness and the reliability of the ICT service such as e-services and m-services the NICTCBB was commissioned.