018953   Naidu V P S (Multi Sensor Data Fusion Lab, National Aerospace Laboratories, Kodihalli, Bangalore-560 017, Email: vpsnaidu@gmail.com) : Evaluation of higher order target models in radar and IRST data fusion. J Aerospace Sci Technol 2009, 61(2), 342-54.

The motion of maneuvering targets is described by acceleration model, which is a kinematic model, including position derivatives up to the second order. It is found that for tracking highly maneuvering targets, it is necessary to include higher order position derivatives in the model. A model including derivatives of position up to the third order called the jerk model is presented. The tracking performance of an extended Kalman filter-with the jerk model is evaluated and compared with that of an extended Kalman filter with acceleration model for fusion and tracking of a maneuvering target sensed by IRST and radar.

16 illus, 2 tables, 6 ref

018952   Mohideen S K;Perinbam J R (Electronics and Communication Engineering Dep, BSA Cresent Engineering College, Chennai-600 048) : Design of low power double edge triggered flip flop. J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2009, 89(Jan), 17-22.

A double edge triggered flip flop latches data at both edges of clock and hence it is advantageous over single edge-triggered flip flop in terms of power consumption and operating speed. Design of a low power double edge triggered D flip flop (DETFF) has been presented and it has been compared with three previously published DETFFs for their performances and power consumption. The DETFF circuits were simulated using TSPICE for 0.13 m technology CMOS process for different operating frequencies and supply voltages. The proposed design is shown to have the lowest power delay product (PDP) with respect to other double edge triggered flip-flops in all the above conditions.

8 illus, 3 tables, 17 ref

018951   Mishra R K;Kuldeep Singh (NO, Regional Center for Military Airworthiness (Engines), CEMILAC, Bangalore-560 093, Email: rkmishra_gtre@yahoo.com) : Effect of operating conditions on the emission characteristics of an annular combustor. J Aerospace Sci Technol 2009, 61(2), 305-11.

Pollutant emissions from combustion processes have become of great public concern due to their impact on health and the environment. Recent growth in civil aviation and stationary gas turbines power plants is worsening the situation both at airport vicinity and in altitude. This has called for rapid changes both in the regulations and controlling gas turbine emission and in the technologies used to meet these regulations. All these developments have been accom-paniedby continuous and increasing pressure on the combustion engineers to reduce pollutant emissions from all types of gas turbines while operating at very high levels of pressure and temperature. In this paper an effort is made to characterize an annular combustion chamber from emission point and effect of various operating conditions has been analyzed. The emission characteristics of combustor are very satisfied and are inline to that of contemporary combustors of same class. Study can lead to combustor modifications for bringing down the emission levels to meet the international regulations.

13 illus, 4 tables, 10 ref

018950   Mhala V P;Lathkar G S (NO, , Yantrashilpa Technologies Pvt Ltd, 713, Manikbag Industrial Estate, Pune-411 051) : Contact deformation of machine tool joints using UHMWPE under varying process parameters and environmental conditions. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2008, 89(Sep), 19-24.

Contact problems are very sensitive to minor profile changes in the contacting bodies and are also affected by thermoelastic distortion, important applications include cases where non-uniform temperatures are associated with frictional heating and the conduction of heat across a non-uniform interface. The resulting effect on the thermomechanical problem may be unstable, leading to a wide range of physical phenomena. Due to surface irregularities, contacting surfaces generate complex local structure where extreme conditions are likely to occur, particularly, if sliding takes place, leading to frictional heating accompanied by high local temperatures. The scope of present work is to formulate a quantitative model for contact deformation of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) under the influence of external load, surface roughness, temperature and humidity based on statistically designed experiments. The investigation also includes evaluating inherent damping property of the material.

6 illus, 7 tables, 5 ref

018949   Manna P;Chakraborty D (Computational Combustion Dynamics Div, Directorate of Computational Dynamics, Defence Research and Development, Laboratory (DRDL), Kanchanbagh Post, Hyderabad-500 058, Email: debasis_cfd@drdl.drdo.in) : Numerical investigation of confinement effect on supersonic turbulent flow past backward-facing step with and without transverse injection. J Aerospace Sci Technol 2009, 61(2), 283-94.

Effect of confinement has been investigated numerically for supersonic turbulent flow past backward facing step in a nonreacting scramjet combustor. Flow structure downstream of the backward facing step has been studied by considering various configurations with different combustor heights as well as unconfined flow. Staged transverse sonic injectors with different combustor heights are also considered to find out the effect of confinement on the penetration, spreading and other flow features in the flow field. Three dimensional Navier Stokes equations along with k-E turbulence model are solved using a commercial CFD software. The simulation captures all essential features of the flow. Good comparisons of various flow profiles have been obtained between experimental and computed values. Although confinement creates complicated shock reflections in the combustor, the length of the recirculation bubble behind the backward facing step remains almost constant. For the injection case, the recirculation region is extended upto the bow shock arising upstream of the injector and two recirculation bubble is seen between the backward facing step and the injector.

17 illus, 2 tables, 21 ref

018948   Manikalithas P;Udayakumar M (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Dr M Udayakumar National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli-620 015) : Performance and emission characteristics on a driect injection diesel engine by using diesel and jatropha curcas oil blends. J Instn Engrs-Pt MC 2009, 89(Jan), 30-4.

In the investigation the high viscosity of the Jatropha curcas oil, which has been considered as a potential alternative fuel for the single cylinder direct injection Cl engine was considerably decreased by blending with diesel. The performances of the engine using blends of diesel and Jatropha curcas oil in various proportions were evaluated in a Kirloskar, TV 1 model engine. Significant improvement in engine performance was observed as compared to pure diesel alone. The test results conformed that 5% to 20% Jatropha curcas oil could be substituted for diesel without any engine modification and without preheating of the blends. The final results showed the increase in BTE, reduction in SFC, exhaust gas temperature, engine cooling water temperature and smoke density. Hence, this made the blends particularly 95% diesel-5% Jatropha curcas oil and 90%diesel-10% Jatropha curcas oil in a suitable alternative for diesel.

5 illus, 4 tables, 5 ref

018947   Maity T;Das S;Datta B (Electrial Engineering Dep, Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata-700 107) : PC based intelligent wireless energy metering and online billing solution for domestic consumers. J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2009, 89(Jan), 8-12.

The increasing importance of more accurate energy measurement data and real-time access to that data accelerates the acceptance of the digital metering technology. With the help of an energy chip, an enhanced single phase energy metering solution has been developed through the benefits of improved quality, reliability, accuracy and stability. The developed energy meter calculates the average real power from a two-wire a.c. supply meant for mainly domestic application. The hardware circuit accepts voltage inputs representing local voltage and current in an electrical power system and provides at the output, a low frequency pulse proportional to the average real power. This pulse is fed to a remote personal computer through modem and transmitter/receiver circuits that portrait the concept of distant wireless metering and automatic billing. Developes a software solution for total energy billing system.

5 illus, 1 table, 8 ref

018946   Lakshmana Rao M;Rao T V L N;Ramana M V;Rao C S K P (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Padma Sri Dr B V Raju Institute of Technology, Narsapur, Medak) : Influence of flow forming parameters of maraging steel tubes. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2008, 89(Sep), 10-13.

Flow forming process is an innovative process for producing axi-symmetric components from plates or preforms which has several advantages. Components produced through this process are widely used in aerospace and missile applications. The flow forming is basically classified as forward flow forming and backward flow forming. The thin walled seamless high precision maraging steel tubes are produced by forward flow forming using CNC flow forming machine. Highlights to study the effect of various parameters, such as, roller radius, stagger and feed on the final flow formed tubes. Ovality of the tubes, mean diameter, surface finish and thickness variation were also studied.

5 illus, 4 tables, 10 ref

018945   Kumar A;Gupta K (Production and Industrial Engineering Dep, National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur-831 014) : Effect of non-homogeneous permeability on the performance of hybrid porous journal bearings in turbulent regimes. J Instn Engrs-Pt MC 2009, 89(Jan), 23-9.

The effect of non-homogeneous permeability on steady state performance of turbulent hybrid porous journal bearings has been investigated by following the Constantinescu's turbulent lubrication theory. Variations in load capacity, friction parameter and end flow were obtained as functions of bearing feeding parameter (β), speed parameter (λ_s), Reynolds number (Re) and aspect ratio (L/D). It was observed that the effect of non-homogeneous permeability in general shows an increase in load capacity and end flow, and a decrease in friction coefficient when compared to the constant permeability results.

9 illus, 14 ref

018944   Krishnan S N;Harish G (Directorate of Naval Design (SDG), JHQ MOD (Navy), New Delhi-110 066) : Indian ship design industry associated with design of commercial vessels. J Instn Engrs-Pt MA 2009, 89(Jan), 8-11.

In India, ship designing industry is being undertaken for the commercial vessels on a very limited basis, as ship design has been considered as a complex project, Study attempts to understand the problems associated with the Indian ship design industry by way of a SWOT analysis. Based on this analysis, strategies have been modeled that may assist Indian ship design organization. The strategies are identified as effective link between shipyard and design organization, consortium approach, constant innovation, development of core competence, and usage of latest project management techniques.

2 tables, 11 ref

018943   Joshi S;Tyagi V (NO, INS Eksila, Visakhapatnam-530 012) : High-temperature superconductor (HTS) motor - the next step in marine application. J Instn Engrs-Pt MA 2009, 89(Jan), 12-15.

Study presents an overview of the current status of high temperature superconducting electrical power machines vis-a-vis ship propulsion motor. Different concepts in this regard have been developed by internationally competing teams and machine features are optimized with regard to the specific application ranging from the low speed high torque wind power generators to high speed generators attached to turbines, small industrial drives to utility generators with large power ratings and finally ship propulsion motors. Essentially HTS machine technology offers several advantages such as compactness (weight and volume reduction), increased efficiency, and other operational benefits. An effort is made to identify the advantages and problems encountered during incorporation of this technology related to ship propulsion and power quality on shipboard applications.

3 illus

018942   Gupta T;Batra A (NO, , Gas Turbine Testing and Tuning Team, Mumbai-400 001) : Marine engine emissions and their control : present and the future. J Instn Engrs-Pt MA 2009, 89(Jan), 16-24.

The emissions from marine engines are of primary concern today and economically viable techniques to control/reduce these emissions are required to be developed/ identified. The International Convention on the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) was amended in September1997 and the amendment essentially addresses this vital concern by stipulating regulations for the prevention of air pollution from ships. The tier II and III amendments, currently under deliberation are likely to be brought into force by 2010 with more stringent emission regulations which shall impose new challenges to the marine engine designers. Air pollution control standards, reduction of emissions through engine re-design techniques being adopted by engine manufacturers, cutting down emissions in existing engines by use of aftermarket retrofits and use of alternative fuels / technologies are discussed. Alternative propulsion methods focused around gas turbines aided by other sustainable green technology that can be harnessed to power ships in the current scenario of global warming and high dependence on fossil fuels with soaring prices are a/so highlighted.

13 illus, 2 tables, 9 ref

018941   Gupta A (NO, , Naval Ship Repair Yard, Kochi-683 004) : Convergence of technologies in global maritime sector. J Instn Engrs-Pt MA 2009, 89(Jan), 3-7.

The convergence of rapidly developing information science, nano-technology, molecular biology and communication science create new technologies with a potential to change radically industrial, economical and social structures. The development of convergent technologies, such as, bioinformatics, molecular electronics, neural computation, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) have already started revolutionising the traditional interaction between researchers, industry and the and the society. Significant progress has already been made in the field of communication technology, wherein the convergence of information, communication and media technology together with computer networking has virtually created a new world order. The application of convergent technologies in the maritime sector has been limited due to traditional approach to most of the problems. It has been realised that the application of this technology has vast potential, which virtually influence each and every aspect of the maritime sector. The aims to highlight various fields where convergent technologies can be adopted to make shipping a reliable, profitable and enjoyable profession.

018940   Dhekne P Y;Pradhan M (Mining Eng Dep, National Institute of Technology, Raipur) : Explosive energy distribution in rock blasting. Indian Min Engng J 2008, 47(6), 9-18.

When explosive is detonated, the energy released by it gets distributed throughout the rock mass. The energy so distributed is instrumental behind the fragmentation of the rock and other blast results. The distribution of energy in a rock mass depends upon many factors like strength and elastic properties of rock, their structural characteristics, characteristics of explosives, initiation devices and patterns. Variation in any one of the parameter causes the distribution of explosive energy to change and hence there is a change in the blast results. In order to authenticate the fact that changes in energy distribution in a blast affects fragmentation, experiments were conducted in a limestone mine. Two blasts were monitored in the same face one each with ANFO and SME. The explosive energy distribution was simulated using 'JKSimblast'. The results indicated that with a change in the blast conditions, there was change in explosive energy distribution in three dimensions.

5 illus, 2 tables, 11 ref

018939   Das S;Prasad J K (Space Engineering and Rocketry Dep, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi-835 215, Email: sudipdas@bitmesra.ac.in) : Flow field investigation of a rectangular supersonic air-intake with cowl bending. J Aerospace Sci Technol 2009, 61(2), 312-24.

Experimental and computational studies are made on a rectangular mixed compression air-intake designed for Mach 2.2 to study the effect of cowl bending. Flow field details inside the intake have been captured using schlieren flow visualisation and measurement of static and total pressures. Three dimensional simulations have been made with RANS solver adopting k-io turbulence model using FL UENT. Studies show that the configuration indicate unstart without any cowl bending whereas startup is observed with adoption of small cowl bend. In addition, improvement in quality of flow inside the intake has been observed. In general, agreements between experimental and computational results are good. Studies have been also made at different backpressures. Provision of a small cowl bending could lead to better performance of intake.

31 illus, 20 ref

018938   Chaturvedi A K;Muthreja I L (NO, , Steel Authority of India Ltd., BSP, Bhilai, Chattisgarh) : Effect of grain size on strength properties of sandstone. Indian Min Engng J 2008, 47(7), 13-19.

The physical and mechanical properties of a rock are function of the mineralogical and textural characteristics of the rock. Textural properties of a rock are intrinsic properties which governs the mechanical behaviour of rock mass at the fundamental level. Purpose of work is to elucidate the effect of grain size on some of the strength properties of sandstone. A variety of sandstone samples from different locations were collected and tested to determine Uniaxial Compressive Strength (UCS) and Tensile Strength (TS). Slides prepared from same samples were then observed under microscope to determine the mean grain size. The study revealed that in general the strength increases with decrease in grain size and vice-versa.

4 illus, 8 tables, 23 ref

018937   Chandna C (NO, , G.M. Mines, Bundi Silica Sand Group, Barodia Silica Sand Mines, Distt. Bundi, Rajasthan) : Economical blasting inn mines. Indian Min Engng J 2008, 47(6), 28-32.

4 illus, 1 table, 9 ref

018936   Biswas C K;Chawla B S;Das N S;Srinivas E R K N K (Mechanical Engineering Dep, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela) : Tool wear prediction using neuro-fuzzy system. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2008, 89(Sep), 42-6.

On-line flank wear estimation is important as it directly influences the power consumption, quality of the surface finish, tool life, productivity etc. A neuro-fuzzy model is developed to predict the tool wear and discussed in this paper. The fuzzy system uses a learning algorithm derived from neural network theory to determine its parameters by processing data samples. The experimental data were obtained for orthogonal machining of aluminium with high-speed steel tool for various rake angle, feed and velocity. The ratio between cutting force and tangential force is used as input along with other machining parameters to predict the tool wear. The mountain-clustering algorithm is used to generate an initial structure of the rule base for the model. The final parameters of the model are obtained by tuning the crude values obtained from mountain-clustering method by using back-propagation learning algorithm. The prediction of error on flank wear for the test data set varied between 0% to 50%. This may be due to the non-unique nature of cutting process of aluminium. Finally, the present neuro-fuzzy system which predicts the flank wear with reasonable accuracy and proves it to be a potent tool in estimating flank wear on-line.

9 illus, 10 ref

018935   Biswal B B;Jena N (Training and Placement Dep, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela-769 008) : Hybrid evolutionary algorithm for flexible job-shop scheduling problem. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2008, 89(Sep), 14-18.

Flexible Job-shop Scheduling Problem (FJSP) is an extension of the classical JSP, which allows an operation to be processed by any machine from a given set of machines. Scheduling for the FJSP is very important due to the rapid development of new processes and technologies and the growing consumer demand for variety. Appreciating the importance of FJSP and the importance of scheduling for competitive manufacturing, optimization of the problem has been taken up in the present task. The complexity of the FJSP can be well dealt with by the use of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. However this method has a limitation of getting trapped with local optima. In the work, a hybrid methodology (PSO+GA) has been used to avoid this pitfall. The results obtained show that the proposed algorithm is a viable and effective approach for the multi-objective FJSP.

3 illus, 5 tables, 9 ref

018934   Bhunia C T (NO, Bengal Institute of Technology and Mangement, Bolpur-731 236) : Exact analyzing performance of new and modified GBN schemes for noisy wireless environment. J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2009, 89(Jan), 27-30.

The reliability of information transferred over networks will be the key challenges for future wireless and mobile global networks. With the volume of network traffic increasing in leaps and bounds in pace with the exponentially increased number of users, the major challenge will be to transport information with guaranteed reliability. The issue of reliable transport faces further challenges due more error prone and time variant future wireless/mobile networks. The reliable transport mainly revolves around the techniques of ARQs. In recent past, several innovative GBN schemes had been proposed in literature to tackle the noisy environment. These are truncated packet GBN, hybrid GBN, composite GBN, maxpacket GBN and selective ARQ. There is no comparative study so far on the applicability of the schemes based on the bit error rate (BER). A study has been conducted to suggest how to employ schemes to achieve better reliability.

3 illus, 1 table, 30 ref

018933   Basu S (NO, , Bernhard Schulte Ship Management (India) Pvt Ltd, Mumbai-400 076) : Modern marine turbocharger developments. J Instn Engrs-Pt MA 2009, 89(Jan), 25-37.

The turbocharging technology has come a long way from the primitive scavenge blowers designed to increase the scavenging efficiency of the big marine engines. The advent of the turbocharger marked a large jump in the break mean effective pressure (BMEP) of the engine. The turbochargers development marked a major thrust to the increased power density in the main propulsion engine. The new legislation regarding the NOx and SOx and the reduced emission causing a redesign of the strategy for addressing these needs, such as, having high pressure turbocharging with miller valve timings, hyper-bar turbocharging is used for extremely high output engine mostly in defence applications. But such application can be considered for the high speed crafts where the acceleration requirement and the transient response is also an important criterion. The newer development like variable geometry turbocharging (VGT), sequential turbocharging, motor assisted turbocharging (MAT), turbo-compounding system (TCS) will make an epoch change in way of engines are designed, built and run. All these will ultimately lead to a greener system which is better performing and thereby saving our natural resources.

21 illus

018932   Barman S;Sen R;Ghosh A (NO, Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur-713 209) : Design of a generic fixturing device for accurate micro-alignment of electrodes in multi-stage depressed collector. J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2009, 89(Jan), 13-16.

The problems and probable solution for micro-alignment of electrodes in multi-stage depressed collector (MDC) of space borne traveling wave tube (TWT) have been discussed It deals with the development of a generic technology for axial alignment of the annular hollow conical shaped four electrode sub-assemblies in MDC within ±10 μm to enhance its efficiency. Since the electrodes are hollow, it is difficult to find out their axes in the air. So, a high precision assembly fixture set-up has been designed to fix the electrode sub-assemblies one by one at different stages using He-Ne laser based modified Twymann-Green interferometry principle.

7 illus, 4 ref

018931   Ahmad I;Sahay N;Anjanee Kumar;Prasad R S (NO, Central Mining Research Institute, Dhanbad) : Application of high expansion foam to control fire in coal mines. Indian Min Engng J 2008, 47(1), 20-4.

5 illus, 4 tables, 15 ref

017903   Yongxiang D;Changjing X;Shunshan F;Zhiyu S (NO, State Key Laboratory of Explosion Science and Technology, Bejing Insti, Bejing-100 081) : Numerical analysis on protecting performance of layered arch structures subjected to blast loading. Def Sci J 2009, 59(2), 131-6.

Dynamic responses of layered arch structure composed of different materials subjected to blast loading are analysed by numerical simulation. The deflection, the particle velocity and the particle acceleration of the arch in wall and stress curves versus time are obtained comparing properties of blast resistance of different arch structures with the same amount of charge. The results show that the arch structure composed of foam concrete-SFRC-steel has good blast resistance. Furthermore, the dynamic performance of the foam concrete- SFRC-steel composite structures is studied with different amount of charge. Additionally, coupling relationship of blast resistance and explosion charge is analysed. Comparison of numerical results with experimental results, show that they are in good agreement. This numerical analysis may provide important guidance for blastresistant design and analysis of underground structures.

11 illus, 5 tables, 12 ref

017902   Yadav S D;Bimlesh Kumar;Thipse S S (NO, College of Engineering, Pandharpur, Dist. Solapur, Maharashtra) : Case study to purify biogas using simple water scrubbing method as source of energy for rural development in India. Nat Envir Pollut Technol 2008, 7(1), 163-6.

Presents an experimental study of purification of a biogas to improve its quality by scrubbing the carbon dioxide (CO₂) and hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) contents. The results obtained are possible to deliver a biogas which is upgraded to natural gas quality for direct use as a vehicle fuel. By using local resources, which are available at agriculture fields, experimental set-up was developed. This set-up is simple for fabrication and operation by keeping low production and operation cost. The results obtained are encouraging and will make one of the options to use water scrubbing method on field side to upgrade the biogas as non-conventional energy source for direct use as a cleaner fuel for engines.

1 illus, 1 table, 3 ref

017901   Venkateswara Rao M;Mohana Rao K;Rama Chandra Raju V;Bala Krishna Murthy V;Sridhara Raju V V (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Bapatla Engineering College, Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh, Email: mr2007rao@rediffmail.com) : Three-dimensional finite element analysis of adhesively bonded single lap joints in laminated FRP composites subjected to combined loading with C-C end conditions. Int J Mech Solids 2008, 3(1), 99-108.

The investigation deals with the thermo-elastic analysis of adhesively bonded single lap joint in laminated FRP composites using three-dimensional theory of elasticity based finite element method. The finite element model is validated with the available results in the literature for the longitudinal loading of a single lap joint (SLJ) made of specially orthotropic laminates and is extended for the analysis of a single lap joint made of generally orthotropic laminates subjected to combined transverse and nonlinear temperature loads. The out-of-plane normal and shear stresses are computed at the interfaces of the adherends and adhesive, and at mid surface of the adhesive. The results of the analysis reveals that the three-dimensional stress analysis is required for the analysis of single lap joint in laminated FRP composites.

10 illus, 1 table, 22 ref

017900   Venkateswara Rao M;Mohana Rao K;Rama Chandra Raju V;Bala Krishna Murthy V;Sridhara Raju V V (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Bapatla Engineering College, Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh, Email: mvr2007rao@rediffmail.com) : Analysis of adhesively bonded single lap joint in laminated Frp composites subjected to transverse load. Int J Mech Solids 2008, 3(1), 75-86.

The investigation deals with the static analysis of adhesively bonded single lap joint in laminated FRP composites using three-dimensional theory of elasticity based finite element method. The finite element model is validated with the available results in the literature for the longitudinal loading of a single lap joint (SLJ) made of specially orthotropic laminates and is extended for the analysis of a single lap joint made of generally orthotropic laminates subjected to transverse loads. The out-of-plane normal and shear stresses are computed at the interfaces of the adherends and adhesive, and at mid surface of the adhesive. The results of the analysis reveals that the three-dimensional stress analysis is required for the analysis of single lap joint in laminated FRP composites.

21 illus, 1 table, 18 ref

017899   Vapur H (Mining Engineering Dep, Cukurova Univ, Balcali, 01330 Adana, Turkey, Email: hvapur@cu.edu.tr) : Applicability of statistical process control for flotation of metals complex. Asian J Chem 2009, 21(1), 655-65.

Aims of the study was the determination of the lower control limit (LCL), upper control limits (UCL) and process capability indexes (CP) of the results for complex lead-zinc ores obtained from Beroner Mining Co. in North-Eastern of Turkey. The statistical determinations with moving range (MR) method were used for showing differences between in the quality of the concentrates and recovery ratios. The variability of grade values relative to contract specifications was compared with the tailings grades and recovery ratios. Afterwards, the variation in the revenue of the lead-zinc producer resulting from the premium or penalty application was analyzed. The weaknesses of flotation plant were determined and operational solutions to minimise unwanted anomalies or fluctuations for grades of concentrate and grades of tailings were fixed to find optimum products.

14 illus, 3 tables, 14 ref

017898   Torabian A;Shokouhi Harandi M;Nabi Bidhendi G R;Ghadimkhani A (Civil and Environmental Engineering Dep, Tehran Univ, Tehran, Iran, Email: ghadimkhani_a@yahoo.com) : Nitrate removal from drinking water by using commercial nanofiltration. Asian J Chem 2009, 21(1), 666-72.

Aim of the work was to investigate the efficiency of commercial nanofiltration: NF90 (Dow-Film Tec) in reducing nitrate concentration from water. Salt rejection was studied using KNO₃, NaNO₃ and K₂SO₄. The influence of the operating pressure, feed concentration and temperature were studied. The influence of sulfate on the retention of KNO₃ salt was also examined. Examine the influence of the nature of associated cation on nitrate retention, the retentions of two nitrate salts, KNO₃ and NaNO₃ were compared. The experiment results show that nitrate retention increases sharply by increasing the pressure from 4 to 8 bars and becomes stable at higher pressures but decreases by increasing temperature and also by increase in sulfate ion and nitrate salts concentrations. The retention of KNO₃ was always lower than that of NaNO₃.

5 illus, 14 ref

017897   Tanbeer S K;Ahmed C F;Jeong B S (Computer Engineering Dep, Kyung Hee University, 1 Seochun-dong, Kihung-gu, Youngin-si-, Kyunggi-do, 446 701) : Parallel and distributed algorithms for frequent pattern mining in large databases. IETE Tech Rev 2009, 26(1), 55-66.

Mining frequent patterns (FP) from large-scale databases has emerged as an important problem in the data mining and knowledge discovery research community. A significant number of parallel and distributed FP mining algorithms have been proposed, when the database is large and/or distributed. Among them, parallelization of the FP-growth algorithm using the FP-tree has been proved to be more efficient, when compared to the Apriori -based approaches. However, the FP-treeª based techniques suffer from two major limitations - multiple database scans requirement (i.e., high I/O cost) and huge communication overhead. Therefore, the authors proposes a novel tree structure, called PP-tree (Parallel Pattern tree) that significantly reduces the I/O cost by capturing the database contents with a single scan and facilitates efficient FP-growth mining on it. The parallel algorithm works independently at each local site and merges the locally generated global frequent patterns at the final stage, thereby reducing inter-processor communication overhead and getting a high degree of parallelism. Extensive experimental study on datasets of different types reflects that parallel and distributed FP mining with the PP-tree is highly efficient on large databases.

6 illus, 1 table, 19 ref

017896   Srivastava H B;Vinod Kumar;Sundaram S S (NO, Instruments and Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun-248 008) : Image pre-processing algorithms for detection of small/point airborne targets. Def Sci J 2009, 59(2), 166-74.

Problem of detecting small/point targets in infra-red imagery is an important research area for defence applications. The challenge is to achieve high sensitivity for detection of dim point like small targets with low false alarms and high detection probability. To detect the target in such scenario, pre-processing algorithms are used to predict the complex background and then to subtract predicted background from the original image. The difference image is passed to the detection algorithm to further distinguish between target and background and/or noise. The aim of the study is to fit the background as closely as possible in the original image without diminishing the target signal. A number of pre-processing algorithms (spatial, temporal and spatio-temporal) have been reported in the literature. A survey of different pre-processing algorithm is presented. An improved hybrid morphological filter, which provides high gain in signal-to-noise plus clutter ratio (SCNR), has been proposed for detection of small/point targets.

^iia6 illus, 1 table, 36 ref

017895   Srinivasa Rao;Seshadri Sekhar T (Civil Engineering Dep, J.N.T.U. College of Engineering, Anathapur, Andhra Pradesh, Email: srinivasa.pt@gmail.com) : Impact strength and workabilty behaviour of glass fibre self compacting concrete. Int J Mech Solids 2008, 3(1), 61-74.

Concrete is a mostly used construction material in the world. As the use of concrete becomes more widespread the specifications of concrete like Durability, Quality, Compactness and Optimization of concrete becomes more important. Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) is a very fluid concrete and a homogeneous mixture that solves most of the problems related to ordinary concrete. Besides, SCC gets compacted under its own weight and there is no need for an internal vibrator for the body of the mould. This specification helps the execution of construction components under high compression of reinforcement. Presents an experimental investigation on the properties like workability, Compressive Strength and Impact strength of Glass Fibre Reinforced Self compaction concrete (GFSCC). The elimination of vibration for compacting concrete during placing through the use of Self compacting concrete leads to substantial advantages related to better Homogeneity, Enhancement of working environment and improvement in the productivity by increasing the speed of construction The resulting concrete is characterized in the fresh state by methods used for Self compacted concrete, such as slump-flow, V-funnel and L- box tests respectively. Concentrates mainly on studying the properties like workability, Compressive Strength and Impact strength of GFSCC using Alkali-Resistant Glass Fibres in various proportions and comparing the same with the properties for SCC mixes of grade M 30 and M 65.

7 illus, 8 tables, 6 ref

017894   Soundararajan S;Palanivelu K;Sharma S K (NO, Central Institute of Plastics Engineering & Technology, Guindy, Chennai-600 032) : Effect of process variables on mechanical properties fo injection molded HDPE. J Polym Mater 2008, 25(4), 625-36.

HOPE (HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE) was moulded with 3 different material temperatures and 5 different injection pressures. The mechanical properties like impact strength, tensile strength and flexural strength were determined. The Izod impact strength (notched) was improved when the injection pressure and melt temperatures were increased. The tensile strength was slightly decreased. The flexural strength was increased slightly The effect of injection pressure was determined by extrapolating from first two levels to other levels (3,4,5) by using simultaneous equation method at constant temperature. Similarly using first three levels, the values were computed by Lagrange method of extrapolation to 4 and 5 levels of injection pressure at each temperature levels of moulding. The effect of cooling time was also determined. The values are in good agreement with simultaneous equation method. Slightly higher values are obtained in Lagrange method.

7 illus, 2 tables, 10 ref

017893   Shrimali V;Anand R S;Vinod Kumar (Image and Signal Processing Lab, Electrical Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247 667) : Current trends in segmentation of medical ultrasound B-mode images. IETE Tech Rev 2009, 26(1), 8-17.

Though the classical image-segmentation techniques have demonstrated their capability in various applications, their performance degrades severely when they are applied to segment the still Ultrasound (US) images owing to the speckle, tissue related textures, and the artefacts resulting from the ultrasonic imaging process. Although these three types of signals make a clinical decision difficult, the deterioration of edge definition caused by them severely degrades the performance of most classical boundary - detection algorithms. Reviews gives a bibliographical survey of the current research efforts in the area of image segmentation of still US medical images and presents some of the challenges anticipated in the years to come. A full description of the various methods is beyond the scope of this study; instead, the focus is on providing an introduction to the methods of segmentation.

^iia7 illus, 2 tables, 71 ref

017892   Shelat R B;Shete D T (NO, Water Resources Engineering and Management Institute, Faculty of Techn, Samiala-391 410, Email: reems_shelat@yahoo.co.in) : Probability distribution analysis of consecutive days rainfall data for Patan district of Gujarat, India. J Agrometeorol 2008, 10(Spl-Pt II), 494-7.

Seventean different types of continuous probability distributions were tested by Chi-square test values using Easyfit statistical software for Patan district of Gujarat, India using daily daily rainfall data from 7 raingauge stations for 43 years (1961 -2003) period. Weibull, Weibull (3P), Gamma (3P) and Gamma distributions were best fitted to one day and consecutive 2, 3,4,5,6 and 7 days rainfall respectively. Overall Weibull distribution can be fitted to one day and consecutive 2, 3,4,5,6 and 7 days rainfall as either it has the first rank in 2 cases, second rank in 4 cases and third rank in 1 case out of the twenty three ranks.

5 tables, 2 ref

017891   Sharma R P (NO, , Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers Ltd., Priyadarshini, Sion, Mumbai-400 022) : Selection criteria for materials of construction for corrosive acid plants. Indian J Fertil 2008, 4(8), 57-61.

Acids are used in almost all chemical and petrochemical industries either as raw material or intermediate. Fertiliser industry mainly usav phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid and nitric acid as raw material for production of Phosphatic fertilisers. All these acids are highly corrosive, so selection of right type of materials of construction is very important for smooth and safe operation of the plants. The corrosion damage to the process equipment, pipelines, tanks, vessels, etc. can cause leakages and premature failures resulting in financial loss and environmental degradation. Deals with the type of corrosion prevalent in the acid plants, factors responsible for corrosion and criteria for selection of suitable material of construction for different acids. Also reviews developments in material of construction for use in phosphoric acid production.

5 ref

017890   Sasi B;Rao B P C;Jayakumar T;Baldev Raj (NO, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam-603 102) : Development of eddy current procedure for non-destructive detection of fatigue cracks and corrosion in rivets of air-intake structures. Def Sci J 2009, 59(2), 106-12.

Non-destructive detection of defects in countersunk of rivets in multi-layer air-intake structures is essential for ensuring structural integrity and flight safety. Presents an eddy current test procedure developed for reliable detection of simulated fatigue cracks and corrosion products in rivets of air-intake structures. This procedure is capable of reliably detecting 0.25 mm deep defects in 4 mm dia rivets and 0.75 mm deep defects in 5 mm dia rivets. Further, it is not influenced by thickness of the multilayers.

10 illus, 10 ref

017889   Sambasiva Rao G;Subramanyam T;Bala Krishna Murthy V (Mechanical Engineering Dep, P.V.P. Siddhartha Institute of Technology, Kanuru, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, Email: intjou@yahoo.co.in) : Simplified 3-D fem for the prediction of stiffness elements of unidirectional specially and generally orthotropic T300-Epoxy lamina. Int J Mech Solids 2008, 3(1), 109-18.

Simplified 3-D Finite Element models are developed with governing boundary conditions and solved using the FEA software ANSYS version 11 for the prediction of stiffness elements of unidirectional continuous fiber reinforced specially and generally orthotropic laminae. Results of the present work are compared with the analytical solutions and found very close agreement. It is observed that there exist 13 independent elastic constants for generally orthotropic lamina and behaves like a monoclinic material. A special case of monoclinic material with 9 independent constants is seen at fiber angle of 45 degrees. The specially orthotropic lamina with 5 independent constants is behaving like a transversely isotropic. The present analysis is useful to study the mechanical behavior of an angle ply lamina which is required for selection of stacking sequence of laminates. The analysis can be extended for the laminates where the analytical solutions are not available.

5 illus, 5 tables, 13 ref

017888   Sahoo S;Ambre A;Jagtap R (Polymer Engineering and Technology Dep, University of Mumbai, Institute of Chemical Technology (UICT), Matunga, Mumbai-400 019, Email: jegtap7@gmail.com) : Effect of functionality and melt flow index of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene on polypropylene clay nanocomposites. J Polym Mater 2008, 25(4), 601-12.

Polypropylene - organoclay nanocomposites (PPCNs) were prepared by melt mixing. In these composites various grades of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PPgMA) differing in functionality and melt flow index (MFI) were used. The percentage of the clay loadings was varied from 1 wt % to 5 wt %, while the ratio of clay to compatibilizer was fixed to 1:3 wt %. The increase in the basal spacings of organoclay was confirmed by X- ray diffraction and the dispersion of the clay layers in the PP matrix investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was observed that compatibilizer having 1.5 wt % of maleic anhydride and melt flow index (MFI) of 290 gave the best tensile and flexural properties of nanocomposite at each organoclay loading of 1 to 5 weight %.

8 illus, 3 tables, 22 ref

017887   Ram Saran;Srivastava H B;Ashok Kumar (NO, Instrument Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun-248 008) : Median predictor-based lossless video compression algorithm for IR image sequences. Def Sci J 2009, 59(2), 183-8.

Lossless image compression has long been recognised as an important need for several applications such as medical imaging, storage of critical IR image sequences, and remote sensing. A simple, fast and easy to realisable-on-hardware lossless video compression algorithm is proposed that is well-suited for IR imageries. Context-based median predictor is used for prediction of reference pixels. Three neighboring pixels are used as context for prediction. Inter-frame coding is performed by encoding the redundant pixels in an efficient way, using 1-bit code. Finally, the arithmetic coder is used as entropy coding. The proposed algorithm is able to operate in image compression and video compression mode. The proposed Median Predictor based Lossless Video Compression (MPLVC) algorithm is compared with Joint Pictures Experts Group- Lossless (JPEG-LS) and Fast and Efficient Lossless Image Compression System (FELICS) for compression performance. The results demonstrate that proposed algorithm is superior in encoding rate with added advantage in simplicity and ease in realization on hardware.

7 illus, 2 tables, 12 ref

017886   Praseeda L V;Sasikumar M (NO, College of Engineering, Kidangoor, Kottayam-686 583, Email: vplekshmi@rediffmail.com ) : Facial expression from global and a combination of local features. IETE Tech Rev 2009, 26(1), 41-6.

Facial expressions are identified using contour information, along with the Gabor features extracted from highly expression-reflected facial features. Proposes a novel technique to extract Gabor features from a selected region of interests. The computational complexity is reduced by a suitable selection of Gabor filters for the representation of transformed face images. Support Vector Machine classification technique is used to identify the expression that belongs to the face images.

5 illus, 3 tables, 23 ref

017885   Patil M B (Electronics Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai-400 076, Email: mbpatil@ee.iitb.ac.in) : SEQUEL: a public-domain simulation platform for electronics and power electronics. IETE Tech Rev 2009, 26(1), 47-54.

SEQUEL (a Solver of circuit EQuations with User-defined ELements) is a public-domain simulation package that has been used for a variety of applications. A graphics interface has recently been added to SEQUEL, in order to make it more user-friendly and better suitable for teaching purposes. The package can be downloaded freely. Some of the features of SEQUEL are described, along with examples.

19 illus, 14 ref

017884   Niranjan Kumar M S R;Sarcar M M M;Bala Krishna Murthy V;Mohana Rao K (Production Engg. Dep, V.R. Siddhartha Engg. College, Vijayawada-520 007, Email: m_niranjankumar@rediffmail.com) : Analysis of thick skew laminate with elliptical cutout subjected to non-linear temperature distribution: major axis of ellipse collinear with longer diagonal. Int J Mech Solids 2008, 3(1), 87-98.

The thermoelastic behaviour of a cross-ply laminated composite skew plate with elliptical cutout subjected to non-linearly varying temperature loading has been investigated in the present analysis. Major axis of the ellipse collinear with longer diagonal of the skew plate has been taken for the present analysis. A finite element method which works on the basis of three-dimensional theory of elasticity is employed to evaluate the transverse deflection, in-plane stresses and interlaminar stresses. The results obtained by varying the skew angle and size of the cutout are discussed. The magnitudes of the transverse deflection and in-plane stresses for temperature loading are observed to be less at higher skew angles. It is observed that the values of inter-laminar stresses are observed to be minimum at lower d/1 ratios (d/1 = 0.1). The solutions of skew structures considered in the present analysis will be useful for the construction of safe and efficient structures like skew bridges and swept wings of aircraft structures.

9 illus, 1 table, 11 ref

017883   Nandi N (Applied Mechanics Dep, Bengal Engineering and Science Univ, Shibpur, Howrah-711 103) : Free vibration characteristics of earthen dams. Int J Mech Solids 2008, 3(1), 43-59.

The study makes an effort to explain the crest failure of earthen dams. The free vibration analysis of a two-dimensional section of an example earthen dam is carried out. The frequencies and mode shapes are presented. The tendency of lateral extension at the crest in first few modes clearly explains the occurrence of longitudinally propagating vertical crack in earthen dams observed during recent earthquake of Gujarat. The study also shows that modifications in the sectional configurations do not alter the dynamic characteristics favorably and appreciably though the same modifications are found to be effective in eliminating tension from crest under static loading.

8 illus, 25 ref

017882   Naidu V P S (NO, National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore) : Fusion of radar and IRST sensor measurements for 3D target tracking using extended Kalman filter. Def Sci J 2009, 59(2), 175-82.

Tracking algorithms for IRST and radar are implemented and their performance is checked with simulated data. Detailed mathematical expressions given could be useful for implementation. Performance evaluation metrics have been presented to check the tracking algorithm performance. Two fusion schemes have been presented and their performances evaluated with simulated data. It is concluded that both fusion schemes performed alike with the second fusion scheme giving slightly better results. From the results, it is also concluded that fusion of IRST and radar would improve the tracking performance and reduce the positional uncertainty compared to individual trackers.

11 illus, 4 tables, 7 ref

017881   Mishra A K;Mulgrew B (ECE Dep, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Email: akmishra@ieee.org) : Generation of SAR image for real-life objects using general purpose EM simulators. IETE Tech Rev 2009, 26(1), 18-27.

In the applications related to airborne radars, simulation has always played an important role. This is mainly because of the two fold reason of the unavailability of desired data and the difficulty associated with the collection of data under controlled environment. A simple example will be regarding the collection of pure multipolar radar data. Even after phenomenal development in the field of radar hardware design and signal processing, till now the collection of pure multipolar data is a challenge for the radar system designers. Till very recently, the power of computer simulation of radar signal return was available to a very selected few. This was because of the heavy cost associated with some of the main line electro magnetic (EM) simulators for radar signal simulation, and secondly because many such EM simulators are for restricted marketing. However, because of the fast progress made in the field of EM simulation, many of the current generic EM simulators can be used to simulate radar returns from realistic targets. The study expounds the steps towards generating a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image database of ground targets, using a generic EM simulator. It also demonstrates by the help of some example images, the quality of the SAR image generated using a general purpose EM simulator.

15 illus, 30 ref

017880   Madej W (NO, Electronics and Computer Studies Dep, 2 Sniadeckich St. 75-453, Kozalin, Poland) : Measuring errors' spectrum of the artillery radar stations. Def Sci J 2009, 59(2), 162-5.

Simulation analysis of the measuring errors of the artillery radar stations is presented. This analysis enables the proper designing of the smoothing filters of the data for the ballistic module and determination of the components of the velocity of the target. They are derivatives of the signals representing coordinates of the target, and as such, can introduce huge errors during computations of derivatives.

^ssc8 illus, 4 ref

017879   Liu C Y;Chen C T (NO, Lee-Ming Institute of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.) : Tracking the warhead among objects separation from the reentry vehicle in a clear environment. Def Sci J 2009, 59(2), 113-25.

Separating a reentry vehicle into warhead, main body, and debris is a conventional and efficient means of producing a huge decoy and increasing the kinetic energy of the warhead. This procedure causes the radar to track the main body and debris, which radar cross section are large, and ignore the warhead, is the most important part of the reentry vehicle. The warhead is difficult to identify after separation using standard tracking criteria. Presents a novel tracking algorithm by integrating input estimation and modified probabilistic data association filter to identify warhead among objects separation from the reentry vehicle in a clear environment. The proposed algorithm provides a good tracking capability for the warhead ignoring the radar cross section. Simulation results reveal that the errors between the updated and warhead trajectories are reduced to a small interval in a short time. Therefore, the radar can generate a beam to illuminate the right area and keep tracking the warhead all the time. This algorithm is worthy of further study and application.

25 illus, 5 tables, 23 ref

017878   Gupta S M;Ahmed Z;Narendra Kumar (NO, Defence Agricultural Research Laboratory, Haldwani-263 139) : Isolation of cDNA fragment of glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase gene from seabuckthorn. Def Sci J 2009, 59(2), 147-51.

Contribution of membrane lipids, particularly the level of unsaturation of fatty acids, to chilling sensitivity of plants, has been intensively discussed. The biosynthesis of phosphatidyl glycerol represents a central pathway in lipid metabolism in all organisms. Glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT) catalyses the first step of glycerolipid biosynthesis and, therefore, it is a potential site for triacylglycerol synthesis regulation. The cDNA for GPAT gene has been cloned and extensively characterised from several plants excluding Seabuckthorn Hippophae rhamnoides. The isolation of partial cDNA (689 bp, Accession No. EU081817) for GPAT gene from Seabuckthorn plant has been reported for the first time that shows 97 per cent homology with the Lycopersicon esculentum at nucleotide level and 93 per cent homology with the Capsicum annuum at protein level. Full-length cloning and overexpression of GPAT from Seabuckthorn will modify the ability of vegetable crops to tolerate chilling temperature by protecting the photo synthetic machinery from photoinhibition under cold conditions.

^ssc3 illus, 23 ref

017877   Das S;Prasad J K (NO, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi-835 215) : Cowl deflection angle in a supersonic air intake. Def Sci J 2009, 59(2), 99-105.

Numerical study for a two-dimensional mixed compression supersonic air intake with different cowl deflections has been made with and without back pressure. Numerical simulations have been made with RANS solver using a k-w turbulence model. Overall flow field existing inside intake has been captured which indicates the change in flow field with cowl deflection angle. Overall performance has been obtained. Computations have been also made with bleed. The computed data are compared with available experimental and numerical results and indicated a good comparison. Results obtained through the present series of computation indicate an improvement in performance with small cowl deflection which is comparable to performance with 2.8 per cent bleed.

19 illus, 13 ref