019855   Kirillov V A;Samoilov A V;Shigarov A B;Ivanov D A;Zaletov D V (NO, Boreskov Institute of Catalysis, pr. Lavrentieva, 5, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation) : Thermochemical heat recovery based on external heat engine. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2015, 12(3), 3027-39.

This work discusses the issues of thermochemical recovery as a method to improve efficiency of fuel utilization in external heat engines (EHE). The article presents thermodynamic analysis of efficiency of external thermochemical recovery (TCR) upon steam reforming of low alcohols, as well as efficiency of internal TCR upon steam reforming of methane. The issues of selection of catalysts are considered and mathematical simulation of variants of TCR solutions with regard to EHE operating by the Stirilng and Rankine cycle is performed. Variants of technical solutions of catalytic heat exchangers with external, internal and combined heat input are analyzed in thermodynamic cycles of EHE, as well as of internal combustion engines (ICE) with respect to thermochemical recovery. Variants of implementation of external and internal TCR have been studied. It is demonstrated that the most promising variants of heat recovery is the external TCR with application of oxygen-containing compounds as fuels, characterized with low point of conversion into synthesis gas (SG). A mathematical model is developed for numerical analysis of devices for TCR of heat in the combustion products of Rankine engine heater. The influence of working fluids on the cycle efficiency is analyzed, it is demonstrated that the most promising variants are gaseous carbon dioxide and ammonia.

8 illus, 5 tables, 137 ref

019854   Khavanov P A;Chulenyov A S (NO, Moscow State Univ of Civil Engineering, Russia, 129337, Moscow, Yaroslavskaya Road, 26.) : Dependence of the efficiency of the condensing boiler by use and climatic zone. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2015, 12(3), 3019-26.

Authors considered and analyzed heat engineering parameters of condensing boilers in the autonomous heating systems. The technique of tests of condensation boilers is developed. Presented resulting cumulative process, cooling and drying the flue gas condensing boilers in the id of the combustion products chart. We considered and analyzed the test results of wall gas condensing boilers Baxi Duo Tec Compact and De Dietrich Innovers PRO MCA 45 under different operating conditions. We were analyzed according to the temperature and enthalpy of the flue gas heat loss from the physical warmth of the flue gas, the efficiency of the boiler temperature of the coolant. Shows the change of heat losses from exhaust gases and in the actual full cooling of the flue gases, and the difference between the values of the moisture content of the flue gases at various temperatures of the coolant at the boiler inlet temperature and the dew point. The obtained relationships shown in the graphs, draw conclusions about the performance of the condensing heat generator for various operating modes. Presented and analyzed the results of the evaluation time of the boilers in condensing mode by constructing graphs of temperature for some cities in Russia in various climatic zones. Shows selected climate indices that characterize the probable duration of the heat sources in the condensing mode, and are a necessary material for their account in the analysis of the value of the efficiency of the boiler in the annual cycle of his work. Analyzed according to duration of the boiler condensing mode of the estimated ambient temperature and boiler efficiency of the coolant temperature at the inlet to the heat exchanger of the boiler. Based on climatic data, conclusions were drawn about the value of the efficiency of the gas condensing boiler.

8 illus, 1 table, 20 ref

019853   Khan S N;Warkhedkar R M;Shyam A K (NO, Government College of Engineering, Aurangabad-431 005) : Analysis of bone mineral density of human bones for strength evaluation. Sadhana 2015, 40(5), 1667-79.

The bone density (BMD) is a medical term normally referring to the amount of mineral matter per square centimetre of bones. Twenty-five patients (18 female and 7 male patients with a mean age of 71.3 years) undergoing both lumbar spine DXA scans and computed tomography imaging were evaluated to determine if HU correlates with BMD and T-scores. BMD is used in clinical medicine as an indirect indicator of osteoporosis and fracture risk. This medical bone density is not the true physical "density" of the bone, which would be computed as mass per volume. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA, previously DEXA), a means of measuring BMD, is the most widely used and most thoroughly studied bone density measurement technologies. Different types of bone strength are required for various applications, but this strength calculation requires different machines for each strength property or it is done by different software like X-ray, CT scan, DEXA and BIA. The paper includes the design of an experimental setup which performs different types of test like tension, compression, three point bending, four point bending and torsion. The modified correlation between BMD and HU for various strength calculations is found out and validated with the experimental results.

3 illus, 6 tables, 10 ref

019852   Kalwane U B;Dahake A G;Upadhye V R (NO, , ) : Effect of polymer modified steel fiber reinforced concrete on bond strength. J expl appl Mech 2015, 6(2), 33-43.

In this experimental investigation, the effect on bond strength (pullout test) of polymer modified steel fibers in concrete is studied. Varying volume fraction of steel fibers from 0 to 7% at the interval of 1% of fiber and SBR latex polymer of fixed volume of 15% by weight of cement were used. For this test, specimen of size 150 mm 150 mm 150 mm with 16 mm high yield deformed bar of length 650 mm is placed at the centre of cube and 150 mm embedded in concrete. Pullout test on specimens were carried out on universal testing machine.

019851   Justinraj C;Kim B C;Cho B B;Cho W J;Kim S J; Park S Y;Yu K H (Chemistry Dep, Dongguk Univ-Seoul, Seoul-100 715, Republic of Korea, Email: yukook@dongguk.edu) : Electrochemical supercapacitor behaviour of functionalized candle flame carbon soot. Bull Mater Sci 2016, 39(1), 241-8.

The electrochemical supercapacitor behaviour of bare, washed and nitric acid functionalized candle flame carbon soots were reported. Crystallinity and the morphology of the candle soots were recorded using X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. The nitric acid functionalized candle soot showed an improved Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of 137.93 from 87.495 m² g^-1 of washed candle soot. The presence of various functional groups in candle soots and the development of oxygen functionalities in the functionalized candle soot were examined through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. Raman spectra showed the characteristic peaks corresponding to the D (diamond) and G (graphite) phase of carbon present in the candle soots. The electrochemical characterization was performed by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge test and impedance spectroscopy in 1 M H₂SO₄ electrolyte. The functionalized candle soot electrode showed an enhanced specific capacitance value of 187 F g^-1 at 0.15 A g^-1 discharge current density, which is much higher than that of bare and washed candle soot electrodes.

9 illus, 51 ref

019850   Jin J Z;Wen M (College of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Zzhejiang Shuren Univ, Hangzhou 310015, P.R. China, Email: hzjjz@sohu.com) : Extraction of Chrysanthemum morifolium extractum by ethanol modified supercritical CO₂. Asian J Chem 2015, 27(7), 2389-92.

In this study, ethanol modified supercritical CO₂ extraction of Chrysanthemum morifolium extractum was optimized by single factor and orthogonal array design methods with respect to the effects of extracting pressure, extracting temperature, extracting time, flow rate of CO₂, ratio of liquid to solid and ethanol concentration on the yield of Chrysanthemum morifolium extractum. The optimum extracting parameters were established with extracting pressure 30 MPa, extracting temperature 45 °C, flow rate of CO₂ 10 kg h^-1, ratio of liquid to solid 15 mL g^-1, ethanol concentration 95% and extracting time 2 h. Under such conditions, the yield of Chrysanthemum morifolium extractum was 29.34%. The content of flavonoids in Chrysanthemum morifolium was 12.46 mg g^-1.

7 illus, 2 tables, 8 ref

019849   Jagadesh P;Ramachadramurthy A;Murugesan R; Sarayu K (Civil Engineering Dep, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore-641 014, Email: jaga.86@gmail.com) : Micro-analytical studies on sugar cane bagasse ash. Sadhana 2015, 40(5), 1629-38.

The worldwide production of sugar generates large volumes of bagasse wastes, which are burnt in uncontrolled manner for heating boiler, which are deposited in landfills, which create negative effects in the environment. The ash obtained by burning bagasse is generally used as Supplementary Cementing Material (SCM) in concrete production without proper knowledge of pozzolanic material characterization. This paper summarizes the results obtained from the various techniques to determine pozzolanic mineral profiles in sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA). Techniques employed in the present study include X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Energy-Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX) spectrometer, Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Thermal Analysis [Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Derivative Thermo-Gravimetric (DTG)] in order to understand the type, form, nature, morphology, concentration, etc. of pozzolanic minerals.

5 illus, 1 table, 33 ref

019848   Jagad P I;Puranik B P;Date A W (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Sinhgad College of Engineering, Vadgaon (Bk), Pune-411 041, Email: jagadp@yahoo.com) : Novel concept of measuring mass flow rates using flow induced stresses. Sadhana 2015, 40(5), 1555-66.

Measurement of mass flow rate is important for automatic control of the mass flow rate in many industries such as semiconductor manufacturing and chemical industry (for supply of catalyst to a reaction). In the present work, a new concept for direct measurement of mass flow rates which does not depend on the volumetric flow rate measurement and obviates the need for the knowledge of density is proposed from the measurement of the flow induced stresses in a substrate. The concept is formulated by establishing the relationship between the mass flow rate and the stress in the substrate. To this end, the flow field and the stress field in the substrate are evaluated simultaneously using a numerical procedure and the necessary correlations are derived. A least squares based procedure is used to derive the mass flow rate from the correlations as a function of the stress in the substrate.

6 illus, 2 tables, 10 ref

019847   Islam M S;Mohammad A B;Al-Gailani S A (Light Wave Communicaiton Research Group, InfoComm Research Alliance, Univ Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor, Malaysia, Email: msislamd@gmail.com) : Characteristics of free optics communication link in an unusual haze. Indian J pure appl Phys 2016, 54(1), 46-50.

The connectivity and presence of free space optics (FSO) systems dependent on weather conditions especially in unusual haze have been studied. The attenuation and visibility have been analyzed using different formulas and compared with the experimental study. In an unusual haze condition, the attenuation of signal follows the same pattern as obtained from the theoretical analysis. Attenuation due to scattering, which has been expressed as a function of the link distance, wavelength and meteorological visibility, has been calculated from the visibility data collected at Senai airport in Malaysia. Maximum attenuation about 20 dB/km has been observed due to the unusual haze in Malaysia.

5 illus, 12 ref

019846   Hemant Kumar;Mohapatra S K;Singh R I (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Punjabi Univ, Patiala-147 002, Email: htdhiman@gmail.com) : Study of a 30 MW bubbling fluidized bed combustor based on co-firing biomass and coal. Sadhana 2015, 40(4), 1283-99.

Today's power generation sources are largely dependent on fossil fuels due to which the future sustainable development has become a challenge. A significant amount of the pollutant emissions such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide from the power sector is related to the use of fossil fuels for power generation. As the demand for electricity is growing rapidly, emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants from this sector can be expected to increase unless other alternatives are made available. Among the energy sources that can substitute fossil fuels, biomass fuels appear as one of the options with a high worldwide potential. In the Punjab region of India, Fluidized-bed combustion technology is being used for converting biomass into thermal energy and power generation in various small scale units. The investigation of biomass-based plant through experimental activities and numerical simulation is the scope of this study. The investigations were done at Captive Power Plant (CPP), Ambuja Cement Limited, a project of Holcim, District Ropar, India. During experimental investigations, the study of bed temperatures and steam temperatures at different zones has been done for coal fired and biomass fired combustors with 30% share. No clear effects of co-firing on boiler performance are observed. However, the operational behavior of the boiler in terms of bed temperature and stack emissions shows a different trend. During simulation, the contours of temperature have been obtained for both the boilers and the trends are found in agreement with real process.

8 illus, 8 tables, 21 ref

019845   Heidari M;Rezaei M (Architecture Dep, Master of Architecture, Faculty of Arts and Architecture, Islamic Aza, Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran) : Architectural design review based on animal architecture and biogas productions. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2015, 12(3), 2629-38.

This article describes animal architecture as a multi-disciplinary field of bionic science and organic architecture which is recently popularized as one of the architectural design methods. By reviewing design procedures this study aims to organize a new way of design beyond visual analogies per se. The main question proposed in this paper is then 'what are the unique features of animal architecture methodology'? In addition, the paper explores design methodologies to answer 'how animal architecture method might be used beyond formal, visual and non-functional applications? For years several authors have proposed natural, organic and biological analogies in architecture. Even though designers have always been inspired by nature and employed animal analogies until recent periods, the non-formal aspects of this approach are not clearly addressed yet. While this study refers to organic and natural designs the authors focus more on architecture inspired by animals' life. In this research biogas as a form of renewable energy derived from animals is described briefly. Furthermore, it is suggested how biogas might be applied as a non-formal analogy in design process. This applied research is conducted qualitatively by using descriptive and analytic methods and the data are broadly obtained from original documents. To verify this method some case studies are compared with the principals of animal architecture. Based on the results, it can be concluded that a new classification of animal architecture is required. This paper shows that animal architecture is not a unique, exclusive method in architecture. In fact, it is a subcategory of analogy method in which analogy happens through animal bodies or their nests. Beyond mere formal and visual approaches, this method may act as a functional approach. For example, the use of biogas in an architectural project might act as an inspiration and source for sustainable design. Moreover, different types of architectural constructions related to animal lives are recommended to be covered by this method.

5 illus, 4 tables, 21 ref

019844   Handa A;Chawla V (NO, RIMT-Institute of Engineering and Technology, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab, Email: handaamit_2002@yahoo.com) : Evaluation of tensile strength and fracture behavior of friction welded dissimilar steels under different rotational speeds and axial pressures. Sadhana 2015, 40(5), 1639-55.

In the present study an attempt was made to join austenitic stainless steel (AISI 304) with low alloy steel (AISI 1021) at five different rotational speeds ranging from 800 to 1600 rpm and at as many different axial pressures ranging from 75 MPa to 135 MPa and then determining the strength of the joint by means of tensile strength. Furthermore scanning electron microscope analysis was performed to evaluate the pattern of failure at the fractured locations, also the micro hardness was checked at the weld interface and at distances on either side of the weld joint to evaluate the effect of heat. The highest tensile strength achieved by the welded specimens was 1.8% higher than the AISI 1021 steel and the lowest tensile strength obtained was 20% lower than the parent AISI 1021.

17 illus, 4 tables, 23 ref

019843   Halder S J;Rasheed F;Jeong B J;Kim W (Information and Industrial Engineering Dep, College of Engineering, Yonsei Univ, Seoul-120 749, South Korea, Email: sjhalder@yonsei.ac.kr) : Management of smart-technology market by diffusion of front loading innovation. J scient ind Res 2016, 75(1), 28-34.

Smart technology markets are making best of their efforts for delivering products with high quality, competitive prices and within prescribed time bounds to their geographically scattered customers. In order to achieve their strategic and tactical goals with a positive return on investment, companies are using a blend of various well known industrial solutions. A new innovative and a little drifting concept is in practice now-a-days termed as 'Front Loading Innovation (FLI)' which basically encompasses the product complete during its whole life cycle. This paper discusses the diffusion status of FLI in the Smart-technology market, its benefits and future prospects, predicting and forecasting its future marketing potential using appropriate tools and methodologies and to report AS-WAS and AS-IS situation of the main stakeholders after diffusion of this innovation. With the successful diffusion of the concept of FLI in its true spirit, Smart-technology companies may have to positively deal with ever increasing brutal challenges of cost, quality and on-time delivery.

2 illus, 3 tables, 21 ref

019842   Gupta S;Singla E (School of Mechanical, Materials and Energy Engineering, IIT Ropar, Rupnagar-140 001, Email: sameer.gupta@iitrpr.ac.in) : Evolutionary robotics in two decades. Sadhana 2015, 40(4), 1169-84.

Evolutionary robotics (ER) has emerged as a fast growing field in the last two decades and has earned the attention of a number of researchers. Principles of biological evolution are applied in the form of evolutionary techniques for solving the complicated problems in the areas of robotic design and control. The diversity and the intensity of this growing field is presented in this paper through the contributions made by several researchers in the categories of robot controller design, robot body design, co-evolution of body and brain and in transforming the evolved robots in physical reality. The paper discusses some of the recent achievements in each of these fields along with some expected applications which are likely to motivate the future research. For the quick reference of the readers, a digest of all the works is presented in the paper, spanning the years and the areas of the research contributions.

^iia7 illus, 80 ref

019841   Guha S;Sangal S;Basu S (Materials Science and Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur-208 016, Email: gsuman@iitk.ac.in) : Review of higher order strain gradient theories of plasticity: origins, thermodynamics and connections with dislocation mechanics. Sadhana 2015, 40(4), 1205-40.

In this paper we review developments in higher order strain gradient theories. Several variants of these theories have been proposed in order to explain the effects of size on plastic properties that are manifest in several experiments with micron sized metallic structures. It is generally appreciated that the size effect arises from the storage of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) over and above the statistically stored dislocations (SSDs) required for homogeneous deformations. We review developments that show that the GNDs result from the non-homogeneous nature of the deformation field. Though the connection between GNDs and strain gradients are established in the framework of single crystal plasticity, generalisations to polycrystal plasticity has been made. Strain gradient plasticity inherently involves an intrinsic length scale. In our review, we show, through a few illustrative problems, that conventional plasticity solutions can always be reduced to a scale independent form. The same problems are solved with a simple higher order strain gradient formulation to capture the experimentally observed size effects. However, higher order theories need to be thermodynamically consistent. It has recently been shown that only a few of the existing theories pass this test. We review a few that do. Higher order theories require higher order boundary conditions that enable us to model effects of dislocation storage at impermeable boundaries. But these additional boundary conditions also lead to unique conceptual issues that are not encountered in conventional theories. We review attempts at resolving these issues pertaining to higher order boundary conditions. Finally, we review the future of such theories, their relevance and experimental validation.

13 illus, 61 ref

019840   Gopalakrishnan K S;Narayanan G (Electrical Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560 012, Email: ashwinkrishnan121@gmail.com) : Harmonic analysis of DC capacitor current in sinusoidal and space-vector modulated neutral-point-clamped inverters. Sadhana 2015, 40(5), 1501-29.

The voltage ripple and power loss in the DC-capacitor of a voltage source inverter depend on the harmonic currents flowing through the capacitor. This paper presents a double Fourier series based analysis of the harmonic contents of the DC capacitor current in a three-level neutral-point clamped (NPC) inverter, modulated with sine-triangle pulse-width modulation (SPWM) or conventional space vector pulse-width modulation (CSVPWM) schemes. The analytical results are validated experimentally on a 3-kVA three-level inverter prototype. The capacitor current in an NPC inverter has a periodicity of 120 ° at the fundamental or modulation frequency. Hence, this current contains third-harmonic and triplen-frequency components, apart from switching frequency components. The harmonic components vary with modulation index and power factor for both PWM schemes. The third harmonic current decreases with increase in modulation index and also decreases with increase in power factor in case of both PWM methods. In general, the third harmonic content is higher with SPWM than with CSVPWM at a given operating condition. Also, power loss and voltage ripple in the DC capacitor are estimated for both the schemes using the current harmonic spectrum and equivalent series resistance (ESR) of the capacitor.

17 illus, 10 tables, 23 ref

019839   Gonzalez-Cordoba J L;Granados-Lieberman D; Osornio-Rios R A;Romeroa-Troncosos R J;De Santiago-Perez J J; Valtierra-Rodriguez M (HSPdigital, CA Mecatronica, Facultad de Ingenieria Campus San Juan del Rio, Univ Autonoma de Queretaro, Rio Moctezuma 249, San Juan del Rio, Quereta, Email: raosornio@hspdigital.org) : Methodology for overheating identification on induction motors under voltage unbalance conditions in industrial processes. J scient ind Res 2016, 75(2), 100-7.

This paper presents a new methodology to assist the preventive maintenance through the identification and diagnosis of undesired overheating conditions in multiple induction motors installed in industrial facilities. The identification is performed by monitoring the voltage in the electrical system and the temperature characteristic curve of the motor obtained through infrared (IR)-thermography in the presence of voltage unbalance.

3 illus, 2 tables, 28 ref

019838   Ghoul J E (Physics Dep, Al Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic Univ (IMSIU), College of Sciences, Riyadh 11623, Saudi Arabia, Email: ghoultn@yahoo.fr) : Synthesis, structural and optical properties of nanoparticles (Al, V) co-doped zinc oxide. Bull Mater Sci 2016, 39(1), 7-12.

The synthesis by the sol-gel method, structural and optical properties of ZnO, Zn_0.99Al_0.01O (AlZ), Zn_0.9V_0.1O (VZ) and Zn_0.89Al_0.01V_0.1O (AlVZ) nanoparticles was reported. The approach was slow release of water for hydrolysis by esterification reaction followed by a supercritical drying in ethyl alcohol. After thermal treatment at 500°C in air, the obtained nanopowders were characterized by various techniques such as transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The structural properties showed that the ZnO nanoparticles with an average particle size of 25 nm exhibit hexagonal wurtzite structure. From the optical studies, it was found that the optical band gap was located between 2.97 and 3.17 eV. The obtained electrical properties showed the potential application of the samples in optoelectronic devices. The powder of AlVZ presented a strong luminescence band in the visible range. The PL band energy position presented a small blue shift with the increase of measurement temperature. Different possible attributions of this emission band will be discussed.

8 illus, 37 ref

019837   Ghoshal A;John V (Electrical Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560 012, Email: ghoshal.anirban@gmail.com) : Controller design method for 3 phase 4 wire grid connected VSI with LCL filter. Sadhana 2015, 40(5), 1481-99.

Closed loop control of a grid connected VSI requires line current control and dc bus voltage control. The closed loop system comprising PR current controller and grid connected VSI with LCL filter is a higher order system. Closed loop control gain expressions are therefore difficult to obtain directly for such systems. In this work a simplified approach has been adopted to find current and voltage controller gain expressions for a 3 phase 4 wire grid connected VSI with LCL filter. The closed loop system considered here utilises PR current controller in natural reference frame and PI controller for dc bus voltage control. Asymptotic frequency response plot and gain bandwidth requirements of the system have been used for current control and voltage controller design. A simplified lower order model, derived for closed loop current control, is used for the dc bus voltage controller design. The adopted design method has been verified through experiments by comparison of the time domain response.

12 illus, 3 tables, 22 ref

019836   Fedorova N V;Mokhov V A;Krivobok E A (NO, , Platov South-Russian State Polytechnic Univ (NPI)) : Functional simulation of the method for the coal preparation for combustion in the thermal power plant. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2015, 12(3), 2639-47.

Russia's energy policy for the coming years provides for greater use of coal fuel, combined with the introduction of non-waste technologies of its combustion. Russia has taken to burn coal with ash content of various indicators, including those of high. The question of efficient use of coal in thermal power plants (TPP) of Russia by his deep preparation for burning is considered in this article. One way to solve of this problem is the construction of modern coal preparation factory directly or near the power plant. The criteria of efficiency of coal combustion are systematized. The modern methods of mineral raw materials enrichment used in the mining, metallurgical and chemical industries are considered. The parameters of coal preparation equipment offered in the Russian market by manufacturers from different countries are investigated. The systematic analysis of production processes in the TPP by functional modeling techniques based on IDEF0 diagrams and hierarchies analysis of T. Saaty is performed, allowing to prove the correctness of the proposed solution of the problem of coal enrichment in TPP prior to combustion and to provide an option of the technological chain of operations performed. The technical and economic effect after object modernization is defined. Coal deep preparation for burning, including the introduction of coal preparation factory on TPP, will create the environmentally friendly technology of fuel and energy coal-fired complex.

4 illus, 4 tables, 30 ref

019835   ElAmiri A;Lassri H;Hlil E K;Abid M (Lab de Physique Foundamentale et Appliquee (LPFA), Facutle des Sciences Ain Chock, Univ Hassan II, B.P.5366 Maarif, Casablanca, Maroc, Email: aelamiri@casablanca.ma) : Explanation of ferromagnetism origin in N-doped ZnO by first-principle calculations. Bull Mater Sci 2016, 39(1), 315-19.

By ab-initio calculations, the possible source of ferromagnetism in N-doped ZnO compound was systematically studied. The electronic structure and magnetic properties of N-doped ZnO with/without ZnO host and N defects were investigated using the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method combined with coherent potential approximation. It was shown that Zn vacancy and the presence of N defects (substitutional, interstitial or combination of both) induce the ferromagnetism in N-doped ZnO. From density of state analysis, it was shown that p-p interaction between 2p-elements (N,O) is the mechanism of ferromagnetic coupling in N-doped ZnO.

3 illus, 2 tables, 20 ref

019834   Dong Y;Chang Y;Wang Q;Tong J;Zhou J (Key Lab of Bionic Engineering (Ministry of Education), College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Jilin Univ, 5988 Renmin Street, Changchun-130 022, Email: jiang.zhou@jlu.edu.cn) : Effects of surfactants on size and structure of amylose nanoparticles prepared by precipitation. Bull Mater Sci 2016, 39(1), 35-9.

The present work investigated the influence of surfactants on size and structure of amylose nanoparticles (ANPs) prepared through precipitation. ANPs were fabricated using absolute ethanol containing surfactants (Tween80, Span80 and mixtures of Tween80 and Span80 with ratios of 25/75, 50/50 and 75/25, respectively) as non-solvents. The obtained ANPs were characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results showed that surfactant type, concentration and hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) value had great impact on size of precipitated ANPs. The smallest ANPs with mean size of 155 nm determined by DLS were obtained by using 0.5% (in proportion of the amylose solution volume) of Tween80/Span80 mixture (HLB = 12.33). The precipitated ANPs possessed the V-type crystalline structure no matter whether using the surfactants or not.

4 illus, 1 table, 21 ref

019833   Dixit T V;Yadav A;Gupta S (Electrical Engineering Dep, National Institute of Technology, Raipur) : Optimization of PV array inclination in India using ANN estimator: Method comparison study. Sadhana 2015, 40(5), 1457-72.

The network of solar power plants in distributed power system (in India) is growing exponentially. Since tilt angle affects the energy collection by solar panels, the conduction of experiments to find optimum tilt angle is expensive and time consuming in each location. Although different non-linear, empirical models have been proposed by different researchers in India, they have too many constraints and needs complex and rigorous computational effort each time. In this paper, a data driven approach such as ANN estimator has been proposed to estimate (β_opt) at which solar energy collection of Photo-Voltaic Array (PVA) will be maximum at selected cities of India. The latitude (φ) elevation (E_L) from sea level and monthly mean hourly and daily global solar irradiance (H_g) of location are taken into account for this study. The ANN estimator takes H_g, φ and E_L of site as inputs which are easily available and estimate optimum tilt angle almost instantaneously while testing. The proposed ANN estimator results are compared with analytical results. To validate the performance of ANN estimator results, statistical analysis study is carried out. Where, two statistical approaches such as descriptive method and Altman-Bland methods are applied. The ANA estimator results are found much close to ANA results at 95% confidence interval under statistical study.

10 illus, 10 tables, 24 ref

019832   De K;Das S (NO, Neotia Institute of Technology, Management and Science, Jhinga-743 368, Email: soma.iitkharagpur@gmail.com) : Low-temperature localization in the transport properties of self-doped La_0.9Mn_0.98Zn_0.02O₃. Bull Mater Sci 2016, 39(1), 293-8.

Low-temperature transport properties are investigated in the self-doped compound, La_0.9Mn_0.98 Zn_0.02O₃. The analysis of the low-temperature resistivity is performed considering various scattering mechanisms. The parameters involved with different scattering processes such as electron-electron, Kondo, electron-phonon and electron-magnon are found to be strongly influenced by the applied magnetic field. The results suggest that interplay between electron-electron and Kondo-like scatterings lead to the localization in the temperature dependence of resistivity at low temperature.

8 illus, 1 table, 34 ref

019831   Das P;Majumder S;Saha D;Mandal A (NO, , ) : Hydrodynamic study of turbulent fluid flow in an axi-symmetric duct with crescent. J expl appl Mech 2015, 6(2), 57-69.

In this article, the fluid flow analysis in an axi-symmetric duct with and without crescent hasbeen studied numerically. Fluent 6.3 based on finite volume method have been used to analyzethe flow problem. The parameters varied are non-dimensional crescent length1 ( / ) C L S R of 0.9 to 0.5 and Reynolds number of 7.5 X 104 to 3.5 X 105 respectively. An experiment has beencarried out in a straight sudden expansion pipe without crescent for same Reynolds numbers. The numerically achieved results have been compared with the experimental results thusobtained for different Reynolds numbers for the case of without crescent only. The resultshave been found to match reasonably. The main objective of this study is to find out thefriction factor in an axi-symmetric sudden expansion duct with crescent. The results show thatthe friction factor decreases with increase in Reynolds number and crescent lengthrespectively.

019830   Chen S;Shi D;Li S;Yang C;Zhang Y (Institute for Quantum Materials and School of Mathematics and Physics, Hubei Polytechnic Univ, Huangshi-435 003, PR China, Email: cpyang@hubu.edu.cn) : The enhanced interface effect induced by thermal pressure in Nd_.7Sr_0.3MnO_y ceramics. Bull Mater Sci 2016, 39(1), 91-6.

Polycrystalline ceramics Nd_0.7Sr_0.3MnO_y prepared by solid-state reaction were treated under high pressure of 9 GPa and temperature of 1000 K. The electrical transport behaviour of samples were investigated by a variable temperature system and a peculiar transport character was found at low temperature of 120 K, the I-V showed an obvious step-shape behaviour with the increase in the measurement voltages; at much lower temperature of 12.3 K, the I-V curves exhibited a notable symmetric hysteresis at a critical voltage of 4.5 V, although a linear I-V behaviour at 293 K. On the other hand, the R-T measurement revealed that the resistivity peak (resistivity at T_MI) disappeared gradually and is replaced by a resistivity platform with the increase in the load currents, surprisingly, the resistivity platform broadened with continuous increase in the load currents but weakened when an external magnetic field was applied. All of these phenomena were not observed for the un-treated sample. The particle attenuated and the enhanced interface effect which resulted from the violent thermal-pressure treatment was responsible for the unique electromagnetic transport.

6 illus, 1 table, 30 ref

019829   Cao R;Qin Z;Jiang S;Liang A;Luo Z;Yu X (College of Mathematics and Physics, Jiggansgshan Univ, Ji'an 343 009, China, Email: jxcrp@163.com) : Enhanced emission of CaNb₂O₆ : Sm<. Bull Mater Sci 2016, 39(1), 187-93.

A series of CaNb₂O₆:xSm³⁺ (0 ≤x≤ 10 mol%) and CaNb₂O₆ : Sm³⁺, Na+/B3+ phosphors were synthesized by the solid-state reaction method in air. Their crystal structures and luminescence properties were investigated and analysed, respectively. Host CaNb₂O₆ emitted blue light with excitation 270 nm. CaNb₂O₆:xSm³⁺ phosphors showed a systematically varied hue from blue to white by changing Sm³⁺ ion concentration from 0 to 10 mol% with excitation of 270 nm and their chromaticity coordinates were the regions from (0.1665, 0.1767) to (0.2484, 0.2260). Luminescence properties of CaNb₂O₆ : Sm³⁺ phosphor were tuned and improved significantly by codoping B³⁺ or Na⁺ ions. Energy transfer between Nb ₂O^2-₆ group and Sm³⁺ ion was observed and analysed via luminescence properties. The luminous mechanism was explained by energy level scheme and energy transfer process in CaNb₂O₆ : Sm³⁺ phosphor. The strong excitation band peaking at <126>407 nm indicated that the CaNb₂O₆ : Sm³⁺, Na⁺/B³⁺ phosphor has a potential application in white light-emitting diodes based on near-UV LED chip.

7 illus, 21 ref

019828   Bodkhe S B;Aware M V;Chaudhari J G;Agrawal J G (NO, Ramdeobaba College of Engineering & Management, Nagpur-440 013, Email: bodkhesb@rknec.edu) : Speed estimator for induction motor drive based on synchronous speed tracking. Sadhana 2015, 40(4), 1241-56.

This paper presents a new open-loop speed estimation method for a three-phase induction motor drive. The open-loop speed estimators available in literature have the advantage of reduced computational stress over the observers but they share a common limitation of being largely dependent on flux and machine parameters. They involve integrations and differentiation in the algorithm that leads to serious error in estimation when subject to different operating conditions. The proposed estimator is based on synchronous speed tracking and is cost-effective. It is immune to any variation in machine parameters and noise. The synchronous speed is computed from stator frequency which is estimated on-line using the stator current signals. A unique, non-adaptive method for estimation of stator frequency within one-sixteenth of time period is also proposed to enhance the speed of estimation. Computer simulation and experimentation on a 2.2 kW Field oriented controlled induction motor drive is carried out to verify the performance of proposed speed estimator. The results show excellent response over a wide range of rotor speed in both directions including low speed and under different operating conditions. This confirms the effectiveness of the proposed method.

12 illus, 24 ref

019827   Basri M A M;Husain A R;Danapalasingam K A (Control and Mechatronics Engineering Dep, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Univ Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia, Email: ariffanan@fke.utm.my) : Stabilization and trajectory tracking control for underactuated quadrotor helicopter subject to wind-gust disturbance. Sadhana 2015, 40(5), 1531-53.

The control of quadrotor helicopter has been a great challenge for control engineers and researchers since quadrotor is an underactuated and a highly unstable nonlinear system. In this paper, the dynamic model of quadrotor has been derived and a so-called robust optimal backstepping control (ROBC) is designed to address its stabilization and trajectory tracking problem in the existence of external disturbances. The robust controller is achieved by incorporating a prior designed optimal backstepping control (OBC) with a switching function. The control law design utilizes the switching function in order to attenuate the effects caused by external disturbances. In order to eliminate the chattering phenomenon, the sign function is replaced by the saturation function. A new heuristic algorithm namely Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA) has been employed in designing the OBC. The proposed method is evaluated on a quadrotor simulation environment to demonstrate the effectiveness and merits of the theoretical development. Simulation results show that the proposed ROBC scheme can achieve favorable control performances compared to the OBC for autonomous quadrotor helicopter in the presence of external disturbances.

15 illus, 3 tables, 38 ref

019826   Baptista R;Gadelha D;Bandeira M;Arteiro D; Delgado M I;Ferro A C;Guedes M (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Setubal School of Technology, Instituto of Politecnico de setubal, 2910-761 Setubal, Portugal, Email: mafalda.guedes@estsetubal.ips.pt) : Characterization of titanium-hydroxyapatite biocomposites processed by dip coating. Bull Mater Sci 2016, 39(1), 263-72.

Ti orthopaedic implants are commonly coated with hydroxyapatite (HA) to achieve increased biocompatibility and osseointegration with natural bone. In this work the dip-coating technique was used to apply HA films on Ti foil. A gel was used as the support vehicle for commercial HA particles. The experimental parameters like surface roughness of the metallic substrate and immersion time were studied. All coated substrates were heat treated and sintered under vacuum atmosphere. The produced coatings were characterized by field-emission gun scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, microhardness, scratch test and profilometry. Additionally, the apatite-forming ability of the produced material was tested by exposure to a simulated body fluid. Higher substrate surface roughness and longer immersion time produce thicker, denser films, with higher surface roughness. Lower film porosity is accompanied by higher hardness values. However, thicker coating promotes differential shrinkage and crack formation during sintering. Both coating thickness and coating roughness increase with coating time. HA films<126>30-40 μm thick with 45-50% HA theoretical density produced on Ti substrates with surface roughness of R_z<126>1.0-1.7 μm, display an attractive combination of high hardness and resistance to spallation. Attained results are encouraging regarding the possibility of straightforward production of biocompatible and bioactive prosthetic coatings for orthopaedic applications using commercial HA.

17 illus, 22 ref

019825   Aydin A C;Oz A;Polat R;Mindivan H (Engineering Faculty. Civil Engineering Dep, Ataturk Univ, 25240 - Erzurum, Turkey, Email: acaydin@atauni.edu.tr) : Effects of the different atmospheric steam curing processes on the properties of self-compacting-concrete containing microsilica. Sadhana 2015, 40(4), 1361-71.

In this paper an attempt has been made to study the use of microsilica on the properties of self-compacting-concrete (SCC) such as compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) and microhardness when exposed to different atmospheric steam curing temperatures. The influence of microsilica as partial replacement of cement on the properties of SCC is investigated. In this study, mixes were prepared with three percentages of microsilica ranging from 5% to 10% and one controlled mixture without microsilica was also prepared for comparison. The specimens of each concrete mixture were heated up to different temperatures (65 °C, 70 °C and 75 °C). The variables included were the temperature effects (65 °C, 70 °C and 75 °C) using Cem I 42.5. SCC mixes enhanced atmospheric steam curing compressive strength ranging from 29.20 to 38.50 MPa, flexural strength ranging from 4.95 to 6.56 MPa and splitting tensile strength ranging from 1.18 to 1.63 MPa. Test results clearly show that there is little improvement in the compressive strength within temperature range of 70 °C as compared to 65 and 75 °C, although there is little reduction in splitting tensile strength ranging from 65 to 75 °C and with the increase in percentage of microsilica. However, the rate of splitting tensile strength and flexural strength was higher than that of the compressive strength at elevated temperatures and with the increase in percentage of microsilica. In this paper, scanning electron microscopic (SEM) observations were also made to explain the observed residual compressive strength increase between 65 °C, 70 °C and 75 °C.

6 illus, 4 tables, 26 ref

019824   Anushkannan N K;Mangalam H (Electronics and Communication Engineering Dep, Tamilnadu College of Engineering, Coimbatore-641 659, Email: anushkannan81@gmail.com) : Design of a CMOS PFD-CP module for a PLL. Sadhana 2015, 40(4), 1105-16.

This paper introduces a modified design of Phase frequency detector (PFD) with reduced dead zone and improved charge pump (CP) with reduced current mismatch for a Phase Locked Loop (PLL). Three modified PFD circuits are proposed, designed, simulated, and the results are analyzed considering dead zone as a constraint. Design of pass transistor logic network plays a part in the diminution of the dead zone. Further, an improved design of CP is proposed to reduce current mismatch. It is achieved by placing the single ended differential amplifier in current-voltage feedback configuration which offers high output impedance. Simulations are performed using T-SPICE, implemented in IBM 0.13 μm technology under 1.3 V power supply. Results show that the modified PFD design has a dead zone of 0.3 ns and the current mismatch decrements to 0.1 μA in an improved CP design.

11 illus, 5 tables, 22 ref

019823   Annil Kumar T;Inayathullah J;Nagarajan V A; Hari Kumar S (Aeronautical Engineering Dep, Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education, Kumaracoil-629 180, Email: annilkumartngl@gmail.com) : Developmenta of hybrid composite radar wave absorbing structure for stealth applications. Bull Mater Sci 2016, 39(1), 279-84.

The ideally invisible stealth radomes are usually sandwiched constructions composed of E-glass/epoxy composite, polyvinyl chloride foam and frequency selective surfaces (FSS). Nylon 6/6 and balsa wood are well known for their low dielectric properties. In this work the electromagnetic (EM) wave transmission characteristics of the existing stealth radomes were improved by employing nylon 6/6 fibre and balsa wood, along with E-glass/epoxy composite without compromising the mechanical properties. The free space measurement technique was performed to measure the EM wave transmission characteristics in the X-band frequency range (8.2-12.4 GHz) for a specific FSS. The flexural strength of the sandwiched constructions were investigated with three-point bending test.

9 illus, 3 tables, 18 ref

019822   Amit Kumar;Dubey A;Gaur M K;Samadhiya V (NO, , ) : Analysis of injection moulding process parameters on PVC material via Taguchi-Anova. J expl appl Mech 2015, 6(2), 13-21.

This paper deals with the development of prediction model for injection moulding machine using Taguchi. In this work, all the process parameters namely filling time (FT), refill time (RFT), tonnage time (TT) and ejector retraction time (ERT) are modeled using Taguchi method. PVC (polyvinylchloride) taken as process material in this experimental work under optimal working conditions. The influence of filling time (FT), refill time (RFT), tonnage time (TT) and ejector retraction time (ERT) on cycle time (CT) is examined in the process. The experimented result is examined through ANOVA. From the basis of experimented result via Taguchi method, it is found that filling time (FT=23 sec) and tonnage time (TT=.68 sec) have significant effect on output parameter (CT) and the other parameters refill time (RFT) and ejector retraction time (ERT) have insignificant effect.

019821   Allaedini G;Tasirin S M;Aminayi P (Chemical and Process Engineering Dep, Univ Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Malaysia, Email: jiny_ghazaleh@yahoo.com) : Synthesis of graphene through direct decomposition of CO₂ with the aid of Ni-Ce-Fe trimetallic catalyst. Bull Mater Sci 2016, 39(1), 235-40.

In this study, few-layered graphene (FLG) has been synthesized using the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) method with the aid of a novel Ni-Ce-Fe trimetallic catalyst. Carbon dioxide was used as the carbon source in the present work. The obtained graphene was characterized by Raman spectroscopy, and the results proved that high-quality graphene sheets were obtained. Scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy pictures were used to investigate the morphology of the prepared FLG. The energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy results confirmed a high yield (<126>48%) of the obtained graphene through this method. Ni-Ce-Fe has been shown to be an active catalyst in the production of high-quality graphene via carbon dioxide decomposition. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectrum was also obtained to confirm the formation of graphene.

6 illus, 1 table, 38 ref

019820   Akhrameev V I;Akhrameev I V;Babichenko A V; Zemlyanyy E S;Sokolov S M (NO, Cand. of Techn. Sciences, Associate Professor, ZAO <>, Gromov flight Research Institute, Zhukovsky, Moscow Region, 140182 Russian) : Onboard flight safety support system development for low-altitude flights of light aircraft. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2015, 12(3), 2763-70.

The examined scientific and technical problem concerns providing flight safety for Small Aviation and General aviation (GA) aircraft with the use of onboard software and hardware. Proposed by the authors approach to the selection of scientific and engineering principles and methods, implemented in the algorithms of onboard computers when assessing the risk of a situation is based on the classification of the main causes and the corresponding types of aviation accidents and incidents during low-altitude flights of light aircraft in airspace with a high intensity of air traffic by the main typical features revealed on the basis of flight accidents analysis. The authors did an in-depth study on a rational option of complex vision system configuration, determined and justified a set of basic parameters of all the other components of the onboard system experimental sample, analyzed and compared options of possible technical solutions, on the basis of which selection and justification of the optimal variant of technical configuration by the hardware composition and the software structure of for the prototype.

6 illus, 11 ref

019819   Ahmed Y M Z;El-Sheikh S M;Zaki Z I (Ceramic and Refractory Materials Div, Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute, P.O. Box 87, Helwan 11421, Egypt, Email: ahmedymz@hotmail.com) : Influence of heat treatment and dispersing agent addition on hydroxyapatite powder properties and its suspension characteristics. Asian J Chem 2015, 27(7), 2608-18.

Colloidal processing route is considered as a potential way of successfully fabricating a homogeneous and complex shape ceramic body. In this regards, preparation of a well dispersed ceramic suspension is a vital in deciding the suitability of applying this processing route for ceramic green body fabrication. Controlling the physical properties of hydroxyapatite powder through the calcination process would enhance the particle properties in terms of particle size, its distribution and surface area. It was found that hydroxyapatite powder calcined at 1100 °C possesses physical and chemical properties suitable for colloidal processing route. Also the utilizing of calcined powder at 1100 °C with 0.3 wt. % sodium polyacrylate dispersant proved to be beneficial in producing a low viscosity and high turbidity suspensions.

15 illus, 2 tables, 50 ref

018713   Suresh Kumar G;Rakesh T V (Petroleum Engineering Programme, Ocean Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai, Email: gskumar@iitm.ac.in) : Numerical modeling of reactive solute transport in a single fracture with matrix diffusion under complex boundary condition. J Hydrol Engng 2015, 21(2), 125-41.

Numerical model using finite volume QUICK scheme has been developed for simulating the transport behavior of solutes in a coupled fracture-matrix system for pulse-type boundary condition as against the conventional constant continuous source-type boundary condition, which essentially reflects the reality better, as it is practically not feasible for any source type to discharge it continuously with the same magnitude for a very long period. The sensitivity of fracture and rock matrix parameters, namely fracture aperture thickness, matrix porosity, and matrix diffusion coefficient have been analyzed under this complex boundary condition. In addition, the role of nonlinear sorption as well as decay has also been investigated. Numerical results suggest that the reduction in relative concentration within the fracture resulting from pulse-type boundary condition should always not be mistaken for matrix diffusion. It has been concluded from the present numerical study that segregating and quantifying the role on individual components, namely (a) source exhaustion (pulse-type boundary condition); (b) matrix diffusion; (c) sorption; and (d) decay in characterizing the resultant transport behavior of solutes in a single fracture with matrix diffusion under a pulse-type boundary condition remains challenging and needs further research.

16 illus, 1 table, 32 ref

018712   Soumya R S;Hela P G (Royyuru Sree Soumya Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, , Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh) : Chemometrics in process analytical technology. Archiv appl Sci Res 2015, 7(1), 54-8.

Requirement for enhancing healthcare products is eternally increasing. In this regard, the requisite for monitoring all the physical and chemical attributes during the manufacturing of the health care products with a lesser time is truly essential. A new tool, Process analytical technology (PAT) is used to monitor and control critical process parameters in materials and in-process products to maintain the critical quality attributes and build quality into the product. Process Analytical Technology checks the quality of the materials on-line, which saves a huge amount of time and facilitates rapid testing through direct sampling without any destruction of sample. However, to successfully adapt PAT tools into pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical environment, thorough understanding of the process is needed along with mathematical and statistical tools to analyze large multidimensional spectral data generated by PAT tools. Chemometrics is a chemical discipline which incorporates both statistical and mathematical methods to obtain and analyze relevant information from PAT spectral tools. In this article, Process Analytical Technology is briefly introduced and commonly used PAT tools in combination with appropriate chemometric methods along with their advantages and working principle are discussed.

1 illus, 15 ref

018711   Riyaz F;Ahmad Z (Civil Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Roorkee, Roorkee, Email: zulfifce@gmail.com) : Reply to the "Discussion by B.S. Pani on `Hydraulic characteristics of turbulent circular jets under surface confinement' by F. Riyaz and Z. Ahmad (2014)". J Hydrol Engng 2015, 21(2), 177-8.

This paper replies to the Discussion of Hydraulic characteristics of turbulent circular jets under surface confinement; B.S.Pani (ISH Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 16th Jan 2014, vol. 20, 222-229). The authors would like to thank the discusser on his keen interest in the paper and for raising pertinent points for discussion. Experiments have been performed in a tank of limited length i.e.x/D= 50 and high Reynolds numbers; therefore, the effect of the front wall of the tank on the hydraulic characteristics of the jet under surface confinement cannot beignored as pointed out by the discusser. Figures 3(a) and (b) show that measured U_e/U_c for H₁/D= 10 matches well with the computed value using Lee et al. (2011) for jet velocities U_e= 4.25 m/s and U_e= 7.0 m/s, respectively, while Figure 3(c) shows that the measured value differs with computed for higher velocity U_e= 8.5 m/s and x/D= 25. It may be concluded that for jet velocities 4.25 and 7 m/s with little surface confinement i.e. H1/D= 10, the effect of front wall is negligible; however, it is noticeable for higher velocity 8.5 m/s. The effect of front wall shall be higher under strong surface confinement due to modest decay in the centerline velocity. In compliance to the findings of Shinneeb et al. (2011), in this experimental work also, the deflection of the jet was noticed towards the surface. The deflection was higher under strong surface confinement. It is obvious that ratio of jet velocity at x= 0 and velocity of jet at any distance x dips downward with surface confinement; however, in the Figures 3(a)-(c), the ratio of jet velocity at x= 0 and centerline velocity at y= 0 for all values of x is plotted against x/D. In view of upward deflection of jet from centreline (y= 0), deflection of U_e/(U_c at y= 0) from straight line in an upward direction is obvious. Normalization of y with H has extensively been used in the literature (Shinneeb et al. 2011). In this paper also, samenormalization has been adopted in view of studying distortion in symmetry in velocity profile due to the surface confinement. Methodology for the computation of discharge and energyfluxes is mentioned herein for better understanding. For calculating discharge flux and kinetic energy in surface con fined jet at any section in axial direction, vertical section was divided into a number of small strips of radius r and thickness dr and each strip was divided into eight parts, so that the area of each part is equal to (2πrdr)/8 (Figure A1). The velocities on the center of each strip on the horizontal and vertical plane were obtained from the normalized velocity profiles. The velocities between vertical and horizontal axes were obtained by linear interpolation.

1 illus, 3 ref

018710   Patil M R (Farm Machinery and Power Dep, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Dr. Balasaheb Saw, Dapoli, Ratanagiri, Maharashtra, Email: maheshpatil999@gmail.com) : Measurement of weight transfer in two wheel drive tractor by developed ring transducer. Int J agric Engng 2015, 8(2), 181-9.

Weight transfer or weight shift is, in fact, reaction transfer or change in the reactions of front and rear wheels of the tractor. Weight transfer because of drawbar loading decreases soil reaction against the front wheels and increases reaction against the rear wheels. A study was done to measure the dynamic front wheel reaction of the tractor and thereby the weight transfer from front to the rear wheel. Developed ring transducer was attached below the tractor's front axle to measure the front wheel reaction. Field experiments were conducted using Ford-3630 tractor with three different implements viz., 3-bottom mould board plough, 9-tyne cultivator and offset disc harrow. For each operation, the parameters such as dynamic front wheel reaction, draft, slip and depth were measured. The instrumented link forces were used to calculate implement draft. Slip was calculated by measuring actual speed in the field at different depths and theoretical speed on a concrete surface in the same gear and throttle position. The dynamic front wheel reaction was measured by using the developed ring transducer and thus, the weight transfer from front to rear was calculated. Also the weight transfer for a given draft was calculated theoretically and compared with the experimentally determined weight transfer. The data indicated that weight transfer increased with increase in draft. The maximum variation between theoretical and experimental values of weight transfer was found to be 12.62 per cent. This variation may be due to some assumptions made in theoretical calculation as well as due to vibration of the front axle while operating the tractor in the field.

11 illus, 23 ref

018709   Londhe S;Panse-Aglave G (Civil Engineering, Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology, Pune, Email: shreenivas.londhe@viit.ac.in) : Modelling stage-discharge relationship using data-driven techniques. J Hydrol Engng 2015, 21(2), 207-15.

Discharge measurement in rivers is a challenging job for hydraulic engineers. A graph of stage vs. discharge represents the stage-discharge relationship, also known as rating curve. Once a relationship is established, it can be used for prediction of discharge from stage. For various hydrological applications, the accurate information about flow value in rivers is very important. In this paper, the stage-discharge relationship is modelled using three different data-driven techniques, namely non-linear regression (NLR), artificial neural networks (ANN) and model tree (MT). Artificial intelligence technique like ANN allows knowledge processing and can be used as forecasting tool. The applicability and performance of the so-called M5 model tree machine-learning technique show that MTs, being analogous to piecewise linear functions, have certain advantages compared to ANNs - they are more transparent and hence acceptable by decision-makers, are very fast in training and always converge. In the present work, it was seen that the accuracy of M5 trees is at par with ANNs and both were better than NLR.

8 illus, 5 tables, 24 ref

018708   Karna N;Hari Prasad K S;Giri S;Lodhi A S (Civil Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Roorkee, Roorkee, Email: nilav.nitk@gmail.com) : Effect of fine sediments on river hydraulics. J Hydrol Engng 2015, 21(2), 151-61.

Fine sediments that join rivers from various channel and non channel sources considerably affect on the hydraulics of the river. The hydraulics of river carrying water with fine sediment has a different fluid and flow characteristics as compared to that carrying clear water. Basic fluid properties like viscosity and density and flow properties like resistance to flow, bed load carrying capacity, etc. are affected by the presence of fines in suspension. Several studies have been carried out to understand the changes associated with the presence of fine sediment in flow. The present paper presents a comprehensive review of these studies.

^iia1 illus, 1 table, 64 ref

018707   Jothiprakash V;Bhosekar V V;Deolalikar P B (Civil Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Mumbai, Email: vprakash@iitb.ac.in) : Flow characteristics of orifice spillway aerator: numerical model studies. J Hydrol Engng 2015, 21(2), 216-30.

Orifice spillways are provided in dams situated in hilly regions for carrying out dual function of passing the flood and flushing of sediments. Aerators are required on these spillways for mitigating cavitation damage for head over spillway exceeding 50 m. The available current literature describes mainly the investigations for aerators on overflow spillways and no systematic work has been reported for aerators on orifice spillways. Traditionally, physical model studies have been used for designing the aerators on overflow spillways. However, extensive experimentation with sophisticated instrumentation is required to understand the flow field comprising pressure and velocity distribution and air entrainment characteristics. Numerical modelling using computational fluid dynamic techniques provides a complete picture on flow field in the vicinity of aerator. This study describes numerical simulation of flow over an aerator on deep-seated orifice spillway. The two-phase three-dimensional (3D) numerical model has been developed with 934,136 hexahedral cells and solved using FLUENT. The numerical model has been validated with data obtained from a 1:25 scale physical model. The pressure, velocity and air concentration profiles along the flow and across the depth at various locations highlights the air entrainment process on an orifice spillway aerator. The global air entrainment coefficient described as the ratio of entrained air and water discharge, average air concentration across depth and the bed air concentration profiles obtained from the numerical model completely describe the characteristics of aerator on orifice spillway and is found to be different than the one for the overflow spillway.

11 illus, 2 tables, 32 ref

018706   Jha K;Sinha N;Arkatkar S S;Sarkar A K (Civil Engineering Dep, Texas A&M Univ, College Station-77840, TX, USA, Email: sarkatkar@gmail.com) : Comparative study on application of time series analysis for traffic forecasting in India: prospects and limitations. Curr Sci 2016, 110(3), 373-85.

Modelling of growth trend and improvement in forecasting techniques for vehicular population has always been and will continue to be of paramount importance for any major infrastructure development initiatives in the transportation engineering sector. Although many traditional as well as some advanced methods are in vogue for this process of estimation, there has been a continuous quest for improving on the accuracy of different methods. Time-series (TS) analysis technique has been in use for short-term forecasting in the fields of finance and economics, and has been investigated here for its prospective use in traffic engineering. Towards this end, results obtained from two other traditional approaches, namely trend line analysis and econometric analysis, have also been collated, underlining the better results obtained from TS analysis. A regression model has been developed for predicting fatality rate and its results have been compared with those from TS analysis. Based on the incentive provided by reduced errors obtained from using increasing number of data points for model-building, forecasting has been done for the year 2021 using time-series modelling. With most of the datasets used and locations analysed for forecasting, the TS analysis technique has been found to be a useful tool for prediction, resulting in lower estimation errors for almost all the cases considered. It has also been inferred that the proximity of the forecasting window to the sample dataset has a noticeable effect on the accuracy of time-series forecasting, in addition to the amount of data used for analysis.

8 illus, 9 tables, 37 ref

018705   Jethva K R;Varshney A K (Farm Machinery and Power Dep, College of Agricultural Engineering (A.N.G.R.A.U.), Bapatla, Guntur. Andhra Pradesh, Email: haribabubattu@gmail.com) : Performance evaluation of developed reciprocating type cumin cleaner cum grader. Int J agric Engng 2015, 8(2), 151-9.

India is famous for its pet name in the world of agricultural as the `home of spices'. India grows 47 out of 70 varieties of spices grown in different parts of the world. Cumin seeds it comes from the field contain foreign matter like weed seeds, stems, leaves, broken seeds, stones, dirt, etc. These foreign matters must be removed to increase quality of seed in the market, storage period of seed, cost of selling and net income to the farmers as well as sellers and to perform different kinds of post harvest operations. Cleaning and grading of cumin in the marketing yard is time consuming and laborious operation because large quantity is to be handled. Some of the big traders used mechanical cleaners and graders, but the initial investment required in the purchasing of such machinery is quite high. Efforts were made to develop a low cost machine that can clean and grade the seed of cumin and can be utilized for the above operation at low investment. Effects of different machine operating parameters on its performance i.e. feed rate, speed and screen slope were evaluated for cleaning efficiency. For getting best cleaning efficiency and low power consumption, the machine should be operated at 50 kg/h feed rate, 150 rpm and 7-degree slope. The cost of cleaning is Rs. 0.31/-

10 illus, 5 tables, 6 ref

018704   Jaybhaye R V;Srivastav P P (Agricultural Engineering Dep, College of Agriculture, Osmanabad, Maharashtra, Email: rvjay003@gmail.com) : Design of LPG burner for hot air puffing machine. Int J agric Engng 2015, 8(2), 190-7.

In puffing machines the hot air is produced either by burning liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or electric heaters to develop puffed ready-to-eat (RTE) product. In puffing machine the product is puffed in LPG flue gas mixed hot air based on the whirling bed principle. Therefore, to produce hot air by burning LPG, three non-premixed diffusion type burner configurations were designed to produce a stable blue flame with minimum soot length. In Type I burner of 20 cm length two concentric galvanized iron pipes- inner gas pipe of 2.7 cm (OD) and outer air pipe of 5 cm (OD) were used. The gas was introduced in the inner pipe of burner through copper pipe of 1.3 cm (OD) from outside. It works and produces the flame with an obstruction plate of diameter equal to inner burner pipe which was positioned in front of inner pipe for stability of flame. In experimental tests it was observed that flame do not catches when blower was started and forms a single jet unstable luminous (soot) flame at high air velocity. In Type II burner two steam pipes of diameter 4.7 and 2.7 cm (OD) were used for fabrication. In order to protect the flame from high velocity air, a truncated conical metal (cast iron) shield of 4.7 cm diameter was welded to the rim of air pipe. The Type II burner produced characteristic long blue flame and less soot length but there was soot formation in flame at relatively low air flow rates. To overcome the problem of flame instability and soot formation a third burner configuration was used. Three concentric steam pipes were used for Type III burner. It was observed that the secondary air from central pipe results in proper combustion, complete blue flame formation at the burner tip and better flame stability under variable air flow rates. In Type II and Type III burner, the flue gases of temperature ranging from 90°- 300<144> can be produced at gas flow rates from 7 - 22 lpm.

4 illus, 1 table, 24 ref

018703   Guhathakurta S;Balasubramanian V;Tata B V R; Ponraju S (Rehabilitation Bioengineering Group, Engineering Design Dep, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai-600 036, Email: chanakya@iitm.ac.in) : Is gamma irradiation as a secondary sterilization procedure required for decellularized xenogenic tissue material?. Curr Sci 2016, 110(3), 337-44.

Biological tissues for clinical use typically require gamma irradiation to achieve targeted sterility assurance level (SAL). Gamma radiation produces deleterious changes to physical and surface properties of tissues. In this study, we evaluate the requirement of gamma irradiation as a secondary sterilization procedure by comparing it with non-irradiated chemically treated xenograft tissues. Sixty four bovine pericardia (BP) were decellularized and subjected to nonconventional (glutaraldehyde free) cross-linking. Xenograft samples were screened for bacterial and fungal contaminations both at pre- and post-processing stages, after cross-linking and preservation. Microbial evaluations performed revealed that the xenografts were rendered 'microbe free' by subjecting to a new multistaged decellularization technique and cross-linking. Five of these cross-linked tissues were subjected to gamma irradiation as recommended by IAEC and were tested for surface and mechanical properties to understand the ultrastructure, surface and bulk properties. Surface tension and thrombogenicity parameters were also evaluated. Gamma-irradiated specimen showed reduced physical and mechanical properties of these xenogenic tissues significantly along with biological property. Validation and analysis led us to conclude that this microbe-free decellularization method and subsequent processing for xenogenic tissues is a viable alternative for clinical usage without the deleterious secondary sterilization using gamma irradiation.

6 illus, 1 table, 20 ref

018702   Dixit S; (Civil Engineering Dep, SV National Institute of Technology, Surat, Gujarat) : Characterization of flow turbulence in mobile boundary channels. J Hydrol Engng 2015, 21(2), 179-92.

Experimental investigation on measurement of 3-D instantaneous velocity profiles in a mobile boundary channel with uniform and non-uniform sediments are reported. The estimated velocity fluctuations from measured velocity profiles along the center line of the flume are used to quantify the nature of bursting events, and turbulence characteristics on uniform (finer and coarser) and non-uniform sediments. The analysis presented in the paper indicated that sediment characteristics play very significant roles for existence of aforesaid characteristics (turbulence characteristics and bursting events) near the channel beds and fluid flow regions in the main flow. Further investigations on aforesaid theme are recommended, while taking the measurements on velocity profiles along the depths across the channel width including the center line depth of the channel.

17 illus, 3 tables, 26 ref

018701   Chandra S;Singh P K;Tiwari A K;Panigrahy B P; Anjani Kumar (Environmental Science ad Engineering Deo, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, Email: subhash08037@gmail.com) : Evaluation of hydrogeological factors and their relationship with seasonal water table fluctuation in Dhanbad district, Jharkhand, India. J Hydrol Engng 2015, 21(2), 193-206.

Due to rapid industrialization and increase in human population, there has been a tremendous pressure on the water resources. In hardrock terrain, the availability of groundwater is confined to fracture and weathered zones. In the present study, the study area is Dhanbad district of which most of the parts lie on hardrock terrain. In this study, an attempt has been made to relate the fluctuation of groundwater level with hydrogeological factors. The various hydrogeological factors that have been considered here which can affect the aquifer recharge are geomorphology, geological structures, geological formations, soil types, and elevation. These hydrogeological factors have been analyzed for 65 monitoring wells and frequency plots between different hydrogeological parameter classes, and water level fluctuation have been used to assess the relative impact of different hydrogeological subclasses on aquifer recharge. Further statistical analysis has been done for all hydrogeological parameters for each subclass based on mean, median, mode, and standard deviation values to further specify the relative effect of each subclass within different hydrogeological parameter. Based on the findings, it has been concluded that there is a definite relationship of surface topography, geology, geomorphology, soil, and elevation with recharge of aquifers based on their specific hydrogeological properties.

10 illus, 7 tables, 18 ref