Aluminium (Al) alloys find application in aircraft industries that requires the use of advanced machining process for fabrication of complex geometry features. The machining of Aluminium (Al) alloys through conventional machining process generates burrs which requires rework and affect the quality of the machined products. Electric Discharge Machining (EDM) is an unconventional machining process where tool and workpiece are kept apart during machining process. Hence in this research EDM is considered for machining Aluminium alloy (Al 8090) is considered as a workpiece and optimization of the EDM process parameters is planned. In this paper, parametric EDM optimization is carried out on Al 8090 alloy using a meta-heuristic algorithm called Mouth Brooding Fish (MBF) algorithm. The Al 8090 alloy consist of an activated charcoal with different reinforcement percentage. The parameters considered for optimization includes peak current, pulse-on and off and Response Surface Method (RSM). The Box�Behnken design is used to implement the RSM through mathematical derivations of Tool Wear Rate (TWR), MRR, and Material Hole Roundness (MHR). Several iterations are established to improve the accuracy of the model. The Al 8090 alloys are tested for Hardness, Density, Ultimate tensile strength and Impact Strength. These methods yields best samples and machining process is performed on it in EDM. Several experiments are carried out using RSM and observations are carried out. The qualities of alloys are evaluated in terms of SR and MRR. The optimal solution of MBF is found using weighted sum method with multi-objective function. The optimal results provide the solutions for optimal parametric combination with maximum MRR and minimum SR values. The results of ANOVA analysis proved that the servo speed creates a greater influence to determine the quality of EDM. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed using confirmatory experiments.

Plough-breast is the crucial soil-engaging component of horizontally reversible plough (HRP), a novel mouldboard plough in tillage operations. The biggest novelty of HRP, compared to regular mouldboard ploughs, is that it can implement continuous, alternative and commuting tillage operations with high speeds. A major technical challenge in high-speed commuting tillage operations is violent flowing interaction between soil and plough-breast. This flowing interaction results in plasticity, severe wear rate on the plough-breast and particularly on its cutting edge, i.e. plough-shank, thereby reducing tool life. The objective of the present paper is to evaluate effects of the flowing interaction on the plough-breast by studying interaction load, wear rate and their correlation. The interaction loads on the plough-breast were predicted using a numerical calculation with finite volume method based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. The wear rates were measured with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Tool speeds (V), i.e., 5, 6, 7 km/h and operational depths (H), i.e., 0.27, 0.315, 0.360 m, were selected, giving a combination of three essential tillage conditions. There were very good qualitative agreements between numerical and experimental results that either the maximum load or the most severe wear rate appears at the intermediary area of plough-shank and has a direct relationship with either operational depth or tool speed increase. Closer examination of the simulations and measurements confirms that the violent sliding & rubbing, the greater stress gradient and the larger abrupt stress arising from the flowing interaction result in the severer wear rate at the plough-shank.

Groundwater has an important role in sustaining ecosystems and enabling adaptation to climate variability. Groundwater contamination by landfill leachate is a major problem in landfill management. Collection and treatment of landfill leachate from closed landfill/dumpsite is the most important challenges in the operation of solid waste landfills. Among the technologies for groundwater remediation, permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) are considered suitable for the treatment of contaminant plumes. The availability and cost are the two important criteria for selecting a reactive material. In the present study a laboratory-scale sequential PRB is specially designed by maintaining horizontal flow. Efficiency was evaluated on the basis of percentage reduction in concentration of chromium in leachate contaminated groundwater before and after treatment by passing through PRBs. Treated groundwater samples were collected from batch test with different detention periods (12hrs, 24hrs) to determine the removal efficiency of Chromium from leachate contaminated groundwater using permeable reactive barriers with various combinations of filler materials for various batches. The barrier materials used for batch test A were Pea Gravel, River Sand, and Carbon Raiser. For batch test B, Pea Gravel, River Sand, Carbon Raiser, Saw Dust, Hay - Long Grass were used and for batch test C, Pea Gravel, River Sand, Fire Wood Charcoal were used. Percentage removal efficiency for batch test A, B and C for 12hrs and 24 hrs were 98.86% and 98.57%, 53.25% and 86.74%, 47.14% and 83.57% respectively. It was observed that barrier materials of batch test A can be used as a cheap and efficient PRB for the removal of chromium from contaminated groundwater with 12 hrs retention period.

Energy is one of the most significant products to power the global economy as stated by the World Trade Organization (WTO). The world’s population is expected to upsurge from 7.1 billion in 2013 to 9 billion in 2040, with the growth-focused in Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. The massive growth of world population, advanced technical developments, and a higher standard of living in the industrially developed nations has led to a complicated situation in the field of energy supply and demand. The Scenario of New Policies include platforms to backing non-conventional energy & increase of energy effectiveness, to encourage alternative fuels & vehicles, carbon pricing, change of energy subsidies and the introduction & development or phase-out of nuclear power. A significant part of this is consumed in the transportation sector. Biodiesel is carbon neutral, and many valuable by products also flow from the agro-industry that produce biodiesel. The Carbon neutral is a term used to define the fuels that neither increase nor reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Artificial Intelligence Techniques like ANN, ANFIS are the most suitable technologies are used for validation and testing such Alternate fuels like Biodiesel etc., This article will elucidate the advantages of Alternate fuel with its efficiency with the help of ANN Techniques.

Hoisting Hook is one of the critical components in various cranes and hoisting systems. In particularly, a five ton capacity hoisting hook has very wide applications in various industries as well as in building constructions. The impact of such hosting hook failure is sometimes very high. So this research focuses the measures of prevention of failure five ton hosting hook. The factors like loadings near the capacity, three previously recommended cross section of the hooks as well as two proposed cross sections were considered for analysis. The proposed cross sections are incremented and decremented type from the trapezoidal cross section. The commercially available five different materials of hook considered for the investigation. Taguchi mixed L25 orthogonal array is used for designing the experiments. The total deformation, equivalent stress and maximum principle stress were considered as a measure of performance. The hook tested near to the capacity at five different loads. The optimal result is validated numerical method and experimental method.

The vomiting toxin (DON) is widely found in corn, wheat, rice bran, and other raw materials, which has a considerable impact on the human health and breeding industry. A novel detection method, enriching the DON in flour and then detecting DON by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was proposed in this study. At first, the DON in flour samples was separated and enriched by polar solvents and centrifugation. Then the DON content of every sample was determined according to the national standard liquid chromatography, and FTIR was employed to collect the spectra of samples. After preprocessing the original spectrum, this paper develops an FTIR trend parameter TP, which uses the TP value to find the characteristic band of the spectrum and compares it with the traditional stepwise regression analysis method. Using an artificial neural network and partial least squares (PLS) technology, a prediction model of DON content in wheat flour was established and the model was experimentally verified. The results show that after the feature band is obtained through the enrichment process and the TP value, the wheat flour DON content prediction model established by the artificial neural network has the highest prediction accuracy, with the determination coefficient of 0.962 and the root mean square error (RSMEP) of 32.07. Set processing plus FTIR technology can detect flour with lower DON content.

Low velocity impact studies of glass fiber reinforced with perforated Aluminum sheets were investigated and analyzed using pulsed thermography. The composite specimens were fabricated by reinforcing perforated Aluminum sheet along with glass fibers by hand lay-up method. The specimens were cured at three different temperatures (100˚C, 200˚C and 300˚C) and subjected to drop-weight impact tests to induce cracking. The impact damage developed has been characterized by using pulse thermography and systematic investigation has been performed based on the reflection and transmission configurations. Up on the thermographic images obtained, different damages were characterized in the specimen that shows better impact resistance cured at200˚C.

Onion (Allium Cepa) peel is a well reported and potential dye source for dyeing of cotton fabric. In this work environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of gate to gate dyeing of cotton fabric using onion peel extract is done. The functional unit chosen was dyeing of 1 tonne of cotton fabric with natural dye extracted from onion peel. The main stages modeled in this work are cultivation of onion, dye extraction from onion peel, pretreatment of cotton fabric with tannic acid, premordanting and dyeing of cotton fabric. The carbon foot print and Human Toxicity potential were found to be 21405 kgCO2 eq/functional unit and 1141.7 kg DCB eq./functional unit respectively. Acidification potential, Eutrophication potential and Photochemical smog potential arrived are 66 kg SO2 eq./f.u., 16 kg PO4 eq./f.u. and 4 kg C2H4 eq./f.u. respectively. In each impact category, the raw materials and production processes are found to be responsible for sharing the major percentage of the impacts while for carbon foot print water treatment and electrical energy are found to share 78% contribution among the production stages. Scenarios of reduced material to liquor in the production processes and increase in onion yield have reduced the environmental impacts significantly however change of mordant does not influence much of the impact categories studied. Reuse of treated water in pretreatment, premordanting and dye fixing also has less influence on impact results.

The duration of laboratory test results is important in the emergency rooms of the hospitals. Delivery of blood and urine samples of emergency patients to the laboratory is carried out by transporter personnel or pneumatic systems. Pneumatic transport systems are used for rapid and reliable transfer of samples in many hospitals. Hemolysis-related sample rejection rates and turnaround times (TAT) were compared retrospectively during the period when the Pneumatic transport system (PTS) was malfunctioning in our hospital. It was determined that there was no significant contribution of PTS to TAT. When hemolysis induced rejection rates in PTS Active and PTS Disorder were compared, it was found that PTS had a lower hemolysis in the absence of activity. At emergency patients, the pneumatic transport system can lead to an increase in the rate of hemolysis and the inability to make a meaningful contribution to the outcome time may be due to user errors and the type of sample used. In emergency departments, plasma can be used instead of serum to reduce PTS induced hemolysis and to make a meaningful contribution to the outcome times. Continuous trainings can be organized to prevent and correct PTS system user mistakes. Process responsibilities can be defined and traceability can be achieved or new generation single tube PTS systems should be introduced.

Facial Expression gives significant information about emotion of a person. In the research area of computer vision, automated facial expression recognition is an important area because of its significance in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). To improve the level of interaction in man machine communication systems, extraction and validation of emotional information by facial expression analysis plays a major role. The proposed method in facial expression recognition is based on Wavelet Transform Features. The gray-level co-occurrence parameters of the image and the properties of discrete wavelet transform images were used as texture features. The neuro-fuzzy based system called Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) is used for classification. The performance of the proposed methodology is validated which yield promising performance showing the effectiveness of the recognition system.

Plants may not have optimum growth hormone production potential under suboptimal growth and environmental conditions. Exogenous application of microbes is potential and economical source of plant hormones. A laboratory experiment was conducted to assess hormone biosynthesis potential of different soil microbes. Rhizobium sp. (Rhizobium trifolii, Rhizobium etli, Rhizobium meliloti, Rhizobium ciceri, Azorhizobium caulinodans, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Rhizobium vulgaris and Rhizobium phaseoli) were isolated from root nodules of different legumes and were biochemically characterized. Absorption spectroscopy (535, 254 and 665 nm λ) was used to measure indole acetic acid (IAA), gibberellin and cytokinin production of different Rhizobium species. B3 isolate of Rhizobium trifolii had yielded (14.54 and 21.37 µg mL-1) IAA equivalents without and with L-tryptophan (L-TRP) addition, that was statistically at par with same species while significantly greater than other Rhizobium isolates. Gibberellins production was found statistically non-significant in all isolates. Rhizobium phaseoli (Vp1) yielded 1.68 µg mL-1 cytokinin that was at par with same species isolates and with Rhizobium trifolii but was critically greater in amount than other species. It was concluded that Rhizobium plays vital role in plant growth and development having capacity to produce auxin and gibberellins but some had capacity to produce cytokinin.

Studies have shown that public regulatory authorities can serve self-interest instead of public interest. The US sugar market can be given as a concrete example of this situation. Regulatory actions for the sugar market have led to the widespread use of high fructose corn syrup, which has been called the plague of the age. The production of high fructose corn syrup, which has increased day by day in the US, has reduced sugar imports and significantly contributed to the economy with its undisputed role in the food sector. However, at the same time, the increase in chronic diseases and chronic health expenditures in the US has come to the fore as a problem that needs to be addressed.This study primarily focused on the activities of regulatory bodies and then emphasized the existence of the causality relation between the increase in high fructose corn syrup production and consumption, and the increase in health costs. The findings of this study supported the negative perceptions and judgments the society has towards high fructose corn syrup. In addition, the study was conducted within the framework of the 3rd best policy, which has been rarely used in the literature, and presents how public efficiency can be achieved.

This paper deals with the surface integrity of machined Aluminum metal Matrix composites using Turning process. Investigations on surface quality of machined Aluminum metal Matrix were carried out at different levels of cutting conditions. Dry high-speed Turning process tests the input parameters chosen at different cutting speeds, feed rates and depths of cut, in order to investigate the effect of the various cutting parameters on the surface roughness of Turning process using HSS Tool steels. 33 full factorial designs of experiments were designed by adopting the Design of Experiments approach with three levels. The Surface Roughness was measured using surface analyzer. An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was developed using 27 practical data obtained to predict the Surface Roughness of Turning Aluminum metal matrix Composites. The prediction capability of ANN is very close to the experimental measurement of Surface Roughness of Aluminum metal matrix.

This present investigation dealing the importance of silicon based coupling agents on viscoelastic properties of natural filler dispersed epoxy resin composites. The main of this current work is revealing the importance of silicon coupling grafting on the natural fillers, when they are indented to use as potential fillers for polymer composites. Ground nut shell power (GS powder), rice husk and saw dust were selected as a reinforcement for this current investigation. The powders were silane surface grafted using silicon coupling agent 3-Aminopropyltrimethoxysilane via aqueous solution method. The composites were prepared via gravity casting method and post cured at 1200C. The visco-elastic behavior of silane surface modified rice-husk-epoxy natural filler composite gives improved results in storage modulus, and loss tangent. Similarly, the fatigue results revealed that the composites made with 10 vol.% of silane surface treated rice husk filler gives maximum fatigue life cycle of 1310. The sessile drop results show that the silane surface modified epoxy composites retains higher absorption resistance by offering higher contact angle even after the natural fillers are filled. Scanning electron microscope images revealed highly reacted phase and improved dispersion of natural fillers with matrix. These natural fillers strengthen epoxy composites could be right choice to replace many metallic based materials in engineering applications.

We propose a technique to measure the impact of loss of traffic function in a particular area to surrounding areas. The proposed method is applied to the city of Seoul, which is the capital of South Korea with a population of about ten million. Based on the actual road network in Seoul, we construct an abstract road network between 1kmx1km grid cells. The link weight of the abstract road network is re-adjusted considering traffic volume measured at several survey points. On the modified abstract road network, we evaluate the traffic vulnerability by calculating a network measure of betweenness centrality (BC) for every single grid cells. This study analyzes traffic impacts caused by road dysfunction due to heavy rainfall in urban areas.

In this study, the wear level and the surface temperature rise during the rubbing process of polymer composite materials were analysed and evaluated. Epoxy composites filled with Al2O3, TiO2 and fly ash fillers were approached. Wear tests were carried out on pin-on-disc arrangement at atmospheric condition, sliding speeds of 0.4 and 0.8 m/s and under 5, 10, 15N applied load values. During the tests, the surface temperature rise was recorded using an infrared thermometer. Furthermore, worn surfaces of the materials were examined. The wear rates, surface temperature rise and worn surface results were evaluated and correlated. It is concluded that there is agood correlation between the wear level and surface temperature rise during the rubbing process of the materials.

The internationalization of Chinese firms has attracted attention recently and it has led to the emergence of studies into the business strategies of Chinese firms in their cross-border activities. The strategic choice to initially enter emerging markets is preferred to avoid direct confrontation with established firms from developed countries endowed with superior ownership advantages. This present research is investigating the relevance of a firm’s specific advantages of traditional Western MNEs by John Dunning to resources seeking MNEs from emerging markets. The study applied the two-stage qualitative methodology; preliminary interviews and multiple interviews based case study research methodology. We based our findings on the analysis of three solid resources seeking mining and three soft resources seeking Chinese MNEs operating in Nigeria. The findings confirm that there were similarities and differences in Dunning lists of Ownership advantages of Capital, technology, and access to markets, complementary assets and the size and negotiating strengths.