bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Mass, Depth, and Properties of the Soil Below the Raft Foundation on the Seismic Performance of R.C. Plane Frames
Authors: Alomari J. A.
Published: November 2020

Soil structure interaction has been the subject of numerous studies. The foundation soil has a definite effect on the performance of structures during seismic excitation. Recent studies show that the effect of soil-structure interaction SSI may be detrimental to the structure during seismic excitation. In this study, the effect of consideration of the soil below foundation and its depth, and the soil modulus of elasticity on the response of structures is investigated. The number of mode shapes considered has an effect on the accuracy of the values of structure response. A structural model consisting of an 8-story reinforced concrete frame resting on raft foundation, and including the soil below the raft is analyzed. The frame is analyzed using SAP2000 software, and time history and modal analysis are carried out with varying values of both soil depth and soil modulus of elasticity. The soil below the foundation is connected to the raft elements by gap links. Gap element links are compression–only members with appropriate stiffness, which are active only in compression. Modal analysis results show that the periods of vibration decrease as the modulus of elasticity of the soil increases. Periods of vibration of the frame without the soil mass consideration are less than those when the soil mass below the raft is considered, and they increase with increased depth of foundation to a certain limit. The structures response in the form of columns shear forces and story displacements are also evaluated under the variable parameters considered.
Effects on the Physiochemical Properties of Stored Pomegranate Seeds by the Application of Aloe Vera Gel as Coating Agent
Authors: Pirzadeh M. , Aminlari M.
Published: November 2020

Pomegranate has drawn the attention of dieticians and medicinal chemists due to its bioactive components. Natural coatings increase the shelf life of such agriculture products and reduce the risks associated with the use of chemical preservatives. Hence, we examined the effects of aloe vera coating on the pomegranate fruit. Aloe vera gel coating was utilized in three proportions of 25%, 33%, and 50%, and its effects on the pomegranate seeds were compared with a control sample. Experiments including moisture reduction, weight loss, sugar content, sensory properties, antioxidant capacity, and microbial analysis were performed over a period of 4 weeks. Results revealed that the percentage of moisture reduction in 50% aloe vera coated sample was lower than in other groups, and the mildew and yeast in these samples were less than in the other groups. However, the 50% aloe vera gel showed the highest level of contamination, over time. Furthermore, the 50% aloe vera gel showed higher sugar content, and over time the amount of sugar reduction in the 50% aloe vera was lower. Additionally, the percentage of weight loss in samples coated with aloe vera was lower than the control group, and in the 50% aloe vera group it was less than in the other groups.
A Novel Technique for Data Steganography
Authors: Hindi A. Y. , Dwairi M. O. , AlQadi Z. A.
Published: November 2020

In this paper, a novel stego-method will be introduced, which can be used to hide any secret message in any holding color image. The proposed method will be implemented and tested and the calculated parameters will be compared with the LSB method parameters. It will be shown that the proposed method provides a high-security level by using two keys to extract the secret message from the holding image, making it very difficult to hack.
Environmental Economic Dispatch with the use of Particle Swarm Optimization Technique based on Space Reduction Strategy
Authors: Kumar Τ. M. , Singh Ν. A.
Published: November 2020

This paper introduces a professional edition of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique, intending to address the Environmental Economic Dispatch problem of thermal electric power units. Space Reduction (SR) strategy based PSO is proposed, in order to obtain the Pareto optimal solution in the prescribed search space, by enhancing the speed of the optimization process. PSO is a natural algorithm, which can be used in a wide area of engineering issues. Many papers have illustrated different techniques that solve various types of dispatch problems, with numerous pollutants as constraints. Search SR strategy is applied to PSO algorithm in order to increase the particles’ moving behavior, by using effectively the search space, and thus increasing the convergence rate, so as to attain the Pareto optimal solution. The validation of SR-PSO algorithm is demonstrated, through its application on an Indian system with 6 generators and three IEEE systems with 30, 57 and 118 buses respectively, for variable load demands. The minimum fuel cost and least emission solutions are achieved by examining various load conditions.
Construction Waste Estimation Analysis in Residential Projects of Malaysia
Authors: Kupusamy K. , Nagapan S. , Abdullah A. H. , Kaliannan S. , Sohu S. , Subramaniam S. , Maniam H.
Published: November 2020

Construction and demolition (C&D) waste account for an oversized share of all solid waste generated worldwide. Statistical data confirm that, globally, 10-30% of waste originates from construction and demolition works. The types of waste from construction activities are wood, metals, concrete waste and mixed wastes. Waste generation continues to increase with the economy and population growth. A great challenge is providing more waste disposal facilities such as landfills to treat the waste. Rapid urbanization and insufficient attention to C&D waste generation, particularly in developing countries like Malaysia, have contributed to an urgent need for additional research on waste generation as there is a lack of information. The aim of this study is to predict the construction waste generation for the peninsular of Malaysia by quantifying construction waste generation data for Kuala Lumpur and to estimate the construction waste generation in 2016 for the peninsular of Malaysia. The estimation approach used was the proportion method with 20% of total sites in each state. Indirect waste measurement method was used to estimate waste generation. Total waste generation for Kuala Lumpur was around 6,101.46 metric tons. The predicted total amount of C&D waste generated for residential projects throughout Malaysia Peninsular is 63,101.93 metric tons. The initial prediction of construction waste generation for Malaysia Peninsular can be used as a baseline for future study.
Effect of Tile Powder Used as a Cementitious Material on the Mechanical Properties of Concrete
Authors: Bheel N. , Abbasi R. A. , Sohu S. , Abbasi S. A. , Abro A. W. , Shaikh Z. H.
Published: November 2020

This study was undertaken to reduce the usage of cement in concrete where different proportions of tile powder as cement replacement were used. Since in the manufacture of cement an exuberant amount of carbon dioxide is disposed of in the environment, this research aims to curtail the dependence on cement and its production. The objective of this work is to investigate the properties of fresh mix concrete (workability) and hardened concrete (compressive and splitting tensile strength) in concrete with different proportions of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% of tile powder as a cement substitute. In this study, a total of 90 concrete samples were cast with mix proportions of 1:1.5:3, 0.5 water-cement ratio, cured for 7, 14 and 28 days. For determining the compressive strength, cubical samples, with dimensions of 100mm×100mm×100mm, were cast, while for the determination of the splitting tensile strength, cylindrical samples with dimensions of 200mm diameter and 100mm height, were tested after 7, 14, and 28 days. The highest compressive strength of concrete achieved for tile powder concrete was 7.50% at 10% replacement after 28days of curing. The splitting tensile strength got to 10.2% when concrete was replaced with 10% of tile powder and cured for 28 days. It was also shown that with increasing percentage of the tile powder content, the workability of the fresh concrete increases.
Effects of Ambient Temperature on the Performance of Turbofan Transonic Compressor by CFD Analysis and Artificial Neural Networks
Authors: Sohail M. U. , Hassan M. , Hamdani S. H. R. , Pervez K.
Published: November 2020

The unfavorable effects of non-uniform temperature inlet flow on gas turbine engine operations have always been a hindrance on the performance of turbo-fan engines. The propulsive efficiency is a function of the overall efficiency of turbofan engine which itself is dependent on other ambient parameters. Variation of inlet compressor temperature due to increase or decrease of aircraft altitude, air density, relative humidity, and geographical climate conditions affects the compressor performance. This research focuses on the turbofan transonic compressor performance due to ambient temperature distortion. A novel predictive approach based on neural network model has been implemented to predict the compressor performance and behavior at different ambient temperature conditions. The model produces substantially accurate results when compared to the results of CFD analysis. Computational results from CFD analysis show that engine thrust decreases at higher altitude, lower density and lower pressure regions.
Two-dimensional Analysis of Cracks Propagation in Structures of Concrete
Authors: Benarbia D. , Benguediab M. , Benguediab S.
Published: November 2020

In this article we present a numerical simulation that allows describing and studying the damage of concrete works subjected to various stress types. In this study, the propagation of cracks in the concrete is analyzed as of their appearance, which requires having a thorough knowledge of the mechanical behavior of the material. The mechanical approach which leads to better understanding of fracture phenomena and can give satisfactory results, is that of the elastic linear mechanics of failure. The interest in this study is focused in the development processes of the cracks from a phenomenological point of view. The analysis is carried out by using fracture criteria while being based on the determination of the critical stress intensity factors, for each case of the several elaborate tests of indirect tensile per bending and Brazilian Disc. The analysis is carried out in a two-dimensional medium by the finite element method by using the ABAQUS software. The results obtained are compared with experimental data obtained analytically from other authors.
An Efficient Active and Reactive Power Control of DFIG for a Wind Power Generator
Authors: Louarem S. L. S. , Belkhiat D. E. C. , Bouktir T. , Belkhiat S.
Published: November 2020

During the last decade, wind energy gained much importance as an energy source in power systems. DFIG energy is one of the most widely accepted types of renewable energy generation because of its several benefits. This paper presents a comparative study on the performance of different control strategies for DFIG wind turbines: proportional–integral (PI), Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), H∞, and adaptive Fuzzy PI controller. Simulation results show that DFIG’s performance, dynamic response, and robustness against machine parameter variations are improved with H∞ control technique.
Bandwidth and Efficiency Enhancement of Rectangular Patch Antenna for SHF Applications
Authors: Nahas M. M. , Nahas M.
Published: November 2020

The microstrip patch antenna is used in various communication applications including cellular phones, satellites, missiles, and radars, due to its several attractive features such as small size and weight, low cost, and easy fabrication. The microstrip patch antenna consists of a top radiating patch, a bottom ground plane, and a dielectric substrate in between. The patch can have different shapes, the rectangular patch being the most commonly used. In practice, the microstrip antenna suffers from narrow bandwidth and low gain efficiency. This paper aims to enhance the bandwidth and efficiency of a rectangular-patch antenna using the High-Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS). Initially different patch sizes and substrate materials are investigated and optimal antenna parameters are achieved. Then, the antenna performance is further enhanced by inserting single and double slot designs into the patch. Two cost-effective feeding methods are involved in the investigation. The antenna is designed to operate in the Super High Frequency (SHF) band.
Effect of the Triaxiality in Plane Stress Conditions. Triaxiality Effect in a PVC Material
Authors: Selini N. , Elmeguenni M. , Benguediab M.
Published: November 2020

Polymer materials are gaining more and more importance in engineering applications. A new methodology of analysis is required in order to assess the capability of such material in withstanding complex loads. Therefore, the behavior of these materials currently arouses a great research interest. The use of PVC plastic pipes in pressure vessels and pipelines has increased rapidly in the last decade. In order to determine the plastic behavior of PVC, an experimental method is presented. Through the results obtained from experimental tests, in the first part of this paper, we investigate the use of a phenomenological model proposed by G’Sell and Jonas. The true stress-strain response under large plastic deformation was investigated in different stress triaxiality frameworks. Particular attention was given to volumetric strain evolution, separation resulting from elastic volumetric strain, plastic volumetric strain and pure shear. The effect of stress triaxiality on plastic instability and fracture strain was also examined. The deformation process should be considered as explained, and the anisotropic plastic response induced by the deformation could be introduced in constitutive equations of G’Sell.
Identifying the Impact of Concrete Specimens Size and Shape on Compressive Strength: A Case Study of Mud Concrete
Authors: Galabada G. H. , Rajapaksha M. , Arooz F. R. , Halwatura R.
Published: November 2020

Mud is a versatile material with a prodigious interest for traditional wall construction such as wattle and daub or rammed earth, with and without reinforcements. Mud concrete has been identified as a unique modern material, though more research is required for generalization. Compressive strength, a measure of concrete quality usually depends on the specimen’s size and shape. Specimen’s size and shape for mud concrete is yet to be identified and established. Addressing this knowledge gap, this research aims at investigating the effect of specimen’s size and shape on the compressive strength of mud concrete. At first, the compressive strength’s variation was estimated by varying water content. Then, the water content was kept constant and the variations of compressive strength were estimated by varying specimen size and shape. Both experiments were conducted for different mixtures and percentages of cement. The initial results suggest that the compressive strength of mud concrete decreases with the increase of water content. The decrease indicated linear behavior with a constant gradient. Less influence on compressive strength was observed by considering specimen size, while the shape showed more contribution. The effect of specimen size and shape was increased with the increase of compressive strength.
Performance Comparison between PSO and GA in Improving Dynamic Voltage Stability in ANFIS Controllers for STATCOM
Authors: Nguyen V. H. , Nguyen H. , Cao M. T. , Le K. H.
Published: November 2020

One of STATCOM’s advantages is its quick response to disturbances in the power systems. The controller of STATCOM is commonly a PID controller. However, the PID controller is usually only highly effective at one or some operation points. In order to improve operational efficiency of the controller of STATCOM, the proposed ANFIS-PSO and ANFIS-GA controllers have been studied and applied to the studied power system. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed controllers, simulations of the voltage response in time-domain were performed in MATLAB to evaluate the effectiveness of the designed controllers for STATCOM. The simulation results showed that the proposed controllers can be used to improve the system stability as well as the voltage quality more effectively than the conventional PID controller. The ANFIS PSO controller carried out the best response after the occurrence of a three-phase short circuit fault.
Mohr-Coulomb and Hardening Soil Model Comparison of the Settlement of an Embankment Dam
Authors: Bhutto A. H. , Zardari S. , Zardari M. A. , Bhurgri G. S. , Memon B. A. , Bhanbhro R. , Babar M. M.
Published: November 2020

In this study, numerical analysis of an embankment dam was carried out to predict settlement behavior with the use of the Mohr-Coulomb Model (MCM) and of the Hardening Soil Model (HSM). The MCM was applied to all material zones of the dam and the HSM was used for four major material zones that occupied significant volume. The settlement response of the dam was similar for MCM and HSM for three material zones (clay core, sandy gravel and random fill), each having a modulus of elasticity (MOE) in the range of 25000 to 50000kPa. However, it was found that after the end of the construction, the MCM showed about 57% and 50% more settlement as compared to HSM when MOE of sandy siltstone varied from 70000 to 125000kPa respectively. The results regarding the dam settlement predicted with the HSM are in agreement with the findings in previous studies.
On the Statistical Distribution of Packets Service Time in Cellular Access Networks
Authors: Al-Zahrani A. Y.
Published: November 2020

A cellular communication system is divided into two main parts, core network, and radio access network. This research is concerned with the radio access network part which consists of multiple-cells, each served by a central located base station. Furthermore, the users in each cell are considered to be uniformly distributed inside the cell. In the downlink context, the users’ packets usually arrive at the base station via fiber optic and then are relayed to the users via radio waves of certain frequency/ies. The speeds of delivering users’ packets vary, depending on the users’ location. In this paper, the actual distribution of the service time over different users whose locations are uniformly distributed in a cell served by one base station is analytically found. Simulation results are presented to validate the derived model.
Miniaturized Chipless RFID Tags Based on Periodically Loaded Microstrip Structure
Authors: Added M. , Rabaani K. , Chabaan S. , Boulejfen N.
Published: November 2020

A compact chipless radio frequency identification (RFID) tag-based on slow-wave technology is introduced in this paper. The tag consists of a resonant circuit based on open stub resonators periodically loaded by shunt stubs allowing a coding capacity of 9 bits and operating in a frequency range from 2 to 4GHz. The receiving and transmitting antennas of the tag are particularly designed to minimize the tag size as much as possible. The proposed tag presents a robust bit pattern with a compact and fully printable structure using FR4 substrate for a low-cost tag.
Numerical Analysis of Segmental Post Tensioned Concrete Beams Exposed to High Fire Temperature
Authors: Hekmet H. M. , Izzet A. F.
Published: November 2020

The main objective of this study is to characterize the main factors which may affect the behavior of segmental prestressed concrete beams comprised of multi segments. The 3-D finite element program ABAQUS was utilized. The experimental work was conducted on twelve simply supported segmental prestressed concrete beams divided into three groups depending on the precast segments number. They all had an identical total length of 3150mm, but each had different segment numbers (9, 7, and 5 segments), in other words, different segment lengths. To simulate the genuine fire disasters, nine beams were exposed to high-temperature flame for one hour, the selected temperatures were 300°C (572°F), 500°C (932°F) and 700°C (1292°F) as recommended by ASTM–E119. Four numerical models have been utilized to represent the unburned and the burned specimens at the three elevated temperatures. Calibration and simulation of the experimental work were conducted, while comparisons were made with the experimental results. These included the prestress effect, load-deflection relation under applied load, and load at failure of the reference beam and the beams after the exposure to fire.
A Graphene based Frequency Reconfigurable Square Patch Antenna for Telecommunication Systems
Authors: Ksiksi M. A. , Azizi M. K. , Ajlani H. , Gharsallah A.
Published: November 2020

Current research on tunable patch antennas for wireless applications has mostly focused on the dimensional variations of patch elements, such as geometry and substrate materials, using different techniques to achieve the reconfiguration. The use of different mixing materials to ensure reconfiguration and improvement of antenna performance in microwave frequencies has not yet been studied thoroughly. In this article, we consider graphene as a patch material, due to its unique chemical, mechanical, electronic, thermal and optical features, which assist in providing a highly flexible and adaptive antenna. The proposed antenna is a square plate excited by a coaxial probe, operating at a 2.45GHz spectrum. Adding graphene to the antenna structure and tuning its chemical potential, a frequency reconfiguration from 2.36GHz to 1.26GHz is obtained. This antenna can be deployed in many communication systems. Results demonstrate the importance of this material in the development of nanoelectronics in the future.
A Custom-made MATLAB Based Software to Manage Leakage Current Waveforms
Authors: Pylarinos D.
Published: November 2020

Leakage current (LC) monitoring is a widely employed tool for monitoring the performance of high voltage insulators. LC waveform monitoring is required to acquire a view of the phenomena experienced since the type of LC waveform’s shape is correlated with different types of electrical activity. In case of field monitoring, specially designed measuring systems, capable of operating under field conditions, have to be installed. The Greek Public Power Corporation (PPC) has issued a large project for monitoring the performance of outdoor insulators. A commercially available LC measuring system, was purchased and installed by PPC. The system was able to monitor various outdoor insulators, record several statistical values and intermittently record a LC waveform. The provided software lacked some capabilities that were required for certain research areas and a custom made software had to be developed. In this paper, two stand-alone MATLAB based softwares, “Leakage Current Waveform File Converter” and “Leakage Current Waveform Viewer”, both equipped with a user friendly GUI, are presented. The first software was developed in order to automatically convert multiple files from the CSV format (as extracted from the measuring system) to the MAT format in order to allow data compactness and further processing. The latter software was developed in order to offer a tool for collective viewing, printing and extraction to JPEG format, of LC waveforms in groups of user-defined numbers. The latter function gives the opportunity for easy and fast creation of waveform archives.
A Redundant Recurrent Cerebellar Model Articulation Control System for Industrial Applications
Authors: Ta V. P. , Dang X. K.
Published: November 2020

Because of increasing reliability requirements of the applications in industrial areas, the control systems must guarantee the stability and robustness during operation and continuously maintain control and supervisory process. In order to meet the above requirements, this study proposes a redundant recurrent cerebellar model articulation control system (RRCMACS) for controlling industrial applications, in particular the water level and the pressure in a tank. Therein, the stability and the robustness of the applications are guaranteed by the recurrent cerebellar model articulation controller (RCMAC) and the redundant solution maintains continuously control and supervisory process. To adapt industrial applications, a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) was used to build the control system and industrial networks were used to transfer data between the control system and field devices.
Design and Implementation of a Tri-Band Miniaturized Planar Inverted-F Antenna with Double Resonator for GPS Application
Authors: Bousselmi A. , Gharsallah A. , Vuong T. P.
Published: November 2020

In this paper, a new planar inverted-F antenna is presented for GNSS applications and the DCS band. The proposed antenna structure is based on capacitive slots that achieve multiband behavior. The antenna has two resonators of dimensions (31mm×17mm×0.35mm) and (20.5mm×17.5mm× 0.35mm), a ground plane (60mm×17.5mm×0.35mm) and 6.5mm height. A prototype was implemented and good agreement was noticed between the simulation and test results, indicating three resonant frequencies, namely 1.176GHz, 1.8GHz and 2.8GHz. Radiation characteristics and diversity performance of the proposed structure is presented with detail.
Performance Evaluation of a MIMO based Underwater Communication System under Fading Conditions
Authors: Pranitha B. , Anjaneyulu L.
Published: November 2020

Due to the intense importance of underwater applications in military and commercial purposes, Underwater Acoustic Communication (UWAC) is an attracting research area. Very high propagation delay, path loss, and low bandwidth are the factors that challenged the acoustic waves in an underwater environment. Multi-input multi-output (MIMO) techniques are currently considered in UWAC to surpass the bandwidth limitation of the undersea channel. In this paper, the accomplishment of a MIMO in UWAC System highlighting both Line of Sight (LOS), i.e. the Rician fading and Non-Line of Sight (NLOS), i.e. the Rayleigh fading signal propagation, is assessed. Spatial Modulation technique is used, which helps in increasing the data rate in UWAC. It controls the spatial distribution of the energy caused by a signal in such a way that the single ocean channel sustains multiple parallel communication channels. The utilization of Zero Forcing (ZF) equalizer, which estimates the transmitted data proves the success of removing inter symbol interference (ISI). Matlab simulations are done for the UWAC system for values of LOS/NLOS. Because of various scattering effects in NLOS propagation, the error rate is considerably high when compared to that of the LOS propagation. Bit Error Rate (BER) values for the corresponding signal to noise ratio (SNR) are calculated.
Establishing IPR in Gas-Condensate Reservoir: An Alternative Approach
Authors: Chachar M. H. , Jokhio S. A. , Tunio A. H. , Qureshi H. A.
Published: November 2020

Inflow performance relationship (IPR) accuracy in the condensate reservoir is a long-standing problem in the oil industry. This paper presents a new approach to project the gas phase IPR in condensate reservoirs. IPR is estimated by Rawlins and Schellhardt equation whereas the gas pseudo-pressure function is solved by two methods and the results are compared. Both two pseudo-pressure equations are used to estimate IPR. Additionally, an average of both IPR’s is estimated and compared. At the reservoir pressure, the difference between both flow rates is negligible i.e. at 6750 psi, the flow rate difference is 0.55 MMSCF/D. As pressure declines the difference is increasing at one stage, it is observed approximately 15 MMSCF/D.
Performance Optimization of an eCAR by Parametric Analysis
Authors: Gururaj G. , Gowri K. S.
Published: November 2020

In this paper, a method for performance optimization of an electric Car (eCAR) is proposed based on acceleration rate, maximum speed, and tractive force. Since the total tractive force is exerted by propulsion motor alone, the driving performance of an eCAR depends on the power of the propulsion motor and its control. The proposed pre-sizing methodology depicts the optimum power of the propulsion motor, and for the optimized motor the impact of road dynamics, acceleration rate, change in mass, and gear ratio on the eCAR’s drive range are analyzed. The proposed electric propulsion system is modeled and the performance characteristics are analyzed using MATLAB to validate the behavior of an eCAR propulsion.
A Comparative Approach of Dimensionality Reduction Techniques in Text Classification
Authors: Rahamat Basha S. , Rani J. K.
Published: November 2020

This work deals with document classification. It is a supervised learning method (it needs a labeled document set for training and a test set of documents to be classified). The procedure of document categorization includes a sequence of steps consisting of text preprocessing, feature extraction, and classification. In this work, a self-made data set was used to train the classifiers in every experiment. This work compares the accuracy, average precision, precision, and recall with or without combinations of some feature selection techniques and two classifiers (KNN and Naive Bayes). The results concluded that the Naive Bayes classifier performed better in many situations.
Effect of Metakaolin Developed from Local Soorh on Fresh Properties and Compressive Strength of Self-Compacted Concrete
Authors: Saand A. , Jamali K. A. , Keerio M. A. , Ali T. , Bhatti N.
Published: November 2020

This paper presents the fresh properties of Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) containing metakaolin (MK) produced by calcination of the natural material soorh of district Thatta Sind in Pakistan. Five mixes were tested, including four MK mixes replacing 5-20% of cement, with 0.38 water/binder (W/B) ratio. The fresh properties of the SCCs were evaluated using slump flow, T50, V-funnel, J ring, L-box and sieve segregation tests. Compressive strength of the control and the MK SCC was also investigated. The fresh concrete test results revealed that SCC could be developed by substituting cement with local MK, using 2% superplasticizers and without using a viscosity-modifying amplifier. The SCC with 15% replacement of cement with local MK showed maximum compressive strength, which was 10.39% higher than the control specimen’s without MK.
Design, Simulation, Modeling, and Implementation of a Square Helmholtz Coil in Contrast with a Circular Coil for MRI Applications
Authors: Ghaly S. M. A. , Khan M. O.
Published: November 2020

This paper focuses on Helmholtz-type coils that can produce a second-order homogeneity field to be used for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) applications. A Helmholtz coil is a device used for producing a region of a nearly uniform magnetic field. It consists of two identical magnetic coils that are placed symmetrically along a common axis, one on either side of the experimental area, separated by a distance equal to the radius of the circular coil and half-length of the side of the square coils. Each coil carries an equal electrical current flowing in the same direction. The main objective of this article is to calculate the magnetic field provided by the coils at any point in space and to show and compare the uniform magnetic field induced by the square and circular Helmholtz coils. With the aid of MATLAB simulation tool, mathematical equations are simulated to demonstrate the axial magnetic field produced by one and two loops. Also, the design and simulation of electrical modeling for square and circular Helmholtz coils are performed using PSPICE. Finally, these coils are realized and tested experimentally, and the results for square and circular Helmholtz coils are compared.
A Novel Summarization-based Approach for Feature Reduction Enhancing Text Classification Accuracy
Authors: Rahamat Basha S. , Keziya Rani J. , Prasad Yadav J. J. C.
Published: November 2020

Automatic summarization is the process of shortening one (in single document summarization) or multiple documents (in multi-document summarization). In this paper, a new feature selection method for the nearest neighbor classifier by summarizing the original training documents based on sentence importance measure is proposed. Our approach for single document summarization uses two measures for sentence similarity: the frequency of the terms in one sentence and the similarity of that sentence to other sentences. All sentences were ranked accordingly and the sentences with top ranks (with a threshold constraint) were selected for summarization. The summary of every document in the corpus is taken into a new document used for the summarization evaluation process.
Experimental and Numerical Comparison of Reinforced Concrete Gable Roof Beams with Openings of Different Configurations
Authors: Hassan M. A. J. , Izzet A. F.
Published: November 2020

This paper demonstrates an experimental and numerical study aimed at comparing the influence of openings of different configurations on the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete gable roof beams. The experimental program consisted of testing six simply supported gable beams subjected to mid-point concentrated load. The variable which has been investigated in this work was opening's configuration (quadrilateral or circular) with the same upper and lower chords depth. The results indicate improvement in the beams’ flexural behavior when circular openings were used compared with that of quadrilateral openings, represented by an increase in ultimate load capacity and a decrease in deflection at the service limit. Also, there was an enhancement in the ductility and rigidity of the beams. The results of the tested beams were verified by a nonlinear finite element program, ABAQUS (2018). Comparisons are presented and good agreement is shown between the predictions of the finite element analysis and the experimental results in terms of failure loads and load-deflection relations.
A Two Element Plasma Antenna Array
Authors: Sadeghikia F. , Hodjat-Kashani F.
Published: November 2020

This theoretical study presents the characteristics of plasma monopole antennas in the VHF/UHF range using finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulation. Results show that more broadband characteristics can be obtained by increasing the diameter of the plasma tube and that the minor lobes diminish in intensity as diameter increases. Furthermore, the nulls are replaced by low level radiation. Since the collision frequency, which is a function of gas pressure, represents the loss mechanism of plasma, decreasing its value increases the gain and radar cross section (RCS) of the antenna. Theoretical modeling shows that at higher plasma frequencies with respect to the signal frequency, the gain and radar cross section of the plasma antenna are high enough and that the impedance curves are altered as the plasma frequency varies. Using these preliminary studies, mutual impedance and gain of a broadside array of two parallel side-by-side plasma elements is presented.
Assessment of Reliability and Quality Performance using the Impact of Shortfall Generation Capacity Index on Power Systems
Authors: Alshammari B. M.
Published: November 2020

This paper presents a novel practical technique developed and applied for assessment of reliability and quality in real-life power systems. System-wide integrated performance indices are capable of addressing and revealing areas of deficiencies and bottlenecks as well as shortfalls in the composite generation-transmission-demand structure of large-scale power grids. The new evaluation methodology offers a general and comprehensive framework to assess the harmony and compatibility of generation capacities, transmission and required demand in a power system. The technique used in this paper is evaluated by the shortfall generation capacity index which is based on three dimensions introduced to represent the relationship between certain system generation capacity and demand. Also, practical applications to the Saudi power grid are presented for demonstration purposes.
Performance Evaluation of Learning Classifiers of Children Emotions using Feature Combinations in the Presence of Noise
Authors: Samad A. , Rehman A. U. , Ali S. A.
Published: November 2020

Recognition of emotion-based utterances from speech has been produced in a number of languages and utilized in various applications. This paper makes use of the spoken utterances corpus recorded in Urdu with different emotions of normal and special children. In this paper, the performance of learning classifiers is evaluated with prosodic and spectral features. At the same time, their combinations considering children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as noise in terms of classification accuracy has also been discussed. The experimental results reveal that the prosodic features show significant classification accuracy in comparison with the spectral features for ASD children with different classifiers, whereas combinations of prosodic features show substantial accuracy for ASD children with J48 and rotation forest classifiers. Pitch and formant express considerable classification accuracy with MFCC and LPCC for special (ASD) children with different classifiers.
Lithological Characterization by Simultaneous Seismic Inversion in Algerian South Eastern Field
Authors: Eladj S. , Lounissi T. K. , Doghmane M. Z. , Djeddi M.
Published: November 2020

The main goal of this paper is to characterize a reservoir situated in the southeast of Algeria based on AVO seismic inversion. The seismic inversion model has been built by the iterative method of Aki and Richards’s approximation and it has been correlated with four-existing wells in the studied zone. The correlation rate between the inversion model and logging data is good (varying from 72% to 85%). Reservoir characterization of this field has been given in detail. The lithological description is used to construct a Geomechanical model that is useful for new wells’ drilling decisions. The high correlated results allowed us to have a vision on the horizontal variation of Petrophysical parameters such as density and lithological variation of three facies clay, tight limestone, and porous limestone. Moreover, this classification is used in the best way to determine the interesting zone with higher porosity values, so that the exploration strategy becomes more efficient with minimized uncertainties. Therefore, it is highly recommended to use the constructed model to propose new wells as well-5 in this study.
Performance Investigation of Different Topologies of 1-100 GHz on-chip Transformers using 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS
Authors: Gomha S. , Langat K.
Published: November 2020

In this study, modeling and designing different topologies of on-chip transformers are presented using 130nm SiGe BiCMOS technology. Interleaved, stacked, and full symmetrical interleaved transformers are investigated. Octagon and square shapes are used for designing transformers with flipped and non-flipped feed lines. A comparison between performances of various configurations is presented using a full-wave simulator. The octagon stacked transformer with flipped feed lines showed a good performance at around 60GHz. The simulated results demonstrated a coupling factor K of 0.94, minimum insertion loss of 1.01518dB, and Q-factor of 9 with a minimum occupied area of 0.0019mm2.
Compact Circularly Polarized Patch Antenna for WiMAX Applications with Improved Impedance Bandwidth and Axial Ratio
Authors: Swetha R. , Anjaneyulu L.
Published: November 2020

This paper presents a circularly polarized microstrip patch antenna for WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) application with improved impedance bandwidth and axial ratio compared to the existing designs. The antenna is designed at a resonant frequency of 3.56GHz on the FR4 substrate with 2mm thickness. The dimensions of the antenna are 0.35λo×0.35 λo×0.023λo and it is fed through a probe feed. An impedance bandwidth of 360MHz (10.11%) in the frequency range of 3.44GHz−3.8GHz, with a gain of 3.16dBi, axial ratio bandwidth of 1.9% (3.56GHz−3.63GHz) and VSWR<2 are obtained.
Continuous Progressive Actuator Robot for Hand Rehabilitation
Authors: Ying S. Z. , Al-Shammari N. K. , Faudzi A. A. , Sabzehmeidani Y.
Published: November 2020

This paper presents the development of a soft rehabilitation robot to conduct Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) for hand rehabilitation. The main contribution of this work is the implementation of a McKibben actuator as an artificial muscle due to its proven advantages: simple structure, light weight, and high power-to-weight ratio. The development worked successfully when tested on a healthy subject, where the flexion and extension of the finger were controlled with an antagonistic pair of actuators. However, there is a limitation of the McKibben actuator regarding its length-dependency. In this research, the concept of a pulley system was proposed to overcome this limitation. Although there is a friction factor that reduces the contracting displacement by at least 15% of the original displacement, a pulley is still a potential solution as it can reduce the installation space of the actuator from 40 to 15cm while still producing sufficient force for the finger motion. Throughout this research, it was found that the pattern of the flexor pulley system is affecting the system’s efficiency in terms of motion assistance.
EPLAODV: Energy Priority and Link Aware Ad-hoc On-demand Distance Vector Routing Protocol for Post-disaster Communication Networks
Authors: Soomro M. A. , Channa M. I. , Hussain Z. , Ahmed M.
Published: November 2020

In Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) the major issue between nodes for data transfer is link quality. The majority of the MANET routing protocols try to maintain the link quality between nodes but still need improvement. This paper focuses on link quality between nodes in an ad hoc network in emergency scenarios through the design of the Energy Priority and Link Aware Ad-hoc On Demand Distance Vector (EPLAODV) routing protocol. EPLAODV improves the link quality between nodes through SNR. For performance analysis, the NS2.35 network simulator was used. Simulation time and traffic load were the major simulation parameters. From the simulation results, it is observed that EPLAODV performs better than AODV.
Impact of Roadside Fixed Objects in Traffic Conditions
Authors: Hazim N. , Shbeeb L. , Abu Salem Z.
Published: November 2020

Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) assumes that traffic flow rates are equally distributed between lanes, which is not always the case. Lane distribution and speed are influenced by lateral clearance on the roadsides. In Jordan, the absence of well-marked lanes and poor lane discipline results in under-utilizing of the freeway capacity. The objective of this study is to look into the impact of the presence of roadside objects on lane distribution and speed. Test sections were selected on six-lane freeway segments located in sub-urban areas on tangent highway segments. Speed measurements and distribution counts made for each lane on a directional three-lane segment of the freeway. The results showed that lane distribution significantly varies depending on lateral clearance and traffic. As lateral displacement increases, right-lane-use and left-lane-use increases while the middle-lane use remains almost at the same level. Average speed increases as the lateral clearance increases. The results also showed that average speed and lane distribution for 1.5m lateral clearances are very similar to no obstacle conditions. The impact of an obstacle is more significant on the right lane while the use of the left lane fluctuates with a significant increase if traffic flow rates reach high levels.
Reliability Assessment of Steel Plane Frame's Buckling Strength Considering Semi-rigid Connections
Authors: Tran N. L. , Nguyen T. H.
Published: November 2020

The buckling strength of a structure depends hugely on material properties, geometry dimensions, and boundary conditions that are potentially random. This paper presents an assessment of the safety of buckling strength of steel plane frame semi-rigid beam-column connections. The Newton-Raphson method is used to solve the nonlinear equation for the buckling limit of the column. The reliability of the structure is evaluated by the Monte Carlo simulation method. The effects of input parameters are also investigated.
Modeling and Analysis of Chaos-based Spread Spectrum Scheme using Irregular LDPC Code and Non-Coherent 16-DCSK under Fading and Jamming
Authors: Wei W. , Kim J.
Published: November 2020

In chaos-based spread spectrum systems, the use of spreading code and chaotic binary sequence expands the bandwidth of the information-bearing signal but this expansion results in SNR degradation under the constraint of constant channel capacity according to Hartley-Shannon law. To compensate for this drawback, our proposed model employs an irregular low-density parity-check (LDPC) code with its iterative decoding algorithm. Coupled with this forward error correction (FEC) coding, we used non-coherent (NC) 16-ary differential chaos shift keying (16-DCSK) that additionally provides the ability of data encryption due to its use of chaotic signals compared with the conventional modulation schemes. Analytical expressions of bit error probability (BEP) are derived under the assumption of the three-ray model along with partial band noise jamming (PBNJ) over a Rayleigh fading channel. Simulation results assert that the proposed system can mitigate the effect of PBNJ via lowering BEP by coding gain and processing gain under identical transmission power. It is also confirmed that a higher level of security can be provided by the use of proposed two iteration functions of Duffing Map-based chaotic binary sequence than the security level of one iteration function of Logistic Map, based on the balance and autocorrelation analysis.
A Novel Non-integer Indirect Adaptive Control for Non-integer Order Systems with Non-prior Knowledge
Authors: Bourouba B. , Ladaci S.
Published: November 2020

In this study, a new non-integer indirect adaptive control method with reference model is suggested for the class of non-integer order systems. The objective of model reference control is to include the output of the given reference fractional model in tracking the output of a controlled plant by using the concept of on-line goal adaptation. The stability of the closed-loop system is analyzed via the Lyapunov method. Finally, Matlab simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method of indirect fractional model reference adaptive control.
Ca and Ce Effect on the Corrosion Resistance of Hot-Rolled AZ31 Mg Alloys
Authors: Kara I. H. , Yousef T. A. I. , Ahlatci H. , Turen Y.
Published: November 2020

In this study, AZ31 Mg alloys with added Ca and Ce were produced by low pressure die casting and were rolled at 400°C. The corrosion properties of the materials were determined by immersion test for 72 hours at a 3.5% NaCl solution. The microstructure of the samples was investigated by light optical microscopy (LOM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) before the corrosion test. Twins, dynamic recrystallization (DRX), and the alloying elements have an important role in imparting the final corrosion resistance of the investigated materials.
Vibration Damping Optimization using Simulated Annealing Algorithm for Vehicle Powertrain System
Authors: Genc M. O. , Kaya N.
Published: November 2020

The clutch system in a vehicle’s powertrain system controls torque transmission and has vibration damping properties. A vehicle’s clutch system is subjected to high dynamic loads and vibrations, under operational conditions, that need further system analysis. The torque generated from the vehicle’s engine creates vibrations at different levels of frequencies. For this purpose, vibration damping systems have to be designed to make the vehicle work more efficiently. In this study, the 1-D modeling of powertrain system, including metallic clutch damper springs, was subjected to vibration optimization with the Simulated Annealing (SA) algorithm. This novel methodology accelerates the powertrain system vibration optimization and provides assumptions eliminating cost and time in real vehicle testing.