Substructuring techniques—status and projections

Status and recent developments of substructuring techniques and their application to structural analysis and design are summarized. Discussion focuses on a number of aspects including: multilevel substructuring algorithms; use of hypermatrix and other sparse matrix schemes, use of substructuring in automated design systems and application of substructuring in elasto-plastic problems. Numerical examples are presented to demoostrate the reduction in the number of arithmetic operations and disk storage requirements obtained by using multilevel substructuring techniques. Also discussed are the potential benefits of using such techniques with new computing hardware such as CDC STAR-100 and minicomputer systems.     

The hydrothermal preparation of sodium silicate

A comparatively high steam pressure should be used to give complete sodium silicate formation from the starting materials. Moreover, a higher steam pressure is required in the case of using sodium carbonate than on using sodium hydroxide. Sodium metasilicate hydrate prepared under a low steam pressure (2.5 atm)^a appears to be amorphous in nature while that prepared from sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate at a higher steam pressure is crystalline and very similar to the metasilicate hydrate with the formula Na₂SiO₃. 9H₂O. However, the metasilicate prepared from sodium carbonate appears to be poorly crystalline due to the presence, in the prepared material, of an appreciable amount of sodium carbonate.     

Comparison studies on the percolation thresholds of binary mixture tablets containing excipients of plastic/brittle and plastic/plastic deformation properties

Percolation theory has been used with great interest in understanding the design and characterization of dosage forms. In this study, work has been carried out to investigate the behavior of binary mixture tablets containing excipients of similar and different deformation properties. The binary mixture tablets were prepared by direct compression using lactose, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Eudragit RS 100, and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). The application of percolation theory on the relationships between compactibility, P_max, or compression susceptibility (compressibility), γ, and mixture compositions reveals the presence of percolation thresholds even for mixtures of similar deformation properties. The results showed that all mixture compositions exhibited at least one discreet change in the slope, which was referred to as the percolation threshold. The PVC/Eudragit RS100 mixture compositions showed significant percolation threshold at 80% (w/w) PVC loading. Two percolation thresholds were observed from a series of binary mixtures containing similar plastic deformation materials (PVC/MCC). The percolation thresholds were determined at 20% (w/w) and 80% (w/w) PVC loading. These are areas where one of the components percolates throughout the system and the properties of the tablets are expected to experience a sudden change. Experimental results, however, showed that total disruption of the tablet physical properties at the specified percolation thresholds can be observed for PVC/lactose mixtures at 20-30% (w/w) loading while only minor changes in the tablets' strength for PVC/MCC or PVC/Eudragit RS 100 mixtures were observed.     

An evaluation oftcp with explicit congestion notification

We study the effect of Explicit Congestion Notification (ecn) ontcp for relatively large but finite file transfers inip networks, and compare it to other congestion avoidance mechanisms, namely Drop Tail (dt) and Random Early Detection (red). We use simulation to measuretcp performance for transfers initiated by a varying number of end hosts. In contrast to previous work, we focus on situations in which all nodes in the network operate uniformly under the same mechanism (dt orred orecn). Our results show that under such uniform conditionsecn does not necessarily lead to significant improvement intcp goodput, although in no case does it lead to an actual degradation in performance. Our results also show that, withecn, tcp flows benefit from lower overhead for unsuccessful transmissions. Furthermore, lockouts are largely avoided. In other words, in an all-ecn network resources are shared more fairly. Finally, we show that global synchronization is no longer an issue, and argue that currenttcp versions have essentially solved the problem, regardless of the queue management scheme employed.     

Optimum tilt angle and orientation for solar collector in Brunei Darussalam

One of the important parameters that affects the performance of a solar collector is its tilt angle with the horizontal. This is due to the fact that the variation of tilt angle changes the amount of solar radiation reaching the collector surface. A mathematical model was used for estimating the total (global) solar radiation on a tilted surface, and to determine the optimum tilt angle and orientation (surface azimuth angle) for the solar collector in Brunei Darussalam on a daily basis, as well as for a specific period. The optimum angle was computed by searching for the values for which the total radiation on the collector surface is a maximum for a particular day or a specific period. The results reveal that changing the tilt angle 12 times in a year (i.e. using the monthly-averaged optimum tilt angle) maintains approximately the total amount of solar radiation near the maximum value that is found by changing the tilt angle daily to its optimum value. This achieves a yearly gain in solar radiation of 5% more than the case of a solar collector fixed on a horizontal surface.     

Correlations of the Composition,Minerals, and RVA Pasting Properties of Various Potato Starches

Multiple linear regression equations were developed to correlate the granule size distribution, composition, and minerals content with the Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA) pasting properties of potato starches of different cultivars. From the experimental values and the values of the regression coefficients, it could be observed that a higher level of amylose resulted in a lower peak viscosity (PV) and breakdown (BD) and higher setback (SB) and peak viscosity temperature (PVT) in the potato starches. The reverse was observed when the phosphorus content was higher. Smaller granule size was associated with a decrease in the PVT, whereas larger granules demonstrated higher PV, BD, and SB values in the potato starches. A higher calcium content was associated with a decrease in PV and an increase in BD, SB, and PVT. On the other hand, higher potassium was associated with an increase in PV, BD, SB, and PVT. The sodium contents demonstrated a higher PV and SB, and the reverse was observed in the BD and PVT. It is difficult to conclude the precise role of magnesium ions to the RVA properties although as divalent cations, they may have similar effect as calcium. From the positive and negative values of the regression coefficients it was shown that the correlation is useful for determining more precise values of the RVA pasting properties using a multiple linear regression equation. The correlations were also useful for predicting the effects of the starch composition and minerals on the RVA pasting properties.     

A comparison study on node clustering techniques used in target tracking WSNs for efficient data aggregation

Wireless sensor applications are susceptible to energy constraints. Most of the energy is consumed in communication between wireless nodes. Clustering and data aggregation are the two widely used strategies for reducing energy usage and increasing the lifetime of wireless sensor networks. In target tracking applications, large amount of redundant data is produced regularly. Hence, deployment of effective data aggregation schemes is vital to eliminate data redundancy. This work aims to conduct a comparative study of various research approaches that employ clustering techniques for efficiently aggregating data in target tracking applications as selection of an appropriate clustering algorithm may reflect positive results in the data aggregation process. In this paper, we have highlighted the gains of the existing schemes for node clustering‐based data aggregation along with a detailed discussion on their advantages and issues that may degrade the performance. Also, the boundary issues in each type of clustering technique have been analyzed. Simulation results reveal that the efficacy and validity of these clustering‐based data aggregation algorithms are limited to specific sensing situations only, while failing to exhibit adaptive behavior in various other environmental conditions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Petrological control on engineering properties of carbonate rocks in arid regions

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - Petrological features of carbonate rocks that exert control on their mechanical and physical properties are examined in the study presented...