Sensitivity Analysis of Soil Hydraulic Properties on Subsurface Water Flow in Furrows

Knowledge of the sensitivity of various soil hydraulic properties is beneficial for model development and application purposes. It can lead to better estimated values, better understanding, and thus reduced uncertainty. In the present study, an extensive sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate the effects that various soil hydraulic properties have on subsurface water flow below furrows during two successive irrigation events to see which irrigation event was more sensitive and to analyze the effect of spatial variations in the initial soil water contents within the soil profile. Testing the sensitivity of the various soil hydraulic parameters in the van Genuchten-Mualem expression was carried out using the HYDRUS-2D model for two irrigation events 10?days apart. Results showed that the first irrigation event was clearly more sensitive than the second one. The latter event was mainly associated with the nonuniformity of the initial soil water contents within the soil profile. Pressure heads in the soil profile were more sensitive than cumulative outlet fluxes and soil water contents. Sensitivity analysis results for pressure heads, cumulative fluxes, and water contents indicated that in every case the most sensitive parameter was the hydraulic property shape factor (n) followed by the saturated water content (θs), the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), the residual water content (θr), and the shape factor in the soil water retention curve (α), with the pore-connectivity parameter (l) the least sensitive parameter during both irrigation events. Pressure head sensitivity analysis for all parameters studied showed that the least sensitivity was linked with the wetting front as it gradually moved deeper with time, and the highest sensitivity was observed in those regions where the initial soil water contents were lower. Similarly, for water contents, higher sensitivity occurred in the drier regions during the first irrigation event and near the moisture front in the second irrigation event. Both pressure heads and water contents showed some sensitivity near the soil surface during both irrigation events, suggesting the importance of evaporation from the soil surface.     

Antenna Patch Design Using a Photonic Crystal Substrate at a Frequency of 1.6 THz

Wireless Personal Communications - In this paper, the design of a macro strip patch antenna with a photonic crystal structure has been studied. The purpose of this study is to create a photonic...     

From rose petal to bone scaffolds: Using nature to fabricate osteon-like scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications

In this study, rose petal was used to fabricate osteon-like scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications. Rose petal was coupled with nanocrystalline forsterite colloid to mimic the lamellar structure of porous osteons. The microstructures on the surface of the petals were utilized as template for pores and lacuna spaces which are suitable for cell attachment. On the other hand, rolling the petals allowed us to form the osteon structure with haversian canal and lacuna spaces on the body of the samples. After trying different temperatures, the results showed that samples annealed at 1100 °C closely mimicked the lacuna spaces, haversian canal, and lamellar structures of osteons. These scaffolds had the pore diameter in the range of about 13–20 μm and presented good bioactivity and biocompatibility. It was found that red rose petal is a good candidate to be used as a template for designing scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications.     

Fracture of hardened cement paste and concrete

The paper reviews literature on work in the field of fracture mechanics of hardened cement paste, cement mortar and concrete from the very beginning in 1929. Application of Griffith's theory for fracture of brittle solids to heterogeneous composite cement and concrete materials is discussed. Experimental data on fracture parameters from previous work by others is tabulated and compared. Macroscopic fracture mechanism and crack patterns of cement paste and concrete in tension and compression, as well as microscopic aspects of fracture mechanism in cement paste, are discussed.     

Thermal performance of adobe structures with domed roofs and moist internal surfaces

The inside air and the mean radiant temperatures of two buildings, one built of brick having a flat roof and the other built of lightweight adobe and having a domed roof, were estimated through a thermal network analysis. The analysis was repeated for both buildings when their ceilings and inside wall surfaces were kept moist and evaporatively cooled. A design day for a hot, arid region was considered for the analysis. It is shown that the temperature of the moist surfaces is reduced appreciably and the floor and the air temperatures are also reduced by their heat transfer to the moist surfaces. When natural ventilation rate is high, the room air does not become uncomfortably humid.With low mean radiant temperature in the moist buildings, thermal comfort can be maintained for the occupants. The total area and the duration when the surfaces are kept moist, along with the natural ventilation rate, can be controlled by the occupants to provide thermal comfort when it is otherwise uncomfortable. The use of a domed roof with a hole in its crown can ensure high ventilation rates at low wind velocities and in buildings which cannot otherwise be sufficiently vented.     

Computation of the autocovariances of stationary arma processes

Autoregressive-moving average (ARMA) models are often used for the purpose of forecasting a time series. As an aide to chosing a model, use is made of the autocorrelation function which is estimated from the data. If the only interest in the model is for forecasting purposes, then it is not necessary to compute the autocorrelation function associated with the chosen model. For this reason, a method for computation of the autocorrelation function is not usually included in the software used for identifying ARMA models. However, there are applications of ARMA models where it is important to compute the autocovariance function.

This paper contains an algorithm and a listing of a FORTRAN program which computes the autocovariance directly from the solution to the difference equations which govern its behavior.     

CFD modeling of mass transfer in annular reactors

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) investigation of single-phase flow mass transfer prediction in annular reactors was conducted. Different hydrodynamic models including laminar, standard k–ε, realizable k–ε, Reynolds stress (RSM), and the Abe-Kondoh-Nagano (AKN) (a low Reynolds number turbulence model) were evaluated against experimental data in terms of their mass transfer predication capabilities. The laminar model predicted successfully the average mass transfer in the flows under laminar regime (Re < 1500). Among the four evaluated turbulence models, the AKN model provided a better prediction of the average mass transfer rates in the systems when operated both under transitional and turbulent conditions (3000 < Re < 11000). The RSM performed very similarly to the AKN model, except for the entrance region of the reactors where it predicted lower mass transfer rates. These results make the AKN and RSM models very attractive to be integrated in CFD-based simulations of turbulent annular reactors.     

Mixed-model assembly line balancing in the make-to-order and stochastic environment using multi-objective evolutionary algorithms

The present study introduces a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) to solve a mixed-model assembly line problem (MMALBP), considering cycle time (CT) and the number of stations simultaneously. A mixed-model assembly line is one capable of producing different types of products to respond to different market demands, while minimizing on capital costs of designing multiple assembly lines. In this research, according to the stochastic environment of production systems, a mixed-model assembly line has been put forth in a make-to-order (MTO) environment. Furthermore, a MOGA approach is presented to solve the corresponding balancing problem and the decision maker is provided with the subsequent answers to pick one based on the specific situation. Finally, a comparison is carried out between six multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEA) so as to determine the best method to solve this specific problem.