Table of Contents - Volume 8 Number 2

This research constructs a relationship between the geometrical cross section and the fatigue strength of aluminum alloy (6063). Different geometrical cross - section specimens were manufactured with the same section space, the specimens were tested under bending and unbending loading conditions. The strain was calculated and fatigue curves were drawn for all different forms of sections. After studying and analyzing the results, it became clear that increasing the sides in any form increases the fatigue strength as the strain is fixed. Fatigue curve equations were derived using computing techniques and connected to find a mathematical relationship between the geometrical shape of the section and fatigue strength. Equation were derived in order to determine the stress or strain, a specimen of a certain section figure can endure to fail under the effect of a number of cycles. The results show a good agreement when applying the same conditions for all specimens.

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The systematic analysis of rotational bands for medium and heavy nuclei (covering the mass region from 100 to 244) has been studied through the theoretical model, the variable moment of inertia with softness (VMIS),and the experimental data. This model used to investigate the behavior of backbending and upbending in nuclear moment of inertia. A systematic study of the level structure up to spin 20⁺ of the selected nuclei including soft as well as good rotors and exhibit back bending or up bending are performed. Good agreement between the theoretical model and the experimental data are observed.

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The study investigates the effects of surface area on the electrical properties of tellurium thin films for electric field values 0.05 – 0.50V/m. Different areas of the films were prepared by vacuum evaporation method at a pressure of 5×10-5torr. Measurements of current – voltage characteristics were obtained at room temperature. The areas of the films were found to affect the electrical properties of the films. The surface conductance of the films decreases with increase in area while the saturation current density increases with increase in area. The reduction in surface conduction could be attributed to larger resistance imposed by films of larger areas. However, the study revealed that there is little variation in the values of the barrier heights of the samples. Therefore within the limit of the study, surface area has no significant effect on the barrier height of tellurium thin films.

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The production of automobile brake pad using cow bone as base material was carried in this study. Metal mould was made to produce automobile brake pad. The composition of brake pad was cow bone (50%), iron filings (25%) and palm kernel shell (25%) each with a particle size of 100μm. Proportion of Sodium Silicate used as binder was 20% of oven dry weight of mix. The produced brake pad was subjected to hardness, wear rate, flame resistance, coefficient of friction, and water absorption and density test. The obtained brake pad properties were hardness (94BHN) ,wear rate (4.12mg/m), flame resistance (8%), coefficient of friction (0.34), water absorption(3.86%) and density (1986kg/m³). The results was found to compare favouably with commercial brake pad (asbestos based), optimum formulation of laboratory brake pad palm kernel based (PKS) and bagasse based. The production of brake pad from cow bone was found to be very feasible.

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Stainless steel possesses good mechanical properties combined with a high corrosion resistant. The cold rolled stainless steel leads to very good mechanical and chemical properties due to enhanced dislocation densities, increased residual stresses, strain hardening and for the presence of some amount of deformation induced metastable martensite phase. The deformation induced martensite is greatly influenced the pitting corrosion, intergranular corrosion and atmospheric corrosion. The scope of this study was to achieve the correlations between the mechanical, corrosion and structural properties of cold rolled stainless steel. In this paper authors tried to correlate the increase in hardness and corrosion resistance properties in atmospheric and in chloride ion containing corrosive environment of 0 to 80 % cold rolled samples in non sensitized and sensitized conditions.

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In this paper, we develop a simple three layered neural network for recognition the invariant contour of image. Our approach relies on a method which normalizes the Fourier Descriptors (FDs) of image contour with its Laplace transform. Our approach is inspired the observations that the traditional Fourier transform of a 1-D is equivalent to the 2-D of image recognition. We compare between them throughout their efficient recognition.

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Rotating machinery is the heart of many industrial operations, but many engineers and technicians perform shaft alignment by guesswork or with limited knowledge of the tools and methods available to accurately and effectively align their machinery shaft alignment has increased dramatically. It would therefore appear that shaft alignment seems to have taken a more important role when installing and maintaining machinery Effects of shaft misalignment is reduction in operating life span of rotating machinery since the components that are most likely to fail are the bearings, seals, coupling, and shafts due to inaccurately aligned machinery. In fact, quality alignment is not dependent on the type of measurement system used. Any good dial indicator set is sufficient to perform quality alignments. In this paper the effects of shaft misalignments on the natural frequency of the shaft will be investigated numerically.

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Software was developed using visual basics for computing properties of developed composite materials from agro waste (sawdust and palm kernel shell). Visual Basic was used as a rapid application tool to compute the properties from previous experimental data and developed empirical models. The properties of the produced composite materials from agro waste estimated using the soft ware were hardness, yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, modulus of elasticity; modulus of rupture, internal bond strength, density, thickness swelling and water absorption .The values obtained from the software were found to compare favourably with the analytical values. The mean percentage error were determined to be 0.01% (hardness), 0.287% ( yield strength),0.003% (ultimate tensile strength), 0.00158% (modulus of elasticity), 0.2857% (modulus of rupture), 0% (internal bond strength), 00073%(density), 0.019% (thickness swelling) and 0.00768% (water absorption). These values were insignificant and below the maximum recommended error of 10%. The software performance was also found to be satisfactory, showed good predictability and user friendly.

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This paper integrates the observations from space borne sensors, namely (Moderate Resolution Infrared Spectroradiometer) MODIS over the Jaipur region, India. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) depot catches fire on October 29th over Sitapura industrial area in the outskirts of the Jaipur city (26.9 0N /75.8 0E). This anthropogenic activity induces the concentration of atmospheric aerosols even after few days of the events. This was a rare event to study the atmospheric consequences over the vicinity of affected area, using space-based remote-sensing instruments. Present paper discusses the induced aerosol loading (dust loading) and their optical properties derived from MODIS data along with vertical velocity potential from National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP).

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Acidification of rain is caused by air pollutants like sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen etc. which reduces its pH as low as 4. Although the H+ concentration of acid rain falling for a short duration is very low in comparison to cation exchange capacity of soil yet its effect on the physical, chemical and engineering properties of soil cannot be ignored. Ever growing industrialization/pollution will increase frequency, persistence and intensity of acid rain. This will certainly enhance the rate of leaching of cations from the soil to a great extent. Absorption of H⁺, SO₄^2-, NO^3- and CO₃^2- by the soil particles will alter its physical, chemical and engineering properties. Therefore it is imperative to examine the properties of soils eroded due to acid rain in order to augment understanding of its influence on geotechnical engineering particularly when used in fields, embankment or in earthfill dams. Objective of this study was to find degree of variation in the texture, physico-chemical and the engineering properties of soil of different plasticity when exposed to acid rains having different pH. Soil samples were collected and acidified with varying probable simulated strength of acid rain equivalent to normality 0.005N, 0.01N, 0.02N and 0.04N of H₂SO₄ or HNO₃. The consistency, strength and chemical characteristics of the samples were determined for the soil fraction passing 425 μm sieve. The acidification causes de-flocculation of soil particles which directly affects the consistency as well as strength properties of the soil. The paper presents the observed degree of variation in these properties under varying strengths of acid rain.

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This paper deals with the effect of Ag⁷⁺ ions on CO₂ gas sensing behavior of ZnO thick films. Zinc oxide thick film gas sensors are deposited on glass substrates using sol gel spin coating technique. The fabricated sensors are irradiated with 100 MeV Ag⁷⁺ ions at a fixed fluence of 3 x 10¹¹ ions/cm². The X-ray diffraction analysis of the samples before and after ion bombardment is carried out for structural characterization. The structural analysis has revealed that films exist in hexagonal wurtzite structure. The average crystallite size lies in nano-range. The gas sensing response to carbon dioxide before and after irradiation is carried. Investigation shows that there is change in operating temperature and sensitivity factor after irradiation.

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Chemistry of earth materials directs its applications, which enhances the science and technology of materials. Bentonite clay mineral belongs to the smectite group having wide range of chemical composition. Crystal size and chemical composition of clay is responsible for several properties and applications. In the present study, clay sample is collected from Gulbarga mine and is made active by acid treatment with sulphuric acid, nitric acid and phosphoric acid. The structure of the Bentonite clay before and after acid treatment is studied by X-ray diffraction study (XRD), morphology of the sulphuric acid treated clay is studied by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and bonding of both before and after acid treatment clay is studied by Fourier Transfer Infrared (FTIR) tool. Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) measurement is carried out for the clay before acid treatment and after acid treatment.

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Feldspar is a very important flux material in manufacturing of ceramic tiles in ceramic industry. The Present growth rate of ceramic tile industry demands more and more feldspar. Increase in the demand for feldspar may lead to exhaust of deposits of premium quality very soon in India. In order to make the feldspar deposits available for future generation, keeping this in view an experimental attempt has been made to identify alternative flux material for manufacturing of red body glazed ceramic tiles. In this study feldspar is partially replaced with Nepheline syenite in manufacturing of red body ceramic glazed floor tiles to reduce the usage and proper management of resources of Feldspar availability in India, cost cutting of materials in order to make the final product available at less price to consumer. From this study the usage of feldspar in the red body ceramic tile industry can be reduced up to 50% and cost of final product can be reduced up to 10%.The study revealed that Nepheline syenite is having more fluxing nature then feldspar and the performance of the product is comparable with regular product.

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The vibrational wavenumbers of methacrylonitrile were calculated using Gaussian03 software package at different levels of theory and the fundamental modes are assigned. The predicted infrared intensities and Raman activities are reported. The first hyperpolarizability is calculated and the title compound is an attractive object for futures studies of nonlinear optics. The calculated wave numbers (B3LYP) are in agreement with the experimental values.

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The scanning electron microstructure, micro-hardness and conventional corrosion behavior of Electroless Nickel-Phosphorus (E-Ni-P) alloy plating on commercial aluminum substrate in an acidic bath with sodium hypo-phosphite as reducing agent were investigated. Firstly, the scanning electron microscope (SEM) was performed over the coating, the obtained structure resembled as nodular structure. Secondly, Knoop hardness test on coating implies that micro-hardness of nickel–phosphorus coating decrease as bath loading increases. Lastly, corrosion resistant of the nickel-phosphorus coating was evaluated by conventional weight loss method which indicated that the Electroless nickel-phosphorus plating improve the corrosion resistant of commercial aluminum alloy.

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Duplex Stainless Steel (DSS) have two phase microstructures, mostly ferrite and austenite. They usually solidify as primary ferrite and part of which transforms into austenite on subsequent cooling. When ferrite and austenite are in near equal volume, DSS are quenched to retain this high temperature microstructure at room temperature. Holding these steels at single phase ferrite region for a long period will result in coarse grained structure which could impair the mechanical properties. In this study test coupons of DSS grade SAF 2205 were held at 1300°C for 15, 30, 60 and 90 minutes period and later water quenched. Microstructural investigations showed that dissolution of austenite was not completed even for 90 minutes holding at 1300°C, meaning that this temperature is below the solvus line. However, noticeable grain coarsening could be observed. Longitudinal velocities and attenuation co-efficient of ultrasonic waves produced with 5 MHz transducers were evaluated for these heat-treated coupons. Results show that the attenuation characteristics and longitudinal velocity ultrasonic waves are strongly influenced by the microstructural features. Attenuation increases with increase in grain size while longitudinal velocity is influenced by both the austenite content and the grain size.

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A multilayer, [Ni(100nm)/Fe(100nm)]₅ has been deposited by electron beam evaporation method under high vacuum at 473 K. The structure and grain size were investigated by the grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) studies. The surface roughness was determined by atomic force microscope (AFM). Electrical resistivity has been measured in the temperature range from 4.2K to 300 K. The resistivity increased with increase in temperature. The residual resistivity ratio (RRR) and the temperature coefficient of resistivity (TCR) were determined. The power law variations of resistivity with temperature were established. For temperature, T, above 80K, the resistivity exponent was found to be slightly more than unity and it was nearly 5 for temperature below 30K. The contributions to resistivity for T above 80K are attributed to be predominant by electron-phonon and electron-magnon scatterings and for below 30K they are ascribed to be predominant by electron-electron and electron-defect scattering.

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Human activities are always connected with the uses of ceramic materials or ceramic product in every day life. Ceramic materials are typically produced by the application heat upon processed clay and other natural raw materials to form a rigid body. In the present investigation, the mixture of ball Clay, quartz and feldspar are made standard bodies sintered at 900-1050°C and the Ceramic bodies are studied some important properties like, Bulk density, Compressive strength, Porosity, Appearance, Colour and the microstructure analysis of Ceramic bodies using SEM technique.

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The need for rapid evaluation of chemicals in the environment or human body has prompted researchers to develop easy to use biological assays or biosensors. The new developments in light sensitive and conductive polymers integrated with micro-optics can monitor “practically anything“ such as toxicity to DNA, life (cytotoxicity), endocrine disrupting chemicals or environmental pollutants. Such new generation biochips offer a panoramic view of once unthinkable diagnostics, propelling the laboratory into nanoscale dimensions.

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Heating rate associated with any heating scheme is of prime importance in any kind of thermoluminance (TL) measurement. A class of methods known as various heating rates method involve heating rate in the determination of activation energy. In this article we critically analyse different variants of various heating rates method in view of different effects such as thermal quenching, temperature lag of the heating element together with effect of heating rate with kinetic parameter.

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Here a method has been described to study the attenuation of flux and energy of the neutrons passing through different materials. Variation of activity of the irradiated and activated sample by 14 MeV neutrons was observed by changing the matrix around it. The sample was a combination of Aluminium foil and copper powder placed at 0o position (position of maximum flux) and the matrices were Air, Water, Iron, sand and carbon powder.

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When a X-ray or g-irradiated alkali halide crystals (AHC) is exposed to 1060 nm infrared pulse of nanosecond duration from CO₂ laser, then shock waves produced in the crystals excites visible luminescence due to cleavage of the crystals. This is known as lasser-induced cleavage mechanoluminescence (ML). In the present investigation, NaCl, KCl, NaBr, KBr, and KI crystals are cleaved by laser and ML intensity is recorded. During cleavage, the ML intensity increases and attains a peak value at a particular time and then decays exponentially with time. The total ML intensity increases linearly with the area of the newly created surfaces. A theoretical approach has been proposed to explain the experimental results.

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Corrosion is deterioration of the surface of material which is based upon environmental chemistry. There are several techniques applied to decrease corrosions and improve life of materials. Recently nanostructured material is used for the corrosion protection of material. Methods are applied for corrosion control like surface treatment techniques, nano-composite thin film coating, top layer coating and thermal barrier coating. ‘Analyses of test results show that the nanomaterials are significantly reduce the corrosion rate of materials as compared to conventional methods of corrosion protection. The corrosion protection is studied with the help of nanomaterial.

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Here the technique of Activation analysis with 14MeV neutrons was used to know the depth profile of Aluminium in samples of p-type Silicon rubbed with Alumina and baked at high temperature(800^oC). Chemical etching was done to remove layers and find the depth.

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Teflon is a polymer material and acts as an electrical insulator. But when doped with alkali metals like lithium and sodium, it has been found that there is a decrease in resistivity of the samples. A simple method has been described here to dope the Teflon chemically and observe the resistivity changes.

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The powders used for non-sag tungsten manufacturing are produced by hydrogen reduction. Dopants (Aluminium, Potassium & Silicon) are added to the Tungsten blue oxide to impart non-sag properties. The non-sag (NS) effect of the dopant can be achieved only when a certain amount of potassium-containing phase is incorporated into the metal and is optimally dispersed. The particle size and potassium (K) content of the NS tungsten powder is affected by reduction conditions. In the present work the effect of reduction parameters like Temperature & Push Time on Average Particle Size & Potassium content of washed & dried NS tungsten powder are presented. The results indicated that with increase in Temperature and Push time the average particle size increases and potassium content in the powder decreases. An attempt has been made to correlate these and optimize the reduction conditions.

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