Investigation of creases in ultra - thin membranes

The use of thin membranes is widespread in a variety of applications in a range of industries owing to the lightweight nature and small packaged volume attainable by them. When facilitating the storage of large areas of membranes by foldingspeci cally in aerospace applications, the resulting creases alter the physical state and material properties of the overall membrane structure. Even though numerical modelling is preferred as a viable tool in replicating space environments on earth in the form of reduced gravity and air drag, the idealisations utilised in these analyses require validation via small-scale experiments. The signi cance of this process is highlighted due to past endeavours which failed to idealise the crease mechanics accurately, leading to inaccurate predictions and eventual failure in complete missions. Moreover, the use of virtual testing in this regard is limited by the unavailability of accurate experimental data. In this research, an attempt has been made to characterise the crease mechanics of multiple creased thin Kapton 100 HN poyimide membranes using an experimental study.A combination of specimens consisting of two and three creases have been analysed in this regard, and momentangle responses were plotted using results of physical experiments. The results indicated di erent crease sti nesses for each crease in a parallel-creased specimen, with the highest sti ness observed for a crease nearest to the pinned support. However, all the sti ness values obtained herein were observed to be of a lower order than the simulation and physical experimental results obtained by previous researchers for membranes with a single crease, which could be attributed to the precise measurements taken during the experimental study and the incorporation of the e ect of self-weight of the membrane into its momentrotation response, which was neglected in earlier studies. The time dependence of the opening behaviour ii was also studied, and it was identi ed that the membrane achieves a constant opening angle in a shorter time duration on being loaded. An improved experimental setup was designed and developed, on identifying the limitations and inaccuracies observed in the experimental setup devised by previous researchers. This ensured controlled displacement being o ered to the membrane for capturing its deployment behaviour over a wider regime of loading, along with precise force measurement. The setup included additional measures to facilitate its usage for specimens of a wider range of dimensions, and to ensure proper alignment of the membrane, thereby enhancing the accuracy of the results obtained via the physical experiments which would then be utilised for idealisation schemes of deployment simulations in virtual environment. Crease sti ness determined for single-creased membranes utilising the improved setup was implemented in Abaqus/Explicit nite element package for the purpose of predicting the deployment behaviour of membrane structures with multiple creases accordingly. The crease-line was represented with connector elements specifying the rotational elasticity, and was observed to have negligible e ect on the deployment which contradicts the experimental observations. Hence, further investigations are required for assessing the accuracy of this claim. A quasi-static simulation was carried out for a simple creased unit based on traditional \Waterbomb" base for predicting the deployment behaviour consisting of intersecting creases. The simulation developed in Abaqus/Explicit environment was able to capture the deployment response observed in the physical experiments, in terms of maximum deployment ratio and shape on incorporating the e ect of gravity to the simulation

Generationally significant work values and their impact on employee retention in the Sri Lankan IT industry

Generational diversity is a strong dimension in society diversification. The groups can be differed in many various ways due to their fundamental approach to work issues, different lifestyles and social values. All ofthese have a significant weight in the workplace. Each generation views the world through their own generational experiences and influences; and it is these factors that shape the core values of a generation. For the first time in history four generations are in the global workplace simultaneously. In the current working environment people are as young as their children and as old as their parents but they are working in a team to achieve company’s common objectives. It is very important for employees to know how to connect with each other representing different generations at workplace more than ever before. Appreciation and greater understanding of the generational diversity that exists within the society and workplaces will enable to leverage on the differences, giving individuals and organizations greater competitive advantages. There are various benefits in understanding generational diversity in greater depth as increased awareness of generational backgrounds and how they impact on software team, communication, generational similarities and differences. Misunderstanding, miscommunication, conflict, dissatisfaction and de motivation can arise due to generational diversity. So the corresponding loss ofproductivity and performance in companies also arise (Bernstein, Alexander and Alexander, 2006). The most valued work values of each generation and impact analysis of generational diversity on retention in the context of Sri Lankan IT companies are yet to be done. This research intends to fill these gaps. The theoretical framework is developed based on generational work values and the categorizations of each impact on the employee retention. This framework was used to identify most significant work values of each generation in Sri Lankan IT industry and the degree of each work value category’s impact on the employee retention. The conceptual framework was developed based on the theoretical framework. An online questionnaire was used to collect data from employees in Sri Lankan IT Organizations. Research results indicate that most of the employees in Sri Lankan IT industry belong to Gen-X category and Gen-Y category. Therefore this research studies carried out was based on generation X and generation Y. According to the results, while gen X employees selected ‘job security’ as the most valued work value Gen Y selected ‘economic return’ as the most valued work value. Those work values were selected out ofsecurity, way oflife, economic return, management, variety, prestige, independency, intellectual stimulation, altruism, creativity and associate. The research also reveals comfort and security, professional growth, personal growth, and working environment positively impacts on employee retention in Sri Lankan IT industry. This research identifies the current generational diversity behavior of IT industry and generation wise level of importance of several work values influencing the employee efficiency and productivity. The efficiency in future IT workforce will be increased ifthe identified factors are taken as suggestions and necessary steps be taken to enhance the IT industry environment based on employee work values. Thus the findings of this research project will be useful for IT employees, IT management, and owners. This would ensure retention of valued employees in the organization and reduction in misunderstanding, miscommunication, conflict, dissatisfaction and de-motivation among employees

Evaluation of different types of rice flour milling machinery for their performance

A Thesis submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering for the Degree of Master of Engineering in Manufacturing Systems EngineeringThis report contains an analysis of technical training programmes totally funded by the Germany and Japan. This study mainly focuses to analyze the effect on major training programmes developed in German and Japanese funded training institutes by these two countries. Ceylon German Technical Training Institute and D I M O Automobile Training Institute, which were totally funded by Germany and Construction Equipment Training Center and Automobile Engineering Training institute, which were totally funded by Japan, were selected for analysis. The main objective of this report is to analyze effect of technical training programmes developed by Germany and Japan to the Sri Lankan technical education sector. Also, formulate strategies for future development of foreign funded technical training projects. The main training programme developed by four training institutes was selected for analysis. The data collection methods adopted for this study involved collecting primary data and making use of project reports, agreements signed by both parties, evaluation reports, annual reports etc.. Primary data was collected through questionnaires for passed out technicians, present final year students, employers of the passed out technicians, training officers and managers relevant to each training institutes. According to the results, the training programmes funded by Germany and Japan are success. However, in some of the aspects training programmes funded by Germany shows higher performance than training programmes funded by Japan. The strategies were identified for future foreign funded technical training programmes

L'influence de la communication familiale sur les savoir-faire de consommation de l'enfant : une synthese

Available at INIST (FR), Document Supply Service, under shelf-number : DO 3263 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueSIGLEFRFranc

Comparaison des cultures allemande et francaise et implications marketing

A paraitre dans : Recherche et applications en marketing, n special France-Allemagne, vol.6, n 3, rubrique syntheseAvailable at INIST (FR), Document Supply Service, under shelf-number : DO 420 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueSIGLEFRFranc

Relationship marketing of services An analysis of service quality and service encounters through relational norms, a dyadic approach between bank account managers ans SMEs

SIGLEAvailable from INIST (FR), Document Supply Service, under shelf-number : DO 6506 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc

La construction de l'action strategique par la contrainte en situation d'interdependance Relecture du role et de la place de la contrainte dans la dualite action-contrainte

SIGLEAvailable from INIST (FR), Document Supply Service, under shelf-number : DO 6379 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc

Oblique knowledge : the clandestine work of organizations

SIGLEAvailable at INIST (FR), Document Supply Service, under shelf-number : DO 3261 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc

Artificial neural networks and pattern recognition : a brief introduction

SIGLEAvailable at INIST (FR), Document Supply Service, under shelf-number : DO 4443 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc