DEVELOPMENT OF A DEVICE TO MEASURE THE BLADE TIP CLEARANCE OF AN AXIAL COMPRESSOR

Axial compressors, used in gas turbines, jet engines and also small scale power plants, are rotating, airfoil based compressors in which the working fluid flows parallel to the axis of rotation. There has been continuous struggle to maximize the efficiency of these compressors. One of the many ways to achieve the same is to minimize the tip clearance i.e. to reduce the distance between the blade tip and the housing. Experiments need to be conducted to measure the changes in the tip clearance while the  compressor is operating. Conventional devices to measure this tip clearance have proven to be costly if a small scale application is under consideration. Our aim in this project is to develop a device which will measure the blade tip clearance of an axial flow compressor economically. The literature review, development of the device, its working and results will be discussed in this paper

Solution-Processable ZnO Thin Film Memristive Device for Resistive Random Access Memory Application

The memristive device is a fourth fundamental circuit element with inherent memory, nonlinearity, and passivity properties. Herein, we report on a cost-effective and rapidly produced ZnO thin film memristive device using the doctor blade method. The active layer of the developed device (ZnO) was composed of compact microrods. Furthermore, ZnO microrods were well spread horizontally and covered the entire surface of the fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results confirmed that the synthesized ZnO was oriented along the c-axis and possessed a hexagonal crystal structure. The device showed bipolar resistive switching characteristics and required a very low resistive switching voltage (±0.8 V) for its operation. Two distinct and well-resolved resistance states with a remarkable 103 memory window were achieved at 0.2-V read voltage. The developed device switched successfully in consecutive 102 switching cycles and was stable over 102 seconds without any observable degradation in the resistive switching states. In addition to this, the charge–magnetic flux curve was observed to be a single-valued function at a higher magnitude of the flux and became double valued at a lower magnitude of the flux. The conduction mechanism of the ZnO thin film memristive device followed the space charge limited current, and resistive switching was due to the filamentary resistive switching effect

Bifunctional nanoparticulated nickel ferrite thin films:Resistive memory and aqueous battery applications

Herein, excellent non-volatile memory and aqueous battery properties of solution-processable nickel ferrite (NFO) nanomaterial were demonstrated. In the case of non-volatile memory property, the device operates on ±2 V resistive switching voltage and shows double valued charge-magnetic flux characteristics. Excellent endurance (103) and retention (104 s) non-volatile memory properties with a good memory window (103) were observed for NFO memristive device. The conduction and resistive switching mechanisms based on experimental data are provided. Furthermore, the present work investigates the electrochemical performance of the NFO thin film electrode in the different electrolytes (viz. Na2SO4, Li2SO4, and Na2SO4: Li2SO4). It was revealed that the NFO thin film shows improved electrochemical performance in Na2SO4 electrolyte with a high specific capacity of 18.56 mAh/g at 1 mA/cm2 current density. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopic results reveal that the NFO thin film electrode shows low series and charge transfer resistance values for Na2SO4 electrolyte than other electrolytes. The diffusion coefficient of different ions (DNa+, DLi+ and DNa+:Li+) were found to be 9.975 × 10−10 cm2 s−1, 3.292 × 10−11 cm2 s−1, 2 × 10−10 cm2 s−1, respectively. A high diffusion coefficient was found for Na+ ions, indicating rapid Na+ transport with NFO thin-film electrodes</p

Effectiveness of a Visual Interactive Game on Oral Hygiene Knowledge, Practices, and Clinical Parameters among Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a novel interactive game-based visual performance technique (IGVP) and conventional oral health educational (OHE) talk on plaque control, gingival health, and oral hygiene knowledge and practices in 12&ndash;15-year-old schoolchildren. A single-blinded randomized controlled trial was undertaken in a private primary school in Belagavi, Karnataka, India. A total of 100 children aged 12&ndash;15 years were randomly assigned to either a conventional OHE talk (control group, n = 50) or the IGVP technique (test group, n = 50), using a computer-generated table of random numbers. A self-designed, pre-validated closed-ended questionnaire was collected from both groups, followed by clinical examination carried out using gingival and plaque index, pre- and post-intervention, at three months follow-up. There was a significant reduction in the mean gingival score and plaque score in the test group after intervention, indicating a 58.7% and 63.4% reduction, when compared to the control group, which had a 2.8% and 0.7% reduction, respectively (p &lt; 0.001). The test group showed a significant increase in the percentage of knowledge gained (22.4%), compared to control group (7.8%). The IGVP technique proved to be more effective than a conventional OHE talk in the reduction of the plaque score, gingival score, and in the improvement of the knowledge of oral hygiene maintenance and its application