Utilization of cement bypass dust in the development of sustainable automotive brake friction composite materials

This article explored the potential of cement bypass dust, a waste produced during cement manufacturing, as filler in automotive brake friction composites. Five different cement bypass dust particles (10-25, 88-105, 210-250, 354-400 and 600-700 mm) were used to manufacture non-asbestos/non-copper type friction materials. The composite's tribological properties were obtained from a chase friction testing machine. Maximum friction, fade, and recovery coefficients improve, whereas friction fluctuations and wear resistance of the brake friction composites decrease with cement bypass dust particle size. The worn surface morphology revealed that the cement bypass dust particle size played a considerable role in forming the contact plateaus and deciding the wear behaviour. Multi-objective optimization based on the ratio analysis approach was utilized to determine the composite's performance ranking. (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University

Optimum design based on fabricated natural fiber reinforced automotive brake friction composites using hybrid CRITIC-MEW approach

In this present study, the hybrid criteria importance through inter-criteria correlation (CRITIC) and multiplicative exponent weighting (MEW) optimization approach is applied to the problem of selecting an optimal brake friction formulation that satisfies maximum performance requirements. Automotive brake friction composites containing 5, 10, 15, and 20 weight percentages of natural fibers (hemp, ramie, and pineapple) were developed. These composites analyzed for tribological properties using a Chase testing machine following IS-2742 Part-4 standard. The tribological results, such as friction-fade (%), friction coefficient, friction-recovery (%), friction fluctuations, friction-variability, friction-stability, and wear, are fixed as performance attributes to identify the most suitable friction formulation. The performance coefficient of friction (0.548) and friction-stability (0.93) remain highest for 5 wt.% pineapple fiber composites. Whereas the lowest wear (1.08 g) along with the least friction-recovery (107.54%) was exhibited by 5 wt.% hemp fiber composites. The highest friction-recovery (121.56%) corresponding to the lowest friction performance (0.501) was exhibited by 20 wt.% ramie fiber added composite. On the other hand, 5 wt.% ramie fiber added composite display lowest friction-fade (22.12%) with least friction-variability (0.330) and fluctuation (0.178). The experimental results are found to be strongly composition-dependent and without any pronounced trend. Consequently, it becomes difficult to prioritize the performance of formulations to choose the best among a set of composite formulations. Therefore, a multi-criteria decision-based optimization approach called CRITIC-MEW was applied; that suggests 5 wt.% ramie fiber added composite satisfies the maximum preset performance criteria

Open Source Business Models and Synthetic Biology

The software industry has successfully utilized open source business models namely with software such as Android and Linux. Open source business models allow individuals to collaborate and share information without fear that the shared information will be commercially misused. Given the similarities between software source code and genetic sequences, innovators in the field of synthetic biology feel that open source business models can help further innovation for synthetic biology in a similar manner. However, when determining whether to join an open source project, practitioners must first identify if such a project will be beneficial to their goals. This Comment discuss benefits and risks associated with open source business models as applied to synthetic biology, as well as possible solutions to some of the risks identified. This Comment concludes with possible suggestions to solve some of the issues associated with open source business models with the goal to further current open source initiatives

Open Source Business Models and Synthetic Biology

The software industry has successfully utilized open source business models namely with software such as Android and Linux. Open source business models allow individuals to collaborate and share information without fear that the shared information will be commercially misused. Given the similarities between software source code and genetic sequences, innovators in the field of synthetic biology feel that open source business models can help further innovation for synthetic biology in a similar manner. However, when determining whether to join an open source project, practitioners must first identify if such a project will be beneficial to their goals. This Comment discuss benefits and risks associated with open source business models as applied to synthetic biology, as well as possible solutions to some of the risks identified. This Comment concludes with possible suggestions to solve some of the issues associated with open source business models with the goal to further current open source initiatives

Performance Evolution of Unit Trust of India Mutual Funds

Mutual funds are the significant financial intermediary collecting funds mainly from small investors and investing them in financial market securities. Thus, the mutual funds industry offer several benefits to the investors like diversification, professional management, tax benefits, transparency, liquidity, flexibility, choice of schemes and low cost etc. The paper tries to find out the performance of mutual funds in public sector in respect of four parameters i.e.  mobilization of funds,  redemption/repurchase, cumulative net assets position and net inflow/outflow with the help of Trend Analysis, Growth Rate, Fixed-Base Index, Link-Relative Index, Coefficient of Correlation, ‘t’ test and Coefficient of Determination. The study covers the period of twelve years i.e. from the year 1998-99 to 2009-10. The study based on the secondary data which has been collected from the fact books and published annual reports for the period of twelve years. The paper found that there is a good sound position in the public sector mutual funds with respect to mobilization of funds and redemption/repurchase during the study period. Further, the study indicates that there is a divergent trend is observed in respect of the cumulative net assets position and inflow/outflow of the funds. The paper also found that there is the high degree of relationship between the different-variables of mutual funds. Keywords: Cumulative net assets position, Mobilization of funds, Public sector mutual funds, Redemption/ repurchase, and Net inflow/outflow