Optimization of Surface Roughness of D2 Steels in WEDM using ANN Technique

Attempt has been made to investigate the experimental process and surface roughness (SR) optimization of cold working (high carbon and high chromium) hard die steel (D2) during wire electrical discharge machining processes (WEDM). It is very difficult to determine optimal cutting parameters for improving cutting performance has been reported. Wire electrical discharge machining process relies heavily on the operators’ technologies and experience because of their numerous and diverse range as using complicated cuts can made through difficult to machine electrically conductive components, WEDM process was developed to generate precise cutting on complicate, hard and difficult to machine materials. Tan-sigmoid and purlin transfer functional with bias based four layered back propagation artificial neural network (BPANN) approach have been used to investigate the effect of six independent parameters namely gap voltage (Vg), flush rate (Fr), Pulse on time (Ton), pulse off time (Toff), wire feed (Wf) and wire tension (Wt) over CLA value of surface roughness (Ra) along with corresponding material removal rate (MRR). A fractional factorial design of experiment of three level were employed to conduct 80 rows of experiment on (D2) steel with chrome coated copper alloy wire electrode. The predicted response, CLA values of SR and corresponding MRR were observed by the approach of BPANN from experimental (55 rows for training, 15 rows for validation and 10 for testing) data. Software instructed programme has been used individually for training, validation and testing in MATLAB 2010a to find the corresponding prediction output. Two fold cross over technique (TFCT) were used to developed distinguish (S1 and S2) models and also developed more models depending on numbers of neurons used in primary and secondary hidden layers. The model adequacy is very satisfactory as correlation coefficient (R2) is found to be 99.1% and adjusted (Radj.2) statistics is 98.5. It is found those spark time ON/OFF, wire feed rate, wire tension, gap voltage and flush rate and few of their interactions have significant effect on SR

A knowledge-based architecture framework of design for assemble system (DAEx)

Malaysian manufacturing sector has played an important role to boost up the economy at the domestic market. Today, the Malaysian manufacturing sector has facing the challenges that the manufacturing industry need to stay competitive to compete at the global market. Manufacturing cost of the company will directly effect on the company profit as well as product cost. Manufacturing cost may include material cost, labor cost and overhead. Various type of techniques and methods have been used to lower the manufacturing cost. With the advancement of computer, computer software has been used to solve the manufacturing sector problem. In this research, expert system has been proposed to develop a diagnosis system to solve the problem of design of assemble. The effective assembly design of a product will able to reduce the total assembly time as well as reduce the manufacturing cost. An architecture framework of the developed Design for Assemble Expert system (DAEx) is described. The DFA expert system is developed using expert system shell to support the vehicle seat manufacturing process. The main aim is to reduce the assembly time and cost of vehicle seat manufacturing process.</p

Enhanced Tensile properties of Stone wool fiber-reinforced high density polyethylene (HDPE) Composites

In this study, a minerl fiber composite of stone wool reinforced high density polyethylene (HDPE) with different weight percentage was tested. For preparation of the samples a hot pressing technique was used. Significant improvement of the tensile strength was observed for composites of stone wool HDPE with a fiber content of 20wt %. The fracture surface of the samples were analyzed for their inter layer bounding by SEM

Embedded Inductive Sensor System in Helping Industrial Machine Maintenance Problems

The inductive sensor / proximity sensor was preliminarily initiated to be used as a micro level limit switch where its potential in speed measurement was not taken advantage by the industries. Thus, looking into its potential significant contribution, this paper presents the performance of a non-contact inductive sensor which was used to remotely measure the high speed rotational spindle with high degree of accuracy. The sensor was used to generate pulse correlating the rotational speed of a machine. An experiment was conducted using a self-designed test rig to investigate its performance in counting the machine spindle speed which can help to ease the machine maintenance task for technical supports. The measuring was monitored by a specially designed LCD display, connected to an electronic circuit and a microcontroller. The test result shows that the inductive proximity sensor yields up to 95% in terms of rotational speed accuracy. The setup was made to suit a single monitoring system, while the modular based for multiple systems that integrate different operations are in progress

Development of a Stand-alone Solar Powered Bus Stop

This paper presents the development of a stand-alone solar photovoltaic (PV) system for bus stop at Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Malaysia. The design intent for the bus stop was to provide lighting and information to the bus stop users using reliable renewable energy system as well as to promote green technology awareness to the university residences. The stand-alone PV system was designed to power two units of CFL lamps and an LED display unit installed at the bus stop. Five units of polycrystalline photovoltaic modules with 110W rating each and four deep cycle battery units were utilized to provide three days of autonomy period for system operation. A part from that, 15 degree of tilt angle was selected for PV module placement to provide optimum energy generation as well as self cleaning for the modules. After the bus stop structure construction, the PV system was installed and commissioned. Final results from the commissioning process showed that the system is able to operate successfully as per design requirement

Expert system for dairy cattle management

India is basically an agriculture country and the dairy sector plays a significant role in supplementing family income and generating employment in the rural areas, particularly among the landless, small and marginal farmers and farm women, besides providing cheap and nutritious food to millions of people. In India, the total milk production is extremely poor in terms of productivity in the world due to lack of proper extension system. Even though, information on various aspects of dairy cattle management is available, they are not reaching the required area of the farm units / farmers. To address this problem, a rule based expert system for dairy cattle management was developed with user friendly menus. This system interacts with users in two ways. As a decision support tool, the user can interact with the system using some arranged rules which are collection of if / then rules, collected from experts in the veterinary field. Using these rules, a knowledge base was designed for the expert system and programming codes were writeen in VB. Net. The proposed expert system provides instant access of the required knowledge on selected parameters, viz. feeding, breeding, diseases, cattle shed management, milking, fodder cultivation and health management. This expert system is useful as an online guide to the users who are involved in animal husbandry and dairy management

The genetics of feto-placental development: A study of acid phosphatase locus 1 and adenosine deaminase polymorphisms in a consecutive series of newborn infants

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Acid phosphatase locus 1 and adenosine deaminase locus 1 polymorphisms show cooperative effects on glucose metabolism and immunological functions. The recent observation of cooperation between the two systems on susceptibility to repeated spontaneous miscarriage prompted us to search for possible interactional effects between these genes and the correlation between birth weight and placental weight. Deviation from a balanced development of the feto-placental unit has been found to be associated with perinatal morbidity and mortality and with cardiovascular diseases in adulthood.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We examined 400 consecutive newborns from the Caucasian population of Rome. Birth weight, placental weight, and gestational length were registered. Acid phosphatase locus 1 and adenosine deaminase locus 1 phenotypes were determined by starch gel electrophoresis and correlation analysis was performed by SPSS programs. Informed verbal consent to participate in the study was obtained from the mothers.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Highly significant differences in birth weight-placental weight correlations were observed among acid phosphatase locus 1 phenotypes (p = 0.005). The correlation between birth weight and placental weight was markedly elevated in subjects carrying acid phosphatase locus 1 phenotypes with medium-low F isoform concentration (A, CA and CB phenotypes) compared to those carrying acid phosphatase locus 1 phenotypes with medium-high F isoform concentration (BA and B phenotypes) (p = 0.002). Environmental and developmental variables were found to exert a significant effect on birth weight-placental weight correlation in subjects with medium-high F isoform concentrations, but only a marginal effect was observed in those with medium-low F isoform concentrations. The correlation between birth weight and placental weight is higher among carriers of the adenosine deaminase locus 1 allele*2, which is associated with low activity, than in homozygous adenosine deaminase locus 1 phenotype 1 carriers (p = 0.04). The two systems show a cooperative effect on the correlation between birth weight and placental weight: the highest value is observed in newborns carrying adenosine deaminase locus 1 allele*2 and acid phosphatase locus 1 phenotypes with medium-low F isoform concentration (p = 0.005).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data suggest that zygotes with low adenosine deaminase locus 1 activity and low F activity may experience the most favourable intrauterine conditions for a balanced development of the feto-placental unit.</p

A Controversy That Has Been Tough to Swallow: Is the Treatment of Achalasia Now Digested?

Esophageal achalasia is a rare neurodegenerative disease of the esophagus and the lower esophageal sphincter that presents within a spectrum of disease severity related to progressive pathological changes, most commonly resulting in dysphagia. The pathophysiology of achalasia is still incompletely understood, but recent evidence suggests that degeneration of the postganglionic inhibitory nerves of the myenteric plexus could be due to an infectious or autoimmune mechanism, and nitric oxide is the neurotransmitter affected. Current treatment of achalasia is directed at palliation of symptoms. Therapies include pharmacological therapy, endoscopic injection of botulinum toxin, endoscopic dilation, and surgery. Until the late 1980s, endoscopic dilation was the first line of therapy. The advent of safe and effective minimally invasive surgical techniques in the early 1990s paved the way for the introduction of laparoscopic myotomy. This review will discuss the most up-to-date information regarding the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of achalasia, including a historical perspective. The laparoscopic Heller myotomy with partial fundoplication performed at an experienced center is currently the first line of therapy because it offers a low complication rate, the most durable symptom relief, and the lowest incidence of postoperative gastroesophageal reflux

Air Permeability Investigation Towards Automotive Tyre Pressure Sustainability and Life Saving

One of the main reasons for major road accidents which often lead into loss of life's is the catastrophic tyre failure caused by vehicles running with improper tyre pressure. The phenomena where tyre loses pressure naturally and contracts over time is called air permeation, which is identified to be the main cause of tyre to deflate but rarely can be realised by naked eyes. Properly inflated tyres can safe tyre life up to 20% which is equivalent to nine months of its life span, save fuel from 4% to 10%, increase braking efficiency up to 20%, lightens steering system and ease selfsteer. Therefore, this paper reveals the investigation findings by analysing the factors that affect the air permeation that eventually causes pressure loss in an automotive tyre. The experimentations were performed in both static and dynamic conditions where they were also tested with and without loaded situation to extract precise data of the pressure loss from tyre. The results show that no matter what type of tyre or condition it undergoes, it still experience pressure drop but at different rate subjected to air properties, temperature, tyre materials and mechanical fittings of the wheel. © 20062015 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN)

DESIGN AND SIMULATION ON CAST METAL MATRIX COMPOSITE BY INVESTMENT CASTING

Metal Matrix Composite (MMC) is produced normally by melting the matrix material in a vessel and the molten metal is stirred systematically to form a vortex, and then the reinforcement particles are introduced through the side of vortex formed. However, this approach has disadvantages, mainly arising from the particle addition and the stirring method. There is certainly local solidification of the melt induced by the particles during particle addition. This condition increases the viscosity of the slurry and appears as air pockets between the particles. Moreover, the rate of particle addition needs to be slowed down particularly when the volume fraction of the particles to used increases. This study proposes the new methodology of producing cast MMC by investment casting. Deformations of the die-wax and shell alloy systems are considered in a coupled manner, but the coupled deformation of the wax-shell system is not included. Therefore, this study presents the tasks pertaining to metal matrix composites and their interactions. As a result, the work on wax and wax-die interactions is discussed. This study presents the use of computer programs for determining the wax pattern dimensions based on three-dimensional finite-element simulations. The model for coupled thermal and mechanical analysis is developed by ProCAST. The wax model is described. The following factors are considered in the analysis: (1) the restraint due to geometrical features in the metal die; and (2) process parameters such as dwell time, die/platen temperature, injection pressure, and injection temperature