Current development and future perspective on natural jute fibers and their biocomposites

The increasing trend of the use of synthetic products may result in an increased level of pollution affecting both the environment and living organisms. Therefore, from the sustainability point of view, natural, renewable and biodegradable materials are urgently needed to replace environmentally harmful synthetic materials. Jute, one of the natural fibers, plays a vital role in developing composite materials that showed potential in a variety of applications such as household, automotive and medical appliances. This paper first reviews the characterization and performance of jute fibers. Subsequently, the main focus is shifted towards research advancements in enhancing physical, mechanical, thermal and tribological properties of the polymeric materials (i.e., synthetic or biobased and thermoplastic or thermoset plastic) reinforced with jute fibers in a variety of forms such as particle, short fiber or woven fabric. It is understood that the physio-mechanical properties of jute-polymer composites largely vary based on the fiber processing and treatment, fiber shape and/or size, fabrication processes, fiber volume fraction, layering sequence within the matrix, interaction of the fiber with the matrix and the matrix materials used. Furthermore, the emerging research on jute fiber, such as nanomaterials from jute, bioplastic packaging, heavy metal absorption, electronics, energy device or medical applications and development of jute fiber composites with 3D printing, is explored. Finally, the key challenges for jute and its derivative products in gaining commercial successes have been highlighted and potential future directions are discussed

Preparing Datasets of Surface Roughness for Constructing Big Data from the Context of Smart Manufacturing and Cognitive Computing

In smart manufacturing, human-cyber-physical systems host digital twins and IoT-based networks. The networks weave manufacturing enablers such as CNC machine tools, robots, CAD/CAM systems, process planning systems, enterprise resource planning systems, and human resources. The twins work as the brains of the enablers; that is, the twins supply the required knowledge and help enablers solve problems autonomously in real-time. Since surface roughness is a major concern of all manufacturing processes, twins to solve surface roughness-relevant problems are needed. The twins must machine-learn the required knowledge from the relevant datasets available in big data. Therefore, preparing surface roughness-relevant datasets to be included in the human-cyber-physical system-friendly big data is a critical issue. However, preparing such datasets is a challenge due to the lack of a steadfast procedure. This study sheds some light on this issue. A state-of-the-art method is proposed to prepare the said datasets for surface roughness, wherein each dataset consists of four segments: semantic annotation, roughness model, simulation algorithm, and simulation system. These segments provide input information for digital twins’ input, modeling, simulation, and validation modules. The semantic annotation segment boils down to a concept map. A human- and machine-readable concept map is thus developed where the information of other segments (roughness model, simulation algorithm, and simulation system) is integrated. The delay map of surface roughness profile heights plays a pivotal role in the proposed dataset preparation method. The successful preparation of datasets of surface roughness underlying milling, turning, grinding, electric discharge machining, and polishing shows the efficacy of the proposed method. The method will be extended to the manufacturing processes in the next phase of this study

Preparing Datasets of Surface Roughness for Constructing Big Data from the Context of Smart Manufacturing and Cognitive Computing

In smart manufacturing, human-cyber-physical systems host digital twins and IoT-based networks. The networks weave manufacturing enablers such as CNC machine tools, robots, CAD/CAM systems, process planning systems, enterprise resource planning systems, and human resources. The twins work as the brains of the enablers; that is, the twins supply the required knowledge and help enablers solve problems autonomously in real-time. Since surface roughness is a major concern of all manufacturing processes, twins to solve surface roughness-relevant problems are needed. The twins must machine-learn the required knowledge from the relevant datasets available in big data. Therefore, preparing surface roughness-relevant datasets to be included in the human-cyber-physical system-friendly big data is a critical issue. However, preparing such datasets is a challenge due to the lack of a steadfast procedure. This study sheds some light on this issue. A state-of-the-art method is proposed to prepare the said datasets for surface roughness, wherein each dataset consists of four segments: semantic annotation, roughness model, simulation algorithm, and simulation system. These segments provide input information for digital twins’ input, modeling, simulation, and validation modules. The semantic annotation segment boils down to a concept map. A human- and machine-readable concept map is thus developed where the information of other segments (roughness model, simulation algorithm, and simulation system) is integrated. The delay map of surface roughness profile heights plays a pivotal role in the proposed dataset preparation method. The successful preparation of datasets of surface roughness underlying milling, turning, grinding, electric discharge machining, and polishing shows the efficacy of the proposed method. The method will be extended to the manufacturing processes in the next phase of this study

Decision-Making Using Big Data Relevant to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Policymakers, practitioners, and researchers around the globe have been acting in a coordinated manner, yet remaining independent, to achieve the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the United Nations. Remarkably, SDG-centric activities have manifested a huge information silo known as big data. In most cases, a relevant subset of big data is visualized using several two-dimensional plots. These plots are then used to decide a course of action for achieving the relevant SDGs, and the whole process remains rather informal. Consequently, the question of how to make a formal decision using big data-generated two-dimensional plots is a critical one. This article fills this gap by presenting a novel decision-making approach (method and tool). The approach formally makes decisions where the decision-relevant information is two-dimensional plots rather than numerical data. The efficacy of the proposed approach is demonstrated by conducting two case studies relevant to SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production). The first case study confirms whether or not the proposed decision-making approach produces reliable results. In this case study, datasets of wooden and polymeric materials regarding two eco-indicators (CO2 footprint and water usage) are represented using two two-dimensional plots. The plots show that wooden and polymeric materials are indifferent in water usage, whereas wooden materials are better than polymeric materials in terms of CO2 footprint. The proposed decision-making approach correctly captures this fact and correctly ranks the materials. For the other case study, three materials (mild steel, aluminum alloys, and magnesium alloys) are ranked using six criteria (strength, modulus of elasticity, cost, density, CO2 footprint, and water usage) and their relative weights. The datasets relevant to the six criteria are made available using three two-dimensional plots. The plots show the relative positions of mild steel, aluminum alloys, and magnesium alloys. The proposed decision-making approach correctly captures the decision-relevant information of these three plots and correctly ranks the materials. Thus, the outcomes of this article can help those who wish to develop pragmatic decision support systems leveraging the capacity of big data in fulfilling SDGs

Decision-Making Using Big Data Relevant to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Policymakers, practitioners, and researchers around the globe have been acting in a coordinated manner, yet remaining independent, to achieve the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the United Nations. Remarkably, SDG-centric activities have manifested a huge information silo known as big data. In most cases, a relevant subset of big data is visualized using several two-dimensional plots. These plots are then used to decide a course of action for achieving the relevant SDGs, and the whole process remains rather informal. Consequently, the question of how to make a formal decision using big data-generated two-dimensional plots is a critical one. This article fills this gap by presenting a novel decision-making approach (method and tool). The approach formally makes decisions where the decision-relevant information is two-dimensional plots rather than numerical data. The efficacy of the proposed approach is demonstrated by conducting two case studies relevant to SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production). The first case study confirms whether or not the proposed decision-making approach produces reliable results. In this case study, datasets of wooden and polymeric materials regarding two eco-indicators (CO2 footprint and water usage) are represented using two two-dimensional plots. The plots show that wooden and polymeric materials are indifferent in water usage, whereas wooden materials are better than polymeric materials in terms of CO2 footprint. The proposed decision-making approach correctly captures this fact and correctly ranks the materials. For the other case study, three materials (mild steel, aluminum alloys, and magnesium alloys) are ranked using six criteria (strength, modulus of elasticity, cost, density, CO2 footprint, and water usage) and their relative weights. The datasets relevant to the six criteria are made available using three two-dimensional plots. The plots show the relative positions of mild steel, aluminum alloys, and magnesium alloys. The proposed decision-making approach correctly captures the decision-relevant information of these three plots and correctly ranks the materials. Thus, the outcomes of this article can help those who wish to develop pragmatic decision support systems leveraging the capacity of big data in fulfilling SDGs