Geological and hydrogeological investigation in West Malaysia

The author has identified the following significant results. The broad synoptic view of the images allowed easy identification of circular features and major fault traces in low lying areas. Sedimentary units were delineated in accordance with the prevailing rock types and where applicable the folding characteristics. Igneous units could easily be differentiated by tone, degree of fracturing, texture, and drainage pattern. The larger fold structures, anticlinoriums and synclinoriums, of the younger sediments on the eastern edge of the central belt could also be easily delineated

A Lightweight Approach for Human Factor Assessment in Virtual Assembly Designs: An Evaluation Model for Postural Risk and Metabolic Workload

© 2016 The Authors. The assessment and optimisation of postural stress and physical fatigue can be challenging and is typically conducted only after the design of manual operations has been finalised. However early assessment of manual operations and identification of critical factors that are deemed outside of an appropriate envelope can avoid the time and costs often associated with re-designing machines and layout for operator work processes. This research presents a low cost software solution based on a simplified skeleton model that uses operator position and workload data extracted from a simulation model used for virtual manufacturing process planning. The developed approach aims to assess postural stress and physical fatigue scores of assembly operations, as they are being designed and simulated virtually. The model is based on the Automotive Assembly Worksheet and the Garg's metabolic rate prediction model. The proposed research focuses on the integration of virtual process planning, ergonomic and metabolic analysis tools, and on automating human factor assessment to enable optimisation of assembly operations and workload capabilities at early design stage

Geological and hydrogeological investigations in west Malaysia

The author has identified the following significant results. Large structures along the east coast of the peninsula were discovered. Of particular significance were the circular structures which were believed to be associated with mineralization and whose existence was unknown. The distribution of the younger sediments along the east coast appeared to be more widespread than previously indicated. Along the Pahang coast on the southern end, small traces of raised beach lines were noted up to six miles inland. The existence of these beach lines was unknown due to their isolation in large coastal swamps

Dispersion-engineered silicon nitride waveguides for mid-infrared supercontinuum generation covering the wavelength range 0.8-6.5 mu m

We numerically demonstrate the generation of a mid-infrared supercontinuum (SC) through the design of an on-chip complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible 10-mm-long air-clad rectangular waveguide made using stoichiometric silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) as the core and MgF 2 glass as its lower cladding. The proposed waveguide is optimized for pumping in both the anomalous and all-normal dispersion regimes. A number of waveguide geometries are optimized for pumping at 1.55 μ m with ultrashort pulses of 50-fs duration and a peak power of 5 kW. By initially keeping the thickness constant at 0.8 μ m, four different structures are engineered with varying widths between 3 μ m and 6 μ m. The largest SC spectral evolution covering a region of 0.8 μ m to beyond 6.5 μ m could be realized by a waveguide geometry with a width of 3 μ m. Numerical analysis shows that increasing width beyond 3 μ m by fixing thickness at 0.8 μ m results in a reduction of the SC extension in the long wavelength side. However, the SC spectrum can be enhanced beyond 6.5 μ m by increasing the waveguide thickness beyond 0.9 μ m with the same peak power and pump source. To the best of our knowledge, this is first time report of a broad SC spectral evolution through numerical demonstration in the mid-infrared region by the silicon nitride waveguide. In the case of all-normal dispersion pumping, a flatter SC spectra can be predicted with the same power and pump pulse but with a reduced bandwidth spanning 950–2100 nm

Extremal GG-invariant eigenvalues of the Laplacian of GG-invariant metrics

The study of extremal properties of the spectrum often involves restricting the metrics under consideration. Motivated by the work of Abreu and Freitas in the case of the sphere $S^2$ endowed with $S^1$-invariant metrics, we consider the subsequence $\lambda_k^G$ of the spectrum of a Riemannian manifold $M$ which corresponds to metrics and functions invariant under the action of a compact Lie group $G$. If $G$ has dimension at least 1, we show that the functional $\lambda_k^G$ admits no extremal metric under volume-preserving $G$-invariant deformations. If, moreover, $M$ has dimension at least three, then the functional $\lambda_k^G$ is unbounded when restricted to any conformal class of $G$-invariant metrics of fixed volume. As a special case of this, we can consider the standard O(n)-action on $S^n$; however, if we also require the metric to be induced by an embedding of $S^n$ in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$, we get an optimal upper bound on $\lambda_k^G$.Comment: To appear in Mathematische Zeitschrif

Bounding the eigenvalues of the Laplace-Beltrami operator on compact submanifolds

We give upper bounds for the eigenvalues of the La-place-Beltrami operator of a compact $m$-dimensional submanifold $M$ of $\R^{m+p}$. Besides the dimension and the volume of the submanifold and the order of the eigenvalue, these bounds depend on either the maximal number of intersection points of $M$ with a $p$-plane in a generic position (transverse to $M$), or an invariant which measures the concentration of the volume of $M$ in $\R^{m+p}$. These bounds are asymptotically optimal in the sense of the Weyl law. On the other hand, we show that even for hypersurfaces (i.e., when $p=1$), the first positive eigenvalue cannot be controlled only in terms of the volume, the dimension and (for $m\ge 3$) the differential structure.Comment: To appear, London Math Societ

Complexity in manufacturing systems and its measures: a literature review

Complexity in manufacturing systems still remains a challenge and leads to operational issues and increased production cost. In this paper, drivers of complexity and typical symptoms of complex manufacturing systems are identified. A comprehensive review of studies published within the last two decades to assess manufacturing system complexity are presented. The key contributions of this review are: 1) a classification of complexity assessment methods based on perceived complexity symptoms; 2) a comprehensive review of assessment methods with cross-evaluation to identify appropriate use based on available data; 3) recommendations for the wider academic and industrial community, based on research trends identified in the literature, as to how complexity assessment should be addressed in the future. It is concluded that the assessment of complexity is necessary so that it can be controlled effectively, however the industry suffers from a lack of practical tools to support in this endeavour