011689   Bhargava P K (NO, Cent Bldg Res Inst, Roorkee) : Driving rain and its use in design of building. Bhartiya Vaigyanik Evam Audyogik Anusandhan Patrika 2005, 13(2), 138-44.

Studies carried out on driving rain and its use in design of buildings has been reported in the paper. Rain carried along at an angle to the vertical by the wind and driven on to walls is known as driving rain. This causes physical and chemical deterioration of walls. Thus, knowledge of intensity of rain fall and its angle of deflection from vertical is necessary to protect the building against the rain. Annual average driving rain index (AADRI) for 350 stations spread all over India has been worked out. Based on AADRI values, the level of exposure of buildings to wind driven rain at these stations has been classified as shielded, moderate, high, and severe. A map of India depicting driving rain exposure classification has also been produced. The value of slant angle of wind driven rain from vertical vary broadly from 50 to 60° for the stations covered in the study.

3 illus, 2 tables, 8 ref

011688   Ananthan S S (Weld Res Inst, BHEL, Tiruchirapalli-620 014) : Advanced systems for condition assessment of power and process plants. WRI Jl 2005, 26(2), 20-7.

The quality of any industrial component is normally ensured by Non Destructive Testing (NDT). In general, NDT is used at the raw material stage, during fabrication, and when the component is in service. While the testing methods and related equipments are fairly well established for the first two stages, the in-service inspection is gaining importance now. The in-service inspection is associated with a lot of constraints in terms of accessibility for testing and not so friendly site conditions. The development of special equipments and systems have greatly contributed to overcome these constraints to some extent. Some of the recent developments for in service inspection of critical components in power and process plants have been discussed.

7 illus, 5 ref

011687   Aggarwal M L;Khan R A;Agrawal V P (Dep of Mechanical Engng, YMCA Inst of Engng, Faridabad-121 006) : Influence of shot peening intensity on fatigue design reliability of 65Si7 spring steel. Indian J Engng Mater Sci 2005, 12(6), 515-20.

A lot of research has been done to improve the fatigue strength of metallic materials by creating compressive residual stress field (CRSF) in their surface regions through shot peening. In this paper, the axial fatigue strength of 65Si7 spring steel is evaluated experimentally as a function of shot peening intensity for the application in the automotive vehicles. Fatigue life at various shot peening conditions is determined with S/N curves and optimum shot peening intensity is also determined. The effect of Almen intensity on compressive residual stress and relaxation of compressive residual stress have been discussed for fatigue life extension. Shot peening of leaf springs is illustrated to cause improvement in fatigue strength, reduction in weight and reliability. A flow chart has been developed for improvement in fatigue design of components for economy.

8 illus, 1 table, 14 ref

011686   Muller C O (NO, , ) : Corrosion: the unseen enemy of electronic equipment. Process Pl Engng 2005, 23(1), 47-50.

5 illus, 2 tables

010702   Verma D V S;Goel A (NO, Natn Inst of Technol, Kurukshetra-131 119) : Scour downstream of a sluice gate. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2005, 11(3), 57-65.

Phenomenon of local scour due to horizontal submerged jet issuing from a sluice gate and flowing over a rigid floor and then over and erodible bed opening has been investigated. The experiments were conducted to study the effect of sluice gate opening, length of rigid apron and depth of submergence on the scour hole. The maximum depths of scour were recorded after each run. Graphical relationships are developed for maximum depth of scour, length of apron, height of opening and downstream Froude number using the experimental data. The maximum scour depth increases with decrease in length of rigid apron. The maximum depth of scour decreases as the downstream Froude number decreases due to decrease in the submergence depth.

6 illus, 1 table, 19 ref

010701   Tegtmeier F (Mechanics and Acoust Div, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Bundesallee 100, D-38116 Braunschweig, Germany, Email: Falk.Tegtmeier@ptb.de) : Microsensor for stress surveillance in building structures. MAPAN 2005, 20(3), 259-67.

Structural surveillance requires the precise and continuous measurement of states of stress. For this purpose, an enclosed sensor was developed which protects the delicate strain gauge technology in its interior and can easily be integrated into boreholes. For mechanical adaptation, a clamping procedure for two conical bodies was optimized so that the possible measurement range covers the whole elastic range of steel. For this adaptation model, suitable calibration procedures as well as measurement methods for early detection of structural defects were developed. A strain gauge layout adapted to the specific spatial conditions was elaborated for the sensor. The strain gauge is protected by a plastic coating. To allow a useful lifetime-prediction for the coating materials, some of which are used for the first time, the chemical and climatic structural environment had to be artificially simulated by laboratory tests.

9 illus, 1 table, 3 ref

010700   Sunil Kumar (Civ Engng Dep, Muraffarpur Inst of Technol, Muzaffarpur-842 003) : Efficiencies of bio-gas production in anaerobic digesters using water hyacinth and night-soil alone as well as in combination. Asian J Chem 2005, 17(2), 934-8.

Water-hyacinth and night-soil alone as well as in combination with each other in various proportions (1:3 and 3:1) have tremendous potential to produce bio-gas (rich in methane content) through anaerobic digesters. The sludge obtained from mixed feed was improved in terms of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in comparison to hyacinth alone. The sludge can be utilized as a very good manure. The technology is very simple and can be easily implemented in rural areas to fulfill the energy crisis especially for cooking.

1 table, 8 ref

010699   Srinivasa Rao Y (ECE Dep, Sai Spurthi Inst of Technol, B Gangaram, Khammam District, Sathupally-507 303, Email: yarravarapu@yahoo.co.in) : Noise in thick film resistors. IETE Tech Rev 2005, 22(4), 259-65.

Various types of noise that can arise in a thick film resistor and contribute to overall noise of a hybrid circuit, are briefly reviewed. The origin of these noises, the effect of process parameters on them and their frequency dependence are discussed in some detail. Techniques to evaluate these noises are also specified. Design and process guidelines to minimise these noises in a thick film resistor are suggested.

7 illus, 11 ref

010698   Sivanagaraju S;Jagadeesh Babu E;Srikanth Y; Rao B N (NO, J.N.T.U. Coll of Engng, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh) : New method for network reconfiguration of radial distribution systems for loss minimization. Wat Energy int 2005, 62(3), 56-62.

New strategy for network reconfiguration via loss reduction using meshed load flow solution is proposed. Presents one simple heuristic method for the reconfiguration of distribution networks, in order to reduce real power loss under normal operating conditions. The proposed method is computationally efficient because it requires very less number of iterations.

4 illus, 5 tables, 11 ref

010697   Sitaram N;Rao A R (Civ Engng Dep, Arulmigu Kalasilingam Coll of Engng, Krishnankoil-616 190) : Manning's roughness coefficient in alluvial channels affected by seepage. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2005, 11(3), 116-24.

Seepage flow through alluvial channel bed can affect significantly the Manning's roughness coefficient, n. Both downward seepage (suction) and upward seepage (injection) through the alluvial channel bed can either increase or decrease Manning's n when compared to its no-seepage value. Such variations in Manning's n due to seepage are presented quantitatively so as to bring awareness among design engineers and researchers that seepage should be considered as a parameter while estimating the value of Manning's n even for given size of bed material.

2 illus, 1 table, 7 ref

010696   Singh I (NO, Natn Inst of Constr Mgmt and Res, New Delhi) : Imperatives of mechanized maintenance for national highway in India. NICMAR J Constr Mgmt 2005, 20(2), 13-24.

For many years in India (and elsewhere) road maintenance has not been considered a priority either by the Government or by contractors. Consequently, as a result of inadequate funding and the development of the gang labour system, the level of mechanization of these works especially routine maintenance, has been neglected. The introduction of long-term maintenance contracts by NHAI, covering both routine and periodic maintenance and the specification of the type and minimum equipment requirements for both processes, represents an ideal opportunity for NHAI to influence the maintenance practices undertaken. The paper will provide the basis to develop cost effective mechanized solutions to NH maintenance.

1 illus, 7 tables, 5 ref

010695   Singh G (Cent of Min Envir, I S M, Dhanbad) : Chemical, microbiological and geological aspects of acid mine drainage and its control aspects. Indian Min Engng J 2005, 44(2-3), 20-30.

illus, table, ref

010694   Sharma S;Mangotra L K;Rajput S S;Jamuar S S (Phys and Electron Dep, Univ of Jammu, Jammu-180 006) : Improved FGMOS-based low-voltage voltage follower. IETE J Res 2005, 51(4), 321-5.

Use of floating-gate MOSFETs (FGMOS) in designing low-voltage analog circuits is presented. A FGMOS based low-voltage follower and its use in CCII structures is presented. Working of such CCII structures is ascertained by using them in current-mode and voltage-mode band-pass simulated filters.

10 illus, 12 ref

010693   Samantary L;Dash M;Panda R (Electron and Telecommun Engng Dep, Univ Coll of Engng, Burla-768 018, Email: r_pp2002@yahoo.co.in) : Time frequency, time-scale and scale-frequency domain signal analysis. IETE J Res 2005, 51(4), 287-93.

Presents a review on Time-frequency, Time-scale and Scale-frequency domain signal analysis. The distinctive features of these techniques are discussed with respect to the decomposition of a signal at different resolutions. The concept of "Time-frequency", "Time-scale" and "Scale-frequency" analysis of a signal has been explained. Some examples are presented to reveal the suitability of these techniques. The main thrust is to focus the use of these techniques for different digital signal and image processing applications.

^iia4 illus, 73 ref

010692   Reddy K T V (Electron and Telecommun Engng Dep, Fr C Rodrigues Inst of Technol, Agnel Technical Education Complex, Sector 9A, Vashi, Navi Mumbai-400 703, Email: ktvreddy@iitb.ac.in ) : Compact broadband circularly polarized microstrip antennas. IETE Tech Rev 2005, 22(4), 249-58.

Various compact techniques to reduce the size of the microstrip antennas (MSAs) for circular polarization (CP) have been explaied. Square, circular and triangular shapes are used for size reduction. For compact operation square with four slots, corner truncated square MSA with bent slots, circle with cross-slot with peripheral cut and equilteral triangle with slits etc. are used. A square ring is fed at two orthogonal feed poits with an offset polarizer inside the ring to realize compactness of 40%. Modified square MSA with four bent slot has a reduction of 52%. Circular MSA with cross-slot and peripheral cuts has a size reduction of 20%. Triangular with bent slots has a size reduction of 40%.

^iia14 illus, 37 ref

010691   Reddy B S K;Ramamoorthy B;Nair P K (NO, Indian Inst of Technol, Chennai-600 036) : Surface integrity aspects and their influence on corrosion behaviour of ground surfaces. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2005, 86(September), 35-8.

Nature of the surface that results from manufacturing proceses has long been recognized as having a significant impact on the product performance, longevity and reliability. Surface alterations may include mechanical, metallurgical, chemical and other changes. These changes although confined to a small surface layer, may limit the component quality or may, in some cases, render the surface unacceptable. A basic understanding of the changes in the condition of the surface is very much required if improvement in product quality is to be attained. Surface integrity reveals the influence of surface properties and condition upon which materials likely to perform. It has long been known that the method of surface finishing and the complex combination of surface roughness, residual stress, cold work, and even phase transformations strongly influence the fatigue and stress corrosion behaviour of materials. A detailed experimental study and analysis of the corrosion aspects on ground components is presented in the article.

5 illus, 3 tables, 18 ref

010690   Rathore T S (Electl Engng Dep, Indian Inst of Technol, Powai, Mumbai-400 076, Email: tsrathor@ee.iitb.ac.in) : Weighted resistor current digital-to-analog converters. IETE J Res 2005, 51(4), 267-72.

A family of weighted-resistor digital-to-analog converters (DACs) which give current as the analog outputs porposed. The design proposed yields a DAC which has the minimum possible spread and the reduced total resistance. The DACs are suitable for high rate of conversion and also for economical fabrication.

4 illus, 1 ref

010689   Rajhans N R;Ahuja B B (NO, Viswakarma Inst of Technol, Pune-411 037) : Monte-Carlo simulation for enhancing production rate in a company using multiple models of product. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2005, 86(September), 27-34.

Article deals with an industrial case study in a cell type manufacturing system, producing cylinder blocks of a limited number of multi-product models of diesel engines, with the objective of enhancing the production rate from 17 blocks/day to 22 blocks/day and providing interstage buffer work-in-process parts as may be needed. The authors prefer to use a simulation model in this study, based on probability distribution and decision rules that mimic the way production system should behave under the specified conditions and circumstances.

18 illus, 8 tables, 6 ref

010688   Rajesh N;Ramesh Babu N (Manufacturing Engieering Sect of the Dep of Mechancial Engng, Indian Inst of Technol, Chennai-600 036) : Empirical modelling of water-jet peening of 6063-T6 aluminium alloy. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2005, 86(September), 22-6.

Peening studies carried out on 6063-T6 Al alloy with high pressure water are presented. These studies have been carried out employing a round nozzle by varying the process parameters, such as, water-jet pressure, stand off distance, number of passes and traverse speed at three levels using Taguchi's L9 orthogonal array experimentation. The influence of these process parameters on residual stress, hardness and surface roughness are investigated. Finally, an empirical model, based on the mean analysis that relates the results with process parameters, is presented.

8 illus, 6 tables, 12 ref

010687   Rajaiah N;Subba Rao K;Moharir P S (ECE Dep, Osmania Univ, Hyderabad-500 007) : Non-periodic sequences for spread spectrum applications. IETE J Res 2005, 51(4), 259-66.

For a multiple access communication system it is desirable to have a set of sequences such that (a) each sequence has as peaky an auto-correlation as possible and (b) each pair of sequence has as negligible a cross-correlation as possible. Peakiness of the auto-correlation of a sequence is measured in terms of its discrimination, which is to be maximized. The negligibility of a cross-correlation is judged on the basis of the energy in the cross-correlation which is to be minimized. The satisfaction of the criterion (a) is achievable by maximizing the discrimination of the sequence having its minimum value in the set. The performance along the criterion (b) is improved by seeking to minimize the maximum value of the energy of the cross correlation among all pairs of sequences. These are two established optimization problems, first of a maximum type and the second of a minimax type. In the work authors has combined a single optimization problem by Simonization, a procedure introduced earlier for simpler situations. Sets of four binary sequences of lengths up to 1000 have been obtained by combinatorial search based on non-local optimization techniques such as Hamming scan, Backtracking, and Sidetracking, introduced earlier in simpler contexts.

6 illus, 4 tables, 15 ref

010686   Raina H S (TED/SRG, Space Applic Cent, Ahmedabad, Email: hsraina@sac.isro.gov.in) : Electromagnetic compliance in high power communiction satellite payloads. IETE Tech Rev 2005, 22(4), 273-85.

Electromagnetic compliance in communication payloads is an important aspect and integration of the payload components in the spacecraft bus needs to be done in a well planned manner. In a communication payload satellite, poor EMI environment leads to the overall degraded RF performance. Spacecraft carries a very large number of components and accessories and because of high packing density any modification in the final stage is cumbersome and highly time consuming and irritating. EMI control becomes a tedious or even impossible task at the integrated level as it is difficult to pin point the sources and the sinks, which could be large in number. The problems are often observed in transponders at a late stage in integration when it is difficult to analyze and solve. Salvaging actions do not yield the required improvements and are not fruitful. Some important consequences of radiated interference are (a) presence of spurious signals in the output of a subsystem and (b) degradation of the frequency response of a chain of subsystems after integration. An attempt was made to analyze and quantify the effect of EMI feedback on the frequency response, so that the EMI behavior of subsystems could be co-related with overall gain ripple. An `Electromagnetic Compliance Plan' for Communication Satellite paylaods was evolved and implemented successfully with quite satisfactory results.

6 illus, 3 tables

010685   Rahman M S (NO, Cstl Embankment Rehab Project BWDB, Dhaka, Bangladesh) : Adhoc management plan for haor and haor basin in Bangladesh. Wat Energy int 2005, 62(3), 28-7.

Water bodies, seldom understood as wetlands but often called haors, baors and beels across the riverine Bangladesh with plenty of resources for supporting life are equally eco-environmentally important for floral and faunal equilibrium. Initiatives for development of haors are as old as domestication there. These are conventionally managed by local population with supports from GOs and NGOs. Flash floods spill onto low-lying flood plains, inundating crops and damaging infrastructure. Water resources are thus key to address the cross-cutting issues in management of haor and haor basin. The pre-monsoon flooding control is linked to protection and post-monsoon drainage is dependent on plantation, of boro crops. The formulation of an integrated and cooridinated approach is no doubt the best option for optimal use of the haor resources, water in particular; but under various limitations the Govt. of Bangladesh is requried to adopt an adhoc management plan for haor and haor basin. The traditional method of year-to-year basis investment in the management of haor and haor basin has proven to be ineffective appalling the haor population. The immediate need for the tuning of the prevalent institutional setting is the shift from monopoly of engineering to a mix of engineering and non-engineering components in the approach; given the thrusts on planning and implementation process including mobilisation of resources.

2 illus, 4 ref

010684   Patra K C (Civ Engineerng Dep, NIT, Rourkela) : Discharge assessment for two stage meandering and straight compound channels. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2005, 11(3), 125-40.

Discharge characteristics of compound sections composed of a rectangular main channel and one or two floodplains disposed off to its sides are analysed. A set of smooth and rough sections is studied with aspect ratio varying between 2 and 5. The assumed vertical, diagnoal, and horizontal interface plains are used to separate the compound channel section to subsections, the discharge for each subsection are calculated using Manning's equation. These subsection discharges are then added to give the total discharge carried by the meandering and straight compound channels. However, all these interface planes give results that are different from the observed values. A variable-inclined interface is proposed for which apparent shear force is calculatedd as close to zero. Equations are presented giving proportion of discharge carried by the main channel and floodplain. The equations agree well with experimental and river discharge data. Using a variable-inclined interface, the error between the measured and calculated discharges for the meandering compound sections is found to be the minimum when compared to that using other interfaces.

5 illus, 4 tables, 26 ref

010683   Narayana V L;Rao V S;Ram K R (NO, Jeppiaar Engng Coll, Chennai-600 119) : Design of control circuit of arm control of robot using eddy current damping. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2005, 86(September), 15-21.

Experimental set-up has been proposed for arm control of the welding robot and simulation results obtained from a typical model of articulate robot using MATLAB have been presented. This model is particularly studied for control of the arm of welding robot. Article mainly deals with the closed loop control of a robot arm including eddy current damping, analog to digital, digital to analog converters and potentiometer feed back sensor. From the drive circuit, the voltage is applied to the shaft of a permanent magnet stepper motor. The stepper motor shaft is mechanically coupled to the robot arm via gear wheel. In between the gear wheels and the robot arm, the eddy current damping is provided to minimize the oscillations. The closed loop control system is designed using eddy current damping and the stability of the system is examined using R-H criterion. Different time response curves are obtained using MATLAB simulation. From these curves the settling time for each time response is found separately. An optimum value of damping coefficient is found from the curve drawn damping coefficient and settling time.

5 illus, 13 ref

010682   Munavalli G R;Mohan Kumar M S (Civ Engng Dep, Walchand Coll of Engng, Sangli-416 416) : Multi-step eulerian method for multicomponent transport in water networks. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2005, 11(3), 103-15.

Contamination within the distribution system can be protected through the maintenance of specified residual chlorine. The organic matter and bacterial content present in the water govern the concentration of residual chlorine levels. Interactive behavior of these substances can be represented through well-defined processes represented through set of differential equations and are solved using multi-step Eulerian computational scheme. The application of the model is illustrated for a real life distribution network. The chlorine concentrations are found to be dependent on the substrate content, and wall reaction parameter. For the network studied, it is observed that more the substrate higher is the biomass growth resulting in lower chlroine concentrations. The model represented is of immense help to the water supply authorities.

4 illus, 1 table, 13 ref

010681   Mohan S;Sangeeta Kumari (Envir and Wat Resour Engng Div Civ Engng Dep, Indian Inst of Technol Madras, Chennai-600 036) : Recharge estimation using infiltration models. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2005, 11(3), 1-10.

Different infiltrations models were tested at 50 locations in a basin based on the soil type and land use variations at Neyveli. Infiltration models namely Green Ampt model, Modified Kostiakov model and Horton model were foundd to be fit to the observed field data to estimate infiltration rates at any given time and their parameters were determined using least square method. The basin is divided into four zones based on location of rain gauge stations. Groundwater recharge was estimated using three infiltration models for each zone. Their results were compared with that of the standard SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model developed by the UDSA agricultural research service (ARS). Horton model was found to be high correlated with SWAT model when compared to the other two infiltration models. It can be concluded that Horton model is the most appropriate infiltration model for estimating recharge in Neyveli region.

1 illus, 3 tables, 6 ref

010680   Mishra S K;Tyagi J;Singh V P;Singh R;Rastogi A K (Civ Engng Dep, Indian Inst of Technol, Mumbai-1) : Study of the variants of the Singh-Yu infiltration model. Wat Energy int 2005, 62(3), 11-27.

Several variants of the Singh and Yu (1990) infiltration model were analyzed. The performance of these variants was compared for a large set of infiltration data derived from a variety of soils from Minnesota, Georgia, and India using systems approach. The results revealed that five of these variants performed better than others. These five variants show that the postulate that leads to Holtan model is more significant than the one that leads to the Green-Ampt model. Parameters of all the variants of the generalized version were computed, and their variations with the soil type discussed. The better performing model variants exhibited both the exponents of the Singh-Yu model to be less than 2.

3 illus, 4 tables, 29 ref

010679   Lingadurai K;Shunmugam M S (Manufacturing Engng Sect of the Dep of Mechanical Engng, Indian Inst of Technol, Chennai-600 036) : Analysis of 3D-reference surfaces established by Gaussian filter for engineering surfaces. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2005, 86(September), 8-14.

Functional behaviour of manufactured surfaces is influenced by errors that are present on the surface. The errors on surface can be classified into roughness, waviness and form errors. Separation of the roughness component is done by `filtering' that establishes a suitable 3D-reference surface consisting of waviness and form errors. The article, deatails of Gaussian filtering technique are discussed and results of processing of a few typical manufactured surfaces using this filtering method are included. The practical and the references established are further analyzed by random process techniques to bring out the waviness contents and phase matching.

6 illus, 12 ref

010678   Latha K;Umamaheswari B (Instrumentation Engng Dep, Madras Inst of Technol Anna Univ, Chennai-600 044) : Petri net controller for network connectivity. IETE J Res 2005, 51(4), 295-300.

Petri Net (PN)is a commonly used versatile tool for analysis of Discrete Event Dynamic systems (DEDS). PN is applied to demonstrate network connectivity under various connectivity options. The network components are susceptible to failure and get repaired in due course. A PN based complete failure repair dynamics of the network connectivity for various optional routings are presented. This provides a means for evaluating the network connectivity for reliability.

5 illus, 5 tables, 7 ref

010677   Kumar A;Samaiya N K;Kothyar U C (Civ Engng Dep, Indian Inst of Technol Roorkee, Roorkee-247 667) : Velocity, discharge and turbulence characteristics in a straight compound channel. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2005, 11(3), 91-102.

Flow characteristics of a compound channel are not the same as that of a channel of simple cross-section. Therefore, assessment by use of traditional equations for the discharge carrying capacity of these channels produces inaccurate results. The flow characteristic of a compound channel are therefore, investigated experimentally by using an Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV). Velocity components, turbulence intensities and Reynolds stresses in the main channel, the flood plains and at their interface are measured with the help of the ADV. Results obtained from investigation are reported herein.

9 illus, 1 table, 16 ref

010676   Khatri R;Vyas H P (NO, Sold-state Phys Lab Ministry of Def, Timarpur, Lucknow Road, Delhi-110 054, Email: ravinder_khatri@hotmail.com) : Development of a Monte Carlo simulation suite for predicting the electron beam interaction with resist on semiconductor substrates. IETE J Res 2005, 51(4), 301-9.

Indigenously developed computer program suite, based on Monte Carlo simulation, is presented to simulate and understand the electron beam interaction with resist and substrates. Using this program, for different energeis, one can determine the path of the electrons in the solid, which consists of either a single layer or multiple layers and also calculate the energy loss of the electrons in the resist and the substrate. Authors has used the Rutherford model for electron scattering and the Bethe's continuous slowing down approximation for estimating the electron energy loss. In this model, the mean free path length of the electron is the key parameter for calculating the scattering cross sections of single and multiple layers. Using the program, studied the electron interactions on Si and GaAs substrates with polymethyl Methylacrylate (PMMA) as resist and are able to calculate the extent of electron backscattering and also the depth of penetration for different incident electron energies.

12 illus, 1 table, 7 ref

010675   Kasthurba A K;Santhanam M (Bldg Technol Div Civ Engng Dep, IIT, Chennai-600 036) : A re-look into the code specifications for the strength evaluation of laterite stone blocks for masonry purposes. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2005, 86(April), 1-6.

Study of laterite building stones from four major quarries in widely scattered locations of Malabar region, Kerala has been carried out on a scientific basis. The comprehensive strength of laterite blocks was evaluated as per the Indian standard specifications for laterite stone masonry. The strength values of laterite are found to be dependent on specimen size and geometry, which often makes the evaluation in conclusive. The analysis of results shows that none the specimens from the selected quarries (except one) satisfies the minimum prescribed strength for laterite block as per the codes. This indicates that the code specification needs a closer look, as the laterite from these local quarries are adjudged to be the best quality according to the practitioners. The study suggests the strength evaluation of laterite to be carried out on standard size blocks, used for masonry, like in the case of bricks and hollow blocks.

7 illus, 1 table, 4 ref

010674   Kansal M L;Das D;Mandal J (Wat Resour Dev and Mgmt Dep, Indian Inst of Technol, Roorkee) : Performance assessment of a hydropower station using fault tree analysis. Wat Energy int 2005, 62(3), 44-55.

Reliability of power supply to a region depends on the performance of the power plant. Hydropower plants are one of the major sources of power supply. However, the hydropower station is a complex system consisting of large number of components which are subject to failure. Fault tree analysis is a top down approach of analysing event failures leading to undesirable event (i.e., failure of the system). It is one of major and spophisticated tool for evaluating the effect of component failure on the overall performance of complex systems. Fault free can be used to assess the probability of failure of a system, to compare design alternatives, to identify critical events that will significantly contribute to the failure of the system, and to determine the sensitivity of the probability of failure of the system to various contributions of basic events. Performance in terms of the probability of failure of a hydropower station due to various component failures has been carried out using the fault tree analysis approach. Such analysis helps in examination of a complex system of interactions and the processes which affects the overall performance. Describes the application of fault tree analysis approach to a typical run off river type hydropower station so as to quantify its overall performance. The methodology has been illustrated with the help of a real time case study.

7 illus, 3 tables, 14 ref

010673   Kalra R;Deo M C;Raj Kumar;Agarwal V K (Civ Engng Dep, I.I.T. Bombay, Mumbai-400 076) : Relating deep water waves with coastal waves using ANN. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2005, 11(3), 152-62.

Presents a technique to obtain significant wave heights at coastal locations from their values sensed at deeper locations with the help of a satellite. It is based on the approach of neural networks. A satisfactory mapping between deep-water-buoy measuremetns and corresponding shallow-water-buoy observations first ensured applicability of the method. Thereafter, the satellite data of significant wave height; average wave period and wind speed were given as input in order to obtain significant wave heights at a coastal location along the west coast of India. This effort initially involved use of a common feed forward network trained using variants of back-propagation algorithms (FFBP) and later that of the radial basis function (RBF) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). Qualitative as well as quantitative comparison of the network output with target observations showed usefulness of neural networks in such an application. Great variations in the result accuracy were not noticed when newer architectures of RBF and ANFIS were adopted in place of of the basic FFBP. Unlike satellite observations collection of buoy data is costly and hence it is generally resorted to fewer locations and for a smaller period of time. As shown in the study the network can be trained with samples of buoy data and can be further used for routine wave forecasting at coastal locations based on more permanent flow of satellite observations.

7 illus, 1 table, 12 ref

010672   Jain K K;Jain S K;Dhawan J K;Anil Kumar (Force and Hardness Stand, Natn Phys Lab, New Delhi-110 012, Email: kkjain4@yahoo.com) : Realization of force scale upto 50 kN through dead weight force machines at NPL, India. MAPAN 2005, 20(3), 249-57.

Paper describes the results of comparison carried out between the 50 and 100 kN dead weight force machines over the range 5-50 kN, at NPL during November 2001 to March 2003 using three force transfer standards to their full capacities of 10, 20 and 50 kN. The comparison results between the two NPL force machines show a relative difference within 30 ppm in the observed mean values of the force applied in ascending order. Further, the closeness of the mean force values is within 40 ppm throughout the increasing force range of 5-50 kN when compared with the values obtained by direct calibration of these force transfer standards against the dead weight force machines of PTB, Germany. These values are in good agreement with the statements of expanded uncertainity of the force machines i.e.±20ppm (PTB, Germany) and±30 for the machines belonging to NPL.

4 illus, 2 tables, 10 ref

010671   Gnanadass R;Manivannan K;Palanivelu T G;Padhy N P (Electl Engng Dep, Pondicherry Engng Coll, Pondicherry) : New transmission embedded cost allocation to feasible wheeling transactions - a case study on an Indian power system. Wat Energy int 2005, 62(3), 38-43.

Requirement for deregulation and unbundling of services provided by utilities in recent years has become a major pressure in India due to the incraese in load demand. Presents a new method for allocating embedded cost of transmission to its users by allowing simultaneous bilateral/multilateral feasible transactions under deregulated environment. The effect of reactive power flow caused by the wheeling transaction had also taken into consideration, while allocating embedded cost. The magnitude of feasible wheeling transactions is determined by computing the Available Transfer Capability (ATC) of the test systems. Determination of ATC with margins has been carried in combined economic emission dispatch (CEED) environment. The proposed embedded cost methods have been applied to Indian utility-62 bus system and results obtained are found to be useful in deregulated environment.

4 tables, 27 ref

010670   Ghare A D;Porey P D;Ingle R N (Civ Engieering Dep, G.H. Raisoni Coll of Engng, Nagpur-440 016) : Experimental studies on frictional resistance of flow over stepped spillway. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2005, 11(3), 47-56.

As high kinetic energy of the flow can cause considerable damage to spillway structures, a dam system must be adequately equipped to facilitate the safe dissipation of this energy. Stepped spillways can providea feasible solution under such situations. For a stepped spillway design, it is required to predict the flow resistance associated with the provision of steps. Experiments were performed over a stepped spillway having downstream face slope of 53.85°. The comparative study of these coefficients is made with coefficients obtained by method of computation of frictional resistance of flow over stepped spillway proposed by Tatewar and Ingle (1996). A new mathematical model for computation of equivalent Manning's roughess coefficient for the macro triangular roughness based on experimental data is presented which may be applied for the skimming flows over the stepped spillway. Also presents the comparative study of frictional reistance in terms of Darcy Weisbach friction factor f, for stepped spillway.

2 illus, 3 tables, 9 ref

010669   Garg V;Setia B;Verma D V S (Civ Engng Dep, M.M. Engng Coll, Mullana, Ambala) : Reduction of scour around a bridge pier by multiple collar plates. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2005, 11(3), 66-80.

Scour around a bridge pier is one of the major possible causes of the hydraulic failures of a bridge. A typical sediment-water-structure interaction at the upstream junction of the bridge pier initiates a vortex system, the primary vortex of which is responsible for local scour around the pier. The growth of the primary vortex can be arrested by retaining it on a rigid surface as on a collar plate. A number of experiments covering various sizes of collar plates were carried out in an effort to minimize scour around a bridge pier. A collar plate of size three times the diameter of the circular pier, D or larger when placed at the average bed level assures 100% scour reduction while a collar plate of size 2D placed 0.1D below the bed does not allow scour depth to beyond it. Anticipating degradation of general bed level, a group of multiple collar plates of smaller size were employed at the laboratory scale to reduce the scour considerably. A group of three coilar plates of size 1.5D having an inter-plate spacing C_S of D/6 with the middle plate placed at the average bed level reduces scour by 83% in comparison to the scour depth of an unprotected pier. The composite device, apart from being axis symmetric, is highly suited to degrading river beds.

8 illus, 3 tables, 13 ref

010668   Eldho T I;Chandramohan P V (Civ Engng Dep, IIT Bomaby, Mumbai-400 076) : Hydrodynamics and salinity transport modelling of Cochin estuary. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2005, 11(3), 163-77.

Understanding the hydrodynamics and transport process in coastal water bodies is very important in the design, construction and maintenance of various structures such as ports, harbours, jetties etc. and the protection of these water bodies against environmental degradation. The solution to coastal water or estuary problems can be obtained through physical models, analytical solutions or numerical models. In the numerical modelling, the hydrodynamics and transport information are obtained by solution of shallow water and transport equations. Backwaters at Cochin, south India, constitutes long and narrow water bodies lying parallel to the coast but separated from it by an equally narrow stretch of land, being open to the sea only at Cochin. The hydrodynamics and salinity transport process of Cochin backwaters have been simulated using numerical models considering it as a branched estuary.

9 illus, 11 ref

010667   Dudul S V;Ghatol A A (Appl Electron Dep, Amravati Univ, Amravati-444 602, Email: svdudul@indiatimes.com) : Identification of a continuous stirring tank reactor using two-layer perceptron neural network model. IETE J Res 2005, 51(4), 311-19.

Investigates the identification of a continuous stirring tank reactor using a two-layer multi-layer perceptron neural network. It is shwon that the neural network based state-space innovations form model clearly outperforms the equivalent linear model in simulation performance and correlation functions of prediction errors and thus, it is possible to obtain hopeful results for this system with neural network based state-space innovations form model. It is by no means claimed that the "optimal" solution is found, however, it is shown that the proposed neural network based model has not only significantly performed better in simulation but also in correlation characteristics than the equivalent linear model in the sense that the correlation functions tend to lie more closely within the confidence regions. This also means that most of the information has been extracted from the training set and that the model approximates the given system well.

8 illus, 2 tables, 22 ref

010666   Dasgupta A K (R&D Cent for Iron and Steel, SAIL, Ranchi) : Considerations in optimum performance of refractories in steel ladles. IRMA Jl 2005, 38(3), 58-66.

Describes the different metallurgical aspect and refractories used in Vacuum Arc Degassing (VAD), Ladle Furnace (LF) and RH degassing. Refractory lining practices for VAD and LF ladle in Indian steel plants and the continued efforts for improving the performances have also been highlighted.

6 illus, 3 tables, 4 ref

010665   Chattopadhyay S;Chattopadhyay T (Phys Dep, Visva-Bharati Univ, PO Santiniketan-731 235, Email: tara_vb@hotmail.com) : Delay line microwave notch filter that suppresses interference. IETE J Res 2005, 51(4), 273-8.

Presents the theory and design of a tunable microwave notch filter using a simple waveguide life whose length can be varied by varying the position of a sliding short. The notch filter has been implemented at a frequency of 9.34 GHz. Theory has been developed which indicates that the monotone interference accompanying the microwave AM signal can be completely suppressed at the output of the notch filter. The effect of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) accompanying the microwave AM signal has also been calculated.

4 illus, 13 ref

010664   Chansoria P;Sahu S;Mishra D K (NO, SGSITS, Indore, Madhya Pradesh) : Nanotechnology in medical science. Ultra Scient phys Sci 2005, 17(1), 21-4.

Concept of nanotechnology refers to study of characterstics of materials ranging between 0.1 to 100 nanometer. It also refers to fabrication of such materials and relevant calibration technology with the help of carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNTFET), nano powders and others. With the help of this technology revolutionary nanomachines like nanorobots, DNA computers and nano computers can be formed. Effective check on cancer would also be possible by this, thereby reducing the pain due to side effects of regular radiation therapies and chemotherapies presently used. Nanotechnology promises to make us healthy and wealthy. It can have biggest impact on medical science.

3 ref

010663   Chandra Mouli K V V;Srinivas J;Subbaiah K V (Mechanical Engng Dep, Gandhi Inst of Technol and Mgmt, Visakhapatnam-530 045) : Unsupervised neural network to solve transportation problems. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2005, 86(September), 5-7.

Article presents a new two-layer neural network model for predicting the optimum solution to linear programming problems. An energy function that transforms linear programming problem into a non-linear function is developed from the objective and constraints. The learning rule, based on gradient descent algorithm, is employed to get the appropriate weight structure of the neural network. The network is tested with different samples including a transportation problem. The results are compared along with the available solutions.

3 illus, 4 tables, 10 ref

010662   Bremananth R;Nathan V S L;Seetharaman V; Chitra A (CSE Dep, Sri Ramakrishna Engng Coll, Coimbatore-641 022) : New methodology for license plate recognition. IETE J Res 2005, 51(4), 279-86.

License plate localization process is carried out by weight based density map method (WBDM). This new approach is capable of recognizing license plates in different conditions and it relaxes some constraints in the conventional methods like the size and colour of the plate, style of the characters, position of the vehicle environment lighting etc. Compared to existing methods, proposed approach gives 98% of matching ratio in different constraints while recognizing the license plate in 19.86 second. It shows this approach is efficient in both space and time, making it suitable for any real time applications. The method can easily be improved to identify multiple number plates in a single image.

8 illus, 4 tables, 9 ref

010661   Bhosekar V V;Sridevi M I; (NO, Cent Wat and Pwr Res Stn, Pune-411 024) : Hydraulic model studies for a dual purpose spillway with 21 M depth of overflow. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2005, 11(3), 32-46.

The perennial Himalayan rivers provide potential for large scale power generation. Excessive sediment load especially during monsoon is a typical characteristic of such rivers. Flushing of sediment through spillway is an effective technique to centrol sedimentation. In order to achieve this, spillways with very lost crest and very high depth of overflow of the order of 21 m and associated energy dissipation arrangement are envisaged. Describes the hydraulic model studies conducted for Chamera H.E. Project, Stage - II, Himachal Pradesh, to evolve a spillway crest profile free of sub-atmospheric pressure, a stilling basin at the toe of the spillway and power intake alignment to ensure smooth entry of water to the head race system.

5 illus, 3 photos

010660   Bhattacharjya R K (Civ Engng Dep, Natn Inst of Technol Silchar, Silchar-788 010) : Optimal design of open channel section considering freeboard. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2005, 11(3), 141-51.

Nonlinear optimization model is presented for designing optimal channel section incorporating freeboard as an additional decision variable. The freeboard of a channel is provided to prevent ways or fluctuation in water surface from overflowing the sides. Wave action or water surface fluctuation may be created by many uncontrolled causes. In the study, freebaord is calculated to prevent fluctuation due to the change in specific energy of the channel. A factor of sagety is incorporated to take an account of other causes of water surface fluctuation. The objective of the optimization model is to minimize total construction costs of the channel. Manning's equation is used to specify uniform flow condition in the channel. The develolped optimization model is solved by Sequential Quadratic Programming using MATLAB. Applicability of the developed model is demonstrated for a trapezoidal channel section with composite roughness. Equivalent roughness coefficient for the composite section is calculated using Horton's formula. The solutions of the developed model are compared with previously published solution and are found to be comparable.

4 illus, 3 tables, 14 ref

010659   Bayat O;Vapur H (Min Engng Dep, Cukurova Univ, Adana 01330, Turkey, Email: obayat@cu.edu.tr) : Utilization of Turkish chromite tailings in the manufacturing of building bricks. Asian J Chem 2005, 17(2), 791-7.

The paper concerns with the building bricks made with chromite tailings material which mainly consists of SiO₂ and MgO. In chromite mining large amounts of clay containing tailings have to be discarded. The chromite tailings in mineral processing do not only cause economical loss but also bring about serious environmental problems. In order to solve this problem, the possibility of using chromite tailings in red brick manufacturing was investigated. Physical properties of the bricks made with the tailings were similar with the control bricks. The compressive strength increased up to 405 kg/cm² with an addition of 20% tailings in comparison with reference bricks having 380 kg/cm² on compressive strength.

7 illus, 3 tables, 18 ref

010658   Basu S (NO, Temple Univ, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA) : Treatment efficiency of wastewater from manufacturing processes. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2005, 86(September), 1-4.

Industrial wastewater from machining operations contains metal particles, dissolved chemicals, and suspended solids. Article describes a model based on physical principles to determine the efficiency of an industrial wastewater treatment facility. The processes involved are : (i) sedimentation, and (ii) dissolved air floatation. The consolidated efficiency is analysed to determine the relative importance of various factors, as a part of developing environmentally conscious manufacturing process.

4 illus, 3 tables, 3 ref

010657   Aware R;Ahmad Z;Asawa G L (Civ Engng Dep, Indian Inst of Technol, Roorkee-247 667) : Scour control by submerged vanes in a curved channel. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2005, 11(3), 81-90.

Experiments were performed in a curved channel having two consecutive meanders with the parallel and zigzag arrangements of the submerged vanes in an attempt to study effect of vanes on scour around bends. Installation of submerged vanes effectively reduces the scour at the outer bank of channel at both meanders. Velocity distribution across the width at the curve is more uniform than the velocity distribution without the vane. Zigzag vane arrangement appears to be more effective in reducing the effect of secondary flow than the parallel vane arrangement. In parallel arrangements of vanes, the maximum scour depth appears to be invariant for the range of the data used in the study. However, it varies with vane parameters in zigzag arrangement.

8 illus, 10 ref