019501   Bhavsar S N (Mechanical Engineering Dep, G H Patel College of Engineering and Technology, Vallabh, Vidyanagar-388 120) : An approach for selection of variable feedrate for quality machining of sculptured surfaces. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2007, 87(Mar), 36-42.

To develop an approach for selecting variable feedrate in producing a quality surface by CNC maching is the main objective. The proposed approach finds out the direction in which the tool deflects in finish machining of sculptured surface and then determines the feedrate for controlling the quality of machined surface. The basis for this work lies in the fact that a small deflection-of cutter produces the surface that is different from the desired surface because the cutting tool moves on deflected path rather than a programmed path. Hence, the determination of direction of tool deflection helps to assess the quality of surface produced. By considering this deflection, it is proposed to obtain the variable feedrates. Using the cantilever beam deflection, it is possible to determine the deflection of tool in all x, y, z directions with which the deviation of machined surface can be determined more accurately. In this work, the direction of tool deflection in z direction, which is always ignored in feedrate calculations, is coupled with tool deflection in x, y directions, ie, tool deflection in z direction is coupled with two-dimensional tool deflection.

12 illus, 17 ref

019500   Balakrishna S;Ghosh L K (Central Water and Power Research Station, Khadakwasla, Pune-411 024, Email: wapis.mah@nic.in) : Hydraulic impact of reclamation of land in flood plain for urban development. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2006, 12(3), 63-71.

One-dimensional network model studies were carried out to assess the effect of reclamation of land in the flood plain of Kasadi River for the development of New Bombay. The rise in high flood level in river branches due to reclamation of land was predicted. Flood moderation by improving channel sections and providing holding ponds was also studied. The model was developed to take care of storage effect of flood plain, narrow bridge sections, branching of channels and tributary inflow.

5 illus, 2 tables, 2 ref

019499   Amarnath C;Kurien Issac K;Seth B;Seshu P; Kharade A;Pathak S K;Deshmukh V (Mechanical Engineering Dep, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai-400 076) : Delvelopment of a hexapod walking robot- mechanical design. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2007, 87(Mar), 20-4.

Legged mobile robots can work in environments designed for human beings where wheeled robots can not be used. Need for legged robots to perform tasks in hazardous environments inaccessible to wheeled robots is obvious. Overview of mechanical design aspects of the hexapod walking robot, Nataraj, developed for nuclear power plant applications has been presented. The specifications of the system and its major subsystems are described. The approaches used and the various design considerations applicable to design of legged robots are discussed and the final solution is described.

5 illus, 1 table, 6 ref

018545   Yurusoy M;Yilbas B S;Pakdemirli M (Technical Education Faculty, Afyon Kocatepe University, Afyon, Turkey) : Non-Newtonian fluid flow in annular pipes and entropy generation: temperature-dependent viscosity. Sadhana 2006, 31(6), 683-95.

Non-Newtonian fluid flow in annular pipes is considered and the entropy generation due to fluid friction and heat transfer in them is formulated. A third-grade fluid is employed to account for the non-Newtonian effect, while the Reynolds model is accommodated for temperature-dependent viscosity. Closed-form solutions for velocity, temperature, and entropy fields have been presented. It is found, that entropy generation number increases with reducing non-Newtonian parameter, while it is the reverse for the viscosity parameter, which is more pronounced in the region close to the annular pipe inner wall.

6 illus, 12 ref

018544   Yong XU;Huijun Z;Ruiqin L (School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Huashan Road, 1954, Shanghai, China) : Research on conceptual design of mechatronic systems. Sadhana 2006, 31(6), 661-9.

Based on the fact that function-structure generating and function solving are alternant processes with mutual causality during the conceptual design phase of mechatronic systems, a conceptual design cyclic feedback solving model of a mechatronic system is put forward on the basis of mapping between function layer, effect layer, working principle layer and structure layer. The process of solving single and system functions is analysed. Key technologies of interface matching and function solving are then advanced. Finally, a computer-aided conceptual design automatic software system for mechatronic systems is developed and the conceptual design of a computerised embroidery machine is given as an example.

5 illus, 10 ref

018543   Vyas A K;Raisinghani M (Department of Civil Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur) : Cost analysis of faculty block of institutional buildings. J Instn Engrs-Pt AR 2006, 87(Oct), 10-6.

Little attention has been paid towards planning of faculty rooms in many institutions. It has been observed that senior faculty members are provided with rooms and junior faculty members are adjusted in unplanned spaces. Most of the times such unplanned spaces lack necessary light and ventilation. If separate faculty blocks are planned with adequate common facilities like reprographic section, departmental library and other services, ergonomically a better environment for the growth of young faculty members can be ensured. In the present paper model plans of faculty blocks for institutes of different student strengths have been planned. Planning of such faculty blocks ensures no extra space and additional ceiling height for faculty rooms. Detailed quantities have also been worked out and relationships have been established for cement concrete, steel, PCC and form work with respect to floor area of faculty blocks. Relationships of cement concrete, steel, etc. have been depicted. Distribution of steel in various parts of faculty block buildings was computed as 43%, 27%, 26% and 4% for beams, slabs, columns and footings, respectively.

4 illus, 2 tables, 7 ref

018542   Vishnuram B G;Muthupriya P;Subramanian K (Civil Engineering Dep, V L B Janakiammal college of engineering and technology, Coimbatore) : Repair of damaged R C square column with glass fibre reinforced polymer composites. J Instn Engrs-Pt CI 2006, 87(Nov), 73-82.

Reinforced concrete columns that are damaged due to overloading, design mistakes, and/or exposure to severe earthquakes require an effective repair technique to regain their structural capacity. Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are increasingly used for this purpose. Effectiveness of glass fibre woven roving jacket for repair of damaged columns has been investigated. Seven specimens representing members of a building were cast and damaged under simulated earthquake loading to a certain extent. The damaged columns were subsequently repaired with glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites jackets and tested in the laboratory. All the specimens were columns of size 150x50x900 mm connected to footings of size 750x750x160 mm and these were tested under constant axial loading and lateral static reversed cyclic loading that simulated earthquake loading. Experimental results indicate a significant increase of ductility, work damage and energy damage indicators of repaired columns when retrofitted by GFRP jackets. Repair of damaged columns with GFRP jackets showed improved performance than the control specimens.

7 illus, 5 tables, 17 ref

018541   Venkatasubbaiah K;Amrita Mittal;Sengupta T K (Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT, Kanpur 280 016, Email: tksen@iitk.ac.in) : Non-unique solution for combined-convection assisting flow over vertical flat plate. Sadhana 2006, 31(6), 709-19.

Non-unique solutions of flow and temperature field are reported here for the first time for non-similar flows given by the laminar boundary layer equations for combined-convection flow past a vertical flat plate. The solution of the boundary layer equation for natural convection constitutes the self-similar solution whose perturbation.with respect to the small parameter (ε), which is inversely proportional to the square root of the Richardson number (G_x), provides the non-similar solution. Solutions obtained by the shooting method indicate two sets for the self-similar solution (ε = 0) - one of them showing positive velocity everywhere inside the shear layer (well-known oft-reported physical result). The other self-similar solution shows that recirculation in the outer part of the shear layer may not be physical - as it has not been experimentally demonstrated so far. In contrast, the perturbative part of the non-similar solution (ε ≠ 0) is seen to be either convergent or divergent depending upon the choice of integration domain of the shear layer equations - bringing forth the question of the validity of such perturbation procedures and possible stability of the basic solution itself.

6 illus, 1 table, 6 ref

018540   Vani R M;Farida S F;Hunagund P V (Univ, Science Instrumentation Centre, Gulbarga University, Gulbarga-585 106) : Shorted rectangular microstrip antenna with slot in ground plane. J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2006, 87(Jul), 19-20.

Compact configuration is realized by placing shorting pin on the rectangular microstrip patch and by embedding slots in the ground plane. Typical experimental results of the proposed antenna are presented and discussed. It has been observed that with only slots in the ground plane, the fundamental resonant frequency reduces and then is an increased bandwidth, but with only shorting pin on the patch the resonant frequency decreases with reduction in bandwidth. The radiation patterns remain broadside.

4 illus, 1 table, 4 ref

018539   Thakur K;Zadgaonkar A S (Electronics Dep, Pandit Ravishankar Shukla Univ, Raipur, Chhattisgarh) : New technique of speech signal processing for non invasive assessment of womb shape. J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2006, 87(Jul), 3-5.

Speech signal processing plays very important role in a variety of applications including life sciences. In this paper authors have tried to relate it with Gynaecology and reached at a fruitful result. The acoustical speech utterances of Hindi linguistic segmentals, that of the pregnant women are recorded on a good quality tape, in the experimental room free from external noise. The recording is made for a number of pregnant ladies, ranging from 8 weeks to 35 weeks of pregnancy (as certified by Gynaecologist, the consultant doctor), irrespective of cast and creed. A polar plot having 30 ° C displacement have been plotted using average variations of peak frequency with the development of pregnancy for Hindi linguistic segmentals 'k', 'kh', 'g', 'gh','n', 'c', 'ch', 'j', 'jh', 'n', 'T', and ' Th'. This plot reveals the shape of womb for particular month of pregnancy. It is concluded that this approach of authors using acoustical speech signal processing method for assessment of womb shape is being tried for the first time in the medical history known to us so far. Further this technique will be much cheaper than CT Scan/ X-ray, normally used by Gynaecologists.

2 illus, 1 table, 8 ref

018538   Tande S N;Krishnaswamy K T (Mechanics Dep, Walchand College of Engineering, Sangli, Vishrambag-416 415) : Higher order finit strip analysis of reinforced concrete skew slab with bridge type boundary conditions. J Instn Engrs-Pt CI 2006, 87(May), 41-7.

Critical analysis of reinforced concrete skew slabs with bridge type boundary conditions under different types of, bads such as uniformly distributed, concentrated and patch loads has been presented. A simplified finite strip approach with higher order function for better accuracy has been used to develop the results for skew slabs in bending. The results are presented both numerically and graphically in the form of distribution coefficients for deflections and bending moments, for aspect ratios 1, 1.5, and 2. The effect of skew has been investigated on behaviour of skewed slab subjected to various types of loads. The slabs having skew angles 0° to 60° with increment of 150 are considered. Hence, the motivation herein was to find results, which would still yield reasonable accuracy, and find immediate applications.

11 illus, 6 tables, 19 ref

018537   Suresh S;Ravichandran G (Welding Research Institute, BHEL, Tiruchirappalli) : Application of robotic arc welding in the manufacture of two wheeler frames. WRI Jl 2006, 27(2), 5-13.

Triggered by the boom in the automotive industry and driven by the highly competitive environment in the Indian industry, several OEM's have chosen to introduce new technologies to improve their throughput. One of the technologies that have received great attention in this regard is the Robotic arc welding Technology. This technology is becoming an increasingly sought after for mass production type of requirements exceptionally well. Welding research institute had provided consultancy service to few major two wheeler manufacturers for implementation of robotic arc welding of the frames. In this context, a holistic approach has been adopted for successful implementation of the Robotic welding of two wheeler frames. The main objective of this work was to evolve all critical measures that would result in control of distortion in welding and other quality aspects besides achieving the required cycle time to synchronize with the line type mass production environment.

ref

018536   Sukanesh R;Harikumar R (ECE Dep, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai-625 015) : A simple recurrent supervised learning neural network for classificatrion of epilepsy risk levels from EEG signals. J Instn Engrs-Pt ID 2006, 87(Nov), 37-43.

Purpose of this research is to study the feasibility of a simple recurrent supervised learning (Elman) neural network in optimization of fuzzy outputs in the classification of epilepsy risk levels from EEG (Electroencephalogram) signals. The fuzzy pre- classifier is used to classify the risk levels of epilepsy based on extracted parameters like energy, variance, peaks, sharp and spike waves, duration, events and covariance obtained from the EEG signals of the patient. Elman neural network (post classifier with error Back propagation training) is applied on the classified data to obtain the optimized risk level (singleton) that characterizes the patient's epilepsy risk level. The Performance Index (PI) and Quality Value (Q V) are calculated for the above methods. A group of eight patients with known epilepsy findings are used for this study. High PI, such as, 97.87 % was obtained at QV's of 23.31 in the neural network optimization when compared to the value of 40% and 6.25 through fuzzy classifier respectively. It is found that the Elman neural network provides a better tool for optimizing the epilepsy risk levels.

4 illus, 5 tables, 15 ref

018535   Subramaniam N;Ramachandraiah A (Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai 600 036) : Speech intelligibility issues in classroom acoustics- A review. J Instn Engrs-Pt AR 2006, 87(Oct), 29-33.

Research on issues relating to the acoustical problems faced in today's classrooms has been reviewed Areas covered include factors affecting speech intelligibility such as background noise levels/SNR, reverberation and other architectural factors and the effects of this on child's academic performance. This paper also includes a comparative study of some of the current acoustical standards for classrooms and points out the need for such standards in a country with a tropical climate like India.

1 table, 31 ref

018534   Srivastava S K;Singh A K (Department of Physics, Government Post Graduate College, Ambikapur-497 001) : Scattering behaviour of dry and wet soil with different moisture contents at microwave frequecies. J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2006, 87(Jul), 44-9.

Dielectric constant and dielectric loss of soil samples with various moisture contents has been measured at X band microwave frequency. The observed values have been compared with the values calculated by empirical models. The measured value of dielectric constant have been used for calculation of scattering coefficients with different frequencies, moisture contents, look angle and polarization. It is found that scattering coefficients depend upon moisture content, frequency, look angle and polarization and the measured values of real part of dielecrtic constant (∈) are in good agreement with those calculated by empirical model.

9 illus, 2 tables, 5 ref

018533   Soni M;Sagar R;Ghosh A K (Mechanical and Automation Engineering Dep, MAIT, IP Unive, Delhi) : Finite element analysis to use mild steel for a tape slit die and extrude biodegradable material. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2006, 87(Sept), 46-50.

Designing and manufacturing of dies to produce packaging tapes by extrusion method is a cumbersome process. Die steel is used for making such dies, but in developing countries the manufacturing of such dies is difficult and expensive. Mild steel is an economical and easily available material and can be machined without much difficulty. The experimental analysis has been done to check whether MS can be used instead of die steel. The FEA analysis is made to design such a die which can bear the load within its elastic limit and avoid plastic deformation. Lot of study has been done on biodegradable plastics, 10% biodegradable granules are added into sheet grade PP. This die runs succesfully and viscosity reduction is observed. Thus, the die can be now worked at much higher rpm at lower motor load.

8 illus, 5 ref,

018532   Singh T N;Kanchan R;Sanigal K;Verma A K (Earth Science Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai-400 076) : Prediction of drill performance by physico mechanical properties-an intelligent approach. J Instn Engrs-Pt CP 2006, 87(Nov), 49-55.

Drilling is a prerequisite operation in mining, oil and construction industry. The choice of drilling method depends on rock properties, specific production requirements, equipment availability, size and shape of the tools, nature of forces etc. Drillability of rock is the useful guide for evaluating the suitability of drills for different ground conditions. In the present study, artificial neural network technique has been used to predict the drill performance, taking physico mechanical properties, drilling parameters and drilling time as input parameters. Energy consumed and depths drilled, in given a time, are taken as measure of the performance of the drill. Two separate neural networks are designed for both the performance parameters. Each network is trained with 1500 training epochs, taking 135 and 15 data sets as training and testing data sets, respectively.

4 illus, 2 tables, 15 ref

018531   Singh S P;Sidhu D S;Kaushik S K (Civil Engineering Dep, National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar-144 011) : Corrosion performance of steel embedded in concrete with calcium chloride. J Instn Engrs-Pt CI 2006, 87(Nov), 21-5.

Electrochemical techniques such as anodic polarization measurements are Very useful to study the state of steel embedded in concrete in respect of corrosion, particularly when the information is required within a short time. Results of an experimental investigation conducted to study the corrosion of steel embedded in concrete have been presented and discussed. Two types of concrete mixes with water/ cement ratios of 0.50 and 0.60 were employed for casting cylindrical specimens of 75 mm diameter and 160 mm height. Calcium chloride (3% by weight of cement) was used as admixture in half of the specimens. Potable water was used as curing medium and the specimens were submerged to two exposure conditions, ie, fully submerged and partially submerged. Anodic polarization measurement tests were conducted to study the effect of concrete mix proportions, chemical accelerators, curing period and immersion conditions on corrosion performance of steel embedded in concrete. It has been verified by anodic polarization measurements that relatively poor concrete mix provides less corrosion protection to steel. The addition of calcium chloride to concrete seems to destroy the passive layer around steel and the steel is more prone to corrosion in concrete which partially submerged than fully submerged. Effectiveness of passive layer around steel embedded in concrete decreases with increase in exposure time.

9 illus, 1 table, 8 ref

018530   Singh R;Singh O;Singh Y (Computer Science and Engineering Dep, Harcour Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur-208 002) : Methodology for ranking of software reliabity measures. J Instn Engrs-Pt CP 2006, 87(Nov), 14-20.

Complete framework for ranking of software engineering measures, which are best indicators of the software reliability, have been proposed. The research is based on the identification of a set of software engineering measures and their ranking criteria. Because of the infancy state of the topic, no sufficient practical data is available in the literature, hence, the score of each measure for each ranking criterion has been elicited through expert opinion aggregation using fuzzy multilevel methodology. The proposed methodology has been compared with commonly existing methodologies. With the establishment and use of ranking of commonly used software reliability measures in each software development phase, an effective and reliable quantitative prediction of software reliability can be done. Knowing the ranking of reliability measures, an organization using these reliability measures will feel more comfortable and confident in measuring software reliability.

5 illus, 30 ref

018529   Singh I V;Prakash R (Mechanical Engineering Group, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani-333 031) : Numerical solution of axisymmetric heat transfer problems using meshless method. J Instn Engrs-Pt MC 2006, 87(Jul), 43-53.

Computational technique, known as meshless element free Galerkin (EFG) method has been used to obtain the numerical solution of axisymmetric heat transfer problems. The EFG method utilized the moving least square (MLS) approximants to to approximate the unknown function of temperature T(r) with T^B(r) . These MLS approximants are constructed using a weight function, a basis junction and a set of non-constant coefficients. The essential boundary conditions have been enforced using Lagrange multiplier method. Two new weight function, namely, exponential and cosine have been proposed. The MATLAB codes have been developed to obtain the numerical solution. The EFG results are obtained using proposed (exponential and cosine) and existing (cubicspline, quarticspline, Gaussian, quadratic, hyperbolic and rational) weight functions for a model problem. The results obtained using different EFG might functions are compared with those obtained by finite element method.

7 illus, 11 tables, 14 ref

018528   Singh C;Tathgir R G;Muralidhar K (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala-147 004) : Assessing experimental and numerical data using sensitivity functions. J Instn Engrs-Pt MC 2006, 87(Jul), 54-61.

Paper introduces the concept of a sensitivity Junction as a tool for examining the quality of mathematical models and the repeatability of experiments, in the context of transport phenomena in porous beds. The results obtained are helpful in locating the regions in space and time where experimental repeatability is expected to be low, and where the measurements are sensitive to process parameters. In numerical simulation, it helps in configuring a fine grid in space and time. A comparison of sensitivity functions derived by an analytical approach against experimental measurements has been carried out at various Peclet numbers. In addition, the sensitivity function has also been computed using 1 and 2 equation models of heat transfer, by solving the appropriate conservation equations by numerical techniques. The sensitivity function has been obtained for varying physical parameters such as the dispersion coefficient, Biot number and thermo-physical properties of the solid phase of the porous medium. Most experiments have been carried out with glass beads and water, while a few experiments are conducted in a porous bed of steel balls in water. Results show the utility of sensitivity functions on one hand, and the possibility of obtaining model parameters on the other, by matching experimental and numerical sensitivity functions.

6 illus, 14 ref

018527   Singh A P;Kamal T S;Kumar S (Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering SLIET, , Longowal-148 106) : ANN based modelling of transducers using virtual calibrator. J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2006, 87(Jul), 6-12.

Experimental method for the estimation of transducer non linearity, its testing and calibration using artificial neural networks have been described. Attempts have been made to devise an important submodule of an autocalibration system, working in a real time environment for interpolating the static response characteristics of different types of sensors and transducers. Object oriented, fourth generation, high performance graphical programming language (Test point) is used to implement the user interactive versatile virtual calibrator. Experimental results of the comparative study in modelling the static response characteristics of a hydrostatic strain gauge pressure transducer using adaptive linear network (ADALINE), multi-layered feed forward back propagation (MLFFBP) network and radial basis function (RBF) network are presented.

14 illus, 2 tables, 20 ref

018526   Singaria S;Agarwal R P;Jain S S;Parida M (Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering, IIT, Roorkee-247 667) : Hardware implementation of an adaptive traffic light controller for a busy intersection. J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2006, 87(Jul), 21-4.

Complete process of synthesis, simulation, and implementation of an adaptive traffic light controller (ATLC) for a busy intersection has been outlined. Major focus was placed on designing a finite state machine (FSM) to control the switching of signal lights, its simulation for desired functioning of the ATLC. The integrated use of static RAM (SRAM), to serve as storage for timing parameters and limits of traffic density for decision-making by the controller, has also been presented. The special feature of the ATLC, which is different from conventional traffic light controllers, is that it adaptively controls the traffic, as per its intensity.

3 illus, 10 ref

018525   Siddhaye V R;Sonar I P (Applied Mechanics Dep, Government College of Engineering, Pune-411 005) : Behaviour of bamboo under axial compression. J Instn Engrs-Pt CI 2006, 87(May), 3-8.

Among the different natural fibre materials, bamboo is the strongest, economical, durable and abundantly available material. Traditionally bamboo is well known for non-structural applications like low cost houses, craft and furniture. But structural use of bamboo is a recent concept. Many have tried to explore the possible use of bamboo in construction. To exploit its further application, the present authors have undertaken research work for utilization of its structural properties for space frame applications. Buckling stress of bamboo under axial compression is one of the important properties while designing the structural member made with bamboo. Experimental investigations are carried out to study buckling behaviour of bamboo under axial compression and efforts are made to investigate suitability of available formulae for columns. The permissible stresses are also worked out for different senderness ratios for further work.

4 illus, 4 tables, 11 ref

018524   Shinde B D;Mishra D K (Department of Electronics, AISSMS College of Engineering, Pune-411 001) : Thermal effects on vertical cavity surface emitting lasers. J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2006, 87(Jul), 58-60.

Temperature distribution along the cavity is determined by the heat generation and temperature transport properties of the layer geometry. The heat generation in cavity is generally by following the mechanisms; free carrier absorption, spontaneous and stimulated emission, ohmic heating of carriers during transport through the device, hot carrier effects in the quantum wells and non radiative recombination of electron and holes in the active region². The heat generated in normally transported through the device to heat sink, from which it is delivered to the ambient via conduction, convection and radiation. Depending on device structure the heat sink is mounted below the substrate or on the top of the P mirror. The vertical oriented structure will have comparatively less heat generation.

6 illus, 10 ref

018523   Sharma P (Biological system Engineering, Washington State univ, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA) : Influence of intrinsic permeability and van genuchten parameters on small-scale simulation results. J Instn Engrs-Pt CI 2006, 87(Nov), 40-6.

Values of intrinsic permeability and capillary pressure-saturation relationship play an important role in numerical simulation of two-phase - two component flow and transport processes. The hydraulic parameters (van Genuchten (VG) parameters and intrinsic permeability) are obtained from various methods based on grain-size distribution. The range of hydraulic parameters are observed from literature to get an overview of different parameter combinations for all soil types, because the value of VG parameters (necessary for capillary pressure-saturation relationship) and intrinsic permeability are not directly available from measurements. Hence, the suitable ranges of hydraulic parameters are selected by combination of all the values after literature survey. The influence on simulation of water saturation distribution has been examined with certain boundary conditions using numerical simulation tool MUFTE_UG. The numerical model shows the water saturation curve for specific values of hydraulic parameters. The shape of water saturation curve changes more by changing the value of VG parameter n between 1 and 3. The water saturation curve also changes for larger values of VG parameter α by changing other two hydraulic parameters. The smaller intrinsic permeability gives higher water saturation slope and takes more time to reach steady state saturation.

3 illus, 2 tables, 14 ref

018522   Sharma J K;Mehta A S;Parashar J (Department of Applied Physics, Samrat Ashok Technological Institute, Vidisha-464 001) : Nonlinear mixing of electromagnetic waves in a plasma filled parallel plate guide. J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2006, 87(Jul), 44-9.

Analysis of generation of (ω₁ ± ω₂) frequency waves by non linear mixing of two electromagnetic waves of frequencies ω₁ and ρ₂, in a collisionless, unmagnetized plasma, bounded by parallel plates is presented. The non linearity arises through the ponderomotive force on electrons. In both, the sum and difference frequency generation process, the efficiency is strongly dependent on plasma density, transverse position and width of the wave guide.

4 illus, 18 ref

018521   Shanmugam S;Veerappan A (Mechanical Engineering Dep, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli-620 015) : Static and transient analysis of power generating boiler tube bends subjected to internal fluid pressure. J Instn Engrs-Pt MC 2006, 87(Jul), 38-42.

Tube bends are extensively used in power generating boilers mainly to change the direction of fluid flowing inside the tubes, which are subjected to static and transient loads besides other loads during startups and shutdowns. Tube bends always have certain inherent manufacturing defects like ovality and thinning/ thickening which, beyond a certain level, would definitely impair safe operation of the tube bends and hence, the boiler. In this paper, boiler tube bends, subjected to internal pressure load under static and transient conditions, are analysed using the cross section of tube bend by finite element method, which yields the imperfections have very significant effect on the deflection and stress intensity. Results obtained an also compared with those of IBR, showing FEM is more conservative estimate of the allowable stress.

9 illus, 8 ref

018520   Shah N A;Malik M A;Iqbal S Z (Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Technology, University of Kashmir, Srinagar-190 006) : Multifunction high output impedance current mode filter using FTFNs. J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2006, 87(Jul), 42-3.

New current mode (CM) filter using absolute minimum number of active and passive components has been presented. The currents are available at high output impedances, so the synthesized filter can be cascaded to realize higher order filters without additional buffers. The circuit, depending upon the choice of passive components, implements lowpass (LP) and bandpass (BP) or highpass (HP) and bandpass (BP) filtering signals simultaneously. The filter performance factors pole-frequency (ω/Q) and quality factor (Q) are independently tunable in a sequential manner. The sensitivity figures of ω_u and Q are inferior to unity. The simulation results using personal simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis (PSPICE) have been included.

3 illus, 9 ref

018519   Seshu P;Seth B;Shanmuganathan V (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai-400 076) : Passive Dynamics of kangaroo-like hopping robot. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2006, 87(Sept), 39-45.

Kangaroo-like hopping machine with a mass-less springy leg, a body with centre of mass offset from the line of action of the spring and a tail link has been investigated in this study. Equations of motion in stance and flight phases are presented in this article. The equations determining the jump in velocities at the instant of touchdown are also formulated, based on impulse equations. The model has been used to simulate hopping motion for some select sets of parameters and initial conditions. Such a model can be used to develop largely passive, under-actuated hopping systems, where relatively small actuators may suffice to compensate for the energy losses and to correct any deviations from a largely passive hopping trajectory.

3 illus, 20 ref

018518   Senthil Vadivu K;Sankaranarayanan N; Mahalakshmi N V (Printing Technology Dep, Anna University, Chennai) : Design and developing of a pressure sensing device in offset printing machine. J Instn Engrs-Pt MC 2006, 87(Jul), 12-4.

In lithographic printing press ink or water is transferred from one surface to another, only if there exists a contact between them. Pressure is more than essential and a critical parameter that decides the print quality. This report deals with the measurement of impression forces in the contact area of the cylinders of an offset sheetfed printing machine. It also presents the design and development of a pressure-sensing device. In the nip contact, different conditions occur by varying the characteristics of the machine parameters. The impression forces and the pressure distribution in the contact area were determined for different speeds] blankets, inks and paper.

3 illus, 1 table, 8 ref

018517   Sengar S H;Kurchania A K;Rathore N S (Renewable Energy Source Dep, College of Technology and Engineering, Udaipur-313 001) : Design and development of composite solar water heater cum distillation unit for domestic use. J Instn Engrs-Pt MC 2006, 87(Jul), 15-7.

Composite solar unit of solar water heater cum distillation device (SWHD) was designed and developed for domestic uses to obtain hot water and distilled water simultaneously. The device was tested for full load condition in winter and summer to find out its performances. In solar water beater cum distillation unit the maximum temperatures of water in storage tank were 48.7° C and 58.3° C in winter and summer, respectively. Total distilled water in 24 hours produced from SWHD in February 2004 and April 2004 was 5007 ml/m² /day and 5275 ml/m²/day, respectively. Efficiency of SWHD for winter and summer, respectively was found to be 36.70 % and 27.65% for solar water heater, 49.55%, and 43.97% for distillation in winter and summer seasons.

5 illus, 4 ref

018516   Sarmah S P;Acharya D (Industrial Engineering and Management Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur-721 302) : Comparative study of manufacturer batch size policy with and without credit option for supply chain coordination. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2006, 87(Sept), 32-8.

Credit option is used as an incentive mechanism to coordinate between two members of a supply chain. Manufacterer provides an item to the buyer on credit and in turn expects to get an order size larger than the economic order quantity (EOQ) of the buyer. This results in increase in the batch size of the manufacturer. In the article, three propositions are developed and subsequently it is shown that the manufacturer's cost with credit option is less than or equal to the cost without credit option; buyer's cost with credit option is less than or equal to the cost without credit option; and finally, total channel cost with credit option is less than the cost having no credit option and thereby improves the channel efficiency. Finally, a numerical example is carried out to illustrate the model.

13 ref

018515   Sanjiv S;Ghosh M K;Dutta P K (Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur-721 302) : Optical fibre based low temperature sensor. J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2006, 87(Jul), 13-8.

Design of optical fiber based low temperature sensors for application in cryogenic ranges is presented. Experimental results obtained are in good conformity with the theoretically predicted results. The performance characteristics of the micro bend sensor designed and fabricated are quite satisfactory and there is scope for further improvement by choosing suitable materials and configuration. Immunity to EMI, intrinsic safety and small size are major attractions of these sensors.

10 illus, 7 ref

018514   Salih A;Moulic S G (Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappali 620015) : Level set formulation for the numerical simulation of impact of surge fronts. Sadhana 2006, 31(6), 697-707.

Presents a level set-based algorithm for the solution of incompressible two-phase flow problems. The technique is applied to the numerical simulation of impact of two surge fronts resulting from the collapse of liquid columns. The incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved using a projection method based on forward Euler time-stepping. The Hamilton-Jacobi type equation for the transport of level set function is carried out by a high resolution fifth-order accurate WENO scheme. For efficient implementation of the WENO scheme authors have proposed grid staggering for the level set function. The solution of the pressure Poisson equation is obtained using an efficient preconditioned conjugate gradient method. It is shown that the present formulation works very well for large density and viscosity ratios. For the purpose of validation, authors have simulated small-amplitude free sloshing of liquid in a container and the well-known two-dimensional broken-dam problem of Martin and Moyce. Simulations of impact of surge fronts have been carried out and the results are discussed.

8 illus, 16 ref

018513   Sairam K V S S S S;Kalavathy R;Chalvan Thamil R (Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Bharat Institute of Engineering and Technology, Ibrahimpatnam-501 510) : Internetworking design unsing fibre optics survivable techniques (FOST). J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2006, 87(Jul), 25-8.

Due to the distributed administration, large geographic coverage, and expensive resource cost, communication networks are one of the most vulnerable parts in the current information infrastructure. Both failures and malicious attacks are difficult to eliminate in such systems. Recent advances in fibre transmission and switching/ routing techniques have dramatically increased the communication capacity of links. Moreover, merging large amount and multiple classes of services over the same communication link is also common nowadays. An adverse consequence of these advances is an increasing network vulnerability since a small network failure or network attack can significantly reduce the capability to deliver services in large-scale information systems. Hence, this article describes about the greater focus on spars capacity design and network restoration techniques to mitigate the impact of failures and attacks, providing network survivability for circuit switched networks (eg, trunk diversity) and ATM networks, for the next generation internet (NGI).

9 illus, 7 ref

018512   Reddy P C;Rao A A;Reddy P C (Computer Science and Engineering Dep, JNTU College of Engineering, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh-515 002) : Performance comparison of TCP congestion control algorithms. J Instn Engrs-Pt CP 2006, 87(Nov), 43-8.

Congestion is a state where increase in the load on the network or part of the network, results in decrease in throughput of the network. Realistic comparison of congestion control algorithms TCP Tahoe, TCP Reno, TCP New Reno, TCP Sack and TCP Vegas has been performed. Each of the algorithms is simulated separately, relative comparison is performed, and TCP is compared with UDP. Simulation is done using ns2 simulator and the graphs are drawn using Xgraph. Basic methodology is to apply different levels of congestion to the network, by varying queue size of the bottleneck link. To achieve fairness in comparison, identical loads are applied to all TCP variants and also to UDP. The important observation is, TCP Vegas performs better than all the remaining algorithms and UDP can lead to congestion collapse.

9 illus, 7 ref

018511   Reddy N B P (Civil Engineering Dep, NBKR Institute of Science and Technology, Vidyanagar-524 413) : Experimental study on flow resistance through porous media with converging boundaries. J Instn Engrs-Pt CI 2006, 87(May), 24-9.

Experimental investigation on the effect of convergence of streamlines on the linear parameter, a, and non-linear parameter, b, for different radial flow lines and for different ratios of radii of the test section was studied in a converging permeameter. This paper presents the results of applying dimensional analysis to obtain a relationship between friction factor (f_D) and Reynolds number ( R_D) for flow in porous media with converging boundaries, using volume diameter (D) as characteristic length. Using the said relationship, theoretical curves, which were similar to Moody diagram used for pipe flow are developed and verified with the help of existing experimental data. Crushed rock of size 4.73 mm was used as media and water as fluid, to develop curves relating friction factor (f_D) and Reynolds number (R_D)for different radial flow lines with different ratios of radii of the test section of permeameter. The results of experiment an useful to predict the location of well and depth of well to get more yield of water in the aquifer.

7 illus, 11 ref

018510   Reddy A S R;Reddy K V V S;Reddy G R (Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, N B K R Institute of Science and Technology, Vidyanagar-524 413) : Two level multiple taper spectral analysis applied to mST radar signals. J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2006, 87(Jul), 61-6.

Two level multiple taper spectral analysis technique for spectral cleaning and estimation of the MST radar signals has been presented. With this scheme, SNR of the radar returns could be improved and the Doppler frequency could be predicted even at greater heights and under severe weather conditions. The predicted results an compared with the one level multiple taper technique and good improvement is reported.

3 illus, 8 ref

018509   Ravichandran G (WRI, BHEL, Tiruchirappalli-620 014) : Proof testing of pressure vessels as per code requirements using experimental stress analysis. WRI Jl 2006, 27(2), 31-5.

Proof testing is a procedure for establishing the maximum allowable working pressure of a pressure vessel as explained in ASMS code. It is resorted to when the strength of the vessel cannot be computed with satisfactory assurance of accuracy. The tests based on yielding of the part for the determination of maximum allowable working pressure, make use of strain measurement procedures using either brittle coating test or electrical resistance strain gauge test. The strain gauging procedure which is a point field analysis, is widely employed on industrial components as it will calculate the magnitude and the direction of the principal stresses acting at that location due to the externally imposed load. After computing the two principal stresses, the onset of yielding needs to be evaluated in order to estimate the safety of the structure and this is performed using major theories of failure. Proof of testing procedure adopted for some internally and externally loaded pressure vessels and the results of the stress analysis and the safety of the vessels under external loading are discussed.

5 illus, 4 ref

018508   Rajvanshi A K (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur-302 017) : Performance estimation of an axial flow fan. J Instn Engrs-Pt MC 2006, 87(Jul), 34-7.

Tests were conducted on an axial flow fan to obtain experimental information on the flow pattern changes which accompany the variation of performance when the fan is operated over a wide range of flow conditions. In a fan designed for free vortex flow, and at the design point operation, potential flow upstream and downstream from the rotor is reasonably well satisfied across a large portion of the fan annulus. Considerable deviations occur, however, within the tip and hub regions where boundary layer effects make their presence felt over distances far greater than the thickness of the layer itself.

6 illus, 8 ref

018507   Rajbongshi P (Civil Engineering Dep, NIT Silchar, Assam-788 010) : Modigied design method of dowel bar. J Instn Engrs-Pt CI 2006, 87(Nov), 67-72.

Load carrying capacity of concrete pavements is mainly due to rigidity and high modulus of elasticity of the slab itself. As per IRC:58-2002, spacing of bars is determined using trial and error so that the bearing stress in dowels does not exceed the permissible bearing stress in concrete for assumed diameter (2.5cm or 3.2cm) and 50cm length of bars. The spacing is the only design parameter which is independent of length and a smaller size with higher length of bar need not necessarily fail by bearing. For normal characteristics of dowel and concrete, it is observed from Bradbury's approach that 50cm fixed length with 2.5cm diameter of bar fails due to bending and 40cm length of bars may be used to a void unnecessary length, bearing being the design criteria. This paper presents simple equation for length of bars based on Bradbury's analysis and spacing as per IRC:58-2002 considering all parameters. The proposed method has been developed using method of curve fitting which does not require any assumption and iterative efforts. The results are validated with existing method and very good correlation found. Thus, the dowel bar design parameters for optimal design may be estimated using the simple equations as suggested and need to modify the provision of length.

4 illus, 3 tables, 6 ref

018506   Raja K;Saravanan R;Selladurai V (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore-641 006) : Multi-objective optimization of parallel machine scheduling (PMS) using genetic algorithm and fuzzy logic approach. J Instn Engrs-Pt PR 2006, 87(Sept), 26-31.

Problem of parallel machine scheduling (PMS) in manufacturing systems is considered with the combined objectives of minimizing-the make span, total tardiness and total earliness. A Genetic Algorithm-Fuzzy-based procedure has been developed to select optimal solutions in a PMS. Genetic Algorithm generates random optimum schedules and Fuzzy Logic technique is used to select the best optimal schedule from the generated schedules. The proposed method is compared with the existing PMS heuristics, and the results are presented. The proposed algorithm is found to perform better for multi-criterion PMS problems.

2 illus, 3 tables, 13 ref

018505   Rai L;Kale S R (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Delhi College of Engineering, Delhi-110042) : Mapping of blade surface roughness of in-service steam turbine. J Instn Engrs-Pt MC 2006, 87(Jul), 30-3.

Roughness over the blade surface is generated by erosion, corrosion and deposition. An examination of the blades of in service steam tubines of rating 210 MW has been carried out to establish the trends of roughness pattern observed over the blades. In absence of in-situ roughness measurement tools, roughness observed has been compared with emery papers. It was observed that the blades of initial stages were roughned mainly at leading edge side of suction surface, and the stages operated in wet steam were eroded at leading and trailing edges side of the suction surface. Roughness due to deposits was observed from mid-chord to trailing edge over suction surface and to a less extent over the pressure surface. Variation in roughness caused by deposition is also present along the span.

1 illus, 19 ref

018504   Patnaik D;Dash I (Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Gandhi Institute for Technological Advancement, Bhubaneswar-752 054) : Low cost PC based moisture measurement and control technique for process industries. J Instn Engrs-Pt ET 2006, 87(Jul), 29-31.

Measurement of moisture in process industries is not only crucial but also a difficult task when associated with accuracy. There are several techniques for moisture measurement; most of them are either complex, risky or costly. But the technique described here is low cost, prototype and relatively accurate novel circuit design approach based on measuring lossy dielectric characteristics using capactive sensors; employing a 'timer' whose ope rating frequency can be varied widely and can be interfaced with the PC easily. Case study from a Polypropylene process industry has been analysed and also develops an automated data acquisition and control (on/off) system for the process.

7 illus, 8 ref

018503   Patil P M;Sontakke T R (Electronics Dep, Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune-411 037) : Application of modular fuzzy hyperspher and hyperline segment neural network for handwritten character recognition. J Instn Engrs-Pt CP 2006, 87(Nov), 21-6.

Modular fuzzy hyperline segment and modular fuzzy hypersphere neural network with its learning algorithm has been described which are extensions of fuzzy hyperline segment neural network (FHSNN) and fuzzy hypersphere neural network^1,2. The modular neural networks (MNN) offer higher degree of parallelism. Each module in MNN is exposed to the pattern of only one class and trained without overlap test and removal, leading to reduction in training time. Hence, each module captures peculiarity of only one particular class. Due to decrease in training time, the algorithm can be used for voluminous realistic database, where new patterns can be added on fly. The MNN is found superior in terms of generalization and training time with equivalent testing time.

4 illus, 4 tables, 12 ref

018502   Nagrale P P;Chandra S;Viladkar M N (Civil Engineering Dep, IIT, Roorkee, Roorkee-247 667) : Benefits of fibre reinforced subgrade soils in flexible pavement. J Instn Engrs-Pt CI 2006, 87(May), 53-7.

Work was undertaken to evaluate the benefits of fibre reinforced subgrade soil in flexible pavements. Two types of soils (A and B) and one type of polypropylene fibre were selected for the study. The CBR and the UCS tests were conducted on unreinforced and reinforced soils ' at different fibre contents and aspect ratios. CBR, E - value and failure stress were used to decide the optimum quantity of the fibre. It was found that 1.5 % fibre with an aspect ratio 100 and 1.5 % fibre with an aspect ratio 84 wen optimum for soil A and soil B, respectively. The static triaxial tests were conducted on unreinforced and reinforced soils at optimum quantity of fibres to study the effect of confinements on E- value and failure stress of unreinforced and reinforced soils. The results obtained from static triaxial tests of subgrade soils and other pavement layers were used to evaluate the benefits of fibre reinforced subgrade soils in flexible pavement. A mechanistic design approach, which considers reinforcement benefits in terms of extension in service life of the pavement or reduction in base course or sub-base course thickness for equivalent service life is proposed.

4 illus, 8 tables, 18 ref

018501   Nagalakshmi R;Dhanasekaran N;Suresh S (WRI, BHEL, Tiruchirappalli-620 014) : Correlation of NDT data with microstructure. WRI Jl 2006, 27(2), 22-30.

Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques for sensing microstructure and other properties requires an in depth knowledge on the relation between measurement of NDE parameters and microstructure. Investigation is undertaken to correlate ultrasonic wave velocity and attenuation with micro-structural changes after processing. Ultrasonic testing and attenuation measurements are used to characterize microstructures in metals with the view to apply them for quality control. An attempt has been made to show the influence of microstructure on ultrasonic velocity and attenuation in non- ferrous metals like brass, copper and titanium. The ultrasonic wave velocity and attenuation are found for these specimens using the flaw detector before and after heating. The specimens are polished, etched subjected to metallographic examination before and after heating. The ultrasonic characteristics and microstructural analysis before and after heating the specimens are compared. The result shows that, there is variation in the ultrasonic wave velocities, attenuation coefficient and micro-structures of the specimen after processing.

6 ref

018500   Mukherjee M (Architecture and Planning Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee-247 667) : Consequence of earthquake damage on non-structural element-an overview. J Instn Engrs-Pt CI 2006, 87(Nov), 15-20.

Earthquake damages to non-structural elements pose direct and indirect threat to safety of people as well as loss of critical function and economy. As India has no earthquake-free zone and modern buildings' expenditure on non-structural elements is more than building's construction cost, safe design and installation of these elements is an accepted issue now. Non-structural elements can be classified as per their characteristic use or their behaviour during shaking. Inertia force, inter-storey drift and pounding with adjacent, building are reasons for damage to non-structural elements. Initiatives have been taken to device methods for safe securing of these elements in any building; thus limiting potential economic and other losses. These upgradation methods range from very simple measures out of commonsense to engineering detailing with calculations. The provision made in code for non -structural elements is required to be modified.

16 ref

018499   Mukherjee M (Department of Architecture and Planning, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee) : Illuminating Architectural space with fibre optics. J Instn Engrs-Pt AR 2006, 87(Oct), 20-3.

Daylighting is a strong tool for architects to create quality space. It has definite advantages over artificial light as it creates positive impact on health, psychology, performance and so on. Most importantly this is available free of cost, and a viable option for sustainable living. With advent of science and technology new concept and methodologies for harnessing and distributing daylight are available. One such is optical fibre illumination system (OFIS) in which daylight is transmitted to distant windowless space through optical fibers. Researchers are developing it as an efficient system. Sometimes artificial lightings are also being integrated into OFIS to obtain an optimum solution. This paper presents a general overview on the OFIS.

3 illus, 10 ref