Comparative modal analysis for a twisted beam axle for a hybrid vehicle

In this article it is presented a comparative analysis of natural mode frequencies for a non-powered rear axle used to fit mass production vehicle and for a similar rear axle derived from the first one to be used to fit a hybrid powered vehicle. The CAD model of the axle and the computed natural mode frequencies were realised using CATIA V5. For calculation, finit element method was used.

Design of an Active Damping System for Vibration Control of Wind Turbine Towers

The vibration of wind turbine towers is relevant to the reliability of the wind turbine structure and the quality of power production. It produces both ultimate loads and fatigue loads threatening structural safety. This paper aims to reduce vibration in wind turbine towers using an active damper named the twin rotor damper (TRD). A single degree of freedom (SDOF) oscillator with the TRD is used to approximate the response of wind turbines under a unidirectional gusty wind with loss of the electrical network. The coincidence between the wind gust and the grid loss is studied to involve the maximum loading on the structure. The performance of the proposed damping system under the maximum loading is then evaluated on the state-of-the-art wind turbine NREL 5 MW. The effectiveness of the TRD is compared to a passive tuned mass damper (TMD) designed with similar requirements. The numerical results reveal that, at the 1st natural mode, the TRD outperforms the passive TMD by three to six times. Moreover, the results show that the TRD is effective in reducing ultimate loads on wind turbine towers.

Grain Dispersal Mechanism In Cereals Arose From a Genome Duplication Followed By Changes in Spatial Expression of Genes Involved In Pollen Development

One of the most critical events in the process of cereal domestication was the loss of the natural mode of grain dispersal. Grain dispersal in barley is controlled by two major genes, Btr1 and Btr2, which affect the thickness of cell walls around the disarticulation zone. The barley genome also encodes Btr1-like and Btr2-like genes, which have been shown to be the ancestral copies. While Btr and Btr-like genes are non-redundant, the biological function of Btr-like genes is unknown. We explored the potential biological role of the Btr-like genes by surveying their expression profile across 212 publicly available transcriptome datasets representing diverse organs, developmental stages and stress conditions. We found that Btr1-like and Btr2-like are expressed exclusively in immature anther samples throughout Prophase I of meiosis within the meiocyte. The similar and restricted expression profile of these two genes suggests they are involved in a common biological function. Further analysis revealed 141 genes co-expressed with Btr1-like and 122 genes co-expressed with Btr2-like, with 105 genes in common, supporting Btr-like genes involvement in a shared molecular pathway. We hypothesize that the Btr-like genes play a crucial role in pollen development by facilitating the formation of the callose wall around the meiocyte or in the secretion of callase by the tapetum. Our data suggest that Btr genes retained an ancestral function in cell wall modification and gained a new role in grain dispersal due to changes in their spatial expression becoming spike specific after gene-duplication.

Design and Optimization of Direct Drive Motor Alloy Wheel for Manual Wheelchair

The wheelchair is the primary rehabilitation device used to enable the movement capability of disabled people. To provide an appropriate wheelchair, the doctor will suggest the necessary customization has to be made on the existing one. However, the customization of a manual wheelchair is easy and cost-effective compared with the powered wheelchair due to simple structure and spare parts availability in the market... Because of the above, a novel concept is proposed. The rear wheels of the manual wheelchair are replaced with a Direct drive motor alloy wheel. CATIA – V5 is utilized to design the proposed wheel and ANSYS software is used to check its performance at different load conditions. The stress-bearing capability of different materials for various Direct drive motor weights is observed through structural analysis. The natural mode frequencies are found using modal analysis and its nature of vibrations is verified. The harmonic response analysis is used to test the nature of deformation and stress concerning natural frequencies for the applied force.

Design and optimization of Direct drive motor Alloy wheel for manual wheelchair

The wheelchair is the primary rehabilitation device used to enable the movement capability of disabled people. To provide an appropriate wheelchair, the doctor will suggest the necessary customization has to be made on the existing one. However, the customization of a manual wheelchair is easy and cost-effective compared with the powered wheelchair due to simple structure and spare parts availability in the market... Because of the above, a novel concept is proposed. The rear wheels of the manual wheelchair are replaced with a Direct drive motor alloy wheel. CATIA – V5 is utilized to design the proposed wheel and ANSYS software is used to check its performance at different load conditions. The stress-bearing capability of different materials for various Direct drive motor weights is observed through structural analysis. The natural mode frequencies are found using modal analysis and its nature of vibrations is verified. The harmonic response analysis is used to test the nature of deformation and stress concerning natural frequencies for the applied force.

Design and Optimization of Direct Drive Motor Alloy Wheels for Manual Wheelchairs

The wheelchair is the primary rehabilitation device used to enable the movement capability of disabled people. To provide an appropriate wheelchair, the doctor will suggest the necessary customization has to be made on the existing one. However, the customization of a manual wheelchair is easy and cost-effective compared with the powered wheelchair due to simple structure and spare parts availability in the market... Because of the above, a novel concept is proposed. The rear wheels of the manual wheelchair are replaced with a Direct drive motor alloy wheel. CATIA – V5 is utilized to design the proposed wheel and ANSYS software is used to check its performance at different load conditions. The stress-bearing capability of different materials for various Direct drive motor weights is observed through structural analysis. The natural mode frequencies are found using modal analysis and its nature of vibrations is verified. The harmonic response analysis is used to test the nature of deformation and stress concerning natural frequencies for the applied force.

AN EFFICIENT METHOD FOR HAND GESTURE RECOGNITION USING ROBUST FEATURES VECTOR

Integration of technology for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) has increased the need for efficient methods for developing dynamic human computer interfaces and virtual environments. In this context, hand gesture recognition can play a vital role to serve as a natural mode of interactive human machine interaction. Unfixed brightness, complex backgrounds, color constraints, dependency on hand shape, rotation, and scale variance are the challenging issues which have an impact on robust performance for the existing methods as per outlined in previous researches. This research presents an efficient method for hand gesture recognition by constructing a robust features vector. The proposed method is performed in two phases, where in the first phase the features vector is constructed by selecting interest points at distinctive locations using a blob detector based on Hessian matrix approximation. After detecting the area of the hand from the features vector, edge detection is applied in the isolated hand followed by edge orientation computation. After this, templates are generated using one and two dimensional mapping to compare candidate and prototype images using adaptive threshold. The proposed research performed extensive experimentation, where a recognition accuracy rate of 98.33% was achieved by it, which is higher as compared to previous research results. Experimental results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed methodology in real time.

Influence of dynamic properties on scaffoldings safety

Scaffoldings are used for works at height and in places that are hard to reach, which makes such works dangerous to employees and accidents occur frequently. Loads generated by scaffolding users cannot be avoided. Moving workers excite low-frequency (1–2 Hz) vibrations and scaffoldings as slender structures are prone to such dynamic action. The method for determining the probability of vibrations excitation is presented here. The quantity representing this probability is called the predictor of occurrence of a dangerous situation due to vibrations induced by a walking employee. The predictor of resonance with ith natural frequency requires an analysis of the scaffolding dynamic behavior. The frequencies and the natural mode shapes of vibrations were determined. Numerical dynamic simulations of the worker's movement on the penultimate decks of two scaffoldings were carried out, as well. Predictor analysis was made for single frequencies and combinations of frequency pairs. The predictor values calculated for the first frequency or combinations with it are the highest ones, however the probability of resonance is not only affected by the first frequency. To improve safety, the natural frequencies should be increased. For longitudinal vibrations, this can be done by adding more bracing or reducing lengths of anchors. Increasing the number of anchors gives good results in both directions. During scaffolding design of both typical and atypical constructions, one must determine the natural frequencies and then, if the first natural frequency is less than 4.0 Hz, perform a dynamic scaffolding analysis.

Growth and development of homeopathy in India: a perception study in and around Kolkata

India is a country of wide diversity in terms of physiography, climate, language, religion andavailable methods or systems of treatment. India also has a rich culture and heritage with ancient beliefs and knowledge; a large number of people use traditional methods of healing. Homeopathy was first introduced in Kolkata, in 1810, by a German geologist who had come to perform geological investigations. By this time, Mr. Mullence, of the London Missionary Society, was known for treating the local people of southern Kolkata. The Calcutta Medical College was the first homeopathic medical college, established in 1881. This institution played a major role in the spread of homeopathy in India. However, at an earlier time, a homeopathic hospital was set up by the surgeon Samuel Brooking in south India. Many clinics and dispensaries opened at this time. In 1973, the Government of India passed the Central Act, by which homeopathy is recognized as one of the national systems of medicine in India. This represents a true milestone in the growth and development of homeopathy in the country. The Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH) was established to regulate homeopathy education. In the present time, there are about 200 homeopathic medical colleges and 38 post-graduate colleges that deliver degree courses; institutions such as like CCH (Central Council of Homoeopathy), NIH (National Institute of Homoeopathy), CCRH (Central Council For Research In Homoeopathy), AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy)promote high-level research. Several hundred thousands of practitioners deliver homeopathic medications all over the country. There are over 200, 000 registered homeopathic doctors, and further 12,000 graduate every year. Government of India introduced the Homeopathic Enquiry Committee in 1948, which recognized homeopathy as a scientific system of medicine. Scientific homeopathic research is performed by investigators from different fields, such as: zoology, physiology, physics, etc. The mechanism of action of homoeopathic potency is actively investigated by them. The experiments are performed on human, animal and plant’s body. The faith in homeopathy increases day by day, as it represents a safe, effective and natural mode of healing. The aims of the present study were: 1) to analyze the growth and development of homeopathy in India; 2) To establish the degree of acceptance of homeopathy by different socioeconomic groups; and 3) To establish the degree of satisfaction with homeopathic treatment of different socioeconomic groups. The study was based on primary and secondary data. The primary data were collected in a survey using a questionnaire applied to 100 individuals, randomly selected and with different socioeconomic background in and around Kolkata; the participants were categorized in 3 groups. The secondary data were gathered from the electronic media. The data were subjected to statistical analysis. Variables assessed were: 1) frequency of visits to homeopathic services; 2) type of diseases for which homeopathy is preferred; 3) age range for which homeopathy is preferred; 4) Weather the respondent is the first generation using homeopathic medicine or his/her ancestors used to take it; and 5) level of satisfaction. These variables were compared among the 3 groups. The result showed that low-income group - family income 8,400 Euro per month (businessmen, college professors etc) prefer homeopathy for their children, visit reputed urban doctors and obtain medicines from reputed manufacturers, but the level of satisfaction is almost equal in 2nd and 3rd groups.