Numerical simulation of the behavior of kinematically unstable slopes under dynamic influences

Introduction. The concept of estimating the dynamic parameters of the “base — weakened layer — block” system is proposed, taking into account the physical nonlinearity of the material and the kinematic method of excitation of vibrations. In accordance with this approach, the physical nonlinearity of the base and block material is considered using the Drucker- Prager model. The weakened layer is modeled by 3D spring finite elements. The verification procedure of the proposed methodology is carried out on the example of the dynamic calculation of the “base — weakened layer — slope” system.Materials and Methods. The computational experiments were performed using the ANSYS Mechanical software package in combination with a nonlinear solver based on the Newton-Raphson procedure. SOLID45 volumetric finite elements were used to discretize the computational domains. Combined elastic-viscous elements COMBIN14 were used to simulate the displacement of the block relative to the fixed base.Results. An engineering technique for the dynamic analysis of the stress-strain state of the “base — weakened layer — block” spatial system with kinematic method of excitation of vibrations is developed. The accuracy and convergence of the proposed method is investigated using specific numerical examples.Discussion and Conclusion. Based on the mathematic simulation performed, it is shown that the developed technique provides assessing the risks of the occurrence of real landslide processes caused by external non-stationary impacts.

The Role of Value Engineering in Government Housing Projects in Developing Countries to Improve Value

Government housing projects are among the complex issues facing developing countries’ governments. There have been many attempts to solve problems related to this issue and a lot of effort has been made in this direction. The main problem is lowering the cost of lodging, without sacrificing its quality and the effectiveness by which it fulfills the needs of its occupants. This became possible upon the use of the value engineering technique. Value engineering is an effective tool used to solve problems related to housing, by lowering cost on one hand and sustaining or even ameliorating quality and performance.The purpose of this study is to try to identify a series of proposed solutions and value indicators and to describe their role in improving value in government housing projects. This process may assist the designer in choosing and managing, value indicators during the creative phase, using references from the literature and the analysis of case studies.The literature review identified the reasons for high costs and poor performance, which are often a result of a misunderstanding of the fundamental principles of design criteria and value indicators, followed in government housing projects. The review also pinpointed the most important considerations that improve value.Results obtained in this study feature the positive effects of methods under the umbrella of value engineering, applied in government housing projects. It was found that savings of 15% to 40% can be achieved in the total cost of a certain project, using this technique. Generating ideas in the creative phase is one of the most important stages in value engineering studies. A set of value indicators and proposed solutions in the form of a checklist were derived and can be used in the future, during the creative phase of value engineering studies in the initial design stage of government housing projects.

Enhancement of Microhardness and Tribological Properties of Recycled AA 6063 Using Energy-Efficient and Environment-Friendly Friction Stir Processing

In this study, the surface microhardness, friction and wear performance of recycled aluminium alloy 6063 were improved via an energy-efficient surface engineering technique known as friction stir processing. Different tool rotational speeds of 1200 rpm, 1400 rpm, 1600 rpm, 1800 rpm and 2000 rpm with a fixed feed rate of 30 mm/min were used to process the recycled aluminium alloy 6063. The effects of rotational speed on the microstructure, surface microhardness and tribological performance of the samples were analyzed. The results show that the samples produced at a stirring speed of 1200 rpm achieved the greatest enhancement of 25 % in surface microhardness, 37 % in wear resistance and 33 % reduction in friction coefficient. This has significant implications for environmental sustainability as a relatively low rotational speed, hence a low energy input, is sufficient to enhance the surface properties of recycled aluminium alloy 6063. The benefits of superior tribological properties of recycled aluminium alloy afforded by such an energy-efficient surface engineering method include reduced exploitation of new resources, reduced carbon footprint, and enhanced product sustainability and durability.

Mathematical Modeling of Suspension Filtration on a Rapid Filter at an Unregulated Rate

Mathematical modeling of detachable filtration in the split filter flow mode was carried out using exact and approximate analytical methods. An engineering technique has been developed to determine the duration of filter cycles, based on quality, economic and technical criteria. Determination of rational filter medium height was considered for two materials differed significantly by economic indexes.

Language Semantics Interpretation with an Interaction-Based Recurrent Neural Network

Text classification is a fundamental language task in Natural Language Processing. A variety of sequential models are capable of making good predictions, yet there is a lack of connection between language semantics and prediction results. This paper proposes a novel influence score (I-score), a greedy search algorithm, called Backward Dropping Algorithm (BDA), and a novel feature engineering technique called the “dagger technique”. First, the paper proposes to use the novel influence score (I-score) to detect and search for the important language semantics in text documents that are useful for making good predictions in text classification tasks. Next, a greedy search algorithm, called the Backward Dropping Algorithm, is proposed to handle long-term dependencies in the dataset. Moreover, the paper proposes a novel engineering technique called the “dagger technique” that fully preserves the relationship between the explanatory variable and the response variable. The proposed techniques can be further generalized into any feed-forward Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), and any neural network. A real-world application on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) is used and the proposed methods are applied to improve prediction performance with an 81% error reduction compared to other popular peers if I-score and “dagger technique” are not implemented.

“Sustainability-contents SEO”: a semantic algorithm to improve the quality rating of sustainability web contents

PurposeFor companies that intend to respond to the modern conscious consumers' needs, a great competitive advantage is played on the ability to incorporate sustainability messages in marketing communications. The aim of this paper is to address this important priority in the web context, building a semantic algorithm that allows content managers to evaluate the quality of sustainability web contents for search engines, considering the current semantic web development.Design/methodology/approachFollowing the Design Science (DS) methodological approach, the study develops the algorithm as an artefact capable of solving a practical problem and improving the operation of content managerial process.FindingsThe algorithm considers multiple factors of evaluation, grouped in three parameters: completeness, clarity and consistency. An applicability test of the algorithm was conducted on a sample of web pages of the Google blog on sustainability to highlight the correspondence between the established evaluation factors and those actually used by Google.Practical implicationsStudying content marketing for sustainability communication constitutes a new field of research that offers exciting opportunities. Writing sustainability contents in an effective way is a fundamental step to trigger stakeholder engagement mechanisms online. It could be a positive social engineering technique in the hands of marketers to make web users able to pursue sustainable development in their choices.Originality/valueThis is the first study that creates a theoretical connection between digital content marketing and sustainability communication focussing, especially, on the aspects of search engine optimization (SEO). The algorithm of “Sustainability-contents SEO” is the first operational software tool, with a regulatory nature, that is able to analyse the web contents, detecting the terms of the sustainability language and measuring the compliance to SEO requirements.

Application of Industrial Engineering Technique for Better Productivity in Garment Industry

In recent years, with the strong development of the industry, it has created a competitive market. To be able to stand and survive requires businesses to create their own charisma based on the products they create must have the quality, cost and speed quickly. To do that requires businesses to have proper production strategies. Especially for the garment industry, which has a lot of waste in the production process that needs to be eliminated. This study focuses on the construction of standard time sets and standard activities to help eliminate wasted time on hand movements and time spent by workers. The result ca be used to develop the standard operation procedures of the production process.