Hydrogen Permeation Behavior of Zirconium Nitride Film on Zirconium Hydride

Hydrogen permeation barrier plays an important role in reducing hydrogen loss from zirconium hydride matrix when used as neutron moderator. Here, a composite nitride film was prepared on zirconium hydride by in situ reaction method in nitrogen atmosphere. The phase structure, morphology, element distribution, and valence states of the composite film were investigated by XRD, SEM, AES, and XPS analysis. It was found that the composite nitride film was continuous and dense with about 1.6 μm thickness; the major phase of the film was ZrN, with coexistence of ZrO2, ZrO, and ZrN0.36H0.8; and Zr-C, Zr-O, Zr-N, O-H, and N-H bonds were detected in the film. The existence of ZrN0.36H0.8 phase and the bonds of O-H and N-H revealed that the nitrogen and oxygen in the film could capture hydrogen from the zirconium hydride matrix. The hydrogen permeation performance of nitride film was compared with oxide film by permeation reduction factor (PRF), vacuum thermal dehydrogenation (VTD), and hydrogen permeation rate (HPR) methods, and the results showed that the hydrogen permeation barrier effects of nitride film were better than that of oxide film. The zirconium nitride film would be a potential candidate for hydrogen permeation barrier on the surface of zirconium hydride.

Analisis Hidrologi untuk Perencanaan Sistem Polder di DKI Jakarta

The application of the polder system for flood control in DKI Jakarta has become a must for coastal areas, especially with the construction of sea dikes along the coast of Jakarta as a solution to anticipate tidal flooding. One thing to consider when using a polder system in flood control is how much pump capacity and reservoir are needed. To answer this quetions, a hydrological analysis has been carried out with several method approaches, starting from determining the rainfall design in the form of a depth duration frequency curve in 1 hour to 48 hours, and then applied area reduction factor (ARF) to corrected rainfall design. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) method are uses to calculated runoff or effective rainfall and then with the unit hydrograph by time area method to produce a runoff hydrograph. Based on this approach, the Sentiong Polder plan has been carried out with the result that the required pump capacity for a 25-year return period is 32 m3/s and 50 m3/s for a 100-year return period with a storage capacity used of 1,507,500 m3. If you want to reduce the pump capacity, it is necessary to increase the storage capacity.

Design Proposal for Masonry Infill Walls Subject to Seismic Actions

Several factors influence the behaviour of masonry infilled frames, which have been the subject of previous research with moderate success. The new generation of European design standards imposes the need to prevent the brittle collapse of infills and makes the structural engineer accountable for this requirement, yet it fails to provide sufficient information for masonry infill design. The present study aimed to compare experimental results with the provisions of the standard for the computation of the demand and capacity of infilled frames. Three reinforced concrete buildings with different infill solutions were constructed at a 1:1.5 scale. The infill walls were tested until collapse, or severe damage, using the shake table of the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering, Portugal, and their response was measured using accelerometers attached to the walls. The European normative standard provides results close to the experimental ones as far as demand and capacity are concerned. Based on the experiments, two design proposals for infill walls are presented here, one for the definition of the natural frequency of the infills, and another for a reduction factor to account for the presence of openings in the out-of-plane capacity of infills.

Timber Losses during Harvesting in Managed Shorea robusta Forests of Nepal

Logging and sawing of timber using conventional tools by unskilled workers causes enormous damage to the valuable timber, residual stand, regeneration, and forest soil in Nepal. The purpose of this study was to find out the volume reduction factor and identify major strategies to reduce timber losses in the tree harvesting process in the Terai Shorea robusta forest of Nepal. Field measurements and product flow analysis of 51 felled trees from felling coupes and randomly selected 167 sawed logs were examined to study harvesting losses. Responses from 116 forest experts were analyzed to explore strategies for reducing harvesting and processing losses. The results showed that timber losses in the felling and bucking stage with and without stem rot were 23% and 22%, respectively. Similarly, timber losses in the sawing stage with and without stem rot were 31% and 30%, respectively. Paired t-test at 5% level of significance revealed that there was significant loss in both tree felling and log sawing stages with present harvesting practice. The most leading factor contributing to timber loss in all of the three stages was the use of inappropriate equipment during tree harvesting. Use of synthetic ropes for directional felling and skidding as well as flexible and portable sawing machine with size adjustment options during sawing were mainly recommended as strategies to reduce timber losses. This study serves as a baseline study to identify and quantify timber losses in different stages of tree conversion and also formulate their reduction strategies in Nepal.

Software Release Planning Using Grey Wolf Optimizer

This chapter presents the application of grey wolf optimizer in software release planning considering warranty based on the proposed mathematical model that measures reliability growth of software systems. Hence, optimal release and warranty time is determined while minimizing the overall software development cost. The software cost model is based on failure phenomenon modelled by incorporating fault removal efficiency, fault reduction factor, and error generation. The model has been validated on the fault dataset of ERP systems. Sensitivity analysis has been carried out to study the discrete changes in the cost parameter due to changes in optimal solution. The work significantly contributes to the literature by fulfilling gaps of reliability growth models, release problems considering warranty, and efficient ways for solving optimization problems. Further, the grey wolf optimizer result has been compared with genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization techniques.