Analysis of Pollutant Load Carrying Capacity of the River Tapi Using QUAL2Kw for Surat City

River Tapi is the prime water body for Surat city, Gujarat, India. On a long stretch of 22.39 km in Surat city (Kamrej to Causeway) of the Tapi river, there are many identified and non-identified discharge points available. Excessive discharge from these points restricts the efficiency of the self-purification process which ultimately degrades the river water quality. In this paper, an attempt has been made to estimate the pollutant load-carrying capacity at different segments of the river Tapi using the QUAL2Kw tool. The study has been undertaken with different scenarios: First, the QUAL2Kw model was trained with available river water quality and hydraulic data of the Tapi river in which the complete river segment was divided into 21 reaches. The model was calibrated and validated with the actual concentrations of the pollutants entering. In the second phase, all the point source, non-point source, and headwater characteristics were considered and the pollutant load-carrying capacity of the river in terms of BOD, ISS, and N-nitrate was found. In the third phase, all the sources of pollutants entering the river have been removed and only headwater characteristics were considered for the study. The results indicate that reach no. 21 (21.23ºN, 72.82ºE) has the maximum load-carrying capacity of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) up to 2057.7 kg/day, Inorganic Suspended Solids (ISS) up to 85633.8 kg/day, and Nitrate (NO3) up to 31688.8 kg/day. However, reach no. 4 has the minimum load carrying capacity of BOD up to 1088.1 kg/day, reach 8 carries a minimum of ISS 205341.6 kg/day and NO3 10215.57 kg/day.

Prediction of Load Carrying Capacity of Corroded Reinforced Concrete Beam

A novel method for prediction of the load carrying capacity of a corroded reinforced concrete beam (CRCB) is presented in the paper. Nine reinforced concrete beams, which had been working in an aggressive environment for more than 10 years, were tested in the laboratory. Comprehensive tests, including flexural test, strength test for corroded concrete and rusty rebar, and pullout test for bond strength between concrete and rebar, were conducted. ne flexural test results of CRCBs reveal that the distribution of surface cracks on the beams shows a fractal behavior. The relationship between the fractal dimensions and mechanical properties of CRCBs is then studied. A prediction model based on artificial neural network (ANN) is established by the use of the fractal dimension as the corrosion index, together with the basic information of the beam. The validity of the prediction model is demonstrated through the experimental data, and satisfactory results are achieved.

Effect of Weld Parameters on Effective Notch Stress at Weld Root and Toe of Load Carrying Cruciform Joints

Cruciform joints in ships are prone to fatigue damage and the determination of type of weld plays a significant role in thefatigue design of the joint. In this paper, the effect of weld geometry on fatigue failure of load carrying cruciform joints inships is investigated using Effective Notch Stress (ENS) approach. A fictitious notch of 1 mm radius is introduced at theweld root and toe and fatigue stress is evaluated. The effect of weld leg length (l) and weld penetration depth (p) on ENS atweld root and toe are determined. The critical weld leg length (lcr) at which fatigue failure transitions from weld root toweld toe is investigated. An approximation formula for determination of the critical weld leg length considering weldpenetration depth (p) is proposed.

NEW APPROACHES FOR COMPUTING DYNAMIC LOAD-CARRYING CAPACITY OF MULTIPLE COOPERATING ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS

A novel unified method for computing the dynamic load carrying capacity(DLCC) of multiple cooperating robotic manipulators is developed.In this method,the kinematic constraints and the governing dynamic equations of the multiple robot system are formulated in the joint space by using the method of transference of dependence from one set of generalized coordinates to another,and the virtual work principle,which includes the readily available dynamics and joint torques of individual manipulators,and the dynamic of payload.Based on this dynamic model,the upper limit of the DLCC at any points on a given trajectory is obtained by solving a small size linear programming problem.This method is conceptually straightforward,and it is applicable also to the cases of multi fingered robot hands and multi legged walking machines.

Finite element failure analysis of continuous prestressed concrete box girders

In order to analyze the load carrying capacity of prestressed concrete box girders, failure behaviors of in-situ deteriorated continuous prestressed concrete box girders under loading are experimentally observed and a finite failure analysis method for predicting behaviors of box girders is developed. A degenerated solid shell element is used to simulate box girders and material nonlinearity is considered. Since pre-stressed concrete box girders usually have a large number of curve prestressed tendons, a type of combined element is presented to simulate the prestressed tendons of box girders, and then the number of elements can be significantly reduced. The analytical results are compared with full-scale failure test results. The comparison shows that the presented method can be effectively applied to the failure analysis of in-situ continuous prestressed concrete box girders, and it also shows that the studied old bridge still has enough load carrying capacity.

Flexural behaviors of steel reinforced ECC/concrete composite beams

An engineered cementitious composite （ECC） is introduced to partially substitute concrete in the tension zone of a reinforced concrete beam to form an ECC/reinforced concrete （RC） composite beam, which can increase the ductility and crack resisting ability of the beam. Based on the assumption of the plane remaining plane and the simplified constitutive models of materials, the stress and strain distributions along the depth of the composite beam in different loading stages are comprehensively investigated to obtain calculation methods of the load-carrying capacities for different stages. Also, a simplified formula for the ultimate load carrying capacity is proposed according to the Chinese code for the design of concrete structures. The relationship between the moment and curvature for the composite beam is also proposed together with a simplified calculation method for ductility of the ECC/RC composite beam. Finally, the calculation method is demonstrated with the test results of a composite beam. Comparison results show that the calculation results have good consistency with the test results, proving that the proposed calculation methods are reliable with a certain theoretical significance and reference value.

A review of the design of load-carrying exoskeletons

The increasing necessity of load-carrying activities has led to greater human musculoskeletal damage and an increased metabolic cost.With the rise of exoskeleton technology,researchers have begun exploring different approaches to developing wearable robots to augment human load-carrying ability.However,there is a lack of systematic discussion on biomechanics,mechanical designs,and augmentation performance.To achieve this,extensive studies have been reviewed and 108 references are selected mainly from 2013 to 2022 to address the most recent development.Other earlier 20 studies are selected to present the origin of different design principles.In terms of the way to achieve load-carrying augmentation,the exoskeletons reviewed in this paper are sorted by four categories based on the design principles,namely load-suspended backpacks,lower-limb exoskeletons providing joint torques,exoskeletons transferring load to the ground and exoskeletons transferring load between body segments.Specifically,the driving modes of active and passive,the structure of rigid and flexible,the conflict between assistive performance and the mass penalty of the exoskeleton,and the autonomy are discussed in detail in each section to illustrate the advances,challenges,and future trends of exoskeletons designed to carry loads.

Parametric analysis of thermal effect on hydrostatic slipper bearing capacity of axial piston pump

Hydrostatic slipper was often used in friction bearing design, allowing improvement of the latter's dynamic behavior. The influence of thermal effect on hydrostatic slipper bearing capacity of axial piston pump was investigated. A set of lumped parameter mathematical models were developed based on energy conservation law of slipper/ swash plate pair. The results show that thermal equilibrium clearance due to solid thermal deformation periodically changes with shaft rotational angle. The slipper bearing capacity increases dramatically with decreasing thermal equilibrium clearance. In order to improve the slipper bearing capacity, length-to-diameter ratio of fixed damper varies from 3.5 to 8.75 and radius ratio of slipper varies from 1.5 to 2.0. In addition, the higher slipper thermal conductivity is useful to improve slipper bearing capability, but the thermal equilibrium clearance is not compromised.

Numerical Analysis of the Hydrodynamic Lubrication of Micro-grooved Friction Pair

A growing interest is given to the hydrodynamic lubricated friction pair with surface textured. Because of its relatively simple processing methods and low manufacturing costs,micro-groove has become the most valuable form of surface texture,and definitely has broad application prospects in mechanical engineering. Based on numerical simulation,the present study aims to examine the effects of surface forms and cross-section types of micro-groove on the hydrodynamic lubrication performance,and to find out the optimal structural parameter for designing logical micro-grooves. Different surface form and cross-section types are designed to maximize the texture hydrodynamic effect. The average pressure of such microgrooved surface is evaluated in detail,and the variation trends with changes of the length of micro-groove,lp,or the depth,hp,are discussed. The theoretical results show that micro-grooves with rational design contribute to the improvement of hydrodynamic lubrication performance of friction pair largely. For a specific micro-grooved friction pair,the optimal surface form and crosssection type make the lubrication performance best.

Robust Optimization Method of Cylindrical Roller Bearing by Maximizing Dynamic Capacity Using Evolutionary Algorithms

Optimization of cylindrical roller bearings(CRBs)has been performed using a robust design.It ensures that the changes in the objective function,even in the case of variations in design variables during manufacturing,have a minimum possible value and do not exceed the upper limit of a desired range of percentage variation.Also,it checks the feasibility of design outcome in presence of manufacturing tolerances in design variables.For any rolling element bearing,a long life indicates a satisfactory performance.In the present study,the dynamic load carrying capacity C,which relates to fatigue life,has been optimized using the robust design.In roller bearings,boundary dimensions(i.e.,bearing outer diameter,bore diameter and width)are standard.Hence,the performance is mainly affected by the internal dimensions and not the bearing boundary dimensions mentioned formerly.In spite of this,besides internal dimensions and their tolerances,the tolerances in boundary dimensions have also been taken into consideration for the robust optimization.The problem has been solved with the elitist non-dominating sorting genetic algorithm(NSGA-II).Finally,for the visualization and to ensure manufacturability of CRB using obtained values,radial dimensions drawing of one of the optimized CRB has been made.To check the robustness of obtained design after optimization,a sensitivity analysis has also been carried out to find out how much the variation in the objective function will be in case of variation in optimized value of design variables.Optimized bearings have been found to have improved life as compared with standard ones.

Theoretical and experimental research on static stiffness,performance,and lift-off characteristics of multi-layer gas foil thrust bearings

In this study,a new comprehensive fully coupled elastic–hydrodynamic model is developed for a multi-layer gas foil thrust bearing(GFTB).The interaction effects among the top foil,back board,middle foil,and bottom foil,as well as the Coulomb friction effect,are considered.The stiffness and static characteristics obtained by the experimental and theoretical approaches are in good agreement,which verifies the accuracy of the model.The contribution of each foil layer to the overall stiffness and the load-carrying mechanism are analyzed.Interaction effects of the load,preload,and rotational speed on the static performance are investigated comprehensively.Furthermore,start–stop tests are performed to achieve the lift-off speed,start-up torque,and shut-down torque under various operating conditions.