Joseph, Benny; Mathew, George(Cochin University Of Science And Technology, August 19, 2015)
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Abstract:
The research in the area of geopolymer is gaining momentum during the past 20 years. Studies confirm that geopolymer concrete has good compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, modulus of elasticity and durability. These properties are comparable with OPC concrete.There are many occasions where concrete is exposed to elevated temperatures like fire exposure from thermal processor, exposure from furnaces, nuclear exposure, etc.. In such cases, understanding of the behaviour of concrete and structural members exposed to elevated temperatures is vital. Even though many research reports are available about the behaviour of OPC concrete at elevated temperatures, there is limited information available about the behaviour of geopolymer concrete after exposure to elevated temperatures. A preliminary study was carried out for the selection of a mix proportion. The important variable considered in the present study include alkali/fly ash ratio, percentage of total aggregate content, fine aggregate to total aggregate ratio, molarity of sodium hydroxide, sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide ratio, curing temperature and curing period. Influence of different variables on engineering properties of geopolymer concrete was investigated. The study on interface shear strength of reinforced and
unreinforced geopolymer concrete as well as OPC concrete was also carried out. Engineering properties of fly ash based geopolymer concrete after exposure to elevated temperatures (ambient to 800 °C) were studied and the corresponding results were compared with those of conventional concrete. Scanning Electron Microscope analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared analysis, X-ray powder Diffractometer analysis and Thermogravimetric analysis of geopolymer mortar or paste at ambient temperature and after exposure to elevated temperature were also carried out in the present research work. Experimental study was conducted on geopolymer concrete beams after exposure to elevated temperatures (ambient to 800 °C). Load deflection characteristics, ductility
and moment-curvature behaviour of the geopolymer concrete beams after exposure to elevated temperatures were investigated. Based on the present study, major conclusions derived could be summarized as follows.
There is a definite proportion for various ingredients to achieve maximum strength properties. Geopolymer concrete with total aggregate content of 70% by volume, ratio of fine aggregate to total aggregate of 0.35, NaOH molarity 10, Na2SiO3/NaOH ratio of 2.5 and alkali to fly ash ratio of 0.55 gave maximum compressive strength in the present study. An early strength development in geopolymer concrete could be achieved by the proper selection of curing temperature and the period of curing. With 24 hours of curing at 100 °C, 96.4% of the 28th day cube compressive strength could be achieved in 7 days in the present study. The interface shear strength of geopolymer concrete is lower to that of OPC concrete. Compared to OPC concrete, a reduction in the interface shear strength by 33% and 29% was observed for unreinforced and reinforced geopolymer specimens respectively. The interface shear strength of geopolymer concrete is lower than ordinary Portland cement concrete. The interface shear strength of geopolymer concrete can be approximately estimated as 50% of the value obtained based on the available equations for the calculation of interface shear strength of ordinary portland cement concrete (method used in Mattock and ACI). Fly ash based geopolymer concrete undergoes a high rate of strength loss (compressive strength, tensile strength and modulus of elasticity) during its early heating period (up to 200 °C) compared to OPC concrete. At a temperature exposure beyond 600 °C, the unreacted crystalline materials in geopolymer concrete get transformed into amorphous state and undergo polymerization. As a result, there is no further strength loss (compressive strength, tensile strength and modulus of elasticity) in geopolymer concrete, whereas, OPC concrete continues to lose its strength properties at a faster rate beyond a temperature exposure of 600 °C. At present no equation is available to predict the strength properties of geopolymer concrete after exposure to elevated temperatures. Based on the study carried out, new equations have been proposed to predict the residual strengths (cube compressive strength, split tensile strength and modulus of elasticity) of geopolymer concrete after exposure to elevated temperatures (upto 800 °C). These equations could be used for material modelling until better refined equations are available. Compared to OPC concrete, geopolymer concrete shows better resistance against surface cracking when exposed to elevated temperatures. In the present study, while OPC concrete started developing cracks at 400 °C, geopolymer concrete did not show any
visible cracks up to 600 °C and developed only minor cracks at an exposure temperatureof 800 °C. Geopolymer concrete beams develop crack at an early load stages if they are exposed to elevated temperatures. Even though the material strength of the geopolymer concrete does not decrease beyond 600 °C, the flexural strength of corresponding beam reduces rapidly after 600 °C temperature exposure, primarily due to the rapid loss of the strength of steel. With increase in temperature, the curvature at yield point of geopolymer concrete beam increases and thereby the ductility reduces. In the present study, compared to the ductility at ambient temperature, the ductility of geopolymer concrete beams reduces by 63.8% at 800 °C temperature exposure. Appropriate equations have been proposed to predict the service load crack width of geopolymer concrete beam exposed to elevated temperatures. These equations could be used to limit the service load on geopolymer concrete beams exposed to elevated temperatures (up to 800 °C) for a predefined crack width (between 0.1mm and 0.3 mm) or vice versa. The moment-curvature relationship of geopolymer concrete beams at ambient temperature is similar to that of RCC beams and this could be predicted using strain compatibility approach Once exposed to an elevated temperature, the strain compatibility approach underestimates the curvature of geopolymer concrete beams between the first cracking and yielding point.
Bijesh Paul; Dr.Jayadas.N.H(Cochin University of Science and Technology, September 22, 2015)
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Abstract:
In case of novel products with short shelf life, sales data was either
unavailable or scarcely available. The available methods for the estimation of
demand of such products were direct survey methods, collection of opinion or
indirect survey methods, comparison with established products and limited
market trial. From literature review it was concluded that existing literature for
predicting the demand of novel and short life products were scarce. This led to
identification of problem namely demand forecast of relatively novel and short
life products. Initially conventional methods like naive, exponential smoothing
and moving average methods were used to predict the demand. Markov based
model was then applied to forecast errors of the conventional methods. This
model or algorithm requires only demand data of two consecutive months and
hence is suited for demand forecast of novel products.This algorithm was then applied to two novel baked products, one of
relatively large quantity and another of relatively small quantity. Naive,
exponential smoothing and moving average methods were applied to this data
and the forecasts as well as error for all the working days of two consecutive
months were estimated. Markov based algorithm was then applied for these
errors and the steady state probability was determined for each state of
demand. A state of a system is where the system was at a point of time. The
demand corresponding to the state with maximum probability was selected
and the corresponding profit was estimated. The obtained profits were then
compared and the combination with maximum profit was identified and the
method is validated by estimating the annual savings that this method will
bring to the firm when compared to existing methods in case of products A
and BThe suitability of the model was validated by the fact that its
implementation on product A and product B fetched more annual savings
when compared to existing practice. Return on investment increased for
product A and product B when compared to existing methods.
Thus it was concluded that a firm can further enhance its profit by
implementing this model or algorithm for more number of products. Further the
model can be generalized by applying it to more types of novel products with
short shelf life. The forecasting of novel and short life products was not much
explored in previous research works. This model can act as the benchmark for
future researches in forecasting of novel and short life products
Baby Paul; Dr. P. Mythili(Cochin University of Science and Technology, October 8, 2015)
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Abstract:
Electrocardiogram gives the information regarding the health of
the patients by monitoring the bioelectric potentials generated by the
sinoatrial node in the heart. These signals can be collected by using
electrodes suitably placed on the body of a patient. The normal human
ECG lie in the frequency range of 0.05-100 Hz and the most useful
information is contained in the range of 0.5-45 Hz. Even though a large
amount of work has already been done in the field of ECG classification,
no classification system has made an attempt in identifying the isolated
abnormalities which pose a silent threat to patients.
An adaptive filtering technique for denoising the ECG which is
based on Genetic Algorithm (GA) tuned Sign-Data Least Mean Square
(SD-LMS) algorithm is proposed. This algorithm gave an average
signal to noise ratio improvement of 10.75 dB for baseline wander and
24.26 dB for power line interference. It is seen that the step size ‘μ’
optimized with GA helps in obtaining better SNR value without causing
any damage to the information content in the ECG.
A new wavelet for automatic classification of arrhythmias
from electrocardiogram is proposed. This new wavelet is formed as a
sum of shifted Gaussians so that it resembles a normal ECG. This shape
has been chosen with the aim of extracting maximum information from
the ECG under analysis. The classification performance was studied
using the most commonly used database, the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia
database. The shifted and summed Gaussian wavelet was then
optimized using GA. The optimum wavelet for classification was
obtained after several runs of the GA algorithm. The ECG class
labeling was done according to the Association for the Advancement of
Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). The wavelet scales corresponding to
the different frequency levels giving maximum classification
performance were identified by selecting finer scales. Probabilistic
Neural Network classifier was used for classification purpose. The
proposed classification system offered better results than that reported
in literature by giving an overall sensitivity of 97.01% for Normal beats,
75.20% for Supraventricular beats and 93.06% for Ventricular beats.
As mentioned above this technique could exclusively identify some of
the isolated abnormalities present in the patient records.
Raphika, P. M.; Dr. Abdulla P.(Cochin University of Science and Technology, May 3, 2016)
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Abstract:
Filters are one of the essential components in the RF and wireless
communication systems. Small sized planar lowpass filters with good electrical
characteristics along with low cost, light weight and ease of fabrication are highly
desirable for the front end of modern communication systems to suppress harmonics
and spurious signals. Design of compact lowpass filters with improved performance
and diverse specifications for numerous applications is a huge challenge.
In this thesis, high performance planar compact lowpass filters using multiple
patch resonators on high impedance transmission line are developed. Design techniques
of different types of patch resonators and their modifications to enhance the
performance of the filters are presented.Patch resonators are designed by using high impedance short circuited stubs
and low impedance open circuited patches. In the first stage of filter realization,
compact lowpass filter having sharp roll-off using triangular and funnel patch
resonators is presented. The structure is modified further to enhance the relative
stopband bandwidth of the filter. In the third stage, another resonator has been
introduced near the feed line to achieve sharp roll-off for the same cutoff frequency,
stopband bandwidth and suppression level. To obtain compactness, high suppression
level and wide stopband in filter design, low thickness substrate is tested and proved in
the fourth stage.
Realizations of planar compact lowpass filter with very sharp roll-off near the
cutoff frequency have been presented using stepped impedance polygonal patch
resonators. By increasing the patch size and number of resonators, the stopband
bandwidth and suppression level have to be enhanced to a great extent. Enhancement
of performance characteristics of lowpass filter design is continually being extended.
By using high value capacitance patch, the stopband suppression level of the filter with
sharp roll-off rate is achieved. Elliptic function lowpass filter with ultra-sharp roll-off is
also developed using elliptic shaped patch resonators.
Throughout the study, low cost substrate having permittivity 4.4 is used for the
filter design. All the designed filters have been fabricated and predicted results are
validated by the measurements.
Saira Joseph; Dr. Binu Paul(Cochin University of Science and Technology, November 20, 2016)
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Abstract:
Over the past decade, there is a great demand for permission to transmit large bandwidth
concurrent with existing narrowband signals. In 2002, the federal communications
commission (FCC) decided to permit use of ultrawideband (UWB) systems.
UWB systems are unique in their large instantaneous bandwidth and potential for lowcost
digital design that enables a single system to operate in different modes as a
communication device, radar etc. UWB systems aim at covering the frequency band of
3.1-10.6 GHz defined by the FCC. The addition of more and more features in each new
generation communication system demands universal antennas suitable for operation in
multiple bands. In this regard, designing a multiband antenna which also covers the
UWB range without deteriorating the UWB performance is of great interest. Also, a
significant issue in communication systems is to miniaturize the antenna size while
providing good performance over the operation bands.
The thesis presents three different designs of CPW-fed multiband antennas. The first
design uses a fractal concept to achieve multiband operation. In the second and third
designs, a slotted circular monopole and a spiral monopole are used respectively for
multiband operation with UWB applications. For both these cases, variations from the
basic antenna geometry are also proposed in which the frequency of operation is
lowered without increase in overall antenna size. Design guidelines are developed for
all antennas to facilitate design on substrates of different permittivity and thickness. The
antennas are analyzed in both frequency and time domain for complete characterization