Mechanical Engineering

This work focused on the effect of groundnut paste fineness modulus on the quantity of oil extractable. Three samples of peeled roasted groundnut seeds A, B, and C weighing 14kg each were ground at different machine speeds of 310rpm, 250rpm, and 230rpm respectively. The energy expended in the extraction process using the IAR kneader was found to be 923J, 1043J, and 203J for samples A, B,and C respectively. Results revealed that the extraction efficiency increases as the value of fineness modulus decreases. The results also revealed that the energy requirement decreases as the fineness modulus value decreases.

In recent days most of the automotive parts are manufactured with different materials which will increase the weight of the vehicle and the materials also cannot be recycled. But with the European union and Asian countries stringent norms on automotive end life i.e the parts should be recycled. This made the researchers to use natural fibers in composite materials. With their low cost, low density, stiffness, high specific strength and biodegradable characteristics, they are considered as perfect replacement for conventional fibers. This has resulted in creation of more awareness about the use of natural fibers based materials mainly composites. The properties of the composites mainly depend on the interfacial adhesion between the matrix and the fibers. The present study aims at the mechanical properties namely tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength of the composites. In the present work the composite is produced with good compressive strength (Egg shell) and tensile strength (coconut coir) materials and is further tested for various mechanical properties. The results indicated that these composites are very good for automotive applications.

The Mechanical ore handling plant in Goa, India comprises of receiving and shipping section. Receiving section deals with the unloading of ore from barge. This is accomplished by wire rope operated grab un-loader. Since the unloading is being done round the clock, frequent failure of wire rope is observed. The unloading process gets disrupted when the wire rope fails. This results in significant loss in unloading hours. Detailed investigation is carried out to reduce the down time and recommendations regarding maintenance are made in this paper. Details of the maintenance policy model and results and discussions carried out are presented in this paper.

In this paper the numerical study of unsteady flow of a viscous incompressible fluid past an exponentially accelerated infinite vertical plate with radiation, viscous dissipation, chemical reaction and variable heat and mass diffusion have been analyzed in the porous medium. To obtain the non-similar momentum, energy, and concentration equations usual non-dimensional variables have been used. The dimensionless governing equations are solved numerically by explicit finite difference method. Here velocity, temperature and concentration fields are described graphically for the different physical parameters. Skin friction and Nusselt number profiles have been also described graphically here.

This work focused at designing and fabricating of an aluminium mould for the production of motorcycle brake lever. The pattern making, sand mould and the casting are the major step used to achieve the work. The thermal stress exerted on the mould stood at 0.67GPa which did not exceed the permissible thermal stress for aluminium. In the design of the motorcycle brake lever, it was discovered that a force of 0.58N is required to operate the lever at an effective length of 9cm from the motorcycle head. It shows that the production of motorcycle brake lever can be done locally since aluminium is largely available in the country and hence recommends that more effort should be put in by the Nigerian government for sustainability and development in this area.

This paper presents effective method and to determine optimal machining parameters in a turning operation on annealed Beryllium copper alloy to enhance the metal removal rate and minimize the surface roughness. The scope of this work is extended to Multi objective optimization. Response Surface Methodology is opted for preparing the design matrix. Artificial Neural Networks are used to train and validate the data prepared through experimentations. Multi Objective Genetic Algorithm is used for optimization of the performance measures of the process. A powerful model would be obtained with high accuracy to analyse the effect of each parameter on the output. The input parameters considered in this work are cutting speed, feed and depth of cut.

A CFD analysis was done to numerically study the heat transfer characteristics of an oil cooler under laminar flow conditions with varying Reynolds number from 250 to 2400 with ISOVG46 Turbinol on tube side and water on shell side for different flow rates. Simulated results of Nusselt number and friction factor are in good agreement with the available experimental results and with the Sieder and Tate equation for plain tube. Results show that the strip inserts led to a higher heat transfer rates over the plain tube with increase in Nusselt number, friction factor and over all enhancement ratios.

The utilization of liquid fuels such as biodiesel produced from various sources by trans_esterification process represents one of the most promising options for the use of conventional fossil fuels. The properties such as aniline point, density, fire point, flash point, viscosity, Cloud point and Pour point were found out for bio fuels. The same characteristics study was also carried out for the DF. Tests carried out to evaluate the performance, emission, and combustion characteristics diesel engine fuelled with 10%, 30%, 50% and 70% of alternative fuel (oil) Neem, Madhuca, Jatropa, Diesel, Laurel blended with diesel fuel (DF).

Motor cycle accidents have been increased in the last two decades. Helmet can protect the vehicle riders from severe injuries during road accident to certain extent. To design a functional helmet, it is important to analyze the shape of the helmet and visor portion. So that the attempt has been made for design and analysis of new helmet by considering the drag pressure and anti-glare visor. The drag pressure resistance presses the helmet against the neck portion of the rider. The shape of an aerodynamic helmet can be able to reduce the drag pressure. The spherical shape and a new aerodynamic shape helmets are designed with aid of Pro-E software and the drag pressure are calculated and comparison has been made on the basis of drag pressure.

The ever fast growing information technology is enabling a re-definition of the early stages of aircraft design which has been restricted to mostly statistical and empirical approaches because of lengthy and costly simulation times .The paper basically deals with designing a UAV by considering various parameters such as aspect ratio, taper ratio, power loading etc. During design, electronic components are to be considered and number of channels to be used is taken into account. Based on the above parameters a rough sketch of our aircraft is designed, later detailed calculations for each part of the aircraft is done keeping in mind of our objectives. In basic analysis, the main focus is on how various parameters such as lift, drag, co-efficient of lift v/s angle of attack etc behave on the wing. The basic analysis is performed using design foil software, analysis is done in order to check the theoretical calculated value matches with the nearest value obtained in the software and also to place the wing at desired angle of attack for the aircraft to achieve stable flight, it is also corrected for errors if any. Finally our own prototype manufactured is displayed & tested practically.