Mechanical Engineering

An attempt has been made to prepare mixed metal oxide (MMO) nanoparticles of Zr, Al, Si by sol-gel route from commercially available zircon flour, fly ash and aluminum metal respectively. Isopropoxides of zirconium and silicon from zircon and isopropoxides of alumino silicates from fly ash were prepared in separate experiments by alkoxylation of corresponding fluorides/fluoro acids that were obtained by digesting separately, zircon and fly ash respectively in hydrofluoric acid. Aluminum isopropoxides was prepared by alkolxylation of sodium aluminate that was prepared by dissolving aluminum metal in sodium hydroxide. MMO nanoparticles was obtained by neutralizing the isopropoxides of zircon and fly ash (1:1, v/v) respectively with aluminum isopropoxide. SEM and TEM analysis of the MMO nanoparticles revealed that the average size of primary particle is in the range of 2nm to 4 nm. EDAX of MMO nanoparticles indicated presence of aluminum (Al), zirconium (Zr) and silicon (Si) and oxygen (O).Compressive strength of poly(methyl methacrylate) [PMMA] reinforced with MMO nanoparticles was found to be superior to that of neat PMMA and PMMA composites reinforced with MMO micron particles.

It has been found that the solar tree produces more energy than a conventional flat rooftop arrangement of solar PV system or modules. The solar energy converts the sunlight energy directly into electrical energy by making use of photo -voltaic or concentrated solar power. The energy demand is increasing with each period, as a result the grid electric supply unit prices are also increasing day by day. For example, with the supply of oil the quantity of oil is decreasing and the prices are increasing. Similarly in case of coal which is abundantly for the production of electricity is available for few more hundred years. So in order to fulfill the increasing demand of energy we must have some alternative sources of nonconventional sources of energy. The energy from the sun is the best alternative among all the renewable sources of energies. It is available free of cost, inexhaustible, non-polluting, eco-friendly and continuously. The main drawback of solar panels is the land requirement for the installation of solar panels. The developed solar artifact requires only 1% of the land compared to the flat rooftop to produce same amount of energy. A single converting cell or more generally known as a photo voltaic cell, but a combination of cells in series or parallel designed to increase the power output is called solar module or solar array. In this article the load capacity or energy requirement of a small house in India is estimated to 1.74kWhr/day [6]. All the calculations are done considering solar radiation data at Durgapur, West Bengal. As per experimentation it is found that tracking system can be easily employed in solar artifact, hence its performance will be better than flat solar PV system. The solar cells are mounted in a phyllotaxy pattern to avoid any obstruction from the others. Keywords: Solar artifact, phyllotaxy pattern, PV system, Solar module, manual tracking.

The hip replacement or hip arthroplasty is an orthopedic surgery in which a damaged or dysfunctional hip joint is surgically replaced with a suitable artificial hip prosthesis. During this surgical procedure, a stem is inserted into the patient’s femur for stability; and the head of the femur is replaced with a ball and socket joint is replaced by an artificial cup. Literature survey reveals that various types of methodologies were used by researchers for the development of the hip prosthesis and while after surgery different complications were arise with the patients like mismatch, aseptic loosening, improper load distribution, and discomfort due to change of morphology of human being. It is present status the availability of specific prosthesis for specific patients are very difficult. Due to the high complexity of customized hip implant results in low production rates. Hence it is understood that there is a requirement of machinablity study for manufacturing of customized hip prosthesis. The one part of study is to concern with the design of different types of hip prosthesis like solid, hollow (with and without internal rib structures) to reduce the effective stiffness and due to the hollowness of prosthesis, stiffness increases which will ultimately results in increase the strain at the proximal femur in comparison to solid femur as well as weight of hip prosthesis is drastically reduced. The machining of hip prosthesis is being carried out by taking the CT scan data of the patient using MIMICS software. The data then analyzed with suitable load in ANSYS after that the CAD model of femoral stem was prepared by using the measured data. The blank size of the prosthesis is first calculated. Then the critical profile machining of top and bottom stem is being carried out using 3-Axis CNC vertical milling machine “Mikron” CNC and the parting operation by using wire cut EDM machine by preparing the necessary programme based on the profile of the prosthesis. However, in this study the machining of hip prosthesis is being carried out through conventional route to stress on economical benefits for low cost manufacturing strategy. 

Bicycle is recognized as a transportation solution helping to improve various environmental, economical and social aspects. A variety of bicycle design and setups for utility are used to carry personal belongings, groceries, children and much more. One particular utility bicycle is the folding bicycle. Its design allows users to easily transport the bicycle using less space when the bicycle is “folded” in to a compact size. When using a folding bicycle with a bicycle-transit journey, it allows individuals ability to board transit vehicles. The versatility of a folding bicycle is also appropriate for air travel and for when inadequate parking and bicycle theft is a significant concern.

This paper presents the failure analysis of the turbine blade of a gas turbine engine 9E GE type, installed in a certain type of simple systems consisting of the gas turbine driving an electrical power generator. A non-linear finite element method was utilised to determine the stress state of the blade segment under operating conditions. High stress zones were found at the region of the lower fir-tree slot, where the failure occurred. A computation was also performed with excessive rotational speed. Attention of this study is devoted to the mechanisms of damage of the turbine blade and also the critical high stress areas.

In this project a high power capacity rating pedal operated electric rickshaw has been designed and developed. The design is being carried out using the mostly standard component available in the market has been used for ease of maintenance. The uniqueness of this development is that it is pedal operated and motor driven which can help the rickshaw pullers to apply less manual effort while carrying passengers on gradient. The passenger’s seat is designed such that four passengers can sit comfortably. The necessary calculations were carried out for required motor power and battery capacity. Accordingly the BLDC motor of 550 watt and rechargeable lead acid battery of 48V, 65 AH were selected for present purpose. The motion from pedal to rear axle has been transmitted through an intermediate axle. The strength analysis of chassis structure and stability of the vehicle has been checked through CAE software. The chassis and the body structures are assembled together using fasteners with a rubber pad to absorb the shocks. The batteries, controller and other electrical accessories are placed under the passenger seat and a charging point is mounted at the back. The speed of motor is being regulated by a throttle provided on the handle bar. The batteries may be charged from solar charging station or from by battery swapping method. The pay load capacity is 350 kgs (4 passengers + 1puller) and the max speed is 15-20 Km/hour. The 3 nos of prototypes have been developed with improved features. The laboratory level trails has also been carried out of the developed prototypes and a very satisfactorily results is obtained up-to a distance of 40 kms in a single charge. 

Investigation of combustion properties of five selected indigenous fuel wood samples was carried out in this study. Combustion properties such as high heating value (HHV), proximate and ultimate analysis, density/specific gravity, thermal conductivity, particle size, flame temperature and porosity were obtained using standard experimental procedures for the selected wood samples. The higher heating values of the five wood samples varied from 2282.117 – 4461.9326 Kcal/kg (9.55 – 18.682 MJ/kg). These values were better than some reported values in literature. The flame temperature for the five samples ranged from 531 – 700 oC. Proximate analysis results revealed that the ash content for the five samples varied from 6.79 to 48.24 %, fixed carbon varied from 9.45 to 21.30 %, volatile matter varied from 64.23 to 66.64 %, moisture content varied from 3.01 to 5.63 %. Ultimate analysis result revealed that hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen contents also range from 3.1128 to 5.5642 %, 22.9981 to 40.6901 % and 0.3630 to 0.65221 % respectively. Some of the values of density/specific gravity, porosity, thermal conductivity, particle size obtained were within values reported by other researchers. The result of the fuel rating properties revealed that African Prosopis has the best fuel property with fuel rating of 1.68 and Quassia undulate the worst with fuel rating of 3.68 compared to the other samples.

The fiber reinforced laminate composite plates, because of its outstanding mechanical properties such as high strength, high stiffness with less weight, durability, corrosion resistance, finds many engineering applications. In this work, local failure of plate alone in-between the stiffeners is taken for study. This work compares the buckling behavior of thin fiber reinforced laminate composite plates subjected to axial compression under different types of boundary conditions with different types and different angle of layups. For this purpose graphite / epoxy composite rectangular plate is used for the analysis. Further, by varying the dimension of plate, effect of the aspect ratio of the plate on the buckling strength of plate is also studied. Eigen buckling analysis of ANSYS is used for analysis.

According to Betz, the maximum conversion efficiency of a wind turbine is 59.3%. But, the wind turbine works at efficiency of 25% to 35%. Hence, there is an opportunity to improve the efficiency of wind turbine. If, the efficiency of wind turbine is increased by at least 1%, it could turn into giant profits. Multiple nozzle system, therefore, if it is used, it increases the velocity of air, huge. The effect of multiple nozzle system is studied in the present article. The theoretical power coefficient and actual power coefficients of wind turbine are determined as part of the study. Few experiments were taken up earlier to increase wind speed using single nozzle system. But, multiple nozzle system is first ever, used in the history. The effect of conversion of heat energy into kinetic energy using multiple nozzle system is presented in this article. The design of multiple nozzle system obtained patents in India.

In this paper design special frame vertical axis wind turbine and test in the wind tunnel. This design is presented as vertical locations of the three movable vanes that create scoop shape when closed. Scoop shape of frame increases the drag factor and increase the torque, in the other side of impeller movable vanes are opened under action of wind and the air pass freely to reduce the negative torque. Fabricate two models of impeller with movable vanes and with fixed vanes model and test it in wind tunnel. The maximum power coefficient for three frames movable vanes is 0.32 and higher than the same dimensions of model with fixed vanes about 11%.