Abstract: Health diagnosis of bearing is essential reduce the breakdowns of rotating machinery. An intelligent method to diagnose the bearing fault using vibration signal is proposed. This paper proposes a binary genetic algorithm (BGA) in feature selection process and discuss about the role of fitness functions in feature selection process by application of different fitness functions in GA process. A vibration signal from various conditions of bearing is extracted from a test rig and statistical features extracted using wavelet coefficients by continuous wavelet transform (CWT). A new heuristic classifier artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm is applied and fault diagnosis results are compared with learning vector quantization (LVQ) classifier and their relative efficiency were compared based on their classification accuracy. To select the predominant features a famous feature selection approach a binary genetic algorithm (BGA) were used.

Abstract: The applications for laser welding is seen greatly increasing in manufacturing industries especially which produces high quality precise parts with its non-contact processing technology. Most metallic based manufacturing industries perform more than 60% of cutting. Thus, most precision metal cutting industries are equipped with laser cutting machine which rarely exploit to perform other processes. On the other hand, at least 10% - 20% of the metal cutting industries are involved in welding process which often utilizes the common welding equipment. Therefore, This paper reveals a successful results of how a 3 kW Helius Hybrid 2513 CO2 laser cutting machine was designed and manipulated to perform welding of SS400 steel. The main and interaction effect of each variable influencing welding performance was critically investigated for weldability which narrated into the findings of excellent hardness and microstructural results. This investigation expects the SMEs with laser cutting machine can be further explored towards hybridizing their laser cutting machine towards performing successful laser welding.

Abstract: The main objective of this research paper is to study the mechanical behavior of Carbon Reinforced Aluminium Laminates (CARALL) under tensile, flexural and impact loads. It is a Fiber Metal Laminate (FML) which consists of layers of carbon fiber and thin layers of aluminium sheet bonded by epoxy resin. FML has a wide range of applications in Aerospace, Automotive, marine industries and it is also used in making of Sports goods due to their good strength. In this study, the tensile, flexural and impact performances of Carbon Reinforced Aluminium Laminates (CARALL) was investigated by experimental and finite element analysis. The FML is fabricated by hand layup method and then compressed using compression molding machine .The tensile strength, flexural strength and impact toughness of the laminates for two different stacking orders for each test was carried out as per the ASTM standards. The effect of stacking sequence with alternate layer of metal and carbon fiber is investigated experimentally and finite element analysis (FEA) is done. The results were compared. The experimental results were found to be closely equivalent with the FEA results that were performed.

Abstract: Passengers commuting in a public transport buses were exposed to indoor air contaminant such as particulate matter. Particulate matter can be found in enclosed spaces and could affect the passenger health in long and short terms duration. This paper presents the concentration levels of PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 against time and length of the passenger compartment. Field measurements were conducted in a university’s shuttle bus to validate the CFD model. The field measurement of concentration levels of PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 were conducted at the front of the passenger compartment at a level of 1.1 m from floor. CFD software was used to develop a simplified 3D model of a quarter section of a passenger compartment. Turbulent flow analysis was carried out using LES model for the air flow and DP model for the particles. It was found that the concentration levels of PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 were high at 200 sec, 600 sec, 800 sec and 1000 sec. This is due to outside particles enter the door during boarding and unboarding the passengers.

Abstract: The quest for increasing the efficiency of an internal combustion engine has been going on ever since the invention of this reliable workhouse of the automotive world. To achieve this cool giving more attention focused recently by reducing energy cost to the coolant during the power stroke of the cycle. Ceramic creating also has application as thermal barriers to improve the efficiency of the engines by reducing energy loss and cooling requirement. The main aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of ceramic coating on petrol engines effective efficiency at different engine loads and speeds. Experiments were conducted with the three cylinders multipoint fuel injection (MPFI) engine, before to know the coating conditions of the Piston, need to test the Engine at different type of Load and Speed conditions. By using the plasma coating method Ceramic layers are made of Al2O3 based on the NiCrAl bond coat by using base of the plasma coating method the same condition was tested in the ceramic coated research engine as the standard (without coating) engines. The results should be reduction in emission characteristic and an increase in effective efficiency.

Abstract: Optimization of process conditions for alcoholic wine production from pawpaw fruit was achieved using 2 level full factorial designs with centre points. The factors that were considered were pH, initial sugar concentration, yeast concentration, and fermentation time with specific gravity of the wine as the response. ANOVA confirmed curvature to be significant which showed that higher order model can predict the process well when augmented to Response Surface Method that estimates quadratic terms. Linear model generated can be used to predict response at the factorial points only because of the significant curvature. Minimization optimization predicted specific gravity of the wine to be 0.9767 at pH of 5, initial sugar concentration of 20g/l, fermentation time of 13 days and yeast concentration of 9g/l at desirability of 0.945. The optimum conditions were validated with little error of 0.14% confirming the adequacy of the model in predicting the process.

Abstract: The offline programming technology is constantly evolving in recent years, giving to mechatronic systems an intelligent aspect. In this paper an offline programming interaction with a Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) system is presented enabling the successful management of the machine. Experimental results showed a 100% success in the process of offline programming in relation to the actual effect applied to CMM machine. A procedure for the automatic code generation (Off-line) for a Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) is introduced. The developed off-line programming system includes graphical simulation of the CMM and the workpiece, kinematic model of the robot, motion planning and finally automatic generation of the NC code. The proposed system is applied on a CMM with five joints, three linear and two revolute. In an integrated virtual environment, the user can plan an inspection strategy for a given task and evaluate the uncertainty associated with the measurement results, all without the need of using a physical machine.

Abstract: Now a day, businesses ought to look at sustainability along with their unique major prerequisites like cost saving and outside limitations like environmental protection. End-of-life (EOL) option has emerged as a critical factor in sustainability. In reverse logistic excess or lacking of EOL products leads loss for an organization. Hence obtaining an optimal amount of EOL product becomes a challenging task in multi period DTO. No of methods were developed to obtain the optimal amount of product in different manner, still the optimization is not fulfilled. Hence a novel meta-heuristic optimization technique using adaptive genetic algorithm (AGA) for obtaining the best profit from the EOL reverse logistic operation is proposed in this paper. The goal of the proposed model is to determine the best combination of the number of each product type to be taken back from the last user and/or collectors. The EOL products are then disassembled for the retrieval of reusable components and materials and resold in order to meet a certain level of demand under a variety of physical, financial and environmental constraints. The surplus components are recycled, stored for usage in subsequent periods or properly disposed. The problem is modeled as a multi-criteria decision-making problem under uncertainty, so a multi objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) with adaptive mutation is employed to solve the problem. When solved, the model provides the number of EOL products to be taken back as well as the number of items reused, recycled, stored and disposed. A case example is presented to illustrate the model's implementation and performance is analyzed.

Abstract: Companies with high product varieties are faced with challenges of finding suitable material control strategies on the shop floor. In such environment, Kanban or generic CONWIP systems are not helpful to meet the companies’ needs. An alternative is another material control strategy known as the Paired-cell Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization (POLCA) method. POLCA is a hybrid push-pull strategy and is designed for a high mix low volume production environment. In this paper, POLCA is applied in a job shop environment using real world data from the company’s shop floor. The production system is modelled using a simulation model to compare the output from the current system. The performance of these two system are evaluated and compared by using work in process (WIP), throughput (TP) and flow time (FT). The results show that the POLCA system is performed better than the current practice.

Abstract: Biodiesel has a vital role in recent years as an alternative fuel for diesel engines due to the depletion of petroleum resources in the near future. It is an environmentally friendly renewable resource of energy and can be produced from used cooking oil (UCO) by transesterification process. The properties of biodiesel have comparable performance and emission characteristics to diesel fuel. In this study, a comparative study had been done between blends of biodiesel derived from UCO and diesel fuels. Diesel- UCO biodiesel blends of 10 and 20% was prepared. Experimental investigations were tested in a four stroke, single cylinder, diesel engine at a constant speed of 1500 rpm and variable loads. Diesel- biodiesel blends showed an increase in fuel consumption and specific fuel consumption in comparison with diesel fuel. Biodiesel blends showed a decrease in engine thermal efficiency about diesel fuel. At full load, CO2 emissions for biodiesel blends achieved an increase about diesel fuel. There were reductions in HC and CO emission for biodiesel blends compared to diesel fuel. It is recommended to use usedcooking oil biodiesel up to 20% with diesel fuel without any engine modifications.

Abstract: Good ventilation system in a bus passenger compartment is important for providing clean, healthy air and comfortable micro-environment for passengers. Lack of fresh air inside the bus compartment could increase the contaminant concentration level and affect the passenger’s health. This research presents field measurement on contaminant concentration level of particulate matter and carbon monoxide inside the passenger compartment of a university’s shuttle bus. The field measurements were conducted at the front, middle and rear locations of the passenger compartment. Computational fluid dynamics software was used to develop a simplified three-dimensional model of the bus passenger compartment. Two cases of air return grilles location namely three air return grilles and four air return grilles were performed. The results show that four air return grilles could reduce the contaminant concentration levels of CO and PM1 inside the bus passenger compartment.

Abstract: This paper is based on a case study in one of multinational electrical and electronic companies located in Malaysia. The study was conducted to determine the numbers of automatic testing machines for capacity planning. The problem is complex as these are mixed-load testers that are able to load and test different product type simultaneously with different testing durations. In addition different product family undergo different process routes. The problem is further complicated due to uncertainty in customer orders. An integrated Robust Optimization Model was proposed to determine the optimal number of the mixed-load testers under stochastic demands. The proposed solution consist of a mathematical formulation of the mixed-load tester, and a RO model that considers the stochastic inputs. The proposed integrated model was able to provide the optimal number of testers under stochastic customers’ demands.

Abstract: An attempt has been made to determine the crack length (CL), stiffness and strength of the knitted composite plates that would consist of many central holes and varying plate widths in this paper. A comparative evaluation study was done to find the suitability of different modeling schemes to analyze the mechanical properties of fabric composites that are knitted. In certain ratio epoxy resin and hardener were used to fabricate the knitted fabric composite with the help of fibre woven mat. The fabrication of thick plates consists of different layers having varying thicknesses. The tensile, compression and flexural tests were carried out based on reinforced composites. The ultimate stress was the maximum at 13.5 mm thick plate during the flexural test. The ultimate stress was at the maximum at 12.2 mm thick plate in the compression test. The ultimate stress was maximum at 13.5 mm thick plate during the tensile test. Specimens were prepared for two configurations course/wale/course CWC and wale/course/wale WCW. The stiffness and strength data were plotted with respect to load verses displacement curves. Variable thickness glass fiber composites were subjected to various mechanical testing and their stiffness, strength measures on the material size as well as thickness of the composite plate. The Crack Length, stiffness and strength were determined by using the experimental data.

Abstract: In order to guarantee the reliability of the product, an accurate life prediction process is required. Proposed accelerated life test coupled with computation analysis can predict the life of product quantitatively from the design stage. By understanding the mechanism of the product, the characteristic of the failure can be identified and represented by wear model and damage model. Then test response prediction function according to acceleration factor can be obtained utilizing computation analysis. From the test response prediction function, product life prediction function can be determined by defining the quantitative failure. To verify the reliability of proposed procedure, it is applied to predict the life of refrigerator door. In this case, the cause of the failure is the wear of hinge. The wear depth of the experiment and computation showed less than 5% difference. For cross validation, life of bearing is also predicted.

Abstract: Fiber metal laminates is newly fabricated composite material. Glass fiber reinforced aluminum epoxy laminates (GLARE) is common type of such fiber metal laminates. Hand layup technique is used to make the GLARE composite with help of advanced new methodology for achieve the good adhesion with each components of sandwich. The layup contains specimens with 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 layers of woven fiber sandwiched between two thin sheets of aluminum. Tension and bending tests are carried out to measure both tensile and flexural strength for different layup specimens. Moreover, the effect of composite laminate with the linear behavior on the plasticity of aluminum has been investigated. The results illustrate that as the number of woven layer increase as both strengths increase. The failure modes for tension specimen are observed and showed a behavior of net tension mode without any delamination between aluminum layers and glass fiber composite laminates. Delamination appears in the failure modes of bending. Also it is illustrated that plasticity region degrease with increasing number of linear elastic behavior composite laminated sandwiched between the two aluminum plates.

Abstract: The present work discusses the possibility of developing the polymeric composited to be used as bearing materials. Epoxy matrix was filled by paraffin oil and reinforced by polyamide and polyester fibres. The friction coefficient and wear were investigated. It was found that friction coefficient showed consistent trend with increasing sliding velocity and decreasing load. As the oil content increased friction coefficient decreased. Although that the sliding was dry the friction values were close to the hydrodynamic lubrication. This observation confirmed the possibility to get hydrodynamic properties by using the proposed epoxy composites. Friction decrease was attributed to the oil that occupied infinite number of micro pores in the epoxy matrix, where it flew out and provided thin film of oil on the sliding surface. Wear of the tested composites reinforced by PA fibres drastically decreased with increasing PA content. The high wear resistance of PA fibres was responsible for wear decrease. Epoxy filled by 20 wt. % oil displayed the lowest wear followed by that filled by 10 wt. % oil. This performance can be explained on the basis that PA fibres and oil film formed on the sliding surfaces could control the epoxy transfer into the steel counterface and consequently wear decreased. Friction coefficient displayed by the tested composites reinforced by PET showed slight increase at the mixed lubrication regime compared to that reinforced by PA fibres. The lowest friction value (0.084) was recorded confirming that the tested composites can be used as self lubricated bearings at dry sliding in different application of appropriate sliding velocity and load. Wear of the tested composites reinforced by PET fibres decreased with increasing PET content. Wear values were higher than that observed for composites reinforced by PA fibres.