IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering 

About: IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Compressive strength & Diesel fuel. It has an ISSN identifier of 2278-1684. Over the lifetime, 1607 publications have been published receiving 5773 citations.

Preparation and Stability of Nanofluids-A Review

Abstract: Nanofluid, a simple product of nanotechnology has become a topic of attraction due to its extraordinary heat transfer performance in various areas including cooling, power generation, defense, nuclear, space, microelectronics and biomedical appliances. However, preparation and stabilization of such fluids are indeed a matter of concern for better understanding. For the last decade numerous research and development works have been done in the synthesis and stability of such materials. In this contribution, a brief review has been presented to provide an update about the preparation and stabilization methods of nanofluids.

GSM based Automatic Irrigation Control System for Efficient Use of Resources and Crop Planning by Using an Android Mobile

Abstract: The greenhouse based modern agriculture industries are the recent requirement in every part of agriculture in India. In this technology, the humidity and temperature of plants are precisely controlled. Due to the variable atmospheric circumstances these conditions sometimes may vary from place to place in large farmhouse, which makes very difficult to maintain the uniformity at all the places in the farmhouse manually. It is observed that for the first time an android phone-control the Irrigation system, which could give the facilities of maintaining uniform environmental conditions are proposed. The Android Software Development Kit provides the tools and Application Programmable Interface necessary to begin developing applications on the Android platform using the Java programming language. Mobile phones have almost become an integral part of human life serving multiple needs of humans. This application makes use of the GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) feature of mobile phone as a solution for irrigation control system. GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) is used to inform the user about the exact field condition. The information is passed onto the user request in the form of SMS. Drip irrigation is artificial method of supplying water to the roots of the plant. It is also called micro irrigation. In past few years there is a rapid growth in this system. The user communicates with the centralized unit through SMS. The centralized unit communicates with the system through SMS which will be received by the GSM with the help of the SIM card. The GSM sends this data to ARM7which is also continuously receives the data from sensors in some form of codes. After processing, this data is displayed on the LCD. Thus in short whenever the system receives the activation command from the subscriber it checks all the field conditions and gives a detailed feedback to the user and waits for another activation command to start the motor. The motor is controlled by a simple manipulation in the internal structure of the starter. The starter coil is indirectly activated by means of a transistorized relay circuit. When the motor is started, a constant monitoring on soil moisture and water level is done & once the soil moisture is reached to sufficient level the motor is automatically turned off & a massage is send to subscriber that the motor is turned off. The water level indicator indicates three levels low, medium, high and also empty tank. Shen etc. al (2007) introduced a GSM-SMS remote measurement and control system for greenhouse based on PC-based database system connected with base station. Base station is developed by using a microcontroller, GSM module, sensors and actuators. In practical operation, the central station receives and sends messages through GSM module. Criterion value of parameters to be measured in every base station is set by central station, and then in base stations parameters including the air temperature, the air humidity. Indu etc. al (2013) mainly focuses on reviews in the field of remote monitoring and control, the technology used and their potential advantages. The paper proposes an innovative GSM/Bluetooth based remote controlled embedded system for irrigation. The system sets the irrigation time depending on the temperature and humidity reading from sensors and type of crop and can automatically irrigate the field when unattended. Information is exchanged between far end and designed system via SMS on GSM network. A Bluetooth module is also interfaced with the main microcontroller chip which eliminates the SMS charges when the user is within the limited range of few meters to the designated system. The system informs users about many conditions like status of electricity, dry running motor, increased temperature, water content in soil and smoke via SMS on GSM network or by Bluetooth. The GSM based irrigation system (Fig.1) may offer users the flexibility to regulate and control the operations of their irrigation systems with little intervention to reduce runoff from over watering for improvement in crop yield. This enables users to take advantage of the globally deployed GSM networks with its low SMS service cost to use mobile phones and simple SMS commands to manage their irrigation system. It will be possible for users to use SMS to monitor directly the conditions of their farmland, schedule the water

Evaluation of work Posture by RULA and REBA: A Case Study

Abstract: The common occupational problem of the workers is musculoskeletal disorders in India. Currently the work is being carried out manually in most of the small scale industries therefore the issues of work related musculoskeletal disorders and injury in different body sites are of top priority. Postural analysis tool using Rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) and Rapid entire body assessment (REBA) were applied for assessment which indicates that the workers are working above the secure limit. This ergonomic study sheds light on posture analysis of the workers in small scale industry. The study was conducted on 15 workers engaged in small scale industry situated at MIDC Wardha (Maharashtra, India). Video tape on different activities of the workers was prepared and then images were cropped from it for the analysis. This study presents assessment of work posture of workers engaged in different activities of small scale industry. Evaluation of posture was carried out using RULA and REBA. Assessment is carried out using worksheet. The RULA method determined that the majority of the workers were under high risk levels and required immediate change. The REBA method determined that some of the workers were under lower levels and majority at high risk levels. Hence it was concluded that; there is a lack of ergonomics awareness and understanding in small scale industries. Evaluation using postural analysis by RULA and REBA indicates that the workers are working above the secure limit. The major percentage of the workers having awkward postures. Thus the workers are under moderate to high risk of Musculoskeletal disorders.

A Comparison between Horizontal and Vertical Drainage Systems (Include Pipe Drainage, Open Ditch Drainage, and Pumped Wells) in Anisotropic Soils

Abstract: Selecting a proper drainage system always has been discussed in agricultural or other fields. In anisotropic soils, this problem is more sensitive for experts. In this study, a comparison has been done between horizontal and vertical drainage in anisotropic soils. For this purpose, using EnDrainWin and WellDrain softwares drain spacing and well spacing, respectively, determined. The results showed that in the same situation, horizontal drainage systems due to the higher spacings between drains (reducing number of drainage and thus reducing the cost) were better than vertical drainage systems. However, vertical drainage systems due to the lower changes in well spacing in different anisotropic soils were suitable for conditions that soil hydraulic conductivity was likely to change.

Concrete Mix Design By Packing Density Method

Abstract: Packing density is new kind of mix design method used to design different types of concrete To optimize the particle packing density of concrete, the particles should be selected to fill up the voids between large particles with smaller particles and so on, in order to obtain a dense and stiff particle structure Higher degree of particle packing leads to minimum voids, maximum density and requirement of cement and water will be less In this work the co-relation curves are developed for packing density method between compression strength and water cement ratio, paste content to reduce the time involved in trial to decide water cement ratio and paste content for a particular grade of concrete Results obtained by packing density method are compared with IS code method The optimum bulk density was obtained at proportion of 42% coarse aggregates (20mm downsize), 18% coarse aggregates (125mm downsize) and 40% fine aggregates Large number of trial casting were carried out for each grade of concrete (ie, M20, M25, M30, M35 and M40) with different water cement ratio and three paste contents in excess of void content To finalise mix proportions using packing density method flow table tests were carried out to decide water cement ratio and paste content in excess of void content for each grade of concrete The finalised mix proportion for each grade of concrete was used to cast the cube specimens for 7 days and 28 days curing age The cube compressive strength results obtained by packing density and IS code method are nearly same The co-relation curves were plotted for packing density results alone and also combining the results of packing density and IS code methods The co-relation curves were plotted between compressive strength vs water cement ratio at 7 and 28 days curing age and compressive strength vs paste content at 7 and 28 days curing age Very good co-relation is obtained with a co-relation co- efficient of 0953 (minimum) to 0998 (maximum) These curves can be used to decide the water cement ratio and paste content for the specified grade of concrete incase of packing density method thus reducing the material and time involved in trial testing