Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology

4

Authors: Memon R.A., Solangi M.A., Baloch A.

The impacts of rotational velocity and inertia on velocity gradients and stresses are addressed under present study. The non-Newtonian behaviour of inelastic rotating flows is predicted by employing Power law model. A numerical model has been developed for mixing flow within a cylindrical vessel along a couple of stirrers. A time marching FEM (Finite Element Method) is employed to predict the required solution. Predicted solutions are presented for minimum to maximum values in terms of contour plots of velocity gradients and shear stresses, over the range. The long term application of this research will be used to improve the design of mixers and processing products. The predicted results are used to generate the capability and are in good agreement with numerical results to the mixer design that will ultimately effect the processing of dough products

8

Authors: Bhatti S.M., Abro Z.H., Abro F.R.

Object persistency is the hot issue in the form of ORM (Object Relational Mapping) tools in industry as developers use these tools during software development. This paper presents the performance evaluation of Java based ORM tools. For this purpose, Hibernate, Ebean and TopLinkhave been selected as the ORM tools which are popular and open source. Their performance has been measured from execution point of view. The results show that ORM tools are the good option for the developers considering the system throughput in shorter setbacks and they can be used efficiently and effectively for performing mapping of the objects into the relational dominated world of database, thus creating a hope for a better and well dominated future of this technology.

8

Authors: Memon N.A., Ansari K., Almani Z.A.

The enhancement in the properties of the modified blends largely depends on the proper understanding of the interaction between CR (Crumb Rubber) and bitumen, where the CR particles swell after absorbing lighter fraction from the bitumen phase. However, the properties of CRMB (Crumb Rubber Modified Bitumen) blends at a wide range of temperatures are considered to be somewhat unclear due to the various interaction effects of CR and base bitumen. This largely depends on the interaction conditions such as blending time, temperature, speed and device, which may alter the properties of the blend to great extent. In this study, influence of the interaction condition was investigated by looking at the viscosity with a Brookfield viscometer. For this, CR and bitumen proportions along with other material characteristics were kept constant to understand the effect of interaction parameters of the properties of the CRMB blend. A total of 12 CRMB blends were produced with unvarying combinations of material constituents. However, selected variation in the blending parameters were; blending device, duration, speed and temperature. Observations from this laboratory study indicated: (1) blending performed with the high shear mixer resulted in higher viscosity values compared to the blends produced with the low shear mixer; (2) reduced blending time was required to achieve peak and ultimate stable viscosities, when blends were produced with the high shear mixer; (3) blending temperature of 180°C has resulted in the blends with consistent properties for longer blending durations compared to the blends produced at higher temperature. As a result, results with high shear mixer were always promising, which required comparatively lower interaction temperature, time and speed.

10

Authors: Syed U., Samad A., Ahmed F.

In this research dyeing behavior of organic cotton woven fabric using ultrasonic technique and conventional dyeing method has been compared. The fabric samples were dyed with reactive dyes Drimarene Red Cl-5B and Drimarene Blue Cl-BR (0.5% owf) using exhaust dyeing method. The samples were ultrasonically dyed at varied temperature (60, 50 and 40oC) for 60, 50, 40 and 30 minutes and for conventional method at varied temperature but at recommended time, 60 minutes. For optimizing the dyeing behavior, the samples were causticized by pad-batch method and then dyed with ultrasonic technique at varied temperature and time. It has been observed organic cotton fabric dyed using ultrasonic exhaust method at 60oC for 50 minutes gives highest (K/S)?max value, excellent fastness property, deeper dye diffusion and less surface deterioration compared to the conventional dyeing method. Moreover, causticized and dyed sample with ultrasonic technique at 60oC for 30 minutes gives colour strength value almost equal to the conventional recommended dyeing method. Hence, dyeing of organic material using ultrasonic exhaust method saves energy and time

12

Authors: Almani Z.A., Pathan A.F.H., Memon A.A.

This study was focused on the determination of contaminant transport parameters of heavy metal Zinc moving through saturated soft Bangkok undisturbed clay under high hydraulic gradients. These parameters were compared with contaminant transport determined under concentration gradient alone (pure diffusion). In total fifteen column tests were conducted and a mathematical model was applied to determine the coefficients. Two different source concentrations conditions, constant and decreasing, were applied. Testing periods were ranged from 15-60 days while hydraulic gradients were ranged from 0-500. The curves between relative concentration and time and pore volume were developed for the constant source condition whereas curves between source reservoirs concentrations and time were developed for decreasing source condition. The effective diffusion and distribution coefficients, De and Kd, were determined by curve fitting using the computer code POLLUTE v 6.3. The results showed that diffusion coefficient increases and distribution coefficient decreases as hydraulic gradient increases from 0 to high value of 500 due to contribution of dispersion and additional molecular diffusion at high advective velocity. Thus, testing at high gradients ensures the safe performance of earthen barriers under worse conditions.

14

Authors: Jumani S., Memon Z.A., Larik J.

The need for custom-made devices, rehabilitation aids and treatments is explicit in the medical sector. Applications of rapid manufacturing techniques based on additive fabrication processes combined with medical digitising technologies can generate high quality solutions in situations where the need for custom-made devices and rehabilitation aids and low-lead times are very important factors. Foot orthoses are medical devices applied in the treatment of biomechanical foot disorders, foot injuries and foot diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes. The significant challenge in the treatment of foot related diseases is progressing pathological deterioration in the affected sites of the foot which requires quick provision of the orthoses. A process model is developed using the IDEF0 modelling technique in which a rapid manufacturing approach is integrated in the design and fabrication process of custom foot orthoses. The process model will be used in the development of rapid manufacturing based design and fabrication system for mass customisation of foot orthoses. The developed system is aimed at mass scale production of custom foot orthoses with the advantages of reduced cost, reduced lead-time and improved product in terms of increased fit, consistency and accuracy in the final product.

20

Authors: Pathan A.F.H., Ansari K., Memon A.A.

This paper addresses the significance of traveller information sources including mono-modal and multimodal websites for travel decisions. The research follows a decision paradigm developed earlier, involving an information acquisition process for travel choices, and identifies the abstract characteristics of new information sources that deserve further investigation (e.g. by incorporating these in models and studying their significance in model estimation). A Stated Preference experiment is developed and the utility functions are formulated by expanding the travellers' choice set to include different combinations of sources of information. In order to study the underlying choice mechanisms, the resulting variables are examined in models based on different behavioural strategies, including utility maximisation and minimising the regret associated with the foregone alternatives. This research confirmed that RRM (Random Regret Minimisation) Theory can fruitfully be used and can provide important insights for behavioural studies. The study also analyses the properties of travel planning websites and establishes a link between travel choices and the content, provenance, design, presence of advertisements, and presentation of information. The results indicate that travellers give particular credence to governmentowned sources and put more importance on their own previous experiences than on any other single source of information. Information from multimodal websites is more influential than that on train-only websites. This in turn is more influential than information from friends, while information from coachonly websites is the least influential. A website with less search time, specific information on users' own criteria, and real time information is regarded as most attractive