Mechanical Engineering

This paper reports the results of the investigation carried out on a single cylinder DI diesel engine for the effects of fuel injection pressure (FIP) on the combustion, performance and emission characteristics. The experiments were conducted at constant speed (1500rpm) with four different FIPs Viz., 200, 400, 600 and 800 bar are used for the injection of fuel with a fixed start of fuel injection. With increased injection pressure the heat release rate increases and also the peak point is advanced in time. The results reveal that with increase in pressure at the full load condition the brake thermal efficiency increases by 11.8%, smoke density reduces from 86HSU to 70HSU. The HC emissions are reduced from 100 ppm to 50 ppm while the oxides of nitrogen emission increase from 960 ppm to 1160 ppm. The Carbon Monoxide emissions are reduced from 0.21 % by volume to 0.16 while the Carbon-di-Oxide reduced by 5.26 %. The brake thermal efficiency is increased by 12% with apparent reduction in smoke reduction by 18%. The cylinder pressure increases from 64 to 80 bar while Heat release rate increases from 112 to 148 kJ/m3 deg. This investigation establishes that switching to higher injection pressure improves fuel economy of diesel engines.

In this paper Taguchi method is applied for determining the effect of process parameters on vortex tube made of Delrin material. An Experimental work is carried out to analyze the performance of vortex tube with five controllable input parameters namely diameter of the orifices, diameter of the nozzles, length of hot tube, tube diameter and inlet pressure. Cold temperature is considered as output parameter. The various parameters like S/N analysis, ANOVA and Optimal Cold Temperature were carried out in order to determine the effects of process parameters and optimal factor settings.

Environmentally sustainable (green) supply chain management (GSCM) has emerged as an important organizational philosophy to achieve corporate profit and market share objectives by reducing environmental risks and impacts while improving ecological efficiency of these organizations and their partners companies. The number of organizations contemplating the integration of environmental practices into their strategic plans and daily operations is continuously increasing day to day. Numerous initiatives have provided incentives for organizations to become more environmentally benign. Organizations view many of these environmental programs, which may include technological and organizational development projects, as possible alternatives for gaining or maintaining a competitive advantage. One environmental program area that continues to gain in importance is one that focuses on the external relationships among organizations. Environmentally conscious business practices have been receiving increasing importance from both researchers and practitioner’s point of view. Interdisciplinary research has integrated the efforts of management, engineering, physical and social sciences to investigate the issues relevant to this GSCM. Similarly, multifunctional groups within organizations and external stakeholders have a role in decisions related to organizations and the natural environment. Green supply chain decisions are one of the latest issues facing organizations with strong internal and external linkages.

The thermal performance of tractor radiator is improved with Cu/water when compared with CuO/water nanofluids as workings fluid. The nanomaterial plays a vital role for past two decades in the research areas like thermal management and material science. Miniaturization and increased operating speeds of heat exchangers warranted the need for new and innovative cooling concepts for better performance. The nano materials and its suspension in fluids as particles have been the subject of intensive study worldwide recently since pioneering researchers recently discovered the anomalous thermal behavior of these fluids. For heavy vehicles the engine cooling is an important factor for their performance in the intended application. Here the tractor engine radiator cooling is enhanced by nanofluid mechanism of heat transfer for its improved performance in agricultural work. If the tractor engine cooling is enhanced then using this farm equipment more agricultural field can be ploughed which can be utilized for cultivation within a short period of time. Heat transfer in automobile is achieved through radiators. In this research work an experimental and numerical investigation for the improved heat transfer characteristics of a radiator using Cu/water and CuO/water nanofluid for 0.025, 0.05 and 0.075% volume fraction is done with inlet temp of 50 - 60°C under the turbulent flow regime (8000 ? Re ? 25000). The overall heat transfer coefficient decreases with increase in nanofluid inlet temperature of 50 - 60°C. The experimental results of the heat transfer using the Cu metal particles of nanofluid is compared with Oxide and the numerical values which shows an increase in heat transfer coefficient. The results in this work suggest that the best heat transfer enhancement can be obtained compared with the base fluid and oxide form by using a system with Cu/water nanofluid-cooled radiators. The nanofluids showed better heat transfer characteristics as a new alternative coolant for the radiator.

Recently, the issue of machine condition monitoring became global due to the potential advantages to be obtained from decreased maintenance costs, improved productivity and increased machine availability. Vibration technique in a machine condition monitoring provides useful reliable information, bringing significant cost benefits to industry. By comparing the signals of a machine running in normal and faulty conditions, detection of fault like journal-bearing defect is possible. This paper deal a new method of engine journal-bearing fault diagnosis based on Power Spectral Density (PSD) of vibration signals in combination with Support Vector Machine (SVM). The frequency domain vibration signals of an internal combustion engine (IC engine) with three main journal-bearing conditions were gained, corresponding to, (i) normal, (ii) corrosion and (iii) excessive wear. The features of PSD values of vibration signals were extracted using statistical and vibration parameters. The extracted features were used as inputs to the SVM for three-class identification. The roles of PSD technique and SVM classifier were investigated. Results showed that the accuracy rate of fault diagnosis of the IC engine main journal-bearing was 100%. The results demonstrate that the proposed method has the potential for fault diagnosis of main journal-bearing of IC engine.

Solar parabolic trough collectors are the most useful technology that directly supports renewable energy for conventional energy for water heating. But it is observed that due to ambient temperature many convective losses occur which effects the temperature variation. This article shows the practical work for increasing temperature to cover it by thin transparent glass plate which creates the oven effect and decreases its convective losses which increases the temperature and finally it increase its efficiency.

The importance of project management has become more and more significant today especially in today's market situation. The current economy and downturn as well as highly competitive market have made our market changed totally. For his reason in this paper about the effect of different factor to project successes has discussed. And the advantage and disadvantage of each factor has shown.

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. 

This paper presents a hybrid optimization approach for the determination of the optimum laser welding process parameters which minimize the weld bead width and maximize weld bead depth together in pulsed Nd:YAG laser welding of thin plates of SS 304 having thickness 2.9 mm. An exhaustive experimental study has been conducted with various process parameters like, pulse width, pulse height, stand-of distance, frequency, welding speed, gas flow angle and gas flow rate. Each of the parameters has three levels. Thus, an orthogonal array L18 has been adopted to accommodate all the above factors at their respective levels. The weld bead width and the weld bead depth are considered as process performances. A multi-response optimization has been carried out by using grey relational analysis (GRA). Also the significant process parameters have been found out for the above process optimization by performing an ANOVA.

The present research is motivated by the changing roles of continuous improvement programs as a result of changes in organizational environments. Focus on the changing demands made on organizational infrastructure for continuous improvement program is under consideration. Visual process control is applied in a financial section of a company. The success of Six Sigma programs depends to a large extent on motivating employees, training them and coordinating their efforts in projects as well as implementing changes resulting from projects. Managers are interviewed (Total 12) and on the basis of score the improvement are analyzed.