Evapotranspiration Modeling Using Different Tree Based Ensembled Machine Learning Algorithm

Water Resources Management - The present study investigates and evaluate the scope and potential of modern computing tools and techniques such as ensembled machine learning methods in estimating...     

Graft copolymerization onto rubber. VII. Graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto rubber using potassium peroxydisulfate catalyzed by silver ion

The graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto natural rubber (NR) was carried out varying the concentration of monomer, initiator, thiourea, and silver nitrate over a wide range. The grafting reaction was temperature-dependent. From the Arrhenius plot, the overall energy of activation was computed. A suitable reaction scheme and rate expression for the rate of polymerization was suggested.     

Plastic Limit, Liquid Limit and Undrained Shear Strength of Soil—Reappraisal

The concept that plasticity index of soils can be defined as a range of water contents producing a 100-fold variation in undrained shear strength has been experimentally verified with the help of a large number of tests on soils of diverse nature. This has led to the redefinition of the plastic limit as the water content at which undrained shear strength is around 170 kN/m2. Undrained shear strength of a soil at the liquid limit can be considered to be around 1.7 kN/m2. Accordingly, both the liquid limit and the plastic limit have been determined in the present work by a single consistent method, i.e., the Swedish fall cone method. The undrained shear strength-water content relationship has been found to be log-linear for a wide range of water contents beginning from lower than the plastic limit to higher than the liquid limit. This resulted in the formulation of an expression for predicting undrained shear strength of a remolded soil at any water content based solely on its liquid limit and plastic limit.     

Constructing candidate word lists using acoustically similar wordgroups

A method for identifying a set of candidate words that matches well with a given utterance is discussed. The method uses precomputed groups of acoustically similar words. Given a vocabulary, for each word a short list of words that are acoustically similar to it is computed. These groups are constructed using training utterances recorded by several speakers and used in an isolated utterance recognition system to construct candidate word lists during recognition. Experiments show that the correct word appears on the short list of candidate words constructed during recognition using this scheme over 98% of the time     

A neuro-fuzzy approach to automatic diagnosis and location of stator inter-turn faults in CSI-fed PM brushless DC motors

The paper presents a neuro-fuzzy-based perspective to the automation of diagnosis and location of stator-winding interturn short circuits in CSI-fed brushless dc motors. Performance of the drive under normal and short-circuit conditions are obtained through classical lumped-parameter network models. Waveforms of the electromagnetic torque and summation of phase voltages are monitored to develop two independent diagnostic algorithms. Diagnostic indices derived from the characteristic waveforms using discrete Fourier transform (DFT) lead to identifying the number of shorted turns. Fault location is achieved through a different set of indices extracted by the short-time Fourier transform (STFT). Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS) are trained based on simulation results to automate the diagnostic process. ANFIS testing along with the good agreement between simulated and measured waveforms show the effectiveness of the proposed techniques.     

Ionic transport studies of the glassy silver vanadomolybdate system

Ionic conductivity of the Ag₂O-MoO₃-V₂0₅ system has been studied over a wide range of frequency, temperature and composition. A narrower glass forming region has been found in comparison to the corresponding Ag₂O-MoO₃-P₂O₅ and Ag₂O-B₂O₃-P₂O₅ systems. The highest conductivity at room temperature, _rt, = 3.21 × 10^–6–1 cm^–1 (d.c.) with an activation energy,E _act, of 0.466 eV, was observed for the glass former's ratio of unity. Further, it reached a maximum value of 2.2 × 10^–2¨-1 cm^–1 withE _act = 0.153 eV when the oxide-base glass was dissolved with Agl. D.c. conductivity, hopping rate and relaxation time in the present system have been found to be characterized by the same activation energy.     

Polymers from renewable resources. I. Castor oil-based interpenetrating polymer networks: Thermal and mechanical properties

A number of polyurethanes (PUs) were synthesized by reacting castor oil with toluene-2,4-diisocyanate and hexamethylene diisocyanate and varying the NCO/OH ratio. All these polyurethanes were reacted with some acrylic monomers like ethyl acrylate, n-butyl acrylate, ethyl methacrylate, and butyl methacrylate using a crosslinker ethylene glycol dimethyl-acrylate and benzoyl peroxide as the initiator. The physicochemical properties of interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) are reported. Thermogravimetric analysis was used to study the thermal behavior of IPNs and the evaluation of kinetic parameters. Degradation mechanism has also been investigated. Some of the mechanical properties viz. tensile strength, shore-A hardness, elongation at break, etc. are also reported. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Grafting vinyl monomers onto silk fibers. II. Graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto silk by hexavalent chromium ion

The feasibility of chromium(VI) to induce graft polymerization of methyl methacrylate onto silk was investigated. The rate of grafting was determined by varying monomer concentration, chromium(VI) concentration, temperature, acidity of the medium, nature of the silk, reaction medium, and redox system. The graft yield increased with increasing monomer concentration up to 0.65M, and with further increase of monomer the graft yield decreased. The graft yield increased with increasing chromium(VI) concentration. The grafting is considerably influenced by chemical modification of silk prior to grafting. The graft yield is influenced by thiourea concentration, decreasing with increasing thiourea concentration. The effect of certain inorganic salts and anionic surfactants on the rate of grafting was investigated.     

Utilization of flyash as filler for polybutyleneterepthalate‐toughened epoxy resin

Flyash, a waste product generated in large quantities in thermal power plants, has been posing problems of disposal. The purpose of the present work was to make a meaningful utilization of flyash as filler in neat epoxy resin matrix and 2% Polybutyleneterepthalate (PBT)/epoxy blend matrix. For this purpose, the tensile, flexural, compression, impact, chemical resistance, and water absorption properties were studied. Composites were made with varying proportion of flyash in epoxy resin and 2% PBT/epoxy blend matrix. Tensile, flexural, and compression properties were measured on a computerized universal testing machine, according to ASTM procedures. Impact strength was determined using izod impact tester for un‐notched specimens. PBT (2%)/epoxy blend matrix composites showed improved mechanical properties over neat epoxy flyash composites. All the composites were found to have good chemical resistance toward acids, solvents, and alkalies. These composites showed better water resistance over neat epoxy flyash composites. POLYM. ENG. SCI. 46:946–953, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers