Current Approaches in Engineering Research and Technology Vol. 5

Food scarcity is an important problem for the growing population of the globe. The study aims to discuss the relationship between population growth and the availability of cereal grains in Burundi. Food availability and population growth have long been of concern to researchers. The data was obtained from the sites of the FAO, World Bank and Climate Change Knowledge Portal (CCP). The ARDL model and bounds co-integration test were used in STATA 14.2 for estimating the growth population effect on the availability of rice and maize in the short and long run in Burundi. The findings showed that ECT is negatively significant for both items at 1% level and therefore the long-run equilibrium can be reached. Annually, the coefficient of ECT for maize production is equal to -0,394 meanwhile this for rice production is equal to -0,813. Population growth (PGR) is a major factor in food availability because when this variable increases by one unit, in the short term, rice production increases by 0.524%. However, the increase of one percent of the rural population (RPR) in the first instance implies a decrease of 0.407% of rice in the short term. However, in the long term, increasing this variable by one percent implies a reduction in the production of 0.122% for maize and 1.337% for rice annually. In the long run, the contribution of the population growth (PGR) is not significant for the two items and the sign is different from one to another. The government should therefore put in place a new land use planning policy by creating villages in order to remedy the problem of land fragmentation, a birth control policy, and a price stabilization policy in order to end the food deficit.

With the gradual depletion of the high-grade iron ore reserves, it becomes obligatory on the part of the mining industry to consider the exploitation and utilization of low/lean grade ores. In the present investigation, the emphasis was on the development of a cost-effective process flow sheet to benefit these ores to make them suitable for the user industry. In this study, a three-level, three-factor Box- Behnken factorial design combined with Response Surface Methodology (RSM) for modeling of process parameters of Multi Gravity Separator (MGS) for recovery Iron values from sub-grade iron ore, Deposit No. 5, Bailadila complex has been developed. The three significant operational parameters of MGS, Drum rotational speed, Drum inclination and wash water Flow rate were considered in the experimental work and all other parameters like feed percent solids, shake frequency and shake amplitude were maintained constant. The 'as received' sub-grade iron ore sample is an admixture of lump and fines and chemically assayed  and  Loss on Ignition (LOI). Experiments were conducted with representative sample ground to -100 mesh  as per the design matrix. The obtained results were evaluated with the Box-Behnken factorial design, RSM and also Quadratic programming (QP). Second-order response functions were developed for a grade (  and recovery (% yield) of the concentrate fraction. Taking advantage of quadratic programming (QP), it was observed that a maximum grade of  achieved at a drum inclination of 3 degrees, wash water flow rate of 6 Liters Per Minute (LPM) and a drum rotational speed of 175 Revolutions Per Minute (RPM). Similarly, a maximum concentrate recovery (Yield) of  by weight could be achieved at 5 degrees drum inclination, 2 LPM wash water flow rate and a drum rotational speed of 225 RPM. Predicted values of responses obtained using model equations were in good agreement with the experimental values. The influence of the process variables of multi gravity separator on concentrate grade and recovery was discussed. This finding proved that Box–Behnken design, response surface methodology could efficiently be applied for modeling of some sub-grade iron ore from Bailadila and that it is an economical way of obtaining the maximum amount of information in a short period of time and with the fewest number of experiments.

The increase in demand for gold in the world over the past three decades has witnessed an increase in the gold price to accommodate more efforts of mining and exploration in the gold mining industry. Categorization of gold mines based on rom-tonnage and grade would be more useful if it can statistically be used to predict the cost of gold mining. This paper focuses on establishing logistic and ANN models of the cost effect of run-of-mine tonnage and grade in the justification of the categorization of gold mines. Gold mines could be categorized based on the abilities of rom-grade and rom-tonnage to predict cost. The data used in the generation of the logistic and ANN models were cash-cost as the dependent variable vs. rom-grade, and rom-tonnage as independent variables together with the type of mine. The data were obtained from 160 gold mines selected from the top 20 gold-rich countries in the period of 7 years from 2002 to 2008. The first analysis was the Logistic Regression Analysis which was carried out in the SPSS software to determine the probability of occurrence of low cost given rom-grade and rom-tonnage for either an open pit, underground, or both mines together. The second analysis was based on ANN which was carried out to develop the ANN model. Using a Multilayer perceptron neural network and backpropagation, the ANN Model was trained to predict the cost. The main results for both logistic and ANN Models indicated that only rom-grade with a cut-off value of 5.385 g/t can be used to categorize gold mines as low and high grade while there was not enough evidence to categorize gold mines based on their rom-tonnage. The only evidence provided by ANN indicated that the normalized importance of rom-grade was 100% while for rom tonnage was 48.65. The full models established in this study have a percentage correct of 62.9 for logistic and 64 for ANN compared to 57.9 by guess. The relationship between cost vs. rom-grade and rom-tonnage indicated that only 6.9 percent of the cost is accounted for by rom-grade and rom-tonnage. This is a weak relation indicating that rom-grade and rom-tonnage are not the only determinants and therefore on their own must be used with precaution. Validation of the model agrees well with the actual results. Future research should focus on the other determinants which account for the remaining unaccounted 37.6%.

The mining rate determines the profitability of a mine and when set at an optimal rate, it generates maximum NPV. Although the mining rate depends on many parameters, ore tonnage has been used as the main determinant in developing empirical models for predicting the mining rate. However, the results obtained depend on the characteristics of the ore body, mine, and the number of samples of mines used. The main aim of this chapter is to develop regression models that can be used in predicting the mining rate in any gold mining in the pre-production stage given reserve variations and type of mines such as open pit or underground mines. The data used in this study include mining rate, reserve tonnage, and type of mine whether open pit, underground, or both open pit and underground. More than 165 gold mines/deposits obtained from the Raw Material Group database were used in the analysis and other 50 deposits were used for validation. Multiple Linear Regression Analysis using the method of enter was selected to develop regression models. The main results showed that the mining rate can be estimated based on the reserve tonnage with a value of R² of 79.9%. Further analysis using ANN confirmed this result with an improved value of R² of 80%. The validation of the regression models using other gold deposit data indicated an average error of 20%. This confirms a strong relationship between the mining rate and reserve tonnage.

The purpose of the study is to implement the channel angular pressing (CAP) method developed based on the invention. The diagram, general view, and details of the device produced based on the invention are presented. Examples of cold CAP of annular billets made from technical copper M4 and aluminum are given. Annular billets were subjected to CAP at room temperature with a device with the outlet and inlet channels diameters ratio D / d @ 1.14. Annular billets were loaded with a tubular punch by an Instron-1195 testing machine. Diagrams of the loading of annular billets are presented. The results on the mechanical properties under axial compression of annular samples made of metals in the initial state and after CAP are presented. Mechanical tests for axial compression of annular samples were carried out with an Instron-1195 testing machine at a constant loading rate of » 0.83·10^-5 ms^-1. An increase in the strength of metals as a result of CAP at room temperature was found.

In order to improve the physical and mechanical properties of cutting tools made of P6M5 steel, the article presents the results of a study of the possibility of using a combined method of nitrooxidation, consisting of nitriding in ammonia at the first stage and oxidation in water vapor at the second stage.

The formation of nitride-oxide coating compositions with the formation of a thin dense oxide film and a nitride layer under it, depending on the holding time, undergoes structural and phase transformations during the oxidation process with the transition of low nitrides doped with carbon and oxygen, as well as an internal nitriding zone following it.

It has been established that during the oxidation process, an oxide layer with a nitride sublayer or zones of internal nitriding with supersaturated nitrogen can be formed on the surface, allowing the production of stable nitrides of both the base metal and alloying elements.

By regulating the parameters of the nitrooxidation process on alloyed steels, compositions with different structural and phase states can be formed that have the best physical and mechanical properties than the nitride layer obtained by traditional nitriding methods.

For surface hardening of cutting tools, it is necessary to obtain a nitride-oxide layer with a thin oxide layer on the surface and a nitride sublayer consisting of low-nitrogen nitrides alloyed with carbon and oxygen with a developed sublayer of the internal nitriding zone.

The oxide layer, together with the subsequent arrangement of the nitride layer on the surface of the internal hardness nitriding zone, successfully provides a positive gradient of surface properties under external friction conditions and has the best ductility in terms of ensuring wear resistance.

The research project delves into enhancing the injection molding process within the automotive industry. The objective is to refine the efficacy and efficiency of injection molding procedures for manufacturing specific interior plastic components utilizing SolidWorks Plastics and the Taguchi method. Essential elements such as project goals, parameters, and structure are meticulously considered to provide a systematic approach for achieving tangible enhancements in injection molding design. Five distinct process parameters in injection molding are chosen at various levels to minimize shrinkage in the selected component. To evaluate the Signal-to-Noise ratio, the L18 orthogonal array of Taguchi is selected based on the number of parameters and levels. The selected parameters are optimized, resulting in the following settings: the melt temperature is adjusted to 200°C, the mold temperature to 25°C, the filling time to 3 seconds, the pressure holding time to 3 seconds, and the pure cooling time to 3 seconds. Hence, the proposed methodology demonstrates that the Taguchi method is a viable approach for improving injection molding processes across diverse industries, including the automotive sector.

Plastic materials are commonly used in various industries due to their special properties including corrosion resistance, lightness, and ease of giving shape. In this study, a food container design was analyzed numerically using a combination of various advanced optimization techniques including the Taguchi Method and S-N Ratio Analysis. The main goal is to maximize product efficiency and quality to improve the strength of product outcomes by identifying and minimizing the impact of various sources of variability. The results showed that to reach the optimum performance, the parameters for melt temperature at 200°C, mold temperature at 30°C, filling time at 1.5 s, pressure holding time 5 s, and pure cooling time at 20 s. The optimum result achieved 0.34 mm and 15.95%, for warpage and shrinkage, respectively. The warpage and shrinkage reduction reached 34.6% and 12.1%, respectively, in comparison with the initial design.

Aims: The present theory investigates the dimensionless vibration frequencies, deformations and stresses for antisymmetric composite and orthotropic arch.

Study Design: In the present investigation, composite arches are examined using exponential-type of transverse shear and normal deformation effect. It considers the important effects of both transverse normal strain and shear deformation under the action of uniformly distributed loading (UDL).

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Civil Engineering, Sanjivani College of Engineering, Kopargaon - 423601, Maharashtra, India, between Jan. 2023 to April 2024.

Methodology: The associated governing equations are obtained using the principle of virtual work with Navier’s solution. The proposed composite arches are completely free from shear correction factors, the top and bottom surfaces satisfy the traction free zero end boundary conditions.

Results: The proposed mathematical model obtained correct displacements, stresses, and vibration frequencies for composite shallow arches than other theories because prior literature did not consider the thickness stretching effect i.e. . Therefore, the proposed theory accounts for the effect of thickness stretching i.e. . The results are compared and validated through available literature.

Conclusion: The proposed results will set the standard benchmark for researchers in the upcoming days about the design of such difficult and high-rise composite constructions.

The present study highlights cost-effective Rural Electrification with Capacitor Coupled Substations. Electricity plays a crucial role in the economic development of any developing country. In Sub-Saharan African countries (SSA), there are still numerous rural communities that have limited access to electricity. Access to electricity in rural areas is extremely limited, but it is crucial for all citizens. The population in rural areas of sub-Saharan African countries is generally low, making it economically unfeasible to implement conventional rural electrification (CRE) projects due to the high cost of establishing the necessary distribution infrastructure. The Capacitor Coupled Substation (CCS) technology is one possibility for rural electrification (URE) that can be investigated to alleviate this cost issue. It has been discovered that CCS is an affordable option for providing rural areas with electricity. The research is necessitated by the need to offer cost-effective technology for supplying electricity to sparsely populated communities. This paper examines the impact on the transmission network when a 400kV/400V CCS is connected to it. The system response when a CCS is connected to the network was modelled using MATLAB/Simulink. The results, based on a fixed load of 80kW, showed negligible interference on the transmission line voltage. However, there was minor impact on the parameters downstream of the tapping point. These findings were further supported by introducing a fault condition to the CCS, which showed that interferences with the CCS could affect the overall stability of the transmission network downstream of the tapping node, similar to the behavior of an unstable load. This study only focused on the simulation of a basic system with a fixed load and limited fault scenarios. This, therefore, did not analyze a dynamic response under various conditions. The proposed CCS-CNT will be used for power tapping and power injection on the transmission line through classical control of CNT.