Hussain Mohamed Chelladurai

Various types of alternative fuels and their additives have undergone extensive investigation to analyze their effects on diesel engine performance. The aim of this study is to comprehensively evaluate the effects on performance and sustainability while employing blends of palm oil biodiesel and diesel, together with the introduction of oxyhydrogen (HHO) gas, in a diesel engine. The objectives include evaluating energy, exergy and sustainability parameters in order to ascertain the effectiveness of certain fuel mixtures. The study examined five different fuel mixtures: PB0, PB10, PB20, PB10HHO and PB20HHO. The HHO gas was injected into the cylinder alongside the air at a flow rate of 0.3 LPM. The primary results indicate significant enhancements in energy and exergy efficiency when HHO gas is used in conjunction with palm oil biodiesel, resulting in gains of up to 1.52% and 1.43%, respectively, compared to using biodiesel blends alone. In addition, the introduction of HHO gas resulted in a drop of up to 4.58% in brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC). The use of biodiesel blends in conjunction with HHO gas led to a noteworthy decrease of up to 11.4% in carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) and 5.7% in hydrocarbon (HC) emissions. Nevertheless, there was a notable rise of up to 9.56% in nitric oxide (NO) emissions. With the HHO-supplied condition, the combination was shown to have up to a 2.05% better sustainability index. The PB10HHO and PB20HHO blends provide improved performance when compared to pure biodiesel blends and conventional diesel. This study offers a unique approach to increasing diesel engine performance through the synergistic usage of biodiesel blends and HHO gas.

Although conventional methods such as mechanical fastening, adhesive bonding and hot air welding have proven effective in dry conditions, they exhibit diminished efficacy in submerged environments. Hence, a thermoplastic welding technique with minimal dependence on surrounding media is essential. Ultrasonic spot welding (USW) represents a promising approach to thermoplastic joining, offering high efficiency and low operating costs. In this study, we investigate the efficacy of water-submerged ultrasonic spot welding (S-USW) for joining amorphous polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to PVC and semi-crystalline polypropylene (PP) to PP under submerged conditions. Our experimental results show that S-USW leads to a remarkable 39% and 21% increase in lap-shear strength for PVC/PVC and PP/PP welds, respectively, as compared to traditional USW techniques. We corroborate these findings with additional metrics such as Shore-D hardness tests, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy imagery, which collectively confirm the improved efficacy of S-USW over USW for joining PVC and PP.

In the present work, journal bearing performance was evaluated using condition monitoring processes namely wear debris, vibration signal, lubricant oil degradation and temperature analyses. The journal bearing system was operated at 800 rpm and 200 N constant speed and load over a period of 1200 h. The lubricant oil samples were collected for every 300 h of test duration for oil degradation and wear particle analyses by using Fourier transform infrared radiation (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) techniques, respectively. FTIR results provided specific chemical bonds and functional groups contained in the degraded oil. The vibration signals were acquired for every 100 h of operation, and a fast Fourier transform (FFT) frequency spectrum technique was employed for vibration signal analysis. The friction coefficient and specific wear rate parameters were considered to evaluate the tribological performance of the journal-bearing system. Statistical parameters, namely root-mean-square and kurtosis, were evaluated. Wear mechanisms such as abrasive, adhesive and surface fatigue wear were observed on the journal-bearing contact surfaces using a USB optical microscope. The scoring on the bearing element confirmed the fault development and resulted in an increase in vibration amplitudes. Higher mass loss in the bearing material was observed due to high friction and wear rates owing to its being a softer material than that of the journal material. The results obtained from the aforementioned parameter assessment techniques provided a reliable information on the defects which appeared on journal-bearing contact surfaces.

Ultrasonic welding (USW) is an extensively used joining technique employed in various industries such as automotive, aeronautics, packaging, and others, for joining thermoplastic and thermoplastic composites. The strength of USW can be further enhanced through preferential heating with the induction of energy directors (EDs). The present study investigates water-submerged ultrasonic welding (S-USW) using three different ED designs to join 20% short carbon fibre-reinforced polyamide, commonly referred to as CF/PA. This approach improves weld strength and mitigates material degradation caused by rapid heating, a common issue encountered during USW. The results indicate that the submerged ultrasonic welded (S-USWed) specimen with a semi-circular ED exhibits the highest weld strength, that is, 16.4 MPa compared to specimens welded via conventional USW technique using rectangular and triangular EDs achieving weld strength of 14.69 and 14.3 MPa.

Rolling element bearings are commonly employed in rotating machinery to support rotating shafts. These machinery elements are vulnerable to failure due to increased friction and heat, which cause progressive wear on the rolling interaction surfaces of the bearing. The failure of bearings causes an unpredicted shutdown of equipment, leading to an increase in downtime and financial losses. Various condition monitoring techniques have been developed for periodic assessment of failure in roller-bearing systems. The focus of this work is to establish a relationship between surface fatigue wear, film thickness [ ], asperity load ratio [ ], lubricant film stiffness [ ] and traction coefficient [ ] parameters. A periodic assessment of the above-mentioned parameters was made on the test bearing, which was subjected to a fatigue test for 2000 h. The results acquired from the experimental study highlighted that, as surface fatigue wear on the bearing interaction surfaces and lubricant degradation occurred with an increase in fatigue load cycles, the asperity load ratio [ ] and traction coefficient [ ] parameters showed a gradual rise in trend which further resulted in a difference in the dynamic behaviour of the bearing system.

Thermoplastics hold utmost importance in the day-to-day life of modern-day society, being widely employed in water transport and storage vessels commonly made from thermoplastics such as PVC, i.e., polyvinyl chloride, and PP, i.e., polypropylene. This urge for a joining technique is applicable even with water in the vessel or the submerged case. The present investigation explores ultrasonic welding as an option to weld thermoplastics in water-submerged conditions. We have performed FEM simulations and experimental validation to prove the viability of the proposed ultrasonic welding process used in welding PVC and PP in water-submerged conditions. The discussed results demonstrate a decrease in melting and degradation of adherend material at the weld interface while welding PVC and PP in water-submerged conditions and attaining 65.78% and 107% of weld strength, unlike their open-air counterparts, respectively.

Adopting digital technologies in a business can help with sustainable supply chain management. These technologies can make e-commerce development faster and empower the emergence of B2B e-commerce businesses. In this study, our focus was to develop a framework for an Internet of things (IoT) embedded sustainable supply chain to deliver textile items using a B2B e-commerce business model. We formulated a mixed-integer non-linear programming (MINLP) model to minimize the total supply chain cost, including the B2B orders’ packaging, handling, and transportation, with carbon emission taxation. Furthermore, the purchasing cost of the RFID tags and IoT facilities that were provided on the transport vehicles was high. The proposed model was solved by using the global solver in the LINGO software package and finding the optimized value of the total supply chain network cost. We tested the proposed model in different case scenarios, i.e., small- to significant-sized problems. Then, a sensitivity analysis was performed to observe the variations in the overall cost of the supply chain network when there were changes in the main parameters of the proposed model. The results of the models showed that models can be helpful for efficient logistics planning and supply chain design.