Advances in Mechanical Engineering: B. B. Biswal Bikash Kumar Sarkar P. Mahanta Editors

Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering
B. B. Biswal
Bikash Kumar Sarkar
P. Mahanta Editors
Advances in
Mechanical
Engineering
Select Proceedings of ICRIDME 2018
Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering (LNME) publishes the latest develop-
ments in Mechanical Engineering - quickly, informally and with high quality.
Original research reported in proceedings and post-proceedings represents the core
of LNME. Volumes published in LNME embrace all aspects, subfields and new
challenges of mechanical engineering. Topics in the series include:
• Engineering Design
• Machinery and Machine Elements
• Mechanical Structures and Stress Analysis
• Automotive Engineering
• Engine Technology
• Aerospace Technology and Astronautics
• Nanotechnology and Microengineering
• Control, Robotics, Mechatronics
• MEMS
• Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
• Dynamical Systems, Control
• Fluid Mechanics
• Engineering Thermodynamics, Heat and Mass Transfer
• Manufacturing
• Precision Engineering, Instrumentation, Measurement
• Materials Engineering
• Tribology and Surface Technology
To submit a proposal or request further information, please contact the Springer
Editor in your country:
China: Li Shen at li.shen@springer.com
India: Dr. Akash Chakraborty at akash.chakraborty@springernature.com
Rest of Asia, Australia, New Zealand: Swati Meherishi at
swati.meherishi@springer.com
All other countries: Dr. Leontina Di Cecco at Leontina.dicecco@springer.com
To submit a proposal for a monograph, please check our Springer Tracts in
Mechanical Engineering at http://www.springer.com/series/11693 or contact
Leontina.dicecco@springer.com
Indexed by SCOPUS. The books of the series are submitted for indexing to
Web of Science.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11236

B. B. Biswal Bikash Kumar Sarkar
• •
P. Mahanta
Editors
Advances in Mechanical
Engineering
Select Proceedings of ICRIDME 2018
123
Editors
B. B. Biswal Bikash Kumar Sarkar
National Institute of Technology National Institute of Technology
Meghalaya Meghalaya
Shillong, Meghalaya, India Shillong, Meghalaya, India
P. Mahanta
National Institute of Technology
Arunachal Pradesh
Yupia, Arunachal Pradesh, India
ISSN 2195-4356 ISSN 2195-4364 (electronic)

ISBN 978-981-15-0123-4 ISBN 978-981-15-0124-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0124-1
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained
herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard
to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721,
Singapore
Preface
The International Conference on Recent Innovations and Developments in

Mechanical Engineering (IC-RIDME 2018) was organized by Department of
Mechanical Engineering, NIT Meghalaya, Shillong, India. The conference was held
during November 08–10, 2018. A total of 386 scientific papers were received. After
careful review (each paper was reviewed by at least two reviewers), 218 papers
were accepted for the conference. During the three days of conference, there were
three keynote and five invited lectures delivered. The participants had fruitful sci-
entific and technical discussions and interaction that made the conference a com-
plete success. The overall response to the conference was quite encouraging.
Among the presented papers, 144 papers were selected for inclusion in the pub-
lished proceedings.
The proceeding contents cover entire mechanical engineering domain, and the
theme has been subdivided as follows:
1. Fluid Mechanics
2. Renewable Energy
3. Thermal Engineering
4. Materials and Manufacturing
5. Vibration and Acoustics
6. Experimental Aerodynamics
7. Turbo Machinery
8. Robotics and Mechatronics
The contents of these proceedings reveal the breadth of current activities in
different themes related to mechanical engineering. We hope they form a useful
starting point for beginners as well as practitioners in this discipline.
Shillong, India B. B. Biswal

Bikash Kumar Sarkar
P. Mahanta
v
Acknowledgements
The editors would like to acknowledge the support of all associates of the conference
for making the conference success. The editors would like to thank all the authors
and the participants for paying attention to the quality of the publications; resource
persons for their valuable deliberation in the conference and their support; National
Advisory Committee and International Advisory Committee members for their
continuous support and valuable suggestions; all Internal Committee Members for
their effortin making the conference a success. The editors would also like to thank
for the financial support received from NIT Meghalaya, NIT Arunachal Pradesh,
NEC, DST, NEEPCO, TEQIP-III, Maverick Technologies, RITES, Finite
Technology, Testo, Redington, TOXIC (PRISM), and IIT Guwahati.
vii
Synopsis of the Conference Proceedings
This volume comprises the proceedings of the ‘International Conference on

Recent Innovations and Developments in Mechanical Engineering
(IC-RIDME)’ held at the National Institute of Technology Meghalaya in November
2018. The proceedings of the conference encapsulate the best deliberations appre-
hended during the conference. The assortment of participation from academia,
industry, and research laboratories reflects in this volume.
This proceedings contains the high-impact articles from many authors who have
participated in the conference on thematic areas such as fluid mechanics (potential
flow, venturimeter, flow past bodies, boundary layer flows, pipe flows, turbulent
flows, computational fluid dynamics, microfluids and nanofluidics, hydrodynam-
ics); renewable energy (solar air heaters, solar concentrators, horizontal and ver-
tical axis wind turbine, geothermal, biomass, and biogas, energy from waste);
thermal engineering (heat and mass transfer, classical, statistical and reaction
thermodynamics, fuels, engines, exergy, boiler, furnace, gasification, bio-heat and
mass transfer, refrigeration and air-conditioning systems); materials and manu-
facturing (composite materials, advanced materials, polymer, conventional and
non-conventional machining, micro-machining, hybrid machining, micro-
manufacturing, additive manufacturing, forming, casting, joining, etc.); vibration
and acoustics (structural vibration, nonlinear vibration, structural acoustics,
near-field holography, beamforming, structural health monitoring, machinery con-
dition monitoring, noise control); experimental aerodynamics (force measure-
ment, force prediction techniques in impulse facilities, calibration techniques for
hypersonic facilities); turbomachinery (design, analysis of compressor and turbine
blading; heat transfer phenomena and film cooling design, analysis, and testing in
turbines; aeromechanical instabilities; computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applied
to turbomachinery, boundary layer development, measurement techniques, pro-
peller dynamics, hydrostatic pump and motor design analysis); robotics and
mechatronics (kinematics, dynamics, control and simulation of robotic systems,
design of robotic mechanisms, navigation and path planning for unmanned systems,
actuation system (pneumatic, hydraulic) design and control, autonomous under-
water vehicles).
ix
x Synopsis of the Conference Proceedings
All the articles are based on the related real-time problems. Therefore, it has
great impact on the current scenario. The authors well describe the algorithms and
methodologies in a very simplified manner. Moreover, they describe the different
possible ways to meet the future scopes in the relative fields. Thus, the contents of
this proceedings will be very useful to academic and industry researchers.
Contents
Fluid Mechanics
The Effect of Resting Time on the Shedding of a Drop . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Rahul Goswami, Lukesh Kumar Mahato and Deepak Kumar Mandal
Impact of Palm Oil Methyl Ester Drops on a Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Vikas Kumar, Ramesh Kumar Singh and Deepak Kumar Mandal
Successive Impact of Two Drops on Surfaces with Various
Wettability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Amrit Kumar, Abhishek Singh and Deepak Kumar Mandal
CFD Analysis of Responses of Two-Equation Turbulence Models
for Flow over NACA 0012, NACA 4412 and S809 Aerofoils . . . . . . . . 31
S. Sahoo and S. Maity
Linear Instability Analysis of Viscous Planar Liquid Sheet
Sandwiched Between Two Moving Gas Streams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Debayan Dasgupta, Sujit Nath and Dipankar Bhanja
Flow Analysis of Vortex Generators in the Shroud of a Horizontal
Axis Wind Turbine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
S. Sharma, S. Anand and Koushik Das
A Coupled Level Set and Volume-of-Fluid Method for Modeling
Two-Phase Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
H. Deka, G. Biswas and A. Dalal
A Novel Passive Flow Control Method for Underwater Vehicles . . . . . 75
R. Kant and S. Maity
Experimental and Computational Analysis of Heat Transfer
by a Turbulent Air Jet Impingement on a Flat Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Yatish Kumar Baghel and Vivek Kumar Patel
xi
xii Contents
A Study on the Wake Regime Control and Drag Reduction Using

Single Splitter Plate for a Flow Past a Semicircular Cylinder . . . . . . . 97
S. M. Dash, S. D. Chavda and K. B. Lua
Numerical Analysis of Wall Shear Stress Parameters of Newtonian
Pulsatile Blood Flow Through Coronary Artery and Correlation
to Atherosclerosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Abdulrajak Buradi and Arun Mahalingam
Effect of Thickness of Porous Layer on Thermo-Hydraulic
Characteristics and Entropy Generation in a Partially
Porous Wavy Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Debayan Bhowmick, Pitambar R. Randive and Sukumar Pati
Computational Study of Slot Jet Impingement Heat Transfer
on a Combined Dimpled and Protruded Concave Surface . . . . . . . . . . 131
Alankrita Singh and B. V. S. S. S. Prasad
Numerical Study of Coaxial Evacuated Tube Collector
with Nano-fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
B. R. Tamuli, Sujit Nath and Dipankar Bhanja
Materials and Manufacturing

Optimization of Microwave Power and Reinforcement
in Microwave-Cured Coir/HDPE Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Manoj Kumar Singh, Nishant Verma, Nayan Pundhir, Sunny Zafar
and Himanshu Pathak
Design and Simulation Study of HPDC for Automotive
Parts—Pinion Housing Based on ADSTFEAN Simulation
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Sunil Kumar and Lokeswar Patnaik
Conceptualization of a Machining Fixture for Machining Cylinder
Block on a Horizontal Machining Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Lokeswar Patnaik, Saikat Ranjan Maity and Sunil Kumar
Multi-scale Computational Analysis of Carbon-Nanotube–Polymer
Composite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Gaurav Arora and Himanshu Pathak
Comparative Study of Some Machining Characteristics During Hard
Turning of Alloy Steel with Untreated and Cryotreated Cermet
Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Anshuman Das, S. K. Patel, Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal
and R. N. Mahapatra
Contents xiii
Process Parameters Optimization of EDMed Surface

of Titanium-Grade-4 Alloy Using Topsis Coupled
with Taguchi Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Dipraj Banik, Rahul, Himanshu Ranjan Sinha and Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal
Analytical Study for Enhancing Gear Performance Using Al2O3
Paint Coating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Himanshu Ranjan Sinha, Rahul, Dipraj Banik and Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal
Ballistic Impact Response of HDPE/UHMWPE Polymer
Composite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Nayan Pundhir, Gaurav Arora, Himanshu Pathak and Sunny Zafar
PCA-GRA Integrated Multi Response Optimization of Wire-Cut
EDM of Ti–6Al–4V Alloy for Sustainable Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
D. Devarasiddappa and M. Chandrasekaran
Investigating Weldability in Microalloyed Al Alloys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Sanjib Banerjee, Rakesh Bhadra, Sanjib Gogoi and Ravi shankar Dutta
Thermomechanical Analysis of Al-7075 to Predict Residual Stresses
by Using 3D Finite Element Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Ankit Saxena and Ravindra K. Saxena
Application of Nitriding Treatments on EN 3 and EN 24 Steels
for Rotating Bending Fatigue Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Vinay Jayashankar Varier, Sachin Suresh Barve
and Sachin Shankarrao Naik
Finite Element Based Prediction of Transient Temperature
Distribution, Heat Affected Zone and Residual Stresses
in AISI 304 Stainless Steel Weldment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Gurdeep Singh, Ravindra K. Saxena and Sunil Pandey
Isogeometric FE Analysis of Laminated Composite Plates . . . . . . . . . . 321
N. Devi, A. Bhar and R. Pandey
Investigation of Weld Bead Characteristics and Optimization
of GMAW of Nitrogen Strengthened Austenitic Stainless Steel
(AISI 201Gr) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Vivek Singh, M. Chandrasekaran and Sutanu Samanta
Two-Dimensional Numerical Investigation on the Effect of Laser
Parameters on Laser Indirect Machining of Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Upasana Sarma and Shrikrishna N. Joshi
Three-Dimensional Numerical Modelling of Temperature Profiles
on the Wire Electrode During Wire Electric Discharge Machining
Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Jitendra Kumar, Sanghamitra Das and Shrikrishna N. Joshi
xiv Contents
Synthesis and Responsive Study of Tensile and Flexural Properties

of Bamboo Filler Based Functionally Graded Composite . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Rahul Kumar, Gaurav Kumar and Sumit Bhowmik
A Study on the Effect of Micro-alloying of Titanium in 2xxx
Aluminium Alloy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
Manash Bhuyan, Arnab Saikia and Anil Borah
A Study of Effect of Micro-alloying of Tin on Ageing Behaviour
of 6xxx Series Aluminium Alloys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
Monoj Baruah, Anjali Ladha, Manish Baruah, Arnav Kar, Agradeep Deb
and Anil Borah
A Brief Review of White Layer Formation in Hard Machining
with a Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
Sanjib Kr Rajbongshi, D. K. Sarma and Meinam Annebushan Singh
Effect of µEDM Milling Process Parameters on Surface Roughness
During Machining Ti–6Al–4V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Basil Kuriachen and Jose Mathew
Analysis of Chip Formation of AISI 52100 Steel During Hard
Turning with Newly Developed HSN2 Coated Carbide Insert . . . . . . . 429
Anupam Alok and Manas Das
Minimization of Transportation Cost of Paraffin Wax:
A Proposed Approach Using C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
Priyanka Hazarika and Chinmoy S. Kalita
Evaluation of Dry Sliding Wear Properties of Stir Cast
AA7050/10B4C Composites Through Fuzzy-ARAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
Arvind Kumar and Ram Naresh Rai
Investigation of Machining Capabilities of 2.5 vol. % MWCNT
Al2O3 Composites in µ-EDM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
Meinam Annebushan Singh, Deba Kumar Sarma, Sanjib Kr Rajbongshi,
Ondrej Hanzel and Pavol Sajgalik
Microstructure and Microhardness Characteristics of TiC–TiN
Ceramics Coating by TIG Process on Mild Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
Anjani Kumar, Rana Kumar Singh, Rahul Rathore and Anil Kumar Das
Microstructural Characterization of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy Fiber Laser
Weldments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
Chandan Kumar and Manas Das
Drilling Analysis of Natural Fiber-Reinforced Polylactic Acid
Composites Fabricated by Hot Compression Moulding . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
M. Roy Choudhury and Kishore Debnath
Contents xv
Parametric Study of Photochemical Machining of Aluminium

Using Taguchi Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
Rashed Mustafa Mazarbhuiya and Maneswar Rahang
Effect of Fiber Orientation on the Tensile and Wear Properties
of Flax Fiber-Reinforced Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
Naveen Kumar, P. Avinash, Abhishek Singh and Kishore Debnath
Exploration of MOORA Based Hybrid Taguchi Method
for Multi-response Optimization—A Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
Rajesh Kumar Verma, Prakhar Kumar Kharwar, Arpan Kumar Mondal,
Kumar Abhishek and Jogendra Kumar
Drilling an Array of Square Micro-holes Using Micro-EDM . . . . . . . . 527
Tapas Debnath and Promod Kumar Patowari
Magnetic Field Assisted Finishing of Ferromagnetic Air Compressor
Cylinder Using Smart MR Polishing Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
Kunal Sharma, Ambrish Singh, Anwesa Barman and Manas Das
Induction of Conditioning Gas and Its Optimization
in Nonconventional Plasma Machining Process of Fused Silica . . . . . . 549
Krishna Enni, D. Sam Dayala Dev and Manas Das
Design and Fabrication of Electrochemical MicroMachining
(ECMM) Experimental Setup for Micro-hole Drilling . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561
Pranesh Dutta, Anwesa Barman, Abhinav Kumar and Manas Das
Factor Effect on Crater Shapes in Electrical Discharge
Machining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
Jibin T. Philip, Basil Kuriachen and Jose Mathew
Drilling of Micro-holes in Titanium Using Micro-EDM:
A Parametric Investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589
Siddhartha Kar, Pallab Sarmah, Binoy Kumar Baroi
and Promod Kumar Patowari
Effects of Kingpin and Caster Offset on Braking Stability
of Long Wheelbase Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
Sagar Jambukar and C. Sujatha
Shear Behaviour of the Delaminated Glass Fibre Reinforced
Composite Laminates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
Mashun Vashum, Subhankar Roy and Tanmoy Bose
Parametric Optimization of Process Parameters in WEDM
of AISI 316 Stainless Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
Samir Kumar Bose, Suprakash Patra, Arnab Kundu
and Prasanta Kumar Bardhan
xvi Contents
Numerical Study of Welding Distortion in SAW Welded Creep

Strength Enhanced Ferrite Steel Joint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
Saurav Suman and Pankaj Biswas
Finite Element Analysis of Patient-Specific Femur Bone for Synthetic
Biomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649
Navneet Khare, Gorang Sharma and Yashwant Kumar Modi
Investigation of Microstructural and Mechanical Properties
of Magnesium Matrix Hybrid Composite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
Naveen Kumar, Ajaya Bharti and Hariom Tripathi
Investigations of Mechanical Properties of Copper Matrix
Hybrid Composite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
Deepak Kumar, Ajaya Bharti, Syed Mohd Azam, Naveen Kumar
and Hariom Tripathi
Effect of Tool Rotation on Microstructure and Hardness of AZ31
Mg Alloy Processed by FSP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677
Hariom Tripathi, Ajaya Bharti, Ankur Vishal and Naveen Kumar
Thermal Engineering
Experimental Investigation of Forced Convective Cooling
of Rectangular Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687
Krishna Roy, Asis Giri and Maibam Romio Singh
Conduction-Based Standardization of K-Type Coaxial
Thermocouple for Short-Duration Transient Heat Flux
Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699
Sanjeev Kumar Manjhi, Rakesh Kumar and Digvijaysinh Barad
Performance Analysis of a Coal-Fired Open Cycle MHD Plant
at Constant Subsonic Inlet Nozzle Mach Number with Variation
in Nozzle–Area Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709
Prabin Haloi and Tapan Kumar Gogoi
A Simplified Approach for the Rapid Evaluation of Thermodynamic
Properties of Saturated Water and Steam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717
Amrit Chatterjee and Bijan Kumar Mandal
Prediction of Moisture Ratios (MRs) During Fluidized Bed Drying
of Ginger (Zingiber Officinale) Cubes by Using Mathematical
Modeling and Experimental Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729
Prasanta Majumder, Abhijit Sinha, Laxman Mishra and Rajat Gupta
Performance and Emission Characteristics of Variable Compression
Ratio (VCR) Engine Using Different Biofuels—A Review . . . . . . . . . . 741
Dipankar Saha and Abhijit Sinha
Contents xvii
Hydrodynamics of a CFB Gasifier with Two Different Cross

Sections in the Riser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753
Prabhansu, S. Ganguli, Krishna Kant Dwivedi, P. Chandra,
M. K. Karmakar and P. K. Chatterjee
Thermodynamic Analysis of Irreversible Reversed Brayton
Cycle Heat Pump with Finite Capacity Finite Conductance
Heat Reservoirs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763
Raghav Mundhra and Achintya Mukhopadhyay
Indian Sub-bituminous and Low-Rank Coal Gasification
Experiments in a Circulating Fluidized Bed Gasifier Under Air
Atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777
Krishna Kant Dwivedi, Prabhansu, A. K. Pramanick, M. K. Karmakar
and P. K. Chatterjee
Thermal Model for Temperature Control of Building Subjected
to Variable Solar Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 785
S. Sukumar, Abhijit Sinha and S. P. Kar
Performance Analysis of Mixed Convection in T-Shaped Geometry
for Entropy Generation Using Lattice Boltzmann Method . . . . . . . . . . 797
Arupjyoti Das and Shikha Bhuyan
Analytical Model for Tri-Dimensional Fourier Bioheat Transfer
Encountered in Regional Hyperthermia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 809
Jaideep Dutta and Balaram Kundu
A Comparative Evaluation of Combustion Characteristics of Strut
and Wall Injection Technique in a Cavity-Based Scramjet
Combustor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 823
Lakka Suneetha, Pitambar R. Randive and Krishna Murari Pandey
Numerical Investigation on the Influence of Turbulence Models
on Prediction of Flow Characteristics of a Scramjet Combustor . . . . . 835
Effect of Varying Oblique Angle on Heat Transfer Enhancement
in Oblique Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845
Badyanath Tiwary, Ritesh Kumar and Pawan K. Singh
Performance Analysis of Split-Drop-Shaped Pin Fins for Improved
Heat Transfer Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 857
Alok Ranjan, Surender Singh Yadav and Koushik Das
Simulation of Fully Developed Flow and Heat Transfer in Wavy
Channels Using OpenFOAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869
S. Harikrishnan and Shaligram Tiwari
xviii Contents
Numerical Analysis of Different Arrangement of Square Pin-Fin

Microchannel Heat Sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 879
Prabhakar Bhandari and Yogesh Kumar Prajapati
Exact Analytical Determination of Nusselt Number for Flow
Through a Microchannel Under Electric and Magnetic Field . . . . . . . 893
Sujit Saha and Balaram Kundu
Thermodynamic Analysis of a 500-MWe Subcritical Coal-Fired
Thermal Power Plant with Solar-Aided Post-Combustion CO2
Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907
Rajesh Kumar, Ravi Anand and Sujit Karmakar
Performance Analysis of LPG Cook Stoves with Modifications . . . . . . 921
Dhananjay Singh Yadav and Bireswar Paul
Parametric Study of Wavy Microchannel Using Nanofluid . . . . . . . . . 931
Ritesh Kumar, Badyanath Tiwary and Pawan K. Singh
Bed Hydrodynamics of Fluidized Bed Paddy Drying:
An Experimental Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 941
Binayak Pattanayak, Siba Shankar Mohapatra and Harish Chandra Das
Experimental Studies on Energy Conservation in Pool Boiling
Heat Transfer Using Eco-friendly Additive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 949
Sameer S. Gajghate, Anil R. Acharya and Swapan Bhaumik
Thermal Analysis and Estimation of Tumor Properties
in Breast Tissue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 963
Souradeep Bhowmick, Raghavendra Gupta and Koushik Das
Simulation of Emission from Coal-Fired Power Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . 975
Pruthiviraj Nemalipuri, Harish Chandra Das and Malay Kumar Pradhan
Numerical Analysis of Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow
in Mini-channel Heat Sink with Interconnecting Channels . . . . . . . . . . 987
Vasujeet Singh, Harish Chandra Das and Pruthiviraj Nemalipuri
Simultaneous Heat and Mass Transfer Analysis in Falling
Film Absorber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1001
H. Barman and R. S. Das
Identification of Maximum Stressed Region in Hip Prosthesis . . . . . . . 1013
R. Patra, Harish Chandra Das, J. Sahoo and Sk. Md. Ali
Thermal Performance of Heat Pipe with PCM Jacket . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1021
Virendra Vishnu Bhagwat and Biplab Das
New Approach for Determining Fin Performances of an Annular
Disc Fin with Internal Heat Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1033
Tanmoy Majhi and Balaram Kundu
Contents xix
CFD-Based Study on Thermal and Fluid Flow Dynamics Due

to Miller Teeth Shaped Ribs Over Absorber Plate of Solar Air
Collector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1045
P. J. Bezbaruah, R. S. Das and Bikash Kumar Sarkar
Natural Convective Heat Transfer from an Inclined Isothermal
Fin Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1055
Krishna Roy, Biplab Das and Subhrajit Dutta
Vibration and Acoustics

Design of Inertial Class Gyroscope Resonator with Ultrahigh
Quality Factor for Interplanetary Space Missions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1071
N. Gireesh Sharma, Arun George, S. Paul Pandian, T. Sundararajan
and Sachin Singh Gautam
Experimental Study on Vibration Analysis of a Needle Roller
Bearing Using Various Grades of Lubricant Viscosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1085
Praveen Sharma, Subhas Chandra Rana and Rabindra Nath Barman
Multi-directional Sound Reduction by Slitted Sonic Crystal . . . . . . . . . 1099
Preeti Gulia and Arpan Gupta
A Novel Passive Mechanism to Improve Induced Strain in Two-DOF
Piezoelectric Energy Harvester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1109
Kote Suresh, K. Shankar and C. Sujatha
Cepstrum Analysis of Instantaneous Angular Speed for Gearbox
Fault Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1117
Sankar K. Roy, A. R. Mohanty and C. S. Kumar
Combustion Detection in IC Engine by Analysis of Instantaneous
Angular Acceleration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1127
Sankar K. Roy and A. R. Mohanty
Identification of Nonlinear Structural Parameters Using Combined
Power Flow and Acceleration Matching Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1139
R. Anish and K. Shankar
Finite Element Analysis of Buckling, Free Vibration and Flexure
of Clamped Laminated Composite Plates in Variable Thermal
Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1151
Ranjan K. Behera, Nitin Sharma and S. K. Parida
Detection of Local Defect Resonance Frequencies for Defect
Imaging: A Nonlinear Ultrasound-Based Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1163
Subhankar Roy, Tanmoy Bose and Kishore Debnath
xx Contents
Numerical Assessment of Fatigue Life for Concrete Column . . . . . . . . 1173

Moinul Haq, Tabassum Naqvi and Suresh Bhalla
Non-linear Analysis of Rotational Inertial Double-Tuned Mass
Damper by Harmonic Balance Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1183
S. Mohanty, S. Sikder and S. K. Dwivedy
Comparative Study of Performance of Optimized Valve for Different
Flow Indices of Rheological Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1191
Keshav Manjeet and C. Sujatha
Static Stability Investigation of an Asymmetric Sandwich Beam
in Temperature Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1203
Dipesh Kumar Nayak and Pusparaj Dash
Renewable Energy
Thermo-economic Study of Phase Change Materials (PCMs)
for Thermal Energy Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1217
Laxman Mishra, Abhijit Sinha and Rajat Gupta
Comparative Analysis of Absorber Tubes of Parabolic Trough Solar
Collector Using Therminol VP-1 as Heat Transfer Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . 1227
Suresh Vishwakarma, Biplab Kumar Debnath, Kishore Debnath
and Biplab Das
Exergy Analysis of a Variable Compression Ratio Engine Operated
on Diesel and Pine Seed Oil Biodiesel Blends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1241
Shivendra P. Singh and Biplab Kumar Debnath
Solar Resource Assessment Using GHI Measurements at a Site
in Northeast India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1253
A. Maisanam, B. Podder, K. K. Sharma and Agnimitra Biswas
Computational Analysis of Internally Grooved Absorber Tubes
of Parabolic Trough Solar Collector for Constant Mass Flow Rate
of the Heat Transfer Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1267
Suresh Vishwakarma, Prabina Kumar Meher, Biplab Kumar Debnath
and Kishore Debnath
Effect of Size and Cascading of Receivers on the Performance
of a Solar Collector System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1281
Suraj Bhardwaj and Santosh Bopche
Experimental Investigation of Solar Powered Vapor Compression
Air Conditioner with Indian Climatic Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1291
Susant Kumar Sahu, N. Sendhil Kumar and T. Ganapathy
Contents xxi
Feasibility of Wind Energy as Power Generation Source at Shillong

(Meghalaya) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1303
Syed Mujibur Rahman, Himadri Chattopadhyay and Romesh Laishram
Computational Analysis of Sensible Energy Storage
for Low-Temperature Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1315
Sujit Roy, Biplab Das, Agnimitra Biswas and Biplab Kumar Debnath
Feasibility Study of Photovoltaic-Thermal (PV/T) Collector
in Assam (India) Using Polysun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1331
Dudul Das and Pankaj Kalita
An Analytical Investigation of Solar Water Heater Performance
During Winter Period in Jharkhand Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1339
Anand M. Sharan, Manabendra Pathak and Manish Verma
Energy Saving Potential of an Air-Conditioning System
with Desiccant and Solar Assisted Ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1351
Gaurav Singh and Ranjan Das
Trapezoidal Approach to Establish One-Dimensional Analysis
of an Absorber Plate for Two-Dimensional Heat Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1361
Jayanarayan Mahakud and Balaram Kundu
Heat Transfer Analysis of a Solar Air Heater Roughened
with Chamfered Rib and Groove Roughness on the Absorber
Plate Using CFD Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1373
Amit Kumar, Apurba Layek and Partha Kumar Mondal
Study of LPG and Biogas Combustion in Two-Layer Porous
Radiant Burners (PRBs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1385
Sangjukta Devi, Niranjan Sahoo and P. Muthukumar
Mathematical Modeling and Optimized Design Aspects of Secondary
Reflectors for Solar Parabolic Trough Collector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1393
Alka Bharti, Abhishek Mishra and Bireswar Paul
Adaptive Control of the Wind Turbine Transmission System
for Smooth Power Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1411
Neeraj Kumar, Emanuel Khraw Mawsor and Bikash Kumar Sarkar
Parametric Optimization for Yield of Biodiesel from Waste Cooking
Oil Feedstock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1425
Uddipta Das and Prasanta Kumar Choudhury
Comparison of Various Solar Radiation Data Sources for Feasibility
Study of Parabolic Trough Collector Power Plant in Assam . . . . . . . . 1437
Pinku Kumar Goswami, Nabajit Dev Choudhury and Rupam Kataki
xxii Contents
A Numerical Study on Microchannel Cooling

for Photovoltaic Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1447
Siddhant Mohapatra, Chanchal Gupta, Sujit Nath and Dipankar Bhanja
Robotics and Mechatronics

Spider Monkey Optimization Algorithm Based Collision-Free
Navigation and Path Optimization for a Mobile Robot
in the Static Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1459
Kevin Pirewa Lagaza, Abhishek Kumar Kashyap and Anish Pandey
Kinematic and Dynamic Optimal Trajectory Planning of Industrial
Robot Using Multi-objective Ant Lion Optimizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1475
Amruta Rout, Golak Bihari Mahanta, Balamurali Gunji,
B. B. V. L. Deepak and Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal
Type-1 Fuzzy Pulse Width Modulation Controlled Motion Planning
of Differential Drive 4-Wheeled Power Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1487
Sourabh Rajwade, Akhilesh Kumar Tiwari and Anish Pandey
Multi-Objective Design Optimization of a Bioinspired
Underactuated Robotic Gripper Using Multi-Objective
Grey Wolf Optimizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1497
Golak Bihari Mahanta, Amruta Rout, Balamurali Gunji,
Implementation of Topological Derivative as an Evolutionary
Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1511
Kandula Eswara Sai Kumar and Sourav Rakshit
Geodesic Approach for Trajectory Planning of Mobile Robot
Manipulators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1521
Pradip Kumar Sahu, Bijaya Kumar Khamari, Bunil Kumar Balabantaray,
Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal and Surya Narayan Panda
Electro-hydraulic Motion Tracking Control of a Hot MS Plate
of a Laboratory-Scale Reciprocating ROT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1533
Gaurav Kumar Mandal, Sohag Sutar, Anindya Datta
and Pranibesh Mandal
Path Planning of a Humanoid Robot Using Rule-Based
Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1547
Manoj Kumar Muni, Priyadarshi Biplab Kumar, Dayal R. Parhi,
Asita Kumar Rath, Harish Chandra Das, Animesh Chhotray,
Krishna Kant Pandey and Kitty Salony
Automated Vehicles Path Modification for Designated Via-Point
Using Nonlinear Simplex Optimizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1555
L. B. Yadav and B. Halder
Contents xxiii
Zero-Speed Off-tracking Analysis of Tractor-Semitrailer with Split

Fifth Wheel Coupling for 90° and 180° Turning Manoeuvres . . . . . . . 1567
Ajith Jogi and Sujatha Chandramohan
Turbo Machinery
Derivation of Complete Performance Characteristics of a Low Head
Prototype Francis Turbine Using CFD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1581
Gyanendra Tiwari, Vishnu Prasad, S. N. Shukla and Vivek Kumar Patel
Stress and Deformation Analysis of a Swash Plate Type Variable
Displacement Axial Piston Pump Through Solidworks
Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1593
Abhisek Gupta, Nitesh Mondal and Rana Saha
Comparative Study of Stress Analysis for Three Bladed Underwater
Vehicle Propellers with Two Different Composite Materials . . . . . . . . . 1601
Pritam Majumder, Krishna Murari Pandey, Nishikant V. Deshpande
and Subhendu Maity
Recent Development and Application of the Hydrostatic
Transmission System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1613
Neeraj Kumar, Bikash Kumar Sarkar and Subhendu Maity
Active Power Control of the Francis Turbine System by Model-Free
Adaptive Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1627
J. Vinod, Bikash Kumar Sarkar, Saikat Mookherjee and Dipankar Sanyal
Part VIII Experimental Aerodynamics

Design Procedure for a Blast Wave Generator and Its Validation
with Shock Tube Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1643
Santanu Dey, T. Murugan and Dipankar Chatterjee
A Feasibility Study of Superhydrophobic Coating on Al6061
for Airplane Anti-icing Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1663
J. Bruce Ralphin Rose
Dynamic Calibration of Three-Component Accelerometer Force
Balance System Using Deconvolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1675
Sushmita Deka, Pallekonda Ramesh Babu and Maneswar Rahang
Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1685

About the Editors
Prof. B. B. Biswal is currently the Director of National Institute of Technology

Meghalaya, Shillong, India. He graduated in mechanical engineering from
University College of Engineering (presently VSS University of Technology),
Burla, India in 1985. Subsequently he completed his M.Tech and PhD from
Jadavpur University, Kolkata. He has served at NIT Rourkela as Professor and
Head of the Department of Industrial Design. Additionally, he served as Head of the
Centre for Technology Innovation and Industry Relations (TIIR) at NIT Rourkela.
He was a visiting Professor at Moscow Technological University, Stankin, May
2001 and a visiting scientist at GIST, South Korea. He has been actively involved in
various research projects and published more than 150 research papers at national
and international levels, including a monograph on Management Information
System for ISTE, New Delhi, and seven book chapters. His areas of research
interest include industrial robotics, FMS, computer integrated manufacturing,
automation, and maintenance engineering. Dr. Biswal is Fellow, IE (I); Member,
ASME; Senior Member, IEEE; Life Member, ISTE; Life Member, Association for
Machines and Mechanisms (AMM); Member, ISTAM; Member, International
Association of Computer Science and Information Technology (IACSIT) and
Member, International Association of Engineers (IAENG).
Dr. Bikash Kumar Sarkar is currently an assistant professor at the Department of

Mechanical Engineering, and Head of the Centre, Centre for Robotics and
Mechatronics, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong, India. He was
Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department, NIT Meghalaya during 2017 to
2019. He obtained his B.E. (Mechanical Engineering), ME and PhD from Jadavpur
University, Kolkata, India. His major areas of research include electrohydraulic
systems and control, renewable energy, and robotics. He has published 10 papers in
reputed international journals, 25 papers in reputed national/international confer-
ences, and one book. Dr. Sarkar received the National Doctoral fellowship award in
the year of 2009. He has three ongoing sponsored projects, among them one
sponsored by DST-SERB and other two sponsored by MHRD.
xxv
xxvi About the Editors
He is a life member of the National Society for Fluid Mechanics and Fluid
Power (NSFMFP) and Indian Society for Heat and Mass Transfer (ISHMT). He is
also member of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Prof. P. Mahanta is currently the Director of National Institute of Technology

Arunachal Pradesh, Yupia, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Ha has served as professor of
mechanical engineering at IIT Guwahati. He did his Bachelors in Mechanical
Engineering from Regional Engineering College, Rourkela in 1985. His areas of
research include thermodynamics, heat transfer and renewable energy. He has
established an international platform for research in bio-energy with the University
of Nottingham, University of Birmingham, and Loughborough University, UK. He
also has established collaboration in the field of clean coal technology with the
University of Cranfield, UK and UCL, Belguim. He has published more than 90
papers in peer reviewed international journals, and edited three books. Currently, he
holds the position of the Director of IIIT Bhagalpur. Dr. Mahanta’s latest
achievements include JSPS fellowship by invitation to Gifu University, Japan,
Guest Lecturer at Hof University, Germany, and Indian Distinguishing visiting
fellowship by the University of Nottingham, UK.
Fluid Mechanics
The Effect of Resting Time
on the Shedding of a Drop
Rahul Goswami, Lukesh Kumar Mahato and Deepak Kumar Mandal
Abstract The shedding of an oil drop due to gradually increasing water shear flow
is studied for different resting times. Resting time is the duration of the drop after
placing on a surface and before starting the flow. Acrylic surface is chosen. Applied
drag balances the adhesion, and the drop starts to shed. The velocity of the water
flow right at that point is called the critical velocity of shedding of the drop. The
velocity is found to be higher for the drops with higher resting times. Result shows
that the contact length becomes higher for drops with higher resting times, making
the adhesion to be higher. Therefore, higher drag becomes necessary for the drop to
shed. So, the critical velocity increases. In general, the velocity is found to decrease
with the increase in the drop volume. Deformation and crawling are observed when
a drop sheds.
Keywords Drop shedding · Wettability · Shear flow · Contact angle · Deformation
Nomenclature
A Frontal area of the drop (m2 )

CAH Contact angle hysteresis (θ max − θ min )
Cd Drag coefficient
F Force (N/m2 )
h Height of the drop (mm)
L Contact length of the drop (mm)
t Time (s)
U Free stream velocity (m/s)
v Instantaneous velocity (m/s)
R. Goswami · L. K. Mahato · D. K. Mandal (B)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad 826004,
India
e-mail: deepak@iitism.ac.in
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 3

B. B. Biswal et al. (eds.), Advances in Mechanical Engineering, Lecture Notes in
Mechanical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0124-1_1
4 R. Goswami et al.
Greek Symbols
γ Surface tension (N/m)

ρ Density of the shearing fluid water (kg/m3 )
θ Contact angle (°)
Subscripts
max Maximum
min Minimum
adh Adhesion
1 Introduction
The process of drop shedding is essential due to its wide application in various areas
such as oil recovery [1], fuel cells [2], and avoiding airfoil icing [3]. Many theoretical
[4, 5] as well as experimental [1, 3, 6] studies were conducted in the field. The drag
balances the adhesion, and the drop starts to shed [1, 3, 5]. The adhesion of a drop on
the surface is controlled by the wetting characteristics, which is directly related to
the surface tension, contact angle hysteresis, and contact length. The drag force on
the drop depends upon the fluid velocity, density, and the frontal area of the drop. In
the shedding process, it is necessary to know the behavior of the drop on the surface
as well. The behavior is mainly dependent on the properties of the drop and the
surface. The properties of the drop include viscosity, surface tension, and density.
The same for the surface involves wettability, roughness, etc. The critical velocity
of a given drop increases when the surface wettability is changed from oleophobic
to oleophilic [1]. The volume of the drop also influences the critical velocity. The
higher the volume, the lower the velocity becomes while shedding from a given
surface [1, 3, 5]. When a drop is placed on a surface, the drop occupies a definite
contact length depending on the properties of the drop and the surface. The contact
length may become different when the drop stays on the surface idly for a given
duration, i.e., after placing the drop on the surface and before starting the shear flow.
The duration is called the resting time. The contact angles may vary with the resting
time as well. Taken together, the adhesion may become different and results in altered
critical velocity for a given drop. These studies have scantly been reported in the open
literature, raising a knowledge gap. So, in order to fill the gap, the present study is
conducted. The study reports the effect of the resting time on the shedding of drops
from acrylic surfaces. An experimental setup is developed for the study.
The Effect of Resting Time on the Shedding of a Drop 5
2 Experimental Setup and Methodology
The setup was explained elsewhere [7, 8]. The same is explained here in short.
Figure 1 demonstrates the details of the setup.
The setup consisted of mainly an acrylic made (thickness = 3 mm) test section
with rectangular cross section (interior cross section is 16 mm × 13 mm), an acrylic
surface on which the drop will be placed, two tanks, one submersible pump, two
on–off valves, a flow meter, a high-speed camera, and a light (see Fig. 1). The test
section was made transparent so that the camera can access the interior. The acrylic
surface was placed at the bottom. The length of the test section was about 600 mm
and the surface was placed about 300 mm away from its inlet. A hole was made
at the top surface of the section, just above the acrylic surface so that the drop can
easily be placed on the surface. The hole was sealed after placing the drop to avoid
leakage. Micropipette was used to produce drops of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 µl of
silicon oil of 100 cSt viscosity. The static contact angles (θstatic ) for various drops are
provided in Table 1. The test section was connected to a submersible pump situated
inside a water-filled tank using a flexible hose. A valve was placed between the tank
and the test section. When the valve was open, the pump pushes the water inside
the section and the water was collected at another tank (sump) placed just after the
section. A flexible hose fitted with another valve was fitted to the outlet of the test
section to provide smooth passage to the flowing water. The discharge of the water
was measured using a flow meter, fitted just before the test section.
For conducting experiments, the test section was first filled with water by opening
both of the valves and by starting the pump. Then valves were closed. A drop of the
desired volume was collected in the micropipette and placed gently on the surface
from the hole situated above. The hole was then closed. The drop was allowed to sit
on the surface for the desired duration before switching on the shear flow. The resting
times were 0, 20, 30, and 40 s. The shear flow was then started by gradually opening
the valves. The gradually increasing flow provides drag on the frontal area of the
drop and when the drag balances the adhesion, the drop sheds. When the difference
between the initial and instantaneous pixel of the starting location of the drop became
15, the drop was declared to be shed. Entire shedding process was recorded using the
camera at 50 frames per second. The time when the drop just sheds can be known
Fig. 1 Schematic showing

the detailed setup
6 R. Goswami et al.
Table 1 Static contact angles

Volume (µl) Resting time (s) θ static (°)
for drops at various resting
times 5 0 68
20 67
30 68
40 65
10 0 62
20 62
30 60
40 59
15 0 65
20 61
30 60
40 59
20 0 68
20 64
30 65
40 62
30 0 65
20 62
30 63
40 61
from the sequential images recorded. The time was used to determine the critical
velocity. For that, the variation of the gradually increasing shear flow velocity with
time was obtained.
To obtain the variation, a separate experiment was conducted without introducing
the drop. The valves were gradually opened and the velocity of the water was recorded
at each second. The variation of the instantaneous velocity with time was achieved
(see Fig. 2). A curve fitting provides the equation for the variation of the instantaneous
velocity (v) with time, t (see Eq. (1)). The equation is
v = −7.75 × 10−7 t 3 + 0.00021t 2 − 0.0143t + 0.27 (1)
Now, if one knows the time when a drop sheds, then the velocity can be directly
obtained from Eq. (1). The time can be known from the sequential images recorded,
as mentioned earlier.
The obtained images after conducting the shedding experiments were processed
using MATLAB. The images were first converted to binary images. Then the edges
were detected using Otsu’s algorithm [9]. After the edge detection, the profile of the
Fig. 2 Variation of the shear

flow velocity with time
drop was obtained. The profile provides required coordinates to obtain the instan-
taneous heights, starting pixel at the drop surface contact areas, end pixel, and the
contact length of the drop.
At least five experiments were conducted for each case to ensure repeatability.
The standard deviation divided by mean of the obtained readings for a given case
is demonstrated as the error associated with the present case. The maximum of the
error is reported.
3 Theoretical Background
When a drop is about to shed from a surface, the drop deforms due to the effect of
various forces acting on it (see Fig. 3). The drag force (F drag ) due to the shear flow
acts on the frontal area of the drop, and the adhesion force (F adh ) acts in the drop
surface contact area. The adhesion force tries to oppose the motion of the drop. The
equation for the drag force is [3, 6].
1
Fdrag = ρU 2 Cd A (2)
2
where ρ is the density of the shearing water, U is the free stream velocity, C d is the
drag coefficient, and A is the frontal area of the drop. The drop is assumed to be
symmetric, so the side area is used to measure A. The density (ρ) and C d are constant
(assumption). Therefore, the drag force becomes directly proportional to U and A.
The equation for the adhesion force is [3, 6]
Fig. 3 Forces acting on a

shedding drop
8 R. Goswami et al.

Fadh = γ L cos θmin − cos θmax (3)
where γ is the surface tension, L is the contact length of the drop, θ max and θ min are
the maximum and minimum contact angles, respectively. The difference between
θ max and θ min is called contact angle hysteresis (CAH). In Fig. 3, “h” demonstrates
the height of the drop.
4 Results and Discussion
Typical shedding of a 10 µl drop due to water shear flow for a resting time of 0 s is
demonstrated in Fig. 4. The drop starts to deform as the shear flow is switched on,
then crawls and slowly sheds along the direction of the flow. Similar deformation is
observed for all volumes. The critical velocity is observed to decrease with increasing
drop volume for all the resting times tested (see Fig. 5). However, for a given volume,
the critical velocity is found to increase with the resting time (see Fig. 5). In order to
explore the reasons behind, the contact lengths and heights for various volumes are
obtained for various resting times (see Figs. 6 and 7). The discussion below shows
that the reason behind the increase of the critical velocity with resting time is the
increase in adhesion due to the increase in contact length and contact angle hysteresis.
The critical velocity becomes almost independent of the volume for volumes equal
to or greater than 15 µl (see Fig. 5).
The contact length of a drop of given volume increases as the resting time increases
(see Fig. 6). The contact angle hysteresis increases as well (see Table 2). So, the
adhesion increases (see Eq. (3)). However, the height also increases in the same case
Fig. 4 Typical shedding of a 10 µl drop due to water shear flow, for a resting time of 0 s
Fig. 5 The variation of the

critical velocity with drop
volume for various resting
times

contact length with drop
volume for various resting
times

drop heights with volume for
various resting times
(see Fig. 7). The increase in height raises the drag applied on the drop due to the
shear flow. But here, the increase in adhesion is larger than the increase in height
since the critical velocity increases (see Fig. 5).
The dominant reason behind the decrease of the critical velocity with increasing
drop volume for all the resting times tested (see Fig. 5), is found to increase in the
drop height with volume (see Fig. 7). The higher height raises the frontal area, i.e.,
the drag (see Eq. (2)), and therefore, less-critical velocity becomes necessary for a
drop to shed. However, the contact length also increases (see Fig. 6), giving rise to
the adhesion (see Eq. (3)).
5 Conclusions
The shedding of oil drops of various sizes, due to gradually increasing water shear
flow is studied for four resting times. Results show that the critical velocity decreases
with increasing drop volume for all the resting times tested. However, for a given
volume, the critical velocity is found to increase with the resting time. The reason
10 R. Goswami et al.
Table 2 θ max , θ min , and CAH, when the drop is about to shed (critical), at different resting times
Volume (µl) Critical
Resting time (s) θ max (°) θ min (°) CAH (°)
5 0 50 34 16
20 55 26 29
30 56 27 29
40 59 29 30
10 0 59 29 30
20 58 26 32
30 58 26 32
40 64 24 40
15 0 67 37 30
20 71 36 35
30 73 33 40
40 70 37 33
20 0 72 33 39
20 71 31 40
30 82 28 54
40 77 33 44
30 0 68 32 36
20 72 32 40
30 76 32 44
40 72 28 44
is found to be the higher contact length for drops with higher resting times. The
adhesion becomes higher. Therefore, higher drag becomes necessary for a drop to
shed. So, the critical velocity increases. The reason behind the decrease in the critical
velocity with volume for a given resting time is the increase of the drag applied due
to the increase of the drop height. The larger height increases the frontal area of the
drop.
The future work may look into the variation of the drop footprint as a consequence
of induced shear flow.
Acknowledgements The work is supported by the Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad
(FRS/98/2015-16/Mechanical Engg., 2016).
References
1. Madani, S., Amirfazli, A.: Oil drop shedding from solid substrates by a shearing liquid. J. Coll.
Surf. A 441, 796–806 (2014)
2. Kumbur, E.C., Sharp, K.V., Mench, M.M.J.: Liquid droplet behavior and instability in a polymer
electrolyte fuel cell flow channel. J. Power Sources 161, 333–345 (2006)
3. Mandal, D.K., Criscione, A., Tropea, C., Amirfazli, A.: Shedding of water drops from a surface
under icing conditions. Langmuir 31, 9340–9347 (2015)
4. Dussan, E.B.V.: On the ability of drops or bubbles to stick to non-horizontal surfaces of solids.
Part 2: Small drops or bubbles having contact angles of arbitrary size. J. Fluid Mech. 151, 1–20
(1985)
5. Roisman, I.V., Criscione, A., Tropea, C., Mandal, D.K., Amirfazli, A.: Dislodging a sessile drop
by a high-Reynolds-number shear flow at subfreezing temperatures. Phys. Rev. E 92, 023007
(2015)
6. Milne, A.J.B., Amirfazli, A.: Drop shedding by shear flow for hydrophilic to superhydrophobic
surfaces. Langmuir 25, 14155–14164 (2009)
7. Mahato, L.K., Goswami, R., Mandal, D.K.: Shedding of oil drops from a glass surface due to
water cross flow. In: International Conference on Advances in Thermal Systems, Materials and
Design Engineering (ATSMDE-2017) Mumbai, India (2017)
8. Mahato, L.K., Mandal, D.K.: Investigation of carrier fluid velocity around the periphery of a
shedding drop. Phys. Rev. Fluid (2018) (under review)
9. Otsu, N.: A threshold selection method from gray-level histograms. IEEE Trans. Sys. Man
Cybernet. 9, 62–66 (1979)
Impact of Palm Oil Methyl Ester Drops
on a Surface
Vikas Kumar, Ramesh Kumar Singh and Deepak Kumar Mandal
Abstract The impact of palm oil methyl ester drops of various sizes on a PMMA
surface at normal temperature and pressure is reported. The entire process of impact of
a desired drop, falling from a given height, on the surface, was recorded using a high-
speed camera. Drops of three different sizes were tested for three impact heights (4,
8, and 12 cm). Various subprocesses were observed. Upon impact, the drop spreads,
followed by negligible recoil and partial rebound. The results show that, for a drop
of a given size, the maximum spreading diameter increases with the increase in the
impact height, which raises the kinetic energy, causing the drop to spread. At the
initial phase, the inertia force dominates over the viscous and surface tension force,
until the drop reaches its maximum spreading diameter. As the drop spreads, a ring
was observed to form around the periphery. Upon reaching the maximum spread,
the inner edge of the rim starts to recoil toward the center whereas the outer edge
remains almost stationary. This results in the increase in the thickness of the rim.
The larger resistance between the substrate and drop, i.e., adhesion, dominate over
the available forces required for recoiling. The lower value of the surface tension and
viscous force cannot recoil the drop back. The resistance increases with increase in
the Weber number, because the increase in the spread diameter raises the adhesion.
Hence, the rebound height decreases with increase in the impact height for a given
drop.
Keywords Drop impact · Spreading factor · Weber number · Wettability
Notations
β Spreading factor
β max Maximum Spreading factor
D0 Initial drop diameter (mm)
V. Kumar · R. K. Singh · D. K. Mandal (B)

India

14 V. Kumar et al.
Dmax Maximum diameter (mm)

H Impact height (cm)
h* Dimensionless height
We Weber number
Re Reynold number
1 Introduction
The impact of a liquid drop plays a major role in many industrial applications, such as
thermal spray coating [1], inkjet printing [2], droplet-based manufacturing [3], and
spray cooling of hot surfaces [4]. The process of impact depends on a large number
of factors, such as the properties of the drop, surface roughness, wettability of the
surface, impact height, surface temperature, and the surrounding conditions. For a
solid surface, a drop can spread, splash or rebound upon striking [4–6] whereas,
it can float, bounce, coalesce, and splash, upon hitting a liquid surface [7]. The
spreading of a liquid drop was extensively studied by researchers [4, 8, 9]. Various
parameters, such as the variation of the spreading diameter, rebound height, and
spreading velocity of the drop, were measured [4, 8] or predicted [5, 9] to understand
the impact dynamics. The maximum spread is larger while impacting on a smooth
plate than on a rough plate and a drop with smaller surface tension splashes more
[10]. The maximum value of the spread factor increases with the impact velocity and
the inertial forces overcome the surface tension and shear forces for a longer period
[11]. The spreading depends on the wettability of the surface [7], liquid properties
[7], and impurities inside the drop [6] as well. The maximum spread diameter and
recoil height change by adding surfactants [7]. Therefore, in order to get the accurate
spreading diameter, it is necessary to know the surface on which a drop impacts, the
liquid, and its properties, whether the liquid contains any impurities, etc.
Chandra and Avedisian [4] derived a model for maximum spreading diameter by
taking the equilibrium contact angle into account. However, the model is modified by
Pasandideh-Fard et al. [5] by replacing the equilibrium contact angle by advancing
contact angle during spreading. A better model was provided by Ukiwe and Kwok
[9] for the maximum spread in terms of the Young contact angle. The prediction from
the new model agrees well with the experimental measurement for moderate to high
Weber number. So, it is necessary to know the exact details of the impact process (such
as the advancing or receding contact angle during spreading, etc.) when modeling
the process for a new fuel or to understand the physics. The new fuel may not follow
the usual trend of the impact process. For example, the impact of camelina-derived
biodiesel drops onto stainless steel surface at Weber number ranging from 20 to 570
shows that the spreading factor becomes directly proportional to the square root of
nondimensional time [12].
Impact of Palm Oil Methyl Ester Drops on a Surface 15
Therefore, the impact of drops of palm oil methyl ester, which is considered a new
fuel in engines, is studied to fill the gap. PMMA surface is used. Quantitative exper-
imental measurements on the spreading characteristic were obtained. The existing
models for the estimation of necessary quantities were used to compare the data as
well as to demonstrate the physics of the impact process.
Figure 1 shows the schematic of the experimental setup. The equipment used for the
experiment included a needle attached with a syringe, a stand to hold the syringe, a
high-speed camera, a light for proper illumination, and a surface which was placed
inside a transparent acrylic chamber. The drop falls on the flat surface kept at ambient
room temperature (~27 °C) when the syringe is manually pushed. The syringe was
placed rigidly with the stand and the variation in the impact height was done by
adjusting the stand. Three different heights of 4, 8, and 12 cm were used.
For the preparation of the surface (size: 75 mm × 12 mm × 1 mm), 99% of toluene
and 1% of PMMA by weight were mixed and the solution was coated (using spin
coater) on a glass slide. The surface was washed using water and methanol and dried
prior to coating. The surface was kept inside the transparent chamber (size: 15 cm
× 15 cm). The chamber was used to isolate the impact process from dirt or airflow.
For conducting the experiments, the syringe was filled with palm oil methyl ester
and fixed at a given height. The needle was attached to the syringe. Three needles
were used to have three different diameters of the drop, and the drop diameters were
2, 2.2, and 2.4 mm. The surface was placed underneath. The syringe was pushed so
that the drop falls on the surface. The entire process was recorded using a high-speed
camera, operating at 3000 frames per second. The light was used to illuminate the
desired area. The camera, surface, and the light were kept in a straight line to obtain
the side view of the impact process (see Fig. 1).

the setup for studying the
impact of two successive
drops
16 V. Kumar et al.
Minimum five experiments were performed for a given height and a given initial
diameter. In a separate experiment, the camera was kept at an angle of 45° for the
demonstration of the entire process. The ring formation at the surface, spreading,
recoiling, etc., were captured.
The sequential side-view images were processed using MATLAB to obtain the
instantaneous height, spreading diameter of the drop, and all other necessary parame-
ters. The edge was detected using Otsu’s algorithm [13]. The images were converted
to binary images first, and then the profile of the drop was obtained. The profile
provides the coordinates of all the necessary parameters.
3 Result and Discussion
Figure 2 shows the impact of a palm oil methyl ester drop of a given size on a PMMA
surface. A rapid spread in the radial direction with a ring at the periphery is observed
(see Fig. 2). The spread increases for a given drop size, as the impact height increases
(see Fig. 3, the spread is non-dimensionalized with the initial drop diameter). The
thickness of the ring increases as the time proceeds. At a given instant of time, the
thickness is larger when the height is smaller, and the thickness decreases as the
height increases. Upon reaching the maximum spread, the inner edge of the rim
starts to recoil toward the center whereas the outer edge remains almost stationary.
This results in the increase of the thickness of the rim. The drop recoils afterward
toward the center and rebounds partially (see Figs. 2 and 4). Three forces, capillary,
Fig. 2 The impact of a drop of 2 mm initial diameter, falling from various heights
Fig. 3 The variation of the spreading factor (spreading diameter divided by the initial drop diameter)
with time. The initial diameter of the drop is mentioned at the top of each plot. The maximum error
in measuring the instantaneous spreading diameter is 7%
Fig. 4 The variation of the nondimensional height (instantaneous height divided by initial drop
diameter) of the drop after impact, with time. The maximum error in measuring the instantaneous
height is 8%
Fig. 5 The variation of the 3.5

maximum spread factor with Model provided by
Weber number Ukiwe and Kwok (2005)
3.0 Experimental data
βmax
2.5
2.0
25 75 125 175
We
viscous, and inertia, play important role in the impact and subsequent retraction. The
initial spreading is due to the inertia of the falling drop (see Fig. 5). The maximum
spread factor (β max = Dmax /D0 ) increases with the Weber number. The drop spreads
on the surface until the liquid surface tension and the viscous force overcome the
inertia force.
During spreading, a thin inner layer is formed and the layer is observed to move
radially outward with the thicker rim at the periphery (see Fig. 2). The thickness of
the rim depends on the mass transfer rate from the thin layer to the outer rim. Once the
drop achieves its maximum spread, the inner edge of outer rim starts moving radially
inward and the outer edge remains stationary. Hence, the width of the rim increases.
The width decreases as the impact height increases. The drop finally reaches its
equilibrium position.
The variation of the spread with time and the final equilibrium position for various
sizes of the drop can be observed from Fig. 3. The spread increases with the impact
height. The impact height raises the kinetic energy, causing the drop to spread (see
Fig. 5).
Initially, the inertia force dominates over the viscous and surface tension force,
until the drop reaches its maximum spreading diameter.
As the spread increases, the height decreases (see Fig. 4). Partial rebound can
be observed from Fig. 4. The larger resistance between the substrate and drop, i.e.,
adhesion, dominate over the available forces required for recoiling. The lower value
of the surface tension and viscous force (see Table 1) cannot recoil the drop back.
The resistance increases with increase in the Weber number, because the increase in
the spread diameter raises the adhesion. Hence, the rebound height decreases with an
18 V. Kumar et al.
Table 1 The physical

Name of the physical properties Values
property values of the palm
oil methyl ester measured at Density 882 kg/m3
27 °C Dynamic viscosity 7 mPa s
Surface tension 29 mN/m
increase in the impact height for a given drop. As a result of the increasing adhesion,
the maximum spread increases almost linearly with the Weber √ number (see Fig. 5).
The impact velocity of the drop in the present study is 2g(H − D0 ), where H
is impact height and D0 is initial drop diameter. The velocities vary from 0.85 to
1.52 m/s.
The maximum spread diameter is predicted using the model provided by Ukiwe
and Kwok [9]. The expression for determining β max is provided below.
√
(We + 12)βmax = 8 + βmax
3
3 1 − cos θY + 4We/ Re = 0 (1)
where θ Y is the equilibrium contact angle and is obtained from the experiments.
The experimental results and the results from the model are compared in Fig. 5. At
low Weber number, the comparison is good, but there are considerable discrepancies
at higher Weber numbers (see Fig. 5). The results obtained using the model are 13–
23% lower than the experimental results, and the difference increases as the Weber
number increases. The following correlation is obtained (regression value is 0.98)
for the experimental results from Fig. 5
βmax = 0.932 We0.22 (2)
The correlation possibly will provide a better understanding of the process of the
impact of palm oil methyl ester drops for Weber numbers ranging from 50 to 175.
4 Conclusions
The impact of palm oil methyl ester drops on the PMMA surface is studied. The
diameter and impact height were varied. The result shows that when the release
height of drop increases, the spreading diameter increases. While spreading on the
surface after impact, a ring forms at the periphery of the drop. After reaching the
maximum spread, the inner edge starts to recoil whereas the outer edge remains
almost stationary. The thickness of the ring increases for a given height. The thickness
decreases as the impact height increases.
At the initial phase of the impact, the inertia force dominates over the viscous and
surface tension force, until the drop reaches its maximum spreading diameter. The
larger resistance between the substrate and drop, i.e., adhesion, dominate over the
available forces required for recoiling. The lower value of the surface tension and
viscous force cannot recoil the drop back. The resistance increases with increase in
the Weber number, because the increase in the spread diameter raises the adhesion.
Hence, the rebound height, which was observed to be very low, decreases with an
increase in the impact height for a given drop.
The experimental results and the results from the model provided by Ukiwe and
Kwok [9] are compared. The model works well for low Weber numbers, but there are
considerable discrepancies when the Weber number increases. The results obtained
using the model are 13–23% lower than the experimental results, and the difference
increases with the Weber number. A correlation is obtained from the experimental
results. The correlation possibly will provide a better comparison for Weber numbers
ranging from 50 to 175.
The maximum spreading diameter is found to be higher for the hydrophilic surface
as compared to hydrophobic, for both the first as well as the second drop. So, although
the second drop falls on a liquid film, the surface wettability plays its role.
Acknowledgements The work is supported by the Department of Science and Technology of the
Government of India, under the early career research initiation scheme (ECR/2016/000026).
References
1. Pawlowski, L.: The science and engineering of thermal spray coating. Wiley, New York (1995)
2. Bechtel, S.E., Bogy, D.B., Talke, F.E.: Impact of liquid drop against a flat surface. IBM J. Res.
Dev. 25, 963–971 (1981)
3. Orme, M., Smith, R.F.: Enhanced aluminum properties by means of precise droplet deposition.
Manuf. Sci. Eng., 484–493 (2000)
4. Chandra, S., Avedisian, C.T.: On the collision of a drop with a solid surface. Proc. R. Soc.
Lond., A 432, 13–41 (1991)
5. Pasandideh-Fard, M., Qiao, Y.M., Chandra, S., Mostaghimi, J.: Capillary effect during drop
on a solid surface. Phys. Fluids 8, 650–659 (1996)
6. Grishaev, V., Iorio, S.C., Dubois, F., Amirfazli, A.: Complex drop impact morphology. Lang-
muir, 9833–9844 (2015)
7. Rein, M.: Phenomena of liquid drop impact on solid and liquid surface. Fluid Dyn. Res. 12,
61–93 (1993)
8. Moita, A.S., Moreira, A.L.: The dynamic behavior of single drop impacting onto a flat surface.
J. Fluid Lubricants, 1477–1490 (2002)
9. Ukiwe, C.D., Kwok, Y.: “On the maximum spreading diameter of impacting droplets on well-
prepared solid surface. Nanoscale Tech. Eng. Lab. 21, 666–673 (2005)
10. Sikalo, S., Marengo, M., Tropea, C., Ganic, E. N.: Analysis of impact of drop on horizontal
surface. Exp. Thermal Fluid Sci., 503–510 (2001)
11. Stow, C.D., Hadfield, M.G.: An experimental investigation of fluid flow resulting from the
impact of a water drop with an unyielding dry surface. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 373, 419–441
(1981)
12. Sen, S., Vaikuntanathan, V., Sivakumar, D.: Experimental investigation of biofuel drop impact
on stainless steel surface. Exp. Thermal Fluid Sci., 38–46 (2014)
13. Otsu, N.: A threshold selection method from gray-level histograms. IEEE Trans. Sys. Man
Cybernet. 9, 62–66 (1979)
Successive Impact of Two Drops
on Surfaces with Various Wettability
Amrit Kumar, Abhishek Singh and Deepak Kumar Mandal
Abstract Lower Weber number impact of two successive water drops on surfaces
with various wettability is studied. The drops were made to fall on both hydrophilic
and hydrophobic surfaces. The influence of the wettability on the maximum spread
after the consecutive impact, are examined in the present work. Results show that
the first drop creates a thick film on the surface after the impact, and the film absorbs
the energy available for spreading of the second drop. The impacting second drop
has to work against the viscous force. The maximum spreading is observed to be
higher for the second drop, compared to the first one, on both the surfaces. For the
case of the impact on a hydrophilic surface, the study shows that the maximum
spreading diameter is higher for both the first and second drops, compared to that on
a hydrophobic surface.
Keywords Drop impact · Wettability · Successive drops · Maximum spread
Notations
D0 Pre-impact diameter (mm)

D Instantaneous spread diameter (mm)
K Splash parameter (Nondimensional)
We Weber number (Nondimensional)
Oh Ohnesorge number (Nondimensional)
Subscripts
0 Initial
A. Kumar · A. Singh · D. Kumar Mandal (B)

India

22 A. Kumar et al.
1 First drop
2 Second drop
max Maximum
Philic Hydrophilic surface
Phobic Hydrophobic surface
1 Introduction
The need for studying the impact of water drops on treated surfaces is very important
in day-to-day life. For example, in thermal spray deposition, spray cooling, inkjet
technology, precision solder drop deposition, etc. Therefore, a fundamental under-
standing of the process is crucial for further advancement and modeling. Since one
of the objectives of the drop impact studies is to determine the maximum spread,
several simple models have been proposed based on the energy balance that equates
the initial kinetic energy of the drop to the change in surface energy due to the defor-
mation. Based on a simple energy conservation analysis, it was found that, with the
increase in the velocity, the maximum spreading increases with the dimensionless
time [1]. As the impact velocity increases, the dimensionless height remains constant
after the diameter attains the maximum value [1]. Researchers improved the model
in recent decades [2, 3]. The relative mean error between the experimental value
and the value obtained from the numerical model was reduced to 5.09% by a recent
model provided by Ukiwe and Kwok [4]. The model includes the surface energy to
calculate the maximum spread.
Many researchers measured the maximum spread experimentally as well [5, 6].
For the measurement, visualization of the entire impact process is normally neces-
sary. Researchers reported that a drop first spreads on a surface, and then starts to
recoil and rebound partially or completely afterward, depending on the surface [7].
The spreading, recoiling, and rebounding depend on the wettability of the surface,
viscosity of the drop, impact height, surface roughness, and temperature. During
spreading, the kinetic energy of the drop dominates and upon reaching the maximum
spread, the energy dies out [1, 8]. The surface tension then tries to pull the liquid
back to its original position and as a result, the drop retracts. Higher surface ten-
sion results in quick receding, followed by partial or complete rebound. Viscosity is
another force which tries resisting the motion of the liquid [5]. The kinetic energy
gets diffused and dissipated while spreading, due to viscous force. The retraction
experiences the resistance as well.
When the discussion comes to the impact of two consecutive drops, it is reported
that the liquid at the bottom starts to swell up quickly after the impact of the second
drop with the first one [9]. The liquid swelling starts both in radial as well as axial
direction. Until the swelling reaches the peripheral part of the first drop, the generation
of the diameter of the liquid film on the solid gives the trend resembling the single drop
case. Thereafter, the diameter of the liquid film becomes larger compared to that of the
Successive Impact of Two Drops on Surfaces … 23
single drop. In another study by Fujimoto et al. [10], the effect of the impact velocity
is investigated for two consecutive drops and a circular thin liquid film (crown) on
the substrate was observed to evolve on impact. The magnitude of the circular thin
film becomes large as the impact velocity increases. The boundary between the two
drops and the size of the uprising sheets were observed. In an experimental study
of the crown formation while impacting on a thin film of the same liquid [11], the
crown-splash (C-S) and deposition-crown (D-C) limits are determined. The study
suggested that the Weber number and dimensionless film thickness cannot explain
the phenomenon solely and these data can be explained using a parameter which is
a combination of Weber (We) and Ohnesorge number (Oh). The parameter is K =
We · Oh−0.4 (introduced by Mundo et al. [12]).
However, the detailed study of the impact of two successive drops on a surface of
different wettability are limited. Therefore, to fill the gap, the present work shows how
the impact dynamics change with surface wettability. The study provides the mea-
surement of the maximum spreading and their comparison for surfaces with different
wettability at various Weber numbers. The study increases the basic understanding
of the process.
An experimental setup was developed for the study (see Fig. 1). The setup consisted of
a high-speed camera, a needle–syringe arrangement for the drop disposal, a platform
to fix the arrangement, a glass surface, and a light source.
A needle–syringe arrangement, attached with a syringe pump was used to produce
equal sizes of drops. A needle of 0.81 mm outer diameter, attached with a 5 ml syringe,
was used. The entire arrangement of the drop disposal system was fixed on a wooden

the setup for studying the
impact of two successive
drops
24 A. Kumar et al.
platform which not only supports the arrangement but also provides the provision to
alter the impact height. Variation in the height was done by a screw jack mechanism.
The experiment was performed for three impact heights, 5, 9, and 12.5 cm (We =
38, 68, and 95, respectively). The piston of the syringe was automatically pushed
to force the drop to fall on the flat surface due to its own weight. The pump was
programmed to maintain the constant time difference between the two drops.
Water was used as the experimental liquid. The surrounding of the surface on
which the drop impacts, was enclosed with an acrylic chamber (dimension: 15 cm ×
15 cm × 15 cm) to isolate the area from airflow, dust, or any other disturbances. A
central hole was drilled on the upper side of the chamber through which the drop
can pass. A high-speed camera was fitted to capture the sequential side view of the
entire impact process (see Fig. 1). A light, situated on the same axis of the camera
and the surface facing the camera, was used to provide backlighting.
Two kinds of surfaces were used, hydrophilic and hydrophobic. For preparing the
surfaces, the glass slides were washed first with water and methanol. After drying,
relevant coatings were applied on the slides. A solution of 99% toluene and 1%
PMMA (w/w) for hydrophilic, and 99% toluene and 1% polystyrene for hydrophobic
was used. The solutions were applied on the surface using a spin coater. After coating,
the surfaces were dried to complete the coating process.
For conducting the experiments, the syringe was first filled with water and fixed at
the desired height. The high-speed camera was adjusted for better visibility and set
to record the process at 3000 frames per second. Two successive drops were made
to fall on the surface, with the help of the syringe pump. The time interval between
the two was about 1 s. Drops of about 2 mm diameter were produced. Entire impact
process was recorded using the camera. The experiments were carried out at room
temperature, at about 300 K. Minimum five readings were taken for the repeatability.
The first few experiments were conducted to capture the side view of the process, and
then the orientation of the camera was set at 45° for demonstration and exploration
of important physics for the same experiment. The 45° view provided the overall
view of the process (see Fig. 2). The error reported in the paper is the maximum of
the standard deviation divided by mean of all the readings obtained.
Post-processing was done using MATLAB. After converting the grayscale image
to a binary image, the edges were detected carefully using the algorithm provided
by Otsu [13]. The profile of the drop was first determined. The profile provides the
spread rate, spread diameter, diameter of the drop just before the impact, and the film
thickness of the drop.
A drop with initial diameter D0 impacts on a solid surface and spreads to a maximum
diameter D1max . An identical second drop is made to impact on the first one. The
instantaneous spreading diameter is denoted as D and the maximum spread for the
Fig. 2 The impact of a first drop on a hydrophobic surface, and b second drop on the first one
second drop as D2max . In the present work, we examine the influence of the wetta-
bility on the maximum spread after the consecutive impact of water drops at various
Weber numbers (low), and compare the results obtained with both the surfaces, i.e.,
hydrophilic and hydrophobic. The study not only shows that the maximum spreading
diameter is higher while impacting on a hydrophilic surface for both first and second
drops but also points out that, the maximum spreading is more for the second drop
(compared to the first identical one) on both the surfaces. The following paragraphs
below demonstrate the impact process in detail and explain the reasons behind the
observations.
The impact of two successive drops in the hydrophobic surface is demonstrated
in Fig. 2. Similar observations, as demonstrated earlier by many researchers [1, 6,
14], are made for the first single drop impact case. For the first impact, the drop
spreads initially, forming a ring at the outer periphery of the drop. Then the drop
starts to recoil, and the thickness of the ring increases while recoiling (see Fig. 2a).
The drop shows partial rebound after maximum recoiling (see Fig. 2a), and finally
settles down at the end.
Then the second drop impacts on the settled one (see Fig. 2b). The second drop
compresses the first one and tries to spread on the surface (see Fig. 2b). A ring
(crown-like structure) forms as well. However, the thickness of the rim is higher than
in the first case. The crown formation is observed for both the surfaces. However,
the crown does not give a distinguished appearance possibly due to the low Weber
number impact. Crown properties will not be discussed here as it is not the focus of
the study. The kinetic energy of the drop tries to remove the liquid of the settled first
drop and spreads. So, the thickness of the rim is higher than the first one. The liquid
then retracts like a normal single drop impact case, forms a cap centrally, and then
26 A. Kumar et al.
Fig. 3 Spreading diameter as a function of time for drops impacting on hydrophilic surface for
a We = 38, b We = 68, and c We = 95
rebound partially before settling down (see Figs. 2, 3, and 4). The rebound height is
observed to be higher for the hydrophobic surface than the hydrophilic one.
The maximum spreading diameters are measured for the quantification and com-
parison. Figure 5a shows the variation of the maximum spreading diameters (Dmax )
for both the first and second drop on the hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface with
Weber number. Dmax is higher for the hydrophilic surface, for both the first and sec-
ond drops (see Fig. 3, 4, and 5a), due to the higher wettability of the hydrophilic
surface. Maximum spreading is higher for the second drop, i.e., D2max > D1max ,
for both the surfaces although the pre-impact drop sizes are identical (see Fig. 3
and 4). It is observed from Fig. 5a that with the increase in the Weber number, the
distance between the unfilled symbols (Dmax for first drop) and the filled symbols
(Dmax for second drop) increases, i.e., they diverge. A similar trend is observed for
both hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface. The squares (Dmax for hydrophilic sur-
face) and the circles (Dmax for hydrophobic surface) are observed to converge (the
symbols come closer) for the impact of both drops.
In order to verify the trends, the difference between the maximum spreading
diameters of the second and first drop (i.e., D2max − D1max ) for both surfaces and the
difference between the maximum spreading diameters of hydrophilic and hydropho-
bic surface (i.e., (Dmax )Philic − (Dmax )Phobic ) for both drops are plotted with We (see
Fig. 5b, c). (D2max − D1max ) increases with We for both surfaces, and ((Dmax )Philic
Fig. 4 Spreading diameter as a function of time for drops impacting on hydrophobic surface for
a We = 38, b We = 68, and c We = 95
Fig. 5 a Dmax for the first and second drop impact, b Difference between Dmax of the second drop
and first drop on both surfaces, c Difference between Dmax of hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface
for both the first and second drop impacts
28 A. Kumar et al.
− (Dmax )Phobic ) decreases with We for both the first and second drop impact (see
Fig. 5b and 5c). The increase in (D2max − D1max ) for hydrophilic surface is about
30% (from We = 38 to We = 68) and 13% (from We = 68 to We = 95), while for
hydrophobic surface, it is 54% (from We = 38 to We = 68) and 8% (from We = 68 to
We = 95). Regarding the difference in Dmax of hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface
((Dmax )Philic − (Dmax )Phobic ), the decrement is 29% (from We = 38 to We = 68) and
30% (from We = 68 to We = 95) for the first drop, and 28% (from We = 38 to We
= 68) and 3% (from We = 68 to We = 95) for the second drop. As the hydrophilic
surface has higher wettability because of its greater affinity toward water, the max-
imum spreading diameter is higher for the hydrophilic surface as compared to the
hydrophobic surface. For hydrophobic surface, the maximum spreading diameter is
limited due to low wettability.
Regarding the increase in the maximum spreading diameter on the impact of the
second drop as compared to that of the single drop (i.e., D2max > D1max ), there are
two possible reasons. First, with the impact of the second drop, the volume (hence,
the weight) of the liquid increases, which will occupy a larger surface area. Second,
as the first drop spreads on a solid surface, it faces larger energy losses due to contact
line friction along with the viscous dissipation. However, in the second drop impact,
the drop falls on an already wetted surface and the kinetic energy of the second drop
pushes the already settled first drop. Thus, the contact line friction is minimized.
Hence, the frictional losses are lower in case of the second drop and more energy is
available for spreading. The same reduced losses in case of the second drop impact
are responsible for the increase in the difference between the maximum spreading
diameters of the second and first drop (D2max − D1max ) with the Weber number. As We
increases, the drop gains some additional inertial energy. As already discussed, the
frictional losses are higher for the first drop, which causes lesser maximum spreading.
In the case of the second drop, the spreading is more because of the additional inertial
energy and the reduced frictional losses. Hence, the difference increases with We.
It is evident that there is a difference in Dmax of hydrophilic and hydrophobic sur-
face and that it is higher for hydrophilic surface due to the difference in wettability of
the two surfaces. However, the decrease in the difference in the maximum spreading
diameters for hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface ((Dmax )Philic − (Dmax )Phobic ) with
increase in We for both the first and second drops, respectively, indicates that as
We increases, inertia is getting dominant over wettability and the drop tries to reach
higher maximum spread diameter irrespective of the surface wettability type.
The difference (D2max − D1max ) is found to be higher for hydrophilic surface than
that of the hydrophobic surface (see Fig. 5b). The reason is the higher wettability
of the hydrophilic surface. After the second drop impact, the volume of the liquid
becomes double. In the case of hydrophilic surface, the second drop impact shows
higher maximum spreading due to higher wettability. The volume on the surface is
large for the second drop impact on hydrophobic surface. However, the spreading of
the second drop is limited by lower wettability of the surface. So, the second drop
impact is unable to show very large maximum spreading although it is higher than the
first impact. Hence, the difference (D2max − D1max ) is larger for hydrophilic surface
as compared to the hydrophobic surface.
4 Conclusions
In the present work, the influence of the wettability on the maximum spreading after
the consecutive impact of water drops at various lower Weber numbers is examined.
The maximum spreading diameter is found to be higher for the hydrophilic surface
as compared to hydrophobic, for both the first as well as the second drop. So, although
the second drop falls on a liquid film, the surface wettability plays its role.
The maximum spreading is found to be higher for the second drop as compared
to the first for both the surfaces, due to the increased volume of the liquid and lower
frictional losses in the second impact as it falls on an already wetted surface.
The study showed that the difference between the maximum spreading diameters
of the second and first drop (D2max − D1max ) increases with We for both hydrophilic
and hydrophobic surface. The frictional dissipation is lower in case of the second
drop as it impacts on a liquid film. So, the additional (saved) inertial energy allows
higher spreading for the second drop with increase in We.
Also, the difference between the maximum spreading diameters of the hydrophilic
and the hydrophobic surfaces, i.e., ((Dmax )Philic − (Dmax )Phobic ) decreases with the
increase in the Weber number, for both the first and second drop impact, due to the
increased dominance of inertia over wettability.
Acknowledgements The work is supported by the Science and Engineering Research Board
(SERB) of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India (Project number:
ECR/2016/000026).
References
1. Pasandideh-Fard, M., Qiao, Y.M., Chandra, S., Mostaghimi, J.: Capillary effects during droplet
impact on a solid surface. Phys. Fluids 8, 650–659 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.868850
2. Damak, M., Mahmoudi, S.R., Hyder, N., Varanasi, K.K.: Enhancing droplet deposition through
in-situ precipitation. Nature Comm. 7, 12560 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12560
3. Kinnell, P.I.A.: Raindrop-impact-induced erosion processes and prediction: a review. Review.
Hydrol. Proc. 19(14), 2815–2844 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.5788
4. Ukiwe, C., Kwok, D.Y.: On the maximum spreading diameter of impacting droplets on well-
prepared solid surfaces. Langmuir 21, 666–673 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1021/la0481288
5. Fedorchenko, A.I., Wang, A.-B., Wang, Y.-H.: Effect of capillary and viscous forces on spread-
ing of a liquid drop impinging on a solid surface. Phys. Fluids 17, 093104 (2005)
6. Rioboo, R., Tropea, C., Marengo, M.: Outcomes from a drop impact on solid surfaces. At.
Sprays 11, 155–165 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1615/AtomizSpr.v11.i2.40
7. Bartolo, D., Josserand, C., Bonn, D.: Retraction dynamics of aqueous drops upon impact
on non-wetting surfaces. J. Fluid Mech. 545, 329–338 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1017/
S0022112005007184
8. Chandra, S., Avedisian, C.T.: On the collision of a droplet with a solid surface. Proc. R. Soc.
Lond. A 432, 13–41 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1991.0002
9. Fujimoto, H., Ito, S., Takezaki, I.: Experimental study of successive collision of two water
droplets with a solid. Exp. Fluids 33, 500–502 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-002-
0471-2
30 A. Kumar et al.
10. Fujimoto, H., Ogino, T., Takuda, H., Hatta, N.: Collision of a droplet with a hemispherical
static droplet on a solid. Int. J. Multiphase Flow 27, 1227–1245 (2001). https://doi.org/10.
1016/S0301-9322(00)00075-6
11. Rioboo, R., Bauthier, C., Conti, J., Voue, M., De Coninck, J.: Experimental investigation of
splash and crown formation during single drop impact on wetted surfaces. Exp. Fluids 35,
648–652 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-003-0719-5
12. Mundo, C., Sommerfeld, M., Tropea, C.: Droplet-wall collisions: experimental studies of the
deformation and breakup process. Int. J. Multiphase Flow 21, 151–173 (1995). https://doi.org/
10.1016/0301-9322(94)00069-V
13. Otsu, N.: IEEE Trans. Sys. Man. Cyb. 9, 62–66 (1979)
14. Moita, A.S., Moreira, A.L.N.: A Threshold selection method from gray-level histograms. Int.
J. Heat Fluid Flow 28, 735–772 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1109/tsmc.1979.4310076
CFD Analysis of Responses
of Two-Equation Turbulence Models
for Flow over NACA 0012, NACA 4412
and S809 Aerofoils
S. Sahoo and S. Maity
Abstract The present study includes a detailed analysis of responses of six available
two-equation turbulence models for flow over NACA 0012 using CFD analysis flow
software ANSYS FLUENT 17.1. The analysis is done for steady-state flow over 2D
NACA 0012 aerofoil for a wind velocity of approximately 51 m/s. The purpose is
to arrive at a turbulence model for studying the effect of turbulence on a horizontal
axis wind turbine in future. In the present study, C l and C d are analysed for various
AOA. The detailed analysis reveals that k–ω SST model shows better agreement
with experimental results and is therefore more capable of capturing the physics of
turbulence for this particular study. The k–ω SST model is further used to estimate
and analyse the drag for unsymmetrical aerofoils of NACA 4412 and NREL’s S809
with respect to NACA 0012. It is found that the former provides better lift coefficient
than the latter two by approximately 25–35%.
Keywords CFD · Turbulence · NACA 0012 · ANSYS FLUENT
1 Introduction
Since its inception dating back more than a century , Computational Fluid Dynamics
(CFD) has been helping engineers and researchers in almost every aspect of fluid
flows. With the evolution of computers, CFD has earned immense boost in the field
of research as a tool for first-hand prediction.
Solving turbulence has thrown never-ending challenges to the scientific commu-
nity due to its high irregularity, infinite length scales, randomness, and the inevitable
closure problem [1, 2]. The present study is to explore different available two-
equation turbulence models and arrive at one such suitable model for flow over
an NACA 0012 aerofoil.
Turbulent flow simulations in ANSYS FLUENT can be carried out using six differ-
ent two-equation models which have been satisfactorily used for different problems.
Based on the Boussinesq hypothesis, two-equation models are in a sense complete as
S. Sahoo (B) · S. Maity

NIT, Meghalaya Shillong, India
e-mail: jsatyabrata03@gmail.com
32 S. Sahoo and S. Maity
they are able to predict turbulent flow properties with no prior knowledge of turbulent
structure [2]. NACA 0012 has been chosen for the present study owing to its very
basic geometry and since it does not have any camber, its L/D ratio is sometimes
suitable for some portions of flight.
Also, the movement of the centre of pressure of symmetrical aerofoil is less than
of the cambered aerofoils. Since turbulence is a complex phenomenon in itself, to
analyse different turbulence models, the focus is kept on the symmetric aerofoil.
2 Computational Methodology
2.1 Geometric Modelling
The coordinates of NACA 0012 are plotted in ANSYS FLUENT 17.1 and the domain
is taken as shown in Fig. 1. The aerofoil with chord length 1 m is placed in the
domain ten times the chord length. The domain consists of a semicircular front and
a rectangular rear.
As the NACA 0012 aerofoil is slender and has a sharp trailing edge, this kind of
domain best fits for a body-fitted coordinate system [3]. Also because of the sharp
trailing edge, the domain is extended far from the trailing edge so as to avoid pressure
effects at the outlet. In other words, the domain is taken in a manner that boundary
conditions can be accurately specified.
Fig. 1 Geometry of NACA 0012 aerofoil and computational domain

CFD Analysis of Responses of Two-Equation Turbulence Models … 33
Fig. 2 Structured mesh generated for computational domain
Fig. 3 Magnified view of mesh at leading and trailing edges
2.2 Grid Generation
For generating the mesh, the domain is split into several segments so as to have
greater control of the mesh generation especially close to the body of the aerofoil
and the trailing edge [4, 5]. This is because the entire prediction of drag and lift of the
aerofoil depends on how accurate the flow is predicted in these regions. The mesh
generated is shown in Figs. 2 and 3.
2.3 Solution Methodology
Flow simulations are carried out using ANSYS FLUENT 17.1. Half a dozen turbu-
lence models are available which have proved to be useful for different applications
[6]. Flow is simulated using pressure-based steady-state conditions with an input
velocity of 51 m/s, wall conditions at aerofoil surface and symmetry conditions at

the top and bottom of the computational domain.
At the outlet, constant pressure is given. Discretization of the governing equations
is adopted using the SIMPLE method. Standard temperature, density and viscosity
values are adopted for the analysis. Hybrid initialization is also chosen for faster
convergence.
Initially, simulations over unstructured grid were carried out. The computations
are carried out till convergence, i.e. all the residuals reach a satisfactory 10−6 value.
Simulations are also carried out with a structured grid to find out whether they possess
any advantage using one of the two-equation models.
All the two-equation turbulence models are explored for the structured aerofoil at
15 different angles of attack for the aerofoil. A comparative analysis of the different
two-equation models explored in this paper is briefly presented in Table 1.
Table 1 Comparison of different turbulence models

Name of the Advantages Limitations
turbulence model
Standard k–ε Robust, economical and makes Poor predictions for flows with
predictions with reasonable strong pressure gradients, swirl or
accuracy; also provides a rotation
considerable amount of
accumulated data
RNG k–ε Provides better results for relatively Incorporates isotropic eddy
complicated flows like jet flows or viscosity assumption and predicts
swirling or flows with separation erroneous results for round jets
Realizable k–ε In addition to the benefits obtained Limiting assumption of the
in RNG, is able to resolve the isotropic return of eddy viscosity
round-jet anomaly
Standard k–ω Better for wall-bounded complex Early prediction of separation due
boundary layer flows, flows with to poor mesh resolution near the
free shear and low Reynolds wall.
number flows
BSL k–ω Makes use of a blending function to Fails to give reasonable predictions
accommodate flows both near and for flow separation in smooth
far wall, thus eliminating free steam surfaces; turbulent stresses are not
sensitivity of standard k–ω model accounted
SST k–ω Turbulent shear stresses are Less suitable for free shear flows
accounted leading to accurate due to dependency on wall distance
predictions of flow separation in
adverse pressure gradients situation
Three different aspects of CFD, viz. influence of structured or unstructured grid on

simulation, grid independency and the effect of various two-equation models on an
aerofoil are presented here.
3.1 Structured and Unstructured Grids
The unstructured and the structured mesh generated for the present study are shown
in Figs. 2 and 4, respectively. The lift coefficient is calculated for both the meshes at
six different angles of attack and is plotted in Fig. 5.
From the computational simulations, it is seen that the lift coefficient with struc-
tured mesh follows a similar trend as experiments [7] and thus can give a better
prediction of flow properties in close association with experimental observations—
however, at the cost of computational time.
Thus, where accurate physics is to be captured, it is likely that one should prefer
structured mesh. Simulations were carried out for a different number of grids so as
to save computational time without scarifying the physics of the problem. It is found
from Fig. 6 that for the present computations, the results negligibly vary after 105
nodes.
Fig. 4 Unstructured mesh generated for computational domain (inset: zoomed view)
Fig. 5 Comparison of
structured and unstructured
meshes with experiment
Fig. 6 Grid independency

test
3.2 Turbulent Models
Six independent two-equation turbulent models available in ANSYS FLUENT are

considered to study the effect of turbulence on NACA 0012 aerofoil.
The two-equation models are mainly of k–ε and k–ω and their variants. Cl has
been computed for all the models and plotted against experimental results [7] in
Fig. 7. The %error is also calculated for all the turbulent models in Fig. 8. From
the figures, it is observed that k–ω SST model captures results which are in close
approximation with the experiments. It has been discussed in the literature that k–ω
is better at capturing shear transport and this is evident from the plots.
turbulent models for flow
over NACA 0012 aerofoil
Fig. 8 % deviation from the

experiment
3.3 NACA 4412 and NREL’s S809
Once the turbulent model SST k–ω is established as the model which better resembles
the experiments, two unsymmetrical aerofoils are considered to study and analyse
the drag experienced by two asymmetric aerofoils, viz. NACA 4412 and NREL’s
S809.
A comparative analysis of the relative physical configuration can be made from
Fig. 9. It is seen that NACA 4412 is more slender and is therefore more suitable for
high Reynolds number flows. From the geometry, it is also seen that NACA 4412
should provide better lift than S809 due to its higher camber.
Fig. 9 Different aerofoil

profiles
This is revealed in Fig. 10 where the coefficient of lift of each of the above aerofoil
are plotted and compared. However, it may be noted here that though NACA 4412
provides better lift coefficient, it is more prone to leading-edge surface roughness
leading to a loss in power output.
In Figs. 11 and 12, the pitch and moment coefficients of each aerofoil as calculated
by the SST k–ω model are also plotted in order to establish the better lift coefficient
offered by NACA 4412. It is seen that the pitch moment is more established in NACA
4412 with respect to NREL’s S809 or NACA 0012, thus contributing to better lift.
Fig. 10 Comparison of C l
for different aerofoils
Fig. 11 C m for different

aerofoils
Fig. 12 C d for different

aerofoils
This should be supplemented by the drag profile each aerofoil experiences and it is
seen that NACA 4412 offers less drag than the other two.
4 Conclusions
The present study is to study turbulence models on NACA 0012 aerofoil while trying
to analyse the effect of free stream turbulence on a wind turbine. As an initial study,
structured and unstructured meshes are generated for the computational domain. It
is seen that the structured mesh helps to capture the trend with experimental obser-
vations. It is also observed that structured mesh offers more flexibility in comparison
to the unstructured meshes in controlling the grid distribution or grid refinement. Six
independent two-equation models available in ANSYS FLUENT 17.1 are explored
and it is found that for present computational considerations, k–ω SST model is
able to replicate the experimental results. Using the k–ω SST model, simulations
are carried out with two asymmetric aerofoils, viz. NACA 4412 and NREL’s S809
where it is revealed that because of its higher camber and slender profile, the former
generates a higher lift (approximately 25–30% higher) than NREL’s S809.
Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the Government of India’s MHRD fellowship sup-
port offered during the Master’s programme at the institute.
References
1. Tennekes, H., Lumley, J.L.: A First Course in Turbulence, 1st edn. The MIT Press (1972)
2. Wilcox, D.C.: Turbulence Modeling for CFD, DCW Industries, Inc (1994)
3. Douvi, E.C., Tsavalos, A.I., Margaris, D.P.: CFD calculations of the flow over a NACA 0012
airfoil. Presented at the 4th IC-SCCE, Athens (2010)
4. Gageik, M., Klioutchnikov, I., Olivier, H.: Comprehensive mesh study for a Direct Numerical
Simulation of the transonic flow at Rec = 500,000 around a NACA 0012 airfoil. Comput. Fluids
122, 153–164 (2015)
5. Kaynak, U., Flores, J.: Advances in the computation of transonic separated flows over finite
wings. Comput. Fluids 17(2), 313–332 (1989)
6. ANSYS FLUENT Tutorial Guide, Release 14.0, ANSYS, Inc. (2011)
7. Ladson, C.L.: Effect of Independent Variation of Mach and Reynolds Numbers on the Low-Speed
Aerodynamics Characteristics of the NACA 0012 Airfoil Section. NASA Technical Memoran-
dum 4074 (1988)
Linear Instability Analysis of Viscous
Planar Liquid Sheet Sandwiched
Between Two Moving Gas Streams
Debayan Dasgupta, Sujit Nath and Dipankar Bhanja
Abstract Atomization is the process of breaking down of bulk liquid into small
droplets due to the action of several forces such as centrifugal, aerodynamic, vis-
cous and surface tension forces. In twin-fluid atomizers, gases are injected at high
velocities to further assist the disintegration process of the liquid sheet. Though the
effect of viscosity is mostly ignored in instability studies due to high fluid velocity
assumption, it may still have a stabilizing or destabilizing effect on the liquid sheet
depending upon the flow conditions. The present study performs a linear instability
analysis of viscous liquid sheet moving in-between two gas streams of nonzero equal
velocities. The effect of gas velocity on maximum growth rate and critical wave num-
ber has been presented for a range of gas to liquid density ratios and liquid Weber
numbers. While gas velocity has a major destabilizing effect on the liquid sheet, gas
density and liquid Weber number mostly influence the critical wave number at low
gas velocities.
Keywords Stability · Linear · Liquid viscosity · Gas velocity
Nomenclature
ul Liquid velocity (m/s)

u1 Inviscid velocity component of liquid (dimensionless)
u2 Viscous velocity component of liquid (dimensionless)
ug Gas velocity (m/s)
U Gas to liquid velocity ratio (dimensionless)
a Sheet thickness (m)
t Time (s)
k Wave number (dimensionless)
Re Reynold’s number (dimensionless)
D. Dasgupta (B) · S. Nath · D. Bhanja

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Silchar, Silchar 788010, India
e-mail: dasguptadebayan@gmail.com

42 D. Dasgupta et al.
We Weber number (dimensionless)

p Pressure (dimensionless)
Greek Symbols
ρl Liquid density (N/m2 )

μ Dynamic liquid viscosity (kg/m s)
ρg Gas density (N/m2 )
ρ Gas to liquid density ratio (dimensionless)
ϕ Velocity potential (dimensionless)
ψ Stream function (dimensionless)
τ Normal stress (dimensionless)
ω First-order complex root (dimensionless)
β Growth rate (dimensionless)
α Angular frequency (dimensionless)
Subscript
l Liquid flow
g Gas flow
1 Inviscid liquid velocity component
2 Viscous liquid velocity component
1 Introduction
Liquid sprays can be encountered in several science and engineering applications

such as combustion engines, agriculture, food processing and medical science.
Hence, an in-depth understanding of the physical process that leads to disintegration
of bulk liquid into sprays is very important. Squire [1] and Hagerty and Shea [2] pio-
neered linear stability analysis of thin liquid sheet moving in still air and predicted the
existence of two separate modes of instabilities, namely sinuous and varicose mode.
Later, Asare et al. [3] and Mitra et al. [4] explained the importance of non-linear
analysis by showing significant deviation between experimental results and results
obtained from the linear analysis. Clark and Dombrowski [5] were the first to perform
non-linear stability analysis of planar liquid sheet and showed that the first harmonic
of sinuous mode was varicose, which led to sheet thinning and subsequent breakup.
A detailed non-linear analysis of planar liquid sheet in quiescent and moving gas
medium was performed by Jazayeri and Li [6] and Nath et al. [7], respectively. More
Linear Instability Analysis of Viscous Planar Liquid Sheet … 43
recently, Dasgupta et al. [8] investigated the effects of unequal gas velocities on the
size and velocity distribution of droplets generated by disintegration of planar liquid
sheet confined between two solid walls.
However, due to high liquid and gas velocity assumption, all the above studies
considered both the fluid to be inviscid in nature. In practice, liquid viscosity may
have a consolidating or disruptive effect on sheet stability depending upon flow con-
ditions. Temporal linear analysis of thin planar sheet by Li and Tankin [9] showed that
liquid viscosity had a stabilizing effect on axisymmetric disturbances as it reduced
both growth rate and critical wave number. Later, Altimira et al. [10] also confirmed
the stabilizing effect of viscosity in their spatial linear investigation of liquid sheet
bounded by two gas streams. Recently, Yang et al. [11] showed that viscosity may
have a dual effect depending upon liquid Reynold’s number. While viscosity stabi-
lized the flow at very low or large Reynold’s number, it had a weak destabilizing
effect at medium Reynold’s number. Pertinent literature shows that though there are
a few studies on instability analysis of viscous liquid sheet, the effect of gas velocities
has mostly been ignored. Hence, the current study aims to perform a temporal linear
instability analysis of viscous liquid sheet flowing in-between two gas streams with
nonzero equal velocities.
2 Mathematical Formulation
The study considers a two-dimensional liquid sheet with density ρl , viscosity μl ,

surface tension σl and uniform thickness 2a (schematic Fig. 1). The liquid sheet
moves at velocity u l and is surrounded by two inviscid gas streams of density ρg and
velocity u g . The velocities u l and u g are very small compared to the velocity of sound.
Thus, the assumption of incompressibility for both fluids is valid. Gravitational effect
is neglected as Froude number is usually high for liquid and gas streams coming out
Fig. 1 Planar liquid sheet

surrounded by two moving
gas streams
of atomizers. The x- and y- coordinates are chosen parallel and normal to the liquid
flow, respectively.
Several literatures (Hagerty and Shea [2], Li and Tankin [9], Li [12]) have shown
that sinuous mode dominates the linear analysis for a wide range of practical parame-
ters. Hence, only anti-symmetrical disturbances have been considered in the present
study. Since the displacements of corresponding points on the two interfaces are
equal in magnitude and direction for antisymmetric disturbances, they are regarded
to have the following form:
y = ±a + η; η = η0 exp(ωt + ikx); (1)
Here, y = ±a is the equilibrium position of the two interfaces and η0 is the initial
amplitude of disturbance.
All the governing equations and boundary conditions have been expressed in
power series of η0 using a perturbation technique. The boundary conditions have
been further expressed in terms of their expression at the unperturbed interface using
Taylor’s series. The solution procedure of the study closely follows the approach
adopted by Li et al. [9]. The physical parameters in the governing equations and
interface conditions are non-dimensionalised using the following scales:

length, time, density, velocity = [h, h/u l , ρl , u l ]
After complex algebraic calculations, the first-order governing equations and

boundary conditions in non-dimensional form are expressed as
2.1 Liquid Motion
Continuity Equation
∂u l ∂vl
+ = 0; −1≤ y ≤1 (2)
∂x ∂y
Momentum Equation

∂u l ∂u l ∂ pl 1 ∂ 2 ul ∂ 2 ul
+ =− + + ; −1 ≤ y ≤ 1 (3)
∂t ∂x ∂x Re ∂ x 2 ∂ y2

∂vl ∂vl ∂ pl 1 ∂ 2 vl ∂ 2 vl
+ =− + + ; −1 ≤ y ≤ 1 (4)
∂t ∂x ∂y Re ∂ x 2 ∂ y2
Since the interface is considered as a material surface, the local fluid velocity at
every axial position is equal to the interface velocity. Also, the shear stress at the
interfaces is zero as the gas flow is inviscid in nature. These two boundary conditions
in mathematical form can be represented as
∂η ∂η
vl = + ; y = ±1 (5)
∂t ∂x
∂u l ∂vl
+ = 0; y = ±1 (6)
∂y ∂x
The liquid velocity is divided into two parts such that
u l = u 1 + v1 ; vl = v1 + v2 ; (7)
Here u 1 , v1 are the inviscid component of the fluid velocity and u 2 , v2 are the
components of fluid velocity that contain the effect of viscosity. As the presence of
viscosity only affects the wave frequency and not the liquid pressure, the pressure
in a viscous and inviscid liquid should be equal. Therefore, the inviscid and the
viscous component of liquid velocity is represented with velocity potential and stream
function such that
∂ϕl ∂ϕl
u1 = ; v1 = ;
∂x ∂y
∂ψ ∂ψ
u2 = ; v2 = − (8)
∂y ∂x
ϕ shall satisfy Laplace equation such that
∂ 2 ϕl ∂ 2 ϕl
+ =0 (9)
∂x 2 ∂ y2
Equations (7) and (9) show that
∂u 2 ∂v2
+ =0 (10)
∂x ∂y
The liquid normal stress is expressed as
∂ 2 τl 2 ∂v
= − pl + (11)
∂ y2 Re ∂ y
The liquid pressure ( pl ) is obtained from unsteady Bernoulli’s equation and can
be expressed as
∂ϕl ∂ϕl
pl = − − (12)
∂x ∂t
Equations (3) and (4) can be expressed as

∂ψ ∂ψ 1 ∂ 2ψ ∂ 2ψ
+ = + ; −1 ≤ y ≤ 1 (13)
∂t ∂x Re ∂ x 2 ∂ y2
Considering that the disturbances given in Eq. (1) and the velocity potential have
the same order of magnitude
ϕ = ϕ(y) exp(ωt + ikx) (14)
ψ = ψ(y) exp(ωt + ikx) (15)
Substituting (14) and (15) in (9) and (13)

ϕl = C1 eky + C2 e−ky exp(ωt + ikx) (16)

ψ = C3 esy + C4 e−sy exp(ωt + ikx) (17)
where s 2 = k 2 + Re(ω + ik)

The constants C1 and C2 are determined using the boundary conditions (5) and
(6) and can be expressed as
η0 (k 2 + s 2 ) ikη0
C1 = −C2 = and C3 = C4 = −
2kRe cosh(ka) Re cosh(sa)
2.2 Gas Motion
The gas flow is considered to be inviscid in nature and the gas velocities are repre-
sented using velocity potential as
∂φg ∂φg
ug = ; vg = ; (18)
∂x ∂y
Here, subscript g represents gas flow. Maintaining the order of magnitude with
Eq. (1), the gas velocity potential can be expressed as
ϕg = ϕg (y) exp(ωt + ikx) (19)

Following a procedure similar to liquid flow, the first-order governing equation

and boundary conditions for gas flow can be expressed as
Continuity Equation
∂φg ∂φg
+ =0 (20)
∂x ∂y
Kinematic Boundary Condition
∂φg ∂η ∂η
− −U = 0; y = ±1 (21)
∂y ∂t ∂x
Far Boundary Condition
∂φg
= 0; y = ±∞ (22)
∂y
The normal stress in the liquid is expressed as
∂ 2τ
= − pg (23)
∂ y2
The gas pressure is obtained from unsteady Bernoulli’s equation and can be
expressed as
∂φg ∂φg
pg = −ρ − ρU (24)
∂t ∂x
The dynamic boundary condition states that the normal stress across the interfaces
is continuous and is balanced by the surface tension force such that
∂ 2 τg ∂ 2 τl j 1 ∂ η
2
− = (−1) (25)
∂ y2 ∂ y2 We ∂ x 2
After complex algebraic calculations, the first-order dispersion equation is

obtained from (25) and can be represented as
a1 ω2 + b1 ω + c1 (26)

s 2 +k 2
where a1 = ρ, b1 = 2ikUρ + Re
tanh(k) and c1 =
k3 ik (s 2 +k 2 )
−ρU k +2 2
We
+ Re
tanh(k)+
2k 2 (s 2 +k 2 ) 4k 3 s
.
Re2
tanh(k) −
tanh(s)
Re2
The solution of the dispersion equation gives the complex root ω which can be
expressed as
ω = iα ± β (27)
For quiescent gas, U → 0 reduces the dispersion equation (Eq. 26) to the one
presented by Li and Tankin [9], as given below

ρl (ω + ikU0 ) + 2μl k 2 νl k 2 + s 2 tanh(ka) − 4μl νl k 3 s tanh(sa)
+ ρg ω 2 + σ k 3 = 0 (28)
Note that Eq. (28) is in dimensional form. Also, by considering a case of the
inviscid sheet, putting Re → ∞ in Eq. (26) makes the dispersion equation identical
to the inviscid linear analysis of Squire [1] as presented below
k3
(ω + ik)2 tanh(k) + ρω3 + =0 (29)
We
3 Results
Figure 2 shows the variation of maximum growth rate and corresponding critical wave
number with gas velocity ratio U for different gas to liquid density ratios namely
ρ = 0.001 and 0.005. It can be observed that both βmax and K critical show negligible
Fig. 2 Variation of a maximum growth rate and b corresponding critical wave number with gas
velocity at different ρ for Re = 1000, We = 200
Fig. 3 Variation of a maximum growth rate and b corresponding critical wave number with gas
velocity at different We for Re = 1000 ρ = 0.001
variation with change in U for U < 1. Since the difference in gas and liquid velocity
across the two interfaces is considered as the primary driving force of instability. it
can be noticed that as the gas and liquid velocity at the two interfaces approach equal
values (U ∼= 1), both βmax and K critical show a sharp drop in their values. However
for U > 1, an increase in U causes a rapid increase in both βmax and K critical . It can
also be seen that both βmax and K critical increase with an increase in ρ. However at
high values of U, K critical shows relatively lesser variation with change in ρ.
Figure 3 shows a variation of maximum growth rate and corresponding critical
wave number with gas velocity ratio U for different values of We namely, We = 200
and 400. As a higher value of We causes more aerodynamic interaction between the
liquid sheet and the surrounding medium, both βmax and K critical increase with an
increase in We. However, the effect of We on K critical is relatively less at high values
of U.
4 Conclusion
A linear temporal study of viscous liquid sheet moving between two inviscid gas
streams of nonzero equal velocities has been conducted. A perturbation technique has
been considered to derive first-order governing equation and boundary conditions.
The study shows the effect of gas velocity on the maximum growth rate and the
corresponding critical wave number for a range of gas density ratios and liquid Weber
number. An increase in gas velocity ratio increases both maximum growth rate and
critical wave number for all values of gas velocity larger than liquid velocity. An
increase in gas density ratio and liquid Weber number increases maximum growth
rate at all gas velocity ratios. However, both gas density ratio and liquid Weber
number have relatively less effect on critical wave number at high values of gas
velocity ratios. This study can be extended to include the effects of non-linear terms
on sheet behaviour and breakup time. Moreover, as in the case of most twin-fluid
atomizers, the gas velocities at upper and lower interface can be considered to be
unequal to investigate the effects of nonzero unequal gas velocities on droplet size
and velocity distribution.
References
1. Squire, H.B.: Investigation of the instability of a moving liquid film. Br. J. Appl. Phys. 4(6),
167–169 (1953)
2. Hagerty, W.W., Shea, J.F.: A study of the stability of plane fluid sheets. J. Appl. Mech. 22(4),
509–514 (1955)
3. Asare, H.R., Takahashi, R.K., Hoffman, M.A.: Liquid sheet jet experiments: comparison with
linear theory. J. Fluids Eng. 103, 595–603 (1981)
4. Mitra, S.K., Li, X., Renksizbulut, M.: On the breakup of viscous liquid sheets by dual-mode
linear analysis. J. Propul. Power. 17, 728–735 (2001)
5. Clark, C.J., Dombrowski, N.: Aerodynamic instability and disintegration of inviscid liquid
sheets. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 329, 467–478 (1972)
6. Jazayeri, S.A., Li, X.: Nonlinear instability of plane liquid sheets. J. Fluid Mech. 406, 281–308
(2000)
7. Nath, S., Mukhopadhyay, A., Datta, A., Sen, S., Tharakan, T.J.: Influence of gas velocity on
breakup of planar liquid sheets sandwiched between two gas streams. At. Sprays 20, 983–1003
(2010)
8. Dasgupta, D., Nath, S., Bhanja, D.: Dual-mode nonlinear instability analysis of a confined
planar liquid sheet sandwiched between two gas streams of unequal velocities and prediction
of droplet size and velocity distribution using maximum entropy formulation. Phys. Fluid. 30,
044104 (2018)
9. Li, X., Tankin, R.S.: On the temporal instability of a two-dimensional viscous liquid sheet. J.
Fluid Mech. 226, 425–443 (1991)
10. Altimira, M., Rivas, A., Ramos, J.C., Anton, R.: Linear spatial instability of viscous flow of a
liquid sheet through gas. Phys. Fluid. 22, 074103 (2010)
11. Yang, L., Wang, C., Fu, Q., Du, M., Tong, M.: Weakly nonlinear instability of planar viscous
sheets. J. Fluid Mech. 735, 249–287 (2013)
12. Li, X.: On the instability of plane liquid sheets in two gas streams of unequal velocities. Acta
Mech. 106, 137–156 (1994)
Flow Analysis of Vortex Generators
in the Shroud of a Horizontal Axis Wind
Turbine
S. Sharma, S. Anand and Koushik Das
Abstract The abstract should summarize the contents of the paper in short terms,
i.e., 150–250 words. Wind energy is one of the most widely available energy sources.
It can be extracted using a wind turbine. Efficiency of a wind turbine depends on
factors such as incoming air velocity and its geometric parameters. Wind velocity
varies with respect to location and the seasons. A higher approaching velocity means
higher power output. In this study, shroud of a wind turbine is introduced. Shroud
is an enclosure over the wind turbine blades. In the existing work, when air passes
over the shroud, the approaching wind velocity increases up to 1.8 times due to its
geometrical configuration. In this work, the effect of diffuser shape shroud on the
approaching wind velocity is studied with vortex generators inside, to enhance the
mass flow rate of air with the aid of pressure drop. The obtained pressure drop along
the flow direction is not sufficiently high to overcome the losses in mass flow due to
the obstacle provided by the vortex generator’s body.
Keywords Shroud · Wind turbine · Vortex generators · Brim
Nomenclature
D Diameter of fluid domain, cm
d Diffuser inlet diameter, cm
do Diffuser outlet diameter, cm
h Brim height, cm
l Distance of VGs from inlet of shroud, cm
Ld Downstream length of domain, cm
Ls Length of the shroud, cm
Lu Upstream length of domain, cm
t Thickness of shroud wall, mm
S. Sharma (B) · S. Anand · K. Das

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong,
Meghalaya 793003, India
e-mail: sharmasaurabh2711@gmail.com

52 S. Sharma et al.
Greek symbols
α1 Angle of attack of vortex
Subscripts
d Downstream
o Outlet
s Shroud
u Upstream
Abbreviations
DAWT Diffuser-augmented wind turbine

VG Vortex generator
1 Introduction
Global growth of technology does not always ensure its reach by every human. People
living in remote locations are still deprived of day-to-day amenities. Electricity, a
basic energy source, without which one cannot think of starting the day and is not
available to such a group of people. People living in extreme terrain are mostly not
connected to the global energy grid due to their geographic locations. In this regard,
a local source of energy may prove to be helpful. Wind energy is present everywhere
at different levels of potential. Humans are extracting energy from the wind over
thousands of years by installing windmills. With the invention of electricity, wind
power found its new application in the production of electricity. If the right technology
is used, it can be harvested to generate electricity. Wind turbine is the device through
which wind energy can be extracted and converted into another useful form of energy.
The efficiency of a wind turbine depends on various factors, such as incoming
air velocity, dimensions of the turbine, and its other geometric parameters [1]. The
extractable wind power through the wind turbine is proportional to the cube of the
approaching wind velocity [2]; thus a small increment in the approaching wind speed
gives a significant increment in the power augmentation. Therefore, researchers have
modified the turbines and its various components to achieve significant increment in
approaching wind velocity [3, 4]. Shroud is an enclosure over the wind turbine blades
that provides an increment in the approaching wind velocity. Such type of wind
turbines are known as diffuser-augmented wind turbine (DAWT) [5]. Thus, these
Flow Analysis of Vortex Generators in the Shroud … 53
shrouds may help in installing the wind turbines in the area of low wind velocity.
Hence, by using a shroud, the size of the wind turbine may be reduced and it will
help in installation in the remote locations. Use of shroud may also help in avoiding
accidental striking of flying birds to the blades of the turbine.
Initially, this idea of DAWT has been given by Rainbird and Lilley [6]. The authors
got approximate 65% increment in power output with a DAWT in comparison to
that of enshrouded wind turbines. Further, studies were carried out by Fletcher [7],
Gilbert and Foreman [8], Hansen et al. [9], etc. Installing a diffuser shroud around
a horizontal-axis wind turbine has been shown to increase the power augmentation.
With a diffuser-shrouded turbine, the mass flow rate of air through a turbine is
increased due to the subatmospheric pressure at the diffuser exit plane [8, 10, 11].
Diffuser shroud has been shown as the mechanism that controls the expansion of
turbine flow, which otherwise is unrestricted in bare turbine cases. Abe and Ohya
[10] found that the performance of a brimmed diffuser strongly depends on the
opening angle of the shroud. The opening angle in such cases greatly affects the
nature of the separation of flow inside the diffuser. Further experimental work is
performed by Ohya et al. [11]. In this work, the experimental results show that the
wind turbine with shroud can extract much more power from the wind than any
similar bare wind turbine with the same rotor diameter. Afterward, many theoretical
and numerical analyses have been performed. Most of these studies obtained similar
conclusions with early experimental investigations. Ohya et al. [11] have found that
by placing the brim at the exit of the diffuser, the brim generates a very low-pressure
region in the exit neighborhood of the diffuser by strong vortex formation and draws
more mass flow to the wind turbine inside the diffuser shroud. However, existing
work does not show the satisfactory performance of shroud below or on the 5 m/s
velocity. This work aims to analyze a shroud combined with VGs for application in
a small-scale horizontal-axis wind turbine.
2 Geometry and Formulations
In this proposed work, a 3-D model of a shroud with a fluid domain is considered.
For the validation of the ANSYS solver, shroud dimensions are taken with reference
to Ohya et al. [11]. A 2-D schematic diagram of a shroud is shown in Fig. 1. The
fluid domain diameter D is kept sufficiently high to catch all the physics near the
shroud and also to give the far-field scenario. Further, VGs are installed inside the
shroud at the distance of l from the inlet of the shroud (Fig. 2).
The length and the width of the vortex generator (VG) is considered as L s /18 and
L u /20, respectively. The dimensions are chosen based on the maximum size of the
VG which can be fitted inside the shroud at the distance of 0.25 L s from the inlet of
the shroud (Fig. 2b). Common flow down configuration is considered over common
flow up configuration, due to higher intensity of the vortices [12]. Figure 2c shows
the orientation of the VGs over the diffuser, where α1 is the angle of attack of VGs
(Fig. 2b). Based on the computational domain as shown in Fig. 1, the 3-D governing
54 S. Sharma et al.
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram

of a diffuser shroud
Fig. 2 Schematic diagram (a)

of a installation,
b dimensions, and Inlet Outlet
c orientation of VGs VGs
l
Solid Shroud
No Slip
Lu Ls Ld
(b) (c)
l Top view
Ls /18
Ls /20
α1
Vortex generator
equations of mass, momentum, turbulent kinetic energy, and specific dissipation rate
(ω) equations can be written in the following form:
Continuity equation:
∂ρ ∂
+ (ρu i ) = 0 (1)
∂τ ∂ xi
Momentum equation:

∂ ∂ ∂p ∂ ∂u i
(ρu i ) + (ρu i u j ) = − + μ (2)
∂τ ∂x j ∂ xi ∂x j ∂x j
Turbulent kinetic energy (k) equation:

∂ ∂ ∂ ∂k
(ρk) + (ρku i ) = Γk + G k − Yk + Sk (3)
∂τ ∂ xi ∂x j ∂x j
Specific dissipation rate (ω) equation:

∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ω
(ρω) + (ρωu i ) = Γω + G ω − Yω + Dω + Sω (4)
∂τ ∂ xi ∂x j ∂x j
In the above equations where ui is velocity component in respective direction, τ

represents time, G k represents the generation of turbulent kinetic energy (k) due to
mean velocity gradients and G ω is the generation of specific rate of dissipation of
the turbulence kinetic energy (ω). The effective diffusivity of k and ω are showed by
Γk and Γω , respectively. The dissipation of k and ω due to turbulence are represented
by Yk and Yω , respectively. Dω represents the cross-diffusion term. Sk and Sω are the
user-defined source terms. As the flow is steady-state condition [13], then temporal
terms in the above equations are neglected.
3 Results and Discussions
In this study, the focus was on concentrating wind energy in a diffuser with a large
diffuser angle. The diffuser has been shown as the mechanism that controls the
expansion of turbine flow, which is unrestricted in the case of bare turbine. Controlled
expansion creates significant subatmospheric pressure at the outlet of the diffuser
[11]. As the pressure at the outlet decreases, more mass is drawn into the diffuser
through a vacuum effect. To reduce the tendency of the boundary layer separation,
VGs are also installed at the inner surface of the shroud. Vortices formed due to VGs,
disturb the boundary layer formation and delay the separation phenomenon. Current
numerical work has been modeled in ANSYS 18.1. The model is validated prior to
the actual work. In the following, validation work is followed by flow analysis of
different configurations of shroud with VGs.
56 S. Sharma et al.
3.1 Validation of Solver
The experimental work performed by Ohya et al. [11] suggests that the diffuser
shape shroud yields favorable enhancement of the approaching wind velocity over
any other shape. Thus, only diffuser shroud geometries are selected for the present
work, with diameters of the diffuser as d = 12 cm, d o = 24 cm, L s /d is kept 7.7; thus,
L s and D are 92.4 cm. The shroud is placed at 46.2 cm from the inlet of the fluid
domain. In order to capture the flow physics, a downstream length (L d ) of 157.6 cm
is considered.
The governing equations are solved using ANSYS 18.1. Inlet velocity of the
shroud is set at 5 m/s. To have a uniform and fine meshing near the shroud, a body
sizing of 0.035 m is provided by setting a 0.8 m radius spherical mesh zone. Initially,
for validation, the study was carried out on three different governing models, viz.,
laminar model, k–ω turbulence model and SST (Shear Stress Transport) k–ω turbu-
lence model. Centerline velocity profiles are compared with the result presented by
Ohya et al. [11]. The normalize centerline velocity distribution (Fig. 3) is found to
agree with good accuracy. At the downstream of the shroud, certain deviation in the
result is observed between the experimental data and laminar model. It is due to the
inability of the laminar model to capture the turbulence effect at the outlet of the
shroud.
Fig. 3 Centreline velocity plot for diffuser shroud

3.2 Grid Independency Test
A numerical solution is always affected by the type of the considered grid and the
number of discrete elements. With the number of elements 522,370, 965,327, and
1,206,218, approximately, the centerline velocity profile does not show significant
variation. Thus, with minimal number of grids and the best suitable match, 522,370
number of elements with 3.5 cm minimum size element are used for the current study.
Moreover, with an increase in the number of elements, the time required to achieve
the required accuracy also increases and it may become computationally expensive.
3.3 Effect of Vortex Generators
A VG is an aerodynamic device, consisting of a small vane. When a fluid is in motion

relative to a VG or vice versa, it creates circular zones in the flow called vortices
[14]. It helps in removing a part of the slow-moving boundary layer in contact with
the surface and delays local flow separation. In this section, the effect of the number
of VGs at the different locations, angles of attack is analyzed.
Effect of Angle of Attack of VGs at 0.75 Ls

In this section, analysis is performed by placing VGs at the distance of 0.75 L s from
the inlet of the shroud at different angles of attack, viz., 30º, 45º, and 60º. For this
purpose, different number of VGs in common flow down configuration is considered
and analyzed.
Initially, considerations are given to two pairs of VGs placed at the distance of
0.75 L s from the inlet of the shroud. In order to capture the flow pattern, Y-velocity
contours are plotted at yz plane immediately after the VG. Consideration is given to
cases without and with VGs (Fig. 4). Here, in the plot, the solid and the dashed lines
show positive and negative velocity magnitudes, respectively. Vortices are found to
form due to curling of the flow created by the pressure gradients at the up- and
downstream of the VG. On increasing the angle of attack of VGs, the strength of the
vortices increases (Fig. 4a–d). However, these vortices’ strengths show a higher near
the wall. Vortex effect inside the shroud near the center is negligible. On plotting
the cases with different angles of attack, no enhancement in the centerline velocity
is observed. The intensity of the vortices formed is not sufficiently high enough
to generate significant pressure drop inside the diffuser shroud. Moreover, at the
location of VGs, with reduced flow area, velocity increases (Fig. 5).
58 S. Sharma et al.
Fig. 4 Variation of Y-velocity (m/s) a without and with two pairs of VGs at 0.75 L s having angle
of attack, b 30º, c 45º, and d 60º
Fig. 5 Centreline velocity
plot at location of 0.75 L s
from shroud inlet at different
angles of attack with two
pairs of VGs
With no significant improvement in velocity, the analysis is extended to consider

three pairs of VGs at the same location and angle. The Y-velocity component is plotted
at the yz plane after the VGs (Fig. 6). Similar to the previous study, the formation
of circulation zones with higher vortex strengths are observed near the wall. Due to
insufficient enhancement in the strength of the vortices, no significant improvement
is observed for the shroud with VG (Fig. 7).

Without a favorable effect of the use of VGs at the location of 0.75 L s , next, the
study is extended to place the VG at 0.5 L s with the different angles of attack. The
Fig. 6 Variation of Y-velocity (m/s) a without and with three pairs of VGs at 0.75 L s having angle
of attack, b 30º, c 45º, and d 60º
60 S. Sharma et al.
Fig. 7 Centreline velocity

plot at location of 0.75 L s
from shroud inlet at different
angles of attack with three
pairs of VGs
maximum numbers of VGs used in this study are three pairs. It is the maximum
number of VGs that can be placed at 0.5 L s .
It has been observed that near the wall of the shroud, the strength of the vortices
is maximum for the case with 45º angle of attack (Fig. 8). Unlike previous cases, it
has been found that the centerline maximum velocity is reduced by 5.52%, 10.49%,
and 14.9% for 30º, 45º, and 60º angles of attack, respectively, in comparison to the
bare diffuser (Fig. 9). The three pairs of VGs placed inside the shroud are providing
resistance to the incoming air stream. Thus, there is a stagnation condition in that
zone. These stagnant air particles are offering resistance to the approaching wind
and hence, the maximum centerline velocity decreases. On placing VGs, as the flow
area reduces, a certain increment in the velocity has been observed (Fig. 9). On the
other hand, with two pairs of VGs placed at 0.5 L s , the maximum centerline velocity
is found to reduce by 3.9%, 6.07%, and 7.1% for 30º, 45º, and 60 º angles of attack,
respectively (Fig. 10).

On seeing no favorable effect of VGs at the location of 0.75 L s as well as at 0.5 L s ,
now, the study is carried out to place the VGs at the distance of 0.25 L s at the different
angles of attack. Analyses are carried out with one pair of VGs at the distance of
0.25 L s from the inlet of the shroud at the different angles of attack. Due to a reduction
in the cross-sectional area of the shroud, only one pair of the VGs can be considered.
Fig. 8 Variation of Y-velocity (m/s) after VGs, with three pairs at the distance of 0.50 L s from
shroud inlet at a 30º, b 45º, and c 60º angle of attack
Sectional Y-velocity contours are plotted (Fig. 11) to visualize the formed circulation
zones. It is found that there are strongly concentrated vortex formations in the vicinity
of the VGs. On plotting centerline velocity (Fig. 12), It is found out that centerline
maximum velocity is reduced by 11.0%, 12.7%, and 24.4% for 30º, 45º, and 60º
angles of attack, respectively, in comparison to a bare diffuser.
62 S. Sharma et al.
Fig. 9 Centreline velocity plot at location of 0.50 L s from shroud inlet at different angles of attack
with three pairs of VGs
with two pairs of VGs
Fig. 11 Variation of Y-velocity (m/s) after VGs, with one pair at the distance of 0.25 L s from shroud
inlet at a 30º, b 45º, and c 60º angles of attack
with one pair of VGs
64 S. Sharma et al.
4 Conclusions
The solver, the numerical model, the governing physics, and the boundary conditions
are validated using the experimental results of Ohya et al. [11]. The results were well
within the acceptable limits. The VGs are also introduced to see their effect over the
incoming air velocity inside the shroud. Study of the VGs has been carried out at the
different locations of the shroud, viz., 25, 50, and 75% of shroud length (L s ) and at
the different angles of attack with 30º, 45º, and 60º. It has been observed that there is
no significant change in the centerline velocity for the VGs at 75 L s . For the location
of VGs at 0.25 L s and 0.5 L s , the centerline velocity at the inlet of the shroud reduces.
This reduction is caused by the stagnation zone offered by the VGs to the incoming
air. Moreover, the obtained pressure drop along the flow direction is not sufficiently
high to overcome this loss.
In the present case, no configuration is giving favorable effect on the centerline
velocity of the shroud. Thus, it can be concluded that placing of VGs inside the
shroud will not help in increasing the centerline velocity of the shroud.
References
1. Matsushima, T., Takagi, S., Muroyama, S.: Characteristics of a highly efficient propeller type
small wind turbine with a diffuser. Renew. Energy 31, 1343–1354 (2006). https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.renene.2005.07.008
2. Kishore, R.A., Coudron, T., Priya, S.: Small-scale wind energy portable turbine (SWEPT). J.
Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 116, 21–31 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.j.weia.2013.01.010
3. Igra, O.: Research and development for shrouded wind turbines. Energy Conv. Manage. 21,
13–48 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1016/0196-8904(81)90005-4
4. Shikha, Bhatti, T.S., Kothari, D.P.: A new vertical axis wind rotor using convergent nozzles.
IEEE 6, 7803–7863 (2003)
5. Kannan, T.S., Saad, A.M., Lau, Y.H.K.: Design and flow velocity simulation of diffuser aug-
mented wind turbine using CFD. J. Eng. Sci. Technol. 8, 372–384 (2013)
6. Rainbird, W.J., Lilley, G.M.: A preliminary report on the design and performance of ducted
windmills, Clg. Aero. Cranfield, Report No. 102 (1956)
7. Fletcher, C.A.J.: Computational analysis of diffuser-augmented wind turbines. Energy Conv.
Manage. 21, 175–183 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1016/0196-8904(81)90012-1
8. Gilbert, B.L., Foreman, K.M.: Experiment with a diffuser-augmented model wind turbine. J.
Energy Resour. Technol. 105, 46–53 (1983)
9. Hansen, M.O.L., Sorensen, N.N., Flay, R.G.J.: Effect of placing a diffuser around a Wind
turbine. Wind Energy 207–213, 2000 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1002/we.37
10. Abe, K., Ohya, Y.: An investigation of flow fields around flanged diffusers using CFD. J. Wind
Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 92, 315–330 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2003.12.003
11. Ohya, Y., Karasudani, T., Sakurai, A., Abe, K., Inoue, M.: Development of a shrouded wind
turbine with a flanged diffuser. J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 96, 524–539 (2008). https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.jweia.2008.01.006
12. Biswas, G., Chattopadhyay, H., Sinha, A.: augmentation of heat transfer by creation of stream-
wise longitudinal vortices using vortex generators, J. Heat Transf. Eng. 406–426 (2012). https://
doi.org/10.1080/01457632.2012.614150
13. Menter, F.: Zonal two equation k-w turbulence models for aerodynamic flows. In: Plasmady-
namics Lasers Conference (1993). https://doi.org/10.2514/6.1993-2906
14. Lin, J.C.: Review of research on low-profile vortex generators to control boundary-layer sep-
aration. Prog. Aerosp. Sci. 38, 389–420 (2002)
A Coupled Level Set and Volume-of-Fluid
Method for Modeling Two-Phase Flows
H. Deka, G. Biswas and A. Dalal
Abstract The numerical modeling of two-phase flows is a challenging task espe-

cially when the density and viscosity ratios of the fluid in different phases are high.
Moreover, the complexity increases in the surface tension dominant flows. Precise
modeling of the surface tension force is essential in order to capture the flow physics
accurately. Different methods have been developed to model such complex flows.
Here, we describe the Coupled Level Set and Volume-of-Fluid method to model the
two-phase flows which is very efficient in handling complex interface topology. The
methodology has been tested with the real fluid flow problems and is found to be
robust and accurate in capturing the two-phase flows.
Keywords CLSVOF method · Surface tension · Interface · Numerical modeling
Nomenclature
D Diameter (m)
D Distance of transition region (m)
F Volume fraction (dimensionless)
G Gravitational acceleration (m/s2 )
H Heaviside function
N Normal vector (unitless)
P Pressure (N/m2 )
T Time (s)
Tv Deformation tensor (s−1 )
U Velocity (m/s)
X Horizontal coordinate (m)
Y Vertical coordinate (m)
H. Deka (B) · G. Biswas · A. Dalal

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati
781039, India
e-mail: d.hiranya@iitg.ac.in

66 H. Deka et al.
Greek Symbols
δs Interface delta function (dimensionless)

δ Numerical thickness of the interface (dimensionless)
φ Level Set function (dimensionless)
κ Mean curvature (m−1 )
μ Dynamic viscosity (Ns/m2 )
ρ Density (kg/m3 )
σ Surface tension (N/m)
t Time step (s)
x Grid spacing in x-direction (m)
y Grid spacing in y-direction (m)
Subscripts
1 Fluid 1
2 Fluid 2
F Father drop
N Nth time level
M Mother drop
ˆ Unit vector
1 Introduction
Experimental investigations of some realistic applications are very difficult, as many

of the experimental techniques cannot be extended to two-phase flows because of
its inherent complexity. Experimental investigations have limitations to capture the
detailed nuances of the flow dynamics. This motivates the researchers to develop
accurate and cost-effective numerical methods for modeling the fluid flow prob-
lems. Numerical modeling of fluid flows has become very popular in recent decades
because of their capability to provide a deep insight into the physical mechanisms.
The accurate modeling of fluid flow with material interfaces requires numerical tech-
niques which can efficiently describe the interface topology. However, considering
the challenges involved in two-phase flows, constructing such methods is a diffi-
cult task. These challenges include modeling discontinuities in physical properties
across the interface, handling complex topology and separation of scales, accurate
calculation of the surface tension force, etc.
There are various numerical methods to model the dynamics of two-phase flows.
One of the most popular models is the one-fluid model, where the Navier–Stokes
equations are solved by assuming it as a single fluid. The one-fluid model can be
A Coupled Level Set and Volume-of-Fluid Method … 67
broadly classified into two types, namely, interface tracking method and interface
capturing method. An interface tracking method requires meshes that track the inter-
face and are updated as the flow evolves. On the other hand, in interface capturing
method the interface is moved through a fixed grid-mesh marked by steep gradient of
a scalar function. Here, the computations are based on the fixed spatial domain. The
most popular interface capturing methods are Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) method, Level
Set method (LS) and Phase Field method. Coupled Level Set and Volume-of-Fluid
method combines the advantages of both Level Set method and Volume-of-Fluid
method. In this paper, we describe in detail the Coupled Level Set and Volume-of-
Fluid (CLSVOF) method for modeling the two-phase flows and its implementation.
The methodology has been used to model and solve the real fluid low problems.
Few test cases have been performed in order to check the efficacy of the solver and
the solver is found to be very robust and efficient in handling complex topological
deformation of the interface.
2 Numerical Modeling
For Newtonian fluids, the mass and the momentum conservation equations in incom-
pressible flow are given as
−
→
∇ · U = 0, (1)
−
→
∂U −
→ − → −
→ →
−
ρ(φ) + U · ∇ U = −∇ p + ∇ · μ(φ)(∇ U + ∇ U T ) + σ κ n̂δs + ρ(φ)
g. (2)
∂t
−
→
Here, U = (u, v) is the velocity vector having u and v as the horizontal and
vertical components of velocity, respectively. p is the pressure field, κ is the mean
curvature of the interface, n̂ is the unit normal vector at the interface and δs is the
interface delta function which is zero elsewhere except on the interface. In order to
treat the discontinuity across the interface, the density ρ(φ) and the viscosity μ(φ)
are calculated using a smoothed Heaviside function. Here, the continuum surface
force (CSF) model of Brackbill et al. [1] has been used to model the surface tension
force. Using the model of Brackbill et al. [1], δs can be simplified as δs = |n|.
Therefore, the surface tension term incorporated in the momentum equation takes
the form σ κ n.
In the computational domain, a volume fraction (F) is defined in each cell (i, j)
which is given as
⎧
⎨ 0, in fluid 2 cell,
F = 1, in fluid 1 cell, (3)
⎩
0 < F < 1, in two phase cell.
68 H. Deka et al.
The interface smoothness is achieved by using a level set function φ which is

defined as a signed distance (d) from the interface. The level set function is given as
⎧
⎨ −d, in the fluid 2 region,
φ = 0, at the interface, (4)
⎩
+d, in the fluid 1 region.
The advection equation of F and φ are solved in order to capture the motion of
the interface given as
∂F − →
+ U · ∇ F = 0, (5)
∂t
∂φ − →
+ U · ∇φ = 0. (6)
∂t
The interface normal and the curvature are then calculated using the level set
function φ as
∇φ
n̂ = , (7)
|∇φ|
∇φ
κ = −∇ · n̂ = −∇ · (8)
|∇φ|
A smoothed Heaviside function is defined based on level set function as

⎧
⎨0 if φ < −δ,
φ
H (φ) = 21 + 2δ + 2π
1
sin πφ if |φ| ≤ δ, (9)
⎩ δ
1 if φ > δ
where δ is the numerical thickness of the interface. It is essentially the distance over
which the phase properties are interpolated. It is a very sensitive parameter which we
need to optimize. In physical sense, from a macroscopic perspective, the interface
has zero thickness. However, in order to avoid the mathematical discontinuity, a finite
thickness of the interface has to be considered while capturing it numerically. One of
the best ways to obtain accurate result is to use adaptive mesh technique and use ultra-
refined mesh across this interface. CLSVOF method is a very powerful numerical
technique to simulate such complex topology and for a refined grid, it captures the
interface with enormous accuracy. The code has been tested rigorously for different
parameters to optimize this quantity. We have varied the interface numerical thickness
in the range 0.5x − 1.5x, where x is the size of each grid cell.
The density, ρ(φ), and the dynamic viscosity, μ(φ), are then calculated in the
whole domain using the smoothed Heaviside function as
ρ(φ) = ρ1 H (φ) + ρ2 (1 − H (φ)), (10)

μ(φ) = μ1 H (φ) + μ2 (1 − H (φ)). (11)
The momentum equations are solved using the marker and cell algorithm [2]. Here
a staggered grid arrangement has been used to discretize the governing equations. In
the staggered grid arrangement, the vector quantities are defined at the center of the
cell faces to which they are normal and the scalar variables are defined at the center
of each cell. The discretization of the governing equations is performed using the
finite-difference method. The grid sizes in both the directions are considered to be
the same, i.e.x = y.
The discretized form of the momentum equations (Eq. 2) is given as,

→n+1 −
− → −
→ − → −∇ p n+1 + ∇ · 2μ(φ n )Tvn + σ κ(φ n )n(φ n )
U = U n + −∇ · ( U n U n ) t + gt + t. (12)
ρ(φ n )

→ −
− → T
Here, Tv = 1
2
∇U + ∇U is the deformation tensor and t is the time
step. The higher order essentially non-oscillatory (ENO) scheme [3] has been used
to discretize the convective terms in the momentum equations. The remaining space
derivatives are discretized using the central difference method. Firstly, the momen-
tum equation has been solved explicitly for the known volume fraction field F n ,
which gives a provisional velocity field. Such a velocity field may not be divergence-
free as it may not satisfy the continuity equation in each cells. The compliance of
continuity equation is achieved by solving the corresponding pressure correction
equations using the HYPRE multi-grid solver [4]. Thus, after attaining a divergence-
free velocity field, the converged solution is achieved at a new time level n + 1.
This new velocity field has been used to solve the advection equations of volume
fraction and level set function to obtain the new volume fraction field F n+1 and
the level set function φ n+1 . To avoid the numerical overshoots and undershoots,
second order conservative operator split advection scheme [5] has been used to
discretize the volume fraction advection equation (Eq. 5). In order to obtain higher
accuracy, divergence correction is implemented [5–7]. Thus Eq. 5 is reformulated
into a conservative form along with the implementation of divergence correction as
−
→ −
→
∂ F/∂t + ∇ · (F U ) = F∇ · U , which is then solved using the operator split method.
The conservation of F is maintained by employing an implicit scheme in the first
sweeping direction and an explicit scheme in the second direction [5]. The numerical
solutions are made second order accurate by alternating the sweeping directions in
every time step [8].
The level set advection equation (Eq. 6) is simultaneously solved in the corre-
sponding directions. Here, the convective terms are discretized using ENO scheme.
At each time step, the interface is reconstructed after finding the updated volume
fraction F n+1 and level set function φ n+1 . The level set function is then reinitial-
ized to the exact signed normal distance by coupling the level set function with the
volume fraction [9–11]. In the present work, the choice of the time step is based
on an explicit method to retain the stability of the solution. The time step is chosen
70 H. Deka et al.
in such as way that it satisfies the Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy (CFL), capillary and

viscous time conditions. The explicit treatment of the surface tension term brings a
restriction in terms of the capillary time step limit which must be satisfied to capture
the flow accurately.
CLSVOF method is found to be a very robust method in terms of accuracy as well

as computational time. There is a huge numerical challenge in handling problems of
strong topological deformations of the interface such as merging and fragmentation.
Precise determination of the geometrical quantities such as curvature becomes a
challenge in such a situation. Increased values of density and viscosity contrast
further increase the difficulty. An inconsistent calculation of the surface tension
force can then result in the well-known phenomena of so-called “parasitic currents”
[12]. An important attribute of the Level Set method is that the interface is inherently
smooth. In CLSVOF method, the geometric properties such as normal and curvature
are calculated using the level set function (Eqs. 7 and 8), while the compliance of
mass conservation is ensured by coupling the Volume-of-Fluid method.
The coalescence and impact of drops pose a challenge because the curvature
becomes very sharp near the merging region. Singular curvature may create infinitely
large capillary forces. Proper optimization of the interface numerical thickness is
essential for capturing the topological change of the interface in such a situation,
which we have optimized by rigorous testing. In order to validate the efficacy of the
code in capturing the coalescence of drops, the code is tested rigorously and validated
with experimental results.
3.1 Coalescence of Two Drops
Zhang et al. [13] investigated the satellite formation during the coalescence of two
unequal sized vertically aligned water drops. When two drops are brought in contact,
initially the upper drop rests on the interface of the lower drop for a small duration
until the film between the two drop ruptures. The upper smaller drop is called the
mother drop and the lower bigger drop is called the father drop. The break-up of
the thin air film between the two drops creates an aperture, through which some
liquid of the mother drop drains out and mixes with the father drop. After a certain
time, the mother drop forms a columnar structure which gradually becomes thin and
sets necking at its base. Finally, the neck merges which results in the formation of
a secondary drop. The pinch-off criteria depends on the vertical and the horizontal
rates of collapse of the columnar structure. Figure 1 shows the coalescence sequence
of two drops having diameter ratio of the father and the mother drop, Df /Dm = 2.72.
The drop liquid is distilled water (ρ1 = 998 kg/m3 and μ1 = 1 × 10−3 Pa s) and the
Fig. 1 The numerical results of the present study and the experimental result of Zhang et al. [13],
for the partial coalescence of two unequal sized drops having Df /Dm = 2.72. The drop liquid is water
and the surrounding is air. The first row shows the profiles observed in our numerical investigation
and the second row is the experimental results of Zhang et al. [13]. The profiles, a–f, are shown at
0.0 ms, 0.27 ms, 0.67 ms, 0.93 ms, 1.2 ms and 1.8 ms respectively. The scale bar is 1 mm long
surrounding fluid is air (ρ1 = 1.2 kg/m3 and μ1 = 1.82 × 10−5 Pa s). In Fig. 1, the
first row is the results obtained from the numerical simulations. The second row is
the experimental results of Zhang et al. [13]. The results of our numerical simulations
show an excellent agreement with the experimental results of Zhang et al. [13], as
evident in Fig. 1.
3.2 High-Speed Impact of Microdrops on a Deep Liquid Pool
The modeling of microdrops is very complex because of the strong dominance of the
surface tension force. In order to test the efficacy of the present model on the impact
of a high-speed train of microdrops, we compared our results with the experimental
results of Bouwhuis et al. [14]. Figure 2 shows the comparison between the present
numerical results and the experimental results. The microdrops have an impact veloc-
ity of 30 m/s and frequency is 290 kHz. The drop liquid is water (ρ1 = 998 kg/m3
and μ1 = 1 × 10−3 Pa s) and the surrounding fluid is air (ρ1 = 1.2 kg/m3 and
μ1 = 1.82 × 10−5 Pa s). During the impact of a high-speed train of microdrops, the
cavity depth becomes much deeper compared to the diameter of the microdrops. The
penetration of the cavity in the pool is well captured in our simulations.
Furthermore, quantitative validations are performed by comparing the penetration
depth of the cavity at different instants of time, which has been shown in Fig. 3. The
solid circles represent the results of Bouwhuis et al. [14], and the continuous line
represents the numerical result obtained from the present simulations. The cavity
depth increases continuously until the drop impact stops. The cavity mouth then
closes, which results in the entrapment of a bubble inside the liquid pool. The drops
72 H. Deka et al.
Fig. 2 Comparison between

the numerical results of the
present investigation and the
experimental result of
Bouwhuis et al. [14] for the
impact of a train of water
drops having diameter
40 µm and a frequency of
290 kHz. The microdrops
have impact velocity of
30 m/s. The numerical
results (red colored profiles)
are overlapped over the
experimental photographs of
Bouwhuis et al. [14]. Each of
the profiles (a–f) are
captured at an interval of
40 µs

the numerical results (solid
line) of present investigation
and the experimental results
of Bouwhuis et al. [13] (solid
circles) for temporal
variation of the penetration
depth of the cavity. The
impacting drops have
diameter 40 µm, and
frequency 290 kHz
inside the cavity may continue to impact on the cavity base, even after the pinch-off.
The cavity depth continues to increase until all the drops impact the cavity base. Our
numerical results have shown an excellent agreement with the experimental results
of Bouwhuis et al. [14], as evident in Fig. 3.
4 Conclusions
The Coupled Level Set and Volume-of-Fluid method for modeling the two-phase
flows has been described in detail. The methodology is found to be very robust and
efficient in handling problems of strong topological deformations of the interface.
The developed solver has been tested by performing different test cases. Comparison
with the earlier experimental results reveals that the solver is able to capture the flow
dynamics with enormous accuracy.
References
1. Brackbill, J.U., Kothe, D.B., Zemach, C.: A continuum method for modeling surface tension.
J. Comput. Phys. 100, 335–354 (1992)
2. Harlow, F.H., Welch, J.E.: Numerical calculation of time-dependent viscous incompressible
flow of fluid with free surface. Phys. Fluids 8, 2182–2189 (1965)
3. Chang, Y.C., Hou, T.Y., Meriman, B., Osher, S.: A level set formulation of Eulerian interface
capturing methods for incompressible fluid flows. J. Comput. Phys. 464(124), 449–464 (1996)
4. Center for Applied Science Computing, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA: Hypre
2.0.0 user manual, silver Ed (2006)
5. Puckett, E.G., Almgren, A.S., Bell, J.B., Marcus, D.L., Rider, W.J.: A high-order projection
method for tracking fluid interfaces in variable density incompressible flows. J. Comput. Phys.
130(2), 269–282 (1997)
6. Rider, W.J., Kothe, D.B.: Reconstructing volume tracking. J. Comput. Phys. 141(2), 112–152
(1998)
7. Gerlach, D., Tomar, G., Biswas, G., Durst, F.: Comparison of volume-of-fluid methods for
surface tension-dominant two-phase flows. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 49, 740–754 (2006)
8. Strang, G.: On the construction and comparison of different schemes. SIAM J. Numer. Anal.
5(3), 506–517 (1968)
9. Sussman, M., Puckett, E.G.: A coupled level set and volume-of-fluid method for computing 3D
and axisymmetric incompressible two-phase flows. J. Comput. Phys. 162(2), 301–337 (2000)
10. Son, G., Hur, N.: A coupled level set and volume-of-fluid method for the bouyancy driven
motion of fluid particles. Numer. Heat Transf. Part B Fundam. 42(6), 523–542 (2002)
11. Son, G.: Efficient implementation of a coupled level-set and volume-of-fluid method for three-
dimensional incompressible two-phase flows. Numer. Heat Transf. Part B Fundam. 43(6),
549–565 (2003)
12. Lafaurie, B., Nardone, C., Scardovelli, R., Zaleski, S., Zanetti, G.: Modeling merging and
fragmentation in multiphase flows with SURFER. J. Comput. Phys. 113(1), 134–147 (1994)
13. Zhang, F.H., Li, E.Q., Thoroddsen, S.T.: Satellite formation during coalescence of unequal size
drops. Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 104502 (2009)
14. Bouwhuis, W., Huang, X., Chan, C.U., Frommhold, P.E., Ohl, C.D., Lohse, D., Snoeijer, J.H.,
van der Meer, D.: Impact of a high-speed train of microdrops on a liquid pool. J. Fluid Mech.
792, 850–868 (2016)
A Novel Passive Flow Control Method
for Underwater Vehicles
R. Kant and S. Maity
Abstract From several years underwater vehicles have been used in marine sciences,
and are being widely used in commercial, military and several other applications.
Their ability to work unconventionally makes them suitable to investigate excessive
environments, from the world’s inmost hydrothermal vent to regions below polar ice
sheet. To explore the large sea section and to find out different resources present in
sea, these vehicles play a vital role. Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) shape
should be selected such that it suffers least drag while traversing in the sea. Present
work is to propose a better shape by comparing different shapes considering constant
enclosed volume. A 3D model is created using a software tool and simulations are
carried out in CFD analysis platform, FLUENT, to estimate drag. A novel passive
flow control method to reduce drag is also proposed.
Keywords AUV · AUV shape · Drag coefficient · ANSYS
Nomenclature
A Area (m2 )
CD Drag coefficient (dimensionless)
FD Drag force (N)
ri Model radius
L Computational domain length
L1 Computational domain inlet length
L2 Model length
P Pressure
V Velocity (m/s)
R. Kant (B)
Department of Ocean Engineering & Naval Architecture, IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India
e-mail: rajnikant.mech012@iitkgp.ac.in
S. Maity
Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Meghalaya, Shillong 793003, India

76 R. Kant and S. Maity
Greek Symbols
ρ Density of fluid (kg/m3 )

ν Kinematic viscosity of fluid (m2 /s)

∇ Gradient vector
1 Introduction
Two-third of the earth’s surface is covered by water and thus it plays a major role
in the human civilization. Our scientific knowledge of sea is limited until recent
times. The development of underwater vehicles throughout decades and their recent
advancement in research and technology motivates us to explore the deep seas along
with the sea floor in order to collect large amount of data which are crucial for
understanding deep sea life as well as the effect of underwater system on human
civilization.
In 1957 the first AUV Special Purpose Underwater Research Vehicle (SPURV)
was manufactured in the Applied Physics Laboratory of University of Washington
[1]. It was torpedo shaped, had only one degree of freedom, maximum speed of 2 m/s
and maximum achievable depth of just 3.6 m. It was used to study diffusion, acoustic
transmission and submarine wakes. Today we have robots with 6 degrees of freedom,
which can cruise faster than 20 m/s and which can even explore the deepest seabed
[2].
In 1970s several AUVs were developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology [3] and one such is shown in Fig. 1.
Its specifications were
• 21 in. (53 cm) in diameter,
• 8 ft (2.5 m) in length,
• 450 lbs (250 kg) in weight,
• Velocity of three knots (1.5 m/s) with a capability of going up to a depth of 4500 m
and traverse up to 50 km.
Fig. 1 Early developed AUV [3]

A Novel Passive Flow Control Method for Underwater Vehicles 77
Fig. 2 Rollo robot (1st, 2nd and 3rd generation) [6]
In 1996, Helsinki University of Technology came up with the world’s first spher-
ical robot named as Rollo developed by Halme [4, 5]. The robot used single-wheel
mechanism inside the ball rolling (as shown in Fig. 2) to change the position of the
sphere center so that the robot rolled forward.
To design an AUV one needs to account drag coefficient as with increase of drag,
the relative velocity of AUVs decrease which may not justify the cost involved. In
the present work, we strive to come up with a novel shape with reduced drag. One
of the jobs of a pursuance engineer is to find out the resistive force produced by
AUVs at different heights, velocity and configurations. Since drag coefficient is a
function of AUVs velocity, projected area, fluid density, and its configuration, each
AUV is designed with a different structure. To come up with a novel shape, the
performance analysis of each of these structures needs to be carried out with an aim
to have reduced drag coefficient (C D ).
The drag coefficient is a function of two-dimensional area called the reference area
or projected area. The area could be any area including tail area, wing area, vehicle’s
cross-sectional area or vehicle’s top-view area. The drag coefficient is inversely
proportional to the reference area. F D is calculated as,
FD = (1/2)ρV 2 ACD (1)
where C D is a non-dimensional parameter which is affected by every structure that

include large components like main body, wing, engine, propeller, and small elements
like antenna and rivets. It has two parts, first one is referred to as induced drag
coefficient or lift-drag and second one is called zero-lift drag coefficient. It has been
observed that though it is not difficult to calculate the first part but it takes long time
and energy to find out second part [7].
From the above discussions, considering various promising applications of AUVs
in different fields, though various studies have been performed to reduce drag, the
surface design of an AUV is still challenging since a small reduction in its total drag
can save lots of money and fuel which would become very helpful and will eventually
lead to a sustainable and clean environment.
2 Formulation
The present problem considered is a flow across a submerged body inside a cylindrical
channel. The flow is considered as isothermal flow because during horizontal motion
of the AUV temperature is same and during vertical motion also the temperature
change is negligible. Fluid is considered as incompressible. All body forces are
neglected. In isothermal flow, the conservation equations considering steady state
are given by:
Mass conservation
· V = 0
∇ (2)
Momentum conservation

V = − 1 ∇ P + ν ∇
V · ∇ V
·∇ (3)
ρ
The above equations are solved using finite volume (FVM) based CFD software
ANSYS 17.1 to find out the viscous drag force and the pressure field P. The model
geometry and the computational domain are created in ANSYS 17.1 (shown in Fig. 3)
and using its Fluent tool the simulations are carried out. The assumed boundary
conditions are given in Table 1.
Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of the computational domain
Table 1 Boundary
Left boundary Velocity inlet with magnitude
conditions for computational
domain Right boundary Pgauge = atmospheric pressure
Circumference Symmetry condition
2.1 Validation of Solver
With a motive to validate the solver, a numerical model as specified in [5] along with
the boundary conditions is chosen. A spherical model with radius r i = 315 mm is
investigated. The computational domain is assumed to be of R0 = 5 * r i . In order to
neglect the effects due to cylindrical boundary, the inlet side is kept as L1 = 5 * r i
ahead of the inlet and the total model length is considered as L = (L 1 + L 2 + 10 * r i ),
so that there are no changes or negligible change in velocity, pressure, or any other
fluid property.
Polyhedral mesh is used in the entire domain with inflation over the model bound-
ary to ensure proper resolution near the boundary. To capture large velocity gradient,
fine mesh is provided near the model boundary (shown in Fig. 4).
The inlet velocity is kept at 0.2 m/s in the horizontal direction. A comparison of
the results of pressure, viscous and total forces for the above model with Ma et al.
[5], is shown in Fig. 5 and the velocity vectors are shown in Fig. 6.
Fig. 4 Polyhedral mesh with inflation near the model
Fig. 5 Comparison of forces

with Ma et al. [5]
Fig. 6 Comparison of velocity vectors a Ma et al. [5], b Present work
Table 2 Resuls of present

Parameter Ma et al. [5] Present work Error (%)
work and Ma et al. [5]
Pressure force (N) 0.301 0.299 0.601
Viscous force (N) 0.0317 0.0314 0.93
Total force (N) 0.333 0.331 0.633
Maximum 0.275 0.287 5.81
velocity (m/s2 )
2.1.1 Error Estimation
Simulated different forces have been compared with Ma et al. [5] and are tabulated in
Table 2. The results show that % error in pressure force, viscous force and maximum
velocity are 0.601%, 0.93%, 0.633% and 5.81% respectively.
It is seen that there is less than 1% error in the present solver in estimating the
drag forces and thus it gives a boost to carry out future CFD study on drag reduction
for an AUV.
2.1.2 Grid Dependency Test
A numerical solution is sometimes affected by the type and number of grid elements.
Under this section, the same model that has been considered in the previous sections
is used to check the effect of the grid on the solution of the governing equations
with size of elements of 4.9e−004, 6e−006, and 8e−008. The drag coefficients are
computed. It is observed that as the grid is refined after a certain number, there is no
effect on drag coefficient as shown in Fig. 7. Therefore, minimum size of element of
4.9e−004 is considered for further CFD analysis.
Fig. 7 Grid independency

test
2.2 Comparison of Different Hull Shapes
Following validation of the solver and grid independency test, several geometries are
created and the drag is estimated for each of these geometries. Among these shapes,
one shape as prescribed in [8], which is ellipsoid of major axis 146 mm and minor
axis 108 mm, is created considering same amount of volume the other hull shapes
considered such as a sphere and cylinders with spherical ends with diameter 100 mm,
90 mm and 80 mm respectively. The drag force of all the models are compared and
shown in Table 3. It is clearly seen that the drag coefficient for ellipsoid model is
least and drag coefficient for hull shape with 80 mm diameter is maximum. This may
be attributed to the total reference area which is least for ellipsoid and is maximum
for 80 mm hull shape model. It can also be seen that among the cylindrical hulls,
the hull shape with 100 mm diameter is having least drag coefficient. From this it
can be said that as the diameter decreases, the coefficient of drag increases for such
kind of cylindrical hull shape models. It is also seen that the pressure drag is least
in ellipsoid model since it has least flow separation, i.e., it possesses less negative
pressure gradient over its upper and lower surface of body.
Table 3 Comparison of drag forces of various models

Cylinder with spherical ends Sphere 120 mm Ellipsoid
80 mm 90 mm 100 mm
Pressure force (N) 6.60 9.25 9.33 4.19 1.85
Viscous force (N) 1.61 1.6 1.56 0.39 0.49
Total force (N) 8.22 10.85 10.9 4.58 2.35
Table 4 Comparison of drag

Sphere Simple Proposed
forces
ellipsoid model
Pressure force 264.84 182.03 186.84
(N)
Viscous force 18.92 33.08 23.47
(N)
Total force (N) 283.76 215.12 210.17
2.3 Proposed Model
A number of different shapes have been developed over time to reduce the total
drag. However the traditional concept of acquiring reduced drag by considering only
profile is limiting. In such a state, besides minimizing drag due to body shape, new
methods and approaches are required to reduce drag, such as boundary layer control
through suction, which has a secondary effect not shared with other methods using
smooth body surfaces and suitably shaping of the body. Skin friction drag is caused
by the sheer stresses set up in the fluid as it passes over the body. Control of the
boundary layer through suction will also result in a reduction of the skin friction
drag [9]. This is the motivation for the present work. The proposed model is taken
such that major axis length is 1.46 m and the other two axes are 1.08 m. A suction
inlet is provided at a distance 0.25 m from the left end of the major axis and 0.508 m
from the top end of the vertical minor axis of the proposed model. A comparison of
total, viscous and pressure force of proposed, ellipsoid and spherical model is shown
in Table 4. It can be seen that the total drag force of proposed model is least among
the other comparable models.
The pressure drag (form drag) of proposed model is comparable with the ellipsoid
model and viscous drag of proposed model is least among all. This may be attributed
to the greater wake in case of the sphere and the inability of the simple elliopsoid to
suck flow obstructions created by the boundary layer.
3 Conclusions
A spherical model is created using ANSYS 17.1 and CFD analysis of three-
dimensional spherical robot has been done in fluid environment with horizontal free
stream. The drag forces and the drag coefficient are estimated and validated with
available literature [5]. Various streamlined shapes are modelled and flow simula-
tions are carried out to find that the ellipsoid model considered, offers the least drag
amongst others. An improvement on the ellipsoid model is incorporated in terms of
a suction hole where the flow obstructions due to boundary layer could be carried
away with the flow. From the current work, the following conclusions can be drawn:
• Of the geometries considered, it is seen that an ellipsoid has least drag coefficient.
• With the help of [9], a novel shape is generated and the drag forces and drag
coefficients are plotted for all the shapes. It is observed that the proposed model
is able to reduce the drag by 2.32%.
However, experimental validation is an important aspect in any computational
work. Validation of the present computational results with experiments will surely
boost the design of AUVs.
Acknowledgements This research work is an outcome of the first author’s work during his post
graduate programme in the department of Mechanical Engineering at National Institute of Tech-
nology Meghalaya, India. The authors acknowledge the computational facilities provided by the
institute and financial assistance provided by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govern-
ment of India, during this period.
References
1. Widditsch, H.R.: SPURV, The first decade, APL-UW Rep. 7215. Appl. Phys. Lab., Univ. of
Wash. Seattle (1973). http://dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a050816.pdf
2. Bowen, A.D., Yoerger, D.R., Taylor, C., McCabe, R., Howland, J., Gomez-Ibanez, D., Kinsey,
J.C., Heintz, M., McDonald, G., Peters, D.B.: The Nereus hybrid underwater robotic vehicle for
global ocean science operations to 11,000 m depth. In: OCEANS 2008, pp. 1–10. IEEE (2008).
https://doi.org/10.1109/oceans.2008.5151993
3. Hartsfield, J.C.: Single Transponder Range only Navigation Geometry (STRONG) Applied to
REMUS Autonomous Under Water Vehicles (2005)
4. Halme, A., Schonberg, T., Wang, Y.: Motion control of a spherical mobile robot. In: 1996
4th International Workshop on Advanced Motion Control, 1996. AMC’96-MIE Proceedings,
pp. 259–264. IEEE (1996)
5. Ma, X., Guo, S., Li, L., Ji, Y., Wang, Y.: The underwater motion simulation of a spherical
amphibious robot. In: 2014 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation
(ICMA), pp. 145–149. IEEE (2014)
6. Suomela, J., Ylikorpi, T.: Ball-shaped robots: an historical overview and recent developments
at TKK. In: Field and Service Robotics, pp. 343–354. Springer (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/
978-3-540-33453-8_29
7. Sadraey, M.H.: Aircraft Design: A Systems Engineering Approach. Wiley (2012)
8. Fittery, A., Mazumdar, A., Lozano, M., Asada, H.H.: Omni-Egg: A smooth, spheroidal,
appendage free underwater robot capable of 5 dof motions. In: Oceans, 2012, pp. 1–5. IEEE
(2012)
9. Giles, W.B.: Hydrodynamic Drag Reduction in Vehicles Through Boundary Layer Control
(1961)
Experimental and Computational
Analysis of Heat Transfer by a Turbulent
Air Jet Impingement on a Flat Surface
Yatish Kumar Baghel and Vivek Kumar Patel
Abstract Jet impingement is an active method for the heat transfer enhancement
and is in practice in a big way in industries where focussed heating or cooling has to
be achieved. In the present experimental work, the parameters like Reynolds number
and the non-dimensionalized jet to plate spacing (H/D) have been varied to study the
variation in the radial distribution of Nusselt number over the Aluminum flat plate.
The air jet diameter of 15 mm is used for the analysis. Reynolds number ranging
4000 to 10,000 and H/D is 2 and 4. The experimental results show close agreements
with that of the obtained from the numerical results which are calculated using a
commercial CFD code ANSYS FLUENT. After through model testing SST k–ω tur-
bulence model is employed to arrive at the results and conclusion. It is concluded that
increasing Reynolds number and decreasing the H/D increases the Nusselt number.
Keywords Turbulent air jet · Jet impingement · Nusselt number
Nomenclature
D Jet Diameter (m)

H Distance between jet exit and target plate (m)
Nu Nusselt Number
Re Reynolds Number
Vo Mean velocity at the jet inlet (m/s)
ui Fluctuating velocity vector
V Voltage (volts, V)
I Current (ampere, A)
Aplate Area of target plate (m2 )
Lc Characteristic length (m)
qconv Convection heat transfer (W/m2 )
Y. K. Baghel (B) · V. K. Patel

Department of Applied Mechanics, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad,
Prayagraj 211004, India
e-mail: yatishbaghel@gmail.com

86 Y. K. Baghel and V. K. Patel
h Heat transfer coefficient (W/K m2 )

Pk Production of turbulent kinetic energy (J)
P Pressure (Pa)
k Turbulent kinetic energy (m2 /s2 )
T Static temperature (K)

T Fluctuating temperature (K)
U Mean velocity (m/s)
Pr Prandtl number
Greek Symbols
μ Viscosity (kg/m s)
μt Turbulent eddy viscosity (kg/m s)
μe Eddy viscosity (kg/m s)
ρ Fluid density (kg/m3 )
ω Specific dissipation rate (s−1 )
δij Kronecker delta
Subscripts
i, j Index of coordinate direction

a Atmospheric condition
p Target plate
1 Introduction
An impinging jet is characterized through a jet flow striking on a target surface. There
are three main regions occurred in the jet impingement on a flat surface as shown
in Fig. 1. Heaps of uses in industry require warming or cooling forms, e.g., drying
of paper, nourishment things and other wetted surfaces, cooling of turbine blades,
cooling of electronic components and numerous others mechanical applications.
Several studies in the heat and mass transfer features by a jet impingement in
various configurations have been described in the literature. Jambunathan et al. [2]
described the information of the flow, geometry and conditions of turbulence essen-
tial for impinging jets. Numerical simulations with the help of commercial CFD code
in striking onto a surface had correspondingly broadly evaluated, by dissimilar tur-
bulence models, but generally applied to only single jet arrangements [3–5]. Sahoo
et al. [6] at constant wall heat flux, the heat transfer features in a impinging of the jet
Experimental and Computational Analysis of Heat Transfer … 87
Fig. 1 Region of an impinging jet on a surface [1]
had been investigated numerically. The Reynolds number was ranging 100–500 and
Richardson number (1–10) was utilized to analyze the phenomena of heat transfer.
Wang and Mujumdar [7] studied the k − ε models at five different low Reynolds
number by the jet impingement and evaluate the rate of heat transfer. The non-
dimensional ratio H/D was 2.6 and 6, however, the value of Reynolds number 5200
and 10,400 was used in the investigation. Haydar and Nevin [8] described the effects
of oblique cooled jet on a heated target plate. Sagot et al. [9] carried out experimental
as well as computationally analysis of heat transfer and obtained the relationships
of the Nusselt number. The range of Reynolds number was 10,000–30,000 and the
H/D was changed from 2 to 6 jet diameters. Xing et al. [10] performed experiment as
well as computational analysis of heat transfer through the jet impingement on flat
and roughed target surface. Dutta et al. [11] studied the Several Reynolds-averaged
Navier–Stokes (RANS) models had employed to the examination of heat transfer
through the jet impingement at a Reynolds number 20,000 and at the ratio of jet exit
to target plate 4 and 9.2. Achari et al. [12] studied of four different Reynolds—Aver-
age Navier Stoke (RANS) turbulence model. Reynolds number 20,000, turbulent
intensity 1% and the space among the jet to the plate was 4 and 9.2 used for the
analysis of heat transfer by a 2-D air jet. Zhou et al. [13] investigated the heat trans-
fer rate through the circular air jet strike on the target plate at the small variations
of temperature was maximum by numerically. V2F turbulent model was used for
the validation of the results and captured the effects of the thermal properties on the
amount of heat transfer. Guo et al. [14] circular air jets were used in this analysis
to achieve the heat transfer characteristics by experimentally and numerically. The
variation of Reynolds number from 14,000–53,000 and the non-dimensional number
(H/D) was changed from 4 to 8. The objective of this study is to analyze the heat
transfer through a circular turbulent air jet impingement on a flat surface.
2 Experimental Setup
The aim of the present study is heat transfer characteristics analysis by impinging of
air orthogonally over the flat plate by experimentally. The experimental setup con-
sists of various major components like compressor, jet, target plate, thermocouple,
heating coils, U-tube manometer, and temperature indicator. Apart from this, the
non-dimensional Nusselt number is calculating in this investigation and the influ-
ence on the non-dimensional Nusselt number by changing the air jet velocity and
at the different H/D ratio is analyzed. Figure 2 represents the line diagram of the
arrangements of experimental setup.
Above all else measure the temperature of the atmosphere with the assistance of
a thermometer since it is fundamental to compute the coefficient of heat transfer.
A compressor is used for the supply of air. Air is filtered through the air filter and
pressure regulator maintains the pressure at 6.86 bar. The compressed air is stored
in the air storage tank with the help of air supply line and finally, this compressed
air is impinging orthogonally on a flat target plate through the nozzle with the help
of pressure regulating valve. 15 mm diameter pipe is used to making the jet for the
impinging the air. The target plate (340 mm × 340 mm; 2 mm thick aluminium
sheet) is clamped on the wooden board with help of skew-nuts. A traverse system
is provided at the bottom of the target plate to adjusting the different distances
between jet to plate. Now, heating the target plate with the help of heating coils.
Heating coils are arranged under the target plate in such a manner that the target plate
becomes uniformly heated. PT–100 is a platinum resistance temperature detector
with a resistance of 100 at 0 °C which changes with temperature. It is a most
common type of thermocouple and measures a very accurate value of temperature
at particular locations. For the temperature measurement of the plate, temperature
detector PT–100 is inserted at the different location on the aluminium plate. 16–
Channel microprocessor based temperature scanner is used to find the temperature
at different locations. Manual/Auto scanning is available on this instrument. Scan rate
settable from front panel up to 99 s/channel. Individual offset setting for each channel
Fig. 2 Layout diagram of an experimental setup

Table 1 Mathematical formulations

S. No. Formulations
1 Nu = hL
k
qconv
2 h= Tp −Ta
3 qconv = AVplate
I
4 Re = ρVDμ
is also available. The resolution of the temperature scanner is 0.1°C for PT–100. One
PT–100 is attached at the inlet of the nozzle inlet to measure the air jet temperature
(308.15 K). After opening the pressure regulating valve note the value of deflection
in the U-tube manometer which is used to calculate the velocity of the air jet. For a
certain velocity, wait for time at which the target plate’s temperature is steady after
impinging air on the target plate and note down the temperature at different locations.
By changing the pressure regulating valve, repeat the same methodology at different
air jet velocities.
3 Data Reduction
The radiation effect of the target plate is neglected for this analysis. Table 1 represent
the following mathematical formulations used for calculating the velocity of the air
jet, convection heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt number.
4 Computational Analysis
Computational investigation of the heat exchange by a circular air jet strikes orthog-
onally on a uniform horizontal surface/plate through the help of commercial CFD
software ANSYS FLUENT.
Figure 3 represents the schematic of the geometry. Because of symmetry of the
geometry about the perpendicular y-axis, hence only half domain of the geometry
is taken for the further investigations and the target plate is kept up at a constant
temperature. The precision of the obtained solutions has influenced by a larger extent
on the quality of the meshing of the flow domain. The eminence of the meshing can
be determined with the help of skewness factor and orthogonal quality. The skewness
factor must be lie 0–0.5 in a structured grid, but in an unstructured grid this varies
from 0 to 0.8.
Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of a geometry
4.1 Mathematical Model
In this investigation, the flow is assumed to be steady, viscous, and incompressible.

A computational analysis of the problem as represented in Fig. 3 needs solving the
following governing equations such as (1) continuity equation, (2) Navier–Stokes
equation, and (3) time-averaged energy equation.
∂Ui
=0 (1)
∂ xi

∂Ui U j ∂p ∂ ∂Ui ∂U j
ρ =− + μ + − ρu i u j (2)
∂ xi ∂x j ∂ xi ∂x j ∂ xi
where

∂Ui ∂U j 2
ρu i u j = μt + − ρkδi j
∂x j ∂ xi 3

∂T ∂ μ ∂T
ρUi = − ρT u i (3)
∂ xi ∂ xi Pr ∂ xi
Equations (4) and (5) represent the transport equation of kinetic energy (k) of
turbulent flow and its specific dissipation rate (ω) respectively of the SST k–ω tur-
bulence model.

∂ ∂ μt ∂k
(ρku i ) = μ+ + min Pk , 10ρβ ∗ kω − ρβ ∗ kω (4)
∂ xi ∂x j σk ∂ x j

∂ ∂ μt ∂ω ω ρσω2 ∂k ∂ω
(ρωu i ) = μ+ + α Pk − ρβω2 + 2(1 − F1 )
∂ xi ∂x j σω ∂ x j k ω ∂x j ∂x j
(5)
The turbulent viscosity is defined as

ρk 1
μt =
ω max 1 , S F2
α∗ a1 ω
4.2 Boundary Conditions and Solution Method
The working fluid in the analysis is air. Table 2 represents the properties of the air at
given inlet temperature (308.15 K). At Inlet and Outlet, a turbulent intensity of 1%
and turbulent length scale of 0.015 are applied. Enhanced wall function is employed
to solve the near wall grid accurately. For capturing features of turbulent flow SST k–
ω turbulence model is utilized in these investigations. To solve the pressure-velocity
coupling equations SIMPLE (Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure Linked Equations)
algorithm is used. Second order upwind discretization scheme is employed to solve
momentum, turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent dissipation rate equations. The
convergence criterion is taken as 10−6 for all the convergence parameter variables
except energy and 10−8 convergence criterion for energy equations. Table 3 represents
the other boundary conditions which are applied to the given problem.
Table 2 Properties of air at inlet temperature 308.15 K

Properties Specification’s
Density (kg/m3 ) 1.1459
Specific heat (J/kg K) 1.007 × 103
Thermal conductivity (W/m K) 0.0267
Dynamic viscosity (kg/m s) 1.8915 × 10−5
Kinematic viscosity (m2 /s) 1.6507 × 10−5
Prandtl number (Pr) 0.71
Table 3 Boundary conditions

Zone Boundary condition’s
Inlet Re = (4000–10,000), Air Jet temperature = 308.15 K
Outlet Atmospheric pressure condition
Symmetry Y-axis
Target wall Temperature = 353.35 K
4.3 Grid Independence Test
Nusselt number distribution is considered for grid independence test. Six grid sizes
are employed 12,801, 29,241, 42,561, 48,581, 52,571 and 56,721. The distribution of
non-dimensional Nusselt number is considered on the target wall of the geometry at
different H/D ratio. The grid sizes 48,581, 52,571, and 56,721 shows small variations
in the parameters but the value of y+ found to be below 1 for grid size 48,581 and
52,571 but grid size 48,581 is nominated for save the computational cost.
Experiments have been performed for a different H/D ratio and various Reynolds
numbers in order to calculate the Nusselt number at different radial locations above
the flat plate. A computational investigation is also carried out for the problem and
a fair consent has found among the outcomes of the experimental as well as compu-
tational results. In the subsequent sections various experimental and computational
results have been discussed.
5.1 Validation of a Model
Figure 4 represents the comparison between the average Nusselt numbers calculated
by different turbulence models and found that the SST k–ω model give close results
Fig. 4 Validation of turbulence models

with the experimental results compare to other models. So, the SST k–ω model is
employed in this work for the evaluation of the results from the ANSYS FLUENT.
5.2 Effects of the Variations in Reynolds Number
The outcomes are accomplished to the investigation of the influence of Reynolds

number on the transfer of heat from the surface through the experimental as well as
computational. Figures 6 and 7 shows the comparisons between experimental and
computational Nusselt number distribution along the radial direction at dissimilar
values of Reynolds number 4,000–10,000 and keeping the H/D ratio fixed at a par-
ticular value 2 and 4. The Nusselt number is maximum at the stagnation point in
all cases, after that it keeps on decreasing monotonically to a certain distance then
a slight peak is observed making a brink in the distribution curve, again decreases
continuously as presented in Figs. 5 and 6. It is clearly seen from the above graphs
that optimum values of Nusselt number are acquired for maximum Reynolds num-
ber (here Re = 9558.27). The Nusselt number distribution on a surface is bell-like
shaped as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 by reason of a potential core length is less than a
non-dimensional jet to plate space (H/D). At the stagnation point, a laminar boundary
layer is started and simultaneously undergoes a transition flow to a turbulent flow.
Augmentation of heat transfer take place in the transition area because of the boost
up of mass in the perpendicular direction of the target surface. Therefore another
highest point occurs in the distribution of the Nusselt number onto a target plate as
shown in Figs. 5 and 6.
Fig. 5 Comparison experimental and computational results at H/D = 2

Fig. 6 Comparison experimental and computational results at H/D = 4
5.3 Effects of the Variations in H/D Ratio
The H/D ratio is sturdily affects the heat transfer performance on the flat plate. The
H/D ratio is increased than the loss of kinetic energy of the jet is also increases and
the jet is thermally weakened due to increasing the entrainment of the atmospheric
air. Consequently the estimation of the Nusselt number is reduces with the increment
in the ratio of H/D as appeared in Fig. 7.
Fig. 7 Variation of Nu with x/D ratio at a Re = 4591.65, b Re = 5561.39, c Re = 7013.85, d Re

= 8383.16, e Re = 9558.27
6 Conclusions
The results obtained from the experiment are compared with the numerical simula-
tions using commercial CFD code. The conclusions from this investigation can be
summarized as follows:
• The Nusselt number is increases over the impinging plate with the increments in
Reynolds number for a given value of H/D ratio.
• At a given Reynolds number, The Nusselt number is reducing with the increase
in the H/D ratio. Hence, the Nusselt number is also decreasing at the stagnation
point with the increase in H/D ratio.
• As the radial distance increases, Nusselt number is decreases.
• Nusselt number is found to be the highest at the point of contact, i.e., Stagna-
tion Point, and decreases radially outwards settling at its minimum value at the
periphery of the Plate.
References
1. Bovo, M.: Numerical modeling of impinging jets heat transfer. Thesis in Thermo and Fluid
Dynamics, Sweden (2011)
2. Jambunathan, K., Lai, E., Moss, M.A., Button, B.L.: A review of heat transfer data for single
circular jet impingement. Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow 13(2), 106–115 (1992). https://doi.org/10.
1016/0142-727X(92),90017-4
3. Behnia, M., Parneix, S., Durbin, P.A.: Prediction of heat transfer in an axisymmetric turbulent
jet impinging on a flat plate. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 41(12), 1845–1855 (1998). https://doi.
org/10.1016/S0017-9310(97),00254-8
4. Craft, T.J., Iacovides, H., Yoon, J.H.: Progress in the use of non-linear two-equation models in
the computation of convective heat-transfer in impinging and separated flows. Turbul. Combust.
63(1–4), 59–80 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009973923473
5. Merci, B., Dick, E.: Heat transfer predictions with a cubic k–ε model for axisymmetric turbulent
jets impinging onto a flat plate. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 46(3), 469–480 (2003). https://doi.
org/10.1016/S0017-9310(02),00300-9
6. Sahoo, D., Sharif, M.A.R.: Numerical modeling of slot-jet impingement cooling of a constant
heat flux surface confined by a parallel wall. Int. J. Therm. Sci. 43(9), 877–887 (2004). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2004.01.004
7. Wang, S.J., Mujumdar, A.S.: A comparative study of five low Reynolds number k–ε models for
impingement heat transfer. Appl. Therm. Eng. 25(1), 31–44 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
applthermaleng.2004.06.001
8. Haydar, E., Nevin, C.: Cooling of a heated flat plate by an obliquely impinging slot jet. Int.
Comm. Heat Mass Transf. 33, 372–380 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.
2005.10.009
9. Sagot, B., Antonini, G., Christgen, A., Buron, F.: Jet impingement heat transfer on a flat plate
at a constant wall temperature. Int. J. Therm. Sci. 47(12), 1610–1619 (2008). https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2007.10.020
10. Xing, Y., Spring, S., Weigand, B.: Experimental and numerical investigation of impingement
heat transfer on a flat and micro-rib roughened plate with different cross flow schemes. Int. J.
Therm. Sci. 50, 1293–1307 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2010.11.008
11. Dutta, R., Dewan, A., Srinivasan, B.: Comparison of various integration to wall (ITW) RANS
models for predicting turbulent slot jet impingement heat transfer. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 65,
750–764 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2013.06.056
12. Achari, A.M., Das, M.K.: Application of various RANS based models towards predicting
turbulent slot jet impingement. Int. J. Therm. Sci. 98, 332–351 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.ijthermalsci.2015.07.018
13. Zhou, T., Xu, D., Chen, J., Cao, C., Ye, T.: Numerical analysis of turbulent round jet impinge-
ment heat transfer at high temperature difference. Appl. Therm. Eng. 100, 55–61 (2016). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.02.006
14. Guo, Q., Wen, Z., Dou, R.: Experimental and numerical study on the transient heat-transfer
characteristics of circular air-jet impingement on a flat plate. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 104,
1177–1188 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2911197
A Study on the Wake Regime Control
and Drag Reduction Using Single Splitter
Plate for a Flow Past a Semicircular
Cylinder
S. M. Dash, S. D. Chavda and K. B. Lua
Abstract In this paper, a low Reynolds number flow (Re = 100) around the semicir-
cular cylinder of diameter D with and without splitter plate is numerically investigated
using in-house developed flexible forcing IB—LBM scheme. The length of the split-
ter plate is systematically varied from 0.5D to 4.0D to investigate its effect on the
flow structure and on the vortex-induced forces. The recirculation region behind the
semicircular cylinder is increased with an increase in the length of the splitter plate,
and as a consequence the base pressure is recovered, and the time-averaged drag
coefficient is reduced. Complete suppression of the fluctuating lift coefficient and
von Karman vortex shedding is noticed for a splitter plate of length 4.0D for which
a maximum drag reduction of around 32% is found. The wake regime as a function
of splitter plate length is thoroughly analysed.
Keywords Semicircular cylinder · Single splitter plate · Drag reduction · Flow

separation control
1 Introduction
Flow around a bluff object is ubiquitous in nature and has significant industrial appli-
cations. In general, above a critical Reynolds number (Re) flow, the wake regime
becomes unsteady that contains alternating shedding vortices and exerts fluctuat-
ing drag and lift force on the bluff object through periodic pressure fluctuations.
To mitigate the detrimental effects of the fluctuating flow-induced forces, several
passive (geometrical modification) and active (with aid of external energy source)
flow separation control devices are proposed in the literature (Bearman [1]; Kwon
S. M. Dash (B)
Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal 721302, India
e-mail: smdash@aero.iitkgp.ac.in
S. D. Chavda
Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT(ISM) Dhanbad, Dhanbad, Jharkhand 826004, India
K. B. Lua
Department of Mechanical Engineering, NCTU Taiwan, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan

98 S. M. Dash et al.
and Choi [2]; Yu et al. [3]; Dash et al. [4]; Chen et al. [5]; Assi et al. [6]). Because
of its simplicity, a single splitter plate has been widely followed for passive control
of vortex shedding past the various shaped bluff objects. Apelt and West [7] and
Roshko [8] have shown that the vortex shedding and fluctuating lift and drag force
can be significantly suppressed with a sufficiently long splitter plate attached to the
rear base of the circular cylinder. A similar finding is noticed by Ali et al. [9] in the
case of a square cylinder, respectively. However, a systematic investigation of the
single splitter plate attached to the rear edge of the semicircular cylinder is unavail-
able in the literature. Unlike the circular cylinder where the flow separation points
are Re dependent, for a semicircular cylinder the flow separation points are fixed at
the sharp corners. Moreover, Ali et al. [9] have suggested that the fluid particles sep-
arated from the sharp edges traverse a longer distance in the downstream to form the
separation bubble. Therefore, the effectiveness of the splitter plate on wake regime
control differs for the circular and semicircular cylinders.
The objective of the present study is to extend the understanding of the flow physics
and to investigate the flow separation control mechanism of the single splitter plate
attached to the rear edge of the semicircular cylinder for a low Reynolds number flow
(Re = 100) using an in-house developed flexible forcing immersed boundary-lattice
Boltzmann (IB – LBM) solver (Dash et al. [10]). The accuracy of this solver has been
verified by several past experimental and numerical studies (Dash and Lee [11], Dash
et al. [12]). It is worth to note that LBM is an efficient alternative over traditional
Navier–Stokes (NS) solver where the pressure Poisson’s equation is not solved, and
the inherent parallelization facility accelerates the simulation process (Benzi et al.
[13]). Using the flexible forcing IB-LBM solver, the effects of the length of the single
splitter plate on fluctuating lift and drag forces and vortex shedding frequency are
analysed. The splitter plate length ‘L’ is varied from 0.5D to 4.0D. Here, D is the
diameter of the semicircular cylinder.
2 Numerical Methodology
In this study, the unsteady continuity and momentum Eqs. (1)–(2) are solved using
the in-house developed flexible forcing IB-LBM solver Dash et al. [10] in a non-body
conformal mesh framework at the mesoscopic scale.
∂ρ
+ ∇ · ρU = 0 (1)
∂t

∂U
ρ + U · ∇U + ∇ P = μU + b (2)
∂t
Here, ρ, U, P, μ are the density, velocity, pressure and viscosity of the fluid
medium. It is worth to note that in a non-body conformal mesh solver, typically, the
fluid and solid domains are defined in Eulerian and Lagrangian meshes, respectively.
A Study on the Wake Regime Control and Drag Reduction Using … 99
The interface boundary condition (i.e. no-slip velocity) is satisfied using extra body
force b term as shown in the governing Eq. (2). Additional details on the flexible
forcing IB-LBM solver implementation can be found in Dash et al. [10].
The computational domain used to simulate the flow past a semicircular cylinder
of diameter D = 0.001 m, with the splitter plate is shown in Fig. 1a. The length of the
splitter plate ‘L’ is varied from 0.5D to 4.0D, in steps of 0.5D. The thickness of the
splitter plate is kept small at 0.01D, so that the pressure drag of the splitter plate is
minimum. A non-uniform structured mesh with a finer mesh around the cylinder and
a coarser mesh at the far domain is adapted in the present study as shown in Fig. 1b.
After a thorough grid independence study, a total mesh size of 801 × 601 is used in
the whole computational domain of size 80D × 60D in which the uniform finer mesh
of size 301 × 301 is distributed in a domain of size 5D × 5D around the semicircular
cylinder. 250 Lagrangian points are used to define the semicircular cylinder. A uni-
form flow of velocity U ∞ = 0.1 m/s is defined at the inlet and lateral boundaries such
that the Reynolds number based on the diameter of the semicircle is equal to 100.
The density and viscosity are set as that of water at 20 °C. A Neumann velocity outlet
boundary condition is prescribed on the outlet boundary. The computational domain
is initialized with the inlet velocity U ∞ . Note that implementation of the physical
boundary conditions in IB-LBM solver is different from the traditional NS solvers
since in IB-LBM solver, they are converted into the equivalent density distribution
functions. More details on how these equivalent density distribution functions are
derived can be found in Dash et al. [10].
For analysis of the present results, we have defined the following non-dimensional
parameters:
Fd
Cd = 2 D
(3)
0.5U∞
Fig. 1 a Schematic of the computational domain and boundary condition for studying the flow
past a semicircular cylinder with attached splitter plate. b Nonuniform mesh used in this study. L1
and L2 lines are used in the Figs. 4 and 5, respectively
Table 1 Comparison of the time-average drag coefficient and Strouhal number for flow around a
semicircular cylinder at Re = 100
Solver Cd St
Present 1.73 0.187
Farhadi et al. [14] 1.73 0.187
Fl
Cl = 2 D
(4)
0.5U∞
f D
St = (5)
U∞
Here, Cd , Cl , St and f are the drag coefficient, lift coefficient, Strouhal num-
ber and vortex shedding frequency, respectively. F d and F l are the drag and lift
forces experienced by the cylinder along the streamwise and transverse directions,
respectively.
To validate the flexible forcing IB-LBM solver (Dash et al. [10]) a benchmark
test case flow past a semicircular cylinder without the splitter plate at Re = 100 is
simulated. The computational domain of the same size as shown in Fig. 1a is utilized
for the numerical simulation. Table 1 shows a comparison between the time-average
drag coefficient and the Strouhal number obtained from the present solver and values
from the literature which is in very good agreement.
In Fig. 2, the contours of the instantaneous spanwise vorticity about the semicircular
cylinder with and without splitter plate are plotted when the fluctuating lift coefficient
is at its maximum. In the case of flow over a semicircular cylinder at Re = 100,
the shear layers separate from both top and bottom corners of the rear edge of the
cylinder. These separated shear layers feed vorticity into the two growing primary
vortices by entraining fluid from the adjacent irrotational flow as shown in Fig. 2a. The
splitter plate alters the instantaneous vorticity distributions in the near wake region
of the semicircular cylinder by transferring the plate momentum to the surrounding
flow field. The redistribution of the vorticity field modifies the deflection of the
separated shear layers and thereby modifies the vortex evolution process and flow
characteristics (pressure and velocity) of the wake region. Three different wake flow
regimes are identified in the present study which is discussed in the following.
(a) L = 0.0D (b) L = 0.5D, Type-I Flow
(c) L = 2.0D, Type-II Flow (d) L = 3.5D, Type-II Flow
(e) L = 4.0D, Type-III Flow
Fig. 2 Instantaneous spanwise vorticity contour for different splitter plate lengths, L
3.1 Flow Regimes
Type-I
This type of flow regime is observed for a short splitter plate of length L/D < 1.0.
In this flow pattern, the separated shear layers curl and cross the wake centreline
significantly (see Fig. 2b). Since in this case, the plate length is not long enough, the
free stream flow entrains into the wake region strongly as a consequence, the base
pressure recovery is small and a small reduction in drag coefficient is observed, as
shown in Fig. 3a.
Moreover, the strength of the vortex core is reduced with the shift in the roll-up of
the shear layers to further downstream (Ali et al. [9]) which reduces the Root Mean
Square (RMS) lift coefficient compared to the unmodified semicircular cylinder case
(see Fig. 3b). Additionally, delay in the roll-up of the shear layers to form the primary
vortex reduces the non-dimensional vortex shedding frequency or St (see Fig. 3c).
Fig. 3 a Time-average drag coefficient, b RMS lift coefficient and c St as a function of non-
dimensional splitter plate length L/D
Type-II
This type of flow regime is associated with the moderate lengths (1.0 < L/D < 3.5)
of the splitter plate. As shown in Fig. 2c–d), in this case, the long free shear layers
roll-up close to the plate with comparatively lesser curling and crossing of the wake
centreline than Type-I flow regime. Moreover, the longer splitter plate significantly
reduces the entrainment of the free stream flow into the wake region that helps in
higher base pressure recovery and significant drag reduction compare to Type-I flow
and unmodified cylinder cases (see Fig. 3a). Since the vortex formation length in this
flow case becomes larger with the reduction in the curling of shear layers that further
reduces the strength of the primary vortex core, as a result, RMS lift coefficient and
vortex shedding frequency are significantly suppressed, as shown in Fig. 3b–c.
Type-III
This type of flow regime is seen for long splitter plate of L/D > 3.5. Here, the
separated shear layers from the top and bottom corners of the semicircular cylinder
do not cross the wake centreline and their interaction is completely suppressed (see
Fig. 2e). Consequently, the von Karman vortex shedding is not observed which leads
to a maximum reduction in the drag coefficient, RMS lift coefficient, and vortex
shedding frequency, as shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 4 Time-average wake

centreline velocity plotted
over the line L1, as shown in
Fig. 1a. Here ‘S’ represents
the separation bubble length,
where the subscript indicates
the plate length
3.2 Wake Recirculation Region
In the following, the effects of the splitter plate on the wake separation bubble or
recirculation region are investigated by plotting the time-averaged wake centerline
velocity ū along line L1 (ref. Figure 1a) for both unmodified semicircular cylinder
and single splitter plate cases. Note that in Fig. 4, the time-averaged wake centerline
velocity is plotted only for the representative lengths of the splitter plate correspond-
ing to Type-I to Type-III flow regimes and for the unmodified semicircular cylinder.
At the immediate downstream of the unmodified semicircular cylinder, the presence
of the separation bubble or momentum deficit region shows a negative time-averaged
velocity. A similar flow momentum deficit region is also observed by Balachandar
et al. [15] in the case of a circular cylinder. A separation bubble length ‘S’ is defined
as the distance measured along the wake centerline from the base of the semicircular
cylinder at which the sign of the time-averaged velocity changes from negative to
positive (ref. Figure 4). It can be seen that the separation bubble length is greater
for all attached single splitter plate cases compared to the unmodified semicircular
cylinder. Furthermore, a minimum negative peak velocity and maximum separa-
tion bubble length are observed for the Type-III flow pattern (L = 4.0D) where the
time-averaged velocity recovers at a greater downstream distance.
3.3 Wake Width
The effects of the splitter plate on the downstream wake region are investigated
by comparing the time-average streamwise velocity ū component at the downstream
location X = 7.0D (i.e. on the line L2, ref. Figure 1b) measured along wake centerline
from the base of the semicircle. As shown in Fig. 5, the wake width W defined as
the momentum deficit region (ū < U ∞ ) is reduced with the increase in the splitter
Fig. 5 Time-average
streamwise velocity for
unmodified semicircular
cylinder and semicircular
cylinder with attached
splitter plate at downstream
location X = 7.0D, measured
along the wake centerline
from the base of the
semicircular cylinder. ‘W ’
represents the wake width,
where the subscript indicates
plate length
plate length. This results in drag coefficient reduction. A similar observation is also
noticed by Balachandar et al. [15] for a circular cylinder case.
4 Conclusions
In the present study, using the numerical simulations, the effectiveness of the single
splitter plate to control the fluctuating lift and drag force and the vortex shedding fre-
quency for a two-dimensional semicircular cylinder is investigated. The flow regime
defined based on the vorticity distribution in the wake region is noticed to change from
Type-I to Type-III with the increase in the plate length. Compare to the unmodified
semicircular cylinder, splitter plate of length 4.0D produces around 32% lesser drag
force and complete suppression of the lift fluctuations along with the von Karman
vortex shedding.
Acknowledgements This research work is performed using the computational resources from IIT
Kharagpur, India and NCTU, Taiwan.
References
1. Bearman, P.W.: Investigation of the flow behind a two-dimensional model with a blunt trailing
edge and fitted with splitter plates. J. Fluid Mech. 21, 241–255 (1965)
2. Kwon, K., Choi, H.: Control of laminar vortex shedding behind a circular cylinder using splitter
plates. Phys. Fluids 8, 479–486 (1996)
3. Yu, Y., Xie, F., Yan, H., Constantinides, Y., Oakley, O., Karniadakis, G.E.: Suppression of
vortex-induced vibrations by fairings: a numerical study. J. Fluids Struct. 54, 679–700 (2015)
4. Dash, S.M, Triantafyllou, M.S., Valdivia y Alvarado, P.: Control of wake vortex street behind
a square cylinder using surface traveling waves. In: 70th Annual Meeting of the APS Division
of Fluid Dynamics, Bulletin of the American Physical Society, Colorado, USA (2018)
5. Chen, W.L., Xin, D.B., Xu, F., Li, H., Ou, J.P., Hu, H.: Suppression of vortex-induced vibration
of a circular cylinder using suction-based flow control. J. Fluids Struct. 42, 25–39 (2013)
6. Assi, G.R.S., Bearman, P.W., Kitney, N.: Low drag solutions for suppressing vortex-induced
vibration of circular cylinders. J. Fluids Struct. 25, 666–675 (2009)
7. Apelt, C.J., West, G.S.: The effects of wake splitter plates on bluff-body flow in the range 104
< R < 5 × 104 . Part 2. J. Fluid Mech. 71, 145–160 (1975)
8. Roshko, A.: On the wake and drag of bluff bodies. Aeronaut. Sci. 22, 124–132 (1955)
9. Ali, M.S., Doolan, C.J., Wheatley, V.: Low Reynolds number flow over a square cylinder with
a splitter plate. Phys. Fluids 23, 33602 (2011)
10. Dash, S.M., Lee, T.S., Lim, T.T., Huang, H.: A flexible forcing three dimension IB–LBM
scheme for flow past stationary and moving spheres. Comput. Fluids 95, 159–170 (2014)
11. Dash, S.M., Lee, T.S.: Two spheres sedimentation dynamics in a viscous liquid column. Com-
put. Fluids 123, 218–234 (2015)
12. Dash, S.M., Lee, T.S., Huang, H.: Natural convection from an eccentric square cylinder using a
novel flexible forcing IB-LBM method. Numer. Heat Transf. Part-A: Appl. 65, 531–555 (2014)
13. Benzi, R., Succi, S., Vergassola, M.: The lattice Boltzmann equation: theory and applications.
Phys. Rep. 222, 145–197 (1992)
14. Farhadi, M., Sedighi, K., Fattahi, E.: Effect of a splitter plate on flow over a semi-circular
cylinder. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part G: J. Aero. Eng. 224, 321–330 (2010)
15. Balachandar, S., Mittal, R., Najjar, F.M.: Properties of the mean recirculation region in the
wakes of two-dimensional bluff bodies. J. Fluid Mech. 351, 167–199 (1997)
Numerical Analysis of Wall Shear Stress
Parameters of Newtonian Pulsatile Blood
Flow Through Coronary Artery
and Correlation to Atherosclerosis
Abdulrajak Buradi and Arun Mahalingam
Abstract The formation of atherosclerosis mainly depends on local hemodynamic

blood flow parameters. The spatial and temporal variation of hemodynamic blood
flow parameter is considered as an important factor for atherogenesis. The lami-
nar, Newtonian pulsatile blood flow is considered for hemodynamic analysis of the
idealized non-stenosis human coronary artery. To model and study the relationship
between relative residence time (RRT), time-averaged wall shear stress (WSS) vec-
tor (TAWSSV), oscillatory shear index (OSI), and time-averaged WSS (TAWSS) the
computational fluid dynamics technique are used. The study shows that higher OSI
values are predicted at lower TAWSS and TAWSSV. At the low TAWSS areas the
RRT attains a higher value, the region with high RRT correlates with atherosclerotic
lesions on the artery wall. The local differences between RRT, OSI, and WSS mag-
nitude may help to find predominantly where the atherosclerotic lesion progresses
and develops at specific locations of the artery.
Keywords Computational fluid dynamics · Coronary artery · Time-averaged wall

shear stress · Relative residence time · Oscillatory shear index
1 Introduction
In the world, the leading causes of deaths are mainly due to the diseases that affect
the human circulatory system [1]. Worldwide annually cardiovascular diseases, such
as myocardial infarction are responsible for millions of deaths (7.8 million) and
disabilities (58 million) [2]. The several studies on biomedical engineering in the past
two decades have confirmed the correlation exists between flow field conditions and
various hemodynamic factors which are commonly responsible for atherosclerosis
A. Buradi · A. Mahalingam (B)

Multiphase Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National
Institute of Technology Karnataka, Mangalore Surathkal, Srinivas Nagar, 575025, Karnataka,
India
e-mail: m.arun1978@gmail.com
A. Buradi
e-mail: arbnitk@gmail.com

108 A. Buradi and A. Mahalingam
development [3, 4]. In arteries, the high oscillatory shear stress and low wall shear
stress (WSS) areas are subjected for creating flow stagnation and secondary flows that
represent the favorable locations where atherosclerosis is generally occurred [3–6].
The transport of various macromolecules and different hemodynamic parameters like
RRT, TAWSS, and OSI in the arterial system are responsible factors for endothelial
wall dysfunction [7]. The localization of atherosclerosis takes place preferentially at
regions where the flow is either disturbed or slow, at curvatures, branches [3, 8, 9],
and where WSS gradients are low. The complex wall geometry and pulsating nature
of flow in the human arterial system promote flow disturbances and lead to temporal
and spatial variations in WSS during the cardiac cycle [10]. The low WSS and high
OSI are the two important biomarkers used in locating atherosclerosis in arteries.
The oscillation and residence time of various macromolecules spent at the
endothelium wall is indicated by OSI and RRT, are the crucial biomarkers for local-
ization of atherosclerosis [11]. Also, the high OSI and low WSS causes thickening
of the arterial interior wall and thereby causing atherosclerosis [8]. The recent hemo-
dynamic studies have shown the stimulation of platelet aggregation is mainly due
to amplified RRT and high OSI of blood flow and finally, it leads to the formation
of thrombosis, also the sites of higher RRT level is associated with the existence of
atherosclerosis and stent thrombosis [12, 13]. In the present study, CFD the tech-
nique is used for modeling the geometrical and physical characteristics of various
WSS-based hemodynamic parameters coronary artery by considering the blood as a
Newtonian fluid.
2 Materials and Methods
2.1 Model Construction
The modeling of the realistic patient-specific artery is very difficult to recreate due to
its complex geometry, inner structures, and difficulty in obtaining real-world patient
data. Hence, the current study considers the ideal geometrical model of the coronary
artery. The model is simulated in Ansys design modeling software. The diameter of
the artery is considered to be 2 mm. Figure 1 shows the idealized coronary artery
model.
2.2 Boundary Conditions
The inflow pulsatile velocity profile with a pulse period of 0.75 s shown in Fig. 2 was
applied at the inlet, obtained from Berne and Levy [14]. The outflow and “no-slip”
condition were applied at the outlet and wall of the artery, respectively. During peak
systole phase the Reynolds number attains a maximum value of 410 at the inlet.
Numerical Analysis of Wall Shear Stress Parameters of Newtonian … 109
Fig. 1 Idealized curved coronary artery model
Fig. 2 The inflow pulsatile

velocity profile at an artery
inlet [14]
2.3 Computational Mesh
The ANSYS ICEM CFD commercial software [15] is used to create the mesh. The
mesh was generated with the robust scheme. The final mesh consists of 516,000
elements and a prism mesh was created with four layers (having a growth rate of
1.2) to analyze the blood flow characteristics close to the wall. The Fig. 3 shows the
computational mesh used for the study. At the inlet and outlet, the artery length was
extended by five times the vessel diameter to ensure a smooth entry.
Fig. 3 3D computational mesh for idealized coronary artery

2.4 Governing Equations
The blood flow analysis was performed using Newtonian, laminar, and incompress-
ible fluid [16]. The rheological parameters with a blood density of 1060 kg/m3 and
a viscosity of 0.00345 Pas were applied [16]. In coronary arteries, the blood flow is
governed by the Navier–Stokes equation as shown in Eqs. (1, 2) [17]. The SIMPLE
algorithm is used to solve pressure-velocity coupling and simulations are carried still
convergence criterion is achieved. The incompressible flow equations are as follows:
Continuity Equation. The continuity equation in a general form based on con-
servation of mass is written as
∇ ·−
→
v =0 (1)
Momentum Equation. The general form of momentum equation based on the

momentum conservation principle (Newton’s 2nd law) is written as
∂−
→
+ ρ−
→
v · ∇−
→
v = −∇ p + μ∇ 2 −
→
v
ρ v (2)
∂t
To ensure statistical convergence or periodicity, the blood flows transient simu-
lations were carried out using the second-order implicit time-stepping method with
a fixed time step of 0.01 s for four cardiac cycles (3 s). Also, it is noticed that the
results showed exact periodicity after the first cardiac cycle. So for the analysis, the
data are taken from the second cardiac cycle.
2.5 Hemodynamic Variables
The WSS is the most significant fluid dynamics factor commonly used in the hemo-
dynamic analysis, which affects vessel remodeling. On endothelial cells, the WSS
components possibly have different effects. In arteries, the endothelial cells align
themselves in the direction of the flow which can be determined by the local WSS.
The actual shear stress applied to the wall is
T
1 ∂vt
WSS = μ
T ∂ dt (3)
n
0
The cumulative effects of WSS for one cardiac cycle can be measured by using
TAWSS and is expressed as follows:
T
1
TAWSS = |WSS|dt (4)
T
0
where |WSS|—WSS magnitude in Pa, T—the time period of one cycle in Sec. Related
to the wall of the artery TAWSSV is the transient blood flow property, is defined as
T

1
TAWSSV = WSSdt (5)
T
0
Related to blood flow oscillation, OSI is a mechanical factor that monitors the
alterations between TAWSSV and TAWSS values. The OSI is a hemodynamic factor
related to oscillation flow, which monitors the differences between TAWSS and
TAWSSV values. For one cardiac cycle using the values of TAWSS and TAWSSV
the OSI explains the deflection of WSS vector from the main direction of blood flow.
Throughout one cardiac cycle, the intensity of WSS oscillation can vary from 0 to
0.5 and the departure of local WSS from its time-averaged value is represented by
OSI and is calculated as [18]
⎛ ⎞
T

⎜ WSSdt ⎟
⎜ 0 ⎟
OSI = 0.5 × ⎜⎜1.0 − T
⎟
⎟ (6)
⎝ |WSS|dt ⎠
0
The flow pulsatility gives rise alone and is insensitive to WSS magnitude. The
pulsatile nature of flow may or may not affect by low WSS.
At inlet for similar pulsatile blood flow conditions, the OSI exhibits the same
oscillatory flow at a very slow rate. Thus, some information concerning the pulsatile
blood flow condition is missed by OSI and it requires little modification to effectively
capture the regions of atheromatic flow, i.e., high OSI and low WSS at the same
location of the arterial system. For this purpose, Hamburg et al. [11] introduced the
parameter called RRT to identify effectively the locations of the artery wall which are
subjected to a stationary flow and to overcome the difficulties of OSI. The parameter
RRT is defined as
RRT = [(1 − (2 × OSI)) × TAWSS]−1 (7)
The arterial wall is more prone to infiltrate macromolecules and cells where the
RRT is higher which is measured in Pa−1 . The OSI at a given section of endothelium
modifies the TAWSS effects on the RRT. Hence the RRT is an important parameter
which embraces the effects of both OSI and TAWSS by which it gives an indication
of the regions prone to infiltration.
2.6 Model Verification
The accuracy of the numerical model used in the present work is examined by com-
paring the model numerical results with the analytical results. The model verification
also considers the sensitive analysis of different input parameters to the computa-
tional model.
Grid Independence. The three different meshes with 258,000 (coarse), 516,000
(medium), and 774,000 (fine) mesh elements were selected for grid independence
study. This study was carried out by equating the maximum WSS at 0.55 s, i.e., at
peak systole. The details of mesh independence study by providing maximum WSS
for different mesh volumes is tabulated in Table 1. Table 1 also gives the details of
maximum WSS percentage change as the number of mesh elements increases.
Time-step Independence. Table 2 gives the details of a time-independence study
carried with time 0.05, 0.01, and 0.005 s that corresponds to a number of time steps of
15, 75, and 150 per cardiac cycle (0.75 s), respectively. Table 2 gives the comparison
and details of maximum WSS and its percentage change as the number of time steps
increases at peak systole (0.55 s) during one cardiac cycle.
The flow of blood in coronary arteries is highly pulsatile and having high forward flow
in diastole and backward flow in systole. The study results focus on four important
factors TAWSS, TAWSSV, RRT, and OSI. All the results were collected and plotted
for one cardiac cycle.
Table 1 Grid independence study

Verification study Mesh volumes Max WSS (Pa) Change in Max WSS (%)
Mesh independence study 258,000 (coarse) 41.36 14
516,000 (medium) 46.33 3.8
774,000 (fine) 48.18 –
Table 2 Time-step independence study

Verification study Time step (s) No of time steps Max WSS (Pa) Change in Max
WSS (%)
Time-step 0.05 15 42.89 8
independence 0.01 75 46.33 2
study
0.005 150 47.25 –
Fig. 4 TAWSS contours for the idealized coronary artery system from pulsatile flow computations.
The arrow represents low TAWSS region at the curvature
3.1 Time-Averaged WSS
The time-averaged WSS is an important hemodynamic parameter applied to the wall.

Figure 4 shows the TAWSS (Pa) contours and its distribution along the entire length of
the idealized model of curved coronary artery system. The TAWSS value varies along
the length of the artery between 1980 Pa and 89,900 Pa. The contours of TAWSS
show the high value of TAWSS that is attained at the upper part of the curved region
of blood flow while the low value of TAWSS is attained at the downstream part of the
curved region of blood flow. This is mainly because of the increase in flow rate that
expands the extent of recirculation region as well, in order that the TAWSS changes
in direction but modulus of TAWSS remains quite low. Furthermore, the variations in
TAWSS throughout the cardiac cycle strongly depend on the geometry of the artery.
At all time, low TAWSS is a major aspect contributing to the development and onset
of atherosclerosis.
3.2 Time-Averaged WSS Vector
The time-averaged WSS vector is a transient flow of stuff related to the wall. Figure 5
shows the contours and distribution of time-average WSS vectors along the entire
length of the artery. The TAWSS vector along the artery varies from 1230 Pa to
88,300 Pa. The value of TAWSSV is less as compared to TAWSS. The distribution
Fig. 5 Time-averaged WSS vector contours for the idealized coronary artery system from pulsatile
flow computations
of low TAWSSV is found more in the downstream region of curved blood flow. The
high value of RRT and OSI is found in the region of low TAWSSV.
3.3 Oscillatory Shear Index
The OSI is a hemodynamic parameter related to flow oscillation, which reveals the
overall WSS vector oscillation from its mean direction during the cardiac cycle.
Figure 6 represents the contours of OSI distribution throughout the artery system. In
vascular flows, the OSI varies from 0 to 0.5 during the cardiac cycle, in which values
of 0 and 0.5 specify regions with no reverse and a purely high oscillatory nature of
the flow, respectively. The OSI value in an idealized artery system varies from 0.003
to 0.190. The values of high OSI are encountered at low WSS regions, i.e., at lower
downstream part of the curved artery where the fluid is trapped due to the presence
of wide recirculation region in lower part of the curvature as in Fig. 6. The growth
and development of thrombosis takes place in the areas of high oscillatory flow. The
region of the high value of TAWSS and TAWSSV shows low OSI in that region and
the value of lower OSI is advanced more at the upper region of the curved artery.
Fig. 6 OSI contours for the idealized coronary artery system from pulsatile flow computations.
The arrow represents high OSI at low TAWSS regions at the curvature
3.4 Relative Residence Time
The RRT is an important hemodynamic parameter which includes the effects of

TAWSS and OSI. The RRT is used to measure the relative time spent by the fluid
in the vicinity of a certain area. Also, the penetration of macromolecules to the
subendothelial surfaces is estimated by the RRT.
Figure 7 represents typical RRT contours of idealized curved coronary artery
system, whereas the relation between RRT and TAWSS is shown in Fig. 8. The RRT
of vascular blood flow through the arterial system attains a high value in the regions
where TAWSS is low. The high values of RRT appear in the same location as the
OSI at curvature region of the artery.
The high distribution of RRT conveys information about TAWSS and it is useful
in identifying and locating both low and oscillating shear stresses. Therefore, RRT
is a potential biomarker for locating the possible regions prone to atherosclerosis.
3.5 Time-Averaged WSS, Time-Averaged WSS Vector Versus

OSI
Figures 9 and 10 represent the typical relationship between OSI and TAWSSV, OSI,
and TAWSS throughout the entire artery surface. The high value of OSI is attained in
regions where the magnitude of TAWSSV is low as shown in Fig. 9. Also, the high
value of OSI is coexisting with low TAWSS as shown in Fig. 10.
Fig. 7 Relative residence time contours for the idealized coronary artery system from pulsatile
flow computations. The arrow represents high RRT at low TAWSS regions at curvature
Fig. 8 RRT versus TAWSS

(Pa) of the idealized
coronary artery system
In general, high OSI and low TAWSS are considered to be vulnerable factors
to intimal thickening. It is superficial that as the TAWSS and TAWSSV decreases
the OSI increases. The TAWSS and TAWSSV relation indicate clearly WSS vector
oscillation in regions of low TAWSSV, also in the areas of low TAWSS less than
1.6–2 Pa.
Fig. 9 OSI versus TAWSS

vector (Pa) of the idealized
Fig. 10 OSI versus TAWSS

(Pa) of the idealized
4 Conclusions
The spatial distribution and the relation between various hemodynamic characteris-
tics TAWSS, TAWSSV, RRT, and OSI are examined by using numerical techniques.
The higher OSI values are predicted at lower TAWSS and TAWSSV, mainly due to
the velocity vector oscillation and alter its direction at the same time. The high OSI
and low TAWSS are the two factors responsible for arterial intimal thickening. The
high distribution of RRT in the areas of low TAWSS conveys the information related
to TAWSS and is very useful in locating and identifying both high and low oscillating
shear stresses. Therefore, the RRT is emerging as a potential biomarker for finding
the possible regions of atherosclerosis. The local differences between RRT, OSI, and
WSS magnitude may help to find predominantly where the atherosclerotic lesions
progress and develop at specific areas of the artery.
References
1. Huang, J., Lyczkowski, R.W., Gidaspow, D.: Pulsatile flow in a coronary artery using multiphase
kinetic theory. J. Biomech. 42(6), 743–754 (2009)
2. World Health Organization: The world health report 2002: reducing risks, promoting healthy
life. World Health Organization (2002)
3. Caro, C.G., Fitz-Gerald, J.M., Schroter, R.C.: Arterial wall shear and distribution of early
atheroma in man. Nature 223(5211), 1159–1161 (1969)
4. Caro, C.G., Fitz-Gerald, J.M., Schroter, R.C.: Atheroma: a new hypothesis. BMJ 2(5762), 651
(1971)
5. Davies, P.F.: Flow-mediated endothelial mechanotransduction. Physiol. Rev. 75(3), 519–560
(1995)
6. Gimbrone Jr., M.A., García-Cardeña, G.: Vascular endothelium, hemodynamics, and the patho-
biology of atherosclerosis. Cardiovasc Pathol 22(1), 9–15 (2013)
7. Ethier, C.R.: Computational modeling of mass transfer and links to atherosclerosis. Ann.
Biomed. Eng. 30(4), 461–471 (2002)
8. Malek, A.M., Alper, S.L., Izumo, S.: Hemodynamic shear stress and its role in atherosclerosis.
JAMA 282(21), 2035–2042 (1999)
9. Ross, R.: Atherosclerosis—an inflammatory disease. N. Engl. J. Med. 340(2), 115–126 (1999)
10. Soulis, J.V., Fytanidis, D.K., Papaioannou, V.C., Giannoglou, G.D.: Wall shear stress on LDL
accumulation in human RCAs. Med. Eng. Phys. 32(8), 867–877 (2010)
11. Himburg, H.A., Grzybowski, D.M., Hazel, A.L., LaMack, J.A., Li, X.M., Friedman, M.H.:
Spatial comparison between wall shear stress measures and porcine arterial endothelial per-
meability. Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. 286(5), H1916–H1922 (2004)
12. Xue, Y., Liu, X., Sun, A., Zhang, P., Fan, Y., Deng, X.: Hemodynamic performance of a new
punched stent strut: a numerical study. Artif. Organs. 40(7), 669–677 (2016)
13. Do, H., Owida, A.A., Yang, W., Morsi, Y.S.: Numerical simulation of the haemodynamics in
end-to-side anastomoses. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Fluids 67(5), 638–650 (2011)
14. Berne, R.M., Levy, M.N.: Cardiovascular Physiology. Mosby (1967)
15. Fluent, A.N.S.Y.S.: 14.5, theory guide. Ansys. Inc., Canonsburg (2012)
16. Johnston, B.M., Johnston, P.R., Corney, S., Kilpatrick, D.: Non-Newtonian blood flow in human
right coronary arteries: steady state simulations. J. Biomech. 37(5), 709–720 (2004)
17. Anderson, J.D., Wendt, J.: Computational fluid dynamics, vol. 206. McGraw-Hill, New York
(1995)
18. Buchanan Jr., J.R., Kleinstreuer, C., Truskey, G.A., Lei, M.: Relation between non-uniform
hemodynamics and sites of altered permeability and lesion growth at the rabbit aorto-celiac
junction. Atherosclerosis 143(1), 27–40 (1999)
Effect of Thickness of Porous Layer
on Thermo-Hydraulic Characteristics
and Entropy Generation in a Partially
Porous Wavy Channel
Debayan Bhowmick, Pitambar R. Randive and Sukumar Pati
Abstract The present study discusses the effect of thickness of porous layer,
Reynolds number and Darcy number on the thermo-hydraulic transport and entropy
generation characteristics for flow through a partially porous wavy channel. The walls
of the channel are heated under constant heat flux conditions. Brinkman–Forchhemier
model has been employed to model the porous medium. The results reveal that the
average Nusselt number and pressure drop increase with the thickness of porous
layer and Darcy number. It is observed that the entropy generation decreases with
the increase in Darcy number and thickness of porous layer.
Keywords Darcy number · Porous layer thickness · Nusselt number · Reynolds

number
Nomenclature
CP Heat capacity at constant pressure (J/kg K)

D Diameter of channel (m)
Da Darcy Number (dimensionless)
F Inertia coefficient (dimensionless)
hp Thickness of porous layer (H p /D)
hv Thickness of void region (H v /D)
K Permeability (m2 )
k Thermal conductivity (W/m K)
Lc Length of corrugated channel (dimensionless)
D. Bhowmick · P. R. Randive (B) · S. Pati

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Silchar, Silchar, India
e-mail: kp691975@gmail.com
D. Bhowmick
e-mail: debayanbhowmick2012@gmail.com
S. Pati
e-mail: sukumarpati@gmail.com

120 D. Bhowmick et al.
Nu Nusselt number (dimensionless)

p1 Pressure in porous region (Pa)
p2 Pressure in void region (Pa)
P1 Dimensionless pressure in porous regime
P2 Dimensionless pressure in void regime
Pe Peclet number (dimensionless)
Pr Prandlt number (dimensionless)
Re Reynolds number (dimensionless)
T in Inlet Temperature (K)
U 1, V 1 Dimensionless x and y component of velocity in porous regime
U 2, V 2 Dimensionless x and y component of velocity in void regime
Greek Symbols
ε Porosity (dimensionless)
θ 1, θ 2 Dimensionless temperature in porous and void regime, respectively
ρ Density (kg/m3 )
μ Dynamic viscosity (Pa s)
λ Heat capacity ratio (dimensionless)
1 Introduction
In the modern era, the heat transfer comes up with two major challenges, cooling
of the equipment incorporated with high thermal heat flux and optimization of the
size of the equipment. It is well established that the presence of porous layer in the
boundary layer flow enhances the heat transfer by promoting either sensible or latent
heat due to high thermal conductivity, high surface area, and better mixing ability.
In addition to that the complex geometrical configuration also helps to increase
heat transfer by convective transport and mixing of laminar inflow. Furthermore,
the presence of wall undulation increases the vorticity and the swirl intensity in
laminar flow which leads to enhanced mixing and disruption of boundary layer [1–
3]. As a result, the enhancement of heat transfer occurs near the wall of the wavy
channels. This has attracted the attention of scientific community to focus their
attention on understanding the effect of partially or fully filled porous structure with
different geometrical configurations and external effects on the thermo-hydraulic
characteristics.
Most of the earlier studies have been devoted to investigate the effect of free and
porous media flow. Akbarzadeh and Maghrebi [4] has investigated the combined
effect of wall corrugation and porous insertion on the thermo-hydraulic performance
and heat transfer enhancement. They have reported significant enhancement of heat
Effect of Thickness of Porous Layer on Thermo-Hydraulic … 121
transfer with the increase in the wall amplitude. Furthermore, the best performance
has been observed for the least thickness of the porous layer irrespective of Darcy
number. Nojoomizadeh et al. [5] numerically investigated the effect of porosity and
permeability on slip velocity and heat transfer rate by using Fe-water nanofluid in
a half-filled microchannel. They reported that the low permeability of the porous
medium increases the heat transfer from the void space, whereas it decreases in the
porous layer zone. Furthermore, the slip velocity in the porous layer also decreases
with permeability but the reverse trend is observed for free-flow regime. Ashorynejad
and Zarghami [6] investigated the consequence of magnetic field on partially filled
porous channel. They also considered Cu-water nanofluid as investigating fluid. They
showed that the presence of magnetic field enhances the flowability of the fluid in
porous region. Furthermore, they have concluded that the higher volume fraction of
nanofluid leads to higher heat transfer rate. Heat transfer enhancement in a sinusoidal
porous channel incorporated with porous obstacles has been numerically investigated
by Nazari and Toghraie [7]. They stated that the Darcy number and Reynolds number
have significant effect on the heat transfer characteristics. Barnoon and Toghraie [8]
studied the heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics in a porous medium for a non-
Newtonian nanofluid. They have opined that the Nusselt number increases abruptly
with the porous layer thickness.
In spite of all the works delineated above, the effect of porous thickness, Reynolds
number and Darcy number on the thermo-hydraulic characteristics and entropy gen-
eration for flow through a wavy channel equipped with partially filled porous medium
have not been studied so far. Hence, the present work is undertaken.
2 Problem Statement
The fluid flow through a partially porous wavy channel subjected to constant wall
heat flux is analyzed as shown in Fig. 1. The wall of the corrugated channel can be
expressed as
q"
Uin hp
D Outlet
Tin hv
q"
D 8D D
Fig. 1 Schematic of computational domain


f (x) = A 2 sin 2π nx L c (1)
where A = D/3, n = 4, and L c = 8D. The amplitude of wall undulation and channel
width are kept constant during investigation. The half upper channel (hp ) is filled
with porous medium and the rest of channel is void space (hv ). The fluid enters the
channel with a uniform temperature and velocity of T in and U in, respectively. The
walls of the channel are subjected to constant heat flux, q . The flow is assumed to
be steady, incompressible, and 2-dimensional and the fluid is Newtonian. Further, it
is assumed that all the thermo-physical properties are constant.
3 Numerical Formulation
3.1 Governing Equation
The governing equations in the porous layer can be described in dimensionless form
as follows:
Continuity Equation.
∂U1 ∂ V1
+ =0 (2)
∂X ∂Y
Momentum Equations.

∂U1 ∂U1 ∂ P1 1 ∂ 2 U1 ∂ 2 U1 U1 F
U1 + V1 =− + + − −√ |U1 |U1
∂X ∂Y ∂X Re ∂ X 2 ∂Y 2 Da Re Da
(3)
2
∂ V1 ∂ V1 ∂ P1 1 ∂ V1 ∂ V1
2
V1 F
U1 + V1 =− + + − −√ |U1 |V1
∂X ∂Y ∂Y Re ∂ X 2 ∂Y 2 Da Re Da
(4)
Energy Equation.

∂θ1 ∂θ1 1 ∂ 2 θ1 ∂ 2 θ1
U1 + V1 = + (5)
∂X ∂Y Pe ∂ X 2 ∂Y 2
The governing equations for the void region can be expressed in dimensionless
form as
Continuity Equation.
∂U2 ∂ V2
+ =0 (6)
∂X ∂Y
Momentum Equations.

∂U2 ∂U2 ∂ P2 1 ∂ 2 U2 ∂ 2 U2
U2 + V2 =− + + (7)
∂X ∂Y ∂X Re ∂ X 2 ∂Y 2
2
∂ V2 ∂ V2 ∂ P2 1 ∂ V2 ∂ 2 V2
U2 + V2 =− + + (8)
∂X ∂Y ∂Y Re ∂ X 2 ∂Y 2
Energy Equation.

∂θ2 ∂θ2 1 ∂ 2 θ2 ∂ 2 θ2
U2 + V2 = + (9)
∂X ∂Y Pe ∂ X 2 ∂Y 2
The transformed boundary conditions used to solve the governing equations are
summarized as follows.
Channel Inlet.
U1,2 = 1, V1,2 = 0, θ1,2 = 0 (10)
Bottom and Upper Wall.
U1,2 = 0, V1,2 = 0, θ1,2 = 1 (11)
Outlet.
∂U1,2 ∂ V1,2 ∂θ1,2
= 0, = 0, =0 (12)
∂X ∂X ∂X
The following dimensionless parameters and variables are used in the governing
Eqs. (2)–(9) and boundary conditions (10)–(12).
u1 v1 u2 v2 K ( p1 − p0 )
U1 = , V1 = , U2 = ,V = , Da = 2 , P1 = ,
u in u in u in 2 u in D (ρu 2in )
( p2 − p0 ) (T − Tin ) μu 2in T0 1.75
P2 = , θ1,2 = , φ = ,F = √ (13)
(ρu in )
2
(q D keff )
q D(q D keff ) 150ε3
Note that the heat capacity ratio and the effective thermal conductivity are based
on the local thermal equilibrium between solid and fluid within the porous medium.
The following expressions define the effective thermal conductivity (k eff ) and heat
capacity ratio (λ) for the porous medium.
keff = (1 − ε)ks + εk f (14)
(ρC P )porous
λ = ε + (1 − ε) (15)
(ρC P )fluid
At the interface, continuity in the variables and their flux are taken.
∂U1 ∂U2 ∂θ1 ∂θ2

U1 = U2 , V1 = V2 , μeff = μf , θ1 = θ2 , −keff = −k f (16)
∂n ∂n ∂n ∂n
3.3 Thermo-Hydraulic Analysis
The local Nusselt number along the wall of the channel can be evaluated by using
following expression:
hD
Nu = (17)
k
where h denotes local heat transfer coefficient given by
q
h= (18)
(T − Tin )
The average Nusselt number can be expressed as
L
Nudx
0
Nu = (19)
L
Total average Nusselt number

NuBottom wall + NuUpper wall
NuTotal = (20)
2
3.4 Entropy Generation
Thermal Entropy generation.

2 2 2 2
∂θ1 ∂θ1 ∂θ2 ∂θ2
SThermal = + + + (21)
∂X ∂Y ∂X ∂Y
Viscous Entropy generation.

∂U1 2 ∂ V1 2 ∂U1 ∂ V1 2 φ 2
SViscous =φ 2 + + + + U + V12
∂X ∂Y ∂Y ∂X Da 1

∂U2 2 ∂ V2 2 ∂U2 ∂ V2 2
+φ 2 + + + (22)
∂X ∂Y ∂Y ∂X
where φ is the irreversibility distribution function for the current problem which is
considered as 10−2 .
Global Thermal Entropy generation.
S global ,Thermal SThermal d V

(23)
V
Global Viscous Entropy generation.
S global ,Viscous SViscous d V (24)

V
Total Entropy generation.
STotal = Sglobal,Thermal + Sglobal,Viscous (25)
4 Numerical Solution Methodology and Model Validation
The governing Eqs. (2)–(9) along with the boundary conditions as already discussed
are numerically solved using finite element method. An extensive grid independence
test has been carried out. The relative convergence criterion for residuals is set to 10−6 .
For partially porous wavy channel, four different grid systems have been considered
as shown in Table 1 which indicates the average Nusselt number corresponding to
each mesh.
Table 1 Grid independence

Mesh No of elements Nu Difference (%)
test for corrugated surface
M1 7416 2.9961 3.3458
M2 10,814 2.9492 1.7281
M3 31,750 2.9005 0.0483
M4 78,692 2.8991 0
Fig. 2 a Velocity profile in wavy porous channel for Da = 0.01 & 0.001. b Local Nusselt number
along the top hot wall of the channel for Da = 0.01 & 0.001
It is observed from Table 1 that the relative difference is less than 1% for grid
system with 31,750 elements and accordingly grid size with 31,750 elements has
been considered for the simulation with corrugated surface, respectively. We first
ensured the correctness of the numerical code by comparing the results of the present
simulations for the flow-through wavy channel with the similar work carried out by
Ashorynejad and Zarghami [6] as shown in Fig. 2. The comparison of the variation
of mean streamwise velocity U and local Nusselt number for two different Darcy
numbers with the corresponding results reported in the literature [6] shows a good
agreement which validates the methodology adopted herein.
Numerical simulations are performed for incompressible, 2-D, laminar and steady
flow through a partially porous wavy channel. The effect of thickness of porous layer
on the thermo-hydraulic transport and entropy generation is analyzed. Investigations
are carried out for a range of Reynolds number (Re = 25, 75, 125, and 175) and Darcy
number (Da = 0.1 and 0.001). The results in the form of streamlines, average Nus-
selt number, pressure drop, and entropy generation are presented in the subsequent
sections.
(a) Da = 0.1 (d) Da = 0.001
(b) (e)
(c) (f)
Fig. 3 Streamline distribution for different thicknesses of porous layer (a) and d hp = 0.75, b and
e hp = 0.50, c and f hp = 0.25 at Re = 175
5.1 Streamlines
Figure 3 shows the streamline distribution for Da = 0.1 and Da = 0.001, respectively
for different porous layer thickness. It can be seen that the area of recirculation zone
increases with decrease in the porous layer thickness (hp ). It is interesting to note that
the porous layer acts more like a solid body which in turns forestall the fluid flow in the
porous regime (hp ) at higher Darcy number (Da). Furthermore, the denser streamlines
are observed with decreasing Darcy number from 0.1 to 0.001 irrespective of various
thickness of porous layer. The interaction between the surface corrugation and the
main flow results in more recirculation area near the corrugated wall.
5.2 Average Nusselt Number
Figure 4a, b shows the variation of average Nusselt number (N u) for Da = 0.1 and
0.001, respectively. The average Nusselt number increases with Reynolds number
(Re) irrespective of the Darcy number.
One can observe that a substantial increase in heat transfer is observed when
Darcy number decreases from Da = 0.1–0.001 for hp = 0.75 at Re = 175. However,
this increment reduces to 33.33% at Re = 25. This underlines the fact that heat
transfer depends strongly on Reynolds number as well as Darcy number. Moreover,
the average Nusselt number increases with the thickness of the porous layer as more
amount of fluid pass through the porous region thereby resulting in increase in heat
transfer. It is observed from Fig. 4 that the rate of heat transfer is higher at Da =
0.001 than Da = 0.1. This is justified since the velocity gradient is higher at lower
Darcy number. The highest N u is obtained when hp = 0.75 at Re = 175, whereas
the lowest one is for hp = 0.25 at Re= 25 irrespective of Darcy number.
Fig. 4 Variation of average Nusselt number with Re for a Da = 0.1 and b Da = 0.001
5.3 Pressure Drop
It is well established that the intensification of heat transfer requires more pumping
power. Therefore, it is evident that the higher heat transfer occurs in the expense of
higher pressure drop (P* = P1 + P2 ). Figure 5 shows the variation of P* either Re
for Da = 0.1 and 0.001, respectively. It can be seen that the maximum pressure drop
occurs at hp = 0.75 irrespective of all Reynolds number.
Minimum pressure drop is obtained at low Re followed by a gradual increment.
The difference of P* between hp = 0.25 and 0.5 is nearly same at low Reynolds
number (Re = 25) and the same increases thereafter gradually with Re. However, it
is interesting to note that the similar trend is not observed for hp = 0.75. A sharp
increment of pressure drop is observed with the increase in Re for higher thickness
of porous layer (hp = 0.75) for both Darcy numbers. The pressure drop is found to
be relatively higher at Da = 0.001 irrespective of thickness of porous layer. Further,
the difference of P* between hp = 0.25 and 0.75 is more at lower Darcy number at
Re = 175.
Fig. 5 Variation of pressure drop with Re for a Da = 0.1 and b Da = 0.001

Fig. 6 Variation of total entropy generation with Re for a Da = 0.1 and b Da = 0.001
5.4 Entropy Generation
Minimum entropy generation is always desirable for any thermal system and hence,
the study is carried out to gain insight on the entropy generation at different thick-
nesses of porous layer. Figure 6 shows the variation of total entropy generation due
to thermal and frictional irreversibilities in the undulated channel.
It can be observed that the porous layer with higher thickness (hp = 0.75) gives
the lower entropy generation. The peak value of the entropy generation reaches when
hp = 0.25 irrespective of Darcy number. Minimum entropy generation is observed
at low Reynolds number (Re = 25) followed by a sharp increment up to Re = 75.
The increase in entropy generation continues beyond Re = 75 but at lesser pace. It is
interesting to observe that there is a sudden fall in total entropy generation especially
at Re = 175. This decrement at Re = 175 is found to be slightly more in case of
lower Darcy number, i.e., Da = 0.001. However, one can conclude that there is
not much significant variation with the change in the Darcy number which implies
that permeability of porous medium does not have significant effect on the entropy
generation.
6 Conclusions
Numerical investigations have been carried out to study the effect of thickness of
porous layer on the thermo-hydraulic characteristics and entropy generation in a
partially porous wavy channel under constant heat flux conditions. The effects of
Darcy number, Reynolds number and thickness of porous layer on the fluid flow, heat
transfer, and entropy generation characteristics are studied. Some notable conclusions
are listed below.
• At higher Darcy number, the porous zone becomes more permeable to fluid flow
resulting increase inflow.
• The higher thickness of porous layer results in enhanced heat transfer rate.
• The average Nusselt number increases with Reynolds number (Re) irrespective of
the Darcy number. The peak value of Nusselt number is obtained at hp = 0.75 and
Re = 175 irrespective of Darcy number.
• The lower Darcy number results in higher pressure drop which is similar to the
one observed in the case of Nusselt number.
• The maximum pressure drop is found for the thickness of porous layer = 0.75
irrespective of permeability of porous medium and Reynolds number whereas the
least total entropy generation occurs at hp = 0.75 at Re = 25.
• The present work can be extended by varying the amplitude and wavelength of
the channel.
References
1. Pati, S., Mehta, S.K., Borah, A.: Numerical investigation of thermo-hydraulic transport charac-
teristics in wavy channels: comparison between raccoon and serpentine channels. Int. Commun.
Heat Mass Transfer 88, 171–176 (2017)
2. Shubham, Saikia, A, Dalal, A, Pati, S.: Thermo-hydraulic transport characteristics of non- New-
tonian fluid flows through corrugated channels. Int. J. Thermal Sci. 129, 201–208 (2018)
3. Mehta, S.K., Pati, S.: Analysis of thermo-hydraulic performance and entropy generation char-
acteristics for laminar flow through triangular corrugated channel. J. Therm. Anal. Calorim.
(2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-018-7969-1
4. Akbarzadeh, M., Maghrebi. M.J.: Combined effects of corrugated walls and porous inserts on
performance improvement in a heat exchanger channel. Int. J. Thermal Sci. 127, 266–276 (2018)
5. Nojoomizadeh, M., Karimipour, A., Firouzi, M., Afrand, M.: Investigation of permeability and
porosity effects on the slip velocity and convection heat transfer rate of Fe3 O4 /water nanofluid
flow in a microchannel while its lower half filled by a porous medium. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf.
119, 891–906 (2018)
6. Ashorynejad, H.R., Zarghami, A.: Magnetohydrodynamics flow and heat transfer of Cu-water
nanofluid through a partially porous wavy channel. Int. J. Heat. Mass. Transf. 119, 247–258
(2018)
7. Nazari, S., Toghraie, D.: Numerical simulation of heat transfer and fluid flow of Water-CuO
Nanofluid in a sinusoidal channel with a porous medium. Physica E 87, 134–140 (2017)
8. Barnoon, P., Toghraie, D.: Numerical investigation of laminar flow and heat transfer of non-
Newtonian nanofluid within a porous medium. Powder Technol. 325, 78–91 (2018)
Computational Study of Slot Jet
Impingement Heat Transfer
on a Combined Dimpled and Protruded
Concave Surface
Alankrita Singh and B. V. S. S. S. Prasad
Abstract Numerical simulations are performed to explore heat transfer characteris-

tics of jet impingement on dimpled and protruded concave surface. Many researchers
have found that protrusions and dimples act as turbulent promoters which enhance jet
impingement cooling. The protrusions increase the weight whereas dimples increase
the stress. Therefore, proper combination and arrangement of dimples and protru-
sions are necessary to enhance impingement heat transfer. In the present study, a
constant temperature of 335 K is applied at the backside of a concave surface while
the top surface is cooled by impinging air. Calculations are done for various combi-
nations and arrangement of dimples and protrusions of different dimensions over a
concave surface. It is observed that a particular arrangement of dimples and protru-
sions lead to high augmentation in heat transfer compared to dimples or protrusions
alone. Also, the higher dimension of dimples/protrusions degrades impingement heat
transfer.
Keywords Impingement cooling · Concave surface · Numerical simulation ·

Dimple · Protrusion
Nomenclature
cp Coefficient of pressure (dimensionless)

G Generation of turbulent kinetic energy (kg/m s3 )
H Jet-to-plate distance (m)
k Turbulent kinetic energy (m2 /s2 )
SST Shear Stress Transport
T Temperature (K)
x, y, z Cartesian coordinates (m)
A. Singh (B) · B. V. S. S. S. Prasad

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai 600036, India
e-mail: alankrita_92@rediffmail.com
B. V. S. S. S. Prasad
e-mail: prasad@iitm.ac.in
132 A. Singh and B. V. S. S. S. Prasad
Q Amount of heat transferred (W)

Y Dilation dissipation term (kg/m3 s)
y+ Non-dimensional distance (dimensionless)
Greek symbols
ρ Density (kg/m3 )
∇ Difference
ω Specific dissipation rate (s−1 )
μ Dynamic viscosity (kg/m s)
θ Angle between center of plate to center of protrusion/dimple (°)
Subscripts
i Component along x-direction

j Component along y-direction
k Component along z-direction
tot Total
u, v, w Component of velocity along x, y, and z direction (m/s)
1 Introduction
Impingement cooling is incorporated in various practical applications. One of its

common applications is cooling of gas turbine blades. Many investigators have
conducted an experimental and computational study on impingement cooling over
smooth flat and concave surfaces. In contrast, impingement cooling over a rough
surface is rare.
Gau and Lee [1] studied the effect of triangular ribs by varying rib height to width
ratio on impingement cooling over a flat surface. Ekkad and Kontrovitz [2] obtained
a reduction in heat transfer with the inclusion of dimples over a flat plate. Similarly,
work by Kanokjaruvijit and Martinez-Botas [3] indicate an enhancement in heat
transfer because of an increase in cross-flow velocity.
Contrary to this, Azad et al. [4] investigated impingement heat transfer with a
cylindrical dimpled target surface. They concluded from their investigation that dim-
pled surface enhances heat transfer due to an increased surface area.
Wright et al. [5] investigated the effect of ribs in slot jet impingement cooling.
Xing et al. [6] noted a 9.6% heat transfer enhancement due to microribs. Similarly,
Zhang et al. [7] found heat transfer enhancement due to the inclusion of protrusions.
Computational Study of Slot Jet Impingement Heat Transfer … 133
Table 1 Percentage augmentation in heat transfer

References Impingement surface Rough surface ∇ Q (%)
[5] Trailing edge Protrusion −7.89 to 8
[6] Flat Microribs 9.6
[7] Flat Protrusion 0.2–13.04
[8] Trailing edge Dimple/protrusion 23.7–31.2
[9] Tube Protrusion 14–56
[11] Microchannel Dimple −4.2 to 17.6
Shen et al. [8] investigated the effect of dimples/protrusions in a narrow trailing

edge cooling channel. They recorded an enhancement of heat transfer by 23.7–31.2%
with the use of dimples.
Kumar et al. [9] carried out experiments in a protruded heat exchanger tube.
They noticed decrement in heat transfer with an increase of streamwise spacing of
protruded insert due to fewer disturbances in widely spaced protrusions.
Computational study of jet impingement heat transfer on a patterned surface was
performed by Dobbertean and Rahman [10]. Their results show recirculation in space
between ribs and disturbance of the thermal boundary layer when the fluid interacts
with an abrupt change in geometry. They also concluded from their investigation that
the geometry of ribs plays a major role in impingement heat transfer.
Huang et al. [11] conducted a study on the effect of the dimple on thermal per-
formance. Later rib-dimple compound cooling was developed by Choi et al. [12].
This was further followed by Singh and Ekkad [13] using V-shaped ribs and dimples.
All of them observed the highest heat transfer by the compound channels. Table 1
gives obtained percentage of augmentation in heat transfer with respect to smooth
impingement surface by various researchers.
It can be observed from the foregoing discussion that impingement heat transfer
is mostly carried out either on a dimpled surface or protruded surface. Investigation
on combined dimples and protrusions can be only found in a compound channel. To
the best of authors’ knowledge, number work can be found on combined dimples and
protrusions over a concave surface which represents the leading edge of a gas turbine
blade. Therefore, the present work focuses on evaluating and comparing different
combinations of dimples and protrusions over a concave surface.
2 Numerical Model
Two-dimensional steady-state simulations are carried out using Fluent 16.1. Because
of symmetry and number variation in temperature along the axial direction of the
concave plate during slot jet impingement cooling, the problem is modeled in two-
dimensional space.
Two dimensional uniformly heated (335 K) semi-circular concave plate (D =

160 mm, material-Aluminum) is cooled by perpendicular air jet impingement by
a slot of 2 mm width. The concave plate is smooth and the same computation is
repeated with the inclusion of dimples and protrusions over the concave plate. The
simulations are performed for gap ratio of 3 at Reynolds number of 6470 with differ-
ent arrangements and combinations of dimples and protrusions as given in Table 2.
Cases with prefix “a” correspond to 2 mm diameter of dimples/protrusions whereas
the cases with prefix “b” denote similar computational model with the diameter of
3 mm.
For all the cases considered the working fluid is air coming out of the slot jet
at velocity and temperature of 48.75 m/s and 300 K, respectively. The flow is fully
developed with the turbulent intensity of 5% and turbulent viscosity of 10.
The governing equations used for the present computational study are the
Reynolds averaged continuity momentum and energy equations. The flow is assumed
to be steady and incompressible with constant properties. Viscous dissipation and
buoyancy effects are neglected. The governing equations are the following:
∇ · (ρu) = 0 (1)
Momentum equation:
1
(u · ∇)u − ∇ p + υ∇ 2 u = 0 (2)
ρ
Energy equation:
ρc p (u · ∇T ) − k∇ 2 T = 0 (3)
Turbulent kinetic energy (k) equation:

∂ ∂ ∂k
(ρku i ) = Γk + Ḡ k − Yk + δk (4)
∂ xi ∂x j ∂x j
Specific dissipation equation:
Table 2 Details of dimples and protrusions

Case no. Location of protrusions Location of dimples
smooth – –
a1, b1 ±(10°, 30°, 50°, 70°) 0°, ±(20°, 40°, 60°, 80°)
a2, b2 0°, ±(20°, 40°, 60°, 80°) ±(10°, 30°, 50°, 70°)
a3, b3 ±(15°, 45°, 75°) 0°, ±(30°, 60°)
a4, b4 0°, ±(30°, 60°) ±(15°, 45°, 75°)

∂ ∂ ∂w
(ρwu i ) = Γw + Ḡ w − Yw + Dw + δw (5)
where Γk = μ + μσut , Γw = μ + σμwt.

The above equations are solved by pressure-based solver by using second-order
upwind scheme for discretization. For pressure-velocity coupling, Semi-Implicit
Method for Pressure-Linked Equation (SIMPLE) algorithm is used. The convergence
of solution is considered when sum of the normalized residuals fall below 10−4 for
momentum, continuity, and turbulence equations and 10−7 for energy equations.
Figure 1 shows a computational model and mesh used in the present study. The
upper boundary of the domain is placed far from the point of impingement to avoid
solution fluctuations [14]. The boundary conditions for various numerical simulations
are given in Table 3.
finer mesh
Fig. 1 Computational model used in the present study

Table 3 Details of boundary conditions

S. N. Location Variables Value
1 Velocity inlet Temperature 300 K
Reynolds number 6470
2 Target concave plate Constant temperature 335 K
3 Slot jet wall Heat flow Insulation
4 Outlet Constant pressure Pressure outlet
70
60
Average Nusselt number
50
40
SST k-w
30 Exp. of Yang et al. [15]

Standard k-ϵ
20
4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000
Reynolds number
Fig. 2 Validation of the present study
2.1 Validation
The present numerical model is validated with the experimental results of Yang et al.
[15] for gap ratio of 3 at several values of Reynolds number. Turbulence models
standard k- and SST k-ω were used and compared with the experimental results of
Yang et al. [15] as shown in Fig. 2. Although all the turbulence models followed the
same trend but SST k-ω model matched with a higher convergence of 10−4 with the
experimental results. This is in accordance with results of Kumar and Prasad [16]
that SST k-ω model is a better predictive model for jet impingement studies on a
concave surface. The slight deviation between experimental results and numerical
data may have come because of round off and experimental errors.
2.2 Grid Dependent Test
Different sets of mesh were chosen to carry out the grid independence study as
shown in Fig. 3. It can be seen from the graph that simulation on the grid with nodes
1.75 lakhs show grid independence for combined dimpled and protrusion concave
surface.
1600
Total amount of heat

1400
transferred (W) 1200
1000
800
50000 100000 150000 200000
Number of nodes
Fig. 3 Grid dependency test
3.1 Effect of Heat Transfer with the Change in Surface Area
Figure 4 shows the variation of amount of the heat transferred with the change
in surface area of smooth and combined dimpled and protrusion concave plate. It
can be inferred from the graph that increase in surface area may not necessarily
enhance heat transfer. A similar surface area may lead to the different amount of heat
transfer depending on the arrangements of dimples and protrusions. For example, the
surface area corresponding to 264 mm2 gives two different heat transfer values-1539
and 1595 W. Similarly, the surface area corresponding to 280 mm2 gives 1176 and
1945 W. This suggests certainly favorable modification in jet flow that occurs with
the particular arrangement of dimples and protrusions which promotes heat transfer
augmentation.
2000
Amount of heat transferred
1800
1600
(W)
1400
1200
1000
250 255 260 265 270 275 280 285
Surface area of concave plate (mm)
Fig. 4 Variation of heat transfer with respect to surface area of plate

3.2 Effect of Heat Transfer with Alternate Location

of Dimples and Protrusions
Figure 5(i) and (ii) shows local variation of heat transfer for cases-a1 and a2, respec-
tively. It is found that protrusion at center of plate helps in achieving higher average
as well as stagnation values of heat transfer. In spite of same surface area for both the
cases, higher heat transfer is attributed by case-a2 due to decrease in jet-to-plate dis-
tance because of inclusion of protrusion at center of the plate which reduces chance
of jet spreading away from the plate. Stagnation heat transfer of case-a2 is higher
by 42.8 and 81.8% when compared to cases-a1 and smooth, respectively. This also
shows that inclusion of dimple/protrusion at center of the plate helps in stagnation
heat transfer augmentation.
8000
smooth
case a1
6000
(W)
4000
2000
0
-0.08 -0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08
Distance along concave plate (m)
(i) Case-a1
10000
8000 smooth
case a2
6000
(W)
4000
2000
0
-0.08 -0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08
Distance along the concave plate (m)
(ii) Case-a2
Fig. 5 Local variation of heat transfer for cases-a1 and a2

3.3 Effect of Heat Transfer by Varying Pitch Between

Dimples and Protrusions
Figure 6(i) and (ii) shows relative comparison between cases-a1, a3 and cases-a2,
a4, respectively. It is seen that higher pitch between dimples/protrusions enhances
heat transfer when the protrusion is present at the center of the plate (average heat
transfer for case-a3 > case-a2). However, the stagnation heat transfer values remain
unchanged with the variation of pitch between dimples and protrusions.
Velocity streamlines for cases-a2 and a4 are shown in Fig. 7(i) and (ii), respec-
tively. It is seen that a large vortex is formed near the exit of outlet of case-a2 which
prevents hot fluid to come out after impinging the heated plate. This leads to circula-
tion of same hot fluid inside the domain. No such vortex is seen in case-a4 attributing
to higher heat transfer values as given in Fig. 7(ii).
8000
Amount of heat transferrsed
case a1
6000 case a3
(W)
4000
2000
0
-0.08 -0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08
(i) Cases-a1 and a3
10000
case a2
8000 case a4
6000
(W)
4000
2000
0
-0.08 -0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08
(ii) Cases-a2 and a4
Fig. 6 Comparison of local variation of heat transfer for cases-a1, a3 and cases-a2, a4
(i) Case-a2
(ii) Case-a4
Fig. 7 Velocity streamlines

3.4 Effect of Heat Transfer by Varying Dimension of Dimples

and Protrusions
Previous cases are again simulated by altering the diameter of the dimples and pro-
trusions over the plate from 2 to 3 mm. It was expected that increasing dimension
of dimples/protrusions will improve heat transfer because of increase in available
surface area for heat transfer, but the reverse happened. This occurrence is because
of the formation of vortices near the plate forcing slower recirculation and decreasing
heat transfer as shown in Fig. 8.
However, larger dimensions of dimples/protrusions always enhance stagnation
heat transfer values as shown in Fig. 9. This is obvious because the larger dimension
of dimples/protrusions reduces jet-to-plate distance.
Fig. 8 Velocity streamlines for case-b4

(i) Cases-a1 and b1
(ii) Cases-a2 and b2
(iii) Cases-a3 and b3
(iv) Cases-a4 and b4
Fig. 9 Local variation in heat transfer with change in dimension of dimples/protrusions

Table 4 Percentage of augmentation in heat transfer

Case no. ∇ Q (%) Case no. ∇ Q (%)
a1 −0.25 b1 −24.30
a2 1.64 b2 25.07
a3 −1.01 b3 0.84
a4 2.56 b4 0.96
3.5 Percentage of Augmentation in Heat Transfer
Percentage of augmentation in heat transfer for all cases is calculated with respect
to the smooth concave surface according to the following equation:
Q tot − Q smooth
∇Q = (6)
Q smooth
Table 4 shows the percentage of augmentation in heat transfer for all cases. It
can be inferred from the table that proper arrangement of dimple and protrusion is
necessary to achieve high impingement heat transfer. Some arrangements of dim-
ples/protrusions may lower heat transfer values. Among all cases considered the
highest heat transfer augmentation is given by case-b2.
4 Conclusions
Numerical simulations are carried out for slot jet impingement heat transfer over
a smooth and combined dimpled and protruded concave plate for leading edge of
a gas turbine blade. It is observed that dimples and protrusions are always helpful
in stagnation heat transfer augmentation but may not necessarily enhance average
heat transfer compared to the smooth plate. For the same surface area of combined
dimpled and protrusive plate, the overall value of heat transfer may vary depending
on the location of dimples and protrusions over the plate. Often protrusion at center
of the plate promotes higher heat transfer compared to dimple at the center of plate.
This is due to reduction in jet-to-plate distance because of inclusion of protrusion at
the center. Higher pitch and lower dimensions of dimples and protrusions promote
augmentation in heat transfer depending on the strength of recirculation. However,
more detailed computation is required to generalize this statement.
References
1. Gau, C., Lee, I.C.: Flow and impingement cooling heat transfer along triangular rib roughened
walls. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 43(24), 4405–4418 (2000)
2. Ekkad, S.V., Kontrovitz, D.: Jet impingement heat transfer on dimpled target surfaces. Int. J.
Heat Fluid Flow 23(1), 22–28 (2002)
3. Kanokjaruvijit, K., Martinez-Botas, R.F.: Heat transfer and pressure investigation of dimple
impingement. Trans. ASME J. Turbomach. 130, 1–11 (2008)
4. Azad, G.S., Huang, Y., Han, J.-C.: Impingement heat transfer on dimpled surfaces using a
transient liquid crystal technique. J. Thermophys. Heat Transf. 14(2), 186–193 (2000)
5. Wright, L.M. and Gohardani, A.S.: Effect of coolant ejection in rectangular and trapezoidal
trailing edge cooling passages. In: Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo: Power for Land, Sea
and Air-GT2008-50414, Berlin, Germany, 9–13June, pp 399–408 (2008)
6. Xing, Y., Spring, S., Weigand, B.: Experimental and numerical investigation of impingement
heat transfer on a flat and micro-rib roughened plate with different crossflow schemes. Int. J.
Therm. Sci. 50(7), 1293–1307 (2011)
7. Zhang, D., Qu, H., Lau, J., Chen, J., Xie, Y.: Flow and heat transfer characteristics of single jet
impinging on protrusioned surface. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 58, 18–28 (2013)
8. Shen, Z., Xie, Y., Zhang, D.: Experimental and numerical study on heat transfer in trailing
edge cooling passages with dimples/protrusions under the effect of side wall slot ejection. Int.
J. Heat Mass Transf. 92, 1218–1235 (2016)
9. Kumar, P., Kumar, A., Chamoli, S., Kumar, M.: Experimental investigation of heat transfer
enhancement and fluid flow characteristics in a protruded surface heat exchanger tube. Exp.
Therm. Fluid Sci. 71, 42–51 (2016)
10. Dobbertean, M.M., Rahman, M.M.: Numerical analysis of steady state heat transfer for jet
impingement on patterned surfaces. Appl. Therm. Engg. 103, 481–490 (2016)
11. Huang, X.M., Yang, W., Ming, T.Z., Shen, W.Q., Yu, X.F.: Heat transfer enhancement on a
microchannel heat sink with impinging jets and dimples. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 112, 113–124
(2017)
12. Choi, E.Y., Choi, Y.D., Lee, W.S., Chung, J.T., Kwak, J.S.: Heat transfer augmentation using
a rib-dimple compound cooling technique. Appl. Therm. Engg. 51(1–2), 435–441 (2013)
13. Singh, P., Ekkad, S.: Experimental study of heat transfer augmentation in a two-pass channel
featuring V-shaped ribs and cylindrical dimples. Appl. Therm. Engg. 116, 205–216 (2017)
14. Perneix, S., Behnia, M., Durbin, P.A.: Predictions of turbulent heat transfer in an axisymmetric
jet impinging on a heated pedestal. Trans. ASME J. Heat Transf. 121, 43–49 (1999)
15. Yang, G., Choi, M., Lee, J.S.: An experimental study of slot jet impingement cooling on concave
surface: effects of nozzle configuration and curvature. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 42, 2199–2209
(1999)
16. Kumar, B.V.N.R., Prasad, B.V.S.S.S.: Computational flow and heat transfer of a row of circular
jets impinging on a concave surface. Heat Mass Transf. 44, 667–678 (2008)
Numerical Study of Coaxial Evacuated
Tube Collector with Nano-fluid
B. R. Tamuli, Sujit Nath and Dipankar Bhanja
Abstract In this paper, a numerical model of a coaxial evacuated tube solar collec-
tor was presented. Due to the coaxial arrangement, a nonlinear temperature profile
was obtained in which the peak temperature is not always at the outlet. Nano-fluid,
a promising new material with enhanced heat transfer properties, is employed as
working fluid. For this purpose alumina–water nano-fluids are used. A parametric
study was performed to study the impacts of certain input conditions. The results
obtained are in well agreement with the literature showing higher rise in temperature
in low mass flow rates.
Keywords Evacuated tube collector · Coaxial tube · Single phase · Nano-fluid
Nomenclature
C Specific heat of fluid (J/kg K)

D Diameter of the pipe (m)
h Heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)
k Thermal conductivity of fluid (W/m °C)
P Pressure (Pa)
S Body force due to gravity (N)
T Temperature (K)
V Velocity field (m/s)
B. R. Tamuli (B) · S. Nath · D. Bhanja

e-mail: tamulibhaskarranjan@gmail.com
S. Nath
e-mail: sujitnath2008@gmail.com
D. Bhanja
e-mail: dipankar.bhanja@gmail.com

146 B. R. Tamuli et al.
Greek Symbols
ρ Density (kg/m3 )
φ Volume fraction (dimensionless)
Subscripts
h Hydraulic
f Fluid or water
m Momentum
nf Nano-fluid
s Solid nanoparticle
1 Introduction
Solar collectors provide a useful and convenient way of harnessing the thermal energy
from solar radiation. Flat plate collectors have robust constructional and operational
features but in recent times evacuated collectors are becoming popular as it allows
to operate in higher temperature ranges [1].
U-pipe configuration and coaxial pipe configuration are two popular arrangements
in ETC. In U-pipe configuration, one U-shaped pipe is inserted inside the vacuum
tube through which the working fluid flows while in case of coaxial pipe, U-pipe is
replaced with an annular pipe which promotes simultaneous heat interaction between
outlet and inlet fluid. Several works have been done on U-pipe on its performance
and parameters by Gao et al. [2] and other researchers. Coaxial type evacuated tube
collectors are explored somewhat less compared to U-pipe arrangements. Badar et al.
[3] investigated a coaxial ETC for its performance using water as working fluid.
Parfait et al. [4] presented the temperature curves of a coaxial vacuum tube where
air is used as working fluid. They reported that air temperature reached maximum of
117 °C but not at the outlet of the collector.
Use of nano-fluid is often employed to enhance thermal behavior. Mahbubul et al.
[5] reported that 10% enhancement in efficiency using SWCNT nano-fluid in an
ETC. Other nanoparticles like alumina also provide good result in solar collectors
as reported by Hawwash et al. [6].
A numerical study on coaxial evacuated tube collector using alumina nano-fluid
is presented here. The solar thermal energy extraction system performances depend
on several input conditions in which this study aims to investigate.
Numerical Study of Coaxial Evacuated Tube Collector … 147
2 Mathematical Model
A two dimensional steady, laminar, incompressible flow with no-slip condition is

assumed for ETC. The physical phenomenon is described using governing equations
which are discretized and solved by numerical method.
2.1 Model and Problem Statement
A 2-D model was created to resemble actual case and is depicted in the Fig. 1
Parfait et al. [4] analyzed a similar model with air as working fluid. In the present
investigation, a parametric study was conducted to study the temperature profile of
the working fluid inside the collector using alumina–water nano-fluid. The input
parameters under the study were solar irradiance, input fluid temperature, and mass
Fig. 1 Geometrical model

and equivalent thermal
network
Table 1 Specification of the ETC Parafait et al. [4]

Material Parameters Value
Glass Tube (Borosillicate) Density 2.23 g/cm3
Normal reflectivity 0.04
Outer glass tube Diameter (external) 58 mm
Thickness 2 mm
Transmissivity 0.92
Emissivity 0.9
Inner glass tube Diameter (external) 42 mm
Thickness 2 mm
Emissivity (outward) 0.35
Absorption coefficient 0.9
Emissivity (inward) 0.08
Inlet pipe Diameter 23 mm
Thickness 1.5 mm
Conductivity 401 W/m K
Emissivity 0.03
Length 1550 mm
Length of vacuum tube 1800 mm
flow rate. For analysis of the system the collector was tilted at an angle of 25° with
the horizontal which is equal to the latitude of Silchar, India.
The geometrical and thermo-physical properties of the evacuated tube are given
in Table 1.
The governing equation describing the physical processes of the fluid and heat trans-
fer are given below.
Mass conservation equation
−
→
∇ · (ρ V ) = 0 (1)
Momentum conservation equation

−
→− → −
→
∇ · (ρ V V ) = −∇ P + ∇ · (μ∇ V ) + Sm (2)
Energy equation
−
→
∇ · (ρ V C pT ) = ∇ · (k∇T ) (3)
where V, P, and T stand for velocity, pressure, and temperature field and ρ, µ, and
C p represent the density, dynamic viscosity, and specific heat of the nano-fluid. The
term S m takes care of the body force due to gravity.
The boundary conditions are as follows:
At inlet: u = ui , v = 0, and T = T i
At outlet, P = Patm
At other boundaries, no-slip condition is assumed.
Assumptions
1. Steady-state condition is assumed.

2. All thermo-physical properties are considered constant.
3. The vacuum inside the tube is high enough so that convective heat transfer
inside the ETC is negligible.
4. Nano-fluid is a homogeneous mixture.
5. Nanoparticle and base fluid are in thermal equilibrium.
6. There is no slip between nanoparticle and base fluid.
Thermo-physical properties of nano-fluid
Single-phase approach was assumed for the calculation of the properties of nano-
fluid, which considers the fluid as a continuous medium. The following equation was
employed to evaluate the properties of nano-fluid.
Effective density for nano-fluid
ρnf = (1 − φ)ρ f + φρs (4)
Effective heat capacity is given by
(ρC p)nf = (1 − φ)(ρC p) f + φ(ρC p)s (5)
Maxwell Garnet model which is the most widely used among researchers for
thermal conductivity as used by Hawwash et al. [6]
ks + 2k f − 2φ(k f − ks )
knf = k f (6)
ks + 2k f + φ(k f − ks )
For alumina nanoparticle, Pak and Cho [7] proposed a corelation for the calcula-
tion of viscosity
μnf = μ f (1 + 39.11φ + 533.9φ 2 ) (7)
The heat transfer coefficient can be calculated from the common formula
Table 2 Thermo-physical properties of alumina and water [9]

Al2 O3 Water (at 298 K)
Thermal conductivity (W/m °C) 39 0.607
Density (kg/m3 ) 3970 997.1
Specific heat (J/kg K) 775 4180
Viscosity (Pa s) – 0.0008891
h = N u ∗ knf /Dh (8)
For Laminar flow inside the pipe a corelation was proposed by Xuan and Li [8]
N u = 0.4328(1 + 11.285φ 0.754 Pe0.218 )Re0.333 Pr 0.4 (9)
where the formulae for Reynolds No. (Re) and Prandtle No. (Pr) are given as
ρv D
Re = (10)
μ
μC p
Pr = (11)
k
The thermo-physical properties of alumina [9] are given in Table 2.
3 Numerical Formulation
The problem statement for this particular study was formulated as—to study the
variation of temperature along the length of flow path of the fluid in the collector
under the influence of different input conditions mainly irradiance level, inlet tem-
perature, and mass flow rate. Numerical approach was undertaken for the solution
of governing equation. Finite element method was employed for discretization of
governing equations. The choice of 36,601 number of grid points was selected after
an appropriate grid independency test.
3.1 Grid Independency Test
Grid independency test was performed to obtain an optimized grid system in terms of
computational time and accuracy. For this purpose, six grid systems are compared to
find out optimum mesh system. The six mesh systems M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, and M6
that contain 32945, 33727, 35312, 36601, 37826, and 38958 number of grid points,
Fig. 2 Variation of Nu and

temperature difference with
different mesh systems
Table 3 Grid independency test

Grid system No of element Nu Temperature difference (°C)
M1 32945 2.38 3.27754
M2 33727 2.4004 3.2355
M3 35312 2.4274 3.20358
M4 36601 2.4326 3.19445
M5 37826 2.4378 3.19292
M6 38958 2.4474 3.19194
respectively, are compared. The grid independency test was performed at Re = 100
in all the cases and the variation of average Nusselt No. (Nu) and the temperature
difference between the inlet and outlet is observed for the abovementioned mesh
systems. From Fig. 2 it was seen that up to point M4, there is rapid change in the
values of the parameters. But beyond the point of M4, the parameters are changing
in negligible amount and hence M4 mesh system, i.e., 36601 number of element
provides the point of grid independency (Table 3).
3.2 Model Validation
The developed model was simulated using air in a vertical position and the results
were compared with findings of Parfait et al. [4] which have the same physical model
as the present study. The simulated result performs with satisfactory accuracy when
compared to the reference result. The average error is found to be 4.11% which is
quite satisfactory.
The simulations were performed for different parameters to evaluate the behavior
under different conditions. The study includes the variation of the temperature along
the length of the collector for different insolation levels, different inlet temperatures of
the working fluid and different mass flow rates. The mass flow rates are characterized
by Reynolds No. The temperature was plotted on y axis against the specific distance
from inlet on x axis. In all the results, a nonlinear temperature profile appears which
is due to the geometry of the collector. The coaxial geometry enables simultaneous
heat transfer in glass to outlet pipe and outlet pipe to inlet pipe. Water–alumina nano-
fluid having volume concentration of 5% is used as working fluid and hence another
study compares the heat transfer characteristics of water and the nano-fluid. All the
simulation were performed for one tube (Fig. 3).
Figure 4 shows the Nu variation of two working fluid water and alumina nano-
fluid at Re = 100. The solid and dashed line represents the local Nu for water and
developed model with data
of Parfait et al. [4]
Fig. 4 Variation of Nu of
water and alumina nano-fluid
Fig. 5 Variation of
temperature profiles for three
different insolation levels at
Re = 100 and inlet
temperature 20 °C for
water–alumina nano-fluid
nano-fluid, respectively. The average enhancement of the Nu for the use of nano-fluid
is 4.13%. The marginal improvement in the Nu is predominantly due to low Re as Nu
is directly dependent on Re. Though marginal, the improvement proves the utility of
alumina nano-fluid over water as a heat transfer fluid.
Figure 5 represents the comparison of temperature profile for different insolation
levels. The simulated result for three different insolation of 300, 700, and 1000 W/m2
resemble cloudy, sunny, and fully sunny day, respectively. The Re in all three cases
are 100 and inlet temperature is kept constant at 20 °C. As shown in Fig. 5 the
temperature starts rising in the inlet pipe due to heat transfer from outer pipe to
inner pipe in a nonlinear fashion and at the end of inlet pipe, the flow the direction
reversed and the fluid starts receiving heat from the outside insolation or the heat
from the glass tube. The variation is reflected more sharply at higher insolation level
and higher outlet temperature was achieved with increasing insolation level.
Figure 6 shows the simulated temperature profile for three different inlet tem-
peratures 10, 20, and 30 °C at solar irradiation level of 1000 W/m2 and Re = 100.
The temperature profile follows the same trend in all the three cases with average
increment of approximately 3 °C in fluid temperature. This observation leads to the
inference that successive flow of the fluid in successive evacuated tubes connected in
series result into the rise of fluid temperature in the multiplication of temperature rise
in one evacuated tube. However literature suggests that at higher inlet temperature,
the thermal efficiency reduces which means the capacity of the fluid to carry heat
reduces slightly, i.e., the temperature rise in the last tube is less than the temperature
rise in the first tube. So, there can be an optimum number of evacuated tube collectors
for best possible result.
The following Fig. 7 shows the variation due to mass flow rate characterized by
Re. It shows the temperature profile at Re = 50, 100 and 200 at solar insolation
1000 W/m2 and for inlet temperature of 20 °C. The profile is nonlinear and the
rise in temperature is gradually increasing with lower mass flow rate which is in
accordance with Badar et al. [3]. In the curve representing Re = 50, the maximum
temperature point is situated inside of the outlet pipe and not at the outlet which is
Fig. 6 Variation of
different inlet temperatures
at Re = 100 and insolation
1000 W/m2
Fig. 7 Variation of
different mass flow rates or
Re at insolation 1000 W/m2
and inlet temperature 20 °C
due to simultaneous equal heat transfer between the glass tube to outlet and outlet to
inlet pipe. So, it is evident that in case of coaxial arrangement the peak temperature
point is shifting toward inside of the outlet which is prominently seen in case of low
mass flow rate or Re.
The following Fig. 8 depicts the Nu number variation with increased mass flow
rate. The simulations were performed for Re = 50,100, and 200 at solar insolation
level 1000 W/m2 . The gradual increment of the curve proves the direct relationship
of Nu with Re. However, at higher mass flow rates, the rise in temperature falls and
hence there exist a mass flow rate where both rise in temperature and heat transfer
give an optimum result.
Fig. 8 Average Nusselt

number variation for
different Re for nano-fluid
5 Conclusions
The study focusses on coaxial arrangement of solar collector and the performance
with a nano-fluid which is a relatively unexplored area compared to other fields of
solar collector. The model was developed to describe the simultaneous heat transfer
process between the glass tubes and working fluid in the outlet and inlet pipe as
well. The parametric study was conducted through simulations to assess the effects
of different input conditions. The simulated results show that nano-fluid provides a
better replacement of water as heat transfer fluid as it boasts of superior heat transfer
characteristics. It was also observed that the temperature of the fluid undergoes
nonlinear rise which is due to its geometrical construction. The temperature changes
are more prominent in lower mass flow rates which are in accordance with the
literature. The fluid can pass through successive evacuated tube in a series and the
rise in temperature increases according to the number of evacuated tube.
Future research can be performed in this very area by varying the concentration
of nanoparticle. Also, the impact of nano-fluid on the pressure drop and modified
pumping power requirement is another aspect that can be investigated further.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank TEQIP-III Cell, NIT Silchar for their support.
References
1. Sharma, N., Diaz, G.: Performance model of a novel evacuated-tube solar collector based on
minichannels. Sol. Energy 85, 881–890 (2011)
2. Gao, Y., Zhang, Q., Fan, R., Lin, X., Yu, Y.: Effects of thermal mass and flow rate on forced-
circulation solar hot water system: comparison of water-in-glass and U-pipe evacuated-tube
solar collectors. Sol. Energy 13, 290–301 (2013)
3. Badar, A.B., Buchholz, R., Ziegler, F.: Single and two-phase flow modeling and analysis of a
coaxial vacuum tube solar collector. Sol. Energy 86, 175–189 (2012)
4. Parfait, T., Pierres, N.L., Luo, L., Stevens, P.: Modelling of a Coaxial Vacuum Solar Tube
Collector. In: Proceedings of the 11th REHVA World Congress & 8th International Conference
on IAQVEC, Prague (2013)
5. Mahbubul, M., Khan, M.M.A., Ibrahim, N.I., Ali, H.M., Sulaiman, F.A.A., Saidur, R.: Carbon
nanotube nanofluid in enhancing the efficiency of evacuated tube solar collector. Renew. Energy
121, 36–44 (2018)
6. Hawwash, A.A., Rahman, A.K.A., Nada, S.A., Ookawara, S.: Numerical investigation and exper-
imental verification of performance enhancement of flat plate solar collector using nanofluids.
Appl. Therm. Eng. 130, 363–374 (2018)
7. Pak. B.C., Cho. Y.I.: Hydrodynamic and heat transfer study of dispersed fluids with submi-
cron metallic oxide particles. Exp. Heat Transf. 11(2), 151–170 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1080/
08916159808946559
8. Xuan, Y., Li, Q.: Investigation on convective heat transfer and flow features of nanofluids. J.
Heat Transf. 125, 151–155 (2003)
9. Tora, E.A.H., Moustafa, T.: Numerical simulation of an Al2 O3 -H2 O nanofluid as a heat transfer
agent for a flat-plate solar collector. Int. J. Sci. Eng. Res. 4(5), 762–774 (2013)
Materials and Manufacturing
Optimization of Microwave Power
and Reinforcement in Microwave-Cured
Coir/HDPE Composites
Manoj Kumar Singh, Nishant Verma, Nayan Pundhir, Sunny Zafar

and Himanshu Pathak
Abstract This research work focused on the effective manufacturing and character-
ization of natural fibre reinforced composites. High-density polyethylene (HDPE)
matrix and chopped coir fibre were used to fabricate coir/HDPE composite using
microwave energy. The effect of microwave power and wt% of fibre reinforcement
on resultant coir/HDPE composite was investigated for tensile and flexural behaviour.
The wt% of reinforcement was 10 and 15%. The microwave powers used for curing
were 360 and 720 W. The two-level factorial design was used to decide the number of
specimens to be fabricated. The analysis of results was done on Design-Expert V.10
software. Coir/HDPE composite cured at 360 W and coir reinforcement of 10 wt%
has the maximum tensile strength of 29.5 MPa. The maximum flexural strength
32.14 MPa reported was at 360 W and reinforcement of 15%. SEM of fractured
samples was studied to support the result.
Keywords Coir · Polyethylene · Microwave curing · Factorial design ·

Mechanical properties
1 Introduction
In the recent era. natural fibre reinforced polymer composites attracted much atten-
tion in the field of science, technology, medical and engineering applications [1,
2]. Composites are versatile in nature and can be used to solve different problems
related to renewability, recyclability, lightweight, abrasive, environmental pollutions
and biodegradability [3]. Natural fibre reinforced materials are best alternatives to
synthetic fibres for not only the cost point of view but also is better for environmental
concerns [4].
Natural fibre includes sisal, flax, jute, the coir, hemp and kenaf [5]. These fibres
consist of cellulose, pectin, lignin and hemicellulose. Pectin and hemicellulose con-
sist of wax, which adds the hydrophobic property to the fibre. For good interfacial
M. K. Singh (B) · N. Verma · N. Pundhir · S. Zafar · H. Pathak

School of Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, VPO Kamand, Mandi, Himachal
Pradesh 175005, India
e-mail: d16058@students.iitmandi.ac.in

160 M. K. Singh et al.
bonding between fibre and matrix, wax should be removed. For this purpose, vari-
ous surface treatments have been done by researchers to convert it to hydrophilic in
nature [6, 7].
Among all the natural fibres, coir fibre is less expensive and extensively used in
industrial applications [8]. The curing of polymer composites is generally done by
conventional heating methods, i.e. compression moulding, injection moulding and
resin transfer moulding. These conventional manufacturing processes take much time
and energy, hence increasing the overall production cost. Nowadays, microwave cur-
ing is becoming an emerging technology [9]. Microwave curing has certain advan-
tages as compared to conventional curing such as selective heating, volumetric heat-
ing, less curing time, saving energy and environment-friendliness [10]. In the current
scenario, the industries of thermoplastic are shifted toward cost-effective engineer-
ing composite by using different kinds of fibres. Polyethylene (PE) polymers are
most widely used in industries due to their superior toughness, negligible mois-
ture absorption capability and less coefficient of friction. The various types of PE
are High-Density Polymer Ethylene (HDPE) and Low-Density Polymer Ethylene
(LDPE). The resultant property of polymer composite depends upon the molecu-
lar weight of the polymer. The LDPE has long branches of polymer chains which
prevent molecules from closely packing together. This irregular packing leads to
low crystallinity. LDPE is flexible but has lesser compressive and tensile strength as
compared to HDPE [11]. There are numerous researchers from the last decades who
made the attempts to cure the natural fibre polymer composite by microwave energy
[4, 12–14].
The review of the literature shows that there has been less work reported on
microwave curing of HDPE/coir natural fibre composite. No work has been done
on the optimization of microwave power and reinforcement in microwave cured
coir/HDPE composites. Therefore, the objective of this study shows the effect of
microwave power and wt% of coir fibre on the mechanical properties of coir/HDPE
composite using the two-level factorial technique [15].
2 Material and Experimental Details
2.1 Raw Materials
In this research work, polyethylene (HDPE-50MA180) was purchased from Reliance

Industries Mumbai, India and coir were obtained from Go Green Products, Chennai,
India. The properties of coir fibre and HDPE are shown in Table 1. The selection of
coir fibre is because it is considered the strongest, cheaper and most durable among
all the natural fibres serving human utilities.
Optimization of Microwave Power and Reinforcement in Microwave … 161
Table 1 Physical and mechanical properties of coir fibre [8, 16]

Properties Density Tensile Tensile Elongation at Moisture
(g/m3 ) strength modulus break (%) absorption
(MPa) (GPa) (%)
HDPE 0.96 32 1.25 150 0.02
Coir 1.25 220 6 15–25 10
2.2 Fabrication of Composite
Before coir/HDPE composite fabrication, the coir was alkali treated in 10% NaOH
solution for 8 h. Alkali treatment was done to change the nature of coir from
hydrophobic to hydrophilic. Alkali treatment increases the wettability of the coir
fibre in the HDPE matrix; thus, the interfacial bonding between the coir and matrix
was increased. After alkali treatment, coir fibres were chopped manually in the range
of 5–10 mm.
The chopped coir and HDPE sheet were staked layer-wise in alumina mould.
The weight percentage of coir fibre and power of microwave were varied accord-
ing to the two-level full factorial design shown in Table 2. On the top surface of
the staked layers, alumina plate was placed to apply the pressure with the help
of dead weight, placed at the top of the industrial microwave applicator (Make:
VB ceramics, Chennai; Model: 700 °C Premium). Differential scanning calorime-
try analysis (DSC) (Make: NETZSCH, Germany; Model: STA 449 F1 Jupiter) was
carried out to find glass transition temperature (85 °C) and melting temperature
(180 °C) of HDPE as per ASTM D 3418. The temperature was monitored with
the help of an IR pyrometer mounted on the microwave applicator (Make: Raytek;
Model: RAYXRTG5SFA) through a 0.7 mm hole in the alumina pressure plate. The
flow chart for microwave curing of coir/HDPE composites is shown in Fig. 1. Final
dimensions of the microwave-cured composite were 9 × 2.2 × 0.3 cm3 , which were
fabricated according to DOE as shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Design of
Exp. Fibre (wt%) Power (W) Specimen code
experiments (DOE)
1 10 720 C1
2 10 360 C2
3 15 360 C3
4 15 720 C4
Fig. 1 Flow chart for microwave curing of coir/HDPE composites

2.3 Microwave Curing Mechanism
Microwaves are electromagnetic waves that generate heat within the material at the
atomic-level interaction [17]. These electromagnetic waves consist of the electric
field as well as magnetic field, perpendicular to each other. Generally, in metals,
microwave heating takes place due to magnetic field component and in non-metals,
electric field plays the role. The heating of non-magnetic material mainly depends on
the dielectric properties. The microwave-assisted heat generated in a non-magnetic
material mainly depends on two elements stated below.
(a) The dielectric consistency
(b) The loss element
These above factors can be expressed in the below equations [17]
Tan δ = ε /ε (1)
E ∗ = ε − iε (2)
Here, ε is the dielectric constant which denotes the entry of microwave inside the
material. ε is the loss factor which denotes the energy storing capacity of the material.
Tan δ is the tangent loss which denotes the heat conversion from the electromagnetic
waves.
3 Mechanical Testing and Characterization
The specimens were conditioned at 25 °C for 12 h before mechanical testing. ASTM

D3039 and ASTM D790 standards were followed to perform the tensile test and flex-
ural test, respectively, of microwave-cured coir/HDPE composites. Both tests were
carried out on a universal testing machine (Make: Tinius Olsen, United Kingdom,
Model: H50KS), having a uniform extension rate of 1 mm/min. To ensure repeata-
bility of the test data, five specimens of each type of composites were tested. The
results obtained during the mechanical testing are shown in Table 3. The obtained
results will be further discussed with the help of curves in Sect. 4. SEM (Make-FEI,
Table 3 Obtained results

Specimen code Tensile strength Flexural strength
(MPa) (MPa)
C1 26.4 ± 2 21.6 ± 1
C2 29.5 ± 2 25.2 ± 1
C3 25.8 ± 2 32.14 ± 2
C4 23 ± 1 27.4 ± 2
USA; Model-NOVA 450) was used to assess the mechanisms of failure in the tensile
fractured specimens.
4 Analysis of Results
4.1 Tensile Strength
Figure 2 shows the stress–strain curve of various microwave-cured composites. Spec-

imen C2 shows the maximum tensile strength (29.5 ± 2) and C4 shows the minimum
tensile strength of 23 ± 1. The reason behind this may be that composites cured at less
power (360 W) have more relaxation time for molecular oscillation in the external
electric field. Thus the interfacial bonding is better as compared to the C4 composite.
It can also be justified with the help of SEM analysis of the fractured specimen shown
in Fig. 3. In Fig. 3a, it is observed that the fibres are properly wetted in the matrix.
Figure 3b shows the rupture of matrix during tensile loading test.
Tensile model analysis. As power transformation method is used in this model,
i.e. y = (y + k)λ , where λ = 0.22 and linear model is selected for analysis. The
opted model was checked for their significance by analysis of variances (ANOVA)
as shown in Table 4. The input parameters, wt% of reinforcement and power are
coded as “A” and “B”, respectively in this research work.
From Table 4, the observed p-value is 0.0013, which is less than 0.05. It signifies
that the model is significant. The value of R2 is 0.9999; it is close to 1. The differ-
ence between predicated R2 and adjusted R2 is less than 0.2 which is desirable for
the model. The desirable value of adequacy of precision is 4, which measures the
signal-to-noise ratio. In the present case, this value is 182.072 which indicates an
Fig. 2 Tensile stress–strain

curve of various
microwave-cured composites
Fig. 3 SEM of the tensile-fractured specimen a C2, and b C4
Table 4 ANOVA for tensile model

Source Sum of dof Mean square F value p-value Percentage
squares prob > F contribution
Model 6.347E−3 2 3.17E−3 2.75E+5 0.0013
A 3.755E−3 1 3.75E−3 3.26E+5 0.0011 59.16
B 2.592E−3 1 2.59E−3 2.25E+5 0.0013 40.84
Residual 1.153E−8 1 1.15E−8
Cor total 6.347E−3 3
R2 —0.99; Adjusted R2 —0.99; Predicated R2 —0.99; Adequate precision—1206.4
adequate signal. From the ANOVA table, it is found that the % contribution of wt%
of reinforcement is 59.16%, which is greater than the contribution of power. The
regression equation obtained for tensile strength is shown in Eq. (3)
(Tensile Strength)0.22 = 2.279 − 0.012 × A − 1.414E − 4 × B (3)
The validation of the regression equation was done by predicted versus actual
graph as shown in Fig. 4.
It is observed that there is a reasonable agreement between the predicted value
and the actual value.
Effect on tensile strength. The effect of different variables on tensile strength
was studied by contour plots and 3D plots as shown in Fig. 5.
Figure 5a shows the contour plot of wt% of reinforcement and power versus
tensile strength. In the contour plot, red colour indicates the higher value and blue
colour indicates the lower value. At low power and minimum wt% of reinforcement,
tensile strength is higher. Tensile strength decreases at higher power and higher wt%
of reinforcement. Figure 5b shows the 3D plots of tensile strength versus power and
wt% of reinforcement. In 3D plots, it is shown that at higher power and high value
of reinforcement, tensile strength recorded was minimum.
Fig. 4 Predicted versus actual value (tensile)
Fig. 5 Combined effect

plots for tensile strength,
a contour, b 3D
4.2 Analysis of Flexural Strength
The power transformation is used to reduce the model, i.e. y = (y + k)λ where λ =
−0.18 and the linear model is selected for analysis. The present model was checked
for their validity through ANOVA as given in Table 5. Table 5 shows that the p-
value observed was 0.0024, which was less than 0.05. It signifies that the model
is significant. The value of R2 is 0.99, which is close to 1. There is a reasonable
agreement between predicated R2 and adjusted R2 .
The desirable value of adequacy of precision is 4, which measures the signal-to-
noise ratio. In this case, the value is 663.5 which indicates an adequate signal. From
the ANOVA table, it is observed that the % contribution of wt% of reinforcement is
70.17%, which is greater than the percentage contribution of power.
The regression equation for flexural strength is shown in Eq. (4).
(Flexural Strength)−0.18 = 0.59 − 4.81E − 3 × A + 4.35E − 5 × B (4)
The obtained equation was validated by predicted versus actual graph as shown
in Fig. 6.
Table 5 ANOVA for flexural model

Source Sum of dof Mean square F value p-value Percentage
squares prob > F contribution
Model 8.23E−4 2 4.12E−4 86227.53 0.0024
A 5.77E−4 1 5.777E−4 1.210E+5 0.0018 70.17
B 2.46E−4 1 2.456E−4 51440.06 0.0028 29.83
Residual 4.77E−9 1 4.77E−9
Cor total 8.23E−4 3
R2 —0.99; Adjusted R2 —0.99; Predicated R2 —0.99; Adequate precision—663.5
Fig. 6 Predicted versus

actual value (flexural)
Fig. 7 Combined effect

plots for flexural strength,
a contour, b 3D
From Fig. 6, it is observed that the predicted value and actual values are approach-
ing each other, which is desirable for the model.
Effect on Flexural Strength. The effect of both the variables was studied by the
contour plot and 3D plot as shown in Fig. 7. Figure 7a shows the contour plot of
inputs versus flexural strength. The contour plot indicates that the flexural strength
increases with increase in wt% of reinforcement and less significant effect of power
was reported on flexural strength. At a low value of power and higher value of
reinforcement, there is a higher flexural strength. Figure 7b shows the 3D plot of
flexural strength versus power and wt% of reinforcement. From Fig. 7b, it is observed
that the slope of flexural strength increases with an increase in fibre wt%. It can be
concluded that wt% of reinforcement has more influence on flexural strength.
4.3 Multi-responses Optimization
During optimization, the aim was to find out the optimal variables, which were
responsible for both (tensile strength and flexural strength). Table 6 shows the goal
and parameters range for optimization. The solution obtained for the above goal is
shown in Fig. 8, which shows that the optimize variable for both (tensile strength and
Table 6 Criteria for

Variables Goal Importance
desirability
Reinforcement (wt%) Max 1
Power Min 5
Tensile strength Max 4
Flexural strength Max 5
Fig. 8 Ramp plots for desirability
flexural strength) observed were 14.8% reinforcement and 360 W power. The tensile
strength and flexural strength obtained were 25.8 MPa and 31.9 MPa, respectively.
The obtained modelling results were validated with confirmation experiments and
it was found that there is very less error between modelled values and experimental
values.
5 Conclusions
• The selected parameters were successfully used for the fabrication of microwave-
cured coir/HDPE composite.
• Composite C1 has 28.2% greater tensile strength than C4.
• C3 composite shows the maximum flexural strength of 32.14 MPa.
• wt% of reinforcement has more contribution on both the properties (flexural and
tensile).
• SEM analysis shows that C2 composite has better interfacial bonding as compared
to C4.
• The optimized values recorded for higher tensile and flexural strength recorded
were 14.86% of reinforcement and 360 W power.
References
1. Singh, M.K., Zafar, S.: Development and characterisation of poly-L-lactide-based foams fab-
ricated through microwave-assisted compression moulding. J. Cell. Plast. (2019). https://doi.
org/10.1177/0021955X19850728
2. Ashori, A.: Wood-plastic composites as promising green-composites for automotive industries!
Bioresour. Technol. 99(11), 4661–4667 (2008)
3. Lee, K., Bharadia, P., Blaker, J.J., Bismarck, A.: Composites: Part A short sisal fibre rein-
forced bacterial cellulose polylactide nanocomposites using hairy sisal fibres as reinforcement.
Compos. PART A. 43(11), 2065–2074 (2012)
4. Ali, S., Bajpai, P.K., Singh, I., Sharma, A.K.: Curing of natural fibre-reinforced thermoplastic
composites using microwave energy. J. Reinf. Plast. Compos. 33(11), 993–999 (2014)
5. Ibrahim, N.A., Yunus, Md Zin Wan, Othman, W., Abdan, M., Hadithon, K.A.: Poly(lactic acid)
(PLA)-reinforced kenaf bast fiber composites: the effect of triacetin. J. Reinf. Plast. Compos.
29(7), 1099–1111 (2010)
6. Singh, M.K., Zafar, S.: Development and mechanical characterization of microwave-cured ther-
moplastic based natural fibre reinforced composites. J. Thermoplast. Compos, Mater 32(10),
1427–1442 (2019)
7. Liu, M., Meyer, A.S., Fernando, D., Silva, D.A.S., Daniel, G., Thygesen, A.: Effect of pectin
and hemicellulose removal from hemp fibres on the mechanical properties of unidirectional
hemp/epoxy composites. Compos. Part A Appl. Sci. Manuf. 90, 724–735 (2016)
8. Singh, M.K., Zafar, S.: Influence of microwave power on mechanical properties of microwave-
cured polyethylene/coir composites. J. Nat. Fibers (2018). https://doi.org/10.1080/15440478.
2018.1534192
9. Zafar, S., Sharma, A.K.: Structure-property correlations in nanostructured WC–12Co
microwave clad. Appl. Surf. Sci. 370, 92–101 (2016)
10. Singh, S., Gupta, D., Jain, V., Sharma, A.K.: Microwave processing of materials and applica-
tions in manufacturing industries: a review. Mater. Manuf. Process. 30(1), 1–29 (2015)
11. Khanam, P.N., AlMaadeed, M.A.A.: Processing and characterization of polyethylene-based
composites. Adv. Manuf. Polym. Compos. Sci. 1(2), 63–79 (2015)
12. Ku, H.S., Siu, F., Siores, E., Ball, J.A.R.: Variable frequency microwave (VFM) processing
facilities and application in processing thermoplastic matrix composites. J. Mater. Process.
Technol. 139(1–3), 291–295 (2003)
13. Mishra, S., Mohanty, A.K., Drzal, L.T., Misra, M., Hinrichsen, G.: A review on pineapple leaf
fibers, sisal fibers and their biocomposites. Macromol. Mater. Eng. 289(11), 955–974 (2004)
14. Singh, I., Bajpai, P.K., Malik, D., Madaan, J., Bhatnagar, N.: Microwave joining of natural
fiber reinforced green composites. Adv. Mater. Res. 410, 102–105 (2011)
15. Verma, N., Vettivel, S.C.: Characterization and experimental analysis of boron carbide and
rice husk ash reinforced AA7075 aluminium alloy hybrid composite. J. Alloys Compd. 741,
981–998 (2018)
16. Li, Y., Hu, C., Yu, Y.: Interfacial studies of sisal fiber reinforced high density polyethylene
(HDPE) composites. Compos. Part A Appl. Sci. Manuf. 39(4), 570–578 (2008)
17. Mishra, R.R., Sharma, A.K.: Microwave-material interaction phenomena: heating mechanisms,
challenges and opportunities in material processing. Compos. Part A Appl. Sci. Manuf. 81,
78–97 (2016)
Design and Simulation Study of HPDC
for Automotive Parts—Pinion Housing
Based on ADSTFEAN Simulation System
Sunil Kumar and Lokeswar Patnaik
Abstract The work in this paper describes the design and simulation of high-
pressure die casting die (HPDC) for pinion housing for the automotive part. The
material used for pinion housing is Aluminum alloy 6061. The casting simulations
are based on ADSTFEAN casting simulation software. The work includes mathe-
matical calculations for die performance parameters such as fill time, fill rate and
design of the gating system, plunger velocity, and machine’s capacity. The study of
fill time, product quality prediction, and optimum runner size is based on ADST-
FEAN casting simulation system. Furthermore, simulations are carried out to decide
the number of gate locations for better filling of the die.
Keywords Pinion housing · Die casting die design · Design of feed system ·
ADSTFEAN casting simulation
1 Introduction
High-pressure die casting is a popular manufacturing process to produce high strength

and quality products in specified tolerances [1, 2]. The basic steps of die casting are
mold closing, mold filling, mold cooling, mold opening, and ejection [3].
Die design requires skill and knowledge of materials, machine, and sequence of
operation [4]. Recent studies state that mechanical properties of the cast product
are influenced by injection pressure, die temperature, flow rate, fill time, fill rate,
design of gating system, and confidence of fill. Die temperature should be more
enough to provide easy metal flow and flow rate should also as enough as to avoid
pre-solidification [5, 6]. Uneven die temperature causes formation of residual stress,
heat checking, and cracking of mold [7].
In this paper, design and simulation of HPDC die for the production of pinion
housing is carried out. Empirical formulas are used for calculating the fill time, fill
rate, machine capacity, etc. ADSTEFAN has various functions such as flow analysis,
solidification and casting defects prediction [8].
S. Kumar (B) · L. Patnaik

National Institute of Technology Silchar, Assam 788010, India
e-mail: sunlnits18@gmail.com
172 S. Kumar and L. Patnaik
2 Study of Component
Pinion housing is used to shield the rack and pinion assembly in an automotive [9]
and it also prevents the debris to enter in the pinion assembly. Traditionally, the
housing material is of Aluminum alloy 6061 whose melting point is 580 °C [10].
The isometric representation of the part is shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 Isometric view of pinion housing
3 Design Calculations
3.1 Fill Time (T)
It is the time within which mold cavity has been filled with molten metal. It is based
on thinnest casting wall thickness, thermal properties of casting alloys, total volume
of casting including overflows, and air vents. The fill time is calculated by using
Eq. 1 [11].

Ti − T f + S Z
t =k t1 (1)
T f − Td
where k is empirical constant related to the thermal conductivity of the die steel
which is equal to 0.0346 for Al alloy [11].
Ti Metal temperature at the gate as it enters the die = 640 °C

Tf Melt flow temperature = 570 °C
Design and Simulation Study of HPDC for Automotive Parts—Pinion … 173
S % solid fraction available in the metal at the end of filling = 25

Z Solids units conversion factor, °C to % = 3.8
Td Die surface temperature before the shot = 180 °C
t1 Wall thickness = 4 mm
Therefore t = 0.0586 s ≈ 59 ms
3.2 Fill Rate (Q)
Rate at which the mold cavity is filled along with overflows and air vents. It is
calculated by using Eq. 2 [12].

Vs
Q= m3 /s (2)
t
where
Total shot volume (V s ) = Volume of cavity (V c ) + Volume of overflows (V o ) +
Volume of feed system (V f ) [12].
Vc = 0.06 × 10−5 m3
0.8Vc 3
Vo = m [12]
h 0.355
where h = the average wall thickness of component = 0.004 m
0.8 × 0.06 × 10−5

Vo = = 3.4 × 10−6 m3
(0.004)0.355
Vc
Vf = [12]
h
0.06 × 10−5
= = 1.5 × 10−4 m3
0.004
Vs = (0.06 × 10−5 + 3.4 × 10−6 + 1.5 × 10−4 )

= 1.54 × 10−4 m3

1.54 × 10−4
Q= = 2.628 × 10−3 m3 /s
0.0586
Table 1 Suggested gate velocity against thinnest wall thickness

Thinnest wall thickness (mm) Gate velocity range (m/s)
0–0.762 46–55
0.763–1.525 43–52
1.523–2.286 40–49
2.286–2.794 and more 37–46
3.3 Date Area (Ag )
Gate velocity is the most important parameter in die casting design as it influences
the surface quality and mechanical properties of the cast product. Gate velocity for
various thickness of cast product is shown in Table 1 [13]. Gate area is calculated by
Eq. 3 [12].

Q
Ag = (3)
Vg
where gate velocity (V g ) = 46 m/s (taken from Table 4).
2.628 × 10−3
= = 5.713 × 10−5 m2
46
3.4 Runner Area (Ar )
Runner area is generally 1.2–1.6 times of gate area [12]. It is calculated by Eq. 4.
Ar = (1.2 to 1.6) × A g
= 1.4 × 5.713 × 10 − 5 = 7.9982 × 10−5 m2 (4)
3.5 Plunger Velocity (Vp )
Plunger is the member of high-pressure die casting machine which transfers the
molten metal to cavity. Plunger velocity is calculated by Eq. 5 [12].

Q
Vp = (5)
A
where A = Cross-sectional area of plunger in m2 .

Diameter (d) of the plunger rod is 90 mm [11]
π d2 π × 0.092
A= = = 6.362 × 10−3 m2
4 4

2.628 × 10−3
Vp = = 0.413 m/s
6.362 × 10−3
3.6 Machine Capacity (Mc )
The specific injection pressure (IP) for various categories of parts with different
alloys are shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Recommended specific injection pressure

Type of component For Al or Mg alloys (in kg/cm2 ) For Zn alloys (in kg/cm2 )
Decorative parts 200–400 100–200
Engineering parts 400–600 200–300
Tight or/and pressurized parts 800–1000 250–400
Machine capacity is calculated by using the Eq. 6 [11].
M×A
Mc = (6)
1000
where
M = metal injection pressure in kgf/m2

= 85.317 MPa = 87 × 105 kgf/m2
A = Total projected area of full shot in m2

= 1.75 × projected area of cavity(Ac )
A = 1.75 × 0.0528 = 0.0924 m2
87 × 105 × 0.0924
Mc = = 804 Tons
1000
The specifications of Toshiba DC-J Series (DC 135 J-T) injection machine have
been used for this study.
ADSTEFAN casting simulation software has been used for analysis and simulation
of the casting model. The simulation is carried out for temperature distribution and
porosity in the component [14].
4.1 Gating System
There are two possible gating systems that have been proposed based on the size of
the platen of Toshiba DC 135 J-T injection machine. The gating systems are to be
compared through simulations in ADSTEFAN.
Type-I gating system
In type-I gating system shown in Fig. 2, two gates are connected to the top and bottom
side of the part and one gate is connected to the moving half of the die. The full shot
of pinion housing is shown in Fig. 3.
The analysis is performed by changing the width of main runner from 25 to 45 mm.
Analysis results for air traps are shown in Fig. 4. Results based on the various runner
widths of type-I gating system for different parameters are tabulated in Table 3.
It can be seen from Table 3 that with increase in runner width, the quality of the
part is decreasing.
Type-II gating system
In this type of gating system, molten metal enters the cavity from four places. Two
gates are provided at the top side of the fixed half and the other two at the bottom
side of the movable half. The type-II gating system is shown in Fig. 5.
Analysis results for air traps are shown in Fig. 6. Results based on the various run-
ner widths of type-II gating system for different parameters are tabulated in Table 4.
From the results in Table 4, it can system molten metal enters the cavity from is
minimum when the runner width is 30 mm.
Fig. 2 Type-I gating system

Fig. 3 Full shot of pinion housing
Fig. 4 Air traps with type-I gating system
Furthermore, other combinations of gating system are difficult to implement due to

the asymmetrical dimensional features of the part. Other gating systems will require
an extra length of runner which will cause pre-solidification of molten metal and
more air entrapment in the part which will affect the confidence of fill.
Table 3 Analysis results of type-I gating system for different parameters with various runner widths
Serial Parameters Runner width
number W = 25 W = 30 W = 35 W = 40 W = 45
1 Fill time 0.991 0.904 0.809 0.775 0.763
(s)
2 Cooling 30.78 27.32 28.62 28.16 27.36
time (s)
3 Cycle time 55 53 50 48 47
(s)
4 Confidence 94.3 95.8 97.3 97.8 98.1
of fill (%)
5 Quality 81.3 83.1 85.0 82.6 79.4
prediction
(%)
6 Air traps Fully Fully Fully Fully Fully
present present present present present
7 Shrinkage 3.86 3.41 2.71 2.69 2.53
(%)
Fig. 5 Type-II gating system
4.2 Simulation for Temperature Distribution
Case 1: Temperature distribution with type-I gating system
The actual solidification of aluminum is ranged from 650 °C (blue color) to 570 °C
(yellow color) as shown in Fig. 7. Figure 8 shows the trend of temperature variation
with time. It tends rapidly toward liquidus temperature of the molten metal causing
pre-solidification inside the cavity especially near the air vents and overflows.
Fig. 6 Air traps with type-II gating system
Table 4 Analysis results of type-II gating system for different parameters with various runner
widths
Serial Parameters Runner width
number W = 25 W = 30 W = 35 W = 40 W = 45
1 Fill time 0.435 0.402 0.391 0.380 0.370
(s)
2 Cooling 17.22 17.26 19.42 20.86 21.35
time (s)
3 Cycle time 35 37 39 41 43
(s)
4 Confidence 98.1 100 100 100 99.8
of fill (%)
5 Quality 89.8 94.03 92.4 90 90.1
prediction
(%)
6 Air traps Large Few Few Few A little
present present present present large
present
7 Shrinkage 2 2.01 2.14 2.19 2.24
(%)
Fig. 7 Temperature distribution with type-I gating system
Fig. 8 Temperature gradient in mold cavity with type-I gating system
Case 2: Temperature distribution with type-II gating system

Figure 9 is showing temperature distribution with type-II gating system. The tem-
perature distribution is uniform and it is above the liquidus temperature as shown in
Fig. 10. It can be seen from Figs. 7 and 8 that the temperature near air vent is more
in case of type-I gating system than in type-II, higher temperature facilitates easy
escape of air from the cavity.
Fig. 9 Temperature distribution with type-II gating system
Fig. 10 Temperature gradient in mold cavity with type-II gating system
4.3 Simulation for Porosity
Figures 11 and 12 show the porosity in type-I and type-II gating system, respectively.
Porosity in later one is significantly minimum due to the presence of four entry points
helping in proper filling and easy escaping of air from the cavity.
Fig. 11 Porosity with type-I gating system
Fig. 12 Porosity with type-II gating system

5 Conclusions
Empirical calculations for fill time, fill rate, feeding system, plunger velocity, and
machine capacity are obtained. Comparative study of type-I (three gates) and type-II
(four gates) gating system based on ADSTFEAN casting simulation shows promis-
ing results for the later one. Results obtained from simulations for varying runner
widths (30–45 mm) indicate 30 mm runner width having superior die performance
parameters. Improved temperature distribution and lesser porosity are predicted for
type-II gating system using simulations. The die performances using type-II gating
system with 30 mm runner width improve fill time by 50%, decrease air traps sig-
nificantly, maintain 100% confidence of filling, increase quality prediction by 11%,
and decrease cycle time by 16%.
Acknowledgements The author is thankful to Rane die Cast Ltd. India for providing the data and
infrastructure to conduct the research work.
References
1. WuS, H., Lee, K.S., Fuh, J.Y.H.: Feature-based parametric design of a gating system for
a die-casting die. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 19, 821–829 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/
s001700200094
2. Hu, B.H., Tong, K.K., Niu, X.P., Pinwill, I.: Design and optimization of runner and gating sys-
tems for the die casting of thin-walled magnesium telecommunication parts through numerical
simulation. j. Mater. Process. Technol. 105, 128–133 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0924-
0136(00)00546-X
3. Kim, C.H., Kwon, T.H.: A runner-gate design system for die casting. Mater. Manuf. Processes
16(6), 789–801 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1081/AMP-100108699
4. Lee, K.S., Luo, C.: Application of case-based reasoning in die-casting die design. Int. J. Adv.
Manuf. Technol. 20, 284–295 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s001700200154
5. Der Ho, Wu, Chang, Mao Sheng: Use of Taguchi method to develop a robust design for the
magnesium alloy die casting process. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 379, 366–371 (2004). https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.msea.2004.03.006
6. Regev, M., Aghion, E., Rosen, A.: Creep studies of AZ9lD pressure die casting. Mater. Sci.
Eng. A234–236, 123–126 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1016/s0921-5093(97)00215-3
7. Tai, C.C., Lin, J.C.: A runner-optimization design study of a die-casting die. J. Mater. Process.
Technol 84, 1–12 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1016/s0924-0136(98)00031-4
8. Chen, M., Yang, J.M., Yang, Y.T.: Establishment of particular methods in casting simulation.
J. Shanghai Jiaotong Univ. (Sci.) 17(4), 475–478 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12204-012-
1308-7
9. William, H., Donald, L.: Automotive Mechanics. SIE, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi, India
(2017)
10. Yang, Linghui, Wan, Yunxiao, Qin, Zhenlan, Qunjie, Xu, Min, Yulin: Fabrication and corrosion
resistance of a graphene-tin oxide composite film on aluminium alloy 6061. Corros. Sci. (2018).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.corsci.2017.10.031
11. TuulaHöök. FPDC runner and gating system design, CAE DS, Mold Design, Tampere Univer-
sity of Technology, Finland (2004)
12. NADCA. Product specification standards for die casting, Arlington Heights, Illinois, USA
(2015)
13. CITD Tool Room. Die Casting handbook, Hyderabad, India (1990)
14. Wenjiong, C.A.O., Zhaoyao, Z.H.O.U., Yi, H.E., Yuanbiao, W.U.: Numerical simulation of
back pressure influenced aluminum component’s HPDC process. Adv. Mater. Res. 139(141),
549–552 (2010). https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.139-141.549
Conceptualization of a Machining
Fixture for Machining Cylinder Block
on a Horizontal Machining Center
Lokeswar Patnaik , Saikat Ranjan Maity and Sunil Kumar
Abstract The machining operations post casting of cylinder blocks are traditionally
performed at different stations of a shop floor. The cylinder block accounts for 20–
25% of the total weight of an engine leading to increased time and man power
during arrangement at different machining platforms. A horizontal machining center
(HMC) can perform all these machining operations by virtue of its maneuverable
tool magazine; the requirement is to develop a fixture to accommodate the same.
The work in this paper demonstrates the conceptualization of a machining fixture
to cater for all the three machining operations i.e., face milling, drilling and boring
on a 4-axis HMC (Starrag IWK 7000). The machining forces were calculated and
3D realization of the fixture elements was done using PTC Creo 2.0. To ensure
repeatability, standard fixturing elements were used. After manufacturing and dry
run, it was seen that the cycle time for a single block is 4.4 min.
Keywords Machining fixture · Fixturing elements · Horizontal machining center ·

PTC Creo 2.0
1 Introduction
A fixture is a necessary device used in machining, inspection, assembly, welding and

other manufacturing operations to locate and hold the workpiece firmly in position
so that the required manufacturing process can be carried out corresponding to the
design specifications [1–4]. It constitutes 10–20% of the total manufacturing cost.
Therefore, it is required to have foolproof design which is achieved by virtue of
designer’s knowledge and experience. Fixture design is an art rather than science. It
requires industrial experience and usually there is no step-by-step theory to support
it. There is always a scope to better the design of fixtures [5–7]. Generally, fixture
design has categorically four heads which are setup planning, fixture planning, unit
design, and verification [8].
L. Patnaik (B) · S. R. Maity · S. Kumar

National Institute of Technology Silchar, Assam 788010, India
e-mail: lokeswar.nits@gmail.com

186 L. Patnaik et al.
Post sand casting of crankcase-cylinder or cylinder block, the machining opera-

tions are traditionally carried out at different stations of the shop floor but with the
advent of HMC, multiple machining operations can be performed in a single setup.
This paper conceptualizes a machining fixture to accommodate the machining
operations on cylinder block (post sand casting) to be performed on a 4-axis Starrag
IWK 7000 HMC in single setup.
2 Component and Machining Details
The part under consideration is a cylinder block of Mahindra Tractors. The part is
manufactured by sand casting and subsequent machining operations which are face
milling, drilling, and boring are performed afterward in a HMC.
2.1 Details of the Part
The 3-D model of crankcase-3 cylinder (or cylinder block) and crankcase-4 cylinder
are shown in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively.
The material of the part is cast iron and the weight is 44 and 67 kg for crankcase-3
cylinder and crankcase-4 cylinder, respectively.
Fig. 1 Crankcase-3 cylinder

Conceptualization of a Machining Fixture for Machining Cylinder … 187
Fig. 2 Crankcase-4 cylinder
2.2 Details of Machining Operations
The fixture has to be designed and laid out in such a way that all the machining faces
have to be easily reachable by the tool magazine of the HMC. In the fixture setup, the
machining faces, i.e., rear face, head face, and sump face are exposed to machining.
The operations to be carried out are boring a 40.8 mm diameter cast hole in the
rear face as shown in Fig. 3, face milling using a 63 mm diameter face-milling cutter
with five inserts (cutting tooth) at the head face as shown in Fig. 4, and drilling a
30 mm diameter and 12.5° inclined hole at the sump face as shown in Fig. 5.
3 Resting and Locating Points
Rest pads are ideal for contact, position, and wear points in the fixture. The position
of resting points on the part is shown in Fig. 6. “Locating” is the positional and
dimensional relationship between the tool, fixture, and workpiece. Proper location
ensures repeatability. Figure 7 shows the locating points (circled in red color) pro-
vided on the part. Locators contact the work preferably on the machine surface on
solid and stable points. One rounded head and one tapered head locator pins are best
suited for restricting motion in the part.
Fig. 3 Boring at rear face
Fig. 4 Face milling at head

face
Fig. 5 Drilling at sump face
Fig. 6 Resting points

Fig. 7 Locating points
4 Machining Calculations
4.1 Face Milling
Input conditions for face milling are given below (obtained from Teraskontorri Tool-
ing Company, Finland).
V c = Cutting velocity = 200 m/min
D = Cutter Diameter = 63 mm
K c = Specific cutting force = 1750 N/mm2
K c is the force required in the cutting direction to cut a chip area of 1 mm2 with
thickness of 1 mm [9]
f z = Feed per tooth = 0.22 mm
Z = Number of tooth = 5
ap = Axial depth of cut = 63 mm
ae = Radial depth of cut = 2.5 mm
Spindle speed, table feed, power, torque, cutting force, thrust force, and clamping
force for face milling, drilling, and boring operation to be performed over the cylinder
block are expressed from Eqs. (1) to (10) [10].
Spindle Speed:
1000 × Vc
N=
π×D
= 1010.5 rpm (1)
Table Feed:
V f = fz × Z × N (2)
V f = 1111.6 mm/min
Power:

a p × ae × V f × K c
P= (3)
60 × 106
P = 5.11 kW
Torque:

P × 30 × 103
T = (4)
π× N
T = 48.29 kN m
Cutting Force:

6120 × P
Fc = (5)
Vc
Fc = 1.56 kN
Clamping Force:
Fcl = 3 × Fc (6)
Fcl = 4.68 kN
4.2 Drilling
The input conditions for drilling are given below.

D = Drill diameter = 30 mm
V c = Cutting velocity = 140 mm/min
f N = Feed per revolution = 0.2 mm/rev
K c = Specific cutting force = 1.39 N/mm2
Spindle Speed:

1000 × Vc
N=
π× D
N = 1485.44 rpm
Table Feed:
V f = fN × N
V f = 297.1 mm/min
Power:

f N × Vc × D × K c
P= (7)
240 × 103
P = 5.22 kW
Torque:

P × 30 × 103
T =
π× N
T = 33.56 kN m
Thrust Force:
FT = 1.16 × K c × D × (100 × f N )0.85

FT = 6.17 kN (8)
Clamping Force:
Fcl = 3 × FT
Fcl = 18.51 kN
4.3 Boring
Input conditions for boring are given below.

V c = 130 mm/min
z = Number of cutting edge = 2
f N = 0.16 mm/rev
K c = 1100 N/mm2
D = 40.8 mm
d = 36 mm
Spindle Speed:

1000 × Vc
N=
π× D
N = 1014.22 rpm
Power:
a
Vc × a p × f N × K c p
P= × 1− (9)
60 × 103 D
where ap = Width of Cut = (D − d)/2 = 2.4 mm
P = 0.86 kW
Torque:

P × 30 × 103
T =
π× N
T = 8.1 k Nm
Cutting Force:
Fc = a p × f N × z × K c
Fc = 0.844 kN (10)
Clamping Force:
Fcl = 3 × Fc
Fcl = 2.53 kN
From the above calculations, it is evident that the clamping force for drilling
operation is higher than the other machining operations.
5 Main Elements of the Fixture
The base structure as shown in Fig. 8, is fabricated by mild steel. It is rigid and can
withstand high vibrations [11]. The size of the structure was considered depending
upon the working area of the tool. Since it is an inclined structure, two plates are
welded together to form the structure.
Fig. 8 Mild steel base (ASTM A36)
Rest pads as shown in Fig. 9 were made by EN 353/354 material. The part was
placed against the rest pads. It was mounted on to the base structure by using M6
socket head screws. The rest pad was provided with an air seat check.
The locators accurately position the part and maintain its location against the
cutting forces throughout the machining cycle. A taper was provided on the top for
easy loading. The locators were made by EN 353/354 and case hardened to 58 HRC.
A typical round and tapered head locating pin are shown in Fig. 10.
As the part is heavy and was loaded against the location and orientation pin,
eventually it gets difficult to unload the component. For easy unloading of the part,
push cylinders or pushers were used. They act as ejectors and were positioned near the
location and the orientation pin. Figure 11 shows the pusher suited for the application.
Figure 12 shows a rough guide, the main purpose of the rough guide is to guide the
part while loading and unloading. It is made by C45 grade steel. Standard fixturing
elements were used for repeatability, the detailed dimensions of the fixturing elements
Fig. 9 Rest pad (MISUMI D6321)

Fig. 10 Round head (MISUMI TFPNWA10-P) and tapered head (MISUMI TFPNWD10-P) locat-
ing pins
Fig. 11 Pusher (vertek 25-0209-08)
can be taken down from the product catalog. Product number of the fixturing elements
is mentioned in Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.
6 Clamping and Fixture Layout
Clamps were incorporated against the rest pads so that they arrest the movement
of the part. The accuracy of the part depends on how well the clamp is holding it
throughout the manufacturing process. If the clamping force is much higher, it may
Fig. 12 Rough guide (MISUMI RGPN 12)
lead to problems such as springback of the part after unclamping, part deformation,
and marks on the part.
6.1 Clamping Using Link Cylinder
It is a double-acting cylinder which is used to actuate the link and the swing clamp.
The piston of this cylinder was linked to the clamp lever to transmit the cylinder force
Fig. 13 Link cylinder (Kosmek LKA0650)
to the part for holding it securely during the operation. It should be able to counter
the maximum thrust force during machining operation, it is established earlier (in
Sect. 4.3) that drilling operation generates the maximum thrust force. A typical link
cylinder is shown in Fig. 13.
The dimensional features of the cylinder block is such that the clamping cannot
be made against (in line opposite to) the rest pads. This causes eccentricity (e) along
the line of action (LOA) of the reaction force of the rest pads and LOA of the
clamping force. Due to the dimensional features of the cylinder block, it is difficult
to completely eliminate it. This eccentricity gives rise to unbalance forces during
machining thus affecting the precision of the product and life of the tool. Since there
are rough guides to set the part on the fixture body and the clamping has to be done
on both top and bottom end of the part, it has to be seen that eccentricity is reduced
by means of changing the clamping position or changing the type of clamping. It can
be seen from Fig. 14 that with standard link cylinder, the eccentricity is 95 mm and
75 mm at the top and bottom part of the cylinder block, respectively.
6.2 Clamping Using Swing Clamp
One of the disadvantages of link cylinders in this arrangement is that it obstruct

during loading and unloading of the part on to the fixture. This can be overcame
using swing clamps. Link cylinder can be used in clamping in the interiors of the
cylinder block where swing clamps cause difficulty during loading and unloading. A
typical swing clamp is shown in Fig. 15. The clamp arrangement is shown in Fig. 16.
It can be seen from Fig. 17 that the eccentricity (e) is 70 mm and 50 mm at the
top and bottom part of the cylinder block, respectively.
Fig. 14 Fixture layout with link cylinder
Fig. 15 Swing clamp (Kosmek LHA0480)

Fig. 16 Swing clamp arrangement
Since the eccentricity (e) using swing cylinders at the top and bottom part of the
fixture is 70 mm and 50 mm, respectively, which is significantly lesser than what is
obtained using link cylinder, the swing cylinder is chosen over the link cylinder for
clamping at the outer part of the cylinder block.
7 Final Assembly of the Fixture
The part was loaded on the rest pads and located using the locating pins using rough
guides. It was clamped against the rest pads by using swing cylinders. When hydraulic
supply is given, the swing clamps act by a flow control valve. Part seat check was
provided on the rest pads and pushers were provided for easy ejection of the part. The
assembly model of the fixture in unloaded and loaded condition is shown in Figs. 18
and 19, respectively.
The final machining fixture is shown in Figs. 20 and 21 in both open and loaded
conditions, respectively. The pictures were taken at Starrag India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore
facility. Dry run was performed to check the programming correctness of the tool
magazine of the HMC for its maneuverability along the machining faces. After trail
out on Starrag IWK 7000 4-axis HMC, it was seen that the total cycle time for one
cylinder block is 4.4 min.
Fig. 17 Fixture layout with swing clamp
Fig. 18 Fixture assembly in unloaded condition

Fig. 19 Fixture assembly in loaded condition
8 Conclusions
A simple machining fixture was conceptualized and realized physically to accom-

modate face milling, drilling, and boring at the head, sump, and rear face of the
cylinder block of Mahindra Tractors. The detailed modeling of cylinder blocks and
each element of the fixture and assembly was carried out in PTC Creo 2.0 CAD
software to finalize the fixture design. It has been made sure that the fixturing ele-
ments were standard for repeatability. The developed machining fixture minimizes
the eccentricity in the line of action of the rest pad and the clamping force by using
swing clamps. The eccentricity remains 70 mm and 50 mm at top and bottom parts,
respectively, after using swing clamps. After trail out, it was seen that the cycle time
for machining single cylinder block is 4.4 min. Furthermore, from the calculations of
the machining forces, finite element analysis can be performed on fixturing elements
subjected to stresses.
Fig. 20 Machining fixture

Fig. 21 Machining fixture loaded with crankcase-4 cylinder
Acknowledgements The author is thankful to Starrag India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore facility and Mahin-
dra Tractors for proving the design and manufacturing data, facilities, and infrastructure to conduct
the research.
References
1. Vasundara, M., Padmanaban, K.P.: Recent developments on machining fixture layout design,
analysis, and optimization using finite element method and evolutionary techniques. Int. J. Adv.
Manuf. Technol. 70, 79–96 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-013-5249-6
2. Hashemi, H., Shaharoun, A.M., Sudin, I.: A case-based reasoning approach for design of
machining fixture. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 74, 1–12 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-
014-5930-4
3. Wang, H., Rong, Y.K.: Case based reasoning method for computer aided welding fixture design.
Comput. Aid. Des. 40, 1121–1132 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cad.2008.11.001
4. Wang, H., Rong, Y.K., Li, H., Shaunb, P.: Computer aided fixture design: recent research and
trends. Comput. Aid. Des. 42, 1085–1094 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cad.2010.07.003
5. Boyle, I.M., Rong, K., Brown, D.C.: CAFixD: a case-based reasoning fixture design method:
framework and indexing mechanisms. J. Comput. Inf. Sci. Eng. 6, 40–48 (2006). https://doi.
org/10.1115/1.2161229
6. Zhou, Yunbo, Li, Yingguang, Wang, Wei: A feature-based fixture design methodology for the
manufacturing of aircraft structural parts. Robot. Comput. Integr. Manuf. 27, 986–993 (2011).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcim.2011.05.002
7. Peng, G., Chen, G., Wu, C., Xin, H., Jiang, Y.: Applying RBR and CBR to develop a VR based
integrated system for machining fixture design. Expert Syst. Appl. 38, 26–38 (2011). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2010.05.084
8. Kang, Y., Rong, Y., Yang, J.C.: Computer-aided fixture design verification: Part 1 the frame-
work and modelling. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 21, 827–835 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/
s00170-002-1399-7
9. Technical Data, Teraskonttori K-D Group. Finland (Mitsu 14 Technical data, 2007) http://www.
teraskonttori.fi/easydata/customers/teraskonttori/files/lastuavat/Mitsu_14_TECHNICAL_
DATA.pdf. Accessed 1 Sept 2018
10. Metal cutting handbook, Sandvik. https://www.home.sandvik/en/. Accessed 10 June 2018
11. Patnaik, L., Kumar, S., Deva, P.S.: A comparative study of chain clamping fixture with other
clamping methods for gate valve body: cycle time and rigidity study. In: MATEC Web of
Conferences, vol. 77, pp. 01033 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1015/matecconf/20167701033
Multi-scale Computational Analysis
of Carbon-Nanotube–Polymer Composite
Gaurav Arora and Himanshu Pathak
Abstract Effective properties of a heterogeneous material have been successfully

predicted by using the homogenization scheme. The aim of the homogenization
scheme is to get an equivalent homogeneous material resembling the same hetero-
geneous material. In this work, a 3D multi-scale computational model has been
implemented to characterize mechanical properties of a heterogeneous composite
system. At first, a micro-mechanical approach has been utilized to determine effective
properties of the carbon-nanotube (CNT)–polymer composite using finite element
modelling of representative volume element (RVE). The two material constituent
phases, i.e. fillers (CNTs) and matrix [High-density polyethylene (HDPE)] are mod-
elled as elastic and elasto-plastic material. The fillers are considered to be randomly
distributed with various aspect ratios in the matrix. Further, macro-computational
analysis is carried to predict mechanical strength and fracture toughness of CNT–
polymer composite.
Keywords CNTs · HDPE · Multi-scale · RVE · Homogenization
1 Introduction
The inherent favourable characteristics of CNTs like low weight, high aspect ratio,
extraordinary electrical, mechanical, optical and thermal properties have made them
a vital candidate to tailor the properties of polymer-based nanocomposites [1–5].
CNTs have shown a tremendous increase in elastic moduli of nanocomposites. The
effect of aligned CNTs reinforced in a polymer have been extensively studied [6–
9]. The literature lacks in defining the nature of randomly distributed CNTs in the
polymer matrix. Although the effect of randomly dispersed CNTs have been studied
by some researchers, a micromechanical approach to study the variation of aspect
ratio on strength and fracture toughness is very limited.
G. Arora (B) · H. Pathak

Composite Design and Manufacturing Laboratory, School of Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology Mandi, VPO Kamand, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh 175005, India
e-mail: aroraiitr@gmail.com

206 G. Arora and H. Pathak
Alian et al. [10] studied the agglomeration effect of CNTs on epoxy nanocompos-
ites using a multi-scale approach. Rai et al. [11] investigated the damage mechanism
in CNT nanocomposite using molecular dynamics simulations. Savvas et al. [12]
proposed a computational procedure to understand the effect of waviness and orien-
tation of CNTs on the different properties of nanocomposites. Su et al. [13] prepared
a multi-scale composite to investigate flexural and shear properties considering the
random distribution of CNTs. Shajari et al. [14] developed a multi-scale model using
time-dependent homogenizations to study viscoelastic properties of nanocomposites.
All these methods or models have used a micromechanical approach for 2D or
3D RVE analyses for CNT-reinforced–polymer composites. The use of molecular
dynamics simulations to predict the effective properties has also gained popularity.
But, a need to study the fracture behaviour of an equivalent homogeneous system for
nanocomposites is still lacking. Thus, in the present study, 3D RVE composed of both
matrix and nanofiller have been investigated. The effective properties of the hetero-
geneous composite system are predicted using mean-field homogenization method.
A second-order Mori–Tanaka method has been employed with linear incremental
for the homogenization of multiple phases. The equivalent properties are further
being used in ABAQUS to analyse mechanical strength and fracture behaviour of
carbon-nanotube–polymer composite. The effect of plasticity has been included in
determining the stress–strain curve. Fracture response is analysed by considering the
3-point bending test.
2 Computational Method
A computational model is defined in this section. The basic of the model is a microme-
chanical theory with the use of RVEs. The CNTs are modelled in microscale,
randomly distributed in the structure, following an elastic constitutive law. The
matrix, i.e. HDPE is modelled in microscale, reinforced with CNTs, following an
elasto-plastic constitutive law with isotropic hardening. The applied homogenization
scheme and computational package are discussed in the following section.
2.1 Homogenization Scheme
An RVE is selected considering the microscopic heterogeneous and macroscopic

homogenous materials. The boundary conditions are framed in terms of linear
displacement vectors or macro-field traction vector. The RVE is assumed to be
deformable and in an equilibrium state. Inertial and body forces are neglected. Thus,
the equivalent properties of the system are represented as
Multi-scale Computational Analysis … 207

1
eff
Cabcd = cabi j (r )Ai jcd (r ) dV (1)
V
V
All the information related to microstructure is carried by the unknown parameters

which are defined by the strain concentration tensor A. In other terms, the C eff and
A are related as

N
C eff = c0 + v X (c X − c0 ) : A X (2)
X =1
where c0 and c X represent the uniform stiffness tensor of matrix and phase, A X
represents the global strain concentration tensor and v X is the volume fraction of
phase X .
⎧ −1
⎫
⎪
⎪ AX = a X : a X ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ (a X )0 = X ⎪
⎪
⎨ ⎛ N
⎞⎪
⎪
⎬
X− T I J : c J : (a J )i ⎠ (3)
⎪
⎪ (a )i+1 = (X + T
X IJ
: c ) X −1
:⎝ ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
J=0 ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ J = X ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩ ⎪
⎭
X = 0,1,2, . . . , N
with a X representing local strain concentration tensor, c X = c J − C rh and C rh

are termed as uniform stiffness tensor of reference homogenous medium. T I J is the
tensor representing the interaction between the inclusions in the RVE. It is represented
as

1
T = I
IJ
(r − r )dV dV (4)
V
VI V J
where (r − r ) is the modified Green tensor. The medium used as reference is
replaced by matrix when the Mori–Tanaka scheme is selected for homogenization.
Inside the matrix, the average strain field approximation is calculated by the strain
in the reference medium. Therefore, on the following assumptions, the equivalent
Mori–Tanaka properties (MTP) are represented as

N
N
C MTP
= v X c A = v0 c +
X X 0 X X
vX c a : A0 (5)
X =0 X =1
where A0 denotes the global strain concentration tensor of the matrix. The expression
for A0 is expanded as
−1

N
X −1
A =a : a
0 0
= v0 X + vX a X
(6)
X =1
2.2 Digimat-MF Modelling
Digimat-MF is the mean field homogenization (MFH) software to predict the non-
linear constitutive behaviour of composite materials. Macro-material properties of
the individual material are the inputs for the constitutive laws. The shape and volume
fraction of the filler are the critical requirements to be inserted during the analysis.
The type of loading or selection of study depends on the type of effective properties
to be evaluated. The generalized constitutive equation for an RVE at any arbitrary
point inside it is defined as [2]
⎧ ⎫ ⎤ ⎧ εx x ⎫
⎪ σx x ⎪ ⎡
⎪
⎪ ⎪
⎪ C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 ⎪ ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ σ yy ⎪
⎪ ⎢C ⎥ ⎪
⎪ ⎪
⎪ ⎪ C26 ⎥ ⎪ ε yy ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎪ ⎢ 12 C22 C23 C24 C25 ⎪ ⎪
⎨σ ⎪ ⎬ ⎢ ⎪
⎥⎨ ε ⎪ ⎬
zz ⎢C C23 C33 C34 C35 C36 ⎥ zz
= ⎢ 13 ⎥ (7)
⎪ ⎪ ⎢ C14
⎪ σ yz ⎪ C24 C34 C44 C45 ⎪ 2ε ⎪
C46 ⎥ ⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎪ ⎢
⎪ ⎥ ⎪ yz ⎪ ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ σzx ⎪⎪
⎪
⎣ C15 C25 C35 C45 C55 C56 ⎦ ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ 2εzx ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩ ⎪
⎭ ⎪ ⎪
σ C16 C26 C36 C46 C56 C66 ⎩ 2ε ⎭
xy xy
where {σr s }(r, s = x, y, z) are the stress components, {εtu }(t, u = x, y, z) are the
strain components and [Cvw ] (v, w = 1–6) are the elements of the stiffness matrix. The
values of stiffness matrix for a composite could be calculated by MFH technique using
Digimat-MF. The Mori–Tanaka homogenization method in Digimat-MF calculates
the equivalent or effective properties either in terms of stiffness matrix or compliance
matrix or directly provides the moduli.
3 Hierarchical Modelling
3.1 Modelling of the 2-Phase Composite
The 2-phase composite modelling consists of randomly distributed CNTs reinforced

in the HDPE matrix. The CNTs are modelled using Digimat-MF tool. The CNTs
with different aspect ratios and volume fraction within an RVE distributed spatially
is shown in Fig. 1.
The matrix has been considered as elasto-plastic. Therefore, it is necessary to
define the hardening model for the matrix. The properties of the HDPE matrix and
Fig. 1 CNTs spatial distribution in an RVE
the CNTs are presented in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. Hardening of HDPE is defined
by the exponential and linear law as [1]
R( p) = k1 p + k2 − (1 − exp−mp ) (8)
where R(p) is equivalent stress, p is accumulated plastic strain, k 1 is linear hardening

modulus, k 2 is hardening modulus, m is hardening exponent.
Mechanical characterizations as shown in Fig. 2 have been performed on the
composite material. These characterizations help in the prediction of failure situations
Table 1 Material properties of the CNTs

Phase Multi-walled CNTs
Young’s modulus 50 GPa
Poisson ratio 0.26
Density 2100 kg/m3
Average diameter 15 nm
Average length 15 µm
Table 2 Material properties of the HDPE matrix

Phase HDPE
Young’s modulus 3.225 GPa
Poisson ratio 0.35
Density 950 kg/m3
Yield stress 11.8 MPa
Hardening model Isotropic hardening
Hardening modulus 22.2 MPa
Hardening exponent 101.39
Linear-hardening modulus 70.32 MPa
Fig. 2 2-phase composite modelling and a finite element (FE) characterization
of engineering components. The application of these nanocomposites is mainly in

the aerospace field, thus mechanical characterizations are necessary to be done.
Fig. 3 Stress–strain curve of CNT, composite and HDPE within elastic limit
4 Numerical Results and Discussions
4.1 Application of MFH Technique
As an application of the MFH technique, an estimation of material properties of the

homogenized composite is presented in this section. Mori–Tanaka homogenization
scheme presented in Digimat-MF is implemented to estimate the average properties
of the composite. Composite considered in the study mainly consists of randomly
distributed CNTs in HDPE polymer. The individual properties are already mentioned
in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. HDPE polymer is modelled as elasto-plastic matrix
material; whereas CNTs are modelled as linear elastic cylindrical nanofillers.
Several mean-field simulations with the different volume fraction of CNTs were
carried out. Figure 3 shows the tensile responses of the CNT, composite and HDPE
in the form of stress–strain curves evaluated after MF simulation within the elastic
limit.
4.2 Macro-scale FE Simulation of the Composite
As an example of multi-scale modelling, the two cases are presented in this section.
The first would be the FE characterization of a rectangular composite subjected to
tensile stress. The second would be the fracture toughness estimation of a composite.
These two cases would be taking effective material properties (as given in Table 3)
obtained from MF simulations as input to the material step. ABAQUS 6.14 has been
used to accomplish the FE characterizations.
Tensile testing of the composite. A rectangular specimen is subjected to tensile
stress as shown in Fig. 4. The length and width of the specimen are 80 and 18 mm,
respectively. The specimen is stressed by a 10 kN force. The non-linear response for
Table 3 Effective properties of the composite

V f (%) E 1 (GPa) E2 = E3 ν 13 = ν 12 ν 23 G12 = G23 G13 (GPa) ρ (kg/m3 )
(GPa) (GPa)
10 7.91 3.9 0.34 0.44 1.4 1.38 1065
15 10.2 4.3 0.33 0.45 1.5 1.49 1122
20 12.5 4.7 0.33 0.45 1.7 1.62 1180
25 14.9 5.1 0.32 0.46 1.8 1.76 1237
30 17.2 5.5 0.32 0.46 2.0 1.91 1295
32 18.2 5.7 0.32 0.46 2.14 1.98 1318
Fig. 4 A tensile specimen of 80 mm × 18 mm (L × B) used for the FE simulation

Fig. 5 Stress–strain behaviour of the composite under tensile test
the tensile specimen is shown in Fig. 5. The maximum stress and strain for the various
volume fractions can be seen from the figure and could be used for an engineering
application.
The tensile stress–strain curve for 20% volume fraction tested experimentally is
also shown in Fig. 5. The experimental and simulated curve is in good agreement up
to 5% strain. The deviation in the curve after that could be due to the defects, voids
or stress concentration at the tail/head of the CNTs. The tensile-tested specimen was
fabricated using a microwave oven. Power mode of the oven was used to develop the
pellets of the composites into laminae.
Fracture toughness estimation of the composite. It is always important to esti-
mate the fracture toughness of a composite. In this subsection, a specimen of the
same dimensions as that of the tensile test is taken into consideration as shown in
Fig. 6. A crack of half the width is introduced in the body. The top edge of the
cracked domain is subjected to the mechanical traction of 1 kN load. The bottom
edge of the domain is constrained to move in any direction. Mode-I SIFs (K I ) have
been predicted for CNT–polymer composite at different volume fractions as shown
in Fig. 7. A decreasing trend has been observed with increase in V f of CNTs. The
reason behind it is the strengthening of composites due to addition of CNTs.
Fig. 6 Fracture toughness specimen used for the FE simulation
Fig. 7 Fracture toughness behaviour of the composite

5 Conclusions
The present paper shows the capabilities and advantages of the homogenization
technique in the assessment of the effective properties of the composite. Macro-
computational analysis has been presented to predict mechanical strength and fracture
toughness of the CNT–polymer composite. The following conclusions have been
observed from the present work:
• Axial Young’s modulus has been increased with the volume fraction of CNTs in
composites.
• A non-linear behaviour in the stress–strain curve of the composite could be con-
sidered as the resistance of CNTs to failure during testing.
• Furthermore, the fracture toughness has shown a decreasing trend when the CNT
volume fraction is increased.
• As an outlook, the study for randomly distributed CNTs needs to be extended to
examine the behaviour of composite practically. These simulated estimates could
be helpful while investigating the other properties of the composite.
Acknowledgements The authors are grateful for the support received from the Indian Institute of
Technology Mandi (IIT Mandi) through grant file no. IITM/SG/HP/54.
References
1. Alian, A.R., Kundalwal, S.I., Meguid, S.A.: Multiscale modeling of carbon nanotube epoxy
composites. Polym. (Guildf). 70, 149–160 (2015)
2. Backes, E.H., Passador, F.R., Leopold, C., Fiedler, B., Pessan, L.A.: Electrical, thermal and
thermo-mechanical properties of epoxy/multi-wall carbon nanotubes/mineral fillers nanocom-
posites. J. Compos. Mater. 23, 1–9 (2018)
3. Doghri, I., Brassart, L., Adam, L., Gérard, J.S.: A second-moment incremental formulation
for the mean-field homogenization of elasto-plastic composites. Int. J. Plast 27(3), 352–371
(2011)
4. Drathi, M.R., Ghosh, A.: Multiscale modeling of polymer-matrix composites. Comput. Mater.
Sci. 99, 62–66 (2015)
5. Kundalwal, S.I., Kumar, S.: Multiscale modeling of stress transfer in continuous microscale
fiber reinforced composites with nano-engineered interphase. Mech. Mater. 102, 117–131
(2016)
6. Kundalwal, S.I., Meguid, S.A.: Multiscale modeling of regularly staggered carbon fibers
embedded in nano-reinforced composites. Eur. J. Mech. A/Solids. 64, 69–84 (2017)
7. Li, C., Chou, T.-W.: A structural mechanics approach for the analysis of carbon nanotubes. Int.
J. Solids Struct. 40(10), 2487–2499 (2003)
8. Li, K., Gao, X.L., Roy, A.K.: Micromechanical modeling of viscoelastic properties of carbon
nanotube-reinforced polymer composites. Mech. Adv. Mater. Struct. 13(4), 317–328 (2006)
9. Punetha, V.D., Rana, S., Yoo, H.J., Chaurasia, A., McLeskey, J.T., Ramasamy, M.S., Sahoo,
N.G., Cho, J.W.: Functionalization of carbon nanomaterials for advanced polymer nanocom-
posites: a comparison study between CNT and graphene. Prog. Polym. Sci. 67, 1–47 (2017)
10. Rai, A., Subramanian, N., Chattopadhyay, A.: Investigation of damage mechanisms in CNT
nanocomposites using multiscale analysis. Int. J. Solids Struct. 120, 115–124 (2017)
11. Savvas, D., Stefanou, G., Papadopoulos, V., Papadrakakis, M.: Effect of waviness and ori-
entation of carbon nanotubes on random apparent material properties and RVE size of CNT
reinforced composites. Compos. Struct. 152, 870–882 (2016)
12. Shajari, A.R., Ghajar, R., Shokrieh, M.M.: Multiscale modeling of the viscoelastic properties of
CNT/polymer nanocomposites, using complex and time-dependent homogenizations. Comput.
Mater. Sci. 142, 395–409 (2018)
13. Su, Y., Zhang, S., Zhang, X., Zhao, Z., Jing, D.: Preparation and properties of carbon nan-
otubes/carbon fiber/poly (ether ether ketone) multiscale composites. Compos. Part A Appl.
Sci. Manuf. 108, 89–98 (2018)
14. Takeda, T.: Micromechanics model for three-dimensional effective elastic properties of com-
posite laminates with ply wrinkles. Compos. Struct. 189, 419–427 (2018)
Comparative Study of Some Machining
Characteristics During Hard Turning
of Alloy Steel with Untreated
and Cryotreated Cermet Inserts
Anshuman Das, S. K. Patel, Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal and R. N. Mahapatra
Abstract Extended tool life of cutting inserts is most suitable condition for higher
productivity of a manufacturing industry. Several methods are found and employed
for higher tool life of cutting inserts among which cryogenic treatment is consid-
ered as the most significant method but no adequate researches have been found
concerning the impact of cryogenic treatment on cermet inserts especially in hard
turning operation. Hence, in the current experimental investigation, the comparative
assessment of various responses such as flank wear, crater wear, chip morphology,
friction coefficient and chip compression ratio were carried out during machining of
hardened steel with both untreated and cryotreated cermet inserts under dry cutting
condition. The hard turning operation was accomplished according to Taguchi’s L9
orthogonal array. The experimental result demonstrated that the uncoated deep cry-
otreated with tempered cermet insert delivered better results in comparison to other
cermet inserts because of better wear resistance, micro-hardness, and toughness.
Keywords Hard turning · Uncoated cermet · Cryo treatment · Flank wear · Crater
wear
A. Das (B) · S. K. Patel

National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Rourkela, Odisha, India
e-mail: anshuman.das2009@gmail.com
S. K. Patel
e-mail: skpatel@nitrkl.ac.in
B. B. Biswal · R. N. Mahapatra
National Institute of Technology, Shillong, Meghalaya 793003, India
e-mail: director@nitm.ac.in
R. N. Mahapatra
e-mail: rnmahapatra@nitm.ac.in

218 A. Das et al.
1 Introduction
Quality, productivity, and economic aspects of any machining process are influenced
by tool life to a great extent. The machining cost partly depends on one of the signif-
icant responses, i.e., tool life. In general, the tool life is influenced by the high heat
generation at the tool-work and tool-chip interfaces during hard machining. Hardness
and wear resistance of the tool material must be adequate enough in order to sustain
such high temperature. Else, the machining characteristics may be severely hampered
due to the cutting edge softening and rapid progressive wear on the rake and flank
surfaces. Various methodologies have been proposed by number of researchers and
scientists for the enhancement of tool life, such as coating, heat treatment, applica-
tion of divergent coolants, use of different types of tool geometries and cryogenic
treatment. However, cryogenic treatment has been put through over the last few years
extensively by various researchers in the field of metal machining. Different types
of cryogenic treatment such as indirect cryo treatment of workpiece, tool materials
and direct application of cryo coolant on the machining surfaces have been exe-
cuted by many researchers and scientists. The summarized results asserted that there
was an improvement in the performances of cryo-treated tools in comparison to the
untreated tools. Therefore, the effects of both shallow and deep cryogenic treatment
with tempering on the performances of uncoated cermets have been studied in this
investigation.
Vadivel et al. [1] compared the performance of cryogenically treated and tempered
coated inserts with untreated coated inserts. Cryogenically treated and tempered
inserts were found to have a better surface finish, less power consumption, less
flank wear, and higher wear resistance over untreated inserts. Kalsi et al. [2] studied
the effects of post-tempering cycles on cryo treated tungsten carbide inserts. The
experimental results revealed that the wear resistance of the insert was improved
due to fine distribution and densification of cobalt binder phase. Microhardness of
the insert was enhanced due to cryogenic treatment and reduced due to subsequent
tempering cycles. Thornton et al. [3] studied the effects of deep cryogenic treatment
on wear characteristics of H13A tungsten carbide inserts while machining AISI 1045
steel. Results revealed that hardness of the insert was increased to 9.21% and flank
wear was reduced to 6%. Further, wear resistance improved whereas toughness was
reduced due to the densification of cobalt binder phase. Kỳvak et al. [4] analyzed
the effect of cryogenic treatment on M42 HSS drills during machining Ti–6Al–4V
alloy. Cryogenic treatment and tempering enhanced wear resistance and tool life of
M42 HSS drill under both dry and wet cutting conditions. Strano et al. [5] studied
the wear behavior of PVD coated and cryogenically treated tools during turning of
Ti–6Al–4V. The results revealed that deep cryogenic treated inserts outperformed
untreated inserts at high cutting speed in context of flank wear due to more wear
resistance. Ozbek et al. [6] analyzed the effect of cryogenic treatment on uncoated
tungsten carbide during dry turning of stainless steel. From the XRD analysis, it was
observed that cryogenically treated and tempered insert exhibited a high volume of
fine η phase carbide particles than untreated inserts attributed to hardness and wear
Comparative Study of Some Machining Characteristics During Hard … 219
resistance improvements. As a result, the treated and tempered inserts exhibited

reduced flank, crater and notch wear than untreated inserts.
2 Experimental Details
The materials employed in the present experimental work, measurement techniques

and the detailed experimental procedures, including cryogenic treatment are illus-
trated in this section.
2.1 Shallow and Deep Cryogenic Treatment of Cermet Inserts
The inserts were kept in a plastic container in both shallow and deep cryogenic
treatment before placing in the cryo chamber and the cryogenic dipstick as shown
in Figs. 1 and 2. This was necessary to prevent the direct contact of inserts with
the liquid nitrogen to circumvent the possibility of thermal damage. The tempering
operation was performed after shallow and deep cryogenic treatment to alleviate the
residual stress induced during cryogenic treatment. In the current research, uncoated
cermet inserts were shallow and deep cryo treated followed by tempering.
The cermet samples were placed in the cryo chamber at beginning. For shallow
cryogenic treatment, a cooling rate of 1 °C/min was decided, the temperature was
brought down to –145 °C from room temperature, i.e., 25 °C. After reaching the
temperature mentioned above, for soaking the temperature was kept constant for 24 h.
By the end of soaking period, the temperature was again raised to room temperature at
the same rate, i.e., 1 °C/min. Tempering process was started after the final stage of the
cryogenic cycle, where the inserts were kept in a furnace and heated to a temperature
of 145 °C with a heating rate of 1 °C/min. After attaining the temperature, it was
Cryo chamber
Fig. 1 Setup for shallow cryo treatment

220 A. Das et al.
Dipstick
Fig. 2 Setup for deep cryo treatment
kept constant for 7 h. Then finally, the temperature was brought down to the room
temperature, i.e., 25 °C at the same rate, i.e., 1 °C/min. For deep cryogenic treatment,
the same procedure was followed but the temperatures selected were 22 °C (the room
or initial temperature), −173 °C (final temperature) and 173 °C (temperature for
tempering cycle). Also in deep cryogenic treatment, cryo chamber was replaced by
cryogenic dipstick immersed in liquid nitrogen. The electronic temperature controller
controls the temperature. The tempering cycle adopted in deep cryo treatment was
identical to shallow cryogenic treatment.
2.2 Experimental Approach
A graphical representation of the current experimental investigation was shown in

Fig. 3. Three governing parameters such as cutting speed, feed and depth of cut dif-
Fig. 3 Experimental set up

fered at three levels and their effects on the responses like flank wear, crater wear,
chip morphology, chip compression ratio, and friction coefficient were observed.
Before the actual machining operation, the workpiece was first centered, rust layer
was removed from the outer surface of the workpiece for the alleviation of any final
results inconsistency on the responses. Each experimental run was carried out for a
machining length of 200 mm. At the outset, different uncoated cermet inserts were
characterized using SEM combined with EDS before and after the cryogenic treat-
ment. To distinguish different crystallographic phases of untreated, cryotreated and
cryotreated with tempered inserts, XRD (Make: Japan, model: Ultima IV) was used.
Vickers micro hardness tester (Make: Leco, Model: LM248AT) was used to accom-
plish microhardness testing. Further, the pin on disc type wear testing machine was
utilized to conduct the wear resistance tests of untreated, cryotreated and cryotreated
with tempered cermet inserts.
3.1 Analysis of Tool Wear
For the tool wear analysis of various cermet inserts, both the rake and flank surfaces
of the inserts were examined using advanced optical microscope.
3.1.1 Crater Wear
The variation present in the crater wear of different cermet inserts was presented
in Fig. 4, it was observed that there was a remarkable decrement in the crater wear
of UCDCTT cermet insert compared to other inserts. And highest value of crater
wear was observed for UCUT insert. Figure 5 exhibited the advanced microscopic
images of the rake surfaces of both untreated and deep cryotreated and tempered
cermet. Extremely less amount of crater wear width was observed for UCDCTT
Average width of crater
600
UCUT
wear (micron)
400 UCSCT
UCSCTT
200
UCDCT
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UCDCTT
Run No
Fig. 4 Variation in crater wear with different cermet inserts

222 A. Das et al.
(a) (b)
Crater wear Crater wear
Fig. 5 Images of crater wear procured by advanced optical microscope at cutting speed 80 m/min,
feed rate of 0.15 mm/rev and depth of cut of 0.3 mm, for a deep cryo-treated and tempered insert
and b uncoated and untreated insert
insert compared to UCUT insert. Further, no severe damages were observed for
UCDCTT insert at low cutting speed.
3.1.2 Flank Wear
For five types of cermet inserts, the discrepancy present in the flank wear was shown
in Fig. 6. From the figure, it was perceived that UCDCTT insert outperformed other
cermet inserts regarding flank wear with the experimental run. Highest flank wear
was observed for UCUT insert among all cermet inserts and lowest was observed for
UCDCTT insert. At lower cutting speed, i.e., 80 m/min, the flank wear pattern for
UCUT and UCDCTT insert was shown in Fig. 7. Abrasion marks were observed for
both the cases. More wear on the flank face of UCUT insert was observed than the
UCDCTT insert. Both builtup edge and chipping were observed prominently on the
flank surface of the UCUT insert however only chipping was found for UCDCTT
Fig. 6 Variation in flank wear with different cermet inserts

(a) (b)
Less wear More
Fig. 7 Images of flank wear procured by advanced optical microscope at cutting speed of 80 m/min,
feed rate of 0.1 mm/rev and depth of cut of 0.3 mm, for a cryo-treated and tempered insert and
b uncoated and untreated insert
insert at medium range of cutting speed, i.e., 100 m/min. At higher cutting speed,
i.e., 120 m/min both the inserts performed similarly. Very small BUE was observed
for UCUT whereas only chipping was found for UCDCTT inserts. For machining
hardened 4340 alloy steel at speed values of 100 or 120 m/min, it was advisable to use
UCDCTT cermet inserts. Because due to deep cryogenic treatment and tempering,
wear resistance, and toughness was significantly improved [4–6] similarly micro-
hardness was comparatively upgraded which results less wear on both rake and flank
faces.
3.1.3 Chip Morphology
Chip morphology plays an important role in hard machining. Both the surface quality
and the tool life highly depend upon the chip morphology. The chip morphology for
various cermet inserts during hard turning of 4340 alloy steel was studied using SEM.
At inflated feed rate, the chip was entwined and the structure of the chip was changed,
i.e., impression of saw tooth formed on the chip surface, which was mainly due to
shear deformation at primary and secondary shear zones. Also, due to higher feed, the
increase in the contact length between chip and tool resulted in high heat generation
due to which microstructural alteration and thermal deformation occurred. This was
the main reason for the formation of saw tooth chip. Highest flank wear was observed
for UCUT cermet while lowest flank wear was observed for UCDCTT cermet insert
because of good strength, enhancement of micro hardness, increment in toughness,
and wear resistance resulted smaller saw tooth on the chip surface as shown in Fig. 8.
Due to maximum flank wear, more heat was generated that contributes to wider saw
tooth chip for UCUT insert illustrated in Fig. 8. Another important attribute of chip
morphology was discerned during this present experimental investigation called side
flow of chips. With UCDCTT insert, no side flow of chip was observed, whereas with
UCUT insert severe material side flow was observed, which was shown in Fig. 8. A
notable improvement in micro hardness, wear resistance and toughness for UCDCTT
insert after cryogenic treatment and tempering might be contributed to this.
224 A. Das et al.
(a) (b)
Less serration
More serration
(c) (d)
Less serrations
without side flow
More serrations
with side flow
Fig. 8 Images of chips procured by FESEM after machining hardened alloy steel with a and
c cryotreated and tempered tools and b and d uncoated and untreated tools
Similarly, the other responses such as wear resistance, microhardness, coefficient

of friction, and chip compression factor have been analyzed. Microstructural and
phase analysis of both untreated and cryotreated inserts have been also accomplished.
4 Conclusion and Future Scope
The research carried out drawn a set of remarkable conclusions, which are as follows:
• After cryogenic treatment, both micro-hardness and wear resistance was signifi-
cantly improved for cermet insert as compared to the untreated one.
• Toughness was highly influenced by tempering.
• A considerable amount of reduction in coefficient of chip contraction, (µ), crater
wear and flank wear were detected for deep cryogenically treated with tempered
insert compared to other inserts.
• Chip formation process was greatly affected by cryogenic treatment. Serrations
and material side flow were the two primary properties of chips found. With deep
cryo treated and tempered inserts, very less serrations and no side flow were found
compared to untreated inserts.
• Formation of built up edge was significantly reduced because of cryogenic treat-
ment.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank National Institute of Technology, Rourkela,
India for providing their facilities for carrying out the research work.
References
1. Vadivel, K., Rudramoorthy, R.: Performance analysis of cryogenically treated coated carbide
inserts. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 42(3–4), 222–232 (2009)
2. Kalsi, N.S., Sehgal, R., Sharma, V.S.: Effect of tempering after cryogenic treatment of tungsten
carbide—cobalt bounded inserts. Bull. Mater. Sci. 37(2), 327–335 (2014)
3. Thornton, R., Slatter, T., Lewis, R.: Effects of deep cryogenic treatment on the wear development
of H13A tungsten carbide inserts when machining AISI 1045 steel. Prod. Eng. 8, 355–364 (2014)
4. Kỳvak, T., Şeker, U.: Effect of cryogenic treatment applied to M42 HSS drills on the machin-
ability of Ti–6Al–4V alloy. Mater. Technol. 49(6), 949–956 (2015)
5. Strano, M., Albertelli, P., Chiappini, E., Tirelli, S.: Wear behavior of PVD coated and cryogeni-
cally treated tools for Ti–6Al–4V turning. Int. J. Mater. Form. 8, 601–611 (2015)
6. Özbek, N.A., Çiçek, A., Gülesin, M., Özbek, O.: Effect of cutting conditions on wear perfor-
mance of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide inserts in dry turning of stainless steel. TribolInt.
94, 223–233 (2016)
Process Parameters Optimization
of EDMed Surface of Titanium-Grade-4
Alloy Using Topsis Coupled with Taguchi
Philosophy
Dipraj Banik, Rahul, Himanshu Ranjan Sinha and Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal
Abstract EDM is one of the non-conventional machining systems. It is a specialized

thermal machining process which is used for machining parts of varying hardness and
complex shapes. The major drawback of this system is that it has a lower machining
rate. As there is no contact between the work-piece and the tool, so it is independent
of the hardness of the work material. Titanium-Grade 4 (3.7065, R50700) finds its
application in the aerospace industry. Machining of titanium was not an easy task, as
it has poor thermal conductivity, higher pressure load, non-uniform chip thickness,
etc. Peak current, pulse on time, and voltage were taken as input control parameters,
whereas material removal rate, tool wear rate, and surface roughness were taken
as response parameters. Desirability function was used to design the experiments
using the L9 orthogonal array. The effects of each parameter on the response while
machining using a copper electrode were studied.
Keywords Titanium-Grade-4 · EDM · Copper electrode · TOPSIS · Taguchi

method
1 Introduction
Kao [1] have studied Machining by EDM by using Taguchi method on Ti-6Al-4 V
alloy. An improvement of 15% in wear ratio, 12% in Metal Removal Rate (MRR)
and 19% in Surface roughness (SR) were observed in his experiment. Jahrah et al.
[2] from his investigation formulated the fact that tool wear was absent when AISI
HI3 tool steel was subjected to EDM machining at high peak current, high pulse on
time and low pulse off time using copper electrode. Both MRR and surface finish
was affected by Peak current.
D. Banik · Rahul (B) · H. R. Sinha

KIIT Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar 751024, India
e-mail: rahulkumar589@gmail.com
B. B. Biswal
National Institute of Technology, Meghalaya 793003, India

228 D. Banik et al.
Rahul et al. [3] studied the effects of the cryogenically treated copper electrode
on the MRR, TWR, and surface finish of EDMed Ti-6Al-4 V. Kolli and Apedu
[4] performed the Taguchi method to optimize the surfactant and graphite pow-
der concentration in the dielectric to machine Ti6Al4 V using EDM. From this,
it was observed that approaching optimum condition improves MRR, reduces SR,
and depletes recast layer of aluminum. Verma and Sahu [5] optimized the process
parameters of a die sinking EDM using the full factorial technique. He found out that
MRR was directly proportional to applied current and voltage. Routara and Mishra
[6] found out that different combination of process parameters is necessary for EDM
to achieve increased MRR and low TWR for EN-24 alloy steel. The signal to noise
(S/N) ratio and analysis of variance are used to interpret and understand the effect
of input parameters on MRR and TWR. Sapkal and Jagtap [7] conducted the study
on optimization of micro EDM drilling of titanium alloy TiAl4 V by using copper
tungsten electrode. He found out that the main problem encountered in the drilling
was the removal of debris particle, and it was overcome by electron rotation method.
Rahul et al. [8] did a comparative study between A2 tool steel, Inconel 601, and Ti-
6Al-4 V. Rao and Koona [9] in their investigation on Aluminum T6 alloy observed
that increase in cutting speed the residual stress and surface roughness increases.
In this present work, multilevel process parameter of Titanium-Grade 4 (3.7065,
R50700) alloy was studied when machined with a copper electrode in die sink-
ing EDM. Here peak current, voltage, and pulse on time are taken as the variable
parameters and MRR (Material removal rate) and TWR (Tool wear rate) as machine
response.
2 Experimentation
The workpiece material was selected as Titanium-Grade 4 (3.7065, R50700). It is

composed of C, Fe, H, N, O, Ti with weight percent of 0.1, 0.5, 0.015, 0.05, 0.4, and
99, respectively. It is extensively used in the aviation industry for making aircraft,
space crafts, missiles, etc., because it has low density, ability to withstand high
temperature and it has a higher strength to weight ratio. For machining purposes,
nine pieces of the workpiece were taken with 15 mm diameter and 10 mm length
each. The surface was ground to make them parallel before machining. In Fig. 1 the
sample workpiece is shown. The tool was taken as 99.99% pure Copper. Numbers
of tools were 2 with 100 mm length and 10 mm diameter each. The tool was set as
negative, and the workpiece was set as positive. In Fig. 2, the sample tool is shown.
SAE-40 grade oil was used as a dielectric fluid which has a flashpoint of 105 °C. The
experiment was conducted on the “Smart ZNC Electro Discharge Machine” Fig. 3.
Process Parameters Optimization of EDMed Surface of Titanium … 229
Fig. 1 Titanium
Fig. 2 Cu electrode
To achieve a high-quality product without increasing the cost, optimization of

process parameters is the major step. This parameter, which is obtained, should
be insensitive to the variation of environmental condition. Generally, some of the
controlling factors were chosen, namely—peak current, pulse on time, and voltage
gap. The values of the parameters are shown in Table 1. The results are generally
analyzed on a software named MINITAB. The advantage of using this software is
that it can reduce the number of experiments required to obtain necessary data for
optimization. Three parameters such as peak current, voltage gap, pulse on time were
taken with three levels. So to get the optimum value of MRR (in g/min), TWR (in
g/min) and SR (Surface roughness) (in µm) with a minimum number of experiments,
L9 (33 ) orthogonal array was chosen. The selected orthogonal array is presented in
Table 2. For every new experiment, the dielectric fluid was recirculated after filtering.
Table 1 Values of the

Parameters Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
parameters
Peak current (Ip ) 19 21 23
Pulse on time (Ton) 200 300 400
Gap voltage (Vg) 55 65 75
230 D. Banik et al.
Table 2 Experimental layout

Sl. no. Peak current Pulse on time Voltage gap
of L9 orthogonal array
1 1 1 1
2 1 2 2
3 1 3 3
4 2 1 2
5 2 2 3
6 2 3 1
7 3 1 3
8 3 2 1
9 3 3 2
Fig. 3 EDM
3 Methodology
TOPSIS (ordering preference technique similar to the ideal solution) method depicts
that the alternative (the most suitable alternative) chosen should have the shortest dis-
tance from the ideal positive solution and the farthest distance from the negative ideal
solution. Positive, ideal solutions are solutions that maximize efficiency standards
and minimize unfavorably (cost) standards; negative, ideal solutions maximize the
Higher-Is-Better (HB), and lower standards (Lower-is-Better; LB) Minimize. The
steps for calculating the proximity coefficient value in TOPSIS are as follows: Step
1: This step involves the development of an initial decision matrix Eq. (1). The rows
represent an alternative, and columns are representing an attribute. This matrix can
be written as
⎡ ⎤
A1 x11 x12 · · · xi j · · · x1n
A2 ⎢ ⎥
⎢ x21 x22 · · · x2 j · · · x2n ⎥
⎢
.. ⎢ .. .. . . .. . . .. ⎥
. ⎢ . . . . . . ⎥ ⎥
D= ⎢ ⎥ (1)
Ai ⎢ xi1 xi1 · · · xi j · · · xin ⎥
⎢ ⎥
.. ⎢ .. .. . . .. . . .. ⎥
. ⎣ . . . . . . ⎦
Am xm1 xm2 · · · xm j · · · xmn
where Ai (i = 1, 2, 3, 4,…25) (representing possible alternatives C j = 1, 3; rep-

resenting criteria related to alternative performance xi j (response)) is the standard
value Ai of the standard C j . here, m = 25, n = 3.
Step 2: Get a standardized matrix ri j Eq. (2) which can be expressed as
xi j
ri j = (2)
m
i=1 xi2j
Here, ri j represents the standardized standard value Ai in accordance to C j .

Step 3: Obtain a weighted normalized decision matrix V = vi j Eq. (3). Here
you can find
vi j = w j ri j (3)
Here, nj=1 w j = 1.
Step 4: Determination of the best and worst solutions is done in this step. Positive
ideal and negative ideal solutions can be written as
(a) The positive ideal solution is given by Eq. (4):

A+ = max vi j | j ∈ J ), min vi j j ∈ J i = 1, 2, . . . , m

= v1+ , v2+ , . . . , v+j , . . . , vn+ (4)
(b) The negative ideal solution is given by Eq. (5):

A− = min vi j | j ∈ J ), max vi j j ∈ J i = 1, 2, . . . , m

= v1− , v2− , . . . , v−j , . . . ., vn− (5)
Here J = 1, 2, . . . , n| j , relates to the criteria of benefit and, J = 1, 2, . . . , n| j ,

relates to the adverse criteria of cost.
Step 5: Determine the distance metric. The separation metrics selected from both
positive and negative ideal solutions are given by the Euclidean distances as follows
232 D. Banik et al.
Eq. (6, 7)
2
n
Si+ = vi j − v+j , i = 1, 2, 3, . . . , m (6)
j=1
2
n
Si− = vi j − v−j , i = 1, 2, 3, . . . , m (7)
j=1
Step 6: Calculate the relative proximity (also called the proximity coefficient)
relative to the ideal solution Eq. (8)
Si−
Ci+ = i = 1, 2, 3, . . . , m, 0 ≤ Ci+ ≤ 1 (8)
Si+ + Si−
Step 7: The alternative corresponding to the highest value is considered the most
suitable choice. In this study, the density coefficients have been optimized (maxi-
mized) by the Taguchi method to obtain the best settings for the process parameters
of the desired output characteristics associated with the EDM of Inconel 718.
Along with TOPSIS, we have also coupled the Taguchi approach to reduce the
sources of deviation for optimum quality and fulfillment of goals.
The main objective of this paper was to obtain the best combination of process param-
eters for the EDM of Titanium-grade 4 alloys to obtain the best characteristics viz.
greater MRR, lower EWR, and lower surface roughness. The best possible combi-
nation for the input parameters is showed in Fig. 4 considering higher is better for
the closeness coefficient, and the values for the coefficients obtained by applying
this combination is represented in Table 3. It is evident that the predicted S/N ratio
is higher than the S/N ratios obtained, hence our choice of higher is better gives the
mean plot of S/N ratio in Fig. 4 which shows the plot of best parameter selection
from different levels for optimum result and is also shown in the response table for
means Table 4.
5 Conclusion
• The process parameters for EDMed Titanium 4 alloy were analyzed using TOPSIS
along with the Taguchi approach and the characteristics viz. MRR, EWR and
surface roughness were optimized for best result using the L9 orthogonal array
Fig. 4 Main effects plot for SN ratios
Table 3 S/N ratio for closeness coefficient (Ci ) and computed separation measures (Si )
Sl. no. Si+ Si− Ci+ S/N ratio [dB] S/N ratio Predicted [dB]
1 0.0028 0.4537 0.9938 −0.0540 2.1804
2 0.0117 0.4532 0.9746 −0.2234
3 0.0227 0.4467 0.9515 −0.4318
4 0.0303 0.4317 0.9343 −0.5902
5 0.3232 0.3001 0.4815 −6.3480
6 0.0729 0.4005 0.8459 −1.4536
7 0.0383 0.4285 0.9179 −0.7440
8 0.0725 0.4168 0.8518 −1.3932
9 0.3241 0.3204 0.4971 −6.0711
234 D. Banik et al.
Table 4 Response table for

Level A B C
means
1 0.9733 0.9487 0.8972
2 0.7539 0.7693 0.8020
3 0.7556 0.7648 0.7836
Delta 0.2194 0.1838 0.1135
Rank 1 2 3
used for the checking of various level of combination of the process parameters
in three levels viz. Peak current, pulse on time, and open circuit voltage and their
best value for the optimum result were obtained.
• The best level values for peak current, pulse on time and open circuit voltage are
19 A, 200 µs and 55 V respectively and this combination of process parameters
was obtained using the methodologies and the MINITAB software and was put
into application.
References
1. Kao, J.Y.: Optimization of the EDM parameters on machining Ti-6Al-4 V with multiple quality
characteristics. Int. J Adv. Manuf. Technol. 47, 395–402 (2010)
2. Jaharah, A.G., Liang C.G., Wahid, S.Z.: Performance of copper electrode in EDM of AISI H13
Harden steel. Int. J. Mech. Mat. Eng. 3(1), 25–29 (2008)
3. Rahul., Saurav, D., Manoj, M.: Surface integrity and metallurgical characteristics of the EDMed
work surfaces of A2 Tool steel (SAE 304SS), Inconel 601 and Ti-6Al-4 V: a comparative analysis.
Silicon 10(4), 1557–1572 (2018)
4. Kolli, M., Apedu, K.: Effect of dielectric fluid with surfactant and graphite powder on electrical
discharge machining of titanium alloy using Taguchi method. Eng. Sci. Technol. Int. J. 18,
524–535 (2015)
5. Verma, V., Sahu, R.K.: Process parameter optimization of die-sinking EDM on Titanium Grade-
V alloy using full factorial design. Proceedings 4, 1893–1899 (2017)
6. Routara, B.C., Mishra, B.P.: An experimental investigation and optimization in EDM of EN-
24 alloy steel using Taguchi Method and Grey Relational Analysis. Proceedings 4, 7438–7447
(2017)
7. Sapkal, S.U., Jagtap, P.S.: Optimization of micro EDM drilling process parameters for titanium
alloy by rotating electrode. Proc. Manuf. 20, 119–126 (2018)
8. Rahul., Dileep, K.M., Saurav, D., Manoj, M.: Effects of tool electrode on EDM performance of
Ti-6Al-4 V. Silicon 1–15 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-018-9760-0
9. Rao, P.S., Koona, R.B.S.: Effect of wire EDM conditions on generation of residual stresses in
machining of aluminum 2014 T6. Alex. Eng. J. 55, 1077–1084 (2016)
Analytical Study for Enhancing Gear
Performance Using Al2 O3 Paint Coating
Himanshu Ranjan Sinha, Rahul, Dipraj Banik and Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal
Abstract Nowadays one-time investment is considered better than frequent expen-

ditures of a particular product. To deliver such kind of technology or product is the
prime objective of most of the companies. Same goes for the automobile industry.
Narrowing the scope for the steering and transmission performance and their fatigue
life (mostly rack and pinion which are used in the four-wheeler). In this paper a
conventional gear material is taken and has been given a thin paint coating and FEA
(Finite Element Analysis) is performed and the stress acting on gear was reduced
by 14%. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the total stress acting on the
system of a pair of gears having wide application.
Keywords ANSYS · Coating · Gear · Al2 O3 · EN8 · EN24
1 Introduction
Gears are one of the important components of almost all the driving mechanism. The
most important factor which characterizes gear performance is its tooth strength. If
there is wear on tooth profile then it will cause unwanted noise and vibration in the
system as its life will decrease at a rapid rate and in worst case it can damage the
subsystems linked to it causing an entire system failure. As per Sekar and Satishkumar
[1] the stress-bearing capacity as well as the fatigue life can be increased by the use
of non-standard gears. Analysis performed by Brauer and Andersson [2] using FEA
all shows how important it is to look into the tooth strength for proper performance.
There have been experiments done by using different kind of coatings like tungsten
carbide [3] which is added to carburized gear which enhances its scuffing and wear
resistance. Similar experiment was conducted by Alanou et al. [4] which showed that
a thin film of hard coating may increase scuffing and wear resistance and also keeping
the friction coefficient minimum. According to Holmberg et al. [5] the roughness of
H. R. Sinha · Rahul (B) · D. Banik

Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar 751024, India
e-mail: rahulkumar589@gmail.com
B. B. Biswal
National Institute of Technology, Meghalaya 793003, India
236 H. R. Sinha et al.
the coating surface and also the adhesiveness governs the change in performance.
Krantz et al. [6] has also performed fatigue test and found out the lifetime of coated
gears is more than their standard counterparts but still there are certain limitations
when it comes to their lubrication. It is seen that En8 which is normally used as gear
material for various purposes is better than aluminum bronze gears which are not
lubricated and the fatigue life of En8 is also better than the later one Walton and
Goodwin [7]. The main purpose of this paper is to check the result of total stress
acting on a pair of gear because of coating of aluminum oxide. This coating method
standouts from other coatings as its application on substrate is easy and economical
and 14% enhancement in performance is observed.
2 Material and Coating Used for Analysis Purpose
En8 or 080M40 The chemical composition of En8 is as per Table 1. This can also
be heat treated As per Devi et al. [8] to increase the hardness and even after heat
treatment it is easily machinable which is one of its benefit. It does provide a little
increase in wear resistance after treatment.
En24 or AISI-4340 This has a good wear resistant property and its strength can
be changed by different heat treatment process mentioned in Devi et al. [8] and its
chemical composition are also mentioned in Table 1. The added strength which it
has is due to the addition of Cr, Mo and Ni.
Aluminum Oxide The variant which is used for the current research purpose is
a simple paint based coating which has to be simply applied on a dry substrate. This
coating is a 99.5% Aluminum Oxide and whose properties are mentioned in Table 2.
Even coating of 94% Aluminum Oxide can also be used.
Table 1 Chemical
Element En8 En24
composition (in %) of EN8
and EN24 C 0.38 0.40
Si 0.20 0.15
Mn 0.8 0.6
S 0.02 0.03
P 0.01 0.02
Cr – 1.3
Mo – 0.3
Ni – 1.3
Fe Balanced Balanced
Analytical Study for Enhancing Gear Performance … 237
Table 2 Mechanical
Mechanical properties of aluminum oxide Values
properties
(Al2 O3 )
Density 3890 kg/m3
Flexural strength 379 MPa
Elastic modulus 375 GPa
Shear modulus 152 GPa
Bulk modulus 228 GPa
Poisson’s ratio 0.22
Hardness 1440 kg/mm2
2.1 Design Methodology
For effective wear resistance in a cost effective manner paint coating of aluminum
oxide has been experimented on EN8 to compare the results of the coated and
uncoated gear. The calculations of gear parameters are done using Eqs. (1, 2) and
the interference is checked using Eq. (3).
Design inputs
1. RPM1 AND RPM2
2. Power Input
3. Space Constraints. Fig. 1
4. Material.
Design outputs
1. Number of teeth (T )
2. Pitch circle diameter (Dp ) (in mm)
3. Addendum (aw ), Dedundum (Dw ) (in mm).
For Pinion 1 and Gear 1
Let, module (m) = 2 mm
Fig. 1 Design for space

constrains
Pitch circle diameter for pinion 1 = Dp1

Pitch circle diameter for gear 1 = Dp2
Engine RPM = RPM of pinion 1 = N 1 = 3600
Required RPM of gear 1 = N 2 = 1116
Allowable width for pinion 1 and gear 1 = 160 mm
Therefore,
Dp1 + Dp2 = 160 (1)
By the relation of gear ratio and pitch circle diameter,
Dp1 RPM2 1116

= = (2)
Dp2 RPM1 3600
From Eqs. (1, 2), we get,

Dp1 = 38 and Dp2 = 122.
Determination of Number of Teeth—Interference
Let T 1 = No. of teeth in pinion 1
Let T2 = No. of teeth in gear 1
We assume T 1 = 19
Now putting the values of Dp1 and Dp2 in relation,
T1 T2
=
Dp1 Dp2
We get, T 2 = 61.
2.2 Check for Interference
If one has to remove interference, the pinion should have a minimum number of teeth
specified by following Eq. 3 in which ϕ is pressure angle having value of 20°.
2aw T12 Pd
T1 ≥ (3)
1+ 1 1
T2 T2
+ 2 sin2 ∅ − 1
D
Where, aw = Tp , Pd = T
Dp
By above relation we get,
T1 ≥ 5.81.
So, our assumed T 1 and corresponding T 2 are right and free of interference.
Hence the following design parameters are used to generate the gears and perform
the FEA and to check whether the designed stress is less than the ultimate tensile
strength of the material and check for failure of the gear.
A pair of gear where analyzed using FEA Fig. 2. FEA was performed one at a time
by using En8 and En24 as gear materials and the equivalent stress was observed and
noted down. In my case a simple paint-based thin coating of 99.8% Aluminum oxide
is used to cover the gear. The result obtained where quite different from the former
FEA analysis that was carried on En8 and En24. The paint based coating also serves
as lubricant. As it is evident from the Figs. 3a, b, 4 and 5 the stress acting varies.
Gear made of En8 Fig. 3a, b has to bear more stress than En24 Fig. 4. The percentage
reduction in equivalent stress borne by gear is 4.4% and when the gear is coated with
aluminum oxide (Fig. 5) then the reduction in stress is about 14% which is quite a
considerable amount for enhancing the gear life and performance.
Fig. 2 Meshed model of the pair of gear analyzed

Fig. 3 a Assembly view (Material—En8). b View without pinion (En8)

Fig. 4 Pinion and gear made of En24
Fig. 5 Pinion and gear of En8 with a coating of aluminum oxide on gear
4 Conclusion
There have been many methods developed for enhancing the strength of gears like
making Non-standard gears, heat treatments or nitriding which are time taking and
costly. In this case coating can easily be sprayed onto the substrate using a spray
gun. By controlling the spray time, air pressure, and nozzle size we can control
the coating thickness up to the order of micro-meters and also minimize the coating
material consumption [9]. The area to be sprayed and dry film thickness can be found
out by the Eqs. (4, 5) [9].
π ∗ Z 2 tan α tan β
A= (4)
cos θ
m ∗ cos θ
TDFT = k ∗ ∗ Z 2∗
(5)
ρcm tan α tan β
In the above equations A (in mm2 ) is spray area, Z (in mm) is Standoff-Distance
of spray gun, α, β, θ and ρ cm (in g/cm3 ), k, m are the span angles, inclination
angle of spray gun, density of coating material, coefficient of coating process, and
weight of coating material respectively. Most of the industries have a paint shop
and this method can easily be implemented without making extra expenditure on
its setup. The comparison between the stresses for different types of materials viz.
En8, En24 and En8 coated is clearly shown in Fig. 6 and the result of FEA clearly
reveals the decrease in the reduction in Von-Misses stress (approximately 14%) for
the same load capacity of 42 Nm. As per distortion energy theorem strain energy is
inversely proportional to Young’s modulus of elasticity whereas the Von-Mises stress
is directly proportional to the strain energy hence if there is a decrease in Von-Mises
stress acting on the system then the Young’s modulus increases which means for
the same amount of deformation more stress has to be applied after the coating’s
application.
The coated gears can find application in racing industry where transmission gears
wear out easily because of the harsh conditions they are put through. There are
aluminum gears which can also be used if performance is required but they are
costly.
Comparison of Von -Mises stress .

1.2
En8 En24 En8 coated
1.15
Von- Mises Stress (e9 Pa)
1.1
1.05
0.95
0.9
Material
Fig. 6 Comparison of von-Misses stress between En8, En24 and En8 Coated
References
1. Sekar, R.P., Satishkumar, R.: Enhancement of wear resistance on normal contact ratio spur gear
pairs through non-standard gears. Wear 380–381, 228–239 (2017)
2. Brauer, J., Andersson, S.: Simulation of wear in gears with flank interference—a mixed FEA
and analytical approach. Wear 254(11), 1216–1232 (2003)
3. Joachim, F., Kurz, N., Glatthaar, B.: Influence of coatings and surface improvements on the
lifetime of gears. In: Proceedings of the international conference on gears, vol. 1 and 2, pp. 565–
82 (2004)
4. Alanou, M.P., Snidle, R.W., Evans, H.P., Krantz, T.L.: On the performance of thin hard coatings
for gearing applications. Tribol. Trans. 45(3), 334–344 (2008)
5. Holmberg, K., Matthews, A., Ronkainen, H.: Coatings tribology—contact mechanisms and
surface design. Tribol. Int. 31(1–3), 107–120 (1998)
6. Krantz, T.L., Cooper, C.V., Townsend, D.P., Hansen, B.D.: Increased surface fatigue lives of
spur gears by application of a coating. In: Proceedings of the international design engineering
technical conferences and computers and information in engineering conference, ASME, vol.
4, pp. 931–939 (2003)
7. Walton, D., Goodwin, A.J.: The Wear of unlubricated metallic spur gears. Wear 222(2), 103–113
(1998)
8. Devi, A., Sudhakar, I., Venkata Ramana, V.S.N.: An experimental study on corrosion behavior
of En8 and En24 grade steels. Mater. today Proc. 2(4–5), 1251–1256 (2015)
9. Luangkularb, S., Prombanpong, S., Tangworodmnukun, V.: Material consumption and dry film
thickness in spray coating process. Proc. CIRP 17, 789–794 (2014)
Ballistic Impact Response
of HDPE/UHMWPE Polymer Composite
Nayan Pundhir, Gaurav Arora, Himanshu Pathak and Sunny Zafar
Abstract The present work deals with ballistic impact response of high-density
polyethylene/ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (HDPE/UHMWPE) poly-
mer composite. Composite materials are anisotropic in nature, therefore to incorpo-
rate the constituent behaviour of composite material a widely used homogenisation
technique has been implemented within ‘Digimat’ platform. Equivalent mechanical
properties have been predicted at meso-scale by Digimat simulation tool. Further,
these equivalent properties of the composite have been used to investigate ballistic
impact response at macro-scale with the help of finite element method (FEM) pack-
age ANSYS-Autodyn. In the present study, HDPE/UHMWPE composite with 10
and 20 wt% of UHMWPE compositions have been considered. Numerical results
are presented in the form of the residual velocity of the projectile, energy transfer
to the plate and the von Mises stress of composite plate. It has been observed that
20 wt% of UHMWPE composite transferred 33.12% higher energy and 36.2% drop
in residual velocity.
Keywords HDPE/UHMWPE composite · Homogenisation · Ballistic impact ·

ANSYS-Autodyn
N. Pundhir · G. Arora · H. Pathak (B) · S. Zafar

School of Engineering, IIT Mandi, VPO Kamand, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh 175005, India
e-mail: himanshu@iitmandi.ac.in
N. Pundhir
e-mail: pundhir.nayan@gmail.com
G. Arora
e-mail: aroraiitr@gmail.com
S. Zafar
e-mail: sunnyzafar@iitmandi.ac.in

246 N. Pundhir et al.
Nomenclature
A Initial yield stress (MPa)

B Strain hardening coefficient (dimensionless)
C Strain rate coefficient (dimensionless)
D Fitting curve constants (dimensionless)
E tr Energy transferred to the plate (kJ)
E Young’s modulus (GPa)
E Fitting curve constants (dimensionless)
G Shear modulus (GPa)
HDPE High-density polyethylene
M Mass of projectile (g)
N Strain hardening exponent (dimensionless)
Tm Melting temperature (K)
Tr Room temperature (K)
UHMWPE Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene
V bl Ballistic limit (m/s)
V im Impact velocity (m/s)
V re Residual velocity (m/s)
εp Effective plastic strain (dimensionless)
ε̄˙ p Effective plastic strain rate (dimensionless)
ν Poisson’s ratio (dimensionless)
ε̇o User-defined strain rate (dimensionless)
σy Yield stress (MPa)
1 Introduction
Over the past few decades, there is demand of materials for lightweight, high-
performance applications at low cost. The ballistic impact is the situation where
the impacts are sudden, thus requiring high strength materials. The primary objec-
tive of the ballistic armour is to stop the projectile from fully penetrating through
the armour [1]. Therefore, high-energy absorbing materials are required to avoid
the full perforation. In the history of ballistic impact, steel was the most favourable
material, because it could absorb a large amount of energy prior to failure. But
as the density of steel is about 7700 kg/m3 so it is quite heavy [2]. Therefore the
demand for lightweight protective system has been raised and introduced to aramid
fibre ‘Kevlar’. The fibres of Kevlar are cross-linked; hence it has high strength and
toughness. Due to the lightweight of Kevlar, it was favoured for the case of ballistic
impact. The usefulness of Kevlar was only observed up to a certain impact velocity
[3]. Thereafter the need for more reliable materials comes into demand.
Ballistic Impact Response of HDPE/UHMWPE Polymer Composite 247
To fulfil the requirement of high specific strength of the material, a very promis-
ing material has been explored as “Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene
(UHMWPE)”. It is commercially known as Dyneema. The reason behind the popu-
larity of the UHMWPE is its high energy absorbing capacity. The high strength has
been obtained in UHMWPE, due to its long molecular chain [4]. Since it has a long
chain of molecules so it can easily transfer the tensile load between the molecules
[5]. Upon impact, there is a sudden rise in the stress, therefore the loosely bonded
fibres of UHMWPE helps in stress distribution [6]. This stress distribution charac-
teristic is the main reason behind the high energy absorbing capacity upon ballistic
impact. Despite these advantages, UHMWPE has a disadvantage of degrading at low
temperature. The molecular weight of UHMWPE is of the order of 104 , therefore,
the processing is very difficult [7].
Another important requirement of the ballistic armour is the stiffness of the mate-
rial. Stiffer the material, higher will be the ballistic impact response of the mate-
rial. UHMWPE alone is not stiff enough; therefore to increase the stiffness of the
UHMWPE, it is used with some supporting material. Nowadays thermoplastics are
widely used due to their non-toxic nature, ease of processing, low weight, good
toughness [8]. And moreover, they are available in the wide range of physical prop-
erty. One of the favourable thermoplastics materials is high-density polyethylene
(HDPE). HDPE has a linear chain of molecules, thus having a high degree of crys-
tallinity. During the processing of HDPE, its molecular structure remains the same;
hence it is globally used as a commercial product [9].
These favourable characteristics of UHMWPE and HDPE materials and require-
ment of high energy absorbing capacity in ballistic impact condition have motivated
to numerically investigate ballistic behaviour of HDPE/UHMWPE composite. The
salient features of the present work are as follows:
• Multi-scale simulation approach has been proposed to investigate ballistic response
of HDPE/UHMWPE composite
• Effect of constituent percentage (UHMWPE) has been studied on residual velocity
of projectile
• Effect of composite plate thickness on energy transfer and residual velocity has
been investigated
• Energy transfer to the composite plate has been studied for different percentage
of fibre-matrix weight fraction.
The present work is divided into four sections. Section 1 describes the prob-
lem background. In Sect. 2 mathematical formulation for the considered problem
has been discussed. Section 3 explains numerical results and their significances.
Section 4 concludes the present work followed by acknowledgement, references and
nomenclature.
2 Problem Formulation
2.1 Ballistic Limit
The impact is known to occur when the action of one object, forcefully comes into
the contact with the other. The system which is used to impart the motion to the
projectile is usually a gun. On the basis of the velocity of the projectile, the impacts
can be divided into two classes: (a) Low-velocity impact, in the low-velocity impact
the projectile does not completely penetrate through the target; it is either stopped
or gets rebounded by some velocity (b) High-velocity impact, in the high-velocity
impact, the full perforation of the projectile can be seen on the target, and the projectile
moves with some residual velocity.
Upon impact, the kinetic energy of the projectile is transferred to the target. Now
if the transferred energy is more than the energy absorbing capacity of the target,
the failure of the target occurs and if the transferred energy is less than the energy
absorbing capacity of the target no perforation occurs. In the case of low-velocity
impact, as the perforation does not occur so the transferred energy is responsible for
the internal damage of the target. Internal damage like delamination, matrix-fibre
de-bonding, crack initiation etc. such defects take place during the impact period.
Whereas for the high-velocity impact, matrix failure, fibre failure, fibre pull-out,
etc. such phenomena take place [10]. The energy transferred to the target can be
calculated by using the Eq. (1) [11]
1 2
E tr = m Vim − Vre2 (1)
2
To predict the ballistic limit of the projectile, the Recht–Ipson model can be used.
Equation (2) shows the required relation of Recht–Ipson model [12]. Later in the
advancement of ballistic limit prediction, Eq. (2) was modified by Lambert and
Jonas, by assuming constant energy transferred to the plate and proposed Eq. (3).
Here the value of constants i.e. e and D is taken as 1 and 2 respectively [13].

Vre = e × D D
Vim − VblD (2)

Vre = 2
Vim − Vbl2 (3)
It can be observed from Eq. (3), that the impact velocity must be greater than
the ballistic limit of the material (V im > V bl ). If the ballistic limit is higher than the
impact velocity, then either no perforation or partial perforation dominates, i.e. the
material has stopped the projectile from reaching its end or the situation of bounce
back comes into play, where the projectile rebounds back after striking.
2.2 Johnson–Cook Material Model
The Johnson–Cook material model was first formulated by Johnson and Cook in
1983, for computational analysis. Equation (4) shows the Johnson–Cook material
model [14]. This model is best suited for situations where the strain rates vary from
very small to very large magnitude.

ε̄˙ p T − Tr
σy = A + Bεnp 1 + C ln 1− (4)
ε̇o Tm − Tr
2.3 Proposed Algorithm
The following computational algorithm has been implemented for ballistic impact
response analysis of HDPE/UHMWPE composite.
(1) Homogenisation of representative volume element (RVE) to get equivalent
material properties at considered weight fraction of HDPE/UHMWPE com-
posite constituents.
(2) Geometrical modelling of the projectile and the composite plate in ANSYS-
workbench.
(3) Mechanical module is used to generate the mesh and to input other field variables
in ANSYS-workbench.
(4) Once the pre-solver solves the model then the setup module is linked with the
ANSYS-Autodyn.
(5) In ANSYS-Autodyn material assignment is to be done for the individual part.
Afterwards, post-solver solves the considered numerical model.
• If:
The projectile fully penetrates through the polymer plate then goes back to step no.
2, and increase the thickness of the polymer plate, and repeat the step 2–5.
• Else
The optimum thickness of the polymer plate is obtained which is just sufficient to
stop the projectile for the full penetration.
In the present work, ANSYS-Autodyn 16.0 is used for the numerical simulation
of HDPE/UHMWPE polymer composite. Table 1 shows the individual mechanical
properties of HDPE and UHMWPE, which are taken as the input for the meso-scale
Table 1 Mechanical properties used in Digimat [15–17]

Property HDPE UHMWPE
Density (kg/m3 ) 962 964
Young’s modulus (GPa) 0.896 26.9
Poisson’s ratio 0.35 0.4
Yield stress (MPa) 24 –
Table 2 Equivalent properties of HDPE/UHMWPE composite used in ANSYS-Autodyn

Property 10 wt% UHMWPE 20 wt% UHMWPE
Density ρ (kg/m3 ) 962 964
Young’s modulus E (axial) (GPa) 3.5 6.1
Young’s modulus (in-plane) E (GPa) 1.14 1.35
Posisson’s ratio (in-plane) 0.47 0.48
Posisson’s ratio (transverse) 0.36 0.36
Shear modulus (in-plane) G (GPa) 0.388 0.457
Shear modulus (transverse) (GPa) 0.400 0.484
Fracture energy (kJ/m2 ) [17] 8.83 14.45
modelling in Digimat. A meso-scale modelling platform ‘Digimat’ is used to get

the equivalent mechanical properties of the HDPE/UHMWPE polymer composite
as given in Table 2. These equivalent properties of HDPE/UHMWPE composite
have been further used for ballistic simulation at macro-scale. For the modelling,
the polymer plate is modelled as 200 × 200 × t mm3 . Where 200 mm is the length
and breadth of the plate, and t is the thickness of the plate. To see the effect of
thickness on the residual velocity of the projectile, the thickness of the polymer
plate has been varied from 5 to 9 mm, with equal increment of 1 mm. In addition
to variable thickness, the volume fraction of UHMWPE in HDPE matrix is varied
from 10 to 20 wt%, with equal increment of 10%, to see the effect on the residual
velocity of the projectile. The material of the projectile is assigned as structural steel
(structural steel’s properties are taken from the ANSYS-Autodyn’s material library).
For the strength model in Autodyn, Johnson–Cook strength model is used. And for
the failure criteria, Orthotropic softening is used. Figure 1 shows the projectile, and
Fig. 2 depicts the meshed geometry of the model. The projectile is given an initial
velocity of 850 m/s.
3.1 Effect of Thickness on Residual Velocity
In this section, effect of composite plate thickness on residual velocity of projectile

has been analysed in detail. A comparative analysis has been presented in Fig. 3.
Fig. 1 Schematic of projectile used for modelling
Fig. 2 Meshed model in the mechanical module
Fig. 3 Residual velocity versus thickness plot

It can be seen from Fig. 3, that there is the decrease in the residual velocity of
the projectile as the thickness is increased. When the projectile strikes the target,
compressive waves are generated in the material. This generated compressive wave
travels to the last lamina of the plate. The duration during which the wave is travelling
in the material, that travelling duration is known as dwell period of the projectile.
When the thickness of the material increased, the distance through which the wave
has to travel will also increase, hence the dwell time will increase.
From Fig. 3 it is observed that as the percentage of fibre loading increased from
10 to 20 wt% in the matrix of HDPE, there is the drop in the residual velocity of
the projectile. This is because, as when the modulus of the composite is increased,
the load carrying capacity of the composite also gets increased. So when there is
the impact on the composite of higher modulus, the greater amount of energy is
absorbed by the composite in comparison to the energy absorbed by the composite
of the lower modulus. Hence Fig. 3 shows the value of lower residual velocity, in
case of impact on 20 wt% HDPE/UHMWPE polymer composite. There is a drop of
15% in the residual velocity at 5 mm when the fibre loading is increased from 10 to
20 wt%. Moreover, the drop percentage goes on increasing as the thickness of the
polymer plate is increased.
3.2 Effect of Thickness on Energy Transfer
This section investigates the effect of energy transfer to composite plate by projectile
at different parametric variables. From Fig. 4 it can be observed that the energy
transferred to the polymer plate increases, as the thickness is increased. In case of
10 wt% UHMWPE in HDPE matrix, there is the maximum of 21.28% rise in energy
transferred when the thickness is changed from 5 to 6 mm. There is a minimum of
1.42% rise in energy transferred when the thickness is changed from 7 to 8 mm. On
the other hand, for 20 wt% UHMWPE, maximum energy transferred is 13.15%, and
minimum energy transferred is 2.06%, for the same change of thickness. Comparing
Fig. 4 Energy transferred versus thickness plot

the energy transferred for 10 and 20 wt% UHMWPE, it can be observed that there is
33.12% higher energy absorbed by the 20 wt% HDPE/UHMWPE polymer plate. It is
observed that Young’s modulus of the polymer plate has increased with the increase
in the fibre weight in composite; therefore the energy absorbed by the plate has also
been increased. As higher the modulus, higher will be the load-bearing capacity.
Figure 5 shows the von Mises stress distribution for 10 and 20 wt% UHMWPE.
Figure a-1, b-1, c-1, d-1, e-1 are stress distribution for 10 wt% UHMWPE and Figure
a-2, b-2, c-2, d-2, e-2 are stress distribution for 20 wt% UHMWPE. It can be observed
that as the thickness of the layer of polymer is increased there is increase in the von
Mises stress. As the thickness is increased, the distance which the waves must travel
increases. With the increased distance there is more energy loss by waves. Energy
is mainly lost due to friction. Consequently, the von Mises stress increases with the
increase in thickness.
It can be observed that upon impact of a projectile on the HDPE/UHMWPE poly-
mer plate, there is increase in generated von Mises stress in the polymer plate. The
increase in the generate von Mises stress is observed with the increase in concentra-
tion of UHMWPE in the HDPE matrix (from 10 to 20 wt% of UHMWPE). Due to
the increased concentration of UHMWPE in the HDPE matrix, the overall strength
and stiffness of the polymer composite is increased. Hence the load bearing capacity
of the polymer composite is enhanced. Due to which the von Mises stress generated
in the polymer composite increases with the increase in the concentration of the
UHMWPE.
4 Conclusions
In this work, a multi-scale computational approach has been presented to inves-

tigate ballistic impact response of HDPE/UHMWPE composite. Effect of weight
percentage of constituents on residual velocity and energy transfer capability has
been analysed in detail. From the presented numerical results, following conclusions
can be drawn:
• With the increase in the fibre weight percentage in composite (from 10 to 20 wt%,),
there is a 15% drop in residual velocity at 5 mm thick plate and the drop percentage
changes to 36.2% when the composite plate thickness is increased to 9 mm.
• During the analysis of energy transfer capacity of the polymer plates, it has been
observed that there is 33.12% higher energy absorbtion by the composite plate
having 20 wt% of UHMWPE.
• With the increase in the thickness of the polymer plate, von Mises stress shows
increasing trend in magnitude at 10 wt% of fibre. Whereas a decreasing trend has
been observed for the 20 wt% of UHMWPE fibre.
Acknowledgements The authors are grateful for the support received from Indian Institute of
Technology Mandi (IIT Mandi) through grant file no. IITM/SG/HP/54.
Fig. 5 von Mises stress contour with plate perforation (a-1, b-1, c-1, d-1, e-1 for 10 wt% UHMWPE)
and (a-2, b-2, c-2, d-2, e-2 for 20 wt% UHMWPE) for composite plate thickness of 5, 6, 7, 8 and
9 mm at 20 μs
References
1. Balakrishnan, P., John, M.J., Pothen, L., Sreekala, M.S., Thomas, S.: Natural fibre and polymer
matrix composites and their applications in aerospace engineering. Elsevier Ltd (2016)
2. Chakraborty, S., Islam, R.I., Shaw, A., Ramachandra, L.S., Reid, S.R.: A computational frame-
work for modelling impact induced damage in ceramic and ceramic-metal composite structures.
Compos. Struct. 164, 263–276 (2017)
3. Grujicic, M., Glomski, P.S., He, T., Arakere, G., Bell, W.C., Cheeseman, B.A.: Material
modeling and ballistic-resistance analysis of armor-grade composites reinforced with high-
performance fibers. J. Mater. Eng. Perform. 18(9), 1169–1182 (2009)
4. Hazzard, M.K., Hallett, S., Curtis, P.T., Iannucci, L., Trask, R.S.: Effect of fibre orientation on
the low velocity impact response of thin dyneema® composite laminates. Int. J. Impact Eng
100, 35–45 (2016)
5. Andrews, J.M., Ward, I.M.: The cold-drawing of high density polyethylene. J. Mater. Sci. 5(5),
411–417 (1970)
6. James, T.: Characterization and simulation of structural fabrics—Part 1: A cross-industry
review of approaches to composites engineering. Reinf. Plast. 59(2), 94–99 (2015)
7. Ku, H., Wang, H., Pattarachaiyakoop, N., Trada, M.: A review on the tensile properties of
natural fiber reinforced polymer composites. Compos. Part B Eng. 42(4), 856–873 (2011)
8. Kumar, S., Gupta, D.S., Singh, I., Sharma, A.: Behavior of Kevlar/Epoxy composite plates
under ballistic impact. J. Reinf. Plast. Compos. 29(13), 2048–2064 (2010)
9. Lee, Y.S., Wetzel, E.D., Wagner, N.J.: The ballistic impact characteristics of Kevlar woven
fabrics impregnated with a colloidal shear thickening fluid. J. Mater. Sci. 38(13), 2825–2833
(2003)
10. Monteiro, S.N., Milanezi, T.L., Louro, L.H.L., Lima, É.P., Braga, F.O., Gomes, A.V., Drelich,
J.W.: Novel ballistic ramie fabric composite competing with KevlarTM fabric in multilayered
armor. Mater. Des. 96, 263–269 (2016)
11. Nguyen, L.H., Lässig, T.R., Ryan, S., Riedel, W., Mouritz, A.P., Orifici, A.C.: Numerical
modelling of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene composite under impact loading. Proc.
Eng. 103, 436–443 (2015)
12. Palta, E., Fang, H., Weggel, D.C.: Finite element analysis of the advanced combat helmet under
various ballistic impacts. Int. J. Impact Eng 112, 125–143 (2018)
13. Palta, E., Gutowski, M., Fang, H.: A numerical study of steel and hybrid armor plates under
ballistic impacts. Int. J. Solids Struct. 136–137, 279–294 (2017)
14. Tsao, C.W., DeVoe, D.L.: Bonding of thermoplastic polymer microfluidics. Microfluid.
Nanofluidics. 6(1), 1–16 (2009)
15. Xi, Y., Ishikawa, H., Bin, Y., Matsuo, M.: Positive temperature coefficient effect of LMWPE-
UHMWPE blends filled with short carbon fibers. Carbon N. Y. 42(8–9), 1699–1706 (2004)
16. Xie, W., Zhang, W., Kuang, N., Li, D., Huang, W., Gao, Y.: Experimental investigation of
normal and oblique impacts on CFRPs by high velocity steel sphere. Compos. Part B 99,
483–493 (2016)
17. Zhang, D., Sun, Y., Chen, L., Zhang, S., Pan, N.: Influence of fabric structure and thickness on
the ballistic impact behavior of Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene composite laminate.
Mater. Des. 54, 315–322 (2014)
PCA-GRA Integrated Multi Response
Optimization of Wire-Cut EDM
of Ti–6Al–4V Alloy for Sustainable
Production
D. Devarasiddappa and M. Chandrasekaran
Abstract WEDM is a popularly used advanced machining technique to process

hard-to-machine materials to net near shape with the highest accuracy and enhanced
surface finish. Ti–6Al–4V alloy is an electrically conductive hard-to-machine mate-
rial widely employed in diverse industries. The novelty of this paper is the application
of hybrid optimization methodology integrating PCA to determine weights for mul-
tiple response optimization of surface roughness and power consumption during
WEDM of Ti–6Al–4V alloy using GRA. ANOVA result established current and
pulse on time as the most influential control factors affecting GRG with 46.47%
and 24.65% contribution respectively. The contribution of pulse off time and wire
speed is on GRG is found as 13.97% and 10.48% respectively. The optimal setting
for achieving highest GRG is obtained as A1 B3 C1 D1 . The GRG (0.984) improved
by 8.61% from the initial value of 0.906 while SR and PC improved significantly by
10.44% and 23.77% respectively at the optimal setting.
Keywords WEDM · PCA · GRA · Ti-Alloy · Power consumption
1 Introduction
Wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) is established as a prominent advanced

machining process in the recent years due to its capability to produce components
from electrically conductive hard-to-machine materials with highest accuracy and
enhanced surface finish. The performance measures of WEDM which are widely
researched include material removal rate (MRR), kerf (kf), surface roughness (SR)
etc. Titanium alloy (Ti–6Al–4V) is an electrically conductive hard-to-machine mate-
rial extensively used in aerospace industries, die making, prototype parts, marine
applications etc. due to its distinctive properties such as high tensile strength and
D. Devarasiddappa · M. Chandrasekaran (B)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and
Technology (NERIST), Nirjuli, Arunachal Pradesh 791110, India
e-mail: mchse1@yahoo.com
D. Devarasiddappa
e-mail: devarasiddappa@gmail.com
258 D. Devarasiddappa and M. Chandrasekaran
stiffness at extreme temperatures while being light in weight with excellent corro-
sion resistance. In the recent years, WEDM has emerged as the important advanced
machining process to produce Ti-alloy components with increased productivity and
improved efficiency. With new and advanced work-tool materials, selection of opti-
mum cutting conditions is found indispensable for the modern manufacturing indus-
tries [1].
In machining process optimization, optimal cutting conditions satisfying mul-
tiple quality characteristics are preferred as it is always aimed to achieve highest
multi performance index which is the representative of several responses to be opti-
mized simultaneously. Hence, multi response optimization is widely researched and
approached by various optimization methods such as simulated annealing (SA), grey
relational analysis (GRA), genetic algorithm (GA), desirability function analysis
(DFA) etc. Hybrid optimization techniques include integration of principal compo-
nent analysis (PCA) with GRA [2], genetic algorithm (GA) integrated with DFA [3],
combining analytical hierarchy process (AHP) with DFA, fuzzy logic based Taguchi
technique [4, 5] etc. Ghose et al. [6] have attempted optimization of electrode wear
rate and MRR during electrical discharge machining (EDM) of aluminium foam
and obtained optimum cutting conditions as pulse on time (high) & current (high)
in conjunction with low level of duty cycle. Multiple responses viz., spark gap SR
and MRR are optimized applying FL integrated GRA with eight different process
variables in WEDM of Inconel 825 alloy [7]. Application of fuzzy based Taguchi
technique is also reported by Yih and Fu [8] in EDM of tool steel SKD11 and Sharma
et al. [9] in coal cutting using water jet process. SA integrated with GA [10] and ANN
combined with SA [11] optimization techniques are also reported in abrasive water
jet machining. Novelty of the present work is application of PCA integrated GRA
hybrid optimization methodology for multi response optimization of SR & PC in
machining Ti–6Al–4V alloy using WEDM employing reusable wire technology.
2 WEDM Experimental Work
Wire-cut electrical discharge machining is a widely used advanced machining tech-

nique popularly employed to machine electrically conductive difficult-to-machine
materials to any complicated shape. It is a thermo-electrical process where metal is
removed by a number of discrete sparks produced between work-material & wire
electrode immersed in a di-electric fluid. In this work, experiments were conducted
on CNC enabled WEDM set up (Model: DK 7732) equipped with reusable wire
technology; available at BMSCE, Bengaluru, Karnataka (India). The WEDM set-up
used is depicted in Fig. 1. WEDM experiments were conducted as per Taguchi L16
OA by varying the four cutting variables at four different levels. The process vari-
ables studied include pulse on time (T on ), pulse off time (T off ), Current (I) and wire
speed (WS). The complete L16 OA with factor levels is presented in Table 1.
PCA-GRA Integrated Multi Response Optimization of Wire-Cut EDM … 259
Fig. 1 WEDM experimental set up used
Table 1 Experimental values obtained

Sr. No. Ton (µs) Toff (µs) I (A) W S (rpm) SR (µm) PC (kW)
1 13 4 1 350 3.851 0.611
2 13 6 2 700 5.148 0.647
3 13 8 4 1050 4.757 0.618
4 13 10 5 1400 5.428 0.683
5 20 4 2 1050 5.176 0.726
6 20 6 1 1400 4.890 0.654
7 20 8 5 350 6.391 0.661
8 20 10 4 700 6.516 0.625
9 27 4 4 1400 6.027 0.834
10 27 6 5 1050 6.349 0.748
11 27 8 1 700 5.805 0.589
12 27 10 2 350 6.670 0.597
13 34 4 5 700 5.511 0.841
14 34 6 4 350 7.255 0.712
15 34 8 2 1400 6.474 0.669
16 34 10 1 1050 5.272 0.633
2.1 Measurement of Surface Roughness
Surface roughness being one of the important attributes of a machined component is

widely considered as a quality characteristic in most of the machining optimization
problems. In this study, SR is obtained as the arithmetic mean of deviation of surface
profile within the sampling length based on centre line average method. The Ra value
is measured using roughness tester MGW: SRT-1 taking cut-off length of 2.5 mm.
Figure 2a depicts measurement of SR.
Fig. 2 Measurement of SR (a), and PC (b)

2.2 Measurement of Power Consumption
In this work, it is aimed to investigate PC in machining Ti–6Al–4V alloy over 20 mm

length under different cutting conditions. Some researchers have studied PC as a
performance measure in WEDM [12, 13]. In the present work, PC in kW is calculated
using Eq. (1). The line currents were measured by a digital clamp meter (Model V266,
Make VAR Tech) and shown in Fig. 2b.
√
3VL IL cos ϕ
PC = kW (1)
1000
where, VL = line voltage (415 V), IL = average line current and cos ϕ = power
factor (0.9). The value of IL is calculated using Eq. (2) in terms of line currents I 1 ,
I 2 and I 3 .
I1 + I2 + I3
IL = (2)
3
In this investigation, SR and PC are addressed as social and environmental aspects
of sustainable production in WEDM of Ti–6Al–4V alloy. The experimental result is
presented in Table 1.
3 Integrated Multi Response Optimization Methodology
Hybrid optimization methodologies combine merits of integrated systems and pro-

vide improved result as compared to single optimization technique. Here, it is
attempted to apply PCA integrated GRA multi response optimization methodology
during WEDM of Ti–6Al–4V alloy.
3.1 PCA-GRA Integrated Multi Objective Optimization

Methodology
In multi response optimization problems, performance measures need to be weighted

as per their relative importance to obtain better results. In the proposed PCA-GRA
hybrid optimization model, weights for individual responses are determined by using
PCA methodology and applied in optimization process using GRA.
3.2 Grey Relational Analysis
Grey relational analysis proposed by Deng [14] is widely used to evaluate multi per-
formance characteristics. In the area of machining, GRA is widely used to perform
optimization of multiple responses conflicting with each other. The non-linear, com-
plicated multi response engineering problems are converted into a single response
optimization problem using a decision making parameter called grey relational grade
(GRG). The process variables are optimized to obtain maximum GRG. The following
sequential steps are performed in GRA.
Step 1: Data pre-processing/normalization
The response variables (original sequence) are scaled to lie in the range [0 1] to obtain
the comparable sequence. Performance measures having larger-the-better character-
istics are normalized using Eq. (3) while Eq. (4) is used to normalize smaller-the-
better type quality characteristics.

xio (k) − min xio (k)
xin (k)= (3)
max xio (k) − min xio (k)

max xio (k) − xio (k)
xi (k) =
n
(4)
max xio (k) − min xio (k)

o xi (k)
is the normalized value, xi (k) is the original data, min xio (k) and
n o
where,
max xi (k) are the minimum and maximum value of xio (k) respectively, i is the
number of observations and k is the number of response variables.
Step 2: Calculation of GRC
In GRA, relationship between the desired and actual experimental value is expressed
in terms of grey relational coefficient (GRC) calculated by using Eq. (5).
min + ζ max
ξi (k) = (5)
i (k) + ζ max
where, ξi (k) is the GRC value of ith observation of kth response, i (k) is deviation
series obtained as difference between ideal series & comparable series, min and
max are the respective minimum and maximum values of i (k) and ζ is the
distinguishing factor (0.5).
Step 3: Calculation of GRG
Grey relational grade is the decision parameter in GRA which transforms multiple
responses into a single objective parameter and is obtained as weighted sum of GRC
of all the responses using Eq. (6). Higher value of GRG close to unity is always
desirable. The process parameters are then optimized to obtain maximum GRG.

n
γi(k) = wk ξi (k) (6)
k=1
where, γi(k) is the calculated GRG of the ith observation of kth response,
ξi (k) is the
respective GRC, wk is the weight assigned to kth response such that nk=1 wk = 1,
and n is the number of responses.
3.3 Principal Component Analysis
Principal component analysis is multivariate statistical methodology first developed

by Pearson [15] and then modified by Hotelling [16]. In this method, several corre-
lated variables are transformed into fewer uncorrelated variables. These transformed
uncorrelated variables are referred to as principal components and are linear combi-
nations of response variables. The steps involved in PCA are as discussed below.
Step 1: Formation of decision matrix
An array of original response variables is constructed as decision matrix as in Eq. (7).
⎡ ⎤
x11 x12 . . . x1n
⎢ x21 x22 x2n ⎥
⎢ ⎥
X =⎢ . .. .. ⎥ (7)
⎣ .. . . ⎦
xm1 xm2 . . . xmn
where, X is the decision matrix of the response variables, n and m are number of
responses and observations respectively. Here, n = 2, m = 16 and X is obtained as
array of GRC of individual responses.
Step 2: Correlation coefficient array is obtained from the decision matrix and is given
by Eq. (8).
(Cov(xi (p)), xi (q))

Rpq = (8)
σ xi (p) × σ xi (q)
where, (Cov(xi (p)), xi (q)) = covariance of the sequences (xi (p)) and (xi (q)), σ xi (p)
= standard deviation (SD) of σ xi (p), σ xi (q) = SD of σ xi (q), p = 1, 2 . . . , n,
q = 1, 2 . . . , n. The elements of Rpq are basically the correlation coefficients of
entire combinations of performance measures. In the present study, it corresponds to
correlation coefficients of GRC of SR and PC.
Step 3: Determination of Eigen values and vectors.
Eigen values and vectors are evaluated from the Rpq using Eq. (9).
Vik = Rpq − λk Im (9)

where, λk is the Eigen value such that nk=1 λk = n, Vik is the Eigen vector corre-
sponding to Eigen value λk .
Step 4: Estimation of principal components
Principal components are estimated using Eq. (10) and are arranged in the decreasing
order of variation captured by them. Hence, highest variability in the data is generally
explained by the first principal component.

n
Ymk = xm (i) × Vik (10)
i=1
where, Ymk is the first principal component.
4.1 Application of PCA-GRA Optimization Methodology
The performance measures SR and PC are normalized using Eq. (4) and comparable
sequence is obtained. The deviation sequence is then determined by subtracting the
comparable sequence from the ideal sequence. The GRC for SR and PC are calculated
using Eq. (5).
The PCA procedure adapted in calculation of optimized weights is illustrated in
Fig. 3. This eliminates uncertainty associated with subjective decision making weight
allocation procedure highly appropriate. Grey relational coefficients of SR and PC
are used as elements of decision matrix which is used to calculate the correlation
coefficient array and Eigen values using Eqs. (8) and (9) respectively.
The first principal component (SR) accounts for 37% whereas second princi-
pal component (PC) explains 63% variation in GRG. Accordingly, accountability
proportion of first and second principal component viz., 0.37 and 0.63 is taken as
optimum weights for SR and PC. The calculated normalized values, GRC and GRG
are tabulated in Table 2.
Fig. 3 Weights optimization by PCA

Table 2 Calculated GRC and GRG values

S. No. Normalized values GRC GRG Rank
SR PC SR PC
1 1.00 0.91 1.00 0.85 0.91 1
2 0.62 0.77 0.57 0.69 0.64 7
3 0.73 0.89 0.65 0.81 0.75 3
4 0.54 0.63 0.52 0.57 0.55 9
5 0.61 0.46 0.56 0.48 0.51 12
6 0.75 0.74 0.62 0.66 0.65 6
7 0.25 0.71 0.40 0.64 0.55 10
8 0.22 0.86 0.39 0.78 0.63 8
9 0.36 0.03 0.44 0.34 0.38 16
10 0.27 0.37 0.41 0.44 0.43 14
11 0.43 1.00 0.47 1.00 0.80 2
12 0.17 0.97 0.38 0.94 0.73 4
13 0.51 0.00 0.51 0.33 0.39 15
14 0.00 0.51 0.33 0.51 0.44 13
15 0.23 0.68 0.39 0.61 0.53 11
16 0.58 0.83 0.55 0.74 0.67 5
4.2 Determination of Optimal Cutting Conditions
The optimal factor setting giving highest GRG is obtained by calculating the main
effect of each factor on GRG as given in response table (Table 3). The optimal setting
for achieving highest GRG in WEDM of Ti–6Al–4V is obtained as A1 B3 C1 D1 i.e.
T on = 13 µs, T off = 8 µs, I = 1 A and WS = 350 rpm. The main effect plot for
GRG depicted in Fig. 4 also confirms the obtained optimum cutting conditions as
A1 B3 C1 D1 .
Table 3 Response table for GRG

Factors 1 2 3 4 Delta
T on 0.7135 0.5845 0.5845 0.5473 0.1662
T off 0.5473 0.539 0.659 0.647 0.1200
I 0.7555 0.6035 0.5515 0.4816 0.2739
WS 0.6573 0.6185 0.5903 0.5263 0.1310
Grand mean of GRG is 0.6004
Fig. 4 Main effect plot for GRG
4.3 Prediction at Optimal Setting
In this section, improvement in GRG, SR & PC at the optimal setting is presented.

Though validation experiment is necessary, GRG at the optimal settings can be
predicted using additive model using Eq. (11).

n
γopt = γm + (γ̄i − γm ) (11)
i=1
where, γopt is the GRG at the optimal level, γm is overall mean of GRG, γ̄i is mean
of GRG at optimum levels for ith process parameter, n is total control factors. The
obtained optimal GRG (0.984) is compared with initial highest GRG (0.906) and
percentage improvement is calculated. The GRG at the optimal cutting conditions
improved by 8.61%. Enhancement in SR & PC is determined by comparison of
predicted values at optimal cutting condition A1 B3 C1 D1 with respective minimum
experimental values. Though confirmation experiments are necessary, SR and PC
at optimum setting can be predicted using additive models developed using exper-
imental data sets. For brevity, detail of additive models is not given. The result of
comparison is presented in Table 4.
At the optimal cutting conditions SR decreased by 10.44% as pulse off time is
increased from 4 to 8 µs while keeping the other process parameters at the same
level. This is due to more time allowed between the two sparks for effective cooling
and flushing off the debris of molten metal resulting in smooth machined surface. It is
also seen that PC decreased by 23.77% as pulse on time and wire speed are decreased
from 27 µs to 13 µs and 700 rpm to 350 rpm respectively. The other two process
Table 4 Enhancement in
SR (µm) PC (kW) GRG
GRG, SR and PC
Initial setting A1 B1 C1 D1 A3 B3 C1 D2 A1 B1 C1 D1
3.851 0.589 0.906
Optimal setting A1 B3 C1 D1 A1 B3 C1 D1 A1 B3 C1 D1
3.449 0.449 0.984
Percentage 10.44% 23.77% 8.61%
improvement
parameters remained same at T off = 8 µs and I = 1A as compared to initial cutting

conditions yielding minimum PC. This is attributed to shorter duration of time for
which current is drawn at slower wire speed. The amount of current drawn at the
optimal setting with T on = 13 µs is less as compared to initial cutting conditions
with T on = 27 µs. This is responsible for reduced PC. Smaller the duration for which
current is drawn lesser is the power consumed.
4.4 ANOVA of GRG
In this work, analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistical method is used to study the
significant cutting parameters affecting GRG by decomposing total variability of
GRG into individual effect of process variables & error. Result of ANOVA performed
on GRG at 95% confidence level is summarized in Table 5. PC is assigned highest
priority with 63% weightage while SR is assigned with 37% weightage. Amount of
current drawn when T on is decreased from 27 to 13 µs is found more responsible for
reduction in PC. Hence, percentage contribution of current is found highest (46.47%)
on GRG. Pulse on time contributed 26.65% to GRG and has played a vital role in
reducing PC at the optimal cutting conditions by limiting the amount of current
drawn. Pulse off time contributed 13.97% to GRG. This is attributed to lower value
of weightage (0.37) assigned to SR in calculating GRG as T off is the only process
parameter found responsible for reduction in SR at optimal cutting conditions as
explained earlier. The least significance of WS on GRG with 10.48% contribution
Table 5 Result of ANOVA on GRG

Factors SS MS F-test Percentage contribution
Ton 0.08597 0.02866 5.56 24.65
T off 0.04871 0.01624 3.15 13.97
I 0.16205 0.05402 10.49 46.47
WS 0.03656 0.01219 2.37 10.48
Error 0.01545 0.00515 4.43
Total 0.34874 100.00
can be attributed to lower energy available as the quantum of wire fed is reduced due
to slower WS as compared to higher wire speed.
5 Conclusions
In this paper, application of PCA integrated GRA hybrid optimization methodol-

ogy for multi response optimization of SR & PC in WEDM of Ti–6Al–4V alloy
is attempted. PCA is used to determine optimum weights for SR and PC for cal-
culating GRG. Integration of PCA with GRA for weight determination eliminates
subjective decision of weighing the performance measures and makes it more real-
istic and objective resulting in enhanced multi performance index. Following points
are concluded from the current research work.
• Optimum cutting condition for producing Ti–6Al–4V alloy with better surface
finish and reduced PC using Wire-cut EDM process is obtained as T on = 13 µs,
T off = 8 µs, I = 1A & WS = 350 rpm.
• GRG value increased from its initial highest value of 0.906 at A1 B1 C1 D1 to 0.984
at optimal settings A1 B3 C1 D1 resulting in 8.61% improvement through the appli-
cation of proposed PCA-GRA hybrid optimization methodology.
• Performance measures SR and PC improved by 10.44% and 23.77% respectively
at the optimal cutting conditions A1 B3 C1 D1 as compared to their respective initial
setting i.e. A1 B1 C1 D1 and A3 B3 C1 D2 .
• ANOVA result showed that I (46.47%) and T on (24.65%) are the most significant
process variables affecting GRG followed by T off (13.97%) and WS (10.48%).
Future scope: Different methods for weight optimization such as AHP can be
applied. Integration of PCA with DFA and its comparison with the present method-
ology is also planned.
Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge WEDM facility available at BMS College of Engi-
neering, Bengaluru (Karnataka) used to carried out the experimental work. The authors are also
thankful to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments in improving the manuscript.
The effort and support of the IC-RIDME18 team is also acknowledged.
References
1. Zuperl, U., Cus, F., Milfelner, M.: Fuzzy control for an adaptive force control in end milling.
J. Mater. Process. Technol. 164, 1472–1748 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2005.
02.143
2. Zahid, A.K., Arshad, N.S., Noor, Z.K., Urfi, K., Quadir, G.A.: Multi response optimization
of wire electrical discharge machining process parameters using Taguchi based grey rela-
tional analysis. Procedia Mater. Sci. 6, 1683–1695 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mspro.
2014.07.154
3. Chandrasekaran, M., Sharma, S., Thirumalai, R.: Experimental investigation and shop floor
need based multi-characteristics optimization for machining GFRP composites using PCD
tools. Int. J. Front. Technol. 2(2), 10–17 (2015) ISSN: 2350-0344
4. Lin, C.L., Lin, J.L., Ko, T.C.: Optimization of the EDM process based on the orthogonal array
with fuzzy logic and grey relational analysis method. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 19, 271–277
(2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s001700200034
5. Sutono, S.B., Rashid, S.A., Aoyama, H.: Fuzzy-based Taguchi method for multi-response
optimization of product form design in Kansei engineering: a case study on car form
design. J. Adv. Mech. Des., Syst. Manuf. 10(9), 1–16 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1299/jamdsm.
2016jamdsm0108
6. Ghose, J., Sharma, V., Kumar, N., Krishnamurthy, A., Kumar, S., Botak, Z.: Taguchi-fuzzy
based mapping of EDM-machinability of aluminium foam. Tech. Gaz. 18 (4), 595–600 (2011)
ISSN 1330-3651
7. Rajyalakshmi, G., Ramaiah, P.V.: Application of Taguchi, fuzzy-grey relational analysis for
process parameters optimization. Indian J. Sci. Technol. 8(35), 1–12 (2015). https://doi.org/
10.17485/ijst/2015/v8i35/50946
8. Tzeng, Y., Chen, F.: Multi-objective optimization of high-speed electrical discharge machining
process using a Taguchi fuzzy-based approach. Mater. Des. 28, 1159–1168 (2007). https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.matdes.2006.01.028
9. Sharma, V., Chattopadhyaya, S., Hloch, S.: Multi response optimization of process parameters
based on Taguchi-fuzzy model for coal cutting by water jet technology. Int. J. Adv. Manuf.
Technol. 56, 1019–1025 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-011-3258-x
10. Zain, A.M., Haron, H., Sharif, S.: Optimization of process parameters in the abrasive water
jet machining using integrated SA-GA. Appl. Soft Comput. 11, 5350–5359 (2011). https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.asoc.2011.05.024
11. Zain, A.M., Haron, H., Sharif, S.: Estimation of minimum machining performance in the in
the abrasive water jet machining using integrated ANN-SA. Expert Syst. Appl. 38, 8316–8326
(2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2011.01.019
12. Aurich, J.C., Linke, B., Hauschild, M., Carrella, M., Kirsch, B.: Sustainability of abrasive
processes. CIRP Ann. Manuf. Technol. 62(2), 653–672 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cirp.
2013.05.010
13. Shao, H.C., Chen, P.W.: Using the zero-resistance spark circuit on the wire cut electric discharge
machine to realize energy savings. Intell. Precis. Manuf. Autom. Technol. 3(4), 128–133 (2014).
https://doi.org/10.5875/ausmt.v4i3.369
14. Deng, J.L.: Introduction to grey system theory. J Grey Syst. 1, 1–24 (1989). ISSN: 0957–3720
15. Pearson, K.: On lines and planes of closest fit to systems of points in space. Phil. Mag. 2,
559–572 (1901). https://doi.org/10.1080/14786440109462720
16. Hotelling, H.: Analysis of a complex of statistical variables into principal components. J. Educ.
Psychol. 24, 417–441 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1037/h0071325
Investigating Weldability in Microalloyed
Al Alloys
Sanjib Banerjee, Rakesh Bhadra, Sanjib Gogoi and Ravi shankar Dutta
Abstract Aluminum (Al) alloys, especially the 2xxx series due to high strength to
weight ratio have found extensive use in aerospace, marine, and automobile indus-
tries. The present research trend is microalloying (wt.% < 0.1) these alloys with
trace elements viz. Cd, Sn, Ag, In, etc. For these applications, welding becomes an
inevitable technique, which is a tougher challenge for Al alloys, and Friction Stir
Welding (FSW) is recently explored. In present work, 2219Al alloy and the same alloy
microalloyed with 0.06 wt.% Cd were processed by casting route. They were then
welded by FSW and mechanical properties and microstructure of the welded joints
were studied. The hardness value increased while the impact toughness decreased
due to trace addition of Cd. The microstructural study revealed three zones viz. weld
nugget zone (WNZ), thermo mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) and heat affected
zone (HAZ), identified by the formation of fine, columnar, and spherical grains,
respectively.
Keywords Aluminum alloys · Microalloying · Friction stir welding · Weldability
1 Introduction
Nowadays, the automobile, aeronautic, and marine industries are undoubtedly most
focused fields of research. Actually, mechanical strength, corrosion resistance, resid-
ual stress, weight reduction, joining techniques, etc., are the prime painstaking
issues. The continuous strive for obtaining higher strength to weight ratio, shifted the
focus from ferrous to lightweight nonferrous alloys of Al, Mg, etc. Al alloys due to
lightweight but high strength brought a new era of excellence in the field of aerospace.
Among the various Al alloys, especially the 2xxx series is the most common as it
encompasses various engineering fields due to its commendatory mechanical prop-
erties. Again from this 2xxx series, 2219Al alloy owing to the exemplary blend of its
unique properties, is used in the construction of liquid cryogenic rocket fuel tanks,
space boosters, etc. The present research trend is microalloying (< 0.1 wt.%) these
S. Banerjee (B) · R. Bhadra · S. Gogoi · R. Dutta

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tezpur University, Tezpur, India
e-mail: sanjibb@tezu.ernet.in
272 S. Banerjee et al.
alloys with trace contents of rare earth metals like Cd, Sn, Ag, In, etc. This is done
in order to enhance the material properties viz. strength to a much higher level, but
without considerable increase in material weight.
For the different engineering applications of these Al alloys welding becomes
an inevitable technique and different welding techniques were developed over the
years. But welding of Al and its alloys is quite challenging due to some common
defects like solidification cracking, porosity and loss of strength in the weld metal and
Heat Affected Zone (HAZ), which cannot be eliminated easily. Another drawback of
welding Al is when in molten state Al has a high solubility of hydrogen consequently
causing porosities while welding [1]. Even the amount of alloying element also plays
a vital role in the weldability of the material. For example, in 2219Al alloy with 6%
Cu, there is excess liquid available during solidification which flows into the cracks
[1]. Fusion welding techniques like MIG, TIG, GTAW and solid state welding like
FSW and even laser welding are generally operated on Al alloys to achieve sound
joints. Among these various welding processes, FSW has been observed to exhibit
better strength and joint efficiency when compared with other metal joining tech-
niques [2]. In FSW the peak temperature attained during the process is less than
the melting temperature. This feature of FSW is very commendatory as defects like
porosity and hydrogen inclusion get axed. Compared with other fusion welding tech-
niques, FSW manifests superior post weld properties viz. low distortion and residual
stress, small heat affected zone (HAZ), etc. Furthermore, filler material is not statu-
tory. But the high cost involved puts a practical limitation on its commercial usage in
high scale. So the development of cost-efficient welding technique is presently also
under scrutiny.
Literature is available on some commercial Al alloys but 2xxx series of Al-
Cu alloys have not been extensively explored for different characterizations, after
microalloying with trace elements like Cd, Sn, Ag, In, etc. Especially 2219Al alloy
microalloyed with Cd has not yet been investigated and hence is the novelty of
the present research area. The present work is aimed at processing and conducting
Friction Stir Welding (FSW) of these alloys, and subsequent investigation of the
microstructure as well as mechanical properties viz. hardness and impact toughness
of the welded joints. Characterization of these welded joints will throw light on
the weldability and hence the manufacturing/commercial feasibility of these newly
investigated materials.
2 Experimental Procedure
2219Al alloy and the same alloy microalloyed with 0.06 wt.% of Cd (designated
as Alloy-A and Alloy-B, respectively) were processed by casting route. To ensure
a homogeneous composition, it requires removal of metastable phases, coring and
segregation formed during casting. For achieving this purpose, the as-cast alloys
were subjected to a homogenizing heat treatment at 510 °C for 10 h.
Investigating Weldability in Microalloyed Al Alloys 273
The welding operation was performed in a vertical CNC milling machine [MAKE:
BHARAT FRITZ WERNER LTD. MODEL: SURYA VF 30 CNC VS] as shown in
Fig. 1, at National Institute for Technical Teachers’ Training and Research (NITTTR),
Kolkata. FSW, a solid state welding process was used to weld two plates of dimen-
sions 150 × 100 × 6 mm3 . Prior to welding, the plates were properly filed so that
they precisely fit the backing plate, leaving no clearance. The two plates to be welded
were brought in contact with each other. A pin of length 5 mm and diameter 5 mm,
mounted on a shoulder of 15 mm diameter, served as the welding tool. The tool
rotational speed was fixed at 1300 rpm and the tool traverse speed or the welding
speed was set at 9 mm/min.
The hardness of the samples was determined using Vickers’s Hardness Tester
[Make: RATNAKAR ENTERPRISES, MODEL: RVM-50]. It is designed for loads
of 50, 30, 20, 10, and 5 Kgf. These loads are generally selected according to the
expected hardness range of the testing material so that impression produced should
be nearer to 0.5 mm across the diagonal. Samples of dimensions of 10 × 8×6 mm3
were machined from the welded joints of both the alloys. Subsequently Vickers’s
Hardness Number (VHN) was evaluated considering load of 10 kgf for the dwelling
time of 25 s.
For both the investigated alloys, hardness readings were determined along trans-
verse to the welding direction. Hardness values were evaluated on three different
positions on each of the vertical lines, which were maintained with gaps of 2 mm
in-between starting from the weld center line. While plotting the hardness trend with
distance from weld line, an average of these three hardness values was considered.
For Alloy-A, a total of thirty indentations were made, at different positions both on
Fig. 1 FSW set-up

the advancing and retreating sides of the weld line. The schematic of the indentation
positions on the tested hardness sample is shown in Fig. 2. Whereas for Alloy-B, the
same procedure was repeated only on the advancing side to obtain the VHN values.
The impact testing was carried out with the apparatus [MAKE: RATNAKAR
ENTERPRISES, MODEL: RI-300] having energy range from 0–300 J (Joules). The
impact test performed was the standard Charpy test in which the specimen was fixed
at both ends (simply supported) and fractured by impact of a falling pendulum. The
standard Charpy Impact test specimen (as per ASTM standard) consists of a metallic
bar having dimension of 55 × 10 × 6 mm3 . The Charpy impact tests were performed
on un-notched samples machined from the welded joints of both the investigated
alloys.
The study of microstructure is of paramount importance to determine and charac-
terize various zones of the welded sample (i.e., WNZ, TMAZ, HAZ). For microstruc-
tural characterization, the samples were first machined and then prepared through
standard metallographic sample preparation techniques. The mounting procedure
was carried out on a hot mounting press (MAKE: CHENNAI METCO.). The coarse
polishing was carried out on an automatic polishing machine (MAKE: CHENNAI
METCO.), using emery papers having grit sizes sequentially of 240, 320, 400, 600,
800, 1200, and 1500. Subsequently the fine polishing was carried out on polishing
cloths using proper abrasives. The polished samples were then etched by Keller’s
reagent to reveal the grain boundaries. The polished and etched specimens were
finally observed under an inverted optical microscope (MAKE: GIBBON INC.)
equipped with an image analysis system and the micrographs were obtained using
Metavision v4.1.
Fig. 2 Schematic of the hardness sample

Figure 3 depicts the variation of average VHN of Alloy-A from the weld line up to
a distance of 10 mm away from the weld line, both on the advancing and retreating
sides of the welding tool. The average hardness value increased from the weld center
line up to a distance of 2 mm, on both the advancing and retreating sides, and then
considerably decreased as moved away from the weld line up to a distance of 6 mm.
For Alloy-A, average VHN values of 78, 83, and 80 were registered on the weld line,
and then at distances of 2 mm and 6 mm, respectively on the advancing side from the
weld line. This above trend in hardness with distance from the weld line is similar to
the previous research works carried out for FSW of some commercial Al alloys. But
in the present research context the same has been quantitatively evaluated for 2219Al
alloy and the same microalloyed with Cd. Subsequently as a new finding, for all the
welding zones, the hardness of the investigated base alloy increased due to adding
0.06 wt.% Cd. The average percentage increase in hardness due to microalloying was
observed to be around 27%. This validates the result as the similar hardness trend
was obtained for the investigated alloys prior to welding in previous research works
[1].
The results obtained from Charpy impact tests revealed that impact fracture tough-
ness decreased due to adding trace content of Cd, and subsequently Alloy-B regis-
tered a minimum toughness value of 0.035 J/mm2 . The average percentage decrease
in toughness of 2219Al alloy was observed to be around 27% due to microalloy-
ing with 0.06 wt.% of Cd. This drop in fracture toughness for Alloy-B can again
be correlated with the simultaneous increase in hardness and brittleness and further
microstructural changes of the base metal due to trace addition of Cd [3].
The schematic of the three zones formed during FSW along with the base metal
is shown in Fig. 4. Line A represents the weld line. The zone between lines of A and
B represents the weld nugget zone (WNZ) where fine grains were observed (Fig. 5).
Line B portrays the interface between weld nugget zone (WNZ) and the thermo
mechanically affected zone (TMAZ). The zone between the lines B and C is TMAZ
84
83
Average VHN
82
81
80
79
78
-12 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Distance from weldline in mm
Fig. 3 Variation in average VHN of alloy-A on both sides of the weld line
Fig. 4 Schematic of the different zones from the weld line
Fig. 5 Optical micrograph showing fine grains observed in WNZ of alloy-A at magnification 500x
where long columnar grains were observed as shown in Fig. 6. Between the lines C
and D, the zone is termed as heat affected zone (HAZ), where both columnar grains
and spherical grains similar to that of the base metal were observed. This is because
at the expense of the columnar grains, the spherical grains similar to base metal have
started to evolve. The zone after line D is actually emerging as the base metal, with
formation of spherical grains away from the welding zone (Fig. 7). The formation
of all these different zones and the microstructures evolved can be correlated with
the previous research works carried out regarding microstructural characterization
of the Al alloys after FSW [2, 4–6].
The trend observed in variation of hardness with distance from the weld line is
also attributed with the formation of these various zones, Malarvihzi and [2, 7–9].
The final results revealed that the base metal had the highest VHN compared to the
other three zones (mentioned in Fig. 4). Comparison among these three zones shows
that HAZ has the highest VHN. The similarity in grain structure of HAZ and base
metal can be attributed as the reason for high VHN value in HAZ. As moved away
Fig. 6 Optical micrograph showing columnar grains observed in TMAZ of alloy-A at magnification
500x
Fig. 7 Optical micrograph showing spherical grains observed in the base metal of alloy-A at
magnification 500x
toward the base metal, a rise in VHN value was noted which merged with the VHN
of the base alloy.
4 Conclusion
1. 2219Al alloy and the same alloy microalloyed with 0.06 wt.% of Cd were pro-
cessed by casting route.
2. The investigated alloys were welded by FSW. The Vickers hardness, Charpy
impact toughness and microstructural evolution were investigated of the welded
joints.
3. The microstructural characterization revealed the formation of three different
zones namely weld nugget zone (WNZ), thermo mechanically affected zone
(TMAZ) and heat affected zone (HAZ), which corresponds to the formation of
fine, columnar, and spherical grains, respectively.
4. The hardness of both the alloys increased up to WNZ and then gradually
decreased at TMAZ. A sudden increase in hardness was observed when we
moved from TMAZ to HAZ, which further increased to eventually merge with
the hardness of the base alloy. After the base metal, HAZ registered the highest
VHN value, which is attributed to the similarity in grain structure.
5. Although the above trend in hardness is similar to previous research works regard-
ing FSW of some commercial Al alloys, in the present research context the same
has been quantitatively evaluated for 2219Al alloy and the same microalloyed
with Cd.
6. As a new finding, for all the welding zones, the hardness of the investigated
2219Al alloy system increased by an average of 27% due to adding 0.06 wt.%
Cd.
7. Impact fracture toughness of the base alloy was observed to decrease by an
average of 27% due to microalloying with 0.06 wt.% of Cd. Such drop in fracture
toughness may be correlated with the simultaneous increase in hardness and
brittleness and further microstructural changes of the base metal due to trace
content of Cd.
8. The present research will throw light on the weldability and hence the manufactur-
ing/commercial feasibility of 2219Al alloy and the same alloy after microalloying
with Cd, which has been newly processed and investigated.
References
1. Welding Practices for 2219 Aluminum and Inconel 718, Preferred Reliability Practices NASA,
Practice No. PD-ED-1205: 1–10
2. Malarvihzi, S., Balasubramanim, V.: Effect of welding processes on AA2219 aluminum alloy
joint properties. Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. China 21, 962–973 (2010)
3. Gogoi, S.: Effect of rolling and age-hardening on the mechanical properties of micro-alloyed
2219 Al-Cu alloy. M.Tech thesis, Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam, India (2017)
4. Sasidharan, B., Narayanan, K.P., Prakash, R.S.: Tensile and microstructural characteristics of
TIG welded and FSW welded AA 2219 Al alloy. Int. J. Eng. Sci. Technol. (IJEST) 5, 121–129
(2013)
5. Madhusudhan, R., Sarcar, M.M.M., Ramanaiah, N. Prasada rao, K.: An experimental study
on the effect of weld parameters on mechanical and micro structural properties of dissimilar
aluminum alloy fs welds. Int. J. Modern Eng. Res. (IJMER) 2, 1459–1463 (2012)
6. Rao, V., Reddy, G., Rao, K.: Microstructure and pitting corrosion resistance of AA2219 Al-Cu
alloy friction stir welds-Effect of tool profile. Def. Technol. 1–9 (2014)
7. Du, B., Sun, Z., Yang, X., Cui, L., Song, J., Zhang, Z.: Characteristics of friction stir welding
to 10 mm thick AA2219-T87 sheet: weld formation, microstructure and mechanical property.
Mater. Sci. Eng. A. 654, 21–29 (2016)
8. Kang, J., Feng, Z., Li, J., Frankel, G.S., Wang, G., Wu, A.: Friction stir welding of Al alloy
2219-T8-mechanical and corrosion. Miner., Met. Mate. Soc. ASM Int. 46, 876–885 (2016)
9. Liu, H.J., Zhang, H.J., Yu, L.: Effect of welding speed on mechanical properties of underwater
FSW on Al 2219. Mater. Des. 32, 1548–1553 (2010)
Thermomechanical Analysis of Al-7075
to Predict Residual Stresses by Using 3D
Finite Element Simulation
Ankit Saxena and Ravindra K. Saxena
Abstract Newer research and simulation tools are one of the advances in alloy
manufacturing which allows prediction of final microstructure, residual stresses, and
fatigue behavior before actual processing. Experimental procedures of measuring
residual stresses using latest technology such as neutron X-ray diffraction techniques,
ultrasonic technique, are tedious and expensive. In this paper, an approach is pre-
sented to predict residual stress behavior for block of different size as well as shape
under thermomechanical loading for Al-7075 alloy block. Computer simulation was
used as a tool in order to perform above task. Patran™ and Nastran™ finite element
software was used. The predicted residual stresses are compared with experimental
and simulated measurements. Outcomes signify that predicted values are in good
accord with experimental and simulated measurements. It is found that material is
experiencing compressive residual stresses at the surface and tensile residual stresses
in the core due to thermal cycles and edge effect.
Keywords Finite element method · Patran™ · Nastran™ · Residual stresses ·

Quenching · Edge effect
1 Introduction
Al-7075 is a wrought alloy, with Zn as the key alloying constituent is widely used
in aerospace and automobile industry. It is solid, with quality practically identical
to numerous steels, and has great fatigue quality [1]. Residual stresses are the rep-
resentation of stresses that exist in a deformed or pre-processed body after freedom
from applied external forces. Residual stresses are the outcome of heat processing,
machining, deformation processes, welding/joining or combination of the above,
A. Saxena (B)
Department of Mechanical and Automation Engg, ADGITM, New Delhi 110053, India
e-mail: saxenaankit2010@gmail.com
R. K. Saxena
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Longowal, Sangrur, Punjab 148106, India
e-mail: rksaxena04@yahoo.com

282 A. Saxena and R. K. Saxena
which transforms the form and/or alter the property of materials. Differential plastic
flow, differential cooling rates, and phase transformations with volume change are
some of the reasons for the formation of residual stress. Residual stresses are known
to affect the functioning and service life, and to cause deformation and dimensional
differences [2–5]. It is obligatory to understand the behavior of residual stress with in
billets of different size and shape subjected to heat treatment so that necessary steps
may be taken during the design and/or processing stage and to improve the quality
of components.
Residual stresses in the quenching process for Aluminum are generally examined
by numerical simulation using FEM [6–8] and by means of experimental measure-
ment techniques such as X-ray [2, 9] and Hole drilling method [10, 11]. The formation
of residual stress can be predicted considering factors like the heat transfer coeff.
(HTC), preheat temperature, and quenchant temperature. It is reported that during
quenching the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) is influential parameter in compari-
son to preheat temperature and quenchant temperature [12, 13]. The inverse heat
transfer method is widely adopted to evaluate and analyse the HTC of quenching
medium [14, 15]. To approve the effectiveness of this technique utilizing the infor-
mation from reputed publication [9] is a successful strategy, which has been all the
more broadly received in various research fields. This work predicts the formation
of residual stresses in Al-7075 alloy blocks of different size and shape under thermal
loading using finite element simulation.
2 Finite Element Modeling of Quenching Process
Prediction of formation of residual stresses during quenching processes is carried out.

The finite element (FE) analysis is performed using Patran™ software for modeling,
meshing and post-processing and MSc Nastran™ software is used as a processor to
carry out FE simulation. The rectangular block of Al-7075 aluminum alloy for dif-
ferent size and shape are studied. The thermal and mechanical properties of material
are assumed to be temperature dependent [9]. Thermal stresses from quenching a
work-piece are caused by thermal gradient. The higher is thermal gradient, the larger
is the thermal stress. The deformation of the part is very small during quenching;
therefore, for the simplicity of the analysis the impact of stress field on temperature
field is discounted [8]. During quenching process, the stress field of the part relies
upon the temperature field. Therefore, a sequential analysis of uncoupled thermo-
mechanical is employed. Sequential analysis comprises two stages (i) Thermal heat
transfer analysis, (ii) Mechanical analysis.
Thermomechanical Analysis of Al-7075 to Predict Residual … 283
2.1 Thermal Heat Transfer Analysis
Heat transfer across the metal–fluid interface is a most significant aspect of the heat
treatment processes because it controls the cooling rate which in turn determines the
distribution and severity of residual stresses created in an alloy. The heat treatment
processes consist of several steps, each of which imposes different boundary condi-
tions on the model. According to the Fourier model of heat transfer and the first law
of thermodynamics, the equation can be described as in Eq. (1).

∂T ∂ ∂T ∂ ∂T ∂ ∂T
ρc = λ + λ + λ (1)
∂t ∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂z ∂z
where ρ, c and λ represent density, specific heat and thermal conductivity of the
material respectively; T and t are thermodynamic temperature and time. The equation
of primary condition at time t 0 is given as follows:
T |t = 0 = T0 (x, y, z) (2)
Convection limit condition is the method of heat transfer b/w quenching the work-
piece and the medium is given by

q = h k (Tw − Tc ) + h s Tw4 − Tc4 = h(Tw − Tc ) (3)
where q, hk , hs and h are thermal flux, convection coeff., radiation coeff. And total
HTC, respectively; and T s are the temperature of boundary and T c the ambient
temperature, respectively.
2.2 Material Properties
The chemical constitution of the Al-7075 is given in Table 1. Temperature dependent

material properties are incorporated in the model. The values of Modulus of elasticity
(E) and Poisson’s ratio are given in Table 2 [9]. The heat transfer coefficient reported
by reference [12] is adapted for the analysis. The thermal and mechanical properties
for quenching media as a function of temperature are presented in Fig. (1a–e) [9].
Table 1 Chemical composition of Al-7075 alloy (wt%)

Si Fe Cu Mn Mg Cr Zn Ti Al
0.40 0.50 1.2–2.0 0.30 2.1–2.9 0.18–0.28 5.1–6.1 0.20 87.1–91.4
Table 2 Modulus of
T (0 C) E (MPa) γ
elasticity (E) and Poisson’s
ratio (γ) for Al-7075 alloy 0 72500 0.29
100 69700 0.29
200 64900 0.29
300 58700 0.29
400 53800 0.29
Fig. 1 Thermal and mechanical properties of Al-7075 alloy, a Thermal conductivity, b Specific
heat, c Density, d Yield strength, e Heat transfer coefficient, f Thermal expansion coefficient [9]
3 Model Construction
For the present study, five different configurations are taken for the respective studies.
Each of the configurations is derived from a bar of rectangular cross-section. Among
these five configurations, three viz. A, B, and C are listed in Table 3. Block-D; is a
channel bar having outside dimensions of 254 mm × 127 mm × 124 mm with size
of channel 254 mm × 63.5 mm × 62 mm and Block-E; size of channel bar having
outside dimensions of 4064 mm × 1016 mm × 124 mm with size of channel equal
to 4064 mm × 63.5 mm × 62 mm. These configurations are presented in Fig. 2.
The model is divided into hexahedral eight-node finite elements. The mesh and
the number of elements used in the FE model have considerable effect on the results
[8] and the computational time/cost. In this work initial time-step size is kept as
0.01 s. Block-A; is meshed with 20813 nodes and 18523 solid elements. Block-B; is
meshed with 20833 nodes and 18301 solid elements. Block-C; is meshed with 23801
nodes and 18361 solid elements. Block-D; is meshed with 18501 nodes and 14581
solid elements. Block-E; is meshed with 47377 nodes and 31669 solid elements.
Table 3 Dimensions of
Block Dimensions (mm) Length/width ratio
specimen
A 254 × 127 × 124 2.0
B 510 × 170 × 124 3.0
C 4064 × 1016 × 124 4.0
L W
L=254mm L=510mm L=4064mm

W=127mm W=510mm W=1016mm
B=124mm B=124mm B=124mm
L=254mm L=4064mm
Wh=31.75mm Wh=31.75mm
Bh=31mm Bh=31mm
Fig. 2 Dimensions of solid and hollow blocks, a Block-A, b Block-B, c Block-C, d Block-D,
e Block-E
Node=20813 Node=18501
Element=18523 Element=14581
Fig. 3 Discretised solid and hollow blocks
4.1 Effect of Size and Shape of the Block
The study is performed by changing the length to width (L/W) ratio of the block.
The analysis is performed on three blocks viz. Block-A, Block-B, and Block-C. The
material of the block is Al-7075 alloy. The Discretised solid and hollow blocks are
shown in Fig. 3. It is assumed that the block was initially at solutionizing temperature
of 477 °C and it is quenched in water which is kept at 66 °C for 90 s. It is observed
that the temperature of the core is higher as the length to width ratio increases for
the blocks. The reason for the higher temperature is that there is more amount of
material available in the vicinity and loss of heat due to conduction is not sufficient
to bring the temperature at a lower level.
It is observed that material is experiencing compressive residual stresses at the
face and tensile residual stresses in the center due to thermal cycles. The plots of
residual stress along X-locus and Y-locus are shown in Fig. 6. It is observed that
center for the x-component and z-component is having maximum tensile residual
stresses. The compressive stresses are pragmatic at the faces of the block. Given that
the cross-section of Block-C is rectangular rather than nearly square as in the case
of Block-A and Block-B, the y-component of stress is lesser than the x-component
and z-component.
Figure 6b shows that at the edge, the y-component of residual stress is compressive
while it becomes tensile at a certain distance from the edge for all 3 blocks. At this
zone, where the distance to the edge is the same as the distance to the top and/or the
bottom faces, the y-stress reaches its utmost value, which is edge effect. Toward the
central region of all three blocks, the y-component tends to become zero in magnitude
as the edge effect loses its influence. In this case the major influence of the geometry
on the development of residual stresses is observed very prominently.
The analysis is performed on two hollow blocks viz. Block-D and Block-E. It is
observed that due to absence of material at the core thermal variation is not similar
Fig. 4 Temperature contour plot, a Block-A, b Block-B, c Block-C
as shown in Fig. 7 as comparison to a solid block, but it follows similar pattern as

that of solid block shown in Fig. 4, temperature values are higher toward center as
comparison to the surface. The temperature data from thermal analysis are applied
to get the residual stresses in mechanical analysis.
It is observed that material is experiencing higher compressive residual stresses at

the surface as comparison to tensile residual stresses in the core due to uneven thermal
cycles as material experiences faster cooling in region near to surface, region near
core also experiences such thermal behavior due to absence of material in the core
in Block-D. But this behavior is not seen in case of Block-E as only a small portion
is absent as comparison to its size. Compressive residual stresses at the surface are
12.25% less as comparison to compressive stress in solid Al-7075 block of same
dimension (Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9).
(a) (b) (c)

Block A
(a) (b) (c)

Block B
(a) (b) (c)

Block C
Fig. 5 Contours of residual stress in Block-A, Block-B, and Block-C, a σ xx component, b σ yy

component, c σ zz component
Fig. 6 Comparison of residual stress for different blocks along X- and Y-locus, a σxx component
of residual stress, b σyy component of residual stress, c σzz component of residual stress along
X-locus, d σxx component of residual stress, e σyy component of residual stress, f σzz component
of residual stress along Y-locus
Fig. 6 (continued)
Fig. 7 Temperature contour plot, a Block-D, b Block-E
Fig. 8 Contours of residual stress in Block-D, a σxx component, b σyy component, c σzz component
Fig. 9 Contours of residual stress in block-E, a σxx component, b σyy component, c σzz component
This work predicts the residual stress of Al-7075 alloy using simulation techniques.
Simulation is validated by experimental measurement data [16] and numerical sim-
ulation measurements [6]. It is concluded that, size as well as shape of the block
encompasses an intense effect on the development of residual stresses; hence it can
also affects fatigue strength of the material due to larger compressive residual stresses
on the surface. Small hollow cross section in a large block has diminutive impact on
residual stresses when compared to a solid block of same dimension. Variation of
residual stresses with change in quenchant temperature on the specimen can also be
studied and the effect of several heat treating parameters such as quenchant, cooling
rate, type of cooling, variation in initial step size can be studied.
References
1. ALCOA.: Alloy 7075 Plate and Sheet. Retrieved from www.millproducts-alcoa.com

2. R C.O.: Residual stresses and their measurement, quenching and distortion. In: Proceedings of
the First International Conference on Quenching, Chicago, Illinois, pp. 193–198 (1992)
3. EI-Baradie, Z., EI-Sayed, M.: Effect of double thermomechanical treatments on the properties
of 7075 Al alloy. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 62(1), 76–80 (1996)
4. Tanner, D., Robinson, J.: Residual stress prediction and determination in 7010 aluminium alloy
forging. Exp. Mech. 40(1), 75–82 (2000)
5. Tjhung, T., Li, K.: Measurement of in-plane residual stresses varying with depth by the inter-
ferometric strain/slope rosette and incremental hole-drilling. J. Eng. Mater. Technol. 125(2),
153–162 (2003)
6. Ozisik, M.: Inverse Heat Transfer: Fundamentals and Application (2000)
7. Thakkar, R., Shah, R., Vanark, V.: Effects of Hole Making Processes and Surface Conditioning
on Fatigue Behavior of 6061-T6 Aluminium (2000)
8. Yang, X., Zhu, J., Nong, Z., Lai, Z., He, D.: FEM simulation of quenching process in A357
aluminum alloy cylindrical bars and reduction of quench residual stress through cold stretching
process. Comput. Mater. Sci. 69, 396–413 (2013)
9. Koc, M., Culp, J., Altan, T.: Prediction of residual stresses in quenched aluminum blocks and
their reduction through cold working processes. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 174(1), 342–354
(2006)
10. Eckersley, J., Meister, T.: Intelligent design takes advantage of residual stresses. Pract. Appl.
Residual Stress Technol. 175–180 (1991)
11. Wu, C.K.: Evaluation of Distortion and Residual Stresses Caused by Heat Treatment of Cast
Aluminum Alloy Components. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (2009)
12. Gur, C.H., Tekkaya, A.E.: Numerical investigation of non-homogeneous plastic deformation
in quenching process. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 319, 164–169 (2001)
13. Huiping, L., Guoqun, Z., Shanting, N., Chuanzhen, H.: FEM simulation of quenching process
and experimental (2007). Jeanmart, P., Bouvaist, J.: Finite element calculation and measurement
of thermal stresses in quenched plates of high strength 7075 aluminium alloy. Mater. Sci.
Technol. 1, 765–769 (1985)
14. Beck, J., Blackwell, B., Jr, S.C.: Inverse Heat Conduction: III-Posed Problems, pp. 218–242
(1985)
15. Prantil, V., Callabresi, M., Lathrop, J., Ramaswamy, G., Lusk, M.: Simulating distortion and
residual stresses in carburized thin strips. J. Eng. Mater. Technol. 125(2), 116–124 (2003)
16. Kirchlechner, C., Martinschitz, K.J., Daniel, R., Mitterer, C., Donges, J., Rothkirch, A.,
Klaus,M., Genzel, C., Keckes, J.: X-ray diffraction analysis of three-dimensional residual
stress fields reveals origins of thermal fatigue in uncoated and coated steel. Scripta Materialia,
62(10), 774–777 (2010)
Application of Nitriding Treatments
on EN 3 and EN 24 Steels for Rotating
Bending Fatigue Resistance
Vinay Jayashankar Varier , Sachin Suresh Barve

and Sachin Shankarrao Naik
Abstract Rotating bending fatigue failure increases the lifetime costs of shaftings
and may cause catastrophic accidents. Case hardening helps in improving fatigue
resistance. The feasibility of plasma nitriding process on mild steel of grade EN 3
for improved fatigue performance was investigated. Ion nitriding was carried out at
490 °C for 8 h. Over 7% by weight nitrogen concentration was found on the surface,
but the case obtained was shallow. Later gas nitriding was applied to alloy steel
of grade EN 24 at 550 °C for 72 h. Observations were made on the differences of
nitriding with pretreatment and without it. Toroidal type of rotating bending fatigue
test specimens of EN 24 was manufactured. Two-parametric Weibull distribution
was used in order to analyse the results obtained from fatigue testing the nitrided
specimens, whereas regression analysis was done on the non-nitrided specimens to
obtain the S–N curve. Improvement of 95.88% in the endurance limit was observed
on account of gas nitriding.
Keywords Fatigue · Nitriding · Mild steel · Weibull distribution
1 Introduction
Failure by fatigue is the predominant type of failure in engineering materials. It

occurs due to cyclic loading, but during the tensile part of the cycle. Case hardening
by nitriding is one of the most common methods used to increase resistance to fatigue.
In the early days, gas and liquid nitriding were the primary ways of diffusing nitrogen
into the surface of steels. Only steels containing specific alloying elements could be
V. J. Varier (B) · S. S. Barve · S. S. Naik

Department of Mechanical Engineering, VJTI, Mumbai 400019, India
e-mail: vbcool3@gmail.com
S. S. Barve
e-mail: ssbarve@me.vjti.ac.in
S. S. Naik
e-mail: ssnaik@me.vjti.ac.in

296 V. J. Varier et al.
nitrided with these processes. With the advent of glow-discharge technology for
nitriding, also called plasma or ion nitriding, it became possible to nitride almost any
steel.
In the present study, the feasibility of plasma nitriding to improve rotating bending
fatigue resistance of commonly used mild steel of grade EN 3 has been ascertained.
Thereafter, gas nitriding of EN 24 alloy steel has been implemented for the same
purpose. This material is popular for heavy duty axles and shafts. The difference
obtained in the case obtained by nitriding with preheat treatment and without it has
been observed. Thus, this study may give an idea of the benefits of gas nitriding for
automobile axles, for instance. A similar but more detailed study on plasma nitriding
of AISI 4340 steel, which is an equivalent grade of EN 24 steel, has been done by
Sirin et al. [1].
2.1 Experimental Work on EN 3 Steel
Initially, some mild steel bars of 12 mm diameter were machined to 8 mm diameter in

the central portion, though not to much precision. These were to be plasma nitrided.
The rotating bending fatigue test machine to be used was model FTG-8(D), made
by Fine Testing Machines, available in the VJTI metallurgy laboratory. The samples
were made to be close to the fatigue test sample specifications for a parallel sample,
using a lathe. Figure 1 shows one such sample.
A pulsed dc plasma nitriding furnace was used for nitriding these samples. The
parts were degreased, abrasive blasted and plasma nitrided at 490 °C for eight hours.
Optical microscopic imaging of the part cross section near the surface was done to
observe the case. Case depth test was performed with 2% Nital etchant. These were
done using Olympus G X51 microscope. The chemical composition test performed
by emission spectroscopy confirmed the material grade to be EN 3. EDS analysis
was done to determine the surface composition after plasma nitriding.
Fig. 1 Lathe machined

sample for plasma nitriding
Application of Nitriding Treatments on EN 3 and EN 24 Steels … 297
2.2 Experimental Work on EN 24 Steel
As shown in Sect. 3.1, plasma nitriding of EN 3 steel for the given conditions could
not produce a significant depth of case. Hence, an alloy steel subjected to the older
process of gas nitriding was used. Applying both gas and plasma nitriding and testing
would have fallen out of the time constraints for this work. Out of the materials that
could be selected, EN 19, SAE 8620, and EN 24 steels were considered due to their
availability. Since much work has already been done on EN 19 steel, and since SAE
8620 does not produce as much depth of case as EN 24 on treatment under similar
conditions, only EN 24 material was used further.
Toroidal rotating bending fatigue test specimens were manufactured with dimen-
sions complying to IS: 5075 - 1985. The dimensions were desired to be as in Fig. 2.
The raw material, from which the specimens to be nitrided were manufactured,
was subjected to preheat treatment to harden it to HRC 30-35. The raw material
was CNC machined using turning centre LX20T L5 from Laxmi Machine Works
Ltd. The samples were initially polished on a bench grinder using discs of emery
paper of grit size 120. It was also passed over a non-woven nylon wheel. After
visual examination of the surface, the specimens were polished only once more with
silicon carbide wet abrasive paper of grit size 600. The specimens were inspected
using optical profilometers at IIT-Bombay. The test diameter was inspected with
Rapid Eye profilometer and surface roughness was examined with Zeta microscope.
For Vickers hardness and microhardness testing, WPM Leipzig HPO 250 and LECO
M-400-H1 microhardness tester respectively were used.
The Indian standard for rotating bending fatigue testing could not be followed in
entirety. The tests were conducted for samples with surface roughness lying between
3.8 and 6.9 µm (Ra values). These are the measured limits obtained as a result of
manufacturing and finishing processes; no constraints were specified. 107 cycles was
not used as a basis for determining endurance. Track of relative humidity was not
kept. Also, no specific turning procedure was followed.
Fig. 2 Dimensions required

for fatigue test specimens
3.1 Results Obtained for EN 3 Steel
From the result of the chemical composition test shown in Table 1, the steel is deduced
to belong to EN 3 grade, according to BS 970: 1955.
The spectrum of the plasma nitrided mild steel obtained by EDS analysis is shown
in Fig. 3. Electron probe microanalysis was not used for determination of nitrogen
content due to lack of resources. The nitrogen content could be expressed either as
weight percentage or atomic percentage. The chemical composition of the surface
determined from the spectrum is shown in Table 2.
Further, optical microscopic imaging of the case was done. From Fig. 4, a thin
Table 1 Result of chemical composition test conducted on mild steel

Element Percentage
Carbon 0.21
Sulphur 0.04
Phosphorus 0.038
Manganese 0.55
Silicon 0.18
Chromium 0.091
Nickel 0.063
Molybdenum 0.007
Fig. 3 EDS spectrum of plasma nitrided EN 3 steel

Table 2 Surface composition

Element Weight percentage
of EN 3 steel after plasma
nitriding Nitrogen 7.37
Silicon 1.95
Manganese 0.85
Iron 89.93
Fig. 4 Microscopic image

of cross section near the
surface
case can be seen below which only ferrites are present. The depth of case obtained
is 18 µm.
Thus, even though over 7% concentration of nitrogen by weight exists on the
surface of the mild steel (as deducible with the accuracy of EDS alone), it does not
diffuse much beneath the surface.
3.2 Results Obtained for EN 24 Steel
Four readings were obtained for the test diameter of the toroidal specimens, and the
average value was used for calculation of stress by the flexure formula. The actual
value of test diameter is taken to be 7.4247 mm, as against the desired diameter of
7.5 mm.
Figure 5 shows the surface texture of the finished specimens prior to nitriding.
The surface roughness parameters Ra , Rq , Rz could be evaluated with the zeta
microscope. The sampling was done in the longitudinal direction, along ten parallel
lines. The average values are tabulated in Table 3.
Figure 6 shows the texture of an EN 24 specimen after nitriding. Although it
appears as if the texture of the gas nitrided sample has smoothened, the figures in
Table 4 suggest otherwise.
Fig. 5 Surface texture of a

specimen before gas
nitriding
Table 3 Surface roughness

Ra Rq Rz
parameters (in microns)
before gas nitriding Minimum 3.807 4.806 24.67
Maximum 5.204 6.721 38.49
Mean 4.452 5.860 32.80
Standard deviation 0.4356 0.5744 3.932
Fig. 6 Surface texture of a

specimen after gas nitriding
Table 4 Surface roughness

Ra Rq Rz
parameters (in microns) after
gas nitriding Minimum 4.626 6.216 38.98
Maximum 6.153 8.493 60.01
Mean 5.524 7.353 46.63
Standard deviation 0.4992 0.7209 5.360
However, it may still not be appropriate to comment on the effect gas nitriding has
upon the roughness of a part, as the two specimen surfaces are not the same. Also,
the polished samples were observed to have Ra values between 3.8 and 6.9 µm,
depending upon the quality of manual polishing. For gas nitrided sample this is
between 4.6 and 6.2 µm, from the above table. Since these ranges have significant
overlap, a definite conclusion cannot be made.
Vickers hardness test of the raw material was conducted under 10 kgf force with
a diamond indenter of 130° face angle. The values obtained are 287, 289 and 292
HV. The chemical composition test was performed as before by optical emission
spectroscopy. The result, tabulated below, confirmed that the steel to belong to EN
24 grade (Table 5).
The difference between surface and core hardness obtained on nitriding with
pretreatment and without it was explored. Avoiding prehardening may save time,
but the case properties are severely affected. The heat treatment resulted in hardness
between 30 and 35 HRC. Vickers microhardness tests were conducted with a diamond
indenter of 130° face angle under 0.2 kgf force.
From Table 6, on average, 117 HV/0.2 improvement in hardness is obtained at the
surface of EN 24 steel on account of pretreatment. Another observation is that since
30 HRC corresponds to 285 HV, there should have been no requirement for heat
treatment, as from the Vickers hardness test it was found that the raw material was
already close to 285 HV. Despite this, a significant change has resulted between the
Table 5 Result of chemical

Element Percentage
composition test conducted
on EN 24 steel Carbon 0.42
Manganese 0.69
Phosphorus 0.016
Sulphur 0.011
Silicon 0.26
Chromium 1.07
Nickel 1.46
Molybdenum 0.24
Table 6 Comparison of
Location No prehardening With prehardening
Vickers microhardness values
obtained by gas nitriding with At core 290 258
and without prehardening 293 266
295 275
At surface 490 585
496 622
502 632
surface hardnesses of prehardened and non-prehardened samples after gas nitriding.

This can also be seen from cross-sectional microscopic images.
The nitride precipitates in Fig. 7 are coarser and unevenly distributed as compared
to that in Fig. 8. The thicknesses of white layer obtained by nitriding with and without
prehardening are almost the same, 3 and 2.8 µm respectively. The effective case depth
of a satisfactorily nitrided sample as in the latter case was found out by the traverse
method. The readings have been graphed in Fig. 9.
320 HV/0.2 was used as the cutoff value for determining effective case depth.
This was obtained at a depth of 600 µm.
Finally, fatigue tests were carried in the high cycle fatigue regime (N > 104 cycles)
[2]. In the case of nitrided specimens, as the scatter of test results was excessive, a
Fig. 7 Case of gas nitrided

EN 24 without prehardening
Fig. 8 Case of gas nitrided

EN 24 with prehardening
Fig. 9 Drop of hardness

with depth
couple of specimens failed in low cycle fatigue as well. The fatigue life data points of
the non-hardened specimens were almost along the same line, on a base 10 log-log
S–N plot. Hence a line of regression was fitted for this case, using Minitab software.
The equation is as follows:
log(S) = 3.40 − 0.154 log(N ) (1)
The fatigue strength coefficient can be obtained by setting N as unity. The

endurance limit can be obtained by substituting N as 106 , as chrome-nickel steels
have an elbow at nearly a million cycles. The endurance limit is 299.22646 MPa.
Similar line fitting on the fatigue life data of the nitrided specimens gives incorrect
results. For this purpose, a two-parametric Weibull distribution has been used. This
has been done in a similar fashion as done by Sakin and Ay [3]. The specimens were
tested at five different stress levels. These stresses were calculated from the applied
bending moment by using the actual value of test diameter, 7.4247 mm. The Weibull
lines found for the stress levels have been presented in Table 7.
From the Weibull lines, the values of characteristic life and Weibull slope can be
obtained and used to calculate the mean time to failure (MTTF). It has to be noted
that this is the mean number of revolutions, not literally time. On a base 10 log-log
plot, the S–N equation is obtained by line fitting, as before, but by using the MTTF
values instead of the number of cycles.
log(S) = 3.47 − 0.117 log(MTTF) (2)
Table 7 Weibull lines for

Stress amplitude (MPa) Weibull line
different stress levels
910.57 Y = 1.08X − 11.1
855.639 Y = 2.20X − 23.3
812.915 Y = 1.21X − 13.9
770.191 Y = 0.701X − 7.98
735.314 Y = 3.80X − 43.2
Fig. 10 Log-normal S–N plots of nitrided and non-nitrided EN 24
Thus, the endurance limit after gas nitriding is 586.13816 MPa.

The improvement in rotating bending fatigue performance can be observed by
overlaying the S–N curve obtained from the nitrided and non-hardened specimens.
This could be done using MATLAB, as depicted in Fig. 10.
4 Conclusions
• Plasma nitriding of mild steel of grade EN 3 at 490 °C for 8 h produced a case of

depth 18 µm, although 7.37% of nitrogen by weight was found to be existing on
the surface. Plasma nitriding of EN 3 steel was not deemed to be satisfactory for
improvement in fatigue performance.
• The effective case depth of EN 24 steel after gas nitriding for 72 h at 550 °C was
found to be 0.6 mm. Also, the compound layer thickness was found to be 3 µm.
• Surface hardness of an EN 24 steel part preheat treated up to HRC 30-35 increased
by 117 HV as compared to that of non-preheat treated part.
• The fatigue strength coefficient of gas nitrided EN 24 steel increased by 17.49%,
subject to experimental conditions. The endurance limit of the same increased by
95.88%.
Acknowledgements This work has been funded by the department of mechanical engineering,
VJTI. Manufacturing assistance has been provided by Precision Metal Works, Mumbai. Material
testing services have been provided by TCR Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd., Navi Mumbai.
References
1. Sirin, S.Y., Sirin, K., Kaluc, E.: Effect of the ion nitriding surface hardening process on fatigue
behavior of AISI 4340 steel. Mater. Charact. 59, 351–358 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
matchar.2007.01.019
2. Radonovich, D.C.: Methods of extrapolating low cycle fatigue data to high stress amplitudes,
pp. 16–17. MS thesis, University of Central Florida, Orlando, United States (2007)
3. Sakin, R., Ay, I.: Statistical analysis of bending fatigue life data using Weibull distribution in
glass-fiber reinforced polyester composites. Mater. Des. 29, 1170–1181 (2008). https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.matdes.2007.05.005
Finite Element Based Prediction
of Transient Temperature Distribution,
Heat Affected Zone and Residual Stresses
in AISI 304 Stainless Steel Weldment
Gurdeep Singh, Ravindra K. Saxena and Sunil Pandey
Abstract The welded joint is susceptible to failure due to the presence of entrapped
residual stresses. Welded joint is subjected to high intensity of concentrated heat
moving at defined speed along a path. The material is subject to transient temper-
ature variations. The transient temperature variations give rise to uneven heating
and subsequent cooling. The material experiences an uneven tensile and compres-
sive residual stresses under these changing temperature conditions. The situation
becomes trivial under multi-pass welding. In the present work finite element method
is employed to calculate the temperature distribution, heat affected zone and result-
ing residual stresses during MMAW welding. Element birth and death technique is
apply to simulate the flux deposition. The results on temperature distribution are in
reasonably good validated with the experimental results. It is observed that there
is relative increase in the magnitude of residual stresses with the similar relative
increase in temperature.
Keywords Residual stresses · V-butt weld · AISI-304 stainless steel · Finite

element analysis · MMAW
G. Singh (B)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, DAV University Sarmastpur, Jalandhar 144012, India
e-mail: gurdeepsinghbanga@gmail.com
R. K. Saxena
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Longowal, Sangrur, Punjab 148106, India
e-mail: rksaxena04@yahoo.com
S. Pandey
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi 110016, India
e-mail: profsunilpandey@gmail.com

308 G. Singh et al.
1 Introduction
The manual metal arc welding (MMAW) is a commonly used process in the industry
for the joining the melts or structures. In fusion welding an intense concentrated
heat is applied on the joint; which melts the work pieces and on subsequent solid-
ification during cooling, the permanent joint is formed. Due to this extreme con-
centration of heat, the zone nearby the weldbead experience severe thermal cycles.
If the weldpads are not mechanically constrained then the weldpads suffer severe
thermal expansion followed by corresponding thermal contraction thereby generat-
ing non-homogeneous plastic deformation and resulting high magnitude of residual
stress around the weld interface. The trapped residual stresses in the weldment have a
strong effect on mechanical properties in term of fatigue strength, fracture toughness
and deformation of weldment [1]. The most of the used weld testing procedures are
of destructive nature leaving such joints/material unsuitable for future use. The weld-
ing simulation using finite element (FE) method is a cost-effective method for the
visualization and examination of the process during fabrication. Many researchers
have effectively employed thermo-mechanical finite element procedures for the cal-
culation of transient temperature distribution and residual stresses during welding.
Chang et al. [2] analyzed the thermo-mechanical behavior and calculated residual
stresses in weldment using FE method. Gery et al. [3] developed a FE code for thermal
simulation of butt welding of plate. The temperature distributions of the weldpads
during the welding process were measured and heat affected zone or fusion zone
were identified. Kohandehghan and Serajzadeh [4] investigated the distribution of
residual stress within the welded plate and the resulting mechanical properties of the
welded region.
In this study, a three-dimensional (FE) simulation for the welding of the similar
couple for AISI-304 steel is investigated. MSC Marc 2017® is employed for the
simulation. The results are obtained for distribution of transient temperature during
multi-pass welding using MMAW procedures. Based on temperature distribution,
the heat affected zone is identified. The resulting residual stresses are investigated
and effect of multi-pass welding on transverse and longitudinal residual stresses are
discussed.
2 Finite Element Analysis
In MMAW process, the high intensity arc is moved over the defined path or route for
the fabrication of the joint. The process is modeled as an uncoupled transient thermal
analysis and mechanical analysis. The flow chart for the analysis procedure is given
in Fig. 1.
Finite Element Based Prediction of Transient Temperature … 309
Fig. 1 Flow diagram of the thermal and mechanical analysis
2.1 Thermal Analysis Model
During the 3D finite element thermal analysis model, governing differential equation
for transient heat conduction problem using Fourier law as can be written as:

∂ ∂θ ∂ ∂θ ∂ ∂θ ∂θ
Jx + Jy + Jz + q0 = ρc p (1)
∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂z ∂z ∂t
In the above equation Jx , Jy and Jz is the thermal conductivities of weldpads in

x, y and z axes respectively, ρ is the density of the weldpads, c p is the specific heat
capacity of the weldpads, θ is the temperature of the weldpads at the current time step,
q0 is the heat flux vector and t is the time. The prediction of transient temperature
distribution in the weldment, initial temperature of the weldment is fixed at ambient
temperature initial condition as following:
θ (x, y, z, 0) = θo (x, y, z) (2)
The boundary condition for the simulation are:

∂θ ∂θ ∂θ
jx l + j y m + jz n + qs + h(θ − θo ) = 0 (3)
∂x ∂y ∂z
In the above equation l, m and n are the direction cosine of the outward normal
to the exposed boundary, h is the coefficient of thermal natural convection, qs the
specified heat flux, and θ o is the atmospheric temperature. In the present work, all the
modes of heat transfer namely, conduction, convection and radiation are modeled.
The effect of radiation is important at high temperatures and convection is important
at low temperatures moving away from the current location of welding arc. This is
modeled by defining the cumulative thermal convection coefficient as:
310 G. Singh et al.

0.068T (W/m2 − ◦ C), 0 < T < 500 ◦ C
h= (4)
0.231T − 82.1 (W/m − C), T > 500 ◦ C
2 ◦
The heat transfer coefficient for AISI 304 Stainless steel is taken from the reference
[5]. In the weld pool, the material undergoes phase change from solid to liquid
and vice-versa. During this transformation, the latent heat of the material plays an
important role. The latent heat for AISI 304 stainless steel is assumed as 300 J/g
between the solidus temperature of 1420 °C and the liquidus temperature of 1460 °C
[5].
Goldak’s et al. [6] developed the 3D heat source model which is generally used
for heat generation in a moving volumetric double ellipsoidal heat source. In this
model, the total heat content of the welding arc is distributed into front and rear side
quadrant. The Goldak’s model [6] can be written by following equations:
The front side quadrant volumetric double ellipsoidal heat source as
√
6 3 f f ηQ −3x 2 −3y 2 −3z 2
f (x, y, z) = v √ exp exp exp (5)
abcf π π a2 b2 cf3
The rear side quadrant volumetric double ellipsoidal heat source as

√
6 3 f r ηQ −3x 2 −3y 2 −3z 2
f (x, y, z) = v √ exp exp exp (6)
abcr π π a2 b2 cr3
In the above equations x, y, and z are the local coordinates of the double ellipsoidal
model allied at the interface of weld line (Fig. 2). The heat source parameters defined
for AISI-304 steel weldment and used for the present work are depicted in Fig. 2.
The heat source parameter a and b are the half weld width along the perpendicular
direction and half weld depth with respect to the direction of welding arc respectively,
cf and cr are the forward and rear length along weld line. Further, f f and f r are the
fraction of heat content between front and rear half of ellipsoid with f f + f r = 2. The
welding heat source parameters are calculated through the inverse technique using
Fig. 2 Goldak’s double

ellipsoidal heat source model
[6]
Table 1 Welding heat source parameters

No. of pass Welding heat source parameter (mm)
a b cf cr ff fr
1 Pass 10 5 10 23.3 1.4 0.6
2 Pass 15 5 15 34.9 1.4 0.6
3 Pass 20 12 20 46.6 1.4 0.6
trial-and-error method and are adjusted to create the desired melted zone geometry
according to the prescribed welding conditions. The values of these parameters for
different simulated welding passes are given in Table 1.
The power density of the welding heat source (Q) is calculated by using following
empirical relation
ηV I
Q= (7)
v
In the above equation, ï, V, I, and v are the arc efficiency (~75%), welding volt-
age, current, and speed for MMAW process respectively. To model the effect of
consumable electrode during MMAW, element birth and death technique is used.
2.2 Mechanical Analysis Model
The material subjected to high temperature undergoes rapid expansion and sub-
sequent contraction on cooling. The rapid expansion and contraction in weldment
sometimes gives rise to entrapped residual stresses. In a finite element simulation,
the mechanical analysis is performed under the resulting thermal load to predict the
residual stresses in the welded material. In the present work, the welding is performed
in multiple passes. The resulting temperature of the different passes is applied incre-
mentally in a non-linear mechanical analysis. The simulation is performed on MSc
Marc 2017.1® . The residual stresses are found out using the elasto-plastic mechanical
analysis. The formulation to find the residual stresses during a mechanical analysis
depends on two sets of equation viz., (1) the Equilibrium equation (2) Constitutive
equations as follows:
(1) Equilibrium Equation
∇σi j + bi = 0 (8)
where σ ij is the stress tensor and bi is the body force.

(2) Constitutive Equations:
The thermal elasto-plastic material model, based on the von-Mises yield crite-
rion and the isotropic strain hardening rule, is given by
312 G. Singh et al.
Fig. 3 Schematic of the weld joint (all dimension in mm)
[dσ ] = [D ep ][dε] − [C th ]dT (9)
[D ep ] = [D e ] + [D p ] (10)
In the above equation [De ], [Dp ], and [C th ] are purely elastic, plastic, and thermal
coefficient matrix respectively, dσ and dE are the stress and strain increment and
dT is the temperature increment.
2.3 Geometry and Discretized Weldment
The single-V butt welding is assumed to be performed in three passes to join 8 mm

thick plates. The schematic is shown in Fig. 3 with dimensions. The weld-groove
angle is 60°.
The fine mesh is defined at and around the joint interface. The geometry has
315,283 hexahedral elements and 304,500 nodes for the analysis (Fig. 4). The chem-
ical composition of the base metal is given in Table 2. The physical–mechanical
properties of the base material are given in [5]. The welding process parameters used
for simulating MMAW are given in Table 3.
2.4 Element Birth and Death Technique
In a thermo-mechanical analysis, the “Element-Birth and Death” technique is an

effective method to incorporate the effect of deposition of consumable electrode on
the weldment. For the analysis, all the elements are assumed to exist in the domain,
including the elements belonging to weld fillers which may assumed to come into
existence at a later stage of the analysis. Further, as per formulation, the “killed”
elements are not removed from the analysis for “Element-Death”, instead, these are
Fig. 4 Meshed model of the geometry
Table 2 Chemical composition of AISI-304 steel (wt%) [7]

C Cr Ni P Si
0.034 16.7 12.9 0.048 0.040
Table 3 Welding parameters used for determine the heat input [7]
Number of weld pass 1 2 3
Welding method MMAW MMAW MMAW
Electrode diameter (mm) 2.5 4 4
Weld current (A) 65–70 140–150 135–145
Weld voltage (V) 21 24 24
Weld speed (mm/s) 1.56 3.06 2.08
deactivated by a suitable high value of reduction multiplier to the respective entry

in the element stiffness matrix. The property values viz. mass, strain and other such
values for such “killed” elements are “set” to zero numerical value for the simulation.
Similarly, when elements are found to “Born”, the elements are activated with the
assigned numerical value of stiffness, mass, elemental load and other such property
values. The strain along with the thermal strains are assumed to be computed for
these activated elements with effect from the current load step [5].
The model developed for the analysis of MMAW is validated for the temperature
distribution by experimental data obtained from the work of Murugan et al. [7]. In
the reported experimental work, the transient temperature distribution is measured
314 G. Singh et al.
Fig. 5 K-type thermocouple location [7]
at four different locations along the transverse direction at defined distance. The
schematic is shown in Fig. 5.
The residual stresses are recorded at bottom surface of the plate at middle plane of
plate along the transverse direction from the weld line [1]. The K-type thermocouple
location for recording the transient temperature distribution during the experimental
measurement is shown in Fig. 5.
3.1 Temperature Distribution in AISI-304 Weldment
Welding process is modelled as thermo-mechanical process. First, thermal analysis is

performed to get the transient temperature distribution around the weld interface. The
welding arc is assumed to traverse the path along the joint interface at a predefined
welding speed.
The temperature contours obtained during first, second, and third pass welding
is shown in Fig. 6a–c. The material is not assumed to cool between each welding
run, therefore, the width of HAZ is observed to be increasing in each welding pass.
Figure 6(1–3) show the peak values of the temperature along weld interface in AISI
304 stainless steel, when these materials are welded in single-V butt welding. The
results obtained through the present simulation study are in reasonably good confir-
mation with the experimental data from reference [7] for each of the three passes.
There are slight deviations in the peak temperature values which is due to the fact
that (i) there may be some difference in thermal properties of the material between
the experimental and numerical data; (ii) in the present work the effect of spatter-
ing of the molten metal is not taken into consideration and (iii) approximation of
the heat source parameters. The present finite element model seems appropriate for
analyzing the temperature distribution in multi-pass butt welds. Figure 7 shows the
temperature distribution graph along the perpendicular direction from the weldbead.
(a) (1)
(b) (2)
(c) (3)
Fig. 6 Temperature distribution (a–c) and peak temperature values (1–3) in AISI 304 stainless
steel at 50, 350 and 650 s respectively
316 G. Singh et al.
Fig. 7 Transient temperature for AISI 304 at different distances along transverse direction
The temperature in each pass increases due to the assumption that the material is not
allowed to cool between each welding pass.
3.2 Residual Stresses Distribution in AISI-304 Stainless Steel

Weldment
The finite element mechanical analysis is performed subsequent to the thermal anal-
ysis. The temperature values from each pass are applied as a thermal load on the
mechanical analysis. To minimize the interpolation or extrapolation, analysis is per-
formed with same mesh. The temperature-dependent mechanical and physical prop-
erties are used. The residual stresses are recorded along the root side of the weldment.
The contours of the transverse residual stress are given in Fig. 8a–c after first, second,
and third welding pass respectively. It is observed that the transverse residual stress
is tensile near the weld interface and changes to almost no-stress or compressive
magnitude of residual stress away from the weldbead. Further, the peak values of the
tensile residual stress reduce with the number of pass along the weld interface.
During the first pass of welding; weld bead is applied which is closer to the root
resulting into higher values of the tensile component of residual stresses. With the
increase in the weld passes, first the source of heat is moved farther from the root
side and second, there is more material to absorb heat due to the deposition of weld
bead in the weld groove. These effects result into reducing magnitude of the tensile
component of residual stresses with the increase in number of welding passes. This
phenomenon is also depicted in Fig. 9. The contours of the longitudinal residual
stress are given in Fig. 10a–c after 1st, 2nd and 3rd welding pass respectively. The
Fig. 8 Transverse residual

stress distribution in AISI
304 stainless steel a first
pass, b second pass and
c third pass
318 G. Singh et al.
Fig. 9 Transverse residual stress pattern with distance for AISI 304 stainless steel
similar phenomenon is observed about the longitudinal residual stresses due to the
same reasons. As shown in Fig. 11 the distribution of longitudinal residual stress
for all the three passes. It is important to mention here that Murugan et al. [1] have
obtained the similar trends for transverse and longitudinal residual stresses.
4 Conclusions
In this study, finite element method is successfully applied for assessing the dis-
tribution of temperature, identifying the heat-affected zone (HAZ) and the result-
ing residual stresses during butt welding of similar couples of AISI-304 stainless
steel. The temperature history and the peak values of temperature in the domain are
predicted in close confirmation to the reported literature. The “Element-Birth and
Death” technique is effectively employed to simulate the multi-pass welding using
filler material in manual material arc welding (MMAW). It is found that the peak
values of longitudinal and transverse residual stresses reduce with the increase in
number of passes. Further, the residual stresses change from tensile stress to com-
pressive stress in nature while moving away from the weld interface with the increase
in number of welding pass.
Fig. 10 Longitudinal
residual stress distribution in
AISI 304 stainless steel
a first pass, b second pass
and c third pass
320 G. Singh et al.
Fig. 11 Longitudinal residual stress pattern with distance for AISI 304 stainless steel
References
1. Murugan, S., Rai, S.K., Kumar, P.V., Jayakumar, T., Raj, B., Bose, M.S.C.: Temperature distri-
bution and residual stresses due to multipass welding in type 304 stainless steel and low carbon
steel weld pads. Int. J. Pres. Vessels Pip. 78, 307–317 (2001)
2. Chang, P.H., Teng, T.L.: Numerical and experimental investigations on the residual stresses of
the butt-welded joints. Comput. Mater. Sci. 29, 511–522 (2004)
3. Gery, D., Long, H., Maropoulos, P.: Effects of welding speed, energy input and heat source
distribution on temperature variations in butt joint welding. J. Mater. Proc. Tech. 167, 393–401
(2005)
4. Kohandehghan, A.R., Serajzadeh, S.: Experimental and numerical analyses of residual stress
distributions in TIG welding process for 304L stainless steel. Proc. J. Mater. Eng. Perform. 21,
892–899 (2012)
5. Lee, C.H, Chang, K.H.: Temperature fields and residual stress distributions in dissimilar steel
butt welds between carbon and stainless steels. Appl. Therm. Eng. 45–46, 33–41 (2012)
6. Goldak, J.A., Akhlaghi, M.: Computational Welding Mechanics. Springer, Berlin (2005)
7. Murugan, S., Kumar, P.V., Raj B., Bose, M.S.: Temperature distribution during multipass welding
of plates. Int. J. Pres. Vessels Pip. 75, 891–905 (1998)
Isogeometric FE Analysis of Laminated
Composite Plates
N. Devi, A. Bhar and R. Pandey
Abstract Non-uniform rational B-Splines (NURBS) are used in Computer Aided

Design (CAD) for many of their desired properties, including ability to accurately
model complicated geometries. The newly developed Isogeometric finite element
Analysis (IGA) method, based on the use of NURBS basis as the interpolation func-
tion, has the potential to revolutionize the industry, by integrating the design and
analysis parts. This would otherwise not be possible with the conventional Finite
Element Method (FEM) based on polynomial interpolation functions. This paper,
presents static analysis of laminated composite plates of arbitrary material configu-
ration using the isogeometric method based on first order as well as a semi refined
Higher order Shear Deformation Theory (HSDT). Results from the developed com-
puter program for IGA are compared with those from analytical as well as FE method
for different problems with varying parameters and boundary conditions. The accu-
racy of the results demonstrates the capacity of the developed program for isogeo-
metric analysis of such laminated composite plates.
Keywords IGA · NURBS · Laminated composite plate · Semi refined HSDT
Nomenclature
a Dimension of plate in X-direction

b Dimension of plate in Y-direction
Ni, p NURBS basis function
Greek Symbols
ξ, η Parametric directions
N. Devi · A. Bhar (B) · R. Pandey

Department of Applied Mechanics, MNNIT Allahabad, Allahabad 211004, Uttar Pradesh, India
e-mail: anindyab@mnnit.ac.in

322 N. Devi et al.
Subscripts
p Order of basis function in X-direction

q Order of basis function in Y-direction
1 Introduction
Finite Element Method (FEM) is frequently used for the analysis of structural as well
as mechanical systems. However, in conventional FEM, only numerically approx-
imated geometry, rather than the exact geometry, is normally used for the analysis
and mesh generation, especially for complicated geometric domain. On the other
hand, the IGA method introduced by Hughes et al. [1] directly uses the NURBS/B-
Splines data (control points, weights, etc.) generated from CAD for mesh generation
and other geometric operation. These data are used for forming the basis functions,
that are further used for interpolating the geometry as well as the field variables,
thereby removing the additional errors introduced in conventional FEM for geomet-
ric approximation.
After introduction of the fundamental concept, IGA was demonstrated to be
applied for simple structural mechanics problems on rods, beams, etc. by Cottrell
et al. [2] and others. For optimising the size of complex structures, sizing variables
were defined at the control points using the same basis functions by Nagy et al.
[3]. In this paper, it was shown that k-refinement in IGA is more accurate than the
p-refinement in FEM. To achieve the advantage of high stiffness, strength-to-weight
ratio, long fatigue life and wear resistance, composite materials are used. The IGA
was applied for the analysis of laminated composite plates perhaps first time to the
best of authors’ knowledge by Thai et al. [4] based on Reissner–Mindlin theory, for
Static and dynamic response. Geometric non-linearity was considered for laminated
composite plate by Kapoor et al. [5] using first-order shear deformation theory. Some
further work to address other aspects of isogeometric analysis also appeared in liter-
ature till date. Further reference to such works is escaped here for the sake of brevity
and space constraint.
In this paper static analysis of laminated composite plates with NURBS-based iso-
geometric method is carried out using the semi refined higher order shear deformation
theory (SRHSDT7) proposed by Bhar et al. [6]. Results due to the Reissner–Mindlin
FSDT are also found out and compared with the HSDT results. Appropriateness of
the IGA formulation and the developed computer code, are demonstrated through
the results presented.
Isogeometric FE Analysis of Laminated Composite Plates 323
2 Theoretical Formulation
For the analysis of laminated composite plates using the stated semi refined higher
order shear deformation theory (SRHSDT7), the following assumptions are made.
• The laminate has perfectly bonded layers implying there is no slippage between
the adjacent layers.
• Each layer/lamina can be isotropic, orthotropic or transversely isotropic, as
required.
• The reference plane is taken to be the middle plane of the laminate that contains
the X–Y axes of the reference coordinate system and Z axis is perpendicular to
this X–Y plane.
2.1 Displacement Field
A typical laminated plate is shown in Fig. 1, along with the fibre orientation θ in a
ply with reference to X-axis, where 1-2-3 represents the material axes. The Spatial
displacements of the plate as functions of the coordinate and time variables, in terms
of reference plane displacements as per the SRHSDT7 [6] are given by
U (x, y, z, t) = u(x, y, t) + zθx (x, y, t) + z 3 θx∗ (x, y, t)

V (x, y, z, t) = v(x, y, t) + zθ y (x, y, t) + z 3 θ y∗ (x, y, t)
W (x, y, z, t) = w(x, y, t) (1)
In Eq. (1), the midplane of the laminate is considered as the reference plane.
Hence, with reference to Fig. 1, −h/2 ≤ z ≤ h/2, where h is the thickness of the
plate.
Fig. 1 A typical four layer

composite plate
324 N. Devi et al.
Further u, v and w are the inplane displacements θx , θ y are the rotations of the
midplane around y-axis and x-axis, respectively and θx∗ and θ y∗ are the higher order
terms. Neglecting the higher order terms leads to the Reissner–Mindlin FSDT, results
due to which are also obtained in present work, as an alternative case. Further detail
on the SRHSDT7 used here can be found in [6] and skipped here for brevity, due to
space constraint.
2.2 Isogeometric FE Method
In the isogeometric analysis method, the displacement components at a generic point

(x, y) in the reference plane, as in Eq. (1), are interpolated with those at the control
points for a given element, as compared to nodes in case of FEM. For example, the
inplane displacement component in X-direction u is interpolated between its values
at the control points for e-th element, as

n×m
u e (ξ, η) = N I (ξ, η)u I (2)
I
where u I is the degree of freedom associated with control point I and n × m is the
number of control points and basis functions. Further, ξ and η are the local coor-
dinates for given element in parametric domain, mapped suitably from the physical
domain (x, y) of the reference plane. Similarly, all other displacement components
are interpolated using the control point variables.
The basis functions N I (ξ, η), used in Eq. (2) are defined by tensor product of uni-
variate basis functions Ni, p (ξ ) and M j,q (η) of order p and q in parametric directions
ξ and η respectively [7], as
N Ib (ξ, η) = Ni, p (ξ )M j,q (η) (3)
where the univariate functions are defined by Cox-De Boor recursive formula [7].
ξ − ξi ξi+ p+1 − ξ
N Ib (ξ ) = Ni, p−1 (ξ ) + Ni+1, p−1 (ξ ) (4)
ξi+ p − ξi ξi+ p+1 − ξi+1
For order p = 0

1; ξi ≤ ξ ≤ ξ
Ni, p = (5)
0; otherwise

The knot vector ξ = ξ1 , ξ2 , . . . , ξn+ p+1 is a non-decreasing set of coordinates
in parametric space, where n is the number of basis functions used to construct
B-Splines. Interested readers may find further detail on NURBS in [7, 8] and on
methods of IGA in [9], respectively and such detail are skipped here for brevity.
The governing equations of motion for the composite plate can be derived for a
general undamped dynamic problem, using well-known Hamilton’s principle given
by
t2
δ (T − U − W )dt = 0 (6)
t1
where in the above equation T is the kinetic energy, U the strain energy and W the
potential of external load. After substituting these values in Eq. (6) and due oper-
ations, rearrangement and simplification, one can obtain the general instantaneous
equation of motion in standard discretized form as

[M] d̈ + [K ]{d} = {P} (7)
where [M] is the global

mass
matrix, [K] is the stiffness matrix and {P} is the global
load vector. Further, d̈ and {d} are the unknown acceleration and displacement
vectors defined at the control points. Now, specifically for the static (time indepen-
dent) problems, Eq. (8) is reduced to
[K ]{d} = {P} (8)
Solution of above equation yields the control point displacements. Required dis-
placements at any point of the plate may then be found out using due interpolation
mentioned already.
3 Numerical Results
In this portion, present results (IGA) are compared with analytical solutions and
existing/generated FEM solutions for isotropic plate and laminated composite plate
with different lamination schemes using SRHSDT7 as well as FSDT. Results are
presented for different parameters as b/a ratio and a/h ratio and different boundary
conditions.
326 N. Devi et al.
3.1 Validation for Isotropic Plate
We consider an isotropic square plate having thickness h = 1.0 mm subjected to

uniform distributed transverse load of intensity q = 1.0 N/mm2 . For the mesh gener-
ation and IGA we consider uniform knot vector {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8,
8, 8, 8} in both directions (X, Y ) and in case of FEM we consider 8 × 8 mesh size.
Results for isotropic plate (using IGA and FEM) are compared with analytical
results available in literature [10] for different boundary conditions as in Figs. 2 and
3. Variation of Maximum transverse deflection with different thickness aspect ratio
(a/h ratio) is shown using SRHSDT7 as well as FSDT.
From Figs. 2 and 3, it is observed that in case of present simply supported plate, all
the FEM and IGA results are almost same with analytical results. However, in case
of clamped plate, some increasing difference in the maximum transverse deflection
is observed between results from different methods/theories as the plate becomes
thinner.
For isogeometric analysis we consider open knot vectors in both parametric direc-
tion, as for square plate we have same knot vectors. As b/a ratio increases, we increase
the knots in particular direction. When we increase the number of knots, we should
increase the order to fulfil the requirement of k-refinement. Further, for more accu-
racy we consider multiplicity of knots which increases for considering continuity
also [7]. Variation in Maximum transverse deflection for simply supported isotropic
plate with different plate aspect ratio (b/a) for a/h = 10.0 using FEM and IGA is
evaluated considering both SRHADT7 and FSDT, as presented in Table 1.
It is observed from Table 1 that for square as well as for highly rectangular (as
b/a increases) plates, SRHSDT7 gives very close results to FSDT and FEM and IGA
results are also quite close mostly, as expected for a moderately thick plate like the
present one.
Fig. 2 Variation of
Maximum Transverse Deflection (mm)
maximum transverse Analytical [11]

deflection with thickness 20 IGA(FSDT)
aspect ratio for simply FEM(FSDT)
supported isotropic square IGA(SRHSDT7)
plate FEM(SRHSDT7)
10
0
30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
a/h Ratio
8
Analytical [11]
Max. Transverse Deflection(mm)

IGA(FSDT)
6 FEM(FSDT)
IGA(SRHSDT7)
FEM(SRHSDT7)
4
40 50 60 70 80 90 100
a/h Ratio
Fig. 3 Variation of maximum transverse deflection with thickness aspect ratio for clamped isotropic
square plate
Table 1 Variation of maximum transverse deflection wmax (× 10−3 mm) with plate aspect ratio
for simply supported plate (a/h = 10.0)
b/a ratio FSDT SRHSDT7
FEM IGA FEM IGA
1.0 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.4
2.0 5.7 5.8 5.7 5.8
3.0 6.7 7.0 6.8 7.0
4.0 7.3 7.3 7.2 7.3
5.0 7.3 7.4 7.3 7.3
3.2 Laminated Composite Plate
Next, static analysis of laminated composite plate is performed for different lamina-
tion scheme. First, convergence for simply supported laminated plate with lamination
scheme [0/90/0] is considered.
For the convergence of results, we increase the control points by changing the
values of knot vectors in both directions. As we increase order or number of knots,
control points increases accordingly. Material properties for each layer of lamina are
taken as
E 1 = 25E, E 2 = E, E 3 = E, G 12 = 0.5E
G 13 = 0.5E, G 23 = 0.2E
υ13 = υ23 = υ13 = 0.25
328 N. Devi et al.
where E = 1.0 is adopted for obtaining the present results, though one may take any
other value also.
Variation of maximum transverse deflection with different thickness aspect ratio
(a/h = 100, 50 and 10) are shown in Tables 2 and 3, for FSDT and SRHSDT7,
respectively, using the isogeometric method.
From the observation from Tables 2 and 3, that convergence at least up to the
first decimal places is obtained for 144 or higher number of control points, which
corresponds to a mesh size of 8 × 8, further results are presented corresponding to
this mesh size.
Next we consider a rectangular plate of size (228.6 mm × 127.0 mm) and thickness
of each plies of 0.127 mm subjected to uniformly distributed load having intensity q =
6.894 × 10−4 N/mm2 with simply supported boundary condition. Material properties
are same for each lamina as in Reddy and Pandey [11]. The central deflection for
different lamination scheme from present analysis and those from [11] are presented
in Table 4.
For further investigation, variation of maximum transverse deflection with plate
aspect ratio (b/a) is plotted for different lamination scheme, as in Figs. 4 and 5
Table 2 Convergence of simply supported laminated composite plate based on FSDT, using IGA
(b/a = 1)
Control points Maximum transverse deflection wmax
a/h = 100.0 a/h = 50.0 a/h = 10.0
(× 10−1 mm) (× 10−2 mm) (× 10−5 mm)
16 4.653 3.054 7.676
49 4.898 3.083 7.492
81 4.792 3.070 7.382
144 4.683 2.974 7.142
196 4.667 2.965 7.116
289 4.704 2.989 7.173
Table 3 Convergence of maximum transverse deflection for simply supported laminated plate
based on SRHSDT7, using IGA (b/a = 1.0)
Control points Maximum transverse deflection wmax
a/h = 100.0 a/h = 50.0 a/h = 10.0
(× 10−1 mm) (× 10−2 mm) (× 10−5 mm)
16 4.746 3.076 8.374
49 4.898 3.097 8.042
81 4.794 3.085 7.116
144 4.690 2.990 7.673
196 4.673 2.980 7.646
289 4.711 3.004 7.939
Table 4 Maximum transverse deflection w (mm) for simply supported laminate of varying ply
angle
Lamination scheme FEM [11] IGA (FSDT) IGA (SRHSDT7)
0/90/0/90 3.40 3.13 3.11
0/90/90/0 5.81 5.88 5.87
45/-45/45/-45 2.76 2.79 2.78
15/-15/15/-15 6.39 6.48 6.46
15/-15 66.14 66.20 66.89
45/-45 40.66 41.40 41.60
3.5
0/90/0/90
0/90/90/0
Max.Transverse Deflection(mm)
3.0 45/-45/45/-45
15/-15/15/-15
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
1.0 1.5 2.0

b/a Ratio
Fig. 4 Variation of maximum transverse deflection with b/a ratio using IGA (FSDT)
3.5
0/90/0/90
0/90/90/0
Max.Transverse Deflection (mm)
3.0 45/-45/45/-45
15/-15/15/-15
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
1.0 1.5 2.0

b/a Ratio
Fig. 5 Variation of maximum transverse deflection with b/a ratio using IGA (SRHSDT7)
330 N. Devi et al.
for FSDT and SRHSDT7, respectively. Material properties are same for each lam-
ina taken by Reddy and Pandey [11] and 8 × 8 mesh size (144 control points) is
considered.
It is observed from Figs. 4 and 5 that variation in maximum transverse deflec-
tion is more for lamination schemes ([0/90/0/90], [45/-45/45/-45]) than lamination
schemes ([0/90/90/0], [15/-15/15/-15]). Further investigation needs to be carried out
to understand such behaviour.
4 Conclusions
This paper presents NURBS-based isogeometric finite element analysis (IGA) of

laminated composite plates based on a semi refined higher order shear deformation
theory (SRHSDT7) as well as FSDT. Results from static analysis of isotropic and
laminated composite plates are obtained using conventional FEM as well as the IGA;
to evaluate the performance of the later, being a newly developed method in recent
times.
For the cases of plates considered in this paper, it is observed that the IGA produces
quite close results, as compared to FEM results. This may be attributed to the fact
that only square or rectangular plates are considered here, which are quite regular
geometry and are well represented/modelled by the polynomial Lagrange shape
functions used in conventional FEM, thereby rendering the advantage of NURBS
basis used in IGA invisible for such cases. The real advantages of the IGA may
become evident for plates of non-regular planform, which may be planned in future
works.
Acknowledgements This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the
public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
References
1. Hughes, T.J.R., Cottrell, J.A., Bazilevs, Y.: Isogeometric analysis: CAD finite elements NURBS
exact geometry and mesh refinement. Comput. Method Appl. Mech Eng. 194, 4135–4195
(2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cma.2004.10.008
2. Cottrell, J.A., Reali, A., Bazilevs, Y., Hughes, T.J.R.: Isogeometric analysis of structural vibra-
tions. Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 195, 5257–5296 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
cma.2005.09.027
3. Nagy, A.P., Abdalla, M.M., Gürdal, Z.: Isogeometric sizing and shape optimisation of beam
structures. Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 199, 1216–1230 (2010). https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.cma.2009.12.010
4. Thai Chien, H., Nguyen-Xuan, H., Nguyen-Thanh, N., Le, T.-H., Nguyen-Thoi, T., Rabczuk,
T.: Static, free vibration and buckling analysis of laminated composite Reissner–Mindlin plates
using NURBS-based isogeometric approach. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Eng. 91, 571–603 (2012).
https://doi.org/10.1002/nme.4282
5. Kapoor, H., Kapania, R.K.: Geometrically nonlinear NURBS isogeometric finite element anal-
ysis of laminated composite plates. Compos. Struct. 94, 3434–3447 (2012). http://dx.doi.org/
10.1016/j.compstruct.2012.04.028
6. Bhar, A., Phoenix, S.S., Satsangi, S.K.: Finite element analysis of laminated composite stiffened
plates using FSDT and HSDT: a comparative perspective. Compos. Struct. 92, 312–321 (2010).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2009.08.002
7. Piegl, L., Tiller, W.: The NURBS Book, 2nd edn. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg (1997)
8. Rogers David, F.: An Introduction to NURBS with Historical Perspective. Elsevier, Academic
Press, United States of America (2001)
9. Cottrell, J.A., Hughes, T.J.R., Bazilevs, Y.: Isogeometric Analysis Toward Integration of CAD
and FEA, 1st edn. Wiley, London (2009)
10. Timoshenko, S.: Theory of Plates and Shells, 2nd edn. McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York (1959)
11. Reddy, J.N., Pandey, A.K.: A first-ply failure analysis of composite laminates. Compos. Struct.
25, 371–393 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1016/0045-7949(87)90130-1
Investigation of Weld Bead
Characteristics and Optimization
of GMAW of Nitrogen Strengthened
Austenitic Stainless Steel (AISI 201Gr)
Vivek Singh, M. Chandrasekaran and Sutanu Samanta
Abstract Austenitic stainless steels are widely used in fabrication industries for its
enhanced mechanical properties and excellent corrosion resistance. In this work gas
metal arc welding (GMAW) on AISI 201Gr stainless steel plate is performed using
Box–Behnken design (BBD). Wire feed rate (F), voltage (V ), nozzle to plate dis-
tance (NTD) and welding speed (S) are considered as weld parameters to investigate
four process characteristics viz., penetration (P), width (W ), reinforcement (R), weld
penetration shape factor (WPSF), weld reinforcement form factor (WRFF). Predic-
tive models are developed using response surface methodology (RSM) and model
validation shows an average error % of 3.66 being maximum for penetration. The
penetration and bead width are increasing with increase in wire feed rate. ANOVA
analysis shows that F, voltage and NTD are the most influencing factors in determin-
ing penetration. The parametric optimization of all response simultaneously is carried
out using desirability analysis (DA) obtaining composite desirability of 0.6631.
Keywords AISI 201 Gr steel · GMAW · Penetration · RSM · Optimization
1 Introduction
Austenitic stainless steels are widely used in many industries due to their enhanced
mechanical properties and excellent corrosion resistance. Ni is an expensive alloying
element which constitutes a major part of the total cost of stainless steel. Usually by
adding Ni, the austenitic phase in stainless steel is stabilized [1, 2]. Recent devel-
opments have made it possible to double the yield strengths of austenitic stainless
steels by increasing the nitrogen content. Nitrogen works as solid solution strength-
ening element in stainless steel, increasing the yield strength at room temperature
and at subzero temperatures [3]. Increase in the nitrogen content may increase the
possibility of porosity and hot cracking but these defects may be overcome by using
V. Singh · M. Chandrasekaran (B) · S. Samanta

Department of Mechanical Engineering, North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and
Technology (NERIST), Nirjuli, Arunachal Pradesh 791110, India
e-mail: mchse1@yahoo.com

334 V. Singh et al.
a suitable filler wire, which produces the required amount of delta ferrite in fusion
welds [4, 5].
In many research studies, the effect of mechanical properties and microstructure
for conventional 304 SS with GTAW has been carried out [6–8]. GTAW is widely
used for root run to produce a sound weld and the process can be replaced by GMAW
in many industrial applications. GMAW is generally preferred for higher productivity
and can be executed in semiautomatic, mechanized and automatic operation mode.
Mechanized GMAW can be performed with higher welding speeds and wire feed
rates [9]. To obtain desired bead profile the selection of optimum weld parameter
plays a vital role to get good quality of weld for mechanization of welding process.
Design of experiment, computational network and evolutionary algorithms are
widely used to develop a mathematical relationship between the welding process
input parameters and the output variables of the weld joint in order to determine the
welding input parameters that lead to the desired weld quality. RSM performs better
than other techniques, especially artificial neural network and generic algorithm,
when a large number of experiments are not affordable. The main advantage of RSM
is its ability to exhibit the factor contributions from the coefficients in the regression
model [10]. BBD is an alternative for the optimization of analytical methods and
it is more efficient than the central composite design and three-level full factorial
designs. Another advantage of the BBD is that it does not contain combinations for
which factors are simultaneously at their highest or lowest levels. So it avoids the
experiments being performed under extreme conditions, for which unsatisfactory
results might occur [11].
In this work welding investigation on commonly used nitrogen strengthened
austenitic stainless steel (AISI 201) is performed. The interaction between weld
parameters and different weld bead characteristics viz., penetration (P), width (W ),
reinforcement (R), weld penetration shape factor (WPSF), weld reinforcement form
factor (WRFF) is studied. The weld parameters are optimized to obtain better weld
characteristics.
2 Plan of Investigation
2.1 Identification of Weld Factors
Factors such as wire feed rate, voltage, welding speed and nozzle to plate distance are
most influencing factors for the bead geometry. Out of these factors, wire feed rate
(F), voltage (V ), nozzle to plate distance (NTD) and welding speed (S) were taken
into consideration for this investigation. These independent factors were varied in
order to study the effects on the responses such as bead width (W ), reinforcement (R),
and depth of penetration (P). In addition, weld penetration shape factor WPSF (ratio
of width to penetration) and WRFF (ratio of width to reinforcement) are considered
as output characteristics of welding process. The weld bead shape is decided by above
Investigation of Weld Bead Characteristics and Optimization … 335
Table 1 Weld factors and its level

Sl. No. Factors Units Level (−1) Level (0) Level (+1)
1 Wire feed rate (F) m/min 6 7 8
2 Voltage (V ) V 20 22 24
3 NTD mm 10 15 20
4 Speed (S) mm/min 220 260 300
characteristics and strength of weld joint that determined by the mechanical property
of the joint is important for any metal joining process. Weld joint is considered to be
sound and economical if it has a maximum penetration, bare minimum bead width,
reinforcement, WPSF and WRFF.
The range of factors is decided based on weld performance of trial experiments.
These trials were carried out by varying one factor while keeping other factors con-
stant. Thus, the working range of each process parameter was decided by inspecting
the bead for smooth appearance without any visible defects. Table 1 shows weld
parameters and its levels considered for carrying out this investigation.
BBD experimental design having 27 experiments by varying parameters as per
design matrix is followed. All experiments are conducted in random order in order
to overcome experimental error.
2.2 Welding Experiments
To perform bead on plate experiment, stainless steel (AISI 201) plates of size 150 mm
× 150 mm × 5 mm were prepared. In this experiment, Fronius Trans 3200 MIG
welding machine (Fig. 1) was used with filler wire (ER308L) of diameter 1.2 mm.
Welding Gun Wire Feeder
Shielding
GasSupply
GMAW Power
Source
Mechanized Trolley
Work Piece Work Table
Fig. 1 GMAW experimental setup

336 V. Singh et al.
The welding gun was set up with a mechanized trolley in order to provide constant
speed and constant nozzle to plate distance. Weld beads were deposited on different
plates as per the design matrix.
After bead on plate experiments samples (size = 30 mm) was cut from middle
of the each plate. These samples were then polished to a mirror like finish and
etched. Etching agent was prepared from hydrochloric acid, glycerol and nitric acid
with the ratio of 30:30:10. The bead profiles Fig. 2a–g were then analyzed at 20×
magnification using vision measurement machine. The responses obtained in the
analysis are shown in Table 2.
2.3 Development of Empirical Model
The response variables can be represented as a function of welding parameters. The

relationship between responses (Y ), i.e., penetration, width, reinforcement, WPSF
and WRFF, and factors (X), i.e., F, V, NTD, S can be represented as
Y = f (F, V, NTD, S) (1)
In order to generate the relationships between factors and responses, RSM was
used. After analyzing data using Minitab 17® at 95% confidence level the model rela-
tionship were obtained. The following are different RSM model equations obtained:
P = 8.8 − 1.35F − 0.36V + 0.001NTD + 0.0081S + 0.0173F × F − 0.0045V × V

+ 0.00159NTD × NTD + 0.000053S × S + 0.1061F × V − 0.0100F × NTD
− 0.00295F × S + 0.0021V × NTD − 0.00049V × S − 0.000456NTD × S
(R 2 = 89.84%, R 2 (Adj) = 77.98%) (2)
W = 65.6 − 2.08F − 1.63V − 1.058NTD − 0.201S − 0.096F × F − 0.0329V × V

+ 0.00587NTD × NTD + 0.000245S × S + 0.254F × V − 0.0091F × NTD
− 0.00567F × S + 0.0301V × NTD + 0.00428V × S + 0.00058NTD × S
(R 2 = 85.55%, R 2 (Adj) = 68.70%) (3)
R = 0.2 + 1.14F + 0.569V + 0.032NTD − 0.053S − 0.0175F × F − 0.0190V × V

+ 0.00211NTD × NTD + 0.000021S × S − 0.0314F × V + 0.0134F × NTD
− 0.00085F × S − 0.00750V × NTD + 0.001947V × S + 0.000061NTD × S
(R 2 = 90.32%, R 2 (Adj) = 79.02%) (4)
WPSF = 20.4 + 0.71F − 0.30V − 0.174NTD − 0.1049S − 0.020F × F − 0.0016V × V

+ 0.00509NTD × NTD − 0.000002S × S − 0.0535F × V − 0.0183F × NTD
+ 0.00280F × S − 0.0044V × NTD + 0.00298V × S + 0.001376NTD × S
(R 2 = 83.45%, R 2 (Adj) = 64.14%) (5)
Fig. 2 a–g Weld

experimental runs
Table 2 Experimental results
338
Std. order Bead No. F V NTD S P W R WPSF WRFF

15 7 7 20 20 260 1.438 6.946 3.551 4.830 1.956
17 18 6 22 10 260 2.298 8.707 2.911 3.789 2.991
23 2 7 20 15 300 2.081 7.592 3.213 3.648 2.363
27 3 7 22 15 260 2.198 8.864 3.234 4.033 2.741
6 1 7 22 20 220 2.357 9.620 3.560 4.081 2.702
20 5 8 22 20 260 1.934 8.579 3.654 4.436 2.348
1 24 6 20 15 260 2.021 8.685 2.986 4.297 2.908
5 21 7 22 10 220 2.899 10.773 3.238 3.716 3.327
18 8 8 22 10 260 2.995 9.853 3.112 3.289 3.166
10 23 8 22 15 220 2.876 10.494 3.714 3.649 2.825
12 9 8 22 15 300 2.593 9.225 3.096 3.558 2.979
13 19 7 20 10 260 2.592 9.434 2.958 3.639 3.189
11 16 6 22 15 300 2.189 8.307 2.758 3.795 3.012
7 13 7 22 10 300 2.706 9.932 2.920 3.670 3.401
9 26 6 22 15 220 2.000 8.669 3.240 4.334 2.675
25 10 7 22 15 260 2.202 9.189 3.128 4.173 2.937
(continued)
V. Singh et al.
Table 2 (continued)
Std. order Bead No. F V NTD S P W R WPSF WRFF
3 20 6 24 15 260 2.007 8.639 2.815 4.304 3.069
26 12 7 22 15 260 2.336 8.815 3.170 3.773 2.781
16 27 7 24 20 260 2.118 8.954 3.217 4.227 2.783
21 11 7 20 15 220 2.188 9.351 3.709 4.274 2.521
2 6 8 20 15 260 2.198 8.595 3.455 3.910 2.488
22 17 7 24 15 220 2.350 9.520 2.751 4.051 3.460
8 25 7 22 20 300 1.799 9.240 3.291 5.136 2.807
24 15 7 24 15 300 2.085 9.130 2.878 4.379 3.172
4 4 8 24 15 260 3.033 10.582 3.033 3.489 3.489
19 22 6 22 20 260 1.436 7.615 3.185 5.303 2.391
14 14 7 24 10 260 3.187 10.237 2.924 3.212 3.501
F—Wire feed rate (m/min), V —voltage (volts), S—welding speed (mm/min), P—penetration (mm), W —bead width (mm), R—reinforcement (mm), NTD—
nozzle to plate distance (mm), WPSF—weld penetration shape factor, WRFF—weld reinforcement form factor
Investigation of Weld Bead Characteristics and Optimization …
339
340 V. Singh et al.
WRFF = 25.4 − 1.63F − 1.27V − 0.310NTD − 0.0153S − 0.0140F × F + 0.0139V × V

+ 0.00054NTD × NTD + 0.000062S × S + 0.1050F × V − 0.0109F × NTD
− 0.00114F × S + 0.01288V × NTD − 0.00041V × S + 0.000039NTD × S
(R 2 = 87.87%, R 2 (Adj) = 73.73%) (6)
2.4 ANOVA Analysis
The adequacy of the models was checked using ANOVA. In regression analysis,
F-values and P-values were calculated and compared with standard tabulated values
for 95% confidence level. Models with P-values less than 0.05 are considered as
adequate. Factors having P-values less than 0.05 are considered as significant in
determining the response. ANOVA tables for different models are shown in Table 3a–
e.
2.5 Validation of Models
To validate the generated models, a number of conformity tests were conducted

with welding parameters different from design matrix. The results obtained after
analysis were then compared with the predicted values generated from the models.
The percentage deviations were calculated and shown in Table 4.
Table 3 a–e ANOVA for responses

Source DF Contribution (%) Adj SS Adj MS F-value P-value
(a) For penetration (P)
Model 14 89.84 4.627 0.330 7.58 0.001
Feed 1 21.88 1.127 1.127 25.84 0.000
Voltage 1 8.28 0.426 0.426 9.78 0.009
NTD 1 50.64 2.608 2.608 59.81 0.000
Speed 1 2.40 0.123 0.123 2.83 0.118
Error 12 10.16 0.523 0.043
Lack-of-fit 10 9.92 0.511 0.051 8.28 0.112
Pure error 2 0.24 0.012 0.006
Total 26 100.00
(b) For width (W )
Model 14 85.55 18.233 1.302 5.08 0.004
Feed 1 17.58 3.747 3.747 14.61 0.002
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
Source DF Contribution (%) Adj SS Adj MS F-value P-value
Voltage 1 16.31 3.476 3.476 13.55 0.003
NTD 1 24.91 5.309 5.309 20.69 0.001
Speed 1 9.78 2.084 2.084 8.12 0.015
Error 12 14.45 3.079 0.256
Lack-of-fit 10 14.06 2.996 0.299 7.25 0.127
Pure Error 2 0.39 0.082 0.041
Total 26 100.00
(c) For reinforcement (R)
Model 14 90.32 1.884 0.134 8.00 0.000
Feed 1 18.79 0.392 0.392 23.30 0.000
Voltage 1 20.29 0.423 0.423 25.16 0.000
NTD 1 22.91 0.478 0.478 28.40 0.000
Speed 1 16.89 0.352 0.352 20.93 0.001
Error 12 9.68 0.201 0.016
Lack-of-fit 10 9.41 0.196 0.019 6.89 0.133
Pure error 2 0.27 0.005 0.002
Total 26 100.00
(d) For weld penetration shape factor (WPSF)
Model 14 83.45 5.615 0.401 4.32 0.008
Feed 1 15.09 1.015 1.015 10.94 0.006
Voltage 1 1.08 0.073 0.073 0.79 0.393
NTD 1 55.56 3.738 3.738 40.28 0.000
Speed 1 0.01 0.000 0.000 0.01 0.940
Error 12 16.55 1.113 0.092
Lack-of-fit 10 15.33 1.031 0.103 2.50 0.319
Pure error 2 1.22 0.082 0.041
Total 26 100.00
(e) For weld reinforcement form factor (WRFF)
Model 14 87.87 3.471 0.247 6.21 0.002
Feed 1 0.13 0.005 0.005 0.13 0.725
Voltage 1 34.58 1.366 1.366 34.23 0.000
NTD 1 44.40 1.754 1.754 43.94 0.000
Speed 1 0.11 0.004 0.004 0.10 0.752
Error 12 12.13 0.479 0.039
Lack-of-fit 10 11.58 0.457 0.045 4.27 0.205
Pure error 2 0.54 0.021 0.010
Total 26 100.00
342
Table 4 Results of model validation

Sl. No. Weld parameters Predicted responses Percentage error
F V NTD S P W R WPSF WRFF P W R WPSF WRFF
1 6.5 21.0 10.0 260 2.542 9.417 2.990 3.705 3.149 4.39 0.47 5.14 4.66 4.93
2 7.5 22.0 15.0 240 2.504 9.574 3.365 3.823 2.845 1.25 0.87 2.21 0.37 3.15
3 8.0 20.5 20.0 260 1.766 7.770 3.861 4.400 2.012 5.37 0.77 1.30 5.82 0.54
4 6.0 21.0 15.0 220 2.012 9.006 3.271 4.476 2.753 5.14 0.37 4.67 5.81 4.11
5 7.0 20.0 12.5 240 2.322 9.312 3.339 4.010 2.789 2.93 1.06 2.68 1.81 3.85
6 8.0 22.0 17.5 260 2.321 9.100 3.487 3.921 2.610 3.99 1.44 0.82 5.22 0.62
7 6.0 20.0 10.0 280 2.534 8.981 2.728 3.544 3.292 2.55 2.16 2.90 0.38 0.72
Average error percentage 3.66 1.02 2.82 3.44 2.56
V. Singh et al.
3 Parametric Optimization
After building the predictive model, a numerical optimization technique using desir-
ability functions is used to optimize the all four welding responses. The objective of
optimization is to find the best settings that minimize reinforcement, width, WPSF
and WRFF as well as maximize penetration. A desirability value, where, 0 ≤ d ≤ 1.
The value of desirability increases as the “desirability” of the corresponding response
increases. The factors setting with maximum desirability are considered to be the
optimal parameter conditions.
The maximum desirability value is one; it provides maximum or minimum values
of responses. Figure 3 shows the optimization plot for various responses and it obtain
combined desirability values of 0.6631 providing 8.0 m/min wire feed rate and 20 V,
11.5 mm NTD and 300 mm/min speed. The results obtained in this work provide
guide line for fabrication industries.
3.1 Model Analysis
Surface plots were drawn in order to get the insight of the variation of significant
factors and responses. Obtained graphs are shown in Fig. 4a–e.
The penetration is increasing with increase in wire feed rate and decreasing with
NTD (Fig. 4a). Welding current increases with increase in wire feed rate which
increases the heat input per unit of the weld, resulting in higher penetration. On
increasing welding speed, heat input decreases which leads to lower penetration.
While bead width is increasing with increase in F and decrease with NTD (Fig. 4b).
With increase in F and voltage, more filler wire melts and deposits on the wider area
of the base metal. With increase in welding speed, less filler metal is deposited per
unit length of the weld, which results in narrow weld bead.
Reinforcement is increasing with increase in NTD while it is decreasing with
increase in voltage (Fig. 4c). Higher voltage spreads the molten pool over the wider
area leads to decrease in reinforcement. When NTD increases, a part of energy is
used in melting that extra wire which is supposed to be delivered to the base metal.
It may lead to lower penetration and higher reinforcement.
WPSF is decreasing with increase in wire feed rate and increases with increase
in NTD (Fig. 4d). WRFF is decreasing with increase in NTD while increases with
increase in voltage (Fig. 4e).
344 V. Singh et al.
Fig. 3 Desirability multi optimization plot

Fig. 4 a–e Surface plot
4 Conclusions
The following conclusions can be drawn in GMAW investigation of AISI 201 Gr

stainless steel.
• The penetration (P) and weld bead width (W ) increases with increase in F and
voltage; however it decrease with increase in NTD and welding speed.
• The weld reinforcement is affected with F and NTD; it shows directly proportional.
However it decreases with increase in voltage and welding speed. The factor WPSF
decreases with increase in F and voltage while WRFF is almost constant or slightly
increasing for the selected range of F.
• ANOVA analysis shows that F, voltage and NTD are the most influencing factors
in determining penetration and all the factors are found significant. The predictive
performance of the model shows good correlation with experimental prediction;
the maximum average percentage of error of 3.66 is obtained for penetration.
• The simultaneous optimization all responses are performed and obtain composite
desirability of 0.6631 providing 8.0 m/min wire feed rate and 20 V, 11.5 mm NTD
and 300 mm/min welding speed. The results obtained in this work provide guide
line for fabrication industries.
346 V. Singh et al.
References
1. Vashishtha, H., Taiwade, R.V., Sharma, S., Patil, A.P.: Effect of welding processes on
microstructural and mechanical properties of dissimilar weldments between conventional
austenitic and high nitrogen austenitic stainless steels. J. Manuf. Process. 25, 49–59 (2017).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2016.10.008
2. Chuaiphan, W., Srijaroenpramong, L.: Effect of welding speed on microstructures, mechanical
properties and corrosion behavior of GTA-welded AISI 201 stainless steel sheets. J. Mater.
Process. Technol. 214, 402–408 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2013.09.025
3. Toit, M.D., Pistorious, P.C.: Nitrogen control during autogenous arc welding of stainless steel.
Part 1 : experimental observations. Weld. J. 219–224 (2003)
4. Ogawa, T., Suzuki, K., Zaizen, T.: The weldability of nitrogen-containing austenitic stainless
steel: part II—porosity, cracking and creep properties. Weld. J. 213s–223s (1984)
5. Reddy, G.M., Rao, B.K.S.: Welding of nickel free high nitrogen stainless steel: microstructure
and mechanical properties. Def. Technol. 13, 59–71 (2017)
6. Kumar, S., Shahi, A.S.: Effect of heat input on the microstructure and mechanical properties
of gas tungsten arc welded AISI 304 stainless steel joints. Mater. Des. 32, 3617–3623 (2011).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2011.02.017
7. Sule, J., Ganguly, S., Coules, H., Pirling, T.: Application of local mechanical tensioning
and laser processing to refine microstructure and modify residual stress state of a multi-pass
304L austenitic steels welds. J. Manuf. Process. 18, 141–150 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.jmapro.2015.03.003
8. Ravisankar, A., Velaga, S.K., Rajput, G., Venugopal, S.: Influence of welding speed and power
on residual stress during gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) of thin sections with constant heat
input: a study using numerical simulation and experimental validation. J. Manuf. Process. 16,
200–211 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2013.11.002
9. Chang, Y., Sproesser, G., Neugebauer, S., Wolf, K., Scheumann, R., Pittner, A., Finkbeiner,
M.: Environmental and social life cycle assessment of welding technologies. Procedia CIRP
26, 293–298 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2014.07.084
10. Benyounis, K.Y., Olabi, A.G.: Optimization of different welding processes using statistical
and numerical approaches—a reference guide. 39, 483–496 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
advengsoft.2007.03.012
11. Terner, M.: Influence of gas metal arc welding parameters on the bead properties in automatic
cladding. 35, 16–25 (2017)
Two-Dimensional Numerical
Investigation on the Effect of Laser
Parameters on Laser Indirect Machining
of Glass
Upasana Sarma and Shrikrishna N. Joshi
Abstract Due to the transmissivity, it is difficult and challenging to process the

transparent materials by using the lasers. In, Laser Indirect Machining (LIM) process,
a laser beam scans over a transparent material which is placed above a metallic plate
(target). In the laser processing, the reflected energy of the laser beam from the metal
plate is used to ablate the transparent material at its rear side. The process is useful;
however, it is very complex and interesting. Therefore, in this work, a physics-based
2D axisymmetric nonlinear transient thermal model of the LIM process has been
developed to study the underlying physics of the process. By using the developed
model, extensive numerical experiments have been carried out and a detail study on
the effects of laser parameters (scanning speed, laser power, and pulse duration) on
the ablation depth of glass has been presented. Detail analysis of temperature profile
has also been carried out. Presented results will be useful in establishing the LIM in
practice.
Keywords LIPAA · Ablation threshold · Crater width · Transparent materials ·

Glass
1 Introduction
The glass is widely used in a variety of scientific and industrial applications such as
optics, photonics, microelectronics, etc. It possesses useful properties such a high
transparency over a wide range of wavelength, good chemical and thermal stability
and high hardness. In spite of these useful material properties, the glass is difficult
to process using lasers due to its high transmissivity.
Literature reports various techniques to process transparent materials. Das and
Srivastava [1] processed transparent substrates by using photolithography; however,
U. Sarma · S. N. Joshi (B)

781039, India
e-mail: snj@iitg.ac.in

348 U. Sarma and S. N. Joshi

45° beam bender Laser beam Nd:YAG Laser
of laser indirect machining
Ablation on rear Power Supply

Focusing lens surface
Glass Target metal
Gap
CNC Controller
Distance
CNC Table
it requires high vacuum condition. Zhang et al. [2] employed chemical etching, but it
is hazardous. Azmir and Ahsan [3] performed abrasive jet machining which results
in rough surface. Researchers have also used advanced processes such as micro-Ultra
Sonic Machining (USM). However, these processes require complicated setups. To
overcome some of these limitations, in 1994, Zhang et al. [4] developed an innovative
technique called Laser-induced plasma-assisted ablation (LIPAA). It is also called as
Laser Indirect Machining (LIM). In this technique, the transparent material and the
metal target sheet are arranged one above the other as shown in Fig. 1. The laser beam
passes through the substrate and irradiates the target metal placed beneath the glass
substrate. The laser fluence for this method is set above the ablation threshold of the
target metal and below the ablation threshold of the transparent material. When the
peak power density exceeds the ionization threshold potential of the metal surface,
free electrons generate at the focal spot It leads to the formation of dense and optically
opaque plasma. The plasma generated flies toward the substrate at a high speed of
approximately 104 m/s [5]. The plasma generated further absorbs the energy of the
incoming laser pulses through the laser–plasma interaction process [6]. Thus, there
is an interaction among the laser beam, plasma and the transparent material which
results in the ablation of both the metal target and the transparent material [7].
2 Mathematical Modelling of Laser Indirect Machining
In the present work, an axisymmetric two-dimensional model of evaporative laser

ablation of glass has been developed using finite element method. A commercial
solver ANSYSTM parametric design language (APDL) is used to develop the model.
The developed model is employed to study the effects of laser parameters on laser
indirect machining of glass. The model takes into account only the vaporization and
not the melting of the material.
Two-Dimensional Numerical Investigation … 349
2.1 Assumptions
Assumptions were made to reduce the computational time and to carry out the basic
analysis using a simplified model of the LIM process. The assumptions used for the
present study are as follows:
• The thermal properties of the material are temperature-dependent.
• The reflected laser beam from the metal target is considered to be of Gaussian
shape [7].
• Only vaporization of the metal above the melting temperature is considered as
suggested by Linsen and Guoquan [8].
• Effects of plasma formation and multiple reflections are not considered.
The heat produced during the process of laser indirect machining follows the two-
dimensional nonlinear transient heat conduction equation [7].

∂ ∂T ∂ ∂T ∂T
k + k = ρC (1)
∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂t
where x, y are the Cartesian coordinates, t is the time, k is the thermal conductivity,
ρ is the density and c the specific heat of the material.
2.3 Boundary and Initial Conditions
A small portion of the workpiece is taken as the domain. It is considered to be

axisymmetric as shown in Fig. 2.
The reflected Gaussian laser heat source hits the transparent material at the region
OA which is equal to the laser spot radius, R. The zone AB is subjected to convection
and the zones BC and CD are taken as insulated.
Mathematically, the boundary conditions are
∂T
k = Q if x ≤ r
∂x
= 0 if x > r
= 0 for off-time (2)
∂T
k = h(T − T∞ ) (3)
∂x
Fig. 2 2D axisymmetric
model x
Gaussian y
Heat Flux
Convection
O A B
R=100μm
1mm
D C
0.5cm
Insulated
where Q is the laser heat source, r is the laser spot radius, h is the convective heat
transfer coefficient and T ∞ is the ambient temperature.
The workpiece is initially considered to be at the ambient temperature, i.e.,
T (x, y, 0) = T∞ (4)
2.4 Laser Heat Source
The heat source is considered taking into account the reflectivity of the target metal
placed beneath the transparent material and the laser intensity. Assuming that the
laser intensity follows Gaussian distribution, the heat source, Q can be expressed as
Q = Rα I (5)
where R is the reflectivity of the metal target, α is the absorption coefficient, I is the
laser intensity.
The Gaussian distribution of the laser intensity is given by Sundqvist [9] as

x2
I = Io exp −2 2 (6)
r
where I is the laser beam power intensity, I o is the peak power intensity.
2.5 Laser Spot Radius
The laser spot radius depends upon the stand-of-distance (SOD) between the focal
plane and the target surface defined by Sun [10] as:
2 1/2
M 2 λH
r = wo 1 + (7)
π wo 2
where wo is the laser beam waist at the focal plane, M 2 is the beam quality factor, λ
is the wavelength of the laser beam and H is the SOD.
3 Methodology
A 2D axisymmetric numerical model using ANSYSTM parametric design language

(APDL) has been developed to predict the laser ablation depth on glass material.
The thermal conductivity of the glass is considered to be temperature dependent
and its density and specific heat are considered constant. The element type chosen
was thermal solid 55 with quad-4 nodes. Temperature is the only degree of freedom
considered at each node. The entire geometry was meshed and the mesh was further
refined at the zone where the reflected laser beam irradiates. Newton–Raphson Solver
was used for the nonlinear transient thermal analysis of the model. A method called
EKILL is used to remove (or deactivate) elements which reaches its melting point in
the heat transfer simulation.
3.1 Material Properties and Laser Parameters
The transparent material taken into consideration is soda-lime glass of thickness

1 mm. Its chemical composition is 73 wt% SiO2 + 16 wt% Na2 O + 9 wt% CaO with
certain additives like MgO and Al2 O3 . Its maximum transmission is in the range of
wavelength 500–2500 nm approximately. The target metal considered is a sheet of
aluminium which has high value of reflectivity of about 98.7%.
Table 1 shows the material properties of soda-lime glass and aluminium sheet.
Nd:YAG laser with pulse mode and of millisecond pulse duration is used. The
laser parameters are listed in Table 2.
Table 1 Properties of soda-lime glass [11]

Thermal conductivity (k) Temperature k [W/m K]
300 K 0.9
600 K 1.2
900 K 1.3
Specific heat (c) 703 [J/kg]
Density (ρ) 2500 [kg/m3 ]
Melting point 798 K
Table 2 Laser parameters

Wavelength (λ) 1064 nm
Beam waist at focal plane (wo ) 100 µm
Beam quality factor (M 2 ) 1
Stand-of-distance (H) 0m
Laser spot radius (r) (from Eq. 7) 100 µm
Table 3 Process parameters and their levels

Parameters Levels
Laser power (W) 1440 1680 1920
Pulse duration (ms) 0.5 2 4
Scanning speed (mm/s) 2 5 10
3.2 Parametric Analysis
Total 27 numerical simulations have been carried out to study the effect of laser
power, pulse duration, and scanning speed on the ablation depth. The ranges of
these process parameters have been chosen based on the preliminary experiments
conducted on the same material. The levels of the laser parameters are shown in
Table 3.
As mentioned above full factorial axisymmetric transient analysis of LIM has been
carried out. Total 27 numerical simulations have been performed to predict the abla-
tion depth during LIM of soda-lime glass. Figure 3a shows the temperature profile
obtained after the reflected laser pulse irradiation.
Fig. 3 a Temperature profile after a single laser pulse (for set 1 of L27), b crater formed after
killing the elements above melting temperature (for set 1 of L27)
By using the method of element killing (EKill) in the FEM solver ANSYS™,
the elements above the melting point are deactivated. The crater cavity generated is
shown in Fig. 3b.
Table 4 shows the results obtained for the L27 array in terms of the ablation depth.
4.1 Effect of Laser Parameters on Ablation Depth

from Numerical Simulations
Laser Power. Figure 4 shows the effect of laser power on the ablation depth. It can
be observed that with the increase in laser power at varying pulse duration (Fig. 4a)
and at varying scanning speed (Fig. 4b), ablation depth increases. The reason may
be that, as the pump current increases it induces higher population inversion which
gives greater stimulated emission and hence increase in the output power. The relation
between current change and power change is linear and is given by
P = ηV I ∗ (8)
where
P Pulse power
n Radiation efficiency
I * Current input
Therefore, with the increase in current, laser power increases which has a greater
thermal effect on the glass material and thus, more material removal resulting in
deeper ablation depth. Similar experimental observations have been noted by Pan
et al. [12].
Table 4 L27 array and the

Power (W) Pulse duration Scanning Ablation
ablation depths
(ms) speed (mm/s) depth (µm)
1440 0.5 2 44.45
1440 0.5 5 33.33
1440 0.5 10 22.22
1440 2 2 122.23
1440 2 5 100
1440 2 10 77.78
1440 4 2 188.89
1440 4 5 155.56
1440 4 10 133.33
1680 0.5 2 44.45
1680 0.5 5 33.33
1680 0.5 10 22.22
1680 2 2 129.98
1680 2 5 111.11
1680 2 10 88.89
1680 4 2 198.89
1680 4 5 166.67
1680 4 10 144.45
1920 0.5 2 44.45
1920 0.5 5 33.33
1920 0.5 10 22.22
1920 2 2 133.33
1920 2 5 115.56
1920 2 10 100
1920 4 2 200.11
1920 4 5 177.78
1920 4 10 144.45
Pulse Duration. Figure 5 shows the influence of pulse duration on the ablation
depth. It can be seen that with the increase in pulse duration at varying scanning
speed (Fig. 5a) and at varying laser power (Fig. 5b), the ablation depth increases. It
is because the longer pulse duration interacts with the metal for a longer period of
time and thus has a greater and longer thermal effect on the glass material which in
turn gets melted and vaporized resulting in a deeper ablation. Predicted results are
in good agreement with the experimental results reported by Hopp et al. [13].
Scanning Speed. Figure 6 shows the effect of scan speed on the ablation depth. It
can be noted that with the increase in scanning speed at varying laser power (Fig. 6a)
and at varying pulse duration (Fig. 6b), ablation depth decreases. It may be due to
Fig. 4 a Effect of laser power on ablation depth at varying pulse duration, b effect of laser power
on ablation depth at varying scanning speed
Fig. 5 a Effect of pulse duration on ablation depth at varying scanning speed, b effect of pulse
duration on ablation depth at varying laser power
Fig. 6 a Effect of scanning speed on ablation depth at varying laser power, b effect of scanning
speed on ablation depth at varying pulse duration
the fact that at higher scanning speed the interaction time between the laser and
the workpiece reduces. This results in application of lesser energy per unit area and
smaller heat affected zone, which results in smaller ablation depth. Predicted results
are found in line with the experimental research reported by Pan et al. [12].
5 Conclusion
In this study, physics-based numerical simulations of Laser-Induced Micro-

machining have been carried out. For this purpose, FEM-based 2D axisymmetric
transient model of laser indirect machining of glass material with aluminium as the
metal target has been developed. The temperature profile after the first laser pulse
was generated and later the elements reaching above the melting temperature were
deactivated resulting in a crater formation. From the numerical simulations of all the
sets of L27 array, useful observations have been noted. There is an increase in the
ablation depth with the increase in laser power at both varying scanning speed and
varying pulse duration. It is because, as the laser power increases, the thermal effect
on the glass material increases and it results in deeper ablation. With the increase
in pulse duration, an increase in ablation depth was noted. It is due to the fact that
higher pulse duration provides longer interaction of the laser pulse with the glass
which results in higher ablation depth. It was also noted that when the scanning
speed of the laser increases, the ablation depth decreases. It may be due to the fact
that, with a larger value of the scanning speed, the laser irradiation per unit area
decreases and thus a smaller ablation depth occurs.
Overall it is found that the Laser indirect machining can be used to process the
transparent materials such as glass. Experimental research is in progress to obtain
further scientific information in this regard.
References
1. Das, S., Srivastava, V.C.: Microfluidic-based photocatalytic microreactor for environmental

application: a review of fabrication substrates and techniques, and operating parameters. Pho-
tochem. Photobiol. Sci. 15, 714–730 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1039/c5pp00469a
2. Zhang, L., Wang, W., Ju, X., Xie, R., Liu, Z., Chu, L.Y.: Fabrication of glass-based microfluidic
devices with dry film photoresists as pattern transfer masks for wet etching. RSC Adv. 5, 5638–
5646 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1039/C4RA15907A
3. Azmir, M.A., Ahsan, A.K.: A study of abrasive water jet machining process on glass/epoxy
composite laminate. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 209, 6168–6173 (2009). https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.jmatprotec.2009.08.011
4. Zhang, J., Sugioka, K., Midorikawa, K.: Micromachining of glass materials by laser-induced
plasma-assisted ablation (LIPAA) using a conventional nanosecond laser. In: SPIE Conference
on Laser Applications in Microelectronic and Optoelectronic Manufacturing IV, pp. 363–370,
California (1999). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.352699
5. Hong, M., Sugioka, K., Wu, D.J., Lu, Y., Midorikawa, K., Chong, T.C.: Laser-induced-plasma-
assisted ablation for glass microfabrication. In: SPIE Conference on Photonic Systems and
Applications, pp. 138–147, Singapore (2001). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.446603
6. Kumar, P., Ehmann, K.F.: Feasibility of laser induced plasma micro-machining (LIP-MM). In:
International Precision Assembly Seminar, pp. 73–80, Heidelberg (2010). https://doi.org/10.
1007/978-3-642-11598-1_8
7. Lim, H.S., Yoo, J.: FEM based simulation of the pulsed laser ablation process in nanosecond
fields. J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 25(7), 1811–1816 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-011-
0511-z
8. Linsen, S., Guoquan, S.: Temperature field simulation of laser drilling in ANSYS. In: Inter-
national Conference on Mechanical Engineering and Material Science, pp. 214–217, London,
United Kingdom (2012). https://doi.org/10.2991/mems.2012.139
9. Sundqvist, J., Kaplan, A.F.H., Shachaf, L., Kong, C.: Analytical heat conduction modelling for
shaped laser beams. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 247, 48–54 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
jmatprotec.2017.04.011
10. Sun, H.: Thin lens equation for a real laser beam with weak lens aperture truncation. Opt. Eng.
37(11), 2906–2914 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.601877
11. Kinzel, E.C., Sigmarsson, H.H., Xu, X., Chappell, W.J.: Laser sintering of thick-film conductors
for microelectronic applications. J. Appl. Phys. 101(6), 063106-1–063106-9 (2007). https://
doi.org/10.1063/1.2433711
12. Pan, C., Chen, K., Liu, B., Ren, L., Wang, J., Hu, Q., Liang, L., Zhou, J., Jiang, L.: Fabrication
of micro-texture channel on glass by laser-induced plasma-assisted ablation and chemical
corrosion for microfluidic devices. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 240, 314–323 (2017). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2016.10.011
13. Hopp, B., Smausz, T., Vass, C., Szabó, G., Böhme, R., Hirsch, D., Zimmer, K.: Laser-induced
backside dry and wet etching of transparent materials using solid and molten tin as absorbers.
Appl. Phys. A 94(4), 899–904 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-009-5078-5
Three-Dimensional Numerical Modelling
of Temperature Profiles on the Wire
Electrode During Wire Electric
Discharge Machining Process
Jitendra Kumar , Sanghamitra Das and Shrikrishna N. Joshi
Abstract Wire-EDM process produces complex two and three-dimensional shapes

in electrically conductive workpieces by a continuously moving wire electrode. Fre-
quent occurrence of wire rupture reduces the efficiency and accuracy of the wire-
EDM operation. Thus optimising wire life and minimising wire breakage is a major
concern in modern manufacturing industries. In the present work, a three-dimensional
nonlinear transient thermal finite element model (FEM) is developed for the wire
electrode to predict the temperature distribution and crater formation in the wire.
The crater volume obtained in the wire can be used to evaluate the wire erosion rate
and hence the life of the wire can be predicted during machining. Molybdenum wire
which is most commonly used in WEDM is considered for analysis. The results
obtained from the model were found to be in good agreement with the experimental
data. These results can be used to predict the life expectancy of the wire electrode.
Keywords Wire-EDM · Wire electrode life · Wire rupture · Finite element

method · Thermal modelling
1 Introduction
Wire electric discharge machining (WEDM) is a non-traditional machining process

that uses spark discharges to remove material from both the electrodes, i.e., a moving
wire and the workpiece. However, wire breakage is a serious concern in manufac-
turing industries as it hampers the overall productivity of the system. The wire is
subjected to combined thermal and mechanical load during machining. Thermal
load in the wire electrode is one of the major causes of wire rupture which causes the
wire to erode when the temperature exceeds the melting point of the wire material
hereby losing its mechanical strength [1].
J. Kumar · S. Das
781039, India
S. N. Joshi (B)
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, India
e-mail: snj@iitg.ac.in
360 J. Kumar et al.
There are a number of reports on the numerical modelling of wire electrode to

predict the wire life in order to prevent abrupt failure of the wire during machining.
Literature shows that many researchers have developed thermal models as well as
structural models of wire electrode using finite difference method and finite element
method to predict wire breakage. Dekeyser et al. [2] first developed a preliminary
thermal model to predict the wire rupture phenomenon during wire-EDM process
using finite difference method. Banerjee et al. [3, 4] also developed a finite differ-
ence model to estimate the thermal loads on the wire electrode along the wire axis
as well as along the wire cross section for varying values of input parameters viz.
input power, pulse on time, wire velocity, and wire diameter. The results showed
that the temperature increased in the zone of discharge channel with increased power
input. The effect of wire velocity was found to be negligible on temperature distri-
bution and reduced diameter of wire lead to greater thermal load thus posing serious
threat to the wire. A simple finite element model (FEM) was developed to predict
the thermal distribution in the wire for increased wire velocity and reduction in heat
transfer coefficient. The input parameters were optimised to prevent wire rupture [1].
Banerjee and Prasad [5] further proposed a one-dimensional explicit finite difference
thermal model for estimating the transient temperature distribution along the length
of the wire during wire-EDM machining under the conditions of randomly located
spatial sparks with and without the formation of clusters. Yang et al. [6] incorporated
the moving heat source characteristics into the heat transfer model of wire electrode
and simulated the temperature field in a single pulse discharge using finite element
method based software ANSYS. Das and Joshi [7] incorporated plasma features,
moving heat source characteristics, multi-spark phenomenon, and wire vibrational
effect into the wire model to predict the cathode erosion rate in micro wire-EDM pro-
cess. In recent years, coupled multi physics model (thermal model, structural model,
electromagnetic model) were developed to control the vibration of wire electrode
and to study the effect of process parameters in cutting thin plate process by Chen
et al. [8]. Fedorov et al. [9] further investigated the influence of Rehbinder effect,
electrical erosion, and wire tension on wire breakages during WEDM.
In the present work, a three-dimensional nonlinear transient finite element thermal
model of the wire electrode is developed to predict the peak temperature obtained
in the wire at the end of each transient heat transfer cycle for varying levels of input
parameters viz. voltage, current and pulse on time. The formation of crater in the
wire can be evaluated from the temperature distribution which gives the amount of
wire eroded after a single discharge. Optimisation of these input parameters shall
predict the life expectancy of the wire electrode during machining and prevent the
sudden and abrupt failure of the wire.
Three-Dimensional Numerical Modelling of Temperature Profiles … 361
2 Development of Thermal Model
In the present work, a preliminary three-dimensional transient thermal model for

a single discharge is developed for the wire electrode using finite element based
software ANSYS. This model shall pave the way to estimate the total thermal load
in the wire and the wire erosion rate at different machining conditions. Figure 1
shows the interaction between the discharge channel and the wire electrode during
machining.
2.1 Assumptions
The thermal model is developed under the following assumptions:

• The material of the wire is homogeneous and isotropic.
• The model is developed for a single spark.
• The thermal properties like thermal conductivity and specific heat are dependent
on temperature.
• Transient analysis is considered.
• Heat flux is assumed to be Gaussian distributed [10].
• Joule heating and cross-vibration effects of the wire are neglected.
• Plasma flushing efficiency is considered to be 100%.
Fig. 1 Interaction between Wire axis

the discharge channel and
wire electrode
Wire radius
Wire movement
workpiece
Discharge channel
Boundary 1
Wire cross Discahrge channel

section Spark radius
Boundary 2
362 J. Kumar et al.
Heat flow through the wire is governed by a three-dimensional transient heat conduc-
tion equation given by partial differential equation in cylindrical polar coordinates
[11].
∂ 2θ 1 ∂θ 1 ∂ 2θ ∂ 2θ ∂θ 1 ∂θ
+ + + −n = (1)
∂r 2 r ∂r r 2 ∂ϕ 2 ∂z 2 ∂z α ∂t
where θ = T − T ∞ , α is thermal diffusivity (m2 /s), t is time (s) and n = ρcV w /k

where ρ is density of the material (kg/m3 ), c is specific heat (J/kg K), V w is wire
velocity (m/s) and k is thermal conductivity (W/m K).
The heat flux is assumed to be distributed over region 1. On the remaining part of
the wire (region 2), convection between the wire surface and the dielectric can be
considered as the boundary condition. Mathematically, these boundary conditions
can be described as follows:
For zone 1
∂θ
k = Q(r ) for r = Rw (2)
∂r
where Q(r) is the heat flux applied and Rw is the radius of the wire
For zone 2
∂θ
k = hθ for r = Rw (3)
∂r
where h is the convective heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K).

The initial temperature of the wire at time t = 0 is assumed to be at room temper-
ature of 300 K.
2.4 Spark Radius
Ikai and Hashiguchi [12] have derived a semi-empirical equation of spark radius
termed as “equivalent heat input radius” which is a function of discharge current, I
(A) and discharge on-time, t on (µs) (Eq. 4).
R = (2.04 × 10−3 )I 0.43 ton 0.44 (µm) (4)
In the present work this approach has been used to calculate the spark radius as it
gives more realistic results compared to other approaches.
2.5 Heat Flux on Wire Electrode
In this work, the approach of Gaussian distribution of heat flux as suggested by Joshi
and Pande [13] is used. The Gaussian heat flux equation is:

4.57Fc V I r2
Q(r ) = exp −4.5 2 (5)
π R2 R
where F c is fraction of total EDM spark power going to the wire electrode (cathode);
V is discharge voltage (V); I is discharge current (A) and R is spark radius. In the
present model, we have chosen the value of F c as 0.183 according to Dibitonto et al.
[14] to calculate the heat flux and to see its effect on the wire erosion as the wire acts
as the cathode for a wire-EDM process.
2.6 Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient
The convective heat transfer coefficient is assumed to have a constant value of

10,000 W/m2 K referring to Jennes et al. [2] and Banerjee et al. [3] where the results
were quite satisfactory.
2.7 Solution Methodology
The governing equation (Eq. 1) along with the boundary conditions was solved
by finite element method (FEM) to compute the temperature profile at the end of
a single discharge. The process model was solved by using ANSYS Parametric
Design Language (APDL), a FEM solver. A three-dimensional model of the wire was
considered for analysis. Material properties like thermal conductivity, specific heat
are considered to be temperature dependent. Three-dimensional 10-Node Tetrahedral
Thermal Solid element (SOLID 87) was used for discretizing the wire geometry.
The mesh was refined at the spark location to get better convergence. The transient
heat transfer problem was solved by applying the heat flux at the spark location.
364 J. Kumar et al.
Table 1 Process parameters levels

Factors Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
Voltage (V) 30 40 50
Current (A) 2 5 8
Pulse on time (µs) 10 20 30
Table 2 Properties of molybdenum wire

Temperature (K) 293 373 473 673 973
Thermal conductivity (W/m K) 142 140 135 130 120
Specific heat (J/kg K) 254 259 265 273 291
Density (kg/m3 ) 10,200
Melting point (K) 2893
Convection heat transfer is applied at the remaining part of the wire boundary where
heat flux is not applied.
In the present model, three input parameters viz. gap voltage, current, and pulse
on time are varied at three different levels. The selected levels for each process
parameters are shown in Table 1. Molybdenum wire with a diameter of 0.18 mm
which is mostly used in wire-EDM experiments is considered for analysis. The
properties of molybdenum wire are listed in Table 2.
The developed heat transfer model predicts the temperature and crater dimensions
obtained in the wire during WEDM machining at different sets of process condi-
tions. The predicted crater depths were compared with actual experimental results.
Figures 2 and 3 show the temperature profile obtained in the wire for the process
set (voltage (V ) = 50 V, current (I) = 5 A, pulse on time (t on ) = 20 µs). Figure 4
shows the bowl-shaped crater formed in the wire after a single discharge. The crater
volume and shape give the wire erosion rate at different process conditions. The
bowl-shaped crater cavity resembles to the inverted Gaussian profile of the heat
flux boundary condition. The observed crater profile also matches with the in-house
experimental results. It has been noted that the crater profile is dependent upon the
type or shape of the heat flux applied at the spark location; however the material
is considered to be isotropic and homogeneous in nature. A total of 33 = 27 cases
(three factors varied at three levels) have been considered for analysis. The values of
peak temperature obtained and the crater dimensions on the wire after a single pulse
at different sets of input parameters are listed in Table 3.
Fig. 2 Temperature profile for a single discharge
Fig. 3 Top view of crater wire temperature contour

366 J. Kumar et al.
Fig. 4 Front view of crater geometry in the wire
3.1 Experimental Studies for Model Validation
To establish the validity of the proposed numerical model, the model results were
validated with experimental data. Experiments were conducted on a wire electric
discharge machine (MAKE JK MACHINES, MODEL ECO32). A mild steel spec-
imen and molybdenum wire (0.18 mm diameter) was chosen as the workpiece and
tool respectively. Deionised water was used as the dielectric medium. Wire samples
were collected after every experiment and observed under an optical microscope.
The experiments were performed at varying levels of input parameters viz voltage,
current and pulse on time. Table 4 lists the different machining conditions set up dur-
ing the experiments and the results were compared with our model results. Figure 5
compares the crater depth obtained on the wire experimentally with the results pre-
dicted by our model. The thermal model over predicted the crater depth compared
with the experimental values but the trend is quite similar to the experimental results
obtained. The reason behind this could be some of the assumptions considered in
the numerical model which are not realistic during actual machining conditions like
100% flushing efficiency, no recast layer deposition, etc. During actual machining
conditions, improper flushing of debris and arcing occurs in the inter-electrode gap
thus reducing the crater depth in the wire.
Table 3 Values of peak temperatures and crater dimensions obtained in the wire
Voltage Current Pulse on Peak temp Max. Max. Crater
(V) (A) time (µs) (K) crater crater volume for
depth width each spark
(µm) (µm) (µm3 )
30 2 10 1827.8 0 0 0
30 2 20 2428.41 0 0 0
30 2 30 2102.19 0 0 0
30 5 10 4879.08 5.15 22.8 1570
30 5 20 3820.78 3.81 24.5 968
30 5 30 3296.33 2.01 18.9 297
30 8 10 6851.39 12.8 39.9 10,600
30 8 20 4738.56 8.24 38.6 5400
30 8 30 4084.56 6.20 33.7 4770
40 2 10 4117.45 2.33 13.1 241.695
40 2 20 3151.4 0 0 0
40 2 30 2446.17 0 0 0
40 5 10 6403.58 8.02 29.2 3583.33
40 5 20 4990.19 7.88 33.4 4031.3
40 5 30 4234.92 4.86 32.3 3354.85
40 8 10 8057.67 12.5 41.8 10002.8
40 8 20 6133.54 13.5 49.4 13567.3
40 8 30 5329.7 12.4 53.4 15719.7
50 2 10 5092.38 4.17 17.4 655.654
50 2 20 3957.88 3.18 17.8 439.4
50 2 30 3398.67 1.92 14.3 180.526
50 5 10 8024.28 10.7 34.6 6556.92
50 5 20 6170.29 12.9 42.1 8576.59
50 5 30 5303.46 10.5 42.9 9301.83
50 8 10 9960.63 15.3 47.7 15737.6
50 8 20 10170.3 20.9 65.2 43137.3
50 8 30 6596.21 17.3 59.9 29969.1
3.2 Parametric Study
After validation of the developed numerical model, parametric analysis was per-
formed to study the effects of process parameters on the temperature obtained by the
wire and the crater size to estimate the wire erosion rate. Figures 6 and 7 show the
effect of process parameters (voltage, current, and pulse on time) on the temperature
achieved by the wire during a single discharge phenomenon. The peak temperature
368 J. Kumar et al.
Table 4 Comparison of 3-D

Current (A) Pulse on time Simulated Experimental
model with experiment results
(µs) crater depth crater depth
(µm) (µm)
2 20 3.20 2.57
2 40 3.26 2.62
2 60 2.16 2.22
4 20 11.38 7.60
4 40 10.47 6.40
4 60 9.24 5.24
Voltage 60 V
Fig. 5 Comparison of crater depths obtained from experiments and simulation
obtained in the wire electrode after a single discharge increases with increase in volt-
age and current due to the increase of power. However, the peak temperature obtained
in the wire electrode after a single discharge decreases with increase in pulse on time.
This may be because the spark radius over which the heat flux is applied increases
with increase in pulse on time; thus the heat is dissipated in a larger area of the wire
cross section thus reducing the peak temperature obtained in the wire. Figure 8 shows
that crater depth in the wire electrode after a single discharge phenomenon during
WEDM machining increases with increase in voltage and current due to increase in
power.
Fig. 6 Voltage versus temperature at constant pulse on time
Fig. 7 Pulse on time versus temperature at constant voltage

370 J. Kumar et al.
Fig. 8 Voltage versus crater depth at constant pulse on time
4 Conclusion
In this work, a three-dimensional non-linear transient heat transfer model of the wire
electrode is developed using finite element method during WEDM process to predict
the temperature and crater dimensions obtained in the wire after a single discharge.
Results obtained from the numerical model were validated with experimental data.
It is observed that the model over predict the crater depth obtained in the wire but
the trends of variation are quite in agreement. The peak temperature and crater size
on the wire nonlinearly vary at different levels of process parameters viz. voltage,
current and pulse on time. Thus, optimisation of these input parameters is essential
to minimise the wire rupture risk.
References
1. Saha, S., Pachon, M., Ghoshal, A., Schulz, M.J.: Finite element modeling and optimization to
prevent wire breakage in electro-discharge machining. Mech. Res. Commun. 31(4), 451–463
(2004). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechrescom.2003.09.006
2. Dekeyser, W., Snoeys, R., Jennes, M.: A thermal model to investigate the wire rupture phe-
nomenon for improving performance in EDM wire cutting. J. Manuf. Syst. 4(2), 179–190
(1985). https://doi.org/10.1016/0278-6125(85)90024-X
3. Banerjee, S., Prasad, B.V.S.S.S., Mishra, P.K.: A simple model to estimate the thermal loads
on an EDM wire electrode. J. Mater. Process. Tech. 39(3–4), 305–317 (1993). https://doi.org/
10.1016/0924-0136(93)90165-3
4. Banerjee, S., Prasad, B.V.S.S.S., Mishra, P.K.: Analysis of three-dimensional transient heat con-
duction for predicting wire erosion in the wire electrical discharge machining process. J. Mater.
Process. Technol. 65(1–3), 134–142 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1016/0924-0136(95)02253-8
5. Banerjee, S., Prasad, B.V.S.S.S.: Numerical evaluation of transient thermal loads on a WEDM
wire electrode under spatially random multiple discharge conditions with and without cluster-
ing of sparks. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 48(5–8), 571–580 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/
s00170-009-2300-8
6. Yang, X., Feng, G., Teng, Q.: Temperature field simulation of wire electrode in high-speed
and medium-speed WEDM under moving heat source. Procedia CIRP 1(1), 633–638 (2012).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2012.04.112
7. Das, S., Joshi, S.S.: Modeling of spark erosion rate in micro wire-EDM. Int. J. Adv. Manuf.
Technol. 48(5–8), 581–596 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-009-2315-1
8. Chen, Z., Huang, Y., Huang, H., Zhang, Z., Zhang, G.: Three-dimensional characteristics anal-
ysis of the wire-tool vibration considering spatial temperature field and electromagnetic field
in WEDM. Int. J. Mach. Tools Manuf. 92, 85–96 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmachtools.
2015.03.003
9. Fedorov, A.A., Blesman, A.I., Postnikov, D.V., Polonyankin, D.A., Russkikh, G.S., Linovsky,
A.V.: Investigation of the impact of Rehbinder effect, electrical erosion and wire tension on
wire breakages during WEDM. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 256, 131–144 (2018). https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2018.02.002
10. Patel, M.R., Barrufet, M.A., Eubank, P.T., Dibitonto, D.D.: Theoretical models of the electrical
discharge machining process. II. The anode erosion model. 4104 (1989). https://doi.org/10.
1063/1.343995
11. Carslaw, H.S., Jaeger, J.C.: Conduction of Heat in Solids, 2nd edn. Clarendon Press, London,
UK (1959)
12. Ikai, T., Hashigushi, K.: Heat input for crater formation in EDM. In: Proceedings of International
Symposium for Electro-Machining—ISEM XI, EPFL, pp. 163–70 (1995)
13. Joshi, S.N., Pande, S.S.: Thermo-physical modeling of die-sinking EDM process. J. Manuf.
Process. 12(1), 45–56 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2010.02.001
14. DiBitonto, D.D., Eubank, P.T., Patel, M.R., Barrufet, M.A.: Theoretical models of the electrical
discharge machining process. I. A simple cathode erosion model. J. Appl. Phys. 66(9), 4095–
4103 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.343994
Synthesis and Responsive Study
of Tensile and Flexural Properties
of Bamboo Filler Based Functionally
Graded Composite
Rahul Kumar , Gaurav Kumar and Sumit Bhowmik
Abstract Natural fibers/fillers based functionally graded composite materials

(FGCMs) established as a second generation of composite material that can simul-
taneously deliver higher level of performance and maintain the ecological balance.
In the present work, bamboo filler reinforced thermoset epoxy based functionally
graded composite is developed. The three different composite samples are prepared
with varying the number of layers (5, 4 and 4) and density of layers. The density
of each layer is varied through an incremental addition of 3 wt% of bamboo fillers
from top to bottom side. The composite samples are subjected to tensile test at three
different crosshead speed of 5, 50, and 500 (in mm/min) to evaluate the effect of
crosshead movement speed and number of layers on strength and stiffness. The flex-
ural properties of the specimen are also investigated at constant crosshead speed of
2.13 mm/min. It is observed that the tensile strength decreases but flexural strength
increases with the increase in number of layers.
Keywords Functionally graded material · Bamboo filler · Crosshead speed ·

Tensile test
1 Introduction
In the present era, materials are gradually transformed from basic states into compos-
ites to attain certain desirable properties and regarding this, the functionally graded
composite materials represent the second generation of composite material that can
deliver higher level of performance. The functionally graded composite materials
R. Kumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Dayananda Sagar University,
Bangalore 560078, India
e-mail: rahul.oec@gmail.com
G. Kumar · S. Bhowmik (B)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Silchar, India
e-mail: bhowmiksumit04@yahoo.co.in
G. Kumar
e-mail: gauravlife15@gmail.com
374 R. Kumar et al.
are such type of materials that are designed to optimize their performance through
the use of graded structure [1]. These are nonhomogeneous composites, which have
superior thermal and mechanical properties compared to conventional composites
and monolithic metal alloys. The morphology and the composition of functionally
graded materials vary over the change in volume, and therefore its elastic properties
are not constant throughout the thickness [2]. The main concept behind the production
of these materials is the gradual change of mechanical, physical and chemical prop-
erties by the elimination of the macroscopic boundary in materials. Instead of sharp
interface like in laminated composite, functionally graded materials have a graded
interface, which avoids the delamination problem as occurred in laminated compos-
ite owing to the residual thermal stress generates at the interface [3]. Moreover, the
desired properties of graded structure can be achieved by gradual change in chemical
composition, structure, grain size, texturizing level, density and other physical prop-
erties layer by layer [4]. Furthermore recent researches are focused on incorporating
the required properties in the functionally graded composite materials to enhance
the overall efficiency along with the answer to environmental concern [5]. In this
regard, natural fibers/fillers are more attractive to researchers as a reinforcement for
graded composite. Due to good mechanical properties, eco-friendly and recyclable
characteristics, they are utilized as a substitution for the synthetic filler/fiber such as
metallic, carbon, semi-crystal aramid, etc. The natural fillers/fibers (bamboo, sisal,
kenaf, banana, coconut coir, hemp, etc.) have hemicelluloses, cellulose and lignin as
their major constituents [6–9]. Among these, the bamboo fiber is considered as the
best suited reinforcement elements in a polymer matrix owing to its rapid growing
nature and abundant availability. Also it is known as natural glass fiber due to its
comparable mechanical properties to other synthetic fibers [10].
Considering the above background, the present work is focused on the devel-
opment of an environment-friendly bamboo filler reinforced functionally graded
composite material. The mechanical properties of developed composite material are
investigated in case of uniaxial tension loading and three point bend loading. The
composite samples are subjected to tensile test at three different crosshead speed to
evaluate the effect of crosshead movement speed and number of layers on strength
and stiffness. The three different composite samples are prepared with varying the
number of layers (5, 4 and 4) and density of each layers. The three point bend test is
conducted to evaluate flexural modulus and flexural strength.
2 Materials and Experimental Details
2.1 Materials
The bamboo fillers having size range of 75–150 µm and density of 0.35 g/cm3 are
used as reinforcement phase and thermosetting polymer of epoxide family is used
as matrix material. The selected epoxy matrix has two parts namely an adhesive
Synthesis and Responsive Study of Tensile and Flexural … 375
based resin AW106 and an amine-based hardener HV 953IN. The epoxy is selected
as matrix material because of its greater tensile strength and modulus, fine chemical
and thermal resistance and dimensional stability. The used bamboo filler belongs
to Bambusa balcooa family abundantly available in northeastern part of India. The
bamboo filler is obtained by cutting bamboo culm with saw and then grinding it in
ball mill. The obtained particle filler after the grinding, is subjected to sieving process
to retain the particle size of the required size range. Subsequently the prepared filler
is first washed with distilled water followed by washing with acetone to remove oil
and debris particle. After that, fillers are put in the hot air oven for a period of 8 h at
65 °C until it is completely dried out.
2.2 Composite Fabrication
The tensile and flexural test specimen of the dumbbell and rectangular shape are
prepared using hand layup technique. The silicone rubber mould of required dimen-
sion as per respective ASTM standards is made. Initially the thermoset epoxy resin
AW106 and corresponding hardener HV 953IN are mixed in 10:8 ratio as recom-
mended by the manufacturer and then the required filler amount is added to it and
then stirred under the mechanical stirrer for proper mixing. After that the mixture is
poured in the silicone rubber mould in layer by layer with an increment of 3 wt%
of filler weight from bottom to top. The time gap to put the consecutive layer is 3 h
and a roller is moved over each layer for its proper leveling. Three different types of
samples (namely Type I, Type II, and Type III) containing five, four and four layer
respectively are being prepared for both the test as shown in Fig. 1. Each layer of
FGCM was allowed to cure for three hours before adding the next layer for proper
adhesion between the layers. Type I specimen contains five layers starting from neat
epoxy at the bottom and the next layer having 3% (% w/w) of bamboo filler. The next
three layers is prepared by adding 6, 9, and 12% (% w/w) of bamboo filler respec-
tively. Type II specimen contains four layers with neat epoxy layer at the bottom and
Fig. 1 Schematic representation of stepwise graded composite sample

376 R. Kumar et al.
3, 6, and 9% (% w/w) of bamboo filler in the succeeding layers. Type III contains four
layers, each successive layer containing 3, 6, 9, and 12% (% w/w) of bamboo filler.
Each corresponding specimen of Type I, Type II and Type III contains 0.75, 0.54, and
0.90 g of bamboo filler. Type II and III contains four layers but with different filler
concentration. After the placement of all layers, the functionally graded composite
specimens are kept in muffle furnace at 70 °C for post curing.
2.3 Mechanical Properties Test
2.3.1 Tensile Test
The tensile test is conducted as per ASTM D638-02a TYPE I using table top Universal
testing machine (UTM) with load cell capacity of 50 kN at ambient temperature of
18 °C and relative humidity of 50%. All three types of specimens are tested at
three different crosshead speeds of 5, 50 and 500 mm/min and five samples of each
specimen are tested for repeatability. The standard specimen is fixed at both ends
by a fixture, which is designed to elongate the specimen along length wise until it
fractures. The tensile strength is calculated by following Eq. (1):
Pmax
Tensile strength, σ = (1)
bh
where Pmax is the maximum load (N), σ is in MPa, b is the width of specimen (mm),
h is the thickness of specimen (mm).
2.3.2 Flexural Test
The three-point flexural tests is conducted as per ASTM D790-03 using table top
UTM with capacity of 50 kN at ambient temperature of 30 °C and relative humidity
of 50%. Type I specimen is tested two times, first time 0% layer as top and 12% layer
as bottom and second time, 12% layer as top and 0% layer as bottom. Similarly, other
two specimens are also tested as shown in Fig. 2. Higher layer filler percentage are
placed for all the three type of specimen on top and bottom respectively to obtain
top side and bottom side configuration.
Fig. 2 Schematic representation three point flexural test setup
In three point flexural test, the specimen is simply supported over a span of 80 mm
and a point force is applied through a constant crosshead speed of 2.13 mm/min on
top of the specimen until it fails. Flexural strength calculated by following Eq. (2)
3Pmax L
Flexural strength, σ = (2)
2bh 2
where Pmax is maximum load at failure (N), σ is in MPa, L is the support span
(80 mm), b is the width of specimen (mm), h is the thickness of specimen (mm).
3.1 Tensile Properties
The uniaxial tensile test is conducted for all three types of specimen at three differ-
ent speeds. The tensile test outlines the fundamental information about the materials
behavior when subjected to the applied uniaxial loading. The principal product of
tensile test is load-elongation curve and based on that several material properties
like Ultimate tensile strength, Young’s modulus and elongation are determined. The
variations of ultimate tensile strength, strain at break (or tensile strain) and Young’s
modulus as a function of crosshead movement speed are shown in Figs. 3, 4 and
5 respectively for Type I, II, and III. In Fig. 3, it can be observed that the ultimate
tensile stress and Young’s modulus increases with increase in speed but the strain
first decreases and then increases. The maximum and minimum values of ultimate
378 R. Kumar et al.
Fig. 3 Tensile properties of Type I functionally graded composite sample
tensile stress are 19.93 and 12.75 MPa at 500 and 5 mm/min, respectively. The max-
imum and minimum values of Young’s modulus are 763.03 and 465.54 MPa at 500
and 5 mm/min respectively. The maximum and minimum values of tensile strain are
6.92 and 5.42% at 5 and 50 mm/min, respectively. From Fig. 4, an observation can
be made that the ultimate tensile stress and strain first increases and then decreases
with increase in speed but Young’s modulus first decreases and then increases. The
maximum and minimum values of ultimate tensile stress are 26.32 and 24.84 MPa at
50 and 500 mm/min, respectively. The maximum and minimum values of Young’s
modulus are 750.23 and 481.81 MPa at 500 and 50 mm/min respectively. The maxi-
mum and minimum values of tensile strain are 9.31 and 5.46% at 50 and 500 mm/min
respectively. From Fig. 5, it is revealed that the ultimate tensile stress and Young’s
modulus first increases and then decreases with increase in speed but tensile strain
first decreases and then increases. The maximum and minimum values of ultimate
tensile stress are 29.33 and 24.37 MPa at 50 and 500 mm/min respectively. The max-
imum and minimum values of Young’s modulus are 736.64.23 and 586.65 MPa at 50
and 5 mm/min respectively. The maximum and minimum values of tensile strain are
7.35 and 6.64% at 5 and 50 mm/min, respectively. The strength and modulus values
are material attributes and in case of composite material, its value principally depends
on the matrix and reinforcing phase. In composites, fillers (short fiber assuming as
Fig. 4 Tensile properties of Type II functionally graded composite sample
cylindrical shape) are always surrounded by matrix material. When an external load
is applied on the matrix, it gets transferred to fibers and vice versa. The variation
of ultimate tensile stress as a function of loading rate for type I shows that the load
carrying capacity of material is better at higher loading rate. This is mainly because
of availability of less time to initiate internal defects in the material at higher strain
rates. Consequently, more energy is required for damage propagation and initiation,
which leads to high tensile stress under high strain rates. However with increased
number of layers in stepwise graded composite samples, it is observed that there is a
reduction in the tensile strength value in accordance with the Tsai–Hill failure theory.
Moreover in type II and type III, the tensile stress first increases and then decreases
because, at high strain rate, load adjustment time is less in between matrix and filler,
and therefore, crack initiates rapidly. In type III, behavior of Young’s modulus and
tensile strain is observed to be opposite to type II due to having higher % w/w of
filler content in type III.
380 R. Kumar et al.
Fig. 5 Tensile properties of Type III functionally graded composite sample
3.2 Flexural Properties
The flexural tests are conducted for all three types of functionally graded compos-
ite samples considering higher filler percentage layer as top side and lower filler
percentage layer as bottom side and vice versa. The flexural test gives the basic
material properties when subjected to bending forces. The most important informa-
tion obtained from three-point bend test is flexural strength and bending modulus.
The flexural strength is defined as the maximum stress the material can sustain before
failure or yield in flexural loading condition. The variation of flexural properties in
terms of stress, strain, and modulus values for type I, type II and type III composite
specimen are shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 respectively. From Fig. 6, the values of flexural
stress are found to be 44.48 and 43.33 MPa for top side and bottom side, respectively
for type I sample. For type II, the flexural stress values are 17.67 and 14.02 MPa for
top side and bottom side, respectively. The flexural stress value for type III are 39.92
and 36.48 MPa for top side and bottom side, respectively. Therefore it is observed
that the flexural stress value is higher in case of top side for each type of graded
composite sample due to the higher filler content. The variation of flexural strain for
Fig. 6 Flexural stress of functionally graded composite sample
the both bottom and top side of all three type of composite sample is illustrated in
Fig. 7. It is observed that for type I sample, the flexural strain values are 0.11 and
0.08 for top side and bottom side, respectively. For type II, the flexural strain are 0.06
and 0.04 for top side and bottom side, respectively. For type III, the flexural strain are
0.07 and 0.05 for top side and bottom side, respectively. It can be witnessed that the
flexural strain is higher in case of top side for each of the type of graded composite
sample due to presence of greater filler density.
Figure 8 depicts the variation of flexural modulus values for all three types of
composite samples, tested for both top and bottom side. It can found that, for type I
samples, the value of flexural modulus are 1.31 and 1.22 GPa for top side and bottom
side, respectively. In case of type II, the flexural modulus are 0.38 and 0.3 GPa for
top side and bottom side, respectively. And for type III, the flexural modulus are
1.11 and 1.04 GPa for top side and bottom side, respectively. Therefore, the top side
containing higher filler weight revealed better modulus values in three point bending
load.
The type I samples retain the highest flexural strength as compared to type II and
type III. Among type II and III, type III (0.9 g) have higher strength and modulus over
382 R. Kumar et al.
Fig. 7 Flexural strain of functionally graded composite sample
type II (0.54 g). In general, as the % of filler content increases from bottom to the
top side, the resistance offered by the respective layer increases and accordingly the
bending strength also increases. For the present functionally graded composite mate-
rials, flexural strength increases with the increasing number of layers consistently.
Moreover the flexural properties flexural modulus and strength are controlled by the
strength of the extreme layer of reinforcement. The tested specimen behaves like
a simply supported beam under flexural loading condition, i.e., the top and bottom
most surface will under compression and tension respectively. The crack initiates
from the tension side and slowly propagates in an upward direction. Due to higher
filler content in the successive layers, the crack propagation is resisted, therefore,
increasing the strength of the specimen. Furthermore during testing, no specimen
failed by delamination during loading and failure mode shows no or little filler out.
The strength however, deteriorates while testing the specimen in reverse manner
(lower filler percentage on its top-most side).
Fig. 8 Flexural modulus of functionally graded composite sample
4 Conclusions
The present work described the development and analysis bamboo filler reinforced
functionally graded epoxy composite with reference to tensile and flexural properties.
The tensile properties are investigated through the change of crosshead movement
speed to find the effect of strain rate on tensile strength and elastic modulus. Based
on the conducted research work, following conclusions can be made.
1. A new class of biodegradable, environment-friendly bamboo filler reinforced
functionally graded polymer composite is successfully manufactured using hand
layup technique.
2. It is observed that the tensile properties (both strength and modulus) enhances
with the increase of crosshead speed.
3. The value of maximum tensile strength is 29.33 MPa at 50 mm/min of type III
specimen and Young’s modulus is 763.03 MPa at 500 mm/min of type I specimen.
4. The flexural strength and modulus of composite specimens are more when the
higher filler reinforcement is on top (compression) and lower filler density at
bottom (tension).
384 R. Kumar et al.
5. The value of maximum flexural strength and modulus is 44.48 MPa and 1.31 GPa,
respectively.
6. The tensile strength decreases but flexural strength increases with the increase in
number of layer in functionally graded composite samples.
References
1. Naebe, M., Shirvanimoghaddam, K.: Functionally graded materials: a review of fabrication

and properties. Appl. Mater. Today 5, 223–245 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmt.2016.
10.001
2. Misra, N., Kapusetti, G., Pattanayak, D.K., Kumar, A.: Fabrication and characterization of
epoxy/silica functionally graded composite material. Indian J. Phys. 85, 1393 (2011). https://
doi.org/10.1007/s12648-011-0161-0
3. Mohsen, M., Dryden, J.R.: Thermal stress in a nonhomogeneous curved beam. J. Therm.
Stresses 31, 587–598 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1080/01495730801978471
4. Gururaja, U., Rao, S.S., Gangadharan, K.V.: Functionally graded composite materials: an
overview. Proc. Mater. Sci. 5, 1291–1299 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mspro.2014.07.442
5. Zhou, C., Deng, C., Chen, X., Zhao, X., Chen, Y., Fan, Y., Zhang, X.: Mechanical and biological
properties of the micro-/nano-grain functionally graded hydroxyapatite bioceramics for bone
tissue engineering. J. Mech. Behav. Biomed. Mater. 48, 1–11 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.jmbbm.2015.04.002
6. Kumar, R., Kumar, K., Bhowmik, S.: Assessment and response of treated cocos nucifera rein-
forced toughened epoxy composite towards fracture and viscoelastic properties. J. Poly. Envi-
ron. 26, 2522–2535 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-017-1150-y
7. Kumar, R., Kumar, K., Bhowmik, S.: Mechanical characterization and quantification of tensile,
fracture and viscoelastic characteristics of wood filler reinforced epoxy composite. Wood Sci.
Technol. 52, 677–699 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00226-018-0995-0
8. Akil, H., Omar, M.F., Mazuki, A.A.M., Safiee, S.Z.A.M., Ishak, Z.M., Bakar, A.A.: Kenaf fiber
reinforced composites: a review. Mater. Des. 32, 4107–4121 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
matdes.2011.04.008
9. Gupta, M.K., Srivastava, R.K.: Flexural and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) of polylactic
acid (PLA) coated sisal fibre reinforced polyester composite. Proc. Mater Sci. 5, 2434–2439
(2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2017.12.216
10. Kumar, R., Bhowmik, S., Kumar, K.: Establishment and effect of constraint on different
mechanical properties of bamboo filler reinforced epoxy composite. Inter. Poly. Proc. 32,
308–315 (2017). https://doi.org/10.3139/217.3311
A Study on the Effect of Micro-alloying
of Titanium in 2xxx Aluminium Alloy
Manash Bhuyan , Arnab Saikia and Anil Borah
Abstract In the present work, the effect of micro-alloying (0.02 wt%) of Titanium
(Ti) in Aluminium (Al) alloys 2xxx series was studied with respect to its micro-
hardness values. Two alloy compositions of Al–6.84Cu–0.02Mg (alloy-A) and Al–
6.84Cu–0.02Mg–0.02Ti (alloy-B) were prepared by casting route. The alloys were
subjected to different heat treatment conditions. Micro Vickers hardness tests were
carried out for both the alloys under as-cast and heat treated conditions. Addition of
0.02 wt% Ti was found to have increased the hardness values of the 2xxx series Al-
alloys under both as-cast and homogenized conditions by about 11%. Micro-alloying
of 0.02 wt% Ti to 2xxx series Al-alloy was also compared with micro-alloying of
0.02 wt% Sn to the 2xxx Al alloy. In this case, hardness of Al–Ti micro-alloys were
5% higher compared the Al–Sn micro-alloys under both as-cast and homogenized
conditions. In the present work surface morphology of the six samples of alloy-
A and alloy-B were analysed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) under
secondary electron (SE) mode. The overall phase composition of the samples were
also analysed using an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) attached to the
SEM.
Keywords Micro-alloying · Micro-hardness · Homogenization
1 Introduction
Continuous research in the area of advanced light weight high-strength materials

resulted in the development of Al-alloys for industrial, structural and aero space
applications. There are mainly three heat-treatable aluminium alloys viz., 2xxx series
M. Bhuyan (B) · A. Saikia · A. Borah

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Assam Engineering College, Guwahati 781013, India
e-mail: manash800@gmail.com
A. Saikia
e-mail: arnabsaikia1993@gmail.com
A. Borah
e-mail: anilbassam@rediffmail.com

386 M. Bhuyan et al.
(with Cu and Mg as principal alloying elements), 6xxx series (with Mg and Si as prin-
cipal alloying elements) and 7xxx series (with Zn, Cu and Mg as principal alloying
elements). Age hardenable 2xxx Al alloys have found wide applications in the auto-
motive, transport, aviation and shipbuilding industries. The present research trend is
to develop materials with higher strength combined with reasonable toughness and
low density is by micro-alloying with trace additions (0.01–0.1 wt%) [1]. Micro-
alloying is found to be one of the important techniques to modify the microstructure
of the alloys with improved properties. Even small variations in the compositions and
microstructure can result in the improvements in strength, toughness, ductility and
other properties of an alloy system [2, 3]. Recent researches have reported the effect
of micro-alloying in 2xxx series Al-alloys with Sn, Zr, In, Cd, Ag, etc. Banerjee
et al. [4] found that addition of 0.06 wt% of Sn resulted in the improved mechanical
properties for Al–7 wt% Si–0.35 wt% Mg alloy. Addition of more than 0.06 wt% Sn
resulted in the increase in the ductility and toughness but reduction in the strength
and hardness of the cast alloys. Addition of Sc in Al–Mg alloys up to 0.4 wt% form
dispersed Al3 Sc particles in the matrix which increase the strength of the alloy [5].
The elevated temperature strength of Al–Mg–Mn–Zr alloy was increased by addition
of trace amount of erbium (Er) due to the precipitation of secondary Al3 Er particles
in the alloy matrix [6]. Addition of 0.3% wt. Ag in 2519 Al alloy accelerated age
hardening and increased peak hardness at a precipitation temperature of 180 °C [7].
Yu et al. [8] measured the tensile properties of a 2618 Al alloy (Al–Cu–Mg–Fe–Ni)
containing scandium and zirconium at 293, 473, 523 and 573 K to study the influ-
ence of temperature on the alloys. When scandium and zirconium was added in 2618
alloy, it was observed that a primary Al3 (Sc, Zr) phase was formed. In both ambient
and elevated temperatures the strengths of the 2618 alloy with Al3 (Sc, Zr) phases
increased without substantial decrease of ductility. Addition of Sc, Mg and Zr in 2219
Al-alloy resulted in the improved high temperature stability due to the formation of
fine equiaxed grains, refined eutectics and large number of high-temperature stable
precipitates [9].
In the present work, 2xxx series Al alloy micro-alloyed with trace addition of 0.02
wt% of Ti was prepared by casting route. The alloy was heat treated under different
conditions. The effect of heat treatment on micro-hardness of the alloy is reported in
this work.
2 Experimental Procedures
2.1 Master-Alloy
A master alloy containing Al and Cu was used as a base alloy for the present work.
The chemical composition of the master alloy is given in Table 1.
A Study on the Effect of Micro-alloying of Titanium … 387
Table 1 Composition of
Metal Composition (wt%) Metal Composition (wt%)
Al–Cu base alloy
Cu 6.85 Mn 0.20
Zn 0.68 Mg 0.001
Fe 0.60 Al Balance
2.2 Raw Materials Used
(1) Commercial grade pure Magnesium (99.9% pure)

(2) Commercial grade pure Titanium (99.9% pure).
2.3 Preparation of Alloys
The various steps involved in the preparation of the alloys are as follows:
i. Green sand mould making.
ii. Weighing of the elemental metals and alloys according to the required alloy
composition to modify the composition of the master alloy during melting.
iii. Casting of the alloys.
First the master alloy was melted in the furnace. During melting weighted
amounted of magnesium metal was added to modify the composition of master
alloy to 2xxx series Al-alloy (2219 Al alloy). The master alloy was micro-alloyed
with titanium by 0.02 wt% for the present study.
The as-cast alloy is shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 As-cast alloy

Table 2 Designation of alloys

S. No. Alloy designation Al (wt%) Cu (wt%) Mg (wt%) Ti (wt%)
1 Alloy A (2xxx Al base alloy) 91.65 6.84 0.02 0.00
2 Alloy B (2xxx Al–Ti micro-alloy) 91.63 6.84 0.02 0.02
Fig. 2 Vacuum
encapsulated specimen
2.4 Designation of Alloys
The calculated compositions (wt%) and the designation of the two alloys prepared
by the casting route are given in Table 2.
2.5 Specimen Preparation
The various steps involved in the preparation of specimens are

1. Section of the as-cast alloys to prepare cylindrical specimens of diameter 4 mm
and length 7 mm.
2. Standard metallographic polishing of the specimens.
3. Vacuum encapsulation of the specimens inside borosil tubes. This is done to
reduce the risk of oxidation of the specimens during heat treatment operations,
one of vacuum encapsulated specimens is shown in Fig. 2.
2.6 Post Casting Heat Treatments
The details of heat treatment operations performed on the alloy specimens are given
in Table 3.
Table 3 Heat treatment of alloys

Specimen No. Heat treatment conditions
S-1 Alloy A under as-cast condition
S-2 Alloy A homogenized at 510 °C for 10 h and furnace cooled
S-3 Alloy A solutionised at 525 °C for 10 h, furnace cooled and then heat treated
at 170 °C for 24 h
S-4 Alloy B under as-cast condition
S-5 Alloy B homogenized at 510 °C for 10 h and furnace cooled
S-6 Alloy B solutionised at 525 °C for 10 h, furnace cooled and then heat treated at
170 °C for 24 h
The homogenization and solutionization heat treatments were performed in a muf-

fle furnace (make: Navyog) while the heat treatments at 170 °C were performed in a
hot air oven (make: Almicro). The homogenization and solutionization temperatures
were selected from the ASM Handbook Volume-4 [10]. From the literature [4], it
was observed that solutionization followed by water quenching and precipitation
strengthening at 170 °C increased the hardness of the 2xxx Al alloy. In this work, the
alloys were solutionised and then furnace cooled instead of water quenching. They
were then heat treated at the same temperature value of 170 °C, and the subsequent
effects on hardness were studied.
2.7 Micro-Hardness Testing
The preparation of the as-cast and heat-treated specimens for micro-hardness testing
involved following steps:
1. Mounting of the specimens on phenolic powder using a mounting press (make:
Metco).
2. Standard metallographic polishing of specimens using a polishing machine
(make: Metco) using SiC coated abrasive paper of grit size 800 was used.
3. Drying of the specimens using an electric drier.
One such specimen prepared for hardness testing is shown in Fig. 3.
The mounted and polished specimens were then taken to a Vickers Micro Hardness
ester (make: Buehler). Hardness testing was carried out using a diamond pyramid
indenter (with 136° included angle) under a constant load of 0.5 kg and dwell time of
20 s. The diagonal lengths of the square-shaped impression formed in the indentation
process were measured and the Vickers Hardness Number (VHN) was determined
using Eq. 1.
Fig. 3 Specimen for

micro-hardness test
1.854F
VHN = (1)
D2
where F is the applied load in kg and D is the arithmetic mean of the two diagonal
lengths of the indentation in mm. The hardness values presented in this thesis are the
average of the ten independent indentations taken under identical loading conditions.
2.8 Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) Investigation
The polished samples were gold coated using a sputter coater and observed under
a scanning electron microscope (make: Zeiss Sigma) under an accelerating volt-
age range of 5–20 kV and magnification range of 150× to 1000×. Images were
observed under secondary electron (SE) mode. In the absence of BSE mode, instead
of individual phases, the overall phase compositions of the different specimens were
analyzed using energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) attached to the SEM.
The EDS analysis was carried out using high purity cobalt as the reference standard
and maintaining a working distance of 15 mm.
Micro Vickers Hardness Test was carried out for the six alloy specimens subjected
to different heat treatment operations. For each of the specimens, ten readings were
taken using Eq. (1) as stated in Sect. 2.5 and their average value was considered as
the Vickers Hardness Number (VHN) for the particular specimen. The readings are
shown in Table 4.
The variation of VHN values of the specimens of alloy A and alloy B are shown
in Fig. 4.
As seen from the table and graphs above, maximum hardness values for both
alloy A and alloy B were obtained under as-cast condition. Lowest Hardness values
for both the alloys were obtained under solutionization heat treatment followed by
furnace cooling and subsequent heat treatment at 170 °C. But, addition of 0.02 wt% of
Ti to the 2xxx Al base alloy increased its hardness value by about 11% under both as-
cast and homogenized condition while in case of solutionization and heat treatment
at 170 °C condition, hardness decreased by approximately 14%. In fact, specimen
subjected to solutionization, furnace cooling and further heat treatment at 170 °C of
alloy B has resulted in the lowest hardness value among all the six specimens. This is
because of the over ageing of the specimens and it is possible to optimized the ageing
time. There are two distinct phases in the alloy matrix as revealed by SEM studies
[4, 11]. One phase is the CuAl2 phase which also contains Ti in the form of little
plates in some areas of eutectic and having plate-like morphology while the other
Table 4 VHN for alloy

Specimen No. VHN Specimen No. VHN
specimens
S-1 84.34 S-4 93.68
S-2 83.46 S-5 92.91
S-3 78.46 S-6 66.95
Fig. 4 Variation of VHN with different heat treatments for alloy A and alloy B
one is Al–Cu–Si–Fe–Mn phase having script-like morphology. At the solutionizing

temperature, the low melting point phases (Al–Cu–Si–Fe–Mn phase) present in the
cast alloys dissolve in the matrix forming a super-saturated solid solution. During the
furnace cooling stage, these elements start diffusing out of the super saturated solid
solution of the matrix and form thermodynamically stable second phases at the grain
boundary regions due to the slow cooling rate. This results in the soft alloy matrix
[4]. The hardness values so obtained were also compared with those obtained by the
addition of 0.02 wt% of Sn to the 2xxx series Al-alloy as investigated by Banerjee
et al. [4]. The variation pattern of the hardness values with respect to the above
stated heat treatment conditions were found to be similar. However, under as-cast
and homogenization followed by furnace cooled conditions, the hardness of the Ti
micro-alloyed specimens were found to be higher than that of the Sn micro-alloyed
specimens by about 5%. Hence, corresponding to the above two heat treatment
conditions, addition of 0.02 wt% Ti to the 2xxx Al alloy was found to have provided
increased hardness to the alloy compared to Sn addition. The reason for increased
hardness due to micro-alloying of 2xxx series Al alloy with 0.02 wt% Ti as compared
to the 2xxx series Al master alloy and the 2xxx series Al alloy micro-alloyed with
0.02 wt% Sn could be determined by SEM studies.
3.1 SEM and EDS Analysis
The surface morphology of the six samples of alloy-A and alloy-B were analysed
using a SEM under SE mode. The overall phase composition of the samples were
also analysed using an EDS device attached to the SEM. Figure 5 showed the SEM
micrograph of alloy-A while Fig. 6 showed the SEM micrograph alloy-B. Figures
also reveal hardness indentations. Figures 7 and 8 show the EDS spectra of alloy-A
and alloy-B while the overall phase compositions of the alloy-A and alloy-B are
given in Table 5.
Table 5 showed that the alloy-A viz. 2xxx Al master alloy was quite close in
composition to the 2219 Al alloy (In 2219 Al alloy, the wt% of Cu, Mg, Si and Fe
are expected to be in the range of 5.80–6.80, 0–0.02, 0–0.2 and 0–0.3 respectively).
It was observed from the above tables that iron (Fe), which was present in the phase
composition of alloy-A, was absent in alloy-B. Table 5 also confirmed the presence
of Ti in the phase composition of alloy-B. However, the wt% of Ti was found to be
higher than the wt% of Ti that was added to the alloy-B during casting (0.02 wt%).
This may be because of the presence of Ti rich CuAl2 phase in the scanned area
under EDS study. Presence of Ti rich CuAl2 phase was reported by Zlaticanin et al.
in their study of “Characterization of Structure and Properties of As-cast AlCuMg
Alloys” [11].
Fig. 5 SEM micrograph of alloy-A
Fig. 6 SEM micrograph of alloy-B

Fig. 7 EDS spectrum of alloy-A
Fig. 8 EDS spectrum of alloy-B
Table 5 Overall phase composition of alloy-A and alloy-B

Overall phase composition of alloy-A Overall phase composition of alloy-B
Element Weight% Atomic% Element Weight% Atomic%
Mg 0.05 0.05 Mg 0.13 0.11
Al 86.14 85.06 Al 84.86 85.64
Si 6.85 11.24 Si 8.67 10.13
Fe 0.70 0.29 Ti 0.11 0.05
Cu 6.29 3.38 Cu 6.25 4.08
Total 100.00 100.00 Total 100.00 100.00
4 Conclusions
The effect of trace addition (0.02 wt%) of Ti to 2xxx series Al alloy with respect to its
micro-hardness value was studied in this work. From the study, following conclusions
could be drawn:
i. Addition of 0.02 wt% of Ti to the 2xxx series Al alloy increases its hardness
value by about 11% under both as-cast and homogenized condition.
ii. Addition of 0.02 wt% of Ti to the 2xxx series Al alloy decreases its hardness
value by about 14% when subjected to solutionization, furnace cooling and heat
treatment at 170 °C.
iii. Addition of 0.02 wt% Ti to 2xxx series Al alloy provides the lowest hardness
for the alloy when subjected to solutionization followed by furnace cooling and
further heat treatment at 170 °C.
iv. Compared to 0.02 wt% addition of Sn, addition of 0.02 wt% of Ti to 2xxx series
Al alloy resulted in the increase of hardness of the alloys under both as-cast and
homogenized condition by about 5%.
v. SEM and EDS studies showed that iron (Fe), which was present in the phase
composition of alloy-A, was absent in alloy-B. Percentage of Mg increased
whereas percentage of Al and Cu decreased in the phase composition of alloy-B
as compared to alloy-A. Presence of Titanium in the phase composition of alloy-
B was also confirmed by EDS. However, the wt% of Ti was found to be higher
than the wt% of Ti that was added to the alloy-B during casting (0.02 wt%).
This may be because of the presence of Ti rich CuAl2 phase in the scanned area
under EDS study.
References
1. Heinz, A., Haszler, A., Keidal, C., Moldenhauer, S., Benedictus, R., Miller, W.S.: Recent
development in aluminium alloys for aerospace applications. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 280, 102
(2000)
2. Karnesky, R.A., Dunand, D.C., Seidman, D.N.: Evolution of nanoscale precipitates in Al
microalloyed with Sc and Er. Acta Mater. 57, 4022–4031 (2009)
3. Ahmad, Z.: Properties and application of scandium-reinforced aluminium. J. Mater. 55, 35–39
(2003)
4. Banerjee, S., Robi, P.S., Srinivasan, A., Lakavath, P.K.: Effect of trace additions of Sn on
microstructure and mechanical properties of Al–Cu–Mg alloys. J. Mater. Des. 31, 4007–4015
(2010)
5. Zakharov, V.V.: Effect of scandium on the structure and properties of aluminum alloys. Met.
Sci. Heat Treat. 45, 246–253 (2003)
6. Wen, S.P., Xing, Z.B., Huang, H., Li, B.L., Wang, W., Nie, Z.R.: The effect of erbium on the
microstructure and mechanical properties of Al–Mg–Mn–Zr alloy. J. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 516,
42–49 (2009)
7. Liu, X.Y., Pan, Q.L., Lu, C.G., He, Y.B., Li, W.B., Liang, W.J., Microstructure and mechanical
properties of Al–Cu–Mg–Mn–Zr alloy with trace amounts of Ag. J. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 1–5
(2000)
8. Yu, K., Li, W., Li, S., Zhao, J.: Mechanical properties and microstructure of aluminum alloy
2618 with Al3 (Sc, Zr) phases. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 368, 88–93 (2004)
9. Raju, P.N., Rao, K.S., Reddy, G.M., Kamaraj, M., Rao, K.P.: Microstructure and high tempera-
ture stability of age hardenable AA2219 aluminium alloy modified by Sc, Mg and Zr additions.
Mater. Sci. Eng. A 464, 192–201 (2007)
10. ASM Handbook, Heat Treatments, ASM International 4 (1991)
11. Zlaticanin, B., Radonjic, B., Filipovic, M.: Characterization of structure and properties of
as-cast AlCuMg alloys. Mater. Trans. 45, 440–446 (2004)
A Study of Effect of Micro-alloying
of Tin on Ageing Behaviour of 6xxx
Series Aluminium Alloys
Monoj Baruah , Anjali Ladha, Manish Baruah, Arnav Kar, Agradeep Deb
and Anil Borah
Abstract Tin (Sn) acts as an important role in the ageing behaviour of Al–Mg–Si
alloy (6xxx series). In the present work the effect of micro-alloying of (0.04 wt%
Sn) on the natural age hardening behaviour of Al–Mg–Si alloy is studied. Two alloy
compositions of Al–1.2Mg–0.69Si and Al–1.2Mg–0.69Si–0.04Sn were prepared by
casting process. Solution heat treatment of the two as-cast alloys was carried out at
two different temperatures of 530 and 570 °C for 75 min followed by quenching in
cold water at room temperature. The variation in the hardness with time for the alloys
heat treated at different temperatures was recorded after post solutionising. Addition
of 0.04 wt% Sn causes retardation in attaining peak hardness as compared to base
alloy. Micro-alloying of Sn by 0.04 wt% in Al–Mg–Si alloy delayed in attaining the
peak hardness value from 24 h (1 day) to 192 h (8 days).
Keywords Solution heat treatment · Micro-alloying · Ageing
M. Baruah (B) · A. Ladha · M. Baruah · A. Kar · A. Deb · A. Borah

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Assam Engineering College, Guwahati, India
e-mail: monoj_baruah@rediffmail.com
A. Ladha
e-mail: anjali.ladha22@gmail.com
M. Baruah
e-mail: baruahm0023@gmail.com
A. Kar
e-mail: arunavkar13@gmail.com
A. Deb
e-mail: agradeepdeb@gmail.com
A. Borah
e-mail: anilbassam@rediffmail.com

398 M. Baruah et al.
1 Introduction
The requirement for new materials with enhanced properties for industrial and struc-
tural applications has led to the development of varieties of aluminium alloys. Al–
Mg–Si alloys after mechanical working and heat treatments have been studied by
many researchers. There is a great demand for the development of this alloy exhibit-
ing higher strength-to-weight ratio. Age hardenable Al–Mg–Si alloys (AA6xxx) are
widely used in the automotive, transport, aviation and shipbuilding industries. Micro-
alloying with trace elements in the range of 0.01–0.1 wt% is one of the current trends
to alter the microstructure of the alloys with improved properties. Wrought AA6xxx
alloys with varying compositions have been developed for various applications. It
has been observed that even a small variation in the compositions and microstructure
can result in the modification in strength, toughness, ductility and other properties
of the aluminium alloy system. Therefore, the present trend of research is mainly
focused on the development of this alloy system by micro-alloying with different
elements.
In the last few decades, the potential of tin as an alloying element in Al-alloys has
been investigated. Small addition of Sn up to 0.72 wt% have been reported to decrease
in the incubation period on natural ageing of Al-alloys (AA6xxx) containing Mg,
Si, Cu [1]. The pre-ageing treatment after solution heat treatment and quenching has
resulted in the improvement of formability and delay in the natural ageing rate of the
AA6111 alloy [2]. Addition of 0.15 wt% Sn raises the ductility and toughness at the
expenses of the yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and hardness of B319.2 and
A365.2 as-cast alloys [3]. Elements like Sn, In and Cd in trace additions resulted in
accelerating ageing and higher peak hardness characteristics on Al-Cu alloys [4].
A 3 wt% Sn addition in Mg–4Zn alloys decreases the time to achieve peak hardness
from 24 to 8 h, while addition of 1 wt% Pb, increases the time to achieve peak hardness
from 24 to 96 h. The tensile strength of peak-aged Mg–4Zn slightly decreases to
84 MPa with addition of Pb but improved significantly from 87 to 129 MPa with
addition of Sn [5]. Strong interaction of Mg, Ag, and Cu atoms due to addition of
Cu and Ag in Al–Mg–Si alloy have been found to enhance the hardening kinetics of
Al–Mg–Si alloys during artificial and natural ageing treatments [6].
6xxx-series aluminium alloys are attractive because of combination of good
formability with medium to high strength after age hardening, good corrosion resis-
tance and weldability. So, this alloy in semi-finished products form are delivered
mostly after quenching to enable forming operations at low strength prior to the final
heat treatment to gain high strength. But during transportation, formability decreases
due to increase in hardness during natural ageing. So, there is a demand of stable
formability of this alloy during transportation stage to the processing stage [7]. The
present study shows the effect of tin as trace addition in Al1.2Mg0.69Si alloys on
natural age hardening behaviour.
A Study of Effect of Micro-alloying of Tin on Ageing … 399
2 Experiment Details
The raw materials used for processing of Al–Mg–Si alloy are in powder form of Loba
make supplied by North East Chemicals. The purity of various elemental powders
as provided is mentioned in Table 1.
2.1 Designation of Alloys
The compositions of the two prepared alloys by casting route are given in Table 2.
The alloys are prepared by weighing in a digital balance as per the required weight
percentage mentioned in Table 2. The ratio of Mg to Si is kept 1.73:1 for both the
alloys.
2.2 Specimen Preparation
The various steps involved in preparation of specimens are:

1. Green Sand mould making.
2. Weighing of the elemental powder metals according to required alloy composi-
tions.
3. Casting of the alloys.
4. Sectioning of the as-cast alloys to prepare specimens of dimensions of 10 × 10 ×
10 mm.
5. Standard metallographic polishing of the specimens.
The prepared alloy specimens are shown in Fig. 1a, b.
2.3 Heat Treatment of As-Cast Alloys
Solution heat treatment of the alloys was carried out at two different temperatures of
530 and 570 °C in a muffle furnace of make Sood Steel as per the standard procedure
[7]. The steps involved in solution treatment are as follows:
1. The operating temperature of Muffle furnace was set at 530 °C.
2. Four samples, two each of alloy A and alloy B were put in the furnace with the
help of tongs.
3. The samples were held at this temperature for 75 min.
4. After 75 min the samples were taken out of the furnace.
5. The samples were immediately quenched in water at room temperature after
taking out of the furnace.
400
Table 1 Compositions of the metal powders

MF MW Bal Silicon Copper Nitrogen Iron Magnesium Titanium Arsenic
Al 26.98 Min 98% Max 0.1% Max 0.02% Max 0.001% Max 0.1% Max 0.02% Max 0.03% –
Mg 24.31 Min 99% – – – Max 0.05% – – –
Si 28.09 Min 98.5% – – – – – – –
Sn 118.69 Min 99.9% – – – – – – Max 0.0025%
M. Baruah et al.
Table 2 Alloy compositions

S. No. Alloy designation Al (%wt) Mg (%wt) Si (%wt) Sn (%wt)
1 Alloy A 98.11 1.2 0.69 0.00
2 Alloy B 98.07 1.2 0.69 0.04
Fig. 1 a As-cast, b sectioned and polished specimens
The same process was carried out for solution heat treatment at 570 °C for different
specimens of alloy A and alloy B.
2.4 Hardness Measurement
The hardness measurement is carried out using Rockwell Hardness Tester of make
Saroj Engineering Udyog Pvt. Ltd. and model RAS. The hardness of the samples
was determined using scale B with a test load of 100 kgf and a steel ball 1.588 mm
as indenter. The hardness values reported in this work are the average values of five
different independent readings.
Micro-hardness test was carried out using micro-hardness tester of make Buehler
model No. 1600-6306 using load of 100 g and dwell time of 20 s.
Tables 3 and 4 show the hardness values (RB ) recorded at different time intervals up
to 22 days after solution treatments carried out at 530 and 570 °C.
Figure 2 shows the variation of hardness with natural ageing times for two alloy
specimens solution treated at 530 °C. From Fig. 2, it is observed that addition of
Table 3 Hardness (RB ) of

Days Alloy A Alloy B
the specimens after solution
treated 530 °C 0 34.4 28.5
1 41.2 29.2
5 36.6 30.2
8 37.1 30.8
14 37.6 30.4
22 37.5 30.2
Table 4 Hardness (RB ) of

Days Alloy A Alloy B
the specimens solution treated
570 °C 0 30.0 26.0
1 35.4 27.0
5 34.6 28.2
8 34.0 28.5
14 34.2 28.0
22 34.3 27.0
Fig. 2 Variation of
Rockwell Hardness (RB)
60
Rockwell hardness with
ageing time solution treated 40
530 °C
20
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Time (Days)
Alloy A Alloy B
0.04 wt% Sn to Al–Mg–Si alloy resulted in the decrease of hardness as compared

to the Sn-free alloy. Alloy A starts hardening after solutionising and quenching and
attained the natural peak age hardness value of RB 41.2 after approximately 24 h.
The age hardness values were observed to be decreased in the next 4 days and finally
stabilized after approximately 5 days from the beginning. In case of alloy B, the
age hardness values were observed to be increased in the first 8 days after solution
treatment. After that the age hardness values were observed to be decreased and
attained approximately a uniform hardness of RB 30.4 almost after 8 days of solution
treatment. Similar behaviour was also observed by Werinos et al. [8].
In case of alloy B, the hardness was observed to be increased after post heat
treatment for initial 8 days. The peak natural age hardening value of RB 30.8 was
attained after 8 days of solution heat treatment. This value is found be only marginally
higher that obtained immediately after heat treatment. It is observed that the micro-
alloying of Sn by 0.04 wt% in Al–Mg–Si alloy has resulted in the decrease of hardness
as well as eliminates the natural age hardening phenomenon during the period of
Fig. 3 Variation of
Rockwell Hardness (RB)

40
Rockwell hardness with
30
ageing time solution treated
570 °C 20
10
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Time (days)
Alloy A Alloy B
study. The hardness of the specimens remains approximately uniform after 8 days
of solution treatment exhibiting absence of natural age hardening. Micro-alloying of
Sn has resulted in the retardation of the natural peak age hardening behaviour.
Figure 3 shows the variation of age hardness for alloy A and alloy B solution
treated at 570 °C. Alloy A, starts hardening immediately after post heat treatment
and attained a peak hardness value of RB 35.4 at approximately 24 h. After that the
hardness values were observed to be decreased marginally in the next 4 days and
finally stabilized after approximately 5 days from the beginning. In case of alloy
B, the hardness values were found be reduced as compared to that of Sn-free alloy.
Alloy B also starts hardening immediately after post heat treatment up to next 8 days.
Thereafter the hardness values marginally decreased during the next 22 days.
From Fig. 3 and Table 4, it is observed that the solution treatment at 570 °C has
resulted in the decrease of hardness in both alloy A and alloy B as compared to that
obtained after solution treatment at 530 °C. Higher solution temperature has resulted
in the reduction of the hardness in both the alloys. Similar trend of age hardening
behaviour was also observed by Werinos et al. [8].
Both the alloys exhibit similar trend of natural ageing after solution treatments
at 530 and 570 °C. Natural ageing starts immediately after quenching from solution
heat treatment in Sn-free alloy (alloy A) due to solute clustering of Mg and Si atoms.
Trace addition of Sn suppresses the natural ageing phenomenon by strong trapping
of vacancies to Sn atoms [8]. This will help in improving the formability behaviour
of this alloy.
Figure 4 shows the micro-hardness test results of both the alloys at solution treat-
ment at 530 and 570 °C after age hardening of 46 days. Observations are similar to
the above Rockwell hardness test. It is seen that increasing the solution treatment
temperature of this alloy from 530 to 570 °C results in the decrease of hardness value
from 64.35 to 56.7 HV for alloy A and from 50.55 to 41.45 HV for alloy B. It is also
observed that with the addition 0.04 wt% Sn on the base alloy hardness decreases
from 64.35 to 50.55 HV at solution treatment temperature of 530 °C and from 56.7
to 41.45 HV at solution treatment temperature of 570 °C.
530°C 570°C
70 64.35
Micro Hardness (HV) 60 56.7
50.55
50
41.45
40
30
20
10
0
Alloy A Alloy B
Fig. 4 Micro-hardness of the alloys solution heat treated at different temperatures
4 Conclusion
The natural ageing behaviour for Al–Mg–Si alloy with and without tin, at solution
treatment temperatures of 530 and 570 °C was studied in this work. From the study
following conclusions could be drawn:
• 0.04 wt% Sn addition to Al–Mg–Si alloy resulted in the reduction of the peak age
hardening value which will be helpful for the industries in fabrication of structural
components by forming.
• Micro-alloying of Sn by 0.04 wt% in Al–Mg–Si alloy has resulted in the decrease
of hardness as well as eliminates the natural age hardening phenomenon during
the period of study. The hardness of the specimens remains approximately uniform
after 8 days of solution treatment exhibiting absence of natural age hardening.
• Micro-alloying of Sn by 0.04 wt% in Al–Mg–Si alloy delayed in attaining the
peak hardness value from 24 h (1 day) to 192 h (8 days).
• Addition of 0.04 wt% Sn to Al–Mg–Si alloy resulted in the reduction of hardness
by 17.6 and 13.4% after solution treatment at 530 and 570 °C.
• Hardness value was found to be better at solution temperatures of 530 °C compared
to 570 °C for both the alloys.
Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT

Guwahati, India for providing the micro-hardness facility. This research did not receive any specific
grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
References
1. Stulikova1, I., Faltus, J., Smola, B.: Influence of composition on natural ageing of Al-Mg-Si
alloys. Kovove Mater. 45, 85–90 (2007)
2. Bryant, D.: The effects of preaging treatments on aging kinetics and mechanical properties in
AA6111 aluminum autobody sheet. Metall. Mater. Trans. A 30 (1999)
3. Mohamed, A.M.A., Samuel, F.H., Doty, H.W., Valtierra, S.: Influence of tin addition on the
microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Si-Cu-Mg and Al-Si-Mg casting alloys. Metall.
Mater. Trans. A 39, 490 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-007-9454-5
4. Silcock, J.M., Flower, H.M.: Comments on a comparison of early and recent work on the effect
of trace additions of Cd, In, or Sn on nucleation and growth of θ in Al–Cu alloys. Scripta Mater.
46, 389 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-6462(02)00003-9
5. Shanghai, W., Tianping, Z., Haibo, H., JaeHwang, K., Equo, K., Tatsuo, S., Michael, H., Wei,
G.: Effects of Pb/Sn additions on the age-hardening behaviour of Mg–4Zn alloys. Mater. Sci.
Eng. A 597(12), 52–61 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2013.12.048
6. Yaoyao, W., Zhihong, J., Lipeng, D., Yanfeng, P., Yingying, L., Qing, L.: Effect of Ag and Cu
additions on natural aging and precipitation hardening behavior in Al-Mg-Si alloys. J. Alloy.
Compd. 695(25), 2444–2452 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2016.11.140
7. ASM Handbook: Heat Treating of Aluminium Alloy. ASM Handbook Committee, vol. 4,
pp. 841–879 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1361/asmhba0001205
8. Werinos, M., Antrekowitsch, H., Ebner, T., Prillhofer, R., Curtin, W.A., Uggowitzer, P.J.,
Pogatscher, S.: Design strategy for controlled natural aging in AlMgSi alloys. Acta Mater.
118, 296–305 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2016.07.048
A Brief Review of White Layer
Formation in Hard Machining
with a Case Study
Sanjib Kr Rajbongshi, D. K. Sarma and Meinam Annebushan Singh
Abstract White layer formation is a phenomenon which is found to occur during

hard machining. White layer is brittle and can cause crack in the machined surfaces.
It affects fatigue strength and service life of the machined components. To obtain a
product with proper strength and toughness, white layer elimination is a necessary
condition. In the present work, a thorough literature review about the formation of
white layer, its effect and the remedial procedures how to prevent it is presented.
Based on the literature, a case study is also presented in the present work to study
the influence of cutting parameters on white layer formation with respect to the
corresponding micro-hardness. The experimental study confirmed that, cutting speed
and flank wear has direct influence on white layer thickness (WLT) and micro-
hardness.
Keywords Hard turning · White layer thickness · Micro-hardness
1 Introduction
Machining is an important aspect in manufacturing sector. It helps the manufacturers

to produce quality products with its proper applications. The main aim of machining
is to make quality products with large scale in lesser time at optimum cost. Turning,
milling, drilling, grinding, etc., are the mostly used machining operations in industry
and by the researchers. Among these operations, turning is widely used operation
in machining. Generally, turning operation is carried out depending on the hardness
of the material. The turning operation which is carried out for materials having
hardness less than 45 HRC is called soft turning and more than 45 HRC is called
hard turning. The main problem in hard turning operation is the excessive tool wear
which is occurred due to the high hardness of the material. To avoid this problem,
hard turning is generally carried out using high-grade cutting tools like CBN, PCBN
S. K. Rajbongshi (B) · D. K. Sarma · M. A. Singh

NIT Meghalaya, Shillong, Meghalaya 793003, India
e-mail: sanjibraj09@gmail.com

408 S. K. Rajbongshi et al.
and ceramic tool although in some cases the application of coated carbide tool is also
seen. Higher temperature is generated at the tool work-piece junction because of the
higher hardness of the work-piece material in hard turning operation. Because of
this a tribological change occurs during hard turning. Among different tribological
changes, white layer formation is an important phenomenon in machining operation
which is immensely studied by the researchers and scientists. The study of the white
layer is first termed by Stead [1]. He observed this white layer on steel wire ropes
which were used repeatedly in engineering service. He demonstrated this as the
formation of martensite due to the frictional heating followed by the subsequent
cooling process. White layer is quite an undesirable layer formed at the machined
surfaces which create crack formation due to its brittleness nature. The sub-surface of
white layer is harder than the bulk material and appears as dull when observed using
an optical microscope. This white layer which is found to be harder as compared to
the bulk material experiences high tensile compressive stress which affects service
life of the engineering components. In general, white layers may be formed due to
the three cases. First case is when it is used for long service periods in engineering
components, second in laboratory experiments where the condition is pin to disk
wear type and third one is in machining experiments where material removal occurs
[2]. In material removal process; thermal, mechanical and chemical phenomenon,
etc. is responsible for white layer formation [3]. All this phenomenon are associated
with the conditions like change in strain rate, heating and cooling and some other
environment related factors. Three mechanisms such as plastic deformation, quick
heating followed by subsequent cooling and outside environmental reactions are
mainly responsible for white layer formation in machining. These three phenomenons
are difficult to avoid and white layers are assumed to be formed by a combination
of any three processes mentioned above in higher or smaller amount [2]. Chou and
Evans considered that white layer formation is a result of the progression of the
cutting processes [4]. Three different zones are divided according to the sequences
of the cutting condition. Zone 1 is the plastic deformation area, where the material is
in advance to cutting tool material and beneath the machined surface. This surface is
influenced by the plastic compression and by the heat conducted through the shear
zone. Zone 2 is the region where the material is experienced high stress and loading
and zone 3 is the stress unloading region and there is a chance of chemical reactions
with the surrounding. The formation of white layer is mainly recognised towards the
development of martensite although there may be untempered martensite, retained
austenite and even ferrite [5]. The study of white layer development has been done by
the various researchers and its effect in service life of the components. The researchers
are focusing to reduce the development of white layer in machining and thereby give
various suggestions based on their experimental results.
Many works have been done on white layer formation in hard machining, still a
thorough literature review about the different methods and techniques to understand
the phenomenon behind the white layer formation, its effect on surface hardness and
proper way of finding the remedial measure of eliminating the formation of white
layer in hard machining operation is lacking. Although white layer formation may
occur in different hard machining operation, but in the present work, focus is mainly
A Brief Review of White Layer Formation … 409
given to the hard turning operation for formation of white layer. A case study is also
performed by the authors based on different literature review and has been presented
in the present work.
2 Literature on White Layer Formation in Hard Machining
This section deals with the thorough literature review about the white layer formation,
its effect and remedial measures how to prevent this white layer formation in hard
machining.
2.1 White Layer Formation in Hard Turning
Bosheh and Mativenga conducted an experimental survey to find the white layer
formation in turning of H13 steel using CBN tool [6]. They found that white layer
thickness and hardness was reduced at higher cutting speed although the tool wear
was high. This indicated that tool wear was not related to white layer formation.
The micro-hardness study confirmed that higher cutting speed was favourable for
lower hardness at the machined surface as compared to lower cutting speed. Figure 1
showed the thickness of white layer for different cutting speed [6]. The reason was
the decrease of temperature at the machined surface due to which hardness decreased
at higher cutting speed. The compositional gradients of white layer indicated that at
the machined surface, there was depletion of iron and chromium atoms with the rise
of carbon and oxygen atoms.
An experimental study was conducted by Armacheron and Mativenga for study
of white layer development in machining H13 steel (57 HRC) using CrTiAlN and
CrTiAlN/MoST-coated carbide tools [5]. The main aim of the work was to use the
low cost uncoated and coated carbide tools to study the white layer formation. They
conducted the study at conventional and high cutting speeds for finding the effect of
Fig. 1 Depth of white layer

against cutting speed [6]
white layer formation. They found that the white layers were formed at conventional
cutting speed. At higher cutting speed, white layer formation was not observed. They
also concluded that coated carbide tool produced less thickness of white layer than
uncoated carbide tool. The hardness study revealed that lower cutting speed imparted
more hardness on the machined surface as compared to higher cutting speed. Figures 2
and 3 show the temperature and average micro-hardness for a cutting speed of 200
and 800 m/min at the machined surface [5].
Chou and Evans did an experimental study in machining of AISI 52100 steel using
Al2 O3 insert [4]. They studied the development of white layer by considering flank
wear of 210 µm. Figure 4 showed the relationship of white layer thickness with
respect to cutting speed and flank wear [4]. They derived a thermal model which
could predict white layer formation. Experimental results and thermal modelling
showed the similar trends of cutting speed role in white layer formation.
Fig. 2 Temperature at a cutting speed of 200 and 800 m/min [5]
Fig. 3 Average micro-hardness on machined surface [5]

Fig. 4 White layer depth as

a function of flank wear and
cutting speed [4]
Han et al. reported the formation of white layer in turning of AISI 1045 annealed
steel using Kennametal NG3125L carbide inserts [7]. Their studies revealed that
white layer formation occurred because of change in phase under the nominal aust-
enization temperature of steel in Fe-C phase diagram. They used metallographic
studies and XRD techniques to find the occurrence and the depth of the white layer.
They could not elaborate the reason of phase transformation but assumed that tem-
perature and plastic deformation may be the dominant factor. The depth of the white
layer varied with different thermal and mechanical loads at different cutting speed
and flank wear conditions. Figure 5 showed white layer thickness with respect to
cutting speed and flank wear with error bars [7].
Kishway and Elbestawi studied tool wear and surface structure of D2 steel with
PCBN inserts [8]. They found a continuous white layer of thickness 1 µm formed
at a cutting speed of 350 m/min, feed of 0.1 mm/rev and depth of cut 0.2 mm with
1.2 mm nose radius for a tool wear of 0.2 mm. White layer formation was not
observed by using a sharp tool, but found that white layer was formed when using
Fig. 5 White layer as a

function of flank wear and
cutting speed with error
bars [7]
Fig. 6 Machined subsurface structure (v = 350 m/min, f = 0.1 mm/rev, d = 0.2 mm, wear land =
0.2 mm [8]
a chamfered cutting edge. Figure 6 showed machined sub-surface structure (v =

350 m/min, f = 0.1 mm/rev and d = 0.2 mm, wear land 0.2 mm) [8]. From this
observation one conclusion could be drawn that the tool wear and chamfered cutting
edge had a direct relation for white layer formation.
Chou and Song investigated the nose radius effects in machining of AISI 52100
steel with ceramic cutting tool [9]. They observed that large tool nose radius with new
tool induced small white layer thickness, but with worn tool it induced large white
layer thickness. In other way, new tool with small nose radius produced large white
layer thickness, but with worn tool with small nose radius produced small white layer
thickness. Figure 7 showed the white layer (WL) depth for different combinations
of nose radii and feed rates for a new tool [9]. Figure 8 showed the white layer depth
for different combinations of nose radii and tool wear [9].
Hosseini et al. studied the temperature effects on white layer formation in turning
AISI 52100 steel [10]. Their experimental results concluded that white layers were
formed at both above and below austenitic phase transformation temperature of steel.
Zhang et al. did an experimental investigation to study the influence of cutting
parameters on white layer formation in machining AISI 52100 steel taking into
account of different heat treatment processes [11]. They also studied the surface
morphology of the white layer structure. Their experimental results concluded that
white layer thickness increased with the increase of cutting speed and radial feed rate.
They found a critical cutting speed below which there was no white layer formation.
Poulachon et al. did an experimental study for finding the effects of microstructural
change on development of white layer in dry machining using PCBN tool [12].
They considered four materials AISI D2 steel, AISI H11 steel, 35 NiCrMo16 high
toughness steel and AISI 52100 steel. General observation showed that the flank wear
affects the development of white layer. With the increase in flank wear, white layer
Fig. 7 White layer (WL) depth for different combinations of nose radii and feed rates for new tool:
v = 2 m/s, d = 0.2 mm [9]
Fig. 8 White layer depth for different combinations of nose radii and tool wear: v = 3 m/s, f =
0.05 mm/rev [9]
depth was also increased. From the structure of the four work-pieces, the steels can
be categorised into two groups. One with fine microstructures (35NiCrMo16 high
hardness steel and AISI 52100 steel) and the other one with coarse microstructures
(AISI D2 steel, AISI H11 steel). The steels with fine microstructures produced large
thickness of white layer and with coarse microstructures produced small thickness
of white layers. EDS analysis confirmed the increase of carbon content in white
layer surface and it was found to be increased with the increase of white layer depth.
Cappeleni studied the formation of white and dark layer in hard turning of AISI
52100 steel [13]. They concluded that both white layer and dark layer thickness was
increased with the increase of flank wear; at higher cutting speed the white layer
thickness was increased but dark layer thickness decreased. Zhang et al. studied the
white and dark layer formation in hard turning of AISI 52100 steel using PCBN
inserts [14]. They concluded that the austenitic phase change and quenching process
is responsible for white layer formation and tempering process is responsible for
dark layer formation.
3 Results and Discussions with a Case Study
From the above literature review, it is observed that white layers are formed due to
the effect of cutting speed [5, 6]. It was noticed that with the increase of cutting
speed, white layer thickness decreased [5, 6]. The decrease in temperature with the
increase of cutting speed was the main reason for reduction of white layer thickness.
White layers were found to form mainly at conventional cutting speed [5]. But it
was also reported that with the increase of cutting speed and radial feed rate, white
layer thickness increases [11]. It was also observed that with the increase of flank
wear, white layer thickness increases [4]. Other hand, some researchers reported that
white layer formation occurred due to the change in phase transformation of steel in
Fe-C phase diagram [7, 12]. Based on the above literature review in the hard turning
operations, a case study is undertaken to investigate the white layer formation and
its corresponding hardness.
For this, AISI D2 steel is taken as work-piece material and coated carbide as the
cutting tool material. The hardness of the work-piece is increased up to 48 HRC by
heat treatment process in a PID controlled electric furnace. The cutting tool material
is coated carbide tool with square insert type of Make: Sandvik and Model: SNMG
12 04 08-KM 3215. The insert is fitted in the tool holder of Make: Sandvik and
Model: DSBNR 2525 K12. For white layer analysis FESEM (Make: Zeiss and Model:
IGMA) is used. For micro-hardness analysis, Vickers micro-hardness tester (Make:
Fuel Instruments Engineers & Pvt. Ltd., Model: MV1-PC) is used. For temperature
measurement, Thermal image camera (Make: Testo and Model: T885) is used.
The white layer and micro-hardness is analysed for both low and high values of
cutting speed, feed and depth of cut and the settings are shown in Table 1. These
Table 1 Settings of the cutting parameters along with the values of average temperature, average
white layer thickness (WLT) and average micro-hardness (MH) values
S. No. Parameter settings Avg. tem. Avg. WLT Avg. MH
v (m/min) f (mm/rev) d (mm) (°C) (µm) (HV)
1 100 0.05 0.25 283 36.7 782

2 150 0.15 0.55 556 57.8 952
ranges are considered based on the literature review and tool manufacturer recom-
mendations. The average temperature generated at the machined surfaces for both
theses two settings are measured. The average white layer thickness (WLT) and its
corresponding average micro-hardness are also measured. The settings of the cut-
ting parameters along with the values of average temperature, average white layer
thickness (WLT) and average micro-hardness values are shown in Table 1.
From Table 1, it is observed that for low values of cutting parameters, the tem-
perature generation is found to be less as compared to the high values of cutting
parameters. The WLT and corresponding micro-hardness is also found to be less for
low value settings of the cutting parameters as compared to the high value settings of
the cutting parameters. The reason of high temperature generation at the machined
surface is due to the higher cutting speed along with high depth of cut. Due to the
high cutting speed and high depth of cut, frictional heating will be more because
of which tool flank wear is high. Because of high flank wear, high temperature is
generated at the machined surface. Large WLT and micro-hardness value is observed
in this case. This is because of high temperature difference between the machined
surface and the outside environment after subsequent cooling process. This effect is
less pronounced at lower value settings of the cutting parameters due to which small
WLT and micro-hardness is observed. So, it can be concluded that white layer thick-
ness is increased with the increase of cutting speed and flank wear. This observation
is supported with the earlier observation made by Zhang et al. [11]. Figures 9 and 10
shows the SEM image of WLT for v = 100 m/min, f = 0.05 mm/rev, d = 0.25 mm
and v = 150 m/min, f = 0.15 mm/rev and d = 0.55 mm respectively.
Fig. 9 SEM image of WLT for v = 100 m/min, f = 0.05 mm/rev, d = 0.25 mm
Fig. 10 SEM image of WLT for v = 150 m/min, f = 0.15 mm/rev, d = 0.55 mm
4 Conclusion
A detailed literature review about white layer formation and its effect in hard machin-
ing has been discussed. A case study based on the above literature has been performed
in turning of AISI D2 steel (48 HRC) using coated carbide tool. The following con-
clusions can be drawn based on the literature survey and from the case study
White layers are formed due to the martensitic phase transformation of the steel.
White layers are found to be varying with the change in cutting speed. White layers
are mainly formed at conventional cutting speed. With the increase of cutting speed,
the white layer thickness was found to be decreased. But, it was also reported that with
the increase of cutting speed and radial feed rate, white layer thickness increases. With
the increase of flank wear values, white layer thickness is found to be increased. From
the case study, it is observed that thickness of white layer is found to be increased
with the increase of cutting speed and tool flank wear.
References
1. Stead, J.W.: Micro-metallography and its application. J. West. Scott. Iron Steel Inst. 19, 169–
204 (1912)
2. Griffiths, B.J.: White layer formations at machined surface and their relationship to white
layer formations at worn surfaces. J. Tribol. 107(2), 165–171 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1115/
1.3261015
3. Griffiths, B.J.: Manufacturing Surface Technology: Surface Integrity and Functional Perfor-
mance. Taylor and Francis Books, New York
4. Chou, Y.K., Evans, C.J.: White layers and thermal modeling of hard turned surfaces.
Int. J. Mach. Tools Manuf. 39(12), 1863–1881 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0890-
6955(99)00036-X
5. Armacheron, A., Mativenga, P.T.: White layer formation and hardening effects in hard turning
of H13 tool steel with CrTiAlN and CrTiAlN/MoST-coated carbide tools. Int. J. Adv. Manuf.
Technol. 36(7), 650–657 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-006-0899-2
6. Bosheh, S.S., Mativenga, P.T.: White layer formation in hard turning of H13 tool steel at high
cutting speeds using CBN tooling. Int. J. Mach. Tools Manuf. 46(2), 225–233 (2006). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2005.04.009
7. Han, S., Melkote, S.N., Haluska, M.S., Watkins, T.R.: White layer formation due to phase
transformation in orthogonal machining of AISI 1045 annealed steel. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 488(1–
2), 195–204 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2007.11.081
8. Kishawy, W.A., Elbestawi, M.A.: Tool wear and surface integrity during high-speed turning of
hardened steel with polycrystalline cubic boron nitride tools. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part B J.
Eng. Manuf. 215(6), 755–767 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1243/0954405011518700
9. Chou, Y.K., Song, H.: Tool nose radius effects on finish hard turning. J. Mater. Process. Technol.
148(2), 259–268 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2003.10.029
10. Hosseini, S.B., Beno, T., Klement, U., Kaminski, J., Ryttberg, K.: Cutting temperatures in hard
turning—measurement and effects on white layer formation in AISI 52100. J. Mater. Process.
Technol. 214(6), 1293–1300 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2014.01.016
11. Zhang, X.M., Chen, L., Ding, H.: Effect of process parameters on white layer formation and
morphology in hard turning of AISI 52100 steel. J. Manuf. Sci. Eng. 138(7), 074502 (1–9)
(2016). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4032769
12. Poulachon, G., Albert, A., Schluraff, M., Jawahir, I.S.: An experimental investigation of work
material microstructure effects on white layer formation in PCBN hard turning. Int. J. Adv.
Manuf. Technol. 45(2), 211–218 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2004.07.009
13. Cappellini, C., Attansio, A., Rotella, G., Umbrello, D.: Formation of white and dark layers in
hard cutting: influence of tool wear. Int. J. Mater. Form. 3, 455–458 (2010). https://doi.org/10.
1007/s12289-010-0805-1
14. Zhang, F.Y., Chun-Zheng, D., Min-jie, W., Wei, S.: White and dark layer formation mechanism
in hard cutting of AISI 52100 steel. J. Manuf. Process. 32, 878–887 (2018). https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.jmapro.2018.04.011
Effect of µEDM Milling Process
Parameters on Surface Roughness
During Machining Ti–6Al–4V
Basil Kuriachen and Jose Mathew
Abstract Micro-electric discharge milling (µEDM milling) is one of the important

nontraditional micro-manufacturing processes which has the capabilities to make
three-dimensional micro-components on difficult to machine materials like Ti–6Al–
4V. In this study, the effect of various µEDM milling process variables on surface
finish (Ra value) has been studied by adopting the Box–Behnken design of response
surface methodology. Capacitance, voltage, electrode rotational speed and feed rate
as well as their level of significance on surface roughness has been studied with anal-
ysis of variance. Results showed that capacitance is the important process variable
which influences the responses.
Keywords Response surface methodology · µEDM milling · Ti–6Al–4V ·

Desirability · Surface roughness
1 Introduction
Titanium and its alloys are some of the most unavoidable metals in aerospace and
biomedical industries due to their light weight, good fatigue strength, corrosion resis-
tance, biocompatibility, and high strength-to-weight ratio. Despite the fact that it has
wide range of applications, there are some difficulties present in the extraction proce-
dure, low machinability rating and it maintains high strength at elevated temperatures.
In addition, processing of these alloys is found to be challenging in conventional
machining methods because of its low thermal conductivity and low modulus of
elasticity which is responsible for the spring back after the removal of machining
load. It adversely affects the dimensional accuracy especially in micro-machining of
B. Kuriachen (B)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Mizoram, Aizawl,
Mizoram 796012, India
e-mail: basilkuriachen@gmail.com
J. Mathew
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Calicut, Kerala
673601, India

420 B. Kuriachen and J. Mathew
titanium alloys. Hence, µEDM milling is one of the best suitable micromachining
processes for fabricating micro-components on titanium and its alloys [1].
µEDM is a non-traditional micro-machining technique which has the capability
to process any electrically conductive materials irrespective of its mechanical proper-
ties. In this process, the work piece and the tool are placed in such a way to maintain
a suitable inter-electrode gap. Once the required potential difference is applied, the
electrons are starting to emit from the cathode surface and it is accelerated towards
the anode surface. Similarly, the ions are accelerated towards the cathode. The colli-
sion of electrons and ions on the anode and cathode surface respectively coverts the
kinetic energy of respective electron or ion into thermal energy. The high tempera-
ture generated on the surfaces due to these rapid and repetitive electric discharges,
melts, and vaporizes small volume of material from both electrodes. µEDM milling
works with the same principle along with the tool movement strategy in the conven-
tional milling. Here, the µEDM tool is moved on the work piece surface in order to
achieve the required shape. Due to its inherent characteristics, it is capable of fab-
ricating three-dimensional complex micro-components and micro-features. Even if
EDM has been used for processing electrically conductive materials, the mechanism
of material erosion is not yet fully explored as well as only a very few researchers
have studied the capability of EDM to machine titanium and its alloys.
Karthikeyan et al. [2] performed µEDM milling on EN24 die steel with a cylindri-
cal tungsten electrode to investigate the effect and interaction of the process parame-
ters such as discharge energy, speed, feed rate, and aspect ratio and generated regres-
sion models for tool wear rate (TWR) and Material removal rate (MRR). Among the
parameters selected for study, tool rotation speed has a significant role in achieving
the desired MRR by enhancing dielectric flushing. Mehfuz and Ali [3] have explored
the effect of different µEDM milling variables parameters such as feed rate, capac-
itance, and voltage on the selected responses of surface roughness, maximum peak
to valley roughness height, tool wear ratio, and MRR. Experimental models also
were developed with the help of three level full factorial designs and desirability
function approach to do the multi response optimization. Capacitance and voltage
have significantly influenced on both surface roughness and tool wear ratio. All the
three parameters have strong individual effects on MRR. Beryllium copper alloy and
tungsten were selected as the work piece and tool material respectively. Comparison
of material migration occur during µEDM milling and die sinking has been done
by Jahan et al. [4] and found that material from both work piece and tool migrates
to each other depending on the machining conditions. Due to the decomposition of
dielectrics a significant amount of carbon migrates to both electrodes. In milling
µEDM surface defects get reduced and surface become smoother compared to sink-
ing µEDM. Work piece, tool electrode and dielectric used for the comparison were
tungsten carbide, tungsten, and total EDM3 oil respectively.
Bissacco et al. [5] presented an investigation on wear and material removal in
µEDM milling for selected process parameters combination on machining of micro-
features in steel. They have measured electrode wear and material removal per dis-
charge for various energy levels. The working phenomenon of µEDM milling has
been presented by Karthikeyan et al. [6] and they stated that the effect of tool rotation
Effect of µEDM Milling Process Parameters on Surface Roughness … 421
is not only disturbs the final shape and form of channel. Molten metal flows certain
distance before solidification because of the centrifugal and viscous forces and accu-
mulate on one side of the channel made in EN24. Milling marks are also found at low
discharge energies and this disappeared at high discharge energy due to re deposi-
tion. Wei et al. [7] developed a new square constraint interpolation method of variable
period and step size in µEDM to improve the efficiency of µEDM milling in machin-
ing hard to machine materials. Using this method, short circuits can be prevented
and attained 30% efficiency of machining hard to machine materials. Jahan et al. [8]
have investigated the feasibility of improving surface characteristics of µEDM of
cemented tungsten carbide with graphite nano powder mixed dielectric. They com-
pared the performance of nano powder mixed die sinking µEDM and µEDM milling
and discussed the effect of graphite powder concentration on the spark gap, material
removal rate (MRR) and electrode wear ratio. It has been observed that powder mixed
dielectric can significantly improve the surface finish, enhance MRR and reduce the
EWR (electrode wear rate). Among the two processes, they observed smoother and
defect free surface in µEDM milling compared to sinking µEDM.
Kuriachen and Mathew [1] have studied the effect of important micro-electric
discharge milling process parameters such as capacitance, voltage, electrode rota-
tional speed and feed rate on MRR and TWR using response surface methodol-
ogy. They found that capacitance and feed rate are the most influencing parame-
ters for responses. Due to high level of osseointegration of titanium alloys, micro-
components, and implants on titanium alloys are highly demanded in biomedical
industries. Hence micro-manufacturing of these alloys and the precise characteri-
zation of surface roughness as well as the dimensional accuracy are of paramount
importance. Even though many studies were reported on µEDM milling, the focus
of these studies were mostly on ferrous materials and establishing the relationship
between the process parameters and machining responses such as material removal
rate and tool wear rate, etc. The main objective of this article is to analyze the
effect of important micro-EDM milling machining responses exclusively for surface
roughness.
2 Experiments and Methods
In this study, Ti–6Al–4V with 2 mm thick sheet has been used as the work piece. It has
wide range of applications in biomedical and dental implants. µEDM milling is one
of the best alternatives for machining micro-components in Ti–6Al–4V. Tungsten
carbide with a diameter of 400 µm and total EDM-3 oil have been used as the tool
electrode and dielectric fluid respectively. In this work, experiments were conducted
based on resistance-capacitance type µEDM milling set up (Make: Mikrotools Pvt.
Ltd., Model: DT110) as shown in Fig. 1. Since the discharge energy in RC discharge
circuit depends on capacitance and discharge voltage, they have been selected as the
important process parameters with feed rate and electrode rotational speed in this
investigation. Surface roughness has been selected as the response variables and was
Fig. 1 Experimental set up
measured using 3D non-contact surface roughness tester (Make: Taylor Hobson).

Experiments were planned based on response surface methodology. All the process
parameters were varied at three different levels. Altogether, 29 experiments were
performed as per the Box Behnken statistical design for three level-four factors with
five repeated center runs.
The surface finish of machined components is generally expressed in terms of arith-

metic mean deviation of the roughness profile (Ra). It is observed that surface rough-
ness was influenced by input parameters and various significantly from 0.336 to
1.99 µm. Hence, in order to investigate the capability of the µEDM milling process
to machine Ti–6Al–4V with minimum surface roughness and to study the effect of
different process parameters on surface roughness, a statistical study was conducted.
The analysis of variance is conducted to understand the adequacy of the model and to
investigate the level of significance of each individual and interactive terms. Table 1
depicts the analysis of variance for the developed model (95% confidence level) for
Surface roughness (Ra).
The F-value of 11.54 shows the developed experimental or mathematical model
is significant in the design space. The “Pred R-squared” of 0.5764 is in reasonable
agreement with the “Adj R-squared” of 0.6932. “Adeq Precision” measures the signal-
to-noise ratio and here it is 14.381. A ratio greater than 4 is desirable. The “R-squared”
of 0.7589 is observed hence this model can be used to navigate in the design space.
Table 1 Analysis of variance table for surface roughness

Source SS df MS F value P-value Prob > F
Model 0.73 6 0.12 11.54 7.568E−06
A-Voltage 0.094 1 0.09 9.004 0.006582
B-Capacitance 0.43 1 0.43 40.91 1.95E−06
C-Electrode rotation speed 0.001 1 0.001 0.13 0.7179556
BC 0.092 1 0.09 8.81 0.0070881
B2 0.033 1 0.03 3.22 0.0864685
C2 0.061 1 0.06 5.78 0.0249719
Residual 0.23 22 0.01
Lack of fit 0.18 18 0.01 0.80 0.6716395
Pure error 0.05 4 0.01
Cor. total 0.96 28
From F and P-values, it can be understood that voltage, capacitance, interaction of

capacitance and electrode rotational speed as well as the quadratic term of electrode
rotational speed are the significant factors. In addition, in order to maintain the
hierarchy of the developed model, C and B2 are also included in the model.
The main effect plot for surface roughness is shown in Fig. 2 and observed that
both capacitance and voltage are directly proportional to surface roughness. While
the capacitance and voltage increase, the discharge energy also increases thereby the
material removal. Once more discharge energy is released into the inter electrode
gap, the crater produced per spark become shallower and bigger in diameter. It results
Fig. 2 Main effect plot for surface roughness

in the increase in the crater depth and diameter thereby the surface roughness also
gets increases. Hence, a high Ra value is observed at higher levels of capacitance
and voltage. It has been confirmed with 2D and 3D interaction plots as shown in
Figs. 3 and 4 respectively. From the ANOVA table (Table 1), it is found that the
effect of electrode rotation speed and feed rate of the tool electrode are insignificant.
Hence, these factors do not have much influence in the variation of surface roughness.
Fig. 3 2D BC interaction
Fig. 4 3D BC interaction
Fig. 5 Normal probability plot of residuals
The line average roughness (Ra ) surface average roughness (S a ) measurements for
one experiment out of 29 experiments are depicted in Fig. 7. ANOVA procedure
was further analyzed with diagnostic plots in the following sections. The normal
probabilities of residuals, residuals versus predicted and residual versus run order
were performed for surface roughness.
In this analysis of assumption of normality (Fig. 5), it was found that almost all
the points are clustered around the line indicating that the errors are approximately
normal. Hence, the assumption of normality is valid. From the analysis of residual
versus Predicted values (Fig. 6), it can be easily observed that approximately half
of the points are above and remaining are below the zero line without following any
regular shape. This shows the assumption of error terms having mean zero is valid.
The residuals for each experimental run were checked in order to verify the random
distribution of residuals and found that the residuals are randomly distributed without
any specific trends (Fig. 7).
4 Conclusions
In this research work, Ti–6Al–4V was successfully machined using µEDM milling.
The experiments were conducted based on Box–Behnken design of response surface
methodology by conducting 29 experiments for four factors at three levels. The
quadratic models for overcut and surface roughness have been developed to correlate
the significant machining parameters: voltage, capacitance, electrode rotational speed
Fig. 6 Plot of residual versus predicted values
Fig. 7 3D and 2D roughness graph of Ti–6Al–4V µEDM milling at a capacitance value of 0.01 µF,
voltage of 80 V, electrode rotational speed of 1000 rpm and feed rate of 12 mm/min
and feed rate. Based on the experimental investigation, the following conclusions
were drawn:
i. µEDM milling is an adequate process to machine micro-components on difficult
to machine materials like Ti–6Al–4V with required dimensional accuracy.
ii. The surface roughness ranged from 0.336 to 1.99 µm. The minimum surface
roughness obtained at a voltage of 80 V, capacitance of 0.01 µF, electrode
rotational speed of 1000 rpm and a feed rate of 12 mm/min.
iii. Voltage, capacitance and interaction of capacitance and ERS as well as quadratic
terms of ERS are found to be the significant factors.
iv. Capitance is found to be the more significant factor for surface roughness of the
µEDM milled surface.
References
1. Kuriachen, B., Mathew, J.: Experimental investigations into the effects of micro electric-
discharge milling process parameters on Ti-6Al-4V. Mater. Manuf. Process. (2014). https://
doi.org/10.1080/10426914.2014.984206
2. Karthikeyan, G., Ramkumar, J., Dhamodaran, S., Aravindan, S.: Micro electric discharge milling
process performance: an experimental investigation. Int. J. Mach. Tools Manuf. 50(8), 718–727
(2010)
3. Mehfuz, R., Ali, M.Y.: Investigation of machining parameters for the multiple-response opti-
mization of micro electro discharge milling. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 43(3–4), 264–275
(2009)
4. Jahan, M.P., Rahman, M., Wong, Y.S.: Migration of materials during finishing micro-EDM of
tungsten carbide. Key Eng. Mater. 443(2010), 681–686 (2010)
5. Bissacco, G., Valentincic, J., Hansen, H.N., Wiwe, B.D.: Towards the effective tool wear control
in micro-EDM milling. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 47(1–4), 3–9 (2010)
6. Karthikeyan, G., Garg, A.K., Ramkumar, J., Dhamodaran, S.: A microscopic investigation of
machining behavior in µED-milling process. J. Manuf. Process. 14(3), 297–306 (2012)
7. Wei, L., Zhang, L., Liu, W., Jia, Z., Li, A.: A new interpolation method of variable period and step
size in micro-EDM milling based on square constraint. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 63(5–8),
621–629 (2012)
8. Jahan, M.P., Rahman, M., Wong, Y.S.: Study on the nano-powder-mixed sinking and milling
micro-EDM of WC-Co. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 53(1–4), 167–180 (2011)
Analysis of Chip Formation of AISI
52100 Steel During Hard Turning
with Newly Developed HSN2 Coated
Carbide Insert
Anupam Alok and Manas Das
Abstract Study of chip morphology at high speed in hard machining is a very chal-
lenging task while machining hard materials. In the field of ecological manufacturing,
the demand for eco-friendly manufacturing process is increasing day by day which
produced quick growth of making profit for coatings and achieved better solution
regarding environmental issues that occur while machining with lubricant. In the
present study, a new coating material (HSN2 ) is used on carbide insert for turning
material having hardness 55 HRC. Here, chip formation and its related analysis are
carried out while turning hardened AISI 52100 steel. The chips during machining
are collected at different cutting conditions. The chip morphology is analyzed by
using optical microscope. The chip morphology like maximum and minimum chip
thickness, chip length and localized shear angle are analyzed. Further, segmentation
degree, shear angle and chip reduction ratio are calculated from analytical equations
and their variation are studied.
Keywords Hard turning · AISI 52100 steel · HSN2 coating · Chip morphology ·
Eco-friendly manufacturing
1 Introduction
Manufacturing is constantly changing nowadays due to certain key factors like

resource limitation, competition in market and increasing expectations. Machining
of hard material is a matter of great attention for recent industrial invention and
scientific research [1]. Hard tuning is done for material having Rockwell hardness
between 45 and 68 using a variety of tipped cutting inserts namely CBN and coated
carbide tools. There are many advantages of hard turning as compared to traditional
machining operations. The most specific advantages like good dimensional tolerance
as well as better surface finish can be obtained. The problems that are faced during
A. Alok · M. Das (B)

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam 781039, India
e-mail: manasdas@iitg.ac.in
A. Alok
e-mail: anupam.alok@iitg.ac.in
430 A. Alok and M. Das
heat treatment operations like distortion can also be easily eliminated using hard
turning. Therefore, the time and cost of operations can be reduced very efficiently
in hard machining. Cutting tool material and its properties are very important aspect
as the inserts need to withstand very high temperature during machining. The tool
should have resistance to abrasive wear as well as should have high toughness so that
it can resist edge micro-chipping and breakage. The tool should be chemically stable
and should have high thermal conductivity. Cemented carbide is the most widely
used cutting tool.
During hard turning, an important field that needs to be studied is chip morphology
as it is one of the most crucial factors when it comes to nature of the machining
process. The parameters on which chip formation and its nature depends are feed
rate (f ), depth of cut (t), cutting speed (V c ), type of the insert and work-piece, tool-
chip interface friction, rake and clearance angle and so on. Some of these parameters
play a less significant role in deciding chip morphology as compared to others [2, 3].
In recent manufacturing trends, the study of chip formation is extensively increased
mainly in hard turning process. It is very important to conduct studies on formation
of chip and its morphology to decide the material property of the insert as well as
choice of tool geometry. Also the issues related to the formation of white layer and
residual stress concentration are majorly affected due to chip formation. It can be
seen from the experimental work by Poulachon and Moisan [4] and Dolinšek et al.
[5] that feed, cutting velocity and depth of cut adversely affect the chip morphology.
Chip formation can be of different types like segmented, serrated continuous, etc.
due to the interplay between all or some of the above-mentioned process parameters
[6]. Studies related to the formation of serrated chip were conducted by Kountanya
et al. [7]. The effect of cutting velocity on the formation of chip, rake angle and
edge hone were their main considerations [7]. Presently, high speed cutting (HSC) is
an important technique used for rough machining when it comes to manufacturing
of machine components [8]. Suresh et al. [9] found that hard turning gives a lot of
advantages over grinding process. A few of its advantages include higher productivity
owing to higher material removal rate, minimum cost of processing, enhancement in
properties of materials, etc. Suresh et al. [9] carried out multilayer TiN/TiCN/Al2 O3
coated cemented carbide tools with CVD technique while turning hardened AISI
4340 steel having hardness of 48 HRC. One of the most commonly used and readily
available example of hardened steel is bearing steel (AISI 52100).
In the current study, a precision lathe (high speed HMT NH-26) is used to conduct
the experiments. A three phase induction motor of rated power 11 kW is used to
drive the spindle. Twenty-three different speeds ranging between 40 and 2040 rpm
and feeds between 0.04 and 2.24 mm/rev are available in the lathe machine.
Analysis of Chip Formation of AISI 52100 Steel During Hard … 431
Fig. 1 Elemental analysis of AISI 52100 steel
2.1 Material Selection
Proper selection of insert material, insert geometry and cutting conditions for a given
work material and its thermal and mechanical properties are some of the key factors
for metal cutting operation. For turning bearing steel having hardness 55 HRC, HSN2
coating is used on the cermet tool insert. Figure 1 shows the elemental composition of
AISI 52100 steel obtained after energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis.
ISO class KU10 inserts (cemented carbide) are coated with HSN2 (TiAlxN super
nitride generation II) having 12 µm thickness using PVD technique. The insert
geometry has ISO designation, i.e., CNMG 120408MBB and the tool holder has
MCLNR 2020 K12-BB designation. The tool has a clearance angle of 0°. Figure 2
shows the experimental set up. The experiments are conducted at various cutting
speed (V c ) as displayed in Table 1 keeping parameters like f and t as constant
(0.1 mm/rev and 0.08 mm, respectively). Another set of experiments are conducted
in which t and V c ) are kept constant as 0.08 mm and 170 m/min, respectively and
the f is varied.
2.2 Geometry of the Chip
Optical microscope is used to observe the chip micrographs that produced during
experiments. The procedure followed is polishing and moulding of the chips with
the help of a BUEHLER polisher. From optical micrograph, thickness of the chip
(t max and t min ), segment distance (d ch ) and angle of inclination (φ seg ) measurements
are carried out. The degree of segmentation (δ) is calculated [10] as
tmax − tmin
δ= (1)
tmax
Workpiece
Coated carbide insert
Dynamometer
Fig. 2 Photograph of experimental set up
Table 1 Process parameters during hard turning

Process parameters Range of cutting parameters
Cutting speed, V c (m/min) 100 130 170 222 288
Feed rate, f (mm/rev) 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14
Depth of cut, t (mm) 0.08
The schematic diagram of chip generation is shown in Fig. 3. The segment incli-
nation angle (φ seg ), also called as localized shear angle, as well as shear angle (φ) are
shown in Fig. 3. Although it is not possible to measure shear angle directly from the
chips that are produced, however, the segment angle of inclination can be measured.
The relation between shear angle (φ), pitch of serrated chip (d), length (p) and seg-
mentation angle (φ seg ) can be obtained utilizing the condition of incompressibility
in plastic deformation [10] as

t ×d tmax
t×p= = dch × − dch tan φseg (2)
sin φ cos φseg
where t is depth of cut and d ch is pitch of segmented chip length. Figure 4 shows
the optical microscope morphology of the chip after hard turning. Assuming the
magnitude of d and d ch are approximately equal, the estimation of shear angle can
be calculated [10] as

t
φ = arcsin (3)
tmax
cos φseg
− dch tan φseg
In this section, the average values of maximum (t max ) and minimum chip thickness
(t min ), length (p) and localized shear angle (φ) are measured by experiment and
further plotted and analyzed at different experimental conditions. Average value of
minimum three readings is considered.
3.1 Chip Thickness
The variation of chip thickness with respect to speed of cutting is shown in Fig. 5a.
As the V c increases, the cutting temperature also increases. At elevated temperature,
material softening occurs, and machining forces decreases. As a result, the thickness
Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of chip generation during turning
Fig. 4 Chip morphology at V c = 130 m/min, f = 0.1 mm/rev and t = 0.08 mm

Fig. 5 Variation of chip thickness at different, a V c and b f
of the chip decreases. The plot of chip thickness versus f is displayed in Fig. 5b
where it is seen that as the f increases, the thickness of chip increases. This is because
as f increases, the unreformed chip thickness increases. Also, the tangential force is
proportional to the unreformed chip thickness. Due to this increased unreformed chip
thickness, shear plane area increases which leads to the increase in chip thickness.
3.2 Segmentation Degree
The nature of segmentation degree versus V c plot is shown in Fig. 6a. It is clear that
initially segmentation degree decreases with cutting speed. After that within 131–
170 m/min of V c , its value initially increases and again decreases. Finally, the value
of segmentation degree increases at higher V c (Fig. 6a). Also, the trend in variation
in segmentation degree changes with f. Initially, it increases and after that its value
Fig. 6 Variation of segmentation degree at different, a V c and b f

Fig. 7 Variation of chip reduction ratio at different, a V c and b f
decreases at higher f (Fig. 6b). Higher V c leads to high heat generation in the cutting
zone resulting in reduced peak height and increased shear instability. This increased
shear instability results in a reduction in valley height and increased tooth height
thus increasing chip segmentation. At low V c , discontinuous chip is formed and at
high V c continuous chip is formed. Similarly, at lower f, the formation of chip is
continuous and discontinuous chip is formed at higher f.
Chip reduction ratio

Figure 7a, b show the variation of chip reduction ratio with V c and f, respectively.
The value of chip reduction ratio near to 1 represents favorable cutting condition at
higher cutting speed. Similarly, from Fig. 7b it can be seen that at lower f the value
of chip reduction ratio is near to 1 which means lower f is good for cutting process
for the present tool and work-piece combination.
Localized shear angle and shear angle
For understanding the mechanism of chip formation, the study of localized shear
angle and shear angle is required. At higher V c , rate of plastic deformation decreases
and the value of shear angle and localized shear angle increases (Figs. 8a, 9a) per-
mitting the reduction in area or section of shearing. Hence, cutting force decreases.
Due to this both shear angle and localized shear angle increases at higher cutting
speed. From Fig. 9a, it is observed that at higher V c shear angle approaches to its
limiting value of 45°. This is expected due to continuous chip formation at very high
V c . With increasing f both localized shear angle (Fig. 8b) and shear angle (Fig. 9b)
decrease. From Figs. 8b and 9b, it is clear that both localized shear angle and shear
angle approaches to 45° at lower speed, so, lower feed rate is better for hard turning.
Fig. 8 Variation of localized shear angle at different, a V c and b f
Fig. 9 Variation shear angle at different, a V c and b f
4 Conclusions
The influence of cutting speed and feed on chip morphology is analyzed for orthogo-
nal cutting of AISI 52100 steel with HSN2 coated carbide insert. From experimental
results it is observed that chip reduction ratio tends to 1 at higher cutting speed and
lower feed rate. Hence, higher cutting speed and lower feed rate are favorable while
turning AISI 52100 steel with the current insert. The value of shear angle at higher
cutting speed approaches to 45° which indicates chip formation at high cutting speed
is good. The phenomena of chip formation can illuminate the evolution of attempts
with cutting speed particularly at higher cutting speed while saturation is observed.
References
1. Bouacha, K., Yallese, A.M., Khamel, S., Belhadi, S.: Analysis and optimization of hard turning
operation using cubic boron nitride tool. Int. J. Refract. Met. Hard Mater. 45, 160–178 (2014)
2. Piispanen, V.: Theory of formation of metal chips. J. Appl. Phys. 19, 876–881 (1948)
3. Wang, B., Liu, Z.: Evaluation on fracture locus of serrated chip generation with stress triaxiality
in high speed machining of Ti6Al4V. Mater. Des. 98, 68–78 (2016)
4. Poulachon, G., Moisan, A.L.: Hard turning: chip formation mechanisms and metallurgical
aspects. J. Manuf. Sci. Eng. 122, 406 (2000)
5. Dolinšek, S., Ekinović, S., Kopač, J.: A contribution to the understanding of chip formation
mechanism in high-speed cutting of hardened steel. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 157–158, 485–
490 (2004)
6. Afonasov, A.I., Lasukov, A.A.: Elementary chip formation in metal cutting. Russ. Eng. Res.
34, 152–155 (2014)
7. Kountanya, R., Al-Zkeri, I., Altan, T.: Effect of tool edge geometry and cutting conditions on
experimental and simulated chip morphology in orthogonal hard turning of 100Cr6 Steel. J.
Mater. Process. Technol. 209, 5068–5076 (2009)
8. Bartarya, G., Choudhury, S.K.: Effect of cutting parameters on cutting force and surface rough-
ness during finish hard turning AISI52100 grade steel. Procedia CIRP 1, 651–656 (2012)
9. Suresh, R., Basavarajappa, S., Samuel, G.L.: Some studies on hard turning of AISI 4340 steel
using multilayer coated carbide tool. Measurement 45, 1872–1884 (2012)
10. Sutter, G., List, G.: Very high speed cutting of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy—change in morphology
and mechanism of chip formation. Int. J. Mach. Tools Manuf. 66, 37–43 (2013)
Minimization of Transportation Cost
of Paraffin Wax: A Proposed Approach
Using C
Priyanka Hazarika and Chinmoy S. Kalita
Abstract Transportation problems are concerned with the distribution of products

from various origins to different destinations with the primary objective of achieving
minimum cost. In this paper, a real-world application of transportation problem
has been discussed using C programming involving transportation of paraffin wax.
A new model had been proposed in this work which achieved the minimum total
transportation cost compared to the existing approaches by successively reducing
the complexities in the iterations to get the final cost. To support the effectiveness of
the proposed approach it was justified with the help of solver in excel and compared
with other models in terms of total cost and time complexity.
Keywords VAM · NWCM · MODI · Solver · C program · Cost matrix ·

Transportation cost
1 Introduction
Transportation problem is a particular class of linear programming, which is associ-

ated with day-to-day activities in our real life and mainly deals with logistics [1]. It is
a typical operation research technique which intends to establish the “least cost route”
for transportation of goods and services from supply points (origin) to demand points
(destination). The transportation problem seeks to minimize the total shipping costs
of transporting goods from m origins to n destinations using Linear Programming
Problem (LPP) [2].
The transportation problem can be formulated in the form of a 2-d matrix where
each ith origin having capacity supply amount si along with demand amount d j for
each jth destination. If cij is the cost from ith source to jth destination. The objective
for solving Transportation Problem is finding the amount of product x ij transferred
P. Hazarika
Jorhat Engineering College, Jorhat, India
C. S. Kalita (B)
National Institute of Technology Durgapur, Durgapur, India
e-mail: chinmoykalita19@gmail.com

440 P. Hazarika and C. S. Kalita
from ith source to jth destination so that cost is minimized. This can be represented
in form of LPP [3] as follows:
Minimize

m
n
Z= ci j xi j
i=1 j=1
Subject to

n
xi j ≤ si
j=1

m
xi j ≥ di xi j ≥ 0
i=1
Following this formulation of LPP a mathematical model is required to solve it.

There are some existing algorithms to solve the Transportation Problem such as
North West Corner Rule (NWC), Least Cost Method (LCM), and Vogel’s Approxi-
mation Method (VAM). Some of these algorithms are discussed in this paper along
with their limitations which motivates us to propose a new algorithm.
This paper presents a new scheme which minimizes the total transportation cost
by reducing the complexity in the iterations involved in earlier methods and its
implementation is further justified with the help of solver in MS Excel. The results
obtained in this paper are achieved with the help of programming in C.
2 Literature Review
In this study, various models for solving the transportation problem has been analysed
with the objective of minimizing the transportation cost. Some of the well-known
methods such as North West Corner [4], Vogel’s Approximation Method (VAM)
[5] have been used to solve transportation problems for many decades. Some of
the researchers have tried to modify some of these existing models to propose their
own. Such as Shimshak et al.’s version of VAM [2], Goal’s version of VAM [6],
Ramakrishna’s version of VAM [7] are some of the modifications to optimal solution
when the numbers of destinations are more. In [1] presented a review on the various
methods present to transportation problems. Adlakha and Kowalski [8], Lev et al. [9]
provided a theory based on absolute point. In [10] a probabilistic time manufacturing
technique has been presented. Alhaz et al. [3] showed an approach for obtaining a
good primal solution over a wide range of transportation problems. Besides these
[11] has used programming model to minimize the cost and [12] explains the use of
solver and other programming approaches. Also many heuristic methods have also
Minimization of Transportation Cost of Paraffin Wax: A Proposed … 441
been proposed. Adlakha and Kowalski [11], Satir and Kirca [13], Sharma and Prasad
[14] proposed heuristics models to minimize the transportation cost in the initial
feasible solution. However heuristic approaches may fail sometimes to account for
better results or take time to arrive at an optimal solution.
In this paper, a new approach for solving the transportation problem has been
discussed to reduce the complexity of the iterations as well as the time required to
attain the minimum transportation cost. It is justified with the help of solver in excel
and compared with other existing models.
Paper is organized as follows. First of all it represents a problem statement and the
methodology for the proposed work. Both NWCM and VAM are illustrated along
with the proposed approach in C and Solver. The conclusion and future scope are
provided in the last section.
3 Problem Statement
Transportation models are used to decide the transportation of finished goods from
different manufacturing plants to the different destinations with the objective of
minimizing the total transportation cost.
3.1 Methodology
Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), Assam has three warehouses for the primary
storage of paraffin wax and its domestic market has been divided into four zones,
namely North, South, East, and West. On the basis of the data collected the cost matrix
for the transportation problem is constructed with three sources and four destinations.
The cost obtained by the different models is compared with the proposed approach
to find the least transportation cost for shipping of slabs.
The transportation problem can be represented in a concise tabular form where
supply from available sources is shown in the far right column and the demand at
destination requirements are shown in the bottom row [13]. Each cell represents one
route. The contents of each cell represent unit shipping cost.
3.2 Sources of Data
The source of data collected from the aforesaid organization can be categorized into
two main types for the production year 2015–17.
Primary data. Mode of transportation: long platform (LP) trucks each carrying
weights of 25 metric tons (MT). Cost for transportation of 25 MT of wax slabs = Rs.
60/km Therefore, cost for transportation of 1 MT of wax slab = Rs. 2.4/km, which
Table 1 Transportation cost matrix

Origin (wax plant) East (E) West (W) North (N) South (S) Supply
O1 15.25 25.5 10.73 35.02 5
O2 9.75 20.03 8.6 30.5 5
O3 12.3 30.23 15.1 25.5 4
14
DEMAND 2 4 3 5 14
is the Average base cost (BS). Both the supply and demand are in hundred metric
tons (HMT) unit for a production year.
Secondary data. It consists of the list of cities from where the traders operate.
Its analysis provides the total transportation cost as
Cost of transportation from source to destination

= BS ∗ distance covered in k.ms ∗ HMT (1)
Since NRL covers a part of the transportation cost, therefore it does not consider
the entire course of distance between the source and destination. The rest of the
transportation cost is barred by the respective traders based on their term of agreement
which is not considered for use in this work.
Therefore the transportation matrix obtained is as in Table 1.
4 Proposed Method
The new method is proposed to generate minimized transportation cost which focuses
to reduce the number of iterations involved to obtain the final result. The steps
involved in the proposed approach are as follows:
Step 1: From the transportation cost matrix given in Table 1, the origins having
minimum unit cost are selected for each of the destinations. The names of the desti-
nations and their corresponding minimum cost origins are recorded by constructing
a destination-origin (D-O) table. The destinations may have the same origin or dif-
ferent.
Step 2: From the D-O table the destinations having unique source is selected for
further processing else move to step 3. For the unique source its corresponding cell
is associated with min (supply, demand) value. Then that particular row or column is
deleted where the supply or demand has exhausted and is not considered for further
iterations.
Step 3: If step 2 fails then feasible minimum value (FMV) is found out. The FMV
contains the difference in the minimum and next minimum unit cost values for the
destinations when the sources are identical. FMV is defined as follows:
FMV = Minimum.cost − next minimum.cost
Step 4: The destination having the highest FMV is selected and its corresponding cell
is associated with min (supply, demand) value. Then that particular row or column is
deleted where the supply or demand has exhausted and is not considered for further
iterations.
Step 5: The steps 1–4 are repeated until all the demand and supply are exhausted.
Step 6: After all the successive iterations have completed successfully the total cost
is calculated as follows:

m
n
T ot al C ost = Csd xsd (2)
s=1 d=1
where Csd is the unit cost and xsd is the allocated number of units of supply or
demand.
5 Introduction to C
It is one of the highly efficient and structured programming language. It can be used
for representing various solutions by programming the problem with C language. It
is used mostly in design of operating system.
6 Calculations
Programming the transportation problems in C to find the cost of transportation of

materials from source to destination, C language has been used in the above men-
tioned transportation model along with the proposed approach. The transportation
cost obtained using C are discussed below.
6.1 NWCM
The transportation cost for NWCM from the assigned allocations is Rs. 285.3 (Fig. 1).
Which gives the total transportation cost as Rs. 285.3 × 10,000 = Rs. 2,853,300.
Fig. 1 NWCM screen shot
6.2 VAM
The transportation cost for VAM from the assigned allocations is Rs. 274.33 (Fig. 2).
Which gives the total transportation cost as Rs. 274.33 × 10,000 = Rs. 2,743,300
(Fig. 3).
6.3 MODI
The transportation cost for MODI from the assigned allocations is Rs. 274.3.
Which gives the total transportation cost as Rs. 274.3 × 10,000 = Rs.2,743,000.
6.4 Proposed
The transportation cost for the proposed approach from the assigned allocations is
Rs. 274.3.
Which gives the total transportation cost as Rs. 274.3 × 10,000 = Rs. 2,743,000
(Fig. 4).
Fig. 2 VAM screen shot
Fig. 3 MODI screen shot

Fig. 4 Proposed model

screen shot
6.5 Modeling
An initial solution can be found by using excel solver. Excel is a powerful tool where
the data is presented in rows and columns. Solver is a Microsoft Excel add-in program
to find an optimal (maximum or minimum) value for a formula in one cell called the
objective cell. It determines the maximum or minimum value of one cell by changing
other cells and proves effective for performing analysis on the data.
The final Excel screen shot gives the total minimum transportation cost (Fig. 5).
Total cost of transportations = 274.3 or 274.3 ∗ 1000 = Rs. 274,300.
7 Time Complexity
The time complexity is a very important feature for algorithms to know the time
consumed for completion of a task. Also this feature ensures that the algorithm with
the lowest time complexity is effective and hence completes the desired task in the
least possible time.
Following the implementation of C program the time complexity for all the above
discussed models are found out. Since VAM method results in minimum transporta-
tion cost. Therefore, for “n” rows, “m” columns and “i” iterations its time complexity
found is O(n + m − 1 + max (2 ∗ i ∗ cost of penalty row/column)), whereas for the
Fig. 5 Final screen shot
proposed approach the time complexity is found out to be O(n + m − 1 + max (i ∗

cost of D.O table)).
8 Results
Following the implementation of the transportation models in C the cost obtained

through NWCM is Rs. 2,853,300 which is much higher compared to VAM where it is
Rs. 2,743,300. Therefore the cost obtained through VAM is tested for optimality using
MODI. The transportation cost obtained through proposed method is Rs. 2,743,000
which is equal to the cost recognized through MODI. This establishes that the total
transportation cost cannot be further optimized and hence accepted as the final cost
for transportation of wax slabs.
For better human understanding the transportation cost matrix table was plotted
in excel and was solved using solver. The results obtained through solver stands at
Rs. 2,743,000 which is equivalent to the solution obtained using C program.
In this work various methods were analysed with the help of C program for obtaining
minimum transportation cost. The results obtained through the proposed approach
was found equivalent to the result from MODI which proves that the result cannot be
further optimized. Using solver established the acceptability of the proposed model
with least time complexity and minimum transportation cost among NWCM, VAM.
The proposed approach has to be validated with transportation problems related
to various industries which can be kept as a future work.
References
1. Gass, S.I.: On solving the transportation problem. J. Oper. Res. Soc. 41(4), 291–297 (1990)
2. Shimshak, D.G., Kaslik, J.A., Barclay, T.D.: A modification of Vogel’s approximation method
through the use of heuristics. Inf. Syst. Oper. Res. 19, 259–263 (1981)
3. Uddin, A.M., Ullah, W., Kawser, M.: A modified Vogel’s approximation method for obtaining
a good primal solution of transportation problems. Ann. Pure Appl. Math. 11(1), 63–71 (2016)
4. Dantzig, G.B.: Linear Programming and Extensions. Princeton University Press, New Jersey
(1963)
5. Reinfeld, N.V., Vogel, W.R.: Mathematical Programming. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs
(1958)
6. Goyal, S.K.: Improving VAM for unbalanced transportation problems. J. Oper. Res. Soc. 35,
1113–1114 (1984)
7. Ramakrishnan, G.S.: An improvement to Goyal’s modified VAM for the unbalanced trans-
portation problem. J. Oper. Res. Soc. 39(6), 609–610 (1988)
8. Adlakha, V., Kowalski, K.: An alternative solution algorithm for certain transportation prob-
lems. Int. J. Math. Educ. Sci. Technol. 30, 719–728 (1999)
9. Lev, B., Kowalski, K., Adlakha, V.: Int. J. Manag. Sci. Eng. Manag. 147–152 (2016)
10. Ahmed, M.M., Jaglul, M.S., Sultana, A., Uddin, M.S., Ukil, S.I.: An analysis of just in time
manufacturing technique used in probabilistic continuous economic order quantity review
model. Ann. Pure Appl. Math. 9(2), 145–150 (2015)
11. Adlakha, V., Kowalski, K.: An alternative solution algorithm for certain transportation prob-
lems. Int. J. Math. Educ. Sci. Technol. 30, 719–728 (2003)
12. Ahmad, M.B., Dharma, S.: Optimization of transportation problem with computer aided linear
programming. In: Proceedings of the Postgraduate Annual Research Seminar, 2005 (2005)
13. Satir, A., Kirca, O.: A heuristic for obtaining and initial solution for the transportation problem.
J. Oper. Res. Soc. 41(9), 865–871 (1990)
14. Sharma, R.R.K., Prasad, S.: Obtaining a good primal solution to the uncapacitated transporta-
tion problem. Eur. J. Oper. Res. 144, 560–564 (2003)
Evaluation of Dry Sliding Wear
Properties of Stir Cast AA7050/10B4C
Composites Through Fuzzy-ARAS
Arvind Kumar and Ram Naresh Rai
Abstract The present paper investigates the wear behaviour of stir cast
AA7050/10B4 C composite using Pin-on-disc tribotester. Wear properties such as
wear rate, the coefficient of friction and amount of heat generation were evaluated.
Microstructure of the composite analysed through FE-SEM. The Experiments were
designed by Taguchi L9 orthogonal Array with following process parameters such as
loads, sliding speed and sliding distance. Fuzzy-ARAS, MCDM method optimised
the output parameters. From the result, it shows that the load of 10 N, sliding speed of
1 m/s and sliding distance of 500 m give the minimum wear rate, minimum coefficient
of friction and minimum heat generation among the selected alternatives. The consis-
tency of the proposed Fuzzy-ARAS MCDM model is cross verified by evaluating the
ranks of the alternative through Fuzzy-TOPSIS and found that the Proposed model
is consistent and can be used to evaluate wear properties ofAA7050-B4 C composite.
Keywords AA7050 · B4 C · Composite · Wear properties · Coefficient of friction ·

Fuzzy-ARAS
1 Introduction
Metal Matrix Composite (MMC) materials are very significant among all other mono-
lithic or alloy materials due to its excellent mechanical properties like high strength
to weight ratio, high stiffness, high hardness, and high wear resistance. These highly
influenced mechanical properties increase its utility in Automobile, Aerospace indus-
tries especially in structural applications [1, 2]. AA7050 has excellent fatigue strength
and appreciable corrosion resistance whereas Boron carbide (B4 C) is extremely hard
materials (3700 HV) exhibits a high degree of chemical stability, efficient thermal
properties, low density (2.52 g cm−3 ) with a high elastic modulus of 427 GPa [3, 4].
Stir casting method is simple, economical and best suited for mass productions irre-
spective of their shapes and sizes. The major challenges in developing MMC through
stir casting technique are the wettability and uniform distribution of reinforcements
A. Kumar (B) · R. N. Rai

Department of Production Engineering, NIT Agartala, Agartala, Tripura, India
e-mail: arvjha5@gmail.com
450 A. Kumar and R. N. Rai
as well as formations of unwanted inter-metallic phases [5]. Many researchers have

used different techniques to overcome these challenges such as; Toptan et al. [6]
have selected casting temperature as 850 °C, stirred at 500 rpm for 5 min with the
application of K2 TiF6 to get a homogeneous distribution of particles. Baradeswaran
and Perumal [7] fabricated MMC with 5, 10, 15, 20 vol% of the B4 C particle by
putting the mixture of B4 C and K2 TiF6 within 4 min at 850 °C stirred at 500 rpm
for 5 min. Ranjith et al. [8] developed AA7050/B4 Cp/SiCp hybrid composite by stir
casting method and observed that the wear rate increases with an increase in load
and decreases with increasing sliding speed. Mazahery and Shabani [9] investigated
the influence of B4 C reinforcement particle on the wear resistance of AA2024/B4 C
composite made by squeeze casting process and reported the minimum COF of
AA2014-15vol% B4 C at 55 µm particle size. Sharma [10] fabricated Al 6061–gar-
net particulate reinforced composites by liquid metallurgical technique and observed
that the addition of garnet particulates reduces the wear rate and COF.
Aluminium 7050 alloy (Al–5.8Zn–1.9Mg–2.4Cu) used as the matrix material and

B4 C ceramic particles as reinforcements. K2 TiF6 flux introduced in the melt to
improve the wettability of B4 C reinforcements. Development of composite is organ-
ised through stir casting method in induction furnace at temperature about 900 °C.
After adding B4 C particle, the melt was stirred for 5 min to have proper mixing. At
last, small amount of Hexacloroethane (C2 Cl6 ) degasser was mixed to the composite
melt to remove unwanted hydrogen gas entrapped during stirring. The melt poured
into steel mould preheated at 350 °C. The microstructure of AA7050-B4 C composite
has been analysed using FE-SEM. Hardness was measured using a Vickers hardness
tester as per ASTM E 384 with the applied normal load of 2.5 kgf. Average of ten
readings was taken as the value of hardness. Dry Sliding Wear test c Dry Sliding
Wear test of AA7050-10B4 C composite conducted on DUCOM TR-20LE Pin-on-
Disc Tribometer as per ASTM G 99 standard. Wear Rate (gm/m) calculated as the
weight difference before and after wear test per unit sliding distance, the coeffi-
cient of Friction calculates as frictional force divided by the applied normal load,
and amount of Heat generation (watt) calculated as the product of the coefficient of
friction, normal applied load and sliding distance.
2.1 Fuzzy—ARAS MCDM Model
The Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS) was introduced in 2010 by Turskis and
Zavadskas. ARAS is an MCDM which evaluate the performance of selected alter-
natives as well as compare the scores of those selected alternatives with the ideal
alternative [11]. With the development of fuzzy sets (FSs) [12], the problem arose
Evaluation of Dry Sliding Wear Properties of Stir Cast … 451
successfully tackled by integrating it with MCDM techniques [13]. In this paper, a

fuzzy integrated ARAS method is applied to select the best wear parameters.
Followings are the steps to evaluate Fuzzy Weights:
Step 1: First and foremost a committee of decision-makers is set up where they
assign linguistic terms to the criteria. The linguistic variables are modelled
using triangular fuzzy number (TFN) (Fig. 1 and Table 1).

d̃k j = ak j , bk j , ck j
Step 2: Aggregation of the triangular fuzzy ratings

w̃ j = a j , b j , c j
K
where a j = mink (ak j ); b j = K1 k=1 (bk j ); c j = maxk (ck j )
where dk j represents corresponding TFN for linguistic variable assigned by
kth decision maker for the jth criterion.
Step 3: Defuzzification of w̃ j using centre of gravity (COG) approach as follows:
1
wj = . aj + bj + cj
3
Fig. 1 Corresponding triangular Fuzzy rating for linguistic variable
Table 1 Linguistic variable

Factors DM-1 DM-2 DM-3
assigned by decision-makers
Wear rate VH H VH
COF M M M
Heat generation H VH L
Table 2 Fuzzy weights

Defuzzified weights
0.421965 0.260116 0.317919
Following steps are used to evaluate Ranks through ARAS:

Step 1: Creation of the decision matrix: The decision matrix obtained by the exper-
iment as shown in Table 2.
Step 2: Addition of the optimal C n value the in decision matrix: In this experiment
Wear Rate, Coefficient of Friction and Heat Generation are considered as
non-benefit criteria.
d0n = max(dmn ), for benefit criteria

m
d0n = min(dmn ), for non-benefit criteria
m
Step 3: Computation of normalised decision matrix (R). Mostly, the criteria are a
set of objects with different dimensions. The prime motive of making the
data comparable is only achieved by reducing it into dimensionless weighted
values. This process is called normalisation and the resultant matrix obtained
from the decision matrix is called Normalised Decision Matrix (R).
(dmn )
i , for benefit criteria
m=1 (dmn )
[r ](i× j) = (1/dmn )
i , for non-benefit criteria
m=1 (1/dmn )
(n = 1, 2, 3, . . . j)
Step 4: Creation of weighted-normalised decision matrix (W ), the weight of the

criteria is multiplied by the normalised value of the data. It is did for the
criteria to influence the output of the problem.
ϕmn = w j × rmn
wj is the fuzzy weights of the responses (Table 2).

Step 5 Calculation of the optimality function (S m )

j
S =
m
(ϕmn ), (m = 0, 1, 2 . . . i)
n=1
Optimality function is the sum of all the weighted-normalised value of an

alternative for the different criteria.
Step 6: Figure out the degree of utility K m for each of the alternatives.
Sm
Km =
Si
Table 3 Results of experiments

Exp. No. Load Speed Distance Wear rate COF Heat generation
1 10 1 500 6.20E−06 0.373 3.73
2 10 1.25 700 7.69E−06 0.417 5.2125
3 10 1.5 900 1.16E−05 0.427 6.405
4 20 1 700 7.89E−06 0.381 7.62
5 20 1.25 900 1.15E−05 0.443 11.075
6 20 1.5 500 1.09E−05 0.392 11.76
7 30 1 900 1.31E−05 0.441 13.23
8 30 1.25 500 1.01E−05 0.417 15.6375
9 30 1.5 700 1.27E−05 0.437 19.665
where K m is the weightage of the alternatives and S i is the Max value of

all alternatives (Table 3).
3.1 Microstructure
The microstructure shows the fair distribution of reinforcements into the matrix with
proper interfacial bonds between matrix and reinforcement particle with the assis-
tance of Ti of flux K2 TiF6 . Figure 2 shows that some Al3 Ti phase and Ti agglomerates
represented as X in Fig. 2. Vickers hardness of the composite reported as 132 HV.
3.2 Effect of Process Parameters on the Result
From the experimental investigation, it observed that wear rate, the coefficient of
Friction and amount of heat generation increase with an increase in normal loads,
sliding velocity and sliding distance. This may be due to the fact that on continuous
rubbing the developed sheer force is more than the yield strength of the composite
material resulting rupture of the mating surface [14]. Also, when generation increases,
the sliding surface get soften resulting failure of materials.
Fig. 2 Microstructure of AA7050/10B4 C composite
3.3 Fuzzy-ARAS
Fuzzy-ARAS results are listed in Table 4. It shows that the results of experiment
#1 are the most optimum experiment gives minimum wear rate as 6.20E−06 gm/m,
Coefficients of Friction as 0.373, and Heat Generation 3.73 W. Whereas, experiment
#9 gives the worst result.
3.4 Confirmation Test
To check the consistency of the proposed Fuzzy-ARAS model, the ranks of the
alternatives also evaluated through Fuzzy-TOPSIS. General TOPSIS algorithm is
being used to evaluate ranks of the alternatives [15] and fuzzy weights taken from
Table 1. It is found that the ranks obtained from Fuzzy-TOPSIS are almost similar to
Fuzzy-ARAS (Last column of Table 4). Hence the proposed Fuzzy-ARAS MCDM
model is consistent.
Table 4 Ranks of the alternatives obtained Fuzzy-ARAS and Fuzzy-TOPSISMCDM method
Exp. No. Normalise Weighted normalise Sm Km Ranks by Fuzzy-ARAS Rank by Fuzzy-TOPSIS
0 0.146 0.109 0.194 0.061 0.028 0.0617 0.15214 100
1 0.146 0.109 0.194 0.061 0.028 0.0617 0.15214 100 1 1
2 0.118 0.097 0.138 0.049 0.025 0.0441 0.11958 78.59 2 2
3 0.078 0.095 0.113 0.033 0.024 0.0359 0.09395 61.75 4 4
4 0.115 0.107 0.095 0.048 0.027 0.0302 0.10676 70.17 3 3
5 0.079 0.092 0.065 0.033 0.023 0.0207 0.07810 51.33 7 5
Evaluation of Dry Sliding Wear Properties of Stir Cast …
6 0.083 0.104 0.061 0.035 0.027 0.019 0.082006 53.90 5 6

7 0.069 0.092 0.054 0.029 0.024 0.0173 0.07072 46.48 8 8
8 0.091 0.097 0.046 0.038 0.025 0.0147 0.07829 51.46 6 7
9 0.071 0.093 0.036 0.031 0.024 0.0117 0.066279 43.56 9 9
455
4 Conclusions
The AA7050/10% B4 C composite developed through Stir casting method with the
assistance of Ti reach flux K2 TiF6 . From the experimental investigation the following
conclusions are drawn:
1. FE-SEM microstructure shows that the B4 C particles are uniformly distributed
with the proper bond between the matrix and B4 C particles.
2. The hardness of the composite recorded as 132 HV.
3. Wear rate coefficient of Friction and amount of heat generation increases with
the increase in loads and sliding speed.
4. From Fuzzy-ARAS experiment number 1 is recorded as optimum experiments
followed by experiment number 2 and 4, whereas experiment number 9 is
recorded as a worst experiment.
5. The proposed Fuzzy-ARAS MCDM model is consistent as the similar ranks of
the alternatives obtained by Fuzzy-TOPSIS MCDM model.
References
1. Raj, R., Thakur, D.G.: Qualitative and quantitative assessment of microstructure in Al-B4 C
metal matrix composite processed by modified stir casting technique. ACME 16(4), 949–960
(2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acme.2016.07.004
2. Poovazhagan, L., Kalaichelvan, K., Sornakumar, T.: Processing and performance character-
istics of aluminum-nano boron carbide metal matrix nano composites. Mater. Manuf. Proc.
31(10), 1275–1285 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1080/10426914.2015.1026354
3. Williams, J.C., Starke Jr., E.A.: Progress in structural materials for aerospace systems. Acta
Mater. 51(19), 5775–5799 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2003.08.023
4. Kumar, A., Rai, R.N.: Fabrication, microstructure and mechanical properties of boron carbide
(B4 Cp) reinforced aluminum metal matrix composite—a review. In: IOP Conference Series:
Materials Science and Engineering, vol. 377, no. 1, p. 012092. IOP Publishing (2018). https://
doi.org/10.1088/1757-899x/377/1/012092
5. Kalaiselvan, K., Murugan, N., Parameswaran, S.: Production and characterization of AA6061–
B4 C stir cast composite. Mater. Des. 32(7), 4004–4009 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
matdes.2011.03.018
6. Toptan, F., Kilicarslan, A., Karaaslan, A., Cigdem, M., Kerti, I.: Processing and microstructural
characterisation of AA 1070 and AA 6063 matrix B4 Cp reinforced composites. Mater. Des.
31, 87–91 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2009.11.064
7. Baradeswaran, A., Perumal, A.E.: Influence of B4 C on the tribological and mechanical prop-
erties of Al 7075–B4 C composites. Compos. Part B: Eng. 54, 146–152 (2013). https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.compositesb.2013.05.012
8. Ranjith, R., Giridharan, P.K., Devaraj, J., Bharath, V.: Influence of titanium-coated (B4 Cp +
SiCp ) particles on sulphide stress corrosion and wear behaviour of AA7050 hybrid composites
(for MLG link). J. Aust. Ceram. Soc. 53(2), 1017–1025 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41779-
017-0119-6
9. Mazahery, A., Shabani, M.O.: Influence of the hard coated B4 C particulates on wear resistance
of Al–Cu alloys. Compos. Part B: Eng. 43(3), 1302–1308 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
compositesb.2012.01.011
10. Sharma, S.C.: The sliding wear behavior of Al6061–garnet particulate composites. Wear
249(12), 1036–1045 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0043-1648(01)00810-9
11. Zavadskas, E.K., Turskis, Z.: A new additive ratio assessment (ARAS) method in multicriteria
decision-making. Technol. Econ. Dev. Econ. 16(2), 159–172 (2010). https://doi.org/10.3846/
tede.2010.10
12. Zadeh, L.A.: Toward a theory of fuzzy information granulation and its centrality in human
reasoning and fuzzy logic. Fuzzy Sets Syst. 90(2), 111–127 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1016/
S0165-0114(97)00077-8
13. Bellman, R.E., Zadeh, L.A.: Decision-making in a fuzzy environment. Manag. Sci. 17(4), 141
(1970). https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.17.4.B141
14. Yigezu, B.S., Mahapatra, M.M., Jha, P.K.: On modeling the abrasive wear characteristics of
in situ Al–12% Si/TiC composites. Mater. Des. 50, 277–284 (2013)
15. Tripathy, S., Tripathy, D.K.: Multi-attribute optimization of machining process parameters in
powder mixed electro-discharge machining using TOPSIS and grey relational analysis. J. Eng.
Sci. Technol. 19, 62–70 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jestch.2015.07.010
Investigation of Machining Capabilities
of 2.5 vol. % MWCNT Al2 O3 Composites
in µ-EDM
Meinam Annebushan Singh, Deba Kumar Sarma, Sanjib Kr Rajbongshi,

Ondrej Hanzel and Pavol Sajgalik
Abstract The recent advancement in ceramic composite field has led to various
electrically conductive composites. The increase in electrical conductivity is due to
the presence of conductive fillers which allows free passage of the electrons through-
out the composite at macro level. The present work is an effort to machine alumina
composites with multiwalled carbon nanotubes as the conducting filler (2.5 vol. %)
in µ-electrical discharge machining process. Successful machining is achieved even
with very low filler concentration. The entire process is found to be highly dominated
by the rotation of the tool around its axis. The material removal rate increases while
the surface roughness decreases concomitantly with increase in tool rotational speed.
Also, the recast layer formation on the edges is found to decrease with the rotation
of tool.
Keywords µ-EDM · MWCNT · Alumina · Porous recast network
1 Introduction
Electrical discharge machining (EDM)/wire electrical discharge machining

(WEDM) process, being a non-contact, electrothermal process, has a wide opportu-
nity to machine various hard materials if they are electrically conductive by using a
relatively softer tool. The machining process is generally carried out with tool as the
cathode and workpiece as anode to ensure maximum removal of materials from the
workpiece at any given machining condition.
Previous literature have shown successful machining of ceramic materials by
EDM/WEDM process though they are electrically non-conducting in nature. The
machining capabilities are achieved by inclusion of conductive materials in/on the
workpiece. The inclusion of a conductive layer on the workpiece surface helps trigger
the initial flow of electrons and hence the formation and propagation of sparks [1,
M. A. Singh (B) · D. K. Sarma · S. K. Rajbongshi

NIT Meghalaya, Shillong 793003, India
e-mail: meinamannebushan@gmail.com
O. Hanzel · P. Sajgalik
Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava 84536, Slovak Republic
460 M. A. Singh et al.
2]. In this method, further machining is possible by the continuous generation of

conductive pyrolytic carbon layer on the workpiece surface by dissociation of the
dielectric material (kerosene). This conductive layer helps in further machining.
However, the net material removal and the associated depth are found to be quite
low, which restricts its use on mass scale.
The other tactic is the inclusion of conductive materials as filler thereby leading to
a conductive ceramic composite [3–5]. The use of metallic filler materials with con-
centrations in the range 30–40% resulted in successful machining in EDM/WEDM
process. Further advancement in this category is brought forward by the applica-
tions of carbon nanotubes (CNT), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and
graphene, as the filler materials. Such ceramic composites can be well machined
even with a comparatively lesser concentration [6–8]. Thus, the net variation of the
ceramic composite properties from the parent ceramic can be drastically reduced.
A need thus arises to identify the machinability aspect with low filler concentra-
tion. Previously, the authors have reported successful machining of MWCNT–alu-
mina (Al2 O3 ) composites with filler concentration as low as 5 vol. % MWCNTs [9].
The present work is an effort to further reduce the filler concentration to 2.5 vol. %
and analyse the machinability aspect in µ-EDM process. The details of the material
removal characteristics, surface profile and the recast layer formation on the edges
are discussed and presented in this article.
2 Material and Experiment
The work pertains a continuation of the previous work by the same authors with
regard to machining of MWCNT–alumina composites in WEDM process [9, 10].
The composite with 2.5 vol. % MWCNTs (Table 1) is used as the workpiece for the
current analysis. The previously reported work has shown that composites with 5 vol.
% or more filler concentration can be effectively machined. The composites with 2.5
vol. % filler concentration was not machinable as the net electrical conductivity was
low. Also, the tool cannot traverse back and forth in machining scenario involving
WEDM process to maintain a constant spark gap. This condition was attributed to
unsuccessful machining of alumina composites with low filler concentration.
A µ-EDM setup (Fig. 1; Hyper 15, Sinergy Nano Systems, India) is used to analyse
the same as it has the capability to reciprocate the tool back and forth constantly to
maintain the spark gap throughout the machining process. The considered process
parameter is represented in Table 2. The influence of rotation of the tool is also
Table 1 2.5 vol. %

Density (kg/m3 ) 3886.9
MWCNT–Alumina
composite properties [11] Grain size (µm) 1.36 ± 0.10
Electrical conductivity (S/m) 162
Thermal conductivity (W/m K) 27.78
Investigation of Machining Capabilities of 2.5 vol. % MWCNT … 461
Spindle
Dielectric fluid
Tool (-ve)
Work piece (+ve)
Fig. 1 µ-EDM setup
Table 2 µ-EDM working

Tool material Brass
conditions
Non-parametric factors
Tool diameter 800 µm
Tool rotation (rpm) 0, 250, 500
Feed rate 3 µm/s
Parametric factors
Voltage (V) 150 V
Capacitance 100 pF
Pulse on time (t on ) 10 µs
Pulse off time (t off ) 10 µs
Sensitivity 40%
analysed and discussed in this article. The material removal rate (MRR) is identified
as a difference between the initial and final weight of the workpiece to the time
required for machining. An average surface roughness (Ra ) value is measured and
represented in this work (Surtronic S-128, Taylor Hobson). The details of machined
surface characteristics are accessed through a scanning electron microscope (Sigma
VP, Zeiss).
The current work is analysed with MRR and Ra as the output characteristics. Figure 2
represents the deviation of MRR and Ra with tool rotational speed. The MRR
increases with increase in the tool rotational speed as compared to the stationary
nature of tool application. While the Ra decreases with tool rotation. Also, a gradual
decrease in the Ra value is noticed with an increase in rotational speed, pertaining a
better machined surface characteristics with higher speed of spindle rotation.
In the machining process of 2.5 vol. % MWCNT-Al2 O3 , there is a limited transfer
of electrons due to the low electrical conductivity. Successful machining is possible
due to the capability of the tool spindle to travel back and forth movement so as
to maintain a constant voltage and hence the spark gap. The severity of the tool
reciprocation is a direct function of the electrical conductivity of the material which
in turn affects the overall time taken to machine the workpiece. Thus a low MRR is
associated. The increase in MRR and corresponding decrease in Ra is mainly due to
proper channelization of the sparks with rotation of the tool. When the machining
is performed with a stationary tool, the nature of spark generation is observed to be
high; y random in nature. However, when the tool starts to rotate, the channelization
of the sparks occur. Thus, rotation of tool leads to better removal of material from the
workpiece as compared to stationary application of tool. Further, when the machining
is performed with a stationary tool, a section of the eroded material settles back again.
(a) 0.02 (b) 6
5
0.015
MRR (mg/min)
4
Ra (µm)
0.01 3
2
0.005
1
0 0
-250 0 250 500 750 -250 0 250 500 750
Tool rotation (rpm) Tool rotation (rpm)
Fig. 2 Variation of (a) MRR and (b) surface roughness with rotation of the tool
This is due to the inability of the dielectric fluid to remove the eroded materials by
cavitation effect alone. However, in case when the machining is performed with the
application of a rotating tool, the dielectric fluid around the periphery of the tool
rotates along with the tool. This facilitates a better removal of debris particle by the
fluid and thus imparts a higher MRR. The same inference also attributes to higher
Ra in machining with stationary as compared to rotation of the tool.
The rotation of the tool allows more concentration of spark around the tooltip. This
implicates a scenario where the tool removes higher concentrations of workpiece
material around the edges, thereby expanding the overall area of the drilled hole
(Fig. 3). This situation can, however, be effectively controlled by proper optimisation
of the process parameters in the course of machining. The increment in MRR or the
decrement in Ra is observed to be quite high while comparing the stationary tool
application with tool rotation of 250 rpm. However, a comparatively lower influence
is observed while transitioning from 250 rpm to 500 rpm of tool rotation.
Figure 4 shows the machined surface comparison of stationary and rotating tool
application. A more porous network has been observed when the tool starts rotat-
ing. This shows the effective removal of eroded materials from the workpiece by
constantly moving dielectric fluid. In case of stationary tool, a major portion of the
eroded materials settles back on the surface and resolidifies. This leads to a high
concentration of debris particle on the surface. Also, the rapid expansion and con-
traction of highly brittle material lead to formation of an intense reacts layer which is
highly porous in nature. The porous network is a consequence of the ceramic material
machining criteria, which is still a major constraint.
Figure 5 represents the recast layer formation along the drilled wall edges for 2.5
vol. % filler. The edges are found to be highly porous in nature when stationary tool
Stationary tool
Rotating tool
Fig. 3 Variation of machined surface diameter with and without tool rotation
Fig. 4 Comparison of machined surface profile for (a) stationary tool application and (b) tool
rotation of 500 rpm
(a) (b)
Fig. 5 Variation of porous recast layer formation in transverse direction for (a) stationary tool and
(b) tool rotation of 500 rpm
is used. In EDM process, the sparks concentration is mainly focused around the tool
edges. This leads to high spalling and melting–evaporation effect around the edges
which ultimately removes more materials from the edges. When the machining is
performed with stationary tool, there is a lesser probability to remote the eroded
materials. The eroded unremoved materials are subjected to intense cooling effect
due to the cooling nature of the dielectrics. As a result they get settled around the
edges. This leads to formation of a highly porous recast layer on the machined wall.
Regarding tool rotation, the melted materials are directly removed by the constantly
moving dielectric. Hence, lesser severity of recast layer is formed in comparison with
stationary application of the tool.
4 Conclusion
The work shown in this article is an effort to machine alumina composites in µ-EDM
process with low filler concentration (2.5 vol. % MWCNTs). A successful machining
capability is observed in the course of machining. The MRR and Ra are found to be
adversely affected by the rotation of tool. The MRR increases while the Ra decreases
concomitantly with increase in the tool rotational speed. Also, the nature of porous
recast layer formation on the transverse direction, along the wall edges are observed
to decrease with machining process involving rotation of tool. This implicates an all
round development of machining capabilities with rotation of the tool.
References
1. Mohri, N., Fukuzawa, Y., Tani, T., Saito, N., Furutani, K.: Assisting electrode method for
machining insulating ceramics. Ann. CIRP. 45(1), 201–204 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1016/
S0007-8506(07)63047-9
2. Saleh, T., Rasheed, R.N., Asan, G.A.: Experimental study on improving µ-WEDM and µ-EDM
of doped silicon by temporary metallic coating. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 78(9), 1651–1663
(2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-014-6732-4
3. Martin, C., Cales, B., Vivier, P., Mathieu, P.: Electrical discharge machinable ceramics
composites. Mater. Sci. Eng. A Struct. 109, 351–356 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1016/0921-
5093(89)90614-x
4. Patel, K.M., Pandey, P.M., Rao, P.V.: Surface integrity and Material removal mechanism asso-
ciated with the EDM of Al2 O3 ceramic composites. Int. J. Refract Metal Hard Mater. 27,
892–899 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2009.05.003
5. Lauwers, B., Kruth, J.P., Liu, W., Eeraerts, W., Schacht, B., Bleys, P.: Investigation of material
removal mechanisms in EDM of composite ceramic materials. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 149,
347–352 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2004.02.013
6. Malek, O., Julian, J.G., Vleugelss, J., Vanderauwera, W., Lauwers, B., Belmonte, M.: Carbon
nano fillers for machining insulating ceramics. Mater. Today 14, 496–501 (2011). https://doi.
org/10.1016/S1369-7021(11)70214-0
7. Tak, H.S., Chang-Seung, H.A., Lee, H.J., Lee, H.W., Jeong, Y.K., Kang, M.C.: Characteristic
evaluation of Al2 O3 /CNT hybrid materials for micro electrical discharge machining. T. Nonferr.
Metal Soc. 21, 28–32 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1003-6326(11)61055-8
8. Melk, L., Antti, M.L., Anglada, M.: Material removal mechanism by EDM of Zirconia rein-
forced MWCNT nanocomposites. Ceram. Int. 42, 5792–5801 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.ceramint.2015.12.120
9. Singh, M.A., Sarma, D.K., Hanzel, O., Sedlacek, J., Sajgalik, P.: Machinability analysis of multi
walled carbon nanotubes filled alumina composites in wire electrical discharge machining
process. J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 37, 3107–3114 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.
2017.03.058
10. Singh, M.A., Sarma, D.K.: Parametric and subsurface analysis of MWCNT alumina composites
in WEDM process. Ceram. Int. 44, 2186–2197 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2017.
10.174
11. Hanzel, O., Sedlacek, J., Sajgalik, P.: New approach for distribution of carbon nanotubes in alu-
mina matrix. J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 34, 1845–1851 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.
2014.01.020
Microstructure and Microhardness
Characteristics of TiC–TiN Ceramics
Coating by TIG Process on Mild Steel
Anjani Kumar , Rana Kumar Singh, Rahul Rathore

and Anil Kumar Das
Abstract In this work, an experimental fabrication of Titanium Carbide–Titanium

Nitride (TiC–TiN) ceramics coating by tungsten inert gas (TIG) coating process on
commercial mild steel was extensively carried out to improve surface hardness of
the substrate. The thickness of preplaced layer was around 1 mm. The TIG heat
source was employed with different current such as 100 A, 110 A, 120 A, and 130 A,
voltage and scanning speed were fixed 25 V and 2.60 mm/s, respectively. The FESEM
results were revealed that coating employed successfully and microstructure was
uniformly distributed in form of lamellar structure. Microhardness analysis across
the cross section was detected significantly increments, their values were recorded
that the hardness value increased by 3.38–3.82 times higher than that of the substrate
hardness. Maximum hardness was recorded 1245.5 HV0.1 whereas hardness value
of the substrate was 250 HV0.1 .
Keywords TIG coating · Microhardness · FESEM · TiC–TiN
1 Introduction
Mild steel has potential application in various engineering practices such as structural
component, forging die, and industrial application because of their inexpensive cost,
excellent formability, and weldability [1, 2]. However, inferior tribological proper-
ties, hardness, and corrosion resistance limit their application in chemical industries,
A. Kumar (B) · R. K. Singh · R. Rathore · A. K. Das

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute
of Technology Patna, Bihar 800005, India
e-mail: Anjanik63@gmail.com
R. K. Singh
e-mail: Ranakumar28@gmail.com
R. Rathore
e-mail: Rahulrajput.rathore@gmail.com
A. K. Das
e-mail: Akdas.mechnitp@gmail.com

468 A. Kumar et al.
food processing industries, rock crushing, etc. [1, 3]. Although, the wear mechanism
is very hard to explicitly explain in a single paragraph. Nevertheless, microhardness
and microstructure are most important mechanical property which is frequently used
to describe the wear resistance of the material [4]. Coating, alloying, and microalloy-
ing are recognized as best approach to improve tribological properties of mild steel
because it contributes good surface hardness, toughness and, wear resistance without
affecting the bulk properties of mild steel [5]. Recently, various traditional methods
have been investigated for surface modification of steel, in which one of the TIG
coating methods has been attracted interest to researchers due to some special char-
acteristics [6]. There are a number of methods recognize and under research progress
to improve surface properties such as physical vapor deposition [7], chemical vapor
deposition, electroplating [8], laser beam coating [9, 10], magnetron sputtering depo-
sition [11], electron beam deposition, and tungsten inert gas surfacing. [12]. Among
all these techniques, TIG coating technique would be economically justifiable for
production of low-cost material with improved properties, because of its high deposi-
tion rate and less power consumption than advanced coating method [13]. Due to its
simple operation and low-cost equipment, TIG machine could be easily integrated
with manufacturing industries. Some important results were reported in literature
such as TiC coating on AISI 304 steel [14], TiB reinforced coating on Ti-6Al-4V
[15], TiC–TiB2 coating on Q235 steel [16], Ni–WC coating on AISI 1010 steel [2],
and SiC reinforced coating on AISI 304 steel [17] were fabricated successfully by
TIG surface coating/alloying process that augment their hardness and tribological
properties substantially. The TIG coating process has potential to improve tribologi-
cal properties by ceramic deposition on surface, however, very limited literature are
available of ceramic deposition on steel. Therefore, the goal of this investigation is to
address ceramic TiC–TiN deposition on commercial mild steel by TIG process and
examine the microhardness and microstructural changes with respect to heat input.
2.1 Sample Preparation
Initially, commercial mild steel with dimensions 100 × 50 × 12.5 mm3 was used
as the substrate material. Prior to the coating process, the surface of substrate was
polished with 400-grade silicon carbide paper and cleaned with ethanol and acetone,
respectively to remove surface contamination. The mixture of powders, titanium
carbide (TiC) with particle size 20–50 µm, 99% pure and titanium nitride (TiN) with
particle size 20–50 µm, 99% pure were taken in ratio of 95:05 by weight percentage
and blended thoroughly. The powder mixture was mixed with appropriate amount of
10% polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) binder and agitated with the help of magnetic stirrer for
1 h so that formed homogeneous paste. And then, the paste was uniformly dispersed
over steel substrate surface and keep up coating layer thickness about 1 mm. The
Microstructure and Microhardness Characteristics of TiC–TiN … 469
preplaced coated sample was completely dried in electric oven at 100 °C for 2 h to
remove moisture and also enabled to keep the coated layers on the surface, while
flow of argon gas (10 L/min) during the TIG arcing.
2.2 TIG Coating Process
A semiautomatic TIG welding machine was used as heat source in form of the arc.
The tungsten electrode was used to generate arc, as 2% thoriated and 2.4 mm in
diameter, inserted in TIG torch. The tungsten electrode was used in direct current
straight polarity (DCSP) connection to produce stable arc and transferred major
heat at the workpiece. The TIG processing parameters used in this investigation are
presented in Table 1. The TIG torch was attached with automatic moving tractor arm
which moves on aluminum track. This arrangement is used for controlling processing
parameters such as scan speed, electrode tip distance, and electrode angle and rest of
parameter as current, voltage, and argon flow rate controlled by the TIG transformer
and gas flow regulator, respectively. A schematic diagram TIG processing is shown
in Fig. 1 which explained in detail about formation of coating layer after TIG arc
heating and melting of precoated substrate. A metal plate of 12.5 mm thickness was
placed just before the workpiece for arc initiation, as well as attenuate the effect of
severe arc deflection at the entry.
Table 1 The TIG processing

Parameters Units Values
parameter and their values
Current A 100,110,120,130
Voltage V 25
Scan speed mm/s 2.60
Argon flow rate L/min 10
Electrode gap mm 1
Tungsten electrode diameter mm 2.4 (2% thoriated)

of TIG coating process
470 A. Kumar et al.
2.3 Microhardness and Microstructural Characterization
After the TIG processing samples were sectioned transversed to coated track to get
cross-sectional feature, using an abrasive disk cutter machine. The samples were cut
in dimension of 10 × 10 × 12.5 mm3 , followed by cold mounting and subsequently
polishing for microhardness test and microstructural analysis. Moreover, samples
for metallography were prepared by standard method such as cold mounted sam-
ple ground from 220 to 2000 grade SiC paper followed by multistep polish using
10–0.5 µm diamond paste to obtained mirror-like surface finish. The final polished
samples were etched for 10 s with mixed acidic ferric chloride solution (1 gm FeCl3 ,
3 ml HCl, 2 ml HNO3 , 12 ml H2 O). Microhardness value was measured at cross
section from the top surface of coated layer to base metal using microhardness tester
(INOVATEST, FALCON-503) with 100 gf load and 10 s dwell time. Microstructural
examinations were characterized using FESEM (ZEISS) with different magnifica-
tion.
3.1 Microstructural Analysis
Microstructure evolution is depending on the kinetics of transformation which are

controlled by process parameter, composition, and environment condition. A trans-
verse section of coated sample was extracted to analyze metallography of the coating.
The sample was prepared by standard metallography method followed by etching
and microstructure observation taken by field emission scanning electron microscopy
(FESEM). Microstructure of the coated layer governed by the coating process param-
eter like current, voltage, scan speed, and heat input. Heat input (joule/mm) can be
calculated with the help of Eq. (1) [18].
Q = (η × V × I )/v (1)
where Q = heat input in (J/mm), ï = efficiency of heat transfer (0.48), V = voltage

in (Volt), I = current in (A), and v = scan speed in (mm/s).
Figure 2a, shows coated layer, interface layer, heat-affected zone (HAZ), and
unaffected base material. Figure 2b shows the FESEM image at the cross section of
the TiC–TiN ceramic layer fabricated on mild steel substrate by TIG coating process
for current 120 A and heat input 553.85 J/mm. Microstructure revealed that uniformly
distributed TiC in which small particle of TiN homogeneously present, whereas in
Fig. 3a shows dilution of base material and distributed to large depth in coated zone
when coating is fabricated at higher current as 130 A and heat input 600 J/mm. At large
magnification, Figs. 2c and 3b show fine and lamellar homogeneously distributed
Fig. 2 a FESEM micrograph of cross section of coated sample at current 120 A and scan speed
2.6 mm/s, b micrograph of TiC–TiN coated layer, c High-magnified FESEM image of TiC–TiN
coated layer
Fig. 3 FESEM micrograph of coated sample at current 130 A and scan speed 2.6 mm/s, a Micro-
graph of TiC–TiN coated layer, b High-magnified FESEM image of TiC–TiN coated layer
472 A. Kumar et al.

of Vickers micro-indentation
microstructures like the leaves of the cabbage, which are interconnected in three-
dimensional space. Microstructure that developed from eutectic reaction has good
characteristics as it consists of a laminated structure. This type of crystallographic
structure provides toughness in material along with hardness due to presence of hard
ceramic particles as TiC and TiN.
3.2 Microhardness Analysis
The Vickers microhardness tester was used to measure microhardness along the
cross section of coating zone. Microhardness profile has been plotted in Fig. 5 from
the top surface of the coated layer to unaffected base metal. Microhardness values
are represented by the size of the micro-impression on sample against the definite
applied load, as qualitative perspective, if the size of micro-impression is small
then microhardness value is relatively large. Schematic representation of micro-
indentation is illustrated in Fig. 4 which shows diamond indenter, micro-impression,
and quantification of microhardness value is figured by mentioned Eq. (2) [19].
vicker hardness (HV) = 2 F sin(α/2)/d 2 (2)
where F = load in Kgf, α = face angle of diamond indenter (136°), and d = mean
diagonal of impression in mm.
Figure 5 shows that maximum hardness of 1245.5 HV0.1 was identified at a dis-
tance 600 µm from top surface of that sample, which was processed with current
120 A, whereas, maximum hardness of 780.19 HV0.1 was identified in case of that
sample, which was processed with current 130 A.
1500
120 A
Microhardness (HV0.1)
1300
130 A
1100
900
700
500
300
100
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
Distance from top surface (μm)
Fig. 5 Microhardness profile across the modified region with “current 120 A and 130 A, starting
from top surface to the base material”
4 Conclusion
The following inferences were extracted from surface modification with ceramic
TiC–TiN coating assisted with TIG coating technique.
• Good quality of ceramic coating successfully fabricated on commercial mild steel
by TIG coating process using precursor TiC–TiN.
• The excellent metallurgical bonding between the coating layer and the substrate
was detected.
• A uniform lamellar microstructure was observed by FESEM analysis.
• The experimental results noticed that TiC–TiN coating microhardness are rel-
atively higher at lower heat input due to less diffusion of precursor and lower
dilution of the substrate material in coated layer.
Acknowledgements Authors are extremely thankful to technical staff of NIT Durgapur for their
support in carrying out the FESEM analysis. Authors are also thankful to technical staff of CMERI
Durgapur for their support in conducting the microhardness test in this research work.
References
1. Masanta, M., Shariff, S.M., Choudhury, A.R.: A comparative study of the tribological per-
formances of laser clad TiB2 –TiC–Al2 O3 composite coatings on AISI 1020 and AISI 304
substrates. Wear. 271(7–8), 11241133 (2011)
2. Tosun, G.: Ni–WC Coating on AISI 1010 Steel Using TIG: Microstructure and Microhardness.
Arab. J. Sci. Eng. 39(3), 2097–2106 (2014)
3. Eroǧlu, M., Özdemir, N.: Tungsten inert gas surface alloying of a low carbon steel. Surf.
Coatings Technol. 154, 209–217 (2002). Tungsten–inert
4. Katsuki F, Watari K, Tahira H, Umino M.: Abrasive wear behavior of a pearlitic (0.4%C) steel
micro alloyed with vanadium. Wear. 264(3–4), 331–336 (2008)
474 A. Kumar et al.
5. Chattopadhyay, C, Sangal, S, Mondal, K, Garg, A.: Improved wear resistance of medium carbon
microalloyed bainitic steels. Wear. 289, 168–179 (2012)
6. Buytoz, S., Yildirim, M.M., Eren, H.: Microstructural and microhardness characteristics of gas
tungsten are synthesized FeCr–C Coating on AISI 4340. Mater. Lett. 59(6), 607–614 (2005)
7. Liu, W., Li, A., Wu, H., Long, Y., Huang, J., Deng, X., Wang, C., Wang, Q., Wu, S.: Effects
of gas pressure on microstructure and performance of (Ti, Al, Zr) N coatings produced by
physical vapor deposition. Ceram. Int. 42(15), 17436–17441 (2016)
8. Kallappa D, Venkatarangaiah VT.: Synthesis of CeO2 doped ZnO nanoparticles and their
application in Zn-composite coating on mild steel (2018)
9. Das, A.K., Shariff, S.M., Choudhury, A.R.: Effect of rare earth oxide (Y2 O3 ) addition on
alloyed layer synthesized on Ti-6Al-4V substrate with Ti + SiC + h-BN mixed precursor by
laser surface engineering. Tribol. Int. 95, 35–43 (2016)
10. Tao, Z., Xun, C., Shunxing, W., Shian, Z.: Effect of CeO2 on microstructure and corrosive wear
behavior of laser-cladded Ni/WC coating. Thin Solid Films 379(1–2), 128–132 (2000)
11. La, J.H., Song, M.G., Kim, H.K., Lee, S.Y., Jung, W.S.: Effect of deposition temperature on
microstructure, corrosion behavior and adhesion strength of Zn–Mg coatings on mild steel. J.
Alloys Compd. 739, 1097–1103 (2018)
12. Choudhury, A.R., Ezz, T., Chatterjee, S., Li, L.: Microstructure and tribological behaviour of
nano-structured metal matrix composite boride coatings synthesized by combined laser and
sol-gel technology. Surf. Coatings Technol. 202(13), 2817–2829 (2008)
13. Chen, J.H., Chen, P.N., Lin, C.M., Chang, C.M., Chang, Y.Y., Wu, W.: Surface & coatings
technology characterization of multi-element alloy claddings manufactured by the tungsten
inert gas process. Surf. Coat. Technol. 203(20–21), 2983–2988 (2009)
14. Sahoo, C.K., Soni, L., Masanta, M.: Evaluation of microstructure and mechanical properties
of TiC/TiC-steel composite coating produced by gas tungsten arc (GTA) coating process. Surf.
Coatings Technol. 307, 17–27 (2016)
15. An, Q., Huang, L., Jiang, S., Li, X., Gao, Y., Liu, Y., Geng, L.: Microstructure evolution and
mechanical properties of TIG cladded TiB reinforced composite coating on Ti-6Al-4V alloy.
Vacuum 145, 312–319 (2017)
16. Wang, Z., Xiaohui Zhou, G.Z.: Microstructure and formation mechanism of in-situ TiC-TiB2 /Fe
composite coating. Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. China 18(4), 831–835 (2008)
17. Buytoz, S., Ulutan, M.: In situ synthesis of SiC reinforced MMC surface on AISI 304 stainless
steel by TIG surface alloying. Surf. Coatings Technol. 200(12–13), 3698–3704 (2006)
18. Mridha, S., Baker, T.N.: Overlapping tracks processed by TIG melting TiC preplaced powder
on low alloy steel surfaces. Mater. Sci. Technol. 31(3), 337–343 (2015)
19. Ghorbal, G.B., Tricoteaux, A., Thuault, A., Louis, G., Chicot, D.: Comparison of conventional
Knoop and Vickers hardness of ceramic materials. J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 37(6), 2531-2535 (2017)
Microstructural Characterization
of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy Fiber Laser
Weldments
Chandan Kumar and Manas Das
Abstract The quality of fiber laser welded specimens of Ti-6Al-4V alloy plates
in butt joint is examined. A special kind of fixture is designed and fabricated for
providing shielding gas. The microstructural analysis at various positions within
heat-affected zone and in fusion zone are explored and its microstructural morpholo-
gies are compared. Due to the chronological distribution of temperature gradient, a
nonhomogeneous microstructure is developed from fusion zone to base metal zone.
Various kinds of microstructural morphology of martensitic structure, i.e., α marten-
site, massive α (α m ), and blocky α are found in fusion zone. Also, the variations in
amount of α martensite are found inside heat-affected zones. Maximum hardness
is obtained in fusion zone due to the occurrence of higher quantity of α martensitic
structure.
Keywords Ti-6Al-4V alloy · Fiber laser · Welding · Microstructure · Hardness
1 Introduction
Titanium and their alloys are most copious and abundant structural material on the
earth planet. Titanium alloys are available in different grades. On the basis of pres-
ence of various phases at room temperature, titanium alloy is classified as α alloy,
near α, β alloy and bimodal phases α + β alloy. The bimodal microstructure having
both α + β phases in Ti-6Al-4V alloy is mostly utilized in automobile and aircraft
industries. Ti-6Al-4V alloy is also known as grade 5 and it is identified as a workhorse
in aerospace and automobile industries [1]. During heating, at around 995° ± 20 °C
temperature, Ti-6Al-4V alloy is converted into fully β phase known as β transi-
tion temperature (T β ). It holds great features such as moderate strength, reasonable
C. Kumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Jalandhar,
Punjab, India
e-mail: kumar.chandan2006@gmail.com
M. Das (B)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Guwahati, Assam 781039, India

476 C. Kumar and M. Das
corrosion resistance, and great potential for weight saving. The aluminum can be
replaced by Ti-6Al-4V alloy when operating temperature surpasses from 1300 °C
[2]. A successful lightweight structure is the result of an optimized combination of
selected material, design, and manufacturing process. When the lightweight compo-
nents are manufactured by titanium and its alloys, welding is the most appropriate
joining technology available yet. Weldability of pure titanium (Ti) and its alloys are
excellent. Ti-6Al-4V is highly weldable among all the various α + β alloys. This
weldability can be attributed to forming the high strength and acceptable ductility
of the weldments. Ti-6Al-4V is highly resistant to solidification cracking. In spite
of its excellent weldability special precautions should be taken during the welding
process to reduce welding defects.
Fusion welds are obtained by the application of high intense heat source and
subsequent solidification of the molten metal. The physical and chemical changes
occur during fusion welding process due to the interaction between the high intense
energy sources and the base metal that affect the bead shape, microstructure, and
the mechanical properties of the weldments. Energy balance is maintained by the
heat flux from top surface and loss of heat by conduction and radiation. The molten
pool is driven by surface and body forces. The driving force for movement of molten
material is the surface tension force that acts on the top surface of weld pool and the
buoyancy force over entire volume of melt pool.
Laser beam welding (LBW) process is one kind of fusion welding. LBW is an
autogenous, non-conventional, and appropriate welding technique to join similar as
well as dissimilar materials of titanium and their alloys [3]. In LBW heat source
having high energy density is applied on the workpiece surface and some of the
energy is reflected back and remaining energy is absorbed by the workpiece to be
welded and is converted to heat energy. The popularity of LBW process is increased
due to its ability to produce high-quality weldments, low distortion in weldments,
narrower heat-affected zones, noncontact type process and precisely controlled over
intense energy source, high speed, and good flexibility over welding process. The
demand for LBW by the industries is increasing rapidly due to lower production
cost, rapid production capability, minimum distortion, and high efficiency compared
to other successful joining technologies. The disadvantage of LBW process in butt
configuration is its difficulty to achieve excellent joint fit-up, which requires lower
value of surface roughness of the edges to be welded. When using laser for welding
purposes, energy is transferred from the laser to the workpiece through two different
ways or modes. The laser welding mode can be either the conduction mode or the
keyhole mode depending upon the power density. In conduction mode, the low energy
density basically heats the surface of the material being welded. The size of the weld
on the surface is generally larger, and the depth of penetration of the weld is generally
shallower. In conduction mode, power densities lie below 105 W/cm2 . In keyhole
mode laser operation, the power density goes beyond the power density required for
conduction mode. In keyhole mode, the local vaporization of base material takes place
and a narrow vapor cavity is formed known as keyhole. This keyhole is surrounded
by a thin layer of molten material and it is maintained by vapor pressure, surface
tension force, and hydrostatic pressure. Keyhole mode of laser welding is mostly used
Microstructural Characterization of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy Fiber … 477
due to its capability to join thick sheets, high energy coupling efficiency, and faster
welding speed. The conduction mode is also beneficial to minimize the distortion in
the weldments and it reduces the chances of loss of alloying elements. Conduction
mode of welding is highly recommended for joining of thin sheets due to the smaller
spot diameter of laser beam which is comparable to the sheet thickness. The shape
of weld bead is hemispherical in conduction mode of LBW process. Due to the rapid
heating and cooling cycles in LBW, it yields fine grains in fusion zone and it improves
the strength of the joint.
There are several kinds of laser, i.e., diode laser, carbon dioxide laser, neodymium-
doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser, and fiber laser. Fiber laser is a high power
density, flexible, and lower heat input process. It is a promising alternative to the
conventional solid-state laser system. The fiber laser is widely used in industries and
different areas of science and technology. It is mainly used in laser drilling, welding,
marking, and cutting purpose. The use of fiber laser was started from early 1960s
as a new welding heat source. In 2000, first 100 W and in 2005 maximum power of
17 kW fiber laser was produced. Also, newer technologies are coming up to produce
high power fiber lasers. Fiber laser is preferred while welding of thick plates at
high speed where conventional welding technique cannot be applied. In case of fiber
laser, the active gain medium is optical fiber. The gain medium is doped with erbium,
neodymium, dysprosium, ytterbium, etc. and it is excited by a diode laser. The outer
cladding is enclosed with glass or polymeric material of low refraction coefficient
to reduce the signal attenuation. The wall-plug efficiency of ytterbium-doped fiber
laser is in between 16 and 20% which is higher than the erbium and thulium-doped
fiber. However, it is more efficient than solid-state Nd: YAG laser. Fiber LBW gained
great popularity because of high energy density, low line energy, higher efficiency,
high beam quality, and lesser functional cost. Assuncao et al. [4] reported that fiber
LBW offers extremely high welding speed and lowest operating cost per hour as
compared to traditional laser. The main LBW process parameters are laser beam
spot diameter, beam power, traverse speed, and flow rate of shielding gas [5]. Apart
from these important process parameters, there are other factors which affect the
quality of welded component as presented in Fig. 1.
A detailed study of the LBW processes on the basis of experimental and numer-
ical works are addressed by various researchers. The microstructural analysis is
studied by many researchers in the weldments of Ti-6Al-4V sheets by various kinds
of lasers, i.e., CO2 [6], Nd: YAG [7] and diode laser [8]. Gursel [9] reported that
the high quality of weldments can be obtained at optimum welding conditions. An
experimental investigation is carried out by Costa et al. [10] on the welding behavior
of 6.5 mm thick Ti-6Al-4V sheets by fiber laser and stated that defect-free weld can
be achieved under appropriate welding conditions. The welding defects are found at
higher power and slower traverse speed. However, partial penetration is achieved in
the workpiece combinedly at lower welding power and higher traverse speed. The
welding experiments are carried out by Kabir et al. [11] on Ti-6Al-4V sheets by vari-
ation of traverse speeds and focal positions by means of Nd: YAG laser. On the basis
of experimental results, they stated that the optimum value of defocused position
and welding speed is required to attain high quality of weldments with acceptable
Fig. 1 LBW process parameters
welding defects. Casalino et al. [12] specified that the oxidation tendency of weld-
ments is reduced by supplying the necessary amount of inert gas during Yb-doped
fiber LBW of titanium alloy sheets. Also, the bead features are affected by heat input
supplied on to the workpiece surfaces. Ahn et al. [13] found that beam power is a
most significant parameter with respect to welding speed and defocussed distance in
fiber LBW of Ti-6Al-4V plates for achieving high quality of weldments. Gao et al.
[14] stated that lower line energy generates V-shaped bead while higher line energy
creates H-shaped bead in Nd: YAG laser weldments of titanium alloy sheets. Also,
they stated that V-shaped bead shows lower strength with respect to H-shaped bead.
It is found from the above literature assessment that the welding of titanium alloy
by adopting fusion welding techniques is highly challenging and tough due to its
higher reactivity with atmospheric gases above 300–500 °C temperature forming
oxide layer and leads to weld defects in the weldments. Most of the LBW experi-
ments on Ti-6Al-4V alloy are carried out by adopting CO2 and solid-state Nd: YAG
laser. However, limited works are reported on weld quality and bead characteri-
zation of Ti-6Al-4V alloy plates using newly developed fiber laser. In the current
study, weldability of 1.5 mm thick Ti-6Al-4V plates is investigated using fiber laser
in butt configuration. Also, the microstructural analysis is carried out at various loca-
tions within heat-affected zone (HAZ) and in fusion zone (FZ) using field emission
scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and microstructural morphologies of FZ
are analyzed and compared at different process parameters. Also, the relationship
between hardness of the FZ and HAZ with microstructure evaluation in weld bead
is discussed in details.
2 Experimentations
In this experimental study, A 2 kW multimode fiber laser heat source in continuous

wave (CW) mode is used for laser welding experiments. The specification of fiber
Table 1 Description of fiber

Working mode CW
LBW machine
Spot diameter 200 μm
Wavelength 1.06 μm
Beam incident angle 85°
Shielding gas Ar
Position of focal point On the top surface
laser welding machine is shown in Table 1. Figure 2a depicts the fiber laser welding
machine. The beam product parameter is less than 2.5 mm m-rad. The workstation is
integrated with computer numerical control (CNC) system. The emission wavelength
Fig. 2 a LBW welding set up b Fixture with shielding gas arrangement

Table 2 Composition of base metal (wt%)

Al V C Si O Ti
5.8 4.2 0.08 0.2 0.21 Balance
is 1.06 μm and spot diameter on workpiece surface at “0” mm defocused position

is 200 μm. The standoff distance of laser nozzle is 10 mm. The beam incident
angle on workpiece surface is 85° and fiber core diameter is 50 μm. The elemental
concentrations in the parent material of Ti-6Al-4V alloy are presented in Table 2.
The workpiece dimension is 100 × 70 × 1.5 mm3 . The workpieces are carefully
degreased by acetone swabbing prior to conduct the welding experiments to remove
dust and iron particles, moisture, and grease. Otherwise iron particles may combine
with titanium forming titanium–iron eutectic compound after solidification of molten
metal which leads to cracks in the weldments. The joining edges of the specimens are
made smooth in milling machine to minimize the gap between the specimens. The
specimens are mounted on a specially designed workpiece fixture having provision
to supply the shielding gas (Fig. 2b) to reduce the weld distortion and displacement
during welding process.
During experiments, the shielding gas (i.e., argon) is provided from both sides of
the workpiece fixture at a flow rate of 10 L per minute for protecting the trailing sides
of the weld bead. Shielding gas is also supplied on the top surface of the specimen
along the nozzle axis and from another nozzle which is inclined at 45° with the laser
column at a flow rate of 5 L per minute (Fig. 2b) for bead shielding from atmospheric
contamination. The welding experiments are conducted according to data provided
in Table 3. The metallographic samples are prepared and polished by conventional
method [15] and Kroll’s reagents are used as an etchant. Further, the hardness is
measured by using Vickers microhardness testing equipment at load of 200 gf and
dwell time of 15 s at an interval of 200 μm.
Table 3 Parameters for welding and bead observations

Exp. No. Process variables Observations
P (W) V (mm/min) LEa (J/mm)
1 1100 500 132.05 Full penetration, underfill
2 1100 600 110 Full penetration
3 1100 700 94.26 Partial penetration, rejected
a LE-line energy
3.1 Microstructure of Base Material (BM)
Microstructure (FESEM micrograph) of BM of Ti-6Al-4V plate is shown in Fig. 3.

It consists of bimodal structure of equiaxed/elongated α (HCP structure) and inter-
granular β phases (BCC structure). The dark region in Fig. 3 indicates equiaxed α
and light region indicates intergranular β phase.
3.2 Microstructure Within Heat-affected Zone (HAZ)
Figure 4a depicts the optical macrograph of weld bead of full penetration weldments
of Exp. 2. Figures 4b–e show the FESEM images of microstructural changes inside
HAZ at various positions, i.e., adjacent to FZ, center of HAZ, far away from FZ
and nearby base metal zone (BMZ), respectively for Exp. 2. In the region of HAZ
which is adjacent to FZ, maximum temperature goes beyond β transus temperature,
i.e., T β (995 °C for Ti-6Al-4V alloy) and remains below liquidus temperature, i.e.,
T L (1655 °C). At this location, a combination of α martensite and slightly lower
quantity of blocky α is found as clearly shown in optical micrographs in Fig. 4b.
Both the original α and β grains are not traced at this location inside HAZ.
Therefore, this location is named as fully transformed HAZ. At the center posi-
tion of HAZ blocky α, original β, and a very less quantity of α martensite is traced
as depicted in Fig. 4c. The completely transformed HAZ is not traced at the cen-
ter of HAZ because this location experiences lower peak temperature with respect
to HAZ which is closer to FZ. The location in the HAZ far away from the FZ
boundary made up of blocky type α and both primary α and primary β phases
Fig. 3 FESEM image of

base metal microstructure Inte
r-gr
anu
lar β
(Lig
h t)
Equiaxed α (Dark)
(a)
(b) (c)
Blocky α
Martensitic α′
Martensitic α′ Blocky α
β
(d) (e)
Martensitic α′ Original α
β
Blocky α
Original β
α
Fig. 4 a Optical macrograph of weld bead of full penetration weldments of Exp. 2; Microstructure
within HAZ; b Adjacent to FZ, c Center of HAZ, d Far away from FZ, and e Nearby to BMZ for
Exp. 2
and lesser volume of α martensite as shown in Fig. 4d. In this region, the maxi-
mum temperature reaches below T β and greater than the lowest temperature which
is essential for microstructural modifications. This minimum temperature is very
challenging to ascertain because it depends on transformation kinetics of the alloy.
Similar microstructure is observed by Ahmed and Rack [16] while Ti-6Al-4V alloy
was quenched below temperature range of 720–985 °C which is lesser than the T β
transition temperature of Ti-6Al-4V material. The microstructural features as shown
in FESEM images (Fig. 4e), in the HAZ which is near to BMZ are entirely different
as compared to center of HAZ and near FZ. The region near to BMZ experiences
lowest peak temperature with respect to other locations within HAZ. At this location,
insignificant quantity of martensitic α is traced in a dominant matrix of original α
and β. Due to the incidence of higher quantity of original β and α phase, this area is
named as partially transformed HAZ. From Fig. 4b–e, it is observed that the volume
of α martensite continuously reduces from around hundred percent in HAZ which
is adjacent to FZ to roughly zero in near BMZ due to the variations in cooling rate.
3.3 Microstructure of FZ
The continuous cooling transformation (CCT) curve of Ti-6Al-4V alloy is presented

by the schematic diagram in Fig. 5a [16]. It is clearly observed from CCT curve
(Fig. 5a) that for achieving fully α´martensitic microstructure, the cooling rate should
be above 410 °C/s. Whereas, a massive transformation (α m ) takes place for cooling
(a)
(b) (c)
Martensitic α′
Massive αm
Martensitic α′
Blocky α
Fig. 5 a Schematic diagram of CCT curve of Ti-6Al-4V alloy [16]; microstructure of FZ for
welding speed of b 500 mm/min and c 600 mm/min
rates between 410 and 20 °C. No transformations of β phase into α phase occur
below 20 °C/s cooling rate. The comparative studies of developed microstructures in
FZ of weldments are conducted by FESEM micrographs in Fig. 5b–c at two different
welding speeds for Exps. 1 and 2.
At slowest traverse speed of 500 mm/min, insignificant volume of grain boundary
α and massive α m phases before β grain boundaries is observed in a dominant phase
of α martensite (Fig. 5b). The existence of massive α m indicates that cooling rate
for this combination of process parameters is most likely close to the 410 °C/s for
evaluation of martensitic structure (α ) in FZ. These observations are fairly agreed
with CCT diagram as presented in Fig. 5a for massive transformation as reported in
the literature [16].
In Fig. 5b–c, it is also observed that with increased LBW speed at a beam power of
1100 W, the thickness and size of needle-shaped lamella of α martensite is reduced.
With an increase of welding speed, the cooling rate of fusion area is also increased due
to the reduction of interaction time of laser beam with the base metal and it enhances
the nucleation rate of new colonies of α lamellae on both β-phase boundaries and
within β grains. Consequently, at higher cooling rate the β-phase is fully converted
into α martensitic structure in diffusion less manner. Therefore, fully α martensitic
structure is formed from the prior β grains in sample of Exp. 2 as shown in Fig. 5c.
These microstructural studies in Fig. 5b–c clearly reveal that the LBW process has
characteristics of high self-quenching rate.
3.4 Microhardness
The Vickers microhardness distribution curve of the welded sample of Exp. 2

(Table 3) is presented in Fig. 6. The hardness values are measured at upper and
Fig. 6 Vickers hardness

profile for Exp. 2 (Table 3)
middle part of weld bead across transverse direction of the weld line. The lowest
value of hardness is found in BMZ. The hardness increases continuously from BMZ
to within HAZ (near FZ boundary). Further, the hardness value reaches to its highest
point in the FZ due to the existence of harder α martensite which possesses high
hardness. The amount of α martensitic phase reduces from approximately hundred
percent in FZ to approximately zero percent in BMZ. Subsequently, hardness is also
reduced on both the side of center line of FZ (Fig. 6). It is also observed in Fig. 6
that the hardness at the top side of bead are higher than the middle section due to
faster cooling of top portion as it is in contact with surrounding atmosphere. Faster
cooling rate enhances the formation of coarser to finer lamella of α martensite. The
finer α lamella is very hard and brittle in nature and shows high hardness.
4 Conclusions
In the present study, a continuous wave 2 kW fiber laser is used to explore the quality
of weldments of Ti-6Al-4V alloy plates. The weld surface is efficiently shielded
by providing argon gas. Smooth and uniform beads with crack-free weldments are
formed. Microstructure variations are found from fusion zone to heat-affected zone
due to the changes in cooling rate. α martensitic structure is found in both fusion
zone and near heat-affected zone. Also, the different morphologies of α martensitic
phase such as massive α m and transformed α are found in fusion zone. The % of α
martensitic phase is reduced from about 100% in the fusion zone to nearly zero in
base metal zone. Maximum hardness is found in fusion zone of the weld bead due
to the development of large volume of martensitic α .
References
1. Donachie, M.J.: Titanium: a Technical Guide, 2nd edn. ASM International, Materials Park,
OH (2000)
2. Leyens, C., Peters, M.: Titanium and Titanium Alloys: Fundamentals and Applications.
Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, FRG (2003). https://doi.org/10.1002/
3527602119
3. Li, Zhang, Gobbi, S.L., Norris, I., Zolotovsky, S., Richter, K.H.: Laser welding techniques for
titanium alloy sheet. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 65(1–3), 203–208 (1997). https://doi.org/10.
1016/S0924-0136(96)02263-7
4. Assuncao, E., Quintino, L., Miranda, R.: Comparative study of laser welding in tailor blanks
for the automotive industry. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 49(1–4), 123–131 (2010). https://doi.
org/10.1007/s00170-009-2385-0
5. Ayoola, W.A., Suder, W.J., Williams, S.W.: Parameters controlling weld bead profile in conduc-
tion laser welding. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 249, 522–530 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
jmatprotec.2017.06.026
6. Wang, S., Wei, M., Tsay, L.: Tensile properties of LBW welds in Ti–6Al–4V alloy at evaluated
temperatures below 450 °C. Mater. Lett. 57(12), 1815–1823 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1016/
S0167-577X(02)01074-1
7. Squillace, A., Prisco, U., Ciliberto, S., Astarita, A.: Effect of welding parameters on morphology
and mechanical properties of Ti–6Al–4V laser beam welded butt joints. J. Mater. Process.
Technol. 212(2), 427–436 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2011.10.005
8. Caiazzo, F., Alfieri, V., Corrado, G., Cardaropoli, F., Sergi, V.: Investigation and optimization
of laser welding of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy plates. J. Manuf. Sci. Eng. 135(6), 61012–61018
(2013). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4025578
9. Gursel, A.: Crack risk in Nd: YAG laser welding of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Mater. Lett. 197(15),
233–235 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2016.12.112
10. Costa, A., Miranda, R., Quintino, L., Yapp, D.: Analysis of beam material interaction in welding
of titanium with fiber lasers. Mater. Manuf. Process. 22(7–8), 798–803 (2007). https://doi.org/
10.1080/10426910701446671
11. Kabir, A.S.H., Cao, X., Medraj, M., Wanjara, P., Cuddy, J., Birur, A.: Effect of welding speed
and defocusing distance on the quality of laser welded Ti-6Al-4V. Mater Sci Technol 2787–97
(2010)
12. Casalino, G., Mortello, M., Campanelli, S.L.: Ytterbium fiber laser welding of Ti6Al4V alloy.
J. Manuf. Process. 20(1), 250–256 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2015.07.003
13. Ahn, J., Chen, L., Davies, C.M., Dear, J.P.: Parametric optimisation and microstructural analysis
on high power Yb-fibre laser welding of Ti–6Al–4V. Opt. Lasers Eng. 86, 156–171 (2016).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optlaseng.2016.06.002
14. Gao, X.L., Zhang, L.J., Liu, J., Zhang, J.X.: Effects of weld cross-section profiles and
microstructure on properties of pulsed Nd: YAG laser welding of Ti6Al4V sheet. Int. J. Adv.
Manuf. Technol. 72(5–8), 895–903 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-014-5722-x
15. Geels, K., Kopp, W., Ruckert, M.: Metallographic and materialographic specimen preparation,
light microscopy, image analysis, and hardness testing. Manual 46 (2006)
16. Ahmed, T., Rack, H.J.: Phase transformations during cooling in α + β titanium alloys. Mater.
Sci. Eng. A 243(1–2), 206–211 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-5093(97)00802-2
Drilling Analysis of Natural
Fiber-Reinforced Polylactic Acid
Composites Fabricated by Hot
Compression Moulding
M. Roy Choudhury and Kishore Debnath
Abstract In the present study, bamboo fibre/polylactic acid (PLA) composites have
been fabricated by hot compression moulding using film stacking method. The
drilling behaviour of the developed composites has been experimentally investi-
gated. The influence of three different input parameters such as feed (8, 16, and
22.4 mm/min), spindle speed (710, 1400, and 2000 RPM) and drill geometry (8-
facet, dagger, and slot drill) on the drilling induced forces (thrust force and torque)
has been studied. The experimental results showed that the drilling induced forces
decreases with an increase in the spindle speed and increases with an increase in the
feed of the drill bit. It was also observed that the forces induced during drilling with
the slot drill bit are low as compared to the 8-facet and dagger drill bit.
Keywords Natural fibre · Poly (lactic) acid · Drilling · Drill geometry · Thrust
force · Torque
1 Introduction
In the past decades, natural fibre reinforced composites are extensively utilised
to manufacture innumerable engineering products because these materials are
biodegradable and have fairly good mechanical properties. Some applications of
composites reinforced with natural fibre in automotive industry are trunk panels,
door panels, headliners etc. [1]. These composites also have the ability to resolve
into water and carbon dioxide by the enzymatic activity of living organism. This
eliminates the waste disposal problem [2]. PLA is a bio-based polymer made from
natural recourses like corn and starch. This bio-based polymer has emerged as a
promising matrix material for the composites reinforcing with natural fibre because
of its good mechanical properties and biodegradability characteristics. Bamboo fibre
has the potential to replace many of the synthetic fibres and some of the natural fibres
due to its excellent mechanical properties and availability. Some of the researchers
M. R. Choudhury (B) · K. Debnath

of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong, Meghalaya 793003, India
e-mail: mridusmitaroychoudhury19@gmail.com

488 M. R. Choudhury and K. Debnath
have studied the potential of PLA/bamboo composites by evaluating the mechanical

and thermal behaviour [3–12].
Making of hole by drilling is a vital operation for final assembly of the composite
parts by means of mechanical joining. However, drilling of composite parts causes
damages to the part. The various mode of damages observed during drilling of natural
fibre reinforced composites are (i) peel-up and push-down delamination, (ii) fibre
pull-outs, (iii) bending of exposed fibres, (iv) matrix burning, (v) chipping, (vi)
spalling, and (vii) micro-cracks [13, 14]. These damages results in reduced strength
of the drilled composite parts. Anisotropic and inhomogeneous nature of the natural
fibre reinforced composites is the main cause of these types of damages. Also, the
generation of higher amount of drilling induced forces (thrust force and torque)
results in damages to the machined surface [15, 16]. The majority of work published
in the field of drilling of polymer matrix composites is based on the synthetic fibre
reinforced composites. Only, 7% of total published work reported to study the drilling
performance of composites reinforced with natural fibre [1]. Again, only a handful
publication is accessible on study of drilling performance of composites where both
the fibre and matrix are made of natural resources. Bajpai et al. [1] studied the
drilling behaviour of sisal and grewia optiva fibre reinforced PLA based natural
fibre reinforced composites. The drill geometry was found to be the most significant
parameter affecting the drilling induced forces and drilled hole quality. Fazita et al.
[10] stated that bamboo fibre reinforced PLA composites can be used for biomedical,
structural, and packaging applications.
In the present study, the drilling behaviour of bamboo fibre reinforced PLA com-
posites has been investigated by analysing the drilling induced thrust force and torque.
The influence of three different input parameters such as feed, spindle speed, and
drill bit geometries on the drilling induced thrust force and torque has been studied
and analysed.
2.1 Fabrication of Composite Laminates
Bamboo fiber in long and loose form was purchased from Sri Lakshmi Group, Andhra
Pradesh, India. PLA in pallets form was supplied by Natur Tec India Pvt. Ltd. The
density of PLA is 1.24 g/cm3 . The melting temperature and glass transition temper-
ature of the PLA are 170 °C and 58 °C, respectively. The fabrication of the bamboo
fibre reinforced PLA composites were carried out by film stacking method using
hot compression. The PLA pellets and the fibre were dried in an oven at 80 °C for
4 h to remove the moisture. PLA films of 1.5 mm thickness were fabricated by hot
compression of PLA pellets at 160 °C. Initially, pressure of 0.4 MPa was applied
for 4 min and then increased to 3 MPa for another 2 min keeping the temperature
constant. After allowed to cool the film for two hours under pressure, the film was
Drilling Analysis of Natural Fiber-Reinforced Polylactic Acid … 489
Fig. 1 Orientation of fibre in the developed composites
removed from the mould. A total of four layers of fibres were stacked alternately
between the PLA films in a sequence of [0°/45°/90°/−45°] as shown in Fig. 1. The
stack of polymer films and fibre was compressed at a temperature of 180 °C. Initially,
4 MPa pressure was applied for 8 min and then the pressure is increased to 6 MPa
for 2 min. Composite was removed from the mould after 2 h and allowed to cool.
The thickness of the fabricated composite is 6 mm. The fibre weight fraction in the
developed composites is 18.37%.
2.2 Machining Setup
The experiments have been conducted on a vertical type milling machine under dry
condition without any back-up supports. The fabricated composite specimen was
clamped on a dedicated fixture. Three different levels of feed and speed were taken
as input parameters using three different types of drill geometries for performing the
drilling operation on the developed composites. Table 1 shows the level of different
input parameters chosen in the present work. The diameter of the solid carbide drill
Table 1 Level of the input

Factors Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
process parameters and their
values Feed (mm/min) 8 16 22.4
Speed (RPM) 710 1400 2000
Drill geometry 8-facet Dagger Slot
Fig. 2 Machining setup and drill geometries
bits under investigation is 8 mm. The responses such as thrust force and torque have
been measured using a dynamometer on which the fixture is mounted that holds the
specimen. Data acquisition software installed in the personal computer is used to
capture the force signals. The drilling setup and the drill geometries considered in
the present experimental study are shown in Fig. 2.
3.1 Analysis of Drilling Force Signals
Full factorial deign (total 27 experiments) was conducted to study the effect of
the drilling parameters on the drilling induced forces during making hole on the
developed composites. Table 2 shows the experimental data of thrust force and torque
for different input parameter settings. Figures 3 and 4 depicts the captured signals
of the axial thrust force and torque. From the figures, it can be observed that the
Table 2 Full Factorial design for drilling induced axial thrust force and torque
Outputs Speed (RPM) 8-Facet Dagger Slot
Feed (mm/min) Feed (mm/min) Feed (mm/min)
8 16 22.4 8 16 22.4 8 16 22.4
Axial 710 69.61 72.72 60.90 81.41 96.04 97.78 48.00 49.19 57.56
Thrust 1400 69.78 76.80 75.82 53.99 45.20 74.72 41.18 68.12 57.14
(N) 2000 48.89 44.30 65.25 30.48 42.60 62.44 27.48 32.04 52.40
Torque 710 78.62 95.81 147.3 41.52 45.09 67.33 39.38 41.66 50.98
(N-cm) 1400 59.27 93.16 123.8 25.97 33.25 60.09 25.89 43.05 50.12
Drilling Analysis of Natural Fiber-Reinforced Polylactic Acid …
2000 46.97 52.15 73.72 25.46 30.38 49.21 18.49 29.13 40.88
491
Fig. 3 Thrust force signals (feed: 8 mm/min and spindle speed: 1400 RPM)
Fig. 4 Torque signals (feed: 22.4 mm/min and spindle speed: 2000 RPM)
signals of the forces obtained with the different drill bits are significantly different.
The construction of the drill bit exerts a notable impact on the drilling forces. 8-facet
drill bit generates more forces followed by dagger and slot drill bit. The slot drill bit
was found to produce lesser amount of forces as only two peripheral cutting edges
come in contact with the composite specimen. This results in reduction in the contact
area between the composite specimen and the drill bit during drilling with the slot
drill bit. The indentation effect renders by the slot drill bit is also relatively less than
the other two types of drill bits. Moreover, the slot drill bit does have more clearance
which facilitates quick ejection of formed chips during drilling.
3.2 Analysis of Drilling-Induced Forces
The effect of three different input parameters (feed, spindle speed, and drill geometry)
on the drilling induced forces (axial thrust force and torque) has been experimentally
studied. Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8 shows the response of thrust force and torque with
the input parameters during drilling of the fabricated composites. Figures 5 and 6
depicts that the drilling induced forces tends to increase with the feed of the drill bit.
The cutting of materials becomes more difficult at higher feed due to increase in the
uncut chip thickness. This corresponds to higher drilling induced forces. Moreover,
drilling-induced damages like delamination, intralaminar cracks, and high density
micro failure zone occur in and around the drilled hole due to higher of impact force
of the drill bit on the composite specimen at higher feed rates. Figures 7 and 8 indicate
that the drilling induced forces decreases as the speed of the drill bit is increased from
710 to 2000 RPM. Higher speed results in increase in the temperature at the cutting
zone which results in softening of polymer. Softening of polymer aids ease removal
of materials and hence, generates lower drilling induced forces at higher speed of
Fig. 5 Response of thrust 8-facet Dagger Slot drill

force with feed for speed of 70
2000 RPM
60
Thrust Force (N)
50
40
30
20
8 16 22.4
Feed (mm/min)
Fig. 6 Response of torque 8-facet Dagger Slot drill

with feed for speed of 710 160
RPM
140
120
Torque (N-cm)
100
80
60
40
20
8 16 22.4
Feed (mm/min)
Fig. 7 Response of thrust 8-facet Dagger Slot drill

90
force with speed for feed of
8 mm/min
80
70
Thrust Force (N)
60
50
40
30
20
710 1400 2000
Spindle Speed (RPM)
Fig. 8 Response of torque 100 8-facet Dagger Slot drill

with speed for feed of
8 mm/min
80
Torque (N-cm)
60
40
20
0
710 1400 2000
Spindle Speed (RPM)
the drill bit [17]. Lower speed implies low strain rates and longer machining times.
This leads to higher drilling forces as compared to higher speed. The similar effect
of input parameters on the drilling induced forces was observed in [18].
4 Conclusions
The concluding remarks drawn from the present experimental endeavour are pre-
sented below:
• The signals of the drilling induced forces (thrust force and torque) are different
for different drill bits during drilling of the developed composites. That indicates
that the drill bit geometry significantly affect the drilling behaviour of natural fiber
reinforced composites.
• The slot drill bit produces minimum drilling induced forces among all the drill
bits (8-facet, dagger, and slot drill bit).
• Drilling induced forces increase with an increase in the feed for all types of drill
bits under investigation.
• Drilling induced forces decreases with an increase in the spindle speed for all types
of drill bits under investigation.
References
1. Bajpai, P.K., Debnath, K., Singh, I.: Hole making in natural fiber-reinforced polylactic acid
laminates: an experimental investigation. J. Thermoplast. Compos. Mater. 30(1), 30–46 (2017)
2. Ochi, S.: Tensile properties of bamboo fiber reinforced biodegradable plastics. Int. J. Compos.
Mater. 2(1), 1–4 (2012)
3. Lee, S.H., Ohkita, T., Kitagawa, K.: Eco-composite from poly (lactic acid) and bamboo fiber.
Holzforschung 58(5), 529–536 (2004)
4. Okubo, K., Fujii, T., Yamashita, N.: Improvement of interfacial adhesion in bamboo polymer
composite enhanced with micro-fibrillated cellulose. JSME Int. J. Series A Solid Mech. Mater.
Eng. 48(4), 199–204 (2005)
5. Lee, S.H., Wang, S.: Biodegradable polymers/bamboo fiber biocomposite with bio-based cou-
pling agent. Compos. A Appl. Sci. Manuf. 37(1), 80–91 (2006)
6. Tokoro, R., Vu, D.M., Okubo, K., Tanaka, T., Fujii, T., Fujiura, T.: How to improve mechanical
properties of polylactic acid with bamboo fibers. J. Mater. Sci. 43(2), 775–787 (2008)
7. Okubo, K., Fujii, T., Thostenson, E.T.: Multi-scale hybrid biocomposite: processing and
mechanical characterization of bamboo fiber reinforced PLA with microfibrillated cellulose.
Compos. A Appl. Sci. Manuf. 40(4), 469–475 (2009)
8. Kang, J.T., Kim, S.H.: Improvement in the mechanical properties of polylactide and bamboo
fiber biocomposites by fiber surface modification. Macromol. Res. 19(8), 789–796 (2011)
9. Zhang, Q., Shi, L., Nie, J., Wang, H., Yang, D.: Study on poly (lactic acid)/natural fibers
composites. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 125(S2), E526–E533 (2012)
10. Rawi, N.F.M., Jayaraman, K., Bhattacharyya, D.: Bamboo fabric reinforced polypropylene and
poly (lactic acid) for packaging applications: Impact, thermal, and physical properties. Polym.
Compos. 35(10), 1888–1899 (2014)
11. Fazita, M.R., Jayaraman, K., Bhattacharyya, D., Hossain, M., Haafiz, M.K., Khalil, H.P.S.A.:
Disposal options of bamboo fabric-reinforced poly (lactic) acid composites for sustainable
packaging: biodegradability and recyclability. Polymers 7(8), 1476–1496 (2015)
12. Li, Y., Jiang, L., Xiong, C., Peng, W.: Effect of different surface treatment for bamboo fiber on
the crystallization behavior and mechanical property of bamboo fiber/nanohydroxyapatite/poly
(lactic-co-glycolic) composite. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 54(48), 12017–12024 (2015)
13. Debnath, K., Singh, I., Dvivedi, A.: On the analysis of force during secondary processing of
natural fiber-reinforced composite laminates. Polym. Compos. 38(1), 164–174 (2017)
14. Babu, G.D., Babu, K.S., Gowd, B.U.M.: Optimization of machining parameters in drilling
hemp fiber reinforced composites to maximize the tensile strength using design experiments.
Indian J. Eng. Mater. Sci. 20(5), 385–390 (2013)
15. Debnath, K., Singh, I., Dvivedi, A.: Rotary mode ultrasonic drilling of glass fiber-reinforced
epoxy laminates. J. Compos. Mater. 49(8), 949–963 (2015)
16. Sgriccia, N., Hawley, M.C., Misra, M.: Characterization of natural fiber surfaces and natural
fiber composites. Compos. A Appl. Sci. Manuf. 39(10), 1632–1637 (2008)
17. Rubio, J.C.C., da Silva L.J., de Oliveira Leite, W., Panzera, T.H., Filho, S.L.M.R., Davim, J.P.:
Investigations on the drilling process of unreinforced and reinforced polyamides using Taguchi
method. Compos. Part B Eng. 55, 338–344(2013)
18. Debnath, K., Singh, I., Dvivedi, A.: Drilling characteristics od sisal fiber-reinforced epoxy and
polypropylene composites. Mater. Manuf. Processes 29(11–12), 1401–1409 (2014)
Parametric Study of Photochemical
Machining of Aluminium Using Taguchi
Approach
Rashed Mustafa Mazarbhuiya and Maneswar Rahang
Abstract This paper described a parametric optimization for photochemical

machining process on aluminium work material. The study analysed the parametric
effects of etching concentration, etching temperature, and etching time on the perfor-
mance measures like, material removal rate, surface roughness and edge deviation
of predefined boundary of area. Based on Taguchi L9 orthogonal array, the pho-
tochemical machining of aluminium was carried out using ferric chloride solution
as etchant. Analysis of Variance showed the effects of different process parameters
on performance measures. Overall evaluation criteria were formulated by desired
weight percentage to material removal rate, surface roughness and edge deviation
for achieving multi-objective condition. The optimum condition was found to be
400 g/L of etching concentration, 40 °C of etching temperature and 6 min of etching
time. ANOVA of OEC showed that the etching temperature was the most significant
factor for machining of aluminium workpiece.
Keywords PCM · Taguchi · MRR · Ra · ED · OEC
Nomenclature
Conc. Concentration
ED Edge Deviation
MRR Material Removal Rate
min Minute
OEC Overall Evaluation Criteria
QC Quality Characteristics
Ra Surface roughness
Temp. Temperature
R. M. Mazarbhuiya (B) · M. Rahang

e-mail: itsrashed110@gmail.com

498 R. M. Mazarbhuiya and M. Rahang
1 Introduction
Photochemical machining process (PCM) is one of the advanced machining pro-

cesses, which produces burr free and stress free flat complex metal parts by chemical
etching process through a photo-resist stencil over selected area [1]. Cakir [2] per-
formed machining of aluminium at different etching temperature using ferric chloride
as chemical etchant and reported that the ferric chloride to be suitable etchant for
etching of aluminium. For chemical etching of any material the selection of proper
etchant most important parameter which enhances the rate of etching and produce
smooth surface finish. The machining parameters should be selected based on etchant
concentration, etching temperature, etchant time and etchant [3]. Allen and Almond
[4] reported about the wide varieties in grades of ferric chloride etchants which can
be used in industrial application of photo chemical machining. Roy et al. [5] dis-
cussed about the cost involved for PCM defined standard for industrial etchants and
methods to analyse and monitor them. Many researchers used ferric chloride and
cupric chloride as chemical etchants to study the effect of different control parame-
ters on etching rate and surface finish on PCM of aluminium, copper and Inconel 718
[2, 6, 7]. After going through the available literature, the authors made an attempt
for experimental investigation to observe the feasibility of chemical machining of
aluminium by using different concentration of ferric chloride (FeCl3 ) at different
levels of etching temperatures and etching time. To analyse, the responses parame-
ter material removal rate (MRR), surface roughness (Ra) and edge deviation (ED),
Taguchi design of orthogonal array was used. Overall Evaluation Criteria (OEC)
was formulated to find out the optimum condition of process parameters. The effect
of different process parameter on response parameter was investigated by ANOVA
method.
The aluminium was used as work material in this study. The specimen size was
prepared in some suitable size like, 20 × 20 × 5 mm. It was followed by desired
surface finish of the workpiece to remove contaminants and to enhance the possibility
of good adhesion of photo-resist solution to the work surface. A photo tool was
prepared by printing out of desired image from CAD drawings in required shape and
size. The photo tool is a negative replica of the image to be produced. By immersing
the workpiece into photo-resist dip coater for 1 s followed by drying for 4 min
masking was applied. After that the coated specimen was placed under the photo
tool and exposed to the ultraviolet source for 2 min. The photo-resist is sensitive to
U.V. radiation, therefore a U.V. tube exposure unit was used for exposure. After that
the specimen was dipped in solvent-based developer solution for 60 s which softens
the unexposed areas of the photo-resist. Then, it was dried and post baked for 2 min
followed by dipping into ferric chloride solution. The etchant solution dissolved
Parametric Study of Photochemical Machining of Aluminium … 499
Table 1 Controlling parameters with their levels

S. No. Control parameters Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
1 Concentration (g/L) 400 500 600
2 Temperature (°C) 40 50 60
3 Time (min) 4 6 8
(a) (b)
1 2 3
4 5 6 (c)
7 8 9
Fig. 1 a Photo chemically machined sample specimen, b ED measurement, c measurement of Ra
the unexposed area of masking to get the desired shape and size by removing the
material. Lastly, the work sample was cleaned by washing in fresh water.
Several pilot experiments were conducted based on the literature study for select-
ing the controllable process parameters such as, concentration (g/L), temperature (°C)
and etching time (min) with their different levels as tabulated in Table 1. Taguchi
L9 design matrix was selected to carry out experiments. PCM of workpieces were
carried out using ferric chloride as chemical etchant. ED of required shape and size
were measured using optical microscope. The MRR was calculated by measuring
the amount of removed material by dividing it by the etching time. The machined
specimen, measurement of ED and measurement of Ra of work samples are shown
in Fig. 1.
The Taguchi L9 orthogonal design matrix and quantitative average value of the MRR,
Ra and ED along with OEC value were shown in Table 2. The parametric analysis on
aluminium workpieces were carried out to observe the effect of process parameters
Table 2 Taguchi L9 orthogonal array matrix with average output parameters and OEC values
Conc. Temp. Time MRR SR ED OEC
400 40 4 0.225 1.06 49.68 80.00
400 50 6 1.723 2.48 63.26 39.86
400 60 8 4.612 2.99 65.02 40.15
500 40 6 1.817 1.41 52.20 76.64
500 50 8 2.659 2.63 61.89 42.64
500 60 4 3.317 2.39 80.59 26.51
600 40 8 1.208 2.49 53.79 49.49
600 50 4 1.442 2.48 68.99 31.13
600 60 6 3.561 2.37 67.99 44.38
on MRR, Ra and ED. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was carried out to observe the
effect of different process parameters and their significances separately on MRR, Ra
and ED. The ANOVA for MRR, Ra and ED along with OEC value were shown in
Table 3. To satisfy more than one criterion at a time OEC was formulated.
3.1 Parametric Effect on MRR
Using main effect plots as shown in Fig. 2a it can be concluded that there was an
increased in MRR from 400 to 500 g/L and after that decreased from 500 to 600 g/L.
This means that the rate of reaction is increased and afterwards decreased. The MRR
was observed maximum value at concentration of 500 g/L, temperature of 60 °C,
and etching time of 8 min. Temperature was the most significant parameter for MRR
followed by time whereas the etching concentration was less contributing effect on
MRR. The MRR also increased with increased in temperature and etching time.
3.2 Parametric Effect on Ra
Using main effect plots as shown in Fig. 2b it can be concluded that there was an
increased in Ra with increased in concentration, temperature and time. As the con-
centration increased along with temperature the material was remove non-uniformly
results in increased in Ra. As the etching time increased, the Ra increased. The Ra
was always preferred lesser. The lesser Ra observed at concentration 500 g/L, etching
temperature 40 °C and etching time at 4 min. From the ANOVA summery data for
Ra, it was observed that etching temperature was the most contributing parameter
followed by etching time. The effect of concentration on Ra contributed less value.
Table 3 ANOVA calculation for MRR, Ra, ED and OEC

Factors Sum of square DOF Mean square F-ratio Percent contribution
(a) MRR
Conc. 0.46 2 0.23 0.88 3.09
Temp. 11.847 2 5.923 22.65 79.53
Time 2.006 2 1.033 3.951 13.47
Other factors 0.522 2 0.261 3.5
Total 14.897 8
(b) Ra
Conc. 0.164 2 0.082 0.572 5.44
Temp. 1.636 2 0.818 5.703 54.24
Time 0.928 2 0.464 3.234 30.77
Other factors 0.286 2 0.143 9.48
Total 3.016 8
(c) ED
Conc. 51.058 2 25.529 0.914 6.78
Temp. 579.08 2 289.54 10.37 76.92
Time 66.841 2 33.42 1.197 8.88
Other factors 55.832 2 27.916 7.42
Total 752.82 8
(d) OEC
Conc. 206.68 2 103.34 0.463 7.48
Temp. 1956.1 2 978.06 4.39 70.81
Time 154.08 2 77.043 0.345 5.58
Other factors 445.55 2 222.78 16.13
Total 2762.4 8
3.3 Parametric Effect on ED
Using main effect plots as shown in Fig. 2c it can be concluded that there was an
increased in ED with increased in etching concentration and etching temperature but
with increased in etching time ED decreased. There was an increased in ED from 400
to 500 g/L and after that a slightly decreased from 500 to 600 g/L. As the temperature
increased from 40 to 60 °C the value of ED was increased. With the increased in
etching time, the ED decreased. At etching concentration of 400 g/L, etching tem-
perature of 40 °C, and etching time of 8 min the value of ED was obtained minimum
value. From the study of ANOVA, it was observed that, the etching temperature was
the most dominant parameter for ED. The etching time and concentration were less
effected parameter on ED. The contribution of parameters that had greater influence
was same for MRR, Ra and ED.
Main Effects Plot for MRR Main Effects Plot for Ra

(a) Data Means (b) Data Means
Conc. Temp. Time
4.0 2.75
Conc. Temp. Time
3.5
2.50
3.0
2.25
Mean
Mean
2.5
2.00
2.0
1.5 1.75
1.0 1.50
400 500 600 40 50 60 4 6 8 400 500 600 40 50 60 4 6 8
(c) Main Effects Plot for ED

Data Means
(d) Main Effects Plot for OEC
Data Means
Conc. Temp. Time Conc. Temp. Time

70
70
65
65 60
Mean
55
Mean
60 50
45
55
40
50
400 500 600 40 50 60 4 6 8 400 500 600 40 50 60 4 6 8
Fig. 2 a Main effect plot for MRR, b main effect plot for Ra, c main effect plot for ED, d main
effect plot for OEC
3.4 Overall Evaluation Criteria
Multiple criteria of evaluation were performed by OEC to satisfy more than one
objective function. The evaluation of responses has different measure of units, rel-
ative weightage and quality characteristics (QC) as tabulated in Table 4. Based on
priority for combining different criteria, they must first be normalizing and weighted
accordingly. The OEC calculation for measuring two output responses X and Y with
percentages of weight W X and W Y respectively was given in equation [8]. Where
(QC) for X is bigger is the best (QC = B) and for Y is smaller is the best (QC = S).

X − X mi n Y − Y mi n
OEC = Wx + 1 − Wy
X max − X mi n Y max − Y mi n
The OEC was formulated considering MRR, Ra and ED to study their overall
effects. The mean effects of the process parameters were shown in Fig. 2d. From
the ANOVA for OEC it can be concluded that the etching temperature was more
impact at the assigned weightages. The optimum condition for OEC was found at
concentration of 400 g/L, temperature of 40 °C and etching time of 6 min as tabulated
in Table 4.
Table 4 Overall evaluation criteria

(a) OEC for 20% MRR, 40% Ra and 40% ED
S. No. Parameter weightage Worst Best QC
1 MRR (20%) 0.225 4.612 B
2 Ra (40%) 2.989 1.056 S
3 ED (40%) 80.59 49.68 S
(b) Optimum condition for OEC
Col #/Factor Level description Contribution
Conc. 400 5.47
Temp. 40 20.84
Time 6 5.76
Total contribution from all factors 32.07
Current grand average of performance 47.87
Expected result at optimum condition 79.94
4 Conclusions
• The maximum value of MRR was found at concentration of 500 g/L, temperature of
60 °C, and etching time of 8 min. Temperature was found to be the most significant
parameter for MRR followed by time whereas the etching concentration was less
contributing. There was an increased in MRR from 400 to 500 g/L and after that
decreased from 500 to 600 g/L.
• The Ra increased with increased in concentration, temperature and time. As the
etching time increased, the Ra also increased. The lesser Ra observed at con-
centration of 500 g/L, etching temperature of 40 °C and etching time of 4 min.
The etching temperature was the most contributing parameter followed by etching
time. The concentration has less effect contribution on Ra value.
• The ED increased with increased in etching concentration and etching temperature
but, decreased with increased in etching time. The minimum ED observed at
etching concentration of 400 g/L, temperature of 40 °C, and etching time of 8 min.
From ANOVA, it was observed that etching temperature was the most dominant
parameter for minimum ED whereas etching time and etching concentration were
less effecting.
• The optimum condition was found to be 400 g/L of etching concentration, 40 °C
of etching temperature, and 6 min of etching time.
Acknowledgements The authors expressed their sincere thanks and gratitude to Department of
Mechanical Engineering of NIT Meghalaya and SERB-DST, for providing the facility of tools and
machining set-up for doing the experimental research work.
References
1. Allen, D.M.: Photochemical machining: from manufacturing’s best kept secret to a $6 billion
per annum, rapid manufacture process. CIRP J. Manuf. Syst. 53(2), 559–572 (2004)
2. Cakir, O.: Chemical etching of aluminum. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 199, 337–340 (2008)
3. Yadav, R.P., Teli, S.N.: A review of issues in photochemical 450 machining. Int. J. Mod. Eng.
Res. 4, 49–53 (2014)
4. Allen, D.M., Almond, H.J.: Characterization of aqueous ferric chloride etchant used in industrial
photo chemical machining. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 149, 238–245 (2004)
5. Roy, R., Allen, D.M., Zamora, O.: Cost of photochemical machining. J. Mater. Process. Technol.
149, 460–465 (2004)
6. Cakır, O., Temel, H., Kiyak, M.: Chemical etching of Cu-ETP copper. J. Mater. Process. Technol.
162–163, 275–279 (2005)
7. Wagh, D.V., Dolas, D.R., Dhagate, M.D.: Experimental investigation of photochemical machin-
ing on Inconel 600 using ferric chloride. Int. J. Eng. Res. Technol. 4(2), 289–293 (2014)
8. Roy, R.K.: Design of Experiments Using the Taguchi Approach: 16 Steps to Product and Process
Improvement. Wiley, New York (2001)
Effect of Fiber Orientation on the Tensile
and Wear Properties of Flax
Fiber-Reinforced Composites
Naveen Kumar, P. Avinash, Abhishek Singh and Kishore Debnath
Abstract The demand for the uses of natural fiber-reinforced composites is increas-
ing in various fields of engineering due to the global environmental concern. Flax
fiber is one of the potential fiber used as reinforcing material in polymer compos-
ites. The present work studies the influence of fiber orientation angle (45°, 60°, and
90°) on the tensile and wear characteristics of the developed flax fiber-reinforced
epoxy composites. The wear tests were performed by varying the applied normal
loads of 10–30 N at a perpetual sliding gap of 3000 m and speed of 2 m/s under
dry atmospheric condition. The results showed that the maximum wear occurs for
the composites having fiber orientation angle of 45° and tensile strength is higher
for the composites having fiber orientation angle of 90° in comparison to the other
composite specimens.
Keywords Composites · Flax fiber · Fiber orientation · Tensile strength · Wear
1 Introduction
The application spectrum of natural fiber-reinforced composite is increasing at a fast

pace due to their many favorable characteristics such as biodegradability, being light
in weight, ease of availability, being low in cost, high specific strength, eco-friendly,
and corrosion resistance [1–3]. There are various factors that affect the properties
of natural fiber-reinforced polymers composites. The orientation angle of the fiber
was found to be one of the vital parameters that affect both the mechanical and
N. Kumar (B) · P. Avinash · A. Singh

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Patna, Patna, Bihar
800005, India
e-mail: nitish.nitp15@gmail.com
K. Debnath
Meghalaya 793003, India

506 N. Kumar et al.
tribological properties of the natural fiber-reinforced composites. Delahaigue et al. [4]

investigated that fiber orientation angle affects the machinability of unidirectional and
bidirectional flax fiber-reinforced epoxy composites. Kumar et al. [5] experimentally
found that the effect of different fiber orientation angles on mechanical strength of
the glass fiber composites. It was found that the orientation angle of 0° of glass
fiber yields maximum strength as compared to other orientation angles of fiber.
Sandeep et al. [6] concluded that the strength of the composites is significantly
varied with a slight change in the fiber orientation angle. Guru Raja and Hari Rao
[7] evaluated the mechanical properties of hybrid composites (glass/carbon) with
different fiber orientation angles. It was concluded that the small angle of fiber
orientation yielded less stiffness and strength. It was also found that the composite
with fiber orientation angle of 0°/90° had superior mechanical properties to the other
fiber orientations. Jones Retnam et al. [8] experimentally found that mechanical
properties of hybrid composites with different fiber orientation angles of 0°/90°
and ±45°. It was concluded that the hybrid composite specimen with ±45° fiber
orientation angle had more tensile strength than the other fiber orientation angles.
The hardness test of the composite specimen revealed that the hybrid composite
specimen with 0°/90° fiber orientation angle has maximum hardness. Bora et al. [9]
examined the effect of fiber orientation angle on the scratch resistance of carbon fiber
composites. Sezgin et al. [10] showed that the tensile, flexural, and impact strength
was improved by 25, 100, and 340% with an increase in the fiber plies from 4 to
8 in jute fiber-reinforced polyester composites. Kumar et al. [11] concluded from
the experimental work that the moisture absorption capacity of the composite was
increased as the amount of natural fiber is increased in the composites. Maciel et al.
[12] experimentally found the mechanical properties of different orientations of fiber
for nanoengineered composites and obtained 225, 27, and 23 MPa young’s modulus
for 0°, 45°, and 90° fiber orientation, respectively. It was also concluded that the
strain increases when the specimen undergoes stretching in the same direction of fiber
orientation and decreases when angle between the fiber orientation and stretching is
90°.
From the above discussion, it is clear that the fiber orientation exerts a considerable
effect on the mechanical and tribological behaviors of different classes of composites.
However, the study on natural fiber composites in this context is scarce. Therefore,
in the present work, the influence of fiber orientation angle on the tensile and wear
properties of flax fiber-reinforced epoxy composites has been experimentally studied.
Effect of Fiber Orientation on the Tensile … 507
2.1 Materials Used for Developing the Composites
Flax fiber in bidirectional mat form supplied by Go Green Products, Chennai, India
is considered as reinforcing material in the present experimental work. Tables 1 and
2 presents the composition and properties of flax fiber. Flax fibers are drawn out from
the flesh of stem of the flax plant. Epoxy resin (Araldite LY 556) and hardener (HY
951) were chosen to be the matrix material for the development of composites. The
resin and hardener were supplied by Shankar Dyes and Chemicals, Delhi, India. The
resin and hardener were mixed at 10:01 by weight as recommended by the supplier.
The properties of Araldite LY 556 and hardener HY 951 are given in Table 3.
2.2 Fabrication of Composites
Composites plates were fabricated by traditional hand layup method using epoxy and
hardener as resin and flax fiber as reinforcement. This method is a simple fabrication
technique for composites with less processing and equipment cost. In this work, five
layers of fiber mat and six layers of resin-hardener mixture are applied to fabricate
the composites plate, as shown in Fig. 1. The fibers and matrix are taken in a ratio
Table 1 Compositions of
Compositions Unit Values
flax fiber [13–18]
Cellulose wt% 71
Hemicelluloses wt% 18.6–20.6
Pectin wt% 2.3
Lignin wt% 2.2
Wax wt% 1.7
Moisture content wt% 10
Microfibrillar/spiral angle ° 10
Table 2 Properties of flax

Properties Unit Values
fiber [13–18]
Tensile strength MPa 345–1100
Young’s modulus GPa 27.6
Elongation at break % 2.7–3.2
Density g/cm3 1.5
508 N. Kumar et al.
Table 3 Properties of resin system [19, 20]

Properties LY 556 HY 951
Physical form Liquid Liquid
Appearance Clear Clear
Epoxy content (ISO 3000) 5.30–5.45 eq/kg –
Viscosity at 25 °C (ISO 12058) 10,000–12,000 MPa-s 10–20 MPa-s
Density at 25 °C (ISO 1675) 1.15–1.20 g/cm3 0.97–0.99 g/cm3
Flash point (ISO 2719) >200 °C >180 °C
Fig. 1 Stacking sequence of resin and fiber
of 75:25 by weight as higher volume fraction of fiber results in better properties

of the resultant composites. The specimens were cut from the fabricated composite
plate at angles of 45°, 60°, and 90° to obtain the different orientations of the fiber
in the composite specimen, as shown in Fig. 2. The composite specimens with 45°,
60°, and 90° fiber orientation angles are taken for testing to evaluate the influence of
orientation angle on the tensile and wear behaviors of the developed flax fiber-epoxy
composites.
Fig. 2 Fabricated composites specimen having different fiber orientation angles
3.1 Effect of Fiber Orientation on the Tensile Strength
The composite specimens with varying different fiber orientation angles are con-
sidered for tensile testing. The tensile properties of the developed composites were
evaluated as per ASTM standard D3039M-14 using the Zwick/Roell UTM Z250
machine. The tensile test was performed on flat strip composite specimen having
constant rectangular cross-section at normal atmospheric condition. Tensile strength
of developed composites was determined in UTM machine at constant gauge length
and crosshead speed, i.e., 50 and 1 mm/min, respectively. The load was applied par-
allel to the axis of the specimen. The maximum load observed just before fracture of
specimen was recorded and divided by area of corresponding specimens which gives
the tensile strength of the developed composites specimens. The variation of tensile
strength of different orientations of fiber in composites specimens are shown in Fig. 3.
510 N. Kumar et al.
Fig. 3 Variation in tensile

strength with the fiber
orientation angle
The figure simply indicates that orientation angle of fiber affects the tensile strength
of developed flax fiber-reinforced epoxy composites. The maximum tensile strength
(146.12 MPa) was obtained in composite specimen for 90° fiber orientation followed
by 60° fiber orientation. The minimum value of tensile strength (130.57 MPa) was
obtained for the composite with 45° fiber orientation. In case of 90° fiber orientation
composites, specimens obtained tensile strength maximum because the applied load
was parallel to the fiber orientation. But in case of composite specimen having fiber
orientation angle of 45° the load is resolved into two components as the applied load
was not parallel to the fiber orientation. This influences the tensile strength of the
developed composites.
3.2 Effect of Fiber Orientation on the Wear Properties
An investigation was carried out at various applied normal loads of 10, 20, and
30 N, respectively, at constant sliding gap, and at constant velocity of 2 m/s for the
developed composites having varying fiber orientation in order to evaluate their wear
characteristics. The dry condition was chosen to execute the required wear test on the
pin-on-disk tribo test machine. The preparation of test specimens and the execution of
wear test were performed as per ASTM G99 specifications. The appropriate surface
contact between the specimens and sliding test was maintained by polishing the
sliding surface of the test specimens by emery paper. Every experimental trail run
was initiated after cleaning the sliding disk and test specimen with acetone. An
electronic balance was used to measure the weight of test specimens before and after
each trail run to assess the weight difference. The observed loss in weight (mg) was
used to assess the wear response of the developed composites materials.
The variation of wear loss with the applied normal load for all types of composite
specimens is shown in Fig. 4. It is clearly indicated in the figure that the wear of
the composite specimens having 45° fiber orientation was slightly more than the
Fig. 4 Wear versus fiber

orientation angle for
different loads
60° fiber orientation composites for all applied normal loads. It is also clear from
Fig. 4, that the wear behavior of the developed composites followed the same pattern
with an increase in the normal load for all the composite specimens. The minimum
wear occurs in composite specimen having 60° fiber orientation as compared to the
composite specimen having 45° and 90° fiber orientation, respectively. The figure
also reveals that the wear enhances with a rise in the given normal load from 10 to
20 N, respectively.
4 Conclusions
In the present work, flax fiber-reinforced epoxy composites having fiber orientation
angles of 45°, 60°, and 90° have been fabricated. The influence of fiber angle ori-
entation on the tensile strength and wear behavior of the developed composites has
been experimentally investigated. From the present experimental investigation, the
following conclusions can be drawn:
• Fiber orientation angle shows significant effect on the tensile strength of the fabri-
cated composites. The tensile strength was higher for composite specimen having
fiber orientation angle of 90° and minimum for composite specimen having fiber
orientation angle of 45°.
• Minimum wear occurs in case of composite specimen having fiber orientation
angle 60° for all three types of given load at constant sliding speed of 2 m/s and
constant sliding gap of 3000 m.
• The wear response shows similar patterns for composite specimen having fiber
orientation angles of 45° and 90° for all applied normal loads.
512 N. Kumar et al.
References
1. Joshia, S.V., Drzalb, L.T., Mohanty, A.K., Arora, S.: Are natural fiber composites environmen-
tally superior to glass fiber reinforced composites? Compos. A 35, 371–376 (2004)
2. Zamri, M.H., Akil, H.M., Bakar, A.A., Cheng, Z.A.: Effect of water absorption on pultruded
jute/glass fiber reinforced unsaturated polyester hybrid composites. J. Compos. Mater. 1, 51–61
(2011)
3. Messiry, M., Tarfawy, S., Deeb, R.: Study pultruded jute fabric effect on the cementations
thin composites mechanical properties with low fiber volume fraction. Alexandria Eng. J. 56,
415–421 (2017)
4. Delahaigue, J., Chatelain, J.F., Lebrun, G.: Machining analysis of unidirectional and bi-
directional flax-epoxy composite laminates. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. L J. Mater. Des. Appl.
231(1–2), 196–209 (2017)
5. Kumar, K.V., Reddy, P.R., Ravi Shankar, D.V.: Effect of angle ply orientation on tensile prop-
erties of bidirectional woven fabric glass epoxy composite laminate. Int. J. Comput. Eng. Res.
3(10), 55–61 (2003)
6. Sandeep, M.B., Choudhary, D., Inamdar, N., Rahaman, Q.: Experimental study of effect of
fiber orientation on the flexural strength of glass/epoxy composite material. Int. J. Res. Eng.
Technol. 9, 208–221 (2014)
7. Guru Raja, M.N., Hari Rao, A.N.: Influence of angle ply orientation on tensile properties of
carbon/glass hybrid composite. J. Miner. Mater. Charact. Eng. 1, 231–235 (2013)
8. Jones Retnam, B.S., Sivapragash, M., Pradeep, P.: Effects of fibre orientation on mechanical
properties of hybrid bamboo/glass fibre polymer composites. Bull. Mater. Sci. 37(5), 1059–
1064 (2014)
9. Bora, M.O., Coban, O., Sinmazcelik, T.: Effect of fiber orientation on scratch resistance in
unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites. J. Reinf. Plast. Compos. 10,
1476–1490 (2010)
10. Sezgin, H., Enis, I.Y., Berkalp, O.B.: Impact of biaxial square woven jute fabric reinforcement
on mechanical performance of polyester-based composites. Indian J. Fiber Text. Res. 43, 252–
256 (2018)
11. Kumar, N., Avinash, P., Singh, A.: Effect of fiber content on mechanical property and water
absorption behavior of jute fiber-epoxy composites. ASCADM2018, NIT Patna India, pp. 487–
490, Excel Indian Publishers, New Delhi (2018)
12. Maciel, M.M., Ribeiro, S., Ribeiro, C., Francesko, A., Maceiras, A., Vilas, J.L., Lanceros-
Mendez, S.: Relation between fiber orientation and mechanical properties of nano-engineered
poly (vinylidene fluoride) electro spun composite fibermats. Compos. B 139, 146–154 (2018)
13. Bledzki, A.K., Reihmane, S., Gassan, J.: Properties and modification methods for vegetable
fibers for natural fiber composites. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 59, 1329–1336 (1996)
14. Bisanda, E.T.N., Ansell, M.P.: Properties of sisal-CNSL composites. J. Mater. Sci. 27(6), 1690–
1700 (1992)
15. Hon, D.N.S.: Chemical modification of lignocellulosic materials: old chemistry new approach.
Polym. News 17, 102–107 (1992)
16. Ugbolue, S.C.O.: Structure/property relationships in textile fibres. Text. Inst. 20, 1–43 (1990)
17. Fiore, V., Scalici, T., Valenza, A.: Effect of sodium bicarbonate treatment on mechanical proper-
ties of flax-reinforced epoxy composite materials. J. Compos. Mater. 52(8), 1061–1072 (2018)
18. Bledzki, A.K., Gassan, J.: Effects of the fiber diameter on mechanic properties in polymethyl-
methacrylate composites reinforced with goose feather fiber. Prog. Polym. 24, 221–274 (1999)
19. Bhoominathan, R., Arumugam, V., Ashok, T., Jefferson, A.J.: Rresidual strength estimation of
CFRP laminates subjected to impact at different velocities and temperatures. Polym. Compos.
38, 2182–2191 (2017)
20. Egala, R., Setti, S.G.: Effect of short and randomly oriented Ricinus Communis L (castor oil)
plant on mechanical behaviors of Ricinus Communis L/epoxy LY556 composites. Mater. Today
Proc. 5, 8065–8072 (2018)
Exploration of MOORA Based Hybrid
Taguchi Method for Multi-response
Optimization—A Case Study
Rajesh Kumar Verma, Prakhar Kumar Kharwar, Arpan Kumar Mondal,

Kumar Abhishek and Jogendra Kumar
Abstract This paper highlights the implementation of the Taguchi based Multi-
Objective Optimization by Ratio Analysis (MOORA) to optimize the quality features
of machine manufactured acrylic carpet samples. Tufting speed (N), stitch rate (SR),
gauge size (G) variables have been considered as process parameters for optimizing
carpet quality characteristics such as compression (mm), compression recovery (%)
and tuft withdrawal force (kgf). Taguchi L9 orthogonal array has been used for
preparing samples on Modra M tuft sampling machine. Lower the better criteria
for compression and higher the better criteria for compression recovery (%) and
tuft withdrawal force are desirable to achieve a better quality of carpets. Multiple
responses are transformed into a single objective function that is ultimately optimized
by Taguchi techniques. The aim is also to identify the significant factor and their effect
on quality characteristics. The results obtained thereof have been compared with the
predicted results, followed by a confirmatory test.
Keywords Carpet · MOORA technique · Tufting speed · Tuft withdrawal force
1 Introduction
Carpet is home decor textile product; generally used as a floor covering in homes and
offices for comfort, thermal and sound insulation properties. Carpet can be classified
into two parts on the basis of manufacturing method the first one is Machine Man-
ufacturer carpet and second one is handmade carpet, different process like weaving,
R. K. Verma (B) · P. K. Kharwar · J. Kumar

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology,
Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh 273010, India
e-mail: rajeshverma.nit@gmail.com
A. K. Mondal
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and
Research, Kolkata, West Bengal 700106, India
K. Abhishek
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Infrastructure, Technology, Research and
Management, Ahmadabad, Gujarat 38002, India

516 R. K. Verma et al.
braiding needle felting, tufting, flocking and fusion bonding are generally used man-
ufacturing of Machine manufactured carpet and for Handmade carpets namely flat
woven, tufted and knotted, types of process is used [1–4]. In their review Gupta et al.
[5] analyzed various physical and mechanical carpet quality characteristics of hand-
made carpet It has been found that carpet is a three dimensional product, and there
are multiple parameters for measuring quality of carpet such as compression and
recovery characteristic, tuft withdrawal force, thickness loss under dynamic loading,
thickness and recovery after extended heavy static loading, mass density factor of
the surface stack, appearance retention, abrasion retention.
Carpet quality mainly depends on the quality of fiber, Yarn parameters, and carpet
constructional parameters. Many pioneer researchers have performed the different
types of studies on the quality and productivity of carpet by considering single criteria
only [6–12]. Carpet quality, however, is a multi-criteria phenomenon; therefore,
multiple features such as a carpet compression behavior (compression Recovery and
compression) and tuft withdrawal force need to be fulfilled simultaneously. There
are several methods to solve multi-response optimization problems such as utility
theory, goal programming, desirability function, fuzzy logic, MOORA method, etc.
Brauers et al. (2008) [13] discussed a relatively new approach for optimizing
discrete alternatives with the aid of MOORA method. This case study demonstrated to
select the best road design by optimizing the different attributes of road construction.
Gadakh (2011) [14] study the feasibility of MOORA based Taguchi method for
analyzing machining process parameters. The study focused on application and ease
of the MOORA based Taguchi method, and it has been concluded from the study
that the method is based on the simple mathematical process of the ratio of analysis
involves the least amount of calculation steps.
Literature reveals that a very limited amount of research is done on multi-criteria
or multi-response quality characteristics of carpet is performed by the researchers.
An effort was made to overcome limitations and assumption of previously existing
optimization techniques available in the literature and to create a robust methodology
for multi-response optimization for continuous quality improvement and off-line
quality control in acrylic carpet sample produced by machine. Although the leading
scientist in the field of carpet manufacturing have many experimental works have
been published, there have been limited attempts to optimize carpet quality by taking
several objectives. Therefore, in this manuscript, an effort has been made to analyze
the significant factors affecting carpet quality and productivity. Also, to develop a
robust Taguchi based MOORA optimization module to determine the favourable
process parameter setting of machine-made acrylic carpet samples.
Exploration of MOORA Based Hybrid Taguchi Method … 517
2 Experimental
2.1 Materials
In this paper, the acrylic yarn has been used as raw material to develop machine made
carpet. The average count and count CV % of acrylic yarn were 369.00 texts and
0.53, respectively. The average twists per inch (TPI) and TPI CV % of acrylic yarn
were 3.00 and 7.03, respectively. The samples were developed on M-tuft machine
(manufactured by Modra Technology, 10 Neilson Crt, Warragul, Victoria, 3820, Aus-
tralia) available at Indian Institute of Carpet Technology (IICT), Bhadohi. Taguchi
L9 Design of Experiment (DoE) is used to perform the run order during the man-
ufacturing of carpet samples. The presently discussed study is mainly based on the
identification of significant factors affecting the carpet quality and effects of process
parameters of Modra M-Tuft machine such as tufting speed (N), stitch rate (SR),
results assessed using this method and matched with results obtained by the previous
gauge size (G). Stitch rate is the number of stitches per inch in the length of a carpet
Gauge is the number of needles per inch of a carpet tufting machine width wise.
These three process parameters have been varied at three discrete search levels, as
shown in Table 1. In this experiment, applied L9 orthogonal array design shown in
Table 2.
All carpet samples were tested for compression, compression recovery, and tuft
withdrawal force quality characteristics of carpets.
Table 1 Process parameters

Factors Unit Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
Tufting speed (N) RPS 10 12 14
Stich rate (SR) /10 cm 31.5 39.4 47.2
Gauge (G) inch 1/12 1/10 1/8
Table 2 Design of
Exp. run order Tufting speed Stitch rate Gauge (G)
experiments
(N) (SR)
1. 10 31.5 1/12
2. 10 39.4 1/10
3. 10 47.2 1/8
4. 12 31.5 1/10
5. 12 39.4 1/8
6. 12 47.2 1/12
7. 14 31.5 1/8
8. 14 39.4 1/12
9. 14 47.2 1/10
2.2 Methods
2.2.1 Compression Behavior
Compression behavior includes compression and compression recovery when a car-

pet is subjected to the increasing pressure. The curves obtained by reversing the
loading cycle tend to be beneficial in giving useful information about the softness
and resilience of the carpet. The thickness at different pressure and load compression
and load retrieval curves are determined by introducing a sequence of increasing and
eventually reducing load to the specimen (Fig. 1).
t 2 is the carpet sample initial thickness at 2 kPa pressure (point A), t 200 is the
compressed thickness at 200 kPa pressure (point B), and t r is the recovered thickness
at 2 kPa pressure after loading to 200 kPa pressure (Point C). Following estimates
of compression and compression recovery are calculated from the mean results:
Compression is the change in thickness of the carpet sample when pressure increased
from 2 to 200 kPa (t 2 –t 200 ). Percentage compression recovery has been determined
from the ratio,
[(tr − t200 )/(t2 − t200 )] × 100.
The thickness of the carpets was determined by using the SDL digital thickness
gauge (Fig. 2). Test specimen for this test was at least 75 mm × 75 mm. At least
five tests to be made; selected these specimens well away from distorted parts of the
carpet.
Fig. 1 Thickness pressure

curve for machine-made
carpets
Fig. 2 SDL digital thickness

gauge
2.2.2 Tuft Withdrawal Force
The tuft withdrawal tension meter (Fig. 3) was used to measure the force required to
withdraw a single tuft or loop of the pile from a carpet, i.e., the binding force between
carpet pile and backing. The carpet sample size for this test was 200 mm × 200 mm.
Fig. 3 Tuft withdrawal Tens

meter
ten readings were taken for each sample, and then the average was calculated as per
standard BS 5229: 1975. A steel plate kept the carpet sample down, and a couple of
surgical forceps were attached to one end of the tuft for testing.
The forceps were connected to a dial balance that a tiny electric motor raised at
a constant pace. Therefore, tension on the tuft was improved, and a dead balance
pointer suggests the maximum force required to remove it. The maximum capacity
of this equipment is 5 kg.
2.3 Optimization Methodology
2.3.1 Taguchi Philosophy
A Japanese management consultant Dr. Genichi Taguchi developing an effective

methodology to optimize quality characteristic. Nowadays, the transformed S/N ratio
described as the quality assessment index. The S/N ratio obtains the least variation and
the optimum design. The transformed an efficient methodology to optimize quality
characteristic, nowadays for continuous improvement and off-line quality control,
Taguchi methodology widely being. The transformed S/N ratio is also defined as
the quality evaluation index. The least variation and the optimal design are obtained
by the S/N ratio. The higher the S/N ratio, the more stable the achievable quality.
It reduces the sensitivity of the system performance to the source of variation. The
Taguchi’s application in the field of material processing and parametric optimization
were mentioned in references [15–20]
Lower the better formula is used for compression, and higher the better formula
is used for compression recovery and tuft withdrawal force. The core of Taguchi’s
strategy is its contribution in the manufacturing sectors to outstanding quality control.
His idea has crated engineers in their product and process design to see quality as
yard stick. In many Sectors, the philosophy centered on three ideas has resulted in
the better implementation and growth of technology and methods. When performed
under available operating conditions, the optimum level of a product implied that
the performance of the product has attained the most and the least of the quality
measurement target value. Optimizing the product layout implies determining the
right combination of components or adjusting the machine properly to obtain the
highest outcome (Roy 1990). In Taguchi strategy, all the primary factors and their
influencing variables in the dependent variable will be considered in the design
of experiment method. The basic aspect of this method is to enhance the product
quality by minimizing the impact of the causes of variation as variability is permitted
around the expected target. The Taguchi focused parameters design is a response to
his expectation, and the experiment ‘cost could be further saved by avoiding extra
experiments to decrease variability in product and process design.
2.3.2 MOORA Method
The Multi-Objective Optimization by Ratio Analysis (MOORA) method involves

the least amount of mathematical calculations as it is based on simple ratio analysis,
which results in less computation time.
Step 1: Into the first step, determine the objective and identify the pertinent evaluation
attributes.
Step 2: Represent all the experimental value for the attributes in the form of X m×n a
decision matrix. Then a ratio system is developed in which each performance of an
alternative on quality is compared to a denominator, which is a representative for all
the alternatives concerning that attribute.
⎡ ⎤
A1 x11 x12 . x1 j x1n
A2 ⎢
⎢ x21 x22 . x2 j x2n ⎥
⎥
⎢ ⎥
. ⎢ . . . . . ⎥
D= ⎢ ⎥ (1)
Ai ⎢ xi1 xi2 . xi j . ⎥
⎢ ⎥
. ⎣ . . . . . ⎦
Am xm1 xm2 . xm j xmn
here Ai (i = 1, 2, . . . , m) represents the possible alternatives; x j ( j = 1, 2, . . . , n)

represents the attributes relating to alternative performance, j = 1, 2, . . . , n and xi j
is the performance of Ai with respect to attribute X j .
Step 3: Ratio can be expressed as below:
xi j
ri j = (2)
m
i=1 xi2j
Step 4: In Case of maximization these normalized performances are added for multi-
objective optimization and subtracted in case of minimization (for non-beneficial
attributes). Then the optimization problem becomes:
g n
yi = ri j − ri j (3)
j=1 j=g+1
g number of attributes to be maximized,

(n − g) the number of attributes to be minimized,
yi normalized assessment value of ith alternative.
And the modified equation for maximizing the benefit criteria has been represented
as the following equation:
g n
yi∗ = ri j / ri j (4)
j=1 j=g+1
Step 5: The yi value can be positive or negative depending on the totals of its maxima
(beneficial attributes) and minima (non-beneficial attributes) in the decision matrix.
An ordinal ranking of yi shows the final preference. Thus, the best alternative has
the highest yi value, while the worst alternative has the lowest yi value.
3 Results and Discussion Section
Experimental data has been presented in Table 3. The initial step of this module is the
normalization of Experimental data obtained through process response (Table 4). For
all quality evaluation characteristic viz. Compression recovery, compression and tuft
withdrawal, Lower the better (LB) criterion for compression and higher the better
Table 3 Experimental data for compressibility behavior and tuft withdrawal force test
S. No. Sample No. Compression (mm) Compression Tuft withdrawal
recovery (%) force (kgf)
1. Sample No. 1 11.71 52.91 1.76
2. Sample No. 2 9.55 51.25 1.75
3. Sample No. 3 10.39 58.89 1.86
4. Sample No. 4 9.19 50.84 2.20
5. Sample No. 5 8.83 48.58 1.81
6. Sample No. 6 11.04 65.91 1.69
7. Sample No. 7 10.93 58.32 1.96
8. Sample No. 8 11.87 56.47 2.23
9. Sample No. 9 11.48 56.47 1.75
Table 4 Normalization of
S. No. Compression Compression Tuft withdrawal
experimental data
(mm) recovery (%) force (kgf)
LB HB HB
1. 0.367967 0.316413 0.308872
2. 0.300092 0.306486 0.307117
3. 0.326488 0.352175 0.326422
4. 0.28878 0.304034 0.38609
5. 0.277468 0.290519 0.317647
6. 0.346913 0.394156 0.296588
7. 0.343456 0.348766 0.343971
8. 0.372994 0.337703 0.391355
9. 0.360739 0.337703 0.307117
Table 5 Determination of
S. No. MOORA coefficient Rank
MOORA coefficient and its
rank 1. −0.12014 7
2. −0.10024 2
3. −0.10024 3
4. −0.12361 8
5. −0.10153 4
6. −0.08311 1
7. −0.11289 6
8. −0.14222 9
9. −0.11005 5
(HB) criterion for compression recovery (%) and tuft withdrawal force, has been
selected. Experimental data has been analyzed by the afore mentioned procedures.
The MOORA coefficient has been assessed (Table 5) with the help of Eq. 2,
and ranking has been done to generate the optimal parametric combination. The
modified coefficient has been evaluated by Eq. 4, and Taguchi has been utilized to
assessing the favorable machining condition, which has been represented in Table 6.
The optimal parametric setting from S/N plots (Fig. 4) are Tufting Speed (N) 12 RPS,
Stitch Rate (SR) = 47.2 per 10 cm, Gauge (G) = 1/8 inches and it can easily tune
and setup in the machines under controllable process parameters as it is under the
domain of the experiments. Because, in most of the machines and experimental
setups, the controllable process parameters can be adjusted (tuned) at some discrete
search level. It has been observed that predicated value (−4.16203) for the S/N ratio
has the highest value among the computed S/N ratios. The results obtained thereof
has been compared with the predicted results followed by a confirmatory test, in
which it has been found that the result obtained is satisfactorily.
Table 6 Determination of modified MOORA and S/N ratios

S. No. Tufting speed (N) Stitch rate (SR) Gauge (G) Modified SNRA1
MOORA
1. 10 31.5 1/12 0.467487 −6.60461
2. 10 39.4 1/10 0.504745 −5.93856
3. 10 47.2 1/8 0.539393 −5.36189
4. 12 31.5 1/10 0.450508 −6.92596
5. 12 39.4 1/8 0.488173 −6.22852
6. 12 47.2 1/12 0.612519 −4.25761
7. 14 31.5 1/8 0.507350 −5.89385
8. 14 39.4 1/12 0.441817 −7.09514
9. 14 47.2 1/10 0.505652 −5.92297
Main Effects Plot for SN ratios

Data Means
N SR
-5.0
-5.5
-6.0
Mean of SN ratios
-6.5
10 12 14 31.5 39.4 47.2
G
-5.0
-5.5
-6.0
-6.5
1/12 1/10 1/8
Signal-to-noise: Larger is better
Fig. 4 Main effects plot for S/N ratios
4 Conclusions
The case described above experimental study proposes an efficient optimization

MOORA based on Taguchi module for concurrently optimization of diverse quality
characteristics of machine-made tufted acrylic carpets. The study aimed at maximiz-
ing Compression recovery and Tuft withdrawal force and minimizing compression
by determining an appropriate setting of process control parameters. The objective
is to obtain the most favorable process environment for enhancing overall process
performance yield. The main finding of this study depicted below.
1. MOORA based Taguchi method readily applied for conversion of Multi-criteria
optimization problem into single response optimization. Also, it is applicable
to find out the alternatives and choose the most favourable process parameters
setting as it involves the least amount of analytical procedure.
2. The proposed MOORA based Taguchi approach recommended for continu-
ous quality improvement and off-line quality control of a process/product. The
Taguchi approach to the design of experiments is an effective strategy for opti-
mizing the products nd process.
3. The Taguchi Method approach can enhance process efficiency if the optimum
configuration of parameters used in the given process gives better quality and
productivity.
References
1. Crawshaw, G.H.: Carpet manufacture. Private Bag 4749, pp. 158–163. Wronz Developments,
Christchurch, New Zealand (2002)
2. Liu, F., Maher, A.P., Lappage, J., Wood, E.J.: The measurement of the tuft-withdrawal force
in machine-made and hand-knotted carpet. J. Text. Inst. 93, 276–282 (2002)
3. Topalbekiroglu, M., Kireçci, A., Dülger, C.L.: Design of a pile-yarn manipulating mechanism.
Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., Part B J. Eng. Manuf. 219, 539–545 (2005)
4. Goswami, K.K.: Advances in Carpet Manufacture, pp. 237–239. Woodhead Publishing Lim-
ited, Cambridge (2009)
5. Gupta, S.K., Goswami, K.K., Majumdar, A.: Durability of handmade wool carpets: a review.
J. Nat. Fibers 12(5): 399–418 (2015)
6. Shakyawar, D.B., Gupta, N.P., Patni, P.C.: Subjective evaluation of hand-knotted carpets. Indian
J. Fibre Text. Res. 31, 426–431 (2006)
7. Ishtiaque, S.M., Sen, K., Kumar, A.: New approaches to engineer the yarn structure; Part A:
for better carpet performance. J. Ind. Text. (2013). https://doi.org/10.1177/1528083713505632
8. Ishtiaque, S.M., Sen, K., Kumar, A.: Influence of yarn structures; Part A: on carpet compression
performance under static and dynamic conditions. J. Text. Inst. (2014)
9. Dayiary, M., Shaikhzadeh, N.S., Shamsi, M.: A new theoretical approach to the cut-pile carpet
compression based on elastic stored bending energy. J. Text. Inst. 100(8), 688–694 (2009)
10. Dayiary, M., Shaikhzadeh, N.S., Shamsi, M.: An experimental verification of cut pile carpet
compression behaviour. J. Text. Inst. 101(6), 488–494 (2010)
11. Carnaby, G.A.: The mechanics of carpet wear. Text. Res. J. 51, 514–519 (1981)
12. Berkalp, Ö.B., Önder, E.: Effects of different structural parameters on carpet physical properties.
Text. Res. J. 71(6), 549–555 (2001)
13. Brauers, K.M., Friedel, P., Edmundas, K.Z, Zenonas, T.: Multi-objective optimization of road
design alternatives with an application of the MOORA method. In: International Symposium
on Automation and Robotics Control, pp. 541–548 (2008)
14. Gadakh, V.S.: Application of MOORA method for parametric optimization of milling process.
Int. J. Appl. Eng. Res. 1(4), 743–758 (2011)
15. Yang, W.H., Tarng, Y.S.: Design optimization of cutting parameters for turning operations
based on the Taguchi method, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 84, 122–129 (1998)
16. Su, Y.L., Yao, S.H., Wei, C.S., Kao, W.H., Wu, C.T.: Design and performance analysis of TiCN-
coated cemented carbide milling cutters, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 87, 82–89 (1999)
17. Nian, C.Y., Yang, W.H., Tarng, Y.S.: Optimization of turning operations with multiple perfor-
mance characteristics, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 95, 90–96 (1999)
18. Lin, T.R.: Experimental design and performance analysis of TiN coated carbide tool in face
milling stainless steel, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 127, 1–7 (2002)
19. Davim, J.P.: Design optimization of cutting parameters for turning metal matrix composites
based on the orthogonal arrays, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 132, 340–344 (2003)
20. Ghani, J.A., Choudhury, I.A., Hassan, H.H.: Application of Taguchi method in the optimization
of end milling operations, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 145, 84–92 (2004)
Drilling an Array of Square Micro-holes
Using Micro-EDM
Tapas Debnath and Promod Kumar Patowari
Abstract Micro-holes are nowadays widely used in masking, ink nozzles, flow sep-
arations, straining, and biomedical devices. This paper mainly focuses on the drilling
of arrays (also termed as gang drilling) of square holes in microscale using micro-
electrical discharge machining (µ-EDM). An array of 9 (3 × 3) square micro-rods is
used for this experimentation. These micro-tools are fabricated using wire electrical
discharge machining (Wire-EDM). The average cross-sectional area of each square
micro-rods are around 0.0225 mm2 (150 µm × 150 µm). While fabricating square
micro-holes using µ-EDM, the effect of control parameters on the performance
measures is also discussed. Moreover, confirmation tests are performed based on
optimum combinations of process parameters. Additionally, the actual results are
compared with the predicted results.
Keywords Micro-EDM · Wire-EDM · Micro-holes · Micro-rods · Array
1 Introduction
Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is one of the most useful advanced machining
processes. It can machine any conductive metal workpieces irrespective of the other
physical properties of the material. Generally, two types of EDM are observed in most
of the manufacturing industries, namely die-sinking EDM and wire-EDM. In die-
sinking, different kinds of impressions can be created on the workpieces, which is the
inverse impression of the tool. On the contrary, Wire-EDM is mainly used for cutting
materials of different thickness providing good surface finish and accuracy. But,
nowadays, a special kind of EDM is introduced named as micro-electrical discharge
machining (µ-EDM), where a number of operations can be conducted. This µ-EDM
is capable of drilling, cutting, milling, etc., in microscale [1].
µ-EDM is known for its precision in machining that leads to the micro-machining
of materials. The machining takes place by a number of very high frequency and
T. Debnath (B) · P. K. Patowari

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Silchar, Silchar, Assam
788010, India
e-mail: nit.tapas11@gmail.com

528 T. Debnath and P. K. Patowari
concentrated sparks in between the tool and the workpiece. The machining area is
always submerged under a dielectric medium. In the recent decades, a number of
research work is observed on the micromachining using µ-EDM. The most common
micromachining is micro-drilling on various conductive materials. The drilling in
µ-EDM can be performed by two different ways, without tool rotation, and with
tool rotation. When the tool is fed toward the workpiece without tool rotation, it is
generally known as die-sinking micro-electrical discharge machining (die-sinking
µEDM). In such cases, the negative geometry/image of the tool is generated on
the workpiece [2, 3]. For this reason, this machining method is mostly used for
making mold inserts [4]. Using this process, various sizes of pocket or through holes
was generated by researchers. Singh et al. [5] drilled circular holes on thin brass
sheet using 300 µm tungsten rod. Controlling the process parameters, the 309.2 µm
diameter of the hole was drilled also maintained tool wear. Rather than machining
circular hole, other geometry like rectangular/square holes can also be fabricated. In
die-sinking µEDM, higher edge deviation or circularity error is observed. To maintain
the circularity error, it is more preferable to rotate tool electrode for creating circular
holes.
µED-drilling is a process where only the tool electrode is fed (with rotation)
toward the workpiece, and the material is removed by a number of sparking in
between the electrodes. It is one of the most useful and reliable machining methods
to drill micro-holes on difficult to machine materials [6]. It was observed that, with
the increase in tool rotation, material removal rate (MRR) increased but sacrifices
overcut due to eccentricity. Holes can be of two types, through hole and blind or
pocket hole. While producing through hole frontal tool wear does not influence
much but in case of the pocket hole, it lacks in producing the desired depth of the
hole subsequently leading to a smaller depth of hole than that of the electrode feed [7].
Nowadays, the desired shaped micro-tool can be fabricated using reverse µ-EDM.
Initially, a number of holes were drilled on a thin metal sheet and using reverse µ-
EDM an array of micro-tools fabricated based on the predrilled holes [8, 9]. On the
contrary, Wire-EDM is capable of producing complex structures like fir tree [10].
Chen et al. [11] fabricated micro-rod (80 µm) using WEDG and further machined
micro-grooves using that micro-rod.
Based on the literature, it is clear that the µ-EDM is capable of producing micro-
holes with very less amount of overcutting. In this paper, arrays of square micro-rods
are fabricated using Wire-EDM. Using these micro-rods, arrays of square micro-
holes are drilled on stainless steel workpiece by µ-EDM. While drilling the effect of
control parameters on the performance measures are also discussed.
A thin sheet of stainless steel (SS-304) is used as a workpiece and brass rod is
considered as tool electrode. Initially, the array of 9 (3 × 3) square rods is fabricated
on the brass rods using wire-EDM. A typical micro-tool is shown in Fig. 1.
Drilling an Array of Square Micro-holes Using Micro-EDM 529
Fig. 1 Image of the

fabricated micro-tool
The average cross section of the generated micro-rods are 150 µm × 150 µm and
the average height is 1160 µm. Figure 2 shows the microscopic image of a fabricated
micro-tool. These micro-tools are used for machining micro-holes using µ-EDM.
The photograph of µ-EDM setup is shown in Fig. 3. Figure 4 depicts the machining
area of the µ-EDM.
Three control parameters viz. voltage (V ), capacitance (C), and the feed rate
(FR) are chosen for the experimentation. Three levels for each control variables
are considered for machining. Table 1 demonstrates the control variables and their
chosen levels.
To conduct the experimentation Taguchi L9 orthogonal array is designed as shown
in Table 2. The µ-EDM has discrete capacitance values (four levels) and the chosen
capacitance values are as shown in Table 2. In case of voltage and feed rate, regular
intervals have been chosen within the available ranges.

of the micro-tool
Fig. 3 Photograph of
micro-EDM (Hyper-15): 1 8
Power supply; 2 dielectric
chamber; 3 CNC table; 4
controlling computer; 5
6
MPG; 6 tool attachment; 7 4
machining area; 8 tool fed
axis
7
3
1
2 5
Fig. 4 Drilling holes on

workpiece (SS-304): 1
Collet; 2 tool electrode; 3
workpiece; 4 machining zone
1
2
3
4
Table 1 Selected levels of

Sym Parameters Level Values
process parameters
V Voltage (V) 3 100, 140, 180
C Capacitance (F) 3 100, 1000, 10,000
FR Feed rate (µm/s) 3 5, 10, 15
Table 2 Taguchi L9
Exp. No. V (V) C (pF) FR (µm/s)
orthogonal array
1 100 100 5
2 100 1000 10
3 100 10,000 15
4 140 100 10
5 140 1000 15
6 140 10,000 5
7 180 100 15
8 180 1000 5
9 180 10,000 10
After experimentation, the workpiece and the tool samples are observed under an
optical microscope to determine their various dimensions. Based on these dimen-
sions, the output responses have been calculated.
Material removal rate (MRR) indicates the rate at which work material is removed.
It has been calculated by considering the ratio of volumetric work material removal
to the machining time. Tool shortening rate (TSR) signifies the depletion rate of tool
material. The TSR has been evaluated by directional tool removal per unit time. The
overcut (OC) is a measure of the difference between the edge of the produced holes
and the edge of the tool.
Arrays of square micro-rods are used to drill arrays of micro-holes using µ-EDM.
The image of the drilled micro-holes on the stainless steel sample is shown in Fig. 5.
The generated holes are then observed under the optical microscope to calculate
the performance measures. A typical image of the square micro-holes is shown in
Fig. 6.
While machining the micro-holes, the tool wear is also observed. Tool wear is
directly affecting the drilled hole quality. So, it is also necessary to calculate the
tool shortening rate (TSR). To calculate TSR, initial and final length of the tool is
calculated under the optical microscope. A typical microscopic image of the worn-
out tool after machining is shown in Fig. 7. Table 3 shows the calculated performance
measures for each experiment.
Figure 8 depicts the variation in material removal rate (MRR) with a change in
control parameters. It is observed from the figure that the MRR increases with the
increase in voltage (V ) and capacitance (C) due to the higher spark energy. With
Fig. 5 Image of the

machined work sample 9 8 7 6
1 2 3 4 5
5
Fig. 6 Optical image of

drilled micro-hole
Fig. 7 Worn out tool after

machining
Table 3 Calculated
Exp. No. MRR × 10−3 (mm3 /s) TSR (µm/s) OC (µm)
performance measures
1 0.010401 0.054131 17
2 0.024981 0.054622 15
3 0.081996 0.079118 22
4 0.016989 0.107143 30
5 0.060590 0.114458 29
6 0.148938 0.175439 35
7 0.038986 0.270621 30
8 0.069059 0.333333 37
9 0.208417 0.515385 42
Fig. 8 Mean effect plot for Variation of MRR with control parameters
MRR
Voltage Capacitance Feed rate
0.16
MRR×(10-3) (mm3/s)
0.12
0.08
0.04
100 140 180 100 1000 10000 5 10 15
the increase in feed rate (FR), the tool electrode progresses toward the workpiece
at a faster rate, reduces the machining time which results in higher MRR. Further
increase in FR, the tool touches the workpiece due to the inefficient cutting, results
in short-circuit. Thus increases the total machining time hence the MRR decreases.
Figure 9 depicts the variation of tool shortening rate (TSR) with a change in
control parameters. With the increase in V and C, the spark energy increases which
incurs higher TSR. As with the increase in FR, total machining time decreases, hence
TSR increases. But further increase in FR, TSR also decreases due to short-circuit.
Figure 10 shows the variation of overcut (OC) with the change in control variables.
With the increase spark energy or intensity, the overall hole edge increases. Hence
with the increase in V and C, higher OC of the machined hole is observed. But in
case of FR, the tool progresses through the workpiece at a faster rate, hence the total
number of spark per unit workpiece area per unit time decreases. So, overall OC
decreases with the increase in FR.
Table 4 represents the ANOVA analysis of MRR, TSR and OC. While machining
stainless steel, it is observed that the most significant factor for MRR is capacitance
(C) whereas, for TSR and OC, voltage (V ) is the significant factor. From ANOVA,
it is clear that C has the most contribution toward the variation of MRR and almost
Fig. 9 Mean effect plot for Variation of TSR with control parameters
TSR
0.4
TSR(μm/s)
0.3
0.2
0.1
100 140 180 100 1000 10000 5 10 15

Fig. 10 Mean effect plot for Variation of OC with control parameters

OC
36
Overcut (μm)
32
28
24
20
100 140 180 100 1000 10000 5 10 15
Table 4 ANOVA analysis of performance measures

Source DF Adj SS F-Value P-Value Contribution (%)
(a) Material removal rate (MRR) × 10−3 (mm3 /s)
V 2 0.00663 3.17 0.240 19.00
C 2 0.02533 12.10 0.076 72.64
FR 2 0.00082 0.39 0.718 2.36
Error 2 0.00209 6.00
Total 8 100.00
R-sq 94.00%, R-sq(adj) 75.99%
(b) Tool shortening rate (TSR) (µm/s)
V 2 0.15923 23.50 0.041 81.75
C 2 0.02120 3.13 0.242 10.89
FR 2 0.00757 1.12 0.472 3.89
Error 2 0.00677 3.47
Total 8 100.00
R-sq 96.52%, R-sq(adj) 86.09%
(c) Overcut (µm)
V 2 538.89 33.22 0.029 81.87
C 2 91.56 5.64 0.151 13.91
FR 2 11.56 0.71 0.584 1.76
Error 2 16.22 2.46
Total 8 100.00
R-sq 97.54%, R-sq(adj) 90.14%
Table 5 Optimum
Response measures Optimum parametric level
parametric condition for
confirmation test V (V) C (pF) FR (µm/s)
MRR × 10−3 (mm3 /s) 180 10,000 10
TSR (µm/s) 100 100 15
OC (µm) 100 100 15
72.64% of the total variation in MRR is contributed by C. On the other hand, 81.75
and 81.87% of the total variation of TSR and OC are contributed by V.
Based on the mean effect plots as mentioned in Figs. 8, 9, 10, the optimum
conditions for MRR, TSR, and OC have been decided as shown in Table 5.
The optimum condition for MRR is already present in the Taguchi L9 orthogonal
array, which gives maximum MRR. In case of TSR and OC, the optimum parametric
condition is not present in the experimental combinations. Hence, a confirmation
experiment needs to be conducted to get optimum (minimum) TSR and OC.
Figure 11 shows the worn-out tool electrode after the confirmation test. It is
observed that the tool wear is minimum in this parametric combination. The square
micro-holes drilled in the work sample using the optimum parametric condition is
shown in Fig. 12.
The performance measures for the optimum parametric conditions are given in
Table 6, wherein the percentage deviation of the experimental value from the pre-
dicted one is also demonstrated.
The percentage deviation for MRR, TSR and OC are observed to be 9.48, 4.74
and 5.47% respectively. The confirmation experiments generate better performance
than that of the predicted results.

of the micro-tool

of machined sample
Table 6 Confirmation
Response Actual Predicted Deviation
experimental results
measures output output (%)
MRR × 0.208417 0.188654 9.48
10−3
(mm3 /s)
TSR (µm/s) 0.05168 0.0541311 4.74
OC (µm) 12.8 13.5 5.47
4 Conclusions
In this paper, arrays of square micro-rods have been fabricated using Wire-EDM and
using these micro-rods, gang drilling of square micro-holes have been accomplished
using µ-EDM. While machining, it has been observed that with the increase in
voltage (V ) and capacitance (C), material removal rate (MRR), tool shortening rate
(TSR) and overcut (OC) increases due to the higher spark energy. With the increase
in feed rate (FR), the MRR and TSR initially increase, due to faster progression
of the tool which reduces the machining time. But further increase in FR, the short-
circuit takes place due to inefficient machining, which causes higher machining time,
subsequently leading to lower MRR and TSR. From the confirmation test, it has been
observed that the experimental results show significant improvement than that of the
predicted results.
References
1. Kar, S., Patowari, P.K.: Electrode wear phenomenon and its compensation in micro electrical
discharge milling: a review. Mater. Manuf. Process. 1–27 (2018)
2. Reynaerts, D., Meeusen, W., Van Brussel, H.: Machining of three-dimensional microstructures
in silicon by electro-discharge machining. Sens. Actuators A 67(1–3), 159–165 (1998). https://
doi.org/10.1016/S0924-4247(97)01724-X
3. Bigot, S., Surleraux, A., Bissacco, G., Valentinčič, J.: A new modelling framework for die-
sinking micro EDM. In: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Multi-Material
Micro Manufacture, pp. 51–55, October 9–11, Vienna, Austria (2012). https://doi.org/10.3850/
978-981-07-3353-7_309
4. Fleischer, J., Kotschenreuther, J.: The manufacturing of micro molds by conventional and
energy-assisted processes. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 33(1), 75–85 (2007). https://doi.org/
10.1007/s00170-006-0596-1
5. Singh, A.K., Patowari, P.K., Deshpande, N.V.: Micro-hole drilling on thin sheet metals by
micro-electro discharge machining. J. Manuf. Technol. Res. 5(3–4), 1–14 (2014)
6. Li, Y., Hou, W., Xu, J., Yu, H.: A comparative investigation of drilling and milling micro holes
using micro-EDM. In: IEEE International Conference on Manipulation, Manufacturing and
Measurement on the Nanoscale (3M-NANO), pp. 212–216, July 18–22, Chongqing, China
(2017). https://doi.org/10.1109/3m-nano.2016.7824956
7. Pham, D.T., Dimov, S.S., Bigot, S., Ivanov, A., Popov, K.: Micro-EDM—recent developments
and research issues. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 149(1–3), 50–57 (2004)
8. Mujumdar, S.S., Mastud, S.A., Singh, R.K., Joshi, S.S.: Experimental characterization of the
reverse micro-electro discharge machining process for fabrication of high-aspect-ratio micro-
rod arrays. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part B J. Eng. Manuf. 224(5), 777–794 (2010). https://doi.
org/10.1243/09544054JEM1745
9. Singh, A.K., Patowari, P.K., Deshpande, N.V.: Effect of tool wear on microrods fabrica-
tion using reverse µEDM. Mater. Manuf. Process. 32(3), 1–8 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/
10426914.2016.1198015
10. Klocke, F., Welling, D., Klink, A., Veselovac, D., Nothe, T., Perez, R.: Evaluation of advanced
wire-EDM capabilities for the manufacture of fir tree slots in inconel 718. Procedia CIRP 14,
430–435 (2014)
11. Chen, C., Li, J., Zhan, S., Yu, Z., Xu, W.: Study of micro grooves machined by micro ECM.
Procedia CIRP 42, 418–422 (2016)
Magnetic Field Assisted Finishing
of Ferromagnetic Air Compressor
Cylinder Using Smart MR Polishing
Fluid
Kunal Sharma, Ambrish Singh , Anwesa Barman and Manas Das
Abstract Nano-finishing of mechanical components enhances their service life by

minimizing friction and their working temperature. Especially for components hav-
ing piston-cylinder arrangements such as air compressors, engines and hydraulic
cylinders, better surface finish enhances their service life. In the present study, a new
setup for nano-finishing of ferromagnetic air compressor cylinder based on Magnetic
Field Assisted Finishing process is presented. Enhanced magnetic field intensity and
uniform flux density is achieved by using diametrically magnetized magnets. As
compared to axially magnetized magnets these magnets provide uniform distribu-
tion of magnetic flux over the work piece surface which is essential to achieve better
surface finish. Simulation using Ansys Maxwell® is carried out to study the magnetic
field distribution and to design the tool for finishing. The experimental results also
support the potential and validity of the new setup.
Keywords Magnetic field assisted finishing · MR fluid · Diametrically magnetized

magnet · Maxwell simulation
1 Introduction
Magnetic field assisted finishing (MFAF) processes are precise and state-of-art fin-
ishing process which use magnetorheological (MR) fluid under magnetic field to
K. Sharma · A. Singh · A. Barman · M. Das (B)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati,
Assam 781039, India
K. Sharma
e-mail: kunal.2341@iitg.ac.in
A. Singh
e-mail: singh176103107@iitg.ac.in
A. Barman
e-mail: anwesa02@gmail.com

540 K. Sharma et al.
remove material from the work piece surface and to achieve nano level surface fin-
ish. The MR fluid forms a flexible magnetic abrasive brush (FMAB) under magnetic
field and the relative motion between this brush and work piece surface is primarily
responsible for the finishing of the work piece surface. The magnetic field strength
and density have direct impact on the shear strength of the FMAB and therefore on
the quality of the surface finish. In the present study, enhanced magnetic flux density
and uniformity have been achieved by using custom made diametrically magnetized
cylindrical shaped magnets. The relative motion between work piece surface and
FMAB is achieved by rotating the FMAB inside work piece using a CNC machine.
1.1 Limitations of MFAF Process with Ferromagnetic

Materials
From the EDX analysis it is found that the composition of the compressor cylinder
mostly contained iron (75.50%) which is made of steel. Therefore, the finishing
would be affected by induced magnetism in the workpiece. Whenever a ferromagnetic
material is subjected to a magnetic field, a secondary magnetic field is induced into it
due to primary magnetic field. The secondary magnetism exhibited by the workpiece
results in attracting the MR fluid and formation of a layer of MR fluid over the
workpiece surface. In MFAF process, this thin layer of MR fluid keeps on adhering
to the work piece surface continuously and thus prevents the relative motion between
the FMAB and the surface to be finished. Thus, the abrasive particles in the MR fluid
fail to brush against the workpiece surface and prevent finishing.
2 Simulation of Magnetic Field
The magnetic flux density and magnetic field intensity of magnets are important
aspects required to be studied for applications involving use of MR fluids for nano-
finishing. Barman and Das [1] used a FEM based Ansoft Maxwell® software to
find out the optimum design configuration and dimension of the polishing tool. The
strength of the MR fluid can be influenced by changing magnetic field. Sidpara
and Jain [2] observed that magnetic field strength in MFAF process is an important
process parameter which influences the workpiece surface quality. Various models of
the proposed process are simulated and studied to assess the magnetic field intensity
and flux distribution on the compressor cylinder surface using Ansys Maxwell® . In
this study, cylindrical shaped permanent bar magnets (NdFeB N35 and N 52 grades)
are considered to simulate magnetic field in the finishing zone with varying working
gap between 0.6 and 3 mm.
Magnetic Field Assisted Finishing of Ferromagnetic … 541
(a) (b)
N
S
S
N
S
N
N
S
Fig. 1 a NSNS magnet configuration and b vector plot in YZ plane
2.1 Axially Magnetized Magnets
Axially magnetized magnets are easily available commercially of the shelf. These
magnets have magnetic poles located at two ends opposite to each other. Magnetic
field intensity and flux distribution achieved by using four such magnets of 10 mm
diameter each is shown in Fig. 1. The magnetic poles i.e. north pole and south pole
of the axially magnetized magnets are depicted by alphabets ‘N’ and ‘S’ respectively
in Fig. 1a. When the magnets are aligned in such a way that the opposite poles are
fixed in clockwise manner next to each other, the configuration is termed as NSNS
(Fig. 1a).
Best result of the simulation study achieved using axially magnetized bar magnets
shows magnetic field strength varying from 0.1 to 0.4 T and most of the working
zone has magnetic field strength of 0.2 T.
2.2 Diametrically Magnetized Magnets
Diametrically magnetized magnets are not easily available commercially off the
shelf and these are customized and procured ex-import experimental purpose. These
magnets have magnetic poles located along the thickness of magnet and opposite
to each other. Magnetic field intensity and flux distribution achieved by using four
such magnets of 10 mm diameter each is shown in Fig. 2. The magnetic poles, i.e.
north pole and south pole of these magnetized magnets are depicted by alphabets ‘N’
and ‘S’ respectively in Fig. 2a. When the magnets are aligned in such a way that the
opposite poles are facing outward and towards the inner surface of the workpiece,
the configuration is termed as NSNS (Fig. 2a). NSNS configuration of diametrically
magnetized bar magnets shows magnetic field strength varying from 0.4 to 0.7 T
and most of the working zone has uniform magnetic field strength of 0.55 T. Suzuki
(a) (b)
S N
NS
N
Fig. 2 a NSNS magnet configuration and computation domain in Maxwell® and b magnetic field
vector plot
et al. [3] found that for uniform finishing of cylindrical surfaces the magnetic field
distribution along the workpiece surface must be kept uniform. The distribution of
magnetic flux achieved by using diametrically magnetized magnets is uniform and
magnetic field strength is also higher compared to axially magnetized magnets. Das
et al. [4] concluded that yield stress of the fluid with an increase in the magnetic field
applied across the fixture.
3 Experimental Investigations
3.1 Preparation of MR Fluid
The MR fluid consists of abrasive particles, magnetic particles and additives mixed
in a carrier fluid, and used under the influence of magnetic field to carry out finishing
[5–7]. The rheological properties such as viscosity, shear stress, etc. of the MR
polishing fluid mainly depend upon the strength of the magnetic field [8–10]. MR
fluid with different compositions were prepared indigenously and used for finishing.
Grover and Singh [11] used iron particles (20%), SiC (20%) and base medium (60%)
for finishing of cylindrical work piece. Three different compositions of MR fluid are
given in Table 1.
3.2 Experimentation
Experiments were carried out on a CNC milling machine by providing rotational and
transverse motion to the finishing tool. The transverse speed was kept constant in
Table 1 Different
Composition MR fluid 1 MR fluid 2 MR fluid 3
compositions of MR fluid
(vol%) (%) (%) (%)
Iron particles 20 25 30
Abrasive 20 15 10
Base 60 60 60
medium
all experiments at 60 m/min. Different composition of MR fluid as mentioned above

were used with varying other process parameters, and the surface roughness was
reduced to satisfactory level. The working gap was varied by using different diameter
tools. Lin et al. [12] found that the working gap has the largest impact on the finishing
quality. So, in the present study the working gap was reduced continuously by using
different diameter tools and also varying other parameters to achieve optimum results.
Complete experimental setup is shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3 Experimental setup

using CNC machine
CNC
machine
Tool
Work piece
Work piece
Fixture
The magnetic field distribution achieved by using diametrically magnetized magnets

resulted in uniform and continuous layer of MR fluid of even thickness around the tool
surface; therefore, the simulation results are supported by the experimental results.
The reciprocating and rotational motion to the finishing tool is provided by using
CNC milling machine. The workpiece along with the fixture is fixed on CNC machine
using nuts and bolts. The MR fluid is applied to the finishing tool which formed a
FMAB around the tool surface. The finishing tool with MR fluid was inserted inside
workpiece and rotated at various rpm. At 1100 and above tool rpm the temperature
was high, the oil was flowing out of working gap and abrasive particles separated
out and came out through working gap. However, some improvement was observed
at 1000 rpm but the temp was increasing with each finishing cycle of 20 min. So,
in order to work in safe zone, the tool rpm was kept 800 and below in further
experiments. At 800 rpm and working gap 2 mm the surface finish improved and
temp was high but abrasive was stable. The tool rpm was further reduced to 600 rpm
to keep the temperature in control. Further at 600 rpm and working gap 2 mm the
surface improvement was not very impressive. So the new tool with 1 mm working
gap was used. At 600 rpm and working gap 1 mm the surface finish improved and
abrasive was stable. On further reducing the rpm and working gap the surface finish
improved, however, to achieve finest result the abrasive size was also reduced, and
the fluid composition was also changed. At 400 rpm working gap of 0.6 mm the temp
of fluid was not high and it provided best result with varying abrasive size. The MR
fluid composition was changed during the progress of experimental study based on
the improvement in surface roughness. Abrasive particles quantity was reduced and
iron particles were increased after the surface roughness reached to saturation levels
between 0.24 and 0.30 µm. Finally, with changed composition of MR fluid, surface
roughness of the air compressor cylinder reduced from initial range of 0.47–0.99 µm
to 0.11–0.15 µm. The comparison of initial and final surface roughness is as shown
in Figs. 4, 5 and 6.
(a)
Ra = 0.91μm
(b)
Ra = 0.77 μm
(c)
Ra = 0.73 μm
(d)
Ra = 0.99 μm
Fig. 4 Initial surface roughness plots of the air compressor cylinder at 20 mm depth at a 0° b 90°
c 180° and d 270°
(a)
Ra = 0.1μm
(b)
Ra = 0.80μm
(c)
Ra = 0.09μm
(d)
Ra = 0.07μm
Fig. 5 Final surface roughness plots of the air compressor cylinder at 20 mm depth at a 0° b 90°
c 180° and d 270°
Fig. 6 Microscopic images of internal surface of cylinder at 20 mm depth at 0° a before and b after
finishing
5 Conclusions
The ferromagnetic workpieces are difficult to finish using normal axially magne-
tized magnets because of induced magnetism. In present study to achieve uniform
magnetic field for finishing process, simulation of magnetic field intensity and the
flux density has been carried out considering various magnet configurations and dia-
metrically magnetized magnets have shown best results. By using the experimental
setup created, the ferromagnetic cylindrical workpieces can be finished to the desired
roughness level. During the experiments with diametrically magnetized magnets the
surface roughness of air compressor cylinder has been reduced from initial range of
0.73–0.99 µm to 0.07–0.10 µm. The setup created also provides a simple solution
to the induced magnetism which restricts the usage of MFAF process for finishing
of the ferromagnetic workpieces, besides achieving a uniform and strong magnetic
field which is essential for MFAF process.
Acknowledgements We acknowledge Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), New

Delhi, India for their financial support for project No. EEQ/2017/000597 entitled “Fabrication of
Prosthetic Implants and further Nanofinishing Using Magnetic Field Assisted Finishing (MFAF)
Process”.
References
1. Barman, A., Das, M.: Design and fabrication of a novel polishing tool for finishing freeform
surfaces in MFAF process. Precis. Eng. 49, 61–68 (2017)
2. Sidpara, A., Jain, V.K.: Magnetorheological finishing: a perfect solution to nanofinishing
requirements. Opt. Eng. 53(9), 092002–092006 (2014)
3. Suzuki, H., Kodera, H., Hara, H., Matsunaga, H., Kurob, H.: Magnetic field assisted polishing
application to a curved surface. Precis. Eng. 11, 197–202 (1989)
4. Das, M., Jain, V.K., Ghoshdastidar, P.S.: Nanofinishing of flat workpieces using rotational–
magnetorheological abrasive flow finishing (R-MRAFF) process. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol.
62, 405–420 (2012)
5. Huiru, G., Yongbo, W., Dong, L., Masakazu, F., Mitsuyoshi, N.: Ultrafine polishing of elec-
troless nickel–phosphorus-plated mold with magnetic compound fluid slurry. Mater. Manuf.
Process. 29, 1502–1509 (2014)
6. Chen, F., Tian, Z., Wu, X.: Novel process to prepare high-performance magnetorheological
fluid based on surfactants compounding. Mater. Manuf. Process. 30, 210–215 (2015)
7. Xinhua, L., Lifeng, W., He, L., Dongdong, W., Qingqing, C., Zhongbin, W.: A study of the
effect of nanometer Fe3 O4 addition on the properties of silicone oil-based magnetorheological
fluids. Mater. Manuf. Process. 30, 204–209 (2015)
8. Sidpara, A., Das, M., Jain, V.K.: Rheological characterization of magnetorheological finishing
fluid. Mater. Manuf. Process. 24, 1467–1478 (2015)
9. Niranjan, M., Jha, S., Kotnala, R.K.: Ball end magnetorheological finishing using bidisperse
magnetorheological polishing fluid. Mater. Manuf. Process. 29, 487–492 (2014)
10. Saraswathamma, K., Jha, S., Rao, P.V.: Rheological characterization of MR polishing fluid
used for silicon polishing in BEMRF process. Mater. Manuf. Process. 30, 661–668 (2014)
11. Grover, V., Singh, A.K: Improved magnetorheological honing process for nanofinishing of
variable cylindrical internal surfaces. Mater. Manuf. Process. (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/
10426914.1339322
12. Lin, C.T., Yang, L., Chow, H.: Study of magnetic abrasive finishing in free-form surface oper-
ations using the Taguchi method. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 34, 122–130 (2006)
Induction of Conditioning Gas and Its
Optimization in Nonconventional Plasma
Machining Process of Fused Silica
Krishna Enni , D. Sam Dayala Dev and Manas Das
Abstract Plasma machining is a noncontact-type material removal process, which

utilizes chemical reaction of active radical/ions with substrate for material removal.
Hence, surface chemistry plays a vital role in material removal rate. In the present
work, a new process methodology for in situ silica substrate surface cleaning as well
as conditioning using plasma is presented. It involves removing of contamination lay-
ers deposited over time during plasma processing. In this paper, cleaning properties
of metastable oxygen were utilized to remove the deposited carbon contamination
formed during plasma processing. It makes the substrate free from contamination as
well as conditioning of it. In situ monitoring method is developed using emission
spectroscopy, and it helped in optimization of the conditioning gas composition. This
combination of He and O2 conditioning gases has effectively removed the contam-
ination layers. The substrate conditioning using optimized conditioning gases prior
to plasma processing enhances material removal rate (~200%) of fused silica sub-
strate. This methodology helps in achieving sustained material removal rate during
plasma processing without opening plasma chamber for substrate cleaning. As this
process does not disturb the plasma processing cycle, hence, this methodology helps
in saving a lot of time and cost of plasma machining.
Keywords Plasma polishing · Atomic emission spectroscopy · Fused silica

polishing
Krishna Enni · D. S. D. Dev

ISRO Inertial Systems Unit, Indian Space Research Organisation, Thiruvananthapuram 695013,
India
e-mail: kris.chem99@gmail.com
D. S. D. Dev
e-mail: samddev@gmail.com
M. Das (B)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati,
Assam 781039, India

550 Krishna Enni et al.
1 Introduction
Manufacturing of optical sensing structure of advanced inertial sensors demands

good surface finish combined with negligible subsurface defects. Conventional opti-
cal manufacturing techniques generally utilize fine abrasive particles to achieve
ultrafine surface finishing. These kinds of fabrication process generally proceed
with chemical reaction of abrasives at the substrate interface, and lateral force is
applied to remove the material which is known as chemo-mechanical kind of polish-
ing method. As stated earlier, the conventional way of manufacturing precision optics
depends on few abrasive-based processes which can make compliant lap on complex
workpiece surface like magnetorheological finishing (MRF). Other finishing pro-
cesses for polishing optics are combined abrasive and chemical-based finishing like
Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP), Electrolytic In-Process Dressing (ELID),
etc. In case of CMP process, due to the chemical action by the slurry, the substrate
surface becomes soft, and hence, the abrasive particles very smoothly remove the
surface undulations. However, in this process, the abrasive particles further damage
the optical surface as well as subsurface as the already polished precision surface is
mechanically pushed down by the abrasives [1]. However, with simultaneous use of
finer grits with decreased polishing pressure in subsequent experiments, the above-
mentioned surface and subsurface damages can be avoided. Although the process
becomes tedious and laborious while doing so, to avoid these problems as mentioned
above, few noncontact-type abrasive-based polishing techniques like float polishing
and Elastic Emission Machining (EEM) have been introduced for optical polishing.
Roughness value (rms) as low as 2 nm is achieved by float polishing while polishing
zerodur [2, 3]. However, with EEM process, further lesser value of mean surface
roughness of 0.2 nm Ra can be achieved [4–6]. One thing should be mentioned here
is that both these processes, i.e., float polishing and EEM processes, generate very
low polishing efficiency.
Nowadays, due to the growing complex freeform shape of the optics having com-
posed of advanced materials, the conventional manufacturing technologies fail to
fabricate these optics. OSAKA University has developed Plasma Chemical Vapor-
ization Machining (PCVM) technique which can achieve ultra-precision component
surface mostly used in silicon wafer or silica optical processing with surface rough-
ness in the nanometer range [7, 8]. RAPT Industries has developed a novel technique,
namely, Reactive Atomic Plasma Technology (RAPT) for polishing optics surface.
From the literature survey, it has been found that in this polishing method, namely,
reactive atom etching technique if fluorine-rich gases are utilized under atmospheric
pressure, a substantial Material Removal Rate (MRR) can be achieved if the reaction
products are released from the plasma processing chamber in volatile fluorinated
form [2]. Due to this reason, the preferred option for active species along with its
concentration mainly relies on the substrate material along with its required MRR.
Dev et al. [9] developed a novel methodology for plasma processing of 3D
freeform complex surfaces using medium pressure dielectric barrier capacitive cou-
pled discharge. It is indented to use the advantage of both chemical action of high
Induction of Conditioning Gas and Its Optimization … 551
pressure and excitation energy of low pressure, so this method can replace etching
and fine polishing without inducing subsurface defects. This plasma process suc-
cessfully removes the subsurface defects and simultaneously improves the surface
waviness as well as surface finish [9]. However, the above methodology encounters
few shortcomings. The MRR is very low about 0.008 mm3 /h. Hence, this method
cannot able to replace etching. Multiple experimental cycles are carried out with
cumulative plasma processing time of 320 min (i.e., 16 cycles) to achieve uniform
thickness reduction of 1 µm from substrate surface with 0.008 mm3 /min MRR. The
expected total material removal, at 0.008 mm3 /min MRR for 320 min processing
time, is 2.56 mm3 . However, only a ~1.63 mm3 material is removed in 320 min
(i.e., 0.005 mm3 /min) which is 35% less than expected material removal. It shows
that MRR is not uniform throughout the experiment. Hence, in the present study
to improve MRR, the conditioning gas is optimized to achieve sustainable uniform
material removal over entire component surface during plasma processing.
The present experimental setup consists of a plasma chamber to polish workpiece

having size within 5–40 mm. Also, uniform generation of reactive gases is considered
while designing the chamber [10]. The experimental setup consists of a vacuum
system. Also, the setup is connected to different gas pipelines which are needed
for plasma processing of the substrates. The picture of plasma processing setup and
its magnified view are represented in Fig. 1a and b, respectively. Zerodur is used
to fabricate the chamber. The chamber is sealed with a lid plate which is optically
transparent for 300–1200 nm wavelength. The vacuum pump is connected to the
chamber with different tubes for feeding reactive and processing gases. To avoid ion
impingement, medium vacuum pressure is considered. Also, to minimize electron
(a) (b)
Vacuum Plasma
system chamber
Fig. 1 a Experimental setup of plasma polishing system and b exaggerated view of plasma pro-
cessing chamber
heating, dielectric barrier RF excitation is selected to permit chemical interaction

by the reactive-free radicals with the workpiece’s surface atoms. The RF excitation
frequency is fixed as 40.68 MHz for minimizing ion bombardment. Optical emission
spectroscopy (OES) is applied for analyzing light emitting photons during processing
of plasma. The gas composition, pressure, and RF power are optimized using optical
emission spectroscopy [9, 11]. The experiments are conducted at excitation power of
40 W for a total pressure of 20 mbar having with 2.5% SF6 , 1.25% O2 , and 96.25%
He. The processing cycle is fixed for 10-min consisting of first filling of processing
gases inside chamber, plasma processing, and further gas evacuation from the setup.
A fused silica sample of diameter 25 mm and thickness 2 mm is used as a substrate.
Experiments are conducted at regular time interval for a total duration of two hours,
and MRR is computed based on mass loss measured after removing the specimen
from the plasma chamber. Figure 2 shows that MRR is very low (0.004 mm3 /min)
for initial 10 min of plasma processing, after that it increases to a maximum value of
0.009 mm3 /min for 40–60 min and further decreases continuously. The initial low
MRR is probably due to the presence of moisture at the specimen surface which
hinders the plasma interaction with the specimen. The reduction in MRR beyond
60 min is probably due to the deposition of certain unknown contamination. However,
while the sample is ultrasonically cleaned with solvents, a reduction in weight of the
sample is observed after post-cleaning measurement. Further, if the sample is plasma
processed after ultrasonic cleaning, MRR becomes nearly equal to the expected
0.008 mm3 /min.
Figure 2 represents the comparison of MRR with different processing conditions.
MRR decreases with time after 60 min for substrate processed without cleaning but
the substrate which has plasma processed post-ultrasonically cleaning shows no sign
of MRR reduction.
Fig. 2 Material removal rate 0.01

with different plasma
0.009
processing conditions;
Weight loss in mm3/min
a Continuous plasma 0.008

processing without ultrasonic (b)
cleaning b plasma processing 0.007
with ultrasonic cleaning after 0.006
60 min of operation
0.005
(a)
0.004
0.003
0.002
0.001
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Time (min)
2.1 Analysis of Contamination Deposition and Optimization

of Conditioning Gas Compositions
Experiment is carried out with four different samples. The four substrates are treated
at different intervals of time (10, 20, 40, and 60 min). The substrates, after post-plasma
processing, are analyzed using Energy-Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) under
high vacuum to quantify the contamination deposition after plasma processing.
Conditioning gas is optimized to remove the contamination in situ without opening
the chamber. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) technique was used for in situ
monitoring of the contamination as well as optimization of the conditioning gas
composition.
3.1 Analysis of Contamination Deposition
Samples are analyzed at different time periods after plasma processing using low-
energy EDX under vacuum. Four samples are used for experiment at four different
time periods like 10, 20, 40, and 60 min. The initial value of the elemental compo-
sitions (wt%) is analyzed using EDX. The initial concentration of carbon for four
samples is approximately less than 0.3 wt%.
Figure 3 shows the elemental concentration of substrates at different time inter-
vals. The concentration of carbon contamination increases with processing time. This
may be due to the presence of sealing O-ring to achieve hermetic sealing to maintain
required vacuum in the chamber. Viton O-ring degases with time during plasma pro-
cessing. This degassed carbon-based processing oil or low-molecular-weight poly-
mers from sealing lid deposits on the substrate surface. Hence, the substrate surface
chemistry changes with time.
Figure 4 shows that the percentage of carbon deposition of the substrate with time
during plasma processing analyzed by EDX. Figure 4 suggests that the carbon con-
tamination increases exponentially with time during plasma processing. This increase
in carbon deposition on the substrate ceases the interaction of reactive radicals with
fused silica surface. Hence, the material removal rate decreases with time during con-
tinuous plasma processing cycle. However, if the sample is cleaned ultrasonically
after removing from the chamber, the MRR is almost uniform with time as shown
in Fig. 2. Ultrasonic cleaning with acetone removes the carbon contamination from
the substrate surface and MRR increases for post-ultrasonically cleaned substrate.
Plasma processing of the substrate is very time-consuming and not a cost-effective
process, while the sample is removed from the vacuum chamber after each 20–
40 min of operation. Hence, there is a need for in situ cleaning methodology, which
removes the carbon contamination from the substrate without opening from the
vacuum chamber. Shun’ko and Belkin [12] studied the cleaning properties of oxygen
After 10 mins
Element Wt% Wt%
type Sigma
C 0.8 0.18
O 53.73 0.41
F 0.00 0.00
Si 45.28 0.41
S 0.00 0.00
After 20 mins
Ele- Wt% Wt%
ment Sigma
type
C 1.19 0.18
O 53.53 0.41
F 0.00 0.00
Si 45.28 0.41
S 0.00 0.00
After 40 mins
Eleme- Wt% Wt%
nt type Sigma
C 1.19 0.18
O 53.53 0.41
F 0.00 0.00
Si 45.28 0.41
S 0.00 0.00
After 60 mins
Elem- Wt% Wt%
ent Sigma
type
C 2.52 0.19
O 52.77 0.44
F 1.2 0.21
Si 43.48 0.44
S 0.20 0.31
Fig. 3 Elemental composition (wt%) of fused silica substrate using EDX after plasma processing
for a 10, b 20, c 40, and d 60 min
Fig. 4 Percentage weight of 3

carbon deposition with time
Carbon deposiƟon ( % Wt)

during plasma processing 2.5
1.5
0.5
0
10 20 30 40 50 60
Time in minutes
using mixture of argon (98%) and oxygen (2%). This cleaning process significantly
reduces the Vander Waals bonds from the depth of several hundred angstroms from
the substrate surface which drastically removes the percentage of carbon-containing
contaminants from the substrate.
In the present study, a mixture of He and O2 is used with different compositions as
shown in Table 1. Helium is selected in this study due to its higher excitation energy
than the Argon and due to its smallest size, the physical damage of the substrate also
negligible. The percentage of carbon contamination removal studied in situ using
optical emission spectroscopy. In the presence of O2 , the carbon or hydrocarbons
contaminations are oxidized to volatile carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The
emission spectrum of carbon monoxide at 519.82 nm as shown in Table 2 (molecular
transition A1 Pi-B1 Sig+) is monitored for the optimization of conditioning gas. The
three types of compositions are studied at total pressure of 6 mbar. The total pressure
is optimized by knowing mean free path and molecular radius and by analyzing the
discharge stability. Power is selected as 20 W during plasma processing to minimize
Table 1 Experimental conditions with different compositions of processing gas

Exp. No. Helium % Oxygen % Total pressure (mbar)
1 85 15 6
2 70 30 6
3 50 50 6
Table 2 Carbon monoxide wavelength of transition with quantum states

Element Line (nm) I (rel.) Energy (eV) Transition Quantum number
Lower–upper Upper–lower Lower–upper
CO 519.82 1000 8.07–10.78 A1 Pi-B1 Sig+ 2–0
physical bombardment at low pressure. For three experiments in Table 1, the initial
condition of the substrate is chosen similarly.
Figure 5a shows the emission spectrum of carbon monoxide (counts vs. wave-
length) for 85% He and 15% O2 composition with 5 min plasma processing. With
this composition, the carbon monoxide peak is getting reduced from 25,000 counts
to approximately 10,000 counts till 5 min but not reduced further completely. This
may be due to the unavailability of O2 further for oxidation of carbon. Hence, the
oxygen percentage is further increased to 30 wt% for oxidation of deposited carbon.
The spectrum of carbon monoxide (CO) for the second composition is shown in
Fig. 5b. It shows that after 5 min, CO count is decreased significantly from 25,000 to
less than 2000 counts. In the third composition, 50 wt% of both He and O2 is studied.
The wt% of O2 is further increased to understand the CO removal. However, against
to other two compositions, the CO peak in Fig. 5c does not change with time for
50% O2 composition. This may be due to the reduction in excitation energy of the
plasma because of reduction in helium percentage. The decrease in Helium percent
reduces the O2 metastable states responsible for cleaning carbon contamination.
Hence, the second composition of 30% O2 and 70% He is optimized for condi-
tioning gas. Plasma processing is carried out using optimized conditioning gas before
plasma processing as shown in Table 3. Condition time for subsequent experiments is
optimized by in situ monitoring of carbon monoxide liberation as shown in Table 3.
The substrate is plasma processed for 120 min with six cycles. Each cycle consists
of preconditioning before plasma machining. The plasma machining time is kept
constant for comparison with previous experiment. The conditioning time as stated
earlier is optimized in situ with optical emission spectroscopy. The corresponding
MRR is also provided in Table 3.
Figure 6 shows the comparison of MRR at different plasma processing conditions.
The MRR is plotted with time. The MRR is increased by about 200% as compared
to other cases, while the substrate is plasma processed with optimized conditioning
gas. It is surprising to note that MRR even significantly higher for plasma processed
with conditioning gas than the intermittent ultrasonic cleaned substrate. It suggests
that plasma cleaning more effectively removes contamination than the other present
techniques. Hence, it increases the material removal rate.
(a)
2 minutes
4 minutes
6minutes
8 & 10
minutes
(b)
2 minutes
4 minutes
6 minutes
8 minutes
10 minutes
(c)
2 minutes
4,6,8 &
10 minutes
Fig. 5 Emission spectrum of carbon monoxide with a 85% He and 15% O2 , b 70% He and 30%
O2 , and c 50% He and 50% O2 composition
Table 3 Experimental
Sl. No Experimental description MRR (mm3 /min)
conditions and MRR after
plasma processing 1 Conditioning: plasma cleaning 0.006
for 5 min
Processing: plasma processing:
20 min
2 Conditioning: plasma cleaning 0.014
for 10 min
20 min
for 12 min
20 min
for 12 min
20 min
for 15 min
20 min
for 15 min
Fig. 6 Comparison of MRR 0.018

plotted with time at three (a)
different plasma processing 0.016
conditions a without
conditioning, b with 0.014
ultrasonic cleaning, and
0.012
MRR (mm3/min)
c with plasma gas

conditioning
0.01
(b)
0.008
0.006
(C)
0.004
0.002
0
20 40 60 80 100 120
Time (min)
4 Conclusions
In the present study, the reason behind the reduction in material removal rate with
time for medium pressure plasma processing is identified. Low-energy EDAX is used
for the analysis of carbon contamination deposition with time. A plasma processing
technique is developed for optimization of conditioning gas by in situ monitoring of
the carbon monoxide gas liberation with optical emission spectrometer. The condi-
tioning gas is optimized, and plasma processing is carried out with prior conditioning
of the substrate before plasma machining. Sustained as well as 200% higher MRR
is achieved by the new process flow using conditioning gas.
References
1. Komanduri, R., Lucca, D.A., Tani, Y.: Technological advances in fine abrasive processes. Ann.
CIRP 46(2), 545–596 (1997)
2. Namba, Y., Ohnishi, N., Harada, K., Yoshida, K.: Float polishing of calcium fluoride single
crystals for ultra violet applications. In: Proceedings of the 17th Annual Meeting of ASPE,
pp. 450–453 (2002)
3. Namba, Y., Tsuwa, H., Wada, R.: Ultra precision float polishing machine. Ann. CIRP 36(1),
211–214 (1987)
4. Kanaoka, M., Liu, C.L., Nomura, K., Ando, M., Takino, H., Fukuda, Y., Mori, Y., Mimura, H.,
Yamauchi, K.: Processing efficiency of elastic emission machining for low thermal expansion
material. Surf. Interface Anal. 40, 1002–1006 (2008)
5. Kanaoka, M., Liu, C.L., Nomura, K., Ando, M., Takino, H., Fukuda, Y., Mori, Y., Mimura,
H., Yamauchi, K.: Figuring and smoothing capabilities of elastic emission machining for low-
thermal-expansion glass optics. J. Vac. Sci. Technol., B 25(6), 2110–2113 (2007)
6. Kanaokaa, M., Takinoa, H., Nomura, K., Morib, Y., Mimurab, H., Yamauchi, K.: Removal
properties of low-thermal-expansion materials with rotating-sphere elastic emission machining.
Sci. Technol. Adv. Mater. 8(3), 170–172 (2007)
7. Yamamura, K.: Aspheric surface fabrication in nm-level accuracy by numerically controlled
plasma chemical vaporization machining (CVM) and elastic emission machining (EEM). In:
Proceedings of SPIE, vol. 4782, pp. 265–270 (2002)
8. Yamamura, K., Shimada, S., Mori, Y.: Damage-free improvement of thickness uniformity of
quartz crystal wafer by plasma chemical vaporization machining. CIRP Ann. Manuf. Technol.
57, 567–570 (2008)
9. Dev, D., Krishna, E., Das, M.: A novel plasma-assisted atomistic surface finishing on freeform
surfaces of fused silica. Int. J. Precis. Technol. 6, 262–276 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1504/
IJPTECH.2016.079998
10. Dev, D., Krishna, E., Das, M.: Novel finishing process development for precision complex
shaped hemispherical shell by bulk plasma processing. In: Precision Product Process Design
and Optimization. Lecture Notes on Multidisciplinary Industrial Engineering, pp. 313–335
(2018)
11. Dev, D., Krishna, E.: Optical emission spectroscopy: a diagnostic tool for understanding plasma
reactions during plasma processing. In: 30th National Symposium on Plasma Science & Tech-
nology SINP Kolkata (2015)
12. Shun’ko, E.V., Belkin, V.S.: Cleaning properties of atomic oxygen excited to metastable
state 2s2 2p4 (1 S0 ). J. Appl. Phys. 102(8), 083304-083304-14 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1063/
1.279485
Design and Fabrication
of Electrochemical MicroMachining
(ECMM) Experimental Setup
for Micro-hole Drilling
Pranesh Dutta, Anwesa Barman, Abhinav Kumar and Manas Das
Abstract In electrochemical micromachining (ECMM) process, anodic dissolution

is used to remove the material in the micron range. With the help of ECMM process,
complex contours on the workpiece surface and difficult to cut materials can be
machined without any stress on workpiece surface and without any tool wear. This
study aims to design and fabricate an ECMM experimental setup and to control the
process parameters for smooth machining of miniature components. In the present
study, fabrication of microcomponents is carried out on stainless steel (SS-316L)
workpiece with helical tungsten carbide micro-tool. The effect of machining voltage
on output responses of the fabricated micro-holes is carried out with continuous and
pulsed DC power supply. From preliminary experimental analysis, it is observed
that as machining voltage increases, material removal rate, overcut and conicity also
increase.
Keywords Electrochemical micromachining · Microfabrication · Continuous and

pulsed direct current
1 Introduction
There are many non-conventional machining processes where surface texturing can
be done. One of the processes is (electro-discharge machining) EDM, but the problem
associated is that the debris particles cannot be easily eliminated from machining
P. Dutta
Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, 752050 Bhubaneswar, India
e-mail: pd29@iitbbs.ac.in
A. Barman · A. Kumar · M. Das (B)
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, India
A. Barman
e-mail: anwesa02@gmail.com
A. Kumar
e-mail: kumar176103020@iitg.ac.in

562 P. Dutta et al.
area which leads to unstable machining. Laser beam machining (LBM) may also be
employed for surface texturing but its own limitations like the formation of hotspot
because of thermal effect. But, in electrochemical micromachining (ECMM), no
defective layer is formed after machining. A growing demand for better surface
texture and micro-parts has to be met with the increasing demands in several areas
like automotive, aerospace, electronics, and others that have made ECMM process
an exciting area of research [1].
In ECM, the workpiece acts as anode and connected to positive terminal, whereas
the tool acts as cathode and connected to negative terminal of an electrolytic cell.
Thus, both the electrodes must be electrically conductive. Generally, a salt solution
is being used as an electrolyte to complete the electrolytic cell. The tool is normally
made of copper, brass or stainless steel and the gap between the electrodes, i.e. the
tool and the workpiece is called as inter-electrode gap (IEG) which is maintained
between 0.1 and 0.6 mm [2]. In ECMM, as IEG is small, high flow velocity of
electrolyte will vibrate the tool which leads to inaccurate machining. Hence, flow
of electrolyte in ECMM is done under gravity [3]. The metal dissolution in ECMM
process is governed by Faraday’s law of electrolysis.
The tool is advanced towards the workpiece so that the IEG remains constant,
to aid in material removal [4]. Figure 1 shows the schematic diagram of ECMM
experimental setup.
ECMM offers several advantages over other competing technologies. The tool and
the workpiece have no direct contact between them; hence, it avoids problems like
elastic deformation, vibration and breakage of tool [5]. Many industries are facing
problem to machine hard and brittle material at low cost [6]. This problem can be
solved by ECMM.
Lee et al. [7] used ultrashort voltage pulses (100 ns–5 µs) to manufacture micro-
probe (tool) of tungsten carbide of 5 µm diameter and 1 mm length to make a hole
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of ECMM setup

Design and Fabrication of Electrochemical MicroMachining … 563
of 50 µm diameter. They used STS420 disc as workpiece and HCL (0.5 M) as

electrolyte. It was found that for same duty factor, the groove depth is different for
different on and off-time as these have a great impact on machining depth. As the on
time increases, the groove depth increases for the same duty cycle. It was found that
as voltage increases, the machining depth also increases for the same pulse duration
(1 µs). Ghosal et al. [8] generated micro-features by ECMM taking workpiece as
stainless steel SS-304. It was found that the localization of current during machining
is the major difficulty in getting sharp and accurate micro-features. This leads to
overcut and conicity in the vertical wall. To decrease this, a conical micro-tool of
taper angle 13° is used and normalized current density was calculated from the dis-
tribution of equipotential lines along the cross section of micro-channel. At the exit
side of micro-channel, maximum current density was found. From their simulation
study, it was predicted that slots without taper can also be generated with conical
micro-tool. Finally, they have found that both conical and straight micro-tools can
be employed to produce taper less micro-slots.
Zhu et al. [9] created micro-dimple array of 240 µm diameter and various depths
on hard chrome coating with the help of ECMM and did friction test on that surface.
It was found that under load of 500 N applied in normal direction, the friction
coefficient reduces significantly for the component having micro-dimple array on its
surface. After a certain depth in micro-dimple array, the coefficient of friction stated
to increase. Qian et al. [10] created micro-dimple array of 240 and 280 µm diameter
and various depths on the hard chrome coating with the help of through mask ECMM
and did friction test on that surface. They also found that under a load of 500 N in
normal direction, the friction coefficient reduces significantly for the surface having
micro-dimples array with more diameter under less sliding velocity.
2 Design and Development of ECMM Experimental Setup
This section provides a detailed explanation of all the components used to fabricate
ECMM experimental setup. The following components are discussed below.
2.1 Motorized XYZ Gantry Stage
The motorized XYZ gantry stage is made up of aluminium alloy and steel with black
anodized finishing. The maximum load-carrying capacity for X- and Y-axes is 20 kg,
whereas for Z-axis is 5 kg. The X- and Y-axes have resolution of 10 µm and Z-axis
of 2.5 µm. The XYZ axes are placed over three lead screws individually.
564 P. Dutta et al.
Table 1 Specification of
Sl. No. Parameters Value
spindle motor
1 Diameter 65 mm
2 Length 200 mm
3 Power 1.5 KW
4 Voltage 220 V
5 Speed 10–24,000 rpm
6 Frequency 0–400 Hz
7 Resolution 0.05 mm
8 Lubrication Grease
9 Cooling Air cooled
VFD
1 Input voltage 220 V
2 Output voltage 208–240 V
3 Input frequency 48–63 Hz
4 Output frequency 0–400 Hz
5 Input phase Single phase
6 Output phase Triple phase
2.2 Spindle Motor and VFD
A high-speed air-cooled spindle is attached to the Z-axis plate for rotating the tool.
Aluminium housing is used to hold the spindle in vertical position. The specification
of spindle is described in Table 1.
The spindle is controlled by a variable frequency drive (VFD) which is used to
control the speed of the spindle. VFD has a precision of 6 rpm. The specification of
VFD is described in Table 2.
2.3 Tool Holder and Tool
A helical tool is selected for doing the machining of the workpiece. As stated in
the literature, helical rotating tool helps in removing the debris particles from the
machining zone (IEG) very efficiently. The specification of tungsten carbide helical
tool has been described in Table 3.
Table 3 Specification of the

helical tool
1 Material Tungsten carbide
2 Shank diameter 3.175 mm
3 Helical diameter 0.5 mm
4 Electrical conductivity 5 × 107 S/m
2.4 Machining Chamber
The machining chamber consists of an electrolyte bath where the machining is done
and a job holding system. The machining chamber is made up of Perspex material as
it was chemically unreactive to the electrolyte that is used in the machining process.
The workpiece holding fixture is placed in the machining chamber and is designed
in such a way that it can hold any size of workpieces. The workpiece holder is also
made up of Perspex material.
2.5 Electrolyte Circulation System
In the electrolyte supply system, electrolyte is supplied to the machining chamber

with the help of gravity. An inlet pipe of 6 mm diameter is attached from filter.
The electrolyte removed from the machining chamber is sent to the sedimentation
tank. The heavy particles in the electrolyte will sediment down in this chamber with
the help of gravity. Electrolyte is then pumped out from sedimentation chamber to
the storage tank with the help of the pump. The flow rate of pump is controlled by a
potentiometer attached to the pump. Speed controller controls the flow by controlling
the voltage supplied to the pump. Electrolyte then flows down from the storage tank
to the filter with help of a 4-mm-diameter pipe where small particles are removed,
and clean electrolyte is provided back in machining chamber. The specification of
the pump is described in Table 4.
motor
1 Input voltage 230 V
2 Power 0.05 kW
3 Head 15 m
4 Flow rate 240 L/h
566 P. Dutta et al.
2.6 Power Supply Unit
There are two modes of power supply which are given to the ECMM process. The
one is the continuous DC power supply and the other one is pulse DC power supply.
Continuous DC Power Supply

DC dual power supply is used to supply continuous DC to workpiece with the help
of wire which is connected to the screw in workpiece holder. In this case, voltage is
maintained constant.
Pulse DC Power Supply

A power supply is used to apply pulse DC to the tool and workpiece with the help
of a special thin wire. This wire is used because it generates a negligible amount
of noise while transferring signal. Pulse DC signal is generated using LabVIEW®
software in a computer. This signal is transmitted from computer to power supply
with the help of general-purpose interface bus (GPIB) cable. The signal generated
in LabVIEW® is shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 Voltage signal generated using LabVIEW®

In ECMM process, preparation of electrolyte solution plays an important role in

material removal rate. A 3 wt% solution of sodium nitrate (NaNO3 ) is taken as
electrolyte. Workpiece is made up of stainless steel (SS316L). The workpiece is
cut in the dimension of 80 × 28 mm from a sheet with help of EDM machine.
The workpiece sides are grinded in a grinding wheel to remove the heat-affected
zone from the workpiece. The machined surface is then polished with the help of a
sandpaper and cleaned with acetone to remove impurities from the machined surface.
Experiments are carried out at different voltages, and the results are compared with
continuous DC and pulse DC. Preliminary experimental investigation is conducted
to find out the influence of process parameters of ECMM on material removal rate
(MRR), overcut and conicity of the micro-holes fabricated on SS316L workpiece as
described below.
3.1 Effect of Voltage on MRR
The machinability of ECM depends on the electrical conductivity of the electrolyte,

feed rate of electrode and inter-electrode gap. Initial IEG is maintained at 0.01 mm.
Constant DC and pulse DC power supply are supplied with frequency of 1.3 Hz
having duty cycle of 60%.
Figure 3 shows the variation of MRR with respect to voltage. When pulse DC cur-
rent is applied, during off-time of power supply, the machined products are flushed
from the machining zone. This in turn reduces the stray machining. Holes are fab-
ricated on 500-µm-thick plate of SS316L using a helical tool of diameter 500 µm
at 10 V with continuous DC and pulse DC as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, respectively.

the effect of continuous DC
and pulse DC voltage on
MRR
568 P. Dutta et al.
Fig. 4 Hole produced using

10 V continuous DC
Fig. 5 Hole produced using

10 V pulse DC
During ECMM, oxide layer is formed over the workpiece surface. To break this,
sufficient amount of voltage should be applied. Using NaNO3 as electrolyte, the
amount of voltage required to break this oxide layer is high and at high voltage, stray
machining takes place which leads to inaccurate holes. Due to this, other end of the
hole seems like elliptical.
3.2 Effect of Voltage on Overcut
Voltage has great impact on overcut. The overcut and conicity are discussed below:
Overcut = (Do − Dt )/2 (1)

Conicity = (Do − De )/2 (2)
The tool and workpiece arrangement is shown in Fig. 6. Electrochemical reactions

produce hydrogen gas at surface of micro-tool. As voltage increases, hydrogen gas
bubbles break down which results in the occurrence of micro sparks in machining
area. This micro-spark causes uncontrolled machining from the workpiece surface,
and finally larger overcut is formed. So, at higher voltage zone, the overcut increases
more rapidly. Overcut also depends on nature of current applied. When pulse DC
is applied at 1.3 Hz of 60% duty cycle, there is significant reduction in overcut as
shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 6 Tool and workpiece Dt

arrangement while drilling a
Do
micro-hole in ECMM
process
De
Fig. 7 Effect of voltage on

overcut of micro-hole
570 P. Dutta et al.
Fig. 8 Effect of voltage on

conicity of micro-hole
3.3 Effect of Voltage on Conicity
From Ohm’s law, current density (J) obeys J = −σ ∇V, where σ is the electrolyte
conductivity and V is the applied voltage.
When pulse DC is applied, localization effect increases. Higher value of applied
voltage can break the oxide layer over the whole range of electric field and
increases the stray machining, thus producing non-uniformly shaped holes. As volt-
age increases, Joule heat generated at the IEG varies locally the conductivity of the
electrolyte. At bottom of the hole, the electrolyte temperature is more than the top
part. As removal of heat is difficult from the bottom, it causes non-uniform electrolyte
conductivity between top and bottom. Hence, at higher voltage, conicity increases
as shown in Fig. 8.
3.4 Effect of Tool Rotation on Overcut
Overcut can further reduce by rotating tool, as it will reduce the formation of H2 gas
bubbles. Electrolyte conductivity has also an effect on overcut. At high RPM, small
bubble is formed which decreases the conductivity of electrolyte.
Thus, less material is removed from the IEG; hence, overcut decreases as observed
in Fig. 9.
Fig. 9 Effect of tool rotation

on overcut of micro-hole
3.5 Effect of Tool Rotation on Conicity
Conicity, like overcut, decreases with increase in speed of rotating tool. When a
helical tool is rotated in clockwise direction, it makes the electrolyte to flow in axial
upward direction.
It helps to remove the machined debris and heat from IEG which in turn gives
a close uniformity of electrolyte conductivity between bottom and top portions of
the machined zone. Hence, as tool RPM increases, conicity decreases as shown in
Fig. 10. The conicity increases after 1000 rpm because of the increase in vibration
of the spindle at higher RPM which is transmitted to the tool.
Fig. 10 Effect of tool

rotation on conicity of
micro-hole
572 P. Dutta et al.
4 Conclusions
An electrochemical micromachining setup is designed and fabricated. By using this

electrochemical micro-machining (ECMM) experimental setup, micro-holes are fab-
ricated on stainless steel workpiece of grade 316L using helical tool made up of
tungsten carbide. The feed rate of 70 µm/min is applied, and 3 wt% sodium nitrate
solution is used as electrolyte. Different types of power supply are applied with
varying voltage. Their effect with respect to MRR, overcut and conicity had been
observed.
1. As current density increases on increasing the voltage, thus MRR increases.
2. During ECMM, hydrogen gas is formed. At higher voltage, these gases break
down which leads to uncontrolled machining. Thus, overcut increases.
3. As voltage increases, Joule heat generated in the IEG varies locally the conduc-
tivity of the electrolyte. Thus, conicity increases.
4. As tool rotation increases, the bubbles start to break down which reduces the
conductivity, and hence overcut reduces.
5. When tool speed is increased, it increases electrolyte flow in axial upward direc-
tion. It helps to remove the machined debris and heat from IEG which in turn gives
a close uniformity of electrolyte conductivity between bottom and top portions
of the machined zone. Thus, conicity reduces on higher tool rotation.
References
1. Bhattacharyya, B., Munda, J., Malapati, M.: Advancement in electrochemical micro-

machining. Int. J. Mach. Tools Manuf. 44, 1577–1589 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
ijmachtools.2004.06.006
2. Rajurkar, K.P., Zhu, D., McGeough, J.A., Kozak, J., De Silva, A.: New developments in
electro-chemical machining. CIRP Ann. 48, 567–579 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0007-
8506(07)63235-1
3. Bhattacharyya, B., Mitra, S., Boro, A.K.: Electrochemical machining: new possibilities for
micromachining. Robot. Comput. Integr. Manuf. 18, 283–289 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1016/
S0736-5845(02)00019-4
4. Bhattacharyya, B., Munda, J.: Experimental investigation into electrochemical micromachining
(EMM) process. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 140, 287–291 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1016/
S0924-0136(03)00722-2
5. Rajurkar, K.P., Levy, G., Malshe, A., Sundaram, M.M., McGeough, J., Hu, X., Resnick, R.,
DeSilva, A.: Micro and nano machining by electro-physical and chemical processes. CIRP
Ann. Manuf. Technol. 55, 643–666 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cirp.2006.10.002
6. Alok, A., Das, M.: Cost-effective way of hard turning with newly developed HSN2 -coated
tool. Mater. Manuf. Process. 33, 1003–1010 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/10426914.2017.
1388521
7. Lee, E.S., Baek, S.Y., Cho, C.R.: A study of the characteristics for electrochemical microma-
chining with ultrashort voltage pulses. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 31, 762–769 (2007). https://
doi.org/10.1007/s00170-005-0247-y
8. Ghoshal, B., Bhattacharyya, B.: Generation of microfeatures on stainless steel by electrochem-

ical micromachining. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 76, 39–50 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/
s00170-013-5251-z
9. Zhu, D., Qu, N.S., Li, H.S., Zeng, Y.B., Li, D.L., Qian, S.Q.: Electrochemical micromachining
of microstructures of micro hole and dimple array. CIRP Ann. Manuf. Technol. 58, 177–180
(2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cirp.2009.03.004
10. Qian, S., Zhu, D., Qu, N., Li, H., Yan, D.: Generating micro-dimples array on the hard chrome-
coated surface by modified through mask electrochemical micromachining. Int. J. Adv. Manuf.
Technol. 47, 1121–1127 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-009-2246-x
Factor Effect on Crater Shapes
in Electrical Discharge Machining
Jibin T. Philip , Basil Kuriachen and Jose Mathew
Abstract The extensive applicability of electrical discharge machining (EDM) in

processing advanced materials is very tangible in itself. A realistic model of EDM
process still remains an unachievable end, despite the numerous research efforts
of sublime significance. This paper focuses on modelling and simulation of EDM
process, to evaluate the influence of the input parameters, viz., current: 2–10 A and
spark on time (T on ): 100–300 µs on the shapes of developed craters. It was observed
that the crater radius-to-depth ratio (Rd ) represent an incremental trend ranging from
1.679 to 2.575 with current and T on , with the former having greater influence as such.
The material removal rate (MRR) achieved a peak value of 121.533 mm3 /min (at I
= 10 A, V = 30 V and T on = 300 µs). Finally, it can be presumed that the increase in
Rd with current is the major contributor for higher surface roughness (Ra ) for EDM
machining at peak parametric values.
Keywords EDM · Modelling and simulation · Crater · MRR · Surface roughness
1 Introduction
The EDM process has been developed and widely used since the late 1940s. The
Russian scientists B. N. Zolotykh, B. R. and N. I. Lazarenko developed the EDM
process, since then extensive number of researches are going on around the globe to
enhance and modify the process as a whole to improve its potential applicability. Due
to its credible advantages over other conventional and non-conventional machining
processes, it has achieved worldwide attention for increased utilization and imple-
mentation. This non-mechanical machining process, in general, can precisely remove
material from any type of electrically conductive materials, regardless of its hardness
and strength to obtain required shapes [1].
J. T. Philip · B. Kuriachen (B)

of Technology Mizoram, Aizawl, Mizoram 796012, India
e-mail: basilkuriachen@gmail.com
J. Mathew
National Institute of Technology Calicut, Calicut, Kerala 673601, India
576 J. T. Philip et al.
Investigators/Practitioners involved in engineering research around the globe have

attempted to model the EDM process from the early 1970s to fathom the electrical
plasma formation, spark propagation and the resultant electrode erosion. Two dif-
ferent mechanisms have been reported so far to interpret the corresponding material
removal mechanism, namely, electromechanical analysis [2] and electrothermal anal-
ysis [3–7]. The latter gained popularity and enormous attention due to the fact that
the material removal in EDM takes place mainly due to the extreme heat pulses
generated between the cathode and anode materials. The thermal affections of the
EDM process on the workpiece material pose a dire need to perform the temperature
distribution analysis to get detailed insight about the thermally affected layers and the
corresponding microstructural changes forced on to the material surface. Also, melt-
ing temperature curves can delimit a specific area which is further used for measuring
the geometry of the crater. Although a lot of experimental work has been carried out
as efforts to model the EDM process, no distinguished work was developed so far
which could interpret the actual conditions. There are many underlying reasons for
this imperative situation that includes complexity in proper understanding of plasma
channel formation, the stochastic nature of EDM process, the discharge duration
being miniscule and as such [8].
Comprehensive and perspective overview of all the influential factors and bringing
them together can be phenomenal to fathom the process as a whole. The stochas-
tic, non-linear and transient nature of the process per se due to catastrophic nature
of impinging electrons and ions leads to erosive phenomenon, making the process
control precisely difficult. So, the need for modelling and simulation is highly desir-
able for understanding the process as a whole, considering the non-economic and
time-consuming nature associated with experimental investigations.
This paper is an earnest effort to model and simulate the EDM process, to fathom
the influence of the input parameters on shapes of developed craters. Although inves-
tigators have developed several models related to the subject context previously,
not much focus has been invested to study the influence of Rd on EDM-machined
(EDMed) surfaces. Further, the variation of Rd and MRR with the input parame-
ters, viz., current and T on , has been extensively studied within a selected range of
applicability.
2 Modelling and Simulation
The theoretical parametric correlation was formulated between the input and the
output factors based on the existing EDM process governing equations which are
discussed below.
Fourier heat transfer equation (in cylindrical coordinates),
Factor Effect on Crater Shapes in Electrical Discharge Machining 577
∂ 2 T /∂r 2 + 1/r ∂ T /∂r + ∂ 2 T /∂z 2 = 1/ ∝ ∂ T /∂t (1)
where T (K) is the temperature, r (m) is the radial axis, Z (m) is the vertical axis, t
(s) is time and ∝ (m2 /s) is the thermal diffusivity of the material.
∝ = K t /ρC p (2)
where K t is the thermal conductivity of the material (J/mKs), ρ is the material density
(kg/m3 ) and C p is the specific heat (J/kg K).
The spark impact radius [8] is given by
rs = (2.04e−3) I 0.43 Ton

0.44
(3)
For Gaussian distribution, heat flux is

q(x) = q0 exp −4.5 (r/rs )2 (4)
where q0 is the maximum heat flux, given by,

q0 = (4.57Fc V I )/ πrs2 (5)
where F c is the fraction of total EDM spark power going to the electrode, V (volt)
is the discharge voltage, I (amp) is the discharge current and r s (µm) is the plasma
channel radius.
Volume of the crater V c is given by [11]
Vc = 1/2 rc2 h (6)
where r c and h are the radius and depth of the crater (µm), respectively.
Material removal rate (MRR) in mm3 /min is given by [10]
MRR = 60Vc /Td (7)
where T d is the discharge duration.

Surface roughness (Ra ) in µm is given by
Ra = h/16 (8)
where h is the depth of the crater. The equation is derived as per the consideration
that the generation of the second crater happens just beyond the radial maximum of
the previously developed counterpart. This scenario holds true for perfect machining
condition, which can be far from reality in terms of actual experimental situations.
Fig. 1 Schematic
representation of the model
in 2D
2.2 Assumptions
The various assumptions considered for development of the model has been discussed
below.
• A transient thermal model was selected to be developed.
• The workpiece material is homogeneous, isotropic and relieved of residual stresses
prior to machining.
• The material properties of the workpiece are temperature-dependent.
• The predominantly accepted Gaussian shape was chosen to be the geometry of the
heat source (Fig. 1).
• The fraction of spark energy () transferred to both the electrodes remains constant
for each pulse duration.
• Maximum flushing efficiency is considered, i.e. 100%. The formation of recast
layer during real-time experimentation has been sidelined for simplicity.
• Heat transfer is taking place through conduction alone. The convection and radi-
ation effects are completely neglected.
• Thermal expansion of the material is considered to be minimal. So that the element
shapes could remain the same throughout the analysis.
• Effect of latent heat of vaporization and fusion is not taken into account.
2.3 Modelling Scheme
The modelling procedure was carried out in three major steps, namely, pre-
processing, solution and post-processing. A 2D surface was selected as the workpiece
domain, as single spark analysis is considered under the present scope of study for
modelling and simulation. Further, the consideration that the developed craters are
symmetric in nature can reduce the rigorous iteration schedules associated with 3D
simulation. The domain size was selected to be 200 × 200 µm, after proper con-
sideration of the plasma channel radius. The workpiece considered was Ti6Al4V, a
material with very low thermal conductivity.
The crater shapes obtained at varying discharge current input are depicted in Figs. 2,
3 and 4, respectively. A critical comparison of the aforementioned simulation images
gives an insight that the developed craters possess a crescent-shaped geometry. Many
researchers in the past have put in ceaseless efforts to predict the crater shapes for
different electrode materials, varying parametric values and machining conditions.
It resulted in the prediction of crater shapes as hemispherical [3], bowl-shaped [8],
shallow bowl-shaped [9], etc. Another significant observation from the simulation
results is that of variation in crater shapes from deep to shallow, with increment in
discharge current. This can be attributed to the impact of the generated avalanche of
electrons on the functional surface. It is already known that, with enhanced discharge
current, a greater number of electrons are emitted, although their velocities are not
enhanced, due to the stable potential difference across the electrodes (discharge
voltage being constant). Hence, the electrons hit with the neutral atoms generating
more electrons and ions. They are scattered more radially, increasing the area of
Fig. 2 Crater developed at V = 30 V, I = 2 A and T on = 100 µs


impact on the workpiece material. Hence, the impact of discharge current along the
radial direction is found to be more intense than in the axial path. The resultant
radially enhanced craters can be presumed to contribute largely in the generation of
highly rough surfaces at peak current machining. Moreover, the surface generated by
a few large craters in comparison with many numbers of small craters for the same
area can be expected to possess higher roughness values.
The simulated craters at varying T on are depicted in Figs. 5 and 6, sequentially. The
comparison of these with Fig. 3 shows that T on has a consistent influence along radial
and axial directions, for the generation of craters. Also, there is not much noticeable
disparity in geometry of the developed crater as such. So, a detailed insight into the
variation in geometries can be phenomenal in developing required surfaces.
Additionally, the interpretation of the variational plots of Rd with current depicted
in Fig. 7 confirms the fact that the influence of the discharge current along the radial
direction is more. A progressive trend in Rd can be observed at different values of
T on and with increase in current. Further, Fig. 8 depicts the variational plot of Rd
with T on ; it can be inferred from the figure that the impact of T on on crater size
remains almost consistent along the radial and axial directions. This is because when
discharge current and discharge voltage are constant, the impact will also remain
uniform, resulting in relative material removal along both the axes.
Fig. 7 Variational plot of Rd with current
3.1 Determination of MRR
The MRR was theoretically determined using Eq. (7). The corresponding factor
variation with current is as shown in Fig. 9. It can be observed that MRR drastically
increases with current, as more electrons are generated and are eroding the workpiece
material when in comparison to its corresponding lower values.
Fig. 8 Variational plot of Rd with T on
Fig. 9 Variational plot of MRR with current

3.2 Prediction of Surface Roughness (Ra )
The Ra value of the developed craters has been predicted mathematically (Eq. 8)
for different parametric values. The corresponding trends (with current and T on ) are
determined from the variational plots depicted in Figs. 10 and 11 as shown. It can
be seen that there is an uprise in Ra with increment in both discharge current and
T on input factors. Application of high discharge current causes increment in MRR;
this coupled with the formation of radially enlarged craters result in generation of
EDMed surfaces having comparatively upgraded rough textures. The concomitant
efficacy underlying EDM process to generate surfaces of varying textural properties
are hitherto left unexplored for the scope of future research in the development of
advanced surfaces.
Fig. 10 Variational plot of Ra with current
Fig. 11 Variational plot of Ra with T on

Fig. 12 Variational plot of Rd with current and T on [9]
4 Model Validation
The model validation and the supporting data for the arguments made in the present
study can be obtained with reference to the work previously performed [9]. The
functional materials of the works are different, with the aforementioned initiate given
emphasis to AISI tool steel in contrast to Ti6Al4V. The reason for such a selection is
that there are no works being carried out in the past with precise emphasis on the input
factor effect on crater profiles, to the extent of the authors’ knowledge. Although
this initiative has more preference for the EDM process as a whole, the observed
dissimilarities can be neglected. Figure 12 shows the variational plot of Rd with
current and T on . A critical comparison of Figs. 7 and 8 with Fig. 12 will enlighten us
with the fact that the EDM process follows a similar trend. This peculiar characteristic
of the process has been left unexplored, so far to the extent of authors’ knowledge.
Furthermore, the variational plots obtained through modelling and simulation for
MRR and Ra has been validated with the experimental work carried in the past, with
Ti6Al4V as the work material [12]. The results were found to be in close compliance
with the literature.
5 Conclusions
The factor effects on crater shapes in EDM process have been modelled, simulated
and evaluated. Major findings of the present study are as inferred below.
• Generation of radially enlarged craters can be presumed to be responsible for high
surface roughness of EDMed surfaces, at peak currents.
• The effect of T on remains nearly constant in the radial and axial directions, and
thereby relative material removal takes place along both the directions.
• The current factor has a progressive influence on MRR, which can as well be
presumed to be the reason for the generation of rough surfaces at its peak values.
• The progressive trend of Ra is confirmed from the variational plots with current
and T on . It is elucidated that high MRR and generation of radially enlarged craters
contribute to the highly roughened texturing of EDMed surfaces at peak current
machining conditions.
• The model can be used for the selection of specific parametric setting for the
development of fine and coarse surfaces.
• The initiative can be extended to multi-spark generation; the major portion of which
has been efficaciously completed timelessly. Further, 3D surface generation is also
a possible option, yet to be tried.
Acknowledgements This work was carried out by the aid of research grants sanctioned from
the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), DST, Govt. of India (Project ref. No.
ECR/2016/001929). Also, the authors are grateful to Mr. Anjan Karmakar for his significant con-
tribution towards this initiative.
References
1. Lee, S.H., Li, X.: Study of the surface integrity of the machined workpiece in the EDM of
tungsten carbide. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 139(1–3), 315–321 (2003). https://doi.org/10.
1016/s0924-0136(03)00547-8
2. Singh, A., Ghosh, A.: A thermo-electric model of material removal during electric discharge
machining. Int. J. Mach. Tools Manuf. 39(4), 669–682 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1016/s0890-
6955(98)00047-9
3. DiBitonto, D.D., Eubank, P.T., Patel, M.R., Barrufet, M.A.: Theoretical models of the electrical
discharge machining process. I. A simple cathode erosion model. J. Appl. Phys. 66(9), 4095–
4103 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.343994
4. Patel, M.R., Barrufet, M.A., Eubank, P.T., DiBitonto, D.D.: Theoretical models of the electrical
discharge machining process. II. The anode erosion model. J. Appl. Phys. 66(9), 4104–4111
(1989). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.343995
5. Jilani, S.T., Pandey, P.C.: Analysis and modelling of EDM parameters. Precis. Eng. 4(4), 215–
221 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1016/0141-6359(82)90011-3
6. Jilani, S.T., Pandey, P.C.: An analysis of surface erosion in electrical discharge machining.
Wear 84(3), 275–284 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1648(83)90269-7
7. Van Dijck, F.S., Dutre, W.L.: Heat conduction model for the calculation of the volume of molten
metal in electric discharges. J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 7(6), 899 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1088/
0022-3727/7/6/316
8. Das, S., Klotz, M., Klocke, F.: EDM simulation: finite element-based calculation of deforma-
tion, microstructure and residual stresses. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 142(2), 434–451 (2003).
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0924-0136(03)00624-1
9. Joshi, S.N., Pande, S.S.: Development of an intelligent process model for EDM. Int. J. Adv.
Manuf. Technol. 45(3–4), 300 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-009-1972-4
10. Wu, H., Ma, J., Meng, Q., Jahan, M.P., Alavi, F.: Numerical modeling of electrical dis-
charge machining of Ti-6Al-4V. Procedia Manuf. 26, 359–371 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.promfg.2018.07.044
11. Salonitis, K., Stournaras, A., Stavropoulos, P., Chryssolouris, G.: Thermal modeling of the
material removal rate and surface roughness for die-sinking EDM. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol.
40(3–4), 316–323 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-007-1327-y
12. Hasçalık, A., Çaydaş, U.: Electrical discharge machining of titanium alloy (Ti–6Al–4V). Appl.
Surf. Sci. 253(22), 9007–9016 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2007.05.031
Drilling of Micro-holes in Titanium Using
Micro-EDM: A Parametric Investigation
Siddhartha Kar , Pallab Sarmah , Binoy Kumar Baroi

and Promod Kumar Patowari
Abstract The present paper aims to perform experimental investigation of drilling

micro-holes in titanium alloy using micro-electrical discharge machining (µEDM)
process. Process parameters such as voltage, feed rate, and tool rotation speed are
varied during experimentation to evaluate their effect on response measures such
as machining time (MT), overcut at entry (OC (en)), and overcut at exit (OC (ex)).
Taguchi L9 orthogonal array is utilized to conduct the experiments. Analysis of
variance (ANOVA) is employed to find the contribution of process parameters for
each response measure. Empirical models for MT, OC (en), and OC (ex) as functions
of voltage, feed rate, and tool rotation speed are developed by regression analysis,
wherein average error is found ≤4.2% between experimental and predicted values.
Furthermore, desirability approach is also employed for multi-response optimization,
wherein confirmation test result shows ≤3.39% error with the predicted optimum
value.
Keywords Micro-electrical discharge machining · Drilling · Micromachining ·

Micro-holes · Titanium
1 Introduction
In modern era, the need of micromachining is increasing due to large use of micro
products in different sectors mainly in electronics and biomedical industry. With con-
ventional machining processes, there is a limitation in machining very hard materials.
To fabricate small intricate shapes, there is a need of technique which can machine
different types of material with higher accuracy and precision. Micro-electrical dis-
charge machining (µEDM) is one of the advanced machining processes which is
widely used for micromachining of electrically conductive material. Its working
principle is the same as that of EDM, i.e., material is removed because of the spark
produced in the tool and workpiece gap. Over the last few decades, several researches
S. Kar (B) · P. Sarmah · B. K. Baroi · P. K. Patowari

of Technology Silchar, Silchar, Assam 788010, India
e-mail: siddkar.nita@gmail.com

590 S. Kar et al.
had been carried out in micromachining of various materials using µEDM. A brief
literature concerning µEDM and its application in micromachining of several mate-
rials is described herein.
Jahan et al. [1] utilized µEDM to drill micro-holes in cemented carbide and
austenitic stainless steel. They observed increment in material removal rate with
increase in discharge energy in both the materials. Soraya et al. [2] observed a problem
in the removal of debris from the hole in drilling of Ti-6Al-4V alloy using µEDM.
To overcome this, they made helical-shaped electrode with 45° helix angle, wherein
the machining time (MT) was reduced by 37% with hole depth of 50 µm (hole
diameter 800 µm). An additional 19% reduction in MT was also observed when
hole depth was taken as 150 µm. Jahan et al. [3] compared the performance of
transistor and resistance–capacitance (RC) pulse generator for obtaining superior
quality of micro-hole. They found that RC pulse generator was able to drill better
quality holes with burr-free recast layer, fine circularity, and dimensional accuracy.
The RC generator had the capability to minimize the pulse energy due to which
size of the debris particle reduced significantly. D’Urso et al. [4] performed drilling
operation on tungsten carbide and brass material. They observed increment in MRR
of tungsten carbide with increase in both peak current and peak voltage. But in case
of brass material, the highest value of MRR occurred at peak value of current and
intermediate value of voltage. Azad and Puri [5] conducted drilling operation on
Ti-6Al-4V using µEDM. They found voltage to be the most significant parameter
for overcut (OC), MRR, and tool wear rate (TWR). On the contrary, current was
significant for TWR, but not for OC. Sapkal and Jagtap [6] evaluated the importance
of various process parameters (electrode rotation, discharge voltage, capacitance,
and pulse duration) in drilling operation on Ti-6Al-4V using µEDM with a rotating
electrode. They found that electrode rotation, capacitance, and discharge voltage were
the most important parameters for MRR. On the contrary, taper ratio was influenced
by capacitance and pulse duration. In drilling 316L stainless steel, Pilligrin et al. [7]
found that with increment in tool rotation speed the debris particles flushed out of
the hole due to the centrifugal action which led to a reduction in MT. Elsewhere,
with increase in voltage and capacitance, MRR and TWR increased due to rise in
discharge energy.
In view of the above literature, it can be inferred that process parameters play
a significant role in determining efficiency and quality of micro-holes drilled by
µEDM process. In the present work, micro-holes are drilled on titanium alloy using
µEDM. Process parameters such as feed rate, voltage, and tool rotation speed are
varied to investigate their effect on MT and OC (entry (en) and exit (ex)).
Drilling of Micro-holes in Titanium Using Micro-EDM… 591
A tabletop µEDM (Make: Sinergy nano systems; Model: Hyper-15) setup is used for
performing the micro-hole drilling operation. The range of variable process param-
eters and fixed process parameters depicted in Table 1 are obtained from rigorous
pilot experiments as described below.
Polarity is kept fixed (tool: negative; workpiece: positive) to actuate more work-
piece erosion than tool erosion. Hydrocarbon oil is used as dielectric medium, and
jet flushing is applied to avoid deformation of tool. Capacitance is also kept fixed at
104 pF throughout the experimentation. The parameters varied are voltage, feed rate,
and tool rotation speed. Voltage is varied at three levels which gives rise to signifi-
cant variation of discharge energy. Elsewhere, feed rate and tool rotation speed are
also varied in three levels, wherein significant variation in machining phenomenon
is observed with corresponding change in their levels. Moreover, to ensure drilling
of through-hole, the tool is fed to a depth of 2 mm which is significantly higher than
the thickness of the sheet. Such higher value of depth is given to compensate the
tool wear which is inevitable in any EDM variant. The different sets of combination
for process parameters using Taguchi L9 orthogonal array are shown in Table 2. The
response measures evaluated are MT, OC (en), and OC (ex). MT is recorded with
stopwatch, which accounts the time from initiation of spark to the set depth of tool
penetration. After drilling operation, the diameters of the micro-holes at entry and
exit are assessed by an optical microscope. Thereafter, OC is evaluated by Eq. (1).
For OC (en), entry diameter is accounted, whereas for OC (ex), exit diameter is
accounted.
Hole diameter − Tool diameter
Overcut = (1)
2
Table 1 Fixed and variable

Fixed parameters
parameters
Parameter Value
Capacitance 104 pF
Polarity Tool (−); workpiece (+)
Flushing Jet
Workpiece Titanium 0.7 mm thick
Tool Tungsten (diameter =
518 µm)
Dielectric Hydrocarbon oil
Variable parameters
Parameter Level Value
Voltage (V) 3 75, 110, 145
Feed rate (µm/s) 3 5, 10, 15
Tool rotation speed (rpm) 3 500, 1000, 1500
592 S. Kar et al.
Table 2 Taguchi L9
Exp. No. Voltage (V) Feed rate (µm/s) Tool rotation
orthogonal array
speed (rpm)
1 75 5 500
2 75 10 1000
3 75 15 1500
4 110 5 1000
5 110 10 1500
6 110 15 500
7 145 5 1500
8 145 10 500
9 145 15 1000
The results of MT, OC (en), and OC (ex) are depicted in Table 3. Figure 1 demon-
strates the photographic image of the sample after drilling operation. The effect of
process parameters on mean of the response measures is explained in subsequent
subsections.
3.1 Mean Effect of Process Parameters
Machining time: Fig. 2 shows the effect of process parameters on mean of MT.
MT decreases with increment in voltage, feed rate, and tool rotation speed. The dis-
charge energy increases with increment in voltage which leads to less MT. Increment
in feed rate reduces the idle time or non-machining time after encountering short cir-
cuit, thereby reducing the MT. Tool rotation initiates centrifugal force and agitation
effect in the machining zone which helps in flushing away of debris particles. With
increment in rotation speed, the magnitude of centrifugal force increases which helps
in more efficient removal of materials and results in the reduction of MT.
Overcut at entry and exit: Figs. 3 and 4 show the effect of process parameters
on mean of OC (en) and OC (ex), respectively. With an increment in voltage, the
discharge energy increases which leads to an increase in plasma channel diameter.
Such increase in diameter of plasma channel leads to increase in overcut at both
entry and exit. With increment in tool rotation speed from 500 to 1000 rpm, overcut
decreases, but further increment to 1500 rpm leads to a negligible increase in both
entry and exit overcuts. The initial decrement in the overcuts may be attributed to
reduction in wobbling effect with rise in rotation speed. With increment in feed rate
from 5 to 10 µm/s, OC (en) increases, but further increment to 15 µm/s leads to a
decrease in overcut. In case of OC (ex), it reduces with increment in feed rate from
5 to 15 µm/s. Within the range of feed rate considered in this study, the trend of the
Table 3 Result of experiment, predicted, error, and desirability values
Exp. No. Machining time (s) Overcut at entry (µm) Overcut at exit (µm) Desirability
Exp. Pred. Error % Exp. Pred. Error % Exp. Pred. Error %
1 2047 1998.16 2.39 46.04 45.88 0.34 3.86 3.46 10.24 0.3142
2 1588 1684.89 6.10 46.20 46.03 0.36 2.66 3.02 13.41 0.6151
3 1420 1371.61 3.41 45.85 46.18 0.72 2.55 2.57 0.72 0.7595
4 1127 1106.92 1.78 48.74 49.57 1.71 10.45 10.91 4.43 0.4924
5 894 903.02 1.01 50.55 49.72 1.64 9.01 8.89 1.32 0.5711
6 886 896.37 1.17 50.77 50.77 0.01 11.02 10.66 3.30 0.4532
Drilling of Micro-holes in Titanium Using Micro-EDM…
7 872 882.04 1.15 51.25 51.25 0.01 16.75 16.38 2.19 0.1604
8 647 656.64 1.49 52.65 52.31 0.65 16.28 16.57 1.81 0.0829
9 583 562.12 3.58 52.11 52.46 0.66 12.93 12.98 0.39 0.1972
Average error % 2.45 0.68 4.20 –
(Note Exp.—Experiment; Pred.—Predicted)
593
594 S. Kar et al.
Fig. 1 Drilled micro-holes

on titanium
Fig. 2 Mean effect of Voltage (V) FR (μm/s) TRS (rpm)

process parameters on 1800
Mean of machining time (s)
machining time
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
75 110 145 5 10 15 500 1000 1500

Mean of overcut at entry (μm)
overcut at entry
51
50
49
48
47
46
75 110 145 5 10 15 500 1000 1500
overcuts at both entry and exit are not similar. But the variation among overcut at
both entry and exit with change in feed rate is very low.

Mean of overcut at exit (μm)

overcut at exit 14
12
10
2
75 110 145 5 10 15 500 1000 1500
3.2 Analysis of Variance
ANOVA is a mathematical tool used to evaluate the importance of process parameters

in each response measure. ANOVA of all the response measures considered in this
study is shown in Table 4. In all the responses, voltage is found to be the highest
contributing process parameter. The contribution of error is very low in all the cases,
with highest error of 1.61% accounting to OC (ex). The correlation coefficient (R2 ),
adjusted correlation coefficient (R2 (adj)), and predicted correlation coefficient (R2
(pred)) values of all the ANOVA models are significantly higher, with lowest R2 =
98.39%, R2 (adj) = 93.56%, and R2 (pred) = 67.40% accounting to OC (ex). Such
higher correlation coefficients suggest that the response models are highly significant.
3.3 Regression Analysis
Regression analysis is applied to model the response measures as a function of the

process parameters. The main goal is to predict the response measures with various
combinations of process parameters within the limit of this experimental work. The
relations for MT, OC (en), and OC (ex) are given in Eqs. (2), (3), and (4), wherein
V, F, and T represent voltage, feed rate, and tool rotation speed, respectively.
MT = 5822 − 60.51 × V − 27.63 × F − 0.819 × T

+ 0.1827 × V 2 + 0.00625 × V × T (2)
OC(en) = 30.43 + 0.2655 × V + 0.0900 × F − 0.000603 × T − 0.000819 × V 2

(3)
OC(ex) = −24.78 + 0.4431 × V + 0.837 × F − 0.002524

× T − 0.000807 × V 2 − 0.00899 × V × F (4)
596 S. Kar et al.
Table 4 ANOVA of response measures

Source DOF Sum of square Mean square F-ratio P-value Contribution (%)
1. Machining time
Voltage 2 1,553,571 776,785 85.42 0.012 84.08
FR 2 248,571 124,285 13.67 0.068 13.45
TRS 2 27,478 13,739 1.51 0.398 1.49
Error 2 18,188 9094 – – 0.98
Total 8 1,847,808 – – – 100
R2 = 99.02%, R2 (adj) = 96.06%, R2 (pred) = 80.07%
2. Overcut at entry
Voltage 2 55.5344 27.7672 150.44 0.007 94.01
FR 2 2.1218 1.0609 5.75 0.148 3.59
TRS 2 1.0494 0.5247 2.84 0.260 1.78
Error 2 0.3692 0.1846 – – 0.62
Total 8 59.0747 – – – 100
R2 = 99.38%, R2 (adj) = 97.50%, R2 (pred) = 87.35%
3. Overcut at exit
Voltage 2 228.766 114.383 59.05 0.017 95.06
FR 2 3.619 1.809 0.93 0.517 1.50
TRS 2 4.388 2.194 1.13 0.469 1.82
Error 2 3.874 1.937 – – 1.61
Total 8 240.646 – – – 100
R2 = 98.39%, R2 (adj) = 93.56%, R2 (pred) = 67.40%
(Note FR—Feed rate; TRS—Tool rotation speed; DOF—Degree of freedom; adj—Adjusted; pred—
Predicted)
The R2 , R2 (adj), and R2 (pred) values (Table 5) are evaluated to analyze the
capability of the developed regression models to predict the responses for process
parameters. The predicted values and the experimental values of all the experiments
are plotted in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, wherein average error of 2.45%, 0.68%, and 4.2% is
observed for MT, OC (en), and OC (ex), respectively. All the terms are significantly
higher in each of the responses, with lowest values of R2 = 96.99%, R2 (adj) =
93.98% and R2 (pred) = 86.91% accounting to OC (en).
Table 5 Regression analysis

Response R2 (%) R2 (adj) (%) R2 (pred) (%)
values
MT 99.17 97.79 93.13
OC (en) 96.99 93.98 86.91
OC (ex) 99.64 99.04 96.00
Fig. 5 Comparison of Experiment Predicted

experiment and predicted
Machining time (s)

values for machining time 2100
1300
500
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Experiment number
Overcur at entry (μm)

values for overcut at entry 53
49
45
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Experiment number

Overcut at exit (μm)

values for overcut at exit 20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Experiment number
3.4 Desirability Analysis
In the present work, all the responses considered are of lower the better type. So,
for production purpose, the best combination of parameters should yield minimum
MT, OC (en), and OC (ex). The desirability function approach is one of the promi-
nent techniques used for optimization of multiple responses [8]. The method evalu-
ates operating conditions under which the most favorable values of response can be
obtained. The three responses are optimized using developed regression models as
per Eqs. (2), (3), and (4) on the basis of composite desirability approach.
The optimized graphs of the three response measures with the optimized result are
shown in Fig. 8. The values of composite desirability for all the nine combinations
of process parameters are depicted in Table 3. The vertical dotted lines represent
optimum parametric settings, whereas the horizontal dotted lines represent values
of the response measures. Highest composite desirability of 0.7595 is achieved at
parametric setting of 75 V, 15 µm/s, and 1500 rpm. Table 6 shows the error % of
598 S. Kar et al.
Optimal V F T
High 145.0 15.0 1500.0
D: 0.7595 Cur [75.0] [15.0] [1500.0]
Predict Low 75.0 5.0 500.0
Composite
Desirability
D: 0.7595
OC (ex)
Minimum
y = 2.5753
d = 0.99822
OC (en)
Minimum
y = 46.1783
d = 0.95172
MT
Minimum
y = 1371.80
d = 0.46120
Fig. 8 Multi-response optimization result for minimum MT, OC (en), and OC (ex) (Note V —
Voltage; F—Feed rate; T —Tool rotation speed)
Table 6 Confirmation test result

Optimum condition Response Predicted Desirability Experiment Error %
75 V Machining time (s) 1371.8 0.4612 1420 0.99
15 µm/s Overcut at entry 46.18 0.9517 45.85 0.72
(µm)
1500 rpm Overcut at exit 2.58 0.9982 2.55 3.39
(µm)
experimental and predicted values for the responses at optimum parametric condition.
The error among experimental and predicted values for MT, OC (en), and OC (ex)
falls within 0.99%, 0.72% and 3.39%, respectively.
To display the sensitivity of the results, contour plots for desirability are drawn
as depicted in Fig. 9. The optimum region is positioned close to the left top corner
section of the plot, which possesses a composite desirability value more than 0.7. The
composite desirability gradually reduces in the right and downward directions. The
15.0
0.7 0.5 Desirability
< 0.2
0.2 – 0.3
12.5 0.3 – 0.4
0.4 – 0.5
Feed rate (μm/s)

0.5 – 0.6
0.6 – 0.7
10.0
Hold Values
0.3 TRS (rpm) 1500
7.5
0.6 0.4
5.0
80 90 100 110 120 130 140
Voltage (V)
Fig. 9 Contour plot for desirability function (Note TRS—Tool rotation speed)
(a) (b)
Radius: 304.85 Radius: 261.55
:300 μm :300 μm
Fig. 10 Microscopic image of a OC (en) and b OC (ex) at optimum condition of desirability (75 V,
15 µm/s, and 1500 rpm)
result shows that optimum µEDM can be achieved under lower voltage and higher
feed rate if all the three responses are given equal importance. The microscopic
images of OC (en) and OC (ex) at optimum desirability (75 V, 15 µm/s, and 1500 rpm)
are shown in Fig. 10.
4 Conclusions
Following conclusions are drawn from the experimental study:

• Increment in voltage rises the discharge energy which in turn decreases MT but
increases OC (en) and OC (ex).
600 S. Kar et al.
• Increment in feed rate causes a decrease in MT due to reduction in non-machining

time. Elsewhere, with increase in feed rate, OC (en) initially increases up to a
critical limit, and thereafter it shows negligible change. In case of OC (ex), it
decreases with increase in feed rate.
• Tool rotation helps in flushing away of debris from machining zone. So, with
increment in tool rotation speed, MT decreases. Elsewhere, overcut at both entry
and exit initially decreases up to a critical limit of speed. But further increment in
speed leads to a negligible change in overcuts.
• Voltage evolved as the most significant process parameter affecting all the response
measures.
• From multiple regression analyses, errors of 2.45%, 0.68%, and 4.2% are observed
for MT, OC (en), and OC (ex), respectively between experimental and predicted
values.
• From desirability analysis, highest composite desirability of 0.7595 is achieved at
optimum parametric setting of 75 V, 15 µm/s, and 1500 rpm. The errors among
the experimental and predicted values for MT, OC (en), and OC (ex) are 0.99%,
0.72%, and 3.39%, respectively.
References
1. Jahan, M.P., Wong, Y.S., Rahman, M.: A comparative experimental investigation of deep-hole
micro-EDM drilling capability for cemented carbide (WC-Co) against austenitic stainless steel
(SUS 304). Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 46, 1145–1160 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-
009-2167-8
2. Plaza, S., Sanchez, J.A., Perez, E., Gil, R., Izquierdo, B., Ortega, N., Pombo, I.: Experimental
study on micro EDM-drilling of Ti6Al4V using helical electrode. Precis. Eng. 38, 821–827
(2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PRECISIONENG.2014.04.010
3. Jahan, M.P., Wong, Y.S., Rahman, M.: A study on the quality micro-hole machining of tungsten
carbide by micro-EDM process using transistor and RC-type pulse generator. J. Mater. Process.
Technol. 209, 1706–1716 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2008.04.029
4. D’Urso, G., Maccarini, G., Ravasio, C.: Process performance of micro-EDM drilling of stainless
steel. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 72, 1287–1298 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-014-
5739-1
5. Azad, M.S., Puri, A.B.: Simultaneous optimisation of multiple performance characteristics in
micro-EDM drilling of titanium alloy. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 61, 1231–1239 (2012).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-012-4099-y
6. Sapkal, S.U., Jagtap, P.S.: Optimization of micro EDM drilling process parameters for tita-
nium alloy by rotating electrode. Procedia Manuf. 20, 119–126 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.promfg.2018.02.017
7. Cyril Pilligrin, J., Asokan, P., Jerald, J., Kanagaraj, G., Mukund Nilakantan, J., Nielsen, I.: Tool
speed and polarity effects in micro-EDM drilling of 316L stainless steel. Prod. Manuf. Res. 5,
99–117 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/21693277.2017.1357055
8. El-Taweel, T.A.: Multi-response optimization of EDM with Al–Cu–Si–TiC P/M composite
electrode. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 44, 100–113 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-
008-1825-6
Effects of Kingpin and Caster Offset on
Braking Stability of Long Wheelbase Bus
Sagar Jambukar and C. Sujatha
Abstract Wheel alignment parameters play a dominant role in handling dynamics

of a vehicle. In this paper, the authors have discussed the effects of variation of the
caster offset and kingpin offset on different braking manoeuvres for a long wheelbase
bus. Five levels of each parameter have been considered for the sensitivity analysis.
Effects of kingpin and caster offset, on deceleration stability of the bus, has been
evaluated with response analysis of three braking manoeuvres, i.e. (i) Performance-
based standards (PBS) braking method, (ii) Split µ braking and (iii) Brake in turn. The
response metrics studied include yaw rate, yaw angle of sprung mass, Tyre side slip
angles, body slip angle, lateral speed, etc. The results obtained indicate significant
scope for improvement of braking dynamics of the vehicle with appropriate selection
and real-time control of the wheel geometry parameters.
Keywords Kingpin offset · Caster offset · Braking stability · Long wheelbase

bus · Vehicle dynamics
1 Introduction
Vehicle dynamics, which plays an important role in vehicle design, is the study
of the handling response of various external inputs. Several suspension and steer-
ing parameters like Tyre and suspension damping and stiffness, relative location of
roll centre and centre of gravity (C.G), wheel alignment parameters, etc. determine
the behaviour of the vehicle. In recent years, the vehicle dynamic researchers are
emphasising more towards optimisation of wheel alignment parameters, in addition
to suspension parameters, to improve both kinematic and dynamic capabilities of
vehicles; from the literature review, it has been observed that there is significant
scope for improvement of dynamics of vehicles using wheel alignment parameters
S. Jambukar (B) · C. Sujatha

Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
e-mail: jambukarsagar5@gmail.com
C. Sujatha
e-mail: sujatha@iitm.ac.in
602 S. Jambukar and C. Sujatha
which are yet to be employed to their full potential as suggested in papers by Gille-
spie [1], Jazar [2], Rajavardhan et al. [3] and Yoshino and Nozaki [4]. Currently,
all of the existing on-road vehicles have fixed wheel alignment parameters config-
uration. Moreover, comprehensive literature on vehicle dynamic studies of cars is
available, which is not the case for buses. In comparison, the literature available
for buses essentially varies from that of cars due to the significant variation in the
different vehicle parameters like wheelbase, C.G. height, suspension systems, etc.
Studies on long wheelbase vehicles, specifically buses which are meant to commute
on highways, as well as city roads, need to be conducted to adapt to both conditions.
Thus, there is a necessity to complement the existing literature of handling dynamics
of buses for expanding the knowledge base.
The effects of kingpin inclination angle and wheel offset on ground on various
performance metrics, such as steering effort, vehicle handling and steering system
vibration, on a medium-duty truck, have been discussed by Ledesma and Shih [5].
The parameters in discussion play a crucial role in the directional stability of vehicles.
In addition, the selection of the design values of the parameters under consideration
also has effects on aligning torque, steering effort and self-entering capabilities as
discussed by Karnopp [6]. A Honda CR-V multibody model of a sports utility vehicle
(SUV) was built in ADAMS/CAR software by Rajavardhan et al. [3] in order to
understand the effect of wheel geometry parameters on vehicle steering. This model
was utilised to study the steering wheel returnability, steering effort and handling
behaviour for Single Lane Change (SLC) manoeuvre of a car. An electronic camber
suspension mechanism with suspension geometry control, rather than brake and
driving torque control to improve cornering performance has been proposed by Park
and Sohn [7]. Thus, the suspension–wheel geometry (also known as wheel alignment)
parameters are critical for optimum vehicle performance as evaluated by Ledesma
and Shih [5], Rajavardhan et al. [3] and Yoshino and Nozaki [4] and Patel et al. [8].
Further, Jambukar and Sujatha [9] have discussed in detail, the effects of caster offset
and kingpin offset on kinematics and dynamics of a long wheelbase bus, wherein the
steady-state circle, double lane change manoeuvres were considered for the study.
In this paper, the authors have discussed the effects of the caster and kingpin
offset on the braking characteristics of a long wheelbase bus. However, the scope
of this paper is limited to the study of the effects of caster offset and kingpin offset
on kinematics and dynamics of a bus. Thus, the effects of other wheel geometry
parameters like kingpin inclination, caster angle, toe and camber angle have not
been discussed. Thus, a comprehensive study of the independent and interactive
effects of caster offset and kingpin offset at the wheel centre has been done. The
work presented here is an extended version of the work done by the authors on long
wheelbase stability [9].
Effects of Kingpin and Caster Offset on Braking Stability … 603
Fig. 1 Schematic of kingpin geometry
1.1 Wheel Alignment Parameters
The wheel alignment parameters include caster angle, caster offset, kingpin inclina-
tion angle (KPI) and camber angle (refer Fig. 1). In this study, the authors focused on
understanding the effects of two parameters, viz. caster offset and kingpin offset on
the deceleration response of the vehicle. The angle made by this kingpin axis (got by
joining kingpin pivot points), with respect to the vertical, when viewed in the front
and side planes are known as kingpin inclination and caster angle, respectively.
Similarly, the horizontal distance between the kingpin axis and the vertical axis
of the wheel, at wheel centre, when measured in the front and side planes are known
as the kingpin offset and caster offset respectively. When the wheel is steered about
the kingpin axis, the point of contact of the wheel vertical axis rotates as an arc about
the point of intersection of the kingpin axis with the ground Fig. 1. In the case of
wheel straight ahead position, the horizontal distances between these two points on
the ground when seen in the front and side planes are termed as kingpin offset and
caster offset at the ground (refer Fig. 1).
1.2 Bus Model
An 8.5 tonne and 6.45 m wheelbase school bus model available in TruckSim, as
shown in Fig. 2, was used for the study. TruckSim uses a set of inbuilt differential
equations to solve for obtaining the performance metrics based on varying input
parameters and conditions. Some of the specifications of vehicle are as listed (i)
Sprung mass: 6000 kg, (ii) Unsprung mass (front and rear): 480 and 735 kg, (iii)
C.G. height of sprung mass: 1000 mm, (iv) C.G. height of unsprung mass (front and
rear): 485 and 530 mm, (v) Track width (front and rear): 2070 and 1863 mm.
Fig. 2 Screen shot of long

wheelbase school bus.
(Image courtesy: TruckSim
software)
Table 1 Parameter levels

Parameter levels
Levels Caster offset (mm) Kingpin offset (mm)
1 −50 50
2 −25 75
3 0 100
4 25 125
5 50 150
2 Methodology
2.1 Sensitivity Analysis
For the study, five levels each of caster offset (at wheel centre) and kingpin offset (at
wheel centre) values, as shown in Table 1, were considered. The values (levels) of the
parameters considered for the study were in accordance with the design values of the
concerned kingpin geometry parameters. Therefore, the first parameter was varied at
a time, during which the second parameter was set to its design value as stated. The
procedure was applied to the second parameter also. The resulting simulation matrix
is as shown in Table 2. Deceleration analysis of the bus was done in three different
manoeuvres to understand the effect of the parameters under study on the braking
response of the long wheelbase bus.
2.2 PBS Braking Manoeuvre
Performance-based standards (PBS) have been proposed as a plan for regulating truck
configurations acceptable on national highway systems. Accordingly, to evaluate the
directional stability under braking, the standard PBS C16-braking has been proposed
Table 2 Simulation matrix

Iteration No. Kingpin offset (mm) Caster offset (mm)
1 50 0
2 75 0
3a 100 0
4 125 0
5 150 0
6 100 −50
7 100 −25
8a 100 0
9 100 25
10 100 50
Iteration/Run 3 is similar to iteration 8
a For better clarity, it is mentioned in both cases
in the standards which are also considered for the study in this work. The purpose of
this test is to manage the potential safety risk due to vehicle instability during braking
while turning or on pavement cross slopes. The test procedure is designed to have a
vehicle coasting down from a specified initial speed (i.e. 65 km/h) with 1 MPa brake
application in the master cylinder occurring 2 s after the start of the simulation [10].
2.3 Split µ Braking Manoeuvre
Split µ surface stands for a driving surface wherein the coefficient of friction of two
portions of the same road surface differ in the value. This test was designed to analyse
the response and thus the stability of the vehicle for different values of caster offset
and kingpin offset on braking on a split µ surface. For this test, two adjacent surfaces
of coefficient of friction of 0.2 and 0.5 were considered. The long wheelbase bus was
made to run over the surface at a speed of 70 km/h and panic brakes were applied.
The response of the vehicle in discussed in the upcoming section.
2.4 Brake in Turn Manoeuvre
One of the special situations which comes up in normal driving conditions includes
braking during turning. This situation especially arises on highways, where vehicles
tend to undergo double lane change manoeuvre and need to brake as a result of the
blind spot that exists while overtaking. Therefore the vehicle was made to perform
panic braking while performing a turning manoeuvre at a speed of 70 km/h with 10
MPa master cylinder pressure at 2 s, resulting in maximum deceleration of 0.8 g.
3.1 PBS Braking Manoeuvre
As discussed earlier in the methodology section, all the manoeuvres were performed
for each set of kingpin and caster offset values. Altogether, 10 iterations were carried
out for PBS braking manoeuvre, which included five iterations each for kingpin offset
and caster offset. From the yaw rate response, it was observed that the difference of
peak value varied up to 46.7% when the kingpin offset was varied from 50 mm to
150 mm. Similarly, the difference observed in the case when caster offset was varied
from −50 to +50 mm range was considerably less at 14.5% (refer Figs. 3 and 4).
1.5
Kingpin offset
1 50mm 75mm 100mm 125mm 150mm
0.5
Yaw rate (deg/s)
0
-0.5
-1
-1.5
-2
-2.5
-3
-3.5
0 5 10 15
Time (s)
Fig. 3 Chassis yaw rate for varying kingpin offset (PBS braking)
1.5
Caster offset
1 -50mm -25mm 0mm 25mm 50mm
0.5
Yaw rate (deg/s)
-0.5
-1
-1.5
-2
-2.5
-3
0 5 10 15
Time (s)
Fig. 4 Chassis yaw rate for varying caster offset (PBS braking)
The peak value of roll rate varied from 3.5 deg/s to 3.96 deg/s and from 4.2 deg/s
to 3.1 deg/s when the caster offset and kingpin offset were varied from −50 mm to
50 mm and 50 mm to 150 mm, respectively (refer Figs. 5 and 6). Further, from the
results, it was also observed that the parameters are seen to have an effect on the lateral
speed of the vehicle. It can be noted that caster offset predominantly had an effect
on the peak value of the lateral speed while kingpin offset affected the peak value
of the lateral speed as well, at other instants during the manoeuvre (refer Figs. 7 and
8). Kingpin offset was seen to significantly affect the steering wheel torque (steering
effort) into the manoeuvre. The peak steering torque variation observed in the case
5
Kingpin offset
4 50mm 75mm 100mm 125mm 150mm
3
Roll rate (deg/s)
-1
-2
-3
-4
0 5 10 15
Time (s)
Fig. 5 Chassis roll rate for varying kingpin offset (PBS braking)
4
Caster offset
-50mm -25mm 0mm 25mm 50mm
3
2
Roll rate (deg/s)
-1
-2
-3
-4
0 5 10 15
Time (s)
Fig. 6 Chassis roll rate for varying caster offset (PBS braking)
0.4
Caster offset
0.3 -50mm -25mm 0mm 25mm 50mm
0.2
Lat speed(m/s)
0.1
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
-0.5
0 5 10 15
Time (s)
Fig. 7 Vehicle lateral speed for varying caster offset (PBS braking)
0.4
Kingpin offset
0.3 -50mm -25mm 0mm 25mm 50mm
0.2
0.1
Lat speed(m/s)
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
-0.5
0 5 10 15
Time (s)
Fig. 8 Vehicle lateral speed for varying kingpin offset (PBS braking)
of caster offset variation was relatively lower as compared to the effect of kingpin
offset (refer Figs. 9 and 10).
3.2 Split µ Braking Manoeuvre
The effect on yaw rate and steering torque observed was similar to the case of PBS
braking manoeuvre (refer Figs. 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 and 16). The main intention
of considering split µ braking test procedure was to the understand the effect of the
concerned parameters on the lateral movement of the C.G. after braking due to lack
50
Kingpin offset
50mm 75mm 100mm 125mm 150mm
Steering torque (Nm) 40
30
20
10
-10
-20
0 5 10 15
Time (s)
Fig. 9 Steering wheel torque for varying kingpin offset (PBS braking)
50
Caster offset
40
30
Steering torque (Nm)
20
10
-10
-20
-30
0 5 10 15
Time (s)
Fig. 10 Steering wheel torque for varying caster offset (PBS braking)
of friction available on a partial road surface. In the case of kingpin offset variation,
the difference observed was around 44% when it was varied from 50 to 150 mm.
Similarly, in the case of caster offset variation, the maximum difference observed
was 39.8% (refer Figs. 13 and 14). Thus, both caster offset and kingpin offset assume
greater importance when it comes to lateral stability in braking on surfaces with low
coefficient of friction of split µ.
7
Kingpin offset
6 50mm 75mm 100mm 125mm 150mm
5
4
Yaw rate(deg/s)
3
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Time (s)
Fig. 11 Chassis yaw rate for varying kingpin offset (split µ braking)
7
Caster offset
6 -50mm -25mm 0mm 25mm 50mm
5
4
Yaw rate (deg/s)
3
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Time (s)
Fig. 12 Chassis yaw rate for varying caster offset (split µ braking)
3.3 Brake in Turn Manoeuvre
The positive peak value of yaw rate for brake in turn manoeuvre varied from 7.88
to 8.98 deg/s (13.9% change) when kingpin offset was varied from 50 to 150 mm.
Similarly, when caster offset was varied from −50 to 50 mm, the variation observed
was negligible (refer Figs. 17 and 18). The effect of both the parameters observed
on roll rate was insignificant (figure not shown). Significant variation in steering
wheel torque values was observed over the complete manoeuvre for all the cases.
The peak steering torque difference for caster offset variation was higher compared
with kingpin offset variation (refer Figs. 19 and 20).
2.5
Caster offset
1.5
Yo(m)
0.5
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Xo (m)
Fig. 13 Chassis C.G. path tracking for varying caster offset (split µ braking)
2.5
Kingpin offset
50mm 75mm 100mm 125mm 150mm
1.5
Yo(m)
0.5
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Xo (m)
Fig. 14 Chassis C.G. path tracking for varying kingpin offset (split µ braking)
40
Caster offset
30 -50mm -25mm 0mm 25mm 50mm
20
10
0
-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Time (s)
Fig. 15 Steering wheel torque for varying caster offset (split µ braking)
80
Kingpin offset
50mm 75mm 100mm 125mm 150mm
60
40
20
-20
-40
-60
-80
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Time (s)
Fig. 16 Steering wheel torque for varying kingpin offset (split µ braking)
10
kingpin offset
50mm 75mm 100mm 125mm 150mm
8
6
yaw rate(deg/s)
-2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Time (s)
Fig. 17 Chassis yaw rate for varying kingpin offset (brake in turn)
10
Caster offset
8
6
yaw rate(deg/s)
-2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Time (s)
Fig. 18 Chassis yaw rate for varying caster offset (brake in turn)
4 Conclusions
The study herein contributes to the detailed understanding of the effects of kingpin
and caster offset on different braking conditions. From the analysis of the results, it
was observed that the existing design values were not giving the best results when it
comes to braking manoeuvres. Lower value of kingpin offset (50 mm) and negative
value of caster offset (−50 mm) were giving better results when it came to minimising
the peak-to-peak variation of different performance metrics. As a future scope, an
optimisation study for selection of the parameters could be carried out by considering
braking stability metrics as additional objective functions for more robust vehicles.
60
Caster offset
40
20
Steering torque(Nm)
-20
-40
-60
-80
-100
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Time (s)
Fig. 19 Steering wheel torque for varying caster offset (brake in turn)
40
kingpin offset
50mm 75mm 100mm 125mm 150mm
30
20
Steering torque(Nm)
10
-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Time (s)
Fig. 20 Steering wheel torque for varying kingpin offset (brake in turn)
public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. I would like to extend my gratitude to my lab mate
Mr. Pavan Kumar Perugu for support in technical discussions.
References
1. Gillespie, T.D.: Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics. Society of Automotive Engineers Inc.,

Warrendale (1992)
2. Jazar, R.N.: Vehicle Dynamics: Theory and Applications. Springer, Australia (2006)
3. Rajvardhan, R.P., Shankapal, S.R., Vijaykumar, S.M.: Effect of wheel geometry parameters on
vehicle steering. SAS TECH J. 9(2), 11–18 (2010)
4. Yoshino, T., Nozaki, H.: Camber angle control method corresponding to the electric vehicle age.
Engineering 6(08), 472 (2014)
5. Ledesma, R., Shih, S. : The effect of kingpin inclination angle and wheel offset on medium-duty
truck handling (No. 2001-01-2732). SAE Technical Paper (2001)
6. Karnopp, D.: Vehicle Stability. Marcel Dekker Inc., New York (2004)
7. Park, S.J., Sohn, J.H.: Effects of camber angle control of front suspension on vehicle dynamic
behaviors. J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 26(2), 307–313 (2012)
8. Patel, H., Casino, M., Noakes, D., Kauffman, N., Rohwedder, D., Popat, J., Nabar, A., Tkacik,
P.T.: Suspension variables influencing static vehicle wheel alignment measurements. SAE Int.
J. Passeng. Cars-Mech. Syst. 9(2016-01-1571), 551–559 (2016)
9. Jambukar, S., Sujatha, C.: Study of the effects of caster trail and kingpin offset on kinematics and
lateral dynamics of long wheelbase solid axle bus, 25–27, ISBN 978-1-942112-49-5, The 19th
International and 14th European-African Regional ISTVS Conference September. Budapest,
Hungary (2017)
10. Duprey, B., Sayers, M., Gillespie, T.: Using TruckSim to Test Performance Based Standards
(PBS) (No. 2012-01-1919). SAE Technical Paper (2012)
Shear Behaviour of the Delaminated
Glass Fibre Reinforced Composite
Laminates
Mashun Vashum, Subhankar Roy and Tanmoy Bose
Abstract Composite materials are widely used nowadays because of their low
weight, high stiffness, ease in manufacturing of complicated shapes, resistance to
corrosion and low thermal expansion. They are extensively used in manufacturing of
aircraft structures and space vehicles. Composite materials provide greater flexibility
of the properties by using different types of fibres and matrices. The present work
describes the shear behaviour analysis of glass/epoxy composite on four different
types of models, viz. composite plate having circular, square, rectangular delamina-
tion and one without delamination. The analysis was conducted in order to determine
the effect of different delamination geometries on the shear strength of glass fibre
reinforced polymers (GFRPs). The results obtained show that GFRP with circular
delamination have lower shear strength and higher stress concentration. Hence, fail-
ure will occur faster in case of composite materials having circular delamination as
compared to the square and rectangular delaminations.
Keywords Composite · Glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) · Delamination ·

Shear behaviour
1 Introduction
Composite materials are generally fabricated by selecting an appropriate combination

of matrix and reinforcement material in different proportions, that leads to required
properties, which are better than those possessed by the individual material can be
achieved. Therefore, composite materials are used mainly due to its higher specific
strength, lower specific gravity, high stiffness, toughness, cheaper production, better
M. Vashum (B) · S. Roy · T. Bose

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya,
Shillong, India
e-mail: vashum96@gmail.com
S. Roy
e-mail: subhankar.roy@nitm.ac.in
T. Bose
e-mail: tanmoy.bose@nitm.ac.in
618 M. Vashum et al.
creep and fatigue strength, controlled possibility of electrical conductivity, corrosion

and oxidation resistance, etc. (Satishkumar et al. [1]). The performance of a composite
can be improved by combining the reinforcing materials into a single polymeric
matrix which can help in the development of a material system known as hybrid
composites with unique properties. (Jagannatha and Harish [2]). The mechanical
behaviour of the composite is investigated where glass fibre in the form of woven
mat and chopped strand mat were considered under different loading conditions
(Bhaskar and Srinivas [3]).
GFRP composite materials are widely used in a variety of applications. Advan-
tages of GFRP are high resistance to corrosion, useful in a humid or acid environ-
ment, improved performance due to better resin bonding, more lightweight, hence
easier handling (Kumar and Ravish [4]). The study of in-plane and interlaminar
properties are necessary so as to have better understanding of shear behaviour of
composites. Not even a single shear test is accepted worldwide with high precision
and accepted failures in all types of composite configuration (Almeida Jr. et al. [5]).
A single fibre pushout test was performed by Godara et al. [6] in order to study
the influence of adding carbon nanotubes in glass/epoxy composites. Better inter-
laminar shear strength was observed when carbon nanotubes were introduced as
an additional reinforcement in glass/epoxy composites. Mathapati and Mathapati
[7] investigated the chopped strand of glass fibre by varying the fibre content. The
results from the mechanical tests show advantages of using higher proportion of glass
fibre. In the case of woven glass fibre, the shear behaviour, compression as well as
the flexure behaviour was studied by Yang et al. [8] for a GFRP composite. Short
beam and grooved coupon test for different patterns of stitching was applied and
it was concluded that better resistance from delamination is obtained in z-direction
for increase in fibre density. A new delamination factor was proposed by Nagarajan
et al. [9] while investigating the influence of delamination on the drilling process for
a glass/epoxy composite. Recently, shear failure behaviour of GFRP material was
experimentally studied using different delamination geometries and it was found that
specimen with circular delamination fails earlier compared to other types of delami-
nation [10]. However, the reason for the premature failure of specimen with circular
delamination is not reported.
The present study mainly focusses on modelling and stress analysis of GFRPs
with different geometries of delamination. The numerical results are also validated
with earlier reported experimental results. Finally, the shear strength of all the GFRP
models with different delamination geometries is compared in order to find the model
having the highest as well as the lowest shear strength.
Shear Behaviour of the Delaminated Glass Fibre Reinforced … 619
2 Modelling of GFRP Composite
2.1 Selection of Materials
E-glass fibre in the form of a woven mat and epoxy resin (Araldite AW106) was
used as reinforcing and matrix material, respectively. The material properties for the
whole GFRP composite are calculated by using the rule of mixture. The material
properties used for modelling is mentioned in Table 1.
2.2 Modelling of Composite Without Delamination
A GFRP composite with double-edged v-notch in the centre having a total thickness
of 3.6 mm was modelled. The composite has a length of 78 mm, a width of 20 mm,
notch angle of 90° and notch depth of 4.4 mm. Partition of arc type near the v-notch
was made to have uniform mesh geometry. The composite was meshed with tetra-
hedral element (C3D10R) and the total number of elements used are 6982 (Fig. 2a).
Uniform deformation scale factor of 7.76 has been considered for all the models.
Moreover, clamped boundary condition was given on the half portion of the model
and the displacement of 0.5 mm and 1 mm was applied on the top of the other half
as shown in Fig. 1.
Table 1 Material properties

Material ρ (kg/m3 ) E (GPa) ν
E-glass [5] 2580 80.0 0.35
Epoxy [9] 1540 70.0 0.33
GFRP (from rule of mixture) 2092 75.3 0.34

of the shear test for GFRP
composites
Fig. 2 GFRP meshed model—a without delamination and with b circular, c square, d rectangular
delamination
2.3 Modelling of Composite with Delamination
Glass/epoxy composites with circular, square and rectangular delaminations are mod-
elled by inserting different geometries of delamination in the middle layers of GFRP
composite laminate. In order to avoid sliding of the composite material, a tie con-
straint was created (except in the delaminated region) to have proper contact between
the composite layers. The delaminated portion is provided with a finite sliding con-
straint. All the meshed models are shown in Fig. 2.
3.1 Mesh Convergence
All models are meshed with tetrahedral quadratic (C3D10R) elements. The total
number of elements used for the analysis are 6982 and 36853 for the displacement of
0.5 mm and 1 mm, respectively. At 0.5 mm displacement, the reaction force values are
found to be 7.59 kN and 6.462 kN, respectively. The error between these two values
is found to be 14%. Hence, it can be concluded that the mesh is converged. Similarly,
the percentage of error was found to be 16% for 1 mm displacement (Table 2).
Table 2 Mesh Convergence

Element size (in Displacement Load (in kN) % error
mm) (in mm)
2 0.5 7.590 14
1 0.5 6.462
2 1.0 15.55 16
1 1.0 12.92
Table 3 Comparision of
Displacement Experimental Numerical % error
numerical results with
(mm) Load value Load value
experimental data
(kN) (kN)
0.5 6.00 6.462 7
1.0 12.4 12.92 4
3.2 Validation of Numerical Results with Experimental Data
The load versus displacement results for a model without delamination obtained by
the simulation is validated with the experimental data from the literature. Table 3
shows the validation of numerical results with the results which were obtained exper-
imentally by Iosipescu shear test [10]. Under the application of 0.5 mm displacement,
it is observed that the numerical load value was 6.462 kN which is very close to the
experimental value of 6 kN. Similarly, for the displacement of 1 mm, the load was
found to be around 12.92 kN. The percentage of error between the numerical and
experimental results for the two load values are 7 and 4%, respectively.
3.3 GFRP Model Without Delamination
The contour plots for various stresses values like von Mises, S X , S Y and S XY stresses
on GFRP composite without delamination are shown in Fig. 3. The stress values for
the GFRP without delamination is presented along with the other three models in
Table 4. The GFRP without delamination is found to possess the maximum shear
Fig. 3 Stress contours for a undeformed, b von Misses, c S X , d S Y and e S XY stresses in case of
GFRP without delamination
Table 4 Stress generated on the GFRP models due to shear loading

Model von Mises (GPa) S X (GPa) S Y (GPa) S XY (GPa)
Without delamination 9.877 10.31 6.084 0.089
Circular delamination 6.20 6.52 3.590 0.074
Square delamination 6.840 7.660 3.753 0.074
Rectangular delamination 7.127 7.422 4.687 0.439
Fig. 4 Delamination growth in case of circular delamination
strength as compared to the other three models having delamination. Hence, the
failure of the composite specimen is slower when no delamination is present.
3.4 GFRP Model with Circular Delamination
The process of delamination growth in the case of circular delamination is shown

in Fig. 4. Figure 4a shows a portion of the analysis domain where the shear force is
applied. The resultant force is distributed at +45° as a compressive loading and at
−45° as a tensile loading, as shown in Fig. 4b. Here, the model is under compression
from two directions and under tension from the other two directions. This leads to the
delamination growth of the circular region to form an elliptical shape. The formation
of an elliptical delamination region is the primary reason for having the lowest shear
strength in this case due to higher stress concentration. It can be explained from
the theory of fracture mechanics for an infinite plate with an elliptical hole [11].
So, composite failure will be faster in case of circular delamination. Various stress
contours for circular delamination are shown in Fig. 5. Table 4 presents different
stress values obtained from the shear loading behaviour of a GFRP specimen with
different delaminations.
3.5 GFRP Model with Square Delamination
Figure 6 shows the process of delamination growth in case of a GFRP with square
delamination. In this case, two tensile forces are applied in opposite direction and two
compressive forces are applied in the other two directions. Hence, the delamination
geometry converts to a rhombical region as shown in Fig. 6c. The stress values of
the square delaminated GFRP composite is shown in Table 4. It is observed that the
shear strength of the square delaminated model is higher than the circular delami-
nation and lower than that of the rectangular delaminated model. It happens due to
stress concentration at the notches of rhombical area under the shear loading. The
GFRP with circular delamination
Fig. 6 Delamination growth in case of square delamination
Fig. 7 Delamination growth in case of rectangular delamination
shear stress experienced by the square delamination is almost similar to the circu-
lar delamination because the area under shear is approximately equal to that of the
circular delaminated GFRP specimen. The stress contours for the GFRP composite
with square delamination model is shown in Fig. 8.
GFRP with square delamination
GFRP with rectangular delamination
3.6 GFRP Model with Rectangular Delamination
The growth of rectangular delamination region is illustrated in a similar way as that

of the circular and square composite models in Fig. 7. Under the application of shear
loading, the fully grown delamination region forms a quadrilateral shape in this case
of rectangular delaminated GFRP composite, as shown in Fig. 7c. From Table 4, it
is observed that the GFRP with rectangular delamination has the maximum shear
strength among the three delaminated models. This is mainly because the side edges
of the area under shear loading is much smaller than the edges normal to the shear
force. This leads to a better distribution of the shear load over the delaminated region
which is not seen in the other two cases. So, the rectangular delamination model is
less prone to any catastrophic failure due to shear loading as compared to circular
and square delaminations. The numerical results obtained for the stress contour plots
of a GFRP composite with rectangular delamination are illustrated in Fig. 9.
4 Conclusions
In the present study, the shear behaviour of glass fibre reinforced polymer composite
is determined for different geometries of delamination as well as an intact model. The
load vs displacement results obtained from the numerical analysis for GFRP without
delamination is validated by comparing the numerical results with the experimental
data from the literature. The percentage deviation between the simulated results
and experimental results was found to be in close agreement, thus, confirming the
legitimacy of the numerical simulations. The different stress values like von Mises,
S X , S Y , S XY are obtained by applying shear load to the GFRP specimens, and the stress
contours for all the models are also presented. It was observed that the GFRP model
without delamination has better shear strength as compared to the models having
delaminations. Among the delaminated composites, the circular delaminated GFRP
possesses the least shear strength followed by square and rectangular delamination.
The main reason is found to be the conversion of circular geometry to an elliptical
delamination zone under shear loading.
References
1. Sathishkumar, T.P., Satheeshkumar, S., Naveen, J.: Glass fiber-reinforced polymer compos-
ites—a review. J. Reinf. Plast. Compos. 33(13), 1258–1275 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1177/
0731684414530790
2. Jagannatha, T.D., Harish, G.: Mechanical properties of carbon/glass fiber reinforced epoxy
hybrid polymer composites. Int. J. Mech. Eng. Robot. Res. 4(2), 131–137 (2015)
3. Bhaskar, V., Srinivas, K.: Mechanical characterization of glass fiber (woven roving/chopped
strand mat E-glass fiber) reinforced polyester composites. In: International Conference on
Functional Materials, Characterization, Solid State Physics, Power, Thermal and Combustion
Energy, Andhra Pradesh, India, pp. 1–5 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4990261
4. Kumar, D., Ravish, G.: Use of GFRP (Glass fiber reinforced polymer) for strengthening of
reinforced concrete beam. SSRG Int. J. Civil Eng. 2, 58–61 (2015)
5. Almeida Jr., J.H.S., Angrizani, C.C., Botelho, E.C., Amico, S.C.: Effect of fiber orientation on
the shear behavior of glass fiber/epoxy composites. Mater. Des. 65, 789–795 (2015). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2014.10.003
6. Godara, A., Gorbatikh, L., Kalinka, G., Warrier, A., Rochez, O., Mezzo, L.: Interfacial shear
strength of a glass fiber/epoxy bonding in composites modified with carbon nanotubes. Compos.
Sci. Technol. 70, 1346–1352 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compscitech.2010.04.010
7. Mathapati, S.S., Mathapati, S.S.: Testing and analysis of mechanical properties of E-Glass fiber
reinforced epoxy polymer composites. Int. J. Res. Innov. Sci. Technol. 2(1), 46–52 (2015)
8. Yang, B., Kozey, V., Adanur, S., Kumar, S.: Bending, compression, and shear behaviour of
woven glass fiber-epoxy composites. Compos. B Eng. 31, 715–721 (2000). https://doi.org/10.
1016/S1359-8368(99)00052-9
9. Nagarajan, V.A., Sundaram, S., Thyagarajan, K., Rajadurai, J.S., Rajan, T.P.D.: Measuring
delamination severity of glass fiber-reinforced epoxy composites during drilling process. Exp.
Tech. 37(2), 66–73 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1567.2012.00809.x
10. Roy, S., Bose, T., Debnath, K.: Influence of delamination geometry on the shear behaviour of
glass/epoxy composites. In: National Conference on Advanced Materials, Manufacturing and
Metrology. CSIR-Durgapur, West Bengal, India, pp. 86–91 (2018)
11. Kumar, P.: Elements of fracture mechanics, 1st edn. Tata Mcgraw Hill Publishing Co. Ltd.,
New Delhi (2009)
Parametric Optimization of Process
Parameters in WEDM of AISI 316
Stainless Steel
Samir Kumar Bose, Suprakash Patra, Arnab Kundu
and Prasanta Kumar Bardhan
Abstract The present investigation emphasizes the outcome of process parameters

on Surface Roughness (Ra ) and Material Removal Rate (MRR) in Wire Electrical
Discharge Machining (WEDM) of AISI316 stainless steel. Machining is done by
using a normal zinc-coated wire. In this experimental study, multiple-input process
control factors like pulse on time (T on ), pulse off time (T off ), peak current (I p ), Wire
Tension (WT) and Wire Feed (WF) are considered. Taguchi L27 orthogonal array
of experimental design is employed in this study. For optimization of MRR and
Ra , Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA) and Grey Relation Analysis (GRA) are further
applied. Experimental results reveal that T on and I p are the most major parameters
that affect both MRR and Ra .
Keywords WEDM · Material removal rate · Surface roughness · Taguchi

method · GRA
1 Introduction
Stainless steel 316 is an alloy of nickel, chromium and molybdenum which is widely
used in non-magnetic evaporators, valves, cryogenic vessels, refrigeration equipment
due to their incomparable corrosion resistance and high ductility [1]. Vital parame-
ters in WEDM which influence machining performance include surface roughness
and MRR. To obtain high surface finish and high MRR, it is essential that process
S. K. Bose · A. Kundu (B) · P. K. Bardhan

JIS College of Engineering, Kalyani, India
e-mail: arnab.092014@gmail.com
S. K. Bose
e-mail: ranasamirb@gmail.com
P. K. Bardhan
e-mail: pkbardhan@yahoo.com
S. Patra
AWS, CWISS, IIT Khargapur, Khargapur, India
e-mail: spatraiitkgp@yahoo.in

628 S. K. Bose et al.
parameters are properly selected. Balasubramanian et al. [2] tried to optimize process
parameters in WEDM of Inconel 718 alloy using Taguchi method and grey relational
analysis. L8 orthogonal arrays were used. S/N ratios were calculated for MRR and
Ra . Results showed that T on was the most important parameter and applied current
was the least important.
MRR during WEDM of mild steel using brass wire was optimized [3] using
Taguchi L16 orthogonal array and ANOVA. It was clearly seen that T on and current
had the most influence on MRR, while voltage and T off were least significant. MRR
was found to be directly proportional to T on and current. Influence of input parameters
on surface topography and wire breakage frequency in WEDM of pure titanium was
investigated by Kumar et al. [4]. Surface topography, wire breakage frequency and
MRR were evaluated. WEDM of Nimonic 80A was performed by Goswami et al. [5].
SEM images revealed that recast layer was directly proportional to T on and I p . T on
and T off were perceived to be most weighty issues for MRR at 95% importance level.
Selvakumar et al. [6] used brass wire as the electrode material to study WEDM on
5083 aluminium alloy. It was observed that cutting speed was unconstrained on WT
(Wire Tension). Further, Ra was dependent on T off and WT. Patel et al. [7] explored
the impact of WF, WT, I p , dielectric flow pressure, T on , T off , servo voltage rate on
WEDM of High Carbon High Chromium Die Steel (HCHCR) using a 0.25 mm
dia. wire using Taguchi method and grey relational analysis. It was seen that after
parametric optimization of performance characteristics using grey relation method,
both Ra and MRR were improved.
An experimental study was done to study the effect of cryogenically cooled elec-
trode in EDM of AISI D2 tool steel. Using an L18 orthogonal array, 10–21% reduction
in electrode wear and 5–10% decrease in average Ra were achieved [8]. Abdollahi
et al. [9] used Taguchi method for optimizing welding parameters when joining
UNS32750 and AISI 321 steel. Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array was used. ANOVA
was applied to ascertain results of different parameters. The optimized conditions
were 130 A I p , 60 A background current, percentage-on time of 90% and 3 Hz current
frequency. Effect of I p , gap voltage, T on , T off was studied by Chahal et al. [10]. High
carbon die steel was selected as the workpiece. It was seen that for higher MRR,
high T on , low T off , low servo voltage and high I p were desirable. Rajyalakshmi [11]
used Monel 400 as workpiece material in WEDM to determine effect of various
parameters on Ra and MRR. It was seen that T off has the highest weightage on MRR.
Goswami et al. [12] presented an investigational study of machining characteris-
tics of Nimonic 80A in WEDM process using Taguchi methodology and ANOVA.
MRR, Ra , wire wear ratio and microstructure analysis were used as response vari-
ables. Results indicated that T on was the most important factor affecting MRR and
Ra . Highest MRR and Ra were obtained at 0.6 µs T on and 14 µs T off .
The literature review shows that process parameters optimization has garnered a
lot of attention, due to which a lot of testing has been done in engineering design
of metals and alloys. But most of them concentrated on a single response problem.
However, the WEDM process consists of several important output parameters such
as MRR, Ra , etc. The finest parametric settings with respect to different process
Parametric Optimization of Process Parameters in WEDM … 629
parameters are dissimilar and have to be optimized, which is achieved in the present
investigational study.
2.1 Taguchi Method
It is a quite easy, systematic and highly proficient method to define the best or close to
best combinations of design parameters. Taguchi technique is applied here to study
the effects of cutting control factors of WEDM procedure such as MRR, Ra . This
method is an important method for parametric design of performance characteristics
mainly to enhance the product quality [13]. In this study, a lower amount of Ra and a
larger amount of MRR are considered for higher efficiency of Wire EDM. Therefore,
LB (Lower the Better) technique is applied to compute the S/N ratio of Ra and HB
(Higher the Better) procedure is applied to find the S/N ratio of MRR, respectively.
The Loss function (L) for HB and LB is explained as follows:
1 1
n
L HB = ∗ 2
(1)
n k=1 yMRR
1 2
n
L LB = ∗ y (2)
n k=1 SR
The S/N ratio can be computed as a logarithmic transformation of the loss function.
The equations of logarithmic transformation are the following:
MRR = −10log10 (LHB) (3)
Ra = −10 log10 (LLB) (4)
The optimum setting would be the one which may possibly attain maximum
S/N ratio. Despite conventional Taguchi’s technique being applied for optimization
of a single objective functional value; it fails to explain fully multiple objective
optimization problems So, MRR and Ra can be idealized separately by this Taguchi
procedure [2].
Table 1 Input variables with levels value

S. No. Variable Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
1 T on (µs) 100 105 115
2 T off (µs) 4 5 58
3 I p (A) 130 160 190
4 WT (kgf) 7 9 11
5 WF (m/min) 5 10 15
Table 2 Fixed variables

S. No. Fixed parameters Set value
1 Work material AISI 316 SS
2 Flushing pressure 1
3 Servo feed setting 2100
4 Servo voltage 20
5 Dielectric fluid Deionized water
2.2 Selection of Orthogonal Array
In this experimental study, input parameters selected are T on (µs), Toff (µs), WT
(Kgf), I p (A), WF (m/min). Depending on determining control process factors and
their levels, L’27 OA is selected. Table 1 shows various levels of variable control
factors, Table 2 shows various levels of fixed control factors.
2.3 Selection of Material
The work piece material used in this study is AISI316 stainless steel. The dimension
of the specimen is 20 × 16 × 16 mm. Table 3 shows the chemical combination of
the workpiece material.
Table 3 Chemical combination of AISI316 SS

Element C Mn P Si S Cr Mo Ni
wt% 0.08 2 0.04 0.75 0.03 18 2.5 12
2.4 Experimental Work
Experiments are done on Electronica Sprintcut (Electra-Elplus 40A DLX) CNC

WEDM. The parts of the WEDM machine is made up of servo control arrangement,
wire electrode, work table and power source and dielectric source arrangement.
Various components used in Electronica Sprintcut CNC wire cut EDM are shown in
Figs. 1 and 2.
MRR is measured by the following formula:
Fig. 1 WEDM Setup
Fig. 2 WEDM Controller

(Wa − Wb ) ∗ 1000
MRR = (5)
ρ∗t
MRR where W a and W b are the weight of job piece earlier and later machining
in grams, respectively, ρ is the density of the material, i.e. 7.9 g/cc, t is the operation
time in minute. Table 4 represents S/N ratios of Ra and MRR of AISI 316 SS.
Table 4 S/N ratios value for Ra and MRR

S. No. T on T off I WT WF MRR SR MRR (S/N) SR (S/N)
1 100 48 130 7 5 1.265 1.189 2.045 1.504
2 100 48 130 7 10 1.77 1.185 4.961 −1.481
3 100 48 130 7 15 1.343 1.194 2.565 −1.547
4 100 53 160 9 5 1.47 1.202 3.348 −1.599
5 100 53 160 9 10 1.434 1.299 3.131 −2.278
6 100 53 160 9 15 1.336 1.233 2.518 −1.819
7 100 58 190 11 5 1.645 1.401 4.324 −2.929
8 100 58 190 11 10 1.632 1.438 4.254 −3.157
9 100 58 190 11 15 1.736 1.455 4.791 −3.262
10 105 48 160 11 5 4.297 1.553 12.66 −3.827
11 105 48 160 11 10 3.988 1.567 12.016 −3.903
12 105 48 160 11 15 3.976 1.592 11.988 −4.042
13 105 53 190 7 5 4.359 1.644 12.788 −4.321
14 105 53 190 7 10 4.165 1.657 12.393 −4.387
15 105 53 190 7 15 4.121 1.660 12.3 −4.403
16 105 58 130 9 5 3.311 1.537 10.401 −3.735
17 105 58 130 9 10 3.476 1.528 10.821 −3.686
18 105 58 130 9 15 3.398 1.539 10.625 −3.745
19 110 48 190 9 5 9.554 2.323 19.604 −7.321
20 110 48 190 9 10 9.433 2.44 19.493 −7.747
21 110 48 190 9 15 9.396 2.570 19.459 −8.201
22 110 53 130 11 5 7.602 1.842 17.619 −5.309
23 110 53 130 11 10 7.713 1.833 17.745 −5.265
24 110 53 130 11 15 7.694 1.859 17.723 −5.387
25 110 58 160 7 5 7.895 2.2 17.947 −6.851
26 110 58 160 7 10 7.788 2.115 17.828 −6.507
27 110 58 160 7 15 8.022 2.217 18.086 −6.917
3.1 Statistical Results Based on Taguchi Analysis
3.1.1 Ra Analysis
Equations (2) and (4) are used for determining optimum parameters so that the
workpiece Ra reduces. S/N ratio η values for Ra and main effects plot for Ra are
represented in Table 5 and Fig. 3, respectively.
From Fig. 3 it is noticeably noted that Ra decreases with the rise of T on and I p .
This probably occurs due to production of a higher amount of energy pulses with
the increase of T on or I p . The higher energy pulse creates overcut and a bigger depth
of crater. It is also observed that with the rise of T off , Ra initially increases and
then decreases. Table 5 displays that T on and I p are the most important and WF
Table 5 S/N ratio η values for Ra

Factors Mean S/N ratio (SR) Delta (Max − Min) Rank
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 level 1
T on −2.175 −4.006 −6.612 T on −2.175

T off −4.397 −3.864 −4.533 T off −4.397
Ip −3.518 −4.194 −5.081 Ip −3.518
WT −4.214 −4.459 −4.120 WT −4.214
WF −4.155 −4.268 −4.370 WF −4.155
Fig. 3 Main effects plot for Ra

Table 6 ANOVA table for Ra of WEDM

Source DF Seq SS Adj MS F P % Contribution
T on 2 3.493 1.746 814.53 0.000 83.22
Toff 2 0.125 0.062 29.31 0.000 2.99
Ip 2 0.463 0.231 108.01 0.000 11.03
WT 2 0.071 0.035 16.56 0.000 1.69
WF 2 0.010 0.005 2.42 0.121 0.25
Error 16 0.034 0.002 0.82
Total 26 4.197 100.00
insignificant contributors in Ra analysis. In order to study the statistical picturing

of influence of several factors and their connections, ANOVA is performed, which
is shown in Table 6. Percentage contribution displays the relative alliance for each
process parameter in that table and it suggests that T on has more contribution in Ra .
3.1.2 MRR Analysis
Equations (1) and (3) are used in for determining optimum parameters so that the
MRR increases. S/N ratio η values for MRR and main effects plot for MRR are
shown in Table 7 and Fig. 4, respectively
From Fig. 4, with an increase in T on and I p , MRR increases. When T off increase,
the MRR decreases. It is clearly shown that at first, with increase in WT, MRR
slightly declines and then increases. At first, MRR increases and then decreases with
the rise of WF.
It is quite evident that MRR of AISI 316 SS after the machining process in WEDM
clearly shows an increase with the rise of T on and I p . This occurs, may be, due to a
large amount of energy pulses created with the rise of T on or I p . It also shows that
with rise of T off and WT, MRR decreases initially, after that it rises. Table 7 displays
that I p and T on are the most essential and WF insignificant contributors in MRR
analysis.
Table 7 S/N ratio η values for MRR

Factors Mean S/N ratio (SR) Delta (Max − Min) Rank
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
T on 3.549 11.778 18.390 14.841 1
T off 11.644 11.063 11.009 0.635 3
Ip 10.501 11.059 12.157 1.656 2
WT 11.213 11.045 11.459 0.414 4
WF 11.194 11.405 11.118 0.287 5

Data Means
Ton Toff I WT WF
20.0
17.5
Mean of SN ratios
15.0
12.5
10.0
7.5
5.0
100 105 110 48 53 58 130 160 190 7 9 11 5 10 15

Fig. 4 Main effects plot for MRR
Table 8 ANOVA table for MRR of WEDM process

Source DF Seq SS Adj MS F P % Contribution
T on 2 216.277 108.138 5524.63 0.000 96.71
T off 2 2.397 1.199 61.24 0.000 1.05
Ip 2 4.174 2.087 106.61 0.000 1.85
WT 2 0.404 0.202 10.31 0.001 0.16
WF 2 0.051 0.006 0.27 0.768 0.00
Error 16 0.313 0.020 0.23
Total 26 223.575 100
ANOVA was done to observe the influence of various factors influencing MRR,
which is given in Table 8. It suggests that T on has more contribution and WF has less
contribution in MRR.
3.2 Multi Optimization Analysis Based on Grey–Taguchi

Method
In this study, the problem has two response factors that are essential to be mini-
malized by selecting suitable processing conditions. They are MRR and Ra . In these
conditions, the problem is transformed into a solo objective problem using. The GRA
deals with the ranks of the Grey Relational Grade (GRG).
3.3 Process Steps for Multi Response Optimization
Step 1: Grey Relational Generating—The grey relational generation of the responses

are derived based on following equations which correspond to response variable per-
formance characteristics. Desired quality characteristics for MRR are actually higher
the better principle; therefore, the normalization of unique order of this response was
done by using
Vi j − min(Vi j )
Ui j = (6)
max(Vi j ) − min(Vi j )
The desired quality characteristic for Ra is lower the better principle; therefore, the
normalization of unique order of these performance variables was done by equation,
max(Vi j ) − Vi j
Ui j = (7)
max(Vi j ) − min(Vi j )
where V ij is the measured response, min(V ij ) is the minimum of V ij and max(V ij )

is the maximum of V ij , i is the response variable and j is the trial number (no of
experiments).
Step 2: Calculation of deviation Sequence—The maximum of the normalized
value regardless of response variables, trials are figured by the equation given below
which is also known as reference value R.

R = max Ui j (8)

i j = Ui j −R (9)
where R is the expected sequence, U ij is the comparability sequence and ij is the
deviation sequence of R and U ij .
Step 3: GRC Calculation—The GRC μij for each of the normalized values is
computed using the equation,

mini j + δ max i j
μi j = (10)
i j + δ max i j
where μ is the differentiating coefficient and δ = 0.5 is the widely accepted value.
Step 4: GRG Calculation—The GRG is used to analyze the relational degree of
multiple response characteristics. Higher the GRG represents a stronger relational
degree between the ideal normalized value and the given sequences.
The GRG for each trail is computed as follows in Equation
n
μi j
γk = k=1
(11)
n
where n—number of response variables.

If larger GRG is obtained, then the equivalent set of process parameter is nearer
to the most favourable optimal setting.
Table 9 lists the GRC and GRG for each experiment of the L27 orthogonal array
by applying Eqs. (10) and (11).
Table 10 shows average GRG by factor level.
Table 9 Calculation of GRC and GRG

S. No GRC GRG Order
MRR Ra
1 0.3334 0.3338 0.3336 27
2 0.3474 0.3334 0.3404 23
3 0.3354 0.3348 0.3351 26
4 0.3389 0.3359 0.3374 25
5 0.3449 0.3521 0.3485 22
6 0.3352 0.3417 0.33845 24
7 0.3438 0.3718 0.3578 21
8 0.3435 0.3795 0.3615 20
9 0.3464 0.3831 0.36475 19
10 0.4408 0.405 0.4229 13
11 0.4268 0.4083 0.41755 15
12 0.4263 0.4145 0.4204 14
13 0.4438 0.4278 0.4358 10
14 0.4347 0.4312 0.43295 11
15 0.4327 0.432 0.43235 12
16 0.399 0.4012 0.4001 18
17 0.4054 0.3992 0.4023 16
18 0.4023 0.4016 0.40195 17
19 1.0000 0.7364 0.8682 3
20 0.9716 0.841 0.9063 2
21 0.9633 1.0000 0.98165 1
22 0.6798 0.4875 0.58365 9
23 0.6925 0.4843 0.5884 8
24 0.6902 0.4932 0.5917 7
25 0.7141 0.6517 0.6829 5
26 0.7012 0.6032 0.6522 6
27 0.7302 0.6621 0.69615 4
Table 10 Response table for

Factors Average GRG by factor level
GRG
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
T on 0.3463 0.4184 0.7279
T off 0.5584 0.4543 0.4799
Ip 0.4419 0.4796 0.5712
WT 0.4823 0.5538 0.4565
WF 0.4913 0.4944 0.5069
3.4 Confirmation Test
The final step in the experiment is to do the confirmation test. The purpose of the
confirmation runs is to validate the conclusion drawn during the analysis phases.
The confirmation test with optimal process parameters for zinc-coated brass wire is
performed on WEDM of AISI 316 SS at levels T on (110 µs), T off (48 µs), I p (190 A),
WT (9 Kgf), WF (15 m/min) and gives MRR 9.86 mm3 /min, and Ra of 2.2485 µm
with error in MRR = 4.32% and error in Ra = 3.98%.
4 Conclusion
In this experiment, an endeavour has been built to perceive the effect of process
characteristics on Ra and MRR in WEDM of AISI 316 stainless steel. The effects of
T on , T off , I p , WT and WF are experimentally investigated. The following conclusion
can be made:
1. The optimal process parameters for maximum MRR are T on ; level 2 (105), Toff ;
level 2 (53 µs), current level 2 (160), WT level 1(7) and WF level 1 (5).
2. The optimal process parameters for minimum Ra are T on ; level 2 (105), T off ;
level 1 (48 µs), I p level 2 (160), WT level 1(7) and WF level 2 (10).
3. ANOVA is conducted to show that T on has a major impact on both the Ra (µm)
and MRR (mm3 /min).
4. Regression coefficients (R2 ) of Ra and MRR are 92.22% and 96.61%, respectively
indicate that prediction made by this developed model corroborates well with the
experiment.
References
1. Durairaj, M., Sudharsun, D., Swamynathan, N.: Procedia Engineering 64, 868–887 (2013)
2. Balasubramanian, S., Ganapathy. S.: Int. J. Eng. Sci. Technol. 3, 95–101 (2011)
3. Saini, H., Khan, I., Kumar, S., Kumar, S.: Int. J. Adv. Eng. Manag. Sci. 3, 1001–1005 (2017)
4. Kumar, A., Kumar, V., Kumar, J.: J. Mech. Eng. Technol. 1, 51–56 (2013)
5. Goswami, A., Kumar, J.: Eng. Sci. Technol. 17, 173–184 (2014)
6. Selvakumar, G., Sornalatha, G., Sarkar, S., Mitra, S.: Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. China 24,
373–379 (2014)
7. Patel, V.B., Patel, J.D., Maniya, K.D.: Int. J. Adv. Eng. Res. Dev. 1(5), 226–237 (2014)
8. Kumar, S.V., Kumar, M.P.: Trans. Indian Inst. Met. 70(9), 2293–2301 (2017)
9. Abdollahi, A., Shamanian, M., Golozar, M.A.: Trans. Indian Inst. Met. 71(3), 597–603 (2018)
10. Chahal, R., Kumar, V.: Int. J. Enhanced Res. Sci. Technol. Eng. 4, 528 (2015)
11. Rajyalakshmi, G.: J. Pharm. Sci. Res. 8(8), 902–908 (2016)
12. Goswami, A., Kumar, J.: Eng. Sci. Technol. 20, 175–186 (2017)
13. Lodhi, B.K., Agarwal, S.: Procedia CIRP 14, 194–199 (2014)
Numerical Study of Welding Distortion
in SAW Welded Creep Strength
Enhanced Ferrite Steel Joint
Saurav Suman and Pankaj Biswas
Abstract The present work explains the welding of creep strength enhanced ferrite
steels. A square butt joint sample was welded using submerged arc welding process.
The best suitable welding parameters for good top and bottom reinforcement with
good weld bead shape and geometry were decided. The butt joint was also modelled
using the best suitable heat source model. The thermal profile results measured
experimentally were compared with the numerically obtained results. The welding-
induced distortion in terms of edge deflection was also measured experimentally and
compared with numerically obtained one. It was found that results fairly matched
for both thermal profile and distortion results.
Keywords SAW · Creep strength enhanced steel · Welding strength
1 Introduction
Creep Strength Enhanced Ferrite (CSEF) steel is one of the best steel for high-
temperature creep strength. It has undergone various heat treatment processes to
convert its ferrite structure to martensite to enhance its room temperature toughness
and high-temperature creep strength. It is widely used in fabrication of structural
components like pipe, boiler, pressure vessels in power plant, chamber in chemical
and food industries. The main alloying elements are Cr, Mo and V act as the pillars
mechanical properties like hardness and creep strength. These steels are termed as
T22, T23, T91, P91, P92 based on the weight percentage of Cr and Mo. In particular,
P91 steel possesses an excellent combination of properties, i.e. high strength and
S. Suman (B)
National Institute of Technology Mizoram, Aizawl, Mizoram, India
e-mail: sauravnitmz@gmail.com
S. Suman · P. Biswas
Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India

642 S. Suman and P. Biswas
fatigue resistance at high temperature along with resistance and corrosion in chloride
and aqueous environments. Hence, it shows wide expediency in thermal power,
nuclear power plant to sodium fast reactors [1]. P91 steel exhibits predisposition to a
number of phenomena which includes number of heating and cooling cycles beyond
its recrystallization temperature, i.e. welding and so its reduces the efficacy of such
a refractory elevated temperature robust steel [2]. One of the most affecting elevated
temperature working condition is creep failure, which mostly affects this steel welds
in both base metal and weld metal. It was found that such creep failure, i.e. crack
initiation starts in HAZ just next to base metal [3]. Most of the literature found in the
field of P91 steel are related to the study of microstructure, characterizations, creep
and fatigue analysis with both experimental and numerical analysis. Polcik et al. [4]
analyzed creep of the tempered martensitic 9 wt% Cr–Mo–V steel P91 at 873 K for
microstructural data. Sireesa et al. [5] characterized the mechanical properties and
microstructures of different P91 steel joints with different filler materials with the
effect of PWHT. Tabuchi and Takahashi [6] found that creep strength is lower in HAZ
than that of base metal due to Type-IV failure in HAZ at high temperatures. They
suggested considering the Weld Strength Reduction Factor (WSRF) for the residual
life assessment and design of boiler components. Some researchers measured the
residual stresses experimentally using Contour method [7], X-ray diffraction method
[8] and some have predicted numerically using different finite element software [1,
9]. The effect of PWHT on mechanical properties and microstructure were also
investigated for different fusion welding processes. Zubairuddin et al. [8] analyzed
the effect of preheating process on the residual stresses and distortion in a GTAW
welded P91 steel butt joint. Preheating and PWHT both processes are found to be
the most pre and post welding processes to improve the overall weld quality of P91
steel joints. To improve ductility and toughness and to improve residual stress and
other mechanical properties, P91 steel weld generally undergoes PWHT [10]. It was
noticed that when PWHT is performed at very high temperature, tempering process
causes martensite transformation which enhanced the creep strength but decreases
the tensile strength. But if PWHT is performed at relatively low temperature, it
diminishes the poor impact toughness [11, 12]. From the above literature, it is found
that most of the studies are confined to the study of microstructures, mechanical
properties and residual stresses. As it is well known that large structure consists of
different small welded components, to accommodate the proper assembly without
any misalignment, prediction and mitigation of weld induced distortion is the most
important. The effects of various pre and post welding processes on the distortion
pattern should also be studied. Many literature are found on conducting experimental
work on submerged arc welding for various grades of steel to study the effect of
different variables like welding parameters, fixtures and welding conditions [11–15].
However, very few literature have been found in the field, particularly no literature
is there especially for submerged arc welded P91 steel joints. Rao and Kalyankar
[15] conducted the SAW on P91 steel to obtain optimal set of welding parameters
for a number of results like weld tensile strength and hardness, weld bead width,
Numerical Study of Welding Distortion in SAW Welded … 643
weld penetration and reinforcement. Roy et al. [16] studied the effect of adding
boron oxide in the flux on microstructure and mechanical properties of SAW welded
P91 steel weld joint. Still, there is lack of literature on the analysis of distortion
and residual stresses of SAW welded P91 steel plate. The present work is all about
measuring the weld induced distortion pattern of the butt joint of P91 steel plate. The
whole process involves preheating the tack welded butt joint plate, welding the plate
with square butt joint under the most suitable welding parameters and finally post-
weld heat treatment was done in a furnace with the proper temperature–time control.
The square butt joints were prepared for single-sided welding. The distortions were
measured in terms of ‘Z’ or say vertical displacement of the measuring point on
the top surface of the weld plate. The same process was modelled numerically for
the same butt joint model. At last, the distortion results were compared for both the
experimental and numerical results.
2 Experimental Details
2.1 Selection of Welding Materials
Hot rolled SA387 Grade 91 CL.2 steel plates of thickness 11 mm were procured in
the normalized (30 min. at 1050 °C) and tempered (30 min at 770 °C) condition. The
chemical composition of the as-received material, which had a tempered martensitic
microstructure, is given in Table 1. A 3.1 mm copper-coated low-alloyed electrode
wire [Make: ESAB] was selected keeping the size of nozzle of SAW welding machine
as well as base metal material, i.e. P91 steel (CSEF steel) into consideration. As per
the catalogue (ESAB), the wire meets the required standard for the submerged arc
welding of Cr–Mo group of steels. The manufacturer code for the electrode wire was
as OK AUTROD 13.20 classified as AWS A5.23: EB3R representing an electrode
wire. The best suitable fluoride flux for submerged arc welding of Cr–Mo group of
steels and OK AUTROD 13.20 electrode wire was selected, which has manufacturer
code OK FLUX 10.62 (Make: ESAB). The size of the flux particles taken in the
Table 1 Chemical
Element Composition Element Composition
composition of P91 steel
(wt%) (wt%)
C 0.11 Mo 0.9
Si 0.16 V 0.01
Mn 0.7 Cu 0.07
P 0.008 N 0.0067
S 0.002 Al 0.01
Cr 4.28 Ni 0.05
Nb 0.007 Sn 0.003
range of 0.2–1.6 mm fulfils various purposes from working as cover for weldments
to improving smoothness of the weld bead formed. The weld joint specimen was
of 150 × 75 × 11 (in mm) for each plate. The most suitable root gap for the given
thickness was taken as 2.5 mm. All the welding experiments were performed on an
automatic 1250-A submerged arc welding machine with IGBT inverter technology
equipped with mounting tractor head. The recommended input supply for the machine
is (415 ± 15%) V (3 PH/50–60 Hz). The wire feed rate and welding speed range are
as 0.5–2.5 m/min and 6–72 m/hr, respectively.
2.2 Submerged Arc Welding Set-up
A K-type thermocouple was used to record thermal history in preheating and actual
welding processes with the help of data acquisition system. The whole set-up is
shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 Whole SAW set-up and CMM set-up (left to right)

2.3 CMM Set-up
Distortion pattern was measured with the help of Coordinate Measuring Machine
(CMM). Taking the top surface as the reference point, the probe was hit at each and
every points to be measured.
3 Numerical Modelling
In finite element modelling of an arc welding process, the heat source model plays
the most important role in defining the heat distribution pattern in the weld joint
model mainly in fusion zone and heat-affected zone. In case of SAW process, gaus-
sian distributed heat flux can be the best heat source model to characterize the heat
distribution. The distribution of heat may be characterized as a distribution of heat
flux within the weldment (S1 ). Assuming the heat from the welding arc applied at
any given instant of time as a double ellipsoidal volumetric heat source model, then
the rate of heat generation is given by the Eq. (1). Rest of the areas (S2 ) are under
the convective cooling.
√
6 3 f f,r Q x + v(τ − t) 2 y 2 z 2
Q f,r (x, y, z, t) = 3/2 exp −3 + +
a f,r bc a f,r b c
(1)
where Q f,r = Heat generation through double ellipsoidal heat source model, Q =
VI (Heat input), a f,r , b, c = Ellipsoidal heat source parameters, f f,r = proportion
coefficient representing heat apportionment in front and back of the heat source, v
= welding speed, t = welding time. The value of f f,r can be obtained, once the heat
source parameters i.e. a, b,c is known before hand. Boundary conditions for thermal
and structural analysis and the physical and mechanical properties are shown in
Fig. 2a, b, respectively.
4 Result and Discussions
The square butt joint was welded successfully with a good top and bottom reinforce-
ments as shown in Fig. 3a. The thermal profile at a point on the top surface of the
plate 20 mm away from the weld line is in the transverse direction of the welding
line. From Fig. 3b, it is observed that both the experimental and numerical profiles
fairly match with slight differences in peak values and profile. The peak temperature
values are 273.3 and 251.2 °C for experiment and numerical analysis, respectively.
The comparative results for deformations are also shown in Fig. 4b. The deformation
results were measured in terms of edge deflection. From the plot for edge deflection
Fig. 2 a Boundary conditions for thermal and structural analysis. b Properties of CSEF steel
Fig. 3 a Butt welded joint sample. b Thermal profile comparison
Fig. 4 a Deformation contour for a butt joint. b Edge deflection as vertical displacement results
(left to right)
results, it is observed that values fairly matches and slightly differ for maximum
value at the mid region along the edge. The z-deformation values at both ends of the
edge are nonzero, which may happen because of free end or say the concerned corner
end of the edge was not given any zero z-displacement boundary condition while
applying six-degrees of freedom constraint to the weld joint model for structural
analysis.
5 Conclusion
From the work explained here in this paper, the following conclusion have been
made:
1. An experiment has been performed for submerged arc welding of a butt joint of
CSEF (P91) steel along with its FE modelling.
2. The thermal profile results fairly matched with slightly higher peak temperature
value for modelled joint which signifies idealization and assumptions made in
the modelling process.
3. The distortion results in terms of edge deflection also fairly matched for experi-
ment and numerical analysis with the minor difference in peak vertical deforma-
tion value at the mid region on the edge of the plate by 8%.
4. The butt joint model analyzed here was with no consideration of the actual bead
geometry. The model with actual bead shape can improve the numerical analysis
results.
Acknowledgements I sincerely thank Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Guwahati for

the support in conducting experiments and providing access for ANSYS software.
References
1. Kumar, S., et al.: Residual stresses in laser welded ASTM A387 Grade 91 steel plates. Mater.
Sci. Eng. A 575, 160–168 (2013)
2. Kamal, H.D., Vishvesh, J.B.: Effect of activating fluxes on weld bead morphology of P91 steel
bead-on-plate welds by flux assisted tungsten inert gas welding process. J. Manuf. Process. 17,
48–57 (2015)
3. Das, C.R.: Influence of boron on microstrcture and mechanical properties of modified 9Cr–1Mo
steel weldments. Ph.D. thesis, IIT Madras (2011)
4. Polcik, P., Sailer, T., Blum, W., Straub, S., Burk, J., Orlova, A.: On the microstructural develop-
ment of the tempered martensitic Cr-steel P91 during longterm creep—a comparison of data.
Mater. Sci. Eng. A 260(1), 252–259 (1999)
5. Sireesha, M., Sundaresan, S., Albert, S.K.: Microstructure and mechanical properties of weld
fusion zones in modified 9Cr–1Mo steel. J. Mater. Eng. Perform. 10(3), 320–330
6. Tabuchi, M., Takahashi, Y.: Evaluation of creep strength reduction factors for welded joints of
modified 9Cr–1Mo steel. J. Press. Vessel Technol. 134(3), 31–41 (2012)
7. Hosseinzadeh, F., Bouchard, P.: Mapping multiple components of the residual stress tensor in
a large P91 steel pipe girth weld using a single contour cut. Exp. Mech. 53(2), 171–181 (2013)
8. Zubairuddin, M., Albert, S.K., Mahadevan, S., Vasudevan, M., Chaudhari, V., Suri, V.: Experi-
mental and finite element analysis of residual stress and distortion in GTA welding of modified
9Cr–1Mo steel. J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 28(12), 5095–5105 (2014)
9. Yaghi, A., Hyde, T., Becker, A., Sun, W., Hilson, G., Simandjuntak, S., Flewitt, P., Pavier, M.,
Smith, D.: A comparison between measured and modeled residual stresses in a circumferen-
tially butt-welded P91 steel pipe. J. Press. Vessel Technol. 132(1), 011206 (2010)
10. Handbook for thermal and nuclear power engineers. 6th ed. Thermal and Nuclear Power Engi-
neering Society of Japan, TENPES; 2002, p. 431 [Chapter 18, Welding]
11. Taniguchi, G., Yamashita, k.: Effects of post weld heat treatment (PWHT) temperature on
mechanical properties of weld metals for high-Cr ferritic heat-resistant steel. Kobelco Technol.
Rev. 32(December) (2013)
12. Chen, L., Yamashita, K.: Effects of PWHT temperature on mechanical properties of high-Cr
ferritic heat-resistant steel weld metals. Weld. World 56 (2012)
13. Chandel, R.S., Seowl, H.P., Cheong, F.L.: Effect of increasing deposition rate on the bead
geometry of submerged arc welds. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 72, 124–128 (1997)
14. Brito, V.L.O., Voorwald, H.J.C., Neves, N., Bott, I.S.: Effects of a postweld heat treatment on a
submerged arc welded ASTM A537 pressure vessel steel. J. Mater. Eng. Perform. 10, 249–257
(2001)
15. Rao, R.V., Kalyankar, V.D.: Experimental investigation on submerged arc welding of Cr–Mo–V
steel. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 69(1–4), 93–106 (2013)
16. Roy, J., Rai, R.N., Saha, S.C.: Evaluation of microstructure and mechanical properties of P91
steel weldment due to addition of boron trioxide into flux during submerged arc welding. Weld.
World 62(1), 1–8 (2018)
Finite Element Analysis
of Patient-Specific Femur Bone
for Synthetic Biomaterials
Navneet Khare, Gorang Sharma and Yashwant Kumar Modi
Abstract Femoral fracture is one of the most common injuries that an orthopaedic
surgeon has to treat. Reverse engineering (RE) and additive manufacturing (AM) can
be employed to obtain patient-specific femur bone from CT scan data of a patient.
The objective of this study is to perform finite element analysis (FEA) of different
biomaterials to access their mechanical behaviour as a synthetic femur bone. CT
scan data of femur bone is obtained in DICOM format which is then converted into
the CAD model using DeVIDE software. Now the CAD model is loaded into CAE
software to perform FEA of the femur bone for three biomaterials (Ti6Al4V, SS AISI
316 and R30075 Cobalt). Results of FEA reveals that under same loading conditions,
minimum Von Mises stresses developed in Ti6Al4V. Ti6Al4V also shows the best
strength to weight ratio among all materials, which makes it the most suitable material
for synthetic femur bone.
Keywords Reverse engineering · Finite element analysis · Bio-material · Femur

bone
1 Introduction
In extreme cases of bone fracture, the bone might break into many pieces. Which
then becomes difficult to join even using the bone implants. Hence, there is an
urgent need to develop patient-specific synthetic bone for rehabilitating immensely
colossal defects in load-bearing bones. Synthetic bones avoid the need for bridging
the fracture through an intramedullary nail by completely replacing the original bone.
This is done in severe cases of fracture where rehabilitation through nails are not
possible, Townsend et al. [1]. Some materials, such as metal alloys have a high degree
of bio-inertness and mechanical properties as those of bone. In this study, the authors
have studied various mechanical properties of different metal alloys using FEA on
N. Khare · G. Sharma · Y. K. Modi (B)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jaypee University of Engineering and Technology, Guna,
MP 473226, India
e-mail: yashwant.modi@juet.ac.in

650 N. Khare et al.
the CAD model of the femur bone. A perfect biomaterial must have the following
properties:
• High biocompatibility i.e., no unfavourable tissue replication or bio-inertness;
• Thickness as low as that of bone;
• High mechanical strength and
• Wear resistance, Prasad et al. [2].
Although, It is exceptionally challenging to blend all the properties in just a single
material; however, there are alloys of titanium, surgical grade stainless steel, cobalt,
etc. which possess a high degree of non-corrosiveness along with high strength and
bio-inertness which make them suitable for the fabrication of synthetic bones, Oldani
and Dominguez [3]. Authors have performed finite element analysis (FEA) using
Autodesk Fusion 360 software on the model of femur bone acquired by CT scan data
of the patient. The aim of FEA is to comprehensively evaluate the mechanical proper-
ties such as stress, the factor of safety, displacement, etc. before actual fabrication of
the synthetic bone. Using reverse engineering and additive manufacturing, Synthetic
bones from the 3D model can be fabricated with minimum material wastage.
This paper discusses the finite element analysis of femur bone modelled in three
different biomaterial metal alloys namely, Ti6Al4V, SS AISI 316 and R30075 Cobalt.
FEA was carried out in Fusion 360 (Student Edition, Autodesk, USA).
2 Methodology
In order to obtain a patient-specific anatomical CAD model of femur bone via RE

process, authors obtained CT scan image of patient’s femur bone in DICOM format.
The methodology used to obtain CAD model of patient specific femur bone from
CT scan images is shown in Fig. 1 and discussed in subsequent paragraphs.
Fig. 1 Methodology
Acquisition of CT scan data
Processing of DICOM data in

DeVide software and exporting into
STL format
Processing STL file in Geomagic

Studio to obtain IGS format
Loading IGS file into Autodesk

Fusion 360 for modelling and finite
element analysis
Finite Element Analysis of Patient-Specific Femur Bone … 651
2.1 Acquisition of CT Scan Data
A patient (Age 42 years) is identified in collaboration with a doctor. CT scanning was

performed using SOMATOM Definition AS 64-slice CT scanner (Siemens Medical
Systems, Erlangen, Germany) with the parameters: tube voltage 100 kV, tube current
120 mA and slice thickness 1.2 mm. The CT scan data acquired from medical imaging
is in DICOM format. In CT scan a large number of two-dimensional (2D) images
are stacked to form a three-dimensional (3D) image. DICOM® (Digital Imaging
and Communications in Medicine) is the international standard to transmit, store,
retrieve, print, process, and display medical imaging information, Herman [4].
2.2 DICOM to STL Format
After exporting scanned data in DICOM format, we need to convert it into STL
format to continue with further modelling. We used DeVide software to convert
the medical DICOM data into STL. By using image segmentation using different
threshold values in accordance with the density of the tissues we created a 3D image
from the stack of 2D images. Finally, data were exported into STL format.
2.3 STL File to CAD Model
CAD Manipulations with STL surface file is not possible, and hence for further
designing and modifications, the surface model must be converted into CAD profile
surface. Conversion into CAD profile enables designers to modify it using parametric
CAD software. We used Geomagic freeform software to reverse engineer the STL
surface. We used Auto surfacing feature of Geomagic Studio to convert the STL data
to NURBS data and finally exported the data in IGES format.
2.4 Editing of CAD Model
3D model of bone requires customisation in order to reduce weight and make it

similar to the actual human femur bone. Various operations such as split, stitch,
assemble etc. were used to make the final model of the femur bone.
652 N. Khare et al.
3 Materials
Three popular biomaterials: an alloy of titanium (Ti6Al4V), steel (SS-AISI 316) and
cobalt (R30075 Cobalt) are considered for this study, Pillar [5]. Important mechanical
properties of these metal alloys are mentioned in Table 1.
3.1 Ti6Al4V
Ti–6Al–4V is an alpha-beta titanium alloy. It posses high strength to weight ratio and
good corrosion resistance due to which it is extensively used in biomedical implants
and aerospace industries, Jia et al. [6]. Implants made of Ti6Al4V posses higher
fatigue properties than other biomaterials, Yue et al. [7].
3.2 SS-AISI 316
SS-AISI 316 is austenitic stainless steel. It mostly remains in single phase, FCC
(face cubic centre) structure. It is highly corrosion resistant and used widely in the
biomedical industry particularly to create joints due to its high strength and ductility.
3.3 R30075 Cobalt
R30075 Cobalt alloy is used in biomedical implants, Liao et al. [8]. As it posses
high wear and corrosion resistance. It has HCP structure at equilibrium temperatures.
Generally, high carbide alloys of Cobalt are preferred for implants, due their increased
wear resistance and strength.
Table 1 Materials under study with their physical properties

Material Density Young’s Poisson’s Shear Yield Tensile
(g/cm3 ) modulus ratio modulus strength strength
(GPa) (GPa) (MPa) (MPa)
Ti6Al4V 4.43 114 0.35 42 883 1024
SS AISI 8.00 193 0.27 78 317 462
316
R30075 8.40 230 0.29 90 680 1000
Cobalt
3.4 Editing of CAD Model
3D model of bone requires customisation in order to reduce weight and make it

similar to the actual human femur bone. Various operations such as split, stitch,
assemble etc. were used to make the final model of the femur bone.
4 Finite Element Analysis
Finite element analysis (FEA) is the numerical simulation of the given problem by
using finite element method. It is used to reduce and optimize the number of equations
by using the arithmetic model, especially while dealing with complex geometries.
Finite element analysis helps in simulating a model in real-world conditions i.e. how
the product will behave under certain loading conditions, whether it will bend or
break, Okereke and Keates [9]. We used Autodesk’s Fusion 360 software’s simulation
module to perform FE analysis of femur bone models of different biomaterials to
simulate their behaviour under static loading condition, Brown et al. [10]. To conduct
the FE analysis, the CAD model of the femur bone was meshed with tetrahedral
elements. The meshed model contained 24412 nodes and 13880 elements. To apply
the load, it is assumed that an average force of 75 kg (75 kg person’s weight + 75 kg
additional load on his head = 150 kg total weight) occurs on each femur bone. So,
a distributed load of 750 N is applied to the distal end of the femur bone and the
proximal end (femoral head) was fixed to apply the boundary condition as shown in
Fig. 2. The Analysis is done to obtain Von Mises stress, deformation and factor of
safety for all the three materials.
Fig. 2 Mesh model of femur bone. a Boundary condition, b loading condition

654 N. Khare et al.
The simulated results of finite element analysis for Von Mises stress, deformation and
factor of safety are shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 respectively. The actual deformation is
so small that the model shape is unaltered. So, the adjusted scale (max. Deformation
is 5% of the model size) is used to visualise deformation properly in the figures.
Results have also been summarized in Fig. 6 on a logarithmic scaled bar chart. It can
be clearly observed from the Fig. 3 that stress is distributed uniformly throughout
the femur bone; however, maximum stress is occurring on femoral neck and shaft
near to proximal end in all three cases. The maximum Von Mises stress developed
are 70.45 MPa, 71.14 MPa and 70.96 MPa for Ti6Al4V, SS AISI 316 and R30075
Cobalt respectively. The maximum deflection occurs at the distal end as can be seen
in Fig. 4. Maximum deflection (1.12 mm) occurred in Ti6Al4V, whereas minimum
deflection (0.56 mm) occurred in R30075 Cobalt. The factor of safety simulations
can be observed in Fig. 5. The Factor of safety for three materials evaluated as 12.5,
4.5 and 9.6 for Ti6Al4V, SS AISI 316 and R30075 Cobalt respectively. Titanium
alloy indicates the highest factor of safety, lowest Von Mises stress and highest
deformation among all materials. The density of both R30075 Cobalt and SS AISI
316 are approximately 1.8 times that of the Ti6Al4V alloy. Also, the modulus of
elasticity of Ti6Al4V is almost half that of SS AISI 316, this explains the greater
amount of deflection caused in case of Ti6Al4V.
6 Conclusions
In this study, a CAD model of the patient-specific femur bone is obtained from CT
scan data of a patient. The CAD model is used to perform finite element analy-
sis of bone for three different biomaterials using Autodesk‘s Fusion 360 software.
Application of FEA tool for such complex anatomical problems overcomes the lim-
itations of experimental and analytical approaches used for stress analysis. Among
three materials under study, titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) seems most suitable implant
material as it develops minimum Von Mises stress and provides the maximum factor
of safety, means minimum chances of failure after implantation. Apart from this, it
also has greater strength to weight ratio which will ensure lighter implant at adequate
strength. Overall, it can be summarised that Ti6Al4V is the best choice for the femur
bone implant among three biomaterials under study. However, this conclusion is
solely based on the mechanical behaviour of three materials and no economic aspect
is taken into consideration.
Fig. 3 Von Mises stresses. a Ti6Al4V, b SS-AISI, c R30075 Cobalt

656 N. Khare et al.
Fig. 4 Displacement. a Ti6Al4V, b SS-AISI, c R30075 Cobalt

Fig. 5 Factor of safety. a Ti6Al4V. b SS-AISI. c R30075 Cobalt

658 N. Khare et al.
Fig. 6 Comparison of FEA results
Informed Consent Consent from the patient was taken to use the CT scan data for analysis purpose.
References
1. Townsend, C.M., Beauchamp, R.D., Evers, B.M., Mattox, K.L., Sabiston, D.C.: Sabiston text-
book of surgery: the biological basis of modern surgical practice. Elsevier, Philadelphia, PA
(2017)
2. Prasad, K., Bazaka, O., Chua, M., Rochford, M., Fedrick, L., Spoor, J., Bazaka, K.: Metallic
biomaterials: current challenges and opportunities. Materials 10(8), 884 (2017). https://doi.
org/10.3390/ma10080884
3. Oldani, C., Dominguez, A.: Titanium as a biomaterial for implants, recent advances in arthro-
plasty, SamoFokter (ed.). Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg New York (1996) (2012). ISBN:
978-953-307-990-5
4. Herman, G.T.: Fundamentals of computerized tomography: image reconstruction from projec-
tions. Springer, London (2009)
5. Pilliar, R.M.: Metallic biomaterials. In: Biomedical Materials, pp. 41–81 (2009).https://doi.
org/10.1007/978-0-387-84872-3_2
6. Jia, M., Zhang, D., Gabbitas, B., Liang, J., Kong, C.: A novel Ti–6Al–4V alloy microstructure
with very high strength and good ductility. ScriptaMaterialia 107, 10–13 (2015). https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2015.05.008
7. Yue, S., Pilliar, R.M., Weatherly, G.C. (n.d.). The fatigue strength of porous-coated Ti–6%Al–
4%V implant alloy. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6544792
8. Liao, Y., Hoffman, E., Wimmer, M., Fischer, A., Jacobs, J., Marks, L.: CoCrMo metal-on-metal
hip replacements. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3530782/
(2013)
9. Okereke, M., Keates, S.: Finite element applications: a practical guide to the FEM process.
S.l.: Springer International Publishing (2018)
10. Brown, K.R., Tarsuslugil, S., Wijayathunga, V.N., Wilcox, R.K.: Comparative finite-element
analysis: a single computational modelling method can estimate the mechanical properties of
porcine and human vertebrae (2014)
Investigation of Microstructural
and Mechanical Properties
of Magnesium Matrix Hybrid Composite
Naveen Kumar, Ajaya Bharti and Hariom Tripathi
Abstract Magnesium has extensive applications in aerospace, automotive, medi-

cal and other lightweight applications due to the fact that magnesium is the lightest
structural metal with density 1.74 g/cc. However, magnesium has low mechanical
strength, low hardness, poor resistance to corrosion and wear. To improve the poor
properties of magnesium alloy, magnesium matrix composite has been synthesised by
powder metallurgy technique. CNT and B4 C reinforced Mg AZ91 hybrid composites
with six different compositions (Pure Mg, Mg+2%B4 C, Mg+0.5%CNT+1.5%B4 C,
Mg+1%CNT+1%B4 C, Mg+1.5%CNT+0.5%B4 C, Mg+2%CNT) were produced.
The microstructural and mechanical properties of CNT and B4 C reinforced Mg AZ91
hybrid composite has been investigated. It was observed that the maximum compres-
sive strength (Ultimate compressive stress 196.25 MPa) was obtained for composi-
tion (i.e. Mg+1.5%CNT+0.5%B4 C). The maximum hardness of 103.2 VHN was
obtained for composition (i.e. Mg+2%B4 C) as compared to Mg alloy AZ91 having
92.3 VHN.
Keywords Mg AZ91 · Metal matrix composite · Powder metallurgy · CNT · B4 C
1 Introduction
In this fast-growing world, as the materials are limited, focus should be on reducing
the consumption of material and power [1]. Material consumption can be reduced by
strengthening the material [2]. There are various ways of strengthening the material
such as composite fabrication, plastic deformation and strain hardening [3]. Strength-
ening materials by making composite is one of the advantageous methods.
In a composite, there are two parts, base material and reinforcement material
[4]. Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) are the special type of material in which
reinforcement material like Al2 O3 , SiC, B4 C, Gr, MoS2, etc. are added into the metal
matrix [5]. The metal matrix can be of alloy of Al, Cu, Mg, etc. [6]. Use of MMCs is
N. Kumar · A. Bharti · H. Tripathi (B)

e-mail: hariom.tripathi7@gmail.com

662 N. Kumar et al.
increasing very rapidly because of its high specific strength [7]. MMCs based on light
metal such as Mg alloy has attracted the interest of various industries. Applications
of MMCs are in many branches of industry such as aircraft, automotive, armaments,
as well as in electrical engineering and electronics, etc. [8].
Sabetghadam-Isfahani et al. [9] studied the Microstructural and mechanical prop-
erties of carbon nanotubes reinforced AZ31 magnesium matrix composite gas tung-
sten arc welding filler rods synthesised by powder metallurgy. The tensile strength of
the weld was significantly increased by 1 wt% reinforcement of CNT. The increase in
the tensile strength was because of the uniform distribution of CNT and refinement of
grains. It was found out that CNT distributed uniformly in the flake shaped composite
powders. Anas et al. studied the effect of reinforcement of CNT on microstructural
and mechanical properties of Al–Mg–Cu alloy [10]. The hardness of CNT reinforced
Al alloy composites increased on increasing the weight fraction of CNT. Al–Mg–Cu
alloy with 2.5% by weight fraction of CNT shown 32% enhancement when com-
pared to Al–Cu–Mg alloy. Yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of 590 MPa
and 677 MPa, respectively were achieved with addition of 2.5% by weight fraction
of CNT to Al–Mg–Cu alloy in peak aged condition. The particle size of balled milled
powders decreased with CNT addition due to the retarded cold welding due to the
presence of CNTs in the Al–Mg–Cu alloy. Ghasali et al. compared the mechanical
and wear properties of magnesium matrix composites fabricated by spark plasma
sintering and microwave sintering [11]. Higher bending strength of 191 ± 15 MPa
and microhardness of 92 ± 7 VHN was obtained for spark plasma sintering in com-
parison to microwave sintering.
2 Experimentation
2.1 Material Used
Metal matrix composites with Mg alloy AZ91 as a matrix material and multi-
walled CNT and B4 C as the reinforcement material were fabricated by pow-
der metallurgy technique. Six different combination (Pure Mg, Mg+2%B4 C,
Mg+0.5%CNT+1.5%B4 C, Mg+1%CNT+1%B4 C, Mg+1.5%CNT+0.5%B4 C,
Mg+2%CNT) were formed by varying the composition of CNT and B4 C, keeping
the magnesium composition constant (98% by weight).
2.2 Experimental Procedure
Fabrication process used consists of three major steps, powder mixing, compaction
and sintering. Mg AZ91 powder (Particle size <297 μm), MW-CNT powder (Length
= 20 μm, D = 20 nm) and B4 C powder (Particle size = 18.8 μm) were mixed
Investigation of Microstructural and Mechanical Properties … 663
Fig. 1 Uni-axial compaction of powders in split die on UTM
with varied composition in rotary ball milling for 2 h. After mixing the powders,
compaction was done on UTM using die and punch as shown in Fig. 1. Split die of
20 mm inner diameter was used for compaction. Mixed powders were compacted
slowly to 605 MPa pressure. Green compacts obtained after compaction was sintered
in electric furnace at 520 °C for 1 h. Sintering was done in sodium chloride (Common
Salt) environment to prevent the presence of oxygen as the magnesium have the
property of self-burning in the presence of oxygen.
2.3 Characterization and Testing
Physical, Mechanical and other properties of the material depend on the grain
size, phases present in the material and bonding between the particles. So optical
microscopy technique is better to understand the variations in mechanical and other
properties. Optical microscopy was done using an optical microscope. The etching
was done using Nital reagent for 60 s.
664 N. Kumar et al.
X-ray diffraction analysis of samples was done to know the various phases present
in the material as the phases present influence the mechanical and other properties.
A small sample of 3 mm thickness was used for XRD.
Uniaxial compression testing of samples was done to know the compressive
strength of materials. Compression test samples, i.e. cylindrical in shape were cut
using wire-cut EDM according to the ASTM E9 standard. Small samples with length
to diameter ratio (L/D) of 0.8 were prepared. Length of samples used for compres-
sion test was 16 mm and diameter was 20 mm. The compression test for different
composition was done on hydraulic Universal Testing Machine (UTM) slowly at
constant strain rate.
Hardness tests were performed according to the ASTM B933-16 standard on
Vickers microhardness tester available in IIT Kanpur.
3.1 Microscopic Analysis
Figure 2 shows the optical micrographs of sintered samples at different compositions.

It can be seen from the optical micrographs that the reinforced powder dispersed
uniformly in the magnesium matrix for low percentage by CNT. For high percentage
of CNT (2% by weight), agglomeration of CNT particles was observed as shown
in Fig. 2f. Dark black spots in Fig. 2f can also be seen, it can be due to improper
sintering or burning of magnesium as magnesium autoignite in presence of oxygen
at high temperature.
3.2 XRD Analysis
Figure 3 shows the XRD pattern for samples at different compositions. It can be
seen from the graph that the peak of magnesium in all the composition are at the
same angles (2θ value). From the X-Pert High score peak match analysis, presence
of various phases was also detected.
As magnesium is very high reactive metal. It readily reacts with atmospheric
oxygen and moisture. It forms oxide and hydride as it comes in contact with oxygen
and moisture. As the sintering was done in sodium chloride environment to prevent
direct contact of oxygen. Presence of magnesium chloride was also detected in some
of the samples.
Fig. 2 Optical microscopic image a Pure Mg b Mg+2%B4 C c Mg+0.5%CNT+1.5%B4 C

d Mg+1%CNT+1%B4 C e Mg+1.5%CNT+0.5%B4 C f Mg+2%CNT
3.3 Compression Test Analysis
Data of compression test is given in Table 1. Maximum compressive stress obtained

was 196.25 MPa. The compressive stress was maximum for the sample with com-
position 1.5%CNT and 0.5%B4 C. On increasing the weight percentage of CNT,
compressive strength first increases up to 1.5% after that the strength starts decreas-
ing. Mechanical properties improve on addition of CNT nanoparticles because CNT
particles act as the binder and at the same time hinder the dislocations motion also.
On further addition of CNT, compressive strength decreases because of the agglom-
eration of CNT particles. Data of compression test is given in Table 1.
666 N. Kumar et al.
Fig. 3 XRD pattern of samples of different compositions

Table 1 Compression test

Sample Ultimate compressive stress
data
(MPa)
Pure Mg 171.24
Mg+B4 C2% 141.01
Mg+CNT 0.5%+B4 C1.5% 146.68
Mg+CNT1%+B4 C1% 131.79
Mg+CNT1.5%+B4 C0.5% 196.25
Mg+CNT2% 125.92
Fig. 4 Vickers
microhardness value of
samples at different
compositions
3.4 Hardness Test Analysis
Figure 4 shows the Vicker’s microhardness value of samples for different composi-
tions. It can be seen from the graph that the maximum hardness value of 103.2 VHN
is obtained for 2% reinforcement of Boron Carbide. Boron carbide is the second
hardest material. Addition of boron carbide increases the hardness. On other hand
addition of CNT reduces the hardness. As CNT act as the self lubricant also, it reduces
the hardness.
668 N. Kumar et al.
4 Conclusions
Following conclusions were drawn from the results obtained after characterization
and testing.
• On the basis of morphological analysis through Optical Microscopy, it was found
that the uniform mixing of reinforcement materials in the matrix of magnesium
was obtained in all the compositions except (Mg+2%CNT).
• Compressive strength first increases on the addition of CNT up to 1.5% by weight.
On further addition of CNT, compressive strength decreases due to the agglomer-
ation of CNT particles in magnesium matrix. Maximum Compressive strength of
196 MPa was obtained for (Mg+1.5%CNT+0.5%B4 C).
• Hardness increases on the addition of B4 C. Maximum hardness of 103.2 VHN
was obtained for (Mg+2%B4 C).
Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to different authorities for providing financial sup-
port from the project ‘Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP)-III’ incurred
on the purchase of raw materials for preparation of required materials. The authors acknowledge
the Faculty of IIT BHU, India and IIT Kanpur, India for providing the characterization facility.
References
1. Kaczmar, J.W.: The production and application of metal matrix composite materials. J. Mater.
Process. Technol. 106(1), 58–67 (2000)
2. Liu, Y.B., Lim, S.C., Lu, L., Lai, M.O.: Recent development in the fabrication of metal matrix-
particulate composites using powder metallurgy techniques. J. Mat. Sci. 29, 1999–2007 (1994)
3. Cai, H., Guo, F.: Study on microstructure and strengthening mechanism of AZ91-Y magnesium
alloy. Mater. Res. Express 5(3) (2018)
4. Dey, A., Pandey, K.M.: Magnesium metal matrix composites–a review. Rev. Adv. Mater. Sci
42, 58–67 (2015)
5. Nie, K.B., Wang, X.J., Wu, K., Hu, X.S., Zheng, M.Y., Xu, L.: Microstructure and tensile prop-
erties of micro-SiC particles reinforced magnesium matrix composites produced by semisolid
stirring assisted ultrasonic vibration. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 528, 29–30 (2011)
6. Prakash, K.S.: Mechanical and wear behaviour of Mg–SiC–Gr hybrid composites. J. Magnes.
Alloys 4, 197–206 (2016)
7. Muhammad, W.N.A.W., Sajuri, Z., Mutoh, Y., Miyashita, Y.: Microstructure and mechanical
properties of magnesium composites prepared by spark plasma sintering technology. J. Alloys
Compos. 509 (2011)
8. Sabetghadam-Isfahani, A.: Microstructure and mechanical properties of carbon nan-
otubes/AZ31 magnesium composite gas tungsten arc welding filler rods fabricated by powder
metallurgy. Diamond Relat. Mater. 69, 160–165 (2016)
9. Anas, N.S., Dash, R.K., Rao, T.N., Vijay, R.: Effect of carbon nanotubes as reinforcement on
the mechanical properties of aluminum-copper-magnesium alloy (2017)
10. Ghasali, E., Alizadeh, M., Niazmand, M., Ebadzadeh, T.: Fabrication of magnesium-boron
carbide metal matrix composite by powder metallurgy route: comparison between microwave
and spark plasma sintering. J. Alloys Compd. (2016)
11. Wang, X.J., Xu, L., Hu, X.S., Nie, K.B., Deng, K.K., Wu, K., Zheng, M.Y.: Influences of
extrusion parameters on microstructure and mechanical properties of particulate reinforced
magnesium matrix composites. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 528 (2011)
Investigations of Mechanical Properties
of Copper Matrix Hybrid Composite
Deepak Kumar, Ajaya Bharti, Syed Mohd Azam, Naveen Kumar

and Hariom Tripathi
Abstract Copper Matrix Composites (MMC) have been widely used in electri-
cal appliances, automobiles, aerospace, bearing and bushes because of the better
mechanical properties, solid lubrication and hardness. With the low percentages of
graphite in Copper–Graphite–TiO2 , it can also be used for the manufacturing slip
rings, switches, connectors, relays and plugs. In the present work, efforts have been
made for the preparation of Cu–Graphite–TiO2 metal matrix composites with six dif-
ferent compositions, i.e. (Pure Cu, Cu + 8%Gr, Cu + 6%Gr + 2%TiO2 , Cu + 4%Gr
+ 4%TiO2 , Cu + 2%Gr + 6%TiO2 , Cu + 8%TiO2 ) using powder metallurgy tech-
niques. Mechanical properties like compression strength and microhardness were
studied. The ultimate compressive strength increases by 11.77% due to addition of
8% TiO2 in the pure Cu. It was observed that the addition of graphite into copper
results in decrease of hardness value because of the soft nature of graphite. On the
other hand hardness increases after addition of 8% TiO2 .
Keywords Copper · Metal matrix composite · Powder metallurgy · Graphite ·

TiO2
1 Introduction
Metal forming is a conventional process and was the subject of closely conserved
secrets in prehistoric times [1]. Various types of new materials have been developed
which have important position in engineering field [2]. Those materials which fulfil
the demands of engineering applications have good physical and mechanical proper-
ties [3]. Presently, many researchers and scientists are working to develop necessary
compatible materials in engineering field [4]. This can be achieved by fabrication of
Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) by reinforcing various hard particles like boron
carbide, silicon carbide, graphite, TiO2, etc. with different weights or volume frac-
tions in base metal matrix [5].
D. Kumar · A. Bharti · S. M. Azam · N. Kumar (B) · H. Tripathi

e-mail: chaudhary56naveen@gmail.com

672 D. Kumar et al.
Reinforcement is done in such a way to improve the mechanical, wear and other
properties so that the composite can find increasing uses in automobile, aerospace,
transportation, sporting, communication, electronics, defence, recreation and various
other commercial consumer products.
As we know copper is a very good conductor of electricity but has poor wear resis-
tance. To enhance wear properties solid lubricants like graphite, MoS2 and CBN are
used commonly [6]. On addition of graphite, wear resistance increases but mechan-
ical properties decreases. Hence to achieve mechanical strength, hardness as well as
wear properties, graphite with some hard particles like boron carbide, Al2 O3 TiO2
are added to copper matrix.
Dash et al. [7] investigated the effect of the addition of alumina (Al2 O3 ) in the
copper matrix, on mechanical properties. Spark plasma sintering gives high hardness
(124.5 HV) in comparison to conventional sintering (67.8 HV) for same percentage
of alumina (5%). Purohit et al. [8] investigated the arrangement effects on copper
matrix composite with reinforcement of CBN. On addition of CBN (1%) the hardness
of Cu/Al2 O3 /CBN composites decreases. Hardness slightly increases on addition of
1–2% by weight of CBN. Hardness again decreases on addition of 2–3% by weight of
CBN. Ashuri et al. [9] investigates the effect of TiO2 nanoparticles reinforcement on
mechanical and wear properties of Al–4Cu alloy. It was observed that the hardness of
the material increases from 107 BHN to 200 BHN by increasing weight percentage
of TiO2 nanoparticles from 2 to 8 wt%. Wang et al. [10] investigated the effect of
graphite and nickel reinforcement on mechanical and wear properties of Cu matrix
composites. It was observed that the coefficient of friction and wear rate decreases
on addition of graphite.
To improve the wear resistance, graphite is used as a solid lubricant but graphite
decreases the mechanical strength of the material. So in this work, to improve the wear
resistance as well as mechanical properties, graphite is added with TiO2. Graphite
will improve the wear resistance and TiO2 will improve the mechanical property.
2 Experimentation
2.1 Material Used
Matrix and reinforcement materials used in the present work were copper powder
(average size of 44 µm having the purity of 99.9%), graphite powder (average size
of 20 µm having the purity of 99.99%) and TiO2 powder (average size of 20 µm
having the purity of 99.99%, purchased from Nano Research Lab Jharkhand).
Investigations of Mechanical Properties of Copper … 673
Table 1 Specification of die

Inner diameter of die 20 mm
Outer diameter of die 130 mm
Height of die 150 mm
Punch Lower punch = 15 mm
Upper punch = 135 mm
Clamp Thick = 30 mm
Width = 150 mm
To fabricate Cu/Gr/TiO2 composites, powders were weighed and were mixed using
high-energy ball milling. Ball milling was done in rotary ball mill at 200 rpm for 2 h.
After mixing the powders, compaction was done. For compaction, split die was used
which consists of lower punch, upper punch, die, clamp and bolts. Specifications of
die are given in Table 1.
2.3 Testing
For compaction and hardness test, samples were cut using wire-cut EDM. Com-
pression tests were done according to ASTM E9. Length to diameter ratio used for
compression tests was 0.8. Hardness tests were done according to ASTM 384 using
Vickers microhardness tester. Four indents were made on the application of the load
of 100 g. Compaction was done on UTM at 700 MPa. Green compact obtained after
compaction is shown in Fig. 1. Sintering of green compact was done in electric
furnace at 750 °C for 2 h.
Fig. 1 Green compact

674 D. Kumar et al.
3.1 Compression Test Analysis
For the compression test, sample of 16 mm length and 20 mm diameter was used.
The compressive stress–compressive strain curve of pure Cu, Cu–8%Gr, Cu–6%Gr–
2%TiO2 , Cu–4%Gr–4%TiO2 , Cu–2%Gr–6%TiO2 , Cu–8%TiO2 is shown in Fig. 2.
The compressive strength of Cu–8%TiO2 (525.57 MPa) composite shown better
mechanical properties in comparison to pure Cu sample (470.21 MPa) sintered at
750 °C for 2 h. For the hybrid copper matrix composite reinforced with TiO2 and
graphite, maximum compressive stress (317.04 MPa) occurs for Cu–2%Gr–6%TiO2 .
This can be because of the proper bonding between the graphite, TiO2 and Cu (up
to 2% by weight). Uniform distribution of TiO2 and graphite particles provides
resistances to slip and hence improves the mechanical properties of the composites.
Compressive fracture initiates in regions of agglomeration of particles. As graphite is
acting as self-lubricant which increases the deformation, thus the addition of graphite
particles decrease the compressive strength. It can be observed that the addition
of harder TiO2 particles improves the compressive strength and hence reduced the
ductility as shown in the Table 2.
Fig. 2 Ultimate compressive stress versus strain graph for samples at different compositions
Investigations of Mechanical Properties of Copper … 675
Table 2 Compression test

Specimen ID Ultimate breaking Ultimate
data
load (kN) compressive stress
(MPa)
Pure copper 151.260 470.21
Cu/8%Gr 49.160 151.61
Cu/6%Gr/2%TiO2 49.740 152.32
Cu/4%Gr/4%TiO2 61.320 180.37
Cu/2%Gr/6%TiO2 81.620 317.04
Cu/8%TiO2 161.760 525.57
3.2 Hardness Test Analysis
The Vickers hardness for pure Cu, Cu–8%Gr, Cu–6%Gr–2%TiO2 , Cu–4%Gr–

4%TiO2 , Cu–2%Gr–6%TiO2 and Cu–8%TiO2 samples sintered at 750 °C were
measured according to ASTM standard. The microhardness of samples with varying
compositions is shown in Fig. 3. It can be seen from the graph that hardness of the
sintered samples increases as the graphite percentage decreases from 8 to 2% and
increases on increasing the TiO2 percentage from 2 to 8% in pure copper. The Vick-
ers hardness obtained for Cu–8%Gr composite was 41.875 HV, and for Cu–8%TiO2
it was 67.529 HV. Maximum hardness value was obtained for Cu–8%TiO2 sample
because of addition of hard particles of TiO2 . On addition of graphite, hardness
decreases due to clustering of softer graphite particles.
Fig. 3 Vickers microhardness value of samples at different compositions

676 D. Kumar et al.
4 Conclusions
The following conclusions were drawn after analysing the results.

• Copper–Graphite–TiO2 composites have been successfully fabricated by powder
metallurgy process.
• The high compressive stress for Cu–8%TiO2 (525.57 MPa) was obtained in com-
parison to pure Cu (470.21 MPa).
• For hybrid copper matrix composite reinforced with TiO2 and Gr, maximum com-
pressive stress was obtained for Cu–2%Gr–6%TiO2 (317.04 MPa).
• Maximum Vickers hardness of 67.529 HV was obtained for Cu–8%TiO2 .
Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the Faculty of IIT Kanpur, India and IITBHU
Varanasi, India to extend their facility for conducting the characterization of material to accomplish
a part of this work.
References
1. Mohanty, A.: Synthesis & Characterization of Copper-Graphite Metal Matrix Composite by

Powder Metallurgy Route (2012)
2. Surappa, M.K.: Aluminium Matrix Composites (2003)
3. Trinh, S.N.: Processing and Properties of Metal Matrix (2016)
4. Singh, H.: An overview of metal matrix composite: processing and sic based mechanical. J.
Eng. Res. Stud. (2011)
5. Surappa, M.K.: Aluminium Matrix Composites: Challenges and Opportunities, vol. 28, Parts
1 & 2, pp. 319–334 (2003)
6. Sarmadi, H.: Friction and wear performance of copper–graphite surface composites fabricated
by friction stir processing (FSP). Wear 304, 1–12 (2013)
7. Dash, K.: Synthesis and characterization of copper–alumina metal matrix composite by con-
ventional and spark plasma sintering. J. Alloys Compd. 516, 78–84 (2011)
8. Purohit, R.: Development of Cu-Al2O3-CBN hybrid composite through powder metallurgy
process and analysis of mechanical properties. Mater. Today Proc. 4, 3270–3279 (2017)
9. Ashuri, A.H.H.: Characterization of severely deformed new composites fabricated by powder
metallurgy including a stage of mechanical alloying. J. Alloys Compd. 444–454 (2014)
10. Wang, Y.: Effect of physical properties of Cu-Ni-graphite composites on tribological charac-
teristics by grey correlation analysis. Results Phys. 263–271, 7 (2016)
Effect of Tool Rotation
on Microstructure and Hardness of AZ31
Mg Alloy Processed by FSP
Hariom Tripathi, Ajaya Bharti, Ankur Vishal and Naveen Kumar
Abstract The use of magnesium in the automobile and biomedical applications is

increasing nowadays due to its lightweight and high specific strength but magnesium
alloys have some drawbacks like low ductility, low absolute strength at higher tem-
perature, low hardness, etc. In this research, Friction stir processing (FSP) has been
used for improving the hardness and microstructural properties of magnesium AZ31
alloy. The changes in the properties have been observed at different tool rotations
(580, 850 and 1160 rpm). It has been found that the size of the grains is maximum
for the as-received sample, and its average size lies in between 47 and 69 µm and
size of grains is minimum for the FS processed samples at 850 rpm and its average
grain size lies in between 0.75 and 1.1 µm. The FS processed samples at 850 rpm
showed an approximate 33–37% increase in the hardness.
Keywords AZ31 · Severe plastic deformation · Friction stir processing · Grain

refinement
1 Introduction
In this rapidly growing modern world of materials, lightweight materials having high
specific strength are becoming so popular in the field of automobile, transportation,
aerospace, biomedical applications, etc. Eliezer et al. [1]. As the use of lightweight
materials reduces the fuel consumption, reduces the cost of energy, reduces the
exhaust gas emission, and good for environment Kulekci [2], that is why many of
the researchers are currently working in the field of enhancing the properties of
lightweight materials so that they can use lightweight materials like magnesium in
place of the currently used materials (steel and aluminum) Mordike and Ebert [3].
Magnesium is the lightest among the structural metals. Magnesium has the density
approximately equals to 1.73 g/cc which approximately equals 65% and 25% of
the density of aluminum and iron, respectively, Babua et al. [4]. Because of its
H. Tripathi (B) · A. Bharti · A. Vishal · N. Kumar

e-mail: hariom.tripathi7@gmail.com

678 H. Tripathi et al.
low density, high specific strength, and high damping capacity Aghion et al. [5],
researchers are nowadays focusing on magnesium and its alloys in the engineering
application. However, magnesium and its alloys have some drawbacks at the elevated
temperatures like they have poor absolute strength, poor creep resistance, poor plastic
formability, and poor corrosion resistance Mordike and Ebert [3] which restricts there
use in structural applications. But there are several techniques available here by the
help of which we can improve the absolute strength and plasticity of the magnesium
alloys like grain size reduction Cavaliere and Marco [6], hard particles dispersion
in the base material Arora et al. [7], strain hardening Wang et al. [8], cold working,
etc. Grain size reduction is the most effective way to improve the plasticity and the
absolute strength of the magnesium and its alloys Sun et al. [9]. In general grain size
reduction with improved mechanical properties can be done by the help of severe
plastic deformation techniques like high pressure torsion Kai et al. [10], constrained
groove pressing Huo et al. [11], friction stir processing (FSP) Bharti and Tripathi
[12], accumulative roll bonding Prado et al. [13], etc. Out of which FSP becomes
more acceptable technique for converting coarse grain material into ultrafine-grain
material for enhancing strength as well as ductility of materials Asgari et al. [14].
FSP is based on friction stir welding process and it was invented in 1991 by
Welding Institute (UK) Ma et al. [15]. FSP (solid-state operation) uses a specially
designed nonconsumable rotating tool comprised of pin and shoulder. The tooltip is
inserted into the workpiece to the required depth until the surface of the shoulder
touches the workpiece surface. The tool is rotated at the predetermined speed and in
the desired direction. Due to the frictional heating between the surface of the shoulder
and the workpiece, workpiece materials become soft and due to the stirring action
of the pin within the base material this soft material is plastically deformed and after
cooling dynamically recrystallized grains are formed within the processed region.
Azizieh et al. [16] reported that the hardness of all AZ31 magnesium sample
increased with increasing number of passes due to the reduction of grain size. Wen
et al. [17] performed FS processing with two passes and reported that the ultimate
tensile strengths after the single and the two-pass FSP samples increase by 43 and
82 MPa and elongations increase by 4.3% and 11.9%, respectively.
From the various researches, it was found that the mechanical properties of mate-
rials during the FS processing depend on the various parameters (Plunged depth,
cooling rate, number of passes, rotational speed transverse speed of tool, etc.). But
a very less amount of research has been carried out in the area of effect of variation
of rotational speed of the tool on the mechanical and microscopic behavior of FS
processed magnesium AZ31 alloy. Therefore, the aim of this research is to find out
the effect of FS processing on the hardness and microscopic properties of the AZ31
magnesium alloy at the different rotational speeds of the tool.
Effect of Tool Rotation on Microstructure and Hardness of AZ31 … 679
2.1 Material Selection and FS Processing
Plates of AZ31 magnesium alloy having dimension 6 × 150 × 80 mm were utilized

for performing the FS processing and experimentation. The magnesium AZ31 alloy
consists of 2.75–3% aluminum, 0.84–1.01% of zinc, 0.3% of manganese, 0.05%
of silica, and rest magnesium (all are in wt%). The processing (friction stir) of
magnesium alloy plates in the rolling direction was performed on the vertical drilling
machine. The processing was performed with the help of FSP tool which is made up
of H13 tool steel as shown in Fig. 1, having a pin of 5 mm height, pin dia. 6 mm, tilt
angle of 3°, and shoulder of dia. 18 mm.
The FSP tool was rotated at three different speeds and makes certain that 5 mm
of effective penetration of tool pin inside the magnesium specimen. Several plates
of magnesium were processed by single-pass FSP with different sets of rotational
speed and constant translation speed. The FSP parameters are shown in Table 1.
Figure 2 shows the FS processing of the specimen. After the processing, burrs
(formed on the surface) were removed with the help of emery papers. After that
samples were extracted for the testing.
Fig. 1 FS processing tool
Table 1 FS processing
FSP parameters Parameters range
parameters
Plunged depth (mm) 5
Tool rotational rate (rpm) 580,850,1160
Transverse speed (mm/min) 30
Fig. 2 FS processing of the

Mg plate
2.2 Microstructure and Testing
In order to detect the variation in the microstructure and mechanical properties

of unprocessed and FS processed samples at different conditions, Samples were
extracted with the help of wire EDM as per ASTM Std.
Surfaces of samples for microscopy were prepared by ASTM E3 [18], standard.
The polished surface had been dipped in the etching solution for 7–10 s. Etching
solution consists acetic acid (10 ml), DI water (15 ml), Picric acid (4.4 g), and
ethanol (70 ml). Microstructural observations were made using a Carl Zeiss Optical
Microscope. With the help of the linear intercept technique, average grain size was
measured.
Samples were made as per the ASTM 384 [19] for hardness. The test of micro-
hardness was conducted on the highly polished surface of the specimen by the aid
of microhardness tester (Vickers). In this test, a minimum of five indents was taken
on the application of the load of 100 g for 20 s.
3.1 Optical Microscopy
The microstructural outcomes were received by the optical microscope. The out-
comes exhibit a large amount of refine grains in the processed zone. But the influen-
tial fact in the case of FS processing is that it generates a more homogeneous structure
at micron levels as compared to other processing techniques. Figure 3 illustrates the
structure (at micron level) of the as-received and FS processed samples at 30 mm/min
transverse speeds and the rotational speed of 560, 850, 1160 rpm, respectively
The micrograph of as-received specimen demonstrates a collection of elongated
medium and large grains in the rolling direction (as shown in Fig. 3a) having avg.
size of grains in between the range of 47–69 µm, which is calculated by the help of
linear intercept technique (Heyn) [20].
In as-received samples, some secondary precipitates (Mg17 Al12 ) (which can be
observed with the help of X-ray diffraction technique) are present which are com-
pletely dissolved by the FS processing. The FS processed magnesium specimen
shows the homogenous and ultrafine grains structure and the average size falls in
between the range of 1.3–2.2 µm (As shown in Fig. 3b), 0.75–1.1 µm (As shown
Fig. 3 Microstructure of different samples a As-received sample; b FSP at 580 rpm; c FSP at
850 rpm; d FSP at 1160 rpm
in Fig. 3c), and 1.9–3.3 µm (As shown in Fig. 3d) for 580, 850, and 1160 rpm,
respectively.
It is clear from the grain size measurement that the average size of grain increases
when the rotational speed increased from 850 to 1160 rpm. This is due to the fact
that at the high speed more amount of frictional heat is generated as compared to
lower speed. More frictional heating causes grain growth.
3.2 Hardness
The outcomes of microhardness clearly demonstrate that the microhardness of the FS

processed specimen is dependent on the rotational speed of the FS tool. The impact
of the tool rotational speeds on the results of hardness is illustrated in Fig. 4. This
figure shows that in the comparison to the FS processed samples at 580, 850, and
1160 rpm.
The Vickers microhardness value for as-received samples is less. The Vickers
microhardness values for as-received sample lie in between the range of 51–54 HV
and for processed samples, and it lies in between the range of 58–61 HV, 67–73 HV,
and 59–63 HV for tool rotation of 580, 850, and 1160 rpm, respectively.
This increase in the value of hardness is due to the formation of ultrafine grains.
As from the Hall–Petch equation as the size of grain reduces its hardness value
increases. The grain size reduction is highest in the case of the speed at 850 rpm;
hence, the hardness value is more in this case as the comparison to other cases. The
size of grains at 1160 rpm speed is more as comparison to the 850 rpm speed; hence,
the hardness value of the specimen at 1160 rpm is less compared to the specimen
processed at 850 rpm speed.
Fig. 4 Average Vickers

microhardness values of
different samples
4 Conclusion
This research work investigated the effect of FSP tool rotational speed on the
microstructure and the hardness of the magnesium AZ31 alloy. The research found
as follows:
• After the processing coarse grains of as-received material (47–69 µm) are con-
verted into the ultrafine grains (0.75–3.3 µm) due to the severe plastic deformation.
• The average size of grain decreases when the rotational speed increased from
580 to 850 rpm but the average size of grain increases when the rotational speed
increased from 850 to 1160 rpm because at higher speed there is the rise in the
frictional heating which causes grain growth.
• The FS processed samples at 850 rpm showed approximate 33–37% increase in
the hardness as compared to the unprocessed samples.
References
1. Eliezer, D., Aghion, E., Sam Froes, F.H.: Magnesium science, technology and applications.
Adv. Eng. Mater. 5, 201–212 (1998)
2. Kulekci, M.: Magnesium and its alloys applications in automotive industry. Int. J. Adv. Manuf.
Technol. 39, 851–865 (2008)
3. Mordike, B.L., Ebert, T.: Magnesium: Properties—applications—potential. Mater. Sci. Eng.
302, 37–45 (2001)
4. Babua, S.R., Pavithranb, S., Nithinb, M., Parameshwaranb, B.: Effect of tool shoulder diameter
during friction stir processing of AZ31B alloy sheets of various thicknesses. In: Proceedings
2014 12th Global Congress on Manufacturing and Management, GCMM’14, pp. 800–809
5. Aghion, E., Bronfin, B., Eliezer, D.: The role of the magnesium industry in protecting the
environment. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 117, 381–3855 (2001)
6. Cavaliere, M.P.: Friction stir processing of AM60B magnesium alloy sheets. Mater. Sci. Eng.,
A 462, 393–397 (2007)
7. Arora, H.S., Singh, H., Dhindaw, B.K.: Composite fabrication using friction stir processing—a
review. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 61, 1043 (2012)
8. Wang, C.Y., Chang, Y., Yang, J., Cao, W.Q., Dong, H., Wang, Y.D.: Work Hardening Behavior
and Stability of Retained Austenite for Quenched and Partitioned Steels. J. Iron Steel Res. Int.
23, 130–137 (2016)
9. Sun, K., Shi, Y., Sun, Y.J., Chen, G.Q.: Microstructure and mechanical property of nano-SiCp
reinforced high strength Mg bulk composites produced by friction stir processing. Mater. Sci.
Eng., A 547, 32 (2012)
10. Kai, M., Horita, Z., Langdon, T.G.: Developing grain refinement and superplasticity in a mag-
nesium alloy processed by high-pressure torsion. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 488, 117–124 (2008)
11. Huo, Q., Yang, Sun H., Li, B., Qin, J., Wang, J.: Enhancement of tensile ductility and stretch
formability of AZ31magnesium alloy sheet processed by cross-wavy bending. J. Alloys Compd.
581, 230–235 (2013)
12. Bharti, A., Tripathi, H.: Enhancement of fatigue life of TIG-welded joint by friction stir pro-
cessing. In: Renewable Energy and its Innovative Technologies, pp. 51–59. Springer, Singapore
(2018)
13. Perez-Prado, M.T., Valle, J.A., Ruano, O.R.: Grain refinement of Mg–Al–Zn alloys via accu-
mulative roll bonding. Scripta Mater. 51, 1093–1097 (2004)
14. Asgari, H., Odeshi, A.G., Szpunar, J.A., Zeng, L.J., Olsson, E., Li, D.Y.: Effect of yttrium on
the twinning and plastic deformation of AE magnesium alloy under ballistic impact. Mater.
Sci. Eng., A 166 623, 10–21 (2015)
15. Ma, Z.Y., Sharma, S.R., Mishra, R.S.: Effect of multiple-pass friction stir processing on
microstructure and tensile properties of a cast aluminum–silicon alloy. Scr Mater. 54, 1623–
1626 (2006)
16. Azizieh, M., Kokabi, A.H., Abachi, P.: Effect of rotational speed and probe profile on
microstructure and hardness of AZ31/Al2 O3 nanocomposites fabricated by friction stir pro-
cessing. Mater. Des. 32, 2034 (2011)
17. Wen, W., Kuaishe, W., Qiang, G., Nan, W.: Effect of friction stir processing on microstructure
and mechanical properties of cast AZ31 magnesium alloy. Rare Metal Mater. Eng. 41, 1522–
1526 (2012)
18. ASTM Standard E3-11, Standard Guide for Preparation of Metallographic Specimens
19. ASTM Standard E384, 2011e1, Standard Test Method for Knoop and Vickers Hardness of
Materials, ASTM International
20. ASTM Standard E112, Standard Test Methods for Determining Average Grain Size
Thermal Engineering
Experimental Investigation of Forced
Convective Cooling of Rectangular
Blocks
Krishna Roy, Asis Giri and Maibam Romio Singh
Abstract A heat transfer analysis is carried out from a family (or array) of five pro-
truding heated aluminum blocks spaced at equidistance on the bottom of a channel,
made of acrylic plate, using air as the cooling medium. Hydraulic diameter-based
Reynolds number for airflow rate through channel is maintained in a range 6000–
14,610, while input heat flux to each block is set at a fixed value of 5656.1 W/m2 .
From the experimental results, correlations of mean Nusselt number with Reynolds
number are made for different aluminum blocks. The developed correlation obtained
thus shows that the first test piece of the array of blocks has greater Reynolds number
exponent. This is arguably associated with the greater heat transfer from the upstream
vertical face caused by impingement of core fluid flow on the vertical face.
Keywords Forced convection · Nusselt number · Reynolds number
Nomenclature
A Area (m2 )
D Diameter (m)
H/W /L Channel height/Width/Length (m)
h/w/l Test piece height/Width/Length (m)
h Convective heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)
g Gravitational acceleration (m2 /s)
Pr Prandtl number (μC p /k f )
Re Reynolds Number
K. Roy
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Silchar 788010, India
e-mail: mekroy91@gmail.com
A. Giri (B) · M. R. Singh
Department Mechanical Engineering, North Eastern Regional Institute of Science & Technology,
Nirjuli 791109, India
e-mail: measisgiri@rediffmail.com

688 K. Roy et al.
R1 Range displaced in manometer

R2 Resistance
s Spacing between each test piece (m)
T Temperature difference (K)
ρ Density (kg/m3 )
v Kinematic viscosity (m2 /s)
Subscripts
a Acrylic plate
a Constant term
b Exponent term
c Coefficient
f Fluid
h Hydraulic
elec Electrical power input
cond Conductive
conv Convective
o Ambient condition
m Mean
1 Introduction
To limit the rise in temperature associated with an industrial system, electronic

devices, automotive industry, spacecraft, and aircraft applications, an improved cool-
ing system is obligatory. Hence, the study of heat transfer from these devices is
extremely important. Davalath and Bayazitoglu [1] report a numerical investigation
of three protruding heat sources performing conjugate forced convection air cooling.
It observes no recirculation zone ahead of the first block for a Reynolds number
(Re Dh ) range from 100 to 1500.
The experimental investigation is performed by Molki et al. [2] to examine tur-
bulent heat transfer from an array of heated rectangular block on a horizontal plate
in the entrance region. Measurement of temperature is made over the heated block
to relate Nusselt number with the governing parameters. Young and Vafai [3] report
a combined study of experimental and numerical investigation forced convection
characteristics of arrays of obstacles in a channel for a range of Re Dh (i.e., 800 ≤
Re Dh ≤ 13,000) and the impressed input heat flux (q ) to each obstacle is varied in
a range 950 ≤ q ≤ 20,200 W/m2 . Authors develop a two-dimensional numerical
model for the convective cooling of the array of heated obstacles for the comparison
Experimental Investigation of Forced Convective Cooling … 689
purpose with the experimental results by placing the obstacle in an insulated channel.
The system of equations along with boundary condition being elliptical in form is
solved for this purpose. The proper placement of geometrically dissimilar obstacles
is also being studied.
Premachandran and Balaji [4] highlight the influences of Re Dh , Grashof number
(Gr), Prandtl number (Pr), and conductivity ratio of solid to fluid on the heat transfer
characteristics in a cavity using water and FC70 as the working medium by computa-
tional methods. Numerical investigations of forced and mixed convective cooling of
an array of obstacles are found in reports [5, 6] for various pertinent parameters and
inclination. Detailed experimental reports highlighting mixed convective heat trans-
fer from protruding heat sources in horizontal and vertical channels are available in
Basha et al. [7] and Ahamad and Balaji [8], respectively.
Yao et al. [9] present numerical examination on the turbulent flow heat transport
through a straight square duct. At each corner of the duct, mean secondary flow is
found to reveal the existence of two streamwise counterrotating vortices. An experi-
mental investigation of convective heat transfer from flush-mounted micro-protruded
pattern is being made by Ventola et al. [10] in the fully turbulent regime and authors
claim to have found improved performance for their design. Recently, Ozbalci and
Dogan [11] observe the enhanced convective heat transfer from microporous heat
sinks for the flowing condition being turbulent. From literature, it is observed that
heat transfer from more number of obstacles representing electronic cooling under-
going turbulent flow is limited [3]. The present paper focuses on the investigation
of turbulent forced convective cooling of an array of five heated rectangular blocks,
each identical in dimensions, spaced at equidistance on the bottom of a channel. A
correlation is developed for Nusselt number (Num ) with Re Dh .
To investigate the forced convective heat transfer over the heated obstacles, an acrylic
test channel is constructed from the 20 mm thick acrylic sheet. The setup is designed
to measure different thermal and flow parameters such as temperature and velocity
over the five numbers of obstacles and spacing between the blocks within the channel.
A schematic side view of the test section is shown in Fig. 1. The acrylic plate used
to develop all the sidewalls of rectangular test section, for the present purpose, has
thermal conductivity k a = 0.2 W/m K.
Material aluminum (6061-TC) having thermal conductivity k = 165 W/m K is
used as obstacles/test-specimen. The heating element, which is placed below the test
pieces, made of nichrome wire having diameter of 0.5 mm and resistance of 20 ,
is coiled over mica sheet of width 14 mm and length 80 mm. Between each of the
heating element and the base of the channel, insulation is provided and above the
heating element, the test pieces are placed.
690 K. Roy et al.
Fig. 1 Configuration of experimental setup
Air is used as a working fluid, which flows over the test pieces inside the channel.
The channel has a length of 1.2 m with an entry length of approximately 0.8 m. The
inside channel has a height, “H” = 88 mm and a width, “W ” = 104 mm.
All joints are completely sealed so that no air from side leaks into the system.
Just before the inlet of test section, a honeycomb structure is provided which assures
smooth uniform airflow very near the inlet of the test section. Moreover, we used
suction centrifugal fan away from the end of the test section to draw air over the test
section which confirms smooth entry of air medium. However, inside the test section,
uniform flow is not expected, because of formation of boundary layer from all sides
and also in the presence of obstacles. To accommodate test pieces, five slots in the
base plate are made having a depth of 3 mm, width of 16 mm along with a spacing
of 16 mm between two successive test pieces. Heating elements are placed inside
the slots to provide constant heat flux to the test pieces. The test pieces employed
in the experimental investigation is having streamwise length, “l” = 16 mm, height,
“h” = 10 mm, and spanwise width, “w” = 104 mm. It is same as channel width,
which is 104 mm. The pitot-static tube along with inclined tube manometer is used
to measure the pressure differential and hence velocity of the airflow.
Temperatures are measured at the top of each test piece, at the acrylic plate and
of the fluid by using calibrated T-type thermocouples (Copper-Constantan) are used.
The thermocouple beads are located at the centerline of spanwise obstacle (i.e., at w/2
and l/2). A highly conducting thermal paste, R-322 is used to hold the thermocouple
in place. Finally, the complete assembly is placed inside the airflow duct which is
having a centrifugal fan for suction purpose as shown in Fig. 2. Centrifugal fan has
a specification: single phase, 0.55 kW, R.P.M. 2830, voltage 240 V, current 3.3 A,
frequency 50 Hz, TecQuipment make.
Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of the airflow tunnel
3 Experimental Data Processing
The experiments are performed in a horizontal airflow duct with the test section
kept inside it. Control of the flow rates for the radial flow centrifugal fan is obtained
by placing gauze screens or perforated screens in a supported wireframe. Thus to
calculate the Re Dh , convective heat transfer coefficient (hc ), and Nusselt number
(Nu), the following procedure is followed.
3.1 Procedure to Measure Airflow Velocity
Re Dh can be defined as
Re Dh = ρ f u m Dh /μ f = u m Dh /ν f (1)
where the mean fluid velocity, um , is

um = 2p/ρf (1a)
The pressure difference, “P”, is represented by

P = g R1 ρwater − ρ f sin θ (1b)
where θ is the angle of inclination, R1 is the distance in mm with which the distilled
water inside the inclined manometer moved on a scale and “g” is the acceleration
due to gravity. The hydraulic diameter (Dh ) in Eq. (1) is written as
692 K. Roy et al.
Dh = 2W H/(W + H ) (1c)
where H is inside channel height, W is the width of channel.

All thermophysical properties of the air are evaluated at the entrance temperature.
Control of the flow rates for the axial flow fan is obtained by placing gauze screens
in three positions (a) at 10 mm height, (b) at 20 mm height, and (c) at 30 mm
height. The conventional velocity profiles are obtained. The hydraulic diameter (Dh )
is 0.09533 m as calculated from Eq. (1c). At 10 mm height of the screen, the average
airflow velocity is calculated by measuring the pressure difference given in Eq. (1b)
and found to be 1.19 m/s and the corresponding Re Dh from Eq. (1) is obtained to be
7304.75. Similarly, at 20 mm and 30 mm gauze screen heights, velocity of 1.68 m/s
and 2.38 m/s are obtained, respectively, which correspond to Re Dh equal to 10,312.58
and 14,609.49, respectively. As the Re Dh obtained in the horizontal channel are more
than 2300, hence the flow is turbulent.
3.2 Procedure to Measure the Temperature
Aforementioned fixed geometric parameters of the array are made with h/l = 0.55,
s/l = 1.0, H/l = 5.5, and qelec = 5656.12 W/m2 . The temperatures on the top faces
of the test piece and the ambient bulk temperature are measured. The temperatures
on the acrylic base plate in spacing between the test pieces are also measured to
consider the heat loss by conduction. The local convective heat transfer coefficient
on the test piece surface is defined as
h c = qconv /(Ac (T − To )) (2)
where the convective heat transfer, qconv is calculated from
qconv = qelec − qcond − qrad (3)
In Eq. (2), Ac is the wetted surface area of the test piece, while T and T o are
the local surface and local ambient temperatures, respectively. qelec = V 2 /R2 is the
total electrical power input to the heater, qcond and qrad are the heat losses due to
conduction and radiation, respectively.
qcond = −ka A(Ta − Tb )/x (4)
where T a and T b are the two temperatures of acrylic plate at a perpendicular distance
of x = 0.6 mm and “A” is the cross sectional area of the acrylic plate. The conduction
heat loss is estimated to be less than 3%. Radiation heat loss can be estimated from
the equation as below.

qrad = σ εF A T 4 − T∞
4
(5)
where “ε” is the emissivity, “F” is the view factor, and “A” is surface area of radiative
heat transfer. For the presently recorded temperature, radiative heat transfer is 0.5%.
Generally, aluminum test piece has emissivity less than 0.1. View factor F can be
taken as 1 to calculate the qrad . The Num is defined as
Num = h c l/k f (6)
where l is the streamwise length of the test piece and k f is the thermal conductivity
of air.
3.3 Uncertainty Analysis
Calibration of the thermocouples with a standard RTD of 0.1 °C resolution gives the
uncertainties in the measurement of temperature. The uncertainties in temperature,
voltage, and resistance are ±0.5 °C, ±0.1 V, and ±0.5% . The uncertainty in
measurement of power is obtained by using the relation in Ref. [12] and is found to
be ±2.06%. Repeatability of the experiment is found by performing the experiment
several times. A pictorial view of the experimental setup is shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3 The airflow tunnel with the experimental setup 1—suction fan, 2—gauze/perforated screens,
3—flow tunnel, 4—test piece, 5—acrylic channel, 6—inlet, 7—voltage regulator, 8—thermocouple
wire, 9—data logger, and 10—indicator
694 K. Roy et al.
The experimental results reported here fall into three distinct categories based upon
the Re Dh with respect to an array of five fixed similar test pieces. Following Molki
et al. [2], streamwise length of the test piece, l = 16 mm, is chosen as the characteristic
length. Thus non-dimensional height (h/l), spacing (s/l), and channel height (H/l)
are, respectively, as 0.55, 1.0, and 5.5. The measured temperature difference ranges
from 10 ≤ T ≤ 90 °C. Each experiment is conducted more than 25 times at each
Re Dh and then, the mean result is considered. Geometric dimension chosen presently
is different from the one used by Young and Vafai [3] and therefore, heat transfer
along with its associated effects (e.g., temperature of the obstacle) will differ.
Test piece temperature attains steady state after about 55–75 min of the application
of heat to the heaters. The variation of temperature with respect to time is seen in
Fig. 4a, c, e for different Re Dh . Figures reveal that initially, obstacle temperature
maintains the value of ambient temperature. After the application of heat, temperature
of protrusion increases and it reaches steady state. Expectedly, as Re Dh increases,
steady-state temperature of the obstacles decreases. The variation of steady-state
Num with test piece is presented in Fig. 4b, d, f for three different Re Dh , respectively.
Error bar is included in the figures. The maximum error in Num estimation is around
±5%. The general trends of Num in the test pieces are presented in Fig. 5. It shows
that with increased Re Dh , Num increases. This is due to the increased convective heat
coefficient of the obstacles due to high Reynolds number. Following Young and Vafai
[3], an empirical relation of Num with Re Dh is developed as
b
Num = a × Re Dh . (7)
Constant “a” and exponent “b” in Eq. (7) are presented in Table 1. First test piece
in the array is found to have a greater Re Dh exponent due to the greater heat transfer
along the upstream vertical face caused by core fluid flow impingement. For the
downstream test pieces, fluid is trapped and undergoes vortex motion in between
successive test pieces. Due to this, frontal vertical faces of the downstream test
pieces are not readily wash away by the core fluid (i.e., air) motion. So heat transfer
reduces for the downstream test pieces. Further, fluid heat capacity decreases in the
downstream after receiving heat from the test pieces positioned in the frontal portion
of test section. Hence, heat transfer decreases from test pieces positioned in the
downstream direction.
5 Conclusions
The experiment performed provides a detailed analysis of the turbulent forced con-
vective heat transfer of an array of five heated aluminum rectangular blocks mounted
2
Re = 7300, q = 5656.1 W/m2 h/l= 0.55, s/l= 1.0, H/l= 5.5, Re
Dh
= 7300, q
elec
= 5656.1 W/m
Dh elec
70 95
65 (a) (b)
Mean Nusselt Number (Num )

60 90
Temperature ( oC)
55
50 85
45
40 Test Piece 1 80
Test Piece 2
35 Test Piece 3
Test Piece 4
30 Test Piece 5
75
25
20 70
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (min) Test Piece Number
2
Re = 10300, q = 5656.1 W/m
Dh elec h/l= 0.55, s/l= 1.0, H/l= 5.5, Re = 10300, q = 5656.1 W/m2
60 Dh elec
160
(c)
55 155 (d)
Temperature ( C)
50 150
o
145
45
140
40 135
35 Test Piece 1 130
Test Piece 2
Test Piece 3
125
30
Test Piece 4 120
25 Test Piece 5
115
20 110
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
2
Re = 14600, q = 5656.1 W/m2 h/l= 0.55, s/l= 1.0, H/l= 5.5, Re
Dh
= 14600, q
elec
= 5656.1 W/m
Dh elec
50 240
(e) (f)
45 230
Temperature ( C)
o
40 220
35 210
Test Piece 1
30 200
Test Piece 2
Test Piece 3
25 Test Piece 4 190
Test Piece 5
20 180
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Fig. 4 Temperature variation with time and mean Nusselt Number on each test piece a–b Re Dh =
7300, c–d Re Dh = 10,300, e–f Re Dh = 14,600
in a channel for the flow with high Reynolds number. The conclusions drawn from
the present work are as follows.
• Initially, obstacles temperature is ambient. After the application of heat, temper-
ature of each obstacle increases and reaches a steady state. As Reynolds num-
ber increases, steady-state temperature of the obstacles decreases. Also with the
increased Reynolds number, Num increases.
• The maximum temperature is located at the last test piece as the downstream test
piece experiences least heat transfer. For the downstream test pieces, trapped fluid
in between successive test pieces undergoes vortex motion. Hence, frontal vertical
696 K. Roy et al.
Fig. 5 Variation of mean Nusselt number with Reynolds number
Table 1 Mean Nusselt

Test piece number a b
number correlation
parameters for the five test 1 0.0131 0.9991
articles with h/l = 0.55, s/l = 2 0.0148 0.9819
1.0, H/l = 5.5, and qelec =
3 0.0151 0.9774
5656.1 W/m2
4 0.0157 0.9677
5 0.0187 0.9412
faces for the downstream test pieces are not wash away by the core fluid motion.
So heat transfer reduces for the downstream test pieces. Further, fluid heat capacity
decreases in the downstream after receiving heat from the test pieces positioned
in the frontal portion of test section. Therefore, heat transfer decreases from test
pieces positioned in the downstream direction.
• Obstacle temperature increases significantly due to the reduced convective heat
transfer coefficient at low Reynolds number.
• The developed Nusselt number correlations with Reynolds number for the test
piece array are found to have lower Reynolds number exponent for the downstream
test piece. This is due to the lower heat transfer from the downstream test pieces.
References
1. Davalath, J., Bayazitoglu, Y.: Forced convection cooling across rectangular blocks. ASME J.
Heat Transf. 109, 321–328 (1987)
2. Molki, M., Faghri, M., Ozbay, O.: A correlation for heat transfer and wake effect in the entrance
region of an in line array of rectangular block simulating electronic components. ASME J. Heat
Transf. 117, 40–46 (1995)
3. Young, T.J., Vafai, K.: Experimental and numerical investigation of forced convection charac-
teristics of arrays of channel mounted obstacles. ASME J. Heat Transf. 121, 34–42 (1999)
4. Premachandra, B., Balaji, C.: Mixed convection heat transfer from a horizontal channel with
protruding heat source. Heat Mass Transf. 41, 510–518 (2005)
5. Zeng, Y., Vafai, K.: An investigation of convective cooling of an array of channel mounted
obstacles. Numer. Heat Transf. Part A. 55, 967–982 (2009)
6. Boutina, L., Bessaih, R.: Numerical stimulation of mixed convection air-cooling of electronics
components mounted in an inclined channel. Appl. Therm. Eng. 31, 2052–2062 (2011)
7. Ahammad Basha, D., Prasanna, S., Venkateshan, S.P.: Mixed convection from an upward facing
horizontal flat plate effect of conduction and radiation. Heat Mass Transf. 48, 2125–2131 (2012)
8. Ahamad, S.I., Balaji, C.: A simple thermal model for mixed convection from protruding heat
sources. Heat Transf. Eng. 36, 396–407 (2014)
9. Yao, J., Zhao, Y., Fairweather, M.: Numerical simulation of turbulent flow through a straight
square duct. Appl. Therm. Eng. 91, 800–811 (2015)
10. Ventola, L., Dialameh, M., Fasano, M., Chiavazzo, E., Asinari, P.: Convective heat transfer
enhancement by diamond shaped microprotruded patterns for heat sinks: thermal fluid dynamic
investigation and novel optimization methodology. Appl. Therm. Eng. 93, 1254–1263 (2016)
11. Ozbalci, O., Dogan, A.: Forced convection heat transfer from porous heat sinks placed in
partially open cavity: some case studies. Exp. Heat Transf. 31(3), 183–193 (2018)
12. Holman, J.P.: Experimental Methods for Engineering, 7th edn. Tata McGraw Hill Publishing
Company Ltd., New Delhi (2007)
Conduction-Based Standardization
of K-Type Coaxial Thermocouple
for Short-Duration Transient Heat Flux
Measurement
Sanjeev Kumar Manjhi, Rakesh Kumar and Digvijaysinh Barad
Abstract The coaxial thermocouple (CT) is the appropriate candidate to measure

exceptionally transient condition due to having a fast-response behavior. The rate of
response is varied from microsecond to millisecond. In this investigation, the K-type
CT has been standardized under sudden step heating load for a short period of the
experiment. The step heating load of 25 kW/m2 has been applied on the junction
of the coaxial thermocouple and transient temperature history was recorded. The
finite element investigation were also carried out to authenticate the experimental
consequences. The surface heat flux has been assessed from transient temperature
history recorded from the experimental and numerical outcome as well as compared
with the input applied and the results obtained are within the accuracy of ±3.4%.
Keywords K-type coaxial thermocouple · Standardization technique · Finite

element approach · Heat flux estimation
1 Introduction
The determination of heat flux for a short period is a notable parameter at a remark-
ably compressed flow field conditions. In the aerodynamics application, the heat flux
calculation for the stagnation point at the front of the curved surface is very crucial
and it is discussed by Manjhi and Kumar [1]. Heat transfer breakdown is indis-
pensable for intending many engineering practices such as heat exchanger, electrical
machine, turbine blade, and supersonic flights. Evaluation of transient surface heat
flux (TSHF) from transient temperature background (TTB) is one of the conventional
S. K. Manjhi (B) · R. Kumar (B) · D. Barad

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM),
Dhanbad 826004, India
e-mail: sanju007mit@gmail.com
R. Kumar
e-mail: rakesh@iitism.ac.in
D. Barad
e-mail: dbarad2507@gmail.com

700 S. K. Manjhi et al.
approaches taken by the many investigators in the study of these types of engineer-
ing purposes. Thermal sensors such as coaxial thermocouples (CTs) are practiced
in these evaluations should have the aptitude of rapider rate of response and high
precision in the examination, Kumar et al. [2]. The CTs sensors are appropriate for
quantifying remarkably TSHF because the rate of response of these coaxial sensors
is minimal. These active thermal sensors have the adaptability of positioning them
undeviatingly on the numerous types of geometry. So, these thermal sensors are pos-
sible to use in ground-based demonstration conditions such as in the aerodynamic
model to quantify the transient variations, Kumar and Sahoo [3]. These sensors are
also applicable in the areas of the engine, Henz et al. [4] such as internal combustion
engine, Marr et al. [5] and boiling experiment, Chen and Hsu [6]. The CTs usually are
fabricated using two thermoelements in which the first part is embedded coaxially
on another section and 10 μm thick electrical insulation gaps is maintained among
them. The measuring junctions (MJ) of CTs are created by grinding of the leading
facade to develop the metallic plating. During this process, micro-scratches take
place which admitted a concise quantity of plastic deformation on the front surface
of the sensor. The micro-scratches are created in this method, a minimal quantity
of active masses leading to the surface and introduced fast response characteris-
tics. Thus, become appropriate for the short-duration investigations. These coaxial
thermocouples can generate voltage signal without any external power sources while
exposing to a rapidly changing environments. Prognostication of a decorous transient
environment of the step heat load and accurate appraisal of the heat flux are causes of
those inclination demands from typical coaxial thermocouples. While the prediction
of transient heat fluxes using unsteady temperature backgrounds, the appropriate
form of 1-d heat conduction provision is exercised, Kumar and Sahoo [3], Sahoo and
Kumar [7]. However, the evaluation of TSHF from the TTB mostly depends on the
exactitude of thermal characteristics usually identified as “TP (β)” of sensing surface
as well as the precision associated in unsteady temperature backgrounds, Agarwal
et al. [8], Mohammed et al. [9, 10]. These CTs are termed as K-type, E-type, J-
type, T-type, etc., which depend upon the material used and their Seebeck voltage
values as well as their temperature range for measurement ability. In this existing
work, a K-type coaxial thermocouple is contrived in a laboratory and standardized
under the particular experimental situation to verify the measurement capability for
determining short-duration transient heat-flux determinations. The K-type coaxial
thermocouple is subjected to sudden step heating load of 25 kW/m2 with the help
of soldering iron rod and their TTB is recorded by a DAS. Then practicing 1-d heat
conduction provision for the semi-infinite solid object, the TSHF is retrieved as well
as compared with the input heat load. A finite element method has been used to val-
idate the experimental results using Ansys package 15.0. This investigation exhibits
about the measurement ability of K-type coaxial thermocouple for short-duration
measurements.
Conduction-Based Standardization of K-Type Coaxial … 701
Junction
Fig. 1 The schematic diagram and actual photograph of coaxial thermocouples [11]
2 Coaxial Thermocouple
In general thermocouple, two distinct metal alloys are attached, and the joint is
known as measuring terminal of the thermocouple. When this measuring terminal
is exposed in a temperature gradient, an e.m.f. will be produced which is known
as Seebeck voltage. The CTs are fabricated by swaging two thermocouples alloy
coaxially to each other. The MJ of these CTs is developed by grinding operation,
because a small quantity of plastic deformation introduced on the MJ which caused
fast response behavior and results are highly accurate, Kumar et al. [2], Kumar and
Sahoo [3], Manjhi and Kumar [11]. The Photograph and schematic diagram were
shown in Fig. 1. The alumel is taken as an outer element and chromel is taken as
an internal element to fabricate the K-type coaxial thermocouple in the laboratory at
IIT (ISM) Dhanbad. This handmade coaxial thermocouple is statically calibrated for
the determination of TCR and sensitivity using oil bath-based procedure. The detail
of oil bath calibration has been discussed in Manjhi and Kumar [1]. The accomplish
data of thermal coefficient resistance (TCR) and sensitivity are taken from Manjhi
and Kumar [1] and the determine values are (0.068319/°C, 39.5 μV/°C). Here the
same coaxial thermocouple is used for this experiment.
3 Transient Temperature Measurement
In the quickly varying transient temperature measurement such as on the aerodynam-

ics models which provides impulse facilities where the rate of change in experimental
condition is in the order of a millisecond or less. The coaxial thermocouples having
ultra-fast response time and having low fabrication cost; so, they are most economic
Fig. 2 Schematic illustration of the experimental setup
and robust technique for transient temperature measurement in the impulse facilities,
Manjhi and Kumar [1], Kumar et al. [2], Kumar and Sahoo [3], Buttsworth [12].
3.1 Experimental Exploration
An experimental setup has been established in which the step heating load of
25 kW/m2 is applied to the K-type measuring junction using soldering iron where the
heat transfer takes place by conduction. The experimental setup comprehended of a
thermally insulated iron rod, amplifier, wattmeter, variac transformer, data acquisi-
tion system (DAS), and computer. The schematic illustration of investigational setup
has been displayed in Fig. 2.
A soldering iron has been used to supply step heating load on the junction of
a K-type coaxial thermocouple. This soldering iron is insulated with the help of
teflon rod to minimized heat loss through soldering iron body in the radial direction.
A wattmeter has been used to monitor the power supplied to the soldering iron
in which the variac transformer has been used to regulate the power supply. The
small-time period of an experimental investigation implies the temperature gradient
to be small and due to this we can assume all surfaces to be adiabatic. Due to a
constant power of 25 kW/m2 is supplied to the soldering iron rod, after 60 min the
heating condition has achieved the steady-state condition. This steady-state heat flux
is considered as applied heat flux on the junction of the coaxial thermocouple. The
coaxial thermocouple is initially kept at room temperature. Due to suddenly brought
in the contact of heating iron heat transfer take place by microscopic exchange of
kinetic energy and the transient temperature has been recorded for short duration
of 200 ms. An amplifier has been used to amplify the output signals from K-type
coaxial thermocouples before sending to the DAS.
3.2 Numerical Investigation
The numerical investigation is the research of an algorithm that applies a resemblance

solution for the problem analyzes. The overall purpose of this numerical investigation
Fig. 3 Geometric Input heat Load

representation of
thermocouple and the
strategy finite element
simulation l1=10μm T1 Junction
Alumel
Chromel
10mm
l2 T2
x Teflon
Adiabatic Wall Isothermal Walls Adiabatic Wall

3.25mm
is to get the approximate solution for involved problems and compare to the experi-
mental outcomes. The precise strategy for this numerical investigation is displayed
in Fig. 3. The procedure of receiving the fast response from these handmade coaxial
thermocouples, the heat flux evaluation from transient temperature backgrounds has
been calculated at a surface of the coaxial thermocouple as displayed in Fig. 3. Since
the heat transfer insertion during the experimental duration is meager compared to
the linear dimension of a coaxial thermocouple. So, the arrangement can be formu-
lated by acknowledging unsteady heat conduction in a 1-d semi-infinite solid object,
Kumar et al. [2], and Schultz and Jones [13].
Governing Eq.:

∂ 2 T1 ρ1 c1 ∂ T1
= (1)
∂x2 k1 ∂t

∂ T2
2
ρ2 c2 ∂ T2
= (2)
∂x 2 k2 ∂t
The initial condition has been taken as input heat load qs (t), which is applied
promptly on the surface junction, where the transient temperature will be T s (t), then
the initial condition and boundary condition are as follows, Kumar et al. [2]:
Initial Condition:
At t = 0 and 0 ≤ x ≤ l2 ;
T (x, 0) = T amb = 300 K;
Boundary condition:
At top surface, x = 0 and t > 0;
q̇(0, t) = q̇s (t) (3)

At interface, x = l 1 and t > 0;
q̇s1 = q̇s2 = q̇s
And T 1 = T 2 = T s (t);
For bottom surface: x = l2 and t > 0;
T (l 2, t) = 300 K.
If the thermal properties of thermocouple materials are supposed to be constant
and heat flux q̇s (t) relinquishing through surface x = l2.
The finite element investigation has been carried out for K-type CT using popular
software Ansys 15. The model of K-type CT has been formed using Solid Works
software and then it is imported into Ansys workbench. The mesh generation of
this coaxial model is very crucial due to its small dimension and particularly of the
junction area which is going to sense the input. The mesh tool used is auto-mesh and
the size is control manually. The size function used is adaptive and the target mesh
quality obtained is 0.005. The element size for this simulation is 103,250, which
is the outcome of grid stability studies. The mesh generation has been shown in
Fig. 4a. The boundary conditions are taken same as experimental conditions for 1-d
heat conduction theory for the semi-infinite solid object. The heat flux 25 kW/m2 has
been applied to the junction and at the bottom end is kept at the 300 K temperature. The
outer wall of model is kept adiabatic (q = 0) and initially a uniform temperature of
the coaxial thermocouple is maintained as 300 K as discussed in Eq. (3) The variation
of temperature has shown in the temperature counter (Fig. 4b), where the red color
shows maximum temperature and blue shows initial temperature.
The transient temperature history from finite element approach was compared
with the experimental outcome. It is found that the outcomes from experimental
Fig. 4 The figure shows a geometric representation of thermocouple as well as finite element mesh
generation, and b contour of transient temperature
Fig. 5 The variation of 308

transient temperature Heat Input = 25kW/m2
histories for K-type coaxial 307
thermocouple
306
Temperature (K)
305
304
303
302
301 Numerical
Expriment
300
0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0
Time (S)
investigation are good agreement with results of the numerical simulation as shown
in Fig. 5.
4 Heat Flux Measurement
The unsteady heat flux evaluation from temperature background for 1-D heat conduc-
tion strategy on a semi-infinite solid object is based on the listed hypotheses; (i) The
temperature recorded by coaxial thermocouples is equivalent to surface temperature
{T s (t)} of the measuring surface; (ii) The heat transfer takes place on the coaxial
body through conduction mode only and it is unidirectional, i-e the lateral heat losses
have been ignored; (iii) thermal characteristics of the thermoelement are assumed
to be constant; (iv) The length of the coaxial sensor is considered to be infinite and
the end edge maintained atmospheric conditions and the rise in temperature is zero.
Then, Eq. 4 (Duhamel’s superposition) is used to evaluate the surface heating rate,
Manjhi and Kumar [1], Kumar et al. [2], Kumar and Sahoo [3], Schultz and Jones
[13], and Taler [14] as given in Eq. 4
t
β d{Ts (t)} 1
q̇s (t) = √ √ dτ (4)
π dt t −τ
0
The estimated heat fluxes from the experimental outcome (23.94 kW/m2 ) as well
as from the numerical investigation (24.3357 kW/m2 ) are found very close having
average error of 3.4% when compared with input heat applied to the junction of
coaxial thermocouple; which is considerably good (Fig. 6).
Fig. 6 Transient surface

Heat Input = 25kW/m2
heat flux evaluated from the
25
temperature backgrounds
20
Heat Flux (kW/m2)

15
10
5
Numerical
Experimental
0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Time (S)
5 Conclusion
A K-type coaxial thermocouple is standardized for short-duration measurement

through conduction-based soldering iron experiment. The experimental result and
FE simulation result are compared with applied heat load to the junction of the
K-type coaxial thermocouple and found good agreement between them with reason-
able accuracy of 3.4%. Thus, this house made K-type coaxial thermocouple can be
adopted to quantify transient temperatures as well as their surface heat flux can also
be predicted using 1-d heat conduction theory on a semi-infinite solid object. This
house made K-type coaxial sensor can be used for monotonous measurements of
surface heat flux for short duration in the real engineering application where heat
transfer rate changing very rapidly such as in I.C. Engine, advanced manufacturing
processes, cooling devices, aerodynamic vehicles such as in supersonic flow envi-
ronments, etc. This K-type coaxial sensor has cost-effective, robust, and accessible
in fabrication and having a fast response time.
References
1. Manjhi, S.K., Kumar, R.: Stagnation point transient heat flux measurement analysis from coax-
ial thermocouples. Exp. Heat Transf. 31, 405–424 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1080/08916152.
2018.1431738
2. Kumar, R., Sahoo, N., Kulkarni, V.: Conduction based calibration of handmade platinum thin
film heat transfer gauges for transient measurements. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 55, 2707–2713
(2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2012.01.026
3. Kumar, R., Sahoo, N.: Dynamic calibration of a coaxial thermocouples for short duration
transient measurements. ASME J. Heat Transfer 135, 79–84 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1115/
1.4024593
4. Henze, M., Bogdanic, L., Muehlbauer, K., Schnieder, M.: Effect of the biot number on metal
temperature of thermal barrier coated turbine parts—real engine measurements. ASME J.
Turbomach. 135, 031029 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4007510
5. Marr, M.A., Wallace, J.S., Chandra, S., Pershin, L., Mostaghimi, J.: A fast response thermo-
couple for internal combustion engine surface temperature measurements. Exp. Thermal Fluid
Sci. 34, 183–189 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2009.10.008
6. Chen, J.C., Hsu, K.K.: Heat transfer during liquid contact on superheated surfaces. J. Heat
Transfer 117, 693–697 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2822632
7. Sahoo, N., Kumar, R.: Performance assessment of thermal sensors during short duration con-
vective surface heating measurements. Heat Mass Transf. 52, 2005–2013 (2015). https://doi.
org/10.1007/s00231-015-1694-0
8. Agarwal, S., Sahoo, N., Singh, R.K.: Experimental techniques for thermal product determina-
tion of coaxial surface junction thermocouples during short duration transient measurements.
Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 103, 327–335 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.
2016.07.062
9. Mohammed, H.A., Salleh, H., Yusoff, M.Z.: Design and fabrication of coaxial surface junction
thermocouples for transient heat transfer measurement. Int. Commun. Heat Mass Transf. 35,
853–859 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2008.03.009
10. Mohammed, H.A., Salleh, H., Yusoff, M.Z.: Dynamic calibration and performance of reliable
and fast-response coaxial temperature probes in a shock tube facility. Exp. Heat Transf. 24,
109–132 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1080/08916152.2010.482752
11. Manjhi, S.K., Kumar, R.: Design, fabrication and sensitivity analysis of different types of
co-axial thermocouples using oil bath based calibration technique. Indian J. Nat. Sci. 32,
11816–11823 (2016). ISSN: 0976-0997
12. Buttsworth, D.R.: Assessment of effective thermal product of surface junction thermocouples
on millisecond and microsecond time scales. Exp. Therm. Fluid Sci. 25, 409–429 (2001).
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0894-1777(01)00093-0
13. Schultz, D.L., Jones, T.V.: Heat Transfer Measurement in Short Duration Hypersonic Facilities.
University of oxford Britain: AGARD NO. 165, pp. 47–50. Accession Number: AD0758590
(1973)
14. Taler, J.: Theory of transient experimental techniques for surface heat transfer. Int. J. Heat Mass
Transf. 39, 3733–3748 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1016/0017-9310(96)00015-4
Performance Analysis of a Coal-Fired
Open Cycle MHD Plant at Constant
Subsonic Inlet Nozzle Mach Number
with Variation in Nozzle–Area Ratio
Prabin Haloi and Tapan Kumar Gogoi
Abstract In the present work, a coal-fired magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) power

plant is analyzed to predict its performance using constant nozzle inlet Mach number.
Two supersonic nozzles, namely, A and B are taken with the variation in throat to
exit area ratio. The nozzle exit parameters, adiabatic flame temperature for coal
combustion, and the performance parameters of the segmented Faraday-type MHD
generator are calculated using each nozzle separately. It has been found that an
increase/decrease in nozzle–area ratio resulted in an increase/decrease in gas velocity
at MHD generator inlet but with a reduction in temperature. The nozzle efficiency
is found to be almost independent of either the area ratio or Mach number at nozzle
exit. The maximum voltage and power are found to increase with increase in area
ratio. The nozzle exit velocity and efficiencies are found to vary with area ratio.
1 Introduction
Energy demand worldwide has seen a dramatic increase in power demand in the last
few decades. The conventional methods of power generation that widely depends
upon fossil fuels have been reduced to some extent due to the advancement of tech-
nology and use of nonconventional methods of energy production. Solar, wind, tidal,
nuclear energy sources, etc. have been explored and harnessed to meet the demand. At
the same time all these sources and their harnessing methods could not reduce depen-
dency on fossil fuels because of their various existing limitations compared to fossil
fuel energy resources. Gas and steam turbines have been made more efficient with
higher inlet temperature due to the advancement in metallurgy and high-temperature
blade and other materials. The use of conventional and most nonconventional tech-
nologies of power generation is limited by the maximum material temperature limit,
wear and tear, aging, etc. The role of magnetohydrodynamics as a means of power
P. Haloi (B) · T. K. Gogoi

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam 784028, India
e-mail: haloi_p@tezu.ernet.in
T. K. Gogoi
e-mail: tapan_g@tezu.ernet.in
710 P. Haloi and T. K. Gogoi
generation has been cited as one of the most potential alternatives to conventional
as well as other nonconventional energy production methods because of its various
advantages. The MHD power system is a direct method of energy conversion that
converts heat energy to electrical energy. The generator of an MHD plant is free of
any rotating components unlike power turbines. Moreover, the operating temperature
for MHD can be much higher than what could be achieved by any known energy
generation system. The MHD power generation concept was introduced long back,
for the first time by Michael Faraday in 1832. Faraday by his experiment found
the possibility of electric power generation capacity from flowing water under the
influence of earth’s magnetic field.
The literature on MHD power reveals the continuous effort put forth by the scien-
tific and research community, energy policy-makers, and administrators around the
world to establish a new, reliable, safe, and sustainable energy [1] for the current and
future in the form of MHD. Various analysis and experiments were conducted in order
to realize MHD power commercially [2–7]. Results of MHD power and efficiency
at constant velocity have shown dependency on isentropic conditions [2] when irre-
versibilities due to internal and external factors were considered. Processes in MHD
power generation and related issues have been discussed [3] and recommended the
use of other efficient subsystems. Future prospects of MHD power generation are
dependent on suitably meeting the challenges through more technological develop-
ments. In realizing MHD power, the associated demerits [4] need to be addressed
and use of MHD in existing thermal power generation plants can enhance the gener-
ation capacities [5, 6] of such plants. Recent performance analysis of MHD power
plant was based on variation in coal combustion technique [7], use of maximum
power density at a constant velocity for generators [8], and variation in the generator
inlet both as subsonic and supersonic [9] at constant channel width. The results of
these analyses have shown to improve the efficiency or power output. The present
work analyzes the performance of an MHD power plant with the variation in noz-
zle–area ratio at a constant and subsonic nozzle inlet Mach number that has not been
reported in other literature and is an alternate approach in estimating the MHD plant
performance. Temperature and velocity modulation for high power densities [10]
by modulating plasma in a quasi-steady MHD combustion system have also been
reported.
2 Model Description
The present work considers a simple MHD power plant having a combustor, a super-
sonic nozzle, the MHD generator followed by a diffuser and a seed recovery unit.
Coal is used as fuel. Coal and preheated air are supplied to the MHD combustion
chamber to which cesium (Cs) is supplied as a seeding material to improve ionization
and electrical conductivity of the combustion gas. The ionized gas (plasma) passes
through a converging-diverging nozzle where it is accelerated to a high velocity. At
high temperature and velocity the plasma flows through the MHD duct. The MHD
Performance Analysis of a Coal-Fired Open Cycle MHD … 711
duct chosen is a segmented Faraday-type generator to which a strong magnetic field

is applied transversely. Electric current is obtained with the use of electrodes attached
to the generator walls perpendicular to the direction of conducting fluid flow.
2.1 Fuel and Air Analysis
The coal for analysis has been taken as a typical Assam coal found in Karbi Anglong
with the moisture and volatile matter removed and the composition within a given
range and assumed data. The elemental composition (wt%) of dry coal is C = 70, H
= 4, O = 9, S = 3.4, N = 1.6, A = 12
The combustion reaction of coal in air is given by
∗
xC+yH + zO + lS + mN + n(O2 + 3.76 N2 ) → jCO2
CO2 + jH∗ 2 O H2 O + jSO
∗
2
SO2 ,
+ jO∗ 2 O2 + jN∗ 2 N2 (1)
where x, y, z, l, and m are the mass fraction of coal composition, n is the stoichiometric
coefficient and the asterisk js are the mole fractions of the product species. The fuel
to air ratio, f obtained is 0.10783 using 20% excess air.
The HHV of the dry coal is found using the correlation [11].
HHV = 0.3491 C + 1.1783 H + 0.1005 S − 0.1034 O − 0.0211 A − 0.015 N.

(2)
The mass flow rate for coal is obtained considering combustion and conversion
efficiencies, heat rate and overall conversion efficiency are 2.159 kg/s and the airflow
rate according to [12] is calculated as
Mair 1
ṁ air = × ṁ fuel × . (3)
Mfuel f
Molecular mass for fuel and air are computed from their elemental compositions
using Eq. (1). Mass flow rate of the seed material is taken as 1% of the total combined
flow rates of coal and air. The flow rate of the combustion products or plasma is
obtained as
ṁ plasma = ṁ air + ṁ fuel + ṁ seed . (4)
Knowing fuel HHV and fuel flow rate, the thermal input to the MHD combustor
is obtained.
Q̇ th = ṁ dry coal × HHV. (5)

2.2 Adiabatic Flame Temperature
The adiabatic flame temperature or maximum theoretical temperature for the com-
bustion chamber is estimated using a constant-pressure combustion process that gives
a lower temperature compared to constant-volume combustion.
For a constant-pressure combustion reaction [13], the enthalpy relation of the
reactants and products is given by

Hproduct = HReactants , (6)
where

Hproduct = n k h̄ 0f,k + n k c̄ p,k (Tadia − 298), (7)
p p
and

HReactants = n i h̄ 0f,i , (8)
R
where k and i represent the product and reactant components and n k and n i are the
respective number of moles of the product and reactant components taking part in
the combustion reaction given by Eq. (1).
The mean specific heats for the constituents products c̄ p,k are taken at an average
temperature of 298 and 4502 K (assumed adiabatic temperature) considering the
ionization of the combustion products. The adiabatic flame temperature is 3500 K;
the values of the specific enthalpy of formation and the specific heats of the product
species temperature are interpolated from the data values [13] and JANAF Thermo-
chemical tables at the required temperature for the state points illustrated in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 Typical MHD power plant

Table 1 Determination of
Mass flow rate, ṁ, HHV (MJ/kg) Thermal input Qth
mass flow rates, HHV, and
(kg/s) (MW)
thermal input
ṁ fuel 2.159 28.2841 61.0654
ṁ air 51.5942
ṁ seed 0.537532
ṁ plasma 54.290732
2.3 Analysis of MHD Plant Components
The present analysis mainly takes into account the combustor, nozzle, and MHD
generator for the purpose of performance evaluation of the MHD plant.
Combustor: The mass flow rates of various flow streams, thermal input, and the
adiabatic flame temperature for the MHD combustor have been determined in Table 1
using the relations (2)–(8).
Nozzle: The two nozzles A, B in the present work differ with respect to their
area ratios. Each nozzle is assumed adiabatic and flow through them is idealized as
isentropic. The nozzle exit flow Mach number is determined to obtain the nozzle exit
temperature.
2(γ−1)
γ+1
−(γ+1) 1+ γ−1
Me2
Ae γ+1 2(γ−1) 2
= × , (9)
A∗ 2 Me
−1
Te γ−1 2
= 1+ Me , (10)
Tadia 2
Thus the velocity at the nozzle exit is calculated
Ve = Me × cs (Te ), (11)
where cs the sound velocity is a function of nozzle exit temperature.

cs (Te ) = γRT e . (12)
R, γ are the gas constant for the combustion gas which has been calculated using
molecular weights of the product elements and using average values of constant-
pressure-specific heats [13] of the combustion products. The stagnation and exit
pressures for nozzles are calculated from
γ
pe γ − 1 2 γ−1
= 1+ Me , (13)
p0 2
and

√ γ+1
ṁ plasma T0 γ γ − 1 ∗ γ−1
= M∗ 1+ M . (14)
A ∗ p0 R 2
Generator: The generator in MHD is a segmented Faraday generator. A magnetic

field of strength of 2.5 T is applied to the flowing fluid. The conductivity of the fluid
is assumed at 10 S/m.
The maximum current, maximum voltage, maximum power, and efficiency for
the generator are estimated for given magnetic field strength B (Tesla) and electrical
conductivity σ (S/m) of working fluid.
Maximum current,
B×σ× A
Imax = , (15)
2
Maximum voltage,
B × Ve × l
vmax = , (16)
2
Maximum power,
σ × Ve2 × B 2
Pmax = , (17)
4
Maximum efficiency,
vmax
η= . (18)
Ve × B
For the two nozzle area ratios considered, the nozzle exit Mach numbers are obtained
using the area ratio relation (9) above. The nozzle exit gas temperature given by
Eq. (10) is the function of two parameters namely the exit Mach number and adiabatic
temperature.
Table 2 shows that the nozzle with a smaller area ratio delivers a smaller Mach
number at its exit than the one with a higher ratio.
Table 2 Estimation of nozzle Ae

Nozzles A∗ Me γ
exit Mach number
A 2.025 2.0 1.104
B 4.1265 2.5 1.104
Table 3 Determination of nozzle parameters

Nozzles Mi Me T0 (K) Te (K) Ve (m/s) ηn (%)
A 0.7 2.0 3500 2897.35 981.94 99
B 0.7 2.5 3500 2641.50 1096.79 99.9
It has been observed from Table 3 that the nozzle exit velocity increases with an
increase in exit Mach number but with a corresponding decrease in exit tempera-
ture. With constant thermal input, the maximum power delivered by the generator
increases with increase in exit velocity or exit Mach number and maximum voltage.
At constant thermal input, the maximum power delivered by the generator
increases with increase in exit velocity or exit Mach number and maximum volt-
age.
From the estimated data in Table 4, it shows that for same thermal input the
maximum power and maximum voltage obtained from the MHD generator differ for
the two nozzles A and B at constant maximum current. The maximum power and
voltage obtainable using nozzle with higher area ratio (nozzle B in this case) are
higher.
At constant thermal input, using the nozzle with a higher exit Mach number as in
Fig. 2 at constant inlet Mach number is able to generate a higher maximum voltage
in the generator.
Table 4 Estimation of the MHD plant parameters

Nozzles Maximum power Maximum current Maximum voltage Plant efficiency
(MW) (Amp.) (V) (%)
A 13.195 12.5 1148.675 50
B 18.598 12.5 1363.75 50
Fig. 2 Variation of
maximum voltage at
constant thermal input
4 Conclusion
The area ratio for the supersonic nozzle in MHD power plant has been varied to obtain
supersonic flow at the exit of nozzle or at the inlet to the generator of MHD plant.
The variation in area ratio for the nozzle does affect the generator inlet temperature
which is an important parameter to retain plasma state within the generator volume.
The flow Mach number variation within the generator duct resulted in the variation
in maximum voltage and power. It has been observed that at a constant and subsonic
nozzle inlet Mach number, the maximum power and voltage in MHD generator are the
function of area ratio and is independent of the thermal input and current produced.
The nozzle efficiency is also observed to be unaffected when the area ratio is varied.
Though the schematic showed two other components, namely, the diffuser and the
seed recovery unit and their analysis will be carried out as a part of near-future work
and is not included in the current analysis. In order to achieve more realistic results,
a complete MHD plant with all its downstream flow components up to the stack is
to be analyzed.
Acknowledgements The authors of this work are greatly thankful to the vast scientific and research
community for their contributions to literature on MHD. We would also like to convey our gratitude
to the works carried out toward the development of MHD power systems that have been inspired
all the way.
References
1. Chernyshaw, V.: International co-operation in MHD electrical power generation. IAEA Bul-
letin. 20, 45–53
2. Assad, M.El.H.: Thermodynamic analysis of MHD power cycle. J. Robs. Mech. Eng. Rsr. 1,
7–10 (2015)
3. Krishnan, R.A., Jinshah, B.S.: Magnetohydrodynamic power generation. Int. J. Sc. Rsr. Pubs.
3, 1–11 (2013)
4. Dhareppagol, V.D., Anand, S.: The future power generation with MHD generators magneto
hydro dynamic generation. Int. J. Adv. Electl. Electrn. Engg. 2, 2278–8948 (2013)
5. Poonthamil, R., Prakash, S., Kumar, V.S.A.: Enhancement of power generation in thermal
power plant using MHD system. IOSR J. Mech. Civil Eng. 13, 142–146 (2016)
6. Ayeleso, A.O., Kahn, Md.T.E.: Modelling of a combustible ionised gas in thermal power plants
using MHD conversion system in South Africa. J. King Saud Univ.–Sci. 30, 367–374(2015)
7. Cicconardi, S.P., Perna, A.: Performance analysis of integrated systems based on MHD gener-
ators. Energy Procedia. 45, 1305–1314 (2014)
8. Sahin, B., Ali, K., Hasbi, Y.: A performance analysis for MHD power cycles operating at
maximum power density. J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 29, 1473–1475 (1999)
9. Aithal, S.M.: Characteristics of optimum power extraction in a MHD generator with subsonic
and supersonic inlets. Engy. Conv. Mgmt. 50, 765–771 (2009)
10. Ibberson,V.J., Harris, D.: Temperature and velocity modulated MHD systems. Phil. Trans.
Royl. Soc. Lond. Series A. 261 (1967) 429–439
11. Channiwala, S.A., Parikh, P.P.: A unified correlation for estimating HHV of solid. Liquid
Gaseous Fuels Fuel 81, 1051–1063 (2002)
12. Bejan, A., Tsatsaronis, G., Moran, M.: Thermal design and optimization. Wiley, New York
(1996)
13. Turns, S.R.: An Introduction to Combustion Concepts and Applications, 3rd edn. McGraw Hill
Education Private Limited, India (2012)
A Simplified Approach for the Rapid
Evaluation of Thermodynamic
Properties of Saturated Water and Steam
Amrit Chatterjee and Bijan Kumar Mandal
Abstract Thermodynamic properties of steam are very often required to evaluate

the performance of power plant and other industries where process steam is used.
Simplified equations and correlations have been identified from the literature for
different properties of steam and used to develop a code in C language. The present
code can predict properties of saturated water and steam in the temperature range of
0 to 370 °C. The only input required to run this code is temperature and the output
is the corresponding saturated thermodynamic properties such as specific enthalpy,
entropy, and specific volume. The data generated from this code is then compared
with the data available in standard steam table. It is observed that the average error
for all properties is less than 0.2% which is good enough for most applications. This
code can also be used as a subroutine for the performance optimization of any power
plant.
Keywords Saturated thermodynamic properties · Enthalpy · Entropy · Steam

table · Mollier diagram
Nomenclature
Thermodynamic quantities
h Specific Enthalpy (kJ/kg)

P Pressure (MPa)
s Specific entropy (kJ/kg-K)
T Saturated Temperature (K)
v Specific Volume (m3 /kg)
A. Chatterjee (B) · B. K. Mandal

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Engineering
Science and Technology, Shibpur, Howrah 711103, India
e-mail: sankhachatterjee1998@gmail.com

718 A. Chatterjee and B. K. Mandal
Greek Symbols
ρ Density (kg/m3 )
τ (1 − T/TC )
Subscripts
c Value at critical point of water

f Property in liquid stage
fg Property in vapor-liquid mixture
g Property in gaseous stage
r Reduced value means actual value divided by the critical value
1 Introduction
Steam is one of the most commonly used working fluid in thermal and nuclear power
stations. Thermodynamic properties of water and steam are needed at various con-
ditions for the determination of the performances of the plants. Tables and charts are
available containing various properties of water and steam over a wide range of pres-
sure and temperature. Interpolations are often required to get the property values at
the desired condition which is a time-consuming procedure. The alternative method
is the use of approximations which will reduce the time of computation and cost
[1]. In 1840s, Regnault with some assistance from Kelvin carefully measured the
thermodynamic properties of steam [2]. Steam table based on Regnault’s data began
to appear towards the end of nineteenth century. Calendar developed thermodynam-
ically consistent set of equations for evaluating steam properties in 1900 [2]. Steltz
and Silvestri [3] made an attempt in 1956 to find approximate steam properties using
IBM 704 digital computer. Martin [4] developed a computer-aided method for the
approximate calculation of several thermodynamic properties of steam and water.
The results obtained using this method was found to be in good agreement with
the then available published data for steam. The formulation of the thermodynamic
properties of steam and water was developed in 1967 (known as IFC-67) produced
the values of skeleton table within their tolerance range. Afterward, IAPWS adopted
a new formulation for thermodynamic properties of water and steam after rectifying
the errors in IFC-67 known as “IAPWS Industrial Formulation 1997 (IAPWS-IF97)”
[5]. Heimlich [6] developed a C/C++ code called PARSTEAM based on the IAPWS
formulation for calculation of the properties of water and steam. Another code called
NBSNRCE was developed in Fortran 77 based on the steam table NBS/NRC [6] and
the formulas used were determined by the method of least squares [1].
A Simplified Approach for the Rapid Evaluation … 719
The most accurate values of steam properties can only be obtained from the
steam table generated from the experimental data. Steam properties such as specific
enthalpy, entropy, and specific volume are often required at different states for the
analysis and optimization of steam power cycles. This involves the interpolation of
data between two tabulated states which is a tedious job. Also, similar calculations
have to be carried out many times before getting the desired optimized condition.
This requires the properties to be expressed in the forms of various equations so that
these can be inserted in the code as subroutines. Clearly, this will not be as accurate
as the results obtained using steam tables directly. But this will certainly reduce the
time and it may be considered as a process for fast calculation. Keeping this in mind
the authors have developed a mathematical model based on the equations available
in the literature for different important properties of steam. The equations which are
used in this paper are for saturated pressure and specific enthalpy, specific entropy
and specific volume in saturated liquid and saturated vapor states. All properties have
a range from 0 to 370 °C except for entropy which is from 5 to 370 °C. The property
values generated using this developed code have also been compared with the actual
values presented in standard steam table to check the accuracy of simulated values.
2 Mathematical Modelling
Several equations are available in the literature related to the mathematical formula-
tion of thermodynamic properties of steam which have a large number of variables.
Most of them are in the form of Gibbs free energy or Helmholtz equation [7] and it is
a very tedious job to use in computer programming. So, different equations for calcu-
lating the thermodynamic properties of saturated water and steam were reviewed and
are chosen relevantly to reduce the difficulty faced. All the equations were tested and
the equations which give the most convenient results are used here. Those equations
and the corresponding errors are presented in the next subsections.
2.1 Saturated Pressure
Several determinations of the relation between the temperature and pressure of satu-
rated water vapor have recently been made in the range between the normal boiling
point and the critical region. But many of the equations do not give close and accurate
results. The equation finally selected for this work considering both the simplicity
and accuracy have been taken from the work of Osborne and Meyer [8].
B C x Dx 2 5/4
log P = A + + 10 − 1 + E × 10 F y (1)
T T
where x = T 2 − K , y = 647.14 − T
A = +5.4266514, B = −2005.1, C = 1.3869 × 10−4 , D = 1.1965 × 10−11 , E = 0.0044,
F = −0.0057148, K = +293700.
The maximum error within the investigated range is found to be 0.1759% at 35 °C

and the average error is noted to be 0.0363%.
2.2 Specific Enthalpy of Steam
Specific enthalpy of saturated steam mainly depends on saturated temperature. It

can be calculated using Wagner and Pruss [9] equation which contains 22 con-
stants. Wojtkowiak and Popiel [10] also developed a polynomial equation for specific
enthalpy of five degrees. This equation is further modified and simplified by Affandi
et al. [11]. This simplified equation which also generates satisfactory results within
tolerable limit has been used in this work. The equation is as follows:

1 0.35
c d e
ln h g = a + b ln b + 2
+ 3+ 4 (2)
Tr Tr Tr Tr
where T r is the reduced temperature, i.e., the temperature divided by the critical
temperature (T c ) of water and a, b, c, d, e are constants.
In the range of temperature from 5 to 370 °C, the maximum error and the average
error are found to be 0.169% and 0.0358%, respectively.
2.3 Specific Enthalpy of Water
The specific enthalpy of water can be expressed following Saul and Wagner [12] as
α T dP
hf = + × (3)
α0 ρf dT
where
α
= d0 + d1 Tr−19 + d2 Tr + d3 Tr4.5 + d4 Tr5 + d5 Tr54.5 (4)
α0
Values of the different constants used in Eq. (4) are as follows:

d0 = −1135.481615639, d1 = −5.71756 × 10−8 , d2 = 2689.81,

d3 = 129.889, d4 = −137.181, d5 = 0.968874.
dP
The derivative dT
can be calculated using the following relation:

T dP P
− × = ln + a1 + 1.5a2 τ 0.5 + 3a3 τ 2 + 3.5a4 τ 2.5 + 4a5 τ 3 + 7.5a6 τ 6.5 (5)
P dT Pc
Values of the various constants used in the above equation are as follows:
a1 = −7.85823, a2 = 1.83991, a3 = −11.7811,

a4 = 22.6705, a5 = −15.9393, a6 = 1.77516.
Similarly, the expression ρ f can be obtained from the following relation:
ρf
= 1 + b1 τ 1/3 + b2 τ 2/3 + b3 τ 1/3 + b1 τ 5/3 + b4 τ 16/3 + b5 τ 43/3 + b6 τ 110/3 (6)
ρc
where τ is defined as, τ = 1 − T /Tc .

The values of different constants used in Eq. (6) are as follows:
b1 = 1.99206, b2 = 1.10123, b3 = −0.512506,

b4 = −1.75263, b5 = −45.4485, b6 = −6.75615 × 105 ,
Pc = 22.064M Pa, ρc = 322 kg/m 3 , Tc = 647.21 K .
The values of the pressure, temperature, and density at the critical point of water
have been taken from the work of Wyczalkowska et al. [13].
The maximum error and the average error in the calculation of saturated water
enthalpy are noted to be 0.9758% and 0.203%, respectively for the tested temperature
range.
2.4 Specific Enthalpy of Water–Steam Mixtures
The first step to find the specific enthalpy of saturated liquid–vapor mixture at a
particular temperature is to calculate the difference of specific enthalpies of saturated
vapor and saturated liquid at that temperature [11]. This also denotes the latent heat
of vaporization at that particular temperature. So, one can write
h fg = h g − h f (7)
The maximum error in hfg is noted to be about 0.201% and the average error is
0.015%.
Now, if the dryness fraction of water–steam mixture (also called wet steam) is
known, the specific enthalpy of the mixture can be calculated using the following
relation:

h = h f + x hg − h f (8)
2.5 Specific Entropy of Saturated Steam
The entropy of saturated steam can be formulated in terms of reduced temperature

for simplification as proposed by Affandi et al. [11]. It was derived after modifying
the equation originally developed by Wagner and Pruss [9] and this can be written
as follows:

1 0.35
c d e
ln sg = a + b ln + 2+ 3+ 4 (9)
Tr Tr Tr Tr
The above equation produces results with maximum error of 0.0586% in the
considered temperature range. The average error is, however, much less and is equal
to 0.0037%.
2.6 Specific Entropy of Saturated Steam
Several researchers such as Garland and Hoskins [1], Saul and Wagner [12], Irvine
and Liley [14] proposed different equations for the calculation of specific entropy
of saturated water. Out of those equations, the one proposed by Silver [15] is finally
chosen for calculation of specific entropy for its simplicity and it is given by
h fg
s f = sg − (10)
T
The use of the above-mentioned relation gives a maximum error of just 0.8594%
and the average error of 0.126% only.
2.7 Specific Volume of Saturated Steam
Irvine and Liley [14] developed an equation for the calculation of the specific vol-
ume of saturated steam which has 11 constants. But Affandi et al. [11] developed
an equation modifying the equation proposed by Wagner and Pruss [9] which is
Table 1 Values of constants

Const. Equation (2) Equation (9) Equation (11)
used in equations (2), (9),
and (11) a 64.8786 −7.75883 1.4773
b 11.76476 3.23753 0.5324
c −11.94431 2.05755 −0.0192
d 6.29015 0.06052 0.02974
e −0.99893 0.00529 −0.00802
rather simplified containing only five constants. For the present work, this simplified
equation has been used which is as follows:

1 0.4
c d e
ln vg = a + b ln + + 3+ 4 (11)
Tr Tr2 Tr Tr
Within the considered range of 5–370 °C, it is found that the maximum error is
0.0921% at 195 °C while the average error is 0.0175%. The values of the different
constants used in Eqs. (2), (9), and (11) are listed in Table 1.
A C-code using various equations mentioned in the previous section has been devel-
oped. The code accepts temperature as the only input to generate temperature-based
thermodynamic properties of saturated water and saturated steam. The property val-
ues as obtained by running this developed coded are compared with the values avail-
able in the steam table due to Keenan et al. [16]. Tables 2 and 3 show the comparison
of the present values and values available in the steam table for specific enthalpy of
steam and specific entropy of saturated steam, respectively, at six different tempera-
tures distributed throughout the considered range of temperature.
Table 2 Error for specific

Temp. (°C) Present value Keenan et al. % Error
enthalpy of steam
(kJ/kg) value (kJ/kg)
5 2508.17 2510.51 −0.092
55 2601.39 2600.92 0.027
105 2683.17 2683.83 −0.023
205 2797.98 2796.00 0.071
305 2738.98 2738.70 0.010
370 2336.04 2332.12 0.169
Table 3 Error for specific

Temp. (°C) Present value Keenan et al. % Error
entropy of steam
(kJ/kg K) value (kJ/kg K)
5 9.0227 9.0257 −0.033
55 7.9896 7.9912 −0.020
105 7.2919 7.2958 −0.053
205 6.3975 6.3951 0.0375
305 5.6625 5.6629 −0.007
370 4.798 4.7972 0.0166
It can be observed from the two tables that the deviations are marginal which can
be neglected in all practical purposes. The errors in other properties such as saturated
pressure and specific volume of steam at different temperatures are also very less.
For better understanding graphs of different properties of water and steam have
also been plotted in the Origin pro8 software using the data obtained from the present
work and the actual data taken from the steam table [16]. Figure 1 shows the temper-
ature versus entropy plot for saturated water and steam based on the data generated
from the code and the steam table data. This diagram is very useful in many thermo-
dynamic applications. An excellent matching is observed with minimum error.
The variation of saturated pressure with temperature has been shown in Fig. 2.
The present results match well both qualitatively and quantitatively with the actual
values of saturated pressure as given in the steam table. The temperature versus
saturated enthalpy diagram is shown in Fig. 3. The diagram is very much similar to
the original temperature versus enthalpy diagram of steam. The change of saturated
pressure with specific enthalpy is shown in Fig. 4. It is found that every point lies
Fig. 1 Temperature versus 400

specific entropy plot
350
300
Temperature( oC)
250
200
150
100 sf (Present)
sf (Keenan et al.)
sg (Keenan et al.)
50
sg (Present)
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Entropy (kJ/kg-K)
Fig. 2 Saturated pressure

versus temperature plot
Fig. 3 Temperature versus

specific enthalpy plot
on the line obtained from the present work. This implies that the diagram is very
accurate.
Fig. 4 Saturated pressure

versus specific enthalpy plot 20.0 hf (Present)
h f (Keenan et al.)
17.5 hg (Keenan et al.)
Saturated Pressure (MPa)

hg (Present)
15.0
12.5
10.0
7.5
5.0
2.5
0.0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Enthalpy (kJ/kg)
4 Conclusion
The following conclusions can be drawn from this work. The present formulation is
simple and straight forward and convenient to use to get saturated properties of steam
and water at any temperature between 0 and 370 °C. A predicted result obtained from
the formulation is very close to actual results available in the standard steam table
and it is also very convenient to use. Average error for each property is found to be
very small, i.e., less than 0.2%, except for saturated water enthalpy which is 0.203%.
So, the values obtained from the developed model can be used for simulations of
thermal and nuclear power plants and also industrial applications. This basic code
can be further used to build software to generate the properties of water and steam
easily to reduce time of interpolation.
References
1. Garland, W.J., Hoskins, J.D.: Approximate functions for the fast calculation of light-water
properties at saturation. Int. J. Multiphase Flow 14(3), 333–348 (1988)
2. Harvey, A.H.: Steam tables, encyclopaedia of physical. Sci. Technol. 16(3), 1–4 (2013)
3. Steltz, W.G., Silvestri, G.J.: The formulation of steam properties for digital computer applica-
tion. TRANS. ASME 80, 967 (1958)
4. Martin, T.W.: Improved Computer oriented methods for calculation of steam properties. J. Heat
Trans. ASME 83(4), 515–516 (1961)
5. International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam.: IAPWS Industrial Formula-
tion 1997 for the Thermodynamic Properties of Water and Steam, IAPWS Release (1997)
6. Affonso, R.R.W., Silva, E.B.S., Moreira, M.L., Heimlich, A.: Computer Codes for the Calcu-
lation of Thermodynamic Properties of Water. INAC, Recife, PE, Brazil (2013)
7. Span, R.: using multiparameter equations of state for pure substances. In: Multiparameter
Equations of State: an Accurate Source of Thermodynamic Property Data, 1st ed., pp. 16–25.
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, New York (2000)
8. Osborne, N.S., Meyers, C.H.: A formula and tables for the pressure of saturated water vapor
in the range 0 to 374 °C. J. Res. Nat. Bur. Stand. 13, 1–2 (1934)
9. Wagner, W., Pruss A.: International equations for the saturation properties of ordinary water
substance. revised according to the international temperature scale pf 1990. J. Phys. Chem.
Ref. Data. 22(3), 783–787 (1993)
10. Popiel, C.O., Wojtkowiak, J.: Simple formulas for Thermophysical properties of liquid water
for heat transfer calculations (from 0 to 150 °C). Heat Trans. Eng. 19(3), 87–101 (1998)
11. Affandi, M., Mamat, N., Md Kanafiaha, S.N., Khalida, N.S.: Simplified equations for saturated
steam properties for simulation purpose. Procedia Eng. 53, 722–726 (2013)
12. Saul, A., Wagner, W.: International equations for saturation properties of ordinary water sub-
stance. J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 16(4), 893–901 (1987)
13. Wyczalkowska, A.K., Abdulkadirova, KhS, Anisimov, M.A., Senger, J.V.: Thermodynamic
properties of H2 O and D2 O in the critical region. J. Chem. Phys. 113(12), 4985–5002 (2000)
14. Irvine Jr., T.F., Liley, P.E.: Thermodynamic property equations for steam (saturated). Steam and
Gas Tables with Computer Equations, UK edn, pp. 22–24. Orlando Academic Press, London
(1984)
15. Silver, R.S.: Entropy of saturated liquid-vapor mixtures and Trouton’s rule. Nature 155, 274–
275 (1945)
16. Steam table adapted from Keenan, J.H., Keyes, F.G., Hill, P.G., Moore P.G.: Steam Table.
Willey, New York (1969)
Prediction of Moisture Ratios (MRs)
During Fluidized Bed Drying of Ginger
(Zingiber Officinale) Cubes by Using
Mathematical Modeling
and Experimental Validation
Prasanta Majumder, Abhijit Sinha, Laxman Mishra and Rajat Gupta
Abstract Experimental studies were carried on drying of ginger in a batch fluidized

bed dryer at a constant drying air velocity (0.8 m/s) and three drying air temperatures
of 45, 50, and 60 °C. Fresh ginger cubes (10 mm × 10 mm × 10 mm) having
initial moisture content of 82.7% (wet basis) were dried for 7 hours. The drying
characteristics were predicted by five standard mathematical models and compared
with the experimental results using statistical parameters like correlation coefficient
(R2 ), reduced chi-square (χ 2 ), root mean square error, standard error of estimate, and
mean bias error to determine the best model for the experimental validation. It was
found that drying of ginger was best predicted by Henderson and Pabis model with
R2 value of 0.973.
Keywords Ginger · Fluidized bed dryer · Moisture ratio (MR) · Mathematical

models
1 Introduction
Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is one of the valuable herbal plant having aromatic
rhizomes used as spice and medicinal ingredient. It is consumed by 80% of the world’s
population due to its medicinal properties, fragrant oil (gingerol), and an oleoresin
(gingerin). Dried ginger powder is used in confectionery and bakery industries and
for making numerous by-products. Most of the ginger is consumed in fresh form;
however, dry ginger yields more gingerol and oleoresin as compared to fresh ginger
[1, 2].
India has been acknowledged as global ginger hub. Northeastern region of India
is emerging as important exporter of varieties of natural ginger by contributing 54%
to the country’s total production and the state Mizoram alone shared 7.8% due to
favorable agroclimatic condition [3]. Ginger is produced in Northeast India by fully
organic way so that it contains high aroma and acridity [4]. A huge number of
P. Majumder · A. Sinha (B) · L. Mishra · R. Gupta

of Technology Mizoram, Chaltlang, Aizawl, Mizoram 796012, India
e-mail: abhinit05@gmail.com

730 P. Majumder et al.
indigenous tribes of this region are still engaged with the traditional methods of jhum
cultivation. Hence there is utmost deficiency of advanced processing and storage
techniques of ginger, which could be further exported in surplus [5].
Drying is a moisture extraction process resulting from simultaneous actions of
heating of the product, internal moisture diffusion, and evaporation from the product
surface. Fruits and all other agricultural products dry mostly under falling rate period
due to higher internal moisture content [6]. The main motive of drying is to resist the
growth of fungus and bacteria and retention of nutritional values of food for longer
time [7]. Open sun drying is a common practice in rural areas for simplicity and zero
cost involvement. Higher rainfall and high atmospheric relative humidity in Northeast
India make the sun drying uncertain and ineffective. For faster drying and to avoid
contamination by insects and debris, convenient types of dryer have to be used [8].
In spite of having several dryers, fluidized bed dryer has wide application for various
advantages such as intensive mixing of fluid and solids resulting in homogeneous
temperature distribution, large surface contact between solids and fluid, and high
values of heat-transfer coefficient [9].
Optimum drying can be achieved in a properly designed dryer predicted by using
mathematical modeling, which also provide better knowledge about drying kinetics
[10]. The nature of drying for paddy [11, 12], tobacco [13], olive pomace [14], carrot
[15], etc. have been validated with various mathematical models. However, because
of different material properties, sample size and the heat-transfer mode in different
types of dryer, application of a particular mathematical model cannot be accepted
universally for estimating the drying kinetics for all products. There is lack of sub-
stantial literature on fluidized bed drying characteristics of ginger and mathematical
model validation. Therefore, a study has been carried out to examine the characteris-
tics of ginger cubes drying at given air velocity and variable air temperature as well
as to find a suitable drying model. Variation of effective moisture diffusivity with
the temperature of drying air and the corresponding activation energy for moisture
transfer is also determined.
2 Methodology
2.1 Materials and Sample Preparation
Fresh ginger was purchased from local market of Aizawl, Mizoram, India. It was
washed thoroughly to remove the surface dirt and dust. The cleaned ginger was hand
peeled by knife and shaped cubically (10 mm × 10 mm × 10 mm), as shown in
Fig. 1. Total weight of 1000 g sample was measured by electronic balance and taken
for experiment. The pre-drying moisture content of ginger was estimated by oven
method.
Prediction of Moisture Ratios (MRs) During Fluidized Bed Drying … 731
Fig. 1 a Fresh ginger samples and b Dried ginger samples
2.2 Experimental Setup and Procedure
For carrying out the experiments a batch fluidized bed dryer installed in the Depart-
ment of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Mizoram, Aizawl,
India was used (Fig. 2). The setup has two main parts, one is air heating system, which
consists of a centrifugal blower of capacity 5 HP, an electric heater (capacity 1000 W),
air duct of 100 mm diameter, and pitot tube. Another part is drying chamber or flu-
idization chamber, which is cylindrical in shape with 100 mm diameter and made
of transparent acrylic glass material. The product is supported on the screen mesh
which also acts as air distributor. Air sucked by the blower is heated in the electric
heater and passed through the drying chamber. Damper is fitted at the suction side of
blower to regulate the airflow rate. A pitot tube and U-tube manometer arrangement
are fitted in-line with inlet air duct to measure the airflow rate. Water is used as
manometric liquid. Temperatures of inlet and outlet air are recorded by temperature
sensor and electronic display.

of experimental setup
The moisture content of fresh ginger at onset of drying was 82.7% (wet basis)
and bulk density was 920 kg/m3 . 50–60 °C is the optimum drying air temperature
and 10–14% (wet basis) is the safe final moisture level at which ginger quality can
be retained [16]. Three sets of experiments were conducted at variable temperature
of drying air, i.e., 45, 50, and 60 °C with constant inlet air velocity of 0.8 m/s. Air
velocity was fixed just above the minimum fluidization velocity accounted for the
given sample and fluidization medium (air). Following sequence of operations was
adopted for the drying experiments: (a) The dryer was run for 30 min in no-load
condition to achieve steady-state of temperature; (b) air supply was turned off and
ginger samples were then loaded into the drying chamber; (c) the samples weight
were taken at every 60 min interval after removing it from drying chamber; (d) the
values of temperature at six different locations (viz., inlet air, outlet air, plenum
chamber, and at different height of the bed) of the dryer were also recorded at every
60 min interval; Steps (b)-(d) were repeated for 7 consecutive hours until the coveted
moisture level was accomplished.
2.3 Process Analysis and Modeling
For validating the experimental drying characteristics, the results derived from exper-
iments were compared with five standard empirical models, as shown in Table 1.
Here, k denotes drying constant, n denotes the number of model parameter, and
a and b are the constants of particular model. Moisture ratio is typically computed
by Eq. (1) [14].
Mt − Me
Moisture ratio (MR) = (1)
M0 − Me
Here, M t stands for moisture content corresponding to specific time (t), M 0 stands
for moisture content at onset of drying, and M e corresponds to equilibrium moisture
level. The above equation is reduced to MR = Mt /M0 , because in most of the
agricultural products M e is negligible [14–20].
Table 1 Empirical models

Model name Model correlation for References
MR
Newton exp(−kt) [17]
Page exp(−ktn ) [18]
Henderson and Pabis a exp(−kt) [19]
Logarithmic a exp(−kt) + b [17]
Midilli a exp(−ktn ) + bt [17]
The suitability of mathematical models with experimental data can be determined

through statistical methods. The determination coefficient (R2 ) is the dominant crite-
ria to make a selection of the most suitable equation that describes the drying curve
of ginger [4]. The linear correlations between the experimental and predicted values
were evaluated using Eq. (2) [17]:
N
2 2
MRexp,i − MRexp.mean − MRpre,i − MRexp,i
i=1
R2 = (2)

N
(MRexp,i − MRexp.mean ) 2
i=1
Here, N denotes observations number, MR is the moisture ratio, and MRexp,i and
MRpre,i denote the moisture ratio at ith observation in experimental and predicted
manner, respectively. The standard error of estimate (SEE) establishes the accom-
plishment of the correlations by term-by-term estimation of deviation of actual values
from the predicted ones. The SEE values idealized as close to zero for better fit and
can be calculated as follows:[18]:

N
MRexp,i − MRpre,i 2
SEE = (3)
i=1
N −n
On the other hand, the root means square error (E RMS ) provides insight into
the short-term performance of the relationship between experimental and predicted
values. E RMS is evaluated as follows [21]:

N
MRpre,i − MRexp,i 2
ERMS = (4)
i=1
N
The mean square of deviation of predicted value from experimental data is given
by Chi-square (χ 2 ), where a value closer to zero indicates better fit between the two
values. χ 2 can be evaluated as follows [19]:
N
(MRexp,i − MRpre,i )2
χ2 = (5)
i=1
N −n
If the absolute value is not taken, the average error becomes the mean bias error
(E mb ) and is usually intended to measure average value as follows [18]:
1
N
E mb = MRpre,i − MRexp,i (6)
N i=1
2.4 Estimation of Moisture Diffusion Coefficient

and Activation Energy
Drying under falling rate period occurred by diffusive movement of moisture from
product interior to the outer surface, which is defined by Fick’s second law of diffusion
in unsteady-state condition as expressed in Eq. (7) [21]:
∂M
= Deff ∇ 2 M (7)
∂t
where M stands for moisture content. For estimating effective moisture diffusivity
(Deff ), Eq. (7) can be reduced by assuming that initially the moisture distribution
is uniform, diffusion coefficient is invariable, no shrinkage of product, and outer
surface resistance to mass transfer is negligible [21].
8 π2 Deff
ln MR = ln − ×t (8)
π2 4L 2
where t denotes time in second and L is one-half of sample thickness in meter.
Activation energy has inverse relationship with effective moisture diffusivity, since
higher activation energy indicates more energy which is needed to cleave the bonding
of moisture particles and consequently reduce moisture diffusion. The activation
energy was computed by using the Arrhenius correlation [22].
−E a
Deff = D0 exp (9)
RTa
where D0 indicates Arrhenius pre-exponential factor, E a stands for activation energy

(kJ/mol-K), R denotes ideal gas constant, and T a stands for absolute drying air
temperature (K).
3.1 Effect of Drying Air Temperature
The fluctuation of moisture extraction rate with drying period is represented in Fig. 3.
It is found that moisture extraction rate is high for higher temperature during early
hours of drying because at higher temperature, molecular energy of water is high
and there is large difference between vapor pressure of moisture in ginger and partial
pressure of water vapor in drying air. It is also found that initially the moisture
extraction rate is high and gradually it decreases when the equilibrium moisture
level is about to attain. There is short duration of constant rate drying in ginger when
Fig. 3 Variation of moisture

extraction rate with drying
time (hours)
surface moisture gets evaporated. Most of the drying took place under falling rate,
which is principally governed by interior moisture diffusion. Due to concentration
gradient and partial pressure gradient, moisture diffuses from interior to the external
surface of ginger and consequently gets evaporated. These results in lower rate of
moisture extraction at later stages of drying, which is analogous with the results
obtained by other researchers [14, 20].
3.2 Modeling of Drying Curves
The moisture ratios (MRs) of ginger drying have been plotted and compared for
different drying temperatures with five mathematical models. Figure 4 represents
moisture ratio fluctuation with progressive drying time at 45 °C temperature of inlet
drying air. It shows that the moisture ratio of ginger continuously decreases with
time. The Page model is the least fitting model, while Hendrson and Pabis model
are the best for ginger drying at this temperature. Mean bias error (E mb ), root mean

ratio at 45 °C
square error (E RMS ), chi-square (χ 2 ), and correlation coefficient (R2 ) were calculated
as the basis for model’s verification. Table 2 presents the values of statistical analyzes
of different mathematical models. Henderson and Pabis show the higher value of R2
as 0.95 at air temperature of 45 °C. The E mb , E RMS , and χ 2 values were found to be
0.0764, 0.0764, and 0.0068, respectively, for Henderson and Pabis model.
Mathematical model fitting for 50 °C air temperature is depicted in Fig. 5. Similar
to the curve fitting at 45 °C, Henderson and Pabis model satisfied as the best fitting
model at this temperature. The R2 value at this temperature is above 0.98, while χ 2 ,
E mb , and E RMS are around 0.0024, 0.045, and 0.045, respectively. The most fitted
Table 2 Statistical analyses for predicting moisture ratios of ginger drying using various mathe-
matical models
Models Temperature (°C) R2 χ2 E RMS SEE E mb
Newton 45 0.8022 0.0242 0.1442 0.1558 0.1178
50 0.7247 0.0313 0.1771 0.1771 0.1516
60 0.6361 0.0387 0.1967 0.1967 0.1546
Page 45 0.7555 0.5172 0.6658 0.7191 0.6584
50 0.7688 0.5753 0.7022 0.7584 0.6459
60 0.7841 0.5752 0.7022 0.7584 0.6489
Henderson and Pabis 45 0.9575 0.0068 0.0764 0.0825 0.0764
50 0.9818 0.0024 0.0455 0.0491 0.0455
60 0.9947 0.0006 0.0235 0.0254 0.0235
Logarithmic 45 0.0712 0.1645 0.3428 0.4056 0.3127
50 0.0090 0.1581 0.3360 0.3976 0.3003
60 0.1400 0.1698 0.3483 0.4121 0.3033
Midilli 45 0.0668 0.2362 0.3674 0.4860 0.3371
50 0.1296 0.2253 0.3588 0.4747 0.3246
60 0.2806 0.2384 0.3691 0.4883 0.3276

ratio at 50 °C

ratio at 60 °C
Table 3 Variation of
Temperature 45 °C 50 °C 60 °C
diffusivity coefficient with
temperature Deff (m2 /s) 1.84 × 10−9 2.18 × 10−9 2.98 × 10−9
model is Henderson and Pabis while the least fitting model for ginger is page model
at 60 °C, which can be seen in Fig. 6.
3.3 Effective Moisture Diffusion Coefficient and Energy

of Activation
It is obvious that moisture diffusivity of ginger cubes increases with drying air tem-
perature, as shown in Table 3, which is in compliance with the other research works
such that all the agro-food products having diffusion coefficient between 10−11 and
10−6 m2 /s [23].
The energy of activation can be derived from the correlation, m = E a /R, where
m is slope of the Arrhenius relationship between natural logarithm of Deff and inverse
of absolute temperature (1/T a ) (Fig. 7).
Activation energy for ginger computed as 29.49 kJ/mol-K, which is in abidance
with the other research work such that for all agro-food products activation energy
varies within 12–110 kJ/mol-K [24].
Fig. 7 Relationship of
diffusion coefficient with
reciprocal of absolute
temperature
4 Conclusion
Drying behavior on the basis of moisture ratios (MRs) of ginger cubes in fluidized
bed dryer has been studied. The drying occurred mostly under the period of falling
rate. Ginger was dried from 1000 to 197.6 g, 173 and 191.7 g after 7 hours of drying
at 45, 50, and 60 °C, respectively. The dryer reduced the moisture content of ginger
from 82.7% to 12% (wet basis) with mass flow rate of drying air 0.00673 kg/s. For a
given airflow rate, there was rapid drying with rise in temperature. The experimental
moisture ratios (MRs) were verified with five standard drying models. It was found
that Henderson and Pabis model predicted the best result in drying kinetics of ginger.
The effective diffusion coefficient increased from 1.8 × 10−9 m2 /s to 2.9 × 10−9
m2 /s while the temperature of inlet air used for drying increased from 45 to 60 °C.
The activation energy was derived as 29.49 kJ/mol-K.
References
1. Ajav, E.A., Ogunlade, C.A.: Physical properties of ginger (Zingiber officinale), Global J. Sci.
Front. Res. D-Agricu. Vet. 14 (8) (2014). Online ISSN: 2249-4626
2. Jangam, S.V., Thorat, B.N.: Optimization of spray drying of ginger extract. Drying Technol.
28(12), 1426–1434 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1080/07373937.2010.482699
3. Yadav, R.K., Yadav, D.S., Rai, N., Sanwal, S.K., Sarma, P.: Commercial prospects of gin-
ger cultivation in north-eastern region, ENVIS Bull. Himalayan Ecol. 12 (2) (2004). http://
gbpihedenvis.nic.in/Envis_Bulletin_All.html. Last Accessed 13 Mar 2018
4. Loha, C., Das, R., Choudhury, B., Chatterjee, P.K.: Evaluation of air-drying characteristics of
sliced ginger (Zingiber officinale) in a forced convective cabinet dryer and thermal conductivity
measurement. J. Food Process. Technol. 3, 130 (2012). https://doi.org/10.4172/2157-7110.
1000160
5. Schweiggert, U., Hofmann, S., Reichel, M., Schieber, A., Carle, R.: Enzyme-assisted liquefac-
tion of ginger rhizomes (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) for the production of spray-dried and paste-
like ginger condiments. J. Food Eng. 84, 28–38 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.
2007.04.013
6. Howard, J.R.: Fluidized Bed Technology-Principle and Applications. Adam Hilger Bristol,
New York, USA (1989)
7. Shahab, S., Jayas, D.S.: Drying of Foodstuffs. In: Mujumdar, A.S. (ed.) Handbook of Industrial
Drying, 3rd edn, pp. 540–565. CRC Press, Bosa Roca, USA (2006)
8. Jha, A.K., Deka, B.C.: Present status and prospects of ginger and turmeric in NE States,
Knowledge Innovation Repository of Agriculture in the North East Publications, http://www.
kiran.nic.in/publication.html. Last Accessed 17 Apr 2018
9. Topuz, A., Gur, M., Gul, M.Z.: An experimental and numerical study of fluidized bed drying of
hazelnuts. Appl. Therm. Eng. 24, 1535–1547 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.
2003.11.020
10. Olanipekun, B.F., Tunde-Akintunde, T.Y., Oyelade, O.J., Adebisi, M.G., Adenaya, T.A.: Math-
ematical modelling of thin-layer pineapple drying. J. Food Process. Preserv. 39(6), 1431–1441
(2015). https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpp.12362
11. Assari, M.R., Basirat, T.H., Saffar, A.M.: Numerical simulation of fluid bed drying based on
two-fluid model and experimental validation. Appl. Therm. Eng. 27, 422–429 (2007). https://
12. Madhiyanon, T., Techaprasan, A., Soponronnarit, S.: Mathematical models based on heat trans-
fer and coupled heat and mass transfers for rapid high temperature treatment in fluidized bed:
application for grain heat disinfestation. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 49, 2277–2290 (2006). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2005.11.020
13. Geng, F., Xu, D., Yuan, Z., Yan, Y., Luo, D., Wang, H., Li, B., Chyang, C.S.: Numerical
simulation on fluidization characteristics of tobacco particles in fluidized bed dryers. Chem.
Eng. J. 150, 581–592 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2009.03.035
14. Meziane, S.: Drying kinetics of olive pomace in a fluidized bed dryer. Energy Convers. Manag.
52, 1644–1649 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2010.10.027
15. Białobrzewski, I., ZielińSka, M., Mujumdar A.S., Markowski, M.: Heat and mass transfer
during drying of a bed of shrinking particles—simulation for carrot cubes dried in a spout-
fluidized bed drier. Int. J. Heat Mass Trans. 51, 4704–4716 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
ijheatmasstransfer.2008.02.031
16. Quang, D.N., Huong, V.T., Tuan, H.Q.: Effect of hot drying on the chemical content and colour
sensory quality of ginger powder (Zingiber officinale). J. Sci. Technol. 54(2), 198–206 (2016).
https://doi.org/10.15625/0866-708X/54/2/6482
17. Erbay, Z., Icier, F.: A review of thin layer drying of foods: theory, modeling, and exper-
imental results. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 50(5), 441–464 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1080/
10408390802437063
18. Diamante, L.M., Munro, P.A.: Mathematical modelling of the thin layer solar drying
of sweet potato slices. Sol. Energy 51(4), 271–276 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-
092X(93)90122-5
19. Zhang, Q., Litchfield, J.B.: An optimization of intermittent corn drying in a labora-
tory scale thin layer dryer. Drying Technol. 9(2), 383–395 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1080/
07373939108916672
20. Schössler, K., Jäger, H., Knorr, D.: Effect of continuous and intermittent ultrasound on drying
time and effective diffusivity during convective drying of apple and red bell pepper. J. Food
Eng. 108(1), 103–110 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2011.07.018
21. Senadeera, W., Bhandari, B.R., Wijesinghe, B.: Influence of shapes of selected vegetable mate-
rials on drying kinetics during fluidized bed drying. J. Food Eng. 58, 277–283 (2007). https://
doi.org/10.1016/S0260-8774(02)00386-2
22. Doymaz, I.: Air-drying characteristics, effective moisture diffusivity and activation energy of
grape leaves. J. Food Process. Preserv. 36(2), 161–168 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-
4549.2011.00557.x
23. Wang, Z., Sun, J., Liao, X., Chen, F., Hu, X.: Mathematical modeling on hot air drying of
thin layer apple pomace. Food Res. Int. 40(1), 39–46 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.
2006.07.017
24. Aghbashlo, M., Kianmehr, M.H., Akhijahani, H.S.: Influence of drying conditions on the
effective moisture diffusivity, energy of activation and energy consumption during the thin
layer drying of berberis fruit (Berberidaceae). Energy Convers. Manag. 49, 2865–2871 (2008).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2008.03.009
Performance and Emission
Characteristics of Variable Compression
Ratio (VCR) Engine Using Different
Biofuels—A Review
Dipankar Saha and Abhijit Sinha
Abstract The broad utilization of energy has prompted petroleum consumption and
thus resulting in ascent in pollution. Sustainable power sources hold the key solution
to this real time problem. This review aims to provide a brief overview of the per-
formance characteristics as well as emission characteristics of variable compression
ratio (VCR) engine, when biofuels produced from different sources like plastic, jat-
ropha, annona methyl ester, muhua, pyrolysis oil of waste tyres, palm oil methyl ester,
waste fried oil, biogas, etc. are used at different compression ratio (CR). It has been
observed that for alteration of CR; brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC),brake
thermal efficiency(BTE) and exhaust gas temperature(EGT) improved by maximum
45.9, 41.7 and 24.4%, respectively for different source of fuels. Hydrocarbon (HC)
emissions and Carbon monoxide (CO) emissions also significantly came down up to
52 and 55%, respectively due to variation of CR.
Keywords Compression ratio(CR) · Performance · Emission · Biofuel
1 Introduction
The current world is in the era of evolution of competition in automotive industry and
it is the main driving force for all the car manufacturing companies to improve their
current existing model to the next level in terms of performance as well as emission
characteristics. While serving the society with science and technology which are
associated with automotive industry; one must not forget his or her responsibility
towards the environment. Achieving more power and comfort along with polluting
the environment more, must not be substitutional choice and it is not ethical for any
individual in this world. Moreover the use of non-sustainable power sources like
crude oil or natural gas is increasing day by day due to increasing demand which
is again supported by population growth in this world. So for understanding and
implementing sustainable growth, focused research on different source of biofuel
D. Saha · A. Sinha (B)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Chaltlang, Aizawl,
Mizoram 796012, India

742 D. Saha and A. Sinha
for IC engine along with enhancing the performance of the engine is very much
important. Thus this paper is a small contribution towards that sustainable growth as
it deals with different sources of biofuels, blending of those with existing conventional
oil which leads to lower consumption of conventional nonrenewable energy sources if
it was used alone, along with considering the emission characteristics also. Changing
the CR, is an enormous influencing factor for the characteristics of the engine [1–4]
irrespective of types of fuel. The reported literature indicates that lot of efforts have
been put towards the improvement of the performance and emission characteristics
using different types of sources of fuels and variable compression engine (VCR)
[5] adds more to that improvement and till now limited literature work has been
reported regarding that. Thus this paper deals with characteristics of performance
and emission of VCR engine when different sources of fuels are used and information
obtained are compared and summarized at the end.
2 Engine Performance
Many researchers had carried out experiments in IC engines with different biofuels
at different CRs to investigate the performance characteristics mainly of BTE, BSFC
and EGT. The performance characteristics of the engine using different biofuels were
analyzed by different specialists and some of them are included underneath.
Rao et al. [2] carried out experiments on VCR engine at 1500 rpm and four dif-
ferent blends of plastic oil, diesel and ethanol were used, which are P100, P90D10,
P90D5E5 and P80D10E10 (P-plastic oil, D-diesel, E-ethanol, the number follow-
ing the alphabet indicates percentage of that respective fuel). The experiment was
performed at two different CRs 17 and 18. It was found that BTE increases with
CR for all the blends and for P90D5E5 it has been found that BTE increased by
15% when CR is changed from 17 to 18. It has been also noticed that when CR
is increased BSFC had a reverse trend. Venkateswara Rao P. [3] conducted experi-
ment on VCR diesel engine (stroke-4, single cylinder) with methyl ester of jatropha-
JOME. Experiment was conducted for B20D80 (jatropha 20%, diesel 80%) at four
different CRs 14,16,18,20 and for pure diesel at two different CRs 14 and 20. It
has been accounted that with the increment of CR value, BTE showed an increasing
nature irrespective of type of blend at any amount of load and maximum BTE was
24.5% for blend fuel at CR20. BSFC and volumetric efficiency decreased by 18.23%
and 3.1%, respectively for variation of CR. Ajay et al. [4] have done an experimen-
tal investigation using Karanj (Pongamia), different blends were made using PME
(pongomia methyl ester) and diesel. Experimental work was being conducted on a
VCR (stroke-4, single-cylinder) engine at 1500 rpm. At CR 18.5, maximum BTE
of 30.08% for PME20 (pongamia 20%, diesel 80%) was noticed which is higher
than diesel by 5–10%. BSFC was found to be slightly increasing with an increase in
CR from 17.5 to 18.5. For PME20 EGT decreased from 390 to 320 °C when com-
pared with diesel at CR 18.5. Experiments were conducted by Jagannath et al. [6]
Performance and Emission Characteristics of Variable … 743
with blend of diesel and methyl ester of waste fried oil on a diesel injection, single-
cylinder engine of 4 kW rating, varying the CR from 16 to 19. BTE increased by
maximum of 3.78% when CR is increased from 16 to 18. Similarly BSFC decreased
by 3.7% when CR is changed from 17 to 18 but further increase in CR affected BSFC
of 0.68%. Silambarasan et al. [7] had gone through experimental investigation with
AME (Annona Methyl ester)- diesel blends (20, 40, 60, 80% of AME and rest is
diesel) on single-cylinder VCR at different CRs (16.5, 18.5, 19.5). BTE gradually
increased with increase in CR and it was maximum at 19.5 for A20 (AME 20% diesel
80%) which is almost equal to diesel. BSFC gradually decreased with increment of
CR, for A20 3% reduction in BSFC was noticed. Bora et al. [8] had done experimen-
tal evaluation on 3.5 rated, water cooled, naturally aspirated, direct injection VCR
engine (stroke-4, single-cylinder) which is again modified to dual fuel mode to run
on biogas. Experiments were conducted at various CRs. BTEs were found increasing
with increase in CR but at any specific CR BTEs of diesel were found better. The
increase in CR resulted in low EGT and in dual fuel mode at CR 18 EGT reduced
by 16.9% but EGT is higher at any CR when compared with diesel mode. For dual
fuel mode BSEC also decreased by 19.38% when CR varied from 16 to 18. Dubey
et al. [9] investigated influence of CR (15.5, 17, 18.5, 20) using biofuel (Turpentine
and Jatropha) on a VCR engine (stroke-4, single cylinder). BTE was lower at low
CR at 15.5 and 17, it increased with CR at 18.5 and 20, and it was found that BTE
increased by 2.17% for JBT50 (Jatropha 50% and Turapentine 50%) in CR 20 when
compared with pure diesel. Mohammed and Medhat [10] had performed experiments
on a VCR (stroke-4, single-cylinder, speed 1000–2000 rpm) engine, with blends of
biodiesel (from waste fuel)-diesel. Mean increase of BTE was 18.5% when CR was
altered from 14 to 18 for B30. BSFC showed a reducing nature for an increase in CR
and for B30 it has been seen that BSFC decreased by 17.3% when CR is changed
from 16 to 18. Rehman and Ghadge [11] have conducted experiments on Ricardo
E6 engine using blends of muhua biodiesel (B100) and HSD (high-speed diesel) at
varying CR (ranging from 18 to 20. It was found that for B100 there was a reduction
of BSFC by 45.9% with the change of CR. B100 was having the highest increase
of 41.7% when CR is changed from 18 to 20 keeping other parameters constant.
EGT showed a reducing nature for similar change in CR and 24.4% was reported
the highest reduction for B100. Sharma and Murugan [12] have done experiments
using oil produced from waste tyres by pyrolysis process. 20% of that and 80%
biodiesel was taken to make the blend. The experiment was done on a diesel engine
which is rated with 4.4 kW at 1500 rpm with provision of direct injection and it
was naturally aspirated. CR was varied from 16.5 to 18.5. When CR is altered from
17.5 to 18.5, there was an increase of 8% BTE for the blend w.r.t diesel. Yadav et al.
[13] used blends of diesel and hybrid reactor produced kaner biodiesel (KOME).
Significant improvement was noticed for BTE when compared with neat diesel, for
the blends as CR is increased and similar nature was observed for BSFC. Basavaraju
and Jamunarani [14] had gone through experiments with methyl esters of mustard
biodiesel blends M10 (diesel 90%, mustard oil 10%), M20 (diesel 80%, mustard
oil 20%) at different CR (14, 16 and 18) on VCR engine (stroke-4, single cylin-
der). BTE was found increasing with CR, for M20, at full load maximum BTE was
noticed 32.63% and it is 7–8% more than diesel. BSFC of M20 was lowest but EGT
was found increasing compared with neat diesel for similar change in CR. Debnath
et al. [15] executed experiments in VCR diesel engine using 100% methyl ester of
palm oil (POME).The normal ascent of BTE of 7%, 5% and 3%, respectively were
noticed, through CR alteration (16–18) and there was a drop in BSFC of average
11%, 12% and 1% for similar change in. EGT also reduced by 2%, 3% and 4% for
similar change in CR. Anand et al. [16] performed experiments with COME (cotton
oil methyl ester)-diesel blends on VCR engine (stroke-4, single-cylinder) for three
different CRs (15, 17 and 19). At 1500 rpm the rated power was 3.7 kW. BTE had
shown an increasing trend with CR and highest BTE of 29.28% was found for B20
at CR 19 which is very higher w.r.t diesel (27.92%). Jindal et al. [17] have done
experimental investigation using JME (jatropha methyl ester B100), varying the CR
(16, 17 and 18) and compared with the outcomes to that of diesel at CR 17.5. At
250 bar, BSFC showed a reverse trend with the change of CR and CR 18 provided
an improvement of 10% BSFC. At CR 18 BTE improved by 8.9% to that of diesel.
EGT was also reported to be decreased by 10%. Muralidharan and Vasudevan [18]
conducted experiment in VCR (stroke-4, single-cylinder) engine with waste cooking
oil methyl ester along with its blends of 80%, 60%, 40% and 20% with diesel. The
experiment was done at 1500 rpm, the load was 50% and CR was taken 18,19, 20, 21
and 22. It has been reported that BTE of the blend B40 is 31.48% at CR 21 and for
diesel it is 26.08%. SFC decreased with an increase in CR, the SFC of B40 at CR 21
was 0.259 kg/kWh compared to 0.314 kg/kWh of diesel. BP shown reducing trend
with an increase in CR, the highest BP was obtained for B40 at CR 21 is 2.07 kW
w.r.t 2.12 kW for diesel. EGT reduced with the increase in CR, the highest EGT was
233.48 °C for standard diesel but for B40 it was only 200.61 °C at CR 21. Nagaraja
et al. [19] investigated the performance characteristics and emission characteristics
of VCR (stroke-4, single-cylinder) engine at constant speed 1500 rpm, full load
with preheated (at 90 °C) palm oil and its blends with diesel, varying the CR (16,
17, 18, 19 and 20). The blend O20 provided 14.6% higher mechanical efficiency
and 6% higher BP at higher CR when compared with diesel. IMEP decreased at
higher CR 20 and for blend O20 it was 6.22 bar to that of 6.87 bar for diesel. EGT
decreased by 110 °C for O10 blend at CR 20 when compared with diesel. Hasan and
Safak [20] performed experiments taking false flax biodiesel (100% FFME) [20]1 ,
diesel-methanol (95% diesel, 5% methanol) [20]2 , diesel-ethanol (95% diesel, 5%
ethanol) [20]3 , diesel-butanol (95% diesel, 5% butanol) [20]4 , biodiesel-methanol
(95% FFME, 5% methanol) [20]5 , biodiesel-ethanol (95% FFME, 5% ethanol) [20]6 ,
biodiesel-butanol (95% FFME, 5% butanol) [20]7 , and from the reported graphs the
performance and emission characteristics are compared (approximately) at different
CR ratio
The comparison of variation of BTE, BSFC and EGT from different cited litera-
tures, are shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
45
40
variation of BTE (%) 35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
source paper
Fig. 1 Variation of BTE from different sources of biofuels, varying the CR
0
-5
variation of BSFC/BSEC (%)
-10
-15
-20
-25
-30
-35
-40
-45
-50
source paper
Fig. 2 Variation of BSFC from different sources of biofuels, varying the CR
3 Engine Emission
Though the use of different source of biofuels may improve few performance charac-
teristics there will be always some sorts of emissions which are mainly CO (carbon
monoxide), CO2 (carbon dioxide), NOX (oxides of nitrogen), HC (hydrocarbon) and
smoke. Emission characteristics using different biofuels were inspected by different
specialists and some of them are included underneath.
B Govinda Rao et al. [2] found that P80D10E10 was the best as it reduced HC
emission by 66% when compared with diesel. CO emission also had shown similar
nature with an increase in CR. It has been discovered that for P90D5E5, NOX outflow
expanded by 13.6% at CR 18 when compared with diesel. The smoke emission was
found deceasing with the expansion in CR for every blend at same other operating
conditions. Venkateswara Rao P. [3] observed that at CR 20 the CO2 emission was
[4] [8] [11] [15] [17]

0
-5
variation of EGT (%)
-10
-15
-20
-25
-30
source paper
Fig. 3 Variation of EGT from different sources of biofuels, varying the CR
3.2% higher for blend fuel w.r.t diesel whereas 32.6% lower CO emission has been
observed. For blend fuel HC emission was 26.7% less compared to diesel at most
extreme load for CR 20 and moreover at maximum load HC emission decreased by
54.3% with the an increase in CR. NOX emission was 9.8% less compared to diesel
at most extreme load for 20. Ajay et al. [4] noticed that for almost all the blends CO
emission has been decreased except PME20, with the increase of CR from 17.5 to
18.5. At higher CR HC emissions of all blends were found higher. NOX emission
slightly increased for similar change. Jagannath et al. [6] noticed that keeping other
operating parameters constant, alternating CR (16 to 18) reduced smoke emission
by 6.55%. Silambarasan et al. [7] found that HC emission reduced by 22.23% when
compared to pure diesel. CO emission also had an inversely proportional nature with
CR and for A20 at CR 19.5 is reduced by 40% w.r.t pure diesel. But it has been
observed at 19.5 CR the blend A20 has 0.8% more NOX emission w.r.t pure diesel.
Smoke emission also decreased with the increase of CR and the blend A20 shown
21.4% reduction in that at CR 19.5 when compared with pure diesel. Bora et al.
[8] reported that there are low emissions for HC and CO by 41.97% and 26.22%,
respectively when CR increased from 16 to 18 in dual fuel mode. But an increase
of CO2 and NOX outflow by 27.18% and 66.65%, respectively was noticed for the
same CR variation. Dubey et al. [9] reported that for dual mode at CR 20 CO,
HC, NOX emission and smoke opacity was reduced by 13.04%, 17.5%, 4.21% and
30.8%, respectively but CO2 emission was increased by 11.04% when compared
with diesel mode. Mohammed and Medhat [10] found that on an average NOX and
CO2 emission were more by 36.84% and 14.28%, respectively when CR is changed
from 14 to 18. But for the same change of CR, HC emission reduced by 52% and
CO emission reduced by 37.5%. Sharma and Murugan [12] noticed that for the
blend at high CR of 18.5 brake specific carbon monoxide (BSCO), brake specific
hydrocarbon emission (BSHC) and smoke opacity were reduced by about 10.5%,
32%, 17.4%, respectively, than those of the original CR at full load. Yadav et al. [13]
observed that at higher CR 18, the smoke opacity of diesel is more than biodiesel
blends but at lower CR the trend is reversed. Basavaraju and Jamunarani [14] reported
that CO and NOX emission were showing reducing nature but HC emission showed
reverse nature, with an increase in CR. Debnath et al. [15] came to a conclusion that
increase in CR from 16 to 18 reduces CO, NOX and HC emission by 40%, 46%
and 40%, respectively however, there was an increment in CO2 outflow by 19% for
the similar change. Anandet al. [16] reported that NOX discharge for all blends was
little lower (for B10-75 ppm and for pure diesel- 146 ppm), at highest CR 19, CO
emissions were also found reducing, for B10 it was lowest of 0.13% but for diesel
it was 0.69%. HC emission was also noticed to show a bit lower values than diesel.
Jindal et al. [17] found that HC emission and NOX emission was as low as 50% and
25%, respectively. However, CO and CO2 emissions were found higher as much as
38% and 2%, respectively. However, smoke opacity showed a decreasing trend when
compared to diesel. Muralidharan and Vasudevan [18] came to the conclusion that
HC and NOX discharge were higher for B40 w.r.t standard diesel. Nagaraja et al.
[19] reported that O20 blend had lower CO and HC emissions to that of diesel by
45.45% and 24.24%, respectively at higher CR; however, CO2 emissions were found
to be increasing. Hasan and Safak [20] also reported about variation in emission
characteristics through graphical representation. The approximate comparison of
the variation is taken into consideration in this paper.
The comparison of variation of CO, CO2 , HC and NOX emissions from different
cited literature, are shown below in Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7, respectively.
[8] [10] [12] [15] [20]1 [20]2 [20]3 [20]4 [20]5 [20]6 [20]7
0
variation of CO EMission (%)
-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60 source paper
Fig. 4 Variation of CO emissions from different sources of biofuels, varying the CR

60
variation of CO2 emission (%) 50
40
30
20
10
0
[8] [10] [15] [20]1 [20]2 [20]3 [20]4 [20]5 [20]6 [20]7
source paper
Fig. 5 Variation of CO2 emissions from different sources of biofuels, varying the CR
[8] [10] [12] [15]

0
variation of HC emission (%)
-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60 source paper
Fig. 6 Variation of HC emissions from different sources of biofuels, varying the CR
4 Conclusions
Above mentioned reported literature work demonstrates that variation of CR is an

enormous influencing factor to enhance the performance characteristics and emission
characteristics of the engine. It has been perceived that variation of CR can result
in maximum improvement of BTE, BSFC and EGT by 41.7%, 45.9% and 24.4%,
respectively. CO and HC emission reduced for all source of fuels and maximum
reduction of 55% and 52% were noticed, respectively. It has been seen that CO2
emission increased by maximum 55% (sign of complete combustion), for almost all
80
variation of NOX emission (%) 60
40
20
0
[8] [10] [15] [20]1 [20]2 [20]3 [20]4 [20]5 [20]6 [20]7
-20
-40
-60 source paper
Fig. 7 Variation of NOX emissions from different sources of biofuels, varying the CR
the fuels NOx emission shows increasing trend with increasing CR which is an issue
to be dealt with serious concern. In order to achieve overall optimum performance
and emission characteristics, parametric optimization of injection pressure, injection
timing, blend ratio should be done along with CR. In addition to that, the combined
effect of parametric optimization, emulsification of fuel and use of additives should
be investigated. By and large, it has been seen that CR is a critical parameter to
explore the performance characteristics (BTE, BSFC, EGT) and emission reduction
(CO, HC) of VCR engine.
References
1. Holweg, M.: The evolution of competition in the automotive industry. In: Parry G., Graves A
(eds) Build To Order: the Road to the 5-Day Car, Glenn Parry, pp. 13–34. Springer Science &
Business Media, UK (2008)
2. Govinda Rao B., Datta Bharadwaz Y., Virajitha C., Dharma Rao V.: Effect of injection param-
eters on the performance and emission characteristics of a variable compression ratio diesel
engine with plastic oil blends—an experimental study. SAGE 0(0) 1–19 (2018). https://doi.
org/10.1177/0958305x17753208
3. Venkateswara Rao, P.: Compression ratio effect on diesel engine working with biodiesel
(JOME)—diesel blend as fuel. Res. J. Chem. Sci. 5(7), 48–51 (2015)
4. Kolhe, A.V., Shelke, R.E., Khandare, S.S.: Performance, emission and combustion character-
istics of a variable compression ratio diesel engine fueled with Karanj biodiesel and its blends.
World Acad. Sci. Eng. Technol. Int. J. Mech. Mech. Eng 8(4) (2014). https://doi.org/10.5281/
zenodo.1094201
5. Shaik, A., Moorthi N.S.V., Rudramoorthy, R.: Variable compression ratio engine: a future
power plant for automobiles—an overview. Proc. Institution Mech. Eng. Part D J. Autom. Eng.
221, 1159–1168 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1243/09544070jauto573
6. Jagannath, H., Vivek, B., Jisa, R.: Effect of compression ratio, injection pressure and injection
timing on performance and smoke emissions of CI engine fuelled with waste fried oil methyl
esters—diesel blend. Mater. Today Proc. 5(1), P1563–P1570 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.matpr.2017.11.247
7. Silambarasan, R., Senthil, R., Pranesh, G., Mebin, Samuel P., Manimaran, M.: Effect of com-
pression ratio on performance and emission characteristics of biodiesel blend operated with
VCR engine. National conference on recent trends and developments in sustainable green
technologies. JCHPS Special Issue 5, 23–25 (2015)
8. Bora Bhaskor, J., Saha, U.K., Chatterjee, S., Veer, V.: Effect of compression ratio on per-
formance, combustion and emission characteristics of a dual fuel diesel engine run on raw
biogas. Energy Convers. Manag. 87, 1000–1009 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.
2014.07.080
9. Pankaj, Dubey, Rajesh, Gupta: Influences of dual bio-fuel (Jatropha biodiesel and turpentine
oil) on single cylinder variable compression ratio diesel engine. Renew Energy 115, 1294–1302
(2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2014.07.080
10. El-Kassaby, M., Nemit-Allah, M.A.: Studying the effect of compression ratio on an engine
fueled with waste oil produced biodiesel/diesel fuel. Alexandria Eng. J. 52, 1–11 (2013). http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2012.11.007
11. Raheman, H., Ghadge, S.V.: Performance of diesel engine with biodiesel at varying compres-
sion ratio and ignition timing. Fuel 87(12), 2659–2666 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.
2008.03.006
12. Sharma, A., Murugan, S.: Potential for using a tyre pyrolysis oil-biodiesel blend in a diesel
engine at different compression ratios. Energy Convers. Manag. 93, 289–297 (2015). http://dx.
doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2015.01.023
13. Yadav, A.K., Khan M.E., Pal, A.: Kaner biodiesel production through hybrid reactor and its
performance testing on a CI engine at different compression ratios. Egyptian J. Petroleum
26(2), 525–532 (2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2016.07.006
14. Basavaraju, K., Jamunarani, G.: Performance and emission characteristics of a variable com-
pression ratio diesel engine using methyl esters of mustard biodiesel blends. J. Eng. Res. Appl.
4(11), 20–28 (2014)
15. Debnath, B., Saha, U.K., Sahoo, N.: Effect of compression ratio and injection timing on
the performance characteristics of a diesel engine running on palm oil methyl ester. Proc.
Inst. Mech. Eng. Part A J. Power Energy, 227(3), 368–382 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1177/
0957650912470907
16. Anand, R., Kannan, G.R., Reddy, Rajasekhar K., Velmathi, S.: Performance and emissions of
a variable compression ratio diesel engine fuelled with bio-diesel from cotton seed oil. ARPN
J. Eng. Appl. Sci. 4(9), 72–87 (2009)
17. Jindal, S., Nandwana, B.P., Rathore, N.S., Vashistha, V.: Experimental investigation of the
effect of compression ratio and injection pressure in a direct injection diesel engine running
on Jatropha methyl ester. Appl. Therm. Eng. 30(5), 442–448 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
18. Muralidharan, K., Vasudevan, D.: Performance, emission and combustion characteristics of a
variable compression ratio engine using methyl esters of waste cooking oil and diesel blends.
Appl. Energy 88(11), 3959–3968 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.04.014
19. Nagaraja, S., Sooryaprakash, K., Sudhakaran, R.: Investigate the effect of compression ratio
over the performance and emission characteristics of variable compression ratio engine fueled
with preheated palm oil—diesel blends. Procedia Earth Planetary Sci. 11, 393–401 (2015).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeps.2015.06.038
20. Hasan, Serin, Şafak, Yıldızhan: Influence of the compression ratio on the performance and
emission characteristics of a VCR diesel engine fuelled with alcohol blended fuels. European
Mech. Sci. 1(2), 39–46 (2017). https://doi.org/10.26701/ems.320255
Hydrodynamics of a CFB Gasifier
with Two Different Cross Sections
in the Riser
Prabhansu , S. Ganguli, Krishna Kant Dwivedi , P. Chandra,

M. K. Karmakar and P. K. Chatterjee
Abstract A lab-scale CFB test setup was developed to experimentally investigate

the hydrodynamics of cold model using silica sand as bed material under atmo-
spheric conditions. The cylindrical riser was made smaller in diameter at the bottom
and larger toward the top. A loop seal was used for examining the solid flow from
downcomer to riser. The study focused on the variations in axial voidage, pressure
drops across the system and solid circulation rates with the change in riser velocities
and bed inventories. It was found that the particle size, riser airflow, and loop seal
air are the important parameters that mainly determine the solid circulation rate and
overall pressure balance in CFB system.
Keywords Circulating fluidized bed · Cold model · Axial voidage · Pressure

drop · Solid circulation
Prabhansu (B)
Mechanical Engineering Department, Muzaffarpur Institute
of Technology, Laxmichowk, Muzaffarpur, Bihar 842003, India
e-mail: prabhansu.nitp@gmail.com
P. Chandra
Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute
of Technology Patna, Ashok Rajpath, Patna, Bihar 800005, India
e-mail: prakash@nitp.ac.in
S. Ganguli · M. K. Karmakar · P. K. Chatterjee
Energy Research and Technology, CSIR-Central Mechanical
Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur, West-Bengal 713209, India
e-mail: sourav0921@gmail.com
M. K. Karmakar
e-mail: malaycmeri@gmail.com
P. K. Chatterjee
e-mail: pradipcmeri@gmail.com
K. K. Dwivedi
of Technology, Durgapur, West-Bengal 713209, India
e-mail: kkdwivedi44@gmail.com

754 Prabhansu et al.
1 Introduction
Clean energy generation from low-grade fuels, such as peat, lignite, or biomass,
is increasing globally to achieve a greener and ecologically balanced environment;
consequently, the use of CFB technology has gained more attention in the past few
decades in different industries for power generation, drying, catalyst regeneration,
chemical looping combustion, and gasification [1]. CFB has several advantages over
other conventional gasifiers. Some of these advantages are fuel flexibility, isother-
mal operation, low-pressure drop for the same throughput, and high heat and mass
transfer rate between gas and solids. Compared to the classical bubbling fluidized
bed, CFB systems have not found wide application as gasifier because of complexi-
ties in operation. Thus, researchers across the globe seek to understand the complex
interactions of gas and solid particles during the gasifier operation. There is a need
for thorough understanding of the hydrodynamics of CFB for its proper design to
fabricate better and efficient gasifier systems.
Previously, several studies have been conducted to understand the flow patterns
in CFB risers. The pressure balance model has been used by several researchers
to predict different process parameters Basu and his co-workers (Basu and Large
[2], Cheng et al. [3], Cheng and Basu [4]) have conducted much work on loop seal
operation for the prediction of solid circulation and pressure profiles. Bai et al. [5]
carried out performance analysis of the overall pressure balance in a high-density
CFB system. Similar work has also been carried out by Lim et al. [6] to predict solid
circulation rates from pressure loop profiles. A hydrodynamics study of dual-bed
system using sand was reported by Karmakar and Datta [7] who investigated the
static pressure, riser voidage, and solid circulations. The effect of particle properties
on the gas–solids flow structure was investigated in CFB system for two different
Geldart B particles by Peining et al. [8]. Zhang et al. [9] elaborated the operational
model diagram of CFB using Geldart A and B particles, enabling the designers
to delineate the operating characteristics. Chang [10] showed that by decreasing
the L-valve pressure and increasing the bed inventory in the hopper, more solid
circulation rate and solid holdup inside the riser above 0.075 throughout the riser
can be simultaneously achieved. Using CFBs of riser diameter 0.1 and 0.14 m,
the research conducted by Zhang et al. [11] examine axial and radial voidage of
riser flow, throughout riser up flow. Duelli et al. [12] of the University of Stuttgart
performed CO2 capture experiments in a 10 kW fluidized bed under conditions closer
to the industrial scale. Solid catalyst circulation in the CFB setup was experimentally
quantified using the solid holdup, particle size distribution, and pressure profile for a
range of gas velocities and was verified using CFD codes by Adkins et al. [13]. Geng
et al. [14] examined the axial solid holdups and the particle flow characteristics of
flow patterns and their transitions in dual CFB symmetrical units. In the CFB system,
it is often critical to sustain the pressure loop as it determines the system stability.
Silica sand as bed inventory also acts for better heat transfer so the reaction rates can
be improved in the gasifiers [15].
Hydrodynamics of a CFB Gasifier with Two Different Cross … 755
The aim of the present study is to analyze the hydrodynamic behavior of the CFB
test setup using silica sand as bed inventory. In this work, a study is carried out to
investigate the axial voidage, pressure profile, and solid circulation rate in a lab-scale
cold model circulating fluidized bed system.
The lab-scale CFB setup under consideration is installed at CSIR-CMERI Durgapur.

The body of the experimental setup is made of stainless steel. Some portions of the
riser and downcomer are made of transparent plexiglass to allow visual observation
of the solids flow. The present CFB test setup is shown schematically in Fig. 1.
The system has a long riser, twin cyclones to separate the solid particulates and a
downcomer with a loop seal. The loop seal is a nonmechanical valve used for better
solid recirculation and to establish a leak-tight operation in the loop [16, 17]. The
riser exit is connected tangentially to one of the cyclones in the horizontal direction.
The solid particles are supported by bubble-cap-type air distributor plates below the
riser and the loop seal.
A separate compressor unit is installed to supply air to the riser and the loop
seal through storage tank. Pressure taps, mounted at different locations, are fitted
with filter screens to prevent solid particles leaking from the bed to the manometer.
Pressure measurements are taken using U-tube water manometers. Three sets of
Fig. 1 Schematic
representation of CFB setup
pressure taps are located along the fast bed riser: a set of two at the inlet of the twin
cyclones, a set of one in the downcomer, and a set of two along the loop seal chamber.
To investigate the flow characteristics, silica sand samples of three different Sauter
diameters were taken. These samples prepared according to requirements via sieves
and sample properties are listed in Table 1.
Air was introduced at two locations—(a) at the bottom of riser and (b) at the
bottom of the loop seal chamber. The air flows to the riser and the loop seal were
supplied through two separate pipelines and each flow was controlled by a regulating
valve. The riser was maintained in the fast bed condition and the seal air keeps the
loop seal in the bubbling fluidization regime. The airflow rates were measured using
variable-area-type rota meters whose least count of measurement was 0.5 m3 /min.
A test run was conducted, and during each experiment, the setup was allowed to
continuously run for 5 h using each type of bed sample. At the steady-state condition,
the solid circulation rates were determined by noting the time taken by the descending
particles to travel along with a known height in the downcomer. The static pressure
heads in the riser, cyclone, downcomer, and loop seal were measured using U-tube
water manometers, and the uncertainty in the measurement was ± 0.2 %. The input
parameters and dimensions are shown in Table 2. The results were compared with
predicted values obtained from semiempirical mathematical model of Loffler et al.
[18].
Table 1 Properties of sand samples used

Material Sand # I Sand # II Sand # III
Size range (μm) 100–425 200–600 300–600
Sauter mean diameter (μm) 314 414 520
Sphericity 0.86 0.86 0.86
Particle density (kg/m3 ) 2500 2500 2500
Bulk density (kg/m3 ) 1410 1417 1447
Voidage at minimum fluidization condition, εmf 0.413 0.410 0.406
Minimum fluidization velocity at 27 °C, m/s 0.077 0.131 0.198
Particle terminal velocity at 27 °C, m/s 2.07 2.53 2.86
Archimedes number 2668 6116 12,119
Group of Geldart’s classification B B B
Table 2 Parameters of cold model test setup

Parameter Value Unit
Height of riser 3.23 m
Inside diameter of riser (up to 2.0 m height) 0.075 m
(beyond 2.0 m height) 0.100 m
Downcomer length 2.191 m
Downcomer diameter (inside) 0.050 m
Loop seal diameter (inside) 0.100 m
Height of loop seal 0.250 m
Diameter of inlet of cyclone 0.050 m
Total height of cyclone 0.400 m
Velocity of airflow in riser 4.1–9.0 m/s
Velocity of airflow in loop seal 0.14–0.85 m/s
4.1 Solid Circulation (Gs)
Gas–solid particles interaction dominates the solids flow in a low-density riser but
the particle–particle interaction has an important role in particles flow in very high-
density risers as also observed by Wang et al. [19]. In the riser, solids circulating flow
increases with high superficial velocities which ultimately results in the increase in
solids level in the downcomer. It moves with high hydrostatic pressure in loop seal
to move more solids from the standpipe. Thus, the solids returning rate increase even
though loop seal aeration rate remains unchanged as also proved by Basu and Cheng
[20].
Solid circulation rate for the test setup was found to be 2–90 kg/m2 s. Figure 2
shows that the solid circulation rate increases with increasing volumetric flow rate in
the riser air, and higher riser air velocity is required for larger particles to maintain the
same solid circulation. It was also observed during experimentation that the pressure
seal of sand in the downcomer breaks when the seal aeration is higher without change
in the riser air velocity. Similarly with high air velocity reduced, the sand column
pressure drop in the downcomer falls to drive the solid particles. Thus, there is a
suitable operating range of the seal air velocity that must be maintained for proper
functioning of the loop seal for a particular velocity of riser air. The operating range
of the loop seal air has been found to decrease at higher riser air velocity; thus, a
small change in the aeration rate helps to create a large change in the solid circulate
on before the pressure imbalance occurs to break down the loop.
Inside the riser, higher velocity found with solids flow from upside to downcomer.
These findings with higher relative velocity between the air and the solids at a given
loop seal aeration have good agreements with previous research [4, 5]. This yields a
Fig. 2 Solid circulation Predicted, Sample#I Experimental, Sample#I

rates with riser air velocity Predicted, Sample#II Experimental, Sample#II
100 Predicted, Sample#III Experimental, Sample#III
(loop seal air velocity:
0.15–0.7 m/s)
Solid Circulation Rate, kg/m -s

2
80
60
40
20
4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0
Riser Air Velocity, m/s
greater pressure drop across the solids column in the downcomer. Higher resistance in
the downcomer causes less air to flow in downcomer which increases the circulation
rate. Figure 2 depicts the predicted and experimental results of the solid circulation
rate with variation in the riser air velocity. Comparison of the data shows a good
agreement between the experimental and predicted results. The minimum aeration
needed for solids flow was 4.1 m/s for sand sample # I, 5.6 m/s for sand sample # II
and 7.1 m/s for sand sample # III. With increasing solid circulation rate, the aeration
rate increased with an exponential rise as shown in Fig. 2.
4.2 Voidage Profile
In the CFB riser, the solid particles are entrained upward against the force of gravity
with the up-flowing air. The flow characteristic in the riser is considered to be fully
developed and is similar to that in a dilute-phase vertical pneumatic transport system.
The voidage in the riser is calculated using the correlations of the semiempirical
model (Loffler et al. [18]) for three types of sand samples considering a riser velocity
near 4.4, 5.9, and 7.4 m/s for sand samples I, II, and III, respectively; these predicted
values are shown in Fig. 3. The figure shows that the lower section is denser, while the
upper section is dilute and continuously decrement in suspension density of particles
in the upward direction. It is also shown that the voidage at the fully developed
zone is greater for larger particles than for smaller diameter particles. This could
be explained by the fact that fine particles were embedded for bigger particles then
decreases the voidage. There is an abrupt change in the voidage profile at a height of
2.0 m due to sudden increase in riser diameter from 75 to 100 mm. The void fraction
Fig. 3 Predicted void 3.5

fraction along the riser Sample#I
3.0 Sample#II
Sample#III
2.5
2.0
Height, m
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
-0.5
0.75 0.80 0.85 0.90 0.95 1.00
Void Fraction
increased to 0.994, 0.989, and 0.987 in samples #I, II, and III, respectively, in the
fully developed region.
4.3 Pressure Profiles
The assumption considered while obtaining the riser pressure profiles is that the
hydrostatic head of solid particles the axial pressure drop. The particle suspension
density is directly influenced by the pressure drop in axial distance. The lower zone
of the riser is denser which results in a greater pressure drop across this zone. During
steady-state operation, the solids are distributed in such a way that the pressure drops
across the two legs, i.e., the riser and downcomer balance each other for a given bed
inventory. It is seen that the pressure drops across the different components of the
CFB are affected mainly by changes in the superficial air velocity or solid mass
flux. For each sample, the experiments were carried out for bed inventory of 6–7 kg.
Improvements aeration flow was more for particles with greater Sauter diameter, and
it increased with increasing inventory. The reason may be the increase in the upward
drag force which results in an increase in the net rising solid velocity, i.e., (U–U t ).
The experiment also shows that the loop seal operates steadily if pressure balance is
satisfied; however, it becomes unsteady when the pressure balance is lost. The solids
inventory in the system, loop seal aeration, and the riser air velocity are the prominent
parameters upon which the pressure balance of the system depends. Figure 4 shows
the calculated and predicted values of static pressure for all three sand samples with
the solids inventory 6–7 kg. The riser air velocities were maintained at 4.4, 5.9,
and 7.4 m/s for samples #I, II, and III, respectively. The obtained pressure profile
is almost similar for all three sand samples. The predicted result obtained in Fig. 4
almost matches the experimental findings in all three cases. The maximum deviation
in predicted results from the experimental value is around 3.2, 6, and 1.5% for sand
Fig. 4 Pressure profiles of

4, 4', 4'' Predicted, Sample#I
CFB system for all three 3.5
Experimental, Sample#I
samples 3, 3', 3'' Predicted, Sample#II
3.0
Experimental, Sample#II
Predicted, Sample#III
2.5 Experimental, Sample#III
Height, m
2.0
1.5
6, 6', 6''
1.0
0.5
2 7 2'' 7' 7''
2'
0.0
-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Pressure, kPa
samples I, II, and III, respectively. At different particle sizes, the axial solid holdup
is between 0.24 and 0.20 for finer to larger particles, respectively, at lower zone of
riser section but decreases with height of the riser, with a constant value of 0.01
up to riser outlet. With increasing solid circulation rate and constant superficial air
velocity, results show that axial solid holdup increases; thus, overall system pressure
drop decreases.
For constant Gs and increasing superficial gas velocity, the axial solid holdup
decreases with higher superficial gas velocity. Lower zone of riser begins to hold
fewer particles and the gas stream carrying properties is greatly enhanced resulting
in more particles being entrained upward and the pressure drop increases accord-
ingly. The coefficient of multiple determinations (R2 ) was found to be 95.2% when
compared with Loffler et al. [18].
5 Conclusions
The hydrodynamic analysis of a lab-scale CFB system was done using silica sands
with two different cross sections in the riser. This study investigated the solid cir-
culation rates, axial voidage profiles, and pressure profiles for sand samples with
mean diameters of 314, 414, and 520 microns. The bed inventories for each sample
were taken as 6–7 kg during the operation of the system. A semiempirical model
was used by carefully choosing available mathematical correlations that were suited
to the present investigation.
Solid circulations increased with air velocity in riser while keeping the loop seal
air constant. It was observed that for a given riser air velocity, the system operated
only within a limited range of the loop seal aeration rate to maintain the circulation
loop. The loop seal aeration requirement increases with increasing particle size.
To achieve the same circulation rate, higher riser air velocity is required for larger
samples. Axial voidage profile clearly showed the sudden rise in void fraction after
the divergent section of the riser.
A comparison with experimental data indicated sufficient accordance of the model
values regarding the solid circulation rate and the pressure profile. For pressure
profiles, the maximum deviation of model values from the experimental results,
when compared, was 6.3%.
References
1. Grace, J., Bi, H., Goloriz, M.: Circulating fluidized beds. In: Yang, W.-C. (ed.) Handbook of
fluidization and fluid particle systems, pp. 486–487. Marcel Dekker, New York (2003)
2. Basu, P., Large, J.F. (eds): Circulating fluidized bed technology II, p. 181 Pergamom Press,
Oxford, England (1988)
3. Cheng, L., Basu, P., Cen, K.: Solids circulation rate prediction in a pressurized loop seal. Chem.
Eng. Res. Des 76, 761 (1998)
4. Cheng L., Basu. P.: Effect of pressure on loop seal operation for a pressurized circulating
fluidized bed. Pow.Techn. 103, 203–211 (1999)
5. Bai, D., Issangya, J., Grace, J.R.: Analysis of the overall pressure balance around a high density
circulating fluidized bed. Ind. Engg. Chem. Res. 36, 3898–3903 (1997)
6. Lim, K.S., Peeler, P., Close, R., Joyce, T.: Estimation of solid circulation rate in CFB from
pressure loop profiles. In: Werther, J. (ed.) Circulating fluidized bed technology VI, p. 455.
DECHEMA, Frankfurt, Germany (1999)
7. Karmakar, M.K., Datta, A.B.: Hydrodynamics of a dual fluidized bed gasifier. Adv. Pow. Tech.
21, 521–528 (2010)
8. Peining, W., Xuan, Y., Hairui, Y., Man, Z.: Impact of particle properties on gas solid flow in
the whole circulating fluidized bed system. Powder Technol. 267, 193–200 (2014)
9. Zhang, H.L., Degrève, J., Dewil, R., Baeyens. J.: Operation diagram of circulating fluidized
beds (CFBs). The 7th World Congress on Particle Technology (WCPT7). Proc. Eng. 102,
1092–1103 (2015)
10. Chang, J., Zhang, K., Zhu, W., Yang, Y.: Gas–solid flow in a high-density circulating fluidized
bed riser with Geldart group B particles. Particuology 29, 103–109 (2016)
11. Zhang, H., Degrève, J., Baeyens, J., Dewil, R.: The voidage in a CFB riser as function of solids
flux and gas velocity, The 7th World Congress on Particle Technology (WCPT7). Proc. Engg.
102, 1112–1122 (2015)
12. Duelli, G., Charitos, A., Diegob, M.E., Stavroulakis, E., Dietera, H., Scheffknecht, G.: Inves-
tigations at a 10 kWth calcium looping dual fluidized bed facility: limestone calcination and
CO2 capture under high CO2 and water vapor atmosphere. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 33,
103–112 (2015)
13. Adkins, B.D., Kapur, N., Dudley, T., Webb, S., Blaser, P.: Experimental validation of CFD
hydrodynamic models for catalytic fast pyrolysis. Pow. Techn. 316, 725–739 (2017)
14. Geng, C., Shao, Y., Zhong, W., Yu, A.: Experiments on particles flow in a dual circulating
fluidized bed with symmetrical structure. Pow. Techn. 304, 81–88 (2016)
15. Lim, M.T., Pang, S., Nijdam, J.: Investigation of solids circulation in a cold model of a circu-
lating fluidized bed. Powder Technol. 226, 57–67 (2012)
16. Basu, P., Butler, J.: Studies on the operation of loop-seal in circulating fluidized bed boilers.
App. Ener. 86, 1723–1731 (2009)
17. Bareschino, P., Solimene, R., Chirone, R., Salatino, P.: Gas and solid flow patterns in the loop
seal of a circulating fluidized bed. Powder Technol. 264, 197–202 (2014)
18. Loffler, G., Kaiser, S., Bosch, K., Hofbauer, H.: Hydrodynamics of a dual fluidized bed gasi-
fier—Part I: simulation of a riser with gas injection and diffuser. Chem. Engg. Sci. 58, 4197–
4213 (2003)
19. Wang, C., Zhu, J., Li, C., Barghi, S.: Detailed measurements of particle measurements of
particle velocity and solids flux in a high density circulating fluidized bed riser. Chem. Engg.
Sci. 114, 9–20 (2014)
20. Basu, P., Cheng, L.: An analysis of loop seal operations in a circulating fluidized bed. Trans. I
Chem. E. 78A, 991–998 (2000)
Thermodynamic Analysis of Irreversible
Reversed Brayton Cycle Heat Pump
with Finite Capacity Finite Conductance
Heat Reservoirs
Raghav Mundhra and Achintya Mukhopadhyay
Abstract In this research, the analytical expressions for various parameters of an

irreversible heat pump working on the reversed Brayton cycle, considering the finite
capacity of the heat reservoirs, is derived using finite time thermodynamics. The effect
of pressure ratio of the condenser and the temperature ratio of the heat reservoirs on
the heat load, power required, COP and ECOP is studied under different operating
conditions. Moreover, the effect of different working fluids on these parameters is also
analysed. When the assumption of infinite heat capacity of reservoirs is implemented
in the expressions derived, the results obtained match with the previous researches
based on this assumption. It was found that there exist critical values of pressure
ratio at which the COP and ECOP achieve maximum values. This critical pressure
ratio increases as the temperature ratio increases and decreases as the heat capacity
ratio of the working fluid increases.
Keywords Finite time thermodynamics · Heat pump · Reversed Brayton cycle ·

Finte heat reservoirs
Nomenclature
C Heat capacity (kJ/K)

COP Coefficient of performance (dimensionless)
ECOP Ecological coefficient of performance (dimensionless)
E Effectiveness (dimensionless)
P Pressure (Pa)
Q Heat transfer (kJ)
S Entropy (kJ/K)
T Temperature (K)
R. Mundhra (B) · A. Mukhopadhyay

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India
e-mail: rag.mundhra@gmail.com

764 R. Mundhra and A. Mukhopadhyay
Greek Symbols
γ Heat capacity ratio (dimensionless)

η Efficiency (dimensionless)
π Pressure ratio of the compressor (dimensionless)
τ Temperature ratio of heat reservoirs (dimensionless)
Subscripts
c Compressor
e Exit
f Working fluid
gen Generation
H Hot side (heat sink)
h Hot side heat exchanger
i Inlet
L Cold side (heat source)
l Cold side heat exchanger
s Isentropic
t Expander
1 Introduction
The Clausius statement of the second law of thermodynamics states that it is impos-
sible to construct a device that operates on a cycle and produces no other effect than
the transfer of heat from a cooler body to a hotter body. A heat pump (or refrigerator)
will therefore, require some external work to perform this operation, Borgnakke and
Sonntag [1]. A schematic for a heat pump, illustrating its work and energy interac-
tions with the surroundings is shown in Fig. 1.
The finite time thermodynamics (FTT) approach of analysis of thermodynamic
cycles is giving more practical results as compared to the classical thermodynamics
approach, Andresen et al. [2], Agrawal and Menon [3], Gordon [4], Chen and Sun
[5], Chen [6]. In contrast to the reversible thermodynamics concepts, heat reservoirs
cannot be maintained at a constant temperature in real life. The finiteness of the heat
reservoirs results in lowering of efficiency and performance of devices operating
between heat reservoirs of finite capacity as compared to machines operating between
reservoirs of constant temperature, Agrawal and Menon [7].
A lot of research has been done on FTT analysis of an irreversible heat pump
working on reversed Brayton Cycle, Ahmadi et al. [8], Tyagi et al. [9], Ni et al. [10],
Chen et al. [11, 12]. Since CFC refrigerants pose a serious threat to the environment,
Thermodynamic Analysis of Irreversible Reversed Brayton Cycle … 765
Fig. 1 Schematic of a heat

pump
various researches have been done on heat pumps working by employing air as a
working fluid, Fleming et al. [13], Bi et al. [14]. Performance analysis and optimiza-
tion have been carried out for the Brayton heat pump operating between reservoirs of
infinite thermal capacities, Ahmadi et al. [8]. Finiteness of the heat exchanger is of
very important consideration in case of the evaporator, however it may be neglected
in case of the condenser as it exchanges heat with the ambient. The performance
analysis and optimization of Brayton Cycle with finite capacity heat reservoirs have
also been carried out but with a focus on power density optimization only, Chen et al.
[11]. This paper focuses on the finite heat capacity of both the heat reservoirs for
an irreversible Brayton heat pump and the variation of Heat Load, Power required,
COP and ECOP with various operating conditions are studied. The effect of different
working fluids is also taken into consideration.
2 Thermodynamic Analysis
The study is carried out for an irreversible heat pump operating on the reversed
Brayton cycle, the schematic for which is shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 T–S diagram of an

irreversible heat pump
working on reversed Brayton
cycle with variable
temperature counter flow
heat exchangers
2.1 System Description
The ideal reversed Brayton cycle comprises two isentropic (2–3s , 4–1s ) and two
isobaric processes (1–2, 3–4). Owing to irreversibilities, the isentropic processes
becomes adiabatic (2–3, 4–1).
The cycle 1s –2–3s –4–1s is an endoreversible one, while cycle 1–2–3–4–1 is an
irreversible one. In order to analyse an irreversible cycle from the corresponding
endoreversible cycle, the efficiencies of the non-isentropic processes, in our case,
adiabatic expansion and adiabatic compression, need to be taken into account. The
efficiency of the compressor and expander is given by Eqs. (1) and (2) respectively
T3s − T2
ηc = (1)
T3 − T2
T4 − T1
ηt = (2)
T4 − T1s
The inlet temperature of heat source denoted by TL i and the inlet temperature
of heat sink is denoted by THi and the heat reservoirs are of finite thermal capacity.
There is a finite temperature between the evaporator and the heat source and between
the condenser and the heat sink.
The working fluid is assumed to behave ideally and its heat capacity is denoted
by C f .
2.2 System Analysis
The heat transfer rate from the heat source (QL ) and the heat transfer rate supplied
to the heat sink (QH ) can be formulated using the fundamentals of heat transfer and
heat exchangers and are given by Eqs. (3) and (4).
Q H = C f (T3 − T4 ) = C H E H (T3 − THi )

C H = min(C f , C h ) (3)
Q L = C f (T2 − T1 ) = C L E L (TL i − T1 )
C L = min(C f , Cl ) (4)
Applying the laws of thermodynamics to the cycle, we get
T2 T4 = T1s T3s (5)
T3s /T2 = (P3s /P2 )m = (P3 /P2 )m = π m

m = (γ − 1)/γ (6)
The coefficient of performance of the heat pump is:
QH
COP = (7)
QH − QL
Entropy generation of the system is:
QH QL
Sgen = − (8)
TH TL
The ecological coefficient of performance is given as:
QH
ECOP = (9)
T0 Sgen
2.3 Analytical Expressions
Solving Eqs. (1)–(6) for the various unknown parameters, the following relations are
obtained:
(1 + π −m ηt − ηt )[C L E L (C f − C H E H )(ηc + π m − 1)TL i + ηc C f C H E H THi ]

T1 = (10)
ηc C 2f − (C f − C H E H )(C f − C L E L )(ηc + π m − 1)(1 + π −m ηt − ηt )
ηc [(1 + π −m ηt − ηt )C H E H (C f − C L E L )THi + C f C L E L TL i ]
T2 = (11)
(ηc + π m − 1)[(1 + π −m ηt − ηt )C H E H (C f − C L E L )THi + C f C L E L TL i ]
T3 = (12)
[C L E L (C f − C H E H )(ηc + π m − 1)TL i + ηc C f C H E H THi ]

T4 = (13)
C f C H E H [{(1 + π −m ηt − ηt )(ηc + π m − 1)(C f − C L E L ) − ηc C f }THi + (ηc + π m − 1)C L E L TL i ]
QH = (14)
C f C L E L [{ηc C f − (1 + π −m ηt − ηt )(ηc + π m − 1)(C f − C H E H )}TL i − ηc C H E H (1 + π −m ηt − ηt )THi ]
QL = (15)
The results were obtained using an in-house MATLAB code to study the variation of
Heat Load, Power required, COP and the ECOP of the heat pump with the temperature
ratio, the pressure ratio of the compressor, the working fluid, and the heat capacities
of the reservoirs.
In order to allow comparisons with previous researches, Ahmadi et al. [8], Chen
et al. [11, 12], the operating conditions of the irreversible Brayton heat pump are
taken as follows:
T0 = 300K , TL = 298.15K , ηc = 0.8, ηt = 0.8

E H = 0.9, E L = 0.9
The other operating conditions are varied as shown in the following cases:
3.1 Cf > Ch , Cl with Air as Working Fluid
The data assumed for the computation of the analytical results are C f = 1.01, γ =
1.4; C h /C f = 0.8, C l /C f = 0.8 (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3 a Variation of heat

load with π and τ .
b Variation of power with π
and τ . c Variation of COP
with π and τ . d Variation of
ECOP with π and τ
Fig. 3 (continued)
3.2 Cf < Ch , Cl with Air as Working Fluid
The operating conditions assumed for the computation of the analytical results are
C f = 1.01, γ = 1.4; C h /C f = 1.25, C l /C f = 1.25 (Fig. 4).
As it can be seen from the plots, the heat load and power required increases with
increasing the pressure ratio and decreases with increasing the temperature ratio. The
COP and ECOP values first increases reaches a maximum and then decreases with
increasing pressure ratio. Thus, there exist critical values of pressure ratio for each
temperature ratio for the COP and ECOP. Lowering the temperature ratio increases
the COP. Increasing the temperature ratio increases the ECOP. For lower temperature
ratio, the value of critical pressure ratio is lower for both COP and ECOP.
The values obtained for the parameters for the case of C f < C h , C l (Fig. 4a–d)
is observed to be greater than that for the case of C f > C h , C l (Fig. 3a–d) for the
respective π and τ .

load with π and τ .
and τ . c Variation of COP
with π and τ . d Variation of
ECOP with π and τ
Fig. 4 (continued)
3.3 Effect of Working Fluids
Three different working fluids were taken into consideration for this study—air
(C f = 1.01, γ = 1.4), helium (C f = 5.19, γ = 1.667) and carbon dioxide
(C f = 0.84, γ = 1.3). The operating conditions assumed are τ = 1.3; C h /C f =
1.25, C l /C f = 1.25 (Fig. 5).
It can be observed from the plots that the heat load and the power required is found
to be higher for higher values of γ . The curve for COP and ECOP is shifted towards
the y-axis with increasing γ . However, the maximum value of COP and ECOP is
independent of γ . But, the critical pressure ratio for both COP and ECOP decreases
on increasing γ .

load with π and γ .
and γ . c Variation of COP
with π and γ . d Variation of
ECOP with π and γ
Fig. 5 (continued)
4 Conclusion
In the various cases considered it is seen that the COP and ECOP values reach their
maxima at a certain critical value of pressure ratio which increases with increasing
the temperature ratio and decreases on using a working fluid of higher heat capacity
ratio.
The values of heat load, power required, COP and ECOP are found to be higher
for the case when C f < C h , C l as compared to the case of C f > C h , C l . For the former
case, the results of this paper were in agreement with recent research considering
constant temperature heat reservoirs. This paper provides a generalisation for the
analysis of irreversible Brayton heat pump and it validates the previous research
based on the infinite capacity heat reservoir consideration. Out of the three working
fluids analysed, helium turns out to be the best in terms of the parameters studied. As
a future scope of study, optimization of the parameters can be carried out to achieve
the optimal solution for design parameters.
References
1. Borgnakke, C., Sonntag, R.E.: Fundamentals of Thermodynamics, 7th edn. Wiley, New Delhi,
pp. 213–221 (2009)
2. Andresen, B., Berry, R.S., Ondrechen, M.J., Salamon, P.: Thermodynamics for processes in
finite time. Acc. Chem. Res. 17(8), 266–271 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1021/ar00104a001
3. Agrawal, D.C., Menon, V.J.: Finite-time Carnot refrigerators with wall gain and product loads.
J. Appl. Phys. 74(4), 2153–2158 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.354748
4. Gordon, J.M.: Endoreversible engines with finite-time adiabats. Indian J. Eng. Mater. Sci. 1,
195–198 (1994)
5. Chen, L.G., Sun, F.R.: Advances in Finite Time Thermodynamics: Analysis and Optimization,
1st edn. Nova Science Publishers, New York (2004)
6. Chen, L.G.: Finite-Time Thermodynamic Analysis of Irreversible Processes and Cycles, 1st
edn. Higher Education Press, Beijing (2005)
7. Agrawal, D.C., Menon, V.J.: Engines and refrigerators with finite heat reservoirs. Eur. J. Phys.
11(5), 305 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1088/0143-0807/11/5/008
8. Ahmadi, M.H., Ahmadi, M.A., Pourfayaz, F., Bidi, M.: Thermodynamic analysis and opti-
mization for an irreversible heat pump working on reversed Brayton cycle. Energy Convers.
Manage. 110, 260–267 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2015.12.028
9. Tyagi, S.K., Chen, G.M., Wang, Q., Kaushik, S.C.: A new thermoeconomic approach and
parametric study of an irreversible regenerative Brayton refrigeration cycle. Int. J. Refrig.
29(7), 1167–1174 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2006.01.003
10. Ni, N., Chen, L.G., Wu, C., Sun, F.: Performance analysis for endoreversible closed regenerated
Brayton heat pump cycles. Energy Convers. Manage. 40(4), 393–406 (1999). https://doi.org/
10.1016/S0196-8904(98)00121-6
11. Chen, L.G., Zheng, J.L., Sun, F.R., Wu, C.: Power density analysis and optimization of a
regenerated closed variable-temperature heat reservoir Brayton cycle. J. Phys. D Appl. Phys.
34(11), 1727 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/34/11/326
12. Chen, L.G., Ni, N., Wu, C., Sun, F.R.: Performance analysis of a closed regenerated Brayton
heat pump with internal irreversibilities. Int. J. Energy Res. 23(12), 1039–1050 (1999). https://
doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-114X(19991010)23:12%3c1039:AID-ER539%3e3.0.CO;2-6
13. Fleming, J.S., Van der Wekken, B.J.C., McGovern, J.A., Van Gerwen, R.J.M.: Air cycle cooling
and heating Part 1: a realistic appraisal and a chosen application. Int. J. Energy Res. 22(7), 639–
655 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-114X(19980610)22:7%3c639:AID-ER390%
3e3.0.CO;2-J
14. Bi, Y., Xie, G., Chen, L.G., Sun, F.R.: Heating load density optimization of an irreversible
simple Brayton cycle heat pump coupled to counter-flow heat exchangers. Appl. Math. Model.
36(5), 1854–1863 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apm.2011.07.082
Indian Sub-bituminous and Low-Rank
Coal Gasification Experiments
in a Circulating Fluidized Bed Gasifier
Under Air Atmosphere
Krishna Kant Dwivedi , Prabhansu, A. K. Pramanick, M. K. Karmakar

and P. K. Chatterjee
Abstract This present research work aims to investigate the gasification of waste
coal and sub-bituminous coal at low temperatures under air atmosphere. This paper
also focus on the comparison of Indian low-rank coal and sub-bituminous coal with
commercial circulating fluidized bed gasifiers. Current research shows the effective
results for Indian sub-bituminous coal and low-rank coal gasification in a CFB sys-
tem. Experiments conducted at different ratio of steam and coal and with different
temperatures of gasifying agent. Results show that low-rank coal or waste category
Indian coal can be used for gasification in any CFBs systems. This paper also focuses
on different state of coal gasification technology for production of syngas use with
particular attention and environmental impacts for coal gasification.
Keywords Circulating fluidized bed · Energy · Gasification · Low-rank coal
1 Introduction
Gasification of coal is a technology that presents good prospects for producing elec-
tricity with low environmental impact [1]. Conversion of solid fuels like coal by
gasification means production of syngas known as coal gasification. Some previous
research on coal gasification in fluidized beds has been realised that solid waste
materials like low-rank coal can be used as an energy source. Waste category coal
which has high ash content such as lignite coal can be also used for gasification in
K. K. Dwivedi (B) · A. K. Pramanick

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, West-Bengal
713209, India
e-mail: kkdwivedi44@gmail.com
Prabhansu
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Muzaffarpur Institute of Technology, Laxmichowk,
Muzaffarpur, Bihar 842003, India
e-mail: prabhansu.nitp@gmail.com
M. K. Karmakar · P. K. Chatterjee
Energy Research and Technology, CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute,
Durgapur, West-Bengal 713209, India

778 K. K. Dwivedi et al.
any circulating fluidized bed gasifier. But in case of good quality coal with fewer ash
contents such as sub-bituminous coals are far less permeable and it will increase the
permeability and high rate of gas flow can be attained [2]. Some solid waste such
as waste coal and biomass have about 0.33% of the total gasification capacity and it
shows the least difference of total produced energy from other energy sources [3].
Basically coal gasification is a conversion of solid material into syngas with some
external gasification agent [4, 5]. Based on the study of gasification of solid waste
like waste category coal or low-rank coal it is found that product gas during the gasi-
fication has higher hydrogen content as compared with from wood [6, 7]. During the
study on gasification of some low category coal in a circulating fluidized bed system
it has been justified that this category coal has more ash contents with low carbon
percentage [8, 9]. Pyrolysis study of different types of Indian coal also justified the
total amount of activation by kinetics study [10].
In this paper, the relative gasification process in circulating fluidized bed gasifier
for sub-bituminous coal and Indian low-rank coal is explained for waste to energy
systems.
The main purpose of this current research is to evaluate the performance of waste
coal gasification under air atmosphere and comparison with sub-bituminous coal in
order to examine the efficiency of the waste category coal using CFB system.
2.1 Sample
Indian waste category coal and sub-bituminous coal collected from Indian coal mines
and used as the sample. The sample properties (Proximate and ultimate analysis)
according to ASTM D-5373are listed in Table 1. The size of both the coal samples
Table 1 Proximate and

Proximate/ultimate Sub-bituminous coal Low-rank coal
ultimate analysis
analysis (%)
Moisture 3.17 2.01
Fixed carbon 6.73 5.17
Volatile matter 15.15 13.02
Ash 43.25 71.02
Carbon 60.15 15.02
Hydrogen 1.13 1.05
Nitrogen 0.45 0.32
Sulphur 0.2 0.1
Oxygen 9.65 12.05
Indian Sub-bituminous and Low-Rank Coal Gasification … 779
was in the range of 1.0–2.0 mm. Coal samples were dried at 353 K for 6–8 h before
the start of the experiments.
2.2 Experimental Setup
Gasification process of different Indian coal samples (sub-bituminous & waste coal)
in CFB system has been carried out in these experiments. The center temperature
of the fluidized bed system is nearly 850 °C. In this gasification experiments, four
different coal samples were used, two samples for sub-bituminous and another two
samples for low-rank coal. The size of different coal samples was between the range
of 1.0 and 2.0 mm. The lab scale Circulating Fluidized Bed setup under consideration
is installed at CSIR-CMERI Durgapur, West-Bengal India. The circulating fluidized
bed riser is made of stainless steel. The riser is 0.75 m in diameter till 2.0 m height
and beyond that it is 0.1 m in diameter. Some portions of riser and downcomer are
made with transparent Plexiglas to visualize the solids flow. In this experimental set
up there is a riser, double cyclones to separate the solid particulates and a downcomer
with loop seal. The coal sample is spherical and uniform in size. The experimental
set up for CFB system is shown in Fig. 1. Some factors during the gasification such
as coal devolatilization, volatiles decomposition and char combustion are the key
parameter during gasification.
Table 2 shows the details about the related parameter for circulating fluidized bed
gasifier experimental set up.
3.1 Sub-bituminous and Low-Rank Coal Gasification Results
In the sub-bituminous and low-rank coal gasification tests, at first stage, 10% low-
rank coal and 90% sub-bituminous coal was gasified. In these tests, the same coal
samples were used for varying ratio. Average values for both coal samples were
taken for the experiments. The gas production from the gasification process shows
relation between volume of product gas and the energy content in coal samples. Tar
produced from gasification process has higher hydrocarbons and it is undesirable for
coal gasification. During the mid of process, when syngas is going to higher to lower
temperature range, produced tar start condensing and passes to heat exchangers.
Usually tar can remove prior to product gas in gasification processes. So the amount
of tar in the produced syngas has an important role in the gasifier’s design and
mostly in gas cleaning equipment. Figure 2 presents the result of gasification of
Indian waste coal. It is showing that the CO2 conversion for waste coal is only 13.6%
for the temperature range of 1223 K, which shows a low reactivity in comparison
Fig. 1 Experimental set up for circulating fluidized bed gasifier
with the Indian sub-bituminous coal in a commercial CFB gasifier. This less efficient
coal sample may be suitable for circulating fluidized bed gasification.
3.2 Effect of Gasifier Bed Temperature
The system bed temperature is a key factor for gasification process. Basically bed
temperature depends on the supplied energy and the supplied air during the gasifica-
tion process. Excess quantity of oxygen shows that more heat will be produced due
to combustion reactions. During the gasification of both sub-bituminous and waste
coal, gas composition evaluated as shown in Fig. 3.
Table 2 Details about different parameter for experimental setup

Parameter Value Unit
Height of riser 3.23 M
Inside diameter of riser (up to 2.0 m height) 0.075 M
Beyond 2.0 m height 0.100 M
Length of downcomer stand pipe 2.191 M
Inside diameter of downcomer stand pipe 0.050 M
Inside diameter of loop seal 0.100 M
Height of loop seal 0.250 M
Diameter of inlet of cyclone 0.050 M
Total height of cyclone 0.400 M
Velocity of airflow in riser 4.1–9.0 m/s
Velocity of airflow in loop seal 0.14–085 m/s
Fig. 2 Gasification B
reactivity curve for Indian 80
waste coal
70
60
CO 2 conversion (%) for waste coal
50
40
30
20
10
-10
1100 1150 1200 1250 1300 1350 1400
Reaction temperature (K)
3.3 Effect of Particle Size
During the experiments, it is justified that different particle size of coal samples
affects the reactivity of circulating fluidized bed gasifiers. In the case of solid waste
materials like biomass and low-rank coal, it is clear that they are very less reactive
in particle size condition. These samples can take fast reaction if the particle size of
coal sample is very small. So particle size of coal samples does not affect the process.
Fig. 3 Effect of bed Hydrogen

CO
temperature on coal 16 CO2
Methane
gasification
14
Gas composition (vol., dry basis)

12
10
720 740 760 780 800 820 840 860 880 900 920
o
Bed temperature ( C)
Fig. 4 Effect of particle size d1= 1.05

on coal gasification 1150 d2= 2.05
1100
1050
1000
950
Tar content (mg/m 3)
900
850
800
750
700
650
600
550
500
450
700 750 800 850 900
o
Bed temperature ( C)
The influence of size of coal particles on gasification in a CFB system in different

temperature conditions is shown in Fig. 4.
3.4 Technical Performance of the System
In this paper, results predict that the possibilities of power generation from circulating
fluidized bed gasification of waste coal. Whether this experiments applied for the
distributed generation in small municipalities for the economic considerations. The
Fig. 5 Performance of subbitumino

sub-bituminous and waste 2500 wastecoal
coal gasification
2000
Amount of coal samples (ton)

1500
1000
500
0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
Power generation (kW)
performance of both sub-bituminous coal and waste coal are shown in Fig. 5. For all
the coal gasification experiments shows that no particle caking was observed in this
process. This can be evaluated by the pressure changes in the CFB system.
Gasification of waste coal leads to a renewable energy source with the waste in
generator for the thermal treatment of solid waste materials. As shown in Fig. 4,
gasification should be considered as a way to utilize wastes to energy path in waste
management system.
4 Conclusions
In this paper, it has been observed that Indian waste category coal also can be used
as a fuel. Different experiments on coal gasification were carried out in a circulating
fluidized bed reactors. Among all four coal samples, two samples for sub-bituminous
coal and another two samples for waste coal were studied, it shows that waste category
coal results in the highest quality of product gas. From the results it has been justified
that decrease in ER shows an increase in LHV. The air is an important factor for the
gasification studies. Furthermore, the air is easily available agent and also it has
no cost and easy to operate and maintain. The test shows that for the Indian sub-
bituminous coal and waste coal, the bed temperature reached at 1273 K, which
extend the char gasification reaction in the bottom. Production of tar with exit gas is
a noticeable point during the gasification of coal. We can reduce about 50% of tar
production during gasification process by injection of secondary air. Tar content can
be achieved in less than 0.5 g/m3 n. Overall, this study verified that gasification of
waste coal provides the way to utilize the solid waste material as an energy source
with relatively high ash content (30–50%), caking indexes of up to 20 and relatively
low gasification reactivity Among different ways to use waste coal in the energy
industry, co-gasification is the alternative for using such kinds of materials.
Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the support extended by Director, CSIR-CMERI

Durgapur and Director, National Institute of Technology Durgapur.
References
1. Aznar, M.P., Caballero, M.A., Sancho, J.A., Frances, E.: Plastic waste elimination by co-
gasification with coal and biomass in fluidized bed with air in pilot plant. Fuel Process. Technol.
87, 409–420 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2005.09.006
2. Belgiorno, V., Feo, G.D., Rocca, C., Napoli, R.M.A.: Energy from gasification of solid wastes.
Waste Manage. 23, 1–15 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0956-053X(02)00149-6
3. Koukouzas, N., Katsiadakis, A., Karlopoulos, E., Kakaras, E.: Co-gasification of solid waste
and lignite—a case study for Western Macedonia. Waste Manage. 28, 1263–1275 (2008).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2007.04.011
4. Karatas, H., Olgun, H., Akgun, F.: Coal and coal and calcined dolomite gasification experiments
in a bubbling fluidized bed gasifier under air atmosphere. Fuel Process. Technol. 106, 666–672
(2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2012.09.063
5. Liu, Z., Lin, C., Chang, T., Weng, W.: Waste-gasification efficiency of a two-stage fluidized-
bed gasification system. Waste Manage. 48, 250–256 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.
2015.12.001
6. Luz, F.C., Rocha, M.H., Lora, E.S., Venturini, O.J., Andrade, R.V., Leme, M.M.V., del Olmo,
O.A.: Techno- economic analysis of municipal solid waste gasification for electricity generation
in Brazil. Energy Convers. Manage. 103, 321–337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2015.
06.074
7. Rollinson, A.N., Karmakar, M.K.: On the reactivity of various biomass species with CO2 using
a standardised methodology for fixed-bed gasification. Chem. Eng. Sci. 128, 82–91 (2015).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2015.02.007
8. Saw, W., McKinnon, H., Gilmour, I., Pang, S.: Production of hydrogen-rich syngas from steam
gasification of blend of biosolids and wood using a dual fluidised bed gasifier. Fuel 93, 473–478
(2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2011.08.047
9. Tanigaki, N., Manako, K., Osada, M.: Co-gasification of municipal solid waste and material
recovery in a large-scale gasification and melting system. Waste Manage. 32, 667–675 (2012).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2011.10.019
10. Wilk, V., Hofbauer, H.: Conversion of mixed plastic wastes in a dual fluidized bed steam
gasifier. Fuel 107, 787–799 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2013.01.068
Thermal Model for Temperature Control
of Building Subjected to Variable Solar
Radiation
S. Sukumar , Abhijit Sinha and S. P. Kar
Abstract A one-dimensional numerical model is developed to control the room

temperature inside the building during summer days. Three layers are considered
for the analysis. A layer of phase change material (PCM) is taken between the two
layers of concrete for the roof of the building. The rooftop is subjected to variable
solar radiation during a summer day which is varying during the sunshine period.
Thus, the PCM gets heated and melts by absorbing the heat from the heated roof
which helps in controlling the temperature inside the building. Finite Volume Method
(FVM) is used to discretise the energy equation. The algebraic equations obtained
from discretisation is solved using the Tri-Diagonal Matrix Algorithm (TDMA) to get
the temperature distribution across the width of the roof. The solid–liquid interface
during melting of PCM is captured using enthalpy-porosity technique. Heat loss by
natural convection is taken into account at the roof as well as ceiling. Appreciable
reduction in room ceiling temperature is noted by using PCM during the study which
is helpful in maintaining the room at comparatively lower temperature on a hot day.
This numerical model provides the direction to develop further advanced model to
analyse the role of PCM in controlling the temperature inside the room of the building
and hence to improve the design of the building for effective human comfort.
Keywords Phase changing material · Latent heat storage · Human comfort · Solar
radiation
Nomenclature
ap Coefficient in the algebraic equation (dimensionless)

Cp Specific heat (J/kg)
gL Liquid volume fraction (dimensionless)
H Total enthalpy (J)
S. Sukumar · A. Sinha · S. P. Kar (B)

SME, KIIT Deemed to Be University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751024, India
e-mail: satyapkar@gmail.com

786 S. Sukumar et al.
hr Hour
hsen Sensible heat (J)
Lf Latent heat of fusion (J/kg)
Qr Radiative solar heat flux (W/m2 )
T Temperature (K)
t Time (s)
Greek Symbols
α Thermal diffusivity (m2 /s)

H Nodal latent heat (J/kg)
V p Volume of the control volume (m3 )
t Time step (s)
ρ Density (kg/m3 )
λ Under-relaxation parameter (dimensionless)
Subscripts
0 Initial
amb Ambient
m Melting point
1 Introduction
Phase change materials (PCMs) have been in use for thermal energy storage for sev-
eral years. Their ability of storing a large amount of energy in the form of latent heat
at nearly isothermal condition has enabled them for being used in passive cooling
processes. Usage of PCM wallboards and PCM concrete systems for thermal storage
and reduction in room temperature has been widespread. Usage of PCMs encapsu-
lated in gypsum wallboards for thermal energy storage in daytime and using that
energy in room heating during night has been studied by Biswas et al. [1]. Pasupathy
and Velraj [2] employed an innovative idea of using two layers of different PCMs in
the roof and succeeded in room ceiling temperature reduction in summer days and
maintaining slightly higher inside room temperature during the winter nights. Fateh
et al. [3] used PCM layer at different positions inside the building walls and success-
fully maintained lower comfortable temperature inside the building. Kasaeian et al.
[4] studied the uses of PCMs and nanoenhanced PCMs in thermal energy storage
Thermal Model for Temperature Control of Building Subjected … 787
in buildings. Mazzucco et al. [5] used various PCMs encapsulated in steel spheres
within the concrete for energy storage during daytime. Shalaby et al. [6] reviewed
all the previous works done on thermal energy storage by using PCMs and found
the usefulness of using PCMs in solar driers for better performance. Waqas and
Kumar [7] conducted experiments to find effectiveness of PCMs in maintaining a
suitable room temperature in hot or cold climatic conditions. Meshgin and Xi [8]
studied temperature variation in the concrete and PCM composite walls considering
different orientations of the PCM layer. Pasupathy and Velraj [9] conducted studies
on micro- and macro-encapsulation of PCMs in concrete to obtain ideas on energy
storage capacity and air conditioning in buildings. Ling and Poon [10] and Faraji
[11] investigated the effectiveness of using a PCM layer inside the concrete layer
of the roof for maintaining a lower comfortable temperature inside the room in hot
climate conditions.
In the current work, a numerical model has been developed to study the effect
of a PCM layer between two concrete layers of the building roof in reducing the
temperature of the building ceiling in a hot summer day as compared to a normal
concrete roof. A nearly constant ceiling temperature is maintained by using the
PCM layer and this temperature is well within the human comfort zone. Even the
rooftop temperature is reduced by a certain extent. The solar radiation is considered
as variable from morning to noon.
2 Physical Model
A one-dimensional geometry is considered for the current study on PCM. In Fig. 1a,
the cross section of a concrete roof is shown. The thickness of the concrete roof is
22 cm. The physical properties of concrete have been taken from the literature [11].
In Fig. 1b, the cross section of the roof with a PCM layer between two concrete
layers is shown. The thicknesses of the upper and lower concrete layers are 10 cm
and 12 cm, respectively, while 2.5 cm is the thickness of the PCM layer in between.
The PCM properties are considered as per the literature [7].
The rooftop is considered to be subjected to solar radiation during a clear sky day.
Heat loss through natural convection is considered from the rooftop. The ambient
temperature is fixed at 27 °C while the heat transfer coefficient is taken to be 20 W/m2
K. Similarly, heat loss through natural convection takes place from the room ceiling.
The room temperature is fixed at 25 °C and the heat transfer coefficient is 5 W/m2
K. Bhubaneswar (Latitude 20.2961°N and Longitude 85.8245°E) is the place as per
which the hourly variation in solar radiation is considered on 21 June for the current
study and the corresponding data has been taken from the literature [12]. The solar
radiation on the roof is considered between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. for 8 h.
Fig. 1 a Cross-sectional
view of the roof without the
PCM layer.
b Cross-sectional view of the
roof with the PCM layer
2.1 Assumption
The following assumptions are made during the analysis.

1. The material properties are considered to be temperature independent.
2. Heat flow is considered to be one-dimensional and the end effects are neglected.
3. Buoyancy-induced flow is neglected in the melt PCM.
4. A hot day and clear sky condition are considered to assume that the maximum
solar heat flux reaches the rooftop.
Considering the above assumptions, the governing equations for this study are
specified as below.
2.1.1 Governing Equations
Energy transport within the physical model takes place as per the enthalpy equation.
∂(ρ H ) ∂2T
=k 2 (1)
∂t ∂x
H = h sen + H (2)
As there is no phase change in the concrete, so for the concrete, H = 0 and the
governing equation reduces to
∂T ∂2T
=α 2 (3)
∂t ∂x
h sen = ρC p T (4)
Initial Condition:
T (x, y, t = 0) = T0 (5)
Boundary Condition:
Top Wall:
∂ T (x, y = W, t)
−kc = Q r + h amb (T − Tamb ) (6)
∂y
Bottom Wall:
∂ T (x, y = 0, t)
−kc = h room (T − Troom ) (7)
∂y
The enthalpy source term for melting of PCM is given by
∂g L
Sh = −ρPCM L fPCM (8)
∂t
3 Numerical Method
Finite Volume Method described by Patankar [14] is used to discretise the govern-
ing differential equations and the Tri-Diagonal Matrix Algorithm is used to solve
these algebraic equations to obtain temperature distribution inside the computational
domain. The discretisation of enthalpy term is as shown below.
g L − g L0
Sh = −ρPCM L fPCM (9)
t
Here, g L and g L0 are the liquid volume fraction inside the control volume at current
and previous time steps, respectively. An iterative equation is given here to update
liquid volume fraction inside the control volume in each time step.
λa p t n
g Ln+1 = g Ln + TP − Tm (10)
ρPCM L fPCM V P
The melting point of PCM, Tm is reached in the (n + 1)th iteration and TPn is
the temperature of the control volume at the nth iteration. V P is the volume of the
control volume. The control volume is completely liquid and solid when g L value is
1 and 0, respectively. The convergence criterion is taken to be 10−10 for the current
study.
The current numerical model is first validated with the results of the existing litera-
ture [13]. The computational domain and thermo-physical properties of the material
are taken as per the literature [13] and then the melting front propagation inside the
domain is studied. The position of solid–liquid interface inside the domain at 10 min
during melting of gallium, obtained using the current model is found to be in good
agreement with the result of the existing literature as shown in Fig. 2. So, this numer-
ical model is used to study the effect of the PCM layer within two concrete layers in
the roof in reducing the temperature along the width of the roof, at the rooftop and
at the ceiling thus providing a lower temperature inside the room.
Fig. 2 Validation with the 0.06

experimental result [13]
0.05
0.04
Width (cm)
0.03
Experimental [13]
0.02 Present
0.01
0.00
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08
Length (cm)
The width of the roof without the PCM layer, considered here for study is 22 cm.
When the PCM layer is taken in the second case, there is a PCM layer of 2.5 cm
thickness between two layers of thicknesses 10 cm and 12 cm above and below it,
respectively. The rooftop is subjected to solar irradiation on a sunny day with clear
sky condition. Natural convection also causes heat loss from the rooftop. Natural
convection boundary condition is also considered at the bottom of the roof which
is the ceiling of the room. The solar irradiation on the rooftop is considered for
8 h and the solar heat flux varies with time as taken from the literature [12]. The
variation in temperature with time at the rooftop is shown in Fig. 3. The temperature
variation is considered at point A for non-PCM-layered roof (Fig. 1a) and at point C
for PCM-layered roof (Fig. 1b). As the amount of solar heat flux increases with time,
the rooftop temperature increases and attains the maximum value at noon because
of maximum solar heat flux at that time. Then, with reduction in solar heat flux, the
temperature of the rooftop decreases. The maximum rooftop temperature obtained
for non-PCM-layered roof is 62 °C while for the PCM-layered roof, it is 60 °C. Solar
heat flux being irradiated on the rooftop is conducted to the PCM layer. During the
initial period, the heat conducted to the PCM is utilised as sensible heat to raise its
temperature to its melting point 27 °C from the initial temperature 25 °C. So, the
trend of rising temperature at the rooftop is same both for the PCM and non-PCM
roofs. But when melting of PCM begins, the heat extracted by the PCM increases
and it stores this heat as latent heat because of its large heat-storing capacity which
results in lower rooftop temperature.
The temperature variation in the ceiling of the room is shown in Fig. 4. It is the
point B in case of the non-PCM roof (Fig. 1a) and it is point E (Fig. 1b) in the PCM
roof ceiling where the temperature variations are shown. In case of non-PCM roof, the
ceiling temperature goes on increasing until attaining maximum temperature nearly
at 2 p.m. by gaining conducted heat from the rooftop. It is interesting to see that
the rooftop attains its maximum temperature at noon while the ceiling temperature
reaches its maximum value at 2 p.m. The heat from the rooftop takes time to be
Fig. 3 Variation of 70
temperature at the rooftop
with time (at point A 60
(without PCM) and at point
C (with PCM)) 50
Temperature ( 0 C )
40
Without PCM
30
With PCM
20
10
0
0 2 4 6 8
Time (hr)
temperature of the room
ceiling with time (at point B 35
(without PCM) and at point
30
E (with PCM))
Temperature ( 0 C )
25
20
15
Without PCM
10 With PCM
0
0 2 4 6 8
Time (hr)
conducted across the width to the ceiling of the room. That is why we experience
more heat nearly at 2 p.m. in a non-air-conditioned room. In case of the PCM roof,
the room ceiling is barely affected by the external solar heat flux as shown in Fig. 4.
The PCM layer existing below the upper concrete layer extracts the most amount of
heat conducted below by the above concrete layer and stores in the form of latent
heat until it completely gets converted into liquid. As the latent heat-storing capacity
of the PCM is very large which is 188 kJ/kg here, a very small amount of heat is
conducted to the lower concrete layer and the room ceiling temperature slightly goes
up by about 1 °C to about 26 °C from its initial 25 °C. It reduces the fluctuation in
room ceiling temperature during the sunshine duration. The room temperature can
be increased to some extent if heat conduction through the walls and air ventilation
from outside are taken into consideration.
The variation of temperature along the width of the roof at sunset is shown in
Fig. 5. The effectiveness of the PCM layer in reducing the temperature along the
entire width of the roof is evident from this. When phase change of the PCM layer
takes place, its effectiveness in temperature reduction is more as it extracts more heat,
but when the entire PCM layer becomes liquid, its sensible heating again begins which
reduces its heat-absorbing capacity. Natural convection also helps in releasing some
heat from the room ceiling into the room which can cause rise in room temperature
to some extent, but it is not very significant. PCM helps in maintaining the room
ceiling temperature between 26 and 27 °C, which is required for human comfort.
The melt front propagation in the PCM layer is shown in Fig. 6. It is considered
that the solar heat flux is irradiated on the rooftop at 8 a.m. in the morning. Gradually,
the PCM layer absorbs heat and starts melting. With the increase in heat flux, the
amount of heat absorbed and thus the amount of molten PCM increases. The PCM
layer is completely melted between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. The heat absorbed by the molten
PCM in the form of sensible heat is significantly less as compared to the latent heat.
The variation in temperature of the PCM in the middle of the PCM layer (point D
as shown in Fig. 1b) is shown in Fig. 7. The PCM layer is evident to store energy in
60
50
Temperature ( 0 C )
40
30
20
Without PCM
10 With PCM
0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20
Width (m)
Fig. 5 Variation of temperature along the width of the roof
Fig. 6 Position of melt front at different time, a 2 h, b 4 h, c 6 h, d 7 h

Fig. 7 Variation of 28.5

temperature of PCM at point
D 28
27.5
Temperature ( 0 C )
27
26.5
26
25.5
25
0 2 4 6 8
Time (hr)
the form of latent heat at its melting temperature of 27 °C. When the complete PCM
layer is melted, then it is heated sensibly which causes rise in its temperature, but
PCM is operating between the temperature range of 25 and 29 °C effectively.
5 Conclusion
It is evident that the use of the PCM layer succeeded in reducing the ceiling tem-
perature by about 8–10 °C as compared to the non-PCM roof and its effectiveness
is more significant in maintaining a lower temperature between the noon and 2 p.m.
when the solar irradiation and temperature is higher. So, PCM can be effectively used
in maintaining a nearly constant room ceiling temperature without much fluctuation
and can be helpful in maintaining a suitable temperature inside the room required
for human comfort.
References
1. Biswas, K., Lu, J., Soroushian, P., Shrestha, S.: Combined experimental and numerical evalu-
ation of a prototype nano-PCM enhanced wallboard. Appl. Energy 131, 517–529 (2014)
2. Pasupathy, A., Velraj, R.: Effect of double layer phase change material in building roof for year
round thermal management. Energy Build. 40, 193–203 (2008)
3. Fateh, A., Borelli, D., Devia, F., Weinlader, H.: Summer thermal performances of PCM-
integrated insulation layers for light-weight building walls: effect of orientation and melting
point temperature. Therm. Sci. Eng. Progress. 6, 361–369 (2017)
4. Kasaeian, A., Bahrami, L., Pourfayaz, F., Khodabandeh, E., Yan, W.: Experimental studies on
the applications of PCMs and nano-PCMs in buildings: a critical review. Energy Build. 154,
96–112 (2017)
5. Mazzucco, G., Xotta, G., Salomoni, V.A., Giannuzzi, M., Maiorana, C.E.: Solid thermal storage
with PCM materials. Numer. Investig. Appl. Therm. Eng. 124, 545–559 (2017)
6. Shalaby, S.M., Bek, M.A., El-Sebaii, A.A.: Solar dryers with PCM as energy storage medium:
a review. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 33, 110–116 (2014)
7. Waqas, A., Kumar, S.: Thermal performance of latent heat storage for free cooling of buildings
in a dry and hot climate: an experimental study. Energy Build. 43, 2621–2630 (2011)
8. Meshgin, P., Xi, Y.: Multi-scale composite models for the effective thermal conductivity of
PCM-concrete. Constr. Build. Mater. 48, 371–378 (2013)
9. Pasupathy, A., Velraj, R.: Phase change material based thermal storage for energy conservation
in building architecture. Int. Energy J. 7(2), 147–159 (2006)
10. Tung-Chai, Ling, Chi-Sun, Poon: Use of phase change materials for thermal energy storage in
concrete: an overview. Constr. Build. Mater. 46, 55–62 (2013)
11. Faraji, M.: Numerical study of the thermal behaviour of a novel Composite PCM/Concrete Wall.
In: International Conference On Materials And Energy 2015, ICOME 15, 19–22 May 2015,
Tetouan, Morocco, and the International Conference on Materials and Energy 2016, ICOME
16, 17–20 May 2016, La Rochelle, France, 2016. Energy Procedia, vol. 139, pp. 105–110
(2016)
12. Ghosal, M.K., Mishra, J.N.: Estimation and experimental validation of solar radiation by
ASHRAE method for Bhubaneswar (India). Int. J. Agric. Eng. 2(2), 176–181 (2009)
13. Brent, A.D., Voller, V.R., Reid, K.J.: Enthalpy-porosity technique for modelling convection-
diffusion phase change: application to the melting of a pure metal. Numer. Heat Transf. 13,
297–318 (1988)
14. Patankar, S.V.: Numerical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow. Hemisphere, London (1980)
Performance Analysis of Mixed
Convection in T-Shaped Geometry
for Entropy Generation Using Lattice
Boltzmann Method
Arupjyoti Das and Shikha Bhuyan
Abstract The present work focuses on solving differentially heated top lid driven
T-shaped cavity for three different velocities which experience mixed convection
using the Lattice Boltzmann method. The behavior of streamlines, isotherms, and
entropy generation maps are extensively studied taking three fluids namely air (Pr
= 0.71), ammonia (Pr = 1.38), and water (Pr = 6.13) for three different cases of Ri
= 0.1, Ri = 1, and Ri = 10. Richardson number and Prandtl number were found
to be greatly influential on the fluid flow and heat diffusion inside the cavity. It
was found that increasing Prandtl number increases the average Nusselt number
while increasing the Richardson number decreases the average Nusselt number. The
entropy generation was seen to be more concentrated at a few locations near the wall
since the entropy generation due to temperature difference is more prominent than
the entropy generation due to viscous dissipation.
Keywords Mixed convection · Lattice Boltzmann cavity · T-shaped cavity ·

Entropy generation
Nomenclature
A Length of specimen (m)

c Lattice Velocity (m/s)
F Force (N)
g Acceleration due to gravity (m/s2 )
Gr Grasshof number
Pr Prandtl number (dimensionless)
Ra Rayleigh number (dimensionless)
Ri Richardson number (dimensionless)
A. Das · S. Bhuyan (B)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tezpur University, Tezpur 784028, India
e-mail: shikha5@tezu.ernet.in

798 A. Das and S. Bhuyan
S Entropy (J/K)
T Temperature (K)
T hot Temperature of hot plate (K)
u X-directional velocity of fluid (m/s)
v Y-directional velocity of fluid (m/s)
w Weight function (dimensionless)
Greek Symbols
α Thermal diffusivity (m2 /s)

β Coefficient of thermal expansion (1/K)
ρ Density (kg/m3 )
μ Dynamic viscosity (kg/ms)
τ Relaxation time (dimensionless)
ϕ Irreversibility (dimensionless)
Ω BGK collision operator (dimensionless)
Superscripts
(eq) Equilibrium state
Subscripts
avg Average
gen Generation
i Lattice index
1 Introduction
Due to its tremendous application in the practical world, study on mixed convection
with lid-driven flows in enclosures has been on demand for more than a couple of
decades now. It has been extensively explored for designing solar collectors, cooling
of electronic devices, air -conditioning vents and ducts, drying technologies, etc. A
literature review on the subject shows that the cavity shape is a pertinent parameter
of the analysis of mixed convection. An in-depth analysis of fluid flow and heat
Performance Analysis of Mixed Convection … 799
transfer in square and rectangular cavities driven by shear and buoyancy has been
done. However, a dearth is observed in the study of T-shaped cavity.
Significant effects of shape and dimensions of the T-shaped cavity on Nusselt
number and heat transfer efficiency were studied by Hatami et al. [1]. They opti-
mized the geometry of T-shaped cavity for mixed convection heat transfer analysis
using nanofluids depicting their results in the form of constant coefficients (such as
Re, Ri, and Pr) on streamlines, isotherms, and Nu in the cavity. A study on natural
convection in an inclined T-shaped cavity was reported by Rouijaa et al. [2]. They
found negative impact of inclination angle on heat transfer augmentation. Amraqui
et al. [3] performed similar type of work while taking radiation effect into considera-
tion. Their investigation concluded with enhanced heat transfer rate with increase in
Ra. The combined effect of Re and Gr were studied by Mojumdar et al. [4] on mixed
convection in a lid-driven T-shaped cavity and found higher Re strengthening the
overall flow inside the cavity which as a result, creates a stronger buoyancy-driven
vortex. Increased Gr number results in higher Nu along the wall. The impact of var-
ious thermal boundary conditions on entropy generation during mixed convection
within the lid-driven square cavity were examined by Roy et al. [5].
According to the best knowledge, entropy generation due to mixed convection in
lid-driven T-shaped cavity has not been analyzed or studied yet by anyone else with
the present conditions and constraints mentioned in this paper.
2 Problem Formulation
Differentially heated T-shaped cavity as shown in Fig. 1 is taken for the present study.
The top lid of the cavity is considered to be moving with velocity U Lid. The problem
Fig. 1 Differentially heated

T-shaped cavity with moving
top lid
is solved for three different fluids, viz., air (Pr = 0.71), Ammonia (Pr = 1.38), and
water (Pr = 6.13) for three different cases of Ri = 0.1, Ri = 1, and Ri = 10.
3 Methodology and Validation
The methodology employed in the present work is clearly explained in reference [6]
and is briefly discussed below.
3.1 Numerical Procedure
Lattice Boltzmann method has been applied for the numerical solution of the problem.
The cavity has been divided into fine nodes and D2Q9 model has been applied for the
transfer of information between the nodes. Full-way bounce-back boundary condition
has been applied for solving the problem.
The fully discretized Boltzmann equation with the BGK collision operator (Eq. 1)
replaces Navier–Stokes equation in CFD calculations. The value of τ directly deter-
mines the transport coefficients such as viscosity and heat diffusivity.
t eq
f i (x + ci t, t + t) − f i (x, t) = fi − fi (1)
τ
For natural convection, density gradient is created resulting in flow due to the
buoyancy force. To accommodate this buoyancy effect, an extra force term is needed
to be considered with the bare Lattice Boltzmann equation. This is essential for cou-
pling the momentum and energy equation which should be updated simultaneously
during the simulation. For natural convection, the Boussinesq approximation reads
F = ρgβ(T − Tref ) (2)
Here, we calculate the term gβ by the Rayleigh number definition as shown in

Eqs. 3 and 4.
gβTH3
⇒ Ra = (3)
αν
Ra ∗ αν
⇒ gβ = (4)
TH3
In the Lattice Boltzmann method, the LB equation with the force term becomes
t eq
f i (x + ci t, t + t) − f i (x, t) = f i − f i + Fi (5)
τ
Table 1 Average Nusselt

Rayleigh Grid size Nuavg (current Nuavg
number comparison
number work) (previous
work [6])
103 64 × 64 1.126 1.121
104 64 × 64 2.291 2.286
105 256 × 256 4.547 4.546
where
Fi = 3w(k)gβθ e y (6)
T − Tcold
θ= (7)
Thot − Tcold
The local volumetric rate of entropy generation, S gen (W/m3 K), is given as follows:
2 2 2
k dT dT μ du 2 dv du dv 2
Sgen = 2 + + 2 + + +
T dx dy T dx dy dy dx
(8)
3.2 Grid Sensitivity and Code Validation
Differentially heated cavity is taken as a benchmark solution for testing the present
code. The problem is based on a square cavity filled with air (Pr = 0.71). The average
Nusselt number at different grid sizes is calculated for the grid-independent test and
is shown in Table 1.
The results for streamlines and isotherms have been compared with the results
obtained by Dixit et al. [6] and for entropy generation with Magheribi et al. [7].
Figure 2 shows that the results obtained are in agreement with the results obtained
previously.
4.1 Streamline Inside the Cavity
It can be seen in Fig. 3 that as we decrease the Richardson number, the vortices inside
the lid increases. It is perceived that for Ri = 10, there was only one major vortex and
Fig. 2 a Streamline contours, b Temperature contours, c Entropy generation
(a) Air
(b) Ammonia
(c) Water
Fig. 3 Streamlines for Ri = 0.1, Ri = 1, and Ri = 10

the effect of the lid movement on the lower half of the T-shaped duct was not very
proficient. As we decrease the Ri to 1, a second vortex with opposite rotational effect
develops inside the lower half of the T-shaped duct and a small secondary vortex
on the bottom left corner of the top half of the T-duct. As we decrease the Ri, these
secondary and tertiary vortices grow further. It is seen from the streamlines that the
center of the primary vortex shifts toward the right of the cavity by increasing the
value of Pr. It can be attributed to the fact that when the Pr of the fluid is increased,
the value of viscosity also increases. It is seen that by increasing the Pr for lower Ri
= 0.1 value, the tertiary vortex near the bottom left corner of the top half becomes
further developed. For the same Ri, with increase in Ra thinning of the boundary
layer is seen which results in steeper gradients of temperature and velocity.
4.2 Isotherms Inside the Cavity
The thermal effect of increasing Ri can be seen in Fig. 4. Due to the formation of the
secondary and tertiary eddies in case of Ri = 0.1, the isotherms are clustered in the
top left half of the cavity and the bottom left half of the cavity. Since in cases of Ri =
1 and Ri = 10 the top lid velocity has a lesser effect on the cavity, the isotherms can
be seen moving toward the top right side of the cavity. Thermal gradient increases
as Pr increases and the isothermal lines become denser at the walls. For high Pr, the
isotherms disappear from the center of the cavity. This is due to confining the thermal
boundary layer in a small region for highly viscous fluid. These lines become more
concentrated from the Ri = 0.1 to Ri = 10.
4.3 Entropy Generation Inside the Cavity
Figure 5 shows the effect of variable Ri and Pr on the local S gen inside the cavity.
For Ri = 0.1 it is seen that greater entropy is generated on the top upstream side of
the cavity than on the left side. This can be attributed to the formation of the large
secondary and tertiary vortices and the concentration of the isotherms on the upper
left side of the cavity in case of Ri = 0.1. It is also seen that for higher Pr, the S gen is
higher especially in the region nearer to the wall. It is attributed to increasing of the
Ra as we increase the Pr. It is also seen that for higher Ri, the S gen is higher in the
bottom left part and the upper left part of the cavity; this feature can be explained
by the clustering of the isotherms in these parts. It is also seen that there is entropy
generation in the right part of the bottom half of the cavity and this entropy disappears
for Ri = 10 which can be attributed to the disappearance of the secondary eddy in
case of Ri = 10.
(a) Air
(b) Ammonia
(c) Water
Fig. 4 Isotherms for Ri = 0.1, Ri = 1, and Ri = 1
4.4 Average Entropy Generation
The S gen inside the cavity increases by increasing Pr as shown in Fig. 6. This can be
attributed to the fact that, with increasing value Pr, temperature gradient increases
resulting in high entropy generation. Therefore, in order to have lower S gen, fluids
with lower Pr are recommended.
It is also seen that the average entropy generation decreases with the increase in
Ri as the degree of randomness expected with high-velocity flow is greater than the
lower velocity flow.
4.5 Average Nusselt Number
The average Nusselt number for different fluids, at the heated wall and cold wall
against the different Richardson number (0.1, 1, and 10) are displayed in Figs. 7 and
(a) Air
(b) Ammonia
(c) Water
Fig. 5 Entropy Generation for Ri = 0.1, Ri = 1, Ri = 10
Fig. 6 Average entropy generation to the Richardson number

Fig. 7 Variation of average Nu (hot side) to the Richardson number
8. It is seen that for increasing Prandtl number, the average Nusselt number values
increase significantly. It is because for lower Pr the heat diffuses quickly. It is also
seen that the average Nu is higher for the cold side than the hot side in the case when
Ri = 1and Ri = 10 but in case of Ri = 0.1, it is seen that the Nu in the hot side
of the plate is higher than the cold side. It can be attributed to the formation of the
secondary vortex near the hot side of the wall due to mixing that takes place and
convection becomes more dominant as compared to the other cases. It is also seen
that when Ri increases the Nu decreases. It is due to the fact that with increase in Ri
Fig. 8 Variation of average Nu (cold side) to the Richardson number

in both cases of the hot side of the cavity and the cold side of the cavity, the effect of
forced convection slowly decreases and the fluid mixing becomes less.
5 Conclusions
The present study can be concluded with the following points:

(i) It can be seen that for the same Ri number value especially in case of higher
Re, the thinning of the boundary layer is seen which results in steeper gradients
of temperature and velocity. It is attributed to the fact that when we increase
the Pr value for the same Gr value, the Ra number increases and as a result the
convection of the fluid increases.
(ii) When the Ri increases, the entropy generation increases. When the Ri number
changes from Ri = 0.1 to Ri = 1, the entropy generation increases by 5%.
(iii) When the Pr increases from Ri = 1 to Ri = 10, entropy generation increases
by 95%. The entropy generation inside the cavity increases by increasing Pr.
This can be attributed to the fact that, with increasing value of Pr, temperature
gradient increases resulting in high entropy generation. Therefore, in order to
have lower S gen, fluids with lower Pr are recommended.
(iv) It is seen that cooling will be best at Ri = 1 since the Nusselt number is
maximum at this value and the entropy generation is low.
(v) When the Richardson number increases, the Nusselt number decreases; it is
due to the fact that with increase in Richardson number, the effect of forced
convection slowly decreases and as a result the fluid mixing also decreases.
However at Ri = 1, the Nusselt number on the cold side is found to be the
highest.
References
1. Hatami, M., Zhou, J., Geng, J., Song, D., Jing, D.: Optimization of a lid-driven T-shaped porous
cavity to improve the nanofluids mixed convection heat transfer. J. Mol. Liq. 231, 620–631
(2017)
2. Rouijaa, H., Alami, M.E.: Natural convection in an inclined T-shaped cavity. Fluid Dyn. Mater.
Process. 7(1), 57–70 (2011)
3. Amraqui, S., Mezrhab, A., Abid, C.: Computation of coupled surface radiation and natural
convection in an inclined T-form cavity. Energy Convers. Manag. 52, 1166–1174 (2011)
4. Mojumder, S., Saha, S., Saha, S., Mamun, M.A.: Combined effect of Reynolds and Grashof
numbers on mixed convection in a lid-driven T-shaped cavity filled with water-Al2 O3 nanofluid.
J. Hydrodyn. 27, 782–794 (2015)
5. Roy, M., Roy, S., Basak, T.: Analysis of entropy generation on mixed convection in square
enclosures for various horizontal or vertical moving wall. Int. Commun. Heat Mass Transfer
268, 258–266 (2015)
6. Dixit, H.N., Babu, V.: Simulation of high Rayleigh number natural convection in a square cavity
using the lattice Boltzmann method. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 49, 727–739 (2006)
7. Magherbi, M., Abbassi, H., Abrahim, B.: Entropy generation at the onset of natural convection.
Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 46, 3441–3450 (2003)
8. Mohamad, A.A.: Lattice Boltzmann Method: Fundamentals and Engineering Applications with
Computer Codes. Springer, London Limited, London, UK (2011)
Analytical Model for Tri-Dimensional
Fourier Bioheat Transfer Encountered
in Regional Hyperthermia
Jaideep Dutta and Balaram Kundu
Abstract Present research work is devoted to establish exact solution of three-

dimensional Fourier’s bioheat model subjected to regional Hyperthermia. Existing
literature survey indicates a large number of research work have reported in one-
dimensional and two-dimensional approach, but not much researchers have focused
on three-dimensional modelling. In practical sense, energy propagation is always in
multi-dimensional manner, hence three-dimensional analysis would be considered
as better approach in comparison with one and two-dimensional investigation. As
suggested by medical protocol of thermal therapy, regional hyperthermia occurs in
large sized organs (prostrate, breast etc.) and in such cases three dimensional study
is essential. To solve three-dimensional Fourier bioheat model, hybrid analytical
scheme comprising of ‘shift of variables’ and ‘finite Fourier transform’ have been
employed. The novelty os this research work is implementation of spatially depen-
dent initial condition as highly non-homogeneous and non-uniform structures are
observed in living tissues. The boundary conditions are imposed in most realistic
approach. The research output have been validated and justified with the published
numerical research work and it indicates the maximum temperature deviation of
0.215%.
Keywords Bioheat transfer · Three dimensional · Regional hyperthermia · Hybrid

analytical scheme
Nomenclature
Bi Biot number (Dimensionless)

c Specific heat of tissue (J Kg−1 °C−1 )
cb Specific heat of blood (J Kg−1 °C−1 )
C 1 –C 9 Dimensionless constant
J. Dutta · B. Kundu (B)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Raja S. C. Mallick Road, Kolkata,
West Bengal 700032, India
e-mail: bkundu@mech.net.in

810 J. Dutta and B. Kundu
F Non-dimensional therapeutic exposure time

H Convective heat transfer coefficient (W m−2 °C−1 )
i, j, k Non-negative integers (0, 1, 2, 3 ….)
kt Thermal conductivity of tissue (W m−1 °C−1 )
L Length of the physical domain (m)
q Heat flux imposed on outside of the tissue (W m−2 )
Q Non-dimensional heat flux, qL/k (T o −T b )
Qm , QS Metabolic heat generation rate (W m−3 ) and spatial heat generation rate
(W m−3 ) respectively
Q*m Dimensionless metabolic heat generation rate
t Therapeutic exposure time (s)
T Local temperature of skin tissue (°C)
Tb Arterial temperature of skin tissue (°C)
T0 Reference temperature of heat flux (°C)
Ta Ambient temperature (°C)
x, y, z Three spatial direction of physical domain
X, Y, Z Non-dimensional spatial length
Greek Symbols
α Thermal diffusivity (m2 s−1 )

β Blood perfusion term (dimensionless)
ωb Blood perfusion rate (m3 s−1 m−3 )
θ Local tissue temperature (dimensionless)
θ st Steady state temperature (dimensionless)
θc Constant (dimensionless)
ρb Density of blood (kg m−3 )
1 Introduction
Hyperthermia is one of the oldest form of cancer treatment and according to the
information provided by the Kadota Fund International Forum, it is the moderate
elevation of temperature of the particular domain of the malignant tissue in the
range of 39–45 °C [1]. The heating source and its impact on living tissue is highly
important in case of any therapeutic surgeries as living tissues are greatly sensitive
to heat wave. The therapeutic exposure time is also an essential parameter to deliver
a successful surgery and it depends on several factors such as size and location of
the malignant tumour, stage of malignancy, patients’ age and so on. The principle
mechanism of hyperthermia can be hypothesized as combined form of heat induced
necrosis and protein inactivation [2]. A large number of research papers have been
Analytical Model for Tri-Dimensional Fourier Bioheat Transfer … 811
produced by the researchers in 1-D [3–5] and 2-D [6–8] approach with consideration
of different bioheat models. From the practical point of view of energy transfer
in any system is always in multi-dimensional manner. 1-D and 2-D approaches fit
into theoretical research work but to visualize more appropriate thermal response
in bioheat transfer analysis, three dimensional approach would be much better than
1-D and 2-D case. From the extensive literature survey it has been noticed that
a very few research papers have been reported by the researchers on 3-D bioheat
transfer. Deng and Liu [9] numerically simulated freezing and heating problems with
three probe system for combined cryosurgery and hyperthermia in method in Fourier
bioheat model. Karaa et al. [10] employed finite difference scheme to solve the
Fourier bioheat equation with oscillating heating source. Reis et al. [11] numerically
modelled Fourier bioheat equation with magnetic nanoparticle assisted hyperthermia
with Finite difference method. Ma et al. [12] produced analytical solution of dual-
phase-lag bioheat equation by implementing Green’s function in conjunction with
the impact of moving laser heat source. From the above literature review [9–12], it
has been figured out that no exact analytical solution is available for Fourier bioheat
model. Motivated by the research work carried out on bioheat transfer to restrict
cancer in the human body, initiative has been taken in the present work to develop
analytical solution of 3-D Fourier bioheat model subjected to regional hyperthermia.
A novel concept has been implemented as spatial form of initial condition instead
of a constant temperature initial condition (as imposed by other researchers [9–12]).
Arterio-vascular system of human body is complex and highly non-homogeneous in
structure, constant temperature initial condition wouldn’t be very logical based on
behaviour of skin biothermomechanics [13]. Dutta and Kundu [5, 8, 14] successfully
established the analytical solution of different bioheat models with spatial form of
initial condition in 1-D and 2-D bioheat model. We have imposed suitable boundary
conditions which are practically possible rather than only mathematical case study.
The impact of blood perfusion term on temperature distribution has been analyzed.
The temperature response has been recorded in three directions and impact of constant
heat flux has been studied.
2 Mathematical Postulate
The Fourier bioheat model considered for present research work can be represented
as follows [15]:

kt ∇.(∇T ) + ωb ρb cb (Tb − T ) + Q m + Q S = ρc ∂ T ∂t (1)
Based on the assumptions considered in current research work (Qm = constant

and QS = 0) [4] the non-dimensional form of Eq. (1) is mentioned as:
∂ 2θ ∂ 2θ ∂ 2θ ∂θ
+ + − β 2 θ + Q ∗m = (2)
∂X 2 ∂Y 2 ∂ Z2 ∂F
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of 3-D physical domain of skin tissue considered in present research
work
where,

θ = (T − Tb ) (T0 − Tb ); β = ωb ρb cb L 2 kt ; Q ∗m = Q m L 2 kt (T0 − Tb );

F = αt L 2 ; X = x L; Y = y L; Z = z L (3)
The non-dimensional form of boundary conditions are as follows (refer Fig. 1

also):

X = 0 ∂θ ∂ X = −Q
At : (4a)
X = 1 ∂θ ∂ X = 0

Y = 0 ∂θ ∂Y = 0
At : (4b)
Y = 1 ∂θ ∂Y = 0

Z = 0 ∂θ ∂ Z = 0
At : (4c)
Z = 1 ∂θ ∂ Z = 0
The non-dimensional form of initial condition is:
At F = 0 : θ (X, Y, Z , 0) = θst (X, Y, Z ) (4d)
Equation (4d) is spatial form of initial condition utilized in this research work. To
generate mathematical form of spatial initial condition Eq. (2) can be presented as:
∂ 2θ ∂ 2θ ∂ 2θ
+ + − β 2 θ + Q ∗m = 0 (5)
∂ X2 ∂Y 2 ∂ Z2
To solve Eq. (5), the corresponding non-therapeutic boundary conditions are as
follows:

X = 0 ∂θst /∂ X = Bi[θst − θc ]
At (6a)
X = 1 ∂θst /∂ X = 0

Y = 0 ∂θst ∂Y = 0
At (6b)
Y = 1 ∂θst ∂Y = 0

Z = 0 ∂θst ∂ Z = 0
At (6c)
Z = 1 ∂θst ∂ Z = 0
The direct analytical solution of Eq. (5) with set of boundary conditions as men-
tioned in Eqs. (6a–6c) is not possible. Hence we have implemented approximate
variable as follows:
θst (X, Y, Z ) = (X ) + (X, Y, Z ) + exp(−β X ) + exp(−βY ) + exp(−β Z )

(7)
Finally the solution of Eq. (5) based on Eq. (7) is depicted as follows:

C1 cosh(β
X ) + C2 sinh(β X )
θst (X, Y, Z ) =
+Q ∗m β 2
⎡ √ √ ⎤
C3 cosh β 2X + C4 sinh β 2X
⎢ ⎥
+ ⎣ C5 cosh β 2Y + C6 sinh β 2Y ⎦

C7 cosh β 2Z + C8 sinh β 2Z
+ exp(−β X ) + exp(−βY ) + exp(−β Z ) (8)
where,

exp(−β) − Bi. Q ∗m β 2 + 1 cosh(β)
C1 = ;
sinh(β) + Bi. cosh(β) β

Bi Q∗
C2 = C1 + 2m + 1;
β β
√
Bi(1 − θc ) cosh β 2
C3 = − √ √ √ ;
β 2 sinh β 2 + Bi cosh β 2
√
C4 = 2Bi(C3 + 1 − θc ) β;

2 exp(−β) − cosh β 2
C5 = C7 = ;
sinh β 2

C6 = C8 = 2 and θc = Ta − Tb T0 − Tb (9)
Thus Eq. (8) is the spatially dependent initial condition utilized for entire mathe-
matical modelling of this research work.
Now to solve Eq. (2), applying the following shift of variables:
θ (X, Y, Z , F) = (X ) + (X, Y, Z , F) (10)
and Eq. (2) can be splitted into two halves as follows:

∂2 ∂ X 2 − β2 + Q ∗m = 0 (11a)

∂2 ∂ X2 + ∂2 ∂Y 2 + ∂ 2 ∂ Z 2 − β2 −∂ ∂F = 0 (11b)
The solution of Eq. (11a) is:
Q
(X ) = [cosh(β X ) coth(β) − sinh(β X )] + Q ∗m β 2 (12)
β
Applying ‘finite integral transform’ (FIT) in Eq. (11b) w.r.t. ‘X’ and it gives:
1 1
∫ ∂2 ∂ X 2 cos(iπ X )dX + ∫ ∂ 2 ∂Y 2 cos(iπ X )dX
X =0 X =0
1 1
+ ∫ ∂2 ∂ Z 2 cos(iπ X )dX − ∫ β 2 cos(iπ X )dX
X =0 X =0
1
− ∫ ∂ ∂ F cos(iπ X )dX = 0 (13)
X =0
After some intermediate steps the simplified form of Eq. (13) can be depicted as:

∂2 ∂Y 2 + ∂ 2 ∂ Z 2 − i 2π 2 + β2 −∂ ∂F = 0 (14)
where,

1 (X, Y, Z , F)
(i, Y, Z , F) = ∫ (15)
X =0 cos(iπ X )dX
Now again applying FIT w.r.t. ‘Y ’ in Eq. (14) and it gives:

∂2 ∂ Z 2 − i 2π 2 + j 2π 2 + β2 −∂ ∂F = 0 (16)
where,

1 (i, Y, Z , F)
(i, j, Z , F) = ∫ (17)
X =0 cos( jπ Y )dY
Again applying FIT w.r.t. ‘Z’ in Eq. (16) and it provides:
∂ 2 2 2
− i π + j 2π 2 + k2π 2 + β2 =0 (18)
∂ Z2
where,

1 (i, j, Z , F)
(i, j, k, F) = ∫ (19)
X =0 cos(kπ Z )dZ
The solution of Eq. (18) can be written as:

2 2
i π + j 2π 2
= C9 exp − F (20)
+k 2 π 2 + β 2
Now according to the inverse theorem of FIT, Eq. (20) can be presented as:
∞
∞
∞

(i, j, k, F)
(X, Y, Z , F) = 8 (21)
cos(iπ X ) cos( jπ Y ) cos(kπ Z )
i=0 j=0 k=0
To find out C9 from Eq. (20), initial condition along with orthogonal property has
been applied and it gives:
⎡ ⎤
√β sinh √β2 cos(iπ ) β sinh( β ) cos( jπ)
⎢
2
2 2 ⎥
C9 = C3 C5 C7 ⎣ β 2 2+i 2 π 2 β 2 4+ j 2 π 2
β
sinh( β2 ) cos(kπ)
⎦
2
β 4+k π
2 2 2
⎡ ⎤
√β sinh √β cos(iπ ) β sinh( β ) cos(kπ)
⎢
2
2 2 2
⎥
+ C3 C6 C7 ⎣ β 2 2+i 2 π 2 β 2 4+k 2 π 2
⎦
2 cosh( 2 ) cos( jπ )− 2
β β β
β 4+ j π
2 2 2
⎡ ⎤
√ sinh √β
β
cos(iπ ) β sinh( β ) cos( jπ )
⎢
2
2 2 2 ⎥
+ C3 C5 C8 ⎣ β 2 2+i 2 π 2 β 2 4+ j 2 π 2
⎦
β
2 cosh ( β
2 ) cos(kπ)− β
2
β 2 4+k 2 π 2
⎡ ⎤
√β sinh √β cos(iπ ) β cosh( β ) cos(kπ)− β
⎢
2
2 2 2 2
⎥
+ C3 C6 C8 ⎣ β 2 2+i 2 π 2 β 2 4+k 2 π 2
⎦
2 cosh( 2 ) cos( jπ )− 2
β β β
β 2 4+ j 2 π 2
⎡ ⎤
β
sinh( β2 ) cos(kπ) β2 sinh( β2 ) cos( jπ )
2
⎢ β 2 4+k 2π 2 β 2 4+ j 2 π 2 ⎥
+ C4 C5 C7 ⎣ √β cosh √β cos(iπ)− √β2 ⎦
2
2
β 2 2+i 2 π 2
⎡ ⎤
√β cosh √β cos(iπ)− √β2 β sinh( β ) cos(kπ)
⎢
2
2 2 2 ⎥
+ C4 C6 C7 ⎣ β 2 2+i 2 π 2 β 2 4+k 2 π 2
⎦
2 cosh( 2 ) cos( jπ )− 2
β β β
β 2 4+ j 2 π 2
⎡ ⎤
√β cosh √β cos(iπ)− √β2 β sinh( β ) cos( jπ )
⎢
2
2 2 2 ⎥
+ C4 C5 C8 ⎣ β 2+i 2 π 2
2 β 2 4+ j 2 π 2
⎦
2 cosh( 2 ) cos(kπ)− 2
β β β
β 2 4+k 2 π 2
⎡ ⎤
√β cosh √β cos(iπ)− √β2
2
2
⎢ β 2 2+i 2 π 2 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
+ C4 C6 C8 ⎢
β
cosh ( 2 )
β
cos( jπ )− β2 ⎥ (22)
⎢ 2
β 4+ j π ⎥
⎣ ⎦
2 2 2
β
2 cosh ( β
2 ) cos(kπ)− β
2
β 2 4+k 2 π 2
Hence the analytical solution of temperature distribution of 3-D Fourier bioheat

model can be written as follows:
Q
θ (X, Y, Z , F) = [cosh(β X ) coth(β) − sinh(β X )] + Q ∗m β 2
β
⎡ 2 2 ⎤
∞ ∞ ∞ i π + j 2π 2
=8 ⎣ C9 exp − +k 2 π 2 + β 2 F ⎦ (23)
i=0 j=0 k=0 cos(iπ X ) cos( jπ Y ) cos(kπ Z )
The first and foremost objective of this work is to validate the temperature response
obtained from the present analysis with the published work [10]. Figure 2 represents
the present temperature distribution curve has been plotted with published research
work carried out by Karaa et al. [10] who used numerical codes based on Krylov
subspace method and solved the 3-D Fourier bioheat equation. To validate the present
results similar therapeutic variables has been considered [10]. It has been shown in
Fig. 2 that the variation of temperature curve is exactly matched with the published
results [10]. After 845.54 s temperature of published work increases than the present
work and after 1075.78 s a constant gap of 0.78 °C has been observed till 8000 s.
This small temperature rise is caused probably due to the consideration of spatial heat
source (Gaussian heat flux) which is not employed in the present work. It has been
found that the maximum temperature deviation between the present and published
Fig. 2 Validation of present 47

research work with
published research work [10] 46
45
44
43
T ( o C)
42
41
40
39 Present work
Published work [10]
38
0 2000 4000 6000 8000
t (s)
work is 0.215%. Hence correctness of the present hybrid mathematical modelling

and accuracy of the computer codes is firmly assured.
Figure 3 demonstrates the temperature distribution curve along x-direction for
different blood perfusion parameter β at constant location of Y = 0.1 and Z = 0.1 .
First of all it is clear that temperature is in decreasing mode along the core of tissue
from the direction of heating surface. The specific trend of temperature curve also
justifies the boundary condition along x-direction. Also it has been observed that
temperature falls when β increases to 1.0 from 0.8. Blood perfusion is actually
provides a cooling function to the tissue by carrying away more amount of heat.
Figure 4 exhibits temperature response along y-direction at X = 0.01 and Z =
0.01 for different F. From Fig. 4, it has been noticed that temperature curve satisfies
the boundary condition along y-direction (zero temperature gradient on both sides).
A less variation in temperature has been examined along y-direction in comparison
with x-direction. The prime reason is non-heating direction along y-direction. Due
to blood perfusion a large amount heat has been carried away by it and temperature
variation apart from heating direction is less in other directions. It has been also
observed by Reis et al. [11] that less variation along y-direction and z-direction with
minute variation of 0.06 °C.
Figure 5 depicts the thermal response in 3-D physical domain with temporal co-
ordinate at the location of (X = 0.1, Y = 0.1, Z = 0.1) for different β and it is
recorded that temperature gradually increases towards the inner core of the tissue.
Fourier bioheat model is a ‘parabolic’ type of partial differential equation and this
fact is visible in Fig. 5. Such form of temperature distribution is found similar with
the research work carried out by Karaa et al. [10] and Reis et al. [11].
Figure 6 illustrates the thermal contour plots in different planes for therapeutic
variables of Bi = 0.005, Q = 0.5, Qm = 0.1, β = 0.8, θ C = 1.0 at two different time
of F = 5 and F = 10. In all contours it has been noticed that boundary conditions
Fig. 3 Temperature 1.1

variation along x-direction β = 0.8
for different β β = 1.0
1.0
0.9
0.8
θ
Qm = 0.1
Q = 0.5
0.7
θC = 0.1
F=5
0.6 Bi = 0.005
Y = 0.1
Z = 0.1
0.5
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
X

variation along y-direction Qm = 0.1
β = 1.0
for different F Q = 0.5 Bi = 0.005
θC = 0.1
0.2974 X = 0.01
Z = 0.01
0.2972
θ
0.2970
F = 0.001
F = 0.0015
F = 0.002
0.2968
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Y
are purely justified. As heat flux has been imposed along x-direction obviously tem-
perature curves won’t be perpendicular to that direction. Exactly same phenomenon
has been observed in x-z and x-y domain as presented in Fig. 6a–d. Whereas in other
directions thermal gradient has been considered as zero so orientation of tempera-
ture distribution along y and z-directions must be perpendicular at the boundary and
similar results have been found in Fig. 6. The observation of such thermal contours
is important to visualize the heat flow and temperature peaks in living tissue and to
gain idea about the possibility of collateral thermal damage during the treatment.

variation with temporal
X = 0.1
co-ordinate for different β at
Y = 0.1
location of (X = 0.1, Y = 1.0
Z = 0.1
0.1, Z = 0.1)
0.8
θ
0.6
Bi = 0.005
0.4
Qm = 0.1
β = 1.0
θC = 0.1
β = 0.9
0.2 Q = 0.5
β = 0.8
0 2 4 6 8 10
F
4 Conclusion
Based on the research output epitomized in this article, the concluding statements
can be scripted as follows:
(a). For the first time exact analytical solution of 3-D Fourier bioheat model has
been developed with implementation of hybrid analytical scheme. The accuracy
of present research work responds maximum temperature disparity of 0.215%
compared to published numerical work [10].
(b). The novelty of this research work is the selection of spatial initial condition
over constant temperature initial condition as suggested by medical fraternity.
(c). The importance of blood perfusion term on bioheat transfer and therapeutic
exposure time has been justified based on the impact of cell eradication.
(d). The parabolic behaviour of Fourier bioheat model has been observed in case
of temperature response with temporal coordinate.
(e). The 2-D contour plots illustrate the authentication of present analytical solution
of 3-D Fourier bioheat model along with appropriate physical justification.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the IC-RIDME 2018 conference authority
to provide us the opportunity to present our research paper in the conference.
1.0 1.0
0.9
0.800.78 0.8 0.9 0.8
0.82 0.6
0.7
0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8
0.8
0.78
Y - direction
0.80 0.7
0.9
Y - direction
0.8
0.6 0.7
0.80 0.76 0.6 0.8
0.7 0.6
0.80 0.9
0.78
0.76
0.4 0.4 0.7
0.80 0.8 0.8
0.8
0.80 0.76 0.8
0.78
0.2 0.2
0.82 0.78 0.8 0.7
0.78 0.8
0.84 0.80 0.76 0.76
0.8
0.0
0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
X - direction X - direction
(a) F = 5, Z = 0.7 (b) F = 10, Z = 0.7
1.0 1.0
0.82 0.80 0.72
0.78 0.74 0.79 0.76
0.78 0.80
0.76 0.78
0.8 0.80 0.78 0.8 0.77
0.78 0.81 0.80
0.82 0.79
Z - direction
0.76
Z - direction
0.74 0.76 0.80 0.77

0.6 0.78 0.6 0.77
0.84 0.79
0.80 0.76 0.82 0.78
0.74 0.80
0.4 0.82 0.78 0.4 0.77
0.76
0.78 0.81 0.80 0.77
0.80
0.2 0.76 0.2
0.74
0.80 0.800.78 0.79 0.78 0.76
0.0 0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
X - direction X - direction
(c) F = 5, Y = 0.7 (d) F = 10, Y = 0.7
1.0 0.85 1.0

0.75 0.75 0.76990 0.76990
0.80 0.80
0.76985 0.76975 0.76985
0.8 0.8
0.76980
Z - direction
Z - direction
0.75 0.80 0.76980

0.75
0.6 0.6
0.70 0.85 0.76980
0.76975
0.76970
0.80 0.76995
0.4 0.4 0.76990
0.769850.76975
0.80 0.75 0.76980
0.75
0.2 0.2 0.76980
0.80 0.80 0.76985 0.76975 0.76985
0.75 0.70 0.75 0.76990 0.76970 0.76990
0.85
0.0 0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Y - direction Y - direction
(e) F = 5, X = 0.7 (f) F = 10, X = 0.7
Fig. 6 Thermal isotherms created in different planes at different 2-D planes for therapeutic variables
of Bi = 0.005, Q = 0.5, Qm = 0.1, β = 0.8, θ C = 1.0
References
1. Van der Zee, J., Vujaskovic, Z., Kindo, M., Sugahara, T.: The kadota fund international forum
2004—clinical group consensus. Int. J. Hyperth. 24, 111–122 (2008)
2. Habash, R.W.Y., Bansal, R., Krewski, D., Alhafid, H.T.: Thermal therapy, part 2: hyperthermia
techniques. Crit. Rev. Biomed. Eng. 34(6), 491–542 (2006)
3. Cotta, R.M., Cotta, B.P., Naveira-Cotta, C.P., Cotta-Pereira, G.: Hybrid integral transforms
analysis of the bioheat equation with variable properties. Int. J. Therm. Sci. 49, 1510–1516
(2010)
4. Kundu, B.: Exact analysis of propagation of heat in biological tissue subject to different surface
conditions for therapeutic applications. Appl. Math. Comput. 285, 204–216 (2016)
5. Dutta, J., Kundu, B.: A revised approach for an exact analytical solution for thermal response
in biological tissues significant in therapeutic treatments. J. Therm. Biol. 66, 33–48 (2017)
6. Askarizadeh, H., Ahmadikia, H.: Analytical study on the transient heating of a two-dimensional
skin tissue using parabolic and hyperbolic bioheat transfer equations. Appl. Math. Model. 39,
3704–3720 (2015)
7. Kumar, A., Kumar, S., Katiyara, V.K., Telles, S.: Dual phase lag bio-heat transfer during
cryosurgery of lung cancer: comparison of three heat transfer models. J. Therm. Biol. 69,
228–237 (2017)
8. Dutta, J., Kundu, B.: Two-dimensional closed-form model for temperature in living tissues for
hyperthermia treatments. J. Therm. Biol. 71, 41–51 (2018)
9. Deng, Z.-S., Liu, J.: Numerical simulation of 3-d freezing and heating problems for combined
cryosurgery and hyperthermia therapy. Num. Heat Transf. Part A 46, 587–611 (2004)
10. Karaa, S., Zhang, J., Yang, F.: A numerical study of a 3D bioheat transfer problem with different
spatial heating. Math. Cumput. Simul. 68, 375–388 (2005)
11. Reis, R.F., Loureiroa, F.S., Lobosco, M.: 3D numerical simulations on GPUs of hyperthermia
with nanoparticles by a nonlinear bioheat model. J. Comput. Appl. Math. 295, 35–47 (2016)
12. Ma, J., Yang, X., Liu, S., Sun, Y., Yang, J.: Exact solution of thermal response in a three-
dimensional living bio-tissue subjected to a scanning laser beam. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 124,
1107–1116 (2018)
13. Xu, F., Lu, T.: Introduction to skin biothermomechanics and thermal pain. Science Press and
Springer, Berlin and Heidelberg, London, New York (2011)
14. Dutta, J., Kundu, B.: Thermal wave propagation in blood perfused tissues under hyperthermia
treatment for unique oscillatory heat flux at skin surface and appropriate initial condition. Heat
Mass Transf. 54(11), 3199–3217 (2018)
15. Pennes, H.H.: Analysis of tissue and arterial blood temperatures in the resting human forearm.
J. Appl. Physiol. 1, 93–122 (1948)
A Comparative Evaluation
of Combustion Characteristics of Strut
and Wall Injection Technique
in a Cavity-Based Scramjet Combustor
Abstract The strut and wall injection system not only influences combustion in a
scramjet combustor but is also useful to overcome the thermal chocking problem.
The present work investigates the effect of strut and wall injection system with a
cavity-based scramjet combustor numerically. The inflow conditions of stagnation
temperature, stagnation pressure, and Mach number are 605 kPa, 1250 K, and 2.5,
respectively. The SST k–ω turbulence model along with single-step reaction mecha-
nism has been employed to simulate the fluid flow in the hydrogen-fueled scramjet.
The mechanism of the formation of shock waves is analyzed. Further, the compar-
ative analysis of combustion characteristics with strut and wall injection technique
is carried out. The results show that the better combustion and probability of mixing
can be achieved when the strut injection system is employed in a scramjet combustor.
Keywords Mixing · Injection technique · Combustion efficiency · Scramjet
Nomenclature
e Energy
Ma Mach number
P Static pressure, kPa
Po,i Stagnation pressure at inlet
Pw Wall static pressure
u Velocity, m/s
Xi Mole fraction of ith species
L. Suneetha (B) · P. R. Randive · K. M. Pandey

e-mail: suni.mokshith2015@gmail.com
P. R. Randive
K. M. Pandey
e-mail: KMPANDEY2001@yahoo.com

824 L. Suneetha et al.
Yi Mass fraction of ith species
Greek Symbols

ρ Density kg m3
μ Viscosity (Pa s)
ηcomb Combustion efficiency
Subscripts
0 Stagnation condition
t Turbulent
1 Introduction
The scramjet is a most promising air-breathing vehicle and it can operate in both
supersonic and hypersonic environmental conditions [1, 2]. Due to the ram effect,
there is no thrust at zero flight speed. Accordingly, it is desirable that the engine
must be able to operate in both scramjet and ramjet modes with a fixed geometry
[3]. The main challenging issues in case of the scramjet engine are the probability
of mixing, thermal chocking problems, and stability of flame which depend largely
on the type of injection used. Strut and wall injection techniques are the most widely
used methods of fuel injection in scramjet combustor. In order to make the efficient
design of injection systems, several research efforts were undertaken especially with
different types of strut and cavity profile.
Earlier investigations that were carried out in this area mainly focused on the
dual-mode scramjet engine [4–7], enhancement of mixing rate of fuel and air [8–
10], minimizing of pressure losses [10, 11], and optimizing combustion efficiency
[12, 13]. Huang et al. [14, 15] investigated the effect of cold flow in a scramjet com-
bustor. They concluded that the optimal length to depth ratio (L/D) for the typical
cavity is 7 since it restricts the movement of the shock wave train in the flow region
of the combustor. Kim et al. [16] studied the plasma jet-assisted combustion using
the backward-facing step. They discussed the influence of injection location on com-
bustion characteristics and observed that thermal chocking problems occur due to
the low equivalence ratio.
In spite of many works in this area, the comparative evaluation of strut and
wall injection with a cavity-based combustor has been unexplored. Accordingly,
A Comparative Evaluation of Combustion Characteristics … 825
the present work presents comparisons of combustion characteristics in scramjet

combustor when strut and wall injection are used.
2 Problem Statement
The cavity-based supersonic combustor is as shown in Fig. 1. All the dimensions and
boundary conditions are adopted from experimental investigations of Micka et al.
[17–19]. The supersonic combustor consisted of an isolator and combustor and it is
employed with a cavity flame holder having length and depth—50.8 and 12.7 mm.
The height and length of an isolator are 25.4 and 358 mm with a diverging angle of
40, is considered at the trailing edge of the cavity.
The strut is located at a distance x = 358 mm and y = 12.7 mm along the middle
line of the combustor. The fuel was injected at x = 358 mm for both, wall and strut
injection system. The dimensions of the strut are taken from Waidmann [20, 21] as
shown in Fig. 2.
In this study, Neumann and Dirichlet boundary conditions are used for the variables
at inlet and outlet conditions. However, no-slip boundary conditions are used on fixed
walls. The boundary conditions at free-stream air and H2 jet are shown in Table 1.
(a) Isolator Combustor
25.4 mm 0
4
12.7 mm
Fuel injection
44.5 mm
358 mm 50.8 mm 349 mm
(b)
Isolator Combustor
25.4 mm H
2 0
4
12.7 mm
44.5 mm
358 mm 50.8 mm 349 mm
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram: a cavity-based scramjet combustor [17–19], b scramjet combustor with
a strut and cavity
35mm 23mm
32mm 0
3
32mm 0
3
5025mm
50 mm
mm 0 Hydrogen
12
25mm
0
12
300 mm
300 mm
Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of a DLR-based scramjet combustor [20, 21]
Table 1 Parametric values

S. No. Parameter Hydrogen Air
for the present study [17–19]
1 Ma 1 2.5
2 T 0 (K) 300 1250
3 P0 (kPa) 100 605
4 X O2 0 0.21
5 X N2 0 0.58
6 X H2 O 0 0.21
7 X H2 1 0
3 Theoretical Formulation and Numerical Modeling
The present study discusses the combustion characteristics of strut and wall injection
technique in a cavity-based scramjet combustor. The flow is considered to be two-
dimensional and compressible. The governing transport equations delineated below
have been numerically solved using ANSYS 14.0 fluent software. The implicit den-
sity based solver and finite rate eddy-dissipation model are employed for volumetric
reactions.
The dimensional forms of governing equations have been numerically solved and
the conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy can be expressed as
Continuity Equation
∂ρ ∂
+ (ρu i ) = 0 (1)
∂t ∂ xi
Momentum Equation
∂ ∂ ∂P ∂
(ρu i ) + (ρu i u j ) = − + (τi j ) (2)
∂t ∂x j ∂ xi ∂x j
Energy Equation
∂ ∂ ∂
(ρe) + (ρeu j ) = − (τi j u i − q j ) (3)
∂t ∂x j ∂x j
Two-equation SST k–ω turbulence model is used in the present work to predict
the flow in a combustor. Moreover, this model evaluates the near-wall treatment for
low Reynolds number which can be found by Menter [22]. The range of y+ value
obtained for the grid system shown in Table 2 is 0 < y+ < 2.5. The unstructured grid
shown in Fig. 3 is used with a fine mesh near the strut and walls whereas coarse
mesh for rest of the domain. Typical mesh used for the simulation consists of the
total number of elements equal to 299,424 with node distribution of 743 cells in the
x-direction and 403 cells in the y-direction with a growth rate 1.2.
Turbulent Kinetic Energy (k) Equation

∂ ∂ ∂k
(ρku i ) = k + G k −ϒk + Sk (4)
∂xi ∂x j ∂x j
Turbulent Dissipation Rate (ω) Equation

∂ ∂ ∂ω
(ρωu i ) = ω + G ω −Υω + Sω (5)
∂xi ∂x j ∂x j
Species Transport Equation
∂ →
−
(ρYi ) + ∇ · ρYi −
→
u + ∇ · Ji = ωi
∂t
Table 2 Grid-independent test: static pressure at the bottom wall of the combustor with wall and
strut injection system at different grid sizes
Wall injection Strut injection
No. of elements Static pressure % error No. of elements Static pressure % error
(kPa) (kPa)
70,152 145 3.3 69,263 210 4.5
29,9424 150 0 269,657 220 0
497,114 150 0 457,114 220 0
(a) (b)
Fig. 3 a Details of the nonuniform grid used, b expanded view at the strut location
−
→
The mass diffusion term ( Ji ) can be written as

−
→ μt ∇T
Ji = − ρ Di,m + ∇Yi − DT,i (6)
Sct T
where Yi and ωi are the mass fraction and chemical reaction rate of ith species,
respectively. Further, Sct indicates the turbulent Schmidt number.
3.1 Combustion Modeling
In this paper, finite rate eddy dissipation model has been used for more accurate
results for reaction flow field computation as compared to eddy-dissipation model.
The CFL number is taken as 0.5 and single-step chemical reaction was chosen to
reduce the computational time. Further, the single-step reaction can be given as
follows.
2H2 + O2 → 2H2 O
The combustion efficiency is the ratio of the mass flow rate of hydrogen at a given
section to the mass flow rate of fuel injected from the injector and it can be expressed
as follows:
m . H2 ,inj− A(X ) ρgas uΥH2 dA m . H2(X )

ηcomb (X ) = m . H2 ,inj
=1−
m . H2,inj
The numerical simulation was carried out with a grid of 70,152, 299,424 elements
and 497,114 nodes. Three different mesh sizes were considered for each combustor
geometry.
Table 2 describes the static pressure distribution along the downstream length of
the combustor. Figure 3 shows the mesh distribution in the x- and y-direction along
with the strut location. It is observed that the static pressure distribution is almost
similar even with the increase of the number of elements from 299,424 to 497,114.
Hence, 269,657 elements need to be used for the strut injection system.
Fig. 4 a Static mean wall pressure distributions for a cavity-based combustor, b static pressure
distribution for a strut-based DLR combustor
3.3 Validation
To ascertain the accuracy, the current results for scramjet combustor were validated
with experimental results of Micka et al. [17–19] and Waidmann [20, 21]. In the case
of the wall injection system, the static pressure along the bottom wall is as shown in
Fig. 4a. Further, the pressure distribution is considered in the case of strut injection
system as shown in Fig. 4b. A sudden rise in pressure at the bottom wall of the
combustor is due to reflected shock waves on the top and bottom wall of the combustor
(refer Fig. 4). A close agreement of the present results with the experimental results
of Micka al. [17–19] and Waidmann [20, 21] confirms the correctness of the method
adopted.
In this study, the effect of strut and wall injection system with a cavity-based scramjet
combustor is numerically analyzed. The comparative analysis of strut and wall injec-
tion system is described in detail. The SST k–ω turbulence model is used to simulate
the fluid flow in the scramjet combustor at Mach 2.5. The results are presented in
the form of wall static pressure distribution and the combustion efficiency along the
downstream length of the combustor.
4.1 The Shock Wave and Temperature Contour
Figure 5 shows the shock wave image and temperature contour for strut and wall
injection system. The oscillating behavior of fluid was seen behind the strut when
the strut injection is employed. It is observed that the diamond-shaped oblique shock
waves start at the leading edge of the strut tip which moves throughout the combustor
Fig. 5 a Shock wave image for strut injection, b shock wave image for wall injection, c temperature
contour for strut injection and d temperature contour for wall injection
section. For the wall injection system, the bow shock wave is observed at the injection
port and V-type bow shock waves are observed in the combustor section. The fluid
flow disturbances are found to be more in case of strut injection system which helps
to form more number of eddies and vortices. The probability of mixing is more
due to the formation of eddies and vortices. Figure 5d shows that the combustion
starts at near-wall region causing the damage of the wall due to high temperature,
pressure, and shock waves. Further, it can be seen that the combustion commences
at the middle portion of the combustor which helps to mix and improve the engine
performance as compared to the wall injection system.
4.2 The Static Wall Pressure and Combustion Efficiency
Figure 6a shows the variation of static wall pressure distribution along the length of
the combustor. It is observed that wall static pressure is more in the strut injection
system due to the presence of strong oblique shock waves. The higher values of
static pressure are observed throughout the sections after length x = 0.4, owing to
the propagation of the shock wave in combustor. The static pressure values by both
strut and wall injection system are almost the same before x = 0.4 since the injection
of fuel and combustion begins at x = 0.4.
Fig. 6 a Variation of wall static pressure along the downstream length, b variation of combustion
efficiency along the downstream length
Further, Fig. 6b shows the variation of combustion efficiency along the down-
stream length of the combustor. For both injection systems, the combustion com-
mences at the same location in a downstream direction. It is interesting to note that
the combustion efficiency is more in case of wall injection. It can be seen from Fig. 6b
that the deviation in values of combustion efficiency by fuel and strut injection system
is more in the initial phase which reduces with increasing downstream distance. This
is due to the fact that fuel mixes more thoroughly with time and downstream distance
leading to almost the same values of efficiency at higher downstream distances. This
is basically owing to the different locations in the y-direction from which the fuel is
injected into the combustor. For example, the fuel was injected from the center line
(y = 12.7 mm) and the bottom (y = 0) in the case of strut and wall injection system,
respectively.
5 Conclusions
This study numerically investigates and compares the combustion characteristics of

strut and wall injection technique in a scramjet combustor. The mechanism of shock
waves is described in detail and the results are presented in the form of wall static
pressure and the combustion efficiency along the length of the combustor. The major
findings of the study can be outlined as follows:
• The predicted wall static pressure at various downstream locations is compared
with the experimental and numerical results and found to be in good agreement.
• The formation of oblique shock waves was seen in the case of strut injection system
which helps to increase the mixing probability of fuel and air.
• The probability of mixing is more in strut injection system as compared to the wall
injection technique due to the presence of oblique shock waves.
• In strut injection, the combustion commenced at the middle portion of the combus-
tor which enhances the mixing probability and engine performance as compared
to the wall injection system.
• It was also observed that the static pressure and the combustion efficiency were
relatively higher in case of the strut injection system. It can be concluded that strut
injection system is better as compared to wall injection.
References
1. Fry, R.S.: A century of ramjet propulsion technology evolution. J. Propul. Power 20(1), 27–58
(2004)
2. Curran, E.T.: Scramjet engines: the first forty years. J. Propul. Power 17(6), 1138–1148 (2001)
3. Torrez, S.M., Driscoll, J.F., Ihme, M. and Fotia, M.L.: Reduced-order modeling of turbulent
reacting flows with application to ramjets and scramjets. J. Propul. P. 27(2), 371–382 (2011)
4. Shang, J.S.: Computational fluid dynamics application to aerospace science. Aeronaut. J.
113(1148), 619–632 (2009)
5. Hao, X., Chang, J., Bao, W., Zhang, Z.: A model of mode transition logic in dual-mode scramjet
engines. Aerosp. Sci. Technol. 49, 173–184 (2016)
6. Yang, Q., Hu, J., Chang, J., Zong, Y., Bao, W.: Experimental study on combustion mode
transition effects in a strut-based scramjet combustor. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part G J. Aerosp.
Eng. 229(4), 764–771 (2015)
7. Cui, T., Tang, S., Zhang, C., Yu, D.: Hysteresis phenomenon of mode transition in ramjet
engines and its topological rules. J. Propul. Power 28(6), 1277–1284 (2012)
8. Cao, R., Chang, J., Bao, W., Guo, M., Qin, J., Yu, D., Wang, Z.: Analysis of combustion
mode and operating route for hydrogen fueled scramjet engine. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 38(14),
5928–5935 (2013)
9. Yan, Z., Shaohua, Z., Bing, C., Xu, X.: Hysteresis of mode transition in a dual-struts based
scramjet. Acta Astronaut. 128, 147–159 (2016)
10. Choubey, G., Pandey, K.M.: Effect of variation of angle of attack on the performance of two-
strut scramjet combustor. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 41(26), 11455–11470 (2016)
11. Choubey, G., Pandey, K.M.: Effect of different strut + wall injection techniques on the perfor-
mance of two-strut scramjet combustor. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 42(18), 13259–13275 (2017)
12. Choubey, G., Pandey, K.M.: Effect of parametric variation of strut layout and position on the
performance of a typical two-strut based scramjet combustor. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 42(15),
10485–10500 (2017)
13. Yang, Q., Chang, J., Bao, W., Deng, J.: A mechanism of combustion mode transition for
hydrogen fueled scramjet. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 39(18), 9791–9797 (2014)
14. Huang, W., Wang, Z.G., Yan, L., Liu, W.D.: Numerical validation and parametric investigation
on the cold flow field of a typical cavity-based scramjet combustor. Acta Astronaut. 80, 132–140
(2012)
15. Huang, W., Wang, Z.G., Pourkashanian, M., Ma, L., Ingham, D.B., Luo, S.B., Lei, J., Liu, J.:
Numerical investigation on the shock wave transition in a three-dimensional scramjet isolator.
Acta Astronaut. 68(11–12), 1669–1675 (2011)
16. Kim, C.H., Jeung, I.S., Choi, B., Kouchi, T., Takita, K., Masuya, G.: Effect of fuel injection
location on a plasma jet assisted combustion with a backward-facing step. Proc. Combust. Inst.
33(2), 2375–2382 (2011)
17. Micka, D.J.: Combustion stabilization, structure, and spreading in a laboratory dual-mode
scramjet combustor. PhD thesis, University of Michigan (2010)
18. Micka, D.J., Driscoll, J.F.: Combustion characteristics of a dual-mode scramjet combustor with
cavity flame holder. Proc. Combust. Inst. 32(2), 2397–2404 (2009)
19. Micka, D., Driscoll, J.: Dual-mode combustion of a jet in cross-flow with cavity flame holder.
46th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit. 7–10 (2008)
20. Waidmann, W., Alff, F., Brummund, U., Böhm, M., Clauss, W., Oschwald, M.: Experimental
investigation of the combustion process in a supersonic combustion ramjet. DGLR Jahrbuch,
pp. 629–638 (1994)
21. Waidmann, W., Alff, F., Brummund, U., Böhm, M., Clauss, W., Oschwald, M.: Supersonic
combustion of hydrogen/air in a scramjet combustion chamber. Space Technol. 6(15), 421–
429 (1995)
22. Menter, F.R.: Two-equation eddy-viscosity turbulence models for engineering applications.
AIAA J. 32(8), 1598–1605 (1994)
Numerical Investigation on the Influence
of Turbulence Models on Prediction
of Flow Characteristics of a Scramjet
Combustor
Abstract The present work discusses an investigation of behavior of several turbu-

lence models applied to prediction of combustion characteristics of scramjet combus-
tor. In order to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of different turbulent models
to predict combustion characteristics, Standard k–ε, Realizable k–ε, and SST k–ω
have been considered. The predicted wall static pressure at downstream locations is
compared with the experimental and numerical results. It was found that the SST k–ω
turbulence model shows the best agreement with the experimental results. Further, it
was observed that the SST k–ω turbulence model shows a relatively greater penetra-
tion height as compared to other turbulence models. Further, our results reveal that
the prediction of shock wave impingement, mixing rate, and vortices is affected by
choice of turbulence model used.
Keywords Mixing · Penetration height · Shock wave · Turbulence model
Nomenclature
e Energy
Ma Mach number
P Static pressure, kPa
Po,i Stagnation pressure at the inlet
Pw Wall static pressure
u Velocity, m/s
Xi Mole fraction of ith species
L. Suneetha (B) · P. R. Randive · K. M. Pandey

e-mail: suni.mokshith2015@gmail.com
P. R. Randive
K. M. Pandey
e-mail: KMPANDEY2001@yahoo.com

Yi Mass fraction of ith species
Greek Symbols
ρ Density (kg\m3 )
μ Viscosity (Pa s)
Subscripts
0 Stagnation condition
t Turbulent
1 Introduction
Numerical modeling of scramjet combustor is a challenging task, owing to the scale

involved in the combustion phenomenon. This necessitates the precise and accu-
rate modeling of the turbulent phenomenon to reveal the mixing of fuel–air during
the combustion process. The other issue in this context is about modeling of the
combustion chemistry. Since the unsteadiness is intrinsic in its nature, it requires
that time-accurate simulations are made available for complete analysis. Thus, it is
imperative to make use of proper turbulent models to capture the flow physics of
the combustion inside the scramjet combustor. Therefore, it would be interesting
to compare the results of different turbulence modeling approaches to understand
the correct approach of modeling the combustion flow physics. Hence, the present
work is undertaken wherein we investigate the behavior of several turbulence models
applied to prediction aspects of combustion phenomenon of scramjet combustor.
Earlier studies in this area have been mostly focused on supersonic combustion
ramjet (scramjet), an engine which can operate in hypersonic flight conditions [1,
2] due to simple design and low weight. In scramjet engine, the air enters into the
combustor at supersonic condition and the fuel is injected at sonic condition. The
flame holding mechanism is a significant key factor since it governs the resident time
(in the order of microns) as far as combustion is concerned. Hence, the configuration
of a cavity is of utmost important to stabilize the flame. The cavity flame holders
are simple in design and are more efficient in supersonic combustion flows [3, 4].
Furthermore, the major problems occur in turbulent mixing, shock wave propagation,
and fuel–air mixing probability. Many investigators have worked on the mixing
enhancement of fuel and air [5–7], minimizing of pressure losses [8, 9], and high-
combustion efficiency [10–13].
Numerical Investigation on the Influence of Turbulence Models … 837
Different turbulence modeling approaches have been employed by several investi-

gators to study the flow in scramjet combustor [14–18]. Kummitha [14] numerically
investigated the effect of various inserts in a scramjet combustor with various turbu-
lence models. He suggested that LES simulations predict better as compared to other
turbulent models. Wang et al. [15] carried out the investigation on jet–cavity inter-
action in supersonic flows and they opined that the large eddy simulation technique
is the most efficient for unsteady turbulent flows. Abu-Farah et al. [16] investigated
the multistaged injection of hydrogen in scramjet combustor. They reported that the
SST k–ω turbulence model closely predicts the result with the experimental result.
The influence of a typical cavity-based scramjet combustor has been investigated
numerically by Huang et al. [17, 18] and it was observed that the propagation of
shock wave train could be restricted by the optimum value of length/depth ratio.
In spite of many works in this area, the prediction of combustion characteristics
of cavity-based scramjet combustor with different turbulence models has not been
compared and discussed in greater detail. The present work discusses the combustion
phenomena in terms of shock waves formation, wall static pressure distribution,
and the fuel penetration height along the length of the combustor to understand the
efficacy of each of the turbulent modeling approaches.
2 Problem Statement
The cavity-based supersonic combustor is as shown in Fig. 1. All the dimensions and
boundary conditions are taken from the D. J. Micka experimental setup [19–21]. The
supersonic combustor consisted of an isolator and combustor and it is employed with
a cavity flame holder having length and depth—50.8 and 12.7 mm. The height and
length of an isolator being 25.4 and 358 mm, with a diverging angle of 4° is considered
at the trailing edge of the cavity. The fuel was injected through the injector of the
diameter 2.49 mm from the isolator. The distance between the exit of the isolator and
the cavity leading edge is 44.5 mm. The boundary conditions of free stream air and
hydrogen jet are presented in Table 1. Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions
Isolator Combustor
25.4 mm 0
4
12.7 mm
Fuel injection
44.5 mm
358 mm 50.8 mm 349 mm
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of a scramjet combustor with cavity [19–21]

Table 1 Parametric values

S. no. Parameter Air Hydrogen
for the present study [19–21]
1 Ma 2.5 1
2 T 0 (K) 1250 300
3 P0 (kPa) 605 100
4 X O2 0.21 0
5 X N2 0.58 0
6 X H2 O 0.21 0
7 X H2 0 1
were employed at the inlet and outlet condition whereas no-slip condition is applied
at the fixed walls.
3 Theoretical Formulation and Numerical Modeling
The present study discusses the influence of turbulence models with a hydrogen-
fueled cavity-based scramjet combustor on the prediction of combustion phenomena.
The governing transport equations delineated below have been numerically solved
using ANSYS14.0 commercial Fluent software. The dimensional forms of the gov-
erning equations have been solved numerically. The conservation equations of mass,
momentum, and energy can be expressed in dimensional form as
Continuity Equation
∂ρ ∂
+ (ρu i ) = 0 (1)
∂t ∂ xi
Momentum Equation
∂ ∂ ∂P ∂
(ρu i ) + (ρu i u j ) = − + (τi j ) (2)
∂t ∂x j ∂ xi ∂x j
Energy Equation
∂ ∂ ∂
(ρe) + (ρeu j ) = − (τi j u i − q j ) (3)
∂t ∂x j ∂x j
Accordingly, the species transport equation can be expressed as

Species Transport Equation
∂ → →
−
(ρYi ) + ∇. ρYi −
u + ∇. Ji = ωi (4)
∂t
Table 2 Variation of static

No. of elements Static pressure (kPa) % error
pressure at the bottom wall of
the combustor with the wall 70,152 145 3.3
and strut injection system at 299,424 150 0
different grid sizes
497,114 150 0
−
→
The mass diffusion term ( Ji ) can be written as

−
→ μt ∇T
Ji = − ρ Di,m + ∇Yi − DT,i (5)
Sct T
where Yi and ωi are the mass fraction and chemical reaction rate of ith species, respec-
tively, whereas Sct is the turbulent Schmidt number. The turbulent model evaluates
the near-wall treatment for low Reynolds number where y+ value is approximately
less than or equal to 1. Further, the range of y+ value obtained for the grid system
shown in Table 2 is 0 < y+ < 2.5. Moreover, the turbulent intensity for the current
study is taken as less than 5% and the turbulent viscosity ratio is taken as 45 [22]. In
the current study, the detailed transport equations [23] for Standard k–ε, Realizable
k–ε, and SST k–ω are as follows.
Turbulent equation for Standard k–ε
∂ ∂ ∂ μt ∂k
(ρk) + (ρu i k) = [(μ + ) ] + G K − ρε − Y M (6)
∂t ∂ xi ∂ xi σk ∂ xi
∂ ∂ ∂ μt ∂ε ε ε2
(ρε) + (ρu i ε) = [(μ + ) ] + C1ε G k − C2ε ρ (7)
∂t ∂ xi ∂ xi σε ∂ xi k k
2
where μt = ρCμ kε and
some of the known coefficients are as follows:
C1ε = 1.44, C2ε = 1.92, Cμ = 0.09, σk = 1.0, σε = 1.3
Turbulent equation for Realizable k–ε
∂ ∂ ∂ μt ∂k
(ρk) + (ρu ji k) = [(μ + ) ] + G K − ρε − Y M (8)
∂t ∂x j ∂x j σk ∂ x j
∂ ∂ ∂ μt ∂ε ε2
(ρε) + (ρu J ε) = [(μ + ) ] + ρC1 Sε − ρC2 √ (9)
∂t ∂xJ ∂xJ σε ∂ x J K + νε
2
where μt = ρCμ kε and
The known coefficients are as follows
C1ε = 1.44, C2 = 1.9, σk = 1.0, σε = 1.2

Turbulent equation for SST k–ω

∂ ∂ ∂k
(ρku i ) = k + G k −Yk + Sk (10)

∂ ∂ ∂ω
(ρωui ) = ω + Gω −Yω + Dω + Sω (11)
∂xi ∂xj ∂xj
3.1 Combustion Modeling
In the present work, the implicit density based solver and finite rate eddy-dissipation
model are used in volumetric reactions. The fluid flow is considered to be compress-
ible and two dimensional. Further, single-step reaction model is employed in the
present case of the scramjet combustor to reduce the computational time. Further,
the single-step reaction, i.e., hydrogen–water reaction can be expressed as follows:
2H2 + O2 → 2H2 O
3.2 Grid Independence Study
The numerical simulations were carried out with a grid of 70,152, 299,424 elements
and 497,114 elements. Three different mesh sizes are considered for each combustor
geometry. Table 2 describes the static pressure distribution along the length of the
combustor for each grid system. It can be seen that the static pressure distribution
is almost similar even with the increase in the number of elements from 299,424 to
497,114. Hence, the grid with 299,424 elements was chosen for all the simulations.
3.3 Validation
Prior to discussing the important findings of the present investigations, we first ensure
the accuracy of the numerical solver used in the current study. The numerical exper-
iments are carried out for the scramjet combustor. The results obtained for this flow
were compared with the results of Micka et al. [19–21]. The comparison of the static
wall pressure distributions along the bottom wall of the combustor shows a close
agreement as shown in Fig. 2 thus validating the methodology. It can be seen that the
reflected shock waves presented on the top and bottom wall of the combustor result in
sudden increment of pressure at the bottom wall of the combustor. It is obvious that
Fig. 2 Schematic diagram:

static mean wall pressure
distributions along the
bottom wall of the combustor
the pressure is increased at the position of fuel injection due to the strong interaction
of shock waves.
In the present work, the effect of different turbulence models on the prediction of
cavity-based scramjet combustor is numerically analyzed. The turbulence models
such as Standard k–ε, Realizable k–ε, and SST k–ω considering the single-step reac-
tion mechanism have been employed to simulate the fluid flow at Mach 2.5. The
hydrogen is considered as working fuel in a scramjet combustor. The results are
presented in terms of shock wave, wall static pressure, and penetration height along
the length of the combustor.
4.1 The Shock Wave Propagation
In scramjet combustor, the mixing of fuel and air is one of the challenging issues. The
turbulence affects also affects the impingement of strong shock waves and vortices
in the supersonic flow. It can be concluded from Fig. 3 that the SST k–w turbulence
model is more precise in prediction as indicated by close agreement with experimental
results for wall static pressure. Figure 3 shows the impingement of shock. The weak
shock waves are observed in Standard k–ε and Realizable k–ε turbulence model. As
compared to the other turbulence models, more number of “λ” type bow shock waves
are seen in SST k–ω turbulence model. Hence, it can be adjudged that the mixing
rate of fuel and air is increased by the strong interaction of shock wave in supersonic
flows.
Fig. 3 Shock wave image for a Standard k–ε, b Realizable k–ε, and c SST k–w
4.2 Penetration Height and Wall Static Pressure
The penetration height is an important significant performance parameter in a scram-

jet combustor which is useful to analyze the stability of the flame. It is considered
along normal to the flow direction which can be evaluated from the trailing edge of
a strut to the combustor exit location where the mole fraction of H2 is greater than
zero. Figure 4b shows the variation of fuel penetration height along the length of the
combustor. The penetration height increases from the jet injection to the cavity due
Fig. 4 a Variation of static mean wall pressure along the length of the combustor, b Variation of
penetration height along the length of the combustor
to the strong interaction of shock. There is a significant decrease in the penetration

height due to an increase in the area of flow owing to the wall diverging angle after
the cavity. Figure 4a depicts the static pressure distribution along the length. It can
be seen that the SST model is overpredicting the static pressure initially. However,
the deviation in the prediction of static pressure tends to reduce with downstream
distance.
5 Conclusions
This study evaluates and compares the effectiveness of different turbulence models
to predict the combustion characteristics in a scramjet combustor with a cavity. Two-
dimensional and compressible flow is considered. The mechanism of shock waves
is described in detail and the results are presented in the form of wall static pressure
and the penetration height along the length of the combustor.
• The predicted wall static pressure at various downstream locations is compared
with the experimental and numerical results and it was found to be in good agree-
ment with the benchmark results.
• The turbulence model is found to have a great influence on the prediction of
combustion characteristic in the supersonic combustor. This deviation is larger
than Standard k–ε turbulence model as compared to the SST k–ω turbulence model.
• The λ-type strong bow shock waves are seen in SST k–ω turbulence model which
helps to increase the probability of mixing flame stability and improves the engine
performance.
• It can be observed that the values of penetration height computed by SST k–ω
turbulence model are found to be relatively higher compared to the other models.
• Finally, it can be proposed that SST k–ω turbulence model is more appropriate and
accurate to predict the combustion phenomenon in the scramjet combustor.
References
1. Cecere, D., Ingenito, A., Giacomazzi, E., Romagnosi, L., Bruno, C.: Hydrogen/air supersonic
combustion for future hypersonic vehicles. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 36(18), 11969–11984 (2011)
2. Lu, S., Fan, J., Luo, K.: High-fidelity resolution of the characteristic structures of a supersonic
hydrogen jet flame with heated co-flow air. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 37(4), 3528–3539 (2012)
3. Mathur, T., Gruber, M., Jackson, K., Donbar, J., Donaldson, W., Jackson, T., Billig, F.: Super-
sonic combustion experiments with a cavity-based fuel injector. J. Propul. Power 17(6), 1305–
1312 (2001)
4. Ben-Yakar, A., Hanson, R.K.: Cavity flame-holders for ignition and flame stabilization in
scramjets: an overview. J. Propul. Power 17(4), 869–877 (2001)
5. Li, J., Shen, D., Fu, Q., Wang, Y., Song, W.: Mode transition of fuel control test in a dual-mode
combustor. Appl. Therm. Eng. 111, 1312–1319 (2017)
6. Cao, R.F., Chang, J.T., Tang, J.F., Wang, Z.Q., Yu, D.R.: Study on combustion mode transition
of hydrogen fueled dual-mode scramjet engine based on thermodynamic cycle analysis. Int. J.
Hydrog. Energy 39(36), 21251–21258 (2014)
7. Cui, T., Tang, S., Zhang, C., Yu, D.: Hysteresis phenomenon of mode transition in ramjet
engines and its topological rules. J. Propul. Power 28(6), 1277–1284 (2012)
8. Cao, R., Chang, J., Bao, W., Guo, M., Qin, J., Yu, D., Wang, Z.: Analysis of combustion
mode and operating route for hydrogen fueled scramjet engine. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 38(14),
5928–5935 (2013)
9. Yan, Z., Shaohua, Z., Bing, C., Xu, X.: Hysteresis of mode transition in a dual-struts based
scramjet. Acta Astronaut. 128, 147–159 (2016)
10. Choubey, G., Pandey, K.M.: Effect of variation of angle of attack on the performance of two-
strut scramjet combustor. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 41(26), 11455–11470 (2016)
11. Kummitha, O.R.: Numerical analysis of passive techniques for optimizing the performance of
scramjet combustor. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 42(15), 10455–10465 (2017)
12. Choubey, G., Pandey, K.M.: Effect of different strut + wall injection techniques on the perfor-
mance of two-strut scramjet combustor. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 42(18), 13259–13275 (2017)
13. Yang, Q., Chang, J., Bao, W., Deng, J.: A mechanism of combustion mode transition for
hydrogen fueled scramjet. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 39(18), 9791–9797 (2014)
14. Kummitha, O.R.: Numerical analysis of hydrogen fuel scramjet combustor with turbulence
development inserts and with different turbulence models. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 42(9), 6360–
6368 (2017)
15. Wang, H., Wang, Z., Sun, M., Qin, N.: Large eddy simulation based studies of jet–cavity
interactions in a supersonic flow. Acta Astronaut. 93, 182–192 (2014)
16. Abu-Farah, L., Haidn, O.J., Kau, H.P.: Numerical simulations of single and multi-staged injec-
tion of H2 in a supersonic scramjet combustor. Propul. Power Res. 3(4), 175–186 (2014)
17. Huang, W., Wang, Z.G., Yan, L., Liu, W.D.: Numerical validation and parametric investigation
on the cold flow field of a typical cavity-based scramjet combustor. Acta Astronaut. 80, 132–140
(2012)
18. Huang, W., Wang, Z.G., Pourkashanian, M., Ma, L., Ingham, D.B., Luo, S.B., Lei, J., Liu, J.:
Numerical investigation on the shock wave transition in a three-dimensional scramjet isolator.
Acta Astronaut. 68(11–12), 1669–1675 (2011)
19. Micka, D.J.: Combustion stabilization, structure, and spreading in a laboratory dual-mode
scramjet combustor. PhD thesis, University of Michigan (2010)
20. Micka, D.J., Driscoll, J.F.: Combustion characteristics of a dual-mode scramjet combustor with
cavity flame holder. Proc. Combust. Inst. 32(2), 2397–2404 (2009)
21. Micka, D., Driscoll, J.: Dual-mode combustion of a jet in cross-flow with cavity flame holder.
46th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit. 7–10 (2008)
22. Torrez, S.M., Driscoll, J.F., Ihme, M., Fotia, M.L.: Reduced-order modeling of turbulent react-
ing flows with application to ramjets and scramjets. J. Propul. Power 27(2), 371–382 (2011)
23. Menter, F.R.: Two-equation eddy-viscosity turbulence models for engineering applications.
AIAA J. 32(8), 1598–1605 (1994)
Effect of Varying Oblique Angle on Heat
Transfer Enhancement in Oblique
Channel
Badyanath Tiwary, Ritesh Kumar and Pawan K. Singh
Abstract In the present work, the effect of variations in oblique angle on the heat
transfer characteristic with alumina-water nanofluid of volumetric fraction 1% has
been investigated numerically in ANSYS Fluent. The oblique finned micro-channel
is designed with three different oblique angles 25°, 35°, and 45°. Numerical analysis
suggests significant enhancement of heat transfer in a novel oblique micro-channel
heat sink with negligible or little pressure drop penalty. Also, the average heat-
transfer coefficient is observed maximum at an oblique angle of 35°. The pressure
drop increment from 25° to 35° oblique angles is noticed due to the increase in
flow diversion and flow separation. Pressure drop is found very less with the oblique
angles varying from 35° to 45°. All the oblique angles have been compared with a
rectangular/conventional micro-channel. The parametric investigation is carried out
and a recommendation has been made.
Keywords Nanofluid · Enhanced micro-channel · Oblique fin · DPM
1 Introduction
Advancement of technology leads to the compactness of devices day by day and

also it gives a challenge to researchers to search novel techniques that help to reject
heat from very small volumes in these micro-devices. The demand for faster and
smaller devices increases the thermal load and at the same time, conventional cooling
B. Tiwary (B) · R. Kumar · P. K. Singh

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM) Dhanbad, Dhanbad
826004, India
e-mail: tiwary21@gmail.com
R. Kumar
e-mail: ritesh.kumar.mec11@gmail.com
P. K. Singh
e-mail: pawan@iitism.ac.in
R. Kumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bhagalpur College of Engineering, Bhagalpur
813210, India
846 B. Tiwary et al.
techniques that use extended surfaces (fins, micro-channel, heat sink, heat pipe, etc.)
reached their limits [1]. Recently, a oblique finned micro heat sink has been found
as an alternative to the conventional heat sink which is capable of enhancing the
heat transfer rate in these devices with marginal or no increase in pressure drop.
Furthermore, using nanofluids as coolant also promotes the enhancement of heat
transfer due to high-thermal conductivity [2, 3]. Earlier, as Tuckerman and Pease [4]
suggested, the concept of liquid cooling with the micro-channel is used to enhance
the heat transfer performance by achieving high heat flux removal capacity of up to
800 W/cm2 with micro-channels in single-phase and two-phase flows.
Qu and Mudawar [5] have conducted the experimental and numerical investiga-
tions of pressure drop and heat-transfer characteristics of single-phase laminar flow
in micro-channels. Deionized water has been taken as the cooling fluid and two
different heat fluxes, 100 and 200 W/cm2 are given to micro-channels. For micro-
channels, the numerical and measurement prediction is mutually agreed to validate
the Navier–Stokes equation. Lee et al. [6, 7] created oblique fins in a micro-channel
heat sink and numerical analysis of laminar flow and heat transfer manifested that
notable enhancement of heat transfer can be achieved with little or negligible pressure
drop penalty. The combined effect of primary and secondary flow gives the enhance-
ment of heat transfer performance by 80%. Lee et al. [8] have done an experimental
investigation on the effect of geometrical parameters such as oblique angle, fin pitch,
and hydraulic diameter in oblique fin micro-channel heat sink. The parametric study
recommends that smaller fin pitch and smaller oblique angle are helpful for the
enhancement of heat transfer and maximum enhancement 47% is achieved when Re
= 500. The micro-channel with 100 µm channel width and the 27° oblique angle is
found to be optimum for the performance point of view.
Law et al. [9] conducted an experiment in the oblique finned micro-channel to
investigate the pressure drop, two-phase heat transfer, and instabilities with varying
oblique angles from 10° to 50°. The result shows that with the increasing oblique
angle, heat transfer increases; however, pressure drop first increases and then becomes
almost negligible at higher oblique angles.
From the above literature survey, it is found that the oblique angle is an attractive
parameter which greatly affects the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics
in single-phase modeling in oblique finned micro-channels. Therefore, this creates
motivation behind the present study, where numerical simulation on heat-transfer
performance with varying oblique angles with the use of nanofluid is to be performed
using single-phase modeling.
2 Mathematical Modeling
The main approach which is to be considered for numerical simulation of nanofluid

is the mixture rule or single-phase modeling where nanofluid is assumed as a homo-
geneous fluid. For the purpose of the numerical study, a single row of the oblique
channel with constant fin pitch and equal number of fins were designed for three
Effect of Varying Oblique Angle on Heat Transfer … 847
Table 1 Dimension of
S. No. Characteristics Dimensions
oblique finned channel
1 Material Copper
2 Footprint, width × length (mm) 1 × 25
3 Main channel width, W ch (µm) 500
4 Fin width, W w (µm) 500
5 Channel depth (µm) 1500
6 Fin length, l (µm) 1500
7 Fin pitch, p (µm) 2000
8 Oblique angle, θ (°) 25, 35, 45
9 No. of fins 12
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of oblique fins
different oblique angles of 25°, 35°, and 45° has been designed in SOLIDWORKS
and meshed in ANSYS 16 [10].
To perform and simplify the analysis, certain assumptions are considered in the
analysis of flow such as periodic boundary condition, steady state, laminar, negli-
gible radiative heat transfer, negligible convective heat transfer, negligible viscous
dissipation from the oblique fin heat sink, and constant fluid properties (Table 1,
Figs. 1, 2, and 3).
Meshing for both fluid and solid domain is done separately. The simulation domain
is meshed using face sizing, body sizing, and sweep method in ANSYS Mesh.
To simplify the analysis, certain assumptions are considered in the analysis of
flow such as steady state, laminar, negligible radiative heat transfer, negligible con-
vective heat transfer, negligible viscous dissipation from the oblique fin heat sink,
and constant fluid properties.
Fig. 2 Geometry of oblique fin channel
(a) 25º oblique angle
(b) 35º oblique angle
(c) 45º oblique angle
Fig. 3 Schematic diagrams of different oblique angles
For all the three cases, the average velocity is assigned at the inlet of the channel.
Also, assume that flow is uniform across the channel and range of velocity 0.3–
1.5 m/s is considered at the inlet of the micro-channel. Constant pressure is assigned
at the inlet and outlet of the channel. Heater power of 56 W is given at the bottom and
the top cover is assumed to be adiabatic. A residual of 10−6 is set as the convergence
criteria for the continuity equation, x-velocity, y-velocity, and z-velocity.
2.2 Grid Independence and Validation
The entire computational domain is meshed with face sizing, body sizing, and edge
sizing. The resultant average Nusselt number from different meshes used are in close
Fig. 4 Grid independence test
proximity to each other. For the fluid domain, a total of 1214556 elements has been
selected for study to get better accuracy and cost after grid independence study.
The same condition and same method of simulation of 500 µm main channel
width have been investigated by Lee et al. [7, 8]; it is found that there is a good
agreement between the experimental and numerical simulation results and the devi-
ation is smaller under all conditions (Fig. 4).
2.3 Numerical Method
The governing differential equations for alumina nanofluid using mixture rule are
1. Continuity equation
∇.(ρv ) = 0 (1)
2. Momentum equation
∇.(ρv v) = −∇ P + ∇.(μ∇v ) (2)
3. Energy equation

∇. ρvCp T = ∇.(k∇T ) (3)
Table 2 Thermo-physical
property of nanofluid
1 φ (%) 1
2 ρ (kg/m3 ) 1027.12
3 C p (J/kg K) 4053.02
4 k (W/m K) 0.624
5 μ (Pa s) 0.0010532
The thermophysical properties of alumina-based nanofluid at 1, 2, and 4% volumetric

concentration in this analysis for mixture rule has been calculated by the following
equation:
The thermal conductivity of the alumina nanofluid is given by the Hamilton–
Crosser model [11],
keff = kf (1 + Ck ∅) (4)
where C k is taken as 4.
The viscosity of the suspension is given by

μNF = μBF 1 + Cμ ∅ (5)
where C μ is the viscosity coefficient. The value of C μ is taken as 5 for alumina–water

nanofluids.
The effective density of nanofluids is given by
ρNF = ρBF (1 − ∅) + ρP ∅ (6)
The specific heat of nanofluids is defined as (Tables 2 and 3)
ρf Cpf (1 − ∅) + ρ P C pP ∅
CpNF = (7)
ρf (1 − ∅) + ρ P ∅
Table 3 Copper
thermophysical property
1 Density (kg/m3 ) 8978
2 Specific heat capacity (J/kg K) 381
3 Thermal conductivity (W/m K) 387.6
Figure 5 shows the variation of pressure drop with Reynolds number using single-
phase modeling or mixture rule with nanofluids. Pressure drop characteristic is
increasing with the increment of Reynolds number. Pressure drop also increases
with the increase in the oblique angle from 25 to 35; this is due to flow separation
and flow diversion. Pressure drop is observed to be very less or negligible when the
oblique angle is increased from 35° to 45°.
Figure 6 shows that the comparative variation of the average heat-transfer coef-
ficient (havg ) with different Reynolds number in different oblique angle with the
rectangular channel. A higher value of heat-transfer coefficient has been observed in
the oblique channel compared to the rectangular channel due to continuous breakage
of the thermal boundary layer at the end of each oblique fin.
Figure 7 shows that variation of heat-transfer coefficient versus streamwise posi-
tion from a certain distance from one end is indicated. In the rectangular channel,
the heat-transfer coefficient is linearly decreasing with the distance whereas in the
oblique channel, the heat transfer variation is quite nonlinear; this is due to variation
of change in the temperature at a different point.
Figure 8 shows the temperature variation at the base of the rectangular and oblique-
finned channel. In the oblique fin channel, the temperature distribution is more uni-
form as compared to that of a rectangular channel. Also, the temperature near the
end of the rectangular channel is 10 °C more than that of the oblique channel. Thus,
it acts as a better alternative to rectangular micro-channel for cooling purpose.
Fig. 5 Pressure drop versus Reynolds number

Fig. 6 Average heat-transfer coefficient versus Reynolds number
Fig. 7 Heat-transfer coefficient versus streamwise position

Fig. 8 Temperature contour at the base of a rectangular channel, b at the base of the oblique finned
channel
4 Conclusion
In the present study, the effect of varying oblique angles on heat transfer behavior
of Al2 O3 –water-based nanofluid has been studied in novel micro-channel such as an
oblique finned channel with three different oblique angles along with conventional
rectangular channel.
The results are obtained for laminar flow for Reynolds numbers 250, 500, 750,
and 1000 with the nanoparticles at a volumetric fraction of 1%.
The average heat transfer co-efficient is highest in 35º oblique angle followed by
25º and 45º oblique angle.
The increment of the oblique angle from 25° to 45° is responsible for a notable
increase in the pressure drop with increasing Reynolds number under single-phase
modeling.
However, when the oblique angle changed from 35° to 45°, the pressure drop
enhancement is found very less due to less flow in secondary channel.
As a result, 25° oblique angle is found to be optimum and a captivating option for
further analysis.
Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge the DST (SERB) Project No.
ECR/2016/000176 for their financial support.
Nomenclature
T Temperature (K)
Dh Hydraulic diameter (mm)
ΔP Pressure drop (Pa)
Greek Symbols
∇ Del (operator) (dimensionless)
ρ Density (kg/m3 )
Φ Nanoparticle volumetric fraction (%)
Subscripts
eff Effective
NF Nanofluid
BF Basefluid
avg Average
References
1. Kandilkar, S.G.: High Flux heat removal with microchannels a roadmap of challenges and
opportunities. Heat Transf. Eng. 26(8), 5–14 (2005)
2. Choi, S.U.S.: Enhancing thermal conductivity of fluids with nanoparticles. In: Singer, D.A.,
Wang, H.P. (eds.) Developments, and Applications of Non-Newtonian Flows. FED231, ASME,
New York (1995)
3. Khan, J.A., Morshed, A.K.M.M.M., Fang, R.: Towards ultra-compact high heat flux microchan-
nel heat sink. Procedia Eng. 90, 11–24 (2014)
4. Tuckerman, D.B., Pease, R.F.W.: High-performance heat sinking for VLSI. IEEE Electron
Device Lett. 2(5), 126–129 (1981)
5. Qu, W., Mudawar, I.: Experimental and numerical study of pressure drop and heat transfer in
a single-phase micro-channel heat sink. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 45(12), 2549–2565 (2002)
6. Lee, Y.J., Lee, P.S., Chou, S.K.: Proceedings 2009, Inter PACK 2009, International Conference
on Energy Sustainability, July 1923, 2009, San-Francisco, California, USA (2009)
7. Lee, Y.J., Lee, P.S., Chou, S.K.: Enhanced thermal transport in microchannel using oblique
fins. J. Heat Transf. 134(10), 101901 (2012)
8. Lee, Y.J., Singh, P.K., Lee, P.S.: Fluid flow and heat transfer investigations on enhanced
microchannel heat sink using oblique fins with parametric study. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf.
81, 325–336 (2015)
9. Law, M., Kanargi, O.B., Lee, P.S.: Effects of varying oblique angles on flow boiling heat
transfer and pressure characteristics in oblique-finned microchannels. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf.
100, 646–660 (2016)
10. Fluent, A.N.S.Y.S.: Fluent 15 Users Guide. Lebanon, USA (2015)
11. Hamilton, R.L., Crosser, O.K.: Thermal conductivity of heterogeneous two component systems.
Ind. Eng. Chem. Fundam. 1(3), 187–191 (1962)
Performance Analysis
of Split-Drop-Shaped Pin Fins
for Improved Heat Transfer Rate
Alok Ranjan, Surender Singh Yadav and Koushik Das
Abstract Proper dissipation of thermal energy has always been a requirement for
better efficiency of a system. Fins provide additional surfaces to reject heat to the
surrounding from the working faces. The current work considers the thermal analysis
of pin fins of circular and drop-shaped cross section. Fins of uniform cross section are
placed over a base plate arranged in a staggered manner. With an analysis of various
thermal and flow parameters, the drop-shaped pin fin is found to yield a better thermal
enhancement over cylindrical pin fins. Further, the drop-shaped fins are modified to
make a split to enhance the interaction between the fluid and the fin surface. The
modification shows slightly better result compared to existing drop-shaped fin. The
modelling has been done using ANSYS FLUENT 17.1.
Keywords Extended surfaces · Nusselt number · Heat transfer coefficient · Finite

volume method · Conjugate heat transfer physics
1 Introduction
Thermal management of any system is very important to obtain optimum perfor-

mance efficiency. It is one of the important aspects of any industry. Heat exchangers,
aviation, electronics, automobiles, food processing, etc. are few such names. In these
industries proper dissipation of thermal energy is done by use of extended surfaces.
These extended surfaces may appear in the form of a fin or a vortex generator. A
fin is a type of extended surface that helps in effective dissipation of heat to the
surrounding fluids by utilising its surface area. Heat transfer between a solid surface
A. Ranjan (B) · S. S. Yadav · K. Das

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong
793003, India
e-mail: aranjan359@gmail.com
K. Das
e-mail: koushik.das@nitm.ac.in

858 A. Ranjan et al.
and a moving fluid is governed by the Newton’s cooling law. Therefore, to increase
the convective heat transfer rate, one may increase the interface area between the
solid surface and the fluid. This can also be accomplished by increasing the fluid
flow over the surface.
It is always desirable to achieve maximum heat dissipation with minimum power
input. In this regard, an effective utilisation of surface area proves to be very useful.
In a flowing fluid domain, the heat transfer rate is affected by the interaction of the
inviscid layers of fluid with the viscous dissipated zone. In this scenario, the shape
of the fin plays an important role. Based on the shape of the fin, the weak zones of
heat transfer can be optimised to obtain effective heat transfer rate. Numerous work
has been performed in optimisation of a fin geometry for various applications. The
effort has been given to enhance the thermal performance of fins by making grooves
in fins [1]. Fyrillas and Leontiou [2] considered the periodic array of rectangular pin
fin in their study. An inline and staggered arrangement of square pin fin has been
considered by Jeng and Tzeng [3] to analyse the heat transfer rate and the pressure
drop. A comparative study between plate and pin-fin heat sink has been shown by
Jooa and Kim [4]. A thorough survey of various literature also indicates use of pin
fins of different shapes [5, 6] to obtain enhanced heat transfer rate with minimum
flow losses in the system.
In the following, an array of drop-shaped fins with staggered arrangement has been
considered. Similar geometry of fins with circular cross section is taken as the basis
to validate the numerical solver. The numerical model, the boundary conditions and
the governing equations are validated using the empirical relationships proposed by
Khan et al. [6] for cylindrical pin-fin geometry. Further, the study has been extended
to split the drop-shaped fins into two with different pitches. Consideration is given
to study the convective heat transfer coefficient, Nusselt number and coefficient of
friction. The thermal performance factor is also used to compare different geometries
of fins. The ANSYS 17.1 is used in the numerical model.
The thermal performance analysis of split-drop-shaped fins is initiated by considering

pin fins of circular section. Cylindrical fins of diameter D are arranged over a square
base plate of L b with S L and S T as the longitudinal and the transverse pitch, respec-
tively. The base plate has a thickness of t (Fig. 1). Figure 2 shows the cross-sectional
view of the drop-shaped fin with and without split. The individual drop-shaped fin
is bisected longitudinally to get two semi-drop out of individual drop. The pairs are
adjusted in a way to obtain an offset in the longitudinal (LO) and transverse (TO)
direction of the fluid flow. The dimensions of these fins are decided by keeping the
volume and the height of the fins same as the cylindrical fins.
The current problem statement is governed by the combined physics of heat trans-
fer and fluid flow. In order to simulate the convective heat transfer phenomenon over
Performance Analysis of Split-Drop-Shaped … 859
Fins
ϕD SL
Base Plate ST
H
hf
z
t y
Lb x
L
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of computational domain
(a) (b) TO
LO
Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of geometries of a drop, b split-drop shape
the fin geometries, a conjugate heat transfer physics has been considered. The radia-
tive mode of heat transfer is neglected for simplicity of the formulations. For such
problems, the thermal interaction between the fluid and the solid occurs by the mode
of conduction and advection. The modelling and the simulation are performed using
ANSYS 17.1. Laminar flow model is used to simulate the flow of fluid over the fin
geometry. Fins are the protruding surfaces that open the door for heat transfer rate
by providing effective surface area. In the current numerical analysis, the fins are
provided with preset amount of heat flux (q) from the base plate. The performance
analysis of the available fin geometry requires the gauging of thermophysical param-
eters of the system. Nusselt number (Nu) and convective heat transfer coefficient (h)
are the two crucial parameters that help in deciphering the strength of the heat trans-
fer process from the solid surface to the surrounding fluid. At the inlet, velocity
and temperature are assigned. For the outlet, the gauge pressure and temperature are
specified. Wall of computational domain is assigned with Dirichlet condition. In the
numerical approach, the circular pin fin has been studied under forced convection
environment, at steady-state conditions. Nusselt number is a non-dimensional num-

ber which gives a clue about comparative strength of the rate of convection to the
rate of conduction in a fluid and is given by
ρAX V cp (T2 − T1 )
h= (1)
AT (T3 − T1 )
h · Lc
Nu = (2)
k
The characteristic length L c of the geometry is the dimension that may affect
governing physics. In the current work, fin geometry is formulated using conjugate
conduction–convection physics. To elude any complications, the radiation mode of
heat transfer has been neglected. The heat transfer at steady-state condition in any
thermal system is given by the energy equation,
→
V ·∇T = α · ∇ 2 T (3)
where T, V and α are the temperature, velocity and thermal diffusivity of the medium.
In order to estimate the velocity field in the computational domain, the solution of
mass conservation and the momentum conservation equations are required.
→
∇·V =0 (4)
→ → 1
V ·∇ V = − ∇ p + v(∇ 2 V ) (5)
ρ
h · LC
Nu = = C1 Re1/ 2 Pr 1/ 3 (6)
kf
For the validation, considering laminar flow, the Nusselt number is given by [6],
ρU
where Re = max . The Pr = αν is a temperature-dependent property. With S T ,
LC
μ
S L and SD = SL2 + ST 2 2 as the transverse, the longitudinal and the diagonal
pitch, respectively, the coefficient C 1 and the maximum velocity in the flow domain
can be calculated using the following relations [6]:
0.61ST0.091 SL0.053
C1 = (7)
1 − 2 exp(−1.09SL )

ST ST
Umax = U∞ , U∞ (8)
ST − 1 2(SD − 1)
In the current study, skin friction coefficient is calculated to analyse the amount
of drag force experienced by the fin geometry. Equation (9) is used to calculate the
skin friction coefficient. It shows the effect of shear stress and the dynamic pressure
on the geometry of fin. The C f is a non-dimensional parameter which gives an idea
about induced drag.
2τ S
Cf = (9)
ρU∞2
The thermal performance factor is the important term for the analysis of heat
transfer. It is defined as the ratio of the relative heat transfer to the relative frictional
factor.

N u N uo
η = 1 3 (10)
C C /f fo
where Nu and C f are the Nusselt numbers and skin friction coefficient of the pin fin
and Nuo and C fo are Nusselt number and skin friction coefficient of the base case,
i.e. cylindrical pin fins.
The current work considers the thermal and the flow analysis of split-drop-shaped
fins. Initially, consideration is given to 17 number of cylindrical pin fins (D = 15 mm,
hf = 105 mm) placed over a base plat of dimension 118 mm × 118 mm × 5 mm.
The arrangement is placed inside square duct of dimension 125 mm × 125 mm ×
658 mm (Fig. 1). Figure 3 shows the variation of h and Nu with various inlet flow
velocities. The validation is performed using the empirical results of Khan et al. [6].
It has observed that as the inlet flow velocity increases, the value of h and Nu also
increases. The highest value of Nu is obtained at maximum velocity of 2.56 m/s.
As the flow velocity increases, the local Re in the flow domain is observed to reach
Fig. 3 Variation of a h and b Nu for cylindrical pin fin at different velocities

Table 1 Validation results of Nu and h

V (m/s) Nu h (W/m2 K) % Error
Present result Empirical [6] Present result Empirical [6] Nu h
1.0 18.45 19.23 29.77 31.02 4.2 4.2
1.22 20.29 21.19 32.74 34.19 4.4 4.4
1.5 22.39 23.50 36.12 37.91 4.9 4.9
1.88 24.75 26.30 39.92 42.44 6.3 6.3
2.54 28.46 31.23 45.93 50.38 9.7 9.7
the transition regime. Therefore, the deviation of the numerical result also increases
with increase in velocity (Table 1).
3.1 Variation of TO in Split-Drop Fin
The validation work of the numerical model is followed by thermal and flow anal-
ysis of drop-shaped fins. Initially, fin configurations of various TOs are taken into
consideration, with 0, D/8, D/6, D/4 and D/2. The D is the reference diameter of the
cylindrical pin-fin geometry considered during validation. In this section the LO is
maintained zero throughout. For uniformity of analysis, all further simulations are
carried out with 1.5 m/s inlet velocity. Considering a drop pin fin without a split (TO
= 0), the h is observed as 46.93 W/m2 K, which is found to be 41% higher than
the cylindrical pin fin. A drop-shaped cross section has a better streamlined struc-
ture compared to a circular shape, which allows improved interactions between the
solid and the fluid. For a split fin with increase in TO, the h is observed to improve
by 39%, 32% and 20% for D/8, D/6 and D/4, respectively. However, for the case
with TO = D/2, the h reduces by 7.9% compared to cylindrical pin-fin geometry.
Figure 5 shows the circular zones of flow created behind the fin geometries. It has
been observed that with maximum span of circulation zone, the case with D/8 yields
Fig. 4 Comparison of h of 55
circular, drop and split-drop
50.12
pin-fin shape with varying 50 47.55
TO at zero LO 46.93
45
h(W/m2K)
43.47
40
36.13
35 33.25
30
TO D/8 D/6 D/4 D/2
CIRCULAR DROP SPLIT DROP
(a) D/8 (b) D/6 (c) D/4 (d) D/2
Fig. 5 Planar distribution of velocity plot for showing circulation phenomenon for varying TO at
0 LO
the highest h. Implying to the variation of h, the Nu is also observed to have similar
trend (Fig. 6). The case with TO = D/8 suggests the highest Nu in comparison to all
other considered cases (Fig 4).
An analysis of the friction coefficient for all the current geometries shows max-
imum value for the case with TO = D/8 (Fig. 7). With a split gap of distance D/8,
the fluid is found to interact, maximum by forming circulations in the vicinity of
the fins. This results in 19% enhancement in the frictional losses in the system. For
the circular fin the friction losses are more compared to the un-split drop fin. It is
Fig. 6 Comparison of Nu of 40
circular, drop and split-drop 35.2
pin-fin shape with varying 35 33.4
TO at zero LO 30.5
30 27.7
Nu
25 23.4
22.4
20
15
TO D/8 D/6 D/4 D/2
Fig. 7 Comparison of C f of 0.035

0.031
circular, drop and split-drop 0.030 0.029
pin-fin shape with varying 0.026
0.025 0.023
TO at zero LO
Cf 0.020 0.017 0.017
0.015
0.010
0.005
0.000
TO D/8 D/6 D/4 D/2
Fig. 8 Comparison of η of 1.60

circular, drop and split-drop 1.50 1.48
1.42 1.44 1.42
pin-fin shape with varying 1.40
TO at zero LO
1.30
η 1.20
1.20
1.10
1.00
1.00
0.90
0.80
TO D/8 D/6 D/4 D/2
because circular shape offers more windward blockage to its trailing edge and thus,
the losses are also higher in term of friction.
The η corresponds to running cost of the thermal device. It has been observed that
split-drop-shaped pin fin, at TO = D/ 8, yields a maximum value of η compared to
any other case (Fig. 8). It implies that a split-drop fin with TO = D/ 8 can provide
maximum enhancement in dissipation of thermal energy with the aid of minimum
enhancement in frictional losses in the system. Hence, the suggested split shows a
favourable result.
3.2 Variation of TO and LO in Split-Drop Fin
After working over TO with considering longitudinal offset zero, work have haven
extended to vary both the offsets simultaneously. Consideration is given to com-
binations of TO-LO that are varied from D/ 8 to D/ 2 and the various performance
parameters are computed and analysed. Figure 9 represents the variation of h for var-
Fig. 9 Comparison of h of
drop and split-drop pin-fin
shape with varying LO at
fixed TOs
Fig. 10 Comparison of Nu
of split-drop pin-fin shape
with varying LO at fixed TOs
ious LO-TO combinations. At a particular TO, as LO increases from D/ 8 to D/ 2, the

value of h is found to reduce. As the TO is increasing, although the fluid will easily
pass in between splits, however, due to reduced gap between two counterparts of a
couple, the interactions reduce. This leads to reduced thermal interaction between
the solid surface and the fluid. Thus, the h reduces for a particular case of TO. In all
the cases, except TO = D/2, the h is found to reduce with increase in LO. For TO
= D/2, as the LO increases the inter fin distance reduces and thus enhances the heat
transfer rate. Out of all the considered cases, it has been observed that a split drop of
TO = D/8 and without any LO yields the highest h. Following the computation of
h, the Nu is calculated next. Figure 10 shows that variation of Nu for the split-drop
shapes of pin fin of fixed TOs with varying LO. A similar trend has been observed
for all the cases, which can be justified using Fig. 11.
Figure 12 shows the variation of C f for all the split-drop shape fins. Due to
maximum interaction between the solid and the fluid with enhanced circulation zones
downstream of the fins, the frictional losses are found to increase (Fig. 10). The
maximum value of C f corresponding to the highest value of h and Nu is observed for
the case with TO = D/ 8 and without LO. At a particular TO, as the LO increases,
the losses reduce, except for the case with TO = D/ 2.
The variation of η for the considered split-drop pin fin with varying LO as well
as TO has been shown in Fig. 13. It is found that the split-drop shape pin fin with
LO = D/ 8 and TO = D/ 8 possess highest value of η. The current case (LO = D/ 8
and TO = D/ 8) yields 1.34% enhancement in η compared to TO = D/ 8 and LO
= 0. It is because the current case provides maximum enhancement in dissipation
of thermal energy with the aid of minimum enhancement in frictional losses in the
system. Moreover, it has been observed that the value of η for TO = D/ 8 and D/ 6
with LO = 0 − D/ 4 the value of η is approximately uniform.
TO↓ LO D/8 D/6 D/4 D/2

→
D/8
(a) (b) (c) (d)
D/6
(e) (f) (g) (h)
D/4
(i) (j) (k) (l)
D/2
(m) (n) (o) (p)

Fig. 11 Planar distribution of velocity plot for showing circulation phenomenon for varying LO at
fixed TOs
Fig. 12 Comparison of C f 0.0355

0.031
of split-drop pin-fin shape

0.029
0.029
0.028
with varying LO at fixed TOs 0.0305

0.026
Cf
0.024
0.023
0.023
0.023
0.0215
0.022
0.0255
0.021
0.019
0.019
0.02
0.018
0.017
0.017
0.0205
0.016
0.016
0.0155
D/8
D/6
D/4
D/2
D/8
D/6
D/4
D/2
D/8
D/6
D/4
D/2
D/8
0
D/6
D/4
D/2
0
LO
TO
D/8 D/6 D/4 D/2
Fig. 13 Comparison of η of 1.6
1.49
1.49
split-drop pin-fin shape with
1.48
1.48
1.5
varying LO at fixed TOs
1.44
1.5
1.42
1.41
1.41
1.39
1.39
1.38
1.4
1.37
1.36
1.4
1.31
η
1.24
1.3
1.23
1.22
1.2
1.2
1.1
0
D/8
D/6
D/4
D/2
0
D/8
D/6
D/4
D/2
0
D/8
D/6
D/4
D/2
0
D/8
D/6
D/4
D/2
LO
TO D/8 D/6 D/4 D/2
4 Conclusions
Numerical simulations are performed to analyse split-drop-shaped fins thermally.

The validation of the solver is done with results well within the acceptable accuracy,
with maximum error of 9.7%. Following are the conclusions drawn from the analysis:
• Thermal performance of drop shape is found 42% higher than the circular pin fin.
• With TO = D/ 8, the Nu, the h, the C f and the η are highest among other cases
with zero LO.
• In the cases with non-zero LO, the maximum η is shown by the case with TO =
D/8 and LO = D/8, which is 1.35% higher than the case with zero LO.
References
1. Eren, M., Caliskan, S.: Effect of grooves pin-fin in a rectangular channel on heat transfer aug-
mentation and friction factor using Taguchi method. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 102, 1108–1122
(2016)
2. Fyrillas, M.M., Leontiou, T.: Critical Biot number of a periodic array of rectangular fins. J. Heat
Transf. 138, 024504 (2015)
3. Jeng, T.M., Tzeng, S.C.: Pressure drop and heat transfer of square pin-fin arrays in in-line and
staggered arrangements. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 50, 2364–2375 (2007)
4. Jooa, Y., Kim, S.J.: Comparison of thermal performance between plate and pin fin heat sink in
natural convection. Int. J. Heat Mass Tranf. 83, 345–356 (2015)
5. Kim, D.K., Kim, H.J., Lee, M.: Nusselt number correlation for natural convection from vertical
cylinders with triangular fins. Appl. Therm. Eng. 107, 768–775 (2016)
6. Khan, W.A., Culham, J.R., Yovanovich, M.M.: Modelling of cylindrical pin-fin heat sinks for
electronic packaging. IEEE Trans. Compon. Packag. Technol. 31(3), 1521–3331 (2008)
Simulation of Fully Developed Flow
and Heat Transfer in Wavy Channels
Using OpenFOAM
S. Harikrishnan and Shaligram Tiwari
Abstract Wavy channels are known to be one of the passive methods for heat transfer
enhancement and are widely employed in different heat exchanging devices. Heat
transfer augmentation in the wavy channel can be achieved by interruption of thermal
boundary layer growth due to generation of vortices. The present study deals with
the modification of open-source computational fluid dynamics solver OpenFOAM to
simulate fully developed flow and heat transfer in wavy channels with constant wall
temperature boundary condition. Validation of numerical method has been confirmed
by simulating the flow and heat transfer in plane and wavy channel and are compared
with the existing literature.
Keywords Wavy channel · Periodic boundary condition · Flow and heat transfer ·
OpenFOAM
1 Introduction
Extensive studies have been undertaken during the past two decades in the field of
heat transfer enhancement. Passive methods for enhancement of heat transfer are
preferred over active methods which require external power. Passive methods in heat
transfer enhancement can be achieved by either breaking the growth of boundary
layer by periodic restarts or by generating longitudinal or transverse vortices in flow
field. Periodic structures like wavy surfaces [1], offset fins [2], vortex generators
[3], louvers [4], etc., are employed in heat exchangers to improve the heat transfer
performance of the system by periodic restart of boundary layer. Wavy surfaces are
widely used in heat exchangers due to the ease of manufacturability and maintenance.
S. Harikrishnan (B) · S. Tiwari

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036,
Tamilnadu, India
e-mail: harikrishnansw@gmail.com

870 S. Harikrishnan and S. Tiwari
In order to understand the underlying mechanism of heat transfer enhancement

in periodic structures, numerical investigations using computational fluid dynamics
have been carried out extensively. Patankar et al. [5] proposed that for structures
having geometric periodicity, cost of the computational time can be reduced by con-
sidering only one module of the geometry and applying periodic boundary conditions
with suitable modifications in governing equations. For flows which are periodic in
the streamwise direction, instead of solving pressure directly, a new variable called
reduced pressure is solved, which is the component of pressure without stream-
wise pressure gradient. Since periodic boundary condition cannot be used for actual
pressure due to the pressure drop existing between the periodic boundaries; hence,
reduced pressure is introduced to make it periodic. Solving reduced pressure add a
forcing term in Navier–Stokes equations which represent the streamwise pressure
gradient force. Similarly, energy equation also requires additional source term in
order to make the periodic boundary condition for temperature. Nature of the bound-
ary conditions applied at the wall for temperature, viz., constant wall heat flux or
constant wall temperature decide the source term in the energy equation. For constant
wall heat flux case, the value of the force term is constant which depends upon the
heat flux value supplied at the walls. However, for constant wall temperature case,
solution methodology is not straightforward. The shape of the temperature profile
at successive streamwise locations for constant wall temperature cases are same.
Hence, this feature is included in energy equation with the help of an unknown func-
tion which is to be evaluated iteratively within each time step to solve the energy
equation. The solution of energy equation for constant temperature boundary con-
dition in nondimensional form represents a nonlinear problem [6]. Wang and Vanka
[7] proposed an iterative method by circumventing this difficulty by linking nondi-
mensional temperature field with bulk mean temperature. Niceno and Nobile [8]
introduced a new method to solve periodic boundary condition in energy equation
which does not involve inner iterations in each time step. They considered outflow
condition at outlet of the channel and temperature profile at inlet is calculated by
scaling the temperature profile from outlet. Greiner et al. [9] simplified the method
introduced by Patankar et al. [5] by decomposing temperature into periodic part
and exponential decay part, such that the computation of temperature is reduced
to computation of periodic function and decay constant. They proposed an itera-
tive procedure to calculate temperature and decay rate in each time step. Stalio and
Piller [10] further simplified the method proposed by Greiner et al. [9] by calculating
exponential decay rate directly by using energy balance in the periodic module which
avoids the inner iterations within the time step. The proposed method decreases the
computation time and hence can be used for Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS).
Recently, Wang et al. [11] modified the method proposed by Stalio and Piller [10].
They made the calculation of temperature decay rate much simpler by considering
the energy conservation over the periodic module boundaries. Since this method
does not involve volumetric integration over the entire simulation domain, it is less
computationally expensive than the method proposed by Stalio and Piller [10].
Simulation of Fully Developed Flow and Heat Transfer … 871
It can be inferred from the literature that solving fully developed flow and heat
transfer with constant wall temperature is not straightforward. The main objective of
the paper is to implement periodic boundary condition for constant wall temperature
case in open-source computational fluid dynamics code OpenFOAM and validate the
modified code with the existing literature. In order to validate the code, periodically
fully developed plane channel and wavy channel have been considered.
2 Governing Equations and Boundary Conditions
Governing equations for mass, momentum, and energy equations for periodically
fully developed flow and heat transfer are given by
∇ ·u =0 (1)
∂u ∇ P̃ β
+ u · ∇u = − + ν∇ 2 u + (2)
∂t ρ ρ
where u is the flow velocity, μ and ρ represent dynamic viscosity and density of the
fluid considered, p̃ represents modified pressure (reduced pressure) which satisfies
periodic boundary conditions and actual pressure is given by [5]
P(x, y) = −βx + P̃(x, y) (3)
Here, β is the linear component of the pressure which is to be calculated iteratively

for a fixed mass flow rate. The energy equation is given by [9],
∂θ ∂θ
+ u · ∇θ = α∇ 2 θ + αλ2 + u x λ θ − 2αλ (4)
∂t ∂x
here, α represents the thermal diffusivity of the fluid considered, ux represents the
component of velocity in streamwise direction, θ is called reduced temperature and
is given as
T (x, y, z, t) − Tw
θ (x, y, z, t) = (5)
e−λx
Here, T represents temperature, T w represents wall temperature, λ is the decaying
rate that describes the overall temperature variation in the streamwise direction. The
decaying rate can be calculated by the method proposed by Wang et al. [11],
⎡ ⎤
α wall ( ∂η ) d A
∂ θe−λx
1 ⎣ ⎦
λ = − ln 1 − ∂θ
(6)
in u x θ + α ∂ x in dy
L
Boundary conditions are given as,

Walls: No-slip and isothermal boundary conditions (u = v = w = 0; θ = 0).
Inlet and Outlet (periodic patches): Periodic boundary conditions (φ(Inlet) =
φ(Outlet), where φ can be u, v, w, P̃, or θ ).
3 Numerical Methods
Computations have been performed by using an open-source computational fluid

dynamics package OpenFOAM [12], which is based on finite volume method. PISO
algorithm has been used for solving governing equations. Second-order central dif-
ference scheme and second-order Euler backward difference scheme have been used
to discretize spatial and temporal derivatives, respectively. Adaptive time step method
has been used by keeping maximum Courant number in the domain as 0.5. Conver-
gence criteria for mass, momentum and energy equations has been kept fixed and set
as 10−6 .
OpenFOAM solver pimpleFoam which is a combination of SIMPLE and PISO
algorithm has been selected to solve Navier–Stoke equations. The pimpleFoam is a
flow solver; hence, it has been modified to calculate λ after solving Navier–Stoke
equations and incorporate energy equation. During the calculation of λ, temperature
values are taken from the previous iterations. Even though pimpleFoam is used, outer
correctors are kept as 1 such that it is using only PISO algorithm. Reason for selecting
pimpleFoam rather than pisoFoam is that the present solver can be solved by PISO
and PIMPLE algorithm by keeping proper values at the outer correctors [13].
Two different ways to simulate periodically fully developed flow are by keeping
constant pressure drop between inlet and outlet (constant β in Eq. 2) or by keeping
constant mass flow rate at the inlet. The first case can be solved by keeping con-
stant value of β in the modified Navier–Stoke equation and corresponding Reynolds
number (Re) or mass flow rate can be calculated only during the simulations. For
unsteady flows, mass flow rate and Re varies with respect to time. In the present
study, constant Re case is considered. Here, values of β are calculated iteratively
by keeping average inlet velocity corresponds to the desired Re value [14, 15]. In
time-independent flows, value of β is found to be independent of time. However, for
unsteady simulations, value of β is found to vary with respect to time. A utility called
“patchMeanVelocityForce” has been used in OpenFOAM to simulate these cases.
Since decaying rate (λ) is unknown before the simulation, simulation starts with an
initial guess of λ value. As explained in [11], the calculation of temperature decay
rate from Eq. (6) starts only after a certain number of time steps. Also, new value of
λ is calculated at every certain time step until the simulation becomes steady in flow
and temperature fields. The mean bulk temperature at the domain inlet is maintained
as equal to 1.0 during the simulation.
4 Validation
Validity and accuracy of the numerical method have been confirmed by simulating
the flow and heat transfer in plane and wavy channel and are compared with the
existing literature. Cases considered here are two-dimensional, steady, and laminar
flow.
4.1 Laminar Flow Through Two-Dimensional Plane

Channel
The computational domain is a two-dimensional rectangular channel having length

(L) and height (H) equal to 1 m and 0.5 m respectively as shown in Fig. 1. Air is
taken as the working fluid with Prandtl number 0.7. Reynolds number of 40 has
been considered here which is calculated based on channel height. Figure 2 depicts
Fig. 1 Geometry of plane channel
Fig. 2 Comparison of computed a x-velocity and b temperature profile in the periodically fully
developed flow in plane channel with analytical results at the entrance of the channel (x/L = 0)
the comparison of (a) streamwise velocity component along the y-direction and (b)
temperature profile in the periodically fully developed flow in plane channel with
analytical results [11] at entrance of the channel (x/L = 0). The computed value
of temperature decay rate (λ) for plane channel is 0.5387 and the analytical value
reported in the literature [11] is 0.5347. Hence, it can be concluded that the present
simulations are in good agreement with the analytical results.
4.2 Fully Developed Flow and Heat Transfer Through Wavy

Channel
For the validation of wavy channel, symmetric sinusoidal wavy channel geome-
try corresponding to H min /H max = 0.3 and L/a = 8 reported in [7, 10, 16–18] has
been considered which is shown in Fig. 3. The sinusoidal profile of the wall can be
described by the function y = 2a sin2 (π x/L). Reynolds number is calculated based
on the mean channel height. Nusselt number and friction factor in the present com-
putations have been calculated by using the same definitions as in the literature [17,
18]. Tables 1 and 2 show the comparison of friction factor and Nusselt number with
the existing literature, respectively. Figure 4 depicts the comparison of streamwise
velocity profile with available results in the literature for three different Re. Figure 5
depicts the streamline and isotherm contours for the wavy channel for Re = 400.
Recirculation bubbles are observed in the groove of the channel and it covers almost
the full region bounded by the groove. Obtained results are similar to the results
Fig. 3 Geometry of wavy channel
Re Present Ref. [17] Ref. [18]
calculated friction factor with
literature 100 0.459 0.415 0.458
200 0.264 – 0.264
400 0.151 0.165 0.15
Re Present Ref. [17] Ref. [18]
calculated Nusselt number
with literature 100 4.71 4.588 4.266
200 5.13 – 4.76
400 5.84 5.773 5.314
Fig. 4 Velocity profile

comparison of wavy channel
with Bahaidarah et al. [17]
reported in the literature [17]. These results indicate that the simulated results are in
good agreement with the literature.
5 Conclusion
Two-dimensional numerical investigations have been carried out for fully developed
flow and heat transfer in plane and wavy channel with constant wall temperature
boundary condition. Open source computational fluid dynamics solver OpenFOAM
has been used and it has been modified to incorporate periodic boundary condition in
the flow and heat transfer field. Computed results are compared with the literature and
are found to have good agreement with them. Purpose of the paper is to demonstrate
the flexibility of open-source computational fluid dynamics solver OpenFOAM by
modifying the solver according to the requirement. Overall, OpenFOAM is found to
be a reliable research solver in which modifications can be done easily and hence, it
can be considered as an effective substitute for standard commercial CFD solvers.
(a)
(b)
Fig. 5 a Streamline and b temperature contour for wavy channel at Re = 400
References
1. Harikrishnan, S., Tiwari, S.: Effect of skewness on flow and heat transfer characteristics of
a wavy channel. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 120, 956–969 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
ijheatmasstransfer.2017.12.120
2. Ismail, L.S., Ranganayakulu, C., Shah, R.K.: Numerical study of flow patterns of compact
plate-fin heat exchangers and generation of design data for offset and wavy fins. Int. J. Heat
Mass Transf. 52, 3972–3983 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2009.03.026
3. Naik, H., Harikrishnan, S., Tiwari, S.: Numerical investigations on heat transfer characteristics
of curved rectangular winglet placed in a channel. Int. J. Therm. Sci. 129, 489–503 (2018).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2018.03.028
4. Han, H., He, Y.L., Li, Y.S., Wang, Y., Wu, M.: A numerical study on compact enhanced n-and-
tube heat exchangers with oval and circular tube configurations. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 65,
5. Patankar, S.V., Liu, C.H., Sparrow, E.M.: Fully developed flow and heat transfer in ducts
having streamwise-periodic variations of cross-sectional area. J. Heat Transf. 99, 180–186
(1977). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3450666
6. Murthy, J.Y., Mathur, S.: Periodic flow and heat transfer using unstructured meshes.
Int. J. Numer. Methods Fluids. 25, 659–677 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1097-
0363(19970930)25:6h659::AID-FLD580i3.0.CO;2-Y
7. Wang, G., Vanka, S.P.: Convective heat transfer in periodic wavy passages. Int. J. Heat Mass
Transf. 38, 3219–3230 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1016/0017-9310(95)00051-A
8. Niceno, B., Nobile, E.: Numerical analysis of fluid flow and heat transfer in periodic wavy
channels. Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow. 22, 156–167 (2001). 10.1016/S0142-727X(01)00074-1
9. Greiner, M., Faulkner, R.J, Van, V.T., Tufo, H.M., Fischer, P.F.: Simulations of three-
dimensional flow and augmented heat transfer in a symmetrically grooved channel. J. Heat
Transf. 122, 653–660 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1318207
10. Stalio, E., Piller, M.: Direct numerical simulation of heat transfer in converging-diverging wavy
channels. J. Heat Transf. 129, 769–777 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2717235
11. Wang, Z., Shang, H., Zhang, J.: Lattice Boltzmann simulations of heat transfer in fully devel-
oped periodic incompressible flows. Phys. Rev. E 95, 1–13 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1103/
physreve.95.063309
12. Weller, H.G., Tabor, G., Jasak, H., Fureby, C.: A tensorial approach to computational continuum
mechanics using object-oriented techniques. Comput. Phys. 12, 620–631 (1998). https://doi.
org/10.1063/1.168744
13. Robertson, E., Choudhury, V., Bhushan, S., Walters, D.K.: Validation of OpenFOAM numerical
methods and turbulence models for incompressible bluff body flow. Comput. Fluids. 123, 122–
145 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compuid.2015.09.010
14. Saha, A.K., Acharya, S.: Parametric study of unsteady flow and heat transfer in a pin- n heat
exchanger. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 46, 3815–3830 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1016/s0017-
9310(03)00190-x
15. Saha, A.K.: Effect of the number of periodic module on flow and heat transfer in a periodic
array of cubic pin- ns inside a channel. J. Enhanc. Heat Transf. 15, 243–260 (2008). https://
doi.org/10.1615/jenhheattransf.v15.i3.50
16. Harikrishnan, S., Tiwari, S.: Unsteady characteristics of periodically fully developed flow in
biconvex module of wavy channel. Recent. Pat. Mech. Eng. 11, 326(331) (2018). https://doi.
org/10.2174/2212797610666181008141032
17. Bahaidarah, H.M.S., Anand, N.K., Chen, H.C.: Numerical study of heat and momentum transfer
in channels with wavy walls. Numer. Heat Transf. Part A Appl. 47, 417–439 (2005). https://
doi.org/10.1080/10407780590891218
18. Ramgadia, A.G., Saha, A.K.: Fully developed flow and heat transfer characteristics in a wavy
passage: effect of amplitude of waviness and Reynolds number. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 55,
Numerical Analysis of Different
Arrangement of Square Pin-Fin
Microchannel Heat Sink
Prabhakar Bhandari and Yogesh Kumar Prajapati
Abstract One of the ways for heat transfer augmentation in microchannel is using
pin-fin. In the present numerical study, square cuboid pin-fins across the heat sink in
the flow direction are arranged in different fashions, i.e., single row-wise stepped fins
and four-row stepped fins. Furthermore, in each arrangement, there is variation in the
positions of three pin-fin heights (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mm). Hence, total 12 cases were
taken for comprehensive studies, where total volume occupied by all fins remains
same so that the fluid flow area did not change. It is observed that single row stepped
fin has performed better than the four-rows stepped fins for all Reynolds numbers and
also fin arrangement (0.5-1.0-1.5) and (1.0-1.5-0.5) have been found to have highest
thermal performance index among all the cases. It is concluded that fin height and
location of the fin affect the thermal performance of the microchannel.
Keywords Microchannel · Stepped pin-fin · Thermal performance factor
Nomenclature
A Area (m2 )
Dh Hydraulic diameter of the channel (m)
H Height of the channel (m)
k Thermal conductivity (W/mK)
Nu Nusselt number
P Pressure (Pa)
Q Heat flux (W/m2 )
U Velocity (m/s)
P. Bhandari (B)
I.F.T.M. University, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
e-mail: prabhakar.bhandari40@gmail.com
P. Bhandari · Y. K. Prajapati
NIT Uttarakhand, Srinagar (Garhwal), Uttarakhand, India
e-mail: yogi07sati@gmail.com

880 P. Bhandari and Y. K. Prajapati
T Temperature (K)
W Width of the channel (m)
Greek Symbols

ρ Density (kg/m3 )
Subscripts
Avg Average
B Bottom surface of the microchannel
Ch Channel
eff Effective heat flux
f Fluid
in Channel inlet
wall Contact surface area between fluid and channel
1 Introduction
The number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every
successive year. It was first noticed by Gordon Moore [1] and predicts this trend
will continue in the foreseeable future. From that period, electronic items are get-
ting smaller day by day. Miniaturization has many advantages like it increases the
portability of the appliance and lowers the material and operational cost.
The crucial problem associated with the miniaturization is to remove high heat
flux generated in the highly compact system. Otherwise, it is going to harm the
systems. The proper heat management in such devices has to be developed. Earlier,
the rate of heat generation was very less, so it can be efficiently done by air cooling.
In complex systems where heat generation rate is very high, use of liquid for heat
removal is justified, because of having higher thermal conductivity than gas phase.
To further enhance the heat transfer rate, microchannel heat sink was first proposed
by Tuckerman and Pease [2]. The reason for high heat transfer in microchannel is
large heat transfer surface area per unit fluid flow volume.
This merit of the microchannel attracted the researches and consequently enor-
mous works have been done with time. Research work mostly focused on several
geometry and configurations of microchannels, cooling medium, material type of
heat sink, etc. [3]. Further, heat transfer rate can be increased by using micro pin-fins
Numerical Analysis of Different Arrangement of Square Pin-Fin … 881
because micro pin-fins increase the heat transfer surface area and also disturb the
regular laminar flow patterns [4–8]. Izci et al. [4] numerically investigated seven
different shapes of fins having same chord thickness/diameter. The shapes of fins
taken in their studies are circular, square, diamond, triangular, cone, hydrofoil, and
rectangular. It was concluded that rectangular pin-fin has the highest Nusselt number
and friction factor, but cone-shaped pin-fin has best thermal performance index. Yang
et al. [5] investigated fins with triangular, square, pentagonal, hexagonal, and circu-
lar cross sections arranged in a staggered way. They carried out both experimental
and numerical study using deionized water as a working fluid and concluded that
hexagonal fins have the lowest thermal resistance among all. Yu et al. [6] have used
new type of fins, i.e., piranha pin-fin in microchannel for heat transfer augmentation.
Yadav et al. [7] used cylindrical pin-fins arranged in in-line fashion in their numer-
ical study. They concluded that performance can be enhanced by decreasing the pitch
or increasing the height of the fin. They also optimize number of fins and diameter of
the fins to maximize the heat transfer enhancement. Zhao et al. [8] in their numerical
study, use square cross section pin-fin in rectangular microchannel. They observed
that pin-fin porosity and located angle are important parameters in thermal perfor-
mance and cooling capacity of heat sink. The optimal value of porosity and located
angle given by them are 0.75 and 30°, respectively.
Till now, various authors [7, 8] have used fin of uniform height across the heat sink
in the flow direction. In this work, the variations of pin-fin height at different locations
in microchannel are numerically simulated for better heat transfer augmentation
and fluid flow. Hence, total 12 cases have been comprehensively studied. Also, the
comparative studies have been performed on microchannel heat sink with and without
pin-fin. The simulation is performed on commercial CFD software ANSYS18.0
(Fluent module).
2 Simulation Model
Table 1 shows the dimensions of the channel used in the simulation. In the present
model, it is assumed that microchannel is made of copper and water as a coolant. The
Table 1 Details of the

Parameters Dimensions
microchannel (all dimensions
are in mm) Channel length 27
Total width 10
(channel+substrate)
Total height 3
(channel+substrate)
Channel width 9
Channel depth 2
heat flux is being applied from the bottom wall of the channel. The dimensions of the
channel are kept constant for all the different configurations of fins in microchannel.
The fins of square cross-sectional area are used in different arrangements in rect-
angular channel. The base cross-sectional area of the fin is of 1 mm by 1 mm for all
cases. The fins are arranged in an in-line fashion with spacing of 1 mm in between
two fins in longitudinal and transverse direction. The total number of fins used is 48
(4 × 12). Figure 1 shows cross-sectional and top view of the finned microchannel.
Three different fin height of 0.5, 1, and 1.5 mm are considered. Figure 2 shows the
different arrangements of fins height being used in present study. The length, width,
and height of the different arrangements of the fins are so that the total volume
occupied by all fins remains same so that the fluid flow area does not change. The
total contact surface area is same and is equal to 543 mm2 .
2.1 Assumptions
To simplify the calculations following assumptions are used:

1. Flow is steady, laminar, and Newtonian.
2. There is no-slip condition at the wall.
3. Heat flux is assumed to be uniform and constant throughout the bottom wall of
the channel.
4. Heat transfer mode by radiation is being neglected.
Based on the above assumptions, Law of conservation of mass, momentum, and
energy form continuity equation and Navier–Stokes equations to describe the fluid
flow and heat transfer phenomena. These laws are expressed in Eqs. (1–4).
∇ V = 0 (1)
ρ f (V · ∇ V ) = −∇ p + ∇ · (μ f ∇ V ) (2)
ρ f C p, f (V · ∇T f ) = k f ∇ 2 T f (3)
kch ∇ 2 T = 0 (4)
where V is the velocity matrix.

The thermodynamic properties like density, specific heat, and viscosity of working
fluid water are polynomial function of temperature. The correlations are taken from
Yadav et al. [6].
(a)
2
1 1 1 1 1
0.5
9
(b) OUTLET
2
27
1
1 1 1
2
0.5
0.5 INLET
10
Fig. 1 a Channel cross-sectional view b channel top view for case 1 (All are in mm)
27 27
2 Case 1 Case 7
1 1.5 2 1.5
0.5 1
0.5
2 Case 2 Case 8
1.5 1 2 1.5
0.5 0.5 1
2 Case 3 Case 9
1.5 1
2 1.5
0.5 1 0.5
2 Case 4 2 Case 10
1.5 1 1.5
0.5 0.5 1
2 Case 5 2 Case 11
1 1.5 1.5
0.5 1 0.5
2 Case 6 2 Case 12
1 1.5 1.5
0.5 1 0.5
Fig. 2 Side view of different arrangement of pin-fins (All are in mm)
Working fluid (water) has assumed to have constant velocity (U in ) and Temperature
(T in ) at the inlet of the channel.
Tin = 300K;
and U in was calculated for constant Reynolds number value of 200, 400, 600, and
800 whose expression is given as.
ρ f Uin Dh
Re = (5)
μf
where Dh is the hydraulic diameter for the channel and is calculated as follows:
2Wch Hch
Dh = (6)
(Wch +Hch )
The heat flux was applied uniformly from the bottom surface of the microchannel
having a magnitude of 150 kW/m2 . The flow is fully developed at the channel outlet.
The equation at the coupled interface between substrate and working fluid is as
follows:
∂T ∂T
K ch = Kf (7)
∂n ∂n
2.3 Solution Method
The present simulation has been carried on ANSYS 18.0 (Fluent module) which is
based on the finite volume method. To solve the governing differential equations,
Table 2 Details of mesh

Element size (m) Number of Outlet fluid
sizes used in grid
elements temperature
independence test
1.25e–4 413,536 306.5141
1.125e–4 621,408 306.4663
1e–4 808,900 306.4332
0.875e–4 1,278,756 306.4112
0.75e–4 2,041,228 306.4100
SIMPLE scheme has been used. The convergence criteria of solution are 1 × 10−4
for continuity equation, 1 × 10−6 for the velocity in x-, y-, and z-direction, and 1 ×
10−7 for energy equation.
2.4 Mesh Optimization
To minimize the error, the grid independence test has been performed. Table 2 shows
the details of five grid system used for the test. The variation of outlet fluid tempera-
ture with various element sizes for case 1 type fin has been seen for Reynold number
of 400. The last two grids having minimum difference in the outlet fluid temperature,
so to save the computational time, grid with element size 0.875e–4 m has been used
in the current simulations.
3.1 Validation of the Present Model
For validation of the present numerical model, the present plain channel is simulated
and compared with the correlations given by Yu et al. [6] and Shah and London
[9]. Figure 3 shows the plot of Nusselt number at different Reynold numbers. The
correlations are given by Yu et al. [6] and Shah and London [9] are given in (8) and
(9), respectively.
NuYu et al. = 2.1219Re0.3204 (8)
NuShah and London = 2.2348Re0.3333 (9)
Nusselt number for present simulation shows good agreement with the value of
correlation. Hence, similar numerical method can be applied to evaluate the perfor-
mance of the microchannel.
22
Present Simulation
Correlation by Yu et.al.
20 Correlation by shah and London's
18
Nusselt Number
16
14
12
10
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Reynold Number
Fig. 3 Comparisons of Nusselt number for plain channel with the correlations given by Yu et al.
[6] and Shah and London [9]
3.2 Heat Transfer
For estimating overall heat transfer characteristics, Nusselt number is evaluated. The
overall Nusselt number is calculated as
h Dh
Nu = (10)
Kf
Q eff
h= (11)
[Tavg, wall − Tbulk, f ]
Ab
Q eff = Q (12)
Awall
where Awall is the contact surface area between solid substrate and fluid. Ab is the
area of the heat sink bottom surface from where heat flux was applied. Tavg, wall is
the average temperature of the interface wall while Tbulk, f is volumetric average
temperature for fluid domain.
Figure 4 shows the variation of overall Nusselt number with Reynold number for
cases 1–6 at heat flux of 150 kW/m2 . There is increase in Nusselt number with the
increase in Reynold number for all the cases but the rate of increase in Nusselt number
decreases with Reynold number. Pin-fin microchannel has enhanced heat transfer rate
two to three times than that of the plain channel. This heat transfer enhancement is
due to the redevelopment of boundary layer at fin surfaces and mixing of working
fluid. Case 1 and case 6 fin arrangements have higher Nusselt number among all
the different cases. The trends of variation of fin height for both the cases 1 and 6
50
Case 1
Case 2
45
Case 3
Case 4
40
Case 5
Nusselt Number
Case 6
35
No Fin
30
25
20
15
10
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Reynold Number
Fig. 4 Variation of overall Nusselt number with Reynold number for cases 1–6
are same which is ascending order. The pin-fins in ascending pattern enhance fluid
mixing at every fin rows.
While case 3 has the least Nusselt number. Case 3 has descending pattern of
pin-fin height having fluid mixing highest in fin height of 1.5 mm then it keeps on
decreasing successively at fin height of 1.0 and 0.5 mm.
Variation of Nusselt number with the Reynold number for cases 7–12 has been
depicted in Fig. 5. It is observed that four-row stepped pin-fin have lesser heat transfer
than that of single row-wise stepped pin-fin This is because of less mixing of fluid
in four-row stepped pin-fin. Here also, ascending pattern, i.e., case 7 has highest and
descending pattern, i.e., case 9 has lowest heat transfer performance among different
finned channels.
3.3 Fluid Flow
Figure 6 shows the variation of pressure drop with Reynold number for cases 1–6 at
heat flux of 150 kW/m2 . With the increase in Reynold number, the rate of increase of
pressure drop kept on increasing because more fluid has to flow through the channel.
Case 1 has the highest pressure drop because it obstructs most fluid in flow field.
The variation of pressure drop with Reynold number for cases 7–12 is shown in
Fig. 7. It is observed that pressure drop in four-row stepped pin-fin is less than that of
single row stepped pin-fin because of less obstruction in flow field by pin-fin and also
uniformity of fin height in four rows. Here also, the same trend has been obtained for
pressure drop, i.e., four-row stepped pin-fin with fin height in increasing fashion has
higher pressure drop and which are in decreasing fashion has least pressure drop.
35
Case 7
Case 8
Case 9
30
Case 10
Case 11
Nusselt Number
Case 12
25
No Fin
20
15
10
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Reynold Number
Fig. 5 Variation of Nusselt number with Reynold number for cases 7–12
250
Case 1
200 Case 2
Case 3
Pressure drop (Pa)
Case 4
150
Case 5
Case 6
100 No Fin
50
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

Reynold Number
Fig. 6 Variation of pressure drop with Reynold number for cases 1–6
160
Case 7
140 Case 8
Case 9
Pressure Drop (Pa) 120 Case 10
Case 11
100
Case 12
80 No Fin
60
40
20
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

Reynold Number
Fig. 7 Variation of pressure drop with Reynold number for cases 7–12
3.4 Thermal Performance Factor
The thermal performance factor (TPF) is defined as the ratio of heat transfer enhance-
ment to the pressure drop penalty between the finned channel and the plain channel,
i.e., with no fin. The expression for TPF is given in (13) which was used by Xu et al.
[10] in their parametric study. The TPF is calculated for all 12 cases for combined
performance evaluation.
Nu/Nuo
TPF = (P/Po )1/3
(13)
where Nuo and Po is the Nusselt number and pressure drop for plain channel, i.e.,
with no fin in the microchannel.
Figure 8 shows the variation of thermal performance factor with Reynold number
for all 12 cases. It is observed that single row-wise stepped pin-fins has higher TPF
value than four-row stepped pin-fin for all different arrangements. This means that
it has higher heat transfer enhancement over pressure drop penalty.
And for single row-wise stepped pin-fins, with the increase in Reynold numbers,
TPF increases first then after attaining a maximum value, it keeps on decreasing.
While for four-rows stepped pin-fin, the rate of increase of TPF keeps on decreasing
with Reynold number. Among all 12 cases, single row-wise stepped pin-fins with
fins arranged in the order (0.5-1.0-1.5) and (1.0-1.5-0.5) have highest value of TPF.
While four-rows stepped pin-fins with fin order 1.5-1.0-0.5 has shown lowest value
of TPF.
1.4
Case 1
Case 2
Thermal Performance Factor 1.3 Case 3
Case 4
Case 5
1.2 Case 6
Case 7
Case 8
1.1
Case 9
Case 10
1.0 Case 11
Case 12
0.9
0.8
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Reynold Number
Fig. 8 Variation of TPF with Reynold number for cases 1–12
4 Conclusion
A numerical study has been performed on microchannel with the objectives to deter-
mine the effects of pin-fin height. The square cuboid pin-fins are arranged in different
fashions across the heat sink in the flow direction. The following conclusions were
drawn:
1. There is variation in the Nusselt number and pressure drop although fin volume
is the same for all arrangements.
2. Fin height and location of the fin affect the thermal performance of the microchan-
nel.
3. Single row-wise stepped pin-fins have higher thermal performance factor than
four-row stepped fins because it creates more fluid mixing in flow field.
4. The single row-wise stepped pin-fins with fins arranged in the order (0.5-1.0-1.5)
and (1.0-1.5-0.5) have the highest value of TPF.
5. The four-row stepped pin-fins with fin in decreasing height (1.5-1.0-0.5) has
shown lowest value of TPF.
References
1. ITRS updates. http://www.itrs.net/

Device Lett. 2, 126–129 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1109/EDL.1981.25367
3. Prajapati, Y.K., Bhandari, P.: Flow boiling instabilities in microchannels and their promising
solutions—a review. J. Exp. Therm. Fluid Sci. 88, 567–593 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
expthermflusci.2017.07.014
4. Izci, T., Koz, M., Koşar, A.: The effect of micro pin-fin shape on thermal and hydraulic perfor-
mance of micro pin-fin heat sinks. J. Heat Transf. Eng. 36(17), 1447–1457 (2015). https://doi.
org/10.1080/01457632.2015.1010921
5. Yang, D., Wang, Y., Ding, G., Jin, Z., Zhao, J., Wang, G.: Numerical and experimental anal-
ysis of cooling performance of single-phase array microchannel heat sinks with different pin-
fin configurations. J. Appl. Therm. Engi. 112, 1547–1556 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
6. Yu, X., Woodcock, C., Plawsky, J., Peles, Y.: An investigation of convective heat transfer in
microchannel with Piranha Pin Fin. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 103, 1125–1132 (2016). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2016.07.069
7. Yadav, V., Baghel, K., Kumar, R., Kadam, S.T.: Numerical investigation of heat transfer in
extended surface microchannels. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 93, 612–622 (2016). https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2015.10.023
8. Zhao, J., Huang, S., Gong, L., Huang, Z.: Numerical study and optimizing on micro square
pin-fin heat sink for electronic cooling. J. Appl. Therm. Eng. 93, 1347–1359 (2016). https://
9. Shah, R.K., London, A.L.: Laminar Flow Forced Convection in Ducts: A Source Book for
Compact Heat Exchanger Analytical Data. Academic Press (1978)
10. Xu, M., Lu, H., Gong, L., Chai, J.C., Duan, X.: Parametric numerical study of the flow and heat
transfer in microchannel with dimples. Int. Commun. Heat Mass Transf. 76, 348–357 (2016).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2016.06.002
Exact Analytical Determination
of Nusselt Number for Flow Through
a Microchannel Under Electric
and Magnetic Field
Sujit Saha and Balaram Kundu
Abstract This paper investigates a comprehensive theoretical study on the thermal

transport characteristics of the thermally fully developed combined electroosmotic
and pressure-driven flow in a rectangular microchannel by considering a uniform heat
flux at the wall. Imposed pressure gradient and variations of electric and magnetic
effects are taken in the analysis to establish an exact closed-form solution. Results
are presented for the electromagnetohydrodynamic flow and it clearly highlights
the variations of nondimensional parameters of velocity, temperature, and Nusselt
number as objective parameters to be mainly focused in this study. The value of
Brinkman number and Hartman number influences Nusselt number for the heat
transfer and controls the value of Joule heating effects in the absence of viscous
dissipation term. As the Nusselt number is determined analytically, the present study
can have ability to estimate the thermal design aspect in microchannel flow easily.
Keywords Analytical study · Microchannels · Electromagnetohydrodynamic

flow · Electroosmotic flow · Joule heating effects · Nusselt number
1 Introduction
Rapid development of flow through a microchannel is an emerged research area plays

an important role in the applications such as MEMS [1], biological and chemical
assays [2, 3], magnetohydrodynamics, piezoelectronics and electrohydrodynamics
[4–6], heat transfer in electronics circuits, micro-reactor, and biochemical applica-
tions, such as DNA analysis sequencing, microchips, and drug delivery. [7, 8]. In
such applications, electroosmotic flow (EOF) has a unique manipulate fluid flow.
This phenomenon interacts between solid surfaces and an electrolyte solution under
applications of an external electromagnetic field. Because of unbalanced charge form
between two-layer structures, the ion distribution charge occurs which is called EDL.
Generally, the pressure-driven flow is a conventional method to flow the fluid but it is
S. Saha · B. Kundu (B)


894 S. Saha and B. Kundu
difficult to maintain in microchannels. In this aspect, electroosmotic flow may over-

come the above difficulty. It is very easier to maintain flow control without external
agencies. Kroeker et al. [9] analyzed the three-dimensional pressure drop and ther-
mal/hydrodynamic characteristics of the heat sinks in circular microchannels with
considering no-slip boundary conditions. Chen et al. [10] developed pressure-driven
liquid flow in parallel slit considering no-slip condition. Sadeghi and Saidi [11] inves-
tigated analytically the thermal transport phenomenon of combined pressure-driven
electroosmotic flow in parallel plate microchannels in presence of the viscous fluid
with uniform heat flux situations. Chakraborty et al. [12] determined the thermal char-
acteristics of electromagnetohydrodynamic flow in rectangular microchannels with
viscous dissipation and joule heating effects. Vakili et al. [13] investigated combined
pressure-driven electrokinetic flow of power-law fluid in rectangular microchannels.
Mondal et al. [14] analyzed the combined electroosmotic pressure-driven flow in
microchannels without taking joule heating effects and DH approximation (high
zeta potential). Roy and Kundu [15] determined the heat transfer in fins for laminar
fluid flow in microchannels using modified Bessel functions.
From the above literature survey, it can be mentioned that many researchers
worked on rectangular microchannels and investigations had been done numerically.
An analytical determination of Nusselt number is rarely developed, but some few
works are available in the existing literature to determine the temperature distribution
with considering various enhancement factors.
In the present work, we developed a closed-form 1-D solution in a rectangular
microchannel under combined pressure-driven electromagnetohydrodynamic flow.
The bulk mean temperature distribution and Nusselt number in presence of Joule
heating and viscous dissipation are determined.
The physical problem of the rectangular microchannel subject to pressure-driven

through electric and magnetic fields has been taken in the present analysis. Flow
occurs in a microchannel between two parallel plates with half channel height (a).
The geometry of the physical problem is shown in Fig. 1. The pressure gradient
in the axial direction Py = −dp dy is imposed in the flow field. Important fields
such as electric field acting along the y-axis in the flow direction, electric field acting
along the z-direction in the lateral direction in the plane of the flow, and magnetic field
acting along the transverse direction of the positive x-direction, have been employed.
• The flow is laminar, incompressible, and fully developed.
• Thermophysical properties are constant.
• The channel walls are taken as constant heat flux.
• The liquid transport characteristics are a symmetric solution (z+ = z− = z) for a
long rectangular microchannel considered in the present study.
Exact Analytical Determination of Nusselt Number for Flow … 895
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of a microchannel
¨
• Zeta potentials are assumed to be very low as Debye–Hūckel linearization approx-
imation is adopted.
2.1 Electrical Double Layer (EDL) Effects
Electrical potential distribution is determined by a well-known Poisson equation

which is expressed as
ρe
∇2ψ = − (1)
εε0

ezψ
ρe = −2n 0 ze sinh (2)
kb Tav
where ε, ε0 , ρe , n 0 , z, kb , and Tav are permittivity of the medium, permittivity of free

space, net charge density per unit volume in the diffuse layer, ion density of bulk solu-
tion, ion valance, Boltzmann constant, and local absolute temperature, respectively.
It is assumed that zeta potential (electrical potential at wall)
is very low compared
to the thermal potential. In this consideration sinh kezψ b Tav
≈ ezψ
kb Tav
which is called
2 2 − 21
Debye–Hückel linearization approximation, the quantity 2n 0e z
εkb Tav
is known as
Debye length (λ D ) and it denotes the reciprocal of the Debye length. λaD is half-
length channel height to Debye length ratio.
From Eqs. (1) and (2), the following expression can be written:

d 2ψ 2n 0 ez ezψ
= sinh (3)
dx2 εε0 kb Tav
Equation (3) is in dimensionless form as
d 2ψ 2n 0 ez ∗
∗2
= ψ (4)
dx εε0
where ψ ∗ = ezψ
kb Tav
. Boundary conditions for the solution of Eq. (4) are
ψ = ξ at x = a and (5a)
dψ
= 0 at x = 0 (5b)
dx
The local volumetric net charge density can be evaluated from Eqs. (2), (4), and
(5a, 5b) as
K 2 εε0 ξ cosh(K x∗)

ρe = − (6)
a2 cosh(K )
where x ∗ = x / a and ξ is spatially uniform zeta potential.
2.2 Velocity Distribution
For this flow field, the governing continuity and Navier–Stokes equations are
→ →
∇ ·U = 0 (7)
→ → → → →
ρ U · ∇ U = − ∇ P + μ∇ 2 + F (8)
→ ∧ ∧ ∧
where the induced velocity vector is U = u i +v j +w k and fluid viscosity is μ.
→
The electromagnetic body force F is
→ → → →
F = ρe E + J × B (9)
→ ∧ ∧
where E = E y j +E z k is the applied electric field, J is current taken as from Ohm’s
law
→ → → →
J = σ E +U × B (10)
→ ∧
Here, σ is the current density and B = Bx i applied magnetic field along the x
direction. The momentum equation for electromagnetic hydrodynamic flow in the
x-direction can be written as
dP d 2v
0=− + μ 2 + ρe E y + σ E z Bx − σ v Bx2 (11)
dy dx
where v is the y-component flow velocity.

To solve Eq. (11), boundary conditions are taken as
v = 0 at x = a (12)
and
∂v
= 0 at x = 0 (13)
∂x
The dimensionless governing equation is derived from Eq. (11)
d 2 v∗ cosh(K x ∗ )
− H a 2 v∗ + S.H a + + K2 =0 (14)
d x ∗2 cosh(K )
where v∗ = v
,
v H s is a reference electroosmotic velocity known as (Helmholtz–
vH S P a2
Smoluchowski velocity), H a = a Bx μσ is Hartmann number, = μvy H S is dimen-

sionless pressure gradient, and S = vEHz aS μa is nondimensional parameter represent-
ing the strength of the transverse electric field.
Solving Eq. (14) with the help of the dimensionless form of Eqs. (12) and (13),
the nondimensional flow velocity is obtained as

S.H a + Ω cosh(H ax ∗ )
v∗ = 1 −
H a2 cosh(H a)

K 2
cosh(K x ∗ ) cosh(H ax ∗ )
− 2 − (15)
K − H a2 cosh(K ) cosh(H a)
2.3 Temperature Distribution
The main focus of the present study is to describe the thermal transport phenomenon
associated with the electromagnetohydrodynamic flow of Newtonian fluid in the
microchannel. For this flow, the energy equation is derived as
2 2
∂T ∂ T ∂2T ∂v
ρc p v =k + +μ + SJ (16)
∂y ∂x 2 ∂y 2 ∂x
Here, c p is the specific heat of the liquid at constant pressure, T is the local
temperature of the liquid, and S J is the volumetric heat generation due to Joule
heating effects.
The relevant boundary conditions are in dimensionless form as follows:
At the wall
x ∗ = 1, θ = 0, (17)
Due to the symmetric condition:
dθ
At x ∗ = 0, =0 (18)
dx∗
Nondimensional temperature θ is defined for thermally fully developed flow
(which is dependent on only x) as θ = (T q−TWa
W)
where TW is the wall temperature
K
of the channel. From a fully developed flow,
∂T dT dTM
= = = constant (19)
∂y dy dy
From the above condition, it is clear that
∂2T
= 0. (20)
∂ y2
From the energy balance on the elemental control volume with the length of the
channel (dy), the expression is obtained as
μv2 dv∗ 2
dx∗
1
dTM qW + S J + aH S 0 dx∗
= (21)
dy ρc p vav a
After manipulations, the dimensionless energy equation is as below

θ = C1 x ∗2 + C2 cosh H ax ∗ − C3 cosh K x ∗ + C4 (22)
a
where vav = a1 0 vd x is the average flow velocity. The nondimensional average
∗
flow velocity vav = vvHavs is obtained as follows:
∗ (A3 − A1 )
vav = A1 + sinh(H a) − A3 tanh(H a),
H a . cosh(H a)
A1 A2 g1
C1 = − ,
2 2
A3 A1
C 2 = A2 − ,
H a 2 cosh(H a) H a 2 cosh(H a)
A2
C3 = 2
K − H a 2 cosh(K )
g1 A2 (A3 − A1 ) A1 A2
C4 = + 2 − A2 − (23)
2 K − H a2 H a2 2

Here, g1 = S J a qw is the dimensionless Joule heating parameter. To calculated
the Nusselt number (Nu), dimensionless bulk mean temperature of the fluid (θ M )
must be required to calculate, which is given by
1 1
∗ ∗
θM = v θ dx v∗ d x ∗ (24)
0 0
1
v∗ θ d x ∗ = D1 + D2 sinh(H a) − D3 sinh(K ) − D4 cosh(H a)

0
+ D5 sinh(2H a) − D6 cosh(H a) sinh(K )
+ D7 sinh(H a) cosh(K ) + D8 cosh(K ) + D9 sinh(2K ) (25)
v∗ d x ∗ = A1 + A4 sinh(H a) − A5 sinh(K ) (26)

0

SHa + (1 + g1 + Brβ) K2
A1 = , A2 = ∗
, A 3 = ,
H a2 vav K 2 − H a2
β = F1 sinh(2H a) + F2 sinh(2K ) − F3
− F4 sinh(H a) cosh(K ) + F5 sinh(K ) cosh(H a), (27)
where
(A3 − A1 ) A23
F1 = , F2 = ,
4H a 2 cosh(H a) 4K 3 cosh2 (K )
2 A3 (A3 −A1 )
1 (A3 − A1 )2 A23 H a cosh(H a) cosh(K )
F3 = + 2 , F4 =
2 H a 2 cosh2 (H a) K cosh2 (K ) K 2 − H a2
2 A3 (A3 −A1 )
K cosh(H a) cosh(K )
F5 =
K 2 − H a2
A21 A2 A1 g1 A3 A2 (A3 − A1 )
D1 = − + C 4 A1 +
6 6 8 cosh2 (H a)
A1 A2 (A2 − A1 ) A3 A2
− + ,
2H a 2 cosh2 (H a) 2 K 2 − H a 2 cosh2 (K )
3 −A1 ) (A3 −A1 )
A1 A2 H a(A
4 cosh(H a) + C
cosh(H a) 4
D2 = ,
H a2
A1 A3 A2
+ A3 C 4 A3 A1 A2
− A3 g1 2 A2 A1 A3
2 cosh(K )
− A3 g1
2 cosh(K )
K 2 cosh(K ) cosh(K ) 2 cosh(K ) 2 cosh(K )
D3 = + + ,
K K K3
(A3 − A1 ) A1 A2 − g1
D4 = . (28)
cosh(K ) H a2
The heat transfer parameter can be expressed in the form of Nusselt number (Nu).
Nusselt number based on hydraulic diameter can be defined as
hdh 4
Nu = =− (29)
K θM
where h is the convective heat transfer coefficient.
In the present study, flow velocity, pressure gradient (Ω), Debye–Huckel parameter
(K), Brinkman number (Br), Hartmann number (Ha), and Joule heating factor (g1) are
important parameters used to determine the nondimensional velocity, temperature,
and Nusselt number for flow through a rectangular microchannel.
Primarily, the present study focuses on the measurements of thermal character-
istics in microchannel flow with the influence of electric and magnetic fields. The
applied magnetic field Bx and electric field E z in the transverse directions are repre-
sented by the nondimensional numbers as Ha and S, respectively. Before presenting
the result from the present study, it is necessary to validate the analysis. For this,
Fig. 2. is drawn. In absence of the viscous dissipation effects, the temperature dis-
tribution in the transverse direction as a function of Hartmann number is depicted
in Fig. 2. As the value of Joule heating parameter increases, the nondimensional
temperature variation enhances and it is an expected trend. The same trend has been
obtained by Sadeghi and Saidi [11]. Furthermore, it can be observed that the present
result matches exactly with that of the published value.
Figure 3 depicts the fluid velocity as a function of Ha. An increase in the value of
Ha causes to reduce the flow velocity as shown in Fig. 3. The reason is that in presence
of the transverse electric field S, the flow opposing effect always increases with the
increase in Ha. Due to the above fact, the temperature in every spatial location of
1.0
Present study
Sadeghi and Saidi [11]
0.8 g1=10.0, 5.0, 0.0, -5.0, -10.0
0.6
x*
0.4
0.2
0.0
-1.00 -0.75 -0.50 -0.25 0.00
θ
Fig. 2 Effect of temperature distribution in a microchannel as a function of Joule heating for K =

10, Br = 0, = 1, Ha = 0.0001, S = 0
5
Mean Velocity
Ha=1
4 Ha=3
3 Ha=5
v*
0
-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
x*
Fig. 3 Velocity distribution in a microchannel as a function of Ha for S = 10, K = 4, g1 = 1, Br
= 1, = 1
0.0
Ha=7
Ha=5
Ha=3
-0.2 Mean Temperature
-0.4
θ
S=10
K=4
-0.6 g1=1
Br=1
Ω=1
-0.8
-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
X
Fig. 4 Temperature distribution in a microchannel as a function of Ha
the channel enhances as illustrated in Fig. 4 with diminishing Ha. This may be due
to increment in advection thermal energy for a high amount of mass flow rate.
Figure 5 shows the effect of Ha and S on Nu in microchannel flow. From this
figure, it can be demonstrated that the heat transfer rate decreases with the increase
15
S=0
S=5
10
Nu
5 K=4
g1=1
Br=1
Ω=1
0 S=10
0 1 2 3 4 5
Ha
Fig. 5 Effects of Ha and S on Nu in a microchannel

10
8
g1=1, 5, 10
6
Nu
S=10
2 K=4
Br=1
Ω=1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Ha
Fig. 6 Effect of Joule heating on heat transfer coefficient
in transverse electric filed S. Hence, Nu always decreases with an increase in the

value of S whereas Nu amplifies with the increase in Ha as well. This is due to an
increase in bulk temperature progressively compared to the wall temperature with
the increase in Ha and hence, the heat transfer coefficient enhances.
Joule heating effects on Nu have been displayed as a function of Ha in Fig. 6.
This figure highlights that Joule heating has a great influence on heat transfer in
microchannels. With the increase in Joule heating, Nu monotonically reduces with
Ha. However, this effect dominates at a higher value of Ha. An increase in the
Joule heating leads to amplify the liquid temperature and it continuously reduces the
temperature gradient at the wall. So Nusselt number diminishes.
Figure 7 is illustrated for the influence of Debye–Huckel parameter (K) on Nu.
An increase in the value of dimensionless Debye–Huckel parameter (K) leads to a
decrease in the value heat transfer by decreasing Nu. Whereas, Fig. 8 is plotted to
show the variation of Nusselt number with Hartmann number for different values
of Brinkman number. Nu declines with an increase in Br. This decrement is also
function of Ha as depicted in Fig. 8. The reason is that due to increase in Br, the
Lorenz force increases which has a substantial suppression of the convection for an
increase in viscous heating.
K=10, 4, 1
Nu
3 S=10
g1=1
Br=1
Ω=1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Ha
Fig. 7 Influence of K on Nu
10
8
Br=1, 5, 10
6
Nu
4
S=10
K=4
2 g1=1
Ω=1
0 1 2 3 4 5
Ha
Fig. 8 Nusselt Number as a function of Br

References
1. Song, Y.J., Zhao, T.S.: Modelling and test of a thermally-driven phase-change nonmechanical
micropump. J. Micromech. Microeng. 11, 713–719 (2001)
2. Stone, H.A., Strookck, A.D., Ajdari, A.: Engineering flows in small devices: microfluidics
toward a lab-on-a-chip. Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 36, 381–411 (2004)
3. Bayraktar, T., Pidugu, S.B.: Characterization of liquid flows in microfluidic systems. Int. J.
Heat Mass Transf. 49, 815–824 (2006)
4. Lemoff, A.V., Lee, A.P.: An AC magnetohydrodynamic micropump. Sens. Actuators B 63,
178–185 (2000)
5. Lintel, V.H.T.G., Pol, D.V.F.C.M., Bouwstra, S.: A piezoelectric micropump based on micro-
machining silicon. Sens. Actuators 15, 153–167 (1988)
6. Richter, A., Plettner, A., Hofmann, K.A., Sandmaier, H.: A micromachined electrohydrody-
namic (EHD) pump. Sens. Actuators A 29, 159–168 (1991)
7. Chen, J., Chu, M., Koulajian, K., Wu, X.Y., Giacca, A., Sun, Y.: A monolithic polymeric
microdevice for pH-responsive drug delivery. Biomed. Microdevices 11, 1251–1257 (2009)
8. Bhattaa, D., Michel, A.A., Villalba, M.M., Emmerson, G.D., Sparrow, I.J.G., Perkins, E.A.,
McDonnell, Ely, R.W., Cartwright, G.A.: Optical microchip array biosensor for multiplexed
detection of bio-hazardous agents. Biosens. Bioelectron. 30, 78–86 (2011)
9. Kroeker, C.J., Soliman, H.M., Ormiston, S.J.: Three-dimensional thermal analysis of heat sinks
with circular cooling micro-channels. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 47, 4733–4744 (2004)
10. Chen, X.Y., Toh, K.C., Chai, J.C., Yang, C.: Developing pressure-driven liquid flow in
microchannels under the electrokinetic effect. Int. J. Eng. Sci. 42, 609–622 (2004)
11. Sadeghi, A., Saidi, H.M.: Viscous dissipation effects on thermal transport characteristics of
combined pressure and electroosmotically driven flow in microchannels. Int. J. Heat Mass
Transf. 53, 3782–3791 (2010)
12. Chakraborty, R., Dey, R., Chakraborty, S.: Thermal characteristics of electromagnetohydrody-
namic flows in narrow channels with viscous dissipation and Joule heating under constant wall
heat flux. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 67, 1151–1162 (2013)
13. Vakili, A.M., Saidi, H.M., Sadeghi, A.: Thermal transport characteristics pertinent to elec-
trokinetic flow of power-law fluids in rectangular microchannels. Int. J. Therm. Sci. 79, 76–89
(2014)
14. Mondal, M., Misra, P.R., De, S.: Combined electroosmotic and pressure driven flow in a
microchannel at high zeta potential and overlapping electrical double layer. Int. J. Therm. Sci.
86, 48–59 (2014)
15. Roy, R., Kundu, B.: Effects of fin shapes on heat transfer in microchannel heat sinks. Heat
Transfer Asian Res. 47, 646–659 (2018)
Thermodynamic Analysis of a 500-MWe
Subcritical Coal-Fired Thermal Power
Plant with Solar-Aided Post-Combustion
CO2 Capture
Rajesh Kumar , Ravi Anand and Sujit Karmakar
Abstract The energy in general and electricity, in particular, plays a key role in the
development of any nation. In India, about 60% of electricity demand is fulfilled
by coal-based power plants. Increasing CO2 concentration in the environment is a
global problem for which coal-based power plants are the main contributors. The
present study is focused on the energy and exergy-based thermodynamic analysis of
a 500 MWe Subcritical thermal power plant with Monoethanolamine (MEA) based
post-combustion CO2 capture. The study is further carried out by using solar energy
for reducing the energy penalty against MEA regeneration. A computer software
program “Cycle-Tempo” is used for simulating the plants. The study reveals that
use of solar energy for MEA regeneration instead of using steam increases the plant
energy and exergy efficiencies about 2.4% and 5.4% points, respectively. The CO2
avoided by the plant is 0.71 kg/kWh. The total solar collector area required is about
347.6 acres.
Keywords Subcritical power plant · CO2 capture · MEA · Exergy · Solar energy
Nomenclature
Ẋ Exergy flow rate (kW)

İ System Irreversibility (kW)
h Specific Enthalpy (kJ/kg)
Q̇ Heat transfer rate (kW)
Ẇ Work transfer rate (kW)
ṁ Mass flow rate (Kg/s)
R. Kumar · R. Anand · S. Karmakar (B)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology
Durgapur, Durgapur 713209, West Bengal, India
e-mail: sujitkarmakar@yahoo.com
R. Kumar
e-mail: rajesh200591@gmail.com

908 R. Kumar et al.
Greek Words
ψ Specific exergy (KJ/Kg)

ε Exergy efficiency (Dimensionless)
η Efficiency (Dimensionless)
Subscripts
i Inlet
o Outlet
j At boundary
o Reference state
p Production
d Direct
CV Control volume
1 Introduction
The world’s power sector is mainly dependent on Coal. India has a huge amount of
proven reserve of coal which is about 1,25,909 million tons [1]. The Indian power
sector is also largely dependent on coal. In 2017, a total of 3,30,960 MW electricity
was generated from various power sources, and about 60% of total electricity gener-
ation is fulfilled by coal-fired thermal power plants [2]. Hence, coal is the backbone
of the Indian power sector.
There is a rapid growth in environmental pollution due to the burning of fossil
fuels. CO2 is the key greenhouse gas. As per Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) report, there is about 75% increase in the carbon dioxide (CO2 )
concentration in the environment due to the burning of fossil fuels [3]. Hence, global
warming is the main problem due to the increase in the concentration of CO2 . As per
the World Meteorological Organization, concentration of CO2 in atmosphere surged
at a record-breaking hike in 2016.
The globally averaged concentration of CO2 reached 403.3 ppm in 2016, up from
400 ppm in 2015 [4]. This trend of increasing concentration of CO2 brings danger
to our survival. Both increasing electricity demand and a safe environment are our
primary needs for development and survival, for which clean energy technology plays
a critical role. To produce clean energy, CO2 capture systems are being integrated
with the thermal power plants. There are three types of CO2 capture plants: (i)
Precombustion, (ii) Post-combustion, and (iii) Oxyfuel combustion [5].
Thermodynamic Analysis of a 500-MWe … 909
The studies of Olajire [6] reveal that post-combustion CO2 capture with
Monoethanolamine (MEA) as an absorbent is the most suitable technology for the
coal-based power plants. Luis [7] suggests that the MEA is the best absorber for
CO2 capture as per the economic point of view. Aroonwilas et al. [8] found that the
MEA is the best amine over secondary and tertiary amines because of high reactivity,
lower molecular weight, and low cost. Also, MEA has the best absorption capacity
at the lower flue gas pressure. Integration of MEA-based CO2 capture system with
Coal-based power plants incurs huge energy penalty toward MEA regeneration. In
general, the steam is extracted from power plants for MEA regeneration resulting
in a huge drop in plant efficiencies in the range of 7–10%-points [5]. Use of solar
energy for MEA regeneration instead of extracting steam from the turbine is a viable
option for reducing energy penalty. Therefore, the present study is focused on reduc-
ing the energy penalty of MEA regeneration using solar energy in the CO2 capture
system integrated with the 500 MWe Subcritical (SubC) power plant. Simulation of
different plant configurations is accomplished with the help of a computer program
“Cycle-Tempo” [9].
2 Plant Configuration
For the present study, an existing 500 MWe coal-based SubC power plant is consid-
ered. The main steam conditions for the plant is considered as 166.67 bar/537 °C/537
°C [10]. The detailed layout of the thermal power plant is shown in Fig. 1.
3 Coal Characteristics
The present study is carried out with high ash Indian coal as fuel. In India, plant
efficiency is calculated based on the Higher Heating Value (HHV) [10]. Therefore,
for the power plant efficiency calculation, HHV is used in the present study. Coal
characteristics of HA Indian coal are shown in the following Tables 1 and 2.
4 Post-combustion CO2 Capture Using MEA
The block diagram of a post-combustion CO2 capture system is shown in Fig. 2. The
system consists of components like absorber column, stripper column, mixer, con-
denser, heat exchanger, pumps, cooler, and reboiler. The absorber column absorbs
CO2 from flue gas with the help of MEA and produce rich MEA mixture. Regener-
ation of MEA and separation of CO2 is made in stripper column. A huge quantity of
thermal energy is required in this regeneration process which comes mostly from the
steam turbine, but solar energy is used in the present study. MEA and water are lost
910 R. Kumar et al.
Fig. 1 500 MWe coal-based subcritical thermal power plant configuration
Table 1 Proximate analysis

As received (weight Dry basis (weight %)
of coal
%)
Fixed carbon 24.0 27.3
Moisture 12.0 –
Ash content 43.0 48.9
Volatile matter 21.0 23.9
Table 2 Ultimate analysis of

As received Dry basis (weight
coal
(weight %) %)
C 34.5 39.16
O 6.97 7.92
H 2.43 2.76
N 0.69 0.78
S 0.45 0.51
Moisture 12.00 –
Ash content 43.00 48.87
Exergy (MJ/kg) 15.30 17.30
Higher heat value 13.96 15.83
(MJ/kg)
Fig. 2 MEA-based CO2 capture system [5]
due to evaporation in the stripper and absorber column. Therefore, to maintain the
required ratio of MEA and water, a mixer is used. The separated CO2 is compressed
to 110 bar pressure and 35 °C temperature through a four-stage compressor in the
present study for ease of transportation [5].
5 Integrated Power Plant
The 500 MWe Subcritical thermal power plant is integrated with the MEA-based CO2
capture system coupled with solar parabolic trough for steam production to be used
for MEA regeneration. The integrated power plant configuration is shown in Fig. 3.
In the integrated plant, the CO2 capture unit is integrated after ID fan and before the
Fig. 3 Integrated plant configuration

912 R. Kumar et al.
chimney. The flue gas is sent through the heat exchanger, moisture separator, and
finally from the cooler for necessary cleanup and to reduce the temperature to 40 °C.
Flue gas at 40 °C temperature has the maximum absorption capacity. Degradation
and corrosion of absorbent are also very less at this temperature. A part of feedwater
after Condensate Extraction Pump (CEP) is sent to reboiler through a series of solar
parabolic troughs to produce steam at 2.8 bar and 132 °C for MEA regeneration in
the stripper column. The reboiler heat duty is considered as 3.77 MJth /kg of CO2
capture in the present study [5].
6 Simulation Procedure
Simulation of the different plant configurations is accomplished with the help of a

computer software program “Cycle-Tempo”. Cycle-Tempo is used for thermody-
namic modeling and optimization of various systems. Since the thermal power plant
configuration forms a complex network of energy and mass flows, such a complex
network can be solved easily with Cycle-Tempo. The plant configuration requires
some initial parameters like temperature, pressure, efficiency of pumps, compres-
sors, motors, generators, etc. Based on the given parameters, it calculates the other
required values.
Assumptions
The following assumptions are used for the simulation:
• The reference environmental pressure and temperature as per Indian climatic con-
ditions are taken as 101.3 kPa and 33 °C, respectively [5].
• The chemical composition of the reference environment (in Mole fraction):
N2 :75.62%, SO2 :0.01% O2 :20.3%, CO2 :0.03%, H2 O:3.12%, Others 0.92% [5].
• Excess air required in the combustor is 20%.
• Composition of ash is 30% Al2 O3 and 70% SiO2 (by weight) [10].
• Temperature and pressure gain across condenser is 10 °C and 10.3 kPa, respec-
tively.
• Terminal temperature difference for feedwater heaters is 3 °C [11].
• Negligible pressure drop in pipes.
• Auxiliary power consumption is 7.50% of the plant capacity [11].
• Isentropic efficiency of the fan and pump are 80% and 85%, respectively [11].
• Generator efficiency is 98.70% [11].
• CO2 recovery is 85% [5].
• CO2 purity is 85% [5].
7 Basic Governing Equations
The present study uses the equations of energy balance, exergy balance, mass balance,
and chemical species balance and the basic governing equations are shown as [12–14]
7.1 Mass Balance

ṁi = ṁe (1)
7.2 Energy Balance

ṁi hi + Q̇cv = ṁe he + Ẇcv (2)
7.3 Exergy Balance

ṁi ψi + Ẋheat = ṁe ψe + Ẇcv + İ (3)
7.4 Chemical Species Balance

Ṅj = Ṅj + Ṅ p (4)
e i
8 Performance Analysis
Performance analysis is the most important part of the study. The performance param-
eters which are used for the study are given as follows:
914 R. Kumar et al.
8.1 Energy Efficiency
Net electricity output

η= (5)
ṁcoal ×HHV coal
8.2 Exergy Efficiency
Net electricity output

ε= (6)
Exergy input through fuel
8.3 CO2 Avoided
CO2 avoided is the principal parameter for the integrated plant. CO2 avoided can be
calculated by the following formula [5]:
CO2 Avoided (kg/kWh)

= (CO2 emission from the power plant without CO2 capture)
− (CO2 emission from the integrated plant with solar-aided CO2 capture system)
(7)
9 Solar Parabolic Trough Area
Assumptions:
• Annual average direct irradiation (sd ) is 500 W/m2 [15].
• Assume efficiency (ηc ) of the solar collector is 60% [15].
The formula for the solar parabolic trough area
Qc
Area (Ac ) = (8)
Sd × ηc
where Ac is the solar trough area (m2 ) and Q c is the solar collector energy output
(MJth ).
From the study of a 500 MWe SubC coal-based power plant with solar-aided MEA-
based post-combustion CO2 capture system, the following results are obtained:
10.1 Steam Conditions of the Integrated Plant
The steam parameters of the plant like pressure, temperature, mass flow rate (ṁsteam ),
and isentropic efficiency (ηisen ) are shown in Table 3.
10.2 Comparison of Energy and Exergy Efficiencies
The plant energy efficiency with solar-aided MEA-based CO2 capture system is
compared with the existing literature, and the result is shown in Table 4. The result
reveals that solar-aided MEA-based CO2 capture plant integrated with the base plant
helps in increasing efficiencies. The plant energy and exergy efficiencies can be
improved by 2.4%, 5.4% points, respectively.
Table 3 Steam conditions of the integrated plant

P (bar) T (°C) ṁsteam (kg/s) ηisen (%)
Inlet condition at HP Turbine 166.7 537 423.3 89.0
Inlet condition at IP Turbine 39.7 537 189.1 90.3
Inlet condition at LP Turbine 7.3 303 157.5 84.3
Steam quality (at LP exhaust) 0.94
Condenser pressure (kPa) 10.3
Table 4 Comparison of energy and exergy efficiencies

Plant energy efficiency (%) Plant exergy efficiency (%)
Subcritical power plant without 35.9 32.9
CO2 capture (Suresh et al. 2010)
Subcritical power plant with CO2 25.1 23.0
capture (Karmakar and Kolar
2013)
Subcritical power plant with CO2 27.5 28.4
capture and with solar aid (Present
work)
916 R. Kumar et al.
Table 5 Energy balance for solar-aided CO2 capture power plant

Component Energy balance (%) (without Energy balance (%) (with
solar assistance) (Karmakar solar assistance) (Present
and Kolar) work)
Power efficiency 25.1 27.5
Heat lost in the cooling water 25.0 54.2
Heat rejected through the 4.6 4.6
stack
Heat lost through the bottom 0.8 0.8
ash
CO2 compression 2.5 3.0
Heat loss in desuperheater 4.4 –
Reboiler 29.0 4.0
Flue gas cooling 5.4 5.2
Other losses (by difference) 3.2 0.7
10.3 Energy Balance
The energy balance shows the quantity wise energy losses in various components.
The component energy loss is the ratio of energy loss through the component to
energy supplied by the coal. The energy balance of the plant is shown in Table 5. The
Table shows that major energy loss takes place in the condenser accounting 54.2%
of the total losses for the plant with solar-aided CO2 capture in comparison with the
same plant without solar assistance contributing only 25% due to huge quantity of
steam extraction in the plant with solar-aided CO2 capture from IP-LP crossover pipe
for reboiler heat duty and resulting in less steam flow in the condenser. The energy
loss in reboiler is reduced by 25% points in power plant with solar-aided CO2 capture
in comparison with plant without solar-aided CO2 capture due to incorporation of
solar energy for supplying heat in reboiler for MEA regeneration.
10.4 Exergy Balance
The exergy balance of the plant shows the losses of energy through various com-
ponents quality wise. The exergy balance of the plant has been shown in Table 6.
The maximum exergy loss takes place in the combustor which is 33.14% of the
total exergy of fuel. This much of exergy losses takes place because of irreversibility
associated with the system due to the higher temperature difference.
Table 6 Exergy balance for solar-aided CO2 capture power plant

Component Exergy balance (%) (without Exergy balance (%) (with solar
solar assistance) (Karmakar and assistance) (Present work)
Kolar)
Component Exergy balance (%) (without Exergy balance (%) (with solar
solar assistance) (Karmakar and assistance) (Present work)
Kolar)
Exergy efficiency 23.0 28.4
Combustor 33.0 33.1
Steam generator 20.3 21.3
Steam Turbines 2.4 4.0
Condenser 1.0 2.2
Feedwater heaters 0.8 0.5
CO2 compression 0.5 0.6
Compressed CO2 stream 5.2 5.6
Bottom ash 0.5 0.5
Flue gas cooling 0.4 0.4
Desuperheater 2.9 –
Through stack 1.3 1.2
Reboiler 6.4 0.4
Others (by difference) 2.3 1.8
10.5 Reboiler Heat Duty and Required Solar Collector Area
The energy required in reboiler to capture the CO2 with 85% purity is about 422
MJth . This huge energy generation from solar, approximately 347.6 acres of solar
trough area is required.
10.6 CO2 Avoided
The value of CO2 avoided for the plant is shown in Fig. 4. The specific CO2 emission
for the plant without CO2 capture is 0.84 kg/kWh while the same for MEA-based
CO2 capture plant without and with solar assistance are 0.14 and 0.12 kg/kWh,
respectively resulting in CO2 avoided of 0.70 and 0.71 kg of per kWh of electricity
generation, respectively for the said plants.
918 R. Kumar et al.
emitted avoided
0.71
Plant with solar aided CO₂
capture
0.70
Plant with CO₂ capture
Base plant (without CO₂

capture)
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Fig. 4 CO2 avoided
11 Conclusions
The major conclusions of the 500 MWe Subcritical coal-based thermal power plant
with solar-aided MEA-based post-combustion CO2 capture system are as follows:
• The plant energy efficiency of the integrated plant with solar-aided MEA regen-
eration is 27.5% which is about 2.4% points higher than the power plant with
MEA-based CO2 capture system without solar aid.
• The plant exergy efficiency of the integrated plant with solar-aided MEA regener-
ation is 28.4% which about 5.4% points higher than the power plant with MEA-
based CO2 capture system without solar aid.
• CO2 avoided of the integrated plant with solar assisted CO2 capture is 0.71 kg/kWh.
• Total area required for parabolic through the solar collector is 347.6 acres with
collector efficiency of 60% and average solar irradiation of 500 W/m2 .
References
1. Report on coal reserves in India. Ministry of Coal, Government of India (2018). https://www.
coal.nic.in/. Accessed 18 March 2018
2. Total installed power capacity report 2017. Central Electricity Authority (CEA). Government
of India (2017). http://www.cea.nic.in/. Accessed 30 Nov 2017
3. IPCC Climate change 2001-Impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability Contribution of Working
Group II to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2001.)
4. WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin—the state of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere based on
global observations through 2016. World Meteorological Organization, Geneva Switzerland
(2017) https://library.wmo.int/opac/doc_num.php?explnum_id=4022. Accessed 20 Dec 2017
5. Karmakar, S., Kolar, A.K.: Thermodynamic analysis of high-ash coal-fired power plant with
carbon dioxide capture. Int. J. Energy Res. 37, 522–534 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1002/er.1931
6. Olajire, A.A.: CO2 capture and separation technologies for end-of-pipe applications—a review.
Energy 35, 2610–2628 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2010.02.030
7. Luis, P.: Use of monoethanolamine (MEA) for CO2 capture in a global scenario: consequences
and alternatives. Desalination 380, 93–99 (2016)
8. Aroonwilas, A., Veawab, A.: Integration of CO2 capture unit using single-and blended-amines
into supercritical coal-fired power plants: Implications for emission and energy management.
Int. J. Greenh. Gas Con. 1(2), 143–150 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1016/s1750-5836(07)00011-4
9. Cycle-Tempo release 5.0, 2007, Delft University of Technology
10. Suresh, M.V.J.J., Reddy, K.S., Kolar, A.K.: 3-E analysis of advanced power plants based on
high ash coal. Int. J. Energy Res. 34, 716–735 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1002/er.159
11. Srinivas, T., Gupta, A.V.S.S.K.S., Reddy, B.V.: Generalized thermodynamic analysis of steam
power cycles with ‘number of feed water heaters. Int. J. Thermodyn. 10(4), 177–185 (2007)
12. Habib, M.A., Said, S.A.M., Al-Bagawi, J.J.: Thermodynamic performance analysis of the Ghaz
power plant. Energy 20(11), 1121–1130 (1995)
13. Moran, M.J., Shapiro, H.N., Boettner, D.D., Bailey, M.B.: Fundamentals of Engineering Ther-
modynamics. Wiley (2010)
14. Dunbar, W.R., Lior, N., Gaggioli, R.A.: Combining fuel cells with fuel-fired power plants for
improved exergy efficiency. Energy 16(10), 1259–1274 (1991)
15. Suresh, M.V.J.J., Reddy, K.S., Kolar, A.K.: 4-E (Energy, Exergy, Environment, and Economic)
analysis of solar thermal aided coal-fired power plants. Energy. Sustain. Dev. 14(4), 267–279
(2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2010.09.002
Performance Analysis of LPG Cook
Stoves with Modifications
Dhananjay Singh Yadav and Bireswar Paul
Abstract Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is a most popular fuel for domestic uses
as heating and cooking applications, because of its high heat content and cleaner
combustion characteristics. This paper investigates, the performance of LPG cook
stove commonly used in Indian household level, through the fuel injector (nozzle)
size and material of burner. It has been observed that with the increase in fuel injector
size, first thermal efficiency increases at optimum value then decreases. It has been
found that the maximum thermal efficiency of domestic cook stove is 68% for a brass
burner and 64% for cast iron burner at the same fuel injector size of 0.77 mm.
Keywords LPG cook stove · Thermal efficiency · Fuel injector · Brass and cast
iron burner
1 Introduction
In developing countries, energy used for cooking has an overall impact on the total
consumption of energy. In India, 72% household resides in rural and suburban areas,
which uses cooking fuel like 64% solid biomass, 13% crop residue (like as bagasse,
husks, seeds and roots) and 12.8% cow dung cake [1]. LPG is the most commonly
used cooking fuel in India followed by firewood, biomass and kerosene. In India, LPG
is used on the large scale, so by improvement in the existing cooking stove, a small
saving in its consumption per family may lead to an enormous saving nationwide,
which has high impact on the economy of our country. According to Indian petroleum
and natural gas statics 2015–16, LPG bottling capacity was increased by 8.03% and its
distribution was also increased by 12.47% from 2014–15 to 2015–16. The production
of LPG in 2014 was 9953 million tonnes (mt.) and in 2015 was 10,301million tonne
[2]. The LPG consumption and import has increased at same trends but production is
D. S. Yadav (B) · B. Paul

Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, Prayagraj 211004, India
e-mail: er.ds2009@gmail.com
B. Paul
e-mail: bipaul@mnnit.ac.in

922 D. S. Yadav and B. Paul
increasing at lower rate. It increased by 8, 7 and 6.5% for LPG consumption, import
and production, respectively from 2014 to 2015.
At present time, India has become the second largest importer of LPG in the world,
after China. LPG household consumption increased by 19 million tonnes at 10% of
annual growth rate. By implication of ‘Ujjwala’ scheme, the LPG consumers will
increase to five crore households up to 2019. The main aim of this scheme is to connect
people from the rural areas like scheduled caste and scheduled tribe with LPG. In
India, LPG cylinder is provided by government at subsidised rate to households.
According to new regulation of subsidy scheme ‘direct subsidy transfer into bank
account’, the subsidy of Rs. 40,000 crore has been transferred into bank account of
consumers in last two years (2013–2014), and also saved Rs.21,000 crore in same
period. According to the report of ‘Budget documents and petroleum planning &
analysis cell’, the subsidy provided by government and oil companies on domestic
LPG was maximum of Rs. 52247 crore in 2013–14. DBTL (Direct benefit transfer of
LPG) subsidy scheme on LPG had started from 2013 to 14 onwards which reduces
the burden on oil companies and government. As per the calculations of World Bank,
during 2011–2012 the total subsidy on LPG funding by government of India was
1301 million which was only 0.17% of total GDP of our country [3].
The LPG cooks stove performance is calculated by water boiling test. The thermal
efficiency of conventional stove burner depends on many parameters such as burner
diameter, burning rate, ratio of vessel to burner diameter, loading height and loading
weight [4, 5]. Ko and Lin [6] observed the variation in performance of domestic gas
stove burner with the gas composition of natural gas. The influence of five parameters
such as gas composition, primary aeration, gas flow rate, gas supply pressure and
loading height on thermal efficiency and CO emissions. Aroonjarattham [7] has
studied the effect of angle and number of outer and inner ports of high pressure burner.
By increasing the number of inner and outer ports, thermal efficiency increases by 7%
and 5%, respectively. Stubington et al. [8] have studied the effects of thermal loading
and loading height of thermal efficiency of cook stove burner for natural gas. Ashman
et al. [9] observed that the thermal efficiency of cook stove varies with the loading
heights, and found that by increasing loading heights thermal efficiency decreases.
Several experimental works has been performed for the variation in thermal efficiency
with thermal loading and loading heights. It was observed that when the loading
height (distance between burner head to pot bottom surface) was too low, then the
combustion was incomplete due to which heat generated and heat transferred was less
and so the thermal efficiency was less. When the loading height was too high, the heat
losses to surrounding was increased, so thermal efficiency will be less. Maximum
thermal efficiency achieved at an optimum height [10].
Basu et al. [11] investigated the performance improvement of LPG cook stove
through the different design of burner cap and fuel injection nozzle. They found
that by the increase in size of port and obliquity provided to the ports the thermal
efficiency increases and also reduces the CO and soot emissions due to enhancement
in the gas flow. Four different burner caps were considered for study, first three types
of burner cap of ports drilled at radial direction with different port size as 1.1, 1.8,
Performance Analysis of LPG Cook Stoves with Modifications 923
(a) Domestic LPG cook stove (c) Brass burner cap
(b) Different fuel injector (nozzle) size (d) Cast iron burner cap
0.7, 0.77, 0.8, 0.85 mm
Fig. 1 a Domestic LPG cook stove, b different fuel injectors, c brass burner cap, d cast iron burner
cap
2.2 mm and last one burner cap drilled at an angle of 38° with radial direction, for
providing swirl action. The nozzle of diameters 0.7 and 0.83 mm was considered for
the study.
In this paper, our main objective is to investigate the performance of LPG cook
stove burner commonly used in India, by some modification in fuel injection size
and burner material. ‘Bright Flame’ stove from Indian Oil Corporation [12], four
different sizes of injectors and two different burner cap materials are considered for
study (Fig. 1a–d).
2 Working Principle
The domestic gas stove burner or atmospheric burner are working on the principle of
Bunsen burner, in each port of burner inner core of flame behaves as rich premixed
and outer core of burner as non-premixed or diffusion flames. Due to the momentum
of fuel jet and primary air from the atmosphere is entrained through the adjustable
holes provided. The gaseous fuel come from the high pressure cylinder, the pressure
is reduced with the help of regulator. The gas reached to injector, the gas pressure
is higher than that of atmospheric pressure. The pressure rapidly decreases as the
fuel is accelerated through the orifice. The pressure attains a local minimum at the
throat region. This causes of pressure drop, atmospheric air entrains into the mixing
tube due to Bernoulli’s effect through the holes provided. The fuel and air mixed
in mixing tube. The mixture thus formed is usually rich in fuel. The rich reactant
mixture leaves through the ports of an annular burner head. The diameter of ports
and jet to jet spacing (separation distance between two consecutive ports) are fixed,
this size varies according to fuel. When ignited the burner, almost individual flames
are formed in each port. The secondary air entrained from the central hole of the
annular burner head as well as from the exterior of the burner top portion.
In India, the thermal efficiency of cooking stove is determined by water boiling test
according to Indian standards (IS) 4246:2002 [13], as shown in Fig. 2. A 5 kg LPG
cylinder has taken for experimental work which is connected to a regulator. Only one
burner and one nozzle tested at a time. A flat bottomed aluminium pot of diameter
220 mm and height 150 mm has been taken [13]. The digital weighing scale was
used for weighing water which has accuracy of 0.5 g and a digital stopwatch was
used to record time which has accuracy of 0.01 s. The initial and final temperature
Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of the experimental setup, 1. fuel (LPG); 2. domestic cook stove; 3. pot
with lid; 4. stirrer; 5. thermocouple; 6. temperature indicator; 7. digital stopwatch; 8. weighing scale
of water was measured by a J-type thermocouple (RTD, Pt 100; range 0–200 °C).
For each experiment, 4 kg of water was considered for boiling test. Before starting
the experiment, preheat the cook stove for 5 min to give better performance. Then
initial temperature of water (T 1 ) and gas cylinder weight (W 1 ) was noted after stable
conditions. Water was heated up to 80 °C and for uniformity of water temperature,
stirrer was started up to end of test when water temperature (T 2 ) reached 90 ± 01 °C.
Then burner was put “OFF”. After the burner was put off, the gas cylinder weight
(W 2 ) was noted. Every experiment and measurement was done at least three times
for better accuracy and average value consideration for uncertainty analysis for each
set of nozzle and burner head. Thermal efficiency measured for a cook stove was
calculated using following equation:

100 m w Cw + m p C p × (T2 − T1 )
ηth = (1)
m f × CV
where ïth is thermal efficiency of burner in percentage, mw is quantity of water in the

pot in kg, mp is mass of pot with lid, C w = 4.1826 kJ/kg-K and C p = 0.8956 kJ/kg-K
is specific heat capacity of water and aluminium (pot, lid and stirrer), respectively
mf is mass of fuel consumed in experiment. T 1 and T 2 are temperatures of water at
initial and final state, CV = 45780 kJ/kg is calorific value of fuel [14].
The thermal performance study of LPG cook stove was done in two ways, with
modification in fuel injector size or nozzle size and also modification in burner cap
material.
A high-resolution digital camera was used to record luminous flame image with
dark background. Figure 3 illustrates the luminous flame images with different nozzle
of Brass and Cast Iron burner, respectively. The flame structure has two distinct
regions establish at each port: inner and outer flames. An inner flame was established
at the centre of each port and between the two outer envelope flame. These flames
are the rich premixed flame burning with primary aeration, so the bluish type of
flame was seen in pictures. Rich premixed flames are found at complete burning
of fuel, adiabatic flame temperature is maximum. The outer envelope of flames as
non- premixed or diffusion flames due to the combustion of the unburnt fuel and
intermediates species with the secondary air. The secondary air is partially entrained
through the inner central gap on the burner and mainly from the surrounding above the
burner plane. Since the secondary air is supplied both radially inward and outward,
the non-premixed flame develops an inner and an outer envelope. The flame height
of premixed flame is defined as the vertical distance of the flame from the tip of the
inner conical flame. The inner conical flame height is increased with increasing the
fuel injector size.
(a) Flame photographs of stable flame at different fuel injector size of brass burner
(b) Flame photographs of stable flame at different fuel injector size of Cast iron burner
Fig. 3 Direct flame photographs of the stable flame of a brass burner and b cast iron burner at
different fuel injector size 0.70 mm, 0.77 mm, 0.80 mm and 0.85 mm, respectively
It is found that the increase in the diameter of fuel injector which means admitting
the fuel-primary air mixture is more and more, to enhance the performance of cook
stove. The smaller holes of fuel injector improve the performance of cook stove and
reduced emissions at the expense of decreasing burner loading. While using larger
holes, the fuel flow rate is maximum and also increases convection heat transfer
between hot combustion product and pot which is less than the heating losses to
surroundings. Due to this phenomenon the thermal efficiency of the cook stove gets
reduced. The optimum size of fuel injector is obtained at 0.77 mm for both the burners.
This can be attributed to the optimum gas flow and enhancement of effective heat
transfer and impinging resident time of hot flue gas onto the pot. The efficiency
of brass burner has observed to be 4% more than the Cast Iron burner (Fig. 4).
Comparison between the efficiency of different nozzle indicates that smaller nozzle
produces a higher efficiency for both burner cap.
The thermal efficiency of cook stove using brass burner is observed to be 68% and
that of cast iron burner is 64% with 0.77 mm nozzle diameter. With the increase in
Fig. 4 Thermal efficiency and power input of cook stove with different size of the fuel injector
(nozzle) a brass burner; b cast iron burner
fuel injector size, the thermal efficiency of cook stove first increases then decreases.
The thermal efficiency has been found to have an optimum value corresponding to
LPG flow rate ranging from 0.17 to 0.178 kg/h for brass burner and from 0.195 to
0.197 kg/h for cast iron burner. When the gas flow rate exceeds these ranges for both
the burners, the thermal efficiency was found to decrease, even though the heat loss
to the surrounding has increased. The decrease in efficiency with the increase in heat
input rate can be attributed to higher heat loss rate through flue gases to environment
than the heat absorption rate.
The optimum nozzle size gives higher thermal efficiency at minimum power
input. The variation of thermal efficiency is due to the different primary aeration.
For a smaller nozzle, the primary aeration is more than the fuel flow rate, this lowers
the thermal efficiency. For a bigger size of nozzle, the fuel flow rate is higher than
the primary aeration, so heat losses are more as compared to the smaller nozzle. The
LPG cook stove is designed on the basis of power input ranging from 2 to 3 kW for
both burners.
5 Uncertainty Analysis
The uncertainty analysis has been done, considering the prescribed accuracy of the
instruments used for the experimental study, as proposed by Klein and McClintock
[15]. The maximum uncertainty has found to be ± 4.9% for thermal efficiency.
6 Energy Cost Analysis
The thermal efficiency of cook stove was first increasing, then decreasing with the
increase in the size of the fuel injector. Whether the proposed modification is feasible
or not, and the economic aspect of modification is discussed in this section. The
energy cost, which is paid by the user for consumption of LPG is calculated in terms
of Rs./h. The energy cost is calculated in terms of ‘product of heat released by fuel
and the cost of fuel’.
Energy cost = Q × Cost of 1 MJ of fuel
Calorific value of LPG = 45.78 MJ/kg
Heat released (Q) = mf in kg/h × CV in MJ/kg
Consider the cost of nonsubsidised 14.2 kg LPG cylinder = Approx. Rs. 800/-
Cost of 1 kg LPG = (800/14.2) Rs./kg = 56.33 Rs./kg
Cost of 1 MJ of LPG = (56.33/45.78) Rs./MJ = 1.23 Rs./MJ
Energy cost analysis for nozzle size of 0.70 mm
Gas flow rate = 0.170 kg/h
Heat released by fuel = 0.170 × 45.78 MJ/hr. = 7.7838 MJ/h
Energy cost = 7.7838 × 1.23 = 9.57 Rs./h.
It is observed from Table 1, that the energy cost is low at the small size of the
nozzle, and high at bigger size of the fuel nozzle. At the optimum size of nozzle the
thermal efficiency will be maximum and also energy cost should be minimum. In the
study the nozzle size corresponding to maximum thermal efficiency is 0.77 mm and
the size corresponding to minimum energy cost is 0.7 mm. However, the energy cost
difference between the 0.70 to 0.77 mm of nozzle size is very small, so the 0.77 mm
nozzle size has been considered to be the best choice in this case. Assuming a
maximum 8 h of cooking in a family on a monthly basis, it has been observed that
Table 1 Cost analysis of

Burner Nozzle size Heat released Energy cost
nozzle modifications
material (mm) (MJ/h) (Rs./h)
Brass 0.70 7.783 9.57
0.77 8.182 10.06
0.80 9.016 11.09
0.85 10.487 12.90
CI 0.70 8.938 10.99
0.77 9.033 11.11
0.80 10.168 12.51
0.85 12.118 14.91
the use of brass burner can save up to an amount of 9.45% in comparison to CI burner
for nozzle size of 0.77 mm.
7 Conclusions
Performance of LPG cook stove, improves by the fuel injector nozzle size. Injector
size is neither too small nor too large, the optimum size gives the maximum thermal
efficiency and low heat losses to surroundings. When injector size is small, more
resistance to fuel flow rate and complete combustion of fuel which gives better
performance as vice versa. It has been observed that the maximum thermal efficiency
of domestic cook stove is 68% for Brass burner and 64% for Cast Iron burner at the
same fuel injector size is 0.77 mm. So, for better performance of cook stove the
material of brass burner cap would be preferred. The thermal efficiency using the
brass burner cap is approximately 4% higher than the cast iron burner for each nozzle
size. The cost estimation on monthly basis of modified nozzle size 0.77 mm, can save
up to 9.45% of money if we use brass burner in place of CI burner.
References
1. D’Sa, A., Murthy, K.V.N.: LPG as a cooking fuel option for India. Energy Sustain. Dev. 3
(2004). https://doi.org/10.1016/s0973-0826(08)60471-8
2. Indian LPG market prospective information. http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in
3. Budget documents and petroleum planning & analysis cell Information. https://www.ppac.gov.
in
4. Junus, R., Vierkant, J.E., Stubington, J.F., Sergeant, G.D., Tas, I.: The effect of the design of
the cap of a natural gas fired cook-top burner on flame stability. Int. J. Energy Res. 22, 175–184
(1998). https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-114
5. Li, H.B., Wong, T.T., Leung, C.W., Probert, S.D.: Thermal performances and CO emissions
of gas-fired cooker top burners. Appl. Energy 83, 1326–1338 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.apenergy.2006.03.002
6. Ko, Y.C., Lin, T.H.: Emissions and efficiency of a domestic gas stove burning natural gases
with various compositions. Energy Convers. Manag. 44, 3001–3014 (2003). https://doi.org/10.
1016/S0196-8904(03)00074-8
7. Aroonjarattham, P.: The parametric studied of high pressure gas burner affect thermal efficiency.
Eng. J. 20, 33–48 (2016). https://doi.org/10.4186/ej.2016.20.3.33
8. Stubington, J.F., Reashel, G., Murphy, T., Junus, R., Ashman P.J., Sergeamt, G.D.: Emissions
and efficiency from production cook top burners firing natural gas. J. Inst. Energy 67, 143–155
(1994)
9. Ashman, P.J., Junus, R., Stubington, J.F., Sergeamt, G.D.: The effect of load height on the
emissions from a natural gas fired domestic cook-top burner. Combust. Sci. Technol. 103,
283–298 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1080/00102209408907699
10. Agrwal, P., Anand, A., Gupta, R.: Performance analysis of conventional LPG cooking stove.
Int. J. Appl. Bioeng. (2015). https://doi.org/10.18000/ijabeg.10127
11. Basu, D., Saha, R., Ganguly R., Datta, A.: Performance improvement of LPG cook stoves
through burner and nozzle modifications. J. Energy Inst. 81, 218–225 (2008). https://doi.org/
10.1179/014426008x370951
12. High thermal efficiency LPG stove information. https://indane.co.in
13. Indian Standard, IS 4246: Domestic Gas Stoves for use with Liquid Petroleum Gases (LPG)
Specification (fifth revision) (2002)
14. Muthukumar, P., Shyamkumar, P.I.: Development of novel porous radiant burners for LPG
cooking applications. Fuel 112, 562–566 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2011.09.006
15. Kline, S.J., McClintock, F.A.: Describing uncertainties in single-sample experiments. Mech.
Eng. 75, 3–8 (1953)
Parametric Study of Wavy Microchannel
Using Nanofluid
Ritesh Kumar, Badyanath Tiwary and Pawan K. Singh
Abstract In the present study, a parametric study of wavy microchannel has been
simulated for three dimensional laminar fluid flow and heat transfer behavior using
CFD software. Three different amplitude of 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 mm and constant wave-
length of 3 mm wavy microchannel have also been compared with straight microchan-
nel. In wavy microchannel the Dean vortices cause the mixing of fluid in the channel
and hence the thermal performance of the heat sink increases considerably. In addi-
tion, Al2 O3 water-based nanofluid has been introduced as cooling fluid. Volumetric
concentrations 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 of Al2 O3 water nanofluid has been used for
cooling for a heat flux of 20 W/cm2 . The result indicates that wavy microchannel
might be the potential alternative for high heat flux electronic cooling.
Keywords Nanofluid · Wavy microchannel · Dean vortices · Chaotic advection
Nomenclature
v Average y-velocity (m/s)

P Pressure (Pa)
Cp Specific heat capacity (J/Kg-K)
T Temperature (°C or K)
k Thermal conductivity (W/mk)
R. Kumar (B) · B. Tiwary · P. K. Singh

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM),
Dhanbad 826004, India
e-mail: ritesh.kumar.mec11@gmail.com
B. Tiwary
e-mail: tiwary21@gmail.com
P. K. Singh
e-mail: pawan@iitism.ac.in
R. Kumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Bhagalpur College of Engineering, Bhagalpur 813210, India
932 R. Kumar et al.
t Time (s)
Dh Hydraulic diameter (mm)
P Pressure drop (Pa)
Re Reynolds number
Greek Symbols
∇ Del (operator)
ρ Density (Kg/m3 )
μ Dynamic viscosity (Pa.s)
∅ Nanoparticle volumetric fraction (%)
Subscripts
eff Effective
NF Nanofluid
BF Basefluid
avg Average
1 Introduction
In this era of miniaturization, it is most important to develop compact product or

system, with improved quality and performance in every field. In many systems,
there are requirements of high heat dissipation to maintain the normal temperature
of system and fulfill the reliability of that system also. In this numerical study, the
objective is to find out the system which can provide the optimum heat dissipation
with conventional approach of liquid cooling.
High heat dissipation rate from the system can be obtained by using microchannel
[1]. Many researchers have made fluid flow and heat transfer analysis with the straight
rectangular microchannel. Heat transfer performance analysis of microchannel with
different fin shape and cross sectional area were made for highest performance out-
comes. The wavy channel introduced in microchannel, shows better heat transfer per-
formance due to chaotic advection and formation of Dean vortices [2]. With different
flow phenomena in wavy channel compared to straight rectangular channel, higher
pressure drop in the channel have been observed. But significant enhancements in
heat transfer performance have been obtained [3]. Gong et al. [4] introduced serpen-
tine channel wavy channel in which, crests and troughs face each other alternately.
Parametric Study of Wavy Microchannel Using Nanofluid 933
The performance of the wavy channel has been found up to 55% more than the per-
formance of straight channel for low Reynolds number 50 ≤ Re ≤ 150. Sui et al.
[5] have numerically investigated the flow and heat transfer behavior in a periodic
wavy channel with rectangular cross section. It was observed that the formation of
Dean vortices along the flow direction resulting enhanced convective heat transfer
performance of the microchannel. In the earlier research by Xie et al. [6], flow and
heat transfer studies have been conducted in longitudinal wavy microchannel (LWC)
and transversal wavy microchannel (TWC) numerically. Pressure drop in TWC is
lower compared to SRC (straight rectangular channel) for higher wavelength. TWC
might be potential alternative as higher thermal performance over SRC but, LWC
having inferior thermal performance to that of SRC.
Heat transfer enhancement can also be incorporated by using cooling fluid having
higher convective heat transfer coefficient. By dispersing high thermal conductivity
nanoparticles into traditional heat transfer base fluids, such as water, ethylene glycol
or propylene glycol may present a potential solution for large heat dissipation [7]. A
number of experimental investigations have demonstrated that nanofluids can dra-
matically increase the effective thermal conductivity of the base fluid [8–10]. The
Brownian motion of the suspended nanoparticles in the base fluid is a key contribution
for the enhancement [11]. Because of the excellent stability of these fluids, nanofluids
present a promising alternative to traditional heat transfer fluid in a wide variety of
applications. A lot of researchers have studied on heat transfer and thermal conduc-
tivity of nanofluids and anomalous enhancement in these thermophysical properties
have been observed [12]. Gunnasegaran et al. [13] numerically studied the flow and
heat transfer characteristics in rectangular cross section wavy microchannels heat
sink with three different nanofluids. Laminar flow, Reynolds number ranging from
100 to 1000, results thermal performance of the wavy channel improved well with
increasing nanoparticles volumetric concentration.
2 Numerical Analysis
2.1 Geometry
See Fig. 1 and Tables 1 and 2.
The governing differential equations for water and water-based nanofluid using mix-
ture rule modeling are,
934 R. Kumar et al.
Fig. 1 a Geometry and

b meshing of the wavy
microchannel
Table 1 Characteristic dimensions of wavy channel

S. no. Description Parameters Value (mm)
1 Height H 1.5
2 Channel width SC 0.5
3 Amplitude A 0.3, 0.4, 0.5
4 Wavelength λ 3.0
5 Length L 25
6 Aspect ratio H/Sc 3
Table 2 Characteristic dimensions of the rectangular channel

S. no. Description Parameters Value (mm)
1 Height H 1.5
2 Channel width SC 0.5
3 Length L 25
4 Aspect ratio H/Sc 3
1. Continuity equation
∇ . (ρv ) = 0 (1)
2. Momentum equation
∇ . (ρv v) = −∇ P + ∇ . (μ∇v ) (2)
3. Energy equation

∇ . ρvC p T = ∇ . (k∇T ) (3)
In mixture model, the following equations have been used to determine the ther-
mophysical properties at different concentrations.
The thermal conductivity of the alumina nanofluid is given by Hamilton Crosser
model [14],
ke f f = k f (1 + Ck ∅) (4)
where Ck is taken as 4.
The viscosity of the suspension is given by:

μ N F = μ B F 1 + Cμ ∅ (5)
where Cμ is viscosity coefficient. The value of Cμ is taken as 5 for alumina–water

nanofluids.
The effective density of nanofluids is given by:
ρ N F = ρ B F (1 − ∅) + ρ P ∅ (6)
The specific heat of nanofluids is defined as:
ρ f C p f (1 − ∅) + ρ P C p P ∅
C pN F = (7)
ρ f (1 − ∅) + ρ P ∅
For the purpose of analysis, nanoparticle concentrations have been varied as 0.5,
1, 1.5, and 2%. Using the mixture rule formulae, following property table has been
formulated (Tables 3 and 4).
936 R. Kumar et al.
Table 3 Thermophysical property of nanofluid using mixture rule

φ (%) ρ (kg/m3 ) Cp (J/kg-K) K (W/m-K) μ (Pa.s) × e–03
0.5 1012.66 4116.9345 0.612 1.0281
1.0 1027.12 4053.0206 0.624 1.0532
1.5 1041.58 3991.2166 0.636 1.0782
2.0 1056.04 3931.1050 0.648 1.1033
Table 4 Alumina
Density (kg/m3 ) 3890
thermo-physical property
Specific heat capacity (J/kg-K) 776.42
Thermal conductivity (W/m-K) 37.717
2.3 Numerical Procedure
In this study, the numerical simulations have been performed to analyze the flow
and temperature field in wavy microchannel heat sink for steady state operating
conditions. The system of governing equations and boundary conditions are numeri-
cally solved. A single domain of rectangular and wavy channel have been designed in
SOLIDWORKS in order to reduce the computational cost. For the purpose of numer-
ical study, finite volume method has been implicated with CFD software ANSYS
FLUENT. The simulation domain has been meshed using hexahedral volume ele-
ments using the mapped face scheme in ANSYS Mesh. The second-order upwind
differencing scheme has been used for momentum and energy equation. The conver-
gence criterion has been set which is 10-6 for continuity, x, y, z-velocities and 10-9
for energy residual.
2.4 Assumptions
To simplify the analysis, certain assumptions are considered in the analysis such
as; steady state, incompressible, laminar flow, constant fluid properties, negligible
viscous dissipation, negligible radiative, and natural convective heat transfer, no net
migration of the fluid across channels in perpendicular direction to the fluid flow and
periodic boundary in transverse direction were made in the simulation model setup.
For all the cases, the average velocity of 1.34 m/s is assigned at the inlet of the
microchannel for Re = 1000. Also assume that flow is uniform across the channel
and transverse velocities at inlet are zero. Constant pressure is assigned at the outlet
of the channel that is equal to atmospheric pressure. Constant heat flux of 20 W/cm2
is given at the base of the microchannel. Sidewalls and fin tip of microchannel are
assumed to be adiabatic.
2.5 Grid Independence
The hexahedral mesh has been distributed in the computational domain for all the
simulations. For wavy microchannel having amplitude of 0.5 mm, four different fine
grid sizes having elements 9.38 × 106 , 10.26 × 106 , 10.94 × 106 , and 11.78 × 106
have been taken for grid independence test. The parameter, pressure drop, and outlet
base temperature of the microchannel heat sink have been computed and compared.
The difference in pressure drop and outlet base temperature is 0.3% and 0.02%,
respectively for the fine grid 10.26 × 106 and 11.78 × 106 . For the optimal simulation
10.26 × 106 grid elements have been taken. For straight and wavy microchannel
having amplitudes of 0.3 and 0.4 mm and the same mesh method has been adopted.
Pressure drop in straight and wavy microchannel has been observed in Fig. 2. It can
be seen that the pressure drop in the rectangular microchannel is very less compared
to the wavy microchannel. In rectangular channel flow is dominated by fully devel-
oped parabolic Poiseuille flow and no circulation is there but, there is circulation
in wavy microchannel. As the waviness of the channel increases also the pressure
drop increases as the circulation in the channel get increased. Pressure drop negligi-
bly increases with increase in nanoparticle concentration in both straight and wavy
microchannel as the nanoparticle concentration is very less.
Average heat transfer coefficient of the wavy microchannel is considerably high
compared to the straight microchannel as shown in Fig. 3. As increased in amplitude
causes thinning of hydrodynamic boundary and thermal boundary and also chaotic
advection increases due to vortices and hence, thermal performance increases with
waviness. Up to a limit as the amplitude increases again the forward flow centerline
get contracted and bulk fluid remain in circulation at the front portion of wavy wall,
Fig. 2 Pressure drop versus A= 0.5

volume fraction in straight mm
and wavy microchannel at 15000
A= 0.4
Re = 1000
mm
Pressure Drop (Pa)
10000 A= 0.3
mm
Straight
5000
0
0.5 1 1.5 2
938 R. Kumar et al.
Fig. 3 Average heat transfer A= 0.5
Avg. Heat Transfer Coefficient (W/m2-K)

coefficient versus volume mm
25000
fraction in straight and wavy A= 0.4
microchannel mm
20000
A= 0.3
mm
15000 Straight
10000
5000
0
0.5 1 1.5 2
Volume Frac on (∅)
therefore, heat transfer rate decreases and hence the thermal performance decreases
further. Convective heat transfer coefficient increases with concentration of nanopar-
ticles, but less increment due to lower volume fraction (Fig. 4).
As the Reynolds number increases the convective heat transfer performance of
the wavy microchannel increases but for high Reynold number the change in thermal
performance is very less, it might be due to flow restriction at high velocity. Convec-
tive heat transfer performance of the nanofluid is more at a higher concentration as
thermal conductivity of the nanofluid increases with nanoparticle concentration.
Temperature variations at the base of the microchannels are shown in Fig. 5.
Hot spot region in the straight microchannel is larger compared to wavy microchan-
nel. Temperature near the outlet of straight microchannel is 6 K higher than wavy
Fig. 4 Average heat transfer 30000

coefficient of wavy
microchannel A = 0.5 mm 25000
as a function of Reynolds
number at a different volume
20000
havg (W/m2-K)
concentration of nanofluid
conc 2.0%
15000
conc 1.5%
10000 conc 1.0%

conc 0.5%
5000
0
500 750 1000 1250 1500
Re
Fig. 5 Temperature contour at the base of a wavy and b rectangular microchannel
microchannel. In wavy microchannel there is high dissipation of heat hence there is

more uniformity in the temperature profile.
The present results have been validated with the experimental result presented
by Dominic et al. [15]. Similar natures of plots for pressure drop and heat transfer
performance have been found.
4 Conclusions
A parametric study of wavy microchannel has been conducted for flow and heat
transfer behavior. Three wavy microchannels of amplitude 0.3, 0.4 , and 0.5 mm
and a constant wavelength of 3 mm and a straight microchannel has been com-
pared. For comparing the thermal performance of the microchannel the Al2 O3 water-
based nanofluid has been used as cooling fluid. The thermal performance of wavy
microchannel heat sink has been found considerably high compared to straight one
and increases with waviness as there is chaotic mixing of fluid. For a Reynolds num-
ber 1000 wavy microchannel of amplitude 0.4 mm has been recorded maximum heat
transfer enhancement value with Al2 O3 water-based nanofluid having 2% volume
fraction. Hence wavy microchannel might be the better alternative with nanofluid
for the high heat flux electronic cooling.
940 R. Kumar et al.
Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge the DST (SERB) Project No.
ECR/2016/000176 for their financial support.
References
Device Lett. 2(5), 126–129 (1981)
2. Dean, W.R.: The streamline motion of fluid in a curved pipe. Philosoph. Magaz. Series 7, 5(30),
673–695 (1928)
3. Mohammed, H.A., Gunnasegaran, P., Shuaib, N.H.: Numerical simulation of heat transfer
enhancement in wavy microchannel heat sink. Int. Commun. Heat Mass Transf. 38, 63–69
(2011)
4. Gong, L., Kota, K., Tao, W., Joshi, Y.: Parametric Numerical study of flow and heat transfer in
microchannels with wavy walls. J. Heat Transf. 133(5), 1–10 (2011)
5. Sui, Y., Teo, C.J., Lee, P.S.: Direct numerical simulation of fluid flow and heat transfer in
periodic wavy channels with rectangular cross-sections. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 55, 73–88
(2012)
6. Xie, G.N., Liu, J., Liu, Y.Q., Sunden, B., Zhang, W.H.: Comparative study of thermal perfor-
mance of longitudinal and transversal wavy microchannel heat sinks for electronic cooling.
ASME J. Electron. Packag. 135(2), 1–9 (2013)
7. Choi, S.U.S.: Enhancing thermal conductivity of fluids with nanoparticles. In: Siginer, D.A.,
Wang, H.P. (eds.) Developments and Applications of Non-Newtonian Flows. American Society
of Mechanical Engineers, New York (1995)
8. Wang, X., Xu, X., Choi, U.S.: Thermal conductivity of nanoparticle–fluid mixture. J. Thermo-
phys. Heat Transf. 13(4), 474–480 (1999)
9. Xuan, Y., Li, Q.: Heat transfer enhancement of nanofluids. J. Eng. Thermophys. 20(4), 465–470
(2000). (Chinese)
10. Eastman, J.A., Choi, S.U.S., Li, S., Thompson, L.J., Lee, S.: Enhanced thermal conductivity
through the development of nanofluids. Nanophase Nanocompos. Mater. II, 3–11 (1997)
11. Koo, J., Kleinstreuer, C.: A new thermal conductivity model for nanofluids. J. Nanoparticle
Res. 6, 577–588 (2004)
12. Das, S.K., Choi, S.U.S., Patel, H.E.: Heat transfer in nanofluids—a review. Heat Transf. Eng.
27(10), 3–19 (2006)
13. Gunnasegaran, P., Narindra, N., Shuaib, N.H.: Influence of various nanofluid types on wavy
microchannels heat sink cooling performance. Appl. Mech. Mater. 420, 118–122 (2013)
14. Hamilton, R.L., Crosser, O.K.: Thermal conductivity of heterogeneous two component systems.
Ind. Eng. Chem. Fundam. 1(3), 187–191 (1962)
15. Dominic, A., Sarangan, J., Suresh, S., Devah Dhanush, V.S.: An experimental investigation
of wavy and straight minichannel heat sinks using water and nanofluids. J. Therm. Sci. Eng.
Appl. 7, 1–9 (2015)
Bed Hydrodynamics of Fluidized Bed
Paddy Drying: An Experimental Study
Binayak Pattanayak, Siba Shankar Mohapatra and Harish Chandra Das
HC Das
Abstract An experimental investigation has been conducted to study the effect of
superficial velocity of drying air and bed inventory on the hydrodynamics of a flu-
idized bed dryer. Experiments are conducted at bed inventory of 2 and 3 kg, superficial
drying air velocity of 2, 2.5, and 3 m/s. Pressure drop, bed voidage, and suspension
density are calculated along the riser height to study the bed hydrodynamics. From
the experimental analysis it is observed that, pressure drop increases with increase
in bed inventory whereas it decreases with increase in superficial velocity of dry-
ing air. The maximum value of bed voidage is determined as 0.9753 at 2 kg of bed
inventory and 3 m/s of drying air velocity. The minimum value of bed voidage is
determined as 0.5087 at 3 kg of bed inventory and 2 m/s of drying air velocity. Bed
voidage decreases with bed inventory but increases with air velocity. Suspension
density increases with bed inventory but decreases with air velocity.
Keywords Fluidized bed drying · Paddy · Bed hydrodynamics · Bed voidage ·

Suspension density
1 Introduction
Rice is considered as a major food for all Indians. India produced about 104 million
tons of rice, 94 million tons of wheat, and 38 million tons of other cereal crops in
the year 2015–16 [1]. From this, rice is generally milled by small and medium mills
near around the farm. These mills use old machinery and have a capacity between 5
B. Pattanayak (B) · S. S. Mohapatra

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan, Deemed to be University,
Bhubaneswar 751006, Odisha, India
e-mail: binayakpattanayak@soa.ac.in
S. S. Mohapatra
e-mail: sibasankarmohapatra@soa.ac.in
H. C. Das
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Shillong 793003,
Meghalaya, India
e-mail: harishdas@nitm.ac.in

942 B. Pattanayak et al.
and 60 tons per day. They produce white rice yield of 50–55% out of which head rice
yield is only about 30%. The new machineries also yield 50–60% of head rice yield
[2]. Through proper drying nutritional values of rice can be maintained and head rice
yield can be increased. Drying is such a post-harvesting process used for enhancing
the storage life of rice. One such emerging method of drying is use of fluidized
bed drying technology [3]. Fluidized bed drying process has many advantages like
high heat and mass transfer rate, less drying time, excellent control of drying air
temperature, drying air velocity, etc. [4]. Study of bed hydrodynamics is important
from the point of view of design and development of a full-scale fluidized bed dryer.
Different researchers have studied the bed hydrodynamics characteristics of flu-
idized bed reactor. Gupta and Nag [5] studied the relevant operating parameters of
bed hydrodynamics in a pressurized circulating fluidized bed reactor with and with-
out bed material. Sand was the bed material taken by them. Kalita et al. [6] studied the
bed hydrodynamics characteristics of a pressurized circulating fluidized bed. They
considered sand with different blends of biomass as the bed material. Ersoy et al.
[7] studied the effect of secondary air injection on the hydrodynamics of circulating
fluidized bed. Bed material considered by them was sand. Patil et al. [8] compared
the pressure drop in three different circulating fluidized bed with sand as the inven-
tory material. Kalita et al. [9] investigated the outcome of solid inventory, particle
size, and operating pressure in a pressurized circulating fluidized bed. Yue et al. [10]
suggested that suspension density can be influenced by bed inventory and it varies
exponentially along the riser height. Above studies reflect that enough literature are
not available in study of bed hydrodynamics of fluidized bed dryer, considering
paddy as the bed material. Therefore, in the present article, the bed hydrodynamics
of a fluidized bed dryer is studied taking paddy as the bed material.
Fluidized bed dryer installed at IIT, Guwahati is used for the study of bed hydrody-
namics in the drying of paddy. The dryer consists of a 15 hp blower, electrical heating
section, distributor plate, and a riser of 1.8 m length made from plexiglass. Five dif-
ferent pressure tapings are connected on the riser height to measure the pressure drop
along the riser height. Cigarette buds are used in the pressure tapings to restrict the
flow of paddy into the pressure taping which causes a blockage of airflow in the tubes
connected to monometers. A distributer plate of 18.85% opening area is used in the
experimental setup. The representation diagram of the test facility and the actual
photograph is mentioned in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively. Superficial air velocities of
2, 2.5, and 3 m/s are used in the drying process. The air velocity is measured with
the help of an orifice meter. Paddy is collected from the local market of Guwahati
for drying. Before drying the paddy is cleaned manually and all the impurities are
removed. Paddy inventory of 2 and 3 kg is taken as bed inventory in batch drying
process. Bed voidage and suspension density are taken as the parameters for study
of bed hydrodynamics.
Bed Hydrodynamics of Fluidized Bed Paddy Drying … 943
CV-1: Blower unit

Drying air out CV-2: Gate valve for air flow
regulation
Paddy
CV-3: Heating unit
CV-4: Drying chamber
Pressure tapings
CV-4
Drying air in
CV-3 CV-2 CV-1
Fig. 1 Representation diagram of fluidized bed dryer
Fig. 2 Actual photograph of the test facility of fluidized bed dryer
The bed voidage is determined by [6]
10H
ε =1− (1)
ρs L m
The suspension density is determined by [6]
ρsus = ρs (1 − ε) + ερg (2)
where H = height difference of manometric fluid in cm of water column

Lm = vertical height difference between two consecutive pressure taps

ρs = density of solid in kg/m3
ρg = density of gas in kg/m3 .
The pressure drop variation along the riser height for different superficial velocities
and bed inventory is represented in Fig. 3. Pressure drop is found to be more at the
bottom of the riser and it decreases with the increase in riser height. This is due
to more concentration of paddy present at the lowermost part of the riser. Pressure
drop is found to increase with bed inventory whereas it decreases with increase of
superficial drying air velocity. This may be due to the decrease of paddy hold up near
the wall of the riser with increase in superficial drying air velocity. The above results
are analogous with Patil et al. [8].
The bed voidage variation, along riser height for different bed inventory and
constant superficial velocity of drying air is represented in Fig. 4. Bed voidage is
always less at the bottom whereas it increases with increase in riser height. This
is because the heavier particles try to remain at the bottom of the riser. The figure
reflects that with increase in bed inventory at any velocity the bed voidage decreases.
When more amount of paddy is used for drying, the bed inventory increases and as
a greater number of particles are present, bed voidage becomes less. Similar results
were observed by Gupta and Nag [5].
The bed voidage variation along riser height for different superficial drying air
velocity and constant bed inventory is represented in Fig. 5. With increase in velocity
of air, more particles lift up along the riser due to more drag force. Due to this there
Fig. 3 Pressure drop 7

variation along the riser
V = 2 m/s, I = 2 kg
Pressure drop (cm of water column)
height for different 6

superficial velocity and bed V = 2 m/s, I = 3 kg
inventory V = 2.5 m/s, I = 2 kg
5
V = 2.5 m/s, I = 3 kg
4 V = 3 m/s, I = 2 kg
V = 3 m/s, I = 3 kg
3
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Height above the distributer plate (cm)
1.0 1.0
0.9 0.9
V = 2.5 m/s, I = 2 kg
Bed voidage
Bed voidage
0.8 V = 2.5 m/s, I = 3 kg
0.8
V = 2 m/s, I = 2 kg
0.7
V = 2 m/s, I = 3 kg 0.7
0.6
0.6
0.5
0.5
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Height above distributer plate (cm) Height above the distributer plate (cm)
1.0
0.9 V = 3 m/s, I = 2 kg
Bed voidage
V = 3 m/s, I = 3 kg
0.8
0.7
0.6
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Fig. 4 Bed voidage variation along riser height for different bed inventory at constant velocity
1.0 1.0
0.9 0.9
I = 2 kg, V = 2 m/s
Bed voidage
I = 3 kg, V = 2 m/s
I = 2 kg, V = 2.5 m/s
Bed voidage
0.8 I = 3 kg, V = 2.5 m/s

0.8 I = 2 kg, V = 3 m/s I = 3 kg, V = 3 m/s
0.7
0.7
0.6
0.6
0.5
0.5
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Height above the distributer plate (cm) Height above the distributer plate (cm)
Fig. 5 Variation of bed voidage along riser height for different superficial drying air velocity and
constant bed inventory
800
700
Suspension density (kg/m3)
700
Suspension density (kg/m )

3
600
600
500
500 V = 2 m/s, I = 2 kg V = 2.5 m/s, I = 2 kg
V = 2 m/s, I = 3 kg 400 V = 2.5 m/s, I = 3 kg
400
300 300
200 200
100 100
0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
700
600
500
400
V = 3 m/s, I = 2 kg
300 V = 3 m/s, I = 3 kg
200
100
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Fig. 6 Suspension density variation along riser height for different bed inventory at constant veloc-
ity
is more increase in bed voidage with increase of superficial drying air velocity at the
bottom of the riser whereas at the top the increase of bed voidage is less. Similar
observations are obtained at both 2 and 3 kg of bed inventory.
The suspension density variation along riser height for different bed inventory
at constant velocity is represented in Fig. 6. The suspension density profile reflects
two different zones along the riser height. The bottom dense zone and the dilute top
zone. As heavier particles are present at the bottom of the riser; suspension density
is more at the bottom. At all the velocities of drying air considered, with increase in
bed inventory, more amount of paddy is present in the drying chamber, and hence
the suspension density increases.
The Suspension density variation along riser height for different superficial drying
air velocities and constant bed inventory is represented in Fig. 7. Along the riser
height the suspension density decreases as a greater number of particles are present
at the bottom of the riser. With increase in superficial velocity of drying air the
suspension density decreases. With increase in air velocity drag force on particles
increases. Particles try to move upward in the riser. Due to this reason, with increase
in superficial velocity of drying air, the suspension density increases.
800
700

I = 2 kg, V = 2 m/s 700
600 I = 2 kg, V = 2.5 m/s 600
I = 2 kg, V = 3 m/s I = 3 kg, V = 2 m/s
500 500 I = 3 kg, V = 2.5 m/s
400 400 I = 3 kg, V = 3 m/s
300 300
200 200
HC Das
100
100
0
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Fig. 7 Variation of suspension density along riser height for different superficial drying air velocity
and constant bed inventory
6 6
V = 2 m/s, I = 2 kg
5 V = 2 m/s, I = 2 kg 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
0 0
0.6 0.8 1.0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Bed Voidage Suspension density (kg/m3)
Fig. 8 Variation of pressure drop with bed voidage and suspension density
The variation of pressure drop along riser height with bed voidage and suspension
density is represented in Fig. 8. The bottom part of the riser is dense zone, whereas
the top part of the riser is dilute zone. As a greater number of particles are present
at the bottom part of the riser more amount of pressure drop is observed at the top
of the riser and it decreases with increase in height along the riser. Similar behaviors
are observed at other airflow velocity and drying mass of paddy.
4 Conclusions
In this research article, the bed hydrodynamics of a fluidized bed dryer for paddy
drying process is studied. Hydrodynamic properties like pressure drop along riser,
bed voidage, and suspension density are studied along riser height. Two different bed
inventories of 2 and 3 kg, three different superficial drying air velocities of 2, 2.5,
and 3 m/s are considered for the analysis. Pressure drop in found to increase with
bed inventory but decrease with superficial velocity of air. Maximum pressure drop
is found as 65 mm of water column at 2 m/s air velocity and 3 kg of bed inventory.
Minimum pressure drop is found as 6 mm of water column at 3 m/s of air velocity
and 2 kg of bed inventory. Bed voidage is found to decrease with bed inventory
but increases with air velocity. Suspension density is found to increase with bed
inventory but decrease with air velocity. Maximum suspension density is found as
722.88 kg/m3 at 2 m/s air velocity and 3 kg of bed inventory. Minimum suspension
density is found as 37.62 kg/m3 at 3 m/s of air velocity and 2 kg of bed inventory.
Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to the authorities of IIT, Guwahati for giving an
opportunity to conduct the experiments in the Fluidized Bed Drying facility available at Centre for
Energy, IIT, Guwahati.
References
1. Deshpande, T.: State of Agriculture in India (2017)

2. Muthayya, S., Sugimoto, J.D., Montgomery, S., Maberly, G.F.: An overview of global rice
production, supply, trade, and consumption. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1324(1), 7–14 (2014).
https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12540
3. Khanali, M., Sh, R., Jafari, A., Hashemabadi, S. H., Banisharif, A..: Mathematical modeling
of fluidized bed drying of rough rice (Oryza sativa L.) grain. J. Agric. Technol. 8(3), 795–810
(2012)
4. Izadifar, M., Mowla, D.: Simulation of a cross-flow continuous fluidized bed dryer for paddy
rice. J. Food Eng. 58(4), 325–329 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0260-8774(02)00395-3
5. Gupta, A.V.S.S.K.S., Nag, P.K.: Bed-to-wall heat transfer behavior in a pressurized circulating
fluidized bed. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 45(16), 3429–3436 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1016/
S0017-9310(01)00365-9
6. Kalita, P., Saha, U.K., Mahanta, P.: Effect of biomass blending on hydrodynamics and heat
transfer behavior in a pressurized circulating fluidized bed unit. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 60,
7. Ersoy, L.E., Golriz, M.R., Koksal, M., Hamdullahpur, F.: Circulating fluidized bed hydrody-
namics with air staging: an experimental study. Powder Technol. 145(1), 25–33 (2004). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.powtec.2004.05.008
8. Patil, R.S., Pandey, M., Mahanta, P.: Parametric studies and effect of scale-up on wall-to-bed
heat transfer characteristics of circulating fluidized bed risers. Exp. Thermal Fluid Sci. 35(3),
485–494 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2010.11.012
9. Kalita, P., Saha, U.K., Mahanta, P.: Parametric study on the hydrodynamics and heat transfer
along the riser of a pressurized circulating fluidized bed unit. Exp. Thermal Fluid Sci. 44,
620–630 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2012.09.001
10. Yue, G., Lu, J., Zhang, H., Yang, H., Zhang, J., Liu, Q., Li, Z., Joos, E., Jaud, P.: Design
theory of circulating fluidized bed boilers. In: 18th International Conference on Fluidized Bed
Combustion, pp. 135–146. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2005). https://doi.org/
10.1115/fbc2005-78134
Experimental Studies on Energy
Conservation in Pool Boiling Heat
Transfer Using Eco-friendly Additive
Sameer S. Gajghate , Anil R. Acharya and Swapan Bhaumik
Abstract The present work is focused on energy conservation for the pool boiling
applications with and without eco-friendly red areca nut as an additive in the deion-
ized water. The aqueous red areca nut solutions having concentration 100–600 ppm
is considered to quantify the effect on pool boiling heat transfer and bubble phe-
nomenon. It is observed that as the concentration increases and goes up to 500 ppm,
it shows the increase in heat transfer rate with the smaller wall superheat. The critical
heat flux observed at 908.24 kW/m2 with a minimum wall superheat at 63.5 °C and
the further increase in concentration, the wall superheat is also increased which shows
the loss of heat energy in pool boiling experiments. The similar result is obtained for
bubble phenomenon that an increase in concentration has a decrease in bubble diam-
eter and increase in velocity compared to deionized water. It is also observed that the
relative heat transfer coefficient with additive solutions shows 80% enhancement in
the performance of heat transfer as compared to deionized water only.
Keywords Pool boiling · Heat transfer coefficient · Red areca nut · Bubble
behavior · Concentration
Nomenclature
PBHTC Pool boiling heat transfer coefficient

PBHT Pool boiling heat transfer
S. S. Gajghate (B) · S. Bhaumik

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Agartala, Agartala
799046, India
e-mail: mtech_sameer@yahoo.in
S. Bhaumik
e-mail: drsbhaumik@gmail.com
A. R. Acharya
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government College of Engineering Karad, Satara
415124, India
e-mail: aracharya@rediffmail.com

950 S. S. Gajghate et al.
L Length of wire, m
h/ HTC Heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 K
hwater Convective heat transfer coefficient for DI water, W/m2 K
q Heat flux for additive, W/m2
qwater Heat flux for DI water, W/m2
t Wall superheat, ˚C
DI Deionized water
Conc Concentration, ppm
SDS Sodium dodecyl sulfate
CHF Critical heat flux, W/m2
SLS Sodium lauryl sulfate
EH-14 ECOSURFTM Alcohol Alkoxylate
SA-9 ECOSURFTM Seed oil surfactant
NH4 Cl Ammonium chloride
TSP Tri-sodium phosphate (Na3 PO4)
Al2 O3 Aluminum oxide nanoparticles
2EH 2-ethyl 1-Hexanol
Greek Symbols
σ Surface tension of aqueous nut (N/m)

Ø Diameter of nichrome wire, m
1 Introduction
During the last 10 to 2 years, fast advancement in technology associated with boiling
applications motivated toward energy conservation. Boiling is a highly effective and
efficient form of heat transfer, and it has numerous scope in engineering applications.
Accordingly, several techniques for the enhancement of the pool boiling heat trans-
fer coefficient (PBHTC) have been introduced and studied [1, 2]. Active, passive
[3–15], and compound techniques [16] have been introduced for enhancement of
PBHTC. Passive technique has got dominating over an active technique due to its
some inherent advantage such as passive technique is easy to incorporate into the
system. Addition of additives in the base fluid is also a passive technique by which
way boiling heat transfer coefficient has been enhanced.
Boiling with surfactant solutions is usually complicated and is affected by sev-
eral parameters than the phase change process in water. Very few researchers have
carried out experiments using eco-friendly additives for boiling (BHT) heat transfer
enhancement. It is an important need to study the effects of eco-friendly additive
solutions in pool boiling heat transfer applications, vis-à-vis, energy conservation.
Experimental Studies on Energy Conservation … 951
2 Literature Review
The previous study carried out on augmentation of boiling heat transfer coefficient
using passive techniques is discussed in detail as follows. Bang and Chang [2] con-
sidered Al2 O3 —water nanofluids of concentration 0.5–4% with pure water, and test
heaters of rectangular cross section 4 × 100 mm2 with a depth of 1.9 mm for inves-
tigation of PBHTC. They observed a poor heat transfer performance of nanofluids
compared to purified water. CHF enhancement was observed for nanofluids due to
settling of suspended nanoparticles on the heater surface. Wen and Wang [3] also con-
sidered rectangular cross-sectional test heater of 50 × 50 mm2 with a depth of 5 mm
and used 95% SDS, Triton X-100, and octadecylamine with different concentrations
0–600 ppm in acetone and DI water for pool boiling investigation and found that
addition of additives enhances the PBHT for water, and it is more vigorous for SDS
solution. Hetsroni et al. [4] performed experiments on pool boiling using cationic
Hogon-G surfactant with and without pure water and observed that the heat trans-
fer enhancement depends on the relative changes in thermophysical properties of
surfactant. Hetsroni et al. [5] performed the experiments on environmental-friendly
nonionic alkyl glycosides surfactant solution on a horizontal tube under saturated and
subcooled pool boiling. Boiling in aqueous additive solutions recognized to be extra
vigorous than in purified water and the augmentation of heat transfer can be increased
considerably by the addition of a small amount of additive. Gajghate et al. and group
[6, 7, 10–13, 16, 17] investigated the augmentation of HTC in the pool boiling and
flow boiling for different concentrations of 2EH, NH4 Cl, Betel nut, Ethyl alcohol
with and without DI water. The investigation was carried out from different aspects
of heat transfer in pool boiling such as the use of eco-friendly additives, single bub-
ble kinematics, plain surface, and Al2 O3 nanoparticles coated surface for Nichrome
wire. The overall results show that the NH4 Cl shows 68.88% [6, 10] improvement
compared to all other surfactant solutions. Chang et al. [15] have observed an aug-
mentation in PBHT for quenched and fresh surface using TSP (Na3 PO4) solutions
and Al2 O3 nanofluids. It is also observed that due to the quenching of TSP and
nanoparticles on the fresh surface, the contact angle of new surface (5–25°) becomes
smaller than the fresh surface (65–70°). Wadekar et al. [18] conducted the tests on
pool boiling using Triton X-100 additive solutions in DI water. It is observed that
with an increase in the concentration of an additive, heat transfer rate increases.
From the above works of literature, it is observed that very few researchers focused
on eco-friendly surfactant additives and the above reports do not reveal the effect
of additives on the environment, if used commercially, energy conservation using
additives in pool boiling is also unknown. The principal aim of the present study is to
evaluate the augmentation in PBHT using eco-friendly red areca nut as an additive.
3 Eco-friendly Additive
For the present work, red areca nut (see Fig. 1) is used as the additive in powder
form to mix well with the DI water. Our ancestors used to cook the food in less time
while using broken parts of china clay crockery or nuts in the pot. This thought of
ancestors encouraged us to quantify the effect of nuts in the pool boiling.
Red areca nut consists of many advantageous perspectives toward the environ-
ment and human health. It has antimicrobial properties [19] so, it is used to prepare
medicines in Ayurveda, Unani, and Homeopathy [20]; also for curing diseases like
Alzheimer’s [21] and used as a rust deactivator [22]. It has side effects on betel
leaves or tobacco user’s health [23]. The surface tension value at atmospheric condi-
tions was measured by Richard [24] and is lower than the water. The thermophysical
properties of additive are as shown in Table 1. This attracted us to consider it as an
additive which is also eco-friendly.
Fig. 1 Photograph of a ripened red areca nut and b crushed nut
Table 1 Thermophysical
Particular Values
properties of red areca nut
[22, 24, 25, 29–31] Appearance Reddish-brown color
Molecular Weight, g/mol 155.19432
Water solubility @ 20 °C 800 g/l
Bulk density (g/ml) 0.71
Surface tension (N/m) 0.0275
Liq. viscosity (mPa. s) @ 30 °C −0.4 kg/(m s)
Speci. gravity @ 20.4 °C 1.54 g/cc
4 Experimental Setup and Procedure
The experimental work is carried out on pool boiling setup as shown in Fig. 2 and
Table 2 with its details. The aqueous red areca nut solutions of concentration ranging
100–600 ppm are used for experimentation. The experimental setup is designed
and fabricated as mentioned in Gajghate et al. [25] and same setup is used for the
present research work. At the beginning of experiment, a boiling vessel is clean and
then filled with 2.5 L of DI water. One K-type thermocouple is attached to the test
heater, and another is submerged into the vessel to measure the surface and DI water
temperatures. The thermocouples are connected to a temperature indicator with a
selector switch.
The heaters are carefully immersed in liquid. To capture the bubble phenomenon,
advanced Canon Camera with a speed of 500 fps is used. The temperatures of test
heater and DI water, current, and voltage for every 10 min of time gaps are measured.
The Dimmerstat is used to control the heat input supplied from the heating element
to the liquid. Initially, a primary heater is used to heat the DI water until 90 °C and
after that, bulk heater is switched off. All the tests are conducted at atmospheric
conditions. The same procedure is repeated for all concentrations of additive.
The reproducibility of the boiling curve is carried out until the minimization of
experimental error. Figure 3 shows the results of consecutive five tests of DI water.
From Fig. 3, DI water is reliable to the closeness of the agreement between the
1. Glass Vessel 5. Thermometer 9. Electric wires 13. Voltage Selector switch

2. Wooden Plate 6. Thermocouple 10. Digital Temperature Indicator 14. Voltmeter
3. Primary Heater 7. Clay Lid 11. Control Panel 15. Dimmerstat
4. Test Heater 8. Nichrome Wire 12. Ammeter 16. Switch Board
Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of experimental setup [25]

Table 2 Instruments specification

Part name Capacity/accuracy Made/type
Boiling vessel 0.0054 m3 Borosilicate
Test heater (Nichrome wire) Ø = 0.0003 m, L = 0.1 m Nickel Chrome
Ammeter, 0–10 A ±0.01 A Analog
Autotransformer, 10 A & 230 V ±2 V Analog
Temp. Indicator, 9999 °C 0.1 °C Digital
Voltmeter, 0–270 V ±1 V Analog
Bulk heater, 1 kW 1W Nichrome
Thermocouple, 0–1200 °C 0.1 °C K-type
Fig. 3 Repeatability graph for DI water to check the reliability of the working setup
results of successive measurement test. The convective heat transfer equation [8] is
used to calculate the heat transfer coefficient for different concentrations of additive
solutions.
5 Error Analysis
The error analysis has been done using a method proposed by Kline and McClintock
[26]. The accuracy level for ammeter, voltmeter is ±0.01A, ±1 V, and temperature of
the test heater and base fluid were measured by the calibrated K-type thermocouple
is 0.1 °C; which shows 95% of confidence level. The uncertainties for measured heat
flux is ±1.95% at 400 and 600 ppm concentrations of aqueous red areca nut solutions
which is within the limits.
In this segment, results of PBHT over a smooth surface of Nichrome wire as test
heater with and without aqueous red areca nut are discussed. The discussion is carried
out in two categories viz (a) Boiling curve and (b) Bubble phenomenon, for different
concentrations of aqueous red areca nut and DI water.
6.1 Boiling Curve
The effect of varying concentration of aqueous red areca nut solutions and DI water on
boiling heat transfer coefficient is discussed in this section. In Fig. 4, it is observed
that for a constant increase of heat flux, the wall superheat is decreased and for
an increase in concentration up to 500 ppm and for 600 ppm concentration, a little
increment in wall superheat is also observed and is due to adverse effect of interfacial
properties of additive in the DI water. For the 500 ppm concentration of solution, the
Fig. 4 The effect of aqueous red areca nut concentrations in DI water on wall superheat
Fig. 5 The effect of aqueous red areca nut concentrations in DI water on Heat transfer coefficient
power input is observed to be 908.2 kW/m2 to reach the CHF conditions and wall
superheat is 63.5 °C which is comparatively lower than other concentration solutions
and DI water. It is observed that as the amount of additive increases, the color of
solutions is getting darker red-brown in the boiling vessel which obstructs the view
of bubble phenomenon. The HTC increases with the increase of heat flux at lower
wall superheat for additive solutions compared to DI water as shown in Fig. 5.
The overall conclusion on aqueous red areca nut solution is that it improved the
heat transfer rate in pool boiling industries and allied applications. To measure the
relative improvement of additive solutions and DI water, the relative HTC is to be
calculated. Figure 6 shows the percentage improvement of heat transfer rate explained
by Wasekar and Manglik [27] as relative HTC is given in Eq. (1).

(h − hwater )/hwater = (q/t) − qwater /t / qwater /t (1)
The wall superheats temperature of the test heater surface decreases in a monotone
with a rise in the concentrations of the additive solution up to 500 ppm, the further
increase in concentration has no effect on PBHT. The improvement in HTC is found
to be about 80% which is more than DI water. No improvement is observed at lower
heat fluxes, i.e., 20% of total heat flux.
Figure 7 is plotted between wall superheats and heat fluxes for different additive
solutions of reported studies. It is observed that in comparison to the work reported,
aqueous red areca nut solutions have a lower wall superheat than others except SA-9.
Fig. 6 Percentage of HTC improvement of additive solutions and DI water
Fig. 7 Comparison of reported studies on different additive solutions with the present study
As per Fig. 7, aqueous red areca nut solutions consume lower power to reach CHF
with the lower wall superheat which is essential to the conservation of energy.
6.2 Bubble Phenomenon
The bubble behavior of DI water with and without aqueous red areca nut solutions
are discussed here. To study the qualitative bubble phenomenon of pool boiling,
the high speed advanced canon camera is used. Figure 8 shows that the clusters of
bubbles are generated on the heater surface at lower wall superheat of heat fluxes
65.1-548 kW/m2 for DI water. At the higher heat fluxes, the bubbles entirely covered
the heater surface (a blanket) and heat transfer to the liquid decreases. It is found that
CHF is observed earlier than the reported CHF [28] of 1 MW/m2 .
Figure 9 shows the boiling behavior of additive solutions for 100 and 200 ppm
concentration at variable heat flux. The phenomenon of bubble blanket is usually
observed during boiling in the existence of aqueous nut solutions. Additive reduces
the surface tension of the solution, which reduces consumption of the energy to
produce a bubble and thus, smaller bubbles emerged. The blanket thickness increases
(a) 18.6 (b) 18.6 (c) 65.1 (d) 145
(e) 255 (f) 392 (g) 548 (h) 743
Fig. 8 a–h Photo images of the bubbles of DI water with variation in the heat flux (kW/m2 ) [25]
(a) 890 (b) 677 (c) 900 (d) 825
Fig. 9 Photo images of the bubble of aqueous red areca nut solutions at various heat flux (kW/m2 ),
a 100 ppm and b–d 200 ppm
Fig. 10 Bubble phenomenon of different additive solution concentrations with and without DI
water
with an increase in additive concentration. The clear photo images of bubbles were
not captured due to the darkness of solution.
The bubble diameter of 0.92 mm is observed at 677.12 kW/m2 heat flux for
200 ppm concentration which is lower than the 100 ppm concentration and DI water
as shown in Fig. 10. Bubble velocity of 0.175 m/s is observed for 200 ppm than
the other concentrations, it is due to the impact of surface properties of additive
concentration in the base fluid.
7 Conclusion
The conclusions are made on the basis of the results obtained and the effect of thermo-
physical properties of aqueous red areca nut solution. It concludes from the boiling
curve that as concentration of the additive increases, the wall superheats decreases
up to 500 ppm. It indicates that the thermophysical properties of the aqueous nut
solutions play a vital role in heat transfer augmentation. Similarly, the bubble size
decreases and bubble velocity increases for an increase in the additive concentra-
tion till 200 ppm as recorded. The energy improvement of 80% is observed with
the additive used. So, red areca nut solutions are recommended to use in industrial
applications like chemical industries, distillation process, etc.
References
1. Arthur, E.B.: High flux processes through enhanced heat transfer. In: 5th International Con-
ference on Boiling Heat Transfer, Montego Bay, Jamaica, pp. 1–13 (2003). https://dspace.mit.
edu/handle/1721.1/5564
2. Bang, I.C., Chang, S.H.: Boiling heat transfer performance and phenomena of Al2 O3 –water
Nano-fluids from a plain surface in a pool. Int. J. HMT 48, 2407–2419 (2005). https://doi.org/
3. Wen, S., Wang, B.X.: Effects of surface wettability on nucleate pool boiling heat transfer
for surfactant solutions. Int. J. HMT 45, 1739–1747 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0017-
9310(01)00251-4
4. Hetsroni, G., Zakin, J.L., Lin, Z., Mosyak, A., Pancallo, E.A., Rozenblit, R.: The effect of
surfactants on bubble growth, wall thermal patterns and heat transfer in pool boiling. Int. J.
HMT 44, 485–497 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0017-9310(00)00099-5
5. Hetsroni, G., Gurevich, M., Mosyak, A., Rozenblit R., Segal, Z.: Boiling enhancement with
environmentally acceptable surfactants. Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow 25, 841–848 (2004). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2004.05.005
6. Acharya A.R., Gajghate S.S., Pise A.T.: Energy conservation by enhancement in heat transfer
in pool boiling. In: International Conference Proceeding on Global Technology Initiatives, pp.
B37–B42. Rizvi COE, Mumbai, India (2012). ISBN978-93-5067-450-5
7. Gajghate S.S., Acharya A.R., Pise A.T.: Experimental study of effect of additives in pool boiling
heat transfer. In: 22nd National & 11th International ISHMT-ASME HMT Conference Pro-
ceeding. IIT Kharagpur, India (2013). ishmt.in/admin/upload/2013/HMTC1300232HMTC13
0 0232.pdf
8. Dikici, B., Eno, E., Compere, M.: Pool boiling enhancement with environmentally friendly
surfactant additives. J. Therm. Anal. Calorim. 116, 1387–1394 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/
s10973-013-3634-X
9. Al-Sukaini, B.Q.A.: Enhancement techniques of boiling heat transfer. Dissertations and Theses
261, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, USA (2014). https://commons.erau.edu/edt/261
10. Gajghate, S.S., Acharya, A.R., Pise, A.T.: Experimental study of aqueous ammonium chlo-
ride in pool boiling heat transfer. J Exp. HT 27(2), 113–123 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1080/
08916152.2012.757673
11. Gajghate, S.S., Acharya, A.R., Pise, A.T., Jadhav, G.S.: Experimental study of heat transfer
enhancement in pool boiling by using 2-Ethyl 1-Hexanol an additive. Appl. Mech. Mater.
592–594, 2689–2693 (2014). https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.592594.1601
12. Najim, A., Acharya A.R., Pise A.T., Gajghate S.S.: Experimental study of bubble dynamics
in pool boiling heat transfer using saturated water and surfactant solution. In: International
Conference Proceeding on Adv’s in Engineering and Technology IEEE, Nagapattinam, India
(2014).https://doi.org/10.1109/icaet.2014.7105293
13. Doifode, N., Gajghate S.S., Najim, A., Acharya A.R., Pise A.T.: Effect of uniformly and non-
uniformly coated Al2O3 nanoparticles over glass tube heater on pool boiling. J. Nanoparticles
2016 (Article ID 8763171), 1–6 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/8763171
14. Dikici, B., Basim Q.A.: Comparisons of aqueous surfactant solutions for nucleate pool boiling.
In: 10th International Conference on Energy Sustainability Proceeding, pp. V001T01A003–
009. ASME, Charlotte, North Carolina (2016). https://doi.org/10.1115/power2016-59351
15. Chang, W.J., Jeong, Y.H., Chang, S.H.: Wettability of heated surfaces under pool boiling using
surfactant solutions and nanofluids. Int. J. HMT 51(11–12), 3025–3031 (2008). https://doi.org/
16. Gajghate S.S., Khandekar V., Chopade S.: Heat transfer enhancement in flow boiling using envi-
ronmentally safe additives. Cogent Eng. 3(1), 1–13 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311916.
2016.1210490
17. Pawar P.B., Acharya A.R., Najim, A., Gajghate S.S.: Experimental study of wall superheat
effect during nucleate pool boiling heat transfer on single bubble dynamics using ammonium
chloride. In: 1st International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering

proceeding, pp. 253–258. Vandana Publications, India (2015)
18. Wadekar P.M., Kengar P.V., Kumbhar V.T.: Pool boiling heat transfer in aqueous solutions
of triton x-100 surfactant. IJERT 5(2), 1–7 (2016). https://www.ijert.org/phocadownload/
conference/2017/ICRTME2016/IJERTCONV5IS02013.pdf
19. Bhat, S.K., Mythri, S., Devasya, A.: Antimicrobial properties of areca nut, areca catechu a:
a review. Int. J. Res. Ayurveda Pharm. 8(3), 8–12 (2017). https://doi.org/10.7897/2277-4343.
083134
20. Harvey W.F., John U.L.: King’s American Dispensatory, 8th edn., Third Revision, Ohio Valley
Co., Cincinnati (1898). https://www.Henriettes-herb.com/eclectic/kings/areca.html
21. Bhat S.K., Devasya, A., Mythri, S., Bhat, S.: Arecanut (Areca catechu L) decreases
Alzheimer’s disease symptoms: Compilation of research works. J. Med. Plants Stud.
5(5), 04–09 (2017). http://www.plantsjournal.com/archives/?year=2017&vol=5&issue=5&
part=A&ArticleId=677
22. Rathod, K., Shivaprasad, M., Rajshekhar: Characterization and extraction of tannin from areca
nut waste & using it as rust deactivator. IJSET 3(2), 366–372 (2015). http://www.ijset.in/wp-
content/uploads/2015/03/032015.1831_366-372.pdf
23. Bhat S.K., Devasya, A., Mythri, S.: Contamination and adulteration in arecanut (Areca Catechu
L.) & it’s Chewing forms: the less focused subject by health researchers. IOSR J. Environ. Sci.
Toxicol. Food Tech. 11(1), 07–12 (2017). http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jestft/papers/Vol11-
%20Issue%201/Version-1/B1101010712.pdf
24. Richard P.P.: Hazmat Data: For First Response, Transportation, Storage & Security, 2nd edn.,
pp. 882–889. John Wiley & Sons Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey (2005). https://doi.org/10.1002/
047172839X
25. Gajghate, S.S: Studies of effect of surfactants on CHF and Leidenfrost point in Pool boiling,
Master of Engineering Thesis, Government COE Karad, Shivaji University Kolhapur, India
(2012)
26. Kline, S.J., McClintock, F.A.: Describing uncertainties in single-sample experiments. Mech.
Eng. 75, 3–8 (1953)
27. Wasekar, V.M., Manglik, R.M.: Pool boiling heat transfer in aqueous solutions of an anionic
surfactant. ASME J. HT 122(4), 708–715 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1316785
28. Nukiyama, S.: The max. & min. values of heat transmitted from metal to boiling water under
atmospheric pressure. Int. J. HMT 9(12), 1419–1433 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1016/0017-
9310(66)90138-4
29. Sharma, H.S.S., Gilmore, C., Sharma, H.B.: Comparison of chemical components of healthy
and spoiled areca nut. Mycol. Res. 95(6), 747–751 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1016/s0953-
7562(09)80825-3
30. IARC Working Group, Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risk to Humans. Betel-quid and Areca-
nut Chewing and Some Areca-nut-derived Nitrosamines. Lyon (FR): International Agency for
Research on Cancer; 2004. (IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to
Humans, No. 85). www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK316567/
31. Shashikumar, Shrinivasa D.J., Manjunatha K., Anantachar, M.: Physical properties of arecanut
sheath. Int. J. Agric. Sci. 8(60), 3378–3380 (2016). https://bioinfopublication.org/downpdf.
php?artid=BIA0003349
Thermal Analysis and Estimation
of Tumor Properties in Breast Tissue
Souradeep Bhowmick, Raghavendra Gupta and Koushik Das
Abstract Diagnosis is one of the important steps while treating a cancer patient. It
has been a challenging task to make the diagnostic procedure simple, fast, and less
painful. The current work is an effort toward that direction. A human breast tissue
is modeled numerically. Thermal analysis is performed on a two-dimensional semi-
circular tissue geometry. The Pennes’ bioheat equation is solved using finite volume
method for the cases without tumor and with tumor. The solver is validated using
COMSOL Multiphysics. Taking temperature profile of the skin surface as the basis,
an inverse analysis is performed using genetic algorithm to estimate thermophysical
properties, location, and size of the tumor, simultaneously. Optimization of the skin
surface temperature profile using genetic algorithm yields a maximum deviation of
the blood perfusion rate by 6.67% of its actual value.
Keywords Pennes’ bioheat equation · FVM · Malignancy · Tumor · Breast tissue
1 Introduction
Cancer, a disease which can be life-threatening. It has taken the form of an epidemic
in the recent decades. The presence of this disease is felt at every region of this world.
Pollution, adulterated food, irregular lifestyle, intoxication, etc. are few major causes
of this disease. Cancer is affecting every human being. Its prevention and curing the
affected one is an immense challenge. According to the GLOBOCAN report 2012,
14.1 million new cases of cancer were found (incidence) and 8.2 million people
died of cancer in that year. Within 5 years ending 2012, 32.6 million people were
found living with cancer. In the year 2012, with a mortality rate of 32%, 1.67 million
new cases of breast cancer have been diagnosed globally. In the USA and India,
these numbers were 2,32,714, and 1,44,937 with mortality rate of 15% and 25.8%,
respectively.
S. Bhowmick (B) · R. Gupta · K. Das

India
e-mail: souradeepbhowmick2015@gmail.com

964 S. Bhowmick et al.
Globally, among all the cancers, for several decades the breast cancer has remained
at the second position. The mortality rate is highest in women. An early diagnosis of
occurrence of cancer always help in better treatment and may prove to be a lifesaver,
in many cases. Although, it is true with all types of cancers, it is more so with the
breast cancer too. The current work puts an effort toward analysis of a human breast
in the presence of a malignancy.
The heat transfer analysis in a human body is very complex due to intricacy
of the system. To analyze blood flow effect on heat transfer in a living tissue, a
French physiologist named Bernard, carried out the first experiment in 1876 [1].
Since then, many physiologist, physicians, and engineers have contributed to the area
of bioheat transfer. The first model explaining mathematical relation between blood
flow and heat transfer was proposed by Pennes in August 1948. His experimental
work, explaining the observation done on human forearm, lead to the development
of a bioheat equation known as Pennes’ bioheat equation (PBHE) [2].
Over time, the PBHE finds its scope in many areas of bioheat transfer like hyper-
thermia and hypothermia treatment, cancer detection, etc. Agnelli et al. [3] utilized
the abnormal skin surface temperature for optimization of the shape of a tumor
located inside a 2-D tissue. Similar study has also been carried out by Partridge and
Wrobel [4] for estimation of tumor location and tumor size inside a 2-D tissue using
the temperature profile of the skin surface. In their work, the tumor size and location
are obtained from the skin surface temperature measurements by an inverse proce-
dure where a method called dual reciprocity is coupled to genetic algorithm (GA).
Das and Mishra [5] have done a similar work to estimate the tumor properties in a
3-D model of human breast utilizing a curve fitting method.
In the present work, a 2-D semi-circular homogenous model of breast tissue is
modeled numerically. The thermal model is a simplified form of the actual breast
tissue. A circular planner tumor is embedded inside the tissue. The temperature
profile of the skin surface obtained from the FVM solver is analyzed for various
geometrical properties of the tumor. The circular profile of the tumor is traced out
using nonuniform orthogonal grid. Further, an effort has been given to estimate the
unknown thermophysical properties of the tumor, i.e., the blood perfusion rate, the
metabolic heat generation rate, the size and the location of the tumor, simultaneously,
by optimizing the skin temperature profile.
A human breast can be approximated as a hemisphere as mentioned by Das and

Mishra [5]. However, 3-D modeling at this initial stage may be approximated as a
semi-circle. A 2-D slice of human breast tissue is taken such that it forms a semi-
circular domain and contains all the necessary components of that tissue. Consider-
ation is given to a simple homogenous and isotropic 2-D model of tissue of radius R
(Fig. 1). A tumor of radius rt is assumed to be present inside the tissue at a depth of
(R − r d ) from the skin surface (Fig. 1). In order to pretend the geometry in a realistic
Thermal Analysis and Estimation of Tumor Properties … 965
Fig. 1 Schematic of 2-D y

breast tissue
Convective o x
surface
rt
R-rd
R
φ
Adiabatic rd
form, the circumference of the semicircle

or skin surface is revealed to convective
condition −k ·∇ T |r =R = h T − T f at room temperature T f , where h is the convec-
tive heat transfer coefficient and k is thermal conductivity of the skin. The base of the
semicircle or core body is considered to adiabatic condition ∇ T |0≤r ≤π,φ=0,π = 0.
In a generalized form, the Pennes’ bioheat equation (PBHE) is given by [2]
∂T
ρc p = k∇ 2 T + ηb ρb c pb (Ta − T ) + Q m (1)
∂t
where ∇ 2 = ∂r∂ 2 + r12 ∂θ∂ 2 . In the present work, analysis is performed using the
2 2
FVM. Figure 2 shows the considered FVM grid. In order to trace out the circular
boundaries numerically, a nonuniform grid has been considered in the domain. The
control volumes are refined in the r − φ direction as shown in Fig. 3.
The solution of Eq. (1) with boundary and initial conditions sited above and with
known thermophysical properties gives the distribution of the temperature throughout
the tissue of the breast. In this present work, to ascertain the presence of tumor, esti-
mation is done with the known skin surface temperature. For this, inverse analysis is
required which minimizes the objective function. The objective function considering
this problem is given by
Nx
2
ref
J= TR,θ − TR,θ (2)
i=1
Fig. 2 Schematic of 2-D

N Δφ
FVM control volume
P E
W S
Δr
Δφ f
Tumor
region
Δφ
Δr f Δr
Fig. 3 Schematic of the orthogonal mesh
ref ref
where TR,θ is the skin temperature of the breast tissue. To obtain the TR,θ , a tem-
perature measurement technique with high precision have to be used. In this present
ref
work, to exhibit the practicability of the tactic, the TR,θ in Eq. (2) is the temperature,
obtained by solving Eq. (1) and TR,θ is the temperature, obtained by optimization
process. The optimization begins with some initial guess values from the assigned
ranges of the parameters which are to be estimated. Using the developing values of
the estimated parameters the solution of Eq. (1) is required. This process continues
till the desired accuracy is obtained (Fig. 4).
Start
Initial population (Gen=0)
Assignment and calculation Pennes

of the fitness values bioheat model
Not
Check for satisfied
Reproduction
optimal
values
Gen=Gen+1 Crossover
Satisfied
Stop
Mutation
Fig. 4 Flow chart of GA

In the following, first, the formulation of the numerical method with considered initial
and boundary conditions is validated by solving Eq. (1). Consideration is given to
uniform orthogonal curvilinear grid.
3.1 Validation
Gautherie [6], in 1980 has performed an experimental study to determine the ther-
mophysical properties of healthy and malignant breast tissue. This work is taken into
consideration for the purpose of validation. A homogenous breast tissue of 18 cm
in diameter (2R) is taken into consideration [5]. With the convective conditions at
the skin surface, T f = 21 °C and h = 10 Wm−2 K−1 are taken. The thermophysical
properties of the breast tissue are taken as follows: ρ = 920 kg m−3 , cp = 3000 J kg−1
K−1 , k = 0.42 Wm−1 K−1 . For the blood ρ b = 1052 kg m−3 and cbp = 3800 J kg−1
K−1 .
For a healthy breast tissue, the metabolic heat generation rate (Qm ) is taken as
450 Wm−3 [5] and blood perfusion rate (ηb ) is taken as 0.00018 s−1 [7]. With
homogenous and isotropic medium of the tissue, Fig. 5a shows the variation of
steady-state temperature along the radial centerline of the healthy breast. The current
results show a temperature of about 31 °C of the skin surface, against 32 °C by
the experimental data available in Gautherie [6]. Consideration is also given to a
malignant tissue with a tumor of 1.15 cm radius assumed to be present at a depth of
2 cm. The metabolic heat generation rate (Qm ) and the blood perfusion rate (ηb ) for
the tumor are taken as 29,000 Wm−3 [6] and 0.009 s−1 [7], respectively. It has to be
noted that the value of Qm and ηb , respectively, of a tumor are 65 and 50 times higher
(a) 40 (b) 40
FVM
38 FEM 38
Temperature, T C
Temperature, T C
Gautherie [6]
o
36 36
34 34
FVM
32 32 FEM
Gautherie[6]
30 30
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-2
Radial distace x10 , m Radial distacex10-2, m
Fig. 5 Variation of steady-state centreline temperature distribution for a breast tissue a without
and b with tumor
than the normal breast tissue. Figure 5b shows the validation for the said case. It has
been found that as the tumor appears inside the tissue, the temperature profile bulges
out in the vicinity of the tumor location.
The term Qm in a biological system helps in rising the temperature, acting as a
source in the PBHE. On the other hand, the gradient of temperature with ηb acts as a
sink. This term on the right-hand side of PBHE helps in reduction of temperature in
the tissue. In the considered grade of the tumor, as the ηb increases, there will be an
expectation to have reduction in temperature. However, this reduction is compensated
by the rise in the value of Qm . Hence, the net result is an increase in temperature in
the tissue in presence of a tumor. With maximum deviation of approximately 1 °C
from the data provided by Gautherie [6], the profiles of temperature matches closely.
Moreover, an exact match has been observed between the present FVM solver and
COMSOL multiphysics (Fig. 5).
For a grid-independent solution, tests are performed with various grid sizes to
evaluate the change in the area-averaged temperature. From the performed test, it
has been found that with grid of size 50 × 50 in the tissue and 150 × 150 in the tumor
region, the solution becomes grid independent with a grid convergence percentage
within 5%.
3.2 Effect of Geometrical Parameters of Tumor
Following the validation of the solver and the grid dependency tests, the effect of
various geometrical parameters is studied next. The study has been started with the
effect on the skin surface and the centreline temperature of the tissue with varying the
tumor size. With r t = R/8, R/6, R/4, and R/8, Fig. 6 shows the steady-state variation
of temperature profile in the tissue. It has been found that with tumor located at a
(a) 40 (b)
R/3
34
R/4
38
R/6
Temperature, T oC
Temperature, T oC
R/8
33
36 without tumor
34 R/3 32
R/4
R/6
32
R/8 31
without tumor
30
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.2 0.24 0.28
-2
Radial distace x 10 , m Circumferential distance, m
Fig. 6 Steady-state profile of temperature along the a centerline and b surface of a tissue for various
sizes of tumor located at 4.5 cm depth
fixed depth (4.5 cm), the increase in tumor size, increases the span of the bulge in the
centreline temperature profile, without much change in the maximum temperature.
However, the skin surface temperature increases with increase in tumor size and
shows a Gaussian nature against the uniform profile of a healthy tissue. For the tumor
of size R/8, R/6, R/4, and R/8, the maximum rise in the skin surface temperatures are
0.2 °C, 0.4 °C, 0.8 °C, and 1.8 °C, respectively.
Generally, cancer in the breast begins in the lobules or milk ducts of the breast.
Lobular Carcinoma in Situ (LCIS) is basically a precancerous abnormal cells forms
in the lobules. When LCIS invades lobules completely with a possible to spread to
the surrounding tissue of the breast, it becomes invasive. Ductal Carcinoma in Situ
(DCIS) is a breast cancer starts in milk ducts and it is of noninvasive form as it does
not spread beyond the milk ducts. If it starts spreading beyond the milk ducts, it can
be invasive. In some cases, breast cancer starts in the fibrous connective tissue, fatty
layer, and stromal tissues of the breast. In the following, the effect on the temperature
profiles due to the different locations of a tumor is studied considering a 1.5 cm tumor.
Assuming φ = π/2, the depth of the tumor is varied keeping the size of the tumor
constant (Fig. 7). For tumor located at a depth of 2, 4, and 6 cm, the bulge in the
centerline temperature profile is found to shift with the location. As the core of the
tissue is maintained at adiabatic condition; the profile is found to show zero slope at
radial location of 9 cm (Fig. 7a).
As the location of the tumor shifts from 6 cm to a depth of 2 cm, the dome of
skin surface temperature tends to rise (Fig. 7b). There is a high rise in temperature
with lesser depth of the tumor. A tissue with tumor located near the core leads to
a temperature profile of the skin surface close to a normal tissue. With maximum
temperature rise, the tissue with tumor located at 2 cm shows approximately 2.4
°C higher value of temperature than a normal tissue. With a constant value of the
depth of the tumor inside the tissue and size, the change of angle φ does not affect
the temperature along the radius passing through the center of the tumor (Fig. 8a).
(a) 40 (b)
34 2 cm
38 2 cm 4 cm 6 cm
Temperature, T oC
Temperature, T oC
33
36
34 32
4 cm
32
31 6 cm
30
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.2 0.24 0.28
-2
Radial distace x 10 , m Circumferential distance, m
Fig. 7 Variation of temperature along a the centerline and b the surface of a tissue for a 1.5 cm
tumor located at various depths
(a) 40 (b) 34
π/6
π/4
38 π/3
33
Temperature, T oC
π/2
Temperature, T C
o
2π/3
36 3π/4
π/6 5π/6
π/4 32 without tumor
34 π/3
π/2
2π/3
31
32 3π/4
5π/6
without tumor
30 30
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.2 0.24 0.28
-2
Radial distace x10 , m Circumferential distance, m
Fig. 8 Variation of temperature along a the centerline and b the surface of a tissue for various
angular positions of a 1.5 cm size tumor located at a depth of 4.5 cm
However, the Gaussian profile of the skin surface temperature shifts without much
change in the peak temperature (Fig. 8b).
3.3 Inverse Estimation of Thermophysical Properties

of Tumor
For the estimation of the metabolic heat generation rate, blood perfusion rate, size
and the location of a tumor various cases of breast tissue with tumor is studied by
considering the skin surface temperature profiles obtained from numerical simula-
tion as the measured temperature. The temperature profile is optimized using GA
for minimization of Eq. 2. Although the analysis has been performed on estima-
tion of one, simultaneously two and three parameters, the results are presented for
four-parameter estimation simultaneously (Table 1). With a population size of 300,
maximum generations of 600, crossover fraction of 0.95, a computational system of
3.60 GHz, 16 GB RAM and Intel i3 processor take approximately 72 h for a single
run of the solver in case of four-parameter estimation. It has been found that using the
current settings and the obtained skin surface temperature, the thermophysical and
the geometrical properties are estimated simultaneously with good accuracy. With
an error of 6.67%, 5.79%, 3.0%, and 1.74% in the estimation of ηb , Qm , r d , and r t ,
respectively, the solver yield results of acceptable accuracy. It has been found that as
the number of unknowns in the solver increases, the estimation time also increases.
Table 1 Estimated thermophysical properties, location, and size

Sl. No Parameter Actual value Estimated value % Error

1 ηb s−1 0.009 0.0084 6.67
0.0087 3.34
0.0088 2.22

2 Q m Wm−3 29,000 30,302 4.48
30,302 4.48
30,681 5.79
3 R − rd (cm) 2 2.06 3.00
2.04 2.00
2.03 1.5
4 rt (cm) 1.15 1.17 1.74
1.17 1.74
1.16 0.87
3.4 Estimation of Tumor Parameters with Error in Reference

Temperature
Error is inevitable in any measurement process. In this section, the effect of error
in measurement of temperature on the inverse estimation process is analyzed. The
tumor parameters are estimated with consideration of an error of ±0.25 °C. The
GA works approximately 100% accurate for the estimation of single parameter.
Figure 9 shows the comparison of circumferential temperature, with and without
the error in measurement of temperature. Table 2 shows the value of simultaneously
Fig. 9 Steady-state 34.5

circumferential temperature with error
distribution with and without 34 without error
error in measurement
33.5
Temperature,T C
o
33
32.5
32
31.5
31
30.5
0 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.2 0.24 0.28
Circumferential distance, m
Table 2 Estimation of
Parameter Actual value Estimated value % Error
parameters with error in
temperature measurement ηb s−1 0.009 0.006 33.33
Qm (W/m3 ) 29,000 29,314 1.082
r t (cm) 1.15 1.14 0.869
R − r d (cm) 2.0 2.05 2.5
estimated parameters of tumor. From the table, it is observed that the maximum error
in estimation of ηb is 33.33%. The estimation of other parameters is quite appreciable
and maximum error is less than 3%.
4 Conclusions
Very few number of work has been done in the area of inverse estimation of tumor
properties in the human breast. Thermal analyzes are performed on a 2-D breast tissue
under healthy and malignant conditions. The numerical model is validated with the
available experimental data in the literature Gautherie [6]. The 2-D model is found
to be a good approximation compared to an actual human breast. The current solver
is also compared with commercially available bioheat solver. A good accuracy of
the model has been observed. Following are the conclusive remarks obtained from
the study:
• At a fixed depth of 4.5 cm, the tumors of size R/8, R/6, R/4, and R/8, rises the
maximum skin surface temperature by 0.2 °C, 0.4 °C, 0.8 °C, and 1.8 °C, respec-
tively. As the depth of the tumor reduces for a particular tumor size; the peak skin
temperature is observed to increase.
• The variation of angular position of the tumor has no effect on the temperature
profiles.
• The GA is found to yield results with good accuracy even with the presence of
measurement error up to ±0.25 °C. With a maximum error of 6.67% in estimation
of ηb , the other parameters show results of acceptable accuracy.
Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge the support by Department of Science

and Technology (DST), Govt. of India for funding this project work.
References
1. Cho, Y.I.: Bioengineering heat transfer. Advances in Heat Transfer, vol. 22. Academic Press Inc.
San Diego (1992)
2. Pennes, H.H.: Analysis on tissue arterial blood temperature in the resting human forearm. Appl.
Physiol. 1, 93–122 (1948)
3. Agnelli, J.P., Padra, C., Turner, C.V.: Shape optimization for tumor location. Comput. Math
Appl. 62, 4068–4081 (2011)
4. Partridge, P.W., Wrobel, L.C.: An inverse geometry problem for the localization of skin tumors
by thermal analysis. Eng. Anal. Boundary Elem. 31, 803–811 (2007)
5. Das, K., Mishra, S.C.: Simultaneous estimation of size, radial and angular locations of a malig-
nant tumor in a 3-D human breast—a numerical study. Thermal Biol. 52, 147–156 (2015)
6. Gautherie, M.: Thermo pathology of breast cancer: measurement and analysis of in vivo tem-
perature and blood flow. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 335, 383–415 (1980)
7. González, F.J.: Thermal simulation of breast tumors. Revista Mexicana DefíSica 53, 323–326
(2007)
Simulation of Emission from Coal-Fired
Power Plant
Pruthiviraj Nemalipuri, Harish Chandra Das and Malay Kumar Pradhan
hc das
Abstract Sustainability of air quality standard is the major concern across India.
Industrialization and particularly the coal-based thermal power plant are the predom-
inant source of air pollution. These atmospheric pollutants have severe impact on
the environment. Different types of air dispersion modeling are the most active tools
for the assessment of the extent of pollutants and hence the air quality in different
environmental conditions. In the current research, Industrial Source Complex Short-
Term 3 (ISCST3) tool has been used for simulation of nonlinear advection–diffusion
governing differential equation with appropriate boundary condition for prediction
of ground-level concentrations of pollutant emission from a coal-fired power plant
in Angul, India. The industrial data are used as input to ISCST3. The incremental
maximum Ground-Level Concentrations (GLC) of pollutants, when added to the
baseline concentrations, are found to be within the acceptance level as per national
ambient air quality standard guidelines.
Keywords Dispersion · ISCST · Pollutant · Concentration · Stack
1 Introduction
Nowadays pollution is very common term habituated with the ears of human being.
The mass media plays a vital role in communicating the different forms of pollution
with the human being. The air contamination whether inside or outside air is one of the
important environmental pollutions responsible for human health hazard. Adaptation
of chemical, physical, or biological properties of atmospheric air can be termed as air
P. Nemalipuri (B) · H. C. Das

793003, India
e-mail: pruthivirajnemalipuri@gmail.com
H. C. Das
M. K. Pradhan
Directorate of Factories & Boilers, Govt of Odisha, Bhubaneswar 751003, India
e-mail: malay.pradhan@yahoo.com
976 P. Nemalipuri et al.
pollution. It results whenever any foreign materials like dust, smoke, or toxic gases
are entered into the atmospheric air and make it difficult for the survival of biotic
and abiotic elements of the environment. Recently, air pollution is the major problem
around the globe; all the people are very much conscious toward the prevention of
air pollution. The main pollutants from the chimney stack of thermal power plant are
sulfur dioxide (SO2 ), nitrogen oxide (NOx ), and particulate matter (PM). Due to the
increasing demand of the electricity from thermal power plant, these pollutants are
increasing day by day. It is very much required to quantify the pollutants over spatial
domain in offside of the industries so as to take different measures to reduce it. In the
current work prediction of the dispersion phenomenon of chimney exhaust gas (SO2 ,
NOx , and PM) has been simulated using air dispersion model and computational fluid
dynamics model for quantification of above-mentioned pollutants.
Cirtina et al. [1] have evaluated pollutant emissions resulting from an aluminum
foundry starting from data on concentrations and pollutant mass flow rates estimated
for each phase of the technological process also they have measured the ambient
levels for the area of influence. They have found from the analysis that the emis-
sion of SO2 , NO2 , CO, total dust in suspension fall into the limit values. Affum
et al. [2] have evaluated the performance of California Puff Mesoscale Dispersion
Model (CALPUFF) model for quantification of SO2 and NO2 dispersion, and they
compared the CALPUFF model results with measured values of TEMA oil refinery.
They have collected the meteorological data with the CALMET simulator. Sirithian
and Thepanondh [3] have used CALPUFF to simulate maximum ground-level con-
centration over the modeling domain of 100 × 100 km2 . The meteorological data
of the year 2014 from Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model has been
used in the simulation and the four different grid resolutions were tested. Alemayehu
and Hackett [4] have run the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulatory air
quality model called AERMOD to estimate the concentration of PM and SO2 . They
have used AERMET program for preprocessing of hourly meteorological data. They
have found that 19–26% of PM and SO2 released from the stacks of the power plants,
refinery and carbon black plant into the atmosphere reaching the tribal land. Zade
and Ingole [5] have used AERMOD 8.8.9 for the assessment of SO2 pollution caused
by industries close to Patalganga, Raigad district, India. They have selected 5 km
boundary as key receptor and processed 1 year meteorological data using AERMET
processor. They compared the model output with NAAQS, 2009 norms and found
that the GLC values of SO2 at key receptor locations are below NAAQS, 2009 norms.
Hadlocon et al. [6] have evaluated the performance of AERMOD, the current U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory model, in simulating particulate
matter (PM10 and PM2.5 ) dispersion from a poultry pullet facility. They concluded
that the AERMOD model is the effective model for prediction and assessment of
impacts of the PM. Chen et al. [7] have examined the performance of Industrial
Source Complex Short-Term Model (ISCST3), USEPA, nonreactive Gaussian air
quality dispersion model in simulating roadside air pollution concentrations on daily
and vacation traffic flow in Taoyuan, Taiwan. They simulated the concentration of air
pollutants (Carbon monoxide, NOx , PM, and SOx ). Rood [8] has evaluated the per-
formance of the steady-state air dispersion models AERMOD and Industrial Source
Simulation of Emission from Coal-Fired Power Plant 977
Complex 2 (ISC2), and Lagrangian puff models CALPUFF and RATCHET using the
Winter Validation Tracer Study dataset. Priyanka Yadav et al. [9] have selected the
AERMOD (the American Meteorological Society/Environmental Protection Agency
Regulatory Model Improvement Committee’s Dispersion Model, version 7.0.3 for
prediction of ground-level concentration of particulate matter, sulfur dioxide (SO2 )
and oxides of nitrogen (NOx ) from point source emissions. They have compared the
predicted and field sampled downwind concentrations of PM, SO2, and NOx (µg/m3 )
to predict the average downwind ground-level concentrations. Smerkar et al. [10]
have taken about 9 days real data of a coal-based power plant for the prediction of
NOx emission. They have compared the linear and nonlinear modeling approaches
for the prediction of NOx emission. Finally, a linear model (ARX) with an opti-
mally selected set of input variables and extracted features is recommended for the
multistep NOx prediction of the coal-based boiler.
In the present work prediction and assessment of ground-level concentration for
baseline pollutants (NOx , SO2 and PM) at different receptor locations within 10 km
radius area domain at coal-based power plant of 1200 MW in Angul, India has been
simulated using Industrial Source Complex Short-Term 3 (ISCST3) model.
The ISCST3 software is based on Gaussian dispersion model and considers the
steady-state dispersion of any pollutant release from a source starting from the
release time till it reaches the receptor. The Gaussian dispersion model is based
on the assumption that the horizontal and vertical spreading of a plume can be
characterized by the normal distribution. The presence of concrete high rise struc-
tures is responsible for building downwash by affecting the wind flow. The ISCST3
includes the algorithm to take care of the building downwash extent. These algo-
rithms require additional input for which Building Profile Input Program (BPIP),
designed by EPA is executed for all stacks to create the required input for necessary
running of ISCST3 software. The wave effect surrounding structures is determined
by BPIP and this is supplied to ISCST3 as input. Besides this, the ISCST3 soft-
ware requires the additional data like characteristics of source, locations of receptor,
meteorological conditions, and topography. The ISCST3 model solves the numerical
integration over upwind direction of Gaussian plume dispersion equation, which can
be simultaneously applied to point, line, area, and volume sources and the ground-
level concentration of the baseline pollutants can be predicted. The software used
for the purpose of modeling computation is ISCST Version 3 by Lakes Environment
Canada recognized by USEPA and MOEFCC. The “Gaussian Dispersion Model”
was the fundamental framework of the computer-generated models used for the com-
putations of Ground-Level Concentration (GLC) of the baseline pollutants. The gas
dispersion is based on advection–diffusion equation given as follows:

∂ C∗ ∂ C∗ ∂ C∗ ∂ C∗ ∂ ∂ C∗ ∂ ∂ C∗ ∂ ∂ C∗
+ ux + uy + uz = Dt + Dt + Dt
∂T ∂x ∂y ∂z ∂x ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂z ∂z
This equation is solved using the boundary conditions:
dC ∗ dC ∗ dC ∗ dC ∗ dC ∗
(x, y, 0) = (x, y, h) = (x, 0, z) = x, L y , z = (L x , y, z) = 0
dz dz dy dy dx
∗
vC (0, y, z) = Q e δ y − y0 δ(z − H s )
The basic model for calculating the pollutant concentration at any point with
location coordinates x and y (in meters) with respect to the base of a point source of
effective stack height He (m) above the base and emission rate Qe is given by

∗ Qe y2p (H e )2
C (x, y, z, H e ) = exp − 2 exp −
π vσ y σ z 2σ y 2σ 2z
where v is the wind speed (m/s), σ y and σz are the standard deviation in crosswind
and vertical direction, respectively, yp is the horizontal distance from the plume
centreline (m).
The quality of the existing air and the effectiveness of the method for controlling
the pollutant level in the ambient air is the main aim of air quality monitoring. This
air quality monitoring and its guidelines are in accordance with National Air quality
Monitoring Program (NAMP) in which certain standards are maintained for ambient
air quality analysis. The different techniques used for ambient air quality monitoring
are given below in a tabular form (Table 1).
Coal required for the power plant is sourced from Mahanadi Coalfields Limited.
Representative coal analysis is given in Table 2 for emission calculation from the
stack.
Particulate emission is calculated on the basis of design of pollution control equip-
ment; so that emission from the stack is limited to 50 mg/Nm3 . SO2 emission is
computed from the sulfur value in the coal. NOx emission is calculated as per 9 kg
Table 1 Ambient air quality analysis techniques

Sl. No Parameter Technique Technical protocol
1 Particulate matter (PM10 ) Respirable dust sampler IS: 5182 [11]
(Gravimetric Method)
2 Sulfur dioxide Modified West and Gaeke IS: 5182
method
3 Oxides of nitrogen Jacob and Hochheiser method IS: 5182
Table 2 Coal analysis

Sl. No Analytical parameter Analysis results (%)
1 Moisture 12
2 Volatile matter 22
3 Ash 40
4 Sulfur 0.5
5 Gross calorific value 3600 kcal/kg
per ton of coal consumed. Taking the plant load factor as 0.8, the coal consumption
is found to be 816 tons per hour.
The input parameters used for the short-term computations are given below. Briggs
formulae have been used for the estimation of plume rise. The ascension phase
increase in plume dispersion is described using Buoyancy Induced dispersion. By
default settings have been provided for Calms processing routine and wind profile
exponents. Some assumptions used for computation are, there is no physiochemical
transformation of pollutants and nonremoval of pollutants by dry deposition. The
surface type used in the computation is flat terrain. 24 hours averaging are taken on
meteorological data. Stack emission data input to the model is mentioned in Table 3.
The impact has been predicted over a 10 km × 10 km area with location of stack
1 as center point. The receptors are located in a polar coordinate system with respect
to the central stack in 16 possible wind directions (N to NNW).
Table 3 Details of emission

Stack parameters Stack 1 Stack 2
(With APC)
X-coordinate 10,000 10,000
Y-coordinate 10,020 10,000
Height (m) 275 275
Top diameter (m) 7 7
Flue gas temperature (K) 423 423
Flue gas velocity (m/s) 23 23
Flue gas flow (Nm3 /s) 624 624
Particulate matter (g/s) 31.2 31.2
SO2 (g/s) 1133 1133
NOx (g/s) 1020 1020
Pollution control measures Electrostatic precipitator
with tall stack for effective
dispersion
As a result, 336 grid points with 500 m spacing were chosen to predict the incre-
mental GLC at different receptor locations. GLC has been calculated at every 500 m
grids points to have better result. Predominant wind directions are mainly from NW
to SE followed by from N to S. The primary meteorological data were collected
at the site and same were compared IMD data of Angul which were input to the
model. Stability class and mixing height have been obtained from modeling results.
Figure 1 describes the wind characteristics such as magnitude and direction, degree
of turbulence, and temperature of the atmospheric air. It has been plotted by the
help of wind rose software. This wind rose diagram is saved in the circular format
showing the patterns of wind flow including direction and magnitude over a partic-
ular time period. In our analysis the wind rose diagram has been plotted taking the
meteorological data for 3 months.
Fig. 1 Wind rose diagram

The Industrial Source Complex Short-Term (ISCST) software has been used to
predict the incremental pollutant emissions from two chimney stacks of the thermal
power plant situated at Angul, Odisha, India. To calculate the concentration of the
baseline pollutants (SO2 , NOx , PM), the meteorological data consisting of differ-
ent parameters (DBT, Relative humidity, Wind speed, Wind direction, Atmospheric
pressure, Cloud coverage) over a period of 3 months on hourly basis have been
used. The above meteorological data has been obtained from the online monitoring
meteorological center of the plant which is compared with the data of IMD, Angul.
Wind rose diagram for the winter season, i.e., for the month of October–November
is depicted in Fig. 1.
After providing the necessary input data to the software, it was run to access
the steady concentration of three baseline pollutants on the onsite and offsite of
the thermal power plant. These incremental concentrations have been developed in
pictorial form in isopleths and the same is superimposed on the topo map of the site
shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4.
Figure 2 represents the steady spatial distribution of NOx concentration on the
onsite and offsite of the thermal power plant emitted from the 2 chimney stacks
of the plant. It is observed that the maximum concentration of NOx (28.601 µg
m/m3 ) occurs 5 km downwind direction of south and this concentration gradually
diminished to minimum level in the wind direction. The detailed spatial distribution
contour of NOx has been plotted on the topo map.
Figure 3 describes the steady spatial distribution of SO2 concentration on the
onsite and offsite of the thermal power plant emitted from the 2 chimney stacks of
the plant. It is observed that the maximum concentration of SO2 (31.770 µg m/m3 )
occurs 5 km downwind southeast direction of south and this concentration gradually
decreases up along the downwind direction. The above phenomenon is due to the
wind direction and relative humidity present in the atmosphere. The detailed spatial
distribution contour of SO2 has been plotted on the topo map.
Figure 4 shows the steady spatial distribution of PM concentration on the onsite
and offsite of the thermal power plant emitted from the 2 chimney stacks of the
plant. It is observed that the maximum concentration of PM (0.87487 µg m/m3 )
occurs 5 km downwind southeast direction of south and this concentration gradually
diminished to minimum level in the wind direction. The detailed spatial distribution
contour of PM has been plotted on the topo map.
From the modeling results, it can be observed that the concentration values are in
the southeast and south downwind direction as evident from the wind rose diagram.
Maximum Incremental GLC (MIGLC) values of the pollutants are plotted against
the different receptors locations along SE and S directions shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7.
Figure 5 represents the distribution of ground-level concentration for NOx along
south and southeast direction. It is observed that the maximum concentration of NOx ,
i.e. 28.6 µg m/m3 is found to be along south direction at 5000 m.
Figure 6 depicts the distribution of ground-level concentration for SO2 along south
and southeast direction. It is observed that the maximum concentration of SO2 , i.e.
31.77 µg m/m3 is found to be along south direction at 5000 m.
Fig. 2 Isopleths of concentration for NOx using ISCST
Figure 7 illustrates the distribution of ground-level concentration for PM along

south and southeast direction. It is observed that the maximum concentration of PM,
i.e. 0.9 µg m/m3 is found to be along south direction at 5000 m.
The predicted maximum incremental contribution of GLC is indicated at different
receptor locations that are 0.875 µg/m3 , 31.77 µg/m3 for SO2 , and 28.6 µg/m3
for NOx , respectively. The predicted contributions of different pollutants from the
proposed plant when added with the monitored existing background levels of PM,
SO2 , and NOx , respectively shall be within the Industrial/residential area norms
(Table 4).
Fig. 3 Isopleths of concentration for SO2 using ISCST
From the results, it is observed that impact in operation of power plant will be
within the norms of National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) [12].
Fig. 4 Isopleths of concentration for PM using ISCST
Fig. 5 MGLC of NOx along

different downwind and
crosswind directions
Fig. 6 MGLC of SO2 along

crosswind receptors
Fig. 7 MGLC of PM along

crosswind receptors
Table 4 Maximum predicted GLC (Worst-case scenario)

Pollutant Max ambient Max. predicted Max. predicted NAAQS
parameter GLC at incremental resultant values industrial
sampling site GLC (µg/m3 ) of GLC in residential area
(µg/m3 ) (µg/m3 ) norm (µg/m3 )
PM 131.6 0.88 131.48 200
SO2 8.3 31.77 40.07 80
NOx 13.9 28.6 42.5 80
5 Conclusion
In the worst-case scenario, the resultant incremental GLC of pollutants will be within
the norms of National Ambient Air Quality Standard. Thus, the proposed power
plant will have minimal impact from air pollution point of view. Therefore, it can be
constructed with adequate air pollution control measures as suggested.
References
1. Cirtina, D., Chivu, O., Cirtina, M.: Assessment of air pollutants produced by industrial activity
from an aluminium alloys foundry. Metalurgija 55(1), 11–14 (2016)
2. Affum, H.A., Akaho, E.H.K., Niemela, J.J., Armenio, V., Danso, K.A.: Validating the California
Puff (CALPUFF) Modelling system using an industrial area in Accra, Ghana as a case study.
J. Air Pollut. 5, 27–36 (2016)
3. Sirithian, D., Thepanondh, S.: Influence of grid resolution in modelling of air pollution from
open burning. Atmosphere 7, 93–107 (2016)
4. Alemayehu, D., Hackett, F.: Gaussian dispersion model to estimate the dispersion of particulate
matters (PM2.5 ) and sulfur dioxide (SO2 ) concentrations on tribal land, Oklahoma. Am. J.
Environ. Sci. 11(6), 440–449 (2015)
5. Zade, S., Ingole, N.W.: Air dispersion modelling to assess ambient air quality impact due to
carbon industry. Int. J. Res. Stud. Sci. Eng. Technol. 2(7), 45–53 (2015)
6. Hadlocon, L.S., Zhao, L.Y., Bohrer, G., Kenny, W., Garrity, S.R., Wang, J., Wyslouzil, B., Upad-
hyay, J.: Modelling of particulate matter dispersion from a poultry facility using AERMOD. J.
Air Waste Manag. Assoc. 65, 206–217 (2015)
7. Chen, C.-R., You, Y.-D., Wang, K.-M.: Testing the ISCST3 model on air pollution from road
vehicles in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Int. J. Organ. Innov. 6(4), 217–235 (2014)
8. Rood, A.S.: Performance evaluation of AERMOD, CALPUFF, and legacy air dispersion models
using the winter validation tracer study dataset. Atmos. Environ. 89, 707–720 (2014)
9. Priyanka Yadav, M.S., Gaurav, R.K., Jahnavi, B., Dasartha Ram, G.: Prediction of PM, SO2
& NOX—GLC’S from point source emissions using air modelling. Int. J. Sci. Eng. Res. 4(5),
5–9 (2013)
10. Smrekar, J., Potocnik, P., Senegacnik, A.: Multi-step-ahead prediction of NOx emissions for a
coal-based boiler. Appl. Energy 106, 89–99 (2013)
11. Indian Standard IS-5182: Methods for measurement of air pollution (2001)
12. National Ambient Air Quality Standard, Central Pollution Control Board (2009)
Numerical Analysis of Heat Transfer
and Fluid Flow in Mini-channel Heat
Sink with Interconnecting Channels
Vasujeet Singh, Harish Chandra Das and Pruthiviraj Nemalipuri
Abstract Augmentation of heat removal rate from an electronic device becomes

an important viewpoint for enhancing the performance and lifetime of an electronic
device. Overheating electronic devices may cause damage to hardware and soft-
ware. Water-cooled Mini-channel heat sink (MCHS) is a profitable and basic cooling
method for cooling of electronic equipments. In this research paper, three different
mini-channels with differently configured interconnecting secondary channels heat
sink geometry have been purposed and mathematical model is solved using finite vol-
ume method(FVM ) technique in ANSYS fluent solver has been used to investigate
the problem numerically. Water is utilized as a coolant and streamflow is laminar,
single phase in all setup of MCHS. The numerical outcomes demonstrate that mini-
mum base plate temperature (BPT) of MCHS is observed at 10° secondary channel
angle; hence, maximum performance of electronic device will be analyzed at 10°
secondary channel angle.
Keywords Mini-channel · Electronic cooling · Heat sink · Interconnecting

channels
1 Introduction
Augmentation of heat transfer rate through a MCHS using interconnecting secondary

channels at various angles has attracted the attention of researchers as compared to
the MCHS without a secondary channel. Numerous researches have been carried
out in this area using various techniques for enhancement of MCHS. Jajja et al. [1]
investigate the heat transfer rate in five different types of heat sink, differentiate on the
V. Singh (B) · H. C. Das · P. Nemalipuri

793003, Meghalaya, India
e-mail: vashuchaudhary007@gmail.com
H. C. Das
P. Nemalipuri
e-mail: pruthivirajnemalipuri@gmail.com
988 V. Singh et al.
basis of channel width as 0.2, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 mm along with the flat plate, lowest heat
sink temperature was obtained at 0.2 mm channel spacing. Miry et al. [2] investigate
the performance of mini fin heat sink, Al2 O3 nanofluid is taken as a coolant and
it was observed that heat remove rate increased 16% and (TR) thermal resistance
decreases 12% as compared to water as a coolant. Damook et al. [3] investigate
the heat execution of perforated heat sink, 3 perforations give 7% larger NN and 5
perforations are giving 11% larger NN as compare to when no perforation on the
fin. Hamdi [4] long channel types have been used and also gives the trapezoidal ribs
between the channels to create turbulence; ribs heat sinks give 1.55 times better heat
execution when contrasted without ribs between the channels. Saeed and Kim [5]
compare the pressure drop (PD) of various mini-channels with a simple flat plate
heat sink over which no channel has been cut and results show that a reduction in
base plate temperature was 44.84% as compared to without channel and 0.2 mm
channel spacing has the minimum base plate temperature 33.7 °C. Schmid et al. [6]
take different shapes of fins circular, hexagonal, and it is found that if the perforation
is made over it; there is a huge impact of the perforations on the exhibition of the fins.
Li et al. [7] used different approaches in which a micro-channel with the triangular
cavity and ribs of rectangular cross section have been cut inside the channel and
the results show that thermal and hydraulic performance of micro-channel increased
because of interruption and disturbance in the formulation of the boundary layer. Xia
et al. [8] investigate the TR and HEAT exchange improvement factor of some intricate
setup of the MCHS and analyze the outcomes with experiments and it has been found
that PD is reduced by 18.99% when compared with the micro-channel of rectangular
shape. Wang et al. [9] compare the performance of micro-channel which having
various cross-sectional geometry, such as rectangular, trapezoidal, and triangular,
rectangular cross-sectional configuration has the best thermal performance and has
lowest thermal resistance among different configurations (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 MCHS without

interconnecting channel
L
Numerical Analysis of Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow … 989
2 Geometry and Meshing
The interconnecting channels six in the first row and five in the second row connect-
ing two main primary channels are shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Copper material is chosen
for MCHS because of its higher thermal conductivity. A total area of the base plate is
W × L = 100 mm × 150 mm, and thickness of each plate is 10 mm which is perpen-
dicular to the plane of the paper. Each mini-channel has the cross-sectional area Wch
× Hch = 4 mm × 5 mm, and length of the main primary channel is 900 mm. Inter-
connecting channels have the same cross-sectional area equal to the mini-channel,
in below figures three different geometries have shown, the first configuration has no
interconnecting channels, the second configuration has the interconnecting channels
at 10°, and the third configuration has interconnecting at 40°. All three geometries
have a single inlet and a single outlet. Attention is focused near the wall of the mini-
channel for accurate prediction of temperature and velocity profile mesh is focused
close to the wall boundary. To get the exactness of the outcomes the grid indepen-
dency has been performed and the last include of meshing is portrayed in Table 1
(Fig. 4).
Fig. 2 MCHS with 10°

Fig. 3 MCHS with 40°

990 V. Singh et al.
Table 1 Mesh size and

Configuration No. of elements Mesh skewness
skewness of each
configuration Without secondary 1,724,115 0.224
channel
Secondary channel at 10° 1,848,218 0.218
angle
Secondary channel at 40° 1,937,207 0.210
angle
Fig. 4 Meshing
3 Numerical Methodology
The computational examination to process the heat transfer and flow parameters
through the MCHS is finished by explaining the continuity, Navier–Stokes and energy
equation inside the domain.
Continuity equation
∂u ∗ ∂v∗ ∂w∗
+ + =0 (1)
∂x ∂y ∂z
Momentum equation
2 ∗
∂u ∗ ∂u ∗ ∂u ∗ 1 ∂ p∗ ∂ u ∂ 2u∗ ∂ 2u∗
u∗ + v∗ + w∗ =− ∗ + v∗ + + (2)
∂x ∂y ∂z ρ ∂x dx2 ∂ y2 ∂z 2
∗ ∗ ∗ 2 ∗
∗ ∂v ∗ ∂v ∗ ∂v 1 ∂ p∗ ∗ ∂ v ∂ 2 v∗ ∂ 2 v∗
u +v +w =− ∗ +v + + (3)
∂x ∂y ∂z ρ ∂y dx2 ∂ y2 ∂z 2
∗ ∗ ∗
∗ ∂w ∗ ∂w ∗ ∂w 1 ∂ p∗ 2 ∗
∗ ∂ w ∂ 2 w∗ ∂ 2 w∗
u +v +w =− ∗ +v + + (4)
∂x ∂y ∂z ρ ∂z dx2 ∂ y2 ∂z 2
where ρ ∗ , p ∗ , v∗ are pressure density and kinematic viscosity of the flowing fluid, u ∗ ,
v∗ , and w∗ are the velocities in three mutually perpendicular directions, respectively.
Energy equation for the coolant:

∗ ∗ ∗
∗ ∂T ∗ ∂T kf ∗ ∂T ∂2T ∗ ∂2T ∗ ∂2T ∗
ū + v̄ + w̄ = ∗ + + + (5)
∂x ∂y ∂z ρ̄ C p ∂x2 ∂ y2 ∂z 2
where ρ ∗ T ∗ , and Cp are the density, temperature, and specific heat, respectively.
Energy equation for solid:

∂2T ∗ ∂2T ∗ ∂2T ∗
ks + + =0 (6)
∂x2 ∂ y2 ∂z 2
Ks is thermal conductivity of solid.
4 Boundary Conditions
The boundary condition is work as an input variable for the modal, for computational
zone boundary condition is given below.
Inlet water temperature (Tin) = constant, Consistent heat flux is connected at the
base wall and adiabatic BCs is connected at different sidewalls.
∂T ∗
−ks =q (7)
∂y
∂T ∗ ∂T ∗
= =0 (8)
∂x ∂z
The inlet velocity is constant uin = constant. At all channel boundary walls has
no-slip boundary condition, u = v = w = 0, an outlet of the MCHS pressure is atmo-
spheric pressure, pout = patm. The inlet coolant streamflow rate of water is varied
from 0.001 to 0.01 kg/s and temperature at the inlet is 293 K for all configurations,
at base plate constant heat flux 15 kW/m2 is imposed and all other walls are at an
adiabatic boundary condition.
992 V. Singh et al.
Fig. 5 Validation of temperature
The numerical outcomes got in this research have been contrasted and the test after-
effects of Imran et al. [10] for the approval of the computational technique. The
numerical outcomes, for example, BPT of the MCHS and the PD are observed to
be in great concurrence with experimental outcomes. Those compared results are
delineated in Figs. 5 and 6, the negligible contrast between the numerical and the
experimental results are a direct result of different presumptions taken during the
solution of equations. The 2-D graphs have been plot describing base plate temper-
ature (BPT) and the channel PD, Nusselt Number (NN), and the local Heat transfer
coefficient (HTC) at various coolant streamflow rates. In Fig. 7 the variation of BPT
with channel coolant streamflow rate has been depicted below for all three config-
urations (without interconnecting channel, 10° and 40° interconnecting channel). It
is observed that the BPT is between 70 and 80 °C for all three configurations at a
coolant streamflow rate of 0.002 kg/s. With the increasing coolant streamflow rate
the BPT gradually decreases for all three configurations. A minimum BPT of 30 °C
is observed with 10° interconnecting mini-channel at the allowable coolant stream-
flow rate of 0.01 kg/s. With the same coolant streamflow rate 40° interconnecting
mini-channel is showing a temperature of 33 °C. This is because in 10° intercon-
necting channels fluid flow more easily compared to 40° interconnecting channels.
A BPT of 44 °C is observed with the same coolant streamflow rate for no intercon-
necting channel. The contours of temp distribution for the coolant streamflow rate of
Fig. 6 Validation of pressure
Fig. 7 Variation of temperature with coolant flow rate

994 V. Singh et al.
Fig. 8 Variation of PD with coolant flow rate
0.01 kg/s with three different configurations of the MCHS are depicted in Figs. 11,
12, and 13. At the inlet section of the channel there is blue region which shows
that the fluid temperature is a minimum which is nearly equal to the 293 K, as fluid
inside the channel moves forward fluid temperature is increased and fluid is taking
more and more heat from the base plate and blue region starts converts to green,
yellow, and then orange; this shows that at the entrance region temperature contrast
between the liquid and the base plate is more and less at the outlet of the MCHS. In
Fig. 8 variation of PD with channel coolant streamflow rate has been depicted for all
three configurations (without interconnecting channel, 10° and 40° interconnecting
channel). It is seen that with the expansion in coolant streamflow rate PD slowly
increments for each of the three setups, a minimum PD of 180 pa is observed at 10°
interconnecting channel at an allowable coolant streamflow rate of 0.01 kg/s. With
the same coolant streamflow rate 40° interconnecting mini-channel is showing a PD
of 200 pa, a PD of 1400 pa is observed with the same coolant streamflow rate for no
interconnecting channel. At a higher coolant streamflow rate, there is more PD for
each channel configuration. This is because of higher entrance loss at the entry of the
channel at a higher coolant streamflow rate. The contour of pressure distribution for
a coolant streamflow rate of 0.01 kg/s with the different configurations of the MCHS
is depicted in Figs. 14, 15, and 16. At inlet section of the channel, there is an orange
region which indicates that the pressure is a maximum at the entrance and as we
move forward inside the domain, the pressure is decreased because of friction loss
and orange region converts to a blue region at the exit. In Fig. 9 variation of HTC with
Fig. 9 Variation of HTC with coolant flow rate
channel coolant streamflow rate has been depicted for all three configurations (with-
out interconnecting channel, 10° and 40° interconnecting channel), it is observed
that higher value of HTC is observed at a higher value of coolant streamflow rate for
all three configurations. A minimum HTC 560 W/m2 is observed with no intercon-
necting channel for an allowable coolant streamflow rate of 0.01 kg/s. With the same
coolant streamflow rate 40° interconnecting channel is showing a HTC of 800 W/m2 ,
HTC of 840 W/m2 is observed with the same coolant streamflow rate of 0.01 kg/s for
10° interconnecting channel. Variation of NN with the coolant streamflow rate is the
same as that of the variation of heat transfer coefficient with the coolant streamflow
rate; maximum value of NN is 1410 has got for 10° interconnecting channel angle
configuration and minimum value of NN as 860 is obtained for without secondary
channel configuration, and NN for 40° interconnecting channel is 1320. Temperature
pressure and velocity contours are depicted in figs. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,
and 19.
996 V. Singh et al.
Fig. 10 Variation of NN with coolant flow rate
Fig. 11 Temperature contour of 40° secondary channel angle
6 Conclusion
In the current paper numerical analysis for fluid flow and heat carried away charac-
teristic of the MCHS with secondary interconnecting channels at various angles has
been investigated. Following conclusion are listed below from the obtained results.
Fig. 12 Temperature contour without interconnecting channel
Fig. 13 Temperature contour of 10° secondary channel angle
Fig. 14 Pressure contour of 10° interconnecting channel

998 V. Singh et al.
Fig. 15 Pressure contour of 40° secondary channel angle
Fig. 16 Pressure contour of without interconnecting channel
Fig. 17 Velocity contour of 10° secondary channel angle

Fig. 18 Velocity contours of 40° interconnecting channel
Fig. 19 Velocity contour without secondary channel
1. Execution of the MCHS can be improved by joining the essential channel by

interconnecting channels; Minimum baseplate temperature is obtained for the
configuration with interconnecting channels at 10°.
2. PD is minimum for 40° secondary channel angle so for the PD concern 40°
secondary channel angle performance is good as compare to other two configu-
rations.
3. HTC and NN are highest for 10° secondary channel configuration.
1000 V. Singh et al.
References
1. Jajja, S.A., Ali, W., Ali, H.M., Ali, A.M: Water cooled mini channel heat sins for microprocessor
cooling effect of fin spacing. Appl. Thermal Eng. 64, 76–82 (2014)
2. Miry, S.Z., Lohrasbi, S., Irani, H., Mehdi, A., Davood, D.G.: Thermal energy absorption in a
heat sink with elliptical cross section and tangential impinging inlet flow of nano fluid. Exp.
Thermal Fluid Sci. 89, 50–61 (2017)
3. Damook, A., Kapur, N., Summers, J.L., Thompson, H.M.: Computational design and opti-
mization of pin fin heat sinks with rectangular perforations. Appl. Thermal Eng. 105, 691–703
(2017)
4. Ahmed, H.E.: Optimization of thermal design of ribbed flat-plate fin heat sink. Appl. Thermal
Eng. 102, 1422–1432 (2016)
5. Saeed, M., Kim, M.H.: Numerical study on thermal hydraulic performance of water cooled
MCHSs. Int. J. Refrig. 69, 147–164 (2016)
6. Schmid, G., Yang, L.H., Yang, T.H., Chen, S.L.: Influence of inter-fin base length on thermal
performance of free hanging horizontal base heat sinks. Appl. Thermal Eng. 108, 1226–1236
(2016)
7. Li, Y.F., Xia, G.D., Ma, D.D., Jia, Y.T., Wang, J.: Characteristics of laminar flow and heat
transfer in micro channel heat sink with triangular cavities and rectangular ribs. Int. J. Heat
Mass Transf. 98, 17–28 (2016)
8. Xia, G., Ma, D., Zhai, Y., Li, Y., Liu, R., Du, M.: Experimental and numerical study of fluid
flow and heat transfer characteristics in micro channel heat sink with complex structure. Energy
Convers. Manag. 105, 848–857 (2015)
9. Wang, H., Chen, Z., Gao, J.: Influence of geometric parameters on flow and heat transfer
performance of micro-channel heat sinks. Appl. Thermal Eng. 107, 870–879 (2016)
10. Imran, A.A., Mahmoud, N.S., Jaffal, H.M.: Numerical and experimental investigation of heat
transfer in liquid cooling serpentine MCHS with different new configuration models. Thermal
Sci. Eng. Progress 6, 128–139 (2018)
Simultaneous Heat and Mass Transfer
Analysis in Falling Film Absorber
H. Barman and R. S. Das
Abstract The liquid desiccant air conditioning technology is becoming popular as a

potential alternative to conventional energy-intensive vapour compression systems.
Liquid desiccant systems require low-grade heat energy as major energy input, inde-
pendently controls latent and sensible loads and hence is very effective mainly in
humid conditions. Falling film type contactors are the most commonly used as liquid
desiccant dehumidifier. The present study deals with the development of a numerical
model to analyse heat and mass transfer in counter-flow falling film liquid desic-
cant dehumidifier. The model is used to compare the performance of three of the
most commonly used liquid desiccants, viz., LiBr, LiCl and CaCl2 in falling film
arrangement. The governing equations are discretized and solved by Newton–Raph-
son technique. It is found that LiBr performs better than LiCl, CaCl2 in terms of
water vapour absorption and the hydrodynamics of the falling film directly affect the
mass transfer characteristics.
Keywords Falling film contactor · Heat and mass transfer · Numerical model ·
Liquid desiccant
1 Introduction
Rapid urbanisation and improving standards of life have led to widespread utilisation
of energy guzzling vapour compression based air conditioning systems to maintain
a comfortable living environment. Considering the depleting energy resources and
environmental pollution aspects, research on alternative air conditioning technolo-
gies is gaining prominence. Liquid desiccant systems have proved to be promising
alternative capable of saving 40% of energy compared to the conventional systems
[1]. Dehumidifier plays an important role in desiccant air conditioning system. Many
research have been carried out till now to analyse the heat and mass transfer in falling
film contactor through experimental or numerical works. Nakoryakov and Grigor’eva
H. Barman · R. S. Das (B)

e-mail: rajatsubhra@nitm.ac.in

1002 H. Barman and R. S. Das
[2] published one amongst the primary models about combining mass and heat trans-
fer in film flow in 1977. They assumed velocity as constant throughout the film flow.
Since then many researchers have improved that model and also presented different
types of falling film model either experimentally or analytically. Grossman [3] in
1983 modified the model by taking a parabolic velocity profile instead of constant
velocity and found 20% deviation in heat and mass transfer coefficients. He also
studied the heat and mass transfer phenomena for isothermal and adiabatic wall con-
ditions and found that the Sherwood number is greater in case of isothermal wall
than in adiabatic wall condition. Many of the latest studies have examined mainly
pure hydrodynamics. Laplace model was used to study temperature and mass change
across the film of a falling film contactor by Meyer [4] and Wu [5]. Meyer applied
other wall boundary condition than isothermal and adiabatic conditions. A model
was presented to describe combined heat and mass exchange of an absorbing or
desorbing laminar falling film (LiBr solution) over an isothermal vertical plate. The
variable properties, heat flow due to interdiffusion and differential heat of solution
have been taken into account in the model. It was shown that under comparable
conditions, mass flux transferred during absorption is larger than desorption process
and the mass flux transferred during absorption decreases while considering vari-
able properties [6]. The mass transfer phenomenon was also studied by considering
different inlet velocities (Nusselt and plug flow).
In this work, a numerical model is developed in MATLAB to study the impact of
mass and heat exchange on fluid dynamics of liquid desiccant falling film dehumid-
ifier. The mass absorption capability and concomitant thermohydraulic performance
characteristics of three most commonly used liquid desiccants (LiCl, LiBr and CaCl2 )
have also been studied in detail.
2 Computational Details
Mittermaier and Ziegler [6] developed a numerical model of laminar falling film to
study the heat and mass transfer process with the application of two different velocity
profiles at inlet plug and Nusselt profile considering LiBr as desiccant. They also
compared heat and mass transfer characteristics between LiBr and a desiccant with
viscosity five times higher than LiBr. In the present work, a further study of heat and
mass transfer is carried out by modifying the numerical model with the properties of
most common desiccants, namely, LiCl and CaCl2 and compared with that of LiBr.
The properties of lithium chloride and calcium chloride are reported by Conde [7].
The model elucidates variable physical properties of liquid desiccant, variable film
thickness, heat set free due to intermixing of phases and unidirectional diffusion.
The overall assumptions that are taken into consideration are as follows:
(a) Incompressible fluid.
(b) No-slip condition is assumed at the wall.
(c) The wall is isothermal, impenetrable and fully wetted.
Simultaneous Heat and Mass Transfer Analysis … 1003
Fig. 1 Falling film model
(d) No shear stress condition is assumed at the interface.

(e) Pressure is assumed as constant inside the film.
(f) Diffusion and conduction along the flow are considered negligible.
(g) Vapour pressure (solvent) is considered to be negligible.
(h) Problem is assumed as steady state (Fig. 1).
2.1 Solving Procedure and Input Values
The discretised form of the governing equations is arranged in the frame A · − →x = b

in which vector x speaks to all desired quantities, to be specific, the velocity field
and in addition mass fraction and temperature field. A consists of all the coefficients
of the desired value and all terms with index i−1 are dealt with inhomogeneity b.
Newton–Raphson method is used for the solution of these equations. At first, the
input values are set and then conditions for inlet are found out. The input values are
listed in Table 1. The loop over the whole length begins by figuring the velocities of
primary horizontal layer.
For presumption value and for the physical properties the preceding results are
used. The loop continues till a desired accuracy is achieved for velocities. Then, in
the same way the temperature and mass concentration fields are calculated. When
a desired accuracy is achieved, then in the coupling loop corrections are made in
the fluid properties and calculations of velocity, temperature and mass fractions are
done again. Developing film thickness is calculated by moving grid technique. The
repetition of coupling loop is done until a desired value is obtained for velocity,
temperature, mass concentration and film thickness. Once the computation of first
layer is completed, the following layers are calculated.
Table 1 Input values [8]

No. of transversal nodes, n 600
Length, L 0.10 m
Pressure, p 1500 Pa
Inlet mass fraction (LiBr solution), ξ0 0.50 kg/kg
Inlet mass fraction (LiCl solution), ξ0 0.60 kg/kg
Inlet mass fraction (CaCl2 solution), ξ0 0.65 kg/kg
Accuracy-longitudinal velocity 10−12 m/s
Accuracy-transversal velocity 10−10 m/s
Accuracy-temperature 10−7 K
Accuracy-mass concentration 10−10
Accuracy-film thickness 10−12 m
Acceleration due to gravity, g 9.81 m/s2
3 Governing Equations
Based on the above assumptions the continuity and momentum equation are given
as
∂(ρu) ∂(ρv)
+ =0 (1)
∂x ∂y

∂u ∂u ∂ ∂u
ρu + ρv = μ + ρg (2)
∂x ∂y ∂y ∂y
Considering the assumption (g) the balance equation for component A is written
as

∂ξ A ∂ξ A ∂ ∂ξ A
ρ u +v = ρD (3)
∂x ∂y ∂y ∂y
The energy balance is presented as

⎡
∂T ∂ξ A ⎤
u cp + h̄ A − h̄ s
⎢ ∂x ∂x ⎥
ρ⎢
⎣ ⎥
∂T ∂ξ A ⎦
+v c p + h̄ A − h̄ S
∂y ∂y
∂ ∂T ∂ξ A
= λ + ρD h̄ A − h̄ S (4)
∂y ∂y ∂y
Here, the convective heat transfer and heat released due to blending is considered.
h̄ A − h̄ S = Difference in partial enthalpy.
Partial enthalpy for absorbate A,

∂h
h A = h + [1 − ξ A ] (5)
∂ξ A p,T
Partial enthalpy for solvent S,

∂h
hS = h − ξA (6)
∂ξ A p,T
The common boundary condition for Eqs. (1)–(4) is

Parabolic Nusselt velocity profile

ρg 2 y y2
u(x = 0, y) = δ − 2 (7)
μ 0 δ0 2δ0
According to assumption (b),
u(x, y = 0) = 0; v(x, y = 0) = 0 (8)
No shear stress at interface

∂u
=0 (9)
∂ y y=δ(x)
As the wall is impermeable it constrains diffusion at y = 0
ṁ A (x, y = 0) = ρvw ξ A

∂ξ A
+ ρD =0 (10)
∂ y y=0

∂ξ A
ρD =0 (11)
∂ y y=0
We assume the wall having a constant temperature, a uniform temperature of the

liquid and uniform concentration at the inlet.
T [x, y = 0] = TW T [x = 0, y] = T0 (12)
ξ A (x = 0, y) = ξ A,0 (13)
In this model, three coupling conditions are defined.

Assuming vapour pressure equilibrium at interface
T [x, y = δ(x)] = Teq [ p, ξ A (x, y = δ(x)] (14)

For the non-volatile absorbent S, the interface is impenetrable. So,
ṁ s [x, y = δ(x)] = ρvi f · ξs,i f

∂ξs
+ ρD =0 (15)
∂y y=δ(x)
Applying ξ A + ξ S = 1 in (15)

∂ξ A 1 − ξ A,i f
= · vi f (16)
∂ y y=δ(x) D
Thus, the absorbed mass flow per unit area at interface is given by

1 ∂ξ A
ṁ A,i f = ρD (17)
1 − ξ A,i f ∂ y y=δ(x)
By balancing the energy at interface,

∂ T
λ[x, y = δ(x)] = ṁ Ai f h sor
∂ y y=δ(x)

= ṁ Ai f h v − h̄ A (18)
The thermal effect due to the absorption is expressed by h sor .

To discretise the governing equations finite difference technique is used. To
approximate the second-order derivative the following abbreviation is used:
yi, j + yi, j−1

ȳi, j = (20)
2
The numerical model is validated by comparing the velocity profile at the end of
flow length with the analytical Nusselt solution (Eq. 7). The two methods have been
found in good agreement with each other. The maximum deviation between the two
solutions is found below 3% as shown in Fig. 2. In Fig. 3, by comparing the velocity
profiles of LiBr (mass fraction = 0.5), LiCl (mass fraction = 0.4) and CaCl2 (mass
fraction = 0.35), it can be seen that velocity of LiBr is lowest and CaCl2 is highest.
The maximum value of velocities found at the end of flow length is 0.15 m/s in LiBr,
0.8 m/s in LiCl and 1.18 m/s in CaCl2 , respectively. The effect of the velocities can
be seen on heat and mass transfer. Desiccant solutions with low velocity will have
high heat and mass transfer rate because of more contact time and vice versa.
velocity profiles at x = 0.1 m
Fig. 3 Comparison of 1.4

velocity profiles at x = 0.1 m
1.2
LiCl
LiBr
1 CaCl 2
0.8
u(m/s)
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 5E-05 0.0001 0.00015 0.0002 0.00025
y(m)
In Figs. 4, 5 and 6 the temperature profiles of solutions (LiCl, CaCl2 and LiBr,
respectively) over the film thickness at different flow lengths are plotted. In LiCl
and CaCl2 the homogeneous temperature given in inlet are 297.7 K and 294.03 K,
respectively, as shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, respectively.
In Fig. 6, the temperature profiles of LiBr solution over the film thickness at
different flow length is plotted. At x = 0 m a homogeneous temperature 308.24 K is
given to the solution. As the wall is at lower temperature, a temperature gradient will
be developed towards the interface as the flow starts. At x = 0.003 m, the temperature
distortion reaches the interface after that it can be observed that the profile becomes
more and more linear.
Fig. 4 Temperature profile

of LiCl solution at different
flow lengths

of CaCl2 solution at different
flow lengths

of LiBr solution at different
flow lengths
The temperature also starts decreasing at the interface after x = 0.003 m and
the film starts absorbing water vapour at interface. On comparing the temperature
profiles of the three solutions, the temperature gradient is found higher near the wall
in LiCl and CaCl2 solution than in LiBr solution. The lower value of transversal
velocity causes this high-temperature gradient near the wall. The maximum value
of transversal velocity close to the inlet across the film thickness is 0.00145 m/s,
0.0006 m/s and 0.00031 m/s in case of LiBr, LiCl and CaCl2 solution, respectively.
Due to higher transversal velocity the convection heat transfer across the film is
higher in LiBr. That is why the decrease in temperature at the interface is more in
LiBr (2.22 K) than LiCl (0.60 K) and CaCl2 (0.40 K), respectively. Change in mass
fraction of the solution is studied by plotting mass fraction profiles of LiCl, LiBr
and CaCl2 with respect to transverse distance at the end of flow length. Mass will
be absorbed in the interface when the temperature of the interface decreases. So, the
mass fraction gradient is developing towards the interface in all the cases. As the
LiCl and CaCl2 films are thinner than that of LiBr, the absorbed water mass flux
is less in LiCl (0.73 g) and CaCl2 (0.6 g) than in LiBr (1.78 g) at x = 0.1 m. The
mass fraction profiles are plotted in Fig. 7 (CaCl2 ), Fig. 8 (LiBr) and Fig. 9 (LiCl).
Absorption of water vapour starts early in case of LiBr solution. Absorption starts in
LiBr solution at 2.6% of the flow length, in LiCl at 3% of flow length and in CaCl2
at 4.3% of flow length, respectively. Mass absorption at x = 0.01 m and at x = 0.1 m
for LiBr are 0.58% and 3.56%, for LiCl 0.22% and 1.22%, for CaCl2 0.09% and
0.89%, respectively. From Fig. 10, it can be seen that the LiBr film is thicker than
that of LiCl and CaCl2 . This is because the LiBr solution flow highly decelerates with
the growth of hydrodynamic boundary layer. Another reason for the high thickness
of the LiBr film is that it absorbs more water vapour at interface. At inlet the film
thickness is constant as the film remains in equilibrium at inlet. Absorption of water
vapour at interface starts with the onset of the flow, which results in the increase in
the film thickness.
Fig. 7 Mass fraction of

CaCl2 solution at x = 0.1 m
Fig. 8 Mass fraction of LiBr

solution at x = 0.1 m
Fig. 9 Mass fraction of LiCl

solution at x = 0.1 m
Fig. 10 Comparison of film

thickness
5 Conclusions
In the present work, a MATLAB code is developed to study the falling film flow
physics and mass transfer mechanism for LiCl, CaCl2 and LiBr desiccant solutions.
The key concluding inferences drawn from the investigations carried out are as
follows:
1. Amongst the velocity profiles of the three desiccants across the film thickness it
is observed that the velocity of CaCl2 is maximum and velocity of LiBr is lowest.
This implies that the LiBr solution has more contact time with the moist air than
the others. Therefore, the temperature reduction of the solution is found more in
LiBr (2.22 K) than LiCl (0.6 K) and CaCl2 (0.4 K).
2. Absorption of water vapour starts earlier in LiBr than LiCl and CaCl2 . The
percentage of water vapour absorbed at interface by LiBr, LiCl and CaCl2 is
3.56%, 1.22% and 0.89%, respectively. So, the water vapour absorption capability
of LiBr desiccant is better than LiCl and CaCl2 .
References
1. Luo, Y., Yang, H., Lu, L.: Dynamic and microscopic simulation of the counter current flow in a
liquid desiccant dehumidifier. Appl. Energy 136, 1018–1025 (2014)
2. Nakoryakov, V.E., Grigor’eva, N.I.: Combined heat and mass transfer during absorption in drops
and films. J. Electrochem. Plat. Technol. 32, 243–247 (1977)
3. Grossman, G.: Simultaneous heat and mass transfer in film absorption under laminar flow. Int.
J. Heat Mass Transf. 26, 357–371 (1983)
4. Meyer, T.: Analytical solution for combined heat and mass transfer in laminar falling film
absorption with uniform film velocity-adiabatic wall boundary. Int. J. Refrig. 48, 74–86 (2015)
5. Wu, Y.: Simultaneous heat and mass transfer in laminar falling film on the outside of a circular
tube. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 93, 1089–1099 (2016)
6. Mittermaier, M., Ziegler, F.: Theoretical evaluation of absorption and desorption processes under
typical conditions for hillers and heat transformers. Int. J. Refrig. 59, 91–101 (2015)
7. Conde, M.R.: Properties of aqueous solutions of lithium and calcium chlorides: formulations
for use in air conditioning equipment design. Int. J. Thermal Sci. 43, 367–382 (2004)
8. Mittermaier, M., Ziegler, F.: Heat Mass Transfer. (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/
s0023101722199
Identification of Maximum Stressed
Region in Hip Prosthesis
R. Patra, Harish Chandra Das, J. Sahoo and Sk. Md. Ali
Abstract Observing the failure following bipolar prosthesis in hip joint, the mechan-
ical factor was thought to be a pertinent etiology for cause production of such malady.
It is found that the stem of the prosthesis gets fractured and often there is a dislocation
either at acetabular level where the head along with acetabular component dislocates
and rarely only the head part comes out. Analyzing the stress concentration at dif-
ferent levels, it is found that the concentration is maximum at the junction of stem of
prosthesis to the bone, i.e., bone implant interface which plays a vital role leading the
failure and is influenced by many mechanical adversity in form of geometrical con-
figuration of prosthesis and its position in body following implantation as well. Both
computational and experimental method established the fact that maximum stress
occurs at contact surface between prosthesis and bone at the neck of prosthesis.
Keywords Hip prosthesis · FEA analysis · Maximum stressed zone
1 Introduction
Hip joint is the most important ball and socket joint in human body which is sub-
jected to various loading during activities to impart versatile movement. After making
a thorough study of failure of hip prosthesis it is found that loosening of hip pros-
thesis is one of the main reason why prosthesis calls for revision [1]. Keeping these
R. Patra (B)
SOA University, Bhubaneswar, India
e-mail: rabiteja.patra@tat.ac.in
H. C. Das
National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong, India
J. Sahoo
IMS & SUM Hospital, Bhubaneswar, India
e-mail: jsahoo@yahoo.com
Sk. Md. Ali
Trident Academy of Technology Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar, India
e-mail: sk.mohammed@tat.ac.in
1014 R. Patra et al.
prepositions in mind a finite element analysis of hip prosthesis sounds more logical
to establish the probable etiological factor in cause production of complications fol-
lowing prosthesis being implemented. For verification of computational results, help
of experimental method has been taken. Before starting the investigation, a detailed
investigation has been done on failure of hip prosthesis in Total Hip Anthroplasty
(THA). Palbo et al. [2] fragileness of bone, a congenial disease is also responsible
for failure of hip anthroplasty. Jopathan et al. [3] systematic planning will reduce
the chances of failure of hip prosthesis. Jafer et al. [4] a maximum von Mises stress
of 179 MPa at the shaft and bone junction. Kiani Khouzani et al. [5] sighted that
metallurgical imperfection is reason for crack propagation which leads to failure of
prosthesis. Alvarez-Vera et al. [6] stressed failure of prosthesis takes place during
improper cooling. Yousf et al. [7] maximum stress of 9.5 MPa is at the neck of
femur during walking. Apart from the above reasons failure also takes place due to
infection, thermal stress, acetabular cup dislocation, improper cement bonding [8],
and bringing mechanical factor into consideration it becomes obvious that it could
be an important actor to play with prosthesis in situ following replacement surgery
and seems to have a long-term effect on sustainability of the prosthesis and as well
as the complications encountered within form of dislocation, fracture or loosening.
2 Methodology
For making an investigation regarding the location of maximum stress accumulation

we have made both experimental and computational analysis of the prosthesis and
bone assembly.
2.1 Computational Method
For the computational analysis, we have used software like MIMICS,

SOLIDWORKS-13, and ANSYS-16. Using MIMIC software we have generated
femur bone from CT SCAN of a male patient. Using MIMIC software we removed
the head of femur and in its place, solid model of femur was positioned. The whole
assembly was imported into ANSYS-16 and material properties were assigned to
bone and prosthesis as described in Table 1 [4]. A force of 500 N was applied along
the axis of neck of femur bone. The location of maximum stress was located.
The procedure for computational method is given in block diagram as follows.
Identification of Maximum Stressed Region in Hip Prosthesis 1015
Getting Femur bone

from CT
Head of femur been removed using software MIMICS

and CAD model of prosthesis is inserted into shaŌ of
femur
Entire assembly imported into

ANSYS software, FEA analysis has
been made by applying a force of
500N along the neck of prosthesis
From FEA location of maximum

stress been found out which is the
contact surface of femur and
prosthesis.
Maximum stressed zone identified
(Source of CT Scan:- IMS & SUM Hospital, Bhubaneswar)
Table 1 Material properties used in FEA

Si. no. Material property Young’s modulus Poisson ratio Yield strength (MPa)
(GPa)
1 TI-6AL-4V 110 0.32 800
(prosthesis)
2 Bone (cancellous) 2.13 0.3
3 Outer side bone 11.5 0.31
(cortical) inside
2.2 Experimental Verification
For experimental verification we have taken the help of LabVIEW-13 software,

digitizer, three pressure sensors, human prosthesis prototype, and steel pipe to work
as femur bone. We manufactured a human prosthesis by reverse engineering method
using CNC machine as shown in the figure. Three pressure sensors have been placed
along the stem, i.e., one on the top of prosthesis shaft, second on the middle, and
third at the end of the prosthesis shaft. Then three sensors were connected to Lab
view software through digitizer. Finally, prosthesis along with sensors was carefully
placed inside the steel pipe. Wheat grains were poured into the pipe and now pipe is
made compact with prosthesis along with sensors and wheat grains. An impact load
applied on the head of femur stress generated were captured by sensors and were send
to LabVIEW software through digitizer. It is surprisingly found that data collected
by sensors is same as we have got through computational method maximum stress
is at the neck of the prosthesis which gradually decreases till end of the shaft. Data
collected by sensors is stored in excel format and plotted as graphs that are shown
in the following Figs. 1, 2 and 3.
Fig. 1 Prosthesis connected to digitizer and digitizer connected to LabVIEW software

Sensor-1
Sensor-2
Sensor-3
Fig. 2 Prosthesis with pressure sensors connected to Digitizer
pressure recorded by different sensors

0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
1013
1105
1197
1289
1381
1473
1565
1657
1749
1841
1933
2025
2117
2301
2393
2485
2577
2669
2761
2853
2945
3037
3129
3221
3313
2209
185
277
369
461
553
645
737
829
921
93
1
-0.1
Sensor_1 Sensor_2 Sensor_3
Fig. 3 Experimental result of pressure readings at three points of prosthesis
From the computational method using FEA method, we found that a maximum of
575 Mpa is recorded at neck of the prosthesis when a force 500 N is applied at the head
of femur. For verification of the result we have taken the help of experimental method
and found that maximum stress occurs at boundary of prosthesis and cement at neck
of prosthesis. Here for experimental verification, we have not applied measured force
but it tallied with computational method as far as location of stress is concerned. Data
represented in the graph shows maximum stress is recorded by sensor 1 followed by

sensor 2 and sensor 3. Sensor 1 has recorded maximum stress followed by sensor 2
and sensor 3 which are located below first one. This maximum stress is responsible
for loosening of Hip Prosthesis and development of cracks at maximum stressed
zone due to high load or any metallurgical defect in production.
4 Conclusion
As the results of both computational and experimental analysis are found to be the
same, we can conclude that maximum stress generated is at the neck of hip prosthesis.
Concentration of stress progressively gets reduced along the shaft of the prosthesis.
This stress is responsible for loosening of hip prosthesis or failure of prosthesis. Thus,
there is reason to find out hip prosthesis with different structural and metallurgical
designs for which there will be a reduction in stress at neck.
References
1. Liu, K.-L., Wu, W.-T., Wang, J.-H., Ya, T.-C., Wen S.-H.: Sci. Direct 115, 786–793 (2016)
2. Pablo, S.-R., Jose, A.C.H., Javier, V.-M.: Anthroplasty Today 154–159 (2017) (Elsevier)
3. Jopathan, W., Rhys, C., Gay, M., Lee, J.: vol. 32, pp. 45–53. Elsevier (2017)
4. Zafer Senalap, A., Kayabasi, O., Kurtaran, H.: Sci. Direct Mater. Des. 28, 1577–1583 (2007)
5. Kiani Khouzani, M., Bahrami, A., Eslami, A.: Eng. Fail. Anal. 90, 168–178 (2018)
6. Alvarez-Vera, M., Garcia-Duarte, J.H., Juarez-Hernandez, A., Mercado-Solis, R.D., Castillo,
A.G., Hernandez-Rodriguez, M.A.L.: pp. 1–5. Elsevier (2013)
7. Yousif, A.E., Aziz, M.Y.: J. Eng. 2(8), 13–19 (2012). ISSN: 2250-3021
8. Oksiuta, Z., Mazurkiewicz, Z., Romanczuk, E., Andrzejewiz, M., Krawczynska, A.: Eng. Fail.
Anal. 72, 1–10 (2017)
9. Fiorentinoa, A., Zarattinib, G., Pazzagliab, U., Cerettia, E.: Sci. Direct/Procedia CIRP 5, 310–
314 (2013)
10. Sridhar, I., Adie, P.P., Ghista, D.N.: Sci. Direct Mater. Des. 31, 2767–2777 (2010)
11. Osulkar, A.A., Abuosman, N.A., Bhayat, M., Afasar, R., Berto, F.: Mater. Des. 56, 998–1008
(2014)
12. Uddin, M.S., Zhang, L.C.: Wear 301, 192–200 (2013)
13. Chauo, J., Lepos, V.: Eng. Fail. Anal. 14, 822–883 (2007)
14. Nicolella, D.P., Thacke, B.H., Katoozian, H., Davy, D.T.: J. Biomech. 1265–1278 (2006)
15. Barbour, P.S.M., Barton, D.C., Fisher, J.: Wear 181–183 (1995)
16. Li, C., Granger, C., Del Schutte Jr., H., Biggers Jr., S.B, Kennedy, J.M., Latour Jr., R.S.,
Biomaterials 23, 4249–4262 (2002) (Elsevier)
17. Dennisa, D.A., Komisteka, R.D., Northcuta, E.J., Ochoac, J.A., Ritchiec, A., J. Biomech. 34,
623–629 (2001) (Elsevier)
18. Chao, J.: J. Eng. Fail. Anal. 15, 83–89 (2008) (Elsevier)
19. Li, C., Christopher Granger, M.S., Del Chuti, H., Sherril Biggers Jr., M.D., Kennydy, J.M.,
Latour Jr., R.A.: J. Rehabil. Res. Dev. 40 (2003)
20. Fiorentinoa, A., Zarattinib, G., Pazzagliab, U., Cerettia, E.: Sci. Direct/ Procedia CIRP 5,
310–314 (2013)
21. Nuno, N., Avanzolini, G.: J. Biomech. 35, 849–852 (2002)

22. Heidri, B.S., Devachi, S.Md., Hedayati, A., Seyfi, J.: J. Mech. Behav. Biomed. Mater. 81,
95–105 (2018)
Thermal Performance of Heat Pipe
with PCM Jacket
Virendra Vishnu Bhagwat and Biplab Das
Abstract This paper reports an experimental investigation on the design of a latent

thermal energy storage system with heat pipe. The system contains a heat pipe,
parabolic trough collector, a glass container filled with phase-changing material,
etc., concentrate solar energy over the evaporator section of the heat pipe with the
help of parabolic trough collector (PTC) and the flow of energy to the condenser
section which surrounds by phase-changing material. The water flows at particular
mass flow rate over the condenser section of the heat pipe; the stored energy can be
utilized at the end of the evaporator section. Experiments were performed on sunny
days of February and March under standard test conditions. Results show that during
high solar radiation, thermal energy storage system stores thermal energy effectively.
The instantaneous efficiency of the heat pipe at different times of the day is found,
and the maximum efficiency of 50.35% is observed.
Keywords Heat pipe · Parabolic trough collector · Concentrated solar power ·

Latent heat thermal energy storage
Nomenclature
Qu Useful heat gain (W)

Qw Heat transferred to water (W)
τα Absorptance–transmittance product
Ac Collector effective area (m2 )
Cp Specific heat of coolant (J/kg K)
It Total solar radiation intensity (W/m2 )
S Incident solar flux absorbed
V. V. Bhagwat (B) · B. Das

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Silchar, Silchar, Assam
788010, India
e-mail: bhagwatvirendra@gmail.com

1022 V. V. Bhagwat and B. Das
FR Heat removal factor

UL Overall heat loss coefficient (W/m2 K)
T Temperature (°C)
m Mass of water (kg)
Subscripts
i Inlet
o Outlet
a Ambient
TES Thermal energy storage
hp Heat pipe
1 Introduction
The increase in the development and population of the various state conversion, stor-
age and utilization of solar energy is the most important topic at this time. Solar
energy recovery and solar energy efficiency became a significant issue on the global
stage. To overcome such issues, thermal energy storage and various concentrating
techniques are becoming more popular. The application of seasonal thermal energy
storage has its own difficulties. Thermal energy storage (TES) allows for the storage
of thermal energy (both hot and cold) for later utilization. TES may be separated into
(i) sensible heat TES (SHTES) exhibited by a change in temperature, (ii) latent heat
TES (LHTES) by means of changing phase, (iii) chemical TES through endothermic
and exothermic reactions associated with the breaking of bonds between molecules,
and (iv) sorption processes where energy is stored through van der Waals forces. Since
thermal energy is present in most systems, LHTES has numerous potential applica-
tions. The key feature of any LHTES system is its PCM (phase-change material),
which stores and releases thermal energy by means of latent heat. While solid–liquid
PCMs are most common due to their higher latent heats, solid–solid PCMs have a
unique advantage of negligible volume expansion between solid crystalline structures
along with the elimination of leaks. Some advantages of the PCM include high latent
heats, low volume changes upon melting, no phase segregation, low vapour pressure,
long lifetime of thermal cycling, etc. They are chemically inert, safe, and reliable,
have negligible subcooling, have well-established properties and are relatively inex-
pensive and easily obtainable. The issues associated with a low energy density of
solar energy can be overpowered by using various concentrating methods. Utilization
of the concentrated solar power (CSP) for enhancing the efficiency of the system by
concentrating the solar radiation over a small area. CSP systems associated with TES
system can reduce solar power intermittency during the day time and uphold power
Thermal Performance of Heat Pipe with PCM Jacket 1023
output for some hours in the night time. Desideri et al. made a comparison between
concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) and CSP. Author’s comparison was made between
the two systems having similar area and supplied power. The results show that at
the initial stage, the energy received from CPV is very high as compared to CSP
but as time decreases, the power generation also decreases. CSP results indicate that
there is consistent power generation throughout the day [1]. Li et al. experimentally
compared a heat pipe-assisted LHTES with a fin-assisted latent heat storage unit and
non-fin non-HP-assisted LHTES units. This research shows that about 60% increase
is noted in melting rate, and during solidification, twice the energy is transferred
between PCM and HTF when a heat pipe is employed [2]. Almsater et al. compared
the heat transfer enhancement by employing bare and axially finned heat pipes in
their numerical analysis. They concluded that by using four axial fins over heat pipe,
there are a 106% increase in thermal energy storage while charging process and a
79% increase in discharged energy [3]. Shabgard et al. investigated numerically a
HP-assisted LHTES unit in which they prepared two systems: one with PCM sur-
rounding an HTF (heat transfer fluid) flowing tube and one with the PCM within the
tube. This report shows enhancement in both solidification and melting rates [4]. A
numerical investigation was carried out by Yang et al. on the annular fins fitted upon
latent heat storage system. The phase-change material was chosen to be of paraffin
of commercial grade, in which water acted as the heat transfer fluid. Numerical sim-
ulation was performed on the basis of finite-volume method so as to investigate the
effect of fin number, thickness and height on the phase-change process. The results
showed that by using annular fins, melting time could be reduced to 65%. The paper
finally concluded that in order to stimulate the phase-change process and solid–liquid
phase interface, natural convection might have occurred in the melting phase. Also
by using fins, melting process can be effectively enhanced [5].
Talmatsky and Kribus after conducting the experiment concluded that the outcome
of the solar water heater system along with PCM cylinders in the thermal energy
storage tank will not turn out to be an effective one being very reactive to the PCM
parameters which may further tend towards the failure of the system. Solar water
heater PCM systems are beneficial under specific conditions such as type of the PCM,
configuration of the system, method for charging/discharging and styles including
the end user demand [6]. Saman et al. performed and created a 2D mathematical
modelling during the charging and discharging period of the PCM [7]. Fath concluded
and performed experiment on solar air collector having inbuilt LHTES with different
working melting temperatures and suggested that temperature between 43 and 51 °C
would yield the best result [8]. Hanc et al. concluded that heat pipe with steam
temperature and same working medium will tend to decrease with time and gas flow.
But when different working mediums are considered with the heat pipe placed nearer
to each other, the inner team temperature of the heat pipe keeps on fluctuating [9]. Asis
et al. provide information of induced natural convection velocity, overall condensing
Nusselt number in form of correlations and overall sensible Nusselt number which
will be useful in practice [10].
2 Heat Pipe
Figure 1 shows the first device which was nearest to the present HP and was licensed
by Jacob Perkins (1836). It was a fixed chamber containing a little measure of water
working as a two-phase thermosyphon. Later in 1944, the transfer of heat was done
from the inside of a refrigerator to lower pot loaded up with pounded ice. This
device was fundamentally the same as the advanced HP; that is, the liquid filled in
the tube absorbs heat at one place and changes it to a vapour. The vapour travels
towards the condenser section and discharges its latent heat to the smashed ice pot.
The fluid at that point heads out back to the highest point of the tube through a
capillary structure to restart the process. The real advancement of HPs occurred
in 1964 when Grover (1966) manufactured and experimentally tested a few HP
models. They initially utilized water as working liquid and later utilized sodium as
high-temperature working fluid. From that point forward, a few new HP designs and
applications have developed [11].
2.1 Components of Heat Pipe
Sealed structure partly filled up with a working liquid. HPs are present in any size
or shape; yet round and hollow HPs are the most widely recognized ones. Figure 1
demonstrates an ordinary heat pipe. It comprises a sealed cavity (end caps and pipe
wall), a wick structure and a working liquid (10–25% of the inside volume). The
desired working temperature range recognizes a suitable working liquid. For instance,
acetone is utilized for a temperature range of 0–110 °C, water is for a temperature
range of 30–200 °C, sodium for a range of 600–1000 °C and methanol for a range of
10–120 °C. Generally, it consists of three major parts such as the evaporator, adiabatic
part and condenser. Moreover, working fluid is being circulated in the liquid and the
vapour phases inside the HP. When a heat source influences the evaporator part,
Fig. 1 Working of heat pipe [11]

working fluid evaporates by absorbing heat energy, and it creates vapour pressure
in vapour core. Due to the developed pressure gradient, the vapour of working fluid
travels to the condenser end through the vapour core. At condenser end, the vapour
condenses back to the liquid phase.
There is a permeable wick structure at the inward fringe of the HP which absorbs
this liquid and carries the liquid back to the evaporator end with the help of capillary
action. Here heat transfer totally depends on evaporation–condensation phenomena
and no dependence of material conduction [12].
The useful energy gain of the system is expressed as [13]
Q u = Ac FR [S − U L (Ti − Ta )] (1)
where S = I T * (τ α).
The useful energy gain of the TES system is the summation of heat transfer to the
water flowing through the collector (Qw ), i.e.
Qu = Qw + QT E S (2)
where the heat transferred to water (Qw ) is calculated from
Q w = mC p (To − Ti ) (3)
A negative value of QTES signifies that water was gained energy (Qw ) that is higher
than the total gain of the system (Qw > Qu ); this takes place at low sunshine hours.
The difference must have been substituted by the energy transferred from the thermal
energy storage. The material used in the TES unit is of two types. When PCM was not
charged, the presence of air was observed in the TES unit which acted as a reservoir
and the energy absorbed by the air in the TES unit Qair = QTES .
When paraffin wax as PCM was charged in the TES unit, it acted as a reservoir.
Energy absorbed by the TES unit Qwax = QTES .
For low-temperature LHTES and solar application, paraffin wax is used as the PCM
whose melting temperature is in the range of 57–61 °C. Paraffin Wax is selected as
a PCM because it is stable, non-corrosive and non-toxic and can be used again and
again. This material is widely used as an experimental, low-temperature PCM. The
thermal properties PCM are listed in. Paraffin wax has been filled within PCM jacket.
Fig. 2 Experimental setup layout
1 2
Fig. 3 Final experimental setup, contain or of PCM without and with insulation
This jacket is closed from one end and also has flanges both sides to give support to
the acrylic heat pipe for air-tight packing the enclosure openings. The bottom plate
is having a hole drilled of 18 mm diameter for the heat pipe. A small gap is there
over PCM to allow to expand.
Thermocouples can be placed at different locations in the PCM jacket at a specified
distance from the wall the PCM jacket and heat pipe surface (Figs. 2 and 3).
Setup Dimensions:
Parabolic trough collector: Heat pipe: Container for PCM:

Length = 600 mm Container = copper Material of container is glass
Width = 200 mm Working fluid = distal water The container length =
Receiver area = (600 * 200) Mesh type = metallic screen 200 mm
mm2 Mesh material = copper Width = 50 mm
Evaporator section length = Height = 50 mm
600 mm
Condenser section length =
200 mm
Diameter of heat pipe =
16 mm
Fabrication: Different components have been fabricated for the experimental setup
which include container of the condenser section, heat pipe and parabolic trough
collector. The material chosen for HP is copper tubes due to its high thermal conduc-
tivity. PTC is fabricated, and the material used for PTC is aluminium. The storage
tank for PCM material is fabricated, and the material used for this container is glass. A
wood stand also fabricated. The container is filled with wax which has been selected
because of its melting temperature range.
Figure 4 shows the yearly variation of solar radiation and the ambient temperature of
the surrounding. The maximum solar radiation is obtained in the months of March,
April, and May 2018. Figure 5 shows the variation of the useful gain of the system,
flux of power gain, total radiations and flux of power gain of water with time. The
35 450
Solar radraƟon intensity (W/m 2)
30 400
Temperature ( 0 C)
25 350
20 300
15 250
Amb Temp Solar Rad
10 200
1 3 5 7 9 11
Months
Fig. 4 Yearly variation in solar radiation and ambient temperature at Silchar, India
800
It Qu Qw Qwax
Solar radraƟon intensity (W/m 2 )
600
400
200
0
8
9
8.3
9.3
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
10.3
11.3
12.3
13.3
14.3
15.3
16.3
17.3
18.3
-200
Time of day (hours)
Fig. 5 Time variation of energy rate for collector with TES unit at 33.53° tilt angle
solar radiation absorbed by the heat pipe using the PTC increases the temperature
of the system. Throughout primary time in the melting process, PCM absorbs the
thermal energy in the form of sensible heat. Utilizing this thermal energy, the PCM
temperature increases gradually to the melting temperature.
The charging process starts once the condenser surface temperature goes higher
than the ambient PCM temperature. Before melting starts, heat transfer is by pure
conduction, and the PCM temperature increases approximately linearly. The tem-
perature of the PCM surrounding the heat pipe condenser section rises very quickly
because of PCM’s low thermal conductivity.
However, when the PCM attains melting temperature and change of phase starts
in PCM, then the rising PCM temperature becomes approximately constant. During
the phase change, energy in PCM is stored in the form of latent heat, and heat
transmitted to its neighbouring layer is the same as heat absorbed by the phase-change
interface. Due to this phenomenon, different temperature variation trends are seen
at different radial locations inside PCM. During the phase change, it was observed
that in heat transfer, convection currents play an important role in comparison to
conduction due to the existence of density gradients within the PCM. As the charging
continues, the conduction heat transfer mechanism becomes negligible. In order to
record the temperature at different radial locations inside PCM, four thermocouples
were inserted into PCM at different locations in which one thermocouple is at heat
pipe condenser surface. To measure temperature along the length of the heat pipe
evaporator section, two thermocouples were fixed on the heat pipe surface. The
variation in the heat pipe wall temperature, charging curves and discharging curves
at different radial locations in PCM can be seen in the following figures. Typical
experimental data discussed here were obtained in a typical climate of Silchar, Assam,
India.
This process takes place at around hour 15:30 on a clear April day. The negative
sign for Qwax in these figures indicates the direction of heat flow from the PCM to
the water in the water jacket through heat pipe.
Figure 6 shows the variation in the temperature of the heat pipe (T hp ) and temper-
ature of the thermal energy storage unit. Similar trends for both angles are noticed
for the clear days of April.
However, the heat pipe temperature is found to be greater than the wax temperature
during sunshine hours, and as solar radiation decreases, the temperature of the heat
pipe is found to be decreasing, and also the wax temperature is gradually decreasing.
It indicates that the storage capacity of the system is good.
Figure 7 indicates the charging of the TES unit with respect to time. The various
thermocouples are placed in the TES unit, i.e. T1 , T2 , T3 , and T4 , at different locations
as shown in Fig. 2. Thermocouples T2 and T3 are placed near the heat pipe inside
the TES unit. The rate of melting of PCM near the heat pipe is faster than the PCM
near the boundary of the TES unit.
Figure 8 indicates the discharging rate of PCM with respect to time. The PCM
temperature keeps on decreasing during discharging at the T2 location. The maximum
95
85
Temperature (0 C)
75
65
55
45
35 Ttes Thp
25
8
8.3
9
9.3
10
10.3
11
11.3
12
12.3
13
13.3
14
14.3
15
15.3
16
16.3
17
17.3
18
Time of day (hours)
Fig. 6 Variation in the temperature of TES unit and temperature
70
T3 T4 T1 T2
60
Temperature (0C)
50
40
30
20
8
9
8.3
9.3
10
11
12
13
14
15
10.3
11.3
12.3
13.3
14.3
Time of day (hours)
Fig. 7 Charging rate of TES unit and temperature at T1 , T2 , T3 and T4 location

70
65 T1 T2 T3 T4
Temperature (0 C)
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
15
16
17
18
15.3
16.3
17.3
Time of day (hours)
Fig. 8 Discharging rate of TES unit and temperature at T1 , T2 , T3 and T4 location
temperature is observed at 3:00 PM while the minimum temperature is observed at

6:00 PM.
The instantaneous efficiency of the heat pipe is calculated by the following for-
mula, and the graph is plotted at different times: Instantaneous efficiency = (The
heat absorbed by the HP)/(Heat energy incident on the PTC). Figure 9 shows the
instantaneous efficiency of HP at different times, and the maximum efficiency is
50.35%: Efficiency of the System = (Heat absorbed by thermal PCM)/(Total heat
energy incident on solar collector). The thermal resistance of the HP changes with
change in thermal power.
60
Instantaneous eĸciency
50
40
30
20
Eĸciency
10
0
8
8.3
9
9.3
10
11
12
14
15
16
18
10.3
11.3
12.3
13
13.3
14.3
15.3
16.3
17
17.3
Time of day (hours)
Fig. 9 Instantaneous efficiency of heat pipe

Table 1 Uncertainties in measured parameters

S. no. Parameter Range Instrument used Accuracy % Uncertainty
1 Discharge 1–10 LPH Rotameter 0.1 LPH ±0.1
2 Temperature 0–100 °C Thermocouple 0.1 °C ±0.1
3 Solar intensity 0–2000 W/m2 Pyranometer 1 W/m2 ±1
6 Uncertainty in Measured Parameters
There are various indispensable errors which occur while doing measurements, and
the experimental results also depend on uncertainties with the measuring instruments.
Uncertainty in different measured parameters is summarized in Table 1. Uncertainty
because of the instrument could be equal to half the least count (LC) of the instrument.
However, in general, uncertainty in measurements is taken equal to the least count
of the instrument to ensure the mean of the repeated measurements to lie within the
uncertainty envelope.
7 Conclusions
In this study, a new PCM-assisted heat pipe system has been introduced to improve
the solar water heating system process. The heat absorption by the phase-changing
material took place at phase-change temperature 60 °C; hence, the temperature of the
system did not increase dramatically beyond this temperature. Maximum temperature
of the PCM is obtained to be 62 °C. However, the achieved temperature is not that
high to use for domestic purpose; this may be due to the smaller size of the TES unit.
The maximum instantaneous efficiency of the heat pipe is found to be 51.20%.
Acknowledgements The fund received from DST sponsored project is sincerely acknowledged.
The project sanction number is EEQ/2016/000796.
References
1. Desideri, U., Zepparelli, F., Morettini, V., Garroni, E.: Comparative analysis of concentrating
solar power and photovoltaic technologies. Tech. Environ. Eval. Appl. Energy 102, 765–784
(2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.08.033
2. Robak, C.W., Bergman, T.L., Faghri, A.: Enhancement of latent heat energy storage using
embedded heat pipes. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 54(15–16), 3476–3484 (2011)
3. Almsater, S., Saman, W., Bruno, F.: Numerical investigation of PCM in vertical triplex tube
thermal energy storage system for CSP applications. In: AIP Conference Proceedings 1850,
080001. AIP Publishing (2017)
4. Shabgard, H., Faghri, A., Bergman, T.L., Andraka, C.E.: Numerical simulation of heat pipe-
assisted latent heat thermal energy storage unit for dish-stirling systems. J. Sol. Energy Eng.
136, 021025 (2014)
5. Yang, X., Zhao, L., Bai, Q.: Thermal performance of a shell-and-tube latent heat thermal energy
storage unit: role of annular fins. Appl. Energy 202, 558–570 (2017)
6. Kabbara, M.J., BenAbdallah, N.: Experimental investigation on phase change material based
thermal energy storage unit. Solar Energy 82, 861–869 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.
2013.06.092
7. Saman, W., Bruno, F., Halawa, E.: Thermal performance of PCM thermal storage unit for a
roof integrated solar heating system. Sol. Energy 78, 341–349 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.solener.2004.08.017
8. Fath, H.: Transient analysis of thermosyphon solar air heater with built-in latent heat ther-
mal energy storage system. Renew. Energy 6, 119–124 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1016/0960-
1481(94)00050-G
9. Asis, G., Bhuiyan, D., Biplab, D.: A study of mixed convection heat transfer with condensation
from a parallel plate channel. Int. J. Thermal Sci. 98, 165–178 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.ijthermalsci.2015.07.012
10. Reay, D., McGlen, R., Kew, P.: Heat Pipes, 6th edn. UK (2004)
11. Amir, A., Jeremy, M., Hussam, J.: An investigation into the use of the heat pipe technology in
thermal energy storage heat exchangers. Energy 136, 163–172 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.energy.2016.02.089
12. Roonak, D., Abdellah, S.: Theoretical and experimental analysis of thermal performance of a
solar water heating system with evacuated tube heat pipe collector. Appl. Thermal Eng. 103,
1219–1227 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.05.034
13. Asis, G., Pathak, K.K., Biplab, D.: A computational study of mixed convective heat and mass
transfer from a shrouded vertical non-isothermal fin array during dehumidification process. Int.
J. Heat Mass Transf. 91, 264–281 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2015.
07.079
New Approach for Determining Fin
Performances of an Annular Disc Fin
with Internal Heat Generation
Tanmoy Majhi and Balaram Kundu
Abstract In the present paper, a new analytical model based on the Frobenius power
series is developed for the thermal analysis of an annular disc fin. The temperature
distribution in fins has been determined with the help of an infinite Frobenius power
series. A linear variation of temperature-dependent internal volumetric heat gen-
eration inside the fin has been taken into account. The fin performances have been
evaluated over a wide range of thermo-geometric parameters. From the results, it can
be highlighted that the maximum fin performances have been achieved at a particular
value of thermo-geometric parameter for the internal heat generation which can be
the practical design condition to operate a fin for enhancing more heat transfer rate.
Keywords Annular fin · Temperature-dependent internal heat generation ·

Frobenius method · Thermal analysis · Maximum efficiency
1 Introduction
Avoiding overheating and increasing the life span of components of various thermal
applications, fins are used. It is an extended surface equipped on the component to
enhancing the heat transfer rate from the thermal system to the surrounding environ-
ment. In the design and construction of various types of heat transfer equipment and
components such as air conditioners, refrigerators, superheaters, automobiles, power
plants, heat exchangers, convectional furnaces, economizers, gas turbines, chemical
processing equipments, oil-carrying pipelines, computer processors, electrical chips,
etc., fins are used to enhance the flow of heat between a source (primary surface) and
sink. Apart from various types of fins with different geometries used, annular disc fin
is widely applied in cylindrical heat transfer equipment due to its ease of design and
fabrication. The internal heat generation can be considered temperature-dependent
which is very realistic for the fins as applied on electric current-carrying conductor,
nuclear rods exposing to gamma rays or any other heat-generating components of
thermal systems.
T. Majhi · B. Kundu (B)

Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
1034 T. Majhi and B. Kundu
Over the years, fin heat transfer analysis was carried out based on the demand
and many researchers have worked on the effects of internal heat generation in fins.
Kern et al. [1] had given the very basic facts of the fin technology. A general analysis
was carried out for arbitrary fin profile with coordinate dependent internal heat gen-
eration, thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficient by Melese and Willkins
[2]. The heat generation density in the straight and circular fins is proportional to
the temperature which was studied by Liu [3]. The expressions of optimum profiles
for straight and circular fins, with variable thermal conductivity and arbitrary heat
generation per unit width of the fin had been derived by Ahmadi and Razani [4].
Aziz et al. [5] studied a uniformly thick radial fin with convective heating at the base
and convective-radiative cooling at the tip for homogeneous and functionally graded
materials, with internal heat generation.
Kundu and Das [6] provided an analytical solution of performance and its opti-
mum dimensions of eccentric annular disc fins based on the methods of collocation.
Thermal performance of circular convective-radiative porous fins for various pro-
files with different materials had been analysed by Hatami and Ganji [7]. Under
dehumidifying conditions, Kundu [8] had provided an analytical solution of thermal
performance and optimum dimensions of concentric annular disc fins.
A generalized methodology had been adopted by Kundu and Das [9] to evalu-
ate the optimum design parameter of thin fins considering uniform volumetric heat
generation. A genetic algorithm for fin profile optimization was proposed by Fabbri
[10]. He also determined the optimum design parameter under convective condition.
Kundu and Lee [11] obtained a smallest envelope fin shape for wet fins with the
nonlinear mode of surface transport using the calculus of variation analysis. Hanin
and Campo [12] presented an analysis based on the minimum volume of straight
profile which gives a circular fin as an optimum shape for a given amount of heat
transfer per unit width.
Minkler and Rouleau [13] had evaluated the temperature profile as well as the
optimum fin parameters analytically for a convective fin under uniform internal heat
generation. Based on the economic point of view, Kundu and Das [14] established a
modified geometry of annular fin of constant thickness to step change in thickness.
The solution had been obtained using Bessel function.
All the above analyses were concerned with annular fin which is constant or vari-
able thickness. However, it is very easy to fabricate the constant thickness compared
to a variable one. The research has been made on annular fins for various method
and assuming different thermal properties. Some of the literature assumed constant
internal heat generation and few of them considered it for temperature-dependent.
The assumption of temperature-dependent heat generation is very closer to an actual
case to study. In addition, no exact analysis has been presented to determine heat
transfer in annular fins based on the above design condition.
Both economic consideration and ease in fabrication of annular disc fin have
been considered to study the thermal performance in the present work. Convective
heat transfer process is considered at the fin surface. The internal heat generation
is assumed to be linearly dependent on temperature. The Frobenius power series
New Approach for Determining Fin Performances … 1035
expansion approach has been used to solve the governing equation for the temperature
in fins analytically. The present analysis is validated with the numerical values.
It is assumed that the annular fin has constant thickness 2t, and inner and outer radii
are r1 and r2 , respectively as shown in Fig. 1. The thermal conductivity (k) and heat
transfer coefficient (h) are assumed to be constant. The heat generation is a linear
function of temperature. The steady-state analysis on energy balance of the annular
fin provides the governing differential equation as

d dT q r hr
r + = (T − T∞ ) (1)
dr dR k kt
The problem is considered for the annular fin has a constant base temperature
with convected tip fin. According to this consideration, the boundary conditions for
the analysis can be written mathematically as follows:
at r = r1 ; T = Tb (2a)
at r = r2 ; −k dT /dr = h t (T − T∞ ) (2b)
where Tb is defined as base temperature. Equation (1) has the term volumetric heat
generation which is considered linearly temperature-dependent as
q = q0 [1 + α(T − T∞ )] (3)

of annular fin
Substituting Eq. (3) into Eq. (1) and choosing appropriate non-dimensionless
parameters, Eq. (1) can be expressed in dimensionless form as

d dθ
R + Q 0 R(1 + βθ ) = Z 02 Rθ (4)
dR dR
where

r T − T∞ q0 r22 Bi
R = ;θ = ; Q0 = ; β = α(Tb − T∞ ); Z 0 = (5)
r2 Tb − T∞ k(Tb − T∞ ) ψ2
The convenient boundary conditions are expressed in dimensionless form as
at R = R1 , θ = 1 (6a)
dθ
and at R = 1, = −Bi t θ (6b)
dR
The non-dimensionalized governing differential Eq. (4) is transformed into a
homogeneous equation so the solution can be determined by the approach of Frobe-
nius expansion series:
d2 φ dφ
R + − Z 12 Rφ = 0 (7)
dR 2 dR
where

Q0β Q 0 /Z 02
Z 12 = Z 02 1 − 2 ; φ = θ − (8)
Z0 1 − Q 0 β/Z 02
For the newly transformed homogeneous governing Eq. (7), boundary conditions
change to
at R = R1 , φ = φ0 (9a)
dφ
at R = 1; = −Bi t (φ + φ0 − 1) (9b)
dR
where
Q 0 /Z 02
φ0 = 1 − (10)
1 − Q 0 β/Z 02
The transformed governing linear homogeneous differential Eq. (7) is solved

approximate semi-analytically by the approach of Frobenius power series. According
to the explanation of Frobenius power series, the temperature can be expressed as

∞

φ= an R n+s (11)
n=0
Combining Eqs. (7) and (11) yields the following equation:
∞
∞
∞

an (n + s)(n + s − 1)R n+s−1 + an (n + s)R n+s−1 − Z 12 an−2 R n+s−1 = 0
n=0 n=0 n=2
(12)
where the coefficient of the series an can be expressed as a function of a0 and a1 ,

for n ≥ 2. It is evaluated for n = 0 when the value of s = 0, 0. Considering these
values of s all the coefficients are calculated. For n = 0 and 1, a0 and a1 are evaluated
from Eq. (12) where a0 = 0 and a1 = 0. For n ≥ 2 the value of an is calculated in
dimensionless as
an Z 12
An = = An−2 (13)
a0 (n + s)2
As the two roots are equal (s = 0, 0), the solution of Eq. (12) by the Frobenius
method yields
∞
∞
d
φ = C1 An R + C 2
n
An R n+s
(14)
n=0
ds n=0
s=0
where C1 and C2 are constants to be determined by boundary conditions. Progressing

further calculation it arrives to
∞
∞ ∞

φ = C1 An R + C 2
n
Cn R +
n n
An R ln R (15)
n=0 n=0 n=0
where
2Z 12 Z2
Cn = − 3
An−2 + 21 Cn−2 (16)
n n
So the values of Cn can be calculated as the values of An evaluated earlier. Now
using Eqs. (9a) and (9b), the values of C1 and C2 are evaluated from Eq. (15). The
final mathematical expression of non-dimensional temperature is obtained as
L p + K M p − K Pm − N m
φ/φ 0 = (17)
PL − N M
where
∞ ∞ ∞
Bit (1 − φ0 )
K = ;L = nCn + An + Bit Cn ;
φ0 n=0 n=0 n=0
∞ ∞
∞ ∞

N= n An + Bit An ; m = Cn R n + An R n ln R ;
n=0 n=0 n=0 n=0
∞ ∞

M = m| R1 = Cn R1n + An R1n ln R1 ;
n=0 n=0
∞
∞

p= An R n ; P = p| R1 = An R1n (18)
n=0 n=0
It may be noted that in order to determine the fin efficiency, the ideal heat transfer
rate is calculated after determining the maximum temperature from Eq. (17). This
temperature may not be equal to the base temperature as the internal heat is generated
inside the fin. After that, fin efficiency η and fin effectiveness ε have been evaluated.
For the validation, the present analysis has been compared with the numerical values.
The finite difference method was employed to obtain the numerical results for the fin
temperature. The Taylor series central difference scheme was used to discretize the
differential terms in order to make difference equations. These difference equations
have been solved by the Gauss–Seidel iterative method. The grind-independent test
was also done by changing the total grid points. Finally, the temperature has been
determined with 101 nodal points by satisfying the necessary convergence criterion
(in the present case 10−5 ).
Considering no internal heat generation for the insulated tip, the non-dimensional
temperature distribution along the radial direction for a given fin parameter Z 0 has
been depicted in Fig. 2. The value of Z 0 is considered very small as shown in Fig. 2a
when the fin temperature remains constant throughout the radius. It is an ideal case.
The proposed analysis gives the same result as depicted by a continuous line in Fig. 2a.
Non-dimensional temperature distribution for a practical case shows a decreasing of
radial temperature with Z 0 = 2 as shown in Fig. 2b. The analytical present approach
gives a very closer result with the numerical one.
Figure 3 has been plotted when the internal heat generation has been considered
for finding out the non-dimensional temperature distribution. From this figure, for
the insulated tip, the temperature at any radius of the annular fin is always higher
than the convected tip fin. The heat dissipation from a fin with the convected tip
is at a higher rate due to an extra heat transferring through the tip surface instead
Fig. 2 Validation of the proposed analysis with a numerical analysis based on the finite difference
method
Fig. 3 Temperature distribution in an annular disc fin with internal heat generation determined by
proposed analysis and numerical method
Fig. 4 Effect of internal heat

generation on temperature
distribution
of the insulated tip. The temperature at the base is the same for both the cases and
the difference of non-dimensional temperature increases gradually along the radial
direction. This result has been predicted by the finite difference method also and a
good agreement of results has been found.
Now the internal heat generation is increasing gradually for the insulated tip fin
which is depicted in Fig. 4. This case may be a practical case where Z 0 has been
taken 2. It is obvious that the fin temperature decreases gradually towards the tip for
the low value of internal heat generation. As the value of internal heat generation
has been increased gradually, keeping other parameters same, it has been seen from
this figure that the temperature of the fin increases. At a particular amount of heat
generation, the temperature remains constant with the base temperature along the fin.
As the value of non-dimensional internal heat generation increases from the value of
4, the non-dimensional temperature increases from base to tip. This trend may be due
to the rate of internal heat generation getting higher than the rate of heat dissipation.
The efficiency and effectiveness of the annular fin with the insulated tip have been
depicted in Fig. 5. Both the efficiency and effectiveness curves have been drawn with
varying Biot number. At the condition of Biot number is zero, for no internal heat
generation the efficiency is maximum due to low conductive resistance for heat flow.
This condition allows the highest fin efficiency with 100%. Efficiency decrease as the
Biot number increases [15]. With heat generation, there is an optimum Bi at which
the fin efficiency becomes a maximum as depicted in Fig. 5a. Effectiveness curves
have been drawn keeping the other parameters same as shown in Fig. 5b. It shows
an opposite behaviour of efficiency curve in Fig. 5b. Effectiveness increases with
increasing of internal heat generation and decreases as the Biot number increases.
Here both the efficiency and effectiveness have been plotted for the convected
tip fin as displayed in Fig. 6. Keeping other parameters same, the non-dimensional
Fig. 5 Fin performance as a function of Biot number and internal heat generation for insulated tip
condition
Fig. 6 Fin performance as a function of Biot number and internal heat generation for convected
tip condition, Bit = 0.2
internal heat generation is taken from 0 to 5. In convected tip fin, the temperature
distribution is shown in Fig. 3. As the temperature variation in convected tip fin along
the radial direction is more compared to the insulated tip fin, the efficiency drops.
Unlike insulated tip fin, Biot number range for maximum efficiency gradually
increases with the internal heat generation. This is an interesting observation found.
The effectiveness value enhances for convected tip significantly for internal heat
generation as depicted in Fig. 6b. Therefore, it is suggested to analyse fin heat transfer
based on the convected tip if internal heat generation is present.
4 Conclusion
Using the analytical methodology ‘Frobenius expanding series’ for the thermal anal-
ysis of the annular fin with constant thickness has been developed. It is assumed a
case of variable internal heat generation. The solution has been provided analytically
for the fin temperature distribution which gives an intense interest to determine fin
performances.
The thermal performance has been studied over radius ratio, Biot number and
internal heat generation parameters. It is analysed for insulated tip fin as well as
convected tip fin. The internal heat generation has great influence on the fin perfor-
mance. The effectiveness and efficiency of convected tip fin at low Biot number were
obtained a very high value under the heat generation condition. Finally, the analysis
has been demonstrated to establish an optimum design condition which provides the
maximum efficiency subject to the internal heat generation.
References
1. Kraus, A.D., Aziz, A., Welty, J.R.: Extended Surface Heat Transfer. Wiley (2001)
2. Melese, G.B., Wilkins, J.E.: In: Proceeding of Third International Heat Transfer Conference,
vol. III9A.I.Ch.E., pp. 272–280. New York (1966)
3. Liu, C.Y.: Quart. Appl. Math. XIX 930 919610, pp. 245–251
4. Ahmadi, G., Razani, A.: On optimization of circular fins with heat generation. J. Frankl. Inst.
303(2), 211–218 (1977)
5. Aziz, A., Torabi, M., Zhang, K.: Convective-radiative radial fins with convective base heating
and convective-radiative tip cooling: homogeneous and functionally graded materials. Energy
Convers. Manag. 74, 366–376 (2013)
6. Kundu, B., Das, P.K.: Performance analysis and optimization of eccentric annular disc fins. J.
Heat Transf. Trans. ASME 105(1), 128–135 (1999)
7. Hatami, M., Ganji, D.D.: Thermal performance of circular convective-radiative porous fins
with different section shapes and materials. Energy Convers. Manag. 76, 185–193 (2013)
8. Kundu, B.: Analysis of thermal performance and optimization of concentric circular fins under
dehumidifying conditions. Int. J. Heat Mass Trans. 52(11–12), 2646–2659 (2009)
9. Kundu, B., Das, P.K.: Optimum profile of thin fins with volumetric heat generation: a unified
approach. J. Heat Transf. 127(8), 945–948 (2005)
10. Fabbri, G.: Optimum performance of longitudinal convective fins with symmetrical and asym-
metrical profiles. Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow 20(6), 634–641 (1999)
11. Kundu, B., Lee, K.S.: A novel analysis for calculating the smallest envelope shape of wet fins
with a nonlinear mode of surface transport. Energy 44(1), 527–543 (2012)
12. Hanin, L., Campo, A.: New minimum volume straight cooling fin taking into account the length
of arc. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 46(26), 5145–5152 (2003)
13. Minkler, W.S., Rouleau, W.T.: The effects of internal heat generation on heat transfer in thin
fins. Nucl. Sci. Eng. 7, 400–406 (1960)
14. Kundu, B., Das, P.K.: Performance analysis and optimization of annular fin with a step change
in thickness. J. Heat Transf. Trans. ASME 123(3), 601–604 (2001)
15. Kundu, B., Lee, K.S.: Exact analysis for minimum shape of porous fins under convection and
radiation heat exchange with surrounding. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 81, 439–448 (2015)
CFD-Based Study on Thermal and Fluid
Flow Dynamics Due to Miller Teeth
Shaped Ribs Over Absorber Plate
of Solar Air Collector
P. J. Bezbaruah, R. S. Das and Bikash Kumar Sarkar
Abstract Artificial roughness over absorber plate is proven to be a successful tech-

nique to enhance the thermal performance of a solar air collector. In the present com-
putational study, a unique shape of repeated rib similar to the shape of miller teeth is
considered as artificial roughness over absorber plate to augment thermal efficiency
of a solar air collector. In order to assess the overall efficiency, thermo-hydraulic
performance factor at different operating parameters is analysed which considers
thermal as well as hydraulic performance. Simulation is done using ANSYS FLU-
ENT (ver. 18.1) and is encompassed with Reynolds number range of 3800–18000,
relative pitch ratio (P/e) of 7.14–35.7 and relative roughness height (e/D) of 0.021–
0.042. The effect of different roughness height and roughness pitch of miller teeth
shaped rib on the heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics of a solar air collector
is analysed and detail justification is given using different contours derived.
Keywords CFD · Artificial roughness · Thermo-hydraulic performance parameter
Nomenclature
D hydraulic diameter, m
E eccentricity, m
F friction factor
H heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 K
K thermal conductivity of air, W/mK
Nu Nusselt number, (hD/k)
P Pitch, m
Pr Prandtl number
Re Reynolds number, (ρuD/μ)
T Temperature, K
P. J. Bezbaruah (B) · R. S. Das · B. K. Sarkar

e-mail: bezbaruahparag@nitm.ac.in

1046 P. J. Bezbaruah et al.
Subscript and Greek letters
i vector in x-direction
j vector in y-direction
s smooth
u air flow velocity in x-direction, m/s
x,y coordinates
ρ air density, kg/m3
μ dynamic viscosity, Ns/m2
τ molecular thermal diffusivity
τt turbulent thermal diffusivity
1 Introduction
With the increase in pace of development, conventional fuels are consumed hastily.
Renewable energy is considered to be the future fuel of development. Solar air heater
is one such device that contributes in harnessing the abundant solar energy and has
been used since time immemorial. Because of its wide range of application, it has
been a topic of research until today. Research on solar air heater is mainly focussed on
improving its overall efficiency by incorporating different types of roughness on the
absorber plate. Artificial roughness in the airflow path creates turbulence in the fluid
stream resulting in enhancement of thermal performance in expense of pressure loss.
Based on the size of roughness elements, the overall physics behind the enhancement
of thermal performance changes. Higher size of roughness elements creates a macro-
fluid displacement in the direction perpendicular to fluid flow, whereas small size
roughness elements disturb only the laminar sub-layer which is considered to be the
resisting cause of heat flow. Many research works have been carried out on the small
size roughness to get the best design with optimum geometrical parameters for a solar
air collector. Higher the roughness element size, greater is the pressure loss. Smaller
the size of roughness element, lesser the chances of laminar sub-layer break down.
So it is very much necessary to find out the optimum size and placement of roughness
elements to get the best thermo-hydraulic performance. Many experimental works
have been done so far in the area of solar air collector with artificial roughness [1–5]
in order to get the optimum shape and size for roughness element. Ahn [6] did an
experimental study on the effect of five different shapes of ribs on the thermal and
flow performance of a rectangular duct. He found that triangular-shaped rib gives the
best thermal performance as compared to other ribs for same rib height and pitch.
However, Chandra et al. [7] experimentally proved that square ribs produce better
thermal performance than any other rib shapes. Many such experimental works have
been done in the past. However, very few numerical investigations have been done
due to the complexity of fluid flow pattern and other computational limitations. Liou
et al. [8] carried out numerical as well as experimental investigation to study the
CFD-Based Study on Thermal and Fluid Flow Dynamics … 1047
thermo-hydraulic behaviour in a duct with periodical ribs. Their study revealed that
the acceleration of fluid flow and its turbulence intensity has a key impact on thermal
performance. They concluded that a relative pitch ratio of 10 results in maximum
heat transfer coefficient. Similar numerical investigations with different types of
roughness have been carried out in the past [9–15].
Based on the literature review carried out, many investigations have been carried
out to disturb the laminar sub-layer by using ribs. But no literature is found based
on miller teeth shaped ribs. In the present study, effect of miller teeth shaped trans-
verse ribs on thermo-hydraulic performance of a solar air collector is analysed using
ANSYS FLUENT 18.1. Three different values of roughness height (e) and four dif-
ferent values of roughness pitch (P) are considered for the present investigation. A
total number of 72 simulations are carried out to find the optimised value of relative
roughness pitch (P/e) and relative roughness height (e/D) for Miller teeth shaped
transverse ribs over the absorber plate.
2 Computational Details
A 2-D computational domain as per ASHRAE standards [16] analogous to the com-
putational domain of Yadav and Bhagoria [15] is modelled using ANSYS modeller
and is shown in Fig. 1. It is a rectangular domain and consists of three sections,
namely, inlet, test and outlet section where the lengths are 225 mm, 280 mm and
115 mm, respectively. Width of the domain is considered to be 20 mm and is constant
throughout. The roughness elements are considered in the underside of absorber plate
situated in the test section. Remaining all other sides are considered to be smooth.
The geometrical parameters of the ribs considered in the present investigation are as
follows:
a. Rib height, e = 0.7, 1 and 1.4 mm
b. Rib pitch, P = 10, 15, 20 and 25 mm
c. Relative roughness pitch, P/e = 7.14, 10, 10.71, 14.29, 15, 17.86, 20, 21.43, 25,
28.57 and 35.71
d. Relative roughness height, e/D = 0.021, 0.03 and 0.042.
e P
Fig. 1 Computational domain

The basic governing equations of CFD, namely, continuity, momentum and energy
equations as shown in Eq. (1), Eq. (2) and Eq. (3), respectively, that are employed in
the simulation process are solved using finite volume method.
∂
(ρui ) = 0 (1)
∂xi

∂ −∂P ∂ ∂ui ∂uj ∂
ρui uj = + μ + + −ρui uj (2)
∂xi ∂xi ∂xj ∂xj ∂xi ∂xj

∂ ∂ ∂T
ρuj T = (τ + τt ) (3)
∂xi ∂xj ∂xj
The following assumptions are considered in the present study:

a. Single phase, steady, incompressible and turbulent flow.
b. Flow is thermally and hydraulically developed.
c. Properties of air and absorber plate are constant and do not vary along with the
flow.
d. Radiation from duct walls is negligible.
The boundary conditions that are applied in the present numerical simulation are
as follows:
a. Air is selected as working fluid and enters the domain at 300 K and 1 atmospheric
pressure.
b. No-slip condition is imposed on the duct walls.
c. Constant heat flux of 1000 W/m2 is imposed on absorber plate which is made of
aluminium.
d. Adiabatic condition is implemented on all other duct walls.
e. Pressure outlet and velocity inlet (Re = 3800, 5000, 8000, 12000, 15000 and
18000) is considered.
3 Grid Generation and Model Validation
In the present numerical study, non-uniform quadrilateral mesh is generated through-

out the domain for thermal and flow computations. Inflation near the absorber plate
is considered to capture the physics of laminar sub-layer as shown in Fig. 2. Grid
independent test is done at three different sets of grid. The number of grids is varied
from 142,565 to 398,363. It is found that with increase in number of grids from
322,544, the variations in results are less than 1%. For further simulation, 322,544
numbers of grids are considered.
As suggested by other literature [9, 15, 17], k-ε RNG turbulence model with
enhanced wall treatment is used in the present investigation. The simulated values
of Nusselt number, Nu and friction factor, f for flat plate duct are found to be in
Fig. 2 Non-uniform grid of

computational domain
Fig. 3 Validation of 60 0.014

numerical results for flat
0.012
Friction factor
50
Nusselt number
plate solar air heater

40 0.01
0.008
30
0.006
20
0.004
10 0.002
0 0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000
Reynolds number
Numerical value Nu Empirical value Nu
Gawande et al. [4] Numerical value f
Empirical value f Gawande at al. [4]
good agreement with that of empirical formulas (Dittus–Boelter correlation [14] and
Modified Blasius correlation [17]) and experimental results of Gawande et al. [4] as
shown in Fig. 3.
A detailed study on change in heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics due to the
presence of miller teeth shaped transverse ribs in solar air collector using CFD code
is done. The effect of operating parameters like Reynolds number and geometrical
parameters like P/e and e/D on the heat transfer coefficient and frictional resistance
is discussed.
4.1 Variation in Thermal and Hydraulic Performance
Nusselt number, Nu is defined as the ratio of convective heat transfer to conductive

heat transfer across a surface. It gives the measure of heat transfer through a boundary,
whereas friction factor, f helps in predicting the frictional energy loss in a duct. In
(a) 100 (b) 0.021

90 0.02
Nusselt number
Friction factor
80
0.019
70
0.018
60
0.017
50
40 0.016
30 0.015
20 0.014
10 20 30 40 10 20 30 40
P/e P/e
Fig. 4 Variation of a Nu and b f with P/e at e/D = 0.021
the present investigation, deviation of heat transfer coefficient is shown in the form
of Nu and flow friction characteristics are depicted using f. Figure 4a, b shows the
variation in Nu and f with change in P/e at different Re for a particular e/D value of
0.021. It is a general concept that with increase in Re, Nu increases and f decreases
due to decrease in laminar sub-layer thickness. With increase in Re, turbulent energy
and turbulent dissipation rate increases resulting in increase in turbulent intensity.
The same observation is made for each geometrical consideration in the present
investigation. A maximum Nu value of 92.82 is observed for e/D = 0.021 and P/e =
14.29 at Re = 18000 and it matches with that of semicircular ribs [18] and rectangular
ribs [11], whereas for e/D = 0.03 and 0.042 maximum Nu is observed at P/e = 10
and P/e = 7.14 at Re = 18000. It can be seen in Fig. 4a, with increase in P/e for e/D
= 0.021, Nu decreases for a particular value of Re. However, higher roughness height
shows a different trend for lower Re. With increase in P/e, Nu increases and then
starts decreasing due to decrease in number of reattachment points. For Re = 3800,
e/D = 0.042 and P/e = 14.29 gives the maximum Nu of 30.72. When compared to
smooth duct, a percentage increase of 64.5% is noted due to the presence of miller
teeth shaped ribs with P/e = 14.29 and e/D = 0.021 at Re = 18000, whereas an
increase in 59.6% is observed at Re = 3800 for e/D = 0.042 and P/e = 14.29.
From the values of Nu, it is clear that there is a significant enhancement due to the
presence of ribs. With increase in Re, turbulent intensity increases. Moreover, due
to the presence of roughness there is a local enhancement of turbulent intensity in
the downstream of each roughness due to vortex formation. The vortices break the
laminar sub-layer resulting in higher heat transfer in that area. Contours of turbulent
intensity are shown in Fig. 5. Figure 4b shows the variation of friction factor with
P/e at different values of Re. It is found that, for same value of P/e, e/D = 0.021
gives the minimum friction factor. However, a maximum percentage enhancement
of 90.2% is observed due to the presence of miller teeth shaped ribs for e/D = 0.042
Fig. 5 Contour of turbulent intensity for e/D = 0.021 and Re = 12000 at a P/e = 14.29, b P/e =
21.43, c P/e = 28.57, d P/e = 35.7
and P/e = 7.14 at Re = 3800. With increase in P/e, f tends to decrease due to lesser
number of interruptions.
4.2 Thermo-Hydraulic Performance Factor
A significant increase in frictional resistance is seen along with the heat transfer
augmentation due to the introduction of miller teeth shaped ribs. With the increase
in frictional resistance the pumping power increases. So it is necessary to determine
the overall performance of a solar air heater.
Nu/Nus
THPF = (4)
(f /fs )1/3
Thermo-hydraulic performance factor (THPF) is evaluated by simultaneously

considering both thermal and hydraulic performance and is calculated from Eq. (4).
In Eq. (4) Nus and f s denote Nusselt number and friction factor of smooth plate,
respectively. In the present CFD investigation, it is found that for different geometrical
configurations, maximum THPF depends on Re. For e/D = 0.021, maximum THPF
is noted at Re = 12000 for any value of P/e, whereas for e/D = 0.03 and 0.042
maximum THPF is observed at Re = 8000 and 5000, respectively. A maximum
THPF of 1.375 is observed for e/D = 0.021 and P/e = 21.43 at Re = 12000. Figure 6
shows the THPF trend for e/D = 0.021 at different values of P/e and Re.
Fig. 6 Variation of 1.4

thermo-hydraulic
performance factor for e/D = 1.36
0.021
1.32
THPF
1.28
1.24
1.2
10 20 30 40
Relative roughness pitch, P/e
Re=3800 Re=5000 Re=8000
Re=12000 Re=15000 Re=18000
5 Conclusions
A 2D CFD simulation of solar air collector with miller teeth shaped ribs is carried
out and the following conclusions can be drawn from the investigation:
• Significant increase in heat transfer characteristics is observed due to vortex for-
mation in the downstream of each rib resulting in enhancement of local turbulent
kinetic energy and turbulent kinetic dissipation rate. Reattachment of flow results
in breakdown of laminar sub-layer which adds on to the reason for enhancement
of heat transfer from the absorber plate. A maximum enhancement of 64.5% in
thermal performance is obtained by introducing miller teeth shaped ribs.
• With the introduction of artificial roughness, frictional loss is found to increase
due to the increase in flow resistance. A maximum enhancement of 90.2% is noted
for e/D value of 0.042 due to higher resisting surface area.
• THPF is analysed to get the optimised geometrical parameter for solar air collector
with miller teeth shaped ribs. For the same value of e/D and Re, THPF increases
with increase in P/e, attains a maximum and then decreases. For e/D = 0.021 and
P/e = 21.43, maximum THPF of 1.375 is observed at Re = 12000.
References
1. Kumar, A., Kumar, R., Maithani, R., Chauhan, R., Kumar, S., Nadda, R.: An experimental
study of heat transfer enhancement in an air channel with broken multi type V-baffles. Heat
Mass Transf. 53(12), 3593–3612 (2017)
2. Hans, V.S., Gill, R.S., Singh, S.: Heat transfer and friction factor correlations for a solar air
heater duct roughened artificially with broken arc ribs. Exp. Therm. Fluid Sci. 80, 77–89 (2017)
3. Saini, S.K., Saini, R.P.: Development of correlations for Nusselt number and friction factor
for solar air heater with roughened duct having arc-shaped wire as artificial roughness. Sol.
Energy 82(12), 1118–1130 (2008)
4. Gawande, V.B., Dhoble, A.S., Zodpe, B.B., Chamoli, S.: Experimental and CFD investigation
of convection heat transfer in solar air heater with reverse L-shaped ribs. Sol. Energy 131,
275–295 (2016)
5. Juarker, A.R., Saini, J.S., Ghandi, B.K: Heat transfer and friction characteristics of rectangular
solar air heater duct using rib-grooved artificial roughness. Sol. Energy 80(8), 895–907 (2006)
6. Ahn, S.W.: The effects of roughness types on friction factors and heat transfer in roughened
rectangular duct. Int. Commun. Heat Mass Transf. 28(7), 933–942 (2001)
7. Chandra, P.R., Fontenot, M.L., Han, J.C.: Effect of rib profiles on turbulent channel flow heat
transfer. J. Thermophys. Heat Transf. 12(1), 116–118 (1998)
8. Liou, T.M., Hwang, J.J., Chen, S.H.: Simulation and measurement of enhanced turbulent heat
transfer in a channel with periodic ribs on one principal wall. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 36,
507–517 (1993)
9. Yadav, A.S., Bhagoria, J.L.: A CFD based thermo-hydraulic performance analysis of an arti-
ficially roughened solar air heater having equilateral triangular sectioned rib roughness on the
absorber plate. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 70, 1016–1039 (2014)
10. Sharma, A.K., Thakur, N.S.: CFD based fluid flow and heat transfer analysis of a v-shaped
roughened surface solar air heater. Int. J. Eng. Sci. Technol. 4(5), 2115–2121 (2012)
11. Chaube, A., Sahoo, P.K., Solanki, S.C.: Analysis of heat transfer augmentation and flow char-
acteristics due to rib roughness over absorber plate of a solar air heater. Renew. Energy 31,
317–331 (2006)
12. Kumar, S., Saini, R.P.: CFD based performance analysis of a solar air heater duct provided
with artificial roughness. Renew. Energy 34(5), 1285–1291 (2009)
13. Karmare, S.V., Tikekar, A.N., Karmare, S.V., Tikekar, A.N.: Analysis of fluid flow and heat
transfer in a rib grit roughened surface solar air heater using CFD. Sol. Energy 84(3), 409–417
(2010)
14. Yadav, A.S., Bhagoria, J.L.: A CFD (computational fluid dynamics) based heat transfer and
fluid flow analysis of a solar air heater provided with circular transverse wire rib roughness on
the absorber plate. Energy 55, 1127–1142 (2013)
15. Yadav, A.S., Bhagoria, J.L.: A numerical investigation of square sectioned transverse rib rough-
ened solar air heater. Int. J. Therm. Sci. 79, 111–131 (2014)
16. ASHRAE Standard 93: Refrig. Air Condition. Eng., Atlanta, GA 30329 (2003)
17. Chamolia, S., Lu, R., Xu, D., Yu, P.: Thermal performance improvement of a solar air heater
fitted with winglet vortex generators. Sol. Energy 159, 966–983 (2018)
18. Yadav, A.S., Bhagoria, J.L.: A numerical investigation of turbulent flows through an artificially
roughened solar air heater. Numer. Heat Transf. Part A Appl. 65(7), 679–698 (2014)
Natural Convective Heat Transfer
from an Inclined Isothermal Fin Array
Krishna Roy, Biplab Das and Subhrajit Dutta
Abstract In the present study, laminar natural convection from an inclined isother-
mal fin array is computationally performed. The numerical results are presented for
representative values of the parameters illustrating the system geometry, such as
dimensionless fin spacing (S * = 0.3, and 0.5), and dimensionless clearance (C * =
0.10, 0.25, and 0.40), Grashof number (Gr = 1.8 × 105 and 8.64 × 105 ), and chan-
nel’s inclination angle (α = 30° and 45°). At each value of α, the axial distribution
of various flow quantities such as the bulk temperature and the local Nusselt number
has been reported. Furthermore, the overall heat transfer characteristics for each geo-
metric parameter have been discussed. It is observed that an increase in inclination
angle from 30° to 45° increases the overall Nusselt number value by about 20–45%.
A Kriging-based response surface is also provided for Nu to get a robust prediction
with a range of input parameters (0.1 ≤ C * ≤ 0.4, 0.3 ≤ S * ≤ 0.5).
Keywords Natural convection · Inclined channel · Nusselt number · Grashof

number and Kriging
Nomenclature
C Fin tip to shroud clearance

C* Dimensionless fin tip to shroud clearance, C/H
Gr Grashof number, g β(T w − T o )/H 3 v2
H Fin height (m)
K. Roy · B. Das (B)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Silchar, Silchar 788010,
Assam, India
e-mail: biplab.2kmech@gmail.com
S. Dutta
Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Silchar, Silchar 788010,
Assam, India

1056 K. Roy et al.
L Fin length (m)

Nu Overall Nusselt number
Pr Prandtl number
Q Overall heat transfer
S Fin spacing (m)
S* Dimensionless fin spacing, S/H
T Temperature (K)
T Fin thickness (m)
u, v, w Velocity components in x-, y-, and z-directions (m/s)
U, V, W Dimensionless velocity components in x-, y-, and z-directions, uH/ν, vH/ν,
wH/ν
W* Dimensionless induced velocity
x, y, z Axial and cross stream coordinates
Greeks
α Angle of inclination
β Thermal volumetric expansion coefficient, 1/T o
θ Dimensionless temperature (T − T o )/(T w − T o )
φ Viscous dissipation terms (not considered in the present study)
ΔT Scaling temperature difference, T w − T o
Subscripts
f Fin
l Local
o Ambient
w Wall
1 Introduction
Finned surface finds immense application in various fields like solar energy collec-
tor, thermoelectric device, air-cooled heat exchangers, air-conditioning system, etc.
Natural convection mode of heat transfer in any heat exchanging device is inherent,
and with the increase in demand of high rate of effective heat transfer, its contribu-
tion plays decisive role to unveil actual requirement of external device. In addition,
natural convection is absolutely noise-free and inexpensive in nature. An extensive
amount of experimental and numerical investigations on natural convective heat
Natural Convective Heat Transfer from an Inclined … 1057
transfer from extended surfaces (both vertical and horizontal) has been carried out.
However, natural convection heat transfer in an inclined channel has not paid much
attention.
For a horizontal base plate with a vertical rectangular fin array, Harahap and
McManus [1] experimentally investigated average heat transfer coefficient for two
different fin lengths. The single chimney flow pattern is suitable for high heat transfer
rates. Guvenc and Yuncu [2] experimentally visited free convection and reported that
for the same geometry, the fins on a vertical oriented base have higher heat transfer
than that of horizontal oriented. Arquis and Rady [3] and Dialameh et al. [4] carried
out a numerically study for natural convection from a finned horizontal fluid layer
and also presented the effects of fin height and for short length, respectively.
Natural convection plays a significant role in a mixed convection heat transfer and
should be considered. Acharya and Patankar [5] made an analytical investigation
for mixed convection and showed the effect of buoyancy in a shrouded fin array.
They considered two cases: first for a higher fin and base surface temperature than
the fluid, and second, they are of lower temperature than the fluid. Giri and Das [6]
computationally examined laminar mixed convection for shrouded vertical fin arrays
at the entry region. Another mixed convection heat transfer is reported experimentally
and numerically by Dogan and Sivrioglu [7], in which they presented the effects of
variation of fin height, fin spacing, and difference between temperatures of inlet fluid
and bottom surface for longitudinal plated fins in a horizontal channel.
Welling and Woolbridge [8] and Leung et al. [9] considered a vertical fin array
arrangement and suggested that for a maximum rate of free convection heat transfer,
there is an optimum fin height and fin spacing, respectively. A numerical study on
natural convection from vertical shrouded fin array by Karki and Patankar [10] found
the clearance provided between the fins and the shroud to enhance the heat transfer.
Heat transfer in an inclined channel had been first reported by Starner and
McManus [11]. They experimentally investigated the natural convection heat trans-
fer from fin array of four different sets of dimensions with vertical, inclined (45°),
and horizontal orientations. Mittelman et al. [12] conducted both experimental and
numerical investigation to analyze downward-facing hot inclined fin array for a lam-
inar natural convection. Recently, Tari and Mehdi [13, 14] studied natural convection
heat transfer from inclined plate-fin heat sinks and developed a correlation for the
same. Xu et al. [15] numerically simulated natural convection flow in a cavity to
study the effect of the fin length. These studies [13–15] considered fully developed
flow, which was not applicable for lower fin length.
Pertinent literature reveals that a good number of efforts are made to unveil the
heat transfer phenomena in vertical and horizontal finned channels. However, studies
on inclined channels are scarce in literature that gives the opportunity to study the
same considering its application in different engineering field like solar thermal
system. Further, thermal performance considering the isothermal fin will provide the
platform to estimate the maximum possible heat transfer and is not unduly unrealistic.
Moreover, fully developed studies are not applicable for a channel of lower length.
Keeping these points in mind, an attempt is made in the present study to project the
1058 K. Roy et al.
heat transfer characteristics in an inclined channel dissipating heat through natural

convection considering the flow is developing.
2 Problem Description and Formulation
2.1 Physical Configuration
The problem configuration of the physical model is shown in Fig. 1. To an inclined

hot base plate, rectangular fins having height “H”, length “L”, and thickness “t” are
attached. Uniform interfin spacing of “S” is maintained throughout, and the distance
between the rectangular adiabatic shroud and fin tip is considered to be the clearance
“C”. The same material is used for the fin and the base, and the contact resistance is
considered to be negligible. Each rectangular duct consists of the base, shroud and two
consecutive fins that have an identical dimension of S × (H + C) × L. “α” represents
the angle of inclination. At the corner formed by the base and the left fin, the origin
of the coordinate system is considered. The base is directly parallel to the x-direction
only, while the complete configuration is inclined. Through the shrouded fin array,
Fig. 1 Configuration of the physical model

vertical natural convective upward flow occurs due to the temperature difference
between a higher base temperature (T w ) and the ambient temperature (T o ).
2.2 Mathematical Formulation and Boundary Conditions
Conservation of mass, momentum, and energy equations are used in the present case
to formulate the problem mathematically. The flow is considered to be incompress-
ible. Also stream-wise diffusion is assumed to be negligible (i.e., stream-wise convec-
tion dominates the flow). The base is directly parallel to the x-direction throughout.
The main body force is the gravity force, and it is not applied on horizontal compo-
nent. Body force is applicable only in z-direction and y-direction, due to inclination.
Guidance from Karki and Patankar [10] is taken for the same. Boussineśq approxi-
mation is incorporated in the momentum equation with the gravity force term, i.e.,
ρ = ρo [1 − β(T − To )]. (1)
∂u ∂v ∂w
+ + = 0. (2)
∂x ∂y ∂z
x-momentum equation:
2
∂u ∂u ∂u ∂ p ∂ u ∂ 2u ∂ 2u
ρ u +v +w =− +μ + 2 + 2 . (3)
∂x ∂y ∂z ∂x ∂x2 ∂y ∂z
y-momentum equation:

∂v ∂v ∂v ∂ p ∂ 2v ∂ 2v ∂ 2v
ρ u +v +w =− +μ + 2 + 2 + ρβ(T − To )g × cosα.
∂x ∂y ∂z ∂y ∂x2 ∂y ∂z
(4)
z-momentum equation:

∂w ∂w ∂w ∂ p ∂ 2w ∂ 2w ∂ 2w
ρ u +v +w =− +μ + + 2 + ρβ(T − To )g × sinα.
∂x ∂y ∂z ∂z ∂x2 ∂ y2 ∂z
(5)
Energy equation:
2
∂T ∂T ∂T ∂ T ∂2T ∂2T
ρC p u +v +w =k + + 2 + φ. (6)
∂x ∂y ∂z ∂x2 ∂ y2 ∂z
1060 K. Roy et al.
Fin conduction equation:

∂2T ∂2T ∂2T
+ + = 0. (7)
∂x2 ∂ y2 ∂z 2
The governing equations become elliptic, as the convection dominates. The prob-
lem is of free convection, so the inlet stream-wise velocity is not known. Zero pressure
defects at inlet and outlet are assumed, since natural convection is due to the buoyancy
force. A guessed velocity is used to initiate the solution. The ambient temperature
is assigned as the inlet temperature. The base is assumed to be impermeable; hence,
no-slip condition has been considered. Up to the fin tip velocities and normal gradi-
ents of temperature are considered to be zero at the symmetry plane passing through
the fin. The fin base and the base plate are maintained at the same temperature and
the fin tip is considered to be insulated. An impermeable, solid, and adiabatic surface
is chosen for the shroud. Boundary conditions are as follows.
At the base, i.e., (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5 S, y = 0, 0 ≤ z ≤ L):
u = v = w = 0, T = Tw . (8)
At the symmetry plane passing through the fin of fin height (H) (x = 0, 0 ≤ y ≤
H, 0 ≤ z ≤ L):
∂T
u = v = w = 0, = 0. (9)
∂x
In the region, (x = 0, 0 ≤ y ≤ H + C, 0 ≤ z ≤ L):
∂v ∂w ∂T
u = 0, = 0, = 0, = 0. (10)
∂x ∂x ∂x
At the shroud, i.e., (0 ≤ y ≤ 0.5 S, y = H + C, 0 ≤ z ≤ L):
∂T
u = 0, v = 0, w = 0, = 0. (11)
∂y
Fin boundary condition:
∂T
y = 0, T = Tw and y = H, = 0. (12)
∂y
The calculation of the total heat transfer (Q), average heat flux (q), overall heat
transfer coefficient (h) and overall Nusselt number (Nu) is according to the temper-
ature difference between the ambient and the base, and mathematically are written
as follows:
⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
L H L 0.5S
∂T ⎜ ∂T ⎟
Q = Q f in + Q base = ⎝ k ⎠
dydz + ⎝− k d xdz ⎠
∂x ∂x
0 0 x=0 0 0 y=0
(13)
Q q
q= ,h = (14)
2H + S + t f L Tw − To
⎡ ⎤
L 1 0.5S
1 ⎣ ∂ T ∂ T
Nu = dy − d x ⎦dz. (15)
(1 + S)L ∂ x x=0 ∂ y y=0
0 0 0
3 Computational Method
The present problem is numerically solved using SIMPLER algorithm explained by

Patankar [16]. To evaluate a pressure field the continuity equation must be satis-
fied. Backward difference scheme is applied in the stream-wise coordinate for the
convective term. The combined convective and diffusive terms of cross stream coor-
dinates on a staggered mesh are discretized applying the power-law scheme. For
discretization of the remaining diffusive terms, central difference scheme is used.
The iteration is complete when the convergence criteria are satisfied. Tri-diagonal
matrix algorithm (TDMA) is used to solve the equations sequentially. Under relax-
ation factors are used to minimize the computational error and to increase the stability
with higher accuracy of the convergence of the solution. A computational code is
developed to solve the aforementioned problem.
3.1 Grid Independent Test
To check grid independence, 45° inclination is considered. The grids are arranged
in an increasing geometric progression order. To show the accuracy of the present
study, grid sensitivity for S * = 0.3 is tested on a set of combinations of grid size are
28 × 42 × 140 and 38 × 46 × 140, and obtained overall Nu values are 4.692 and
4.764, respectively. Also for S * = 0.5 grid sizes considered are 32 × 42 × 140 and
40 × 46 × 140, and obtained overall Nu values are 6.921 and 6.993.
1062 K. Roy et al.
Fig. 2 Validation of numerical results with the existing experimental results [11]
3.2 Validation
From the experimental data of Starner and McManus [11], numerical results are
obtained (Fig. 2). For 45° angle of inclination at three temperature differences, two
sets of fin height and fin spacing are considered to validate the present computation.
Results reveal that computational results are in order with the earlier results.
The geometrical and physical parameters considered for the present problem are as
follows: fin height 0.03 and 0.05 m; fin length 0.5 m; and thickness 0.001 m. The
nondimensional fin spacing is 0.3 and 0.5; dimensionless clearance of 0.1, 0.25, and
0.4. The ambient temperature (T o ) and the wall/base of fin array (T w ) are considered
to be 20 °C and 100 °C, respectively. Prandtl number is assigned with a value of
0.7. Fluid (air) properties are calculated following Das and Giri [17] at the mean of
ambient and base temperature. The variation of output parameters is presented next.
4.1 Induced Velocity
Variation of induced velocity for each set of arrangements with respect to nondi-
mensional clearance is shown in Fig. 3. With the increase in clearance from 0.10 to
0.40, induced velocity increases by 5–20%, as it helps to induct more working fluid
Fig. 3 Variation of induced velocity
in the collector system. Further, with the increase in inclination from 30° to 45°, a
maximum of 75% increase in induced velocity is obtained. This may be due to the
enhancement in upward buoyancy force coupled with reduction of blocking effect.
The influence of blocking effect is also observed by Starner and McManus [11]
for a channel with 45° inclination. Results also indicate that there is a comparative
increase in the magnitude of induced velocity with Grashof number. It is relevant
to mention here that value of Gr can be increased by increasing the height of the
fin or the temperature difference. Increase in Gr by 4.64 time results in a maximum
increase in induced velocity by 2.54 times.
4.2 Bulk Temperature Distribution
Axial variation of dimensionless bulk temperature (θ b ) in the fin array is presented

in Fig. 4. Increase in the magnitude of θ b along the z-direction indicates that flow
is developing thermally and limiting the consideration of fully developed flow [11].
Results reveal that the value of θ b is lower for higher clearances, due to induction
of more amount of fluid into the system. This also might be the reason for reduction
of bulk temperature at higher inclination of the channel. At Gr = 8.64 × 105 and S *
= 0.3, increasing angle of inclination from 30° to 45°, dimensionless temperature is
decreased by 20–40%. Moreover, θ b is almost reached developed value at lower Gr
while the same is still in developing stage at higher Gr (Figs. 4 and 5).
1064 K. Roy et al.
Fig. 4 Distribution of bulk temperature at S * = 0.3: a Gr = 1.86 × 105 and b Gr = 8.64 × 105
4.3 Local Nusselt Number
Axial variation of local Nusselt number is depicted in Fig. 6. It is inferred that initially
at the inlet, the values of local Nusselt number are higher indicating higher rate of
heat transfer, because of strong temperature gradient. It starts decreasing along the
axial direction and tends to move toward a fully developed value. Nusselt number is
less for 30° compared to 45° inclination. As mentioned previously, the dimensionless
temperature is more, and the heat transfer is low for 30° inclination. Further, the value
Fig. 5 Variation of overall heat transfer
Fig. 6 Variation of local Nusselt number at S * = 0.3, Gr = 1.86 × 105

1066 K. Roy et al.
Fig. 7 Variation of overall Nusselt number
reduces as we move toward the exit. Also on increasing the clearance, particular axial
positional value of Nusselt number increases comparatively.
4.4 Overall Nusselt Number
Variation of overall Nusselt number is depicted in Fig. 7. Results reveal that an

increase in the inclination angle increases the overall Nu value by about 20–45%.
This trend is in agreement with Mittelman et al. [12]. Also at higher value of Gr, the
value of Nu is increased substantially. At 45° inclination angle, overall Nu obtained
for S * = 0.5 at Gr = 1.86 × 105 is particularly less than that of S * = 0.3 at Gr =
8.64 × 105 by 40–70%.
Figure 8a, b illustrates a Kriging model [18] for robust estimation of overall
Nusselt number (Nu) for any intermediate value of input parameters (0.1 ≤ C * ≤
0.4, 0.3 ≤ S * ≤ 0.5). Response surfaces of Nu are obtained for particular values
of Gr and α. Once the Kriging-based response surfaces are built, they need to be
verified with the “true” computational model results. To this end, leave-one-out error
estimator (εLOO ) is calculated, which is indicator of coefficient of determination (R2
≈ 1 − εLOO ) value. The R2 values are mostly obtained in the range of 97–99.5%,
indicating a good fit of the Kriging model for Nu. Such a response surface can be very
useful in further investigations like interpolation, optimization, sensitivity analysis,
etc., to name a few.
Fig. 8 Kriging model-based

response surface of overall
Nusselt number: a Gr = 1.8 (a)
× 105 , α = 30°; b Gr = 8.64
3.5
× 105 , α = 45°
3
Nu
2.5
2
1.5
0.3 0.5
0.2 0.4
0.1 0.3
(b)
10
Nu
0.3 0.5
0.2 0.4
0.1 0.3
5 Conclusions
The study of isothermal fin array is highly significant as it provides the ultimate base
for any comparative investigation. For different nondimensional parameters such as
clearance spacing, fin spacing, and Gr, the CFD solutions are obtained. Following
conclusions are drawn from the present investigation:
• Bulk temperature tends to reach fully developed value at lower Gr (1.86 × 105 )
and prominent in lower inclination.
• Significant buoyancy effect enhances the overall Nusselt number by 20–45% at
higher inclination (α = 45°).
• For fixed temperature differences, the overall heat transfer increases with fin spac-
ing (S * = 0.5) and is more prominent at higher clearance (0.25 ≤ C * ≤ 0.4).
For robust computation of output parameter obtained through CFD, a Kriging-
based response surface is constructed. The accuracy of these response surfaces is
verified using leave-one-out error estimator, found to be in the range of 0.5–3%
approximately, indicating a good fit of the Kriging model for Nu.
Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to TEQIP-III for providing financial assistance.
1068 K. Roy et al.
References
1. Harahap, F., McManus, H.N.: Natural convection heat transfer from horizontal rectangular fin
arrays. J. Heat Transf. 89, 32–38 (1967)
2. Guvenc, A., Yuncu, H.: An experimental investigation on performance of fins on a horizontal
base in free convection heat transfer. Heat Mass Transf. 37, 409–416 (2001)
3. Arquis, E., Rady, M.: Study of natural convection heat transfer in a finned horizontal fluid layer.
Int. J. Thermal Sci. 44, 43–52 (2005)
4. Dialameh, L., Yaghoubi, M., Abouali, O.: Natural convection from an array of horizontal
rectangular thick fins with short length. Appl. Thermal Eng. 28, 2371–2379 (2008)
5. Acharya, S., Patankar, S.V.: Laminar mixed convection in a shrouded fin array. J. Heat Transf.
103, 559–565 (1981)
6. Giri, A., Das, B.: A numerical study of entry region laminar mixed convection over shrouded
vertical fin arrays. Int. J. Thermal Sci. 60, 212–224 (2012)
7. Dogan, M., Sivrioglu, M.: Experimental and numerical investigation of clearance gap effects
on laminar mixed convection heat transfer from fin array in a horizontal channel-a conjugate
analysis. Appl. Thermal Engg. 40, 102–113 (2012)
8. Welling, J.R., Woolbridge, C.V.: Free convection heat transfer coefficients from rectangular
vertical fins. J. Heat Transf. 87, 439–444 (1965)
9. Leung, C.D., Probert, S.D., Shilston, M.J.: Heat exchanger: optimal separation for vertical
rectangular fins protruding from a vertical rectangular base. Appl. Energy 19, 77–85 (1985)
10. Karki, K.C., Patankar, S.V.: Cooling of a vertical shrouded fin array by natural convection: a
numerical study. J. Heat Transf. 109, 671–676 (1987)
11. Starner, K.E., McManus, H.N.: An experimental investigation of free-convection heat transfer
from rectangular-fin arrays. J. Heat Transf. 85, 273–278 (1963)
12. Mittelman, G., Dayan, A., Dado-Turjeman, K., Ullmann, A.: Laminar free convection under-
neath a downward facing inclined hot fin array. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 50, 2582–2589 (2007)
13. Mehrtash, M., Tari, I.: A correlation for natural convection heat transfer from inclined plate-
finned heat sinks. Appl. Thermal Engg. 51, 1067–1075 (2013)
14. Tari, I., Mehrtash, M.: Natural convection heat transfer from horizontal and slightly inclined
plate-fin heat sinks. Appl. Thermal Engg. 61, 728–736 (2013)
15. Xu, F., Patterson, J.C., Lei, C.: Effect of the fin length on natural convection flow transition in
a cavity. Int. J. Thermal Sci. 70, 92–101 (2013)
16. Patankar, S.V.: Numerical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow. Hemisphere, Washington, DC, USA
(1980)
17. Das, B., Giri, A.: Non-Boussinesq laminar mixed convection in a non-isothermal fin array.
Appl. Thermal Engg. 63, 447–458 (2014)
18. Forrester, A.I.J., Sobester, A., Keane, A.J.: Engineering Design Via Surrogate Modelling: A
Practical Guide. Wiley, Chichester (2008)
Vibration and Acoustics
Design of Inertial Class Gyroscope
Resonator with Ultrahigh Quality Factor
for Interplanetary Space Missions
N. Gireesh Sharma , Arun George, S. Paul Pandian, T. Sundararajan

and Sachin Singh Gautam
Abstract High Quality factor (Q factor) resonator is a mandatory requirement for

very fine resolution Hemispherical Resonator Gyroscope (HRG). It is a measure of
damping. This paper discusses the role of Thermo Elastic Dynamic Damping (TEDD)
when the resonator is operating in its functional vibration mode. Finite Element (FE)
method is used to solve the coupled thermal and mechanical equations. A sensitive
analysis of the effect of different parameters like resonator material properties, oper-
ating temperature, size, geometry, conductive metallic coating materials, multilayer
coating, and coating thickness is carried out. The uniqueness of the present work
is the sensitivity study of ultrathin coating (volume fraction of 0.01%), multilayer
coating, and different partial coating configurations. The coating can reduce Q factor
by orders compared to uncoated shell. It is found that the coating material selection
and the coating configuration are very important factors and a Q factor of 5.5 × 106
in the final optimum coating configuration is achieved.
Keywords Hemispherical resonator gyroscope · Quality factor · Elliptical modes ·

Thermoelastic dynamic damping · Thin film coating
Nomenclature
CP Specific heat at constant pressure (J/kg K)

D Thermal diffusivity (m2 /s)
E Young’s modulus (N/m2 )
Qfreq Quality factor limited by the operating frequency
N. G. Sharma (B) · A. George · S. P. Pandian

ISRO Inertial Systems Unit, Thiruvananthapuram 695013, Kerala, India
e-mail: gireeshsharman@gmail.com
T. Sundararajan
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram 695022, Kerala, India
S. S. Gautam
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, Assam, India
1072 N. G. Sharma et al.
Qmat Quality factor limited by the material properties

T Temperature (K)
T0 Absolute equilibrium temperature (K)
ER Relaxed isothermal elastic modulus (N/m2 )
EU Unrelaxed adiabatic elastic modulus (N/m2 )
b Width across which thermal relaxation happens (m)
u Displacement (m)
α Coefficient of thermal expansion (1/K)
σ Stress (N/m2 )
ε Strain
λ Lame’s parameter
η Lame’s parameter
ϑ Poisson’s ratio
ρ Density (kg/m3 )
ωmech Mechanical frequency (Hz)
τth Thermal time constant (s)
τσ Relaxation time for strain to relax exponentially at constant stress (s)
τε Relaxation time for stress to relax exponentially at constant strain (s)
1 Introduction
Hemispherical Resonator Gyroscope (HRG) is a kind of Coriolis Vibratory Gyro-

scope (CVG). It is having specific features such as very fine resolution, very good
accuracy, and long life span. The solid-state HRG is the best suitable inertial class
candidate for critical and high-value long-duration interplanetary space missions [1].
The three main parts of HRG are hemispherical resonator shell, actuator, and pick
off. The resonator is positioned between the actuator and the pickoff. It is driven to
flexural resonance by capacitive forces. When an input rate is applied to the resonator,
a precession of a vibrating pattern around the axis of rotation occurs due to the action
of Coriolis force. The angular rate of the standing wave precession is different from
the input rate. The difference between both the rotations is perfectly proportional to
the input rotation. Thus, this device is able to sense the rotation. In order to achieve
a very fine resolution and an accurate gyroscope, the energy loss from the vibrating
resonator structure shall be kept as minimum as possible. Hence, ultrahigh Q factor
is required for the hemispherical resonator. Q factor is the ratio of the amount of
energy stored in the system to the energy dissipated by the system.
The general damping mechanisms are fluid damping, anchor loss, surface loss,
electronics damping, and bulk material internal damping. Internal damping in bulk
material is classified into friction due to irreversible motion of crystal defects and
Thermo Elastic Dynamic Damping (TEDD) due to irreversible heat transfer during
the thermomechanical interaction. TEDD impose an upper limit on the attainable Q
factor of a resonator [2].
Design of Inertial Class Gyroscope Resonator … 1073
Zener [3] developed the expressions to approximate damping for the flexural vibra-
tions of thin rectangular beams. Lifshitz and Roukes [4] derived the exact expression
for thin rectangular beams. Yasumura et al. [5] did measurements of micron-sized
cantilevers. Sun et al. [6] studied the effect of different support boundary conditions
and thermal boundary conditions. Wong et al. [7] derived the Q factor expression for
the in-plane vibration of the circular ring, which is very relevant to the ring resonators.
This paper discusses the TEDD-based design of the resonator to achieve ultrahigh
Q factor. The paper covers the sensitivity study of the resonator material, geometry,
an ultrathin conductive film coating, coating thickness, coating configurations, and
multilayer coating on the Q factor.
2 Theory of Thermoelastic Dynamic Damping
TEDD is due to the coupling of mechanical and thermal properties under dynamic
vibrating condition. The general heat conduction equation with heat generation due
to the vibration-induced mechanical strain is as follows [8]:
∂ T EαT0 ∂u
k∇ 2 T = ρC P − ∇· (1)
∂t 1−2ϑ ∂t
The general equation of motion with additional thermal strain due to thermoelastic
coupling is as follows [8]:
∂ 2u Eα
ρ = μ∇ 2 u+(μ + λ)∇(∇ · u) ∇T (2)
∂t 2 1−2ϑ
Equations (1) and (2) shall be solved for complex eigenvalues, which will represent
the dissipation [4]. Zener’s [3] theory was based on the extension of Hooke’s law
involving stress, strain as well as their first derivatives. This model is also called
“Standard anelastic solid” model. This is given by [4]
σ + τε σ̇ = E R (ε + τσ ε̇) (3)

τσ
EU = E R (4)
τε
The relaxation strength is defined as follows [4]:
EU −E R
E =√ (5)
EU E R
Zener [3] calculated the relaxation time associated with different transverse modes
for a thin beam flexure. For rectangular beams, a major part of the relaxation occurs
through the first mode. Approximation of having single relaxation time for geometry
of a rectangular beam is fairly good.
For a harmonic vibration, stress and strain amplitudes are related by frequency-
dependent complex elastic modulus as below [4]:
1 + ω2 τε τσ + iω(τσ − τε )
E 0 (ω) = E R (6)
1 + ω2 τε2
The ratio of the real part by the imaginary part represents the Q factor. The
following expression is generated [4]:
Im [E 0 (ω)] ωmech τth Eα 2 T0 ωmech τth

Q −1 = = E = (7)
Re [E 0 (ω)] 1 + (ωmech τth )2 ρC P 1 + (ωmech τth )2
where
b2
τth = (8)
π2D
ρC P
Q mat = (9)
Eα 2 T0
1 + (ωmech τth )2
Q f r eq = (10)
ωmech τth
TEDD-based Q factor is composed of material (Qmat ) and geometric (Qfreq ) con-

tributions [4]
Q = Q mat × Q f r eq (11)
Zener [3] arrived at the general guideline for minimizing the TEDD loss. The
dissipation exhibits a Lorentzian behavior as a function of ωmech τ th . The maximum
value is half of the relaxation strength at ωmech τ th = 1 as shown in Fig. 1. The
dissipation peak is called the Debye peak. When the frequency is smaller compared
to the relaxation rate, i.e., ωmech τ th 1, the dissipation is less and the oscillations
are isothermal. When the frequency is larger compared to the relaxation rate, i.e.,
ωmech τ th 1, the dissipation is less and the oscillations are adiabatic.
Fig. 1 Design guideline for

a resonator operating region
for high Q factor
3 TEDD in HRG and Resonator Sizing
In a resonating HRG hemispherical shell, a strain gradient is produced when vibrated

in its functional elliptical mode. This strain gradient results in periodic temperature
deviation from equilibrium temperature. The thermal strain generated is not in phase
with the elastic strain and the energy is dissipated through irreversible heat flow. If
the thermal transport time constant of the resonator is close to the deflection period
of the elastic deformation, Q of the resonator is reduced.
The preliminary resonator design is done primarily focusing on the natural fre-
quency of the operating functional mode and its Q factor. It is proposed to design a
millimeter size resonator as it is very difficult to establish a few million Q factor in
micron scale with all dissipation mechanisms.
COMSOL Multiphysics FE tool [9] is used for FE simulations. The thermoe-
lasticity interface in the COMSOL structural mechanics module is used to solve
fully coupled thermomechanical finite element eigen frequency problem to obtain
Q factor. It solves for the resulting temperature deviation in addition to structural
displacements.
Initially, a parametric study of ring resonator is done to arrive at the final hemi-
sphere size. Figure 2 shows the N = 2 elliptical mode shape of the ring resonator.
Fig. 2 Elliptical N = 2 mode

There are four nodal points (blue color) and four antinodal points (red color). Figure 3
shows the temperature deviation from the equilibrium temperature of 293 K. There is
a temperature decrease (blue) in the region of elongation and a temperature increase
(red) in the region of compression corresponding to the mode shape.
A parametric study is done by varying the ring mean radius and the radial thick-
ness as shown in Fig. 4. In numerical simulation, 10 elements were used in the ring
thickness and height directions to generate a mapped quadrilateral mesh in the 2D
plane and then revolved to generate 3D mesh with 40 elements in the azimuth direc-
tion. The thermally insulated boundary condition is used in the outer surfaces of the
Fig. 3 Temperature deviation profile in N = 2 mode
Fig. 4 Effect of ring radius 35 0.6 mm thickness 0.8 mm thickness

Quality fcator (x108 )
and thickness 30 1.0 mm thickness 1.2 mm thickness

25 1.4 mm thickness
20
15
10
5
0
0.01 0.012 0.014 0.016 0.018
Ring radius (m)
Table 1 Ring geometric configurations for lowest Q factor

Thickness (mm) Radius (mm) Frequency (Hz)
Case 1 b = 1.00 a = 734 1.30
Case 2 b = 0.07 a = 14.5 246
Table 2 Relaxation time and Q factor for ring resonator

Frequency (Hz) Relaxation time in Relaxation time in Qmat Qfreq Q
radial (s) azimuth (s)
3331 0.12 63.5 239,361 2510 6.0 × 108
ring. Since the mechanical frequency is large compared to the relaxation rate, the
oscillations can be considered as adiabatic. Two cases of ring geometry for the lowest
Q factor are obtained as shown in Table 1. Quartz is used as reference material.
A configuration of 1 mm thickness and 14.5 mm mean radius is considered for
further study. Thermal relaxation time is evaluated both in the radial and the azimuth
directions as shown in Table 2. Thermal relaxation time in the azimuth direction is
much higher than the radial direction and the radial temperature gradient contributes
much more to the dissipation.
4 Hemispherical Resonator Parametric Study
4.1 Configuration
This resonator configuration consists of an axisymmetric hemispherical structure

with a central supporting region called the stem. First, the modal analysis of the
quartz hemispherical shell is carried out to identify the natural frequencies. The eigen
frequencies for the quartz material with 14.5 mm mean radius and 1 mm thickness
are given in Table 3. N = 2 mode is shown in Fig. 5.
Table 3 Eigen frequencies

Mode no Frequency (Hz) Mode shape Remarks
and eigen modes
1 3934.4 Shell tilting Above 2000 Hz
2 4388.3 Breathing Away from N =
2 mode
3 5738.8 N=2 Functional
mode
4 8307.0 Stem tilting Away from N =
2 mode
Fig. 5 Functional N = 2 elliptical mode
4.2 Effect of Resonator Material Property
Table 4 gives the N = 2 mode eigen frequencies and the Q factor for different
ceramic and metallic materials. Quartz shows the highest Q factor. The minimum
Q achievable for quartz is 4.8 × 105 assuming the only energy loss mechanism is
TEDD. Quartz is a good choice and is taken as the reference material to study the
effect of each material property as shown in Fig. 6.
Table 4 Frequencies and Q factor for different materials

Material Quartz Borosilicate Aluminum Ni Span C
Frequency (Hz) 5738.8 5252.8 4866.0 4609.0
Q factor 4× 109 1.5 × 108 2.2 × 104 3.3 × 106
Fig. 6 Effect of material 5

properties
4
Q / Q Fused silica
Youngs modulus
3 thermal expansion
heat capacity
2
Poissons ratio
1 thermal conductivity
density
0
0 1 2
(Material property) / (Material property) Fused silica
Fig. 7 Effect of operating 5
Quality factor (x109 )

temperature
4.5
3.5
3
250 270 290 310 330 350
Temperature (K)
The resonator works in the nearly adiabatic region because the resonator frequency
is much higher than thermal relaxation rate. A decrease in k causes a longer thermal
transport time. It reduces irreversible heat transfer and increases the Q factor. On
the other hand, E and α do not have the same effect. An increase in E causes more
thermomechanical coupling and reduces the Q factor.
Also, an increase in E increases the frequency and shifts the operating region to
more adiabatic and hence, improves the Q factor. But, a more predominant effect
is to reduce the Q factor with increase of E. Increase of ρC P helps to reduce the
irreversible heat transfer. However, the increase of ρ reduces the frequency. The
effect of Poisson’s ratio is not significant compared to the other properties.
The effect of the operating temperature on the Q factor is shown in Fig. 7. It is
found that when T increases, the Q factor decreases. Temperature sensitivity of Q
factor is −0.3%/°C.
4.3 Effect of Resonator Geometry
Parametric study of resonator geometry like shell radius, shell thickness, stem radius,
and stem length has been carried out as shown in Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11. When shell
radius reduces, frequency increases and the behavior becomes more adiabatic, which
results in higher Q factor. Polar and azimuth thermal time constant does not have
much significance for this resonator size range. When shell size decreases, heat
transfer in azimuthal or polar directions become significant.
Fig. 8 Effect of shell radius 7

Quality factor (x10 9 )
12000 Frequency
on Q factor
Frequency (Hz)
Quality factor 5
9000
6000 3
3000 1
9.5 11.5 13.5 15.5 17.5 19.5
Shell radius (x10 -3 m)
Fig. 9 Effect of shell 12000

Frequency

Frequency (Hz)
thickness on Q factor 12
9000 Quality factor
9
6000
6
3000 3
0 0
0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5 1.8
Shell thickness (x10 -3 m)
Fig. 10 Effect of stem 6150 6

radius on Q factor Frequency
5

6050 Quality factor
Frequency (Hz) 4
5950
3
5850
2
5750 1
5650 0
2.8 3.1 3.4 3.7
Stem radius (x10 -3 m)
Fig. 11 Effect of stem 5780 Frequency 4.5

length on Q factor
Quality factor (x10 9)

Quality factor
Frequency (Hz)
5765
4
5750
3.5
5735
5720 3
0 5 10 15
Stem length (x10 -3 m)
When the shell thickness increases, the frequency and the radial thermal time
constant increases. The shell operating region becomes more adiabatic which results
in higher Q. Both the effects result in higher Q. The minimum value of Q occurs
at lower frequencies as the thickness increases. This is because of the increase in
thermal transport time with the thickness. Smaller stem radius has higher Q factor
even though the Q factor variation w.r.t. the stem radius is less. The effect of stem
length is seen only for very short stems.
Fig. 12 Functional
configuration of resonator
4.4 Functional Configuration of Resonator
The functional form of resonator generally has a hybrid configuration as shown

in Fig. 12. A cylindrical ring region is provided for the resonator’s electrostatic
forcing and sensing. A quartz resonator having a hybrid hemispherical–cylindrical
resonating element with a central stem attachment of stem length projecting below
the cylindrical ring structure is considered for further studies.
The sensor functional elliptical mode is 5593 Hz. The Q factor is 3.6 × 109 . N =
3 mode is at 14,381 Hz with much less Q factor. The tilting modes are sufficiently
separated from the functional modes.
5 Effect of a Thin Conductive Coating
A thin layer metallic coating needs to be applied over the structure to have electrical
excitation and sensing. But, most of the highly electrically conductive materials have
large value of α and low TEDD.
5.1 Effect of Coating on Ring Resonator
Initially, coating studies have been carried out in a ring structure. Normally, gold
is the most preferred coating material from electrical requirement. In order to have
good adhesion of gold with quartz, an undercoat of chromium is also done. Simula-
tions have been carried out by varying the coating thickness without undercoat and
combinations of coating and undercoating.
2.4
Quality factor (x105 )

2.1
1.8
1.5
0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000
Coating thickness (x10 -10 m)
Fig. 13 Effect of coating thickness for ring resonator
Table 5 Effect of coating thickness and undercoat on Q factor of ring structure

Thickness (A0 ) Frequency (Hz) Q factor Remarks
– 3449 5.3 × 108 No coating
5000 2920 2.4 × 105 Gold coating
5000 4781 1.9 × 105 Chromium coating
5000/5000 3899 1.6 × 105 Gold (5000 A0 ) + Chromium (5000 A0 )
5000/3000 3902 1.7 × 105 Gold (5000 A0 ) + Chromium (3000 A0 )
The result in Fig. 13 shows that a very thin film (very small volume fraction of
coating material) metallic gold coating reduces the Q factor significantly (order of
3) near the perfect adiabatic region of shell design. The heat conduction increases
due to the higher thermal conductivity of gold and the sensor operates away from the
adiabatic region. Both the effects lead to a lower Q factor. As the coating thickness
increases, the damping increases. Further increase of coating thickness from 30,000
to 100,000 A0 reduces Q factor only by 30%.
Table 5 summarizes the effect of undercoating on the Q factor for the ring structure.
With the undercoat of chromium of the same thickness as gold, reduces the Q factor
further by 30%. As the coating material thickness is much less compared to the basic
shell thickness, mainly the thermomechanical coupling properties of coating material
(E and α) affect the Q factor significantly. Unlike the case of uncoated shell material
property dependency on Q the factor, E and α have the same effect. Since the value
of product Eα is more for chromium, the Q factor is less for chromium coating.
The coating thickness reduction from 5000 to 3000 A0 improves the Q factor very
marginally only.
5.2 Effect of Coating on HRG Resonator
Now the effect of coating on hemispherical geometry is studied. Initially, the outer
side of the hemispherical area is coated with a thin gold layer. The thickness of the
Table 6 Effect of coating

Thickness Frequency Q factor Remarks
thickness on HRG
(A0 ) (Hz)
– 5483 3.60 × 109 No coating
500 4835 1.29 × 106 Coating on
1000 4834 1.28 × 106 outer surface
5000 4829 1.23 × 106
10,000 4823 1.17 × 106
Table 7 Effect of coating

Thickness Frequency Q factor Coating
configuration
(A0 ) (Hz) surface
1000 4834 1.28 × 106 Outer surface
1000 4653 1.10 × 106 Both surfaces
5000 4829 1.23 × 106 Outer surface
5000 4646 1.05 × 106 Both surfaces
Table 8 Effect of polar

Thickness Frequency Q factor Latitude
coating configuration
(A0 ) (Hz) angle (°)
1000 4834 1.28 × 106 90
1000 5038 3.30 × 106 30
1000 5159 5.50 × 106 20
1000 5343 3.00 × 107 10
1000 5381 5.10 × 107 5
layer is varied and the effect on the Q factor is studied. It is found that the Q factor
reduces very significantly even with a thin layer of gold coating as shown in Table 6.
As the thickness increases, the Q factor reduces. It is observed that the Q factor
is reduced further marginally only for both side coatings as given in Table 7.
Then, the effect of the partial coating in the polar direction from an equatorial
plane is studied as shown in Table 8. The effect of the coating latitude angles from
the equatorial plane has got a significant effect on the Q factor up to an order.
6 Conclusions
This paper studies the effect of thermoelastic dynamic damping-induced Q factor of

the resonators for the functional elliptical mode. The numerical solution approach is
used to solve the coupled thermomechanical equations to compute the thermoelastic
dynamic damping. The basic size of the resonator is arrived based on the sufficient
separation between the mechanical operating frequency and thermal relaxation time
to achieve high Q factor. The sensitivity study of different geometric parameters
is also carried out. It is found that the shell thickness is having more sensitivity
as it affects the operating region significantly. The selection of the material is the
most critical to minimize the mechanical and thermal interaction. Quartz material is
suitable because of the low coefficient of thermal expansion. However, an electrically
conductive thin film coating is functionally required, which affects the Q factor
significantly. It is found that the Q factor reduces by several orders even for a very
thin film (low volume fraction 0.01%) of the gold coating. The thin film enhances
the coupling between the mechanical and the thermal domains and reduces the Q
factor. The effect of multilayer coating and coating configuration is also studied.
The coating latitude angle has got more significant contribution than the coating
thickness. Q factor of 5.5 × 106 is achieved for 1000 A0 thickness with coating
latitude angle of 20°.
Acknowledgements The authors sincerely thank Mr. D. Sam Dayala Dev, Director, ISRO Inertial
Systems Unit for valuable support.
References
1. Bose, A., Bhat, K. N., Kurian, T.: Fundamentals of Navigation and Inertial Sensors. PHI Learning
Pvt. Ltd (2002)
2. Gabrielson, T.B.: Mechanical-thermal noise in micromachined acoustic and vibration sensors.
IEEE Trans. Electron. Dev. 40(5), 903–909
3. Zener, C.: Internal friction in solids. I. Theory of internal friction in reeds. Phys. Rev. 52, 230–235
(1937)
4. Lifshitz, R., Roukes, M.L.: Thermoelastic damping in micro and nano mechanical systems.
Phys. Rev. B 61(8) (2000)
5. Yasumura, K.Y., et al.: Quality factor in micron and submicron thick cantilevers. J. Microelec-
tromech. Syst. 9(1), 117–125 (2000)
6. Sun, Y., Fang, D., Soh, A.K.: Thermoelastic damping in micro-beam resonators. J. Solids Struct.
43, 3213–3229 (2006)
7. Wong, S.J., Fox, C.H.J., McWilliam, S., Fell, C.P., Eley, R.: A preliminary investigation of
thermoelastic damping in silicon rings. J. Micromech. Microeng. 14, 108–113 (2004)
8. Jaroensawat, N., Fox, C.H.J., McWilliam, S.: Investigation of a Modal Approach for Ther-
moelastic Damping in MEMS Resonators. University of Nottingham, School of Mechanical,
Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, UK
9. COMSOL Multiphysics ver 5.3. COMSOL Inc., Stockhom, Sweden
Experimental Study on Vibration
Analysis of a Needle Roller Bearing Using
Various Grades of Lubricant Viscosity
Praveen Sharma, Subhas Chandra Rana and Rabindra Nath Barman
Abstract Needle roller bearing is mostly used in rotating machinery, material han-
dling systems, heavy machineries and others due to their low vibration and high
load-carrying capacity. In this paper, an experimental setup is developed to illustrate
the vibration analysis of needle roller bearing, which is lubricated with oil of six
different viscosity grades (ISO 10, 32, 46, 68, 100 and 120). The signal processing
methods are used to extract the vibration analysis using parameters, such as acceler-
ation and frequency. Results are obtained by signal processing methods in terms of
time series and FFT plots.
Keywords Needle roller bearing · Vibration analysis · Time series signal · FFT
analysis
1 Introduction
Aditya and Kankar [1] showed successful application of an experimental test rig
which was designed to assess the change of lubricant film thickness of a test bearing.
They have used the lithium-based lubricating grease (SAE 40 grade) for the lubrica-
tion purpose of the test bearing. They analysed to reduce the lubricant film thickness
by increasing the temperature of bearing, but the temperature is gradually increased
and not reduced the wear because of high vibration produced in test bearing. Ma
et al. [2] analysed the effect of various parameters, such as rotating speed, ambient
temperature and geometry of bearing, on the increase of temperature of bearing. They
analysed the temperature increase in the test bearing by the increase of rotating speed
and radial load. Morales-Espejel et al. [3] showed successful operation of experi-
mental test rig and measured the film thickness of lubricant in rotating bearing. The
lubricant produced film thicknesses at low speeds of test bearing. The experimental
test rig is used for determining the effective grease viscosity. Takabi and Khonsari
[4] experimentally investigated the thermal failure of test bearing, which occurred
P. Sharma (B) · S. C. Rana · R. N. Barman

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur 713209,
West Bengal, India
e-mail: Praveensharma12346@gmail.com

1086 P. Sharma et al.
due to high speed of inner race of bearing and high load. The life of bearing is most
important factor for various fields such as tribology, design of bearing and manu-
facturing of bearing. Thermal failure can occur before the designed life of bearing.
Lundberg and Höglund [5] showed the stability of roller bearing life which is an
important factor for design and manufacturing of roller bearing. They also analysed
the cause of damage of bearings.
Gatzen et al. [6] investigated the effect of lubricant, added with polymer additives.
They also analysed the effect of lubricant film thickness on the raceway which is an
important factor during the calculation for useful life of bearing. Paladugu et al.
[7] investigated the bearing life during operation of model used. The temperature
of lubricant has important role to maintain the proper film thickness on raceway of
bearing. Hiraoka [8] investigated the leakage of lubricant from shielded bearing due to
high temperature and contamination. The lubricant-packed shielded bearing is mostly
used for useful of bearing life. Lugt [9] showed the lubricant is major component
of bearing and the performance of bearing is improved by this component. The
performance of bearing is described such as useful life and sealing. Serrato et al. [10]
experimentally investigated the lubrication condition during various temperatures
and performed a test to obtain the vibration signal using various types of lubricant
grade. Mota and Ferreira [11] experimentally investigated the effect of lubricant
composition on raceway in bearing. The parameters of lubricant such as viscosity
and additives were varied during the experiment. Feng et al. [12] showed successful
operating condition of an experimental test rig under variable speeds of bearing
raceway. The defect on raceway of bearing is also successfully analysed.
Our work presents an experimental study of vibration analysis of the needle roller
bearing using various lubricant viscosity grades (ISO 10, 32, 46, 68, 100 and 120)
at fixed RPM (920 rpm) of inner race of bearing and with fixed load of 100 N. It has
been observed that oil lubricant having minimum vibration response in the bearing
with constant shaft speed is the optimum choice because it enhances the working life
of the roller bearing.
2 Experimental Setup and Procedure
Experimental tests are conducted on a test rig in which the needle roller bearing
(202512) lubricated with oil of six different viscosity grades (ISO 10, 32, 46, 68, 100
and 120). The test bearing is loaded with100 N through an arrangement as shown in
Fig. 1. The solid shaft is rotated by V Belt, cone pulley and single-phase induction
motor of ½ HP. The speed of the rotating shaft is kept constant at 920 rpm through
an arrangement as shown in Fig. 2. The signals of acceleration and corresponding
frequency are recorded using vibration meter (VB-8205), RS 232 cable and sensing
element. Using those signals the time series data and thereby FFT plots are generated
which are used for vibration analysis of needle roller bearing.
Experimental Study on Vibration Analysis of a Needle … 1087
Fig. 1 Block diagram of experimental setup
A needle roller bearing (202512) is used for the vibration analysis. The experimental
tests are conducted with oil of six different viscosity grades (ISO 10, 32, 46, 68,
100 and 120). It is found that rpm is decreased for ISO 120 while for the rest five
lubricants, rpm is maintained constant.
3.1 Viscosity Grades (ISO 10)
Frequency bands are taken from 150 to 500 Hz, corresponding to the frequency bands
of the needle roller bearing. The time series signals of acceleration are generated using
data, which is given in Table 1. The amplitudes of time series signals of acceleration
are observed from −178.3 to 178.3 m/s2 as shown in Fig. 3. The amplitudes of FFT
of acceleration are observed maximum of 23.76 m/s2 at 290 Hz and minimum of
2.09 m/s2 at 410 Hz as shown in Fig. 4. The vibration response is found of the bearing
using lubricant of viscosity grade (ISO 10) and rpm is maintained constant.
Table 1 Acceleration and

Observation Nos. Acceleration (in m/s2 ) Frequency in Hz
frequency using of needle
roller bearing 1 21.2 460
2 20.3 450
3 20.1 402
4 21.8 510
5 21.9 530
6 22.1 570
7 22.2 590
8 22.6 604
9 21.6 490
10 20.2 410
11 22.8 620
12 23.1 680
13 23.4 692
14 23.8 710
15 23.9 725
16 21.4 470
17 21.7 502
18 24.2 755
19 24.6 782
20 24.8 802
Fig. 3 Time series signal

Fig. 4 Fast Fourier

transform (FFT)
3.2 Viscosity Grade (ISO 32)
of acceleration are observed maximum of 22.18 m/s2 at 297.9 Hz and minimum
11.65 m/s2 at 444.3 Hz as shown in Fig. 6. It is found that the vibration response
of the bearing is decreased using lubricant of viscosity grade (ISO 32) and rpm is

frequency using of needle
roller bearing 1 19.2 464
2 19.6 480
3 18.6 445
4 18.4 410
5 18.9 448
6 19.8 504
7 19.1 450
8 20.6 542
9 20.9 562
10 20.3 526
11 18.3 403
12 19.4 493
13 20.5 510
14 21.3 582
15 21.6 593
(continued)
Table 2 (continued)
16 21.8 604
17 22.1 578
18 22.9 702
19 22.8 640
20 23.6 608
Fig. 6 Fast Fourier transform (FFT)
are observed from –206.1 to 206.1 m/s2 as shown in Fig. 7. The amplitudes of FFT of
acceleration are observed maximum of 17.13 m/s2 at 290 Hz and minimum 9.42 m/s2
at 432.6 Hz as shown in Fig. 8. It is found that the vibration response of the bearing is
decreased using lubricant of Viscosity grade (ISO 46) and rpm is maintained constant.

frequency using needle roller
bearing 1 15.2 572
2 15.6 603
3 15.8 622
4 14.2 510
5 14.9 542
6 16.3 680
7 16.8 688
8 15.4 592
9 15.1 568
10 16.9 692
11 16.4 685
12 16.2 645
13 15.9 628
14 16.1 634
15 14.1 502
16 17.1 710
17 17.9 718
18 17.6 715
19 15.3 588
20 14.8 530
Fig. 8 Fast Fourier

transform (FFT)

bearing 1 13.2 683
2 10.2 488
3 10.6 510
4 10.9 522
5 12.4 622
6 12.8 652
7 11.8 588
8 11.3 540
9 11.9 598
10 13.1 672
11 8.2 428
12 11.7 572
13 8.7 442
14 12.9 664
15 11.4 562
16 12.2 610
17 10.5 503
18 10.4 492
19 9.5 462
20 9.8 478

are observed from −64.74 to 64.74 m/s2 as shown in Fig. 11. The amplitudes of
FFT of acceleration are observed maximum of 7.767 m/s2 at 497.1 Hz and minimum

bearing 1 6.8 495
2 5.9 432
3 7.3 509
4 6.4 488
5 6.3 479
6 6.9 497
7 5.5 404
8 5.2 381
(continued)
Table 5 (continued)
9 5.8 422
10 4.7 352
11 4.2 315
12 4.8 362
13 5.1 372
14 5.7 410
15 7.2 502
16 6.2 468
17 6.1 448
18 4.4 346
19 5.3 392
20 4.9 368


bearing 1 3.2 388
2 4.9 442
3 4.6 428
4 3.8 402
5 4.4 415
6 3.1 382
7 3.3 394
8 4.8 437
9 2.3 315
10 2.6 353
11 2.7 357
12 3.4 398
13 4.7 430
14 2.8 362
15 2.4 338
16 3.9 408
17 2.2 310
18 2.9 370
19 2.5 342
20 4.3 412
are observed from –60.25 to 60.25 m/s2 as shown in Fig. 13. The amplitudes of FFT
Fig. 14 Fast Fourier

transform (FFT)

1.545 m/s2 at 315.4 Hz as shown in Fig. 14. It is observed that the vibration response
of the bearing is decreased using lubricant of viscosity grade (ISO 120) but rpm is
decreased.
4 Conclusion
In this study, needle roller bearing has been tested in order to investigate its vibration
response when lubricated with oil of six different viscosity grades (ISO 10, 32, 46,
68, 100 and 120). Vibration response has been observed with the help of signal
processing techniques. It is observed that the vibration response of the bearing is
decreased for all the six lubricants used. It is also observed that rpm is decreased for
ISO120 while for the rest five lubricants, rpm is maintained constant. Therefore, it
is found from our study that viscosity grades of ISO 100 show minimum vibration
response in the roller bearing and speed is also maintained constant.
References
1. Aditya, M.A., Kankar, P.K.: Failure analysis of a grease-lubricated cylindrical roller bearing.
Proc. Technol. 14, 59–66 (2014)
2. Ma, F., Li, Z., Qiu, S., Baojie, W., An, Q.: Transient thermal analysis of grease-lubricated
spherical roller bearings. Tribol. Int. 93, 115–123 (2016)
3. Morales-Espejel, G.E., Lugt, P.M., Pasaribu, H.R., Cen, H.: Film thickness in grease lubricated
slow rotating rolling bearings. Tribol. Int. 74, 7–19 (2014)
4. Takabi, J., Khonsari, M.M.: On the thermally-induced failure of rolling element bearings.
Tribol. Int. 94, 661–674 (2016)
5. Lundberg, J., Höglund, E.: A new method for determining the mechanical stability of lubricating
greases. Tribol. Int. 33 217–223 (2000)
6. Gatzen, M.M., Pape, F., Bruening, C., Gatzen, H.H., Arlinghaus, H.F., Poll, G.W.G.: Correlation
between performance and boundary layers in high speed bearings lubricated with polymer-
enhanced greases. Tribol. Int. 43, 981–989 (2010)
7. Paladugu, M., Lucas, D.R., Scott Hyde, R.: Effect of lubricants on bearing damage in rolling-
sliding conditions: evolution of white etching cracks. Wear 398–399, 165–177 (2018)
8. Hiraoka, N.: On grease leakage from rolling bearings. Tribol. Int. 50, 45–50 (2012)
9. Lugt, P.M.: Modern advancements in lubricating grease technology. Tribol. Int. 97, 467–477
(2016)
10. Serrato, R., Maru, M.M., Padovese, L.R.: Effect of lubricant viscosity grade on mechanical
vibration of roller bearings. Tribol. Int. 40, 1270–1275 (2007)
11. Mota, V., Ferreira, L.A.: Influence of grease composition on rolling contact wear: experimental
study. Tribol. Int. 42, 569–574 (2009)
12. Feng, Z., Chen, X., Wang, T.: Time-varying demodulation analysis for rolling bearing fault
diagnosis under variable speed conditions. J. Sound Vib. 400, 71–85 (2017)
Multi-directional Sound Reduction
by Slitted Sonic Crystal
Preeti Gulia and Arpan Gupta
Abstract Sonic crystals (SC) are the periodic arrangements of solid objects, i.e.,
cylinders, blocks, spheres, etc., in fluid media. SC are known for noise attenuation
over a certain range of frequency. The direction of incident noise on the SC affects
the sound transmission loss as well as the bandgap. In this work, SC are designed
in such a way that changing the position of noise source will not affect the sound
transmission loss and the bandgap as much as in the conventional SC. The effect
of slitted scatterers is investigated on the bandgap and the sound transmission loss.
The structure is subjected to a planar wave coming from the different directions and
results are compared with each other. Finite element simulation is used to calculate
the sound transmission loss and the bandgap in SC with and without rectangular slits.
Results show that the slitted SC work more effectively with multi-directional noise
source than the conventional SC.
Keywords Bandgap · Filling fraction · Slitted sonic crystal · Sound transmission

loss
1 Introduction
Periodic structures have been led to good applications of wave attenuation from the
past few decades. Periodic structures which are used to attenuate the mechanical
waves of audible frequency are known as sonic crystals (SC). The working mecha-
nism of the sonic crystal is based on the wave interference phenomenon. When the
acoustic wave of wavelength comparable with the interspacing distance between the
scatterers strikes with the SC, wave scatters in the same way as in the Bragg’s scat-
tering. There is a particular range of frequency in which acoustic waves cancel out
each other as a result of destructive interference and the sound wave of that particular
frequencies cannot transmit through the SC.
P. Gulia (B) · A. Gupta

Acoustics and Vibration Lab, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Mandi,
Himachal Pradesh, India
e-mail: preeti.gulia@springernature.com

1100 P. Gulia and A. Gupta
Initially, a periodic circular sculpture was used as a sonic crystal and it was
subjected to the sound wave in 1995 [1]. This sculpture does not have an ideal shape
of scatterers but it showed a significant amount of transmission loss over this domain
which was situated in an open environment. There are certain design parameters
of SC which affect the sound transmission loss and the position of bandgaps. The
interspacing lattice constant, type of periodic arrangement, and filling fraction play a
key role to design the SC. Changing the lattice constant causes a change in the location
of the center frequency of the bandgap. Filling fraction and types of periodicity are
responsible for widening and contracting of bandgaps [2, 3].
SC’s are used in various applications but they are mainly known for noise atten-
uation. Sanchez-Perez et al. [4] did some experiments on a two-dimensional SC in
outdoor conditions and found that SC can be used as a noise barrier in free field
condition to protect the industrial laborers from machinery noise. Elford et al. [5]
did numerical modeling of SC with C-shaped scatterers. The C-shaped scatterers
act as a locally resonant element which are favorable to create the bandgap at low
frequencies.
Martinez-Sala et al. [6] did experiments with the trees arranged like an SC and
found a significant noise attenuation. Koussa et al. [7] designed a low-height SC to
reduce the transport noise. The frequency at which maximum sound transmission
loss occurs through a periodic structure can be predicted by Bragg’s criteria [8, 9].
Cai et al. [10] proposed Helmholtz resonators inside a periodic structure to improve
its noise attenuation performance. The results showed that increasing the number of
resonators in the periodic structure increased the sound attenuation properties and
structure did not follow the Bragg’s criteria. Miyashita [11] performed experiments
with a periodic structure to calculate the full bandgap. He changed the position of
noise source and calculated the sound attenuation. It is found that filling fraction
should be more than 0.44 to get a full bandgap. The full bandgap is the region of
frequency in which sound cannot transmit in any direction.
When SC’s are used at tramway or road, the direction of the incident noise on
SC is never fixed. SC face the noise of different frequencies coming from different
directions. In this work, SC are introduced with slitted scatterers which can work
efficiently with the noise coming from different directions. A finite element numerical
modeling is done for SC to calculate the sound transmission loss and the bandgap.
Effect of the rectangular slits in the scatterers is also studied and slitted SC are
designed to hinder the multi-directional noise of transportation.
2 Numerical Simulation
Figure 1 represents a schematic diagram of a conventional sonic crystal. This is a

rectangular SC in which circularly shaped scatterers are embedded in the air with a
periodic constant of 4.8 cm. The outer and inner radius of scatterers are 1.8 cm and
1.6 cm, respectively. Total six rows of SC are arranged in the middle of a rectangular
Multi-directional Sound Reduction by Slitted Sonic Crystal 1101
Fig. 1 A 2-D schematic

diagram of a conventional
sonic crystal
domain of dimension 43.2 × 28.8 cm2 . In the material properties, the speed of sound
in air is taken as 343 m/s and the density of air is taken as 1.25 kg/m3 .
It is assumed that the scatterers are made of a stiff metal (brass, steel, etc.) and
sound waves fully reflect after striking with the scatterers. So, sound hard properties
are given to the scatterers.
Following is the equation to approximate the sound pressure level on the given
domain of SC. p is the acoustic pressure and cc is the speed of sound in air. x, y, and
z are the space variable and t is the time variable [9].
∂2 p ∂2 p ∂2 p 1 ∂2 p
+ + − =0 (1)
∂ x 2 ∂ y 2 ∂z 2 cc2 ∂t 2
Equation (2) represents the sound hard boundary condition. This is applied at the
scatterers, top and bottom boundary of SC as shown in Fig. 1. Sound hard boundary
is the boundary with zero transmission of the sound wave. A plane wave of amplitude
1 Pa is incident on the source boundary. Equations (3) and (4) represent the plane
wave radiation boundary condition which is applied at source and receiver boundary,
respectively. Total sound pressure at source boundary is the combination of forward
(incident) and backward (reflected by scatterers) traveling waves, where receiver
boundary faces only forward traveling waves.

∇p
− .n = 0 (2)
ρ

∇p iω iω
− .n = p− p0 (3)
ρ ρcc ρcc

∇p iω
− .n = p (4)
ρ ρcc

win
T = 10 log∞
10 (5)
wout
For meshing, the maximum size of an element is taken as ten points per unit
minimum wavelength. Pressure acoustic frequency domain is used for finite element
simulation which is done in COMSOL Multiphysics.
Sound transmission loss (T) is calculated by the logarithmic difference of the
sound power level at source and receiver boundary using Eq. (5). win and wout are
the sound power level at inlet and outlet, respectively.
3.1 SC with Slits
In this section, the sound transmission loss of conventional SC (i.e., SC with scatterers
which do not have slits) is compared with the SC having rectangular slits.
A rectangular slit of width 4 mm is cut out from the scatterers. Figure 2 shows
the different scatterers having a different number of slits from 1 to 8. The scatterers
with one slit look like a C-type scatterer shown in Fig. 2a. C-type scatterers act as a
local resonator in SC due to which Bragg’s resonance shifts at lower frequency [5].
As a result of which first bandgap appears at low frequency with a large amplitude
of sound attenuation as compared to the conventional sonic crystal without slits as
shown in Fig. 3a.
Fig. 2 Cylindrical scatterers with different number of rectangular slits (1–8)

Fig. 3 Sound transmission loss versus frequency for SC with different types of scatterers.
a Scatterers without slit and with slits from 1 to 4. b Scatterers with slits from 4 to 8
Increasing the number of slits in the scatterers shifts the location of bandgap at
higher frequencies. The bandgap in SC having scatterers without slits ranges from
2130 to 4570 Hz with a maximum sound transmission loss of 52 dB. In the case of
scatterers with one slit, the peak of the first bandgap arises at 1270 Hz. In the case of
scatterers with two and three slits, the peak of the first bandgap arises at 1990 Hz and
2250 Hz, respectively, with a smaller width of the bandgap as compared to the non-
slitted scatterers. But in case of scatterers with four and five slits, sound transmission
loss is increased with a wider range of frequency than the conventional SC having
non-slitted scatterers. Further increment in the slits (above five) does not show the
appearance of the bandgap in this small region of frequency up to 6000 Hz as shown
in Fig. 3b. From here, it is found that the position and width of the bandgap in case
of non-slitted scatterers are comparable with the bandgap of the slitted SC with four
or five slits.
3.2 Conventional SC Versus Slitted SC
In this section, the effect of multi-directional noise on the SC is studied. For this,
four different sources of plane wave at different angles are considered as shown in
Fig. 4.
Source 1, 2, and 3 represent 0°, 45°, and 67.5° incidence of sound waves. Source
4 includes all noise sources from 1 to 3 and behaves as a multi-directional noise
source.
Figure 4 represents a conventional SC in which radius of scatterers is 1.8 cm and
periodic constant is 4.8 cm. Finite element simulations are performed on this model
Fig. 4 A top view of a sonic

crystal in which boundary
4–6 represent receivers and
boundary 1–3 represent
different sources of noise
Fig. 5 Sound transmission loss versus frequency in conventional SC having different directional
sources of noise
with source 1–4. Boundary 4–6 acts as receiver boundary. Plane wave radiation
condition is applied at boundary 1–6.
Figure 5 represents the sound transmission loss in the conventional SC with dif-
ferent directional noise sources and it is found that maximum sound transmission
loss in case of zero degree incidence is 42 dB with a bandgap of width 2500 Hz.
But in other cases, sound transmission loss is less (Maximum 23–20 dB) and the
bandgap is found at higher frequencies with smaller bandwidth (~1000 Hz) than the
case of zero degree incidences (Fig. 6).
Figure 7 represents the sound transmission loss in slitted SC with different direc-
tional sources. The width of the first bandgap in all cases is the same with a small
difference in transmission loss. The width of the second bandgap in case of zero
degree incidences is 2320 Hz while in other cases, bandwidth is around 1600 Hz.
In all the cases, peaks of sound transmission loss in both bandgaps are found at the
same frequency. So, in the slitted SC, the effect of changing the direction of the noise
source is quite less than the conventional SC.
Moreover, when we compared the sound transmission loss in a slitted model of
SC with the conventional SC having multisources of noise (source 4), it is found
that sound transmission loss has significantly increased covering a broader range of
frequencies in slitted model of SC as shown in Fig. 8. Conventional SC shows only
one bandgap from 3800 to 4500 Hz with sound source 4. But multi-directional SC
with slitted scatterers shows two band gaps from 2200 to 3300 Hz and from 3800 to
Fig. 6 a A 3-D view of cylindrical scatterer having four columns of rectangular slots used in slitted
sonic crystal, b A 3-D view of the slitted sonic crystal
Fig. 7 Sound transmission loss versus frequency for slitted SC having different directional sources
of noise
Fig. 8 Sound transmission loss in conventional SC versus multi-direction SC with source 4
5200 Hz. So, this model of multi-directional SC is ideal for transportation noise and
can be used on the side of roads and tramways to hinder the multi-directional noise
of vehicles.
4 Conclusions
In this work, the finite element simulations have been done to calculate sound trans-
mission loss through SC. A number of rectangular slits are provided to the scatterers
of SC and its effect on the sound transmission loss and the bandgap is studied.
Increasing the slits in the scatterers lead to shifting the position of first bandgap at a
higher frequency. The SC with four slits in the scatterers show a comparable bandgap
with the conventional SC.
The effect of multi-directional noise source on the sound transmission loss is also
computed. It is found that zero degree noise incidence on conventional SC provides
a huge sound transmission loss with a wide bandgap but the conventional SC with
45° and 67.5° noise incidence shows a small bandgap at high frequencies with less
sound attenuation. A slitted model of SC is proposed to lessen these differences and
it is found that the slitted model of SC with the scatterers having four columns of
rectangular slots works efficiently when subjected to the different directional sources
of the noise. Moreover, the sound transmission loss in slitted SC has significantly
increased covering a broad range of frequency as compared to the conventional SC.

Multi-directional sound attenuation properties of slitted SC makes it an ideal model
for transport noise attenuation.
Acknowledgements The author would like to acknowledge the assistance provided by SERB
(Science and Engineering Research Board) through DST project YSS/2015/001245.
References
1. Martinez-Sala, R., Sancho, J., Sanchez, J.V., Gomez, V., Llinares, J., Meseguer, F.: Sound
attenuation by sculpture. Nature 378(6554), 241–241 (1995)
2. Yang, S., Yu, W., Pan, N.: Band structure in two-dimensional fiber—air phononic crystals.
Phys. B: Condens. Matter 406, 963–966 (2011)
3. Kushwaha, M.S., Djafari-Rouhani, B., Dobrzynski, L., Vasseur, J.O.: Sonic stop-bands for
cubic arrays of rigid inclusions in air. Eur. Phys. J. B 3, 155–161 (1998)
4. Sanchez-perez, J.V., Rubio, C., Martinez-sala, R., Sanchez-grandia, R., Gomez, V.: Acoustic
barriers based on periodic arrays of scatterers. Appl. Phys. Lett. 81(27), 5240–5242 (2002)
5. Elford, D.P., Chalmers, L., Kusmartsev, F., Swallowe, G.M.: Matryoshka locally resonant sonic
crystal. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 130(5), 2746–2755 (2011)
6. Martinez-Sala, R., Rubio, C., Gracia-Raffi, L.M., Sanchez-Perez, J.V.: Control of noise by trees
arranged like sonic crystals. J. Sound Vib. 291(1), 100–106 (2006)
7. Koussa, F., Defrance, J., Jean, P., Blanc-benon, P.: Transport noise reduction by low height
sonic crystal noise barriers. In: Proceedings of 2012 Acoustics Nante Conference, pp. 997–
1001, France (2012)
8. Gulia, P., Gupta, A.: A finite element study of acoustic wave propagation through sonic crystal.
Nonlinear Stud. 24(1), 3–13 (2017)
9. Jiang, G., Liu, Y., Wu, Y., Xu, W., Kong, Q., Zhang, C.: Transmission and radiation of acoustic
oblique incident through tube arrays based on phononic crystals theory. Appl. Acoust. 116,
117–126 (2017)
10. Cai, C., Ming, C., Wang, X.: Noise attenuation performance improvement by adding Helmholtz
resonators on the periodic ducted Helmholtz resonator system. Appl. Acoust. 122, 8–15 (2017)
11. Miyashita, T.: Full band gaps of sonic crystals made of acrylic cylinders in air—numerical and
experimental investigations. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 41, 3170–3175 (2002)
A Novel Passive Mechanism to Improve
Induced Strain in Two-DOF Piezoelectric
Energy Harvester
Kote Suresh , K. Shankar and C. Sujatha
Abstract Sensors have a significant role in Structural Health Monitoring and have
limited operation life due to the limited life of batteries. Vibration-based cantilevered
piezoelectric energy harvester is to be improved in their performance to satisfy the
power requirements of remote sensors with existing limited host structure vibrations.
This work focuses on increasing the strain induced in harvester beam by enhancing
the amplitude of vibrations at root of cantilevered piezoelectric harvester beam by
attaching four-bar mechanism with spring as dynamic magnifier. As output voltage
from piezoelectric material depends on strain induced in it, strain gauges are pasted
on harvester beam instead of piezoelectric patch and strain gauge results are dis-
cussed. Experimental results show that for a given input base displacement, four-bar
mechanism improved strain in harvester beam in first mode by 1.5 times and in second
mode it approached as that with cantilevered harvester and exhibits wider operational
bandwidth when compared with conventional cantilevered energy harvester.
Keywords Vibration energy harvesting · Two-DOF · Piezoelectric
1 Introduction
Sensors have a significant role in the field of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) and
Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) [1]. These sensors will have a limited life of
operation in remote applications, due to the limited lifetime of batteries. Thus, there
is a need to replace finite power sources in portable devices by converting ambient
energy into electricity through the use of an energy harvester.
Renewable sources of energy convert the energy available in ambient condition
into electrical energy. The sources of energy available will depend on the application.
Some possible energy sources are
• Light energy from ambient light, such as sunlight.
K. Suresh (B) · K. Shankar · C. Sujatha

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036,
India
e-mail: kote.suresh@gmail.com

1110 K. Suresh et al.
• Thermal energy: miniature thermoelectric generators generate electricity when

placed across a temperature gradient.
• Volume flow, i.e. flow of liquids or gases.
• Mechanical energy, i.e. energy from movement and vibration [2].
Vibration-based energy harvesting has gained significance in the past decades.
The energy associated with vibrations is dominant at resonance; hence, it is intended
to operate a harvester always at its resonant frequencies. The vibration energy of the
host structure is converted into electrical energy by three mechanisms, viz. electro-
magnetic, electrostatic and piezoelectric.
A piezoelectric converter combines most of the advantages of both electromag-
netic and electrostatic converters and comparatively has high power density [3]. In
this work, piezoelectric transduction vibration energy harvesting is used.
Further, the research community in this field has started working on improving
the performance of the harvester with the following aspects:
• Increasing the power output from the harvester using various configurations of
harvester beam.
• Increasing the power output from the harvester by enhancing the strain induced in
the harvester beam using a dynamic magnifier.
• Widening the operation bandwidth of the harvester by tuning the harvester beam
to vibrate at its fundamental mode.
This work involves amplifying the strain induced in the piezoelectric material to
enhance the power output from the energy harvester.
Kausar et al. [1] discussed the scope, challenges and approaches in energising
wireless sensor networks by harvesting systems. The importance of WSN in process
monitoring, natural environmental monitoring, animal tracking and control, safety,
security and surveillance was shown. It was revealed that vibrational energy is avail-
able in most of the built environment and is a source of energy to operate WSNs.
Williams and Yates [2] proposed a new kind of power generator that generates elec-
trical energy from mechanical vibrations. A transducer which generates electrical
energy due to the relative displacement between seismic mass and the housing was
modelled. It was shown a close agreement between results from the model and the
electromagnetic generator’s experimental results. Roundy and et al. [3] discussed
the limitations of the generator developed by Williams and Yates [1]. All three kinds
of vibration energy harvesters, viz. electromagnetic, electrostatic and piezoelectric
are discussed and stated that piezoelectric converters have more advantages because
of their high power density, robustness and less complex power electronics. Erturk
and Inman [4] formulated lumped and distributed parameter electromechanical mod-
els for cantilevered piezoelectric energy harvesters and validated the results through
experimentation. Vibration-based energy harvesters produce maximum output at res-
onant frequencies; a small shift in frequency will reduce the output power drastically.
Qi et al. [5] designed a multiresonant clamped–clamped beam, in which small can-
tilevers induce a wideband strain distribution in the main beam on which a piezo-
electric strip is attached. Frank Goldschmidtboeing and Woias [6] analysed different
A Novel Passive Mechanism to Improve Induced Strain … 1111
beam shapes and concluded that triangular-shaped beams are more effective than
rectangular-shaped beams in terms of tolerable excitation amplitude and maximum
output power. Usharani et al. [7] worked on piezoelectric patched cantilever beam
with stepped and tapered sections with cavity. It was shown that step section can
enhance the amplitude of the output voltage and validated their analytical results
with experiments.
To improve the performance of the piezoelectric vibration energy harvester, the
dynamic magnifier is introduced (additional SDOF) with harvester beam. This ampli-
fied the strain experienced by the harvester beam in order to magnify the electrical
power output. Aladwani et al. [8] developed governing equations using finite element
theory and concluded that the harvested power can be amplified by a factor of 500%
by attaching a dynamic magnifier, as compared to conventional cantilevered energy
harvester and effective bandwidth of the harvester can be widened to cover sidebands
that are about ±21% of the resonant frequency of conventional cantilevered energy
harvester. Tang and Zuo [9] worked on dual-mass vibration energy harvesting which
is similar to the work done by Aladwani et al. [8]; more attention is given on optimis-
ing the harvester for maximum power output with respect to parameters such as mass
ratio and tuning ratio. Liu et al. [10] derived explicit equations for operating frequency
to analyse and design the dual-mass harvester by using distributed parameter model.
Numerical investigations reveal that a heavier mass near the clamped end of the har-
vester has better performance and experimental results have shown that dual-mass
harvester efficiency increases by almost four times at the first operating frequency,
while the output power at the second operating frequency accounts for 68% of that of
the cantilevered harvester. Wang et al. [11] worked on a similar dual-mass harvester
and stated that power output can be increased and the frequency bandwidth can be
improved when the SDOF elastic system has a larger lumped mass and a smaller
damping ratio. Arafa et al. [12] experimentally validated the works of Aladwani [10].
Miah Halim et al. [13] presented a low-frequency vibration energy harvester using
stopper-engaged dynamic magnifier for increased power and bandwidth. Wu et al.
[14] developed a novel two-DOF piezoelectric energy harvester, which comprises
of one main cantilever beam and an inner secondary cantilever beam, each of which
is bonded with piezoelectric transducers. By varying the mass ratio, the first two
resonant frequencies can be tuned closely to achieve useful bandwidth.
In this work, the piezoelectric-type vibration energy harvesting beam is used. A
(SDOF) Conventional Cantilevered Piezoelectric Harvester (CCPH) has only one
peak and very low operating bandwidth. To increase the strain induced in the har-
vester beam and to widen the operating bandwidth of the harvester, a mechanism is
developed to enhance the amplitude of vibration at the root of the cantilever beam
and experimental result are plotted. The paper is arranged as follows: Experimental
setup is discussed in Sect. 2. Results and discussions in Sect. 3. Conclusions are
given in Sect. 4.
Based on the literature review, the following operating conditions are considered.
Operating frequency and bandwidth: 14–25 Hz, base excitation amplitudes: 0.095–
0.15 mm. For the above operating conditions, the harvester beam specifications are
as follows. Material of the beam: Copper, Young’s modulus, E = 117 GPa, Density
= 8960 kg/m3 . Dimensions of the beam: 133 × 25.4 × 0.5 mm.
Figure 1 shows the four-bar mechanism used in this work. The dimensions of the
mechanism are found based on the operating frequency considered. With dimensions
shown in Fig. 1, the mass on the spring is measured as 190 g. The stiffness of the
spring is 2020.86 N/m decided by trial and error to get the operating frequency of the
mechanism as 16.86 Hz. Figure 2 reveals typical cantilever harvester arrangement.
Strain gauges are mounted on the beam with half-bridge configuration. The strain
gauge outputs are acquired by data acquisition system DEWETRON and Dewe-
soft software with the above-mentioned operating conditions. Figure 3 demonstrates
beam with strain gauges pasted. Figure 4 shows experimental setup developed.
Fig. 1 Four-bar mechanism

mounted with harvester
beam (dimensions in mm)
Fig. 2 Cantilevered
vibration energy harvester
Fig. 3 Harvester beam with strain gauge pasted
Figure 5 manifests the typical first mode behaviour of cantilevered harvester. This
kind of piezoelectric harvester is well established in previous literature [2–4]. In
this work, these harvester strain results are used as benchmark for the purpose of
comparison with the four-bar mechanism harvester. Figure 6 displays typical first
(a) and second (b) mode behaviour of harvester beam with four-bar mechanism.
With free vibration test, the natural frequencies of cantilevered harvester and four-
bar mechanism harvester beam are measured. The first mode natural frequency of
cantilevered harvester is measured as 17.578 Hz and four-bar mechanism harvester
Fig. 5 Typical first mode (17.578 Hz) behaviour of cantilevered energy harvester
(a) 14.648 Hz (b) 19.531 Hz
Fig. 6 Typical first (a) and second (b) mode behaviour of harvester beam with four-bar mechanism
beam has two close natural frequencies, first mode at 14.648 Hz and second mode
at 19.531 Hz and is 4.88 Hz apart.
The experimental results of strain gauge readings for the different base excita-
tions are noted for both conventional cantilevered harvester and four-bar mechanism
harvester.
Results are tabulated in Table 1 and Table 2 for conventional cantilevered harvester
and four-bar mechanism harvester, respectively. The tabulated values are plotted in
Fig. 7 to indicate the trends. The four-bar mechanism harvester showed two operating
frequencies, which are close enough to prove it as broadband harvester.
On the other hand, in the conventional cantilevered harvester, only the first mode
output results are noted due to the fact that the second mode frequency is far away
from the first mode operating frequency and it is impractical to consider this mode in
Table 1 Strain gauge

Base excitation in mm Strain in µm/m
readings for cantilevered
harvester beam 0.05 1266
0.11 1569
0.13 1966
0.15 2223
Table 2 Strain gauge

Base excitation in mm Strain in µm/m
readings for four-bar
mechanism harvester beam First mode Second mode
with first mode at 14.648 Hz 0.05 1714 810
and second mode 19.531 Hz
0.11 2327 1556
0.13 2847 1716
0.15 3080 2182
Fig. 7 Strain versus

displacement for
conventional cantilevered
harvester and four-bar
mechanism harvester
Fig. 8 Qualitative plot of

amplitude of strain versus
frequency with base
excitation of 0.1 mm
the design of vibration energy harvester. Figure 8 indicates qualitative comparison

of amplitude of strain versus frequency with base excitation of 0.1 mm.
It is observed that as the base excitation increases, the strain values in both har-
vesters increase. Mode 1 strain values of four-bar mechanism harvester yield 150%
higher results than first mode strain values of cantilevered harvester and mode 2
strain values of the four-bar mechanism harvester are approaching the conventional
cantilevered harvester first mode strain values.
4 Conclusions
A novel four-bar mechanism with spring as dynamic magnifier developed for increas-
ing the strain induced in the vibration energy harvester beam is introduced. Con-
ventional cantilevered harvester is having only one peak (17.578 Hz) and narrow
operating bandwidth. The four-bar mechanism harvester has two close natural fre-
quencies (first mode at 14.648 Hz and second mode 19.531 Hz), which makes the
harvester to have wider operating bandwidth. With strain gauge results, it is shown
that four-bar mechanism vibration energy harvester shows improved performance
over the conventional cantilevered vibration energy harvester by 1.5 times in first
mode and as that with cantilevered harvester in second mode.
References
1. Kausar, A.Z., Reza, A.W., Saleh, M.U., Ramiah, H.: Energizing wireless sensor networks by
energy harvesting systems: scopes, challenges and approaches. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev.
38, 973–989 (2014)
2. Williams, C.B., Yates, R.B.: Analysis of a micro-electric generator for microsystems. Sens.
Actuators A: Phys. 52(1–3), 8–11
3. Roundy, S., Wright, P.K., Rabaey, J.M.: Energy Scavenging for Wireless Sensor Networks,
Norwell, pp. 45–47 (2003)
4. Erturk, A., Inman, D.J.: Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting. Wiley (2011)
5. Qi, S., Shuttleworth, R., Oyadiji, S.O., Wright, J.: Design of a multiresonant beam for broadband
piezoelectric energy harvesting. Smart Mater. Struct. 19(9), 094009 (2010)
6. Goldschmidtboeing, F., Woias, P.: Characterization of different beam shapes for piezoelectric
energy harvesting. J. Micromech. Microeng. 18(10), 104013 (2008)
7. Usharani, R., Uma, G., Umapathy, M., Choi, S.B.: A new piezoelectric-patched cantilever beam
with a step section for high performance of energy harvesting. Sens. Actuators A 265, 47–61
(2017)
8. Aladwani, A., Arafa, M., Aldraihem, O., Baz, A.: Cantilevered piezoelectric energy harvester
with a dynamic magnifier. J. Vib. Acoust. 134(3), 031004 (2012)
9. Tang, X., Zuo, L.: Enhanced vibration energy harvesting using dual-mass systems. J. Sound
Vib. 330(21), 5199–5209 (2011)
10. Liu, H., Huang, Z., Xu, T., Chen, D.: Enhancing output power of a piezoelectric cantilever
energy harvester using an oscillator. Smart Mater. Struct. 21(6), 065004 (2012)
11. Wang, H.Y., Shan, X.B., Xie, T.: An energy harvester combining a piezoelectric cantilever and
a single degree of freedom elastic system. J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. A 13(7), 526–537 (2012)
12. Arafa, M., Akl, W., Aladwani, A., Aldraihem, O., Baz, A.: Experimental implementation of a
cantilevered piezoelectric energy harvester with a dynamic magnifier. In: Active and Passive
Smart Structures and Integrated Systems 2011, vol. 7977, pp. 79770Q. International Society
for Optics and Photonics (2011)
13. Halim, M.A., Kim, D.H., Park, J.Y.: Low frequency vibration energy harvester using stopper-
engaged dynamic magnifier for increased power and wide bandwidth. J. Electr. Eng. Technol.
11(3), 707–714 (2016)
14. Wu, H., Tang, L., Yang, Y., Soh, C.K.: A novel two-degrees-of-freedom piezoelectric energy
harvester. J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct. 24(3), 357–368 (2013)
Cepstrum Analysis of Instantaneous
Angular Speed for Gearbox Fault
Detection
Sankar K. Roy, A. R. Mohanty and C. S. Kumar
Abstract Vibration-based gearbox fault diagnosis is widely used by the researchers.

The main setback of vibration-based signal is that it contains structure borne noise,
which degrades the gear related information. Therefore, instantaneous angular speed
(IAS) signal has been utilized to identify gearbox fault as it contains less structure
borne noise. When defect exists, the IAS signal exhibits modulation characteris-
tics. Therefore, cepstrum analysis has been used on IAS signal to separate out the
modulating signals. Thus, fault in multistage helical gearbox has been detected.
Keywords Instantaneous angular speed · Cepstrum analysis · Multistage gearbox
1 Introduction
Gears are one of the crucial modes for power transmission in rotating machinery.
Due to continuous and heavy operations, the gears undergo various defects like
wear, spall, tooth crack, tooth broken, etc. According to the literature review [1],
statistically 10.3% machinery fail due to the failure of the gear. Hence, condition
monitoring is an important tool which conveys the gear condition before it fails,
thus preventive measures can be taken. The condition monitoring techniques are
developed in many ways. One of the important condition monitoring technique has
been developed based on various signal analysis such as vibration signal [2–5], motor
current signal [6, 7], acoustic signal [8, 9], etc. So far, much research has been carried
out for gearbox condition monitoring by analysis of vibration signal [2–5] captured
from the machine cover. However, the measured vibration signal is corrupted with
plenty of structure borne and airborne noise. This corruption by noise weakens the
information content of the signal. Hence, to overcome this problem, researchers
are recently using the instantaneous angular speed (IAS) signal as an alternate for
gearbox condition monitoring. The idea of using IAS signal as an alternate one that
S. K. Roy (B)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Patna, Patna 800005, India
e-mail: sankar.roy@nitp.ac.in
A. R. Mohanty · C. S. Kumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India
1118 S. K. Roy et al.
presence of any fault will alter the rotating dynamics of a machine from its healthier
one. As a result, the IAS signal will vary and analysis of varying IAS signal can infer
the condition of the rotating machines. Hence, the IAS signal has got some edges over
the vibration signal. As the IAS signal is a straight output of the rotating dynamics,
it contains less structure borne and airborne noise. In vibration signal, amount of
noise contamination relies on the location of vibration measuring sensor. Thus the
position dependency of the sensor can be avoided. Moreover, it can be measured by
less costlier sensor. Therefore, the IAS signal has been used by the researchers to
monitor the condition of the gearbox [10–17] and other rotating machinery [18–23].
In signal analysis based condition monitoring, the signal is analysed by a variety
of signal processing approaches to take out the valuable message from the signal.
Recently, Stander ad Heyns [10] have averaged the IAS signal synchronously to
monitor helical gearbox during non-cyclic and cyclic load. Zhou et al. [11] have
used the intrinsic mode function derived from dynamic error to monitor the feed axis
gearbox. Author has used time synchronous averaging [12] and envelope analysis
[13, 14] to identify the fault in helical gear. Recently, in different papers, Li et al.
[15–17] have used IAS signal to spot the defect in spur and helical gear. Besides
gearbox monitoring, IAS signal has also been employed to monitor several types of
machinery faults such as rotor fault [18], rotor misalignment [19] in electric motor,
roller bearing fault [20], blade vibration [21] in rotating machine, chatter in milling
machine [22], combustion detection [23] in internal combustion engine, etc. From
the literature review, it has been established that IAS signal is recently using by
several researchers for condition monitoring of the rotating machinery.
Now in a gearbox, in existence of a fault, the IAS shows modulated signal [2, 12–
14] and thus amplitude of the gear mesh frequency and sidebands around it enhances.
However, in frequency spectrum, change in amplitude variation of sidebands are not
always clear due various reasons. The reasons are mainly the amount of defect present
in the system, amount of noise attenuated in the signal, etc. Cepstrum analysis [5] is
a useful tool which isolates the modulating frequencies and modulating frequencies
clearly reveals the gear fault. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to detect the
fault in gearbox by cepstrum analysis of IAS signal.
2 Theory
2.1 IAS Estimation
The incremental rotary encoder produces a pulse signal. While the machine is running
with constant speed then the pulse signal [17] can be expressed as
∞

y= Ai sin 2π(2i − 1)fr t (1)
i=1
Cepstrum Analysis of Instantaneous Angular Speed … 1119
The pulse signal after bandpass filtering around the first carrier frequency can be
written as
y1 = A1 sin(2π Nfr t) (2)
Existence of fault in a machine, the shaft’s speed varies. The varying speed can
be expressed as
fv = fr + δf (t) (3)
Therefore, the pulse signal will be a frequency modulated pulse signal [12–14].
Thus the pulse signal after bandpass filtering [19] can be written as
⎡ ⎤
t
y1 = A1 sin⎣2π Nfr t + N δf (t)dt ⎦ (4)
0

y1 = A1 sin 2π Nfr t + φ(t) (5)
Now estimation of instantaneous frequency from this FM signal will be the esti-
mation of IAS. Hence, IAS can be written as
60 d
IAS = 2π Nfr t + φ(t) (6)
2π N dt
2.2 Cepstrum Analysis
Cepstrum analysis is a useful technique [5], which can detect the periodicity in the
frequency spectrum. The real cepstrum is defined as
π
1
= log|X (ω)|ejωt d ω (7)
2π
−π
In a gearbox, the IAS signal shows amplitude and frequency modulation char-
acteristics in the presence of tooth defect and load [2]. This modulation enhances
amplitudes of the gear mesh frequency and its sidebands. Hence the technique sep-
arates the modulating frequencies. Thus, fault detection becomes much easier.
The experiment has been conducted in an automobile gearbox (shown in Fig. 1)

[12–14], which is run by an three-phase induction motor ad it has two poles with a
capacity of 7.5 kW. The induction motor’s speed is constant with define slip and it is
regulated by a variable frequency drive. The gearbox’s output shaft is joined with a
DC motor by invariable velocity joint. The DC motor is here working as a generator
and its power capacity is 5.625 kW. A variable resistive load bank is attached with
the DC motor to load the gearbox. The bank has 15 switches by which the gearbox
can be loaded from 0 to 5.625 kW with step of 0.375 kW. An incremental rotary
optical encoder (ENC 58-10H-1000AB), made by Encoders India, of TTL (5 V) is
mounted at the output shaft of the DC motor to acquire the IAS of the output shaft
of the gearbox. The resolution of the encoder is 1000 pulses/revolution. The encoder
pulses are further stored into a personal computer by a National Instruments (NI)
6110 A/D card of 16 bit resolution. In the gearbox, the input frequency (f 1 ), layshaft
frequency (f 2 ), output shaft frequency (f 3 ), 2nd gear mesh frequency (f m2 ), 3rd gear
mesh frequency (f m3 ), fourth gear mesh frequency (f m4 ) are expressed as [12]
f1 f1
f2 = 0.6129f1 , f32 = , f3 = , f 4 = f1 (8)
2.253 3 1.506 3
fm2 = 21f2 , fm3 = 26f2 , fm4 = 31f2 (9)
The four-speed synchromesh gearbox and its schematic diagram has been shown
in Fig. 2a, b. Hence, main and counter gear is represented by T m and T c , respectively.
Fig. 1 Experimental setup of automobile gearbox

Fig. 2 a Four-speed synchromesh gearbox. b Line diagram of gear meshing
The experiment has been performed on three different conditions (Healthy, one
tooth broken and 2 teeth broken) of the 2nd gear. Three different gear has been shown
in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3 a Normal 2nd gear. b One tooth broken in the 2nd gear. c Two teeth broken in the 2nd gear
The experiment has been conducted for three distinct gears (healthy gear, one tooth
broken gear and two teeth broken) under two altered loads and single input speed
condition. These load conditions are 0 kW load and 2.625 kW load, respectively. The
input speed is 37 Hz. Figure 4a, b show IAS signal and its frequency spectrum for a
healthy gearbox under 2.625 kW load. From Fig. 4b, it is found that frequency spec-
trum contains output shaft frequency (f 3 ), layshaft frequency (f 2 ), input frequency
(f 1 ), 2nd gear mesh frequency (f m2 ) and sidebands around it. However, amplitudes
of sidebands around mesh frequency increase for faulty gearbox. Increment of side
bands’ amplitude around a particular mesh frequency can reveal the existence of the
fault in one gear of the meshing gears. To identify the particular gear fault clearly,
the frequency spectrum is not sufficient. Hence, the IAS signal has been analysed by
cepstrum analysis technique.
Fig. 4 a IAS signal and corresponding frequency spectrum for healthy gearbox under 37 Hz input
speed and 2.625 kW load condition b 0–200 Hz c 200–1000 Hz
Fig. 5 Cepstrum analysis of IAS signal for a healthy, b one tooth removed, c two teeth removed
gearbox under no load condition
The technique separates the sidebands and clearly identify the faulty gear. Cepstra
of IAS signal for distinct gear and load conditions are shown in Fig. 5 and 6, respec-
tively. The result exhibits rahmonics of 64.5 ms become higher for faulty gearbox
and amplitude variation becomes higher during 2.625 kW load as compared to no
load. 64.5 ms quefrency is inverse of 15.5 Hz. 15.5 Hz is the rotational frequency of
output shaft. It infers that the fault exists in 2nd gear.
Fig. 6 Cepstrum analysis of IAS signal for a Healthy, b one tooth removed, c two teeth removed
gearbox under 2.625 kW load condition
5 Conclusions
In this paper, the cepstrum analysis has been put to use on the IAS signal to identify
gearbox fault. The signal becomes modulated under defect and load conditions.
Hence, the technique separates the modulating frequencies. Thus it helps to identify
the fault in gearbox successfully.
References
1. Liangsheng, Q., Zhengjia, H.: Mechanical fault diagnostics. China Science & Technology
Press, Hanghai, China, Hanghai (1986)
2. Randall, R.B.: A new method of modelling gear faults. J. Mech. Des. 104, 259–267 (1982)
3. Wang, W.J., McFadden, P.D.: Application of wavelets to gearbox vibration signals for fault
detection. J. Sound Vib. 192, 927–939 (1996)
4. Byder, N., Ball, A.D.: Detection of gear failures via vibration and acoustic signals using wavelet
transform. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 17, 787–804 (2003)
5. Randall, R.B.: A history of cepstrum analysis and its application to mechanical problems.
Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 97, 3–19 (2017)
6. Mohanty, A.R., Kar, C.: Fault detection in a multistage gearbox by demodulation of motor
current waveform. IEEE Trans. Industr. Electron. 53, 1285–1297 (2006)
7. Kar, C., Mohanty, A.R.: Monitoring gear vibrations through motor current signature analysis
and wavelet transform. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 20, 158–187 (2006)
8. Baydar, N., Ball, A.: Detection of gear deterioration under varying load conditions by using
the instantaneous power spectrum. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 14, 907–921 (2000)
9. Eftekharnejad, B., Mba, D.: Seeded fault detection on helical gears with acoustic emission.
Appl. Acoust. 70, 547–555 (2009)
10. Stander, C.J., Heyns, P.S.: Instantaneous angular speed monitoring of gearboxes under non-
cyclic stationary load conditions. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 19, 817–835 (2005)
11. Zhou, Y., Tao, T., Mei, X., Jiang, G., Sun, N.: Feed-axis gearbox condition monitoring using
built in position sensors and EEMD method. Robot. Comput. Integr. Manuf. 27(4), 785–793
(2011)
12. Roy, S.K., Mohanty, A.R., Kumar, C.S.: Fault detection in a multistage gearbox by time syn-
chronous averaging of the instantaneous angular speed. J. Vib. Control 22, 468–480 (2016)
13. Roy, S.K., Mohanty, A.R., Kumar, C.S.: Amplitude demodulation of instantaneous angular
speed for fault detection in multistage gearbox. In: Sinha, J.K. (ed.) Vibration Engineering
and Technology of Machinery 2015, Mechanism and Machine Science, vol. 23, pp. 951–961.
Springer, Switzerland (2015)
14. Roy, S.K., Mohanty, A.R., Kumar, C.S.: Envelope analysis of instantaneous angular speed for
fault detection in multistage gearbox. J. Vib. Eng. Technol. 4, 447–454 (2016)
15. Li, B., Zhang, X., Wu, J.: New procedure for gear fault detection and diagnosis using instan-
taneous angular speed. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 85, 415–428 (2017)
16. Li, B., Zhang, X.: A new strategy of instantaneous angular speed extraction and its application
to multistage gearbox fault diagnosis. J. Sound Vib. 396, 340–355 (2017)
17. Li, B., Zhang, X., Wu, T.: Measurement of instantaneous angular displacement fluctuation and
its applications on gearbox fault detection. ISA Trans. 74, 245–260 (2018)
18. Sasi, A.Y.B., Gu, F., Li, Y., Ball, A.D.: A validated model for the prediction of rotor bar failure
in squirrel-cage motors using instantaneous angular speed. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 20,
1572–1589 (2006)
19. Gu, F., Yesilyurt, I., Li, Y., Harris, G., Ball, A.: An investigation of the effects of measurement
noise in the use of instantaneous angular speed for machine diagnosis. Mech. Syst. Signal
Process. 20, 1444–1460 (2006)
20. Renaudin, L., Bonnardot, F., Musy, O., Doray, J., Rémond, D.: Natural roller bearing fault
detection by angular measurement of true instantaneous angular speed. Mech. Syst. Signal
Process. 24, 1998–2011 (2010)
21. Gubran, A.A., Sinha, J.K.: Shaft instantaneous angular speed for blade vibration in rotating
machine. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 44, 47–59 (2014)
22. Lamraoui, M., Thomas, M., Badaoui, M.El, Girardin, F.: Shaft instantaneous angular speed for
blade vibration in rotating machine. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 44, 72–85 (2014)
23. Roy, S.K., Mohanty, A.R.: Use of rotary optical encoder for firing detection in a spark ignition
engine. Measur. 98, 60–67 (2017)
Combustion Detection in IC Engine
by Analysis of Instantaneous Angular
Acceleration
Sankar K. Roy and A. R. Mohanty
Abstract Combustion is an essential event in an internal combustion engine.

Proper combustion signifies the proper output of power. Sometimes, the combus-
tion becomes improper due to many reasons such as inappropriate stoichiometric
air-fuel ratio, compression ratio, fault in spark plug, etc. Therefore, identification of
appropriate and inappropriate combustion is a primary concern for all. The combus-
tion is mainly detected by a pressure measuring sensor. However, the price of the
sensor is actually high and fitting of it on engine cylinder head is a tough task. There-
fore, in this paper, instantaneous angular acceleration (IAA) measurement from the
output shaft is used.
Keywords Instantaneous angular acceleration · Spark ignition engine · Wavelet

packet transform · Combustion detection
1 Introduction
In-cylinder combustion identification is a crucial matter in internal combustion (IC)

engine, as the power output is completely controlled by it [1]. The quality of combus-
tion is generally identified by measuring the pressure developed during combustion.
This pressure is measured by pressure measuring sensor [2]. Hence, the cost of the
sensor is substantially high and placing of it on the head of engine cylinder is quite
challenging. Therefore, different signal based algorithm has been originated by the
researchers to identify the combustion. The signals are vibration signal, acoustic sig-
nal, crank speed, etc. The vibration signal is analyzed by different techniques such
as cepstral de-convolution [3], time domain technique [4], cyclo-stationary approach
[5], inverse filtering technique [6], etc. to assess in-cylinder pressure. However, the
primary drawback of vibration signal is that it is attenuated by structure borne noise.
S. K. Roy (B)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Patna, Patna 800005, India
e-mail: sankar.roy@nitp.ac.in
A. R. Mohanty
Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India

1128 S. K. Roy and A. R. Mohanty
The structure borne noise deteriorates the information content of the vibration sig-
nal. On the other hand, the acoustic signal carries different frequencies related to
the combustion, rotating parts, airborne noise. Still, the acoustic signal has been
used by different researchers [7–13] for combustion detection. In a healthy engine,
during the rapid pressure change inside the engine cylinder is the main source for
structural vibration. Thus it creates vehicle noise. Li et al. [7] have demonstrated
that this rapid pressure change starts at the end of compression stroke and following
expansion stroke. The structural vibration is more than 80% of the overall vibration.
The transfer function of engine combustion noise is determined by Kaminski et al.
[8], Guon et al. [9] and Ge-qun [10] to study deterministic combustion noise and
aerodynamic noise. Researchers have also studied time domain [11] and frequency
domain technique [13] to distinguish the mechanical noise from combustion noise.
Though several techniques have been developed to distinguish mechanical noise still
it is difficult to distinguish combustion instance from the overall noise. Recently, IAS
signal has been utilized by some researchers for combustion detection and combus-
tion related problem [14–24]. The main superiority of IAS signal is that it contains
less structure borne and airborne noise [25, 26]. Based on IAS signal, researchers
have attempted to estimate the in-cylinder pressure through mathematical model
[14, 15], linear correlation [16], neural network [17], etc. IAS signal has also been
applied to detect misfiring [19, 20] in spark ignition engine, fuel leakage detection
[21] in four stroke, four cylinder diesel engine, misfiring, [22] and variation in injec-
tion time of fuel [23] in 16 and 20 cylinder diesel engine. Recently, authors [24]
have combined complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition with IAS
to identify combustion in a four stroke single cylinder petrol engine. Instantaneous
angular acceleration (IAA) measured from the output shaft is directly proportional to
in-cylinder pressure. However, the measured IAA has combustion frequency, shaft
rotational frequency, and harmonics of them. Therefore, detection of combustion by
raw IAA signal is somewhat difficult. Hence, IAA signal is combined with discrete
wavelet transform to detect combustion efficiently.
2 Theory
2.1 Instantaneous Angular Speed
In an actual situation, even a new machine is not defect free. There will present defects
like manufacturing error, machining error, etc. Hence, measured encoder signal from
the output shaft becomes frequency modulated (FM) pulse signal. Instantaneous fre-
quency (IF) estimation from encoder signal is the measurement of instantaneous
angular speed (IAS). Further differentiation of IAS is instantaneous angular acceler-
ation (IAA). There are many techniques available to estimate IF from an FM signal.
The techniques are zeros cross detection technique, time domain technique, fre-
quency domain technique, and time frequency domain technique [25, 26]. Among
Combustion Detection in IC Engine by Analysis … 1129
these, frequency domain technique estimates better IF. Therefore, FM signal is fil-
tered around its 1st carrier frequency. The filtered signal can be expressed as
t
y = A sin ωc t + δω dt + φc
0
y = A sin[ωc t + φ(t)] (1)
In the frequency domain technique, the filtered signal is analytically represented

as
z(t) = Ae j[ωc t+φ(t)] (2)
The IAS (ω) can be expressed as

1 dφ(t)
ω= ωc + (3)
N dt
Further, IAA can be expressed as

1 d 2 φ(t)
α= (4)
N dt 2
2.2 Discrete Wavelet Transform
Discrete wavelet transform (DWT) is an extension of continuous wavelet transform

(CWT) [27], where the wavelet function ψ s, τ (t) is discretized as

1 t − 2jk
ψs,τ (t) = √ ψ (5)
2j 2j
where, scale (s) and translation (τ ) parameter are replaced by 2j and 2j k, respec-
tively. The discretization is a dyadic discretization. Thus, the time function x(n)
passes through a high pass (h) and low pass filter (g) and produces detail (d) and
approximate coefficients (a). In 1st level decomposition, the detail (d 1 ) and approx-
imate coefficients (a1 ) can be written as

d1 [k] = x[n]h[n − 2k] (6)
n

a1 [k] = x[n]g[n − 2k] (7)
n
With this decomposition, the sampling frequency reduces by 2. The approximate

coefficients will be further decomposed into approximate (a2 ) and detail coefficients
(d 2 ). This decomposition process will continue until no more sub-sampling is achiev-
able. Hence, the signal x(n) can be again achievable by these detail and approximate
coefficients. Based on this property, various frequency band signal can be constructed
by setting suitable approximate and detailed coefficients to zero.
3 Engine Test Setup
The test rig [24] presented in Fig. 1 consists of a single cylinder gasoline engine
(Honda G-300) which has four stroke with maximum rated speed of 3600 RPM. This
test rig engine can produce the maximum rated power of 5 kW at the above-specified
RPM. Cardan shaft is used to apply load on the gasoline engine and it is joined with
an eddy current dynamometer, whose specification is detailed in Table 1. Various
sensors are placed in the test rig to assess various responses like in-cylinder pressure,
air temperature, cooling water temperature, etc. A Kisteler charge type Piezoelectric
pressure sensor is used to assess in-cylinder pressure. The specification of the pressure
sensor is detailed in Table 2. A number of thermocouples are placed in the test rig
to measure the air temperature, cooling water temperature at inlet and outlet. An
orifice meter is attached to assess the rate of airflow to the cylinder. A turbine flow
meter is placed to assess the rate of cooling water flow to the dynamometer. A
software known as EPA (Engine Performance Analysis) is used to computerized
control the setup (shown in Fig. 2). Different parameters related to the engine like
rotational speed and torque of the engine, airflow intake, and water flow rate shown
on the control panel’s output display. Rate of fuel consumption is determined by
Fig. 1 a Four stroke SI engine test rig, b incremental rotary optical encoder, c DL850 ScopeCorder
Table 1 Technical
Engine HONDA G-300
specification of the engine
[24] Rated power 5HP @60 Hz
Rated torque 14 N-m @ 46.67 Hz
Cubic capacity cylinder 272 C.C.
Bore 76 mm
Stroke 60 mm
Connecting rod length 73 mm
Compression ratio 6.5:1
Type 4 stroke, single-cylinder, air cooled,
gasoline engine
Table 2 Technical
Pressure range 0–100 bar
specifications piezoelectric
pressure sensor [24] Sensitivity 40 mV/bar
Shock 2000 g
Operating temperature range −50–300 °C
Fig. 2 Control panel for SI

engine
a calibrated burette. External load which is controlled by strain gauge load cell, is
applied on the engine by the arm of the dynamometer. An incremental rotary optical
encoder (E50S8-360-3-V-5) is mounted on the output shaft to measure its speed
in terms of pulse signal. Finally, the pulse signal is further analyzed in MATLAB
software.
The experiment has been conducted under steady state conditions. The Fig. 3a shows
encoder pulse signal during 2100 RPM and 4.8 Nm load. The pulse signal has been
acquired at a sampling frequency of 105 Hz. The sampling frequency is determined
as [26]
f s = 100,000 > 4( f c + Bw ) = 4(360 × 40 + 20 × 40 + 360 × 0.5) = 61,250 Hz.
Fig. 3 a Encoder pulse signal, b estimated IAS signal, c estimated IAA signal, during 2100 RPM
under 4.8 Nm load
Fig. 4 Frequency spectrum of a IAS signal, b IAA signal, during 2100 RPM under 4.8 Nm load
Estimated IAS and IAA signal have been shown in Fig. 3b, c. Frequency spectra of
them have been shown in Fig. 4a, b. Both the spectra contain combustion frequency,
rotational frequency, and harmonics of them. Hence, frequency domain analysis can
only reveal important frequencies. These frequencies can show the occurrence of
combustion. However, real time condition monitoring technique needs detection of
each combustion with time. Now, the IAS signal has been broke down by DWT up
to 8th level. The frequency content of approximate coefficients is 0–195.31 Hz at 8th
level. Setting all the detail coefficients to zero, the IAS signal has been reconstructed.
Thus the frequency content of reconstructed IAS signal is 0–195.31 Hz. This
reconstructed signal contains combustion frequency, rotational frequency, and few
harmonics of them. This reconstructed signal shows valley during combustion, which
is shown in Fig. 5. Thus it is unable to detect combustion. The reason for using
wavelet-based filtering technique is that it keeps spatiotemporal phenomenon of a
signal. Now IAA signal is similarly filtered as mentioned earlier. IAA signals for
three different rotating speeds have been considered for the analysis. These speeds
Fig. 5 a IAS signal; b filtered IAS signal; c pressure signal during 2100 RPM under 4.8 Nm load
are 1800, 2100, and 2400 RPM under 4.8 Nm load. Figures 6, 7 and, 8 show filtered
IAA signals with corresponding in-cylinder pressure. The filtered IAA signal shows
the peak during combustion. Thus, it can identify the combustion more adequately.
Fig. 6 a IAA signal; b filtered IAA signal; c pressure signal during 1800 RPM under 4.8 Nm load
Fig. 7 a IAA signal; b filtered IAA; c pressure signal during 2100 RPM under 4.8 Nm load
Fig. 8 a IAA signal; b filtered IAA; c pressure signal during 2400 RPM under 4.8 Nm load
5 Conclusion
The paper shows the efficacy of IAA signal to detect combustion in a four stroke
single cylinder gasoline engine. IAA signal contains various frequencies such as
combustion frequency, rotational frequency, and harmonics of them. Therefore, the
IAA signal is filtered by DWT to detect each combustion time. Thus, IAA signal
becomes effective for online condition monitoring. Hence, filtered IAA signal is
compared with filtered IAS signal for detection of combustion. However, IAA signal
is found to be more efficient than IAS signal for combustion detection.
Annexure
SI Spark Ignition
RPM Revolutions Per Minute
IAS Instantaneous Angular Speed
IAA Instantaneous Angular Acceleration
FFT Fast Fourier Transform
DWT Discrete Wavelet Transform
References
1. Heywood, J.B.: Internal Combustion Engine Fundamentals. McGraw Hill, New York (1988)
2. Mobley, C.: Non-intrusive in-cylinder pressure measurement of internal combustion engines.
SAE paper no. 1999-01-0544 (1999)
3. Lyon, R.H., DeJong, R.G.: Design of a high-level diagnostic system. J. Vib. Acoust. 106(1),
17–21 (1984)
4. Gao, Y., Randall, R.B.: Reconstruction of diesel engine cylinder pressure using a time domain
smoothing technique. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 13(5), 709–722 (1999)
5. Antoni, J., Daniere, J., Guillet, F.: Effective vibration analysis of IC engines using cyclostation-
arity. Part I-a methodology for condition monitoring. J. Sound Vib. 257(5), 815–837 (2002)
6. Antoni, J., Daniere, J., Guillet, F.: Effective vibration analysis of IC engines using cyclosta-
tionarity. Part II—new results on the reconstruction of the cylinder pressures. J. Sound Vib.
257(5), 815–837 (2002)
7. Li, W., Gu, F., Ball, A.D., Leung, A.Y.T., Phipps, C.E.: A study of the noise from diesel
engines using the independent component analysis. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 15(6), 1165–
1184 (2001)
8. Kaminski, T., Wendeker, M., Urbanowicz, K., Litak, G.: Combustion process in a spark ignition
engine: dynamics and noise level estimation. Chaos 14(2), 461–466 (2004)
9. Guon, I.J., Kim, H.J., Lee, S.H., Shinoda, K.: Prediction of intake noise of an automotive engine
in run-up condition. Appl. Acoust. 70(2), 347–355 (2009)
10. Ge-qun, S., Qiao, W.H., Rui, H.: The transfer function of combustion noise in di-diesel engine.
SAE paper no. 2005-01-2486 (2005)
11. Badaoui, M.E.I., Daniere, J., Guillet, F., Serviere, C.: Separation of combustion noise and
piston-slap in diesel engine by cyclic wiener filtering. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 19(6),
1209–1217 (2005)
12. Delvecchio, S., Bonfiglio, P., Pompoli, F.: Vibro-acoustic condition monitoring of internal
combustion engines: a critical review of existing techniques. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 99,
661–683
13. Brandl, F., Veit, J., Arndt, R., Priebsch, H.H.: The application of a new software tool for
separating engine combustion and mechanical noise excitation. SAE paper no. 2007-01-0228
(2007)
14. Citron, S.J., O’Higgins, J.E., Chen, L.Y.: Cylinder by cylinder engine pressure and pressure
torque waveform determination utilizing speed fluctuations. SAE paper no. 890486 (1989)
15. Brand, D., Onder, C., Guzzella, L.: Estimation of the instantaneous in-cylinder pressure for con-
trol purposes using crankshaft angular velocity. In: Proceedings fo 2005 SAE World Congress
Paper No. 2005-01-0228 (2005)
16. Moro, D., Cavina, N., Ponti, F.: In-cylinder pressure reconstruction based on instantaneous
engine speed signal. J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power 124, 220–225 (2002)
17. Johnsson, R.: Cylinder pressure reconstruction based on complex radial basis function networks
from vibration and speed signals. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 20(8), 1923–1940 (2006)
18. Yang, J., Pu, L., Wang, Z., Zhou, Y., Yan, X.: Fault detection in a diesel engine by analyzing
the instantaneous angular speed. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 15(3), 549–564 (2001)
19. Rizzoni, G.: Diagnosis of individual cylinder misfires by signature analysis of Crankshaft speed
fluctuations. SAE paper no. 890884 (1989)
20. Ponti, F.: Development of a torsional behavior powertrain model for multiple msfire detection.
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power 130, 1–13 (2008)
21. Taglialatela, F., Lavorgna, M., Mancaruso, E., Vaglieco, B.M.: Determination of combustion
parameters using engine crankshaft speed. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 38(2), 628–633 (2012)
22. Charles, P., Sinha, J.K., Gu, F., Lidstone, L., Ball, A.D.: Detecting the crankshaft torsional
vibration of diesel engines for combustion related diagnosis. J. Sound Vib. 321, 1171–1185
(2009)
23. Charles, P., Sinha, J.K., Gu, F., Ball, A.D.: Application of novel polar representation method
for monitoring minor engine condition variations. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 24(10), 841–843
(2009)
24. Roy, S.K., Mohanty, A.R.: Use of rotary optical encoder for firing detection in a spark ignition
engine. Measurement 98, 60–67 (2017)
25. Li, Y., Gu, F., Harris, G., Ball, A., Bennett, N., Travis, K.: The measurement of instantaneous
angular speed. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 19(4), 786–805 (2005)
26. Gu, F., Yesilyurt, I., Li, Y., Harris, G., Ball, A.: An investigation of the effects of measurement
noise in the use of instantaneous angular speed for machine diagnosis. Mech. Syst. Signal
Process. 20(6), 1444–1460 (2006)
27. Sundarajan, D.: Discrete Wavelet Transform: A Signal Processing Approach, 1st edn. Wiley,
New York (2015)
Identification of Nonlinear Structural
Parameters Using Combined Power Flow
and Acceleration Matching Approaches
R. Anish and K. Shankar
Abstract Identification of structures with nonlinearity in stiffness and damping is a

challenging research problem especially in the area of Structural Health Monitoring.
To develop an accurate mathematical model, it is essential to consider the nonlin-
earities associated with the system and subsequently identify the parameters in the
model. The system characterization is an important phase in testing which provides
prior knowledge about the nonlinear behavior of the system. Once the system is well
characterized, any of the system identification techniques can be used to identify the
model parameters or nonlinear coefficients with varying degree of accuracy. Iden-
tification uses information from both the characterization process and input-output
experiments to estimate the nonlinear system parameters associated with the system.
The present paper mainly focuses on the procedural technique to identify the non-
linear parameters of structures using collective information of both substructure and
novel application of power flows in time domain, using Particle Swarm Optimization.
Keywords Identification · Substructure · Power flow · Particle swarm optimization
1 Introduction
In recent years there is an increasing interest in the area of parameter identification

and fault diagnosis in the area of research. System identification is a technique used to
determine the unknown parameters such as mass, stiffness, and damping properties
from the observed input-output characteristics of a structure. Structural Engineering
problems can be classified into two group namely forward and inverse problems. In
forward or direct analysis, the numerical models are formulated to predict system
response (Output) from applied excitation (Input) and known system parameters like
mass, stiffness, and damping. The inverse analysis is the process of finding structural
parameters from the given Input and Output information. Figure 1 illustrates the two
analyses graphically, where the solid line represents the forward analysis while the
R. Anish (B) · K. Shankar

Machine Design Section, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology
Madras, Chennai, India
e-mail: mail2anishrajan@gmail.com

1140 R. Anish and K. Shankar
Fig. 1 Classification of structural engineering problem
dashed line shows the inverse analysis. Inverse problems generally come under the
category of system identification, where the primary objective is model updating to
get a better structural response.
Vibration-based structural parameter identification is the most commonly used
identification technique. The basic principle behind the vibration-based identifica-
tion is the unique relationship between elastic parameters of the structure and vibra-
tion response. There are mainly two approaches in vibration-based analysis, namely
frequency domain and time domain analysis. This work contains time-based anal-
ysis of nonlinear structures, which uses the measured acceleration, velocity, and
displacement data of the structure for parameter estimation.
In system identification, the accuracy of an identified parameter and its uncer-
tainty depends on the numerical method, measurement noise, and modeling errors.
Koh et al. [1, 2] used an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) method to account the above
parameters. The substructure technique employed here decomposes the system to
small subsystems, improves the convergence of structural parameter identification,
and also reduces the computational time considerably. Relative merits of different
Sub Structure Identification (SSI) methods are also discussed. Varghese and Shankar
[3] proposed a Multi-Objective (MO) optimization formulation to detect and quan-
tify crack damage in beam structure at various locations at substructure level. The
concept behind is the transient power flow balance method in conjunction with con-
ventional acceleration matching method. This approach uses no additional sensors
to incorporate the extra power flow balance criteria. Koh and Shankar [4] used the
method of substructuring to reduce a large problem to smaller manageable one to
improve convergence and accuracy. They also suggested a method for parameter
identification of substructure without the need for interface measurement which is
difficult to get in certain cases like beam or frame rotational response.
Kerschen et al. [5] reviewed the past, present developments of nonlinear system
parameter identification in structural dynamics. This review paper cites a relatively
large number of methods to understand the theoretical backgrounds, assets, limita-
tions, and possible applications of various methods. Timlison and Woden [6] describe
Identification of Nonlinear Structural Parameters … 1141
various techniques for detection, characterization, identification, and modeling of

nonlinear structural dynamic system in time and frequency domain. It gives a clear
cut explanation from linear to nonlinear behavior of structures. Noel and Kerschen
[7] conducted a detailed survey of key developments in the state of art nonlinear
structural parameter identification techniques. In their review paper focus was given
to developments on nonlinear parameter estimation methods over the last decade.
It briefly explains the different stages in identification process such as detection,
characterization, estimation, and modeling.
Varghese and Shankar [8] introduced a concept, which investigates the application
of substructural power flow to linear structural parameter identification. The concept
involves formulating a time-averaged power balance criteria for a substructure and
using it as an inverse problem. The author considered the problem as multi-objective
optimization using the Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm (PSO), the combined
weighted sum of the time-averaged power balance and acceleration matching crite-
ria are minimized by treating the optimization variables as the unknown structural
parameters.
Kapaniya and Park [9] employed a Time Finite element Method (TFM) for the
structural parameter identification of a nonlinear system with combined cubic and
quadratic nonlinearities on stiffness and damping. They have introduced a two-step
identification procedure in which parameter corresponding to linear and nonlinear
terms are identified separately using fewer data points without compromising the
accuracy level. Kumar and Shankar [10] worked on structural parametric identifi-
cation with cubic nonlinearity in springs and quadratic nonlinearities in dampers.
They modeled the identification as inverse problem with Genetic Algorithms (GA)
as search tool with acceleration response in time domain and substructure approach
to get a smaller domain. These studies recommend Substructural Identification (SSI)
over Combined Genetic Algorithm and Levenberg–Marquardt (CGALM) method
because the former requires less number of sensors and takes less computational
efforts compared to full structure evaluation.
The accuracy of the identification process increases with an increase in the number
of measurements. But in practical cases which deal with large and complex structures,
this strategy is very difficult to achieve. The substructure identification technique
used in this paper allows the researchers to concentrate the sensor measurements to
a smaller zone of interest and thereby reducing the computational time. Here a novel
concept of instantaneous power flow balance criteria based objective function along
with conventional acceleration matching criteria is used as a weighted aggregation
approach for the nonlinear dynamic structural parameter identification. A heuristic
global population-based Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is used as the search
tool in this work, because of its superiority over other methods like GA in terms of
its convergence speed, simplicity in coding, computational inexpensiveness, etc.
2 Nonlinear Modeling
The global structure consisting of a nonlinear spring-damper model and the substruc-
ture adopted for the structural parameter identification has been introduced. The sub-
structure nonlinear parameter identification is explained through a numerical model
of 10DOF lumped mass model in Kumar and Shankar [10] was selected with differ-
ent excitation load conditions. The model with two nonlinear spring-damper pairs
was considered for the demonstration. All masses were considered as unity (1 kg).
The values of all linear springs and linear dampers are, respectively, considered as
25 N/m and 1 Ns/m. The nonlinear spring-damper pairs are attached to 4th and 7th
DOF. Here it is assumed that the nonlinear models are known. A cubic nonlinearity
(Duffings equation) in spring and quadratic nonlinearity in damper are selected for
the analysis and the nonlinear relation is as follows.
Kn δn = an δn + bn δn3 (1)

Cn δn , δ̇n = cn δ̇n 1 + δn2 (2)
where bn and cn are the coefficients of nonlinear spring force and nonlinear damper
force corresponding to nth (say 4th and 7th) node/DOF of the structure to be analyzed.
δn , δ̇n are the relative displacement and relative velocity corresponding to nth node.
δn = xn − xn−1 (3)
δ̇n = ẋn − ẋn−1 (4)
Here the experiments are numerically simulated by fixing one end of the 10DOF
nonlinear model and were excited by a harmonic force of amplitude 20 N and forc-
ing frequency 20 Hz at nodal points 3, 6, and 9, respectively. The remaining initial
conditions are all set to zero. The numerically simulated responses are obtained for
0–1 s at a time step of 0.0002 s using RungeKutta 4th order numerical integration
technique. Here the simulated acceleration responses are measured from two loca-
tions (represented by M in Fig. 2), viz. the 3rd node in substructure-1 and 6th node
in substructure-2. The response from all the DOFs of the numerical nonlinear model
is calculated in terms of displacement, velocity, and acceleration in MATLAB® soft-
ware. The global structure is divided into two manageable substructures in such a
way that each substructure should include at least one nonlinear spring damper pair.
The global and substructure considerations are as shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 10-DOF nonlinear lumped mass system and the substructure classification
2.1 Substructure Formulation
Substructure without overlapping is studied here. The equations of motion for the
substructure considered may be extracted from the system of partitioned equations
following the method described in Koh et al. [2, 11]
⎧ ⎫ ⎧ ⎫ ⎧ ⎫
⎨ üf ⎬ ⎨ u̇f ⎬ ⎨ uf ⎬
Mrf Mrr Mrg ü + Crf Crr Crg u̇ + Krf Krr Krg u = { Pr (t)} (5)
⎩ r⎭ ⎩ r⎭ ⎩ r⎭
üg u̇g ug
where the subscript ‘r’ denotes internal DOFs of the concerned substructure, sub-
scripts ‘f ’ and ‘g’ represents the interface DOFs. Let subscript ‘j’ denote all interface
DOFs (i.e. ‘f ’ and ‘g’ included) for concise presentation the above equation can be
written as

üj u̇j uj
Mrf Mrr + Crj Crr + Krj Krr = { Pr (t)} (6)
ür u̇r ur
This can be rearranged to bring the interior partitions to the left and interface effects
in the form of a force on to the right as,
Mrr ür (t) + Crr u̇(t) + Krr ur (t) = Pr (t) − Mrj üj (t) − Crj u̇j (t) − Krj uj (t) (7)
Pr (t) is the force applied to the interior node(s). If there is no excitation within
the substructure, then Pr (t) is set to zero and in that case force is applied outside the
substructure. The left side of the above equation represents the inertia force, damping
force, and restoring force components acting in the substructure which is treated as
output from the substructure. The right side of equation is treated as input to the
substructure.
3 Objective Functions
This section gives the concept of objective function formulation for multi-objective
optimization problem. Two objective functions are formulated in terms of conven-
tional acceleration matching and instantaneous power flow balance criteria. These
two objective functions are combined together using weighted aggregation method to
form a multi-objective optimization problem. This method will improve the accuracy
of structural parameter identification.
3.1 Substructure Acceleration Matching
In order to get the experimental response in terms of acceleration, a forward analysis

was done using numerical integration method ode45 solver in MATLAB® software
by considering the structure as a whole. The substructural response (acceleration)
was also calculated in the region of interest. Based on the response calculation a
fitness function is defined in terms of acceleration matching criteria. Any heuristic
inverse optimization technique such as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is used
for treating the identification to be a minimization problem [12]. The first fitness
function is formulated by comparing the measured and estimated acceleration as
weighted error cost function as

M
T
(ẍm − ẍe )2
f1 = (8)
i=1 j=1
T ∗M
where the subscripts ‘m’ and ‘e’ represents the measured and estimated acceleration
response for fitness evaluation. ‘M’ is the number of measurement points or sensor
locations and ‘L’ is the number of time steps. Here the measured acceleration response
was simulated numerically and noise has been added to compensate the measurement
error.
3.2 Instantaneous Power Flow Balance
A deterministic power flow analysis is considered here. The Instantaneous Power at

a point is given by the relation
Pi = FiT Vi (9)
where F i and V i are instantaneous values of force and velocity at a point. The excita-
tion force introduces an instantaneous input power (IPin ) into the substructure. The
instantaneous output power has two components, one part is dissipated through the
interior nodes (IPdis ) due to the damping effects within the substructure, while the
other part is transmitted (IPtrans ) across the interface nodes to the adjacent substruc-
tures. The system also has another package of instantaneous power (IPKE + SE ) which
is the time rate of change of kinetic and strain energy. The expressions for various
components of instantaneous power are
IPin = Pr (t)T ẋr (t) (10)
T
IPtrans = Mrj ẍj (t) + Crj ẋj (t) + Krj xj (t) ẋr (t) (11)
IPdis = [ẋr (t)T Crr ]ẋr (t) (12)

d ẋr (t)T Mrr ẋr (t) xr (t)T Krr xr (t)
IPKE+PE = + (13)
dt 2 2
The instantaneous power flow balance equation for the substructure can be obtained
from the above equations as
IP b = IPin − (IPtrans + IPdis + IPKE+PE ) (14)
The second objective function to be minimized can be derived from Eq. (14) as
1
T
f2 = ((IPib )e − (IPib )m )2 (15)
T i=1
where ‘T ’ is the number of time steps and superscript ‘e’ denotes the estimated
instantaneous power balance for objective function evaluation.
Thus the two objective functions are combined together to form a multi-objective
optimization problem using weighted aggregation approach. The combined objective
function can be represented as
f = w1 f1 + w2 f2 (16)
w1 and w2 are weighting factors, which takes values between 0 and 1, such
where
that wi = 1.
4 Parameter Identification
The first substructure (SS1) has nodes from 2 to 5 but excluded the mass at nodes 2
and 5 for substructure formulation. It has a nonlinear spring-damper pair between the
3rd and 4th node positions. The second substructure (SS2) is from node 5 to node 8.
Here also the mass at node 5 and 8 are not included for the substructure formulation.
It also has a nonlinear spring-damper pair between 6th and 7th node positions. In
substructure-1 the nodes 3 and 4 are internal DOFs and 2 and 5 nodes are the interface
DOF. Similarly for substructure-2 nodes 6 and 7 are internal DOF and 5 and 8 nodes
are the interface DOF. Here the first substructure is selected for demonstration of the
proposed method. The response for internal DOF of the substructures are simulated
using the same time span of 0–1 s and time step 0.0002 s using the RungeKutta 4th
order numerical integration method. The acceleration response obtained through both
the substructure formulation and global structure is compared to make sure that the
substructure formulation is a valid tool for the parameter identification. The compar-
ison results which shows the acceleration response values at measurement location
(M) corresponding to global structure and substructure-1 are shown in Fig. 3. From
the plot it can be observed that both the global (actual) and substructure responses
match very closely and hence the accuracy of the substructure formulation is verified.
The components of instantaneous power flow such as input power, transmitted
power, dissipated power, and power due to kinetic and strain energies in substructure
(SS1) without the noise case are as shown in Fig. 4. From the plot it is clear that
at each sampling point the system satisfies the power balance criteria as stated in
Eq. (14).
In the substructure parameter identification procedure, the coefficients of non-
linear spring and damper terms in SS1 (a4 , b4, and c4 ) are assumed as unknown
parameters. The characteristic equations of substructure nonlinear model are treated
as inverse problem and are solved using RK 4th order numerical integration technique
Fig. 3 Comparison of acceleration response of global structure and substructure at 3rd DOF of 10
DOF nonlinear system
Fig. 4 Components of instantaneous power flow balance for SS1 without noise
in MATLAB® with the same time span of 0–1 s and time step of 0.0002 s as in for-
ward analysis. The identification task can be posed as minimization of error between
measured and estimated acceleration (objective function f 1 ) in single objective opti-
mization and minimization of combined weighted cost function in the case of Multi-
Objective optimization problem. In both the cases for minimizing the cost function a
Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) with population size of 30 and generation of 125
has been used. A weighting factor of {0.5 0.5} was selected for the demonstration
purpose of multi-objective optimization problem. The mean values of the identified
parameters of Substructure-1 are shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Identification results of 10DOF nonlinear system using both objective functions
Substructure SS1
Type of problem Nonlinear Actual value Identified values
coefficients Without noise (% With 3% noise
error) (% error)
Single objective a4 25 25.056(–0.22) 22.860 (8.55)
b4 1 1.075 (–7.52) 0.874 (12.56)
c4 1 0.978 (2.14) 0.934 (6.60)
Maximum % error 7.52 12.56
Mean absolute % error 3.29 9.23
Multi objective a4 25 24.973(0.107) 25.426 (–1.70)
b4 1 0.988 (1.156) 0.948 (5.12)
c4 1 1.007 (–0.762) 0.886 (11.35)
Maximum % error 1.156 11.35
Mean absolute % error 0.675 6.06
5 Conclusions
The parameter identification of nonlinear structures using multi-objective optimiza-

tion with combined power flow and acceleration matching in time domain has been
carried out. In the practical point of view, though the substructure equations in time
domain are very difficult to formulate, the technique reduces the number of sensors
and completely ignore the information outside the substructure. The obtained results
show the feasibility of this approach with the aid of substructure concept, a valuable
tool for the parameter estimation of more complex problems on nonlinear structures.
References
1. Koh, C.G., See, L.M., Balendra, T.: Estimation of structural parameters in time domain: a
substructure approach. Earthq. Eng. Struct. Dyn. 20(8), 787–801 (1991)
2. Koh, C.G., Hong, B., Liaw, C.Y.: Sub structural and progressive structural identification meth-
ods. Eng. Struct. 25(12), 1551–1563 (2003)
3. Varghese, C.K., Shankar, K.: Damage identification using combined transient power flow
balance and acceleration matching technique. Struct. Control. Health Monit. 21(2), 135–155
(2014)
4. Koh, C.G., Shankar, K.: Substructural identification method without interface measurement. J.
Eng. Mech. 129(7), 769–776 (2003)
5. Kerschen, G., Worden, K., Vakakis, A.F., Golinval, J.C.: Past, present and future of nonlinear
system identification in structural dynamics. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 20(3), 505–592 (2006)
6. Tomlinson, G.R., Worden, K.: Nonlinearity in Structural Dynamics: Detection, Identification
and Modeling. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2000)
7. Noel, J.P., Kerschen, G.: Nonlinear system identification in structural dynamics: 10 more years
of progress. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 83, 2–35 (2017)
8. Varghese, C.K., Shankar, K.: Identification of structural parameters using combined power flow
and acceleration approach in a substructure. Int. J. Eng. Technol. Innov. 1(1), 65–79 (2016)
9. Kapania, R.K., Park, S.: Parametric identification of nonlinear structural dynamic systems
using time finite element method. AIAA J. 35(4), 719–726 (1997)
10. Kumar, R.K., Shankar, K.: parametric identification of structures with nonlinearities using
global and substructure approaches in the time domain. Adv. Struct. Eng. 12(2), 195–210
(2009)
11. Clough, R.W., Penzien, J.: Dynamics of Structures, 2nd edn. McGraw-Hill, New York (1993)
12. Rao, S.S.: Engineering Optimization, Theory and Practice, 4th edn. Wiley, New York (2009)
Finite Element Analysis of Buckling, Free
Vibration and Flexure of Clamped
Laminated Composite Plates in Variable
Thermal Environment
Ranjan K. Behera, Nitin Sharma and S. K. Parida
Abstract This paper represents the buckling analysis, free vibration, and flexure
of clamped laminated composite plates (CLCP) in the variable thermal environ-
ment through finite elements (FE) method. The midplane kinematics of CLCP has
been simulated applying commercial accessible FE tool (ABAQUS) in the outline
of the FSDT (first-order shear deformation theory). Firstly, validation of the current
problem is accomplished by equating the current buckling temperature and natural
frequenc values with the existing benchmark results. Then, the effect of variable
thermal environment on the buckling temperature, natural frequencies, and flexural
analysis of CLCP are compared by solving suitable numerical problems and their
results are represented graphically and in the form of tables.
Keywords Eigen-frequencies · Buckling · Variable · Thermal environment ·

Composite laminate · Finite elements
1 Introduction
Presently laminated composite plates/panels are extensively applied in several fields

of engineering such as; missiles, railway wagon, mining equipment’s, ships, auto-
mobiles, civil structures, and aircraft, etc. It is commonly used due to corrosion
resistance, increase strength and stability, weight sensitive, low cost, and easy for
fabrication. The hypersonic aircrafts are severe aerodynamic heating at high tem-
perature. The thermal stresses may cause dynamic instability and buckling because
the stiffness of the structures is considerably changed in thermal condition. The
FE analysis is the finest tool for dynamic analysis of the various numerical meth-
ods. Therefore, the several theories, classical laminated plate/shell theory, first-order
deformation theory (FSDT), and higher order deformation theory (HSDT), etc. have
R. K. Behera (B) · N. Sharma

School of Mechanical Engineering, KIIT Deemed to Be University, Bhubaneswar 751024,
Odisha, India
e-mail: ranjancet@gmail.com
S. K. Parida
Manufacturing Engineering Department, NIFFT, Ranchi 734003, Hatia, India
1152 R. K. Behera et al.
been applied for free vibration analysis of CLCP. There is a lot of literature having
analysis of dynamic features in thermal environment. Nevertheless, the literature
regarding the buckling, free vibration, and flexural analysis in variable thermal con-
dition of the CLCPs are occasional.
Jeyaraj [1] and Jeyaraj et al. [2] explained the buckling and free vibration analysis
of an isotropic plate in various thermal conditions by using ANSYS (commercially
available FE tool). It was found that the critical buckling temperature and natural
frequencies decrease with an increase in the temperature for altered boundary con-
ditions. Mayandi and Jeyaraj [3] presented the characteristic of bending, buckling,
and natural vibration of functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced polymer
composite under various thermal load using ANSYS. Also they presented numerical
method in [4] and [5] on fiber-reinforced single layer composite plate and multilay-
ered viscoelastic sandwich plate, respectively, in the thermal environment. Li et al.
[6] presented buckling and vibro acoustic response of the composite laminated plate
in various temperature using first-order differential theory (FSDT), classical laminate
theory (CLT) and their results validate using finite element software MSC.Nastan.
Vangipuram and Ganesan [7] presented buckling as well as vibration analysis of
composite viscoelastic sandwich plate in thermal loading. Shiau and Kuo [8] used
thermally buckled composite sandwich plate for free vibration analysis. Shen [9]
presented nonlinear analysis of composite laminated plates in thermal loading and
lateral pressure. Kumar and Singh [10] used laminated composite plates with the
shape memory alloys fibers for analysis of thermal buckling using layer-wise the-
ory. The modal parameters have calculated in different geometrical configuration of
laminated composite plates with/without thermal effects (Behera et al. [11, 12] and
Patro et al. [13, 14]).
Most of the researchers used the simple supported boundary condition in their
analytical solutions. However, the completely clamped condition is challenging to
formulate the analytical solutions. The objective of the present research work is to
analyse together with flexural (central deflection), buckling (buckling temperature
and its mode shape), and free vibration (natural frequency and its mode shape)
analysis of CLCP under variable temperature environment.
2 Vibration Analysis of CLCP
The CLCP modeled by no. of equal thickness of orthotropic layers and all layers
is symmetrically placed about its mid-surface. The CLCP subjected to the clamped
boundary conditions as represent in Fig. 1a. The midplane kinematics for plate/shell
structures are simulated using FSDT. Neglect shears extension and neglect the cou-
pling effect produced due to bending and twisting.
The governing equation [3] for thermal buckling analysis is given below.
([K s ] − λ[K g ]){ϕ} = 0 (1)

Finite Element Analysis of Buckling, Free Vibration … 1153
Fig. 1 a CLCP dimension

with boundary conditions;
b Stacking sequence of
lamina; c S8R: 8 noded (6
degrees of freedom per each
node) quadratic shell element
where [Ks], [Kg], λ and {ϕ} are the structural stiffness matrix, geometric stiffness
matrix, eigenvalue, and corresponding eigenvector, respectively. The product of low-
est eigenvalue and the temperature rise gives the buckling temperature.
The governing equation [3] for thermal eigenfrequency analysis is given below.
([K s ] + [K g ]) − ω2 [M]{ψ} = 0 (2)
where [Ks], [Kg], [M], ω, and {ψ} are the structural stiffness matrix, geometric
stiffness matrix, mass matrix, natural frequency of vibration and its corresponding
mode shape vector, respectively.
Firstly, buckling and free vibration analysis of clamped CLCP is simulated using
ABAQUS to compute the buckling temperature and modal parameters (natural fre-
quencies and mode shapes) and correlated with Li et al. [6] at constant temperature
environment. Secondly, calculate the same as above taking variable thermal envi-
ronment along the length and width direction of CLCP. The variable temperature
functions, as shown in Table 1, are taken as
Case 1: Constant temperature: [T (x) = Tmax ]
Case 2: Decreasing temperature: [T (x) = Tmax [(1 − (x/a))n ]], where (a) n = 1
(linear), (b) n = 2 (parabolic) and a is edge length of the CLCP.
Case 3: Half sine wave temperature: [T (x) = Tmax [sin(π x/a)]n × [sin(π y/b)]m ],
where (a) n = 1, m = 0, (b) n = 0, m = 1, (c) n = 1, m = 1 and b is the width of the
CLCP.
The dimension of CLCP 600 × 400 × 5 mm3 is considered as shown in Fig. 1a.
Stacking sequence (0°/90°/0°/90°/0°) of five lamina of CLCP with equal thickness
is shown in Fig. 1b. Eight noded quadratic shell element, S8R, with six degrees of
freedom per each node has been used for discretization purpose as shown in Fig. 1c.
Table 1 Temperature
Case 1 Case 2 (a) Case 2 (b)
distribution of CLCPs in
variable thermal
environments
Case 3 (a) Case 3 (b) Case 3 (c)
Note Red-maximum temperature, Blue ambient temperature, and

others in between
The material properties [6] of each single layer are taken for buckling, modal and
flexural analysis as: E 11 = 132 GPa, E 22 = 10.3 GPa, G12 = G13 = 6.5 GPa, G23 =
3.91 GPa, ν 12 = 0.3, ρ = 1570 kg/m3 , α 1 = 1.2 × 10−6 /°C, x 2 = 2.4 × 10−5 /°C.
3.1 Validation for Buckling Temperature (Case 1)
The first four buckling temperature and its corresponding mode shapes (1 (1,1), 2
(1,2), 3 (2,1), and 4 (2,2)) are calculated in constant temperature (Case 1). After mesh
convergence study, the mesh size (20 × 20) is chosen for simulating and its results
are good agreement with first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) in constant
temperature environment (Case 1) as shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Buckling temperature (°C) of CLCP (0°/90°/0°/90°/0°) in variable thermal environment

Modes 1 (1,1) 2 (1,2) 3 (2,1) 4 (2,2)
Case 1: Constant temperature
Li et al. [6] (FSDT) 89.88 156.32 168.88 194.04
Present 89.38 154.92 167.51 192.33
Case 2: Decreasing temperature
(a) n = 1 (linear) 172.69 269.34 340.66 410.40
(b) n = 2 (parabolic) 123.19 199.35 247.68 287.54
Case 3: Half sine wave temperature
(a) n = 1, m = 0 108.03 176.26 241.70 263.07
(b) n = 0, m = 1 124.23 237.32 209.96 283.64
(c) n = 1, m = 1 153.94 271.29 306.08 389.71
3.2 Studies for Buckling Temperature and Its Corresponding

Mode Shapes (Case 2 and Case 3)
Similarly, the first four buckling temperatures (as shown in Table 2) and its cor-
responding mode shapes (as shown in Table 3) are calculated in different thermal
conditions (Case 2 and Case 3). The buckling temperature is more in Case 2 (a) as
compared to Case 2 (b) for each mode due to parabolic decrease in temperature rather
than linear. Also nodal and anti-nodal lines shifts towards the maximum temperature
exposed CLCP portion (see the temperature contour plots in Table 1). In Case 3 (c)
gives good results followed by Case 3 (b) and then Case 3 (a). However, at third
mode (3 (2, 1)), the buckling temperature is greater in Case 3 (a) than Case 3 (b). The
thermal buckling mode shapes of CLCP in variable thermal environments as shown
in Table 3.
Table 3 Thermal buckling modes of CLCP in variable thermal environment

Modes Case 1 Case 2 (a) Case 3 (a) Case 3 (c)
1 (1,1)
2 (1,2)
3 (2,1)
4 (2,2)
Table 4 Eigen-frequencies (Hz) of CLCP (0/90/0/90) at uniform temperature environment

Case 1: Constant temperature
Modes T max (ºC) 0 40 80
1 (1,1) Li et al. [6] (FSDT) 200.01 150.34 67.63
Present 199.97 149.82 65.94
2 (2,1) Li et al. [6] (FSDT) 371.81 326.65 273.10
Present 371.34 325.60 271.37
3 (1,2) Li et al. [6] (FSDT) 447.70 387.74 315.47
Present 447.11 386.37 313.13
4 (2,2) Li et al. [6] (FSDT) 564.42 504.51 435.64
Present 564.00 503.27 433.45
3.3 Validation for Modal Analysis (Case 1)
The first four eigenfrequencies and its corresponding mode shapes (1 (1,1), 2 (2,1),
3 (1,2), and 4 (2,2)) are calculated in constant temperature (Case 1) and its results
are good agreement with first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) as shown in
Table 4.
3.4 Studies of Modal Parameters (Case 2 and Case 3)
For analysis of modal parameters (natural frequencies and its corresponding mode
shapes) at various thermal conditions, four maximum temperatures (0º, 20º, 40º or
80º) are taken into account for both Case 2 and Case 3. In Figs. 2 and 3 show that
increase in the maximum temperature decreases the natural frequency in each mode
Fig. 2 Natural frequency

versus no. of mode (Case 2
(a))
Fig. 3 Natural frequency vs.

no. of mode (Case 2 (b))
Fig. 4 Mode 1 (1, 1) natural

frequency (Case 3)
for both Case 2 (a) and Case 2 (b), respectively. In Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7 indicate that
variation of natural frequency with respect to the different thermal condition (Case
3 (a), (b), and (c)) from mode 1 (1, 1) to mode 4 (2, 2), respectively. The natural
frequencies decrease with an increase in the temperature in the respective mode. In
Case 3 (c), the degree of natural frequency is greater for each mode than the natural
frequency of other two cases in Case 3. Because the variation of temperature both
along length and width direction, so that maximum temperature is concentrated only
at middle point (see Table 1, Case 3 (c)) of the CLCP and zero temperature at all four
edges of CLCP. The magnitude of natural frequency in Case 3 (b) is greater than the
magnitude of natural frequency in Case 3 (a) except mode 2 (2, 1). Because in Case
3 (b) more thermal stress was developed along both edge width as compared to Case
3 (a).

frequency (Case 3)

frequency (Case 3)

frequency (Case 3)
Fig. 8 Central deflection of

CLCP
3.5 Flexural Analysis of CLCP Under Variable Thermal

Environment
For flexural analysis of CLCP is taken at maximum temperature 40 °C and uniform

pressure 1 MPa under variable temperature loading (Case 1 to Case 3 (c)). In Fig. 8
shows the central deflection of CLCP at variable temperature environment with uni-
form pressure. In Case 1 has maximum deflection and Case 2 (a) has minimum
deflection. In Case 3, maximum deflection occurs in Case 3 (a) then Case 3 (b) and
finally Case 3 (c).
3.6 Mises Thermal Stress Analysis of CLCP Under Variable

Thermal Environment
In Fig. 9 indicates the distribution of Mises thermal stress along edge length (a) of
CLCP at Tmax = 40 °C in different thermal environment. Maximum thermal stress is
developed in Case 1 and minimum thermal stress is developed in Case 3 (c) along the
edge length of CLCP. Thermal stress distribution in Case 1, Case 2 (a), Case 2 (b), and
Case 3 (a) are similar like temperature distribution profile. At maximum temperature
the maximum thermal stress is developed. In Case 3 (b) the temperature is distributed
more along width, so less thermal stress is developed at edge length. However, in Case
3 (c), the maximum temperature was found at the center, and minimum temperature
at the end of the edge length and width of the CLCP. Therefore, lowest thermal stress
is developed as compared to other cases at edge length of CLCP.
Fig. 9 Mises thermal stress

along edge length of CLCP
4 Conclusions
The effect of variable temperature environment on buckling, free vibration and flexu-
ral analysis of CLCP is investigated. The buckling temperature and its corresponding
buckling mode shape, the natural frequency and its corresponding mode shape, and
central deflection are calculated for CLCP under different variable temperature envi-
ronment. It is found that buckling, natural frequency, and central deflection of CLCP
exposed to variable temperature field is very from the constant temperature rise. The
variable temperature environment significantly influences position of the nodal and
anti-nodal of both buckling and free vibration.
References
1. Jeyraj, P.: Buckling and free vibration behavior of an isotropic plate under nonuniform thermal
load. Int. J. Struct. Stab. Dyn. 13, 1250071 (2013)
2. Jeyaraj, P., Padmanabhan, C., Ganesan, N.: Vibration and acoustic response of an isotropic
plate in a thermal environment. J. Vib. Acoust. 130, 051005 (2008)
3. Mayandi, K., Jeyaraj, P.: Bending, buckling and free vibration characteristics of FG-CNT-
reinforced polymer composite beam under non-uniform thermal load. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng.
Part L: J. Mater.: Des. Appl. 229, 13–28 (2015)
4. Jeyaraj, P., Ganesan, N., Padmanabhan, C.: Vibration and acoustic response of a composite
plate with inherent material damping in a thermal environment. J. Sound Vib. 320, 322–338
(2009)
5. Jeyaraj, P., Padmanabhan, C., Ganesan, N.: Vibro-acoustic behavior of a multilayered vis-
coelastic sandwich plate under a thermal environment. J. Sandwich Struct. Mater. 13, 509–537
(2011)
6. Li, X., Yu, K., Han, J., Song, H., Zhao, R.: Buckling and vibro-acoustic response of the clamped
composite laminated plate in thermal environment. Int. J. Mech. Sci. 119, 370–382 (2016)
7. Vangipuram, P., Ganesan, N.: Buckling and vibration of rectangular composite viscoelastic
sandwich plates under thermal loads. Compos. Struct. 77, 419–429 (2007)
8. Shiau, L., Kuo, S.: Free vibration of thermally buckled composite sandwich plates. J. Vib.
Acoust. 128, 1 (2006)
9. Shen, H.S.: Nonlinear analysis of composite laminated thin plates subjected to lateral pressure
and thermal loading and resting on elastic foundations. Compos. Struct. 49, 115–128 (2000)
10. Kumar, C.N., Singh, B.N.: Thermal buckling and post-buckling of laminated composite plates
with SMA fibers using layerwise theory. Int. J. Comput. Methods Eng. Sci. Mech. 10, 423–429
(2009)
11. Behera, R.K., Patro, S.S., Sharma, N., Joshi, K.K.: Eigen-frequency analysis of stiffened lam-
inated composite plates using finite elements. Mater. Today: Proc. 5, 20152–20159 (2018)
12. Behera, R.K., Garg, K., Patro, S.S., Sharma, N.: Eigen-frequency analysis of spherical shell
laminated composite plates with and without central cutouts using finite elements. In: IOP
Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, vol. 390 (2018)
13. Patro, S.S., Sutradhar, D., Behera, R.K., Sharma, N.: Free vibration analysis of stiffened lami-
nated composite plate in a thermal environment. In: IOP Conference Series: Materials Science
and Engineering, vol. 390 (2018)
14. Patro, S.S., Behera, R.K., Sharma, N.: Prediction of free vibration responses of orthotropic
stiffened flat panels. Mater. Today: Proc. 5, 20170–20176 (2018)
Detection of Local Defect Resonance
Frequencies for Defect Imaging:
A Nonlinear Ultrasound-Based Approach
Subhankar Roy, Tanmoy Bose and Kishore Debnath
Abstract The diagnosing of complicated defects in any structures can be performed

effectively with high accuracy using nonlinear wave spectroscopy (NWS). The flaws
present in any material can be detected using NWS technique based on local defect
resonance (LDR) phenomenon. The present work discusses a technique of detect-
ing the LDR frequency of a flat-bottom hole (FBH) damage by an advanced signal
processing tool called bicoherence estimation. The analytical solution of the LDR is
used to estimate a frequency sweep range of the input chirp signal. Signal processing
using fast Fourier transform and bicoherence estimation is carried out on the output
signal for obtaining the damage frequency and its second-order harmonics, respec-
tively. Subsequently, steady-state analysis is performed in order to validate the results
obtained from bicoherence estimation. The technique of bicoherence estimation is
found to be very efficient in detection of LDR frequencies of plate with FBH.
Keywords Nonlinear wave spectroscopy (NWS) · Local defect resonance ·

Flat-bottom hole · Bicoherence
1 Introduction
In recent times, nonlinear wave spectroscopy (NWS) has emerged as a prominent

technique for structural health monitoring (SHM) of materials having defects. NWS
technique of damage detection is found more reliable than its traditional counterparts.
The presence of defects leads to reflection and scattering of transmitting waves from
the delamination/crack surfaces which are detected by traditional SHM or NDE
methods (Lima and Hamilton [1]; Ciampa et al. [2]). The discontinuities, as well as
S. Roy · T. Bose (B) · K. Debnath

India
e-mail: tanmoy.bose@nitm.ac.in
S. Roy
e-mail: subhankar.roy@nitm.ac.in
K. Debnath
e-mail: debnath.iitr@gmail.com
1164 S. Roy et al.
the irregularities present on damage surfaces, cause a change in the pattern of trans-
mitting wave. However, the traditional SHM or NDE methods are not applicable to
small cracks and delaminations as the reflection and scattering are very negligible.
Moreover, the presence of small defects leads to minute modification in the actual
mass and stiffness of the material at the defect location. Hence, NEWS is recom-
mended in case of small defects like delaminations and hairline cracks that are barely
visible to naked eyes (Ciampa et al. [2]). The presence of defect is studied based on
the nonlinearity arising in the material. Also, these nonlinear effects can be inves-
tigated with high accuracy by using higher harmonics of the damage frequencies.
The clapping of the damaged area normal to the defect face classifies these kinds
of higher harmonics. The damage detection can also be carried out based on local
temperature rise at the damage location due to rubbing and clapping action between
crack or delamination faces (Ciampa et al. [3]; Meo and Zumpano [4]).
The incident wave interacting with the damaged structure may match with the
natural frequency of the defect causing local defect resonance (LDR) phenomenon
at the defect site. The vibration amplitude at the defect location rises drastically
due to this phenomenon. Solodov et al. [5] found that there is also a local rise
in temperature at the defect site due to clapping and rubbing of defect surfaces
at LDR frequency. Thermography can be performed for estimating the temperature
gradient generated in the defect location at LDR frequency. The effectiveness of LDR
frequency-based nonlinear wave spectroscopy in detection of damages is mentioned
by many researchers in the literature. Solodov et al. [6] observed that the boundary
condition of the defect area is clamped in case of near-surface defects. However, the
boundary condition may shift to simply supported if the normalized residual thickness
of the defect is increased. Hence, the near-surface defects can be easily differentiated
from subsurface defects in case of thicker plates. Solodov et al. [7] further reported
that sound level of 100 decibels is sufficient for performing non-contact based health
monitoring using thermosonic technique to detect LDR frequencies of the defect.
Moreover, shearosonic technique can be used for sound levels that are found to be
even lower.
Detection of LDR frequency can also be carried out using a NEWS technique
based on bispectral properties. For a Gaussian process, an entire descriptional data can
be provided in a similar manner as that of the autocorrelation function. However, the
power spectrum is unable to contribute any information for a non-Gaussian process.
In such cases, the supplementary data is acquired from the higher order moments
or cumulants. Generally, the double Fourier transform of the third-moment series is
used to characterize the bispectrum of a third-order static system. Moreover, there
is a chance of quadratic phase coupling of the two frequencies leading to a third
frequency with power equivalent to their sum. Thus, bispectrum is a tool capable
of identifying the nonlinear effects on the third-moment sequence due to quadratic
phase coupling. The power spectrum, on the other hand, is not reliable in such case as
it restrains the phase relations. The normalized parameter of the bispectrum, known
as the bicoherence can be employed for obtaining local defect resonance frequencies
related to any damage. Bicoherence estimation based NEWS technique can be applied
for determining the LDR frequency of the damage in any structures.
Detection of Local Defect Resonance Frequencies … 1165
There are many significant research carried out on the detection of damages using
bispectral analysis and bicoherence estimation. Fatigue cracks in beams due to exci-
tation with white noise has been investigated by Rivola and White [8] using bicoher-
ence estimation. It was observed that the bicoherence technique is able to identify
the defect although the bicoherence depiction of the signal is challenging to describe.
On the basis of a non-Gaussian autoregressive model, a parameter-dependent bis-
pectrum technique is recommended by Raghuveer and Nikias [9]. It was observed
that the technique is very useful for obtaining bispectral estimates as compared to the
traditional estimates for revealing the phase couplings due to sinusoids; the method
provides significantly better resolution. The term resolution means that the decisive
or determining ability of the local defect resonance in detection of any damage is
very high as compared to other traditional methods of structural health monitoring.
This is mainly because there is a sudden rise in the amplitude as well as the tempera-
ture at the damage location, compared to the rest of the specimen. This helps in easy
detection of the damage in case of LDR than its other counterparts where the defect
distinction criteria are not so drastic. Kim and Powers [10] showed that the bicoher-
ence can be used to segregate between nonlinear coupled and excitation waves in
order to determine the power induced from the quadratic coupling in a self-excited
spectrum. Finally, use of this analysis in the understanding of plasma inconstancy
data are described. Collis et al. [11] protracted the two traditional methods of bicoher-
ence and skewness function into their fourth-order counterparts, i.e. tricoherence and
kurtosis functions. A new process of pre-whitening a signal is proposed, in case the
above-mentioned normalization technique fails for narrowband signals. Many other
studies have been made on detection of damages using bispectral and bicoherence
analysis.
From the literature, it is evident that the numerical investigation of a flat-bottom
hole (FBH) has not been carried out using the bicoherence technique. The advantage
of employing bicoherence analysis on the detection of an FBH along with the fast
Fourier transform is unique to the literature. In this study, bicoherence estimation is
used to detect the local defect resonance (LDR) of damages present in composite
structures in form of an FBH. The bicoherence analysis is done on the output signal
obtained from the GFRP model after performing the explicit dynamic analysis. The
results obtained from the analysis is further validated with the help of a mode shape
by performing the steady-state analysis which has not been carried out earlier. The
method of detecting LDR from an FFT plot is sometimes challenging due to the
generation of multiple peaks in the FFT plot. So, a technique of determining the LDR
frequency based on bicoherence estimation is needed which has not been applied yet
in any literature. This technique can be further used for the location of damages like
delamination, early cracks, etc. in composite structures or fibre metal laminates such
as Glass-reinforced Aluminium (GLARE).
1166 S. Roy et al.
2 Theoretical Model
2.1 Local Defect Resonance (LDR)
The stiffness and the mass of any structure gets reduced at the damage location due to
the presence of free surfaces. The natural frequency of the damage due to the actual
mass and stiffness can be interpreted as the LDR frequency (f LDR ) of that defect. The
analytical formulation of LDR frequency is done by considering flat-bottom holes.
FBH simulates closely vibrations of typical defects like that of a spherical cavity or
a disc-like crack with elliptical cross section as delamination in composites.
The generalized relation of LDR frequency can be expressed as (Solodov et al.
[6]),

1 K act
fL DR = (1)
2π Mact
where K act = actual local stiffness at defect location and M act = actual local mass
of the defect area.
Potential energy relation in case of an FBH (as shown in Fig. 1) with hole depth
(h) and plate thickness (H) is utilized for obtaining the actual stiffness, K act . The
residual portion of the material below the FBH is called the residual thickness (t).
The boundary condition of FBH is clamped if the depth of FBH is equal to plate
thickness. Else, simply supported boundary must be considered at the defect region.
Potential energy related to vibrations of a plate having a thickness t can be
expressed using the following relation:
K act .Ue2f f 32π Du 20

P.E. = = (2)
2 3r 2
where U eff = effective vibration amplitude of the FBH, D = plate bending stiffness,
r = radius of FBH, and u0 = vibration amplitude at the centre of FBH. The actual
stiffness can be calculated by substitution of effective vibration amplitude in Eq. (2)
192 π D
K act = (3)
r2
Subsequently, the kinetic energy of FBH is used to calculate the actual local mass
of the defect
Fig. 1 Schematic of a
flat-bottom hole
Mact .Ue2f f mu 20
K .E. = = (4)
2 10
where m = mass of the residual thickness below FBH. From Eq. (4), the actual local
mass is found to be around 1.8 times the mass of e residual thickness below FBH
(m).
Substitution of actual local stiffness, K act and the actual local mass, M act in Eq. (1)
forms the general expression for calculating LDR frequency. The final expression
for determining analytical LDR frequency is given as

1.6 t E
fL DR = 2 (5)
r 12ρ(1 − υ 2 )
where E is elastic modulus of the plate, ρ is the mass density of the plate, and υ =
Poisson’s ratio of the material.
The relation shown in Eq. (5) is used for calculation of fundamental LDR fre-
quency only. As per the literature, the fundamental LDR frequency is mainly depen-
dent on the geometry of the delamination and the elastic modulus of the first order
[1]. The defect present in any structure in the form of a flat-bottom hole can be
detected generally from the fundamental LDR frequency. The higher orders of the
elastic constants will come into play when an analytical solution of higher order LDR
frequency is to be established. But that is considered to be a cumbersome job. So,
the fundamental LDR dependant on the first-order elastic constant is much reliable
technique of detecting a damage.
2.2 Bispectrum and Bicoherence Analysis
The discrete Fourier transform (DFT) operation is performed for characterizing the
power spectrum of a distinct time series x(t) as [12]
Sx x ( p) = D[X ( p)X ∗ ( p)] (6)
where the expectation operator is designated by D [] and the distinct frequency

variable is signified by p. The DFT of the signal is defined as the bispectrum
Bx ( p, q) = D[X ( p)X (q)X ∗ ( p + q)] (7)
The bispectrum estimation is complex in nature and comprises of two frequency

indices p and q. While plotting in 3D, only the magnitude of bispectrum is treated.
The p, q values are taken in two orthogonal axes while the bispectral value is put on
the third axis perpendicular to the p-q plane.
1168 S. Roy et al.
Fig. 2 Primary domain with

inner and outer domain for
the non-repetitious region of
the bispectral plane [12]
The bicoherence estimate b2 (p,q) is a type of normalized bispectrum utilized to

detect the phase coupling due to quadratic nonlinearity. The bicoherence is measured
on a scale of 0–1 and can be expressed as
|D[X ( p)X (q)X ∗ ( p + q)]|2

b2 ( p, q) = (8)
D[|X ( p)X (q)|2 ]D[|X ( p + q)|2 ]
The fraction of power at p + q frequency gets phase coupled with the component
p + q, which is described by the bicoherence estimation at that frequency pair.
2.3 The Primary Domain
The power spectrum and DFT contains repetitious data above half of sampling fre-
quency fs/ 2. Similarly, many symmetries are present in the (p, q) plane which are not
necessary to be considered for calculation of B(p, q). The non-repetitious region is
called the primary domain (PD) as shown in Fig. 2. The primary domain is comprising
of two regions, i.e., the inner and outer domain [12]. The sum of the bispectral values
in either of the two sub-domains is used to arrange the statistical tests for stationarity
and non-Gaussianity. However, these tests are not convenient during investigation of
periodic signals as the signals are unable to provide the conditions necessary for the
tests (Fackrell et al. [12]).
3 Modelling of Flat-Bottom Hole
In the present work, a flat-bottom hole (FBH) has been modelled using the ABAQUS
software. The dimension of the plate considered for modelling the FBH is 200 × 200
× 25 mm3 having a circular FBH. The position of the circular FBH is considered to
Fig. 3 Schematic of the

circular FBH model
Table 1 Properties of
Density, ρ (in Elastic Modulus, E Poisson’s ratio, υ
material
kg/m3 ) (in GPa)
2580 72 0.33
be in centre (Fig. 3). The radius and depth of the FBH are taken as 25 mm and 20 mm,
respectively. Hence, the residual thickness of the defect area is taken as 5 mm. Table 1
shows the material properties used for modelling the FBH in an aluminium plate.
The bicoherence estimate technique is used to obtain the second-harmonic LDR

frequency of a flat-bottom hole as discussed previously. At first, the LDR frequency
has been calculated analytically according to the relation given in Eq. (5).
The LDR frequency estimated by the analytical model is found to be 20.68 kHz.
This helps in determining the range of sweep excitation to be provided to the model
for determining the LDR frequency. In this study, a chirp sweep excitation is used
to excite the FBH model at a sweeping range of 10–40 kHz while performing the
explicit dynamic analysis. The sampling frequency, f s used during the analysis is
5 MHz, with a time increment of 2 × 10−7 s the output signal is extracted from a
receiver node away from the FBH location.
The output signal obtained from the explicit dynamic analysis in ABAQUS soft-
ware is then processed using MATLAB. The bicoherence estimate of the signal is
done in-house using MATLAB. Figure 4 shows the FFT plot and the bicoherence
plot of the output signal. In Fig. 4a, it is observed that the maximum amplitude of
1170 S. Roy et al.
Fig. 4 In case of circular delamination at centre: a FFT plot of the receiver signal showing LDR
frequency at 28.11 kHz, and b bicoherence plot showing f 2 = 2f LDR = 56.15 kHz
vibration is found to be 28.11 kHz. The bicoherence estimation plot is shown in

Fig. 4b where two frequencies f 1 and f 2 are obtained. Here, f 2 = 2 f L D R = 56.15
kHz which is found to be twice of the LDR frequency, i.e. the second-order harmonic
of LDR frequency. The LDR frequency obtained from bicoherence analysis is fur-
ther validated by comparing the results with steady-state analysis, where the LDR
frequency is obtained at 28 kHz (as shown in Fig. 5a). The mode shape obtained at
LDR frequency of damage is illustrated in Fig. 5b. Thus, it can be concluded that the
method of bicoherence estimation is a very efficient tool in determination of LDR
frequency of the damage. Detection of defect locations in form of FBH can also be
performed by applying this LDR frequency to the structure.
Fig. 5 In case of circular delamination at centre: a Steady-state analysis showing LDR frequency
at 28 kHz, and b mode shape of the plate at LDR frequency 28 kHz
5 Conclusions
In the present study, a brief description of the analytical model for local defect
resonance and bicoherence estimation technique is presented. The LDR frequency
is estimated using the analytical relation and is then used to decide a range for the
frequency sweep of the chirp signal on the model.
The output signal obtained by performing the explicit dynamic analysis is then
used to obtain the FFT plot using MATLAB to identify the exact LDR frequency.
The deviation of the LDR is found to be very small for the model, thus depicting that
the LDR can be efficiently detected for any location of the damage. The in-house
MATLAB codes for bicoherence estimation of the model show the second-order
harmonic frequency of the LDR. Thus, it can be concluded that the bicoherence
estimation technique can be used for detection of LDR in any material. The technique
of bicoherence estimation can be further used for detection of LDR and location of
defects in case of composites and fibre metal laminates.
References
1. Lima, W.J.N.D., Hamilton, M.F.: Finite-amplitude waves in isotropic elastic plates. J. Sound
Vib. 265, 819–839 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-460X(02)01260-9
2. Ciampa, F., Scarselli, G., Meo, M.: On the generation of nonlinear damage resonance inter-
modulation for elastic wave spectroscopy. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 141, 2364–2374 (2017). https://
doi.org/10.1121/1.4979256
3. Ciampa, F., Pickering, S., Scarselli, G., Meo, M.: Nonlinear imaging of damage in composite
structures using sparse ultrasonic sensor arrays. Struct. Control Health Monit. 24, 1–13 (2016).
https://doi.org/10.1002/stc.1911
4. Meo, M., Zumpano, G.: Nonlinear elastic wave spectroscopy identification of impact damage
on sandwich plate. Compos. Struct. 71, 469–474 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.
2005.09.027
5. Solodov, I., Bai, J., Bekgulyan, S., Busse, G.: A local defect resonance to enhance acoustic
wave-defect interaction in ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation. Appl. Phys. Lett. 99(211911),
1–3 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3663872
6. Solodov, I., Bai, J., Busse, G.: Resonant ultrasound spectroscopy of defects: case study of flat-
bottomed holes. J. Appl. Phys. 113(223512), 1–7 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4810926
7. Solodov, I., Rahammer, M., Gulnizkij, N., Kreutzbruck, M.: Noncontact sonic NDE and defect
imaging via local defect resonance. J. Nondestruct. Eval. 35(48), 1–8 (2016). https://doi.org/
10.1007/s10921-016-0364-6
8. Rivola, A., White, P.R.: Bispectral Analysis of the Bilinear Oscillator with application to the
detection of fatigue cracks. J. Sound Vib. 216(5), 778–809 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1006/jsvi.
1998.1738
9. Raghuveer, M.R., Nikias, C.L.: Bispectrum Estimation: A parametric approach. IEEE Trans.
Acoust. Speech Signal Process. 4, 869–891 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1109/TASSP.1985.
1164679
10. Kim, Y.C., Powers, E.J.: Digital bispectral analysis and its applications to nonlinear wave
interactions. IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 7(2), 120–131 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1109/TPS.1979.
4317207
1172 S. Roy et al.
11. Collis, W.B., White, P.R., Hammond, J.K.: Higher-order spectra: the bispectrum and trispec-
trum. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 12(3), 264–283 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1006/mssp.1997.
0145
12. Fackrell, J.W.A., White, P.R., Hammond, J.K., Pinnington, R.J.: The interpretation of the
bispectra of vibration signals-I—theory. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 9(3), 146–155 (1995).
https://doi.org/10.1006/mssp.1995.0021
Numerical Assessment of Fatigue Life
for Concrete Column
Moinul Haq , Tabassum Naqvi and Suresh Bhalla
Abstract Fatigue is progressive damage to the structure that is propelled due to

decrement in the strength of material when subjected to cyclic loads. The present
work deals with numerically assessing the life of concrete column under the influence
of flexural fatigue load. Stress life analysis is considered for analysing the life and
fracture parameters of two broadly classified 3-D concrete models without and with
edge notch evolved at the centre of column length. Further the notch opening width-
to-depth ratio (a/d) has been varied to understand the effect of crack propagation onto
the fatigue life and stress intensities of the concrete models for different damaged
states. A relation has been devised for estimating residual fatigue life of the concrete
column in terms of the amplitude of sinusoidal cyclic load applied to column end.
The results relate the variation of directional deformation, alternating stresses, stress
intensity factors and equivalent von Mises stress for different damaged states with
increasing induced loads. The outcome trend of the results further help both the
future researchers and structural designers in understanding a systematic behavior of
concrete fatigue damage with service loads that is helpful in prolonging the structural
life either by taking the effective measures in designing the fatigue-resistant structures
or in applying appropriate retrofitting procedure onto the critical sections of the
member during its life tenure.
Keywords Concrete · Fatigue life · Numerical analysis · Fracture · ANSYS
1 Introduction
In order to properly design the plain and reinforced concrete (RC) structure that are
able to resist the cyclic loads and mechanical vibrations caused due to machines,
high intensity wind, earthquakes, vehicular loads, etc., assessment of fatigue life is
presently demanding and necessary for avoiding any future structural collapse that
M. Haq (B) · T. Naqvi

Civil Engineering Department, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002, India
e-mail: mmhaq2010@gmail.com
S. Bhalla
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, 110016 New Delhi, India
1174 M. Haq et al.
may help in saving the life of peoples against sudden failure. Under fatigue, the
structure fails on smaller magnitudes of cyclic load even before reaching the ulti-
mate static load limits. The fatigue life span for concrete comprises of three phases,
i.e. crack initiation, propagation followed to ultimate sudden failure. For investigat-
ing material fatigue life various experimental and numerical techniques have been
developed and are in tradition by observing the failure pattern and estimating residual
stiffness. Also various structural health monitoring techniques for life-sized struc-
tures adapting recently fabricated sensors and smart materials like piezo-based Lead
Zirconate Titanate (PZT), Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG), strain gauges, optical fibres,
etc. are presently in study by various researchers all around the world and are aimed to
develop new formulations and methodologies for precise estimation of local or global
remaining life for any concrete structure at any point of time. Further, Finite Element
Modelling (FEM) and analysis of computer-based models are quite popular and quick
techniques for numerically assessing the stresses and strains induced due to overcom-
ing loads, deformations caused, damage location and severity ultimately evaluating
the life span of designed structures. However, time-based deformations, aggregate
interlocking pattern, adhesion properties between and concrete and steel, nonlinear
stress–strain relationships, creep and shrinkage parameters, voids dependency, etc.
caused difficulties in numerically analysing the plain and reinforced concrete models
[1].
In the present study, a plain concrete column with fixed-free end conditions has
been numerically modelled and analysed under sinusoidal cyclic load at one end
transverse to column axis keeping other end fixed for evaluating directional defor-
mation, equivalent von Mises stresses, fatigue life and damage. The model input
dimensional and strength parameters have been taken as in experimental studies by
Haq et al. [2]. The ANSYS 19.0 workbench with mechanical software is used for
present finite element analysis of computer models. Also, a triangular edge notch
transverse to loading direction with opening width-to-depth (a/d) ratio of 0.1 (θ =
5.77°), 0.15 (θ = 8.58°), 0.2 (θ = 11.42°), 0.3 (θ = 17.06°), where θ is the notch angle
is taken for evaluating the crack propagation ultimately predicting crack extension
and fracture fatigue life in flexure. The zone-I Stress Intensity Factors (SIFS) along
notch length used in fracture mechanics are also evaluated and compared. The present
study provides a novel concept of estimating damage in plain concrete column under
low-strain flexure fatigue load ultimately results in predicting the remaining life of
structures.
2 Model Geometry and Properties
Five different 3-D solid plain concrete columns are modelled using finite element
design modeller in ANSYS 19.0. One model is plain concrete column and the remain-
ing four are with central edge notch of different dimensional ratio. The crack opening
width (a) is taken as constant of 3 mm and depth (d) is varied considering 10 mm,
15 mm, 20 mm and 30 mm constituting a width–depth (a/d) ratio of 0.3, 0.2, 0.15
Numerical Assessment of Fatigue Life for Concrete Column 1175
and 0.1, respectively. In FEM, usually concrete is considered as homogenous mate-

rial and overall material stress-strain properties with its physical behaviour obtained
from experimental tests were inputted during modelling. The stress–strain curve for
concrete [3, 4] having ultimate compressive and tensile strength of 20 and 2.2 MPa
shown in Fig. 1a is used in present study.
The dimension of the solid column is 0.15 m × 0.15 m × 1.4 m having bottom
end fixed and top end free to which force is applied. Wohler Concrete S-N diagram
[5] based on CEB-FIP model code 1993 shown in Fig. 1b has been considered for
present case.
(a) (b)
25 0.9
Stress Ra o (σ max/ fc)

0.8
20 0.7
Stress (MPa)
0.6
15 0.5
0.4
10
0.3
5 0.2
0.1
0 0
-0.001 0 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 -2.00E+08 2.00E+08 6.00E+08 1.00E+09
-5 Strain (mm/mm) Number of Cycles (N)
(c)
Fig. 1 a Stress–strain curve used for model, b Wohler SN curve for concrete model, and c geometry
of concrete beam with notch
1176 M. Haq et al.
2.1 Finite Element Modelling of Concrete Column Without

Notch
Solid65 element type for concrete having three degrees of freedom at each node
is used. The solid65 element is capable of modelling cracking, crushing, creep
behaviour, and plastic deformations. The 30 mm size tetrahedron flexible mesh is
generated for studying the finite element properties. 10746 elements of quadratic
order having 16671 nodes are taken for study.
One end is kept fixed while the other end is loaded with 1000 rpm uniaxial cyclic
load. A sinusoidal force function, F = 2000sin (6000t) as shown in Fig. 2a has
been provided to the surface of free end transverse to longitudinal axis of column.
Boundary conditions of concrete column model and analysis result contours are
shown in Fig. 2b–e. The high stress is observed in the bottom generating from corners
of columns.
Fig. 2 3-D meshed concrete column showing a applied force function to free-end face, b boundary
conditions, c deformations (X-Axis), d equivalent alternating stress, e fatigue life
Fig. 3 Meshed 3-D FEA for the notched concrete column with maximum load of 2000 N and a/d
ratio of 0.2 showing variation contours for a equivalent alternating stress, b material fatigue life,
c biaxiality indication, and d equivalent von Mises stress
2.2 Modelling of Concrete Column with Triangular Notched
Solid65 elements of quadratic order having 166212 nodes and 120270 elements are
taken for study. The further mesh is refined to 5 mm size tetrahedron near crack
opening for successively model the miniature cracks for simulating fatigue.
The pre-meshed crack with SMART-crack growth modelling has been provided
taken a constant force of maximum 2000, 1500, 1000, 500, 250 N for 0.06 s time
each separately. The notch is provided at centre on the edge of the concrete column
as shown in figure. For smart crack growth, the Paris law constants values [6] with
C = 1.1518 × 10−14 and m = 9.61 taken from experimental studies by Kirane et al.
[7] have been assigned for concrete solid material for successively evaluating the
fatigue fracture growth parameters of plain and RC column. The result contours
after performing finite element analysis for applied load of 2000 N and a/d ratio of
0.2 are shown in Fig. 3. Equivalent alternating stresses and fatigue life contours at
notch crack front for 2000 N load for different a/d ratio are shown in Figs. 4 and 5.
3 Results
The maximum directional deformation along loading direction, maximum equivalent

(von Mises) stress concrete model fatigue life and equivalent alternating stress are
evaluated and compared for all five models with and without notch. The deformation
and maximum equivalent (von Mises) stress tend to be increasing with increasing
1178 M. Haq et al.
Fig. 4 Equivalent alternating stress for notch width-to-depth (a/d) ratio a 0.1, b 0.15, c 0.2, d 0.3
damage and increasing loads in the pattern shown in Figs. 6 and 7, respectively.
However, no significant variation has been observed in equivalent stress values for
undamaged state and a/d ratio of 0.3 (crack depth = 10 mm).
The fatigue life parameter is also evaluated for all models using stress life analysis
type considering Goodman’s hypothesis for infinite number of cycles. The decreasing
variation has been observed for life and increasing alternating stress variation with
increasing loads and damage is shown in Figs. 8 and 9, respectively. Again, no
significant variation has been observed in undamaged model and model with a/d
ratio of 0.3. For a/d ratio of 0.1, the material is fully damaged as fatigue life tends
to zero at 2000 N load, therefore a fatigue life assessing law has been devised for
varying load intensity at free end of concrete column given in Eq. 1.
Fig. 5 Column fatigue life for notch width-to-depth (a/d) ratio a 0.1, b 0.15, c 0.2, d 0.3
Fig. 6 Variation of
Maximum Directional
2
Deformation (mm)
directional deformation Uncracked

1.8
(x-axis) with increasing load 1.6 a/d=0.3
at different damage states 1.4 a/d=0.2
1.2 a/d=0.15
1
0.8 a/d=0.1
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
250 500 1000 1500 2000
Force Applied(N)
1180 M. Haq et al.
Fig. 7 Variation of 10 a/d=0.1
Maximum Eq. Von-

maximum equivalent (von
mises Stress (MPa)

8 a/d=0.15
Mises) stress with load for
a/d=0.2
different damage states 6 a/d=0.3
4 Uncracked
2
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Force(N)
Fig. 8 Variation of
remaining fatigue life cycles
of given RC model with
increasing load at different
damage states
maximum equivalent a/d=0.1
Alternating Stress
a/d=0.15
Maximum Eq.
alternating stress with 15 a/d=0.2

increasing load for different
(MPa)
a/d=0.3
damage states 10 Uncracked
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Force (N)
F = (7.26 × 10−13 )N 2 − (1.95 × 10−4 )N + (2 × 103) ; R2 = 0.99 (1)
where, ‘N’ is the number of remaining life cycles and ‘F’ is amplitude of applied
force in newton, at free end of concrete column.
Fracture parameters are also evaluated using pre-meshed cracking and smart crack
growth fatigue function in ANSYS Mechanical 19.0. Tables 1 and 2 illustrate the
variations in fracture fatigue life cycles and equivalent stress intensity factors with
decreasing loads and decreasing damage (or increasing a/d ratio).
The plots demonstrating the variation of Stress Intensity Factors (SIFS) during
crack growth for mode 1 along the notch length are shown in Fig. 10. After a certain
Table 1 Variation of number of fracture fatigue cycles life with a/d ratio and applied force for
notched concrete column
Notch Total number of fracture fatigue cycles
width-to-depth (a/d) 2000 N 1500 N 1000 N 500 N 250 N
ratio
0.1 2 25 1253 0.9789 × 106 0.765 × 109
0.15 5 80 3958 3.092 × 106 2.416 × 109
0.2 9 140 6887 5.38 × 106 4.2054 × 109
0.3 9 144 7111 5.557 × 106 4.3426 × 109
Table 2 Variation of fracture equivalent stress intensity factor (Eq. SIFS) with a/d ratio and applied
force for notched concrete column
Notch width-to-depth (a/d) ratio Fracture equivalent stress intensity factor
2000 N 1500 N 1000 N 500 N 250 N
0.1 49.1 36.82 24.54 12.27 6.13
0.15 43.55 32.66 21.77 10.88 5.44
0.2 41.33 30.99 20.66 10.33 5.16
0.3 41.26 30.95 20.63 10.31 5.15
Fig. 10 Variation of stress intensity factors (SIFS) for mode-I with notch length compared for
different applied loads and a/d ratio of a 0.1, b 0.15, c 0.2, d 0.3
1182 M. Haq et al.
crack length, crack has grown out of zone of high plasticity in respective simulations.
The fatigue crack grew from the corners and propagates to inner notch length.
4 Conclusion
The fatigue life assessment has been numerically carried out for concrete column
with and without notch using ANSYS 19.0 computer FEA software programme.
Fracture mechanics parameters including SIFs for mode-I and number of fracture
fatigue cycles till failure for varying loads and crack opening to width ratios are
quantified. A plot showing decreasing material fatigue life and increasing alternating
stresses with increasing damage and applied force has been devised and consecutively
compared for different cyclic loading amplitudes. The stress intensities factors are
observed to be decreasing with increasing a/d ratio and decreasing loads. Formulae
for estimating the remaining life of plain concrete column under high cycle flexural
fatigue have been devised. The paper presents an overview of effect of loading
intensities and damages on life and other mechanical properties of concrete member
when loaded under flexural low-strain fatigue loads. Future objectives may include
the life assessment of different RCC structures by predicting local and global damage
parameters and ultimately devising a proper design procedure for concrete structures
against high cycle fatigue failure.
Acknowledgements First author acknowledges the direct SRF financial support (Grant No.
09/112(0580)2K18-EMR-I) by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi,
India during the course of investigations.
References
1. Sain, T., Chandra Kishen, J.M.: Residual fatigue strength assessment of concrete considering ten-
sion softening behavior. Int. J. Fatigue 29, 2138–2148 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.
2007.01.011
2. Haq, M.U., Bhalla, S., Naqvi, T.: Fatigue damage assessment of RC column using PZT sensors.
Procedia Eng. 1223–1230 (2017)
3. Li, D., Huang, P., Guo, X., Zheng, X., Lin, J., Chen, Z.: Fatigue crack propagation behavior
of RC beams strengthened with CFRP under cyclic bending loads. Fatigue Fract. Eng. Mater.
Struct. 41, 212–222 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1111/ffe.12673
4. Report, T., Lule, L.E.: Fatigue capacity of concrete structures: assessment of railway bridges
research report. Lennart Elfgren. Luleåtekniska universitet (2015)
5. Code, C.: CEB-FIB Model Code 1990, Design Code. Thomas Telford, Telford (1993)
6. Paris, P., Erdogan, F.: A critical analysis of crack propagation laws. J. Basic Eng. 85, 528 (1963).
https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3656900
7. Kirane, K., Bažant, Z.P.: Size effect in Paris law and fatigue lifetimes for quasibrittle materials:
modified theory, experiments and micro-modeling. Int. J. Fatigue 83, 209–220 (2016). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2015.10.015
Non-linear Analysis of Rotational
Inertial Double-Tuned Mass Damper
by Harmonic Balance Method
S. Mohanty , S. Sikder and S. K. Dwivedy
Abstract A theoretical non-linear analysis of rotational inertia double-tuned mass

damper (RIDTMD) is carried out to suppress vibration of a single degree of freedom
(SDOF) non-linear spring, mass system, which undergoes external harmonic force
excitation. An approximate solution to the governing equation of motions system
is obtained by using harmonic balance method (HBM) for the primary resonance
condition and verified with that of fourth-order Runge–Kutta method. It is shown that
with the addition of cubic non-linear stiffness in the RIDTMD, vibration suppression
SDOF primary system is more than only linear stiffness at resonating frequency of
operation. This work is an extended work of Garrido et al. (Eng Struct 56:2149–2153,
2013), where only linear analysis has been carried out.
Keywords Tuned mass damper · Rotational inertia · Frequency response · HBM ·

Time response
1 Introduction
A tuned mass damper is used for attenuating the vibration of discrete or continuous
primary system, which was first proposed by Frahm [1]. The vibration suppression by
TMDs is achieved by determining the optimum damping ratio and tuning ratio (ratio
between the natural frequency of the TMD and the primary system). Various opti-
mization methods are developed to obtain these optimum parameters such as fixed
point theory [2] H2 optimization [3], LQR control [4, 5], ant colony optimization [6],
S. Mohanty (B) · S. K. Dwivedy

781039, Assam, India
e-mail: siba.mech@gmail.com
S. K. Dwivedy
e-mail: dwivedy@iitg.ac.in
S. Sikder
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Assam Engineering College, Guwahati 781039, Assam,
India
e-mail: saptarshisikder002@gmail.com

1184 S. Mohanty et al.
genetic algorithm [7] to name a few for attenuating vibration of the primary system
for a wide range of operating frequency. The vibration suppression by these passive
TMDs is still not able to suppress the vibration of the primary system completely
when the system undergoes large vibration. Due to this many semi-active and active
materials are used such as piezoelectric actuator [8] and magnetorheological elas-
tomers [9] in these passive TMDs to attenuate the vibration of the primary system.
The use of these smart materials in the passive TMDs not only suppress the vibration
of the primary system but also reduces the overall structural weight of the system
by using a lower mass in the absorber configuration [10]. The new modification in
the design of TMDs is also done by many researchers to suppress the vibration of
the primary system for a wide range of operating frequencies [11]. Most of the anal-
ysis on TMDs are based on the linearity assumption, however non-linear analysis
is more realistic in nature [12]. The rotational inertia double-tuned mass damper
(RIDTMD) is a passive vibration absorber where it consists of an absorber mass and
a rotational mass. The RIDTMD outperforms conventional TMDs as they produce
larger effective mass by utilizing a smaller rotational physical mass. Hwang et al.
[13] investigated the effectiveness of rotational inertia damper with toggle bracing
for reducing the structural vibration. Garrido et al. [14] showed the efficacy of rota-
tional inertia through tuned viscous damper than the TMDs with the same mass ratio
to suppress vibration of an SDOF primary system subjected to harmonic force and
base acceleration. They showed that with RIDTMD vibration at the peaks reduces
to 20% and suppression band for operating frequency increases to 40% than the
conventional optimal TMDs. Javidialesaadi and Wierschem [15] obtained the opti-
mum stiffness and damping coefficients of the RIDTMD by using H2 optimization
technique, when the SDOF primary mass is subjected to random force and base exci-
tation. They showed that the optimal RIDTMD gives better performance and more
economical than the conventional optimal TMDs. In the view of above advantages
by RIDTMD than the traditional TMDs, the mathematical modelling of the system is
carried out in the next section by considering quadratic and cubic non-linear stiffness
in both the primary mass and the RIDTMD configuration.
2 Mathematical Modelling
Figure 1 shows a SDOF spring–mass primary mass to which an active rotational

inertial doubled tuned mass damper (RIDTMD) is placed. The proposed model is
similar to Garrido et al. [14] but here quadratic and cubic non-linear stiffness are
considered for both primary mass and in the absorber configuration. RIDTMD con-
sists of TMD using rotational inertial viscous damper (RIVD). Here the terms m 1 ,
k1 , k12 and k13 denotes mass, linear stiffness, quadratic non-linear stiffness and cubic
non-linear stiffness, respectively, of the primary mass. The RIDTMD consists of a
moving block mass, the primary and secondary stiffness, and the equivalent damping
coefficient of the RIVD, which are denoted as m 2 , k2 , k3 and c2 , respectively. The
quadratic and cubic non-linear stiffness of the RIDTMD are denoted as k22 and k23 ,
Non-linear Analysis of Rotational Inertial … 1185
Fig. 1 SDOF non-linear

primary system
incorporating a non-linear
RIDTMD
respectively. The primary mass is subjected to external harmonic force excitation

F1 cos(1 t). The terms m r , J and r are mass of rack, moment of inertia of flywheel
and pinion radius, respectively. The displacements in the three degree of freedom
system is represented by xi for i = 1, 2, 3. The governing equation of motion of the
system are obtained using Newton’s second law, which are given in Eqs. (1), (2) and
(3).
m 1 ẍ1 + k1 x1 + k12 x12 + k13 x13 − k2 (x2 − x1 ) − k22 (x2 − x1 )2 − k23 (x2 − x1 )3
− k3 (x3 − x1 ) − k32 (x3 − x1 )2 − k33 (x3 − x1 )3 = F1 cos 1 t (1)
m 2 ẍ2 + m 3 (ẍ2 − ẍ3 ) + c2 (ẋ2 − ẋ 3 ) + k2 (x2 − x1 ) + k22 (x2 − x1 )2

+ k23 (x2 − x1 )3 = 0 (2)
m 3 (ẍ3 − ẍ2 ) + m r ẍ3 + c2 (ẋ3 − ẋ 2 ) + k3 (x3 − x1 ) + k32 (x3 − x1 )2

+ k33 (x3 − x1 )3 = 0 (3)

Assuming ω1 = k1 m 1 and τ = ω1 t Eqs. (1), (2) and (3) are non-
dimensionalized and shown in Eqs. (4)–(6).
ẍ1 + x1 + α12 x12 + α13 x13 − μ1 α12 (x2 − x1 ) − α22 μ1 α12 (x2 − x1 )2
− α23 μ1 α12 (x2 − x1 )3 − μ1 μ21 α22 (x3 − x1 ) − α32 μ1 μ21 α22 (x3 − x1 )2
− α33 μ1 μ21 α22 (x3 − x1 )3 = F cos τ (4)
μ1 ẍ2 + μ2 (ẍ2 − ẍ3 ) + 2α2 μ2 ξ2 (ẋ2 − ẋ3 ) + μ1 α12 (x2 − x1 )

+ α22 μ1 α12 (x2 − x1 )2 + α23 μ1 α12 (x2 − x1 )3 = 0 (5)
μ2 (ẍ3 − ẍ2 ) + μr ẍ3 + 2ξ2 α2 μ2 (ẋ3 − ẋ2 ) + μ2 α22 (x3 − x1 )

+ α32 μ2 α22 (x3 − x1 )2 + α33 μ2 α22 (x3 − x1 )3 = 0 (6)
where

m2 m3 m3 mr J
μ1 = , μ2 = , μ21 = , μr = , m 3 = 2 , ω2 = k 2 m 2 , ω3 = k 3 m 3 ,
m1 m1 m2 m1 r
ω2 ω3 c2 k12 k13 k22 k23
α1 = , α2 = , ξ2 = , α12 = , α13 = , α22 = , α23 = ,
ω1 ω1 2m 3 ω3 k1 k1 k1 k1
k32 k33 F1 1
α32 = , α33 = ,F = , =
k1 k1 m 1 ω1
2 ω1
Equations (4)–(6) are solved using harmonic balance method (HBM) in the fol-
lowing section.
2.1 Solution by HBM
The approximate solution of Eqs. (4)–(6) are solved to obtain steady-state response
of the system by assuming the following solutions:
x1 (τ ) = A1 (τ ) cos(τ + φ1 (τ )) (7)
x2 (τ ) − x1 (τ ) = A2 (τ ) cos(τ + φ2 (τ )) (8)
x3 (τ ) − x1 (τ ) = A3 (τ ) cos(τ + φ3 (τ )) (9)
where A1 (τ ), A2 (τ ), A3 (τ ), φ1 (τ ), φ2 (τ ) and φ3 (τ ) are slowly varying functions

of time τ , such that the following terms can be neglected, Ä1 , Ä2 , Ä3 , φ̈1 , φ̈2 ,
φ̈3 , Ȧ1 φ̇1 , Ȧ2 φ̇1 , Ȧ3 φ̇1 , φ̇12 , φ̇22 and φ̇32 . Substituting Eqs. (7)–(9) into Eqs. (4)–(6)
and equating the coefficients of cos τ and sin τ terms separately to zero, one can
obtain the following four set of equations. The steady-state solution are obtained
from these equations by considering Ȧ1 , Ȧ2 , Ȧ3 , φ̇1 , φ̇2 and ϕ̇3 equal to zero, which
are shown in Eqs. (10)–(15).
− A1 2 sin φ1 + A1 sin φ1 + 0.75α13 A31 sin φ1 − μ1 α12 A2 sin φ2 −

0.75α23 μ1 α12 A32 sin φ2 − μ2 α22 A3 sin φ3 − 0.75α33 A33 μ2 α22 sin φ3 = 0 (10)

A1 cos φ1 −2 + 1 + 0.75α13 A31 cos φ1 − μ1 α12 cos φ2 A2 − 0.75α23 A32

− μ2 α22 cos φ3 A3 − 0.75α33 A33 − F = 0 (11)

μ1 −A2 2 cos φ2 − A1 2 cos φ1 + μ2 −A2 2 cos φ2 + A3 2 cos φ3

+ 2α2 μ2 ξ2 (A2 sin φ2 − A3 cos φ3 ) + μ1 α12 A2 cos φ2 1 + 0.75α23 A22 = 0
(12)

μ1 −A2 2 sin φ2 − A1 2 sin φ1 + μ2 −A2 2 sin φ2 + A3 2 sin φ3 +

2α2 μ2 ξ2 (−A2 cos φ2 + A3 cos φ3 ) + μ1 α12 A2 sin φ2 1 + 0.75α23 A22 = 0
(13)

μ2 −A3 2 cos φ3 + A2 2 cos φ2 + 2α2 μ2 ξ2 (−A2 sin φ2 + A3 cos φ3 )+

μ2 α22 A3 cos φ3 1 + 0.75α33 A23 = 0 (14)

μ2 −A3 2 sin φ3 + A2 2 sin φ2 + 2α2 μ2 ξ2 (A2 cos φ2 − A3 cos φ3 )

+ μ2 α22 A3 sin φ3 1 + 0.75α33 A23 = 0 (15)
The frequency responses of the system at the steady state are obtained by solving
Eqs. (10)–(15) using Newton’s method. The time responses, phase portraits and
frequency responses of the system are studied for various system parameters in the
following section.
The performance of the non-linear RIDTMD is studied by considering the following

non-dimensional parameters for the system. The mass ratios μ1 , μ2 and μ21 are
0.05, 0.005 and 0.1, respectively. The damping ratio ξ2 of the absorber is 0.241 and
frequency ratios α1 and α2 are 0.943 and 1.043, respectively. It may be noted that
above parameters of the system are optimum which are considered from Garrido et al.
[14]. The cubic non-linear spring stiffness α13 , α23 and α33 are considered as 0.5 and
external harmonic excitation is taken as 1. The time responses of the primary mass
and the rotational inertia mass are shown in Fig. 2 by solving Eqs. (4)–(6) by fourth-
order Runge–Kutta method considering linear and non-linear stiffness in the system.
In Fig. 2a the time responses of the primary mass are compared by considering linear
and non-linear stiffness in the primary mass at the resonating frequency of operation.
From Fig. 2a it can be observed that when cubic non-linear stiffness α13 = 0.5 the
response amplitude of the primary mass reduces than the linear stiffness (α13 = 0).
The phase portrait of the primary mass also shows the same characteristics and the
system in both cases are stable. In Fig. 2c, d, time responses and phase portraits
Fig. 2 Time responses and phase portraits for α13 = 0 (linear) α13 = 0.5 (non-linear) of the a,
b primary mass c, d auxiliary mass of RIDTMD
of the absorber are shown at the resonating frequency. From Fig. 2c it is observed
that amplitude of absorber with the cubic non-linear stiffness in the primary mass
is much less than the linear stiffness in the primary mass. The phase portrait also
shows the amplitude of the absorber is comparatively less than the linear stiffness
in the primary mass. From Fig. 2a–d, it can be observed that system shows beating
type of phenomena when the system is linear while when the stiffness of the primary
mass is non-linear than system shows quasiperiodic response. In Fig. 3, responses
of the primary mass and the auxiliary mass are shown by considering non-linear
cubic stiffness in both the primary mass and the auxiliary mass. From Fig. 3a, c,
it can be observed that for non-linear stiffness in both the primary mass and the
RIDTMD auxiliary mass the response amplitude is less than, when only cubic non-
linear stiffness is present in the auxiliary mass. The phase portraits are shown in
Fig. 3b, d also depicts the same analogy as in Fig. 3a, c. The response amplitude of
the primary mass is 2.1 for α3s = 0.5 and α23 = α33 = 0 as shown in Fig. 2a and
when α13 = α23 = 0.5 and α33 = 0 the amplitude is 2.24 as shown in Fig. 3a, while
the response amplitude of the auxiliary mass increases from 3.5 to 5.3 comparing
Figs. 2c and 3c. It is inferred the from Figs. 2 and 3 that the cubic non-linear stiffness
only in the primary mass reduces the response amplitude of the primary mass but
when the auxiliary mass stiffness is non-linear then the response amplitude increases.
It is also observed that with non-linear cubic stiffness in both the primary mass and
the auxiliary mass the response amplitude of the system is much less than with the
linear stiffness at the primary resonance of operating frequency.
In Fig. 4, frequency responses of the system are obtained by solving Eqs. (10)–
(15) by Newton’s method for F = 0.1 and α13 = 0.5 while other non-linear stiffness
are considered equal to zero. The frequency response in Fig. 4a shows three peaks
at operating frequency of 0.9, 1.1 and 1.2, respectively. The frequency response of
the primary mass shows high amplitude and multiple solutions when the operating
frequency are in the region of 0.82–9.42 and 1.08–1.6 outside this frequency of
operation the maximum response amplitude of the primary mass is 0.25. It is observed
from Fig. 4 that the non-linear cubic stiffness in the primary mass reduces amplitude
than with linear stiffness but only at a certain frequency of operation as mentioned
above and outside this region, the system may be unstable. In Fig. 4b, the frequency
response of the primary mass is shown for α13 = α23 = 0.5. It is observed from
Fig. 4b that due to the hardening effect of the stiffness the frequency response curve
Fig. 3 Time responses and phase portraits of the a, b primary mass and the c, d auxiliary mass of
RIDTMD
Fig. 4 Frequency responses of the primary mass for a α13 = 0.5 and b α13 = α23 = 0.5
bends more compared to Fig. 4a and also increases the range of unstable operating
frequency. The response shows two high peaks in the amplitude and the third peak
in the amplitude is observed at frequency 1.4. The results obtained in Fig. 4 are
compared by the numerical method which is in good agreement at the resonating
operating frequency.
4 Conclusions
The present paper analysed the efficacy of the non-linear RIDTMD in suppressing the
vibration of an SDOF non-linear spring–mass primary system. The analysis is carried
out by considering cubic non-linear stiffness in the primary mass and the auxiliary
mass of RIDTMD. It is shown that with non-linear cubic stiffness in the primary
mass the system amplitude reduces than considering linear stiffness in the primary
mass. The time responses and frequency responses showed the when the stiffness of
primary mass is cubic non-linear than amplitude of reduction of the system is more
than considering non-linearity in the absorber configuration. The cubic non-linear
stiffness in the system reduces the vibration but only at a certain range of frequency
of operation as discussed in Sect. 3 outside this region the systems shows unstable
characteristic and high amplitude. The non-linear system is not useful for broadband
frequency of operation but at closer to the resonating frequency of operation the
system outperforms the linear RIDTMD.
References
1. Frahm, H.: Device for damping vibrations of bodies. US Patent No. 989958 (1911)
2. Cheung, Y.L., Wong, W.O., Cheng, L.: Design optimization of a damped hybrid vibration
absorber. J. Sound Vib. 331(4), 750–766 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsv.2011.10.011
3. Asami, T., Nishihara, O., Baz, A.M.: Analytical solutions to H∞ and H2 optimization of
dynamic vibration absorbers attached to damped linear systems. J. Vib. Acoust. 124, 284–295
(2002). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1456458
4. Fisco, N.R., Adeli, H.: Smart structures: part I—active and semi-active control. Scientia Iranica
18(3), 275–284 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scient.2011.05.034
5. Fisco, N.R., Adeli, H.: Smart structures: part II—hybrid control systems and control strategies.
Scientia Iranica 18(3), 285–295 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scient.2011.05.035
6. Viana, F.A.C., Kotinda, G.I., Rade, D.A., Steffen Jr., V.: Tuning dynamic vibration absorbers
by using ant colony optimization. Comput. Struct. 86, 1539–1549 (2008). https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.compstruc.2007.05.009
7. Esen, I., Koç, M.A.: Optimization of a passive vibration absorber for a barrel using the genetic
algorithm. Expert Syst. Appl. 42(2), 894–905 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2014.
08.038
8. Mohanty, S., Dwivedy, S.K.: Linear and nonlinear analysis of piezoelectric based vibration
absorber with acceleration feedback. Procedia Eng. 144, 584–591 (2016). https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.proeng.2016.05.045
9. Deng, H.X., Gong, X.L.: Application of magnetorheological elastomer to vibration control.
Nonlinear Sci. Complex. 462–470 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1142/9789812772428_0053
10. Mohanty, S., Dwivedy, S.K.: Dynamic analysis of active vibration absorber by time delay
acceleration feedback using higher order method of multiple scales. In: ASME Gas Turbine
India Conference, Bangalore, India, pp. V002T05A033–V002T05A033 (2015). https://doi.
org/10.1115/gtindia2017-4850
11. Kela, L., Vähäoja, P.: Recent studies of adaptive tuned vibration absorbers/neutralizers. Appl.
Mech. Rev. 62(6), 060801 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3183639
12. Issa, J.S., Shaw, S.W.: Synchronous and non-synchronous responses of systems with multiple
identical nonlinear vibration absorbers. J. Sound Vib. 348, 105–125 (2015). https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.jsv.2015.03.021
13. Hwang, J.S., Kim, J., Kim, Y.M.: Rotational inertia dampers with toggle bracing for vibration
control of a building structure. Eng. Struct. 29(6), 1201–1208 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.engstruct.2006.08.005
14. Garrido, H., Curadelli, O., Ambrosini, D.: Improvement of tuned mass damper by using rota-
tional inertia through tuned viscous mass damper. Eng. Struct. 56, 2149–2153 (2013). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2013.08.044
15. Javidialesaadi, A., Wierschem, N.E.: Optimal design of rotational inertial double tuned mass
dampers under random excitation. Eng. Struct. 165, 412–421 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.engstruct.2018.03.033
Comparative Study of Performance
of Optimized Valve for Different Flow
Indices of Rheological Model
Keshav Manjeet and C. Sujatha
Abstract Smart fluids have always been an area of interest to most researchers due
to their varying characteristics with respect to external stimuli. Rheological fluids
such as electrorheological and magnetorheological fluids are popular among them.
In the present study, the flow of a rheological fluid through an annular valve has been
modelled using the Bingham model and the Herschel-Bulkley fluid model to include
the shear thinning and thickening effects at high shear rates. Damping force, dynamic
range and time constant have been defined as the valve’s performance indices and
volume constraint geometric optimization has been done for various flow indices.
Performance indices for the optimized valve are then compared for different flow
indices.
Keywords Bingham model · Herschel-Bulkley model · Flow index ·

Magnetorheological valve
Nomenclature
Ag Cross sectional area of flow gap (m2 )

Ak Cross sectional area of kth magnetic link (m2 )
hc Height of coil (m)
lk Length of kth magnetic link (m)
Nc Number of turns in the coil
Rc Radius of valve core (m)
w Width of flow gap (m)
h Flow gap of the valve (m)
K. Manjeet (B) · C. Sujatha

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
e-mail: me15d416@smail.iitm.ac.in
C. Sujatha

1192 K. Manjeet and C. Sujatha
Greek Symbols
μ0 Magnetic constant (4π × 10−7 H.m−1 )

Magnetic flux (Wb)
1 Introduction
Smart materials have attracted an abundance of literature. Among them, rheological

fluids find numerous applications in the field of engineering (Zhu et al. [1]), espe-
cially in vibration control using semi-active dampers. These fluids contain magnetic
particles in the case of magnetorheological (MR) fluids and dielectric particles in
the case of electrorheological (ER) fluids; when subjected to the magnetic and elec-
tric fields, respectively, the particles align themselves along the field lines forming
a chainlike structure. When these fluids are set into motion, they resist the flow and
this leads to a pressure drop. These rheological changes are a function of the applied
magnetic field and electric field. These controllable features of fluids render them
suitable for control applications. Among MR and ER fluids, MR fluids have been
found more suitable for engineering applications as they have the advantage of pro-
ducing high yield stresses, low energy requirements and low maintenance (Delivorias
[2]). Before these rheological fluids are put into application, the proper characterisa-
tion of the fluid is very much necessary. For characterising these fluids, two popular
rheological models are Bingham model, also called Bingham plastic model, and
Herschel-Bulkley (H-B) model (Ghaffari et al. [3]), also called the power law model.
τ = τ0 + μ(γ̇ ) (1)
τ = τ0 + K(γ̇ )1/m (2)
Equations (1) and (2) represent the Bingham and Herschel-Bulkley model, respec-
tively. Here, τ is shear stress, τ 0 is yield stress, μ is the viscosity, γ̇ is shear rate, K
is consistency index and m is flow index. The nonlinear Herschel-Bulkley model is
the suitable model for characterisation of those fluids which show shear thinning and
shear thickening effects at high shear rates. On the other hand, linear Bingham model
lacks these features. It is the flow index m which differentiates these two models in
terms of their capability to characterise fluid behaviour at high shear rates as shown
in Fig. 1. It is to be noted that for m equal to 1, Herchel-Bulkley model becomes the
same as Bingham model with viscosity same as consistency index.
In the present study, the flow of MR fluid inside the valve of a semi-active damper
has been considered for the analysis. Firstly, fluid flow inside the valve has been
modelled by using both Bingham and Herschel-Bulkley fluid models. Then the mag-
netic circuit developed around the coil inside the MR valve has been formulated
Comparative Study of Performance of Optimized Valve … 1193
Fig. 1 Shear stress versus

shear rate for different flow
indices
to find magnetic flux density in the flow channel of the valve. After the geometric
design and yield stress as a function of magnetic flux density have been presented,
proper performance indices of the valve have been defined. Then, these performance
indices have been set as objective functions for the formulated optimization problem
and optimization has been done for different flow indices.
2 Flow Modelling
Figure 2 shows the flow of MR fluid through an annular channel of a valve incor-
porated in the piston of the semi-active damper. When current is applied to the coil,
magnetic field lines are generated around the coil which passes the flow channel in
two active regions. The region where there is no magnetic field in the middle portion
of the flow channel is called the passive region. Presence of magnetic field in the
active region produces rheological changes; therefore, flow modelling would be for
the active region only. Figure 3 shows the velocity profile for the flow inside the
Fig. 2 MR valve inside the

damper [6]
Fig. 3 Flow of the MR fluid y=y2

in active regions
px umax h
y y=y1
active regions of the flow channel. Here, flow is assumed as steady state and fully
developed inside the valve. Also, the annular channel is approximated as parallel
plates and the fluid is assumed to be incompressible.
2.1 Bingham Model
William et al. [4] developed an analytical formula for finding the pressure gradient
across the flow channel with dimensionless numbers using the Bingham model and
came up with the nondimensional formulation for finding the pressure gradient across
the active region of the flow channel as
2G 3 − G 2 (3 + S) + 1 = 0 (3)
where S is the plasticity number given by
12μQ
S= (4)
wh2 τ0
and G is the pressure number given by
hpx
G=− (5)
2τ0
Here, for a particular value of flow rate, Q, given all other parameters, S is calcu-
lated using Eq. (4) and its value is used in Eq. (3) to get the cubic equation in terms
of G, which is further solved numerically to find G and finally pressure gradient, px
using Eq. (5). The pressure drop across the active region is given as
(p)B = px × la (6)
Flow rate, Q can be calculated by multiplying the piston area by the constant
velocity of the piston. The velocity of the piston inside the damper is assumed to
be 0.2 m/s, this value is usually taken at the initial design phase of the MR valve.
Also, the value of viscosity, μ is assumed as 0.11 Pa-s which is in the range of
commercially available MR/ER fluids.
2.2 Herschel-Bulkley Model
Gołdasz and Sapiński [5] had given a nonlinear implicit nondimensional formulation
in terms of dimensionless numbers for finding the pressure gradient using the H-B
model. It is given as
G 2 S − (G − 1)m+1 [G(m + 1) + 1] = 0 (7)
where G is the pressure given by Eq. (5) and S is the plasticity number given by

2Q(m + 1)(m + 2) K m
S= (8)
wh2 τ0
Here, in the same way, first, S is calculated for a given flow rate, Q, and fed into
Eq. (7) to get the implicit equation in terms of G. Then, Eq. (7) is solved numerically
to get the value of G which further, using Eq. (5), gives pressure gradient, px . The
pressure drop across the active region is given as
(p)H −B = px × la (9)
Here, it is to be noted that Eqs. (7) and (8) of the H–B model become Eqs. (3) and
(4), respectively, of Bingham model at m = 1 with viscosity, μ same as consistency
index, K.
2.3 Total Pressure Drop
Flow in the passive region of the flow channel is Newtonian and the pressure drop
in that region for a given flow rate, Q is simply given as
12μQ(L − 2la )
pp = (10)
Ag h2
Now, the total pressure drop across the flow channel is given by (Keshav and
Sujatha [6])
ptotal = 2pB/H −B + pp (11)
When there is no magnetic field in the flow channel, Newtonian flow occurs there.
The pressure drop across the channel at this condition is given by Eq. (10) with the
changed length of the flow channel.
3 Magnetic Circuit
When current is applied in the coil, a magnetic circuit is generated around the coil as
shown in Fig. 4. Magnetic flux density in the active region of flux can be approximated
for lower values of current by using Kirchhoff’s law and conservation of magnetic
flux in the magnetic circuit (Nguyen et al. [7]). Magnetic flux density in the active
region of the flow channel is given by
μ0 μmr Nc I
Bmr = B2 = 2l1 μmr A2 2l3 μmr A2 μmr A2 2l8 μmr A2
(12)
2h + μA1
+ μA3
+ 2l4μA3
+ μA8
The magnetic flux in other regions of the magnetic circuit is given as
B2 A2 B2 A2 B2 A2
B8 = ; B7 = ; B4 = (13)
A8 A7 A4
Magnetic properties like relative permeability, μ and magnetic saturation, Bsat of the
valve material and MR fluid are listed in Table 1.
The yield stress of the MR fluid as a function of magnetic flux density in the active
region is given by using the polynomial function as follows
τ0 = (39.7215Bmr
4
− 132.3825Bmr
3
+ 119.0925Bmr
2
+ 10.281B + 0.10815) × 1000
(14)
Fig. 4 Magnetic circuit

inside MR valve
Table 1 Magnetic properties

Component Material μ Bsat
of valve material and MR
fluid Valve Silicon steel 2000 1.5 T
Coil Copper 1 –
MR fluid – 5 1T
Table 2 Geometric
Geometric parameter Values (m)
parameters of MR valve
Valve radius, R 0.023
Valve length, L 0.050
Flow gap, h 0.001
4 Geometric Design
Geometric design has been chosen in such a way so as to maintain the same magnetic
flux density in the core and flux ring regions of the MR valve. For this, coil width,
wc and active length, la have been chosen as two geometric parameters to define the
candidate valve geometry (Keshav and Sujatha [7]). Other geometric parameters, for
a given valve radius, R, valve length, L and flow gap, h can be calculated as
1
Rc = [−(wc + h) + 2R2 − (wc + h)2 ] (15)
2
hc = L − 2la (16)
Fixed geometric dimensions of the MR valve are given in Table 2.
5 Performance Indices
5.1 Maximum Damping Force
Damping force at a given flow rate and at a particular applied current is given by
Fd = (p)total × Ap (17)
As the current increases, damping force also increases; in addition to that, with an
increase of current, magnetic flux density in the valve material also increases up to
the magnetic saturation limit of the valve material. There is a limit in increasing
the current because of the current rating of the wire used. Therefore, the maximum
damping force is at the maximum possible current at which the valve material reaches
its magnetic saturation limit or at the current rating of the wire used for the coil,
whichever occurs earlier. It is given as
(Fd )I =max = (p)total × Ap (18)
5.2 Dynamic Range
Dynamic range is defined as the ratio of damping force at maximum possible current
to the damping force at zero current. It is given as
(Fd )I =max
λd = (19)
(Fd )I =0
It is to be noted here that (F d )I=0 is calculated using Newtonian pressure drop across
the flow channel multiplied by the effective cross-sectional area of the piston, Ap .
5.3 Inductive Time Constant
The inductive time constant of the MR valve represents its response time. It is cal-
culated as
Lin
TC = (20)
Rw
where L in is the inductance of the coil calculated as L in = N c Φ/I. Rw is the resistance

of the coil, calculated as Rw = N c π d c r/Aw . For the present study, 24-gauge copper
wire having a diameter, d w = 0.511 mm and resistivity r = 0.01726 × 10−6 -m
has been chosen. The current rating of copper wire is 2 A, so, the maximum possible
value up to which current can be increased is 2 A.
6 Optimization Formulation
Performance indices discussed in the last section have been made objective functions
for the optimization problem. In each iteration of the optimization problem, the cur-
rent would be increased up to the level where magnetic flux density in the valve core
and the valve flange reaches its magnetic saturation or it reaches at 2 A, whichever
occurs earlier. The value of the performance index at this point becomes the value
for the objective functions.
The optimization problem is formulated as
⎧ ⎫
⎪
⎨ Objective 1 : (Fd )I =max
1
⎪
⎬
To minimize: Objective 2 : λ1 (21)
⎪
⎩ d ⎪
⎭
Objective 3 : TC
subjected to B8 < 1.5 T, B7 < 1.5 T, Bmr < 1 T and I < 2 A with bounds on design
variables (DV) coil width, wc and active length, l a as
2 mm ≤ wc ≤ 6 mm and 8 mm ≤ la ≤ 21 mm.
In the present study, the equal weighting has been given to all the objective func-
tions and the optimization problem is solved by multi-objective Genetic Algorithm
using gamultiobj toolbox in MATLAB environment. For the optimization process
to run, the formulation is coded in script file and fed into the optimization toolbox
interface with its constraints. The flow chart in Fig. 5 shows the coded formulation.
Default settings in the toolbox have been utilized for the simulation.
ith iteration
m
wc and la
I=0
I=I+0.1
CalculateBmr,
B8&B7
B8<1.5,
No
B7<1.5, Bmr<1
Break
&I<2
Yes
Calculate
1/Fd,
1/λd&TCand
Return1/Fd,
1/λd&TC
Application End of ith

of GA iteration
Fig. 5 Flow chart of optimization formulation

Optimal geometries for different chosen flow indices are listed in Table 3. As stated
in earlier sections, for values of m other than m = 1, formulation given by H-B model
of fluids is applied. For m > 1, optimal values are for the shear thinning region of
fluid characteristics, whereas, for m < 1, it is for the shear thickening region.
It is observed from Table 3 that for the shear thinning region, coil width, wc attains
the upper bound values and active length, la attains near upper bound values as the
fluid becomes thinner. For the shear thickening region, coil width, wc again attains
a value close to its upper bound, whereas active length, la remains near its lower
bound.
Table 4 lists the optimal values of performance indices at different flow indices.
Figure 6a–c represents the variation of damping force, dynamic range and inductive
time constant, respectively, at different flow indices.
As the fluid gets thinner (m > 1), maximum damping force, dynamic range and
inductive time constant at their optimal geometry get smaller. The opposite is the
case when the fluid gets thicker (m < 1), here, the maximum damping force and
dynamic range increase abruptly (shown in the logarithmic plots in Fig. 6a, b) with
a smooth increase in inductive time constant.
Table 3 Optimal geometric parameters at different flow indices

Flow index m Coil width, wc (mm) Active length, l a (mm)
0.55 6 8
0.71 5 8
1 5.8 18.3
1.25 6 18.7
2.5 6 20.3
Table 4 Optimal performance indices for different flow indices

Flow index m (F d )I=max (kN) λd TC (s)
0.55 179.88 585.38 0.28
0.71 7.395 23.55 0.24
1 2.22 7.2 0.23
1.25 1.215 3.95 0.22
2.5 1.16 3.77 0.18
Fig. 6 Variation of (a)

a maximum damping force, m =1
(N)
5 m =1.25
b dynamic range and 10
m =2.5
c inductive time constant
d I=max
m =0.71
m =0.55
with current for different
Maximum damping force, (F )

flow indices
4
10
3
10
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45

Current, I (A)
(b) 3
10
m =1
m =1.25
m =2.5
m =0.71
2
10 m =0.55
Dynamic range,
1
10
0
10
-1
10
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45
Current, I (A)
(c) 0.3
m =1
m =1.25
0.28 m =2.5
m =0.71
m =0.55
0.26
Inductive time constant, TC (s)
0.24
0.22
0.2
0.18
0.16
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45
Current, I (A)
8 Conclusions
It is concluded that coil width attains higher values for both shear thinning and shear
thickening fluids as per the minimization of formulated objective functions and given
weights, whereas the active length attains higher values for shear thinning fluid and
lower values for shear thickening fluid at the same given condition. Also, MR fluid,
with shear thickening effect, can attain high damping force and dynamic range, but at
the cost of the response time of the MR valve which shows large values as compared
to shear thinning conditions. The present study can help to decide the characteristics
of MR/ER fluids needed as per the application.
Acknowledgements The research is supported by IMPRINT Project No. IMPRINT/2016/7330

entitled “Development of Cost-Effective Magnetorheological (MR) Fluid Damper in Two Wheeler
and Four Wheeler Automobiles to Improve Ride Comfort and Stability” funded by Ministry of
Human Resource Development and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Govt. of India.
References
1. Zhu, X., Jing, X., Cheng, L.: Magnetorheological fluid dampers: a review on structure
design and analysis. J. Intell. Mater. Struct. 23(8), 839–873 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1177/
1045389x12436735
2. Delivorias, R.P.: Research on smart materials: application of ER and MR fluid in an automotive
crash energy absorber. Report no. MT04.18 (2004)
3. Ghaffari, A., Hashemabadi, S.H., Ashtiani, M.: A review on the simulation and modeling of
magnetorheological fluids. J. Intell. Mater. Struct. 26(8), 881–904 (2015). https://doi.org/10.
1177/1045389X14546650
4. Wiliams, E., Rigby, S.G., Sproston, J., Stanway, R.: Electorheological fluids applied to an auto-
motive engine mount. J. Non-Newton. Fluid Mech. 47, 221–238 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1016/
0377-0257(93)80052-D
5. Gołdasz, J., Sapiński, B.: Modelling of control valve. In: Insight into Magnetorheological Shock
Absorbers, IV (I), pp. 51–92. Springer, Switzerland (2015)
6. Keshav, M., Sujatha, C.: Modeling and optimization of non-linear Herschel-Bulkley fluid
model based magnetorheological valve geometry. In: IEEE/ASME International Conference on
Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics—AIM (2018). https://doi.org/10.1109/aim.2018.8452342
7. Nguyen, Q.H., Choi, S.B.: Optimal design of MR shock absorber and application to vehicle
suspension. Smart Mater. Struct. 18, 035012, 11 pp. (2019). https://doi.org/10.1088/0964-1726/
18/3/035012
Static Stability Investigation
of an Asymmetric Sandwich Beam
in Temperature Environment
Dipesh Kumar Nayak and Pusparaj Dash
Abstract Investigation of static stability is done for an asymmetric sandwich beam

resting on sinusoidal varying Pasternak foundation under the effect of alive axial load
and in steady-state one-dimensional temperature gradient. The sequence of methods
followed to achieve it are Hamilton’s principle and generalized Galerkin’s method.
The consequences occurred on static buckling loads due to various parameters for
pinned–pinned, fixed–free and clamped–pinned boundary conditions are observed.
Keywords Asymmetric sandwich beam · Sinusoidal Pasternak foundation · Static

stability · Temperature gradient
Nomenclature
Ai (i = 1, 2, 3) Cross section area of ith beam

B Beamwidth
Ei (i = 1, 2, 3) Young’s modulus of ith elastic layer
g Shear parameter
Gs Foundation’s shear layer modulus
Gs /E1 Modulus ratio
G2∗ Complex shear modulus of core
hi (i = 1, 2, 3) ith layer’s thickness at “x”
Ii (i = 1, 2, 3) Second moment of inertia about the relevant axis
l Length of beam
d Shear layer thickness of foundation
m Mass per unit length of beam
ρi ith layer’s density
D. K. Nayak (B) · P. Dash

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla,
Sambalpur 768018, Odisha, India
e-mail: dipeshnayak3@gmail.com
P. Dash
e-mail: prdash_india@yahoo.co.in

1204 D. K. Nayak and P. Dash
ω Nondimensional forcing frequency

δi (i = 1, 3) Constant temperature gradient of ith layer
t Time
t Nondimensional time
P0 Nondimensional static load
Y Geometric parameter
w(x, t) Lateral deflection of the beam at “x”
1 Introduction
Application of sandwich beams in the field of aerospace, hydro, and many

other industries has increased extensively as they exhibit superior properties and
lightweight. In structural engineering, a structure can become unstable when exces-
sive load is used. Beyond a certain threshold, structural deflections magnify stress,
which, in turn, increases deflection. This can take the form of buckling or crippling.
In other words, the system in which the deflection increases continuously due to
a small application of load is called static instability. In order to have an effective
system, stability investigation is must. Faraday [1] was the first to experience the
parametric excitation, and found that a container filled with fluid vibrating vertically
causes fluid surface to oscillate in the transverse direction at a frequency which is
half of that container. Kerwin [2] observed the damping characteristic of constrained
viscoelastic layer. Then, Rao and Stuhler [3] considered symmetric sandwich beam
and studied about its loss factor and frequency. Saito and Otomi [4] investigated
parametric response of beam (viscoelastically supported). Later on, the studies were
done on asymmetric sandwich beams to reduce the weight of the system by Dash
et al. [5]. It was found that the stability is being improved, making the system further
economical. Dwivedy et al. [6] performed his research to analyze the behavior of
sandwich beam with Magnetorheological core under different end conditions. Kar
and Sujata [7] considered the impact of temperature gradient on a nonuniform beam
and found that the stability of the system was getting affected by it. The effect of
temperature on the Young’s modulus of a nonuniform beam under the influence of
parametric vibration was illustrated by Kar and Sujata [8]. Pradhan and Dash [9] con-
sidered the influence of temperature gradient on the stability of sandwich beam and
established that it was affected. The temperature gradient also affected the stability
of an asymmetric tapered sandwich beam which was revealed by Pradhan et al. [10].
Again Pradhan et al. [11] studied the influence of temperature gradient on an asym-
metric sandwich beam that is placed on Pasternak foundation and observed that the
stability was affected due to the variation in the stiffness of the foundation as well as
temperature gradient. Dash et al. [12] analyzed the stability of sandwich beam along
with consideration of temperature gradient and change in boundary conditions. They
found that the stability of the system was dependent upon the temperature gradient
and the types of boundary conditions.
Static Stability Investigation of an Asymmetric Sandwich Beam … 1205
From the accessible literature, it has been discovered that till now, most of the
works are related to linear and Parabolic Pasternak foundation. No work has been
done for sinusoidal Pasternak foundation with pinned–pinned, clamped–pinned, and
fixed–free boundary conditions. As the deflected shape for the pinned–pinned and
fixed–free boundary conditions are only sinusoidal and that of clamped–pinned sand-
wich beam is a combination of trigonometric and algebraic functions. Hence, the
researchers have been interested to observe the difference in static stability of the
above cases when the stiffness of the springs is varying in a sinusoidal manner.
2 System Modeling
A uniform asymmetric sandwich beam of length “l” resting on a Sinusoidal Pasternak

foundation is shown in Fig. 1. It consists of an elastic layer (top and bottom) and
middle viscoelastic layer. Here G2 is the in-phase shear modulus of the viscoelastic
core and G2 * is the complex shear modulus.
√ Hence G2∗ = G2 (1 + jη), where “η” is
the core loss factor of the core and j = −1. Since the system is assumed to be only
in pure bending condition in one plane with bending plane in x-z plane, the axial
load P(t) = P0 + P1 cos ωt is applied at the C.G. of the transverse cross section. In
the above expression, “ω” is the frequency of the excitation and “P1 ” and “P0 ” are
dynamic and static load amplitude and “t” is time.
The assumptions considered to obtain the governing differential equations of
motion are as same as [10].
Fig. 1 System configuration

2.1 Equations
According to Kerwin’s [2] assumption,
E1 A1 U1,x + E3 A3 U3,x = 0
The kinetic energy (T ), potential energy (V ), and work done (WP ) expressions
are given by
l l l
1 1 1
V = A1 2
E1 (x)u1,x dx + A3 2
E3 (x)u3,x dx + I1 2
E1 (x)w,x dx
2 2 2
0 0 0
l l l l
1 1 ∗ 1 B
+ I3 2
E3 (x)w,x dx + G A2 γ22 dx + GS Bd w,2x dx + k(x)w2 dx (1)
2 2 2 2 2
0 0 0 0
l
1
T= m w,t2 dx (2)
2
0
and
l
1
WP = 2
P(t)w,x dx (3)
2
0
In the middle layer, the shear strain
u1 − u3 cw,x
γ2 = −
2h2 2h2
By Kerwin’s assumption [2] u3 is eliminated. Following non-dimensionalized

equations for motion are obtained by applying the Extended Hamilton’s energy
principle.

3 GS d lh31
w̄,t̄ t̄ + (1 + Y )w̄,xxxx − − P̄ t̄ w̄,xx
2 E1 (x) l 1 + E31 h331
3 k(x)l lh31 2h2
+ w̄ + Y γ2,xxx = 0 (4)
2 E1 (x) 1 + E31 h331 c
2E1 (x)A1 h2 c 2h2 G ∗ A2 lc 2h2 2E1 (x)A1 h2 c
γ2,xx − 2 γ2 + w̄,xxx = 0 (5)
(1 + α)l c 2h2 c (1 + χ )l
where w̄,xxxx = ∂∂ x̄w̄4 , w̄,xx = ∂∂ x̄w̄2 , γ2,x̄xx = ∂∂ x̄γ32 γ2,xx = ∂∂ x̄γ22 , lh1 =
4 2 3 2
1 (x)A1 c
2
l h1 , Y = ED(1+α) is the geometric parameter of nondimensional form with

α = (E1 A1 ) (E3 A3 ), D = E1 (x)I1 + E3 (x)I3 and m = 1 + ρρ21 hh21 + ρρ31 hh31 .
Equation (5) can be simplified as
2h2 Y 2g ∗ Yh2 γ2
γ2,xx − + Y w̄,xxx = 0 (6)
c c
The nondimensional end conditions at x̄ = 0 and x̄ = 1 are given by

2h2 3GS dlh31
(1 + Y )w̄,xxx + Y γ2,xx + P̄ t̄ − w̄,x̄ = 0 (7)
c 2E1 (x)l 1 + E31 h331
or
w̄ = 0 (8)
2h2
(1 + Y )w̄,xx + Y γ2,x̄ = 0 (9)
c
or
w̄,x̄ = 0 (10)
2h2
Y γ2,x̄ + w̄,xx = 0 (11)
c
or
γ2 = 0 (12)

In the above, x̄ = x l, t̄ = t t0 , t0 = ml 4 (E1 (x)I1 + E3 (x)I3 ), h31 =

h3 h1 , h21 = h2 h1 . P̄0 = P0 l 2 (E1 (x)I1 + E3 (x)I3 ), P̄1 =
∂ w̄ ∂ w̄ ∗ G2∗ lh21 (1+E31 h31 )
P1 l (E1 (x)I1 + E3 (x)I3 ), w̄,x̄ = ∂ x̄ and w̄,t̄ = ∂ t̄ etc. g = 4E3 (x)h21 h31
2
is the expression for shear parameter and it is complex and given by g ∗ = g(1 + jη).
2.1.1 Approximate Series of Solutions
For Eqs. (4) and (6), the series of approximate solutions is assumed in the form
i=P

w̄ x̄, t̄ = wi (x̄)fi t̄ (13)
i=1
k=2P

γ̄2 x̄, t̄ = γk (x̄)fk t̄ (14)
k=P+1
Here the shape functions are wi and γk . fi and fk are generalized coordinates. wi
and γk are chosen in such a way that they satisfy the equations for motion and the
maximum number of end conditions that are possible [3]. The shape functions given
in Ray and Kar [13] used for the following end conditions.
1. Clamped–pinned case (C-P),
wi (x̄) = 2(i + 2)x̄(i+1) − (4i + 6)x̄(i+2) + 2(i + 1)x̄(i+3)

γk̄ (x̄) = k̄ + 1 x̄k̄ − k̄ x̄(k̄+1) where k̄ = k − P
2. Pinned–pinned case (P-P)
wi (x̄) = sin (iπ x̄)
γk (x̄) = cos (kπ x̄)
3. Fixed–free case (F-F),
wi (x̄) = (i + 2)(i + 3)x̄i+1 − 2i(i + 3)x̄i+2 + i(i + 1)x̄i+3

γk (x̄) = x̄k̄ − [k̄/(k̄ + 1)]x̄k̄+1 Where k̄ = k − p
Substitution of the above-mentioned shape functions in Eqs. (4) and (6), the
following equations of motion in matrix form are obtained by means of Galerkin’s
method.
[m] Q̈1 + [k11 ]{Q1 } + [k12 ]{Q2 } = {0} (15)
[k21 ]{Q1 } + [k22 ]{Q2 } = {0} (16)
where
{Q1 } = {f1 , . . . , fP }T (17)
{Q2 } = {fP+1 , . . . , f2P }T (18)
The various matrix elements are

1
Mij = wi wj d x̄ (19)
0
1 1 1

k11ij = (1 + Y )wi wj d x̄ +φ wi wj d x̄ + ψ − P̄ t̄ wi wj d x̄ (20)
0 0 0
1
k12jk = Y wi uk d x̄ (21)
0
1 1
k22kl = Yuk ul d x̄ + g ∗ Yuk ul d x̄ (22)
0 0

∂wi
In the above, uk = 2h2
c k
γ , ul = 2h2
c l
γ and wi = ∂x
λs = kl
E1
3λs lh31
φ= (23)
2 1 + E31 h331
3GS dlh31
ψ= (24)
2E1 (x)l 1 + E31 h331
[k21 ] = [k12 ]T (25)
Equations (15) and (16) are further simplified to

[m] Q̈1 + [k] − P̄0 [H ] {Q1 } − P̄1 cos ω̄t̄ [H ]{Q1 } = {0} (26)
where

[k] = k̄3 − [k12 ][k22 ]−1 [k12 ]T (27)
1
Hij = wi wj d x̄ (28)
0
1 1 1

k̄3 ij = (1 + Y )wi wj d x̄ + φwi wj d x̄ + ψwi wj d x̄ (29)
0 0 0
2.1.2 Critical Buckling Loads
Putting P̄1 = 0 and Q̈1 = 0 in Eq. (26) gives the eigenvalue problem of
[k]−1 [H ]{Q1 } = P10 {Q1 }. The buckling loads for the static condition can be obtained
by finding the real parts of the reciprocals of the eigenvalues of [k]−1 [H ].
Here, the discussion is done regarding the static stability of a uniform asymmetric
sandwich beam placed on a sinusoidal varying Pasternak foundation. In this case,
the stiffness of the springs varying in sinusoidal manner and is given as
K(x) = K0 (1 − γe sin(π ξ ))
where γe denotes the foundation parameter and K0 is the constant spring stiffness
[14]. These are for various nondimensional parameters like core loss factor, tem-
perature gradient, foundation parameter, modulus ratio, etc. Results obtained have
been compared with that of [10] and good agreement is observed. Unless stated, the
following parameter values have been considered for Sandwich beam.
η = 0.1, g = 0.01, δ1 = 0.1, δ2 = 0.4, P0 = 0.05, G2 /E1 = 0.003, Gs /E1 = 0.001,

ρ2 /ρ1 = 0.05, ρ3 /ρ1 = 0.5, γe = 0.2, K0 = 500
The temperature referring to reference temperature, anywhere ξ , is ψ =

ψ0 (1 − ξ ). Choosing ψ = ψ0 , the end temperature at ξ = 1 as reference temperature,
the variation of Young’s modulus of the beam
E(ξ ) = E[1 − λψ1 (1 − ξ )], 0 ≤ λψ1 < 1

= E1 T (ξ )
where λ is the coefficient of thermal expansion of the beam material, δ = λψ1 is the
temperature gradient parameter and T (ξ ) = [1 − δ(1 − ξ )].
Here, we are considering
E1 A1 E1 T (ξ )A1 E1 A1 [1 − δ1 (1 − ξ )]
α= = =
E3 A3 E3 T (ξ )A3 E3 A3 [1 − δ2 (1 − ξ )]
where δ1 and δ2 are thermal gradients in the top and bottom elastic layer, respectively.
3.1 Figures
Static stability study has been done for three different boundary conditions of the
system. These are clamped–pinned, pinned–pinned, and fixed–free for first three
lower critical buckling loads, considering Euler–Bernoulli beam. For all the plots,
the critical buckling load corresponding to clamped–pinned is found to be higher than
that of pinned–pinned and fixed–free. The reason is obvious. From Figs. 2 and 3, it
is observed that decrease of δ1 and increase of δ2 are increasing the static stability.
This is happening due to increased stiffness of the system. From Fig. 4, it is clear
that there is no role of η during the study of static stability. The reason is that η
comes to picture when there is vibration of the system. Further, the static stability of
the system is found to improve with increase of Gs /E1 which is found from Fig. 5.
Increase of Gs /E1 means either increase of Gs or decrease of E1 or both. The changing
of both Gs and E1 in this manner is responsible for increase of tangential force and
increase of rigidity, respectively. Further, it is clear from the graph in Figs. 6 and 7,
the increase of K0 and decrease of γe helping the static stability of the system to
increase. By the above two cases, the spring stiffness is increasing, which is reducing
Fig. 2 Variation due to δ1
Fig. 3 Variation due to δ2

Fig. 4 Variation due to η
Fig. 5 Variation due to Gs /E1
Fig. 6 Variation due to K0

Fig. 7 Variation due to γe
Fig. 8 Variation due to ξ
the maximum static deflection of the system. Because of this, the nature found is
obvious. Further from Fig. 8, it is found that the nondimensional static buckling
load variation is sinusoidal. The sinusoidal variation of static buckling load is due to
sinusoidal Pasternak foundation.
4 Conclusion
The static stability investigation have been done for a sandwich beam which is asym-
metric and is placed on a sinusoidal Pasternak foundation. Three types of boundary
conditions have been studied, these are clamped–pinned, pinned–pinned, and fixed-
free. It is found that increase in Gs /E1 , K0 , δ2 and decrease of δ1 , γe are responsible
for improvement in static stability whereas there is no role of η on static stability.
Further, it has been found that the system possess better stability for ξ nearer to zero
or if it is nearer to unity. For ξ = 0.5 or nearer to it, the stability of the system is
least. Hence taking into accounts, the effect of all the nondimensional parameters
discussed above, the system parameters should be such that it will have better sta-
bility. In all the cases, the systems with clamped–pinned condition in comparison
to pinned–pinned and fixed–free condition are found to possess better stability. This
is obvious because the earlier one is more rigid than the later ones. This type of
foundation could be useful on superstructures in wind flown areas.
public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
References
1. Faraday, M.: On a peculiar class of acoustical figures; and on certain forms assumed by groups
of particles upon vibrating elastic surfaces. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 121, 299–340 (1831)
2. Kerwin Jr., E.M.: Damping of flexural waves by a constrained viscoelastic layer. J. Acoust.
Soc. Am. 31(7), 952–962 (1959)
3. Rao, D.K., Stuhler, W.: Frequency and loss factors of tapered symmetric sandwich beams. J.
Appl. Mech. 44(3), 511–513 (1977)
4. Saito, H., Otomi, K.: Parametric response of viscoelastically supported beams. J. Sound Vib.
63(2), 169–178 (1979)
5. Dash, P.R., Maharathi, B.B., Ray, K.: Dynamic Stability of an asymmetric sandwich beam
resting on a Pasternak Foundation. J. Aerosp. Sci. Technol. 62(1), 66 (2010)
6. Dwivedy, S.K., Mahendra, N., Sahu, K.C.: Parametric instability regions of a soft and magne-
torheological elastomer cored sandwich beam. J. Sound Vib. 325(4–5), 686–704 (2009)
7. Kar, R.C., Sujata, T.: Parametric instability of Timoshenko beam with thermal gradient resting
on a variable Pasternak foundation. Comput. Struct. 36(4), 659–665 (1990)
8. Kar, R.C., Sujata, T.: Parametric instability of a non-uniform beam with thermal gradient resting
on a Pasternak foundation. Comput. Struct. 29(4), 591–599 (1988)
9. Pradhan, M., Dash, P.R.: Stability of an asymmetric tapered sandwich beam resting on a variable
Pasternak foundation subjected to a pulsating axial load with thermal gradient. Compos. Struct.
140, 816–834 (2016)
10. Pradhan, M., Mishra, M.K., Dash, P.R.: Stability analysis of an asymmetric tapered sandwich
beam with thermal gradient. Procedia Eng. 144, 908–916 (2016)
11. Pradhan, M., Dash, P.R., Pradhan, P.K.: Static and dynamic stability analysis of an asymmet-
ric sandwich beam resting on a variable Pasternak foundation subjected to thermal gradient.
Meccanica 51(3), 725–739 (2016)
12. Dash, P.R., Pradhan, M., Bisoi, A.: Parametric instability of an asymmetric sandwich beam
with thermal gradient under various boundary conditions by computational method. Procedia
Eng. 144, 900–907 (2016)
13. Ray, K., Kar, R.C.: Parametric instability of a sandwich beam under various boundary condi-
tions. Comput. Struct. 55(5), 857–870 (1995)
14. Padhi, S.N., Mohanty, R.C., Rout, T.: Sigmoid timoshenko beam on variable elastic foundation.
Int. J. Eng. Res. Sci. Tech. 5(2), 96–106 (2016)
Renewable Energy
Thermo-economic Study of Phase
Change Materials (PCMs) for Thermal
Energy Storage
Laxman Mishra, Abhijit Sinha and Rajat Gupta
Abstract Thermal energy storage in the form of latent heat using phase change mate-
rials (PCMs) provides the advantages of high energy storage density and isothermal
storage and retrieval behaviour. The thermal properties of PCMs are important in
deciding the space requirement, heat exchanger design and its applicability with a
given thermal energy source. Another important factor is the price of PCM, which
limits certain materials from being used due to the high costs involved. Hence, a com-
prehensive evaluation of the thermal and economic aspects of PCMs would serve
in making proper choice of energy storage material. This paper presents thermo-
economic analysis of PCMs and estimations on energy storage densities and the
cost of storage per unit of thermal energy stored. It was observed that NaOH and
CaCl2 .6H2 O having thermal capacity of 106.85 and 100.53 kWh/m3 and low storage
cost of 1.76 and 0.69 $/MJ, respectively, make them a good choice for energy storage.
Keywords Energy storage · Phase change materials · Thermophysical properties ·

Cost
1 Introduction
The discrepancy in the demand and supply of energy necessitates finding ways to
store the excess energy so that it can be used during high demand. Several renewable
sources of energy such as solar energy and waste heat recovery are intermittent in
nature [1, 2]. Its availability varies depending on the time of the day and month
of the year. Hence, in order to make this energy available during night hours or
during the seasons of lower solar thermal availability, it is necessary to store the
excess energy when it is available in abundance using thermal energy storage (TES)
systems [3–5]. Rapid research and development in energy storage have been done
in the last few decades [6]. Several methods have been used for storing different
forms of energy. Heat energy is stored using one of the three storage technology viz.
L. Mishra · A. Sinha (B) · R. Gupta

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Mizoram, Chaltlang,
Aizawl 796012, Mizoram, India

1218 L. Mishra et al.
sensible heat storage [7–14], latent heat storage [15, 16] and thermochemical storage
[17–20]. Thermochemical storage has huge potential to store energy. However, this
technology is still at research stage. Unlike thermochemical storage, energy stored
as sensible heat and latent heat cannot be stored for long time.
Thermophysical properties of materials play an important role for their selection
as energy storage materials. A sensible heat storage material should have properties
like high specific heat capacity, high density, thermal and chemical stability in the
operating range of temperatures, etc. Both solids and liquids can be used for storing
sensible heat. Solids offer some advantages over liquid materials like lower costs,
wider working temperature range, and are corrosion and leakage free [21]. Phase
change materials (PCMs) are used for storing low-temperature heat in the form of
latent heat for heating and industrial applications [22]. It is based on the absorption
and release of heat when the PCM undergoes a phase change from solid to liquid or
liquid to gas and vice versa [23]. They have the advantage of thermal stability, high
heat of fusion, isothermal storage and high storage densities [24–27]. Other desirable
properties are nontoxicity, noncorrosive, high density, low price, large thermal con-
ductivity, environmentally safe, nonflammability, etc. [28, 29]. A detailed study on
the properties of several PCMs like magnesium chloride (MgCl2 .6H2 O), potassium
nitrate (KNO3 ) and barium hydroxide (Ba(OH)2 .8H2 O) are available in the literature
[30–32] for high and low-temperature applications. The knowledge of thermal and
economic aspects of PCMs can help designers to choose the right material and decide
proper heat exchangers considering the melting point of PCM, storage density and
temperature of the heat source.
It is observed from the review of literature that there are several studies on the
thermal properties of PCMs. However, there is lack of comprehensive studies con-
sidering the cost of the materials along with their thermal properties. Hence, this
paper presents a combination of thermal and economic considerations of PCMs that
are of significance during selection of material for practical applications in energy
storage.
2 Thermophysical Properties
Storage of heat in the form of latent heat is possible with the use of phase change
materials. These materials undergo a change of phase by absorbing heat which is later
released changing the material to the original phase. The amount and effectiveness
of heat storage and retrieval depend on thermophysical properties of the PCM. Based
on the melting temperature, PCMs can be classified as high-temperature PCMs and
low-temperature PCMs. Materials with a melting point greater than 100 °C have
been placed under high-temperature PCMs, while those lower than that are placed
under low-temperature PCMs. Table 1 shows some of the important thermophysi-
cal properties of phase change materials with melting temperature >100 °C. These
PCMs are used where higher temperatures are available through the use of concen-
trating type of solar collectors for cooking and heating purposes and other industrial
Thermo-economic Study of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) … 1219
Table 1 Thermophysical properties of some PCMs with melting temperature >100 °C

PCM Melting point Heat of Density Specific heat References
(o C) fusion (kg/m3 ) capacity
(kJ/kg) (kJ/kg-K)
KNO3 336 116 2109 – [31, 32]
NaNO3 308 174 2261 – [31–33]
NaNO3 :KNO3 238 108.67 2000 4.1 [23, 34, 35]
(60:40)
PCM-A164 164 290 1500 2.24 [34]
High Density 120 210 970 – [25]
Polyethylene
(HDPE)
Acetanilide 119 222 1210 2 [3, 34]
Erythritol 118 339 1480 1.38 [3, 34]
MgCl2 ·6H2 O 116.7 168.6 1442 2.82 [3, 26, 30]
applications. They can be used advantageously for waste heat recovery from large
industrial applications involving combustion processes.
PCMs with lower melting temperatures find applications like space heating, cool-
ing, drying, heat pumps, etc. Thermophysical properties of some common low-
temperature application PCMs are presented in Table 2.
3 Methodology
3.1 Energy Density
Table 3 shows the energy densities of some of the selected phase change materials
for which sufficient data were available from the literature. These calculations are
based on Eqs. (1) and (2). The volumetric heat capacity of the selected PCMs was
calculated as the product of heat of fusion (or boiling) and the densities. Price per
MJ (megajoule) was obtained by dividing the product of price per kg and density by
the volumetric heat capacity. The prices of the PCMs ($/tonne) were obtained from
the online store website [38]. For a PCM, the cheapest bulk price was considered
for a reasonable purity of the material. The prices of materials indicated here should
be taken as a rough estimation and not absolute. Energy density is an important
parameter used in making selection of a phase change material. A material with high
energy density occupies less space for the same output as compared to a material with
lower energy density. Another parameter that has to be considered while choosing
a PCM is its price. Price dictates the economics of the energy storage system since
it is a direct factor that influences the payback period for any system. Thus, a good
choice would be to select a material with reasonable price and higher volumetric heat
Table 2 Thermophysical properties of some common PCMs with melting temperature <100 °C
PCM Melting Heat of Density Cp References
Point (o C) fusion (kg/m3 ) (kJ/kg-K)
(kJ/kg)
Mg(NO3 )2 .6H2 O 89.9 162.8 1550 1.85 [3, 26, 34, 36]
Acetamide 82 263 1159 1.94 [3, 34]
Naphthalene 80 147.7 976 – [26]
Propionamide 79 168.2 – – [26]
Ba(OH)2 .8H2 O 78 280 1937 1.26 [3, 26, 30]
LiNO3 /Mg(NO3 )2 .6H2 O 72 180 1610 1.4 [28, 36]
Biphenyl 71 119.2 991 – [26]
Stearic Acid 69 202.5 848 2.83 [3, 26, 34]
Polyglycol E6000 66 190 1085 – [26]
NaOH 64.3 227.6 1690 1.99 [3, 36]
Palmitic Acid 64 185.4 850 – [3, 26, 37]
Paraffin Wax 64 173.6 790 2.13 [1, 3, 26]
NaOAc (Sodium 58 226 1450 2.79 [36]
Acetate)
Myristic Acid 58 186.6 861 2.04 [3, 26]
Lauric Acid 44 177.4 862 – [3, 26]
Dilauryl 39 159 – – [6]
thiodipropionate
Zn(NO3 )2 .6H2 O 36 146.9 1828 – [26]
CaBr2 .6H2 O 34 115.5 1956 – [26]
Capric Acid 32 152.7 878 – [3, 26, 28, 37]
CaCl2 .6H2 O 29.6 188.5 1920 1.45 [3, 28, 36, 37]
Vinyl Stearate 29 122 – – [6, 37]
n-Octadecane 28 243.5 – – [37]
CaCl2 .6H2 O/NaCl/KCl 26.8 188 1640 1.35 [36]
1-Dodecanol 26 200 – – [37]
Octadecyl thioglycolate 26 91 – – [6]
CaCl2 .H2 O/MgCl2 .6H2 O 25 127 1590 2.74 [36]
Polyglycol E600 22 127.2 1125 – [26, 37]
Dimethyl sebacate 21 135 – – [6]
Butyl Stearate 19 200 – – [6, 37]
KF.4H2 O 18.5 230 1480 1.72 [36]
Caprylic Acid 16 148.5 901 – [26]
LiClO3 .3H2 O 8.1 155 1720 2.88 [36]
Table 3 Energy densities of selected phase change materials

PCM Volumetric Thermal Price ($/tonne) Price ($/MJ)
heat capacity capacity (kW
(kJ/m3 ) h/m3 )
Mg(NO3 )2 .6H2 O 252,340 70.094 100 0.61
Acetamide 304,817 84.671 500 1.90
Naphthalene 144,155 40.043 750 5.08
Ba(OH)2 .8H2 O 542,360 150.656 555 1.98
LiNO3 /Mg(NO3 )2 .6H2 O 289,800 80.500 1300 7.22
Biphenyl 118,127 32.813 1000 8.39
Stearic Acid 171,720 47.700 600 2.96
Polyglycol E6000 206,150 57.264 3800 20.00
NaOH 384,644 106.846 400 1.76
Palmitic Acid 157,590 43.775 800 4.31
Paraffin Wax 137,144 38.096 900 5.18
NaOAc 327,700 91.028 362 1.60
Myristic Acid 160,663 44.629 2000 10.72
Lauric Acid 152,919 42.477 1000 5.64
Zn(NO3 )2 .6H2 O 268,533 74.593 700 4.77
CaBr2 .6H2 O 225,918 62.755 1500 12.99
Capric Acid 134,071 37.242 2600 17.03
CaCl2 .6H2 O 361,920 100.533 130 0.69
CaCl2 .6H2 O/NaCl/KCl 308,320 85.644 – –
CaCl2 .H2 O/MgCl2 .6H2 O 201,930 56.092 125 0.98
Polyglycol E600 143,100 39.750 – –
KF.4H2 O 340,400 94.556 700 3.04
Caprylic Acid 133,799 37.166 5000 33.67
capacity. These materials can be used economically with higher storage capacity for
various thermal storage applications based on the source temperature requirements.
V olumetric Heat Capacity = heat of fusion (or boiling) × density (1)
price perkg × density

Price per MJ = (2)
volumetric heat capacity
3.2 Thermal Conductivities of Selected PCMs
Thermal conductivity of a PCM is important because the rate of energy storage and
retrieval depends significantly on this property. A PCM with a higher value of thermal
conductivity is desirable as it can store heat at a faster rate. Also, the distribution of
heat in PCM bulk is uniform which results in uniform melting of the PCM. This is
also important while making choice of the heat exchanger type and the materials used
in construction of the heat exchanger. The thermal conductivities of some common
PCMs are discussed in next section.
The volumetric heat capacity and price per megajoule of selected PCMs are shown in
Fig. 1. Price is taken in $/MJ and volumetric heat capacity is taken in 105 kJ/m3 . Stor-
age costs vary between $0.61 (Magnesium Nitrate) and $20 (Polyglycol E6000) per
megajoule. Volumetric heat capacity ranges between 1,18,127 kJ/m3 for Biphenyl and
35
30 Price Volumetric Heat Capacity
25
20
15
10
0
Naphthalene
Mg(NO3)2.6 H2O
Stearic Acid
Acetamide
Ba(OH)2.8 H2O
NaOAc
LiNO3/Mg(NO3)2.6H2O
Polyglycol E6000
Biphenyl
NaOH
PalmiƟc Acid
Paraĸn Wax
MyrisƟc Acid
Lauric Acid
CaBr2.6H2O
KF.4H2O
Caprylic Acid
Zn(NO3)2.6H2O
CaCl2.6H2O
Capric Acid
CaCl2.H2O/MgCl2.6H2O
Fig. 1 Volumetric heat capacity and price of phase change materials

3,84,644 kJ/m3 for sodium hydroxide (NaOH). It can be seen that caprylic acid, capric
acid, myristic acid, polyglycol E6000 and calcium bromide (CaBr2 .6H2 O) have an
unreasonably high price per unit of heat stored. Hence these PCMs are not desir-
able for use irrespective of their volumetric heat capacity. Materials like Acetamide,
Ba(OH)2 .8H2 O, NaOH, sodium acetate (NaOAc), CaCl2 .6H2 O and potassium fluo-
ride (KF.4H2 O) have the best possible combination of high volumetric heat capacity
and lower price/MJ. Ba(OH)2 .8H2 O has the highest energy storage capacity as com-
pared to other PCMs. Figure 2 shows the thermal conductivities of selected phase
change materials. Further work can be done on improving the energy storage density
and increasing thermal conductivity by use of nanoparticles. Filling PCMs in porous
medium can improve thermal performance of energy storage system with most phase
change materials.
n-Octadecane [37]
1-Dodecanol [37]
Vinyl stearate [6, 37]
Acetanilide [34]
Erythritol [34]
Acetamide [34]
Caprylic acid [26, 37]
PCMs
PalmiƟc acid [26, 37]

Capric acid [26, 28, 37]
Paraĸn wax [1, 26]
Polyglycol E600 [26, 37]
Stearic acid [26, 34]
Mg(NO3)2.6 H20 [26, 34, 36]
CaCl2 . 6 H20 [28, 36, 37]
NaNO3:KNO3 (60:40) [23, 34]
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
Thermal ConducƟvity (W/m-K)
Fig. 2 Thermal conductivities of selected phase change materials

5 Conclusions
Based on the thermophysical properties and thermal conductivities of the studied

phase change materials NaOH, CaCl2 .6H2 O and KF.4H2 O show a good combina-
tion of higher energy storage density and good thermal conductivity. Ba(OH)2 .8H2 O
has good energy storage capacity (5,42,360 kJ/m3 ) and lower cost ($555 per tonne)
and is suitable for use as a PCM. Caprylic acid and polyglycol E6000, on the other
hand have unreasonably high price irrespective of their thermophysical properties;
which makes them unsuitable for common use. Paraffin waxes are popular due to their
stability during repeated cycles of charging and discharging and almost no super-
cooling properties. Among the high-temperature PCMs erythritol and NaNO3 :KNO3
(60:40) are promising materials due to their higher thermal conductivity and good
energy storage density. The knowledge of volumetric and economic constraints and
thermal conductivity of energy storage materials can aid in design of thermal energy
storage system and its utilization.
References
1. Eslami, M., Bahrami, M.A.: Sensible and latent thermal energy storage with constructal fins.
Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 42(28), 17681–17691 (2017)
2. Reddy, K.S., Mudgal, V., Mallick, T.K.: Review of latent heat thermal energy storage for
improved material stability and effective load management. J. Energy Storage 15, 205–227
(2018)
3. Sharma, A., Tyagi, V.V., Chen, C.R., Buddhi, D.: Review on thermal energy storage with phase
change materials and applications. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 13, 318–345 (2009)
4. Bhatt, V.D., Gohil, K., Mishra, A.: Thermal energy storage capacity of some phase changing
materials and ionic liquids. Int. J. Chem. Tech. Res. 2(3), 1771–1779 (2010)
5. Li, G.: Sensible heat thermal storage energy and energy performance evaluations. Renew.
Sustain. Energy Rev. 53, 897–923 (2016)
6. Feldman, D., Shapiro, M.M., Banu, D.: Organic phase change materials for thermal energy
storage. Solar Energy Mater. 13, 1–10 (1986)
7. Chandrashekara, M., Yadav, A.: An experimental study of the effect of exfoliated graphite solar
coating with a sensible heat storage and Scheffler dish for desalination. Appl. Therm. Eng. 123,
111–122 (2017)
8. EL-Kaddadi, L., Asbik, M., Zari, N., Zeghmati, B.: Experimental study of the sensible heat
storage in the water/TiO2 nanofluid enclosed in an annular space. Appl. Therm. Eng. 122,
673-684 (2017)
9. Patel, P., Kumar, R.: Comparative performance evaluation of modified passive solar still using
sensible heat storage material and increased frontal height. Procedia Technol. 23, 431–438
(2016)
10. Khare, S., Dell’Amico, M., Knight, C., McGarry, S.: Selection of materials for high temperature
sensible energy storage. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 115, 114–122 (2013)
11. Velraj, R.: Sensible heat storage for solar heating and cooling systems. In: Wang, R.Z., Ge, T.S.
(eds.) Advances in Solar Heating and Cooling, pp. 399–428. Woodhead Publishing (2016).
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100301-5.00015-1
12. Beltrán, J.I., Wang, J., Montero-Chacón, F., Cui, Y.: Thermodynamic modeling of nitrate mate-
rials for hybrid thermal energy storage: using latent and sensible mechanisms. Sol. Energy 155,
154–166 (2017)
13. Deshmukh, H.S., Thombre, S.D.: Solar distillation with single basin solar still using sensible
heat storage materials. Desalination 410, 91–98 (2017)
14. Fernandez, A.I., Martínez, M., Segarra, M., Martorell, I., Cabeza, L.F.: Selection of materials
with potential in sensible thermal energy storage. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 94, 1723–1729
(2010)
15. Valkenburg, M.E.V., Vaughn, R.L., Williams, M., Wilkes, J.S.: Thermochemistry of ionic liquid
heat-transfer fluids. Thermochim. Acta 425, 181–188 (2005)
16. Zauner, C., Hengstberger, F., Mörzinger, B., Hofmann, R., Walter, H.: Experimental charac-
terization and simulation of a hybrid sensible-latent heat storage. Appl. Energy 189, 506–519
(2017)
17. Hamed, M., Fallah, A., Brahim, A.B.: Numerical analysis of an integrated storage solar heater.
Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 42(13), 8721–8732 (2016)
18. Khedache, S., Makhlouf, S., Djefel, D., Lefebvre, G., Royon, L.: Preparation and thermal
characterization of composite “Paraffin/Red Brick” as a novel form-stable of phase change
material for thermal energy storage. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 40, 13771–13776 (2015)
19. Djefel, D., Makhlouf, S., Khedache, S., Lefebvre, G., Royon, L.: Preparation and characteri-
zation of stearic acid/olive pomace powder composite as form-stable phase change material.
Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 40, 13764–13770 (2017)
20. Bhouri, M., Burger, I., Linder, M.: Feasibility analysis of a novel solid-state H2 storage reactor
concept based on thermochemical heat storage: MgH2 and Mg(OH)2 as reference materials.
Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 41, 20549–20561 (2016)
21. Odenthal, C., Steinmann, W.D., Eck, M.: The cell flux concept as an alternative solution for
sensible heat storage. Energy Procedia 69, 957–967 (2015)
22. Arjun, D., Hayavadana, J.: Thermal energy storage materials (PCMs) for textile applications.
J. Text. E Appar. Technol. Manag. 8(4), 1–11 (2014)
23. Foong, C.W., Hustad, J.E., Lovseth, J., Nydal, O.J.: Numerical study of a high temperature latent
heat storage (200–3000C) using eutectic nitrate salt of sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate. In:
Proceedings of the COMSOL Conference 2010 Paris (2010). https://www.comsol.co.in/paper/
numerical-study-of-a-high-temperature-latent-heat-storage-200-300-sup-o-sup-c-us-8912
24. Li, Y.T., Yan, D.J., GUO, Y.F., Wang, S.Q., Deng, T.L.: Studies on magnesium chloride hex-
ahydrate as phase change materials. Appl. Mech. Mater. 71–78, 2598-2601 (2011). https://doi.
org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.71-78.2598
25. Kamimoto, M., Abe, Y., Sawata, S., Tani, T., Ozawa, T.: Latent thermal storage unit using
form-stable high density polyethylene; Part I: performance of the storage unit. J. Sol. Energy
Eng. 108, 282–289 (1986)
26. Lane, G.A.: Low temperature heat storage with phase change materials. Int. J. Ambient Energy
1(3), 155–168 (1980)
27. Telkes, M.: Thermal energy storage in salt hydrates. Solar Energy Mater. 2, 381–393 (1980)
28. Nagano, K., Mochida, T., Takeda, S., Domanski, R., Rebow, M.: Thermal characteristics of
manganese (II) nitrate hexahydrate as a phase change material for cooling systems. Appl.
Therm. Eng. 23, 229–241 (2003)
29. Schroder, J.: Thermal energy storage and control. J. Eng. Ind 97(3), 893–896 (1975). https://
doi.org/10.1115/1.3438700
30. Abhat, A.: Low temperature latent heat thermal energy storage: heat storage materials. Sol.
Energy 30(4), 313–332 (1983)
31. Dincer, I., Rosen, M.A.: Thermal Energy Storage: Systems and Applications, 2nd edn. Wiley,
UK (2011)
32. Graeter, F., Rheinlander, J.: Thermische Energiespeicherung mit Phasenwechsel im Bereich
von 150 bis 400°C. In: Proceedings of the Warmespeicherung Workshop, Cologne (Germany)
(2001)
33. Bauer, T., Liang, D., Kroner, U., Tamme, R.: Sodium nitrate for high temper-
ature latent heat storage. In: 11th International Conference on Thermal Energy
Storage—Effstock 14–17 June 2009 in Stockholm, Sweden (2009). https://www.
semanticscholar.org/paper/Sodium-Nitrate-for-High-Temperature-Latent-Heat-Bauer-Laing/
d9865870cf3e4c1105b10c11a6b2f504d6f363b5
34. Nkhonjera, L., Bello-Ochende, T., John, G., King’ondu, C.K.: A review of thermal energy
storage designs, heat storage materials and cooking performance of solar cookers with heat
storage. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 75, 157–167 (2017)
35. Gabisa, E.W., Aman, A.: characterization and experimental investigation of NaNO3 :KNO3 as
solar thermal energy storage for potential cooking application. J. Solar Energy 2016, Article
ID 2405094 (2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/2405094
36. Heckenkamp, J., Baumann, H.: Latentwearmespeicher. Sonderdruck aus Nachrichten 11,
1075–1081 (1997)
37. Dinker, A., Agarwal, M., Agarwal, G.D.: Heat storage materials, geometry and applications: a
review. J. Energy Inst. 90(1), 1–11 (2017)
38. Alibaba. www.alibaba.com. Accessed 03 Jan 2018
Comparative Analysis of Absorber Tubes
of Parabolic Trough Solar Collector
Using Therminol VP-1 as Heat Transfer
Fluid
Suresh Vishwakarma, Biplab Kumar Debnath, Kishore Debnath

and Biplab Das
Abstract This paper presents computational analysis of four different types of heli-
cally grooved copper absorber tubes (semicircular, rectangular, trapezoidal and trian-
gular) having length of 2 m, inner and outer diameter of 19 and 25 mm, respectively.
The flow velocities are calculated by fixing the turbulent Reynolds number of 4000.
A constant heat flux of 818.5 W/m2 is supplied at the lower surface of the absorber
tube that is facing the reflector. The simulation is performed using the finite volume-
based tool ANSYS FLUENT 18.0. The standard k-E RNG turbulence model is used
for simulation. Thermo-hydraulic performance for these tubes is calculated as 2.42,
2.08, 2.10 and 2.70 for semicircular, rectangular, trapezoidal and triangular grooved
absorber tubes. The results show that the thermal performance of the absorber tube
with triangular groove is superior to the other types of grooves. The pressure drop
for the same tube is also the lowest.
Keywords Thermo-hydraulic performance · Nusselt number · Friction factor ·

Absorber tube
Nomenclature
CP Specific heat of the HTF (kJ/kg K)

DI Hydraulic diameter of the absorber tube (mm)
f Friction factor
k Thermal conductivity of the HTF (W/m K)
L Length of the absorber tube (m)
S. Vishwakarma · B. Das
Assam, India
B. K. Debnath · K. Debnath (B)
e-mail: debnath.iitr@gmail.com

1228 S. Vishwakarma et al.
ṁ Mass flow rate of the HTF (kg/s)

Nu Nusselt number
Q Total heat given to the surface of the absorber tube (W)
U Inlet velocity of the HTF (m/s)
∇P Pressure drop in the absorber tube (Pa)
∇t Temperature difference (K)
Greek Symbols
ρ Density of the HTF (kg/m3 )

1 Introduction
The emission of harmful gases from industries, vehicles and fossil fuel-based ther-
mal power plants has led to global warming. Therefore, there is an extensive demand
for clean and inexhaustible renewable energy to meet the energy demand. The solar
energy is abundantly available and it provides nearly twice the consumption of fossil
energy. The parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC) is commonly used to harness
solar energy. The absorber tube is one of the important parts of the PTSC. The ther-
mal performance of the PTSC mainly depends on the design and construction of the
absorber tube. Many researchers worked on the enhancement of the thermal perfor-
mance of the PTSC using different augmentations in the absorber tubes. It is the
passive method of increasing performance of the PTSC as it does not require any
external power. Fuqiang et al. [1] used corrugated tube for improving the thermal
performance of the solar collector. It was found that the heat transfer coefficient is
increased by 8.4%. Ghasemi and Ranjbar [2] used porous rings inside the absorber
tube. It was found that the thermal performances are significantly improved due to
the incorporation of porous rings inside the absorber tube. Munoz and Abanades [3]
tested internal helically finned tube. It was concluded that the helical fins inside the
absorber tube can improve thermal efficiency. Huang et al. [4] analysed a stainless
steel absorber tube with dimples, protrusion and fins. The results showed that the
absorber tube with dimples has better thermal performance as compared to the other
type of absorber tubes. Jafar and Shivraman [5] studied the absorber tube by imple-
menting nail twisted tape and plain twisted tube. It was found that tube with nail
twisted tape is more efficient as compared to the plain absorber tube. Reddy et al.
[6] introduced stainless steel porous inserts in the absorber tube. The rate of heat
transfer is increased by 17.5% with some pressure drop. Xiangtao et al. [7] intro-
Comparative Analysis of Absorber Tubes of Parabolic … 1229
duced pin fin arrays inserting which led to 12% increase in the thermal performance
of the absorber tube. Zhu et al. [8] used wavy tape inserting in the absorber tube
which resulted in enhanced heat transfer up to 1.82. Jamal-Abad et al. [9] analysed
copper foam inside the absorber tube which enhances the tube efficiency due to
increase in the thermal conductivity. Kalidasn et al. [10] found that hinged blades
inside the absorber tube increase the thermal efficiency by 8.51% when compared
one on one with the plain absorber tube. Bellos et al. [11] investigated internal fins
having thickness of 2–6 mm and length of 5–20 mm. The thickness of 4 mm and
length of 20 mm showed better results. Ghadirijafarbeigloo et al. [12] used louvred
twisted tube in the absorber tube. The Nusselt number was enhanced by 73% and
150% in louvred twisted tape as compared to twisted tape and plain tube, respec-
tively. Qiu et al. [13] analysed absorber tube using supercritical CO2 as heat transfer
fluid (HTF). Xie et al. [14] studied different type of cavity receivers with line-focus
Fresnel lens solar collector. Mwesigye et al. [15] used copper and Therminol VP-1
nanofluid to test the thermal performance of the absorber tube. It was observed that
the overall efficiency is increased by 12.5%. Kumar and Reddy [16] analysed the
receiver tube and found enhancement in performance due to increase in surface area,
thermal conductivity and turbulence. Zheng et al. [17] calculated the Nusselt num-
ber and thermo-hydraulic performances to investigate the performance of absorber
tube. Hussain [18] calculated the global radiation and direct beam radiation coeffi-
cient as 1549 W/m2 and 0.5284 for Shillong. Thus, the direct beam solar radiation
is 818.5 W/m2 for Shillong region.
2 Geometry
In this study, a copper absorber tube is selected. The length, inner diameter and outer
diameter of the absorber tube are considered as 2, 25 and 19 mm. The upper surface
area of the absorber tube is insulated to reduce the convection losses. Insulation is
done on the upper half circumferential part of the absorber tube over its length with
glass wool. Internal helical grooves are created inside the absorber tube to enhance
the thermal performance of the absorber tube. Four different types of internal grooves
such as semicircular, rectangular, trapezoidal and triangular are created inside the
absorber tube and tested separately to compare the performances. The perimeter and
height of the grooves are constant to 6.33 mm and 2 mm, respectively. Xie et al.
[14] studied the different cavity receivers and compared their thermal performances.
The absorber tubes modelled in ANSYS are shown in Table 1. The internal grooves
created inside the absorber tube will increase the surface area. Thus, the heat transfer
area will increase and subsequently, the thermal performances will enhance.
Table 1 Cross-sectional and half-cut view of the absorber tube
3 Methodology
The internally grooved absorber tubes considered for the purpose of investigation
are modelled and simulated in ANSYS 18.0. The k-E RNG standard turbulent model
is used for simulation. Reddy et al. [6] also used the k-E RNG standard turbulent
model to analyse the absorber tube. The flow of the HTF inside the absorber tube is
considered to be turbulent. The inlet velocity of the HTF in each of the absorber tube
is calculated by fixing the Reynolds number of 4000 as the fluid flow is considered
to be turbulent. The calculated velocity and hydraulic diameter (DI) for different
absorber tubes are given in Table 2.
Table 2 Calculated velocity

Shapes Hydraulic diameter (4A/P) Velocity (m/s)
and hydraulic diameter
Semicircular 17.94 0.115
Rectangular 15.95 0.123
Trapezoidal 16.16 0.128
Triangular 18.51 0.112
At the inlet, calculated flow velocity and temperature of 375 K are taken for validation
as reported by Muñoz and Abanades [3]. The inlet temperature of 300 K is considered
for analysis. The gauge pressure is considered zero at the outlet. A constant heat flux
of 818.5 W/m2 is supplied at the outer surface of the absorber tube that is facing
the reflector. The heat flux of 818.5 W/m2 is calculated for an aperture area of 2 m2
of the PTSC. Thus, the total heat flux falls on the lower surface of the absorber
tube is 1.637 kW [18]. The governing equations (continuity, momentum and energy
equations) used for simulation of the absorber tubes are described below [2].
Continuity Equation:
∇ · (ρV ) = 0 (1)
where V = (V R , V θ , V Z ) is the velocity field.

Momentum Equation:
−∂p
∇ · (ρV Vi ) = + ∇ · (μ∇Vi ) + Si (2)
∂X i
where X i = R, θ , Z refers to a spatial direction.

The terms S i (remaining viscous term) in Eq. (2) are given as follows:
For i = 1, direction is considered radially

Vθ VR 2 ∂ Vθ
S1 = ρ Vθ −μ 2 + (3)
R R R2 ∂θ
For i = 2, direction is considered tangentially

2 ∂ VR Vθ Vθ
S2 = μ − − ρ VR (4)
R2 ∂θ R2 R
For i = 3, direction is considered axially
S3 = 0 (5)
Energy Equation:

∇ · ρV Cp T = ∇ · (k∇T ) (6)
4 Validation and Grid Independence Test
Temperature is validated with the results of the work reported in [3]. The work
reported temperature rise of 5.5 K for 2 m long absorber and inlet temperature of
375 K. The present work is simulated with the same inlet temperature (375 K) and
the outlet temperature is found to be close to the reported work. In the literature,
internal helical fins are used to enhance the thermal performance of the absorber
tube. In this work, helical internal grooves are used inside the absorber tube. The
temperature plot of the present work is compared with the reported work as shown in
Fig. 1. The errors calculated with respect to the reported work are shown in Table 3.
From the table, it is evident that the temperature error is quite low. Hence, it can be
said that the present work is satisfying the reported work. The grid independence
test is carried out for semicircular grooved absorber tube. The simulation is done
for different elements (668424, 1045097, 1758026 and 2646714). It is found that
more than 2 million grids showed less error. Hence, the simulation is carried out
considering more than 2 million elements.
Fig. 1 Temperature
validation plot
Table 3 Temperature
Sl. Groove geometry Error (%)
validation errors
1 Semicircular 0.22
2 Rectangular 0.29
3 Trapezoidal 0.21
4 Triangular 0.23
The simulated results for each absorber tube are discussed with contours and plots
of temperature, pressure and velocity in the following sections.
5.1 Temperature Variation
In this work, solar radiation of 1.637 kW is considered that falls on the reflector.
This energy is provided to the Therminol VP-1 that is flowing through the absorber
tube. The inlet temperature of 300 K and the energy balance equation Q = mCPT
are considered. The theoretical and simulated rise in temperature for semicircular,
rectangular, trapezoidal and triangular grooved tubes is given in Tables 4 and 5.
The highest temperature rise is observed in triangular grooved absorber tube and
the lowest temperature rise is in trapezoidal grooved absorber tube. The temperature
variation of the HTF for different absorber tubes are shown in Fig. 2. The temper-
ature rise is highest for triangular one and lowest for trapezoidal one. The highest
temperature rise is observed in triangular groove, because of the lower inlet velocity
at the same Reynolds number. Another plausible reason could be the lower mass
flow rate (kg/s) in the triangular one as compared to the other grooves. As the flow
rate per second is low for the same heat supplied, the temperature rise will be more
in triangular one. From the temperature contours (Fig. 3), it is observed that the
temperature is increased from inlet to outlet. The reason for the lowest temperature
rise in the trapezoidal grooved absorber tube is the highest calculated velocity in the
tube for the same Reynolds number. Due to highest calculated velocity, the mass
Table 4 Theoretical
Shapes Theoretical temperature (K)
temperature results
Inlet Outlet Rise
Semicircular 300 325.00 25.00
Rectangular 300 323.87 23.87
Trapezoidal 300 322.95 22.95
Triangular 300 326.13 26.13
Table 5 Simulated
Shapes Simulated temperature (K)
temperatures results
Inlet Outlet Rise
Rectangular 300 324.04 24.04
Trapezoidal 300 323.18 23.18
Triangular 300 326.56 26.56
Fig. 2 Temperature plot
Semi-circular Rectangular Trapezoidal Triangular Temperature

(K)
L=0
L=1
L=2
Fig. 3 Temperature contour
flow rate (kg/s) of the HTF in the trapezoidal grooved absorber tube is highest. This
indicates that the amount of HTF passing through a particular section of the absorber
tube per second is highest. Therefore, temperature rise is lowest in the trapezoidal
grooved absorber tube. Bellos et al. [11] tested the flow rate of 50 and 250 L/min.
The temperature contour along the length of the absorber tube is shown in Fig. 4.
The figure presents the variation in the temperature of the HTF along the length of
the absorber tube in section 0–0.2, 0.9–1.1 and 1.8–2 m. The temperature is lowest
at the inlet section of the absorber tube and it gradually increases as it passes through
the absorber tube. It can be observed that in the middle section, the temperature of
Triangular Trapezoidal Rectangular Semi-Circular Temperature(K)
Fig. 4 Temperature contour along the length 0- 0.2 m

0.9 -1.1 m
1.8 -2 m
HTF is rising from tube wall to its centre. The temperature of the HTF is highest at
the outlet section of each absorber tube.
5.2 Pressure Variation
Figure 5 shows the variation in pressure along the length of the absorber tube. It
is evident in the figure that the pressure drop is highest for trapezoidal grooved
absorber tube and lowest for the triangular grooved absorber tube. It is also evident
from Table 6 that the pressure drop is highest in the trapezoidal grooved absorber
tube and lowest for triangular grooved absorber tube. Thus, the triangular grooved
absorber tube will require less pump work as compared to other absorber tubes.
Therefore, triangular grooved tube is most preferable as absorber tube. It can also
be comprehended from the contour that the pressure is highest at the inlet and it
decreases along the length of the absorber tube and become lowest at the outlet, as
shown in Fig. 6. The reason for the highest pressure drop in the trapezoidal grooved
tube is the constriction in the fluid flow. Also, the frictional losses are more due to
Fig. 5 Pressure plot
Table 6 Pressure results

Shapes Simulated pressure (Pa)
Inlet Outlet Drop
Semicircular 44.34 8.49 35.85
Rectangular 53.38 9.69 43.69
Trapezoidal 67.54 9.67 57.87
Triangular 37.84 7.56 30.28
Semi - circular Rectangular Trapezoidal Triangular Pressure (Pa)
L=0
L=1
L=2
Fig. 6 Pressure contour

more surface area. In triangular grooved absorber tube, the fluid flow is smooth as
compared to other absorber tubes. The inner surface area of the triangular grooved
absorber tube is also lowest. Thus, there are less frictional losses.
5.3 Velocity Variation
Figure 7 shows the variation in fluid flow at the different section of the absorber tube
for all types of grooves. The velocity of the HTF increases linearly and then becomes
steady with some turbulence. The velocity contours of absorber tubes are shown in
Fig. 8. The lowest inlet velocity is obtained in triangular grooved absorber tube and
the highest velocity is obtained in trapezoidal one. The velocity contours along the
length of the different absorber tubes are shown in Fig. 9. The velocity at the wall is
zero due to no-slip condition. The velocity increases gradually from the tube wall to
its centre.
5.4 Nusselt Number, Friction Factor and Thermo-hydraulic

Performance
Nusselt number, friction factor and thermo-hydraulic performance are important

parameters. These parameters are calculated and discussed for Therminol VP-1 HTF
in the following sections. Therminol VP-1 is considered as HTF as it has high ther-
mal stability, wide working temperature range (12–400 °C) and advantage of low
viscosity. It also has ability to work in vapour phase. Because of its lower work-
ing temperature range, this can be used to harness solar energy in colder region.
Therminol VP-1 is a widely used HTF in PTSC. Many researchers have investigated
different kinds of absorber tubes with this fluid.
Fig. 7 Velocity plot

Semi-circular Rectangular Trapezoidal Triangular Velocity (m/s)
L=0
L=1
L=2
Fig. 8 Velocity contour
Triangular Trapezoidal Rectangular Semi -Circular Velocity(m/s)
0-0.2m
0.9-1.1m
1.8-2m
Fig. 9 Velocity contour along the length

Table 7 Nusselt number,

Shapes Nusselt number Friction factor THP
friction factor and
thermo-hydraulic Semicircular 85.35 0.0518 2.42
performance Rectangular 71.16 0.0491 2.08
Trapezoidal 77.21 0.0608 2.10
Triangular 91.80 0.0361 2.70
Nusselt number (Nu) may be defined as the ratio of convective to the conductive
heat transfer. The Nusselt number may be calculated from the Eq. (7) and corre-
sponding values are mentioned in Table 7.
h DI
Nu = (7)
k
Friction factor for various tubes are calculated using Eq. (8). It predicts the fric-
tional energy loss in a pipe based on the velocity of the fluid and the resistance due
to friction. The use of similar equation to calculate the friction factor is also found
in different literature [5, 17].
∇PDI
f = (8)
1
2
ρU 2 L
Thermo-hydraulic performance (THP) parameter correlates the thermal and

hydraulic performance simultaneously and is calculated using Eq. (9). The corre-
sponding values for all four groove types are mentioned in Table 7. The triangular
grooved absorber tube has the highest thermo-hydraulic performance. Therefore, it
is more preferred for practical applications as compared to other ones.
13
Nu f
THP = / (9)
Nuo fo
6 Conclusions
The following conclusions can be drawn from the present study:

• The theoretical temperature rise for the semicircular, rectangular, trapezoidal and
triangular grooved absorber tubes are 25, 23.87, 22.95 and 26.13 K. The simulated
temperature rise is 25.5, 24.04, 23.18 and 26.56 K.
• Nusselt number is calculated as 85.35, 71.16, 77.21 and 91.80 for semicircu-
lar, rectangular, trapezoidal and triangular grooved absorber tubes. The triangular
grooved absorber tube has the highest Nusselt number and hence, better heat trans-
fer characteristics.
• Friction factor is calculated as 0.0518, 0.0491, 0.0608 and 0.0361 for semicircular,
rectangular, trapezoidal and triangular grooved absorber tubes.
• Thermo-hydraulic performance is calculated as 2.42, 2.08, 2.10 and 2.70 for semi-
circular, rectangular, trapezoidal and triangular grooved absorber tubes.
• The pressure drop is lowest in triangular grooved tube. Therefore, triangular
grooved absorber tube will be preferred for practical application.
References
1. Fuqiang, W., Qingzhi, L., Huaizhi, H., Jianyu, T.: Appl. Energy 164, 411–424 (2016)
2. Ghasemi, S.E., Ranjbar, A.A.: Appl. Therm. Eng. 118, 807–816 (2017)
3. Muñoz, J., Abánades, A.: Appl. Energy 88, 4139–4149 (2011)
4. Huang, Z., Yu, G.L., Li, Z.Y., Tao, W.Q.: Energy Procedia 69, 1306–1316 (2014)
5. Jafar, K.S., Sivaraman, B.: J. Eng. Sci. Technol. 12, 608–621 (2017)
6. Reddy, K.S., Kumar, K.R., Satyanarayana, G.V.: Heat Transf. Eng. 29, 961–972 (2008)
7. Xiangtao, G., Fuqiang, W., Haiyan, W., Jianyu, T., Qingzhi, L., Huaizhi, H.: Sol. Energy 144,
185–202 (2017)
8. Zhu, X.W., Fu, Y.H., Zhao, J.Q.: Energy Convers. Manag. 127, 140–148 (2016)
9. Jamal-Abad, M.T., Saedodin, S., Aminy, M.: Renew. Energy 107, 156–163 (2017)
10. Kalidasn, B., Shankar, R., Srinivas, T.: Energy Procedia 90, 463–469 (2016)
11. Bellos, E., Tzivanidis, C., Tsimpoukis, D.: Appl. Energy 205, 540–561 (2017)
12. Ghadirijafarbeigloo, S., Zamzamian, A.H., Yaghoubi, M.: Energy Procedia 49, 373–380 (2014)
13. Qiu, Y., Li, M., He, Y.L., Tao, T.W.: Appl. Therm. Eng. 115, 1255–1265 (2017)
14. Xie, W.T., Dai, Y.J., Wang, R.Z.: Sol. Energy 91, 242–255 (2013)
15. Mwesigye, A., Huan, Z., Meyer, J.P.: Energy Convers. Manag. 120, 449–465 (2016)
16. Kumar, K.R., Reddy, K.S.: Appl. Energy 86, 1804–1812 (2009)
17. Zheng, Z.J., Li, M.J., He, Y.L.: Appl. Energy 185, 1152–1161 (2017)
18. Hussain, M.: Sol. Energy 33, 217–220 (1984)
Exergy Analysis of a Variable
Compression Ratio Engine Operated
on Diesel and Pine Seed Oil Biodiesel
Blends
Shivendra P. Singh and Biplab Kumar Debnath
Abstract In this study biodiesel produced from pine seed oil is used, this is non-
edible oil so there is no competition between food and fuel. In order to gain knowledge
about exergy of a engine-run biodiesel, two blends of biodiesel were used as fuel in a
four-stroke, single-cylinder, direct injection, water-cooled diesel engine. The exper-
iment was conducted for steady state so that accurate measurements of different data
are possible. Second law analysis was applied for exergy balance. From investiga-
tion, it was found that exergy supplied by biodiesel blends were similar to diesel, and
losses were more for biodiesel blends. The maximum exergy efficiencies for diesel,
B10 and B15 were 40.27%, 39.25% and 38.25%, respectively. From evaluations, it
can be concluded that pine seed oil biodiesel blends approximated the performance
of diesel.
Keywords Diesel engine · Biodiesel · Exergy
Nomenclature
Notations
a Availability (kW)
ṁ Mass flow rate (kg/s)
LHV Lower heating value (MJ/kg)
N Speed (rpm)
T Torque (Nm)
T1 Water inlet engine jacket temperature, (°C)
T2 Water outlet engine jacket/calorimeter inlet temperature, (°C)
T3 Water outlet (calorimeter) temperature, (°C)
T4 Exhaust inlet calorimeter temperature, (°C)
S. P. Singh · B. K. Debnath (B)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Meghalaya, Laitumkhrah, Shillong 793003, India
e-mail: biplab.debnath@nitm.ac.in

1242 S. P. Singh and B. K. Debnath
T5 Exhaust outlet calorimeter temperature, (°C)

T6 Ambient temperature,
CP Specific heat, (kJ/kgK)
R Gas constant, (kJ/kgK)
P Pressure, (kPa)
S Entropy, (kJ/K)
η Second law efficiency
Subscripts
in Input
cw Cooling water
f Fuel
e Exhaust
d Destroyed
u Uncounted
w Water
Abbreviations
CR Compression ratio
VCR Variable compression ratio
1 Introduction
In the era of developments, energy requirements of world are increasing day by day,
whereas resources of energy are exhausting at a rapid rate. Most of the energy con-
verting devices such as combustion engines use fossil fuels. The depleting resources,
environmental problems and increasing costs causes researcher to search alternatives
for these energy resources. There are various types of alternative fuels such as biofu-
els, hydrogen, natural gas, biodiesels, etc. Biodiesels appear as a better alternative, as
this requires hardly any modification in diesel engines Hudogan [1], Pangrahi et al.
[2], Debnath et al. [3].
Biodiesel is non-toxic, renewable and friendly towards environment, when whole
life cycle of it is considered [4]. Biodiesels are oxygenated fuels, which can be
mixed in diesel and can be used as fuel in diesel engine to enhance combustion.
Heating values of biodiesels are generally less. Hence energy and exergy evaluation
of an engine running on biodiesel is important [5]. Rakopoulos and Giakoumis [6]
Exergy Analysis of a Variable Compression Ratio Engine Operated … 1243
reviewed the studies based on second law results of different engines running on
convention and non-convention fuels. Panigrahi et al. [7] energy and exergy evalua-
tion of mahua biodiesel blend exhibit more energy efficient with slight decrease in
exergetic efficiency, while the losses for biodiesel were less.
Energy and exergy analysis was carried out by them to analyse the energetic
and exergetic performance of different biodiesels and 20% blends of them. They
concluded that the same energetic and exergetic performance is obtained from use
of biodiesels and combustion is the main source of irreversibilities [8]. Performance,
energy and exergy analysis of a diesel engine with rated power of 3.5 kW fuelled with
neem biodiesel was carried by them. They concluded that the neem biodiesel showed
similar thermal performance with some increase in fuel consumption, whereas its
performance in terms of energy and exergy is almost similar to diesel with higher
losses [9]. Performance, energy and exergy flow in different process of a diesel
engine using soybean biodiesel is done by [10]. They concluded that when dead state
temperature reduced the exergetic efficiency of the engine increased. A comparative
study based on energy and exergy, of a spark-ignition engine running on petrol was
done to see the effects of variation of octane numbers. Fuel having higher octane
number gives better energetic and exergetic efficiency [11].
To utilise the renewable quality of biodiesel fuels it is very important to evaluate
the performance of engine with the help of thermodynamics laws. The performance,
energy and exergy analysis of a four-stroke, single-cylinder, variable compression
ratio (CR), direct injection, water-cooled diesel engine operated on diesel and pine
seed biodiesel blends at different compression ratios and loads are done in the present
work.
Pine seed is obtained from pine trees which are a forest-based non-edible product
in India. Hilly area of Uttarakhand, Kashmir, Sikkim and Northern India are the
best residence of pine [12]. The nuts are 9–12 mm long and oil contains are high,
oil is rich in fatty acids and about 60 g of oil per 100 g of seed can be extracted
from seeds. Triacylglycerol is main constituent of pine seed oil [13]. In this study,
pine seed oil is converted into biodiesel by trans-esterification at IBDC Baramati,
Pune, Maharashtra, India and blended with diesel in the ratio of 30:70. The different
properties are tested at IBDC Baramati and presented in Table 1. Whereas the density
and calorific value of B10 and B15 are calculated. The values of densities of B10 and
B15 were 0.833 (gm/cc) and 0.835 (gm/cc), respectively, whereas values of calorific
value were found to be 42.030 (MJ/kg) and 42.052 (MJ/kg), respectively.
Table 1 Properties of fuels

Property Ref. Std. ASTM Diesel B30
used in the analysis
6751
Density (gm/cc) D1448 0.830 0.841
Calorific value D6751 42.5 41.55
(MJ/kg)
Cetane no. D613 49 50.11
Viscosity (mm2 /s) D445 2.700 3.89
Moisture (%) D2709 NA NA
Flash point (°C) D93 64 103
Fire point (°C) D93 71 111
Could point (°C) D2500 −4 −1
Pour point (°C) 2500 −9 −4
Ash (%) D 0.05 0.1
2.1 Experimental Setup and Procedures
The experiments are conducted in a single-cylinder, four-stroke, direct injection,

water-cooled, VCR diesel engine (Kirloskar make) fuelled with diesel and pine oil
biodiesel blends. The engine is connected to an eddy current dynamometer for load-
ing. The CR is changed by a hand wheel assembly provided on the engine head. The
variation of CR can be carried out without stopping the engine so that the combus-
tion chamber geometry can change. The engine specifications are given in Table 2.
Digital indicators are used for indication of airflow rate, fuel flow rate, torque, tem-
perature, water flow rate, speed and signal condition for PV–Pθ. A load controller
is provided for varying the loads. Two PCB-USA make piezotronic pressure sensors
are mounted on engine head and fuel injector to measure combustion and fuel line
pressure.
Parameters Engine specification
engine
Type Four-stroke, single-cylinder,
water-cooled, multi-fuel engine
Basic engine Kirloskar
Rated power (kW) 5.2
Constant rate speed (rpm) 1500
Bore (mm) 87.5
Stroke (mm) 110
Connecting rod length (mm) 243
Swept volume (cc) 661
CR 12:1–20:1
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the experimental setup. 1-Shaft, 2-Fuel inlet, 3-CR scale, 4-CR ratio
controller, 5-Exhaust manifold, 6-Calorimeter, 7-Flue gas analyser, 8-Load sensor, 9-Speed sensor
(rpm), 10-Water flow sensor, 11-Cooling water inlet, 12-Coupling, 13-Flywheel, 14-Battery, 15-
Cooling water outlet, 16-Power switch, 17-Torque regulator, 18-Petrol tank, 19-Digital indicator,
20-Measuring panel, 21-Diesel tank, 22-Processing unit, 23-Monitor, 24-Base plate, 25-Crank angle
encoder, A-Flow signal, B-Pressure signal, C-Temperature signal, D-Load signal, E-Speed signal
Two K-type and four PT 100-type thermocouples are installed for measurement
of temperature of exhaust and water. The proximity sensor and rotary encoders are
provided for measurement of the speed and crank angle. The setup has a control panel
consisting of air box, fuel tanks, manometer for measurement of airflow rate(m3 /h).
The fuel tanks are mounted on cantilever type load cell, which measures the loss
in weight and converts it into fuel flow rate to “Engine analysis software”. The
schematic diagram of test rig along is presented in Fig. 1. Initially, the engine was
operated on diesel and biodiesel with standard settings at different loads, followed by
the CR change of biodiesel. Loads are varied from 0% to 100% in 20% increments
by changing the dynamometer current. At all loads and CR engine is allowed to
run for approximately 15–20 min, cooling water and exhaust outlet temperatures are
observed closely for steady state to record readings. This is done to ensure that the
combustion inside the combustion chamber is stable.
2.2 Exergy Balance
The thermodynamic analysis of various parameters is carried out for different pro-
cesses during engine operation. The different processes taking place during engine
operation are fuel–air mixing, combustion, release of chemical energy, conversion of
chemical energy into mechanical work, heat losses through cooling water, friction,
radiation and exhaust gas [14]. For the analysis of the combustion, air and exhaust
gases are assumed as ideal gas mixture and the changes of kinetic and potential
energy are neglected. The ambient pressure is considered at 1 atm [3].
Table 3 Constants for

Coefficients Values
calculation [14]
Cpw (kJ/kg K) 4.18
Re (kJ/kg K) 0.287
Pamb (bar) 1
The maximum possible work potential of a system interacting with its reference
surroundings is known as availability [11]. In internal combustion engines the chem-
ical availability of fuel is converted into heat and transferred through shaft work,
cooling water, exhaust and uncounted availability. The various forms of availabili-
ties are determined with the use of expressions given in literature [3] and the different
numerical constant coefficients used in this analysis are also available in the literature
[14] and presented in Table 3.
The fuel input availability is

ain = 1.0338 × ṁf × LH Vf , (kW ) (1)
The shaft availability is,
2×π ×N ×T
as (BP) = (kW ) (2)
60 × 1000
The cooling water availability is

T2
acw = Qcw − ṁwe × C pw × T6 × ln , (kW ) (3)
T1
The exhaust gas availability is given by

T6 Pamb
ae = Qe + ṁf + ṁair T6 CPe ln − Re ln , (kW ) (4)
T4 Pe
The availability destroyed is given by
ad = [ain − (as + acw + ae )], (kW ) (5)
The exergy efficiency is calculated as,

ad
η = 1− × 100, (%) (6)
ain
Entropy generation is measured by

ad
S= , (kW /K) (7)
T6
It is a well known fact that certain amount of errors usually takes place in all
the experiments no matter how much care have been taken during the experiment.
Uncertainty analysis is carried out to predict the uncertainties associated with dif-
ferent terms in experiments and instruments. In this study, the uncertainty present in
the results is calculated based on the relationships mentioned in [15].
In this study, using the second law analysis fuel availability, cooling water and exhaust
gas availability, destroyed availability, entropy generation and exergy efficiency are
calculated. Figure 2a, b shows the effects of change of load and CR on fuel input
availability. The fuel input availability for biodiesel blends is found to be more than
that of diesel for all loads and CR. The fuel availability is a function of amount of mass
of fuel consumed per unit time and lower heating value of fuels. With the increase
in load, the input availability increased, as it largely dependent on temperature and
pressure inside the engine cylinder which increases with increase in loads [16]. As
described in different literature, the biodiesel blends contain more hydrogen, carbon
and oxygen atoms along with increased fuel consumption rate, which leads to greater
fuel input availability for biodiesel blends [2, 17].
The percentage increase in fuel input availability for B10 over diesel are 9.73%
11.13%, 16.72%, 10.68%, 9.80%, 0.13% and that of B15 are 20.47%, 265.84%,
14.06%, 5.09%, 0.20%, respectively. A portion of this input fuel availability is con-
verted into brake power (shaft availability) and remaining is lost in different processes
of the engine [3]. Figure 3a, b presents the amount of availability carried away by
cooling water at different loads and CR. The cooling water availability for blends at
different loads is more. Increase in engine loads improves the combustion process,
increases the combustion temperature, pressure and shorten the combustion duration
Fig. 2 Variation of fuel input availability with CR and load of (a) B10 and Diesel and (b) B15 and
diesel
Fig. 3 Change of cooling water availability with CR and load for (a) B10 and Diesel and (b) B15
and Diesel
[18]. Hence, surface temperature of engine cylinder is more, which increases heat
loss in cooling water.
For blends, this can be verified from EGT presented in Fig. 4a, b. The percentage
of fuel availability carried away by cooling water for B10 and B15 at different loads
for CR 17.5 are 0.59%, 0.81%, 1.16%, 1.48%, 1.32%, 1.24% and 73.46%, 72.10%,
19.27%, 38.93%, 24.49%, 1.63%, respectively. Figure 5a, b shows the variation of
exhaust availability with load and CR. With the increase in load the exhaust gas
availability increased for all types of fuels [14]. Change in CR shows no noticeable
increments in exhaust availability. Increasing the engine loads increases combustion
chamber temperature, and a small fraction of fuel input availability wasted through
exhaust [10].The exhaust availability for B10 and B15 at CR17.5 for different loads
are 3.15%, 5.87%, 6.36%, 6.60%, 6.12%, 4.80% and 3.88%, 5.09%, 5.52%, 5.76%,
5.84%, 5.57% respectively of the fuel in input availability.
Fig. 4 Change of EGT at different CR and load of (a) B10 and diesel and (b) B15 and diesel
Fig. 5 Change of exhaust availability with CR and load of (a) B10 and diesel (b) B15 and diesel
Fig. 6 Availability destruction with CR and load of (a) B10 and diesel and (b) B15 and diesel
Figure 6a, b shows the destroyed availability with load and CR. Most of the fuel
input availability is destroyed without contributing to any useful power output. With
the increase in load, the destruction of availability decreased and it is more at low
loads. Because at low loads the output power is less compared to those at higher
loads in terms of fuel input availability. The maximum availability destruction was
found at no load condition due to minimum shaft availability [16]. With the increase
in load the destroyed availability for all type fuel increased, change in CR has very
slight effect on it. The availability destruction values for B10 and B15 at deferent
loads are 96.07%, 75.90%, 66.56%, 67.05%, 62.50%, 64.90% and 95.64%, 79.10%,
69.07%, 62.55%, 61.71%, 62.60% of the fuel input availability at CR 17.5. Figure 7a,
b shows that, with the increase in load the entropy generation increases. The entropy
generation for pine oil biodiesel blends at all CR is greater than that of diesel. The
entropy generation depends on the chemical reaction inside the combustion chamber,
heat transfer from engine through conduction and the irreversibilities present in the
system [16].The values of entropy generation for B10 and B15 at CR17.5 are 0.32%,
Fig. 7 Entropy generation rate with CR and load of (a) B10 and diesel and (b) B15 and diesel
Fig. 8 Exergy efficiency with CR and load of (a) B10 and diesel and (b) B15 and diesel
0.29%, 0.21%, 0.23%, 0.22%, 0.21% and 0.33%, 0.27%, 0.24%, 0.22%, 0.21%,
0.21%, respectively, of fuel input availability at respective loads. Changing the CR
shows very little effects on entropy generation. Figure 8a, b show the exergetic
efficiency variation with load and CR. It can be seen that the exergetic efficiency
increases with the load, up to 60% of load for diesel and 80% for biodiesel blends
after that it decreases. Also it is found that the exergetic efficiency for diesel is more
than the biodiesel blends, this is because it depends on the fuel input availability and
the availability destructions, from the above explanations it is observed that biodiesel
blends show more availability destruction compared to diesel with respective fuel
input availability. Hence, the exergetic efficiency for diesel is greater than that of
pine oil biodiesel blends [8].
It is also found from the graphs that changing the CR have very little effects on
exergetic efficiency. The exergy efficiencies for all type of fuel are low at low loads,
as at low loads most of the fuel input availability was wasted in various processes
[18]. The maximum exergy efficiency for B10 and B15 for CR 17.5 are 39.25% and
38.26% respectively. The decrease in maximum exergy efficiencies for B10 and B15
were 2.53% and 4.97%, respectively, compared to diesel.
4 Conclusions
In order to get a better understanding of exergy flow through the diesel engine, the
second law of thermodynamic was used for diesel and pine biodiesel blends. In this
study, steady-state operation of engine was carried out without any modification in
engine with change in CR and load at constant speed. From investigation it was
observed that at part load diesel is better fuel than biodiesel but at full load condi-
tion blends of biodiesel showed almost same performance as diesel. From results
discussed above following conclusions can be made.
• The input exergy is more for B10 and B15 compared to diesel and losses from
blends were also high.
• At full load condition, the exergetic efficiency of diesel, B10 and B15was almost
same and their values are 36.13%, 35.38%, 35.72%, respectively.
• The maximum exergetic efficiency of diesel, B10 and B15 are 40.27%, 39.25%
and 38.26%, respectively, for CR 17.5.
• Increasing the amount of pine oil biodiesel in diesel reduces the exergetic effi-
ciency.
References
1. Hurdogan, E.: Environ. Progress Sustain. Energy 35, 891–897 (2015)

2. Panigrahi, N., Mohant, K.M.M., Mishra, R.S., Mohanty, C.R.: J. Inst. Eng. (India): Ser. C 23,
351–360 (2014)
3. Debnath, B.K., Sahoo, N., Saha, U.K.: Energy Convers. Manag. 65, 147–154 (2013)
4. Lapuerta, M., Armas, O., Rodrıguez, F.J.: Progress Energy Combust. Sci. 44, 198–223 (2008)
5. Jindal, S., Nandwana, B.P., Vashishtha, V.: Appl. Therm. Eng. 30, 442–448 (2010)
6. Rakopoulos, C.D., Giakoumis, E.G.: Progress Energy Combust. Sci. 32, 2–47 (2006)
7. Panigrahi, N., Mohantk, M.M., Mishra, R.S., Mohanty, C.R.: Int. Sch. Res. Not. 45, 275–288
(2014)
8. Canakci, M., Hosoz, M.: Energy Sour. Part B: Econ. Plan. Policy 1, 379–394 (2006)
9. Panigrahi, N., Mohant, K.M.M., Mishra, R.S., Mohanty, C.R.: Int. J. Renew. Energy Technol.
7, 264–289 (2016)
10. Caliskan, H., Tat, E.M., Hepbasli, A., Gerpen, V.H.J.: Int. J. Energy 7, 545–553 (2010)
11. Sayin, C., Hosoz, M., Canakci, M., Kilicaslan.: Int. J. Energy Res. 31, 259–273 (2007)
12. Tiwari, A.K., Singh, J.S., Pandey, U.: Ambio 13, 80–87 (1984)
13. Acheampong, A., Leveque, N., Tchapla, A., Heron, S.: J. Chromatogr. 1218, 5087–5100 (2011)
14. Singh, N., Kumar, D., Sarma, A.: J. Energy Eng. 143, 345–353 (2016)
15. Moffat, R.J.: ASME 144, 250–259 (1981)
16. Islam, M.N., Sabur, A., Ahmmed, R., Hoque, M.E.: Procedia Eng. 105, 613–618 (2015)
17. Caton, A.J.: Energy 25, 1097–1117 (1999)
18. Krishnamoorthi, M., Malayalamurthi, R.: Renew. Energy 119, 235–252 (2018)
Solar Resource Assessment Using GHI
Measurements at a Site in Northeast
India
A. Maisanam, B. Podder, K. K. Sharma and Agnimitra Biswas
Abstract The paper presents a detailed analysis of global solar radiation received
during the year 2016 at a site in Northeast India. The variation of the solar resource
is estimated by performing a statistical analysis on the monthly, daily and hourly
basis. The frequency distribution of the hourly global solar radiation for each month
is also presented. Using similar statistical analysis, the clearness index of the site
is also estimated. The results show a high intensity of global horizontal radiation.
During the study period, the average daily global solar radiation at Silchar is found
to be 4231.5 W/m2 . The frequency distribution study shows that about 50% of times
the hourly received global solar energy is more than 400 W/m2 . With an average
clearness index of 0.54 and with 84% of partly clear and clear days during the
year, the region gives an opportunity to trap the solar energy by application of solar
conversion devices.
Keywords Global horizontal irradiation · Clearness index · Frequency distribution
1 Introduction
In the Paris climate conference (COP21), India has pledged to generate 40% of its
ever-growing energy demands through renewable energy sources by 2030 [1]. The
national program such as Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) with
the commitment of generating 175 GW solar power by 2022 shows the attempt to
combat global warming and climate change as well as improve the energy scenario
of the rural region. The Northeast region of India is lagging behind the other regions
in terms of per capita consumption. According to the Central Energy Authority
report (CAE) 2016*, the average per capita consumption in northeast region is 300
units per person per year which is well below the national average of 900 units per
person per year. The disparity in terms of development and low access to electricity
is evident from the above data. Slow development in this region is also due to its
difficult terrain. In such a scenario, decentralized solar energy systems can play a
A. Maisanam (B) · B. Podder · K. K. Sharma · A. Biswas

e-mail: hianil09@gmail.com
1254 A. Maisanam et al.
vital role in improving energy access to this region. In order to design an optimum
solar energy system, a thorough study of its solar resource is prerequisite. The solar
potential assessment studies can be found in many literature where the study mainly
focused on the data prediction of solar radiation data using empirical relations [2, 3].
The prospect of setting up solar conversion technologies was analysed in the various
districts of Karnataka using remote sensing techniques, GIS and meteorological data
from IMD Pune. From the study it was concluded that the coastal regions receive
sufficient solar irradiation to set up solar conversion systems [4, 5]. With the help
of Artificial Neural Network (ANN), the solar potential of Himachal Pradesh was
analysed and it was reported that the state receives an annual global solar radiation
between 3.59 and 5.38kWh/m2 /day, which indicates a potential scope for solar power
generation [6]. In Ref. [7] the solar potential of coastal area of India is estimated. A
statistical comparison of solar potential at two sites in Cyprus with different climatic
condition has been studied [8, 9].
The present study estimates the monthly averaged daily and hourly variation of
radiation intensities along with frequency distribution, which is important for design
of a system. Variation is shown by computing the mean daily and hourly radiation
for each month. It is also important to understand the sky condition of the region to
understand the seasonal variation in the solar energy output. In order to categorise
the sky condition, clearness index is also computed. The study is based on the GHI
measured at the Regional Test Centre-cum-Technological Back-up Unit for Solar
Thermal Devices (Solar RTC), NIT Silchar.
2 Details of Study Location and GHI Measurements
The study is performed at the Cachar district of Assam in Northeast India. It is located
at Latitude: 24.8333° N, Longitude: 92.7789° E and its elevation is 25 m above sea
level. According to the census 2011, the population of 17.37 lakh settled in 3786
sq. km area. It has a tropical climate and monsoon begins from June and lasts till
September. The average annual temperature is 24.9 °C.
Study shows that India receives high solar insolation and the average solar radia-
tion received ranges from 4–7 kWh/day [2, 10]. But due infrastructural gap in north-
east region, studies using the real time data are not much reported. Therefore, in this
study, the GHI data for the site is measured at the Solar RTC using pyranometer. At
first, the Pyranometer is placed at a horizontal surface on the roof of the production
engineering departmental building of NIT Silchar as shown in Fig. 1. The placement
of the instrument is done in open space to avoid any shading. It collects the global
horizontal radiation which is the combination of beam and diffuse radiation. In order
to collect the diffuse radiation, a shading ring is fixed to the instrument which blocks
the path of beam radiation. The measuring instrument is connected to a data logger
from where data is downloaded and stored to a personal computer from time to time.
The Datalogger takes the data at an interval of 1 min.
Solar Resource Assessment Using GHI Measurements … 1255
Fig. 1 Data measurement set up in the roof of production engineering departmental building of
NIT Silchar
3 Uncertainty Analysis
While determining any measured data from various instruments, the knowledge of
uncertainty associated with it is very much essential. The uncertainty in measurement
usually depicts the ranges of values, in which the measured or true value lies within
a certain stated probability. Uncertainties can be classified as Type A and Type B
categories. The uncertainty evaluated in terms of the standard deviation of repeated
measurements under similar conditions is known as Type A uncertainty and Type B
uncertainty is evaluated on the basis of the uncertainty of the values obtained from
the calibration certificates of the equipment. In the present work, a Pyranometer is
used for the measurement of solar irradiation and the methodology to obtain the
uncertainties associated with it is described below:
Type A uncertainty:
Let G1, G2, G3… Gn be the ‘n’ number of solar irradiation considered for mea-
suring the uncertainty of solar irradiation.
The average value of all the solar irradiation is evaluated as:
1
n
X= Gi (1)
n i=1
Deviation of the measured values from the mean values can be obtained as:
Standard deviation is calculated as
d1 = (G 1 − X )2 , d2 = (G 2 − X )2 , d3 = (G 3 − X )2 . . .
dn = (G n − X )2

1 2
n
σ = Gi − X (2)
n − 1 i=1
Therefore, Type A uncertainty is given as

σ
uA = √ (3)
n
Type B uncertainty:
The standard deviation is given by, where is the expanded uncertainty of the
Pyranometer at 95% confidence level with a coverage factor = 1.96.
Hence, Type B uncertainty is calculated as

uB = (σ )2 (4)
Therefore, the combined uncertainty can be calculated as:
uc = (u A )2 + (u B )2 (5)
Expanded uncertainty is given by:
u E = k × uc (6)
The pyranometer used in the present work is calibrated at 95% confidence level
with an expanded uncertainty of ± 0.0354 W/m2 . Therefore, using Eqs. (1)–(6), the
uncertainty measurement of solar irradiation is found to be ± 0.90 W/m2 .
4.1 Variation of Solar Radiation
Solar radiation mainly comprises of the beam (received at the earth’s surface without
change of direction) and diffuse radiation (after being subjected to scattering in the
atmosphere) and the summation is known as the global solar radiation. Figure 2
shows the monthly variation of various components of the global radiation and a
comparison is done by including the extra-terrestrial radiation as well.
The highest monthly average daily global radiation is found to be 5.45 kWh/m2
in the month of March. It can be observed from Fig. 2 that the solar output potential
shows a decreasing trend from April. This decrease is due to the onset of monsoon
season. The solar output potential again increases from the month of September and
again there is decrease during the month of November and December as the sunshine
hour decreases due to onset of winter season. During the year 2016, the monthly
average daily accumulated global solar radiation is found to be 4231.5 W/m2 . The
minimum monthly averaged daily accumulate solar energy occurs in the month of
December with 3159.3 W/m2 . Table 1 provides the result of statistical analysis of
hourly global radiation of an average day of each month which was performed in
Microsoft excel. The results show that the maximum radiation intensity occurs in
the month of March and October. The maximum mean is observed in the month of
March with 427 W/m2 and minimum mean value is 316 W/m2 , which is observed
in the month of December. The median for most of the month is above 350 W/m2
with only exception of two months. A lower coefficient of variance (CV) is desirable
for giving more optimized design of solar devices. Although in case of this region
the value of CV is observed on a higher side, with some over sizing the problem of
Mean Daily Solar radiation
components of solar 12
radiation with 10
8
kWh/m 2
extra-terrestrial radiation
6
4
2
0
Jan
Feb
March
April
May
June
July
Aug
Nov
Dec
Sept
Oct
Extraterrestrial Global
Diffuse Beam
1258
Table 1 Monthly statistical analysis of hourly global radiation at Silchar

Month Min Max Q1 Median Q3 Mean SD C.V. Skewness Kurtosis SEM
Jan 106 545 209 354 476 337 159 0.47 – 0.175 – 1.568 52.84
Feb 146 589 249 413 542 386 162 0.42 – 0.256 – 1.659 53.90
March 73 684 263 462 618 427 203 0.48 – 0.256 – 1.279 64.24
April 87 659 252 390 568 386 186 0.48 – 0.192 – 1.243 56.15
May 91 601 263 429 545 393 168 0.43 – 0.593 – 0.912 50.74
June 121 561 251 386 521 373 154 0.41 – 0.371 – 1.217 46.48
July 96 542 238 341 484 342 151 0.44 – 0.249 – 1.313 45.62
Aug 86 577 218 361 532 360 182 0.50 – 0.211 – 1.606 54.76
Sept 85 650 264 450 559 408 182 0.45 – 0.298 – 1.194 57.71
Oct 71 684 237 448 630 423 216 0.51 – 0.275 – 1.582 68.21
Nov 88 662 209 396 580 392 203 0.52 – 0.166 – 1.653 64.07
Dec 86 522 182 329 455 316 154 0.49 – 0.155 – 1.658 51.45
A. Maisanam et al.
higher CV can be mitigated. Skewness and Kurtosis value is generally used to define
the type of frequency distribution.
4.2 Hourly Variation of Solar Radiation
The monthly averaged hourly variation of global solar radiation for each month is
shown in the Fig. 3. For most of the month, extraction of solar energy will be better
during 09:00–16:00 h as the radiation intensities are higher than 200 W/m2 . The max-
imum radiation intensity is available during 11:00–14:00 h for each month averaging
approximately 600 W/m2 . To know the total amount of solar energy received during
an average day of each month, a cumulative mean hourly global solar radiation is
computed and is represented in Fig. 4. The Fig. 4 shows that the energy accumulated
in an average day for the month of March to November is above 4000 W/m2 and in
the remaining months the accumulated energy is between 3000 and 4000 W/m2 . The
reason for less accumulation of energy is due to the less sunshine hour available as
the region experience its peak winter.
In Table 2, the maximum hourly global solar radiation received during the whole
study period is represented. The peak radiation intensity is observed during the month
of July with a value of 1028 W/m2 between 11:00 and 12:00 h. As pointed out in Fig. 4,
the peak hour of maximum radiation intensity extraction is from 11:00 to 14:00 h.
In order to have more knowledge about the amount of energy accumulated during
each time interval, the data measured were accumulated for each hour for all the
months. Figure 5 represents the monthly accumulated hourly solar radiation, for the
entire study period. It can be observed that the maximum energy of 21212.84 W/m2
Fig. 3 Variation of monthly averaged hourly global radiation at Silchar

Fig. 4 Cumulative monthly averaged hourly global solar radiation at Silchar
is accumulated in the month of October between 10:00 to 11:00 h. But the average
accumulation of energy is better from 11:00 to 13:00 h with a value of more than
17700 W/m2 (Fig. 5).
4.3 Frequency Distribution of Hourly Global Solar Radiation
Table 3 shows the percentage frequency distribution of the hourly global radiation for
each month. The knowledge of frequency distribution is highly required for setting
up of solar energy systems. It can be observed that approximately 70% of the study
period observed more than 200 W/m2 global solar radiation intensities. October is
most resourceful month as the radiation levels are above 500 W/m2 for more than
40% of the time.
4.4 Clearness Index and Its Frequency Distribution
Clearness index (Kt ) is the ratio of daily global radiation to the daily extraterrestrial
radiation. It is used to categorize the sky condition. Sky condition is mainly catego-
rized into cloudy days (Kt < 0.35), partly cloudy days (0.35 ≤ Kt < 0.65), and clear
days (0.65 ≤ Kt ), according to the value of clearness index [8, 9]. Table 4 represents
the frequency distribution in % for each month for the entire study period. During the
period of study, most of the days are having a good clearness index with a value of
more than 0.50. But during the monsoon season (May–September), there is a drop in
the clearness index due to cloudy condition of the sky. The average clearness index
Table 2 Hourly maximum global solar radiation (W/m2 ) for each month at Silchar
Hour Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
06:00-07:00 73 168 192 197 134 127 129 81 74
07:00–08:00 165 219 299 445 467 488 373 437 392 334 314 164
08:00–09:00 298 376 482 591 622 608 544 620 570 513 460 299
09:00–10:00 448 576 693 788 789 792 692 822 715 690 619 474
10:00–11:00 575 725 819 925 903 877 830 947 841 818 731 590
11:00–12:00 638 811 887 930 963 980 1028 989 974 838 786 647
12:00–13:00 668 819 866 926 942 933 933 965 1060 924 738 630
Solar Resource Assessment Using GHI Measurements …
13:00–14:00 634 733 760 850 863 907 909 888 871 812 641 553
14:00–15:00 485 611 636 679 769 815 751 810 723 580 480 431
15:00–16:00 308 406 420 532 540 589 675 627 465 365 278 235
16:00–17:00 162 247 274 350 380 433 511 466 337 211 115 104
17:00–18:00 113 131 184 238 150
1261
Fig. 5 Accumulated hourly global solar radiation
for each month is graphically represented in Fig. 6. It is observed that the average
clearness index of the region is 0.54 for the year. The clearness index is acceptable
as it is close to 0.65 but the average is lower due to very bad sky condition during
the monsoon months which is evident from the Fig. 6.
5 Conclusion
This paper presents a detailed analysis of solar potential of Cachar District by mea-
suring the solar data at the Solar RTC Silchar, NIT Silchar. The region of study
has a good solar potential with a monthly average accumulated global radiation of
4231.5 W/m2 . The maximum global solar radiation is available during the months
of March and October. The system installed in this type of region may require little
oversizing as the statistical analysis shows that value of CV is little higher. The study
of hourly variation of global solar energy shows that during 9:00–16:00 h most of
the month receives more than 200 W/m2 and the maximum solar energy is received
during 11:00–13:00. In the entire study period, the accumulated daily solar radia-
tion is more than 4000 W/m2 except in the winter months (December, January and
February) which also between 3000 and 4000 W/m2 . This indicates that the solar
energy available for all the months are uniform which is desirable for system design.
The maximum energy is accumulated during 10:00–11:00 h in the month of October
and the accumulation of energy is maximum during 11:00–13:00 h for entire year.
Frequency distribution study reveals that the almost 60% of the total study period
received more than 300 W/m2 . This indicates a good opportunity for extraction of
solar energy. 40–50% of the time the hourly global solar radiation is above 500 W/m2 .
Table 3 Frequency distribution in % of hourly global solar radiation (W/m2 ) for each month at Silchar
Range Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
0–100 8.0 5.0 3.3 11.0 13.1 9.6 11.5 12.2 8.7 5.7 9.0 11.4
100–200 20.6 19.2 9.2 12.0 15.2 16.7 19.1 17.5 15.5 13.7 9.4 19.7
200–300 16.9 16.0 16.8 16.5 11.0 14.1 20.1 15.0 13.9 14.0 17.7 17.0
300–400 10.6 12.5 13.5 11.0 14.0 13.8 11.2 13.4 15.2 9.9 9.7 14.2
400–500 16.6 14.6 9.9 13.3 12.2 10.3 12.2 12.2 8.7 12.4 11.0 17.3
500–600 21.9 12.5 15.2 6.5 7.7 13.8 9.2 6.6 10.4 10.5 15.4 16.6
Solar Resource Assessment Using GHI Measurements …
600–700 5.3 13.5 16.5 9.4 9.2 9.0 5.3 8.4 6.8 14.0 20.4 3.8
700–800 0.0 6.0 9.9 10.0 6.3 6.1 5.6 6.3 9.1 16.9 7.4 0.0
800–900 0.0 0.7 5.6 8.4 8.0 3.9 3.6 6.3 9.7 2.5 0.0 0.0
900–1000 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.9 3.3 2.6 2.0 2.2 1.6 0.3 0.0 0.0
1000–1100 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0
1263
1264
Table 4 Frequency distribution in % of clearness index for each month at Silchar

Kt Range Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
0.00–0.20 0.0 0.0 3.2 13.3 3.2 6.7 0.0 6.5 3.3 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.20–0.25 3.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.5 3.3 17.2 6.5 10.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.25–0.30 0.0 3.4 0.0 3.3 3.2 3.3 13.8 9.7 6.7 3.2 3.3 0.0
0.30–0.35 0.0 3.4 0.0 6.7 12.9 10.0 13.8 9.7 3.3 0.0 0.0 3.3
0.35–0.40 6.5 3.4 0.0 6.7 19.4 16.7 6.9 9.7 3.3 0.0 0.0 3.3
0.40–0.45 3.2 6.9 3.2 10.0 12.9 20.0 10.3 3.2 3.3 3.2 3.3 6.7
0.45–0.50 0.0 6.9 9.7 3.3 9.7 13.3 17.2 16.1 6.7 6.5 0.0 6.7
0.50–0.55 12.9 10.3 22.6 10.0 3.2 10.0 17.2 19.4 10.0 9.7 0.0 13.3
0.55–0.60 12.9 10.3 12.9 13.3 6.5 3.3 0.0 16.1 10.0 0.0 3.3 10.0
0.60–0.65 25.8 6.9 12.9 20.0 12.9 10.0 3.4 3.2 10.0 19.4 6.7 13.3
0.65–0.70 16.1 20.7 12.9 10.0 5 3.3 0.0 0.0 20.0 16.1 6.7 20.0
0.70–0.75 19.4 24.1 19.4 3.3 3.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 13.3 29.0 33.3 20.0
0.75–0.80 0.0 3.4 3.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 12.9 23.3 3.3
0.80–0.85 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 16.7 0.0
0.85–0.90 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.3 0.0
A. Maisanam et al.
Fig. 6 Monthly variation of 0.75
Clearness Index(Kt)
Monthly Average
clearness index for an
average day at Silchar 0.65
0.55
0.45
0.35
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Month
The sky condition of the region is categorized by computing clearness index. It has
been observed that there is extremely low amount of cloudy days. The region is dom-
inated with partly cloudy days but the clearness index during these days are close
to 0.65 for most of the days. Almost 30% of the days during the studied period has
been found to be clear day. Therefore, the region may require oversizing of system
but with a good storage system, the oversizing can be reduced, thereby increasing
the reliability of the plant.
Reference
1. Hairat, M.K., Ghosh,S.: 100 GW solar power in India by 2022-A critical review. Renew. Sustain.
Energy Rev. 73, 1041–1050 (2017).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.02.012
2. Mohanty, S., Patra, P.K., Sahoo, S.S., Mohanty, A.: Forecasting of solar energy with application
for a growing economy like India: survey and implication. Renew. sustain. Energy Rev. 78,
539–553 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.04.107
3. Ulfat, I., Javed, F., Abbasi, F.A., Kanwal, F., Usman, A., Jahangir, M., Ahmed, F.: Estimation
of solar energy potential for Islamabad, Pakistan. In: Terragreen 2012: Clean Energy Solutions
for Sustainable Environment (CESSE), vol. 18, pp. 1496–1500 (2012)
4. Ramachandra, T.V., Subramanian, D.K.: Potential and prospects of solar energy in Uttara
Kannada, District of Karnataka State, India. Energy Sour. 19, 945–988 (1997). https://doi.org/
10.1080/00908319708908903
5. Ramachandra, T.V.: Solar energy potential assessment using GIS. Energy Edu. Sci. Technol.
18, 101–114 (2006)
6. Yadav, A.K., Chandel, S.S.: Solar energy potential assessment of western Himalayan Indian
state of Himachal Pradesh using J48 algorithm of WEKA in ANN based prediction model.
Renew. Energy 75, 675–693 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2014.10.046
7. Solanki, C., Nagababu, G., Kachhwaha, S.S.: Assessment of offshore solar energy along the
coast of India. Energy Procedia. 138, 530–535 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2017.
10.240
8. Kalogirou, S.A., Pashiardis, S., Pashiardi, A.: Statistical analysis and inter-comparison of the
global solar radiation at two sites in cyprus. Renew. Energy 101, 1102–1123 (2017). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2016.09.027
9. Pashiardis, S., Kalogirou, S.A., Pelengaris, A.: Statistical analysis for the characterization of
solar energy utilization and inter-comparison of solar radiation at two sites in Cyprus. Appl.
Energy 190, 1138–1158 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.01.018
10. Sahoo, S.K.: Renewable and sustainable energy reviews solar photovoltaic energy progress in
India: a review 59, 927–939 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.01.049
Computational Analysis of Internally
Grooved Absorber Tubes of Parabolic
Trough Solar Collector for Constant
Mass Flow Rate of the Heat Transfer
Fluid
Suresh Vishwakarma, Prabina Kumar Meher, Biplab Kumar Debnath
and Kishore Debnath
Abstract This work represents the study of four different types of absorber tubes
having helical grooves. The length of the tube is 2 m, with an external and internal
diameter of 25 and 19 mm, respectively. The absorber tube is analysed considering
constant mass flow rate of 0.0318 kg/s. 818.5 W/m2 of constant heat flux is supplied
at the lower outer surface of the tube that is facing towards the parabolic trough
reflector. ANSYS FLUENT 18.0 is used for simulation which is based on finite vol-
ume method. Simulation is performed using a turbulence model of standard k-E RNG
type. Thermo hydraulic performances for trapezoidal, rectangular, semicircular, and
triangular grooves are calculated as 0.64, 1.47, 1.56, and 2.10, respectively. There-
fore, the absorber tube with triangular groove showed better thermal performance
compared to others. As well as the drop of pressure for the same tube is also lowest
among the other ones.
Keywords Thermo-hydraulic performance · Nusselt number · Friction factor ·

Absorber tube · Mass flow rate
Nomenclature
CP Specific heat of the HTF (kJ/kg K)

DI Hydraulic diameter of the tube (m)
f Friction factor
k Thermal conductivity of the HTF (W/mK)
L Length of the tube (m)
ṁ Mass flow rate of the HTF (kg/s)
Nu Nusselt number
S. Vishwakarma (B) · P. K. Meher · B. K. Debnath · K. Debnath

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya,
Shillong 793003, Meghalaya, India
e-mail: sureshv442@gmail.com

Q Total heat given to the surface of tube (W)

U Inlet velocity of the HTF (m/s)
∇P Pressure drop in the tube (Pa)
∇t Temperature difference (K)
Greek Symbols
ρ Density of the HTF (kg/m3 )

1 Introduction
The demand for energy around the world is rising at an unprecedented rate as the need
of the people in terms of energy consumption is rising. Hence, it is imperative to find
the source of alternative energies to meet energy demand. The conventional energy
sources are depleting at faster rate. Moreover, its use is harmful to both environment
and human being. Hence, harnessing renewable energies is a viable alternative to
counter these problems. Solar energy is a favorable source of renewable energy
spread all over the world. Among different methods available, parabolic trough solar
collector (PTSC) is commonly used to harness the solar energy.
The absorber tube is an integral part of the PTSC. The thermal characteristic of the
PTSC mainly depends on the shape of the absorber tube. Researchers have worked to
improve the performance of the absorber tube using different designs and heat transfer
fluid (HTF). These are the passive methods of increasing the thermal performance
of the absorber tube. To increase Nusselt number and thermal performances of the
absorber tube Ghasemi and Ranjbar [1] used porous rings at inner surface of the tube.
And it shows better temperament compared to smooth tube.
Munoz and Abanades [2] stated that the use of internally helical finned tubes
resulted in improved thermal efficiency of PTSC. Huang et al. [3] examined stainless
steel absorber tube with fins, dimples, and protrusions. The results showed better
thermal performance with dimples. Use of pin fin inside receiver tube was found to
augment the thermal performance by 12% [4]. To increase thermal efficiency copper
foam is used inside the absorber tube due to its high thermal conductivity [5]. Use
of hinged blades in the absorber tube increases the thermal performance by 8.51%
as related to the plane tube [6]. Qiu et al. [7] analyzed tube using supercritical CO2
as HTF. Xie et al. [8] studied different types of cavity receivers for solar collector.
Mwesigye et al. [9] used Therminol VP-1 nanofluid as HTF to test the thermal
performance of the absorber tube. Zheng et al. [10] calculated thermo hydraulic
parameter and Nusselt number to investigate the performance of absorber tube. Bellos
et al. [11] analyzed the performance of different HTF like water, helium, carbon
Computational Analysis of Internally Grooved Absorber Tubes … 1269
dioxide, molten sodium nitrate, air, sodium liquid, and Therminol VP-1. Hussain
[12] calculated global solar radiation as 1549 W/m2 for Shillong. The direct beam
radiation and its coefficient are found to be 818.5 W/m2 and 0.5284, respectively.
2 Geometry
For the current study, an absorber tube is selected which is made of copper. The
dimension of tube is 25 and 19 mm outer and inner diameter, respectively, with 2 m
length. The convection loss from its upper half-circumferential surface is reduced by
insulating it with glass wool throughout the length. Helical grooves are made at inner
surface of the tube to enhance its thermo-hydraulic performance. Four different types
of grooves, namely, triangular, trapezoidal, rectangular, and semicircular are created
inside the tube and tested separately to compare the performance. Each groove is
created by fixing the perimeter as 6.33 mm and groove height as 2 mm. The cross-
sectional and half-cut view of the tubes modeled in ANSYS is shown in Table 1.
By making the grooves inside the absorber tubes surface area of heat transfer will
increase and thus it will enhance the thermal performance rate.
Table 1 Cross-sectional and half-cut view of the absorber tube

S Shape Absorber tube Cross-sectional view Half-cut view
N
1 Semicircular
2 Rectangular
3 Trapezoidal
4 Triangular
3 Methodology
ANSYS 18.0 is chosen to do the computational calculation for all grooves geometry.
As turbulent flow is considered inside the tube, a turbulent model of Standard k-
E RNG type is chosen for numerical simulation. For analyzing the absorber tube
standard, k-E RNG turbulent model is used by Reddy et al. [13]. Therminol VP-
1 was chosen as HTF. Each absorber tube is analyzed for a constant mass flow
rate of 0.0318 kg/s. Bellos et al. [14] tested the absorber tube for the flow rate of 0.84
and 4.16 L/sec. The properties of HTF (Therminol VP-1) are shown in Table 2.
For validation, calculated flow velocity and temperature (375 K) are considered
[2]. For current study 300 K inlet temperature boundary condition is considered.
0.0318 kg/s of constant rate of mass flow is provided at the tube inlet which is calcu-
lated by taking Reynolds number (Re) of 4000. Same mass flow rate is given at the
inlet for each absorber tubes. The mass flow rate is calculated for analyzing triangular
grooved tube as it has shown higher performance as compared to others. Zero gauge
pressure is considered at outlet. 818.5 W/m2 of constant heat flux is provided at the
outer surface of the tube that is facing towards the parabolic reflector. The heat flux
intensity is evaluated on the basis of the surface area of parabolic aperture which is
2 m2 . Thus, the total heat power accumulates over the lower surface of the absorber
tube is 1.637 kW [12]. The continuity, momentum, and energy equations are the
governing equations used for numerical simulation [1].
Continuity Equation:
∇ · (ρV ) = 0 (1)
where V = (VR , Vθ , VZ ) is the velocity field

Momentum Equation:
−∂p
∇ · (ρV Vi ) = + ∇ · (μ∇Vi ) + Si (2)
∂X i
Table 2 Properties of
Sl. Properties Values
Therminol VP-1
1 Density (kg/m3 ) 938
2 Specific heat (J/kgK) 1970
3 Thermal conductivity (kJ/mK) 0.118
4 Viscosity (Ns/m2 ) 0.000486
where X i = R, θ, and Z denotes spatial coordinate. The terms S i (remaining viscous

term) in Eq. (2) are given as follows:
For, i = 1, for radial direction:

Vθ VR 2 ∂ Vθ
s1 = ρVθ −μ 2 + (3)
R R R2 ∂θ
For, i = 2, for tangential direction:

2 ∂ VR Vθ Vθ
s2 = μ − − ρVR (4)
R2 ∂θ R2 R
For, i = 3, for axial direction:
S3 = 0 (5)
Energy Equation:

∇ · ρV Cp T = ∇ · (k∇T ) (6)
4 Validation and Grid Independence Test
Temperature is validated with the results reported by Munoz and Abanades [2]. For
a tube of length 2 m with a temperature inlet of 375 K, it was found that 5.5 K rise in
temperature [2]. Same inlet temperature (375 K) is taken for current calculation for
validation purpose and it was obtained that the error in temperature between the cur-
rent study and reported work [2] were quite less. In the literature, for the augmentation
of the thermal performance internal helical fins have been used inside the receiver
tube. In the present work, helical internal grooves are used inside the absorber tube.
The temperature variation between the literature and the present work is shown in
Fig. 1. Grid independency is carried out for semicircular grooved tube. The simu-
lation is done for different elements (668424, 1045097, 1758026, and 2646714). It
was found that more than 2 million grids shown less error. Therefore, more than 2
million elements are considered for simulation.
All four absorber tubes are simulated considering the constant rate of mass flow.
The contours and the temperature, pressure, and velocity plots are discussed in the
following sections.
Fig. 1 Temperature
validation plot
5.1 Temperature Variation
A 1.637 kW of solar radiation is considered to fall on the lower outer surface of

tube. The energy received by the copper wall of the absorber tube is provided to the
Therminol VP-1 that is flowing inside the copper tube. The simulated temperature
results are shown in Table 3. Temperature variation of Therminol VP-1 HTF in various
absorber tubes is shown in Fig. 2. As per the obtained result, rise in temperature for
triangular helical grooved tube for same mass flow rate is highest among all other
helically grooved tubes. This is because the flow is smooth and the frictional losses are
less in triangular grooved tube as compared to others. From the temperature contours,
it is evident that for each absorber tube the temperature is gradually improved from
inlet to outlet (Fig. 3). Changes in temperature for all cases are approximately same.
Figure 4 shows the temperature variation along the absorber tube length at various
section such as 0–0.2, 0.9–1.1, and 1.8–2 m. The temperature of the HTF is lowest
at the inlet section of each tube and it increases gradually as it flows through the
tube. In the middle section, the temperature of the HTF is rising from tube wall to
its center. The highest temperature is observed in the outlet section of each tube.
Table 3 Simulated
Shapes Simulated temperature (K)
temperatures results
Inlet Outlet Rise
Rectangular 300 326.24 26.24
Trapezoidal 300 326.26 26.26
Triangular 300 326.32 26.32
Fig. 2 Temperature plot
Semi-circular Rectangular Trapezoidal Triangular Temperature

(K)
L=0
L=1
L=2
Fig. 3 Temperature contour
5.2 Pressure Variation
The pressure variation of the HTF in each receiver tube is shown in Fig. 5. From
the obtained result, the maximum and minimum drop in pressure was found for
trapezoidal and triangular grooved tube. The frictional losses due to more surface
area of the grooved tubes resulted in pressure drop. The flow is smooth in triangular
grooved tube as compared to other tubes. The frictional losses are low in triangular
grooved tube compared to other tubes due to its lowest surface area. Thus it will
Triangular Trapezoidal Rectangular Semi-Circular Temperature

(K)
Fig. 4 Temperature contour along length 0-0.2 m

0.9-1.1 m
1.8-2 m
Fig. 5 Pressure plot

Semi-circular Rectangular Trapezoidal Triangular Pressure (Pa)
L=0
L=1
L=2
Fig. 6 Pressure contour
Table 4 Pressure results

Shapes Simulated pressure (Pa)
Inlet Outlet Drop
Semicircular 41.61 7.72 33.89
Rectangular 46.78 7.39 39.39
Trapezoidal 54.19 7.61 46.58
Triangular 38.20 7.64 30.56
require comparatively less pump work. Therefore, triangular grooved tube will be
preferred as absorber tube. It can also be known from the contours that the pressure
continuously decrease from inlet to outlet throughout length of the absorber tube
and become lowest at the outlet (Fig. 6). The highest drop in pressure is seen in the
trapezoidal helical grooved tube because of the constriction in the flow due to its
geometry (Table 4).
5.3 Velocity Variation
The velocity variation of the HTF is shown in Fig. 7. The inlet velocity in each
case is almost the same. The velocity increases linearly and then becomes almost
constant once the flow is developed. The velocity contour for all four absorber tubes
is shown in Fig. 8. From the contour, it is evident that the inlet velocity in each case
is almost same. The velocity is not changing at the middle and outlet sections in
Fig. 7 Velocity plot
Semi-circular Rectangular Trapezoidal Triangular Velocity (m/s)
L=0
L=1
L=2
Fig. 8 Velocity contour
the direction of flow. This indicates that there is no variation in the velocity once
the flow is developed at the inlet section. Velocity contour along the length of the
tube is shown in Fig. 9. It can be observed from contour that the velocity variation
is negligible when compared all the absorber tubes for the same mass flow rate.
Triangular Trapezoidal Rectangular Semi-Circular Velocity(m/s)
0- 0.2m
0.9- 1.1m
1.8- 2m
Fig. 9 Velocity contour along length
5.4 Friction Factor, Nusselt Number, and Thermo-Hydraulic

Performance
The values of Friction factor, Nusselt number, and thermo-hydraulic performance

are calculated and discussed for Therminol VP-1 HTF in the following sections.
Nusselt Number. Nusselt number (Nu) can be defined as the ratio of convective
heat transfer to the conductive heat transfer. Zhu et al. [15] have calculated Nusselt
number for a PTSC augmented with wavy tape insert. Reddy et al. [16] have shown
the comparison of Nusselt number for an absorber tube, without fin and with solid
longitudinal and porous longitudinal fin. The tube with porous fin has shown higher
Nusselt number. The Nusselt number is calculated from the following Eq. (7)
h DI
Nu = (7)
k
Friction Factor. Friction factor for various tubes is calculated using Eq. (8). It is
a theoretical equation that predicts the frictional energy loss in a tube based on the
velocity of the fluid and the resistance due to friction [10].
∇PDI
f = (8)
1
2
ρU 2 L
Table 5 Nusselt number,

Shapes Nusselt number Friction factor THP
friction factor, and
thermo-hydraulic Semicircular 55.53 0.0535 1.56
performance Rectangular 53.00 0.0553 1.47
Trapezoidal 24.00 0.0663 0.64
Triangular 74.19 0.0498 2.10
Thermo-Hydraulic Performance. Thermo-hydraulic performance (THP) param-

eter characterize the relationship between the hydraulic (friction factor) and ther-
mal (Nusselt number) performance simultaneously. So it is very much important to
investigate as it deals with both hydraulic and thermal parameters. Thermo hydraulic
performance is calculated using Eq. (9). The Thermo hydraulic performances for
triangular, trapezoidal, rectangular, and semicircular grooves are 2.10, 0.64, 1.47,
and 1.56, respectively. It was observed that triangular grooved absorber tube has
highest thermo-hydraulic performance compared to all other. Thus it is preferred
for practical application as compared to other tubes. The values of Friction factor,
Nusselt number, and thermo-hydraulic performances are shown in Table 5.
13
Nu f
THP = (9)
Nuo fo
6 Conclusions
The following conclusions can be drawn from the present study:

Simulated temperature rise is 26.32, 26.26, 26.24, and 26.30 K for triangular,
trapezoidal, rectangular, and semicircular groove, respectively. And it was observed
that the triangular grooved tube shows maximum rise in temperature.
Nusselt number is calculated as 74.19, 24.00, 53.00, and 55.53 for triangular,
trapezoidal, rectangular, and semicircular grooved tubes. The highest Nusselt number
is found for the triangular grooved tube. Hence, it has better thermal performances.
Friction factor is calculated as 0.0498, 0.0663, 0.0553, and 0.0535 for triangular,
trapezoidal, rectangular, and semicircular grooved tubes.
Thermo hydraulic performance is calculated as 2.10, 0.64, 1.47, and 1.56 for trian-
gular, trapezoidal, rectangular, and semicircular grooves. The triangular grooved tube
has shown highest value and provides better thermal and hydraulic characteristics.
Pressure drop value is 30.56, 46.58, 39.39, and 33.89 Pa for triangular, trapezoidal,
rectangular, and semicircular grooved tubes. The lowest pressure drop is found in
the triangular grooved tube and requires less pump work as compared to others.
The triangular grooved tube has shown better results as compared to other absorber
tubes. Thus, the triangular grooved tube should be preferred for practical application.
References
1. Ghasemi, S.E., Ranjbar, A.A.: Appl. Therm. Eng. 118, 807–816 (2017)
2. Munoz, J., Abanades, A.: Appl. Energy 88, 4139–4149 (2011)
3. Huang, Z., Yu, G.L., Li, Z.Y., Tao, W.Q.: Energy Procedia 69, 1306–1316 (2014)
4. Xiangtao, G., Fuqiang, W., Haiyan, W., Jianyu, T., Qingzhi, L., Huaizhi, H.: Sol. Energy 144,
185–202 (2017)
5. Jamal-Abad, M.T., Saedodin, S., Aminy, M.: Renew. Energy 107, 156–163 (2017)
6. Kalidasan, B., Shankar, R., Srinivas, T.: Energy Procedia 90, 463–469 (2016)
7. Qiu, Y., Li, M., He, Y.L., Tao, T.W.: Appl. Therm. Eng. 115, 1255–1265 (2017)
8. Xie, W.T., Dai, Y.J., Wang, R.Z.: Sol. Energy 91, 242–255 (2013)
9. Mwesigye, A., Huan, Z., Meyer, J.P.: Energy Convers. Manage. 120, 449–465 (2016)
10. Zheng, Z.J., Li, M.J., He, Y.L.: Appl. Energy 185, 1152–1161 (2017)
11. Bellos, E., Tzivanidis, C., Antonopoulos, K.A.: Appl. Energy 114, 374–386 (2017)
12. Hussain, M.: Sol. Energy 33, 217–220 (1984)
13. Kumar, K.R., Reddy, K.S.: Appl. Energy 86, 1804–1812 (2009)
14. Bellos, E., Tzivanidis, C., Tsimpoukis, D.: Appl. Energy 205, 540–561 (2017)
15. Zhu, X.W., Fu, Y.H., Zhao, J.Q.: Energy Convers. Manage. 127, 140–148 (2016)
16. Reddy, K.S., Kumar, K.R., Satyanarayana, G.V.: Heat Transfer Engg. 29, 961–972 (2011)
Effect of Size and Cascading of Receivers
on the Performance of a Solar Collector
System
Suraj Bhardwaj and Santosh Bopche
Abstract The effect of cascading of parabolic dish collector and receiver on the
receiver collection efficiency has been presented in the present paper. The parabolic
dish collector is modified in such a way that it focuses incident radiation at two focus
points, in line with the vertex of the parabolic dish. The receivers are positioned at
these two focii locations to absorb the concentrated heat. The outcomes in terms of
receiver collection efficiency are compared with the single collector-receiver system.
The gradual heating of working fluid while flowing through the combined multiple
receivers exhibited an improved receiver collection efficiency of about 3.2 and 5.4%
as compared to the single receiver collector system. The receiver size e.g., heat
transfer area is also seen to be influencing the performance of the system.
Keywords Cascaded receiver · Parabolic dish · Collector · Receiver
Nomenclature
Symbols
A Area (m2 )
C Concentration ratio(dimensionless)
d Aperture/opening diameter (m)
D Diameter (m)
m’ Mass flow rate (LPM or kg/s)
q Heat flux (W/m2 )
Q Heat Gain (W)
S. Bhardwaj (B) · S. Bopche

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Hamirpur, Hamirpur
177005, India
e-mail: surajsinghjbbngj82618@gmail.com
S. Bopche
e-mail: santoshb.bopche@yahoo.co.in

1282 S. Bhardwaj and S. Bopche
Q̇ Heat Transfer (W)

R Radius (m) or receiver
T Temperature (˚C)
Ṡgen Entropy generation (W/K)
Greek Symbols
ï Receiver collection efficiency

η Second law efficiency
ηth,act Thermal efficiency of the actual cycle
ηth,r ev Thermal efficiency of the reversible cycle
Subscripts
c Collector aperture/opening
f Fluids
i Inlet
o Outlet
a Opening or aperture
R Radiative
r Receiver aperture
s Surface
u Useful
1 Introduction
The conventional parabolic dish collectors are generally used for cooking as well as
other medium to higher temperature applications e.g., air or water heating systems
for industrial purposes or for solar thermal power generation. For higher temperature
receivers (i.e., above 450 °C) to operate on cycles like Rankine cycle (working
medium: Steam) or organic fluid-driven Rankine cycle, Stirling cycle and Brayton
cycles, specially prepared collectors are required (Lovegrove and Pie [1]). Multiple
such collectors are necessary to execute cyclic power operations to superheat the
steam as a working medium up to 460 °C (Schiel and Keck [2]). Fewer researches
[3–6] have been contributed on estimation of collector performance through the
calculation of convective as well as radiative losses. The losses through the solar-
thermal-receivers are dependent on temperature and are mainly of radiation emission
as well as convective kind. Minimization of these losses is vital for realization of better
Effect of Size and Cascading of Receivers on the Performance … 1283
performance of high-temperature systems. Dividing the cavity-receiver geometry

into number of separate receivers according to the concentration of incident radiation
has been seen theoretically essential to lower down these losses, as reported by Kribus
et al. [7].
In such type of partitioned systems, the working medium is gradually heated
passing through the sequential receiver cavities with rising solar concentration levels
that would mitigate energy losses. It ultimately enhances the overall performance
of the solar system. The patent application has been filed on this present multiple
receiver design aspect by Bopche [8].
The present paper focuses on the performance improvement through minimiza-
tion of heat losses by cascading solar collectors as well as receiver into two. In con-
ventional high-temperature dish-receiver system, the only receiver operates at very
high temperature prone to huge amount of energy losses into the environment those
results into decrease in receiver collection efficiency. The novelty aspect of present
work is dividing receiver into medium as well as low-temperature stages. The lower
temperature component of receiver would confine less concentrated irradiation and
the medium temperature component would be capturing energy concentration in
that proportion. The energy losses from the low temperature can be prevented by
providing sufficient insulation. Reduction in surface area of the high-temperature
receiver helps in mitigating the energy losses from it. The objective is to develop an
experimental test facility to examine the effect of cascading both receiver as well as
collector on the receiver collection efficiency.
2 Methodology
The study includes design and development of the test facility with single stage
and twin staged concentrator cum receiver, followed by conduction of test runs for
performance evaluation of the single and twin staged receivers. The test CASEs,
design strategy of the facility and the experimental apparatus are also discussed in
the subsequent Sections.
2.1 Test Cases and Data Selection
The test cases examined along with the dimensions of the test facility are presented
in Table 1.
Table 1 Test cases with dimensions

S.No. Test cases Dish diameter, D Receiver aperture Concentration
(m) diameter, d (m) ratio, C
1 Smaller size 2 0.12 275
receiver
2 Larger size 2 0.15 176
receiver
3 Combining both 0.65 0.12 312
the receivers (R–I) (R–I)
2.0 0.15
(R–II) (R–II)
2.2 Design Strategy
The test facility is designed for cascading of both the receivers as well as concentrator.
Halogen Lamps of 1000 W (4 units) were used for illuminating a dish of diameter
of 2 m.
Solar radiation incident is:
4 × 1000
qr = = 1000 W (1)
22
The design strategy adopted for obtaining the dimensions receivers (Test cases I, II,
and III) is discussed as follows.
The maximum hidden diameter is 0.20 m.
Diameter of copper tube used for fabricating hemispherical receiver is, d = 6.35
mm.
Using heat balance relation at collector as well as receiver aperture/opening the
heat flux made available at the opening of the receiver is obtained as follows.
q R−C × AC = q R−r × Ar
(2)
q R−r = 275, 000 mW2
The concentration ratio for the test case I is, C1 = 275. The concentration ratio
values for the test cases II and III are dictated in Table 1.
For maximum flow rate of 2 LPM and temperature difference of 30°, the useful
heat gain is obtained as,

Q u = m f × C p T f o − T f i (3)
Q u = 4, 980.75 W
For the available concentrated heat flux at the receiver opening (Eq. (2)) and maxi-
mum useful heat gain (Eq. (3)), the heat transfer surface required for the hemispher-
ical receiver is obtained as, As = 0.01811 m2 .
So, the radius of cavity receiver required to utilize this concentrated heat is, R =
5.36 cm (approximated to 7 cm). This is how the diameter of smaller sized hemi-
spherical receiver has been chosen as 14 cm with 12 cm as aperture diameter.
Pursuing same design strategy, the diameter of larger sized hemispherical cavity
receiver is obtained as 20 cm with an aperture diameter of 15 cm.
Both the receivers have been combined together in test case III, in order to compare
the performance among the three cases.
3 Experimental Apparatus
The proposed system consists of solar simulator, a parabolic dish concentrator, hemi-
spherical cavity receiver system, instrumentation part, and auxiliaries. The solar
radiation was simulated using Halogen lamps of capacity 1000 W each, provided to
irradiate an area of 1 m2 each. The intensity of radiation heat over the collector area
is simulated as 1000 W/m2 . Two dish collectors have been used of diameters 2 m and
0.65 m for concentrating the incident radiation. In order to improve the reflectivity
of surface a parabolic dish concentrator is covered by an Aluminium foil. The dishes
are arranged in such a way that the incident energy is focused at two inline foci
points where two receivers were positioned. The hemispherical receiver was fabri-
cated with the help of a spirally wound/formed copper tube over a hemispherical
mould and brazed tube to tube sidewise. The photograph depicting the arrangement
of the components is as shown in Fig. 1. The schematic of the same is as shown in
Fig. 2.
Water is used as a working fluid circulated with the help of a pump. Calibrated
thermocouples (K type) have been used for measurement and record of receiver wall
temperature and water temperature (at both entry and exit). The millivolt output
response of the thermocouples has been measured using Digital Multimeter up to an
accuracy of ± 0.01 mV. A measuring jar (least count of 0.01 L) along with time-watch
for recording the actual flow rate of flowing water as working fluid is used.
First, switch ON the power supply to the pump and the halogen bulbs. Let the halogen
bulbs glow for 10–15 min so that stability condition develops in the receiver-collector
system. Now switch ON the Pump so that the supply of water can run continually
throughout the pipes connected to the receiver system. Let the water run through
the pipe steadily. In case there is no considerable temperature change recorded for
receiver wall and outlet water temperature, the system is assumed to attain the steady
Fig. 1 Photograph of the test facility
Fig. 2 Schematic of the test facility

state. Note the inlet and the outlet water temperatures with the help of calibrated
thermocouples and thermometers.
The receiver collection efficiency has been evaluated using the formula.

ṁC p T f o − T f i
η= (4)
q × Ar
The second law efficiency has been evaluated using the formula (Eq. (5)),
ηth,act
ηI I = (5)
ηth,r ev
Here, the ηth,act is given by receiver collection efficiency.

And the ηth,r ev have been evaluated using the formula (Eq. (6)),
(T f o − T f i ) in Kelvin
ηth, r ev. cycle = × 100 (6)
T f o in Kelvin
The entropy generation Ṡgen of the design has been evaluated using Guoy-Stodola
Equation (Eq. 7) for heat transfer through a finite temperature difference [9],
Q̇ Q̇
Ṡgen = − (7)
T f i in Kelvin T f o in Kelvin
4 Test Cases, Results, and Discussion
The receiver collection efficiency has been examined for smaller sized receiver (Case
I), larger sized receiver (Case II), and combined smaller as well as larger sized
receivers (Case III). The cases are presented along with the results obtained.
4.1 Receiver Collection Efficiency with Smaller Size Receiver

(Case I)
The test run has been conducted for three mass flow rates, 0.9, 1.3, and 1.7 LPM.
The readings obtained from the experimental facility are depicted in Table 2.
The heat gained by the water as well as the receiver collection efficiency depends
on its mass flow rate as well as temperature difference from inlet to outlet, for constant
incident heat flux. Reduction of mass flow rate causes rise in temperature difference
that leads to improvement in the receiver collection efficiency. The average of second
Table 2 Observation table with smaller sized receiver

S.No. m f (LPM) Temperature Useful heat gain, Qu Receiver collection
difference Tf o –Tfi (W ) efficiency (%)
(°C)
1 1.7 12.95 1536.03 51.5
2 1.3 17.12 1552.45 52.01
3 0.9 27.54 1728.87 57.93
LPM: Liters per minute
Table 3 Observation table with larger receiver

S.No. m f (LPM) Temp. difference Useful heat gain, Qu Receiver collection
Tf o –Tfi (°C) (W ) efficiency (%)
1 1.7 13.3 1577.83 52.86
2 1.3 17.7 1605.14 53.78
3 0.9 27.92 1752.88 58.73
law efficiency and entropy generation for this design is obtained as 58.95% and 0.76
(W/K) respectively.
4.2 Receiver Collection Efficiency with Larger Size Receiver

(Case II)
The readings obtained for the case with larger size hemispherical receiver are depicted
in Table 3. Similar tests have been conducted with larger sized receiver. The receiver
collection efficiency shows an increasing trend with the inlet to outlet temperature
differences. It is also noticed that the increase in receiver collection efficiency is
about 2.4% (approx.) on an average. The average second law efficiency and entropy
generation for this design is obtained as 60.62% and 0.76 (W/K) respectively.
4.3 Receiver Collection Efficiency with Combined Receivers

(Case III)
The observations obtained with the combined cases I and II with both smaller as
well as larger sized receivers are depicted in Table 4. In this test case, the smaller
hemispherical receiver stage is connected with the larger one in series. The outlet
of the smaller receiver is inlet to the larger receiver. The smaller receiver receives
energy concentrated through the smaller dish whereas the larger one receives radia-
tion concentrated through the larger dish.
Table 4 Observation table with combined receiver

S. No. m f (LPM) Temp. difference Useful heat gain, Qu Receiver collection
Tf o –Tfi (°C) (W ) efficiency (%)
1 1.7 13.69 1682.78 54.4
2 1.3 18.30 1658.19 55.56
3 0.9 29 1820.7 61.00
The receiver collection efficiency achieved by connecting both the receivers

smaller as well as larger in series shows an improvement of performance of about
3.2% (on an average) with respect to the receiver of Case II and about 5% as compared
to the receiver of Case I.
The variation of receiver collection efficiency with respect to working fluid (water)
outlet to inlet temperature differences for all the three cases examined is as depicted in
Fig. 2. The receiver collection efficiency rises with the temperature difference of the
working fluid. The rise in temperature of the working fluid yields better useful heat
gain for a constant incident radiative heat flux. The average second law efficiency and
entropy generation for this design is obtained as 62.71% and 0.78 (W/K) respectively.
5 Conclusions of the Study
An innovative cascaded solar collector cum receiver system is designed, developed

examined for various mass flow rates of water as a working fluid in this paper. The
merits as well as the findings of the present study are discussed as follows (Fig. 3).
(1) The gradual heating of water reduces the average wall temperature of the receiver
that ultimately reduces the heat losses from the multiple receiver system. It
makes process to approach isothermal.
Fig. 3 Efficiency variation Receiver Collection Efficiency

Receiver Collection Efficiency
with temperature differences 65

for the cases studied
60
55
(%)
50
45
40
10 15 20 25 30
Temperature differences (Degrees)
Combined Stages I & II Larger Receiver-II
Smaller Receiver-I
(2) The cascading of receivers keeps a limit on the shading area of the receivers. With
cascading a greater number of receivers can be accommodated in a restricted
shading area that ultimately improves the concentration ratio as well as receiver
collection efficiency or overall performance of the system.
(3) The present modified parabolic dish collector cum hemispherical receiver sys-
tem is found to be more efficient than the conventional single-component system
for similar geometry of the receiver.
(4) With increase in size of the receiver, as in case II, the improvement in collection
efficiency is obtained to be around 2.4%, whereas combining both the receivers
of cases I and II, exhibits an improvement in efficiency of about 3.2 and 5.4% as
compared to the single smaller (Case I) and larger receiver (Case II) examined,
respectively.
Acknowledgements The preliminary investigation project work presented in this paper is

supported by NSTEDB (National Science and Technology for Entrepreneurship Development
Board), Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of INDIA, through IEDC (Innovation of
Entrepreneurship Development Centre), NIT Hamirpur (HP), INDIA.
References
1. Schiel, W., Keck, T.: Conc. Sol. Power Technol. 9, 284–322 (2012)
2. Bopche, S.B.: Three Stage Parabolic Dish Collector cum Receiver, Intellectual Property India,
201721036668, 07 Feb 2018
3. Prakash, M., Kedare, S.B., Nayak, J.K.: Sol. Energy 83, 157–170 (2009)
4. Prakash, M., Kedare, S.B., Nayak, J.K.: Int. J. Therm. Sci. 51, 23–30 (2012)
5. Uhlig, R., Flesch, R., Gobereit, B., Giuliano, S., Liedke, P.: Energy Procedia 49, 538–550 (2014)
6. Ngo, L.C., Bello-Ochende, T., Meyer, J.P.: Energy Conv. and Mgmt. 101, 757–766 (2015)
7. Kribus, A., Doron, P., Rubin, R., Karni, J., Reuven, R., Duchan, S., Taragan, E.: Sol. Energy
67(1–3), 3–11 (1999)
8. Lovegrove, K., Pye, J.: Conc. Sol. Power Technol. 2, 16–67 (2012)
9. Nag, P.K.: 2006, Basic and Applied Thermodynamics, vol. 7. 8th edn. Tata McGraw-Hill Pub-
lishing Company Limited, New Delhi, India, West Patel Nagar, New Delhi
Experimental Investigation of Solar
Powered Vapor Compression Air
Conditioner with Indian Climatic
Condition
Susant Kumar Sahu , N. Sendhil Kumar and T. Ganapathy
Abstract The demand for air conditioning increases every day due to global warm-
ing, increase of working hours, special applications in hospitals such as operation
theater, critical care unit and intensive care unit, etc. As expectations of comfort con-
ditions increase, air conditioning system becomes one of the major electric power
consumption appliances both domestically and commercially worldwide. In recent
years, the progress of solar energy applications in air conditioning has increased sig-
nificantly due to its renewability, eco-friendly, fast depletion of fossil fuel reserves and
low cost. Moreover, solar air-conditioning system is highly useful in non-electrified
remote regions in India. Therefore, present study is focused on design and develop-
ment of a direct current, 1 Ton capacity air conditioner integrated with photovoltaic
solar panel including charger, inverter, and batteries. The performance was analyzed
by coefficient of performance. The proposed air conditioner gave COP of 2.3 to 3.3
with cost saving of up to 25%.
Keywords Solar energy · Solar photovoltaic · Vapor compression air conditioner ·

Charge controller · COP
1 Introduction
Air conditioners alone consume almost 50% of the total electricity consumption of
a commercial or residential building [1]. Air conditioning is continuously rejecting
heat and maintaining temperature, humidity, purity, and circulation of the air [2].
Electricity is essential for running the compressor in order to circulate the refrig-
erant. Due to increase in electricity tariffs and scarcity of fossil fuels, solar energy
S. K. Sahu (B) · T. Ganapathy

Raghu Engineering College, Visakhapatnam 531162, India
e-mail: susantsahukiit@gmail.com
T. Ganapathy
e-mail: tganappathi@gmail.com
N. S. Kumar
National Institute of Technology Puducherry, Karaikal 609609, India
e-mail: sendhil80@nitpy.ac.in
1292 S. K. Sahu et al.
stands as an attractive and economic alternative [3]. Solar energy is the most suitable
in subtropical countries to use such type of system (solar powered air conditioner)
because of its renewability nature and cost-effectiveness. Although different types of
refrigeration and air conditioning systems such as mechanical vapor compression,
absorption, and ejection compression are available, the mechanical vapor compres-
sion system is outstanding due to its certain characteristics like higher coefficient
of performance (COP), flexibility and compactness in manufacturing and operation
[4]. Hence focus has been imposed on development and improvement of a conven-
tional air conditioning system operated by electricity that is generated from solar
energy through Photovoltaic (PV) panel replaced by conventional electricity supply.
Many researchers developed air conditioning system using solar energy through PV
panel with AC source supply [5]. The objective of the present work is to design
and develop a solar-based air conditioning system with direct current (DC) and to
confirm its economic feasibility with Indian climatic conditions.
The experimental set up was designed and tested in Bhubaneswar city (capital
of Odisha state in India) climatic conditions in the year of 2016. This city is sit-
uated in the east coastal region of India along with Bay of Bengal coasts, having
latitude of 21.12° N and longitude of 85.65° E. The intensity of direct solar beam
radiations varied from 1106 to1204 watts/m2 which was being measured through
Pyrheliometer. The average solar radiation in the same year 2016 was calculated as
5.99 kWhr/m2 /day by applying ASHRAE model [6]. As far as temperature of the
city was concerned, the minimum temperature was recorded as 24 °C in the month of
January while maximum temperature was recorded as 43.6 °C in the month of May.
But the average temperature throughout the year was maintained as 31 °C which was
basically recorded in the month of August. Cooling load is the determination of what
kind and how much of comfort is required [7]. The cooling load depends on different
factors such as size and construction of the cooling area, number of occupants present
in specified area and their activity level like sleeping hour, dancing because human
body continuously releases heat through metabolism process and also presence of
electrical or electronic equipment which reject heat while in running conditions like
printers, computers, etc., that contribute heat. Similar way refrigeration load may
also be defined as the rate of heat removed from the refrigerated space in order to
produce and maintain the desired temperature conditions. The total cooling load
on the refrigerating equipment is the sum of heat-gain from several sources which
include the heat gained from walls, windows, and doors [8].
In this research work, initially cooling load for a selected space of dimension
(10’ × 11’ × 8’) was calculated. For the design of air conditioning unit, maximum
ambient and comfort cooling temperature for the occupants inside room during sum-
mer were considered as 45 °C and 23 °C respectively and relative humidity was
taken as 50% [8]. It was calculated through hourly analysis program (HAP) that one
Ton of refrigeration required power of 3.62 kW for maintaining the comfort con-
ditions temperature at 23 °C. The range of maximum and minimum cooling load
for above defined space was measured and recorded. The maximum cooling load
occurred during the month of May and it was above 3.3 kW whereas the minimum
cooling load occurred during January and it was 2.3 kW. Photovoltaic system was
Experimental Investigation of Solar Powered Vapor Compression … 1293
designed according to the cooling load capacity as above. Proper care was taken in
the assembly and design of different components for development of the proposed air
conditioner. Cost of components was also taken into consideration during designing
and procurement of components during setting up of the unit. The meteorological
data of Bhubaneswar City were used including observed solar radiation data. Data
logger with “K” type metal brite thermocouples were used for measuring tempera-
ture of refrigerant. The block diagram of solar powered air conditioner is shown in
Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 Block diagram of solar powered air conditioning unit

Fig. 2 Flow of refrigerant in vapor compression air conditioning system
2.1 Vapor Compression Air Conditioning
The proposed solar powered air conditioner consists of a conventional air condi-
tioner (vapor compression type) of capacity 1 TR, photovoltaic modules as per the
rated power output, inverter, and battery of designed capacity. The conventional air
conditioning unit mainly consists of compressor, refrigerant, expansion device (cap-
illary tube), evaporator, and condenser [9]. The basic working principle and flow
of refrigerant circuit in vapor compression air conditioning system is illustrated in
Fig. 2.
2.2 PV Module
A photovoltaic system is an array of solar cells designed to supply usable electric

power for various applications [10]. PV cells are made from layers of semiconducting
material, usually silicon. When light shines on the cell it creates an electric field across
the layers. The stronger the sunshine, the more electricity is produced. Groups of
cells are mounted together in panels or modules that can be mounted on the roof
[10]. The peak sun hour is essential in order to compute the number of PV modules
to be installed.
Table 1 Technical specification of components of solar air conditioner

Name Make Specifications
Compressor Videocon 1 Ton Capacity, LVS Ability, 220 V, 50/60 Hz,
Refrigerant-R134a
Material-Galvanized Iron
Evaporator and condenser Videocon Interior–Copper, Radiations–Fins, Dimension–22 ×
22 × 8 cm
Capacity (350 × 4) = 1440
Photovoltaic panel Syska WP, 8 AH, Dimension-30 × 20 cm
Battery Exide Sealed Lead-Acid 12 V, 7 AH Battery, 13.6–13.8 V
(Standby use),
14.1–14.4 V (Cycle use)
DC Input–48 V
Inverter Microtek AC Input: 220–240 V,
Output: 5 KW
Before doing so, the power that is to be generated by the PV modules must
be determined based on solar irradiance of the location. Nowadays photovoltaic
power generation has become an enormous energy potential due to low cost and
environmentally friendly nature. The technology is based on thin-film crystalline
silicon (C-Si), which is dominating in the global PV market [11]. The rated value
of solar module signifies maximum amount of power that can be generated in one
peak sun hour. This power generation depends upon different geographical locations
on globe and their irradiance value [10]. In present work, the air conditioner has
four numbers of photovoltaic panels that were arranged in series connections whose
specifications are given in Table 1.
2.3 Battery
It can be noted that the power generated through PV module is with fixed voltage. The
voltage provided in night from the PV panel may not be sufficient to run a compressor.
In order to avoid it, an inverter with charge controller and battery was employed. The
battery with specifications mentioned in Table 1 was a key component of this system
as it acted as energy backup and storage device for storing PV generated electricity
during cloudy days and at night hours. Suitable battery has been chosen to handle the
capacity of charge storage to compensate the energy demand especially at low solar
radiation time. Also, a suitable voltage regulator was used to maintain the constant
voltage.
2.4 Inverter
The electrical energy produced from photovoltaic module is direct current DC, but
to run the compressor AC supply is needed. Therefore, inverter is essential which
converts DC to AC for operating the compressor.
2.5 Charge Controller
Charge controller was used as an auxiliary component whose function was to regulate
voltage and current flowing from solar panel to battery and also preventing battery
from overcharging by stopping the current flow to battery from solar panel [12].
The current voltage rating of charge controller was 12 V and 24 A respectively. This
controller was employed to protect the battery from over loading and short circuiting.
2.6 Pyrheliometer
Hucksflux make pyrheliometer was used to measure direct beam solar radiation for a
specified interval of time. The basic working principle of this instrument is that when
sun light enters the instrument through a window, it is directed on to a thermopile.
This gives an output signal in terms of milli volt and it is then converted by Data logger
unit and the value of direct beam radiation is displayed in Watt/m2 . The sensitivity
value of the instrument is 11.09 × 10−3 mV/(Watt/m2 ).
2.7 Data Acquisition System
A 20 channel Agilent make 34970A model data acquisition system was employed
to measure real time temperatures of refrigerant across different terminals of several
components of the air conditioning unit.
The complete experimental setup and its layout assembled with all components
and instruments are shown in Fig. 3. The technical specification and other details
have been listed and given in Table 1.
3 Working Method
The main intention of air conditioning is to evacuate the heat from the space where
cooling is intended [13]. The solar energy is transferred into electrical power through
Fig. 3 Layout of experimental set up
photovoltaic module and this power is stored directly into the batteries in DC form.
Through inverter electrical power (DC) coming from the PV module is converted
into AC supply which is required by compressor for its run. The conventional air-
conditioning system working on the principle of vapor compression refrigeration
cycle is employed with solar photovoltaic module and inverter. Six K-type metal
brite thermocouples were embedded with inlet and outlet ports of compressor, evap-
orator and condenser in order to measure temperature of refrigerant. Two separate
thermocouples had been fixed in the setup to measure the ambient temperature and
evaporator chamber temperature. These temperature sensors were attached with data
acquisition system and their reading were sent to computer for typical COP and load
analysis. Simultaneously the suction pressure, discharge pressure, and mass flow rate
of the refrigerant are also measured and employed for analysis. The experimentation
was continued every day for 8 h from morning 8 AM to 4 PM.
4.1 Impact of Position and Tilt Angle of PV Panel
In order to get more solar efficiency, the inclination angle or tilt of the solar panel
must be appropriate. This is to be carefully chosen according to latitude, longitude
of the place, calendar month, and season. It was found that the average optimum tilt
angle at Bhubaneswar city for the winter months is 36° and for the summer months
is 5° facing towards north-south direction respectively. So, the yearly average tilt of
panel is 20.5° which nearly corresponds to the latitude of Bhubaneswar city 21.12°
N [14, 15].
4.2 Design Calculations
The solar powered air conditioner has been designed as follows: The cooling load
was taken as 3.52 kW or 1 Ton of refrigeration (TR). As the calculated COP value
was in the range of 2.1 to 2.3, the manufacturer recommended COP of the system
was calculated as the ratio of total desired cooling effect required for the space to
the power supplied to the compressor in terms of electric power [16]. In this case
the input power was 1.4064 kW. Hence for an 8 h day, the power consumption for
running the proposed solar powered air conditioner is 11.25 kWh/day. However, the
power generated by the proposed system having 4 solar panel of each of capacity
350 W was 1.4 kW. The voltage drop was assumed as 30% and minimum charge
storage efficiency of the battery was 90% of theoretical efficiency mentioned by
supplier [5].
4.3 Performance Analysis
The performance of the system was evaluated based on the experimental observations
from May 21 to June 21, 2016. The maximum ambient temperature measured in May
and June was 43 °C and 42 °C respectively and the room maintained was nearly 23
°C. From the data measured in the month of May and June, 2016, it was revealed
from Fig. 4 that COP during 8 AM–12 Noon was higher when compared with timing
during 1–4 PM. Also, it is evident that the maximum COP of 3.3 and minimum COP
3.4
3.2
3
2.8
COP
2.6
2.4
2.2
2
TIME
Fig. 4 COP value measured on May 21, 2016
of 2.3 were observed at 8 AM and 3 PM respectively. This is because, the low ambient
temperature during morning hours, results in low temperature gradient, leading to
higher cooling effect.
Also, it can be seen from Fig. 5 that the COP increases from 1 PM onwards. This
is because, the ambient temperature starts decreasing from 1 PM onwards, which
results in lower temperature gradients that lead to increase COP. The maximum and
minimum COP observed on June 21, 2016 was 3.1 and 2.4 respectively at 8 AM and
1 PM.
Also, it is observed that evaporator outlet temperature and compressor inlet tem-
perature are almost equal value varying in the range of 38–60 °C during the above
two months of study, which showed smooth and normal operation of the machine.
3.2
3
2.8
COP
2.6
2.4
2.2
2
8:00 AM
9:00 AM
10:00 AM
11:00 AM
12:00 PM
1:00 PM
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
4:00 PM
TIME
Fig. 5 COP value measured on June 21, 2016

Table 2 Cost of different components of solar powered air conditioning system

Item Quantity Cost (INR)
Compressor 1 6000
Evaporator coil 1 2000
Condenser coil 1 2000
Dryer cum filter 1 150
Capillary tube 1 300
Condenser and cooling fan 2 1200
Cabinet 1 1000
Copper pipe 1 500
Thermostat 1 250
Selector switch 1 150
Refrigerant 1 800
Hybrid inverter 1 7500
Solar battery 2 2500
Solar PV module 4 2800
Labor and miscellaneous 2850
Total 30,000
4.4 Cost Analysis
Different components of this proposed one Ton capacity solar air conditioning system
were purchased from local market and assembled manually. The total cost involved
to make the entire system was to be 30, 000 INR as mentioned in Table 2. However
the price of the same capacity of a conventional air conditioning system available in
the market would be in the range of 32, 000 to 38,000 INR depending upon the star
rating of power consumption, manufacturers, and models.
Although the cost reduction in the proposed system as compared to existing air
conditioner is only from 6% to 25% which is not that much significant, the proposed
solar power air conditioner has major advantageous factors as listed below:
– Runs on solar power which is renewable, evergreen, and environment friendly.
– Low manufacturing cost and minimum operational and maintenance cost.
– It is suitable for no electrified remote area applications particularly hill sides.
– Economic and efficient compared to other conventional devices.
– Simple in design, easy to install, durability is more.
– COP can be increased with proper arrangement of number of solar panels and
batteries.
5 Conclusion
From the above research work it can be concluded that the solar PV integrated
air conditioning system is worthy one for Indian climatic conditions compared to
conventional system in performance, design and construction, environmental and
economical point of view. Also, as far as remote area (hill side) is concerned where
unavailability of electricity is the situation, the proposed system can be one of the best
justified and reasonable alternatives. The coefficient of performance of the proposed
solar powered vapor compression air conditioner varies from 2.3 to 3.3 with a cost
reduction of 6–25% as compared to existing air conditioner. Recently the overall
cost of PV panels has been reduced drastically in global market that also can be
positive signal to setup this proposed system with much lesser cost than the present
cost. However, in order to get an efficient system, the output I–V characteristics of
photovoltaic panel matters a lot.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to express deep thanks and gratitude to Raghu Engi-
neering College, Visakhapatnam and National Institute of Technology Puducherry, Karaikal for the
technical, financial support and encouragement during experimental setup and conduct of experi-
ments in Bhubaneshwar city.
References
1. Intergovernmental panel on climate change. IPCC fourth assessment report (2007)

2. Ochi, M., Ohsumi, K..: Fundamental of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning. Ochi Engineering
Consultant Office (1989)
3. Bvumbe, J., Inambao, F.L.: Solar powered absorption cooling system for Southern Africa.:
sustainable energy. Energize-May 2011, 66–68 (2011)
4. Bacha, H.B., Elleuch, M., Baccar, M.A.Y., Maalej, H.B.D.: Air conditioning by solar energy.
J. Electron Devices. 2, 40–44 (2003)
5. Al Qdah, K.S.: Performance of solar-powered air conditioning system under AIMadinah AIMu-
nawwarah climatic conditions. J. Smart Grid Renew. Energy 6, 209–219 (2015). https://doi.
org/10.4236/sgre.2015.67018
6. Tau, S., Khan, I., Uken, E.A.: Solar assisted space cooling. In: Proceedings of Domestic use
of Energy (2002)
7. Dauta, I., Adzriea, M., Irwantoa, M., Ibrahima, P., Fitraa, M.: Solar powered air condition-
ing system. Proc. Energy Procedia 36, 444–453 (2013).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2013.
07.050
8. McDowall, R.: Fundamentals of HVAC systems. Inch/Pound Edition. American Society of
Heating. Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. Inc, Elsevier Inc, Atlanta (2007)
9. Tsoutsos, T., Aloumpi, E., Gkouskos, Z., Karagiorgas, M.: Design of a solar absorption cool-
ing system in a Greek hospital. Energy Build. 42, 265–272 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
enbuild.2009.09.002
10. Saad, S.S., Daut, I., Misrun, M.I., Champakeow, S., Ahmad, N.S.: Study of photovoltaic and
inverter characteristics. In: Proceedings of International Postgraduate Conference on Engineer-
ing. Perlis, Malaysia (2010)
11. Roosevelt, M.R., Sivanandan, S.: Enhancement and design of cooling system for a concentrating
photovoltaic (CPC) solar cell in a parabolic dish collector system. Int. J. Adv. Eng. Res. Sci.
2(4), 25–30 (2015)
12. Shaari, S., Omar, A.M., Haris, A.H., Sulaiman, S.I., Muhammad, K.S.: Design and installation
of stand-alone systems. In: Proceedings of Solar Photovoltaic Power Conference, pp. 46–52.
Pusat Tenaga Malaysia (2009)
13. Ghosal, M.K., Mishra, J.N.: Estimation and experimental validation of solar radiation by
ASHRAE method for Bhubaneswar (India). Int. J. Agric. Eng. 2(2), 176–181 (2009)
14. Benghanem, M., J.: Optimization of tilt angle for solar panel: case study for Madinah, Saudi
Arabia. Appl. Energy 88, 1427–1433 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.10.001
15. Jena, S.P., Acharya, S.K., Deheri, C.: Performance analysis of a self-activating solar tracking
setup. Int. J. Res. Appl. Sci. Eng. Technol. 3(9), 97–100 (2015)
16. Cengel, Y.A., Boles, M.A.: Thermodynamics. McGraw Hill, New York (2015)
Feasibility of Wind Energy as Power
Generation Source at Shillong
(Meghalaya)
Syed Mujibur Rahman , Himadri Chattopadhyay

and Romesh Laishram
Abstract As the study of wind profile and assessment of wind energy potential is
the prerequisite to check the feasibility of wind energy as power generation source
for a concerned site, this paper deals with the analysis of wind characteristics and
assessment of wind power potential of Shillong using five years (2012–2016) wind
speed data collected from Regional Meteorological Centre, Guwahati. For the anal-
ysis, Weibull distribution method is employed and its Weibull parameters are esti-
mated using the Maximum Likelihood method. The findings reveal that most of
the daily mean wind speed falls within the range of 0.5–3 m/s. It also reveals that
monthly and whole years mean wind power densities are 1.41 W/m2 –28.26 W/m2
and 10.20 W/m2, respectively, which is not suitable for large-scale power generation.
In such situations, there is a possibility of deployment of vertical axis wind turbines.
Keywords Wind energy · Shillong · Weibull distribution · Shape parameter ·

Scale parameter
1 Introduction
Looking at the present scenario, there is a growing demand for renewable energy
sources due to the increase in severe negative effects of fossil fuels such as carbon
emission, global warming and environmental pollution. Among the renewable energy
sources, the wind energy is considered as clean, environmentally friendly, free and
S. M. Rahman (B) · H. Chattopadhyay

e-mail: Syed.Mujibur@springernature.com
H. Chattopadhyay
e-mail: Himadri.Chattopadhyay@springernature.com
R. Laishram
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Manipur Institute of Technology,
Imphal 795001, India
e-mail: Romesh.Laishram@springernature.com

1304 S. M. Rahman et al.
abundantly available renewable energy. It has also emerged out as the world’s fastest-
growing energy source [1]. Although India is the 4th largest wind power generation
country in the world with a total cumulative installed capacity of about 33 GW, the
application of wind energy as power generation source in the Northeastern region of
India is almost negligible [2, 3].
The power generation of Northeastern region of India depends on hydro-based
and thermal-based power generation which cannot meet the peak demand of the
region. In this situation, renewable energy especially wind energy and solar energy
can play a vital role which motivates to study the wind profile and wind power
assessment of this region. Assessment of wind power potential of Imphal, Manipur
has been done as a first step towards the assessment of wind power potential of the
entire Northeastern region [4]. In continuation of the earlier work, this study will
analyse the wind characteristic and establish an accurate energy resource assessment
of Shillong, Meghalaya.
There are several statistical methods for the analysis of wind characteristics and
assessment of wind power potential. Several earlier studies showed that Weibull
distribution method is the most effective statistical method for the analysis of wind
characteristics and wind power assessment as well. For example, Wang et al. [5] com-
pared the performance of six different statistical distribution methods and revealed
that Weibull distribution method outperforms all other methods. Safari and Gasore
[6] investigated wind characteristics and wind energy potential of Rwanda, based on
Weibull and Rayleigh models and found that Weibull distribution model is the best
fit for the distribution. Alavi et al. [7] evaluated the performance of eight different
statistical distribution methods and concluded that Weibull and Nakagami distribu-
tion methods are two flexible and effective methods for wind data analysis. Similarly
many other papers [8–12] studied the performance of Weibull distribution methods
associated with two parameters based on some statistical tools such as root mean
square error (RMSE), chi-square error (χ2 ), correlation coefficient (R2 ), power den-
sity error (PDE), etc. and found that Weibull method as the best, accurate, flexible
and appropriate statistical method to fit the wind speed data.
Further, the performance of Weibull distribution depends on the accurate and
proper estimation of Weibull parameters. Several methods have been used to estimate
Weibull parameters. However, most of the studies showed that the Energy Pattern
Factor (EPF) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) methods were considered to be the
two best and accurate methods in different situations [13–17].
Wind in a specific place depends on the climatic status and nature of the surface
such as roughness and orography of that particular place. Therefore, the study of
wind characteristics and assessment of wind power potential is the first step in the
wind energy conversion technology (WECT) application. Although the state-wise
wind power potential of India has been estimated by agencies like Centre for Wind
Energy Technology (CWET), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), etc.,
the detailed analysis of wind characteristics and wind power assessment of specific
place like Shillong have not yet done. Therefore, in this study, the analysis of wind
characteristics and assessment of the wind power potential of Shillong shall be done
using the Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimator of the Weibull distribution method.
Feasibility of Wind Energy as Power Generation Source … 1305
Further, it is hoped that this study will contribute to our understanding of the wind
characteristics and wind power potential in the Northeastern region and help both
academics and investors in future projects.
2 Methodology
2.1 Data
Meghalaya is a small hilly and mountainous state in the Northeastern region whose
area is about 22429 km2 of which 98.74% in rural areas having of about 30 lakhs
population (as per 2011 census). Shillong is the capital of the state and situated
within the urban areas having about 1.5 lakh population. As on 31st March 2015,
the state has installed capacity of 492.47 MW of which 78.8% is hydro-based power
generation and remaining 21.2% is natural gas-based power generation against the
peak demand of 370 MW [18]. Five years (2012–2016) daily mean wind speed of
Shillong station has been collected from Regional Meteorological Centre, Guwahati
for the present study. Table 1 gives the detail geographical coordinates and elevation
of the selected station.
2.2 Vertical Extrapolation of Wind Speed
Most of the studies in the concerned area used wind speed data corresponding to
the height of 10, 20, 30 m, and so on. Therefore, in this study, the wind speed is
extrapolated to 20 m height. Some studies used the power-law land speed model to
get an equivalent speed of the desired height which is given as follows [1, 5, 6, 8, 9]:
v/vo = (h/ h o )α (1)
where vo (m/s) is the actual wind speed recorded at known height h o (m) and v is
the speed corresponding to the standard height h (m). The power-law exponent or
friction coefficient ‘α’ depends on the surface roughness and it may be obtained using
the following relation [6, 19].
Table 1 Geographical coordinates and elevation of the station

Station Latitude (N) Longitude (E) Elevation (m) Anemometer height (m)
Shillong 25o 34 91o 53 1600 11.6
[0.37 − 0.088 ln(vo )]

α= (2)
[1 − 0.088 ln(h o /10)]
2.3 Actual Mean Wind Speed and Standard Deviation
Actual mean wind speed and standard deviation are given by the following Eqs. (3)
and (4).
1 n
v= vi (3)
n i=1

1 n
σ = (vi − v̄)2 (4)
n−1 i=1
where v is the daily mean wind speed, σ is the standard deviation of the observed
wind data, i is the measuring interval and n is the no. of wind speeds.
2.4 Weibull Distribution Method
Two-parameter Weibull distribution model is defined by the following Eq. (5) [1,
5–17].
F(v) = 1 − e−(v/c)
k
(5)
where F(v) is the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of wind speed, (v). k and
c are shape parameter (dimensionless) and scale parameter (m/s), respectively.
The shape parameter indicates the width of the wind distribution while the scale
parameter indicates how windy the location is [1].
The corresponding probability density function (PDF) is given by the Eq. (6).

d F(v) kvk−1 −(v/c)k
f (v) = = e (6)
dv ck
The mean wind speed and standard deviation based on Weibull distribution may
be expressed in terms of Weibull parameters as follows:
v̄w = c(1 + 1/k) (7)
1/2
σw = c2 (1 + 2/k) − ((1 + 1/k))2 (8)
where v̄w and σw are the mean wind speed calculated based on Weibull distribution
and Weibull standard deviation, respectively, and () is the Gamma function.
2.5 Estimation of Weibull Parameters
As the Maximum Likelihood method was considered the best and accurate method,
this method shall be used to estimate the Weibull parameters for the present work.
The Maximum Likelihood method requires extensive numerical iterations to get the
Weibull parameters which are given as follows [14–16]:
n n −1
i=1 vi ln(vi ) ln(vi )
k
k= n k
− i=1
(9)
i=1 vi n
1 n 1/k
c= (vi )k (10)
n i=1
2.6 Wind Power Density (WPD)
The wind power density indicates the capacity of wind resources of a particular
location. The WPD can be estimated based on actual measured wind speed (Pv ) and
also using Weibull probability density function (Pw ) which are given by the following
Eq. (11) and Eq. (12), respectively, [1, 9]:
1 n n 1
Pv = ρ vi = ρ v̄3 (11)
2n i=1 2
∞
1 1 3 3
Pw = ρ v f (v) dv = ρc 1 +
3
(12)
2 0 2 k
where ρ is the mean air density. Some studies indicated that variation in the value
of actual air density and standard air density is very insignificant even less than 5%
[1, 6, 20]. Hence in this study, the standard value of air density (ρ = 1.225 kg/m3 for
dry air at 1 atm. and 15 °C) shall be considered.
Month wise mean wind speed for each year and the whole five years are compared in
Fig. 1. It reveals that monthly mean wind speed of 2016 is found to be highest during
Fig. 1 Five years

(2012–2016) monthly, yearly
mean wind speed
Fig. 2 Frequency curve of

whole five years
(2012–2016) mean wind
speed
March and April. While the mean wind speed of either 2012 or 2014 is highest in the
remaining months. That mean wind speed of 2013 provides the least value almost
throughout the year. However, the monthly variation of mean wind speed of all five
individual year and whole years are more or less consistent in nature providing the
highest mean wind speed during March–June.
Figure 2 represents the frequency percentage of wind speed for entire five years
which reveals that more than 91% of wind speed falls within the range of 0.5–3 m/s
and the remaining 9% falls less than 0.5 m/s or greater than 3 m/s. This low scale
velocity range may be due to the recording at low height.
Figures 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 represent the monthly, yearly and whole years PDFs which
provide a very good insight into the characteristics of wind speed. It shows that PDFs
of Jan, Oct, Nov and Dec fall in the lower wind speed range while the remaining
fall in the little higher wind speed range. However, PDFs of all five years and whole
years are consistent. Nature of PDFs are compared with the same of Literature [4]
and reveals that both are similar but the wind power scale of Shillong is slightly
higher than the same of Imphal region. As far as yearly PDFs are concerned, the
PDFs of 2012 and 2014 falls in the higher wind power scale and it also reveals that
there is good agreement with the wind speed profile shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 Weibull Probability

Density Functions (PDFs)
for Jan–Apr

for May–Aug

for Sep–Dec

for 2012–2013 and whole
years

for 2014–2016 and whole
year
Table 2 represents the monthly, yearly and whole years mean wind speed, standard
deviation, k and c Weibull parameters. Mean speed and standard deviation values
suggest that there is good consistency in the wind behaviour except during Jan and
Oct–Dec. According to the input data, mean wind speed for the whole five years
Table 2 Wind characteristics and Weibull parameters

Period vm (m/s) σ (m/s) c (m/s) k
Jan 1.0520 0.5070 1.1849 2.1290
Feb 1.4958 0.8780 1.6995 1.8664
Mar 1.7797 1.0151 2.0182 1.8910
Apr 2.3135 1.1986 2.6177 2.0661
May 1.9510 0.8751 2.2079 2.3716
Jun 2.0078 0.9566 2.2757 2.2110
Jul 1.9635 0.7096 2.1953 2.9157
Aug 1.7276 0.6268 1.9358 2.9367
(continued)
Table 2 (continued)
Period vm (m/s) σ (m/s) c (m/s) k
Sep 1.5106 1.1390 1.6894 1.5822
Oct 1.0655 0.3673 1.1887 2.8542
Nov 0.9425 0.3173 1.0527 3.0898
Dec 0.9812 0.4790 1.1129 2.1639
2012 1.7820 0.9794 2.0238 1.9664
2013 1.4359 0.6552 1.6247 2.3247
2014 1.7160 0.8806 1.9470 2.0847
2015 1.3913 0.8283 1.5759 1.8162
2016 1.5743 1.1498 1.7671 1.5543
Whole yrs 1.5799 0.9227 1.7889 1.8485
is 1.5799 m/s and the corresponding standard deviation is 0.9227 m/s. Shape and
scale parameters for the whole data set are found to be 1.8485 and 1.7889 m/s,
respectively. It also reveals that the value of the scale parameter is high during the
summer season (Mar–July) which indicates that higher power potential is available
during this period. Year-wise comparison shows that the value scale parameter of
2012 and 2014 are higher than remaining years.
Month wise and year wise wind power density (WPD) are shown in Figs. 8 and, 9
respectively. It reveals that March to July possesses much higher wind power potential
than the remaining months. However, wind power potential as a whole falls within the
lower scale to medium scale at the most. As far as year wise variation is concerned,
the WPD is much higher in the year 2012, 2014 and 2016. Further, the extrapolated
WPD corresponding to height 60 and 100 m are approximately increased by 55%
and 100% respectively.
Fig. 8 Month wise wind

power density (WPD)
Fig. 9 Year wise wind

power density (WPD)
4 Conclusion
In the present study wind profile and wind energy potential of Shillong have been
studied based on the Weibull distribution method. The most important outcomes of
the study can be summarized as follows:
(i) Month wise mean wind speed shows that the highest mean wind speed occurs
during the summer in all five years.
(ii) Values of Weibull parameters show that wind characteristics at Shillong station
are almost consistent with low to medium scale wind power scale which is
almost similar to the wind power scale of Imphal, Manipur [4].
(iii) The minimum and maximum value of mean WPD of the station is 1.41 W/m2
and 28.26 W/m2 , respectively. However, the average yearly WPD is 10.20 W/m2
which is not suitable for large-scale power generation. In such a situation, there
is a possibility of deployment of vertical axis wind turbines.
(iv) However, the extrapolated WPD is quite appreciable as approximately 100%
increase in WPD can be obtained by increasing height from 20 m to 100 m.
Further, it is suggested the necessity for more assessment of different parts of
the Northeastern region of India.
Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Guwa-
hati for providing the necessary wind data for the analysis.
References
1. Shu, Z.R., Li, Q.S., Chan, P.W.: Investigation of offshore wind energy potential in Hong Kong
based on Weibull distribution function. Appl. Energy 156, 362–373 (2015). https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.apenergy.2015.07.027
2. Indian Wind Power Magazine April-May 2017 Issue
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_India
4. Rahman, S.M., Chattopadhyay, H., Romesh, L.: In: Proceedings of 2018 1st International
Conference on Mechanical Engineering: Assessment of Wind Energy Potential for Power
Generation at Imphal, Manipur (India)- INCOM18. Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India, vol.
7, pp. 593–595 (2018)
5. Wang, J., Hu, J., Ma, K.: Wind speed probability distribution estimation and wind energy
assessment. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 60, 881–899 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.
2016.01.057
6. Safari, B., Gasore, J.: A statistical investigation of wind characteristics and wind energy poten-
tial based on the Weibull and Rayleigh models in Rwanda. Renew. Energy 35, 2874–2880
(2010)
7. Alavi, O., Mohammadi, K., Mostafaeipour, A.: Evaluating the suitability of wind speed prob-
ability distribution models: a case of study of east and southeast parts of Iran. Energy Convers.
Manag. 119, 101–108 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2016.04.03
8. Ozay, C., Celiktas, M.S.: Statistical analysis of wind speed using two-parameter Weibull distri-
bution in Alaçatı region. Energy Convers. Manag. 121, 49–54 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.enconman.2016.0
9. Akpinar, E.K., Akpinar, S.: An assessment on seasonal analysis of wind energy characteristics
and wind turbine characteristics. Energy Convers. Manag. 46, 1848–1867 (2005). https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.enconman.2004.08.012
10. Pishgar-Komleh, S.H., Keyhani, A., Sefeedpari, P.: Wind speed and power density analysis
based on Weibull and Rayleigh distributions (A case study: Firouzkooh county of Iran). Renew.
Sustain. Energy Rev. 42, 313–322 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.10.028
11. Yilmaz, V., Ecelik, H.: A statistical approach to estimate the wind speed distribution: the case
of Gelibolu region 2. Dogus Universitesi Dergisi 9(1), 122–132 (2008)
12. Celik, A.N.: A statistical analysis of wind power density based on the Weibull and Rayleigh
models at the southern region of Turkey. Renew. Energy 29, 593–604 (2003). https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.renene.2003.07.002
13. Akgül, F.G., Senoglu, B., Arslan, T.: An alternative distribution to Weibull for modeling the
wind speed data: inverse Weibull distribution. Energy Convers. Manag. 114, 234–240 (2016).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2016.2.026
14. Tizgui, I., Guezar, F.E., Bouzahir, H., Benaid, B.: Comparison of methods in estimating Weibull
parameters for wind energy applications. Int. J. Energy Sect. Manag. (2017). https://doi.org/
10.1108/ijesm-06-2017-0002
15. Chang, T.P.: Performance comparison of six numerical methods in estimating Weibull param-
eters for wind energy application. Appl. Energy 88, 272–282 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.apenergy.2010.06.018
16. Seguro, J.V., Lambert, T.W.: Modern estimation of the parameters of the Weibull wind speed
distribution for wind energy analysis. J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 85, 75–84 (2000)
17. Mohammadi, K., Alavi, O., Mostafaeipour, A., Goudarzi, N., Jalilvand, M.: Assessing different
parameters estimation methods of Weibull distribution to compute wind power density. Energy
Convers. Manag. 108, 322–335 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2015.11.015
18. https://powermin.nic.in/sites/default/files/uploads/Meghalay_24x7-PFA_Final_Doc_14_Sep_
15.pdf
19. Acakpovi, A., Issah, M.B., Fifatin, F.X., Michael, M.B.: Wind velocity extrapolation in Ghana
by Weibull probability density function. Wind Eng. 1–13 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1177/
0309524x1772320
20. Keyhani, A., Ghasemi-Varnamkhasti, M., Khanali, M., Abbaszadeh, R.: An assessment of
wind energy potential as a power generation source in the capital of Iran. Tehran. Energy 35,
188–201 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2009.09.009
Computational Analysis of Sensible
Energy Storage for Low-Temperature
Application
Sujit Roy, Biplab Das, Agnimitra Biswas and Biplab Kumar Debnath
Abstract A computational model of regenerator-type sensible energy storage (SES)

is developed for 1 MJ storage capacity for low-temperature application. Water and
concrete are selected as the heat transfer fluid (HTF) and the material to store energy,
respectively. Effects of tube diameter and pitch circle diameter (PCD) on the charging
time, discharging time, charging efficiency, discharging efficiency are investigated
in the present study. The software named COMSOL Multiphysics, works on finite
element method (FEM), is used to carry out the computational work. The computa-
tional model is found to be well-matched with the available literature. The effective
charging and discharging time decrease with the increasing tube diameter and PCD.
The charging efficiencies with PCD 4 cm, 5 cm, and 6 cm are 0.75, 0.89, and 0.93,
respectively and with 1.03, 1.37, and 1.71 cm tube diameter are 0.79, 0.89, and
0.93, respectively, at the effective charging time. Further, variations of discharging
efficiencies are also investigated.
Keywords Sensible energy storage · Effective charging time · Storage bed · Heat
transfer fluid
Nomenclature
cp Specific heat (J/kgK)

D Diameter of the storage bed (cm)
do Tube’s outside diameter (cm)
L Length of storage bed (cm)
n Number of tubes (Dimensionless)
S. Roy (B) · B. Das · A. Biswas

National Institute of Technology Silchar, Silchar, India
e-mail: sujit.nitm@gmail.com
B. K. Debnath
National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong, India

1316 S. Roy et al.
Q Energy (J)
T Temperature (°C)
Greek Symbols
ρ Density (kg/m3 )
Subscripts
ch Charging
con Concrete
dis Discharging
initial Initial condition
inlet Inlet condition
st Storage
1 Introduction
The depleting nature of conventionally available energy sources directs the world on
the way to use of renewable energies. Sun supply enormous energy to earth which is
getting wasted in the atmosphere. But, the main limitation is its intermittent nature.
That is the reason for introducing thermal energy storage (TES) to fulfill energy gap
by storing the unused heat during the presence of sun and deliver the stored heat in the
absence of sun. Thermal energy can be stored either as sensible energy storage (SES)
or latent energy storage (LES). Due to the higher thermal conductivity, simple con-
struction, lesser cost, and more availability, sensible energy storage material (SESM)
is preferred over the latent heat storage material or phase change material (PCM)
[1]. Concrete is mentioned as the promising SESM in the literature due to its cheap
cost and easy availability [2–4]. Rao et al. (2018) prepared five different concrete
mixtures and compared the performance of SES model with five rectangular fins
fitted on the outside circumference of the multiple embedded tubes [5]. Prasad and
Muthukumar (2013) computationally evaluated the performance of SES of 10 MJ
capacity with cast steel, cast iron, and concrete as the storage materials, and found
that using cast steel provides higher energy transfer rate between the storage media
and HTF due to its better thermal properties [6]. Further, to enhance the performance
of SES, Liu et al. (2012) proposed different augmentation techniques and methods
[7]. SES system incorporating heat pipe, extended fins, and using proper HTF and
Computational Analysis of Sensible Energy Storage … 1317
storage material provides improvement in heat transfer rate. Performance of concrete-

based shell and tube-type SES containing 16 embedded steel tubes is experimentally
studied by Boonsu et al. 8]. They reported that the heat transfer rate increases with
the increasing HTF flow rate and it enables the SES system to achieve the desired
temperature in less time. An experimental study was carried out by Agyenim et al.
(2010) to compare the multi-tube and single-tube storage system [9]. They observed
that multi-tube system shows better heat transfer rate than the single tube. This is
due to the domination of convective heat transfer in multi-tube over the conductive
heat transfer in single-tube storage system. Numerical analysis of different SES geo-
metrical configurations is done by Rathod and Banerjee [10]. They observed that
cylindrical shell shows better heat transfer rate than the cylindrical and rectangular
configurations for same volume and surface area. Charging time-based optimization
study is computationally performed by Prasad and Muthukumar (2013) to get the
optimum number of charging tubes [6]. They also studied the effect of rectangular
fins attached to the SES system. They found that 0.25 m/s HTF velocity is optimum
in the velocity range 0.1–0.5 m/s. Niyas et al. (2015) studied the effect of inlet HTF
velocity and storage materials on the charging and discharging efficiency [11]. Cast
steel shows better performance and takes less time for charging and discharging
compared to cast iron and concrete due to its better thermophysical properties. The
effect of tube diameter and pitch circle diameter on charging and discharging time is
discussed by Roy and Debnath (2018). The effects on stored energy and recovered
energy are also discussed [12].
Although many literature have been discussed the heat transfer enhancement tech-
nique of SES, there is no study related to the effect of tube diameter and pitch circle
diameter on charging and discharging efficiency. As the efficiency of any system
depicted the significance of that system, thus, the study of various design param-
eters is essential. The detailed design procedure and thermal modeling of SES are
discussed in the authors’ previous study [12]. The developed design can be applied
inside the biogas digester to increase the digester temperature. The operating temper-
ature is chosen considering the temperature range (35°–40 °C) for maximum biogas
production [13].
2 Design of Sensible Energy Storage
The design of regenerator-type SES comprised of diameter and length of storage

bed and embedded tubes, number of embedded tubes, and the efficient arrangement
of tubes in the storage bed. The SES is designed for a storage capacity of 1 MJ.
Diameter (D) and length (L) of the storage bed is calculated using Eq. (1). The
cylindrical model with twenty-five (25) numbers of embedded tubes in the storage
bed of diameter 30 cm and length 25 cm is shown in Fig. 1. The tube diameter is
considered as 1.03 cm initially. Concrete is selected as the SESM in the present study
1318 S. Roy et al.
Fig. 1 Design of sensible energy storage
considering the following properties required for a good SESM [11]. Further, mild
steel and water are chosen as the embedded tube and HTF materials, respectively.
The detailed thermophysical properties of different materials are discussed in the
authors’ previous article [12]. The arrangements of tubes in different pitch circle
diameters (PCD) are shown in Fig. 2. PCD defines the radial distance between the
tubes.
π
Q st = ρcon D 2 − ndo2 L c pcon Tst (1)
4
PCD = 4 cm PCD = 5 cm PCD = 6 cm
Fig. 2 Tube arrangement at different PCDs

3 Governing Equations
The computational model of SES is developed assuming the flow to be unsteady,

incompressible, and fully developed at the entrance. The exterior of SES is considered
to be adiabatic and the storage material is isotropic. The governing equations in the
fluid and solid domain are described below
Fluid domain
∂ρhtf →
+ ρhtf ∇ · u = 0 (2)
∂t
∂ →
→
→
ρhtf u + ∇ · ρhtf u u = −∇ p + μhtf ∇ · ∇ · u (3)
∂t
∂T →
ρhtf c phtf + ρhtf c phtf u ·∇T = ∇(khtf · ∇T ) (4)
∂t
At liquid–solid interface
(h.T )htf = ktube · ∇T (5)
At solid–solid interface
ktube .∇T = kcon · ∇T (6)
Heat transfer in both the solid domains (Concrete and tube)
∂T
ρsolid c psolid = ∇(ksolid · ∇T ) (7)
∂t
4 Initial and Boundary Conditions
• At t = 0 s., Tinitial = 10 °C (charging),

= 40 °C (discharging)
At t > 0 s., u = 0.25 m/s, (velocity inlet)
Tinlet = 40 ◦ C (charging),
= 10 ◦ C (discharging)
• Pressure outlet is chosen on the outlet surface.

• Fluid–solid interface is chosen as no-slip boundary.
1320 S. Roy et al.
Fig. 3 Different boundary

conditions
u htf = 0)
( (8)
• The outside wall is considered as adiabatic.
[n · (k · ∇T = 0)] (9)
The boundary conditions are shown in Fig. 3.
5 Performance Parameter
The performance parameters studied are effective charging and discharging time,
charging efficiency, and discharging efficiency. These parameters will help to inves-
tigate the developed SES properly.
5.1 Effective Charging Time and Discharging Time
High heat transfer rate takes place initially between the storage bed and HTF due
to higher temperature gradient. As the time progresses, the temperature difference
decreased gradually and it takes more time to increase the storage bed temperature.
Therefore, an effective time has to be calculated to reduce the cost of charging and
discharging process. When the temperature difference between the storage bed and
HTF inlet temperature reaches 2 °C, the time will be known as effective charging
time during charging and effective discharging time during discharging.
5.2 Charging Efficiency
Charging efficiency is the ratio of the total energy stored by the storage material
to the maximum available energy as input to storage material. The charging energy
efficiency at the respective charging time is calculated using Eq. (10) [11]
Tst − Tinitial
ηch = (10)
Tinlet − Tinitial
5.3 Discharging Efficiency
Discharging energy efficiency is the ratio of the total energy recovered from the
storage bed to the maximum energy that can be recovered. The discharging energy
efficiency at the corresponding discharging time is calculated using Eq. (11) [11].
Tinitial − Tst
ηdis = (11)
Tinitial − Tinlet
6 Computational Model
FEM-based software COMSOL Multiphysics is used to develop the computational

model. To make the computational study economical and less time-consuming, sim-
ulation is performed considering half SES bed as the computational domain due to
its symmetric geometry. Discretization of the computational domain is performed
using free tetrahedral unstructured grid elements considering maximum and mini-
mum element size as 2.5 cm and 0.45 cm, respectively. The generated mesh with
enlarged view is shown in Fig. 4. Relative tolerance of 10−3 is set as the convergence
criteria. Grid independent test is carried out to find the optimal size of mesh element.
It confirmed that the further increment of the number of elements will not affect the
results significantly and simultaneously reduces computational cost. Four different
grid sizes are chosen for the study. It can be observed from Fig. 5 that the effective
charging time is lesser in Grid 3 than Grid 1 and Grid 2. But, in case of Grid 4, there
is no significant reduction of effective charging time compared to Grid 3. Therefore,
Grid 3 is considered as optimum grid size and it will be used in the further study.
1322 S. Roy et al.
Fig. 4 Generated mesh
40
35
Average Bed Temperature (°C)
30
25
Grid 1 = 207065
Grid 2 = 211730
20
Grid 3 = 244614
Grid 4 = 373528
15
10
0 600 1200 1800 2400 3000 3600
Time (s)
Fig. 5 Grid independent test
The effects of tube diameter and pitch circle diameter on the effective charging and
discharging time and charging and discharging efficiency are discussed in this section.
Three different thickness of mild steel tubes are considered to study the effect of tube
thickness on effective charging time. The effective charging times for the thickness
1.24, 1.71, and 2.41 mm are 3654 s, 3645 s, and 3627 s, respectively. Although there
390
385
Average Bed Temperature (°C)
380
375
370
Tamme et al., 2004 @ 1 W/mK
365
Computational @ 1 W/mK
360
Tamme et al., 2004 @ 2 W/mK
355 Computational @ 2 W/mK
350
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
Time (s)
Fig. 6 Validation of computational model
is very less reduction of effective charging time, the available storage material also
reduced. Therefore, there is no significance of considering higher thickness. Thus,
further study is carried out with 1.24 mm tube thickness. Further, computational
model is validated with the experimental results available in the literature, oil is
considered as the HTF [2] and it is found well-matched with average deviation of
2.54 °C for 1 W/mK and 2.51 °C for 2 W/mK as shown in Fig. 6.
7.1 Effect on Effective Charging and Discharging Time
The effective charging and discharging time of the SES storage bed is influenced
by the tube diameter and PCD. First, the tube diameter of 1.03 cm is considered for
the study with different PCDs. Figure 7 shows that the rate of increment in average
bed temperature of the storage bed is decreasing as the time progresses. Initially, the
temperature gradient between storage bed and HTF is large. Thus, more heat transfer
takes place from HTF to storage bed. The effective charging times for storage bed with
PCD 4, 5, and 6 cm are 8393 s, 4702 s, and 3652 s, respectively. The effective charging
times for tube diameters of 1.03, 1.37, and 1.71 cm with 6 cm PCD are 3654 s, 2701 s,
and 2106 s, respectively. Although, the available storage material decreased due to
the increase in tube diameter, there is significant reduction of effective charging time
also. Therefore, the SES model with 1.71 cm tube diameter and 6 cm PCD has least
effective charging time. Similarly, during discharging process, the heat transfer from
charged storage bed to HTF is higher initially. The effect of tube diameter and PCD
1324 S. Roy et al.
45
40
Average bed temperature (°C)
35
30
= 40°C
= 10°C
25 = 0.25 m/s
= 25
20
PCD = 6 cm PCD = 5 cm PCD = 4 cm
15 do = 1.03 cm do = 1.37 cm do = 1.71 cm
10
0 1200 2400 3600 4800 6000 7200
Time (s)
Fig. 7 Variation of average bed temperature with tube diameter and PCD
on average bed temperature in discharging process is shown in Fig. 8. Initially, tube

diameter is varied for 6 cm PCD. The effective discharging times for 1.03, 1.37, and
1.71 cm are 1978 s, 1831 s, and 1298 s, respectively. As the tube diameter increases,
45
40 PCD = 4 cm PCD = 5 cm PCD = 6 cm

do = 1.03 cm do = 1.37 cm do = 1.71 cm
35
Average bed temperature (°C)
=10°C
30 = 40°C
= 0.25 m/s
25 = 25
20
15
10
5
0 1200 2400 3600 4800 6000 7200
Time (s)
Fig. 8 Variation of average bed temperature with tube diameter and PCD
more surface area is exposed to the storage bed which increases the heat transfer
from storage bed to the HTF. The effective discharging times for PCDs of 4, 5, and
6 cm with 1.71 cm tube diameter are 6466 s, 2809 s, and 1298 s, respectively.
7.2 Effect on Charging Efficiency
Charging efficiency of any SES measures the capability of storing the available
energy from the HTF is based on the first law of thermodynamics. As the effective
charging time is least in case of 6 cm PCD, the comparison is performed at that
charging time. Figure 9 describes the effect of pitch circle diameter on charging
efficiency of the storage bed. The charging efficiency of storage bed with 6 cm PCD
at its effective charging time is 0.93, whereas, at same charging time, the charging
efficiencies for PCD of 5 and 4 cm are 0.89 and 0.75, respectively. At higher PCD,
the tubes expanded over maximum area inside storage bed. Therefore, more uniform
heat transfer occurs which results in higher charging efficiency. Tube diameter also
has a substantial impact on the charging efficiency. Figure 10 depicts the variation
of charging efficiency with the tube diameter. The charging efficiency increases with
the increase in tube diameter. The charging efficiency for 1.71 cm tube diameter
is 0.93 at its effective charging time, whereas at same charging time, the charging
efficiencies for 1.37 and 1.03 cm tube diameters are 0.89 and 0.79. Therefore, storage
bed with 6 cm PCD and 1.71 cm tube diameter will have highest charging efficiency.
1.2
PCD = 6 cm
1 PCD = 5 cm
PCD = 4 cm
Charging Efficiency
0.8
0.6
= 40°C
= 10°C
0.4 =0.25 m/s
0.2
0
0 1200 2400 3600 4800 6000 7200
Time (s)
Fig. 9 Variation of charging efficiency with the pitch circle diameter

1326 S. Roy et al.
1.2
1
Charging Efficiency
0.8
= 40°C
0.6 = 10°C
= 0.25 m/s
0.4 do = 1.03 cm
do = 1.37 cm
0.2 do = 1.71 cm
0
0 1200 2400 3600 4800 6000 7200
Time (s)
Fig. 10 Variation of charging efficiency with the tube diameter
7.3 Effect on Discharging Efficiency
It is the measure of heat releasing capability of the SES from the charged storage
bed to the low-temperature HTF. Similar to charging efficiency, the discharging effi-
ciency also increases with the increase in tube diameter. The variation of discharging
efficiencies with the tube diameter can be observed in Fig. 11. The discharging effi-
ciency with tube diameter of 1.71 cm is 0.93 at effective discharging time. While,
at same discharging time, the discharging efficiencies with 1.37 and 1.03 cm are
0.87 and 0.83, respectively. The pitch circle diameter also influences the discharging
efficiency of the SES. Figure 12 represents the effects of PCDs on the discharging
efficiency of the storage bed. The discharging efficiency with 6 cm tube diameter is
0.93 at effective discharging time, whereas, at the same discharging time, the dis-
charging efficiencies with 5 and 4 cm are 0.8 and 0.6, respectively. The uniform
distribution of tubes throughout the storage bed results in more heat transfer and
hence, more discharging efficiency is obtained. Therefore, the highest discharging
efficiency is obtained with the 1.71 cm tube diameter and 6 cm PCD.
1.2
1.0
Discharging Efficiency
0.8
_ =10°C
0.6
_ = 40°C
_ = 0.25 m/s
0.4 do= 1.03 cm = 25
do = 1.37 cm
do = 1.71 cm
0.2
0.0
0 1200 2400 3600 4800 6000 7200
Time (s)
Fig. 11 Variation of discharging efficiency with the tube diameter
1.2
1
Discharging Efficiency
0.8
0.6
= 10°C
= 40°C
PCD = 4 cm = 0.25 m/s
0.4
PCD = 5 cm
0.2 PCD = 6 cm
0
0 1200 2400 3600 4800 6000 7200
Time (s)
Fig. 12 Variation of discharging efficiency with the pitch circle diameter

1328 S. Roy et al.
8 Conclusions
After performing the parametric analysis on charging and discharging efficiencies,

the following conclusions are drawn:
(i) The charging efficiency with 1.71 cm tube diameter and 6 cm pitch circle diam-
eter is 0.93 at effective charging time 2106 s. Whereas, at the same charging
time, SES with 1.37 and 1.03 cm tube diameter has 4.3 and 15% less charging
efficiency, respectively.
(ii) The discharging efficiency with 1.71 cm tube diameter and 6 cm pitch circle
diameter is 0.93 at effective discharging time 1298 s. Whereas, at the same
discharging time, SES with 1.37 and 1.03 cm tube diameter has 6.5 and 10.8%
less discharging efficiency, respectively.
(iii) The charging efficiency with 6 cm pitch circle diameter and 1.03 cm tube diam-
eter is 0.93 at effective charging time 3652 s. Whereas, at the same charging
time, SES with 5 and 4 cm pitch circle diameter has 4.3 and 19.3% less charging
efficiency, respectively.
(iv) The discharging efficiency with 6 cm pitch circle diameter and 1.71 cm tube
diameter is 0.93 at effective discharging time 1298 s. Whereas, at the same
discharging time, SES with 5 and 4 cm tube diameter has 13.9 and 35.48% less
discharging efficiency, respectively.
Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to TEQIP III for providing financial assistance.
References
1. Khare, S., DellAmico, M., Knight, C., McGarry, S.: Selection of materials for high temperature
sensible energy storage. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 115, 114–122 (2013). https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.solmat.2013.03.009
2. Tamme, R., Laing, D., Steinmann, W.D.: Advanced thermal energy storage technology for
parabolic trough. J. Sol. Energy Eng. 126, 794–800 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1115/ISEC2003-
44033
3. Laing, D., Steinmann, W., Tamme, R., Richter, C.: Solid media thermal storage for parabolic
trough power plants. Sol. Energy 86, 1283–1289 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2006.
06.003
4. Laing, D., Bahl, C., Steinmann, W.: Thermal energy storage for direct steam generation. Sol.
Energy 85, 627–633 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2010.08.015
5. Rao, C.R.C., Niyas, H., Muthukumar, P.: Performance tests on lab–scale sensible heat storage
prototypes. Appl. Therm. Eng. 129, 953–967 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.
2017.10.085
6. Prasad, L., Muthukumar, P.: Design and optimization of lab-scale sensible heat storage pro-
totype for solar thermal power plant application. Sol. Energy 97, 217–229 (2013). https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.solener.2013.08.022
7. Liu, M., Saman, W., Bruno, F.: Review on storage materials and thermal performance enhance-
ment techniques for high temperature phase change thermal storage systems. Renew. Sust.
Energ. Rev. 16, 2118–2132 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2012.01.020
8. Boonsu, R., Sukchai, S., Hemavibool, S., Somkun, S.: Heat transfer enhancement in medium
temperature thermal energy storage system using a multitube heat transfer array. J. Clean
Energy Technol. 4, 101–106 (2016). https://doi.org/10.7763/JOCET.2016.V4.261
9. Agyenim, F., Eames, P., Smyth, M.: Heat transfer enhancement in medium temperature thermal
energy storage system using a multitube heat transfer array. Renew. Energy 35, 198–207 (2010).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2009.03.010
10. Rathod, M.K., Banerjee, J.: Numerical investigation on latent heat storage unit of different
configurations. Int. J. Mech. Mechatron. Eng. 5, 652–657 (2011)
11. Niyas, H., Prasad, L., Muthukumar, P.: Performance investigation of high-temperature sensible
heat thermal energy storage system during charging and discharging cycles. Clean Techn.
Environ. Policy 17, 501–513 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-014-0807-7
12. Roy, S., Debnath, B.K.: Heat transfer enhancement of sensible energy storage for low temper-
ature application. In: 12th International Conference on Energy Sustainability and the ASME
2018 Nuclear Forum, pp. V001T06A010–V001T06A010. American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (2018). https://doi.org/10.1115/power2018-7271
13. Mahanta, P., Saha, U.K., Dewan, A., Kalita, P.: The influence of temperature and total solid
concentration on the gas production rate of a biogas digester. J. Energy South. Afr. 15(4),
112–117 (2004)
Feasibility Study
of Photovoltaic-Thermal (PV/T)
Collector in Assam (India) Using Polysun
Dudul Das and Pankaj Kalita
Abstract The efficiency of PV decreases with operating temperature rise. Therefore,

PV and thermal absorber are coupled together to form PV/T collector which can solve
this problem and simultaneously harvest the waste heat. In this work applicability
of PV/T in Assam, India has been studied using Polysun simulation software and
results are compared with the operation of PV/T under the climatic condition of
Delhi. An attempt to find the optimum tilt angle for various solar devices for the
location Guwahati has also been made. The thermal and electrical output of the
PV/T operated at Delhi is calculated to be 6.96 and 12.5% higher than Guwahati.
The study also revealed that the optimum angle for installation of PV/T at Guwahati
is 29–32°.
Keywords PV/T · Polysun simulation · Solar fraction · Tilt angle
1 Introduction
The oil crisis in the 1970s, Gulf economic crisis of 2008, [1] and the global climate
change concerns are really alarming the need for alternative clean energy sources.
Solar energy is the most preferred renewable energy source due to its availability
across the globe. Solar PV and thermal collectors are the prominent solar energy
collection systems. In regular practice, these two are used separately. PV converts
sunlight directly into electricity. The absorbed wavelengths of more than 1100 nm
reduces the PV cell efficiency [2]. It has been reported that only a small fraction of
incident solar energy (5–15%) becomes electrical energy, while another fraction is
reflected back from the PV top surface (7–10%), but the greatest portion becomes
heat. This waste heat can be recovered if a heat absorber is installed on the rear side
of the PV panel [3]. Combination of PV and thermal absorber in a single system
is called PV/T. PV/T can make real difference to energy requirement and makes
more effective use of valuable roof space [4]. The materials that are commonly used
in absorber construction are copper, aluminum iron, and polymer plastic collector,
D. Das (B) · P. Kalita

Centre for Energy, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, Assam, India
e-mail: dudul.das@iitg.ac.in
1332 D. Das and P. Kalita
Fig. 1 Cross section of a typical PV/T collector [6]
i.e., PV cells pasted on a plastic polymer collector using heat resistant adhesive
[5]. Figure 1 shows a typical PV/T collector system and its components. The PV/T
generally consists of thermal absorber with tubes attached to it for circulation of heat
transfer fluid.
Sakellariou and Axaopoulos (2017) [4] reported that PV/T generates thermal
energy by an average daily thermal efficiency of 20.33% and the authors observed
that PV/T is more energy profitable per square meter than the PV by offering better
electrical outcomes with recovery of the low-temperature heat which would have been
otherwise wasted. PV/T collectors can be employed for numerous low-temperature
applications such as solar desalination, drying, space heating, domestic hot water
generation, etc. The application of PV/T collectors for the domestic hot water gener-
ation is the most widely researched area [7]. Jouhara et al. (2017) [8] have reported
that heat pump-PV/T system can cover almost 58% of energy demands for hot water
generation at low value of solar radiation (up to 2.5 kWh/m2 per day) and up to 100%
energy demands if solar radiation levels are on the higher side, i.e., more than 5.0
kWh/m2 per day. Souliotis et al. (2018) [3] studied two different water heating sys-
tems, one integrated on the facades and other on the roof of a social house building
using simulation software SimaPro 8.2. The first system considered for the study
combines a solar thermal collector and storage tank in a single unit, called Integrated
Collector Storage solar water heater; whereas the other is a PV/T collector which
support both thermal and electrical needs. The study investigated the effect of these
Feasibility Study of Photovoltaic-Thermal (PV/T) Collector … 1333
systems in terms of building’s thermal load along with their capacity to cover the hot
water and electrical needs under the climatic conditions of two different locations,
i.e., Nicosia, Cyprus, and Athens, Greece. It was observed that the energy demands
of the building for space heating and cooling are decreased at about 10%, while the
hot water and electrical demands are covered up to 80 and 50%, respectively. Pardo
García et al. (2017) [9] demonstrated the use of PV/T collectors in combination
with district heating and reported its important benefits as in terms of sustainabil-
ity, energy security, carbon abatement, and costs. PV/T systems provide one more
solution towards low carbon and eventually zero carbon buildings. PV/T system is
reported to produce 34% of the heat required and 55% of the electricity demand of
the building, thus it reduces carbon footprint of the building by 50%. Herrando et al.
(2018) [10] has studied the cost competitiveness of an optimized solar combined
heating and power system based on PV/T collector. The authors reported that if gov-
ernment incentives are correctly applied, economics of combined heating and power
system can be improved. The authors also suggested that government incentives are
not necessary for the locations with high irradiance levels.
It has been clear from the literature surveyed that PV/T provides an example
how environmental protection, energy security and improved quality of life can go
hand in hand with economic benefits. Several simulation studies have been carried
out to prove the abovementioned benefits of PV/T. However, no studies so far have
been carried out to find the feasibility of PV/T application for Northeastern region
of India, even though this region has immense potential of solar energy generation.
Keeping these issues in mind, the present study focusses on the feasibility study of
PV/T collector for the climatic condition of Assam, India and its comparison with
Delhi, which has better availability of solar irradiance. The PV/T module considered
has tube assembly for fluid circulation. The thermal, electrical, and solar fractions
of the PV/T system are calculated and compared for Delhi and Guwahati.
2 Methodology
In the present investigation feasibility of PV/T has been studied in the location of
Guwahati along with this a preliminary study is also carried out to find the optimum
tilt angle for various solar energy devices. In order to find the optimum tilt angle
for installation of solar collectors at Guwahati, the angle of tilt is varied from 20
to 40°. At each angle annual thermal output, annual electrical output, and solar
fraction is recorded. A solar fraction is the ratio of the useful energy generated from
solar energy to the total energy generated by the system. Based on the values of the
output parameters optimum tilt angle is proposed. This is done through simulation
study using a software called Polysun. Polysun software is used for the simulation
study. Polysun is a software that enables users to effectively simulate solar thermal,
photovoltaic, heat pump based solar thermal systems, PV/T, and geothermal systems.
Ploysun is very useful for technical and economic study of a combined system like
PV/T. In order to study the performance of PV/T under the varying weather conditions
Fig. 2 PV/T with propylene glycol–water as heat transfer fluid
of India, Delhi and Guwahati have been selected because both of the locations have
completely different climatic conditions. In the simulation study propylene glycol–
water (40% by vol. of propylene glycol) is used as heat transfer fluid, it flows in
closed loop exchanging heat with water in a tank as shown in Fig. 2. Glycol is safe
for disposal and also has longer life as heat transfer fluid. It also suppresses freezing
properties of water under cold operating conditions. From the storage tank water
will flow to the utility. Based on the temperature of the outlet fluid from the tank the
heater and mixing valve will operate. In this study outlet temperature of the water is
fixed at 50 °C and inlet fluid is temperature is taken as 10 °C for both the locations
considered in the investigation, the temperature of the inlet fluid is selected based on
historical temperature data of the places.
Thermal and electrical output is an important parameter for a PV/T collector. The
simulation result of electrical and thermal output for the locations of Guwahati and
Delhi is presented in Fig. 3. It has been observed that thermal output is maximum in
the month of March with a value of 166 kWh for Guwahati whereas for Delhi thermal
output reaches maximum value in the month of May (196 kWh). Thermal output in
Delhi is lowest during the month of January (105 kWh) followed by December (119
kWh) and February (127 kWh). This is due to cold weather and fog during these
months. Similarly the electrical output is also found to be on the lower side from
November to February. The electrical output and thermal output for Guwahati is
found to be low in the months of June to September because of monsoon during this
Fig. 3 Energy output comparison
period. The electrical output in Guwahati and Delhi varies from 42 kWh (July) to 61
kWh (March and December) and 48 kWh (July) to 69 kWh (March), respectively.
The thermal and electrical output of the PV/T operated at Delhi is calculated to be
6.96 and 12.5% higher than the yield of the same PV/T at Guwahati. This is due
to higher annual solar irradiance at Delhi (5600 kWh) than Guwahati (4951 kWh).
Another important parameter considered in the study is solar fraction. A solar fraction
is observed to be 57.4 and 61.3% for Guwahati and Delhi, respectively. This result
signifies that for Guwahati 42.6% of the energy required to meet annual demand of
hot water required to be fulfilled by using some other form of energy.
Figure 4 shows the variation of annual thermal, electrical, and solar fraction for
different tilt angles at Guwahati. Thermal output is an important parameter for solar
thermal device whereas electrical output is important for PV devices. But for a hybrid
PV/T system solar fraction is found to be important. It is observed from the figure
that electrical output, thermal output, and solar fraction is maximum at an angle of
25–26°, 29–32°, and 29–32°, respectively. The optimum tilt angle is lower for PV
but it is found to be higher for thermal devices. This may be due to the reason that at
a slightly higher tilt angle, the fluid retention time inside the collector increases thus
allowing more extraction of thermal energy.
Fig. 4 Variation of output at different tilt angle for Guwahati
4 Conclusions
Polysun simulation work provided various important information such as suitability

of the PV/T application for hot water generation under the climatic condition of
Northeast India. The study provided a basis for arguing in favor of installation of solar
hybrid collectors at suitable locations of Northeast India. The appropriate tilt angle
for installation of PV/T module at Guwahati is also calculated using the simulation
study. The important conclusions of the work can be summarized as follows;
i. The thermal and electrical output of the PV/T operated at Delhi is calculated to
be 6.96 and 12.5% higher than the yield of the same PV/T at Guwahati.
ii. Solar fraction is found to be 57.4 and 61.3% for Guwahati and Delhi respectively.
iii. Optimum tilt angle for PV device, solar thermal collectors and PV/T modules
found to 25–26°, 29–32° and 29–32° respectively for the location of Guwahati.
Acknowledgements This work is a part of start-up project (Grant number:

CEE/SG/IITG/PK1134/001) awarded to Dr. Pankaj Kalita, Assistant Professor, Centre for
Energy, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, India. The financial support extended by
IIT Guwahati is gratefully acknowledged.
References
1. Al-Maamary, H.M.S., Kazem, H.A., Chaichan, M.T.: The impact of oil price fluctuations on
common renewable energies in GCC countries. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 75(August 2016),
989–1007 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.079
2. Das, D., Kalita, P., Roy, O.: Flat plate hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PV/T) system: a review
on design and development. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., 84(October 2017), 111–130 (2018).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.01.002
3. Sakellariou, E., Axaopoulos, P.: Simulation and experimental performance analysis of a mod-
ified PV panel to a PVT collector. Sol. Energy 155, 715–726 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.solener.2017.06.067
4. Marsh, G.: Solar PV and thermal—a marriage made in heaven? Renew. Energy Focus 11(2),
52–55 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1755-0084(10)70055-7
5. Sandnes, B., Rekstad, J.: A photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) collector with a polymer absorber
plate. Experimental study and analytical model. Sol. Energy 72(1), 63–73 (2002). https://doi.
org/10.1016/S0038-092X(01)00091-3
6. Tripanagnostopoulos, Y., Souliotis, M., Makris, T., Georgostathis, P., Sarris, M.: Design and
performance of a hybrid PV/T solar water heater. AIP Conf. Proc. 1203, 1019–1024 (2010)
7. Lämmle, M., Oliva, A., Hermann, M., Kramer, K., Kramer, W.: PVT collector technologies
in solar thermal systems: a systematic assessment of electrical and thermal yields with the
novel characteristic temperature approach. Sol. Energy 155, 867–879 (2017). https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.solener.2017.07.015
8. Jouhara, H., et al.: The performance of a heat pipe based solar PV/T roof collector and its
potential contribution in district heating applications. Energy 136, 117–125 (2015). https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.energy.2016.04.070
9. Pardo García, N., Zubi, G., Pasaoglu, G., Dufo-López, R.: Photovoltaic thermal hybrid solar
collector and district heating configurations for a Central European multi-family house. Energy
Convers. Manag. 148, 915–924 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2017.05.065
10. Herrando, M., Ramos, A., Zabalza, I.: Cost competitiveness of a novel PVT-based solar com-
bined heating and power system: influence of economic parameters and financial incentives.
Energy Convers. Manag. 166(March), 758–770 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.
2018.04.005
An Analytical Investigation of Solar
Water Heater Performance During
Winter Period in Jharkhand Region
Anand M. Sharan, Manabendra Pathak and Manish Verma
Abstract Present work reports the performance analysis of flat plate solar water
heater during the winter season in Jharkhand region. The objective of the present
work is to evaluate the performance of a flat plate solar water heater during winter
where duration of daylight and solar intensity are very small. Sunray tracking method
has been used to calculate the incident solar intensity on a stationary flat plate collector
and thermal resistance concept has been used to calculate heat transfer loss from the
flat plate collector. The coupled nonlinear equations are solved using optimization
technique. It can be seen that sufficient amount of thermal energy can be extracted
from the rooftop water heater during these seasons.
Keywords Solar water heater · Ray tracking · Thermal resistance · Optimization

technique
1 Introduction
Depleting conventional sources of energy and alarming environmental degradations

in form of pollution, acid rain, global warming, etc. caused by burning of conventional
energy have coerced for harvesting renewable energy either for large scale commer-
cial applications or for household applications. Consistent effort is being made to
increase the productivity and utilization of renewable energy so that dependence on
exhaustible and pollution causing energy resources could be decreased. Among dif-
ferent sources of renewable energy, solar energy has many scopes due its abundance
A. M. Sharan
Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada
e-mail: asharan@mun.ca
M. Pathak (B)
Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Patna, India
e-mail: mpathak@iitp.ac.in
M. Verma
Mcmaster University, Hamilton, Canada
e-mail: mverma@mcmaster.ca

1340 A. M. Sharan et al.
availability and ease of harnessing. Solar energy is the energy present in solar radi-
ation in form of light and heat. Broadly two techniques are utilized for harnessing
and utilizing solar energy. They are solar photovoltaic and solar thermal technology.
One of the advantages of solar thermal technology is its higher conversion energy
compared to solar photovoltaic conversion [1].
In solar thermal technology, the solar water heating system proves to be an effec-
tive technology for small scale household applications as well as large scale industrial
process heating applications. The basic components of a solar water heating (SWH)
systems are solar collector and storage tank. Thermal performance of SWHs largely
depends on the performance of flat plate collector which is the central part of the sys-
tem. Depending on the requirement of external pumping arrangement, the solar water
heaters are classified as passive solar water heating system and active solar water
heating system. Passive SWH systems do not require external pumping arrangement
where flow takes place due to thermosyphonic action. On the other hand, active
SWH systems need pumping arrangement to circulate fluid through them. Since
last several years, solar water heating systems have been extensively investigated
and several review papers have been reported in the literature. Jaishankar et al. [1]
have made a comprehensive review on solar water heaters. In another review paper
Husain et al. [2] analyzed the performance of various types of SWH collector and
heat transfer performance of different components of the system. They also analyzed
the thermal performance of different types of collectors, i.e., flat plate, concentrating,
and other types with a mantle heat exchanger. Shukla et al. [3] made a review on
application of phase change material (PCM) in solar water heating systems (SWHs).
They reported that only preliminary designs of PCM-based SWHs are reported in
the literature. Integration of thermal storage with solar water heater system would
enhance the reliability of the system, especially during night time. A review of the
recent progress on SWH technology has been made by Shukla et al. [4]. They rec-
ommended that heat pump based SWH could be an effective water heating system
in the regions where there is scarcity of solar energy. However, performance of such
types of systems would largely depend on the type of refrigerant used in the system.
Usages of solar water heating systems for domestic as well as industrial applications
have been reviewed by Ogueke et al. [5]. They reported that passive SWHs are more
popular than active SWHs although the latter ones have more efficiency.
Performance of solar water heating system depends on geographical conditions,
collector orientation, tilt angle, and materials of the absorber plate. It also depends
on the optical properties of glass cover such as transmittance, absorption, design,
and thermal properties of the absorber plate, conductivity of the working fluid [6,
7]. From the literature review it has been observed that there are more numerical
and experimental investigations of SWHs compared to analytical investigation. One
of the intricacies involved in the analytical investigation is solution of nonlinear
equations arriving due to involvement of combined, conduction, convection, and
radiation heat transfer process in the system.
In India, the need for hot water increases during the winter months when there
is too much pollution already. In rural areas of India, plenty of biomass is burnt
for heating water during wintertime which further increases the pollution level and
An Analytical Investigation of Solar Water Heater Performance … 1341
degrades the ecosystem. On the other hand, burning of biomass in non-ventilating

houses in rural areas creates lots of respiratory diseases to people. The objective of
the present work is to make an analytical investigation of solar water heating system
during winter season in Jharkhand regions where solar energy is underutilized as
compared to the other parts of the country.
In the majority of water heaters, the flat plate collectors are held stationary and kept
at an angle equal to the latitude of the horizontal plane. However, the fixed collector
cannot convert the energy to the maximum possible and hence solar tracking is
required which further increases the complexity and cost of the system.
In the present work, a solar water heater with a flat plate collector of area of 3 × 2 m2
has been considered. In the collector 10 tubes of 10 mm diameter are used along
the length of the collector. The schematic view of the solar water heating system
is shown in Fig. 1. The collector has two glass covers for reducing the heat loss
from the collector. The sun rays strike the absorber plate due to which the plate and
absorber tubes are heated up. Water circulated through the absorber tubes is heated
up. Generally, the plate is fixed at an angle equal to the latitude of the place and facing
south in the northern hemisphere. The sun rays strike the absorber plate which is fixed
with pipes through which water is circulated.
2.1 Energy Input into the Collector
The incidence of the sun rays on a horizontal surface has been shown in Fig. 2. The
incident angle of the ray is indicated by solar altitude angle α and solar azimuth angle
αs as shown in Fig. 2. The solar altitude angle α is the angle between the ray and the
Fig. 1 Flat plate collector solar water heater

Fig. 2 Solar ray and different angles
horizontal plane, whereas azimuth angle αs is an angle made by the projection ray
with NS direction.
Suppose, the distance AC is equal to R then the components in the X1, and Y 1
directions can be written as [8]:
X 1 = R cos(αs )
or, by expressing the distance in a nondimensional manner, it can be written as:
X 1 /R = cos(αs ) (1)
Similarly, one can write
Y1 /R = sin(αs ) (2)
If the intensity of solar energy is I 0 , then the three components of I 0 in X1, Y 1,

and Z1 coordinates will be
I X 1 = −I0 cos(α) cos(αs ) (3)
IY 1 = −I0 cos(α) sin(αs ) (4)
I Z 1 = −I0 sin(α) (5)
Angles α and αs are calculated using following formulae [9–11]:
δ = 23.45{sin(360/365)(284 + N)} (6)

where δ is the declination of the sun in degrees, and N is the day number in a year.
For example, on January 1, N is equal to 1.
The time of sunrise, hs , in hour angle from the noon, is calculated by:
hs = cos−1 {−tan(δ)tan(γ)} (7)
Denoting the instant of time in terms of hour angle from the noon as hs , one can
write:
sin(α) = cos(γ)cos(δ)cos(hs ) + sin(γ)sin(δ) (8)
and, by expressing the angles in degrees we get
αs = sin−1 {cos(δ)sin(hs )/cos(α)} if cos(hs ) > {tan(δ)/tan(γ)} (9)
or
αs = 180◦ − sin−1 {cos(δ)sin(hs )/cos(α)} if cos(hs ) < {tan(δ)/tan(γ)} (10)
As it has been mentioned that collector is fixed at an angle equal to the latitude
of the place, facing towards south. Thus solar intensity striking the tilted collector
should be calculated with reference new coordinate system X2-Y 2-Z2 as shown in
Fig. 3. For input energy to the collector, the solar intensity in the perpendicular
direction to the plate (Z2) needs to be calculated.
Let us represent the solar intensity by a vector:
{I }1 = {I X 1 , IY 1 , I Z 1 }T (11)
From Fig. 3 one can express the vector {I}2 in terms of {I}1 in the matrix form
as [12].
Fig. 3 Solar panel facing south and inclined at an angle equal to the latitude

2
I3×1 = F(Y 13×1 , θ ) {I }13×1 (12)
In Fig. 3, the Z2 direction is perpendicular to the collector and the angle
∠X 1O Z 2 = θ = 90 − γ (13)
Here, γ is the angle made by the collector with the horizontal plane (equals to
latitude angle) as shown in Fig. 3. In Eq. (12), [F(Y 1, θ)] is the rotation matrix to
transform the vector {I}1 from X1-Y 1-Z1 space to X2-Y 2-Z2 space about the Y 1
axis. A (3 × 3) transformation about Y-axis by an angle θ is given by [12]
⎡ ⎤
cos θ 0 sin θ
[F(Y 1, θ )] = ⎣ 0 1 0 ⎦ (14)
− sin θ 0 cos θ
It should be remembered that when sun rays strike the collector the direction of
intensity vector is opposite to Z2 direction, i.e., IZ2 should be negative.
2.2 Energy Loss to the Atmosphere
The schematic of a flat plate water heater has been shown in Fig. 1. In order to reduce
the convection loss, double layered glass covers are used in the solar water heating
system. The absorber plate is usually made of copper and painted black. Copper
is preferred due to its low internal thermal resistance. The absorber tubes through
which water is circulated are fixed with absorber plate as shown in Fig. 1. The heat
input to the flat plate collector is obtained from the Sun in the form of solar radiation
as discussed in previous section. On the other hand, heat is lost from the collector to
the atmosphere in form of convective and radiative heat transfer.
The useful heat to the collector can be expressed as:
Q w = A p [I Z 2 − Ul (T p − Ta )] (15)
In the above Ap is the collector area, U l is the overall loss coefficient. T p and T a
are plates and ambient temperature, respectively.
The loss coefficient is calculated based on the convection and radiation heat loss
from the collector. The overall loss coefficient is calculated based on the thermal
resistance involved in the problem. It is given as:
1
Ul = (16)
R1 + R2 + R3
In the above R1 represent the thermal resistance between the plate and the 2nd
cover, R2 represents the thermal resistance between two covers and R3 represent the
resistance between 1st cover and the ambience. The thermal resistance network for
the problem is shown in Fig. 4 as given in [13]:
They are given as follows:
1
R1 = (17)
h cp−c2 + h r p−c2
where hcp−c2 is the convection heat transfer coefficient and hrp−c2 is the radiative heat
transfer coefficient between the plate and the second cover which is given as:

σ T p + Tc2 T p2 + Tc22
h r p−c2 = (18)
1
εp
+ 1
εc2
−1
Similarly, R2 is given as:
Fig. 4 Thermal resistance

network
1
R2 = (19)
h c2−c1 + h r c2−c1
where hc2−c1 is the convection heat transfer coefficient and hrc2−c1 is the radiative
heat transfer coefficient between the two covers which is given as:

σ (Tc2 + Tc1 ) Tc22 + Tc12
h r c2−c1 = (20)
1
εc2
+ 1
εc1
−1
Thermal resistance R3 is given as:
1
R3 = (21)
h a + h r c1−a
where ha is the convection heat transfer coefficient and hrc1−a is the radiative heat
transfer coefficient between the 2nd cover and the ambient which is given as:
σ εc1 (Tc1 + Ta )(Tc12 + Ta2 )(Tc1 − Ta )

h c1−a = (22)
Tc1 − Ta
Values of constant and the emissivity are given as [13]:
σ = 5.67 × 10−8 , ε p = 0.95,

εc1 = εc2 = 0.92, εa = 0.88
The heat transfer to the water flowing through the absorber tube can be represented
as:
Q w = ṁc p (Tb2 − Tb1 ) (23)
where T b2 and T b1 are the bulk temperatures at the exit and entrance of the tubes,
cp is the specific heat of water, and m˙ is the total mass flow rate through the tubes.
The flat plate collector has an area of 3 × 2 m2 . There are 10 tubes of 10 mm
diameter across the width of the collector. In the solution process, two unknowns,
i.e., water outlet temperature T b2 and absorber plate temperature T p are solved using
optimization technique. The inlet water temperature Tb1 has been considered in the
range of 10–20 °C.
Now, an objective function Om is defined which depends on the operating param-
eters as follows.

Om = f A p , T p , Ta , Q w (24)
we can define the objective function Om and set up the minimization problem as
[14–16]. Minimized (Om ) is subjected to the design constraints of T p = 273–400 K
and, T 1 = 1–40.0 K. Reference [17] has been used for properties. The minimization
yielded the values of these variables or parameters which satisfied the condition Om
approaches 0 from the positive or negative side. Once T p and ΔT b are known then
T b2 is calculated using the following expression.
Tb = Tb2 −Tb1
where calculation has been started with a value of T b1 . The solar water heater is
attached with a storage tank of 100 L.
Performance of solar water heater has been checked in Ranchi on January 1, 2018.
The latitudes of Ranchi is 23.3441° N and longitude is 85.35°. Solar irradiance on
1st January 2018 was 5.94 kWh/m2 /day.
Figure 5 shows the position of the sun in the morning and afternoon hours at
Ranchi on January (N = 1). This being in the winter in the northern hemisphere,
the days are much shorter. The figure has been obtained by starting with Eq. (13)
and performing the calculations corresponding to Eqs. (5)–(9) followed by Eqs. (1)
and (2), i.e., they are the plots of (Y1/R) versus (X1/R) which are nondimensional
distances. The morning sunshine period (between the sunrise and noon) has been
divided into 100 intervals, and calculations have been performed for each of these
intervals.
It can be seen that the sun remains on the south side of the vertical plane containing
the Y 1 and Z1 axes (refer to Fig. 3). By symmetry about the noon, the afternoon values
are same as the morning values.
Figure 6 shows the collector plate temperature and water temperature versus time
in Ranchi. It can be seen that water temperature increases linearly with time. Absorber
Fig. 5 Sun’s trajectory at Ranchi on January 1, 2018

Fig. 6 Tank water and plate temperature versus time
Fig. 7 Various energy components
plate temperature increases linearly with time at the initial time. However, at later
stage, temperature losses the linear behavior with time due to heat loss from the plate.
Figure 7 shows the different component of energy input to the collector in Ranchi
on January 1. It can be seen that with time the heat loss from the collector increases.
Energy loss is more in the later hour than in morning hour.
4 Conclusions
The present paper reports an analytical calculation of heat transfer in flat plate solar
water heater in Jharkhand region during winter time. Calculation is being done using
sunray tracing based on the incident solar intensity on a stationary flat plate collector
and thermal resistance concept has been used to calculate the heat loss from the
collector. Based on the present investigation following conclusions can be made.
The heating of water is more efficient in the early morning period when the plate
temperature is relatively lower compared to temperature in noon or afternoon. It
is easily possible to heat water in water tanks even during the winter months as
the sunshine hours available is enough to heat a tank of water. Radiation losses are
dominant in later periods of the day even with two covers which are effective in
preventing convective losses only. The plate temperature is the decisive factor in
effective heating of water. One can easily solve the nonlinear heat transfer problem
of heating water by optimization principles.
References
1. Jaisankar, S., Ananth, J., Thulasi, S., Jayasuthakar, S.T., Sheeba, K.N.: A comprehensive review
on solar water heaters. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 15, 3045–3050 (2011)
2. Hossain, M.S., Saidur, R., Fayaz, H., Rahim, N.A., Islam, M.R., Ahamed, J.U., Rahman, M.M.:
Review on solar water heater collector and thermal energy performance of circulating pipe.
Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 15, 3801–3812 (2011)
3. Shukla, A., Buddhi, D., Sawhney, R.L.: Solar water heaters with phase change material thermal
energy storage medium: a review. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 13, 2119–2125 (2009)
4. Shukla, R., Sumathy, K., Erickson, P., Gong, J.: Recent advances in the solar water heating
systems: a review. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 19, 173–190 (2013)
5. Ogueke, N.V., Anyanwu, E.E., Ekechukwu, O.V.: A review of solar water heating systems. J.
Renew Sustain Energy 1, 1–21 (2009)
6. Rabel, A.: Active Solar Collectors and Their Applications. Oxford University Press, New York,
USA (1985)
7. Andersen, E.E.: Fundamentals of Solar Energy Conversion. Addison-Wesley Publishing Com-
pany, MA, USA (1995)
8. Sharan, A.M.: Variation of energy conversion efficiencies of stationary photovoltaic systems
with latitudes. Energy Environ. 19, 679–689 (2008)
9. Duffie, J.A., Beckman, W.A.: Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes, 2nd edn. Wiley-
Interscience, New York, USA (1991)
10. Kreider, J.F., Kreith, F.: Solar Engineering Handbook. McGraw Hill Book Company, New
York, USA (1979)
11. Kreith, F., Black, W.Z.: Basic Heat Transfer. Harper and Row Publishers, New York (1980)
12. Craig, J.J.: Introduction to Robotics, Mechanics and Control. Pearson Prentice Hall, New
Jersey, USA (2005)
13. Duffie, J.A., Beckman, W.A.: Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes, 4th edn. Wiley-
Interscience, New York, USA (2013)
14. Sharan, A.M., Reddy, B.S.: The solution of the nonlinear heat transfer problems having mixed
and nonlinear boundary conditions using optimization principles. J. Indian Inst. Sci. 67, 83–92
(1987)
15. Rao, S.S.: Optimization Theory and Applications. Wiley Eastern Limited, New Delhi, India
(1978)
16. Beveridge, G.S.G., Schechter, R.S.: Optimization: Theory and Practice. McGraw Hill Book
Company, New York, USA (1970)
17. Holman, J.P.: Heat Transfer, 10th edn. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, USA (2010)
Energy Saving Potential
of an Air-Conditioning System
with Desiccant and Solar Assisted
Ventilation
Gaurav Singh and Ranjan Das
Abstract In this paper, a simulation analysis has been performed using Energy Plus
software on the conventional vapor compression-based building cooling system for
warm-humid climate. In order to achieve an energy efficient approach, decoupling
of latent and sensible heat loads is done using a separate desiccant-assisted dedi-
cated outdoor air system (DOAS). A solar collector system is installed to provide
the required amount of heating energy for regenerating the desiccant. Further, an
integrated evaporative cooling (IEC) arrangement in DOAS is used to improve the
system performance. The performance of the system is evaluated using three distinct
modes of operation. Results show that in comparison with the conventional com-
pression operated system, desiccant-assisted DOAS in conjunction with IEC system
saves 2.62% of electrical energy on an annual basis.
Keywords Building cooling · Solar collector · EnergyPlus · DOAS
1 Introduction
Increased demand for air-conditioning in industries, building sectors, and other pro-
cess industries are one of the prime causes for climate change and global energy
consumption. Among total primary energy consumption, almost 35–40% is con-
sumed by vapor compression (VC) systems [1]. This is a major concern for the
researchers to improve the technological aspects in this area. Advanced techniques
are developed for making the building thermally comfortable using low energy meth-
ods. From energy consumption point of view, there are various technologies which
reduce the primary energy consumption in the cooling system such as radiant cool-
ing system, absorption, and adsorption cooling system. As per the current scenario,
most of the building cooling systems are based on vapor compression-based systems
(VCS).
G. Singh · R. Das (B)

Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, Rupnagar 140001, India
e-mail: ranjandas@iitrpr.ac.in
G. Singh
e-mail: gaurav.singh@iitrpr.ac.in
1352 G. Singh and R. Das
Various studies have been reported on the advancement of conventional VCS. Sung
et al. [2] developed a novel kind of mesoscale VCS. In this, a different kind of vane
type compressor is used that reported the coefficient of performance (COP) up to
2.15. Harby et al. [3] performed an analysis on a small scale domestic cooling system
to improve the performance of VCS. Using an evaporative condenser, a significant
amount of energy consumption was reduced by this method. Chauhan and Rajput [4]
has done an experimental analysis on the combined evaporative and compression-
based system for thermal comfort and reported up to 24% of energy saving potential
for their proposed system.
Decoupling the cooling and ventilation tasks can be a possible solution to reduce
the primary energy consumption [5]. In this way, total thermal load of the building is
decoupled through separate arrangements of cooling and ventilation [6]. In the ear-
lier studies a quantitative analysis of dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS)-assisted
air-conditioning system with respect to energy consumption of each installed compo-
nent is not discussed for the warm-humid climatic zone. Further, the modifications
required to improve DOAS performance is also missing. Thus, in this study three
modes of air-conditioning system are compared. The first case (Case 1) is the con-
ventional case, in which only a conventional all air VC system is installed in the
building. In the second mode, (Case 2), a separate desiccant-assisted DOAS is cou-
pled with the conventional all air VC system. In DOAS, a desiccant-assisted wheel
is mounted for the dehumidification of outdoor air. Using this, system latent heat
load of the supply air is catered by DOAS and the remaining load is fulfilled by VCS.
In Case 2, process air is supplied directly into the building space. In the third case
(Case 3), an indirect evaporative cooling (IEC) system is installed in the path of
DOAS process. Flat-plate solar collectors with auxiliary heater are also coupled to
supply heating energy to desiccant wheel in both cases (Case 2 and Case 3). For the
performance assessment of the system, all three discussed cases are compared with
reference to yearly consumption of electric energy.
2 Building Description and Methodology
In this study, a building with roof area of 400 m2 (20 m × 20 m) with window to wall
ratio (WWR) 40% is simulated in the EnergyPlus software. EnergyPlus is a building
energy modeling platform issued by the US department of energy [7]. Construction
of the building (wall, roof, floor, and window) is as per the energy conservation
building code (ECBC) [8] and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) [9].
Simulations are carried out throughout the year for warm-humid climatic zone.
Building geometry is shown in Fig. 1. Working durations are taken from 9:00 to
18:00 h. The cooling system for this building is designed to maintain the same
thermal comfort level (dry bulb temperature of 21–26 °C and specific humidity of
0.008 kg/kg of dry air to 0.010 kg/kg of dry air) throughout the year using three
different techniques (Cases 1, 2, and 3). In the building model, occupancy density
Energy Saving Potential of an Air-Conditioning System … 1353
Fig. 1 3-D geometry of the building
is 10 m2 /person, light power density is 10 W/m2 , electric equipment power den-

sity is 80 W/person, and ventilation requirement is 20 CFM/person [8, 9]. Various
losses associated with the HVAC system designing involve pressure losses in duct-
ing, mechanical losses in the chiller, heat transfer losses from the building envelope,
leakage losses, etc. These losses are pre-assumed in the simulation tool. Before pro-
ceeding to the results and analysis of the present system, validations of the building
design and the installed VCS are carried out as described in the next subsection.
2.1 Validation Study
In this study, validations of the installed conventional VCS and the building design are
done against the experimental results provided in EnergyPlus [7] and the standards
prescribed by ECBC and NREL [8, 9], respectively. Various output parameters for
the validation of the building in terms of heat transfer coefficient (U) value, sensible
heat gain coefficient (SHGC), and visible light transmittance (VLT ) are shown in
Table 1.
For the system validation purpose, the current building model has been scaled
up to make it comparable with the existing reference study [7] having a complete
Table 1 Validation of building parameters

Parameters Value ECBC/NREL Error %
Data [8, 9]
Walls (insulations, U = 0.422 W/(m2 K) 0.440 4.2
plaster, bricks)
Roof (insulations, U = 0.430 W/(m2 K) 0.409 4.8
plaster, concrete)
Window (single U = 3.02 W/(m2 K), U = 3.30 W/(m2 K), U = 9.2
glass) SHGC = 0.276, VLT SHGC = 0.25, VLT SHGC = 9.4
= 0.749 = 0.76 VLT = 1.4
Table 2 VCS validation of present work

S. No. Parameters Present work (kWh) Reference Error %
Building [7] (kWh)
1 Building latent heat 4877 5227 6.9
load
2 Window heat load 8884 7853 13.1
3 Pump load 725 765 5.5
4 Coil sensible load 62,052 66,852 7.7
5 Net electricity utilized 32,607 34,848 6.8
floor area as 500 m2 . All other parameters are kept same in both the models. Table 2
shows a comparison between both studies along with the relative error of various
parameters. It is observed from the present simulations that the building design and
VCS parameters presented in Tables 1 and 2 are within the experimental and the
specified benchmark data [7–9]. Error in window heat gain is somewhat higher than
the reference building [7]. This is because reference building involves WWR of 38%,
whereas the present building has WWR of 40% resulting in more values of this
parameter.
2.2 Different Mode of Operations
In the first case (Case 1), a VCS-based air-conditioning system is designed. This case
includes an electric chiller (having COP as 3.1), pump (to circulate chilled water in
the cooling coil of the system), and fan (to transport the cold and dehumidified air
into the building space). System is given a specified set point temperature to supply
chilled water at 7 °C to the cooling coil [10]. The layout of Case 1 is shown in Fig. 2a.
In Case 2, along with the conventional VCS, a desiccant-assisted DOAS is simulated
for separate ventilation.
Desiccant is a material which adsorbs the moisture of air by the process of chemical
dehumidification. As a result, there is an increase in air temperature with a decrease
in the humidity level of the outdoor air. The temperature of the process outlet air after
passing through desiccant material is nearly 43 °C with specific humidity 8 × 10−3
kg/kg of dry air. This dehumidified process air is supplied directly into the building
space to meet the latent heat load. Simultaneously, the sensible heat load increased
due to this effect is catered by VCS. Since desiccant gets saturated because of water
vapor clogging; it is therefore regenerated using hot air at the temperature of nearly
50–70 °C [11]. For this purpose, a flat-plate solar collector based arrangement having
200 m2 area is used for providing hot water to the regeneration coil. An auxiliary
electrical water heating system is also installed for adverse operating conditions like
unavailability of sun. Hot water from the collector is supplied to the regeneration
hot water coil, from where hot air at a temperature of 60 °C [11] is supplied at the
Fig. 2 Layout of the system in a case 1, b case 2, and c case 3
regeneration end of desiccant wheel. An outline of the system for Case 2 is depicted in
Fig. 2b. Using various input data EnergyPlus solves various energy and heat balance
equations to yield the outputs for the evaluation purpose. Some of the equations are
discussed further. The nominal cooling capacity of the chiller is evaluated as follows
[7],
Q nom = c pw × ρw × Tdes × V̇des (1)
where cpw and ρ w denote the specific heat capacity and density of water, respectively,
whereas, Tdes and V̇des , respectively, indicate temperature rise and volumetric flow
of water per unit time. In an identical way, fan power consumption is calculated in
the below mentioned manner [7],

f pl × ṁ a × P
Qf = (2)
η f × ρa
where P = 900 N/m2 , η f = 0.70 [7] and ρa = 1.2 kg/m3 , whereas, ṁ a represents
mass flow of air per unit time. In Eq. (2), f pl is part load coefficient indicating the
ratio between required and obtained mass flow rates of air.
In Case 3, for the improvement in the ventilation cycle of DOAS, an IEC system
in the path of the process side of DOAS is installed. The layout of Case 3 is shown
in Fig. 2c. This evaporative cooling system is used to decrease the temperature of
exit air from desiccant wheel at the process side. This reduces the temperature of
the dehumidified air up to 28 °C that again reduces the additional sensible heat
load generated by hot and dehumidified air on the air-conditioning system. This
consequently enhances system performance.
The installed systems are simulated with the weather data of warm-humid climatic
zone [12]. To assess energy saving potentials in cases 2 and 3, these are compared
with the conventional VCS. Simulations are done throughout the year for maintaining
the same preferred thermal comfort conditions. Simulation results are obtained in
terms of total annual electric energy utilized by different components of the system.
Figure 3 shows the hourly deviation of the maintained zone air temperature with
respect to the surrounding atmosphere. Energy consumption pattern for all the cases
is discussed next. Throughout the year, the attained zone air temperature varies in
the range 21–26 °C.
Figure 4 shows the electric energy utilization pattern of different components
installed in the system. Complete annual electricity consumption for the conventional
case (Case 1) involving VCS is 32,607 kWh, for Case 2 this energy consumption is
reduced to 32,337 kWh, which is not significant. However, improvement in the system
is achieved by IEC system which leads the energy consumption up to 31,752 kWh
(i.e., 2.62%) for Case 3. Thus, as compared to conventional VCS, electrical energy
saving is very negligible by employing only desiccant system in the ventilation path,
but, this can be by using IEC in DOAS.
45
40
35
Temperature (°C)
30
25
20
15
Site outdoor air temperature
10
5 Zone air temperature
0
1
201
401
601
801
1001
1201
1401
1601
1801
2001
2201
2401
2601
Simulation hours
Fig. 3 Comparison of the zone and outdoor air temperatures

40000
IEC Pump
Annual energy consumption, kWh

DOAS fan Regeneration fan
35000 Chiller
30000
25000
20000
15000
Case 1 Case 2 Case 3
Fig. 4 Comparison of yearly consumption of electric energy
In Fig. 5, a comparison of the obtained coefficient of performance (COP) is studied

which shows that there is an improvement in COP by modifying the conventional
VCS (Case 1) with the DOAS (Case 2) and DOAS-IEC (Case 3) systems. However, in
Case 3, COP is lesser than Case 2, because due to the integration of IEC the heat load
removed by the system is reduced along with reduction in electricity requirement.
This is advantageous in medium and large buildings and not so relevant in small
ones, because, in small office buildings, the benefits provided in the form of reduced
heat load is compensated against by the supplied energy to the evaporative cooler
and pump arrangements.
2.92
2.9
2.88
2.86
COP
2.84
2.82
2.8
2.78
2.76
Case 1 Case 2 Case 3
Fig. 5 Comparison of COP for different cases

4 Conclusion and Future Recommendations
This simulation study shows the impact of using desiccant-assisted DOAS in conju-
gation with conventional VCS. DOAS is responsible to handle the latent heat load of
the supply air that reduces the latent load of VCS, but increases its sensible load. So,
further improvements in DOAS is done by using an IEC that reduces the annual con-
sumption of electric energy due to VACS by 2.62%. Despite somewhat low energy
saving potential, the modified system involving desiccant DOAS and IEC integrated
VCS will be beneficial for medium and large scale buildings. Further improvement
of this system can be done by using sensible heat recovery wheel in conjunction with
DOAS and IEC.
Acknowledgements Authors are thankful to the Department of Science and Technology (DST )
for providing financial support through the project TMD/CERI/BEE/2016/021 (Design and devel-
opment of solar and agricultural waste-based building cooling system). Thanks are also due to IIT
Ropar for other necessary facilities.
References
1. Zhou, X., Yan, D., An, J., Hong, T., Shi, X., Jin, X.: Comparative study of air-conditioning
energy use of four office buildings in China and USA. Energy Build. 169, 344–352 (2018)
2. Sung, T., Lee, D., Kim, S.H., Kim, J.: Development of a novel meso-scale vapor compression
refrigeration system (mVCRS). Appl. Therm. Eng. 66, 453–463 (2014)
3. Harby, K., Gebaly, R.D., Koura, S.N., Hassan, M.: Performance improvement of vapor com-
pression cooling systems using evaporative condenser: an overview. Renew. Sustain. Energy
Rev. 58, 347–360 (2016)
4. Chauhan, S.S., Rajput, S.P.S.: Experimental analysis of an evaporative–vapour compression
based combined air conditioning system for required comfort conditions. Appl. Therm. Eng.
115, 326–336 (2017)
5. Keun, M., Leibundgut, H., Choi, J.: Energy and exergy analyses of advanced decentralized
ventilation system compared with centralized cooling and air ventilation systems in the hot
and humid climate. Energy Build. 79, 212–222 (2014)
6. Zhang, L.Z., Niu, J.L.: Indoor humidity behavior associated with decoupled cooling in hot and
humid climates. Build. Environ. 38, 99–107 (2003)
7. EnergyPlus 8.7, Open source software. https://energyplus.net/downloads. Accessed 01 Nov
2017
8. ECBC: User Guide, Energy Conservation Building Code. Bureau of Energy Efficiency, New
Delhi, India (2013)
9. Deru, M., Field, K., Studer, D., Benne, K., Griffith, B., Torcellini, P., Liu, B., Halver-son, M.,
Winiarski, D., Rosenberg, M., Yazdanian, M., Huang, J.: US Department of Energy Commer-
cial Reference Building Models of the National Building Stock. Technical report, National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (2011)
10. User Manual: The Trane Air-Conditioning Economics (TRACE® 700). http://software.trane.
com/CDS/TRACE%20700%20-%20Users%20Manual.pdf. Accessed 10 July 2018
11. Khan, Y., Singh, G., Mathur, J., Bhandari, M., Srivastava, P.: Performance assessment of radiant
cooling system integrated with desiccant assisted DOAS with solar regeneration. Appl. Therm.
Eng. 124, 1075–1082 (2017)
12. Weather data by location. https://energyplus.net/weather-location/asia_wmo_region_2/IND//
IND_Chennai-Madras.432790_ISHRAE. EnergyPlus weather file source. Accessed 01 Nov
2017
Trapezoidal Approach to Establish
One-Dimensional Analysis
of an Absorber Plate
for Two-Dimensional Heat Flow
Jayanarayan Mahakud and Balaram Kundu
Abstract The thermal analysis of an absorber plate for flat-plate solar collectors is
done by many investigators considering one-dimensional heat conduction. However
there always exists a two-dimensional temperature distribution in the absorber plate
due to its typical shape. The absorber plate is made of thin thickness and the temper-
ature variation in the thickness direction may not occur. There is always a demand
to establish an analytical analysis for two-dimensional heat flow in absorber plates.
In this paper, a modified one-dimensional method is proposed to determine a 2-D
analysis based on the trapezoidal rule. From the results, it can be emphasized that
the modified 1-D model matches closely with the 2-D model. Therefore, the 1-D
classical model is unsuitable to predict the performance of an absorber plate. The
modified 1-D model is always better than the 1-D classical model. The analysis of
the proposed 1-D model is very simple for understanding and calculations.
Keywords Absorber plate · 2-D heat conduction model · Modified 1-D model ·
Trapezoidal approach
Nomenclature
A Dimensionless constant, see Eq. (5e)

Bi Biot number, defined in Eq. (5e)
k Thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1 )
L Half-pitch distance between flow tubes (m)
M Dimensionless thermo-geometric parameter of the absorber plate, see Eq. (3)
m Modified dimensionless thermo-geometric parameter, defined in Eq. (14)
N Dimensionless absorbed solar flux, see Eq. (3)
S Absorbed solar flux (W m−2 )
T Local absorber plate temperature (°C)
T∞ Ambient temperature (°C)
J. Mahakud · B. Kundu (B)

e-mail: mahakud.kundu@springernature.com

1362 J. Mahakud and B. Kundu
t Thickness of the absorber plate (m)

UL Overall heat loss coefficient (W m−2 K−1 )
W Half-length of the symmetric heat transfer
module (m)
X Dimensionless coordinate in x direction, x L
x x-coordinate (m)
Y Dimensionless y-coordinate, y/W
y y-coordinate (m)
Greek Symbols
δ Aspect ratio, L/W

θ Dimensionless temperature, defined in Eq. (3)
θ Dimensionless temperature, see Eq. (10)
Subscripts
f Fluid
in Inlet condition
1 Introduction
Due to clean and abundant, solar energy utilization is treated as one of the leading
sources among all renewable energy sources. For the utilization of solar thermal
energy flat-plate collectors are widely used in domestic as well as in industrial appli-
cations such as domestic hot water and space heating, industrial process heating,
drying, etc. [1]. The main component of a flat-plate collector is the absorber plate
on which the solar flux is absorbed and the fluid carrying tube through which the
absorbed solar thermal energy is transported. The determination of the actual per-
formance of absorber plate is an interesting topic to researchers.
From the last two decade, considerable research has been carried out to determine
the performance and suitable design for the absorber plate. Many researchers have
conducted the thermal analysis of flat-plate collector using steady state 1-D heat
conduction. Hottel and Woertz [2] published the first analytical work on flat-plate
solar collectors by considering 1-D lumped model. Duffie and Beckman [3] refined
the lumped analysis by considering the resistance between the tube and fluid. To
improve the thermal performance and optimum design of the plate geometry Kundu
[4, 5] has suggested different profile absorber plates with considering 1-D steady
state heat conduction. For effective utilization of material Kundu [5] and Holland
Trapezoidal Approach to Establish One-Dimensional Analysis … 1363
and Stedman [6] proposed a new shape, i.e., recto-trapezoidal profile and step change
in local thickness of rectangular plate.
Literature shows that many investigators have assumed 1-D heat conduction for
determining the thermal performance of an absorber plate. In case of 1-D model,
thermal resistance for heat flow is lesser and thereby yields higher values of the per-
formance parameters. As the absorber plate is made of a highly conducting material
and very small in thickness, it is fact that the 2-D heat conduction will predict better
results over 1-D heat conduction [7]. A very few research works have been published
with considering 2-D steady state heat conduction [7–10]. They have considered the
two-dimensional effect on absorber plate with different boundary conditions. Since
the closed form solution for the 2-D heat conduction is quite complicated, many
researchers used numerical methods for their analysis.
In this paper, a numerical solution based on the finite difference method is estab-
lished to solve the 2-D steady state energy equation for determining the temperature of
an absorber plate. A modified 1-D method is proposed that uses an integral approach
to approximate solution of the 2-D energy equation. There is an excellent agree-
ment between the results obtained by the 2-D model and the proposed modified 1-D
model. It has been suggested that the proposed modified 1-D model can be chosen
to determine the performance parameters for 2-D heat conduction in absorber plates
with a negligible error.
For the thermal analysis the following assumptions are made:

• Energy conduction in the absorber plate is two-dimensional and steady state.
• The solar insolation reaching the absorber plate is uniformly distributed over the
plate and remains constant throughout.
• The thermal conductivity of the plate material remains constant.
• The surrounding temperature and the overall loss coefficient are constant.
For the thermal analysis of the absorber plate, a symmetric heat transfer module
of length W and width L identical between two fluid carrying can be considered as
depicted in Fig. 1. The absorber plate is heated with the absorption of solar energy
on it and that heat is conducted to the fluid flowing through the tubes. Therefore, the
temperature of the fluid increases in the flow direction. As the temperature of the
plate is higher than the ambient, there is heat loss occurred between the absorber plate
and the surroundings by convection and radiation. These heat losses are incorporated
with the calculation in overall heat loss coefficient. Hence, the energy equation for
the absorber plate under steady state and two-dimensional heat conduction can be
written as
∂2T ∂2T S U L (T − T∞ )
+ + − =0 (1)
∂x 2 ∂y 2 kt kt
Fig. 1 Schematic of a
symmetric heat transfer
module of an absorber plate
fin
Due to the direct absorption of solar energy and the low-temperature variation in
the plate, the thermo-physical properties of an absorber plate can be assumed to be
constant. Therefore, Eq. (1) can be written in dimensionless form as follows:
∂ 2θ 2∂ θ
2
+ δ − M 2θ + N = 0 (2)
∂ X2 ∂Y 2
where,
T − T∞ x y L
θ= ; X = ;Y = ;δ = ;
Tin − T∞ L W W
UL L 2 SL2
M2 = ;N = (3)
kt kt(Tin − T∞ )
At the line of symmetry, there is no net heat transfer along the x and y directions
at the midsection of the plate between two tubes. Along the plate where the tube
is located, an energy balance between conduction and convection can be made.
Mathematically, the boundary conditions taken for the present study are expressed
as follows:
∂T
at x = 0, =0 (4a)
∂x
∂T
at x = L , −kt dy = m f c p f dT f (4b)
∂x
∂T
at y = 0, =0 (4c)
∂y
∂T
at y = W, −k = h(T − T∞ ) (4d)
∂y
The boundary conditions in dimensionless form are
∂θ
at X = 0, =0 (5a)
∂X
∂θ
at X = 1, = −A (5b)
∂X
∂θ
at Y = 0, =0 (5c)
∂Y
∂θ
at Y = 1, = −Biθ (5d)
∂Y
where
m f c p f L dT f hW
A= ; Bi = (5e)
kt(Tin − T∞ ) dy k
2.1 Numerical Methodology
Equation (2) is solved numerically along with the boundary conditions expressed
in Eqs. (5a)–(5d) by the finite difference method. The differential equations are
discretized with Taylor’s series central difference scheme of second-order accuracy
[11]. The algebraic equations obtained from the governing equation and boundary
conditions are solved by Gauss-Seidel iteration method. The final results are obtained
after satisfying the desired accuracy level of 10−6 .
2.2 Proposed Modified 1-D Model
Let a function F(X, Y ) be defined as

F(X, Y ) = ∂θ (X, Y ) ∂Y
This function can be integrated into the fluid flow direction as
1 1
∂θ (X, Y )
F(X, Y )dY = dY = θ (X, 1) − θ (X, 0) (6)
∂Y
0 0
From the trapezoidal rule, the integral form of θ(X, Y ) in Eq. (6) yields
1
1
F(X, Y )dY [F(X, 1) + F(X, 0)] (7)
2
0
Combining Eqs. (6), (7) with (5c) and (5d)

1 ∂θ (X, 1) ∂θ (X, 0)
θ (X, 1) − θ (X, 0) = +
2 ∂Y ∂Y

2 + Bi
θ (X, 0) = θ (X, 1) (8)
2
The average temperature in the flow direction
1
θ (X ) = θ (X, Y )dY (9)
0
Using the trapezoidal rule Eq. (9) can be written as
1
θ (X ) ≈ [θ (X, 1) + θ (X, 0)] (10)
2
Combining Eqs. (9) and (10) with (8) we have
4θ (X )
θ (X, 1) = (11)
4 + Bi
The 2-D energy Eq. (2) can be recast in integral form as
1 1 2 1 1
∂ ∂θ 1 ∂ θ M2 N
dY = − 2 dY + 2 θ dY − 2 dY (11a)
∂Y ∂Y δ ∂ X2 δ δ
0 0 0 0
Integrating and rearranging we have
1 1
∂θ ∂θ 1 ∂2 M2 N
− =− 2 θ dY + 2 θ dY − (12)
∂Y Y =1 ∂Y Y =0 δ ∂ X2 δ δ2
0 0
Combining Eqs. (9), (11) and (12) gives
∂ 2 θ (X )
− m 2 θ (X ) + N = 0 (13)
∂ X2
where

4δ 2 Bi
m =2
M +
2
(14)
4 + Bi
It can be highlighted that Eq. (13) is a governing differential equation of modified

1-D model and is the similar type with that of classical 1-D model [12] except the
value of m. Eq. (13) is solved with the boundary condition obtained from Eqs. (5a)
and (5b) as
N A
θ (X ) = 2
− cosh m X (15)
m m sinh m
2.3 Classical 1-D Model
Neglecting the temperature gradient in the transverse direction (Y ), the differential

equation obtained from the energy balance for the absorber plate becomes
d 2θ
− M 2θ + N = 0 (16)
d X2
Equation (16) along with the boundary conditions from Eqs. (5a) and (5b) can be
solved analytically as
N A cosh(M X )
θ (X ) = 2
− (17)
M M sinh M
For the validation purpose, there are insufficient results available in the literature.
Therefore, the temperature distribution over the absorber plate for various design
parameters was obtained for the proposed modified 1-D model and the classical 1-D
model analytically, and they have been compared with the 2-D heat transfer model
numerically. Figure 2 depicts the temperature distribution predicted by three different
models for a set of design parameters and different biot number. It is observed that
there is an excellent match between the 2-D numerical and 1-D modified models.
The temperature variation for 1-D classical model over predicts with respect to the
values obtained from the other two models. In Fig. 2a temperature distribution is
drawn for Bi = 0.1 and Fig. 2b is plotted for Bi = 1.0. As Biot number increases
the conductive resistance increases and a result, it decreases the heat transfer rate.
This effect can be visualized graphically from these two figures. In both the cases,
the temperature range for 2-D model and 1-D modified model matches closely.
Fig. 2 Effects of Bi on 0.65

temperature distribution in
an absorber plate predicted 0.60
by different methods at
N = 0.3, M = 0.5, δ = 1.0, 0.55
and A = 0.15 1-D analytical
2-D Numerical, Y=0
0.50 Present modified 1-D
0.45
0.40
0.35
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
X
(a) Bi 0.1
0.65
0.52
1-D analytical
2-D Numerical, Y=0
0.26
0.13
0.00
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
X
(b) Bi 1.0
Figure 3 depicts the temperature distribution determined by three different meth-

ods with the variation of solar flux. For each case, there is a good agreement between
2-D and 1-D modified model. For the lower value of solar insolation, the absorber
plate temperature is low. As the insolation increases the temperature of the absorber
plate increases. This situation can be clearly justified from Fig. 3a, b. In both the
cases the result of 2-D and modified 1-D models matches closely.
Figure 4a and b predict the temperature distribution for different values of thermo-
geometric parameter M. Since the thermo-geometric parameter is directly related to
the overall heat loss, an increasing M means there is an increase in overall heat
loss coefficient and hence temperature field decreases due to more heat transfer rate
between the absorber plate and surrounding. This effect can be verified from these
two figures. It can also be observed that there is a good agreement between the results
of 2-D and 1-D modified model and they are very closer to each other.
Fig. 3 Influences of design 1.5

variable N on temperature
distribution in absorber
plates for Bi = 1.0, 1.4
M = 0.5, δ = 1.0, and
A = 0.15
1.3
1-D analytical
2-D Numerical, Y=0
1.2
Present modified 1-D
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
X
(a) N 0.5
3.50
3.25
1-D analytical
3.00 2-D Numerical, Y=0
Present modified 1-D
2.75
2.50
2.25
2.00
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
X
(b) N 1.0
The effect of δ, i.e., width to length ratio, on temperature profile is also predicted
and it can be done by comparing Figs. 2a and 5. An increase in δ reduces the absorber
plate temperature owing to an increase in thermal resistance for the heat flow.

distribution in absorber 1-D analytical
plates in x-direction for Present modified 1-D
Bi = 0.1, N = 0.3, δ = 1.0, 2-D Numerical, Y=0
and A = 0.1 0.8
Bi=0.1
0.7 N=0.3
M=0.5
=1.0
0.6
0.5
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
X
(a) M 0.5
0.9
0.8
1-D analytical Bi=0.1

Present modified 1-D N=0.3
0.7
2-D Numerical, Y=0 M=0.5
=1.0
0.6
0.5
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
X
(b) M 1.0
4 Conclusions
In the present paper, an analysis is developed for 2-D and modified 1-D models
to determine the temperature distribution in an absorber plate for a flat-plate solar
collector. The determination of the performance of absorber plates based on 1-D heat
conduction may not be an accurate approach under any design circumstance [13–
15]. Therefore, 2-D models can be used for the thermal analysis of an absorber plate
accurately. But in many situations, the 2-D analysis has increased the complexity
to establish an analytical solution. From the result and discussion section, it was
observed that there is an excellent agreement between the results of 2-D model
Fig. 5 Different methods 0.9

used to determine
temperature distribution in 0.8
absorber plates in x-direction
for Bi = 0.1, N = 0.3,
M = 0.5, δ = 2.0, and 0.7 1-D analysis
A = 0.15 2-D Numerical, Y=0
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
X
determined by the finite difference method and the modified 1-D model. In every
case study, the formulation of the present analysis (2-D and modified 1-D models)
has been done accurately to understand it from the results presented. Alternatively
the proposed modified 1-D model is always superior to the classical 1-D model for
the analysis of an absorber plate in flat-plate solar collector.
Acknowledgements The first author acknowledges PMEC, Berhampur and AICTE, New Delhi
for providing support for pursuing Ph.D. at Jadavpur University, Kolkata to carry out this research
work.
References
1. Subiantoro, A., Tiow, O.K.: Appl. Energy 104, 392–399 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
apenergy.2012.11.009
2. Hottel, H.C., Woertz, B.S.: Trans. Amer. Soc. Mech. Engrs. 64, 91–104 (1942)
3. Duffie, J.A., Beckman, W.A.: Solar Energy Thermal Processes, 3rd edn. USA, Wiley, New
York (1974)
4. Kundu, B.: Appl. Therm. Eng. 22, 999–1012 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-
4311(01)00127-2
5. Kundu, B.: Sol. Energy 82, 22–32 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2007.05.002
6. Hollands, K.G.T., Stedman, B.A.: Sol. Energy 49, 493–495 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1016/
0038-092X(92)90157-6
7. Rao, P.P., Francis, J.E., Love Jr., T.J.: J. Energy 5, 324–328 (1977). https://doi.org/10.2514/3.
62342
8. Lund, K.O.: Sol. Energy 36, 443–450 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-092X(86)90092-7
9. Gorla, R.S.R.: Finite Elem. Anal. Des. 24, 283–290 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-
874X(96)00067-4
10. Kazeminejad, H.: Renew. Energy 26(2), 309–323 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-

1481(01)00121-5
11. Patankar, S.V.: Numerical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow. Hemisphere Publishing, Taylor and
Francis Group, New York, USA (1980)
12. Kundu, B., Lee, K.S.: Energy Convers. Manage. 103, 814–826 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.enconman.2015.07.024
13. Kundu, B., Lee, K.S.: Sol. Energy 86, 3030–3039 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.
2010.07.011
14. Kundu, B.: Appl. Energy 87(7), 2243–2255 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.
01.008
15. Kundu, B.: Heat Transf. Eng. 28(5), 496–505 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1080/
01457630601166150
Heat Transfer Analysis of a Solar Air
Heater Roughened with Chamfered Rib
and Groove Roughness on the Absorber
Plate Using CFD Approach
Amit Kumar , Apurba Layek and Partha Kumar Mondal
Abstract The 2-D CFD based numerical study of solar air heater equipped with
the chamfered shaped rib with groove roughness on the collector plate has been
investigated in a rectangular channel duct. The solar air heater analysis with its
rib height on the collector plate has been done using CFD approach on the basis
of heat transfer obtained considering Reynolds number (3000–20,000), the relative
roughness pitch ratio, i.e., (P/e = 4.5, 6 and 8) and chamfer angle of 18° at constant
e/D of 0.04. ANSYS FLUENT 16.2 code has been used to visualize the distribution
of the flowing fluid across the channel. The heat transfer results in the form of
Nusselt number and friction factor which are considered for the evaluation of the
smooth duct with chamfered rib grooved roughness found to be a good result with
reference to the experimental results. The effect on chamfered rib roughness at P/e
of 6 emphasizes that the Nusselt number is a strong function and dependent variables
on the Reynolds number with an optimum value of heat transfer and pressure drop
found to be minimum.
Keywords CFD · Solar air heater (SAH) · Artificial roughness (AR) · Heat transfer
Nomenclature
A Fluid flow duct or pipe area, (m2 )

D Duct hydraulic diameter size, (m)
e Rib height, (mm)
e/D Roughness height ratio (dimensionless)
h Heat coefficient for fluid, (W/m2 K)
k Thermal conductively, (W/mK)
P Pitch, (mm)
A. Kumar (B) · A. Layek · P. K. Mondal

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Durgapur, Durgapur
713209, West Bengal, India
e-mail: amit4310@rediffmail.com

1374 A. Kumar et al.
P/e Roughness pitch ratio (dimensionless)

V Fluid velocity duct, (m/s)
W Width, Duct (m)
ρ The air density, (Kg/m3 )
1 Introduction
Solar energy is used as a clean energy development process as well as a reduction

in the production cost in industrial process heat generation. The emerging of solar
air heating technology plays an important role in Indian industries such as leather,
chemical industry, salt production, processed foods, fruits and vegetable processing,
textiles, handmade paper products, spices, fish and marine products processing, latex
rubber, etc. are extensively used for heating purposes. Solar air heater (SAH) system
known to be a solar thermal system in order to get the heated air through the collector
plate surface directly to the interior space. The collector plate thermal efficiency is
low mainly due to viscous sublayer present just adjacent to plate and fluid [1]. The
performance analysis of the air heater system on the basis of its thermal aspect gen-
erally enhanced by breaking the viscous sublayer by embedding artificial roughness
material on the side of the collector plate which has been widely used and accepted
[2, 3]. The solar air heater to make more economical by advancing the formation of
heat transfer between the collector plate and the flowing fluid which greatly increase
the thermal behavior and its output of a solar air heater. A CFD approach for numeri-
cal simulation of flow through an air heater system with square shaped rib roughness
is carried out by Yadav and Bhagoria [4] publish that the relative roughness height
ratio, i.e., (e/D) is an important factor to increase the rate of heat transfer. Karwa
et al. [5] did the experimental study investigated on air heater system having rough-
ness material of repeated chamfered ribs which established the fully developed flow
in a test section and it is seen that the frictional resistance and heat transfer values
found to be the highest at the chamfered rib angle of 15°. Chaube et al. [6] carry out
on ten different roughness geometry viz. square, rectangular, chamfered, triangular,
etc. on the absorber plate for the analysis using two dimensional CFD numerical
simulation and the optimum values of results found for rectangular shaped ribs of
size 3–5 mm clearly shows that the investigation was done using CFD approach
justified with existing experimental results. Webb et al. [7] investigated that having
relative roughness pitch (P/e) less than 8 of square ribbed roughness does not find
any reattachment at the shear layer adjacent to it. While Zhang et al. [8] generally
improvised the turbulences, effect attaches the shear layer very nearer to the rib by
developing the groove in between the adjacent ribs. To some extent number of exper-
imental works [9, 10] on solar air heater system has been done to increase the rate
of heat transfer coefficient between the flowing fluid and the collector plate which
increases the performance capacity of the solar systems. The critical analysis on
Heat Transfer Analysis of a Solar Air Heater Roughened … 1375
air heater system done by using CFD approach resulted by advanced mathematical
models can put together to get the large volume of results added no expense and
considered to be very cheap to execute parametric analysis to get the most effective
equipment performance. In the same conditions, some parameters are very difficult to
test experimentally which requires both time and cost, such problem can be overcome
by using the computational technique. Layek et al. [11] conducted an experiment on
chamfered ribs roughness and to achieve the optimum values of heat transfer used to
improvised it’s a thermal phenomenon and performance capacity of the solar system
that had varied the chamfer angle 5°–30° for the studied ranges as investigated. Hence
the effect of roughness is studied to find out the optimum chamfer angle found out
to be at 18o . In the present investigation instead of getting the effect of chamfering
the dimensionless parameter used as P/e = 4.5, 6, and 8 at constant value of e/DH
= 0.040 while keeping the relative groove position is kept same (g/P = 0.4). A 2D
geometries have been created in ICEM 16.2 and simulated using ANSYS FLUENT
16.2 solver. The required size of the duct having a width (W), depth (H), and aspect
ratio (W/H) is Considered to be same for the previous experimental investigation
conducted by Layek et al. [11] and current numerical simulation investigation. The
results generally available from Layek et al. [11] done experimentally is used for the
validation of current numerical investigation.
The work motivation for the present work initiated from the literature review as
studied that an inefficiency present in the literature data can be solved or improved
by understanding the basic concept of heat transfer. Hence, there is a number of
the approach used for solar air heater design considering heat transfer engineering
application and its basic fundamental theories involving a determined approach to
get the concept of the thermo-hydraulic phenomenon of this system, so that the
performance can be improvised by accurately designing the system. After selection
and validation with numerical simulation of different turbulence model, it is possible
to analyze details of flowing fluid and heat transfer characteristics using different
rib shaped geometry to optimize the roughness shapes and its geometry for better
performance without being conducted experimentation which overall reduces time
and cost. The results generally obtained by the CFD based computational approach
are found to be in acceptable range.
2 Analysis
2.1 Computational Domain
The guidelines for 2-D computational domain CFD analysis has been taken from
ASHRAE standard 93-2003 [12]. Figure 1 represents, a schematic diagram of the 2D
Computational domain used for the evaluation using CFD analysis on an artificially
roughened solar air heater. Figure 1 represents the three sections having test section
L2, Entrance section L1, and exit length L3. The Nusselt number and friction factor
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of 2D computational domain
Table 1 Geometry as per

Geometrical parameter used Values
simulation study
Test section length, L2 1200 mm
Entrance length, L1 800 mm
Exit length, L3 600 mm
Height, duct, H 30 mm
Width, duct, W 150 mm
Hydraulic diameter size, duct, Dh 50 mm
Aspect ratio, W/H 5
Heat flux, q 1000 W/m2
Reynolds number, Re 3000–20,000
results acquired from the numerical simulation is just used to compare the result
with experiment result by Layek et al. [11]. The geometry design used as similar to
that of Layek et al. [11] of length 1200 mm, width 150 mm, and duct depth 30 mm
with its total size selected as per the ASHRAE standard [12]. The heat flux value
of 1000 W/m2 supplied to top wall of the absorber plate. Table 1 which are listed
below mention about its geometric and operating parameters used for computational
analysis.
2.2 Geometry and Roughness Parameters
The geometry was generally created in commercially available software ANSYS

ICEM 16.2 Which provides advanced geometry/Mesh generation as well as mesh
diagnostics useful for in-depth analysis of a system. The parameters used as a dimen-
sionless number, i.e., (P/e) is varied according to the rib height at constant relative
roughness height, i.e., (e/D = 0.04) while keeping the same position of the groove
(g/P = 0.4). The geometry of the chamfered groove roughness of the roughened duct
is shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 Rib geometry
2.3 Meshing Domain
The meshing is done as represented in Fig. 3 for the present cases studied consisted
mostly of nonuniform sized cells was generated by clicking on “Generate Mesh”
button of ANSYS ICEM 16.2 software. The appropriate Mesh has been done near
the walls of the heated plate generally to get the generalized governing equations as
the laminar sublayer regions accurately and effectively capture the boundary layer
phenomena.
Fig. 3 2D meshing of transverse chamfered rib groove

To get the accurate results grid cell size is very important to be selected. Grid inde-
pendence tests generally used to get or predict the suitability of the grid size and to
accomplish the study done using computational approach for the considered values
of Reynolds number. In actual practice, the grid independence test performed at Re
= 15,000, because the height of sublayers very adjacent to plates found to be mini-
mum at this point. For this, the grids to be increased until the time as the distinction
obtained between the grid sizes became 1%.
2.5 CFD Simulation
The investigation consists of a 2-D computational domain rectangular duct of solar

air heater system with a chamfered rib as roughness material on the collector surface
is used for numerical simulation to analyze the flow characteristics of the flowing
fluid. ANSYS FLUENT 16.2, is used to visualize the dynamics of flowing fluid and
its characteristics of heat transfer for the system.
The assumptions to be considered for the computational analysis are as follows,
(1) 2-D Steady flow condition and fully developed.
(2) Duct wall thermal conductivity and the material used as an absorber plate inde-
pendent of temperature.
(3) It must be homogeneous and isotropic throughout the wall.
(4) No-slip boundary condition.
3 Data Reduction
The data obtained by the CFD simulation technique on solar heater system forced
to take out enhancement due to the presence of artificial material placed on the
heated plate is just to compare with the smooth duct of the system. The general
modified equation generally used to find out the Nusselt number and Friction factor
obtained for the smooth plate are compared and represented in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5
with the correlation values of Dittus-Boelter Equation [13] and Blasius equation
[14] respectively.
0.4
Dittus-Boelter Equation: Nus = 0.023Re0.8 Pr (1)
Blasius equation: fs = 0.085 Re−0.25 (2)

Fig. 4 Nu versus Re for the 60

smooth duct Smooth plate
Nusselt number (Nu)

50
40
30
20
10
0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000
Reynolds number (Re)
Experimental data Dittus Boelter Equation
Fig. 5 f versus Re for the 0.014

smooth duct Smooth plate
0.012
Friction factor (f)
0.01
0.008
0.006
0.004
0.002
0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000
Reynolds number (Re)
Experimental data Blasius equation
The calculation is done by obtaining the ‘h’ value from the numerical simulation
of the roughened surface to take out the average value of the Nusselt number using
Eq. (3);
Nu = hD/K (3)
where ‘h’ represents heat transfer coefficient due to convection.

The average value of friction factor can be written as using the equation
fr = (P/l)D/2ρV 2 (4)
where P/l pressure drop across the duct for unit length.
The thermohydraulic performance parameter (THPP) suggested by Webb and
Eckert [15] expressed by the relation (5),
(N u r /N u s )
T HPP = 1/3 (5)
fr
fs
To validate from the available literature data with the numerical investigation is
considered to be the most important thing to achieve some level of understanding in
the study. The CFD based numerical analysis is carried out for the air heater system
(SAH) carried integral transverse chamfered ribs with groove roughness overheated
plate and its details analysis are introduced in this section. The results obtained from
the analytical approach of (CFD) based investigation are obtained to compare with
those of experimental results for the same operating conditions as to examine the
augmentation in heat transfer and friction factor characteristic with such roughness
shaped implemented inside solar air heater duct. The contour view of a velocity
profile for P/e of 6 at e/D of 0.04 shown in Fig. 6.
Fig. 6 Contours image of the velocity profile

4.1 P/e, i.e., Roughness Pitch Ratio Effect on Heat Transfer
Nusselt number is considered to be one of the most important dimensionless numbers

to get the enhancement effect on heat transfer caused by the convection process and
talks about the quality of heat transfer rather than its quantity. Figure 7 represents the
variant of Nusselt number as varies the Reynolds number carries two other values
of parameters as considered (P/e) at a constant value (e/D) keeping the relative gap
position (g/P) same. It is seen that for the cases studied there is an increment of Nu as
Re increases mainly relates to increasing in Kinetic energy due to turbulence and its
dissipation effect leads to giving an increased effect of turbulent intensity increases
Nusselt number for the considered rib geometry. Nu is supposed to be higher for rib
roughness compared to that of smooth surface for the cases studied and the highest
Nu is obtained for P/e = 6 at e/D value of 0.04 shown by blue dots in the graph.
Fig. 7 Effect of Nu versus 200

Re for different P/e at g/P = Nu exp at P/e=4.5
0.4, e/Dh = 0.04 and F = 18° Nu exp at P/e=6
Nusselt number (Nu)
150 Nu exp at P/e=8

Nu CFD at P/e =4.5
Nu CFD at P/e =6
Nu CFD at P/e =8
100 Smooth duct
50
0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000
Re
Fig. 8 Effect of f versus Re 0.04

for different P/e at g/P = 0.4, f exp at P/e=4.5 f exp at P/e=6
f exp at P/e=8 f CFD at P/e =4.5
e/Dh = 0.04 and F = 18°
f CFD at P/e =6 f CFD at P/e =8
Friction factor (fr)
0.03
Smooth duct
0.02
0.01
0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000
Re
4.2 P/e, i.e., Roughness Pitch Ratio Effect on Friction Factor
The graph plotted for friction factor w.r.t Reynolds number as presented in Fig. 8,
basically to get the outcome of the considered values of (P/e) on its thermal perfor-
mance of the air heater system. We see from the Fig. 8 that as P/e varies f changes for
the distinct value of Re at constant e/D = 0.04. As observed from the cases that there
is a declination of friction factor, f for an increase in Re values mainly due to the fact
of understanding that at low Reynolds number the velocity is seen to be minimum
and the viscous force dominates against the force of inertia provides some resistance
to flow direction which leads to higher values in friction factor. The optimum results
achieved for friction factor found to be 0.02,952 for P/e of 6 at constant e/D of 0.04.
4.3 Thermohydraulic Performance Parameter (THPP)
It is important to find out the overall performance of the roughened collector system
by getting its thermal with the hydraulic phenomenon and its attributes to collector
simultaneously. The rib material in the form of chamfered shaped found to be a
significant enhancement in heat transfer. The parameters generally considered on
the basis of its thermal with its hydraulic performance of the system approached
by Webb and Eckert [15] as parameters (THPP) plotted in Fig. 9 for distinct (P/e)
values, clearly shows that the performance parameters enhancement lies in between
1.8 and 2.2 for considered values of Reynolds number studied and indicates that
the chamfered solid shaped roughness material on the collector plate found to be
approximately similar results for both approaches of CFD and experimentally as
that of smooth plate.
Fig. 9 THPP versus 2.3

Reynolds number
2.1
THPP
1.9
CFD at P/e =4.5
CFD at P/e = 6
1.7 CFD at P/e = 8
Layek et al [11]at P/e=6
1.5
0 5000 10000 15000 20000
Re
5 Conclusions
The analysis which has been done on the basis of CFD approach in a rectangular
duct of air heater system to take out the effect of chamfered rib groove roughness
applying constant values of uniform heat flux on the absorber plate. Observations
were done to know the effect of heat transfer and friction factor for distinct (P/e)
values at constant values of (e/D). The major conclusion on the output of numerical
simulations are as follows:
• Analysis has been done using CFD approach to know the behavior of heat transfer
and its enhancement on the chamfered rib with groove roughness for parameters
considered and the obtained data are also compared to the smooth duct approxi-
mately close to the experimental results and it is found to have good agreements
in the present analysis.
• The results observed in the present analysis clearly shows that as Reynolds number
increases lead to get the high transfer of heat and simultaneously increases Nusselt
number.
• At P/e = 6, heat transfer found to be a maximum value due to its turbulence and
its dissipation rate of fluid while the friction factor decreases as the P/e value
increases.
• The optimum data of Nusselt number (Nu) obtained for the collector plate with
chamfered ribs come out to be 186.06 at P/e of 6 for the constant groove position
of 0.4.
• The THPP values obtained to be optimum at P/e of 6 for the chamfered shaped
rib roughness which is approximately found to be similar to both CFD and exper-
imental analysis.
References
1. Bhatti, M.S., Shah, R.K., Shah, R.K., Aung, W.: Handbook of Single-Phase Convective Heat
Transfer. Wiley, New York (1987)
2. Yadav, A.S., Bhagoria, J.L.: Heat transfer and fluid flow analysis of solar air heater: a review
of CFD approach. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 23, 60–79 (2013)
3. Kumar, A., Saini, R.P., Saini, J.S.: A review of the thermohydraulic performance of artificially
roughened solar air heaters. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 37, 100–122 (2014)
4. Yadav, A.S., Bhagoria, J.L.: Modeling and simulation of turbulent flow through a solar air
heater having square-sectioned transverse rib roughness on the absorber plate. Sci World J.
(2013). https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/827131
5. Karwa, R., Solanki, S.C., Saini, J.S.: Heat transfer coefficient and friction factor correlations
for the transitional flow regime in rib-roughened rectangular ducts. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf.
42, 1597–1615 (1999)
6. Chaube, A., Sahoo, P.K., Solanki, S.C.: Analysis of heat transfer augmentation and flow char-
acteristics due to rib roughness over absorber plate of a solar air heater. Renew. Energy 31,
317–331 (2006)
7. Webb, R.L., Eckert, E.R.G., Goldstein, R.J.: Heat transfer and friction in tubes with repeated
rib roughness. Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 14, 601–617 (1971)
8. Zhang, Y.M., Gu, W.Z., Han, J.C.: Heat transfer and friction in Rectangular channel with ribbed
or ribbed-grooved walls. ASME/J Heat Transf. 116, 58–65 (1994)
9. Prasad, K., Mullick, S.C.: Heat transfer characteristics of a solar air heater used for drying
purposes. Appl. Energy 13, 83–93 (1983)
10. Kumar, S., Saini, R.P.: CFD based performance analysis of a solar air heater duct provided
with artificial roughness. Renew. Energy 34, 1285–1291 (2009)
11. Layek, A., Saini, J.S., Solanki, S.C.: Heat transfer and friction characteristics for artificially
roughened ducts with compound turbulators. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 50, 4845–4854 (2007)
12. ASHRAE Standard 93,2003, Method of Testing to Determine the Thermal Performance of
Solar Collectors, American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers,
GA, 30329, Atlanta
13. McAdams, W.H.: Heat Transmission. McGraw-Hill, New York (1942)
14. Kays, W.M., Perkin, H.: Forced convection internal flow in ducts. In: Rohsenow, W.M., Hartnett,
I.V. (eds.) Handbook of Heat Transfer. McGraw-Hill, New York
15. Webb, R.L., Eckert, E.R.G.: Application of rough surface to heat exchanger design. Int. J. Heat
Mass Transfer 15(9), 1647–1658 (1972)
Study of LPG and Biogas Combustion
in Two-Layer Porous Radiant Burners
(PRBs)
Sangjukta Devi , Niranjan Sahoo and P. Muthukumar
Abstract The problem of toxic pollutant emission arising from combustion using
conventional burners is a matter of serious concern all over the globe. The present
study deals with the investigation on the unique Porous Media Combustion (PMC)
system where combustion occurs within a radiant porous matrix resulting in
entrapped combustion. The usability of the in-house developed Sideway Faced
Porous Radiant Burner (SFPRB) has been experimentally investigated with biogas
and compared with LPG (Mishra et al., in Appl Therm Eng 89:44–50, 2015 [12])
fueled porous burner. SFPRB is a double-layered burner incorporating a preheat zone
and combustion zone of Alumina and Silicon Carbide porous structures, respectively.
The SiC used has a high porosity of 90% and Alumina bears porosity of only 7%.
Performance of the burner has been analyzed in terms of radiation efficiency and
harmful CO and NOx emission. Biogas even being a Low Calorific Value (LCV)
fuel is able to give commendable results of radiation efficiency and emission. From
emission measurements, it is clear that porous media resulted in cleaner combustion
(lower CO and NOx concentration) than the combustion in free flame burners.
Keywords Biogas · Emission · Porous media combustion · Radiation efficiency
1 Introduction
Combustion in porous media is a unique combustion technology which has supe-

rior combustion characteristics as compared to its conventional counterpart with its
advantages of less pollutant emission, energy-saving, high radiation efficiency (ηrad ),
and ability to combust lean fuel–air mixture. Most of the burners in industries are
driven by Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) with free flame burners. LPG all over the
globe is fast depleting and is also a major cause of toxic pollutant emission. The mech-
anism of heat transfer in Free Flame Combustion (FFC) is based on convection and
it occurs in gaseous medium. Low thermal conductivity in gaseous combustion does
S. Devi (B) · N. Sahoo · P. Muthukumar

780139, India
e-mail: devisangjukta1@gmail.com

1386 S. Devi et al.
not allow efficient utilization of energy that results in high pollutant emission, weak
power modulation, etc. Instead of combustion in gaseous atmosphere, the fuel–air
mixture in Porous Media Combustion (PMC) is allowed to combust in a solid porous
matrix with high radiative and conductive properties. The improved heat transport
paves way for better thermal efficiency and lower CO and NOx emissions [1, 2].
The porous matrix also facilitates preheating of premixed fuel–air mixture which
results in super-adiabatic combustion [3]. Also, preheating within porous matrix
allows combustion of lean mixture and Low Calorific Value (LCV) gases. PMC is
thus an apt platform for combustion of LCV gases, which is also an alternative of
fossil energy.
A good number of works on Porous Radiant Burners (PRBs) provide experimen-
tal data on combustion behavior with different fuels. Majority of the studies are
concerned with measurement of temperature, CO, and NOx concentrations emitted
from the burner using methane or LPG [4–7]. Study on impact of input load varia-
tion on burner stability is also focused upon while checking the performance of the
burner [8]. In recent years, some of the researchers have shifted their attention toward
LCV fuel-operated PRBs. Gao et al. [9] experimentally investigated the thermal and
emission performance of a two-layer packed bed burner by using biogas for com-
bustion. Similarly, the combustion stability of such kind of burners was investigated
by Keramiotis and Founti [10].
However, there is a lack of investigation on fuel interchangeability of porous
burners. This study, therefore, aims at evaluating the performance characteristics of
Sideway Faced Porous Radiant Burner (SFPRB) with biogas and compares it with
LPG [12]. The comparative investigation was performed for a thermal load of 7 kW
in terms of ηrad and emission of CO and NOx .
2 Experimental Section
Figure 1 shows the experimental setup, consisting of the burner, fuel–air supply
system, mass flow controllers, control valves, and pressure regulators. The burner
is separately illustrated in the schematic diagram in Fig. 2. The SFPRB is made of
two porous layers, viz., Combustion Zone (CZ) and Preheat Zone (PZ) (Fig. 3). The
CZ is of SiC foam structure with porosity of 90%, Al2 O3 ceramic of 7% porosity is
chosen as the PZ. The PZ bears low porosity because it also acts as the flame arrestor
and prevents flashback. Both the CZ and PZ are circular shaped with diameter of
120 mm and thickness of 20 mm and 15 mm, respectively.
Raw biogas used for test purpose was composed of methane (43.6246%), carbon
dioxide (34.4380%), nitrogen (21.9204%), and hydrogen (0.0170%), as measured
by a gas chromatograph. For the initiation of combustion process, both fuel and air
were passed through the respective Coriolis mass flow meters.
The fuel and air were then mixed in the mixing chamber and later the mixture
got combusted in the CZ. Once the flame stabilized within the porous matrices, the
airflow rate was then increased or decreased to obtain the stable operating region of
Study of LPG and Biogas Combustion … 1387
Fig. 1 Schematic of the

experimental setup
Fig. 2 Schematic of
biogas-operated SFPRB (all
dimensions are in mm)
Fig. 3 Axial view of the

burner (all dimensions are in
mm)
1388 S. Devi et al.
equivalence ratio (φ). When the fluctuation of temperature remained within 10 °C for
a period of 30 min, the flame was considered stable. The φ at which the flame front
reached the base of the preheater was classified as the lower stability limit (Fig. 3),
below which flashback occurs.
The flow rate of air was then manually adjusted to increase in small amounts
until the flame floated on surface of the burner and the corresponding φ was defined
as the upper limit of flame stability or blow off. The in-house developed biogas-
based burner is operational within the φ range of 0.75–0.97, whereas, the LPG-based
Porous Radiant Burner (PRB) worked in leaner stable limits of 0.54–0.72 [12]. Both
the burners showed submerged combustion within the stable range.
The surface temperature distribution for calculation of ηrad was measured by a set
of K-type thermocouples. The thermocouples used were properly calibrated in order
to achieve maximum possible accurate values. The positions of thermocouples over
the surface of the burner are shown in Fig. 4.
The thermocouples were placed 2 mm above the surface of the burner. All the
readings from thermocouples were obtained through a Data Acquisition System
(DAQ). Uncertainties of the experimental observations are given in Table 1.
Fig. 4 Position of
thermocouples on burner
surface (in cm)
Table 1 Uncertainties of
S. N Variable Uncertainty
measurands
1 Mass flow ±0.35%
2 Temperature ±1 °C
3 CO ±2 ppm
4 NOx ±2 ppm
5 Radiation efficiency ±1.7%
The comparative temperature distribution over the burners’ surface is shown in Fig. 5.
The evaluation was done for an input load of 7 kW and within the stable φ range of
0.54–0.72 (LPG) [12] and 0.75–0.97 (biogas). The peak values of radial temperature
for LPG and biogas ranged between 1026–1049 °C and 980–1042 °C, respectively. As
expected, owing to high calorific heat content, the peak values of temperature for LPG
were greater than that of biogas. In spite of low heat content in biogas, temperature
values comparable to LPG combustion is achieved because of the superior heat
transport properties of porous media. The maximum temperature for both the cases
occurred in the central region of the circular surface, followed by a decrement toward
the periphery. This happened because of conductive heat loss to the peripheral burner
casing.
For determination of ηrad , the maximum value for each measurement was taken
as the constant surface temperature. Calculation of ηrad is done as suggested by
Francisco et al. [11], which is defined as
(1)
where T surf and T surr represent surface and surrounding temperatures, respectively, E
is the emissivity of the burner surface, represents Stefan–Boltzmann constant, mfuel
is the mass flow rate, and AB is the burner surface area. Figure 6 clearly indicates
the dependency of ηrad on surface temperature. In both the cases, with increasing
φ, efficiency increases. Radiation efficiency for LPG delivered a narrow range of
23–25% while biogas gave a slight wider range of 20–24.5% (Fig. 6). From above
analysis, it is evident that despite of being a LCV gas (17 MJ/kg), biogas exhibits
potential performance as compared to high heat value LPG (45 MJ/kg).
The measurement of CO and NOx values were done with the help of a flue gas
analyzer (Testo 340). With an input load of 7 kW, the emission values were recorded
Fig. 5 Surface temperature

mapping for input load of
7 kW
1390 S. Devi et al.
Fig. 6 Radiation efficiency

versus equivalence ratio for
input power of 7 kW
for the stable φ range (Fig. 7). The flue gas samples were collected from the exhaust
of the burner and fed into the sensor of the gas analyzer.
The increasing slope of CO emission with increasing φ was found in case of biogas,
which is of similar trend to that of LPG [12]. Because of escalating temperatures
in elevated φ, the residence time is tremendously reduced which in turn plays the
key role in production of unconverted CO. In present scenario, thermal NOx is more
predominant than prompt NOx . Thermal NOx is produced in the region of highest
flame temperature during combustion. The maximum values of NOx occurred in the
highest value of φ and the values for LPG and biogas did not have much difference
Fig. 7 CO and NOx

emission versus equivalence
ratio for input power of 7 kW
in the whole stable range. The quantities of CO and NOx are found to be quite low
for both the cases of fuel combustion.
4 Conclusions
The comparative assessment of biogas and LPG combustion in porous burner throws
very interesting insight on its combustion characteristics. Two parameters, radiation
efficiency and pollutant emission, were chosen for the purpose of performance evalu-
ation. With two different stable zones of φ, 0.54–0.72 for LPG [12] and 0.75–0.97 for
biogas, the burners were operated at an input load of 7 kW for all the test conditions.
Radiation efficiency in case of LPG [12] was higher than biogas, because of high
heat value of the fuel. Nevertheless, biogas also exhibited good efficiency values of
20–24.5%. Emission of CO and NOx were quite low in both the porous burners,
exhibiting a cleaner combustion process as compared to the FFC in conventional
burners. The investigation confirmed the usability of the biogas-based SFPRB for
environment-friendly combustion. Also, this study highlights the potential of biogas
to be the alternate source of fuel for such combustion. This study portrays only a
brief part of the complete thermal analysis of the SFPRB.
References
1. Trimis, D., Durst, F.: Combustion in a porous medium-advances and applications. Combust.
Sci. Technol. 121, 153–168 (1996)
2. Pantangi, V.K., Mishra, S.C., Muthukumar, P., Reddy, R.: Studies on porous radiant burners
for LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cooking applications. Energy 36, 6074–6080 (2011)
3. Weinberg, F.J.: Combustion temperatures: the future? Nature 233, 239–241 (1971)
4. Afsharvahid, S., Ashman, P.J., Dally, B.B.: Investigation of NOx conversion characteristics in
a porous medium. Combust. Flame 152, 604–615 (2008)
5. Hsu, P.F., Evans, W.D., Howell, J.R.: Experimental and numerical study of premixed combus-
tion within nonhomogeneous porous ceramics. Combust. Sci. Technol. 90, 149–172 (1993)
6. Liu, J.F., Hsieh, W.H.: Experimental investigation of combustion in porous heating burners.
Combust. Flame 138, 295–303 (2004)
7. Muthukumar, P., Shyamkumar, P.I.: Development of novel porous radiant burners for LPG
cooking applications. Fuel 112, 562–566 (2013)
8. Smucker, M.T., Ellzey, J.L.: Computational and experimental study of a two-section porous
burner. Combust. Sci. Tech. 176, 1171–1189 (2004)
9. Gao, H., Qu, Z., Tao, W., He, Y., Zhou, J.: Experimental study of biogas combustion in a
two-layer packed bed burner. Energy Fuels 25, 2887–2895 (2011)
10. Keramiotis, C., Founti, M.A.: An experimental investigation of stability and operation of a
biogas fueled porous burner. Fuel 103, 278–284 (2013)
11. Francisco Jr., R.W., Rua, F., Costa, M., Catapan, R.C., Oliveira, A.A.M.: On the combustion
of hydrogen-rich gaseous fuels with low calorific value in a porous burner. Energy Fuels 24,
880–887 (2010)
12. Mishra, N.K., Mishra, S.C., Muthukumar, P.: Performance characterization of a medium-scale
liquefied petroleum gas cooking stove with a two-layer porous radiant burner. Appl. Therm.
Eng. 89, 44–50 (2015)
Mathematical Modeling and Optimized
Design Aspects of Secondary Reflectors
for Solar Parabolic Trough Collector
Alka Bharti , Abhishek Mishra and Bireswar Paul
Abstract Nonuniform distribution of heat flux over the circumference of the receiver
tube affects the efficiency and effectiveness of the solar parabolic trough collector
system. Nonuniform heat flux over the circumference of the receiver tube causes cir-
cumferential temperature difference (CTD) that cause thermal stresses in the receiver
tube and reduce the reliability of the receiver tube. To make the receiver tube more reli-
able, it is necessary to reduce CTD in the receiver tube by making some arrangement
that can reflect heat flux at the top surface of the receiver also. In this study, theoreti-
cal design aspects for parabolic and triangular secondary reflectors and experimental
performance analysis is represented. From the experimental analysis, the maximum
temperature rise of 10.9, 9.6, and 7.4 °C is observed in case of parabolic trough
collector with parabolic secondary reflector, with triangular secondary reflector and
without a secondary reflector.
Keywords Solar parabolic trough collector · Secondary parabolic reflector ·

Secondary triangular reflector · Temperature
Nomenclature
ρtrough Reflectivity of a primary reflector

ρsec Reflectivity of a secondary reflector
E* Solar radiation energy incident on trough (in case of without using sec-
ondary reflector)
W* Width of the trough
L Length of the trough
A. Bharti (B) · A. Mishra · B. Paul

Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, Prayagraj 211004, India
e-mail: alka31790@gmail.com
A. Mishra
e-mail: abhishekm200@gmail.com
B. Paul
e-mail: bipaul@mnnit.ac.in
1394 A. Bharti et al.
W1 Width of a secondary parabolic reflector

E Solar radiation energy incident on trough (in case of using secondary reflec-
tor)
Ib Beam radiation
Id Diffused radiation
(W1 )max Maximum limit of the width of the secondary parabolic reflector
(W1 )min Minimum limit of the width of the secondary parabolic reflector
r Rim angle
f1 Focal length of the secondary parabolic reflector
hp1 Vertical height of the secondary parabolic reflector
L1 Vertical height of the secondary parabolic reflector
A1 Surface area of the secondary parabolic reflector
b Width of the secondary elliptical reflector on x-axis/length of the secondary
elliptical reflector on the minor axis
E Part of radiation solar energy incident on the primary reflector
PSR Parabolic Secondary Reflector
TSR Triangular Secondary Reflector
SR Secondary Reflector
SPTC Solar Parabolic Trough Collector
1 Introduction
The solar collector can be classified into two types: point focusing type and line
focusing type. Obtaining the higher temperature at a particular point is the main key
of working for point focusing type solar collector, but this is a major disadvantage of
this type of system, because it needs a high temperature sustaining material which
can easily withstand a higher temperature but any failure in this collector and piping
system (due to overheating and melting) lead to partial or complete replacement of
collector and the second disadvantage of point focusing system (especially in case
of solar tower) is the cause of bird’s death. So, cost after the failure of the collector
(in case of both partial and complete failure) is relatively high. As a result of this,
line focusing system has come in the field of collection of solar energy, where solar
radiation is now focusing on a particular line. Any failure in the system does not
require to replace overall collector. So, the cost of maintenance of the system is not
high as compared to point focusing system. Line focusing system can bear more
excessive radiation without any serious difficulty. Richter [1] used some mathemati-
cal expression to design and fabricate the secondary elliptical reflector which is based
on the generation of caustics surface and they have used hemicylindrical section for
primary reflection. Spirkl et al. [2] have proposed that a secondary reflector with an
involute type inner section with a flat outer section with the tabular tube to boost the
concentration level and they have carried the comparison with and without the use
of a secondary reflector. Price et al. [3] provided the concept of reflecting surface at
Mathematical Modeling and Optimized Design Aspects … 1395
an inner portion of the glass envelop and avoided the use of additional attachment
for a secondary reflector, this does not require a big cost as an investment. Kun et al.
[4] proposed a secondary reflector, made by the two section of parabola named as
left and right side parabola with slightly increased optical losses to homogenized the
distribution of solar heat flux and temperature distribution and found out that col-
lector efficiency decreased by 4% approximately and 6 K temperature reduction and
they had expected more reliability over the use with respect to time. Zhou et al. [5]
have taken the focal plane at some distance from the original plane and secondary
reflector with flat type surface and have done theoretical analysis and simulation
to study the uniform distribution of flux. With same geometrical feature secondary
reflector made their system more suitable to use. Cheng et al. [6] used the nonimaging
type reflector to provide the uniform distribution of solar irradiance and located on
primary reflector. They found that distribution of solar irradiance over the receiver
tube is more uniform than other curved surfaces including the linear, quadratic, and
cubic curve. Sundaram and Senthil [7] conducted experiments including without
secondary reflector, triangular secondary reflector, and a secondary curved reflector
and they have concluded that the thermal efficiency is increased by 10% and heat
loss is decreased by 0.5 kW with the use of a secondary reflector. Their experiments
were performed in New Delhi. Cao et al. [8] proposed an elliptical cavity with flat
plate reflector with the consideration of focal distance, tracking error and tracking
error with the variation of cavity blackness and concluded that an increase in tracking
error and focal distance would decrease the cavity blackness and provision of flat
plate reflector at entry leads to increment in cavity darkness. Islam et al. [9] inves-
tigated the optical performance of solar parabolic trough collector by considering
some optical parameter and concluded that increase in rim angle leads to an increase
in nonuniform distribution of heat flux and glass cover would increase the collection
efficiency but increase the nonuniformity in flux distribution, and dislocation would
lead to more uniform distribution at the lower half of receiver tube where disloca-
tion had taken in terms of radius of receiver tube. According to the literature review
of these research papers, we have reached at the point that there is a contradiction
between positive effect and the negative effect of the use of a secondary reflector.
In this paper, our main objective is to optimize the design parameters of secondary
reflector and to study the effect of a parabolic and triangular secondary reflector on
the performance of parabolic trough collector.
2 Mathematical Modeling and Design
Figure 1 indicates the working principle of solar parabolic trough collector with a
secondary parabolic reflector. Primary parameters such as effective aperture area, rim
angle, focal length, concentration ratio, reflectivity of material used, the absorptivity
of receiver tube, collector width, collector length, type of receiver tube used, and
dimensions of the receiver tube play an important role in the collection of solar
heat flux and performance of collector. A variation on these parameters affects the
Fig. 1 Solar parabolic

trough collector with
secondary reflector
performance of solar parabolic trough collector directly and indirectly. During the
selection of the proper design aspect, every dimension should be optimized as per the
requirement. This research paper is totally focused on the optimization of dimensions
of secondary reflector because research in the field of a secondary reflector is not
sufficient to define the optimized design parameter. The experimental setup consists
of line focused concentrated collector, well-insulated storage tank, insulated pipe,
a flow regulating valve, thermocouple, secondary reflector stands for supporting
primary collector, and pump (used to maintain constant mass flow rate). A weather
station is used to take the reading of environmental condition such as beam radiation
intensity, diffused radiation intensity, total radiation intensity, wind velocity, and
atmospheric temperature. Description of primary reflector is listed in Table 1. It is
taken from our previous research work [10]. The necessity of secondary reflector can
be decided by testing the actual focal line to theoretical focal line of the collector with
respect to the receiver tube. Any deviation between the actual and theoretical value
causes the loss of solar radiation. Amount of rays that are focusing on receiver tube
for a particular focal line can be tested by software like SolTrace, a small deviation in
focal due to a manufacturing defect and due to other condition lead to a large amount
of loss of heat flux.
Table 1 Description of the

Parameter Dimension
primary reflector
Aperture area 4 m2
Rim angle 80º
Width 1.6 m
Length 2m
Focal length 0.4856 m
Reflectivity of material 0.85
Absorptivity of material 0.90
Material used Stainless steel
We have tested our system and we have found out that the receiver tube is dislo-
cated 7 mm downward from its focal line. An analysis on SolTrace is done to find
out that the number of rays is getting focused on receiver tube. Figure 2 represents
the effects of dislocation of the receiver tube.
• Dislocation of focal line = 7 mm downward
• Exact focal length = 0.4856 m
• Actual focal length = 0.4786 m
• No. of rays striking on the primary reflector (in SolTrace) = 100
• No. of rays focused on receiver tube = 80 (so, C 1 = 0.8)
• No. of rays, not focused on receiver tube = 20 (so, 1 − C 1 = 0.2)
C1 = 0.8, C2 ≈ C1 = 0.8
where
C 1 Fraction of energy absorbed by fluid after first reflection (Absorptivity of
Receiver tube material).
C 2 Fraction of energy absorbed by fluid after second reflection (Absorptivity of
receiver tube).
Outcome
Yes, 20% part of the reflected radiation is not focused on the receiver tube.
2.1 Designing of Parabolic Trough Secondary Reflector
Assumptions
1. Reflection is considered for two times (including primary reflector reflection and
secondary reflector reflection).
Fig. 2 Dislocation effect on

receiver tube (in SolTrace)
2. Scattering of solar rays is considered as negligible.

3. Part of radiation that is striking on the receiver tube is completely absorbed by
tube material.
4. Part of radiation that is striking on the tube, is absorbed by fluid through tube
conductivity and internal convection in the receiver tube.
5. Part of radiation heat loss which is recovered by the primary reflector and sec-
ondary reflector is not considered in the calculation.
6. The absorptivity of receiver tube material is considered as maximum.
7. Radiation striking on two reflectors is considered in two parts, the primary part
in which ray is completely reflected and the secondary part that is not reflected.
Effect of absorption, transmission, and scattering are considered in the second
case.
8. Effect of wind is considered as negligible when rays are transmitted in a secondary
or nonimaging reflector to avoid the condition of scattering.
9. Turbidity effect is considered in favor of designed condition.
Design Procedure
Energy reflector by the primary reflector
ρ tr ough E (1)
Part of solar radiation energy that is not reflected from the primary reflector
(1 − ρ tr ough )E (2)
It includes the absorption and transmission into primary reflector and diffusion
from the primary reflector.
Energy absorbed by the fluid when rays are passed from primary to secondary
reflector
C 1 ρ tr ough E (3)
Part of energy that is not absorbed in the first time of reflection and reaches the
secondary reflector
(1 − C 1 )ρ tr ough E (4)
Part of energy reflected from the secondary reflector
ρ sec (1 − C 1 )ρ tr ough E (5)
Part of energy that is not reflected by the secondary reflector
(1 − ρ sec )(1 − C 1 )ρ tr ough E (6)

This part of the energy is considered as absorption and transmission into secondary
reflector and diffusion from the secondary reflector.
Energy absorbed by the fluid after the reflection from the secondary reflector
C 2 ρ sec (1 − C 1 )ρ tr ough E (7)
The energy that is not absorbed after the second reflection and considered as waste
(1 − C 2 )ρ sec (1 − C 1 )ρ tr ough E (8)
Total radiation absorbed by receiver tube with secondary reflector
C 1 ρ tr ough E + C 2 ρ sec (1 − C 1 )ρ tr ough E (9)
Total radiation absorbed by receiver tube without secondary reflector
C 1 ρ tr ough E (10)
The increased amount of energy received by the receiver tube
C 2 ρ sec (1 − C 1 )ρ tr ough E (11)
% increase in the amount of energy absorbed with a secondary reflector with

respect to without secondary reflector
[{C 2 ρ sec (1 − C 1 }/C 1 ] × 100% (12)
% increase in the amount of energy absorbed with a secondary reflector with

respect to total energy absorbed by the fluid with secondary reflector
[{C 2 ρ sec (1 − C 1 )}/{C 1 + C 2 ρ sec (1 − C 1 }] × 100% (13)
% amount of waste energy with respect to total incoming radiation

(1 − C 2 )ρ sec (1 − C 1 )ρ tr ough × 100% (14)
% amount of waste energy with respect to first reflected radiation
[{(1 − C 2 )ρ sec (1 − C 1 }/C 1 ] × 100% (15)
% amount of waste energy with respect to the total absorbed energy by receiver
tube
[{(1 − C 2 )ρ sec (1 − C 1 }/{C 1 + C 2 ρ sec (1 − C 1 )}] × 100% (16)

% amount of energy absorbed by the receiver tube with respect to total incoming
energy

C 1 + C 2 ρ sec (1 − C 1 )ρ tr ough × 100% (17)
Required limiting condition for the selection of secondary reflector (parabolic

shape).
Net gain of energy in the receiver tube without using secondary reflector ≤ Net
gain of energy in the receiver tube using a secondary reflector.
[C 1 ρ tr ough E ∗ ] ≤ [C 1 ρ tr ough E + C 2 ρ sec (1 − C 1 )ρ tr ough E] (18)
where
E ∗ = Ib [(W ∗ − W 1 ) × L] (19)
W ∗ C 2 ρ sec (1 − C 1 )
W1 ≤ (20)
C 1 + C 2 (1 − C 1 )ρ sec
For the sake of simplicity, C 1 and C 2 can be considered as equal because the
material used and procedure followed is the same for both primary and secondary
reflector. Here, I b is the beam radiation because the diffused part of the radiation is
not useful in the process of heating. Figure 3 represents direct beam radiation on the
SPTC without secondary reflector and Fig. 4 represents consideration of the effect
of radiation on SPTC with secondary parabolic reflector.
Creation of Curvature for a Secondary Parabolic Reflector

Exact designing of curvature is very important in terms of ray collection because the
small deviation in curvature can affect the collection efficiency of parabolic trough
collector drastically. The concept of curvature starts from constant curvature effect
of the circle and leads to the point of a different curve. Its basic procedure starts from
finding out the center point and radius of curvature for small–small segments and
goes up to the drawing of curvature. It is a very lengthy process for the development
Fig. 3 Direct radiation on SPTC without secondary reflector

Fig. 4 Consideration of the effect of radiation on SPTC with a secondary parabolic reflector
of an exact curve but it gives a high degree of accuracy. In terms of a parabolic

secondary reflector, the curvature is not changing suddenly. So, there is a large value
of radius. It means its creation, generation, and manufacturing are quite easy. The
procedure should start from the division of arc in small–small segments according
to convenience and availability of manufacturing facility. For our system, we are
considering the Cartesian coordinate system and concept includes the formulation of
a pedal equation, involute of evolute length of curvature, a radius of curvature, a center
of curvature and average curvature, tangent, normal, subtangent, and subnormal.
dy
= tan ψ (21)
dx
The radius of curvature
(1 + y 2 )1.5
R= (22)
y
For a particular point, it is very easy to define the center point for a particular
segment related to point.
Center of curvature
y (1 + y 2 )
α=x− (23)
y
(1 + y 2 )
β=y+ (24)
y
where
dy
y =
dx
d2 y
y =
dx2
Value of y and y can be found out for a particular point P whose coordinate point
is (x 1 , y1 ).
Designing Steps
Procedure to find out the dimensions of the secondary reflector-
• (W 1 )max is calculated from the Eq. (20).
W ∗ C 2 ρ sec (1 − C 1 )
(W 1 )max ≤ (25)
C 1 + C 2 (1 − C 1 )ρ sec
• (W 1 )min is calculated from the maximum value of the acrylic cover outer diameter.
(W 1 )min ≤ W 1 ≤ (W 1 )max (26)
• Length is decided by primary parabolic collector length.

• Rim angle is decided by manufacturing simplicity.
• The focal length of the secondary reflector.
W1
f1 = (27)
4 tan(0.5ϕ r )
• The vertical height of the secondary reflector
W12
h p1 = (28)
16 f 1
• The radius of a secondary reflector
W1
rr1 = (29)
2 sin φ r
• Length of an arc of the secondary reflector

2
1
0.5W
dy
L1 = 1+ dx (30)
dx
−0.5W 1
• The surface area of the secondary reflector
A1 = L 1 × L (31)
Designing of a Triangular Secondary Reflector

The basic procedure to find out the points for a secondary triangular reflector is
same as a secondary parabolic reflector. But it is very easy to manufacture and has
low collection efficiency as compared to the secondary parabolic reflector. Figure 5
represents dimensions on a particular cross-section of parabolic secondary reflector
and Fig. 6 represents dimensions on a particular cross-section of triangular secondary
reflector.
Fabrication of a Secondary Reflector

The first step is to select a proper material for providing a high degree of reflection
on the receiver tube and it should not absorb/transmit radiation energy by which
we can get more efficient use of solar radiation. But not only the reflection part is
important, but also it should mold in proper curvature form and easily available into
the local market. As per convenience, we have selected a stainless steel sheet of 1 mm
thickness to fabricate the reflector into proper format as per the dimension that we
are getting by calculation. The advantage of a stainless steel sheet is that it can easily
mold and has a reflection capacity of 0.85 to get optimum results. Figure 7 represents
the image of fabricated parabolic and triangular secondary reflector.
Fig. 5 Dimensions on a particular cross-section of parabolic secondary reflector
Fig. 6 Dimensions on a particular cross-section of the triangular secondary reflector

Fig. 7 Secondary reflectors. a Parabolic, b triangular
3 Experimental Analysis
Experiments are performed at Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Alla-

habad. Values of global radiation and wind velocity are taken from a weather station.
Experiments are performed for 0.01 kg/sec mass flow rate. Water is used as heat
transfer fluid without any additives. The receiver tube is made up of copper of diam-
eter 16 mm with thickness 2 mm and black painted coating. Ends of the receiver tube
are connected with nozzle to maintain a fully developed flow of water in the receiver
tube. Values of direct beam radiation are calculated by latitude, declination angle,
and hour angle. This test was performed in three different consecutive days.
Figure 8 represents experimental setup. The average value of beam radiation in PSR
condition, TSR condition and without SR condition was 311.36 W/m2 , 311.16 W/m2 ,
and 275.74 W/m2 , respectively. The maximum value of beam radiation in PSR con-
dition, TSR condition, and without SR condition was 457.82 W/m2 , 488.9 W/m2 ,
and 381.1 W/m2 , respectively.
The experiments were performed during November 2017 (in winter season).
Figure 9 of direct beam radiation indicate that values are almost the same for PSR
condition and TSR condition as compared to without SR. Radiation intensity comes
under the input parameters which directly affects the system. So, the higher value
of it is a positive indication for parabolic trough collector. Figure 10 represents the
variation of the inlet temperature of the water with time. Figure 11 represents outlet
temperature for without SR, PSR, and TSR condition, indicate that PSR condition
and TSR condition are far better without SR condition from the starting point of the
experiment to the endpoint of the experiment. From Fig. 11, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.,
outlet temperature for PSR condition is better than TSR condition and without SR
condition. The graphical study from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., the outlet temperature
Fig. 8 Parabolic trough collector system with a secondary reflector
550 Without SR
500 With PSR
With TSR
450
Direct Beam Radiation (W/m2)
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
8 8.5 9 9.5 10 10.5 11 11.5 12 12.5 13 13.5 14 14.5 15 15.5 16
Time (hr.)
Fig. 9 Direct beam radiation with time
for PSR condition and TSR condition are almost the same and better than without
SR condition. The maximum value of outlet temperature in PSR condition, TSR
condition, and without SR condition was 39.9 °C, 39.2 °C, and 37.3 °C, respectively.
Average value of outlet temperature in PSR condition, TSR condition, and without
SR condition were 35.06 °C, 34.18 °C, and 32.12 °C, respectively, which indicates
that marginally 2.94 °C average higher temperature rise in PSR condition is getting
as compared to without SR condition through a day and in the same way, we can also
34
Without SR
33 With PSR
With TSR
32
Inlet Temperature (℃)
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
8 8.5 9 9.5 10 10.5 11 11.5 12 12.5 13 13.5 14 14.5 15 15.5 16
Time (hr.)
Fig. 10 Inlet temperature with time
44
Without SR
42 With PSR
With TSR
40
Outlet Temperature (℃)
38
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
8 8.5 9 9.5 10 10.5 11 11.5 12 12.5 13 13.5 14 14.5 15 15.5 16
Time (hr.)
Fig. 11 Outlet temperature with time

12
Without SR
With PSR
10 With TSR
Temperature rise (℃)
0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Time (hr.)
Fig. 12 Temperature rise with time
conclude that 2.06 °C average higher temperature rise in TSR condition is getting
as compared to without SR condition. Figure 12 represents the temperature rise of
water with time.
Maximum temperature rise for PSR condition, TSR condition, and without SR
condition are 10.9 °C, 9.6 °C, and 7.4 °C, respectively. Average temperature rise for
PSR condition, TSR condition, and without SR condition is 6.37 °C, 5.73 °C, and
4.18 °C, respectively. Results in terms of heat gain also follow the same trend as
outlet temperature and temperature rise trend.
5 Conclusion
It is observed from the experimental analysis that most of the time PTC with parabolic
secondary reflector gives better results as compared to PTC with flat surface type
triangular secondary reflector and PTC without a secondary reflector. It is obtained
that flat surface type triangular secondary gives the better results than the parabolic
secondary reflector in terms of rate of heat gain and collective efficiency and temper-
ature rise of water from period of 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. and also outlet temperature
obtained by parabolic secondary reflector and flat surface type triangular secondary
are almost the same and better than without SR condition for period of 2:00 p.m. to
4:00 p.m. From the following observation, it can be ascertained that the parabolic sec-
ondary reflector performs better as compared to flat surface type triangular secondary
reflector.
Acknowledgements This research project was supported by MNNIT Allahabad and it is also a
part of M.Tech thesis work. We are also thankful to Dr. Rahul Dev, Assistant Professor at MNNIT
Allahabad, Prayagraj, for helping us with the weather station data.
References
1. Richter, J.L.: Optics of a two-trough solar concentrator. Sol. Energy 56, 191–198 (1996). https://
doi.org/10.1016/0038-092X(95)00091-5
2. Spirkl, W., Ries, H., Muschaweck, J., Timinger, A.: Optimized compact secondary reflectors
for parabolic troughs with tubular absorbers. Sol. Energy 61, 153–158 (1997). https://doi.org/
10.1016/S0038-092X(97)00047-9
3. Price, H., Lüpfert, E., Kearney, D., Zarza, E., Cohen, G., Gee, R., Mahoney, R.: Advances in
parabolic trough solar power technology. J. Sol. Energy Eng. 124, 109 (2002). https://doi.org/
10.1115/1.1467922
4. Wang, K., He, Y., Cheng, Z.: A design method and numerical study for a new type parabolic
trough solar collector with uniform solar flux distribution. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 57, 531–540
(2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-013-5452-6
5. Zhou, Z., Cheng, Q., Li, P., Zhou, H.: Non-imaging concentrating reflectors designed for solar
concentration systems. Sol. Energy 103, 494–501 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.
2014.03.001
6. Cheng, Q., Chai, J., Zhou, Z., Song, J., Su, Y.: Tailored non-imaging secondary reflectors
designed for solar concentration systems. Sol. Energy 110, 160–167 (2014). https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.solener.2014.09.013
7. Sundaram, P., Senthil, R.: Thermal performance enhancement of solar parabolic trough col-
lector using secondary reflector. Int. J. Eng. Technol. 8(6), 2964–2969 (2017). https://doi.org/
10.21817/ijet/2016/v8i6/160806201
8. Cao, F., Wang, L., Zhu, T.: Design and optimization of elliptical cavity tube receivers in the
parabolic trough solar collector. Int. J. Photoenergy 4–10 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/
1471594
9. Islam, M., Miller, S., Yarlagadda, P., Karim, A.: Investigation of the effect of physical and
optical trough collector (2017). https://doi.org/10.3390/en10111907
10. Bharti, A., Paul, B.: Design of solar parabolic trough collector. In: Proceedings of the IEEE
International Conference on Advances in Mechanical, Industrial, Automation and Management
Systems (AMIAMS) 2017, MNNIT Allahabad, Paper ID - 103 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1109/
AMIAMS.2017.8069229
Adaptive Control of the Wind Turbine
Transmission System for Smooth Power
Generation
Neeraj Kumar, Emanuel Khraw Mawsor and Bikash Kumar Sarkar
Abstract Wind energy sector is growing rapidly now a day’s as compared to other
renewable sources of energy. The energy conversion from wind to electrical energy
through hydrostatic transmission (HST) has been studied. The hydrostatic transmis-
sion system has been used for the power transfer from low-speed wind turbine rotor
shaft to a high-speed generator shaft using variable displacement axial piston pump
and motor. A fuzzy PID controller has been used to control the rotational speed of
the pump and motor by controlling the displacement ratio. The hydraulic and over-
all efficiency has found to be approximately 82.2% and 38.8%, respectively. The
performance of present dual control system has been found quite satisfactory as it
is capable of maintaining output motor speed better compare to the single control
mode. The constant output motor speed ensure quality power output in fluctuating
wind speed and gusts.
Keywords Controller · Hydrostatic transmission · Wind turbine
Nomenclature
Ar Area of pressure relief valve (m2 )

Dpmax Maximum pump displacements (m3 )
Dmmax Maximum motor displacements (m3 )
P Pressure difference between pump/motor (Pa)
Ps Supply pressure (Pa)
Ph High-pressure (Pa)
N. Kumar (B) · E. K. Mawsor · B. K. Sarkar

e-mail: yadavjink@gmail.com
E. K. Mawsor
e-mail: khrawgmawsor@gmail.com
B. K. Sarkar
e-mail: bikash.sarkar@nitm.ac.in

1412 N. Kumar et al.
Pl Low-pressure (Pa)
Qploss Pump volumetric leakage (m3 /s)
Tploss Pump torque loss (Nm)
Tmloss Pump torque loss (Nm)
Vo Volume of fluid in the hose (m3 )
Vw Wind velocity (m/s)
t Time (s)
ωm Rotational speed of the motor (rad/s)
ωp Rotational speed of the pump (rad/s)
Greek Symbols
αp Displacement ratio of the pump (dimensionless)

αm Displacement ratio of the motor (dimensionless)
Cdr Coefficient of discharge (dimensionless)
η Efficiency of pump/motor (dimensionless)
1 Introduction
Nonrenewable source of energy sectors is responsible for the emission of pollut-

ing element and greenhouse gasses, which are directly involved for the change of
environment. Renewable source of energy system become an area of interest to the
scientist due to clean, pollution free, low-cost energy generation [1, 2], etc. Recent
researches reported as improvement of the wind turbine sector by improving blade
design, transmission system design, pitch actuating system, and fault diagnosis and
control.
Wind turbine transmission system plays a key role in power generation as wind
speed varies continuously [3, 4]. Conventional gearbox system can be used for
increasing the speed ratio from the low-speed wind turbine shaft to the high-speed
generator. The main challenges with the mechanical gearboxes are constant speed
ratio, wear and tear of the gear teeth, backlash, and fatigue failure cause of increased
maintenance cost. Hydrostatic drives can be used to eliminate the disadvantages of
mechanical drives. The weight of the nacelle of turbine can be reduced using hydro-
static transmission system with proper orientation of the hydraulic motor and the
generator. The hydrostatic transmission system can provide infinite gear ratio, which
can be utilized to reduce generator speed fluctuation under variation of the wind
speed and gusts [4].
In the present work, closed circuit hydrostatic transmission system has been con-
sidered for wind turbine power transmission application. Dual controller mode, i.e.,
controller for pump and motor have been considered adaptive fuzzy PID controller
Adaptive Control of the Wind Turbine … 1413
to reduce the fluctuating frequency of power as possible. Model of the transmission

system has been implemented in Matlab Simulink environment. Controller perfor-
mance has been studied with sinusoidal wind speed and real wind date from existing
result. The controller performance found satisfactory with the consideration of dual
controller mode.
2 System Description
The schematic diagram of a hydrostatic transmission system has been shown in Fig. 1
along with wind turbine and generator. Horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) has
been considered for estimation of the turbine power [2]. The hydrostatic transmission
consists of a variable displacement pump and a variable displacement motor coupled
through pipeline and safety valves. The hydrostatic transmission has been used to
transfer power from the wind turbine to the generator with constant rotational speed
of the motor. The wind turbine coupled with variable displacement pump, which
transmits high-pressure fluid to the motor through coupled pipeline. If some excess
pressure arises in the high-pressure line due to high wind power absorption through
turbine will be released by the pressure relief valve. The motor power transmits
to the electric generator, which has been coupled with the hydraulic motor. The
rotational speed of the pump and motor can be maintained by controlling the swash
plate angle as required. The swash plate angular position can be controlled by a
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of hydrostatic transmission system coupled with wind turbine and gen-
erator
close loop controller through rotational speed feedback from the sensor. The signal
transmission between sensor to host PC and host PC to actuator can be done through
data acquisition system. The controller, which can be situated in the host PC can be
activated based on demand and sensor data. The swash plate actuating mechanism
gives required angular position based on command signal received from controller.
To perform the simulation detailed mathematical model for the transmission system
has been considered. Components wise mathematical model have been described
below.
2.1 Pump Modeling
The simplified mathematical model of the pump has been presented in Eqs. (1)–(5)
as below,
The theoretical flow rate of the pump Qpi can be expressed [4, 5] by,
Qpi = αp Dpmax ωp (1)
where Dpmax is the maximum displacement of the pump and αp is the displacement
ratio which is the ratio of current displacement to the maximum displacement of
pump or motor. In an actual pump, the output pump flow is lesser than the ideal flow
due to leakage, friction, and compressibility of working fluid, hence the volumetric
efficiency ηvP can be expressed as [4, 5],
αp Dpmax ωp − Qploss
ηvP = (2)
αp Dpmax ωp
where ωp is the rotational speed of the shaft of the pump and Qploss is the volumetric
loss of pump. The real output flow rate Qp of pump [4, 5] can be expressed by,
Qp = αp Dpmax ωp ηvP (3)
The mechanical input torque Tp required to drive the pump shaft is expressed as
[5],
Tp = αp Dp max PηtP (4)
where P is the pressure difference between the two ports of pump or motor. The
mechanical efficiency ηtP account for torque losses of the pump is estimated by [4,
5],
αp Dpmax P
ηtP = (5)
αp Dpmax P + Tp loss
where Tploss is the mechanical losses of the pump or motor.

2.2 Flow Coupling Modeling
The flow coupling configuration between the pump and motor can be expressed as
Ps [5] Eq. (6),
Vo dPs
= Qp − Qr − Qm (6)
B dt
where Vo is the initial volume of the piston chamber, B is the bulk modulus of fluid
and Qp , Qr and Qm is the flow rate from pump, pressure relief valve and motor,
respectively. The flow coupling configuration between motor to pump, i.e., low-
pressure region [4, 5] can be expressed as,
Vo dPl
= Qm + Qr − Qp (7)
B dt
The flow rate through the relief valve Qr is expressed [5] by,
√
Cdr Ar 2P/ρ if P > Pset
Qr = (8)
0 else
where Cdr is the coefficient of discharge, ρ is the density of the fluid and Ar is the
discharge area of the needle valve.
2.3 Motor Modeling
The motor flow rate Qm , volumetric ηvM and mechanical ηtM efficiencies [4, 5] of
the hydraulic motor are expressed by Eqs. (9) and (11), respectively.
Qmi = αm Dmmax ωm (9)
αm Dmmax ωm
ηvM = (10)
αm Dmmax ωm + Qmloss
αm Dmmax P − Tmloss
ηtM = (11)
αm Dmmax P
The flow Qm into the hydraulic motor can be expressed [5] by,
Qm = (Qip − Qr )ηvM (12)
where Qi is the ideal flow and QvM is the volumetric flow of motor.
The actual torque Tm generated by the motor is expressed [4, 5] by,
Tm = ηtM αm Dmmax P (13)
The motor speed can be estimated by Newton’s second law, and the motor rotation
can be defined as [5],
T m − Tl = Im ωm ω̇m (14)
where T m is the motor torque, Im is the moment of inertia of motor and Tl is the
torque load from the generator.
3 Controller Design
Controller block diagram of hydrostatic transmission system has been shown

in Fig. 2. In the present system fuzzy PID [6–8] controller has been used for
speed control of the pump and motor separately. The primary controller, i.e., pump
speed controller activates based on the pump speed demand, ωPd and the pump speed
response, ωp .
Fig. 2 Controller block diagram of the wind turbine hydrostatic transmission

The error signal can be estimated as,
ωPe = ωPd − ωP (15a)
The control, ep signal for actuation of the swash plate of the pump can be obtained
as.

ep = KP ωPe + KI ωPe dt+KD (d ωPe /dt) (15b)
where, K P , K I, and K D are the proportional integral and derivative gains, respectively,
which has been obtained by fuzzy multiple input multiple output. Pump speed error
and rate of change of pump error has been considered as the input to the fuzzy. Fuzzy
triangular membership function has been considered as fuzzy variable [6–8]. ‘If’,
‘Then’ fuzzy rules have been considered for estimating output fuzzy variables and
finally output fuzzy variable converts into crisp variables as control gains. Finally
the control gains along with speed error estimate the control signal.
Similarly Eqs. (16a) and (16b) along with fuzzy logic can be used for estimation
secondary control signal, i.e., control signal motor speed control.
ωMe = ωMd − ωM (16a)

es = KP ωMe + KI ωMe dt+KD (d ωMe /dt) , (16b)
The simulation performance has been studied in Matlab Simulink environment. The
simulation has been performed with the solver Rung–Kutta with a fixed time step of
1 × 10−4 s. The parameter values, which have been utilized for simulation listed in
the Table 1.
The performance of the dual controller has been shown in Fig. 3, where the perfor-
mance of the primary and secondary controller has been represented in Fig. 3a and b,
respectively. It has been found from the figures only primary controller not sufficient
to reduce the fluctuation of the speed, i.e., the frequency of the generated power.
The primary controller reduced the fluctuation somewhat and secondary controller
reduced speed fluctuation further. The desired speed demand for both the controllers
has been set as 115 rad/s. The PID primary controller shows the speed fluctuation of
the pump quite high with respect to the desired value, on the other hand the fluctua-
tion for the fuzzy PID [6–8] controller less compare to the PID controller. The figures
also depict the comparison of the proposed fuzzy PID controller and conventional
Table 1 Simulation
Symbol Parameters Unit
parameter values
α Displacement ratio 0–1 (dimensionless)
Dpmax Maximum displacement 55 (cm3 /rev)
of pump/motor
ω Rotational speed of pump 115 (rad/s)
rb Blade radius 5 (m)
Pmax Maximum pressure in the 350 (bar)
system
Vo Initial volume in piston 1.534 * 10−3 (m3 )
chamber
Cdr Coefficient of discharge 0.61
Ar Area of relief valve 4.457 * 10−6 (m2 )
B Bulk modulus 8.547 * 108 (Pa)
Vw Wind velocity 14 (m/s)
PID controller. The performance of proposed fuzzy PID controller has been found
better compare to the conventional PID controller.
Figure 4 shows the power characteristic for the turbine, wind, pump, and motor,
respectively. The black line represents turbine power, green line represents wind
power, red line represents pump power, and blue line represents motor power. The
turbine, wind, and pump power is the sinusoidal form because of wind speed which
is sinusoidal in nature. It has been seen from simulation that motor power is con-
stant because it has controlled to obtain the constant power output as proposed. The
hydraulic efficiency is approximately 82.2% and the overall efficiency is around
38.8%, which is quite high. The overall efficiency of wind power conversion can be
around 30–35% in modern wind turbines [4], this shows that the present model is
having better performance than the existing ones.
To study the performance of the controller with respect to the real wind data
wind velocity of the existing result that [9] has been considered for simulation.
In the simulation dual controller configuration has been implemented to improve
transmission efficiency and better motor speed control [10–13]. The wind profile has
been shown in Fig. 5. The response from the Fuzzy PID has been shown in Figs. 6,
7 and 8.
The variations of the rotational speed of the pump with actual wind speed for pri-
mary controller and secondary controller have been shown in Fig. 6a and b, respec-
tively. The response has shown that by using Fuzzy PID controller, the oscillation
due to the variation of the wind speed is continuously imposed to the system. The
result depicts fuzzy PID controller performance found satisfactory for real wind data.
Here, the three parameters of the PID controller are K p , K i , and K d which are
modified by the Fuzzy logic control depending upon the value of rotational speed of
pump error and motor rotational speed error. In this simulation the value of K p , K i ,
and K d for pump and motor has been listed in Table 2.
(rad/s) 115.0005
(a) Fuzzy-PID
115.0004 PID
p
Demand
115.0003
Rotational speed of pump,
115.0002
115.0001
115
114.9999
114.9998
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200
time, t (s)
115.0005
(rad/s)
(b) PID
Demand
m
Fuzzy-PID
115
Rotational speed f motor,
114.9995
114.999
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200
time, t (s)
Fig. 3 Study of controller performance with sinusoidal wind profile. a Primary controller, b sec-
ondary controller
It has been clearly seen in Fig. 8. The flow rate from the output of the pump
is always fluctuating because of the actual wind speed. The maximum flow rate is
about 4 × 10−3 m3 /s and minimum flow rate is 0.2 × 10−3 m3 /s. The motor output
is almost constant which is shown by green line.
The actual power obtained from the wind turbine with a variation of actual wind
has been shown in Fig. 8. The turbine, wind, and pump power is fluctuating in nature
because of wind speed. It has been seen from the simulation that motor power is
constant because it has control to obtain the constant power output as proposed.
Since power from motor output plays an extremely important role in wind turbine
system.
12000 Turbine power

Wind power
10000 Pump power
Motor power
Power (watt)
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200
time, t (s)
Fig. 4 Power characteristics with sinusoidal wind profiles
20
Wind speed, Vw (m/s)
15
10
0
0 100 200 300 400 500
time, t (s)
Fig. 5 Variation of real wind speed with a mean value of 8 m/s [9]
5 Conclusions
In the present work, modeling of the wind turbine hydraulic power transmission
system has been done. Two controllers, i.e., primary and secondary controller have
been considered for control of pump and motor rotational speed, i.e., to reduce the
fluctuation of generator speed, which arises due to the variation of the wind speed and
wind gusts. A simulation study has been done in Matlab Simulink environment. The
115.0005
(rad/s) (a) Fuzzy-PID
115.0004 PID
p
Demand
115.0003
Rotational speed of pump,
115.0002
115.0001
115
114.9999
114.9998
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
time, t (s)
(rad/s)
115.0004
(b) PID
115.0002 Demand
m
Fuzzy-PID
Rotational speed of motor,
115
114.9998
114.9996
114.9994
114.9992
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200
time, t (s)
Fig. 6 Primary controller performance for a pump rotational speed, b motor rotational speed with
an actual variation of wind speed
results obtained from the simulation shows that HST can be effectively used in wind
energy transfer. Even though with variation of wind profiles, is able to obtain the
constant power output from the generator as the generator rated power. The results
from the simulation show that the primary and secondary controller controls the
pump and motor speed, respectively, which is enabled to keep the output rotational
speed to the generator in the operating range. Therefore, the dual controller provides
better control to run the generator at rated speed. Which, ensure the generation of
quality power. The efficiency of the HST is around 82.2% and the overall efficiency
of system is approximately 38.8% which is quite satisfactory .
-3
x 10
6
Pump
5 Motor
Discharge, Q (m3/s)
0
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200
time, t (s)
Fig. 7 Actual discharge characteristics of pump and motor
12000
Wind power
10000 Turbine power
Actual power, P (watt)
Pump power
8000 Motor power
6000
4000
2000
0
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200
time, t (s)
Fig. 8 Power characteristics with actual wind profiles
Table 2 Value of K p , K i and

Kp Ki Kd
Kd
Pump 600 100 0.45
Motor 1.2 200 0.01
Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge DST SERB for the partial support of this work.
References
1. Burton, T., Sharpe, D., Jenkins, N., Bossanyi, E.: Wind Energy Handbook. Wiley Ltd (2001)
2. Venkaiah, P., Das, K., Sarkar, B.K.: Power Control of the Small Scale Variable Speed Variable
Pitch Wind Turbine, pp. 795–798. Jadavpur University, Kolkata (2018)
3. Manwell, J.F., McGowan, J.G., Rogers, A.L.: Wind Energy Explained––Theory, Design and
Application. Wiley Ltd (2002)
4. Do, H.T., Dang, T.D., Truong, H.V.A., Ahn, K.K.: Maximum power point tracking and output
power control on pressure coupling. Wind energy conversion system. IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron.
65(2), (2018)
5. Ho, T.H., Ahn, K.K.: Modeling and simulation of hydrostatic transmission system with energy
regeneration using hydraulic accumulator. J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 24(5), 1163–1175 (2010)
6. Ghosh, B.B., Sarkar, B.K., Saha, R.: Realtime performance analysis of different combinations
of fuzzy––PID and bias controllers for a two degree of freedom electrohydraulic parallel
manipulator. Robot. Comput. Integr. Manuf. 34, 62–69 (2015)
7. Mandal, P., Sarkar, B.K., Saha, R., Mookherjee, S., Sanyal, D.: Designing an optimized model-
free controller for improved motion tracking by rugged electro hydraulic system. Proc. IMechE.
Part I: J. Syst. Control Eng. 230, 385–396 (2016)
8. Venkaiah, P., Sarkar, B.K.: Position control of the hydraulically actuated Francis turbine Inlet
Guide Vane. In: Proceedings of the ASME 2017 Power Conference Joint with ICOPE-17
POWER 2017-ICOPE-17, 26–30 June, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, 2017
9. Zhang, Y., Cheng, M., Chen, Z.: Load mitigation of unbalanced wind turbine using PI-R
individual pitch control. IET Renew. Power Gener. 9(3), 262–271 (2015)
10. Esposito, A.: Fluid Power with Applications-Fourth Edition. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River,
New Jersey Columbus Ohio (1997)
11. Ho, T.H., Ahn, K.K.: Design and control of a closed-loop hydraulic energy-regenerative system.
Autom. Constr. 22, 444–458 (2012)
12. Ivantysyn, J., Ivantysynova, M.: Hydrostatic Pumps and Motors. Academia Books Interna-
tional, New Delhi (2000)
13. Giallanza, A., Porretto, M., Cannizzaro, L., Marannano, G.: Analysis of the maximization of
wind turbine energy yield using a continuously variable transmission (2017)
Parametric Optimization for Yield
of Biodiesel from Waste Cooking Oil
Feedstock
Uddipta Das and Prasanta Kumar Choudhury
Abstract In this paper, a study was made for optimizing the parameters of transes-
terification process of production of biodiesel from waste cooking oil (WCO) using
Taguchi’s orthogonal array (OA). The maximum yield of biodiesel (i.e., 96.8%) was
obtained at 6:1 methanol to oil molar ratio, 1% (w/w) KOH concentration, 90 min
reaction time and 55 °C reaction temperature. Statistical technique ANOVA (analysis
of variance) was used to study the influence of different parameters in the yield of
biodiesel production. Among all the parameters, catalyst concentration was found
to be the most dominating parameter with 54.34% contribution followed by reaction
temperature with contribution of 34.88%. Molar ratio and reaction time were found
to be less significant with 9.02% and 1.78% contribution, respectively. The physico-
chemical properties of the biodiesel sample obtained under optimal condition were
determined and found to be in the range of ASTM (American Society for Testing
and Materials) standard.
Keywords Waste cooking oil · Biodiesel · Transesterification · Orthogonal array ·

Analysis of variance
1 Introduction
As there is a rapid growth in the number of vehicles and industries day by day, so the
demand for energy is also increasing. Petroleum fuel is having major disadvantage of
polluting the atmosphere. Many greenhouse gases are emitted in the combustion of
diesel produced from petroleum. Also, many air contaminants like CO, NOX , SOX ,
particulate matter and volatile organic compounds are emitted in the combustion of
petroleum diesel. Also, there are several concerns like dependence of fuel on foreign
U. Das · P. K. Choudhury (B)

Assam Engineering College, Guwahati, India
e-mail: prasantaaec13@gmail.com
U. Das
e-mail: udi2014das@gmail.com

1426 U. Das and P. K. Choudhury
supply, shortage in petroleum reserve and increasing fuel price. Because of these
problems, there is need for the development of alternative fuels obtained especially
from renewable sources [1].
As defined by the ASTM, biodiesel is a fuel of monoalkyl esters comprising long
chain fatty acids which can be produced from a renewable lipid feedstock [2].
Repeated use of cooking oil makes it no longer suitable for consumption as
many physicochemical changes occur during the cooking process. Cooking process
increases the content of free fatty acid (FFA) which is injurious to human health.
Also, WCO has many disposal problems like earth and water pollutions. So, the best
way to get rid of all these problems is to convert it to biodiesel. Also, as a feedstock
the biodiesel production cost can be significantly reduced [3].
The popular process of producing biodiesel is transesterification [4]. While pro-
ducing biodiesel by this process, the biodiesel yield depends on several factors like
the molar ratio of alcohol to oil, reaction time, concentration of catalyst and reaction
temperature. The influence of these factors can be analysed and optimized by using
Taguchi’s OA design approach [5].
The purpose of this study is to optimize the parameters of the transesterification
process from WCO using Taguchi’s OA. As far as the authors are aware, although
there is study related to process optimization of biodiesel production from different
feedstocks, there is no published analysis of parametric optimization for biodiesel
yield from WCO using Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array.
The oil sample was accumulated from a restaurant in Azara, Guwahati, India. It has
been reported that the oil sample was refined soybean. The WCO sample was filtered
using a clean cotton cloth. The chemicals necessary for the production process are
bought from Beekay Chemicals, Panbazar, Guwahati. The purity of methanol is 99%
and that of KOH is >85%.
Biodiesel production process depends on the FFA content of the used oil. If this
content is more than 1% then a pretreatment process known as esterification of WCO
with alcohol in an acid catalyst medium needs to be performed. However, if FFA
content is less than 1% then the transesterification process can directly be adopted
[6].
The free fatty acid has been determined according to the standard titration method.
The oil sample is dissolved in an alcoholic medium and then the solution is titrated
against KOH solution in presence of phenolphthalein indicator [7]. The acid content
of WCO sample is found to be 0.7%. Thus, there is no need for any pretreatment of
the oil sample and the transesterification process can be adopted directly.
Parametric Optimization for Yield of Biodiesel from Waste … 1427
Fig. 1 The
transesterification process
2.1 Transesterification Process
It is a reaction to produce monoalkyl ester (biodiesel) and glycerol by the reaction

of triglycerides (oil/fat) with alcohol in alkaline, acidic or lipase catalyst medium.
The reaction can be accelerated by using a strong base or acid catalyst. It is found
that base catalyzed reaction process is fastest and it demands easy set-up. Hence, this
process is commonly used for biodiesel production [8].
For this process, 500 ml of the oil sample was first preheated to 60 °C in a
magnetic stirrer cum heating plate. Methanol and the KOH catalyst are mixed in
proper proportion for each experiment in a separate beaker and stirred. The solution
is then added to the oil sample. The mixture is then maintained at the necessary
temperature using the temperature control of the magnetic stirrer. To mix the reactant
properly with the oil, the magnetic stirrer is maintained at a constant speed of 600 rpm.
After some time, the separate layers of glycerol and Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME)
can be seen. The reaction is allowed to occur for the specific time and after that it is
then kept overnight for complete separation. The amount of glycerol is then separated
from FAME. The set-up of the experiment for the transesterification process is as
shown in Fig. 1.
2.2 Washing Process
The fatty acid methyl ester still contains many impurities like glycerol and soap
formed during the transesterification process which needs to be removed from the
FAME. The washing process is done for this purpose. The FAME is washed for
multiple times using warm distilled water at 45 °C until the water becomes clear.
2.3 Drying Process
After the washing process, the FAME results high in moisture content and is not
transparent and clear. Drying process needs to be followed to remove this moisture
present in it. It is heated on the magnetic stirrer and also a hot air dryer is used to
remove the moisture until it becomes clear and transparent.
3 Taguchi Design of Experiment (DOE)
DOE is a very useful technique in which only minimal experiments should be con-
ducted to know the effects of the factors of biodiesel production. As reported by
Dr. G. Taguchi, this method has some steps in which a certain experiment sequence
must be followed to have the optimal result of the performance parameter. There are
two must needed objection to this design. Firstly, it should determine the number of
experiments to be performed and secondly for each experiment the condition of the
experiment should be specified. In this method, predefined OA is available which
give us the fewest number of experiments to be performed with different specified
levels [9, 10].
For the current research work, the different factors and their levels affecting the
yield of biodiesel from WCO are chosen as shown in Table 1.
3.1 Orthogonal Array Selection
Based on the calculation of the degrees of freedom (DoF) as shown below, the
minimum number of experimental trials to be conducted can be determined. The total
DoF must be smaller than equal to total experiment numbers and for the experiment,
without taking interaction between the factors it can be calculated as follows:
Degrees of freedom = NF × (NL −1) + 1 (1)
Table 1 Factors and levels of the factors

Factors Levels
1 2 3
A Molar ratio (methanol:oil) 4:1 6:1 8:1
B Catalyst amount (%w/w) 0.5 1 1.5
C Reaction time (min) 60 75 90
D Reaction temperature (°C) 50 55 60
Table 2 DOE using L9 (34 ) OA

Trial Parameters and levels
A B C D
1 1 1 1 1
2 1 2 2 2
3 1 3 3 3
4 2 1 2 3
5 2 2 3 1
6 2 3 1 2
7 3 1 3 2
8 3 2 1 3
9 3 3 2 1
where N F = number of factors and N L = number of levels.

In the present study, as shown in Table 1, there are 4 numbers of factors and each
having 3 numbers of levels. So, the degree of freedom for the set of condition is
9. Thus, minimum 9 numbers of experiments must be performed for the analysis.
Selecting an L9 orthogonal array will fulfil this requirement. The L9 orthogonal array
for the condition specified in Table 1 is as shown in Table 2 [11].
3.2 Signal to Noise Ratio (S/N)
In Taguchi approach, the results can be analyzed based on three basic quality char-
acteristics of the objective function:
(1) Larger is better
(2) Nominal is better
(3) Smaller is better
The larger is better approach is used when the main objective of the experiment
is to have maximum output. Nominal is better approach can be used when the prime
concern of the experiment is to have nominal output response and the smaller is
better approach should be used when it is required to have minimum output. For the
current study, as the objective is to maximize the yield of biodiesel hence larger is
better quality characteristic is taken into account. The S/N ratio for this is shown by
Eq. 2
n
1 1 2
(S/N ratio)i = −10 log (2)
n j=1 y j
where i = experiment number, j = repetition number, yj = methyl ester yield and n

= number of repetition of the experiment [12].
3.3 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
S/N ratio gives the optimal value of different parameters. However, to determine the
significance and the magnitudes of the factors affecting the objective factor, ANOVA
of the data of response is used. The percentage contribution of all the factors towards
an objective factor that can be calculated by using Eq. 3.
Sa
Pa = × 100% (3)
ST
where, Pa = Percentage contribution of the ath factor, S a = sum of squares of the

ath factor and S T = total sum of squares of all the factors [13].
To check the statistical significance of the factors, the variance ratio (F) is cal-
culated using Eq. (4) and it is compared with the critical F value given in standard
table.
Va
F= (4)
Ve
If, F > F c then the factor is significant

If, F < F c then the factor is insignificant
Where V a = variance of ath factor and V e = error in variance and F c = critical F
value.
4 Data Collection and Analysis of the Data
All the nine experiments are done under precise conditions according to the Taguchi’s
orthogonal array. For the accuracy of the result, the experiments are carried out two
times. The yield of FAME for each experiment trial is noted down and the mean
yield is calculated. The results are analyzed using Minitab-2018 software. S/N ratios
for different experimental runs are calculated according to ‘larger the better’ quality
characteristics and are put in Table 3.
Now, for the optimal setting, the mean S/N ratio of each level of the factors are
calculated by considering the average of the S/N ratios of the experiments of Table 3
having that level of that factor. The maximum value of this mean S/N ratios at each
level of any factor corresponds to the optimum condition. Table 4 shows the mean
S/N ratio of each level of the factor and the rank of the factors affecting the biodiesel
yield.
Table 3 Yield and S/N ratios

Run Parameters and levels Mean yield (Y )% S/N ratio
A B C D
1 1 1 1 1 74.7 37.47
2 1 2 2 2 92.5 39.32
3 1 3 3 3 91.9 39.27
4 2 1 2 3 84.5 38.54
5 2 2 3 1 89.5 39.04
6 2 3 1 2 95.2 39.58
7 3 1 3 2 83.6 38.44
8 3 2 1 3 90.5 39.13
9 3 3 2 1 82.5 38.33
Table 4 S/N ratio

Level A B C D
1 38.69 38.15 38.72 38.28
2 39.05 39.16 38.73 39.11
3 38.64 39.06 38.92 38.98
Delta 0.41 1.01 0.19 0.84
Rank 3 1 4 2
Statistical ANOVA is performed for the response data (i.e., biodiesel yield) and
it is shown in Table 5. The DoF for error is zero. Hence, an approximate estimation
for the sum of squares for error is made by pooling the lowest sum of square value
of the factors. The sum of squares for parameter reaction time is pooled as error sum
of squares. The DoF for the corresponding error will be 2 [9, 14].
The critical value of F is obtained at 95% level of confidence and the DoF for both
factor and error is 2. The critical F value is found to be F0.05,2,2 = 19. The comparison
Table 5 ANOVA
Factor DoF S. Sq M. Sq F P (%)
A 2 29.67 14.83 5.11 9.02
B 2 178.75 89.37 30.81 54.34
C 2 5.80 2.90 1 1.76
D 2 114.73 57.36 19.77 34.88
Error 0 0
Total 8 328.95 100
Error 2 5.80 2.90
Table 6 Comparison of F
Factor F F 0.05,2,2 Significant (yes/no)
values
Molar ratio 5.11 19 No
(methanol/oil)
Catalyst amount 30.81 Yes
Reaction time (min) 1 No
Reaction 19.77 Yes
temperature
of the F value obtained from ANOVA and critical F value is shown in Table 6. The
significant factors affecting the biodiesel yield are identified from the table.
The maximum value of the mean S/N ratio of each level of factor is identified using
Table 4. This maximum value of S/N ratio of each factor signifies the optimum level
of that factor. Also, tip of each graph of Fig. 2 corresponds to the optimal level of each
factor. The optimal condition is found to be alcohol to oil molar ratio 6:1(medium
level), catalyst concentration 1% (medium level), reaction time 90 min (high level)
and reaction temperature 55 °C (medium level).

Data Means
Alcohol to Oil Molar Ratio Catalyst Concentration(%w/w) Reaction Time(min) Reaction Temperature(degree C)
39.2
39.0
38.8
Mean of SN ratios
38.6
38.4
38.2
38.0
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
Fig. 2 Main effect plot for S/N ratios

Table 7 Properties of WCO

Property Values
biodiesel
Obtained ASTM D6751
Density (g/mm3 ) (at 15 °C) 0.885 –
Kinematic viscosity (mm2 /s) (at 3.73 1.9–6
40 °C)
Cetane index 55 >47
Flash point (°C) 190 >93
Fire point 197 –
Alcohol control (flash point) (°C) 190 >130
Pour point (°C) 0 –
Cloud point (°C) 5 –
Distillation temperature (T90, 338 <360
AET) (°C)
Acid number (mg KOH/g) 0.3 <0.5
Calorific value (MJ/kg) 40.38 –
The result indicates that increasing the molar ratio up to 6:1 increases the yield
and after that, the biodiesel yield decreases. Increasing the catalyst concentration
up to 1% increases the biodiesel yield and beyond that it is found to decrease. The
yield of biodiesel increases constantly with the increasing reaction time up to 90 min.
As the temperature of reaction increases from 50 to 55 °C, the yield increases and
beyond 55 °C there is slight decrease in biodiesel yield.
From the ANOVA analysis, it is found that the percentage contribution of catalyst
concentration is highest which is 54.34%. The percentage contribution for reaction
temperature is 34.88%. Molar ratio and reaction time have comparatively lower
percentage contributions which are 9.02% and 1.76%, respectively. The F values
are determined using ANOVA and compared with the critical F values. The catalyst
concentration, as well as temperature, are found to be significant while the other
two remaining factors are found to be insignificant. It signifies that the main factors
which affect the yield of biodiesel are catalyst concentration and temperature. Molar
ratio and reaction time have very less effect on biodiesel yield.
In Minitab-18 the maximum yield under the optimal condition is predicted which
is found to be 97.7%. The test run is performed for biodiesel yield under the optimal
condition obtained by S/N ratio analysis. The experimental maximum yield under
optimal condition is found to be 96.8% which is near the predicted yield.
The major physicochemical properties of the FAME sample obtained under opti-
mal condition are determined and compared with the ASTM D6751 values which
are shown in Table 7. All the properties of the FAME sample are found to be in the
standard ASTM range. The different fatty acid concentrations are shown in Table 8.
Table 8 Fatty acid

Acids Composition (%W)
compositions of WCO
biodiesel Palmitic acid (C16:0) 19.6
Linoleic acids (C18:2) 30.24
Oleic acids (C18:1) 34.5
Stearic acids (C18:0) 3.2
Linolenic acid (C18:3) 2.28
6 Conclusions
Following points can be concluded from the study that has been carried out:
• The optimal values of the parameters that affect the transesterification process
of producing biodiesel from WCO are—molar ratio 6:1 (methanol:oil), catalyst
concentration (KOH) 1%, reaction time 90 min and reaction temperature 55 °C.
The yield of biodiesel under optimal condition is found to be 96.8% which is close
to the Taguchi’s predicted value.
• Significant factors that affect the biodiesel yield are catalyst concentration and
reaction temperature with 54.34% and 34.88% contribution, respectively. Molar
ratio and reaction time rate having percentage contribution of only 9.02% and
1.76%, respectively and are insignificant factors.
• All the physicochemical properties of biodiesel obtained under optimal condition
meet the ASTM D6751 standards.
From all the observations it can be concluded that Waste Cooking Oil can be
an efficient feedstock for producing biodiesel. The study of the optimal condition
of the process parameters will help to get high efficiency in the conversion of the
triglycerides to esters.
Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to Mr. DebarshiBaruah, Technical Officer, Centre for
Energy, IIT Guwahati for the help in determining some physicochemical properties of the biodiesel
sample. Authors are also thankful to Assam Engineering College, Tezpur University and IOCL,
Guwahati for providing the facilities to conduct the necessary experiments.
References
1. Kannahi, M., Arulmozhi, R.: Production of biodiesel from edible and non-edible oils using
Rhizopus oryzae and Aspergillus niger. Asian J. Plant Sci. Res. 3(5), 60–64 (2013)
2. Idusuyi, N., Ajide, O.O., Abu, R.: Biodiesel as an alternative energy resource in Southwest
Nigeria. Int. J. Sci. Technol. 2(5), 323–327 (2012)
3. Das, U., Choudhury, P.K., Bora, D.K.: Study and determination of the physicochemical proper-
ties of waste cooking oil and a review of its effect on biodiesel production. In: Wind Engineering:
Prospects and Challenges, at PCPS Girls’ Polytechnic, Guwahati, pp. 155–164 (2018)
4. Rajalingam, A., Jani, S.P., Kumar, A.S., Khan, M.A.: Production methods of biodiesel. J. Chem.
Pharm. Res. 8(3), 170–173 (2016)
5. Agarwal, A.: Process optimization for biodiesel production from jatropha oil and its perfor-
mance evaluation in a CI engine. Int. J. Latest Trends Eng. Technol. (IJLTET) 1, 65–72 (2012)
6. Saini, R.D.: Conversion of waste cooking oil to biodiesel. Int. J. Pet. Sci. Technol. 11(1), 9–21
(2017)
7. Sutapa, I.W., Latuputy, L., Tellusa, I.: Production of biodiesel from Calophyllum inophyllum
L. oil by lipase enzyme as biocatalyst. Int. J. Eng. Sci. Res. Technol. 4(8), 437–441 (2015)
8. Baste, S.V., Bhosale, A.V., Chavan, S.B.: Emission characteristics of Pongamia pinnata
(karanja) biodiesel and its blending up to 100% in a C.I. engine. Res. J. Agric. For. Sci.
1(7), 1–5 (2013)
9. Gorle, R.D., Meshram, D.B., Naik, P.L., Narnaware, V.S.: Optimization of effective parameter
of jatropha biodiesel using Taguchi method and performance analysis using CI engine. Int. J.
Innov. Technol. Explor. Eng. 3, 46–52 (2013)
10. Murmu, R., Sutar, H., Patra, S.: Experimental investigation and process optimization of
biodiesel production from kusum oil using Taguchi method. Adv. Chem. Eng. Sci. 7, 464–
476 (2017)
11. Sharma, S.K.: Optimization of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil by using orthogonal
array. Int. J. Eng. Sci. Res. Technol. 6(7), 376–381 (2017)
12. Sai Kumar, G.K.B., Rajesh, K., Sharma, A.H.K., Balachandran, S., Gopinath, P.: Optimization
of biodiesel production using pongamia oil by Taguchi method. Int. J. Eng. Res. Technol. 6(4),
1–7 (2018)
13. Talupula, N.V.M.B., Rao, P.S., Kumar, B.S.P.: Parametric optimization of kusum oil biodiesel
production using Taguchi-PCA method. In: National Conference on Trends in Science, Engi-
neering & Technology by Matrusri Engineering College & IJCRT, pp. 234–240 (2018)
14. Naik, P.L., Katpatal, D.C.: Optimization of effective parameters of Pongamia pinnata (karanja)
biodiesel using Taguchi method. Int. J. Eng. Res. Appl. 3(4), 701–706 (2013)
Comparison of Various Solar Radiation
Data Sources for Feasibility Study
of Parabolic Trough Collector Power
Plant in Assam
Pinku Kumar Goswami, Nabajit Dev Choudhury and Rupam Kataki
Abstract In the present study, an attempt was made to analyze the effect of DNI
on the output of 50 MW parabolic trough collector (PTC) based concentrated solar
power (CSP) system for Karbi Anglong district of Assam. The selection of location
was mainly done on the basis of the most number of unelectrified villages available.
Five different satellite derived data sources were used to collect the monthly average
daily global horizontal irradiation, diffuse irradiation (DI), direct normal irradiation,
and other meteorological parameters. These data were further converted to hourly
values using PVSyst software and finally to the Typical Meteorological Year (TMY)
format files. These TMY files were used to estimate the annual electricity production
using System Advisor Model (SAM) and finally levelized cost of electricity (LCOE)
production was determined. It was observed that variation of annual electricity pro-
duction from 90 to 119 GWh and therefore LCOE varies from Rs. 9.56/kWh to Rs.
12.55/kWh.
Keywords Global horizontal irradiation (GHI) · Direct normal irradiation (DNI) ·

Parabolic trough collector (PTC) · PVSyst · System advisor model (SAM)
Nomenclature
a Empirical constant (dimensionless)

b Empirical constant (dimensionless)
I Solar irradiation (kWh/m2 /day)
r Hourly to daily solar radiation (dimensionless)
P. K. Goswami · N. D. Choudhury (B)

Department of Energy Engineering, Assam Science and Technology University,
Guwahati 781013, India
e-mail: nabajit.astu2017@gmail.com
R. Kataki
Department of Energy, Tezpur University, Tezpur 784028, India

1438 P. K. Goswami et al.
Greek Symbols
θ Solar angle (°)

ω Hour angle (°)
Subscripts
bn Beam normal
d Diffuse
g Global
t Total
z Zenith
s Sunset
1 Introduction
Sun is the major source of almost all forms of energy, which provides both heat and
light. The available solar radiation can be effectively used for energy generation by
using two different technologies that can be broadly classified as solar photovoltaic
(PV) system and concentrated solar power (CSP) system. In this research work,
the emphasis was given more on CSP system than solar PV because of its higher
efficiencies and requirement of less land area for the same energy generation [1].
There are four types of CSP technologies available. They are—parabolic trough
collector (PTC), central tower receiver (CTR), linear Fresnel reflector (LFR), and
Stirling dish. Out of these four systems, only PTC based system is popular in the
global market with more than 85% of total installations worldwide [2]. The PTC
system concentrates the collected sun rays falling on the mirrors or lens into the
receiver passing through the focal length of the parabola. Further, the sun rays heat
the fluid which passes through a thermodynamic cycle to produce the steam and
finally, electricity is generated by using a generator.
In India, CSP systems become more popular after the government of India
launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) in 2010 as part of
National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) with an aim to generate 20 GW
of energy from solar by 2022 [3]. This was again relaunched in 2014 with a target of
100 GW of energy production from solar. At present scenario, 64.47% of all India
installed capacity is contributed by fossil fuel and share of the renewable energy sys-
tem is 20.44% [4]. World largest LFR based CSP system is now located in Dhursar,
India with an installed capacity of 125 MW [2].
The performance of CSP based systems mainly depends upon the available direct
normal solar irradiation. There are mainly two types of solar radiation data—ground
Comparison of Various Solar Radiation Data Sources … 1439
measured and satellite derived data available in the Indian context. Satellite derived
data are further classified as static time series and dynamic or transient time series
data. Ground measured data are considered more suitable than the other one because
it is site-specific and hence more accurate. Again in ground measurement data, long-
term data are more preferable while estimating the performance of CSP systems
[5]. But in India, there are only 23 locations where long-term ground measured
global and direct normal solar radiation data are available. MNRE in collaboration
with National Institute of Wind Energy Technology (NIWE) established 113 Solar
Radiation Resource Assessment (SRRA) stations under JNNSM Phase-I [2]. But they
offer only short-term solar radiation data. For a location situated beyond the 25 km
distances from where ground measured data are calculated in that case, satellite
derived data are considered more suitable than the ground measured data. Nowadays
satellite derived data are also considering as a promising option as they provide more
accurate results with higher grid resolutions.
Purohit et al. [2] made an experiment to estimate the techno-economic feasibil-
ity of PTC based system in Jodhpur and Bhuj. The study concluded that the range
of deviation of DNI values for the selected location was 3–30% and hence LCOE
varies from 1 to 44%. Praveen et al. [6] performed an analysis and optimization of a
PTC plant in Abu Dhabi and Aswan. This study revealed that the annual electricity
generated for Abu Dhabi and Aswan were 333.15–369.26 GWh with capacity factor
of 38.1 and 42.19% and mean efficiency of the plant in both locations were found
to be 14.35 and 14.98%. Sharma et al. [7] made a performance comparison of CSP
plants in 13 different locations of India. It was observed that significant variation
was occurred both in annual energy output and LCOE due to variation in available
solar radiation data. Enjavi-Arsanjani et al. [8] performed the simulation for the per-
formance assessment of CSP plant in different areas of Iran using System Advisory
Model (SAM) software. Reddy and Kumar [9] performed a techno-economic feasi-
bility analysis of PTC plant for different locations in India. Bishoyi and Sudhakar
[10] analyzed the performance feasibility of a 100 MWe PTC plant for Udaipur city
in India.
As it has been revealed from the literature review that the performance and finan-
cial feasibility for CSP plants are mainly done in various places of India, but it has
not been yet performed in Assam. So, in this project, an attempt was made to find
out the financial feasibility of PTC plant in Karbi Anglong district of Assam. In the
present study, PTC is selected as it is the most established and attractive aspect of the
CSP technology for electricity and steam generation due to its higher solar to ther-
mal efficiency compared to linear Fresnel reflector [11]. The reason for high thermal
efficiency is that of its smaller absorber area and hence smaller heat loss. Since in
PTC system collectors are connected together in a long line up to 100 m, therefore,
end loss is minimal compared to LFR system. Comparing to CTR or Stirling dish
CSP technologies, the PTC has much lower capital investment. Mainly because of
these advantages, the PTC system was considered in this research work over the
other available CSP technologies.
2 Methodology
The methodology adopted for the comparison of various solar radiation data sources
is as follows.
2.1 Selection of Locations
Selection of locations was mainly done upon the most number of unelectrified villages
available. On that basis, Karbi Anglong district of Assam was selected.
2.2 Selection of Data Sources
Long-term ground measured GHI, DNI, DI is considered more suitable in order to

compare the effect of various solar radiation data sources on the predicted perfor-
mance of the CSP systems. As there were no ground data available for the selected
location, therefore, the research work was carried out by using the satellite derived
data only. For this purpose, five different solar radiation data sources were considered
such as—Meteonorm 7.2, NASA-SSE, NREL-SEC, PVGIS, and SolarGIS. Selec-
tion of these data sources was considered mainly on the basis of two factors such
as—time series and resolutions. These data sources can be classified on the basis of
time series as static and dynamic time series data [7]. NASA-SSE and NREL-SEC
are static time series data sources whereas Meteonorm 7.2, PVGIS and SolarGIS are
dynamic time series data sources.
2.3 Performance Comparison
In order to compare the various satellite derived data sources by using the SAM
software [12], the first and foremost requirement is converting the monthly average
daily values of GHI, DNI, DI, and other meteorological parameters (temperature,
wind speed) provided by the selected data sources into hourly values because SAM
support only hourly values of these parameters and for this purpose another software
PVSyst [13] was used. In PVSyst the monthly average daily values are converted to
hourly values by using Collares-Pereira and Rabl model that can be shown by Eq. (1)
[14]
Π cos ω − cos ωs
rt = (a + b cos ω) (1)
24 sin ωs − 2Π.ω
360
s
cos ωs
The coefficients a and b were calculated by using Eqs. (2) and (3) [14] as given
below
a = 0.409 + 0.5016 sin(ωs − 60) (2)
b = 0.6609 − 0.4767 sin(ωs − 60) (3)
The Collares-Pereira and Rabl model first converts the daily values into the
sequence of hourly values by using Markov transition matrices whose distribution
and statistical properties are analogous to real measure hourly values [7]. After the
conversion of the daily data into hourly data, TMY files were required in order to
feed these data in the SAM software environment. TMY is a typical meteorological
year file which can be created by using these hourly data for all five data sources for
the selected location. The created TMY files were then imported in SAM to analyze
the performance of a 50 MW PTC plant for the selected location.
2.4 Financial Comparison
At last financial calculation was carried out in terms of levelized cost of electricity
(LCOE) production for PTC based CSP system to analyze the financial viability of the
project using Microsoft Excel sheet. In the present study, the financial assumptions
were used as suggested by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC),
Government of India [15].
Equation (4) was used to estimate the LCOE [7].
25
UCEi
LCOE = ×CRF (4)
i=1
(1 + d)i
where UCEi and CRF were calculated using Eqs. (5) and (6) [7]
Total annual cost in ith year

UCEi = (5)
Net annual electricity produced in ith year
d(1 + d)t
CRF = (6)
(1 + d)t − 1
where t is the useful life of the CSP plant and d is the discount rate.
The total annual cost in the ith year includes the summation of annual interest
on the loan is taken, depreciation, return on equity, interest on working capital and,
operation and maintenance cost.
The data were first collected from five different data sources for the selected location
to observe the variation in the output of the parabolic trough collector power plant.
Also, the comparison of DNI values was done only because of the performance of
CSP systems are mainly depended upon the DNI values. The monthly average daily
DNI for five different data sources is shown here in Table 1.
After analyzing the DNI values collected from various sources it was observed
that DNI was highest in the month of December with a value 7.77 kWh/m2 /day
for Meteonorm 7.2 data source and lowest in the month of June with a value
2.37 kWh/m2 /day for SolarGIS data source. Again comparing the variation of DNI
values on a monthly basis among the available data sources it was seen that the vari-
ation was lesser with NREL-SEC data source. So, on that basis, it can be concluded
that NREL-SEC data source is more suitable for performance prediction of the PTC
system for the considered location.
Also, it was observed that the DNI values were higher in the months spanning from
November to February and lower in the months of June and July because 50–70%
of the total annual rainfall occurs in June and July in Assam.
After converting the monthly average daily dataset into hourly values, they were
fed into the SAM software environment to analyze the performance of 50 MW PTC
based CSP system. It was observed that the annual electricity generation was highest
Table 1 Monthly average DNI values of Karbi Anglong district provided by different sources
Data sources
Meteonorm NASA-SSE NREL-SEC PVGIS [19] Solar GIS
7.2 [16] [17] [18] [20]
Months DNI DNI DNI DNI DNI
(kWh/m2 /day) (kWh/m2 /day) (kWh/m2 /day) (kWh/m2 /day) (kWh/m2 /day)
January 5.77 6.79 4.24 5.01 6.38
February 5.39 6.48 4.84 5.45 5.62
March 4.26 5.70 4.49 4.84 4.13
April 3.63 4.73 4.16 4.08 3.26
May 3.45 3.48 4.06 3.60 2.81
June 3.07 2.90 3.29 2.98 2.37
July 3.10 2.82 3.32 3.19 2.63
August 3.06 2.99 4.13 3.33 2.84
September 4.17 3.16 4.49 3.68 3.69
October 4.23 4.43 4.89 4.23 5.38
November 6.37 6.37 6.06 5.66 7.53
December 7.77 6.95 5.67 5.55 7.64
Yearly 4.52 4.72 4.47 4.30 4.52
average
Table 2 Annual electricity

Location Karbi
output (GWh) and LCOE (Rs.
Anglong
/kWh) for different solar
radiation data source for 50 Solar Meteonorm Electricity 102.6
MWPTC power plants for the radiation data 7.2 LCOE 11.05
selected location sources
NASA-SSE Electricity 102.5
LCOE 11.06
NREL-SEC Electricity 119
LCOE 9.56
PVGIS Electricity 112.5
LCOE 10.06
SolarGIS Electricity 90
LCOE 12.55
while using NREL-SEC dataset and lowest while using SolarGIS dataset. The unit
cost is inversely proportional to net annual electricity production, so higher annual
electricity generation will reduce the unit cost of electricity production and hence
LCOE, which is revealed by Eq. (3). The LCOE estimation for the selected location
with the selected data sources varies from Rs. 9.56/kWh to Rs. 12.55/kWh as shown
in Table 2. Figure 1 represents the LCOE (Rs. /kWh) for different solar radiation
data sources and for the selected location for the 50 MW PTC power plants.
Cycle efficiencies were higher in the months of December, January, and February
and lower in the months of June and July which was evident from monthly average
daily DNI values. The highest cycle efficiency was obtained as 0.4530 for Meteonorm
7.2 data source for the month of December which is shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 1 LCOE (Rs. /kWh) for Karbi Anglong

different solar radiation data 14 12.55
sources and for the selected 11.05 11.06
12 10.06
location for a 50 MW PTC 9.56
10
power plant
(Rs. /kWh)
8
LCOE
0
Fig. 2 Cycle Efficiency of PTC power plants for Meteonorm 7.2 data source
4 Conclusion
In the present study, five different data sources were considered namely Meteonorm
7.2, NASA-SSE, NREL-SEC, PVGIS, and SolarGIS for Karbi Anglong district of
Assam. Two different types of software were used such as PVSyst and SAM. The
results obtained are highlighted below-
• Significant variation was observed in annual electricity production as well as in
LCOE when using these five different data sources for the selected location.
• The range of variation of annual electricity output was from 90 GWh data source
to 119 GWh and hence LCOE estimation for the selected location varies from Rs.
12.55/kWh for SolarGIS to Rs. 9.56/kWh for NREL-SEC data source.
• For PTC system the maximum value of cycle efficiency was 0.4530 for the
Meteonorm 7.2 data sources in the month December for Karbi Anglong district.
After analyzing the above result and discussion it may be concluded that the
selection of a solar energy data source has a distinct impact on the annual electricity
output of the PTC system hence its financial feasibility.
Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to the management of Assam Science and Technology
University, Guwahati, Assam for providing PVSyst software that was used in this project. This
research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or
not-for-profit sectors.
References
1. Lipu, M.S.H., Jamal, T.: Techno-economic analysis of solar concentrating power (CSP) in
Bangladesh. Int. J. Adv. Renew. Energy Res. 2, 750–762 (2013)
2. Purohit, I., Motiwala, S., Kumar, A.: Impact of different solar radiation databases on techno-
economics of concentrating solar power (CSP) projects in Northwestern India. In: Chandra, L.,
Dixit, A. (eds.) Concentrated Solar Thermal Energy Technologies, SPE, pp. 253–263. Springer,
Singapore (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4576-9_23
3. Purohit, I., Purohit, P.: Techno-economic evaluation of concentrating solar power generation
in India. Energy Policy 38, 3015–3029 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2010.01.041
4. CEA, Central Electricity Authority: All India installed capacity (in MW) of power
stations. http://www.cea.nic.in/reports/monthly/installedcapacity/2018/installed_capacity-01.
pdf. Accessed 25 June 2018
5. Olomiyesan, B.M., Oyedum, O.D.: Comperative study of ground measured, satellite-derived,
and estimated global solar radiation data in Nigeria. J. Sol. Energy 2016, 8197389 (2016).
https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/8197389
6. Praveen, R.P., Basser, M.A., Awan, A.B., Zubair, M.: Performance analysis and optimization
of a parabolic trough solar power plant in the middle east region. Energies 11, 741 (2018).
https://doi.org/10.3390/en11040741
7. Sharma, C., Shama, A.K., Purohit, I., Mullick, S.C., Kandpal, T.C.: Comparison of solar radia-
tion data sources for design and performance appraisal of CSP systems in India. Int. J. Ambient
Energy 39, 594–605 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/01430750.2017.1324813
8. Enjavi-Arsanjani, M., Hirbodi, K., Yanhoubi, M.: Solar energy potential and performance
assessment of CSP plants in different areas of Iran. Energy Procedia 69, 2039–2048 (2015).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2015.03.216
9. Reddy, K.S., Kumar, K.R.: Solar collector field design and viability analysis of stand-alone
parabolic trough power plants for Indian conditions. Energy Sustain. Dev. 16, 456–470 (2012).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2012.09.003
10. Bishoyi, D., Sudhakar, K.: Modelling and performance simulation of 100 MW PTC based solar
thermal power plant in Udaipur India. Case Stud. Therm. Eng. 10, 216–226 (2017). https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.csite.2017.05.005
11. Gharbi, N.E., Derbal, H., Bouaichaoui, S., Said, N.: A comparative study between parabolic
trough collector and linear Fresnel reflector technologies. Energy Procedia 6, 565–572 (2011).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2011.05.065
12. SAM 2017.9.5: System Advisor Model, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
http://sam.nrel.gov/download (2018)
13. PVSyst version 6.73: Photovoltaic Software. http://www.pvsyst.com/en/ (2018)
14. Muzathik, A.M., Nik, W.M.N.W., Samo, K., Ibrahim, M.Z.: Hourly global solar radiation
estimation on a horizontal plane. J. Phys. Sci. 21, 51–66 (2010)
15. CERC: Determination of benchmark capital cost norm for solar PV power projects and solar
thermal power projects applicable during FY 2016–17. Central Electricity Regulatory Commis-
sion (CERC), Government of India, New Delhi. http://www.cercind.gov.in/2015/ordes/SO17N.
pdf. Accessed 03 June 2018
16. Meteonorm: Irradiation data for energy place on earth. http://meteonorm.com/downloads.
Accessed 10 Apr 2018 (2017)
17. NASA: Atmospheric Science Data Centre. http://eoweb.larc.nasa.gov.in. Accessed 10 Apr 2018
(2016)
18. NREL-SEC, National Renewable Energy Laboratory. http://www.synergyenviron.com/solar-
irradiance. Accessed 10 Apr 2018 (2017)
19. PVGIS, Photovoltaic Geographical System Africa-Asia. http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis.
Accessed 10 Apr 2018 (2012)
20. SolarGIS: High resolution solar data. http://solargis.info. Accessed 10 Apr 2018 (2016)
A Numerical Study on Microchannel
Cooling for Photovoltaic Cells
Siddhant Mohapatra, Chanchal Gupta, Sujit Nath and Dipankar Bhanja
Abstract There is a global push for harnessing the solar energy for electricity gen-
eration and Photovoltaic cell is the leading technology in this endeavour. However,
PVCs face an imminent drop in thermal performance at elevated collector plate tem-
perature. To deal with this conundrum, a proposed microchannels based cooling
system is integrated into the collector. To this end, a comprehensive 2-D numeri-
cal model has been developed using COMSOL Multiphysics. This model has been
validated with existing literature. The variation of temperature across the channel
is studied under varying conditions of Reynolds number and inlet temperature of
microchannel. Cooling efficiency is selected as the parameter to judge the viability
of this system.
Keywords 2D model · PV cell · Cooling efficiency · Microchannel · Thermal

performance
1 Introduction
In recent times, Photovoltaic Cell (PVC) has garnered a lot of attention as an effective
solar energy conversion device. However, PVC’s major drawback lies in the waste
heat produced by it, which raises the collector plate temperature, adversely affecting
its thermal performance [1, 2]. As a result, some techniques are required to overcome
this problem. A good number of dedicated studies have been performed to improve the
thermal performance of PVC on prolonged usage. Techniques have been developed
considering geometrical improvement of design [3–5] and cooling methods for PVC.
It has been found that cooling methods are more effective in tackling this issue in
contrast to all other methods. A study by Bahaidarah [6] shows that cooling enhances
the power output and conversion efficiency by 51.6% and 66.6%, respectively, during
summer. Cooling systems for improvement in thermal performance of PVC can be
S. Mohapatra · C. Gupta (B) · S. Nath · D. Bhanja

National Institute of Technology Silchar, Silchar 788010, India
e-mail: chanchalgupta304@gmail.com

1448 S. Mohapatra et al.
classified on basis of cooling fluids used, concentration of system, heat transfer

capabilities and temperature characteristics [7]. In a study by Dehghan et al. [8],
constrained fluid flow and conjugate heat transfer in heat sinks with microchannels
were investigated and they concluded that the pumping power reduced by a factor of
4 while the heat transfer rate remained unchanged. Use of nanofluids has also shown
power improvement by 37.6% with change in fluid temperature around 20 °C [9]. A
work by Oyinlola and Shire [10] established the micro/minichannels to be a viable
option for PVCs. Works on optimisation between size and enhancement of thermal
performance show 2– 5 mm hydraulic diameter for 1 m long channel as the optimum
size [11].
In the present study, a numerical rendition of an experimental study by Oyinlola
et al. [12] is considered and expanded upon to demonstrate the efficiency of a cer-
tain cooling technique on a photovoltaic cell under different temperature and flow
conditions.
2 Model
The work by Oyinlola et al. [12] had proposed a cooling system with a number of
microchannels embedded between two collector plates and a cooling fluid flowing
through these channels taking the heat away from the PV cell. However, here, for
reducing computational complexity, this study focuses on a single microchannel in
2-D lengthwise cross-section.
The mathematical model for the study is elucidated in Fig. 1. COMSOL Mul-
tiphysics has been used in simulating this problem. In this model, a laminar flow
G(Pdx)
Plate
h(Pdx)(Tp - Tf )
Fluid
↔
dx
Fig. 1 Mathematical model for the coupled flow and heat transfer problem
A Numerical Study on Microchannel Cooling for Photovoltaic Cells 1449
regime has been coupled with a combination of conductive and convective heat
transfer (Heat transfer in Solids and Fluids, respectively) in a steady state analysis.
Hence, the energy balance equations for the plate and the fluid, respectively are as
follows:

d2 Tp PG h P Tp − Tf
+ + =0 (1)
dx 2 kA kA

dTf Ph Tp − Tf
− =0 (2)
dx ṁcp
On rearranging Eqs. 1 and 2, we get:

x
Ph A c1 x B c2 x PG
Tf (x) = e −1 + e −1 + x (3)
ṁcp c1 c2 ṁcp 0

GY
Tp (x) = Aec1 x + Bec2 x + + Tf (x) (4)
Ph
where constants A and B can be calculated from boundary condition as follows:

dT p
=0 (5)
dx x=0,L
The effect of cooling with the microchannel is mostly dependent on the mass
flow rate of fluid, the thermophysical properties of the fluid and the geometry of the
microchannel can be studied using the difference in inlet and exit temperatures of
the cooling fluid used.
3 Simulation Details
The simulations have been conducted, firstly to validate the numerical rendition of
the experimental model by Oyinlola et al. [12] and subsequently to expand on the
temperature and flow velocity domains. The model used for the simulations is shown
in Fig. 2. The aluminium plates are each of 10 mm thick and the microchannel of
depth 0.5 mm is sandwiched between them.
Validation has been carried out for the cases mentioned in Table 1, while keeping k f
= 1.225 Wm−1 K−1 throughout. In order to study the influence of parameters T in and
Re, ceteris paribus, in further simulations, the constant parameters are set to
tt = 1050 Wm−2 , which is the approximate heat irradiation from the sun at earth’s
surface when the sun is at the zenith (i.e. at noon); Coolant used is Tyfocor LS, with
constant thermophysical properties like μ = 0.020413 Pa s, ρ = 1034 kg m−3 and cp
Irradiation
10mm Aluminum Plate

0.5mm
IN OUT
10mm Aluminum Plate

Microchannel
270mm
Fig. 2 Representative image of the model used for simulation
Table 1 Parametric data for the validation cases

Case T in Re G h
No. (K) (Non-dim) (Wm−2 ) (Wm−2 K−1 )
a 332.15 54 516 208
b 293.65 10 782 316
c 313.15 100 655 344
= 3600 J kg−1 K−1 . The parameter T in has been varied from 10 to 40 °C, in counts
of 10 °C, so that T in can conform to the temperature range of ambience in large
parts of India and other tropics throughout the year. The parameter Re pertaining to
the entire set of 60 microchannels has been varied through the values 10, 30, 50,
80 and 93 to find out the effect of flow velocity on cooling effect. Re = 10–93 has
been recommended as the optimal range of operation for the experimental device by
Oyinlola et al. [12]. The entire set of analysis has been carried out at steady state of
operation.
A Grid Independence Test has also been realised for the model with the aim to find
the optimum number of elements for the problem. To this end, a significant range of
elements have been considered and the test is carried out iteratively to yield the result
shown in Fig. 3. An asymptotic nature of the curve is observed after around 1.1e+5
elements, i.e., negligible variation in the results are obtained thereafter. Hence, the
simulations have been run with a mesh consisting of 143100 tetrahedral elements.
0.036
0.035
0.034
0.033
0 4 8 12 14.13 16
4
Number of Elements (N) x 10
Fig. 3 Grid independence test (plot of non-dimensional coolant outlet temperature against the
number of mesh elements)
4 Validation
The case details mentioned in Table 1 have been simulated and the results are dis-
played in Fig. 4. The length-averaged margin of error in Fig. 4a–c are found to be
0.1744%, 0.4899% and 0.5636%, respectively. For case (a), the error first increases
until around 140 mm and then decreases; while for case (b), it increases till around
160 mm and then decreases. The highest error is obtained in case (c). The possible
reasons for this difference between the curves can be attributed to the assumptions
considered while reducing the problem from 3-D to 2-D such as incompressible and
steady flow and other assumptions like negligible heat losses and constant thermo-
physical properties of coolant fluid.
Parameters such as maximum temperature and cooling efficiency essentially influ-

ence the performance of a PVC system. Therefore, the effect of operational conditions
such as Re and T in are investigated. Cooling efficiency, as expressed by Kasaeian
et al. [13], is the ratio of heat absorbed by cooling fluid to the heat flux irradiated on
the exposed surface of the collector plate.
Tout − Tin
ηc = ṁcp , (6)
Aplate G
where ṁ is mass flow rate of coolant in kg s−1 and G is irradiated heat flux in Wm−2 .
Using the data mentioned in Simulation Details, the expression for cooling effi-
ciency can be simplified to:
(a) (b)
306
340
302
336
Tf (K)
Tf (K)
298
332
Simulation 294 Simulation
328 Exp. [12] Exp. [12]
290
324
286
0 100 200 270 0 100 200 270
Length (mm) Length (mm)
(c)
325
320
Tf (K)
315
310 Simulation
Exp. [12]
305
0 100 200 270
Length (mm)
Fig. 4 Comparison of experimental [12] and numerical plots of variation of T f along the length of
the microchannel for a Re = 54 and T in = 332.15 K, b Re = 10 and T in = 293.65 K, c Re = 100
and T in = 313.15 K
ηc = 0.00143(Tout − Tin )Re (7)
5.1 Effect of Coolant Re and Tin on Variation

of Temperature of Fluid Along Length
Figure 5a shows the effect of Re on temperature variation across the fluid in

microchannel for T in = 293.15 K. It is observed that for increasing Re, i.e. increas-
ing mass flow rate, outlet temperature of fluid decreases, i.e. temperature difference
across the microchannel decreases. The principal reason behind this phenomenon
is the time duration for which a mass of fluid remains within the channel, which
decreases with increase in Re.
Figure 5b shows the temperature variation across microchannel for Re = 50 and
different T in . The temperature variation remains largely unaffected across varied inlet
temperature of the coolant, i.e. temperature uniformity is not a function of T in .
(a) (b)
302 320
0
Re=1 in
0 310
299 Re=3
Tf(K)
Tf(K)
Re= 0
5 in
0 300
Re=8
296
Re=93 in
290
293 in
280
0 100 200 270 0 100 200 270
Length (mm) Length (mm)
Fig. 5 a Variation of temperature of fluid along length at different Re; T in = 293.15 K. b Variation
of temperature of fluid along length at different T in ; Re = 50. Note This plot qualitatively represents
all plots obtained at different T in and Re respectively
5.2 Effect of Coolant Re and Tin on Cooling Efficiency

of Micro Channel
Figures 6 and 7 depict the variation of cooling efficiency with Re and coolant inlet
temperature, respectively. It can be discerned from Fig. 6, that the cooling efficiency
increases with increase in Re. The efficiency obtained in this setup ranges between
12–44% for Re values between 10 and 93. It can be normal to surmise that the cooling
efficiency would be higher at low Re, because of the higher time duration that a
mass of fluid gets to take in the heat from the plate while inside the microchannel.
However, the results are in contrast to that theory. This is because of the dominance
of convection over conduction at higher Re as the value of h increases. As can be seen
from Eqs. 6 and 7, cooling efficiency depends on Re and difference in temperature
of coolant at inlet and outlet of microchannel, ceteris paribus. As at higher Re, the
temperature difference reduces, there is a trade-off between these two factors.
Fig. 6 Variation of cooling

efficiency with Re; T in =
293.15 K. Note This plot
qualitatively represents all 0.4
plots obtained at different T in
ηc 0.3
0.2
0.1
0 25 50 75 100
Re
Fig. 7 Variation of cooling 0.5

efficiency with T in at
different values of Re 0.4
ηc 0.3
0.2
0.1
285 290 295 300 305 310 315 320
Tin(K)
Figure 7 accentuates the observations from Fig. 5b that temperature variation

across fluid remains unaffected with respect to changes in T in . If cooling efficiency
does not change for different T in at constant Re, from Eq. 7, it is obvious that the
temperature rises across microchannel are same for all the cases. Hence, there is a
higher possibility of temperature profile following an equivalent path for variation
in T in at constant Re. This result is not generalized in nature and is restricted to the
model into consideration.
6 Conclusion
Numerical modelling and simulation have been carried out to study the variation of
temperature in PVCs and the efficiency of cooling of PVC set-ups using embedded
microchannels. The model is validated with reference to an experimental work by
Oyinlola et al. [12]. The rise in temperature of coolant is found to be inversely pro-
portional to Re. The simulations also highlight the invariability of cooling efficiency
to changes in T in . The cooling efficiency, thus obtained, is sufficiently higher than
recent studies using nanofluids and definitely higher than improvements through
geometric modifications.
With advancements in the sector of micromachining, the process of creating fine
micro-channels in the aluminium plates is sure to become cheaper and easier. This
cooling system can be further augmented either by instituting converging trapezoidal
microchannels or by introducing SiO2 nanoparticles in the cooling fluid.
Acknowledgements The authors express their gratitude to National MEMS Design Centre,
National Institute of Technology Silchar for providing the computational resources required for
this work and heartily thank TEQIP-III Cell, National Institute of Technology Silchar for funding
this endeavour. The authors declare no competing financial or nonfinancial interests.
References
1. Du, D., Darkwa, J., Kokogiannakis, G.: Thermal management systems for photo-voltaics (PV)
installations: a critical review. Sol. Energy 97, 238–254 (2013)
2. Yadav, P., Tripathi, B., Rathod, S., Kumar, M.: Real-time analysis of low-concentration pho-
tovoltaic systems: a review towards development of sustainable energy technology. Renew.
3. Sivakumar, P., Christraj, W., Sridharan, M., Jayamalathi, N.: Performance improvement study
of solar water heating system. ARPN J. Eng. Appl. Sci. 7, 45–49 (2012)
4. Vestlund, J.: Gas-filled, flat plate solar collectors (2012)
5. Amori, K.E., Jabouri, N.S.: Thermal performance of solar hot water systems using a flat plate
collector of accelerated risers. J. Eng. Res. [TJER] 9, 1–10 (2012)
6. Bahaidarah, H.M.S.: Experimental performance evaluation and modeling of jet impingement
cooling for thermal management of photovoltaics. Sol. Energy 135, 605–617 (2016)
7. Bahaidarah, H.M.S., Baloch, A.A.B., Gandhidasan, P.: Experimental performance evaluation
and modeling of jet impingement cooling for thermal management of photovoltaics. Renew.
8. Dehghan, M., Daneshipour, M., Valipour, M.S., Rafee, R., Saedodin, S.: Enhancing heat transfer
in microchannel heat sinks using converging flow passages. Energy Convers. Manag. 92, 244–
250 (2015)
9. Karami, N., Rahimi, M.: Heat transfer enhancement in a PV cell using Boehmite nanofluid.
Energy Convers. Manag. 86, 275–285 (2014)
10. Oyinlola, M.A., Shire, G.S.F.: Investigating heat transfer in absorber plates with minichannels.
In: 13th UK Heat Transfer Conference (UKHTC13), pp. 740–747. London (2013)
11. Moss, R.W., Shire, G.S.F., Henshall, P., Eames, P.C., Arya, F., Hyde, T.: Optimal passage size
for solar collector microchannel and tube-on-plate absorbers. Sol. Energy 153, 718–731 (2017)
12. Oyinlola, M.A., Shire, G.S.F., Moss, R.W.: Thermal analysis of a solar collector absorber plate
with microchannels. Exp. Therm. Fluid Sci. 67, 102–109 (2015)
13. Kasaeian, A., Khanjari, Y., Golzari, S., Mahian, O., Wongwises, S.: Effects of forced convection
on the performance of a photovoltaic thermal system: an experimental study. Exp. Therm. Fluid
Sci. 85, 13–21 (2017)
Robotics and Mechatronics
Spider Monkey Optimization Algorithm
Based Collision-Free Navigation
and Path Optimization for a Mobile
Robot in the Static Environment
Kevin Pirewa Lagaza, Abhishek Kumar Kashyap and Anish Pandey
Abstract This paper concentrates on the recognition of a navigational algorithm,

which can resolve path optimization challenges in minimum time. This navigational
algorithm helps the mobile robot to avoid collision with obstacles. Implementation of
spider monkey optimization (SMO) algorithm is carried out to explain the objectives
of this paper. SMO algorithm is established upon the splitting-combination nature
of spider monkeys. The proposed algorithm is examined in various terrains to deter-
mine the robustness and effectuality of the proposed algorithm. Simulation results
confirmed that spider monkey optimization algorithm selects a path, which guides
the robot to reach the target in minimum possible time. Subsequently, it decreases
the computational cost, as the time for computation is minimized. In extension, we
replicated the previously used environment, and the proposed algorithm is compared
with the corresponding implemented algorithm. Our results demonstrate that Spider
monkey optimization (SMO) provides better results on the basis of time by selecting
a path with lesser complexity. To determine the adequacy of the prescribed standard
route-outlining control design, the common element of this paper is the numerical
simulation.
Keywords Navigation · Mobile robot · Spider monkey optimization algorithm ·

Static obstacle · Numerical simulation
1 Introduction
In the current scenario of the world, because of the increase in workload and com-
plexity in various jobs, the mobile robot is used to execute the work. This paper holds
the field of mobile robot path planning as the main subject of its research. Mobile
robots are replacing human intervention in almost every complex field and perform
the various tasks autonomously. Various tasks includes handling of nuclear materials
K. P. Lagaza · A. K. Kashyap · A. Pandey (B)

School of Mechanical Engineering, KIIT University, Campus-8, Bhubaneswar 751024, India
e-mail: anish.pandeyfme@kiit.ac.in

1460 K. P. Lagaza et al.
and tiny substances, where human power could hardly able to handle the challenges.
Mobile robots are efficient enough to handle it and complete the challenges with
lesser efforts. It can be used at various places like research labs, airports, railway
stations, nuclear stations, etc.
This paper concentrates on the optimum path planning for a mobile robot. SMO
algorithm is embedded in the mobile robot to complete the aim of this paper. The
algorithm gets activated, whenever robot reaches a minimum threshold distance from
the obstacle. Robot calculates the distance between itself and obstacles, and execute
the job step by step and follows the best path. The autonomous mobile robot or AMR
attains the target point allocated by the operator.
Figure 1 presented the continuous vertical slices, which describes the route-
outlining system for mobile robots. The route-outlining system is divided into dif-
ferent functional units to find the work action necessary for the robot route outlining.
Figure 2 recognized and classified each approach of the current research works.
Huang [1] have described FPGA based master–slave PPSO along with B-spline
and applied it for the sensor-based robot to make the path smoother. Approaching
nature for each algorithm is indicated by its fitness value. Tuning of fuzzy logic
parameters utilizing PSO was described by Debnath et al. [2]. Castillo et al. [3] have
characterized the utilization of a genetic algorithm (GA) for off-line point-to-point
autonomous mobile robot path planning problem. It implies of engendering valid
Fig. 1 Path planning architecture of the mobile robot
Fig. 2 Flow figure of work accomplishing the action of a mobile robot

Spider Monkey Optimization Algorithm Based Collision-Free … 1461
paths or trajectories for a holonomic robot which was used to incite following a flat
map of terrain from a starting position to a goal. A two-dimensional grid was used to
portray visually, with obstacles and dangerous ground that the robot must dodge. A
genetic route outlining approach for wheeled robot, which described the vertices as
polygonal clusters has been introduced by Wang et al. [4]. Boa et al. [5] described the
architecture was sensitive to the sensors uncertainties. The authors have used four
designed basic behavior based on priority by incorporating fuzzy logic control. Juang
and Chang [6] have given an evolutionary group-based particle swarm optimization
algorithm to improve fuzzy logic controller for wheeled robot path planning in the
undefined environment in 2011. Hegazy et al. [7] have made it possible for a mobile
robot to arrive the goal in an unknown working space by using the neuro-fuzzy
technique. Tavares et al. [8] have presented the simulated annealing algorithm to
solve the off-line path planning challenges for wheeled robot. The authors have
optimized the algorithm to enhance the behavior of the described algorithm. Chen
et al. [9] have proposed a scent pervasion (pheromone) principle of ant (ACO) which
was established on robotic path planning in a map environment.
In the above-mentioned literature survey, most authors have focused on path opti-
mization of the mobile robot. But in the present article, we have focused on the
optimization of computation cost of a mobile robot by applying the spider monkey
optimization algorithm. According to the authors’ knowledge, this the first article,
which has used spider monkey optimization algorithm for mobile robot navigation
and computation cost minimization.
This paper implemented spider monkey optimization algorithm to detect obstacles
and design a collision-free path. The advantage of the proposed algorithm is that it
can detect a path which consists of lesser obstacles, so that processing time can be
decreased. And subsequently, computational cost also reduced.
2 Kinematics of Mobile Robot
Representation of design and control of the robot through its mechanical action is
known as kinematics. State and movement of mobile robots are calculated from
kinematic equations. The mobile robot is designed with chassis having a triangular-
shaped structure at the front. Chassis is equipped with three wheels. Two of which
are motor powered and third is caster wheel. The significance of the caster wheel
is it can easily rotate in any direction as per the requirements. With the application
of different conditions, steering of robot is obtained. Different property of wheels
should be attained; these are, (1) non-deformable (2) pure rolling (v = 0 at contact
points) (3) no-slip, skid [10] or slide. a is the radius of wheels; x is the distance
between powered wheels. R is the point which is used to estimate the position and
motion of the mobile robot. It is pointed at the intersection of the axis of the powered
wheel and a straight line passing through the center of mass of the system.
Figure 3 describes the schematic diagram of the mobile robot in (X 0 , Y0 ) plane.
(X N , Y N , α) is the location and the orientation of the robot. The axes (X 0 , Y0 ) indicate
Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of mobile robot in X0 -Y0 plane
inertial global reference frame with origin O. α is the angular difference between the
global and reference frames. The global reference frame is denoted by point R on the
robot chassis is specified by coordinates (X, Y ). Center of mass is represented by C.
Rotation of the mobile robot is represented in matrix form [11] as:
ξ1 = [X, Y, α]T (1)
For the configuration motion in the global reference (X 0 , Y 0 ) frame to move in

the robot’s local reference frame (X N , Y N ), the orthogonal rotation matrix is utilized:
⎡ ⎤
cosα sinα 0
R(α) = ⎣ −sinα cosα 0 ⎦ (2)
0 0 1
Below written equation described the assumption imposed a nonholonomic hin-

drance on the robotic motion:
ẋ cosα − ẏ sinα = 0 (3)
Description of the kinematic model is shown by following equations:
ẋ = (Wl + Wr ) cos α/2 (4)
ẏ = (Wl + Wr ) sin α/2 (5)

α̇ = (Wl − Wr )/b (6)
where
Wl = velocity of the left wheel
Wr = velocity of the right wheel
b = track width between two wheels.
Following conditions are used for the orientation of the mobile robot:
1. Wl = Wr , Robot travel straight.
2. Wl < Wr , Robot turns left.
3. Wl > Wr , Robot turns right.
The orthogonal rotation matrix is considered to transform robot velocity in the
global reference frame to elements of motion along the robot’s local axes (X N , Y N ):
ξ̇ R = R(α)ξ R = R(α)∗ [ẋ ẏ α̇]T (7)
3 Navigational Algorithm
SMO is implemented in this paper to complete the path planning challenges having
obstacles in the environment. The implemented algorithm is a nature-based algo-
rithm, which is further categorized as swarm intelligence based optimization algo-
rithm. This algorithm is inspired by the planning of spider monkey during the scarcity
of food. It is based upon the splitting and combination nature of spider monkeys.
Bansal et al. [12] have initiated this swarm-based optimization algorithm. The authors
observed the arrangement of spider monkeys for finding the food source during the
scarcity of the food and motivated to develop this algorithm.
The main target for spider monkeys is to find the food source by taking minimum
time. The best quality food source is described as the native solution in the proposed
algorithm. The fitness function of the proposed algorithm is defined by the quality
of food origin.
Spider monkeys hunt food by the following steps:
1. Spider monkeys generally exist in groups of about 30–40.
2. Whenever, the global leader (experienced female) observes there is the scarcity
of food, it divides the large groups into 4–5 small groups.
3. All 4–5 local leaders (corresponding experienced female) guide the groups to
find the food origin.
4. All groups find food origins. And inform the global leader. The global leader
selects food origin which shows good quality. And, the path which requires
lesser time to reach the food origin is preferred.
Fig. 4 Splitting of group into small groups
Fig. 5 Process of hunting of food source origin by each group
Figure 4 describes the splitting of a large group into various small groups. Figure 5
illustrates the hunting of food source origin by sub-groups of spider monkeys. In
Fig. 5, we can see that if the sub-group finds big obstacle during hunting of food,
then they are come back and again search food in the different region of obstacle to
reduce time. Figure 6 provides an overview of the proposed algorithm through flow
chart arrangement.
Description of various steps for Spider monkey optimization (SMO) algorithm is
given below:
Step 1. Population Initialization
Y spider monkeys are taken as a population with each monkey X i (i = 1, 2, …, Y )
is a R-dimensional vector.
(A = number of variables in the optimization problem, X i = ith Spider Monkey (X)
in the population)
Every X i is initialized as follows:
Fig. 6 Flow chart of SMO

X i j = X min
j + U (0, 1) ∗ X max
j − X min
j (8)
where X min
j and X max
j are bounds of X j in jth direction and U (0, 1) is a uniformly
distributed random number in the range [0, 1].
Step 2. Local Leader Phase (LLP)
The local leader now modifies the position of the group by its experience and
local group member’s expression. Now the new and previous position is compared,
whichever is better is accepted. The equation now updated as ith X (member of Kth
local group). If U ≥ Ag, the local leader modifies the path as described below:

j = X i j + U (0, 1) ∗ L k j − X i j + U (−1, 1) ∗ X r j − X i j
X inew (9)
where X i j = jth dimension of the ith X , L k j = jth dimension of the kth local group
leader position, Ag = Agitation rate to control the agitation in the current position,
X r j = jth dimension of the rth X, which is adopted randomly within kth group such
that r = i, U (0, 1) is defined as the uniformly distributed random number between
0 and 1.
Step 3. Global Leader Phase (GLP)
Global leader updated the new position for all X by the help of experience of itself
and Local Leader. If U (0, 1) < Ffun, The new position of X is given below:

j = X i j + U (0, 1) ∗ Z j − X i j + U (−1, 1) ∗ X r j − X i j
X inew (10)
where Z j = jth dimension of the global leader position and j ∈ {1, 2, …, A} is the
randomly chosen index.
The new position of all X is obtained by using fitness function (Ffun). And Ffun
is described as
Fi
Ffun = 0.9 ∗ + 0.1 (11)
max − Fi
where Fi = Fitness of ith X, max − Fi = Maximum fitness of group.

Step 4. Global Leader Learning (GLL) phase
Global leader selects the position by finding X, which acquires the best fitness in
the group. This job is executed by the implementation of greedy selection in the
population. The survey has been done on the weather position of global leader is
updated or not. If the position is not updated, then the global limit count is incremented
by 1.
Step 5. Local Leader Learning (LLL) phase
The procedure carried by global leader is again used by a local leader in this phase.
In this phase again greedy selection is implemented to select the updated position of
local leader. Position of X, which has best fitness in the population is selected. Again,
the survey has been carried on weather position of local leader is updated or not. If
the position of local leader is not updated, then the local Limit Count is incremented
by 1.
Step 6. Decision Phase for Local Leader
Every local leader should be updated up to a threshold which is predetermined for
the local leader. If it is not obtained, incidental initialization is used to improve the
position of the number of groups. Along with it, it is improved with the help of
combined information from Global Leader and Local Leader.
Again, If U ≥ Ag, the below-updated position is considered.

j = X i j + U (0, 1) ∗ Z j − X i j + U (0, 1) ∗ X i j − L k j
X inew (12)
Now it can be easily observed that X is coming near to the global leader and apart
from the local leader. It describes that Local Limit Count k is the trail counter for the
local best solution of kth group.
Step 7. Decision Phase for Global Leader
Maximum no. of groups (G) are obtained by dividing the whole group into two
groups, three groups and so on. In each iteration, to find the local leader in the newly
formed group, GLD phase and LLL process is taken care. A global leader combines
all groups again into a single group, if the improvement doesn’t take place in global
leader even by forming a maximum number of groups. With these processes, we can
say that given algorithm is inspired by the fission-combination behavior of spider
monkey.
Fitness function of SMO
Fitness is one of the most important element of the algorithm, which must be precisely
examined. SMO is based on the behavior of splitting-combination of spider monkeys.
They find the food source origin at the minimum time and the path having a lesser
number of hurdles. So, SMO should examine the path time and length and avoid the
obstacle at optimum angle in order to optimize the objective function.
Fitness function which must be examined are described below:
a. Minimum Distance Between Start Point and Goal.
Euclidean distance is the initial need to optimize the objective function. It is the
distance between the robot in each iteration (let i) and target. The distance between
robot and goal is calculated in each iteration. And the best result should be selected.
Euclidean distance is first fitness function (g1) and is defined as
g1 = (Tarq − q(i))2 + (Tar p − p(i))2 (13)
where ( p(i), q(i)) is the co-ordinate of the mobile robot during ith iteration,
(Tar p, Tarq) is the co-ordinate of goal.
b. Optimum Safe Distance from Obstacle.
To completely optimize the objective function, an optimum safe distance from the
obstacle is very crucial along with the minimum path length. The robot should turn
at an appropriate angle to avoid the obstacle at optimum safe distance.
The maximum safe distance between robot and obstacle is 2nd fitness function
(g2) is defined as
1/obsdist(i), x < safe distance

g2 = (14)
0, x ≥ safe distance
Both the fitness function should be considered every time for the shunning of
hindrances and obtain the target in minimum possible time. Fitness function G can
be defined as
Fig. 7 Representation of
turning of mobile robot when
an obstacle comes in path
G = g1 + g2 (15)
The robot starts following the target by acquiring Euclidean distance. Although
the obstacle comes in the path of the robot, the SMO algorithm gets activated and
robot turned with an appropriate angle. The angle should be precisely selected by
the robot so that it ensures the optimum safe distance from the obstacles. Following
process is shown in Fig. 7. The proposed algorithm optimizes both fitness functions
and guides the robot to reach the target in the minimum possible time.
4 Simulation Results
To demonstrate the robustness and effectuality of the SMO algorithm, we are going
through the simulation in various complex environments. Simulation has been carried
out in MATLAB graphical user interface. Two different environments are designed
with various number of obstacles to observe the robustness of the proposed algorithm.
The complexity of environment is increased so that, the effectuality of the proposed
algorithm can be observed. Every time robot selects the path having lesser number
of obstacle and complexity. Following results are obtained from simulation.
Figure 8a displays the path rejected by the robot and Fig. 8b shows the path
followed by a robot to reach the target. In Fig. 8a robot turned from obstacle (1),
obstacle (2), obstacle (6), obstacle (5). As the complexity of this path is increased
because of many obstacles are present in the followed path. The robot doesn’t follow
this path. The path selected by the robot which is shown in Fig. 8b has only two
obstacles, i.e. obstacle (7) and obstacle (9). The robot turned for only two times and
reaches the target in lesser time than path selected in Fig. 8a.
Figure 9a describes the path abandoned by the robot and Fig. 9b shows the path
followed. Similarly, the robot is permitted to run in the second environment. Robot
steers from the obstacle (13), obstacle (14), obstacle (15), obstacle (16) and obstacle
(17) described in Fig. 9a, while robot steers only from obstacle (18) and obstacle
(19) as shown in Fig. 9b. Though, the number of obstacles in the path of Fig. 8a is
more than the path selected in Figure (b), the robot follows the path having a lesser
number of obstacles.
Fig. 8 Path outlining using SMO in the first environment. a Rejected path. b Selected path
Fig. 9 Path outlining using SMO in the second environment. a Rejected path. b Selected path
5 Comparison with Previously Used Algorithm
Robustness and effectuality of the proposed algorithm are confirmed in the previous
section. In this section, the proposed algorithm is compared with the previously
applied algorithm to check the efficiency and robustness of SMO. While comparing,
the replication of the previously used environment is strictly taken care.
Fig. 10 a Navigation path by using GA [13]. b Navigation path by using proposed SMO
The result is shown in Fig. 10a is the simulation result of GA [13]. The proposed
algorithm is checked in the same environment, and the result is shown in Fig. 10b. In
Fig. 10a the robot followed the path where the obstacle (20), obstacle (21), obstacle
(25), obstacle (24) and obstacle (23) comes in the path. And the proposed algorithm
selects the path in which obstacle (20), obstacle (21) and obstacle (22) obstruct the
motion of the robot. In comparison figure, we can see that the GA [13] based running
mobile robot has faced five obstacles that mean the robot turns five times to avoid it,
while the proposed algorithm running mobile robot has faced only three obstacles.
The path distance in Fig. 10a may have smaller path length than path length in
Fig. 10b, but the robot has to take lesser turns in Fig. 10b. So, the robot will take
lesser time in Fig. 10b than in Fig. 10a to reach the target.
6 Conclusion
This paper demonstrates the implementation of SMO in the mobile robot for
autonomous navigation and computation time optimization. Mobile robot embed-
ded with the proposed algorithm is simulated in two different environments. Our
data indicate that SMO selects the path having a lesser number of obstacles, so that
the target can be achieved in minimum time. SMO has been compared with pre-
viously the implemented algorithms. After comparison, it is concluded that SMO
covered path having lesser obstacles and reach the target in the least time. Overall,
our results establish a strong effect on path planning challenges. Finally, it is rec-
ognized that the proposed navigational algorithms can be assisted for any complex
environments. Future studies could investigate the mutation of SMO with different
algorithms to obtain more efficient results. Also, this developed algorithm can be
used for multiple robot navigation and collision avoidance.
References
1. Huang, H.S.: FPGA-based parallel metaheuristic PSO algorithm and its application to global
path planning for autonomous robot navigation. J. Intell. Robot. Syst. 76, 475–488 (2014).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-013-9884-9
2. Debnath, S.B.C., Shill, P.C., Murase, K.: Particle swarm optimization based adaptive strategy
for tuning of fuzzy logic controller. Int. J. Artif. Intell. Appl. 4, 37–50 (2013). https://doi.org/
10.5121/ijaia.2013.4104
3. Castillo, O., Trujillo, L., Melin, P.: Multiple objective genetic algorithms for path-planning
optimization in autonomous mobile robots. Soft Comput. 11, 269–279 (2007). https://doi.org/
10.1007/s00500-006-0068-4
4. Wang, Y., Mulvaney, D., Sillitoe, I.: Genetic-based mobile robot path planning using vertex
heuristics. In: Proceedings of 2006 IEEE International Conference on Cybernetics and Intelli-
gent Systems, pp. 1–6. IEEE Press, Bangkok, Thailand (2006)
5. Boa, Q.Y., Li, S.M., Shang, W.Y.: A fuzzy behavior-based architecture for mobile robot naviga-
tion in unknown environments. In: Proceedings of 2010 International Conference on Artificial
Intelligence and Computational Intelligence, pp. 257–261. IEEE Press, Shanghai, China (2010)
6. Juang, C.F., Chang, Y.C.: Evolutionary-group-based particle-swarm optimized fuzzy controller
with application to mobile-robot navigation in unknown environments. Trans. Fuzzy Syst. 19,
379–392 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1109/TFUZZ.2011.2104364
7. Hegazy, O.F., Fahmy, A.A., Refaie, O.M.E.: An intelligent robot navigation system based on
neuro-fuzzy control. In: International Conference on Trends in Artificial Intelligence 2004.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 3157, pp. 1017–1018. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
(2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-28633-2_142
8. Tavares, R.S., Martins, T.C., Tsuzuki, M.D.S.G.: Simulated annealing with adaptive neighbour-
hood: a case study in off-line robot path planning. Expert Syst. Appl. 38, 2951–2965 (2011).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2010.08.084
9. Chen, X., Kong, Y., Fang, X., Wu, Q.: A fast two-stage ACO algorithm for robotic path planning.
Neural Comput. Appl. 22, 313–319 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00521-011-0682-7
10. Yang, S.X., Yang, H., Max, Q., Meng, H.: Neural dynamics based full-state tracking control of
a mobile robot. In: Proceedings of 2004 International Conference on Robotics and Automation,
pp. 4614–4619. IEEE Press, New Orleans, LA (2004)
11. Ye, J.: Tracking control for nonholonomic mobile robots: integrating the analog neural net-
work into the backstepping technique. Neuro 71, 3373–3378 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.neucom.2007.11.005
12. Bansal, J.C., Sharma, H., Jadon, H.S., Clerc, M.: Spider Monkey optimization algorithm for
numerical optimization. Memetic Comput. 6, 31–47 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12293-
013-0128-0
13. Ghorbani, A., Shiry, S., Nodehi, A.: Using genetic algorithm for a mobile robot path planning.
In: Proceedings of 2009 International Conference on Future Computer and Communication,
pp. 164–166. IEEE Press, Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia (2009)
Kinematic and Dynamic Optimal
Trajectory Planning of Industrial Robot
Using Multi-objective Ant Lion
Optimizer
Amruta Rout, Golak Bihari Mahanta , Balamurali Gunji ,

Abstract In this paper, an optimal robotic trajectory planning subjected to kinematic

and dynamic constraints has been described. The kinematic parameters like jerk and
dynamic parameters like torque rate mainly influence the smoothness of the travel
of robot end-effector along the trajectory path. Therefore, these parameters are to be
constrained for reducing the robot positional error. But it leads to vast increase in total
travel time of robot which in the end affects productivity. Therefore, a multi-objective
ant lion optimization technique has been applied to obtain the optimal trajectory with
minimization time-jerk-torque rate for a 6-axis Kawasaki RS06L industrial robot.
After implementation of the algorithm, the torque rate and jerk have been reduced
considerably and the total travel time before and after optimization has been found
to be 54.38 and 34.21 s.
Keywords Jerk · Torque rate · Total travel time · Trajectory · Ant lion
optimization technique
A. Rout (B) · G. B. Mahanta · B. Gunji · B. B. V. L. Deepak · B. B. Biswal

Department of Industrial Design, NIT Rourkela, Rourkela 769008, India
e-mail: amruta.rout@gmail.com
G. B. Mahanta
e-mail: golakmahanta@gmail.com
B. Gunji
e-mail: bmgunji@gmail.com
B. B. V. L. Deepak
e-mail: deepak.bbvl@gmail.com
B. B. Biswal
e-mail: bibhuti.biswal@gmail.com

1476 A. Rout et al.
1 Introduction
In industrial applications like pick and place, assembly line and manufacturing pro-
cesses like cutting, welding, etc. robot manipulators should have good repeatability as
well as good positional accuracy. In trajectory path planning, the trajectory path posi-
tions in real world are known first and then the robot end-effector is travelled along
the path positions. This is known as offline trajectory path planning [1–3]. Smooth-
ness of the robot travel can be achieved by reducing the jerk of the robot joints.
The positional errors can also be reduced by controlling the dynamic parameters
like torque rate. But these lead to vast increase in total travel time of robot manip-
ulator which affects productivity. As the relation between time and jerk-torque rate
is contradictory, it leads to a multi-objective optimization (minimization) problem.
For solving this problem, a Pareto-optimal set has to be found which is the solutions
set showing the best trade-offs between the two objectives. Piazzi and Visioli [4,
5] planned joint-space trajectory of a six-axis robot on the basis of minimum jerk.
Interval analysis has been used to solve the minimax problem subjected to global
constraints. Huang et al. [6] used Genetic Algorithm to solve problem for trajectory
planning with minimum jerk subjected to global constraints. The joint path function
for trajectory planning has been defined by cubic spline curve and fifth-order B-spline
curve and presented with objective function consisting of both time and jerk. It has
been observed that though continuity of jerk can be maintained through B-spline
curve but the mean and maximum values of acceleration and jerk are coming less for
cubic spline curve compared to B-Spline curve [7–10]. Particle Swarm Optimization
with K-means techniques has been used to find out minimum jerk joint trajectory
for a 6DOF robot manipulator and compared with previously applied algorithms
to find the effectiveness of the newly applied technique [11, 12]. Shin et al. [13]
used perturbation trajectory improved algorithm for getting minimum time trajec-
tory considering dynamics of the robot. Binaco et al. [14] proposed hybrid genetic
and interval algorithm for trajectory planning considering torque constraints.
From the literature survey, it has been found that in recent years, evolutionary
algorithms like PSO, GA, etc., have been used for solving trajectory planning opti-
mization problem and when compared with traditional techniques better results have
been found. But in these previously applied techniques, dynamic parameters have
not been considered with kinematic parameters for improving the positional accu-
racy of point to point-based trajectory planning. Also multi-objective optimization
techniques have not been used widely yet for solving trajectory planning problem
involving multiple objectives, i.e. minimization of time, jerk and torque rate. There-
fore, in this paper a new and fast multi-objective optimization technique, i.e. Multi-
Objective Ant Lion Optimizer has been used for obtaining optimal time-jerk-torque
rate trajectory.
Kinematic and Dynamic Optimal Trajectory Planning of Industrial … 1477
2 Problem Statement
A 6 axis Kawasaki RS06L industrial robot has been considered for this study. In
Industries, robot manipulators are generally moved through a number of predefined
via points on the trajectory path. Then inverse kinematics is applied to obtain the
joint angles of the robot manipulator. A trajectory can be built in the joint space in
accordance with via points and can be optimized by defining some objectives.
2.1 Formulation of Objectives
Smoothness of robot motion can be achieved by minimizing the jerk. By this, mechan-
ical vibration and stress of robot joints are also reduced. Similarly, dynamic modelling
which gives the relationship between actuator torque rate of joint and motion of robot
arm which helps to control the motion of manipulator and hence enhances the posi-
tional accuracy. The total travel time needs to be minimized to improve the work
efficiency with the application of kinematic and dynamic constraints. The objective
function can be defined as follows:

n−1
F1 = hi (1)
i=1

M 2
n−1

2 τ j,i
F2 = P j,i (t) h i + (2)
j=1 i=1
hi
Subjected to
⎧
⎪
⎪ P j (t) ≤ V kc j
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨
P j (t) ≤ Akc j
⎪
⎪ P j (t) ≤ J kc j
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩
τ j,i (t) ≤ T dc j
where j = 1, 2, . . . , M is the number of joints of robot; i = 1, 2, 3, . . . , n is the

number of points specified on the weld trajectory path; h i is the calculated time
interval between two consecutive points on the weld path; P j (t), P j (t), P j (t) and
τ j,i (t) are the velocity, acceleration, jerk and torque rate for jth joint; for jth joint of
robot, V kc j , Akc j , J kc j and T dc j are the kinematic limits of velocity, acceleration,
jerk and dynamic limits of torque rate, respectively. Here, F1 and F2 are the two
contradictory objectives representing total travel time and squared jerk-torque rate,
respectively.
1478 A. Rout et al.
2.2 Trajectory Construction and Constraints Transformation
Cubic spline interpolation, Pi (t) between time intervals (ti , ti+1 ) has been used to
express the joint angles as the continuity of velocity and acceleration can be main-
tained and is expressed as Eq. (3) [15].
Pi (t) = θ0 + θ1 t + θ2 t 2 + θ3 t 3 (3)
θ0 , θ1 , θ2 and θ3 are the coefficients and these are to be determined by using boundary
conditions. We know velocity and acceleration values for initial and starting points.
Hence, it is required to determine velocity and acceleration values for (n − 2) points.
Differentiating the polynomial function stated in Eq. (3) with respect to time, expres-
sion for velocity, acceleration and jerk values can be written as Eqs. (4), (5) and (6),
respectively.
Pi (t) = θ1 + 2θ2 t + 3θ3 t 2 (4)
Pi (t) = 2θ2 + 6θ3 t (5)
Pi (t) = 6θ3 (6)
Applying constraint continuity to acceleration and as these values at point 1 and

point n are zero, total (n − 2) equations will be formed. Those equations can be
written as the matrix form as given below
[X ](n−2)×(n−2) × P (n−2)×1
= [Y ](n−2)×1 (7)
where X is the coefficient matrix of the matrix P and Y matrix contains the right-
hand side portion of the equations stated above. Hence acceleration matrix can be
written as
[P ] = [X ]−1 [Y ] (8)
Hence solving Eq. (8) unknown accelerations can be obtained. From the joint-
space position values, time intervals, values of acceleration, and velocity at initial and
final positions the acceleration matrix for robot joints has been derived and applied
in Eq. (9) for obtaining jerk values.

P j,i+1 − P j,i
P j,i = (9)
hi
For ease of derivation, let Pi (t) = pi , Pi (ti+1 ) = pi+1 and h i = ti+1 − ti . The
expression for the time interval between consecutive intermittent points is presented
in Eq. (10).

p j,2 − p j,1 p j,3 − p j,2 p j,n − pn−1
h i = max , max , . . . max (10)
j V kc j j V kc j j V kc j
The simplified Lagrange–Euler method proposed by Bejczy et al. [16] for robot
arm is used for deriving actuator torques of Kawasaki RS006L. The torque rate for
the joints is expressed by Eq. (11) is as given below:
τ = M( p j ) p̈ j + C( p j , ṗ j ) + G( p j ) (11)
where τ is the torque rate, M( p j ) is the mass matrix; C( p j , ṗ j ) is the centrifugal

vector and G( p j ) is the gravity vector which can be obtained using the transformation
matrix from DH parameters and rate of change of position of link with respect to the
base.
3 Proposed Methodology
A new and efficient nature-inspired algorithm, i.e. Ant Lion Optimizer (ALO) has
been used to solve the optimization problem. It was by first proposed by Mirjalili
[17] in 2015 which is based on trapping process of antlions in nature. The algorithm
is also compared with other multi-heuristic algorithms like MOPSO, NSGA-II, etc.
and classical algorithms and gives very competitive results in terms of convergence,
enhanced search method, avoidance of local optima and exploitation, etc. The algo-
rithm also contains advantages like high coverage and convergence for solving con-
strained multi-objective problems with multiple search space [18]. Therefore, this
algorithm is utilized for solving trajectory planning problem and finally the results
are compared in terms of total travel time to check the efficiency of the used method.
ALO estimates the optimal solutions from a set of created random solutions like any
other population-based algorithms. Based on the theory of interaction between the
ants and antlions in the trap, this set can be enhanced. Therefore, there is two set
of populations, i.e. set of antlions and ants. The steps followed to reach the global
optimum is explained as follows:
(a) First an ant set with random values are generated and are considered as the main
search agents. As the ant moves, the positions of each ant ai j can be saved as
matrix Pant . Here i = 1, 2, . . . , n is the number of ants and j = 1, 2, . . . , m is
the number of variables.
(b) Utilizing the objective function in every iteration, the fitness value matrix of
ants, POa is generated.
1480 A. Rout et al.
(c) Ants move around the antlion over the search space with random walks and
update their positions at each step of optimization. The random walks are nor-
malized to keep them inside the search space and are presented by the following
equation:

Rit − u i × m i − wit
Rit = t + wi (12)
vi − u i
where u i , vi are the minimum and maximum random walk of the ith variable
respectively; wit , m it are the minimum and maximum of ith variable at tth iter-
ation. The antlion’s trap in the pit, affects the random walks of the ant and are
presented by mathematical formulae as below:
wit = Al tj + wt
m it = Al tj + m t (13)
where Al tj is the position of the jth ant lion at tth iteration.

For increasing the chance of survival, the bigger antlions build larger pits and
in ALO roulette wheel operator has been utilized to choose the antlions based
on the fitness value. The boundaries of random walks should be lessening for
copying the antlions.
(d) The next step is to catch the ant and rebuild the pit. There is no evaluation of the
population of antlions. Initially, it is assumed that in the first iteration, antlions
are on the location of the ants and each ant is assigned to one antlion. If the ants
become better in the rest of the iteration, the antlions will be relocated to the
new positions of the ants. This is simulated by the following equation:
Al tj = ait if f (ait ) < f (Al tj ) (14)
where, f (ait ) and f (Al tj ) are the fitness function values of ith ant and jth antlion
at tth iteration.
(e) An elite antlion which is the fittest antlion, also present there and affects the
motion of all ants irrespective of their distance.
(f) The antlion will be replaced by the elite if it becomes fitter than the elite. The
mathematical formula showing the position of the ant with consideration of
random walks on a chosen antlion utilizing roulette wheel and on the elite ant
lion is given below:
RWtA + RWtE
ait = (15)
2
where, RWtA and RWtE are the random walk around antlion chosen by the roulette
and elite antlion, respectively tth iteration.
(g) Steps b and f are repeated till the end criteria is not reached and finally, the
global optimum is estimated from the best-returned fitness and position value
of elite antlion.
The Multi-objective Ant Lion Optimizer (MOALO) algorithm is derived from
ALO algorithm only in which searching the set of the Pareto-optimal solution with
high diversity is a big challenge. For overcoming from this, choosing of leader and
maintenance of archive is used which is inspired by MOPSO.
The path traced by the end-effector is defined in Cartesian Co-ordinate system with
50 via points on it and is plotted in MATLAB 2015b as shown in Fig. 1. Then joint
angles for these via points are obtained through the inverse kinematic equations. The
kinematic and dynamic limits for the KAWASAKI RS06L industrial robot is given
in Table 1 according to which the constraints are defined.
Fig. 1 Defined trajectory

path
Table 1 Kinematic and dynamic limits of robot

Joint No. 1 2 3 4 5 6
Velocity (°/s) 250 250 215 365 380 700
Acceleration (°/s2 ) 60 60 75 70 90 80
Jerk (°/s3 ) 60 66 80 70 75 70
Torque rate (Nm) 15 20 25 15 30 20
1482 A. Rout et al.
The algorithm computes the fitness values for the optimal time intervals from the
given trajectory points and sends it to the objective function, where higher fitness
value for the time-jerk function is eliminated. Again after generating the optimal time
intervals, it will be sent to the MALPO algorithm to compute the fitness function.
This will be continued till the minimum value of fitness function is obtained. The
joint angles corresponding to the intermittent points defined on the path is fed as input
to MOALPO algorithm. Then the algorithm is executed as mentioned in Sect. 3 in
MATLABR2017a software. A set of Pareto-optimal solution is obtained after the
execution of algorithm as shown in Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 2 there can be three
optimal solutions depending the situation. Like Solution A needs less total travel
time but it maximizes the jerk and torque rate. Solution C needs minimum jerk-
torque rate and maximizes the travel time. The solution B is with highest fitness
value computed from fuzzy comprehensive evaluation solution and it gives the best
tradeoff between the total travel time and jerk and torque rate.
From the joint displacements, calculation of initial time, jerk and torque rate
values have been done using Eqs. (9–11). The initial total travel time has been found
to be 34.38 s. The jerk and average torque rates after optimization are calculated
from the optimal time intervals for all the joints. The jerk values before and after
optimization with respect to intermittent points on the path is presented in Fig. 3a–f.
The average torque rates before and after optimization is presented in Fig. 4.
From Figs. 3a–f and 4, it can be observed that the jerk values and torque rate after
optimization are decreased considerably by which very smooth travel of trajectory
can be obtained. The total travel time after optimization has been found to be 28.21 s.
The results have been compared with previously applied algorithms like NSGA-II
and PSO in which the total travel time were coming as 32.89 s ad 33.73 s, respectively.
Fig. 2 The result of

Pareto-optimal solutions
Fig. 3 a Joint 1 jerk values, b joint 2 jerk values, c joint 3 jerk values, d joint 4 jerk values, e joint
5 jerk values, f joint 6 jerk values
1484 A. Rout et al.
Fig. 3 (continued)
Fig. 4 Average torque rates of each joint before and after optimization
5 Conclusion
In this paper, a novel approach for optimal trajectory planning of a 6-axis industrial
robot is described. The multi-objective functions have been defined in terms of total
travel time, total jerk and total torque rate so that kinematic and dynamic continuity
can be achieved. A new fast and advanced evolutionary algorithm, i.e. MOALO
has been used to get solution for the defined trajectory problem. From the obtained
Pareto front, the solution with maximum fitness value and best tradeoff between the
objective functions has been used for getting the final optimized time intervals and
joint displacements. From the simulation results, it can be observed that the jerk,
torque rate, and total time have been reduced considerably ensuring achievement of
productivity, smoothness and positional accuracy of robot travel.
Acknowledgements This research work is supported by the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences,
Department of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India under project ID BRNS/34034.
References
1. Ata, A.A.: Optimal trajectory planning of manipulators: a review. J. Eng. Sci. Technol. 2, 32–54
(2007)
2. Rout, A., Deepak, B.B.V.L., Biswal, B.B.: Advances in weld seam tracking techniques for
robotic welding: A review. Robot. Comput. Integr. Manuf. 56, 12–37 (2019). https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.rcim.2018.08.003
3. Lin, C., Chang, P., Luh, J.Y.S.: Formulation and optimization of cubic polynomial joint trajec-
tories for industrial robots. IEEE Trans. Autom. Control 28, 1066–1074 (1983)
4. Piazzi, A., Visioli, A.: An interval algorithm for minimum-jerk trajectory planning of robot
manipulators. In: Proceedings of the 36th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, vol. 2,
pp. 1924–1927 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1109/CDC.1997.657874
5. Piazzi, A., Visioli, A.: Global minimum-jerk trajectory planning of robot manipulators. IEEE
Trans. Ind. Electron. 47, 140–149 (2000)
6. Huang, P., Xu, Y., Liang, B.: Global minimum-jerk trajectory planning of space manipulator.
Int. J. Control Autom. Syst. 4, 405–413 (2006)
7. Gasparetto, A., Zanotto, V.: A new method for smooth trajectory planning of robot manipu-
lators. Mech. Mach. Theory 42, 455–471 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.
2006.04.002
8. Gasparetto, A., Zanotto, V.: Optimal trajectory planning for industrial robots. Adv. Eng. Softw.
41, 548–556 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advengsoft.2009.11.001
9. Gasparetto, A., Lanzutti, A., Vidoni, R., Zanotto, V.: Experimental validation and comparative
analysis of optimal time-jerk algorithms for trajectory planning. Robot. Comput. Integr. Manuf.
28, 164–181 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcim.2011.08.003
10. Zanotto, V., Gasparetto, A., Lanzutti, A., et al.: Experimental validation of minimum time-
jerk algorithms for industrial robots. J. Intell. Robot. Syst. Theory Appl. 64, 197–219 (2011).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-010-9533-5
11. Huang, P., Chen, K., Yuan, J., Xu, Y.: Motion trajectory planning of space manipulator for joint.
In: International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation 2007, ICMA, pp. 3543–3548
(2007). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICMA.2007.4304134
12. Huang, P., Liu, G., Yuan, J., Xu, Y.: Multi-objective optimal trajectory planning of space robot
using particle swarm optimization, pp. 171–179 (2008)
13. Shin, K.G., McKay, N.: Minimum-time trajectory planning for industrial robots with general
torque constraints. In: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation Proceed-
ings, pp. 412–417 (1986)
14. Guarino, C., Bianco, L., Piazzi, A.: Minimum-time trajectory planning of mechanical manipu-
lators under dynamic constraints, p. 7179 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1080/00207170210156161
15. Rout, A., Dileep, M., Bihari, G., et al.: ScienceDirect Optimal time-jerk trajectory planning
of 6 axis welding robot using TLBO method. Procedia Comput. Sci. 133, 537–544 (2018).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2018.07.067
16. Deb, K., Pratap, A., Agarwal, S., Meyarivan, T.: A fast and elitist multi-objective genetic
algorithm: NSGA-II. IEEE Trans. Evol. Comput. 6, 182–197 (2001)
1486 A. Rout et al.
17. Mirjalili, S.: The ant lion optimizer. Adv. Eng. Softw. 83, 80–98 (2015). https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.advengsoft.2015.01.010
18. Mirjalili, S., Jangir, P., Saremi, S.: Multi-objective ant lion optimizer: a multi-objective opti-
mization algorithm for solving engineering problems. Appl. Intell. 79–95 (2017). https://doi.
org/10.1007/s10489-016-0825-8
Type-1 Fuzzy Pulse Width Modulation
Controlled Motion Planning
of Differential Drive 4-Wheeled Power
Robot
Sourabh Rajwade, Akhilesh Kumar Tiwari and Anish Pandey
Abstract In this article, we have designed and implemented a Type-1 Fuzzy

Pulse Width Modulation (TFPWM) controller, which can autonomously control the
motion, direction, and orientation of the differential drive 4-wheeled power robot
in any working environment. This proposed TFPWM controller has three inputs
(obstacle distances) and four outputs (motor PWM controlled velocities). The con-
troller collects input data from the group of sensors (ultrasonic and infrared) and
generates pulse width modulation (PWM) based velocity control command to all
four motors of 4-wheeled power robot using if-then fuzzy rule-based model. This
TFPWM controller helped the robot to avoid obstacles autonomously during navi-
gation. Computer simulation results have done through the graphical user interface
(GUI) platform of MATLAB software. Successful navigation results of differential
drive 4-wheeled power robot in computer simulations verify the effectiveness and
efficiency of the proposed controller. We have compared this TFPWM controller
based simulation results with existing techniques and found better results in terms
of simulation path length.
Keywords Type-1 Fuzzy Controller · Pulse width modulation · Wheeled power

robot · Sensor · Motor
1 Introduction
In past decades, researchers have introduced many soft computing methods for the
wheeled robot motion planning and shunning hindrances problem in various envi-
ronments. The meaning of motion planning is to search an efficient path from start
position to goal position by avoiding collisions with decreasing the travel time, length
and conserving energy. Fuzzy logic is a very popular technique of soft computing
S. Rajwade · A. K. Tiwari · A. Pandey (B)

School of Mechanical Engineering, Campus-8, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024, India
e-mail: anish.pandeyfme@kiit.ac.in

1488 S. Rajwade et al.
and highly cited method for wheeled robot motion planning and obstacle avoidance.
Because this fuzzy logic easily handles the uncertainty of any system by taking user-
defined rules. Other soft computing techniques like artificial neural network [1],
hybrid neuro-fuzzy [2], particle swarm optimization algorithm [3], ant colony opti-
mization algorithm [4], genetic algorithm [5], simulated annealing algorithm [6],
and wind-driven optimization algorithm [7] are also successfully applied by vari-
ous researchers for wheeled robot motion planning and hurdle avoidance. Pandey
and Parhi [7] have developed the hybrid fuzzy controller by combining wind drive
optimization algorithm and employed this hybrid fuzzy controller for autonomous
wheeled robot navigation and collision avoidance in different static and dynamic
environments. Abadi and Khooban [8] have designed an optimized Mamdani-type
fuzzy controller for motion and orientation tracking of wheeled robots. In the article
[9], the authors have applied multi-input multi-output type fuzzy controller to track
the various desired trajectories of the wheeled robot in MATLAB graphical simu-
lations. Almayyahi et al. [10] have presented two fuzzy inference system, one for
obstacle avoidance and other for target reaching of the unmanned ground vehicle in
the dynamic environment.
After summarizing the literature survey, we have found that the fuzzy logic tech-
nique is one of the highly cited technique of soft computing and provided excellent
results for motion planning of the two-wheeled robot. Also, most of the researchers
have solved the motion planning of two-wheeled robot using this fuzzy logic tech-
nique. Therefore, in this article, the authors have designed the Type-1 Fuzzy Pulse
Width Modulation controller and tried to solve the motion planning problem of differ-
ential drive 4-wheeled power robot in the unstructured environment by implementing
this developed controller. The present article is organized into five sections: Sect. 1
presents the introduction. Kinematic modeling of differential drive 4-wheeled power
robot is presented in Sect. 2. TFPWM controller is described in Sect. 3. Section 4
presents the computer simulation results and comparison with previous work of dif-
ferential drive 4-wheeled power robot in different working environments. Finally,
the conclusion is given in Sect. 5.
2 Kinematic Modeling of Differential Drive 4-Wheeled

Power Robot
In this section, we will discuss the kinematic equations of differential drive 4-wheeled
power robot, which will be incorporated in the simulation programming. Figure 1
shows the model of differential drive 4-wheeled power robot in the landmark (O, X,
Y). In Fig. 1, the XC and YC are the center points of the 4-wheeled power robot in
the landmark. The angle θ represents the turning angle of the wheeled robot about
X-axis, which is changing according to the position of goal point GX and GY (see
the Eq. 3).
Type-1 Fuzzy Pulse Width Modulation Controlled Motion … 1489
Fig. 1 The model of differential drive 4-wheeled power robot
The robot has four independent wheels, which are attached in four separate DC
motors. These four separate DC motors control the movement and turning of the
robot. We have attached three sensors at the front, left and right sides of the robot,
which detects the obstacle and collects its distance information from robot to avoid it.
The Arduino microcontroller is used to link the sensors and motors with TFPWM con-
troller. The kinematic equations for motion planning of differential drive 4-wheeled
power robot is given below:
Xn+1 = Xn + V × cos θ (1)
Yn+1 = Yn + V × sin θ (2)

−1 GY − Yn+1
θ = tan (3)
GX − Xn+1
where n = 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6…n.
π ×D×N
V = m/s (4)
60
where Xn is the starting location and Xn+1 is the updated location of the wheeled
robot in the X-axis. Similarly, Yn is the starting location, and Yn+1 is the updated
location of the wheeled robot in the Y-axis. The velocity V of the wheeled robot is
calculated in Eq. (4), which depends according to the diameter D of wheels of the
robot and the angular speed N of motors in RPM (Revolutions Per Minute). In the
present study, the minimum and maximum velocities vary from 0.067 to 0.167 m/s,
which is regulated by PWM signal of motors by applying TFPWM controller.
3 Type-1 Fuzzy Pulse Width Modulation (TFPWM)

Controller
Type-1 Fuzzy Pulse Width Modulation (TFPWM) controller has been designed in
this section, which controlled the motion, direction, and orientation of the differ-
ential drive 4-wheeled power robot in simulations and experiments. The developed
TFPWM controller (see Fig. 2) has three inputs: Front Forward Obstacle Distance
(FFOD), Left Forward Obstacle Distance (LFOD), and Right Forward Obstacle Dis-
tance (RFOD), respectively. In simulations and experiments, the differential drive
4-wheeled power robot received these inputs (FFOD, LFOD, and RFOD) from the
equipped sensors (ultrasonic and infrared). Similarly, TFPWM controller has four
outputs: front right motor pulse width modulation (FRMPWM), rear right motor
pulse width modulation (RRMPWM), front left motor pulse width modulation (FLM-
PWM), and rear left motor pulse width modulation (RLMPWM). In simulations and
experiments, the motion, direction, and orientation of the differential drive 4-wheeled
power robot have controlled by taking these inputs and outputs, and using user-
defined if-then fuzzy rules (see the Table 1). The two Gaussian membership func-
tions: NEAR (I1 ) and FAR (I2 ), respectively have been selected for inputs (FFOD,
LFOD, and RFOD), which varies between the 0.2 and 1.5 m. Similarly, the two
constant-type (Takagi-Sugeno) fuzzy membership function, namely, LOW (O1 ) and
Fig. 2 Developed Takagi-Sugeno Type-1 Fuzzy Pulse Width Modulation (TFPWM) controller
Table 1 If-then fuzzy rule-based model of TFPWM controller

Rule no. Rules
1 If (x1 is I2 ) and (x2 is I2 ) and (x3 is I2 ) then (y1 is O2 ) and (y2 is O2 ) and (y3 is O2 )
and (y4 is O2 )
and (y4 is O1 )
and (y4 is O2 )
and (y4 is O1 )
and (y4 is O2 )
and (y4 is O2 )
and (y4 is O1 )
and (y4 is O2 )
HIGH (O2 ) have been chosen for outputs (FRMPWM (y1 ), RRMPWM (y2 ), FLM-
PWM (y3 ), and RLMPWM (y4 )). The outputs vary from 70 to 240 (PWM signal).
Figures 3 and 4 show the membership functions of inputs and outputs, respectively.
Fig. 3 Gaussian shape fuzzy membership functions for the inputs (FFOD, LFOD, and RFOD)
Fig. 4 Constant-type (Sugeno) fuzzy membership function for outputs (FRMPWM, RRMPWM,
FLMPWM, and RLMPWM)
The TFPWM controller is designed through first-order Sugeno fuzzy model in

the following form:
Rulei : If x1 is Mi1 , x2 is Mi2 , & x3 is Mi3 THEN fi = pi · x1 + qi · x2

+ ri · x3 + si (5)
where i = 1, 2, 3…8 (eight rules). The x1 , x2 , and x3 are the inputs FFOD, LFOD, and
RFOD, respectively. The Mi1 , Mi2 , and Mi3 are the membership functions for inputs
(x1 , x2 , and x3 ), and symbols pi , qi , ri and si are the coefficients of output membership
functions fi . The fuzzy set Mij uses following Gaussian membership function:

−0.5 × (xj − cij )2
μij xj ; c, σ = exp (6)
(σij )2
where j = 1…3 (three input variables), the cij , and σij are the center, and width of
each Gaussian membership function, respectively. The defuzzification of the out-
puts (FRMPWM, RRMPWM, FLMPWM, and RLMPWM) are calculated by the
weighted average method
8
i=1 μij xj ; c, σ · fi
fi = 8 (7)
i=1 μij xj ; c, σ
4 Computer Simulation Results and Comparison

with Previous Work
In this section, the computer simulation results of the differential drive 4-wheeled
power robot have been presented through the graphical user interface (GUI) platform
of MATLAB software. The 20 × 20 m unstructured environments have been taken
for simulations. Figure 5 shows the navigation result of differential drive 4-wheeled
power robot in an unstructured environment using TFPWM controller. In Fig. 5,
the robot is started moving from (0, 0 m) coordinate to (18, 18 m) coordinate and
turned three times at points A, B, and C to avoid obstacles. The sensor of the robot
has not detected any obstacle between the (0, 0 m) to (4, 4 m) and between these
Fig. 5 Differential drive 4-wheeled power robot motion planning in an unstructured environment
using TFPWM controller
Fig. 6 PWM based velocity profiles of FRMPWM, RRMPWM, FLMPWM, and RLMPWM of
simulation of Fig. 5
coordinates, the robot uses rule no. 1 (see the Table 1). After the coordinate (4, 4 m)
the robot finds obstacles, and it turns right side by taking rule no. 3. Similarly, if the
robot finds obstacles during navigation, then the TFPWM controller has activated,
and our designed rule does work. In the GUI simulation (Fig. 5), the robot has
covered 13.2 m distance in 14 s to reach the goal from starting point. The PWM-
based velocity profiles of FRMPWM, RRMPWM, FLMPWM, and RLMPWM of
simulation of Fig. 5 in different X-axis distances has been shown in Fig. 6. In Fig. 6,
if the robot turns right, then PWM values of FLMPWM and RLMPWM are increased
compared to the PWM values of FRMPWM and RRMPWM. Similarly, if the robot
turns left, then PWM values of FLMPWM and RLMPWM are decreased compared
to the PWM values of FRMPWM and RRMPWM.
Figure 7 illustrates the navigation results comparison between proposed TFPWM
controller and MIMO fuzzy [9]. Same start point (0, 0) coordinates, goal point (20,
20) coordinates, obstacle positions, and simulation environment have been taken for
comparative analysis. In Fig. 7a, our developed TFPWM controlled robot has taken
three turns from obstacles to reach the goal from the starting point, whereas in Fig. 7b,
the MIMO fuzzy controlled robot has taken five turns from obstacles to reach the
goal from starting point. More numbers of turns take more time and length during
the GUI simulation, so, we can say that our developed controller has provided better
results compared to MIMO fuzzy [9].
Fig. 7 a Navigation results by taking TFPWM controller, b Navigation results by taking MIMO
fuzzy [9]
5 Conclusion
In this work, we have designed and implemented a Type-1 fuzzy pulse width modula-
tion (TFPWM) controller, which has controlled the motion, direction, and orientation
of the differential drive 4-wheeled power robot between obstacles in GUI simula-
tion environment. The developed TFPWM controller has been tuned and adjusted
the velocities of all four wheels of the robot when the robot detected the obstacles
during navigation in simulations. We have compared the navigation results of differ-

ential drive 4-wheeled power robot with MIMO fuzzy technique [9] and found better
results in terms of simulation path length and time form start point to goal point.
In future, the membership function of TFPWM controller can be optimized through
nature-inspired algorithms, and also this controller can be used for multiple swarm
robot motion planning and obstacle avoidance.
References
1. Pandey, A., Burse, K.: Cascade neuro-fuzzy architecture based mobile-robot navigation and
obstacle avoidance in static and dynamic environments. Int. J. Adv. Robot. Autom. 1, 1–9
(2016). https://doi.org/10.15226/2473-3032/1/3/00112
2. Pandey, A., Kumar, S., Pandey, K.K., Parhi, D.R.: Mobile robot navigation in unknown static
environments using ANFIS controller. Perspect. Sci. 8, 421–423 (2016). https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.pisc.2016.04.094
3. Ahmadzadeh, S., Ghanavati, M.: Navigation of mobile robot using the PSO particle swarm
optimization. J. Acad. Appl. Stud. (JAAS) 2, 32–38 (2012)
4. Hsu, C.H., Juang, C.F.: Multi-objective continuous-ant-colony-optimized FC for robot wall-
following control. IEEE Comput. Intell. Mag. 8, 28–40 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1109/MCI.
2013.2264233
5. Mohanta, J.C., Parhi, D.R., Patel, S.K.: Path planning strategy for autonomous mobile robot
navigation using Petri-GA optimisation. Comput. Electr. Eng. 37, 1058–1070 (2011). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.compeleceng.2011.07.007
6. Martınez-Alfaro, H., Gómez-Garcı́a, S.: Mobile robot path planning and tracking using sim-
ulated annealing and fuzzy logic control. Expert. Syst. Appl. 15, 421–429 (1998). https://doi.
org/10.1016/S0957-4174(98)00055-4
7. Pandey, A., Parhi, D.R.: Optimum path planning of mobile robot in unknown static and dynamic
environments using Fuzzy-Wind Driven Optimization algorithm. Def. Technol. 13, 47–58
(2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2017.01.001
8. Abadi, D.N.M., Khooban, M.H.: Design of optimal Mamdani-type fuzzy controller for non-
holonomic wheeled mobile robots. J. King Saud Univ. Eng. 27, 92–100 (2015). https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.jksues.2013.05.003
9. Mac Thi, T., Copot, C., De, K.R., Tran, T.D., Vu, T.: MIMO fuzzy control for autonomous
mobile robot. J. Autom. Control. Eng. 4, 65–70 (2016). https://doi.org/10.12720/joace.4.1.
65-70
10. Almayyahi, A., Wang, W., Hussein, A.A., Birch, P.: Motion control design for unmanned
ground vehicle in dynamic environment using intelligent controller. Int. J. Intell. Comput.
Cybern. 10, 530–548 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1108/IJICC-11-2016-0044
Multi-Objective Design Optimization
of a Bioinspired Underactuated Robotic
Gripper Using Multi-Objective Grey
Wolf Optimizer
Golak Bihari Mahanta , Amruta Rout, Balamurali Gunji ,

Abstract This study presents the underactuated design of a tendon-driven bioin-

spired robotic gripper for the stable grasping. In this study, kinematic modeling of
the bioinspired underactuated robotic gripper has been proposed and optimal design
variables have been found out using multi-objective evolutionary algorithms. The
obtained anthropometric data of the human hand is taken as the dimension range of
the input design variables in the design optimization problem. In this study, the kine-
matic model of the proposed gripper is obtained, and the structural multi-objective
optimization problem is formulated in the static condition of the gripper. Three fitness
functions have developed from the contact forces, and some geometric constraints
are considered for solving the proposed multi-objective optimization problem using
multi-objective grey wolf optimization algorithm.
Keywords Underactuated · Gripper · Optimization · Anthropometric · Grey wolf

optimization
1 Introduction
The underactuated robotic grippers can perform stable grasps in unstructured envi-
ronments. But, the development of the fully actuated multi-finger gripper which
is able to grasp the object reliably faces the design complexity and high cost. For
G. B. Mahanta (B) · A. Rout · B. Gunji · B. B. V. L. Deepak · B. B. Biswal

Department of Industrial Design, NIT Rourkela, Rourkela 769008, India
e-mail: golakmahanta@gmail.com
A. Rout
e-mail: amruta.rout@gmail.com
B. Gunji
e-mail: bmgunji@gmail.com
B. B. V. L. Deepak
e-mail: deepak.bbvl@gmail.com
B. B. Biswal

1498 G. B. Mahanta et al.
achieving the grasping in the same way as the fully actuated gripper and eliminating
the limitation associated with it is achieved by designing the underactuated gripper
with tendon-driven mechanism [1]. About 98% of the industrial gripper used for the
material handling are two-finger grippers powered either by pneumatic, electric, or
hydraulic power source. Two-finger grippers are heavily used in industrial applica-
tions due to its design simplicity and low cost. Gripper design is one of the most
complicated processes because while designing the gripper, a number of parameters
should be considered such as link length, width, and maximum and minimum allow-
able grasping dimension. Different types of the grippers have been developed for
grasping the object such as two-finger rigid gripper, dexterous gripper, and underac-
tuated gripper. Almost 99% of the industrial application uses two-finger rigid robotic
gripper due to its simple design and inexpensive nature [2]. The two-finger robotic
grippers are actuated either by pneumatic, electrical, or hydraulic medium. The main
disadvantages of this gripper are that they cannot be able to grasp different kind of
objects.
A human being has the superior capability for manipulation of the object irrespec-
tive of the shape, size, weight, and types of material. Due to this reason, the human
hand is one of the most common sources of inspiration for developing the multi-
finger robotic hand which able to mimic the human hand. Some of the well-known
dexterous hand available, which able to mimic the human hand, are KITECH-Hand
[3], Robonaut R2 Hand [4], Schunk SVH [5], the KIST Hand [6], and much more.
Due to the sophisticated sensing systems, complicated design, and control algo-
rithms, these robot hands are too expensive. The main reason behind is not too much
explored in the industrial application. To overcome the costly nature of the fully
actuated robotic hand, the underactuated design has been proposed. When the DOF
is more compared to the number of actuators used, then the system is called as the
underactuated mechanism. Barrett Hand BH8 [7] is the most successful underactu-
ated robotic hand. In the underactuated mechanism, the design of the robotic gripper
is the primary concern as the performance of the grasping depend on the design
[8]. As the design is the most critical criteria in case of the underactuated gripper,
it is necessary to obtain the optimal design parameters for the development of the
underactuated robotic gripper. In this study, the design optimization of the optimal
link length, joint angles, and tendon routes of the two-fingers underactuated robotic
gripper. The proposed design optimization problem has been formulated as the con-
straint multi-objective optimization problem which solved using the evolutionary
algorithms. Huixu Dong et al. [9] formulated mathematical model and design opti-
mization of the tendon-driven underactuated robotic finger and solved the proposed
genetic algorithm [9]. Mahanta et al. [10] solved the design optimization problem
of a parallel gripper mechanism using accelerated PSO algorithm. Saravanan et al.
[11] proposed a multi-objective approach for solving the design optimization sys-
tem of robotic gripper using a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA), the elitist
non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II), and multi-objective differential
evolution (MODE).
In this, we use the mathematical formula initially proposed in the article [9]
and solved the problem using multi-objective grey wolf optimization algorithm.
Multi-Objective Design Optimization of a Bioinspired … 1499
Previously, the problem is solved as a single-objective optimization problem. Also,

in this study, sensitivity analysis has been carried out to investigate the effect of rate
of change of objective function corresponding to change with the design parameters
of the systems.
In this study, the design optimization of the tendon-driven underactuated robotic grip-
per has been formulated and solved the proposed method using the multi-objective
grey wolf optimization algorithm. The proposed underactuated gripper consists of
two underactuated fingers with three phalanges each. A bioinspired approach has
been considered for selecting the dimension of the link length of each phalange of
the anthropometric data of the middle finger of the human hand.
2.1 Underactuated Gripper Configuration
The design of underactuated robotic finger is a complicated engineering task which

includes kinematic and dynamic modeling of the robotic finger. The proposed under-
actuated gripper [9] has twenty-two design parameters of the gripper which contains
three phalanges lengths, three phalange widths, three radii of the joint mandrels, a
palm width, and twelve route variables for allocation of six pulleys. In this paper,
from the kinematic modeling of the gripper using the design variables, the objective
function of the optimization problem has been developed. The first two objective
function for the underactuated robotic gripper consists of the active force as well
as the developed contact forces at the fingertip while grasping the object. The third
objective function is formulated using the route of the tendon arrangement of the
underactuated gripper so that the obtained resistance is minimum. The three objec-
tive function has been considered along with several constraints for this optimization
method. The adapted optimization problem [9] includes 22 design variable parame-
ters, three objective functions, and eight constraint equation which includes six for
dimensional optimization of the underactuated robotic finger and two for the tendon
routes. The schematic view of the proposed underactuated gripper is shown in Fig. 1.
The joint angle between the first phalange and the palm is denoted as θ1 . The angle
between the phalanges one and two, and two and three are θ2 and θ3 , respectively.
In this study, the considered initial joint angle θ1 , θ2 , and θ3 for the phalanges are
π π
, , and 0, respectively. The arrangement of the fingertip of the third phalange
4 4
is denoted by 2W3 as shown in Fig. 1. The design variable (L 1 , L 2 , L 3 ) represents
the link length of the underactuated gripper, L0 is the half-width of the palm of the
gripper, (r1 , r2 , r3 )) represents the joint radius of each joint. The half-width of each
Fig. 1 Gripper configuration of the underactuated robotic finger [9]
phalange is represented as W1 , W2 , and W3 . The pulley arrangements parameters

are expressed as:
(φ11 , φ12 , φ21 , φ22 , φ31 , φ32 , m 11 , m 12 , m 21 , m 22 , m 31 , m 32 )
2.2 Formulation of Objective Function
For obtaining the objective function of the proposed design optimization problem of
the underactuated gripper, it is necessary to formulate the force/torque model of the
transmission as well as the optimized routes for tendon for reducing the resistance.
The grasping model which shows all the contact points while grasping the objects
and FBD showing all the forces, joint angles are shown in Fig. 2. Figure 3 illustrates
the free body diagram of the fingertip grasping of the object. The assumption made
for this study is that all the link structure is rigid and each phalanx has only one
contact point with the grasping objects.
The developed contact forces at first, second, and third phalanx are represented
by F1 , F2 , and F3 , respectively as illustrated in Eqs. (1–3).
1
F1 = (Fa r1 + 2k1 θ1r1 − F2 PB − F3 PA ) (1)
M1
1
F2 = [(Fa r2 + 2k2 θ2 r2 − F3 (PB + L 2 cos θ3 )] (2)
M2
Fig. 2 Grasping model for the gripper representing all the necessary terminologies [9]
Fig. 3 FBD for the fingertip

grasp [9]
1
F3 = (Fa r3 + 2k3 θ3r3 ) (3)
M3
P 2 +W 2
where PA = P3 +L 2 cos θ3 +L 1 cos(θ2 +θ3 ), PB = P2 +L 1 cos θ2 , Mi = i Pi i , i =
1, 2 Fa = Active For ce
The objective functions for this study are the summation of the available contact
forces and the distribution of the developed contact force.
The first objective function is the summation of the grasping force. This objective
function is the maximization problem ensuring that higher the force, more stable the
grasping objects.
δ1 = F1 + F2 + F3 (4)
The second objective function of the underactuated gripper mechanism is the

magnitude of difference values among the contact forces. The proposed method is
the minimization problem.
2 2 2
δ2 = F − F1 + F − F2 + F − F3 (5)
where F = F1 +F32 +F3

Hence, the final fitness function for the dimension optimization can be written as
f = w1 δ1 − w2 δ2 (6)
where w1 and w2 are the weight coefficient chosen by the designer.

The third objective function is for finding the optimal tendon route and denoted
by

rj rj
f tendon_r oute =∈ − cos−1 − ϕ j1 + cos−1 − ϕ j2 (7)
m j1 m j2
The constraint functions used in this optimization problem are

1. Geometric bound of the joint angle
π π π π π
≤ θ1 ≤ ; ≤ θ1 ≤ ; 0 ≤ θ1 ≤
4 2 4 2 2
2. The difference between the length of the phalanx must be more significant than
the contact position.
g1 = P1 − L 1 ≤ 0;
g2 = P2 − L 2 ≤ 0;
g3 = P3 − L 3 ≤ 0;
3. Fingertip constraint is defined as
2W3
0≤ ≤1
L3
4. The distance between the third contact point (P3 ) and the joint phalanx (L 3 ) must
be higher than (L 3 − 2W3 ).
∈= P3 − (L 3 − 2W3 )
5. The width of the phalanges
min(W1 , W2 , W3 ) ≥ max(r1 , r3 , r3 )
6. The tendon route constraint for this study

π −1 r j −1 r j
h = − sin + ϕ j1 + sin + ϕ j2 ≤ 0
2 m j1 m j2
2.3 Multi-Objective Grey Wolf Optimizer
MOGWO has been proposed by Seyedali Mirjalili [12] who got inspired from the
social behavior as well as the hunting techniques used by the grey wolf. The grey
wolf packs are hierarchically divided into four categories such as alpha (α) wolf,
beta (β) wolf, delta (δ) wolf, and omega wolf (ω). Alpha (α) wolf gave the fittest
solution for the proposed method. The second and the third solution obtained has
been considered as beta (α) wolf and delta (α) wolf, respectively. The alpha (α) wolf
is responsible for the hunting process, where as beta (β) wolf, and delta (δ) wolf,
and omega wolf (ω) follows the other wolves for finding the globally distributed
prey within the surroundings. While hunting for the prey, grey wolves show the
encircling behavior of grey wolves. The tuning parameters for this algorithm have
been considered from the original proposed article [10].
All the necessary parameters used in this algorithm have been shown in Table 1.
The population size of the grey wolves were considered as 100 because at 100
population size, the proposed system converged within 673 iteration number better
than another population size. A graph is plotted in between the population size and
the iteration number for selecting the population size of the grey wolves.
In Sect. 3, the implementation procedure for solving the design optimization
problem is discussed.
Table 1 Parameters used for

Tuning parameters Value
the simulation
Grid inflation parameter (α) 0.1
Pressure parameter (β) 4
Population size 100
Maximum iteration 1000
Fig. 4 Population versus

iteration number
3 Proposed Methodology
The design optimization problem for the two-finger tendon-driven underactuated

finger started with a mathematical formulation for finding the objective function of
the proposed systems. The implementation procedure of the MOGWO for solving
the underactuated gripper design optimization is illustrated as a flow diagram as
shown in Fig. 5. All the necessary parameters (population size, iteration number,
etc.) of the algorithms are initialized. The fitness value of each is evaluated using
the proposed fitness Eqs. 6 and 7 satisfying all the constraint equations. A graph has
been plotted between the population size and some iterations. From the literature,
it was found that most of the algorithms considered population size in between 80
and 120. The range of population size (80–120) is examined and tested to tune the
suitable value of population size. From Fig. 4, it was observed that at population size
20, the solution of the fitness function converges at 673rd iterations. Compared to
the other population size, at population size 100, the proposed systems gave the best
results. All the solutions have converged within 1000 iterations, so the iteration size
is considered as 1000 for this study.
Figure 5 illustrates the implementation methodology of the MOGWO algorithm
for solving the design optimization problem. The input design variable has been
listed out from Tables 2 to 5. The range of the input geometric dimensional design
variables is listed in Table 2. Tables 3, 4, 5 defined the input range of the design
parameters of joint 1, joint 2, and joint three, respectively.
The tendon-driven underactuated gripper design optimization problem as discussed

in Sect. 2 is studied using multi-objective grey wolf optimizer. The simulation study
of the proposed method for obtaining the optimal design parameters of the under-
actuated gripper was implemented using MATLAB 2016a software. The proposed
multi-objective design optimization problem of the underactuated gripper is solved
by giving different weight values. In this study, we choose 11 different combinations
of weight factor for solving the design optimization problem to obtain the optimal
dimensions. All the different weight factor coefficients are listed in Table 6 along
with the optimal geometric dimensions of the underactuated gripper mechanism. At
Fig. 5 Proposed methodology
Table 2 Range of the input design variable

Geometric dimension (mm) L1 L2 L3 r1 r2 r3 2W1 2W2 2W3
Lower limit 40 25 15 6 6 6 10 10 10
Upper limit 60 40 25 15 15 15 20 20 20
Table 3 Range of the input design variable for first joint

Parameters m 11 (mm) m 12 (mm) ϕ11 (rad) ϕ12 (rad)
L. Limit max (15, r1 ) max (15, r1 ) 0 0
U. Limit max (15, 0.5L 1 ) max (15, 0.5L 1 ) 0.25 π 0.25 π
Table 4 Range of the input design variable for second joint

L. Limit max (10, r2 ) max (10, r2 ) 0 0
Table 5 Range of the input design variable for third joint

L. Limit max (10, r3 ) max (10, r3 ) 0 0
Table 6 Optimal design variable of the underactuated robotic gripper

w1 w2 L1 L2 L3 r1 r2 r3 2W1 2W2 2W3 f
0 1 55.5 32.1 25 15.1 6.5 16.2 18.2 17 18.7 0.85
1 0 55.9 33.8 26.2 15.5 10.3 16.4 18 17.1 17.2 0.71
0.1 0.9 53.1 33.4 28.7 15.2 7.9 16.9 17.1 16 18 0.59
0.2 0.8 57.2 36.2 28.1 11.3 8 16.6 17.8 16.5 16.9 0.82
0.3 0.7 54.1 38.1 28.5 14.9 8.14 16.7 17.5 16.8 14.5 0.87
0.4 0.6 55.9 32.4 25.2 10.3 7.74 17.7 12.9 15.7 20.3 0.8
0.5 0.5 54.5 33.4 24.8 12.8 7.48 18 16.3 15.9 21.4 0.98
0.6 0.4 54.2 33.6 25.1 12.2 6.51 18.4 16.2 17.2 17.6 0.76
0.7 0.3 58.6 33.3 25.6 13.6 6.17 19.2 17.5 18.4 18.2 0.93
0.8 0.2 54.9 35.8 21.4 14.1 7.14 16.1 18.1 16.2 18.1 0.85
0.9 0.1 54.2 35.1 23.8 15.9 7.68 16.7 17.9 16.7 18.3 0.94
the weight coefficient w1 = 0.1, and w2 = 0.9, the fitness value gave the best result.
The corresponding optimal design variables are highlighted in bold in Table 6. In a
previous study [9], the problem was solved using GA as a single-objective optimiza-
tion problem. The obtained result from the previous published paper [9] is tabulated
in Table 7 for comparison. The optimal design parameter obtained for the tendon
route in the underactuated mechanism is illustrated in Tables 7, 8 and 9 for joint 1,
2, and 3, respectively.
Table 7 Optimal joint parameters of first joint

Ref. 9 24.797 17.35 0.58 0.052
This work 24.86 16.91 0.62 0.05
Table 8 Optimal joint parameters of second joint

Ref. 9 16.557 24.83 0.529 0.426
This work 16.502 24.81 0.561 0.452
Table 9 Optimal joint parameters of third joint

Ref. 9 16.6 17.867 0.025 0.4
This work 16.53 18.809 0.035 0.409
From Table 6, it is observed that the optimal result of the design variable is
obtained at the weight value of w1 = 0.1 and w2 = 0.9. A convergence plot of the
fitness function is plotted against the number of iterations.
It is observed from Fig. 6 that around 10th iteration the fitness value converged.
In Fig. 7, a graph is plotted between the range of the design variables with respect
to the iteration number of the algorithm and it is observed from Fig. 7 that initially
there is a huge deviation in the design variables which later converges and gave the
optimum results. The change in the design converges after some iteration and after
around 50–100 iterations, all the design variables converge to give the optimal design
variables.
Fig. 6 Convergence curve

Fig. 7 Variation of design variables with iteration number
5 Conclusion
In this work, the design optimization problem of the underactuated robotic gripper is
formulated as the constraint multi-objective optimization problem. The problem was
solved with the help of a recently developed well-known multi-objective optimization
algorithm known as multi-objective grey wolf optimizer (MOGWO) and compared
with the previously implemented algorithm GA. From the obtained result, it is clear
that MOGWO has superiority while achieving the results. Three objective functions
and six constraint equation have been considered for this study among which two are
for getting the optimal geometric parameters, while one objective function is used
to find the best tendon routes.
Future works would likely to extend the optimization problem with the three-
dimensional space as well as to build the prototype by using the obtained optimal
dimensions. Sensitivity analysis for the design optimization problem of an underac-
tuated robotic gripper will be carried out in future work.
public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
References
1. Birglen, L., Laliberté, T., Gosselin, C.: Underactuated Robotic Hands. Springer Tracts in
Advanced Robotics (2008)
2. Birglen, L., Schlicht, T.: A statistical review of industrial robotic grippers. Robot. Comput.
Integr. Manuf. 49, 88–97 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcim.2017.05.007
3. Lee, D.H., Park, J.H., Park, S.W., et al.: KITECH-Hand: a highly dexterous and modularized
robotic hand. IEEE/ASME Trans. Mech. 22, 876–887 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1109/TMECH.
2016.2634602
4. Lovchik, C.S., Diftler, M.A.: The Robonaut hand: a dexterous robot hand for space. In: Proceed-
ings 1999 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat No99CH36288C),
vol. 2, pp. 907–912 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOT.1999.772420
5. The world’s first certified HRC gripper on the market (2018). https://schunk.com/de_en/
gripping-systems/highlights/svh/
6. Kim, E.H., Lee, S.W., Lee, Y.K.: A dexterous robot hand with a bio-mimetic mechanism. Int.
J. Precis. Eng. Manuf. 12, 227–235 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-011-0031-x
7. Townsend, W.: The BarrettHand grasper—programmably flexible part handling and assembly.
Ind. Robot. Int. J. 27, 181–188 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1108/01439910010371597
8. Huang, Y., Zhang, X., Zhang, J., Huang, C.: Mechanism design of underactuated robotic hand.
In: 2016 International Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales,
MARSS 2016, pp. 1–6 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1109/MARSS.2016.7561735
9. Dong, H., Asadi, E., Qiu, C., et al.: Geometric design optimization of an under-actuated tendon-
driven robotic gripper. Robot. Comput. Integr. Manuf. 50, 80–89 (2018). https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.rcim.2017.09.012
10. Mahanta, G.B., Deepak, B.B.V.L., Biswal, B.B., et al.: Design optimization of robotic gripper
links using accelerated particle swarm optimization technique (2018)
11. Saravanan, R., Ramabalan, S., Ebenezer, N.G.R., Dharmaraja, C.: Evolutionary multi criteria
design optimization of robot grippers. Appl. Soft. Comput. J. 9, 159–172 (2009). https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.asoc.2008.04.001
12. Mirjalili, S., Saremi, S., Mirjalili, S.M., Coelho, L.D.S.: Multi-objective grey wolf optimizer:
a novel algorithm for multi-criterion optimization. Expert Syst. Appl. 47, 106–119 (2016).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2015.10.039
Implementation of Topological Derivative
as an Evolutionary Approach
Kandula Eswara Sai Kumar and Sourav Rakshit
Abstract Structural topology optimization finds the optimal material distribution

in the given domain by optimizing the objective function subject to the loading and
boundary constraints. Solid Isotropic Material Penalization (SIMP) method is widely
used to solve topology optimization due to its simplicity in implementation but the
resulting optimal design has fuzzy elements. Topological derivative is another alter-
native method to solve the topology optimization that finds the variation of objective
function due to a small perturbation. In this paper, we implement the topological
derivative as an alternative to the SIMP method to get the optimal design without
any fuzzy elements. The implementation of the topological derivative as an evolu-
tionary approach presented in this work gives the intermediate designs from full solid
to required volume which are fuzzy element free.
Keywords Topology optimization · Topology derivative (td) · Finite Element

Method (FEM) · Linear elasticity · Evolutionary structural optimzation
1 Introduction
“Structural topology optimization problems determine the optimal material distribu-

tion of material in a given design domain that minimizes an objective function under
design constraints like displacement, volume, stress and energy” [1]. Topology opti-
mization is widely used to minimize the compliance of the structure, maximize the
fundamental eigenfrequency of the structure and to design the compliant mechanism
subject to material distribution, equilibrium, limits, and boundary conditions [2].
Topology optimization is an iterative process and each iteration consists of material
modeling, FE analysis, sensitivity analysis, filtering techniques, and an optimization
solver to update the design variables [3]. The Solid Isotropic Material Penalization
K. E. S. Kumar (B) · S. Rakshit

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai 600036, India
e-mail: me15d417@smail.iitm.ac.in
S. Rakshit
e-mail: srakshit@iitm.ac.in
1512 K. E. S. Kumar and S. Rakshit
(SIMP) method is widely used to solve topology optimization. But this method pro-
duces the fuzzy elements, i.e., intermediate density elements which is a serious issue
while manufacturing the components [2].
Researchers came with the concept of topological derivative to solve topology
optimization problems as an alternative to the SIMP method. Topological derivative
finds the best location to make holes by calculating the change in objective func-
tion. Novotony et al. [4] derived the topological derivative expressions for Poisson’s
problems under various boundary conditions. He et al. [5] used these equations to
implement as a level-set methods. Suresh [6] developed a MATLAB code to trace the
Pareto-optimal curve based on the topology derivative concept. Hur et al. [7] used
topological derivative to solve the topology optimization problem using the spline-
based mesh free method. Xavier et al. [8] used the concept of topological derivative
to solve topology optimization problem subject to hydrostatic pressure loading under
volume constraint. Freus et al. [9] solved the topology optimization using boundary
element method and topological derivative. They used NURBS to implement the
optimal shape of the design domain.
In this article, we implement the topological derivative to solve the structural topol-
ogy optimization problems as an evolutionary approach. This implementation is free
from the fuzzy design and consists of only two densities, i.e., 1 (solid element) and
0.001 (void element). The evolutionary approach gives all the intermediate designs
from the full solid to the required volume. So, the developed method produces all
intermediate designs which are free from fuzzy designs.
2 Topological Derivative
This work uses the concept of Topological Derivative (TD) to solve the topology
optimization problems. The TD evaluates the variation of the cost function, when
the structural domain is perturbed with a hole of small radius.
Figure 1 represents the concept of topological derivative for a hole at a point x̂.
Let Ω is a smooth domain and Ω ∈ R2 , and Ω is the domain after perturbation with
a small hole of radius at a point x̂, and defined as Ω = Ω − B . The B is a ball
of radius having center at x̂.
Let ψ is the cost or objective function then the topological derivative at a point x̂
is defined as,
ψ(Ω ) − ψ(Ω)
T D(x̂) = lim (1)
→0 f ()
where f () is a function which is going monotonically to zero with .

Equation 1 is not easy to compute because it is impossible to build an homeomor-
phic map between the two domains. So Novotony et al. [4] came up with a modified
topological derivative definition. The idea of this modified definition is start the
problem with already existing hole B and give a small perturbation δ to the hole as
Implementation of Topological Derivative as an Evolutionary Approach 1513
Fig. 1 The concept of topological derivative, the original (unperturbed) domain (left) and the
perturbed domain with a hole at a point x̂(right). Zoomed view of hole is presented
Fig. 2 The concept of modified topological derivative, domain with the preexisted hole with radius
, at a point x̂ (left), the same domain with enlarged hole radius + δ(right)
shown in Fig. 2. The perturbed domain is Ω+δ is defined as Ω+δ = Ω − B+δ .

Thus, the modified topological derivative is defined as
ψ(Ω+δ ) − ψ(Ω )
T D(x̂) = lim lim (2)
→0 δ→0 f ( + δ) − f ()
2.1 Topological Derivative for Linear Elasticity
The variational form of topology optimization problem can be defined as

minimize ψ(Ω) = q̄.u
N
s.t. Ω ≤ M (3)
where Ω is volume of current domain, M is desired volume and u is displacement

vector from the linear elasticity problem. The linear elasticity problem can be defined
as follows:
find the displacement vector u ∈ U (Ω), such that

T(u) · E(η) = q̄ · η ∀η ∈ V (Ω) (4)
Ω N
where U (Ω) and V (Ω) is given as
U = u ∈ H 1 (Ω) : u| D = ū, (5)

V = η ∈ H (Ω) : u| D = 0
1
(6)
and E(u) is the linearized Green deformation tensor, T(u) is the Cauchy stress tensor
and defined as
1
E(u) = (u + uT ) := us and T(u) = CE(u) (7)
2
where C = CT is linear isotropic elasticity tensor. The above definition holds for
the original domain Ω and can be redefined for the domain Ω with a hole B as the
following way:
find the displacement vector u ∈ U (Ω ), such that

T (u ) · E (η) = q̄ · η ∀η ∈ V (Ω ) (8)
Ω N
where U (Ω ) = U (Ω ) and V (Ω ) = V (Ω ).

The shape derivative for the above problem is given by,

d
ψτ (uτ )|τ =0 = − n.n (9)
dτ ∂ B
where
1
n.n = T (u ) · E (u ) − T (u )n · (u )n (10)
2
but T (u )n = 0 on ∂ B , so

d 1
ψτ (uτ )|τ =0 = − T (u ) · E (u ) (11)
dτ ∂ B 2
Now the topological derivative is defined as

1 1
T D(ψ) = − lim T (u ) · E (u )
2 →0 f () ∂ B

1 1
=− lim (Ttt )2 (12)
2ρ E →0 f () ∂ B
Using polar coordination system for a circular hole in Eq. 12 results

1
T D(ψ) = − σ1 (u) + σ2 (u))2 + 2(σ1 (u) − σ2 (u))2 (13)
2ρ E
where σ1 (u), σ2 (u) are principal stresses and given by

1
σ1,2 (u) = tr T(u) ± 2T D (u).T D (u) (14)
2
where T D (u) is deviatoric stress part, defined as
1
T D (u) = T(u) − tr (T(u))2 (15)
2
Finally, the topological derivative is given by
2 3ν − 1
T D(ψ) = T(u) · E(u) + tr T(u)tr E(u) (16)
1+ν 2(1 − ν 2 )
where ν is Poisson’s ratio, T(u) and E(u) are for the original domain ψ [4, 5, 10].
2.2 Topological Derivative as an Evolutionary Approach
The Evolutionary Structural Optimization (ESO) method starts with full solid mate-
rial and it removes the elements iteratively. The existence of element as solid or void
depends on the sensitivity number (αe ) of that element. The sensitivity number is
given as
1
αe = −ΔCe = ueT Ke ue (17)
2
where C is compliance, ue is displacement vector of the element and Ke stiffness
matrix of the element. The ESO algorithms calculate the sensitivity numbers in each
iteration and based on the value of evolutionary volume ratio it removes the elements
which have low values. More details can be found in [11–13].
In this paper, we propose a new approach to make holes (removing the mate-
rial). We implemented topological derivative equation (16) to make holes instead of
using sensitivity number Eq. 17. The implementation of the topological derivative as
evolutionary approach is explained in the Sect. 3.
3 Numerical Implementation
The numerical implementation of the topological derivative is the same as the imple-
mentation of the ESO methods. Equation 16 shows that the topological derivative is
defined on an unperturbed domain (original domain). After the finite element analy-
sis, the topological derivative for each element is computed. The value of topological
derivative decides the presence of material as solid or the absence of material as void.
Once the topological derivative for all elements is computed, the least values of the
topological derivative are selected and made as void. The advantage of topological
derivative implementation is that one can decide the amount of material removal
fraction, i.e., Evolutionary Ratio (ER) in each iteration.
We implemented the topological derivative in topology optimization as an evolu-
tionary approach, i.e., initializing the domain with a full solid material, and removing
the same fraction of volume in each iteration, until it reaches the final volume. Below
is the algorithm that explains the numerical implementation of topological derivative
as an evolutionary approach:
1: Initialize nelx nely ER vf
2: Initialize x ← 1
3: while x ≥ v f do
4: perform finite element analysis to compute σ, ε
5: compute topological derivative (TD)
6: while list ≤ E R do
7: find the element ‘e’ which has min(TD) and r ele ← e
8: list = list + rele
9: end while
10: end while
11: plot the results
4 Numerical Examples
This section presents the results obtained with the topological derivative implemen-
tation as an evolutionary approach for the cantilever beam.
4.1 Cantilever Beam
The design domain and loading condition of a cantilever beam is shown Fig. 3. The
geometric dimensions of the beam is length is a = 120 m and the width is b = 60 m.
The rectangular design domain of a × b is divided into 120 × 60 of unit grid cells.
The left end of the design domain is fixed and the force is applied at right bottom
corner.
The values of material and geometric inputs are
the length of the beam ‘a’ = 120 m,
the width of the beam ‘b’ = 60 m,
Young’s modulus ‘E’ = 1 MPa,
Poisson’s ratio ‘ν’ = 0.3,
Fig. 3 Cantilever design domain
Fig. 4 Optimal design of cantilever beam with 50% volume constraint using the proposed method
(unconnected regions are highlighted)
the applied force ‘F’ = 1 kN,

the required volume ratio ‘V’ = 0.5 and
the evolutinary volume ratio ‘ER’ = 1%.
Figure 4 is the optimal material distribution obtained by the proposed method
under the volume constraint of 50%. The obtained design is free from the fuzzy
boundaries, i.e., no intermediate densities in between solid (ρ = 1) and void (ρ =
0.001). This usually occurs with the SIMP method. Figure 4 has some unconnected
regions. These unconnected regions don’t have any effect on optimal design and
represents the next removal elements.
The topological evolution history is presented in Fig. 5. The proposed method
starts with full solid design and element are removed from it iteratively. So, to get
(a) 93 % volume (b) 78 % volume
(c) 66 % volume (d) 50 % volume
Fig. 5 Topological evolution of cantilever beam from full solid material to required volume, i.e.,
50% of initial volume
the optimal design for a particular volume, one has to trace if from full solid. The
value of ‘ER’ is 1%, it means that it generates the optimal designs with the interval
of 1% from full solid to final volume ratio value. In Fig. 5, four such intermediate
designs 93, 78, 66, and 50% volume are presented.
Figure 6 shows the evolutionary curves obtained from the proposed method for
three different evolutionary ratios. The three curves in the figure match closely with
one another. It implies that the proposed method is insensitive to the evolutionary
ratio. In this figure, we showed the evolution curves obtained for the three values of
ER = 1, 2.5, and 5%. The number of iterations to reach the final design for the above
ERs are 50, 20, and 10, respectively, which shows the computational cost depends
on the value of ER. The computational cost can be reduced by choosing an optimal
value of ER.
5 Conclusions
In this paper, we implemented the topological derivative method as an evolutionary

approach to solve compliance minimization problems. This implementation produces
the intermediate designs ranging from full solid to the required volume.
We solved the cantilever beam with the proposed method and observed that the
obtained design consists only of solid and void elements. The optimum design is free
from fuzzy elements (no intermediate densities are presented). It can be manufactured
Fig. 6 Comparison of evolutionary curves for three different evolutionary volume rate, i.e., (i) 1%,
(ii) 2.5%, and (iii) 5% using the proposed method
without any difficulty. The optimal design obtained by the proposed method have
some unconnected regions, which represents the next removal elements.
We also studied the effect of the value of ER on the computational cost and
observed that the number of iterations to reach the final volume using the proposed
method depends on the value of the ER. It took 50, 20, and 10 iterations for the
ERs 1%, 2.5%, and 5%, respectively. The evolution curves obtained for the above
different ERs looks the same.
References
1. Labanda, S.R., Stolpe, M.: Benchmarking optimization solvers for structural topology opti-
mization. Struct. Multidiscip. Optim. 52(3), 527–547 (2015)
2. Sigmund, O.: A 99 line topology optimization code written in matlab. Struct. Multidiscip.
Optim. 21(2), 120–127 (2001)
3. Bendsoe, M.P., Sigmund, O.: Topology Optimization: Theory, Methods, and Applications. 2nd
edn. Springer Publications, Berlin (2004)
4. Novotny, A.A., Feijoo, R.A., Taroco, E., Padra, C.: Topological sensitivity analysis. Comput.
Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 192, 803–829 (2003)
5. He, L., Kao, C.Y., Osher, S.: Incorporating topological derivatives into shape derivative based
level set methods. J. Comput. Phys. 225, 891–909 (2007)
6. Suresh, K.: A 199-line matlab code for Pareto-optimal tracing in topology optimization. Struct.
Multidiscip. Optim. 42(5), 665–679 (2010)
7. Hur, J., Kang, P., Youn, SK.: Topology optimization based on spline-based meshfree method
using topological derivatives. J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 31, 2423–2431 (2017)
8. Xavier, M., Novotny, A.A.: Topological derivative based topology optimization of structures
subject to design-dependent hydrostatic pressure loading. J. Appl. Math. Comput. Mech. 16(2),
67–76 (2017)
9. Freus, K., Freus, S.: A design of an optimal shape of domain described by NURBS curves
using the topological derivative and boundary element method. Struct. Multidiscip. Optim.
21(2), 120–127 (2001)
10. Fulmanski, P., Laurain, A., Scheid, J.F., Sokoowski, J.: Level set method with topological
derivatives in shape optimization. Int. J. Comput. Math. 85(10), 1491–1514 (2008)
11. Huang, X., Xie, Y.M.: A further review of ESO type methods for topology optimization. Struct.
Multidiscip. Optim. 41(5), 671–683 (2010)
12. Ghabraie, K.: The ESO method revisited. Struct. Multidiscip. Optim. 51(6), 1211–1222 (2015)
13. Huang, X., Xie, Y.: Evolutionary Topology Optimization of Continuum Structures: Methods
and Applications. Wiley, New York (2010)
Geodesic Approach for Trajectory
Planning of Mobile Robot Manipulators
Pradip Kumar Sahu, Bijaya Kumar Khamari, Bunil Kumar Balabantaray,

Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal and Surya Narayan Panda
Abstract This research article offers an efficient trajectory planning approach by

employing geodesic to attain a smooth and accurate trajectory for a mobile robot
link mechanism. Geodesic is defined as the shortest curve joining any two loci on
a Riemannian manifold. The workspace of the manipulator has been assigned with
a Riemannian metric so as to achieve geodesic settings for the planned end-effector
motion. The joint DH parameters for joint trajectories are chosen as local coordinates
of the workspace to represent Cartesian trajectories. Boundary conditions of the tra-
jectory are considered in order to get the geodesic equations for the Riemannian
metric space. The results of the geodesic computations have been plotted in graph-
ical form. A simple three degrees of freedom spatial manipulator fixed upon the
mobile robot platform has been considered for numerical computations to validate
the efficacy of the geodesic technique.
Keywords Mobile robot · Trajectory planning · Homogeneous transformation ·

Geodesic method · Motion analysis
P. K. Sahu (B) · B. K. Khamari

National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Rourkela, Odisha, India
e-mail: pradipsahu2@gmail.com
B. K. Khamari
e-mail: bijayaa.khamari@gmail.com
B. K. Balabantaray · B. B. Biswal
National Institute of Technology, Meghalaya, Shillong, Meghalaya, India
e-mail: bunil.balabantaray@gmail.com
B. B. Biswal
S. N. Panda
Birsa Institute of Technology, Sindri, Dhanbad, India
e-mail: suryanarayan.uce@gmail.com

1522 P. K. Sahu et al.
1 Introduction
In recent days, the use of a mobile robot plays an important aspect of a kind slave
for human being. Due to the necessity of surveying in region like mining, hazardous,
undersea environment where it is unmanageable for us to work, mobile robot makes
it easier to perform the intended task. The movement of robot is a significant area of
concern in such incontrollable environment, which demands optimal motion planning
of robot as well as the manipulator end-effector. The key purpose is that robot and
the end-effector ought to perform precisely in smooth and regular mode along the
identified curve to accomplish the specific task persistently.
The derivation of forward kinematics equation is simple and fast. And hence, we
will always be having an end result for the forward kinematics of the manipulator
system. Inverse kinematics as compared to forward kinematics is a challenging task.
The challenge is to evaluate a solution to the inverse kinematics problem since these
are very large in calculation. Another reason being, there may not happen to be any
closed form solution, because the inverse kinematics solution has the singularities and
nonlinearities convergence nature. The simulations of the actuators are accomplished
in joint space, whereas end-effector tasks are always performed in the Cartesian
space. Consequently, the demand arises for the study of work volume, trajectory
generation, optimization, and motion control, etc.
The solution to the inverse kinematic problem can be approached in two ways,
one technique is the analytic method and the other being the numerical method. The
difficulties arise while analytically solving, there is coupling of kinematics equations
and simultaneously, there exists singularities and several solutions for one param-
eter. Therefore, analytic method is useful only for some simple manipulators with
simplified structures.
Many researchers have worked on different aspects and the possibility of robotic
manipulator trajectory planning and optimization. The dynamic movements of prim-
itives were analyzed by Ning et al. [1] were, they proposed a novel scheme for gen-
erating trajectory. They compared the position coordinates and velocity at start end
points of a trajectory obtained from their method to that of the measured values and
found it to be very precise and accurate. Gasparetto and Zanotto [2] has derived the
mathematical modeling for smooth trajectory as an objective function, i.e., implicitly
dependent upon the integral taken over the squared jerk as well as total execution
time.
The trajectory planning proposed by Bobrow et al. [3] is centered on time opti-
mization and after that, he explained the control of planned optimal result through
defined trajectories. Wang and Li [4] have presented the kinematic and dynamic
analysis of a nonholonomic mobile robotic manipulator. Boryga and Graboś [5]
have demonstrated an optimization scheme by employing higher degree polynomi-
als so as to attain higher accuracy. de Jesús Rubio et al. [6] have solved the inverse
kinematics of mobile robot with two simple algebraic methods.
Zhang et al. [7] have implemented a geodesic approach for efficient trajectory
planning of three simple 3-DOF manipulators and verified the effectiveness of
Geodesic Approach for Trajectory Planning … 1523
geodesic through simulation results. Chen et al. [8] have also discussed the efficacy
of geodesic approach to trajectory planning was explained by carrying out simulation
trials on PUMA robot manipulator. They have considered the Riemannian metric to
the workspace in the form of arc length to find out the joint parameters. Numerical
computations were done for the obtained geodesic equations and the outcomes are
utilized to control the manipulator motion. The trajectory of a SCARA manipulator
has been optimized using geodesic method and the computer simulation results are
presented by Jena et al. [9]. The same geodesic approach has been employed by Sahu
et al. [10] to find optimal, accurate, and smooth trajectory of a 6R Kawasaki robot
industrial robots. Here, the Riemannian metric is assigned to a combined orientation
and position of the workspace. Sahu et al. [11] have presented a comprehensive com-
parison of heuristic algorithms for optimal trajectory planning of a 4-DOF SCARA
manipulator. They have implemented bat algorithm, firefly algorithm, PSO algorithm,
and TLBO algorithm for the trajectory planning purpose and the comparison of data
reveals that TLBO is superior to other algorithms. Huang et al. [12] have used 5th
order spline interpolation and nondominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II)
for optimal time–jerk trajectory planning of industrial manipulators.
In previous works, the authors did consider the use of geodesic, but they pro-
pose the trajectory planning for the manipulator of stationary industrial robot. This
research article plans an efficient trajectory planning method for a mobile robot
manipulator by employing geodesic approach. Unlike the likes of homogeneous
transformation, quaternion, polynomial method, etc. which are mere approximation
scheme, this geodesic method provides an exact and accurate solution. A Rieman-
nian metric was consigned to the forward kinematic of the end-effector so as to
attain geodesic motions. First, joint parameters are considered as local coordinates
of position space. Then, geodesic has to be obtained from mathematical formulation
followed by obtaining joint trajectories and characterizing Cartesian trajectories by
joint trajectories. The nature of geodesic implicitly makes both equivalent trajectories
(Cartesian and Joint) smooth and relatively less erroneous. This method indirectly
filters multiple solutions resulting from inverse kinematics and results in an optimal
one.
2 Mathematical Modeling Using Geodesic for Shortest Path
The shortest route through a Riemannian surface joining any two loci is defined
as geodesic. It has another property that velocity along this geodesic curve remains
invariant (5). In a more elaborated way, the background of geodesic has been depicted
below.
2.1 Riemannian Manifold
A manifold “Mn ” is described as a Hausdroff topological space and in that space, any
point “p” has an area A ⊂ Mn , topologically isomorphism with “Rn ”, the Euclidean
space. So, we can define a function:
: A → (A) ⊂ Rn (1)
A Riemannian manifold is defined by (Mn , g), where “Mn ” describes an n-

dimensional differentiable topological space and “g” signifies Riemannian metric.
Every Riemannian metric has a unique property that it is symmetric, positive definite
quadratic form. Basically distance along the manifold is regarded as the metric. In
any neighborhood area “A” of a point in manifold we define local coordinates (Θ 1 ,
Θ 2 , Θ 3 , … Θ n ), then the Riemannian metric is denoted as follows;

n
g= gi j dθi dθ j (2)
i, j=1

where, gi j = g ∂θ∂ i , ∂θ∂ j
If we take a curve on a Riemannian manifold,
θi = θi (t) (3)
Then, its tangent vector can be defined by,

n
∂
Ti = dθi (4)
i=1
∂θi
The arc length is chosen as a Riemannian metric in the concerned manifold.

Consequently, the geodesic equality (5) can be attained by leveling the tensor (4)
along tangent vector of the manifold to zero (4), i.e.,
d 2 θi dθk dθ j
2
+ τki j =0 (5)
dt dt dt
where τki j is the Christoffel symbol and τki j is given by Eq. (6);

1 mi ∂gkm ∂g jm ∂gk j
τki j = g + − (6)
2 ∂θ j ∂θk ∂θm
Here, g mi denotes one of the entries of the Riemannian coefficient matrix inverse.
3 Geodesic Approach for Trajectory Planning
The subsequent kinematic parameters can be obtained from D-H demonstration of

manipulator systems. The general transformation matrix, i−1
i T for a single link, can
be denoted as follows;
⎡ ⎤
cθi −sθi 0 ai−1
⎢ sθi c ∝i−1 cθi c ∝i−1 −s ∝i−1 −di s ∝i−1 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
i T =⎣
i−1
(7)
sθi s ∝i−1 cθi s ∝i−1 c ∝i−1 di c ∝i−1 ⎦
0 0 0 1
where, ai = length of link and d i = offset distance of ith joint

sθ i = sinθ i , cθ i = cosθ i , θ i = the rotation angle,
sα i = sinα i , cα i = cosα i , α i = twist angle.
The transformation matrix for the movement from the global frame (G) to the
frame (C) fixed on mobile platform centroid (Fig. 1) can be represented by Eq. (8).
Fig. 1 Flowchart displaying the successive procedure of robotic manipulator trajectory planning
using geodesic scheme
⎛ ⎞
c −s 0 Xc
⎜ Yc ⎟
⎜s c 0 ⎟
CT = ⎝
G
(8)
0 0 1 Zc ⎠
0 0 0 1
where, F = heading angle of the mobile platform, c = cos, s = sin and (Xc ,
Yc , Zc ) is the coordinates of centroid of mobile platform.
Let “O” be the first frame, where the manipulator is mounted. The relative position
between frame “O” and frame “C” remains unchanged, as the manipulator stands
fixed over the mobile platform. So, the transformation matrix between those two
frame “O” and frame “C”, is given by,
⎛ ⎞
1 0 0 −d
⎜0 1 0 0 ⎟
⎜ ⎟
OT = ⎝
C
(9)
0 0 1 h ⎠
0 0 0 1
where d and h is the distance between “C” and “O” in X-direction and z-direction,
respectively.
So, by considering the transformation motion relations among the mobile platform
and the manipulator, forward kinematics in relation to the global frame can be defined
by Eq. (10),
global
end−e f f ector T = CG T × C0 T × 01 T × 12 T × · · · n−1
n T (10)
Assuming the final transformation matrix, T of a robot end-effector as follows,

⎛ ⎞
nx ox ax px

global R P ⎜
⎜ ny oy ay py ⎟
⎟
end−e f f ector T = (11)
0 1 ⎝ nz oz az pz ⎠
0 0 0 1

where, P represents the end-effector position vector px , p y , pz and R represents
the end-effector orientation vector (n, o, a).
3.1 Use of Geodesic for Trajectory Planning
Let us assume the distance Riemannian metric for an Euclidean space, where the
geodesic becomes a straight line. So the Riemannian metric has been taken as a
distance metric and can be defined as given in Eq. (12),
g p = (d P)2 (12)
where dP is the first derivative of P = ( px , p y , pz ).
3.2 Riemannian Metric Selection Procedure
The key task in geodesic method is the assignment of a suitable Riemannian metric
to the specific trajectory under consideration for planning and optimization. The
chosen metric must be of the form of symmetric as well as positive definite quadratic.
Simultaneously the metric should be the depiction of distance and other parameters
that are related to the desired movement. The Riemannian metric can be determined
by Eq. (13),
⎞ ⎛
dθ1
⎜ dθ2 ⎟
⎜⎜
⎟
⎟
g = dθ1 dθ2 dθ3 . . . dθn G ⎜ dθ3 ⎟ (13)
⎜ . ⎟
⎝ .. ⎠
dθn

Here, G = gi j nxn is the coefficient matrix in reference to ‘g’ and θ i (i = 1 …
n) describes the linear or angular joint displacements.
The Christoffel symbols ‘τikj ’ can be calculated by Eq. (6), once the coefficient
matrix “G” is known. Equation (5) will provide the geodesic equations after sub-
stituting the Christoffel symbols in it. There will be a set of geodesic equalities
after substitution of all joint variables and corresponding Christoffel symbols in
Eq. (5). Simultaneous differential equations can be obtained for specified trajectory
with given boundary conditions. The aftermath results of the geodesic equations
will provide the end-effector trajectories as well as joint trajectories for the selected
movement. Figure 1 depicts a flow chart that describes the step by step procedure of
a manipulator trajectory planning by geodesic technique.
3.3 Mathematical Formulation and Numerical Computation

of Geodesic for the Mobile Robot Manipulator
A wheeled mobile robot with a simple 3 DOF spatial manipulator link mounted
on the mobile robot platform as shown in Fig. 2 has been chosen to demonstrate
the whole process of end-effector motion planning using geodesic. The centroid of
the platform is considered at the origin position, say (0, 0, 0). The manipulator is
supposed to be at a position in the mobile platform, at distance (say d = 1 cm) from
Fig. 2 The kinematic model

of a 3-DOF manipulator
installed on the wheeled
mobile robot platform
the centroid of platform in X-direction and at a height (say h = 1 cm) above the
platform in direction. Here, the heading angle, ‘F’ is assumed to be zero.
ωl and ωr are rotational velocities of the left and right wheels.
Fl and Fr are rotational angles of the left and right wheels.
2b = distance between the wheel and r = radius of wheel (r = b = 1, assumed).
The homogeneous D-H matrix forward kinematic equation for the end-effector
of the mobile manipulator system as obtained from Eqs. (10) and (11) is given by,
⎫
px = c1 ∗ (l2 ∗ c2 + l3 ∗ c23 ) − 1 ⎬
p y = s1 ∗ (l2 ∗ c2 + l3 ∗ c23 ) (14)
⎭
pz = a2 ∗ s2 + a3 ∗ s23 + 1
where px , py , and pz are the unit position vector (P) of the end-effector of the robot.
l 1 , l 2 , and l 3 are the lengths of link 1, 2, and 3, respectively. θ 1 , θ 2 , and θ 3 symbolize
the angle of joint 1, 2, and 3, respectively. c1 , c23 , s1 , s23 represents, cosθ 1 , cos(θ 2
+ θ 3 ), sinθ 1 , sin(θ 2 + θ 3 ), respectively. The masses and length of links are taken as
one. It is assumed that Linkage ends are point of concentrations of mass for all links.
The Riemannian metric of the position vector is defined as,
⎞ ⎛
dθ1
g p = (d P)2 = dθ1 dθ2 dθ3 G ⎝ dθ2 ⎠ (15)
dθ3

where, dP denotes the position vector derivative of P, G = gi j 3x3 is the coefficient
matrix for g p .
⎛ ⎞
(c2 + c23 )2 0 0
G = gi j 3x3
=⎝ 0 2 + 2c3 1 + c3 ⎠ (16)
0 1 + c3 1
Equations (5) and (6) gives rise to the geodesic equalities, for the aforementioned
matrix Eq. (16). Second-order differential equations possessing the unknown param-
eters, θ 1 , θ 2 , and θ 3 are obtained for the Riemannian metric g p in the form of Eq. (5).
The geodesic is evaluated by the assumed initial conditions or boundary conditions.
Here, consideration is given for the linear movement of end-effector from a source
position to an end target position. The end-effector completes a linear motion con-
ferring to the obtained geodesic.
4 Results of the Simulation and Discussion
The coordinates of endpoints of the position trajectory are P1(1.1422, 0.0414, 1.4506)
and P2(0.9327, 0.1968, 1.5304). The end-effector position trajectory in Cartesian
space has been presented in Fig. 3. Similarly, Fig. 4 shows the manipulator joint
trajectories with its position, velocity, acceleration, and jerk. The graphical repre-
sentation reveals that the end-effector trajectories, as well as all joint trajectories of
the manipulator, were found to be smooth. It can be observed that the obtained end-
effector trajectory as shown in Fig. 3 is a straight line. Hence, the constant velocity
of the end-effector along the geodesic line confirms that acceleration is zero. There-
fore, the simulation results of the proposed approach in this paper favor the accuracy,
smoothness, and the optimality of the manipulator motion.
Fig. 3 Mobile robot end-effector position trajectory

Fig. 4 Joint trajectories of the end-effector and their derivatives
Similarly, the joint trajectories, as well as their byproducts, are obtained smooth
and accurate, as depicted in Fig. 4. So, the method can be employed for optimal,
precise, and smooth trajectory generation for the mobile robot end-effector.
This research article presented an optimal trajectory planning with smoothness and
accuracy for mobile robot manipulators by employing geodesic scheme. In an attempt
to acquire geodesic condition for the desired motion, the Riemannian metric has been
consigned to work volume. The geodesic calculations are worked out numerically by
Runge-kutta second order method. The simulations results attained from the geodesic
for the considered mobile robot with manipulator were depicted. The planned method
will have a significant impact on the process, where the robot has to travel from a
particular location to other and accomplish the intended job through its manipulator
simultaneously. In cases where the end-effector have to travel to another waypoint or
to avoid obstacles present in the way, the geodesic has to be replanned from starting
points to waypoints (obstacles) and waypoints to the target points. In doing so, the
constant velocity profile, as well as smooth trajectory for the end-effector, can be
achieved.
The method applies to mobile robots with manipulator with zero heading angle
and having not more than three DOFs manipulator system. Linear motions of the
end-effector have been emphasized. In the future part of the work, the trajectory
optimization will be aiming at planning for mobile robots with variable heading
angle and having more than three DOFs end-effector considering nonlinear motion
cases.
References
1. Ning, K., Kulvicius, T., Tamosiunaite, M., Wörgötter, F.: Accurate position and velocity con-
trol for trajectories based on dynamic movement primitives. In: Proceedings of 2011 IEEE
International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pp. 5006–5011 (2011)
2. Gasparetto, A., Zanotto, V.: A new method for smooth trajectory planning of robot manipula-
tors. Mech. Mach. Theory 42(4), 455–471 (2007)
3. Bobrow, J.E.: Optimal robot plant planning using the minimum-time criterion. IEEE J. Robot.
Autom. 4(4), 443–450 (1988)
4. Wang, J., Li, Y.: Dynamic control and analysis of a nonholonomic mobile modular robot. In:
Xie, M., Xiong, Y., Xiong, C., Liu, H., Hu, Z. (eds.) Proceedings of International Conference
on Intelligent Robotics and Applications, pp. 776–791. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg (2009)
5. Boryga, M., Graboś, A.: Planning of manipulator motion trajectory with higher-degree poly-
nomials use. Mech. Mach. Theory 44(7), 1400–1419 (2009)
6. de Jesús Rubio, J., Aquino, V., Figueroa, M.: Inverse kinematics of a mobile robot. Neural
Comp. Appl. 23(1), 187–194 (2013)
7. Zhang, L., Zhou, C., Wang, D.: Manipulator trajectory planning using geodesic method. In:
Tarn, T.J., Chen, S.B., Zhou, C. (eds.) Proceedings of Robotic Welding, Intelligence and
Automation, pp. 517–528. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg (2007)
8. Chen, Y., Li, L., Ji, X.: Smooth and accurate trajectory planning for industrial robots. Adv.
Mech. Eng. 6, 342137 (2014)
9. Jena, A., Sahu, P.K., Bharat, S.C., Biswal, B.B.: Optimal trajectory planning of a 3R SCARA
manipulator using geodesic. In: Proceedings of 2016 IEEE International Conference on Power
Electronics, Intelligent Control and Energy Systems (ICPEICES), pp. 1–6. IEEE (2016)
10. Sahu, P.K., Jena, A., Sujan, S., Biswal, B.B., Pati, K.C.: Optimal trajectory planning of industrial
robots using geodesic. IAES Int. J. Robot. Autom. (IJRA) 5(3), 190–198 (2016)
11. Sahu, P.K., Balamurali, G., Mahanta, G.B., Biswal, B.B.: A heuristic comparison of optimiza-
tion algorithms for the trajectory planning of a 4-axis SCARA robot manipulator. In: Behera
H., Nayak J., Naik B., Abraham A. (eds.) Computational Intelligence in Data Mining 2017,
vol. 711, pp. 569–582. Springer, Singapore (2019)
12. Huang, J., Hu, P., Wu, K., Zeng, M.: Optimal time-jerk trajectory planning for industrial robots.
Mech. Mach. Theory 121, 530–544 (2018)
Electro-hydraulic Motion Tracking
Control of a Hot MS Plate
of a Laboratory-Scale Reciprocating
ROT
Gaurav Kumar Mandal, Sohag Sutar, Anindya Datta and Pranibesh Mandal
Abstract Run out tables (ROTs) have been extensively used for achieving various
microstructures of steel under different cooling rates in steel industries. Hot billets
coming out of furnace are routed at constant velocity under long cooling bays consti-
tuted of nozzle banks. Experimental study of cooling rates under different conditions
in a laboratory-scale ROT, however, requires the long cooling bay to be replicated
by a short one, thereby requiring reciprocating motion of a hot steel plate ensuring
the magnitude of the reciprocating velocity to be constant. This, in turn, requires the
primary acceleration and the end retardation of the reciprocating motion to be min-
imised as far as possible. Achieving the same calls for intricate control of the plate
motion preferably by use of an electro-hydraulic actuation system. A PI controller
with a feedforward estimation has been successfully implemented here to get more
or less good matching with the tracking motion demand.
Keywords ROT · EHAS · Feedforward · PI
1 Introduction
Run out tables (ROT) are extensively used in industries in order to provide uniform
cooling to hot rolled steel billets. Precise control on cooling rate of products after hot
rolling is necessary because the thermo-metallurgical phase transformation taking
place during the cooling process governs the microstructure and the final mechanical
properties of steel strips and plates.
Ultra-fast cooling (UFC) under spray impingement in ROT makes use of extremely
high flow rates of coolants such as air, water, air–water mist, etc. impinged on a
uniformly distributed surface area in motion to rapidly cool down the material under
consideration. Controlled cooling at this rapid rate is useful for the production of
steel of higher quality and superior grades to meet the modern-day requirements in
various industries.
G. K. Mandal · S. Sutar · A. Datta · P. Mandal (B)

e-mail: m.pran11@gmail.com

1534 G. K. Mandal et al.
Cooling through water jets and sprays has been a topic of discussion among
researchers for a long time. Stewart et al. [1] found that in case of spray quenching
of steel billets when heated over 1000 °C, its heat transfer coefficient reduced drasti-
cally above the Leidenfrost temperature. Hatta and Osakabe [2] studied the cooling
process of a hot moving steel plate which is cooled by a water curtain. The effect
of the travelling velocity on the cooling rate was studied experimentally as well as
numerically. Wang [3] studied the heat transfer of a jet impinging on the top and
bottom surface of a hot plate and examined the differences of heat flux and wetting
front propagation. Gradeck [4] studied the heat transfer by a subcooled jet impinged
on a hot moving cylinder along a line parallel to the symmetry axis. Thermocou-
ples were used to measure the time-varying wall temperature and the corresponding
wall heat fluxes were estimated through an inverse conduction method. Liu et al. [5]
studied the effect of cooling water temperature, initial steel plate temperature and jet
diameters on heat transfer by water jets, sprays or water curtains impinging on both
sides of a long continuous plate consisting of red hot steel that is rolled onto it. Lyons
[6] studied the effect of varying droplet size on the heat transfer characteristics of an
air jet impinging on a heated plate.
In the current experiment, a laboratory-scale ROT with a furnace and nozzle
bank has been implemented for parametric analysis of spray cooling. In the cooling
zone, the industrial system should provide a unidirectional linear motion to the sheet
between a hot rolling mill and a coiler. However, it is difficult to achieve such a long
system in the laboratory-scale process line. So, a reciprocating motion is given to
the heated MS plate so that preliminary investigations can be carried out on a unit
of much smaller length. For this purpose, an electro-hydraulic control system has
been proposed. The major challenge of the electro-hydraulic actuation system is to
accomplish a quick velocity reversal, simulate the constant speed motion of the sheet
in industrial line and ensure minimum time lag between primary acceleration and
end retardation of the plate at the beginning and end of each stroke.
Electro-hydraulic systems and their control have been a topic of discussion for
scientists for a long time. Kaddissi et al. [7] also used a robust indirect adaptive
back-stepping control (ABSC) scheme to EHA systems having variations in vis-
cous friction coefficient and effective bulk modulus due to temperature changes. Jun
et al. [8] presented a self-tuning PID controller employing fuzzy logic to regulate
the BLDC motor of an EHAS which has some non-linear characteristics such as the
saturation of motor power and dead zone owing to static friction. Chinniah et al.
[9] detected faults in EHA systems by using a robust extended Kalman filter, which
is used to estimate viscous friction and effective bulk modulus. Watton and Bar-
ton [10] checked hydraulic actuation systems with different areas and a linearized
model is presented by him with two sets of coefficients for extraction and retraction
conditions, respectively, and both set is represented by taking actuator area ratio
as the parameter. James and Robertson [11] developed a state-dependent parameter
(SDP) control system which is optimised from the experimental data to control the
hydraulically actuated manipulators of a nuclear decommissioning robot. The SDP
is nothing but a time-varying voltage signal which represented a time-varying gain.
This algorithm gave more accurate resolved motion in comparison to a constant
Electro-hydraulic Motion Tracking Control of a Hot MS Plate … 1535
gain one. Mandal et al. [12] developed a fuzzy-feedforward-bias controller and used
a Genetic Algorithm to optimise the controller parameters of an electro-hydraulic
system consisting of a proportional valve and industry-grade cylinder which is to
be used in heavy-duty applications and eventually, the real-time control experiments
revealed excellent tracking throughout the cycle for sinusoidal displacements beyond
1.5 Hz.
On the lines of the above works, the objective of this thesis is to properly tune the
control of the EHAS to overcome the problems of nonlinearity and deadband to obtain
the required constant velocity demand during actuation. The system performance has
been tested separately using feedback and open-loop control, and the observations
have been utilised for a feedforward-feedback control for getting optimum results,
that is a near-constant velocity of the actuator rod.
2 Problem Description
This section contains the set-up description and the detailed procedure followed in
the experiment.
2.1 Set-Up Description
The following experiment deals with the tuning of a proportional valve and the
associated EHAS so that it works according to requirement. The set-up is shown in
Fig. 1.
The proportional valve has four ports P, T, A and B. P and T connects the lines, P
feeds high-pressure oil from the pump driven by motor M and T carrys oil to the tank
at low pressure. These two ports remain open throughout the course of operation.
Ports A and B connect the lines between the valve and the two ends of the actuator
cylinder. Opening of these two ports and hence the actuation flows are metered by
the movement of the spool within the bore of sleeve.
The force to impart the spool motion in the PV is realised by the solenoids, when
it receives the amplified voltage from a valve control card VCC interfacing with the
real-time system RTS. There is a PC interfaced with FPGA platform of the RTS
through an Ethernet cable. The controller is designed and available on the LabVIEW
software installed in the PC. The RTS has an input module IM and output module
OM. While the OM sends the control voltage to the VCC, the IM receives the LVDT
signal corresponding to the measured displacement yLVDT . The RTS is fed with a
demand yd .
Fig. 1 Circuit diagram of EHAS set-up
Initially, the control was implemented with only feedback loop using a PI controller,
as shown in Fig. 2. For a given input position demand yd of the piston and the
Fig. 2 Circuit diagram of the given EHAS with PI control

corresponding LVDT measurement yLVDT , the controller computes the command

voltage e after every sampling interval.

e = K P ye + K I ye dt (1)
ye = yd − y L V DT (2)
where ye is the displacement error, K p and K I are the gain parameters, with the former
being the proportionate gain and the latter the integral gain.
In such a valve actuator system, nonlinearities due to flow rate variation and
stick–slip friction regimes are major concerns relating to system performance. In
this set-up, deadband of the PV was found out to be ±1.25 V.
Since the requirement is that of a constant velocity of the plate and piston to which
it is linked, desired displacement profile is a triangular wave. Demand for different
velocities can be given by setting the triangle wave displacement demand of varying
frequencies in the LabVIEW program input panel and system response is tracked by
position feedback from the LVDT.
Initially, only feedback control with PI controller was implemented to observe
system response to different demands on tuning the controller gains.
The corresponding LabVIEW block diagram for this arrangement is shown in
Fig. 3.
With this controller, the response of the actuator tries to follow the demand at
lower frequencies, but at high frequencies, abrupt oscillations were observed and the
actuator motion is similar to that with step demands which can be seen in Fig. 4.
At low frequencies such as the one shown in Fig. 5, it is observed that the movement
of the piston rod is intermittent and it covers the entire length of the stroke in a
number of steps. Moreover, the piston rod remains stationary for sufficient time at
the extremes between reversals. The electro-hydraulic system in use is very sensitive
Fig. 3 Block diagram of PI implementation in LabVIEW

Fig. 4 Displacement versus time diagram for PI control having high frequency
Fig. 5 Displacement versus time diagram for PI control having lower frequency
and uncertain, and thus it starts moving only when enough error has been accumulated
such that the PI controller generates sufficient voltage to overcome the deadband.
The plot also indicated that the expansion and retraction behaviour of the actuator
are different.
In such a scenario, it is decided to obtain an approximate relation between the
rate of actuator displacement with the control voltage fed to the proportional valve
by open-loop analysis. Not only the actuator piston takes greater time to cover the
stroke length with lower values of control voltage but also starts responding later
at the beginning of the stroke. Moreover, at lower voltages, displacement–time plot
achieves greater linearity. With the study of open-loop characteristics, it was also
found that retraction stroke requires a greater voltage magnitude to have the same
rate of travel as the forward stroke.
The various open-loop test results are shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 for backward
and forward stroke of the actuator, respectively.
By examining the open-loop test at various voltages for forward and backward
strokes, a combination of voltage is taken that gave approximately the same charac-
teristics at forward and backward strokes. Thus, based on this, a near triangular wave
is obtained corresponding to the desired open-loop voltages as shown in Fig. 8.
Accordingly, a better controller was prepared by taking the above things into
consideration. This controller is shown in Fig. 9.
The total voltage input (e) to the PV is obtained as a combination of feedforward
voltage (eff ) found by estimation and feedback voltage (efb ) from the PI controller.
e = eff + efb (3)
Fig. 6 Open-loop test at different voltages in backward stroke of actuator

Fig. 7 Open-loop test at different voltages in forward stroke of actuator
Fig. 8 Combination of open-loop tests having same characteristics

Fig. 9 Circuit diagram of the given EHAS with PI control as well as feedforward incorporation
The feedforward voltage forms the major part here, and is estimated from the
open-loop characteristics based on the frequency of triangle wave demand. The stall
at the ends, primary acceleration and end retardation along with the phase lag between
demand and response is taken care of by the feedback voltage.
The corresponding LabVIEW block diagram for this arrangement is shown in
Fig. 10.
Fig. 10 Block diagram of PI implementation with feedforward compensation in LabVIEW

3 Results
Using our modified feedback feedforward controller, a number of triangle demands

are generated using different frequencies which corresponded to different velocities
of the actuator rod (Figs. 11, 12, 13 and 14).
Fig. 11 Plot of amplitude, displacement error and control voltage versus time for a constant velocity
of 4 mm/s
of 8 mm/s
of 9.74 mm/s
of 13.33 mm/s
A triangular motion tracking demand has, thus been given to an electro-hydraulic

actuation system attached to a heated MS plate of a laboratory-scale ROT in order
to achieve a constant speed reciprocation. To achieve this, a PI controller along with
a feedforward estimation has been incorporated in the electro-hydraulic actuation
system. As a result, good position tracking output of the plate has been achieved
for a number of triangular motion tracking demands of different frequencies thereby
providing same numbers of constant reciprocation speeds.
Further work on control of this EHAS for the reciprocating ROT can include
(i) Implementation of a proper feedforward model to make the error as small as
possible.
(ii) Achieving higher frequency demands thereby providing higher speeds of recip-
rocation of the plate.
(iii) Incorporation of model-free control techniques such as neural network.
(iv) Design and implementation of suitable optimisation methods for achieving
higher accuracy.
References
1. Stewart, I., Massingham, J.D., Hagers, J.J.: Heat transfer coefficient effects on spray cooling.
Iron Steel Eng. 73(7) (1996)
2. Hatta, N., Osakabe, H.: Numerical modelling for cooling process of a moving hot plate by a
laminar water curtain. ISIJ Int. 29(11), 919–925 (1989)
3. Wang, B.: Heat transfer characteristic research during jet impinging on top/bottom hot steel
plate. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 101, 844–851 (2016)
4. Gradeck, M.: Heat transfer from a hot moving cylinder impinged by a planar subcooled water
jet. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 54(25-26), 5527–5539 (2011)
5. Liu, Z.D., Fraser, D., Samarasekera, I.V.: Experimental study and calculation of boiling heat
transfer on steel plates during run out table operation. Can. Metall. Q. 41(1), 63–74 (2002)
6. Lyons, O.F.: Water mist/air jet cooling of a heated plate with variable droplet size. In: Second
International Conference on Thermal Issues in Emerging Technologies, 2008. ThETA ’08.
IEEE (2008)
7. Kaddissi, C., Kenne, J.P., Saad, M.: Indirect adaptive control of an electro-hydraulic servo
system based on nonlinear backstepping. In: IEEE International Symposium on Industrial
electronics, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, pp. 3147–3153 (2006)
8. Jun, L., Yongling, F., Guiying, Z., Bo, G., Jiming, M.: Research on fast response and high
accuracy control of an airborne brushless DC motor. In: Proceedings of 2004 IEEE International
Conference on Robotics and biomimetics, Shenyang, China, pp. 807–810 (2004)
9. Chinniah, Y., Burton, R., Habibi, S.: Failure monitoring in a high performance hydrostatic
actuation system using the extended kalman filter. Int. J. Mechatronics 16(10), 643–653 (2006)
10. Watton, J., Barton, R.C.: Further contributions to the response and stability of electrohydraulic
servo actuators with unequal areas—part 1: system modeling. In: Dynamic Systems: Modeling
and Control, ASME, NY, pp. 155–160 (1985)
11. James, T.C., Robertson, D.: State-dependent control of a hydraulically actuated nuclear decom-
missioning robot. Control. Eng. Pract. 21(12), 1716–1725 (2013)
12. Mandal, P., Sarkar, B.K., Saha, R., Mookherjee, S., Acharyya, S.K., Sanyal, D.: GA-optimized
fuzzy-feedforward-bias control of motion by a rugged electrohydraulic system. IEEE/ASME
Trans. Mechatronics 20(4), 1734–1742 (2015)
Path Planning of a Humanoid Robot
Using Rule-Based Technique
Manoj Kumar Muni, Priyadarshi Biplab Kumar, Dayal R. Parhi,

Asita Kumar Rath, Harish Chandra Das, Animesh Chhotray,
Krishna Kant Pandey and Kitty Salony
Abstract This paper describes the effective route organization of a humanoid robot
in an unknown environment. Rule-based technique is examined for steering of the
humanoid robot in chaotic environments. The prime objective of the humanoid is
set as to reach the target without hitting the obstacles. Various rules are developed
based on the direction of motion, the distance between the humanoid and target,
the distance between the humanoid and obstacles, and the angle between the robot
and adjacent obstacles. The rules considered are cultured to find out the target angle
of the humanoid from its current location. The proposed methodology has been
M. K. Muni (B) · P. B. Kumar · D. R. Parhi · A. Chhotray · K. K. Pandey

Robotics Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology,
Rourkela, Rourkela 769008, Odisha, India
e-mail: manoj1986nitr@gmail.com
P. B. Kumar
e-mail: p.biplabkumar@gmail.com
D. R. Parhi
e-mail: dayaldoc@yahoo.com
A. Chhotray
e-mail: chhotrayanimesh@gmail.com
K. K. Pandey
e-mail: kknitrkl@yahoo.in
A. K. Rath
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Arunachal Pradesh,
Yupia, Papum Pare 791112, Arunachal Pradesh, India
e-mail: asitr06@gmail.com
H. C. Das
Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Meghalaya, Shillong
K. Salony
Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department, SRM University, Kattankulathur, Chennai
603203, Tamil Nadu, India
e-mail: reeyaks1998@gmail.com

1548 M. K. Muni et al.
verified in simulation platform and validated against an experimental set-up with

good agreement between the results obtained from both the environments.
Keywords Humanoid robot NAO · Path planning · Rule-based technique ·

Simulation and experiment
1 Introduction
In recent days, the interface between robots and human beings has increased sig-
nificantly in both research and industry fields. Robots are having wide applications
in our day-to-day lives like household applications, offices, and in industries for
doing repetitive works without error. So it is a challenging and innovative task for
researchers to create the robot with inbuilt artificial intelligence technique which
can be effectively navigated to fulfill the human goal. While designing a humanoid
robot, one should keep in mind various factors like steadiness, mapping, interrelat-
ing, grasping, and path planning. In this paper, path planning has been considered as
an inspiring assignment and effectively analyzed so that the humanoid can function
in real world with unknown scenario. Navigation of different types of robots are
analyzed by various researchers and are described as follows.
Mohareri and Rad [1] used the augmented reality technique which is a vision-
based strategy for path planning of humanoid robot. Guzzi et al. [2] presented the fully
distributed algorithm developed from vision-based mechanisms for the navigation of
human-friendly robots in dynamic environments. Brooks et al. [3] used GODZILA
algorithm for path planning and obstacle avoidance of humanoid robot in unknown
environment. Fakoor et al. [4] employed fuzzy Markov decision process for path
planning of humanoid robot in unknown environment. Hornung et al. [5] used Monte-
Carlo probabilistic localization process for navigation of humanoid robot in arbitrary
complex indoor environments using onboard sensing. Sabe et al. [6] presented stereo
vision method for autonomous path planning and obstacle avoidance for humanoid
robot QRIO. Delgado-Galvan et al. [7] presented a vision-based technique which
is used to find landmarks in the environment and helps the robot localize itself for
the navigation in a featureless maze-like environment. Mac et al. [8] proposed a
multi-objective particle swarm optimization based on Pareto dominance principle
for mobile robots to maximize the path smoothness and minimize the path length.
Panda et al. [9] provided a hybrid technique in order to get an optimal path for
each robot in multi-robot system in a global scenario. Pradhan et al. [10] employed
both rule-based technique and hybrid rule-based neuro-fuzzy technique to find the
heading angles of the robots. Rath et al. [11] employed a fuzzy logic controller for
humanoid robot to navigate efficiently in obstacle-prone area. Mohanty et al. [12]
used techniques like FIS, ANN, and ANFIS with hybridization of FIS and ANN for
solving the path planning of autonomous mobile robot. Pham et al. [13] presented a
hybridized Petri net model with a multilayer perceptron for the navigation of more
number of mobile robots in an unknown and chaotic environment. Pothal and Parhi
Path Planning of a Humanoid Robot Using Rule-Based Technique 1549
[14] proposed ANFIS controller method for effective navigation of single as well as
multiple mobile robots in a high complex environment. Pandey et al. [15] designed a
fuzzy logic controller to improve the movement of mobile robot from source to target
by avoiding obstacles. Mohanty and Parhi [16] implemented cuckoo search approach
for optimal path planning of mobile robot in a complex environment having more
number of obstacles. Deepak and Parhi [17] presented artificial immune system for
automatic navigation of systems and tools in production environment by wheeled
mobile manipulator.
The extensive survey of literature suggests that navigational analysis is predom-
inantly applied in mobile robots and application of the same in humanoids is rare
to find. Therefore, the current research is aimed at developing an intelligent naviga-
tional controller for a humanoid robot for smooth movement and obstacle avoidance
in cluttered environments.
2 Control Architecture of Rule-Based Technique
The primary task of the humanoid robot in path planning and navigation is to reach
the target in less time with minimum path without colliding with the obstacles present
in the environment. In order to achieve optimized path and time, it needs to optimize
the parameters that affect the navigation. There are mainly four constraints on which
the navigation of humanoid robot depends. Those parameters are distance of robot
from front obstacle (DRFO), distance of robot from left obstacle (DRLO), distance
of robot from right obstacle (DRRO), and spinning angle (SA) of robot. Out of the
above parameters, DRFO, DRLO, DRRO act as input constraint and SA acts as the
output constraint. The obstacle distance data obtained from sensors are provided to
the controller, and the output constraint result is obtained by computation from the
controller.
In this work, local path planning is considered where the robot is conscious of
the position of start and target. In path planning, the robot always heads toward the
goal in a straight line without triggering the controller until any obstacle comes in
its path. After any obstacle is detected by the sensors, the controller is activated, and
the algorithm performs as per the design. In our rule-based technique, some training
data are fed to the controller so that it can effectively and efficiently select every
possible way of obstacle avoidance. Depending upon the scenario condition given to
the humanoid, training pattern of about more than 1000 rules or data are fed to the
controller. Some of the rules which are fed to the controller are described below.
Attributes for the rule are distance of robot from front obstacle (DRFO), distance
of robot from left obstacle (DRLO), distance of robot from right obstacle (DRRO),
and steering angle (SA).
Rule 1: If 50 ≤ DRFO ≤ 60, DRDO = 30, and 40 ≤ DRRO ≤ 50, then SA is zero.
Rule 2: If DRFO is 30, 30 < DRLO ≤ 40, and 50 ≤ DRRO ≤ 60, then SA is +10.
Rule 3: If 30 ≤ DRFO ≤ 40, 50 ≤ DRLO ≤ 70, and 40 < DRRO ≤ 50, then SA
IS −20.
Rule 4: If DRFO = 30, 40 ≤ DRLO ≤ 50, and DRRO = 30, then SA is −15.
Rule 5: If 50 ≤ DRFO ≤ 70, DRLO is 30, and 30 ≤ DRRO ≤ 40, then SA is zero.
Rule 6: If 30 < DRFO ≤ 40, 30 < DRLO ≤ 40 and DRRO is 30, then SA is −25.
Rule 7: If 40 ≤ DRFO ≤ 50, 30 ≤ DRLO ≤ 40, and 40 ≤ DRRO ≤ 50, then SA
is 20.
In the above rules, all the distances of robot from obstacles are in cm, and the
steering angle of robot is in degree. The negative sign indicates that the steering angle
of humanoid is toward left and the positive sign indicates that the steering angle of
the humanoid is toward right.
To describe the navigational parameters, one example is considered. By taking
rule 5, when the DRFO is in between 50 and 70 cm, DRLO is 30 cm, and DRRO is
in between 30 and 40 cm, then SA is zero degree. A threshold distance of 30 cm is
set for the sensors to detect the hurdles. In the above example, as the front obstacle
distance is very far from the robot so the robot will move forward without making
any turn.
3 Simulation and Experimental Analysis of Rule-Based

Technique
Different environments with static obstacles are created for the purpose of simulation
analysis of the humanoid robot with the use of rule-based technique. V-REP simu-
lation software is used for path planning, and NAO humanoid robot is used as the
humanoid platform in different environments. Figure 1 shows the simulation results
for the robot to reach the target without colliding with the obstacles with minimum
path length and less time. Figure 2 shows the validation of the simulation results in
an experimental platform for path planning of the humanoid robot. The navigational
results obtained from both the environments are compared against each other in terms
of path length and time taken and are presented in Tables 1 and 2, respectively.
The comparative analysis of simulation results with experimental results reveals
that the controller has worked satisfactorily for the humanoid robot and guided it
successfully from the source position to the goal position. The error limits obtained
from the comparison are also well within the acceptable limit.
4 Conclusion
In this paper, emphasis has been given to effective path planning of humanoid robot
in a chaotic environment for which rule-based analysis is performed. In this analysis,
various rules are derived manually from explorative data and are used for efficient
Fig. 1 Simulation results

Fig. 2 Experimental results
Table 1 Comparison of path

Sl. No. Path length in Path length in the Error in %
length
simulation experiment
1 358.47 378.5 5.29
2 358.6 379.2 5.43
3 359.82 379.8 5.26
4 358.94 378.2 5.09
5 356.28 379.8 6.19
Average 358.42 379.1 5.45
Table 2 Comparison of time

Sl. No. Time taken in Time taken in the Error in %
taken
simulation experiment
1 48.25 51.38 6.09
2 48.67 51.46 5.42
3 48.95 51.82 5.54
4 48.53 51.37 5.53
5 48.96 52.07 5.97
Average 48.67 51.62 5.71
navigation. This rule-based technique majorly focuses on the robot distances from
the obstacles like the front, left, right, and provides information to humanoid robot
on how much turn is required to avoid the obstacles for smooth navigation. This
paper illustrates the use of rule-based controller that is fed to the humanoid robot
which provides proper direction to robot for avoiding obstacles and improving target-
seeking ability with precision in navigation. Both experimental and simulation results
are in good agreement with each other, which shows that rule-based technique is
effective toward path planning of humanoid robot in chaotic environment having
great accuracy. From both simulation and experimental analysis for path planning of
humanoid robot, it can be observed that the path followed by the robot in both the
analysis are almost close to each other with a very less error.
References
1. Mohareri, O., Rad, A.B.: Autonomous humanoid robot navigation using augmented reality
technique. In: Proceedings of 2011 International Conference on mechatronics (ICM ’11),
pp. 63–468. Istanbul, Turkey (2011)
2. Guzzi, J., Giusti, A., Gambardella, L.M., Theraulaz, G., Di Caro, G.A.: Human-friendly robot
navigation in dynamic environments. In: International Conference on Robotics and Automation
(ICRA ’13), pp. 423–430. Karlsruhe, Germany (2013)
3. Brooks, G., Krishnamurthy, P., Khorrami, F.: Humanoid robot navigation and obstacle avoid-
ance in unknown environments. In: Control Conference IEEE (ASCC ’13), pp. 1–6 (2013)
4. Fakoor, M., Kosari, A., Jafarzadeh, M.: Humanoid robot path planning with fuzzy Markov
decision processes. J. Appl. Res. Technol. 14(5), 300–310 (2016)
5. Hornung, A., Osswald, S., Maier, D., Bennewitz, M.: Monte Carlo localization for humanoid
robot navigation in complex indoor environments. Int. J. Humanoid Rob. 11(02), 1441002
(2014)
6. Sabe, K., Fukuchi, M., Gutmann, J.S., Ohashi, T., Kawamoto, K., Yoshigahara, T.: Obstacle
avoidance and path planning for humanoid robots using stereo vision. In: Proceedings of 2004
International Conference on Robotics & automation (ICRA ’04), pp. 592–597. New Orieans,
LA (2004)
7. Delgado-Galvan, J., Navarro-Ramirez, A., Nunez-Varela, J., Puente-Montejano, C., Martinez-
Perez, F.: Vision-based humanoid robot navigation in a featureless environment. In: Proceedings
of 2015 Mexican Conference on Pattern Recognition (MCPR ’15), pp. 169–178 (2015)
8. Mac, T.T., Copot, C., Tran, D.T., De Keyser, R.: A hierarchical global path planning approach
for mobile robots based on multi-objective particle swarm optimization. Appl. Soft Comput.
59, 68–76 (2017)
9. Panda, M.R., Das, P., Pradhan, S.: Hybridization of IWO and IPSO for mobile robots navigation
in a dynamic environment. J. King Saud Univ.-Comput. Inf. Sci. (2017). https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.jksuci.2017.12.009
10. Pradhan, S.K., Parhi, D.R., Panda, A.K.: Navigation of multiple mobile robots using rule-based
neuro-fuzzy technique. Int. J. Comput. Intell. 3(2), 142–152 (2006)
11. Rath, A.K., Parhi, D.R., Das, H.C., Muni, M.K., Kumar, P.B.: Analysis and use of fuzzy
intelligent technique for navigation of humanoid robot in obstacle prone zone. Def. Technol.
14(6), 677–682 (2018)
12. Mohanty, P.K., Parhi, D.R.: A new intelligent motion planning for mobile robot navigation
using multiple adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system. Appl. Math. Inf. Sci. 8(5), 2527–2535
(2014)
13. Pham, D.T., Parhi, D.R.: Navigation of multiple mobile robots using a neural network and a
Petri Net model. Robotica 21(1), 79–93 (2003)
14. Pothal, J.K., Parhi, D.R.: Navigation of multiple mobile robots in a highly clutter terrains using
adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system. Robot. Auton. Syst. 72, 48–58 (2015)
15. Pandey, A., Sonkar, R.K., Pandey, K.K., Parhi, D.R.: Path planning navigation of mobile robot
with obstacles avoidance using fuzzy logic controller. In: Proceedings of 2014 International
Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control (ISCO ’14), pp. 39–41 (2014)
16. Mohanty, P.K., Parhi, D.R.: Cuckoo search algorithm for the mobile robot navigation. In:
International Conference on Swarm, Evolutionary, and Memetic Computing (SEMCCO ’13),
pp. 527–536. Chennai, India (2013)
17. Deepak, B.B.V.L., Parhi, D.R.: Control of an automated mobile manipulator using artificial
immune system. J. Exp. Theor. Artif. Intell. 28(1–2), 417–439 (2016)
Automated Vehicles Path Modification
for Designated Via-Point Using Nonlinear
Simplex Optimizer
L. B. Yadav and B. Halder
Abstract Path generation and modification are very important issues in the operation
of automated vehicles. The pertaining processing time and accuracy in real time often
depend on the type of solution algorithm. In this paper, a gradient-free optimization
algorithm has been used for Bezier curve-based base path modification for passing
through the designated via-point. The strength of nonlinear simplex optimizer in the
limited three-dimensional solution space is added with the features of no requirement
of computing derivatives and smooth objective function. The performance of the
proposed method is compared with that of the method using gradient-based optimizer
through computer simulation results.
Keywords Path modification · Automated vehicle · Bezier curve · Designated

Via-Points · Nonlinear simplex
1 Introduction
Over the past few decades, path planning techniques have become an increasingly
important issue to the automated vehicles. However, the issue is not restricted to
automated vehicles, i.e., either ground vehicle in two-dimensional space or the
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in three-dimensional space, in fact, it is very inten-
sively explored in the general domain of robotics, where motion planning is the usual
term instead of path planning as in [1].
A smooth path induces trouble-free vehicle dynamics and assists the controllabil-
ity of the mobile robot, the former aspect being especially important in the case of
automated vehicles. Bezier curves introduced by Bezier [2], for generating a smooth
path, have been widely used to generate routes for automated systems. The reasons
behind wide acceptability of Bezier curve are that reshaping of the path is made easy
by adjusting the control points, continuous curvature, and involvement of traveling
L. B. Yadav
National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong 793003, India
B. Halder (B)
Narula Institute of Technology, Kolkata 700109, India
e-mail: halder.biswajit@nit.ac.in
1556 L. B. Yadav and B. Halder
time to the restricted condition. Among many research works on the path generation
based on the Bezier curve, few were discussed in [3–6].
Alternatively, there are path planning methods that use genetic, or evolutionary,
algorithms. The works in [7–11] illustrated optimal path generation, variety of mis-
sion objectives of UAV, and implementation with high robustness and adaptability.
However, genetic algorithms are inefficient in converging to an optimal solution.
In this work, the authors focus on the automated vehicle path generation and path
modification similar to the work by Kawabata et al. [12] by using a gradient-free
nonlinear simplex algorithm and considering fifth order Bezier curve for the path
modification in two- and three-dimensional space. In the event of path modification
through designated via-point as shown in [12], the calculation of nearest point on the
base path from the via-point has been found by using Newton–Rapson algorithm.
However, the solutions found therein are quite sensitive to the initial condition of
the said algorithm because of the derivatives of the objective function. This problem
motivates the authors to consider for gradient-free algorithm which is considered
here as the method proposed by Nelder and Mead [13] also known as nonlinear sim-
plex algorithm. Although convergence property of such algorithm has not yet been
proven in the general case as described in [14], the characteristic linking of search
resumes, along with the constraints handling strategy discussed in [15], makes the
proposed approach suitable for dealing with constrained minimization problems of
discontinuous, non-convex functions. In addition, the maximum number of algo-
rithm iterations can be set a priori, thus imposing an upper bound on the required
computational time. The choice of considering fifth order curve in the present work
is made based upon the study of Ho and Liu [16].
The Chapter is organized as follows: Sect. 2 begins by describing the Bezier
curve-based path planning. Section 3 describes the path modification procedure with
the help of nonlinear simplex optimizer. Finally, in Sect. 4, several examples have
been illustrated for the sufficient justification of superiority of the performance of
nonlinear simplex optimizer. This is followed by conclusions and future work in the
Sect. 5.
2 Bezier Curve-Based Path Generation
In N-dimensional space, smooth path may be generated by Bezier curve in the form
of parametric curve. An nth-order
Bezier curve is defined by n + 1 control points
n
P0 , n P1 , n P2 , . . . n Pn . With the control input u, the nth-order Bezier curve is
may be represented by the following equation:

n
n
B(u) = Jn,i (u) n Pi (0 ≤ u ≤ 1), (1)
i=0
Automated Vehicles Path Modification for Designated Via-Point … 1557
where Jn,i (u) is the n degree blending function with Bernstein basis polynomials as
given below

n i
Jn,i (u) = u (1 − u)n−1 I N , (2)
i
where I N represents the identity matrix of dimension N and

n n!
= . (3)
i i!(n − i)!
In general, the first and the final control

points indicate the beginning and end of
the path and P1 , P2 , P3 , . . . Pn−1 , the midway control points are not on the
n n n n
curve.
2.1 Condition of Velocity in Vehicle Base Path
By considering the time as t such that at the destinations the value of t would be τ .
Then u may be expressed in terms of normalized time as
u= t
τ (0 ≤ u ≤ 1). (4)
Thus Eq. (1) may be represented as

2 3 n
t t t t t
n
B = b0 + b1 + b2
n n n
+ b3
n
+ · · · + bn
n
. (5)
τ τ τ τ τ
Now in order to introduce the velocity condition, V0 and Vn are considered as

initial and final velocity vector in N-dimensional space, respectively. The first-order
differentiation of Eq. (5) with respect to normalized time would satisfy the following
two equations at u = 0 and at u = 1.
1n
n
Ḃ(0) = b1 = V0 , (6a)
τ
1
n
Ḃ(1) = n
b1 + 2n b2 + 3n b3 + · · · + n n bn = Vn . (6b)
τ
Again, Eqs. (4) and (5) yields the following relationships:
n
B(0) = n b0 = n P0 , (7a)
n
B(1) = n b0 + n b1 + n b2 + n b3 + · · · + n bn = n Pn , (7b)
2.2 Determination of Bezier Curve-Based Vehicle Base Path
The intermediate control points may now be derived from Eqs. (6a), (6b), (7a) and
(7b) in terms of vector-matrix equation as
⎡n ⎤
b2
⎢ n b3 ⎥
n
Pn − n P0 − V0 T IN IN · · · IN ⎢ ⎥
= ⎢ . ⎥, (8)
Vn T − V0 T 2I N 3I N · · · n I N ⎣ .. ⎦
n
bn
and
⎛ ⎞ ⎡ ⎤⎛ ⎞
n
b0 n,0,0 0N 0N 0N ··· 0N p0 n
⎜ nb ⎟ ⎢ ⎥⎜ n ⎟
⎜ 1 ⎟ ⎢ n,1,0
⎢ n,1,1 0N 0N ··· 0N ⎥⎜ p1 ⎟
⎥⎜ n ⎟
⎜ n ⎟ ⎢ n,2,0 n,2,1 n,2,2 0N ··· 0N ⎥⎜ p2 ⎟
⎜ b2 ⎟ ⎢ ⎥⎜
⎜n ⎟ = ⎢ n,3,1 n,3,2 n,3,3 ··· ⎥⎜ n p ⎟ , (9)
⎜ b3 ⎟ ⎢ n,3,0 0N
⎥⎜ 3 ⎟
⎜ ⎟ .. .. .. .. .. .. ⎥⎜ . ⎟
⎜ .. ⎟ ⎢ ⎥⎝ .. ⎟
⎝ . ⎠ ⎢ ⎣
. . . . . .
⎦ ⎠
n .. n
bn n,n,0 n,n,1 n,n,2 n,n,3 . n,n,n p n
where
k
t n n −l
n,k,l = (−1) k−l
I N. (10)
τ l k −l
It is to note that the coefficient matrix in the right-hand side of Eq. (8) is not
necessarily square matrix. So pseudo inversion of the matrix is required for getting
T
the solution of n b2 , n b3 , n b4 , · · · n bn . Also, from Eqs. (1) and (5) and taking
0 N as the matrix with all zero elements, the relationship of Eq. (9) may be obtained.
The solution of control points may now be determined with the known value of
n
P0 and n Pn from Eqs. (7a, 7b) as
Fig. 1 Nearest point on the

nth-order Bezier curve-based
base path from the via-point
at u = tτ0
⎡ ⎤−1
Ψn,0,0 0N 0N 0N · · · 0N
⎡ n ⎤ ⎢
⎢ n,1,0 n,1,1 0 N 0N · · · 0N
⎥
⎥ ⎡ nb − n
⎤
P1 ⎢ ⎥ 2 n,2,0 P0
⎢ n ⎥ ⎢ n,2,0 n,2,1 n,2,2 0 N · · · 0N ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢ P2 ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ nb − nP ⎥
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ n,3,0 n,3,1 n,3,2 n,3,3 · · · 0N
⎥ ⎢ 3 n,3,0 0 ⎥
⎢ . ⎥=⎢ ⎥ ⎢ . ⎥. (11)
⎢ . ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ . ⎥
⎣ . ⎦ ⎢
⎢ .. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
⎥
⎥ ⎣ . ⎦
⎢ . . . . . . ⎥
nP
n−1 ⎢ ⎥ nb −
n
n n
n,n,0 P0 − n,n,n Pn
⎣ . ⎦
.
n,n,0 n,n,1 n,n,2 n,n,3 . n,n,n
3 Path Modification Through Via-Points
The necessary objective of the path is that it would pass through the desired point in
the N-dimensional space. This is achieved by finding the nearest point on the base
curve from the desired via-point (Fig. 1).
3.1 Nonlinear Simplex Algorithm for Finding the Nearest

Point on the Base Path from the via-Point
The determination for the nearest point on the base curve from the via-point may be
accomplished through Newton–Rapson method as followed in [12]. The objective is
to find the value on the normalized time tτ0 such that

t0 t0 f˙ tτ0
← − t0 , (12)
τ τ f¨ τ
with
2
t
1 n t
f = 2
B − via point
, (13)
τ τ
is satisfied. In determining Eq. (12), problem arises because the second part of the
right-hand side of the equation is not always a continuous function over the entire
range given in Eq. (4). This will lead to the critical choice of initial value τt prior
to getting a solution. This problem will be illustrated in the next section through
examples.
To overcome this problem, a gradient-free method has been used in order to
avoid the gradient calculations and ignore the continuity conditions. The popular
“Nonlinear Simplex” method proposed by Nelder and Mead [13] has been considered
here for solving the problem.
A simplex is a structure in N-dimensional space formed by N + 1 points that are
not in the same plane. Thus, a triangle is a two-dimensional simplex and a tetrahedron
forms a simplex in three-dimensional space.
The nonlinear simplex algorithm starts with a simplex and then modifies the
simplex at each iteration using four simple operations. The sequence of operations
to be performed is chosen based on the relative values of the objective function at each
of the points. The four main operations performed by the algorithms are reflection,
expansion, outside contraction, inside contraction and shrinking. The said sequence
of operation retains the best point and shrinks the simplex.
3.2 Path Modification Through the Change of Control Points
Once the nearest point is obtained, it is used in the calculation of required change
of control point. The required steps are same as that of the work in [12] and the
resultant change of intermediate points for fifth order Bezier path is obtained through
the expressions

J5,2 tτ0 t0
P2 =
5
t0 2 t0 2 via point − B
5
, (14a)
J5,2 τ + J5,3 τ τ
and

J5,3 tτ0 t0
P3 =
5
t0 2 t0 2 via point − 5
B . (14b)
J5,2 τ + J5,3 τ τ
In Eqs. (14a, 14b), the terms 5 P2 and 5 P3 are the necessary change required
for the base path control points 5 P2 and 5 P3 .
The performance of the algorithms has been illustrated through several examples.
Case-1. Space is two-dimensional, Bezier path is fifth order, via-point is at
T
0.3 0.05 . The given initial and final positions and velocities are, respectively,
T T T T
given as 5 P0 = 0 0 , 5 P5 = 1 0 .1 , V0 = 0.1 0 , and Vn = 0.1 0 . The
modified path is shown in Fig. 2, where tτ0 = 0.4362 is found by simplex algorithm
with zero initial condition.
Case-2. Space is two-dimensional, Bezier path is fifth order, via-point is at
T
0.5 −0.05 . The given initial and final positions and velocities are, respectively,
T T T T
given as 5 P0 = 0 0 , 5 P5 = 1 0 .1 , V0 = 0.1 0 , and Vn = 0.1 0 . The
modified path is shown in Fig. 3, where tτ0 = 0.56804 is found by simplex algorithm
with zero initial condition.
Case-3. Space is three-dimensional, Bezier path is fifth order, via-point is at
T
0.65 0.1 0.08 . The given initial and final positions and velocities are, respec-
T T T
tively, given as 5 P0 = 0 0 0 , 5 P5 = 1 0.1 0.2 , V0 = 0.3 0 0 , and
T
Vn = 0.5 0 0 . The modified path is shown in Fig. 4, where tτ0 = 0.6820 is
found by simplex algorithm with zero initial condition.
Case-4. Space is three-dimensional, Bezier path is fifth order, via-point is at
T
0.9 0.5 −0.45 . The given initial and final positions and velocities are, respec-
T T T
tively, given as 5 P0 = 0 0 0 , 5 P5 = 1 0.1 0.2 , V0 = 0.8 0 0 , and
T
Vn = 0.7 0 0 . The modified path is shown in Fig. 5, where tτ0 = 0.36886 is
found by simplex algorithm with zero initial condition.
Fig. 2 Modified path with

T
via-point 0.3 0.05 in
Case-1

T
via-point 0.5 −0.05 in
Case-2

T
via-point 0.65 0.1 0.08
in Case-3
In Fig. 6, the characteristics of the objective function which is the first-order

differentiation of the square error is described in Eq. (11). These figures suggest
that if the algorithm is gradient-based, there may be issues of right choice of initial
condition. In fact this problem has been observed to occur with the work in [12].
This problem has been solved by using the nonlinear simplex algorithm.
From Table 1, it is found that if the initial condition is not suitably chosen, the
wrong convergence may result. However, the time of computation is very less than

T
via-point 0.9 0.5 −0.45
in Case-4
that of Table 2. On the other hand, the choice of initial condition is not restricted
as found in Table 2, but the computation time is much higher than that of Table 1.
Thus, there is a trade-off between the requirement of fast computation and the issue
of choosing the range of initial condition for finding the modified path.
All the simulation results have been generated through MATLAB. The system
used for execution is Intel(R) Core i3-3217U CPU, 1.80 GHZ, and RAM of 2 GB.
The computation time may decrease if the nonlinear simplex algorithm is run for
limited iteration.
5 Conclusions
This work illustrates Bezier curve-based path modifications of automated vehicle in

two- and three-dimensional space. The work deals with the minimization problem
involved in execution of the path modification. Though accuracy and the processing
time are the major goals in path planning problems, this paper describes that the
performance consistency of the minimization algorithm may play an important role.
It is observed that gradient-based minimization algorithm poses problem in defin-
ing initial conditions because of the non-smooth function that consists of derivatives
of the objective function. The nonlinear simplex algorithm which is much efficient
for lower dimensional problem does not pose any restrictions upon the choice of
initial value for the objective function.
The performance of this nonlinear simplex algorithm in dynamic path modifica-
tion problem is left for future study.
Fig. 6 Characteristics of
objective functions
derivatives and their ratios in
a–b for Case-1; c–d for
Case-2; e–f for Case-3; g–h
for Case-4, respectively
Table 1 Path modification

Cases Space Range of initial Computation
using Newton–Rapson
dimension condition, x0 time, ms
algorithm as used in [12]
Case-1 2D 0.243 < x0 < 12.4
0.798
Case-2 2D 0.313 < x0 < 12.3
0.823
Case-3 3D 0.318 < x0 < 16.7
0.882
Case-4 3D x0 < 0.787 16.3
Table 2 Path modification

Cases Space Applied initial Computation
using nonlinear simplex
dimension condition, x0 time, ms
algorithm
Case-1 2D 0 75.9
Case-2 2D 0 76.1
Case-3 3D 0 77.0
Case-4 3D 0 74.8
References
1. Valle, S.M.L.: Motion planning—part I: the essentials. IEEE Robot. Autom. Mag. 18(1), 79–89
(2011)
2. Bezier, P.: Courbes et surfaces. In: Proc. Mathmatiques. et CAO, pp. 69–73. Hermes, Paris
(1986)
3. The 2005 DARPA grand challenge: the great robot race. In: Buehler, M., Lagnemma, K., Singh,
S. (eds.), vol. 36, pp. 363–405. Springer Berlin, Heidelberg (2007)
4. Jolly, K.G., Kumar, R.S., Vijayakumar, R.: A Bezier curve based path planning in a multi-
agent robot soccer system without violating the acceleration limits. Robot. Auto. Syst. 57,
23–33 (2009)
5. Han, L., Yashiro, H., Nejad, T.N., Do, Q.H., Mita, S.: Bezier curve based path planning for
autonomous vehicle in urban environment. In: Proceedings 2010 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles
Symposium, pp. 1036–1042. San Diego, CA (2010)
6. Ma, L., Yang, J., Zhang, M.: A two-level path planning method for on road autonomous
driving. In: Proceedings of Second International Conference on Intelligent System Design and
Engineering Application, pp. 661–664. Sanya, Hainan, China (2012)
7. Costanzi, R., Fanelli, F., Meli, E., Ridolfi, A., Allotta, B.: Generic path planning algorithm
for mobile robots based on Bezire curves. In: Proceedings of 2016 International Federation of
Automatic Control conference, 49–15, pp. 145–150 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifaccol.
2016.07.723
8. Mansury, E., Nikookar, A., Salehi, M.: Differential evolution optimization of ferguson splines
for soccer robot path planning. In: Javaan, S.C., Lakhmi, C.J., Akiko, M., Mika, S.I. (eds.)
Innovations in Intelligent Machines 2007, pp. 77–111. Springer, Berlin, Germany (2007)
9. Hasircioglu, I., Topcuoglu, H., Ermis, M.: 3-D path planning for the navigation of unmanned
aerial vehicles by using evolutionary algorithms. In: Proceedings of 10th Annual Conference
on Genetic and Evolutionary Computation, pp. 1499–1506. Atlanta, Georgia, USA (2008)
10. Nikolos, I., Zografos, E., Brintaki, A.: Heuristic methods for randomized path planning in
potential fields. In: Ali, M., Mansour, J., Hossein, A. (eds.) Artificial Intelligence and Signal
Processing, Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 427, pp. 311–319.
Springer International Publishing (2014)
11. Elhoseny, M., Tharwat, A., Hassanien, A.E.: Bezier curve based path planning in a dynamic
field using modified genetic algorithm. J. Comput. Sci. 25, 339–350 (2018)
12. Kawabata, K., Ma, L., Xue, J., Zhu, C., Zheng, N.: A path generation for automated vehicle
based on Bezier curve and via-point. Robot. Auton. Syst. 74, 243–252 (2015)
13. Nelder, J., Mead, R.: A simplex method for function minimization. Comput. J. 7, 308–313
(1965)
14. Lagarias, J.C., Reeds, J.A., Wright, M.H., Wright, P.E.: Convergence properties of the Nelder-
Mead simplex method in low dimensions. SIAM J. Optim. 9, 112–147 (1998)
15. Luersen, M., Riche, R.L., Guyon, F.: A constrained, globalized, and bounded Nelder-Mead
method for engineering optimization. Struct. Multi-Discipl. Optim. 27, 43–54 (2004)
16. Ho, Y.J., Liu, J.: Collision-free curvature-bounded smooth path planning using composite
Bezier curve based on Voronoi diagram. In: Proceedings of 2009 IEEE International Sympo-
sium on Computational Intelligence in Robotics and Automation, pp. 463–468. Daejeon, Korea
(2009)
Zero-Speed Off-tracking Analysis
of Tractor-Semitrailer with Split Fifth
Wheel Coupling for 90° and 180° Turning
Manoeuvres
Ajith Jogi and Sujatha Chandramohan
Abstract With the increasing demand for the accessibility of tractor-semitrailers in

remote locations, they face the problem of off-tracking, which is the ensuing differ-
ence in path radii between the front and rearmost axles of a vehicle as it manoeuvres
a turn. One of the passive methods to reduce off-tracking is by implementing Split
fifth wheel coupling (SFWC) which has been proposed earlier. In the present work,
the tractor-semitrailer with SFWC is subjected to zero-speed off-tracking analysis,
wherein the effect of speed is neglected and the results are compared with those of
Conventional fifth wheel coupling (CFWC) model. In the current paper, two turning
manoeuvres are studied, viz., 90° turn and 180° turn. It is observed that for all the
combinations of chosen type of turning manoeuvre and turning radius, the SFWC
model noticeably reduces off-tracking when compared to the tractor-semitrailer of
similar dimensions with CFWC.
Keywords Split fifth wheel coupling · Off-tracking · Hitch · Tractor-Semitrailer ·

Zero-Speed
Nomenclature
KO Kingpin offset (m)

Ls Wheelbase of semitrailer (m)
Lt Wheelbase of tractor (m)
OT Off-tracking (m)
R Turning radius measured at tractor’s front axle centre (m)
(Xc , Yc ) Coordinates of the centre of curvature (m)
A. Jogi (B) · S. Chandramohan

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
e-mail: ajithjogi@gmail.com
S. Chandramohan

1568 A. Jogi and S. Chandramohan
(Xf,n , Yf,n ) Coordinates of the tractor’s front axle centre (m)

(Xr,n , Yr,n ) Coordinates of the tractor’s rear axle centre (m)
(Xs,n , Ys,n ) Coordinates of the semitrailer’s axle centre (m)
Greek Symbols
θ Heading angle of tractor’s wheelbase (radians)

ψ Angle swept by the tractor’s front axle centre (radians)
Subscripts
c Centre of curvature
f Front
max Maximum value
n Nth iteration
r Rear
s Semitrailer
t Tractor
1 Introduction
Freight transportation plays a major role in the economy of a country and tractor-
semitrailers are the most viable option, especially in the case of door-to-door ship-
ment. Well-designed roads always aid in the smooth operation of these vehicles.
In recent years, civil design engineers have been considering the turning profile of
various vehicle combinations while designing highway intersections, roundabouts
and parking lots. This is due to the fact that improper designs could cause accidents;
large off-tracking of vehicles could be one of the reasons. Off-tracking becomes very
significant when large vehicles undertake a turning manoeuvre. A policy document
has been published by AASHTO [1] which lists the turning profiles of most of the
tractor-trailer combinations used. A lot of studies have been carried out to formu-
late a mathematical expression for off-tracking. Jindra [2], Pretty [3] and Choi et al.
[4] have contributed towards modelling the off-tracking. Woodrooffe et al. [5] have
studied the non-steady-state off-tracking of vehicle during its entry and exit from
a constant radius curve. Studies have found that rear-axle steering and the addition
of more articulation joints are well-accepted solutions; however, they are associated
with certain drawbacks. Dahlberg and Wideberg [6] have studied the influence of the
fifth wheel location on the handling of a heavy articulated vehicle.
Zero-Speed Off-tracking Analysis of Tractor-Semitrailer … 1569
For reduction of off-tracking, besides steering the semitrailer rear axle and increas-
ing articulation joints, one could think of shifting the fifth wheel coupling behind
the tractor’s rear axle, though stability issues have to be looked into. In order to
maintain proper traction between wheels and ground, load distribution between the
tractor’s axles has to be taken care of, thereby imposing a constraint of load transfer
point being positioned in front of the tractor’s rear axle. Hence, there is a need for a
mechanism to reduce off-tracking without affecting the load distribution among the
axles. Jogi and Chandramohan [7] have developed a new hitch mechanism, termed
as Split fifth wheel coupling (SFWC) which reduces the maximum off-tracking by
a significant margin for a constant radius turning manoeuvre (angle swept by the
tractor is 900°).
1.1 SFWC
The basic idea behind SFWC is splitting the functions of a fifth wheel coupling.
Figure 1 shows the 3D conceptual model of the tractor-semitrailer with SFWC. To
reduce the off-tracking, the articulation point is shifted behind the rear axle of the
tractor. To maintain the proper distribution of axle loads, the vertical load transfer
point is kept at the original position of fifth wheel coupling. For the purpose of
vertical load transfer from semitrailer chassis to that of tractor’s, a roller mechanism
is provided.
Cylindrical
joint Roller
mechanism
Fig. 1 A Conceptual 3D model of the tractor-semitrailer with SFWC (Courtesy Jogi and Chan-
dramohan [7])
2 Methodology
The zero-speed off-tracking analysis of the tractor-semitrailer with SFWC is per-

formed and the results are compared with those of the CFWC model, assuming that
the overall length of the vehicle remains the same. This speed-independent analysis
is purely based on the geometric dimensions of the vehicle and can be considered as
a part of kinematic analysis. The tractor-semitrailer used in the current study is based
on AASHTO Standard Design Interstate Tractor-Trailer WB-62, the specifications
of which are attached in Appendix 1. The kingpin offset chosen for SWFC model is
812.8 mm.
Figure 2 shows the geometrical representation of tractor-semitrailer indicating
the positions of various points of interest and the notations used. The centres of
semitrailer axle, tractor’s rear axle and tractor’s front axle are represented by the
points A, C and D, respectively. Point B refers to the location of fifth wheel coupling
in Fig. 2a. Kingpin offset is denoted by KO. In Fig. 2b, Points B and X refer to the
cylindrical joint and the roller mechanism, respectively, which are on either side of
the tractor’s rear axle. Wheelbases of tractor and semitrailer are represented by Lt
and Ls , respectively.
The off-tracking model considered by Jogi and Chandramohan [7] has been used
in this study. Figure 3 depicts the geometry for computing the trajectory of different
points on the vehicle. MN and OP represent the tractor’s wheelbase at (n − 1)th
and nth interval, respectively. A program is developed using MATLAB® , which
computes the coordinates of the rear axle centre (Xr,n , Yr,n ) for each position of the
front axle centre (Xf,n , Yf,n ). In every subsequent iteration, the front axle is advanced
Fig. 2 Geometrical representation of tractor-semitrailer (top view) with a CFWC and b SFWC
(Courtesy Jogi and Chandramohan [7])
Fig. 3 Heading angle of

tractor’s wheelbase
(Courtesy Jogi and
Chandramohan [7])
by a small distance resulting in θ increase in the heading angle of the tractor’s

wheelbase. Again, the coordinates of the rear axle are found at this position and the
process is continued. Since a very small increment is considered in comparison with
the dimensions of the vehicle, it is assumed that the rear axle moves in a straight line
during each interval. Once the coordinates of all the major reference points are found
at each time interval, the trajectory of the vehicle can be plotted. The off-tracking at
any interval n is given by

2 2
OTn = R − Xs,n − Xc + Ys,n − Yc (1)
where R, (Xs,n , Ys,n ) and (Xc , Yc ) are the radius of the curve traced by the tractor’s
front axle centre, the coordinates of semitrailer’s axle centre at the nth interval and the
coordinates of the centre of curvature, respectively. The program is run for two turning
manoeuvres, viz., 90° turn and 180° turn. In the former manoeuvre, the vehicle takes
90° right turn. In the latter manoeuvre, the vehicle takes a U-turn (clockwise). In both
cases, the vehicle exits along a straight-line segment which is tangential to the curve
traced by the tractor’s front axle centre. Initial orientation of the tractor-semitrailer
is along the global Y-axis, facing the positive side of the axis.
The results are analysed with two metrics: transient off-tracking and maximum off-
tracking (OTmax ). The former corresponds to the intermediate values of off-tracking
as the vehicle proceeds along the curve. Off-tracking value reaches a steady state
after a certain rotation of the vehicle and is known as maximum off-tracking. This
usually occurs when the rate of change of articulation angle tends to zero. The angle
swept to reach the steady-state off-tracking depends upon the turning radius and the
vehicle’s geometrical parameters.
3.1 Transient Off-tracking
90° turning manoeuvre. Figure 4 shows the trajectory of tractor-semitrailer with

CFWC as well as SFWC, manoeuvring a 90° right turn with a turning radius of
15.24 m, followed by a straight-line segment of length 50 m. It is clearly seen that
when compared to CFWC model, the vehicle with SFWC, the semitrailer’s axle
tracks the closer path with respect to that of tractor’s front axle. Hence, it is evident
that the vehicle with SFWC poses less off-tracking. In both cases, off-tracking value
approaches zero as the vehicle exits the curve and proceeds along the straight-line
segment for a sufficiently long distance. The transient off-tracking curves for tractor-
semitrailer manoeuvring the 90° turn with different turning radii are plotted as shown
in Fig. 5.
The basic observation is that off-tracking decreases with increasing turning radius.
Initially, when the vehicle enters the curve, off-tracking increases and reaches a
maximum value. When it exits the curve and travels in a tangential path, off-tracking
decreases and finally tends to zero. In transient off-tracking curves, for turning radius
Fig. 4 Trajectory of
tractor-semitrailer 20
manoeuvring a 90° right turn
with a radius of 15.24 m
10
Global Y-axis, m
-10
Tractor-Front
Tractor-Rear
-20 Semitrailer-CFWC
Semitrailer-SFWC
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Global X-axis, m
Fig. 5 Transient
off-tracking curve for
different turning radii (90°
turn)
greater than 76.2 m, steady-state region, at which off-tracking is maximum and

constant, is clearly seen. It is evident from the figure that at any turning radius, off-
tracking posed by SFWC model is lower than that of CFWC model throughout the
turning manoeuvre.
180° turning manoeuvre. The trajectory of tractor-semitrailer with CFWC as well
as SFWC, manoeuvring a 180° right turn with a turning radius of 15.24 m is shown
in Fig. 6. The turn is followed by a straight-line segment of length 50 m. As the
vehicle exits the curve and traverses the straight-line segment for a sufficiently long
distance, off-tracking value approaches zero in the case of SFWC as well as CFWC
models. It is observed that the swept path for the vehicle with SFWC is smaller in
comparison with that of the CFWC model in this case too. Instantaneous off-tracking
values are calculated for the 180° turn with different turning radii and are plotted as
shown in Fig. 7. Reduction of off-tracking with increasing turning radius is a basic
observation. The trend is similar to that of 90° turn, except the fact that the transient
off-tracking value reaches a steady state for turning radii greater than 36.57 m. The
length of the steady-state region is longer with almost all turning radii, the reason
being the delayed exit of the vehicle from the curve when compared to 90° turn. It
is observed that at any turning radius, off-tracking posed by SFWC model is lower
than that of CFWC model throughout the turning manoeuvre in the case of 180° turn
as well.
Figure 8 shows the comparison of transient off-tracking curves for tractor-
semitrailer with CFWC as well as SFWC, manoeuvring 90° and 180° turns with
the turning radius of 15.24 m. If observed closely, the off-tracking values for both
the turning manoeuvres match until the vehicle covers a distance of about 24 m along
the curve. Beyond this point, in the case of the 90° turn, the vehicle exits the turn
and the rate of increase of off-tracking starts reducing. Further, off-tracking value
reaches its maximum and starts reducing, while in the case of 180° turn, it keeps
10
Global Y-axis, m
-10
-20
-30
Tractor-Front
-40
Tractor-Rear
Semitrailer-CFWC
Semitrailer-SFWC
-50
0 10 20 30
Global X-axis, m
Fig. 6 Trajectory of tractor-semitrailer manoeuvring a 180° turn with a radius of 15.24 m
Fig. 7 Transient off-tracking curve for different turning radii (180° turn)
Fig. 8 Transient
off-tracking curves for the
different type of turning
manoeuvres (turning radius
R = 15.24 m)
growing further. The overall trend of the transient off-tracking curve is found similar
in both cases.
3.2 Maximum Off-tracking
The maximum off-tracking values for tractor-semitrailer with SFWC as well as

CFWC, manoeuvring 90° and 180° turns with different turning radii are shown
in Fig. 9. For the reference vehicle, minimum turning radius possible is 12.5 m. The
Fig. 9 Maximum
off-tracking values for
tractor-semitrailer
manoeuvring 90° and 180°
turns with different turning
radii
maximum off-tracking posed by the vehicle with CFWC manoeuvring 180° turn at
this radius is highest among all combinations. The trend is that the maximum off-
tracking value decreases with increasing turning radius, which can be comprehended
from Figs. 5 and 7 also. The consolidated data consisting of off-tracking values and
corresponding percentage reduction for different turning radii are mentioned in Table
1 of Appendix 2. In the case of 90° turning manoeuvre, the percentage decrease of
maximum off-tracking by implementing SFWC increases with increasing turning
radius. Whereas in the other case, it initially increases and starts decreasing for
turning radii greater than 36.57 m and settles to a value of 13.89%.
4 Conclusions
The reduction in the off-tracking by implementing Split fifth wheel coupling (SFWC)
is very significant among all the combinations of type of turning manoeuvre and the
turning radius chosen in this study. The overall trend of the transient off-tracking
curve is found similar in both 90° and 180° turning manoeuvres, the latter posing
higher maximum off-tracking values. From the results of the zero-speed off-tracking
analysis, it is clear that the tractor-semitrailer with SFWC reduces maximum off-
tracking by up to 13.9%. One can comprehend that the SFWC model is the more
convenient option in the case of sharp turns with space constraints. With lower off-
tracking, less is the swept path and hence, future highway intersections could be
designed narrower to handle a particular traffic capacity. As an extension of the
current work, validation of the SFWC model can be carried out by dynamic stability
analysis.
public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Appendix 1
Specifications of reference tractor-semitrailer: Interstate Tractor-Trailer WB-

62
Tractor wheelbase (W) 6.10 m
Front overhang (F) 0.91 m
Semitrailer wheelbase (WT) 12.80 m
Kingpin offset (KO) 0.30 m
Overall length (OAL) 21.03 m
Appendix 2
See Table 1.
Table 1 Comparison of CFWC and SFWC models with respect to maximum off-tracking
Turn radius (m) 90° Turn 180° Turn
OTmax (m) % Decrease in OTmax (m) % Decrease in
CFWC SFWC OTmax CFWC SFWC OTmax
12.50 5.92 5.32 10.15 9.40 8.10 13.86

15.24 5.35 4.78 10.73 7.60 6.51 14.31
17.78 4.89 4.34 11.27 6.41 5.47 14.54
22.86 4.12 3.62 12.09 4.82 4.11 14.67
36.57 2.77 2.39 13.47 2.86 2.45 14.35
76.20 1.33 1.15 13.97 1.33 1.15 13.99
182.88 0.55 0.47 13.88 0.55 0.47 13.90
274.32 0.37 0.32 13.85 0.37 0.32 13.89
365.76 0.28 0.24 13.90 0.28 0.24 13.89
References
1. AASHTO: A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets, Fourth Edition, Washington,
D.C. (2001)
2. Jindra, F.: Off-tracking of Tractor-trailer Combinations. J. Automob. Eng. 96–101 (1963)
3. Pretty, R.L.: On the off-tracking of semi-trailers. In. ARRB Proceedings, vol. 2, Part 1 (1964)
4. Choi, J., Baek, J., Lee, S., Kang, W.: Offtracking model on horizontal curve sections. In: Eastern
Asia Society for Transportation Studies, vol. 3, No. 1 (2001)
5. Woodrooffe, J.H.F., Smith, C.A.M., Morisset, L.E.: A generalized solution of non-steady state
vehicle off tracking in constant radius curves. In: International Pacific Conference on Automotive
Engineering SAE Paper No. 852333, Society of Automotive Engineers, Warrendale (1985)
6. Dahlberg, E., Wideberg, J.P.: Influence of the fifth-wheel location on heavy articulated vehicle
handling. In: Proceedings 8th International Symposium on Heavy Vehicle Weights and Dimen-
sions, Johannesburg, SA (2004)
7. Jogi, A., Chandramohan, S.: Kinematic analysis of tractor-semitrailer with split fifth wheel
coupling during low speed turning maneuvers. J. SAE Int. J. Commer. Veh. 10(2), 2017 (2017).
https://doi.org/10.4271/2017-01-1554
Turbo Machinery
Derivation of Complete Performance
Characteristics of a Low Head Prototype
Francis Turbine Using CFD
Gyanendra Tiwari, Vishnu Prasad, S. N. Shukla and Vivek Kumar Patel
Abstract Design of the well optimized Francis turbines is a great challenge, even
today, as it requires a deep insight into intricate flow features through the turbine. In
this regard, CFD has evolved as a promising tool which now has become an essential
integral of hydraulic turbine design. In the present work, complete performance
characteristics of a 48 m head prototype Francis turbine has been derived using
commercial CFD code ANSYS CFX. A complete assembly of the turbine consisting
of spiral casing, stay ring, distributor, runner, and a draft tube is considered for a
steady state flow simulation. For computation of the flow field, K-ω based shear stress
transport (SST) turbulence model along with high-resolution advection scheme and
turbulence numerics are implemented. For validation, computed efficiency values
for different load regimes are compared with the corresponding experimental values
and a fair agreement is found between the two.
Keywords Francis turbine · CFD · Performance characteristics · Turbulence

model · Advection scheme
Nomenclature
D Diameter of runner (m)

g Acceleration due to gravitation (m/s2 )
N Speed of rotation (rpm)
P Pressure (Pa)
G. Tiwari (B) · V. K. Patel

Department of Applied Mechanics, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, 211004
Allahabad, India
e-mail: ram1602@mnnit.ac.in
V. Prasad
Department of Civil Engineering, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, 462003
Bhopal, India
S. N. Shukla
Research and Development, Kirloskar Brothers Ltd, 411045 Pune, India

1582 G. Tiwari et al.
P2 Pressure at trailing edge of runner blade (Pa)

Q Discharge (m3 /s)
T Torque (N-m)
TP1 Total pressure at spiral casing inlet (Pa)
TP2 Total pressure at draft tube outlet (Pa)
V Velocity (m/s)
W2 Relative velocity at runner exit
Superscripts
–
Time averaged value
‘ Fluctuating value
R For Reynolds stress tensor
Subscripts
i ith direction
j jth direction
1 Introduction
Growth of a country is directly related to the power generation capacity in the country
[1], power generation capacity, in turn, depends on potential of resources available.
As the conventional energy resources are depleting very fast, hydropower as renew-
able energy has been proved a strong alternative. It has distinct advantages like
non-polluting power generation [2] utilizing the abundant energy source of water,
instantaneous start-up and shutdown enabling it to become a great option for peak
load power generation along with conventional baseload plants and lowest running
cost. Hydropower projects are mainly categorized into five major groups based on
the power generation capacity [3]; pico, micro, mini, small, and large. Among these,
small hydro projects have gained popularity due to their wide accessibility across
the globe, and non-requirements of deforestation and population expulsion [4].
One of the key components of any hydro project is a turbine [5]. Design of a
hydraulic turbine especially a reaction type turbine requires complete flow field anal-
yses through the turbine at varying condition operations as a prerequisite. Regarding
this, one of the most emerging trends is computational fluid dynamics (CFD) which
is a time and cost-effective approach [6].
Derivation of Complete Performance Characteristics … 1583
Francis turbines are the most employed water turbines [4, 7] across the globe due to
their wide range of operability. Due to their instantaneous load switching capabilities
[8], hydraulic turbines have to be operated at conditions other than designed ones
often [9]. In case of Francis turbines, off-design regimes of operation yield very
poor performance [2]. Therefore, to know the performance of water turbines under
various operating regimes (design and off-design), different performance curves are
drawn by taking various parameters like speed factor, discharge factor, power factor,
and efficiency. These are highly utilized curves and need to be studied well before
selecting and designing of turbines [2].
In this work, the performance evaluation of a 3 MW capacity, 48 m head pro-
totype mixed flow Francis turbine is performed using ANSYS CFX. A complete
performance characteristic of the turbine is derived by taking different load condi-
tions from part loads of 60 and 80% to full load and overload of 120%. The rated
speed of the turbine is 600 rpm. A complete flow field evaluation of the turbine space
is carried out for the above-mentioned load conditions with different speeds from
400 to 800 rpm in order to consider various operating regimes. Finally, a hill chart
(isoefficiency curves) of the turbine is obtained and a range of optimum operating
regime is established.
2 Geometry Modeling and Grid Generation
The geometry of the turbine is modeled using Pro-E. The geometry consists of a
spiral casing, stay ring, distributor, runner, and draft tube. Different parts of these
individual components are created and a high quality grid is generated using part
meshing in ICEM CFD. Part meshing of components allows using different element
sizes for different parts within the component [5]. Critical parts like runner blades,
vanes in the distributor, and stay ring and draft tube bend are given very small element
sizes in comparison to the other parts. Grids of runner blades, guide vanes, and stay
vanes are generated with inflation layering on them. Y+ values for runner blades are
kept within the range of 40–120. Geometry of different components and runner mesh
are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 respectively.
Tables 1 and 2 represent the geometry and mesh details, respectively.
Figure 3 shows the Y+ distribution for runner blades.
Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes equations (RANS) are utilized for modeling of the
flow passing through the turbine space.
Equations (1) and (2) are the Reynolds averaged continuity and momentum equa-
tions, respectively [10].
Fig. 1 Geometry of different components
Fig. 2 Runner mesh
Table 1 Geometry details

S. No. Attribute Specification
1 No. of runner blades 13
2 No. of guide vanes 18
3 No. of stay vanes 18
4 Runner diameter 1.02 m
5 Draft tube outlet diameter 2.47 m
6 Length of draft tube 6.9636 m
Table 2 Mesh details

Component No. of nodes Element type
Spiral casing 93285 Tetrahedron
Stay ring 485247 Tetrahedron
Distributor 386741 Tetrahedron
Runner 506434 Tetrahedron
Draft tube 152621 Tetrahedron
Total 1624328
Fig. 3 Y+ distribution for 140

runner blades 120
100
Yplus
80
60
40
20
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Span wise normalized distance

∂ ρVi
=0 (1)
∂ xi

∂ ρVi ∂ ρVi V j ∂ P̄ ∂ τi j − τiRj
+ =− + (2)
∂ xi ∂x j ∂ xi ∂x j
For closure of the governing equations, k-ω based shear stress transport (SST)
turbulence model is employed with automatic wall function.
4 Problem Solution and Calculation
Mass flow at spiral casing inlet and static pressure at draft tube outlet are set as
inlet and outlet boundary conditions, respectively. The reference pressure is taken
as 0 Pa. Table 3 shows the boundary conditions used for different guide vane open-
ings (GVO) according to the load demand. A steady state flow analysis is carried
out for the entire flow domain. Grids of different components are connected by
general grid interface (GGI) method in CFX Pre. The runner is chosen as rotating
domain whereas all the other components are set as stationary. For combining rotat-
ing and stationary components, frozen rotor is chosen as pitch change option. For
getting a good boundary layer resolution with available computational facility, shear
stress transport (SST) turbulence model with automatic wall function is implemented.
Table 3 Boundary conditions for different load operations

S. No. Percentage GVO (°) GVO (mm) Mass flow Static Speed range
load (%) rate at pressure at (rpm)
casing inlet draft tube
(m3 /s) outlet (atm)
1 60 16.227 52.99 4.71 1 400–800
2 80 20.431 66.72 5.93 1 400–800
3 100 24.800 81.01 7.20 1 400–800
4 120 31.145 101.71 9.04 1 400–800
Table 4 Utilized expressions

S. No. Quantity Expression
for calculation
TP1 −TP2
1 Net head H= ρg
2 Head utilized by the runner Hr = PγQ
out
3 Input power Pin = ρgQH

4 Output power Pout = 2πNT
60
Pout
5 Efficiency η= Pin × 100%
6 Speed factor Sf = √NDgH
7 Discharge factor Qf = Q
√
D2 gH
8 Power factor Pf = Pout

3
ρD2 (gH) 2
9 Coefficient of pressure Cp = P−P2

1
2 ρW2
2
High-resolution advection scheme and high-resolution turbulence numerics are set

as solution schemes along with10−6 residual target for convergence. For calculation
of various quantities, utilized expressions are given in Table 4.
The obtained solution is visualized in CFD-Post where velocity vectors, streamlines

and pressure contours are drawn for critical components. For validation, efficiency
values at different load operations have been compared with the corresponding exper-
imental values. Computational results are found in well agreement with the experi-
mental results. Figure 4 shows a comparison between the two.
100 CFD
Experiment
90
80
Efficiency (%)
70
60
50
40
30
50 70 90 110 130
Load (%)
Fig. 4 Comparison between computational and experimental results

As we draw the constant speed characteristics of the turbine, it is seen that for
part-load operations, efficiency of the turbine drops sharply. It is found that at part
load operations, flow through the turbine is not smooth thus increased shock and
frictional losses lead to poor performance. However, for overload operation, energy
loss increases due to higher velocities through the turbine space.
Moreover, for part-load operations, there is high swirl found at exit of the runner
which further leads to increased draft tube losses and flow instabilities. Figure 5
represents the constant speed characteristic curve.
Utilizing the turbo mode in CFD-Post, cascade of blade rows (for visualizing the
blade to blade interaction) is obtained. Some major predictions can be made such as
at off-design regimes of operation, large eddies are formed around the runner blades
especially at part load operations. These eddies lead to high swirl downstream to the
runner exit, hence increase energy losses.
From Fig. 6, it is clearly visualized that eddies are formed at leading edge of the
runner blades for part load operation of 60% which are responsible for increased
hydraulic losses in the runner. Figure 7 shows the variation of efficiency with speed
factor for different flow rates according to the loads. These are parabolic curves
which signify that efficiency is maximum at a certain value of speed factor but it
starts decreasing as we move either side of this value. These curves also depict that
as the load increases to maximum efficiency is achieved at higher speed factor.
Variation of discharge factor with the speed factor for different loads is shown in
Fig. 8. These curves are slightly drooping in nature except for overload operation.
This is due to the increased centrifugal action at higher speeds which hinders the
flow [2]. At overload operation, the flow rate is so high that it is nearly unaffected
from centrifugal action but the higher speeds support the flow instead.
Figure 9 depicts that power factor versus speed factor curves is parabolic in nature.
Maximum power is obtained at a certain value of speed factor. It is also observed
that for higher loads, maximum power is attained at higher speeds.
92
Rated Speed (600rpm)
90
Efficiency (%)
88
86
84
82
80
0 50 100 150
Load (%)
Fig. 5 Constant speed characteristic curve (variation of efficiency with load)

Fig. 6 Surface streamlines for 60% load (cascade view)
95 60% Load
80% Load
90
100% Load
85 120% Load
80
Efficiency (%)
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
0.25 0.35 0.45 0.55 0.65
Speed Factor
Fig. 7 Variation of efficiency with speed factor for different load operations
60% Load
80% Load
0.36
100% Load
120% Load
0.31
Discharge Factor
0.26
0.21
0.16
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Speed Factor
Fig. 8 Variation of discharge factor with the speed factor for different load operations
0.35
60% Load
0.3 80% Load
100% Load
0.25 120% Load
Power Factor
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Speed Factor
Fig. 9 Power factor versus speed factor curves for different load operations
Fig. 10 Iso-efficiency curves (Hill chart) of the turbine
In order to draw isoefficiency curves (hill chart) of the turbine, the following
procedure is followed- (a) initially the curves between efficiency and speed factor
are plotted on a graph. (b) These curves are parabolic in nature. So for each efficiency
value, two values of speed factor are found. (c) Then, speed factor v/s discharge factor
curves are drawn on a separate graph. (d) Now, the speed factor values for each
efficiency (from 84 to 90%) are taken on speed factor v/s discharge factor graph.
(e) Thus, for each efficiency value from 84 to 90%, we have coordinate points on
speed factor v/s discharge factor graph. (f) Now, these points are joined by smooth
curves. The curves so obtained are called Isoefficiency curves and the chart is called
Hill Chart as shown in Fig. 10. It can be seen from the chart that from outer to inner
side efficiency increases and at the center of the chart, maximum efficiency point
falls at 100% load operation with speed factor and discharge factor values as 0.448
and 0.304, respectively. From the hill chart, it can be estimated that the optimum
operating regime of the turbine falls in the range of speed factor values from 0.412
to 0.48 along with the discharge factor range from 0.27 to 0.329.
6 Conclusions
After performing computational flow field analyses of the Francis turbine, following
conclusions are being drawn. The adopted CFD approach is found to be reliable,
competent, and time effective. Maximum efficiency is obtained at 100% load, i.e.,
at 81.01 mm guide vane opening with rated speed of the runner 600 rpm which has
come out to be 90.642%. From the hill chart, it is found that the best operating regime
exists within the speed factor range from 0.412 to 0.48 and discharge factor range
from 0.27 to 0.329. As the load increases, best efficiency point shifts towards higher
speed factors. Part load operation of 80% yields somewhat reasonable performance
whereas there is a sharp decline in efficiency for part load operation of 60%. The
analyses suggest the need for performance improvement of the turbine at off-design
operations especially at part load of 60%.
Acknowledgements This work has been carried out in collaboration with Kirloskar Brothers Ltd.
Pune, India.
References
1. Barlit, V.V., Krishnamachar, P., Desmukh, M. M., Swaroop, A., Gahlot, V.K.: Hydraulic Tur-
bines: Department of Civil Engineering, M.A.N.I.T. Bhopal, vol. 1 (2007)
2. Nag, P.K.: Power Plant Engineering, 3rd edn. Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited,
New Delhi, India (2000)
3. Hydro Electric Power: NPTEL Publishing Web. https://nptel.ac.in/courses/108108078/pdf/
chap5/teach_slides05.pdf
4. Gohil, P.P., Saini, R.P.: Effect of temperature, suction head and flow velocity on cavitation in
a Francis turbine of small hydro power plant. Energy 93, 613–624 (2015).https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.energy.2015.09.042
5. Tiwari, G.: Numerical simulation for derivation of complete performance characteristics of a
Francis turbine. MTech thesis, MANIT, Bhopal, India (2015)
6. Prasad, V.: Numerical simulation for flow characteristics of axial flow hydraulic turbine runner.
Energy Procedia 14, 2060–2065 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2011.12.1208
7. Kim, S.J., Choi, Y.S., Cho, Y., Choi, J.W., Kim, J.H.: Effect of blade thickness on the hydraulic
performance of a Francis hydro turbine model. Renew. Energy 134, 807–817 (2019). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2018.11.066
8. Trivedi, C., Agnalt, E., Dahlhaug, O.G.: Experimental study of a Francis turbine under variable
speed and discharge conditions. Renew. Energy 119, 447–458 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.renene.2017.12.040
9. Selecting Hydraulic Reaction Turbines: United States Department of the Interior Bureau of
Reclamation, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington (1976). https://www.usbr.gov/tsc/
techreferences/hydraulics_lab/pubs/EM/EM20.pdf
10. Turbulence Modeling: NPTEL Publishing Web. http://nptel.ac.in/courses/112107080/38
Stress and Deformation Analysis
of a Swash Plate Type Variable
Displacement Axial Piston Pump
Through Solidworks Environment
Abhisek Gupta, Nitesh Mondal and Rana Saha
Abstract Swash plate type variable displacement axial piston pump is a very reliable
source of power for a hydraulic power and control system. This paper focuses on
the stress and deformation analysis of the various important parts of the axial piston
pump at different conditions. Stress and stress concentration is one of the causes of
vibration, noise of the pump, and failure of the pump components . This research work
provides a theoretical analysis of stress and deformation of important components
directly related to the pump body such as barrel piston, retainer plate, and piston
shoe. A pump with pressure compensator model has been coded in the solidworks
environment considering some standard design parameter. The proper dimension
and selection of materials are a very important issue in the design point view. Some
design suggestion and some critical issue are recognized from this analysis.
Keywords Stress · Stress concentration · Deformation · Vibration · Noise · Barrel

piston · Retainer plate · Piston shoe
1 Introduction
The variable displacement pump is a hydraulic device which provides the flow and
pressure as per the requirement. This pump is the main source of power for a hydraulic
circuit as well as the main source of noise. There are many regions of failure of the
pump at its operating condition. In this work the stress and deformation analysis have
been done to avoid the failure of the pump. Cho [1] numerically analyzed the effect
of high-pressure on the axial piston pump and thought about the tribological prob-
lems among the relatively sliding parts. The improvement is very much necessary
in terms of tribological, manufacturing, and design technique in the high-pressure
operating zone of such a system. The stress distribution on the valve plate of an axial
A. Gupta · N. Mondal (B) · R. Saha

e-mail: niteshju@yahoo.com

1594 A. Gupta et al.
piston pump is very crucial part of the design to provide the safety and reduce the
chance of failure. Friction between the rotating parts is also the cause of the failure so
proper lubrication could avoid it. Zhang et al. [2] calculate the wear volume and load
model at the contact on the valve plate considering its roughness is analyzed under
the elastic and plastic deformation. The performance of the pump can be degraded
due to the failure process together with lubrication, mixed lubrication, and abrasion.
A large application of this type of pump is in aeronautical field so the light mass of
the elements is always a better choice. The mass reduction is totally depending on
the machine geometry, static and dynamic stress, and deflection state of the pump
elements. Using ANSYS environment steady sate stress analysis and optimization
of piston slipper assembly have been done by Choudhuri et al. [3]. Swash plate has
an important role to control the flow rate of a pump. The essential organize force and
torque raise almost linearly when the swash plate angle increases. Norhirni et al. [4]
develop a combined model of hydraulic pump and motor so the swash plate dynamic
becomes more complicated and suggests for the design stability and easy control of
swash plate through analytical analysis based on force and torque acting on the swash
plate. On the base of finite element analysis Gowd and Reddy [5] highlights the effect
of load of various important components of the high-pressure hydraulic pump and
suggests how the pump can operate at very high-pressure zone without changing the
design materials of the component. Achten [6] accomplished the dynamics of the
swash plate angle to have a strong role in the analysis, testing, design, and develop-
ment of variable displacement hydrostatic machines. Wang [7] recently established
a model of a plunger pump analytically and finds out the area where the vibration
is brutal under the rated working circumstances of axial piston pump. Cui et al. [8]
developed a method related to corner frequency of first-order inertia elements to
improve the pump performance. Swash plate is one of the main component of the
variable displacement pump. The dynamic of the swash plate control the dynamics
of pump. Chikhalsouk et al. [9] analyzed the swash plate dynamic and related these
dynamics with the flow and pressure of the pump. This work is focused on some crit-
ical parts of variable displacement axial piston pump to analysis the local stress and
probable deformation considering the rated speed 1500 rpm and maximum swash
angle 22°. The purpose of this study is to identify the failure elements and how to
reduce it.
2 Configuration and Working Principle of the Pump
Figure 1 shows the schematic diagram of the v axial piston pump. The main con-
figuration of such a pump consists of a number of pistons, supported by a slanting
stationary swash plate or swash plate, reciprocating inside the respective slots in a
rotating mechanical element namely barrel. The angle between the swash plate and
the barrel face determines the amount of swept volume during one cycle of rotation
Stress and Deformation Analysis of a Swash Plate … 1595
A: Stroking Cylinder B: Rate cylinder C: Swash Plate D: Barrel Axis E:

Valve Plate F: Retainer Plate G: Piston Shoe H: Barrel Piston
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the axial piston pump
of a particular piston. The opposite face of the barrel, away from the swash plate
end, is aligned parallel to a circular plate, known as valve plate. A usual valve plate
has kidney-shaped suction and delivery ports separated by two bridges; all located
about the common pitch circle on which the piston bores are located. Another part of
the variable axial piston pump is pressure compensator. It is the combination of two
actuators and a spool valve. The mechanism of these three makes the pump variable.
One of the actuators, called the control cylinder (known as stroking cylinder or actu-
ating cylinder) is connected to the delivery port of the spool valve; while the other,
termed as the bias cylinder or rate cylinder is spring-loaded. The pressure at which
the delivery pressure is below the reference value set by the spring force attached
to the compensator spool valve end is known as cutin pressure. The control piston
has no role within the cutin range of the delivery pressure. Above, the cutin pressure
value, the spool is moved from its initial position; thereby a connection is created
between the stroking cylinder and pump delivery line through the spool valve. Flow
is initiated to the stroking cylinder which builds up the pressure inside the stroking
cylinder that causes the stroking piston to extend, resulting in the swash plate to rotate
for reducing the swash angle. Correspondingly, the swept volumes of the rotating
pistons are reduced and this reduction of swept volume causes reduction in the flow
rate of the pump.
3.1 Local Stress on Retainer
The local stress analysis of retainer plate has been carried out through solid work
considering the maximum swash angle 22° so the pump acts as a fixed displacement
pump. The plot step in the solid work environment is 37 and the operation time
of the stress analysis is 2.8 s. The stress distribution on the retainer plate has been
investigated using Von Mises rules as shown in Fig. 2. The effect of stress is more on
the inner surface than the outer surface. In this case the pressure distribution among
the barrel cylinder is equal.
3.2 Local Deformation on Retainer
Deformation is one of the important property of the mechanical element. The local
deformation of the retainer plate has been coded in this work. Figure 3 shows that
the deformation of the outer surface is more than the inner surface, just vice versa
nature of stress distribution. The deformation of the outer surface is more because
of the moment is more on the outer surface.
Fig. 2 Local stress on retainer

Fig. 3 Local deformation on retainer
3.3 Local Stress on Piston Shoe
Shoes at the end of every piston are a very important element of an axial piston pump.
It protects the barrel piston from wear and tear. So failure of it leads to the failure
of barrel piston. Using the Von Mises method the local stress distribution on shoe
has been evaluated and found that the pattern of the high stress distributed in parallel
throughout the shoe vertically as evident Fig. 4.
3.4 Local Deformation on Piston Shoe
Figure 5 shows the local deformation of the piston shoe. The deformation of the
shoe varies point to point. The deformation at the two connecting ends of the shoe
is more than the other portion. The deformation of the shoe is much more important
issue than the local stress on it because the variation of the deformation has a large
magnitude.
3.5 Local Stress on Swash Plate
The stress on the swash plate at the maximum swash angle condition is very low
throughout the plate expect two attachment position of the stroking and rate piston
Fig. 4 Local stress on the shoe
Fig. 5 Local deformation on the shoe
because there is some external pressure acting on both piston and spring force in case
of rate piston are acting upon the swash plate. This stress distribution is analyzed
through Von Miss Criteria. So the external force on the swash plate is the cause of
the stress concentration on the particular points where it acts as evident from Fig. 6.
Fig. 6 Local stress on swash plate
3.6 Local Deformation on Swash Plate
The local deformation on the swash plate which is a very important issue to overcome
the failure of the swash plate as well as the pump. The pump is put into the variable
displacement mode with the aid of the position of the swash plate contained within
the pump housing. The flow rate of the pump depends on the inclination of the swash
angle. According to Fig. 7 deformations of the swash plate is increased towards the
radial direction and the maximum deformation has been taken place at the contact
region with the rate and stroking piston. These phenomena may occur due to the
external forces of the rate and stroking cylinder and this force creates more moment
than the inner surface.
4 Conclusions
This work is based on a simulation of some critical parts of variable displacement

swash plate time axial piston pump. In this work, the three main components namely
retainer, shoe, and swash plate have been chosen to analysis the stress and defor-
mation. The purposes of this evaluation are to identify the cause of failure due to
the stress and deformation at full flow condition. The von Mises criteria are used
in this work because the machine components subjected to complex load and the
components are made by the ductile materials.Generally these chosen components
are subjected to more shock & loading during running condition of motor. From this
Fig. 7 Local deformation on swash plate or swash plate
study a clear idea about the points of a particular component which may fail has
been established. This concept can be applied to design the pump by changing the
material of that component or by modifying dimensions.
References
1. Cho, I.S.: A study on the optimum design for the valve plate of a swash plate-type oil hydraulic
piston pump. J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 29(6), 2409–2413 (2015)
2. Zhang, C., Wang, S., Tomovic, M., Han, L.: Performance degradation analysis of aviation
hydraulic piston pump based on mixed wear theory. Tribolo Ind. 39(2) (2017)
3. Choudhuri, K., Chakraborty, S., Chakraborti, P., Dutta, P.: Stress analysis and design optimization
of piston slipper assembly in an axial piston pump. J. Sci. Ind. Res. 73, 318–323 (2014)
4. Norhirni, M.Z., Hamdi, M., Musa, S.N., Saw, L.H., Mardi, N.A., Hilman, N.: Load and stress
analysis for the swash plate of an axial piston pump/motor. J. Dyn. Syst. Meas. Control 133(6),
064505 (2011)
5. Gowd, B.U.M., Reddy, A.C.: Finite element analysis of axial piston pumps using ansys.
jntuhceh.org; Accessed 12 Mar 2018
6. Achten, P.: Dynamic high-frequency behaviour of the swash plate in a variable displacement
axial piston pump. In: Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part I: J. Syst. Control Eng. 227(6), 529–540
(2013)
7. Wang, W.: Vibration model and characteristic analysis of hydraulic piston pump. Chem. Eng.
Trans. 61–65 (2017). ISBN 978-88-95608-49-5; ISSN 2283-9216
8. Cui, H.X., Feng, K., Li, H.L., Han, J.H.: Response characteristics analysis and optimization
design of load sensing variable pump. Math. Probl. Eng. (2016)
9. Chikhalsouk, M., Zouhri, K., Khondker, O., Ferreira, L.: Modeling and simulation swash plate
pump response characteristics in load sensing and pressure compensated hydraulic system. Int.
J. Mod. Eng. Res. (IJMER). 7(8) (2017). ISSN: 2249-6645
Comparative Study of Stress Analysis
for Three Bladed Underwater Vehicle
Propellers with Two Different Composite
Materials
Pritam Majumder, Krishna Murari Pandey, Nishikant V. Deshpande

and Subhendu Maity
Abstract The present work consists of modelling and stress analysis of a three-
bladed underwater vehicle propeller. Since operational costs for underwater testing
are very high, a high ending software is preferred for modelling and for obtaining
first-hand information on propeller performance. Static structural analysis is car-
ried out computationally after considering suitable boundary conditions. The main
objective is to carry out a comparative study of stresses on propellers made from two
different composite materials–carbon/glass fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP/GFRP).
In recent times, composite materials are more efficient as propeller blade material
than conventional metallic materials due to their lightweight, high strength, and long
durability. From the analysis, it is observed that stresses, as well as deflection on
GFRP are comparable to those on CFRP propeller with lesser cost involvement.
Modal analysis is also performed to find natural frequency and mode shape in each
case.
Keywords Static analysis · Carbon fibre reinforced plastic · Glass fibre reinforced
plastics · Underwater propeller
Nomenclature
E Young’s modulus (GPa)

NU Poisson’s ratio
P. Majumder (B) · S. Maity

e-mail: majumderpritam08@gmail.com
K. M. Pandey
Assam, India
N. V. Deshpande
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur
440010, Maharashtra, India

G Rigidity modulus (GPa)

ρ Density (gm/cc)
R Radius (mm)
1 Introduction
During the design of the underwater vehicle propeller, energy saving is a primary
as well as the main objective. Soaring oil prices, restrictions on air pollution and
to ensure fuel economy, authors concentrate on replacing conventional propeller
material by some economical substitute material without sacrificing the performance
[1]. Strength analysis of propeller blade is important during material selection to
obtain maximum efficiency. Due to complex geometry, stresses on the propeller
are quite difficult to estimate using any numerical method [2]. In this paper, static
structural stress analysis is carried out for a three-bladed underwater vehicle propeller
and maximum von Mises stress, deflection and strain are found out using ANSYS
Workbench 14. The modelling is done in CATIA V5. The objective of the present
work is to compare the computed stresses for CFRP and GFRP composite propeller.
Yeo et al. [3] gave predictions for stresses around a propeller blade using the finite
element method. Wagenigen B Series 3 bladed propeller with stainless steel as mate-
rial was considered and investigation on its hydrodynamic performance is carried
out. With increasing rotational speed, stresses also increased and after 3000 rpm, it
reaches critical stress value and chance of failure occurs. Paik et al. [4] compared the
performance of flexible propellers based on different fabrication. Three models made
of carbon/epoxy and glass/epoxy had been tested in medium-sized cavitation tunnel
of MOERI. They found that the thrust generated in the blade and advance ratio vari-
ation is liable for the flexibility of the propeller because it decreases the pitch angle
of the blade. Rao and Reddy [5] observed that propeller blades made of composite
are safer in case of resonance and imperfection vibration can also be controlled due
to high damping effect. Hearth et al. [6] considered twisting and hygrothermal effect
of composite and came up with an optimization scheme using isogeometric FEM
and genetic algorithm to increase propeller efficiency. It was observed that thinner
layers offer better bend-twist coupling effect improving the efficiency by 4%. Static
and modal analysis was carried out by Ganesh et al. [7] for aluminium and composite
(carbon reinforced plastics) propellers. From their investigation, it is found that the
blade deflection in case of composite propeller is incredibly small as compared to
aluminium. Khan et al. [8] considered different number of layers in a composite
propeller and investigated interlaminar shear stress. They found that there is a high
bonding strength between the layers. Eigen value analysis shows aluminium material
has got 80.5% less natural frequency than composite propeller.
Comparative Study of Stress Analysis for Three Bladed … 1603
2 Modelling
The complex geometry of the underwater vehicle propeller is generated in CATIA

V5 software. Shape design module is used for designing the propeller with 60 mm
diameter as hub diameter, height of the propeller as 100 mm, blade diameters as
200 mm, pitch and pitch angle as 276 mm and 120 mm, respectively, during 3D
model generation. The blade corners are converted into circular shape with a radius
of 40 mm. A thickness of 4 mm in case of blade and 10 mm in case of hub is
considered. Three blades are generated using circular pattern command and thus, a
3D three-bladed solid propeller is generated as shown in Fig. 1.
3 Meshing
The generated solid model of three-bladed propeller is given as input in ANSYS

Workbench 14 in IGS format, where solid model meshing has been done. During
the meshing, element size of 4 mm is considered. The corresponding number of
nodes and elements are, respectively, 40202 and 23129. Here zero inflation, medium
smoothing and coarse relevance centre are considered during meshing. The meshed
model has been shown in Fig. 2.
4 Boundary Conditions
The contact surfaces where the hub of the propeller meets the blade ends are fixed in
all degree of freedom (Fig. 3). The propeller blades are considered as cantilever beam
for structural analysis. Here a load of 4000 N is applied in the region of 0.7–0.75 R of
Fig. 1 3D model of the

propeller
Fig. 2 Meshed model
the blade, where R is the propeller blade radius, i.e. loads are applied approximately
1/3 distance from the blade tip. Applied loads are uniformly distributed among the
selected nodes and direction of force is normal to the blade face.
Fig. 3 Propeller with fixed

ends on the hub
Table 1 Material properties

Composite material GFRP CFRP
of composites
Young’s modulus EX (Gpa) 22.925 120
Young’s modulus EY (Gpa) 22.925 10
Young’s modulus EZ (Gpa) 12.4 10
Poisson’s ratio NUXY 0.12 0.16
Poisson’s ratio NUYZ 0.2 0.2
Poisson’s ratio NUZX 0.2 0.16
Rigidity modulus GXY (Gpa) 4.7 5.2
Rigidity modulus GYZ (Gpa) 4.2 3.8
Rigidity modulus GZX (Gpa) 4.2 6
Density(ρ) (gm/cc) 1.8 1.6
5 Material Properties
The properties considered for two different composite materials are listed in Table 1.
6.1 Static Analysis of CFRP Propeller
Static structural stress analysis was carried out using ANSYS Workbench software to
find maximum stresses and deflection considering various conditions. Due to pressure
difference between trailing edge and leading edge of propeller blade, a thrust force is
generated which gives forward motion to the vehicle. From static analysis maximum
von Mises stress is found near the hub where blade end meets the hub (the value is
72.065 MPa in case of CFRP propeller blade). On the other hand minimum stress is
produced in the tip of the blade which is approximately zero (Fig. 4).
The maximum and minimum deflections are also found using static structural
analysis. Here maximum deflection is found in the blade tip (1.2902 mm) and min-
imum at the end part of the blade, where it meets the propeller hub (approximately
zero) (Fig. 5).
The strain is also analysed in order to investigate the propeller strength. The strain
generated in propeller is similar to stress generated, i.e. maximum near the hub and
minimum at the tip. Maximum von Mises strains generated is 0.0054675, as shown
in Fig. 6.
Fig. 4 von Misses stress in CFRP propeller
Fig. 5 Deflection in case of CFRP propeller

Fig. 6 von Mises strain in CFRP propeller
6.2 Static Analysis of GFRP Propeller
Similar to CFRP propeller static structural analysis has also been done for GFRP
propeller to find maximum stress and its critical zone. Here maximum von Mises
stresses are produced as before, i.e. maximum near the hub of the propeller blade
(maximum stress value is 84.211 MPa) and minimum value is observed at the blade
tip which is approximately zero. The stresses produced are shown in Fig. 7.
Blade deflection of the GFRP propeller is quite same as CFRP propeller. Its
maximum deflection (1.67 mm) occurs at the blade tip and minimum (approximately
zero) is found at end part of the blade (Fig. 8).
Static structural analysis in Fig. 9 shows that maximum strain produced in GFRP
propeller is 0.0058116 at the part near to the propeller hub and the minimum is
observed at the tip of the blade.
6.3 Modal Analysis
Modal analyses are performed for both CFRP and GFRP propellers to find their
natural frequency for various mode shapes. Here 10 separate modes are considered
Fig. 7 von Mises stress in GFRP propeller
Fig. 8 Deflection of GFRP propeller blade

Fig. 9 von Mises strain in GFRP propeller
and corresponding mode shapes are observed. The table given below shows various
natural frequency for CFRP and GFRP propeller.
In Figs. 10 and 11, the frequency for CFRP and GFRP propeller against various
modes are represented graphically. It is observed that for the same mode, the GFRP
composite made propeller experiences a higher natural frequency giving a better
stability (Table 2).
Fig. 10 Frequency versus mode of CFRP propeller

Fig. 11 Frequency versus mode of GFRP propeller
Table 2 Frequency at
Mode CFRP propeller (Hz) GFRP propeller (Hz)
various modes
1 512.15 557.53
2 515.4 557.67
3 1072.5 1675.8
4 1723.5 1676.2
5 1743.8 1884.1
6 1751.2 1884.5
7 1803.9 2488.5
8 1805.5 2488.2
9 2231.9 2724.5
10 2487.4 2725.9
7 Conclusions
A comparative study of stress and deflection for two different composites made
underwater propeller have been carried out in this present work. From static analysis
it is clear that maximum von Mises stress produced in CFRP propeller is 16.85%
more compared to stress generated in GFRP propeller. Besides that static analysis
the deflection of both composite blades are approximately same, which is maximum
at the blade tip and minimum at the blade end near the hub of propeller. To analyse
strength of the propeller strain is also observed which shows quite similar strain
generated in both the cases. Besides that, modal analysis represents that natural
frequency of GFRP propeller is 8.86% more compared to CFRP propellers. From
the overall analysis, it can be concluded that GFRP propellers are quite better than
CFRP propellers, as the former produce equivalent strength with low cost material.
Acknowledgements The author acknowledges the computational facilities that were made avail-
able by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at NIT Silchar and NIT Meghalaya during
the work and the financial assistance provided by MHRD, GoI during this period. The author
also acknowledges valuable inputs from Dr. Dibyendu Adak, Assistant Professor, Department of
Civil Engineering, Dr. P. Ramesh Babu and Dr. Tanmoy Bose, Assistant Professors, Department of
Mechanical Engineering of NIT Meghalaya, while preparing the manuscript.
References
1. Gaggero, S., Adalidb, J.G., Sobrino, M.P.: Design of contracted and tip loaded propellers by
using boundary element methods and optimization algorithms. Appl. Ocean Res. 55, 102–129
(2016)
2. Kishore, M.L.P., Behera, R.K., Bezawada, S.: Structural analysis of NAB propeller replaced
with composite material. Int. J. Mod. Eng. Res. (IJMER) 3, 401–405 (2013)
3. Yeo, K.B., Choong, W.H., Hau, W.Y.: Prediction of propeller blade stress distribution through
FEA. J. App. Sci. 14, 3046–3054 (2014)
4. Paik, B.G., Kim, G.D., Kim, K.Y., Seol, H.S., Hyun, B.S., Lee, S.G., Jung, Y.R.: Investigation
on the performance characteristics of the flexible propellers. Ocean Eng. 73, 139–148 (2013)
5. Rao, Y.S., Reddy, B.S.: Harmonic analysis of composite propeller for marine applications. Int.
J. Res. Technol. (IJERT) 1, 257–260 (2012)
6. Hearth, T.M., Natarajan, S., Prusty, B.G., John, .N.S.: Isogeometric analysis and genetic algo-
rithm for shape-adaptive composite marine propellers. Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 284,
835–860 (2015)
7. Ganesh, V., Pradeep, K., Srinvasulu, K.: Modelling and analysis of propeller blade for its strength.
Int. J. Res. Technol. (IJERT) 3, 291–300 (2014)
8. Khan, M.A., Uddin, K.S., Ahmed, B.: Design and dynamic analysis on composite propeller of
ship using FEA. Int. J. Res. Technol. (IJERT) 2, 310–315 (2013)
Recent Development and Application
of the Hydrostatic Transmission System
Neeraj Kumar, Bikash Kumar Sarkar and Subhendu Maity
Abstract This paper presents a review on the recent development of hydrostatic

transmission system and its applications. A hydrostatic transmission is used for
transmission of energy with infinite transmission ratio. The hydrostatic transmis-
sion classification, application in automobiles, wind turbines have been discussed.
Various hydrostatic transmission circuits have been added in order to understand
the applications in different field. This paper also reviews method and designing of
recent studies on hydrostatic transmission system. A simplified model has been con-
sidered to study the performance of the system. The simulation has been carried out
in Matlab Simulink environment. The simulation result clearly shows that by using
an accumulator the overall efficiency has been increased and reaches maximum about
94.2% without considering the internal leakages.
Keywords Hydrostatic transmission system · Wind turbine · Hydraulic pump ·

Matlab simulink
Nomenclature
a Constant (Dimensionless)
b Constant (Dimensionless)
D Displacement of motor/pump (rev/min)
E Energy stored in accumulator (N-m)
P Pressure difference across motor/pump (Pa)
Q Flow rate of motor/pump (m3 sec)
N. Kumar (B) · B. K. Sarkar · S. Maity

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT, Meghalaya Shillong 793003, India
e-mail: yadavjink@gmail.com
B. K. Sarkar
S. Maity
e-mail: subhendu.maity@nitm.ac.in

R Universal gas constant (N-m/kg-K)

T Torque of motor (N-m)
V Volume of fluid (m3 )
ω Rotational speed of shaft (rad/sec)
Greek Symbols
α Displacement ratio (Dimensionless)

β Bulk modulus of hydraulic oil (Pa)
Subscripts
a Actual
i Ideal
m Mechanical
1 Introduction
The increasing demand for power transmission systems in military, industrial appli-
cation, hybrid vehicles, wind turbine system, etc., is due to its higher power density,
compactness, low cost and improved.overall efficiency. The Hydraulic transmission
system, require a hydraulic motor with high power to weight ratio. Gangway et al. [1]
presented an essential function of HST, which used to accept energy from input then
transmit and regulate the energy within the HST and deliver energy to the output load
which is connected to hydraulic motor. The pump is connected directly to the motor.
The variable displacement pump can adjust volume flow rate as required. The fluid
passes through the pump is responsible to drive hydraulic motor, which coupled with
the pump through pipe line. The variable flow through the pump can adjust motor
output rotational speed, torque and power. Then it is feasible to regulate the speed
ratio between pump and motor. Hydrostatic transmission system primarily can be
classified as (1.1) open loop HST and (1.2) closed loop HST system.
Recent Development and Application of the Hydrostatic … 1615
1.1 Open Loop Hydrostatic Transmission System
Open loop HST is a system in which the pump is not directly connected to the
hydraulic motor. It mainly consists of reservoir, filter, and pressure relief valve, fixed
or variable displacement hydraulic pump or motors. A simple circuit diagram of an
open loop hydraulic mechanism has been shown in Fig. 1.
As shown above, in open loop hydraulic system, Gangway et al. [2] said that
electric motor or IC engine work as a prime mover that steer the fixed or variable
displacement hydraulic pump. The fluid from reservoir flows to hydraulic motor that
is controlled by directional control valve. The output shaft of hydraulic motor is
Fig. 1 Open loop HST

system [2]
connected to loads like flywheel, propeller or other mechanical devices. The PRV
is used mainly for protection of the transmission circuit. The PRV is used to limit
the pressure in the circuit up to a certain level and when the pressure in the circuit
exceeds the maximum set value then the fluid comes back to the reservoir.
1.2 Closed Loop Hydrostatic Transmission System
Closed loop HST consists of two circuits— the main circuit and one frame or charge
circuit. In main circuit prime movers like IC engine or electric motor, variable dis-
placement pump, PRV, DCV, hydraulic motor is included and charge circuit mainly
includes make-up pump. Esposito [3] discussed about pressure reducing valve, which
is used for safety purpose, i.e. avoid damaging of the circuit. If the pressure at output
of pump or input of motor is larger than the set pressure, then the pressure reducing
valve opens and the fluid flows to the reservoir through reducing or safety valve to
stop exploding of the motor and main circuits, charge circuit or structure circuit, else,
valve stays closed as shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 Closed loop HST system [2]

1.2.1 Application of Hydrostatic Transmission System in Wind Turbine

System
This section presents the application of HST system. Rajabhandharaks [4] discussed
about the HST system used in most applications such as wind turbines, automobiles,
heavy industries, etc., because of its high torque to inertia ratio. Figure 3 shows the
HST system used in a wind turbine. It consists of a variable displacement hydraulic
pump, a fixed displacement hydraulic motor, pressure relief valve, check valve, con-
troller and a generator.
The prime mover is the wind turbine which converts kinetic energy into mechan-
ical energy and the hydraulic pump is directly connected to hydraulic motor which
converts hydraulic energy to mechanical energy at the output of the shaft. Rapp et al.
[5] said that hydrostatic transmission system provides a different source to mechan-
ical drives like gearbox applications in wind turbines. In a typical turbine, power
transmitted from blade to low-speed shaft, to generator and then to high-speed shaft
by utilising a gear case. Do et al. [6] discussed that PID controller and adaptive
fuzzy sliding mode controller has been used in wind turbine. Data acquisition sys-
tem (DAQ) measures the physical phenomenon such as wind velocity, etc., with a
computer which consists of DAQ measurement hardware, sensor and a computer
with programmable software. An actuating mechanism has been provided which has
been connected to variable displacement hydraulic pump to control the rate of fluid
flow. It has been generally noticed that the energy from wind has been fluctuating in
nature thus leading to a varying power output with time.
Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of HST system in wind turbine [4, 5]

1.2.2 Application of Hydrostatic Transmission System in Automobile

Sector
The design of the hydrostatic transmission system in automobiles consists of pressure

relief valve, check valve, high pressure accumulator, hydraulic pump and hydraulic
motor. Jagdeeesha et al. [7] proposed that pump generates a partial vacuum at the
inlet of pump due to rotation of shaft which allows atmospheric pressure to power
the fluid into the pump through suction line. The hydraulic pump thrusts the fluid
mechanically into hydraulically actuated devices like cylinder or motor. Patel et al.
[8] said that the flow rate from the pump can be increased or decreased by varying
the swash plate angle. The perpendicular orientation of the swash plate with respect
to the drive shaft does not allowed reciprocating motion of the piston, hence no flow
occur through the pump.
Yamamoto et al. [9] said that gear pump has been used for the fluid power system
of weight handle system like trucks, cranes, buses, etc., as the discharge per revolution
has been fixed. In Fig. 4 accumulator has been used to store energy in the form of
potential energy. In this circuit, two accumulators are used—one is at high pressure
line and the other at low pressure line as shown in Fig. 4. When the power requirement
in output shaft has not been sufficient then, it takes energy from the accumulators.
Finally the output of motor shaft has been connected to the wheel.
Fig. 4 Schematic diagram of HST system in automobile sector [9]

2 Previous Research
Human generation has been using hydraulic system for the past 200 years in different
forms, like wind turbines, automobiles, construction machines, etc., fields. With time,
many successful modifications have been implemented in hydraulic systems to get
better output and efficiency. Many researchers are presently working to improve the
performance of HST systems. The work done by several researchers in HST has been
listed below:
Beachley et al. [10] proposed modelling of a hydraulic energy regeneration sys-
tem. He found that power losses and round trip efficiencies can be easily found once
the system performance variables like temperature, fluid in the accumulator, etc.,
have been calculated.
Zeman et al. [11] discussed the power efficient control of a hydrostatic force split
drive. This paper mainly deals with the torque controller design for power split drive
and they found that the overall efficiency of the system has been increased by using
power split.
Rahrovan et al. [12] were able to recover energy in HST system using an accu-
mulator. The usage of the prefect accumulator helped reduce electricity loss through
thermal dissipation (ranging performance rates reduced to 0.95 in cycle times of t <
1 min).
Dasgupta [13] showed the analysis of a transmission system using low speed
and high torque motor. To observe the dynamics of the machine, bond graph mod-
elling approach has been used. Additionally, the writer described the theoretical
and practical evaluation of quasi-static in the overall performance of the hydrostatic
transmission system with use of a VDP and an orbit motor.
Manring et al. [14] discussed the modelling and designing of an HST system with
fixed displacement motor. In this paper, the dynamic equation of the VDAP with
FDM has been done. Based upon the second-order approximation of the characteristic
equation, the effect of particular design variations on the system rise time, settling
time and maximum percent overshoot has been discussed.
Zavadinka et al. [15] discussed the energy saving potential of a hydrostatic drive
train with a variable charge pump. Simulation of the variable charging pump shows
that it saves the power when pump speed has been higher than the usual speed and
by using flushing pour, they got better simulation results.
Schmitz et al. [16] has been discussed about dynamics of wind turbine using
hydrostatic transmission system. The author compares this system to hydrostatic
transmission system used in mobile applications and finally, he tested the transmis-
sion pressure control strategy.
Kwon et al. [17] has been discussed about thermal modelling of a hydraulic
hybrid vehicle transmission based on the thermodynamic analysis. He uses a novel
method technique for capturing rapid thermal transients and also the model has been
compared with measurement data taken from HIL test rig tracking the FTP-72 driving
cycle. Matlab Simulink software has been used for modelling of HHV.
The Matlab Simulink software has been used for simulation of the system by using
Rung-Kutta algorithm having a fixed step size of 2 × 10−3 s. The mathematical
equation of each component was given by Ho et al. [18]. The simulation parameter
has been given (Table 1).
Ho et al. [18] developed the modelling of hydraulic motor, hydraulic pump and
accumulator.
3.1 Hydraulic Motor
The volumetric efficiency and the mechanical efficiency of the hydraulic motor are
expressed by Eqs. (1) and (2), respectively [18]:
α Dmax ω
ηv = (1)
α Dmax ω + Q loss
where α is the displacement ratio of the motor/pump which has been used to controls
the flow rate and ω is rotational speed of shaft. Dmax is maximum displacement of
the motor/pump.
α Dmax P − Tloss
ηm = (2)
α Dmax P
The actual flow rate and actual torque of the hydraulic motor are expressed by
Eqs. (3) and (4), respectively [18]:
Qi
Qa = (3)
ηv
Tm = ηm α Dmax P (4)
Table 1 Simulation
Parameters Values Units
parameters of the system
Max. displacement of motor/pump 55 cm3 /rev
Displacement ratio 0–1
Maximum speed of pump/motor 1800 rpm
Maximum pressure 200 bar
Initial pressure in the accumulator 50 bar
3.2 Hydraulic Pump
The volumetric efficiency, mechanical efficiency, ideal flow rate and ideal torque of
the hydraulic pump are given by Eqs. (5)–(8), respectively [18]:
α Dmax ω − Q loss
ηv = (5)
α Dmax ω
α Dmax P
ηt = (6)
α Dmax P + Tloss
Q i = α Dmax ω (7)
Tm = ηm α Dmax P (8)
where Tm is mechanical torque of the hydraulic motor and Q i is ideal discharge of

pump/motor.
3.3 Accumulator
An accumulator is an energy storage device. The van der waals equation has been
employed to model the hydraulic accumulator. The compression process in an accu-
mulator is considered as isothermal process and expansion is assumed to be adiabatic.
The gas pressure in the accumulator can be expressed [18] as Eq. (9)
n 2
p+a (V − nb) = n RT (9)
V
The energy stored in the hydraulic accumulator is estimated by Eq. (10):
E a = ∫ qPdt (10)
In this study, modelling of closed loop hydrostatic transmission is done in which

the main parameters like the rotational speed of motor/pump, pressure, displacement
ratio are consolidated into the simulation.
Figure 5 shows the overall efficiency versus motor pressure for displacement
ratio of 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0. As displacement ratio increases from 0.2 to 1.0,
the overall efficiency also increases and reaches a maximum value of about 94.2%.
Figure 6 shows the overall efficiency with respect to varying motor speed for different
displacement ratios. It has been seen that overall efficiency reaches a maximum about
93.45% at full opening, i.e. at displacement ratio of 1.0.
Figures 7 and 8, respectively show the effect of displacement ratio on the mechan-
ical efficiency and volumetric efficiency with varying motor pressure. It has been
1
0.95
Overall efficiency (%) 0.9
0.85
0.8
0.75
0.7 α = 0.2
0.65 α = 0.4
α = 0.6
0.6 α = 0.8
0.55 α= 1
0.5
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Pressure (bar)
Fig. 5 Effect of displacement ratio on overall efficiency due to variation in pressure
1
0.95
0.9
Overall efficiency (%)
0.85
0.8
0.75
0.7 α = 0.2
α = 0.4
0.65
α = 0.6
0.6 α = 0.8
0.55 α= 1
0.5
200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
Motor speed (rpm)
Fig. 6 Effect of displacement ratio on overall efficiency due to variation in motor speed
0.98
Mechanical efficiency (%)
0.95
0.92
α = 0.2
0.9 α = 0.4
α = 0.6
0.88 α = 0.8
α= 1
0.85
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Pressure (bar)
Fig. 7 Effect of displacement ratio on mechanical efficiency due to variation in pressure
0.95
0.9
0.85
Volumetric efficiency (%)
0.8
0.75
α = 0.2
0.7
α = 0.4
0.65 α = 0.6
α = 0.8
0.6
α= 1
0.55
0.5
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Pressure (bar)
Fig. 8 Effect of displacement ratio on volumetric efficiency due to variation in pressure

found that the efficiency becomes constant at around 200 bar and maximum when
α = 1. The lowest efficiency has been obtained at a pressure of 25 bar and α = 0.20.
It has been seen that at a given operating pressure, the total efficiency increases with
increase in displacement ratio.
4 Conclusions
This paper presents essential thoughts on hydrostatic transmission system that are
used in different fields. This paper also discusses that improvement in efficiency can
be achieved by using a hydraulic accumulator. Matlab Simulink software has been
used for simulation of hydrostatic transmission system.
The important findings from the present study are:
• From simulation, it has been found that the total efficiency of the system has been
found as 94.2% for displacement ratio 1.0.
• The accumulator has been used here to store excess energy of the system.
• A model of hydraulic pump/motor has been developed without considering the
internal losses of pump/motor.
Acknowledgements The author gratefully thanks Mechanical Engineering Department, NIT

Meghalaya Shillong, India and Graduate School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Uni-
versity of Ulsan, Ulsan, Korea for the valuable suggestions and supporting this research work.
References
1. Gangwar, G.K., Barnwal, M.K., Das, J.: Modelling and simulation of hydrostatic transmission
system: A literature survey. Int. J. Mech. Product. Eng. 1, 43–47 (2013)
2. Gangwar, G.K., Tiwari, M., Singh, B.K.: Study of closed- circuit hydraulic energy-regenerative
system for hydrostatic transmission drive using hydraulic accumulator. Int. J. Res. Aeronaut.
Mech. Eng. 2(2014), 1–10 (2014)
3. Esposito, A.: Fluid Power with Application, 7th Edn. Pearson (2017)
4. Rajabhandharaks, D.: Control of hydrostatic transmission wind turbine, Master’s thesis. San
Jose State University, Portland, Oregon (2014)
5. Rapp, J., Turesson, J.: Hydrostatic transmission in wind turbines-development of test platform,
laboratory of hydraulics and pneumatics system, Master’s thesis. IEI, Linkoping (2015)
6. Do, H.T., Dang, T.D., Truong, H.V.A., Ahn, K.K.: Maximum power point tracking and output
power control on pressure coupling wind energy conversion system. IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron.
1316–1324 (2018)
7. Jagadeesha, T., Gowda, T.: Fluid Power Generation Transmission and Control, 6th edn. Willey,
India (2017)
8. Patel, H.P., Patel, V.K., Bhatt, V.R.: Hydrostatic continuous variable power Transmission drive
for two wheeler using radial piston pump and motor set. Int. J. Sci. Res. Dev. 1, 710–715 (2013)
9. Yamamoto, H., Harada, Y., Hiraiwa, H.: Introduction of hydrostatic transmission forklift model
FH40-1/FH45-1/FH50-1, 1–7 (2012)
10. Beachley, N.H., Fronczak, F.J.: Modelling of hydraulic energy regeneration system: Part 1:
anaytical treatment. J. Dyn. Syst. Meas. Control 6, 155–159 (1992)
11. Zeman, P., Kemmetmuller, W., Kugi, A.: Energy-efficient constrained control of a hydrostatic
power split drive. In: Proceedings of the Conference on International Federation of Automatic
Control: Vienna, pp. 4775–4780, Austria (2017)
12. Rahrovan, H., Gholizade, H.: Energy recovery in hydrostatic transmission systems using accu-
mulator, Master’s thesis, Fluid Power Laboratory Islamic Azad University of Qazvin (2008)
13. Dasgupta, K.: Analysis of a hydrostatic transmission system using low speed high torque motor.
Mech. Mach. Theory 3, 1481–1499 (1999)
14. Manring, N.D., Luecke, G.R.: Modelling and designing a hydrostatic transmission with a fixed-
displacement motor. J. Dyn. Syst. Meas. Control 122, 45–49 (1998)
15. Zavadinka, P., Grepl, R.: Energy saving potential of a hydrostatic drive train with variable charge
pump. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Fluid Power, pp. 1–7, Lappeenranta,
Finland (2014)
16. Schmitz, J., Vukovic, M., Murrenhoff, H.: Hydrostatic transmission for wind turbines: an old
concept new dynamics. In: Proceedings of the ASME Symposium on Fluid Power and Motion
Control, pp. 1–11, Sarasota, Florida, USA: FPMC (2013)
17. Kwon, H., Sprengel, M., Ivantysynova, M.: Thermal modeling of a hydraulic hybrid vehicle
transmission based on thermodynamic analysis. Energy 4, 650–660 (2016)
18. Ho, T.H., Ahn. K.K.: Modelling and simulation of hydrostatic transmission system with energy
regeneration using hydraulic accumulator. J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 24, 1163–1175 (2010)
Active Power Control of the Francis
Turbine System by Model-Free Adaptive
Controller
J. Vinod, Bikash Kumar Sarkar, Saikat Mookherjee and Dipankar Sanyal
Abstract Velocity diagram based Francis turbine model has been utilized for study-
ing the system dynamics. The nonlinear model has been customized for the dynamics
of a hydropower installation. In the formulation of the design model, a loss model
has been proposed with the existing theoretical practices. Turbine parameters have
been used based on the identified data from the open-loop response of the exist-
ing experimental result. For controlling the runner speed, a numerical simulation
with speed and power combined control has been carried out. Adaptive fuzzy-PID
controller has been used for active power and speed control of the turbine system.
Controller performance has been compared with the conventional PID controller for
ramp power demand. Proposed controller’s performance is found quite satisfactory.
Keywords Nonlinear modeling · System identification ·

Proportional–integral–derivative (PID) · Fuzzy
Nomenclature
A Cross-sectional area (m2 )

a Servo-system constant
b Width (m)
C Absolute velocity of water (m/s)
d Diameter (m)
J. Vinod (B) · B. K. Sarkar

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Mehalaya, Shillong 793003, India
e-mail: vinodjoseph5587@gmail.com
B. K. Sarkar
S. Mookherjee · D. Sanyal
Department of the Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India
e-mail: smookherjee@mech.jdvu.ac.in
D. Sanyal
e-mail: dsanyal@mech.jdvu.ac.in
1628 J. Vinod et al.
e Control signal (V)

H Total water head across the turbine (m)
I Moment of inertia (kg m2 )
L Length of the water column (m)
K Controller gain (dimensionless)
N Rotational speed (rpm)
P Power (W)
Q Discharge (m3 /s)
T Time Constant (s)
Greek Symbols
α Stator angle (°)

β Runner angle (°)
μ Membership function
ρ Density of water (kg/m3 )
ω Runner speed (rad/s)
Superscripts
A Cross-sectional area (m2 )

b Width (m)
d Demand
e Error
p Penstock
r Response
T Tailrace
w Water
1 Runner inlet
2 Runner exit
1 Introduction
Electrical power is derived in a hydroelectric plant from the flowing water stream
through a turbine coupled with an alternator. Francis turbine is efficiently best suited
for medium-range of available head and the flow of water [1]. Hydropower generation
is the leading sector among the other renewable power generating sectors. Ongoing
researches are carried out in the hydropower system to improve the system efficiency
Active Power Control of the Francis Turbine System … 1629
[2], reliability in operation with proper control [3, 4] scheme, monitoring system
condition, etc.
The estimation of the mechanical power attained by the runner is the essential
part involved in modeling the turbine dynamics. Earlier findings in this focused area
have been mostly stated that the hydraulic power is proportional to the product of
the water flow across the turbine and net head across it. The difference of water level
between the headrace and the tailrace has been taken as the net head along with a
transient non-minimal reduction due to water column effect of the penstock and draft
tube. Later this model had been modified by subtracting the frictional losses from the
hydraulic power to obtain the mechanical power [5]. The effect of change made the
IGV setting in the flow direction on power is not considered in the turbine modeling.
The classical linear model [6] of a hydraulic turbine comprises one pole, one
zero and the non-minimal phase. Partial derivatives of time constants and control
coefficients represent the plant dynamics [7]. Control coefficients are estimated in
the form of the algebraic relations among the variables from the actual data obtained
from the running plants are used [5, 8, 9].
In the present work, the velocity diagram based hydro turbine model has been
validated with respect to the existing experimental result. The fuzzy-PID controller
has been proposed for IGV control to generate stable quality power. In this present
study, the two-controller approach has been used. Primary controller for the speed
correction and a secondary controller is incorporated to meet the power demand. A
simulation study has been done using MATLAB Simulink.
2 Francis Turbine Dynamic Modeling
Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of flow through the Francis turbine system
[10]. The system consists of headrace, penstock, inlet guide vane (IGV), runner, and
tailrace. The angular movement of the IGV controls the amount of flow through the
runner, hence maintaining the power output of the turbine.
Figure 2 presents the velocity diagrams for the normal load condition along with
those of no load condition [10], the rated load and for the maximum discharge
conditions denoted by subscripts n, r, and m, respectively. Subscripts 1 denotes runner
inlet while 2 indicate the runner exit, respectively, while V is the tangential velocity
of the runner, W is the runner relative velocity and C is the absolute velocity of the
water. IGV angular position with respect to the control signal has an impact on the
inlet runner angle, α1 while the exit runner angle, α2 is fixed. The shock disturbances
present in the flow at the runner entry α1r and the runner speed ωr , is absent at
the rated operating condition. The turbine which is coupled to the alternator with
transient operating conditions will affect the electrical power generated at a desired
frequency.
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the Francis turbine system
Fig. 2 Inlet and exit velocity diagrams for a Francis turbine runner
2.1 Modeling of Water Flow and Turbine Dynamics
The instantaneous mismatch between electrical power demand and the mechanical
power produced causes the change in the rotor speed, ω. In order to maintain the
electrical frequency, IGV moves over its angular position to control the amount of
water through the runner and also guides the flow in hitting the runner with efficient
inlet angle to meet the power demand. The servo system is employed to actuate the
gate opening α 1 in accordance to the changes in the steady-state electrical power Pl
demand or head across the turbine H. The variation of IGV setting, α 1 with the servo
position, y is modeled [2] as
α̇1 = (α1d − α1 )/Tg (1a)
with
α1d = ao + a1 y + a2 y 2 (1b)
where a0 , a1 and a2 are the servo-system constant and T g is the time constant.
Applying the principle of the conservation of angular momentum across the turbine
yields the Euler head [9] or head developed by the runner as,
HE = (Cv1 V1 − Cv2 V2 )/g (1c)
where g is the acceleration due to gravity. The velocity terms in the above equation
is expressed in terms of the vane angles α 1 and β 2 at the stator and rotor exits by
using the velocity diagrams as shown in Fig. 2. The diameters d 1 , d 2 and widths b1 ,
b2 are the runner inlet and exit, respectively, the discharge Q and the rotor speed ω,
the above equation also have been expressed as
HE = {ω/(2πg)}(Q/b1 ) cot α1 − (ωd2 )2 /(4g) + {ω/(2πg)}(Q/b2 ) cot β2 (2)
The major portion of the head available to the turbine runner is converted into
mechanical work while the rest is wasted as hydraulic losses between the exit of the
penstock and entry to the draft tube. By integrating the above Eq. (2) and subtracting
the total heads with the inclusion of all the losses together as H lhyd by assuming
transient incompressible flow with constant viscous stress, we obtain
HE = H − Hlhyd − (L p /A p + L d /Ad )( Q̇/g) (3)
where H is the total water head across the turbine, L is the length of the water
column and A is the cross-sectional area. Subscripts p and d denotes the penstock
and tailrace, respectively. Whereas Qr and H r are the rated discharge and the turbine
head, respectively, while the water time constant is expressed as
Tw = Q r (L p /A p + L d /Ad )/(g Hr ) (4)
The frictional loss term is due to friction in the turbulent flow of water through
the penstock and the draft tube. The dynamic loss occurs at the runner inlet due to
the water flow experiencing the sudden shock disturbances while entering the runner
vanes. Along with the hydraulic losses Hlhyd , there exists a mechanical head loss
Hlc which is taken as proportional to the angular speed of the turbine shaft [8]. In a
steady-state condition, a realistic loss model has been modeled as
Hl = Hlhyd + (ω/ωr )Hlcr (5a)

Hlhyd = a1i |Q − Q h |ni + a2i Q 2 (5b)
where H lcr is the mechanical head loss at the rated runner speed ωr , Qh is the system
discharge flow at maximum efficiency and a1i , a2i and ni are the three constants.
While i denotes the steady-state variation of the electrical power output against
the discharge as segmented on the curve. Nothing that the difference between the
electrical power output from the alternator and the available mechanical power after
debiting all the losses is responsible for the rotational acceleration of the coupled
system with total inertia I r , it can be written that
Ir ωω̇ + Pl = ρg Q{HE − (ω/ωr )Hlcr } (6)
The efficiency of a turbine is expressed as
η = (H − Hl )/H (7a)
And the flow coefficient as
Cq = Q/(N d13 ) (7b)
where
N is the rotational speed of the turbine in rpm [9, 10]
The radial velocity of the water flow is assumed constant (i.e.) independent of the
radial location within the runner. In Fig. 2, runner entry and exit velocity diagram is
based on the above considerations. The absolute flow along with the radial direction at
the exit at rated condition [11] is shown in Fig. 2. These conditions are mathematically
expressed [12] as
b1 d1 = b2 d2 (8)
and
cot β2 = π 2 d22 Nr b2 /(60Q h ) (9)
2.2 Model Verification
The velocity diagram based model has been verified with the exiting experimental
result [8, 13]. The predicted result for the turbine overall efficiency with respect to the
flow coefficient and the output power with respect to the servo actuator displacement
has been shown in the Figs. 3 and 4 respectively. The predicted result is quite com-
parable with the experimental result. The value of the parameter has been considered
as the value of the experimental data, which has been presented in Table 1.
Fig. 3 Actual and predicted variations of turbine efficiency
Fig. 4 Comparison of actual [8] and predicted IGV actuations

Table 1 Parameter data for

S. no. Parameter Value
the turbine system
1 No load flow (Qn ) 23.952 m3 /s
2 Rated flow (Qr ) 149.7 m3 /s
3 Rated turbine rotor speed (N r ) 166.7 rpm
4 Rated head (H r ) 61 m
5 Water time constant (T w ) 3.16 s
6 Turbine outer dia (d 1 ) 3.87 m
The predicted results from the velocity diagram based turbine model and the
experimental result shown the strong argument toward the validation of the system
model [14].
3 Controller Design
The control signal is generated to meet the power demand with the generated power
and to maintain the runner at the rated speed. The control signal has been generated by
the controller to actuate the motion of the IGV system, thereby controlling the water
entering the runner to meet the load demand fluctuations. The controller estimates
the control signal from the error signal obtained by the equations.
Pe = PL − PM (10)
ωe = ωd − ωr (11)
where Pe is the error signal due to the deviation of the mechanical power, PM is the
power generated to meet the electrical load demand, PL . ωe is the error signal due to
the difference between the rated runner speed, ωd and the actual runner speed, ω r .
Two controllers have been used, i.e., one for Power control and another for runner
speed control. The present study has been made as a performance comparison of two
different controller design approaches.
The PID is a summation of the proportional, integral and derivative control. The
control signal is generated from the feedback error signal as

d Pe
e1 = K P Pe + K I Pe dt + K D (12)
dt

dωe
e2 = K P ωe + K I ωe dt + K D (13)
dt
where K p , K I, and K D are the proportional, integral and derivative gains, respectively.
These gain values are estimated manually by the hit and trial method.
Fig. 5 Hydro-turbine controller block diagram for active power control
The block diagram of Fuzzy Feedforward PID Controller has been incorporated
with the system is shown in Fig. 5. The proposed controller has been developed with
the combination of the two controllers, i.e., one is power and another is the speed
controllers. The controller gains are automatically updated based on the instantaneous
error with fuzzy logic, i.e., adaptive in nature.
For the purpose of power control, PID controller with fuzzy logic estimated con-
troller gains have been implemented. The power error signal, Pe and rate of change
in the power signal error, Ṗe have been transformed into fuzzy variables μ Pe and μ P.e .
These fuzzy variables are converted into Fuzzy triangular membership functions as
LN, N, Z, P, and LP. The fuzzy output variables μ K P , μ K I and μ K D have been obtained
as per the rule base. The defuzzification is performed to get the controller gain values
which have been estimated by the center of area (COA) method.
More attention is focussed in design of the speed controller, which is a combination
of the feedforward and feedback control components. Fuzzy logic estimates the gain
values of both feedforward and feedback components. In case of speed control, the
feedforward controller input values, the speed demand, ωd and rate of change in the
.
speed demand, ωd are transformed into fuzzy variables μωd and μω.d . These fuzzy
variables are converted into Fuzzy triangular membership functions as LN, N, Z,
P, and LP. The Fuzzy output variable μ K f f is obtained as per the rule base. The
defuzzification is performed to get the controller gain that have been estimated by
the center of area (COA) method.
.
The speed error signal, ωe and rate of change power signal error, ωe have been
transformed into fuzzy variables μωe and μω.e . These fuzzy variables are converted
into Fuzzy triangular membership functions as LN, N, Z, P, and LP. The Fuzzy
output variables μ K P , μ K I and μ K D have been obtained as per the rule base. The
defuzzification is performed to get the controller gains which have been estimated
by the center of area (COA) method.
The comparison of the turbine IGV opening dynamics performances by the PID con-
troller and the adaptive fuzzy-PID controller due to the variation of the power demand
has been shown in Fig. 6. It has been found the peak overshoot and non-minimal
phase effects due to the water inertial dynamics are more for the PID controller as
compared to the fuzzy-PID controller.
Figures 7 and 8 have shown the performances of the flow rate through the turbine
and head across the turbine, respectively, with respect to the IGV opening as shown
in Fig. 6. Of course, the response directly depends on the IGV opening dynamics,
which has been clearly reflected in the Figs. 7 and 8.
Comparison of the PID controller and fuzzy feedforward PID controller perfor-
mance represents interms of power output in Fig. 9. The ramp power demand shown
by black line, where as the PID and fuzzy feedforward PID controller response have
been shown by blue and red line respectively. The mechanical power generated by
using the conventional PID controller fluctuates with a large deviation from the elec-
trical power demand. It is obvious, the mechanical power output directly related to
Fig. 6 Comparison of IGV gate opening by using PID and fuzzy feedforward PID controller
Fig. 7 Comparison of water flow rate with PID and fuzzy feedforward PID controller
Fig. 8 Comparison of runner head due to the IGV opening
Fig. 9 Comparison of the PID and fuzzy-PID controller for power output as power demand
the flow dynamics and the dynamics of the head across the runner. The flow and head
dynamics are also related to the turbine IGV dynamics (Fig. 9).
The performance comparison of the actual runner speed with PID and Fuzzy
feedforward PID controller has been shown in Fig. 10. The runner speed with fuzzy
feedforward PID controller has not deviated much from the rated runner speed.
Although it takes time for achieving the rated speed, the performance of the fuzzy
feedforward PID controller is quite satisfactory as compared to the conventional
PID, which shows more deviations in the speed may cause instability in a certain
real situation.
Fig. 10 Comparison of PID and fuzzy feedforward PID controller for speed correction
5 Conclusion
Comprehensive mathematical model has been developed with the consideration of
the velocity diagram approach and loss model due to the turbine IGV orientation,
flow loss, friction loss, etc. The turbine model has been simulated in Matlab Simulink
environment. The simulation model has been validated with the existing experimental
result. The adaptive fuzzy feedforward PID controller performance found satisfactory
for IGV position control application. The suitable IGB position control ensure good
flow control through IGV, which directly related to power and frequency control.
The proposed adaptive based speed and power controller has shown satisfactory
performance as compared to the existing conventional PID controller.
Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the support of DST-SERB for the present work.
References
1. Price, T., Probert, D.: Harnessing hydropower: a practical guide. Appl. Energy 57, 175–251
(1997)
2. Chakrabarty, S., Sarkar, B.K., Maity, S.: CFD analysis of the hydraulic turbine draft tube
to improve system efficiency. In: Second International Conference on Applied Mechanics,
Thailand (2015)
3. Venkaiah, P., Sarkar, B.K.: Position control of the hydraulically actuated francis turbine inlet
guide vane. In: Power Conference Joint with ICOPE-17 collocated with the ASME (2017)
4. Vinod, J., Venkaiah, P., Sarkar, B.K.: Francis turbine IGV control under force estimation. In:
INCOM18, Jadavpur University, pp. 769–772. Kolkata (2018)
5. De Jaeger, E., Janssens, N., Malfliet, B., van De Meulebroeke, F.V.D.: Hydroturbine model for
system dynamic studies. IEEE Trans. Power Syst. 9, 1709–1715 (1994)
6. Wozniak, L., P.E. Member.: A graphical approach to hydrogenerator governor running. IEEE
Trans. Energy Convers. 5, 417–421 (1990)
7. IEEE Working Group.: Hydraulic turbine and turbine control model for system dynamic studies.
IEEE Trans. Power Syst. 7, 167–179 (1992)
8. Kosterev, D.: Hydro turbine-governor model validation in Pacific Northwest. IEEE Trans.
Power Syst. 19, 1144–1149 (2004)
9. Doan, R.E., Natarajan, K.: Modeling and control design for governing hydroelectric turbines
with leaky wicket gates. IEEE Trans. Energy Convers. 19, 449–455 (2004)
10. Eker, I.: Governors for hydro-turbine speed control in power generation: a SIMO robust design
approach. Energy Convers. Manag. 45, 2207–2221 (2004)
11. Ng, T.B., Walker, G.J., Sargison, J.E.: Modeling of transient behaviour in a Francis turbine
power plant. In: The 15th Australian Fluid Mechanics Conference. University of Sydney,
Australia (2004)
12. Massey, B.S.: Mechanics of Fluids, 6th edn. Chapman & Hall, London
13. Voros, N.G., Kiranoudis, C.T., Maroulis, Z.B.: Short-cut design of small hydroelectric plants.
Renew. Energy 19, 545–563 (2000)
14. Sarkar, B.K., Mookherjee, S., Sanyal, D.: Proc. 2010, Size Identification and Design of Speed
Controller for a Francis Turbine from Nonlinear Modeling and Operational Characteristics,
7th International Fluid Power Conference, Aachen (2010)
Experimental Aerodynamics
Design Procedure for a Blast Wave
Generator and Its Validation with Shock
Tube Experiments
Santanu Dey , T. Murugan and Dipankar Chatterjee
Abstract Studies on blast wave effects on structures and living things are gain-
ing popularity recently due to increased terrorist attacks and the warlike situation
among many countries. Generation of blast wave at field tests through detonating
the explosives is hazardous and very expensive. As an alternative, shock tube hav-
ing a very small driver section length can be used in the laboratory for generating a
pseudo blast wave for studies related to blast wave attenuation, mitigation and under-
standing the injury mechanisms. The length of the driver section is a key parameter
to produce blast wave for a given driven section, pressure ratio and working fluid.
Here, a detailed procedure to design a blast wave generator using the characteris-
tics analytical method is elucidated. It is also substantiated with the axisymmetric
numerical simulations performed using ANSYS-Fluent and shock tube experiments
performed at CSIR-CMERI Durgapur. Further, various components essential for the
cost-effective blast generator is also discussed.
Keywords Blast wave generator · Open-ended shock tube · Friedlander

waveform · Shock tube simulation · Method of characteristics · Blast wave
measurement
1 Introduction
Conventionally, the shock waves having different strength and its interaction with
various surfaces and objects were examined using either supersonic/hypersonic wind
tunnels. These tunnels become very expensive due to a requirement of huge electric
power if a large flow time is needed [1]. Later, shock tubes are being used as a low-
cost intermittent wind tunnel to study the aerothermodynamics and aerodynamics
over the objects at high Mach numbers. Though the shock tube was first constructed
S. Dey (B) · T. Murugan · D. Chatterjee

CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur 713209, India
e-mail: mesantanudey@yahoo.com
Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, New Delhi, India

1644 S. Dey et al.
by Vieille for studying combustion and detonation in 1899 [2, 3] the real use of shock
tube begun when the importance of the effect of fast-moving gases on generic objects
and the chemical kinetics of different gases realized during 1940 [4].
Shock tubes are broadly classified as open-ended or closed-ended based on the
exit condition. Although the closed-ended shock tubes are used in some studies where
the focus was on the thermodynamics characteristics at high temperature, the open-
ended shock tube are extensively used due to its wide spectrum applications such
as shock wave lithotripsy, testing of models at high Mach numbers (M), impulsive
flows, aeroacoustics of jets, compressible vortex ring, and understanding different
instabilities and turbulence, etc. Recently shock tubes having very small driver section
length are used for generating blast waves to examine injury mechanisms on living
things, attenuation and mitigation through structures.
2 Shock Tube as a Blast Wave Generator
The shock tube can generate both shock and blast wave inside the driven section,
and there is a significant difference between them with respect to pressure history.
All blast waves can be termed as shock waves however, the opposite is not true. The
difference between the blast wave and the shock wave is shown in Fig. 1 where a
constant flat top pressure profile is seen for the shock wave and a decaying pressure
profile is noticed behind blast wave [5]. The shock wave is characterized using
pressure and velocity behind the incident shock and the blast wave is conventionally
Fig. 1 Characterization of the pressure wave from a shock tube [5]

Design Procedure for a Blast Wave Generator … 1645
characterized using peak overpressure and positive impulse. An ideal blast wave
[6] is mathematically represented using Friedlander wave profile which has the
characteristics of shock front followed by a nonlinear decay.
The driver and driven section lengths are crucial for generating a blast wave profile
inside the shock tube beside the driver section pressure and type of gas. Selection of
improper driver and driven section lengths may result in a uniform pressure behind the
incident shock at a given location which never replicates the blast wave. For shorter
driver section, the expansion waves reflected from the end wall move downstream
with a higher relative velocity and superimposed with the uniform mass velocity and
the incident shock which continuously reduce the duration of constant pressure or
the peak pressure. Figure 2 shows the pressure profile inside the shock tube obtained
by Chandra et al. [6] showing the changes in pressure profile inside the driven section
with distance inside the shock tube.
Figure 3 shows the general wave diagram of an open-ended shock tube where the
formation of blast/shock wave is shown. The pressure ratio across the incident shock
inside the shock tube is calculated using the one-dimensional moving normal shock,
shock tube relations [7]. Equation (1) relates the diaphragm pressure ratio with the
pressure ratio across the incident shock.
⎛ ⎞ γ4 −14
−2γ
p4 p2 ⎝ (γ4 − 1) a4 a1 p2 p1 − 1
= 1− ⎠ (1)
p1 p1
2γ1 2γ1 + (γ1 + 1) p2 p1 − 1
here p, a, γ denotes the pressure, speed of sound and the specific heat ratio in the
respective region as shown in Fig. 3:
Region 1: This is the region in front of the incident shock and it is the ambient
condition.
Region 2: This is the region between the contact surface and the incident shock.
Region 3: This is the region between the tail of the expansion fan and contact surface.
Fig. 2 The pressure profiles inside the shock tube [6]

1646 S. Dey et al.
Fig. 3 The wave diagram of an open-ended shock tube [8]
Region 4: It is the region ahead of the leading expansion wave.

Pressure ratio across the shock (p2 /p1 ) is calculated using numerical techniques
such as the Newton-Raphson method once ambient and initial driver section pressure
are known. The changes in temperature, pressure, velocity and density across every
expansion wave are calculated using the isentropic relations in the method of charac-
teristics (MoC) programme. MoC is a powerful analytical technique which reduces
the partial differential equations into a set of ordinary differential equations to obtain
the characteristic waves field of a perfect gas. It can be applied to one-dimensional
unsteady flow, two and three-dimensional steady flows, and axisymmetric steady
flows. It is widely used for supersonic nozzle design and predicting the flow charac-
teristics inside the shock tube.
Figure 3 shows the schematic of the wave diagram obtained using an MoC based
MATLAB solver for an open-ended shock tube flows. It has the driver and driven
section lengths, pressure and working fluid as variables. This solver provides pres-
sure, temperature and density across the shock and expansion waves with time besides
shock Mach number (M), mass velocity and the point of interaction of incident shock
and leading expansion wave. The MATLAB code is given in Appendix. Figure 4
shows the x-t diagrams obtained with the driver section lengths (DRL) of 0.52 and
0.112 m for a diaphragm pressure ratio (PR) of 8.43. Here, the driven section length
is fixed as 2 m. The expansion wave is unable to catch the shock front for longer
driver section, however, the reflected wave has superimposed with the shock front
for shorter driver section.
Numerical simulations are performed to obtain the nature of pressure histories at
different locations inside the shock tube to validate the analytical results. Figure 5
shows the computational domain and boundary conditions with a DRL of 112 mm.
A Cartesian structured grid with a cell size of 2 mm is taken in the driver, driven
section and outside the shock tube. A total of 6,47,956 and 6,53,260 cells are used
for 112 mm and 520 mm driver section cases, respectively and it is finer than the
earlier numerical studies [9, 10]. The numerical simulations are performed using the
ANSYS-FLUENT commercial software. The formation boundary layer inside the
shock tube is neglected. Hence the flow is assumed to be inviscid. The unsteady Euler
equations [9] in axisymmetric form are solved.
The convective terms are calculated using the AUSM flux vector splitting scheme
coupled with the second-order upwind scheme. Density is calculated using the ideal
gas equation. The no-slip wall boundary condition is used at the shock tube walls.
Pressure outlet boundary condition with the nonreflecting acoustic wave model is
used at the open boundaries along with the axial and lateral directions. The solution
is initialized with a temperature of 303 K everywhere. Here, the temperature is
(a) (b)
7 4
h.e.w h.e.w
6
t.e.w t.e.w
3
5 c.s
c.s
s.w h=head
4
t (ms)
t (ms)
t=tail s.w h=head

r.e.w 2 t=tail
3 e=expansion r.e.w
c=contact e=expansion
s=shock c=contact
2 1
r=reflected s=shock
1 w=wave r=reflected
w=wave
0 0
−0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 0.5 1 1.5
x (m) x (m)
Fig. 4 a The x-t diagram for 0.520 m long driver section, b The x-t diagram for 0.112 m long driver
section for a diaphragm pressure ratio of 8.43
Fig. 5 The domain of numerical simulation

1648 S. Dey et al.
chosen based on the average temperature inside the laboratory in summer. Then, the
driver section is patched with the bursting pressure (gauge), and the driven section is
assumed zero-gauge pressure. The data files are appended with flow time to examine
the shock speed at different axial locations inside the shock tube.
Further, the pressure histories are also obtained at many fixed points in the driver
section to examine the nature of the pressure profile. Figure 6 shows the pressure
histories probed at different locations inside the shock tube along with a single point
outside the shock tube for DRL = 0.52 m. Here, the drop in pressure followed by the
peak overpressure inside the shock tube depends on the superimposition of reflected
expansion waves. However, it also depends on the flow expansion resulting from the
pressure imbalance between the shock tube and ambient fluid outside the shock tube.
The duration of flat pressure profile is longer for DRL = 0.52 m compared to 0.112 m
inside the driver section. Here x = 0 represents the location of the diaphragm.
The duration of the flat top pressure profile decreases as the expansion waves
reflected from the driver section end wall superimpose with the incident shock as
the shock wave moves downstream inside the driven section. It is significant even
at a location close to the exit (x = 1.95 m). A decaying pressure profile similar to a
blast wave is noticed outside the shock tube which suggests that any study related
to blast wave interaction can be performed at this location. However, the primary
vortex ring and the subsequent trailing jet or jet wind [6] formed at the exit interfere
with the objects which will be used for blast wave interaction studies. This demands
that the objects should be placed at a far downstream show that the vortex ring and
trailing jet do not interfere with blast wave interaction studies. The strength of the
blast wave reduces drastically with distance due to its spherical expansion and the
separation distance of incident shock and vortex ring as reported in the literature [8,
11]. However, the strength of the blast wave formed inside the shock tube does not
reduce exponentially due to its planar nature and it’s reduced due to superimposition
of expansion waves. Hence, the formation of blast wave inside the shock tube is
preferred which is highly energy efficient.
t
P(t) = Ps e− t ∗ 1 −
t
(2)
t∗
8 −0.51m,inside driver section

0.776m,inside driven section
6 1.2m,inside driven section
Pgauge /Patm

4
2 2.02m,outside shock tube
0 5 10 15 20 25
Time (ms)
Fig. 6 The pressure histories for DRL = 0.52 m

Figure 7 shows the pressure histories probed at five locations inside the shock
tube and a single point outside the shock tube for DRL = 0.112 m. Here, the flat top
pressure profile becomes a decaying profile inside the shock tube at x = 1.575 m for
DRL = 0.112 m. This suggests that the objects/structures can be placed at or after
this location for blast wave interaction studies. It is also noticed that the strength
of the blast wave reduces quickly outside the shock tube. The magnified view of
pressure profiles outside the exit for the above two cases is shown in Figs. 8 and 9
along with the ideal Friedlander pressure profile (Eq. 2). Here, P is pressure, Ps is
peak pressure, t is time and t∗ is the time when the curve first touches the horizontal
time axis. In Fig. 8, the negative pressure has sustained for a longer duration, and it
is attributed to the expansion flow resulting from the flat top pressure profile at x =
2.02 m. Whereas in Fig. 9 The negative has quickly reached zero due to the decaying
pressure inside the shock tube. The comparison clearly shows that the shape of the
blast wave resembles more closely in the shorter driver section case compared to
the longer driver section. Details of the experimental setup and preliminary studies
performed to validate the numerical results are discussed in the next section.
8 −0.102m,inside driver section

Pgauge /Patm

2.02m,outside shock tube
2
0 5 10 15 20 25
Time (ms)
Fig. 7 The pressure histories for DRL = 0.112 m
Pressure profile from numerical simulation,

1 outside the shock tube
Friedlander wave profile
0.8
Pgauge /Patm
0.6
0.4
0.2
−0.2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
Time (ms)
Fig. 8 Pressure profile at 2.02 m for DRL = 0.520 m and its comparison with Friedlander wave
1650 S. Dey et al.
Pressure profile from numerical simulation,

1 outside the shock tube
Friedlander wave profile
0.8
Pgauge /Patm
0.6
0.4
0.2
−0.2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
Time (ms)
Fig. 9 Pressure profile at 2.02 m for DRL = 0.112 m and its comparison with Friedlander wave
3.1 Experimental Comparison
A shock tube with a DRL of 0.52 m and a driven section length of 2 m is made based
on the above MATLAB solver to generate a blast wave inside the shock tube using
different driver gases and pressure ratios. It has the option to vary the driver section
length by inserting cylindrical aluminium blocks of different lengths into the driver
section from the detachable end wall [8]. The details of material selection, design
and fabrication of different components of blast wave generator are explained in the
subsequent sections.
3.1.1 Driver and Driven Section Tubes
A 2 and 0.52 m seamless stainless steel pipes having the same internal diameter are
chosen as the driver and driven section. Stainless steel pipe is preferred over EN8,
and ERW pipes due to its low maintenance as rusting are the main problem in tubes
[8]. To minimize the recoiling effect of the shock tube, heavyweight S.S-304 100 N.B
× 40 sch. pipe with a thickness of 6.02 mm is chosen. Though many types of flanges
are available, socket welded flanges with the serrated front face are chosen to ensure
good flow quality inside the shock tube. These flanges are welded in our workshop
with proper fixture attachment to ensure proper alignment. A soft rubber gasket is
placed in between the flanges connecting the driver and driven section which ensure
complete leakproof at elevated pressure ratios.
Mylar film having different thicknesses such as 125, 175 and 250 µm are used as
a diaphragm depending on the diaphragm pressure ratios. Mylar films of the required
size are cut from a role, and the holes are made by a punch to insert between the
flanges. The aluminium block inserted inside the driver section length for varying
the length is attached to the blind flange using a bolt as shown in Fig. 10. Five
holes are made in the driven section to capture pressure histories and calculating
the shock tube. The first hole is provided at 5 cm from the shock tube exit, and the
Fig. 10 The sectional view of the shock tube
subsequent holes are provided at a distance of 37.5 cm away towards the diaphragm.
The pressure sensors are flush-mounted at three locations and the outside portion of
the nut holding the sensors are held tightly by a flexible 100 N.B plastic U-clamp as
shown in Fig. 11a.
Fig. 11 a Holding of sensors outer nut with the U-clamp, b The mist separator, c The storage tank
with Borden tube pressure gauge
1652 S. Dey et al.
3.1.2 Pneumatic Section
All experiments are performed with air as a working fluid. The ambient air is com-
pressed using the Kaesar compressor cum dryer (Model: BSD 72) which has a max-
imum operating pressure of 8 bar and stored in a 1 m3 storage tank. The compressed
air was taken to the place where the blast wave generator is installed through a flexible
Polyurethane tubes having inner and outer diameter 8 mm and 12 mm, respectively.
This air goes through a mist separator as shown in Fig. 11b before it enters the storage
tank used for blast wave experiments. This mist generator is mainly used to remove
any water content in the compressed air. The storage tank is shown in Fig. 11c has a
capacity of 1000 litre and it is made of SA 516 grade 70. The tank is constructed as
per ASME Sec VIII and it has a working pressure of 17 kg/cm2 . All flanges are of
ANSI B 16.5 Class 150.
Radiographic tests are performed to check the welding defect at all butt joints.
The outside surface of the storage tank is painted by epoxy. As the storage tank is
made from carbon steel plate, rusting of inner surface might take place which may
spoil the sensors used for experiments. The rusted inner surface may be cleaned
through sandblasting technique however, complete cleaning is very difficult inside
the tank and rusting may possible even after cleaning. Painting the inner surface may
prevent rusting. However, the rusted surface has very low surface energy and ordinary
primer cannot be applied. A special paint, Berger Protectomastic BPL primer which
energises the low surface energy is applied first. Then, EP 9HB phenolic CTG is
applied, upon drying of primer. This ensures that inside surface of the tank does not
get corroded for at least a few years.
Figure 12a shows a booster regulator which is capable of boosting air fourfold of
the input pressure and it can boost up to a maximum pressure of 2 MPa. It is essential
to increase the pressure beyond 8 bar stored in the tank for generating higher peak
overpressure. Figure 12b shows a small storage tank similar to the shock tube driver
section and stores the output of the booster. This tank can easily hold pressure up to
2 MPa. The booster is connected with the small storage tank using a flexible hydraulic
Fig. 12 a Booster regulator, b Small storage tank for providing high pressure to the driver section
Fig. 13 a The shock tube with the stand, b Input connection to the driver section, c Pressure gauge
and pressure control switch
hose which has 4 MPa working pressure capacity. A similar hose is also used for
connecting the small storage tank with the driver section as shown in Fig. 13b. The
Pressure in the driver section can be measured using the attached analog Bourdon
tube pressure gauge and a digital pressure switch shown in Fig. 13c.
The compressed air enters into the driver section and burst the diaphragm by man-
ually opening the ball valve shown in Fig. 12b. Here, free bursting is performed as the
driver section pressure is increased gradually. The diaphragm rupturing at a particular
pressure can also be done by using either automatically through a solenoid valve with
the help of pressure switch or by manually operating the pneumatic plunger. In auto-
matic mode, the pressure switch gives a triggering signal to the solenoid valve which
actuates a pneumatic plunger when the driver section is filled with the required set
pressure. The plunger is attached with a sharp needle which ruptures the diaphragm.
The plunger is placed outside the shock tube driver section, and the needle is kept
inside the shock tube [8].
3.1.3 The Shock Tube Stand
The stand used for holding the complete shock tube is made from mild steel angle
sections. It has a height of 1.85 m to avoid the secondary interaction of shock/blast
wave reflecting from the ground with objects/structures. The shock tube is attached
to the stand by U-bolts. Wheels are attached at the base, to traverse the shock tube
outside the laboratory to perform certain studies related to free expansion. Nuts (M30)
are welded at the base of the shock tube as well as on the concrete floor where the
shock tube experiments are performed. Bolts are used to fasten the shock tube with
the concrete floor. This arrangement in Fig. 13a provides rigidity to the experimental
setup and helps in ensuring absolute levelling.
1654 S. Dey et al.
3.1.4 Shock Speed Measurement and Its Comparison with Numerical

Results
In order to validate the pressure profiles obtained from the numerical simulation, and
formation of blast wave inside the shock tube, pressure histories inside the shock tube
is measured at three locations inside the driven section using PCB 132A35 time of
arrival pressure sensors. These pressure sensors are placed at 1.2, 1.575 and 1.95 m
from the diaphragm location (Fig. 11a). These high sensitivity micro pressure sensors
are well suited for short wavelength acoustic and shock wave measurements inside
the shock tube. They have very high sensitivity and microsecond response capable of
identifying the bow and stern of the blast wave. Further, an internal 8 kHz high-pass
filter incorporated in the sensors eliminates low frequency inputs which help in the
accurate prediction of shock speed, not the transient low varying pressure changes.
The data are acquired with a sampling rate of 200 kHz with NI 4472 24-bit sound
and vibration card using LabVIEW software installed in a standalone PXI system
having NI PXIe-1062Q chassis (eight slots) with the NI PXIe-8133 controller. These
sensors have a sensitivity of 140 mV/psi. The voltage signal is converted into a
pressure signal using this sensitivity.
A triggering signal is needed for examining the characteristics of the blast/shock
wave and impulsive jet at different times from the shock tube exit and it can be
obtained from any one of the three sensors installed inside the shock tube driven
section. The voltage signal from these pressure sensors is not large enough to provide
the trigging voltage (5 V), especially for low diaphragm pressure ratios. It needs to
Fig. 14 The whole experimental setup

Table 1 Repeatability of the experimental data

Exp. no. Shock speed (m/s) Peak pressure at x = 1.2 m Peak pressure at x = 1.95 m
(atm) (atm)
1 525.476 1.783 1.493
2 531.915 1.830 1.547
3 531.915 1.853 1.581
4 535.714 1.902 1.62
5 528.169 1.716 1.490
6 521.021 1.610 1.431
7 528.169 1.702 1.487
8 525.476 1.592 1.472
be amplified before reaching the triggering port in the timer box. It is amplified
through CA 3140 operational amplifier which has a slew rate and a bandwidth of
9 V/µs 15 MHz, respectively. High slew rate amplifier is highly desirable otherwise
the amplifier cannot properly amplify the peak signal. The entire shock tube set up
needs to be electrically grounded otherwise the PCB sensors may give huge noise.
Further, one might need to ensure that the ground voltage (measured between the
main and ground terminal) is kept less than 0.5 V for the proper functioning of all
DAQ systems and sensors. Figure 14 shows the experimental setup of the blast wave
generator with DAQ system and supported instrumentation.
Table 1 shows the repeatability of the experiment performed using the 125 µm
Mylar sheet diaphragms with the pressure ratio of 8.43 where the DRL is 112 mm.
Here, the peak pressure and shock speed measured from pressure sensors placed at
x = 1.2 m and x = 1.95 m are used for showing the consistency as decreasing in
peak pressure is expected due to the formation of blast wave before x = 1.95 m.
The percentage deviation in shock speed and peak pressure from average value
in experiments are ±0.667% and 3.34%, respectively. These deviations are due to
irregular rupture of the Mylar diaphragm at the pressure ratio of 8.43.
Figures 15 and 16 show the pressure profiles obtained at three locations inside the
shock tube having DRL of 0.520 m and 0.112 m, respectively for a pressure ratio of
8.43. Here, the sensor placed at x = 1.575 m has always shown a lesser peak pressure
value, and this may occur due to deterioration of the calibration coefficient. However,
it can accurately predict the shock speed. Table 2 shows the comparison of average
peak pressure obtained from 10 experiments and numerical simulations. Here, the
peak pressures inside the shock tube at different locations for DRL = 0.52 m are
higher compared to DRL = 0.112 m. Further, the variation of peak pressure from
x = 1.2 m to x = 1.95 m is large for DRL = 0.112 m. This ensured the formation
of blast wave inside the shock tube for DRL = 0.112 m whereas almost similar
pressure behind the shock at x = 1.2 m, and 1.95 m for DRL = 0.52 m show the flat
top pressure profile inside the shock tube.
Next, the shock speeds measured inside the driven section at different locations are
also compared. Table 3 shows the comparison of the average shock speed obtained
1656 S. Dey et al.
1.5 I=Inside 1.2m,I.Dn.S

Dn=Driven
1.575m,I.Dn.S
S=Section
Pgauge /Patm
1
1.95m,I.Dn.S
0.5
−0.5
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
Time (microseconds)
Fig. 15 Pressure profiles at 1.2 m, 1.575 m and 1.95 m from diaphragm location for DRL = 0.520 m
2
I =Inside
1.5 Dn=Driven
1.2m,I.Dn.S
S=Section
1.575m,I.Dn.S
Pgauge /Patm
1
1.95m,I.Dn.S
0.5
−0.5
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
Time (microseconds)
Fig. 16 Pressure profiles at 1.2 m, 1.575 m and 1.95 m from diaphragm location for DRL = 0.112 m
Table 2 The comparison of peak pressure between the numerical simulation and experimental
results
Method At x = 1.2 m At x = 1.575 m At x = 1.95 m
Average gauge pressure Average gauge pressure Average gauge pressure
(Pa) (Pa) (Pa)
Long driver section (DRL = 520 mm)
Experimental 1.817e+05 1.482+05 1.751e+05
Numerical 1.768e+05 1.747e+05 1.759e+05
Short driver section (DRL = 112 mm)
Experimental 1.749e+05 1.426e+05 1.515e+05
Numerical 1.768e+05 1.804e+05 1.613e+05
Table 3 The comparison of shock speed between the numerical simulation and experimental results
Driver length Method Average shock speed in m/s Average shock speed in m/s
between x = 1.2 m and between x = 1.575 m and
1.575 m 1.95 m
DRL = 0.520 m Experimental 540.4 539.5
Numerical 542.8 540.6
DRL = 0.112 m Experimental 534.4 520.8
Numerical 538.4 531.5
from 10 experiments and numerical simulations. The shock speed is calculated from
the time of arrival of incident shock at the given sensor locations and the known
distance between the sensors (37.5 cm). The shock speed inside the longer driver
section (520 mm) did not deviate much as compared to the shorter driver section
(112 mm) where a rapid decrease in strength is noticed due to superimposition of
reflected expansion waves. Close matching in shock speed between the numerical
and experimental results are observed.
4 Conclusion
A method to design a blast wave generator using shock tube relations and the method
of characteristics is discussed. The formation of a blast wave inside the shock tube
is shown by considering two driver sections. It is observed that the blast wave can
be generated by shortening the driver section of a shock tube for a given pressure
ratio. The proposed solver is a great tool for predicting the driver length needed to
generate the blast wave for a given pressure ratio, and working fluid. The procedure
to be followed for the design, fabrication and testing of blast wave generator is
explained in detail. It is also shown that the numerical simulations match quite well
with experimental results for the chosen driver section lengths.
Acknowledgements Authors acknowledge Dr. Lakshmana Dora, Postdoctoral fellow, Johns Hop-
kins University for his support in the development of wave diagram solver. Authors would also
like to acknowledge Mr. Ram Pyare Singh, Mr. Manish Kapil and the members of the Advance
manufacturing facility for their assistance in performing experiments and fabricating the shock tube
setup.
Appendix
% Programme to calculate the formation of blast wave inside the shock tube for the
different driver, and driven section % length, pressure and working fluid
1658 S. Dey et al.
1660 S. Dey et al.
1662 S. Dey et al.
References
1. Hypersonic wind tunnel. National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning. https://

nptel.ac.in/courses/101103003/33
2. Vieille, M.: Etude sur les roles des discontinuitesdans les phenomenes de propagation. Mémoire
des Poudres Saltpetres (1899)
3. Vieille, M.: Sur les discontinuitesproduites par la dé tente brusque de gas comprimes. Comptes
Rendus l’Aca-demie des Sci (1899)
4. Shock tube. Wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_tube
5. Bokil, M.: Characterization of the pressure wave from a shock tube using numerical simulations.
The University of Utah (2010)
6. Chandra, N. et al.: Evolution of blast wave profiles in simulated air blasts: experiment and
computational modelling. Shock Waves, 403–415 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00193-012-
0399-2
7. Anderson, J.D.: Modern Compressible Flow. McGraw-Hill (1982)
8. Murugan, T.: Flow and acoustic characteristics of high Mach number vortex rings during
evolution and wall interaction: an experimental investigation. Indian Institute of Technology,
Kanpur, India (2008)
9. Murugan. T., De, S., Dora, C.L., Das, D., Kumar, P.P.: A study of the counter rotating vortex
rings interacting with the primary vortex ring in shock tube generated flows. Fluid Dyn. Res.
(2013). https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2014.353
10. Murugan, T., De, S., Dora, C.L., Das, D.: Numerical simulation and PIV study of compressible
vortex ring evolution. Shock Waves, 69–83 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00193-011-0344-9
11. Elder, F.K., Haas, N.D.: Experimental study of the formation of a vortex ring at the open end of
a cylindrical shock tube. J. Appl. Phys. 1065–1069 (1952). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1701987
A Feasibility Study of Superhydrophobic
Coating on Al6061 for Airplane
Anti-icing Applications
J. Bruce Ralphin Rose
Abstract Ice protection systems are essential for all airplane operational missions
to ensure safe and reliable operation of air transport. Typically, size and contact area
of cold droplets are the deciding factors for the type of ice spreading over the airplane
surface. Preparation of superhydrophobic surfaces has received a great attention in
the recent years to minimize the ice nucleation over the airplane skin. In this article,
Aluminum alloy Al6061 is used to prepare a protective, textured superhydrophobic
coating through chemical spray coating techniques. A cost-effective superhydropho-
bic coating has been developed by chemical etching and spray coating of copolymeric
silicone composition that is confirmed by Infrared technique. Morphological stud-
ies by optical microscope show a micro-nano rough pattern that increases with the
weight percentage content of the silicone film sprayed after drying. At an optimum
5% of silicone, contact angle reaches a maximum value of 154 ± 2°. This superhy-
drophobic coating offers interesting icephobic properties and the Aluminum surface
is tested for its ice repelling property by spraying the supercooled liquid over the
surface. The anti-icing coated substrate was further tested for wear and corrosion
properties to meet the airworthiness standards. This superhydrophobic coating can
be applied for various offshore applications such as wind turbines, and automobile
windscreens as it reduces ice adhesion to achieve higher safety measures.
Keywords Aluminum alloy (Al6061) · Superhydrophobicity · Coating ·

Morphology test · Wear
1 Introduction
Icing is one of the major hazards to Airplane performance at high altitudes. In-flight
airframe icing occurs as the supercooled water droplets freeze upon impact with any
part of the external surface of an airplane. Even though, the nominal freezing point
of water is 0 °C, the water content present in the atmosphere does not freeze at that
J. Bruce Ralphin Rose (B)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Anna University Regional Campus, Tirunelveli 627007,
India
e-mail: bruceralphin@gmail.com

1664 J. Bruce Ralphin Rose
point and frequently exists as a “supercooled” liquid [1]. If the surface temperature
of an airplane wing decreases below 0 °C, then the moisture content exists within
the atmosphere is immediately turned into ice or as a secondary consequence of
contact. Considerable quantities of atmospheric water continue to exist in liquid
form well below temperature of 0 °C. The proportion of such supercooled water
decreases as the static air temperature drops by −40 °C (except in cumulonimbus
cloud where Supercooled Liquid Droplets (SLD) may exist at lower temperature) in
solid form. The dimensions of supercooled water droplets and the characteristics of
airflow around the airplane surface decide the scope to which droplets could hit the
surface [2]. At higher cruising speeds, the larger droplets will be broken into smaller
ones upon impingement. The size of water droplet is proportional to the mass of
water it contains and the time required for the physical change of state from liquid
(water) to solid (ice). However, larger droplets do not break into smaller one because
it takes long time to freeze and the releases greater amount of latent heat. Hence,
it forms a surface layer of liquid water prior to this change of state occurs [3]. In
addition, Airframe icing leads to reduction in performance such as loss of lift, altered
controllability, and ultimately subsequent loss of control of the aircraft as highlighted
in Fig. 1.
The size of droplet affects the rate of accretion and the small drops tend to follow
the airflow as it is carried around the wing. Large droplets tend to strike the wing
and spread farther to create a mixed ice environment. When a small droplet hits the
airplane surface, it spreads back over the wing for a nominal distance. Alternatively,
if the airspeed decreases then the number of droplets strike on the airplane surface
in a specific time period increases. The curvature of the wing Leading Edge (LE)
and the LE radius have a significant influence on the rate of droplet catch. Low
thickness airfoils (thin wings) catch more droplets than the thick wing configura-
tions because of the reduced surface pressure difference. The rate of catch is also
connected with the cruising speed of aircraft and the operating altitudes based on
Liquid Water Content (LWC). Hence, in the present article the superhydrophobic
surface is prepared through advanced polymer coatings and its durability is studied
by tribological experiments.
Fig. 1 Different effects of

icing on the airplane
A Feasibility Study of Superhydrophobic Coating … 1665
2 Problem Definition
The ice formation on airframe structures was a crucial reason for various flight crashes
in the history of Aeronautics. The accreted ice on structural skins are occasionally
hard to remove that requires additional surface treatment in the course of maintenance
(De-icing) [1]. However, the de-icing process is conventional and the modern flight
vehicles are equipped with anti-icing systems. To achieve this, additional pressurized
air and pneumatic controls have to be used. It leads to higher fuel consumption than
usual. The performance of conventional ice removing methods also depend on the
type of clouds and/or location of the ice formation. Further, these electrothermal ice
removing methods would initiate thermal stresses on the skin panels that impose
additional maintenance costs. A typical mixed ice formation at the wing LE of a
commercial airplane is presented in Fig. 2.
Pneumatic boot deployment is an alternative ice removing technique that affects
the airplane pitching moment because of the additional power requirement. The bleed
air injection method is unsafe to the structural skin material due to their chemically
reactive nature of hot gasses. However, both the techniques are used only for a
short period in the course the flight and its outcome is a temporary solution [4].
Coating techniques have received greater attention in the recent years to perform the
ice removal from airplane surfaces effectively. The selected coating material should
not be reactive to the aircraft skin materials and dielectric in nature. The different
types of ice accretion on the wing LE (Fig. 3) require special attention towards the
optimization of contact angle at specific chordwise and spanwise locations [5].
Superhydrophobic coating techniques are basically incorporated into the metal
surfaces by biomimetic strategy. It enhances the surfaces with water repellent and
self-cleaning characteristics under the impingement of supercooled droplets. In addi-
tion, the surface roughness has to be increased on a microscopic scale, which makes
higher contact angles between the liquid and metal surfaces. It causes the water
droplets to roll off from the surfaces under the action of meager wind pressure. The
surface coating should be prepared in such a way that the surface roughness and
boundary layer characteristics should be preserved across various conditions. Life
of coating against the flight hours at variable aerodynamic loads is another essential
Fig. 2 Mixed ice formation

on wing LE
Fig. 3 Various types of ice accretion on wing LE
requirement according to the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR). The coated sur-
face should be deliberate, durable, and reliable in addition to that it has to exhibit
optimal tribological behaviors [6]. Hence, the wear and corrosion resistance are also
investigated in the present study.
3 Experimental Method
The experimental part of the investigation was initiated with the Aluminum 6061-T6
material which is extensively used for Aerospace applications [7]. The superhy-
drophobic coating is created on the Al6061-T6 surface using spray coating tech-
nique. Initially, aqueous hydrochloric acid solution is used for etching process of the
plate by inserting the Al6061 plate in a beaker as shown in Fig. 4. Then, the coating
solution was prepared through chemical synthesis methods as follows:
• At first, the aqueous hydrochloric acid and distilled water are taken in a beaker at
the ratio 40:60. The solution is thoroughly mixed using a glass stirring rod.
• Then etching process is done for the plate by prepared solution about 10 min. If
any intermediate surface finish needs to be checked the reaction can be adjusted
by adding more distilled water.
Fig. 4 Etching process

using aqueous HCl
• Afterwards, the plate is taken out and dried for about 72 h prior to the application
of coating material.
After etching process, the coating solution was prepared as follows:
• The silicone and toluene are mixed at different proportions in a beaker to identify
the surface adhesion and smoothness characteristics. After a few water repellent
tests, it was observed that the silicone and toluene combination at 30:70 ratio offers
a smooth profile without any strip off issues.
• The stirring process was done for complete mixing and then the solution is applied
on a plate via spray coating method.
• The coated samples are then dried to form a film prior to their characterization.
The coating morphology is analyzed via Optical Microscope (OM) before and
after the spray coating. Figure 5 shows the uncoated (top) and coated (bottom)
Al6061-T6 plates that are observed through OM. A smooth texture produced by
the Silicone–Toluene combination is observed through OM to ensure the surface
roughness requirements.
Fig. 5 Uncoated and coated Al6061-T6 plate
4.1 Water Repelling Properties
The hydrophobicity of the coated surface is investigated through a water repellency

test. Water content is not easily penetrated through the treated surface obtained with
surface coating [8]. At higher oblique incidents the droplets slipped away without any
external aerodynamic influence. At 0° Angle of Attack (AoA), an aerodynamic force
is applied by blowing the air at 5–10 m/s to study the movement of water droplets on
the coated surface (Fig. 6). The results have been revealed several interesting facts
that the product is simply water repellent or hydrophobic in nature.
Fig. 6 Water repellency experiment
4.2 Conduction Test
Conduction is the mode of transfer of heat by microscopic collisions of particles

and subsequent movement of electrons within a body. Conduction takes place in
all phases of matter including solids, liquids, gasses, and waves. The rate at which
energy is conducted as the heat between two bodies is a function of the tempera-
ture difference (temperature gradient) between the two bodies and the properties of
the conductive medium through which the heat is transferred [9]. In this work, the
conduction characteristics of coating solution prepared by silicon and toluene are
verified to ensure the reactive nature against the charged clouds. Since the solution
is highly adhesive in nature, the traditional conduction meters cannot be utilized for
this purpose. The solution resistance is observed as very high and the solution is
nonconductive in nature.
4.3 Corrosion Test
The coated plate is subjected to a continuous spray of sodium chloride (Nacl2 ) solu-
tion. The PH value of Nacl2 solution is greater than 7 and it is continuously sprayed
over the coated plate from all directions in a closed chamber. The weight balancing
method was used to ensure the corrosion resistance behavior of the coated specimen.
Before the corrosion test, the coated plate weight is 88 g. As the Nacl2 solution is
continuously sprayed for about 5 h and the weight of plate was reduced by 0.2 g
only. Hence, the weight reduction is negligible and it is concluded that the coated
Al6061-T6 has significant corrosion resistance.
Fig. 7 Wear testing machine
4.4 Wear Test Results
The tribological behavior of the superhydrophobic coating was studied through a Pin
on disk (Ducomm) apparatus displayed in Fig. 7. Basically, Wear is the damaging,
gradual removal or deformation of material at solid surfaces [10]. In this work, the
coated plate was subjected to wear test at different input loads.
The aerial view of the wear tester is shown in Fig. 8. Wear is measured in microns
and it is plotted against different time periods at various input loading conditions [11].
Figure 9 shows the wear characteristics of non-coated plate which are subjected to
the load of 3 N. On the other hand, Fig. 10 shows the wear against the time increment
for a coated plate subjected to 3 and 5 N of loads. It is observed that the wear of
coated surface is three times greater than the wear of uncoated Al6061-T6 surface
[12, 13]. From Fig. 11, it is observed that as the input load increases the percentage
of wear also increases in a reasonable extent. As the time increment reaches 1700 s,
the wear increases rapidly for 7 N load case irrespective of the rotational speed. The
peak value of wear is 294 µ which shows the reliability of the coating solution against
the moderate shear stress cases.
The coefficient of friction (µ) has also been computed through the wear testing
and Fig. 12 shows the µ variation for coated and uncoated surfaces at different time
Fig. 8 Top view of the pin on disk apparatus
Fig. 9 Wear versus time increment (uncoated)
Fig. 10 Wear versus time for 3 and 5 N loads (coated)

Fig. 11 Wear versus time for 6, 7 and 10 N loads
Fig. 12 Wear versus time increment (coated) at 6 N
steps at 3 N of the load. The frictional force is continually fluctuating in the range of
1–3 N of load and hence the average should be considered for all computations.
The mean µ value is higher for the hydrophobic surface than the base material as
highlighted in Fig. 12. It is also should be noted that significant influence of fluctua-
tion in the frictional force exists in the wear characteristics [14, 15]. Further, Fig. 13
highlights the influence of fluctuation in frictional force on the surface temperature
distribution for coated and uncoated surfaces at 3 N of load. The mild rubberized
nature of the coated surface has increased friction coefficient and the temperature is
also higher for the coated specimen as indicated in Fig. 13.
Fig. 13 Temperature versus time at 3 N of load
5 Conclusion
The presented work herein is aimed to understand the superhydrophobic nature of

coated metal surfaces and to prepare a mechanically stable superhydrophobic coating
through a cost-effective approach. Thin film of silicone- toluene mixture is success-
fully deposited by spray coating techniques prior to the water repellency experi-
ments. The structural and optical properties are evaluated by wear and contact angle
measurements, respectively. Here, the contact angles (>150°) observed reveal the
superhydrophobic nature of the surface but the morphological properties are nonlin-
ear because of the changes in Fiction coefficient. Then, the contact angle between
the liquid droplet and the surface are changed to evaluate the factors involved in the
spreading of water over the surfaces. Therefore, a surface with higher contact angle
has the potential to minimize the ice accretion, if it has the durability for the oper-
ational life cycle. Different bare and coated Aluminum samples are studied for this
purpose. The morphology is analyzed via optical microscope and water repellent,
conduction, wear, and corrosion tests are conducted. The coated surface is found to
be suitable for achieving less ice accretion on aircraft structures/surfaces without any
uncertainties in the prescribed altitude.
Acknowledgements This research has received specific Grant under DBT Foldscope Project sanc-
tion order No: BT/IN/Indo-US/Foldscope/39/2015 from Govt. Of India, Ministry of Science and
Technology.
References
1. Rose, J.B.R., Hamilton, J.A.J.L.: Experimental investigation on the alternate coating method
for aircraft anti-icing application. J. Aerosp. Eng. 231(3), 407–418 (2016)
2. Zheng, Q., Lu, C.: Size effects of surface roughness to super hydrophobicity. Technical Report
https://core.ac.uk/downloads/pdf (2014)
3. Nie, X., Leyland, A., Song, H.W., Yerokhin, A.L., Dowey, S.J., Matthews, A.: Thickness effects
on the mechanical properties of micro-arc discharge oxide coating on aluminum alloys. Surf.
Coat. Technol. 116–11, 1055–1060 (1999)
4. Oberli, L., Caruso, D., Hall, C., Fabretto, M., Murphy, P.J., Evans, D.: Condensation and
freezing of droplets on super hydrophobic surfaces. Adv. Colloid Interface Sci. 210, 47–57
(2013)
5. Conde, A., Duran, A., de Damborenea, J.J.: Polymeric sol-gel coating as protective layers of
aluminium alloys. Prog. Org. Coat. 46, 288–296 (2003)
6. Schem, M., Schmidt, T., Gerwann, J., Wittmar, M., Veith, M., Thompson, G.E., Molchan, I.S.,
Hashimoto, T.: CeO2- filled sol-gel coating for corrosion protection of AA2024-T3 aluminum
alloy. Corros. Sci. 51, 2304–2315 (2009)
7. Ramanathan, R., Weibel, D.E.: Novel liquid–solid adhesion super hydrophobic surface fab-
ricated using titanium dioxide and trimethoxypropyl silane. Appl. Surf. Sci. 258, 7950–7955
(2012)
8. Ebert, D., Bhushan, B.: Transparent, super hydrophobic and wear-resistance coatings on glass
and polymer substrates using Sio2 , Zno, and ITO nanoparticles. Langmuir 28, 11391–11399
(2012)
9. Liu, H., Wang, X., Ji, H.: Fabrication of lotus-leaf-like super hydrophobic surface via Ni-based
Nano-composite electro-brush plating. Appl. Surf. Sci. 513, 389–395 (2013)
10. Mohamed, A.M.A., Abdullah, A.M., Younan, N.A.: Corrosion behavior of super hydrophobic
surfaces: a review. Arab. J. Chem. 8(6), 749–765 (2014)
11. Bao, X.M., Cui, J.F., Sun, H.X., Liang, W.D., Zhu, Z.: Facile preparation of super hydrophobic
surface based on metal oxide nanoparticles. Arab. J. Chem. 303, 473–480 (2014)
12. Migliaccio, C.P., Lazarus, N.: Fabrication of hierarchically structured super hydrophobic PDMS
surface by Cu and Cuo casting. Appl. Surf. Sci. 353, 269–274 (2015)
13. Mahadik, S.A., Pedraza, F., Vhatkar, R.S.: Silica based superhydrophobic coating for long-term
industrial and domestic applications. J. Alloy. Compd. 663, 487–493 (2016)
14. Liu, Z., Wang, H., Zhang, X., Chongjiang, L.V., Zhao, Z., Wang, C.: Durable and self-heating
super hydrophobic poly vinylidene fluoride(PVDF) composite coating with in-situ gas com-
pensation function. Surf. Coat. Technol. 327, 18–24 (2017)
15. Young, T.J., Jackson, J., Roy, S., Ceylan, H., Sundararajan, S.: Tribological behavior and
wettability of spray-coated super hydrophobic coatings on aluminum. Wear 376–377, 1713–
1719 (2017)
Dynamic Calibration
of Three-Component Accelerometer
Force Balance System Using
Deconvolution
Sushmita Deka , Pallekonda Ramesh Babu and Maneswar Rahang
Abstract Force measurement in an aerodynamic facility performed to understand

the dynamics of the vehicle under actual working conditions. It involves measuring
the forces and moments that act on the body. Dynamic calibration of a force balance
is performed to understand the behaviour of the force balance on the application
of transient loads. It is performed before the actual tests in shock tunnels and wind
tunnels. This paper describes the dynamic calibration of an accelerometer force
balance housed in a hemispherical model made of aluminium. Impulse load is applied
to the model in the three perpendicular directions and a triaxial accelerometer is used
to measure the accelerations in the three directions. The input forces are then predicted
using deconvolution technique. The experimental and simulated accelerations have
been found to have good agreement with each other. The forces predicted using
deconvolution are found to have good accuracy as compared to the actual input
forces.
Keywords Accelerometer force balance · Calibration · Deconvolution
1 Introduction
Force balances are used for force measurements in aerodynamic facilities upon scaled
models in shock tunnels or wind tunnels. Before actual force measurement, calibra-
tion of the force balance is important to understand the behaviour of the force balance
under the action of loads. Static calibration involves the application of a known force
at the tip of the model to understand the linearity and hysteresis characteristics of the
force balance under the action of loads. Dynamic calibration involves the application
of sudden loads to the model to understand the behaviour of the balance under the
action of sudden loads. These calibration techniques are used for both types of force
balances, namely stress wave force balance and accelerometer force balance. The
S. Deka · P. Ramesh Babu (B) · M. Rahang

e-mail: pallekonda@nitm.ac.in
S. Deka
e-mail: sushmitadeka5@gmail.com
1676 S. Deka et al.
stress wave force balance is based on the principle of propagation and reflection of
stress waves within the model and support structure on application of a load on the
model. The vibration of the model and supporting sting due to application of load is
measured by strain gauges. The accelerometer force balance is based on the principle
that the model and support acts as a spring mass system and the model is kept in
a free-flying condition during the application of load. Accelerometers are used to
measure the model acceleration due to application of load.
Accelerometer force balances were proposed by Vidal in 1956 [1]. Menezes et al.
[2] measured the drag force on a blunt cone model having forward-facing aerospikes
using an accelerometer balance system. Sahoo et al. [3] designed and fabricated a
three-component accelerometer balance system to measure the drag force, lift force,
and pitching moment over blunt bodies for flows at Mach number 5.75. Sahoo et al.
[4] used an accelerometer balance system to measure the drag force on a blunt nose
triangular plate model for flows having Mach number 5.75. Kulkarni and Reddy
[5] studied the counterflow drag reduction technique on a blunt cone model for
hypersonic flows using an accelerometer balance system.
The dynamic calibration of an accelerometer balance system is performed by
applying impulse loads to the tip of the model and measuring the system response
with the help of sensors to find the impulse response function. The input forces are
then predicted using the impulse response function. Saravanan et al. [6] studied the
dynamic calibration of the accelerometer balance system by applying impulse force
using an impact hammer and using deconvolution to obtain the impulse response
function. Similarly, Satheesh and Jagadeesh [7] and Kulkarni and Reddy [8] cali-
brated the accelerometer balance system using an impulse force and predicted the
forces on various models using deconvolution. The dynamic calibration of a multi-
component accelerometer force balance was performed by Singh et al. [9] in which
impulse loads were applied at different positions of a triangular plate model to find
the impulse response functions for predicting different forces using deconvolution
technique.
Although the dynamic calibration of an accelerometer force balance has been per-
formed by researchers, the dynamic calibration using a hemispherical model has not
been studied so far. Also, the free-flying condition was obtained using rubber bushes.
In this paper, the dynamic calibration of an accelerometer force balance is performed
using a hemispherical model made of aluminium by applying an impulse load. The
free-flying condition was obtained using rubber surrounding the supporting rod on all
sides and fixed to the inner surface of the model. The accelerations obtained from the
experimental calibration is compared with the accelerations obtained from ANSYS
simulations. The prediction of the input forces from the output of the accelerome-
ters is obtained using deconvolution and the predicted forces are compared with the
actual input forces.
Dynamic Calibration of Three-Component Accelerometer … 1677
The accelerometer force balance used for calibration consists of a hemispherical

model, supporting rod and neoprene rubber having a Young’s modulus of 0.3 MPa.
The aluminium model is supported on the central sting with the help of two rubber
rings to attain the free-flying condition of the model so that there is no restraint during
the application of load. A triaxial accelerometer of sensitivity 1.02 mV/(m/s2 ) is used
to measure the model accelerations which is placed at the inner tip of the model. The
impulse forces are applied on the model at three different locations along the X, Y
and Z directions using an impact hammer of sensitivity 11.2 mV/N. The position
of application of the forces on the model and the position of the accelerometers are
shown in Fig. 1.
The test model used is a hemispherical model made of aluminium having a mass
of 0.36 kg. The length of the model is 100 mm having an internal diameter of 40 mm
and an external diameter of 60 mm. The triaxial accelerometer and impact hammer
are connected to the signal conditioner which acts as a power source as well as
filters the signals obtained from the accelerometer and the impact hammer using
BM connector (BMC). The output from the impact hammer and accelerometer are
connected from the signal conditioner to the digital multichannel oscilloscope for the
display and reading of the experimental data. The hemispherical model along with
the accelerometer force balance is shown in Fig. 2. The set-up used for conducting
the calibration experiment is shown in Fig. 3. Finite element simulations has been
performed in ANSYS 18.0 to validate the experimental results. The meshed model
is shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 1 Position of forces and

accelerometers in the model
Fig. 2 Hemispherical model

1678 S. Deka et al.
Fig. 4 Hemispherical model used for simulation
3.1 Experiments on Hemispherical Model with TriAxial

Accelerometer at the Tip
The triaxial accelerometer is fixed at the inner tip of the model and the forces were
applied in the X, Y and Z-directions. The acceleration time history measured during
the experiment when the force is applied axially at the tip is shown in Fig. 5. The
forces were applied in two ranges; 20 and 40 N. It is observed that on applying
the force in the axial direction, the acceleration in the X-direction is higher and the
acceleration in the other two directions are much lower than that in X-direction. This
is due to the fact that a maximum proportion of the input force acts in the X-direction
since the force is applied in the X-direction.
The acceleration signals obtained from the experiment when the force is applied
in the Y-direction are shown in Fig. 6. It is observed that the acceleration in the
Y-direction is higher and the acceleration in the X and Z-directions are lower than
that in Y-direction. The acceleration in the X-direction is found to be negligible on
applying force in the Y-direction.
The acceleration signals obtained from the experiment when the force is applied
in the Z-direction is shown in Fig. 7. It is observed that the acceleration in the Z-
direction is higher and the acceleration in the X and Y-directions are lower than
that in Z-direction. The acceleration in the X-direction is found to be negligible on
applying force in the Z-direction. From the acceleration signals, it is observed that
the maximum acceleration is obtained in the direction of the input force.
3.2 Finite Element Simulations of Three-Component

Accelerometer Force Balance Using ANSYS
The calibration experiments were validated using the accelerations obtained from
simulations performed using ANSYS by applying the same force as applied in the
experiments. A hemispherical model similar to the experimental model made of
aluminium was modelled in CREO and simulations were carried out using transient
structural analysis in ANSYS WORKBENCH. Hexahedral elements were used for
the simulation and the number of elements in the hemispherical model was 8141.
Convergence test has been performed on the hemispherical model with 8141 elements
and 26,339 elements and an error of 0.52% in the acceleration of the two cases has
been found. The acceleration signals obtained from the convergence test on using
8141 elements and 26,339 elements are shown in Fig. 8.
The comparison of the experimental and simulated accelerations in three direc-
tions at the tip and the force is applied in X, Y and Z-directions are shown in Figs. 5, 6
and 7, respectively. The acceleration obtained from simulations in an axial direction
when the force is applied axially is found to agree well with the experimental accel-
eration. But as the applied force increases, the difference between the experimental
Fig. 5 a Experimental and simulation acceleration signals with force axially at tip (force = 20.7 N).
b Experimental and simulation acceleration signals with force axially at tip (force = 40.6 N)
1680 S. Deka et al.
Fig. 6 a Experimental and simulation acceleration signals with force in Y-direction (force =
21.3 N). b Experimental and simulation acceleration signals with force in Y-direction (force =
43.3 N)
Fig. 7 a Experimental and simulation acceleration signals with force in Z-direction (force =
22.4 N). b Experimental and simulation acceleration signals with force in Z-direction (force =
40.1 N)
and simulation acceleration increases. However, the accelerations in the other two
directions are found to be negligible from the simulation results. Similar is the case
when the force is applied in the Y and Z-directions. The accelerations in the direction
in which the force is applied agree well with the experimental results. But the accel-
erations in the other two directions are negligible as obtained from the simulations
(Fig. 8).
Fig. 8 Acceleration and

force signals obtained using
8141 elements and 26,339
elements (force = 20.7 N)
3.3 Force Prediction Using Deconvolution
The force and acceleration data measured from the calibration experiments were used
to obtain the transfer function and in turn used to predict the applied force applied
on the model using deconvolution technique. Deconvolution is a technique that uses
fast Fourier transform to predict the forces by converting the signals from the time
domain to frequency domain. It is used to find the impulse response function which
is then used to predict the input forces. If the model and the support structure acts
as a linear system, then the relationship between the input and the output can be
expressed as
t
y(t) = g(t − τ ).u(τ )dτ (1)
0
where y(t) is the output and u(t) is the input. The term g(t−τ ) is called the impulse
response function that gives the relation between the input and the output. From the
impulse response function, the input forces are predicted from the output responses.
The predicted force is compared with the actual input force applied during the exper-
iments. The actual and predicted forces obtained from deconvolution when forces
are applied in X, Y and Z-direction is shown in Figs. 9, 10 and 11, respectively. The
actual and predicted forces are found to agree well with each other for forces applied
in all the three directions. The maximum accuracy obtained from the predicted forces
using deconvolution technique is found to be 99.14% and the minimum accuracy is
found to be 88.9%.
1682 S. Deka et al.
Fig. 9 Actual and predicted

forces with force axially at
tip
(a) Force= 23.5 N (b) Force= 44.0 N
Fig. 10 Actual and

predicted forces with force
applied in Y-direction
Fig. 11 Actual and

predicted forces with force
applied in Z-direction

4 Conclusion
The dynamic calibration of a three-component accelerometer balance has been per-

formed on a hemispherical model using triaxial accelerometer fixed at the inner tip of
the model and the accelerations were validated with the accelerations obtained from
ANSYS simulations. The prediction of the input forces has been performed using
deconvolution technique. The calibration was performed by applying forces in the X,
Y and Z-directions and the accelerations were obtained in the X, Y and Z-directions.
The accelerations in the direction in which the load is applied are found to be higher
than the accelerations in the other two directions because the maximum force is
transmitted in the direction of the applied force. The experimental acceleration was
found to agree well with the simulated acceleration obtained. The force predicted
using deconvolution technique was found to agree well with the input forces. The
calibration technique used in this paper can also be extended to other models and
can be compared with the calibration results of a stress wave force balance.
References
1. Vidal, R.J.: Model instrumentation techniques for heat transfer and force measurements in a
hypersonic shock tunnel. Technical report, Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory (1956)
2. Menezes, V., Saravanan, S., Jagadeesh, G., Reddy, K.P.J.: Experimental investigations of hyper-
sonic flow over highly blunted cones with aerospikes. AIAA J. 41, 1955–1966 (2003). https://
doi.org/10.2514/2.1885
3. Sahoo, N., Mahapatra, D., Jagadeesh, G., Gopalakrishnan, S., Reddy, K.: An accelerometer bal-
ance system for measurement of aerodynamic force coefficients over blunt bodies in a hypersonic
shock tunnel. Meas. Sci. Technol. 14(587), 260 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-0233/14/
3/303
4. Sahoo, N., Mahapatra, D., Jagadeesh, G., Gopalakrishnan, S., Reddy, K.: Design and analysis
of a flat accelerometer-based force balance system for shock tunnel testing. Measurement 40,
93–106 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2006.03.016
5. Kulkarni, V., Reddy, K.: Enhancement in counterflow drag reduction by supersonic jet in high
enthalpy flows. Phys. Fluids 20, 016103 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2813042
6. Saravanan, S., Jagadeesh, G., Reddy, K.: Aerodynamic force measurement using 3-component
accelerometer force balance system in a hypersonic shock tunnel. Shock Waves 18, 425–435
(2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00193-008-0172-8
7. Satheesh, K., Jagadeesh, G.: Analysis of an internally mountable accelerometer balance system
for use with non-isotropic models in shock tunnels. Measurement 42, 856–862 (2009). https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2009.01.010
8. Kulkarni, V., Reddy, K.: Accelerometer-based force balance for high enthalpy facilities.
J. Aerosp. Eng. 23, 276–280 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1061/%28ASCE%29AS.1943-5525.
0000040
9. Singh, P., Trivedi, S., Menezes, V., Hosseini, H.: Dynamic calibration and validation of an
accelerometer force balance for hypersonic lifting models. Sci. World J. 2014, 2014 (2014).
https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/813759
Author Index
A Bharti, Alka, 1393

Abhishek, Kumar, 515 Bhaumik, Swapan, 949
Acharya, Anil R., 949 Bhowmick, Debayan, 119
Ali, Sk. Md., 1013 Bhowmick, Souradeep, 963
Alok, Anupam, 429 Bhowmik, Sumit, 373
Anand, Ravi, 907 Bhuyan, Manash, 385
Anand, S., 51 Bhuyan, Shikha, 797
Anish, R., 1139 Biswal, Bibhuti Bhusan, 217, 227, 235,
Arora, Gaurav, 205, 245 1475, 1497, 1521
Avinash, P., 505 Biswas, Agnimitra, 1253, 1315
Azam, Syed Mohd, 671 Biswas, G., 65
Biswas, Pankaj, 641
Bopche, Santosh, 1281
B Borah, Anil, 385, 397
Baghel, Yatish Kumar, 85 Bose, Samir Kumar, 627
Balabantaray, Bunil Kumar, 1521 Bose, Tanmoy, 617, 1163
Banerjee, Sanjib, 271 Bruce Ralphin Rose, J., 1663
Banik, Dipraj, 227, 235 Buradi, Abdulrajak, 107
Barad, Digvijaysinh, 699
Bardhan, Prasanta Kumar, 627
Barman, Anwesa, 539, 561 C
Barman, H., 1001 Chandramohan, Sujatha, 1567
Barman, Rabindra Nath, 1085 Chandra, P., 753
Baroi, Binoy Kumar, 589 Chandrasekaran, M., 257, 333
Baruah, Manish, 397 Chatterjee, Amrit, 717
Baruah, Monoj, 397 Chatterjee, Dipankar, 1643
Barve, Sachin Suresh, 295 Chatterjee, P. K., 753, 777
Behera, Ranjan K., 1151 Chattopadhyay, Himadri, 1303
Bezbaruah, P. J., 1045 Chavda, S. D., 97
Bhadra, Rakesh, 271 Chhotray, Animesh, 1547
Bhagwat, Virendra Vishnu, 1021 Choudhury, M. Roy, 487
Bhalla, Suresh, 1173 Choudhury, Nabajit Dev, 1437
Bhandari, Prabhakar, 879 Choudhury, Prasanta Kumar, 1425
Bhanja, Dipankar, 41, 145, 1447
Bhar, A., 321
Bhardwaj, Suraj, 1281 D
Bharti, Ajaya, 661, 671, 677 Dalal, A., 65
Mechanical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0124-1
1686 Author Index
Das, Anil Kumar, 467 Gupta, Abhisek, 1593

Das, Anshuman, 217 Gupta, Arpan, 1099
Das, Arupjyoti, 797 Gupta, Chanchal, 1447
Das, Biplab, 1021, 1055, 1227, 1315 Gupta, Raghavendra, 963
Das, Dudul, 1331 Gupta, Rajat, 729, 1217
Dasgupta, Debayan, 41
Das, Harish Chandra, 941, 975, 987, 1013,
1547 H
Dash, Pusparaj, 1203 Halder, B., 1555
Dash, S. M., 97 Haloi, Prabin, 709
Das, Koushik, 51, 857, 963 Hanzel, Ondrej, 459
Das, Manas, 429, 475, 539, 549, 561 Haq, Moinul, 1173
Das, Ranjan, 1351 Harikrishnan, S., 869
Das, R. S., 1001, 1045 Hazarika, Priyanka, 439
Das, Sanghamitra, 359
Das, Uddipta, 1425
Datta, Anindya, 1533 J
Deb, Agradeep, 397 Jambukar, Sagar, 601
Debnath, Biplab Kumar, 1227, 1241, 1267, Jogi, Ajith, 1567
1315 Joshi, Shrikrishna N., 347, 359
Debnath, Kishore, 487, 505, 1163, 1227,
1267
K
Debnath, Tapas, 527
Kalita, Chinmoy S., 439
Deepak, B. B. V. L., 1475, 1497
Kalita, Pankaj, 1331
Deka, H., 65
Kant, R., 75
Deka, Sushmita, 1675
Kar, Arnav, 397
Deshpande, Nishikant V., 1601
Karmakar, M. K., 753, 777
Devarasiddappa, D., 257
Karmakar, Sujit, 907
Dev, D. Sam Dayala, 549
Kar, Siddhartha, 589
Devi, N., 321
Kar, S. P., 785
Devi, Sangjukta, 1385
Kashyap, Abhishek Kumar, 1459
Dey, Santanu, 1643
Kataki, Rupam, 1437
Dutta, Jaideep, 809
Khamari, Bijaya Kumar, 1521
Dutta, Pranesh, 561 Khare, Navneet, 649
Dutta, Ravi shankar, 271 Kharwar, Prakhar Kumar, 515
Dutta, Subhrajit, 1055 Krishna Enni, 549
Dwivedi, Krishna Kant, 753, 777 Kumar, Abhinav, 561
Dwivedy, S. K., 1183 Kumar, Amit, 1373
Kumar, Amrit, 21
Kumar, Anjani, 467
G Kumar, Arvind, 449
Gajghate, Sameer S., 949 Kumar, Chandan, 475
Ganapathy, T., 1291 Kumar, C. S., 1117
Ganguli, S., 753 Kumar, Deepak, 671
Gautam, Sachin Singh, 1071 Kumar, Gaurav, 373
George, Arun, 1071 Kumar, Jitendra, 359
Giri, Asis, 687 Kumar, Jogendra, 515
Gogoi, Sanjib, 271 Kumar, Kandula Eswara Sai, 1511
Gogoi, Tapan Kumar, 709 Kumar, Naveen, 505, 661, 671, 677
Goswami, Pinku Kumar, 1437 Kumar, Neeraj, 1411, 1613
Goswami, Rahul, 3 Kumar, N. Sendhil, 1291
Gulia, Preeti, 1099 Kumar, Priyadarshi Biplab, 1547
Gunji, Balamurali, 1475, 1497 Kumar, Rahul, 373
Author Index 1687
Kumar, Rajesh, 907 Mundhra, Raghav, 763

Kumar, Rakesh, 699 Muni, Manoj Kumar, 1547
Kumar, Ritesh, 845, 931 Murugan, T., 1643
Kumar, Sunil, 171, 185 Muthukumar, P., 1385
Kumar, Vikas, 13
Kundu, Arnab, 627
Kundu, Balaram, 809, 893, 1033, 1361 N
Kuriachen, Basil, 419, 575 Naik, Sachin Shankarrao, 295
Naqvi, Tabassum, 1173
Nath, Sujit, 41, 145, 1447
L Nayak, Dipesh Kumar, 1203
Ladha, Anjali, 397 Nemalipuri, Pruthiviraj, 975, 987
Lagaza, Kevin Pirewa, 1459
Laishram, Romesh, 1303
Layek, Apurba, 1373 P
Panda, Surya Narayan, 1521
Lua, K. B., 97
Pandey, Anish, 1459, 1487
Pandey, Krishna Kant, 1547
Pandey, Krishna Murari, 823, 835, 1601
M Pandey, R., 321
Mahakud, Jayanarayan, 1361 Pandey, Sunil, 307
Mahalingam, Arun, 107 Pandian, S. Paul, 1071
Mahanta, Golak Bihari, 1475, 1497 Parhi, Dayal R., 1547
Mahapatra, R. N., 217 Parida, S. K., 1151
Mahato, Lukesh Kumar, 3 Patel, S. K., 217
Maisanam, A., 1253 Patel, Vivek Kumar, 85, 1581
Maity, S., 31, 75 Pathak, Himanshu, 159, 205, 245
Maity, Saikat Ranjan, 185 Pathak, Manabendra, 1339
Maity, Subhendu, 1601, 1613 Pati, Sukumar, 119
Majhi, Tanmoy, 1033 Patnaik, Lokeswar, 171, 185
Majumder, Prasanta, 729 Patowari, Promod Kumar, 527, 589
Majumder, Pritam, 1601 Patra, R., 1013
Mandal, Bijan Kumar, 717 Patra, Suprakash, 627
Mandal, Deepak Kumar, 3, 13, 21 Pattanayak, Binayak, 941
Mandal, Gaurav Kumar, 1533 Paul, Bireswar, 921, 1393
Mandal, Pranibesh, 1533 Philip, Jibin T., 575
Manjeet, Keshav, 1191 Podder, B., 1253
Manjhi, Sanjeev Kumar, 699 Prabhansu, 753, 777
Mathew, Jose, 419, 575 Pradhan, Malay Kumar, 975
Mawsor, Emanuel Khraw, 1411 Prajapati, Yogesh Kumar, 879
Mazarbhuiya, Rashed Mustafa, 497 Pramanick, A. K., 777
Meher, Prabina Kumar, 1267 Prasad, B. V. S. S. S., 131
Mishra, Abhishek, 1393 Prasad, Vishnu, 1581
Mishra, Laxman, 729, 1217 Pundhir, Nayan, 159, 245
Modi, Yashwant Kumar, 649
Mohanty, A. R., 1117, 1127
Mohanty, S., 1183 R
Mohapatra, Siba Shankar, 941 Rahang, Maneswar, 497, 1675
Mohapatra, Siddhant, 1447 Rahman, Syed Mujibur, 1303
Mondal, Arpan Kumar, 515 Rahul, 227, 235
Mondal, Nitesh, 1593 Rai, Ram Naresh, 449
Mondal, Partha Kumar, 1373 Rajbongshi, Sanjib Kr, 407, 459
Mookherjee, Saikat, 1627 Rajwade, Sourabh, 1487
Mukhopadhyay, Achintya, 763 Rakshit, Sourav, 1511
1688 Author Index
Ramesh Babu, Pallekonda, 1675 Singh, Gurdeep, 307

Rana, Subhas Chandra, 1085 Singh, Maibam Romio, 687
Randive, Pitambar R., 119, 823, 835 Singh, Manoj Kumar, 159
Ranjan, Alok, 857 Singh, Meinam Annebushan, 407, 459
Rath, Asita Kumar, 1547 Singh, Pawan K., 845, 931
Rathore, Rahul, 467 Singh, Ramesh Kumar, 13
Rout, Amruta, 1475, 1497 Singh, Rana Kumar, 467
Roy, Krishna, 687, 1055 Singh, Shivendra P., 1241
Roy, Sankar K., 1117, 1127 Singh, Vasujeet, 987
Roy, Subhankar, 617, 1163 Singh, Vivek, 333
Roy, Sujit, 1315 Sinha, Abhijit, 729, 741, 785, 1217
Sinha, Himanshu Ranjan, 227, 235
Sujatha, C., 601, 1109, 1191
S Sukumar, S., 785
Saha, Dipankar, 741 Suman, Saurav, 641
Saha, Rana, 1593 Sundararajan, T., 1071
Saha, Sujit, 893 Suneetha, Lakka, 823, 835
Sahoo, J., 1013 Suresh, Kote, 1109
Sahoo, Niranjan, 1385 Sutar, Sohag, 1533
Sahoo, S., 31
Sahu, Pradip Kumar, 1521
Sahu, Susant Kumar, 1291 T
Saikia, Arnab, 385 Tamuli, B. R., 145
Sajgalik, Pavol, 459 Tiwari, Akhilesh Kumar, 1487
Salony, Kitty, 1547 Tiwari, Gyanendra, 1581
Samanta, Sutanu, 333 Tiwari, Shaligram, 869
Sanyal, Dipankar, 1627 Tiwary, Badyanath, 845, 931
Sarkar, Bikash Kumar, 1045, 1411, 1613, Tripathi, Hariom, 661, 671, 677
1627
Sarma, Deba Kumar, 407, 459
Sarmah, Pallab, 589 V
Sarma, Upasana, 347 Varier, Vinay Jayashankar, 295
Saxena, Ankit, 281 Vashum, Mashun, 617
Saxena, Ravindra K., 281, 307 Verma, Manish, 1339
Shankar, K., 1109, 1139 Verma, Nishant, 159
Sharan, Anand M., 1339 Verma, Rajesh Kumar, 515
Sharma, Gorang, 649 Vinod, J., 1627
Sharma, K. K., 1253 Vishal, Ankur, 677
Sharma, Kunal, 539 Vishwakarma, Suresh, 1227, 1267
Sharma, N. Gireesh, 1071
Sharma, Nitin, 1151
Sharma, Praveen, 1085 Y
Sharma, S., 51 Yadav, Dhananjay Singh, 921
Shukla, S. N., 1581 Yadav, L. B., 1555
Sikder, S., 1183 Yadav, Surender Singh, 857
Singh, Abhishek, 21, 505
Singh, Alankrita, 131
Singh, Ambrish, 539 Z
Singh, Gaurav, 1351 Zafar, Sunny, 159, 245

Advances in Mechanical Engineering: B. B. Biswal Bikash Kumar Sarkar P. Mahanta Editors

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Advances in Mechanical Engineering: B. B. Biswal Bikash Kumar Sarkar P. Mahanta Editors

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11236

ISSN 2195-4356 ISSN 2195-4364 (electronic)

The International Conference on Recent Innovations and Developments in

Shillong, India B. B. Biswal

This volume comprises the proceedings of the ‘International Conference on

A Study on the Wake Regime Control and Drag Reduction Using

Materials and Manufacturing

Process Parameters Optimization of EDMed Surface

Synthesis and Responsive Study of Tensile and Flexural Properties

Parametric Study of Photochemical Machining of Aluminium

Numerical Study of Welding Distortion in SAW Welded Creep

Hydrodynamics of a CFB Gasiﬁer with Two Different Cross

Numerical Analysis of Different Arrangement of Square Pin-Fin

CFD-Based Study on Thermal and Fluid Flow Dynamics Due

Vibration and Acoustics

Numerical Assessment of Fatigue Life for Concrete Column . . . . . . . . 1173

Feasibility of Wind Energy as Power Generation Source at Shillong

A Numerical Study on Microchannel Cooling

Robotics and Mechatronics

Zero-Speed Off-tracking Analysis of Tractor-Semitrailer with Split

Part VIII Experimental Aerodynamics

Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1685

Prof. B. B. Biswal is currently the Director of National Institute of Technology

Dr. Bikash Kumar Sarkar is currently an assistant professor at the Department of

Prof. P. Mahanta is currently the Director of National Institute of Technology

Rahul Goswami, Lukesh Kumar Mahato and Deepak Kumar Mandal

Keywords Drop shedding · Wettability · Shear flow · Contact angle · Deformation

A Frontal area of the drop (m2 )

R. Goswami · L. K. Mahato · D. K. Mandal (B)

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 3

γ Surface tension (N/m)

2 Experimental Setup and Methodology

Fig. 1 Schematic showing

Table 1 Static contact angles

v = −7.75 × 10−7 t 3 + 0.00021t 2 − 0.0143t + 0.27 (1)

Fig. 2 Variation of the shear

Fig. 3 Forces acting on a

4 Results and Discussion

Fig. 5 The variation of the

Fig. 6 The variation of the

Fig. 7 The variation of the

Vikas Kumar, Ramesh Kumar Singh and Deepak Kumar Mandal

Keywords Drop impact · Spreading factor · Weber number · Wettability

V. Kumar · R. K. Singh · D. K. Mandal (B)

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 13

Dmax Maximum diameter (mm)

2 Experimental Setup and Methodology

Fig. 1 Schematic showing

3 Result and Discussion

Fig. 5 The variation of the 3.5

Table 1 The physical

βmax = 0.932 We0.22 (2)

Amrit Kumar, Abhishek Singh and Deepak Kumar Mandal

Keywords Drop impact · Wettability · Successive drops · Maximum spread

D0 Pre-impact diameter (mm)

A. Kumar · A. Singh · D. Kumar Mandal (B)

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 21

2 Experimental Setup and Methodology

Fig. 1 Schematic showing

3 Results and Discussion

S. Sahoo and S. Maity

Keywords CFD · Turbulence · NACA 0012 · ANSYS FLUENT