Pub Date : 2021-07-27DOI: 10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525737
A. Dassanayake, Y. Fujii, A. Thirukumaran
Fluid in porous rocks affect the performance of rock structures and thus it is important to determine the effective stress in wide range of rock engineering applications. In this study, Bibai Sandstone, a hard-clastic rock, was subjected to multistage and single stage triaxial tests to determine the coefficients of effective stress corresponding to peak and residual strength states ($alpha_{-text{Peak}}$ and $alpha_{-text{Residual}}$) through, Modified Failure Envelope Method (MFEM). The coefficients of effective stress of intact and fractured Bibai Sandstone specimens ($alpha_{-text{Biot}^{prime}mathrm{s}}$ and $alpha_{-text{Fractured}}$) were determined using hydrostatic compression test and compared with the values obtained for $alpha_{-text{Peak}}$ and $alpha_{-text{Residual}}$ by MFEM. Microstructure analysis was carried out on the images of blue resin impregnated thin sections using Imagej software and a post-compression macrostructure analysis was performed using micro-focus xray computed tomography (CT). $alpha_{-text{Biot}^{prime}mathrm{s}}$ and $alpha_{-text{Peak}}$ decreased with increasing confining pressure which was related to the microstructure of the rocks. Further, the applicability of MFEM were discussed.
{"title":"Effective Stress Coefficient through MFEM and Confining Pressure Dependency of Bibai Sandstone","authors":"A. Dassanayake, Y. Fujii, A. Thirukumaran","doi":"10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525737","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525737","url":null,"abstract":"Fluid in porous rocks affect the performance of rock structures and thus it is important to determine the effective stress in wide range of rock engineering applications. In this study, Bibai Sandstone, a hard-clastic rock, was subjected to multistage and single stage triaxial tests to determine the coefficients of effective stress corresponding to peak and residual strength states ($alpha_{-text{Peak}}$ and $alpha_{-text{Residual}}$) through, Modified Failure Envelope Method (MFEM). The coefficients of effective stress of intact and fractured Bibai Sandstone specimens ($alpha_{-text{Biot}^{prime}mathrm{s}}$ and $alpha_{-text{Fractured}}$) were determined using hydrostatic compression test and compared with the values obtained for $alpha_{-text{Peak}}$ and $alpha_{-text{Residual}}$ by MFEM. Microstructure analysis was carried out on the images of blue resin impregnated thin sections using Imagej software and a post-compression macrostructure analysis was performed using micro-focus xray computed tomography (CT). $alpha_{-text{Biot}^{prime}mathrm{s}}$ and $alpha_{-text{Peak}}$ decreased with increasing confining pressure which was related to the microstructure of the rocks. Further, the applicability of MFEM were discussed.","PeriodicalId":6855,"journal":{"name":"2021 Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon)","volume":"143 1","pages":"409-414"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86581195","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-27DOI: 10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525693
Asanka S. Rodrigo, Ama Mandasmitha Ranawaka, Mewan Abeywickrama, Devin Akila Malawara Arachchi
Demand Response is utilized around the globe to alleviate the peak demand economically and to manage reliability-compromising emergencies in power systems. Sri Lanka requires an effective Demand Response system to cater the peak demand more economically than dispatching expensive thermal power plants, while minimizing sub-optimal consumption patterns exhibited by consumers during peak demand periods. Therefore, this paper is focused on the development of an algorithm for an Automated Demand Response system for large facilities, which is customized to suit the requirements of the Sri Lankan power system. Under this system, both the utility organization and the consumers are expected to be mutually benefited. This algorithm consists of three levels: deciding on whether or not to execute an Automated Demand Response event for a particular time interval, determining the optimum facility-level demand reductions, and determining the optimum appliance- level demand reductions. Mixed integer nonlinear programming and a heuristic method are used to solve the optimization problems in this algorithm. Results of this algorithm are analysed using a miniature model of the Automated Demand Response system, consisting of fifteen power plants and five industrial and general-purpose facilities.
{"title":"A Mixed Integer Nonlinear Programming Model and Heuristic Solutions for an Automated Demand Response System for Large Facilities","authors":"Asanka S. Rodrigo, Ama Mandasmitha Ranawaka, Mewan Abeywickrama, Devin Akila Malawara Arachchi","doi":"10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525693","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525693","url":null,"abstract":"Demand Response is utilized around the globe to alleviate the peak demand economically and to manage reliability-compromising emergencies in power systems. Sri Lanka requires an effective Demand Response system to cater the peak demand more economically than dispatching expensive thermal power plants, while minimizing sub-optimal consumption patterns exhibited by consumers during peak demand periods. Therefore, this paper is focused on the development of an algorithm for an Automated Demand Response system for large facilities, which is customized to suit the requirements of the Sri Lankan power system. Under this system, both the utility organization and the consumers are expected to be mutually benefited. This algorithm consists of three levels: deciding on whether or not to execute an Automated Demand Response event for a particular time interval, determining the optimum facility-level demand reductions, and determining the optimum appliance- level demand reductions. Mixed integer nonlinear programming and a heuristic method are used to solve the optimization problems in this algorithm. Results of this algorithm are analysed using a miniature model of the Automated Demand Response system, consisting of fifteen power plants and five industrial and general-purpose facilities.","PeriodicalId":6855,"journal":{"name":"2021 Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon)","volume":"62 1","pages":"83-88"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80067814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-27DOI: 10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525787
Malindu Ehelagastenna, Ishan Sumanasekara, Hishan Wickramasinghe, I. Nissanka, Gayani K. Nandasiri
This paper discusses the development of an alternating pressure overlay designed with miniaturized air cells for the treatment of pressure ulcers. Pressure ulcers can be identified as a skin deformity due to application of prolonged pressure on the skin causing improper blood circulation. The alternating behaviour of the air cells aid in pressure relieving, thus provide better blood circulation to carry vital nutrients to the tissues while reducing formation of pressure ulceration. The proposed design miniaturizes the air cell sizes and establish an optimum air cell size to provide high-resolution pressure therapy in comparison to existing designs. This optimum air cell size, geometry along with its 3D deformation profiles were analysed using finite element method. The findings of the numerical simulations concluded that individual cell design should contain a minimum cell membrane thickness of 5mm and an overlay height of 185mm to withstand a maximum pressure of 60mmHg. Optimum pressure pattern of the alternating pressure therapy was selected as 1-in-4 pressure pattern, where the pressure overlay was divided into five pressure zones to actuate and map the interface pressures required. The control system was designed to provide required alternating pressure for patients by detecting the high pressure zones.
{"title":"Design of an Alternating Pressure Overlay for the Treatment of Pressure Ulcers","authors":"Malindu Ehelagastenna, Ishan Sumanasekara, Hishan Wickramasinghe, I. Nissanka, Gayani K. Nandasiri","doi":"10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525787","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525787","url":null,"abstract":"This paper discusses the development of an alternating pressure overlay designed with miniaturized air cells for the treatment of pressure ulcers. Pressure ulcers can be identified as a skin deformity due to application of prolonged pressure on the skin causing improper blood circulation. The alternating behaviour of the air cells aid in pressure relieving, thus provide better blood circulation to carry vital nutrients to the tissues while reducing formation of pressure ulceration. The proposed design miniaturizes the air cell sizes and establish an optimum air cell size to provide high-resolution pressure therapy in comparison to existing designs. This optimum air cell size, geometry along with its 3D deformation profiles were analysed using finite element method. The findings of the numerical simulations concluded that individual cell design should contain a minimum cell membrane thickness of 5mm and an overlay height of 185mm to withstand a maximum pressure of 60mmHg. Optimum pressure pattern of the alternating pressure therapy was selected as 1-in-4 pressure pattern, where the pressure overlay was divided into five pressure zones to actuate and map the interface pressures required. The control system was designed to provide required alternating pressure for patients by detecting the high pressure zones.","PeriodicalId":6855,"journal":{"name":"2021 Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon)","volume":"4 1","pages":"202-207"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80503740","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-27DOI: 10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525776
Gayani Rajapaksha, S. Bandara
One aspect of measure of effectiveness of two-lane road is freedom of passing manoeuvre. Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) use percent time spent following (PTSF) as a measure to evaluate freedom of passing manoeuvre. Several researchers found that PTSF is incompatible with nonhomogeneous traffic conditions. Different follower-related performance measures, namely, percent followers (PF), follower density (FD) and the number of followers as a proportion of capacity (NFPC), Percent Impeded (PI), have been evaluated and a new measure called Stripped Based Follower Density (SFD) is introduced considering driving behavior of heterogeneous traffic condition. Data is collected from 12 two lane roads in Sri Lanka using a 2.5 second time gap suggested as driver perception -reaction time by AASSHTO to identify followers. LOS threshold values for SFD were introduced using K-mean clustering technique and compared with HCM LOS threshold.
{"title":"Assessment of Measure of Effectiveness of Two-lane Roads Under Non-homogeneous Traffic Conditions","authors":"Gayani Rajapaksha, S. Bandara","doi":"10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525776","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525776","url":null,"abstract":"One aspect of measure of effectiveness of two-lane road is freedom of passing manoeuvre. Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) use percent time spent following (PTSF) as a measure to evaluate freedom of passing manoeuvre. Several researchers found that PTSF is incompatible with nonhomogeneous traffic conditions. Different follower-related performance measures, namely, percent followers (PF), follower density (FD) and the number of followers as a proportion of capacity (NFPC), Percent Impeded (PI), have been evaluated and a new measure called Stripped Based Follower Density (SFD) is introduced considering driving behavior of heterogeneous traffic condition. Data is collected from 12 two lane roads in Sri Lanka using a 2.5 second time gap suggested as driver perception -reaction time by AASSHTO to identify followers. LOS threshold values for SFD were introduced using K-mean clustering technique and compared with HCM LOS threshold.","PeriodicalId":6855,"journal":{"name":"2021 Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon)","volume":"28 1","pages":"480-486"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79328342","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-27DOI: 10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525680
L. W. Amarasinghe, Ruwan Dharshana Nawarathna
Today with the rapid growth of technology and usage of internet services, e-training has become one of the latest trends in the sports and education sectors. This study examines an innovative approach in the form of an intelligent cloud-based system to enhance the current e-training procedures for indoor sports such as table tennis and badminton. The proposed gesture-based sports training recording system is a cloud-based web application that uses intelligent techniques to provide an interactive e-training experience to users of the system. In the proposed system, a Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) IP camera setup recognizes the gestures of the trainer and trainees during the practice session. The camera intelligently identifies specific gestures performed by the trainer to position it towards the trainee with the aid of gesture recognition algorithms. This paper also presents an evaluation of the gesture recognition module. This is an innovative system capable of taking e-training to the next level as it provides a complete training experience and makes the whole learning and teaching process efficient and relaxing.
{"title":"Gesture-based Sports Training Video Recording System","authors":"L. W. Amarasinghe, Ruwan Dharshana Nawarathna","doi":"10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525680","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525680","url":null,"abstract":"Today with the rapid growth of technology and usage of internet services, e-training has become one of the latest trends in the sports and education sectors. This study examines an innovative approach in the form of an intelligent cloud-based system to enhance the current e-training procedures for indoor sports such as table tennis and badminton. The proposed gesture-based sports training recording system is a cloud-based web application that uses intelligent techniques to provide an interactive e-training experience to users of the system. In the proposed system, a Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) IP camera setup recognizes the gestures of the trainer and trainees during the practice session. The camera intelligently identifies specific gestures performed by the trainer to position it towards the trainee with the aid of gesture recognition algorithms. This paper also presents an evaluation of the gesture recognition module. This is an innovative system capable of taking e-training to the next level as it provides a complete training experience and makes the whole learning and teaching process efficient and relaxing.","PeriodicalId":6855,"journal":{"name":"2021 Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon)","volume":"111 1","pages":"351-355"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78193683","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-27DOI: 10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525635
K. Perera, Y. Amarasinghe, D. Dao
Micron-scale mobile robots are being widely used in bioengineering applications, such as in a lab-on-a-chip (LOC) device, due to their capabilities of manipulation, sensing and transportation. Shear rate dependency of rheological properties of a non-Newtonian fluid enables swimming using geometrically reciprocal motion for a microswimmer. Therefore, it is not mandatory to use propulsive mechanisms that are slender in nature such as artificial flagella or cilia to generate non-reciprocal motion. We propose a design approach based on numerical simulations to select a suitable artificial appendage geometry to be used as a propulsion mechanism for a mobile microrobot. Here, the artificial appendage is considered to undergo rowing motion to generate propulsion. The fluid-structure interaction is computed numerically and three criteria are considered for the selection. In this study, a rectangular and a circular geometry are compared highlighting the proposed approach. The circular geometry showed better capability in terms of propulsion force generation, making it more suitable as a propulsion mechanism.
{"title":"An Artificial Appendage for Swimming Microrobots in Non-Newtonian Fluids","authors":"K. Perera, Y. Amarasinghe, D. Dao","doi":"10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525635","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525635","url":null,"abstract":"Micron-scale mobile robots are being widely used in bioengineering applications, such as in a lab-on-a-chip (LOC) device, due to their capabilities of manipulation, sensing and transportation. Shear rate dependency of rheological properties of a non-Newtonian fluid enables swimming using geometrically reciprocal motion for a microswimmer. Therefore, it is not mandatory to use propulsive mechanisms that are slender in nature such as artificial flagella or cilia to generate non-reciprocal motion. We propose a design approach based on numerical simulations to select a suitable artificial appendage geometry to be used as a propulsion mechanism for a mobile microrobot. Here, the artificial appendage is considered to undergo rowing motion to generate propulsion. The fluid-structure interaction is computed numerically and three criteria are considered for the selection. In this study, a rectangular and a circular geometry are compared highlighting the proposed approach. The circular geometry showed better capability in terms of propulsion force generation, making it more suitable as a propulsion mechanism.","PeriodicalId":6855,"journal":{"name":"2021 Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon)","volume":"27 1","pages":"723-727"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81284752","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-27DOI: 10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525671
Janaka Bandara, M. Narayana
This paper presents the analysis of the ability of disturbance rejection in the control systems of a torrefaction reactor with high thermal inertia. An electrical heating coil around the reactor is used to maintain the temperature and Nitrogen gas is purged to maintain inert environment. Main disturbance of the system is this Nitrogen gas flow variation to the reactor chamber. This gas flow will drop the temperature of the reactor chamber and change the rate of convection heat loss by forced convection. Changing the rate of heat loss will change the model parameters. In the study four control structures were simulated and compared the performances. The simulation shows that the cascade controller successfully rejects the disturbance of the drop of chamber temperature, but it is not successful in rejection of the disturbance by change of convection heat loss rate of the reactor chamber. Adaptive controlling is not effective as it takes a large amount of time to get adapted. A model based modified controller which is developed based on the model is proposed. This controller successfully rejects both disturbances.
{"title":"Development of Controller for Disturbances Rejection of Torrefaction Reactor with High Thermal Inertia","authors":"Janaka Bandara, M. Narayana","doi":"10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525671","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525671","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents the analysis of the ability of disturbance rejection in the control systems of a torrefaction reactor with high thermal inertia. An electrical heating coil around the reactor is used to maintain the temperature and Nitrogen gas is purged to maintain inert environment. Main disturbance of the system is this Nitrogen gas flow variation to the reactor chamber. This gas flow will drop the temperature of the reactor chamber and change the rate of convection heat loss by forced convection. Changing the rate of heat loss will change the model parameters. In the study four control structures were simulated and compared the performances. The simulation shows that the cascade controller successfully rejects the disturbance of the drop of chamber temperature, but it is not successful in rejection of the disturbance by change of convection heat loss rate of the reactor chamber. Adaptive controlling is not effective as it takes a large amount of time to get adapted. A model based modified controller which is developed based on the model is proposed. This controller successfully rejects both disturbances.","PeriodicalId":6855,"journal":{"name":"2021 Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon)","volume":"100 1","pages":"292-296"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73637465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-27DOI: 10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525661
Logeepan Yogaraja, Narmada Liyanagamage, K. De Silva
Estimation of energy losses in pipe flow is a prerequisite in designing pipe networks to verify the energy requirement in transferring fluid between two locations. There are two types of such energy losses namely: major losses which is caused by friction at the interface of pipe and the flow and minor losses which is caused due to local conditions such as sudden contractions, sudden expansions, and bends of the pipeline. In this paper, major and minor losses in pipe flow, calculated from empirical equations are compared with the experimental results using PVC pipes which is a popular commercial pipe category. For comparison on minor losses; Bend, Gradual contraction, Elbow bend, Gradual expansion, and 45 degrees bend which are widely used in distribution networks were used and coefficient of minor losses was used as a comparative factor. For comparison on major losses; PVC pipes with five different diameters were used and head loss vs Reynolds number variation was considered in the comparison. According to the results, the Blasius (1913) equation was found to be more accurate for actual flow, while using the Darcy-Weisbach equation found to be more predictive of the major head losses of water flow in PVC pipes.
{"title":"Comparison of Experimental Results with Empirical Relationships for Energy Losses in Pipe Flow","authors":"Logeepan Yogaraja, Narmada Liyanagamage, K. De Silva","doi":"10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525661","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525661","url":null,"abstract":"Estimation of energy losses in pipe flow is a prerequisite in designing pipe networks to verify the energy requirement in transferring fluid between two locations. There are two types of such energy losses namely: major losses which is caused by friction at the interface of pipe and the flow and minor losses which is caused due to local conditions such as sudden contractions, sudden expansions, and bends of the pipeline. In this paper, major and minor losses in pipe flow, calculated from empirical equations are compared with the experimental results using PVC pipes which is a popular commercial pipe category. For comparison on minor losses; Bend, Gradual contraction, Elbow bend, Gradual expansion, and 45 degrees bend which are widely used in distribution networks were used and coefficient of minor losses was used as a comparative factor. For comparison on major losses; PVC pipes with five different diameters were used and head loss vs Reynolds number variation was considered in the comparison. According to the results, the Blasius (1913) equation was found to be more accurate for actual flow, while using the Darcy-Weisbach equation found to be more predictive of the major head losses of water flow in PVC pipes.","PeriodicalId":6855,"journal":{"name":"2021 Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon)","volume":"13 1","pages":"522-527"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87815510","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-27DOI: 10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525775
V. Ratnayake, Subhoda Udawatta
Absenteeism is a major challenge for any organization in the current competitive world. Curbing absenteeism helps organizations achieve their targets, and increase productivity. This study explores the major causes of absenteeism in a small-scale garment factory under various factors that influence absenteeism such a work-related stress, working climate, superior commitment, illness and personal matters. The study helps to identify reasons for operator absenteeism in a small scale factory. Responses from all the sixty-four operators in a factory were considered for the study and the data were statistically analyzed. The study shows that major factors such as wages, other source of income, and bad relationships with supervisors contribute to the absence of employees from work. This clearly indicates that work environment, work relations and co-operation, facilities provided by the organization and job satisfaction were the main factors that cause employee absenteeism.
{"title":"Influencing Factors of Absenteeism of a Small Scale Garment Factory (Case Study)","authors":"V. Ratnayake, Subhoda Udawatta","doi":"10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525775","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525775","url":null,"abstract":"Absenteeism is a major challenge for any organization in the current competitive world. Curbing absenteeism helps organizations achieve their targets, and increase productivity. This study explores the major causes of absenteeism in a small-scale garment factory under various factors that influence absenteeism such a work-related stress, working climate, superior commitment, illness and personal matters. The study helps to identify reasons for operator absenteeism in a small scale factory. Responses from all the sixty-four operators in a factory were considered for the study and the data were statistically analyzed. The study shows that major factors such as wages, other source of income, and bad relationships with supervisors contribute to the absence of employees from work. This clearly indicates that work environment, work relations and co-operation, facilities provided by the organization and job satisfaction were the main factors that cause employee absenteeism.","PeriodicalId":6855,"journal":{"name":"2021 Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon)","volume":"33 1","pages":"614-619"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89745344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-27DOI: 10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525739
Dilukshan Sritharan, K. Baskaran, J. Jayakody
Bottom ash is a common by-product of thermal power plants or boilers. From an ecological and engineering point of view, the use of coal bottom ash in cement mixtures is a beneficial application. This study mainly aims to check the possibility of using bottom ash as a replacement to the fine aggregate in manufacturing $300text{mm}times 100text{mm}times 150text{mm}$ solid cement blocks locally. Bottom ash from the coal-fired boiler in Sri Lanka was used to replace manufactured sand at different percentages by volume of sand. Mechanical and durability properties of cement blocks were determined at the ages of 14, 28, and 56 days. Finally, developed statistical models to predict compressive strength, water absorption, and density of cement blocks. The results showed that the density and compressive strength of cement blocks decreased, and water absorption increased with an increasing replacement level of bottom ash. From the analysis, it can be concluded that up to 45 per cent of fine aggregate in the cement blocks can be replaced with sieved coal bottom ash to produce cement blocks, which satisfy the requirements of current SLS standards.
{"title":"Study on use of Bottom ash in manufacturing Cement Blocks","authors":"Dilukshan Sritharan, K. Baskaran, J. Jayakody","doi":"10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525739","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MERCon52712.2021.9525739","url":null,"abstract":"Bottom ash is a common by-product of thermal power plants or boilers. From an ecological and engineering point of view, the use of coal bottom ash in cement mixtures is a beneficial application. This study mainly aims to check the possibility of using bottom ash as a replacement to the fine aggregate in manufacturing $300text{mm}times 100text{mm}times 150text{mm}$ solid cement blocks locally. Bottom ash from the coal-fired boiler in Sri Lanka was used to replace manufactured sand at different percentages by volume of sand. Mechanical and durability properties of cement blocks were determined at the ages of 14, 28, and 56 days. Finally, developed statistical models to predict compressive strength, water absorption, and density of cement blocks. The results showed that the density and compressive strength of cement blocks decreased, and water absorption increased with an increasing replacement level of bottom ash. From the analysis, it can be concluded that up to 45 per cent of fine aggregate in the cement blocks can be replaced with sieved coal bottom ash to produce cement blocks, which satisfy the requirements of current SLS standards.","PeriodicalId":6855,"journal":{"name":"2021 Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon)","volume":"23 1","pages":"392-396"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91523477","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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