Yes / This article presents the homotopy perturbation method (HPM) employed to investigate the effects of inclination on the thermal behavior of a porous fin heat sink. The study aims to review the thermal characterization of heat sink with the inclined porous fin of rectangular geometry. The study establishes that heat sink of an inclined porous fin shows a higher thermal performance compared to a heat sink of equal dimension with a vertical porous fin. In addition, the study also shows that the performance of inclined or tilted fin increases with decrease in length–thickness aspect ratio. The study further reveals that increase in the internal heat generation variable decreases the fin temperature gradient, which invariably decreases the heat transfer of the fin. The obtained results using HPM highlights the accuracy of the present method for the analysis of nonlinear heat transfer problems, as it agrees well with the established results of Runge–Kutta. / Supported in part by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund of Federal Government of Nigeria, and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement H2020-MSCA-ITN-2016SECRET-722424.

Arabic text recognition was not researched as thoroughly as other natural languages. The need for automatic Arabic text recognition is clear. In addition to the traditional applications like postal address reading, check verification in banks, and office automation, there is a large interest in searching scanned documents that are available on the internet and for searching handwritten manuscripts. Other possible applications are building digital libraries, recognizing text on digitized maps, recognizing vehicle license plates, using it as first phase in text readers for visually impaired people and understanding filled forms. This research work aims to contribute to the current research in the field of optical character recognition (OCR) of printed Arabic text by developing novel techniques and schemes to advance the performance of the state of the art Arabic OCR systems. Statistical and analytical analysis for Arabic Text was carried out to estimate the probabilities of occurrences of Arabic character for use with Hidden Markov models (HMM) and other techniques. Since there is no publicly available dataset for printed Arabic text for recognition purposes it was decided to create one. In addition, a minimal Arabic script is proposed. The proposed script contains all basic shapes of Arabic letters. The script provides efficient representation for Arabic text in terms of effort and time. Based on the success of using HMM for speech and text recognition, the use of HMM for the automatic recognition of Arabic text was investigated. The HMM technique adapts to noise and font variations and does not require word or character segmentation of Arabic line images. In the feature extraction phase, experiments were conducted with a number of different features to investigate their suitability for HMM. Finally, a novel set of features, which resulted in high recognition rates for different fonts, was selected. The developed techniques do not need word or character segmentation before the classification phase as segmentation is a byproduct of recognition. This seems to be the most advantageous feature of using HMM for Arabic text as segmentation tends to produce errors which are usually propagated to the classification phase. Eight different Arabic fonts were used in the classification phase. The recognition rates were in the range from 98% to 99.9% depending on the used fonts. As far as we know, these are new results in their context. Moreover, the proposed technique could be used for other languages. A proof-of-concept experiment was conducted on English characters with a recognition rate of 98.9% using the same HMM setup. The same techniques where conducted on Bangla characters with a recognition rate above 95%. Moreover, the recognition of printed Arabic text with multi-fonts was also conducted using the same technique. Fonts were categorized into different groups. New high recognition results were achieved. To enhance the recognition rate further, a post-processing module was developed to correct the OCR output through character level post-processing and word level post-processing. The use of this module increased the accuracy of the recognition rate by more than 1%.

The dry deep mixing method is widely used to improve a soft clay soil to increase the shear strength as well as to reduce the time for consolidation. It is a mechanical mixing process that makes parts of the soil stiffer than its original strength. It is mainly applicable to soft clay or peat soil.   In this master thesis, the objective was set to perform a comparative analysis on the prediction of the settlements of a clay soil improved by lime/cement columns (LCC). The theoretical settlement predictions were made using two analytical and numerical modeling. A case study was carried out on a part of Stockholm bypass project where LCC was applied to improve soft clay for a foundation of a concrete trough. Field measurements of the vertical deformation of the improved soil were performed using settlement plates to compare the analytical and numerical results. The first analytical method was performed based on the recommendation of TK Geo 13 (2013) while the second method was performed based on the concept of a composite ground. In the case of the numerical method, FEA was performed using 2D plane strain model in Plaxis simulation. The performance of the geometry and combined matching models were investigated to convert the axisymmetric to plane strain model. The variation in stiffness of the columns were taken into consideration by applying two stiffness values 30 and 33 MPa for the upper and lower half of the column respectively. A preload of 58 kPa was applied on the improved clay soil to simulate the time-dependent consolidation settlement due to the stress addition. A comparison was carried out between the results obtained from the analysis and a field measurement. The two analytical methods produced a better agreement with the field measurement regarding long-term consolidation settlement and a reasonable agreement concerning the rate of consolidation. The numerical analysis showed a good agreement with the benchmark concerning both the long-term consolidation settlement as well as the rate of consolidation. The geometry matching model gave a reasonable result regarding correctness of the result compared with the combined matching. Based on the results obtained in this study, the numerical methods had a better agreement with the measurements. / Jordförstärkning med kalkcementpelare är en vanlig metod för förstärkning av lösa jordar genom ökning av den blandade jordens hållfasthet samt minskning av konsolideringstiden. Metoden är en mekanisk process som ökar jordens styvhet och är främst tillämpbar i lös leror men även organiska jordar.   Detta examensarbete har syftat till att jämföra sättningsberäkningar i lera som är förstärk med KC-pelare. De teoretiska beräkningarna har utförts genom två analytiska modeller samt numerisk modellering. En fallstudie har utförts på del av Förbifart Stockholm där jordförstärkning av lös lera med KC-pelare har använts inför grundläggning av ett betongtråg. Resultat från fältmätningar av installerade markpeglar har jämförts med resultat från de teoretiska sättningsberäkningarna.   Den första beräkningsmetoden utfördes i enlighet med rekommendationer från TK Geo 13 (2013) och den andra metoden är baserad på principer för kompositjordar. Den numeriska beräkningen har utgjorts av FEM-modellering i 2D i programmet Plaxis. För att anpassa en plan-töjningsmodell till en axialsymmetrisk modell har inverkan av geometrin samt kombinerad anpassning av modell studerats. Hänsyn har tagits till KC-pelarnas styvhet genom att använda två olika värden (30 resp. 33 MPa) för KC-pelarnas övre respektive undre del. En överlast om 58 kPa applicerades på KC-pelarförstärkt området för att påskynda den tidsberoende konsolideringssättningarnas förlopp som orsakas av överlastens tillskottspänningar.   Baserat på resultat från uppmätta sättningar jämfört med beräkningar, har följande slutsatser dragits. Jämförelser mellan resultaten har visat på en rimlig överrensstämmelse mellan de två analytiska metoderna och utförda fältmätningar avseende långtids konsolideringssättningar. Den numeriska beräkningen har visat en god överensstämmelse med fältmätningar med hänsyn till både konsolideringssättningar och konsolideringsgraden. Den geometriskt anpassade modellen visade ett rimligare resultat i förhållande till den kombinerade anpassade modellen. Sammanfattningsvis bedöms det att den numeriska modelleringen stämmer bättre överens med resultaten från uppmätta sättningar i förhållande till analytiska beräkningar.

Arabic text recognition was not researched as thoroughly as other natural languages. The need for automatic Arabic text recognition is clear. In addition to the traditional applications like postal address reading, check verification in banks, and office automation, there is a large interest in searching scanned documents that are available on the internet and for searching handwritten manuscripts. Other possible applications are building digital libraries, recognizing text on digitized maps, recognizing vehicle license plates, using it as first phase in text readers for visually impaired people and understanding filled forms. This research work aims to contribute to the current research in the field of optical character recognition (OCR) of printed Arabic text by developing novel techniques and schemes to advance the performance of the state of the art Arabic OCR systems. Statistical and analytical analysis for Arabic Text was carried out to estimate the probabilities of occurrences of Arabic character for use with Hidden Markov models (HMM) and other techniques. Since there is no publicly available dataset for printed Arabic text for recognition purposes it was decided to create one. In addition, a minimal Arabic script is proposed. The proposed script contains all basic shapes of Arabic letters. The script provides efficient representation for Arabic text in terms of effort and time. Based on the success of using HMM for speech and text recognition, the use of HMM for the automatic recognition of Arabic text was investigated. The HMM technique adapts to noise and font variations and does not require word or character segmentation of Arabic line images. In the feature extraction phase, experiments were conducted with a number of different features to investigate their suitability for HMM. Finally, a novel set of features, which resulted in high recognition rates for different fonts, was selected. The developed techniques do not need word or character segmentation before the classification phase as segmentation is a byproduct of recognition. This seems to be the most advantageous feature of using HMM for Arabic text as segmentation tends to produce errors which are usually propagated to the classification phase. Eight different Arabic fonts were used in the classification phase. The recognition rates were in the range from 98% to 99.9% depending on the used fonts. As far as we know, these are new results in their context. Moreover, the proposed technique could be used for other languages. A proof-of-concept experiment was conducted on English characters with a recognition rate of 98.9% using the same HMM setup. The same techniques where conducted on Bangla characters with a recognition rate above 95%. Moreover, the recognition of printed Arabic text with multi-fonts was also conducted using the same technique. Fonts were categorized into different groups. New high recognition results were achieved. To enhance the recognition rate further, a post-processing module was developed to correct the OCR output through character level post-processing and word level post-processing. The use of this module increased the accuracy of the recognition rate by more than 1%. / King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM)

No description available.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this dissertation a new type of electrical machine, a Radial Flux Air-Cored Permanent Magnet machine with a Double-sided Rotor and utilising concentrated, non-overlapping windings, is proposed. The concept of the Double-sided Rotor Radial Flux Air-Cored Permanent Magnet machine, or RFAPM machine for short, was derived from the Double-sided Rotor Axial Flux Air-Cored Permanent Magnet (AFAPM) machine. One of the problems that AFAPM machines experience, is the deflection of the rotor discs due to the strong magnetic pull of the permanent magnets, especially with double-sided rotor machines. The main advantage of a RFAPM machine over a AFAPM machine is that the rotor back-iron is cylindrically shaped instead of disk shaped. Due to the structural integrity of a cylinder, the attraction force between the two rotors does not come into play any more. The focus of this dissertation is on a thorough analytical analysis of the Double-Sided Rotor RFAPM machine. With the RFAPM being an air-cored machine, the feasibility to develop a linear, analytical model, to accurately predict the radial flux-density and hence the induced EMF in the stator windings, as well as the accurate calculation of the developed torque of the machine, needed to be investigated. The need for a thorough analytical examination of the Double-Sided Rotor RFAPM machine stemmed from the need to reduce the blind reliance on Finite Element Modelling (FEM) software to calculate the back-EMF and torque produced by these machines. Another problem experienced with the FEM software was to obtain accurate torque results. Excessive ripple torque oscillations were sometimes experienced which took a considerable amount of time to minimise with constant refinement to the meshing of the machine parts. Reduction in the mesh element size unfortunately also added to the simulation time. The requirement for an accurate analytical model of the RFAPM machine was also necessary in order to reduce the amount of time spent on successive FEM simulation to obtain the optimum pole arc width of the permanent magnet in order to minimise the harmonic content of the radial flux-density distribution in the the stator windings. In this dissertation, the use of single-layer and double-layer, non-overlapping, concentrated winding for the RFAPM machine is also investigated. It was decided to include a comparison of these two non-overlapping winding configurations with a “hypothetical” concentrated, overlapping winding configuration. This would allow us to gauge the effectiveness of using nonoverlapping winding with respect to the reduction in copper losses as well as in the reduction in copper volume. It would also allow us to investigate the extent of how much the developed torque is affected by using non-overlapping windings instead of overlapping windings. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie proefskrif word ’n nuwe tipe elektriese masjien, ’n Radiale-vloed Lugkern Permanent Magneet Masjien met ’n dubbelkantige rotor en nie-oorvleuelende Windings voorgestel. Die konsep vir die Radiale-vloed Lugkern Permanent Magneet Masjien, of RVLPM vir kort, is afgelei vanaf die Dubbelkantige Rotor, Aksiale-vloed Lugkern (AVLPM) masjien. Een van die probleme wat met AVLPM masjiene ondervind word, is die defleksie van die rotorjukke as gevolg van die sterk aantrekkingskragte van die permanente magnete, veral in dubbelkantige rotor masjiene. Die hoof voordeel wat die RVLPM masjien inhou bo die AVLPM masjien, is die feit dat die RVLPM se rotorjukke silindries is in plaas van ronde skywe. As gevolg van die strukturele integriteit van ’n silinders, speel die aantrekkingskrag van die permanente magnete nie meer ’n rol nie. Die fokus van die proefskrif gaan oor die deeglike analitiese analise van die dubbelkantige RVLPM masjien. Weens die feit dat die RVLPM masjien ’n lugkern masjien is, is daar besluit om ondersoek in te stel na die moontlikheid om ’n lineêre, analitiese model vir die masjien op te stel waarmee die radiale-vloeddigtheid, teen-EMK asook die ontwikkelde draaimoment vir die masjien akkuraat bereken kan word. Die behoefde aan ’n akkurate analitiese model vir die dubbelkantige rotor RVLPM masjien is om die blinde vertroue te elimineer wat daar in Eindige-Element Modellering (EEM) sagteware gestel word om die teen-EMK en ontwikkelde draaimoment van die RVLPM masjien uit te werk. ’n Verdere probleem wat daar met EEM sagteware ondervind is, is die akkurate berekening van die ontwikkelde draaimoment. Oormatige rimpel draaimoment ossillasies is soms ondervind wat heelwat tyd geverg het om te minimeer, deur voortdurende verfyning van die EEM maas in die verskillende dele van die masjien. Soos die maas egter kleiner word, verleng dit die simulasie tyd van die EEM aansienlik. Nog ’n rede vir ’n akkurate analitiese model van die RVLPM masjien, is om vinnige metode te verkry om die optimale permanente magneet pool hoekwydte te verkry, wat die minste Totale Harmoniese Vervorming (THV) in die radiale-vloeddigtheidsdistribusie in die statorgebied sal veroorsaak, sonder om herhaaldelike EEM simulasies te loop. In die proefskrif word die gebruik van enkellaag en dubbellaag, nie- oorvleuelende, gekonsentreerde wikkelings vir die RVLPM masjien ook ondersoek. Daar is besluit om hierdie twee nie-oorvleuelende windingskonfigurasies met ’n “hipotetiese” gekonsentreerde, oorvleuelende windingskonfigurasie te vergelyk. Dit behoort ons in staat te stel om die doeltreffendheid van nie-oorvleuelende windings te bepaal, met betrekking tot die afname in koperverliese asook die afname in kopervolume. Verder sal dit ons in staat stel om ook mate waartoe die ontwikkelde draaimoment deur nie-oorvleuelende windings beïnvloed word, te ondersoek.

This dissertation presents a historical and analytical study of the organ works of Anthoni van Noordt. Van Noordt's Tabulatuurboeck is one of the most important music publications in mid-seventeenth-century Netherlands. It gives unique, valuable information on organ playing of its time. The process of discrete analysis has led to the identification and exploration of many details, such as extensive use of pedal, the reliance of the composer on rhetorical principals of composition, and his integration of the Italian and German principals of ensemble techniques. The dissertation is divided into three major parts. The first part contains chapters on van Noordt's biography based on available archival documents as well as a chapter on the organ and its role in seventeenth -century Amsterdam. The second part is solely dedicated to the Tabulatuurboeck examining the physical and technical features of the publication including the style of the publication, the letter and staff notation, hand positions, and rhetorical components. Finally, the third part studies the music and its peculiar characteristics with separate chapters on the variations and fantasias.