Nagaraj R. Banapurmath

Studies on the effect of multi-walled carbon nanotube-reinforced polymer-based nano-composites using finite element analysis software tool

This article confirms experimental results by finite element analysis. The study includes meshing the specimen of size 40 × 12 × 6 mm3. The model is constructed in DesignModeler (ANSYS Workbench). Multi-walled carbon nanotubes are aligned in different angles to correlate the experimental results. The modelling method employed for analysis is based on weight ratio. The proportion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes is 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75% and 1% by weight of polymer matrix (epoxy resin) for different specimens. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes are dispersed in epoxy matrix using ultrasonic energy. Composite beams were tested under flexure in order to evaluate their mechanical property such as load–deflection criteria by three-point bending test. Finite element method results were in close agreement with the experimental outcomes with different orientation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes into the matrix considered.

Effect of Turbo Charging on the Performance of Dual Fuel (DF) Engine Operated on Rice Bran Oil Methyl Ester (RBOME) and Coconut Shell Derived Producer Gas Induction

Producer gas operated diesel/biodiesel dual fuel engines suffer from 20-30% derating due to lowered gas energy content and reduced volumetric efficiency. These drawbacks of dual fuel (DF) engines can be overcome by using a suitable turbocharger (TC) matched to the modified diesel engine. Concept of the turbo-charging is an attractive solution to considerably improve the performance with lower emissions for DF engines. In view of this, comprehensive experimental study was carried out on a diesel engine fitted with TC operated in DF mode using biodiesel of rice bran oil and producer gas derived from Coconut shell induction. From the study it is observed that DF engine could operate at higher loads of 3.33 kW (up to 90% load) compared to normal aspirated (NA) DF engine which operated at 2.96 kW (80% load). Results showed that the turbo-charging facilitated improved performance of TCDF at higher loads with maximum brake thermal efficiency of 22.5% and 10-25% reduced emissions of smoke, HC and CO compared to NADF engine.

Experimental investigation on the study of mechanical and microstructural properties of hybrid composite cement beams reinforced with multi-walled carbon nanotubes and carbon fibres

This paper investigates the behavior of reinforced cement composite beams with multi-walled carbon nanotubes and carbon fibers. The percentage of carbon fibers was fixed at 0.25 wt% of cement, while the percentage of multi-walled carbon nanotubes was fixed at 0.75 wt% of cement. Dispersion of both multi-walled carbon nanotubes and carbon fibers was carried out using the ultrasonic energy method. Composite beams were tested under flexure in order to evaluate their mechanical properties such as flexural strength, toughness and ductility. These results were then compared with the results of plain cement control beams. Microstructural tests like scanning electron microscopy, thermo gravimetric analysis and energy dispersive X-ray analysis were conducted on hybrid nanocomposite material, to study the dispersion of carbon nanotubes and carbon fibers, bonding of carbon nanotubes in C-S-H, temperature effects and the elemental composition. From the study it is concluded that the load-carrying capacity of composite beams under three-point loading is substantially higher than for plain controlled beams.