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As we know additive manufacturing helps in reducing the manufacturing time as well as helps in advancing the complexity of the structure. Along with several benefits the method proposes it is very important to keep a track on what how many properties are adversely affected or benefited which helps in optimized planning and projects a significant improvement when kept parallel to the cost efficiency of the product. In order to have such kind of observation it is necessary to map the granular trajectory of the material while going through the process. While additive manufacturing is largely implied upon polymers and metals to a certain extent, ceramics have also seen their part of technological advancement. Both metal and ceramics are equally important and opposite to one another. If somehow, we are able to exploit the benefits of both the materials while on additive manufacturing arena the compound would be highly cost efficient and customization friendly. This paper discusses the micro structural properties and evolution of both metals and ceramics and also on metal matrix composites which are highly in demand in recent times.

Experimental evaluation of tensile and flexural strength of a hybrid fiber reinforced polymer composite laminates with various stacking sequences is laborious, expensive and requires high time, energy and labor force. Computer based finite element analysis using Ansys provides an easy, inexpensive and speedy process to evaluate the various mechanical strengths of composite materials. In this study, an attempt was made to carry out the finite element analysis to evaluate the tensile and flexural strength of carbon-kevlar hybrid composite with different stacking sequences using Ansys. The experimental validation for best stacking sequence has also been conducted. The analysis results showed that, the sample with stacking sequence of C-K-C-C-K-K-C-C-K-C recorded with highest tensile strength as 285.16 MPa and highest flexural strength of 658.56 MPa. The experimental validation showed that the analysis result closely matches with the experimental result with 1.28% error. This error may be due to the influence of extraneous factors during fabrication.

The present investigation aims at optimizing the biodiesel production of Grape seed bio-oil. Modelling proficiencies like Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Interference System, Artificial Neural Network and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) approaches are used to assess the optimal biodiesel yield by considering the input variable parameters like molar ratio, reaction time and catalyst concentration. Two-stage transesterification process is deployed using sodium hydroxide and methanol. The RSM predicted optimized grape seed biodiesel yield was noticed as 97.62% at 1.045 g/g catalyst concentration, 1.11 hr. reaction duration and 0.2758 v/v molar ratios which were in correlation with the actual yield. Further, the obtained grape seed biodiesel is amalgamated with n-butanol (20%) and Di-ethyl carbonate (10%) to understand its efficacy on the combustion characteristics of the compression ignition engine at variable compression ratios of 17, 17.5 and 18. The outcomes including the in-cylinder pressure, rate of heat release, rate of pressure rise, cumulative heat release, mean gas temperature and mass fraction burnt of the oxygenated fuel blends were compared with straight diesel and diesel – grape seed biodiesel blends.

In this research work, the characterization of the palm stearin biodiesel was made using Nuclear Magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FITR) and GC/MS methods. Analysis of the composition of fatty acids was done using the GCMS apparatus based on the retention time. Fourier transform infrared spectrometer was used for the spectrum analysis of the various functional groups and bands located in it. The properties of the palm stearin biodiesel were predicted adopting the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards. Measured values of the properties were the density at 18°C as 0.88 g/m3, kinematic viscosity at 35°C as 3.4 mm2/s, the calorific value of the palm stearin as 37121 kJ/kg and the flash and fire points of the biodiesel as 130°C and 160oC respectively. The rapid and correct characterization of the palm stearin biodiesel was made by the NMR.

As the fossil fuel reserves are getting depleted, the focus is towards alternative fuels to meet the future energy demand. Literatures showed that 20% biodiesel blend will be more appropriate in diesel engine without engine modifications. Few researches are performed on varying the compression ratio to understand the combustion behavior. The focus of this study is use understand the combustion behavior by varying compression ratios using third grade sesame oil. The blended fuel (B20) and its fuel properties are found to be within the stipulated standards. The in-cylinder pressure increases as the compression ratio is increased. Also, the rate of pressure rise and rate of heat release is higher as the compression ratio is increased. This confirms the fact that blended sesame biodiesel can be used as an alternate fuel source for diesel at higher compression ratio (18:1).

Weight reduction of about 100 kg in an automobile decreases the fuel consumption of about 0.7 L for every 100 km of traveling is the reasoned fact that many research are fielded towards conversion of metal to plastic. This was the main idea for executing this project i.e. replacement of wheel housing of a four-wheeler from metal to plastics. Sheet molding compound (SMC) is the material selected for this conversion project. The designing of the wheel housing was carried out using the Pro-e software with actual dimensions. The effectiveness, reliability, durability and the strength was analyzed using the ANSYS software. It was noted that the deflection of the material during the application of maximum load was 0.42 mm and the stress developed at the same time was noticed to be 39.008 N/mm2 which was within permissible limits. Based on the outcomes, SMC could be viable replacement for the metal wheel housing.

Improvement in performance of the diesel engines is carried out by focusing on several parameters. One among these is piston which undergoes higher thermal loads and thermal stresses during its entire working cycle and duration. Therefore, it is necessary to analyse the stresses that the piston can be able to withstand and give its contribution to maximize the engine performance. In this study, four different piston shapes were considered namely, flat, dome, cup and bowl type pistons. 3D models were developed for these pistons and simulations was carried out in the ANSYS at steady state conditions using finite element method (FEM). Based on the investigations, it was observed that the maximum temperature distributed was nearly same in all the types of pistons as 1133K which appeared near the combustion area. The thermal stress and total deformation values of the piston was found to be lesser for the flat and dome types of pistons. Based on the data obtained for thermal stress, temperature distribution, heat flux and total deformation, it can be suggested that flat or dome type pistons can be considered for use in the IC engine to maximize the performance of diesel engine.

The demand and usage of fossil fuels has been increasing drastically, leading us to search for alternate fuels. The sesame seed is selected as an alternate fuel source, as a focus for this research paper. The sesame biodiesel is a type of fuel that has been obtained through the transesterification process from sesame oil using base catalyst transesterification. The sesame biodiesel was blended with four different ratios B10, B20, B30 and B40, among which B20 resulted with better stability, tested in the Kirloskar 240PE VCR engine at a compression ratio of 17.5:1 and 18:1 in various loads. The FTIR test was performed on sesame biodiesel, and it has shown that ester content was present in the test sample confirming its usage as the biodiesel. The fuel properties were found for all the three: sesame oil, sesame biodiesel(B20), diesel and it was found to be within the permissible limit. The result reveals that B20 is the best possible blend that has given good results in emission characteristics. The smoke emission testing was done on AVL emission analyser. It has been noted and observed that there is good reduction in CO, CO2, and HC than with standard diesel rate at all loads. An increased amount of NOx is observed as the load increases. It was also noted among the two compression ratios, 18:1 depicted best results considering the emission levels. It is observed that the sesame biodiesel can be used in IC diesel engines with a better outcome than the standard diesel rate. Hence, the work established the need for conversion of sesame seed oil to biodiesel and also suggests that sesame oil could be effectively used as feedstock for biodiesel production.

Purpose The purpose this experimentation is to study the combustion characteristics of compression ignition engine fuelled with mineral diesel. The reason behind the numerical simulation is to validate the experimental results of the combustion characteristics. Design/methodology/approach The numerical analysis was carried out in this study using MATLAB Simulink, and the zero dimensional combustion model was applied to predict the combustion parameters such as in cylinder pressure, pressure rise rate and rate of heat release. Findings Incorporating the dynamic combustion duration with respect to variable engine load in the zero dimensional combustion model using MATLAB Simulink reduced the variation of experimental and numerical outputs between 5.5 and 6 per cent in this analysis. Research limitations/implications Validation of the experimental analysis is very limited. Investigations were performed using zero dimensional combustion model, which is the very appropriate for analysing the combustion characteristics. Originality/value Existing studies assumed that the combustion duration period as invariant in their numerical analysis, but with the real time scenario occurring in CI engine, that is not the case. In this analysis, mass fraction burnt considering the dynamic combustion duration was incorporated in the heat transfer model to reduce the error variation between experimental and numerical studies.

Purpose Vast areas have been studied toward combustion and emission analysis in vegetable oil methyl esters and quite a few in algal oil biodiesel. To analyze the better alternate source for diesel engine, this study aims to investigate the combustion behavior and emission characteristics between cottonseed biodiesel and algal oil biodiesel on comparison with mineral diesel in a compression ignition engine. Design/methodology/approach The fuel properties like density, kinematic viscosity, calorific value and Cetane number have met the biodiesel standards for both algal and cottonseed biodiesel. At rated power, engine was operated on all three test fuels, where combustion analysis describing in-cylinder pressure, peak pressure, rate of pressure rise and rate of heat release and emission characteristics including hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and smoke for both biodiesel comparing mineral diesel. Findings Algal and cottonseed biodiesel showed up to 2-3°CA delayed start of combustion comparing mineral diesel curve. The in-cylinder pressure of algal biodiesel was found to be 68 bar, whereas cottonseed biodiesel exhibited 65 bar at full load condition. Similarly, the rate of pressure rise and rate of heat release of algal biodiesel depicted 7.9 and 10.7 per cent rise than cottonseed biodiesel, respectively. As the load increased, ignition delay showed decreasing trend, while combustion duration showed an increasing trend. HC, CO and smoke emissions were seen to be lower than mineral diesel with noticeable increase in NOx emission. Originality/value In this present investigation, biodiesel from Stoechospermum Marginatum, a marine marco algae, was used to fuel the compression ignition engine. Its combustion behavior and emission characteristics are compared with cottonseed biodiesel, a vegetable oil-based biodiesel having similar physio-chemical characteristics to understand the suitability of algal biodiesel in compression ignition engine. This study involves the assessment of straight biodiesel from macro algae and cottonseed oil on standard operating conditions.

This comparative study aims at experimental investigation on the combustion behaviour of a single-cylinder compression ignition (CI) engine using oxygenated blends of algal and cottonseed biodiesel. The algal oil is extracted by a solvent-extraction method using a Soxhlet apparatus and the cottonseed oil is procured from the local market. Base-catalysed transesterification using sodium hydroxide and methanol yield their respective methyl esters, and the physiochemical properties are found to be comparable with diesel and within American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) limits. The test fuels formulated for the study are D80CBD20, D80ABD20, D80CBD20nB10 and D80ABD20nB10. The combustion phenomenon displayed higher in-cylinder pressure and rate of heat release for oxygenated blended biodiesel than for other fuel blends. This is due to its shorter ignition delay and improved premixed combustion phase. D80CBD20nB10 and D80ABD20nB10 also displayed earlier start of combustion. The higher cetane number and calorific value of the oxygenated fuel blends improved the rate of heat release and cumulative heat release considerably. The oxygenated blends also exhibited a higher rate of pressure rise with comparable trends. Based on this investigation, blending of n-butanol up to 10% with algal biodiesel produces improved combustion behaviour of the CI engine.

The present study compares the effect of algal and cotton seed biodiesel in a single cylinder compression ignition engine. Bio-oil extraction was achieved through grinding operation and soxhlet lip...

In this present investigation, the process parameters to obtain maximum fatty acid methyl ester yield from Vitis vinifera seed bio-oil by transesterification were explored using the central composite design with variable input parameters like catalyst concentration (0.5–1.5% of KOH), reaction duration (30–60 min), and molar ratio (3:1–7:1). Response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) were employed to predict the optimized biodiesel yield and model the transesterification process. The experimental outputs were simulated using a quadratic model generated by RSM. The maximum biodiesel yield parameters were determined by RSM, and it was found to be 6.4246:1 molar ratio, 66.8205 min reaction time, and 1.1719% of catalyst concentration. The transesterification process performed with this experimental combination resulted in methyl ester yield of around 97.53% which correlated well with the yield predicted by RSM. The statistical analysis was carried out to determine the model validity, accuracy, and predictive capability of both ANN and RSM models. The biodiesel obtained by this process was subjected to analysis for estimating the physiochemical properties like cetane number, calorific value, density, acid value, flash and fire point, and kinematic viscosity, and it was found to be within ASTM limits.

The present experimental investigation focuses on production of biodiesel from marine macro algae Stoechospermum marginatum, a brown seaweed. S. marginatum was collected from the intertidal zone of...

In the present study, biodiesel production from the crude cotton-seed oil (CSO) and its feasibility to be used as fuel in compression ignition engine was analysed. Single-stage transesterification ...