Publication8

Here we report an approach to fabricate flexible polymer self standing films embedded with continuous aligned microtubes/microchannels via electrospinning. The scheme is to wash the electrospun fibers selectively to form either microtubes/microchannels. Optical microscope (OM) and Scanning electron microscope images are evident for the well aligned microtubes and microchannels respectively with a diameter of ∼8 μm and a length of ∼4 cm. Meniscus of tetrahydrofuran in the microtubes can be observed explicitly in the OM images. Mutually perpendicular microtubes are also fabricated on a polymer film. Angular distribution of aligned microstructures indicates the standard deviation is not more than 1°. These tubes/channels can be potential for tissue engineering as they could provide a directional template for the growth when a biodegradable polymer such as Poly(vinylalcohol) is used. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An aero-engine fan and compressor rotor design involves dovetail interface between the blade and the disc, which is critical, as early crack initiation occurs at the interface due to fretting. This paper reviews the different methodologies adopted to understand the fretting behaviour at the interface: experimental, analytical and numerical methods. The effects of geometry and material on fretting behaviour are discussed. The results of a 3-Dimensional finite element analysis of a typical dovetail interface with skew, cone and twist angle are presented. Areas that require attention are highlighted at the concluding section of this paper.

The conventional derivation of the expression for inductance of power transmission lines given in books is more a recipe than a derivation starting from a law of physics. The serious shortcomings of the traditional approach are that the defi nition of flux linkage lacks strong connection to Faraday's law, and unnecessary assumptions are made. This paper gives a complete rigorous derivation of the expression for inductance of power transmission lines. This paper will help instructors as well as students, since it addresses the defi ciencies present in the derivation given in textbooks.

Electrochemical discharge machining (ECDM) is a very recent technique in the field of non-conventional machining to machine electrically non-conducting materials efficiently and effectively using the electrochemical discharge phenomenon. In the present paper, an experimental setup of ECDM has been developed and experiments are performed to optimise the process parameters for higher material removal rate (MRR). As there are many process parameters affecting to the process, the Taguchi methodology of robust design of experiments is used for optimization of these process parameters. From the obtained experimental results it was noticed that the material removal mechanism in ECDM is non-linear - the volume of material removed decreases with increasing machining depth. Hence, mathematical modelling is difficult. A soft computing approach called adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is adapted to model the non-linear material removal rate. Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.