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The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of inclination angle on the thermal energy storage capability of a phase change material (PCM) within a disc-shaped container. Different container materials are also tested such as plexiglass and aluminium. This study aims to assess the energy storage capacity, melting behaviour and temperature distributions of PCM with a specific melting range (22°C–26°C) for various governing parameters such as inclination angles, aspect ratios (AR) and temperature differences (ΔT) and compare the melting behaviour and energy storage performance of PCM in aluminium containers to those in plexiglass containers.

A finite volume approach was adopted to evaluate the thermal energy storage capability of PCMs. Five inclination angles ranging from 0° to 180° were considered and the energy storage capacity. Also, the melting behaviour of the PCM and temperature distributions of the container with different materials were tested. Two different AR and ΔT values were chosen as parameters to analyse for their effects on the melting performance of the PCM. Conjugate heat transfer problem is solved to see the effects of conduction mode of heat transfer.

The results of the study indicate that as AR decreases, the effect of the inclination angles on the energy storage capacity of the PCM decreases. For lower ΔT, the difference between the maximum and minimum stored energies was 20.88% for AR = 0.20, whereas it was 6.85% for AR = 0.15. Furthermore, under the same conditions, the PCM stored 8.02% more energy in plexiglass containers than in aluminium containers.

This study contributes to the understanding of the influence of inclination angle, container material, AR and ΔT on the thermal energy storage capabilities of PCM in a novel designed container. The findings highlight the importance of AR in mitigating the effect of the inclination angle on energy storage capacity. Additionally, comparing aluminium and plexiglass containers provides insights into the effect of container material on the melting behaviour and energy storage properties of PCM.

Inclination angle has been reported to have an enhancing effect on the thermal-hydraulic characteristics and entropy of some thermal systems. Therefore, this paper aims to numerically investigate the effects of inclination angle, volume concentration and Reynolds number on the thermal and hydraulic characteristics and entropy generation rates of water-based Al₂O₃ nanofluids through a smooth circular aluminum pipe in a turbulent flow.

A constant heat flux of 2,000 Watts is applied to the circular surface of the tube. Reynolds number is varied between 4,000 and 20,000 for different volume concentrations of alumina nanoparticles of 0.5%, 1.0% and 2.0% for tube inclination angles of ±90o, ±60o, ±45o, ±30o and 0o, respectively. The simulation is performed in an ANSYS Fluent environment using the realizable kinetic energy–epsilon turbulent model.

Results show that +45o tube orientation possesses the largest thermal deviations of 0.006% for 0.5% and 1.0% vol. concentrations for Reynolds numbers 4,000 and 12,000. −45o gives a maximum pressure deviation of −0.06% for the same condition. The heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop give maximum deviations of −0.35% and −0.39%, respectively, for 2.0% vol. concentration for Reynolds number of 20,000 and angle ±90o. A 95%–99.8% and 95%–98% increase in the heat transfer and total entropy generation rates, respectively, is observed for 2.0% volume concentration as tube orientation changes from the horizontal position upward or downward.

Research investigating the effect of inclination angle on thermal-hydraulic performance and entropy generation rates in-tube turbulent flow of nanofluid is very scarce in the literature.

The objective of present research is to characterize the unsteady thermal behavior of a square enclosure filled with water-Al₂O₃ nanofluids in the presence of oriented magnetic fields. The purpose this paper is to study the effect of pertinent parameters on the transient natural convection in the enclosure.

In this research, an in-house implicit finite volume code based on the SIMPLE algorithm is utilized for numerical calculations. To ensure the accuracy of results, comparisons are also made with previous works in literature. In this study, a constant strength magnetic field is concerned and for Rayleigh numbers of Ra=103, 104 and 105 the effect of magnetic field orientation with respect to the case of zero inclination on the thermal performance of cavity is investigated at Hartmann number range of Ha=15-90. In the present work, the nano-particle volume fractions range from φ=0-0.06.

Results show that when Rayleigh number is Ra=103, the inclination angle, solid particles and Hartmann number has no effect on the transient behavior. It is shown that during the time advancement to steady condition, the heat transfer rate relative to zero inclination angle, may reach to a maximum value. This relative maximum heat transfer increases as the inclination angle increases and decreases as the solid volume fraction increases. The effect of increase in Hartmann number is to decrease this maximum value at Rayleigh number of Ra=104 and at Rayleigh number of Ra=105, depending on the Hartmann number, this value may increase or decrease. It is also found that an increase in Hartmann number leads to delay the appearance of the relative maximum value of heat transfer. Results show that this maximum value is of more significance at zero solid volume fraction when inclination angle is 90 degrees and Hartmann number is Ha=60.

Limited works could be found in the literature regarding the idea of using nanofluids as the working fluid in an enclosure in the presence of magnetic field. In these works, the steady state thermal behavior of enclosures subjected to fixed magnetic fields is concerned. In the present work, the unsteady thermal behavior is concerned and the effect of magnetic field orientation angles on transient heat transfer performance of the enclosure at different Rayleigh and Hartmann numbers and solid volume fractions is explored.

The apparel industry is a labor-intensive industry, which depends mainly on the performance of the worker. The purpose of this study is to present an ergonomic redesign of the sewing machine workstation, with different sewing table heights and inclination angles, based on the operator’s anthropometric data.

A flexible ergonomic sewing table has been designed, four main workstation-setting factors were studied; sewing desk inclination angles – X_1, height – X_2, sewing machine type – X_3 and operator’s body mass index (BMI) – X_4, with three levels for each factor, except sewing machine type, which only has two levels. The study was undertaken to specify the limitations and advantages of each combination tested. Different measurement techniques were used; subjective information, production rates – P, working postures (head, neck and trunk inclination angles in the kinematic stage) were measured.

Sewing operators’ sitting posture angles in the kinematic stage were affected more or less by their anthropometric measurements and the type of sewing machine. These two factors should be taken into consideration when ergonomically redesigning the sewing machine workstation.

A new ergonomically redesigned sewing machine table can be incorporated into garment factories, taking into consideration the BMI of the operators to improve their productivity and reduce musculoskeletal disorder complaints due to incorrect operators’ posture.

An important correlation was found between the sewing operator’s anthropometric body measurement – BMI and the type of sewing machine (with significant R^2 = 0.8385 and 0.9764 with both the head and neck inclination angles O_H, O_N, respectively).

The swivel construction method is a specially designed process used to build bridges that cross rivers, valleys, railroads and other obstacles. To carry out this construction method safely, real-time monitoring of the bridge rotation process is required to ensure a smooth swivel operation without collisions. However, the traditional means of monitoring using Electronic Total Station tools cannot realize real-time monitoring, and monitoring using motion sensors or GPS is cumbersome to use.

This study proposes a monitoring method based on a series of computer vision (CV) technologies, which can monitor the rotation angle, velocity and inclination angle of the swivel construction in real-time. First, three proposed CV algorithms was developed in a laboratory environment. The experimental tests were carried out on a bridge scale model to select the outperformed algorithms for rotation, velocity and inclination monitor, respectively, as the final monitoring method in proposed method. Then, the selected method was implemented to monitor an actual bridge during its swivel construction to verify the applicability.

In the laboratory study, the monitoring data measured with the selected monitoring algorithms was compared with those measured by an Electronic Total Station and the errors in terms of rotation angle, velocity and inclination angle, were 0.040%, 0.040%, and −0.454%, respectively, thus validating the accuracy of the proposed method. In the pilot actual application, the method was shown to be feasible in a real construction application.

In a well-controlled laboratory the optimal algorithms for bridge swivel construction are identified and in an actual project the proposed method is verified. The proposed CV method is complementary to the use of Electronic Total Station tools, motion sensors, and GPS for safety monitoring of swivel construction of bridges. It also contributes to being a possible approach without data-driven model training. Its principal advantages are that it both provides real-time monitoring and is easy to deploy in real construction applications.

The main purpose of this paper is to define 2D numerical study and a sensitivity analysis of natural convection heat transfer and entropy generation of Al₂O₃-water nanofluid in a trapezoidal cavity, with considering of the presence of a constant axial magnetic field.

The effects of the three effective parameters, the Rayleigh number, Hartmann number (Ha) and also inclination angle on the heat transfer performance and entropy generation, are investigated using a finite volume approach. The sensitivity analysis of the effective parameters is done utilizing the response surface methodology.

The results obtained showed that the mean Nusselt number and total entropy generation increase with the Rayleigh number. Also, increasing the inclination angle reduces the mean Nusselt number (regardless of the magnetic field). In addition, it is found that the mean Nusselt number increases until Ha = 10 and then decreases by increasing of Ha number, regardless of the inclination angle. The sensitivity of the mean Nusselt number to the Ha number and inclination angle α is negative. It is concluded that to maximize the mean Nusselt number and minimize the entropy generation, simultaneously, the Ha and inclination angle must be 50° and 0°, respectively.

There is no published research in the literature about sensitivity analysis of magneto-hydrodynamic heat transfer and entropy generation in inclined trapezoidal cavity filled with nanofluid.

The effect of inclination on laminar natural convection in a square cavity is studied numerically for inclination angles ranging from 40° to 160°, Rayleigh numbers between 10³ and 10⁶ and Prandtl numbers from 0.02 to 4,000. Contours of stream functions and temperature are presented in order to provide a new insight and a better understanding of the flow and heat transfer characteristics in a square cavity. Finds computed local and mean Nusselt numbers at the hot wall in satisfactory agreement with experimental and other numerical results. Finds the mean heat flux at the hot wall as well as the distribution of the local heat flux along the heated wall are found to depend on the inclination angle, the Rayleigh number and the Prandtl number. Such a dependence is significant for angles greater than 90°, while for smaller angles the effect of the inclination angle on the Nusselt‐Rayleigh correlation is weaker.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate, theoretically and experimentally the performance of liquid refractive index sensor (LRIS).

The proposed LRIS is based on the intensity modulation and a bundle fiber. The mathematical model is used to study the effect of inclination angle on performance of the sensor.

The theoretical result shows that the highest sensitivity can be achieved by using a probe inclined with angle 20° which is almost 13 times higher than that of 0° inclination. In the experiment, three different liquids: isopropyl alcohol, water and methanol are used to investigate the sensor response. Both theoretical and experimental results show that the peak power and the location of the displacement curve changes with refractive index. The sensitivities are obtained at 0.11/mm and 0.04/mm for the sensors with 10° and 0° inclination angles, respectively.

In this paper, a simple LRIS is proposed using a bundle fiber as a probe at various inclination angles.

This paper aims to solve the issue of target positioning in auto stiffener bonder (ASB) systems for flexible printed circuits.

The proposed approach uses Phong’s bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) model to simulate the reflection of light off a target in ASB systems to predict the current pose of the target based on image brightness, update the template, decrease the initial errors in the template and narrow down the search range.

The experimental results indicate that the proposed approach can predict the inclination angle of the target with precision, presenting angle prediction errors of less than three degrees. Furthermore, with larger inclined angles, the overall matching errors were less than 1.5 pixels. Comparisons with the unmodified matching algorithm revealed that the proposed approach resulted in 65 per cent less calculation time for the algorithm and 14 per cent higher overall work efficiency in the ASB system.

The edge-based perspective shape matching algorithm was modified using the Phong BRDF model and enhanced algorithm efficiency with the target pose prediction method while ensuring the precision and robustness of the system. The proposed approach has high potential value and can be expanded to recognition systems for objects with varying inclination angles and highly reflective surfaces.

Solar-driven water desalination technologies are rapidly developing with various links to other renewable sources. However, the efficiency of such systems severely depends on the design parameters. This paper presents results from an investigation on the effect of the glass cover inclination angle on the performance of two stepped solar still geometries (flat and convex) and the amount of produced distilled water.

Studied inclination angles of 25°, 27.5°, 30°, 32.5° and 35° were chosen, while other design parameters were fixed.

The investigation showed that the unit with the convex absorber plate had higher average water daily production rate, compared to the output of the flat absorber plate unit. The results also depicted that the inclination angle of the still has a noticeable effect on the performance of solar stills. The value of the critical angle is 32.5°, and the higher inclination angle results in less heat transfer coefficient. This value can be used for design purposes and erases the typical assumption to use lower angles to optimize the productivity of the still.

Finally, obtained data were used to correlate the Nusselt number for the flat and convex surfaces with different inclination angles of the glass cover.

The outcome of this investigation may find applications to develop highly efficient solar stills to secure more drinkable water in warm, dry lands.