Annual Report 2004-2005

Scientific Research

Engineering Sciences

The broad programme objectives of Engineering Sciences cover support to research efforts in a wide range of disciplines within engineering sciences such as chemical, mechanical, civil, manufacturing, materials, electrical, information technology, robotics and automation. The individual research programmes may address one or more sectors namely, health, bio-medical, transportation, automotive, water resources management, structural engineering, building technologies, manufacturing and process industry related technologies etc.

During 2004-2005, support to both basic and applied research was continued. Fifty new research projects have been initiated. A brief highlights of scientific achievements of activities initiated under individual engineering science programmes, is given below:

Chemical Engineering

• An advanced (Ozone based) Oxidation technique has been developed for bleaching of natural textile fibres with reduced process time and improved fabric properties. The new process is environment friendly and compares favourably with conventional processes in terms of processing cost. An Ozone applicator was specifically designed & fabricated and integrated with the overall system for optimization/demonstration of the process. Based on the encouraging results, industry has come forward to establish a commercial plant.
• A process has been developed through the basic chemistry, bench scale studies and pilot plant trials to manufacture a novel complex fertilizer, combining three important micro-nutrients namely iron, manganese, and molybdenum. This is a slow release formulation and is water insoluble entailing better availability to plants in absence of precipitation and fixation reactions. The process has been optimized and field trials carried out for yield and quality on a variety of crops like Paddy, Spinach, Raddish, Gram, Chilly and Cabbage. Test marketing is presently being carried out to commercialize the process and transferring the technology to industry. Two national and two international patents have been filed out of this work.
• A 6-inch glass photo reactor has been designed and fabricated for photo catalytic treatment of various industrial pollutants. Detailed studies have been carried out on photo catalytic degradation of various compounds involving the effect of catalyst loading, residence time, ph, axial mixing, concentration and exposure time. Enthused by very encouraging results, a pesticide company has come forward to set up a PCD Reactor for the treatment of mercaptons.
• Theoretical work and corresponding experimentation on process simulation, design, control and optimization has resulted in a modular code developed on MATLAB platform for implementation of control strategy for fault detection. Based on the encouraging results, a leading industry has shown interest in taking up further work and actual implementation.
• Extensive work has been carried out to study the acoustic as well as hydro dynamic cavitation phenomena, including detailed mapping of the cavitation equipment. The energy efficiency of hydrodynamic cavitation has been demonstrated to be higher by an order of magnitude as compared to acoustic/conventional techniques for comparable time and yield. While the preliminary work has been started to implement hydrodynamic cavitation for process transformation on a commercial mode, the acquired knowledge is also being converted in terms of software codes to predict cavitation. These software codes will be useful for research purpose as well as industrial application.
• Work has been initiated on extraction, purification and stabilization of tubulin, which is an extremely important and value added enzyme. Availability of tubulin on large scale in a costeffective manner is likely to give a major thrust to research for various applications including Cancer Drug.
• Four projects have been initiated to develop user friendly packages on different aspects of modeling and optimization (CFD, Waveletts, GA, ANN, AI etc.). These packages will constitute a comprehensive simulation tool kit for teaching/research purpose as well as to solve real life problems in industry.
• Based on extensive theoretical/experimental work to study the jet-mixing phenomena, a userfriendly software package has been developed to facilitate quick sizing of jet-mixing systems for process applications. The package will be of good utility to industrial designers to have a sound yet efficient basis for designing such systems.

Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering

• The project “Framework for ILP compilation Techniques” led to development of ILP compilation techniques such as scheduling, software pipelining, and register allocation, especially for architectures involving complex resource usage patterns and also developed framework for ILP compilation & the GUI for the compiler framework. Framework tested/demonstrated for scientific, embedded, multimedia and Java benchmark applications.
• In the Project entitled “Dynamic security assessment and control of Power Grids” a fast computational procedure was developed for computing the energy margin for the purposes of Dynamic Security Assessment (DSA) in large power systems. An algorithm for the on-line detection of loss of synchronism using locally measureable quantities was developed including generalised control strategy for the discrete control of FACTS controllers for the improvement of transient stability and dynamic security.
• The project “Teletraffic models and QoS Gurantees for Internet” led to the development of analytically tractable traffic model and the related queueing theoretic measures. Also multiplicative multifractal cascade procoess for broadband teletraffic was developed tools for estimating traffic parameters were investigated.
• Under the project “Development of a Novel Circuit Simulator following the Look-Up Table Approach” non-quasi static effects in MOS Transistor have been observed. Look up table approach implemented for simulation of CMOS circuits and predictions made on the performance of various novel technologies.
• “Determination of Optimal Antenna Location on Aircraft Structures” led to the development of ray-tracing algorithm by the application of Geodesic Constant Method (GCM) to determine the radiation pattern of antennas located arbitrarily on aircraft.
• “Design and fabrication of optical waveguide power splitter on Si substrate for optical fiber communication” led to the development of sophisticated design tools and test benches to optimize the geometry of various devices required for dense wavelength division multiplexer (DWDM). Also the plant and machinery were developed indigenously, which are highly innovative and reduces the cost of production drastically. The Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition system, which has been developed under this project, is one of the very rareequipment, which is capable of producing more than twenty wafers in batch production. The uniformity and quality of the product is comparable with any of the imported machine.

Material, Mining & Mineral Engineering

Research studies initiated during the year include: life enhancement of hydro turbine components by surface coatings, asbestos-free brake materials for automobiles: tailoring, characterization and evaluation, development of cellular silicon carbide ceramics from pant precursor for engineering applications, development of temperature compensated high permittivity polymer ceramic laminates for micro wave substrate applications, development of epoxy resin from soyabean oil and fabrication of epoxy/glass fiber composites, thermal plasma graphitization of calcined petroleum coke, super capacitor based on conducting polymers an energy storage device, wear behavior of diamond reinforced composite, novel purification technique for electronic materials by distillation through oxide phase, development of niobium powder for capacitor applications as an alternative to tantalum, environmental biotechnology of heavy metal speciation and remediation for mine wastes, and study of effect of process parameters on structure property relationship in new generation interstitial free steel sheets.

• A comparative study of nano-structure of Cu-Ag alloy processed by different techniques namely mechanical alloying, cluster condensation, and rapid solidification has been completed at IISc Bangalore. Both mechanical alloying and cluster condensation yield solid solution of single phase while rapid solidification yields a two phase structure. The study has successfully demonstrated the use of Mechanical Alloying in nano-materials synthesis, and enhanced the understanding of nano- materials through rigorous experimentation and modeling.
• A micro-mechanical model has been developed to predict tensile properties of the aluminum based metal matrix composites at RRL, Trivandrum. The main advantage of this model is that it is highly accurate and computationally efficient than the FEM based tools.
• High purity electrolytic manganese dioxide has been prepared and the conditions for preparation have been optimized to remove approx. 50% of the potassium present in the electrolyte, at CECRI, Karaikudi. A Patent entitled “Improvements in or relating to the purification of manganese sulphate electrolyte for the preparation of EMD” has been filed.
• High strength low carbon bainitic steels containing Ti and Cu as micro-alloying elements have been prepared at Bengal Engineering College, Howrah. Hot working and controlled rolling studies have been carried out on the steels prepared.
• Aqueous corrosion behavior of nitrogen containing austenitic stain less steel weldments has been studied at IIT, Bombay. The study indicates the possibility of using 904 L filler wire to weld 316L SS in place of conventional 316L filler wire. The latter filler wire gives rise to embrittlement in nuclear power plants. The work also shows that in addition the 904 L weld can bring down the hot cracking susceptibility of welds solidifying in both primary austenitic and primary ferritic mode. Thus, it is possible to enhance the corrosion resistance of weld even by reducing the weld’s delta ferrite content.
• A novel method for synthesizing AlN was developed at CGCRI, Kolkata. Carbon particles were coated with aluminum and then reacted with N2 at 1400°C to obtain 90% conversion. Coating of aluminum nitride powder with a sintering additive (yttrium oxide) resulted in maximum shrinkage during densification. The chemical coating technique was found to be superior to mechanical mixing. Two research publications resulting from the study have been accepted by the journal of American Ceramic Society. Two Indian patents have been filed.
• A new environment friendly method has been developed that uses bacteria to extract metals such as cobalt, copper and nickel from nodules (metal ore sourced from the Indian Ocean through a non-toxic method at a faster rate) at NML, Jamshedpur and IISc, Bangalore. The Goa based National Institute of Oceanography provided the team with nodules, which, by using a single four-hour process, extracted 45 per cent of both copper and nickel in near neutral pH and room temperature. The process in near neutral pH is eco friendly as it eliminates the use of toxic chemicals adopted in normal metal extraction.
• A study of recrystallisation behaviour and mechanical properties of some aluminum packaging alloys has been completed at IIT, Kharagpur. Scrap generation during processing of aluminum foil and sheet is quite high in India resulting in a significant cost escalation. Present study was undertaken to minimize scrap generation during processing. Aluminum foil products (AA1235 and AA8011) have been collected at every stage of processing from the industry in the course of this study. Excellent results have been obtained. A new resistivity measurement system has also been fabricated using locally available dc power source and dc voltmeters which is very cheap than the imported system.

Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Robotics

The PAC focused on research and technology as the twin pillars of strategy, and tried to create a productive and enriching environment to enable the country reach world class stature.

• An alternative process for manufacturing “Connecting Rod” of a two wheeler has been developed by powder forging. After completing actual tests including fatigue tests on the component to know its mechanical properties, the critical cost analysis will be carried for the techno-commercial feasibility for implementation by the 2 wheeler manufacturers.
• A 1000 W genset engine design based on the stratified charge injection concept is under progress at IISc, Bangalore. Detailed PRO-E drawings are being prepared for undertaking prototype manufacture. The new concept internal combustion engine is primarily based on the principle of retaining all the processes of a four stroke engine but with the difference that all the processes do not take place in a single working domain as in a conventional engine. Induction and compression are de-coupled from combustion, expansion and exhaust.
• A new software has been developed for converting CT/MRI image data to machine readable format and subsequently use the image data along with Rapid Prototyping process to manufacture surgical implants at low cost.
• A hand-eye-coordination system for the four-fingered robot is being developed using the light point mode approach in design.
• A new model has been developed for fuzzy risk in water quality problems in river systems and key variables affecting the water quality and achieving best compromise solutions in the face of goal conflicts and uncertainty.
• A high power ultrasonic transducer is being designed and the fabrication of the GSM transducer is completed, tests on the field samples are on-going. A number of similar transducers will be developed later.
• New methods for determining the PSD matrix of earthquake excitations that create least favorable response in multi-supported non-linear systems have been developed based on the methods of random vibration and reliability analyses. The use of response surface methodology enables the application of the methods developed to study large-scale systems of practical importance.
• An experimental desalination plant adopting low pressure distillation process having capacity to produce 100 litre/h of fresh water from warm sea water discharge to sea from Tuticorin Thermal Power Station and cold sea water intake has been successfully commissioned in October 2004 by an institute at Coimbatore. After minor post treatment, it can be used as demineralised water for boiler feed water make up.
• An advanced gas metal arc welding (MIG/CO2) technique namely “Time Twin Welding” has been developed at WRI, BHEL, Tiruchirappalli. In this technique, two wires are fed simultaneously forming a single weld pool. Owing to its high deposition rate, welding speed and improved arcing characteristics, it has enormous potential for improving productivity and quality. Using this technique, a system for welding of LPG cylinders has been developed and BHEL is coordinating with LPG cylinders manufacturers for utilizing the technique.
• An autonomous PC based mobile robot for stair navigation has been developed at Bengal Engineering College, Howrah. The mobile robot has a payload capacity of 20 kg that can be moved on flat surface, over rough terrain, it can also climb the staircase and can easily be lifted/carried using the foldable platform on its arms. Refinement and weight reduction of the system is likely to be attempted in future.
• Following the disastrous Gujarat earthquake, there was a widespread feeling that many of the multi-storied buildings in other parts of India may be equally vulnerable. This prompted to address the issue of seismic vulnerability and retrofit of existing Multi-storied buildings, jointly at IIT Madras and SERC Chennai.
• Under the project, 40 buildings in various urban areas (zones III, IV, V) were surveyed and analysed for seismic vulnerability using software developed for this purpose. Various retrofit options were evaluated and designed, wherever necessary (Figures 2.9; 2.10 &
• 2.11). A detailed state-of-the-art study on retrofit strategies and various experimental studies were carried out.

The main deliverables of the project comprise a manual and licence-free software for seismic evaluation and retrofit. A workshop is planned in March 2005 to give an exposure to the knowledge gained to practicing engineers, academicians and researchers.