Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is a private university located in&nbsp;Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 1984, as Vellore Engineering College, the institution offers 20 undergraduate, 34 postgraduate, four integrated and four research programs. It has campuses in Vellore, Amravati, Bhopal and Chennai.

VIT is one of the top ranked private universities in India according to NIRF, THE and QS Rankings.&nbsp;Govt. of India has recognized&nbsp;VIT, Vellore as an&nbsp;Institution of Eminence. This has allowed VIT to take independent quality initiatives and move up in world ranking.

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VIT University

Civil

Stretchable dielectrics exploit their inherent elasticity to enable new types of transducers that convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. Electric power can be altered by simply stretching or shrinking a low cost material, and hence is more desirable now-a-days. The challenge of a material to be sustainable for lifelong is a great task for varying environmental conditions. It could be overcome by making functional coatings over the substrate. The challenge includes choosing resins that stretch along with the substrate uniformly without affecting its dielectric properties. In this article, the effect of different polymer coatings over the dielectric elastomer Lycra is investigated. Elastomeric coatings with the polymer resins silicone, TPU and Epoxy were made by doctor blade method. Dielectric properties measurements and Tensile strength tests pointed out the effectiveness of the coated substrates in stretchable RF devices. SEM micrograph images show the sustainability of the resin coated fabric for varying environmental conditions. © 2020 National Institute of Optoelectronics. All rights reserved.

World University root node

School of Civil Engineering

Chennai Campus

Journal of Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials

Polymer resin coating over dielectric elastomer for effective stretchable RF devices

This study is about studying the market situation of real estate and automotive industry in and around Chennai during the pandemic season (Covod-19). The study comprises an inter disciplinary approach called as transdisciplinary model where parameters were not considered from single field. The parameters studied are of four varied categories such as psychological, social, economic and logical influence. The basic enquiry log of real estate industry and automatize industry in Chennai is collected and preliminary analysis was made on percentage of conversion from enquiry to sale. Then the enquirers are provided with questionnaire mapped with the influencing parameters, to study their decision taking pattern. The results show that each unit has different influencers, but altogether there was no logical approach hence conforming the panic consumeristic behavior during the time of pandemic. Also, it shows that commercial vehicle section has got a worst heat, and the real estate sale is also in back seat due to unprecedented future. © IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed.

International Journal of Management

Market response of real estate and automotive industry during pandemic-a transdisciplinary approach

We report the growth process and linear and nonlinear optical characterization of high quality improvised semiorganic 2A5NPDP single crystal using the modified SR method for the first time. The major difficulties for the growth of 2A5NPDP single crystal have been resolved with the aid of a temperature lowering method. After optimization of the growth conditions, a transparent 2A5NPDP single crystal was harvested with a size of 85 mm length and 10 mm diameter over a period of 60 days. The growth rate of the modified SR method grown crystal was found to be 10 times higher than that of the conventional slow evaporation solution technique (SEST) grown crystal. The unit cell parameters of the grown crystal were ascertained by the single crystal X-ray diffraction (SXRD) and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) techniques. The high crystalline perfection of the crystal was ascertained by using a high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) technique. The presence of multifarious functional groups of the 2A5NPDP crystal were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Fourier transform Raman (FT-Raman) spectral analyses. The thermal property was assessed by the thermogravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). It shows that the grown crystal withstands temperature up to 175 °C. UV-vis-NIR analysis was used to measure the linear optical property while third-order nonlinear optical properties were ascertained using Z-scan and optical limiting (OL) techniques. The optical limiting threshold of conventional method grown crystal is 5.7 mW/cm2, whereas the modified SR method grown crystal is 4.7 mW/cm2. Low value of limiting threshold indicates that the grown crystal has minimum defects. Finally, 800 nm wavelength of 140 fs at 80 MHz repetition rate obtained from a Ti:sapphire oscillator was used for the terahertz (THz) generation between 0.1 and 2.1 THz range. The efficiency of the generated THz signal was measured using another 800 nm wavelength of 40 fs, at 1 kHz repetition rate obtained from a Ti:sapphire amplifier. The generated THz signal is separated out from unconverted 800 nm using Teflon filters, and power is measured using a pyrometer. The maximum conversion efficiency of generated THz signal is on the order of 0.63 × 10-5%. Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society.

Physics

School of Advanced Sciences

Crystal Growth & Design

Evaluation of Linear and Nonlinear Optical Properties of D−π–A Type 2-Amino-5-Nitropyridinium Dihydrogen Phosphate (2A5NPDP) Single Crystal Grown by the Modified Sankaranarayanan–Ramasamy (SR) Method for Terahertz Generation

Early deterioration of flexible pavements, due to increased traffic volume, environmental conditions, poor maintenance and construction quality, causes difficulties to road users, all around the world. The structural failures such as fatigue and rutting demand the reconstruction of the pavements which further leads to significant construction cost. One potentially sustainable solution to this problem is to adopt perpetual pavement technology. The fatigue and rutting distresses in the pavements can be minimised to some extent by utilising Superpave mixtures with perpetual pavement concept. This paper proposes two polymer-modified Superpave mixtures, one with optimum amount of binder and the other with rich binder content, for the asphalt intermediate and base layers of perpetual pavement, respectively. The optimum mixtures were prepared with two aggregate gradations having nominal maximum aggregate sizes 25 mm and 19 mm for the intermediate layers to enhance the rutting resistance. Rich mixtures were prepared with the same gradations for the asphalt base layer to improve the fatigue resistance. Laboratory tests were conducted on these mixtures to determine moisture susceptibility, rutting resistance, fatigue behaviour and resilient modulus. The fatigue and rutting criteria of perpetual pavement sections were evaluated using KENPAVE software and the critical strains were found to be within the limits. The experimental results and analysis on perpetual pavement sections with proposed mixtures for the intermediate and base layers show that they can be considered as a better alternative for conventional pavements. © 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Road Materials and Pavement Design

Evaluation of Superpave mixtures for perpetual asphalt pavements

This paper deals with the study of durability properties of fly ash and steatite powder based Geopolymer concrete. The activating alkali used was 10 M sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solution. The ratio of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate ratio was 1:2.5. The range of replacement levels of flyash with steatite powder was from0 - 50 %. In order to improve the workability of geopolymer concrete, a PC based admixture Glenium B233 has been used for all the mixtures. In addition to that the concrete has been cured at oven at 70oC for about 48 hours. The following durability index properties such as water absorption, sorptivity, rapid chloride penetration test and acid attack test were measured at 28days. The observed results indicated that, increase in steatite powder demonstrates low water absorption and low permeability representing that the material was in a high dense pore structure. Additionally in acid resistance test, there was a decline in the percent losses of compressive strength with particular time period but then again the declination was lower when compared to increase in steatite powder. © 2019 IOP Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fulltext

IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering

Durability Performance of Fly Ash and Steatite Powder Based Geopolymer Concrete

The need for incorporation of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) in the Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) mixtures is becoming a priority in the pavement industries. The RAP offers several benefits such as the reduction in usage of bitumen, and natural aggregates, and reduction in the landfills, emission into the environment and cost. SMA is known for its success in improving rutting resistance, durability and cracking resistance and to utilize the benefits of both RAP and SMA, it seems a logical purpose to incorporate RAP in the SMA mixtures. However, RAP contains an aged binder, which increases the stiffness of the mixtures and a rejuvenator is added to improve the rheology of the aged binder. In this study, Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) is used as a rejuvenator in the RAP incorporated SMA mixture. In order to determine the maximum RAP content and optimum WVO dosage, four RAP contents (10, 20, 30, and 40% by weight of the aggregate) and four WVO dosages (0, 3, 6, and 9% by weight of bitumen content) are used to prepare the SMA mixtures. The laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate drain down, volumetric properties, Marshall characteristics, stripping behaviour, Retained Marshall Stability (RMS), and Tensile Strength Ratio (TSR) and they are compared statistically to each other and to the control mixture. The results indicate that RAP incorporated SMA mixtures have a substantial positive effect on the volumetric properties and it enhanced the Marshall Stability (MS), stripping resistance and RMS, however, reduced the TSR value. To the contrary, the addition of the WVO improved the TSR value to a great extent and increased the RAP content. The statistical analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) results, showed that the RAP content and WVO dosage have a significance on the properties of the SMA, and the main effect plot results concluded that it is possible to incorporate 40% of RAP content with 6% WVO in the SMA mixtures. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd

VIT Unitversity

Construction and Building Materials

Evaluation of rejuvenator’s effectiveness on the reclaimed asphalt pavement incorporated stone matrix asphalt mixtures

The design of the 15 storey R.C building (seismic zone V) is made in accordance with IS 456:2000 using ETABS software. It is already reported that provision of concentric bracing throughout the building are reliable during seismic activity. Hence, this work is aimed to improve the performance of multi storey R.C. building by provision of eccentric steel bracing through analysis. Different types of bracing such as V bracing, Chevron bracing and Diagonal bracing are provided in concentric and eccentric manner. The effect of distribution of steel bracing throughout the height of the building is examined. It is found that the deflection in the building increases with increase in eccentricity. Moreover, V type bracing with 10 percentage eccentricity is found to be most reliable under seismic activity compared to other arrangements.

International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering Regular Issue

Seismic Performance of Reinforced Concrete Frame with Steel Bracing System

Antibiotics are considered as the significant group of pharmaceuticals which causes a serious hazard to the environment and human health in recent years. Due to the inefficient treatment technologies, conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are unable to remove many antibiotics from wastewater. This review encapsulates the current status of antibiotics occurrence in influent and effluent of WWTPs globally. Specifically, β-lactams, fluoroquinolones, macrolides, sulfonamides, tetracyclines classes of antibiotics are found to be high in wastewater. An overview of physicochemical properties, generation classifications of antibiotics, and different advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) available for the removal of emerging pollutants are presented. Besides, the removal efficiency of diverse antibiotics by various AOPs are discussed. The combination such as UV/H2O2, UV/H2O2/Fe2+ and ozonation are reported for maximum removal of antibiotics. However, when compared to simulated wastewater, limitations are persisted for the removal of antibiotics in real wastewater, owing to its difficulty in assessing and observing the compound under mixed nature. AOPs assisted degradation mechanism for ciprofloxacin antibiotic in wastewater is presented and the necessity of research on antibiotic removal is highlighted. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd

Department of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering

Vellore Campus

Journal of Environmental Management

Insights on the current status of occurrence and removal of antibiotics in wastewater by advanced oxidation processes

Construction projects are the fuel for economic growth of any nation as they provide the essential requirements of housing, transportation, connectivity, and social infrastructure. India is in need of rapid infrastructure development. However, construction projects in India are plagued by a global phenomenon––“Delays/Time overruns”. Projects in India continue to suffer excessive delays. To identify the root causes of delay specifically in different type of projects, the projects were categorized based on the type and causes for each project type viz., transportation, power, buildings, and water/irrigation sector were identified. A questionnaire survey was conducted among the major contractors, owners and consultants in India to determine the critical causes of delay. Sixty causes of delay identified from literature were selected for the study and ranked using the Importance Index (II). Financial related causes viz., delay in settlement of claims by owner, contractor’s financial difficulties, delay in payment for extra work/variations and late payment from contractor to subcontractors/suppliers were found to be the most critical causes of delay in all the type of projects. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior professionals of Indian construction industry and exhaustive mitigation measures for top causes of delay were also developed to overcome them. These mitigation measures will serve as a checklist of best practices and will aid project managers and professionals to control delay causes and improve construction project delivery. © 2018, © 2018 Associated Schools of Construction.

International Journal of Construction Education and Research

Critical causes of time overrun in Indian construction projects and mitigation measures

The present study is to compare the multiple regression analysis (MRA) model and artificial neural network (ANN) model designed to predict the mechanical strength of fiber-reinforced concrete on 28 days. The model uses the data from early literatures; the data consist of tensile strength of fiber, percentage of fiber, water/cement ratio, cross-sectional area of test specimen, Young’s modulus of fiber, and mechanical strength of control specimen, and these were used as the input parameters; the respective strength attained was used as the target parameter. The models are created and are used to predict compressive, split tensile, and flexural strength of fiber admixed concrete. These models are evaluated through the statistical test such as coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean squared error (RMSE). The results show that these parameters produce a valid model through both MRA and ANN, and this model gives more precise prediction for the fiber admixed concrete.