Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad&nbsp;(IIT Palakkad or IIT PKD) is a public autonomous&nbsp;engineering&nbsp;and&nbsp;research&nbsp;institute located in&nbsp;Palakkad,&nbsp;Kerala. It was&nbsp;one of the five new&nbsp;IITs&nbsp;proposed in the&nbsp;2014 Union budget of India. The campus was inaugurated on 3 August 2015. The institute has 94 faculty, 978 students, and 63 non-teaching staffs.

IT Palakkad currently offers four-year Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) and two years MS programmes in 8 different engineering disciplines including&nbsp;Computer Science, Electrical, Mechanical, Civil among others.

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IIT Palakkad

Geosynthetic encased stone columns have been widely recognized as an efficient and cost-effective ground improvement technique for improving the load carrying capacity of soft soils. But, the conventional resources such as stone aggregates, gravel etc. are not able to cope with the high demand in the construction industry. Therefore, utilization of potential waste materials such as crushed construction and demolition debris (CCD) in lieu of conventional aggregates in stone columns is a viable and sustainable option. Hence, an attempt was made to use geosynthetics encased CCD columns in improving the load capacity of soft clayey soil. A series of load tests were carried out to examine the performance of soft clay reinforced with geosynthetic encased CCD columns. From the load tests conducted for various L/D (length of geosynthetic encasement to diameter) ratios of the stone columns, it was observed that with fully encased CCD columns, there is a maximum of about 6 fold increase in the load carrying capacity. Thus, CCD can be considered to be a good alternative for aggregates in geosynthetics encased stone columns.

Department of Civil Engineering

World University root node

Geosynthetics Conference 2019

Behaviour of Geosynthetic Encased Crushed Construction and Demolition Debris Stone Columns

A sequence urn:x-wiley:rsa:media:rsa20840:rsa20840-math-0001 contains a pattern urn:x-wiley:rsa:media:rsa20840:rsa20840-math-0002, that is, a permutations of [k], iff there are indices i1 &lt; … &lt; ik, such that f(ix) &gt; f(iy) whenever π(x) &gt; π(y). Otherwise, f is π-free. We study the property testing problem of distinguishing, for a fixed π, between π-free sequences and the sequences which differ from any π-free sequence in more than ϵ n places. Our main findings are as follows: (1) For monotone patterns, that is, π = (k,k − 1,…,1) and π = (1,2,…,k), there exists a nonadaptive one-sided error ϵ-test of urn:x-wiley:rsa:media:rsa20840:rsa20840-math-0003 query complexity. For any other π, any nonadaptive one-sided error test requires urn:x-wiley:rsa:media:rsa20840:rsa20840-math-0004 queries. The latter lower-bound is tight for π = (1,3,2). For specific urn:x-wiley:rsa:media:rsa20840:rsa20840-math-0005 it can be strengthened to Ω(n1 − 2/(k + 1)). The general case upper-bound is O(ϵ−1/kn1 − 1/k). (2) For adaptive testing the situation is quite different. In particular, for any urn:x-wiley:rsa:media:rsa20840:rsa20840-math-0006 there exists an adaptive ϵ-tester of urn:x-wiley:rsa:media:rsa20840:rsa20840-math-0007 query complexity.

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Testing for forbidden order patterns in an array

Post-tensioned girders with internal and external tendons are widely used for the construction of bridges because of their eminent advantages. However, owing to poor grout quality, damage to protective ducts, exposure to environmental conditions, overstressing of strands, and overloading of the girder, the external tendons are susceptible to corrosion and breakage of strands. It is important to identify loss in cross-sectional area of the strands, in order to take preventive actions to avoid loss in capacity, and in some cases even failure of the tendon. Magnetic Flux Leakage (MFL), a non-destructive evaluation technique, is used to detect and quantify metallic defects in external post-tensioning systems. In order to evaluate this technique in in-service bridges under field conditions, a full-scale post-tensioned girder specimen was constructed as a control specimen. Metal defects that include section loss, corrosion, and breakage in wire and single or multiple strands with known loss in cross-sectional area, were fabricated and placed in the external tendons. The MFL device is then used to evaluate loss in metallic area (LMA) in the control girder specimen. The MFL device consistently detects LMA greater than 5% of the total strand cross-sectional area for the group of strands in a tendon. The measurements are found to be repeatable and reproducible. Even though there are errors associated with the estimated LMA percentages, especially for defects with greater than 50% loss in cross-sectional area, the estimated magnitude of the loss in total strand cross-sectional area gives a good indication about the severity of the defect. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd

Engineering Structures

Magnetic flux leakage technique to detect loss in metallic area in external post-tensioning systems

Pile caps are critical structural members that transfer loads from columns and bridge piers to the pile foundation. They are large concrete blocks with significant disturbed (D-) regions, low shear span-to-depth ratio, low longitudinal reinforcement ratio, and typically no vertical ties which makes them vulnerable to shear failure. The current major concrete codes of practice suggest both the sectional approach, and the Strut-and-Tie Method (STM) for the design of pile caps. Neither of the approaches accurately capture the ultimate capacity, force-deformation behaviour, complex strain variation, or the final mode of failure of pile caps. Compatibility Strut-and-Tie Method (C-STM) is an efficient, minimalist, non-linear modelling approach that satisfies equilibrium, compatibility, and constitutive material relationships and effectively simulates the behaviour of shear-critical reinforced concrete members. A displacement based three-dimensional (3D) C-STM is proposed to simulate the behaviour of four-pile caps. Appropriate geometry and material constitutive relationships, including tension stiffening and softening effects, are incorporated into the model. The effects of concrete softening due to transverse tensile strains are also incorporated in the model. To establish the generality of the model, the load and deformation corresponding to cracking, yield, and failure of 33 four-pile cap specimens with varying shapes, sizes and material properties are considered. The model satisfactorily simulates the overall force-deformation behaviour, internal strain behaviour, and sequentially predicts the non-linear events that lead to the failure of the pile caps. The results from the 3D C-STM are in good agreement with the experimental results and observations of four-pile cap specimens. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd

Modelling four-pile cap behaviour using three-dimensional compatibility strut-and-tie method

Quantities appear in search queries in numerous forms: companies with annual revenue of at least 50 Mio USD, athletes who ran 200 m faster than 19.5 s, electric cars with range above 400 miles and so on. Processing such queries requires the understanding of numbers present in the query to capture the contextual information about the queried entities. Modern search engines and QA systems can handle queries that involve entities and types, but they often fail on properly interpreting quantities in queries and candidate answers when the specifics of the search condition (less than, above, etc.), the units of interest (seconds, miles, meters, etc.) and the context of the quantity matter (annual or quarterly revenue, etc.). In this paper, we present a search and QA system, called Qsearch, that can effectively answer advanced queries with quantity conditions. Our solution is based on a deep neural network for extracting quantity-centric tuples from text sources and a novel matching model to retrieve and rank answers from news articles and other web pages. Experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of Qsearch on benchmark queries collected by crowdsourcing.

Department of Data Science

Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)

Qsearch: Answering Quantity Queries from Text

The discovery of a binary neutron star merger (NSM) through both its gravitational wave and electromagnetic emission has revealed these events to be key sites of r-process nucleosynthesis. Here, we evaluate the prospects of finding the remnants of Galactic NSMs by detecting the gamma-ray decay lines from their radioactive r-process ejecta. We find that 126Sn, which has several lines in the energy range 415-695 keV and resides close to the second r-process peak, is the most promising isotope, because of its half-life t 1/2 = 2.30(14) 105 yr being comparable to the ages of recent NSMs. Using a Monte Carlo procedure, we predict that multiple remnants are detectable as individual sources by next-generation γ-ray telescopes which achieve sub-MeV line sensitivities of ∼10-8-10-6 γ cm-2 s-1. However, given the unknown locations of the remnants, the most promising search strategy is a systematic survey of the Galactic plane and bulge extending to high Galactic latitudes. Individual known supernova remnants which may be misclassified NSM remnants could also be targeted, especially those located outside the Galactic plane. Detection of a moderate sample of Galactic NSM remnants would provide important clues to unresolved issues such as the production of actinides in NSMs, properties of merging NS binaries, and even help distinguish them from rare supernovae as current Galactic r-process sources. We also investigate the diffuse flux from longer-lived nuclei (e.g., 182Hf) that could in principle trace the Galactic spatial distribution of NSMs over longer timescales, but find that the detection of the diffuse flux appears challenging even with next-generation telescopes. © 2019. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Department of Physics

Astrophysical Journal

Finding the Remnants of the Milky Way's Last Neutron Star Mergers

Environmental Sciences and Sustainable Engineering Centre (ESSENCE)

Nature Climate Change

Reply to: Brazilian ethanol expansion subject to limitations

Using fine-scale panel data and an econometric model, we predict land use change in the Midwestern United States if a new bioenergy crop, Miscanthus × Giganteus (miscanthus), is introduced. To explain farmers' current crop choices, we use a local, limited dependent variable regression based on soil and weather characteristics. To this model, we add miscanthus as a new crop, based on its place dependent BioCro model-predicted yield. We find that the vast majority of land used to grow miscanthus will come from land now used for non-major crops, pasture, woodland, and other uses. This implies that miscanthus can help mitigate climate change by displacing oil usage without causing food conflict. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.

Fulltext

Ecological Economics

Environment or food: Modeling future land use patterns of miscanthus for bioenergy using fine scale data

Invasion of erythrocytes by merozoites is an essential step for the survival and progression of malaria parasites. To invade red blood cells (RBCs), apicomplexan parasites have to adhere with their apex to the RBC membrane. This necessary apex-membrane contact (or alignment) is not immediately established because the orientation of a free merozoite with respect to the RBC membrane is random when an adhesion contact first occurs. Therefore, it has been suggested that after the initial adhesion, merozoites facilitate their proper alignment by inducing considerable membrane deformations, frequently observed before the invasion process. This proposition is based on a positive correlation between RBC membrane deformation and successful invasion; however, the role of RBC mechanics and its deformation in the alignment process remains elusive. Using a mechanically realistic model of a deformable RBC, we investigate numerically the importance of RBC deformability for merozoite alignment. Adhesion between the parasite and RBC membrane is modeled by an attractive potential that might be inhomogeneous, mimicking possible adhesion gradients at the surface of a parasite. Our results show that RBC membrane deformations are crucial for successful merozoite alignment and require interaction strengths comparable to adhesion forces measured experimentally. Adhesion gradients along the parasite body further improve its alignment. Finally, an increased membrane rigidity is found to result in poor merozoite alignment, which can be a possible reason for a reduction in the invasion susceptibility of RBCs in several blood diseases associated with membrane stiffening. © 2019 Biophysical Society

Biophysical Journal

Importance of Erythrocyte Deformability for the Alignment of Malaria Parasite upon Invasion

Automation of earth moving machineries is a widely studied problem. This paper focusses on one of the main challenges in automation of the earth moving industry, estimation of loading torque acting on the machinery. Loading torque acting on the excavation machinery is a very significant aspect in terms of both machine and operator safety. In this study, a disturbance observer-assisted control system for the estimation of loading torque acting on a robotic backhoe during excavation process is presented. The proposed observer does not use any acceleration measurements, rather, is proposed as a function of joint velocity. Numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme in tracking the reaction torques for a given dig cycle. Co-simulation experiments demonstrate robust performance and accurate tracking of the proposed control in both disturbance torque and position tracking. Further, the performance and sensitivity of the proposed control are also analyzed through the help of performance error quantifiers, the root-mean-square (RMS) values of the position and disturbance tracking errors. © 2019. The Author(s).