Unsteady hydromechanics of a steering podded propeller unit

Unsteady forces, torques and bending moments were predicted for a model podded propulsor unit at various azimuth angles. Predictions in time history include propeller shaft thrust, propulsor unit thrust, normal forces to the propeller shaft bearing, total forces acting on the propulsor unit, propeller shaft torque, blade spindle torque, in-plane and out-of-plane bending moments, and propulsor unit stock shaft torque and bending moments. Analysis was performed for averaged forces and their fluctuations as well. A time-domain unsteady multi-body panel method code, PROPELLA, was further developed for this prediction work. Predictions were compared with a set of time averaged in-house experimental data for a puller-type podded propulsor configuration in the first quadrant operation. Unsteady fluctuations of forces were predicted numerically. Analysis was made for the bending moment on propeller blades, shaft and the propulsor unit stock shaft for azimuth angles from 0° to 45°. It indicates that the magnitude and fluctuation of the forces are significant and they are essential for structural strength and design optimization. The predicted bending moment and global forces on the propulsor unit provide some useful data for ship maneuvering motion and simulation in off-design conditions.     

Hydrologic characteristics of floods in Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna (GBM) delta

In the middle of 2007, a severe flood affected the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. This is a natural disaster that takes people’s lives, destroys livestock, infrastructures and communication systems and, damages crops and fish ponds. Despite many adverse impacts, the flood situation is an accepted phenomenon to the citizens of Bangladesh, due to the immense increase of soil fertility due to the flood, plus, the recharge of aquifer, ecosystem and fish. The flood of 2007 was the 5th major flood of the last 20 years when more than thirty-five percent of the area of the country was inundated with flood water. As in the past, the flood of 2007 had its own significance. The geography of the country contains a floodplain delta of three major river basins: the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna (GBM). The mean monthly rainfall plot from the TRMM satellite data has shown that for both the Meghna and Brahmaputra basins, the rainfall was higher during July 2007 than any other months of the last 2 years. This excess rainfall had accumulated in the Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers and carried downstream to Bangladesh. This was the main cause of the flooding in 2007. The first crossing above the danger level of the river waters was observed at Durgapur station of the Someswari and at Sunamganj station of the Surma on the nineteenth of July, 2007 inside Bangladesh. In terms of magnitude of the peak and duration of the flood, the Brahmaputra was higher in 2007 than during 2004. However, the Ganges river water level never crossed the danger level during flood of 2007. The Meghna was lower during the flood peak for the duration of the flood in 2007. The year–to-year variability in both the magnitude and duration of the flood suggests changes in rainfall and landuse pattern of the catchment.     

Electronic waste: present status and future perspectives of sustainable management practices in Malaysia

The ever-increasing and rapidly growing volume of waste electrical and electronic equipment has become a serious threat to the environment in many countries. The inevitability of e-waste management and the development of a holistic system to deal with it has become an indispensable socio-economic and environmental issue for the sustainable development of Malaysia. However, no comprehensive research has yet been carried out, and only a few works in a discreet manner have been begun. In view of the above, and as a small endeavor towards achieving the country’s Vision 2020, this study explores the present status and future perspectives of the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment in Malaysia. This article presents an overview of e-waste management practices around the world, including the generation of e-waste, the implementation of management strategies, and collection and recovery activities in Malaysia. It also presents the corresponding responses adopted so far with respect to legislation and other infrastructural development. Finally, through the use of structured and semi-structured interviews, it reveals the barriers and challenges, as well as future perspectives and sustainability issues related to the e-waste management system in this fast developing country.     

Geoelectric model and hydrochemistry of salinity affected lower Atrai floodplain aquifer,NW Bangladesh: An approach for irrigation management

In the salinity affected lower Atrai floodplain aquifer in the NW Bangladesh, geoelectric resistivity survey and hydrochemical analysis are carried out with an aim to identify fresh and saline groundwater zones; investigate the status of salinity; evaluate hydrochemical processes involved and suggest management approaches for irrigation. Here a two-fold aquifer system, inter-layered by silt, clay and silty-clay aquitard and aquiclude is classified as: upper aquifer — spatially affected by salinity of varying degrees; and lower aquifer — generally characterized by high salinity. The aquifer with resistivity values greater than 69 Ωm is safe for irrigation use. Concentrations of major ions vary as: Ca²⁺>Na⁺>Mg²⁺>K⁺ and HCO₃>Cl>NO₃>SO₄ ^2?. Groundwater is dominated by Na-Ca to Ca-Na, HCO₃-Cl-SO₄, Cl-SO₄-HCO₃ and Cl-SO₄ ^2? facies where Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, SO₄ ^2?, HCO₃ ^?, Cl^? and NO₃ ^2? ion concentrations are statistically dominant and water is of Ca-Mg, HCO₃-SO₄-Cl and NO₃ types. Geochemically, groundwater is hard and saline to fresh water type. Salinity increases with depth, but spatially towards the southern part. Groundwater quality is a product of water-rock interaction, direct mixing and marine spraying, or fall-out of airborne marine salts, where silicate weathering is the primary source of bivalent cations. Sediment provenance of alkaline earth silicates and higher concentrations of alkalis are derived from sources other than precipitation. In general partially or fully salinity affected upper and lower aquifers in the area except in its eastern part are not suitable for tubewell irrigation. As groundwater demand for irrigation is increasing, the saline water has progressively invaded relatively fresher parts of the aquifer by upconning. So, special salinity control management approaches can be adopted through engineering techniques such as groundwater abstraction optimization, as also through scientific behavioral approaches like groundwater demand management, salt tolerant crops production. In this context, surface water conservation and rain water harvesting for domestic and irrigational uses are recommended in the salinity affected area.     

An open dataset for landslides triggered by the 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake,New Zealand

On November 14, 2016, the northeastern South Island of New Zealand was hit by the magnitude Mw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake, which is characterized by the most complex rupturing mechanism ever recorded. The widespread landslides triggered by the earthquake make this event a great case study to revisit our current knowledge of earthquake-triggered landslides in terms of factors controlling the spatial distribution of landslides and the rapid assessment of geographic areas affected by widespread landsliding. Although the spatial and size distributions of landslides have already been investigated in the literature, a polygon-based co-seismic landslide inventory with landslide size information is still not available as of June 2021. To address this issue and leverage this large landslide event, we mapped 14,233 landslides over a total area of approximately 14,000 km². We also identified 101 landslide dams and shared them all via an open-access repository. We examined the spatial distribution of co-seismic landslides in relation to lithologic units and seismic and morphometric characteristics. We analyzed the size statistics of these landslides in a comparative manner, by using the five largest co-seismic landslide inventories ever mapped (i.e., Chi-Chi, Denali, Wenchuan, Haiti, and Gorkha). We compared our inventory with respect to these five ones to answer the question of whether the landslides triggered by the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake are less numerous and/or share size characteristics similar to those of other strong co-seismic landslide events. Our findings show that the spatial distribution of the Kaikōura landslide event is not significantly different from those belonging to other extreme landslide events, but the average landslide size generated by the Kaikōura earthquake is relatively larger compared to some other large earthquakes (i.e., Wenchuan and Gorkha).

     

Waterlogging induced loss and damage assessment of urban households in the monsoon period: a case study of Dhaka,Bangladesh

Natural Hazards - Every monsoon period, the households in Dhaka face extensive waterlogging in their localities. This recrudescing event leads to tangible and intangible losses in the lives of...     

Urbanization effects on the air temperature rise in Saudi Arabia

We study the possible effects of urbanization on the rise of air temperature in Saudi Arabia for the period 1981–2010. The effects of variations in elevation and marine temperature on the air temperature trend are also investigated. Surface air temperature data are analyzed for 24 sites which are mostly located at the airports across the country. The population data for the current (2010) and earlier (2004 and 1992) censuses are used for the nearest cities where the observation sites are located. A national average is calculated using two different approaches (simple averaging and weighted according to area for 1985–2010 when all stations are available) which gives trends of 0.60 and 0.51 °C/decade respectively, both significant at the 99 % level. We find no link between the temperature increase and population increase nor with elevation at the 24 sites which are mostly located in the urban effected area but not at the city centers. This suggests that the rise in air temperature is not likely due to urbanization changes resulting from the population increases.     

Laboratory investigation of the effects of mineral size and concentration on the formation of oil-mineral aggregates

Controlled laboratory studies of the formation of oil-mineral aggregates (OMA) in seawater demonstrate that sediment concentration and sediment size are key variables for determining the quantity of oil droplets stabilised by OMA formation. Experiments with a single sediment size and a range of sediment concentrations show that as sediment concentration increases, the quantity of oil trapped in OMA increases abruptly. In experiments with a single sediment concentration and a range of sediment sizes, the quantity of oil trapped in OMA decreases as sediment size increases. These results provide direct support to the hypothesis that there is a critical sediment concentration for OMA formation. Below this concentration, stabilisation of oil droplets by OMA decreases rapidly, while above this concentration, stabilisation is extensive. The results also support simple geometric models of OMA formation that predict that the critical sediment mass concentration increases linearly with sediment particle diameter. These results will help to place quantitative constraint on predictions of where and when OMA formation will be a factor in the natural dispersal of oil accidentally spilled into the ocean.