New method of calculating calorific values from elemental compositions of fossil fuels

A new method of calculating the calorific values of fossil fuels from their chemical composition has been developed, based on the concept that heats of reaction of stoichiometric fuel-oxidizer systems are rectilinearly related with the total oxidizing or reducing valancies of the mixture. The calorific value of fossil fuels has been shown to be directly related to the net reducing valencies of the fuel. The proposed method is simple and compares favourably with the other prominent methods reported in the literature.

On the Transform Method of Solution of an External Crack Problem

The breakdown of the usual method of Fourier transforms in the problem of an external line crack in a thin infinite elastic plate is discovered and the correct solution of this problem is derived using the concept of a generalised Fourier transform of a type discussed first by Golecki [1] in connection with Flamant's problem.

A Method for Isolation of Protoplasts from Dermatophytes

A method has been developed to isolate protoplasts from dermatophytes using Novozym 234. A simple technique of flotation in MgSO, has been adapted to separate protoplasts from incubation mixture. Electron microscopic studies confirmed the absence of cell wall material on these protoplasts. The recovery of DNA from protoplasts was higher than from mycelia.

Application of partition method to vibration problems of plates

The “partition method” or “sub-domain method” consists of expressing the solution of a governing differential equation, partial or ordinary, in terms of functions which satisfy the boundary conditions and setting to zero the error in the differential equation integrated over each of the sub-domains into which the given domain is partitioned. In this paper, the use of this method in eigenvalue problems with particular reference to vibration of plates is investigated. The deflection of the plate is expressed in terms of polynomials satisfying the boundary conditions completely. Setting the integrated error in each of the subdomains to zero results in a set of simultaneous, linear, homogeneous, algebraic equations in the undetermined coefficients of the deflection series. The algebraic eigenvalue problem is then solved for eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Convergence is examined in a few typical cases and is found to be satisfactory. The results obtained are compared with existing results based on other methods and are found to be in very good agreement.

A Method of Characteristics for Solving Two-dimensional Unsteady Flow Problems

The aim of this investigation is to evolve a method of solving two-dimensional unsteady flow problems by the method of characteristics. This involves the reduction of the given system of equations to an equivalent system where only interior derivatives occur on a characteristic surface. From this system, four special bicharacteristic directional derivatives are chosen. A finite difference scheme is prescribed for solving the equations. General rectangular lattices are also considered. As an example, we investigate the propagation of an initial pressure distribution in a medium at rest.

New nondestructive method for three-dimensional photoelasticity

A new set of equations describing completely the optical phenomena in a model involving continuous rotation of secondary axes and secondary principal-stress differences are obtained. These are solved by Peano-Baker method using experimentally determined characteristic parameters for several wavelengths of light. Experimental verifications are obtained for a rectangular bar subjected to combined torsion and tension. Paper was presented at Third SESA International Congress on Experimental Mechanics held in Los Angeles, CA on May 13–18, 1973.