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As a result of lifestyle changes, the energy requirement for thermal comfort has increased. To increase energy efficiency and reduce global warming, building design should consider the climate. An energy-efficient building code has been developed with the goal of reducing energy demand by 25%–40%. However, the code cannot be used because different stakeholders have different perspectives. Climate zones, which are required for building structures that are both energy-efficient and climate-responsive, do not exist in the country. From 1989 to 2019, hourly weather data has been collected for district headquarters. This research focuses on the bioclimatic classification of Sri Lankan buildings and passive design methods. Degree days have been calculated for various base temperatures using Hitchin's, Erb's, Schoenau and Kehring's, ASHRAE, UKMO, and Hourly methods. The degree-day maps for Sri Lanka were created using ArcGIS. The bioclimatic classification for Sri Lanka was developed by combining climate and degree-day data. Sri Lanka is divided into three bioclimatic zones: cold, hot, and intermediate. The design potential of each bioclimatic zone was calculated using BcChart V2.0. Natural ventilation is an effective passive design technique for increasing indoor comfort. In the cold, hot, and intermediate zones, its potential is 72%, 62%, and 80%, respectively.

NiTi Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) is extensively utilized in various high-performance engineering industries such as medical devices, aerospace, air-craft structures, micro-electrical and electronic components, and more, owing to its exceptional properties, including shape memory effect (SME), superelasticity, and biocompatibility. Nonetheless, due to its distinct characteristics, achieving a suitable joint of NiTi alloys is a challenging task. Therefore, scientists have been dedicating significant efforts to the joining of this alloy. This current research explores the weldability of NiTi wires with stainless steel wire and copper wire using Laser. The micro-hardness and the tensile strength of the weld joint are acquired according to Taguchi design of experiment so as to identify the significance of the control factors (laser power, scan speed and focal length). Moreover, simultaneous optimization of multi performance characteristics is also attempted using Utility concept. The results from the confirmation runs showed that the predicted optimal machining parameters has im-proved the individual as well as the multiple performance characteristic.

We present a case of a 37-year-old male security officer with fever, severe low back pain radiating to left lower leg and diminished mobility for 1 week. His Lumbar spine X-ray was unremarkable, but his inflammatory markers including CRP, ESR and Neutrophils were high. CT scan with contrast showed rim enhancing fluid collection within the left obturator foramen with inflammatory change in the mesorectal fat. Confirmatory MRI scans depicted inflammatory change in the left piriformis muscle and a localized collection without any abnormality in the spine. Urgent CT guided aspiration was performed and the sample sent for microbiological analysis. Intravenous antibiotics commenced and continued for two weeks with complete resolution.

There is a continuous quest in the research community for superior and more accurate methodology for fault diagnosis and condition monitoring of diverse composite structure. This is because, these structures suffer from various nonlinear mode of failures while in service those are recognised as delamination, voids, matrix crack etc. Early detection of failures is what the most research mainly aims at. In this regard, the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques has been proved to be a versatile method for damage assessment. The collective inevitable use of composite materials in various high-performance engineering industries requires preliminary testing (detection, location, and quantification) for damage to these materials in order to improve their integrity and order. The present paper aims to bring out a concise review on various methodologies employed for damage/fault detection in composite materials with a special emphasis on supervised and unsupervised machine learning techniques. The major observations are outlined with an objective to put forward a broad perspective of the state of art related to laminated composite structural heath monitoring.

Owing to minimum quantity or no use of toxic coolants, the dry machining technique has been evidenced to be a versatile sustainable method. However, during dry machining of ductile alloys, the severe tool wear and metal adhesion on the rake face of the cutting tool has been a matter of great concern. In the present work, an attempt has been made to assess the improvement in the tribological conditions in dry cutting by providing surface texturing on the rake face of High-Speed Steel (HSS) cutting tool. Dimples were produced on the rake surface of the HSS tool using pulsed Nd: YAG Laser and dry turning of pure aluminium is performed using the textured tool based on Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array (OA) experimental design. The dry cutting of pure aluminium was also performed using the conventional/un-textured tool and the obtained results are used for comparison purpose. Improved turning performance in terms of material removal rate and surface roughness is found from the conformation tests using optimum process parameter determined by the Taguchi analysis. The ANOVA results suggests the effectiveness of using the textured tools during dry machining is significantly affected by feed and speed.

The current paper deals with an evaluation of water management through community participation and emergence of Pani Panchayat (PP) in a case study of the Vir Bajrang Bali Pani Panchayat under Lift Irrigation Project of the Hirakud Command Area (HCA), Orissa state in Eastern India . The broad objective of this paper is to examine the functioning of Water User Association (WUA) or Pani Panchayat promoted by the State and the local traditional irrigation institutions in the HCA, Orissa and to evaluate their functioning & characteristics in the context of local water management. The precise objectives are: (1) to analytically review the Orissa Farmers Management of Irrigation Systems Act and study the functioning of the Pani Panchayat, (2) to examine people's participation (3) study the apparatus of water management and control, and the impact of such management on productivity among the members and (4) to recommend policy interventions to make the formal institutions more successful. The paper concludes that the Pani Panchayats performance as regulatory institutions in charge of water distribution on equitable basis has been weak and unsuccessful. Even though the Pani Panchayat has been initiated and endorsed in the State for more than a couple of years, the acceptance of this model have been lethargic and scattered. As Pani Panchayat is a new concept needing experimentation and experience before finalisation of its content in greater detail, the irrigation agency is not in a position to spell out the different components of the programme in concrete terms. A detailed action plan should be prepared by the irrigation authority in consultation with the water users through Participatory Rural Appraisal method. A feasibility study should be under taken by examining the caste/class conflict, groupism, political differences and history of confrontation and conflict, if any. It is necessary to apply a bottom-up approach instead of a top-down one for sustainability. There must also be mechanisms to ensure that the benefits of the project are equally distributed to all concerned stakeholders.

The nonlinear finite element solutions for the buckling and post-buckling responses of the functionally graded shell panel subjected to the non-uniform thermal environment have been presented in this article. The thermal fields are assumed as uniform, linear and nonlinear temperature rise across the thickness of shell panel and the properties of each constituent are considered to be temperature dependent. The effective material properties of the graded structure are evaluated using the Voigt’s micromechanical rule in conjunction with power-law distribution. For the analysis purpose, a general nonlinear mathematical model of the functionally graded shell panel has been developed based on the higher order shear deformation theory and Green-Lagrange type geometrical nonlinear strains. The system governing equation of the panel structure is derived using the variational principle. Further, suitable nonlinear finite element steps have been adopted to discretize the model for the computation of the desired responses in association with the direct iterative method. The convergence and the validation behavior of the present numerical model are initially tested to demonstrate its efficacy and significance. Finally, the effects of curvature, power law index and different support conditions on the buckling and post-buckling responses of the functionally graded shell panels are investigated and discussed in details.

A starting point for adapting to longer-term climate change could be adaptation to short-term climate variability and extreme events. Making more informed choices about the use of remittances can enhance the adaptive capacity of remittance-receiving households.