Conservation agricultural practices for minimizing ammonia volatilization and maximizing wheat productivity

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A large amount of ammonia volatilization from the agricultural system causes environmental problems and increases production costs. Conservation...     

Part 1: Analytical modeling of symmetric multi-nose tube hydroforming

Part 1 of this series of papers presents an analytical model for a multi-nose tube hydroforming process based on a mechanistic approach. In this process, the tube is surrounded by a number of evenly distributed circular dies. The model was established based on equilibrium conditions, yielding criteria, geometrical relationships, and a volume constancy condition. The system of equations was derived and solved for various process parameters. The model validation was performed using finite element analysis and experiments. The model has the ability to predict process parameters such as stresses, strains, internal pressure, geometry variables, and thinning rate distribution. The model could be applied to regular planar tube hydroforming of polygonal shapes such as square, pentagon, or octagon. Details for establishing governing relationships for polygonal shape hydroforming from the multi-nose analytical model are given in Part 2 of this series of papers.     

Precipitation Amount and Intensity Trends Across Southwest Saudi Arabia

This study examines precipitation accumulation and intensity trends across a region in southwest Saudi Arabia characterized by distinct seasonal weather patterns and mountainous terrain. The region is an example of an arid/semiarid area faced with maintaining sustainable water resources with a growing population. Annual and seasonal trends in precipitation amount were examined from 29 rain gages divided among four geographically unique regions from 1945/1946 to 2009. Two of the regions displayed significantly declining annual trends over the time series using a Mann‐Kendall test modified for autocorrelation (α < 0.05). Seasonal analysis revealed insignificant declining trends in at least two of the regions during each season. The largest and most consistent declining trends occurred during wintertime where all regions experienced negative trends. Several intensity metrics were examined in the study area from four additional stations containing daily data from 1985 to 2011. Intensity metrics included total precipitation, wet day count, simple intensity index, maximum daily annual rainfall, and upper/lower precipitation distribution changes. In general, no coherent trends were found among the daily stations suggesting precipitation is intensifying across the study area. The work represents the first of its size in the study area, and one of few in the region due to the lack of available long‐term data needed to properly examine precipitation changes.     

Part 2: Analytical modeling of regular planar polygon tube hydroforming as a special case of symmetric multi-nose tube hydroforming

Part 2 of this series of papers presents an analytical model for regular planar polygon tube hydroforming (THF) as a special case of the analytical model for symmetric multi-nose tube hydroforming. The governing equations derived for multi-nose THF in Part 1 were evaluated by taking the limit of die geometric variables, resulting in a new set of governing equations for regular polygon THF. The model was validated using finite element analysis and a THF experiment, where good agreement was obtained. The model is able to predict field variables such as stresses and strain distribution, thinning rate distribution, and deformed shape at a particular pressure.