Vulnerability risk assessment and adaptation to climate change induced sea level rise along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt

Consequence of the sea level rise (SLR) on the Mediterranean coastal areas in Egypt, particularly the Nile River Delta, has become an issue of major concern to Egypt’s population and the government. Previous publications disregard the entire Mediterranean coast of Egypt as an integral unit subject to the impacts of the SLR. This study aims to analyzing the risks, ranking the vulnerability and suggesting adaptation measures to mitigate the impact of the SLR along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. Although the prominent features of Egypt’s Mediterranean coastal zone are the low lying coast of the Nile Delta, associated with land subsidence, tectonic activities and erosion; the contiguous coastal sectors are backed by shore-parallel carbonate ridges and Plateau (the western coast) and sand dune belts (Sinai coast). The coastal zone is ranked as high, moderate, and low vulnerable to the SLR. The social and biophysical vulnerabilities demonstrate the asymmetrical impacts of the SLR on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. Areas at risk in the Alexandria region are Mandara and El Tarh whereas in the Nile Delta region, they are the Manzala Lagoon barrier, east and west of the Rosetta City, Gamil, and the Tineh plain. Risk associated with these impacts may be reduced provided the consideration of immediate and adequate adaptation measures.     

Shear cutting and counter shear cutting of sandwich materials

New lightweight sandwich materials challenge existing forming processes as well as following process steps. As such the manufacturing potential of shear cutting has to be evaluated. Two cutting methods are compared. Method commonly used is shear-cutting within one stroke engaged, the other one is known as counter-shear cutting, which uses two strokes.The challenges of cutting sandwich materials are variation of hole diameter within the different layers, fraying of the textiles, deformation of the hole contour and burr formation. These effects occur in conventional shear cutting as the intermediate layer and the lower sheet metal are cut by the scrap of the upper sheet instead of the cutting punch.The following methodology included shear cutting with closed cutting edge i.e. cutting of holes into five different sandwich materials. The sandwiches exemplarily represent multiple kinds of possible material designs. For instance, aluminum and steel face sheets, different thicknesses of intermediate layers and different intermediate layers materials such as integrated textile fibers have been used. Adequate cutting parameters such as die clearance and the use of a blank holder have been determined. To achieve good results a stiff machine design with good guidance and precise control of punch position was crucial.Observations of conventional shear cutting revealed the need of small cutting clearance of 4%. High burnish area is possible for the upper face sheet due to the superimposed force by the lower face sheet. The major conclusion depicted that high cutting quality of sandwich materials requires counter shear cutting. Hence, the roll-over of the lower sheet facing the intermediate layer, the burnish area at the lower sheet, good cutting quality of the fibers improve significantly and burr formation is avoided completely. Summarized this paper provides cutting parameters for sandwich materials based on experimental work.     

Resistance mash welding for joining of copper conductors for electric motors

The automotive industry is developing designs and manufacturing processes for a new generation of electric motors intended for use in hybrid and electric vehicles. This paper is focused on using solid-state welding to join rectangular wires in the fabrication of motor stators. Resistance welding has not typically been applied to copper due to its very high electrical conductivity; however through optimization of the current and pressure profiles, excellent quality copper-to-copper joints have been demonstrated with a technique known as resistance mash welding. A better understanding of resistance mash welding characteristics will help advancements in its application for stators. The limitations of this application will be discussed.     

Application of CGP-cross route process for microstructure refinement and mechanical properties improvement in steel sheets

A modified method of severe plastic deformation (SPD) entitled constrained groove pressing-cross route (CGP-CR) was introduced for imposing a high magnitude of equivalent strain of about 2.32 per pass on the sheet form samples. The major benefit of this improved route compared to previous common route was the more homogeneity of strain in the rolling (RD) and transverse (TD) directions of sheets. In this study, low carbon steel samples were used for examination of evolutions in microstructure and mechanical properties during SPD via CGP-CR process. Mechanical properties improvement were measured by tensile and macro hardness tests. The results indicate that CGP-CR process can effectively improve tensile strength; and also, yield stress and hardness of as-received low carbon steel samples were improved up to about 100% after two deformation passes. Also, high magnitude of inhomogeneity can be observed in hardness distribution through first pass of the process which diminishes in the subsequent passes. Microstructural evolutions during process were monitored by optical microscopy observations and X-ray diffraction analysis. The results demonstrate that initial ferritic microstructure with grain size of about 30 μm was refined to a 225 nm cell structure after two passes of CGP-CR process.     

Dimensional analysis and scaling in mechanical mixing for fabrication of metal matrix nanocomposites

For a successful enhancement of mechanical properties of metal matrix nanocomposites, a homogeneous nanoparticle dispersion and distribution in the solidified metal is required. Mechanical mixing can be used for initial break-up of agglomerates, and its study can be simplified with dimensional analysis. Using this technique, mixing time and vortex height were assessed while varying fluid properties, impeller angle, and angular speed. Three relevant dimensionless numbers were recognized: the Reynolds (Re), Froude and Galilei (Ga) numbers. Based on blade and impeller shaft angles, a modified Froude number (Fr*) was defined. These parameters were calculated experimentally, varying angular speed from 200 to 1000 rpm for three different impeller angles: 0°, 15° and 30°. This procedure was performed with three fluids: water, and two aqueous glycerin solutions (25% and 50% by volume). Digital images were taken and processed to measure vortex height. Mixing time was measured for water at 0° impeller angle, angular speed ranging from 200 to 1200 rpm. Results showed an optimal dimensionless mixing time with respect to Re. A linear relationship was found between dimensionless vortex height and Fr*. The first had a second order polynomial relationship with the product ReFr*, regardless of impeller angle. This relationship, together with the Ga, specific for each fluid, allows scaling the results to other fluids such as molten pure aluminum. This study allows experimenting in simpler systems that involve transparent fluids, room temperature and low cost, to then elaborate a prediction of vortex height in fluids where measurements are difficult and costly, such as molten metals.     

Design and evaluation of an atomization-based cutting fluid spray system in turning of titanium alloy

Tool life has been a vital issue in machining titanium alloys. Recently, an atomization-based cutting fluid (ACF) application has been found to be an effective approach for cooling and lubrication in micromachining operations. In this study, an ACF spray system is developed for macro-scale turning of Ti–6Al–4V. The spray system is designed to minimize interaction between the fluid droplets, and the gas nozzle to control the divergence of the fluid droplets. Experiments are conducted to study the effect of five specific ACF spray parameters including fluid flow rate, spray distance, impingement angle, and type and pressure level of the droplet carrier gas on cutting forces, tool life, and chip characteristics. It has been observed that the combination of lower pressure (150 psi) air-mixed CO₂ with a higher flow rate (20 ml/min) and a larger spray distance (35 mm) produces a significantly longer tool life and broken chips. The results also reveal that the ACF spray system can extend tool life up to 40–50% over flood cooling.     

Building regional priorities in forests for development and adaptation to climate change in the Congo Basin

Indentifying common priorities in shared natural resource systems constitutes an important platform for implementing adaptation and a major step in sharing a common responsibility in addressing climate change. Predominated by discourses on REDD + (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries) with little emphasis on adaptation there is a risk of lack of policy measures in addressing climate change in the Congo Basin. Forest products and ecosystem services provide security portfolios for the predominantly rural communities, and play major roles in national development programmes in both revenue and employment opportunities. Thus, raising the profile of forests in the policy arena especially in the twin roles of addressing climate change in mitigation and adaptation and achieving resilient development is crucial. Within the framework of the Congo Basin Forests and Climate Change Adaptation project (COFCCA) project, science policy dialogue was conducted to identify and prioritize forest based sectors vulnerable to climate change but important to household livelihoods and national development. The goal of the prioritization process was for the development of intervention in forest as measures for climate change adaptation in Central Africa. Participants constituted a wide range of stakeholders (government, Non Governmental Organizations, research institutions, universities, community leaders, private sectors etc.) as representatives from three countries directly involved in the project: Cameroon, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo. Building on national priorities, four forest related sectors were identified as common priorities at the regional level for focus on climate change adaptation. These sectors included: (1) energy with emphasis on fuel wood and Charcoal; (2) Water principally quality, quantity, accessibility, etc.; (3) Food with emphasis on Non Timber Forest Products, and (4) Health linked to healthcare products (medicinal plants). Using these prioritized sectors, the project focused on addressing the impacts of climate change on local communities and the development of adaptation strategies in the three pilot countries of the Congo Basin region. The four sectors constitute the key for development in the region and equally considered as priority sectors in the poverty reduction papers. Focused research on these sectors can help to inject the role of forests in national and local development and their potentials contributions to climate change adaptation in national and public discourses. Mainstreaming forest for climate change adaptation into national development planning is the key to improve policy coherence and effectiveness in forest management in the region.     

Analysis of machined surface quality in a single-pass of ball-end milling on Inconel 718

The ball-end milling process is widely used for generating three-dimensional sculptured surfaces with definite curvature. In such cases, variation of surface properties along the machined surface curvatures is not well understood. Therefore, this paper reports the effect of machining parameters on the quality of surface obtained in a single-pass of a ball-end milling cutter with varying chip cross-sectional area. This situation is analogous to generation of free form cavities, pockets, and round fillets on mould surfaces. The machined surfaces show formation of distinct bands as a function of instantaneous machining parameters along the periphery of cutting tool edge, chip compression and instantaneous shear angle. A distinct variation is also observed in the measured values of surface roughness and micro-hardness in these regions. The maximum surface roughness is observed near the tool tip region on the machined surface. The minimum surface roughness is obtained in the stable cutting zone and it increases towards the periphery of the cutter. Similar segmentation was observed on the deformed chips, which could be correlated with the width of bands on the machined surfaces. The sub-surface quality analysis in terms of micro-hardness helped define machining affected zone (MAZ). The parametric effects on the machining induced shear and residual stresses have also been evaluated.     

Incorporating stakeholder decision support needs into an integrated regional Earth system model

A new modeling effort exploring the opportunities, constraints, and interactions between mitigation and adaptation at regional scale is utilizing stakeholder engagement in an innovative approach to guide model development and demonstration, including uncertainty characterization, to effectively inform regional decision making. This project, the integrated Regional Earth System Model (iRESM), employs structured stakeholder interactions and literature reviews to identify the most relevant adaptation and mitigation alternatives and decision criteria for each regional application of the framework. The information is used to identify important model capabilities and to provide a focus for numerical experiments. This paper presents the stakeholder research results from the first iRESM pilot region. The pilot region includes the Great Lakes Basin in the Midwest portion of the United States as well as other contiguous states. This geographic area (14 states in total) permits cohesive modeling of hydrologic systems while also providing strong gradients in climate, demography, land cover/land use, and energy supply and demand. The results from the stakeholder research indicate that, for this region, iRESM should prioritize addressing adaptation alternatives in the water resources, urban infrastructure, and agriculture sectors, including water conservation, expanded water quality monitoring, altered reservoir releases, lowered water intakes, urban infrastructure upgrades, increased electric power reserves in urban areas, and land use management/crop selection changes. For mitigation in this region, the stakeholder research implies that iRESM should focus on policies affecting the penetration of renewable energy technologies, and the costs and effectiveness of energy efficiency, bioenergy production, wind energy, and carbon capture and sequestration.     

Opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from households in Nigeria

Efforts to mitigate climate threats should not exclude the household as the household is a major driver of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through its consumption patterns. This paper derives an emission index that could be used to estimate inventories of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from kerosene combustion for lighting in Nigeria and also looks at the implications of solar pv lighting replacing kerosene lamp in Nigeria. Findings indicate that (1) average CO₂ emissions from kerosene combustion for lighting in Nigeria is about 0.06 kg per hour per lamp, which can be taken as the kerosene lamp CO₂ emission index for Nigeria. (2) about 3 × 10W_p solar pv will be required to replace a kerosene lamp, while about 0.124 tonnes of CO₂ will be avoided per lamp per year, operating at 6 h daily. At the national level, under the kerosene lamp replacement projection assumptions made, between 0.4 and 1.0 million tonnes of CO₂ will be avoided per year. The household investment required to owe a solar pv, including the capital cost of switching from kerosene lamp, is about US356, while the national capital investment outlay is between 1,138.265 and US356, while the national capital investment outlay is between 1,138.265 and US2,848 million. (3) Certified Emission Reduction (CER) units, assuming CO₂ is traded, will generate significant annual revenues on the order of 6.96 to almost US17.4 million per year, while earnings from unspent household kerosene fuel could amount to between 2,520 and US17.4 million per year, while earnings from unspent household kerosene fuel could amount to between 2,520 and US6,300 million over the life span of the solar pv. The micro-economic assessment carried out indicates the non-attractiveness of solar pv use at the household level, and (4) to promote solar pv use, both long and short term policy measures that aim at cost reduction were suggested. The paper concludes that, factoring the suggested measures into the climate, energy, and financial policy decision discourse in Nigeria could empower the households to play a significant role in achieving global CO₂ emission reduction, but at the local level.