An altitude based study was undertaken in the present investigation to find out the status of ecological indices of earthworms in turn to assess the fertility of the soil. Evidences are ample to prove that the physico chemical factors of the environment /soil are responsible for greater ecological indices of earthworms. In the present investigation also it was proved that the earthworm abundance is responsible for the soil fertility for which supportive studies were made on 1. the population dynamics of earthworms, 2. Size of body pores on the skin of earthworms and the secretion of coelomic fluid and the 3. Physico chemical factors of the soil in the area surveyed. It was also found that the earthworm abundance was found to be greater in Meghamalai hills of Theni district compared to that of Sirumalai hills of Dindigul district but when the plains and hills of both the district were compared the earthworm population was found to be more in the plains. Atomic force microscopic studies were also made to measure the size of the body pores of the skin of earthworms of plains and hills. It was found that the number of body pores is more and their size is also larger in the earthworms of plain lands. As a result ceolomic fluid secretion was more. The coelomic fluid contains more than forty proteins and exhibits several biological activities and it supplements the soil with nutrients. Moreover, physical parameters of the soil samples of hills and plains such as rainfall and temperature and chemical parameters such as Ec, p H , Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc, Copper, Boron, were found to be conducive for the growth and multiplication of earthworms in the soil of the plain lands than the hills. Hence, it can be concluded that the earthworm population has got its influence on soil fertility; the more the number of earthworms, more availability of coelomic fluid, which indirectly influences the fertility of the soil, enhances the economy of the nation and the world at large. In total the global worming suppresses global warming.
During the past few years, another optical technique has been developed to study those materials, which cannot be studied, by the conventional transmission or reflection techniques. The present technique called Photoacoustic spectroscopy or PAS is different from the conventional techniques chiefly in that the interaction of the incident energy of the photons with the materials under investigation is studied not through subsequent detection and analysis of some of the photons, but rather through a direct measure of the energy absorbed by the material. The aim of this presentation is to highlight the construction of a simple Photoacoustic spectrometer which can easily be constructed even in high school and college laboratories with the available low cost but efficient components and use it for characterization of solid (opaque or transparent), liquid and gas samples under investigations. The essential parts of the photoacoustic spectrometer designed in the laboratory (MADURAI – PA SPECTROMETER), consists of three main components.The total cost comes around 900 Euros. It is an affordable cost for researchers working with paucity of funds and facilities and many constraints especially in the developing countries. In the next few years we aim to study material characterization using MADURAI –PA SPECTROMETER.
Unsaturated polyester (UP) toughened epoxy blend system is developed. A nanocomposite based on an epoxy/polyester blend matrix reinforced by exfoliated montmorillonite clay has been processed to prepare nanocomposite specimens in different weight ratios viz. 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% for thermal and damping properties studies. The specimen are developed and studied as per American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards. Among all the weight ratios, 5% clay filled nanocomposite exhibited better thermal properties. Similarly, 4% clay filled nanocomposite exhibited better damping properties. The experimentation is further undergone to factorial analysis to extract the absolute optimal values of % clay-filled blend nanocomposite. The objective of this study is to identify a suitable nanocomposite which offers low-cost, high strength material; which can be applied for engineering and structural applications to provide better performance. I. INTRODUCTION Plastics are extremely sensitive to changes in temperature. Molecular orientation has a significant effect on thermal properties. The molecular weight of polymers affects low temperature flexibility and low temperature brittleness. Many other factors such as intermolecular bonding, cross-linking, and co-polymerization have considerable effect on thermal properties. At low temperatures, plastics tend to become rigid and brittle. This happens mainly because at low temperatures the mobility of polymer chain is greatly reduced. The study of the response of a material to heat is very important. When a solid absorbs heat energy, its temperature, and its dimensions increase. The heat energy absorbed by the solid may be transported to cooler regions if temperature gradient exists. Further heating of the solid causes it to melt. Therefore, the study of thermal properties of materials is essential to evaluate the thermal behaviour of polymers and their response to thermal changes [1-3]. The study of thermal behaviour of the polymers is also important for making component parts of automobiles etc. that have to withstand high as well as fluctuating temperatures. Materials that are used in various engineering structures like aircrafts, spacecrafts, automobiles, building structures etc. are required to possess certain special vibration-damping properties for best performance. The requirements are different for different applications. Some materials have good ability to dissipate elastic strain energy when subjected to vibratory loads and are widely used in the fields of high performance structural applications such as aerospace, marine, construction, etc. Damping is an important modal parameter for the design of structures for which vibration control and cyclic loading are critical. Damping is also a significant factor for the fatigue life and impact resistance of structures. All engineering materials dissipate energy under cyclic load. Some of them such as elastomeric, plastic and rubber dissipate much more energy per cycle than metallic materials. Damping varies with ...
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