Local scour, a complex phenomenon in river flows around piers with movable beds, can damage bridge piers during high floods. Predicting scour depth accurately is vital for safety and economic reasons, especially for large bridges. This study using hydraulic flume laboratory experiments compared diamond, square, and elliptical pier models of different sizes under steady clear-water conditions considering different flow rates and discharge levels to identify the most efficient shape with less local scour. Local scour, a complex phenomenon in three-dimensional flow around piers in rivers with movable beds, can lead to detrimental effects on bridge piers due to high flood velocities. Accurate prediction of scour depth is crucial for economic and safety reasons, especially for large bridges with complex piers. Hydraulic engineers are keen on forecasting the equilibrium scour depth. To achieve this, laboratory testing compared diamond, square, and elliptical pier models under steady clear-water conditions to identify the most efficient pier shape with less local scour. This research provides valuable insights for optimizing pier design to enhance bridge stability and resilience against scour-induced risks. A variety of configurations, including different sizes and shapes of piers were experimented with in the flume using diamond, square, and elliptical shapes. The test results showed that the local scour depth around elliptical piers was around 29.16% less, and around diamond piers, it was approximately 16.05% less compared to the scour depth observed around square piers with the same dimensions. The researchers also observed distinct patterns of scouring around different pier shapes. Specifically, the square-shaped piers displayed the highest level of scouring depth, that is, 48 mm, followed by the diamond-shaped pier which experienced a scouring depth of 48 mm while the elliptical-shaped piers experienced the least amount of scouring depth, that is, 34 mm. The test results also demonstrated that pier size significantly influences scouring, with an increase in pier size from 3 × 3 cm2 to 5 × 5 cm2 leading to a rise in scour depth by 26.04%. Moreover, this study findings also elucidated that an increase in flow results in an increase of in scouring depth i.e., elevating the discharge from 0.0026 cumecs to 0.0029 cumecs led to a 28.13% increase in scouring depth for the identical pier size. These findings provide valuable insights into the hydraulic behavior of various pier shapes and can aid in the optimization of bridge design and hydraulic engineering practices. The investigations further revealed that local scouring is sensitive not only to pier dimensions but also to other critical parameters, including flow rate, time of exposure, and the size of a pier.

Optimizing Storage Location Assignment (SLA) is essential for improving warehouse operations, reducing operational costs, travel distances and picking times. The effectiveness of the optimization process should be evaluated. This study introduces a novel, generalized objective function tailored to optimize SLA through integration with a Genetic Algorithm. The method incorporates key parameters such as item order frequency, storage grouping, and proximity of items frequently ordered together. Using simulation tools, this research models a picker-to-part system in a warehouse environment characterized by complex storage constraints, varying item demands and family-grouping criteria. The study explores four scenarios with distinct parameter weightings to analyze their impact on SLA. Contrary to other research that focuses on frequency-based assignment, this article presents a novel framework for designing SLA using key parameters. The study proves that it is advantageous to deviate from a frequency-based assignment, as considering other key parameters to determine the layout can lead to more favorable operations. The findings reveal that adjusting the parameter weightings enables effective SLA customization based on warehouse operational characteristics. Scenario-based analyses demonstrated significant reductions in travel distances during order picking tasks, particularly in scenarios prioritizing ordered-together proximity and group storage. Visual layouts and picking route evaluations highlighted the benefits of balancing frequency-based arrangements with grouping strategies. The study validates the utility of a tailored generalized objective function for SLA optimization. Scenario-based evaluations underscore the importance of fine-tuning SLA strategies to align with specific operational demands, paving the way for more efficient order picking and overall warehouse management.

Carbon based materials are really an integral component of our lives and widespread research regarding their properties was conducted along this process. The addition of dopants to carbon materials, either during the production process or later on, has been actively investigated by researchers all over the world who are looking into how doping can enhance the performance of materials and how to overcome the current difficulties. This study explores synthesis methods for nitrogen-doped carbon materials, focusing on advancements in adsorption of different pollutants like CO₂ from air and organic, inorganic and ions pollutants from water, energy conversion, and storage, offering novel solutions to environmental and energy challenges. It addresses current issues with nitrogen-doped carbon materials, aiming to contribute to sustainable solutions in environmental and energy sciences. Alongside precursor types and synthesis methods, a significant relationship exists between nitrogen content percentage and adsorption capacity in nitrogen-doped activated carbon. Nitrogen content ranges from 0.64% to 11.23%, correlating with adsorption capacities from 0.05 mmol/g to 7.9 mmol/g. Moreover, an electrochemical correlation is observed between nitrogen atom increase and specific capacity in nitrogen-doped activated carbon electrodes. Higher nitrogen percentage corresponds to increased specific capacity and capacity retention. This comprehensive analysis sheds light on the potential of nitrogen-doped carbon materials and highlights their significance in addressing critical environmental and energy challenges.

To increase inter-region connectivity, the Indonesian government initiated infrastructure projects such as toll roads, airport, highways, as well as agriculture ones throughout the countries. One of the big projects in road infrastructure was the Cikampek–Palimanan (Cipali) toll road in West Java with a budget of more than USD1 billion which started to operate in July 2015. This paper is aimed to evaluate the impact of the toll road on accessibilities, trades, and investments in the region it traverses. To carry out the analysis, we used qualitative approach, difference-in-difference approach, and ANOVA, utilizing three kinds of data. The first data is collected from a survey of 331 small-medium enterprises (SMEs) in the logistics and the hotel and restaurant industries. The second one is bank loan data sourced from Bank Indonesia, while the third one is investment data from Investment Coordinating Board of Indonesia (BKPM).
After two years of its operation, Cipali toll road has increased accessibility, mobility, trade, and investment in the region it traverses. The travel time was reduced by 39%, while the cargo volume of the local businesses increased by 30% to 40%. These led to an improvement of wholesale trade volume in almost all regencies. However, SMEs in the hotel and restaurant industry along the traditional northern coastal highway in Subang, Indramayu, and Brebes experienced a decline due to the traffic shifting. Meanwhile, investments from national companies especially those of labor-intensive manufacturing industries flowed significantly especially to Subang and Majalengka, which reflected a “sorting effect”. However, investments from local and foreign businesses did not increase significantly yet after 2.5 years of toll operation.
To reap the benefit from the presence of Cipali toll road, the local governments should improve the ease of doing business to attract investments that boost employment in return. In addition, given a better accessibility from Greater Jakarta and a large number of potential visitors passing through the toll road, local businesses in the trade sector would benefit if they could promote the local attractions such as in tourism activities supported by the local government. The latter strategy should also be implemented by the local governments and local businesses in the northern coastal traditional route to minimize the negative impact of the toll road due to the traffic shifting. This strategy should be strengthened through increasing connectivity from the toll exits to local business areas and through increasing the ease of doing business.

The low V-notch impact toughness is a notable limitation of the PBT/PA6 blend. In this study, we maintained a fixed PBT/PA6 ratio of 50/50 while varying the proportion of PP in the given blend at levels of 0%, 70%, 80%, 90%, and 100% neat PP. The results from the unnotched impact toughness tests for the PP/PBT/PA6 blends showed favorable outcomes. Specifically, the impact toughness of the PP/PBT/PA6 samples progressively increased with the rise in PP content. Initially, the toughness dropped from 10.13 kJ/m² in the 0% PP sample to 8.6 kJ/m² in the 70% PP sample, before increasing gradually from 8.6 kJ/m² in the 70% PP sample to 17.45 kJ/m² in the 90% PP sample to 17.45 kJ/m² in the 90% PP sample, which represents an increase of about 72% relative to the 0% PP sample. These positive results demonstrate that the addition of PP significantly enhances the impact toughness of the blend compared to formulations without PP.