Papers by Zahid Qamar, Sayyad
Design is one of the highest-level activities in the engineering profession. Compared to many oth... more Design is one of the highest-level activities in the engineering profession. Compared to many other areas predominantly involving closed-form solutions, design is an open-ended activity, with many possible solutions for the same problem. This shift from the concrete to the abstract makes teaching of engineering design courses more challenging. The target set forth by good academic institutions is to have a system in place that can produce graduates who are well equipped and suitably qualified to practice professional engineering in a continually changing and increasingly complex global environment. Bloom's taxonomy outlines the skill levels required for education at any level, and in any discipline. Accreditation agencies such as ABET also establish criteria that can be generally applied to any type of education, but are primarily focused on engineering education. The current paper describes a methodology for Product Design education, integrating both Bloom's taxonomy and ABET student outcomes in an activity-based environment. Creative Design course taught at the Mechanical Engineering Department at Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat is presented as a case study. Example design activities are described for each of the six levels in Bloom's taxonomy. A mapping table is also presented to relate these levels to student outcomes of ABET criterion.
Natural products chemistry & research, 2020
Extraction of oil and gas from old and difficult reservoirs is quite challenging, both technicall... more Extraction of oil and gas from old and difficult reservoirs is quite challenging, both technically and economically. Some of these challenges have been successfully met through the use of Solid Expandable Tubular (SET) technology. Special petroleum tubular is expanded in-situ by forcing a conical mandrel through it, using hydraulic push or mechanical pull. SET technology has been used for cost reduction and efficiency improvement in well completion operations; separation of water producing and other undesirable zones from the production zone; profitable production from mature and abandoned wells etc. In collaboration with a regional petroleum development company, a full-scale expansion test rig has been designed, fabricated and commissioned at Sultan Qaboos University. The mandrel is made from special material (high-grade tool steel, such as AISI D6). High level of repeated thermo-mechanical stresses requires a specific set of properties for the cone material. This is achieved through an optimal heat treatment sequence, in conjunction with various types of mechanical testing. Heat treatment consists of annealing, hardening/austenitizing, air or oil quenching and single or double tempering. Testing includes hardness, tensile properties (Elastic modulus, yield strength, ultimate strength and ductility) and impact strength. Optimum material properties would ensure dimensional accuracy of the expanded tubulars and a longer mandrel life.
Journal of Geology & Geophysics, May 6, 2017
A Cu-Cr-Zr alloy was subjected to severe warm rolling, and the effects of processing temperature ... more A Cu-Cr-Zr alloy was subjected to severe warm rolling, and the effects of processing temperature and strain on the precipitation and microstructures were systematically studied. The results show that the nucleation and growth of precipitates interact with the deformation-induced defects, and therefore, the distribution precipitates vary with the different warm rolling processes. This leads to a significant impact on mechanical and electrical properties. In detail, the size of the precipitates is coarser, but the number density is lower as the applied strain (after each annealing treatment) and temperature are higher. And therefore, the UTS is lower, but the electrical conductivity is higher in rolled sheets under higher strain and temperature. Moreover, the present process could improve the comprehensive properties of Cu-Cr-Zr alloys, and an excellent combination of high UTS of 586 MPa and good electrical conductivity of 78.2%IACS was achieved in the sample of RRA * 723 K. (The sample was subjected to intermediate annealing treatment at 723 K between each of two rolling passes.
2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings, Aug 20, 2021
Recipient of several research and teaching awards, he has over 25 years of academic and research ... more Recipient of several research and teaching awards, he has over 25 years of academic and research experience in different international universities. He has also worked as a professional mechanical engineer in the field for over 6 years in the heavy engineering and fabrication industry (Manager Research and Development; Deputy Manager Design; Production Engineer; Quality Control Engineer). On top of his experience as a researcher/academician, he has been actively involved in research and accreditation work related to engineering education. His technical research areas are Applied materials and manufacturing; Applied mechanics and design; Reliability engineering; and Engineering education. As part of the Applied Mechanics and Advanced Materials Research group (AM2R) at SQU, he has been involved in different applied research funded projects in excess of 4 million dollars. He has over 200 research/technical publications to his credit (research monographs/books, edited book volumes, a 5-volume encyclopedia, book chapters, refereed journal and conference publications, and technical reports). He is currently working on a research monograph Swelling Elastomers in Petroleum Drilling and Development-Applications, Performance Analysis, and Material Modeling. He has served as Associate editor, Guest editor, and Member editorial board for different research journals
There has been a gradual shift from a content-centered to an outcome-based approach for more effe... more There has been a gradual shift from a content-centered to an outcome-based approach for more effective teaching and learning, especially in engineering courses. Employers have been increasingly demanding engineering graduates possessing an optimal blend of technical (discipline-oriented) and non-technical or soft skills. This paper presents a unique pedagogical approach of blending Bloom’s taxonomy and ABET criteria to develop student outcomes and to conduct a course in an activity-based environment. A mapping has been developed to correlate Bloom’s taxonomy levels and ABET student outcomes. A mid-level course in the area of Applied Mechanics (Mechanics of Solids) is presented as a case study. Instructional strategy and implementation in the course is discussed through various activities, involving some key principles of solid mechanics. Integration of ABET criteria and Bloom’s taxonomy, correlation matrix for the two philosophies, and improved course delivery. Effectiveness of the proposed innovative approach was evaluated through a students’ survey. The methodology was well received, and the survey results were very encouraging. This integrated strategy can be easily adopted for other courses in the Applied Mechanics and Design stream, and for other engineering and science courses.
Journal of Geology & Geophysics, May 6, 2017
Metals, Jun 13, 2023
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Materials and Manufacturing Processes, Nov 5, 2018
Many automotive components that were earlier made of cast iron are now using aluminum alloys due ... more Many automotive components that were earlier made of cast iron are now using aluminum alloys due to their lower weight, better castability, corrosion resistance, and strength at elevated temperatures. Heat treatment is a major processing step in the manufacturing of aluminumbased piston components. The current paper discusses an optimum heat treatment strategy for AC8H aluminum alloy for improved performance. Solutionizing (for homogenization) is followed by aging at different temperatures. Tensile, impact, and hardness tests are performed on untreated and heat treated specimens. Structural analysis (microscopy) is done to understand the changes in mechanical properties. Fractography is also carried out to identify fracture mechanisms under gradual and impact loads. Yield strength, ultimate strength, hardness, and impact toughness show significant increase when aged at 150°C and 175°C (maximum values of 80 MPa, 177 MPa, 28 HRA, and 5.25 J respectively) but decrease at 200°C. SEM micrographs of fracture surfaces show ductile, brittle, and mixed-mode failure patterns for different samples. Observed structural changes are in line with changes in the mechanical properties. It can be concluded that optimum combination of properties is obtained when specimens are aged at 175°C. These findings are of direct utility for academicians, researchers, and practitioners involved in design and manufacture of automobile and other engineering components.
The International Conference on Applied Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering (Print), Apr 1, 2016
Scientific Reports, Apr 17, 2023
Bone drilling is a universal procedure in orthopaedics for fracture fixation, installing implants... more Bone drilling is a universal procedure in orthopaedics for fracture fixation, installing implants, or reconstructive surgery. Surgical drills are subjected to wear caused by their repeated use, thermal fatigue, irrigation with saline solution, and sterilization process. Wear of the cutting edges of a drill bit (worn drill) is detrimental for bone tissues and can seriously affect its performance. The aim of this study is to move closer to minimally invasive surgical procedures in bones by investigating the effect of wear of surgical drill bits on their performance. The surface quality of the drill was found to influence the bone temperature, the axial force, the torque and the extent of biological damage around the drilling region. Worn drill produced heat above the threshold level related to thermal necrosis at a depth equal to the wall thickness of an adult human bone. Statistical analysis showed that a sharp drill bit, in combination with a medium drilling speed and drilling at shallow depth, was favourable for safe drilling in bone. This study also suggests the further research on establishing a relationship between surface integrity of a surgical drill bit and irreversible damage that it can induce in delicate tissues of bone using different drill sizes as well as drilling parameters and conditions.
Materials and Manufacturing Processes, May 22, 2018
Bone drilling is a crucial operation in orthopedic, maxillofacial, and trauma surgery. Delaminati... more Bone drilling is a crucial operation in orthopedic, maxillofacial, and trauma surgery. Delamination is a familiar defect in the drilling process and can seriously disrupt postoperative regeneration near the implant site in bone surgery. This research experimentally investigates the problem of delamination around drilled holes in vibration-assisted drilling of in cortical bone on the delamination around drill holes in cortical bone. Drilling speed and amplitude of vibration were found to have almost no influence on delamination, while higher feed rate was found to moderately increase delamination. Highest reduction in delamination was found to occur at higher frequencies of vibration imposed on the drill in the feed direction. Statistical analysis (ANOVA) also indicated that delamination is most significantly affected by frequency of drilling, only slightly by feed rate, and almost negligibly by drill speed. Overall, it can be concluded that ultrasonically assisted drilling, with an appropriately selected frequency and feed rate, would yield far lower amount of bone delamination than conventional drilling. Results from this work can be useful for researchers and practitioners in the fields of biomechanics and orthopedic surgery.
Research and reviews: journal of material sciences, Dec 13, 2017
InTech eBooks, Feb 28, 2018
The extrusion cooking technology is applied to the development of instant functional foods. It ha... more The extrusion cooking technology is applied to the development of instant functional foods. It has advantages of low cost, sustainability, and versatility for production of a wide variety of food products. For formulation of functional foods, bioactive compounds are added to base mixtures, the main sources being fruits, vegetables, cereals, oleaginous plants, legumes, and industrial food by-product such as pomace. These sources provide phenolic compounds such as anthocyanins, flavonols, and procyanidins besides betalains, carotenoids, vitamins, amino acids, and complex polysaccharides such as dietary fiber sources. During the extrusion cooking process, ingredients are mixed, conditioned, and transformed to a melt fluid, thus causing degradation or a release of functional compounds because of structural and chemical changes caused by the effects of some process variables such as temperature, moisture content, screw speed, and inherent factors such as geometrical configuration of the extruder. Retention of bioactive compounds to obtain extruded functional foods is an important topic. The description of degradation by means of mathematical models has been used to determine the impact of process variables on stability and concentrations of certain compounds in final extruded products. These models have been successfully applied, showing a good fit and adequately describing the variability of these compounds in extrusion cooking systems under specific conditions.
InTech eBooks, Feb 28, 2018
Journal of Polymer Engineering, Oct 11, 2021
Solid expandable tubular technology and swelling elastomer seals find extensive use in the repair... more Solid expandable tubular technology and swelling elastomer seals find extensive use in the repair of aging reservoirs. To improve productivity and cost-effectiveness, they have also become an integral part of new developments such as slim wells and completions with reduced or no cementing. This work reports the use of numerical simulation to investigate the joint use of expandable tubulars and swell packers in various petroleum drilling applications. Material properties of steel tubular and five different swelling elastomers are obtained through mechanical testing. Simulations are performed to study the sealing pressure at the elastomer-formation boundary. Different parameters are studied, such as elastomer material, expansion or compression ratio, seal length, seal thickness, tubular end condition, and formation type. Higher values of rubber elasticity, tubular expansion (expansion ratio), and elastomer compression result in higher seal contact pressure. Contact pressure is higher when the elastomer is pressing against wellbore formation as compared to steel outer casing (zero friction vs. friction), and when the formation is assumed to be rigid as compared to elastic or elastic-plastic. Results of this investigation can be used both for performance evaluation and design enhancement of coupled solid-expandable-tubular and swellable-packer applications.
Manufacturing Techniques for Materials, 2018
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, 2019
One of the most important factors that affect quality and productivity in metal extrusion is shap... more One of the most important factors that affect quality and productivity in metal extrusion is shape complexity. It is an estimation of how complex an extruded profile (or die cavity) is. It has direct bearing on equipment selection, metal flow, die and tooling design, and critical process parameters. In turn, profile complexity has major impact on die life, energy consumption, cost of manufacturing, material properties, etc. Without proper quantification of shape complexity, it is difficult to predict maximum extrusion pressure needed or to optimize die/tooling or process parameters for improved process efficiency and product quality. The first part of the current paper presents a general classification scheme for extrusion profiles and covers the different definitions and their origins. The later part discusses some applications of shape complexity, such as pressure prediction; evaluation of stress, strain etc.; die design and optimization; product defects; prediction of container and exit temperature; friction and wear in complex dies; failure and life estimation of dies and tools; estimation of manufacturability and cost; and novel extrusion methods for complex profiles. The review concludes by pointing out areas where possible future research can be done. As no comprehensive review of this very important issue is available in the published literature, this paper can be very useful for researchers, academicians, and practitioners in the area of metal extrusion.
Journal of Elastomers & Plastics, 2017
Conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT/ PSS) is being ... more Conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT/ PSS) is being considered as an alternate material for metallic thin-film conductors in numerous biomedical sensing applications. This study investigates the electromechanical response of delaminating thin films of this conductive polymer (PEDOT/PSS) on a highly compliant elastomeric substrate called polydimethylsiloxane. The value of Young's modulus for the substrate was tuned to remain between 120 kPa and140 kPa, while its thickness was at a submillimeter level. The films were fabricated using a non-vacuum, scalable, and cost-effective method of rod coating. The films were intentionally fabricated in a way, so that when the tensile strain is applied, the films are only loaded through interfacial shear, which results in delamination of the films instead of cracking. The experiments indicate an onset of delamination at an average value of 13.3% strain with continuous increase in resistance up to an average of 26% strain for the as-fabricated laminate. The study presents simple mathematical models relating the variation of electrical resistance with the applied strain which can be of potential use in predicting the response of such a polymer-elastomer laminate in areas like flexible and stretchable electronic sensing.
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Papers by Zahid Qamar, Sayyad