Browsing by Author "Hedigalla, D"

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item: Conference-Full-text
Biodegradable Composite for Temporary Partitioning Materials
(IEEE, 2020-07) Dassanayaka, D; Hedigalla, D; Gunasekera, U; Edussooriya, C; Weeraddana, CUS; Abeysooriya, RP
Building construction can be considered as one of the indispensable industries in the world. Even though the necessity of the industry is evident, its current practices are not environmentally friendly. Some of the main reasons for this is the usage of unsustainable raw materials such as sand and soil, as well as the usage of harmful non-biodegradable materials such as PVC, asbestos. When considering the applications of raw materials used in the construction industry, nearly 40% of them are used for manufacturing non-load bearing constructions such as partitioning materials. In this research, a method for manufacturing a novel biodegradable movable partitioning material has been discussed. This partitioning material is a composite, created with banana yarn as reinforcement, Poly-lactic acid as the matrix, manufactured using compression moulding technique. Furthermore, two different types of composites were manufactured by changing the yarn laying directions, which are unidirectional and bidirectional. Flexural and impact strength of both types of composites have been tested by varying the weight percentage, the pretension of yarns and processing parameters: moulding temperature and moulding pressure. Finally, several weight percentages, pre-tensioning values, moulding temperatures and moulding pressure values have been suggested in order to manufacture a quality partitioning material.
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Comparative analysis of artificial neural network and multiple linear regression models in predicting pressure transmission of soft pneumatic actuators used for active compression
(IEEE, 2023-11-09) Hedigalla, D; Ehelagasthenna, M; Nissanka, ID; Amarasinghe, R; Nandasiri, GK; Abeysooriya, R; Adikariwattage, V; Hemachandra, K
Compression therapy is a crucial treatment method for managing Chronic Venous Disease (CVD), a prevalent condition that affects the veins in the lower extremities. Active compression using soft pneumatic actuators was found to be effective in maintaining consistent pressure across the circumference of the lower limb. However, the optimum design parameters of the soft pneumatic actuator have not been established. Thus, this study analyzed the performance of predicting the pressure transmission percentage of soft pneumatic actuators via an artificial neural network (ANN) and multiple linear regression models (MLR) in establishing optimum design parameters. It was observed that the lowest MSE on training data was recorded from MLR, however, better performances were recorded for the ANN model on testing data. Moreover, the highest R-squared values were obtained from the ANN model. Hence it was concluded that the ANN model was superior in terms of establishing optimum design parameters for the soft pneumatic actuators which are used in compression textiles.
item: Conference-Full-text
Numerical study to investigate the pressure propagation patterns by a compression sleeve with miniaturised air-bladders
(IEEE, 2022-07) Hedigalla, D; Ehelagasthenna, M; Nissanka, ID; Amarasinghe, R; Nandasiri, GK; Rathnayake, M; Adhikariwatte, V; Hemachandra, K
Chronic venous disease (CVD), the most prevalent vascular disease affecting to the lower extremities, is regarded as any functional or morphological abnormalities of the venous system. Compression therapy, either active or passive is currently regarded as the cornerstone of treatment for all CVD related complications. However, most of the existing textile solutions have major limitations of applying uniform pressure around the lower limb circumference which was overcome by applying a radial force in response to the pressure exerted by an air volume trapped inside a miniature bladder. Hence, this article used numerical simulations to investigate the propagation of pressure on the skin, fat and muscle layers applied by hexagonal shaped mini-bladders. The results of this study revealed that 40% of internal pressure of the bladders successfully transmitted through the skin layer, and a slight increase of pressure was recorded along the thickness of skin layer while it was decreased in fat and muscle layers. Moreover, the highest percentage of pressure drop was recorded along the muscle layer.