Mersin is one of the most important cities of the Middle East and Mediterranean Region as well as Turkey thanks to its intensive sectorial and commercial activities along with developing population. These progresses necessitate many urban needs such as drinking water, irrigation water, wastewater treatment, infrastructure planning for sewage-drinking water networks. In this study; medium and long term investments by 2050 (2015 + 35 years) for Erdemli, which is the third largest district of Mersin, are suggested and Water Information and Management System (WIMS) is formed in order to monitor all the activities and needs aforementioned above from a single center. WIMS can be considered as functional software thanks to being suitable for development, being modular software which can minimize the operating and investment costs, provide information in a short period of time and prepare electronic output of information transferred to the computer through the online database system. So far, 26606 data entries have been made in order to bring the functionality to the software. The WIMS software provided Mersin Water and Sewerage Administration with the ability to manage all data from a single center and monitor the current status of urban centers and rural settlements related to drinking water and wastewater.

In the current study, the efficacy of Cu(I)O micro and two different cross linkers as a antibacterial metal oxides on textile substrates versus Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli was examined. In particular, bacterial inhibition relationship of micro Cu (I) O with two different cross linkers needed to exhibit effective bacterial action was studied. On textile substrates such as 100%cotton, there was 89,44-94,42% rebate in bacterial counts. Effectiveness of the antibacterial action was retained after ten and twenty cycles.

In last decades, chaos phenomenon and chaotic systems are defined as a nonlinear behavior have received a plenty of attention. In many areas, a chaotic system is used due to chaotic signals depend very sensitively on initial conditions, have unpredictable features and noise like wideband spread spectrum. In literature as well as the basic chaotic systems, there are many hybrid chaotic systems. In this paper, Sprott case A chaotic system is formed by using OP-AMPS and other appropriate circuit components on Multisim environment. This model is being constructed for each chaotic system, so the results of mathematical simulations of these chaotic differential equations can be seen. Convenient chaotic behavior is observed, circuit simulation is conducted via co-simulation between Multisim and LabVIEW. The simulation results show similar behavior when it is compared with the theoretical chaotic system.

Thirty nine different biomass samples ranging from various herbaceous/woody materials to juice pulps were used to develop linear as well as non-linear empirical equations that predict the lower heating value (LHV) and the higher heating value (HHV) based on the elemental analysis (C, H, N, O, and S) results of the biomass species. These equations were interpreted with respect to their prediction performance considering the predicted values and the experimental data. Several criteria such as mean absolute error (MAE), average absolute error (AAE), average bias error (ABE), and root mean square deviation (RMSD) were regarded. For the linear equations, it was found that the lowest values of MAE were 0.3119 MJ/kg and 0.2906 MJ/kg for HHV and LHV, respectively, and AAE(%) changed in the ranges of (1.6659-4.5917) for HHV and (1.8216-5.5039) for LHV. Besides, it was determined that ABE(%) varies in the intervals of (0.0549-0.2976) for HHV and (0.0519-0.4177) for LHV when linear equations were tested. The best results of RMSD (0.4230 and 0.3607 for HHV and LHV, respectively) were obtained for Equation#1 where all of the linear terms were considered. Also, the addition of the non-linear terms to the linear equations was also studied to check whether any further improvement can be achieved in predictions. However, the improvements created by non-linear equations were negligible and it was concluded that the linear empirical equations provide satisfactory prediction performance and they may be tried to estimate the calorific value of very wide range of biomasses.

Many researchers have already acknowledged that the base isolation system as the most feasible and economical method for civil engineering structures exposed to the seismic excitation. The Friction Pendulum Systems (FPS) have steel concave surface connected with articulated friction slider and utilized the concept of pendulum for lengthening the period of the superstructure so as to dissipate the seismic energy. The present study investigates on various design approaches for the evaluation of the seismic response of steel frames equipped with FPS. The response of isolated frames is simply adjusted by several parameters such as the friction coefficient (µ), the radius of curvature (R), the isolation period (T) and the axial load and so 2D, three bay 3 and 7-storey steel moment resisting frames (SMRF) are designated as isolated frames in order to examine the effect of variation of the R and the friction coefficient on the seismic response of the isolated frames. The R and µ are predefined as 1, 1.55, 2.25 and 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, respectively. The seismic response of the modelled isolation systems has been evaluated through nonlinear time history analyses, a set of ground motions using SAP2000 software. The local and global deformations are employed to compare the seismic performance of different isolation frames through nonlinear analysis. The results showed that the isolated frames having greatest radius of curvature with lowest friction coefficient exhibited better seismic performance than other models in terms of the local and global deformations.

Experimental studies are being carried out to obtain puzzolan materials from agricultural wastes. The aim of this study was to minimize environmental damage of nut shells, which are discarded as waste material after the harvesting of crops. Puzzolanic activity test conducted in experimental study showed that nut shell ash provided compressive strength at 0.59 level. An analysis of compressive strength results revealed that compressive strength increases in 28-90 and 180 day values of the specimens containing nut ash additive. Reference compressive strength results showed that compressive strength increased by approximately 57% when water/cement ratio increases and that compressive strength decreased to 50% level with the increase of additive amount in both groups of concretes with nut shell additives. ASR test results showed that ash additive used in mortar types used in 5%-10%-15%-20%-25%-30% ratios had an effect and that it reduced ASR in mortar type containing 20% additive below 0.20 maximum value which is the standard value. Improvement of ash preparation conditions will enable the use of nut shell ash as a mineral additive.

During the earthquake motion, limitation of storey drifts of is important. Maximum storey drifts for the structures to be constructed in our country has been restricted by Turkish Earthquake Code (TEC) which is in force since 2007, according to the provision of relative storey drift and A1, A2 irregularity factors. In the earthquake code which is published as draft in 2016 and is not in force yet, it has been planning to restrict the storey drifts for with and without gap conditions of infill wall - frame connections. First of all, it is aimed to investigate the limits of maximum reduced relative storey drift under specified conditions according to TEC 2007. In this study, the maximum values of allowable reduced storey drifts were specified separately for reinforced concrete buildings which have 2.75m – 4.25m storey height interval, according to limitations specified in section of TEC 2007 that is “Calculation and Limitation of Effective Relative Storey Drifts” for each of the Structural System Behavior Factors (R). Additionally, as an example, maximum relative story drifts have calculated according to “A1- Torsional Irregularity” section of TEC 2007 by using the relative storey drifts which belongs to a building from literature, and for this building, maximum relative storey drifts has calculated according to “B2- Interstorey Stiffness Irregularity” section of TEC 2007 for variable interstorey heights. At the end of the study, maximum values of relative storey drifts in the floor have revealed according to average storey drifts and storey height ratios.

Broadband impedance matching techniques widely used in microwave circuits. In this study, we proposed a 2-way multi-layer micro strip Wilkinson Power Divider (WPD) circuit matched by Chebyshev Impedance matching technique. The design was chosen at 1 GHz center frequency and as four layers. The design was carried out as 3 dimensions on Advanced Design tool (ADS 2009) which is 3D microwave circuits’ simulation tool. For -20 dB return loss reference level, while the reflection bandwidth was 25% in the basic quarter wave matched WPD, it could be increased up to 132% in the Chebyshev matching. Additionally, for the reference power transmission of -4.3 dB, the transmission bandwidth raised up to %160. In the range, the proposed design could transfer 75% of the input power to both output ports.

At the pre-design stage, it is essential for designers and property owners to have a rough idea regarding the material quantities necessary for construction as well as the building cost. To know these approximate values is of great importance in terms of the correct establishment of the financial model at the pre-design stage, the elimination of cash flow problems and the prevention of loss of national wealth. While calculating these values, approximate unit costs announced by the Ministry of Public Works and Settlement are used. In Turkey, the cost estimate at the pre- design stage is obtained by multiplying the total building construction area by the unit construction cost. However, it is generally accepted that this value is high in terms of free market costs. The purpose of this study is to prepare a program that can calculate approximate construction cost with unit workmanship prices in a specific region and approximate quantities including the minimum and maximum values of the material values by entering simple information about a planned RC building. Accurate cost estimation at the pre-design stage is proportional to the accuracy of the material metering ratios. The coefficients taken into account in this study have been checked and calibrated with a large number of projects, and it was observed that the samples containing the preliminary results of the study were compatible with the application project results.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs) on the tensile and flexural properties of fiber reinforced composite material. For this purpose; an experimental study was conducted using composite materials which were manufactured with [(0/90)6]s glass fiber and epoxy matrix by vacuum assisted resin transfer method. Glass fiber reinforced (GFR) epoxy composite plates were manufactured with various graphene nanoplatelets content such 0, 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 wt% inclusion. Maximum tensile and flexural strength values were obtained in 0.1 wt% GnPs filled composites. After this weight content, decreasing trend in the strength values was observed. When fractured specimens were examined, failure modes were supported the test results also. Higher contents of GnPs were resulted as agglomeration in matrix mixture lead to impurities and stress concentrations, thus lower strength values were obtained in composite.

In recent years, developments in industrial applications has led to the demand for materials with better properties. Composite materials provide these requirements due to their high mechanical properties. Especially in the last half century, the production of composite materials used in industrial areas such as space, marine, aeronautics has increased to a great extent. This increase has led scientists to work on composite materials. One of these work areas is tribological behaviour. It is inevitable that the wear of the composite materials occurs due to surface roughness of the parts in contact with each other; therefore, they may not fulfill the functions expected from them. It is important to determine how tribological behaviour of composites used in almost all areas of the industry will be present in working conditions. In this study, wear and frictional characteristics of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composites subjected to different environmental effects (soil, water, solar) were investigated under dry contact condition at different operating parameters. Vacuum Assisted Resin Infusion Technique (VDRIT) was used for the production of composite materials. Environmental effects, exposure times and applied loads on the friction coefficients and wear amounts were investigated. Wear tests were carried out under three different loads of 10 N, 20 N, 30 N, sliding distance of 2000 m and at a speed of 0.2 m/s. Wear rate in the experiments was calculated as weight loss. The tests were carried out on samples for each load and their average values ??were taken. Similar to the results found in the literature, when carbon fiber reinforced composite materials were exposed to different environmental effects, the friction coefficients decreased and the wear rate increased. The use of information and data obtained with this study will guide material selection of machine tools manufactured from composite materials in different environmental conditions.

In this study, the biosynthesis and characterization of CaCO3 nanoparticles from the leach solution and the aqueous extract of Myrtus communis plant were carried out. The leach solution obtained by leaching from the leaves and branches of M. communis growing around Mersin University Çiftlikköy Campus were analyzed by ICP-MS and it was found to be a calcium accumulator plant. Then, CaCO3 nanoparticles were biosynthesized by adding of the leaf extract, as a biological agent, prepared by the extraction with distilled water of the leaves of same plant to the leach solution under favorable conditions. The characterization of CaCO3 nanoparticles was performed by XRD, EDX, and SEM analyses. XRD, EDX and SEM analysis results showed that the biosynthesized nanoparticles were CaCO3 in nano sizes and porous structures. Besides, the availability of the biosynthesized CaCO3 nanoparticles in the color removal from different dyestuff solutions was investigated; the highest color removal yield was determined to be 90% at the end of 5 min for basic Methylene Blue (MB) dyestuff.

The diffusion lengths for one-speed neutrons in a slab are calculated using the first kind of Chebyshev polynomials approximation (TN) method. The scattering models are constituted in place of the scattering function with an argument of the cosine of the neutron scattering angle. Therefore, the forward-backward-isotropic (FBI) scattering model is used as the scattering function in transport equation which describes the interaction and the conservation of the neutrons throughout a system. In the solution algorithm, first the neutron angular flux is expanded in terms of the Chebyshev polynomials of first kind. After inserting this expansion in the transport equation, the coupled differential equations are derived using the properties of the Chebyshev polynomials of first kind. These equations are solved together and then the diffusion equation is obtained by applying the first order approximation (N = 1) which is known as the diffusion approximation. Finally, the diffusion lengths for one-speed neutrons are calculated for selected values of the collision, backward and forward scattering parameters. The calculated diffusion lengths are given in the tables together with the ones already obtained in literature in order to indicate the applicability of the present method. The convenience and rapid convergence of the present method with its easily executable equations can be observed from the derived equations and the results in tables.

Dehydration is a food preservation process that allows to increase the availability of products on the market, as well as the introduction of new products. The objective of this work was to perform a comparative study of processes of dehydration of raspberry by freeze-drying (lyophilisation) or conventional drying. Raspberry is a perishable fruit, with about 85% (w/w) water content, and there is a need for preservation processes that generate new products with long term availability. Raw materials were subjected, or not, to blanching pre-treatments. It was analysed the effect of these treatments on physical parameters, such as water activity, colour and moisture content as well in the drying kinetics. It was found that conventional drying allowed to reduce water content to 20.7 to 35.8% while lyophilisation permitted to achieve values from 11.6 to 14%. It was also observed that lyophilisation process correspond to higher colour difference indexes, ranging from 5.30 to 11.8 values.

Effects of different Aspergillus niger strains on main nutritional components of grape seed in solid-state fermentation were investigated in this study. Grape seeds were fermented with three different A. niger strains which are ATCC 9142, ATCC 200345 and ATCC 52172. Fermented and unfermented grape seeds were analyzed for crude protein, ether extract, ash, crude fiber, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF). Unfermented grape seeds (control group) and fermented groups: FG1 (ATCC 9142), FG2 (ATCC 200345) and FG3 (ATCC 52172) were compared each other depending on the results of chemical analyses. Crude protein increased (p < 0.001) with fermentation in all groups and the highest increases were observed in FG2 and FG3 groups. Ether extract was similar with control in FG1 group but decreased (p < 0.001) in FG2 and FG3 groups. Ash content increased (p < 0.001) through fermentation in all groups, the highest increases were noted in FG2 and FG3 groups. Crude fiber, ADF, NDF and nitrogen-free extracts (NFE) were decreased with fermentation in all groups (p < 0.001). Whereas the highest decreases of NFE were observed in FG1 and FG2 groups, the highest reduction in crude fiber, ADF and NDF were ocurred in FG2 group. These results showed that nutritional quality of grape seeds can be improved by A. niger solid-state fermentation and the best results were taken from ATCC 52172.

The aim of the electrical system operators is to ensure that energy is delivered to the consumer in good quality and without interruption. The main purpose of the electricity market operators is to provide the electricity to the end user as adequate, continuous and low cost. Demand for energy in the world is constantly increasing due to technological developments, increasing world population and welfare of people. The lower cost of electricity will lead to a higher quality of life and a more competitive condition in the industry [1-3]. For this reason, the cost of electricity is very important for everyone. While revealing the price of electricity, many different data are taken into account. These are generation, transmission and distribution costs. Generation costs include such as initial investment, operation, and supply costs. Depending on the source used, electric energy can be generated at very different costs. Transmission costs include investment and operation costs of substation centers and transmission lines used in the transmission system. Distribution costs are the operation and investment of the distribution system and the expenditures of some ancillary services delivered to the end user. Electricity prices are offered to end users with specific tariffs. However, these tariffs are disadvantageous for some users. Because, in the calculations made, the type of production source or the geographical location of the plant are not considered [4]. Therefore; for both producers and consumers, it is thought that these calculations can be made in a more acceptable way, taking into account the location of the source of production in the system and the interconnected system.

According to Turkish Statistical Institute data (2011), it is known that approximately 6.6% of the population in Turkey is composed of disabled people and the highest rate of disability is from physical disabilities. It is observed that the freedom of movement of physically handicapped individuals is very limited in the environment and housing areas, and the existing regulations do not fully respond to the needs. It is difficult for people with physical disabilities to use furniture, fixtures and fixtures designed for normal people. The washbasins in bathrooms and toilets, which are the most special parts of homes and workplaces, need to be arranged for individual use without physical support for individuals with physical disabilities. In this way, disabled individuals will be able to live their lives without the need of others, at least by labor. In this study, a height adjustable washbasin was designed as a solution to minimize the difficulties caused by arrangements in the wash basin in bathrooms and toilets, one of the places where disabled people are most distressed in living spaces and public spaces. This study has been designed and manufactured not only for disabled people but also for the children and the elderly, especially those with physical competence, which will facilitate the life of each individual.

In this study, the chaotic Van der Pol system was implemented for real-time chaos applications on FPGA chip. The chaotic Van der Pol system was also modelled numerically by using the Euler algorithm ODE (Ordinary Differential Equation) solver on Matlab. Numerical structure of the chaotic Van der Pol oscillator designed on Matlab was taken as reference for the design of FPGA-based chaotic Van der Pol oscillator unit. The chaotic Van der Pol system was coded in Very High-Speed Integrated Circuits Hardware Description Language (VHDL) with 32-bit IEEE-754-1985 floating point number standard. The designed chaotic Van der Pol system was synthesized in the Xilinx ISE Project Navigator program and was implemented on the Xilinx VIRTEX-6 chip family, XC6VLX75T device, FF784 package. The maximum operating frequency of the FPGA-based chaotic Van der Pol oscillator unit obtained from Place and Route processes was 498.728 MHz. Additionally, chip statistics of the FPGA-based Van der Pol oscillator were presented.

By using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for improving fertility of large agricultural lands in the GAP region, it is aimed to guide the end users through processing of the aerial images obtained by using image processing algorithms. The productivity problem of "Agriculture" sector that has the most important role in the economic development of the region directly has been solved in an innovative way by improving the fertility of agricultural lands. Related to the UAVs used for this process, the most important problem to consider is limited battery life. Therefore, it is very important to calculate the optimum route to reduce the flight time and to scan the large agricultural lands in the shortest time. In this paper, the shortest path problem is optimized by using the genetic algorithm for scanning large agricultural lands and collecting data. In the study, the points taken by UAV according to the field of view of the images are determined. The shortest path has been calculated by using genetic algorithm so that images can be taken from these determined points within a minimum flight time.

RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel) and lignite from Afsin-Elbistan region were subjected to carbonization to produce their chars. For this purpose, these samples were heated from ambient to temperatures of 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900oC by a heating rate of 10oC/min in a tube furnace under nitrogen flow. Then, the chars were characterized in terms of the calorific values and the functional groups were investigated using FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) technique. Also, some fuel blends where the chars of RDF and lignite are blended in different ratios were prepared. Effects of the charring process on the fuel properties of RDF and lignite were interpreted.