ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS BOARD
Prof. Amer A. Al-Rawas, Chairman
Prof. Hadj Bourdoucen
Prof. Michel Claereboudt
Prof. Maher M. Hilal
Prof. Khaled N. Day
Prof. Lamk M. Al-Lamki
Prof. Mohammed N. Elsarayrah
Prof. Muhammad S. Khan
Mr. Ali N. Al-Hadhrami
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor-in-Chief
Prof. Hadj Bourdoucen
Electrical & Computer Engineering Department
Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
Editor
Prof. Tasneem Pervez
Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Department
Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
Associate Editors (S.Q.U., Oman)
Civil & Architectural Eng.
Prof. Khalifa S. Al-Jabri
Prof. Ali S. Al-Harthy
Dr. Yahia Mohamedzein
Dr. Ahmed Sana
Dr. Ali S. Al-Nuaimi
Dr. Ranjith Perera
Dr. Mahad S. Baawain
Dr. Sherif El-Gamal
Electrical & Computer Eng.
Dr. Nasser Hosseinzadeh
Prof. Ibrahim Metwally
Prof. Abdullah H. Al-Badi
Prof. Mohamed Ould-Khaoua
Dr. Afaq Ahmed
Dr. Lazhar Khriji
Dr. Hassan Yousef
Dr. Hisham Soliman
Dr. Mustafa Mesbah
Mechanical & Industrial Eng.
Dr. Nabeel Z. Al-Rawahi
Dr. Jamil Abdo
Dr. Khalid Zebdah
Dr. Zahid Qamar
Dr. Amur S. Al-Yahmedi
Dr. Nasser A. Al-Azri
Dr. Nassr H. Al-Hinai
Petroleum & Chemical Eng.
Dr. Rashid S. Al-Maamari
Dr. Yahia M. Al-Wehaibi
Dr. Gholamreza Vakili-Najed
Dr. Ala’a Hamed Al-Muhtaseb
Dr. Hasan Abdellatif Hassan
Dr. Majid A. Al-Wadhahi
Water Research Centre
Prof. Joydeep Dutta
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
ADVISORY BOARD
Civil & Architectural Eng.
Prof. Imad Al-Qadi, USA
Prof. Louay Mohammed, USA
Prof. Vijaya Rangan, Australia
Electrical & Computer Eng.
Prof. Chem Nayar, Australia
Prof. Mahmoud M. Dawoud, KSA
Prof. Nobuyuki Matsui, Japan
Mechanical & Industrial Eng.
Prof. Afshin Ghajar, USA
Prof. Ahmed Al-Garni, KSA
Prof. Bassam Jubran, Canada
Prof. Mehmet Savsar, Kuwait
Prof. Mustapha Yagoub, Canada
Prof. Sam Zamrik, USA
Prof. Yildirim Omurtag, USA
Prof. Martin I. Pech-Canul, Mexico
Petroleum & Chemical Eng.
Prof. Jai Gupta, India
Prof. Mehmet Hastaoglu, Turkey
Prof. Ramazan Kahraman, KSA
Prof. Richard Korff, Germany
Prof. Samuel Kozaitis, USA
Prof. Turgay Ertekin, USA
Web Editor
Mr. Mehdi Ali Amiri Kordestani
Technical Editor
Mr. Pyata Hanumantha Rao
The Journal of Engineering
Research (TJER)
AIM & SCOPE
The Journal of Engineering Research (www.tjer.net) is a refereed
international publication of Sultan Qaboos University. The Journal
aims to provide a medium through which engineering researchers
and scholars from around the world are able to publish their
scholarly applied and/or fundamental research. Contributions of
high technical merit are to span the breadth of engineering
disciplines.
They may cover, the main areas of engineering: Electrical,
Electronics and Computer Engineering, Information Engineering
and Technology, Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing
Engineering,
Aerospace
Engineering,
Automation
and
Mechatronics Engineering, Materials, Chemical and Process
Engineering, Civil and Architecture Engineering, Biotechnology
and Bio-Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Biological
Engineering, Genetic Engineering, Petroleum and Natural Gas
Engineering, Mining Engineering and Marine and Agriculture
Engineering.
ACCEPTANCE AND REVIEWING PROCESS
All papers submitted to the Journal will be subjected to rigorous
reviewing by a minimum of two reputable referees who are
technically competent to evaluate the subject matter. Upon the
acceptance of the contribution for publication it is possible that
papers may be subject to minor editorial amendments.
However, authors are solely responsible for the originality and
accuracy of the findings in their papers. Statements, results and
findings published in the Journal are understood to be those of the
authors, not those of the Editorial Board or the publisher.
SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS
Submission of manuscripts in soft (electronic) format is preferred.
Author(s) are requested to send an e-mail with an electronic
version of the manuscript.
Submissions should be sent directly to:
Editor-in-Chief,
The Journal of Engineering Research,
College of Engineering,
Sultan Qaboos University,
P. O. Box 33, Al-Khoud 123,
Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.
E-mail: Chief-Editor@tjer.net or raoh@squ.edu.om
TJER is currently Indexed in Scopus
The Journal of Engineering Research (TJER). All rights reserved.
This journal is not responsible for opinions printed in its
publication: They represent the views of the individuals to whom
they are credited and are not binding upon the journal.
Sultan Qaboos University Press, Muscat, Sultanate of
Oman, 2014
Notes for Authors
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION
Length of Manuscript
Papers submitted for publication in TJER could be up to ten
printed pages or 24 to 30 double spaced papers. The
template for MS-WORD as per TJER format may be
downloaded from http://www.tjer.net. It is advisable that
authors use this template in order to reduce the amount of
time spent on typesetting the manuscript. The font sizes and
the manuscript specifications are outlined as follows.
Typing and Font Specification
Manuscripts should be typed double-spaced on one side of a
sheet only, with margins of about 2.5 cm on each side of each
page. The font should be Times New Roman for all the
components of the manuscript with font size of 12 pt and
regular attribute for the body of the text.
Elements of the Manuscript
Full length papers generally consist of the title, author(s)
affiliation(s), abstract, keywords, nomenclature if applicable,
introduction, body, conclusion, references, list of figures and
table captions, and original figures and tables for
reproduction. A paper may also include appendices and
acknowledgments.
Titles
Capitalize the first letter of each word, i.e. use title case.
Author Names and Affiliation(s)
Author names on technical papers should include the name
of each author followed by his/her company affiliation. If
two or more authors have the same company affiliation, it
should not be repeated after each name. Do not use titles
such as Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, Prof. or Dr.
Abstract
The abstract should be limited to 300 words and must
concisely state what was done, how it was done, principal
results, and their significance. The abstract will appear later
in various indices of abstracts and should contain the most
critical information within the paper.
Keywords
Leave two blank lines after the abstract and type 6-10 key
words and phrases (separated by semicolons) that can be
used to index the paper, listing the keywords in order of
importance for indexing. Do not repeat words or strings of
words from the title. Capitalize the first letter of each word.
Acknowledgments
The same format as the body of the text should be followed.
Nomenclature
A separate nomenclature section should list in detail the
symbols used in the manuscript, their definitions, and their
units in SI system. The nomenclature list should be an
alphabetical order with Greek symbols following the
alphabetical listing.
Subscripts and superscripts should follow Greek symbols
and should be identified with a heading.
References
The references should be included at the end of the
manuscript in a separate section named References without
a number.
All references must be listed alphabetically by first name of
the first author. Ensure that the reference information is
complete and accurate, including as necessary and in the
following order: first names and initials of all authors; year
of publication; title of paper, report, or book chapter (in
quotes); title of book or periodical (in italics); volume and
issue numbers; name and location of publisher (for books),
name and location of publisher or sponsor (for proceedings),
or city of publication and inclusive page numbers.
Figures
All figures must be cited in the body of the paper. Figures
should be numbered in Arabic numerals in the order in
which they are cited. Related figures or figure sections may
be labeled with a shared numeral and consecutive lowercase
letters (eg. Figs. 1a through 1d).
Figures should be the smallest size possible without loss of
clarity, preferably designed to occupy a single column (8.2
cm of width) of a printed journal page. Once the paper is
accepted for publication, separate file for each figure in .tif or
.tiff format is to be submitted to the technical editor for final
printing.
Tables
All tables must be cited in the body of the paper. Tables
should be numbered in Arabic numerals in the order they
are cited in the paper. Tables should be the smallest size
possible without loss of clarity.
Table headings and column headings should be as concise as
possible. Column alignment should be obtained using tabs
NOT spaces. Tables should be designed to occupy a single
column or the full width of the page.
Care should be taken to avoid any arrangement that unduly
increases the depth of a table. Use 10-point Times New
Roman bold, centered, for table headings and 10-point Times
New Roman for body in tables.
Mathematical Notations and Equations
To avoid errors in editing and typesetting, authors should
clearly identify subscripts, superscripts, Greek letters, and
other symbols.
Equations should be numbered using Arabic numerals
placed in parentheses. Break equations to fit within the
page. Avoid ambiguities in equations and fractions in text
through careful use of parentheses, brackets, solids (slants),
etc.
Note that in-text, fractions are usually “broken down” to fit
in one line and confusion can result if terms are not properly
labeled. The conventional order of brackets is {[0]}.
Units and Abbreviations
The International System of Units (SI units) is required. Unit
symbols should be used with measured quantities, ie. 1 mm,
but not when unit names are used in text without quantities,
ie. “a few millimeters.” Acronyms and abbreviations should
be defined the first time they are used in the text.