Browsing by Author "Habtamu, Molla"

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    Automobile Bumper Beam Analysis to Improve Energy Absorption
    (AAU, 2017-10) Habtamu, Molla; Daniel, Tilahun (PhD)
    Automotive Bumper is one of the main parts which is used as protection for passengers from front and rear collision. Bumpers beam play an important role in preventing the impact load from being transferred to the automobile and passengers. So it becomes an important part of a vehicle as a safety and performance point of view. The basic use of bumper is to absorb energy in case of a collision. The main purpose of this paper is to design a bumper beam which is to improve crashworthiness of the bumper and analyzes the impact behavior of a composite car bumper beam made from s-glass fiber reinforced epoxy composite materials with a volume fraction 60% fiber and 40% matrix. Crashworthiness is the ability of the bumper beam to prevent occupant injuries in the event of an accident and this is achieved by minimizing the impact force during the collision. The existing lifan 520 model bumper beam is replaced with composite bumper. The internal energy which is absorbed by steel material is 1200.9 J where the composite material is 1960 J which is 38.7 % higher than that of steel. The study is performed using ANSYS software for the design of the new car bumper made from s-glass fiber reinforced epoxy composite materials and the internal energy absorbed by the materials, total deformation as well are evaluated by use of finite element method.
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    Trade Facilitation and Trade Flows in the Comesa: Case Study of Ethiopia and Kenya
    (A.A.U, 2012-06) Habtamu, Molla; Girma, Estiphanos (Dr.)
    Trade facilitation is an important aspect and tool for economic development in the co ntext of trade promotion and trade development. Based on this fact, the main objective of this study was to analyze the impact of trade facilitation measures on exports and imports among COMES A countries with special emphasis on trade flows between Ethiopia and Kenya. To achieve this basic objective, an augmented gravity model was analyzed using both descriptive and econometric methods of analysis by using data covering the period of 2004 through 20 I O. The study constructed five indicators of trade facilitation measures from a total of 13 indicators from the Global Competitiveness Report. The basic findings are as follows: The number of trade documents was significantly associated with imports and this clearly shows the barrier posed by the high number of documents required to import. Although the cost of transport and time to import had the expected signs, they were not significantly different from zero. Real GDP and population were associated with the trade flows but the association was weak. Based on these findin gs, there is need for trade and institutional reforms focusing on red ucing the number of customs documents and eventual complete elimination of documents required to import in the COMESA to boost trade flows. Efforts at addressing trade facilitation should also encourage fast tracking of a monetary union so that exchange rate variation effects on trade flows is completely eliminated.