Tips on Project Report Writing By Dr. K. Sabeel Ahmed Assistant Professor Dept.

of Mechanical Engineering JNN College of Engineering SHIMOGA Why to Write Project Reports? To record the objectives, significance, methodology, results and conclusion of an investigation that was carried out by you. To convey technical information in a clear and easily accessible format. To enable your teacher to assess the way you have approached your investigation, collected your data and evaluated your results. Structure of the Project Report 1. Report Title ( Front page) 2. Certificate 3. Abstract 4. Acknowledgement 5. Contents list 6. List of Figures 7. List of Tables 8. List of Symbols/Abbreviations used (Nomenclature) 9. Body of the Report i. Introduction ii. Literature Review iii. Methodology iv. Results and Discussion v. Conclusion vi. Scope for future work 10 References. 11. Appendices Report Title Should give the reader a very short but crystal clear idea about the topic of the Report.

 Should be no longer than one sentence although you may include colons and semicolons. Should attract attention to your writing Should reflect what you have done. Should bring out any eye-catching factor of your work, for good impact. The Golden Rule for titles is be accurate and concise not cryptic! Front Page The front page is the same that appears on the cover of the hard bound. Front page should contain the following details. VTU and the VTU logo Report Title Your name, USN and branch. Names with designation (like Dr. , Prof. or Mr. ) and complete addresses of both the guides. Complete address of the College where the work was carried out. Your college logo, name and address Abstract Summarizes the report contents. Should serve as a substitute for your entire work. Very often the reader will make the decision whether or not to read the whole report based on the abstract. Therefore it should be sufficient for the reader to know what the report is all about, including what the investigation has found. Should contain in brief main motivation, main design point, essential difference from previous work, methodology, and some eye-catching results if any. Should not exceed 2 pages and you may fit it in 1 page. Do not cite any references in the abstract. Do not begin the abstract with the weak, hackneyed, and boring phrase ``This thesis ...''.

 Good idea is to write the abstract after you have written the rest of the report even though it is presented near the beginning. Acknowledgement Acknowledge any help you received Persons Sponsoring authority for financial support Contents List Is a summary of the chapter and section headings, together with a page index, and is normally written when the document is already complete. Is the one place in the document where overall structure can be examined. CONTENTS CHAPTER NO. 1 1.2 TITLE PAGE 1 5 6 8 12

INTRODUCTION 1.1 Composites Objectives of the Work 3 1.3 Scope of the Work 1.3.1 Fabrication of Specimens 1.3.2 Experimental Characterization

2.

LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction

LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE NO. 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.2 TITLE Forms of woven fabrics Principle of hand lay-up technique Reinforcement materials Constructional details of mold plates PAGE NO. 12 13 20 28

LIST OF TABLES TABLE NO. 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.2

TITLE

PAGE NO. 15 13 20 32

Composition of hybrid laminates Analysis of variance for tensile strength data Stress concentration factors Correlation between experimental and predicted data

LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS A ac aij Aij b C D Cross-sectional area of the specimen mm2 Critical crack length mm Compliance co-efficients GPa-1 Extensional stiffness matrix MPa Width of the specimen mm Notch sensitivity factor ---Diameter of the hole mm

Greek Symbols j g r b 12 12 x y Density of jute fiber Density of glass fiber Density of resin Flexural strength Shear stress Shear strain Strain in longitudinal (warp) direction Strain in transverse (weft) direction g/cm3 g/cm3 g/cm3 MPa MPa ----------

ABBREVIATIONS ADC ANOVA CLT FRP LVDT Analog to digital converter Analysis of variance Classical lamination theory Fiber reinforced plastics Linear variable differential transformer

Body of the Report Introduction Is a very important section in any report as it describes the perspectives of your work. The reader may not be fully familiar with the problem area. Hence the introduction should provide sufficient, general context so that a reader can determine the general knowledge domain relating to the material in your report. Should contain, Motivation, Significance, Problem statement, Scope, Literature survey, Organization of the thesis. In the introduction of your report, clearly identify a focused well-defined question. Answer this question in the rest of your report. Motivation - What Situation, or Need prompted the undertaking of this work ? Significance - Importance of your work. Problem statement - Clear statement about the aims/objectives of your own study. Scope - Range / Extent of your work (Main focus of your study)

Organization of the thesis Out line of your report (Describe the structure of the rest of your report, indicating which chapter will address which issue). Literature Review Is the problem still unsolved? Helps to access current status in the field of investigation. Gives the background to the investigation Summarize the literature that you have read.

 No initials are to be used. Use et al. for more than one author. Ex. Hosur et al (2005) carried out experimental investigation on .. Rather than literally copying the texts that you have read, you should present your own interpretation of the theory. This will help you in developing your own thinking discipline and technical language. Source: Recognized International and National Journals Reputed publishers of international journals (Engineering) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Elsevier IMECHE Springer link Sage publications John Wiley & Sons Freund Publishing House Ltd Inderscience Publishers Ingenta Connect Francis & Taylors

Methodology/Approach METHODOLOGY General steps or procedures used in solving or studying the problem APPROACH General method or Technique adopted to approach the problem. This section is more work specific. Write a clear, informative, and thoughtful description and critique of what you did. Where appropriate, include carefully drawn graphs, diagrams and Tables. Define each term/symbol before you use it, or right after its first use. Make a clear and accurate statement of the principal features of your design. Describe how exactly you carried out the investigation What sorts of materials were used? Describe the experimental set up accurately (use diagrams/photographs). Describe the test standards, conditions, data acquisition software used.

 Include a statement of what methods of analysis were used and why they were chosen. Important guide lines Follow one system of unit (S.I) through out the thesis. Avoid lengthy sentences. Irrelevant information should not be given just for the sake of filling the pages. Create drawings in AutoCAD or MSWord (for simple sketches) or Solid Edge. Avoid free hand drawings and scanning. Presentation language must be too good. If you have no language command, get your report checked from an expert. Prepare your report on a good quality white paper preferably not lower than 80 gsm. Extreme Care must be taken for grammar and spelling. Do not repeatedly state the same information. The last word of any page should not be split using a hyphen. Tables and figures in a chapter should be placed in the vicinity of the reference where they are cited. immediate

A table or figure including caption should be accommodated within the prescribed margin limits. Tables and Figures appearing anywhere in the report should bear appropriate numbers Ex. if a figure in Chapter 3, happens to be the fourth then assign 3.4 to that figure. Similarly for Tables. Figures and Tables must be preceded by their reference in the text. Chapter title must be centered and in upper case letters. Equation however simple it may be, generate using equation editor. All equations to be given number in proper sequence.

Equation no. in parenthesis and right justified

Dz =

h 4M m

M 2 M1 t 2 t1

2
----------------- (4.1)

Dz = [ h/4Mm]2[M2-M1/t2-t1]2

FIGURES Are used to communicate specific results Ensure that each figure has a number and a title.

0.5

Unit
0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0
H3 H2 H1 AJ Polyester

Caption (below the figure)

Results Shows what you have found (numerical data). The results are usually presented as tables and graphs. In explaining tables and graphs, you have to explain them as completely as possible. Identify trends in the data. Does the data prove what you want to establish? While describing a table, you have to describe every row/column. Similarly while describing a graph, you have to describe the X / Y axes. Discussion Focuses on the most reasonable explanation of the findings. Analyze and interpret your data, and discuss the significance and limitations of your findings. Do not simply report your data. Should evaluate the adequacy of your methodology.

Fle xur al loa d, kN

Unit Flexural displacement, mm Figure 3.2 Flexural load-deflection behavior (Give source if figure is taken from a reference)

10

12

14

 Should include justification to your results. Discuss whether your results support or contradicts the existing results and give most plausible explanations of your findings. Conclusion Focuses on the most reasonable explanation of the findings. Analyze and interpret your data, and discuss the significance and limitations of your findings. Do not simply report your data. Should evaluate the adequacy of your methodology. Should include justification to your results. Discuss whether your results support or contradicts the existing results and give most plausible explanations of your findings. Conclusion must conclude. Clearly state the final conclusions about the significance of the results relative to the planning or project context. Must give some overall insight into the value of your work. A short, logical summing up of the theme developed in the main text Here you evaluate your study, state which of the initial goals were reached and which not, mention the strong and weak points of your work, etc. Suggestions/Scope for Future Work Here you state aspects of the problem you have not considered and possibilities for further extensions. This section in some cases is combined along with the "conclusion" section. References All references cited in the text-body should be there in the Reference list and all entries in the Reference list should be there in the text-body.

 References should be serially numbered in order of their occurrence in the text and their numbers should be indicated in square brackets. E.g. [3]. The Reference list should be included after the main text but before the Appendices, if any. In the reference list, you should provide the following details. For a book: name of the authors, title, publisher, city of publication, edition and year of publication. Taylor J. R., An Introduction to Error Analysis, Oxford University Press, Mill Valley, CA, USA, 3rd Edition 1982 For an article of a journal: name of the authors, title, name of the journal, volume (issue number), range of pages, and year. Sabeel Ahmed K. and Vijayarangan S, Experimental Characterization of Woven Jute Fabric Reinforced Isothalic Polyester Composites, Journal of Applied Polymer Science,, Vol.104, Issue 4, pp.2650-2662, 2007. For an article in conference proceedings: name of the authors, title, name of conference, editors (if present), range of pages and year. Kedare S.B. Optics, Design, Performance and Economics of the Dynamic Fresnel Paraboloid Reflector Concentrator Dish with Point Focus for High Temperature Solar Thermal Applications, Proceedings of National Renewable Energy Convention 99, Sawhney R.L. (Ed.), 9-15, 1999. A manual / handbook / standards : company name (if there are no authors), title, reference number, year. British Standards Institution, Specification for Steel girder bridges, BS153 : Parts 3B & 4 : 1972, 1972 A web-site : Author or Organization, name of the site, complete address of the site, date visited Danish Wind Industry Association, Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines: Lift, http://www.windpower.org/tour/wtrb/lift.htm, Aug 16, 2002

Bibliography In a few exceptional cases, it is useful to suggest a list of publications for background reading. These are not cited anywhere in the text. This list can be included as Bibliography. It should follow References on a fresh page. Appendices Other material that may be of interest to the reader Material which provides more detailed support or data for the project objective Do not put results here: only the raw data should be presented in an Appendix. Appendices are placed at the end of the report. Appendices are useful for those things that you consider important, but that do not fit in the main presentation of your work. There are several reasons for using appendices: a) the material is too long and has too many details (e.g. the instruments or equipment). b) you have formulated a theorem, the proof long for the main text. Appendices tend to occupy many pages. Appendices are numbered using Roman numerals E. g Appendix I, Appendix II, etc If you have just one appendix, then it is not numbered Additional information for VTU reports Reports should be printed on one side of the paper. 1.5 or Double line spacing should be used. Use A4 size paper only (210 297 mm) Margins should be: Left 1.25, Right 1, of specifications of which is too

Top and Bottom 0.75 Chapter number text: 16pt Chapter title: 18pt centered. Section title: 16pt left justified Subsection title: 14pt left justified Report text: 12pt