bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Saving Face
Authors: Raplee Jack
Published: July 2018

Rapid prototyping in the operating room ranges from the planning of bone cuts to the custom fit of implants. Several rapid prototyping methods are used to produce anatomical models for a wide range of both soft and hard tissue surgeries. One method, used to create anatomical models for nearly any part of the body, is stereo-lithography, which rapidly produces a three-dimensional object by curing a liquid resin under a computer-guided laser. The technology itself has limitations barring its use in widespread applications. Today's rapid prototyping machines are bulky and complicated to run, and the modeling materials are sometimes hazardous in liquid form. Rapid prototyping offers surgeons an option not available by any other means. As a tactile tool, anatomical modeling provides substantially more information than 2D imaging modalities. The future may lead to surgeons' acceptance of less expensive models using 3D printing or multijet modeling over stereolithography.
Renaissance Tool Man
Authors: Wicks Frank
Published: July 2018

This article presents success stories of James Hartness, American Society of Mechanical Engineers President, aviator, and governor of Vermont. Hartness, who started his working life an apprentice machinist, became a major inventor of improved machine tools and measuring techniques. He made pioneering contributions in the fields of astronomy and aviation, and mentored and inspired others. Hartness's improbable career opportunity occurred in 1889, when the small and struggling, privately owned Jones and Lamson machine shop moved from Windsor to Springfield, Vermont. Hartness wrote of the need for respect and the importance of considering the factory worker who operates the machines. He explained that habit is good, and that improved machine tools would be successful only if they could be operated effectively. Hartness had a brief political career as a one-term governor of Vermont. He had served well on several state commissions and in 1920 he was nominated as the Republican candidate.
Advancing the Standard
Authors: Huber David K. , Coleman Garry D.
Published: July 2018

TRW's Rack & Pinion Division, a tier 1 automotive supplier, spent a lot of time and human energy preparing its engineering department as part of the company's efforts to be certified under QS-9000. In order to operate under a QS-9000 or ISO 9000 quality system, a company must standardize its practices, spell them out for employees and customers, and then be able to provide documentary evidence that the organization has followed its own procedures. The QS-9000 implementation process started at the Rack & Pinion Division in October 1995. Following an initial third-party assessment in late 1995, the division's top management decided that a complete rewrite of the engineering and quality system was required to comply with QS-9000. Changes in the department that resulted from implementing QS-9000, such as developing and using objective indicators, simplifying business systems, and introducing structured training, will have to be nurtured so they can grow and become the part of the department's culture.
Restoring the Divine Balance
Authors: Valenti Michael
Published: July 2018

Saabergwerke AG, a coal mining company based in Saarbrucken, Germany, has hired PKF UniCom GmbH, a construction company, to rebuild St. Michael’s foundation and stabilize the building, without altering the church’s historic appearance or interfering with religious services. The PKF design team chose hydrostatic sensors with a 100-millimeter measuring range calibrated for a 50-mm deviation. The PKF engineers examined a variety of sensing systems to measure the position of the liquid level in the hydrostatic sensors and chose the MTS Temposonics sensors for the St. Michael’s restoration. When the Temposonics sensors are equipped with multiple magnets, they can measure more than one position function at a time, enabling plastic injection machine operators to reduce the number of sensors. The combined hydrostatic–Temposonics sensors have the capacity to command these massive industrial springs to extend and correct any sagging that they detect. Interface electronics and software using the DeviceNet protocol link the 82 Temposonics position sensors beneath St. Michael’s Church. Mercedes-Benz engineers installed MTS commercial position sensors in each suspension strut of the CL coupe to measure the position of the springs. MTS designed its commercial position sensors for applications that demand high-volume measurement.
Wild Mouse in the Funhouse
Authors: Sharke Paul
Published: July 2018

This article focuses on a new amusement ride that blends several control systems by combining spinning-coaster thrills with interactive special effects. The Exterminator at Kennywood Amusement Park combines a ‘wild mouse’ coaster with the interactivity of a dark ride. ‘Dark ride’ is amusement maker parlance for fun house style frights that pop into view unexpectedly. A proximity sensor, positioned after the coaster and animation went in, begins the action sequence for this figure just as the riders come upon it. Bringing the Exterminator up to speed was a matter of controlling the coaster, controlling the animation, and controlling the interaction between the two independent systems. A process of trial and error, determining the right moment to start an event occurs only after the animation is in place and the carts are riding the rails. A double pneumatic fin brake below the track slows carts as needed before they enter the boiler.
Turbines for Peace
Authors: Valenti Michael
Published: July 2018

This article discusses that military-sponsored research tools can improve the machines that drive civil applications. The Defense Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) researchers tested the engine of the legendary DeHavilland Vampire single seat jet fighter in the late 1940s. This Vampire is owned by Fred Ihlenburg, president of Yakity Yaks Inc., an importer of foreign military aircraft, based in Aurora, Oregon. DERA is investigating heat transfer on turbine blades to help gas turbine manufacturers develop a cooling system that will keep blades at an optimum temperature while minimizing losses in engine performance. More efficient cooling means less air is bled from the compressor, thus improving performance while extending blade life. This work was co-funded by the Central European Commission under the Brite Euram Fourth-Framework Initiative, which is part of the European Union’s strategy to enhance European global competitiveness, and Britain’s Department of Trade and Industry’s Civil Aircraft Research and Technology Demonstration Program. The British program aims to advance the capabilities of the United Kingdom’s civil aerospace companies.
Making a Match
Authors: Thilmany Jean
Published: July 2018

Engineering companies of all sizes are turning to the Internet to find parts suppliers, shaving sales and procurement costs in the process. Companies seeking parts suppliers can post requests for proposals on a Web site. The automakers chose to work together after General Motors and Ford announced on the same day in November 1999 that they planned to launch their own proprietary business-to-business exchanges to host supplier auctions. As evidence of the trend toward moving the vendor and supplier relationship from fax machine to Internet, big three automakers—DaimlerChrysler, Ford, and General Motors—banded together in February to create a Web-based marketplace called Covisint, where suppliers bid for the automakers’ parts contracts. Renault and Nissan signed on later and the site was unveiled in October. With the system, one of the automakers will be able to post data for a part it wants made for a car. However, without technology-equipped suppliers willing to use the service, Covisint could experience a dearth of business.
Looking for Leaks in all the Small Spaces
Authors: Sharke Paul
Published: July 2018

This article describes use of photoacoustics by automakers to track and tackle leakage problems. Photoacoustics uses momentary heat from a light source to excite acoustic waves. Laser Imaging Systems of Punta Gorda, FL, developed the idea of photoacoustic leak detection. Dowling worked with Ford in developing leak localization as part of a team that was put together by the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences. Once a leak is sensed, a technique originally developed for a US Navy underwater acoustics program deploys to pinpoint its place. Vertical location is known already. Vacuum Instrument and Laser Imaging Systems are building the alpha prototype now.
Straight in the Water
Authors: Thilmany Jean
Published: July 2018

This article reviews that deepwater oil platforms are kept afloat and the oil they produce is kept pumping with the help of a host of advanced technologies. Not the least among them is the technologies that play a particularly strong role in calculating the critical operations of large oil rigs, like that of the Chevron Genesis project. The Genesis platform is located in water where weather is powerful and changeable, and is therefore always a concern. The crew must be ready to deal with weather at a moment’s notice, and also must deal with the day-to-day events of life aboard an oil drilling plat form. Software also plays a role in positioning the risers. They must be located in such a way as to allow them to remain standing against the force of the waves in deep waters. Piping systems are often designed and laid out in a computer-assisted drawing or modeling program. The plan for the pipes is downloaded from the design system to the analysis program in order for engineers to study the structure and to calculate stresses and loads.
The Great Out of the Small
Authors: Goldin Daniel S. , Venneri Samuel L. , Noor Ahmed K.
Published: July 2018

This article discusses that a wealth of technological breakthroughs is likely to come from mimicking the interactions of biological systems and their response to the environment. The following next few decades will witness thinking, learning, evolvable aerospace systems. It will also see systems-on-a-chip, in which miniaturization allows all electronic systems of an aerospace vehicle (computer, memory, guidance, navigation, communications, power, and sensors) to fit on a tiny chip. Such aerospace systems cannot be realized with present technologies. The synergistic coupling of biotechnology, nanotechnology, and information technology with other leading edge aerospace technologies can produce breakthroughs in vehicle concepts and exploration missions, enable new science, and reshape our frame of reference for the future. The potential benefits of these technologies are pervasive and extend to several non-aerospace fields, such as high-performance computing and communications, land and sea transportation systems, health care, and advanced energy conversion and storage.
More from the Mill
Authors: Valenti Michael
Published: July 2018

This article focuses on the launch of Sputnik that transfixed the world by Carpenter Technology Corp. By incorporating advanced processing equipment, including a rolling mill, shape controller, annealing furnaces, wet grinders, and leveler with state-of-the-art automated control systems, Carpenter has improved the productivity and quality of its high value strip at a time when Space Shuttle launchings are taken in stride. The Carpenter specialty strip facility installed a cold rolling mill designed by Joseph Frohling GmbH of Olpe, Germany, in November last year, to increase rolling capacity and guarantee that the steel strip it produces meets the desired shape and thickness. In the Frohling mill, strip passes between two working rolls that reduce its thickness to sizes between 0.150 and 0.008 inch, at speeds up to 1500 feet per minute. Carpenter also installed three Ebner vertical annealing furnaces. Coiled strip on mandrels is unwound through each furnace, annealed, then rewound continuously to promote productivity.
Power to the People
Authors: Ladd Conrad M.
Published: July 2018

This article highlights that the creation of efficient electric appliances using cheap electricity has enabled us to enjoy healthier and more bountiful lives. Since electric power results from the conversion of energy resources in an electric power generating plant, those resources must be adequate and available at low cost at the plant site. Mechanical engineers developed the machinery for coal mining, for coal transportation, and for bulk coal handling. GE and Westinghouse made early contributions starting in electric generator and electric motor development. The US electric utility industry has been mandated by several states to sell all or a large portion of its generating plants. Independent power generators are building new combined-cycle units in selected market regions. Mergers and acquisitions of electric utilities are continuing to increase the size of parent company operations. Mechanical engineers have developed relatively low-cost electric power generation technology through the 20th century, enabling the United States to maintain its world economic leadership and standard of living.
Basic Drives
Authors: Hutchinson Harry
Published: July 2018

This article discusses various technological innovations to develop energy infrastructure that could result in fewer carbon emissions. A number of technologies are in development with emissions reductions in mind. They range from gasification of coal and other hydrogen-bearing fuels to an eventual transition to a hydrogen economy. Advocates of an economy run on hydrogen observe that it makes the primary source of fuel irrelevant. Hydrogen can be extracted by various processes from natural gas, petroleum, coal, possibly even wood chips left by the sawmill, just like syngas. Processes based on reforming fossil fuels represent the most economical way to produce hydrogen today and account for 95 percent of the hydrogen produced worldwide. Deregulation of electricity markets has spurred activity to make nuclear reactors more competitive. Designs are in the works to make plants cheaper to build and operate, generally by making them smaller and simpler, ideally so they can be composed of factory-built modules. The Canadians, meanwhile, are working toward the next generation of their Candu reactor, with the aim of making it simpler and cheaper to build and run.
Hybrid NEMS
Authors: Sharke Paul
Published: July 2018

This article presents research work of various groups that are working on using nanotechnology in medical treatments. The researchers at Cornell University’s nanofabrication lab needed to make the propellers on the chip and harvest them, rather than rinse them off. After trial and error, the Cornell engineers came upon a workable combination of biochemical methods and fabrication. Mounting a 2-micrometer polystyrene sphere to the motor, the Cornell researchers made a mechanical amplifier to evaluate the motion of the FI-ATPase enzyme. The group made a small photosynthetic cell by installing the protein, bacteriorhodopsin, into liposomes. The protein converts light energy into chemical energy by synthesizing ATP. The ATP runs the motor and then gets recycled back to adenosine diphosphate in a closed chemical system. A nanotube bearing could provide frictionless rotation without wear.
FEA in a Snap
Authors: Thilmany Jean
Published: July 2018

This article describes application of finite element analysis (FEA) in snap tool, developed by Snap-on Inc. in Kenosha, Wisconsin. FEA has been finding its way down the engineering chain with the help of easy-to-use software. FEA is the use of a complex system of points—called nodes—that form a grid, or mesh, across a model. The mesh contains the material and structural properties that define how the part will react to certain load conditions. Snap-on has discovered that if engineers analyze their products as they design them, they understand their products better and face fewer project delays. Engineers who use FEA have found that analyzing as they design parts saves development time. The Snap-on power tools group's move to integrated design and analysis should be complete by year's end. Mechanical failure often results from a variety of forces, including motion, stress, thermal and fluid-flow effects, and vibration. Multiphysics applications give engineers the ability to run all these analyses at the same time, to determine how the tower would withstand real-world conditions that occur simultaneously.
Let Light Be There
Authors: Sharke Paul
Published: July 2018

This article focuses on structures that today have moved completely away from sealed beam assemblies, relying instead on aerodynamic housings whose shapes are designed to flow with the contours of car bodies. Even before automotive high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting arrived, halogen bulbs had sought independence from their housings not only to free up lens shapes to the whimsy of stylists but to reduce drag as well. The advantage of, and trouble with, HID lighting is that it more than triples the output of halogen bulbs while consuming fewer watts. The light from an HID lamp, said to be closer to the hue of natural light and thus thought to be better at illuminating a rain-wrapped road, comes from an electrode-ignited xenon atmosphere. European lighting manufacturers, such as Hella, work in conjunction with automakers, other lighting manufacturers, and research groups in demonstrating for regulators the technology that might one day will be required on cars there.
Smarter Factories
Authors: Hutchinson Harry
Published: July 2018

This article highlights about getting more out of information technology, from online services to digital databases, in order to make plants more flexible, to improve product development, or to let people at far-flung sites cooperate more closely. There are industry-led groups namely the Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing-International, which has an office in Bedford, TX, and Intelligent Manufacturing Systems, headquartered in Tokyo. These organizations address concerns ranging from budgeting to the best practices for designing a plant floor. The Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing and Intelligent Manufacturing Systems support a research initiative called Next Generation Manufacturing Systems (NIST). NIST also operates the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory, where a variety of projects are being run. In another part of NIST—the physics lab, to be specific—Marc Desrosiers, a research chemist, has led an effort to cut the time and cost of certifying the calibration of irradiation equipment, which can be used to cure materials and coatings, or to kill bacteria on products ranging from medical devices to hamburger.
Printing In Three Dimensions
Authors: Thilmany Jean
Published: July 2018

This article discusses that a starch printer, commonly referred to as a three-dimensional printer, serves as a way to make physical models from 3D CAD files. The rapid engineering and 3D printing methods are frequently used in conjunction with a host of compatible technologies, notably a scanning technology that brings physical objects—including items produced by a 3D printer—back into the digital realm. Engineers make use of this form of scanning technology to digitize a complex item that they would have a hard time reverse engineering any other way. Others might use it to digitize 3D artwork such as sculptures to capture a long-term, digital archive of important cultural artifacts. Rapid prototyping at DaimlerChrysler takes place in the vehicle engineering operations mock-up department, among other places. The group builds physical models of parts for the engineers who designed them. Models might range from an individual part to a full-scale mock-up of the entire vehicle.
Solar Gains
Authors: Wolcott Barbara
Published: July 2018

This article reviews that photovoltaic technology is growing more popular as a means of distributed generation and as a source of power for the world. Net metering now available in nearly every state in the Union is a strong incentive for this kind of alternative energy because it allows excess power generated during peak hours of sunshine to reverse an electric meter, selling power back to the utility. In addition, many states encourage solar power installations by offering a 50 percent subsidy, making the net cost to an average home-owner about $5,000. Rural electrification through solar power is exemplified in Indonesia, a country of 17,000 islands, of which about 6000 are inhabited. Prior to 1991, more than 10,000 solar home systems were installed in the country, according to the World Energy Council in London. Since solar power generation peaks at the same time spot power prices spike, companies are looking very closely at comparative costs.
Probing for Flaws
Authors: DeGaspari John
Published: July 2018

This article focuses on NASA Langley that is manipulating carbon nanotubes to test for weaknesses in advanced aircraft materials. NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, is making use of nanotechnology to develop methods for nondestructive evaluation to support super lightweight, multifunctional structures. Carbon nanotubes, for instance, can be used as sensing elements embedded in materials. In general, nondestructive evaluation methods could be used to detect flaws in material structures, such as pressure vessels, air plane hulls that expand at high altitudes, or space stations subject to bombardment from meteorites. Using the NanoManipulator makes it possible to fine tune the position of the nanotubes. Besides plotting coordinates on a screen, the NanoManipulator’s haptic interface—a penlike device for guiding the scanning probe—will stop the user from pushing the probe tip through the surface of the sample.
Reaching for 60 Percent
Authors: Valenti Michael
Published: July 2018

The General Electric (GE) H turbine system in Wales is designed to be 60% thermally efficient. The Welsh installation will serve as a springboard for two other installations, planned for New York State and Tokyo, so that the technology will span three continents. The 480-megawatt H system in Wales is designed to be the first gas turbine combined-cycle system in the world to achieve 60% thermal efficiency. The main advantage provided by efficiency is economic, because fuel represents the largest single expense in running a fossil-fueled power plant. GE engineers based much of the H design on proven turbine technology, starting with the high-pressure compressors. Another advantage GE intends to stress in marketing its H turbines, along with fuel economy and environmental performance, is their greater power density.
Hot Stuff
Authors: DeGaspari John
Published: July 2018

This article focuses on smart materials that are beginning to make their mark on some high-profile commercial applications. This class of materials encompasses a broad range of ceramics, metal alloys, gels, and polymers. Jacob Rabinow invented MR fluid while he was at the National Bureau of Standards in the 1940s. Advances in sensor technology and rugged controllers helped to open the way for MR fluid technology. The MagneRide system is coupled to an array of sensors, including four that monitor wheel-to-body position, and to a control module. Piezoelectric materials are among the most widely used in smart applications. Piezo materials, which change shape when an electric charge is applied to them, have been accepted into a number of industrial and consumer applications. It is difficult to predict just how successful many of the materials will be in cracking the commercial arena. Early successful applications are likely to smooth the transition for the many materials that will become available in the coming years.
That Elusive Hum
Authors: Lieuwen Tim , McManus Keith
Published: July 2018

This article highlights about modern power turbines that have the highest operating efficiencies. These turbines turn out the fewest pollutants among major combustion energy converting devices. In addition, they are attractive because of low capital costs required to bring new systems online. As a result, gas turbines have become the dominant technology for new power generating capacity in the United States and worldwide. Experimentalists have developed new diagnostic tools for making pertinent measurements in the unsteady, harsh combustor environment. In addition, computational advances in simulating these unsteady flows are providing a more complete picture of the relationships among the myriad of unsteady flow processes and flame propagation. The accuracy of simplified, physics-based models that can be used for design-level decisions is improving. Combustion dynamics remains a challenging problem, but the large efforts at university, industry, and government labs advance our understanding and bring us closer to dealing with the problem.
Heavy-duty LNG
Authors: Hutchinson Harry
Published: July 2018

This article focuses on the natural gas advocates who have set their sights on the diesel engine, and some of their new ideas are getting a workout in California. Otto-cycle engines fueled by natural gas are common in cities as the operators of buses and other vehicle fleets try to keep emissions in check. Natural gas mixes with air before it enters the cylinder. An electronically controlled injector introduces a small amount of diesel fuel at the end of the compression stroke to begin ignition. According to Caterpillar, more than 85 percent of the fuel consumed can be natural gas in some applications. Cummins Westport Inc., Vancouver, BC, is testing a 400-hp diesel engine that burns natural gas. The system injects diesel as a pilot and then follows it with natural gas. Electronic controls determine the timing and quantity of natural gas.
Nukes and Rubber
Authors: DeGaspari John
Published: July 2018

This article focuses on the behavior of tires that appears to have little in common with expectations for nuclear weapons. However, they are similar enough that Sandia National Laboratories and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. are working together and sharing the same tools to understand their different products. Sandia uses computational mechanics to simulate phenomena such as non-linear mechanics, to predict how a component will perform when it is slammed into the ground. The biggest challenge in computational mechanics is to convince the engineer that we have captured all of the relevant physics that computational simulation is every bit as good as or better than the same experiment being performed.
Shaking Hands Again
Authors: Thilmany Jean
Published: July 2018

This article discusses that technology can ease the adversity between industrial designers and mechanical engineers. In many manufacturing organizations, engineers coexist, albeit sometimes uneasily, with the industrial designers who shape the way the product will look on the outside. While mechanical engineers take care of laying out the mechanisms inside the product’s shell, industrial designers are concerned with its external shape and appeal. At Symbol Technologies in Holtsville, NY, that uneasy alliance does not exist anymore. Symbol’s devices have to be rugged because, although they are meant to be held easily in the hand, they can just as easily be dropped. The company uses I-deas, from EDS of Plano, Texas, for CAD modeling. Before beginning to sculpt on screen, the designer now talks to the engineer about the product. The engineer might know that both a scan engine and a set of batteries must be included inside the final product. The CAID and CAD software work together in such a way that, if an industrial designer changes something about the outside shape, the mechanical features automatically update to accommodate the change. Engineers do not have to rework the internal parts each time the external changed.
Giving Vent
Authors: Winters Jeffrey
Published: July 2018

This article focuses on new ideas that offer to breathe some fresh air into the conventions of indoor climate control. Since most of the air drawn out of a room gets returned, contamination becomes hard to get rid of. Even without recycling, variations in the amount of air delivered to different parts of the building create pressure differences that force air through interior spaces. Chemical fumes, mold spores, and viruses get circulated from room to room and floor to floor. This is bad enough during cold and flu season, but it is a design feature that could become a complication should the American offices again become the target of biological terror like the anthrax attacks in the fall of 200l. Variable air volume (VAV) systems have other flaws, including one that Bernard Bloom addresses with a passion: difficulty controlling moisture in cool, damp conditions. VAV systems often use air conditioning as the main control for humidity. VAV systems dominate the commercial ventilation and cooling market. About 95 percent of major office buildings use them in one form or another. They cost less to build than competing systems and have the reputation for being cheaper to run.
Winding Up
Authors: Winters Jeffrey
Published: July 2018

This article reviews today’s wind turbines that are a far cry from the windmills that once reached into the rural sky to pump water for irrigation. A single utility-scale turbine, built from European designs, can provide enough electricity to power more than a thousand homes when the wind is blowing. Wind power is increasingly viewed as an ecologically friendly energy source, without the carbon emissions of fossil fuels or the watershed wrecking force of hydropower. Wind power enthusiasts point out that wind is the fastest-growing source of electricity in the world. In the United States alone, the amount of installed wind power grew by 66 percent in 2001, according to the American Wind Energy Association in Washington. WTC’s two-bladed design makes the most of the lightness the downwind configuration can offer. Each blade is reinforced by a hydraulic piston running from the hub, and the root itself is attached to the rotor shaft by a hinged coupling. The pistons can reposition each blade independently over the course of a single rotor sweep.
Rebuilding Iraq
Authors: Ehrenman Gayle
Published: July 2018

This article focuses on various engineering efforts required to reconstruct post-war Iraq. The two most crucial infrastructure issues, by all accounts, are water and electricity, and the ability to deliver clean, treated drinking water is largely dependent on the availability of a reliable source of electricity. Thus, from an engineering standpoint, restoring electricity should be the number one priority. Work has already begun to restore the electric, water, and sanitation infrastructure. The first phase of reconstruction, providing emergency supplies of water and humanitarian aid, began even before the war was over. United States Agency for International Development is in the process of tackling the long-term infrastructure needs of Iraq. The organization has issued nine procurement contracts for reconstruction work. SkyLink Air and Logistic Support Inc. has been signed to provide an assessment of civilian airports, collaboration on their repair, and ongoing management of the airports for receiving and processing humanitarian aid and reconstruction material.
Every Bag in Place
Authors: Hutchinson Harry
Published: July 2018

This article focuses on the use of radio-frequency (RF) technology in Las Vegas airport. The RF technology is provided by Matrics Inc. of Columbia, Md., which has a five-year contract to supply the airport with 100 million tags. The tags, which hold 96 bits of information, require no separate power source and are activated by a signal from the RF reader in the ultra-high frequency band between 902 and 928 MHz. The Federal Aviation Administration requires that passengers’ names pass through the Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-screening System. Those profiled as suspicious by the system are known as ‘selectees.’ At Jacksonville, their bags are tracked by an ultra-high frequency UHF system. According to a case study published by FKI Logistex, the selectees’ bags are separated from the main stream of luggage and sent to a machine set for more intense screening. However, at Las Vegas airport, everybody will be tagged.
A Case of the Vapors
Authors: Winters Jeffrey
Published: July 2018

With domestic refining capacity falling behind domestic demand, imports have taken on a new role: smoothing out any mismatches between gasoline supply and demand. Gasoline is sold on a worldwide spot market, and international refiners know that every gallon of gasoline will be bought by someone, somewhere. Some 40 percent of American gas imports now come from Western Europe. European refiners are looking to solve this problem by switching refining technologies. Hydrocracking, which is a high-pressure process that relies on hydrogen to saturate various products, will enable them to make more diesel from a given barrel of petroleum, and less gasoline. The change in American fuel standards has tilted the playing field for would-be exporters. The reduction in sulfur content has taken many refineries in South America out of the running as suppliers of gasoline to the United States. Until these refineries make the necessary upgrade, imports may be restricted to advanced, First World refineries, such as Total’s and Irving’s facilities. The EIA projects that Western Europe will remain a dominant exporter of gasoline to the United States for at least another decade due to its high-tech refineries and its proximity to East Coast ports.
Another Approach to Wind
Authors: Peace Steven
Published: July 2018

This article highlights how vertical-axis turbines may avoid the limitations of today’s standard propeller-like machines. Horizontal-axis wind turbine technology is likely to peak in the next few years, largely because of the limitations of the blades and their effects on the machine. The power output of a wind turbine is directly related to the swept area of its blades. The larger the diameter, the more power it is capable of extracting from the wind. The larger the blades, the stronger they need to be to withstand the higher levels of centrifugal force and stresses caused by their additional size and weight. Tall masonry structures of the sort that are suitable for the Eurowind turbines were once a common sight in industrial cities and towns across the globe. However, as technology changed, many of these structures became obsolete. Indeed, the structures have lent their name to an entire subset of old-fashioned, low-tech businesses in smokestack industries.
Taking the Mechanical Pulse
Authors: Thilmany Jean
Published: July 2018

This article provides details of various applications of data acquisition systems. As data acquisition hardware is coupled with the software, which users can adapt for their own unique applications, data acquisition systems can be configured to fulfil a range of purposes. They are used for test and measurement and for industrial automation, and can serve as the eyes of a production line or the nose of a sensor. At Innoventor Inc., St. Louis, engineers have created vision inspection systems and pick-and-pack equipment for customers; they’ve designed machine control systems and robotics. According to an engineer in the company, data acquisition systems are a check on the confidence that today’s computer-aided design and analysis software engender. Data acquisition systems can be customized for a testing situation or environment. In addition to acquiring data from prototypes, a system can be configured to measure products on a manufacturing line or measure the line itself. Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois used data acquisition software and hardware to develop their Smart Sensor Developer Kit, a chemical microsensor that can identify almost any air bound gaseous chemical.
Murphy's Lawyers
Authors: Sharke, Paul
Published: July 2018

This article focuses on the concept of predictive maintenance (PdM) and its use in the manufacturing industry. Predictive maintenance is an umbrella term covering techniques such as vibration analysis, lube oil evaluation, and thermography. Despite the progress in automation, communication, and data manipulation that has allowed PdM companies to monitor tons of machines efficiently and accurately, the technology has not displaced people from the picture altogether. Companies are finding it more cost-effective to funnel the data to the experts instead of maintaining their own experts on site. The turbine generator at the University of North Carolina co-generation plant in Chapel Hill provides electricity to the campus and hospital. At the highest level, where a machine’ failure could severely affect a plant’s safety, environment, or profit, a full arsenal of PdM weapons, including periodic or continuous vibration monitoring, lube oil analysis, and infrared thermography, would keep its eyes on things. In another example discussed in the article, a reliability-centered approach aligns a plant’s business objectives and maintenance strategy to decide upon the best way to monitor assets.
The Urge to Explore
Authors: Aldrin Buzz , Wachhorst Wyn
Published: July 2018

This article highlights that life, which crawled out of the sea eons ago, would now climb out of the white cloud-capped ocean of air, cling to a barren lunar rock, and then fall back to Earth. For one brief moment, we would be creatures of the cosmic ocean. The moon landing will be seen, a thousand years hence, as the signature of our century. It stands with the cathedrals and pyramids among those epic social feats that embody the spirit of an age. They are the dreams of the child in man. With all great leaps, there is something gained and something lost. The price of the telephone was a loss of privacy; the airplane diminished the sense of travel. Beyond all the political and economic rationales, spaceflight is a spiritual quest in the broadest sense, one promising a revitalization of humanity and a rebirth of hope no less profound than the great opening out of mind and spirit at the dawn of the modern age. Thus it is humans, not machines, who must finally go into space, to wander far worlds and meet once more the dread unknowns, the dry-mouthed fears of the old explorers.
Harm's Way
Authors: Thilmany Jean
Published: July 2018

This article reviews how engineering software and microtechnology prepare defense against bioterrorism. Researchers at government-associated labs across the nation are quietly working on the best ways to swiftly ready emergency responders in the event of a bioterrorism attack and to deal with the repercussions hours and days after the dreaded event. Over at Sandia National Laboratories, researchers have created a small, wall-mounted unit powered by a microchip that continuously monitors the surrounding air to check for harmful biological agents. Lab-on-a-chip technology performs analyses in a fraction of a minute that would take hours with traditional laboratory methods. Sandia researchers, with funding from the Department of Defense, seek to perfect a similar wall-mounted unit so it could one day be hung in a subway station or in another public area. The unit would while away the day collecting air samples and analyzing them.
Getting a New Life
Authors: Brown Alan S.
Published: July 2018

This article reviews a much younger standards committee that has revamped the way it does business in order to make sure its message embraces Europe and Asia. This committee’s standards address bioprocessing, the use of living organisms to create products. ASME’s Bioprocessing Equipment Standards Committee attempts to define a minimum set of engineering practices that will ensure the safety and reliability of bioprocessing systems. The most comprehensive changes in the 2005 edition fall under Design for Sterility and Cleaning. Its compendial water section includes more detail and graphics on ways through proper design to minimize microbial growth in highly purified water handling systems. The Bioprocessing Equipment Standards Committee is running hard to keep up with the needs of its fast-changing industry. In only a few years, it has come a long way in both the depth of its standards and participation of engineers from around the world.
Soaring Twenties
Authors: Varrasi John
Published: July 2018

This article reviews the rise of cities, and of the machines that built them has set a trend that outlasted the 20th century. Emboldened and enjoying newfound prosperity and modernity, Engineering, reflecting the times, was bold, and perhaps nowhere was this more evident than in the American city. While electric and steam locomotives coexisted on America’s railways in the 1920s, the two technologies resided in completely separate camps. Each sector had strong adherents, who often faced off to debate the technical merits and future prospects of one technology over the other. Together with the automobile, the highway system contributed significantly to the development of the nation, enabling towns and cities to take root well beyond the confines of urban centers and railway stations. Mechanical engineers played a vital role in highway development in such areas as construction machinery, cost analysis of projects, and materials.
One Step Back, One Giant Leap Forward
Authors: Connolly John F.
Published: July 2018

This paper describes the vision for Space Exploration that would return humans to the moon by 2020. Creating architecture for returning humans to the moon requires the comprehension of the physics of spaceflight, knowledge of the hardware that can realize the physics, and an understanding of how these many parts interact and interconnect. The NASA team concluded early in its study that the direct–direct mode would be possible only if a single launch vehicle approaching twice the lift capacity of the Saturn V were available. The three mission modes were compared as higher levels of technology were engaged. The key was to find a workable architecture that involved the least amount of mass. The direct return mission that involved no operations in lunar orbit seems to be the least operationally complex, but it tends to be the least efficient because it moves the largest mass-including the Earth-entry heat shield- the entire velocity change of lunar landing and ascent.
Put Your BOM to Work
Authors: Rante Anthony
Published: July 2018

This article reviews the importance of bill of materials (BOMs) in production engineering. The bill determines the way the materials are purchased and processed, and measures to be taken on this bill should be the first part of the overall project plan. The bill also provides opportunities for flexibility. BOMs are primary deliverables; that is why one must develop the BOM before engineers create the drawings. The as-built document also helps the production scheduling and process planning departments because it lays out details which they require for each leg of the bill. Once BOMs have been completed, one can review product cost in a more organized way. Each leg of the bill will have a cost associated with it. Such an associated cost is then rolled up, following the structure of the bill, to give you the finished product's final cost.
MEMs from the Nanoscale Up
Authors: Ratzel Arthur C.
Published: July 2018

This article discusses growing role of silicon micro-electron-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology in automotive and consumer products, telecommunications, radio-frequency applications, and medical care. The article also highlights that silicon-based MEMS devices must be constructed in clean rooms, such as one at Sandia's Microelectronics Development laboratory. According to engineers, the search for an in-depth understanding of wear mechanisms in dynamic silicon MEMS is expected to drive an ambitious wave of leading-edge research into microscale science and engineering, distinct from that which prevailed at the mesoscale. It has been found that gas damping between MEMS structures and the substrate, within the sealed package, can cause serious nonlinearities. While this doesn't lead to failure in the classic sense, it may make it harder to close a switch. On the plus side, gas damping can provide a cushion that enables a MEMS device to survive surprisingly high shock loads.
Fuel Cells Down the Road?
Authors: Brown Alan S.
Published: July 2018

This article focuses on the fact that some developers say the best economic case for fuel cell mobility applications, may be found in the warehouse before cars and buses can make their mark. The automobile has become the poster child of the fuel cell revolution, but the exchange at Hanover Fair in Germany underscores the rocky road to commercialization. Until there are service stations where a driver can pull in and buy hydrogen, the personal automobile is irrelevant. Municipal buses avoid that problem. They circulate within driving distance of a central fueling station. It could contain hydrogen as well as any other fuel. Fuel cells pose a more easily solved problem. Although they take up as much space as lead-acid batteries, they weigh much less. The cell packs are so light that a truck can tip over when lifting heavy loads. Developers are still testing technology and economics. This can take place only in the real world, where people make decisions based on returns on their investments. Because forklifts make the best economic case for any fuel cell mobility application, they are likely to provide answers that may lead to the fuel cell cars and buses of the future.
Backwards Runs the Reaction
Authors: Roy Robert
Published: July 2018

This article describes various electrochemical programs that could enable advanced vehicles to generate critical gases directly from water. Energy storage solutions using water electrolysis and fuel cell systems are being examined for applications ranging from backup power systems and lighter-than-air vehicles to extraterrestrial bases on the moon and Mars. The basic architecture of a regenerative fuel cell energy storage system includes a high-pressure water electrolysis system, a fuel cell, a fluid management and storage system, a thermal management system, and a power management system. For extraterrestrial applications, the system would be used in tandem with a photovoltaic array. Recent studies have focused on oxygen and hydrogen storage pressures of between 1000 and 2000 psi, requiring the development of a high, balanced-pressure water electrolysis cell stack and balance of plant to safely manage these fluids. Fuel cell-powered vehicles hold the promise of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, provided the hydrogen fuel is produced from a renewable energy source, such as a high-pressure water electrolyzer operating from wind, solar, or nuclear power.
A Focus On Use
Authors: Thilmany Jean
Published: July 2018

This article analyses the need and benefit of the working of industrial designers and product engineers together. According to engineers and others at the forefront of product development, to do the job right requires a collaboration involving design engineers, industrial designers, manufacturing engineers, and several other players, like marketing people, all of whom have important knowledge that needs to influence a design. Companies such as Trek Bicycle Corp. and Empire Level Manufacturing Corp. have developed practices that foster innovative, human-centered product development. Experts agree that computer-aided design (CAD) and rapid prototyping applications are the two most helpful systems, even though the two types of designers may use the tools in somewhat several ways. According to Rainer Gawlick, vice president of marketing at SolidWorks in Concord, Massachusetts, current CAD systems can help bridge the design-to-engineering-to-manufacturing gap.