An automated coding and classification system with supporting database for effective design of manufacturing systems

The philosophy of group technology (GT) is an important concept in the design of flexible manufacturing systems and manufacturing cells. Group technology is a manufacturing philosophy that identifies similar parts and groups them into families. Beside assigning unique codes to these parts, group technology developers intend to take advantage of part similarities during design and manufacturing processes. GT is not the answer to all manufacturing problems, but it is a good management technique with which to standardize efforts and eliminate duplication. Group technology classifies parts by assigning them to different families based on their similarities in: (1) design attributes (physical shape and size), and/or (2) manufacturing attributes (processing sequence). The manufacturing industry today is process focused; departments and sub units are no longer independent but are interdependent. If the product development process is to be optimized, engineering and manufacturing cannot remain independent any more: they must be coordinated. Each sub-system is a critical component within an integrated manufacturing framework. The coding and classification system is the basis of CAPP and the functioning and reliability of CAPP depends on the robustness of the coding system. The proposed coding system is considered superior to the previously proposed coding systems, in that it has the capability to migrate into multiple manufacturing environments. This article presents the design of a coding and classification system and the supporting database for manufacturing processes based on both design and manufacturing attributes of parts. An interface with the spreadsheet will calculate the machine operation costs for various processes. This menu-driven interactive package is implemented using dBASE-IV. Part Family formation is achieved using a KAMCELL package developed in TURBO Pascal.     

Influence of joint detail on the flexural/torsional interaction of thin-walled structures

For a structure formed from two thin-walled open members connected at 90°, torsion applied to one member can result in torsion as well as flexure in the second member, with the magnitude and direction of this torsion as well as flexure in the second member being determined by the type of joint used. Conventional structural analysis would normally assume the presence of only flexure in the second member. The results from a finite element study of structures formed from thin-walled channel sections connected by box, mitre and stiffened mitre joints is presented and an explanation for the behaviour of the different joint types is given. It is shown that for the box joint the warping deformation of the loaded member is the dominant factor in determining the magnitude and direction of the twisting of the second member, whilst this is determined for the stiffened mitre joint primarily by the St Venant rotation deformation of the loaded member. For the unstiffened joint it is shown that the warping and St Venant rotation deformation effects tend to cancel each other out.     

Impulse breakdown voltages of triggered multistage vacuum gap

Several sealed-off triggered vacuum gaps are connected in series to improve hold-off voltage. The characteristics of impulse breakdown voltage of these series-connected gaps are investigated experimentally. The sum hold-off voltage of series-connected gaps decreases to a unit hold-off voltage when the maximum value of voltage division ratio across the gaps increases to unity. Self-breakdown probability of the series-connected gaps is always higher than that of a single gap under the same conditions. Hence, stage efficiency of the multistage gap decreases with increasing number of stages. Its value is 90 percent with 2-stage gap and 75 percent with 5-stage gap, respectively, under the same voltage division ratio and the same gap length (2.0 mm) in each stage. Triggered breakdown voltage of 2- or 3- stage gap is several hundred volts when all gaps are triggered simultaneously at the peak of the main impulse wave and a working voltage range is nearly 100 percent in this case. The working voltage range decreases with number of stages. Its value is 45 percent with 3-stage gap and 15 percent with 5-stage gap, respectively, when one triggered gap is fired for switching.     

Thermoelastic solutions for orthotropic and anisotropic composite laminates

Solutions, within the framework of linear uncoupled thermoelasticity, are presented for certain problems of flexure of composite laminates. Benchmark numerical results, useful for the validation or otherwise of approximate laminate models, are tabulated. Finally, these results are used to examine the accuracy of the classical lamination theory based on Kirchhoff's hypothesis.     

Zooplankton population in the river tigris: Effects of samarra impoundment

The influences of the Samarra impoundment on the ecology of the downstream sector of the river Tigris are investigated. Zooplankton were collected monthly from July 1987 to July 1988. It was found that zooplankton were most abundant during high river discharges in March. During the month of low river discharge, September, the zooplankton population was greatly reduced immediately below the barrage and remained so to the last downstream station. Several factors seem to explain such differences. The high discharge from the impoundment was found to be the dominating factor and may flush the small backwaters in which zooplankton were abundant, thus increasing the population in the river. Zooplankton species vary in their ability to sustain populations in the river, variations which are due mainly to species-specific characteristics.     

A New Image Analysis Based Method for Measuring Electrospun Nanofiber Diameter

In this paper, a new image analysis based method for electrospun nanofiber diameter measurement has been presented. The method was tested by a simulated image with known characteristics and a real web. Mean (M) and standard deviation (STD) of fiber diameter obtained using this method for the simulated image were 15.02 and 4.80 pixels respectively, compared to the true values of 15.35 and 4.47 pixels. For the real web, applying the method resulted in M and STD of 324 and 50.4 nm which are extremely close to the values of 319 and 42 nm obtained using manual method. The results show that this approach is successful in making fast, accurate automated measurements of electrospun fiber diameters.     

Capacity planning in job-shop environment

Presented here is a computerized capacity planning system for the IBM Microcomputer family. The system maintains the profile of the job shop in a data base along with data pertinent to various products that can be manufactured in the shop. Projected orders for the planning period are input to the system with their associated quantities and delivery dates. The system uses the forward and backward loading rules in generating capacity loading scenarios. User selects the best course of action which may satisfy delivery dates subject to the limitations of the work centers. Efficiency figures are provided to aid the user in his/her decision.