Determination of <Emphasis Type="Italic">P</Emphasis>,<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis>-conditions developed at high-temperature shock compression of silicon nitride in planar recovery ampoules

We performed experiments on shock compression up to pressures of 36 and 50 GPa of mixed samples of silicon nitride and potassium bromide, placed between copper plates that serve as walls of a recovery ampoule. For comparison, similar experiments were carried out by the conventional compression of a mixture of silicon nitride and copper powder. The loading of the samples was fulfilled by means of aluminum flyers accelerated by products of explosion to a few kilometers per second. The pressure profiles prior to a shock wave entering the sample and after its runout were measured with the use of manganin sensors. It is found that for the configurations of the experimental assembly used, the pressure in the samples, accumulated by circulating the shock wave, reaches the desired value before unloading. Based on estimates of the rate of heat transfer between the components, it is shown that thermal equilibrium can be set during the existence of high pressure in the mixed samples. Within the framework of the single-temperature medium model, the equations of state of the samples are derived, and the temperatures of their shock compression are calculated. Using these equations, we performed numerical simulations that showed good agreement with the experimental data.     

Developing a virtual machining model to generate MTConnect machine-monitoring data from STEP-NC

The ability to predict performance of manufacturing equipment during early stages of process planning is vital for improving efficiency of manufacturing processes. In the metal cutting industry, measurement of machining performance is usually carried out by collecting machine-monitoring data that record the machine tool’s actions (e.g. coordinates of axis location and power consumption). Understanding the impacts of process planning decisions is central to the enhancement of the machining performance. However, current methodologies lack the necessary models and tools to predict impacts of process planning decisions on the machining performance. This paper presents the development of a virtual machining model (called STEP2M model) that generates machine-monitoring data from process planning data. The STEP2M model builds upon a physical model-based analysis for the sources of energy on a machine tool, and adopts STEP-NC and MTConnect standardised interfaces to represent process planning and machine-monitoring data. We have developed a prototype system for 2-axis turning operation and validated the system by conducting an experiment using a Computer Numerical Control lathe. The virtual machining model presented in this paper enables process planners to analyse machining performance through virtual measurement and to perform interoperable data communication through standardised interfaces.     

Level‐set topology optimization with many linear buckling constraints using an efficient and robust eigensolver

Linear buckling constraints are important in structural topology optimization for obtaining designs that can support the required loads without failure. During the optimization process, the critical buckling eigenmode can change; this poses a challenge to gradient‐based optimization and can require the computation of a large number of linear buckling eigenmodes. This is potentially both computationally difficult to achieve and prohibitively expensive. In this paper, we motivate the need for a large number of linear buckling modes and show how several features of the block Jacobi conjugate gradient (BJCG) eigenvalue method, including optimal shift estimates, the reuse of eigenvectors, adaptive eigenvector tolerances and multiple shifts, can be used to efficiently and robustly compute a large number of buckling eigenmodes. This paper also introduces linear buckling constraints for level‐set topology optimization. In our approach, the velocity function is defined as a weighted sum of the shape sensitivities for the objective and constraint functions. The weights are found by solving an optimization sub‐problem to reduce the mass while maintaining feasibility of the buckling constraints. The effectiveness of this approach in combination with the BJCG method is demonstrated using a 3D optimization problem. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Error estimation for the automated multi‐level substructuring method

In this study, we propose an effective method to estimate the reliability of finite element models reduced by the automated multi‐level substructuring (AMLS) method. The proposed error estimation method can accurately predict relative eigenvalue errors in reduced finite element models. A new, enhanced transformation matrix for the AMLS method is derived from the original transformation matrix by properly considering the contribution of residual substructural modes. The enhanced transformation matrix is an important prerequisite to develop the error estimation method. Adopting the basic concept of the error estimation method recently developed for the Craig–Bampton method, an error estimation method is developed for the AMLS method. Through various numerical examples, we demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed error estimation method and explore its computational efficiency. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reliability Estimation of Blu‐Ray Recordable Media with Effect of Initial Recording Performance

The lifetime and the reliability of Blu‐Ray Recordable media were estimated with an acceleration test varying the temperature and the relative humidity. Some brand of the media showed relatively long lifetime over 80 years, but another brand was immeasurable because the media was broken during the acceleration procedure. A strong dependence of the lifetime of the media on the brand was observed. Effect of the initial recording performance in terms of the random symbol error rate and the jitter on the reliability was analyzed. The random symbol error rate showed a strong correlation with the reliability of the Blu‐Ray Recordable media. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Monitoring the Ratio of Two Normal Variables Using EWMA Type Control Charts

In many fields, there is the need to monitor quality characteristics defined as the ratio of two random variables. The design and implementation of control charts directly monitoring the ratio stability is required for the continuous surveillance of these quality characteristics. In this paper, we propose two one‐sided exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) charts with subgroups having sample size n > 1 to monitor the ratio of two normal random variables. The optimal EWMA smoothing constants, control limits, and ARLs have been computed for different values of the in‐control ratio and correlation between the variables and are shown in several figures and tables to discuss the statistical performance of the proposed one‐sided EWMA charts. Both deterministic and random shift sizes have been considered to test the two one‐sided EWMA charts' sensitivity. The obtained results show that the proposed one‐sided EWMA control charts are more sensitive to process shifts than other charts already proposed in the literature. The practical application of the proposed control schemes is discussed with an illustrative example. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.