A comparative study of the emotional assessment of automotive exterior colors in Asia

This article compares color assessments of automotive exteriors at four locations in China, Thailand and Japan. This study employed painted panels of twelve colors, thirty sensory words and fifteen pairs of emotion variables. It also used reference figures of nine cars that included four styling categories, namely sedans, compacts, sport utility vehicles and sports cars. The results of like-dislike tests revealed that basic automotive exterior colors, such as black, white and red, were highly preferred across locations. However, geographical differences are apparent in the preference for some non-basic colors. To elucidate these geographical differences, a Chi-square test and principal component analysis were performed on the data on emotion variables. The results revealed both similarities and differences in color preferences among the four locations. Color preferences were similar in Hong Kong and Shanghai when simply evaluated by color samples. However, similar preferences for automotive exterior colors were observed in Hong Kong, Kyoto and Bangkok, but not in Shanghai. These results suggest that there is fluctuation in the emotion evoked by a color when the color is considered in the context of automotive exteriors. Therefore, this study indicates that automotive sales can be secured in the global marketplace by creating a single palette of exterior colors based on similar color preferences across countries. However, these results also indicate that preparing market-specific automotive-color line-ups can be an effective marketing strategy.     

Melt-mixing by novel pitched-tip kneading disks in a co-rotating twin-screw extruder

Melt-mixing in twin-screw extruders is a key process in the development of polymer composites. Quantifying the mixing performance of kneading elements based on their internal physical processes is a challenging problem. We discuss melt-mixing by novel kneading elements called “pitched-tip kneading disk (ptKD)”. The disk-stagger angle and tip angle are the main geometric parameters of the ptKDs. We investigated four typical arrangements of the ptKDs, which are forward and backward disk-staggers combined with forward and backward tips. Numerical simulations under a certain feed rate and screw revolution speed were performed, and the mixing process was investigated using Lagrangian statistics. It was found that the four types had different mixing characteristics, and their mixing processes were explained by the coupling effect of drag flow with the disk staggering and pitched-tip and pressure flows, which are controlled by operational conditions. The use of a pitched-tip effectively controls the balance of the pressurization and mixing ability.     

Engineering ethics education on the basis of continuous education to improve communication ability

This paper proposes an engineering ethics education method for students on the basis of continuous education to improve communication ability. First, through the process of debate, the students acquire the fundamental skills necessary to marshal their arguments, to construct rebuttals, and to summarize debates. Second, the students study the fundamental techniques to make a presentation on technical subjects related to electrical engineering. Following these classes, in lectures on engineering ethics, the students probe the causes of various accidents and consider better approaches for avoiding such accidents with each other. In most cases, the students can express good and commonsensical opinions from an ethical standpoint. However, they can hardly make judgments when the situations, such as the human relations in the above accidents, are set up in concrete terms. During the engineering ethics class, the students come to know that the human relations behind the case make ethical matters more complicated. Furthermore, they come to understand that facilitating daily communications with co‐workers and/or supervisors is very important in order to avoid such accidents. The recognition of the students is primarily the result of the continuous education during 3 years. It can be said that the engineering ethics education thus constructed increases in the students this kind of spontaneous awareness as well as their ethical qualities as engineers. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 183(3): 1–8, 2013; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.22283     

EFFECT OF STEPWISE CHANGE OF DRYING RATE ON MICROSTRUCTURE EVOLUTION IN POLYMER FILMS

The effect of the drying rate of the solvent on microstructure evolution in thin films of immiscible polystyrene/polycarbonate blends was investigated by applying a stepwise change in air velocity. The polymer blend was dissolved in tetrahydrofuran and cast on a glass substrate to form a thin liquid film. The drying rate of the solvent was measured by a gravimetric technique, and the phase-separated structure in the film was observed by optical microscopy. The results indicated that cellular structures of droplet arrays were formed in the phases evolved primarily during the early stage of drying, and the droplets then coalesced in the intermediate stage to form bigger droplets. The size of the first evolved phase decreased with increasing time at a high drying rate, whereas larger droplets were obtained with longer high drying rate regimes. These results suggested that the droplets were induced by secondary phase separation which was strongly affected by the drying rate of the solvent.     

Process Intensification of Living Cationic Polymerization of Isobutylene by a Flow Reaction System

Increasing the reaction temperature of the living cationic polymerization of isobutylene is crucial for industrial production due to the cost of refrigeration. The reaction temperature increase was achieved with an accelerated reaction rate using a flow reaction system. The polymerization conditions, including the flow reactor design, were based on the results of kinetic studies. Utilizing a milli‐scale flow reactor, polyisobutylene, which has a narrow molecular weight distribution, was obtained within a considerably short residence time at a high temperature. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the value of M_w/M_n correlates with the product of the Reynolds number and the angle of collision.     

软件需求定量分析及其映射的模糊层次分析法

在用数量化理论3类(quantification theory of type 3,简称QT3)定量地分析软件需求的基础上,以质量功能展开(quality function deployment,简称QFD)中的质量屋(house of quality,简称HOQ)系列矩阵为纲领,基于由模糊技术改进后的模糊层次分析法(fuzzy analytic hierarchy process,简称FAHP),提出了一种软件需求定量分析及其向设计实现过程模糊映射的方法.将该方法具体应用于CD-R/RW光盘刻录机软件的开发过程,其有效性得到了验证.     

Crack growth under static and cyclic loading in hot-stretched PMMA

Crack growth behaviour under static and cyclic loading was investigated using anisotropic plates of PMMA oriented by hot-stretching. Both tests were performed at room temperature for samples with different degrees of orthotropy. A slight increase in the degree of orthotropy considerably improves the resistance to both static and cyclic crack growth in the case where the crack propagates perpendicularly to the hot-stretched direction. A power law relationship between crack growth rate and stress intensity factor may hold for both types of crack growth in the ranges of orthotropy tested. The experimental data for static crack growth were compared with a viscoelastic criterion based on the crack opening displacement theory for fracture. The criterion discussed here explains comparatively not only the beginning of cracking from a pre-introduced crack, but also the crack growth rate in oriented PMMA.     

Transient hydrocephalus due to movement of a clot plugging the aqueduct

The study of a modified minilaparotomy technique of interval female sterilization is reported. The modified minilaparotomy technique of interval female sterilization is performed under local anesthesia using the Ramathibodi uterine manipulator, bivalve speculum, and a low midline incision. Sixty cases were treated with this technique. From the study, it was revealed that the mean age of patients +/- SD was 31.2 +/- 5.6 years, the mean body weight +/- SD was 43.3 +/- 5.1 kg, and the mean height +/- SD was 152.1 +/- 8.2 cm. The mean operating time was 24.3 +/- 5.5 min with a range from 15 to 35 min. All patients recovered and were allowed home within 2 h after operation. No immediate or late complications were observed. It was concluded that this technique is quick, safe, inexpensive, and easy to perform as an outpatient procedure.