Determination of the acidic properties of carboxylated carbocatalysts in an acid-catalyzed ring-opening reaction using kinetic profiling

The acid-catalyzed ring-opening reaction of styrene oxide was used as a probe reaction for evaluating the acidic properties of carboxylated carbocatalysts. Significant discrepancies in the initial reaction rates were normalized using the total number of carboxyl groups, and demonstrated that the average catalytic activities of the carboxyl moieties on the carbocatalysts differed. Comparisons between the apparent activation energy E _a and the pre-exponential factor A, derived from Arrhenius analysis, demonstrated that A varied more significantly, and therefore had a more significant effect on the reaction rates than E _a. The variation in the calculated pKa values of the carboxyl groups was attributed to the electronic effects of the nitro groups. This hypothesis was supported by the temperature programmed desorption profiles of nitrogen monoxide ions.

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Multiphysics modeling and characterization of explosively loaded aluminum blocks

A coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian finite element simulation is made of an aluminum block of dimensions 4 × 2 × 1/2 in (101.6 × 50.8 × 12.7 mm) subjected to an intensive shock load at its top. The shock load was introduced by the detonation of plastic explosives which were attached to the top of the block. The objective is to determine the effect of the shock on the deformation history of the metallic block accounting for strain rate effects. The dynamic response of the block to the high-pressure pulse was simulated by taking into account the resulting elasto-plastic deformation, the solid–fluid interaction and the adiabatic temperature rise. The dynamics of the transient stresses below the loaded surface was captured by our model. Three aspects of the explosive shock load were accordingly examined: (i) the explosive thickness and (ii) the explosive overhang length and thickness upon the resulting deformation pattern. Upon the complete dissipation of the shock, we were able to determine the distribution of the residual stress in the principal directions. Compressive residual stresses were observed in the region at and below the surface of the loaded end. The above predictions were experimentally validated using explosively loaded aluminum blocks. The experimental findings revealed general agreement with the finite element predictions of both the deformation pattern and the residual stresses.     

New Failure Mode and Effects Analysis: An Evidential Downscaling Method

Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is an engineering and management technique, which is widely used to define, identify, and eliminate known or potential failures, problems, errors, and risk from the design, process, service, and so on. In a typical FMEA, the risk evaluation is determined by using the risk priority number (RPN), which is obtained by multiplying the scores of the occurrence, severity, and detection. However, because of the uncertainty in FMEA, the traditional RPN has been criticized because of several shortcomings. In this paper, an evidential downscaling method for risk evaluation in FMEA is proposed. In FMEA model, we utilize evidential reasoning approach to express the assessment from different experts. Multi‐expert assessments are transformed to a crisp value with weighted average method. Then, Euclidean distance from multi‐scale is applied to construct the basic belief assignments in Dempster–Shafer evidence theory application. According to the proposed method, the number of ratings is decreased from 10 to 3, and the frame of discernment is decreased from 2¹⁰ to 2³, which greatly decreases the computational complexity. Dempster's combination rule is utilized to aggregate the assessment of risk factors. We illustrate a numerical example and use the proposed method to deal with the risk priority evaluation in FMEA. The results and comparison show that the proposed method is more flexible and reasonable for real applications. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Criticality Analysis for Maintenance Purposes: A Study for Complex In‐service Engineering Assets

The purpose of this paper is to establish a basis for a criticality analysis, considered here as a prerequisite, a first required step to review the current maintenance programs, of complex in‐service engineering assets. Review is understood as a reality check, a testing of whether the current maintenance activities are well aligned to actual business objectives and needs. This paper describes an efficient and rational working process and a model resulting in a hierarchy of assets, based on risk analysis and cost–benefit principles, which will be ranked according to their importance for the business to meet specific goals. Starting from a multicriteria analysis, the proposed model converts relevant criteria impacting equipment criticality into a single score presenting the criticality level. Although detailed implementation of techniques like Root Cause Failure Analysis and Reliability Centered Maintenance will be recommended for further optimization of the maintenance activities, the reasons why criticality analysis deserves the attention of engineers and maintenance and reliability managers are precisely explained here. A case study is presented to help the reader understand the process and to operationalize the model. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.