Experimental Investigation of Inter-Blade Vortices in a Model Francis Turbine

The inter-blade vortex in a Francis turbine becomes one of the main hydraulic factors that are likely to cause blade erosion at deep part load operating conditions. However, the causes and the mechanism of inter-blade vortex are still under investigation according to present researches. Thus the causes of inter-blade vortex and the effect of different hydraulic parameters on the inter-blade vortex are investigated experimentally. The whole life cycle of the inter-blade vortex is observed by a high speed camera. The test results illustrate the whole life cycle of the inter-blade vortex from generation to separation and even to fading. It is observed that the inter-blade vortex becomes stronger with the decreasing of flow and head, which leads to pressure fluctuation. Meanwhile, the pressure fluctuations in the vane-less area and the draft tube section become stronger when inter-blade vortices exist in the blade channel. The turbine will be damaged if operating in the inter-blade vortex zone, so its operating range must be far away from that zone. This paper reveals the main cause of the inter-blade vortex which is the larger incidence angle between the inflow angle and the blade angle on the leading edge of the runner at deep part load operating conditions.     

Resistance Torque Based Variable Duty-Cycle Control Method for a Stage Ⅱ Compressor

The resistance torque of a piston stage Ⅱ compressor generates strenuous fluctuations in a rotational period, and this can lead to negative influences on the working performance of the compressor. To restrain the strenuous fluctuations in the piston stage Ⅱ compressor, a variable duty-cycle control method based on the resistance torque is proposed. A dynamic model of a stage Ⅱ compressor is set up, and the resistance torque and other characteristic parameters are acquired as the control targets. Then, a variable duty-cycle control method is applied to track the resistance torque, thereby improving the working performance of the compressor. Simulated results show that the compressor, driven by the proposed method,requires lower current, while the rotating speed and the output torque remain comparable to the traditional variable-frequency control methods. A variable duty-cycle control system is developed, and the experimental results prove that the proposed method can help reduce the specific power, input power, and working noise of the compressor to 0.97 k W·m~(-3)·min~(-1), 0.09 k W and 3.10 d B,respectively, under the same conditions of discharge pressure of 2.00 MPa and a discharge volume of 0.095 m~3/min. The proposed variable duty-cycle control method tracks the resistance torque dynamically, and improves the working performance of a Stage Ⅱ Compressor. The proposed variable duty-cycle control method can be applied to other compressors, and can provide theoretical guidance for the compressor.     

Novel AC Servo Rotating and Linear Composite Driving Device for Plastic Forming Equipment

The existing plastic forming equipment are mostly driven by traditional AC motors with long transmission chains, low efficiency, large size, low precision and poor dynamic response are the common disadvantages.In order to realize high performance forming processes, the driving device should be improved, especially for complicated processing motions. Based on electric servo direct drive technology, a novel AC servo rotating and linear composite driving device is proposed, which features implementing both spindle rotation and feed motion without transmission, so that compact structure and precise control can be achieved. Flux switching topology is employed in the rotating drive component for strong robustness, and fractional slot is employed in the linear direct drive component for large force capability. Then the mechanical structure for compositing rotation and linear motion is designed. A device prototype is manufactured,machining of each component and the whole assembly are presented respectively. Commercial servo amplifiers are utilized to construct the control system of the proposed device. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed composite driving device, experimental study on thedynamic test benches are conducted. The results indicate that the output torque can attain to 420 N·m and the dynamic tracking errors are less than about 0.3 rad in the rotating drive. the dynamic tracking errors are less than about 1.6 mm in the linear feed. The proposed research provides a method to construct high efficiency and accuracy direct driving device in plastic forming equipment.     

Designing Visceral,Behavioural and Reflective Products

Designers and manufacturers often see consumption as the primary objective of a product–with implications such as discarded products,obsolete wastes,and ecological degradation.The paper aims to find the answer to the question,how emotional design can adapt the discarded and undesirable products into something valuable in a long term?This paper presents a framework combining Chapman’s theory and Norman’s theory on three levels of emotional design to highlight what long lasting connection with products entails.A design approach is presented combing the Wabi Sabi philosophy that promotes the celebration of decay and damage.This is used as one of the design principles for the experiments conducted on discarded products.Through constant user interaction before,during and after the experiments the evaluation of design as an agent of transformation is done.The user conducted the evaluation based on the Kansei elements of looks,sound,smell,and feel of the product.The experiments confirmed that a long-term value is only achieved through redesigning and reconstructing the perception of people towards products on a reflective level,rather than the visceral and behavioural elements of the product.The research found attachment to the visceral and behavioural elements of a product instead of an emotional one was causing users to discard products faster than required.The research indicated that many people,including designers and manufacturers,are unconsciously focusing on usability(behavioural level)and physical look(visceral level)of a product that are easily replaced,than on a meaningful way (reflective level)to create and maintain long-lasting emotions.The research concluded with a proposition towards digitization of products which could perhaps be an all round solution to make products more appropriate to human emotions.Digitization could give products the ability to capture,store and then communicate the stories,journey and memories back,in order to empower people to understand the value of longer-term use of products.     

Effects of cutting parameters on tool insert wear in end milling of titanium alloy Ti6Al4V

Titanium alloy is a kind of typical hard-to-cut material due to its low thermal conductivity and high strength at elevated temperatures, this contributes to the fast tool wear in the milling of titanium alloys. The influence of cutting conditions on tool wear has been focused on the turning process, and their influence on tool wear in milling process as well as the influence of tool wear on cutting force coefficients has not been investigated comprehensively. To fully understand the tool wear behavior in milling process with inserts, the influence of cutting parameters on tool wear in the milling of titanium alloys Ti6Al4V by using indexable cutters is investigated. The tool wear rate and trends under different feed per tooth, cutting speed, axial depth of cut and radial depth of cut are analyzed. The results show that the feed rate per tooth and the radial depth of cut have a large influence on tool wear in milling Ti6Al4V with coated insert. To reduce tool wear, cutting parameters for coated inserts under experimental cutting conditions are set as: feed rate per tooth less than 0.07 mm, radial depth of cut less than 1.0 mm, and cutting speed sets between 60 and 150 m/min. Investigation on the relationship between tool wear and cutting force coefficients shows that tangential edge constant increases with tool wear and cutter edge chipping can lead to a great variety of tangential cutting force coefficient. The proposed research provides the basic data for evaluating the machinability of milling Ti6Al4V alloy with coated inserts, and the recommend cutting parameters can be immediately applied in practical production.     

Modeling and analysis of mechanical Quality factor of the resonator for cylinder vibratory gyroscope

Mechanical Quality factor(Q factor) of the resonator is an important parameter for the cylinder vibratory gyroscope(CVG). Traditional analytical methods mainly focus on a partial energy loss during the vibration process of the CVG resonator, thus are not accurate for the mechanical Q factor prediction. Therefore an integrated model including air damping loss, surface defect loss, support loss, thermoelastic damping loss and internal friction loss is proposed to obtain the mechanical Q factor of the CVG resonator. Based on structural dynamics and energy dissipation analysis, the contribution of each energy loss to the total mechanical Q factor is quantificationally analyzed. For the resonator with radius ranging from 10 mm to 20 mm, its mechanical Q factor is mainly related to the support loss, thermoelastic damping loss and internal friction loss, which are fundamentally determined by the geometric sizes and material properties of the resonator. In addition, resonators made of alloy 3J53 (Ni42CrTiAl), with different sizes, were experimentally fabricated to test the mechanical Q factor. The theoretical model is well verified by the experimental data, thus provides an effective theoretical method to design and predict the mechanical Q factor of the CVG resonator.     

Numerical simulation and experimental investigation on densification,shape deformation,and stress distribution of Ti6Al4V compacts during hot isostatic pressing

Hot isostatic pressing of metal powders involves a complex thermal and mechanical coupling process. A constitutive model based on Perzyna’s elastic-viscoplasticity equation was proposed, and a Lagrangian finite element method was applied to analyze the large deformation, nonlinear friction, powder flow, and densification behavior during hot isostatic pressing. The mechanical behavior of the powders was analyzed in terms of stress distribution. For comparison to the simulation results, the density, shape deformation, and residual stress of the specimens were evaluated using Archimedes’ principle, 3D measuring technology, and Empyrean X-ray diffractometer.     

Extended bisection method for parameter identification of the transient heat conduction equation for thermo-elastic deformations during drilling

A new interdisciplinary approach is discribed to identifying unknown parameters using an extended version of the known interval bisection method. This developed method is based on the use of finite elements for calibrating the simulation calculation. The resulting thermo-elastic deformations which occur in drilling processes with impaired cooling lubrication are to be used as correction values for tool positioning in the NC control. Based on the strong impact on workpiece temperature of machining, a simulation approach is presented for calculating the temperature fields and their thermo-elastic consequences. In addition, methods are presented to correct these effects. This paper particularly deals with the temperature fields of drilling operations. Special attention is paid to the technique employed for iterative numerical determination of the unknown heat flux η _w and heat transfer coefficient \(\bar {\gamma }\) values. Finally, the data obtained from experiments are compared with those achieved by numerical simulation in order to verify the efficiency of simulation and determination of parameters.     

STEP-NC compliant process planning of additive manufacturing: remanufacturing

Additive manufacturing is becoming one of the key methods for reproducing repair sections in remanufacturing processes. The major advantage of using additive processes is to minimize production time and waste. However, the surface quality and shape accuracy are usually insufficient for the final product because the approximated representation format causes the accumulation of the error during the geometric operations of the process planning. This limitation is a barrier to utilize additive processes as finishing processes, such as general metal cutting. There is need to improve the final quality of parts obtained with additive manufacturing. In this paper, STEP-based numerical control (STEP-NC)-based process planning is applied to the additive manufacturing. ISO 14649 (STEP-NC) describes part programs with geometric data directly and also contains the information necessary for the intelligent process planning. This paper proposes the STEP-NC-based representation method of additive manufacturing and the series of geometric reasoning to automate the derivation of the repair section. The proposed representation has the benefits to provide a high accuracy for the final surface and to describe multiple materials. Topological data maintain low error during the series of process planning through the CAD-CAM-CNC chain. The proposed platform supports consideration of the process tolerance and comparison of the selected plan with alternative processes. In order to show the practical advantages, an analysis of the remanufacturing process is carried out. The case study of remanufacturing a pocket part is presented in order to validate the proposed process plan. The result of the case study shows the improvement in terms of automatic process planning and surface quality accuracy.