Tribotronics—Towards active tribology

A constant trend towards more compact mechanical systems with higher power densities and increased thermo-mechanical loads emphasises the importance of the development of new design approaches and novel tribological systems. Ignoring this may cause a significant slow down in technological and industrial development. Tribotronics or active tribology based on adaptive performance is thought of as being critical in the implementation of smart machine concepts. Recognition of the importance of tribotronics, or active control of system loss outputs, such as those through friction and wear will have significant beneficial economic consequences as a result of the associated accelerated rate of technological progress. These smart tribotronic systems can be embedded in a great variety of machines and mechanisms. If this integration is made at the design stage, products that are more flexible, efficient and reliable can be produced. The concept of tribotronics is presented and discussed in this paper. Some illustrative examples that show the feasibility of an “active” approach are given. In addition, various possibilities already reported in literature are discussed.     

Production and structural features of a water-soluble polysaccharide from a mutant strain of Agrobacterium sp.

We have developed a mutant strain derived from Agrobacterium sp. ATCC 31750, which produces a water-soluble polysaccharide having potential utility to the food, feed, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. A high concentration of product (15 g/L) is obtained by 48 h cultivation of the mutant strain under optimized fermentation conditions. The water-soluble polysaccharide obtained from cultures of the mutant strain beta82 has Glc:Man:Gal in approximate molar ratios of 5.8:6.7:1.0. The molecular weight of the polysaccharide was determined to be approximately 1000 kDa by HPSEC analysis. Linkage analysis contained 3-Glcp, 3-Manp, terminal Glcp and terminal Manp, as well as a small proportion of 3- and 3,4-Galp, and 4,6-Manp residues. Based on analyses using FT-IR and ¹³C NMR spectrometers, most glycosidic bonds joining these sugar residues are of the α-type, and acetyl groups are apparently attached to the polymer chain at random.     

The influence of raw material characteristics on the industrial pelletizing process and pellet quality

Industrial pelletizing of sawdust was carried out as a designed experiment in the factors: sawdust moisture content, fractions of fresh pine, stored pine and spruce. The process parameters and response variables were energy consumption, pellet flow rate, pellet bulk density, durability and moisture content. The final data consisted of twelve industrial scale runs. Because of the many response variables, data evaluation was by principal component analysis of a 12 × 9 data matrix. The two principal component model showed a clustering of samples, with a good reproducibility of the center points. It also showed a positive correlation of energy consumption, bulk density and durability all negatively correlated to flow rate and moisture content. The stored pine was more related to high durability and bulk density. The role of the spruce fraction was unclear. The design matrix, augmented with the process parameters was a 12 × 6 matrix. Partial least squares regression showed excellent results for pellet moisture content and bulk density. The model for durability was promising. A 12 × 21 data matrix of fatty- and resin acid concentrations measured by GC–MS showed the differences between fresh and stored pine very clearly. The influence of the spruce fraction was less clear. However, the influence of the fatty- and resin acids on the pelletizing process could not be confirmed, indicating that other differences between fresh and stored pine sawdust have to be investigated. This work shows that it is possible to design the pelletizing process for moderate energy consumption and high pellet quality.     

用于PET薄膜回收的螺杆设计

根据PET薄膜的特点和高分子熔融态流动理论，分析了挤出回收用螺杆的各段结构，及螺杆参数选择，设计出大长径比、深槽、双排气、高效专用螺杆。     

User interfaces for communication bridges across the digital divide

Connecting people across the “digital divide” is as much a social effort as a technological one. We are developing a community-centred approach to learn how interaction techniques can compensate for poor communication across the digital divide. We have incorporated the lessons learned regarding social intelligence design in an abstraction and in a device called the SoftBridge. The SoftBridge allows communication to flow from endpoints through adapters, getting converted if necessary, and out to destination endpoints. Field trials are underway with two communities in South Africa: disadvantaged Deaf users and an isolated rural community. Initial lessons learned show that we have to design user interfaces that allow users to understand and cope with delay. We also learned that social concerns are often more important than the technical issues in designing such systems.     

均匀设计法分析制备过程对钴钼硫化物催化剂机械强度的影响

建立了CoMoP/Al2O3加氢精制催化剂机械强度及其可靠性在制备过程中的数学模型,采用均匀设计考察了浸渍、干燥、煅烧、硫化4个制备过程中,浸渍时间、干燥温度、干燥时间、煅烧温度、煅烧时间、硫化温度和硫化升温速率7个实验因子对催化剂强度均值、Weibull模量的影响,同时考察了这些因素对颗粒密度的影响。方差分析表明所有模型都是充足的。实验结果表明,硫化过程是影响催化剂强度均值的主要过程。在实验范围内提高硫化温度、降低硫化时的升温速率有利于提高催化剂的强度。影响催化剂Weibull模量的因素主要为各个制备过程的交互效应。要提高催化剂强度的可靠性就必须全面考虑催化剂制备的各个过程,特别是各个制备过程的交互效应。     

新型刮刀钻头的设计及现场试验研究

在理论分析的基础上，综合PDC钻头和刮刀钻头的优点，设计了一种新型的刮刀钻头，并进行了现场试验。现场试验结果表明，该钻头运转平稳，采用低钻压、高转速，钻进速度快，井眼规则通畅，有较明显的防斜作用，该种钻头的推广应用对提高钻井工程的整体效益具有十分重要的意义。     

裂齿矩形翅片板翅式换热器优化设计的分析

对裂齿矩形翅片板翅式换热器中的裂齿矩形翅片的传热效率作了分析,并以单位质量材耗的换热能力最大为目标函数,分析研究了在不同雷诺数(Re)的操作条件下裂齿矩形翅片间角度、翅片厚、长度、宽度及极厚之间的关系。结果表明:在气体换热的场合下,当Re在某一范围时翅片可有效地起到强化传热的作用。当板厚为5mm,翅片厚为3mm,翅片间夹角为45°～70°,Re为2×10~3～8×10~3,最佳翅片纵向间距与翅片长度和翅片厚度乘积的平方根的比为1.5～2.5,最佳翅片尺寸系数为3～5时,传热强化效果较好。     

住宅设计的误区

文章列举了目前住宅设计中存在的问题,反映了当前设计领域的一些现象,阐述了建筑师应当辨证地看待这一现象,对其有一个正确的认识,担负起历史责任.     

Innovation in construction: a sociology of technology approach

An alternative approach to understanding innovation is made using two intersecting ideas. The first is that successful innovation requires consideration of the social and organizational contexts in which it is located. The complex context of construction work is characterized by inter-organizational collaboration, a project-based approach and power distributed amongst collaborating organizations. The second is that innovations can be divided into two modes: 'bounded', where the implications of innovation are restricted within a single, coherent sphere of influence, and 'unbounded', where the effects of implementation spill over beyond this. Bounded innovations are adequately explained within the construction literature. However, less discussed are unbounded innovations, where many firms' collaboration is required for successful implementation, even though many innovations can be considered unbounded within construction's inter-organizational context. It is argued that unbounded innovations require an approach to understand and facilitate the interactions both within a range of actors and between the actors and technological artefacts. The insights from a sociology of technology approach can be applied to the multiplicity of negotiations and alignments that constitute the implementation of unbounded innovation. The utility of concepts from the sociology of technology, including 'system building' and 'heterogeneous engineering', is demonstrated by applying them to an empirical study of an unbounded innovation on a major construction project (the new terminal at Heathrow Airport, London, UK). This study suggests that 'system building' contains outcomes that are not only transformations of practices, processes and systems, but also the potential transformation of technologies themselves.