Failure analysis of three reconditioned rail car couplers

Three reconditioned rail car couplers, arbitrarily identified as couplers, failed during service due to cracking of the front face. The three couplers were reportedly upgraded by quenching and tempering to enhance strength and toughness. The objective of this investigation was to determine the mode of crack propagation and the root cause of the observed failures. Verl E. (Bud) Kahle, P.E., was a professional failure analyst for more than forty years. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in physical metallurgy from Washington State University 1957, Bud was employed by the General Electric Company at a facility in Hanford, Washington. He later was employed by the Aerojet General Corporation and eventually was head of the Southern Pacific Materials Science Laboratory in Sacramento. After retirement from Southern Pacific he owned and operated his own firm, Kahle Metallurgical Consulting Services, for fifteen years. He came to be known as “the man with the answers” to clients in a variety of industries. Bud was a Life Member of ASM International. Many of Bud’s clients remarked on the high quality of his failure analysis case histories and encouraged him to have them published. After Bud passed away in 1999, his wife, Suzanne, approached ASM International to see if the society would be interested in publishing any of his work. Mrs. Kahle was able to supply a large number of reports, which Bud had carefully archived over the years. Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention Associate Editor Michael Stevenson read through the collected case histories, selected the ones to be included in this issue, and edited them for journal publication. ASM International wishes to thank Mrs. Kahle for providing these case histories for publication.     

煤炭企业管理的激励方式及运用

本文介绍了煤炭企业管理的激励方式以及激励机制的具体运用。     

国外复合材料用高级增强纤维的发展现状

本文综述了国外碳纤维、陶瓷、聚芳酰胺、超高分子量聚乙烯、液晶聚合物纤维的发展现状,包括它们的生产能力、消费情况、性能特点,主要生产国和生产公司、产品牌号以及应用领域等,并指出了其生产进展和发展动向。     

把中国建设成世界有色金属制造业基地的对策研究

本文首先介绍了我国有色金属工业的现状以及当前世界有色金属工业发展的新格局,并分析了中国成为世界有色金属制造业基地的支撑条件,最后提出了关于建设具有特色的中国有色金属制造业基地的几点看法。     

我国电力工业和发电技术未来发展趋势

传统工业化走的是通过高消耗追求经济数量增长和先污染后治理的道路。介绍在传统工业化面临严重危机的背景下,可持续发展战略和新型工业化的兴起和特点,充分体现了未来发展的要求。在分析、总结世界能源发展的经验和规律的同时,对未来世界能源发展进行了宏观预测。以科学发展观为指导,采用未来学的方法,结合我国国情、发展现状和近中期发展目标,对本世纪特别是21世纪前20a我国电力工业和发电技术趋势进行了初步探讨,对国家能源安全等问题进行讨论。     

对中国白酒业的忧思

中国白酒产业在20世纪80—90年代，曾经是“高税高利”产业。“利大于税”曾一度成为白酒产业的巨大经营优势。1994年以后，国家相继对白酒税收做了几次重大调整，至此，白酒产业已成“昨日黄花”，风光不再。2002年整体亏损面近1／3，亏损总额达8亿元。前50家企业年资产回报率大部分在3％—5％。相当一部分企业不足1％。因此。白酒产业呼唤“公平待遇”，希望国家为酒立法，“公平税赋”，让白酒业焕发新的生机，为国家“全面建设小康社会”做出新的贡献。(小雨)     

电子工业用高纯氮的生产

生产电子工业用高纯氮的制氮装置 ,其要点和难点是一氧化碳和氢的清除。采用一氧化碳转换炉和特殊的冷箱内流程组织 ,可以生产纯度为 99 9999%以上的高纯氮。对制取电子工业用高纯氮制氮装置与常规制氮装置加氮终端净化器两种流程进行了比较。     

Virtual Teams: Guide to Successful Implementation

The successful initiation and execution of a virtual team is gaining increasing attention in the design and construction community. From opportunities to integrate international and multidisciplinary teams to the opportunity to leverage the best resources in an organization on a given project, virtual teams can transform the concept of project planning and execution. However, potential barriers exist in several areas to the successful implementation of virtual teams. The needs of increased management emphasis, social and cultural understanding, and emphasis on common goals are only a few of the nontechnical factors that can turn successful virtual teaming into virtual frustration. When combined with traditional technical challenges including compatibility of systems, security, and the selection of appropriate technologies, the line between leveraging virtual technologies for enhanced solutions and introducing additional complications into the project process is one that can be easily crossed. This paper presents the findings of research that addresses the opportunities and potential barriers to successful virtual teams in the engineering, procurement, and construction industry. Combining results from current research, industry practices, and early results from nonconstruction industries, the research findings provide an initial path to successful virtual team implementation.     

Water management in the Flemish steel industry: the Arcelor Gent case

Steel production is an energy- and water-intensive process: large quantities of water are used for cooling, process and environmental-technical applications. In the mid-1990s, Arcelor Gent, a large integrated carbon steel producing company in Flanders (Belgium), started a number of water-related projects: the existing water infrastructure was adapted: the water from the coke plant was biologically treated; canal water was demineralised using reverse osmosis; waste water from the blast furnaces was neutralised with alkaline water from the steel plant. As a result of these projects, the quantity of discharged waste water was reduced by a factor of 2 (water recycling doubled from a factor of 10 to a factor of 20), and the discharge of pollutants decreased. Also resource consumption decreased: lime used in the steel plant, could be recovered to precipitate Zn in the waste water of the blast furnaces. Arcelor Gent obtained for these projects several Environmental Awards.     

Present status and future prospects of PV activities in Japan

The photovoltaic (PV) power systems in Japan made great strides in the past decade. The PV industry in the 1990s greatly depended on the research projects and dissemination programs carried out by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. However, the industrial structure for full-scale deployment of the PV system is currently being established by the manufacturers’ continuous efforts to reduce the PV system cost and the government’s consecutive supports to create the initial market. It is expected that the synergetic effect of the cost reduction and incentives for introduction will activate the PV industry and its market more and more toward achieving 5000 MW of the capacity in FY 2010.