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。     

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。     

Spouted bed drying of cork stoppers

The spouted bed is commonly used to dry granular particles as it displays some special characteristics which render it capable of performing cyclic operations, with particles that are very difficult to fluidize under a different type of bed.Information on the characteristic drying rates of cork stoppers is still very limited in the technical and scientific literature, and until now no published data was found on the spouted bed drying of cork stoppers.The characterization of the drying performance of Port wine cork stoppers was carried out in a laboratory scale spouted bed. Characteristic drying curves were determined with 29 mm × 21 mm cork stoppers under several operating conditions. Values for the effective diffusivity were obtained in the range of 1.36 × 10⁻⁹ to 4.44 × 10⁻⁹ m²/s, with the temperature dependence represented by an Arrhenius-type relationship. The activation energy obtained was 28.72 kJ/mol.     

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.     

Brokers and bricoleurs: entrepreneurship in Wales' online music scene

 The power of some new entrants to the music industry derives from their position as brokers in computer-mediated environments. Brokers act instrumentally to exploit their position within a network which, in turn, depends on their ability to build and sustain links (and, in computer-mediated environments, hyperlinks). Bricolage in computer-mediated entrepreneurship refers to the intuitive manipulation of resources in order to achieve (perhaps tacit) goals. Without careful stewardship of the new intellectual wealth thus created, bricolage may profit neither the individual nor the wider community. Accepted 14 March 2002     

谈合理布局我国铝工业问题

文章分析了我国铝工业特别是电解铝工业布局的变化及其总布局战略思考的转变过程,并从铝工业特别是电解铝工业与合理开发利用我国能源资源 合理的铝工业链以及环保等方面的关系,论述了我国迫切需要统一思想,制定出一个科学合理的铝工业总体布局产业政策以及能保证其能正确实施的经济、法律手段。     

江西铜工业存在的问题及对策探讨

简要介绍了我国铜工业概况，重点分析了江西铜工业存在的问题，并提出发展对策，如优化铜产品结构、利用国内外两种资源和大力发展湿法炼铜等。江西要发挥潜在优势，建立我国铜加工材生产基地，利用外力，提高铜加工材的竞争力，由进口替代逐步走向增加出口。