Temperature effects on the mass flow rate in the SBI and similar heat‐release rate test equipment

In various medium‐to‐large‐scale fire test equipments like the ISO room corner test (RC), and more recently, the single burning item test (SBI) the mass flow rate measurement of the combustion gases plays a key role in the determination of the heat‐release rate and smoke‐production rate. With the knowledge of the velocity profile and the temperature of the flow, the mass flow rate is obtained by measuring the velocity on the axis of the duct. This is done by means of a bi‐directional probe based on the pitot principle. However, due to the variation of the mean temperature and the temperature gradient in any cross section of the duct, introduced by ever changing combustion gas temperatures, the velocity nor the density profile are constant in time. This paper examines the resulting uncertainty on the mass flow rate. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance of a non‐load‐bearing steel stud gypsum board wall assembly: Experiments and modelling

A gypsum wall assembly was exposed to an intense real‐scale compartment fire. For the wall assembly, temperatures were measured at the exposed face, within the stud cavity, and at the unexposed face during the fire exposure. Total heat flux gauges were used to measure the temporal variation of the energy incident on the walls, and cameras, both visual and infrared, were used to image the unexposed face of the wall assembly during the fire exposure. The behaviour of the wall assembly under the fire load is discussed as are current model results for a simulation of the fire test. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using mechatronics to teach mechanical design and technical communication

It is commonly accepted that hands-on experiences increase both learning and enjoyment during coursework. Mechatronics projects provide both interesting and relevant hands-on experiences for a wide range of topics including design processes, basic mechatronics concepts, technical communication, and working in a group environment. ME2110: Creative Decisions and Design at Georgia Tech integrates mechatronics and technical communication into a sophomore level mechanical design class. This paper describes the course in detail, highlighting the course goals and layout, tools provided to the students, industry involvement, and the main challenges of administering such a course.     

Optimal synthesis of tunable elastic wave-guides

Topology optimization, or control in the coefficients of partial differential equations, has been successfully utilized for designing wave-guides with precisely tailored functionalities. For many applications it would be desirable to have the possibility of drastically altering the wave-guiding properties of a device “on the fly,” in a controllable manner as an influence of some external input. This would enable wave-guides with highly non-linear input-output mappings, such as for example controllable wave switches.In this paper, we propose using finite elastic pre-straining for the purpose of tuning a wave-guide. In order to systematically formulate and solve the wave-guide synthesis problems we utilize mathematical programming methods in conjunction with topology optimization for parametrizing the design space. The resulting extremal problem is, from a practical point, equivalent to finding an optimal subdivision of a given control volume into two disjoint subsets occupied by two different materials, normally resulting in a highly heterogeneous elastic body with desired wave-guiding functionalities in the original and finitely deformed configurations.The proposed methodology is illustrated with numerical examples.     

宣钢1260 m3高炉扩容大修改造设计

宣钢l260m^3高炉大修改造时将炉容扩大到l350m^3，对高炉本体系统设备及冷却系统、自动控制及检测系统进行了全面的改造更新，在炉腹、炉腰及炉身下部高热负荷区域采用铜冷却壁，取消炉身中上部铸铁冷却壁凸台，并采用薄内衬等先进、适用、可靠、成熟的技术。     

Line balancing in a just-in-time production environment: balancing multiple U-lines

The introduction of multiple, independent production lines has helped many firms to increase their production flexibility, provide for redundancy when equipment breaks down, reduce idle time and labor costs, and achieve many other benefits. This paper introduces and formalizes the multiple U-line balancing problem. Optimal solution methodologies are provided for Type I (minimize the number of stations for a given cycle time), Type II (minimize the cycle time for a given number of stations), and cost-minimization line-balancing problems. A branch-and-bound algorithm is also developed for the situation in which equipment requirements are dependent on the line configuration and the task assignment to stations. Computational results indicate that the greatest benefit of exploiting multiple lines occurs for smaller cycle-time problems that require higher output.     

企业实施精益生产的探讨

通过描述造成企业经济效益差的原因之一——浪费，提出了如何实施精益生产，消除企业浪费，以提高企业经济效益．     

室内设计中绿色设计的功效

绿色设计是一种将功能主义与可持续发展思想相结合的设计。文中就其形成的背景、设计原理及在室内设计领域中的应用进行一些探讨。     

Municipal solid waste conversion to energy

In recent years it has been recognised by an increasing number of nations that there is considerable energy potential within MSW. As a result many countries have established R,D& D programmes to examine methods of exploiting this potential. The IEA's MSW Conversion Activity was set up in 1986 to provide an infrastructure for sharing information and co-ordinating work in this area internationally. This Activity was extended in 1989 and currently a total of 9 nations participate in it.

To cope with the wide scope of the area (encompassing both biological and thermal processing of MSW) the Activity was divided into three subgroups or Expert Working Groups (EWGs). Each of these dealt with a distinct area of expertise:

1. •Downstream effects of source separation and screening of MSW

2. •Sampling and analytical protocols

3. •Landfill gas

In addition to these groups a central secretariat based at Harwell (UK) has provided guidance, established and administered databases of contacts and produced a series of national reports.

This paper describes the achievements of the Activity and discusses work proposed for the future.     

Web-based systems design: a study of contemporary practices and an explanatory framework based on “method-in-action”

This paper reports the findings of a detailed study of Web-based systems design (WBSD) practices in Ireland based on data collected over a 3-year period (2002–2005), the objectives of which were to (1) contribute towards a richer understanding of the current “real-world” context of WBSD by characterising the profile of a typical project (team size, timeframe, nature of requirements, etc.) and identifying the key challenges, constraints, and imperatives (i.e. “mediating factors”) faced by Web-based system designers, and (2) understand how those contextual parameters and mediating factors influence the activity of WBSD as regards the selection and enactment of whatever design practices are therefore engaged (i.e. the use of methods, procedures, etc.). Data was gathered through a survey which yielded 165 usable responses, and later through a series of semi-structured qualitative interviews. Using grounded theory, an explanatory conceptual framework is derived, based on an extension of the “method-in-action” model, the application of which to WBSD has not been previously investigated in depth. It is proposed that this framework of WBSD issues is valuable in a number of ways to educators, researchers, practitioners, and method engineers.