Unreliable numbers: error and harm induced by bad design can be reduced by better design

Number entry is a ubiquitous activity and is often performed in safety- and mission-critical procedures, such as healthcare, science, finance, aviation and in many other areas. We show that Monte Carlo methods can quickly and easily compare the reliability of different number entry systems. A surprising finding is that many common, widely used systems are defective, and induce unnecessary human error. We show that Monte Carlo methods enable designers to explore the implications of normal and unexpected operator behaviour, and to design systems to be more resilient to use error. We demonstrate novel designs with improved resilience, implying that the common problems identified and the errors they induce are avoidable.     

Use of heat-moisture treated maize starch to modify the properties of wheat flour and the quality of noodles

Waxy, normal and high-amylose maize starches were subjected to heat-moisture treatment (HMT) and then added to wheat flour (WF) in different ratios (1%, 5% and 10%). The properties of blends and their cooked noodles were studied to investigate the effects of HMT starches. The incorporation of HMT starch in WF led to an increase in swelling power, peak viscosity and breakdown and to a decrease in setback, thus inhibiting retrogradation, hence enhancing resultant noodle softness. Compared to the same addition ratio of native starch to WF, HMT starch led to higher tensile strength and extensibility in resultant noodles. WF with added HMT starch had higher resistant starch than with native starch. This study showed that addition of HMT maize starch has potential to bring nutritional benefits. However, it is necessary to select the proper blending ratio and amylose content of starch to add, in consideration of its effect on noodle quality.     

Transesterification of Palm-based Methyl Palmitate into Esteramine Catalyzed by Calcium Oxide Catalyst

The technology for transesterification reactions between methyl esters and alcohols is well established by using classical homogeneous alkaline catalysts, which provide high conversion of methyl esters to specialty or nonindigenous esters. However, in certain products where the purity of the esters is of concern, the removal of homogeneous catalysts after the completion of the reaction is a challenge in terms of production cost and water footprint. Therefore, a study to investigate the potential of heterogeneous catalysts was conducted on reactions between methyl palmitate and triethanolamine. The degree of basicity and active surface area of calcium oxide (CaO), zinc oxide (ZnO), and magnesium oxide (MgO) were first characterized by using temperature-programmed desorption (TPD-CO₂) and Brunauere–Emmett–Teller (BET), respectively. Among the metal oxides investigated, the CaO catalyst showed the best catalytic activity toward the transesterification process as it gave the highest conversion of methyl palmitate and yielded fatty esteramine compositions similar to the conventional homogeneous catalyst. The optimum transesterification condition by using the CaO catalyst utilized a lower vacuum system of approximately 200 mbar, which could minimize a considerable amount of energy consumption. Furthermore, low CaO dosage of 0.1% was able to give a conversion of 94.5% methyl ester and formed esteramine at 170 °C for 2 h. Therefore, the production of esterquats from esteramine may become more economically feasible through the methyl ester route by using the CaO catalyst, which can be recycled three times.     

Thermomechanical behaviour of composites

This paper derives the governing equations for the thermomechanical behaviour of composites. When the basic equations for the thermoelastic behaviour of solids were first derived in the nineteenth century several approximations were made. The effect of these assumptions are discussed and illustrated by the results of a simple laboratory test. The implications of this work on the analysis of impact damaged laminates are then discussed.     

Development of Stretch Solder Interconnections for Wafer Level Packaging

A wafer level packaging technique has been developed with an inherent advantage of good solder joint co-planarity suitable for wafer level testing. A suitable weak metallization scheme has also been established for the detachment process. During the fabrication process, the compliancy of the solder joint is enhanced through stretching to achieve a small shape factor. Thermal cycling reliability of these hourglass-shaped, stretch solder interconnections has been found to be considerably better than that of the conventional spherical-shaped solder bumps.     

Different insights for improving part and system reliability obtained from exactly same DFOM “failure numbers”

Techniques for improving the reliability and maintainability of both nonrepairable and repairable items can be suggested by failure data analysis. It is shown that a given set of failure numbers leads to very different improvement strategies when the numbers are the times-between-successive-failures of one or more repairable items, rather than the times-to-failure of nonrepairable items. Since this should have been obvious more than 50 years ago, at the onset of formal reliability engineering activities, several reasons are proffered for the widespread and protracted misinterpretation of even the most basic—and simple!—conceptual and practical differences between nonrepairable and repairable items.     

Measurement and statistics: An examination of construct validity.

Uses principles of latent trait theory to derive conditions under which mean differences on an observed variable are indicative of mean differences on an underlying construct, focusing on the logistic curve as a model for describing the relation between the observed variable and construct. In this situation, and with normally distributed scores on the construct, a t test comparing groups on the observed variable produces correct inferences at the construct level only if group variances on the construct are homogeneous or the difficulty level of the test equals the mean ability level of the examinees. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Detecting lamb waves with broadband acousto-ultrasonic signals in composite structures

Lamb waves can be produced and detected in ceramic matrix composites (CMC) and metal matrix composites (MMC) plates using the acousto-ultrasonic configuration employing broadband transducers. Experimental dispersion curves of lowest symmetric and lowest antisymmetric modes behave in a manner analogous to the graphite/polymer theoretical curves. In this study a basis has been established for analyzing Lamb wave velocities for characterizing composite plates. Lamb wave dispersion curves and group velocities were correlated with variations in axial stiffness and shear stiffness in MMC and CMC. For CMCs, interfacial shear strength was also correlated with the first antisymmetric Lamb mode.