ENGINEERING NEWS IN BRIEF

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                  ENGINEERING NEWS IN BRIEF
                        E-Mail Newsletter

                               No.14
             Issued by the Asian TOP Panel, February 2003

           The Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society (CMES)
           The Institution of Engineers, Indonesia (PII)
           The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME)
           The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers (KSME)

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About the Asian TOP Panel (ATOP)
    On August 29, 2001, presidents of four engineering societies gathered in
Japan to pave the way for stepped-up collaboration. They are Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society, Institution of Engineers Indonesia, Japan
Society of Mechanical Engineers, and Korean Society of Mechanical
Engineers.
    They agreed to establish the Asian TOP Panel (ATOP), which is a
voluntary body and open to any Asian engineering society and institution.
At the first meeting, they decided to issue monthly E-mail newsletter
which you are reading now. It will carry short technical news of Asian
countries, and be distributed to all individual members of the ATOP
societies and institutions.
    ATOP will meet every two years. The next meeting will be held in Korea
in 2003.

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[Contents]

(1) US Pump Maker Seeds in Shanghai (CMES)
(2) China Remains World's Third Largest Shipbuilder (CMES)
(3) New Steel Plant (CMES)
(4) Car Firm Starts (CMES)
(5) Introduction of 48 inch steel steam turbine low pressure
    section stages with world largest annulus area (JSME)
(6) Super High Speed Die Casting Machine for thin walled
    and weight reducing components (JSME)
(7) Non-Contact IC tag characterized by mounting technology (JSME)

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(1) US Pump Maker Seeds in Shanghai

Weili, a subsidiary of US Wilden Pump and Engineering
Company on Jan.22 put into operation its first overseas factory
at Shanghai's Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone to manufacture
air-operated double-diaphragm pumps for Chinese customers.

It had looked at Singapore and Hong Kong before opting for
Shanghai, a city which is gaining an increasing level of
commercial renown worldwide, Part of its products will be
exported to Southeast Asian countries and some will be sent to
the United States, but most will be sold in China.

Its components are for the most part purchased locally, while
key parts are imported from the United States.

Ted Leung, general manager of Weili Pump (Shanghai)
Company Ltd, said the venture indicates Weili's dynamic
entrance into the Chinese manufacturing arena. "We will
provide the local market knowledge, superior quality, service
and cost advantages, thus ensuring success in this exciting new
venture," said Leung.

Its initial investment in the factory is small at only US$200,000,
but Weili will continue to invest to transform it into the
pump-manufacturing centre of the Asia-Pacific Rim, he said.

The factory is currently housed in rented premises in the zone .

A more suitable location will be sought for a new factory as the
business grows, said Leung. "We have recognized the great
market potential in China though it already has dozens of pump
manufacturers," said Valela.

Weili entered the Chinese market seven years ago to conduct
trading business and now holds a 20 per cent share of China's
market which annually consumes pumps worth US$8 million.
(China Daily)

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(2) China Remains World's Third Largest Shipbuilder

China retained its position as the world's third largest
shipbuilder for the eighth consecutive year in 2002, China's
shipbuilding industrial sources said in Beijing on Jan.17.

Vessels completed in the country reached 4.46 million tons in
2002, next only to Japan and the Republic of Korea, according
to China's top two shipbuilding giants, the China Shipbuilding
Industry Corporation (CSIC) and the China State Shipbuilding
Corporation (CSSC).

The two companies shared 60 percent of China's shipbuilding
market, a total amount of 2.6 million tons, with the remaining
market covered by local shipbuilding companies.

China is exerting visible advantages in boosting its shipbuilding
market with strong human resources, an expanded domestic
market, and an improved investment environment.
Currently, over 60 percent of vessels produced in China have
been exported to over 80 countries and regions worldwide,
including major shipping countries like Greece, Norway, the
United States, Britain and major shipbuilding powers such as
Japan, the Republic of Korea and Germany.

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(3) New Steel Plant

The Shougang Group, one of the largest steel producers in
China, plans to build a new production center in north China's
Hebei Province. Located in the Qian'an area, the new
production plant is designed to produce 2 million tons of steel
annually, according to Zhu Jimin, board chairman of Shougang.
Zhu said no out-of-date production techniques and equipment
formerly used by Shougang would be transferred to the new
center.

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(4) Car Firm Starts

A car parts company jointly funded by German car producer
Volkswagenwerk AG and two leading Chinese automakers has
started operations in Shanghai. With a total investment of
US$96 million, the Volkswagen Automotive Gearbox (Shanghai)
Co., Ltd. is designed to produce MQ200 gearboxes for Polo
cars of Shanghai Volkswagen Corp. and Bora cars of
FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Company.

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(5) Introduction of 48 inch steel steam turbine low pressure
    section stages with world largest annulus area

Tadashi Tanuma

Chief Specialist
Steam turbine technology
Turbine design and assembling department
Keihin product operations
Toshiba Corporation

One of the large loss mechanisms in the steam turbine is the
exit kinetic energy of the steam as it leaves the last stage blade.
The magnitude of energy loss is proportional to the square of
the ratio of the volume flow rate of the steam through the last
stage of the steam turbine and the annulus area of the turbine
exit. In order to decrease the loss, a lager turbine exit annulus
area is needed.

TOSHIBA and General Electric have developed 48 inch last
stage group with world largest annulus area. The introduction of
the newly developed last stage group represents a significant
contribution to steam turbine performance and reliability. The
design employs the latest analytical tools and design methods to
maximize turbine efficiency and maintain the current high
standard of reliability.

The last three stages are designed aerodynamically to work
together as a system using a combination of streamline
curvature design methods, two-dimensional and
three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics analysis
techniques.

State-of-the-art experimental techniques have been employed
to verify both the vibrational characteristics and aerodynamic
performance of the design.

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(6) Super High Speed Die Casting Machine for thin walled
    and weight reducing components

Isao Kuboki

TOSHIBA MACHINE CO., LTD.
TOKYO, JAPAN

We have learned some of the defects on thin-thickness
can be improved remarkably by filling at a speed much
higher than conventional injection speed. Introducing the
newly developed real-time-feedback controlled
super-high-speed injection in practical application.

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(7) Non-Contact IC tag characterized by mounting technology

Yoshiki Iwamae
Omron Corporation

Non-contact IC tag is beginning to be put in practical use
with various applications in recent years.
In our company, non-contact IC tag which used the
frequency of 13.56MHz based on ISO15693 is
mass-produced, and three technology of the tag is
introduced this time. The 1st is the antenna coil formation
technology by the photogravure printing method, the coil
could be created by the detailed pattern and high speed and
mass production were attained. The 2nd is that the
ultrasonic junction system is used for the process which
mounts IC chip in IC module board and　the process which
connects IC module board to an antenna coil. And the 3rd is
that the high throughput and the high yield are attained by
using the base film of an antenna coil and taking a roll TO
roll production system.　In addition to the high reliability of
a product, the products of low cost will also be concentrated
on by our company from now on.

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Editor: Shinnosuke Obi, International Affairs Committee
Published by The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Shinanomachi-Rengakan Bldg, Shinanomachi 35,
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0016, Japan

FAX : 81-3-5360-3508
All Rights Reserved, Copyright C 2003
The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
URL:http//www.jsme.or.jp/English/