| ====================================================================== ENGINEERING NEWS IN BRIEF E-Mail Newsletter No.87 Issued by the Asian TOP Panel, March 2009 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) ====================================================================== According to the agreement made in the 2nd Asian TOP Panel Meeting, the ENGINEERING NEWS IN BRIEF (E-mail newsletter) has now been edited by the JSME for the year 2009. ====================================================================== [Contents] 1) New Major Player in Bio-diesel Fuel Production
: Microalgae (Source: JSME) ======================================================================== 1) New Major Player in Bio-diesel Fuel Production : Microalgae Norihide Kurano, Denso Corporation Conventional biofuel production processes
are now targets for criticism, because
increasing
consumption of biofuel has pushed up
the
prices of corn and soybean, which act
as
feed stocks for both biofuel and food/feed.
Microalgae, microscopic aquatic plants,
have
become to be known as oil accumulators.
Many
venture companies have their eye on
microalgae
as potential suppliers of bio-diesel
fuel.
It is because 1) microalgae production
does
not compete with food/feed production,
2)
productivity of microalgae is much
greater
than that of terrestrial plants, 3)
microalgae
can be grown even on land unsuitable
for
plant cultivation, and 4) microalgae
can
efficiently absorb carbon dioxide.
2) Development of 5-axis Vertical Machining
Center This paper describes the new 5-axis vertical machining center “D500.” Accuracy and process time on 5-axis machining interest for customers. But conventional 5-axis machines were not so precision and not so high speed for them. In order to solve these difficulties, “D500” have a unique machine structure and high performance, especially the rotating axes is one of the main technologies. The concept is that the balance of moving performance between linear axis and rotating axis is important. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3) Development of a Multiscale Simulation Technique In recent years, devices made up of thin
films with nanometer order thickness,
such
as hard disk drives or semiconductor
devices,
are equipped with mobile devices. This
requires
the high drop impact reliability of
the thin
film devices. The thin film device
has multi-layer
structure and each layer has some candidate
materials. Therefore too many combinations
must be considered and the selection
of materials
only by experiment needs a long term.
This
is why it is important to select material
combinations that form strong interfaces
by using a simulation in a short time
and
to shorten the development period. Recently aluminum extrusion technique has
extensively developed and now large
size
hollow extrusion bar can be manufactured.
Especially for rolling stocks, the
use of
the integral hollow extruded aluminum
bar
in large size, permits us to reduce
the number
of construction parts for manufacturing
the
car body shell. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6) Development of Crashworthy Structures for
European Railway Vehicles 7) Hybrid Experimental/Numerical Technique for Determination of the Complex Dynamic Moduli of Elastic Porous Materials Amir Hamza, Yeon June Kang Abstract : Polyurethane (PU) and other plastic foams
are widely used as passive acoustic absorbers.
For optimal design, it is often necessary
to know the viscoelastic properties of these
materials in the frequency range relevant
to their application. An experimental/numerical
technique has been implemented to determine
the Young and shear dynamic moduli and loss
factor of poroelastic materials under low-frequency
40-520Hz random excitation. The method consists
of measuring the dynamic response of the
sample at its surface, and matching the response
with the predictions from a finite element
model in which the two complex elastic moduli
are the adjustable parameters. Results are
presented for measurements made in air, under
standard pressure and temperature conditions,
and compared with predictions based on Okuno’s
model. The dependence of elastic moduli on
the dimension of the sample and its boundary
conditions is also studied. 8) Solid-Liquid Mixture Flow through a Slim Hole Annulus with Rotating Inner Cylinder Sang-mok Han, Nam-sub Woo, and Young-kyu
Hwang Abstract : An experimental study was conducted to study solid-liquid mixture upward hydraulic transport of solid particles in vertical and inclined annuli with rotating inner cylinder. Lift forces acting on a fluidized particle play a central role in many important applications, such as the removal of drill cuttings in horizontal drill holes, sand transport in fractured reservoirs and sediment transport, etc. Annular fluid velocities varied from 0.4 m/s to 1.2 m/s. Effect of annulus inclination and drill pipe rotation on the carrying capacity of drilling fluid, particle rising velocity, and pressure drop in the slim hole annulus have been measured for fully developed flows of water and of aqueous solutions of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and bentonite, respectively. For higher particle feed concentration, the hydraulic pressure drop of mixture flow increases due to the friction between the wall and solids or among solids. Keyword : Solid-liquid mixture flow; Slim hole annulus;
Particle concentration; Pressure drop (The Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology,
vol. 23, no. 2, pp.569-577, 2009) 9) Influence of Steam Injection through Exhaust Heat Recovery on the Design Performance of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell -Gas Turbine Hybrid Systems
Abstract : This study analyzed the influence of steam
injection on the performance of hybrid
systems
combining a solid oxide fuel cell and
a gas
turbine. Two different configurations
(pressurized
system and ambient pressure system)
were
examined and the effects of injecting
steam,
generated by recovering heat from the
exhaust
gas, on system performances were compared.
Performance variations according to
the design
of different turbine inlet temperatures
were
examined. Two representative gas turbine
pressure ratios were used. Without
steam
injection, the pressurized system generally
exhibits higher system efficiency than
the
ambient pressure system. The steam
injection
augments gas turbine power, thus increasing
the power capacity of the hybrid system.
The power boost effect due to the steam
injection
is generally greater in the relatively
higher
pressure ratio design in both the pressurized
and ambient pressure systems. The effect
of the steam injection on system efficiency
varies depending on system configurations
and design conditions. The pressurized
system
hardly takes advantage of the steam
injection
in terms of system efficiency. On the
other
hand, the steam injection contributes
to
the efficiency improvement of the ambient
pressure system in some design conditions.
In particular, a higher pressure ratio
provides
a better chance of efficiency increase
due
to the steam injection. 10) An Image Navigation Way for Assistant
Laparoscope Surgical Robot to Locate
Puncture Zhang Lixun, Dong Jiuzhi, Zou Ge, Zhao Guowen
, Yu Lingtao On the basis of characteristics of laparoscopic
robot with active and passive joints,
a method
based on geometric model and image
to locate
the relative position of patient’s
puncture
to the robot was provided. The method
offered
the laparoscope posture information
for the
robot to control laparoscope posture
precisely.
The location system included two lasers
and
one micro CCD camera. Experimental
results
indicate that the method can get the
puncture
location precisely. The process of
puncture
location is completed by the robot
automatically.
It can save surgical time, improve
efficiency
and avoid the errors caused by the
doctors. Yuan Shouqi, Ni Yongyan, Pan Zhongyong ,
Yuan Jianping This research investigates the dynamic design
methodology of mountain bikes with rear suspension.
Firstly, a multi-rigid body dynamic model
of rider and mountain bike coupled system
is constructed. The rider model includes
19 skeletons, 18 joints and 118 main muscles.
Secondly, to validate the feasibility of
the model, an experiment test is designed
to reflect the real cycling status. Finally,
aiming at enhancing the performance of the
rider vibration comfort, the scale parameters
of rear suspension are optimized with computer
simulation and uniform design. The mathematical
model in the vibration performance and the
design variables is constructed with regression
analysis. The result shows that when the
length of side link is 90 mm, the length
of connected rod is 336.115 mm and the included
angle between absorber and side link is 60°, the mountain bike has better vibration
comfort. This study and relevant conclusions
are of practical importance to the
design
of the mountain bike’s rear suspension
system. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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