Mechanical Engineering back issues from May 2002:
Thank you, Dr. Belden
May 01, 2002; ... The first time I had an opportunity to really chat with ASME's executive director, David L. Belden, was eight years ago. I had already been with the organization for two years, but I was being promoted to editor of Mechanical Engineering magazine from managing editor, and Dr. Belden wanted to ...
Letters
May 01, 2002; ... EXPERIENCE COUNTS To the Editor: I agree with the letters "Values of Experience" by Neil A. Phillips and "Judgment in Court" by Joseph J. Neff (July 2001). Engineering is a profession that requires practical professional skills along with academic credentials. Engineers make ...
Million-mile checkup
May 01, 2002; ... news & NOTES Pennzoil-Quaker State Co. research engineer Jeffrey Hsu found only mild wear in the Chevy high-- miler engine, after his company persuaded the owner to trade in the truck's keys following its last visit to a fast lube service station. In turn, Pennzoil gave him a new ...
Modeling one tragedy may prevent others
May 01, 2002; ... news & NOTES Government researchers are using simulation software to visualize on-screen and understand the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings. While computer models have become commonplace in engineering, it's still unusual for engineers to make a detailed model ...
Super size that bucket
May 01, 2002; ... A multiyear, joint program between GE Power Systems of Atlanta and Toshiba Corp. of Tokyo has resulted in the development of new 40-inch and 48-inch-long steel laststage buckets that are designed to increase steam turbine power output capacity. This will raise overall plant efficiency and lower ...
High-pressure tubing
May 01, 2002; ... NEWS&NOTES Diba Industries of Danbury, Conn., a company that develops liquid handling systems, wanted to design a quick-disconnect tubing assembly to transport highly viscous fluids into a patient's body during a surgical procedure. The tubing assembly would connect the injecting ...
Bearing set for China
May 01, 2002; ... The Timken Co. and NSK Ltd. have agreed to form a joint venture that will build a plant near Shanghai, China, to manufacture tapered roller bearings. Construction of the plant is to begin later this year, and production is scheduled to start early in 2004. Ownership of the joint venture, ...
Arresting torque
May 01, 2002; ... Startup torque from submersible pumps in water wells is a source of wear and tear to drop lines, which carry the water to the surface. To prevent wear, American Granby, a Liverpool, N.Y, distributor of pump and well products, supplies an expandable spacer that fits snugly between the ...
Going up--fast
May 01, 2002; ... The French port of Cherbourg on the northern coast's Contentin peninsula is attracting high-speed vessels, such as yachts, catamarans, and ferries. That's due to its $10 million ship elevator, which is designed to raise a 4,500-ton ship in 25 minutes, and transport it to rails for maintenance in ...
Linking with suppliers electronically
May 01, 2002; ... NEWS&NOTES The aircraft engine maker RollsRoyce plc of London, which also makes marine engines and landbased turbines, has integrated more than 180 of its suppliers on an Internet-based system called Supplypass, which connects manufacturers, suppliers, and customers ....
Magnetism at NIST
May 01, 2002; ... The National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md., has organized a magnetic technology division within its Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory. The new division will both develop and disseminate measurement technology for industries that deal with ...
News & notes: Briefly noted
May 01, 2002; ... Endesa Cogeneracion y Renovables of Seville, Spain, has received approval to build six wind farms in the region of Castilla-La Mancha. The project, which involves 288 windmills with a total generating capacity of 230.4 MW, is expected to cost about $182 million. -Foster Wheeler South Africa in ...
Thermal stress and a melted dashboard
May 01, 2002; ... computing supplier of automotive technology systems, Visteon Corp. of Dearborn, Mich., used visualization software to analyze how automotive interior elements react under specific conditions. Researchers simulated thermal stress and heat expansion on the dashboard of a Ford Taurus left ...
X-ray of shipwreck could save artifacts
May 01, 2002; ... In 1628, the Swedish warship Vasa sank a mere 4,265 feet into her maiden voyage. Merchant vessels of the day were stabilized by the weight of cargo in their holds, but warships carried their cargo-heavy gunshigher up. Although 122 tons of stone had been stored low in the Vasa as ballast, it ...
Cutting production time with CAD
May 01, 2002; ... A maker of amplifiers, equalizers, speakers, and accessories for car stereos, Phoenix Gold of Portland, Ore., has decreased production-cycle time by 71 percent, thereby cutting a 3/2-year project turnaround time to one year with the help of threedimensional CAD design software. "Over ...
Testing the soundness of aircraft parts
May 01, 2002; ... computing Boeing's commercial airplane business unit in Wichita, Kan., will use recently purchased computer-aided engineering software to help in the design and manufacture of advanced-composite nacelles, or engine cowlings, for the company's 700-series aircraft. The simulation ...
NIST reads a laser's ultrafine print
May 01, 2002; ... Microlithography tools used in chip making, which are now under development, use deep-ultraviolet radiation at wavelengths near 157 nanometers. The wavelengths are characteristic of molecular fluorine lasers and have to be focused by special materials, such as calcium fluoride and barium ...
Computing: Briefly noted
May 01, 2002; ... Capvidia of Leuven, Belgium, which was formerly known as Tesis Software, a developer of engineering software, has released 3D Vision 1.2 for automatic translation and repair of CAD files. . Siebel Systems Inc. of San Mateo, Calif, a provider of Internet-based applications software, and PTC of ...
Pressure vessel analysis
May 01, 2002; ... Capability: Codecalc analyzes the individual components of a typical pressure vessel or heat exchanger, including shells, heads, nozzles, cones, floating heads, tubesheets, and flanges. Calculations for legs and lugs are also included. Users can check dimensional input data by reviewing a screen ...
Photorealistic rendering
May 01, 2002; ... Capability: Flamingo 1.0 uses the developer's Accurender raytrace and radiosity rendering features and is for use with the developer's Rhino modeling software. It enhances three-dimensional designs made in Rhino so that they resemble photographs. The plug-in includes the capability to produce ...
Finite element analaysis
May 01, 2002; ... Capability: NE/Nastran version 8.1 is a finite element analysis program based on NASA's Nastran FEA software. It runs large and complex structural analysis problems on a personal computer and can be used for linear analysis, nonlinear stress analysis, steady-state and transient heat-transfer ...
Modeling and drafting
May 01, 2002; ... Capability: VariCAD 8.1 is a compact CAD package that includes 3-D modeling and 2-D drafting capability, libraries of mechanical parts, surface development, calculations of standard mechanical components, and the ability to generate non-- graphical information, such as bills of material. It can ...
Column interaction calculation
May 01, 2002; ... Capability: DTColumn version 2.0 is freeware that calculates reinforced concrete column interaction diagrams. It also creates interaction diagrams for circular columns that have reinforced steel evenly distributed around a circular perimeter. Inputs include gross diameter ...
Plane parking
May 01, 2002; ... MATERIALS AND ASSEMBLY Wheel chocks not only keep airplanes from rolling, but also have to sustain heavy loads and resist slippage and chemicals in a wide range of climates. However, traditional wooden chocks can splinter and the debris can damage jet engines or pose safety hazards ....
'Smarter' seat belt fiber
May 01, 2002; ... A new copolymer fiber can provide seat belts with a bit of give that will protect a broader range of body types than conventional materials do. Honeywell Performance Fibers of Colonial Heights, Va., developed the fiber, called Securus, which is the basis for a new seat belt webbing ....
Hardcase goggles
May 01, 2002; ... Paintball, a game in which opposing players shoot thin-skinned balls of colored paint at each other, is generally safe, but players need goggles to protect their eyes. Addicks Engineering, an injection molder in Bell Gardens, Calif., molds polycarbonate lenses that are used in paintball masks ....
Peek dental caps are titanium alternative
May 01, 2002; ... technologyFOCUS A supplier of dental implant systems sought an alternative material for its temporary titanium healing caps. The company, Lifecore Biomedical of Chaska, Minn., manufactures replacement systems for missing teeth. Replacement begins with surgery that ...
Tough backup seals
May 01, 2002; ... High pressures in oilfields are tough on rubber or plastic 0ring seals. In applications where pressures may exceed 6,000 pounds per square inch, backup seals may be specified to keep the seals from extruding out of useful shape. Parker Hannifin's seals group in Irvine, Calif., offers a ...
Self-wrapping oversleeves
May 01, 2002; ... Wire harnesses, cable assemblies, and hoses on aircraft must be protected from abrasion and other hazards. Federal-Mogul Systems Protection Group of Exton, Pa., produces a line of "self-wrapping" sleeves to protect large clusters of wires in complex routing schemes. The Roundit 2000 NX ...
Sealing joints
May 01, 2002; ... Bulk storage tanks that hold corrosive chemicals, fuels, and farm waste require secondary concrete structures to protect the environment from accidental spills or leaks. Federal law requires the use of a secondary containment and mandates a system of a liner outside the tank, a doublewall tank ...
Closed-loop recycling
May 01, 2002; ... DuPont says it has developed a new process that can recycle reinforced nylon and let it keep the same properties as the virgin material. As a demonstration, Denso Corp., an automotive systems supplier based in Ariya, Japan, recently produced a prototype radiator end tank made of 100 percent ...
Washington window: Budget approval is cumbersome and time-consuming
May 01, 2002; ... The annual federal budget process is a complicated affair that takes the better part of an entire year. What follows is a primer on the budgetary process, offered as a way to help ASME members understand the labyrinthine way decisions are made regarding how to spend their tax dollars ....
Earthrise
May 01, 2002; ... When the leadership of Apollo reached for the moon, it raised a new set of engineering issues for us back here at home. ON DEC. 21, 1968,men left Earth's orbit for the first time and journeyed to the moon. Apollo 8 circled the moon 10 times, took pictures, and brought-them home. We were ...
Teaching rover new tricks
May 01, 2002; ... FEATURE FOCUS: Offshore Innovations Deepwater vehicles are shedding weight and adding capabilities to extend their reach toward the world's energy stores. THE STARS IN THE hunt for offshore sources of oil and gas are squat, multiton machines equipped with ...
Raising the Kursk
May 01, 2002; ... FEATURE FOCUS: Offshore Innovations A Dutch team, racing against the weather, engineered the salvage operation that let the Russians take home their dead. ON OCT. 7, 2001, THE 10,000-metric-ton Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, with two nuclear reactors and 20 missiles aboard, ...
Supply channels
May 01, 2002; ... Big and small manufacturers say that technology can be a key to teamwork, but a few critical issues give them pause. HARBEC PLASTICS IS A midsize injection-- molding supplier in Webster, N.Y, approximately 30 miles northeast of Rochester. The company supplies plastic injection-molded ...
Heavy-duty LNG
May 01, 2002; ... Designers are taking most of the diesel out of the cycle. NATURAL GAS ADVOCATES have set their sights on the diesel engine, and some of their new ideas are getting a workout in California. The big attraction is that natural gas burns cleaner than other fossil fuels do. It ...
The Motion of Bubbles and Drops in Reduced Gravity
May 01, 2002; ... ME BOOKSHELF The Motion of Bubbles and Drops in Reduced Gravity. R. Shankar Subramanian and R. Balasubramaniam. Cambridge University Press, 40 W. 20th St., New York, NY 10011-4211. 2001. 471 pp. ISBN 0-521-49605-5. $100. Orbiting spacecraft provide a valuable laboratory for ...
Air Engines
May 01, 2002; ... Air Engines. Theodor Finkelstein and Allan J. Organ. ASME Press, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Three Park Ave., New York, NY 10016-5990. 2001. 261 pp. ISBN 0-7918-0171-3. $70; ASME members, $56. Covering the evolution of the air engine, the many variants of the basic ...
Processing by Centrifugation
May 01, 2002; ... Processing by Centrifugation. Liya L. Regel and William R. Wilcox, eds. Kluwer Academic/ Plenum Publishers, 233 Spring St., New York, NY 10013-1578. 2001. 372 pp. ISBN 0-306-- 44654-6. $150, This volume constitutes the proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Materials ...
Probabilistic Risk Analysis: Foundations and Methods
May 01, 2002; ... Probabilistic Risk Analysis: Foundations and Methods. Tim Bedford and Roger Cooke. Cambridge University Press, 40 W. 20th St., New York, NY 10011-4211. 2001. 393 pp. ISBN 0-521-77320-2. $55. Probabilistic risk analysis aims to quantify the risk caused by high-- technology installations, ...
Applied Optimization With Matlab Programming
May 01, 2002; ... Applied Optimization With Matlab Programming. P. Venkataraman. Wiley-Interscience, John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Ave., New York, NY 10158-0012. 2002. 398 pp. ISBN 0-471-34958-5. $79.95. A formal presentation of classical methods of design optimization is combined with detailed ...
Physics of Direct Hit and Near Miss Warhead Technology
May 01, 2002; ... Physics of Direct Hit and Near Miss Warhead Technology. Richard M. Lloyd. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1801 Alexander Bell Dr., Reston, VA 20191-4344. 2001. 416 pp. ISBN 1-56347-473-5. $94.95. A new class of warheads involving "near miss or direct hit" warhead ...
Permanent Magnet and Electromechanical Devices: Materials, Analysis, and Applications
May 01, 2002; ... Permanent Magnet and Electro-- mechanical Devices: Materials, Analysis, and Applications. Edward R. Furlani. Academic Press, 525 B St., Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101-4495. 2001. 518 pp. ISBN 0- 12-269951-3. $149.95. The theory and methods used in the analysis and design of permanent ...
Information Systems and the Environment
May 01, 2002; ... Information Systems and the Environment. National Academy of Engineering; Deanna J. Richards, Braden R. Allenby, and W. Dale Compton, eds. National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Ave. N. W., Washington, DC 20418. 2001. 228 pp. ISBN 0-309-- 06243-8. $42. This collection of essays by ...
Nonlinear Elasticity: Theory and Applications
May 01, 2002; ... Nonlinear Elasticity: Theory and Applications. Y.B. Fu and R. W. Ogden, eds. Cambridge University Press, 40 W. 20th St., New York, NY 10011-4211. 2001. 525 pp. ISBN 0-521-79695-4. $50. This collection of papers by leading researchers in the field of finite, nonlinear elasticity concerns ...
Virtual Testing of Mechanical Systems: Theories and Techniques
May 01, 2002; ... Virtual Testing of Mechanical Systems: Theories and Techniques. Ole Ivar Sivertsen. Swets & Zeitlinger, P.O. Box 1675, 3000 BR Rotterdam, Netherlands; in North America, clo Ashgate Publishing Co., 2252 Ridge Rd., Brookfield, VT 05036-9704. 2001. 189 pp. ISBN 90-265-1811-0. $87. The ...
Input/Output: Muscle-bound T. Rex
May 01, 2002; ... A 13,000-pound chicken wouldn't run too well either, according to Stanford University's John Hutchinson. As a University of California, Berkeley, graduate student in biomechanics, he attempted to settle the question of tyrannosaur's fleetness. With help from UC-Berkeley postdoctorate ...