Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-103).

Thesis (MEng) -- Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The utilisation ofDraglines to remove overburden in surface mining operations is often the process that determines the output of these operations. The bucket and its rigging have been identified as important components where design changes can improve the efficiency of the dragline. It is necessary to create a method to predict the dynamic behaviour of the bucket when various design changes are made to the rigging and the bucket. A rigid multibody dynamic method is formulated that can be used to predict the behaviour of any physical system that can be modelled as a set of connected rigid bodies. This multibody method is verified with analytic test problems and an experiment. A description is given how to use this rigid multibody dynamic method to model the dragline and predict the behaviour ofthe bucket during an operational cycle. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sleepgrawe word gebruik in oppervlakmynbouaktiwiteite om die mineraal neerslae wat ontgin word te ontbloot. Hierdie proses bepaal baie keer die produksie van die mynbou aktiwiteit. Die sleepgraaf se bak en die takelwerk van die bak het 'n groot invloed op die sleepgraaf se werksverrigting. Om die bak se werksverrigting te verbeter is 'n metode nodig om die dinamiese gedrag van die bak te voorspel. In hierdie dokument word 'n metode beskryf waarmee die dinamiese gedrag van enige stelsel bepaal kan word, wat as 'n stelsel van onderling-verbinde onbuigbare liggame beskryf kan word. Die korrektheid van hierdie metode is getoets met behulp van analitiese sowel as eksperimentele metodes. Daar word ook 'n beskrywing gegee hoe hierdie metode gebruik kan word om die beweging van die bak tydens 'n tipiese werksiklus te voorspel.

This document reports on a hands-on project aimed at learning and experiencing the concept of system-of-systems. The motivation behind this project is to study and implement the concept of System of Systems in the generation of a RF-based communication and control complex system. The goal of this project is to develop a multi-level integrated and complete system in which the vehicles that belong to a same network can become aware of their location, communicate with nearby vehicles (sometimes with no visible line of sight), be notified of the presence of different objects located in their immediate vicinity (obstacles, such as abundant vehicles), and generate a two dimensional representation of the vehicles’ location for a remote user. In addition, this system will be able to transmit back messages from the remote user to a specific or to all local vehicles. The end result is a demonstration of a complex, functional, and robust system built and tested for other projects to use and learn from. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015 / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

As necessidades impostas pelo mercado fazem com que as empresas desenvolvam produtos cada vez mais complexos sob o ponto de vista tecnológico, incorporando novas funções a produtos já desenvolvidos e buscando continuamente a melhoria dos produtos e processos de fabricação para manutenção de sua competitividade. Ao mesmo passo que é vital para uma empresa inovar e aperfeiçoar seus produtos, deve-se considerar a grande utilização de recursos da engenharia e outros custos associados às Mudanças de Engenharia, especialmente às mal planejadas. O objetivo desse trabalho é a criação de um método para auxiliar a tomada de decisão para Mudanças de Engenharia através da identificação de oportunidades de melhorias de produtos percebidas pelos clientes, com utilização de dados provenientes da cobertura de garantia. Como parte da abordagem metodológica, um estudo de caso numa empresa parceira do setor de autopeças foi utilizado para identificar oportunidades de melhoria de produto. O método proposto utiliza dados provenientes de cobertura de garantia (dados de campo), que são analisados sob seis diferentes perspectivas de concentração de falhas. Em seguida, a aplicação do método em um caso hipotético foi realizada. Este trabalho contribui para o planejamento da capacidade da engenharia, a priorização de Mudanças de Engenharia com valor percebido pelo cliente, e a correta definição do produto conforme o mercado de aplicação. Com dados mais confiáveis, a tomada de decisão passa a ser mais eficaz para o gerenciamento de determinada Mudança de Engenharia, focando em melhoria de produtos que serão realmente percebidas pelo cliente. Assim, podem ser definidos os requisitos corretos de projeto para um determinado mercado, planejamento de alocação de recursos em diferentes projetos e priorização de temas críticos. / The needs imposed by the market demand that companies develop products more complex under the technological point of view, incorporating new functions to products already developed and continuously seeking to improve products and manufacturing processes to maintain its competitiveness. At the same step that is vital for a company to innovate and improve its products, it must be considered the wide use of engineering resources and costs associated with engineering changes, especially the poorly planned ones. The aim of this work is the creation of a method in order to support the decision-making for engineering changes by identifying opportunities for improvement on product that can be perceived by customers, using data from warranty records. As part of the methodological approach, a case study at a partner company in the automotive parts industry was used to identify opportunities for product improvement. The method uses data from warranty records (field data), which are analyzed in six different perspectives of failures concentration. Then, the application of the method in a hypothetical case was performed. This work contributes to the planning of engineering capacity, prioritizing of engineering changes with perceived value by the customer and the correct definition of the product according to the market application. With more reliable data, decision-making becomes more effective for managing certain engineering change, focusing on improving products that will actually be perceived by the customer. Thus, it can be set the right design requirements for a particular market, planning for resource allocation on different projects and prioritization of critical issues.

As necessidades impostas pelo mercado fazem com que as empresas desenvolvam produtos cada vez mais complexos sob o ponto de vista tecnológico, incorporando novas funções a produtos já desenvolvidos e buscando continuamente a melhoria dos produtos e processos de fabricação para manutenção de sua competitividade. Ao mesmo passo que é vital para uma empresa inovar e aperfeiçoar seus produtos, deve-se considerar a grande utilização de recursos da engenharia e outros custos associados às Mudanças de Engenharia, especialmente às mal planejadas. O objetivo desse trabalho é a criação de um método para auxiliar a tomada de decisão para Mudanças de Engenharia através da identificação de oportunidades de melhorias de produtos percebidas pelos clientes, com utilização de dados provenientes da cobertura de garantia. Como parte da abordagem metodológica, um estudo de caso numa empresa parceira do setor de autopeças foi utilizado para identificar oportunidades de melhoria de produto. O método proposto utiliza dados provenientes de cobertura de garantia (dados de campo), que são analisados sob seis diferentes perspectivas de concentração de falhas. Em seguida, a aplicação do método em um caso hipotético foi realizada. Este trabalho contribui para o planejamento da capacidade da engenharia, a priorização de Mudanças de Engenharia com valor percebido pelo cliente, e a correta definição do produto conforme o mercado de aplicação. Com dados mais confiáveis, a tomada de decisão passa a ser mais eficaz para o gerenciamento de determinada Mudança de Engenharia, focando em melhoria de produtos que serão realmente percebidas pelo cliente. Assim, podem ser definidos os requisitos corretos de projeto para um determinado mercado, planejamento de alocação de recursos em diferentes projetos e priorização de temas críticos. / The needs imposed by the market demand that companies develop products more complex under the technological point of view, incorporating new functions to products already developed and continuously seeking to improve products and manufacturing processes to maintain its competitiveness. At the same step that is vital for a company to innovate and improve its products, it must be considered the wide use of engineering resources and costs associated with engineering changes, especially the poorly planned ones. The aim of this work is the creation of a method in order to support the decision-making for engineering changes by identifying opportunities for improvement on product that can be perceived by customers, using data from warranty records. As part of the methodological approach, a case study at a partner company in the automotive parts industry was used to identify opportunities for product improvement. The method uses data from warranty records (field data), which are analyzed in six different perspectives of failures concentration. Then, the application of the method in a hypothetical case was performed. This work contributes to the planning of engineering capacity, prioritizing of engineering changes with perceived value by the customer and the correct definition of the product according to the market application. With more reliable data, decision-making becomes more effective for managing certain engineering change, focusing on improving products that will actually be perceived by the customer. Thus, it can be set the right design requirements for a particular market, planning for resource allocation on different projects and prioritization of critical issues.

Today, the information (signal timings, detector extension, phase sequence, etc.) to install traffic lights on the street are obtained from traffic software simulations platforms, meaning that information from simulation is not tested on the field (intersection where it will be installed) before the installation. Many installed controllers on the street use time of day (TOD) patterns due to cheaper cost than adaptive traffic control systems, but that is not the best solution for traffic volume changes that can occur during the day or even a month. To improve traffic signal operation most of the traffic signal controllers in the same corridor or zone operate in coordination mode. Furthermore, phases need to be in coordination to achieve “green wave”. Green wave is term used when in corridor traffic lights allow continues flow of traffic through intersections that are coordinated. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Most U.S. urban traffic signal systems deploy multiple signal timing plans to account for daily variability of traffic demand (i.e. morning peak, midday, afternoon peak, off peak and night). Groups of signals (belonging to the one zone or section) along an urban arterial, usually operate in a coordinated manner. This essentially means that timing plans change at the same time for all the signals in the group, so as to facilitate vehicle progression of through a series of signals. Good traffic signal timing practices assume a certain level of monitoring and maintenance in order to guarantee that they are efficient in servicing current traffic conditions. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015 / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The objective of this study was to improve the operation of the classical semiautogenous and ball milling circuit also known as the SABC circuit. In order to achieve this goal, the challenges around this circuit were identified as the formation of critical sized material in a SAG mill. The size class considered for the critical sized material also known as pebbles was -100+23 mm. The attainable region (AR) method was used as an optimisation technique for the generated results using a computer simulation programme. MODSIM® demo version 3.6.22 is ore processing simulator that was used. The research was divided into two sections, the first being the variation of feed flow rate ranging from 50 – 150 tph and ore feed size ranging between 100 and 600 mm. The second section compared the variation of the operating parameters of the SAG mill, which were mill filling, ball filling, ball size and mill speed. The AR technique graphically presented the results which indicated the best operating conditions to minimise pebble formation. The effects of mill filling on a SAG mill indicate that a higher filling produces lower pebbles. Lower pebble generation also was observed at a higher ball filling. The influence of ball size indicated that the larger ball size was more effective in the reduction of pebbles. For mill speed the media displayed two common mode operations namely cascading at a low speed of 65% and cataracting at higher speed of 75%. The higher speed generated the least pebbles. / College of Engineering, Science and Technology / M. Tech. (Chemical Engineering)

Spacecraft fulfill a myriad of critical functions on orbit, from defense and intelligence to science, navigation, and telecommunication. Spacecraft can also cost several hundred millions of dollars to design and launch, and given that physical access for maintenance remains difficult if not impossible to date, designing high reliability and survivability into these systems is an engineering and financial imperative. While reliability is recognized as an essential attribute for spacecraft, little analysis has been done pertaining to actual field reliability of spacecraft and their subsystems. This thesis consists of two parts. The first part fills the gap in the current understanding of spacecraft failure behavior on orbit through extensive statistical analysis and modeling of anomaly and failure data of Earth-orbiting spacecraft. The second part builds on these results to develop a novel theoretical basis (interdependent multi-layer network approach) and algorithmic tools for the analysis of survivability of spacecraft and space-based networks. Space-based networks (SBNs) allow the sharing of on-orbit resources, such as data storage, processing, and downlink. Results indicate and quantify the incremental survivability improvement of the SBN over the traditional monolith architecture. A trade-space analysis is then conducted using non-descriptive networkable subsystems/technologies to explore survivability characteristics of space-based networks and help guide design choices.

Advances in computing and wireless communication technologies have increased interest in smart vehicles, vehicles equipped with significant computing, communication and sensing capabilities to provide services to travelers. Smart vehicles can be exploited to improve driving safety and comfort as well as optimize surface transportation systems. Wireless communications among vehicles and between vehicles and roadside infrastructures represent an important class of vehicle communications. One can envision creating an integrated radio network leveraging various wireless technologies that work together in a seamless fashion. Based on cost-performance tradeoffs, different network configurations may be appropriate for different environments. An understanding of the properties of different vehicular network architectures is absolutely necessary before services can be successfully deployed. Based on this understanding, efficient data services (e.g., data dissemination services) can be designed to accommodate application requirements. This thesis examines several research topics concerning both the evaluation and design of vehicular networks. We explore the properties of vehicle-to-vehicle (v2v) communications. We study the spatial propagation of information along the road using v2v communications. Our analysis identifies the vehicle traffic characteristics that significantly affect information propagation. We also evaluate the feasibility of propagating information along a highway. Several design alternatives exist to build infrastructure-based vehicular networks. Their characteristics have been evaluated in a realistic vehicular environment. Based on these evaluations, we have developed some insights into the design of future broadband vehicular networks capable of adapting to varying vehicle traffic conditions. Based on the above analysis, opportunistic forwarding that exploit vehicle mobility to overcome vehicular network partitioning appears to be a viable approach for data dissemination using v2v communications for applications that can tolerate some data loss and delay. We introduce a methodology to design enhanced opportunistic forwarding algorithms. Practical algorithms derived from this methodology have exhibited different performance/overhead tradeoffs. An in-depth understanding of wireless communication performance in a vehicular environment is necessary to provide the groundwork for realizing reliable mobile communication services. We have conducted an extensive set of field experiments to uncover the performance of short-range communications between vehicles and between vehicles and roadside stations in a specific highway scenario.