M.Ing. (Mechanical Engineering) / High strength alloys such as titanium are widely used within applications that require specific material properties. These include high strength, high temperature as well as low weight applications. Thus a need arises to investigate the fundamental to understand the mechanics of how these materials are machined. Titanium alloys are known for the difficulties that arise during the machining thereof. Complexities arise due to its inherent material properties, the most important property being the retention of strength at high temperatures. In addition to maintaining its strength, it becomes highly chemically reactive with other materials at increased temperatures. All these factors contribute to extreme temperatures at the tool chip interface contributing to increased tool wear and shortened tool life. The aim of the research is to investigate the effect of machining on various cutting process parameters including cutting force, temperature, tool wear and surface finish for grade 2 and grade 5 titanium alloys during high speed turning. Grade 2 titanium is a commercially grade with lower mechanical properties, while Grade 5 is titanium alloy with substantially higher mechanical properties and is the most widely used titanium alloy. In addition an experimental setup was developed and verified to conduct fundamental research on the high speed machining of titanium alloys. A literature review was concluded with focus on the machining of titanium alloys. This was followed by the development of the experimental setup, measurement and compilation of data. The data was compiled into graphs and compared with the current research available. The research found that for the cuts performed, that cutting forces are independent of cooling applied and that no substantial variation was noted between the two grades. When temperatures were evaluated, dramatic drops in temperature were noted when coolant was applied. As temperatures increased, specifically during un-cooled cutting, the inserts deteriorated having an effect on the quality of the surfaces obtained. When coolant was applied, substantial temperature drops were achieved, improving tool life and directly improving surface finishes. The best surface finish was achieved for higher cutting speeds as and lower feed rates. This phenomenon was found for both grades of titanium evaluated. The largest amount of tool wear was noted for the highest cutting speeds, with increased values noted for Grade 5 in comparison with Grade 2. This phenomenon is noted for crater as well as flank wear.

Diploma thesis focuses on the development of high-speed passenger rail in Europe and studies possible geographic expansion of these lines and their feasibility. The theoretical part deals with the development of high-speed rail transport in Europe-especially in France, Italy, Germany and the Iberian Peninsula. In the practical part the thesis analyzes the present spatial expansion possibilities of high speed rail (HSR) with regard to international routes. In the conclusion is in the diploma thesis drafted HSR network for the Central European region.

The thesis compares high-speed rail with other means of transport for the purpose to identify its main advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, it determines the scope within which high-speed rail is fully competitive on the transport market. The position of high-speed rail in the European Union is also outlined further in the thesis. These findings are then used to thoroughly analyse the international high-speed system Thalys.

The Master Thesis focuses on comprehensive evaluation of high-speed rail in Japan. The theoretical part describes the history of the Shinkansen systém, which is currently the standard of the high-speed rail. It also discusses the analysis of the key technologies, support systems and respect for nature. Within the technology part also represents a MAGLEV technology, currently being developer as a succesor to the high-speed traffic. In the analytical part analyzes in detail the different tracks and trains used on them. Finally the author compares the Shinkansen system compared to other modes of public transport and passenger transport in three different length routes.

The Master Thesis focuses on development of high-speed rail in France within the scope of low-cost rail companies. The theoretical part describes the process of formation and development of French railways since the beginning of 19th century. It also discusses reasons leading to the creation of high-speed rail and different rail routes and also organizational structure of the company SNCF. Within analytical part, it describes researched types of transport and different groups of passengers. In the last part of the paper, with a help of multicriterial analyses, the most suitable type of transport on a certain route for each group of passengers is chosen.

Manufacturing by mechanical machining has historically benefited from the use of cutting fluid. Cutting fluids help to reduce temperature, friction, flush away chips, and hence prolong tool life and improve machining performance. However, uncontrolled use of cutting fluid raises concern in respect of cost and environmental burden. For these reasons, dry machining is used in conjunction with high speed machining to reduce cycle times and simultaneously deliver a greener process. However, for some workpiece materials full implementation of dry machining is not economically viable due to the absence of the essential cooling and lubricating functions delivered by cutting fluids. The most feasible bridging technology is minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) where a very small flow rate of coolant/lubricant is delivered to the cutting zones. In terms of machinability, the application of MQL is promising. However, most studies conducted on MQL focused on the feasibility of MQL application and show-casing the technical benefits. No studies had been identified in literature systematically investigating the relationship between cutting conditions and MQL with the goal of optimising the process. Moreover, the presumed environmental benefits of MQL have not been systematically assessed because Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) derived evaluation models do not explicitly model the impact of machining conditions such as feedrates, cutting velocities and depth of cut.The motivation for this PhD work was to select the optimum machining process variables for maximising effectiveness of MQL, to explore process improvements and to assess the environmental credentials of the process in relation to other forms of cutting environments. In this work, high speed, end milling tests on tool steel were undertaken and 1) Taguchi methods were used to optimise the process, 2) the sensitivity of tool wear to nozzle position was evaluated and 3) the environmental burden of dry, MQL and flood coolants were evaluated based on direct energy needs and process outputs. A fluid soaking device was used to assess the amount of fluid collected or presumed to be delivered to the cutting zone for different nozzle orientations.The Taguchi process optimisation suggested that in HSM the size effect, brought about by a low chip thickness, should be considered in the search for an optimum process window for HSM. A significant and novel finding of this PhD was the dominance of MQL nozzle positioning. The study clearly showed that when machining hardened steel at a high cutting speed and RPM the tool life could be significantly increased by 50% by adjusting the position of the nozzle toward the rake face in relation to the end-milled face. The work opens up new science and provides recommendations as to where to align the nozzle when end milling tool steel at high cutting speeds. The fluid trapping and the blade-wiping angle are key parameters that influenced the effective delivery of MQL when high spindle revolutions per minute are used. These results from the fluid soaking device were found to correlate strongly with observed machining performance evaluations.In terms of modelling, the PhD developed an improved and more generic direct energy model that can be used to determine the environmental burden for direct electrical energy requirements and the energy embodied in other process material outputs. This model addresses the system boundary and activity that within the control of the manufacturing plant. The model was used to evaluate the environmental performance of dry, flood and MQL fluids. The impact of these results and models in optimising environmental performance was also illustrated.The work in this PhD is important to industry in that it contributes to the optimisation of MQL and gives an assessment of the environmental impact. The PhD developed new and significantly important machining science in the positioning of nozzles in MQL machining at higher speeds.

M.Ing. / Grade 4 titanium is a commercially pure grade titanium alloy extensively used in various industries including the chemical industry and more recently in the biomedical industry. Grade 4 has found a niche as a biomedical material for production of components such as orthopaedic and dental implants. Its physical properties such as high corrosion resistance, low thermal conductivity and high strength make it suitable for these applications. These properties also make it hard-to-machine similar to the other grades of titanium alloys and other metals such as nickel based alloys. During machining of titanium, elevated temperatures are generated at the tool-workpiece interface due to its low thermal conductivity. Its high strength is also maintained at these high temperatures. These tend to impair the cutting tool affecting its machinability. Various investigations on other grades of titanium and other hard-to-machine materials have shown that machining at high cutting speeds may improve certain aspects of their machinability. High speed machining (HSM) is used to improve productivity in the machining process and to therefore lower manufacturing costs. HSM may, however, change the surface integrity of the machined material. Surface integrity refers to the properties of the surface and sub-surface of a machined component which may be quite different from the substrate. The properties of the surface and sub-surface of a component may have a marked effect on the functional behaviour of a machined component. Fatigue life and wear are examples of properties that may be significantly influenced by a change in the surface integrity. Surface integrity may include the topography, the metallurgy and various other mechanical properties. It is evaluated by examination of surface integrity indicators. In this investigation the three main surface integrity indicators are examined. These are surface roughness, sub-surface hardness and residual stress. White layer thickness and chip morphology were also observed as results of the machining process used. The effect of HSM on the surface integrity of grade 4 is largely unknown. This investigation therefore aims to address this limitation by conducting an experimental investigation on the effect of HSM on selected surface integrity indicators for grade 4. Two forged bars of grade 4 alloy were machined using a CNC lathe at two depths of cut, 0.2mm and 1mm. Each bar was machined at varying cutting speeds ranging from 70m/min to 290m/min at intervals of approximately 20m/min. Machined samples were prepared from these cutting speeds and depths of cut. The three surface integrity indicators were then evaluated with respect to the cutting speed and depth of cut (DoC). iv Results show that a combination of intermediate cutting speeds and low DoC may have desirable effects on the surface integrity of grade 4. Highest compressive stresses were obtained when machining with these conditions. High compressive stresses are favourable in cases where the fatigue life of a material is an important factor in the functionality of a component. Subsurface hardening was noticed at 0.2mm DoC, with no subsurface softening at all cutting speeds. Surface hardness higher than the bulk hardness tends to improve the wear resistance of the machined material. Though surface roughness values for all depths of cut were below the standard fine finish of 1.6μm, roughness values of samples machined at 0.2mm DoC continued to decrease with increase in cutting speed. Low surface roughness values may also influence the improvement of fatigue life of the machined components. These machining conditions, (intermediate cutting speeds and low DoC), seem to have promoted mechanically dominated deformation during machining rather than thermal dominated deformation. Thermal dominated deformation was prominent on titanium machined at DoC of 1mm.

M.Eng. (Mechanical Engineering) / High speed machining (HSM) has the potential to greatly increase productivity and to lower manufacturing costs if workpiece surface integrity can be controlled. The surface fmish of a biomaterial is vitally important for proper implant functioning, and is the focus of this study. Grade 4 titanium was turned on a lathe with cutting speeds increasing from the conventional to the high speed range. The surface finish was assessed using profilometry, atomic force microscopy, and contact angle measurement. The ability of the material to bond directly with bone was predicted by cell adhesion studies. Results indicate that there is a general relationship between cutting speed, surface roughness, contact angle, and cell adhesion. Turning grade 4 titanium at cutting speeds between 150m/min and 200m/min may provide an optimal surface for osseointegration.

Maintenance and repair of deteriorating civil infrastructure are global problems requiring significant attention and resources. Accurate measurements of civil infrastructure enable lower repair and rehabilitation costs if mitigation techniques are deployed at earlier stages of deterioration. This research describes an infrastructure inspection solution to scan concrete bridge decks for internal cracking at high speeds. Internal cracking within bridge decks, known as delamination, is a particularly difficult defect to identify because it is often not detectable through visual inspection. State-of-the practice testing approaches involve the use of slow and subjective manual sounding techniques and costly lane closures. The need for an improved testing approach has led to decades of research investigating the use of acoustic impact-echo testing to detect bridge deck delaminations. The research presented here consists of a study of the acoustic radiation patterns of delamination defects when they are impacted. Acoustic data were collected on an in-service bridge deck and compared to acoustic data collected on defects in decommissioned bridge deck slabs and on simulated delaminations. This study examined cases of ideal and non-ideal delaminations on the in-service bridge deck and identified characteristics of non-ideal delaminations. An apparatus consisting of a high-speed impact-echo platform and recording suite was designed and constructed. Using this towed apparatus, an order-of-magnitude increase in scanning speed was obtained over other reported methods. Significant design effort was employed to achieve synchronization between different sensing devices using networked computer systems. Analysis was also developed to process and automatically classify acoustic responses to determine the presence and location of delaminations. Demonstrated performance against ground truth data obtained on an in-service bridge deck includes an achievement of approximately 90% probability of detection with only a 2% false alarm rate within 0.30 m. Because of the need to classify acoustic data when ground truth may not be obtainable, a new outlier rejection algorithm, which robustly removes outliers for classification on both simulated and field test data, was also developed. These contributions advance state-of-the-art bridge inspection and also lay the groundwork for additional studies of bridge deck deterioration processes. The framework also demonstrates how a tedious, subjective, and manual inspection process can be automated using advanced excitation tools, signal processing, and machine learning.

Simples à produire et robustes, les machines électriques à reluctance variable sont adaptées à des conditions sévères de fonctionnement, notamment à vitesse élevée. Les machines à reluctance variable (MRV) ne sont cependant que rarement utilisées principalement en raison du niveau élevé de bruit qu'elles émettent. Les travaux menés au cours de cette thèse visent, dans un premier temps, à qualifier le bruit émis par une machine à reluctance variable à haute vitesse de rotation. Conformément à ce qui est communément admis, il a été établi que le bruit émis en haute vitesse par la machine étudiée est dominé par le bruit aérocoustique. Le bruit aéroacoustique consiste en l'ensemble des émissions sonores issues de phénomènes aérodynamiques qui prennent naissance dans l'entrefer de la machine. Le second chapitre de l'étude est consacré à la mise en place d'une méthode d'estimation quantitative du bruit aéroacoustique émis par la machine étudiée. Le bruit aéroacoustique n'ayant pas encore été étudié de manière quantitative pour les machines électriques, l'étude se tourne vers les machines tournantes (turboréacteur, ventilateurs, ...) pour lesquelles la littérature sur le bruit aéroacoustique est abondante. Une méthode d'estimation du bruit aéroacosutique émis par la machine est alors construite. Cet estimateur se base sur une simulation de dynamique des fluides en deux dimensions de l'écoulement turbulent dans l'entrefer. Vient ensuite une confrontation des niveaux de bruit estimés avec des données expérimentales. Le bruit émis par la machine étudiée est calculé et mesuré pour deux géométries différentes du rotor sur une large plage de vitesses de rotation. La cohérence observée entre les résultats expérimentaux et numériques valide les hypothèses formulées au chapitre précédent tout en soulignant, comme attendu, les limites de la méthode de calcul en deux dimensions. Enfin, dans un quatrième chapitre, la méthode d'estimation du niveau de bruit aéroacoustique est utilisée afin d'explorer l'influence des paramètres géométriques de la machine sur son niveau de bruit. / Due to its simple construction and robustness, Switched Reluctance Machine (SRM) is well suited for high rotation rates. SRM applications are however quite rare mainly because of the high level of noise this machine produces. First, this work aims to describe the noise emmitted by the studied SRM at high rotation rates. In accordance with the common understanding, it was proven that noise emitted by high rotation rates SRM is dominated by aeroacoustic noise. The aeroacoustic noise consists of the whole soundemission comig out of aerodynamic phenoma located in the air gap of the machine. Chapter two is concerned with the implementation of an estimation method for aeroacoustic noise level dedicated to the studied SRM. Aeroacoustic noise for electrical machines has not been quantitatively studied yet. Conversely, studies about aeroacoustic noise of rotating machinery (turboreactor, fan, ...) is quite abundant in the litterature. Consequently, this study focuses onrotating machinery to build an aeroacoustic noise estimation method for SRM. This estimationtool is based on a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) calculation of the turbulent ow in theair gap. Estimated noise levels are then compared with experimental data. Emitted noise level is estimated and measured for two distinct rotor geometries over a wide range of rotation rates. Calculation assumptions are validated by the consistency between experimental and numerical results. Asexpected, the 2D CFD simulation brings an over estimation of noise level. Finally, the fourth chapter deals with the use of the aeroacoustic noise estimation tool to study the influence of geometrical parameters of a SRM on its noise emission level.