The development of Magnaquench in 1985 by the Delco-Remy laboratories, increased the research of applications of permanent magnets for use in automobiles. However the application of permanent magnet machines for cranking purposes has not been investigated much. Difficult operating conditions, like, a maximum current density of 35A/mm², and the ability to withstand demagnetizing armature currents up to 250% of the stall current require a new design approach to be developed. Commutation in the permanent magnet machine is obtained by a three phase full wave inverter. The machine - inverter model was simulated by a standard method (SPICE), and an second analytical method we developed. A permanent magnet brushless motor and a drive for cranking purposes is designed and simulated as a part of this thesis. / Master of Science

The equations of motion are derived for the de-spinning of a rigid body payload by the use of weights attached to the ends of unwinding cables of finite mass that are released when colinear with a radius of the payload. / Master of Science

The analysis of rotating equipment difficulties is currently accomplished by a specialist in rotating equipment examining the signs and symptoms of the equipment, applying his expert judgement, and determining the cause of the machine's difficulty. This thesis covers the development of an off-line expert system that can be used to emulate the expert's ability to interpret the signs and symptoms of the machine, including suggestions of possible further actions to take for repairing the problem or refining the proof for the proposed cause the difficulty. An editor has also been built which will allow an expert to keep the information used by the system current with the state of the art for rotating machinery diagnostics. This thesis documents the development of the PC-based Turbo Prolog expert shell and external knowledge-base editor. The use of the system editor is illustrated by loading current diagnostic table information into a knowledge base. Then the expert program's operation is illustrated by applying the editor-formed database in a typical session. The expert shell and knowledge base can operate as a stand-alone unit for field application. Resident experts in machinery diagnostics can build and update databases for distribution to users in the company to assure full uniform utilization of the current and most correct knowledge. / Master of Science