Hardening distortions are unwanted changes in shape and dimension that arise during hardening of steel components. Uncontrolled distortions induce random errors to the manufacturing process, and have a strong negative impact on manufacturing costs. The distortions are not only caused by the hardening process, several factors from previous manufacturing steps including the component geometry itself contribute to varying extent. The aim of the current work is to investigate the main influencing factors on hardening distortions for serial produced gears. The investigations were done on two different types of gears for heavy-duty transmissions, crown wheels for the rear axle central gear and main shaft gears for the gearbox. The steel was produced using either continuous casting or ingot casting. For rectangular continuously cast steel, the effect of disabling magnetic stirring of the steel melt during casting was investigated, finding a strong reduction of gear runout for crown wheels. Segregations in crown wheels produced from the top and bottom of ingots were shown to go in opposite directions, producing opposite back-face tilts. For crown wheels quenched one at a time, influences of stacking level on the hardening tray were found, indicating an impact from small variations in the carburizing process, despite identical quenching conditions. For main shaft gears, horizontal loading gave considerably less roundness and runout errors but increased flatness errors compared to vertical loading. This thesis shows the complexity of the distortion phenomenon and how several factors interact and contribute to the final result. It is shown that factors with significant impact on hardening distortions for one component may be less important for another component. With this in mind, each type of component to be hardened should be produced by a manufacturing chain where each process step is carefully chosen with respect to minimizing distortions. / <p>QC 20170516</p>

Les avalanches sont susceptibles d’affecter le réseau routier et les infrastructures bâties, mettant en péril la population. L’extension des avalanches est généralement évaluée à l’aide de modèles physiques et/ou statistiques. Ces modèles sont très performants pour simuler des événements relativement fréquents, cependant, les incertitudes augmentent dès lors que l’on considère des événements plus rares. Il est donc indispensable de valider les procédures de modélisation afin de confirmer les prédictions qui en découlent. Dans ce travail, la dendrogéomorphologie a été utilisée comme un outil de validation. Cette approche se fonde sur le fait que les arbres forment un cerne de croissance par année et que les individus affectés par des processus naturels enregistrent l’évidence d’une perturbation dans leurs cernes. Cette thèse a permis de proposer une nouvelle approche pour l’identification des événements avalancheux fondée sur l’expertise du dendrogéomorphologue et d’évaluer la qualité de l’approche dendrogéomorphologique. Il a également été possible de réaliser une validation croisée entre des avalanches extrêmes prédites par un modèle statistique-dynamique et des informations sur des périodes de retour d’avalanches similaires obtenues à l’aide de l’approche dendrogéomorphologique. Les résultats montrent une très bonne concordance pour des événements dont la période de retour est égale ou inférieure à 300 ans. Finalement, une analyse des relations statistiques avalanche-climat a montré que les arbres enregistrent préférentiellement les événements qui ont eu lieu durant des épisodes froids associés à des tempêtes hivernales accompagnées de fortes précipitations. / Snow avalanches are a significant natural hazard that impact roads, structures and threaten human lives in mountainous terrain. The extent of avalanches is usually evaluated using topographic or statistic models. These models are well capable to simulate contemporary events, but uncertainties increase as soon as longer return periods are investigated. Thus, there is a real need for validation of modelling procedures to corroborate model predictions. In the present work, dendrogeomorphology has been used as a validation tool. This approach is based on the fact that trees affected by mass movements record the evidence of geomorphic disturbance in their growth-ring series and thereby provide a precise geochronological tool for the reconstruction of past mass movement activity. This PhD thesis presents a new tree-ring-based semi-quantitative approach for the identification of avalanche events based on the analytical skills of the dendrogeomorphic expert and proposes an evaluation of the completeness of tree-ring records. Furthermore, this work proposes the first cross-validation of high return period avalanches derived from a locally calibrated statistical-dynamical model and the long-term, higher-return period information gathered from tree-ring records. Comparison of relations between runout distances and return periods between both approaches shows very good agreement for events with return periods of < 300 yr. Finally, a statistical analysis of avalanche-climate relations suggests that tree rings preferentially record events that occurred during cold winter storms with heavy precipitation.

On-going population growth and urbanization increasingly force people to occupy environments where natural processes intensely affect the landscape, by way of potentially hazardous natural events. Tectonic plate boundaries, active volcanic regions and rapidly uplifting mountain ranges are prominent examples of geomorphically hazardous areas which today accommodate some of the world’s largest cities. These areas are often affected by more than one hazard such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, floods, storms and wildfires, which frequently interact with each other increasing the total impact on communities. Despite progress in natural hazards research over the last two decades, the increasing losses from natural disasters highlight the limitations of existing methodologies to effectively mitigate the adverse effects of natural hazards. A major limitation is the lack of effective hazard and risk assessments incorporating hazard interactions and cascade effects. Most commonly, the assessment of risks related to different hazards is carried out through independent analyses, adopting different procedures and time-space resolutions. Such approaches make the comparison of risks from different hazard sources extremely difficult, and the implicit assumption of independence of the risk sources leads to neglect of possible interactions among hazard processes. As a result the full hazard potential is likely to be underestimated and lead to inadequate mitigation measures or land-use planning. Therefore there is a pressing need to improve hazard and risk assessments and mitigation strategies especially in highly dynamic environments affected by multiple hazards. A prominent example of such an environment is the western Southern Alps of New Zealand. The region is located along an actively deforming plate boundary and is subject to high rates of uplift, erosion and orographically-enhanced precipitation that drive a range of interrelated geomorphic processes and consequent hazards. Furthermore, the region is an increasingly popular tourist destination with growing visitor numbers and the prospect for future development, significantly increasing societal vulnerability and the likelihood of serious impacts from potential hazards. Therefore the mountainous landscape of the western Southern Alps is an ideal area for studying the interaction between a range of interrelated geomorphic hazards and human activity. In an effort to address these issues this research has developed an approach for the analysis of geomorphic hazards in highly dynamic environments with particular focus on tectonically-active mountains using the western Southern Alps as a study area. The approach aims to provide a framework comprising the stages required to perform multi-hazard and risk analyses and inform land-use planning. This aim was approached through four main objectives integrating quantitative geomorphology, hazard assessments and GIS. The first objective was to identify the dominant geomorphic processes, their spatial distribution and interrelationships and explore their implications in hazard assessment and modelling. This was achieved through regional geomorphic analysis focusing on catchment morphometry and the structure of the drainage networks. This analysis revealed the strong influence and interactions between frequent landslides / debris-flows, glaciers, orographic precipitation and spatially-variable uplift rates on the landscape evolution of the western Southern Alps, which supports the need for hazard assessment approaches incorporating the interrelationships between different processes and accounting for potential event cascades. The second and third objectives were to assess the regional susceptibility to rainfall-generated shallow landslides and river floods respectively, as these phenomena are most often responsible for extensive damage to property and infrastructure, injury, and loss of lives in mountainous environments. To achieve these objectives a series of GIS-based models was developed, applied and evaluated in the western Southern Alps. Evaluation results based on historical records indicated that the susceptibility assessment of shallow landslides and river floods using the proposed GIS-based models is feasible. The output from the landslide model delineates the regional spatial variation of shallow landslide susceptibility and potential runout zones while the results from the flood modelling illustrate the hydrologic response of major ungauged catchments in the study area and identify flood-prone areas. Both outputs provide critical insights for land-use planning. Finally, a multi-hazard analysis approach was developed by combining the findings from the previous objectives based on the concepts of interaction and emergent properties (cascade effects) inherent in complex systems. The integrated analysis of shallow landslides, river floods and expected ground shaking from a M8 plate-boundary fault (Alpine fault) earthquake revealed the areas with the highest and lowest total susceptibilities. Areas characterized by the highest total susceptibility require to be prioritized in terms of hazard mitigation, and areas with very low total susceptibility may be suitable locations for future development. This doctoral research project contributes to the field of hazard research, and particularly to geomorphic hazard analyses in highly dynamic environments such as tectonically active mountains, aiming to inform land-use planning in the context of sustainable hazard mitigation.

Denna rapport är ett resultat av utförd fallstudie på Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery AB. Studien utfördes som ett DMAIC-projekt i syfte att utvärdera befintlig processtyrning och ge förslag på nya styrparametrar för att styra och övervaka tillverkningsprocessen av rotorer. En rotor skapas genom montage av turbinmodul på kompressorrotor. För att säkerställa rotorns funktionalitet mäts rotorkast kontinuerligt under tillverkningprocessen. Stora rotorkast uppstår sporadiskt vid montaget varpå nuvarande avhjälpningsmetod  innefattar tids- och kostnadskrävande demontage och återmontage av turbinmodul på kompressorrotor.  Rekommendationer har utformats och baserats utifrån historiskt analyserad data, insamlad mellan åren 2013 och 2020, 19 intervjuer och 2 workshops. Rekommendationer innefattar implementering av statistisk processtyrning. Ett av argumenten till implementeringen är att börja utvärdera effekten av genomförda förbättringsprojekt. Denna studie identifierade ett förbättringsprojekt, genomfört år 2016, som ökade andelen defekter med 454%. Då förbättringsprojektet tros bidragit med en förbättring i ett annat processteg ges rekommendationen att utvärdera helheten av implementerad förbättringsåtgärd. Avslutningsvis rekommenderas att uppdatera dagens bristfälliga processtyrning genom beräknandet av nya toleranser baserat på önskad kvalitetsnivå och eliminera diskrepanserna mellan de idag använda toleranserna. / This report is a result of a case study carried out at Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery AB. The study was conducted as a DMAIC project with the aim of evaluating existing process control and proposing new control parameters for controlling and monitoring the manufacturing pro- cess of rotors. A rotor is created by the assembly of a turbine module on a compressor rotor. In order to ensure the functionality of the rotor, rotor-runout is continuously measured during the manufacturing process. Large rotor-runouts occur sporadically during assembly and the current method to fix the abnormalities includes time- and costly disassembly and re-assembly of the turbine module on the compressor rotor. Recommendations have been designed after analysis of historical data collected between 2013 and 2020, 19 interviews and 2 workshops. Recom- mendations include implementation of statistical process control. One of the arguments for the implementation is to start evaluating the effects of completed improvement projects. This study identified an improvement project, completed in 2016, which increased the proportion of defects by 454%. Since the improvement project is believed to have contributed to an enhancement in another part of the process, a more holistic way of evaluation is needed to follow up effects of improvements projects. Finally, it is recommended to update the tolerances by calculating new ones based on the desired quality level while also eliminating the discrepancies between the different tolerances used today.

Цель работы – разработка, исследование точности и конструирование измерительной станции для контроля биения сферического торца ролика радиального двухрядного сферического подшипника качения на базе существующего автомата (А-2292-М) для контроля гранности бочкообразных роликов. В ходе работы была предложена метрологическая схема, необходимая для контроля сферического торца ролика, исследована её точность, разработана конструкция измерительной станции. Показана реализация измерительной системы в конструкции автомата для контроля гранности с двумя вариантами источников вращения ролика в процессе измерения. Проведен расчет экономической эффективности от повышения качества роликов и увеличения межремонтных периодов. В основу измерительного узла положено использование индуктивного (автогенераторного) датчика и элемента посредника совместно с метрологической схемой, представленной в работе. / The aim of the work is to develop, study the accuracy and design of a measuring station for monitoring the runout of a spherical roller end of a radial two-row spherical rolling bearing based on an existing machine (A-2292-M) to control the granularity of barrel rollers. In the course of the work, a metrological scheme was proposed, which was necessary to control the spherical end of the roller, its accuracy was investigated, and the design of the measuring station was developed. The implementation of the measuring system in the design of the automatic machine for control of granularity with two options for sources of rotation of the roller in the measurement process is shown. The calculation of economic efficiency from improving the quality of rollers and increasing the period between repairs is carried out. The basis of the measuring node is the use of an inductive (auto-oscillating) sensor and an intermediary element in conjunction with the metrological scheme presented in the work.