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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1967. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

In the rapidly evolving organisational landscapes of today, the quest to grow or sustain competitive advantage demands that organisational practices become more innovative, hence innovative advantage. Globalisation and technological advances drive the necessity for innovation within organisational contexts and the resultant rapid pace of change demands that organisations adopt an intrapreneurial orientation to accommodate this need for innovation. South African organisations, in particular those within the automotive sector, are faced with both unique opportunities and threats as a result of the increased impact of globalisation and the resultant open markets in the post-apartheid era. Programs offered by governmental institutions for this industry sector, such as the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP), as well as widely promoted systems such as those engendered by continuous improvement and benchmarking to achieve excellence, are successful only in attaining uniformity and incremental improvements and one-dimensional thinking methodologies. The quest for innovation advantage requires increased creative activity to assist individuals within these organisations in adopting an intrapreneurial outlook to provide proactive solutions. The literature survey has revealed that top-down controls and centralised decision-making as provided by corporate entrepreneurship, is the antithesis of intrapreneurship. Intrapreneurship is thus an autonomous process. Federal Mogul Sealing Systems (FMSS), an automotive component manufacturer within the Eastern Cape served as the basis for this study. A detailed literature review was conducted and a questionnaire was drawn up and distributed in an attempt to assess the three prevalent elements for the creation of innovation advantage through intrapreneurship as reviewed in the literature survey. The three elements were: individual intrapreneurial traits, organisational barriers and enablers of intrapreneurship and the influence of precipitating events on intrapreneurship. The research was conducted and recommendations were made based on the objectives of this study in relation to the organisation under study, FMSS.

The double-cone ring gasket used as a static seal for high pressure operates on the principle of unsupported area by which the pressure applied to the gasket produces a large pressure at the seating surfaces thus maintaining a tight joint. An analysis based on elastic behaviour and simplifying assumptions is developed for predicting the sealing forces and the strains in the gasket. An apparatus was built for testing the effectiveness of the gasket for sealing pressures to 10,000 psi. Gaskets of several different proportions were tested and all were found to seal satisfactorily. Strain measurements made during the tests showed satisfactory agreement with predicted values for the assembly condition, but there were discrepancies between the predicted and observed values for the gaskets under pressure. These discrepancies indicate that the simple assumptions used in the analysis are not sufficiently accurate. The general conclusions are that the double-cone ring gasket is satisfactory for high pressure static seals and that the proportions of the ring cross section are not critical to the effectiveness of the seal. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Mechanical Engineering, Department of / Graduate

"New high performance optical systems require highly durable, broadband window materials in larger sizes than are currently available. To meet this need, a low cost edge-bonding process was developed for producing large area sapphire windows from smaller, melt-grown blanks. The method uses a polycrystalline alumina interlayer to promote diffusion and single crystal conversion at the interface between two sapphire substrates and produce high strength bonds. The goal of the current research effort is to determine the optimal alumina composition for maximum bond strength. Polycrystalline alumina fillets containing various chemical additives were prepared by tape casting for use in bonding trials. Oriented sapphire blanks were edge bonded in a furnace with special fixtures to accurately align and apply a load to the components during heat treatment. This approach is consistent with and builds upon the methods used in the previous edge-bonding studies. Flexure strength of the bonded samples, as compared to monolithic sapphire, was used as the performance metric. Additional bonding runs were carried out using the highest performing fillet composition in order to provide a sufficient number of specimens to conduct a Weibull analysis of the failure probability of the bonded material as a function of applied stress. A high purity alumina composition containing 3 wt.% SiO2, 0.05 wt.% MgO, and 0.05 wt.% Ti, produced the highest strength bonds. This composition yielded an average fracture strength of 255 MPa (37 kpsi), a Weibull modulus of 8.2, and a characteristic strength of 269 MPa (39 kpsi). These results compare favorably to monolithic sapphire specimens which yielded an average fracture strength of 284 MPa (41 kpsi)."

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