The focus of this thesis is on the development of a conceptual design evaluation model that can be used in engineering design and can be implemented as a computer tool. A prerequisite to achieve this objective is a proper understanding of the initial phases of the design process, using an adequate framework. Hence, a brief examination of Theory of Technical Systems associated to a comprehensive study of the conceptual design stage, based on academic design methodologies and a survey amongst British industries, is presented. Additionally, evaluation issues at the early phases of design and a number of approaches for evaluating alternative solutions are investigated and relevant characteristics to be included in a prospective conceptual design evaluation model are compiled. A novel evaluation model based on function metrics has been proposed. The approach provides an intermediate evaluation, indicating which solutions have the potential to progress further in the design process The core of the model is the composition of evaluation matrices and computation of partial indices, which will originate an overall index used to classify the alternatives. The model assumes the existence of an explicit function structure on which the development of the organ/component structure is going to be based. A unique feature of this model is that it does not depend on designers' preferences or judgement in assigning values. From the formalised solution the designer has to identify which organ/component implements which function. An initial prototype of a computer tool (LiberSolutio), which embodies the above model, is presented. In addition to being an evaluation system, LiberSolutio can record the design history of the set of solutions generated for a particular functional decomposition/ structure. A preliminary evaluation of the model and computer system is also presented with conclusions drawn from the results obtained.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:51:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / A reutilização de software - o processo de criar sistemas através de artefatos existentes, ao invés de desenvolvê-los do zero - é um aspecto chave para melhorias em qualidade e produtividade no desenvolvimento de software. Contudo, os ganhos da reutilização são mais efetivos quando o reuso é planejado e gerenciado de forma sistemática no contexto de um domínio específico, onde famílias de aplicações compartilham algumas funcionalidades. Neste contexto, uma das formas de se obter um processo de reuso mais sistemático é através do processo de análise de domínio - o processo de identificação de características comuns e variáveis de sistemas em um domínio específico. Este processo é composto por diversas atividades, como definição do escopo, modelagem e documentação do domínio, identificação das restrições, entre outros; e o seu sucesso é muito dependente de quão bem o mesmo é executado. Desta forma, torna-se essencial ter uma ferramenta de suporte para auxiliar a sua execução. Atualmente, existem diversas ferramentas que provêem suporte a análise de domínio, todavia, as mesmas apresentam limitações, como não prover suporte ao processo completo. Assim, este trabalho apresenta os requisitos, a arquitetura e a implementação de uma ferramenta que provê suporte a análise de domínio e que foi focada em resolver as limitações identificadas nas ferramentas existentes. Além disso, esta dissertação descreve o processo e os resultados encontrados nas diversas avaliações que foram executadas em diferentes ambientes com a ferramenta proposta

Today’s production industry is faced with the challenge of maximising its resources and productivity. Tool condition monitoring (TCM) is an important diagnostic tool and if integrated in manufacturing, machining efficiency will increase as a result of reducing downtime resulting from tool failures by intensive wear. The research work presented in the study highlights the principles in tool condition monitoring and identifies acoustic emission (AE) as a reliable sensing technique for the detection of wear conditions. It reviews the importance of acoustic emission as an efficient technique and proposes a TCM model for the prediction of tool wear. The study presents a TCM framework to monitor an end-milling operation of H13 tool steel at different cutting speeds and feed rates. For this, three industrial acoustic sensors were positioned on the workpiece. The framework identifies a feature selection, extraction and conditioning process and classifies AE signals using an artificial neural network algorithm to create an autonomous system. It concludes by recognizing the mean and rms features as viable features in the identification of tool state and observes that chip coloration provides direct correlation to the temperature of machining as well as tool condition. This proposed model is aimed at creating a timing schedule for tool change in industries. This model ultimately links the rate of wear formation to characteristic AE features.

The purpose of this study is to examine the three scheduling systems available today as a management tool. The first two systems--Milestone Reporting and Line-of-Balance--are essentially Gantt charts which do not appear to meet the requirements for management control of scheduling. An investigation of PERT is made to see if it will provide additional controls necessary for proper scheduling.

Nanoindentation technique was used to investigate the surface properties of A2 and D2 tool steel subjected to different heat treatments. the mechanical characteristics of these two easily available tool steels were studied based on microstructural images obtained from SEM, the grain growth after heat treatment using X-ray diffraction method and nanoindentation technique. the investigation showed that a single nanoindentation result can explain how heat treatment influences reliability and failure in A2 and D2 tool steels. in this work, the causes and effects of these variations were studied to explain how they influence reliability and failure in A2 and D2 tool steel. Finally, a cube-corner indenter tip was used to determine the fracture toughness of silicon wafer. the emphasis of this research is on how nanoindentation technique is more extensive in material characterization.

With the release of ”Bandersnatch” in 2018, an interactive movie where the viewermakes choices that affects the outcome of the story, we know that successful interactivemovies are possible and appreciated. Although this technology already exists the possibilitiesare seemingly limitless. Perhaps in the future, movies could take certain paths basedon a predetermined profile of a viewer or by scanning facial expressions during the filmto determine what path that best suits the viewer. Interactive films and videos allows theviewer to interact with the storyline of the video. This technique is interesting from boththe user and developer perspective and introduces new challenges. To be able to have anoverview of the different possible branches of the video is helpful and needed in developmentof the media player and the branched video. When different possibles paths of thevideo emerges it can be difficult to keep track of all the different story lines. In this thesis,we make significant improvements to an existing authoring tool for a branched videoplayer. The authoring tool is to be used along side with a media player in order to facilitatethe development of a non-linear branched video. We will also be exploring what featuresof the authoring tool offer the most value to the user.

With an ever-increasing population both in Canada and globally, an improved quality of life will depend on having access to energy. The non-renewable, carbon-based, sources of energy that presently provide a major amount of the world's energy supply are depleting and therefore will be expensive in the future. Nuclear technology is a relatively new technology which can fulfill future energy needs but requires highly specialized skills and knowledge to continue to make it safer, cleaner, more reliable, and more affordable. Thus the nuclear industry puts lots of efforts to develop and improve the next generation of nuclear power plants. The Supercritical Water Reactors (SCWRs) are one of the Generation IV nuclear-reactor systems. The SCWRs, to a large extent, are very similar to light water reactors, but with a simpler design. The main advantage of SCWRs is their higher thermal efficiency. The Canadian SCWR has adopted an innovative fuel concept which is a mixture of plutonium and thorium oxides (Th, Pu) O2. The role of nuclear data in fuel development and reactor-physics analysis is quite significant. With the development of nuclear data files over the years, nuclear cross sections and other parameters are widely available, but their accuracy is still a concern. Also the accuracy of nuclear data is more reliable for uranium-based fuels than for thorium-based fuels. It is not known how the uncertainties in the nuclear data will impact the fuel depletion in a SCWR. Thus a sensitivity analysis tool has been developed to evaluate the impact of uncertainties in the neutron cross-sections of the actinides present in SCWR fuel. This document provides the details on the theory and methodology used to develop this tool (FICST). The objective of this work is to develop a code, not any specific calculation done with it. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

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Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is perhaps the most prevalent non-traditional machining process in industry. Therefore, a great amount of effort has been invested towards improving the process. One result of these efforts was the introduction of CNC capabilities to EDM machine tools. Though CNC capabilities are predominantly used for performing orbital EDM, they may also be used for electrical discharge (ED) milling. Cylindrical tools are typically used in ED milling. While other tooling concepts have been developed for use with CNC EDM, this area of EDM is lacking in research. In this work an oblong set of tools for ED milling is presented. The set contains tools capable of machining cavities with both round and sharp features. Motivation for development of the tool set is discussed along with the benefits accompanied by the use of these tools. The cavity profiles considered in this work are divided into three groups based on concavity, continuity and geometric composition. Based on these groups, algorithms are presented for tool type selection and tool size calculation. Tool path planning strategies for each of the tool types are also presented. Two examples are presented in which the algorithms are applied to 2D profiles. The first of these profiles is star shaped, while the second is gear shaped. Both examples were machined on a 4-axis CNC EDM using the oblong tools presented in this work. When compared to equivalent cylindrical/square tools, the oblong tools used for the machining of the cavities provided a substantial increase in frontal area corresponding to improved material removal rates. Furthermore, for both examples, the complete machining of a single layer is accomplished with only one pass of the tool. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)