Heating of the transmission foil separating the vacuum diodes from the laser cell in electron-beam-pumped gas lasers due to electron beam attenuation necessitates an active cooling scheme to prevent its failure under repetitively pulsed operating conditions. Attenuation of the electron beam (typically 500kV, 100kA and 100ns) produces a strong and pulsed volumetric heat source in the relatively thin (~25μm thick) stainless-steel foil causing it to fail. An experimental and numerical investigation has been conducted to study the cooling effectiveness of high-speed near-wall jets for a single stainless-steel foil strip simulating the geometry between two hibachi ribs in the Electra KrF gas laser developed by the Naval Research Laboratory. The foil is placed inside a channel with continuous gas flow simulating the circulating laser gas. Detailed studies include two jet types (planar and circular) and two injection methods (parallel and impinging) for two designs of hibachi (flat and scalloped). The planar jet flows parallel to the circulating laser gas along the entire foil span. The other configuration uses small diameter (0.8, 1.2 and 1.6 mm) circular jets positioned in two staggered rows located on the foil's two edges along the height of the foil (~30 cm). The jets are issued obliquely towards the foil. For both jet configurations, experiments are conducted at different jet velocities, impingement angles and jet-foil spacing to identify the optimal parameters to be used in the actual hibachi foil cooling. Experimental results are also compared to the predictions from CFD simulations using FLUENT®. The results of this research show that near-wall impinging circular jets can effectively cool the foil separating the vacuum diodes from the laser cell in an electron beam pumped KrF laser under prototypical pulsed (5Hz) operating conditions, thereby assuring the foil's survival, while minimizing the impact on electron beam quality and laser efficiency.

Increasingly stringent pollution and emission controls have caused a rise in the use of combustors operating under lean, premixed conditions. Operating lean (excess air) lowers the level of nitrous oxides (NOx) emitted to the environment. In addition, concerns over climate change due to increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the need for energy independence in the United States have spurred interest in developing combustors capable of operating with a wide range of fuel compositions. One method to decrease the carbon footprint of modern combustors is the use of high hydrogen content (HHC) fuels. The objective of this research is to develop tools to better understand the physics of turbulent flame propagation in highly stretch sensitive premixed flames in order to predict their behavior at conditions realistic to the environment of gas turbine combustors. This thesis presents the results of an experimental study into the flame propagation characteristics of highly stretch-sensitive, turbulent premixed flames generated in a low swirl burner (LSB). This study uses a scaling law, developed in an earlier thesis from leading point concepts for turbulent premixed flames, to collapse turbulent flame speed data over a wide range of conditions. The flow and flame structure are characterized using high speed particle image velocimetry (PIV) over a wide range of fuel compositions, mean flow velocities, and turbulence levels. The first part of this study looks at turbulent flame speeds for these mixtures and applies the previously developed leading points scaling model in order to test its validity in an alternate geometry. The model was found to collapse the turbulent flame speed data over a wide range of fuel compositions and turbulence levels, giving merit to the leading points model as a method that can produce meaningful results with different geometries and turbulent flame speed definitions. The second part of this thesis examines flame front topologies and stretch statistics of these highly stretch sensitive, turbulent premixed flames. Instantaneous flame front locations and local flow velocities are used to calculate flame curvatures and tangential strain rates. Statistics of these two quantities are calculated both over the entire flame surface and also conditioned at the leading points of the flames. Results presented do not support the arguments made in the development of the leading points model. Only minor effects of fuel composition are noted on curvature statistics, which are mostly dominated by the turbulence. There is a stronger sensitivity for tangential strain rate statistics, however, time-averaged values are still well below the values hypothesized from the leading points model. The results of this study emphasize the importance of local flame topology measurements towards the development of predictive models of the turbulent flame speed.

The McTronX research group at the North–West University designs and develops Active Magnetic Bearings (AMBs). The group’s focus shifted to the design and development of AMB supported drive systems. This includes the electromagnetic and mechanical design of the electric machine, AMBs, auxiliary bearings as well as the development of the control system. The research group is currently developing an AMB supported high speed Induction Machine (IM) drive system that will facilitate tests in order to verify the design capability of the group. The research presented in this thesis describes the mechanical design and manufacturing of a high speed IM rotor section. The design includes; selecting the IM rotor topology, material selection, detail stress analysis and selecting appropriate manufacturing and assembly procedures. A comprehensive literature study identifies six main design considerations during the mechanical design of a high speed IM rotor section. These considerations include; magnetic core selection, rotor cage design, shaft design, shaft/magnetic core connection, stress due to operation at elevated temperatures and design for manufacture and assemble (DFMA). A critical overview of the literature leads to some design decisions being made and is used as a starting point for the detail design. The design choices include using a laminated cage rotor with a shrink fit for the shaft/magnetic core connection. Throughout the detail design an iterative process was followed incorporating both electromagnetic and mechanical considerations to deliver a good design solution. The first step of the iterative design process was, roughly calculating the material strengths required for first iteration material selection followed by more detailed interference fit calculations. From the detail stress analysis it became apparent that the stress in the IM rotor section cannot be calculated accurately using analytical methods. Consequently, a systematically verified and validated Finite Element Analysis (FEA) model was used to calculate the interferences required for each component. The detail stress analysis of the assembly also determined the allowable manufacturing dimensional tolerances. From the detail stress analysis it was found that the available lamination and squirrel cage material strengths were inadequate for the design speed specification of 27,000 r/min. The analysis showed that a maximum operating speed of 19,000 r/min can be achieved while complying with the minimum factor of safety (FOS) of 2. Each component was manufactured to the prescribed dimensional tolerances and the IM rotor section was assembled. With the failure of the first assembly process, machine experts were consulted and a revised process was implemented. The revised process entailed manufacturing five small lamination stacks and assembling the stack and squirrel cage afterwards. The end ring/conductive bar connection utilises interference fits due to the fact that the materials could not be welded. The process was successful and the IM rotor section was shrink fitted onto the shaft. However, after final machining of the rotor’s outer diameter (OD), inspections revealed axial displacement of the end rings and a revised FEA was implemented to simulate the effect. The results indicated a minimum FOS 0.6 at very small sections and with further analytical investigation it was shown that the minimum FOS was reduced to only 1.34. Although the calculations indicated the FOS was below the minimum prescribed FOS ? 2, the rotor spin tests were scheduled to continue as planned. The main reasons being that the lowest FOS is at very small areas and is located at non critical structural positions. The fact that the rotor speed was incrementally increased and multiple parameters were monitored, which could detect early signs of failure, further supported the decision. In testing the rotor was successfully spun up to 19,000 r/min and 27 rotor delevitation test were conducted at speeds of up to 10,000 r/min. After continuous testing a secondary rotor inspection was conducted and no visible changes could be detected. The lessons learnt leads to mechanical design and manufacturing recommendations and the research required to realise a 27,000 r/min rotor design. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Mechanical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The McTronX research group at the North–West University designs and develops Active Magnetic Bearings (AMBs). The group’s focus shifted to the design and development of AMB supported drive systems. This includes the electromagnetic and mechanical design of the electric machine, AMBs, auxiliary bearings as well as the development of the control system. The research group is currently developing an AMB supported high speed Induction Machine (IM) drive system that will facilitate tests in order to verify the design capability of the group. The research presented in this thesis describes the mechanical design and manufacturing of a high speed IM rotor section. The design includes; selecting the IM rotor topology, material selection, detail stress analysis and selecting appropriate manufacturing and assembly procedures. A comprehensive literature study identifies six main design considerations during the mechanical design of a high speed IM rotor section. These considerations include; magnetic core selection, rotor cage design, shaft design, shaft/magnetic core connection, stress due to operation at elevated temperatures and design for manufacture and assemble (DFMA). A critical overview of the literature leads to some design decisions being made and is used as a starting point for the detail design. The design choices include using a laminated cage rotor with a shrink fit for the shaft/magnetic core connection. Throughout the detail design an iterative process was followed incorporating both electromagnetic and mechanical considerations to deliver a good design solution. The first step of the iterative design process was, roughly calculating the material strengths required for first iteration material selection followed by more detailed interference fit calculations. From the detail stress analysis it became apparent that the stress in the IM rotor section cannot be calculated accurately using analytical methods. Consequently, a systematically verified and validated Finite Element Analysis (FEA) model was used to calculate the interferences required for each component. The detail stress analysis of the assembly also determined the allowable manufacturing dimensional tolerances. From the detail stress analysis it was found that the available lamination and squirrel cage material strengths were inadequate for the design speed specification of 27,000 r/min. The analysis showed that a maximum operating speed of 19,000 r/min can be achieved while complying with the minimum factor of safety (FOS) of 2. Each component was manufactured to the prescribed dimensional tolerances and the IM rotor section was assembled. With the failure of the first assembly process, machine experts were consulted and a revised process was implemented. The revised process entailed manufacturing five small lamination stacks and assembling the stack and squirrel cage afterwards. The end ring/conductive bar connection utilises interference fits due to the fact that the materials could not be welded. The process was successful and the IM rotor section was shrink fitted onto the shaft. However, after final machining of the rotor’s outer diameter (OD), inspections revealed axial displacement of the end rings and a revised FEA was implemented to simulate the effect. The results indicated a minimum FOS 0.6 at very small sections and with further analytical investigation it was shown that the minimum FOS was reduced to only 1.34. Although the calculations indicated the FOS was below the minimum prescribed FOS ? 2, the rotor spin tests were scheduled to continue as planned. The main reasons being that the lowest FOS is at very small areas and is located at non critical structural positions. The fact that the rotor speed was incrementally increased and multiple parameters were monitored, which could detect early signs of failure, further supported the decision. In testing the rotor was successfully spun up to 19,000 r/min and 27 rotor delevitation test were conducted at speeds of up to 10,000 r/min. After continuous testing a secondary rotor inspection was conducted and no visible changes could be detected. The lessons learnt leads to mechanical design and manufacturing recommendations and the research required to realise a 27,000 r/min rotor design. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Mechanical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Milling is a common unit operation in industry for the purpose of intentional size reduction. Considerable amount of energy is consumed during a grinding process and much of the energy is dissipated as heat and sound, which often makes grinding into an energy-intensive and highly inefficient operation. Despite many attempts to interpret particle breakage during a milling process, the grindability of a material in a milling operation remains aloof and the mechanisms of particle breakage are still poorly understood. Hence the optimisation and refinement in the design and operation of milling are in great need of an improved scientific understanding of the complex failure mechanisms. This thesis aims to provide an in-depth understanding of particle breakage associated with stressing events that occur during milling. A hybrid of experimental, theoretical and numerical methods has been adopted to elucidate the particle breakage mechanics. This study covers from single particle damage at micro-scale to bulk comminution during the whole milling process. The mechanical properties of two selected materials, i.e. alumina and zeolite were measured by indentation techniques. The breakage test of zeolite granules subjected to impact loading was carried out and it was found that tangential component velocity plays an increasingly important role in particle breakage with increasing impact velocity. Besides, single particle breakage via in-situ loading was conducted under X-ray microcomputed tomography (μCT) to study the microstructure of selected particles, visualize the progressive failure process and evaluate the progressive failure using the technique of digital image correlation (DIC). A new particle breakage model was proposed deploying a mechanical approach assuming that the subsurface lateral crack accounts for chipping mechanism. Considering the limitation of existing models in predicting breakage under oblique impact and the significance of tangential component velocity identified from experiment, the effect of impact angle is considered in the developed breakage model, which enables the contribution of the normal and tangential velocity component to be rationalized. The assessment of breakage models including chipping and fragmentation under oblique impact suggests that the equivalent normal velocity proposed in the new model is able to give close prediction with experimental results sourced from the public literature. Milling experiments were performed using the UPZ100 impact pin mill (courtesy by Hosokawa Micron Ltd. UK) to measure the comminution characteristics of the test solids. Several parameters were used to evaluate the milling performance including product size distribution, relative size span, grinding energy and size reduction ratio etc. The collective data from impact pin mill provides the basis for the validation of numerical simulation results. The Discrete Element Method (DEM) is first used to model single particle breakage subject to normal impact loading using a bonded contact model. A validation of the bonded contact model was conducted where the disparity with the experimental results is discussed. A parametric study of the most significant parameters e.g. bond Young’s modulus, the mean tensile bond strength, the coefficient of variation of the strength and particle & particle restitution coefficient in the DEM contact model was carried out to gain a further understanding of the effect of input parameters on the single particle breakage behavior. The upscaling from laboratory scale (single particle impact test) to industrial process scale (impact pin mill) is achieved using Population Balance Modelling (PBM). Two important functions in PBM, the selection function and breakage function are discussed based on the single particle impact from both experimental and numerical methods. An example of predicting product size reduction via PBM was given and compared to the milling results from impact pin mill. Finally, the DEM simulation of particle dynamics with emphasis on the impact energy distribution was presented and discussed, which sheds further insights into the coupling of PBM and DEM.

Cette thèse porte sur la question de la perception des systèmes d’appuis situés à l’intérieur des transports publics urbains, premières interfaces entre l’usager et le matériel roulant, en vue d’améliorer leur confort. Une exploration a été effectuée afin d’objectiver le toucher des surfaces et tenter de caractériser instrumentalement l’interaction entre le voyageur et la surface d’appui, réduit à un toucher tangentiel et à un contact plan/plan. L’étude, liant tribologie et évaluation sensorielle, montre la difficulté inhérente à la mesure des sensations. Des tendances ont été observées entre les données tribologiques et sensorielles et encouragent à poursuivre dans cette voie. En outre, la question du confort est abordée de manière globale et un nouveau cadre d’étude est proposé. Les réflexions initiées ici souhaitent ouvrir la voie vers une nouvelle approche de la conception, l’approche anthropocentrée, venant compléter la vision actuelle très technocentrée du milieu ferroviaire. / This thesis aims to improve passenger comfort in urban public transports by focusing on the perception of supports in the passenger compartment, which are the primary interfaces between the traveler and the rolling stock. An exploration was carried out in order to objectify the touch of surfaces and try to characterize instrumentally the interaction between the passenger and the support, reduced to a tangential touch and a planar contact surface. The study, linking tribology and sensory evaluation, shows the inherent difficulty of the measure of sensations. Tendencies have been observed between tribological and sensory data and encourage to continue on this path. In addition, the notion of comfort is addressed in a comprehensive manner and a new framework is proposed. The reflections initiated in this research wish to pave the way for a human-centered approach for conception, completing the current vision that is very technocentric in the rail environment.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-15T11:46:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 435456 bytes, checksum: c38ab9cb93018e6c4d934dde6c174c07 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-16 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The present dissertation furnishes a detailed study about modules of logarithmic derivations, here dubbed tangential idealizers, and some of their main features. Initially, several comparisons between such modules are investigated starting from sufficiently related ideals, motivated by a previous study due to Kaplansky as well as by their close relationship with the classical theory of differential ideals of Seidenberg. We then obtain the first central result, which describes a primary decomposition of the tangential idealizer of an ideal without embedded primary component. Finally, in the second main result, we explore the structure of the derivation module for the class of Stanley-Reisner rings, thus corresponding to tangential idealizers of monomial ideals. An application of such a result is an affirmative answer for the homological Zariski-Lipman conjecture for the present class of rings. / A presente dissertação fornece um estudo detalhado sobre módulos de derivações logarítmicas, aqui denominados idealizadores tangenciais, bem como algumas de suas principais características. Inicialmente, várias comparações entre tais módulos são investigadas, a partir de ideais suficientemente relacionados, motivadas por um estudo prévio de Kaplansky e por sua estreita relação com a clássica teoria dos ideais diferenciais de Seidenberg. Em seguida obtém-se o primeiro resultado central, que descreve uma decomposição primária do idealizador tangencial de um ideal sem componente primária imersa. Finalmente, no segundo resultado principal, é explorada a estrutura do módulo de derivações para a classe de anéis de Stanley- Reisner, correspondendo portanto a idealizadores tangenciais de ideais monomiais. Uma aplicação de tal resultado é a resposta afirmativa para a conjectura homológica de Zariski-Lipman para a presente classe de anéis.

Orientador: Raquel Gonçalves / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Agricola / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-06T23:17:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Costa_OdilonAntonioLemeda_D.pdf: 609036 bytes, checksum: 7d2e8a120668fe4865c7b99b8f0ef0a8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: A madeira, sendo um material higroscópico, tem suas propriedades mecânicas e elásticas afetadas por condições ambientais. Sendo assim, a relação de dependência de propriedades da madeira com a variação do teor de umidade tem merecido, há muito tempo, a atenção de pesquisadores de todo o mundo. Um dos grandes avanços obtidos nos últimos anos na caracterização de materiais, tanto do ponto de vista mecânico quanto de qualidade, é a aplicação de técnicas não destrutivas, denominadas internacionalmente como NDT ¿ Non Destructive Testing e NDE ¿ Non Destructive Evaluation, destacando-se dentro elas o uso do ultra-som. No entanto, da mesma forma que as propriedades mecânicas e elásticas, sabe-se que a velocidade de propagação das ondas de ultra-som na madeira é afetada pela umidade, o que torna a quantificação desta influência de fundamental importância para a análise e a projeção de resultados obtidos nas mais diversificadas propostas de estudos que envolvam a aplicação do método do ultra-som. Este projeto teve, portanto, o objetivo de estudar o comportamento da velocidade de propagação de ondas de compressão (longitudinais) na madeira em função da umidade. Paralelamente foram também estudados o comportamento dos coeficientes da diagonal da matriz de rigidez (CLL, CRR e CTT), bem como a anisotropia da madeira por meio da avaliação da velocidade nas três direções principais (longitudinal, radial e tangencial). Para a medição das velocidades de propagação das ondas de ultra-som (VLL, VRR e VTT) e para o cálculo dos termos da diagonal da matriz de rigidez (CLL, CRR e CTT) foram utilizados 75 (setenta e cinco) corpos de prova de dimensões 300 mm na direção longitudinal, 60 mm na direção radial e 30 mm na direção tangencial ou 300 mm na direção longitudinal, 30 mm na direção radial e 60 mm na direção tangencial, sendo 15 corpos-de-prova de cada uma das cinco espécies de madeira estudadas: Pinho do Paraná (Araucária angustifólia), a Imbuia (Ocotea porosa), a Cupiúba (Goupia glabra), o Pinus elliottii (Pinus elliottii) e o Eucalipto citriodora (Eucalyptus citriodora). Essas medições foram sendo realizadas durante a secagem dos corpos de prova, ou seja, desde a condição saturada até a condição seca em estufa. Os resultados permitiram concluir que a equação quadrática foi o modelo mais adequado para representar a variação da velocidade de propagação das ondas com a umidade para todas as espécies estudadas. Além disso, também para todas as espécies, foi possível concluir que a influência da umidade na velocidade de propagação das ondas de ultra-som se dá de maneira diferenciada em dois trechos, correspondentes a umidades abaixo e acima do ponto de saturação das fibras (PSF), sendo mais acentuada para o trecho correspondente a umidades abaixo do PSF. Foi também observado que a velocidade de propagação das ondas é mais influenciada pela umidade na direção longitudinal, seguida da radial e, por último da tangencial. Em relação aos coeficientes de rigidez, observou-se que, para umidades abaixo do PSF, o comportamento é semelhante aos obtidos para a resistência e a rigidez da madeira na maioria das propriedades mecânicas, ou seja, decresce com o acréscimo da umidade. Em algumas espécies, para o trecho correspondente a umidades acima do ponto de saturação das fibras, esse comportamento é afetado pela presença de água livre e pode ser corrigida utilizando-se, no cálculo, a densidade efetiva em lugar da densidade aparente. O comportamento da anisotropia foi diferenciado para as espécies estudadas / Abstract: The wood, being a higroscopic material, has their mechanical and elastic properties affected for environmental conditions. Being like this, the relationship of dependence of properties of the wood with the variation of the moisture content has been deserving, since a long time, the researcher's attention. One of the great progresses obtained in the last years in the characterization of materials, as much of the mechanical point of view as of quality, it is the application of techniques non destructive, denominated internationally like NDT - Non Destructive Testing and NDE - Non Destructive Evaluation, emphasizing the use of the ultrasound. However, in the same way that the mechanical and elastic properties, it is known that the speed of propagation of the ultrasound waves in the wood is affected by the moisture content, what turns the quantification of this influence of fundamental importance for the analysis and the projection of results obtained in the more diversified proposed of studies that involve the application of the method of the ultrasound. This project had, therefore, the objective of studying the behavior of the speed of propagation of compression waves (longitudinal) in the wood in function of the moisture content. Parallel they were also studied the behavior of the coefficients of the diagonal of the stiffness matrix (CLL, CRR and CTT), as well as the anisotropia of the wood through the evaluation of the speed in the three main directions (longitudinal, radial and tangential). For the measurement of the speeds of propagation of the ultrasound waves (VLL, VRR and VTT) and for the calculation of the terms of the diagonal of the rigidity matrix (CLL, CRR and CTT) were used 75 (seventy five) specimens and its dimensions were 300 mm in the longitudinal direction, 60 mm in the radial direction and 30 mm in the tangential direction or 300 mm in the longitudinal direction, 30 mm in the radial direction and 60 mm in the tangential direction, being 15 specimens of each one of the five studied species: Paraná Pine(Araucária angustifólia), Imbuia (Ocotea porosa), Cupiúba (Goupia glabra), Pinus elliottii (Pinus elliottii) and Eucalipto citriodora (Eucalyptus citriodora). Those measurements went being accomplished during the drying of the specimens, in other words, from the condition saturated to the anhidrous condition. The results allowed to conclude that the quadratic equation was the most appropriate model to represent the variation of the speed of propagation of the waves with the moisture content for all of the studied species. Besides, also for all of the species, it was possible to conclude that the influence of the moisture content in the speed of propagation of the ultrasound waves feels in way differentiated in two intervals, corresponding to moisture content below and above the saturation fibers point (PSF), being more accentuated for the interval corresponding to moisture content below PSF. It was also observed that the speed of propagation of the waves is more influenced by the moisture content in the longitudinal direction, following by the radial and, last by the tangential. In relation to the rigidity coefficients, it was observed that, for moisture content below PSF, the behavior is similar to the obtained for the resistance and the rigidity of the wood in most of the mechanical properties, in other words, it decreases with the increment of the moisture content. In some species, for the passage corresponding to moisture content above the point of saturation of the fibers, that behavior is affected by the presence of free water and it can be corrected being used, in the calculation, the basic density or the effective density instead of the apparent density. The behavior of the anisotropia was different for the studied species / Doutorado / Construções Rurais e Ambiencia / Doutor em Engenharia Agrícola

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:36:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ricardo Mazziero Quartarolo.pdf: 8600660 bytes, checksum: 6058bd2a64c8a23a963ef69194501521 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-11-30 / Increasing the energy efficiency of internal combustion engines manufactured for light vehicles is a growing demand from society due to the importance of the transport sector in relation to emissions of greenhouse gases. In a move led by the developed countries of Europe, regulatory agencies have been imposing aggressive emission reduction targets for new cars. The reduction of the mechanical losses caused by friction between engine components through the development of new technologies and materials is mandatory for the most industries involved in the manufacture of engines. The piston rings are responsible for much of the losses due to their adverse operating conditions within the combustion chamber. The interaction between the rings and the cylinder is decisive in determining beyond the mechanical friction losses, wear of the assembly, oil consumption and power. The improvement of mechanical properties of piston rings by heat treatment is an important alternative to reduce friction. The reduction of tangential force is especially important in the rings of the second channel, although they are known as scraper rings, in practice its main function is to stabilize the piston and prevent compression ring floating and consequently the flow of combustion gases into the crankcase. Results suggest that bainitic microstructure, obtained by austempering of the piston rings made from gray cast iron enables the reduction of their tangential force. This reduction has a positive relationship with the engine operating temperature exposure time as found in simulations carried out at constant temperature and logarithmic timescale. / O aumento da eficiência energética dos motores de combustão interna utilizados por automóveis leves é uma demanda crescente da sociedade, devido à representatividade do setor de transporte em relação às emissões dos gases do efeito estufa. Em um movimento liderado pelos países desenvolvidos da Europa, as agências reguladoras vêm impondo metas agressivas de redução de emissões para automóveis novos. A redução das perdas mecânicas geradas pelo atrito entre os componentes do motor através do desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias e materiais é mandatório entre a maior parte das indústrias envolvidas na fabricação de motores. Os anéis de pistão são responsáveis por grande parte dessas perdas, devido às suas condições de operação adversas dentro da câmara de combustão. A interação entre os anéis e o cilindro é decisiva para determinar além das perdas mecânicas por atrito, o desgaste do conjunto, consumo de óleo e potência. A modificação das propriedades mecânicas dos anéis de pistão através de tratamento térmico é uma alternativa importante para reduzir o atrito. Esse efeito é especialmente importante nos anéis de segunda canaleta, que apesar de serem considerados anéis raspadores, na prática tem como principal função estabilizar o conjunto e evitar a flutuação do anel de compressão e consequentemente a passagem de gases de combustão para o cárter. Os resultados sugerem que a microestrutura bainítica, obtida através da austêmpera dos anéis de pistão fabricados a partir de ferro fundido cinzento possibilita a redução da força tangencial, sendo que essa redução apresenta uma relação positiva com o tempo de exposição à temperatura de trabalho do motor conforme constatado em simulações realizadas à temperatura constante e escala logarítmica de tempo.

To diagnose patients suffering from blood clotting disorders latex immununoassays (LIA) can be used. A time consuming manual tangential flow filtration (TFF) process suggests the implementation of an automatic TFF system to improve the efficiency, profitability, and expandability of the production facility of LIA at Nordic Biomarker. Tests were made of the automatic TFF system's ability to perform the desired steps of concentration, dilution and diafiltration, both with purified water and mimicked product. The mimicked product of micro particles (MP) mixed with monoclonal antibodies (mAb) was also used to further test the system's pressure control, safety alarms and stops, and to determine a permeate flux by a critical flux experiment. The results imply a functional TFF system able to automatically concentrate the process fluid and maintain a stable volume during diafiltration, although an additional permeate pump was ordered to be able to attain a fully functional performance of the automatic TFF process. The final part of the implementation was to initiate a validation draft including a risk assessment, OQ plan and PQ plan that resulted in a plan of the main tests to be performed. To conclude, the essential part of the implementation of a high quality and efficient automatic TFF process was conducted to facilitate future expansion of the production of LIA.