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Acoustic emission analysis of the effect of a 2D wedge shaped blade on the compact bone cutting process
No full textSurgeons may use a number of cutting instruments such as osteotomes and chisels to cut bone during an operative procedure. The initial loading of cortical bone during the cutting process results in the formation of microcracks in the vicinity of the cutting zone with main crack propagation to failure occuring with continued loading. When a material cracks, energy is emitted in the form of Acoustic Emission (AE) signals that spread in all directions, therefore, AE transducers can be used to monitor the occurrence and development of microcracking and crack propagation in cortical bone. In this research, number of AE signals (hits) and related parameters including amplitude, duration and absolute energy (abs-energy) were recorded during the indentation cutting process by a wedge blade on cortical bone specimens. The cutting force was also measured to correlate between load-displacement curves and the output from the AE sensor.\ud
The results from experiments show AE signals increase substantially during the loading just prior to fracture between 90% and 100% of maximum fracture load. Furthermore, an amplitude threshold value of 64dB (with approximate abs-energy of 1500 aJ) was established to saparate AE signals associated with microcracking (41 – 64dB) from fracture related signals (65 – 98dB). The results also demonstrated that the complete fracture event which had the highest duration value can be distinguished from other growing macrocracks which did not lead to catastrophic fracture. It was observed that the main crack initiation may be detected by capturing a high amplitude signal at a mean load value of 87% of maximum load and unsteady crack propagation may occur just prior to final fracture event at a mean load value of 96% of maximum load. The author concludes that the AE method is useful in understanding the crack initiation and fracture during the indentation cutting process
Innovation management in a multi-national corporation’s subsidiary of Ireland’s evolving knowledge economy
Get PDFInnovation management is now seen as an important competitive advantage for Multi-national Corporation (MNC) subsidiaries located in Ireland’s changing economy. This paper reports on the initial stages of a case study in the Operations division of American Power Conversion (APC) Ireland. The results of an innovation audit are presented that provide a reference point to begin the transformation to an innovative supply chain organization. The paper proposes the development of Networks of Practice to enable the diffusion of resulting innovations across the corporation
What value can be attached to a concept of mystery and has it a place in contemporary Western culture?
Get PDFThe idea for this thesis arose from a chain of reactions first set in motion by a\ud
particular experience. In keeping with the contemporary need to deconstruct every\ud
phenomenon it seemed important to analyse this experience in the hope of a\ud
satisfactory explanation. The experience referred to is the aesthetic experience\ud
provoked by works of art. The plan for the thesis involved trying to establish\ud
whether the aesthetic experience is unique and individual, or whether it is one that\ud
is experienced universally. Each question that arises in the course of this\ud
exploration promotes a dialectical reaction. I rely on the history of aesthetics as a\ud
philosophical discipline to supply the answers. This study concentrates on the\ud
efforts by philosophers and critical theorists to understand the tensions between\ud
the empirical and the emotional, the individual and the universal responses to the\ud
sociological, political and material conditions that prevail and are expressed\ud
through the medium of art. What I found is that the history of aesthetics is full of\ud
contradictory evidence and cannot provide a dogmatic solution to the questions\ud
posed. In fact what is indicated is that the mystery that attaches to the aesthetic\ud
experience is one that can also apply to the spiritual or transcendent experience.\ud
The aim of this thesis is to support the contribution of visual art in the spiritual\ud
well being of human development and supports the uniqueness of the evaluation\ud
and aesthetic judgement by the individual of a work of art. I suggest that mystery\ud
will continue to be of value in the holistic development of human beings and this\ud
mystery can be expressed through visual art. Furthermore, this thesis might\ud
suggest that what could be looked at is whether a work of art may be redemptive\ud
in its affect and offset the current decline in affective religious practice
The development of an audit methodology to generate construction waste production indicators for the Irish construction industry
Get PDFThis study develops waste production indicators for the Irish construction industry. Construction and demolition waste (C & DW ) was conservatively estimated to account for approximately 13.1 percent of all waste produced in Ireland in 2004 (E P A , 2005a). This was equal to 11.2 million tonnes making it the second-highest waste producing It is recommended that the new audit tool and generated indicators be incorporated into a voluntary waste information system to facilitate the benchmarking of waste production on construction and demolition projects in Ireland sector behind agriculture. This estimate was based on construction and demolition waste collected and managed at licensed and permitted facilities throughout the country. There was no data available on construction and demolition waste production from Irish construction projects sites. An original audit tool was designed and tested on 58 construction projects throughout the country generating waste production indicators (kg/m0 ) for new construction in 2005. These factors were applied to estimated construction output to benchmark national waste production in 2005. Two detailed surveys were also carried out to assess the management and collection of C&D W in 2005. A set of waste production indicators for new construction was produced: 70.27 kg/m2 for new residential construction. 86.82 kg/m for new private non-residential construction. 138.94 kg/m for new social infrastructure construction. 48.48 kg/m2 for new productive infrastructure construction. A compositional analysis identified inert waste (excluding excavated materials); wood; paper, plastics and packaging; and metals as the major contributors to the construction waste stream. The indicators were applied to construction output to produce a total national construction and demolition waste estimate of 20.8 million tonnes for 2005. Construction and demolition waste accounted for 12.3 million tonnes with soil and stones accounting for 8.5 million tonnes (E P A , 2005a). The licensed and permitted facilities survey identified a significant lack of data available on tonnages sent for processing and/or deposited to permitted sites within local authority functional areas. It is recommended that the new audit tool and generated indicators be incorporated into a voluntary waste information system to facilitate the benchmarking of waste production on construction and demolition projects in Irelan
Securing network communications : with a practical example of a firewall written in C++
Get PDFThe statistics that are quoted about user interactions with the Internet are hard to\ud
comprehend, a technology that didn’t exist m any real commercial way less than 20\ud
years ago is now probably the singularly most dominant resource available today The\ud
growth of the Internet has taken place entirely in my lifetime and its evolvement from\ud
its early educational existence to its current presence is incredible When I started on\ud
this Masters in Computing I jumped at the chance of being able to do the module on\ud
Computer Networks followed a year later by the module on Telecommunications I\ud
had been for years using the Internet without a strong understanding of the principles\ud
behind its workings and saw these modules as a way to further improve my\ud
knowledge of this area\ud
After the first module I knew that my project on this Programme would have to, m\ud
some way, take into account network communications and so since 2000 I have been\ud
steadily learning more and more about network programming using C++ I originally\ud
planned to write an application that would allow a program to get down to the\ud
physical layer and I was successful in using a resource called Packet32 dll to achieve\ud
this\ud
However as Microsoft updated their operating systems from Windows NT to\ud
Windows 2000 and then onto Windows XP the ability to get down to the physical\ud
layer became extremely difficult In my research to build a project with C++ network\ud
programming, I came across a paper titled Beej's Guide to Network Programming\ud
using Internet Sockets (http //beei us/guide/bgnet/l The paper described how one can\ud
v\ud
program at the Transport Layer of the TCP/IP Layers This paper led me onto the\ud
whole area of using simple Internet sockets to control the flow of information over a\ud
network\ud
This Project shows how to design and build a simple Firewall that can protect a\ud
service/application being run by a company It is based on using the Internet sockets\ud
in C++ and shows how to manipulate data sent over the network The Firewall\ud
publishes a port number for an internal server’s application It will handle the\ud
communications between any outside clients trying to use this application, basically it\ud
will operate as the go-between between the client and server No other personal\ud
computer, not on the applications server’s network, can access the server directly\ud
without going through the firewall\ud
I originally started writing this project using Turbo C++ and have migrated along with\ud
Microsoft to Visual Studio 6 0 and then onto Visual Studio NET I have to admit that\ud
all attempts to put a visual front end on the application have proven too difficult and\ud
so as with most Microsoft Windows services I decided to opt for a INI file to hold the\ud
initialisation data My learning curve has shown me the power of these developing\ud
environments but I do admit to missing Turbo C++\ud
The first part of this report stresses the need to Secure Network Communications It\ud
shows my research and understanding into the area of network security The second\ud
part is the documentation for a practical implementation of a Firewall in C++ It\ud
demonstrates the key principle of a firewall in its ability to act as safe go-between two\ud
networks In most cases this is the outside Internet and the mside private network\ud
VI\ud
This implementation is designed to handle TCP network protocols and the common\ud
ports they use like HTTP (80), FTP (21) and TELNET (23). It shows how one can\ud
write with relative ease using Internet sockets reliable and stable network\ud
applications.\ud
I will explain the code used in the application and give samples of the data that was\ud
sent to the Firewall, I will also show how the Firewall responded to this data by\ud
showing the results of simple tests
The wizard of OZ: instilling a resilient heart into self-service business applications
Get PDFSpeech enabled business applications are characterized by complex implementations that bring together language processing technologies, applications development, and end-user psychology. Resilience is critical to maintaining business to customer relationships when implementing these self-service solutions. The Wizard-of-Oz experiment is a valuable technique for simulating and building human–machine prototypes to ensure successful deployment of the completed service. This paper proposes the simplification and diffusion of the methodology to facilitate the growth in demand for automated e-business transactions
Modelling anaerobic wastewater treatment
No full textThere is a real need for dynamic models in the design and operation of treatment processes given that design theory and control strategy are directly linked to process modelling. The core objective of this study was to develop both a computer simulator and a physical model of an avant-garde second generation anaerobic wastewater treatment technology, then use one to validate the other, and vice versa.\ud
An extensive literature review of anaerobic wastewater treatment technologies is presented with focus given to granular sludge and the granulation process, these being the underlying factors behind the emergence and success of many anaerobic technologies. A database of dynamical mathematical descriptions for anaerobic digestion processes has been compiled, ranging from Andrew's model of 1969 to the most recent and comprehensive descriptions as presented by the IWA Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 (ADM1) and its extensions. This study centres on: (a) the expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor; it being the most versatile technology current in operation, and (b) the IWA ADM1, it being constructed by world leaders in the field of dynamic anaerobic digestion modelling and who view it as the most comprehensive and flexible description to date.\ud
A stand-alone Windows based computer simulator, 'SimEGSB', was developed using Microsoft Visual Basic Version 6.0 as the programming language. The simulator was verified in terms of its computational procedures and implementation of the conceptual model. A physical model was designed, constructed and operated under different control strategies using a synthetic wastewater feed. Data was collected for several months, but due to circumstances and factors beyond control, this was rendered useless for its intended purpose in the calibration and validation of the computer simulator. While the physical model was shown to be capable of performing a stable treatment, its representation of the technology at full-scale goes undetermined. The application of 'SimEGSB' for simulation of the same is also constrained, in that, it has the status of an untested prototype
An investigation into the temperature distribution resulting from cutting of compact bone using a reciprocating bone saw
Get PDFSurgical procedures such as osteotomy and hip replacement involve the cutting of\ud
bone with the aid of various manual and powered cutting instruments including\ud
manual and powered bone saws. The basic mechanics of bone sawing processes are\ud
consistent with most other material sawing processes such as for wood or metal.\ud
Frictional rubbing between the blade of the saw and the bone results in the generation\ud
of localised heating of the cut bone. Research studies have been carried out which\ud
consider the design of the bone saw which deals with specifics of the saw teeth\ud
geometry and research which examines the effect of drilling operations on heating of\ud
the bone has shown that elevated temperatures will occur from frictional overheating.\ud
This overheating in localised areas is known to have an impact on the rate of healing\ud
of the bone post operation and the sharpness life of the blade.\ud
The purpose of this study was to measure the temperature at three zones at fixed\ud
intervals of 3mm, 6mm, and 9mm away from the cutting zone. It should be noted that\ud
it was the first time that this measurement technique was used to measure the\ud
temperature gradient through the bone specimen thereby establishing the extent to\ud
which clinicians are experiencing thermal injury during sawing of bone while using a\ud
reciprocating saw. The effect of various cutting feed rate on temperature elevation\ud
was also investigated in this research.\ud
The results showed that there will be a region of bone at least 9mm either side of the\ud
cutting blade experiencing thermal injury as temperatures in this region exceeded the\ud
threshold temperature of 44°C for necrosis (cell death)
Evaluation and optimisation of airflow distribution within a refrigerated trailer
Get PDFThermo King as a supplier of mobile refrigeration equipment is interested in more information about the airflow distribution inside a refrigerated trailer in various loading conditions to optimise the performance of the refrigeration units. A more efficient way and/or more uniform way of keeping the internal environment inside the refrigerated box at the required conditions will increase the quality of the cargo as well as causing less damage to the environment. The objective of this project is to develop a testing environment that makes it possible to conduct airflow tests for the purpose of learning more about the internal airflow of a trailer. This test environment will be in the form of an hydraulic transparent test rig representing a scaled model o f a refrigeration system. The test environment must be able to simulate multiple unit configurations in the form of different airflow volumes, and different configurations of air inlet and outlet positions. Different cargo configurations inside the trailer will be used to simulate different types of loads. Secondly, advice and recommendations on the improvement of airflow as well as ideas for further research will be discussed. It is recommended that the project be continued by future researchers to obtain more extensive results from the simulation environment developed and created during this project. Real flow investigation and improvement in airflow distribution should be developed and tested to enable Thermo King to make a more efficient, competitive and more environmentally friendly refrigeration unit
An investigation into quality practices within irish service smes
Get PDFThe objective of this research was to determine the extent to which quality practices \ud
and procedures were integrated within Irish Service SMEs, with a view to proposing \ud
a quality model which reflects the unique set of pressures faced by SMEs. A series \ud
of depth interviews among owner/managers who had embarked on a quality \ud
management accreditation process were undertaken. Their purpose was to explore \ud
issues surrounding quality management in SMEs. Subsequently a second phase of \ud
primary research was undertaken with a representative sample of Irish service \ud
SMEs. Its purpose was to determine how quality practices and procedures were \ud
implemented within service SMEs with particular focus on their impact on the \ud
reduction of service quality gaps.\ud
Owner/managers intermittently involve themselves with a selection of quality \ud
practices; many are not conducted on a frequent basis, including the identification of \ud
customer requirements.\ud
Analysis indicates that previous implementation of a quality model is positively \ud
related to the frequency with which many quality practices are conducted, including \ud
the activity of setting employee performance targets. In addition, previous \ud
implementation of a quality model positively affected attitudes toward quality \ud
models. However, implementation levels remain low.\ud
This research proposes a conceptual quality model for service SMEs which aims to \ud
address issues raised throughout the study. This model is subject to further testing \ud
and refinement