148 research outputs found
Parametric virtual concept design of heavy machinery: a case study application
No full textVirtual prototyping enables the validation and optimization of machinery equivalent to physical testing, saving time and costs in the product development, especially in case of heavy machines with complex motions. However, virtual prototyping is usually deployed only at the end of the design process, when product architecture is already developed. The present paper discusses the introduction of virtual prototypes since conceptual design stage as Virtual Concepts in which coarse models of machinery design variants are simulated obtaining useful information, sometimes fundamental to support best design choices. Virtual Concept modeling and preliminary validation and its later integration to a Virtual Prototype are expressly investigated using Multi Body Dynamics software. A verification case study on a large vibrating screen demonstrates that dynamic Virtual Concepts enable easier and effective evaluations on the design variants and increase the design process predictability
ANOVA OF 3D VARIATIONAL MODELS FOR COMPUTER AIDED TOLERANCING WITH RESPECT TO THE MODELING FACTORS
No full textSheet metal assemblies are subjected to errors as deformations due to material, thickness, geometries and process variations. Advanced simulations enable the optimization of product features, GD&T scheme and assembly process. The 3D error propagation due to the different contributors can be studied with Variational Models of the product and assembly system. However, the practical application of these methods is limited by the high number of factors in the models, which makes the operator experience fundamental to achieve their trustworthiness. Guidelines for modeling the sheet metal assemblies are needed. The present work aims at analysing the variations in the model with a Design of Computer Experiments (DoCE) plan. A case study on an automotive fender is discussed. The results demonstrate that the modeling strategy of clamping operation have the major effects, while the modeling of locators scheme, spot joints and FEM meshing are less important
REDESIGN FOR ENVIRONMENT OF WOODEN PACKAGING FOR BULK RECYCLING AND RECOVERY. ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences VOL. 11, NO. 1, JANUARY 2016.
No full textSociety increasingly demands for effective waste management policies to make industries more environmentally
sustainable. Organizations are even issuing directives to drive choices about these policies. In particular, modern industries
produce a lot of packaging, which soon become waste, even before product usage. Research can face the problem with
improvements in recycling and recovery processes. However, even if recycling and recovery would enable waste to have
still a value, most costs and benefits are determined at the design stage. Therefore, Design for Environment criteria must be
adopted in the design tasks, from the early conceptual design when the main design solutions are defined. The design
criteria to assess possible design choices must consider all the environmental impacts of packaging over its lifecycle. The
present work focuses on Redesign for Environment of packaging solutions. Following a systematic design process, we use
different criteria to evaluate the effects of design solutions on packaging, since waste can be seen just as one of the main
phases of packaging life. To this purpose, we adopt the stages of the waste hierarchy set by the EU Waste Framework
Directive 2008/98/EC as design evaluation criteria. The waste hierarchy sets a priority order for five life cycle stages that a
packaging can go through. The stages of the hierarchy can be differently weighted according to the costs and benefits they
involve. The proposed Design for Environment method based on the waste hierarchy criteria is finally applied in the
redesign of an industrial case study. The packaging solution as foldable wooden crates were chosen for their capability to
already comply with the first stages of the hierarchy, that is reducing waste with high customization to customer
requirements and crate reuse. Hence, the case study improved the next stages with easing the wood recycle and recovery
processe
Multidisciplinary approaches to enhance Ground Penetrating Radar surveys in glacial and proglacial environments
No full textL'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen
Parametric virtual concepts in the early design of mechanical systems: a case study application
No full textVirtual prototyping enables the validation and optimization of mechanical devices similar to physical testing, saving time and costs in the product development, especially in case of heavy machines with complex motions. However, virtual prototyping is usually deployed only at the end of the design process, when the product architecture has already been developed. The present paper discusses the introduction of virtual prototypes since the conceptual design stage as “Virtual Concepts”, in which coarse models of machinery design variants are simulated obtaining useful information, sometimes fundamental to support best design choices. Virtual Concept modeling and preliminary validation, along with its later integration into a Virtual Prototype, are expressly investigated using Multi Body Dynamics software. A verification case study concerning a large vibrating screen is presented, in order to demonstrate that dynamic Virtual Concepts can enable an easier and effective evaluation of the design variants, thus increasing the design process predictability. Finally, current challenges to be solved for the practical adoption of Virtual Concept simulations as an integral part of the industrial design process are critically discussed
The Systematic Design of Industrial Products through Design Archetypes: An Application on Mechanical Transmissions
Get PDFEngineering design is a knowledge intensive activity for both new and mature technical systems, such as mechanical transmissions. However, design knowledge is often transferred with conservative and unstructured approaches, although knowledge management would be of the utmost importance for modern industries. In this work, we introduce a design tool, called design archetype, for collecting and managing knowledge in systematic design processes. The design archetype addresses input design requirements for different design concepts, therefore, improving awareness of the design process by interactively modifying the design solution due to different input requirements. Finally, the design archetype updates the parameters of a first embodiment computer-aided design model of the concept. A method for the development of design archetypes is presented and applied to two case studies of mechanical transmission subassemblies. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of a systematic design method based on design archetypes stored in the company database
Drone-Borne Ground-Penetrating Radar for Snow Cover Mapping
Get PDFGround-penetrating radar (GPR) is one of the most commonly used instruments to map the Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) in mountainous regions. However, some areas may be difficult or dangerous to access; besides, some surveys can be quite time-consuming. We test a new system to fulfill the need to speed up the acquisition process for the analysis of the SWE and to access remote or dangerous areas. A GPR antenna (900 MHz) is mounted on a drone prototype designed to carry heavy instruments, fly safely at high altitudes, and avoid interference of the GPR signal. A survey of two test sites of the Alpine region during winter 2020–2021 is presented, to check the prototype performance for mapping the snow thickness at the catchment scale. We process the data according to a standard flow-chart of radar processing and we pick both the travel times of the air–snow interface and the snow–ground interface to compute the travel time difference and to estimate the snow depth. The calibration of the radar snow depth is performed by comparing the radar travel times with snow depth measurements at preselected stations. The main results show fairly good reliability and performance in terms of data quality, accuracy, and spatial resolution in snow depth monitoring. We tested the device in the condition of low snow density (<200 kg/m3) and this limits the detectability of the air–snow interface. This is mainly caused by low values of the electrical permittivity of the dry soft snow, providing a weak reflectivity of the snow surface. To overcome this critical aspect, we use the data of the rangefinder to properly detect the travel time of the snow–air interface. This sensor is already installed in our prototype and in most commercial drones for flight purposes. Based on our experience with the prototype, various improvement strategies and limitations of drone-borne GPR acquisition are discussed. In conclusion, the drone technology is found to be ready to support GPR-based snow depth mapping applications at high altitudes, provided that the operators acquire adequate knowledge of the devices, in order to effectively build, tune, use and maintain a reliable acquisition system
DESIGN ARCHETYPE OF TRANSMISSION CLUTCHES FOR KNOWLEDGE BASED ENGINEERING
No full textThe management of technical knowledge in engineering
design is a key target for nowadays industry. Accessibility to
knowledge by designers and standardization of models are still
open issues to be fixed with integrated solutions. The present
paper proposes a methodological support for keeping the value
of designers’ experience in the company with Knowledge Based
Engineering. A Design Archetype (DA) is developed to simply
store and reuse the knowledge during the execution of the design
tasks. The DA drives designers in selecting the most suitable
working principles to address the project requirements and in
dimensioning the subsystems, providing an embodiment CAD
model. The applicability of the proposed methodology in
industry is demonstrated for the design of clutches of agricultural
tractor transmissions
Design Archetype of Gears for Knowledge Based Engineering
No full textAn engineering design process consists of a sequence of creative, innovative and routine design tasks. Routine tasks address well-known procedures and add limited value to the technical improvement of a product, even if they may require a lot of work. In order to focus designers work on added value tasks, the present work aims at supporting a routine task with a Design Archetype (DA). A DA captures, stores and reuses the design knowledge with a tool embedded in a CAD software. The DA algorithms drive the designer in selecting the most effective design concept to deliver the project requirements and then embody the concept through configuring a CAD model. Finally, a case study on the definition of a DA tool for gear design demonstrates the effectiveness of the DA tool
Interactive simulation-based-training tools for manufacturing systems operators: an industrial case study
Get PDFIndustrial process plants are increasingly becoming complex structures with high level of automation. Nonetheless, the final plant productivity and the overall equipment efficiency does not solely depend on an optimized engineering design/installation practice, but also on human operators supervision. In parallel, along with the classic demand to minimize costs and time-to-market during the design phases, issues concerning human safety and failure prevention play a crucial role, one of the highest target being the avoidance of dangerous process states. Within this context, Simulation-Based-Training (SBT) allows plant operators to learn how to command complex automated machineries within a secure virtual environment. Similar to its usage in medical, aerospace, naval and military fields, SBT for manufacturing systems can be employed in order to involve the user within a realistic scenario, thus providing an effective, lifelike, interactive training experience under the supervision of experienced personnel. In addition, also according to previous literature, industry-driven SBT may be effectively envisaged as a natural extension of the plant life-cycle simulation practice, comprising Design Simulation & Optimization, Virtual Commissioning, Operator Training, up to Plant Maintenance. In this context, since the overall system behavior depends both on manufacturing process dynamics and Control Logics, the main challenge for an effective SBT is related with the development of a real-time environment where control system responsiveness is fully reproduced. Owing to this consideration, this paper reports a successful industrial case study, concerning a novel SBT workbench used for steel plants operator training, discussing both the virtual prototyping phase and the development of a real-time simulation architecture. In particular, a hybrid process simulation is employed, where a virtual process model is coupled with physical PLC and Human–Machine Interface, thus achieving an accurate reproduction of the real plant/operator interaction
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