1,721,020 research outputs found
Three Technical Reports in the Trial of Enzo Ferrari for the 1957 Mille-Miglia Car Crash
No full textIn 1957, a car crash at the Mille Miglia – an Italian competition on a street circuit – caused the death of 11 people. As a matter of course, the car manufacturer, Enzo Ferrari, was investigated for negligent homicide. In order to clarify the car dynamics and the root causes, a first committee of technicians and academics had been assigned to produce an expert report. This report pointed directly towards the specific design of the tires used (made by the Belgian manufacturer Englebert) and, as a consequence, towards the Ferrari team and his owner. Other two reports followed, one provided by the defense and a third one to finally settle the issue. This paper won’t focus on the media aspect that the personalities involved aroused, but on the technical aspects of the reports produced by the three committees. Accidentally, these memories differ in the approach followed and allow a comparison on what the optimal approach should be to solve a technical problem, as well as a memory of a significant event in Italy which saw technical-scientific reasoning as the key to arriving at the truth and clearing Enzo Ferrari of all charges
The Italian Textbooks of Mechanics Applied to Machines in the Modern Age
No full textThe purpose of this paper, within the limits of the space available, is to trace the evolution of the textbooks of Mechanics Applied to Machines in Italy, considering a time period that goes from the second post-war period till today. The study presented does not pretend to be complete but wants to highlight the main changes in the textbooks of Applied Mechanics, correlating them to the historical period in which they were published. If we want to classify the textbooks according to common characteristics, it is proposed a classification in 3 main classes: the Masters, the Schools and the Courses. The first class brings together the textbooks published up to around 1970, by the professors who opened the first modern courses in Applied Mechanics in Italian universities. The second class brings together textbooks between 1970 and the 2000s, when the number of universities was growing, as the teaching and student population. The third class brings together textbooks from the 2000s to today. The publications no longer want to be a reference for all Applied Mechanics, but the topics are selected according to the specific study courses for which they are designed. It is stressed that the classification into the three proposed classes must be made based on the contents of the text and not purely on the date of publication
Plans for a Course on the History of Mechanisms and Machine Science
No full textMany universities offer optional courses within the curricula of studies that students can choose based on their interests. Usually, they are short courses of 3 ECTS (credits) but in some cases they can be proposed up to 6 ECTS. Moreover, they are often common to several degree courses, so the topics covered should be more general and transversal with respect to the specific engineering curriculum. In this paper, the background significance of the History of Mechanisms and Machine Science (MMS) is discussed by re-proposing a short course in technical formation curricula for engineers, preferably at Bachelor levels. After reviewing some previous preliminary experiences, the course proposal is outlined as based on the expectations in learning outcomes and with a general structure referring to basic literature. The target is to provide historical education backgrounds within the formation curriculum of a modern engineer
Nomograms: An Old Tool with New Applications
No full textIn this paper, we consider the history of nomograms as a computational tool in mechanical engineering, together with their potential applications for teaching purposes, and summarize the mathematical methods used to derive them. Nomograms are graphical descriptions of a mathematical problem, such that the desired solution may be derived through a simple geometric construction, which usually requires nothing more than a straightedge. This way, a reasonably accurate solution to a complex problem can be quickly obtained even in adverse environmental conditions by low-skilled users; moreover, a nomogram can provide immediate insight on the relationship between the variables. Nomograms date back to the 1800s and have been used by engineers for decades, due to their convenience over manual computation, before computers became widespread. While nomograms have now been largely superseded as engineering tools, our analysis shows that they can still have some applications in workshops and for teaching purposes
Dynamic Analysis of a Semi-automatic Telegraph Key
No full textThe first telegraph key model was invented in 1846 by Alfred Vai, a close collaborator of Samuel F.B. Morse. Since then the telegraph key has changed several designs from the mechanical semi-automatic or bug to automatic systems, representing for years the main means of communication as well as the first means of electrical communication invented. Today telegraphy replaced by the telephone and the Internet, however, these devices are still used by about 3 million Amateur radio operators. In this paper, a dynamic analysis of a precise telegraph key model has done. The model is the Vibroplex Original Deluxe which is a semi-automatic model made by Vibroplex Company Inc., a historical company manufacturer of these devices, founded by Horace Greeley Martin (1873-1937). The feature of this device is to automatically generate points (in Morse code sense) by means of an oscillating mass. The validated model will be useful to test different setting parameters and how to manage them to get comfort for the operator
Italian Historical Developments of Teaching and Museum Valorization of Mechanism Models
Full text linkThis paper presents an historical analysis of developments for the creation and usage of models of mechanisms in academic teaching fields, with the aim of re-evaluating the interest and usefulness of models in teaching and research, and of promoting their merits as a cultural heritage worthy of being preserved. The historical analysis is focused on developments in Italy, with specific attention given to physical models created and used for training young engineers in Italian engineering schools, using commercial products, but also original Italian creations. Examples are reported from the main Italian academic sites, where examples of such models of mechanisms have been preserved or have survived, also, as first attempts at museum valorization in terms of historical memorabilia of educational developments on mechanism design issues
On the performance comparison of diagnostic techniques in machine monitoring
No full textPredictive maintenance can save a lot of efforts in modern industry and condition monitoring is attracting a lot of attention accordingly. New algorithms for fault detection appear frequently in the technical literature, however an objective, quantitative and widely accepted approach to performance comparison is still lacking. In this paper, we propose a new method leading to a fair and reproducible performance assessment. The proposed solution is based on vibrational analysis and consists of searching and detecting the theoretical cyclic frequencies that appear as a specific "signature" of a fault. Each algorithm for condition monitoring relies on a metric, then the main idea is to quantitatively characterize the peaks of the metric emerging from the machine noise. We think that the wide adoption of the proposed approach could significantly foster the research in the fields of condition monitoring and predictive maintenance
Knife diagnostics with clustering techniques and support vector machines
No full textThis paper is about analysis of experimental data, verifying the applicability of signal analysis techniques for condition monitoring of a packaging machine. In particular, the activity focuses on the cutting process that divides a continuous flow of packaging paper into single packages. The cutting process is made by a steel knife driven by a hydraulic system. Actually the knives are frequently substituted, causing frequent stops of the machine and consequent lost production costs. The aim of this paper is developing a diagnostic procedure to assess the wear condition of the blades, reducing the stops for maintenance. The packaging machine was sensorized with pressure sensor that monitors the hydraulic system driving the blade. Processing of the pressure data comprises three main steps: the selection of scalar quantities that could be indicative of the health state of the knife. A clustering analysis to setup a threshold between healthy and faulted knives. Finally, a Support Vector Machine (SVM) model to classify the health state of knife during its lifetime
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