1,720,987 research outputs found
The use of autonomous maintenance in the fertilizer industry in Zimbabwe
No full textConference paper,The paper aims to give a guideline on the use and implementation of Autonomous Maintenance in a typical manufacturing facility. It details the chronic and perennial problems besetting typical developing countries maintenance regime scenarios. It then proffers a simple but concise paradigm shift toward the adoption and use of Autonomous Maintenance. A thorough literature exposé is articulated which it is hoped should cement the benefits of Autonomous Maintenance. Autonomous Maintenance is a dynamic, team-based methodology that involves all employees in identifying and eliminating equipment related losses such as equipment failure, inconsistent adjustment procedures, lengthy set-up time, idling and minor stoppages, processing defects and reduced production yields among others. The importance of teams in goal attainment is highlighted and finally the paper concludes by articulating the World famous 5’s due to Nakajima and incorporates these in the implementation of Autonomous Maintenance
Design of a mechanical cleaning device PIG (pipeline intervention gadget) connecting two transfer lines in Zimbabwe
No full textConference paper,In the Oil and Gas Industry, maintenance is done using a device or tool called a pig, chiefly to remove solids, dirt, and liquids from the pipelines. The aim of this work is to design and retrofit a pig which will clean 3 identical underground transfer pipelines linking 2 depots The movement of this tool is basically through the action of the fluid in the pipeline pushing it along as it is pumped from one point to another, hence no external power is needed in the device to help in its movement. Calculation based model analysis of the tool together with Solidworks simulations and results are included in detail, with all assumptions and limitations clearly stated and listed. The results show that the pig will move inside the pipe at a lower speed than the mean flow velocity which is good for the performance of the electronic systems installed on its body for pipeline inspection. Bypass hole is added on the central part of the pig body to control the speed as well as keep the cleaned dirt stirred and moving, being pushed by the pig as it performs its cleaning process
Machinery maintenance yesterday, today and tomorrow in the manufacturing sector
No full textWorld Congress on Engineering (WCE 2015) Conference Proceeding,Maintenance is what is done in machinery to prevent failure or breakdown. In ancient times no proper planning was carried out to do maintenance with the idea behind being simple machines and easy to control. As time progresses people started to find out that it was necessary to safeguard equipment to reduce costs for continuous growth. Maintenance is best divided its phases by world war two due to the fact that everyone wanted to win the war so new ideas were coming from different scholars as to get back their resources and land. Before world war two, everything was done as per suggestions without any standards. In world war two it was order of the day to improve and starting to think outside the box in maintaining the existing machinery and equipment and also lastly nowadays the speed in improvement and advanced type ofmachinery is always being manufactured at a supersonic speed hence new technology in maintenance as well.,International Association of Engineers (IAENG
Fuzzy logic and condition-based maintenance approaches to machine failure analysis
Get PDFD.Ing. (Engineering Management)Abstract: When the complexity of the controller plant is a non-linear system, the production process cannot be fulfilled by the control effect and it is not easy to manipulate the parameters on Proportional-Integral-Derivative Controller. The major objective under study is simulating and modelling machinery then come up with a suitable intelligent Condition Based Maintenance system (i.e to develop a suitable intelligent system using fuzzy logic and artificial intelligence). The area under study of Fuzzy Logic came as a concern of nonlinear systems which fail to give correct information since machines use conventional Proportional-Integral-Derivative and hence this is for linear systems. Considering vibrations and continuous failure of machines, this will cause incorrect data portraying. Three companies were done in this thesis and all were analysed using fuzzy logic and some finite element analysis of components to monitor the parameters. Root cause analysis was also done to determine what was failing on different equipments. Three companies in a developing country were used as case studies for testing fuzzy logic approaches and models to machinery failure analysis. The three companies are designated as follows: Beverages Production Company, Hydro Power Generating Company and Water Distributing Company. The overall effectiveness of the companies were heavily affected due to many breakdowns. The main problem was found to be resulting from failure to monitor nonlinear systems that naturally exist in such environments. On the bottle washer at Beverages Production Company, fuzzy logic with Model Reference Adaptive Control to prevent failure on the bottle washer and introduce an intelligent Condition Based Maintenance program was done, a solution to come up with a control system that monitors water in the dam as well as protecting the equipment from failure and do stability control of machinery for Water Distributing Company as well as apply the concept of Maintenance Free Operating Period reliability metric to determine maintenance intervals as opposed to Mean Time Between Failure to the Hydro-Power Generation Company and also do a Simulink control on the governor. The results of the simulation of the control strategy of Fuzzy Logic Proportional-Integral-Derivative Controller have much preferred performance as compared to the general Proportional-Integral-Derivative Controller. This was done in the Simulink/Matlab simulation environment. The innovations behind this thesis at Beverages Production Company, the pneumatic valve of the bottle washer which controls the discharge of clean bottles was occasionally sticking or failing resulting in significant loss of production in the plant since all the other processes which follow depend on the bottle washer. The main causes of failure were caused by poor control of temperature and pressure. Excessive moisture and abrasive particles also caused failures. In order to solve this problem a Model Reference Adaptive Fuzzy Controller was designed for the pneumatic valve using the Matlab software. The error resulting from the difference between the actual system output and that of the reference model was executed by the Fuzzy Logic Controller. At company Hydro-Power Generation Company, the administering system of a 150 Megawatts Francis Turbine was developed using fuzzy logic. The representative framework parameters were mirrored with the real information accessible in the power plant. At Water Distributing Company the problem of corroding gates and failure was solved using solid works, Matlab, Programmable Logic Controller and Simulink. The sluice gate valve was controlled and done stability by Matlab to avoid failure. After fuzzy logic is applied in each and every company under study, the breakdowns will be less and machinery can be diagnosed and prognosis is easy to foresee the failures. A new gate was designed by the researcher. The research has shown that fuzzy logic being intelligent, machinery can last longer and production is high. The limitations are that although it is good in monitoring but in some machinery and companies may not work well because of environment like in the water gates. It is also expensive to implement and difficult to convince management to do the research for a start
Design of a paper slitting and rewinding machine for a developing country, Zimbabwe
No full textConference paper,This paper is on the design of a paper slitting and rewinding machine for a developing economy which targets small to medium enterprises (SMEs). The current problem is the high cost of such machines on the market hence most SMEs in a developing economy cannot afford them. Through careful analysis of current machines, use of alternative cheaper materials and use of more energy efficient drive mechanisms, it was possible to come up with a low cost and efficient solution. Research on the paper slitting and rewinding industry was conducted on the internet, published scholarly articles and industrial visits to local companies in the same business. The implementation of this design has major positive benefits to the development of the economy
Finite element analysis of ROM silo subjected to 5000 tons monotonic loads at an anonymous mine in Zimbabwe
No full textInternational Conference on challenges in IT, Engineering and Technology (ICCIET’2014) Conference Proceeding,This paper introduces finite element analysis of Run off Mine (ROM) silo subjected to dynamic loading. The proposed procedure is based on the use of theoretical equations to come up with pressure and forces1 exerted by Platinum Group Metals(PGMs) ore to the silo wall. Finite Element Analysis of the silo involves the use of CAD software (AutoCAD) for3D creation and CAE software (T-FLEX) for the simulationwork with an optimization routine to minimize the mass and also ensure structural stiffness and stability.In this research an efficient way to design and analysis of a silo in 3D T-FLEX (CAD) program was created the silo to stay within the constrains and so as to know the points of failure due dynamic loading.,International Institute of Engineer
Design of a bench saw cutting machine for wood with automatic braking system
No full textConference paper,This research paper explores the design of an automatic safety brake mechanism on a manual circular table saw machine which stops the blade from rotating when human flesh is detected in the blade proximity. Fatal injuries are occurring, human thumbs and entire hand cutting during operation when operator accidentally touches the spinning blade. It has become a matter of concern to develop the safety mechanism which can be retrofitted on old-model table saw machines used to train students at a university wood workshop. The researchers made use of capacitive proximity sensors to detect human flesh and then automatically activate the brake pawl to the rotating blade, D.C injection brake voltage which abruptly stop the running motor. The design procedure confirmed the quick release of the safety mechanism within 0.25 seconds as revealed from the simulation of circuits in Proteus software. With this design it is possible to stop the spinning blade in 0.25 seconds, before the operator touches the spinning blade and also the mechanism is adoptable to all circular saw machines (panel saw, bench saws), thus making a work-safe environment on the circular saws
Design of an automatic tyre pressure inflation system for small vehicles
No full textConference Paper,The advent of the tyre/automotive industry brought to a halt the savage days of long journeying by foot and suddenly introduced quick inter-city visits whilst the traveler is seated. In a bid to improve and perfect this modern way of journeying this paper focuses on the optimization of the automobile, subject matter being the effective and proper maintenance of the tyre so as to curb the disappointment of failing to travel due to underinflated tyres. The design presented in the report herein functions to restore the tyre pressure on vehicles so that they are kept at optimum pressure levels, thus extending their life time at the same time saving the owner from fuel costs and maintenance cost incurred with underinflated tyres. It constitutes of a wind driven turbine-compressor unit which uses drag wind as source of drive to a turbine and quickly converts it to rotational energy which powers a small compressor that feeds the tyre with pressurized air whenever the need arises. The system is monitored and controlled by a Java/Android program which detects low pressure and initiates compressor ON / OFF states. The system is environmentally friendly releasing zero gases and is self-sustaining using independent power source from that of the vehicle itself
Analysis of a gear train using finite element modelling
No full text2015 International Conference on Operations Excellence and Service Engineering Conference Proceeding,Here the theoretical maximum contact stress is calculated by Hertz equation. Also the finite element analysis of spur gear is done to determine the maximum contact stress by ANSYS 14.5. It was found that the results from both Hertz equation and Finite Element Analysis are comparable. From the deformation pattern of steel and grey cast iron, it could be concluded that difference between the maximum values of steel and grey CI gear deformation is very less. The simulation results have good agreement with the theoretical results, which implies that the model is correct. This study provides a sound foundation for future studies on contact stresses. The model is applied onto commercial FEA software ANSYS. Simulation results were compared and confirmed by the theoretical calculation data. According to these results, we can draw the conclusion; it was found out that the numerically obtained values of stress distributions were in good agreement with the theoretical results.,Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Society (IEOM Society
Method of lines based on finite element technique to analyse electromagnetic problems
Get PDFA hybrid scheme called finite element method of lines is described and proposed for modelling and analysis of generalized computational electromagnetic problems with emphasis on a number of irregular waveguide. This finite element based method of lines is developed by combining finite element method and the method of lines, so that it not only has high flexibility to treat geometrically and compositionally complex problems but also maintains high accuracy of semi-analytical technique. Analytical and numerical algorithmic building blocks of this new scheme are discussed such as geometry discretization, element mapping, element trial functions, reformulation and computational issues of non-linear ordinary differential equations. The results therefore show that this new technique is able to efficiently solve complex problems as compared with the conventional method of lines. MATLAB was used to compute the solutions of various problems
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