1,720,964 research outputs found
Knowledge-based manufacturing: Management and deployment of manufacturing rules through product lifecycle management systems
No full textIn manufacturing companies, computer-aided design (CAD)/computer-aided manufacturing
(CAM) feature-based approaches have been developed for faster numerical control (NC)
programming. They allow to automatically generate toolpath, recognizing both standard and custom
machining features, and defining for each of them the best or preferred machining process based
on predefined rules. The definition of Feature Based Manufacturing (FBM) rules requires advanced
competences and skills; furthermore, the standardization required by these instruments is too rigorous
for real machining practices. It is therefore necessary to extend the Product Lifecycle Management
(PLM) environment in order to be able to make explicit and manage manufacturing rules based
on industrial best practice. The paper addresses these problems presenting a possible solution to
optimize FBM information management and integration within the product lifecycle. A data model
extension, covering new items such as “manufacturing rules” and “tool setting preferences”, and a
new methodology for rules management and deployment are proposed
IC.IDO as a tool for displaying machining processes. The logic interface between computer-aided-manufacturing and virtual reality
Full text linkThis scientific communication investigates the logic interface of a CAM solver, i.e., MasterCAM, into a Virtual Reality (VR) environment. This integration helps in displaying machining operations in virtual reality. Currently, to partially visualize the results of a simulation in an immersive environment, an import/export procedure must be done manually. Here, a software plugin integrated into IC.IDO (by ESI Group) has been realized and fully described. This application allows the complete integration of CAM solver into the VR environment. In particular, the VERICUT solver has been integrated into VR. This kind of integration has never been done yet
Energy recovery from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste: technical, economical and financial assessment of a facility using the Real Options
No full text
Action Research on Virtual-Reality-Assisted Product and Process Design
No full textVirtual reality (VR) technology improves engineering activities, enabling a better understanding of products and processes. A complete conversion from the existing CAx software to a VR environment could improve product and process design activities, leading to new practices. This article aims to provide key insights, technical evidences, and related impacts on the engineering activities of industrial companies while integrating the existing systems with VR as a supporting tool for product and process design. The results indicate improved design and limited negative impacts related to errors during the manufacturing phase. An action research study involving Oil&Gas manufacturing companies was conducted to explore the following four CAx-VR scenarios: CAD–VR for ergonomics/reachability, CAE(CFD)–VR and CAE(FEM)–VR for abstract data visualization, and CAM–VR for packaging. For each scenario, applicative cases focusing on Oil&Gas products, such as multistage centrifugal pumps and ball valves, have been investigated. Furthermore, a detailed discussion of the involved chain of software applications and impacts on the engineering activities for each scenario establishes the reliability of the integrated environment for CAD, CAE, and CAM data immersive visualization
Knowledge-based manufacturing: A proposal to manage manufacturing rules
No full textIn manufacturing companies, technologists use CAD/CAM tools for NC programming. Feature based approaches enable to faster programming, but require advanced competences and a standardization too rigorous for real machining practices. It is necessary a data and manufacturing rules management environment, in which knowledge engineer can define the rules based on industrial best practice and CAM Experts can customize them for production requirements. A possible solution is to extend the FBM software module with an easy-to-use system that simplifies feature based rules management and deployment. © 2018 Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture. All rights reserved
Energy recovery from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste: technical, economical and financial assessment of a facility using the Real Options Theory
No full textIn European Countries an high percentage of food purchased is thrown away, thus increasing the organic
fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). Anaerobic digestion (AD) can reduce the volume of OFMSW going to
landfill, producing, at the same time, biogas and compost, all at a profit. In this paper the authors present the results
of a study aimed at assessing the technical, economic and financial feasibility of different plant configurations of an
AD facility for compost and biogas production, characterized by a different degree of flexibility. A methodology
based on the Real Options Theory (ROT) and the Monte Carlo simulation is used to assess the value of some
“flexible” technologies that allow management to react actively to uncertainty. The proposed methodology considers
investments as a series of opportunities, or options, which can be exploited or abandoned when uncertainty about
future scenarios is gradually resolved. This allows analysts to take into account, at the feasibility study stage,
flexibility of these plants as well as both probabilistic and deterministic variables affecting these investment projects.
The model has been applied to a case study concerning an Italian Municipality. Results obtained show the capability
of the proposed approach to evaluate the effect of different degrees of production systems flexibility on financial and
economic results of an investment project
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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