Durability requirements for fire detectors mounted in engine rooms of heavy vehicles

This thesis was carried out at the Division of Combustion Engines within the Faculty of Engineering at Lund University in collaboration with SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden. The thesis was part of a project funded by the FFI program of VINNOVA, with the goal of creating a standardized test method when it comes to fire detection systems mounted in engine compartments of heavy vehicles. As of today, there are certifications regarding the fire suppression system but no appropriate test method for fire detection systems has yet been implemented. A stepping stone in the right direction of creating a standard for fire detection systems is by first looking at the durability requirements for fire detectors that are to be mounted in engine rooms of heavy vehicles. To better understand what can cause fire detectors to malfunction, a deeper knowledge of the operating principles of fire detectors is needed as well as which aspects influence the failure of detectors. The investigation is specified to engine compartments of heavy vehicles and to the physical phenomena arising in that environment. Six physical phenomena that arise in engine rooms due to the operating principles of the vehicle were seen as high priority aspects to be investigated further. These phenomena are: corrosion, ageing, heat and cold, vibrations and mechanical shocks, electromagnetic interference and finally the impacts of the intrusion of water, dust and dirt into the enclosures of electronic devices. The goal of this thesis was to find appropriate testing methods that are applicable to fire detectors that are to be mounted in the engine compartments of heavy vehicles with respect to their durability requirements. Test methods that are best suited for each of the physical factors mentioned earlier were chosen after consultations with experts at SP. Following this, appropriate test parameters were set by studying already existing standards and having dialogues with representatives of heavy vehicle manufacturers. The test parameters and the resulting durability requirements that have been recommended are based on the feedback from representatives of heavy vehicle manufacturers. Future work within this area is to conduct experimental tests of the fire detectors based on the test methods that have been suggested in this report. Furthermore, as the time frame of this thesis was limited, only the physical factors mentioned above have been studied. If there is further interest and if time is of no concern, the study of influencing physical phenomena can be expanded and more feasible results may be granted

A Constructivist Grounded Theory Study of Airfield Lighting Maintenance Management Strategy

Asset management programs can keep senior airport managers informed of the performance and life-cycle costs of assets critical to airport operations. With this information, managers can adjust operations and maintenance to minimize costs without sacrificing service quality. However, program implementation is costly and time-consuming. In addition to management and information technology changes, the individual maintenance shops must also develop and incorporate new data collection processes into their everyday workflow. Knowledgeable and experienced maintenance managers must evaluate the data, consider alternatives, and find strategies to reduce costs without negative impact. Unfortunately, such managers are rare for highly specialized assets like airfield lighting systems and often gain most of their experience working at one airport. This research investigated the maintenance strategies most often used for airfield lighting, examined which criteria affected strategy choices, and asked how managers make their selections. The researcher interviewed 23 participants from 15 airports, including facility managers, maintenance engineers, and supervisors. Interview statements were first individually coded in detail and then grouped using focused codes to enable the continuous comparison of each organization’s approach to addressing common problems. Ultimately, the analysis identified eight primary criteria that managers should consider when selecting a maintenance strategy. The process used by U.S. commercial service airports for selecting a maintenance management strategy is modeled as a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) problem. The model includes a problem goal, the criteria affecting the decision, and all the possible alternatives. MCDM models can employ various quantitative decision support systems such as Simple Additive Weighting (SAW), which requires subject matter experts to assign weights to the performance of the multiple alternatives for each of the criteria. However, the research shows that airports consistently use an intuitive decision-making process that relies on the expertise and experience of their maintenance staff. Therefore, this research constructed a theory of airfield lighting maintenance strategy selection modeled as an MCDM problem using an intuitive decision support system. Maintenance managers should consider each of the following criteria when considering their work strategy: access, environment, regulations, budget, design, condition, impetus, and staff. Data analysis also found nine alternative maintenance strategies divided into corrective and preventive types. Corrective maintenance involves action after an asset degradation or failure has occurred. Preventive maintenance is the action taken before problems to prevent degradation and failure. Research shows that maintenance managers consider corrective maintenance to be less costly. However, overuse of corrective maintenance results in higher risks of unexpected asset failure and higher costs over the long-term. In comparison, preventive maintenance may require more daily effort but yields more reliable system performance and lower asset life-cycle costs. In practice, successful maintenance requires using both strategies. Asset management practices require maintenance managers to measure and analyze their system performance, then regularly consider how they might change the maintenance program to minimize operating and maintenance costs without sacrificing performance. This research provides information helpful to maintenance managers with their strategy selection. Future research should investigate developing a quantitative decision-support system that maintenance managers could integrate into the current process and potentially deploy to maintenance organizations wanting supplemental guidance

UMass Amherst Green Building Guidelines v.2 and LEEDv4

Facilities & Campus Services supports sustainability and energy conservation initiatives by providing in-house resources to campus staff as well as designers, contractors and other consultants working with the University. The UMass Amherst Green Building Guidelines v2 and LEED v4 provide a framework for approaching new construction and major renovation projects at UMass Amherst that are undergoing LEED v4 certification by focusing the conversation on those green building aspects that are most important to the campus. They are intended to be the beginning of a dynamic conversation between designers, environmental consultants and constructors, university stakeholders, and users of new high performance buildings

The simulation of automated leading edge assembly

Aircraft manufacturers are experiencing a fierce competition worldwide. Improving productivity, increasing throughput and reducing costs are influencing aircraft manufacturer’s future development. In order to improve competitiveness and provide sufficient and high quality products, it should reduce operations of aircraft assembly,majority of which are still in manual process, which limit production output. In contrast, these processes can be automated to replace manual operations. Much more attention should be placed on automated application. This project aims to propose a methodology to develop the automated assembly based on robotics and use this methodology to develop a new concept of Automated Leading Edge Assembly. The research selects an automated assembly process for further evaluation and brackets assembled on the front spar of Leading Edge are chosen to be automated assembly with robot assistant. The software DELMIA is used to develop and simulate the automated assembly process of brackets based on 3-D virtual aircraft Leading Edge models. The research development is mainly divided into three phases which are: (1) The state of art on Manual Leading Edge Assembly; (2) Automated Leading Edge Assembly framework development; (3) Automated Leading Edge Assembly framework evaluation including automated assembly process simulation based on DELMIA robotics workbench and automated assembly cost estimation. The research has proposed a methodology to develop the automated assembly based on robotics, proposed a new concept of Automated Leading Edge Assembly: using robots to replace workers to finish the assembly applications in the Leading Edge, and proposed a new automated bracket assembly process with laser ablation, adhesive bonding, drilling, riveting, and robot application. These applications can attract more and more engineers’ attention and provide preliminary knowledge for further study and detail research in the future

ORYX 2.0: A Planetary Exploration Mobility Platform

This project involved the design, manufacturing, integration, and testing of ORYX 2.0, a modular mobility platform. ORYX 2.0 is a rover designed for operation on rough terrain to facilitate space related technology research and Earth exploration missions. Currently there are no low-cost rovers available to academia or industry, making it difficult to conduct research related to surface exploration. ORYX 2.0 fills this gap by serving as a ruggedized highly mobile research platform with many features aimed at simplifying payload integration. Multiple teleoperated field testing trials on a variety of terrains validated the rover’s ruggedness and ability to operate soundly. Lastly, a deployable pan-tilt camera was designed, built, and tested, as an example payload

ORYX 2.0: A Planetary Exploration Mobility Platform

This project involved the design, manufacturing, integration, and testing of ORYX 2.0, a modular mobility platform. ORYX 2.0 is a rover designed for operation on rough terrain to facilitate space related technology research and Earth exploration missions. Currently there are no low-cost rovers available to academia or industry, making it difficult to conduct research related to surface exploration. ORYX 2.0 fills this gap by serving as a ruggedized highly mobile research platform with many features aimed at simplifying payload integration. Multiple teleoperated field testing trials on a variety of terrains validated the rover\u27s ruggedness and ability to operate soundly. Lastly, a deployable pan-tilt camera was designed, built, and tested, as an example payload

Wings in Orbit: Scientific and Engineering Legacies of the Space Shuttle, 1971-2010

The Space Shuttle is an engineering marvel perhaps only exceeded by the station itself. The shuttle was based on the technology of the 1960s and early 1970s. It had to overcome significant challenges to make it reusable. Perhaps the greatest challenges were the main engines and the Thermal Protection System. The program has seen terrible tragedy in its 3 decades of operation, yet it has also seen marvelous success. One of the most notable successes is the Hubble Space Telescope, a program that would have been a failure without the shuttle's capability to rendezvous, capture, repair, as well as upgrade. Now Hubble is a shining example of success admired by people around the world. As the program comes to a close, it is important to capture the legacy of the shuttle for future generations. That is what "Wings In Orbit" does for space fans, students, engineers, and scientists. This book, written by the men and women who made the program possible, will serve as an excellent reference for building future space vehicles. We are proud to have played a small part in making it happen. Our journey to document the scientific and engineering accomplishments of this magnificent winged vehicle began with an audacious proposal: to capture the passion of those who devoted their energies to its success while answering the question "What are the most significant accomplishments?" of the longestoperating human spaceflight program in our nation s history. This is intended to be an honest, accurate, and easily understandable account of the research and innovation accomplished during the era

Optocoupler Integration of LTCC-based Gate Driver in a SiC Power Module

The growing demand for electrical energy in today’s industrialized economy has driven the need for innovative approaches to meet diverse application requirements. Notably, advancements have been made in the field of power electronic systems, as reliable power electronic converters are essential for managing multiple power sources and loads. However, the development of these systems poses challenges related to power device switching speed, system weight and size, and power losses. The integration of a gate driver into a SiC power module offers a solution to many of these challenges, thereby driving the advancement of electrical power density expansion. An LTCC-based gate driver with an LTCC-based optical isolator was developed and integrated into a fabricated 1.2kV SiC power module. This development was done specifically for high temperature applications as part of a wider research on the reliability of the integrated power module at higher temperatures. Therefore, this high temperature gate driver integrated SiC power module was tested from 25oC to 200oC. Double pulse testing of the fabricated integrated SiC power module was done to characterize the switching performance of the power module. The test results indicate a minimal voltage overshoot of approximately 3.5V during both the turn-on and turn-off periods. Additionally, the current overshoot ranges from ~5A to ~8A as the temperature increases from 25oC to 200oC. The results show good switching performance resulting in minimal losses over higher temperatures. Therefore, with these results, the integrated SiC power module can enhance better power density, and lower losses even in high temperature applications

Optocoupler Integration of LTCC-based Gate Driver in a SiC Power Module

The growing demand for electrical energy in today’s industrialized economy has driven the need for innovative approaches to meet diverse application requirements. Notably, advancements have been made in the field of power electronic systems, as reliable power electronic converters are essential for managing multiple power sources and loads. However, the development of these systems poses challenges related to power device switching speed, system weight and size, and power losses. The integration of a gate driver into a SiC power module offers a solution to many of these challenges, thereby driving the advancement of electrical power density expansion. An LTCC-based gate driver with an LTCC-based optical isolator was developed and integrated into a fabricated 1.2kV SiC power module. This development was done specifically for high temperature applications as part of a wider research on the reliability of the integrated power module at higher temperatures. Therefore, this high temperature gate driver integrated SiC power module was tested from 25oC to 200oC. Double pulse testing of the fabricated integrated SiC power module was done to characterize the switching performance of the power module. The test results indicate a minimal voltage overshoot of approximately 3.5V during both the turn-on and turn-off periods. Additionally, the current overshoot ranges from ~5A to ~8A as the temperature increases from 25oC to 200oC. The results show good switching performance resulting in minimal losses over higher temperatures. Therefore, with these results, the integrated SiC power module can enhance better power density, and lower losses even in high temperature applications