Characteristics of developed flexible polyurethane foams reinforced with coconut coir fibres and recycled tyres

Flexible Polyurethane (PU) foam is generally used in seat cushions of automotive seating for comfort and supporting the occupants. However, due to the demand for more comfortable compartment; seat cushions are now designed for better riding comfort and acoustic absorption which linked to the damping of foam. Incorporated treated coir fibres (F) and tyre particles (P) into polymeric material had improved the damping and strength of the material. In this research, flexible PU foams were reinforced with two fillers for the purpose of higher damping property and improve the mechanical strength. Five samples with 2.5wt% of filler loading were developed. The damping of samples was measured on sound absorption and vibration transmissibility test that generated at 1mm, 1.5mm, 0.1g, and 0.15g base excitation while their mechanical properties were examined through compression, tear resistance, and compression set. The morphology of samples was also observed by SEM in this research. The results showed that the foam composites produced have smaller cell size, in which the smallest was 840µm compared to 1290µm obtained in pure PU foam. The mechanical properties revealed that the strength of flexible PU foam increased with added treated coir fibres and recycled tyres. The best properties were shown in PU+2.5wt%(50F50P) which increased by 10.78% on the compressive modulus, 9.33% on the compressive strength, 14.49% on the static energy absorption, and 3.76% on the tear strength compared to pure PU foam. The sound absorption and vibration damping of the developed foams showed that more energy were absorbed and dissipated by these foams after fillers added. The PU+2.5wt%(80P20F) and PU+2.5wt%F presented an excellent sound absorption characteristics at 20mm and 40mm thickness, respectively, whereas PU+2.5wt%P, PU+2.5wt%(80P20F), and PU+2.5wt%(80F20P) showed higher vibration damping from the transmissibility test

Development of a headrig process information system : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Technology in Computer Systems Engineering at Massey University

A computer-based process information system was developed to gather operational information about the headrig handsaw at the Timber Technology Centre (TiTC) sawmill in the Waiariki Institute of Technology, store the data in a database, and display the information in various forms to the user. The project was the first part of an encompassing programme to instrument an entire commercial sawmill. This research programme aims to determine which variables are crucial to quantifying the sawing processes and to investigate the best techniques for measuring the variables. The system developed was extremely modular. Both analysis modules and sensor hardware can be added or removed without any need for restarting the system. A client-server architecture using networking communications was used to facilitate this. A central server gathers and stores the data, and individual clients analyse the data and display the information to the user. This enables analysis modules to be added and removed without even restarting the system. An experiment to determine the effect of wood density on the variables measured was used to test the viability of the completed system. The system successfully gathered all of the information required for the experiment and performed 70% of the data collation and analysis automatically. The remainder was performed using spreadsheets as this was deemed to be the most suitable method. The loosely coupled design of the system allows it to be up-scaled to a mill-wide program easily. Experiments performed to gather information about pivotal process variables are currently being planned, and should be underway as the expansion into other machine stations is being designed

Plasma sprayed titanium coatings with/without a shroud

Abstract: Titanium coatings were deposited by plasma spraying with and without a shroud. The titanium coatings were then assessed by scanning electron microscopy. A comparison in microstructure between titanium coatings with and without the shroud was carried out. The results showed that the shroud played an important role in protecting the titanium particles from oxidation. The presence of the shroud led to a reduction in coating porosity. The reduction in air entrainment with t he shroud resulted in better heating of the particles, and an enhanced microstructure with lower porosity in the shrouded titanium coatings were observed compared to the air plasma sprayed counterpart

Financial analysis of a partial manufacturing plant consolidation

Includes bibliographical references

Low-cost point-focus solar concentrator, phase 1

The results of the preliminary design study for the low cost point focus solar concentrator (LCPFSC) development program are presented. A summary description of the preliminary design is given. The design philosophy used to achieve a cost effective design for mass production is described. The concentrator meets all design requirements specified and is based on practical design solutions in every possible way

Factory Eco-Efficiency Modelling: Framework Development and Testing

Eco-efficiency is becoming an increasingly important organisational performance measure. Its indicators are regularly used alongside productivity, cost, quality, health and safety in operations and corporate social responsibility reporting. The purpose of this paper is to show an eco-efficiency modelling framework, and its application in the case of an automotive manufacturer. The framework composes, models and analyses resource and production data. Focus on energy, water distributions and material transformations in manufacturing, utility and facility assets are used to analyse eco-efficiency. Resources are examined in respect to three data granularity factors: subdivision, pulse, and magnitude. Models are linked with performance indicators to assess asset eco-efficiency. This work contributes to industrial sustainability literature by introducing a modelling framework that links with data granularity and eco-efficiency indicators

Is a Voluntary Approach an Effective Environmental Policy Instrument? A Case for Environmental Management Systems

Using Japanese facility-level data from an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development survey, we estimate the effects of implementation of ISO14001 and publication of environmental reports on the facilities’ environmental performance. While most previous studies focused on an index of emissions toxicity, this study examines three areas of impacts, none of which have been explored in the literature: natural resource use, solid waste generation, and wastewater effluent. The study is also unique in that the effectiveness of ISO14001 is considered in relation to environmental regulations. Our findings are summarized as follows. First, both ISO14001 and report publication help reduce all three impacts; the former appears more effective in all areas except wastewater. Second, environmental regulations do not weaken the effect of ISO14001. Third, assistance programs offered by local governments—a voluntary approach—promote facilities’ adoption of ISO14001. These findings suggest that governments can use command-and-control and voluntary approaches concurrently.environmental management systems, ISO14001, environmental reports, voluntary actions, governmental assistance programs, environmental impacts, discrete choice model, endogeneity, GHK simulator