Governance strategies in sustainable campus using Rasch model

In moving towards sustainability, university needs to establish a good governance strategy which practices to transform a positive sustainable culture toward successful green campus. Howe ver, due to constraint of knowledge and commitment regarding sustainability integration has caused weakness in the implementation of green concept in majority of Malaysian universities. This paper is presents one of the five dimensions of a developed hypot hetical integrated sustainable campus model which is university governance. The university governance dimension consists of 5 constructs and 23 items which are strategies for the university to be complied. These strategies were uncovered using questionnair e survey with 35 selected experts who are currently active in sustainable campus activities and researches. Collected data from this survey was analysed using Rasch method in Winstep software to measure items reliability, separation index, items polarity, item fit and item person map. Results from the analysis indicated that 19 strategies were significant to be implemented. Thus, it provides good information for universities to adopt these sustainable campus strategies in making their campus as a role mode l for a sustainable and conducive living environment

Utilizing rapid prototyping 3D printer for fabricating flexographic PDMS printing plate

Recently printed electronic field is significantly growth. Printed electronic is to develop electrical devices by printing method. Conventional printing method that has been studied for this kind of printed electronic such as flexographic, micro contact printing, screen printing, gravure and ink jet. In flexographic and microcontact printing, a printing plate is used to transfer the designed and desired pattern to substrate through conformed contact. Therefore printing plate is play a big role in this area. Printing plate making by photopolymer which used in flexographic have limitation in achieving a micro-scale of pattern size. However, printing plate of microcontact printing have an advantages in producing micro, even nano-scale size by PDMS (Polydimethylsiloxane). Hence, rapid prototyping 3D printer was used for developing a PDMS micro-scale printing plate which will be used in reel to reel (R2R) flexographic due to high speed, low cost, mass production of this type of printing process. The flexibility of 3D printer in producing any shape of pattern easily, contributed the success of this study. A nickel plating and glass etching master pattern was used in this study too as master pattern mould since 3D printer has been reached the micro size limitation. The finest multiple solid line array with 1mm width and 2mm gap pattern of printing plate was successfully fabricated by 3D printer master mould due to size limitation of the FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) 3D printer nozzle itself. However, the micro-scale multiple solid line array of 100micron and 25micron successfully made by nikel platting and glass etching master mould respectively. Those types of printing plate producing method is valueable since it is easy, fast and low cost, used for micro-flexographic in printed electronic field or biomedical application

Implementing the Lean Sigma Framework in an Indian SME: a case study

Lean and Six Sigma are two widely acknowledged business process improvement strategies available to organisations today for achieving dramatic results in cost, quality and time by focusing on process performance. Lately, Lean and Six Sigma practitioners are integrating the two strategies into a more powerful and effective hybrid, addressing many of the weaknesses and retaining most of the strengths of each strategy. Lean Sigma combines the variability reduction tools and techniques from Six Sigma with the waste and non-value added elimination tools and techniques from Lean Manufacturing, to generate savings to the bottom-line of an organisation. This paper proposes a Lean Sigma framework to reduce the defect occurring in the final product (automobile accessories) manufactured by a die-casting process. The proposed framework integrates Lean tools (current state map, 5S System, and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)) within Six Sigma DMAIC methodology to enhance the bottom-line results and win customer loyalty. Implementation of the proposed framework shows dramatic improvement in the key metrics (defect per unit (DPU), process capability index, mean and standard deviation of casting density, yield, and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)) and a substantial financial savings is generated by the organisation

Residual Stresses in Layered Manufacturing

Layered Manufacturing processes accumulate residual stresses during materialbuildup. These stresses may cause part warping and layer delamination. This paper presents work done on investigating residual stress accumulation andp(i,rt distortion of Layered Manufactured artifacts. A simple analyticaLmodel was developed and used to determine how the number of layers and the layer thickness influences part warping. Resllits show that thin layers produce lower part deflection as compared with depositing fewer and thicker layers. In addition to the analytical work, a finite element model wasdeveloped and used to illvestigate the deposition pattern's influence on. the part deflection. Finite element model and corresponding experimental analysis showed that the geometry of the deposition pattern significantly affects the resulting part distortion. This finite element model was also used to investigate an inter-layer surface defect,. known as the Christmas Thee Step, that is associated with Shape Deposition Manufacturing. Results indicate that the features of this defect are influenced only by the material deposited close. to the part·surface and the particular material deposited. The step is not affected by the deposition pattern.Mechanical Engineerin

Criticality of porosity defects on the fatigue performance of wire + arc additive manufactured titanium alloy

This study was aimed at investigating the effect of internal porosity on the fatigue strength of wire + arc additive manufactured titanium alloy (WAAM Ti-6Al-4V). Unlike similar titanium alloys built by the powder bed fusion processes, WAAM Ti-6Al-4V seldom contains gas pores. However, feedstock may get contaminated that may cause pores of considerable size in the built materials. Two types of specimens were tested: (1) control group without porosity referred to as reference specimens; (2) designed porosity group using contaminated wires to build the specimen gauge section, referred to as porosity specimens. Test results have shown that static strength of the two groups was comparable, but the elongation in porosity group was reduced by 60% and its fatigue strength was 33% lower than the control group. The stress intensity factor range of the crack initiating pore calculated by Murakami’s approach has provided good correlation with the fatigue life. The kink point on the data fitting curve corresponds well with the threshold value of the stress intensity factor range found in the literature. For predicting the fatigue limit, a modified Kitagawa-Takahashi diagram was proposed consisting of three regions depending on porosity size. Critical pore diameter was found to be about 100 µm

Improving the efficacy of the lean index through the quantification of qualitative lean metrics

Multiple lean metrics representing performance for various aspects of lean can be consolidated into one holistic measure for lean, called the lean index, of which there are two types. In this article it was established that the qualitative based lean index are subjective while the quantitative types lack scope. Subsequently, an appraisal is done on techniques for quantifying qualitative lean metrics so that the lean index is a hybrid of both, increasing the confidence in the information derived using the lean index. This ensures every detail of lean within a system is quantified, allowing daily tracking of lean. The techniques are demonstrated in a print packaging manufacturing case