A through-life costing methodology for use in product-service-systems

Availability-based contracts which provide customers with the use of assets such as machines, ships, aircraft platforms or subsystems like engines and avionics are increasingly offered as an alternative to the purchase of an asset and separate support contracts. The cost of servicing a durable product can be addressed by Through-life Costing (TLC). Providers of advanced services are now concerned with the cost of delivering outcomes that meet customer requirements using combinations of assets and activities via a Product Service System (PSS). This paper addresses the question: To what extent are the current approaches to TLC methodologically appropriate for costing the provision of advanced services, particularly availability, through a PSS? A novel methodology for TLC is outlined addressing the challenges of PSS cost assessment with regard to 'what?' (cost object), 'why/to what extent?' (scope and boundaries), and 'how?' (computations). The research provides clarity for those seeking to cost availability in a performance-orientated contractual setting and provides insight to the measures that may be associated with it. In particular, a reductionist approach that focuses on one cost object at a time is not appropriate for a PSS. Costing an advanced service delivered through a PSS is a problem of attributing the value of means to the economic activities carried out for specific ends to be achieved. Cost results from the interplay between monetary and non-monetary metrics, and uncertainties thereof. Whilst seeking to ensure generality of the findings, the application of TLC examined here is limited to a military aircraft platform and subsystems. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Initiation of sub-surface micro-cracks and white etching areas from debonding at non-metallic inclusions in wind turbine gearbox bearing

In this study, a failed planetary bearing from a wind turbine gearbox was destructively examined to investigate the initiation of micro-cracks and butterflies at non-metallic inclusions, and the effect of debonding between these inclusions and the steel matrix. The butterflies were scanned using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to show the topography that could not be assessed by using other microscopy techniques. Nano-indentation was conducted across a butterfly wing and a non-metallic inclusion to measure the hardness at the interface with the steel matrix. It was found that the White Etching Areas (WEA) in the region of the butterfly wing was a damaged material that showed tearing at the debonding gap between the inclusion and steel matrix. This study highlighted the effect of debonding on the initiation of micro-cracks, WEA and inclusion cracking. A direct relationship was found between the size of inclusions and the total length of inclusions and micro-cracks or butterfly wings. The depth of the observed sub-surface damage was correlated with the sub-surface stress distribution and these results suggested that surface traction could be an important contributing factor to the subsurface damage initiation

Review Paper on Road Vehicle Vibration Simulation for Packaging Testing Purposes

Inefficient packaging constitutes a global problem that costs hundreds of billions of dollars, not to mention the additional environmental impacts. An insufficient level of packaging increases the occurrence of product damage, while an excessive level increases the packages' weight and volume, thereby increasing distribution cost. This problem is well known, and for many years, engineers have tried to optimize packaging to protect products from transport hazards for minimum cost. Road vehicle shocks and vibrations, which is one of the primary causes of damage, need to be accurately simulated to achieve optimized product protection. Over the past 50 years, road vehicle vibration physical simulation has progressed significantly from simple mechanical machines to sophisticated computer-driven shaking tables. There now exists a broad variety of different methods used for transport simulation. Each of them addresses different particularities of the road vehicle vibration. Because of the nature of the road and vehicles, different sources and processes are present in the vibration affecting freight. Those processes can be simplified as the vibration generated by the general road surface unevenness, road surface aberrations (cracks, bumps, potholes, etc.) and the vehicle drivetrain system (wheels, drivetrain, engine, etc.). A review of the transport vibration simulation methods is required to identify and critically evaluate the recent developments. This review begins with an overview of the standardized methods followed by the more advanced developments that focus on the different random processes of vehicle vibration by simulating non-Gaussian, non-stationary, transient and harmonic signals. As no ideal method exists yet, the review presented in this paper is a guide for further research and development on the topic

Standardisation of magnetic nanoparticles in liquid suspension

Suspensions of magnetic nanoparticles offer diverse opportunities for technology innovation, spanning a large number of industry sectors from imaging and actuation based applications in biomedicine and biotechnology, through large-scale environmental remediation uses such as water purification, to engineering-based applications such as position-controlled lubricants and soaps. Continuous advances in their manufacture have produced an ever-growing range of products, each with their own unique properties. At the same time, the characterisation of magnetic nanoparticles is often complex, and expert knowledge is needed to correctly interpret the measurement data. In many cases, the stringent requirements of the end-user technologies dictate that magnetic nanoparticle products should be clearly defined, well characterised, consistent and safe; or to put it another way—standardised. The aims of this document are to outline the concepts and terminology necessary for discussion of magnetic nanoparticles, to examine the current state-of-the-art in characterisation methods necessary for the most prominent applications of magnetic nanoparticle suspensions, to suggest a possible structure for the future development of standardisation within the field, and to identify areas and topics which deserve to be the focus of future work items. We discuss potential roadmaps for the future standardisation of this developing industry, and the likely challenges to be encountered along the way

More holes than cheese. What prevents the delivery of effective, high quality and safe health care in England?

What prevents the delivery of effective, high quality, and safe healthcare in the National Health Service (NHS) in England? This paper presents 760 challenges which 330 NHS staff reported as preventing the delivery of effective, high quality and safe care. Some problems have been known for over 25 years (staff shortages, finance and patient complexity) but other challenges raise questions about the commitment of the NHS to patient and staff safety. For example Organisational Culture leading to ‘stifling bureaucracy’, ‘odds stacked against smooth […] working’ and Workload resulting in ‘firefighting daily’ and ‘perpetual crisis mode’. The role of Human Factors/Ergonomics professional input (engagement with safety scientists) is discussed in the context of success stories and examples of Human Factors Integration from other safety critical industries (Defence, Nuclear and Rail)