198 research outputs found
The Use of a Complexity Model to Facilitate in the Selection of a Fuel Cell Assembly Sequence
Various tools and methods exists for arriving at an optimised assembly sequence with most using a soft computing approach. However, these methods have issues including susceptibly to early convergence and high computational time. The typical objectives for these methods are to minimise the number of assembly change directions, orientation changes or the number of tool changes. This research proposes an alternative approach whereby an assembly sequence is measured based on its complexity. The complexity value is generated using design for assembly metrics and coupled with considerations for product performance, component precedence and material handling challenges to arrive at a sequence solution which is likely to be closest to the optimum for cost and product quality. The case presented in this study is of the assembly of a single proton exchange membrane fuel cell. This research demonstrates a practical approach for determining assembly sequence using data and tools that are used and available in the wider industry. Further work includes automating the sequence generation process and extending the work by considering additional factors such as ergonomics
A Framework for Automatically Realizing Assembly Sequence Changes in a Virtual Manufacturing Environment
© 2016 The Authors. Global market pressures and the rapid evolution of technologies and materials force manufacturers to constantly design, develop and produce new and varied products to maintain a competitive edge. Although virtual design and engineering tools have been key to supporting this fast rate of change, there remains a lack of seamless integration between and within tools across the domains of product, process, and resource design-especially to accommodate change. This research examines how changes to designs within these three domains can be captured and evaluated within a component based engineering tool (vueOne, developed by the Automation Systems Group at the University of Warwick). This paper describes how and where data within these tools can be mapped to quickly evaluate change (where typically a tedious process of data entry is required) decreasing lead times and cost and increasing productivity. The approach is tested on a sub-assembly of a hydrogen fuel cell, where an assembly system is modelled and changes are made to the sequence which is translated through to control logic. Although full implementation has not yet been realized, the concept has the potential to radically change the way changes are made and the approach can be extended to supporting other change types provided the appropriate rules and mapping
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Pick and Place Assembly Systems: Heuristic Evaluation of Reconfigurability and Suitability
Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) offer numerous advantages over combustion technology but they remain economically uncompetitive except for in niche applications. A portion of this cost is attributed to a lack of assembly expertise and the associated risks. To solve this problem, this research investigates the assembly systems that do exist for this product and systematically decomposes them into their constituent components to evaluate reconfigurability and suitability to product. A novel method and set of criteria are used for evaluation taking inspiration from heuristic approaches for evaluating manufacturing system complexity. It is proposed that this can be used as a support tool at the design stage to meet the needs of the product while having the capability to accept potential design changes and variants for products beyond the case study presented in this work. It is hoped this work develops a new means to support in the design of reconfigurable systems and form the foundation for fuel cell assembly best practice, allowing this technology to reduce in cost and find its way into a commercial space
The Importance of Correlations and Fluctuations on the Initial Source Eccentricity in High-Energy Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions
In this paper, we investigate various ways of defining the initial source
eccentricity using the Monte Carlo Glauber (MCG) approach. In particular, we
examine the participant eccentricity, which quantifies the eccentricity of the
initial source shape by the major axes of the ellipse formed by the interaction
points of the participating nucleons. We show that reasonable variation of the
density parameters in the Glauber calculation, as well as variations in how
matter production is modeled, do not significantly modify the already
established behavior of the participant eccentricity as a function of collision
centrality. Focusing on event-by-event fluctuations and correlations of the
distributions of participating nucleons we demonstrate that, depending on the
achieved event-plane resolution, fluctuations in the elliptic flow magnitude
lead to most measurements being sensitive to the root-mean-square, rather
than the mean of the distribution. Neglecting correlations among
participants, we derive analytical expressions for the participant eccentricity
cumulants as a function of the number of participating nucleons,
\Npart,keeping non-negligible contributions up to \ordof{1/\Npart^3}. We
find that the derived expressions yield the same results as obtained from
mixed-event MCG calculations which remove the correlations stemming from the
nuclear collision process. Most importantly, we conclude from the comparison
with MCG calculations that the fourth order participant eccentricity cumulant
does not approach the spatial anisotropy obtained assuming a smooth nuclear
matter distribution. In particular, for the Cu+Cu system, these quantities
deviate from each other by almost a factor of two over a wide range in
centrality.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, submitted to PR
Energy dependence of particle multiplicities in central Au+Au collisions
We present the first measurement of the pseudorapidity density of primary
charged particles in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200GeV. For the 6% most
central collisions, we obtain dN_ch/deta|_|eta|<1 = 650 +/- 35 (syst). Compared
to collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130GeV, the highest energy studied previously, an
increase by a factor of 1.14 +/- 0.05 is found. The energy dependence of the
pseudorapidity density is discussed in comparison with data from proton-induced
collisions and theoretical predictions.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR
Collision geometry scaling of Au+Au pseudorapidity density from sqrt(s_NN) = 19.6 to 200 GeV
The centrality dependence of the midrapidity charged particle multiplicity in
Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 19.6 and 200 GeV is presented. Within a simple
model, the fraction of hard (scaling with number of binary collisions) to soft
(scaling with number of participant pairs) interactions is consistent with a
value of x = 0.13 +/- 0.01(stat) +/- 0.05(syst) at both energies. The
experimental results at both energies, scaled by inelastic p(pbar)+p collision
data, agree within systematic errors. The ratio of the data was found not to
depend on centrality over the studied range and yields a simple linear scale
factor of R_(200/19.6) = 2.03 +/- 0.02(stat) +/- 0.05(syst).Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PRC-R
System size and centrality dependence of charged hadron transverse momentum spectra in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt(s) = 62.4 and 200 GeV
We present transverse momentum distributions of charged hadrons produced in
Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt(s) = 62.4 and 200 GeV. The spectra are measured for
transverse momenta of 0.25 < p_T < 5.0 GeV/c at sqrt(s) = 62.4 GeV and 0.25 <
p_T < 7.0 GeV/c at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV, in a pseudo-rapidity range of 0.2 < eta <
1.4. The nuclear modification factor R_AA is calculated relative to p+p data at
both collision energies as a function of collision centrality. At a given
collision energy and fractional cross-section, R_AA is observed to be
systematically larger in Cu+Cu collisions compared to Au+Au. However, for the
same number of participating nucleons, R_AA is essentially the same in both
systems over the measured range of p_T, in spite of the significantly different
geometries of the Cu+Cu and Au+Au systems.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Pseudorapidity and centrality dependence of the collective flow of charged particles in Au+Au collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 130 GeV
This paper describes the measurement of collective flow for charged particles
in Au+Au collisions at sqrt{s_NN}} = 130 GeV using the PHOBOS detector at the
Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). An azimuthal anisotropy is observed in
the charged particle hit distribution in the PHOBOS multiplicity detector. This
anisotropy is presented over a wide range of pseudorapidity (eta) for the first
time at this energy. The size of the anisotropy (v_{2}) is thought to probe the
degree of equilibration achieved in these collisions. The result here,averaged
over momenta and particle species, is observed to reach 7% for peripheral
collisions at mid-rapidity, falling off with centrality and increasing |eta|.
Data are presented as a function of centrality for |eta|<1.0 and as a function
of eta, averaged over centrality, in the angular region -5.0<eta<5.3. These
results call into question the common assumption of longitudinal boost
invariance over a large region of rapidity in RHIC collisions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter
Identified charged antiparticle to particle ratios near midrapidity in Cu+Cu collisions at sqrt(s) = 62.4 and 200 GeV
Antiparticle to particle ratios for identified protons, kaons and pions at
sqrt(s) = 62.4 and 200 GeV in Cu+Cu collisions are presented as a function of
centrality for the midrapidity region of 0.2 < eta < 1.4. No strong dependence
on centrality is observed. For the / ratio at ~ 0.51 GeV/c, we
observe an average value of 0.50 +/- 0.003_(stat) +/- 0.04_(syst) and 0.77 +/-
0.008_(stat) +/- 0.05_(syst) for the 10% most central collisions of 62.4 and
200 GeV Cu+Cu, respectively. The values for all three particle species measured
at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV are in agreement within systematic uncertainties with that
seen in both heavier and lighter systems measured at the same RHIC energy. This
indicates that system size does not appear to play a strong role in determining
the midrapidity chemical freeze-out properties affecting the antiparticle to
particle ratios of the three most abundant particle species produced in these
collisions.Comment: 5 Pages, 4 figures Made changes to the figures to include the panel
numbers. Slight changes to the text. Updated data points from other
experiment
Cluster properties from two-particle angular correlations in p+p collisions at = 200 and 410 GeV
We present results on two-particle angular correlations in proton-proton
collisions at center of mass energies of 200 and 410 GeV. The PHOBOS experiment
at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has a uniquely large coverage for
charged particles, giving the opportunity to explore the correlations at both
short- and long-range scales. At both energies, a complex two-dimensional
correlation structure in and is observed. In the
context of an independent cluster model of short-range correlations, the
cluster size and its decay width are extracted from the two-particle
pseudorapidity correlation function and compared with previous measurements in
proton-proton and proton-antiproton collisions, as well as PYTHIA and HIJING
predictions.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
- …