The Rights of War and Peace. Political Thought and the International Order from Grotius to Kant, Oxford University Press, Nueva York, 1999.

Richard Tuck, en este fragmento de su obra, plantea una innovadora visión de la tradición filosófica que da origen a unos planteamientos liberales, esenciales en nuestra época. El autor plantea como el escepticismo y la razón de estado, recuperados por los teóricos del Renacimiento y aplicados al comportamiento a los estados en Relaciones Internacionales en plena expansión europea, suprimen todo vestigio de cualidad afectiva o moral en éstos y son trasladados al ámbito de la sociedad civil para que los individuos puedan comportarse como verdaderos agentes liberales

The pivotal role of rapid manufacturing in the production of cost effective customised products

The concept of Rapid Manufacturing (RM) is emerging from the so-called Rapid Prototyping technologies where additive rather than subtractive techniques will be used to make parts or even completed assemblies. As no tooling is required, one of the main benefits of RM will be the ability to make cost-effective custom products that could all be entirely individualised to a particular consumer or user. Thus, Rapid Manufacturing is the enabling technology for true, cost effective custom manufacturing and has the potential to revolutionise the design and manufacturing worlds. This paper will introduce results from a current research project that is being undertaken at Loughborough University looking into the effects that will occur to the logistics and supply chain infrastructure with the advent of RM

Economic Emergency Program: St. Cloud Household Refrigeration and Home Freezer Manufacturing Plant Closure (Electrolux)

On January 30, 2018, Electrolux announced the closure its manufacturing facility in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The plant currently has 860 employees. Their jobs will be lost once Electrolux completes its closure as planned in 2019. Electrolux plans to invest in its Tennessee and South Carolina plants. Upright freezer production will move to South Carolina. There will likely be few viable opportunities for local workers at the Electrolux facility to re-locate to South Carolina. St. Cloud area decision-makers will benefit from timely information regarding the potential economic impact of the closure. In response, University of Minnesota Extension and the St. Cloud State University School of Public Affairs Research Institute have prepared this economic emergency report. This report is presented with support from the EDA Center at the University of Minnesota-Crookston

Cost estimation for rapid manufacturing - laser sintering production for low to medium volumes

Rapid manufacturing (RM) is a modern production method based on layer by layer manufacturing directly from a three-dimensional computer-aided design model. The lack of tooling makes RM economically suitable for low and medium production volumes. A comparison with traditional manufacturing processes is important; in particular, cost comparison. Cost is usually the key point for decision making, with break-even points for different manufacturing technologies being the dominant information for decision makers. Cost models used for traditional production methodologies focus on material and labour costs, while modern automated manufacturing processes need cost models that are able to consider the high impact of investments and overheads. Previous work on laser sintering costing was developed in 2003. This current work presents advances and discussions on the limits of the previous work through direct comparison. A new cost model for laser sintering is then proposed. The model leads to graph profiles that are typical for layer-manufacturing processes. The evolution of cost models and the indirect cost significance in modern costing representation is shown finally

Low cost optical fibre based Fabry Pérot strain sensor production

The production of Fabry-Pérot based optical fibre sensors has long been an iterative and labour intensive process. This paper demonstrates the production of Fabry-Pérot based optical fibre strain sensors using chemical etching techniques. Utilising hydrofluoric acid (HF) and singlemode optical fibres, a preferential etching mechanism was observed around the core portion of the fibres. These etched fibre ends were then spliced together successfully to form enclosed Fabry-Pérot cavities between 18 and 60 μm in length. These sensors have then been deployed for strain monitoring and have been subjected to strains of up to 1400 με on tensile test specimens. Etched Fabry-Pérot cavity lengths were monitored using a white light interferometry (WLI) system based on a CCD spectrometer and an 850 nm super luminescent diode (SLD). A linear and repeatable response to these strain tests has been shown with negligible sensitivity to temperature

Development of 3D cellular silicone structures using reactive inkjet printing approach for energy absorbing application

Silicone cellular foams are well suited for energy absorbing applications due to their ability to undertake large deformations and absorb significant quantities of energy. However traditional methods for fabrication of cellular silicone are long and difficult and with no possibility of varying the density of pores. Having a fabrication method that allows controlling the structure hence mechanical properties of the silicone features is essential for expanding their application. This work investigates a method based on reactive inkjet printing approach to produce 3D silicone structures of which mechanical properties can be tailored by varying the process parameters and structure’s design. Printing parameters such as pressure, temperature, and pulse shape were investigated to optimize the process for SE1700 silicone material. The vinyl terminated part of SE1700 silicone with the addition of different solvents (vinyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane, silicone oil 10cP and 100cP) were evaluated for printability using rheology. The mechanical properties of printed films were assessed using dynamic mechanical analysis and tensile testing. The TGA and swelling study were performed to understand the change in sample’s properties in relation to different formulations. Silicone structures with different porosities were printed and the storage modulus, loss modulus and damping properties were investigated. The results showed that despite the high viscosity of silicone fluids, it is possible to employ reactive inkjet printing approach in order to obtain silicone features. It was also demonstrated that the capability to alter mechanical properties of printed silicone structures could be achieved using different process parameters and also

An empirical laser sintering time estimator for Duraform PA

This paper presents work on the development of a build time estimator for Rapid Manufacturing (RM). A time estimator is required in order to develop a comprehensive costing tool for RM. An empirical method has been used to estimate build times utilising both simulated and actual builds for a Laser Sintering (LS) machine. The estimator presented here is based upon object geometry and therefore the fundamental data driving the model is obtainable from current three dimensional Computer Aided Design (3D-CAD) models. The aim of the paper is to define a model describing the build times for a laser sintering machine either for single or multiple objects