The Impact of Remittances on the International Migration and Economic Development

Migration does not only affect the processes of human development through individual social and financial remittances, but also the entire political and social life in the countries of origin, in a broader sense. Migrants and their children often tend to remain engaged with the countries of origin, through business, investment, common return visits or collective initiatives to promote the development of the places of origin. Migrants often plays an important role in civil society of the countries of origin, but many States have had ambiguous attitude toward immigrants. Over time, many States have viewed migration as a safety valve to reduce effectively the unemployment, poverty and political turmoil. From this, one can argue that migration and remittances may become a tool to relieve the pressure for structural reform and can effectively support the position of the elite groups, rather than to lead to change and emancipation of minority groups

STUDY CONCERNING THE HONEY QUALITIES IN TRANSYLVANIA REGION

The sources of micro-organisms (yeasts and fungi) found in honey are nectar andpollen, honey processing areas, equipments that have not been properly cleaned or wrappings. There are few types of yeast in honey and the most common are Saccharomyces melis, whichgrows in media with water content over 20-25% and Saccharomyces rosei, which can ferment inmedia with 60% carbohydrates. Yeasts can produce microbiological faults in honey with more than102 cells /g honey, stored at temperatures over 15 0C (Sindilar, E., 2000). Fungi can come from dust contamination, from the water with which installations orcontainers are washed and to a smaller degree, they can come from the honeybees. If they arefound in honey in a vegetative state, they can metabolise carbohydrates, amino-acids and evenpollen, causing various organoleptic changes (taste and smell of mildew). The present paper is a comparative microbiological and physical-chemical analysis ofvarious types of honey (polyfloral, tilia, acacia, sunflower, and honeydew) collected frombeekeepers The results have enabled us to make correlations between moisture, acidity, pH and themicrobiological characteristics of the tested honey samples and processors.quality, product quality, honey quality

The linear inverse problem in energy beam processing with an application to abrasive waterjet machining

The linear inverse problem for energy beam processing, in which a desired etched profile is known and a trajectory of the beam that will create it must be found, is studied in this paper. As an example, abrasive waterjet machining (AWJM) is considered here supported by extensive experimental investigations. The behaviour of this process can be described using a linear model when the angle between the jet and the surface is approximately constant during the process, as occurs for shallow etched profiles. The inverse problem is usually solved by simply controlling dwell time in proportion to the required depth of milling, without considering whether the target surface can actually be etched. To address this, a Fourier analysis Is used to show that high frequency components in the target surface cannot be etched due to the geometry of the jet and the dynamics of the machine. In this paper, this frequency domain analysis is used to improve the choice of the target profile in such a way that it can be etched. The dynamics of the machine also have a large influence on the actual movement of the jet. It is very difficult to describe this effect because the controller of the machine is usually unknown. A simple approximation is used for the choice of the slope of a step profile. The tracking error between the desired trajectory and the real one is reduced and the etched profile is improved. Several experimental tests are presented to show the usefulness of this approach. Finally, the limitations of the linear model are studied

Towards understanding the cutting and fracture mechanism in ceramic matrix composites

Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs) are increasingly used for the manufacture of high-value parts for several industries such as the aerospace, nuclear and automotive. Nevertheless, their heterogenic, anisotropic and brittle nature make difficult to characterise the machining process and therefore, an in-depth understanding of the cutting mechanics is needed. In this regard, this paper aims to understand the different behaviours of CMCs while employing orthogonal cutting. The first part of this article proposes a novel theoretical approach to explain the different types of cutting behaviours (fracture and shear cutting) based on the inelastic and orthotropic properties of the CMC's by using a high imaging system and measuring the cutting forces. The second part aims to understand the cutting and fracture mechanism by developing for the first time a specific analytical model for each of the three main orthotropic orientations, defined by the three main relative fibre orientations respect to the feed direction, which are found in cutting of CMCs. This is approached by the calculation of the specific cutting energy needed to fracture the CMC's during cutting (energy release rate, Gc) using fracture mechanics and cutting theories. This analytical model has been successfully validated for a Carbon/Carbon composite with the experimental data obtained for the brittle cutting and by introducing the concept of a rising R-curve in cutting models. Moreover, comparing the results obtained for the energy release rate for the brittle and semi-ductile mode, it is observed that the material experiences an important change in the energy release rate according to the brittle-to-semi-ductile transition occurring while reducing the depth of cut. Finally, a novel monitoring method based on the vibrations of the sample has been found successful to understand the type of crack formation appearing while cutting CMCs

Modeling and Experimental Validation of a Compliant Underactuated Parallel Kinematic Manipulator

© 1996-2012 IEEE. Parallel kinematic manipulators (PKMs) are increasingly used in a wide range of industrial applications due to the characteristics of high accuracy and compact structure. However, most of the existing PKMs are structured with heavy actuators and high stiffness. In this respect, this article proses a simple, yet effective, parallel manipulator that distinguishes itself through the following basis. First, underactuation: it employs only a single motor and a driving cable to actuate its three legs. Second, novel foot location: it uses a smart shape memory alloy clutch-based driving system (SCBDS), which catches/releases the driving cable, thus, making possible the robot underactuation. Finally, adjustable compliance: its double compliant joints on each limb with a stiffness-adjustable section, which renders a safe human-robotic interaction. To support and predict the performance of this underactuated compliant manipulator, a novel kinetostatic model was developed by considering the generalized internal loads (i.e., force and moment) in three compliant limbs and the external loads on the upper platform. Finally, based on the physical prototype, a set of experiments were conducted to validate the model proposed in this article. It was found that the proposed kinetostatic model can be validated with the average deviations of 1.8% in position and 2.8% in orientation, respectively. Furthermore, the workspace of the system (e.g., discrete and continuous workspace) was studied when different actuating strategies were employed, thus, emphasizing the advantages and the limitations of this novel system

Geometrical modelling of pulsed laser ablation of high performance metallic alloys

Modelling of Pulsed Laser Ablation (PLA) for the prediction of complex geometries has generally achieved limited success when aimed at large structures resulting from a high number of overlapped pulses, in particular for the ablation of metallic materials, where a significant volume of molten and re-deposited material can be present. In order to extend the capabilities of process simulation for surface prediction of PLA, this paper presents a novel problem formulation that takes into consideration the behaviour of the ejected/redeposited melt as well as the non-linear interaction between successive pulses when a laser beam is scanned along a given path. This results in a simplified mathematical framework capable of predicting features with good accuracy and low computational cost. The evolution of the depth/height at any point on the surface can be described by the convolution of a radially-varying function that represents the steady state ablation footprint (which includes also material redeposition) created by a pulsed laser scanned across the workpiece scaled according to pulse separation distance (i.e. feed speed). The model also reveals some interesting dynamics of the behaviour of redeposited material, which appears to have a lower removal threshold compared to the virgin material. This can be taken into account in a modified model formulation by introducing a linear scaling coefficient for the ablation function. Validation of the model on Ni- and Ti- superalloy for both the prediction of single trenches (i.e. scanning along straight path) at constant and variable feed speed, and overlapped trenches, is performed with an average error of less than 10%. The framework presented in the paper could provide a valuable step forward in process modelling of PLA for real-world industrial applications

On-the-fly laser machining: a case study for in situ balancing of rotative parts

On-the-fly laser machining is defined as a process that aims to generate pockets/patches on target components that are rotated or moved at a constant velocity. Since it is a nonintegrated process (i.e., linear/rotary stage system moving the part is independent of that of the laser), it can be deployed to/into large industrial installations to perform in situ machining, i.e., without the need of disassembly. This allows a high degree of flexibility in its applications (e.g., balancing) and can result in significant cost savings for the user (e.g., no dis(assembly) cost). This paper introduces the concept of on-the-fly laser machining encompassing models for generating user-defined ablated features as well as error budgeting to understand the sources of errors on this highly dynamic process. Additionally, the paper presents laser pulse placement strategies aimed at increasing the surface finish of the targeted component by reducing the area surface roughness that are possible for on-the-fly laser machining. The overall concept was validated by balancing a rotor system through ablation of different pocket shapes by the use of a Yb:YAG pulsed fiber laser. In this respect, first, two different laser pulse placement strategies (square and hexagonal) were introduced in this research and have been validated on Inconel 718 target material; thus, it was concluded that hexagonal pulse placement reduces surface roughness by up to 17% compared to the traditional square laser pulse placement. The concept of on-the-fly laser machining has been validated by ablating two different features (4 × 60 mm and 12 × 4 mm) on a rotative target part at constant speed (100 rpm and 86 rpm) with the scope of being balanced. The mass removal of the ablated features to enable online balancing has been achieved within < 4 mg of the predicted value. Additionally, the error modeling revealed that most of the uncertainties in the dimensions of the feature/pocket originate from the stability of the rotor speed, which led to the conclusion that for the same mass of material to be removed it is advisable to ablate features (pockets) with longer circumferential dimensions, i.e., stretched and shallower pockets rather than compact and deep

A study of surface swelling caused by graphitisation during pulsed laser ablation of carbon allotrope with high content of sp ³ bounds

Experiments and theory are employed to investigate the laser ablation of boron doped diamond and tetrahedral amorphous carbon using nanosecond pulses. For a single pulse at low values of fluence, the laser induces a swelling of the surface due to graphitisation, whilst a high level of fluence leads to recession of the surface due to vaporization. To understand and investigate the underlying phenomena during the diamond-laser interaction, a model has been developed to reliably and quickly predict the behaviour of the surface and the thickness of the heat affected zone. The model is based on conservation of heat and mass during the laser-workpiece interaction. It consists of a one-dimensional system of non-linear equations that models the material heating, evaporation, graphitisation and plasma shielding. There is excellent agreement between numerical and experimental results for the position of the interfaces up to a high laser fluence. This model is the first to investigate the ablation of diamond that is able to capture surface swelling due to the graphitisation of the diamond layer, the graphite thickness and the amount of ablated material within a single framework. Furthermore, the model provides a novel methodology to investigate the thermal stability of diamond-like carbon films. The activation energy for tetrahedral amorphous carbon is obtained using the model with an accuracy of 3.15+1.0−0.22 eV

Stochastic simplified modelling of abrasive waterjet footprints

Abrasive micro-waterjet processing is a non-conventional machining method that can be used to manufacture complex shapes in difficult-to-cut materials. Predicting the effect of the jet on the surface for a given set of machine parameters is a key element of controlling the process. However, the noise of the process is significant, making it difficult to design reliable jet-path strategies that produce good quality parts via controlled-depth milling. The process is highly unstable and has a strong random component that can affect the quality of the workpiece, especially in the case of controlled-depth milling. This study describes a method to predict the variability of the jet footprint for different jet feed speeds. A stochastic partial differential equation is used to describe the etched surface as the jet is moved over it, assuming that the erosion process can be divided into two main components: a deterministic part that corresponds to the average erosion of the jet, and a stochastic part that accounts for the noise generated at different stages of the process. The model predicts the variability of the trench profiles to within<8%. These advances could enable abrasive micro-waterjet technology as a suitable technology for controlled-depth milling