The air gap between tape and drum in a video recorder

Lubrication with ambient air is not quite generally applied. The best known application is the "oil bearing" in tape recording systems for audio, video and computer applications; where the gap height that is needed for effective lubrication may quite easily be attained. This air gap reduces tape friction and wear of tape and recording head substantially. On the other hand, though, the air gap for effective magnetic recording is very small. These conflicting demands on the lubrication conditions ask for an accurate calculation of the air gap distribution.\ud \ud The multigrid method — a fast, iterative equation solver — will be applied to calculate the film thickness in foil bearings on a fine grid. The results for a simple but adequate model for the air lubrication between the tape and the drum in a VHS-recorder will be presented, including details about the narrow gap between recording head and tape

The role of the user and the society in new product development

Within the knowledge-based economy several institutions are involved in product innovation processes. Literature study has shown that the most researched and cited are the industry-universitygovernment relations, presented in the Triple Helix model of institutional relations within new product development (NPD). Based on a case study of the Academic Virtual Enterprise, we have put the sole input of these institutions in NPD into question. We have tested and supported the claim that the user and the society are equal partners in the product innovation process. We have put forward the Fourfold Helix model that features a new formation of institutional relations where special focus is placed on the involvement of the user and the society in NPD

Attitude development in designer's education

Modern academic design and engineering education adopted the issues and goals of holistic development of design competence. Holistic design competence is a combination of generic capacities: capability, knowledge, skill, experience and attitude. All capacities should be addressed in academic education, but the development of attitude is not sufficiently emphasized. Designers’ attitude can be seen as the relationship between a designer and the design profession. With a good designers’ attitude, different types of design problems can be solved and all the capacities, including attitude, can be developed. This paper proposes that developing a good designers’ attitude can be implemented in design education and should be done. We present the five different elements that comprise an attitude: communication, reliability, trust, motivation and open mindset. The relations between elements of designers’ attitude and other capacities of design competence are discussed. We studied the manifestation of attitudes and their development in a project of the so called Global Product Realization (GPR) course. The GPR course incorporates students from several European universities who are asked to solve a real design problem for an industrial company. The conclusion is that this project has supported the development of all five attitudinal elements. Since GPR projects are multi disciplinary, multi cultural and communication is non face-toface, a certain level of designers’ attitude is required for such projects. Further research is needed to support the vision that development of designers’ attitude needs to be addressed earlier in design education, preferably from the very first course

A preliminary look at techniques used to obtain airdata from flight at high angles of attack

Flight research at high angles of attack has posed new problems for airdata measurements. New sensors and techniques for measuring the standard airdata quantities of static pressure, dynamic pressure, angle of attack, and angle of sideslip were subsequently developed. The ongoing airdata research supporting NASA's F-18 high alpha research program is updated. Included are the techniques used and the preliminary results. The F-18 aircraft was flown with three research airdata systems: a standard airdata probe on the right wingtip, a self-aligning airdata probe on the left wingtip, and a flush airdata system on the nose cone. The primary research goal was to obtain steady-state calibrations for each airdata system up to an angle of attack of 50 deg. This goal was accomplished and preliminary accuracies of the three airdata systems were assessed and are presented. An effort to improve the fidelity of the airdata measurements during dynamic maneuvering is also discussed. This involved enhancement of the aerodynamic data with data obtained from linear accelerometers, rate gyros, and attitude gyros. Preliminary results of this technique are presented

In-flight investigation of shuttle tile pressure orifice installations

To determine shuttle orbiter wing loads during ascent, wing load instrumentation was added to Columbia (OV-102). This instrumentation included strain gages and pressure orifices on the wing. The loads derived from wing pressure measurements taken during STS 61-C did not agree with those derived from strain gage measurements or with the loads predicted from the aerodynamic database. Anomalies in the surface immediately surrounding the pressure orifices in the thermal protection system (TPS) tiles were one possible cause of errors in the loads derived from wing pressure measurements. These surface anomalies were caused by a ceramic filler material which was installed around the pressure tubing. The filler material allowed slight movement of the TPS tile and pressure tube as the airframe flexed and bent under aerodynamic loads during ascent and descent. Postflight inspection revealed that this filler material had protruded from or receeded beneath the surface, causing the orifice to lose its flushness. Flight tests were conducted at NASA Ames Research Center Dryden Flight Research Facility to determine the effects of any anomaly in surface flushness of the orifice installation on the measured pressures at Mach numbers between 0.6 and 1.4. An F-104 aircraft with a flight test fixture mounted beneath the fuselage was used for these flights. Surface flushness anomalies typical of those on the orbiter after flight (STA 61-C) were tested. Also, cases with excessive protrusion and recession of the filler material were tested. This report shows that the anomalies in STS 61-C orifice installations adversely affected the pressure measurements. But the magnitude of the affect was not great enough to account for the discrepancies with the strain gage measurements and the aerodynamic predictions

Academic Procrastination And Stimulating Substance Use Among College Undergraduates

Today’s college students have a larger workload than past generations and are expected to work at a faster pace, all while adjusting to a new environment. Some students are able to successfully navigate these demands, while others become overwhelmed and engage in behaviors that allow them a diversion from academics and school life, such as avoidance and procrastination. When students procrastinate, they may find themselves with a lot to do in a short period of time. Past work indicates that stimulating substance use is on the rise among college students, particularly when they need to have focused periods of concentration. This study examined the association between academic procrastination and use of stimulating substances (caffeine, energy drinks, energy products, and prescription stimulants) through quantitative measures. Data were taken from a sample of UND undergraduates. Results showed that who reported higher levels of academic procrastination were more likely to use any stimulating substance to stay awake, alert, or energetic. It was also seen that male students were more likely to use energy products, and energy drinks

A novel design education approach for professional global product realization

Emerging trends in design practice, such as collaborative design and multi-national, multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary (multi-x) teamwork, call for ongoing changes in design education. Educational institutions need to be proactive in adapting to such trends, in order to ensure an adequate development of the design competences of their students. The graduated design students must be able to effectively solve real-life new product development (NPD) problems in multi-x environments. In this paper we present a novel approach towards design education, where special focus is put on multi-x collaboration of design students in solving NPD tasks. We present the idea of an Academic Virtual Enterprise (AVE), a project oriented educational agreement, which is based on volatile alliance of industrial and academic partners for mutual advantages. A course, called Global Product Realization (GPR) is presented as an example of how to implement AVE into design education and provide a stimulating learning environment for students in several disciplines (i.e. mechanical engineering, programming, electronics, design, etc.), where they can get experience in multi-x collaboration in NPD and develop several aspects of design competences needed for their future professional practice