Improvements to the single screw extruder

The extrusion on a single screw extruder is examined. The process is divided into several steps: the dosage of the materials to be conveyed; the modification of the shape of the feeding opening which influences the feeding process and consequently the throughput of the extruder; optimizing the shape of the feeding zone to meet the specific material requirements; and plasticizing and homogenizing

Personal calificado - personal motivado: Un concepto para la calificación de personal de producción en empresas de inyección

Se describe un concepto desarrollado por el Instituto para la Transformación del Plástico (IKV) de Alemania, para la calificación continua del trabajador en la producción y la configuración de un entorno laboral que favorece el aprendizaje en empresas de inyección

Методика локализации изображения лица для систем видеоконтроля на основе нейронной сети

Предлагается метод и алгоритм локализации лица человека для автоматизированных систем распознавания и видеоконтроля на базе сверточных нейронных сетей. Преимущество использования свёрточных нейронных сетей в том, что они обеспечивают устойчивость к изменениям масштаба, смещениям, поворотам, смене ракурса и другим искажениям входного изображения. Обосновывается топология используемой нейронной сети и методика ее обучения

Overview of Game and Content Design for a Mobile Game that Will Prepare Students in Calculus and Physics Prerequisites to the Engineering Curriculum

As part of a research project which assists veterans as they exit the military, complete engineering degrees, and enter the workforce as engineering professionals, a range of serious games for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is under development. The current focus of this development is CAPTIVATE, a serious game to assist student veterans in mastering the calculus and physics skills that are necessary prerequisites to the main engineering curriculum. Building on the development and lessons learned from MAVEN, a game developed previously to help student veterans master precalculus skills, the design and initial implementation for CAPTIVATE involves careful consideration regarding game and instructional design. Many of the positive aspects from the design of MAVEN will be implemented in CAPTIVATE. First, the overall framework developed for MAVEN will be reused in CAPTIVATE. This modular framework involves both a model and process that combine game, instructional, and software design in a way that supports adaptability throughout the design and development cycle. Additionally by embedding concepts in game play similar to well-known board games such as Battleship, computer games such as Minesweeper, and console or mobile games such as Guitar Hero, students will use their calculus and physics skills to complete tasks in a familiar environment. In addition, the game itself will consist of a series of sub-games each focusing on a topic that students traditionally struggle to understand. Furthermore, students will be offered access to learning resources and assessed regularly as they progress through the game. CAPTIVATE will also overcome some shortcomings from the previous development. While MAVEN was developed for desktop deployment, CAPTIVATE is targeted for deployment on a variety of mobile device including Apple and Android phones and tablets to engage students in interactive games that support their endeavor to build a solid foundation in mathematics and science topics. Additionally by creating games that are short and easily accessible, students will be able to engage with the material at a time and place convenient for them. The development of CAPTIVATE supports student veterans as they transition from the military to engineering degree programs and helps to accelerate them through their STEM prerequisite courses

A Pilot Program For The Recruitment and Education of Navy Veterans Based on System-Level Technical Expertise and Leadership Maturation Developed During Service

The project, Stern2STEM, aims to advance STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education through the preparation of student veterans to pursue baccalaureate STEM degrees and support the re-employment of these veterans into the Department of Defense (DoD) and the wider defense support industry. The program builds on the training that veterans have received in highly skilled technical areas, both in the classroom and “on-the-job”, to develop system level expertise in their respective technical disciplines. Key components of the program include: (1) establishing a mechanism for outreach and recruitment; (2) providing leveling, tutoring, mentoring, and support for students; (3) teaching and learning through proven pedagogical practices and through sound academic advising; (4) partnering with the DoD community to facilitate student career placement in the DoD STEM workforce; (5) providing workforce development for DoD STEM professionals. This paper will discuss the academic challenges that student veterans face while in higher education and the current STEM pipelines as students move through their college to professional careers. The early impact of academic tutoring, professional advising, mentorship, career placement, and recruitment of current service members into STEM disciplines through involvement with Stern2STEM will be discussed. Through Stern2STEM’s systematic interventions, the project has the potential to have a significant impact on the broader STEM education community as many of the principles, lessons learned, and tools developed will prove valuable for institutions which have a large population of student veterans

Lifting paddle wheel : full-size protype craft development.

This report describes the construction, testing and analysis of a large scale lifting paddlewheel craft. No large scale vehicle of this style exists to date; a small scale version has previously been successful. A 4wd farm bike provided the basis for the prototype with modifications for use in an aquatic environment. Following open water tests, ongoing developmental work was carried out. This included the analysis and prediction of the crafts performance, operation of the lifting paddlewheels and comparison of the successful small scale craft to that of the prototype constructed. The prototype did not operate as the lifting paddlewheels were intended. Predictions initially showed a deficit in power comparable with the craft comparison which showed a large difference in the power to weight of the crafts. Modifications to increase the power and following tests proved to also be unproductive. Analysis of the farm bike prototype dynamics showed a possibility of successful operation should certain criteria be met

Nernst-Ettingshausen effect in two-component electronic liquids

A simple model describing the Nernst-Ettingshausen effect (NEE) in two-component electronic liquids is formulated. The examples considered include graphite, where the normal and Dirac fermions coexist, superconductor in fluctuating regime, with coexisting Cooper pairs and normal electrons, and the inter-stellar plasma of electrons and protons. We give a general expression for the Nernst constant and show that the origin of a giant NEE is in the strong dependence of the chemical potential on temperature in all cases

Integration Concept of Injection, Forming and Foaming: A Practical Approach to Manufacture Hybrid Structures

Motivated by the concept of the integrative production systems, the hybrid process of polymer injection molding and sheet metal forming, known as polymer injection forming (PIF), has been introduced to manufacture sheet metal-polymer components in a single operation. Despite the wide potential application of this technology, its implementation in actual industrial production has been hindered due to several challenges; a thick layer of polymer where there is deep deformation, non-uniform deformation due to pressure loss and the opposite phenomena of shrinkage and springback. To mitigate these practical issues, the novel idea of integrating supercritical fluid (Sc.F.) technology with the PIF process is introduced in this work. As the proposed technology is a manufacturing innovation, with no available information in the literature correlating to this concept, two sets of experiments are designed to investigate the feasibility of this integration. In the first set, the effect of blank material and shot volume as design variables were investigated over a range of Sc.F. weight percentage. To improve the cell morphology in experiments with the low-strength sheet material, several other processing scenarios are explored in the second set of experiments. The results of this study clearly demonstrate the capabilities of this concept manufacturing process in terms of initiating the foaming process within the simultaneous injection/forming process, ensuring weight reduction (of up to 16%) and complete elimination of issues related to shrinkage

LAS BATALLAS FESTIVAS DE ESPANA

Serving individual customer needs at reasonable prices can be a profitable target market in high-wage countries. The dilemma between scale and scope-oriented production is one major research topic within the Cluster of Excellence "Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries" at the RWTH Aachen University. One main objective of this project is to bridge the existing gap between individual manufacturing and mass production. Modularization is a widely accepted approach in tool-based manufacturing processes. In this paper, we propose a flexible design methodology for modular tools and dies. The methodology will assist the design engineer in setting up a series of modularized tools in a conceptually closed manner. The described methodology covers modularization in a broad sense, i.e. it includes hardware modularization as well as modularization of the construction process. The methodology consists of three phases: initiation, analysis and design phase

Nernst effect as a probe of superconducting fluctuations in disordered thin films

In amorphous superconducting thin films of $Nb_{0.15}Si_{0.85}$ and $InO_x$, a finite Nernst coefficient can be detected in a wide range of temperature and magnetic field. Due to the negligible contribution of normal quasi-particles, superconducting fluctuations easily dominate the Nernst response in the entire range of study. In the vicinity of the critical temperature and in the zero-field limit, the magnitude of the signal is in quantitative agreement with what is theoretically expected for the Gaussian fluctuations of the superconducting order parameter. Even at higher temperatures and finite magnetic field, the Nernst coefficient is set by the size of superconducting fluctuations. The Nernst coefficient emerges as a direct probe of the ghost critical field, the normal-state mirror of the upper critical field. Moreover, upon leaving the normal state with fluctuating Cooper pairs, we show that the temperature evolution of the Nernst coefficient is different whether the system enters a vortex solid, a vortex liquid or a phase-fluctuating superconducting regime.Comment: Submitted to New. J. Phys. for a focus issue on "Superconductors with Exotic Symmetries